Great Garage Sale Turnout!

We had a great turnout for our street sale! We REALLY advertised well and had people coming an hour before it began. We had a customer almost the WHOLE time! I had to eat my lunch while giving change or cashiering!! All of my big items sold, lots of girl clothing, some boy clothing. It's strange, but some of the weirdest items sold! We even had people coming by WHILE we were packing up!

We will have it next Saturday as well! We made a really great profit and hope to add some to it! Plus, we got rid of more stuff thus giving us more storage and closet space! Yay!

I now am sporting a sunburn although I spent most of the time in the shade under the carport! All in all, it was a PERFECT day with sun, few clouds, and low humidity! Then, while going to our van after grocery shopping, the heavens opened and the thunderstorms began. Thank you Lord for no rain during our garage sale!

In the home stretch....

I cannot believe that summer will be here a week from now! Wow! The last day of school for students is Thursday and they dismiss at noon. My last day is next Friday! It has been an interesting year indeed! Overall, I had a good class and hoping for a nice class next year.

My thoughts are on our trips that we are taking as well as some jobs that we are going to be doing around the house. I have plans on painting and redecorating before the Back to School craziness hits in August. With all the plans and trips we have, I think this summer will go by too fast!

Cody will be graduating from preschool on June 9th which is their last day of school. His new teacher is Mrs. Stehlin. Cody brought a book home that has pictures of all the important people and rooms in the Kindergarten Center. His Kindergarten teacher looks to be around my age or slightly younger. He has already met her and visited her classroom over the past few weeks. I just cannot FATHOM my baby boy will be a big KINDERGARTENER! No way! It seems like yesterday that we brought that tiny 5 lb baby home from the hospital! Where does time go??

Getting bigger

This street sale is getting bigger by the day! Apparently many neighbors are getting into it as well and we now have 7 people selling their wares! Wow! Tonight, I am pricing and setting some things up under the carport as well as helping my sister make signs. Location of signs are key and we are getting bright, neon cardboard posters and I am thinking balloons would help also.

If you are in the area, come by and check out our street sale! We will be selling a multitude of about everything!

Yard Sale Preparations

I am waist deep in yard sale preparations! I keep finding more and more items to add. Who would think I had all this stuff in closets and cabinets?!! Crazy!

Honestly, I just want to get rid of all the stuff, plus raise money for our Michigan trip. There is quite alot of things that we want to do. Most of the activities are free except for the off road dune ride on private areas of the dune. I am also pysched about visiting all the lighthouses there and becoming a beach bum again.

I have heavily advertised for the sale and hoping that posters and 4 ads will make it a HUGE success!

**Some of you may be wondering why I went private, I put a tracking device on my blog and have been monitoring it for some time. I have been finding some unusual lurkers and felt the need to go private. Now I can be completely comfortable with posting pics of the kids. You can never be too protective these days!

Blog going private

To protect the safety and privacy of our family, my blog will be going private very soon. Please email me at jschmidt76@aol.com if you would like to have the password!

Memorial Day 2009

Memorial Day 2009 started with a parade in Hamilton. We decided that watching a parade about the veterans who served our country was more worthwhile and educational than sending Cody and Carleigh to preschool because their school district was making up a snow day. I could go on and on about how ridiculous and unpatriotic that decision was so I won't!

Today, I cleaned the carport off for the yard sale, cleaned the screen porch, and am resting before doing laundry and organizing the laundry room.

We are also counting down the days until our new fence will be installed. Construction should begin in a week or so after an important project is completed. More than likely once the fence is up, Cody, Carleigh and I will be outside most of the summer. They love the outdoors and I could use some sun!!

Siblings that share...

Cody and Papaw arrived back at camp from hiking about a mile into the woods. Cody ran to Carleigh who had an open cup of ice water. Being the dutiful sister that she is, Carleigh shared her cup with her big bro.

Fun at the Farm!

We went to the farm today and had a blast! Despite it being a little muggy, the kids had a blast trekking through the many acres, looking at baby gosselins (six in fact which reminds me of the show "Jon & Kate Plus 8), looking at the horses, going on long rides on the 4 wheeler or "mule," and going out to dinner at an Amish buffet restaurant. We really enjoyed the sunshine and a good time was had by all!

Cody's Ride

The highlight of the trip according to Cody was the long rides into the woods on the 4wheeler. We also took a ride on the mule that seats 4-5 people. We saw a close up of the cows and the horses grazing in the fields. Cody would kiss Aunt Connie violently when she went fast. My boy loves speed and I foresee him being a little daredevil in the future!

Connie, Sherry, Brittany, Carleigh and I went yard saling and ran to the dollar store where I found sound tubes for Cody and Carleigh. If you spin it really fast, it will make a high pitched sound. Of course on the long ride home, they were talking, whispering and blowing into it with one on one end and the other on the other end. It is so cute!

This was a bird's eye view from where I was standing. I was standing at the top of a steep hill and Matt and Cody were hiking down another hill.

Yay for a 3 Day Weekend!

Ahhhh...Memorial Day weekend...a time to honor those who died for our freedom and to honor our loved ones. It's also a time to relax and have cookouts! We have a busy, but fun weekend planned and I will post some pics of the weekend. (I am aware that I haven't posted photos in awhile...just didn't have anything exciting to show and my camera battery died!)

I am wishing everyone a wonderful and safe Memorial Day Weekend!

Preparing for the street sale

We are having a street sale two weekends straight! Last night while Matt took the kids to church, I had time to raid our family room closet. Not only did I get rid of junk and now have a nice clean closet, I added two more tubs of stuff for the yard sale. I also found a bag of girl clothes that I apparently forgot about. One of my neighbors has already purchased our Step 2 Climber, so our profits are already beginning and the yard sale is still another week away! Wooohooo! I plan on doing more yard sale preparations this weekend.

This weekend will be busy and fun. On Saturday, we will be going to Indiana where Cody and Carleigh can visit the animals on the farm and can explore acres and acres of wooded land. Cody will just love it! Of course, the highlight of the day will be 4-wheeler rides with Aunt Connie and Uncle Jerry! On Sunday after church, we are going over to Shannon and Niki's for a grill out and corn hole fun.

Monday is still up in the air, if it rains, Cody and Carleigh will go to preschool (and mommy might come too!) since it is a makeup day. If it is beautiful, then we will plan a family fun event. It all depends on the weather!

Aww........two weeks from today is the last day of school! Woooohoooo!

Just two more weeks....

There are 10.5 more school days left! Awwwww! My school's last day is June 4th with dismissal at noon. My last day is June 5th. It is amazing how fast the school year went by! It seems like yesterday when I was setting up my classroom for my new class. It has been an interesting year indeed.

I love to teach, but I also enjoy relaxing at home and playing with my children. We are so excited to be going on two trips this summer and are anxiously awaiting that time.

I am trying to get all the grading done and starting to work on end of the year stuff for school as well as trying to get all the yard sale stuff ready. I have quite alot so far enough though I have alot more hiding places to check!

I cannot wait to step onto Lake Michigan's beaches and hear the lap of the water!! Awwww!

The rest of the weekend

Saturday morning was rough, but it has gone by rather smoothly. Matt worked from 6am to 6:30pm last night. Memaw and Papaw Schmidt came over in the evening and I helped him book their flight to PA in late June. It's funny because we will be in Michigan the same week they will be in PA!

When Matt arrived home around 7, all of us went out to dinner and the kids ate very well. I hardly give snacks and when you do not give the kids alot of snacks, they eat their meals well. Cody scarfed down his fruit (fruit lover) and lately, he has been eating tomatoes. He is a veggie lover too and loves cooked carrots, broccoli, green beans, and corn. He will eat okra too whenever someone cooks it (not me!). He would fit in well with southern-style cooking family. When I was young, my mom used to have fresh tomatoes, green onions and cornbread at every supper. Cody would fit in so well with country cookin'.

Yesterday, I cleaned up Cody's room and raided the closet. It is amazing how quickly toys and clothing accumulate in a year! I had 2 yard sales LAST year and now I have a boat load of kids' clothing that I am putting into the yard sale this year. Whatever doesn't sell will be given to friends and charity.

It feels SO GOOD to purge. I have two more closets to raid, storage shed, and tackle the laundry room piles and I will have another large stash for our yard sales. My co-worker is coming and selling some of her wares. She is alot like me, she loves to purge and it feels great to have less clutter and boxes stacked up in our closets or shed. My sister is also having a yard sale and we plan on advertising in the newspaper. All of our profits will go toward our Michigan adventure.

Matt will be making a nice bonus for working 12 hour shifts this weekend which will really help out with our Gatlinburg weekend fund. Matt's sister is getting married and we will be in Gatlinburg for 2 nights, 3 days. We are really trying hard to fund both trips without dipping into our monthly income/budget. With yard sales and Matt's extra hours, we think we will make our goal! It has been incredibly lonely and quiet this weekend. All of my family is in Illinois and our little dead end street has been quite.

Just a few more hours of dog-sitting and waiting for Matt to come home and this weekend will be over!

Bad morning

Around 7am this morning, I awoke to the sound of Carleigh getting sick. Not the way to start your morning, for sure! So, laundry and bath was needed before 8am. Did I mention that Matt has to work ALL WEEKEND? Not only does he have to work, but he has to work 12 hour shifts! Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! I was supposed to go to the Trenton yard sales with my friend, but there is no way I was going to take my lively two!

Did I also mention that this is the weekend that all MY family is in Illinois and I am dog-sitting my sister's Yorkie? *sigh* It is very quiet on our street this weekend and I am hoping the sun will come out soon.

Signing off here to take my two up to my sister's house to let the dog out and feed him. I think he sensed something was going on last night because he was sitting at my feet when I was visiting Connie before she left.

Hopefully Jerry will win his race this weekend!

Busy times....

We have been incredibly busy. The end of the school year is very hectic and of course with Matt's current working situation, it has added more stress. Matt is working 10 - 12 hour shifts and will probably have to work this weekend. We are all grumbling because that means that I am stuck at home with the kids since all my family will be out of town AND it is supposed to rain on Saturday. Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! Working 6 to 6 is completely exhausting for Matt who also has to keep an eye on his diabetes.

I have 3 more weeks of school with just 2 more "academic" weeks. This last quarter has zoomed by! I am also planning a yard sale with my sister and co-worker for the last Saturday in May and the first Saturday in June. We are trying to get other people on our street to have one and we are going to advertise in the paper.

So on top of doing all the end of the year school things, Matt working crazy hours, and getting ready for a yard sale, whoa....what a busy month I will have!!

Speech Explosion

I am just overjoyed to give an update on Cody's speech progress! Just yesterday, he and Carleigh were tossing their clothes up in the air. Cody was saying "I got a shirt. I got pants!" They were just giggling and having a grand ole time with throwing clothes up in the air.

When I came home this evening, Matt had the kids outside and they had spotted a wild rabbit. Cody started to follow it and the bunny took off. I walked up to Cody and he lifted his hands up and said, "Where did the rabbit go?" Then he proceeds to walk around the house and shout "Rabbit, where are you?" It was soooo cute!

My sister came down on her four wheeler and asked Cody if he wanted to go for a ride. He very said "yeah" very calmly.

It's really amazing how Cody is responding to his name, asking questions and speaking in sentences. He has come along way this school year and I am so proud of him!

Club Med

I scheduled Cody's 3 day hospital stay a.k.a. Club Med vacation the week after our Michigan vacation for July 7 - 10th. We arrive at 8am and leave at 8am on the 10th of July. Matt or I have to stay with him all 3 days. They have a couch that lets out into a full size bed so I will have a comfy (hopefully) place to stay. It's suggested that I bring videos for Cody and my viewing pleasure and I plan on bringing the computer so I will not be totally bored. I am also very thankful that I could schedule this in the summer so I would not have to take days off work. Yay!

Cody will have no idea what is going on and with it being so close to our Michigan vacation, Cody is bound to be confused. Please keep us in your prayers and if at all possible, we will glady welcome visitors (if we are allowed)!!

Blessed to be Mommy

I used to absolutely hate Mother's Day. Oh, about 7 years ago I was in the middle of infertility treatments, shots, ultrasounds, IUIs, pills, and it was hard. Very hard. I wondered if I would ever be a mother, and I was angry, depressed, sad, and felt very alienated. If it weren't for the Lord, who knows where I would be.

Then, after giving up the treatments (we stopped cold turkey and didn't even call the RE after our last failed cycle), I just prayed for the Lord to give me a clear direction whether we would be childless and be a family of two or whether adoption would be the way to build our family.

After much prayer, I knew adoption was our route to parenthood. After 9 months of taking classes, completing the lengthy paperwork and homestudy, we were licensed. We had a couple of heart breaks and then one cold January day changed everything. My first few Mother's Day were still bittersweet. I didn't know if I should feel like a mother since I was still "foster mommy." After the second Mother's Day, I started to actually accept that I was a mother. Not a mother of conventional means, but a REAL mother to my incredible blessings.

There is no possible way to best describe what my son and daughter mean to me, I am just so blessed! Whether we adopt again is still up in the air, I am so completely filled with love for my two.

I am wishing everyone a Happy Mother's Day and am praying for those who have empty arms this year.

Mother of the Year

Who me?! No way!!

I was TOTALLY BLOWN AWAY tonight to be honored as Mother of the Year at our church's Mother/Daughter Banquet.

If you really KNOW me, you know that I do not cry easily nor like being of the center of attention. Well, both things happened tonight. First of all, my mom and sister showed at my church banquet (they attend another church) so I thought, oh, wow, what a nice surprise that my mother in law decided to do. Then, when the Pastor's wife started to talk about the mother they were honoring this year, it all started to hit me and then I knew INSTANTLY why my family was there. My mom wrote about me and gave it to Darlene to read to all the ladies and daughter at the banquet. I was crying the whole time.

I am very honored to be Mother of the Year, but I am definitely not perfect. I try to be the best mom I can, but we all have our bad days. I am just thankful to BE a mom. I didn't know if I would ever be a mommy with 5 years of infertility before being blessed as Cody's and Carleigh's foster then to adoptive, forever mommy. When she read a poem/story about being a mom to a special-needs child, the waterworks came again. I just love my little CoCo so much and wouldn't change him for the world. And even though Carleigh tests my patience, I still love her to pieces.

And if anyone reading my blog is not a mother YET, I just want to let you know that I am praying for you and so understand what it is like to have empty arms. I am praying for all the moms-in-waiting this Mother's Day.

Cody's EEG Results

The nurse called me back this morning and said that Cody's results were normal. Normally this would make me happy, however, this means that Cody and I will be staying in the hospital for 3 days this summer so that they can run a Video EEG. The schedulers will call me to schedule it and hopefully it will be scheduled when I am off. If for some reason they see a seizure "episode" before the 3 days are over, we get to go home early. So I am praying that if he IS having seizures, it will show up earlier than later in the hospital stay.

Update

Things are back to normal now that we have all gotten a good night (or two) of sleep. Cody was really dazed Friday and I really think it was due to the lack of sleep. He climbed into his bed that night and I went in to check on him and I sort of woke him up. He rolled over and told me to "Go away!" I had to chuckle because it was so cute and funny.

This week is an incredibly busy week: Daniel Bible study on Monday night, Mother/Daughter Banquet on Tuesday night, Wed night (only night free to get laundry and grading completed at home as Matt takes the kids' to Caravan at Church) and Elementary Spring Concert at school (hence, I am staying there and possibly having dinner with my co-worker). Friday is Grandparents' Day at school and that is always crazy and sort of nice as most of the kids leave early (at lunchtime) and I usually have 1 or 2 students left. As of right now, I have just 2 students staying!

*sigh*

Update

Things are back to normal now that we have all gotten a good night (or two) of sleep. Cody was really dazed Friday and I really think it was due to the lack of sleep. He climbed into his bed that night and I went in to check on him and I sort of woke him up. He rolled over and told me to "Go away!" I had to chuckle because it was so cute and funny.

This week is an incredibly busy week: Daniel Bible study on Monday night, Mother/Daughter Banquet on Tuesday night, Wed night (only night free to get laundry and grading completed at home as Matt takes the kids' to Caravan at Church) and Elementary Spring Concert at school (hence, I am staying there and possibly having dinner with my co-worker). Friday is Grandparents' Day at school and that is always crazy and sort of nice as most of the kids leave early (at lunchtime) and I usually have 1 or 2 students left. As of right now, I have just 2 students staying!

*sigh*

We survived

I felt the prayer this morning! Despite the never-ending rain, we arrived on time (before it was open!) and did not have to wait long as we were the first one to have it done. It was a little surreal experience.

We walk in and see tons of electrodes and cream and wax. Then there was the computer and lamp. Intimidating for Cody and I!! The tech suggested a papoose to keep Cody still and I wholeheartedly agreed. (Hmmm, could I get this for home when I need his eye patched???) If you do not know what a papoose is, it is a long, padded board and the child lays in it and get velcro-wrapper like a mummy. The only thing Cody could do was to move his head.

He did WELL! The tech kept praising Cody because most other children squirm and thrash their head around. She was very seasoned and had grandchildren. She had to put cream then place the electrodes through out Cody's head and then put tape or wax on to keep it secure. Twenty-seven electrodes were placed on Cody and I was starting to think he was Frankenstein or some science experiment! Then they placed to on his heart to monitor his heart rate. Cody had to endure the torture (not really) for 26 LONG minutes. I sang, the tech sang, and Cody recited the alphabet and numbers. At one point, I thought he was going to sleep, but he didn't. In fact, the little guy didn't go to sleep until after I put him in bed. Way to go Cody!!!

We will get the results at his neurologist appt. May 28th. So now, I am getting ready to go back to school for the afternoon.

Party at 2am

The 2am wake up call was a jolt to my system this morning. Thankfully, all of us were in bed by 9pm though I woke up several times due to a sniffling little girl (allergies related). When I went into his room, I was hoping not to scare him. He was all curled up with his big Mickey Mouse. He slowly opened one eye then closed it. This game went on a for a few more minutes while I rubbed his back. Then I picked him up and we sat in the chair and he slowly awoke while watching "Yo Gabba Gabba" (thank you DVR!).

After an hour of loudly playing his piano and spinning his toy, he climbed into his bed and refused to get out. Of course I had to take action and got him out which caused a tamtrum which woke up Matt. Now it is almost 4am and this party needs to continue for about 2 more hours before getting ready to leave for the hospital.

To be continued....