I think I'm getting it together!

As you can see...yes, it has been awhile. But, the good news is, we are BAAAACCCKKK! We have been through two new cameras, a failing computer and two cell phones (where most of my pics come from)...so, you are thinking these are excuses as to why I havn't gotten on lately to share all the latest from our lives here in the peachtree state?? Why, you are CORRECT! Yes, they are exactly that!...Okay, I suffer from a little bit of Time Management Disorder...meaning I don't exactly follow my schedule the way I should, soooo that leave my free time in the eves filling up with all of the things I didn't get done in the day...which is most of everything.:)

Seriously, I am going to be making more of an effort to really stay on top of this...this is a great record for the boys to read and laugh about someday too...

So, as we prepare for the upcoming weeks of more ridgid scheduling in place to accomplish all of the things I usually dont, my time to blog is IN my schedule! YEAH!....Very excited about this...I enjoy sharing all of the happenings with you all, of course!! We start implementing Managers of their Homes this week-a scheduling help tool for Christian home-school families. Amazing guidelines and what a resource!! We are excited to get into place. I would have started this last week, BUT with it the Australian Open in full swing...my sleep wake cycles are a bit off-and this weekend has been wonderful to try and get back in track...not to mention we now have DVR, so my middle of the night southern hemisphere tennis watching can wait until the afternoon!:)

I will be filling you in on the latest with the boys...their studies and the other good stuff!! I hope you all have a wonderful, relaxing weekend with your families and hugs and blessing to you all!!

One down, 179 to go...

Wow...never thought I would actually be a "home-school mom"...but I officially am! Today was the first day of kindergarten for Sammy and also the first day of 2nd grade for Jake!...and we are all still alive and in the same house! Seriously, it really was a great day. As I listened to the various buses go by-some as early as 6:30am, how awesome I felt that I didn't have to do the morning ritual....wake up sound sleeping children at 6:15 and pull off the warm blankets and get them dressed with their eyes still shut....scurry them down stairs and sit them in front of the tv while they awaken to a pop-tart being pushed in their face and only have so much time to eat it before they have to quickly brush teet, get their shoes on, grab their lunch box, backpack and off to the bus stop to wait...

The boys woke up excited this morning-had a big breakfast and off to the basement school room for the first day of class! I had them bring their pillows and blankets and we kind of camped out while we learned how the routine would go-Remarkably, we were able to start in with their curriculum by 10am and they hung with it without much complaint! Definitely took breaks, a snack break here and there-and of course a game of volleyball in between.

Jake enjoyed all of the patriotic books and learning-we are studying US history and he will be learning about all 50 states, maps, spelling, Bible, English grammar, Math, Reading, Science & writing. We are going to add in Spanish-which he already has had a little-but that is the language he chose to learn by computer. It will be a fun, yet challenging year, but I think he will do well.

Sammy gets to learn how to read (which he can do somewhat already-but needs more of the basics), and also has writing, science, history, Bible, Math, -he gets to have an ant farm (fun...) and gets to grow a butterfly garden too. And of course, we are adding European History with an emphasis on WWI and II with European Geography, which he loves and is his passion. So as you can imagine, in a "real" school he would have been expelled from the get-up he came to "class" with....full armour intact-he had at least 5 weapons, a grenade, helmet, & bullet-proof vest all over his camouflage pj's. He was ready. We even have camouflage pencils to fit right in with my history buffs. His Aunt Sandra got him a Winston Churchill Bunker book for his birthday and he loves it-and I do too-fascinating!!..SO that is his reading tomorrow. When I asked him what language he wanted to learn he said..."Russian & Korean"....um.....he will be taking Spanish too.

I'm sure we will have tough days ahead, but it got off to a great start and i'm hoping it will continue-at least for awhile. I have wanted to do this for a long time and am so glad I finally took the plunge and did it. All the worries and anxiety have really turned in to relief. I'll get to play a part in the building of Godly character in these boys. I found a great group of women who home school here locally, so we get together weekly. They have been a tremendous resource for me and after meeting them, it just reinforced why I wanted to do this.

No other big happenings have really been going on here-still playing tennis and will be playing for another division title Friday-that was been super fun and a great outlet for me as well. We are hoping to go to City Finals, so we will see how this goes! Wish me luck! I'll post how the rest of the week goes-even if it falls apart completely!!:)

Gosh, It has been a LONG time-we are alive and kicking!

One of the most indespensible things I have grown very attached to is the computer. Needless to say, I have not had one that has been functioning in my own home for months...reason being the last time you have seen me on here has been a mere 7 months!! My sincerest apologies!! AH, but good news I bring! We have a completely new c-drive with everything functioning AND it is VIRUS free! We were blessed to have been introduced to the Koobface virus, so that completely destoyed our system and of course any capablilities to blog and surf the internet!

I am so excited to be able to start blogging again-hopefully on a daily basis- and fill you all in the lastest and greatest in our lives here in Georgia. We have decided to home-school the boys this school year, so that adventure will be documented here as well.

I am off to get some much needed sleep before this week gets moving in full swing-Will be back on here in full force this week!

Patton?....

I just had to post some pics of my boys...Samuel (5) reminds me of General Patton with the flag in the background...that would be in his room. He asked for an American Flag for Christmas and has treasured it since. He hung it above his bed (with my help of course!) and salutes it daily...he is VERY patriotic and can say his pledge of allegiance. He is in his military attire and "guards" the house daily. Wonder what he wants to be when he grows up?? His teachers say they keep them on their toes when it comes to history...He explained to them the other day about the Enola Gay and how we bombed the Japanese...He asked me where Hitler was and if he was dead-his mind just goes on and on...fascinates me, this kid!

Jake is more interested in playing guitar hero and playstation lego star wars than pretty much anything else...he has become quite the rocker and Should I be concerned that my 7 yeard old is starting to walk around the house with a fake guitar singing "Talk dirty to me"..??!!...What am I doing to my kids??? I'm ok with having the kids play songs, but do you think they could maybe come with...say...some kid friendly songs??? Geez Louise....His favorite is Barracuda...Sammy prefers to rock out to Black Sabbath...yes, lovely Ozzy Osbourne....How lucky am I to have blooming head bangers in my midst! I think they have a little of their Uncle Karl in them!

They are settling back into the routine of school again-although the early mornings weren't a favorite for any of us. Eric has been traveling alot back and forth to Ohio, so we have been soloing it for while now...we just take it day by day! I'm actually using my pots and new appliances and they are working well-my recipes are actually edible!! A far cry, from my previous cooking experiences...watch out Top Chef!

Our newest arrival this past week was the new washer and dryer, which were much needed. After hearing some strange noises with the dryer, like it was going to actually come apart with each load, I finally learned why my Maytag was failing me...I heard Sammy yell while playing "I'm going to the escape pod" and run into the laundry room...Hmmmm..yes, his escape pod was the lovely dryer...so there he is inside with the door open pretending to blast off into outer space...so that explains why when I run a cycle, it's like threw in a set of barbels with my clothes! I quickly explained that these new appliances weren't "escaping anywhere" and that they were off limits. Gotta love boys!

With Eric gone so much, I did allow my kiddos to sleep with me a few nights just to make them feel more cuddled with things a little out of sorts. Little did I know that I would also be sleeping with 11 stuffed animals, a flash lights, commander cody, captain rex and every clone trooper in their posession. There is nothing worse than rolling over during the night and a miniature machine gun is jammed in your back. Makes for a lovely night's sleep!

We, like most of you, are experiencing very cold weather here in Atlanta...It was a balmy 10 this morning with only being 1 degree with the wind chill...Eric is thrilled. He leaves from Ohio where it is 6 below to come to single digits here in the south. We are bundling up needless to say and are hoping warmer air heads in....soon! I have a doubles match coming up and I will have to post how things went!!

Back to Bloggin'...

After a month long hiatus, I am proud to say that I finally have a working modem and Internet access!! YEAH...has been along time coming, but things are finally back in order.

SO much has happened...I will fill in the top stories of our lives over the past month.

Dec. 1st we closed on the new house and we welcomed into this wonderful state with a blocked sewer line...yes...fun...very fun! Eric discovered this wonderful gift within the first 12 hours of our ownership...Apparently, roots from our crepe myrtle (Sp) tree fed right into the sewer line in the front yard and completely blocked any exit...of anything. Lovely. How do you find such a problem you might ask? Well...flush a toilet and then take a shower...where would your shower water go, you might ask again? Well, how about through the and over the toilet on the first floor of your home...neatly blanketing your wooden floors and seeping through your ceiling and onto your basement ceiling. You know things aren't looking too good for you when within the first 3 days of moving in when your fridge is covered with magnets of all the service businesses you had to call in 48 hours. Plumber, clean-up crew, backhoe crew...yeah...I even have lovely pics to show you that wonderful out of pocket experience. The fun part was the sewer line couldn't be fixed until the following Monday...5 days after we moved in. The previous owners denied ever having problems, but clearly from the pics you can see how difficult this is to believe. My parents came to visit just a few days after moving in and they helped me open boxes while I directed all the crews that where at our house in the first week. The appliances were removed and new ones were delivered...with a scheduled install date of 3 days later (unbeknown st to me)...so we got to know some new places to eat in the Johns Creek area!...Using the bathroom wherever we went to spare any further damage to my existing plumbing situation. God bless my parents for not turning around and heading back home!

That situation was finally taken care of and now we needed to move forward with the clean up-dry wall was removed and everything was dried out..carpet padding removed..you name it. We are still in the midst of having all the repairs made, but our home-owners insurance took pity on us and at least paid a little to help with the expenses. Thankfully.

We have spent December unpacking boxes and moving things in. I didn't' realize just how long this would take...I guess I forgot that I actually brought a moving truck full. We had been living out of a few suitcases in a hotel for so long, when the moving truck pulled up with our stuff...I was blown away at just how much we had. Note to self...have a BIGGER garage sale BEFORE you move! Only a few things were damaged and nothing to valuable, so I don't have too much to complain about.

We did have a new kitchen installed which we love...but they of course came to deliver the new counter tops on the wrong day...would you really be surprised considering how things have gone? The demo'd the backsplash and made just a few holes in the walls, but nevertheless the new counters were in and they looked good....next call-tile guy. It's funny because the day before Christmas they delivered our new Refrigerator...you guessed it...wrong one. A new one will be coming on the 13th, so we wait again.

With all that was going on, I was a little lax on the shopping thing...I did manage to pull it out in my timing as usual...picking up a few last minute things on Christmas Eve, but we managed to have a wonderful day as a family and the kids were more excited than ever. Jake got some games for his PlayStation, star wars clone wars stuff, guitar hero and some other things. Sammy got his coveted OSU helmet and football uniform-which he wore for 12 straight hours on Christmas day! He also got an American flag which he treasures and hung above his bed and some new military toys. It was a fun day-weird to not be close to my parents, but we left the next day for Ohio and had a wonderful visit through new year's.

The boys have since settled back into their school routine and I promptly got the tree packed away...proud of myself for that one. We have much to be thankful for and to look out at my backyard and see the deer that freely walk by is so peaceful (see pic). In the grand scope of things, these inconvenient happenings pale to what people are going through back home and around the world.

I should be up to date now and can continue to share what is going on...hugs to all!

There IS no place like home...

SO true...there is nothing like seeing and smelling the familiar when you have been away from home! We had quite a week visiting with family. Sammy was sick two days before we left-with what we think was a remnant of Jake's illness the week before. We headed down the Tuesday before and arrived late to get settled in to my home, sweet, home. Hard to believe we all grew up and thrived in that house (just tight quarters), but it was so familiar and homey-couldn't have asked for anything more...well maybe just a healthy family!:) Not long after our arrival, Eric came down with something...still not sure what...He was out for the count for Thanksgiving day. Jake then was taken to an after hours clinic for a high fever-which then confirmed he had strep throat...I felt we were the walking plague. I stayed home with my family in lieu of the crazy shopping morning on Friday, but did venture to get out a bit that afternoon with my sis and mom for pots and pans of all things....good sale, couldn't pass up!

I did manage to see some dear friends in between all of that drama, but didn't get to see some other dear friends because of the time constraints and illness timing,etc. Overall, I was so glad we were able to be home for Thanksgiving..despite all the challenges. I will hopefully be able to catch up with everyone again in a month or so around Christmas!

We traveled home on the best day to travel I might add...who would have thought the Sunday after Thanksgiving would be a problem???!!!!! Note to self...get a brain. After a quick breakfast in Springboro we headed on down...going through torrential rain, traffic, a cramped car, traffic, accidents, detours, did I say TRAFFIC and of course...a tree trunk/limb across the road (seriously!!!) and then...fog...Lovely travels to say the least. We decided to trust our lovely Carmen to take us through another route to our beloved hotel. Carmen is our GPS-so far she has not let me down. We ventured off of I-75 ( I think I would STILL be sitting in traffic right now if we stayed on!!) and headed down a rather rural, scenic route...we contemplated turning around several times, but kept going. We traveled through several "towns"...trailer park communities and were tempted to stop by a local HillyBilly Bar...yes, that was the title. Catchy huh? We passed on the urge and eventually made it "home". The good thing was, we changed our accomadations to a closer, tad-bit nicer Hyatt Place. Sammy said "mom, I'm ready for some room service"...is he his mother's child or what?! We settled into a clean room and the boys crashed around 10pm after a quick run to Panera for a quick dinner.

The boys went back to school this morning and we have resumed a somewhat normal schedule. Today was Sammy's first day in special needs kindergarten...they asked him if he "could talk"...I said just mention wwII and he will keep you busy...His teacher is VERY nice and has red hair too! He is in a small class with only 5 kiddos and a little girl named Ellie was trying to show him around...she is a cutie!! After a little reluctance in letting me leave, he was just fine. He will go ALL DAY here at kindergarten-feeding himself a packed lunch too...in a cafeteria...I think it was tougher for me than for him. I picked him up at 2pm and he had the biggest smile on his face...he loved it and really seems to like his teacher. His teacher said he acted like he has been here all year. That is a relief...so glad to see him smile. Hopefully he will remember this was a good day when I have to wake him up at 6:30am tomorrow!

I enjoyed my day-quite laid back. I worked out this morning, took a shower, watched "Roxanne" on cable-don't remember the last time I watched a movie on cable-during the day! Had lunch and met with a tile guy for the new backsplash in the kitchen and then picked up the boys. I promised Sammy he could pick out where we go for dinner since this was his special day-he picked Subway-his favorite. I included some pics of the day...sorry no rhyme or reason, just kind of summarizes our last week! Sammy's first day of school, our new accomadations, Me, Lisa and Di at our anniversary dinner out, and Sox, my sister's golden retriever she brought with her home to our parents for Thanksgiving! The boys LOVE her dog! The pics we had of my sis and I were not blog worthy!!:)-no makeup!

Two more nights in a hotel and then we get to move in to the new house!! Yeah!!! Miss you all!

The Germans are coming!...

Just in case you are wondering what we do around my place these days...the boys have do something to entertain themselves! Pretending to be in a battle in WWII was the topic of the night. Notice Sammy's deadly weapon-death with a hanger!...And of course with the size of Jake's head, who wouldn't be scared? They at least humor us while we are in such tight quarters. Their creative spirit is always at work and we are amazed at what they come up with.

We spent most of the day watching the OSU-Michigan game and then more football...and yet again more football. What fun. I think Sam has taken over the teasing skills I was so good at when I was a child (right, Sandra?). During the game, Sam kept saying.."Go Yellow, Go Yellow"...with a smirk on his face. Eric was fuming and reiterated we NEVER root for Michgan-Sammy commented he like the blue and yellow team. Eric just gave up and ignored him the rest of the game. Kind of funny!...Eric was not laughing.

I decided to clean out the car and get things ready for the trip home. How about that Di, I have actually started days ahead of time getting things ready instead of two hours before we leave! You must be impressed!:) We are anxiously awaiting to see everyone back home and are counting down the days...3 to go!

It is still very cold here-only got in the low 40's today...as a high! It is supposed to warm up a bit here in the next few days, so that will feel nice-just before we leave for Ohio!