Is Something Really Better Than Nothing?

OK. Clearly I am a sporadic blogger. I just have these 4 (somedays 5) creatures that NEED things and time and food and, and, and. And then there is facebook. Such a timesuck but oh, so much fun stalking the lives of people you haven't seen or actually spoken to in more years than I really want to consider. Good thing I never really cottoned to Pinterest I think. Anyway, the frequency of posts is not likely to get better in the near term, but here is what is going on now: May is the demon month. There are school functions every other minute and somehow everyone has a dentist appointment this month on top of any other kind of appointment you can imagine. Really, I should block out the month of May on the calendar for anything other than school related activities. What would I do if I were still working?!? Yep, quit teaching preschool at the Christmas break. Too many irons in the fire and since giving up the mom one or the wife one was not an option I had to go with the preschool one. I miss my sweet kiddos but I am seriously busier than ever!! I get to volunteer at the elementary school which is not essential, but let me tell you, laminating and copying and cutting and binding...it all makes me giddy!! With a little entrepreneurial spirit I could so have been Kinko's!! James and I have been kicking around moving for the last 5-7 years and just have never done anything about it. So about April one of said "We should move." And guess what? We actually started doing things that people who want to move do. De-cluttering, packing, renting a storage unit for the massive amounts of stuff one collects over 12 years in the same house. Lo and behold, the sign was planted on Friday and two showings later we had a contract on Monday. Seriously!! 6 weeks to move out. Well, our planning had kind of stalled out at the deciding to move phase. So we started looking at houses. Found the perfect one on day 1. Day 3 we went back, drew up a contract and a week later found out that it was not going to work out. Up to that point everything had been perfect. Disappointed, tired of looking and floundering we now we have 3 1/2 weeks to get out of this house and have no place to go with kids getting out of school in less than 2 weeks. The tent should be fun with 5 of us in silence as James works in the "other room" ~ you know, the zip-off side of the 8-man tent. Wonder how long Oak Mountain State Park will take to kick us out when the boys start scaring away all the wildlife? Did I mention I don't like sandwiches...wonder if we can haul our fridge out there and rig it up. I think I smell a reality show!! There's one for everything else. Moral: Regardless of what you think you know about your market, think it all through and have some sort of plan so you and your 4 kids are not homeless in the summer. In Alabama it is better to be homeless in the winter. In answer to the title question, you two readers may decide that a snippet of our lives every six months or so is not really better than no news at all. And we have decided that having just someplace to live is not better than having the place we want to call home for the next 20 years. So, stay tuned for how this all turns out. I know I will be excited to see how it all comes out when I wake up from my Xanex-induced trance (just kidding) when it is all over...'cuz McDonald's coke is not going to touch the stress of this thing!!

What a Week! (or Two!)

Bringing back the blog with a BANG! Here's a glimpse at life with 4 kids ~ Warning: The following may not be suitable for all reading audiences, especially those with weak stomachs or inability to appreciate the twisted sense of humor of our universe.

Thursday, October 13th
Eli is admitted to Children's Hospital for a clean out. Yep! Got to go the hospital to poop. X-rays, NG tubes, enemas, IVs, invasive (and I DO mean invasive) testing. The short story is: Mountain Dew has a whole new meaning to me now. All-in-all Eli did great. After the initial shock of being poked and prodded it was so much fun to press the button and order whatever flavor popsicle or Jell-o sounded good at the moment. He endured that last hour we were there and the invasive testing that occurred then much better than his mother could have (heck, I was not doing so well and was just sitting by his head stroking his hair and trying to be encouraging). The things I could tell you about poop....but I won't.

Friday, October 14th
Eli is discharged from the hospital in the early afternoon and requests a "Kristie Kreme" doughnut on the way home. Request granted Brave Boy!! Also, Daddy delivered a new garbage truck ~ a side-loader that raises, dumps and lowers the can ~ when he visited because really, there has got to be a bright spot in this sad tale.

Sunday, October 16th
Bedtime. Rachel scratching her head incessantly. I start looking at her head with a sinking feeling. Yep! Lice. Having never seen it before, we spring into action ~ James Googling and me in the car headed to the drug store. Not my favorite Sunday evening. And the following day's laundry is no picnic either.

Wednesday, October 19th
Sam has had a bug bite on his back/side right where his pants hit his waist for a few days. Today it looks angry. Go to preschool and get several opinions that it looks like a spider bite. Two more opinions come in that it looks like a staph infection. Call pediatrician and get appointment. Diagnosis = Staph. Yay!!

Friday, October 21st
As I am preparing to call to get an appointment to have the wound (which is beyond disgusting now) drained, Sam falls backward, lands on his back and does the deed himself. Blech!! Fortunately, James was a party to the fall and had to deal with the aftermath.

At this point I am thinking the trifecta is complete. No such luck.

Sunday, October 23rd
Eli's heat/moisture rash from sitting bare-bottomed on the plastic mattress (with only a knit sheet/no mattress pad) on the hospital bed looks angry. Weekend trip to the doc. Yep! Staph.

Monday, October 24th
An exhausted Mommy ends up with ear infection and sinus infection.

Wednesday, October 26th
Let the laundry begin again. Emily has lice.

Yes, you can see by the date that I started this post, did not finish and had more to add. Parenting is NOT for sissies people!!

I am certain that lessons were learned during these trials. I know I had opportunities to grow. Hoping I can remember clearly what they were after some sleep. I usually try to be a glass half-full kind of girl (even if I am sarcastic and sometimes snarky) but optimism has seemed to be in short supply as of late. Folks, these two weeks have been rough but I just know that November is going to be much kinder and gentler to the ol' Cannons.

Just Gotta Vent

I hate that my first post in a while (OK, a loooong while) is a list of pet peeves but I just can't let these things go:

Women smacking gum as they drive down the road. I guess it can be a stress reliever, but girls, it is so unattractive when you are giving it your all!

Kids hanging out of sunroofs or windows in car rider line. I know that children want to get out of their seats while they wait and I have even let mine unbuckle on occasion (GASP!), but NEWSFLASH: fender benders happen in car rider line. They may be rare, but they do occur. If it happens to you and your kid is hanging out of the car...well, let's just say I doubt it would be worth the few seconds of whining you avoided by letting them hang out the car!

People jogging along 280. 'Nuff said!

Just because it is made in your size does not mean you should wear it. Conversely, clothing makers should know not to make certain styles in certain sizes. I won't say anymore, but you know that you know what I am talking about!!

And countless other things that bother me...these have just been rearing their heads lately.

I Stand All Amazed

I just need to say that I am utterly amazed the strength and faith of the people who surround me. We are all stronger than we think we are and when tested can muster more faith than we give ourselves credit, but truly I have seen the best examples of love, service and faith in a little family from church over the past few weeks. They have changed lives as their lives have been changed in heartbreaking ways.

We serve a mighty and compassionate God whose love for His children is boundless and unfathomable. Only, we get to have a glimpse of it through loving and serving His children, our neighbors and His children, those he has entrusted to our care in this life. I am blessed to know that families ARE forever and that death will not separate us from our loved ones for long. I am fortunate to understand the Master's Plan for salvation, indeed exaltation. I am not saying that I am there, but I definitely have a strong desire to redouble my efforts to bring myself and my family to celestial glory.

Heaven is a little brighter with the return of precious Brandon to his Heavenly Father's Kingdom. My world is a little brighter with his parents' example shining before me.

Mother's Weekend

First of all, DON'T HAVE A STROKE!!!

I realize that it will come as quite a shock to both of you readers that I am posting after 6 long months. It may have been that long since I last had this much time to myself with no other pressing obligations. I can't promise that it won't be 6 more months before this happens again. I cannot possibly recount the happenings of the last six months, and if I were to, I would soon have no readers. Suffice it to say that there have been birthdays, ER visits, sickness, health, reaching of milestones and much love and laughter. That said....

I have a wonderful husband and children!! Since our Sundays are generally hectic (ok, that is an understatement) James made this Mother's Weekend. He got up with the children on Saturday morning (and I only gently reminded him 3 times Friday night what my expectations were). They brought me breakfast in bed at 8:00 (which IS sleeping in at our house)~ chocolate chip pancakes, fruit and milk. YUMMY!! After a leisurely breakfast, I got up to go to the restroom and immediately 3 of the 4 children were banging on the door to give me a card. Some things never change!

It was a beautiful day outside!! A little blustery, but sunny and pleasant. Once we were all dressed and ready to go we took off to Lowe's where we built planters for Mother's Day....I built Eli's. He would not even plant the flower. You know, I'm a DIY hands-on kind of mom. So we got home and fed the troops then suddenly, I had a brilliant idea! Just this week I have re-committed myself to taking time to search, ponder and pray each day. I told James that I wanted to take my books and go have a snack in the sunshine and read. It will become important to the story later that I have had severe allergy symptoms for several days leading up to this. So off I went. I had a yummy lunch on the patio of a restaurant while I read scripture. I prayed and shivered as the wind blew across me on the completely shaded patio. After lunch I wanted something a little sweet, but not heavy. So I drove across town to the snow cone stand. Said wind was still blowing and now I had ice in my hands so I sat in the car with the windows partially down so that I could be right in the sun but not get sweaty because the buffered breeze kept it pleasant. I read an entire chapter uninterrupted of a book I have been trying to get through for like a year. I did not want to be gone too long, so I headed home to find James in the hammock waiting for me. It was a beautiful day for lying in the hammock. Unfortunately, he then had to leave to procure the gifts for the mothers at church, but then I got to lie in the hammock for about a 1/2 hour before needing to wake the boys. More outside time!!!! Then we took my mother out for dinner.

Fast forward to now, Sunday morning. I am in the bed with worse allergy symptoms than all last week combined surrounded by a mountain of laundry since I took the day off yesterday. My children are at church singing to an absent Mommy right about now. It was worth it though! To be out in God's beautiful world soaking up the beauty and glory of it all....Happy Mother's Day to me and to all the other wonderful mothers I know!

Big Pile O' Leaves

Another yearly tradition! The first big pile of leaves must be jumped in!

Halloween 2009

When all talk of Halloween began in September my first thought was "cha-ching!" All three big kids wanted to be the same as last year. There is nothing better than getting 2 years out of one costume for the same kid, not to mention 3! (Some of you may remember that I may be the only person in history to wear the same bridesmaid dress in 2 weddings!) I was patting myself on the back for buying those black cat leotards a little big last year. Then last week as the girls were chatting up trick-or-treating, Eli said, "Me be pider-man?" I quickly reminded him that he wanted to be Bob the Builder again. But alas, the boy who has never seen a SpiderMan movie and has no SpiderMan toys had to be "pider-man". OK, 2 repeats are better than none. Then, the day before Halloween I went to get the girls' leotards, tights and kitty ears and tails and horror of horrors, the leotards were missing! Probably sold them at Kid's Market for $1. So then I had to talk up going to pick out a new costumes at he store (no time to make anything with less than 24 hours to go) and was not well received on the first pitch. Finally talked them into new costumes and headed to Wally World. Emily picked a pixie costume without much fanfare, but Rachel could not pick any costume that was actually available in her size. There was not even a long sleeved black leotard to replace the missing one in her size. Grudgingly, I agreed to go to the other Wal-Mart to find a leotard since she was not giving up on the black cat. No luck at the other store either!! She was not having anything that was available. Then, finally, she said, "I'll be a cheerleader." Woo-hoo! We have that at home!! She wanted pom-poms and I said SOLD! Two Auburn shakers later and we were on our way! So here they are, our cheerleader, pixie fairy, bumble bee and SpiderMan.

We Trunk-or-Treated at church in the late afternoon and then headed over to Grandma's neighborhood to do a little Trick-or-Treating. We met up with Keely and Erica and go to get a numch more candy since they had just started! We're now off to gather some our loot to send to a soldier in Afganistan to give to the children there!

PS~guess what I found on the way out the door to trunk-or-treat......