Day 31/365 - January 31

Wow, is the month of January seriously over? That does mean that I have kept up with this project for an entire month or 1/12th of the year - woo hoo!!!!

Wes decided to go hunting again today (the last day of hunting season) and Avery and I were planning to go to church by ourselves. We ended up staying home though. We had a lazy morning - watched a Full House marathon to clean up the DVR - and stayed in our PJ's until after lunch.

We spent the early afternoon in a mad cleaning frenzy. Avery cleaned her bathroom and bedroom, dusted, and learned how to mop. I cleaned our bathroom, washed/folded clothes, swept, vacuumed, cleaned the kitchen, blah, blah, blah. We gave ourselves two hours and got just about everything finished in that time.  Everything except for this:

Wes left that little surprise for me on the dining room table over a week ago. I saw it (didn't notice what it said), but didn't say a word. A few days later, Wes asked if I noticed anything on the table. It drove him crazy that I hadn't cleaned it yet. So here we are, a week later and the words "see me yet? Dusty" are still on the dining room table. Guess what didn't get dusted today? Yep, that silly ole table :)

After cleaning, we headed out to the mall to pick up a few things and let Avery go to Build A Bear. She had a gift card and Bear Bucks that were burning a hole in her wallet. Avery quickly zeroed in on a Valentine Dog and wouldn't consider anything else (not even the iCarly bear that just came out). After making her dog, she decided to pick out some clothes too. However, her gift cards were only $20 and the dog cost $16. After the clothes, she owed an extra $14 which didn't seem like a big deal at first. Until she realized that she would only have $20 left.  Ah, the lessons learned from earning your own money. It sure is different than Mom & Dad's money!

Avery also went to church again tonight and really enjoyed it. I'm hoping Wes and I get assigned to a Small Group Bible Study soon so that we can start attending on Wednesday nights too.

Day 30/365 - January 30

Did the alarm actually go off at 4 a.m. today? I don't recall turning it off, but Wes got up and went hunting so obviously I did!

Avery and I had a nice lazy morning before getting ready and heading out to start our day. We had lots of errands to run and Avery was pretty excited when we started but not so much by the end.

We left home at 10:30 and stopped by the bank. I had to make a deposit and Avery needed to deposit her savings portion of her allowance into her savings account. This is an area that Wes and I have agreed to disagree on - so I just do what I want ;) Avery earns $10 each week in allowance. $1 (10%) goes to the church for her tithe, $5 (50%) is deposited into her savings account at the bank, and she gets the remaining $4. I know, I know - $10 IS a lot. It started more about teaching her the premise behind earning, tithing, saving, and getting. And the bottom line is, it works for us. Wes (I think) has even kind of come around to it now. Well, at least he doesn't complain about it anymore.

After the bank, we stopped by Chick-fil-A for an early lunch. Avery got to play on the playground for 30 minutes while I finished up my grocery list. Then it was finally on to Target. Avery had her eye on a purple laundry basket and had been dying to purchase it. She finally got it today along with a package of pink doilies. Both were bought with her allowance that she's been saving up. All the rest of her money is being saved for a kitten - I don't have the heart to tell her yet that she's not buying a kitten! While at Target, Avery picked out some "make your own" Valentine cards for her class. Of course they only came 8 in a pack = 3 packages of $5 cards. Yep, we can't just get the $4 box of cards, we spend $15 on cards that you have to come home and still make. What can I say - she's certainly my kid when it comes to that! She also picked out a Valentine mailbox that she couldn't live without. Of course, I had to get that too.

After our quick stop at Target, we headed over to WalMart. I knew it would be the longest part of our day, but was hopeful the yucky weather would keep some folks at home. It wasn't nearly as crowded as usual, but it still took us 2 hours-blah!! Avery even said, "this isn't fun at all. Now I know why I stay home when you come here." She cracked me up with her expression and tone of voice!

We finally made it back home at 3:00 and Avery quickly retreated to her room to work on her Valentine mailbox. She worked on it for quite a while over the course of the afternoon.

After finishing it up, she started working on her Valentine cards. It's great to see how much she enjoys doing art work and craft projects.

Wes got home from hunting and decided to run up to PepperTree and get some steaks to grill out for dinner. We haven't had steak since New Year's Eve over at the Lowe's and it sure was good and hit the spot!

Day 29/365 - January 29

Finally, it's Friday!!!

And it's raining again :(

Avery wanted to go to Target after school this afternoon (since we didn't go earlier in the week due to her choice of PetLand). However, with the rain and weather, I told her we were just going home.

Wes worked a little bit late. After getting home, he spent a little bit of time putting together all of his hunting gear for Saturday.  He was planning to get up in the morning at 4:00 to go hunting with his dad so he headed to bed fairly early.  I let Avery stay up a bit later than usual. She was working on painting her fingernails and it took them a while to dry.

After everyone went to bed, I upgraded my scrapbooking program on the computer and played around with it for a little while. I should have spent more time working in it, but I just wasn't really in the mood for it. So, I ended up spending a few hours hanging out at my scrapping "home" ScrapMatters. Several friends were there and we chatted which was a nice ending to the night. I should have gotten to bed earlier, but ended up staying up until 11:30-ack!!

Oh, my photo for today is of my sweet Dosie Doe. It's hard (at least for me) to get decent pics of our pets so I was pretty pleased this one turned out so well. It makes me sad to see how much she has started to grey in the past few months though.

To me, it shows her sweet personality. She has the best temperamant and just wants to be with us all the time. If she can't be in a room with you, she will sit outside the door waiting for you to come out.  I love my sweet chunky monkey!

Day 28/365 - January 28

I'm still here, just a few days late posting my pics from earlier in the week.

Thursday was a regular old day for us. I had an awesome surprise in the afternoon before leaving work though. I loaded a scrapbooking layout into the gallery at My Scrapbook Art and noticed there was a message. Upon checking it, I discovered that one of my LO's from last week (Life Changing) had been selected for a website - Log Your Memory. I was so surprised and it was such an honor - TOTALLY made my day, week....

Then I get home and everything went downhill. Ever have one of those "pity party" days? Thursday was that for me. After spending 2 1/2 hours in the kitchen - helping with homework, cooking dinner, cleaning up kitchen, etc - I finally just lost it. It was probably a good thing I didn't do my blog post :)

Day 27/365 - January 27

Wow, is it only Wednesday? I was really thinking tomorrow would be Friday, but no such luck I guess!

Today, three other folks in my office and I went to weigh in for ScaleBack Alabama. It's just a little weight loss competition the Health Dept sponsors to try and motivate people throughout the state to loose weight and improve their health. It's just a 10 week thing, but we always have a good time with it.

At lunch today, I took Avery's application to Forest Avenue and turned it in. She is officially "applied" for the 2010-2011 school year. They said letters will be mailed out on March 12th to everyone - whether you are accepted or placed on the waiting list. I have to drop off her transcript request at her current school to make sure they have her grades sent over by the deadline too. Other than that, everything is done. Now we wait to see how many folks applied and how many spots are available.

Tonight, I took Avery for her first Wednesday night Bible study at St. James and she seemed to really enjoy it. There were quite a few more people there tonight that she knew and she always adapts pretty easily too.

Wes and I also both found out today that we will each be traveling with work over the next few weeks. Wes is planning to be out of town for a few days next week. I have to go on day trips to Birmingham every day for the week after Valentine's and then overnight to North AL for the entire first week of March. Just typing it out sounds icky to me!

Day 26/365 - January 26

Tuesday = Avery's Tuesday folder from school. It contains all her papers from the previous week including daily grades, tests, and any other information that needs to come home. We sit down at the table and go through her papers one by one to review how she did on each of them.

It's amazing to see some of the work she does each week and totally reminds me how much she is growing up.

Day 25/365 - January 25

Well, the start of a new work/school week ((blah)) AND only 340 more days to go with P365 ((yeah))!

Avery and I planned to go to Target today after school. However, when I picked her up she asked if we could go to PetLand too. I told her that we couldn't go to both places so of course she asked if she was allowed to choose one. I gave in and said she could pick one place to go but if she decided on PetLand, we wouldn't be going to Target until this weekend.

She quickly agreed and we headed to PetLand. After perusing all of the kennels, she finally decided on an adorable little daschund puppy. Usually Avery only gets to play with one puppy, but this cutie wasn't very playful at all so I decided to let her pick out another one. She finally decided on this precious black poodle.

It didn't take her long to name him "Prince" and she promptly asked how much he cost and, "do you and Dad have that much money?" She totally made me laugh. I explained to her that we DO have that much money, but NOT to buy a dog. Plus, we have two dogs and a cat at home.

If this child doesn't end up in a profession with animals, I'll be amazed. Either that, or she'll have a house full of animals (and broke) when she's on her own!!

Day 24/365 - January 24

Well, we officially visited a new church today and really loved it. We decided to jump in with both feet and try a little bit of everything that might interest us. We attended an early SS class this morning followed by their contemporary service - which we have suprisingly loved!

About the time we got out of church, the heavy rain started. It rained, and rained, and rained some more. At last check this afternoon, we were at 6 inches of rain so far this month alone!!

At this rate, it's going to be July before our swamp of a backyard ever dries out!

We spent the afternoon doing some much needed cleaning up around the house that didn't get finished yesterday and got to smell the yummy pot roast that had been cooking all day long in the crock pot. Around 4:00, we finally dug in since Avery and I were heading back to church at 5:00 for choir. Wow, it was yummy and sure did hit the spot on this dreary, rainy day.

Avery really enjoyed choir tonight and says she wants to go back again next week. We told her that we were going to try out lots of different things to find what we all wanted to do. After we finished talking about it all, she leaned over on the couch to give Wes a hug and kiss and this is what followed:

1) she tickles him
2) he attacks back
3) it's on!

Day 23/365 - January 23

Wes went hunting this morning - I set the alarm for 4:00 a.m., but REALLY don't remember it even going off. Wes says I turned it off, but I'm not quite sure about that!

Avery and Mackenzie did sleep until 6:00 AND they let me sleep until 7:45 - woohoo!!! They had such an awesome time playing together today and hated it when Mackenzie's mom showed up to get her at 2:00. They spent the better part of the day outside. When Wes got home from hunting, he asked if I knew what Avery had on and I said sure. He asked if I realized how cold it was outside and I told him that I had been out earlier and it wasn't that cold so I had Avery in a light jacket. He said it was her feet he was worried about.

Her toes were sooo red and freezing cold. Great mom??? Yep, that's me! In my defense, it had cooled off quite a bit over the course of the morning to end up at 46 degrees. It REALLY felt warmer than that earlier and there wasn't much of any wind.

After Mackenzie left, we all had to get ready to head to Auburn for Mollie's birthday party. She turned 28 on Thursday and Brian had a bunch of family and friends up to grill out in celebration of her big day. This is what we found in the backseat on the way up to Auburn:

The times this happens = NEVER. Avery almost never falls asleep in the car, but she was so wiped out today that she actually wrapped up in my coat and laid the seat back.

She QUICKLY popped up wide awake when Wes told her "Marshmallow" was waiting outside the car for her when we pulled up to Brian and Mollie's house. This is a neighbor's cat that is not well taken care of. Avery would LOVE to take her home and we actually asked the family, but it belongs to their daughter. The Dad has allergies and they don't allow the cat in the house unless the daughter is home so she can be in her bedroom. Obviously, the said no. Avery LOVES this cat and has even given her a name - Marshmallow. We don't know her "real" name, but it works for us!

Since it was so cold out, I told her she could let Marshmallow in the car to pet her. Avery was in total heaven loving on that precious cat.

We had a wonderful time celebrating Mollie's birthday and headed back home around 7:00. Obviously, Avery is just wiped out. She fell asleep on the way home too. Can I just say, wow!?!

Day 22/365 - January 22

Finally - the end of the week. How can a three day work week drag on for sooo long? It felt like it was n.e.v.e.r going to end. So glad it's Friday!

Wes had a horrible night with his reflux last night. It's crazy - he hasn't had a night like that in a LONG time. They mess around in his throat and BAM, it starts acting up. He was up most of the night - coughing, hacking, getting sick - and neither of us slept very well.

I felt so bad for him getting so little sleep last night, that I didn't even bother waking him up this morning. I woke up, turned the alarm off, got Avery and myself ready and woke him up as we were walking out the door. I decided to just take her to school and be late to work. I figured the extra hour and fifteen minutes of sleep would probably do him some good. I think that was a pretty good guess too and he would agree (that doesn't happen too often).

Avery was excited that it was Friday because she was having a friend she doesn't get to see very often, Mackenzie, come over to spend the night. They grew up in daycare/preschool together from the time they were 2 years old until they started Kindergarten. They use to fight like cats and dogs and most people would have sworn they were sisters because of their love/hate relationship. I'm happy to say that it improved so much as they got older. They are great friends and don't get to see each other nearly enough since they attend different schools.

Avery was looking forward to talking to Mackenzie about her school since she attends the magnet school that Avery is hoping she gets into. They had lots of fun comparing stories about what each other is doing in school, etc.

After picking Mackenzie up, I took them to eat at Jalapenos - our favorite Mexican restaurant not far from our house. After grabbing a quick bite of dinner, we headed over to The Rave to see the new movie with The Rock that just came out today. The Tooth Fairy was a really cute movie and the girls had a great time. Personally, I liked The Spy Next Door (from last weekend) better, but I'm not saying a word to Avery :)

We came home, the girls played for a while, talked A LOT, and have just gotten settled in bed. I shall pray for patience for myself tomorrow because I know Avery will be moody and ill with this little bit of sleep plus the busy day we have.

Day 21/365 - January 21

I may not be as great about posting every single day, but I AM still taking my photos every single day and that's what counts, right?

I scheduled an EGD several weeks back for Wes and today was the day. That meant we both got a day off from work since he gets put to sleep for the test. I planned to be nice and let him sleep in late by taking Avery to school, but he was up anyway. I still proceeded with my plan and dropped Avery off at school since that's something I don't get to do anymore.

I ran back home, picked up Wes, and we headed across town to tour the other magnet school we were interested in (Bear).

After our 20 minute tour that actually took an hour, we headed BACK across town to the hospital for Wes's procedure.

Everything went smooth as usual (this is probably his 4th time having this done) and they called me back to recovery after it was finished up. They expect to have the biopsy results back by the middle of next week. As always, we hope and pray that everything is fine and these are just precautions the doctor takes.

He quickly woke up and was super alert. He cracked me up by telling the nurse, "I want my money back" because he usually is out of it and sleeps all day long. I could already tell that wasn't going to be the case today! He was making jokes the entire time - just like good 'ole Wes :)

We were both starving since it was 12:30 and he hadn't been able to eat or drink since supper the night before. A quick stop for some lunch and we were home for the afternoon. Wes did nap for a little bit, but nothing like in the past. They have obviously made some adjustments to those sleeping drugs! We both made a mental note to request something stronger next time!!

I picked Avery up from school in carpool which is a huge treat for her. She usually has to go to extended day since I don't get off work in time to pick her up. We went to East Chase, got a snack from The Cookie Company, and just walked around for about an hour. She really enjoyed that time relaxing together.

After getting home, I fixed some quick dinner for us all and then was out the door again. We had a Board Meeting for softball up at the ball fields and it was packed full of information. We discussed registration, try-outs, the draft, opening ceremonies, and all sorts of other information regarding the season. It's hard to believe it's that time of year again. Better get ready for some ball!!

Day 20/365 - January 20

Ah, that sleep last night sure was wonderful - me likey!

Wes tried to wake me up when he came in from work, but obviously through the assistance of a Tylenol PM, I was down for the count. He was so sweet and brought me home a few pieces of chocolate candy thinking it would help my headache (which I had since I was trying to cut down on my junk food consumption). Since I was dead asleep, he just set them on the nightstand beside the bed for me.  Wes showed them to me this morning and I thought that was so nice of him and was looking forward to trying a piece this afternoon.

However, someone else had other plans.

This is what we come home from school to find on the bed in our master bedroom. All the candy wrappers. It's pretty easy to guess which dog is the culprit - the one that is panting, jumping, and acting more crazy than usual. I'm glad someone (Lady) got to enjoy some delicious chocolate today.

On a totally different note, Wes and I started talking a week or so back about looking into the magnet schools in our area since they are currently taking applications for the next school year. We decided to at least go and tour the two possible facilities we would be considering. Today we visited Forest Avenue and were very surprised and impressed by what we saw. Tomorrow we are planning to visit Bear.

It is total luck whether you can even get in once you apply, but Avery's GPA is a 4.0 and she has all A's in conduct too, so this should put her towards the top of the applicant list as far as meeting the criteria. The problem is that they have such a large number of students apply each year and only a handful of spots available. Why didn't we look into this when she was entering Kindergarten?

On the other hand, we are EXTREMELY pleased with the education she is receiving where she is now. If she doesn't get into the magnet school program, she will still be attending an excellent school and we have no doubt that she will continue to do well there too. All we can do is pray for the Lord's guidance during this time.

We talked to Avery about it tonight and at first she was upset at the prospect of leaving her friends. The more we talked, the more she seemed to "come around" to the idea of a new school. She has several friends that attend each school so I have no doubt she would transition easily.

Again, whatever is in the Lord's plan - for that we will just have to be patient.

Day 19/365 - January 19

Ah, Tuesday was a pretty crummy day to be honest.
Nothing particulary wrong, but I had a terrible headache by the end of the day, was in a pretty crabby mood, and it was just a yucky day all together :(

When I woke Avery up for school (first day back after holiday), this was our conversation:

Note - all of Avery's comments were made in a pitiful, whiny voice

A: What day is this?
M: Tuesday
A: I HATE Mondays and Tuesdays and Wednesdays and and and...any day that I have to go to school! I don't like going to school anymore. I have to get up too early!
M: I'm sorry, but guess what?
A: What? (still grumpy)
M: It's one day closer to the weekend!
A: Uhhh...it doesn't matter! I don't wanna get up!

A while later after she woke up, she said one of the dreaded "not spoken from her mouth" phrases - Mom, I'm tired. Seriously? Did I hear that right? I'm not kidding - Avery NEVER says "I'm tired" or "I'm sleepy." The kid can be dead asleep and promise she's not sleepy - it's actually kind of funny!

Fast forward to this afternoon - car ride home from school. Avery reminds me that she was tired this morning. She also tells me that she FELL ASLEEP at school!! Granted, she had finished her work. But still, she fell asleep!!!

I knew what this meant - early bedtime tonight! We come home, she gets her homework finished, we eat dinner, she gets her bath, and then it's off to bed. She was seriously in bed by 7:00. I fell asleep too and woke up at 7:30 only to crawl on into my bed and go back to sleep. I did manage to get up and snap my photo of her asleep in her bed and catch the end of The Biggest Loser, but it was hard!

I'm not sure who benefited more from that sleep either - Avery or me!

Did I mention

...that my husband is amazing?!?!

Why?

1. He installed the microwave all by himself.
2. He took the kitchen sink apart and fixed the disposal all by himself.
3. He took the new microwave out, fixed it, and re-installed it (with a little help).

I love him bunches :)

Day 18/365 - January 18

Today was a holiday for the entire family and it was much needed! Wes woke up and went to work and was nice enough to let me sleep a LOT later (and so was Avery)! I slept in until 8:00 - woo hoo!!! 

Avery and I did a few things around the house and I started to a nice big lunch for us all (salisbury steak, homemade mashed potatoes, etc). I peeled the potatoes over the sink and turned the disposal on and trouble began...

The rubber piece that acts as a shield/guard flew out across the room and water started shooting everywhere. I knew this was NOT good and quickly turned off the disposal. I realized the water wasn't draining so I dug around trying to see if something was clogging it up - nope, other than those blasted potato peels.  After fooling with it a while longer, I called my MIL to make sure I didn't "mess up" by putting the potato peels in there :) and she reassured me that it was fine ((phew)) and gave me a few other suggestions which I tried.

Wes arrived home to find the plunger in the sink and a big ole mess too! He fooled with it for a while and eventually decided to take the pipes under the sink apart along with the disposal to figure out the problem (all the while reminding me that he was "not a plumber"). When I pulled the camera out, he told me, "that camera is gonna end up somewhere that the flash won't work" so I had to hand it over to Avery to take the photos :)

After a few choice words, lots of towels and pots, and a pretty big mess...

he did get it all figured out, fixed, and put back together. I kindly offerred to clean up all of the icky mess. Figured it was the least I could do, but yucky!

Oh, and on the microwave front :) Wes's Dad offerred to come over and help take it out and re-install it and he gladly took him up on the offer! It really did seem to go pretty smoothly with two people and didn't take too long to get it down, correct the blower, and get it re-installed. I must say, the microwave sounds SO much better without the vent running!

So, now we have a disposal that is all gunk free and a microwave that is installed and working properly - what more could a girl want?!? And who would dare ask what could happen next? Surely NOT me!!

Day 17/365 - January 17

Today my photo is of two people that are very special to us. Robert and Robbie Barnes started teaching our Sunday School class several years ago and we have been so blessed to have them in our lives.

Wes and I have been struggling for some time now about where we "should be" for our spritual growth. After discussion with Robert and Robbie, our pastor, and between ourselves and a lot of prayer we finally decided to commit to trying another church for a while.  We told our SS class today and it was hard to say the least. We've been with lots of these couples since before we were married and have been through weddings, births, and lots of in between too.

We both know this is the right thing for us and are very excited to be able to fully commit to trying a new church.

On a much lighter note, I tried the new microwave out tonight and it works great! Except that the fan runs everytime the microwave is on. I asked Wes what the deal was with it and he asked me what I meant. He came and listened and I had to explain to him that it didn't make that noise typically. So, he pulled out the manual and retreated to the bedroom. About 30 minutes later, he emerges to tell me that he will have to take the entire microwave back down because the blower needs to be turned forward! Really?!?

Day 16/365 - January 16

Microwave?

Yep, it's true! Six days after it's arrival in our home, our microwave was finally put in it's home - above our stove!!  I would love to say that I was somewhat instrumental in the installation, but that glory belongs totally to Wes (truth be known, I'm quite happy that I was NOT involved)!!! And when I say totally Wes, I mean completely on his own - no help what so ever. He lifted that blasted thing and managed to get it bolted in to the cabinet on his own.

I'm sure you are wondering, "wow, how in the world did he manage that?" and I must say that I did too. Imagine my surprise to find out that he wrapped the power cord around the interior column in the cabinet to hold it up while he screwed it in! If anything, he's mighty creative :) Again, not sad at all that I missed it though.

I was having fun with the girls (Avery and her spend the night company, Gabrielle) at the mall during the entire "microwave install." Avery came in first thing this morning and asked if they could go ice skating today. She loves to ice skate and always wants to go, but it's just not something we do very often (mostly because I really don't enjoy it all that much myself). So of course I quickly said I would take them just because I was happy that she would have someone to skate with!

We headed out to the mall, grabbed a quick bite of lunch, and then over to the ice rink. We arrived for the 1-3 session and Avery and Gabrielle skated for almost the entire time with us leaving around 2:45. They had a blast together and were certainly worn out combined with the lack of sleep from the night before.

Day 15/365 - January 15

Microwave? Nah - it's still in the box. On the kitchen table.

Tomorrow? Maybe :)

Avery did amazing on her 13 minute timed 100 problem multiplication test today. She answered every single problem and only got 4 wrong for a final test score of 96. Wes and I are so proud of that grade!!

True to my word/bribe from earlier in the week, we stopped at Bruster's Ice Cream on the way home this afternoon. Avery thinks that is one of the biggest treats in the world and it doesn't help that we pass it every day on the way home from school.

She got her "usual" which is a cup of Cotton Candy Explosion (has Pop Rocks in it), Cookie Dough, and Birthday Cake. The kid at the counter always looks at Avery like she is crazy when she places her order and usually says, "you can't get more than one ice cream with a single scoop" and I typically have to step in and take over :)

To wrap up the night, Avery was beyond excited to have her dear friend Gabrielle come over to spend the night. This is a friend that she knew from STJ from K5 - second grade who left at the end of last year to try out a public school near their home. Avery really does miss Gabrielle and they have had so much fun playing together tonight. They have only come out of her room long enough to eat dinner and go to the bathroom.  All I keep hearing is talking and giggles - music to my ears!

It Clicked!

I can't believe that I forgot to post last night about Avery's improvement in multiplication. 

Avery has been studying the time tables, flash cards, and completing 100 problem work sheets every single night at home in addition to her school work. All of this has been in preparation for her first "timed test" on the 0-9's scheduled for today. They will have 13 minutes to complete 100 problems. Sounds pretty easy, huh?

Well, Avery struggled every single day this week. They were taking practice tests everyday leading up to the "big test" on Friday.

Monday she completed 40 out of 100. Yep, that's right - 40!! 
Tuesday she completed 62. Yippee, the hard work is paying off, right?!? Imagine my surprise when she comes home Wednesday and only got 50 of them complete in 13 minutes. How do you go backwards? If you are Avery - by fidgeting with your new tooth you feel coming in! Really?!?
Any guesses how Thursday went? She got 98 right!!! I was soooo proud of her! See, hard work DOES pay off!

Now, lets see if she can get through the test today without any distractions :)

Day 14/365 - January 14

Days since microwave purchased = 4

Microwave  installed? Nope

Tonight's excuse? Wes decided to treat us to dinner out - that's a pretty good reason to me! We went to Texas Roadhouse and had a great meal together.

As we were leaving, Avery asked if we could stop by Petland (one of her all time favorite places). Wes said sure, with one stipulation - NO talk of bringing home anything that eats, breathes, or poops other than one of us. I don't know who laughed harder - Avery or me!

At Petland, we played with the hamsters and rabbits and let Avery pick out one dog to play with. She quickly picked out an adorable little pug.

We all had the best time playing with him. He nipped at our pants, gnawed on Avery's shoelaces, chewed on her hands, and just licked her all over. She would have played with him all night if we had let her.

Day 13/365 - January 13

Any of you that "know" my family will not be at all surprised to find out that we still don't have the new microwave installed. I must say that we did make some progress though. It IS out of the car, on the kitchen table, and the box is opened! Tomorrow night? We shall see!

Truth be known, the microwave project wasn't worked on tonight because Wes ended up working late. He came home around 5:15 for about 15 minutes and then headed back to work again until 9:00.

The significance of Wes working late = missing math teacher - ack! 

I have observed him quite a bit over the past week and decided to try my hardest to remain calm, not loose my temper or get upset, and try to make it through tonight's multiplication lesson. I must say, we were NOT off to a good start! Avery was in tears before we were out of the parking lot at school this afternoon. I mean, really?!? The whining, moaning, tears continue on the ride home and we spend the first 30 minutes talking through it all. I tried the approach mentioned above (calm, patient, etc) and finally said, "to heck with this" and we had a "come to Jesus meeting." I did manage to stay calm, not raise my voice or anything but finally laid down the law - no more of this bad attitude or whining! 

Guess what? We had an awesome night of multiplication work!!! I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that I may have mentioned something about stopping at Bruster's for ice cream on Friday if she improved all of the above :)

We wrapped up the evening cuddling in her bed watching Home Alone 2 on her new TV. It was such an enjoyable time (math and all)!

Day 12/365 - January 12

Well, Wes picked up the microwave yesterday before we met for a dear friend's funeral. He didn't get to work on installing it last night because of a work function he had to attend. So, it was planned for tonight.

Here is my photo for today (taken at almost 10:30 tonight).

Did the microwave get installed tonight? Nope

Am I bothered by that? Not a bit

Why? Because Wes spent his evening working with Avery on her 8 multiplication tables. She did really well, but gets so frustrated with herself and often hits/whacks herself in the head! It drives me insane, but Wes told us both tonight that he did the same thing when he was growing up. They really are two peas in a pod :D

I never posted the removal story from Sunday afternoon. It is certainly worth recording too! Most important thing learned = our microwave had FOUR bolts/screws holding it in place.

Wes had me up on the ladder unscrewing the two bolts that ran from the top cabinet into the microwave. They were about 2 inches long. Neither of us could believe that was all that was holding that microwave in place! So, we start pulling and tugging and pushing and prying and everything in between to get that blasted piece of dead junk out of there. It barely even budged an inch! After about 45 minutes, Wes decides to take the filter cover off the top so he can look around inside for a bracket or something that we could have missed. Guess what he found? A second set of bolts at least 1 foot long that went at an angle from the bottom of the microwave, through a metal bracket on the back of the microwave, and then into the metal bracket on the sheeting attached to the wall.

Let me tell ya, I don't know HOW we didn't rip a hole in the wall or tear out part of the cabinet above the microwave! Wow, wow, wow. I'm really hoping removal was the hard part and the installation will be smooth sailing! Is that wishful thinking?

Day 11/365 - January 11

It's hard to believe that I have stuck with this and posted e.v.e.r.y. single day - I am beyond proud of myself! It helps that I am scrapping my pages as I go too. Seeing that finished product makes me sooo happy - yippee!!

Avery enjoyed her "weather day" out of school on Friday, but had to make up several tests today plus they are still in the middle of standardized tests so they will have to make up a day of that too.

They were suppose to receive report cards on Friday so they got them today.  Avery was super excited to receive straight A's again this quarter! We are extremely proud of her too especially for that A in math - she has worked super duper hard for that 93!!

Her reward for good grades is getting to pick the restaurant for dinner. Her choice for tonight....Burger King. My sweet girl can have her pick of places - anywhere - and she wants to play at Burger King. Mama sure was hoping for a sit down restaurant where I could get served, but no such luck tonight ((sigh)).

Day 10/365 - January 10

After a wonderful morning at church, Wes treated us to lunch at Wing's. They just moved to a new location and it was great to check it out. Then we headed to Sears in search of a new over the range microwave to replace ours that decided to die in the middle of Christmas morning breakfast. I've actually gotten pretty use to warming things up using the stove, but Wes has tired of that pretty quickly when he comes home for lunch. So, we finally gave in. We can go pick it up from the warehouse tomorrow - yippee!

Once we got home, a nap was certainly needed for everyone. I was hoping Avery would actually fall asleep after her late night and SUPER early morning with spend the night company. This is what I actually got...

Avery getting situated and "ready" to take a nap, but that bugger never went to sleep. After I put some clothes in to wash and folded an already dry set, I finally got to lay down on the couch and get settled for my nap. Out pops Avery (30 minutes after going down for her nap). She's already "woken up" and is ready to get up. I send her back to her room and quickly doze off myself when out she comes AGAIN and then AGAIN! I finally tell her (at 2:30) that she better not step foot out of her room again unless someone gets her up. Arghh...I really don't like it when she doesn't want to cooperate with naps (which is ALWAYS)! Wes thinks it is so funny and asked me, "what do you expect?"

Wes also decided to go ahead and remove the old microwave.

Forty-five minutes later we determined that there are FOUR bolts/screws that hold it in place (not the two we originally removed). Here's hoping the installation goes a little quicker and smoother than the removal.

Day 9/365 - January 9

Avery and Sydney decided they wanted to move Avery's pink couch into the orange room to sleep on last night. So, being the good mom that I am, I lugged it out of her bedroom and into the orange room. All started off well - the girls went to bed around 9:30 and fell right to sleep. About 11:00, I hear lots of noise and then Avery stumbles into the den - eyes wide open, talking, but dead asleep. Thirty minutes later I finally get them moved BACK to her bed and situated, hmph.

Then I find out that they woke up at 4:30 this morning, ack! She managed to make it through the day, but her mood was certainly not the best.

They had a great time playing together and even managed to brave the cold weather and spend time outside. Avery and Syd got hammers from Wes and I found them on the side of the house attempting to break the ice that formed in these planters. They weren't too successful but sure had a great time trying!

After taking Sydney home, we all piled up in the bed to watch Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian as promised. It seemed to be a pretty decent movie but I did dose off a few times :)  I didn't get a chance to watch the movie that Wes and I rented, State of Play, but Wes did and said it was a pretty good movie as well.

Day 8/365 - January 8

So, today ended up being a "weather day" = no school for....

ice? nope
sleet? nope
snow? nope
really cold weather? yep

Seriously! They were expecting lots of rain last night which would have frozen overnight and resulted in frozen, icy, messy roads which is not a good thing in the south! What did we actually get? A fair amount of rain that left a few random icy patches and that's it.

Don't get me wrong, Avery was super happy to have a day out of school. Check back with me when she has to make that day up though :)

OK, back to your regularly scheduled program. While we didn't get any yucky weather, it is SUPER cold here and didn't get above freezing today and isn't expected to for several more days. That may not sound like a big deal to many, but it's not unusual to have 70 degree days on occassion in January. This is crazy cold for us!!

Avery's friend Sydney came over to spend the night so we decided to stop by Redbox and rent some movies. We ((heart)) Redbox and are lucky enough to have several of them near us in town. You can't beat renting a movie for $1 plus tax! You can check out the available titles online and even reserve your movie in advance AND they have new releases. Wow, what a deal!

Avery rented Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and we rented State of Play. Sydney decided she didn't want to watch their movie so I told Avery we would all pile up in our big bed tomorrow after Syd leaves and watch it together as a family. That seemed to make her happy. Anyone that knows Wes will not be surprised to know that he fell asleep before we even watched our movie :) Now I've got two movies to watch tomorrow!

Day 7 - January 7

I really think today's photo will speak for itself, but I'll go ahead and post a little comment too :)

Avery came home tonight and told us that she needed to know her 6, 7, 8, and 9 multiplication tables by tomorrow! We were suppose to be studying all of this over Christmas break but really - who studies during their break? Obviously NOT the Golden house!!

Luckily, Wes volunteered to step in and be the math teacher tonight and I welcomed the chance to sit back and observe. Avery did still get very frustrated and mad at herself but Wes handled her soooo much better than I do. Hmm, what can I take from this? I'm thinking, there's a new teacher in town!!

Day 6 - January 6

Avery started her standardized testing at school today which lasts for the remainder of this week plus the first part of next week. They sure don't waste any time jumping right back into the school work either! She had a regular load of homework her first night back and again tonight with tests scheduled for the end of the week, wow!

One of Avery's favorite times to talk is while we are laying in bed during "special time" each night. This is usually when I get random tidbits of information both big and small. Tonight she told me about something that happened at school that totally impressed me and I just had to share. A little background first (Avery has wanted a pair of lime green Chuck Taylor's for a while and was super excited to get a pair of high tops with purple laces for Christmas). She wore them to school yesterday and told me last night that one of the boys at school called her a "psycho" for wearing such weird shoes. We talked about it and she decided he was just being a silly boy and didn't really let it bother her.

Fast forward to tonight. While laying in bed, she tells me that several people at school today were talking about her shoes. One of her friends overheard their conversation and told them it wasn't very nice and Avery was her friend. I asked Avery if it bothered her and she said, "a little." We proceeded to discuss how other people's thoughts don't really matter as long as you like something and are comfortable with it. I also told her that if she was uncomfortable wearing the shoes (or anything for that matter) that she shouldn't and it wouldn't hurt our feelings at all either.

The moral of my lengthy post is simply this. My 8 year old daughter knows "who she is" more than I ever did at 16 much less her age. I can only hope that she continues to be this confident in her decisions. As I tucked my sweet baby into bed, kissed her goodnight, and walked out of her room; I realized she's growing up pretty fast.

Day 5 - January 5

Today was a big day in our house - the first day back to school after Christmas vacation. I must say that Avery was not very excited this morning. I was pretty happy that Wes was here and the one to get her up because he sure does have a way with her (my way usually involves loosing my patience and some kind of raising of the voice). At one point I noticed her actually crawling across the floor and it took all I had not to laugh, but that sure would have not helped the situation at all! I do think it's pretty ironic that this is the same child that woke up most every morning during Christmas break at 5:15 though...

I debated which picture to post for today and am still not sure which one I will use for my scrapbooking page. I had to go ahead and take the pics of her all bundled up since it is soooo stinkin' cold here right now!!! One is of the good ole regular pose and the other was mid yawn which I thought was pretty fitting for the day :)

Day 4 - January 4

Well, the sickies finally took over and Wes insisted that if I didn't go to work I had to go the doctor. So, I get up bright and early to call into work and then call to schedule an appointment with the doctor. Of course, all they had was at 3:30 this afternoon and I gladly snapped it right up. A was home for her last day of Christmas break and I planned to sleep most of the day in attempts to get rid of this mess (and A was even willing to let me). However, that was not the case.

Turns out I had to get out of bed, actually take a shower and brush my teeth so I could go to the Social Security office to deal with some things for my Mom. Yep, I could have put it off for another day and really physically felt like doing that but getting it knocked out today meant NOT having to take any more time off work to handle it on a future day. So, I gladly went and after two trips we managed to check that little problem off our list - yippee!

I did manage to get back home and get an hour and a half of sleep before heading to the doctor which was super nice. But arriving to find a line stretched to the door at the doctor's office was not so nice. After standing in line for 15 (well 16 if ya want to get technical) minutes, I am told that my appointment was cancelled. Um, excuse me?!? Do you really think I would wake up, start calling your office at 8:00, actually get out in this crazy freakin' cold weather if I didn't have an appointment? After a little bit of checking, they DID see me but the wait was still crazy long. I just have to say that I {{heart}} my doctor though! Nothing more than the crud, but he gave me some good drugs to make sure I get some sleep at night!


Many thanks to my budding photographer, A, for this great photo of me napping today :)