Stomach Virus and Black eyes

Last week was crazy. Last Saturday we had our annual Pine Orchard Fair. This is one of the only community fairs left in the state of Tennessee. When I met Adam I started going every year. It is a time of good food, music and fellowship. Adam and I set up a booth this year for the first time. I took pictures for little souvenirs and Adam had pumpkins and gourds. We had a great time and we did pretty good too.

We rested all day on Sunday and Monday headed back to work. I called home during my planning period to check on Brody and Sandy told me that Anna had gotten sick. My heart sank. I hated that Anna got sick but I was also a little worried that Brody would get it. I decided to stay home and keep him away from Anna and Joseph on Tuesday. We had a really fun day and I thought we had escaped the "bug". I was wrong! Wednesday morning about 4 Adam and I woke up to hear Brody get sick. He was so pitiful. This was the first time he had ever thrown up before. Everytime before he got sick he would start crying and saying Mommy or Daddy in the most heart-wrenching voice I had ever heard. Adam was off that day so I decided to go on to work and get my stuff ready to be off for the rest of the week. I took Thursday off and Brody felt much better. We had another great day full of rest and play. Friday morning about 3 I woke up and noticed Adam wasn't in the bed. Then I heard him. He had the virus too. Joseph and Bobbie Lyn got sick on Wednesday, Paul got sick on Saturday and Sandy got sick Sunday. Harold and I are the only ones that have escaped the plague so far. I don't know if it is inevitable or if maybe from being around all the students all the time has helped me build up an immunity. (i hope)

Once Brody was over his sickness he was just like new. He loves to hop around all the time. He is a little on the clumsy side ( I don't know where he gets it- ha!). It's kinda an on-going joke with us. Brody falls so much that we are a little used to it now. Most of the time he gets up and just laughs at himself. Lately he has noticed more when he gets a boo-boo. Friday when I got to Sandy's to pick him up I noticed his eye right away. It looked awful and I just knew it was going to be black. Sandy was reading one of her home remedy books on how to treat bruises and it said to put preparation H on it to avoid swelling and minimize healing. We tried it and it worked really well. It still had a little bruising but nothing like we thought. I tried to get a good picture but Brody didn't really want to cooperate.

Introducing Miss Emma Genevieve Rue

Trampas, Tabitha and Gracie Rue Welcomed Emma Genevieve Rue into the world this morning. Tab had a C-section. I just talked to Trampas and he said everything went great. She weighed a whopping 9 lb and was 21 inches long. I can't wait to see her tomorrow and take lots more pictures!!! I love all 4 of you all very much.

"Sweet" little boy

Well it is no surprise to me that Brody loves sweets. He has definitely come by it honestly through his daddy. Yesterday when I got there to pick Brody up from his Gramma's house she couldn't wait to tell me a funny story. At about the same time yesterday, Anna and Joseph both had to poo-poo and since they have been using the potty, Sandy rushed them into the bathroom together. This left Brody to play with all the toys by himself. Apparently Brody wanted to play with more than just toys. Anna finished using the potty and went to play with Brody. Sandy said that in just a few minutes Anna came running into the bathroom and said, "Mammy, Mammy, Bobo, Bobo) (Anna and Joseph call Brody Bobo) Sandy said it was like Anna was telling on Brody for doing something bad. She said she went to see what Brody was doing and then she saw him! He had found a Bowl with some freshly made cupcakes for all the kids to share later. Somehow he got the bowl open and licked each one right down the middle while sitting under the kitchen table. Sandy said she started cracking up. When Brody saw her he came out from his hiding place and wanted someone to clean off his hands. She did manage to get this picture and I wanted to share with all of you! He really is my "Sweet" little boy!

Shaving already?

Well of course Brody isn't shaving but one day this week he was feeling a little puny and it was raining so I wanted something for him to do inside. We let him put his hand prints on a t-shirt and he wanted to paint something else. Because I saw what a mess he made, I decided to do something a little different. I got out the shaving cream. It was so funny to watch him play with that stuff. He looked at me like mom, I am getting this everywhere. He loved it. I am going to have to get some of the cheap cans to have for this winter so he can play with it again. I really suggest letting your children play with it too- it's really a lot easier to clean up than paint!! I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Dirty, Dirty Boy

When I got home yesterday Brody and Adam were outside. Adam has Wednesdays off and it is so good that they get that time together each week. They are really Tight. Anyway, when I pulled up in the driveway I couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. First of all Adam loves to dress Brody. He does a pretty good job most of the time and yesterday he had pulled out a new pair of overalls and some work boots with a grey t-shirt. He looked absolutely adorable and he had the biggest smile on his face when I got home. It was like he wanted me to tell him how good he looked and of course I did. We played outside for a while after we ate some supper and by the end of the evening Brody was soaking wet and covered with sawdust. He just loves to get dirty, thus the title of this post.

I do have a favor to ask of you. As I stated earlier I started back to work about 3 weeks ago. This has been the hardest start to a school year that I have ever experienced. I have been placed on so many committees and somehow found myself as the chairperson for many of these (not by choice, believe me). I would really like for you all to say a little prayer for me. I have found myself really out of sorts. I feel like I don't get to actually do my job (teaching children) for all the paperwork, committees, and other "jobs" that I have been given. God doesn't give us any more than we can handle and I just need to look to Him more! -- Thanks

Brody and Daisy's "new" swingset

Adam and I have been wanting to get Brody a swing set for quite a while now. As most kids do, he absolutely loves being outside playing with Daisy, any kind of ball or anything with wheels. We wanted to get him a really nice wooden swing set, one of those buy the kit kinds at Lowe's but when we started looking at the prices we decided to either wait a while longer or try something else. One of our neighbors had a tower with a slide that was falling apart and they didn't want it anymore. Adam gladly offered to take it and he re-vamped it. It looks great and Brody loves it!!
We were outside Saturday afternoon playing with Daisy and Brody started sliding, which he calls sween... , and I looked down for a minute and when I looked back up, Daisy had climbed up the ladder and slid down right after Brody. I couldn't believe it and I started cracking up. I didn't even catch it on film but I did get some pretty good shots of them playing on it later. You never know what your kids or dogs are going to do!

Never say never

Well ever since I can remember I have proudly proclaimed that I would NEVER drive a mini-van. I have had an Explorer now for about 3 years and I loved it until Brody was born. Then I had to ride in the back more and realized that it rode like a logging truck. I had my heart set on a new Tahoe but as you know with the gas prices being the way they are, that was out of the question. I had resigned myself to the fact that I would just drive the car I had until gas prices went down or I found something I liked better. There were many cars that I loved but I just couldn't see myself trading for a smaller car when I wanted more room. So we bit the bullet and have done the unthinkable. We got a van! ( go ahead, you can laugh) I love it though. It rides like a car and has so much room. It is a 2008 Nissan Quest. I guess the old saying is true, never say never.

I will be posting again sometime this weekend and include pictures of Brody. I know that I have been a slacker lately, but let me explain myself. We have grown a garden for the first time this year. I put up 49 quarts of green beans, 4 qts. of pickles,& 12 quarts of tomato juice. School has also started back this week so I have been so busy with that and when I do have a little time at night to post, I find myself glued to the tv to watch the Olympics, they are awesome. So I will try to do better now once I get back in some sort of routine!