A few favs from our trip

I finally have managed to get thru some of the pics from our trip to SC. I have them loaded to our website for anyone that is interested to see 150+ pictures. In my defense that is for family and is the entire month of March...well at least the ones I chose to load :) Anyway for those of you who don't have the time, energy, or cares to look thru that many photos of my boring...but cute little fam here are a few of my favs so far that I snagged.... the above picture is just well funny...if you notice Zachary is crying, Gavin is crying, and Jakeb has his head in his hands--the work of a big brother is so stressful! LOL

My Uncle Fred trying to show the boys how to catch a ball..

The picture below is of Gavin at the Zoo in Columbia..

This one is of Jakeb at Waterfront Park in CharlestonZachary at Waterfront ParkZachary on the boat on the way over to Fort Sumter...his expression cracks me up!This one is Jakeb on the top of Fort Sumter..annoyed and ready to goZachary on Fort Sumter Both on Sumter again...striking a pose...or responding to hey look as I snapped LOLMr. Attitude walking to the car one morningAnd a cold unhappy Gavin at the Beach. It was windy and sandy (of course) and he wasn't happy about either. So there you have it....a few of my favs...notice there is nearly none of Gavin well if you have read previous posts you will remember I said he was not happy camper much of the trip...be it 2 year old-ness or just out of sorts I am not sure but that left me with very few shots of him. Jakeb on the contrary was quite the ham and Zachary always is!

New addition!

Nope not a baby (at least not yet!) but one of 4 legged variety...and mighTy cute! Robert and I headed out last night for dinner and a run to Target on a "mini-date" and some much needed quiet time and came home with this...

She is an 8 week old Boxer pup...and gosh darn she is a cutie and oh so sweet!! The boys are absolutely smitten with her. Jakeb said to me on the way home from school today.."I just don't know how else to say thank you because I love Maddie so much, I love her so bad"....I told him that would be enough! LOL. How cute is that, I mean really can we pass that opportunity up!? Well yes especially 50lbs of dog and several chunks of $$ later I suppose we could but I couldn't wait to get them a puppy! Her name is Madeline---that is what they had named her--Maddie for short and we all liked it so we decided to keep it. So far we have had 3 poops on the floor and a handful of itty bitty pee's but even more poops and pee's outside. The cats are terrified, Bailey seems relatively annoyed but cautiously optimistic...poor guy has been thru 4 friends since we got him going on 8 years ago--so I imagine he doesn't want to get too attached, plus she's a bit on the small side for playing right now, but she sure has been trying! Anyway we all are very excited with our new girl and think she's a keeper!

Here is a pic of Zachary and her veggin' on the couch earlier...don't think it could get too much cuter!

Someday...someday...

"Someday" is Zachary's favorite word lately. He constantly is asking me "Mommy, someday can we...(insert his current question here)?" It's so funny I keep telling him that someday he can do all kinds of things but he just doesn't quite get it because he still keeps asking. LOL.



We just got back from our vacation to Charleston, SC. Charleston is quite a beautiful city, lots of history, lots of quaint little [expensive] shops and restaurants. The weather was absolutely perfect the entire week, not too cold, not too hot. We even got to don shorts a few days and hit the beach which we totally didn't expect...so that rocked in my book! My brave little ones even ventured out into the frigid ocean water a bit (sign said it was in the 60's BRRRR!) And I decided that my serious worrier Jakeb seems to be quite the beach lover, last year on vacation he loved it. Played and played and this year he did the same...this is the child who normally complains and is ready to go in any kind of cold weather but he actually got into the water! Got sandy and just loved all of it...so cool to see him that way to kinda of let loose and do his thing. Gavin wasn't a very happy camper much of the trip, I think he's spiraling into the "terrible two's"...well I really think he jumped in feet first and is staying planted where he landed. He's been a itty bitty little bear the past week or so. A cute bear but lawdy can he roar when he's mad about something! He is talking up a storm lately, attempts a word for everything and is starting to put 2 words together and even 3 every once in a while. Mr. Zachary was his usual boisterous self, he has been cracking us up because he somehow has managed to get confused on exactly what "Florida" is. He doesn't get that it's a state...he thinks "a Florida" is a hotel and has for months now. Anytime we drive past a hotel he will say "Someday..can we stay in that Florida" it's quite cute. I have tried to explain it to him so many times, shown him a map etc etc...I do think he's slowly getting it though. It's so neat seeing their little minds work! And if you think about that concept you (or at least I do) wonder how you ever grasped it or how it was explained and at what age. The concept of town/city/state/country etc. Anyway...our trip was nice. We hit up a few historical sites and did a little shopping and just browsing around the city.



Zachary and I got to meet his coach for his "baseball" that he will be starting in a couple weeks today. Our town has a "start smart" program for children Zachary's age to help teach them baseball and we picked up his "uniform" today. Zachary who is surprisingly VERY shy...hid behind me and would not say hello to his coach, he told me later it was because he didn't want his kid to see him. He's so funny about other kids. As we were leaving the park he asked if he could play on the playground for a few minutes (it's covered so it was dry) I told him sure, so my sweet little kid ran off to play but proceded to be KICKED OFF the thing by some mean little snot of a kid. Man I was ticked, seriously poor Zachary he's so gosh darn sweet and when kids do mean things to him I get that "mama bear" instinct kicking in. I did not of course but I did say something to the kid (whose mother of course was no where to be seen), poor Zachary had an instant bruise and fell from a platform about 4 ft off the ground. Darn kid! Random rant sorry but I felt so bad for Zachary :(



This is one of my first vacations to come home from that I actually felt NOT ready to come home from. We did a lot of running around and not much just relaxing, plus I knew the weather at home was cruddy and the weather in SC was so nice! I am glad to have the comforts of home but wish we could have stayed til it was warm here!



Here is my so far fav shot of all 3 rugs from the trip...I just have glanced thru them so I am sure there is more!

Wow, 3 weeks already?

Feels like I just posted a few days ago...guess that time thing I keep complaining about isn't going to slow down. Ahh well....I probably should try to catch up one of these days.

Anyway news in the B house...let's see. Jakeb had his first baseball practice last night...He was so darn cute about it. He got upset before we left because he was "going to be embarrassed" and is "so shy". His words mind you...so we had to talk it up and get him prepped. Poor kiddo was so nervous about it, and I was nervous for him. But he did great and walked right out there and did his thing! He said he had so much fun and that is awesome for him! He's so not into things like that, so this will be good for him. I hope it helps him feel better about himself and helps encourage him to be motivated to try new things. He's so hard on himself already and thinks he can't do things...and I know I was the same way and it held me back on so many things. I can empathize with him so much but I want him to of course not feel that way, so I hope our extra encouragement helps him along.
Poor Zachary wanted to play so bad last night but his hasn't started yet. In fact I need to look it up and see if I can find some info on when it does start since we haven't heard from any coaches yet.
I will be busy busy once they both start. Jakeb has practice 2 days a week and games on Saturday and Zachary I think has practice/games on Saturdays as well. And man oh man if they all play! Yikes!!
Robert lucked up and was able to work from home this week so we have gotten to have him home with us so that has been fun. He got to go to Jakeb's first practice with us!
Next week we are heading east! Jakeb has spring break that starts Good Friday so sometime EARLY Friday morning we are going to head out to Charleston, SC. I can't wait! Why Charleston you may ask....well honestly we kinda just picked a spot. I wanted to go to the Grand Canyon but that ended up being a little more than we were prepared to spend, Robert wanted DC but that again proved to be a little more plus a few things are closed right now. So we decided on Charleston, SC...we had a lot of fun in NC last March so we figured we try out the Southern Carolina state!

Alrighty I guess that's all for this week's edition from the slacker blogger! Hope everyone (I say that like there are truck loads of people that read this LOL) has a great weekend!!

A moment to gush and be proud.

I have been so proud of my 3 little boys lately and since I have been trying to get back into my scrapbooking tonight and looking at a great many pictures, I thought I would finish up my evening swooning over my SWEET, sweet children. :) What better way to end my day, really?

So lately I have been noticing how gosh darn caring and sweet they are to each other. It makes me so incredibly proud of them and just giggly happy! I love it. I watch them together and while don't get me wrong they DO fight and bicker, the majority of the time however they really do play quite well together. They make sure things are fair with each other, they share with each other, they make sure the other is happy, if one of them isn't or has their feelings hurt they fix it. The tell each other they love each other (Jakeb and Zachary not too often...Jakeb gets embarrassed now!) The snuggle with Gavin, the love on Gavin, they watch out for Gavin. It just amazes me how so considerate and caring they are of each other. Jakeb recently went to stay at a Alex's house for the night and Zachary helped me pack his bag by making sure Jakeb had his blanket and his puppies and then proceded to tell Jakeb to "make sure to put these on Alex's bed because he knows there will be room for him to sleep there" he was so concerned for him! It just melted my heart. Jakeb isn't as openly sweet as Zachary, Zachary is our softy. However Jakeb makes sure his brothers are happy, and genuinely cares about their feelings. He will share his toys without complaining and make sure things are "fair" between them. He will give up what he is playing with to make the other brother happy (not all the time of course but enough times for me to stop and go "wow, what a great kid"). They both help me care for Gavin by watching over him or rushing to his side if he is upset and I can't get to him right away. They all but smother him with their hugging and kissing. Jakeb constantly tells me he is the cutest baby ever. It just makes me so proud to see them so caring and thoughtful of each other!

I guess that's enough gushing about my kiddo's....but I mean really can you blame me! Here's an example of what I mean...and I can honestly say these are totally unprovoked and all their reaction to me saying here let me take your pictures...haha.

Me oh my..

Things to do, things to do! That is how I feel lately! Trying to get caught up on things, or really not so much caught up but staying on task. I think time suddenly sped up and I didn't get a warning that we would now be suddenly experiencing blocks of time that seem to have disappeared. Is there someone I can file a complaint with on that? Like I mean really the whole month of February...that is just flat out not acceptable to speed up an entire month without notifying someone.
Anyway, yeah. I have to get caught up with things on here and several other various places, get back into scrapping which is insanely behind (which was never caught up to begin with but still), get things sorted out for the UL party I am hosting this weekend--dropped the ball on that one with us being sick and what not, damnit! Get things in order for the boys party next weekend...and the list goes on...
Fortunately THIS is one of the things on the list, so I can scratch that off. Blogging shouldn't be on the to do list but oddly enough I find myself doing everything BUT this when I sit down at the computer. It's not easy for me to spout off at the mouth in 20 min suprisingly...well it is but I try to be somewhat entertaining, all be it relatively unsuccessful I am sure. But at least you know I make an effort, right? I like to add other little tidbits like pictures or links or just whatever but that takes more time that you would think...or I just haven't figured out the ticket to the fast track on those tasks.
I did manage to get some household things done today...cleaned our pottyroom, got sheets and laundry washed...AND some even got folded! I know now that IS good for me because I canNOT stand to fold laundry!
The kids are sick this week...which reminds me on the list is to email J's teacher. He has missed everyday but Wednesday this week. And will miss again tomorrow because he had a fever this evening of 101.8. I am guessing it to be the flu...hoping really because we I think are heading into the last stretch and that would mean we've had it and are done...right? Plus it seems to be a relatively mild case and that is good! *KNOCK ON WOOD* Zachary's fever has been higher than Jakeb's but Jakeb has had chest pain also, but I guess we'll see. If they are fever'ish tomorrow we are heading to the docs.
I have started a fun little "project" that hopefully I can stick with..so far I am doing "ok" on it. It's called a "365 project" which is one picture of whichever subject you choose for a year. I have found so many others doing it and have always thought it's such a neat idea but couldn't come up with a fun subject that I had easily available. Several I have seen do outdoorsy subjects or even choose themselves. So after much debating I have decided to do the kids...HOWEVEr not jut the kids in general..but starting with each Birthday I will do one picture each day til their next birthday. So I have started on Zachary since he just had a b-day...so he will actually be a 366 because of the leap year and I will do his til next Feb 12! So his entire 4th year. Jakeb's entire 6th year beginning March 20th, and then Gavin's entire 2nd year starting May 2nd. I will be pictured out if I can stick with it! So far I have several pics of Zachary sleeping because I had forgotten and remembered after he was in bed LOL! I figure that doing the kids is easy and doing all 3 individually will be a lot BUT they are all around at the same time and if I snap a pic of one it's just as easy to snap one of the others AND will be a fun thing to smack in an album! I can't wait! I even have pics frm my cell phone because I grabbed my camera as I was running out the door yesterday and didn't realize I didn't have a card in it...so the cell phone camera had to do it..bleh! Anyway hopefully it will help keep (or in my case GET) some creative juices a'flowin'.

Anyway that's the past weeks of us...in a nut shell!

Let the Eye Rolling Begin...

So apparently 5 years old is when children begin rolling their eyes at their parents. Guess I missed that bulletin because I found myself saying today "and don't roll your eyes at me" then standing there thinking...Did I just have to say that? Did he just roll his eyes at me? Hold up!? He's 5! I guess telling him to pick his clothes up off the floor warrants an eye roll at me...geesh how dare I. But I must chuckle because he's so little but can have so much attitude. I know one day I will NOT be laughing but right now I will.
I have found a new online obsession as of late...flickr.com. Yep I think I could sit there all day looking at amazing photos, getting ideas, insperation, or just plain ole' awe! There are some awesome photographers out there and it's a great resource for information and ideas. I am really jumping into my photography and hoping to get it off the ground even more! I am excited and nervous and anxious! But no time like the present :) :)
Things are going well here in the B house. Jakeb is doing well in school, as is Zachary, and Gavin well he's being Gavin. A little stinker boy who is fast approaching 2! Speaking of aging, Mr. Zachary will be 4 in a mere 3 days. Holy Moly where has the time gone!? I am so proud of my soon to be 4 year old. He really is SUCH a sweet, sweet little boy. He is so affectionate and caring and I just couldn't ask for a sweeter boy. He is constantly hugging me or petting me or telling me he loves me or how pretty I am--I mean really how can you resist that!? He's so caring of his brothers, yet is so fun and spunky and just overall one neat neat kid! He has a huge heart and wears those emotions on his sleeve if he's mad you know it, if he's sad you know it, and if he's happy you know it. He knows his numbers 1-10 (recognition) and is learning his letters, knows how to spell his name, his address, phone number, and birthday. He's a smart cookie because I didn't sit down and teach him ANY of that other than how to spell his name--he has learned it all from listening to us work with Jakeb. And bad mommy for not working with him so I am trying to do "catch up" with him now--since he obviously is listening. He is so eager to please, I really could go on and on as any mother could. He's just a great, awesome, fun, sweet little boy and I am so very proud to be his Mommy!

My grandfather is doing well as is my dad and aunt. We still are trying to adjust to not having my grandmother here...I still have to constantly remind myself which I find hard to do and often feel as if it's a dream and maybe she really IS at her house with my Pappy. They are now just trying to get into a rythm or routine with taking care of my grandfather (Pappy). So far so good I think. I haven't been too great about calling or visiting as of late, but hope to get out there this weekend. I am his official "hair stylist" and I know he is in need of a trim, plus I need to visit and he loves seeing the boys.

Alrighty well I hear Robert's car in the drive! He's home for the weekend....YAY! So better close up shop here.

And anyone interested in checking out my "unofficial website" here is the link: http://www.printroom.com/studio_authoringtool.asp?domain_name=rachelbeasley

Still spinning...

I keep having to remind myself of what has happened. It seems so gosh darn sudden to me and I just can't seem to wrap my head around it. I think I am still fairly numb. Don't get me wrong I have sobbed and cried but I just feel like I haven't "gotten" it. It's so weird to think of my life with out her in it. It's like it's not possible so this just can't be real. That's exactly how I feel, but I have to keep telling myself...not this IS real, this really did happen. And it's odd because it's not like she was young and it's not like I didn't know going into this (her cancer treatments) that this wasn't a very strong possibility. She was so incredibily weak phsyically already that I almost couldn't imagine her body handling all the drugs. And it didn't. :( But it still is such an incredible shock to me. It all seems so fast. Saturday after the burial I was sitting at their house and it struck me that a week ago (from that point) she was walking around the house doing her daily things and now we have just buried her. It was so fast, I guess that's how it always is really. I went over to their house today to help my aunt go thru some of her personal things. My aunt said that she's been told that the sooner you do it the easier it is...don't know if that is true we didn't get thru too much. I have to bags full of clothing that she wore, I imagine it will stay in the bags for a great while before I can actually manage to bring it out and wear it or do anything with it. It so weird being there, my grandfather looks so sad and broken hearted. He talks and seems ok but his eyes just ache. Even being in the house it I had to remind myself "she's not here". Heck even now.

I don't like this....

I don't like I have to post this....I don't like that it's the truth, I wish it were a bad dream. This past Wednesday night, January 16, 2008 at 10:55pm my grandmother passed away at Williamson Medical Center. Her "funeral" is tomorrow. She had typed up wishes that she had a few years ago and she has requested no funeral just a graveside service. I really don't know what to do so I am just trying to stay busy, and I guess I am acting like nothing has happened really. But it has and I am so distraught, so sad. I am sitting here in tears now, I guess it hits me at night mostly. I have taken on the project of putting together pictures of her into a DVD, and my sweet baby boy Gavin came in while I was doing it and pointed to the computer and said "amama" aka Gramma, I told him no that's GiGi and he proceeds to sit here and say GiGi over and over again at every picture of her for about 5 min. It broke my heart, he won't get to know her and she won't get to hear how great he says her name now. I told the boys today, they took it just fine really...kinda like I thought they would. Jakeb just came up and hugged me and knows he should be sad but I don't think he understands why, Zachary just wanted to know about burying her. He also asked about putting flowers on the "place where we bury her" and I told him yes of course he could do that and then asked him how he knew about doing that, he said he saw Squidword do that when he thought Spongebob had died. LOL! Silly boy.
I just can't believe it, I am still in shock I think...you know every time I go to Gramma and Pappy's house I always sit at the bar and Gramma sits in her stool aka her perch. And we just talk and talk, about things going on with her or family or me or just anything. We have done that for years, before they redid the kitchen we sat at the table. She would often save me coupons and I would cut them out while we talked. What am I going to do now when I go there?? Look at her empty stool and have no one there. I can still hear her it just doesn't seem real at all, not at all. She was SUCh a strong person to me, she had a mind of her own for sure and she usually let you know it. So seeing her at the hospital so weak and sick and struggling it just was very surreal and now knowing she is gone just seems wrong, so very wrong. It hurts and it sucks. I knew it would happen but I didn't think I would feel this shocked. She made me a blanket a few years ago, I told her I wanted a blanket made by my grandmother so she got to work on one and surprised me with it. I think it meant a lot to her for me to request that, when she gave it to me she said.."now you have a blanket made by your grandmother" I've been sleeping with it since Wednesday night. I was actually on the phone with my dad when he got the call to get back to the room. I had called him upset because I had forgotten to talk to her about the boys, so he put the phone to her ear so I could tell her that "Jakeb, Zachary, Gavin, and Robert Taylor" all loved her...Robert Taylor is my hubby Robert...I have a brother Robert also so that was her way of distinquishing them. So I talked to her and 45min or so later is when she passed away. I knew when I left the hospital earlier in the evening that she wouldn't make it thru the night. I still just can't believe it all. I don't know it's not like I was totally blindsided with this but it's still how I feel.
Alright I will stop "blubbering" I need to get finished with this slideshow. I needed to do it, I wanted to so I now I need to finish it up!
Here are some pics of my grandmother and us...
This is her and I after a school clothes shopping trip when I was 6 or so...she used to take us shopping for new school clothes almost every year.


First time holding Jakeb...her first Great GrandchildHer with Zachary....seriously could that be any sweeter?Again with Zachary and Jakeb, Happy!!
At Christmas 3 years ago with my Aunt Marsha

Our family minus a cousin and an uncle and Gavin...who was inutero...First time holding Gavin
Again with Gavin, such a cute shot...sorry it's sideways!

Last Pictures of 2007!

Figured I would post the last few pictures I took for 2007! I took these last night around 11:15, to mark my last photos of the kids for '07 :) I think I have done this every year since Jakeb was a baby, but will have to dig thru cd's to see. Maybe I will do that tonight and post back....but maybe I won't.

Either way here are the last pics I took.

Happy New Year, Ya'll!

Long time no post....shame on me! This past month has been busy with a capital B! Graduation came and went...I walked, recieved my diploma and am now officially a college graduate. Yes I deserve respect and a larger paycheck...oh wait, darn. Well the thought was nice anyway. It went very smoothly, several of my mom's family came up for my graduation. It's always nice to see everyone so that was great! We had a little "shindig" here afterward with family and a few friends, that went very well and we all had a nice time. It seemed forever to get here and now it's odd to say I have finally graduated.
The week following graduation we had decided to go with Robert to Columbus, OH. He had a work trip scheduled there for the Thurs/Fri of that week so we figured heck we'll tag along. Jakeb's last day was Wed so it worked out well. We picked him up from school early, he said he didn't feel well but wasn't horrible so we headed out. Grabbed lunch with my mom for her birthday and hit the road, at lunch Jakeb definitely seemed to not feel well but figured he was tired or just in a mood. Well we get all settled at our hotel and he woke up at 4am with a 103 fever! WONDERFUL. It didn't clear up as the day went on Thursday and he was complaining that his throat hurt, so I sent my mom and Robert on a hunt (via phone...via internet and people where Robert was working) for some sort of walk-in clinic. What I really wanted to do was pull up and have a nurse walk out test him for strep, tell me it was positive (I knew that's what it was...I had it PLENTY as a kid), and send us off with an Rx. Knew that wouldn't happen...but the people where Robert was working did send us to the "Children's Walk-in Clinic" and I must say I was impressed! We need a place like that here, it appeared to be a normal peds office but then had walk-ins from 3-10pm, and was NICE! Anyway he had strep, they gave him amox and sent us on our way. I though well good by Friday morning he would be feeling better and 24 hours after starting the rx he would be better...yeah right. We ended up stuck in the hotel the entire time because he didn't get better, in fact we had to call our normal ped on our way home explain the situation and request a new more effective Rx be called in.
Zachary and I did track down the mall in Columbus one evening (of course... I have to find the local mall!) and WOW, was it nice!
So Jakeb wasn't better til Sunday and he missed Christmas with my dad's side...actually he and Zachary both did. So that stunk but we couldn't chance them getting my grandmother sick. My grandmother is doing ok, she had her last Radiation treatment this past Mon, goes in for Chemo again tomorrow. And from that point will have another CT to see how things look and then they will determine further treatment plans as needed. She is worn out and looks very tired but is hanging in there. Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers for her. I do have a special request for anyone still reading at this point to say a few prayers for my dad. It's a long story that I won't bore you with but he is having some problems right now as well as having a hard time dealing with his parents health issues and what not. So any prayers or good thoughts for him to help him along would be MUCH appreciated.
Christmas went VERy well, the boys wracked up this year. But we had fun shopping for them and it was nice to be able to do so. Jakeb got his "Ultimate Bumblebee" he's been drooling over, Zachary got his Spongebob game, and Gavin got his basketball goal. They got more but those were the requests...well other than Gavin's but if he could say it that's what he wanted LOL.
We are currently dealing with Zachary being sick again. He's had a relatively high fever since Saturday, took him to Walkins yesterday...and OMG that was a nightmare, spent THREE hours waiting just to see the doctor it was that packed. Yikes! We got sent for a chest xray because he's had such a high fever, and sounded wheezy. Lungs looked ok they said he has bronchitis and a double ear infection. Joy. SO he's on Augmentin for 10 days. He still had a fever of 102 this afternoon but hopefully a full 48 hours will be what is needed and he will be better tomorrow, if not back to the dr we go. I swear I am borderline ready to lock them in their rooms for the winter.
Jakeb goes back to school on Thursday :( I dont' want him to go. I like him being at home, I hate that he misses all the things we get to do. That and honestly I can't stand having to fix lunch and get up at 6am to get him ready and out the door! I am taking him to Pump-it-Up tomorrow for one last fun day before he goes back, poor Zachary can't go and has to stay at home but I really have wanted to take Jakeb so we have worked that out.
Hmm..I think that's about all for now. I hope everyone has had a wonderful New Years Day....well heck and Holiday all around!

Blah, Blah...Blog!

Been a bit of a slacker here lately, sorry about that! I have thought so many times when something happens "Oh I need to blog that!" and yet I haven't. So many other things I am trying to work on right now and when I think about blogging and the thoughts I like to put into it, it just has seemed more time consuming. Needless to say I am putting everything else aside for now, so here I am. :)

Let's see....what to report... Oh I guess a big thing is I FINALLY finished my paper I have been whining about for a month. I feel pretty good with it actually, so hopefully I will see my final grade up pretty soon. My only concern is the length, he gave us nothing other than it's "HUGE" but I am not sure what that means. When asked how long it needed to be he said however long it takes....well it took me 13 pages, hopefully that's HUGE.

The kids are doing quite well. Every has coughs but they are mostly at night and fairly mild. Jakeb and Gavin got hit with colds, those two catch just about anything flying around. Fortunately Jakeb's body seems to have figured out what it's supposed to do now and kicks them out pretty quick, Gavin's is still learning apparently and they take well over a week to fully subside most times. Zachary is doing great, he's back to his wild bouncing off the walls, being a gross little boy pretty much all the time. I swear he has become the gassiest kid ever!
Poor Gavin is wearing me out this week, I think he's hitting the "terrible two's" and is so darn opinionated about everything he wants or doesn't want. We are having some sleeping issues with him recently and that is definitely not pleasant, hopefully it will get back on track very soon though.
Jakeb is having a sleepover with his "very bestest friend Samuel" tomorrow and couldn't possibly be more excited. So excited in fact that he was ready to go to bed as soon as we got home tonight! Actually asked to have his bath first so he could get in bed because tomorrow is the day he gets to go to Samuel's. He knows that when he wakes up it's Friday---pretty smart kid huh? Zachary is also getting to have a sleepover with Caroline tomorrow, he's not as excited yet but that's because he doesn't get the concept of time just yet...but I am sure he will be. Caroline and Zachary don't see each other nearly as much as the used to, so I think he's been having withdrawals..because yesterday he was in tears because he couldn't play with her. Plus like I have said before they have known each other since they were tiny babies so they are best buddies for sure. For that matter so have Jakeb and Samuel. I just love that for them! I never have had a friend that I have known my entire life and granted their lives may take them to seperate journey's but I hope they don't because I think that is so cool. To have a friend you have known for as long as you can remember, a friend you grew up with, so cool I think!

Robert has been in Canada again this week but is home tonight and leaves out again Monday. I think the week after that he goes to Ohio and we are going to go with him for a few days. The boys have been asking to go stay in a hotel...that alone is fun for them LOL! They want to go swim and do something different. Jakeb has a half day on the 20th and Robert's training doesn't start til then so I think we will go with him. We'll see though.

Christmas shopping is ALMOST done, just a few more people to shop for and a couple more gifts I need to pick up for the kids...actually just a watch for Jakeb (something cheap!) and something small for the Gav-ster. I haven't even started on stuff for Robert yet though...I am actually not sure WHAT to get him. I usually do clothes but I would really like to get him something more fun. I am sure I will figure it out soon :)

Still working on getting started with my photo "biz". Getting closer to feeling ready but still a ways to go.

Oh and let see OMG--SEVEN days til I graduate college...how cool is that? Just need to finish up my photog portfolio and I am good to walk Woohoo!

I guess I am going to end there...I could ramble on for several more paragraphs but I will spare you the boring :)

Much too late...

To be attempting this but I have had mucho caffeine today sooo...here I sit :) I have been tinkering with photoshop a bit and learning some more editing techniques, very excited about that! YAY!

I need to quit stalling and get this darn geog paper DONE, it's due in uh 10 days...yep TEN days. Yikes, I need to get on the ball. I do have a topic so that's a start.

Everyone is snoozing of course so it's nice and quiet here...new comp so not even the hum of the computer! We have really just been hanging out at home the past few days. Turkey day was good nothing exciting, pretty typical eat dinner with the family day. We went to Robert's parents house ate, visited, and headed home. Gavin isn't feeling well still so we have just been trying to lay low. Robert's family is having a dinner tomorrow in Jackson...which is TWO hours away. Not too happy about doing that really but I told him it was up to him and he wants to go, so we are probably going to go, depending on how Gavin boy is feeling. If it were just us driving it wouldn't be an issue to drive for 2 hours eat for 1 1/2 and then turn around and come back. Not to mention it's going to be about 15 people trying to visit and catch up at El Chico...yes I think that is a recipe for CHAOS. But alas if it were "my" (they are my family of course but you know what I mean :) ) I would want to go so that is why I left it up to him. We will have a nice time but the drive stinks. Geesh that was a it of a rant...sorry about that! We did get the tree put up yesterday afternoon, the boys were very excited about that! Jakeb kept telling me "Happy Christmas!"

I went to Hendersonville today to visit with my mom for a bit and left the boys with Daddy-o. It's nice to get away alone for a little while. It's always a little odd going to back to Hendersonville for me, I only on a few occasions have actually seen someone I know or recognize and I usually hide! I can't stand those "HEYYYY" [all the while thinking..who is this person again] conversations, so I avoid them like the plague. Robert and I are different in that area because he very eagerly goes up to anyone he thinks he may know from his childhood, I on the other hand run and hide LOL. No uncomfy covo's for me! I did have a nice visit with my ma though!

Jakeb has had several night terrors recently, which is a little concerning. I have read in several places that they often occur from lack of sleep so I am attributing it to that but it's still scary. They also can be from some trauma but since he's had them since he was a little over 2 and at that point he was rarely away from me so I just can't see that being the cause. But it's scary none the less because often he talks and says things like "Mommy/Daddy, nooo" or just stares off behind us saying "noooo" all while he's shaking and whimpering it's just pitiful. Talking to him makes it a lot worse so I try to just get him to lay down and be quiet but that's hard when he looks so scared. Robert has odd sleep habits too so I guess it's hereditary but boy I dont like it!

Zachary is doing VERy well, completely off the steroids now...YAY!!!! We are now trying to get his behavior back undercontrol which is uh yeah not easy he's such a stubborn kid! He had his follow up appt with Neurology last week and they have "released" him and don't need to see him back. I also talked with her about the MRI scheduled in December and possibly giving him some type of sedative before they do the IV and she actually said that it isn't necessary to do the MRI at all because unless he has symptoms of some sort they won't do anything any differently. So we get to cancel that, which is VERY good!

And Mr. Gavin is doing ok, he has another funky cold that has his breathing all wheezy and fast again and that is always so scary esp at night while I am sleeping. I wish he would sleep with me better I would just put him in our bed. He's had a low grade fever today but mood wise and breathing wise seems better so hopefully tomorrow will be even better.

Alrighty...I think this has gotten long enough :) Hope whomever actually reads (and of course those that don't) had a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!



Here are a few pics I have edited...these are post edit and just tinkering around so not perfect but lookin fun anyway :)

Title 1

The kiddo's are out of school for the rest of the week, Zachary had a Thanksgiving meal for families to come to today at his school and they dismissed the kids after that so I let Jakeb have a special treat and have a half day. He thought that was great! We had a busy day though and I am worn out! I took Zachary to school, then Gavin and I hit up Publix for some groceries, then home to unload them and chill for an hour, then off to eat T-day meal with Zachary (which was pretty yummy!), then headed to get Jakeb (and Alex). It was GORGEOUS here today so I took the kids to the park for a bit, then home for a nap for Gavin, then because it was nice and may not be again for a while, I grabbed there clothes for Xmas card pics and we went to Canonsburg (I local historical site) and tried to snap some pics...didn't go so well but I may have a decent shot or two (of the 120+!) . Then my dad came over for dinner, LONG day! So now that you have the entire run down of my day....LOL.
I need to figure out how people manage to get their kids to just magically "pose" for the camera, mine just don't--much less look! Of course it's usually only one kid in the pic and that almost always is doable, but start adding more and it gets complicated!
I have decided that I need to get on the ball with my photography and quit dragging my feet about it, give it an honest effort....eventually LOL...no seriously I keep talking about it and then do nothing, so after graduation that is my plan. We'll see.

I don't believe I have posted yet about my grandmother....we found out last week that her cancer is back. I guess actually it's not the same type of cancer so not sure if it's back or if she just has it again, either way she has Small Cell Carcinoma which from what I have read isn't the best kind (like there is a good kind). We still don't really know any other details as far as prognosis or treatments. They cannot do surgery because of her health and they did a scan today to see if she is a candidate for Radiation along with the chemo. She has lost a great deal of weight so I am nervous about the chemo and all of it. Granted she's 71 but being that we have lived relatively close to them nearly my entire life it's hard to imagine her NOT here. It's hard realizing that she may not be here much longer and just thinking about that is upsetting of course. I am, for now, trying not to think that way until we know what the complete diagnosis is and hopefully we will find out more tomorrow after the results of the scan she had done today are read. My dad was here tonight discussing what to do if/when something happens to her. My grandfather (Pappy) is a parapalegic and she has been his primary caregiver for many, many years. They do have nurses that come 3 times a week but he no longer is able to get out of the bed and in his wheelchair so he has no way of getting around to take care of things that he may need. Because of that he nearly needs 24 hour care, my dad is of course worrying about all of this quite a bit, but for me I am not in on the decision making of that so I don't have too much to offer at this point. And knowing my grandparents it is probably covered but he (my dad) doesn't seem to think so...guess I need to do some digging on that topic, joy! And a fun one at that. I would really appreciate any prayers tossed our way for my grandmother and family in general. Hopefully I will have more details tomorrow.

Well I guess I am rambling...more than usual...I am beat so I am going to head to dreamland!

I will post a few pics from the kids "photo shoot" soon :)

Pic Post

These are pictures from our trip to Fall Creek Falls from this past weekend.