Random thoughts

Yes, it's me again - how long has it been? Too long.

My heart breaks for all the families involved in the shooting at Fort Hood, TX yesterday. Jason and I talked about it last night .. and like I told him, it's one thing when you don't know anyone closely involved ... yes, it's sad .. but when you know someone that is closely involved (a friend is stationed out of Fort Hood) it's a different story. I was glad to hear that his wife and son were safe in their home when this all happened. I am not sure if he knew any of the fallen .. or any of the injured .. but I am sure that it's still "family" ... you know? Hard to explain. I pray that the Lord is with the families of those fallen, that he will bring quick healing to those that are injured .. and that He would bring peace to all those involved.

Last night we brought Joseph to the mall to get his suit fitted for Megan and Hunter's wedding - which is tomorrow. He looked mighty handsome and can't wait to see them all together tomorrow. I will try and remember to post pictures.

I can't believe how quickly Christmas is approaching! 48 days! YIKES. I've gone some shopping done, but definitely not enough! I so need to figure out what to get for Jason's mom, dad and sister ... and also other gifts for the kids. We have one idea - but not sure if Santa is going to bring that or not. Big responsibility that I am not sure if we are ready to take or not. I will post more another time about that. I am so ready to put my Christmas tree up and decorations!!! :) :) :)

Well, I honestly am not sure what else to write about - so I guess I should go and try to FLY for a little while. LOTS to get done since I haven't done much all week ... and this weekend is going to be busy.

* rehearsal tonight
* wedding tomorrow, Party Lite candle party at Christi's in the evening
* church, Jason has meeting, choir, church on Sunday

Yikes!!!! HELP. will it ever slow down!?!?

Be blessed - will write more later. Maybe an update on all the things I will get done today!

I want 2 to blog ..

.... I really do want to blog, but I have no clue what to blog about. Woke up this morning with no voice, and it honestly isn't that great still ... but at least I can say a few things. As long as I don't try to scream. LOL ... with 4 kids ...

School starts in just a little over a week. THANKFULLY. It will be nice to have quiet in the house for a while. Will only have about 2 1/2 hours with all 4 kids at home before Jason gets home. That is nice. His schedule changed this morning ... he only had to go to work for 7:30am. It was nice to snuggle this morning a little before he had to go. Just quiet time ... always nice.

I should be doing dishes or laundry right now -- and will as soon as I get done with this post ... but I wanted to jot a few things down first. LOL .. I know, not really interesting -- but hey, it works for now. At least it shows that I am still around! :) I am ok ...

Alive.

Blessed.

Kids are great.

Jason is good.

Christmas in July ladies fellowship at church tomorrow evening .. supposed to get set up our table tonight -- and I am not sure if I have all that I need for it. sad. I tried to call the person who is supposed to be helping me -- and got no answer .. so I will try again in a few minutes ...

Musical dress rehearsal all day Saturday -- Jason has to be there to help on Saturday morning, kids have to be there for 1pm. Praying for Brandi and her stress level during this ... I think it's going to be great.

Baptism on Sunday morning - Joseph! How awesome is that!!! :)

Ok, that is all for now. Need to go and get a few things done before Jason gets home from work.

Be blessed.

Live, Love, Laugh

It's been months since I've taken the time to sit and type out a blog post. Forgive me? HA, is there really anyone reading this to answer that question? Doubt it very much! :) But, oh well - at least it's there for me to go back to and read - if I ever take the time.

Since I last posted, many things have happened. The end of the school year and start of the summer vacation for the kids - but of course, here we are, less than 2 weeks before school starts up AGAIN. I can't believe that I will have a 4th grader and 2nd grader. I am looking forward to finding out who will be their teachers. So far we have been blessed with amazing teachers for the kids and I hope and pray that it will continue. I know it's going to be a lot more to handle - much more homework ... but I believe that they can do it. They are ready to learn more! :)

Soon we will be celebrating Samuel and Jenna's 3rd birthday - wow! Where has the time gone?? Can't believe they will be 3 years old ... and that means, it will be 3 years since I've seen my parents and sister .. and I know how much that upsets them .. especially my dad, because I told him that I would see him in less than 2 years. OOPS! Who knows when we will get the chance to go up to Canada to visit them. Especially now with the ticket prices so much -- and such a long drive!!! blah. Procrastination.

Concerts - I've seen NKOTB 2 times since I last posted. I saw their opening show for the Full Service Tour in Atlanta - in June and also saw a show in Memphis in July. I was hoping to attend the last show of the tour in Texas on July 18th .. but we just couldn't do it. LOL ... no way were we adding 400 miles to our trip to Oklahoma .. although it would have been AMAZING to be there. :) Now, here's waiting on what will be next (my friend Shannon is trying to convince me to go on the May cruise -- but there is just no way I can justify spending that much money on a NKOTB tour). LOL ... so, who knows what will be next.

I took Stephanie to see Demi Lovato -- was a really good show .. and I am so glad that I was able to take her. It was great to be there also with Shannon and her 2 nieces -- even if we were not sitting together ... just sharing the experience with them. Now we are awaiting the Aug 22nd Jonas Brothers concert. Praying that Shannon will be able to find tickets for her and her niece. :)

Jason and I just celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary ... July 18th. Along with my friend Rachael and her husband, Jeff. Who knew we would ever become great friends and share that special day!! :) We were driving to Oklahoma on our anniversary ... and we got to go out twice (once to the Melting Pot here and once at the Cheesecake Factory in Oklahoma) ... I can't believe it's been 11 years!! WOW!

Not sure what else to write, so I guess that I will end with that .. Hope that you all have a blessed day!

NKOTB Day! :)

Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis declared April 24, 1989, "New Kids on the Block Day."

Happy New Kids on the Block Day to everyone! :)

-- Tomorrow is Friday -- YAY! I love weekends and I love them even more when Jason only has to work half a day. Since he worked this past weekend, he only has to work 8am-noon tomorrow. Kids will get home from school at 2:30pm and then he'll take them to his parents house. They are going to spend the night with them (yes, all 4 kids) ... this is a first, so we will just have to wait and see how it goes. Pray for us! :) I think we are going to try and go to The Melting Pot for supper and then not sure if we'll do anything after that or not. I am letting Jason decide what we are doing.

Don't really have plans for the rest of the weekend. We'll probably have to head over to his parents at a decent time on Saturday -- and it's supposed to be a high of 80+ ... so not sure what we'll do. Maybe we can take the kids somewhere in the afternoon to run around outside. There are many parks in the area ...

My friend Ken - who is currently overseas is leaving today to go home for 2 weeks of R&R. I am praying for a safe trip home and praying for the time he will spend with his family - much needed at this time. It's been great catching up with him lately -- and will miss chatting with him while he is gone -- but he definitely needs this time with his family.

-- Currently 78F outside. I think I will grill out some ribs for supper tonight. YUMMY. Trying to figure out what I am going to do with my potatoes. Do I mash them? Do I make homefries with them? Do I bake them? Do I cook them with butter and garlic in the oven? Help! :)

Waiting on Stephanie to get home from school. My SIL is picking her up. She had a play rehearsal at school -- her SEARCH program is putting it together -- and for the next 3 Thursdays they are staying an extra hour at school to work on it. She should be getting out in the next few minutes -- and should not take them long to get home! I can't wait to see how it went -- what she thinks -- what will come from it (what part she will have and things like that) .. Not sure when exactly they are doing the show -- but I guess we'll get that info soon enough. Well, just got a text from SIL -- and they are going for ice cream. Not fair to the other 3 kids -- even though they don't know about it -- but nothing I can really do about it. Hope Stephanie won't say anything about it to them.

I suppose I need to go now and get some things started for supper. I also need toget some laundry done. fun fun, not!

Hope that you all (who read) are having a blessed day and you have a most wonderful weekend.

Be blessed.

Hello ... is this thing on?

Just thought I would write a little something -- even though I don't really have much on my mind that I would like to write about. But, I thought I would do it anyway! LOL. Not as if anyone is reading this anyway -- that I know of :) Most people have been so busy lately.

-- Twitter -- are you on it? I am :) ypatten35 is my username on there if you want to "follow" me. Part of me is a little tired of listening to other people's conversations on there -- so I only follow certain people on my actual phone -- all others, I follow online! LOL

-- Facebook -- That place is so much fun and I've taken to playing 2 games on there. Farm Town and Restaurant City. Great place to keep in touch with people as well. Most of my photos are on there if you want to check them out. So much easier to put them there than to add them to posts here.

Nothing much going on around here .. Just taking it easy -- waiting on school to be done for the summer. 23 days. wow. Am I ready to have a 4th grader and a 2nd grader? I just don't think so.

I've been keeping in touch with my friend Kenneth a lot lately. He is overseas. He is about to leave to go home for 2 weeks of R&R ... he is looking forward to it. Please pray for him -- as he will be heading back ... praying the Lord will keep him safe while he is over there.

Jason and I are planning to possibly go out on Friday night -- not sure yet - do not have anyone to watch the kids yet - so we'll just have to wait and see. It would be nice. We even thought of asking his parents to keep them overnight - sleeping in - wow! Haven't done that in a long time. LOL .. Of course, it's already Wednesday tomorrow -- so don't know what will happen. Might have MNO on Saturday night -- but haven't decided that yet. :)

Taxes were done and sent - YAY for not having to pay this year!!! :) Too bad we only got the K1 Report late and could not file sooner!!!! We always would leave it to the last minute because we had to pay ... surprising! But, good surprise!

Filling out application for Stephanie to go to Camp Pinnable this summer. WOW. 1 whole week away from home!!!! YIKES! How am I going to handle it?? I know she is going to LOVE it .. and is going to make so many new friends ... I know how much I enjoyed it when I was her age ... but still ...

The Biggest Loser - WOW, I am so impressed with the 6 people that are currently on there. it will be interesting to see who will win the whole thing -- and just how much weight will be lost by everyone!!! awe -- that is sad -- to see the two that are bellow the yellow line tonight and now up for elimination -- wonder who they will send home.

Well, it's getting late and I should be getting to bed soon. Hope that you all have a most wonderful rest of the week ... Be blessed!!!

blah blah blah - I don't think anyone is listening to me

Pollen - it's going to be the death of me! Man, I have a love/hate relationship with this time of the year. I love the weather -- but I hate the pollen in the air and what it does to my head/sinuses. blah. I'm done with the heavy head and the sneezing -- and it has just started. A friend of mine told me to eat local honey -- I might have to go in search of some -- and do a mass consumption of it! LOL ... Oh well, I needed something to complain about today.

It's Saturday -- Jason is "working" this weekend. He had to work from 8am this morning until noon -- and now he is on "call" for the rest of the weekend -- but that means he gets to come home early on Friday. YAY. Wonder if they will let him come home at 11am instead of noon, since he goes in for 7am instead of his usual 8am! That would be nice. Need to ask him about that and see if he can find out. You just never know when it comes to work. LOL.

This afternoon/evening we are having a progressive supper with our Sunday School from class. It will start at the pastor's house for salads. Should be fun. I just hope that my head will feel better by then -- pray that the Cable Guy will come by the house before we have to leave for that! I want my cable / internet back! LOL ...

Nothing much else is planned for this weekend.

I had one of Joe's friends mom's (live up the road from us) come by yesterday and ask if I would watch her daughter for a few hours every day starting on Monday. Apparently she had enough with the place where she was taking her before -- and they decided that they needed to do something right away. I have no problem with this -- what is another child added to the mix? Right!? LOL ...

I so need to go take a shower -- and get dressed - and do some more productive things today. I got breakfast done this morning -- and folded some clothes.