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| http://djbryant.blogspot.com
I'll only be updating my
Blogger. So, here's the links and please come visit. They are very cool
and you'll get used to them!
http://djbryant.blogspot.com
http://journey2number4.blogspot.com
http://lighthousehomeschool.blogspot.com
Love you all!
Denise
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| I'm testing out Blogger,
we'll see if I like it. Right now I can tell there's no mood icons or
"what I'm reading" or "what I'm listening to". So, I'll post it anyway!
What do you think of Blogger? What I like about it is that it's very
flexible with where I can put pictures, text, slideshows, links, etc...
You can post anonymously on it, too, so you don't have to sign in
(Mom!) like on Xanga. Plus, there's places to link to my other blogs,
all in one spot. How cool. Explore it and tell me what you think, OK?
Mood: Awake
What I hear right now: a train in the distance and Caleb & Rachel playing, not so quietly
What book I'm reading: "A Time to Kill" by John Grisham
Today
was pretty nifty. I woke up around 8:30 and then we basically just
bummed around, enjoying the sunshine and totally doing no schoolwork.
I
did tons of laundry and started packing for our trip to Disney World
(we leave Friday). Troy's parents are so generously paying for most of
this trip and we are going with them, Troy's sister & her husband
& their 3 kids, and Troy's other 2 sisters. It's pretty fun to
actually be starting to pack and get ready as this trip has been
planned for almost 2 years I think!
The kids played outside on
the tramp, in the dirt, and in the kiddie pool. After Sam's nap, we
went off to Kmart to get some things on my packing list (and some that
weren't!), stopped by Baskin Robbins on the way home, and also stopped
by Troy's aunt & grandma's house as Auntie is lending me a CD case
to take on our trip. We had fun visiting there and made it home around
6:30pm. After dinner, the kids played outside and ventured over to our
neighbor, Deb's, house and Caleb asked to explore her backyard. He's
getting braver and it's now harder to keep him in our fenced backyard.
He's getting to be a big kid and it's hard to know when to to say "OK"
and when to say "NO". That poor kid is going to be 12 before I let him
cross the street on his own. Just kidding, but really, it's hard to
know when to let them move on to the next "level" of freedom.
I
half-heartedly watched American Idol. Since Phil is no longer on it, I
don't much care. Caleb & Rachel are still awake up there, I need to
do something about that! Good night! | | |
| Yesterday was quite pleasant. In the morning my mom & I went to the Grand Rapids Children's Museum, which was pretty cool. They had all sorts of tables set up with doctors and nurses and volunteer people who led the kids do all sorts of medical stuff. There was a car with a seatbelted in egg and a not seatlbelted in egg and the kids got to watch it go down a ramp and the unseatbelted egg go "splat". (real eggs=real, cool fun!). Lots of other stuff, too. I may post pictures another day, Sam & Caleb had so much fun dressed as surgeons.
On the way out we got kind of interviewed by a Grand Rapids Press guy, who looked like of like a bum or a sneaky lawyer, so I was a bit wary (my mom more so, thanks mom!). Apparently, the day before we went, a 2 yr old fell 17 feet down from somewhere in the Children's Museum. He wondered what we thought of that and all, and I think the museum is perfectly safe, anything can happen. So, I'm in today's issue of the GR Press, in a small little quote saying I think it's a "super safe place" or something. The article was about the kid falling. I didn't think I said enough to warrant being in the Press, but cool!
Last night Troy & I watched "The Lake House". This was probably my 5th time seeing it, but Troy's 1st, and he liked it. Yeah! It's a great movie.
This morning (Sat) I gave plasma, went to church, and left church after the mid-service brunch. I went to Debbie's (my sister) house to help her clean and organize her basement. After many hours of vacuuming spider eggs and moving boxes, we were done! About 3:00pm, I think.
Then I took Rachel & got my hair cut (I have bangs!), went to Goodwill and got some capris and shorts, then to Payless for Rachel to get some new shoes. Then back home, with a stop on the way at Checker's Burgers to get dinner.
After dinner, back out to Blockbuster and I rented a few movies and then Family Fare to pick up about 5 things, but waited in line way too long! I hate that place on the weekends. When I got home we cleaned the house a bit and now here I sit. The kids are very close to needing to be in bed, then Troy & I will choose which movie to watch tonight. "The Nativity Story" or "Flag of Our Fathers". Hmmm....
I've been kind of grumpy today, but it's really been a decent day. Just busy. Well, I've gotta go... have dye in my hair and it's time to rinse it out! Just a normal brown color, more browny than what I'm now! | | |
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A so-so day. That's all. Wish I could say more about it!
I
got the motivation last night to fill out some adoption grant
applications and I stayed up 'til 2am doing that. Who knows what will
happen with those, it would be wonderful to get a grant. Even a small
amount would help greatly. We are up to 3 grants we've applied to,
though we don't expect to hear anything on any of them for a couple of
months.
This morning the kids woke up bright and early at
8:30am. Really that was a normal time, but I was hoping they'd sleep in
just a wee bit more. The kids were at each other's throats all morning.
Sam was whiny and the other two were just bickering. So, not a really
spectacular day here. We did some schooling. It's May. We are not using
a set curriculum. It's hard to stay focused. Ugh. Let summer begin. Let
a new school year start, all fresh with new crayons and some nice blank
workbooks. We are down the fact we have gone over most everything and
I'm just doing time fillers. Which are great, but it's hard to stay on
track or feel like we've accomplished something. However, I AM trying
to keep in mind that Caleb is only in Kindergarten and Rachel is
Preschool, so it's really not a big deal. This week I did send off my
07-08 year curriculum order and I'm really looking forward to using it
in the fall!
Troy worked 8am-8pm today, so I didn't go to work
this morning. Instead, his parents so kindly watched the kids while I
worked from 3:30-5:30 this afternoon. After work we went home and had
PB&J sandwiches. The kids played outside and then had baths. Caleb
was begging for a bath all day because he wanted to swim around in
there with his goggles and look about. He had a good time. I trimmed
Rachel's hair.
Then, we read a couple of books and off to bed they went.
Tomorrow
I'm not going to work because Troy is again working 8am-8pm (he's in
training all week=have to work early). Instead I'll go in for a few
hours this weekend. Have I ever said how much I love my bosses? It is
such a wonderful fit to have such a flexible job, where I can fit my
hours in where needed. Of course I'm a bit biased because my parents
are my bosses, but hey, they ARE great!
Tomorrow morning
(Fri), my mom & I are going to the GR Children's Museum for "doctor
day". Should be fun. Then not much. I will try to fit in some grocery
shopping, maybe before Troy gets home. Depends on the kid behavior!
By
the way, I did get out my kids' summer clothes. Wow. I've got a lot of
work ahead of me. This is a tough thing, putting away winter clothes
that will still fit in this coming winter so I can find them again in
the winter. Putting away clothes that are too small for the older
sibling to save for the younger sibling (again, so I can actually find
them when Sam & Sarah get bigger!). Giving away some to Goodwill,
or maybe a Goodwill pile and a couple of piles for friends and family.
That's a lot of sorting. What a job. Though I am thankful that we have
all these clothes for our kids, what a blessing!
That house
right next to us that has been for sale for 1 1/2 years has sold. Their
backyard faces our driveway. We will be right up close and personal to
this new family, whoever they are. In the 4 1/2 years that we've lived
here, no one has lived in that house. This will be a big change for us.
I'm praying they are nice people and that they do NOT have a dog. I'm
even praying that they will be noisy, because then we will blend in a
bit better. Our neighborhood seriously needs some fireworks in the
summer or some action, you know?!?
This
is a view from our deck. That white house over there is the house that
sold. So, they can now stare at us on our deck and every time we go in
our backdoor or pull in our driveway. They even have a little balcony
AND a 3 season porch they can sit on or in back there just to look us
over. You can see why I really want them to be nice people!
OK, I thought I was just going to post a little, but I posted a lot. Oh, well. It must be the 2am bit kicking in now. See ya! | | |
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Wow, I'm behind! I'll quick update you, so you don't think I've been sitting down watching tv all day!
Saturday:
gave plasma at 7:30am, church at 9:30am (taught 3&4 yr old class),
left church at 1:30pm, went to Meijer, went home & whipped up some
food goodies, at 6pm we left to go to the Roarks' home for a get
together of our young married group of peoples (we meet on Wed night at
church). Our kids went with us and it was fun and we stayed out too
late! (midnight)
Sunday:
slept in 'til 10:30am. Baked cupcakes. Troy, the kids, & I got to
my parents' for brunch at noon. We had the cupcakes and some ice cream
to celebrate Sam's birthday and had a great time. Home by 3pm. Cleaned
the house and then Troy's family came over at 6pm for a little party
for Sam. Good times.
Monday:
Did lotsa stuff in the morning, I'm sure. Worked in the afternoon.
Debbie came over in the evening, which was nice. I did just waste time
on Monday night watching tv.
Tuesday:
took the kids to Butterworth Hospital for an ultrasound of Sam's left
kidney. He has hydrophrenosis of his kidney (the little tube going from
his kidney to his bladder is slightly blocked, causing his kidney to be
enlarged). This was his 6 month test to see if it's getting better or
worse. From what I can tell, it looked the same. He has an appt w/ his
urologist in a few weeks to go over the results. The kids thought it
was a fun adventure.
In the afternoon my sister, Janet, watched
my kids (thanks!) while I worked from 1-4:30pm. Came home to a really
nice dinner Janet made and then dropped the kids off at my
brother-in-law's (Ken) and took off to see Deanna House (she's a cool
lady who makes food like a live cooking show, don't know how to
describe it, it was very fun!!). My mom treated us to the show and
thank you! It was great! After that, my sister Debbie watched my kids
while I picked up a couple of toddler beds from grfreecycle (yeah!). By
now it was late and I went to bed at a reasonable time. I even forgot
to tape American Idol!
Today (Wednesday):
gave plasma this morning. I forgot to pack my diaper bag well and Sam
had a "blow out" and, when I was done, I had to leave with a toddler in
just a diaper and shoes. Too funny, but a bit embarrassing. The kids
were having "one of those days" today and I probably would have hid
outside somewhere if I had the time. But I didn't, so I was a good
mommy and held down the fort until Troy came home. Then off to work
from 2pm-6pm. During this time Troy took Sam to the dr for his 2 yr
check up. All is well and he's such a good daddy. We got home about the
same time, ate quickly, then off to church. We left church right away
when when it was over because we were tired!
The kids are in bed
(but Rachel & Caleb are awake - very bad - and I've had it with
them - this means "nice mom" has gone away for the day, if you know
what I mean). I've watched American Idol. Phil got kicked off. What is
wrong with you people? Argh!
So, tomorrow is actually a pretty
open day, because I need that! I work in the afternoon instead of the
morning. Troy's working 8am-8pm tomorrow & Friday, so that's
messing things up a bit.
On my mind during the next week:
getting our dossier paperwork ready for our adoption and
packing/planning for our trip to Disney World. We are leaving for
Disney on Friday, May 11th! We're going down with Troy's family and his
parents are paying for a major portion of this trip so that is so cool.
We'll be gone for 1 1/2 weeks and will be at Disney for 7 days. We're
really looking forward to it, but it's so hard to plan with all the
other stuff going on. I haven't even gotten the kids' summer clothes
out yet. Do they have shorts that fit?! I'd better do that tomorrow.
See you all! | | |
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grumpy
weird
stressed