Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Today's Randomness
So, I don't have anything big enough to write an entire blog about, so bear with my randomness from today!

Melisa is suffereing from ant bites from her birthday party. I don't know how it happened because we didn't see it until yesterday but she has over FIFTY...yes you read it right, 50, ant bites!!! They cover everywhere her bathing suit didn't cover! Her sides and shoulders, her arms, her legs, and her hips. It is heart breaking. If I didn't know what ant bites looked like on her, I would think she had the chicken pox! My poor baby!!

Clark has been asked to be the faculty/staff sponsor for one of the fraternities on campus! I have been married to him for NINE years and I never knew he was the "frat" type, LOL! He is honored because it is the frat that was created on campus to counter balance the more wild one. They want a younger and fun sponsor but also a strong believer.

If you come knocking at my door and I don't answer for a minute, I am trying to clean REALLY fast! I am drowning in laundry and a messy house. I can't seem to get it back in order from the birthday party this weekend. Between William Carey Work, homeschool, tap, ballet, gymnastics, church, and all the other little things going on I just can't get on top of the housework! If you know me well, you know the "Monica" in me is going crazy! GRRRRR...I HAVE to get my house clean!!!

I have a new addiction...CafeMom! If you are a mom and you haven't checked it out, you should, it is fun! If you are a member, send me your screenname...mine is PeanutMM

Remember the pink castle across the street from our house? Well, I get to go visit there tomorrow! You see they ordered this HUGE box of coffee from "Royal Cup Coffee Roasters" but accidently put our address. So, I am working up the courage to go visit the "castle"...wish me luck!

My husband loves me SO much that he even woke me up this morning (when he knew I might be grumpy) to MAKE me exercise with him since I have been having trouble being motivated since the end of camp. Between traveling and colds and airport runs I haven't felt like it. SO, I told him to be MEAN this morning and he woke me up and got me back on track! Why, oh why do I do this to myself. If I just keep exercising I don't have to go through the soreness...but oh the soreness...it is here! I really do feel much better now that I have gotten the first workout done and I am back on track. I love my kettlebell, I love working out, I love training with my hubby, and I love the energy it gives me! My hubby really does love me!

My sweet, innocent, precious, cute two year old (Cali) is picking up on her "Sissy's" attitude! If I ask her to do anything she crosses her arms over her chest and says "OhhhhKaaay Moooom"! My, oh my...it is starting young!

  posted at 9:29 PM
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Our Very Own Luau
OK...here is another back post...I wrote it a few days ago, but never got on to post it...SORRY!

August 26, 2007 - Sunday
Current mood: drained


It is a month late, but we FIINALLY had Melisa's birthday party! It really stinks to be so busy that a birthday party has to come a whole month after the fact...but we made up for that with the party we had today!

Last night we decorated and turned our house into a mini Hawaii! Complete with a Tiki Hut and all kinds of fun stuff! Today we cleaned and got the food ready. Once everyone arrived we had a blast! We visited, laughed, ate and played. We had to wait out a nasty thunderstorm, but it was well worth it. We blew up the waterslide, filled up the swimming pool and put on bathing suits. We played and played and played some more. The waterslide was a hit. I have never seen kids play so hard! Cali even got used to going down it and was having a blast! I think the adults had as much fun as the kids....just wait until you see the pictures....and once you see them I want to let you know that ALL this fun took place with no alcoholic beverages...LOL!

After all the water fun, we headed back in the house for cake and ice cream. I know Melisa has been 8 for a whole month but it really hit me how grown up my 'baby' is getting as we sang happy birthday to her and she blew out EIGHT candles! WOW, I can't believe how fast the time is flying! My baby is really growing up fast. In 8 more years we will be celebrating her sweet 16! I can't believe it!!!!

We ended the party with presents and let me tell you, that little girl got quite the loot! She got all kinds of highschool musical goodies and art supplies. Her big present from Mommy and Daddy was a strawberry shortcake TV! She is so excited to have her OWN TV! It won't get the sattelite hooked up to it, but it is going to have Daddy's PS2 hooked up to it and it will play DVD's. She was happy with that though, LOL!

It is 11:30 and the house if finally cleaned (for the most part) and the bed is calling my name. I will do some birthday party pictures tomorrow! :-)

  posted at 9:28 PM
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Wednesday, August 22, 2007
The Twilight Zone
I don't know what to think, so I am going to believe that I have entered a different world or rather the TWILIGHT ZONE! You see today we finished school in 3 hours, Melisa asked for a THIRD helping of her veggies at dinner, Cali let me brush her teeth without crying, the girls sang together as they quickly cleaned up before bedtime, AND they both fell asleep within 5 minutes of laying down!!! I don't know what has happened in my house or to my house BUT I am going to enjoy it until we enter back into the real world! I am just waiting for the lights to blink and a deep voice to say "Welcome to the Twilight Zone." LOL!!!

  posted at 10:58 PM
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Back To School!
Back to School!
Current mood: accomplished


We finally jumped in with both feet today and started back to school! Melisa is an official THIRD grader now! YIKES...how did that happen? We had an excellent first day back! We changed up our subject order a little this year to try and keep it fresh and new. We started off with Bible time...we kept that first because it is most important and the way we want to start our day off! Then we went into AM reading followed by language. Then we went straight into penmenship (wow that little girl can write beautifully) and then did arithmetic! After arithmetic I went to start lunch. While lunch was cooking I came back and we did science. We are digging a lot deeper this year into science than ever before. It was exciting to go over the nervous system and see Melisa really learning about the human body. Of course, she showed that she was still a third grader though, LOL! We were talking about the brain controlling the entire body...her heart beating, her lungs breathing and her stomach digesting. That of course lead to our little Miss. Smarty saying "That means my brain controlls my BOTTOM...you know what that means Mommy?" and then she fell on the ground laughing at herself! OH, I love 8 year olds! :-) After that lovely revelation it was time to take a break and eat some lunch. As soon as lunch was over we went right back to it and did PM reading, spelling, poetry and seatwork. We started at 10:30 and finished by 2:30 (with a lunch break in there). I hope we can keep up that quick pace!

Cali also started school this year. I am using Abeka's Preschool 2 books with her and letting her do a worksheet every day while Misa works. It was TOO cute watching her sit up at the table and do her page. Her page was on the number one and the color yellow. She colored a duck and we talked about the sound it makes. She suprised Mommy with her counting skills and her color recognition! I was impressed!

Because we finished school so early, I was able to work on updating the girls website. If you are interested in viewing it AND I know you or you have read and commented a good bit on my site write and let me know. The page is password protected for safety reasons. :-)

  posted at 10:57 PM
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Thursday, August 16, 2007
Fallen Friends
This is a hard blog to write and I even questioned if I should or not. But, God has laid this on my heart and even as I type I'm not completely sure what all "THIS" that is on my heart includes. I guess I need to start with some history. You see about 1 1/2 to 2 months ago Clark got a message on myspace from an old college friend confirming some rummors that we had heard a few months ago. A former roommate of his from him early days at North Greenville (when I was still a baby in highschool, LOL) has been convicted of child molestation AND kidnapping and is serving 2 life sentences for the offences. This is a guy that I had met a handful of times. He was a youth minister and later a pastor. He had worked in a childrens home during college. He had a beautiful wife and two precious children. He had lived with Clark for 2 years and Clark concidered him a dear friend.

Complete shock is the only way to describe the news. As a mom, a teacher, and one who loves children my shock quickly changed to anger! I was angry and was happy he was locked up. I was also angry at myself for not having seen it! I was angry for the many young boys this man had hurt. I was angry at him for being in a ministry position and doing this. I was angry at myself for trusting him so much all these years. As I realized this last fact...I had trusted this man...my anger turned to hurt. I felt betrayed and hurt. Then those feelings quickly changed to worry for this man's wife and kids. If I felt hurt, how did his wife and kids feel? What were they dealing with? At this point I FINALLY went to prayer. Now, let me tell you...I did not go through these emotions as quickly a I am typing them. It took me a few days to get to this point. But, God finally got me passed myself and got me to praying. As I prayed for his wife (who I later found out is now ex-wife) and kids, God brought me to prayer for him and drove home a lesson I have known but often forget.

You see, every single human in the entire world is capable of every single sin! This may anger me and all, but you and I are just as capable of each and every sin. You see, as news continued to come out...it came out that he had been abused as well. He was dealing with his past. No, I am not saying that makes it right, but it shows that his background is not the same as mine. If I had a background like that, would I be more prone to falling like this? Again, I will say it, no sin is beyond any of us given the right situations. We are each and everyone a sinner. We all fall daily. Some sins have harsher penalties here in this world. And this man is going to have to live with those penalties. Does that mean that he is beyond God's grace...NO! Does that mean that he doesn't need as much prayer as everyone else involved...NO! He needs my prayers. It took me a long time to get to the point that I am crying out for him in prayer just like I am crying out for the victims, his family, and his church.

Well, if that wasn't enough shock for me, let's fast forward to yesterday! You see, I had only met him a handful of times. Clark was very close to him, but I wasn't. Well, yesterday we relived the news. You see another guy from college stood trial for the first time yesterday for the same accusations. Only this guy was one I spent a lot of time with. We will call him P. You see P was on a traveling drama team with me for a year. I traveled with him almost every weekend and often on Wednesday nights as well for a full year. We ate at least one meal if not 2 or 3 a day together at the school when we weren't traveling. We were also in plays together. I knew P very well! Don't get me wrong...we had our disagreements and even arguments. We drove each other crazy at times...but in the end, we were friends.

He is now married to a beautiful woman and has 2 precious children as well. He and his family were working in a childrens home for the past few years. They recently left the childrens home and moved back to their hometown. A little boy from his house was caught doing some inappropriate things recently and when questioned, P's name came up. So, he got called back and is being held in jail while the trial goes on. He has admitted to partial guilt. He admits that there was inappropriate talk and touch.

So, this time how do I react? Do I say shame, shame and turn my head. Do I get angry and spread more rummors? What do I do? This time, I went straight to prayer. You see, P also has a history of being abused and had been in counceling trying to deal with it. His wife knows that he regrets his actions and is standing beside him. His children are too young to understand what is going on. So, I pray. I pray for the victim, for the children's home, for P, for P's family, for the trial. If P did commit these crimes, then I believe he needs to serve time and pay for them. But, I don't feel God would have us turn our backs on him. Right now P needs prayers and encouragement. He needs to see God's love acted out through his Christian friends. He knows we don't agree or approve of what he has done. But, he doesn't know that we can forgive him and be there for him. God has called us to pray for him and encourage him.

So, I am constantly reminding myself that NO sin is beyond anyone! Each and everyone of us is perfectly capable of commiting any sin or any crime given the right circumstances! We are each humans...we are sinners. When one of us falls we need to remember that it could have just as easily been us! We need to get on our knees and pray rather than spreading ugly rummors without facts and saying mean and hateful things. Did Jesus turn his back on the woman at the well or the tax collector? No, he ate with them. He told them there was grace for them too. Did he throw a stone? No, he told them whoever of you is without sin, throw the first stone!

So, why write this blog? Because I have seen many people ready to throw the first stone. I'll admit it, I was ready to throw the first stone. But, I don't have the right and no one else that I know does either. So, please come with me and pray. Pray for the victims (the boys and their families), pray for the childrens home and church, pray for the wives (ex-wife), pray for the children of these men, but don't forget to pray for these two men as well. They are not beyond God's grace! They are our friends who have fallen.

  posted at 9:22 AM
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Tuesday, August 14, 2007
The Zoo!
While Clark was in China we spent an afternoon at the zoo! It was a hot day, but we had fun looking at all the animals and taking a train ride through the zoo! Here is a slideshow of pictures from the afternoon! ENJOY!!

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  posted at 8:30 AM
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Camp Pics
Here is a slide show of the Our Family at Camp W. Carey this summer. There are SOOO many pictures from camp (10 CD's full) that I couldn't put them all...so I just pulled out some of our family and put them out here! ENJOY!!!

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  posted at 8:06 AM
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Melisa's 8th Birthday (Pics)
Here is a slide show of pictures from Melisa's birthday. We still haven't had the party...it is August 25th...a whole month late! But, on her birthday we spent the day at a waterpark and had a great time! Just look and see! :-)

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  posted at 8:01 AM
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Monday, August 13, 2007
Where to start...
...I don't even know where to start! So much has gone on in the last few days!

The girls and I flew in from FL on Friday afternoon but didn't get to meet up with Clark at the airport as planned. He was stuck in Tokyo overnight because of a 2 hour delay on the runway in China. GRRRR!!! He ended up being 28 hours late getting in!

We drove to Jackson on Saturday afternoon and as we were exiting to the airport the cell phone rings with a message telling us that Clark has been delayed again in Detroit and won't be in for 5 more hours! GRRRRR, GRRRRRR!!!! So, the girls and I found a Walmart and we walked up and down every single isle TWICE to waiste time...LOL! Then we ate at (I am grossed out saying it) McDonalds in Walmart. YUCK! We haven't had McDonalds in 10 months and I was sad to break our record! Then we went and I got a pedicure at the nail salon in Walmart (which cracks me up). We still had two hours to waist after all of that, so we went to the car and I put a movie in the dvd player and drove around until Cali fell asleep. THEN we parked in the airport parking lot and watched the rest of the movie until it was FINALLY time to go get Daddy!

Once at the terminal Cali stood at the walk way and started yelling "DADDY! DADDY! RUN DADDY! SEE ME DADDY! 'MERE (Cali for come here) DADDY!" It was the cutest thing ever! When the girls finally spotted him you would have thought it was a teeny bopper spotting Zac Efron, LOL! The screemed and hollered...it was a happy reunion!

We collected Daddy's bags and helped the other team members find theirs or at least fill out the forms to get them sent home when they finally arrive. Then we headed out to the car. Daddy couldn't wait to give us our presents though...so at 10:00 pm in the airport parking lot Daddy dug through his suitecase and gave us all our presents. The girls and I all got necklaces with the chinese character for love in silver and a pendant of jade around them. The girls are small and mine is a little bigger. They are BEAUTIFUL! The girls also both got silk fans and I got a tea tray that has the Chinese character for peace on it. It is awesome! Clark got a lot of presents from professors and students in China as well, but waited until we got home to show me all of those. We finally got home at about 12:30 am and slept until 9:30 the next morning! It was SO nice to have Clark back home.

Unfortuantely the girls and I all 3 came down with nasty colds sometime between Friday and Saturday. By Sunday we were all pretty pathetic! So, while Clark did his laundry the girls and I curled up on the couch and napped all day! We are feeling better today, but still kind of yucky!

Today, Clark came home for lunch and then we dropped him off at work and took the car for the afternoon and we are all registered out! First we went to the elementary school that we register for homeschooling at. We are good to go for one more school year after filling out one simple index sized form. :-) Then we headed to the gymnastics school and registered both girls for another year of gym. They both got in their classes from last year...but Melisa has a new teacher. Her teacher is still taking lessons and competing at a level 8! I have heard that she is one amazing tumbler! There are only 4 other girls in Melisa's class, so she should learn a lot this year. Cali has her same teacher and many of the same little ones in her class. After the gym, we headed to Temple Baptist church and registered Melisa for a tap and ballet class. She will have 45 minutes of ballet and then 45 minutes of tap. After that was taken care of we had our uniform requirements and went on a tap and ballet shoe hunt. I am frustrated to say that not a single store in our mall carries tap or ballet shoes. I finally found out that the best selection was at Payless Shoes and got directions to it. Of course they didn't have size 1 PINK ballet shoes. They had black and white in size one, bit NOT pink and yes you guessed it right, the sheet said PINK! So, they called the other Payless Shoe Store in town and they had them so we drove across town and picked them up. Of course Cali wanted shoes like Misa's...so we got two pair of tap shoes and two pair of ballet shoes and FINALLY headed home!

As soon as we got in the door the girls ran to their bedroom and got dressed up in their tights and leotards. Then put on their new shoes and danced the afternoon away. They are still standing at the ballet bare dancing as I type. I do have pictures and will share them soon! :-)

SO, there you have it...Clark is home after many delays and we are registered out! We are in the midst of airport pick ups for our international students and getting ready for a wedding both girls and Clark are a part of this weekend. The girls are registered for all of the special activities for this year. We are going to start homeschooling next week. The local homeschool co-op has their first meeting next week too...so LOTS is going on and that is sure to bring LOTS of blogs. :-)

I hope you all had a great summer and are looking forward to a fun fall!

  posted at 4:15 PM
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FL Fun
Here is another back-post. I typed this one up on August 9th! SORRY I have been so slack!

My blogging has been far and few inbetween recently! What has happened,? LOL! It seems like summer has turned our little world upside down and all I can do is try to keep up!

The girls and I flew into FL last Friday. As soon as we got here we loaded up the dive gear, dropped the girls off with my mom and headed out to Ft. Lauderdale. We got there at about midnight and hit the sack. Saturday morning we were up and ready to go. TJ (my lil' borther), MaryBeth (his wife), Dad and I enjoyed bagels at the local coffee shop and then hung out by the pool all morning. Then we enjoyed a relaxing lunch by the pool before we got on the dive boat and headed out.

We hit two sites Saturday. We dove a shipwreck and did a drift dive on a reef. Both were awesome dives. We had fun and saw a lot of cool coral and fish. My favorite was exploring the inside of the ship! It was absolutely beautiful. The water stayed warm and we got down to about 73 feet. The visability was great and we were able to see a lot. The second dive was a reef. We kind of got off course and aren't sure if we went on the same reef as everyone else, but we went down to about 83 feet and saw some awesome stuff. When we got back up in the boat we enjoyed the ride in with some fresh pineapple...YUM!

Saturday night TJ, MaryBeth and I enjoyed dinner at the hotel restaurant and then sat on the dock and visited until we were ready to go upstairs and crash. Dad was a saint. He headed half way back to Orlando to pick up Cali and Gavin (my nephew). It seems Cali didn't do so good with her very first night EVER away from me. That's right, Friday night was our first 24 hours away from each other in 2 years and 4 months! She was awake from midnight to 4 am crying! Poor baby! Papa got back with the little ones at about 10 and by 11 we were all sound asleep!

Sunday morning we all got up and ready to go by 7:00. MaryBeth took the little guys to the pool for the morning while Dad, TJ and I were on the boat and heading out again! We did two drift dives this time. Both were very similar. We went down about 78 to 84 feet both times. My favorite spotting was the sea turtle. We also saw a bunch of crabs (too bad we were about 3 days shy of crab season opening). The coral was amazing, the fish were cool, and the visibility was great! We really did have some awesome dives!! You can see some of the dives in my albums!

We drove home Sunday afternoon and was greeted by a very spoiled and pampered 8 year old! Mommom took Melisa shopping for school clothes AND to get her nails done. She had also been swimming every chance she got at moms, so she had some rosey red cheeks too! She truly looked like a little diva!

The fun didn't stop with the dives! Monday morning two of our long time friends (it was awesome getting to see you Kristy and Paula...you better not leave Hattiesburg without saying hey) and spent the afternoon at Wonder Works off from I-drive. It was 4 floors of fun! The girls played and learned and us adults played and visited...it was an awesome day! I will get some pics up when we get to MS!

Tuesday we spent at Mom's house. Gavin stayed home from daycare and I took all three kids swimming for the morning. It is always fun watching them play and giggle! After lunch we headed to my grandparents for a little visit. Then for dinner we met up with Dad, TJ, and MaryBeth for Roadhouse Grill...YUM!

We spent Wednesday recovering from all the going and just hung out at Papa's house. I don't know who needed a slow day more...me or the girls! But it was nice to not have anywhere to go or anything to do! Mommom did have lunch with us on her lunch break and I did manage to get the girls out of the house long enough to get haircuts for both of them! Cali can see again and maybe Melisa won't have so many tangles. We ordered pizza and Papa rented movies and we had a lazy night at home while we all rested and recovered from all the going we have been doing. I highly recommend "Open Season" and "The Guardian"! Both were GREAT movies!

Today is our last full day in FL and it is another lazy kind of day. We are going to drive out and meet up with Papa for lunch and then have dinner with some friends from WAY back in the day...LOL! (Donnelle, Chrissy, and Misty I can't wait to see you and catch up some)! Then we will head to Momoms and enjoy a little more time with them.

Tomorrow we are flying home! Why an exclamation point and so much excitement about the end of a vacation? You see we will land 20 minutes before DADDY (or Clark)! 16 days is far too long and we are all ready to be a complete family again! Tomorrow is truly going to be a HAPPY DAY!

Well, that is probably FAR too much information from our week in FL! I know you didn't really need all those details, but I write it down more for me than anyone else. SO, if you read this far and are bored stiff...SORRY! I hope everyone else is enjoying their last week or so of summer! I can't wait to see all the summer fun pictures!

  posted at 4:14 PM
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Annual Dr. Appointments
Well, once again I have been typing posts, but not getting on here to actually post them...this one was typed up on July 28th...OOPS!

With Clark out of town, I decided to make the girls annual check-ups. Cali had her 2 year old check-up and Melisa had her (dare I say it) 8 year old check up. They both did really well. Melisa went in first and she is 43 pounds and 47 5/8 inches tall. She is in the 5th percentile for weight and 10th percentile for height. She had to get blood work done and have her finger pricked. She freaked out a bit but once she realized it didn't hurt at all she ended up laughing at herself. It was cute. She also had an eye exam and she has 20/20 vission...YAY! She also had her first experience having to do the dreaded "pee in a cup" thing. The look on her face when I told her what she was going to do was priceless. Her eyes got WIDE and she said "WHY, WHAT DO THAT WANT THAT FOR??" It cracked me up! She checked out as healthy as could be!

Cali went next and she weighs in at 22 1/2 pounds and is 35 and some odd inches tall. She is at the 3rd percentile for weight and 50th for height. She had to have her last Hep A shot and is now good until she starts school...YAY!! The nurse and I held her and she thought we were pretty goofy. When she got stuck she flinched and then laughed. The nurse nick named her Little Miss. Toughy! I have NEVER seen a kid laugh after a shot. It was SO funny! She was proud of her bandaid and showed it to everyone we saw. What a nut! I must say I was SO glad that they both checked out so healthy and right on schedule!

At 3:00 in the afternoon we headed to the dentist for Melisa to have a work done. They painted some stuff on her adult molars to protect them from getting cavities in the long run. Then they pulled 3 teeth up top. The teeth weren't bad or anything but the big girl teeth that were trying to come through just couldn't. So, Misa got some "happy gas" and let me tell you, she WAS happy! LOL! She announced she was coming back to the dentist every day to get some of it. When it was all over and she felt how numb her lip was she broke down into tears then when she figured out what they had done (I didn't tell her because I didn't want her worked up and worried about pain) she was MAD at me. She wouldn't talk to me for an hour. But as the feeling came back in her mouth and she realized that she had THREE teeth for the tooth fairy, she got happy again and I got lots of cuddles! Don't tell her, but she looks like the cutest little beaver with only her two front teeth up front! All the teeth beside it are gone. It is as cute as she was with two missing front teeth.

So, we are all doctored out now. I am glad we were able to get them all done in one day though. Because, today, we are off to the ZOO! I am sure there will be pictures to come...just wish Daddy were here to enjoy it with us!

Hope everyone has a fun Saturday!

  posted at 4:12 PM
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About Me

Name:
Michelle


I am a working wife and mom who also homeschools. I am blessed beyond measure with a loving husband and two awesome little girls. I am a child of God and live to serve Him. I will be sharing about the adventures He takes me and my precious little family on! :-)

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