16 years and going strong

Wow - it really seems like yesterday that I blogged 15 years and counting.  What a year my family has had! It’s been good, bad, ugly and beautiful…

Jeff’s been in his boot for 3 weeks.  Hard to believe it’s been 5 weeks since he had surgery to repair his Achilles.  He is very annoyed by the boot and is ready for it to be off… I think he has even given thought to taking it off early.  I can see those wheels churning in his head, I know him!!  Other than that, he’s doing ok.  He really likes his new job and is getting the hang of things. He's never really worked in an office environment before so he's dealing with some office drama that is quite hysterical to me. 

Kiarra just finished up her last tournament for this club volleyball season. We spent the last 3 days in Dallas and had a great time.  Our girls played hard. We came up short a couple of games but all in all had a great season.  These girls have great chemistry and really did well together on the court. If we can just keep Kiarra’s head from bouncing off the gym floors, she MIGHT be able to play a whole season!  Speaking of that latest concussion, Praise GOD - she received an all clear from the neurologist 2 weeks ago.  There is still one area of her brain they are a little concerned with but are not retesting for another year so all in all, it is great results which led to great news of her being able to get back on the court full force.  Even with that injury and having to sit out of a couple of tournaments and many practices, we are proud that she didn’t give up and stuck by her team to support them.

Jayden was recognized a couple of weeks ago for his art skills.  A piece of his art was displayed for the festival celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Cinco Ranch Library. It was a great honor for him and we are very proud of him.  He had another tournament this weekend and Jeff said he played great.  His team took 1st place so they must have done something right.  He is often quite a bit taller than the other kids on the court but every now and then there is a kid who gives him a challenge (height wise).  From the bruises on his arms, I can see that he was pushed around a bit but he still stayed strong and assisted his team to a great day.  Jayden has been such a huge help with the move and doing things around the house while Jeff has been taking it a little easy. 

Allergy season in Houston is really year round.  There is always something in the air that Taryn is allergic to.  A couple weeks back, she had a little runny nose and sore throat and I didn’t think much of it.  We skipped a week of allergy shots and went on with the days. Then, she developed a crazy rash.  Well, with moving and washing sheets and playing/rolling around on the new cozy (as she calls it) carpet, I just thought the rash was either an allergic reaction to our new laundry soap or a little carpet burn from her rolling/flipping around on the carpet.  Yesterday (while I was in Dallas), I got the dreaded call from the school nurse.  Jeff can’t drive and I’m 5 hours away, I just knew she was going to have to be picked up from school… Then the nurse proceeds to tell me that Taryn has Fifths Disease.  DISEASE??  Why does it have to be a “disease”!!??  Well after she explained it to me, I wasn’t so worried but dang, the word “disease” is just so…so… permanent.  I was very relieved to hear that it will run its course and she’s no longer contagious… but back up 2 weeks to that runny nose and sore throat and that IS when she was contagious… OOPS, my bad.  Even the nurse said that all parents attribute those symptoms to allergies so I shouldn’t be too hard on myself.  What sucks is that there really isn’t anything we can do for it.  Benadryl cream helps a tiny bit and when she gets hot it flares up so we are to keep her cool.  Good thing we had a cold front move through today!  Other than that, Taryn is doing great. She is going to dance class every week and is really enjoying those.  First grade is coming to an end very quickly and she is reading really well.

As for me, I’m just running around like a chicken with my head cut off.  Jeff not being able to drive has been a little tough on me (and my gas tank).  It’s almost like he’s out of town and I’m handling things on my own again, expect - he’s in town and I’m driving him around too!  Seriously though, I wouldn’t change it for anything. I love to serve my family and although I joke and complain a bit, I enjoy all the little conversations I get to have with each of the kids. I’ll be so glad for Friday to come, I have 9 people coming to the house to repair things, install things, clean things, etc. Then I can enjoy the rest of the weekend unpacking boxes, something I just have not had time to do.  On a happy note - I LOVE MY HOUSE!!!! We do have the kitchen finished and our bed is finally together (thanks to Jayden and Jeff) so things are progressing nicely..not as fast as I'd like but I'm reminding myself daily to take it ONE day at a time.

I seriously think Jeff and I are happier now than we’ve ever been.  Although I have my daily struggles with myself and my health problems, I’m trying to stay positive through it all.  I can only do so much and have to focus my energy on the positive and not think of the health issues.  Jeff has always been super supportive of me and I’m so grateful he’s stood by my side through all of this and has unconditional love for me and I for him. I want to grow old and grey with this crazy man!  

NEW HOME

Last week, we received a call that put me in tears.  Happy tears.  The day finally came to close on our house and become homeowners once again.  What a journey we’ve been on these past 2 years (1 year and 9 months, but who’s counting). If you’ve read my previously posts, you know I was not happy with the house we purchased in June of 2012. In May of 2013 we made the decision to sell the house and build a new one.  It took 10 LONG months for them to build this house, but it was worth each and every minute of it.  We originally thought we’d be closing in December, then we were told it would be February (actually no one told us this – we just assumed since they were so far behind).  In January, we received the great news that we’d be closing on Feb 24^th… well that day came and went and they were still putting the finishing touches on the house.  This may or may not of had anything to do with the long list of repairs I kept giving them.  Finally, the first week of March we were told we would close on March 26^th.  Well, all the paperwork I’d signed had our interest rate expiring on the 25^th so I was quite concerned with closing after that date.  They kept assuring me that everything would be fine but since we’ve been down this road before, I was getting a bit anxious.  On Wednesday, March 19^th they called and said we were clear to close on Friday the 21^st.  Hallelujah. Praise GOD!  The only problem with closing a week early is that I hadn’t made arrangements for moving.  With Jeff being in a cast and crutches, he wouldn’t be any help.  YIKES, what to do – what to do… So I did what any girl would do, hire movers!!  My Mom and her friend came and helped me pack which was a huge blessing in itself.

Friday came and I could hardly contain myself. We still didn’t know the final amount of money that we needed to take to closing so I was waiting very anxiously with my phone in my hand, refreshing my emails each time I died playing flappy bird (which is often).  It’s now after 10 am and closing was set for 12:00.  Knowing we have to make a stop at the back for a cashier’s check, we would have to leave the apartment by 11 to get to closing on time. Finally, at 10:45 am, I received an email with the final amount to bring to closing. Jeff and I quickly zipped out the door and headed to the bank.  We got to closing and everything went as smooth as can be.  At our last closing, in June 2012, I left in tears because I was so upset about the survey and having the massive easement in our back yard… the only tears I shed on Friday, March 21^st were tears of joy!!!  Feeling so blessed in so many ways. 

The kids standing at the bar looking into the kitchen
about a month before the house was complete.

The movers were scheduled to arrive between 2 and 6.  2 guys arrived a little after 6:00 with  a tiny 14 ft. trailer to move my furniture.  SMH!!  They were complaining from the start “this is our 3^rd move of the day”, “we’re tired”, “you have too much stuff”, blah blah blah… When I made the arrangements for the movers, I explained to the lady that I have Texas sized furniture, big and bulky and heavy.  Because the guys who showed up said it would take way longer than what the lady quoted me, which would cost me double or triple the amount, I spent over an hour on the phone arguing with the company.  They wanted to charge me more to come back the next day with a larger truck and 3 men… ah, NO.  Not my problem you messed up and didn’t send the right size the first time.  So it went from being $85 an hour to $125 an hour…  and from a 3 hour job to a 6 hour job.  They seriously lost their durn mind!  Although we do in fact have big furniture, we barely had anything at the apartment. It was literally a King size bedroom set (headboard, footboard, dresser w/ mirror, chest 2 night stands), a Queen size bedroom set (headboard, footboard, dresser with mirror), a breakfast table and chairs, couch, chair, a 7 ft book shelf and a tv stand.  No way it would take 6 hours!!!  We were only moving 2.5 miles down the road so even if they had to make 2 trips, it would not take 6 hours.  So, after arguing with the incompetent General Manager of Apartment Movers for 90 minutes with 2 guys staring at me (one who was missing a lot of teeth and kinda scary) I finally just hung up.  What a mess and waste of my time.  All this time, Jeff is at the new house thinking we are going to show up any minute with our furniture.  Needless to say, we all slept on the floor at our new house the first night.  I could swear that they forgot to put the carpet pad under the carpet in our bedroom, that floor was brutal.

Since the movers screwed us over, I just decided to pick up a couple of day workers and rent a U-Haul truck to move the stuff ourselves.  Saturday morning, we did just that!  With the help of my Mom, dear friend, brother in law and 2 guys, we knocked this out with a couple of hours.  It felt great to have some of our stuff in the house.

Because we had a very busy weekend of tournaments and moving and other errands I was not able to open a single box until Tuesday afternoon. It’s been an insanely busy week (considering I am the only one in the house that can drive right now) and I finally unpacked the last kitchen box last night.  That is the only room that is unpacked and put away.  None of our bedrooms are unpacked and we still have a 20 ft. storage unit that has to be moved too…  Our closet looks like a tornado went through it, it’s a disaster. It’ll be a busy night getting things in order because we have painters coming tomorrow!!

On Wednesday, Jeff got his cast off which he was so happy about.  They also took the stitches out.  He’s now in a boot for at least 10 weeks.  The doctor said that everything looks great and that it’s healing properly. The boot has a 3 inch wedge in it to keep him walking on his toes… kinda cute!  Now that he doesn’t have to use the crutches, he is much happier.  He and I both went back to work on Thursday.  Thankfully, he has a co-worker who lives in Katy who volunteered to drive him to work for these 10 weeks.

Volleyball is wrapping up.  We only have 2 tournaments remaining which makes me quite sad.  I love the volleyball season.  Looking forward to watching my girl and her team in action this weekend.  We had a great tournament last weekend taking 1^st place in the silver bracket. Kiarra had another round of testing today to see if her brain is all healed from the concussion.  Praying for great results.

Jayden is going strong in basketball.  He has his 2^nd tournament this weekend that Jeff and I will be able to go to.  I can’t wait to see him and this new team play.  I love watching these boys take control of the court.

If you could, please just pray for my sanity.  I’m serious.  This is all quite stressful for me.  Being the only driver, and trying to get the kids to/from their activities, Dr’s appointments, homework, in addition to moving (address changes, utility hookups, construction updates, furniture purchases) and having a busy work schedule myself, it’s causing me a great deal of anxiety and we all know “when Mama’s not happy – NOOOOO-body’s happy”…  Thankfully, they are each only in one activity.  I’d really go insane if they were involved in more than one sport. 

Please also pray for Jeff and speedy recovery for him.  It’s really hard on him not being able to help during this move.

Torn Achilles

Yep, that’s right - another injury in the Dailey house. 

2 weeks ago, Jayden’s basketball coach scheduled a “parents vs. boys” game for our end of season party.  We thought this was a great idea. Jeff plays basketball with Jayden at the park and works out regularly so thought nothing of getting on the court with the other brave parents to take on the kids.  Game was going great for the first few minutes and then Jeff insisted that someone threw a ball at his ankle... He could barely put pressure on it, it just didn’t feel right.  We kind of thought it was funny because he was so dramatic about “who kicked me” and “who threw a ball on the court”. He didn’t step back onto the court.  We iced it that evening and it was apparent that it wasn’t getting better so he saw a sports medicine doctor on Monday.  He was certain that it was a torn Achilles so the doctor put him in a boot and of course he ordered an MRI.  The MRI was scheduled for Friday with a follow-up appt. with the same doctor on Monday.  At the follow-up appointment, Jeff was told that he had a partial tear and that he’d need to see a surgeon…  We should have just started with an orthopedic surgeon to begin with because the news that is coming next did not make us too happy.  Not only did Jeff have a full torn Achilles, but the sports medicine doctor put him in the wrong kind of boot.  Had he of been referred to a surgeon to begin with instead of trying to treat Jeff, he may not have even had to have surgery.  He possibly could have been put in a cast right away for it to heal on its own but since he continued to walk on it, drive, etc. for over a week, he possibly made it worse. Anyway, Jeff was able to see the surgeon last Wednesday and have surgery the same day.  At first the Orthopedic Surgeon thought he wouldn’t be able to do the surgery until the 25th because he is on vacation this week for Spring Break but after leaving the room briefly to check the schedule, he came back and said “unless you want to do it today”… I got the call at work at 8:30 from Jeff saying “I’m having surgery in 2 hours”…. Ahhhhhhh, OK??

I rushed out of work to get home to pick him up to take him back to the hospital… Several phone calls and texts to some important folks to inform them (but mainly ask for prayer), lots of paperwork (pre-registration, insurance verification, etc.) a few hours later… and a little stress, they called him back.  Our amazing pastor came right away to be with us and pray with us, he is so great.

After 90 minutes or so (who’s counting), the doctor came and said that he was in recovery and that all went great.  He was able to successfully repair it - thank GOD!  He’ll be in a cast (with crutches) for 2 weeks and then in a boot for a minimum of 10 weeks.  He cannot put any weight on it whatsoever.  I had to wait another hour or so before I could go to recovery to see him.  All the nurses were amazing. I finally got to see him and he was wasted… you see, Jeff’s never been drunk so seeing him in this state was too funny.  I’m sorry friends, I did not record it.  He was in that recovery area for another hour or so and then moved to another room for the final recovery stage… this took forever. I seriously didn’t think we were ever going to 

leave the hospital.  Apparently they had another emergency or something because we were left alone for almost 2 straight hours.  No one came to check on us and there was not a sound in the hallway.  For a minute, I thought maybe they all left for the day and forgot about us.  I finally peeped out there and they assured me they’d be coming in to discharge him soon.

He was finally discharged around 7:00 pm I guess and we headed home.  He’s never used crutches before so that was a bit tricky… just coming off anesthesia + being loopy on pain medication + trying to use crutches = not a pretty site…

Every few hours he’s been taking pain medication and doing quite well. So far, he's not had to deal with massive pain. The kids have been a tremendous help since the surgery. We had to cancel our out of town plans for the later part of Spring Break but they didn’t care, they were just worried about Daddy getting better.  He has a terrific boss now (thank God) that is allowing him to work from home until he gets his cast off and is off the crutches.  Since it’s his right foot, he won’t be driving any time soon so we are making car pool arrangements for when he has to go back to the office in a few weeks.  I was able to get an exception this week as well and am allowed to work from home to help take care of him.  Since moving into a new group last month and being told that working from home is NEVER allowed, I am very very grateful for this opportunity and that they allowed this exception for me.

Please keep Jeff in your prayers.

Before Surgery 

After Surgery

Update on the kids real quick…

Kiarra is doing well.  She has more tests the end of this month to ensure her brain activity is back to normal and that she’s fully healed from the concussion.  She had to sit out of a volleyball tournament 2 weeks ago which about killed her. She is slowly getting back into practicing and doing strength and conditioning so hopefully by the end of this week she will be back at it 100%.

Jayden finished up his basketball season with Katy Youth Basketball. All in all he had a great season. He’s now playing AAU and just had his first tournament this past weekend.  Neither Jeff or I were able to go of course but according to the other parents, he played great and hustled.  That’s all I can ask for!

Taryn is back in dance and is loves it.  This girl has music playing in her soul 24/7.  She couldn’t wait to get back to school today to see her friends.  Spring Break was so boring for her. She has been the biggest helper since Jeff’s surgery, I think she has a future career as a nurse or something in the medical field. She claims she wants to be a teacher but this girl has serious compassion for people… time will tell…

Snow Days, Concussions, New Jobs and BIRTHDAYS…

No, these four items have no correlation to each other but wanted to touch on all…

Snow Days

Since the Christmas Holiday, Texas has experienced bi-polar weather along with the rest of the world.  We had 2 days where we were supposed to experience very cold temperatures (20's which IS cold for TX) with freezing rain and/or snow.  The school districts decided on both occasions that school should be closed.  My office even closed which was great.  The funny part is that on both occasions although it was cold, we barely got any freezing rain/snow – depending on the side of town you live in or the neighborhood, you may not have had any at all.  The kids enjoyed their snow days drinking hot cocoa and watching movies but now they are suffering because they have to make up their days on holidays (Presidents Day and Memorial Day).

Concussions

During our last volleyball game in College Station last weekend, Kiarra dove for a ball and somehow hit her head on the gym floor (again).  She immediately had a horrible headache and was a little distraught. We saw the trainers at the school and her blood pressure was high but her pupils were dilating properly, no blood in the ears, and she was aware of her surroundings so they let us leave with her.  Pretty sure the bp was elevated due to playing all day, then crying from pain she was feeling in her head.  She slept the entire way home.  When she got up Monday morning her headache was worse than Sunday evening so I decided to call the doctor who made room in their schedule to see her.  Again, her pupils were fine and there was no evidence of blood in the ears but the doctor thought something wasn’t right.  She said “I’ve known this child for 12 years and something just doesn’t seem right”. She ordered a STAT CT Scan so we went straight to imaging for that.  The radiologist read the scan and said it looked fine and we were free to leave.  I took her home to rest and went to work because I thought we were in the clear… WRONG!  Within an hour, the doctor called and said we needed to go see a Neurologist… WHAT… a Neurologist?  They couldn’t get her in until Wednesday so we wait… She went to school on Tuesday but she said it was brutal.  Her headache had not gone down at all, if anything it was getting worse by the day.  She could barely speak more than a whisper because it was hurting so bad.  I took her to the Neurologist who spent over an hour with us going through different things and come to find out, because she wasn’t treated properly for the first concussion she had last fall, she is now suffering twice the amount because some things were not dealt with at the time.  Actually, she didn’t even see a doctor last fall because we were advised not to take her to one… I’m not going to get into those details because I’ll never finish this post but let me just say how upset I am for not following my motherly instinct and taking her to the ER but listening to those damn trainers instead.  She should of sat out for a minimum of 2 weeks yet they had her back on the court in 3 days… NOT COOL!  Anyway, the neurologist said she definitely has another concussion and should not doing anything strenuous for a few weeks.  Her balance is way off (more than normal because if you know my child you know she’s a little clumsy) and speech (at the time of the appt last week) was slow and she still has this horrible headache.  We have a follow-up tomorrow for testing.

New Jobs…

After much thought, prayers and consideration, Jeff finally took another role within AT&T.  He’d been looking into other roles for a while now but after a few let-downs, he re-evaluated what it is he really wanted to do and this one came along.  He’s worked very hard these past few years and has grown his team into a performing group.  It wasn’t an easy decision to leave them, he hated it – hated saying good-bye to them but this opportunity was something he’d really been looking forward to.  He worked out of town a lot last year, mostly in Austin and we even considered an opportunity there. I was looking at Condo’s and was ready to pick up and go. Thankfully this role came along and he gratefully accepted.  He’s now an Equipment Design Engineer and his first day was today!  I’m sure he’ll be excited to tell me all about it.  This new job means - no working nights or weekends, no direct reports, no company cell phone (ringing at all hours of the day/night 7 days a week), no company vehicle, etc.  So, he will get to enjoy his evenings with us - uninterrupted and won’t have to deal with managing people anymore.  He really did love managing the guys, but it NEVER stopped.

I’m still in the same role however our group has been re-organized into a centralized type function, part of HR.  The transition has not been good. They informed us of the transition in October and I was very positive about it at first, I could see the possibilities and was actually excited…  Then, they put the hammer down and started telling all the rules and craziness. We are majorly micro-managed.. it’s insane!  We are losing our Fridays off, our flexible schedules, and are being turned into robots who can’t leave our desks… it’s horrible. I am grateful to have a job and probably shouldn’t complain but we had a great boss with flexible schedules and portfolios and it’s all being pulled out from under us.  It’s not a good feeling.  I genuinely asked a colleague who was already part of this team “what is one positive thing about being in this team?”… he couldn’t answer the question!!  He just said “that’s a really good question” while trying to think up an answer!!  (INSERT BUG EYES FROM TRINA)… What WHAT?  You can’t think of ONE positive thing?  My oh my it’s going to be a journey.  Each morning I put my happy face on and think positive thoughts but it has not been easy…  We’ve only been part of this team for 2 weeks but it seems like an eternity.  We are treated like toddlers that are robots…. I’m not joking.  I just keep thinking “this too shall pass…”  We’ll see…

Birthdays

Over the weekend, Kiarra turned 15.  FIFTEEN!!!!   How is it possible that I have a 15 year old? It’s just crazy that they are growing up so fast.  She is such a blessing to our family.  I love her sweet smile (dimples included), her giving heart (in all she does) and her love for the Lord.  Everyone keeps saying “ you just wait,  teenagers are horrible” or “one of these days you are going to hate each other”… Seriously people, what is going on with society?  I couldn’t even ask for a better relationship with her or any of my kids.  Of course we have days that are not perfect and of course there are times I screw up and have to ask for forgiveness for using harsh words but I wouldn’t trade this for anything. She is an amazing child, a gift from God and although I’d love to slow time down a bit, I’m so grateful that I get to be her Mom!

My Mom also had a birthday this weekend. I would throw myself in front of a bus for this woman. I am so grateful that I get to be her daughter and that she lives so close to me. I love the time we get to spend together, playing card games, watching movies, painting or doing absolutely nothing at all… just her presence warms my heart.

Reverse Reverse…

Last year wasn’t ALL about the craziness of selling the house.  There was other craziness too!! 

Within weeks of signing the papers to build the new house, we had to go to the design center to pick out everything.  Considering we are no longer rookies at this, and I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted, I thought it would be a breeze…. WRONG - it was still overwhelming.  There are just too many choices!  How do I really know I’m going to like my granite when I’m selecting it from a piece that is only 5x8 in. or the backsplash from a 5x5 in. piece of ceramic tile….and what if the tile we picked doesn’t really ‘coordinate’ with either of them??  EVERYTHING is an upgrade and a big decision… countertops, tiles, cabinets, jetted showers/bathtubs, door knobs, 3 car garage or 5 ft additional space, keeping standard cabinets in kids bathrooms or upgrading theirs too, mirrors, edges of countertops, paint colors, brick colors, and light switches…ok, maybe not the light switches but seriously every inch of the house could be covered in some type of upgrade. They only have 4 standard (meaning there is no additional cost) ceramic tiles to choose from and the other 350 in their selection are all an upgrade.  Some are minor upgrades for just a couple hundred dollars more and others are thousands more.  We had 2 appointments that were each 3 hours long and I still left thinking we could have had another appointment (and could have if we’d of paid another $350 for it).  We were actually quite conservative this time around and kept to our budget.  We passed on a few of the upgrades that we really wanted because we knew we could do it ourselves for 1/10th of the cost (literally, I did the math).  I’m also looking forward to my brother coming down and putting in my wood floors. 

Over the summer, Taryn began to swim really well.  She’s quite the little fish I must say.  A friend of ours was a life guard at our neighborhood pool so we went there quite often.  Even with Kiarra in a boot, she was able to take it off to swim.  All 3 kids get soooo tan in the summer so this past summer was no exception.  I get a little jealous, I have to admit.  I can lay there and bake in the sun for 3 hours straight and barely get any color and they are in the pool for 30 minutes and get 12 shades darker.  I love their skin and am so glad they have gorgeous skin.  Taryn turned 7 and decided to have a sleepover b-day party.  Kiarra had a sleepover when she was 7 too so I thought it would be fun.  Kiarra agreed to help me so we shipped the boys to my Moms house to have an all-girls party. We had 8 girls come to spend the night and let me just tell you how times have changes since Kiarra was 7.  These girls are like little teenagers; they were talking about boys and going on dates.  I could barely handle it, Kiarra and I just kept looking at each other and saying “really?”.  I swear 6 of these 9 girls are more boy crazy than Kiarra.  We played lots of games, danced and ate pizza and all kids of goodies.  Taryn had a great time. 

Jayden played 3 on 3 (basketball) last fall.  He has definitely found his sport and is showing improvements each time he touches a ball.  He had a great coach who ended up selecting him to play on his drafted team for 5 on 5 as well.  Jayden plays best when he’s mad and as rough as basketball is, it doesn’t take much for him to get pushed and shoved around a little bit to make him angry.  I just love his face when he takes control of the ball and plows through the kids to shoot and make a shot.  He’s gotten so tall over the past year (is taller than me now by a few inches) that he towers over most of the kids.  As they get older, it’s not as funny to watch them play.  Over the past few years, Kiarra and I would literally sit there and laugh uncontrollably because the kids were so damn cute running up and down the court, dribbling it off another kids shoe or just running out of bounds - even when no one was guarding them.  Our laughing has turned into cheering and screaming (in a good way).  This is probably my most favorite video of him during 3 on 3...he is dribbling down, passes the ball, it somehow ends up back in his hands and he tosses it up backwards and makes it... 

Kiarra was a busy bee over the summer and first semester of school.  With being injured and then volleyball camps and tryouts, she stayed busy.  Before we knew it, it was homecoming and friends/family in Iowa/Nebraska; homecoming is very different in the south.  Over the years I’ve seen some things on FB about homecoming but I didn’t understand the details, I’d just look at the pictures and be a little sad that the kids are all growing up…. No one prepared me for the craziness of homecoming in TX!  The mums, the garters, the overalls, the insanity… These mums are over the top. I’m still trying to understand the purpose of them and don’t really have a clear understanding so it-is-what-it-is and I’ll just go with it.  Most of the girls decorate and wear overalls too.  They wear them to school the day of the homecoming game and then some of them wear them to the game. I didn’t know anything about under-wonder and cutting fabric and all that crafty stuff but thankfully I have dear friends who know all about it.  They helped me with everything.  The overalls ended up being very cute and Kiarra loved them.  They were also the minds behind the mum and garter which turned out amazing.  Then, there is the dance which is formal.  We found a dress on our first shopping trip and it was so pretty. They didn’t have the color she wanted so I took a chance and ordered it.  It was perfect!  Kiarra and her friends chose me to be their driver so they all gathered at our house for pictures and then a friend of mine and I drove them to dinner.  She had a great time at the dance with her date and her friends.

I finally feel like I'm caught up... what a year we had in 2013!!

And we move... again!

Grandma Bennie and the kids 2006

In November, Jeff’s Grandmother passed away.  This was the only blood Grandmother he ever had the chance to know.  We made a trip to New Orleans for her funeral and Jeff shared stories with me that he’d never shared before.  Bennie was a great lady; she always made me feel welcome and had a passion for cooking.  Although she wouldn’t hesitate to tell me that I’d gained some extra pounds (LOL), she really had the sweetest heart.  Our kids adored her and loved to play cards and Bingo with her.  We all miss her very much.

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Closing on our house in Firethorne went smoothly, thank God.  The buyers put us through the wringer towards the end after their final walk through but it all worked out.  We did the final repairs that they insisted on and although it was very frustrating (considering our tools, paint, etc. was all in storage so we had to buy new stuff) it’s all done and behind us.

We moved the weekend before Thanksgiving so the holiday is a complete blur to me.  A huge thanks to my Mom and some of the guys who work for Jeff, we basically did it all in one day.  The majority of our stuff went to storage so it was quite easy… well, for me - not for them.  We have some heavy stuff and it was cold and rainy but they were great. I took several loads of stuff to the new place in my truck early in the day so when Mom arrived, she helped us pack up a few more items and then she and Taryn went to  and unpacked and put away the entire kitchen and bathrooms before we even got the truck half loaded. I don’t know what I would do without her!

Now, we are living in an apartment.  There were not any 3 bedroom apartments available for us so we had to get a 2 bedroom.  It’s not ideal but it’s not terrible either, especially since its temporary.  We had a talk with the kids about it and Jayden said he wouldn’t mind camping out in the living room of the apartment.  I don’t know why I was so worried about living in an apartment. I actually love how small it is and if I could just change out some of the creepy neighbors, it wouldn’t be that bad. Well, getting groceries sucks, just getting them from the car to the apartment sucks then I realize I’ve bought way too much for this little fridge and pantry so we end up with food all over the place, not a terrible problem to have but I hate clutter and it makes cooking quite difficult when there is no counter space.  I also don’t like the noise coming from the people who live above us but again, its temporary and we are not here that much anyway.

Christmas was uneventful and quite boring this year.  We spent Christmas Eve with our dear friends and had a great time (and great food) hanging out with them.  We were even able to be part of the Melby Christmas Eve celebration at Aunt Loretta and Uncle Russ’s house thanks to FaceTime.  Christmas morning with the kids was great, well, after they finally got out of bed at 9 am…  I just love how they are so excited for each other and want to take turns opening their gifts.  Kiarra and Jayden are very patient with Taryn and allow her to take the time she needs to dwell over every detail of the gift she’s just opened.  We typically go oldest to youngest or vice versa but not this year. Jayden insisted that ladies go first which was very kind of him.  They all loved their gifts, we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus, and had some special worship time and then we made a huge breakfast together.  I love the mess of Christmas morning, the wrapping paper, boxes and twist ties… I just felt so blessed this year to be healthy and to be able to provide for my family.  They each wanted practical and simple gifts this year which made it that much more special.  I really missed being with my family in Iowa though; there is just something about being around family all day (for days and days…) that helps make the holiday so much more of a celebration.  I think it’ll be tough to keep us in Texas for another Christmas, we are all about family and extended family so this year, we will be with family for the holidays….and it better snow!!

We brought in the New Year with some amazing friends.  It’s really great to bring in the New Year with people who would absolutely do anything for one other.  We had a great time catching up with each of their families, grubbing on Chris’s delicious gumbo amongst all the other snacks and of course popping fireworks.

All too soon, it was time for the kids to go back to school.  This was the first year in very long time, maybe 14 years that I have not taken off the last few weeks of the year to be with them.  I’m working on a very complex, high profile course at work and knew this would be the only time to catch up and get ahead of the game since the majority of the company would not be working.  Most days I worked from home or worked 1/2 day in the office and the remainder from home. I’m blessed and very grateful to have a flexible boss who allows us to do this.

We are in full swing of club volleyball for Kiarra and basketball for Jayden.  It’s a busy but fun time of year, and I’m looking forward to all the great things God has in store for us in 2014!!!

Happy New Year Everyone!!

We've been on a crazy ride...

Summer flew by!!  Seriously, before I knew it - it was school registrations, volleyball tryouts, back to school shopping and dreaded thought of homework!!!  I thought about writing every week but was so consumed with the amount of activities we had going on. The kids enjoyed their summer, it was just busy.

Jayden attended a couple of basketball camps, Great Adventure Camp (Christian camp), time at the lake with friends and he got the responsibility of babysitting Taryn while Kiarra was away at her activities.  Jayden turned 12 in June and we threw him a surprise b-day party.  We got him - AGAIN!  He really enjoyed that time with friends and family and want’s another “surprise” next year…. Not really a surprise if he’s already planning or thinking he’ll be surprised but we’ll see… I just may come up with something good (suggestions welcome J).

Kiarra attempted SACC (Strength and Conditioning Camp) but tore the ligaments around her ankle on day 1, so that didn't work out so well for her.  She still continued to attend most days and just did upper body workouts (boring!!)  The trainers thought it was a sprain at first so had her take it easy for 2 weeks, when they realized it wasn't getting better they had me take her to the doctor. She was in a boot for 3 weeks and got it off just tin time to attend volleyball camp. Just a week or so after camp was tryouts and this was quite stressful because of our house situation (you can read about that below), not to mention Jeff had been out of town as well (you can read about that below as well).

Taryn, oh poor Taryn… she was SOOOO bored all summer.  Kiarra and Jayden were awesome babysitters and she enjoyed them taking care of her but with Kiarra in a boot, she couldn't take Taryn to the pool and Jayden isn't old enough to take Taryn by himself.  She’s the only one that didn't have a bunch of activities so we filled up the time with sleepovers, and activities at the house.

Jeff was out of town working in Austin the entire month of August. With all the activities going on, working full time and now living out of zone for one of our kids schools, this made things quite difficult.  We drove up to Austin twice to see him. He was working 6 days a week which left no time for him to come home on the weekends so it was nice little get-a-way for us to drive up and spend time with him at the hotel.  We didn't do much while we were there; a little shopping, went and saw the State Capitol but the best part was sightseeing.  Austin is beautiful… gorgeous actually!!  We also took Jayden to see the UT campus and football field but he could care less about them since he wants to go to A&M. He was not impressed and made that very clear.  He cracks me up!  I don’t think he’ll go to A&M anyway, but that’s what he thinks at this stage in his life so we’ll just encourage it.  Before Jeff even got home from Austin, they were already talking about sending him to another city.  His boss wouldn't let him go but their Director wanted him to go to Dallas.  He wasn't even home a week and he was told he needed to go to Dallas…. Here we go again, I’m getting quite good at this single mom thing, but it’s NOT something I want to do on a full time basis (or even more than a week at a time for that matter).

Rewind a few months

I’d made it quite clear to everyone that I was not happy with the house we purchased last year.  In April I started snooping on HAR to look for another house. The market was great and we had friends selling their homes within days (sometimes hours) of putting it on the market.  We looked in a few neighborhoods to build, in our neighborhood for another house (because after all I LOVE the neighborhood, just not the house) and even looked in other cities… YES, other cities.  I do love Katy but would also welcome any opportunity to relocate.  In May we found a neighborhood just a couple of miles from our home in Firethorne, I loved it….the kids loved it but Jeff was still very adamant about staying put for a few more years.  I asked him to pray about it and he still insisted that we needed to stay in this house.  Finally, one day I begged him (ok-ok, I didn't’t beg - I only asked once) to go with me to look at a house.   He saw how happy this house made me and suddenly he heard from the Lord that maybe we should consider moving.  YES, thank you LORD for speaking to my hubby!!  The only downside was that Kiarra would have to go to the new High School and not Katy High School where we always thought she would go. I mentioned to Kiarra that the house we like in the new neighborhood is zoned to the new school and she was so excited. She expressed how she would love to go to the new school because so many of her new friends will be going there… AMEN!  This is huge.  I reached out to an old colleague of mine who is a Realtor now and we put the house on the market.  We had showings immediately, quite a lot of them actually. As you know, selling a house is stressful - always keeping it 110% picked up and clean is no easy task when there are 3 kids home all day long and the oldest-most responsible one in a boot!  We went to the new neighborhood and signed paperwork to being the process of building a new house… Let’s hope 3rd times a charm. This is the 3rd house Jeff and I have built together so as long as we can keep our sanity through this process, I think we will be in this house a very long time.

Sale/No Sale

We received an offer on the house and although it wasn't a full price offer, it was decent.  We went into contract but before the 10 day option period was up the buyers backed out.   It was devastating.  It’s now August and decision time, do we keep the house on the market or take it off and just remodel.  With school starting and volleyball tryouts weeks prior to school starting, we needed to make a decision, however Jeff is out of town, I’m working 60+ hours a week and time is just flying by. The biggest hurdle is keeping our house on the market and still allowing Kiarra to go to the new school.  This means she is out of zone and will need transportation to/from school each day.  Getting her to school in the morning isn't a problem because we are headed to work but neither of us can leave work at 2:30 every day to pick her up.  It was weighing very heavy on my heart. I simply didn't know what to do.  I’d pray about it but wasn't getting the answer because honestly, the answer I wanted was to just sell the house and move into temporary housing until the new house is ready, oh yea - about the new house, they've barely started building it at this point… I think we only had the slab!!  Of course I wasn't in a rush for it to be built because we hadn't sold the house anyway but it was still another burden in my mind.  Jeff and I finally made a decision to take the house off the market and stay put, we’d remodel, put in a pool and just be content with this decision…a decision we thought was coming from our good Lord. 

Answered Prayers…

I text a dear friend of mine, who also has a daughter going to this new school, and explained to her that the buyers had backed out and that we wouldn't be able to get Kiarra into the new school because although they would allow it, I just couldn't get her home from school every day.  Her response to me blew me away, it made me cry and I fell to my knees.  She told me she would be happy to take Kiarra home from school each day until we move.  Friends, this is HUGE.  We don’t live far from each other but this is a big deal to me and to Kiarra.  I just didn't feel right accepting this offer but she insisted.  What a blessing she is to our family.

Enrollment

So now that we had transportation sorted out, there was no time to wait.  We literally had to get Kiarra enrolled within a couple of days so she could attend volleyball tryouts. I thought school sports didn't start until school started, boy was I wrong (OMG, I think I just sounded like my Mother).  I’d been talking with the school for months so I knew everything I needed to do, the registrar went over it with me many times.  Kiarra and I walked into that HUGE, seriously GINORMOUS school to register her and I hadn't followed the right steps. I thought we were “pre-registering” her but what I actually needed to do weeks ago was go to the Administration building, and pay a fee and apply for her pre-registration…or something like that, I don’t even remember. Seriously, it was all so stressful. Just when you think you have everything you need, birth certificates, contracts for new build, physicals, etc…. not to mention Jeff had just left to go out of town.  Then, once the board or whoever approved it I could officially register her.  I remember this very clearly, it was a Wednesday and tryouts started the following week.  Eeeek!  They said it can take up to 10 days to receive the approval… TEN DAYS!!!  As much as I’m trying to stay calm and collective, this panic came over me and I got very frustrated.  It had already been so emotional from the moment we put our house on the market I just thought maybe this was Gods way of telling me that we just need to stay put. Then out of nowhere, a very nice lady at the administration building approached me promised to help us and see this through. She was another blessing.  Before noon on Friday, we had the approval.  AMEN!!  I was working that Friday but as soon as I got the email, I was off to the school to get her registered. We arrive to the school and there is not a person in site. It’s practically empty, only a few construction workers finishing up some last minute touches.  What am I going to do now? She can’t attend tryouts on Monday if she’s not registered…  We waited around a few minutes thinking maybe everyone was out to lunch. Just as we started to walk back to the car, I see someone in the office.  I knocked on the door and it just happened to be one of the principles.  He opened the door and explained that no one in the office works on Fridays during the summer… WHAT!!??  I felt my heart drop again and Kiarra instantly had tears in her eyes.  I explained to him that with tryouts being on Monday, I really need to get her enrolled and I asked what time they will be there on Monday so I can come back to enroll her.  He was so nice and said “I think the registrar is here, let me see if I can find her”… Seriously friends, one blessing after another!  The registrar was there and although she wasn't super happy to help us, she took the paperwork, reviewed it to ensure we had every I dotted and every T crossed and then said that she’d finalize everything on Monday but that Kiarra could go to volleyball tryouts on Monday. We both shed tears of joy on the way to the car. AMEN!

Volleyball/Back to School

After all that craziness with getting Kiarra enrolled in school, she was able to try out for volleyball and she made the Freshman A team.  All in all they had a pretty good season.  There were too many girls on the team and the coach liked the “fun/fair/positive” crap but other than that they did well and Kiarra was able to play a lot.  I always thought football was the rough sport so when she suffered a concussion during an intense game against Katy I was quickly brought to reality and that every sport is kind of dangerous.  I always thought it would be a rolled ankle or jammed finger but a concussion…only my child J

The kids were excited to go back to school this year.  Kiarra in high school, Jayden in Jr High and Taryn in 1st grade. 3 kids in 3 different schools, working lots of hours, husband out of town, house on the market and volleyball games twice a week was all quite overwhelming but you know what, I wouldn't change it for the world.  This is my life and I love it.

Sale of House

We received other offers on our house and had many people interested in it but unfortunately our Realtor didn't do her part to see those through.  We lost one deal over a simple $250 neighborhood deed restriction rule book that she refused to let us pay for.  Seriously, $250?  Ugh!  After many prayers, discussions and considerations we decided to let her go.  So now what??  We have to sell this house by December 20th or Kiarra will have to transfer schools back to the school in our zone.  Again, after many discussions, prayer and tears, Jeff and I decided that at semester break, she’d just have to transfer to Katy High School.  End of discussion…. Or so we thought.  I was content with the decision and although I wasn't happy about it, I knew it was the right thing. I went to the sales associate at the new builder and explained to them that we needed to go ahead and cancel our contract. I hated to do it but there was just no other choice at this point.  I didn't even care if we lost our earnest money, we just needed out of the contract.  Here we go, another blessing… She was amazing. She explained to me that we just had a bad experience (a very bad one I might add) and not to give up yet.  She asked if we’d trust one of their preferred Realtors to re-list our house and was so positive and refreshing about the entire situation, something I was not used to because our other Realtor was not that way.  I couldn't even contain myself, I was so emotional. I was happy/nervous/stressed/anxious/overjoyed all at the same time. Mario called me later that day and we talked for a very long time about what we (Jeff and I) wanted and how we were going to tackle this.  See, we missed out on the prime time to sell our house over the summer and now school has started so I didn't have high expectations.  Our new Realtor came by and gave me a ton of tips to make the house look bigger/better.  Again, during this time, Jeff is STILL out of town (have I mentioned that enough in this post)… so the kids and I moved furniture around and sure enough, the house looked great.  I almost fell in love with it all over again, but shhh - don’t tell Jeff, he’d kill me.  LOL.  The house went back on the market in October and within a few weeks, we had an offer.  It wasn't the best and it wasn't our asking price but it was an offer and we were elated.  After a little negotiating, we signed the contract, inspections were schedule and we started packing.  I’d had my eyes on a few lease houses over the months but of course those were long gone.

Now where are we going to live??

Closing was scheduled to be within a month so now we needed to find a place to live. There were only 2 lease houses in the zone we needed and those were not going to work for us so I went to the only apartment complex that is zoned to the High School and Jr High (so the kids can ride the bus).  I've not lived in an apartment for 15 years.  My oh my, these apartments seem so small!  Closing is scheduled for the day before Thanksgiving and we are just praying all goes well and we can finally be done with this house…