Yes, I'm still here. I am down from 2 posts a week to about 2 a month. Oh well. Summer is such a lazy time and I really don't have much time to be on the computer with a 7 month old crawling all over the house. I think this is the time when most women lose their pregnancy weight. I am up and down constantly to bring Eliza back where she should be or take something away from her. Miriam recently got her ears pierced. She has wanted that done for years and originally I had said "Wait until you are 7", thinking that was so far away. then 7 came and I was not ready for her to do it. From now on I will say 18 for everything. I got to thinking though and it is such a little thing really. Most women have their ears pierced. I do, but I never wear earrings. of course, I don't a wear any jewelry except my wedding rings and one other ring. She did extremely well and did not even flinch. She is very proud of them so I guess she was ready. Lily is my child that is most into things and clumsy and strong-willed, but I have noticed lately how polite she is and so intelligent. She often says "yes ma'am" and wants to help. Last night I told her to do something and at first she said no and then a few minutes later she said" I changed my mind and I'm going to obey you." That child is something else!
I am having a birthday this Friday. I'm not too ashamed to say how old- 32. The age itself does not bother me, but it is kinda hard to believe when you just don't feel it inside. It is also weird when you are talking to 20 somethings and realize how much older and more mature you are. Age is a funny thing. I just hope that I am wiser now than I was 10 years ago!

Current Pics

Sorry

If I have any readers left- I'm so sorry for not posting lately. I just feel like I haven't had time to sit down and write. Yes, we got into our new house. the closing was just postponed a couple of days and then it went smoothly. We are all still getting used to everything. Of course, my parents are now living with us and that takes some getting used to. Thankfully we all have private areas. Eliza is growing like a weed. She will be 7 months old this week, but looks and acts like a 9-10 month old. She started crawling and then a few days later started pulling up. She also has 6 teeth already. I have pictures and will post some of the girls and house soon ( I think I said that before and didn't follow through). I have been getting ready to teach 2nd grade to Miriam also. We went to a book sale this past weekend and I got everything but the workbooks. I am also signing her up under Homelife Academy this year instead of the county school board. I wasn't very pleased with them last year. Miriam has also gotten a kitten. Dapper Dan ran away when we moved to our rental and we promised her a new kitten after we moved. So now Raja Bullet Poarch is a part of our family. Lily is just a joy. She can be so much trouble, but she makes me laugh everyday. She is really enjoying having her grandparents around.
We have been here about a month now and are still getting settled in, but it has become our home. Dad already has a garden planted with the veggies already coming up. The girls are actually getting a "girly" bedroom. We painted it purple, the got a new trundle bed, and are getting pink & purple velvet curtains. This is the first time they have slept in their own room. It is nice, but I do miss having them near me although they are just across the hall. I hope to post more often now, but no guarantees there.

Postponed

Well, we were all set to close on our new house today, but something came up. The appraiser thought the value of the home was a little less than were offered and the bank decided not to notice that until Wed. So the sellers had to quickly lower the price for us and we signed some more paperwork. Now, the papers have to be sent back through the bank, mortgage insurance, etc. so there is no way to close today. All we know is hopefully sometime next week. We already have the utilities switched, moving trucks lined up, mail forwarded, etc. Somebody did not do their job, because if they had seen this 2 weeks ago when the appraisal was done, we could still close today. Oh well!
Eliza is doing so much now. She will be 6 months old Sunday. I am feeding her a little. She can sit up by herself and moves around really well, but is not quite crawling yet. Miriam and Lily both seem to have shot up lately. They are both so tall and skinny. I am so looking forward to seeing them run around our 2.5acres this summer, climbing in the apple trees, and helping in the garden. Whoever wants to come visit after we move is welcome. I really love the place!

New Link

Sorry that my old link didn't work. Try this one
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1051-Lovelady-Rd_Soddy-Daisy_TN_37379_1105122111

Home, Sweet Home

Well, we have finally found it. We made an offer last night and it was accepted today. We offered them quite a bit less so we are extremely happy that they accepted. It is a little far out, but close to I 27. Here is a link to the MLS http://www.mlsarealistings.com/(yekbuongjnyi0o45wddakw55)/propertyDetails.aspx?mls=1119795 . The pics really do not do it justice. Plus we will have 2.5 acres which is great. We close May 15th. It is great to know that we will soon be settled into our home.

Sad, Neglected Little Blog

I feel like as long as I post once a week I'm doing good. But I am not posting lately even when there is something important going on. I want to post pics of Miriam's birthday stuff, but haven't done that. Me and mom took Miriam and 2 friends to the American Girl store in Atlanta. While I think Miriam enjoyed it, I ask myself why I wanted to take 3 young girls (plus Eliza) on a 2 hour drive, shop in a store for 2 hours, spend way to much money on food there, and then have a 2 hour drive back. Everyone was pretty good for me and the baby did well, but it was still a lot of trouble. Will Miriam still remember and appreciate this when she is older??
April 8th was our wedding anniversary. We've been married 9 years. It feels like forever and yet doesn't feel like 9 years could have passed. So much has happened and it has all gone too fast. In those 9 years we have been through so much- good and bad, happy and sad. I think I know Jeremy pretty well and yet he still manages to surprise me sometimes. We have had a good marriage and I have never regretted marrying him. We celebrated by eating dinner out without the kids on Saturday. We couldn't go too far or be out too long since Eliza is still young. I chose the Broad Street Grill at the Chattanoogan hotel to eat at. I always choose a very expensive restaurant on my anniversary and birthday. I looked at their menu and it looked very good and I also found a 25% off coupon on line. The food was absolutely delicious. I am so glad I chose to go there. Last year, I was disappointed with where we went, but this year the food was great, presented very well, and timed just right. It was everything I would want when I pay that much for a meal. It was also not very busy so we had a semi-private date. So that is my plug for that restaurant- I may even go back for my birthday!

7- the perfect number?

My oldest child turned 7 today. How and when did this happen? I made her what she wanted to for lunch - BBQ, potatoes, fried okra, and garlic bread. I love it when she prefers the way I make things. She also wanted a strawberry cake with strawberry icing and Birthday cake ice cream. Something I'm not tempted to eat much of. I didn't get her a gift. her gift is coming next Saturday when I take her and 2 friends to the American Girl store in Atlanta to eat and shop. I'm looking forward to it myself. She plans to buy another doll and she has saved up enough money to do this. She has been going to an American Girl Book Club with other home schoolers lately and has really enjoyed it. We have been reading Samantha books. I also bought her the Molly Mystery Game online the other day for $5. It was on sale and free shipping. She should get that next week. I think I'm a little American Girl crazy myself!

I have a teether

Eliza has her 2 bottom teeth coming in. I know how often I have said how fast my children are growing. Eliza seems to be on fast forward. As I do feel she may be my last, I had been hoping she would be slower, but instead she is reaching milestones faster than my other 2 who were both at the front end anyway. She just turned 4 months old and has 2 teeth broken through and is rolling. She just in the last few days will roll from front to back and then to front again. Why???? I love her to death and I want her to stay a baby. She already doesn't really seem like a baby. She is wearing 6-9 months clothes. I just feel like crying!

This is so me!

I got this in an e-mail from a friend. This is so me! I do not "wash" the dishes per se, but I do soak them in soapy water and scrub them. In my experience dishwashers do not get all the stuck on stuff off so I make sure there is no food on them before they go in. I am a little anal about this (just ask my husband), but that's the way I like it! Maxine has my sort of humor. I have loved her since I was a teenager!

Temporarily Home

Well, we are moved in and getting settled. The rental is not bad at all. it is an older home, but has been remodeled. It will just take some getting used to. The bathroom is causing me some trouble since there is no shelves and the sink is a pedestal sink. There is no where to put our soap, lotion, toothbrushes, etc. There is also not a towel rack and the tub doesn't hold water for baths. A lot of this is fixed by buying a few things, but again, not what I was used to. We are still cleaning the old house. We should finish that up today and we close tomorrow. It is sad how much junk you accumulate. We threw away so much stuff or it's going to Goodwill. And this was just after being there 8 years. Imagine if you've been somewhere 20 or 30 years?

Today is Jeremy's 32nd birthday. I've already made him a cake and plan to cook our St. Patrick's Day dinner tonight (corn beef, cabbage, potatoes). I haven't been cooking with all the moving and cleaning. it will be nice to be "home" and eat a dinner I cooked tonight.

Moving Day

I know I haven't posted much lately, but I've been so busy. We had a place lined up to temporarily move to, but that fell through on Thursday night. So we scrambled and were blessed to find a place today to rent that we can move into on Monday and pay month to month. I say blessed because I prayed hard for God to take care of this and the lady rented to us on the spot without checking our references or credit. It is okay if we stay one month or longer and the house is actually cute. We are moving to a small house in Red Bank until we can find a home to buy. We also have some friends from church who are moving Monday- the same day as us into Red Bank. So tonight I check to see how close they are going to be and they are literally 5 houses down on the other side of the street. Our house has its mailbox on a different street, but our driveway is on their street. Now tell me God didn't have a hand in that!
Everything has been so crazy- packing, looking for a new house, now finally finding a rental and moving into it. Miriam has just been doing the basics of homeschooling- math, reading, language, and every now and then her other subjects. I hope that counts!! Eliza will be four months old in a few days. Time goes too fast. Miriam will be 7 at the end of the month. Why do they have to grow up??

Last Disney

Our last day was at Epcot- World Showcase. Here are some pics at different countries-

Mexico & Morroco

Italy & France

England

The girls picking oysters in Japan. I remember doing this when I went to Florida as a child.

Aladdin

Important Announcement

I still have one more day of our vacation to post about, but I have some big news. We sold our house this weekend. It was so unexpected and so quick. We got the minimum we would have accepted, but that is fine in this economy. We have to be out in 3 weeks. I have to pack, look for a new place, and do bank stuff on top of my normal things. This will be a very busy 3 weeks. So if I can't get together with anyone or do much, I hope you'll forgive me!!

Disney- Day 5

Days 5 & 6 were spent at Epcot. We did future World one day and the World showcase our last day.

The Living Seas:

Dinner at the Garden Grill:

Disney- Day 4

Animal Kingdom was where we spent day 4. You are probably getting tired of this, but at least I am blogging! Here we are on Safari:

Lily exploring while the big kids rode Mt. Everest:

Yes, it was this warm:

More characters:

Disney World- 3rd day

Our 3rd day was at Hollywood studios. We saw the stunt shows, ate at Hollywood & Vine, and
rode some rides.
Characters we met- Prince Caspian, June, Monsters Inc, Toy Story:

Miss Piggy Fountain:

New York!

Honey I shrunk the kids playground:

Disney World- 2nd Day

We spent a second day at the Magic Kingdom. Aladdin's magic carpet ride:

At the partner's statue:

Eliza in her Mickey hat. All the kids got one with their name embroidered on back:

Characters we met:

Disney World- 1st Day

I finally got the pictures off Jeremy's laptop. Here are some highlights of our first day. We went to the Magic Kingdom.
Jungle Cruise ride:

Dinner at the Crystal Palace with Pooh characters:

My princess:

Tea Cup Ride:

Minnie Mouse's house:

Meeting Mickey and Minnie:

Meeting Pluto:

In Cinderella's Castle: