Thursday, January 29, 2009

Hair like me

This week I had my hair done and the girl that does my hair decided to get a wild idea and give me a new look..so now my hair is somewhat darker than my usual fairly blonde color. After I got over the shock of seeing myself with darker hair..which has been ages...I made my way home and when I came in my families reactions were all varied. Gracen was, as usual, my biggest cheerleader. She started squealing and said she LOVED it. She said, "Good! Now you have hair like me!" Marty, on the other hand, said, "Why did you do that?" and then covered for himself in the way someone tries to do when they know they have offended you and said, "It looks fine, really." Carson, my honest Abe, came up and inspected me all the way around. Then in his slow, methodical way he said, "It looks good, mom." Then he began to quiz me on what she did and when I decided to get my hair that color. You don't have to imagine long about what I did next...I went straight to the shower and proceeded to wash it no less than five times to try to wash out some of the dark color. Fortunately it has faded quite a bit and I do still have some blonde highlights but the dark does overshadow the light. It is getting better or maybe I'm getting more accustomed to seeing myself this way. I'm going to give it some time and see how it settles in on me! Gracen is still begging me not to lighten it up!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Baby it's cold outside!!

Well, we woke up today to what was supposed to be ice on the ground and a day off from school and....nothing, nada...but it is freezing cold outside even if there is no frozen precipitation on the ground. Up north they weren't so lucky and have no electricity so I'm thankful we escaped the ice this time.

Wednesday is always a busy day at our house. From the minute school is out, the race is on. Gracen has piano at Amity at 4:15 which requires me to leave my school and head to get her at school and then on to piano. I do have to say I actually find my time at piano to be relaxing...I get to sit and read and can't answer my phone or do anything else but listen to Gracen play and converse with her teacher. She is learning so much at piano so quickly. I am amazed...wish I could play as well! Then, we leave piano about 5:00 and have to drive back to Glenwood, feed the kids, study for Awana and then get to Awana..which is 6-7:30. When the kids are finished from Awana and we get back home it is time to corral them for baths, hear all about their days since we really haven't had time for that and hustle them towards the bed. Tonight Carson is quite upset that Gracen only has a page or two left till she finishes her first Discovery book and he is quite a bit behind her. This is the first year that the boys and girls are seperate...in Sparks they were always together but in T&T they are seperate so they don't do all their verses at the same time...not setting well with Carson. He is ultra competitive!!!

One funny story for the day...he told me today that a little boy in their class called Gracen a crybaby today and Carson grabbed him by the shirt and pushed him on the ground...sibling love...may end him up in the principal's office, but was sweet none the less! :)

God bless,
Sherri

Monday, January 26, 2009

BRRRRRR!!!

Right now it is freezing rain and 30 degrees outside with a wind chill of 23! Marty is in a jr high tournament at Umpire, Carson started in a pitching clinic tonight and Gracen is gone to mom's to spend the night. I'm home on the couch in my flannel pj's under a blanket freezing!!!

I've been on facebook tonight reading this "25 things about me" list that people are passing around right now. You write 25 things about yourself and post it, that's it. It's been really interesting reading what people have written in their lists. People I have gone to college and high school with have gone through so many things over the last 10 years since I've seen them. Some of them have been through infertility treatment as we did, some have lost babies, some have traveled all over the world, some have written about their first dates and first experiences growing up. Really amazing how many things can happen in just a few short years in your life and really shape the person that you are today. One of my friends from college posted the following that really touched me...."11. We have 3 children.... but we also have 4 babies in heaven. One is a baby girl named Karis (phonemic variation of Charis... greek for "Grace"). She would have been born in a couple of weeks. It might be weird to some for me to mention this, but I think (and usually cry) about my babies every day, which is a part of who I am and a part of how God is refining me right now." I love how she put that...God is refining me right now, because that is what is happening to all of us as we go through our lives. I don't believe that God "causes" bad things to happen to us in our lives, but in His omnipotence He takes those tragedies in our lives and uses them to "refine" us into the person He wants us to be if we allow Him to do so.

My 25 things list is below..it was late and I struggled to come up with 25 but I did! :)

1. I went to 3 different elementary schools in 3 different towns in 4th grade and 6 elementary schools total from kindergarten through 6th grade. Then fortunately I moved back to DeQueen during 6th grade and graduated from there. I think it might be why I can "talk to a stump" as my sister-in-law says.

2.Probably because I moved so often in my early years, I do not handle change very well at all in respect to moving. I cried for like a week when we moved across town and bought our current house..which I love, but it took adjusting to the change. I'm all good now!

3. Marty and I talked about getting married on our I believe it was 3rd date. We went out for the first time on New Year's Eve, got engaged on Spring Break and married on July 26th. It will be 13 years in July.

4. I read cereal boxes, random pamphlets on tables at lunch...anything just to be reading.

5. My 9 year-old twins are the result of IVF. After 1 year of trying to get pregnant on our own, followed by about 18 months of fertility treatment, I went in for a surgery to investigate why we weren't getting pregnant and woke up to find out they had removed my fallopian tubes and my only option was IVF. In Dec. 1998, we had 3 embryos transferred and at 7 weeks found out I was pregnant with twins! I delivered boy/girl twins in Aug. 1999, exactly 1 year after the surgery to remove my tubes.

6. My entire life has seemed to revolve around a basketball game. My younger years were centered around watching my uncle coach at Wickes and my older cousins play there. Then my brother began playing and we followed him around playing at camps and tournaments. I cheered throughout school so regardless of my lack of bball talent, I was still going to games. Then I got married my sophomore year of college, which would've been my brother's last year of high school bball, to none other than a basketball coach. I'm surprised I don't dream about it.

7. I like to research things. My friends ask me to look up stuff for them. Reviews on products, vacation spots they are going to, books, movies, I just enjoy those kind of projects..especially planning trips! Now, research for a class..forget it!

8. I eat cereal about 5 times a week for a meal..sometimes breakfast, sometimes dinner when we have a ballgame...but I rarely eat 1 kind of cereal in my bowl. I mix 2 kinds, sometimes 3. I know...weird!

9. I love to "drive-around." By that I mean, to just get in my car when I feel like it and drive around the roads outside of town, down usually some of the same roads I drive every time, sometimes listening to music, sometimes not, sometimes because I need to think, I'm mad, upset, or stressed but sometimes just for no reason at all.

10. Starting a ladies Sunday School class at my church has been life changing for me. The class has taken on a life of it's own in a way and God is using our class to reach women who never felt a part of anything at church or participated very much. By teaching this class, there is no room for slacking so it has forced me head first into where I needed to be in my studying and the rewards have been huge.

11. There aren't many vegetables that I like raw...I eat almost everything cooked, but very few raw veggies. I'm good with lettuce raw and that's about it. Got to cook the rest.

12. I don't drink tea or coffee. I wish I could acquire a taste for both..but so far NO.

13. I rarely wear a coat..it has to be really cold and then only if I'm going to be outside extensively.

14. If I don't have to go back out anywhere after I get home from school at 3:30ish..I will put on my flannel pajamas when I walk in the door. Marty calls it my uniform in the winter! I have a summer version, too. Ha!

15. I call my mom on the way to work every day. I have about a 12 minute drive and I talk to her for most of it. We talk about what was on the Today Show that we both watch while we are getting ready for work, our plans for the day, etc.

16. I pray that I will instill more confidence in Gracen than I had growing up. I struggle in balancing constructive criticism in a loving, motherly way and building confidence..it is such a delicate balance and she is at that age...9 years old. I pray I will do it right.

17. We have a rule at our house...no tv on while we are eating. It might be Sonic, but it's dinner time.

18. During basketball season, I often go an entire week without "cooking" a meal at home. We eat at home, but we grab some cereal before a game, eat at the game or everyone is coming and going at different times due to practice/piano, etc so we all eat something different. On the flip side, some weeks I'll cook every night so hopefully it all averages out! :)

19. Music inspires me. I often play songs for my Sunday School class before we start that meant something to me that week. I listen to all kinds too..except rap, heavy metal, etc.

20. I talk to my dogs like they are people and my kids make fun of me for it.

21. I love Lifetime movies...I DVR them in my bedroom so a couple times a year on a lazy Saturday I can watch 4 in a row!

22. I like to stay up late but yet I don't like to sleep late..haven't mastered this yet.

23. I'm the worst backpack checker ever! I work at a school yet forget to check my own kids' backpacks!

24. These last two were the same concept as the last 2 on Kandi's who I copied this "list" from but they sooo apply to me, too....I need time alone. I'm very social when I'm with groups. I love going on outings and trips with friends and spending time with my family BUT I need time at home with no one here. Time to decompress. I need a little solitude.

25. My goal for 2009 is to be more eternally focused. I ditto this! I want to be a better wife, mother, daughter, friend, all the roles I lead in the capacity that God desires for me to lead them.

God bless,
Sherri

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Basketball and more basketball..

Well, last night we hosted Van-Cove for the 2009 Kirby Homecoming. Every year I say, "That was the prettiest homecoming we've ever had," and every year it is prettier than the one before. This year the color was red and the theme was a Red Carpet Event or something like that...I think I'm messing the name up. The entire gym floor was covered in white paper with glitter and every maid and escort had a star on the floor with their name. Then the "red carpet" was down the center of the gym with roped off sections down each side of it....gorgeous!! Red and black balloons were scattered throughout. The columns at each side of the "stage" were wrapped with what looked like camera film and everything was draped in red, black and silver. The girls all wore red and the dresses were beautiful!! Brody was as cute as could be..he took off and left Sadie which drew a laugh from the crowd. The lobby was packed with people trying to see the festivities but couldn't get in b/c there were no seats. I ended up working the concession stand for the jr and sr girls games b/c the lines were so long they were struggling to wait on everyone. It was a great night for Kirby basketball. It all came to a disappointing end with the sr. boys losing in the final seconds of the game. With 9 seconds left the game was tied..we had been down by several most of the game and battled back to tie it up. A foul was called and they went to the line..made both free throws to go up by 2 points! We went down, Blake threw up a shot and missed, got his own rebound and shot again but missed. He was being swarmed on both shots so never got a good shot off. Their wasn't enough time to set up a good play. We lost by 2 points. That game put us out of the conference race.

This morning, we were up and at it early for Carson and Gracen's Pee Wee games at Amity. They played Centerpoint and won both games. Gracen scored 10 out of the 15 points...she played a really good game. Last week she scored 8 out of the 10 points. She is having a really good time playing and is a really good little ball player...we are so proud!! :) Carson is also having a great year so far. His team won and he had 8 or 10 points..not sure how many exactly. He played very well, too. His team is really good. They play like they are much older than 3rd graders! Today mom, dad, mimi, Leah, Kevin, Cade, Karigan, Jansen and Sawyer all came to watch them. They were thrilled with that! We are really enjoying watching them this year play pee wee's...it is so much fun!! I am so thankful for these two blessings God game us!

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Life on TiVo...

Tonight I’m sitting here watching tv…on TiVo of course…and I was just thinking that I can’t imagine going back to watching TV without using a dvr. Tonight while I’ve been watching my favorite shows I’ve paused for phone calls, to vaccum the living room, to clean Marty’s side of the closet (part of the Love Dare), to bandage my mom’s thumb when she came by after she smashed the crud out of it in a gate, to fix a bowl of cereal for supper and that has all been during just TWO shows and without my kids being at home which usually cause me to have to pause it every couple of minutes!! What did we do without DVR?! How did we ever get an entire show watched?! I love my DVR! I love tv in general..does that make me a bad person?! LOL! I just finished watching “Privileged,” which is one of my favorite shows and I’m getting ready to watch McDreamy on Grey’s Anatomy…woo hoo! A little escape from the stress of work, taking care of a family, ballgames and our long list of to-do’s…..

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Love Dare

Well, I'm on Day 9 of the Love Dare...the book that is the challenge undertaken in the movie Fireproof and now it is out as a 40-day challenge. I can just say that in 9 days it has already changed the way I react to not only my husband but even to how I deal with my kids. Now don't get my wrong..I ain't perfect!! ha! But, it's the effort and the consciousness that it has brought to my life that is so unexplainable. I actually look forward each day to reading the next chapter...it's truly a challenge. The brothers that wrote this book..they also wrote Fireproof...two really inspired guys. Great book..I highly recommend it! Can't wait to see how things are at the end of the 40 days! We're also doing the Fireproof 6-week study at church...hope it all means a better marriage for 2009!! :)

Friday, January 9, 2009

Well.....it's finally Friday!

WOW, let's just say this week has been long and today it has gone out with a bang!

I've been working on getting ready for our Fireproof Marriage Study starting at church on Sunday night. I'm just organizing it and we have had a tremendous response, but getting books has taken up a lot of time..not to complain..but the saga begins.....what was supposed to be a quick trip to Hot Springs for books and back for our ballgame turned into....I hit a pothole, had a flat and ruined my tire. Thankfully the owner of the store nearby where I had the flat changed it since it was dark and very cold..HALLELUJAH!!! However, ruined my very expensive tire...stupid pothole! LOL!! Made a trip to LR Thursday for a check-up with my neurologist/headache clinic and picked up more books at Lifeway since I bought HS's out already....so many people signed up since the HS's trip that I was out of books again...going to be a great class I think!! Could've avoided all this if I had just ordered double the amount I ordered in the shipment on Monday and just returned the extras....lesson learned!!!!

My drama can't compare to the heartbreak I have felt all week for a former college classmate of Marty's that is now the principal at a high school near Hot Springs. His beautiful daughter is a high school senior and has a glioblastoma brain tumor. She is undergoing treatment and we have been praying fervently for her and her family but she has had a difficult week. She is having many difficulties from the location of her tumor and she has been on my mind constantly this week. We, along with our church family, are praying for her healing but I have been so burdened for her and her family this week. They have been a great testimony to all who have come in contact with them and have tremendous faith in the midst of this storm. Please say a prayer for Hannah and her family!

On a MUCH lighter note...though my son is in trouble over this one...we inadvertently kidnapped one of Carson's best friends today from school! Ha! No kidding!! I was checking my kids out to go to the eye doctor and my mom had to go and pick them up b/c I was running late from work. I called and let the school know and asked that they be signed out and watch for her b/c we were in a rush. They were on the playground, so when she pulled up they, along with their friend Deric, came out to the car and got in. Mom asked why Deric was with them and Carson said that Marty gave them permission and mom asked Deric if he had permission and Deric said yes that his mom checked him out. Well, Marty had called and asked me if Carson could take Deric (Carson's idea) and I specifically said NO b/c I had too many errands..none of them fun stuff, need to get in bed early b/c we have to get up early for their peewee games in tomorrow which is why we didn't go to the sr ballgames tonight. Marty did tell Carson that I said no, BUT that when I got there he could ask me if we could work something out with Deric's brother to pick him up early and maybe he could go. Big MISTAKE from dad!! I said NO and dad was going to Acorn to a ballgame so he didn't get a vote!! Anyway, when I didn't show up to discuss with Carson..he just brought Deric on and thought he would slip it over on Nana! Deric just decided to go without asking period...who knows what he thought. The duty teacher apparently thought they were all 3 checked out instead of just my 2 and the kids in their class told their teacher that they were all checked out. Deric's mom called me at 3:30 when he didn't get off the bus and she had called everywhere looking for him and had finally talked to his sister, who was on the bus with Marty and had found out from him where Deric was. CRAZY!!! If they are running these scams at 9...what are they going to be doing at 14?!!!! Carson is in BIG trouble to say the least! It makes me feel slightly better that he feels super guilty..he's apologized over and over, apologized to Deric's mom, said he didn't deserve ice cream when we went...yeah he didn't...he's tender-hearted! Wonder how long that will last??

Hopefully the weekend is going to get calmer!! I'm zapped!