Rest in Peace, Grandma

My great grandmother, Lida Johnson, passed away early this morning in her sleep at the age of 100. Grandma was going to be 101 in June, only one week earlier than my own birthday. I love my great grandmother very much and it was very hard to get the call today with the bad news. I want so badly to go home to say goodbye, but I know in my heart that I would only be saying goodbye to her body and not to her soul, which will live on.



I have plans to be home for my sister's graduation in May. I was going to see grandma, too, when I was home.



My grandma was a "Peach of a Gal" and she will be missed terribly. She lived independently until the age of 97 or 98 (I can't remember which). I can still remember going over to her house to help her with her yard (well, Jim would help her with her yard...her and I would sit inside and talk :) She tried to give Jim $30 for raking her leaves! After realizing that we were NOT going to take the money from her, she settled for giving us some bags of candy. This was another thing she was known for...always having candy in the house (and she still has all of her own teeth....something to be proud of at 100). And because she lived right behind Koozie's Nut House (remember Koozie's???) she would always have nuts in the house. Any how, she settled on letting us go with just a couple bags of candy.



I will miss my great grandmother terribly. She is such a great person and such a strong Christian woman. Which reminds me now of all of the Mother Daughter banquets I would "have" to go to. But she was so proud of me as her first great grand-daughter and I would always go, for her so she could brag about me to her friends at church. She was such a proud grandma, much like a grandma always is :)




Grandma, Rest In Peace and know how much you are loved and how much you will be missed.

These pictures were taken in 2006 while we were home on our visit - grandma was 99.

quitter

Such a nasty sounding title, huh? I feel the need to vent, so feel free to just skip right on by this stuff if you'd like....I won't know, right! ;)
So I found out that the position that I wanted so badly would be less than $3 more per hour in pay...not enough for me to go back full time. Of course it would be a little extra money, but only a little after I pay for after-school care. And this also means less time with the kids. Not that the kids want to spend time with me right now anyhow - lol. Addison is still into playing with me, but when there's neighbors to play with, they would much rather be hanging out with their friends than me. But at least I know where they are and who they are with. So no more choices to make. Although, I did stick to dropping out of college for the time being. I really need the break from that. Now I get to start paying back those student loans - yippee.
Well, thanks for 'listening' if you stuck around to read this. My adreneline is still going from a busy day at work - everything was "rush, rush, rush." So I'm going to try to be productive around the house.....

on cloud 9

Ok, so this past weekend I decided to take all of the stuffing out of our couch pillows (yes, all 8 of them...I actually missed 1). If you can imagine a huge, 3 foot tall, mound of old stuffing sitting in the corner of our living room.... Any how, we leave...I can't remember where to or what for (hello 30's!) but when we came back we found Daisy snuggled deep in the mound of stuffing. It was so flipping cute...I couldn't resist but to take a few pictures. (((And you can tell the difference between the old stuffing and the new stuffing (yuck!)))
And then there's Addison, "floating" on her own cloud.

family dinner at Caroline Lake

I think Tyler has a future in Photography.........

Yesterday was President's Day ~ Jim and I both had the day off, but the kids had school (yeah!). It was such a beautiful day that Jim and I decided to pack the cooler with some uncrustables (I swore I would never buy these things, but they are too fabulous and convenient) and some sodas and crackers and surprise the kids with a "dinner" at the park. We went to Lake Caroline....RIGHT next to the ocean. As a matter of fact, I am sure it's a salt water lake, if that's even possible. We could see the tide coming in to the lake while we were there. Strange.

Tyler...such the poser.....

"Take a picture of me like George Washington"

Peek a Boo!

advice needed

Choice #1:
work 30 hours/week
school full-time
Editor of Ebb & Flow Newsletter
Event/Fundraiser Committee Member for Animal Rescue Center of Bay County
Passion Parties
no time for family

Choice #2:
work 30 hours/week
Editor of Ebb & Flow Newsletter
Event/Fundraiser Committee Member for Animal Rescue Center of Bay County
Passion Parties
more time for family

Choice #3:
work 30 hours/week
most time with family, no difference in pay

Choice #4:
work 40 hours/week
little less time with family, double my income

Choices 3 & 4 are clearly the best, right? Choice 4 would mean more opportunity for family vacations (we'll have the money) but the kids will be in after school care for approximately 2 hours per day.

Choice 3 means I stay in the job I am currently in (which I love).

Choice 4 means I get promoted in the HR field, which is why I was going to school, continue working for the same man (who is the best boss EVER), and it means that I would double my income.

What to do????

Family is so important to me, and on one hand I think how much more we can do as a family if I go full time, while the other half of me says that the kids don't appreciate what they get any how. So is it selfish of me to go for the full time position (practically dream job)??

HELP!

lifestyle changes

I hit rock bottom last night when I heard some news that was shocking to me. For the first time in years, I cried myself to sleep. Where did I go wrong as a parent? Was it wrong to uproot my family and move across the United States? While I am 100% sure that Jim joining the Air Force was the best move for us, I know it hurts the kids in some ways. We, Jim and I, have decided that this "season" in our life is not about us; it's not about me getting my degree right now, it's not about how many volunteer tasks we can be involved in, and it certainly isn't how many side jobs we can pick up. It's the "season" for our children. Sure, we thought we were giving the kids the attention they need, but after sitting back and taking a really hard look at it, we aren't giving the kids the right kind of attention they need.


I have 'put on hold' my degree. What will it do for me when I get it? It won't get me a raise in the job I'm in. It may get my face in the company newsletter....whoopty doo. I have the rest of my life to earn my degree, but I have only this ONE chance to be a good parent.

So what is a good parent any how? I think a good parent is one who listens to his/her children, and I'm not talking about nodding your head while cooking dinner as your 7 year old tells you about his exciting day at school. I mean take a minute and sit down, look him/her in the eyes and really listen. Do what your children want to do instead of what you want to do all the time. If he wants to learn how to play the guitar, sign up for lessons! If he wants to be a fisherman, go fishing! If she wants to be a princess, stuff her drawer full of tiaras. You only get to be a kid once, right? And the most important thing for me is to learn to like some of the things my children like.

Take the time to really love your children.


Here are my FAVORITE KIDS IN THE WORLD: