Fiver

2011-11-27T19:57:00.000-08:00

I didnt know if anyone was still out there so I thought I'd check in. This is my last week of student teaching and I am very sad. I'm ready to be done but I have really grown attached to my student. I know I'm going to miss them.

On the upside I'll be home again which will be nice but still. I'm clueless as to if that's such a great thing too. I'm a good mommy and a good teacher. Both are my ministry. Please pray God shows me His will soon.

Love and miss you all. I hope you had great Thanksgivings because I know we did.

cole

i'm kinda sorta here

2011-09-01T08:23:00.000-07:00

just thought i would drop a line and let everyone know we are still alive and kicking.

the school year got off without a hitch and i am student teaching in hawley so things are busy busy busy here

you guys know the drill so i don't have to tell you football started which means MARCHING SEASON!!!

kelsey is off in college and LOVING every minute of it. we couldn't be prouder!!

love, blessings, and ttfn,

cole

2011-06-23T11:25:00.000-07:00

so i haven't blogged for a while but honestly life has been too busy to say a word and all of you know that if i have the option to be on line i will accomplish nothing that day so i try to abstain as much as possible :)

anyway loooong story short i have soo much to catch everyone up on and don't have the time

i've missed telling you about easter, prom, graduation, my scholarships, kelsey's scholarships, kelsey's trip to state, our AC dying along with the washing machine, softball, baseball, and ella-sophie's birthday

we've had alot going on and i will post more later, i'm trying to get back to blogging more regularly so be patient. in the mean time here's a few shots of this past month.

love and blessings to everyone,

cole

Beautiful Beautiful beautiful Boy Complete.

2011-05-21T17:01:00.000-07:00

Our good sweet friends lost their precious little boy today. She called me this afternoon and told me. (I mentioned them in a previous post in February)

Through the tears and sadness though she gave praise to our Lord continually for her brave baby boy and the tough row he has had to hoe. She mentioned the great day he had yesterday and the peace of him dying surrounded by his family and all their love. She is so amazingly strong.

I am privileged to call this family our friends. No our family. They ARE our brothers and sisters in Christ. The McCurdys are lifting them up today and would appreciate if you could too.

Blessings,
Cole

2011-04-07T10:43:00.000-07:00

"there is no pit deep, that He is not deeper still"

-Corrie Ten Boom

2011-04-06T22:40:00.001-07:00

help

I'm tired

I'm stressed

I'm lost

The American Dream

2011-03-21T08:44:00.000-07:00

. . . that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement . . . it is NOT a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain the fullest stature of which they are innately CAPABLE, and to be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.
-James Truslow Adams "The Epic of America"

Just a little light reading I thought I'd share :D

Have a great week on purpose!!

Blessings,

cole

beautiful beautiful beautiful boy

2011-02-25T06:08:00.001-08:00

my friend's baby is dying. i say baby, he's really not a baby, he's six years old but in my eyes he has always stayed in a perpetual state of babiness. he looks to me to always be about 2. i think it's because of his smile that makes me think of a baby.

that innocent and pure face, a smile that says i have no cares in the world just the joy of the lord in my tiny grin. baby smiles are magical because they are pure, honest, and true. a baby smiles not because someone told a joke or something funny happened. they smile because they can and from day one this little baby has been a smiler.

he is the baby of five and one of the few children i can say actually is an incredible mix of his other four siblings and not just the physical traits either.

without saying a word you just know that this little boy has his oldest brother's gift of intelligence and genius, like his next to oldest brother he is very giving and funny. From his oldest sister you can see his sense of style in each curl on his head and the smile that starts in his eyes straight to your heart is from her. lastly that loving glow he has comes from his youngest sister and i think his laugh might be hers as well.

because of each of these unique and giving siblings it's easy to see that he is such a beautiful compilation of a little boy and why he is loved so very very much.

yesterday their second to oldest son came to visit. he is jackson's BEST friend and together they are such a hoot. i think they both had a great time and jackson was so sorry to see him go back home. last night before bedtime he came in our room and with that solemnity that only our jackie has he ask jere and i, "dad mom is my friend's little brother going to die?" we have side-stepped this question before but last night jere really felt led to be as honest as possible with him.

jere looked at him and hugged him and said, "hundreds of people are praying son, but no matter what is in each of our hearts or how bad we want something God has a plan for him that we just don't know. so yes he may die or God may heal him, it's God's choice."

he looked at us with such huge tears in his eyes and swallowed so hard trying to be "manly". "dad i don't want him to die." jere choking up now- "neither do we son."

neither do we.

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
—Isaiah 40:28-31

hello and happy birthday jackson!

2011-02-15T08:43:00.000-08:00

i've been without my computer for so long i didn't even get to mention jackson's birthday. he turned 11!! can you believe he is that old? he's actually almost my height (not that that is anything to aspire too or anything) but still he has gotten so big!!

he is becoming a basketball beast so his party was sports themed! jere is hoping for some baseball spirit soon as well, but we are super proud of him and how far he has come this season. by next year, when he is in OMGRAVY SIXTH GRADE, he will really be amazing!!

nothing much is going on here, just chugging along in my last semester at school (for now, gotta finish that master's eventually) ella-sophie and i are enjoying our time together before mommy goes back to work in the fall (fingers crossed for a job people).

i hope you all are doing great. love and blessings,

cole

hello 2011

2011-01-09T16:09:00.001-08:00

our computer is still dead and blogging on an iphone is the pits as is borrowing your husband's "work" laptop or your teen's "school" laptop so i just stop blogging for now. however today my brother and sister-in-law bought a house (congratulations!!!) and trying to view the pictures on my phone was awful so i stole kelsey's computer :) and since i was on i figured i'd check in with you guys.

noting new has really happened around here. we are chugging along as usual and i cannot believe that we are already half way through this school year. i have six hours left this semester and one class in the fall and i am finished, PRAISE THE LORD!!

i am not really looking forward to school starting on the 18th, i am enjoying the slow quiet days with sophie. i've been reading and doing a little cleaning out here and there. i haven't even taken our christmas tree down yet :) but it's so pretty and the girls love it. it's on my to do list for the next week.

jere is gone every weekend between now and the second week of february so i am trying to use the weekends for some down time with the kids. trying some new recipes and games and starting some new projects around the house. we even ate off our china this week and they thought i was off my rocker but then asked if we could do it again!

i have big plans for 2011 i decided. i never make plans for a year but i am praying for some changes in our lives and know that God has big plans in store for us!

i hope all of you are doing well and miss and love you all,

cole

here's one of the pics we had done of the kids for our fall pic. they are so big and beautiful. amazing

Thanksgiving

2010-11-27T19:08:00.000-08:00

well as you might have noticed i still do not have a computer (oh please oh please santa bring me one, i've been very good) but since i am at mom's i thought i would stop in and check on everyone.

things are going pretty good at our house. thankfully football season is over and i have my family back again! my semester at school is almost over. i take my content test on the 9th so please everyone pray for me to pass this.

life has been cruising along here. enjoy the pics and

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STACEY!! you are an incredible sister-in-law and friend and we miss you and love you very much. thank you for putting up with my brother :D

blessings and hope you are settling into your holiday groove,

cole

those of pics of the car ride for Thanksgiving, halloween, kelsey and her beau, blythe wearing dad's suit, jack taking his little sister to the movies, and ella-sophie being sophie :D

sad :(

2010-10-20T21:51:00.000-07:00

if you haven't heard yet our computer finally died or at least it appears to have two weeks ago. it's at uncle beau's right now and he's giving it his best to try to revive it this week. that is why i haven't been blogging much. it's just not too fun to do on your iphone and takes too much time. school is going alright but i am soooo ready for it to be over already!! i'll download pictures when i get a chance from my email but here's a quick video of my supercool and Jack the brave. enjoy! blessings, cole

I'm here

2010-10-06T10:32:00.000-07:00

Life is busy. Too busy for me in fact. Every aspect of my life is suffering from my lack of attention to everything/one. I hope to be back to normal after marching season at least. Studying for midterms this week and finishing up a portfolio, pray for my energy and attitude please.

Blessings and Love,

cole

in the name of the father

2010-09-22T20:57:00.000-07:00

truth, faith, peace
we three must be apart always
together we sit in the same chair

our value is equal
our work hard
our needs great
our roots the same

through life we must learn
to be one or
we are all lost

our core is incomplete
old, hollow, used, empty
together piece by piece
we fill the thirst and shut the beast

घाव ईश्वर boddhi कृपया हमारे मधुर शांति और मेरे भाई और उनके परिवार है ।

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELSEY

2010-09-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY BEAUTIFUL BABY GIRL!!

thank you for being such a great kid, you are an awesome big sister and a tremendous help to your father and i.

we couldn't be prouder or love you more!!

mom

busy weekend

2010-09-13T09:20:00.000-07:00

we had a really busy weekend. friday night was a game in quanah and homecoming in petrolia (where Zoe was the flowergirl in the homecoming court, super cute) then saturday to mom's for her birthday! as a birthday present to herself mom bought a new set of front loading, stackable washer and dryer. her dryer was 42 years old and the washer was about 25 years old so it was about time. her plans are for this set to last her til she dies :) it was actually really cool to see a load of laundry get washed and rinsed with a gallon of water and dried in 15 minutes. efficient and green, and she got the set on clearance for 800 bucks! amazing, way to go mom!!

we had a great time and for once i can honestly say that we're not too tired. it actually felt like a mini-vacation. i even did the driving for jere so he could rest. mom re-arranged and did some spring cleaning in preparation for the holidays and the house looks great. great job mom!

i'm a smidge behind for the week with school work, but since i am not babysitting today i hope to catch up. open house for the highschool is tonight, class tuesday all day, wednesday church and dr appt and we've got games on thursday and friday and trying to go to jere's grandparents 60th anniversary dinner while celebrating previous plans for kelsey's SEVENTEENTH birthday as well, OMGoodness!! i pray for each of you to have a great week and be healthy!!

blessings,

cole

so very tired!

2010-09-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

ok, last night was the first home game of the season for the ANSON TIGER BAND! the band was awesome as usual and the football team was disappointing. as usual. we were slaughtered 13 to 46 by stanford. so very sad :(

anyway, i worked the concession stand as it is one of my duties as secretary of the band boosters.

i am sooooo tired. i stood on my feet and served food for four and a half hours!!! i have no clue where my three youngest children were during that time either. it was a disaster and i had a very displeased husband around 10:30 when i finally met up with him and my children. by the time we cleaned, counted money, and re-stocked, loaded up the kids and got home it was after midnight and we didn't fall asleep until 1.

when the baby crawled up into our bed this morning i asked jere what time it was. NINE-THIRTY!!!! holy smokes batman and the rest of our children were still asleep. unbelievable.
today all we have done is eat, sleep, and rest (aka watch netflix :)

well long story short i think it is safe to say that for the rest of marching season that if the mccurdy's tend to be standoffish and unavailable on the weekends, you'll know why.

hope you are all resting up and enjoying this fabulous THREE-DAY WEEKEND!!

blessings,

cole

Before the Week Starts

2010-08-29T19:12:00.000-07:00

last week ended on a not so high note, but i think we are going to be fine. i WILL get the hang of my new schedule. i WILL get all my assignments completed for class, and i WILL keep myself spiritually uplifted through the help of my Lord and Savior AMEN!

"For He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful." Revelation 17:14

i consider sunday's to be the actual first day of the week so with that said i WILL say that today has been a great day. jere took me for a date this afternoon. we went to sonic and got fried cheese sticks and onion rings, cokes, and went for a drive around the lake here in Anson. we talked for about an hour about nothing and everything and it was sooo nice. when we got home the kids were getting dinner ready and settling in for the night.

now with it only a little after 9 the two youngest are in bed, jackson is reading in his room, and the oldest girls are finishing up some homework and showering. all that is left for me to do tonight is shower and sleep and i am 100 percent positive that i can definitely handle that.

praying for your week as well as mine friends,

cole

PS i just like this picture of jere and i, there are so few with just the two of us together without several children in the pictures :) the other is our bedroom with the new curtains i finished. i love them!!

Busy Week

2010-08-24T19:04:00.001-07:00

it's only tuesday and this week has already kicked my rear. i left the house at 6:45 with ella to drop off at day care so i could be in abilene for my 8 o'clock class. i got out of class at 11:45 picked up sophie at 12:30 ran errands until 2:30 and ran back into town for my 4 o'clock class.

i am finally home for the night, 179.1 miles later. jere and the girls were already at marching practice when i got home. jackson is watching the two little girls for an hour until i get home at 7:15.

i'm tired and grumpy. please pray that my attitude will change asap.

jere is so proud and excited (he tells me over and over) so i have got to get this negative attitude under control. we have band boosters thursday/friday nights and i am babysitting on monday's so i only have wednesday to get my homework and housework done.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

ok, i'm done complaining. hope your week is going good and that God continues to bless you this week.

cole

School!

2010-08-22T20:20:00.001-07:00

well the kids are back home safe and sound and as of thursday night we began the tedious process of de-programming them and trying to re-establish a routine. all in all i would say that we have failed miserably at this since i just got isabel and jackson to bed around 10.

the older girls are still puttering around on their own but i have decided that they are almost 15 and 17 they know how much sleep they need and if they want to spend HOURS picking out their outfit for tomorrow i don't care. well i do, but they have got to learn some responsibility. besides we just spent the last two hours before bedtime (which is how jackson and isabel carefully and silently remained under my radar watching netflixs blissfully forgotten :) painting nails, grooming unruly eyebrows, and trimming bangs. i also put highlights in blythe's hair as well. i'm all prettied out tonight and pretty tired when i realized that i have not filled out all of jack's and belle's paperwork so i still need to finish that as well.

but again, all in all i am relieved to be settling into a schedule again and embrace both the school year and fall (oh PLEASE cool down soon) with open arms. i only have classes on tues/thursday so i am quite relieved that i don't have to deal with that in addition to getting the first day of school started off right.

btw, if you are wondering where my super husband is and why he hasn't been so helpful tonight, he is at work finishing up some last minute details for tomorrow. so he has really been missing all the fun!

i hope you all have a great week because i plan too. sophie is doing AWESOME and we are so thankful to God for that and for all the prayers we received from everyone!

blessings and love,

cole

enjoy "our week in pictures"

saturday night special

2010-08-14T12:39:00.001-07:00

ok, i have a new friend, her name is amanda, (her blog is in my list of followers http://mckeearts.blogspot.com, i tried to add the link but apparently i'm not smart enough) well long story short, she is super cool crafty. i've been following her blog for a little over a month now and i'd be lying if i didn't say she has been inspiring me.

i have tried BOTH of her enchilada recipes and love her quilts, but i have to say what appeals to me most about her blog is her down to earth approach to domesticity along with the fact that making things like sheets and curtains is not just thrifty and practical but also allows me to begin to give my children a sense of tradition and to see the beauty in the everyday.

here's my cliche for the week "art is what you make of it". my mamaw wouldn't say there was any "art" to her canning abilities or making curtain, but she was sadly quite wrong. craft combined with functionality is the best kind of art a person could make.

i mean honestly what do i have that is worth "passing down" to my children. hmmm, some tupperware, old towels, and a kickin johnny dep poster from 1986. NOTHING! plus i want them to have a spirit of "I can MAKE that!" not "I can BUY that!"

i feel like tevye in fiddler on the roof, TRADITION!!! TRADITION!!

anyway, hope you are having a great weekend, i'm resting with our sick baby and attempting to make curtains for my new bedroom (don't tell mom!!)

oh yea and blythe called to let me know she started making her own jewelry this week. she said her siblings made fun of it, (they're basic but really sweet) but she called me because she knew, "momma you'll like them, i made them all by myself." almost 15 and i still get to hear, "i made it all by myself," precious!!

blessings and love,

cole

PS- the picture of the dogs has nothing to do with anything i just thought they were cute (from left to right- Olive, Gigi, and Jake)

SURPRISE

2010-08-10T08:49:00.000-07:00

i have been wanting to redo our bedroom for forever, but could never quite find anything that would incorporate my motley collection of antiques along with my retro sense of design. well long story short mom and i searched and searched and searched and shopped and shopped and shopped and found NOTHING!!

it was so disappointing and then we looked where i NEVER shop (mom's idea)KMART!! yes we still have kmarts in abilene and found everything i wanted. mom was super supportive of my wild room and helped me put the look all together. (THANKS MOM)

i put the whole room together while jere was at work (including painting) to surprise him. and he LOVED it.

he is the best, but i knew he would like it because i ask him a long time ago when we first married and were looking for bedroom stuff what he liked and if he would have an aversion to something feminine. his response?

him-"will you be sleeping with me in it?"
me- "of course why wouldn't i be?"
him-"as long as you are in it, i don't care if has sesame street on it."

did i mention that i really like him alot?

have a great week,

cole

my babies

2010-08-01T14:28:00.000-07:00

the kids made it safely to new york. they were quite excited but called and said their "i love you's" we probably won't hear from them again for another week.

thank you for all your prayers and good thoughts.

keep me lifted in the next 18 days until they are home safe.

blessings for a good week for you all,

cole

countdown

2010-07-29T12:16:00.000-07:00

the kids are getting ready to leave for New York on sunday morning very early. i begin the countdown for a slight depression to start. i know i know. if you know you are going to get depressed start fighting it now, i will.

i hate when the kids leave me. i hate when they have to go away, but i won't deny them their bio father. it still upsets me every year. this year thankfully they will only be gone for 18 days, so i think i can handle that.

pray for their safety and a fun time, they have a connecting flight in boston and that makes me nervous, though i know kelsey can handle it. all three of my oldest are pretty brilliant.

on a lighter note, priscilla and terah are staying with us this week and we are having a good time. we will be taking the kids to six flags before they leave and they are excited. i'll be potty training ella starting next week as well. so as you can see august should be a great month!!

blessings and love to you all,

cole

finalization

2010-07-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

i have to go to the business office at hsu to "finalize" my semester with them. i have paid for and secured some new loans (very sad about this but it had to be done), signed up for classes (you do not want to know my opinion of pedagogy classes) and from the student side i am ready for classes on the 23rd. i love being a college student.

from the mommy/wife side i am not. not even close.

i am terrified of leaving ella, i didn't really want to put her in any type of day care until she was at least 3 also on tuesday's i will not see her or isabel at all as i am in class until noon and back at class at 4 (i'll have to leave here at 3:15 to get there on time) they will be in bed by the time i am home. i am very torn right now :(

the good news (this is what jere keeps saying over and over and over and over) is that i will be done in may and can student teach or actually have a job next fall. i will probably be able to get the job since jere's principal has been on me from day one to teach for him (i taught his kids at Cornerstone) and he has been just as encouraging as jere about me teaching again.

i see all the opportunities and i KNOW what this could do for our family financially. i mean a TWO income family would be amazing and deep down that has always been our goal. i just want to make sure that i am not rushing ahead too fast or hard. i love my "job" here at home and do not want to go back to the hectic schedule of me being gone and the house falling apart around me ;(

pray for us please. i need peace and guidance right now.

blessings and a good week to you all,

cole

summer vacation is awesome

2010-07-18T12:04:00.000-07:00

left for a personal vacation without anyone except for izzy and ella. headed to mom's and have done nothing since i got here!!!

reading, writing, doing nothing, and loving it!!!

waiting on jere and the three oldest to get to mom's

getting ready to go see my in-laws this week for some r&r and six flags.

san antonio honeymoon time with jere next week

and hopefully going to my bro and sis-in-law in waco soon for more down time and good food!!

kids are leaving for new york the 1st-18th!! i'm excited for them.

I LOVE DOING NOTHING!!!!!

hope your summer is still plugging along as well as mine

blessings and love,

cole

Happy Birthday Leah!!

2010-07-14T13:08:00.001-07:00

i'm so sorry little leah. leah's birthday is right after izzy's and as a result her aunt nicole forgot to mention her in the blog.

so HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEAH MARIE!!!

We love you!

Uncle Jere, Aunt Nicole, Kelsey, Blythe, Jackson, Isabel, and Ella-Sophie

i've got the iphone blues

2010-07-11T15:52:00.000-07:00

a society that pursues pleasure runs the risk of raising expectations ever higher, so that true contentment always lies tantalizingly out of reach-Philip Yancey

so i have been without my iphone for almost a week now. i have not died yet :), but the urge to just lay down and pout has been one i have fought since i got rid of it. (we sold it on craigslist for 225 bucks, can you believe somebody actually PAID me that-jere's idea :)

my beloved has purchased both of us new iphone 4's but APPLE apparently didn't think there would be such an OUTPOURING for the new phone. so alas i have to wait 7-14 days for my new phone. in the mean time i must use my horrible out of date razer (gasp!) i guess i'll live, poor pitiful me!!!

ok i'm done, i guess i'll stop since not having my iphone for 2 weeks doesn't really compare with say . . .

no food, no clean water, no electricity, no running water, no proper medications or even health care, not having a roof over my head . . .

i could go on forever because the plight of every third world country makes my little rant quite ridiculous and uncalled for :)

so with that said have a blessed week, recycle something, learn something new, give a homeless person some money, donate your time for a good cause, plant something, build something, strive to be better people. we intend too!!

cole

I'm back!!

2010-07-04T18:09:00.000-07:00

things have been so crazy since school let out. first isabel, then blythe graduated from kindergarten and 8th grade, then kelsey went to state uil solo and ensenmble and brought home the GOLD. then we went to sherman for my niece audrey's high school graduation and put in a new ceramic tile bathroom floor for marmee, from there we began the tedious process of remodeling and adding on another room (hooray for jackson) to our house, isabel lost two teeth, ella-sophie turned two, and then on for a quick family vacation in saginaw and three days (in a row!) at six flags (thank you grandma for watching ella-sophie)oh yeah and rescued two baby skunks!!

june was NUTS

the first week of July didn't fare much better. jere had the rodeo in stamford from wed-fri with us hosting the WORLD FAMOUS HSU COWBOY BAND for dinner at our home, which would not have been THAT big of deal except that thanks to alex it was raining so we had all SIXTY people in our home. but honestly it was a BLAST!!

saturday was isabel's 6th birthday and ending that nuttiness was dustin and stacie visiting with three of their kids for the 4th. but all in all an incredible week and we truly had a great time!

i plan on doing a better job blogging for the month of july and thank you all for the break off in june :)

blessings,

cole

ps these are just a few pictures from this past month. praying for all of you to be having a wonderful summer and an even better 4th!!

sorry

2010-05-27T06:35:00.000-07:00

the past few weeks have been insane from band field trips to izzy's kindergarten graduation we have been running non-stop and putting little ones to bed each night around 10 and dragging them up 7:15 ish and having them eat breakfast at school. every day this week all of the kids (sans kelsey) have taken an afterschool nap.

i will post more pics later.

hope you're starting your summer out right!!!

cole

prom/dance pictures

2010-05-11T07:58:00.000-07:00

proms and dances

2010-05-10T07:25:00.000-07:00

this weekend was crazy, both girls had important dates on their calenders.

blythe had her 8th grade banquet and awards program thursday night and kelsey had prom on friday night.

jere and i accompanied blythe to her banquet along with her uncle beau and aunt mel, which by the way in my day our Sunday best was good enough. the boys were in tuxes and the girls were in prom dresses, it was crazy, but i think she had a great time.

kelsey's prom was actually held at a "swanky" club in abilene. we chauffeured as it is illegal for drivers under 18 to drive after midnight and they wanted to go to ihop afterwards. we had a great time.

we also opened our home up to any kid that had nothing to do after the prom and didn't want to go home (or have sex, drink, or anything else inappropriate for sixteen year olds). we ended up with about thirteen kids drinking virgin daiquiris, pina coladas, and margaritas while playing wii and being loud. jere drove all the boys home (they left their cars at our house) and 4 girls spent the night with us.

we felt pretty privileged that the kids not only liked our idea of hanging out at the mccurds, but that they also included jere and i in the mix. we had fun with the kids too. all in all i think it was a good night, though my days of staying up til three a.m. are long over. we fixed a great big family breakfast, took the rest of the girls home, and watched jack's soccer game. all in all a pretty busy, but great weekend.

i hope yours was just as much fun!

happy monday,

cole

btw, that's matt with blythe and andy with kelsey

happy anniversary jere

2010-05-06T05:26:00.000-07:00

it's been seven years . . .

five houses . . .

four cars . . .

three jobs . . .

two babies . . .

and

one heart leading two minds.

thank you for making me yours. i love you very much and can honestly say sooo soo much more now than that funny may day when you showed up at my tiny apartment unexpectedly, smiling and sweet. you said, "do you want to get married today," i said (in jeans and a tank top with no shoes), "sure why not, but i have to be at work at noon." you said, "we better hurry we have a 10:45 appointment with Judge Kenny Kirkland." i realized then that you were serious.

sometimes the best moments in life have no real pomp or circumstance. i thought i needed those things but that's just not you. you said loving me and being loved by me was enough for you always. i didn't believe you then, it just seemed too simple.

simple- not complex or complicated, having few parts; elementary; childlike; bare.

that's our marriage, easy, not complicated or complex, with only one true part when it's stripped down bare.

love

i love you jeremiah wayne, happy anniversary

happy birthday mr. mccurdy

2010-05-03T05:30:00.000-07:00

happy birthday babe to a wonderful husband, father, friend, band director, son, son-in-law, brother, brother-in-law, human being, MAN!

hope you are enjoying your mlb app and new socks and underwear :)

you are wonderful and special and very much wanted, needed, appreciated, and LOVED!

nicole, kelsey, blythe, jackson, isabel, and ella-sophie

update on the two gimps :)

2010-04-29T05:55:00.000-07:00

well we came out of surgery just fine, with the exception of a (nurse's words) drastic drop in blood pressure, (which she recovered from quite quickly) everything went swell. tuesday wasn't so bad, but yesterday was awful.

the good news is they removed tons and tons of scar tissue and it was not her (sp) meniscus like they had originally thought. just scar tissue buildup from over use while injured, over and over again attaching itself to the nerves causing constant bruising and swelling. When we are fully recovered and rehabilitated (in 2 months) she will be as good as new and ready to go back to every sport available for a FRESHMAN in high school (oh my goodness gracious)

this is a picture from tuesday afternoon when she came home. as you can see i now have two out on the injured list, or as jere puts it, we have two red-shirted out on the bench. that blue blob in the front is her ice bag sitting on top of her "tens" machine and the bandaging, and of course that big blue blob is kelsey's sling. we are in a cast until friday and then we get the stitches out. whoopee!!! hopefully he will choose not to recast so she can go to prom, six flags, schliterbahns, and san antonio unhindered.

thanks for all your prayers!!!

and happy thursday,

cole

mullican family cookbook

2010-04-24T07:31:00.000-07:00

so everyone knows i kept the retro 1953 kitchen just the way it was built for mrs. merry green when she and her husband had the house built. my neighbors said ms. merry LOVED red and was so proud of that kitchen.

well for me, i'm just a bit eccentric or eclectic i suppose (chalk it up to who raised me) and i just like the kitchen cause i like red and i like unique, two things my kitchen is.

anyway decorating it has been a bit of a challenge since it's so retro and since we spent all our money getting into the house i have not been allowed to really go buy new YET. i've been forced to use what i already have lying around. so with that said i actually was using a family cookbook as a decoration, it looked vintagey (is that a word?) so i thought it would work.

the other night for some reason i opened it up and started cruising the pages. well i honestly wasn't that inspired by any of the sections until i got to the dessert section.

page after page of butter, sugar, chocolaty confections. i started with the 1-pound pound cake. 10 EGGS LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, 1 POUND OF BUTTER! it was awesome. from there i went to my aunt besh's brownie in a bowl. jere said he could actually feel each tooth individually tingling courtesy of the 2 cups of sugar and karo syrup. i finished with my mamaw's peanut butter crunch yet another concoction comprised mostly of sugar and karo syrup!!

it was wonderful and delicious and fun.

i told the kids about all the sweets my mamaw used to make us. the chex mix, dill weed toast, lemon squares, pudding cakes, and coca-cola sheet cakes. about her shredded wheat breakfast in a tall glass and crackers and cokes for lunch. about her ironing clothes for money and us playing in a laundry mat all day. about collecting pop tops from cokes to wear as rings and later that day watching andy griffith and wheel of fortune.

i hadn't thought about all that stuff for a long time. isn't it nice to know that the older you get the more the good memories outweigh the bad ones in life?

hope your weekend is great!

cole

kelsey's hospital stay

2010-04-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

BEFORE
AFTER

so kelsey had surgery on her arm last thursday. remember the dreaded horseback riding accident of '05? the one where she fell off the horse and suffered a compound fracture of the right forearm resulting in two shiney titanium plates and eleven screws in her dainty little arm.

well in the last year she has had a lot of pain when playing sports or lifting weights (she's doing some power lifting, my little girl is a HOSS). we took a trip back to her doc and he said it all had to come out.

long story short the twenty minute day surgery turned into an eighty minute sugery with an overnight stay. the bone had grown over parts of the plates so instead of just removing them they had to CHISLE the bone off the plates michealangelo style.

OUCH!!!

we ended up on oxygen for a few hours since she was having a hard time keeping her o2stat up (it was 63, it should be 100) she is doing alright and back at school and will be in a cast at least until the 30th at which time we should change into a splint. we hope. otherwise her prom pictures aren't going to be as good as she hopes.

anyway here are her before and after pictures, enjoy!

i hope you are all having a great week and pray for an even better weekend!!

cole

ps-blythe's knee surgery is tuesday :) i know i know, what are we doing? we are trying to get our girls healthy, whole, rehabilitated, and ready for fall sports! keep us in your prayers!!

happy wednesday

2010-04-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

jere had a gig in Snyder on Sunday and we took advantage of the beautiful weather and the day off to slowly make our way home all the while taking time to stop and smell the flowers!

hope you're having a great week!

cole

i'm mad

2010-04-07T06:56:00.000-07:00

well i just returned from my 60 mile round trip trek this morning. i still have jack and belle in abilene at cornerstone til the end of the week. we have decided with rising gas prices (2.75 here avg.) that we can no longer afford the drive each day (2 times so 120 for the day) to abilene so our children can continue going to school there.

i have even started driving jere's 1995 mazda 626 back and forth to try to save as it gets about 28-32 on the hwy. for those of you who don't know i HATE that little car with a passion. my beloved expedition sits cold and unused. (btw i defend my right to own that gas guzzler as unlike most texans i actually DO have enough people to fit in it unlike the classic family of 4 that usually own these monsters!) it's not even practical for me to drive the montana either.

i'm very angry

why is it i live in the great state of texas one of the largest producers of oil in the WORLD and i have to pay out my rear for gas? this is totally unacceptable. my husband and i do everything we can to be smart and frugal with our money.

from cloth diapers to home cooked meals, our children take their lunches to school, i shop clearance racks (only if we really need something new like shoes or jeans) the rest i purchase at garage sales and good will. and i have NO PROBLEM with this. in fact i love to brag about how much i don't spend on what we as consumers deem NECESSARY!

but i can't buy gas on the clearance rack can i?

i am not a "die hard republican" nor am i a "die hard democrat", oh how i hate those terms, i'm a DIE HARD AMERICAN who deserves to be treated better.

we live off 40K a year with 5 kids, we recycle, we don't waste, we don't have cable, hell (that's right i said hell) my electric bill is NEVER more than 150 bucks (that's what windows are for people ask your grandparents they survived without central heat and air you can too) i haven't had star bucks in 2 years and i'm alive! my kids say, "yes sir and no sir," my shoes are 3 years old and my car's even older! WE ARE TRYING!

so with that said . . .

lower my gas price Mr. President and all you "die Hard," republicans or democrats or just sad sold-out politicians.

that is all

cole

new house deets

2010-03-22T17:38:00.000-07:00

these are for my sis-in-law

i will post more when i have the house in better shape, it's all boxes, bags, and piles right now. the backyard is the best, it's huge because the house sits on 2 lots on the corner.

we repainted the outside almost as soon as we moved in and restored the original awnings on the front of the house. (the previous owner was throwing them away and my wonderful husband who knows me too well, told him, "i'm almost 100% my wife will want those." and he was right.

it is now red and black because i love red, my kitchen is all red as well.

but if you're an Anson Tiger Band fan, then it's red for you
if you're a Texas Tech fan then it's for you

or you can be just like me and love it cause it's ours :)

specs:
all rooms floors have been restored to ORIGINAL hardwood floors (yes mom I know one day I'll be old and I'll want carpet and not an old cold floor)
each room has been retextured and painted (different hues of cream and yellow with the exception of the living room which is the PALEST seafoam color called "air")
2 bathrooms (my bathtub is PINK but very retro for the 50's LOVES IT!!)and a
HUGE kitchen

thanks honey, i love it!!!

hope your monday went well!!!

cole

it's monday

2010-03-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

spending the morning unpacking, throwing away, and reorganizing our new life here in Anson.

i'm tired, but quite happy with this new stage of our togetherness.

the baby and i are watching the "best of sesame street" while we work. i had to turn it off when mr. looper (aka mr. hooper) died. it hit hard and upset me. one of my good friends lost his mother quite suddenly just 2 weeks ago and we've been chatting. he ask me when he would start feeling normal (sooner than you think) when he and his sister and dad would be able to not cry over every little memory (even sooner than you think) when will he stop missing his mom so bad?

never

have a blessed monday everyone. i will try to get back on my blogging once we are settled in to the house more and i will post pics asap!

all my love and blessings,

cole

Sorry

2010-03-15T14:38:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been blogging lately. Things have been crazy here and I just haven't had time. I will fill you all in later when I have a minute.

I love you all and hope you are having a wonderful Spring Break!!

cole

Happy Birthday Nathan!!!

2010-02-27T06:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Nathan! We can't believe that you are already 2. That just can't be so because that would mean Ella-Sophie will be turning 2 soon too! Oh no, where are all the babies going?

We love you big boy,

Uncle Jere, Aunt Nicole, Kelsey, Blythe, Jackson, Isabel, and Ella-Sophie

grrrrr

2010-02-25T07:03:00.000-08:00

my phone will not let me down load any of the pictures i have taken in the last few weeks, i am working on this technical issue and hopefully if i can't fix it jeremiah can.

hope your week has gone well and if you got some snow you enjoyed it like we did.

blessings,

cole

blessings for your monday morning

2010-02-15T11:08:00.000-08:00

purity is natural. we come into this world with all the right instincts, we are innocent, and therefore perceive things as they should be, rather than how they are. our conscience is clear, our hands are clean, and the world at large is truly beautiful.

have a blessed and wonderful week, much love to you all,

cole

idle tuesday

2010-02-09T08:02:00.001-08:00

well it's tuesday and i have nothing to report.

this weekend was INSANE. i took 6 middle school girls out shopping for their 8th grade dance dresses. we did find 4 of the 6 girls dresses for under 25 bucks (75% off thank you very much Dillards and Bealls) two of the little girls come from very nice homes (i say this with a smurk on my face in a nice way :) and their parents were AMAZED with my shopping prowess.

umm DUH! i'm a SAHM with FIVE children and a second year band director's salary. HELLO i have to be a smart shopper. honestly i'm amazed at the amount of people who will not take the time to be a saavy shopper.

if they were impressed with that they should see me in sam's or goodwill! i kid i kid. it's nice to be appreciated for something that is second nature for me. i have my incredibly educated yet poor (oops let's be PC sorry insert "thrifty" here) parents to thank for that eh mum?

since times have become so tight i have been amazing my children on a regular basis with prom findings (got kelsey's dress regularly 126 for 16 at dillards, i'll probably have to spend more on shoes for her big 9 1/2 feet) home-cooked meals (it's cheaper and hey it tastes better) and lavish homemade family nights (movie trilogys, stove-top popcorn with real butter, and margaritas sans alcohol)

and you know what?

i couldn't be happier. it's a tight time, but it's our time and i wouldn't change it. hopefully they are learning about what really counts in life.

cliche anyone?

"we may not have it all together but TOGETHER we have it all"

i sure think so, have a great tuesday,

coley

BTW-i think i fixed the problem with the video, hopefully anyway :)

Happy Birthday Lexi

2010-02-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Lexi!!! You are getting to be such a big girl!!

We love you,

Uncle Jere, Aunt Coley, Kelsey, Blythe, Jackson, Isabel, and Ella-Sophie

silly baby tricks

2010-02-04T12:33:00.000-08:00

the planetarium can be a bit of a bore for some kids especially when you are only 19 months old. today i went with jack on a field trip to the morgan jones planetarium and of course had to take ella-sophie. she was really really good honestly but we needed a chance to run around after all that sitting and being quiet so i took a tiny video of what we did to pass the time.

hope you enjoy it. i apologize for the quality i BROKE my iphone and am having to use my old blackjack :( again.

happy friday's eve!

cole

kelsey's growth problem

2010-02-02T06:00:00.000-08:00

when did she get so mature looking and when did i get so old and so fat? and more importantly does anyone else think i look just like my MOTHER? how did that happen? i mean i knew i was starting to sound like her and i'm a bit OCD like her but honestly we're practically clones mom!!!! (i say this not that it's bad thing, just a casual observation mother.)

ok, ok, i digress, that's not what i was going to talk to you about.

my super mature daughter has been sporting a new growth for the past three months. it appears to be benign and everyone tells me it's harmless, but i don't know yet. jere wants to have it removed asap, but i think that it will only make it worse. this growth is becoming very much a part of her recently.

it's name

andy

he's 16 and a sophomore (she's 16 and a junior and "doesn't care") he owns a nice truck, he plays in the band, basketball, and track, his father's a county judge, and his sisters are both at ACU. he always says please and thank you and appears to be a decent kid.

i don't know. we finally decided to allow kelsey the opportunity to date and it's much harder than i thought it would be. the good news is he thinks our family is pretty neat and likes coming over here and playing games (he's never played dominoes :) watching movies ("you haven't seen the -Lord of the Rings- trilogy?") and thinks my homemade pizza is the best (but seriously who doesn't?)

so i guess all in all things are alright. both of them are A students and are not discipline problems and pretty responsible. i suppose for me i'm just waiting for the first real round of heartbreak and despair that will eventually come in some form or another. i want to spare her from any hurt but i know that this is all a growing and learning process. we all have to experience this in some fashion. i hope between now and then God gives me some wisdom and kindness to handle anything that comes our way.

i'm almost positive He will :)

in the mean time i guess i'll just sit back and watch and let her live, experience, and relate. (without me holding her hand the whole way :)

blessings,

cole

for all you nice guys out there :)

2010-02-01T06:00:00.000-08:00

hope you had a great week-end and wishing you an even better week!

happy birthday boddhi!

2010-01-31T06:00:00.000-08:00

i cannot believe he's 3!! hope you have a great day boddhi boy, we love you!

uncle jere, aunt nicole, kelsey, blythe, jackson, isabel, and ella-sophie

grandfather

2010-01-29T19:26:00.000-08:00

i may have been hard about my grandfather earlier, but i'm not apologizing.

however i will say this, i'll keep it short and simple. he's trying with my children. he's trying really hard, and they love him.

can we truly forgive AND forget? besides forgiveness is not for the other person, it's really for you.

i decided a while back to forgive him (that's old news) but allowing him to have a relationship with my kids never even crossed my mind. but apparently it did his. every other month he comes to abilene for the va hospital and his heart doc. he always lets me know and eats dinner with us. he even has jere's cell phone number in case he can't get a hold of me.

i don't know that sharing a bowl of beans and cornbread is really that groundbreaking, but in the quiet of my home he sits and they love him. he tells them the same story of me as a child and they laugh every time. he talks about my grandmother (whom i did love) and he tries.

i guess that's all we can ever ask of one another.

happy friday, hope you're all staying warm.

cole

grandpa's

2010-01-27T07:16:00.000-08:00

growing up i always felt gipped in the "grandfather" department. my mom's father was not very what's the word hmmmm. nice? affectionate? thoughtful? i don't know. he just wasn't a granddad like any i had ever heard from my friends. in my world grandpa's were like some magical fairy tale creature. maybe even like bigfoot, you know sighted but never confirmed to me anyway.

my crazy grandmother shielded me from him most of the time so i DID spend some time with my grandparents growing up. i wish i could say the same for my siblings. dustin had NOTHING to do with either of them and sarah wasn't allowed.

my father's father died the year before i was born. but i'm told he was fantastic. my dad worshipped his father and my mom loved him very much. that's great, but again in the "grandfather" department once again that doesn't do me much good.

but we grow up and we get over it right?

i knew with absolute certainty that MY dad was going to be a great papa and he was. emphasis on was because he died too. my dad only met my first two children, my brother's oldest two, and he never met sarah's babies. once again, "hey God, what's going on here? (BTW my oldest 3 just met their bio-grandfather on their dad's side this past summer-so dad was really all they ever had)

grandfatherless again

that was the way things were for a long time.

BUT.

mom started "dating" i use this term losely because mainly it's just gross to think of your parents "dating" anyone:) this introduced us to Papaw Dan. dan and mom's relationship, well "it's complicated," but no matter what they are, they are always there for my kids and my kids LOVE their papaw. "dan" is a character in isabel's reader this week and she purposely says his name with flair. afterall that's her papaw :)

then i married jere and that meant harry (whether you like it or not :)my husband's father is brisk and very no-nonsense. he can be so hard sometimes that it hurts. however when it comes to his grandbabies (ALL 8) he is a really great papa and i have no doubt how much he loves my babies and i know he knows how much they love him.

so i guess the best grandfathers don't have to be "related" (I hate that word!)to you to be what is the BEST for your kids. maybe even you

blessings,

cole

ps

this blog is an introduction to a recent development with my grandfather and my children that i'll share later.

happy monday!!!

2010-01-25T00:22:00.000-08:00

hope you guys had a great weekend and an even better week! enjoy the weather, go for a walk, take a bike ride, or sit on your arse!!

blessings,

cole

Christmas Eve

2010-01-23T08:12:00.000-08:00

i know that i should have probably already posted these but i just didn't get around to it. the holidays are just too busy to blog :)

this is in graham at mom's. we arrived just in time for the blizzard of '09 and as you can see by the pics the kids had a GREAT time. BTW the extra kid in the picture is the kids step-sister kaley visiting us from georgia.

have a great week-end!

cole

happy friday's eve from ella-sophie

2010-01-21T07:50:00.000-08:00

i know it seems like i only have one child sometimes, but i also did not have an iphone 3gs with all my other children!

but just so my other children know how important they are here's a quick update

kelsey- placed first in talent show singing "blackbird," accompanied by her father on guitar. i sing this song to each one of my babies after they are born so i teared up a little bit. it stings just a bit as they mature, it doesn't hurt, but you notice.

blythe- recovering well from her mysterious abcess that had her in the hospital from the 1st-3rd of this month. she honestly needs to take an entire year off from sports but that's not happening in the mean time she's living off steroid injections to her knees (they are starting to look like my brothers) sometimes i really think i should have named HER jack.

jackson- turned 10 this week and feeling fine. he has cut himself TWICE with his new manly pocketknife courtesy of his uncle andrew. andrew promises next year he'll get him either a gun or a stripper, you know whichever i think is more age appropriate (sigh).

isabel- is still a mess! someone told her she looks like snow white and now she has determined that we are holding her back from her full princess potential??? she has never even SEEN snow white. so she wants to wear dresses, grow her hair, wear her sunday shoes EVERYWHERE, and of course sing to our dog since snow white sings to the forrest animals.

anyway that's it for the mccurdy's.

hope this blog finds you all well and feeling doubly blessed

with love

cole

ps welcome Gianna Katherine Morrow into our family, congrats to Mike, Brook, and Fallon Nicole.

oh yeah and welcome Olive Bess(mom's new pek) to Marmee :)

Happy Birthday Jackson!!!

2010-01-18T13:15:00.000-08:00

yesterday my only baby boy that God has seen fit to graciously bless me with turned "10" yesterday. that's right ladies and gentlemen . . . double digits.

i cannot believe he is ten. jack was born to me at such an awful time in my life. i was still rebelling from my dad's death and was in the middle of an awful (but when are they ever anything but) divorce. i was living with my mom with two very trusting sweet baby girls and trying to find out what i needed to do with my life.

i was two weeks overdue, miserable and tired. they induced me at 7:30 that morning and after 5 short hours of labor he arrived.

8lbs 4 oz of beautiful darling baby boy

jack

my brother and i knew he was going to be jack before we saw the sonogram, and we were right. instilled with my dad's laid back spirit, my sense of humor, and the wisdom and patience of solomon, jackson is my most peaceful child of the five.

he marks the beginning of me finally taking control of my life and turning an important page of maturity. in a lot of ways jackson is the true mark of my adulthood.
when he was only 8 months old i started college and began the slow and constant change i needed in my life to not just be a better person, but a better mother, daughter, sister and in just two short years wife (again).

thank you God for my jack

my blessed baby boy

Close your eyes,
Have no fear,
The monsters gone,
He's on the run and your daddy's here,

Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy,

Before you go to sleep,
Say a little prayer,
Every day in every way,
It's getting better and better,

Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy,

Out on the ocean sailing away,
I can hardly wait,
To see you to come of age,
But I guess we'll both,
Just have to be patient,
Yes it's a long way to go,
But in the meantime,

Before you cross the street,
Take my hand,
Life is just what happens to you,
While your busy making other plans,

Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy,
Darling,
Darling,
Darling, jack

daddy and his babes

2010-01-07T07:12:00.000-08:00

my huband paid me quite a compliment the other day. he claims he is no good at romantics, but he's a liar. Ok, he might be a bit right about that one. if he tries the clichey valentiney junk he knows i'm not going to fall for it, he claims i'm a bit caulous, whatever.

but every once in a while he says something on an idle tueday night straight from his heart and it makes me smile.

here's the scene . . .

just put both littlest girls to bed from baths, jammies, teeth brushing, story reading, and prayers. we are now in the kitchen helping with homework (blythe) listening to teen's days events (kelsey) and watching cool new magic tricks (jackson) all while beginning to load dishwasher and clean kitchen.

the mommy (that's me) turns to put skillets back into stove and the daddy (that's jere) turns her around and hugs her tight gives her a kiss and says, "thank you for making a home with me."

i really like my husband :)

hope your week is going well and you are feeling the blessings of the New Year already!

cole

Happy Birthday Sarah!

2010-01-03T15:17:00.000-08:00

32 years ago today my parents punished me for some unnamed sin and i have been paying for it ever since!!!

no, just teasing, so Happy Birthday Sarah! to a really great sister and aunt and friend (heck, even jere says you're alright :) hope you have a great year, we love you very very much!

cole

merry Christmas

2009-12-17T08:11:00.001-08:00

"why was santa's little helper so sad and discouraged?"

"he suffers from low "elf" esteem"

hope your holiday week is flying by with as much fun as mine and you are all doing well!

blessings and plenty of Christmas cheer,

nicole

these pics are from our night out christmas light watching and visiting "the north pole".

happy birthday to me

2009-12-07T08:25:00.000-08:00

today is my birthday and i am older.

my children all woke me up with kisses and singing and promises to clean their rooms tonight "all by themselves" as my present. which actually a clean house is the best present i think any mother could ever get.

my husband woke me with kisses, snuggling, and a promise to eventually celebrate my birthday some time this week between basketball games, one-act play practice, music practice, church, and friends graduating from college as well as my sister and bro-in-law coming in for a visit.

it's busy but it's my life. we actually went out for drinks and appetizers friday night together and celebrated a smidge which was quite nice. i like hanging out with mr. mccurdy all by myself. he's cute and really sweet :)

i thought about pondering my birthday for a few minutes, but honestly my life is too busy right now to even think for a minute about how much time has passed, i'm way to focused on the future.

but

i think that's a good thing, maybe a sign of maturity. who knows? i still need to lose 35 pounds, i still need to clean out all the closets again, i still need to be more consistent in my daily devotions, i still need to be more patient, i still need to be more kind. looks like i've got another year to shoot for those things again.

life is good, even at its most hurried extreme pace it's good.

life is for the living and i'm living my life the best i can with no real complaints along with five incredibly beautiful children and one wonderfully perfect for me husband.

amen

blessings and christmas cheer,

cole

we survived!

2009-12-02T06:46:00.000-08:00

well we are home and safe and sound from this past week's thanksgiving adventures! i have to say that i am extremely glad to be home and done with all that driving and sleeping in other beds (in the same room with a 17 month old). i am thankful for our family but am quite glad that it is just "us" again.

we put up our tree and decorated it together this weekend and discussed our plans for Christmas. we are still knee deep in paperwork for the house (jere is sick and tired of sending yet again another copy of his current paystub or another copy of our bank statement) but all of our spirits remain high in the hopes that this new year God will bring us a new (and permanent) home!

here's a few pics i took this past week, hope you enjoyed your time with family as well.

blessings,

cole

UPDATE!

2009-11-18T11:11:00.000-08:00

just a quick update for everyone.

we placed a bid on a house in anson, they accepted the bid, and we have now begun the incredibly long and tedious process of buying a house.

we are inspecting it tomorrow or friday (it is a HUGE fixer upper) and if there are too many problems we can still back out up until tuesday.

just a visual for you about our new home (prayfully)

remember the house in "It's a Wonderful Life," well just start calling Jere-George and me Mary. THAT'S how much love and attention this 3400 sq foot, 4 bed 3 bath, 3 fireplace home needs!

please pray, jere says if it comes down to any type of "hoop jumping" needed to get this house, we aren't going too. he believes that God's blessing means smooth sailing through this entire process.

hope your week is "sailing smoothly" as well.

blessings,

cole

i can't be anything without you

2009-11-12T16:51:00.000-08:00

my husband is amazing. he makes me laugh, cry, and feel good about myself. he is an excellent provider and an amazing friend and a super father. i cannot imagine any type of life without him, he fills in so many holes and gaps.

with that said, here's a little background. we are scrimping, saving, and praying for God to help us get a home in anson to help our lives be easier in all ways.

today i found out that my husband had secretly sold his beloved clarinet so we would have more money for our house fund.

i am rarely shocked or surprised by jere, he is pretty easy to read and very predictable. he's the kind of guy who can eat the same thing for breakfast every day and never get bored.

this floored me to my very core. jere's clarinet is like another appendage to him, it's part of him, it's the outlet for his inner creativity. i fall in love with him over and over every time i hear him play. when he told me what he had done i cried. i cried hard.

i cried because i would NEVER of ask him to do that, i cried because that was a sacrifice for him on many levels. i cried because once again he choose us, this motley family of too many kids, too many student loans, and too much work with very little pay over himself.

people tease him for marrying me. they ask him why. they ask him how he could have chosen me and those three kids; and he always answers them the same way.

because i love her.

i love you too.

tuesday

2009-11-10T10:51:00.000-08:00

uncle dustin's helmet has been on every niece or nephews head!
well there is absolutely nothing going on here and life is bustling about pretty normally for a change. football season ended friday and basketball started yesterday. (blythe lost, a first for her Clyde has a much better BB team than Anson:(

i thought we might see the girls and jere more now that marching season is over but that really isn't the case. he's having to hang out in anson because of basketball. bummer. either they have to be at school by 6 am three days a week or they have to stay late two days of the week. i am seriously getting tired of this.

we really need to move and have begun the steps necessary to get from A to B so to speak. we're either going to buy or rent, we can't decide. he wants to buy, i want to rent (there's a lot to be said for NOT having to pay taxes, insurance, and for repairs on a house) plus i love the freedom of being able to move and change jobs with ease if we needed too.

jere loves his job and loves the small town feel of anson with the knowledge that we can drive 20 min and be in abilene with ease.

anyway, just pray for God's guidance in our lives to make the right decision.

blessings,

cole

Fall Festivals and Candy

2009-10-31T20:02:00.000-07:00

tonight we were invited to our good friend's beau and melissa's church for their annual fall festival. after grabbing some candy and playing a few games we went back to their place for some pizza and orange and black cupcakes (i don't even wanna KNOW what they have to do to make black icing or what it is doing to my children's insides right now!)

the kids were a good fairy, a bad fairy (or to be PC, one that makes poor life choices), anakin skywalker, a ladybug, and a really really cute little tiny lion who was almost perfect from 6-9 (which after last weekend, she owed me)

anyway, hope everyone else had an excellent weekend. oh yeah BTW, jere and i were dressed as the parents of 5 children :)

blessings,

cole

"you're a good band anson high!"

2009-10-26T07:21:00.000-07:00

well this weekend we went to north richland hills for the area marching band competition and long story (and long day) short, we came in 5th out of 22 bands and you need to be in the top 4 to continue on to state. we were devastated :(but jere did say the good news is that means we're alternates, "so if everyone on any of the other 4 bands dies or fails we get to go to state!!!"

everyone cried and like jere said i would have rather come in dead last than to know we missed it by 2 points. the good news is that they were awesome and incredible! and i know they say size doesn't matter but the top 4 bands were 100 plus students, we only have 50 so i think we held our own quite well. the kids were great, crushed but great. the biggest bummer is that this is kelsey's last year to compete. blythe however has 2 more chances (which she mentioned to kelsey about 5 bajillion times, don't you just love siblings?)

mom rode down with me for company and staci b showed up for support and we had a really great time. well great time once grandma showed up and REMOVED ella-sophie from the premises. she nor i were at our best saturday, she didn't want to be there, and i didn't want to be the mother of a bratty 16 month old. (yes i said bratty and if you had been there you'd have agreed with me!)

izzy and elle went home with grandma and papa for the afternoon after harry and vanessa had seen the kids march the first time. this was majorly HELPFUL AND APPRECIATED since the entire competition didn't end until midnight. we left at 9:15 to go and get the little ones from saginaw, but jere and the band didn't leave until midnight or even make it back to anson until 3:45 which meant my family didn't get home until 4:30 a.m. :( all and all it was a pretty long weekend.

but i can say this from this whole experience. i understand my husband's job a bit better and appreciate just how hard he works for not only his family but his school and those kids as well.

The cutest band director EVER!!!!

this was a t-shirt the his brass section got him to wear on saturday.

i love you jeremiah, kelsey, and blythe. you guys are awesome and i couldn't be prouder!!!

monday!!!!

2009-10-19T16:37:00.000-07:00

okay on monday and tuesdays daddy and the girls stay in anson and don't usually get home before 10 because they have marching practice from 7-9 and since blythe has cheer practice until 5:30 there is really no reason for them to drive the 22 miles in and then back again. they usually eat something off the 99 cent menu at Sonic or with rob (the other band director) and his family.

wednesday night they meet us at church at 6 and of course we have church and come home around 8:30 everyone goes to a seperate class and since i teach jere and i don't even get to hang out. so we really don't spend much time this night either.

thursday night is game night for blythe. jere usually comes home and drops kelsey off to watch the other kids and he and i go to blythe's games til around 9 when they are over.

friday night is football and they don't bother coming home, depending on whether or not it is away or home determines if we will see them that night.

saturday are band or choir competition days and sunday is church.

so today i decided to suprise jere and the girls and have him "meet" me in hawley. hawley is a small town half way between abilene and anson. the suprise was i had made brisket and home-made potato salad and sweet tea and instead of meeting to grab food from me, we actually had a picnic at the elementary school playground.

it was awesome, the only downer was blythe had to stay and finish cheer practice, but the good news was the weather, food, and kids were perfect. we had a great time.

hope your monday's went just as well,

Blessings,

cole

hey brother

2009-10-16T08:08:00.000-07:00

spending most of the morning listening to one of my favorite mixes of counting crows, the soundtrack from "so i married an axe murderer", (still one of my all time FAV soundtracks) and blues traveler and it made me think of you.

i just wanted you to know i'm really proud of you and i love you and i miss you brother.

peace, love, light, prayers, and blessings for you,

cole

I'M ALIVE!!!

2009-10-14T10:50:00.001-07:00

well i have bravely stood in the trenches bathing hot heads, medicating yucky coughs, and serving up soup and saltines like nobody's business since last wednesday night after church.

my fear and motivation? my drive? THE FLU!!! we didn't want it and i was going to make sure we didn't get it and we DIDN'T!! all of my children (except for kelsey, i guess at 16 you really DO know how to cover a cough and wash your hands and not drink after others) has been sick but with nothing over 72 hours. they've all coughed or ran temp but no flu!!! dr. shah said izzy probably had pneumonia again and for me to medicate as usual (thank God we have a nebulizer at home!)

that was great until saturday night when my fever spiked and I was the one really sick :( but just like the kids i was back up and running by tuesday!

now here's the weird part. ella-sophie has run a fever off and on, never two days consecutively, since last wednesday and yesterday we ran her in to the peds (she is the only one of the kids who has not had the flu shot) to see when we could get one and she has been really, really, really, fussy for the past two nights and just really only wanted to be held. our ped looked at her and said, "well she seems fine to me, but let's just do the swab for flu and strep."

Ella-Sophie has the flu!!! he said she has probably had it since last week and is almost done, but that she is doing really well handling it. she is amazing!!!! today she has napped as usual and snuggled but she is doing pretty good, just wants to be held and i can totally handle that.

through this whole week though JACK has been amazing. jere and the big girls have been gone for games, school, and competitions but he has helped me every inch of the way and been such a BIG BOY!

HOORAY FOR JACKSON!!!! MOMMY LOVES YOU MISTER MAN!!!

hope your weeks are going alright,

cole

Fun on the Tramp!

2009-10-08T08:40:00.000-07:00

WHY!!! CAN'T I BE ON THE TRAMPOLINE!!!

well some of you may or may not know this but my mom was just recently diagnosed with diabetes. bam!!! no warning, not change your diet, just take a pill this is serious.

it's actually been an incredible blessing. mom was dragging her feet about getting back into shape and now she has absolutely no reason not too, in fact her life depends upon it. given everything wrong with my dad, he ALWAYS did what his doctor said and we still lost him 12 years ago (in 8 days actually) while this disease IS manageable and my mom will die one day, but not from diabetes. and like my mom said, she has 11 good reasons to comply with her doctors orders (i counted 14, but apparently her grand kids out rate her kids :)

anyway mom has been GREAT about watching what she eats and has started exercising again (she and frank hit the pavement every weeknight, that poor pug huffs and puffs the whole way, but he's dragging mom :) and with that new found spirit of energy we have also seen a wild and crazy marmee out and about with the grand kids giving them a real "what for."

here's some pics from this past weekend, we ran up for the day to hang out, watch satellite (jere and the oldest two are addicts), and have a good ol fashion shrimp boil, which was INCREDIBLE! (thanks mom and pawpaw)

hope your week is going great and everyone is enjoying the rain!!

blessings,

cole

caution, there are actually more than 2 pics in this blog!

2009-10-01T20:40:00.000-07:00

between staci, andrea, and danell i think you guys are rubbing off, i've never had this many pics in a post before :) it's just crazy!!!!

>
isabel wanted everyone to see her duck egg she found at the pond with uncle beau sunday. i just liked the shot :) what can i say, i'm partial.

i also wanted to thank you everyone for taking time out of your busy days to send me and my family good thoughts and prayers. i honestly can say that i felt each kind thought from everyone.

this weekend we are going to take it easy. saturday we are doing nothing except for sleeping and the park, sunday is our pastor's 10th anniversary at our church so we have a picnic, then i'm sure we'll have afternoon napping and finally, the girls have monday off so we are going to spend some "quality" time bonding over their closet :) i know they are looking forward to this just as much as me.

please continue to think of us daily as this battle is not over.

on a lighter note here is another cheesy family pic, this time you can actually see our faces :)

blessings and a great weekend,

cole

ps, this last pic was a disaster, but in a good way, that blury bit of camo is our good friend melissa (the kids faux auntie) who came with us to the pond to try to "help" with the baby. she did a great job! how much weight to you suppose jere is supporting :D

AND FINALLY! I THOUGHT I WOULD ALSO SEND A SHOUT OUT TO MY BEAUTIFUL 14 YEAR OLD BABY GIRL BLYTHE. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEEPS! you arrived 4 weeks early and have not slowed down since. i admire your sense of style, determination, and your continual quest for justice and fairness for the little guy. you are an inspiration and a blessing to your mommy. i love you and am so proud of you baby girl.

Teen-ager

2009-09-29T05:26:00.000-07:00

"clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right"

last night we were not the best parents, but considering the teenager's attitude maybe we didn't do so well.

long story short, cell phones and Internet privileges are suspended for now and even though punishment has been doled out NOBODY is happy. i am at a loss and do not know what i need to be doing.

i lost it last night and jere really lost it last night. please pray for some wisdom on our part because we are truly flying blind. we want to be the most capable parents we can be, we're not even shooting for best just okay would be nice.

blessings for your week,

cole

Saturday

2009-09-22T18:29:00.000-07:00

well our weekend was crazy, but kelsey's birthday party was a huge success! from the AWESOME and delicious chocolate fountain (which i have decided that every party from now on should have) to our guest singer! ( i "hired" a theater major to ring our doorbell and when kelsey opened it Metrostation song "kelsey" to her, she LOVED IT!)

we karaoked, ate, danced, and acted goofy til midnight. needless to say we were exhausted all day sunday.

she received all kinds of wonderful gifts but i have to mention one gift in particular. her grandma made her a blanket for her birthday, i know you're thinking AND? well this home made quilt had a lovely asian design on one side and (for those of you who don't know kelsey is a major anime nerd) InuYasha scenes on the other side. kelsey went wild for this unique and one of a kind gift. grandma trumped every gift card, t-shirt, and box set (of InuYasha of course) with kelsey's new blankie which she sleeps with every night.

now here's the bad news. i was so busy preparing food, cleaning house, and being a good hostess that i didn't take ANY pics. i know i know, bad mommy BUT my bestie took plenty of pics i just need to get them off of facebook.

anyway, i hope everyone is having a great week so far. a few shout outs before i go . . .

blythe is awesome!

peace to aunt staci, we love and miss you!

congratulations on your new baby girl and "HI, just cause" to andrea!

happy birthday JR, thanks for loaning me bear for the weekend, she was a tremendous help!

love you mom!!

mel, boo, and stacey b, you are the best EVER!

and finally . . .

i love you jeremiah, thank you for helping me, encouraging me, and funding all my insane ventures!

MY INTERNET IS BACK UP!!!

2009-09-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

my internet has been down since sunday and it is finally up again. i will be commenting and posting some this weekend especially since saturday night is . . .

KELSEY'S SIXTEENTH BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

peace,

nicole

wacky weekend

2009-09-09T09:44:00.000-07:00

well sarah got married this weekend, and everything went off without a hitch. she and jr looked very cute all weekend and we had fun at mom's as well.

i decorated the cake as well as made all the reception food (with the help of my two trusty sidekicks, blythe and kelsey) we had chicken salad and a modified version of my sister-in-law stacey's tuna pasta salad as well as fresh fruit and veggies. it was very good and i am so thankful to everyone that was able to come.

after our whirlwind weekend, we recovered all day monday by sleeping in and doing nothing. it was sooo totally worth it to not have to do anything for 24 solid hours. anywho, we are back to our regular week and hope everyone is having a great wednesday.

blessings,

nicole

hope

2009-09-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

i suppose it is the changing of the seasons or maybe just that stolen 15 minutes of light that has already begun as our world gets ready for fall, but i see so many of my family and friends already fighting that all too familiar melancholy feeling that seems to come this time of year.

1 Peter 3:15 says, "always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."

each night i study different scripture that i believe pertains to something or someone in my life.

i pray.

i listen.

i have hope.

i have been spending about two weeks in the old testament. it's so fasinating and there is so much to learn. jere thinks i'm a closet jew (which could never happen because i love BACON too much). but i think most Christians spend way too much time in the new testament and forget there is even anything at the beginning of their bible after moses. hey that's fine, but just remember that Jesus came to fulfill the law not destroy it. Christians should never forget their Jewish heritage :)

this is my scripture for any of you feeling just a little bit off here lately and need some encouragement. most people know verse 11, but to get the whole idea you really need to read through about 14.

Jeremiah 29:11-14
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart and I will be found by you," declares the Lord.

blessings as we each enter into this weekend.

a new season of bounty to you all.

love and prosperity,

nicole

it's only wednesday

2009-09-02T11:02:00.000-07:00

physical therapy monday

doctors appt tuesday

2 doctors appts today

some bloodwork as well

one more appointment tonight complete with 2 shots.

this week has been too crazy so far

one wedding cake left to finish

hope your week is going slower

nicole

super fast post

2009-08-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

yesterday was crazy. i felt like i never got anything done, (except the bills paid, and that's no fun) jere didn't even get home or get to eat supper til 9:30 and since he drove a bus yesterday morning at 6, he was the walking dead by then.

we were suppose to have grilled chicken fajitas a la dad and homemade guacamole for supper. during football season we do "friday night family favorite" dinner on thursdays. since this was our first one, i really wanted it to be special. i got all the yummy ingredients and then jere called around 1 to let me know he had forgotten that last night was instrument night for the band. the kids pick up, rent, or purchase instruments from the local music store and jere has to be there to advise and help out.

which meant i had to go pick up the girls from anson, take blythe to physical therapy, take blythe to the doctor, grab one more avocado, get home and get ready to start dinner with the kids and BAM!

thunder, lightning, wind, rain, and NO electricity! so no fajitas!!! i thought i could brave the weather and maybe grill the meat myself (jere grills in the rain, sleet, or snow :) but i just couldn't. besides it scared the kids every time i mentioned stepping outside into the storm.

i hope tonight is better. wish us luck. both girls are marching and daddy couldn't be prouder :D

blessings and happy friday,

nicole

I TOTALLY FORGOT TO MENTION THAT MY SISTER IS GETTING MARRIED SEPTEMBER 5TH! CONGRATULATIONS SARAH AND JR. GOOD LUCK AND GOD BLESS!

the day after

2009-08-25T08:55:00.000-07:00

yesterday was the first day of school for 4 of my 5 children (though i think ella-sophie could have stayed on the playground all day). it went off without a HITCH! i could not believe it. no one forgot anything, no arguing, it was awesome.

jackson got isabel up and made her some cereal and helped her brush her hair and teeth. he even walked her to class and told her if she got scared he was right next door! he is the best brother ANYONE could ask for!

here's the wrap up:

kelsey-"it's high school and it's lame mom, how much longer til college?"

blythe- "if i can add and subtract and do multiplication/division what is the point of algebra?"

jackson- "the new boy loves star wars!"

isabel- "kindergarten was great! i played and i prayed and i sang and i read and i colored and i did puzzles and i was the weatherbug (james was the line leader but i get to be that on friday) and everyone is my friend!!!

i couldn't find isabel to give her her snack, this is her at 3:45 apparently she put her self down for nap. it's hard being 5 and putting in an eight hour day!

ella-sophie (where the heck did everybody go!)

ella-sophie refused to put that silly phone down all day long, even taking it to nap with her "talking" on it. she finally stopped playing with it when everyone was home for the day!

i organized jack's dresser and did some laundry. i was so bored by 10 it was crazy, but i know i should enjoy this semester because after Christmas i'm sure i'll just be begging for time once i start school again.

have a blessed week,

nicole

busy week

2009-08-16T20:13:00.000-07:00

this past week has been wicked busy. i can't seem to catch my breath. we are working at both jere's school and cornerstone getting them ready, getting some yard work done, hauling off junk, and we've had company twice this past week and jere's boss is coming over tomorrow night! (that's a pretty long sentence eh)

anyway, i don't feel like writing much about our busy schedules before school starts next monday so i thought i would mention the newest addition to our family.

LOU LOU

we named her after my mom (linda lou) who has always wanted a granddaughter to be named after her :D

she is a rescued half basenji half chihuahua, we call her a chisenji or a bahuahua! she is awesome very low key and exactly what blythe has been asking for for about a year. isabel has wanted one since the movie "beverly hills chihuahua". so everyone is happy, even molly who wasn't so sure in the beginning.

hope you had a great weekend.

miss and love everyone,

nicole

home again home again jiggedy jig

2009-08-11T13:31:00.000-07:00

these are a few pics from the past week-end

we are finally home for the entire summer. we left friday afternoon to head for graham (to drop off blythe and the dogs at marmee's) then on to saginaw (to drop off jack and belle at grandma's) then on to waxahachie for our church state convention. jere and kelsey were singing/playing for the saturday morning program and we were super excited to get to go. we get to visit with friends we've met from camp and other church fun throughout the year. it was a nice visit.

we got home late and spent all day recovering. yesterday was spent working on jere's classroom (did i mention i REALLY miss teaching) and helping him get ready for the new school year. his new band hall is awesome but very plain (manly) so we jazzed it up with posters, borders, and all kinds of cool stuff he didn't even know existed (someone slept through his bulletin board class in college :)from Mardel's for his room. all in all jere said he was actually amazed at how great his room looked. i can't believe he even doubted me for a second :)

now we have spent all day cleaning out closets and making sure we have no clothes that do not fit/will not wear in our possession. those items are for the salvation army truck and i couldn't be happier. i have every one's closet organized except for the baby's, but hers is tricky you never know what might fit in the future.

i can't believe summer is almost over. jere is back at work full-time and i am so bummed. i am back at cornerstone again this year helping out and that makes me feel good. i have postponed grad school until the Spring, but am wondering if i should just spend the year getting certified. i don't know, jere really wants me to get the masters. he thinks it will be my springboard to other opportunities within the education field. we'll see. he's probably right

i'm feeling a little overwhelmed, but that's alright. i just need to get everything organized and i'll be fine. the kids are starting to get antsy about school and even though they don't want to go, you know they really kinda do.

i hope everyone else's weekend went well and they are starting to settle into the fall as the summer slowly fades away.

blessings,

cole

I Heart my life.

2009-08-07T10:48:00.000-07:00

This week has been full of disappointments, disillusionment, disturbance, and depression. It has taken all my energy to get out of bed each day for my family so blogging wasn't even an option.

I'm meditating again with prayer and fasting. I have to get myself mentally fit again.

Have a wonderful weekend

cole

2009-07-31T17:52:00.000-07:00

nothingness

2009-07-30T21:25:00.000-07:00

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

yesterday

2009-07-29T08:52:00.000-07:00

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

my feelings are hurt

2009-07-27T21:11:00.000-07:00

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

good morning

2009-07-25T23:14:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-24T08:09:00.000-07:00

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

They're BACK!

2009-07-22T10:10:00.001-07:00

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

blythe lauren joy

2009-07-17T22:38:00.001-07:00

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

2009-07-13T20:20:00.000-07:00

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

let me clarify

2009-07-12T19:30:00.000-07:00

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

what???

2009-07-09T21:05:00.000-07:00

blythe wants to move in with her father in georgia.

friends

2009-07-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

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.

Happy Birthday Isabel! Are you really 5?

2009-07-07T10:13:00.000-07:00

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

Kathi Russell

2009-07-04T11:07:00.001-07:00

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

We are home finally

2009-06-28T13:23:00.000-07:00

we are home now from yet another whirl wind adventure. camp last week was insanely hot and humid, sleepless, and emotionally draining. while i wouldn't have it any other way, still we are tired.

this morning we missed church, which is a rarity. i woke up at 11 and we put the baby back down. at 3 jere decided to go and wake her up only to find blythe and isabel asleep on the living room floor. we are all tired.

i have some pics that are good, but mostly we worked so much i forgot to take pictures. here are a few for your viewing pleasure.

i missed you all

blessings,

cole

ps- dialogue for last picture

dustin "do you have your phone on you?"
me "yes, it's in my pocket."
dustin "i'd move it if i were you."

we're coming

2009-06-27T17:50:00.000-07:00

we have been at camp all week in warda, texas. sorry i haven't been blogging. we are in waco with my bro and sis-in-law today and should be leaving sometime under the cover of dark ( and coolness) tonight to head home.

we are exhausted and ready to sleep in our own beds.

talk to you all soon

cole

Happy Birthday Pooh

2009-06-17T15:04:00.000-07:00

i really don't have much time to blog today or for that matter this week, we are cleaning up the rest of the mess we made when we changed the baby girl's room with Jack's. yhis was a huge undertaking since it not only included moving furniture, toys, etc, but also involved painting the pepto bismol pink room white and the slate gray room white and green.

4 gallons of kilz later, we are quite pleased with the result but it took alot out of us and the rest of the house has fallen into a state of disarray.

so with that said . . .

happy first birthday ella-sophie (yes BOTH names are her first name). it took so long for your daddy to decide that he wanted another baby, then the conception took a little while too, and of course your 9 months in me waiting to get out. all in all this was a 3 1/2 year journey that i think was well worth the wait.

i cannot believe that you are already one when it just seemed like you would never get here. so here's to you my beautiful baby girl.

ella-sophie eve

blessings my youngest one,

your mommy