Valentines Day

John planned a nice evening out for us on Saturday to celebrate Valentines Day even though that is not something we usually make a huge deal about...I got the sitter and he planned everything else.  He told me to go buy a new dress.  Emily and I went to target that day (because it was close and I was short on time) and we picked out a pretty dress...It was hilarious getting Emily's opinion on the dress.  I put this black one on at one point in the dressing room, and she said, "Oh no, you look like a maid!"  He drove me to Andrews 228 downtown.  We had never been before.  It was a nice eclectic restaurant and the food was amazing.  We enjoyed some wine, a crab cake, salad...I had grouper over artichoke risoto, and John had a New York Strip.  Then we had an espresso chocolate torte for dessert.  It was yummy.  We had some awesome uninterrupted conversation about all kinds of stuff.  Afterwards, we went to Target and bought Emily's IPOD for her birthday, rented a movie and bought a bottle of wine.  We went home, paid the sitter, and lounged on the couch in front of a fire and watched a movie!  Perfect night!!!!

The Run

It was freezing and wet and Harriet and I decided Friday that we would not run in the "Run for the Cookies" race as we had planned.  Laying in bed Friday night though, John encouraged me and said, "It's not going to be that cold, you can do it and I will do it with you!"  We discussed whether to take the kids or bug the grandparents or take a few of them but John decided to just take them all.  He said he would push two of them in the jogging stroller.  We woke up late on Saturday and everything in me said not to go.  It was cold and windy and I so wanted to sleep.  All the kids were alseep and it was so snuggly in our house but I got myself up and John fixed me breakfast and a water bottle and off I went.  There were a lot of people there considering the weather!  The race started at 9 am sharp.  The route was a 3.2 mile route around and behind TCC.  I run really slow...like someone walking fast could walk beside me and keep up but I have been told to just keep the running motion in play even if it is slow.  The sun came out a little and it really wasn't that bad.  I ran for a whole mile and then walked up a hill, ran some more, walked up another hill, and ran some more, walked a little and then ran to the finish line.  That is probably the most I have run at one time....the first mile is so hard, after that it gets easier for some reason, at least for me.  I did the race in 46 minutes.  John ran with me the whole time pushing 2 sometimes 3 in the jogging stroller.  At one time he had the girls in the stroller and J.D. was sitting on top.  It was a site and he got lots of comments from other runners like, "can I hop on too?"  My hubby is so encouraging!  He is amazing!  When I left that morning, he got all three kids up, fed them, dressed them all warmly, gathered all the stuff we needed...snacks, drink, etc. and got them all there in time to run with me....!  I am so glad I did the race...I felt accomplished and am already looking at another one in March that I can do...

P.S.  For completing the race, I got a box of Samoa Girl Scout Cookies...Emily and John Daniel ate 2 each and after we got home J.D. broke out in hives all over his body.  We ended up having to take him to Urgent Care the next day because even on Benadryl they were getting worse....turns out he is most likely allergic to Coconut!!!!  Now he is on prednisone and zyrtec and NO MORE Samoas for him!!!

Some stuff we have planned

Today John is riding his off road bike 55 miles in THE CROOM (a race somewhere near tampa).  My Dad is also with him and a couple other guys they know.  Next weekend I am running (hopefully running but maybe just slowly jogging or walking :) the RUN for The COOKIES with my friend, Harriet.  You get a box of girl scout cookies in the end!  It is a 5K.  John and I are then going out for a Valentines Day dinner and race celebration that evening.  I am very excited about this.  I love our dates together!!!  The kids are out of school on Presidents day and John and I decided that we'd take the family hiking.  We may go somewhere in town (a greenway) or we may even go over to the Suwannee River.  That night we want to have Emily's grandparents over to celebrate her birthday with her and have her favorite meal together.  The next weekend is Emily's birthday weekend.  We are having a small spend the night party (like 4 girls) and then the next day a few more of her friends are coming over to celebrate at a Cooking Party!  Mommy and the girls will make personal pizzas, fruit kabobs, decorate cupcakes, and aprons together.  Our long time babysitter, Miss Heather is getting married the next weekend...we are very sad she is leaving us for the love of her life and moving to Montana :(  Then it is MARCH...cannot believe it!!!!  Our tentative plan is go to to Disney World the second weekend in March.  I am probably the most excited!!  The kids do not know and I think we will just surprise them and start driving and not tell them where we are going.  Tickets right now through May are $99 for adults for 4 days and $89 for kids for 4 days. You can go to all the parks and don't have to use the 4 days all at once.  We will just stay in a very cheap hotel and take our food in the park...maybe splurge once...but you can't beat the deal....4 days, 4 parks, and 4 people for < $400!  Then on March 19th we are headed over to Jacksonville to watch John run the Jacksonville Mud Run...it is a 6 mile combat/obstacle course type run in the mud!!!  The pictures online look hilarious and extremely hard.  He is on a team of 5 and they have to wear camo and combat boots..we cannot wait to watch!  We will stay with my Aunt and Uncle and they will go with us to watch.  March 20th is Molly's 1st birthday.  I'm trying to ignore it hoping that she will not turn one...wish I could keep her little!  You know me and birthdays..I love to make them big and special and spectacular although this February/March birthday thing is kind of crazy!  I think we might have a cupcake themed party for Molly out at Maclay Gardens on March 21st...grill out..have family and friends...and let the kids just run around out there......Come on and enjoy the fun...Our little Cupcake is turning 1!!!!! 

Dave Ramsey, Michael Pearl, and the Flylady for President!

Besides Jesus of course, the persons named above have become regular self help leaders in this home.  I am not too fond of self help books or people that get on TV and try to solve people's woes.  I don't watch OPRAH, can't stand Dr. Phil and the ladies on the VIEW make my skin crawl....But I do like to get advice from people who seem to get it right and make sense.  In my opinion, the above could basically do a better job leading our country than any Democrat or Republican.  America's debt would not be skyrocketing, our homes, marriages and children would be set straight and the Flylady would declutter, destress, and organize us all....Since I know that ain't happening, we will concentrate on this home and a few others that I know of.  Something is a changing in my home...life is better (not that is was horrible), decisions are being made, money is being spent wisely, the TV is OFF for the majority of the day, we are all reading more, the house seems to be cleaner, the kids are cleaning their rooms, we are all outside, we are all exercising, the Bible is being read, God is speaking to us, we are saving money where we haven't before, we are decluttering, etc. etc. etc.  BUT it is hard work.  I am exhausted some days from just trying to get it all done!  And it is all good stuff!  The book I spoke of before...Crazy LOVE..speaks of being in AWE of God.  It speaks of his omniprescence and how God IS, God was, and God will be...nothing we can do or will do (America too) can change that....it speaks of how little we all are and I started thinking about it....stress that I put on myself and stress that my friends are putting on themselves is unnecesary in that it just means that we are putting all that stuff in front of God, even if it is good stuff...if we let it wear us down, make us tired, make us crazy, cranky, unpleasant mothers and wives then that is not right either....I do let the ideas and notions of Dave Ramsey, Micheal Pearl, Flylady, and others put pressure on me..but today as I was running in the rain, listening to the sounds of the rain hit the trees and leaves and pavement....I realized something...we all need to relax a little...We are not ALL THAT, we are small, a bleep on the radar screen, a notch on a long long timeline in the history of the world...and if my sink gets shined and if my coupons get clipped and if my kids say please and thank you that is great but I want to stand in AWE of God!  The God that makes the rain fall from the sky, the God that creates catepillars, the God that makes our heart pumps, the God that created the universe, the God that does so much but still loves little ol me....!!! My prayer is that we can stop and smell the roses, listen to the rain and stand in awe of God and then go inside and shine our sink with a smile on our face and a joyful heart and if the 6 stacks of laundry in the garage don't get done...well there is always tomorrow or maybe not :)

Molly

Molly has quite the personality.  I realized last night that I had not taken pictures in awhile so I got out the camera.  It is soooo hard getting a picture of that girl because she is on the GO!!!  She doesn't stop for much and she wants to hold the camera so some of these pictures are a little fuzzy but it was the best I could do last night.  We have a play stethoscope that came with a kid's doctor set.  She likes the stethoscope a lot.  She carries it around.  She actually (no lie) puts it around her neck and then gets up and walks around with her little walker toy...it is hilarious.  The big kids think it is fabulous!  Maybe she is going to be our little doctor!  I just love her to pieces!!!!

Good stuff...

I'm reading a book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan.  I had to quote him:

"Worry implies that we don't quite trust God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what's happening in our lives.  Stress says that things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace towards others, or our tight grip of control.......(another paragraph)  Ultimately, I have just as little control over my own life and what will happen to me.  Isn't the easiest thing at this point to start living in a guarded, safe, controlled way?  To stop taking risks and to be ruled by our fears of what could happen?  Turning inward is one way to respond; the other is to acknowledge our lack of control and reach out for God's help.  If life were stable, I'd never need God's help.  Since it's not, I reach out for Him regularly.  I am thankful for the unknowns and that I don't have control, because it makes me run to God."

When Momma is sick....

.......things fall apart!  I was sick all weekend starting at about 5 pm on Saturday. I didn't do anything on Sunday recovering...so today was the first day that I got back into the groove of things.  Now, I will say that when things really fall apart, like when I am pregnant.....John totally steps up!!!  But during these times that I am down for about a day or two and especially when he is working (this was his 6 days on and he doesn't feel good either)...things kind of fall apart. I guess I should say they fall apart in my mind...the stacks on the desks were growing, unopened mail had built up, bills needed to be paid, school papers were all around, dishes in the sink, LAUNDRY was crazy!!!!, bathrooms dirty, things out of place....oh this kind of stuff just drives me crazy!!!!  My house is not by any means perfect but to some degree, I have to be organized and feel neat and clean and when I woke up this morning...I did not feel this way!!!  I got to work and this is what I did today:

Did 4 loads of laundry so far and still working on it
cleaned kitchen three times
cooked homemade dinner (Roosh's chicken and rice...figured it would be good for my stomach)
paid bills
organized stacks on desk
went through all unopened mail
Got all our tax info together to take to accountant
registered J.D. for kindergarten
updated calendar
did Emily's homework with her
did J.D.'s homework with him
studied Emily's vocab words with her
helped Emily write 7 thank you notes
picked up living room
took Emily to ballet
organized school papers and filed papers
listened while Emily practiced piano
fed, bathed, and put three kids to bed
cleaned both bathrooms
LAUNDRY, LAUNDRY, LAUNDRY!!!

there has to be more...it's no fun being sick but then it is nice to know you are needed!!!