Well, after my rant yesterday I feel like I’ve said enough for now…. but somehow I’ll push through and reflect on the past week…

School started last Monday. I’m happy with the way it is going this year and think it will only get better as everyone gets into their schedules and routines. Izzy goes in the afternoon this year and I’m loving that. We have all morning which I thought was going to be semi-leisurely… but turns out it takes the whole morning to feed her breakfast, lunch, bath, dress… it’s fun though and nice and quiet. Everyone seems to be enjoying teachers and classes… well, except Amanda. She says trig is hard, but I think she does enjoy a challenge. The main complaint is design I, which is a drawing class right now. She had to bring a sketch pad and has artistic differences with the teacher who wants them to sketch with a pencil. She wants to use jumbo markers and has filled up the first few pages with a picture of her chi straightening iron and an alien girl with heart antennae. I don’t think her teacher appreciates her talent (yet)… I’m sure it will all work out. We’ve been doing therapy with Izzy in the evenings and as you know she had shots on Friday morning. She did not sleep well at all Friday night. Matt went to work Friday morning at 8 a.m. and didn’t get home until this morning (saturday) at 5 a.m. He was a tired puppy. Izzy didn’t sleep so I didn’t either. I am glad that we were able to have a cat nap today and that Matt’s hard work will be reflected on his next paycheck (ching ching) ). You know you always have to think of a thing to be glad about right. We had yummy chinese food for dinner and dad came down to eat with us. Well, we had Chinese & pizza. Bailey and Amanda hate chinese food, so we have to do both. The best part about the chinese carryout is that there is plenty for the next day too so lunch is covered after church tomorrow and can I just say I’m lovin’ looking forward to church every time! What a blessing!

My menu plan didn’t stay exactly on course last week for some reason. It’s okay though. It’s good to have a plan but also remain flexible (in my opinion)… I bought a really nice ham today (on sale) and am making glazed ham Monday which is probably one of my very favorites. I bake it with brown sugar and pineapple slices (even though you know I HATE fruit) and cherries in the middle of the pineapples and mustard. So yummy. I didn’t get the beans cooked, it was just too hot ya’ll to slow cook beans last week. It was over 100 everyday. So, this week looks like it will be cooler and I’ll have a great ham bone left to cook in my beans on Tuesday so this week is shaping up nicely.

1. good reports from doctor’s visits!

1. health
2. having so many people (including you btw) to join in faith with us!
3. a husband who loves me more than anyone in the world.
4. a husband who loves God.
5. wonderful children.
6. supportive blog friends who let me rant and leave sweet comments.
7. Jesus.
8. Air conditioning.
9. YOU!!!

My sweet friend Judi hosts WR, visit her blog and say hello!

1. Two Names You Go By: Annie and Deborah

2. Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now: SS hoop earrings & cross necklace.

3. Two Things You Want In A Relationship: respect & honesty

4. Two of Your Favorite Things to Do: blog & laugh

5. Two Things You Want Very badly At the Moment: an ipod and a camera like Amberlys!

6. Two Pets You Had/Have: My sweet coco (chocolate tiny toy poodle who is no longer with me, I would carry him in my purse to visit high school) and Lady (our white big dog)

7. Two People Who Will Fill This out First: ?? You ??

8. Two Things You Did Last Night: Matt had to work all night! I didn’t sleep much and Izzy woke up a lot I think because of her shots… So, tried to sleep…

9. Two People That Live In Your House: Matt and Bailey

10. Two People You Talked To Last: Dad ate dinner with us (mom has gone out of town to visit her father who is ill) and my brother Mike and I spent the morning together.

11. Two Things You’re Doing Tomorrow: church and church

12. Two Longest Car Rides: OKC to South Dakota and then to Denver… and OKC to birmingham then nashville.

13. Name 2 of Your Favorite Holidays: Valentine’s Day & Christmas

14.Two Favorite Beverages: Coke with sonic ice and sonic ice with Coke…

I just thought I would pop in to post about my horrible terrible very bad no good mood. We went to the doctor today for Izzy’s immunizations. We sat and waited and waited and waited and waited… ugh. Anyway, she had her five year old well child check. The pediatrician was impressed with her great health. You can’t beat God for good health… anyway, she weighs 43 pounds. Which began my bad mood btw. I had to weigh for the nurse and then holding izzy to get her weight. That was fun, not! I won’t mention my weight but let’s just say that it called for a stop by chili’s for carryout to celebrate my pudginess. Izzy was good patient, she hadn’t seen the dr. since her last child check… a whole year ago! That alone is a miracle. Anyway, she had to get three shots. She cried and cried. It was pitiful. Next we were sent to the lab for a blood count. When the lady pricked Izzy’s little finger two things happened… 1) blood went everywhere! and 2) Izzy cried worse than when she had the shots! So, we were off with a pretty but tight silvery bandaid.
I had to run by the credit union and since I had Iz we hit the drive through. BIG MISTAKE!!! I promise you we were behind one white minivan for at least 30 minutes while they sent and received stuff in that little capsule! HELLO!!!! If you need to do major banking business, GO INTO THE LOBBY!!!!! The drive through is for quick banking and when you do finally finish your extended bank visit, PULL UP SO THE REST OF THE LINE CAN HAVE A TURN. I dropped off my check and was out in maybe 30 seconds.. sheesh. Can you tell I wasn’t lying in the first line of this post. I think it is important to give you a glimpse of the darker side of Annie. What do you think of me now? (I can see the joker in batman when I am typing that btw).
So I called in some fat food from Chili’s, drove home, fed my face & Izzy too. I had to get cheesecake from Chili’s for poor little Izzy ’cause she just had shots ya’ll! I’m sure you understand my logic and she was much too tired to eat the whole piece so I, being the good mama I am… ATE THE REST!!! I’m enjoying cap lock, can you tell?
This is therapeutic, I should rant more often.
So, I go pick Amanda up from the place where no one knows how to drive high school and we are literally in line for 20 more minutes and I am plumb sick of my suburban by this point. Even though it is very very clean, I want to be home blogging for goodness sakes…
Then an ambulance and firetruck come by and really mess up the flow. WHEW, we are finally home.
Since being home the only negative thing so far was when Amanda was trying to put a plate with popcorn chicken (after school snack) in the microwave, Bailey made a ninja move to get the microwave first and so the kitchen floor was showered with little popcorn chickens, ick. Then I had to keep them from a physical altercation… everyone is just tired, it’s the first week of school. They are all in their spaces with sunshiny faces, and the doctor just called and told me that little Jose’s blood work was all normal. JOSE WHO??? Oh, yes, Isabelle’s is too.
All’s well that ends well right?

Appetizer

Describe your laundry routine. Do you have a certain day when you do it all, or do you just wash whatever you need for the next day?

I have to do laundry everyday. With six people in our house there is always laundry.

Soup
In your opinion, what age will you be when you’ll consider yourself to truly be old?

Truly old? I think that changes every once in a while. When I was a little girl, 25 was truly old. When I was a teenager, 40 was truly old. Now that I’m thirtyish, maybe over 100 is truly old and what an accomplishment and blessing of a long life. I really enjoy being with older people and gaining knowledge from their life lessons.

Salad
What is one of your goals? Is it short-term, long-term, or both?

I recently achieved a goal of finding a new church home. yay. Now my goals relate to diet and being fit is my short term goal… my long term goal would be a timely arrival to HEAVEN.

Main Course
Name something unbelievable you’ve seen or read lately.

I walk by faith, not by sight. (II Corinthians 5:7)

Dessert
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how happy are you today?

I’m happy today, oh yes, I’m happy today

In Jesus Christ, I’m happy today

Because He’s taken all my sins away

And that’s why I’m happy today

Excuse the singing outburst, it just popped out when I read that question. It’s early, but I’ll say a 7.

Hope for the Harried by Gail Rogers

“The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down”
(Proverbs 14:1).

The frenzied pace she kept was taking a toll on her home. Life just seemed to be fraying around the edges.

When we live at a pace that continually drains us, we end up taking it out on those closest to us. Complaining, frustration and lack of patience can surface all too often. As women we can actually be tearing down relationships by our own hand and not even be aware we are doing so. A wise woman will take note of her reactions and make a choice to be a builder.

If your quiet time with God has slipped to the wayside of your life, it won’t be long before you notice the tell-tale reactions of complaining, negativity and frustration in your life and relationships.

Ask God to come in a fresh way into your life to help you make time with Him a priority. Choose to make some changes in your schedule so God can make some changes in your heart.

Invite His Holy Spirit to be the change agent in your life today. Ask for what the Bible calls the fruit of the Holy Spirit. (Galatians 5:22) It’s “The Great Exchange.” He will help you build your relationships. You can depend on God to be your source for all your needs.

Exchange your weakness for His strength.
Your unhappy heart for His joy.
Your annoyance with His love.
Your anxiety with His peace.
Your impatience for His patience.
Your complaining for His contentment.
Your harsh attitude for His gentleness.

Visit Sheryl for more faith lift fridays, sign up and share something that lifted your faith this week.

Whew, this has been a crazy week. I am looking forward to being back in the ‘school’ routine and it not being such a big deal every day!!! Izzy is enjoying school this week. Her teachers told me yesterday that when she is in the pre-k class for circle time the kids just love her and want her to stay. They all colored pictures for her. She is pretty magnetic, people are always drawn to her. Anyway, other than being cranky on Tuesday for a bit, she is enjoying school.

Yesterday after I took Izzy to school my friend Melody came over for her “hair do”…
This is the end result. I added some dark pieces in this time because, well it’s almost Fall and also last time it looked pretty blond! I also put some more blonde in the back this time. I think she looks very pretty!

I came home from picking Izzy and Amanda up from school and sat down for just a minute before starting the PW chicken sandwiches for dinner and fell sound asleep for like forty minutes! I woke up and couldn’t believe it! Fortunately those sandwiches are quick to make. They were yummy again. Instead of pounding the chicken this time I just sliced the breast in half to make them thinner and I think I liked it better that way.

I posted a recipe today over on my food blog for slow cooker thursday. I haven’t posted one in a while for SCT and felt bad… I guess with the warmer weather I haven’t been using the crock pot much, but I bought a mag at the store the other day and they had several that sounded worthy of trying. I have not yet tried this one, but I plan to try it next week. It does sound yummy!

The kids are all enjoying school so far. Amanda says trig is hard already. Emelia says they don’t do work yet… and Bailey is just sleepy. He was a night owl before school started so it’s been hard for him to acclimate to the new schedule.

Sweet Lauren gave me the nice matters award yesterday. She is adorable and I really enjoy blogging with her and her mom Nancy Face ). Thanks Lauren!

I have so many things calling my name this morning… I have two hours before taking Izzy to school and she is headed for the bath and then lunch, pool maintenance, clean up kitchen, laundry. Busy morning, but I wanted to check in and say hi.

Ann has tagged me for this meme … here we go (I’m really trying to think random here!)

1. When Matt and I were signing home loan papers years ago I wrote the wrong date for our anniversary. He was highly offended. I put June 18 rather than the 17th.
2. Right now I sleep on the right side of the bed, but every few years we switch sides.
3. During our wedding we laughed and talked during the song prior to the unity candle lighting. I think we were both too nervous to look serious. . . or too young.
4. Matt and I talk a lot. We always have had good conversations. Many times during our marriage we have laid down to sleep and talked too late.
5. Matt calls me many times every day and has our entire married life.
6. I started dating Matt right before I turned 16. He was 18. We dated about four years before getting married.
7. I scared Matt really bad. One time. I have learned that he can ‘get me back’ far worse than I can get him so I don’t play pranks on him much…. live and learn, but the one time I got him was good. He is afraid of snakes. Not much else. I had been teaching a class at vbs and we had this huge rubber snack as part of our scenery. I brought it home and the drain in our shower that is in our bedroom will come up so I put that snake half way down the drain and propped the drain over it like it pushed it up. I waited until matt came home and very casually said, “hey matt, when you get a chance will you look at our shower, for some reason that drain keeps coming off.” He went in our room to change and stepped into the bathroom and literally jumped backwards 10 feet! I laughed for days, weeks, I still get a good laugh when I remember it. I am not mean. I enjoyed this so much mainly because he is famous for hiding behind doors or just walking by and saying boo and I always jump. always! It was fun to see him jump!
8. Matt and I like to end every day by going to bed, holding hands, and praying. Many nights one of us falls asleep mid prayer, but we wake up long enough to say amen.

Okay, consider yourself tagged! Yes, you!

Monday

pioneer woman’s lasagna
garlic bread
salad

Tuesdaybeans & ham (crockpot)
cornbread
corn on the cob

WednesdayChili (with leftover beans)
over fritos
with cheese!

Thursdaypioneer woman’s chicken sandwich
baked chips

Fridaycarrie’s meatballs
rice
veggies

Bon Appetit