Thursday, July 30, 2009

nothingness






today the kids and i did nothing all day.

we watched movies, swam, and ate popcorn and drank kool-aid. we also had some ice-pops and twist and shouts (fake oreos) which aren't really too bad.

it was awesome. daddy and the big girls were a bit jealous, but they joined us in the pool (again) after they got home to cool off.

i love the summer!!

have an awesome week-end

cole

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

yesterday



ok yesterday we spent at least half of the day at the doctors.

OMGravy!!! it was crazy and i think it is safe to say that the adults were just as miserable as the kids were by the time we were through.

we started the day at the pediatric pulmonologist (sp?) for isabel. great news we do not have to be on steroids anymore (for now) she is showing so much improvement. plenty of exercise, vitamins, and controlling her allergies and voila, no asthma attacks no pneumonia! thank you God! her doc said we could start weening her off of them. i actually started that in may, but he doesn't have to know that :)

next we took the three oldest to the eye doctor. that went well, and only blythe needs glasses, go figure. the kids love dr. dressen he's a hoot. his practice looks like something straight out of the 60's but he's personable, likes kids, and is CHEAP!

we ended our day with both of the girls getting their physicals for the year. i would like to say that this ended our day on a high note, but i would be lying. the girls were in horrible moods, indignant about having to remove their clothes and wear a, "see through gown mom!" and of course we ended the visit with shots all around! no one was happy!

i am so thankful that jere was able to go to all the appointments with me in the morning and then he spent time with the two youngest (in the pool, oh the horror) while i sat for 2 hours with the girls. even he admitted helping me on a day like yesterday showed him how tiring "just taking the kids to the doctors" can be and why on those days sandwiches are what's for dinner :)

i got a few good pics, there are none of jack. he doesn't want his picture taken again until i get his hair cut. he is not a fan of my new blog picture:) but take it from me he's still a cutey even with the long hair.

happy hump day,

cole

Monday, July 27, 2009

my feelings are hurt

sitting here fighting the urge to throw a fit
sitting here wanting to pick up the phone
sitting here wondering why?

i'm sorry for your childhood
i'm sorry you were not hugged enough
i'm sorry someone didn't take good care of you.

excuses change nothing
life is what you make of it
you have choices the same as me

sometimes apologies are just hollow

Saturday, July 25, 2009

good morning


i don't know if you noticed the time, but it's about 1 in the morning. i am up because i forgot to start a load of laundry.

i know, i know you ask, why does it have to be started now, why not in the morning, what could be sooo pressing that it actually wakes you up in the night to get on task?

CLOTH DIAPERS! Ella-Sophie wears cloth diapers. she wears them for many reasons. One they are good for the environment, two they are much cheaper than disposables, three because she has been wearing them since she was 4 months old she is now allergic to what's in disposables that helps them to hold your baby's weight in urine, and fourth because her tushy looks so darn cute in them duh!!!

we only have 9 (we lost one this summer somewhere) heavy duty Kushies and 6 (she outgrew 4 of them) Toile Buds, courtesy of ETSY left. now you do the math that's 15 diapers, which we do not go through in a day. we could probably make it two days with this many diapers easy. but my OCD will not allow those pee filled/poop filled eco friendly masses to sit overnight in my laundry room. that's just gross.

we had company tonight that did not leave until midnight. i brushed my teeth, made sure everyone was asleep and went to bed only to wake up screaming in my head, "DIAPERS CRAP!"

so here i sit waiting for the wash cycle to finish so i can place them in the dryer so miss sophie can have clean kushies for her tushy in the morning.

have a great sunday,

cole

Friday, July 24, 2009


well the weekend is finally here and blythe is finally acting more like a person. she ate some beans last night and "sucked" on a cheeto :) that was pretty funny.

we are preparing for a garage sale for next weekend so i am cleaning out (still) closets. it is amazing how much stuff we have. i am also planning on culling down some of the dishes and dishware we own too much of. maybe even some blankets and stuff. i'm tired of all the STUFF! we also have to clean out the pool and get our yard back in order. this past week of storms has knocked down every dying branch in our three pecan trees.

jere has worked all week, he is such a band nerd! and loved every moment of band camp. kelsey (who is at camp with her dad, poor thing) said, "he's a band nazi/nerd mom, he keeps using his barry white voice over the loudspeaker and laughing manically!" can i just say that i love, love, love that my husband loves his job! we have to go to anson this weekend to set up his room so that's one more item added to task.

molly also needs a bath (dum, dum, dum, dum, dummmmmm)and the van needs detailing.

i hope everyone else's weekend is relaxed and great.

we love and miss everyone!

cole

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

They're BACK!

the kids flew in yesterday morning and their grandma v graciously drove them to me at my mother's in graham.

(jere wouldn't leave me alone without a car in abilene with blythe sick and someone had to drive sarah to graham to pick up her car and we didn't want my mother-in-law to have to drive ALL the way to abilene, so mom's house was our neutral ground)

they arrived tired and crabby but otherwise fine. we are so happy to finally have them home and i think that they are all quite happy to see each other and be together again. isabel went wild for her brother and sister and ella-soophie warmed up to them quite quickly. all the grandchildren were quite miffed that we did not stay at marmees for the night (all you can eat junk, satellite, and no bedtime) but jere actually had to be at work today as band camp has begun.

kelsey was none to thrilled to get up this morning at 6:30 to have to travel with her father sans blythe (who is still far from par). she is used to not waking up before 2 or 3 in the afternoon and going to bed around 3 or 4 am. oh well no better way to get back on schedule.

otherwise our week is going pretty smooth and uneventful. as i mentioned before blythe is still not doing so well. her ears are hurting really badly (normal) and she still can't swallow anything well (normal) has a fever 9 (normal). she's just taking a really long time to heal (again unfortunately NORMAL) please keep her in your prayers.

hope everyone else's week is going great. i'll post more pictures later when i can get them.

cole

Friday, July 17, 2009

blythe lauren joy

here is a quick update on my blythe's progress.


blythe made it through her T&A (go ahead laugh, i did, several times) swimmingly. she did really good and we were super proud of her. she is still in quite a bit of pain and is living off her pain meds every 4 hours. our dr said even though she is only almost 14, her body is for the most part very adult and as such it will take her longer to recover from the surgery than say a 6 year old.

i have spent several hours reading to her and just rocking her and even napping with her whilst holding her just like the precious baby girl she still is. her daddy administers her pain meds every 4 hours by alarm (that means a 12 am and 4 am dosing for jere) to keep her on top of the pain. tomorrow we should be hitting the "wall" for a T&A patient, which just means the scabs are falling off and she will be in more pain once again.

she should start to feel better around tuesday (jeez louise) and be more like herself by wednesday. she can barely talk and is living off a diet of 7 up popsicles, ice water, and mashed potatoes (a little sugar, a little starch my kind of diet :)

well that's about it. thank you all so much for your prayers and calls. we love you all very much and had hoped to see you soon, but i think we will have to put that trip on hold until blythe is better.

blessings for your week-end,

cole

Monday, July 13, 2009


this picture has nothing to do with this blog, i just thought it was funny :)






blythe is having her tonsils and adenoids removed on wednesday morning at 7. we are super excited (by we i mean jere and i) blythe isn't so keen, but we would like for our child too cease having strep throat every 5 weeks as well having sleep apnea.

anyhoo, after going to two doctors appts, the hospital for pre-registration, and getting some blood work done we are trying to have a pretty easy going evening.

we spent the day together just the two of us while daddy had the youngest two at home. between all the doctor's junk we managed to squeeze in two mochas (mine hot, her's cold) a smidge of shopping (skinny jeans for 2 bucks!) and make fun of the chunky girls IN skinny jeans (hey i'm not proud, just honest)

it was great. i love my baby blythe and know that God has everything in control. i just have to learn how to lay it at His feet and leave it there.

send out your best thoughts and prayers for her. i know she's almost 14 but that really doesn't change anything in your heart does it?

blessings and peace,

cole

Sunday, July 12, 2009

let me clarify

ok, here's the dealio. i will be very brief since both of my girls read my blog. (hi baby girls!)

essentially blythe thinks that by moving in with her biological father in georgia, she can somehow forge some type of relationship with him since she has a really good one with her dad here (jere) and myself. she knows where we stand and also knows that no matter what happens our door is always open.

i am upset, frustrated, irritated, hurt, angry, blown-away, and pretty much miserable. there can be no good from this decision. he has sought legal council and is preparing to go forward with this.

did i forget pissed? yep, i'm pissed too.

anyway, good thoughts, prayers, and the whole nine yards is super appreciated. and yes, we are fighting this. I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THERE, and while i agree that we should give people second chances that right is reserved for adults, NOT my 14 year old child. i have dealt with her father on more than one occasion and know about that heartbreak and disappointment as well as forgotten promises, etc, etc. first hand. my child should not have to deal with that. so i'm gonna go with a big fat NO, you aren't moving in with your father.

blessings and a good week to you all,

cole

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

friends

she's unusually unusual
absolutely unpredictable, yes she is
she's so different and that's what's wonderful
she's unusually unusual and that's beautiful to me


i'm a smidge nerdy and make my own ringtones for my iphone.

that medley above is what plays when three incredibly different, awesome, fun, intelligent, or just plain fantastic women call my phone.

i'll go ahead and tell you that one of them is my baby sister. she is my polar opposite and twin all at the same time. i love her dearly and madly all at the same time. she relies on me to be her sister, best friend, mother, fashion consultant, (though she NEVER listens, "hey you're 31 just say NO to the transformer t-shirt!")and counsel er all at the same time. sometimes i smoothly change hats with her and she thinks i am wise, and other times i tick her off pretty badly and we hang up irritated at one another (jeez coley, when did you become like mom?). but we never stay mad.

you can't be angry with bear too long.

the next is my sister-in-law stace. she was MY friend first (i don't make female friends easily i might add) then my big brother whisked her away from me for quite some time, married her, loved her, changed her. our relationship changed for a while too. time ticked by and thankfully she became by friend again, but not my college friend anymore but my new sister-in-law friend. i had never had this before. she is one of my closest confidants and knows me quite well (and still is my friend!) i can be me with her and that is very important! i love her very much and would probably stop speaking to my brother if he ever did anything to hurt her (seriously)

gotta love stace.

the third is my pastor's wife trice. she has known me the shortest amount of time. our relationship has grown slowly, with me being the cautious one. if you put us together you'd instantly think one thing, mismatched. she's Barbie and i'm Holly Hobby.. she is 5'11' blonde and you will never catch her without a pair of at least 3" heels on standing beside my 5'3" flip flop wearing self. but she became my friend. as we watch our children grow up together and worked side by side in our little no pay NPO job. sweating our butts off in 105 degree weather watching 13-15 year olds at church camp swim. crying for our beloved friend last week. she knows the deepest about me, just like sarah and stace, and she's still my friend.

she's taught me that i can't judge a woman by her staggering stilettos when she's down on her knees praying for me.

to these three women

CHEERS

to the newest, fabulous, unusually unusual, honest, smart, strong, funny, and fantastic other new women in my life . . .

double CHEERS and thank you for hanging out with me, standing by me, and supporting me. i hope i can do the same for each of you.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Happy Birthday Isabel! Are you really 5?






we had a pretty sad week this past week and kind of let isabel's birthday go unnoticed. however we did pick up zoe this week from her dad's on sunday and she and aunt sarah treated us to a rockingly good time at the chucksters. my most hated place on the earth. thankfully we had blythe, sarah, zoe, isabel, ella-sophie, and madison to help jere and i see the good in the cheese!

happy birthday to isabel
happy birthday to you
happy birthday to isabelllllllll
happy birthday to you baby bear!!!


ps stay tuned for ella-sophie's first birthday party. eventually. sometime. . .
ok i'm working on it!!!!!!!!!!!!

blessings,

cole

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Kathi Russell

Today we buried my good friend, spiritual advisor, boss, and wonderful human being. She died on Tuesday of this week leaving behind 3 wonderful kids and an awesome husband of 35 years. Her fight with cervical cancer was amazing and her spirit never faltered and neither did her faith in God for even a minute.

Kathi made me want to be a Christian when my mouth was full of the bitter taste of the hypocritical world of Christianity. She showed us not just the scriptures teaching us how to have a servants heart, but walked the walk as well. She walked closer to God than ANYONE that I have ever known. She never said anything negative and refused to allow anyone to talk that way. She always saw the positive and I am so priviliged to have known her.

Please lift up the Russell family this week and mine as well. We are quite upset by this but know that she is where she is needed most. Kelsey and Jackson are not handling this very well from afar, please lift them up as well.

blessings,

nicole

Summertime

Summertime
Beautiful batheing babes (and bubs)