catching up...

God has been working on my heart a lot lately. And in the midst of the busyness, I am trying to obey. The last few weeks have been unbelievably busy. Its hard to believe I have had a chance to listen. I am looking forward to sitting here in about a week and being able to breath a sigh of relief, because I will have made it through this busy season. It is the end of the school year for Joshua so I have been extra busy with end of the school year stuff for him and next week is going to be just as busy. I have volunteered this year as his teacher's room mom (there are actually 2 of us working together - praise God for my co room mom, Amy) and we have a lot going on. Jordyn's dance recital is this weekend - I am so excited for her!! She is thrilled to be on stage. So this weekend will be busy with rehearsal and the actual recital. Next week, our big event for Safe Journey will take place. I volunteer on a small team who helps plan events and help run the meetings for Safe Journey. Elevation partners with Safe Journey to provide support to teen moms. The Senior girls in this group will be having a graduation ceremony next week and our team has planned and organized the event. I have also had a lot of volunteer work come through with my E-Kidz volunteer position. I also planned a baby shower for my dear friend, Chelsea last week.

And while all of this has been going on I have graciously and joyfully accepted the title of "aunt" again. I am so excited. I haven't posted about this new honor for privacy reasons. But I am so excited to be able to share on my blog loud and clear now!!! About 6 weeks ago, my best friend Amy, got a phone call that they were chosen to be parents of twin baby girls who were not yet born! On May 12, the girls were born. They were seven weeks premature but doing great! Yesterday was a big day because the waiting period for the mother's termination of rights to the girls was up!! The babies can be officially adopted by our dear friends Amy and Ken!!!! They are the sweetest babies. I am so excited to be an aunt. One of the babies is home already and the other will be following early next week!!! Today, I got to have my first official job as babysitter!!! It has been a busy time for them and for me because I have been helping them out in anyway I can!!!

So I just wanted to write a quick update on what has been going on around here. I promise to write some more in depth posts (with pictures!) after I get through next week! And with any luck I should be up and running on a new laptop. I have really really missed mine!!!

In the midst of this busyness, I have realized once again, I have taken on too many things. I have vowed again not to overcommit myself. I want to be able to enjoy a relaxing summer with my kids. I also want to spend some time planning for our baby girl who will be here before we know it. I am almost 20 weeks - halfway there! In the midst of this busyness, God has really spoken to me about where my priorities need to be and has shown me some areas where I need to cut back and get rid of. That is hard for me. But I am going to do it!

lame blogger lately...

i have been really lame at posting lately. last week we had a little mishap with my laptop and it crashed - we think that the hard drive is done, gone, whatever... i am so sad and stressed out at the same time. all of our photos from the last year are on there. we did back up some but we hadn't done it recently so i think we are missing josh's baptism, jesiah's 3rd birthday, easter, etc. i also used my laptop for everything. you don't realize how dependent you are on a machine until it is gone. for the life of me i can't get into any of my sites that are password protected - unless i remember the password. there are so many areas of my life that require that - elevation stuff, the kid's agency stuff,etc. and to top it off my list of usernames and passwords were saved on the laptop - of course. my email was also run through outlook so i can't access all the saved emails/docs/pics that are in there. i have lost almost all of my email addresses. anyway, undue stress and not at a good time.

i have been really really busy the last couple of weeks. josh is finishing up school in about 2 weeks - which means end of the year everything!!! i have a lot of volunteer work i am involved in at his school and at church. i am also planning a few baby showers. jordyn is having her ballet recital at the end of the month!! so, my hands are into a lot of projects right now. not to mention the regular daily stuff i am responsible for. although, i must say my husband has been a huge help!! he has started taking josh to school every day for me!!!

i am looking forward to a time where things will be a little less busy and slower paced. i have come to realize that there are a few things that i am going to have to clean off my plate. i have realized that i don't ever have time to do anything fun or for me b/c of my overscheduled life right now. i would love to use my free time to blog/write, create some scrapbooks, and do some garden stuff outside. (yes, this not an outside gal has begun to do some gardening - our gardener hasn't been showing up the last 8 years we have lived here!)

so all that to say, there is a lot going on here, i have just not available to write. hopefully that will change soon!!

lastly, i did a very simple post to make our announcement ... so i just wanted to follow up and tell you that we are so excited and so blessed to be having another baby girl!!!! everything in the ultrasound looked great! she is healthy and looking good!!!!

here she comes...

tomorrow...

is the big day! jamil and i will be going for the baby's ultrasound and my monthly midwife appointment. as long as the baby is cooperating, we should be able to share the good news!!
so check back sometime tomorrow and hopefully i will be able to post the news of whether we are having a girl or a boy!!!!

mother's day weekend...

jamil has so lovingly changed the name of mother's day to mother's day weekend. he realized after being married for more than eight years that it really is a weekend of celebration and not just one day. and boy did i get spoiled this past weekend...

on friday, jamil took the morning off to watch the little kids, so that i could attend josh's mother's day celebration (the celebration was so sweet! i cried the entire time!) when i returned from the morning out, jamil has surprised me and taken the rest of the day off!! he sent me off for the afternoon to get a massage, manicure and pedicure!! it was fabulous. i had an hour pre natal massage at urbanna cityspa and teabar, with a massage therapist that jamil knows from church! (if anyone wants a referral i would love to give you one, the place is awesome and lydia is fabulous!) after my massage i went next door to get my nails and toes done!! as i was heading back to the car, i spotted a marble slab ice cream place - of course how could i resist - i pampered myself yet one more time!! i am telling you this was a pregnant mom's dream come true - a massage, mani/pedi and ice cream - wow!!!

i headed home to do the family thing and then after i got the family fed and settled my sister and i went shopping and out for sushi!!! we ordered a sushi we had never had - it was heaven. i have been thinking about it all week!!!

on saturday morning, jordyn and i went shopping to finish up buying our mother's day gifts. then we picked up lunch on the way home. after eating some yummy subs, we headed out as a family to a nearby park, where we rented a paddle boat for the afternoon! it was so much fun. the kids loved being out on the water. it was so fun and so relaxing. after we did the boat thing, we took the kids over to the park where they played in the sand and tossed the football for awhile. after we left there it was time for dinner so we went out for pizza, wings and salad.

on sunday, jamil and i both had the sunday "off" from volunteering at church. so we were able to go to church as a family. after church we went to the macaroni grill for lunch. then when we got home, i was able to take a long nap. for dinner, my sister cooked the main dish - so her and my parents came up for dinner. i made a strawberry pie for desert!! a home cooked meal, not cooked by me and strawberry pie - yum!!!

i was able to have a very relaxing and fun weekend, thanks so much to my hubby! who so generously gave of himself and took over a lot of the duties so i could relax and not have to cook for the majority of the weekend. i am telling you by the time monday rolled around - i was wishing it didn't!! but it did and we are back in business - it was so nice to have a weekend like that, it has helped me to get through the busyness of this week!!!

top ten reasons i love my husband...

a few weeks ago i was tagged by my friend, jenny to create a post that tells 10 reasons that i love my husband. so here goes. first i am going to list the "rules" of being tagged and then my list!!

Rules: 1) Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules. 2) List the top ten things you love about your husband. 3) Tag 4 people and link to their blogs at the end of your post. 4) Let the people know they are tagged by leaving them a comment on their blogs.

top ten reasons i love my husband, jamil:

1. jamil is an extremely Godly man. he is full of love for Christ. jamil is a huge part of the reason why i have a relationship with Jesus! his actions reflect the love of Christ.

2. jamil puts up with me unconditionally. he has endured every mood swing through each and every pregnancy. he has put up with all of my wacky cravings and pleadings for whichever food i "have to have right now!". he is always patient and kind to me even when i am not that way with him. and even when i am not pregnant, he puts up with the mood swings.

3. jamil works very hard to provide for our family so that i can stay at home and care for our children. in the past jamil has worked four jobs (1 full time and 3 part time/side jobs) so that we can have me at home with our family. he does what he needs to do without complaining so that i can fulfill the calling on my life to be a wife and mom. he supports and feels that i am called to be at home with our children. even when times are tough, he finds a way to make it through!

4. jamil's outlook on life and each situation we tackle is always positive. he is an extremely optimistic. jamil can really turn a negative situation into something positive.

5. jamil is hilarious. he has a wonderful sense of humor! he can make me laugh and smile like no one else.

6. jamil has a gift for encouragement. he loves to encourage other people. he thrives on being an ecouragement to others.

7. jamil is tall, dark and handsome - what more can i ask for? when i was single, i wondered if my hubby would be taller than me or would i be taller than he? it is fun to be able to wear heels and my hubby still stands taller than me!!!

8. jamil is great with our children. he has always been the type of dad that is very involved. on the day that joshua was born - jamil was the first to change his diapers! and ever since then, he is a dad who bathes our kids, changes diapers, packs lunches, goes to school functions, plays with the kids (sometimes a little too much wrestling goes on here) and loves on them. jamil is a great daddy and i am so lucky to have him. i honestly feel that if he weren't so involved i wouldn't wanted to have such a large family.

9. jamil is very generous of his time. he is the type of person that would stop and really speak to people he knows (and sometimes those he doesn't). he enjoys giving of himself to others to really find out what is going on in their lives. jamil is never too busy to give a person he loves a few minutes or more of his time.

10. jamil is super laid back. he is very easy going. for me being a more uptight person, he really balances our family out. it really helps to have him so laid back, if we were both uptight - wow it would be intense around here. and if we were both laid back - nothing would get done. so we balance each other out!!!

so those are the top 10 reasons i love my husband! jamil has been a blessing in my life and i love him so very much!

i am going to tag Chelsea, Patti, Jess and Kelly to do the same post!!

a year ago...

a year ago we walked through one of the most painful times in our life. over the last two weeks we thought about the events that happened on each day one year ago. as we reflected on what was happening this time last year it brought up a lot of hurt and pain. and as we have seen the very same pain running through our dear friends this year it makes our experience raw again.
a painful, ungodly cycle that has happened over and over for seven years. one we have watched and personally walked through.

this past sunday a year ago was our last sunday at a place we called home. a place where we poured every ounce of our energy, our time, our loyalty and our love into for nearly seven years. a place where we built relationships, family and connections. a place where we built ministries that were bringing glory to God and you could see Him working.

when God began opening my eyes to situations i had been blinded to, i wanted to close them again. God wouldn't allow me to. He kept showing me things i needed to see. i needed to see because He was about to perform a big change in our life that i couldn't see yet. when things got so bad, so hurtful, so painful, so unlike Him, I knew He was calling us away from what we called home.

leaving was one of the hardest decisions we had to make. even harder was saying good bye to a group of people who didn't deserve this divorce. the day we said goodbye was exactly one year ago, it was very painful and very confusing to all. it was like a divorce where the kids were in the middle and the ones getting hurt. the room filled with tears and looked like those there were at a funeral.

the pain that we endured for having to leave a place we called home was one we will never forget. we will never forget how we were treated after giving so much time and energy to building this home. we will never forget how unappreciated we were, after giving so much love and loyalty to those dwelling in the place we called home. we will never forget how God showed us the true hearts of the people in charge of the place we called home. a place we no longer could give to, or trust in. it was time to go even with the burden we carried. a burden full of frustration, hurt and unforgiveness.

during this time we often asked why. we asked each other - why? we often asked the ones who loved and supported us - why? no one had the answer. no one understood why this continued to happen to loyal followers over and over. daily we cried out to the Lord and asked Him - WHY? only He has the answer. only He understood why this happened.

i leaned on Him knowing He was the only one who provided peace and comfort to my broken heart. my shattered self. losing all we lost when we left was hard. i was pruned to the skeleton. with nothing left. i was afraid to trust again. i was afraid to give again.

this mother's day sunday marks a year since we were free from the the place called home. a year ago this sunday, God showed us to a new place where we now call home. after a year of healing and leaning on Him we recognize the freedom we have from the other place that was just an illusion and built on little truth.

now the place we call home is full of love, trust, loyalty and appreciation. each and every sunday we get to experience something we had never experienced before. we are able to grow and learn and have eagerness to do so. it is inspiring and refreshing to be taught God's word at church! we we are able to serve and be appreciated for the talents God has given to us. we have been a part of a miraculous place where Jesus is touching not only our lives but the lives of so many others.

so today a year later, the pain is still there. but it is a lot intense. today, i am praising God for who He is and how He worked in our lives to bring us to a place of true worship. He brought us to a fabulous church home. He also brought us true worship in our personal lives by blessing us with so many things. all of this is a result of us walking through the pain to get to where He wants us to be.

not in atlanta this time...

we did not have to travel to atlanta for the photo shoot that i mentioned in my last blog - sorry to keep you hanging!!! from now on i think i will wait to post until i know we are going somewhere!

could be in atlanta tomorrow???

i received a call from our agent and she is submitting josh and jordyn's pictures to be used in a big photo shoot tomorrow or thursday. if they are chosen we will be heading out of town for a day or so. the shoot is in atlanta. basically, i just sit and wait until she calls. i have no idea if they will get chosen or not. they needed girls jordyn's age and boy's josh's age. with any luck i will hear from her soon and can make our traveling plans and pack up our stuff. we will see...

i love bloglines!

several months ago, my friend jess told me about bloglines and i had some trouble figuring out what it does and how it works. the other day i was plain determined and figured it out - and once i did it was sooooo easy. anyway, i am so excited about bloglines!!! it lets me know when the blogs i read have a new post - love it!! i would spend many minutes in a day going down my blogroll bookmarks and going to everyone's site - i read nearly 30 blogs - and i would click on a blog to find they hadn't posted something new. i am sure that people who don't have bloglines and click on my blog have that happen a lot too!!! well now, my frustrations are over!! i just look at my bloglines and read the new posts i haven't read!!! i love bloglines. if you read a lot of blogs on a regular basis - you have to try it!!!!!

busy, busy...

the last part of this week has gone so fast and we've been on the go! here is a recap:

~on wednesday we spent the day at amy's house. the kid's had a great time playing and we did some organizing and hanging out!!

~on thursday i had a midwife appointment, amy met me there and took my kid's over to walmart so i could have an appointment in peace!! yeah - thanks so much amy!!!! my appointment went great, i got to hear baby's heartbeat - sounds great! i also set up my ultrasound appointment for may 19!! only 24 days until we find out if we are having a boy or a girl!!! oh yeah, i saw some friends' at my appointment, who were having their ultrasound and they found out some big news! i am really excited for them!!!!

~today, chelsea and i went shopping together without any children!! yahoo!! we had a wonderful babysitter who watched all of our kids. we did have a good time! we shopped at destination maternity and then ate at pf changs for lunch - yum! the day went sooooo fast, before we knew it was time to get home and relieve our sitter!!

~ tomorrow we have a busy day. we will be at lake park, for girls on the run, where jordyn's dance class will be doing their ballet recital piece! she is so excited! and then we will be downtown at freedom park to volunteer for safe journey (one of elevation's community outreach projects!!)

~ tomorrow we will also find out if jordyn and josh will be used for a print job!! if so, we may be heading to atlanta soon!!!

so that is what is going on around here!!!

not leading the pack....

my feelings of being overwhelmed with maintaining our home brought me to this question to which i asked my husband, "is this what it is like to have a big family? am i to except the fact that not everything will get done and everything that is done will quickly be undone?" after crying (sobbing) about what i did do today and how it still looks like i have done nothing, he told me that he thought this is probably what it is like to have a big family. he asked me what my friends experience. and i told him i didn't really know because the friend's that i am the closest to and who i spend the most time with are friends with one or two children. i am the one who has the most children right now. (although with this baby boom, two of my friends will have 3 kids each just like me in a matter of months!) anyway, so i told him i feel a little lonely because of this - i am the one sailing into unchartered waters first, my friends quickly sailing behind me. but at this time i am the one who they are probably going to look to for navigation and honestly, i don't think i will be the best sailor to guide them. i really feel out of my league and a little alone. i don't feel like i know what i am doing most of the time. i feel like i am trying and the house is literally falling down around me. and that my kid's behavior is just getting worse and i feel lost and helpless.

i still wonder sometimes where that handbook is that we were suppose to get upon delivery of each new life. maybe i will receive it this time around, maybe it comes when you give life in bulk - like to 4 or more kiddos.

so, i am praying for strength during this incredibly hard season of life for me. i am praying for wisdom and guidance. i so desire to build our family on such a strong foundation, it is just really hard when the heart of the builder feels so broken, so lonely and so beaten down. i know that God is the only one who can lift me up out of this feeling of helplessness. i pray that he will do that for me and that he will bring some mentors and some friends along the way to help me so i can help others. i feel like i am suppose to lead my pack of friends who are about to become mommies of a big family and i have no idea how to lead from the middle of the pack - when i am barely surviving myself.

God knows. God will equip me. until then, i am just hanging on and relying on Him.t

"mrs. massey please bear with me...

i really appreciate your patience."

patience, hmmm... lately i have been wondering if i have any of that. in fact really i don't even know what patience is or what it looks like or what it feels like. i am sure my family feels the same.

yesterday, i made a huge to do list. yes, i am a list maker! and on the top of the list were to take care of some phone calls and some billing issues. so this afternoon, i have spent all of my "quiet time" talking to customer representatives. more realistically, i have been on hold, given the run around and been transfered to different departments. talking i did little of. until i had to repeat my need to the next person b/c the communication between different departments did not happen.

and i still have a list of phone calls to be made - seriously it takes so much time out of my day to get these "little" things done. and i get frustrated very easily when i feel like my time is "wasted" and i haven't accomplished something.

i get so frustrated when everything i do is constantly being undone by someone else. today, my two little ones literally scattered a pile of papers all over my bedroom. this pile of papers were seperated into stacks and folders - until they got their little hands on them and spread them everywhere. why? i asked why?

i seriously had a melt down. i then walked back into their rooms which were a train wreck and broke down into tears. nothing ever stays in order around here. i was so frustrated. at that moment mrs. massey had no patience tobe appreciated by anyone.

gender prediction tests...

i need your help... check out the baby's blog so you can weigh in on your gender prediction tests!!!

our shining stars...

last saturday, all three of my kids were given the opportunity to meet a talent agent! she is based out of atlanta but was coming to charlotte to do a workshop and meet a few perspective clients. we traveled to south park to meet her last week. i really didn't know what to expect. we came prepared with headshots of each child and a resume. their headshots were taken by a friend of ours -- she was so sweet to do them for us - thank you tammy!!!! and their resumes didn't have a lot on them at all.

getting there proved to be a headache and i wondered if we were suppose to be pursuing this. jamil said perhaps it was the enemy trying to get us to think that. we were just a few minutes away from south park, when we realized that fairview road was closed and they were directing traffic to carmel road - which was standstill. we tried a few other routes to end up backtracking! of course we were late. we were not the only ones late. there was a marathon in that area and roads were closed and traffic a nightmare.

we finally arrived. i had to fill out a lot of paperwork and then we waited for our turn to meet miss barbara. joshua was given a script to practice. he and jamil worked on that while we waited. and then a nice guy, jacob, came over and worked with joshua on his lines. joshua did great practicing with jacob.

when it was our turn, joshua went in first all by himself to meet miss barbara!! i was nervous for him - he did great - he went right in and jacob followed him in to read the lines with him in front of miss barbara. and then when they were done, jamil and i went in with the two little kids!! jordyn pretended to be shy at first and then she proceeded to dance around the room while we talked. jesiah sat on jamil's lap and was very well behaved.

miss barbara said josh did great and she wanted him!! and then she told us she wanted all three of them. she said they were all beautiful and thought their looks would definitely be used! so we signed contracts for all three kids. we are officially signed on with the talent agency.

the agency does primarily commercials, tv and films. they do some print work too! so we will see where this will lead us. we have always been encouraged to get our kids into this field, but the opportunity never seemed to be there until now!

so now i am working on doing some of the things that are required of us from the agency - like setting up websites and getting professional headshots for josh. none of which requires any kind of large investment. then as the opportunities present themselves we will go on auditions. joshua will get most of the "acting" auditions b/c he is old enough to read lines and really be in the business. as jordyn perfects her reading skills and gets a little older, i can really see her loving this and wanting to do it!

that is really important to me is that the kids like doing this kind of "work". and as long as they are having fun and enjoying it we will do it! it will be quite interesting to see what happens and where this will take us. of course, it is another commitment for me to make, which i am ok with. it may mean i will have to give something up or rearrange some things in our schedule. because we have to be ready to go for auditions when they come about. auditions are primarily in charlotte, atlanta and wilmington. so we will have to travel a little bit here and there!! (good thing our good friends will let us crash in atlanta!!!) we are really new to this and just learning this business so i will keep you posted as i learn things on our new adventure!!!

aunt julie has arrived...

the big news of the week is that my sister julie is here. she came in late last night from pittsburgh. her car was loaded with her remaining belongings and she is here for good (atleast for now!!) we are sooo excited to have her near us. the kids are ecstatic. i am so excited to have my sister living so close to us. i keep thinking of all the exciting things she will get to be a part of that she has missed out on. she will get to go to josh's spring musical and jordyn's dance recital. she can come with me to my midwife appointments - i even told her she could come to see the baby be born if she wanted in on that fun - she isn't so sure she wants to do that yet - but she might change her mind - who knows.

we are so glad to have aunt julie living near us!!! what a blessing for our whole family!!

drained...

i was thinking about my last several (more than that probably) posts, they haven't been really deep or full of insight or even transparency. lately, i have had a hard time expressing how i have been feeling in my writing. i think it is because i have been feeling drained. i am so physically exhausted. i am also emotionally exhausted.

when i started feeling sick with this pregnancy, everything around me began to fall apart. i feel like i have become bad at everything. a bad wife, a bad mommy, a bad friend, a bad daughter, a bad sister, a bad volunteer, a bad child of God. just bad at everything. i haven't been able to keep up with anything. my house is a total disarray, it is unorganized, cluttered and messy. and on top of that, my prayer life and quiet time has been few and far between. quality time with my kids and husband pale in comparison when i could have the option of falling into bed or onto the couch. playdates, girl's nights outs, get together with friends are irregular. phonecalls and visits to family are rare. volunteer work is way behind. i just can't keep up. i feel like i am failing miserably. jamil says i am being way too hard on myself. but i can't help it.

i can't help it because this is not who i am, usually. under normal circumstances i am on top of things, i can maintain the balance of my life. but not lately and it is driving me crazy. i like to have complete control over my life and it is out of control right now. and i don't know when i am going to regain the energy and strength to clean up the mess i have made.

when i say mess, i am talking more than the messy house. i feel like i haven't spent quality time with my kids. lately, i haven't been speaking life into them. i haven't enjoyed their little selves. i haven't read a story or let them do an art project in some time now. i haven't taught them much of anything but that mommy is sick and doesn't feel well right now. they know this very well. so well that jordyn prays for mommy every single night. without fail. i feel like i am causing such damage to them. again jamil says i am overreacting. and i know where he is coming from. my sweet children are not neglected, unclean, or hungry. their basic needs are being met. and we have been able to take advantage of my spurts of energy and had a few playdates and park days.

jamil and i are overdue for a date night - in fact we are so overdue we could use a date weekend! i haven't the energy to plan a date night. why calling one of our babysitters to come over is such a big deal, i don't know, but it seems to be. i just don't do it when i think of it and then the weekend hits and it is way hard to get a sitter last minute. at night, when he is home, i can barely make it through a movie or a tv show without feeling sick or feeling tired - so i usually bail and go to bed. and then there is that list of things that need to be done for our household that he has asked me to do for weeks now and they just aren't getting done. jamil really doesn't expect much from me and he asks me to do very little. but i got the hint the other day, when i was feeling better i announced i was going to start spring cleaning this week, i was going to do a room a day and just thoroughly clean, organize, shampoo carpets, disinfect. his reply was why don't you start with the laundry tomorrow - and i looked at the 4 loads of laundry which had made a permanent residence on our two new chairs. i agreed.

i feel unmotivated and exhausted. i feel drained. i just want to feel like myself, i don't even know who that is anymore. i have two friends that have told me the hardest part of having four kids is the pregnancy. they both told me once the baby gets here i will feel so much better. i really hope so, because right now i am scared to add another child our family in this state.

held hostage...

today, i am being held hostage by the huge amount of laundry that has to be done. i have been washing, drying, folding and putting away laundry all day so far and still have a lot more to do. i have atleast 4 loads of towels to do from our "flood" yesterday. when we got home from church and lunch with our friends, i was carrying in a sound asleep little boy and as i headed from our garage to the laundry room i didn't notice anything until i stepped in the hallway and my flip flops began to squish. that is when i looked into the kid's bathroom and there was a good 2 inches of water consuming the entire floor. the toilet had overflowed while we were gone. we left the house at 7:30 that morning and got home around 2:30. so we had a huge mess to clean up - and now 4 extra loads of towels. fun fun!

hard to believe...

today, we ran a few errands. one of our stops included target. i couldn't find exactly what i was looking for and i didn't have a list. but it was fun just to be in there! you know i love target! so we looked around for a little while. and then we checked out. i seriously bought ONE item, that is it! never have i gone through a check out line in target with one item - never. of course there were lots of things i could have bought, but i didn't. i stuck with my one item and was on my way. oh and the item cost under $10!!!!

josh's new pet...

meet "sneakers" the tiger snake!
adopted 4-9-08

joshua got a webkinz pet snake today! he has been asking us for a webkinz for some time now. we told him if he did well on his report card and our teacher conference went well - he could get a webkinz. today, i had our conference with his wonderful first grade teacher at union academy. joshua did wonderful in alll of his subjects - working above grade level and ready for second grade!! his teacher really, really likes him. she had very good things to say about joshua. he is a leader and is well liked at school. she said he is very kind and compassionate, he helps his peers and her all of the time. of course there are a few behavioral things that he needs to work on, like talking out of turn and trying to get his peer's attention. overall, he has done great. we are so pleased and so proud of him!!!

when i got home from the conference, he was ready to get his new pet. my dad was willing to take him because i couldn't easily take jordyn, jesiah and will (who i was watching for the day) - if i did i would have had to buy 4 webkinz. so after we got home from the park this afternoon, my dad took him to pick out his webkinz!! i thought he was going to get a tiger or a leopard, but he came home with a tiger snake!

josh and i set up his account and he begun taking care of sneakers! he had a good time on the website today. i didn't know what this thing was all about so i did some exploring and playing around with him on the website. it is pretty cute. and it did keep him busy earning "money" and buying things (food, tvs, furniture,toys) for his new little friend.