Word(full) Wednesday

I am skipping this weeks Wordless Wednesday. As you all know by now I love Facebook! In the year and a half I have been on there I have reconnected with lots of people from FL and NC, elem. school and college.

Tonight I found a really old friend from Fl. that I have not seen in probably 20 yrs, at least 18 I know since that is how long I have been in NC. We grew up together in Babson Park, went to elementary school together, birthdays, playdates, etc... It was so good to find her after all these years and hope we continue to keep in touch. Hard to believe that we are both married with kids now!!

In other news, today would have been Brent and Jennas due date. I have been praying for them leading up to today and today especially. I got a message earlier that they had a really good day so that is a great answer to prayer! Continue to lift these special friends up in your prayers!

The kids at Thales had a treat on Monday. The Mayor of Wake Forest, Vivian Jones, came and spoke to them about Community Service. They were on their best behavior and really enjoyed her visit. (I have pics to post later) Tuesday the kindergarten and first graders went to a local nursing home to bring some Christmas Cheer. They sang several songs for the residents and then gave them a little gift from the students. Everyone had a great time! Tomorrow (Thurs) the 2nd-5th graders are going to another local home to do the same for their residents. Friday I will be chaperoning the 3rd grade field trip to Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill. Camden's class at their previous school went last year and we had a great time, I hope this trip goes just as well!! We are also gearing up for class Christmas parties next week and then track out til Jan 12th!

Chris' trip to DC went very well and now we are waiting to hear when he will be going to ATL to meet everyone in that office. I will let you know as soon as we hear something. Pray that we have an answer regarding moving, etc...SOON!! Can you tell I am not a patient person!!??

Life

We have had a lot going on and a lot not going on all at the same time, if that is possible. The kids had an enjoyable Halloween dressed as Sharpay and Indiana Jones. I have been doing stuff at the school leading up to Thanksgiving...Grace's class took a field trip to the Poe Center for Health in Raleigh and we had Thanksgiving Feasts in both Camden's class and Grace's class. The school also collected canned goods for the Tri Area Ministries here in Wake Forest. We ended up taking 2 van loads and 1 car load of food that the kids brought in.

We had Thanksgiving at our house with my mom and Kathrine, Jared and Addyson on Wed. since Kathrine and Jared were going to his mom's on Thurs and Chris and the kids went to his mom's.

The kids have been out of school this past week for Thanksgiving and will go back to school tomorrow. The Christmas decorations are being put up and my mom and I have finished most of the kids Christmas shopping...I am done way early for once!!

Chris has been talking to several different companies. He drove to Norfolk a couple of weeks ago and last Tues he flew to DC for the day for an interview for a company in Atlanta. Hopefully we will have some kind of answer soon. It would be great to go to Atlanta and be closer to friends in the area and catch up with childhood friends who live in the area too!!

I will post pictures from the field trip and Thanksgiving feasts at school soon.

Wordless Wednesday

Just a brief visit

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have not been around in awhile but wanted to give you a little insight into how crazy things are right now, thus my scream!

Hope to be back soon with lots of news.

Halloween Festivities

The kids were invited to a Halloween Party at a neighbors house. They have been eagerly awaiting tonight ever since the invitation arrived. Camden decided weeks ago that he wanted to be Indiana Jones this year which suited me because we basically had everything he needed already...khaki's, leather jacket, hat...all we had to get was the whip that he has been begging for for sometime now. Somehow I think this was his way of getting the whip!!
I so wanted Grace to be Dorothy this year so she could walk Tebow around as Toto but she was having nothing to do with that. She wanted to be Sharpay, if you don't know who that is you ust not have kids or you live under a rock, she is from High School Musical. Here are few pics I took before they left tonight and I will take some more next week when we go out for real. Enjoy!

(I also thought that Grace looks like Kim from The Real Housewives of Atlanta )

Wordless Wednesday

Looks like we are...

in for some BIG changes in the Partin household. Chris has been interviewing for new jobs and had talked to several companies over the past couple of weeks, the only issue is that none are here in NC. There has been one in Memphis and one in Atlanta but the most promising has been with a company in Houston, TX. He had 2 interviews with the recruiter last week and one yesterday with some management from the company. Today he got the call that they want to see him for a face to face interview next week. That means he is flying to Houston on Tues. of next week. It is with a very large company and it sounds like a great opportunity and from what I have been told and read, the cost of living is A LOT cheaper out there than here.

Keep us in your prayers and I will let you know what happens next week!!

Fall Baseball

Camden has been playing fall baseball and it is his first season being on a minor team, meaning that the kids pitch in this league and not the coaches. He has done well and he still has a way to go in other areas too. This team has been one of the winningest teams Camden has been on since he started playing baseball several years ago so that has been a nice change of pace.

One of the things Chris and I have enjoyed this season is Camden's coach, Coach Craig. I had heard a lot of good things about him from my friend Holly whose son had been on Coach Craigs coach pitch team back in the spring. Chris has gotten to know him a lot better than I have because he goes to Camden's practices and helps out occasionally. I really only know what I see at the games and one thing is that Coach Craig prays with the team before every game and after every game. I think that is the best thing the kids can be taught, win or lose!

Wordless Wednesday

Leave a caption

You can call me...

Red Mary Rackham

That my friends is my Pirate Name! You can find out yours at www.piratequiz.com
According to the quiz the meaning of my name is...


Passion is a big part of your life, which makes sense for a pirate. You have the good fortune of having a good name, since Rackham (pronounced RACKem, not rack-ham) is one of the coolest sounding surnames for a pirate. Arr!

Hmmm! I guess it could be worse ;)

Hill Ridge Farms pics

These are just a few of the pics from the pumpkin patch yesterday. The kids had a great time playing and looking at the animals and picking out their pumpkin on the way out. I think I am going to open a pumpkin farm...with what they charged for admission, etc... and the number of people out there you can make enough in 1-2 months to live for the whole year!! He definately doesn't have economic troubles!!

Stalking through the corn...

Camden had a double header early this morning. Sadly his team lost both games but we had been warned ahead of time that this particular team we were playing was really good. My take is not that the other team was all that good we just needed to step it up a little more, which we did in game 2. Game one the score was 13-0 but game 2 was 14-4.
Addy got to come to her first baseball game this morning too and was the star of the section where we were sitting.

After the games my mom and I took the kids to Hill Ridge Farms here in Youngsville to do the hayride, trainride, pick out a pumpkin, etc... They had a lot of fun going down the giant tunnel slide and panning for gems too. We also go to see a Major League Baseball player!!! His name is Josh Hamilton and he is from Apex, NC which is right here on the other side of Raleigh. If you do not know his story I will paraphrase...he was a rising star in the baseball world who got mixed up in drugs, lost his shot, cleaned up his life and this year had an AWESOME season with the Texas Rangers! Josh was there at the farm today with his wife and kids and no one bothered them the whole time we were there. I pointed him out to Camden who thought it was cool just to see a Major League player and then me and my zoom proceeded to try and get a picture of him the rest of the afternoon. So there you have it...I spent my afternoon stalking Josh Hamilton through the corn field and hayrides and pony rides.

I will get some pics of the afternoon up soon. Please continue to lift us up in your prayers!! This is a really trying time and I am trying to fully rely on God to get us through and quickly!!

What A Difference A Day Makes

We have been sailing along, going about our daily business with a few hiccups here and there and then all of the sudden today the bottom fell out. I am not ready to go into details but I ask that you please lift us up in your prayers!! Please pray for our entire family and for the Lord to show us what he has instore for us and that we do what is in His will. I will keep you posted on how things go and eventually I will share the circumstances we are experiencing. I am looking for the Lord to do great things.

Get on your knees!!

One of those days...

where you just stay home in your pj's and do nothing!! That is what today is. The kids are still tracked out and today was a day where we had nothing planned, no dance or baseball, nothing. We are just hanging out at home with the windows open enjoying the cooler weather and trying to get the kids (Grace) to clean their stuff out of my room and pick up their (Grace) rooms. (Do you see a theme? Camden will immediately get up and get stuff done where Grace will procrastinate procrastinating)

Right now we have a bet going on with Grace and so far she is losing!! My friend Holly is wanting to give Grace her daughters hamster, Sparkles because Caroline is the always busy middle schooler. Grace jumped all over this, especially since the cage and accessories are PINK!! We told her she to get her room picked up and KEEP it picked up for at least 2 weeks and then we would consider the hamster. So far the room is not clean, it actually looks worse than it did 2 days ago. Not looking good for Sparkles and Grace to live happily ever after so if anyone out in blog land wants a hamster with a pink cage and accessories let me know and I can hook you up.

Well, I think this expelled just enough energy for today, gotta get back to vegging out!

Wordless Wednesday

I missed last week because baby Addy made an early appearance so I am back!! You may have seen this on my Facebook page, if not this is one of oldest and dearest friends, Kellee Boyd Cogdill. We grew up together in FL and went to college together where we lived together, and on and on and on.

An Observation

First let me say that I am sorry if this offends anyone. I have been trying to figure out for months now who Barack Obama reminds me of, everytime I see him I start wracking my brain because I know I have seen that face somewhere else before. Well, during the debate the other night it finally came to me...he looks like Weird Harold from the old Fat Albert cartoons!!

I have a friend who is a diehard Obama supporter and she couldn't believe how "sassy" my comments were about him the other night. Several of us were going back and forth about his hair and makeup just waiting for her to show up and egg our houses during the night...she took it in good form, no eggs were harmed this weekend except for her omlet:)

Just an observation!

If you like suspense then read...

View my page on Wendy Corsi Staub Community

Tidbits

I got this email the other day and decided to make it a blog. If you have any questions you are dying to have answered just send them to me.



35 ODD THINGS ABOUT ME

1. Do you like blue cheese salad dressing? nope

2. Do you own a gun? no

3. What's a favorite drink at Starbucks or other specialty coffee house? Venti Cafe Mocha no whip

4. What do you prefer to drink in the morning ? COFFEE

5. Do you do push-ups? Used to in gym class

6. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? depends on what I am wearing

7. Favorite hobby? photography, crafts

8. Do you have A.D.D? I think I do a little bit

9. What's one trait that you hate about yourself? easily distracted (hmmm...ADD)

10. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment: I am tired, the dog is nuts and Grace better get her room clean!

11. Name 4 drinks you regularly drink. Diet Coke, coffee, water w/ special k pink lemonade packet, sweet tea

12. Current worry right now? too many

13. Current hate right now? Grace not cleaning her room!!

14. Favorite place to be? the lake

15. Do you like to travel? yes...I will go to Italy at somepoint even if it is by myself!!

16. What color shirt are you wearing? grey with paint stains from all my craft projects

17. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? nope.

18. Can you whistle? not like the guy from Andy Griffith

19. Favorite color? I bleed orange and blue

20. If you could would you be a pirate? only if I got to spend the treasure and not bury it

21. What song do you sing in the shower? nothing...I am usually still trying to wake up

22. Favorite girl's name? Grace...Georgia Grace and Grace Sadler, I love Harper but it did not sound good with Partin

23. Favorite boy's name? Camden...

24. What's in your pocket right now? lint

25. Favorite bedsheets as a child? Holly Hobbie

26. Worst injury? hematoma from a car accident that stayed on my leg for several years

27. Do you love where you live? yes but would love to be in Florida

28. How many TVs do you have in your house? 4 (5 if you count the broken one in the attic)

29. Who is your loudest friend? Holly (she is from Texas) and Whitney W. though I really don't characterize them as loud just a lot of fun to be around!!

30. How many pets do you have? one dog, Tebow

31. Does someone have a crush on you? not that I know of, at one time I guess Chris did

32. What is your Favorite Book? anything by Jennifer Weiner, Debbie Macomber, Nicholas Sparks, Wendy Corsi Staub, Jodi Picoulet and the list goes on

33. What's your favorite candy? Hot Tamales and Caramel Creams

34. Favorite Sports Team? Florida Gator Football (refer to fav color question)

35. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? Is it still raining?

Addy pics

Baby Addy got to come home today!! Here are a few pics...I think she looks like my dad, I can't stop looking at her. I told Kathrine I was going to bring her home with me :)

Announcing...

the arrival of Addyson Olivia Gay (Addy) She arrived after 36 hrs of labor and a slight scare weighing in at 6lbs 4.7oz and 19in long. Kathrine is doing good and ready to get home! Enjoy the pics of my new niece:) How come Addy comes 16days early and is 6lb 4oz and Grace comes 16 days early and was 8lbs 7 oz...not fair!!! Her next baby better be a big one!

I am experiencing technical difficulties so pics will come later or you can check out my facebook page.

Like Mother Like Daughter

Pictures say it all...

I have been going through some old photos lately and discovered these and thought I would share since everyone says The Diva is so much like me. What is your opinion?

Community Service

After being heavily involved in the PTO the last few years at Youngsville Elementary I have enjoyed a little break in the action since the kids entered their new school. This week things are back to being busy, busy, busy. Thankfully the kids will track out tomorrow for a few weeks so we will have a little rest.

I have had my orientation this week into the committees at Thales Academy. Since we are a private school, our founder stated from the very beginning that there would be no fundraising which is wonderful...who needs 15 rolls of wrapping paper!? Anyways, I am on the Donation Committee and the Community Service Committee this year and have been designated a co-chair of the Donation Committee, apparently my reputation followed me from YES to Thales. This week has been filled with 2 meetings and another tonight, everyone at a different coffee shop in the area and I think I have had my fill of Cafe Mochas for the week...never:) One thing that I figured I could do was the soup labels, box tops, water bottle labels, etc...that generate money for the school, well, that is something that our founder is against. Imagine my shock when I was told that!! That is literally thousands of dollars in free money sitting there for the school to use and we can't! Instead we will go to area businesses and generate donations of goods and services for various activities.

For our Fall Community Service project we are joining with the JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) to raise awareness and join in the walk on November 1st in RTP. We have a kindergarten student that was diagnosed 2 years ago so we are calling ourselves Team Ryan/Thales Academy. We will be holding a silent auction starting Oct 16th thru Oct 31st, right now we are asking for donations that can be auctioned off, if you would like to help please let me know. We will also be holding a Spirit Week the last week of Oct and a coin drive. I invite you to learn about Ryan at http://tinyurl.com/ryanstory and to join Team Ryan/Thales or to donate to Team Ryan by going to http://tinyurl.com/teamryan. We should have people beginning to sign up today so if you want to donate to a particular walker keep checking in to see when they sign up. Our silent auction will be listed online once we start getting items donated and I will post a link once that is ready. Anyone anywhere can bid on the items, not just Thales Academy parents. Please join us as we support JDRF!

Wordless Wednesday ( a little early and a very old pic)

Old Friends

I may have mentioned before that over a year ago I discovered a little thing that has become an addiction for me...facebook! When I first signed up there were a few people from high school (the one in NC) and college that were on there but not many. Now in the last 2 months the number of old friends on there has jumped increasingly!!

It has been especially great to see the old friends from Florida that I grew up with. It has been great to catch up with everyone and see pics of their families, the last time I saw a lot of them I was 15, now I am 34 and the majority of us have kids. I have kept in touch with and seen a few of these people over the years and rest I have heard updates on through family over the years. This surge of old friends appearing on facebook has only made my addicition to it worse!! I have so many fond memories of my childhood in Florida and being able to reconnect has only made my desire to move back worse.

I have told several people that I really feel like Florida is where we need to be. Chris and I have talked about it and we have both looked ( I look and forward to him) at jobs for him down there. Don't get me wrong, I love NC and the Wake Forest/Youngsville area and we have family and lots of friends here but there is a strong pull right now to Florida. I told a couple of old friends that I feel like I need to "get back to my roots" if that makes sense.

When we spent 2 weeks in Fl last Oct the kids fell in love with it and they are up to moving if we find something and the Lord works it out. On previous trips they had been to young to really care but last year changed that for them. Grace would have stayed if we would have let her.
Pray for us and that if Florida is where we are to be then the Lord will open job opportunities and close the loose ends that need to be closed here to allow that to happen. It would be great to be back in GATOR COUNTRY!!

I am so proud:)

Jenna and Jen both made their blogs so pretty today! (not that they were bad before) Yeah!!!

This weekend was busy for the Partin's. First we had Camden's baseball game at 9am Sat morning, he had to be there between 8-8:30...I feel that there should be no games before 10am!! The team looked good and even though they lost by 2 runs they had a lot of fun!
The rest of the day was spent doing yard work, still trying to get rid of those ants (my feet look like I have measles from all th bites), picking up the house and Chris finishing the painting in the kitchen.

Sunday was homecoming a Oak Grove Baptist here in Youngsville. My dad was the Pastor there for several years while I was in college. Our dear friends, Dan and Beth Southern and their children Hannah and Nathan came so Dan could deliver the message. They were the youth ministers while my dad was here and then they went on the mission field and served in China, Thailand and India. They have moved back to Mt Airy, NC to take care of Dan's parents who are ill. It was so good to see them. Beth's daddy was a pastor and she lost him several years ago so she knows just what we are going through and continue to go through daily.

While I was at church with the kids Chris was home finishing the painting since I was having a Stampin Up workshop at the house at 2pm. He got everything done just as Jessie pulled in the driveway! Now that the painting is done it is time to sell the house...just kidding:) I got some great ideas for teacher gifts from the workshop yesterday that Iwill share in a later post. Jessie is going to do some at her house so once I make some I will take some pics...I am so excited! Another project I am working on is scanning in all our old pics and I will post some on here as well as Facebook (another addiction) once I get going good.

Kathrine is ready to pop...she is hoping to get through this week of work so she can finish training her temp and then she is ready. I am rethinking Addy's weight. I told Kathrine I was guessing 8lbs 3oz but now I am lowering it to 7lbs and some change. The nursery is ready for Addy and looks really good, I will take pics the next time I am over there.

The kids have their first track out for this school year starting Friday. While they are out we will be busy with dance and baseball as well as Open House for the new building for the school and baby Addy's arrival. I guess I need to go take a nap and rest up for all the busyness ahead of me!

Ants!!!!

I really should not complain too much because in other homes we have had cats/kittens dropped off and take up residence in the crawl space (in 2 houses) and we have had mice in a couple of houses we lived in the past. So far in the 3 years we have been here there have been no stray animals (Chris would beg to differ on Tebow) and no furry little creatures scampering in and out of walls. Instead we have ants, many ants.

Our problem started last summer while I spent 3 weeks at the lake and Chris was gone to World Changers. I happened to come back to Raleigh one day and decided to stop in and check on the house before heading back to Lake Gaston. Upon entering the house I saw a thin black line on the living room carpet. Upon further inspection we realized it was ants coming from the back door across the living room, into the master bedroom and under the dresser and up to the window sill. I stayed for 2 hours spraying and vaccumming up ants. We continued to have little infestations throughout the past year either at the side entrance by the kitchen or at the back door again. We would spray, suck em up, spray some more, etc...

We have also tried grits (found that on the internet) and that seemed to work until last weekend.
Chris went out to do yardwork and when he opened the storage room there were ant hills all around the inside of the room and when he ran the weedeater they had gotten into some mulch in the back yard and made homes in there. Now we have several huge mounds in the yard.

No matter what we use on them they keep coming back and just won't DIE!!! If anyone has any suggestions of how to rid our lives of these little pests please let us know. My feet got eaten up tonight while I was trying to sprinkle yet another ant killer on them and Idon't think my feet can take it anymore...please help!

Remebering...

all those that lost their lives in the Attacks on 9/11/01. It is hard to believe that it has been 7 years since that day changed all of our lives.

I remember that I was working at a Dr office and we immediately turned on the TV and the internet and watched all day what was happening in New York, Washington DC and Pennsylvania as well as all over the country. I was pregnant with Grace and Camden had just turned 2 two weeks earlier. Isaved all the newspapers from that day so the kids will be able read about it when they start studying it in school but I have not been able to look at them since that day/week.

Many things have changed and occurred over the last 7 years but one thing remains...we will never forget the lives lost and sacrifices made on September 11, 2001

Horses

This morning Chris took the kids to school so I was able to sit here and watch the news with my hot coffee. While sitting here I noticed something go running past the window in our backyard. It doesn't usually bother me to see something run by quickly because we have a lot of deer that come through from either side and if you remember my wordless wednesday post a couple of weeks ago, we have had some turkeys strut through the yard.

What really grabbed my attention this morning though was the fact that whatever ran by was MUCH larger than a deer and darker. As I got up to investigate I heard the kids out at the bus stop carrying on loudly and noticed that what was in the backyard was coming back...a HORSE!!

Yes, I said a horse was in the backyard this morning. Don't know where he came from because the closest people I know with horses are several miles away in the opposite direction. So unless he had been loose all night, who knows where he belonged. Before I could do anything else he took off toward the middle school that is about 1/2 mile from the house and I never saw him again. This was all during a busy traffic time near the school too so I hope he was found and returned safely home.

If he comes back maybe I can start offering horse rides in the backyard!

Wordless Wednesday

I am running behind today so here is my post, better late than never:) Leave a caption!

Thought...

So Jen Jordan asked today on her blog "What would you do if you were not afraid?" I commented to her that there were so many things that I would do, so rather than fill up her comment section I felt a blog coming on. She will probably come up with some AWESOME response to this question when she posts again but I am just going to list what I would do, so here goes...

1. I would take a dance class...I danced MANY years ago and love it and would love to do it again. Where Grace takes lessons they have an adult class that meets once a week but I am just not ready to sign myself up.

2. Finish school (I am not afraid to finish) and then go to Law School . What I am afraid of is spending so much time away from the family to take the classes and study. I don't want to miss anything and I know that by going back I would have to miss a lot

3. Become a realtor...I love house hunting!! I am on the real estate websites all the time. With the over abundance of realtors out there right now I am afraid that I would not make any money.

4. genetic testing for cancer...since both my parents have had cancer it something that I have wanted to do but I am also afraid to do it because, eventhough I resigned myself to the fact that I will more than likely get the BIG C someday the thought of actually seeing it on paper before it happens scares me.

As I am doing this I realize that I am not afraid to do these things or the other things floating around in my brain. What I am is apprehensive and lack the self confidence I feel I need to do the things that I want to do. Because here are a few things I would love to do and I am not afraid to try them if given a chance..

1. Bungee jumping...I should be afraid but I would give anything to do it just once.

2.Kite surfing...saw it on the Today show and it looked awesome and I immediately told Chris I had to do that. I would parasail too if given the chance.

3.moving to a new state (or an old one)...I would love to move back to Florida or to the Atlanta area or to the Spartanburg area. I have family and friends in all those places and my first choice is Florida. Chris knows this and we have looked into jobs in the areas of Florida that we like but so far nothing has come up. We'll see what happens...

4. plastic surgery...there are several things I want done and if given chance (with the right doctor) I would hop up on that table and get things done:)

5. Go to Ecuador in Feb with the group from church. I would love to go see what Michael and Cindy are doing in their mission work down there and to help in any way possible and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know if my dad was here he would be the first name on the sign up sheet! If I had the money available to go I would be right there with the group.

6 Ok, since I have to have even numbers (yes, I am a freak!) I needed one last thing that if given the chance I would do. We have a small airport near us and every weekend they have skydivers that camp out and dive all day Sat and Sun. I would love to skydive! Grace even wants to skydive! When she gets older, if she still wants to do it, then we will go together!

So, we learned what I would do, not if I was not afraid, but if I had more self confidence in myself and was less apprehensive. Yet we also learned the things I would do no matter what if I was given the chance and I must say that I like that list MUCH better because there is some great stuff on that second list!

Christmas...

is just around the corner! Can you believe it?! Now that I am done with the crafts for Baby Addy it is time to turn my attention to Christmas.

I went to Michaels last week and they had the wooden ornaments out and a plethora of other things. I came back with a couple of ornaments to get the kids started, I am thinking teacher gifts, and a cut out snowman. Grace started on her star ornament yesterday and I started on the snowman. Hopefully I will have him done within the week and will post a picture when he is complete. I am going to Michaels later this week to get some more things to do and will let you know as I progress through my Christmas crafts.

I am having a Stampin Up workshop on Sunday. If anyone is interested in placing an order let me know and I will let my Rep know. You can checkout the fall catalog at www.stampinup.com I have started doing stamp projects and cards, have tried scrapbooking but just can't get in to it. They have some great stuff for Christmas and other holidays. Let me know if you are interested in anything!

Baby shower

Sunday morning Grace and I traveled up to Lake Gaston and went to church at Enterprise (where my dad was pastor) and then after church we decorated for Kathrine's baby shower. Stacy (Jared's sister), myself and several ladies from the church threw a baby shower for Kiki and it was very nice. Quite a few ladies from the church came as well as friends from outside the church. The theme was a bed and bath shower since baby Addy has A LOT of clothes already thanks to myself and my mom. We also asked that people bring Addy a book to get her library started and I must say she got some good ones and ironically there were no repeats!

She got what every girl needs, bubble bath:) Along with lots of diapers, lotions, gowns, washcloths, burpcloths, several handmade blankets, an heirloom Bible, and lots of other neat stuff.

Kiki has all the crib bedding and Stacy and I gave her the pack n play so now the only big things she needs are the car seat and stroller and with the money she got at the shower she can go get those this week. She is currently 36 weeks and had an appt today and hopefully we will have a baby by the end of the month unless she is stubborn and holds out to her due date or later.

Kiki is hoping for sometime between the 28th and 30th of Sept and some lady at the shower guessed that she would not have the baby until the 24th of Oct! That will not be the case even we have to help her birth the baby at home ourselves.

Camden and Grace track out of school Sept 19th and don't go back until Oct 13th so hopefully they will get to be at the hospital to see baby Addy the day she arrives. I will keep you posted on the impendig arrival. In the meantime enjoy the pics of Kiki from her shower, don't tell her I put them up or she will shoot me:) I will try and post some more shower pics later.

arts and crafts

Today I have been finishing up the stuff I am making for Baby Addy, my niece that is due at the end of the month. I took a couple of pics, one is of the door hanger that is going on the outside of her bedroom door and the other is a picture frame I made that will match the decor of the pink and brown nursery.

Ok I admit it...

I watched the new 90210 the other night. Chris looked at me and just walked out of the room and went and did a podcast. All I can say is that it definately is not your mothers 90210, wait a minute, I am the mother ! It had the same music only updated, of course Brenda and Kelly were there and then Kelly's little sister, Erin is there too. All I can say right now is "Hmmmm..." If I watch it again I will let you know my thoughts.

I was disappointed in the season premiere of Prison Break, anyone out in blog land watch it? It was very predictable throughout the entire episode. I am glad Sarah is back but I have a feeling this will be the last season of the show unless it gets REALLY good from here on out.

We are currently getting rain from TS Hanna and watching to see where Hurricane Ike decides to go later this week. I have been so busy this week that I have not had a chance to go to the grocery store so I went today. Actually I went to Wal-Mart, let me just say that I have not been to Wal Mart in months because I hate going there and dealing with the mass of people. I had to go today because I had a couple of things that I could not get anywhere else. You would have thought we were getting ready to have the STORM OF THE CENTURY there were so many people there, have I mentioned I hate WalMart? It took forever to get the groceries and then I stood in the check out line for an hour, yes, an HOUR!!! Only 1/2 the lanes were open, per the usual, with 20 people at least lined up in each one. Have I mentioned that I HATE WALMART!!
If Ike does decide to come this way we will just go on vacation so we can eat out because I will not be dealing with those crowds and then some.

Grace is supposed to tryout for the Nutcracker tomorrow afternoon but we have had some issues today that may prevent her from doing that. I will let you know if we release her to go audition, right now it is not looking good. Camden has his first game for Fall baseball next Sat morning and then next Sunday afternoon I have a Stampin Up workshop. If you are into stamping or scrapbooking check out their website www.stampinup.com and look at the online catalog. If you want anything let me know and I will let my consultant know.

I better go "batten down the hatches"!

Whew!

I made it through today!! Last night at 9:30pm the phone rang and it was the Headmistress of the kids school (Thales Academy). Anyways, they needed a substitute today for one of the 2nd grade classes and she wanted to know if I would be able to help out. I said "Sure!" and then went to bed and prayed all night.

Over all it was a good day. They teach by direct instruction so it was a bit different than what I am used to when the kids were in public school. I was no where near as fast as their usual teacher and I had one little boy, who hugged me everytime he walked past me, tell me he was so glad I was slower than the teacher because he could actually understand everything and grasp the concepts we were studying. The kids were well behaved but I did call down 2 boys toward the end of the day and then from somewhere in the room I heard a voice say "OOOH! She's getting serious now!"

Grace was excited to have her mom right next door all day, Camden was not as enthusiastic but they survived. The dog, who was home all day by himself, was beyond excited when we finally got home this evening. Not only did I "work" today but it was the first day of the new dance season so we went straight there after school, Grace danced her 1 1/2 hours and then we came home after 6pm.

It was a long day but a good day and I look forward to substituting more often at the school. Tomorrow it is back to all my craft stuff I started this weekend. I am back to doing my decorative painting and will post some pics when I get finished, hopefully tomorrow but maybe Friday.

We are also getting ready for TS Hanna (Ike is right behind her) so keep us in your prayers. Hopefully it will not be too bad and will not affect Grace's tryouts for Carolina Ballet The Nutcracker on Sat or Kathrines baby shower on Sunday up at the lake.

Whew! Glad I can finally prop my feet up and that this busy day is over!

Wordless Wednesday x 3

Tractor-trailer plows into restaurant; town loses power :: WRAL.com

Tractor-trailer plows into restaurant; town loses power :: WRAL.com

Excitement in Youngsville this morning!

I took the kids to school this morning and as I came through town all the lights were on as usual, less than 5 min later I come back through and everything is off. No traffic lights (we have 2), no lights on in Gigi's Coffee Shop and nothing happening at Griffins Restaurant.

When I got home I found out what had happened...a tractor trailer ran into one of our Sunday after church restarants just outside of town (they have fabulous fried chicken) and took out all the power for the whole town. Who knew that one little restaurant was the power source for the entire town!!

The kids are now home because no power means no school, we took a little detour on the way home to check out the restaurant (see news pic in previous post) and it is a mess down there. The truck is still inside, news crews EVERYWHERE and new helicopters too. No one inside was hurt except for the driver of the tractor trailer and they do not know what caused him to run off the road right now.

I know the family that runs the restaurant and I ask that you pray for them. They have had the place up for sale for several months and from the look of things I don't know if they will rebuild or not.

Birthday weekend pics

I realized I had not posted any pics of last weeks Birthday Celebrations.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

No it is not Christmas, it is the kick off of College Football!! Not just any college football but FLORIDA GATOR football, WHOOO HOOOO!!!!! (can you tell I'm a fan?) Anyways, I love this time of year...football and fall.

I have been a Gator fan my whole life and I have taught my kids to love the Gators too:) Although we have had a few times where a nasty Georgia Bulldog fan tried to turn my daughter against them (Amy Bailey) but it did not work. There was also the time where we met Paula Deen at a book signing in Raleigh, we were at the end of the line and when it was our turn Grace walked right up there and told her "Go Dawgs!" How horrifying, I had to wash her mouth out with soap when we got home!! (not really) But my kids know who to cheer for and they loved their trip to The Swamp last year when we passed through Gainesville.

So tomorrow for the 12:30 pm game against Hawaii, Grace will be wearing her Gator cheerleader outfit with her Gator flip flops:) and when Camden gets home from his baseball practice he will don his Tim Tebow jersey. We will get our Tebow (the dog) and sit around and watch the Gators and cheer them to victory!!

If Urban is reading this, Camden is ready to play football for you, he graduates high school in 2018 so be sure to scout him out and have that scholarship ready:)

The day after...

After having celebrated Camden's birthday yesterday I wake up today knowing that 6years ago today my grandmother, Grace passed away. She was a woman who you did not want to cross but she was a lot of fun too! She was not the nuturing, grandmotherly type but she taught me lots of things through the years like never go out without make-up (although there are days where I let that one slip), and through her actions and humor she taught me not to take any crap from anyone and she loved us all in her own way. I remember that she always used Ponds Cold Cream on her face and I remember the first time I saw her take off her little hair piece- I got off her lap sooooo fast, she would roll her hair in pin curls every night while watching Johnny Carson in her flowing white gown and the bottom drawer of the kitchen was the snack drawer :) She never left the house before 11am because she was in bed until 8:30 or 9am, she had a great style and she had great sense of humor. I have been told that I am a lot like her, so much so that one of my elementary school teachers used to call me Grace. (he grew up with my uncle and knew her well)

I hate that my kids will not have any memories of her. I have pictures of her with Camden on his first Thanksgiving and she got to see him again when he was a almost a year old but she only saw pictures of Grace. Camden was 3 when she passed and Grace was only 5 months old. My Grace is every bit like my grandmother in her attitude, fashion sense, sense of humor and outlook. I guess God knew I would need that reminder of Granny everyday when my Diva was born.

Gobble, Gobble...that is turkey for Wordless Wednesday

Send me a caption...this was taken in my yard one Sat in April.

12:01 am August 26, 1999

That is the day and time my little boy, Camden Wheeler Partin was born! ( a month early and weighing 8lbs 2 oz) So that means that today that baby is 9, yes, 9 years old!! I remember that day just like it was yesterday...I was scheduled to have a c-section and told to arrive at Duke by 7:30am, only when we got there the L&D floor was completely full and they sent us home and said to come back at 3pm. They ended up having to kick out a patient so we could have a room and we were finally put back into a room after 4pm. The nurses blew out my veins trying to get an IV started so they had to get the anesthesiologist to come do it (he got it the first try, why couldn't we just have him from the beginning) and after a lot of waiting around and "trying" to induce me which did not work, I was taken into the OR. I was sooooooo sick the whole time, I never felt the epidural and poor Chris had to hold a bucket next to my head the entire time. Once I was taken back to my room I got sick some more and PASSED OUT until the next morning with the exception of one moment I kind of remember where I was asking for the baby and then out again. After a few days in the hospital we went home and the rest is history...

He has become a big brother, started school, played baseball, been to Disney and accepted Jesus in his heart and been baptized by his late grandfather. In his 9 short years he has done a lot and there is still a lot left for him to do. I have not been the best mother but I have tried and I have loved him the every step of the way. I miss the baby days and sometimes think of having another but I like the fact that they are at the age where we are not having to lug around 4 car loads of stuff just to go to the grocery store and that we are not having to worry about formula and feeding and diapers. Pretty soon Camden will be the one buying formula and diapers but I hope that it is not too soon, I want to live in this moment for as long as possible.

Tonight it is dinner out, Camden picked Texas Roadhouse (even though I pushed hard for Fiesta Mexicana) and cupcakes this afternoon for his class:) Happy Birthday Camden, mommy loves you:)

This week!!

Anyone up for 80's night at Koka Booth in Cary on Wed? Belinda Carlisle, Human League, ABC, Naked Eyes and Flock of Seagulls..whoo hoo!!!

Let me know!!

Hard to believe...

that today is the first day of school for lots and lots of kids not only here in NC but all across the country. Yet for my kids we are starting week 6 of the first 9 weeks of school! We got interim reports this weekend and I am pleased to say the kids are doing WONDERFUL!! in their new school. Just 3 weeks until we track out and that means just 4 weeks until baby Addy arrives (hopefully).

It is hard to believe that a year ago during track out we were in Fl and enjoying Disney and visiting family. This year there will be no Fl because there is so much other stuff going on. Hopefully we will get back down there very soon, that is one of the joys of year round school, vacation comes every nine weeks:)

Fall baseball is in full swing now too. Camden has moved up to the minors and he got to pick the name of his team. He decided on the Durham Bulls:) They will practice 3 times a week (that is the most any of his teams have ever practiced) until games start in about 2-3 weeks. Chris has been to the first 2 practices and says that the team looks really good this season.

Grace starts back to dance next week after Labor Day. We are doing 3 classes again...tap, ballet and hip hop. Not only that but we are trying out on Sept 6th for the Carolina Ballets "The Nutcracker" again. Last year she did very good in her tryouts but was too short. Hopefully this year will go just as well and she will make it as a mouse for this year's production.

We are almost done with the painting that we started several weeks ago. All we have left is another coat or 2 of the red on the accent wall and the kitchen. I really want to do a backsplash of some kind in the kitchen but so far I have not found anything I like. Keep your fingers crossed we get the kitchen done this week.

Well, tomorrow is big day here at the Partin house but you will have to wait until then to hear all about it. I am sure it will involve cupcakes and dinner out:)

Color me...what!?

Here is a conversation between my Diva and I this morning.

G: Can I have Color Me Gems?

Me: What is that?

G: These gems that you can color and stick on stuff for decoration. I saw it on TV.

Me: We'll see, maybe we can put it on your Christmas list.

G: I have the number for you, here. (pulls out a scrap of paper with the phone number and proceeds to call it out to me)

She then adds: "You know if you would just go ahead and buy me that pink cell phone I want I could order it myself and then decorate my phone with them!"

Uh...no I will not buy my 6 year old a cell phone and now I am taking away the TV:)

Do I look like a grandma?

So, I go to do my lunchmom duties for Camden's class today and this evil ( I mean cute:) 3rd grader comes up and says " Your hairstyle looks just like my grandma's!" Do what!?
I didn't know what to say and out of habit I said "Thank you!" boy am I an idiot. Then I looked at her and the only other thing I could think of was "I sure hope you have a young grandmother!" She nodded her head yes and immediately ran out of the room. Apparently I was a victim of insult and run, who knows?

How she could tell what my hair looks like I don't know since I keep my sunglasses pushed back on top of my head all the time, that is how I roll, maybe grandma does the same. I just don't know how to take that....

Poor Poor Puppy

My fluffy and happy Tebow (before) My naked and not happy Tebow. (after)

My poor dog!! We took a trip to the groomer today and it did not go well. If you have seen the pics on here or on facebook you know that we have a Lhasa Apso. If you know anything about Lhasa Apsos it is that they have fairly long hair although we keep Tebow kind of short and shaggy.

Well, I am not sure what happened between his last groom just over a month ago and this one but now he is a naked Lhasa Apso. He had mats in his coat that just could not be brushed out and so the shears came out and all his fur is gone!! I got back from my trips the other day thinking the dog had really put on weight and then when I picked him up today he looks like an anorexic dog!! That is how much fur he had cut off. I keep telling myself that at least it is Aug. so he won't be so hot but I REALLY want my fluffy puppy back:(

So here are a couple of pictures for you, a before taken just about a month ago and an after taken today. Please be kind:)

Wordless Wednesday

You provide the caption!

Discuss...

I wish I could have gotten the whole picture in the shot but this is most of it. I was saving it for a Wordless Wednesday but just couldn't wait. Discuss and I will be back later today.




Added:
Ok...I saw this picture on one of those home decorating shows, one that is no longer on, and I told Chris that was going to get that picture for our house. No, I don't have pigs everywhere and No, I do not decorate my house in a country theme. I find things I like and I put them in the house and somehow they just work. Well, Chris was not impressed by this picture but I was determined to get it. Finally, 2 yrs later I found it and got it! It is now being framed and will hang over my buffet. There is just something about it that puts a smile on my face and I hope it does the same for you or maybe even gave you a little chuckle today:)

Huh!?

Am I going overboard on the posts? Deal with it because I am bored, my house is actually somewhat clean for once and after being gone for 2 weeks I am used to being on the go and now I don't have anything to do except catch up on 20+ hours of dvr recordings. I could bathe the dog but why do that when the kids can when they get home from school. So you all get to hear all my ramblings until I get tired and decide to take a sabbatical from blogging, hopefully that won't happen though:)

Ok, I really want to be a funny and witty blogger but I just don't feel that I am. Chris finds me funny, he HAS to, but that is in person and not online. Jenna told me the other the day I was funny, she had not slept all week. My kids only find me funny in the car singing and dancing to 80's music and Mamma Mia! soundtrack. My sister just rolls her eyes at me and everyone else is just being nice and not wanting to hurt my feelings.

If you have any ideas on how to make me more funny and witty online please send them to me and I will try them to see what works best for me.

New subject, here is where my title "Huh!?" comes in...if you have read Jen Jordan's recent blog about bereavement gifts you will know that Jenna and Brent have received a few odd things. I will get into that in a minute...when my dad passed away we got the usual, food , food and more food, Hello! He was a Baptist minister and Baptists know their food:) My mom also received phone calls/emails/cards and money from people and we got enough flowers and plants to open our own florist. The kids were given toys and I had some great ladies give me the gift of taking the kids for playdates during that stressful time. Well, if you have not read Jen's post here is what Jenna and Brent have gotten...cards and money, emails and phone calls, a lamp and pots and pans.
Really, a lamp!? Absolutely!! Pots and pans!? They are actually from an old college friend!! Maybe people just don't know how to show sympathy, maybe they need to have a yard sale? Whatever it is I find it odd yet humerous:) Jenna and Brent have too. So I started looking around the house to see what I might could send them and here is what I found...

1. a bowl of fake lemons, you won't be able to make lemonade with them but they are a nice touch of color on a kitchen table

2. some benadryl...to help you sleep. Won't make you do the things Ambien does (inside joke)

3. a vaccum...I do need to have a yard sale and that is one thing I have too many of, you know what they say "Cleanliness is next to Godliness!"

4. a purse because according to Chris I have way too many, scratch that, I am keeping my purses, sorry:( But if you come this way for a visit you can borrow one, well Jenna can because Brent would look too funny with a cheetah print purse with gold chains (it is a cool purse that was my granny's because she was "Cool like that!")

5. the curtains from my bathroom window, I am redoing my bathroom and have no use for light green sheers anymore (back to the yardsale thing)

Ok, I hope that I have brought a little humor into your day. I also hope that this makes you think twice before you send someone a bereavement gift unless you want to be the one laughed at and blogged about. By the way when you Google "odd bereavement gifts" the first thing to pop up is a link to Jen's blog, I find that quite amusing:) Now I will go think about another topic and maybe grace you with my presence again this afternoon or this evening. Hold on to your hats!!

Addictions

I have quite a few addictions! I am not ashamed to admit it and here are some for you to ponder over...

1. Diet Coke-anyone who knows me already knows that one. It was the first thing I asked for after I gave birth to my son almost 9 years ago. I gave it up for him for 9 months, couldn't do the same for my daughter 2 yrs later, maybe that is why she is so much like me, hmmm...

2. General Hospital- this started in high school thanks to friends who watched it. Now I DVR it everyday b/c I am usually in carpool while it is on. I love Jax:) My husband secretly gets into it too!

3. A few reality shows that I am addicted to are Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency, Gene Simmons Family Jewels and Chris and I both love Project Runway (he does a podcast on Wed and all 3 of them work around the PR time slot so they can watch it and only 1 of them is female...seriously!)

4. 80's music- anything 80's rocks, except for that awful song by Aha "Take On Me", can't stand it!!!!!

5. Right now I am completely addicted to the Mamma Mia! soundtrack. On my recent solo trip to Hotlanta I had my very own concert numerous times over and I sounded AWESOME!!

6. Vaseline or Aquaphor for my lips. Use it several times throughout the day and at night.

7. HGTV- we watch it all the time, really into Hidden Potential and My House is Worth? right now.

8. Florida Gator Football- come on, we named the dog Tebow after Tim Tebow. I really wanted to name him Tebow Heisman Partin but Chris vetoed that one...whatever, I secretly call him that during the day:)

9. craigslist-I am on there all the time, I don't need anything, just looking around. We did get our dog from craigslist, seriously. I look for job opportunities for Chris in other parts of the country (mainly where friends and family are like Florida and Hotlanta) I also look at real estate quite a bit, found a housing swap in Italy:)

10. Nancy Grace- love to make fun of the callers and her "lawyers" that she "unleashes" for comments every night. I already have my speech planned out if I ever call in, which oneday I will, keep listening and then you can make fun of me:) NG is cool!

ok, I was bored and that is why I started this, now I am tired and need to sleep. If you enjoyed this and want to know more let me know or if you have questions I will take those too. Disclaimer: Due to the prospect of being overwhelmed with responses I may not get to every question but I will try my best. I also reserve the right not to answer questions that I don't want to answer:)

Recent pictures

This was Camden's first time eating crab legs and he LOVED them!! Grace is just being her usual entertaining self.

Grace always has to strike a pose when the camera comes out. Camden is too cool!

First day at their new school. Don't they look adorable in their uniforms:) Thales Academy here we come. (By the way, the wall behind them in these pics is now yellow.)