The Joy of my Heart...

Today (at 6:04PM as Jordan will say), Jordan was officially 11 years old. WOW! I remember going into labor the evening before she was born and not sleeping because I was timing my contractions! I woke Wes up around 4 a.m. to tell him I needed to go to the hospital and he replied, "if you still think you're in labor when I get up to go to work, I'll take you then!" (Very supportive!) Well, I did still think and he reluctantly took me to the hospital and just 11 short hours later, we had our Jordan Rae! 6 lbs. 4 oz. 19 1/2 in.

I took her some lunch today to celebrate her big day and her homeroom teacher informed me that Jordan was (and I quote) "the joy of [her] heart." She offered to adopt her...I'm having the paperwork drawn up as we speak!

Indeed, Jordan brings joy to most hearts. She is super bright, super funny, and super strong willed! She is a force to be reckoned with and when she sets her mind to something, nothing will stop her from achieving it!

I can't believe she's 11...time has certainly flown by. She's becoming a lovely young lady and I'm so very proud. My prayer for her today is that her life become the vessel through which God's purpose is fulfilled. I love you, JP. You're the joy of my heart too!

Hey...

Welcome my good friend Jenny to the bloggy world! So many blogs to read...so little time!

Happy Birthday Randee!

Today is Randee Hope's birthday...she's one! She is my siter's (Charlyn) fifth child!! That's right...five biological children ranging in age from almost 16 to one! And, yes, she knows what causes that! Randee is super precious and I wish I could be with her on her BIG DAY! We love you, Randee! Happy birthday!

OOOOOOOUUUCCCCCCHHH!!!

Okay...tonight, I played a little blind volleyball with the kiddos at WILD. All was going well until...I dove to save a ball. The problem?? I landed directly on my right knee. ALL OF ME ON MY RIGHT KNEE. There was a little pain at first, then I stood up! OOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!! Now, there is a golf ball sized knot on the front of my my knee cap and my leg is throbbing from the thigh to the ankle! The worst part is I dropped the ball! I DROPPED THE BALL! I hurt myself and the other team scored. That stinks! The thing that makes me saddest is the realization that I am just getting old. Too old to play volleyball in the aggressive, competitive way it was meant to be played...at least not without knee pads (although they don't make those things with nearly enough padding to help when I fall). So, anyway, although many many people around the world are suffering way more than I, my knee REALLY hurts! And I will try not to whine about it anymore!

Two Cute Boys...

Jackson and Brody having their first playdate at Neise's...I won't mention Deneise was feeling a little sickly and then, three days later was diagnosed with the flu! Thankfully, she chose not to hold these little precious bundles. This was a good move for two reasons...one, the obvious flu issue and two, I got them all to myself!!

Happy Birthday Precious G.G.

We celebrated a big day with little Glory on Sunday afternoon! As with most first birthdays, the freedom to dig into the cake was the highlight of the party! Glory did not disappoint!! She ate until Leigh decided that her health may be endangered if we continued to let her go! Despite the conflict with the Cowboys kickoff time, Glory had lots of friends to help her celebrate her big day!

Insomnia

Last night, I had the worst case of insomnia ever! I could not fall asleep if my life depended on it. My mind was racing and I could not get it to stop. At some point, I started thinking about an episode of House where this girl was going to die if she didn't go to sleep and they couldn't figure out why she wasn't sleeping. Then, I began to wonder if I had her disease (even though I couldn't remember what she was finally diagnosed with!) and if I, too, were going to be awake for 14 days and almost die. Then, I told myself I watch way too many fake hospital shows!

I read for a couple of hours; I surfed the web; I reviewed my Sunday School lesson and thought of ways to enhance it. I actually counted Wes's snores to see how high I could get; but, my mind wandered and I kept having to start over so I decided to count my own breathing which made me kind of hyperventilate, so I moved on to sheep! I considered taking a double dose of Benydryl but I was afraid I'd have the reverse problem in the morning.

Several times, I almost got up, made a pot of coffee and got some work done. But, I kept thinking if I just laid still and quiet, I'd eventually fall asleep. I thought that up until about 5:15 a.m. (which is the last time I remember looking at the clock). I did finally sleep but my sleep was full of disturbing dreams (like being on a ferry that was sinking) and my alarm went off at 7:00 a.m. Needless to say, I was a very tired girl who came straight in from church, skipped lunch, and crashed until 4:15 p.m. I'm hoping for a better night tonight!

So...does anyone know any good cures for sleepless nights? Any and all tips would be appreciated!

Happy Birthday, Abbee!!

Anyone who knows me knows that birthday parties do not necessarily have to happen in close proximity to the actual birth-date. Hence, on January 3, we celebrated Abbee's ninth birthday...which was November 13... with a sleepover (or wakeover)bash! All the girls had a blast and celebrated into the wee hours of morning...I believe it was 3:15 a.m. the last time I went into the living room and threatened bodily harm if they did not get to sleep! Here's a look at some of the fun...


I believe the white spots in the pictures are dust flying from the pillows!! How gross is that??
A big yawn from Abbee...the crew pretends they're actually going to go to sleep!

Happy New Year!

We had rough and rowdy New Year's Eve celebration...okay, maybe more calm and gentle...okay, somewhere in between...what I'm trying to say is we enjoyed an evening at the McKee's. Stacey put me in charge of the "presentation" because, let's face it, I'm practically Rachel Ray. These are the trays I put together for the hoagie buffet. I must give kuddos to Stacey because we had some seriously delicious food...I think I ate the entire pan of stuffed mushrooms (SO YUMMY!).

This is the cheese, bacon, mushroom platter arranged superbly by yours truly. If you ever want to cook a whole bunch of delicious food that I'm going to get to eat and all you need me to do is arrange is on the serving platters, I'm in!
The kiddos were toasting with some Dublin DP while they patiently awaited the "all systems go" order from the master chef!
Jordan, Baylee, and Kellen showing a little New Year glee.
At some point during the night, Jordan asked Stacey this random question: "Mrs. Stacey, will you teach me to cross stitch?" To which Stacey replied, "Sure!" Although Stacey meant some other time, Jordan took it to mean that very evening so every few minutes, she would ask Stacey where her cross stiching stuff was or when she was going to be able to show her how to cross stich. Stacey patiently tried to explain that her cross stiching materials were out in the storage shed and we might have to do it another time. However, she underestimated the determination of one Jordan Powell!! Jordan offered to go the shed (in the dark) and find the cross stiching supplies. She and Baylee ventured out with one flashlight and a whole lot of will power. After several wrong boxes, they finally returned with THE BOX! This is Stacey teaching them to cross stich!!

And finally, after returning home around 1:00 A.M., spending another hour convincing Baylee we shouldn't call her Mom to come pick her up, setting up a movie so she and Abbee could just fall asleep watching it, I finally tucked myself into bed around 2:30. I knew I could sleep in today, so I didn't fret too much. I tried to drown out Emma's constant coughing (she was in our bed because she played the sick card and we were too beat to fight it!)and, at some point after 2:30 and before 3:00 fell asleep. However, my blissful rest was only momentary as I awoke to the sound of Abbee barging into my room crying, "Mom, I'm throwing up!"

No two words make me cringe more than throwing up! She had emptied the contents of her entire digestive system onto her five blanket pallet (one comforter, one sleeping bag, and three quilts!). All I can say is when I crawled back into bed after tending to her, cleaning the mess, and tucking her warmly into her bed, it was 4:28 A.M. What a way to kick off the New Year!

I almost felt sorry for myself until I was gently reminded that it could be worse...she could have been puking from the adverse affects of chemotherapy or some other much more serious problem. She woke me up around 10 AM wanting to eat! I let her have a hot dog bun...we were out of crackers AND bread! By this evening, she was eating gumbo, cupcakes, and ice cream. I think she's feeling better!

Merry Christmas

Well...after FOUR official Christmas celebrations, the decorations are coming down and all visions of sugarplums have turned into reflections of cellulite! But, I won't gore you with the details!! Here are some snapshots of our joyful and triumphant celebrations...and for some reason, they are in no particular order!
This one is of Glory and Emma piled in the bed on Christmas Eve...all four of my kids slept crossways on a queen size bed! They were so cute. I meant to go snap a picture after they fell asleep but, once Santa showed up, I forgot!

This picture is of G.G. on her maiden voyage. Santa brought her the cutest little rocking elephant and she was very excited...so excited, she almost lost control a couple of times...in her defense, it's difficult to steer an elephant...I have trouble steering my own rear end sometimes and it's only half the size of an elephant!

Grandpa and all the grands...except JW...not sure how he snuck out of this photo!

This is Randee Hope...she wasn't feeling too well and she wasn't too happy that her mom was within sight and wasn't holding her. And, apparantly, I wasn't a viable alternative!

This is Maggie Jo and Madyson. Maggie's glasses are Hannah Montana and she informed me that the kids in her class call her "M.J. with the H.M.'s!" Too cute!

Glory exploring the wonders of gift unwrapping. She took this job very seriously.

Everyone sporting their Christmas Eve Jammies!

All in all, we had a great time with all of the family. I hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas too!