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Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Friday Night Family Fun Night

In the Edgeworth household we do something called "Friday Night Family Fun Night." I will admit to spuratic fun nights lately, but we have been doing better. We always have breakfast for dinner and then we play games. Previously our games consisted of the Wii and our Wii age. Which, by the way, is not fun if you are always twice your age! I digress....For Christmas, Cole got Guitar Hero for the Wii and it is lots of fun! (Some say that I spend way too much time on it, but I disagree.) Yesterday, we purchased Guitar Hero World Tour Band. I was a little taken back by the price, but after our 'opening night' I would say it is money well spent. I used to be anti-video games because there is no family interaction involved. Not true with the Wii! So all that to say, that from now on Friday Night Family Fun Night if you pass the Edgeworth household you will hear the band 'The Edge' jammin' it up!




Friday, December 26, 2008

Quote of the Day

Here are 2 of my favorite quotes from Christmas yesterday...

"This is the best Christmas ever!" -Cole

"I just wanna kiss Santa on the cheek..." -LB

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Visit with Santa

Well, today was our annual visit with Santa. I was totally expecting a repeat of pictures from years passed, where one child would be screaming their head off. Much to my surprise, Leah just checked him out intently and never took her eyes off him. She wouldn't look at the camera. She also would not let go of her paci or her beloved 'Boo.' I think it makes for a great picture and lots of good memories. I sit out our Santa pics every Christmas and it is so much fun to reminisce the moment that the picture was snapped. Many were not so great moments of terror...but the kids' favorite part of decorating for Christmas is getting out the Santa pics!

The next pic is one of my favorite Santa pics ever...the look on Cole's face is priceless! This was the first year we owned a digital camera so it was the most accessible, but I do have one of Cole screaming and LB sitting quite contently in Santa's lap. WONDERFUL MEMORIES!!!

Monday, December 22, 2008

Christmas Card 2008


Saturday, December 20, 2008

You know you're the third child when...

So, I must admit to laziness on this one. I was so busy trying to get stuff done that I just decided it would be easier for me and occupying for her to let her try to feed herself. Really?? A one year old use a spoon? Eventually she gave up the spoon and opted for the easier method of her hands. Some things just aren't as important this time around...with the first two they wore a bib every time they ate, were always dressed as soon as they woke up, and NEVER would I have let them get this dirty! As you can see, there is no bib, still in pj's (it was about 3pm), and VERY dirty. Needless to say, she went straight to the bathtub after this!



School's Out for the Holidays

Yesterday the kids got out of school early for Christmas Break. I promised them that when they got home we would decorate Christmas cookies. It was lots of fun! By the way, Cole decided that this was a girl activity and he would rather play football with the neighborhood kids...such a boy!Anyway, here are some pics of the process. (They are in reverse order of how I intended even though I chose the opposite order during the upload process...I'll remember that next time!)

This is a pic of our finished products...mainly the adults (Jaime, Andi, and me) did these.
Santa's little helper!!!


Leah enjoying a Christmas cookie with Andi, she wouldn't give us time to get it iced for her!


Camryn and LB decorating their cookies...aren't their aprons cute?! (Well, you can't really see them but they both have cute Christmas aprons on)


Before they were iced...

Thursday, December 18, 2008

No Need For Words....Enjoy




Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Christmas Time

Our pastor has been doing a series entitled Christmas Rebellion. Basically, he has challenged us to get back to the real meaning of Christmas. Worshipping the one and only Jesus. A friend of mine posted this video on her blog and I had to share as well. This video is amazing and eye opening to where our priorities are in America. I hope after you watch this, everyone will be challenged to buy one less gift and give to somone who needs it!

Click here to see this video called "Advent Conspiracy."

Monday, December 15, 2008

One down four to go...

Well, today I took my last final for the first semester of nursing school. Can I just say, I am so glad to have a break!!! I do believe it is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I have never worked so hard in my life for B's. That's right...it's very hard for me to type the fact that I made B's in all my classes. On an academic level, I would consider a B to be a personal failure. However, my opinion of B's have changed since the beginning of the semester. I will gladly take those grades and if I was in elementary school again, I would be taking my report card to Chuck E. Cheese's for some free tokens! You know, that's a thought....Anyway, maybe for the next few weeks I can capture some great moments of the kids in pictures and get back to the reason I started this blog in the first place!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Give Thanks

We have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. For family, for health, for abundance, for electricity, for clothes, for a place to live, for freedom...Click here to view a special commercial. A family that I know is spending their Thanksgiving at St. Jude's with their daughter who is battling a brain tumor. This commercial puts things in perspective. Pay attention to the little girl walking down the hallway in this one...her name is McKaylee and she is an example to us all. You can also check out her Caring Bridge by clicking here or her mom has a blog worth reading as well. Happy Thanksgiving and I hope that we all take time to remember our blessings!

Psalms 105:1

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

For your entertainment...

A friend of mine led me to this blog and I got the best laugh.  Basically, it is a blog all about professionally decorated cakes.  The humor is in the commentary she adds about all the cakes.  If you want a good laugh, check it out by clicking on the link!



Thursday, November 20, 2008

Preview of Christmas Pics


Last Sunday we went to Aldridge Gardens to take pictures for our annual Christmas Card. I can't say that it was wonderful. Leah was less than excited to be there. I changed my header picture on the blog and it is one of the pics we got. The above pic in this post pretty much sums up the day...we all decided to make a mean face so we could fit in with Leah.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Halloween 2008

This year we decided to have a halloween party for the kids' friends. It was lots of fun for them and for us. We ALL dressed up. There are a few pics below, and I will add more later when I get a moment, but for now here is a taste of what we had. I don't know if you'll be able to tell, but I made brains and guts, and we had several body parts for feeling! It was very spooky. Don't worry no one was harmed in the making of my props. The guts were spaghetti noodles, the eyes were whole olives, the teeth were popcorn kernels, and the tongues were apricots. Of all of them, the tongues were by far the creepiest to feel. It felt pretty real. When I get a little more time I will add pics of the other games we played! Everyone had lots of fun and I think we are going to make it an annual event...



In case you can't tell we are the Wicked Witch of the West, Frankenstein, Sleeping Beauty, and Jack Sparrow....Leah was Alice in Wonderland, but she was asleep for this pic. I'll post one of her in costume later!

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Adventures in Nursing School...Clinicals day 3 & 4

Ok, last week I neglected to post anything about my clinicals. So, I will combine for this week. I don't really have any great funny stories this week. I had 2 very serious patients. I know last week was a real eye opener for me. I realized that there are so many things that we take for granted every day. After observing my patient last week with Parkinson's disease, I was acutely aware of how fortunate I am. Even the simple things, like feeding himself, became challenging. I had to fight back emotion as I assisted him with his lunch. He was such a sweet man and didn't want to be a bother.

This week my patient was even more serious. Very young (in my opinion) and terminally ill with cirrhosis. An illness that could have been prevented had he made different choices. This week was hard. It was sad to see someone in this stage of this disease.

So what are some things I have realized these last two weeks.....

Family is sooooo important, the most important.

Compassion..you can't have too much.

The little things are what make a difference....when you care for the person's heart it makes a lasting impression.

There is not enough time.

You know you are old when....

...you dress your kids in a costume and you actually wore it back in the day!!! Needless to say, today was 80's day at school. I remember these fashions...sad, but true!

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Little Brother Married

My little brother got hitched tonight! I can't believe it. Here are some pics from the wedding, not all of them by any means, just a sampling. By the way, Leah was at the wedding, but my wonderful friend took her home for us. She was through being there. We were there almost all day. Enjoy!















The happy couple!!!







Sunday, October 19, 2008

Adventures in Nursing School...Clinicals-day 2 (slight revision)

I couldn't help but add this to the previous post...I am revising funny story #2

2. Little man stopped in front of the nurses station and proclaimed loudly, "Hey, what we gonna do about this!?!" (He was pointing to the front of his gown that had a nice, round, fresh stain from a leak in his device.)

Apparently later on that afternoon (after I left) the same little man proceeded out of his room pushing his IV pole, stark naked! Too bad I wasn't there for that one!! (I won't reveal my source at this time, but you know who you are and I appreciate the info.)

Friday, October 17, 2008

Adventures in Nursing School...Clinicals-day 2

Another day of clinicals gone by. I must admit, I love this floor I am on. We endearingly call it the "poo poo" floor. I know you think that's gross, but it is. I mean, it's a GI floor. We deal with poo all day long! Anyway, I had another great patient today, a sweet little man and his very funny wife. She didn't let him whine or complain for one second. I have definitely now added a couple more skills to my repertoire. Which isn't very large :) I am thoroughly enjoying my schooling right now and realizing this is totally what God has called me to do. I just hate that I am just now figuring that out, but at least I'm figuring it out, right?

A few funnies from the day....

1. A patient with red socks on should not be walking herself up and down the hallways! (red socks indicate a fall risk)

2. Little man stopped in front of the nurses station and proclaimed loudly, "Hey, what we gonna do about this!?!" (He was pointing to the front of his gown that had a nice, round, fresh stain from a leak in his device.)

3. Thought I was going to have to give my male patient a bath, but to my surprise the PCA had already done it! (Glad she was Johnny-on-the-spot!)

That's all for now...I'm sure over the next 4 weeks there will be many more stories! I said it last week, but I realize it more each week...thank a nurse!! They don't get enough recognition.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

First Day Realizations

Most of you know I am in nursing school....enough said. I started clinicals this past Thursday. It was lots of fun. Even though we were on a GI floor, I loved it. Really, I didn't get to do that much. A few vitals here and there and I made lots of beds. I thought I wouldn't like dealing with sick 'grown-ups' but things really changed once I actually got there and in the middle of it all.

Here are a list of my realizations...

I realized that they don't want to be there, I mean who really wants to be in the hospital sick.

I realized that as much as I am embarrassed for having to help them do things, like potty, they are equally embarrassed that I have to help them.

I realized that elderly people are very wise and love for you to sit down and talk. One little lady said, "ask me anything you want." She was very witty and just wanted some company. (Don't we all!)

I realized what a tiring job it is to be a nurse. We never sat down, I mean never, until our 6 hour shift was over.

I realized why I want to do this. One of our teachers said that if this is truly for us, we would know in clinicals. She was right!

I realized that I want to treat my future patients exactly like I would want or how I would want my family to be treated. (That little 'golden rule' never goes away!)

I realized that laughter is good for the soul, especially when you are laughing at something you shouldn't have done! (I won't divulge my errors at this time)

I realized that the real hospital is much different than the one my books speak of.

I realized that when my patient said "you can go on to lunch now," that was code for "get out of my room and quit messing with me!"

I realized that you must pay very close attention to any 'CODE' announcement over the intercom. (We had a CODE GREEN, which means they were about to blast for some construction..felt like an earthquake.)

Lastly, I realized I have a lot more to learn!

That about sums it up! Oh, if you get a chance, you should thank a nurse.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

She's One

It's official...Leah turned one today.  Where did the year go?  I know, you hear parents say that all the time, but I really think her first year has gone by quicker than any of the others.  Here are a few pics from today.  All I can say, is she LOVED her cake!
Here it is...cake everywhere.  At one point she was putting the icing all over her hands like lotion!
This is what she does when she wants you to pick her up.  How can anyone say no?!?
Lots of presents...she got such great stuff and played herself to sleep.
More cake....
By the way, she's walking a little too.  She takes a few steps from one person to another.  This milestone she did much quicker than her older brother and sister, they were almost 14 months.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Band-aids and Compassion--Part 2

Here is proof...one of the sweet moms in LB's class sent me this pic that she took today. She read my post from yesterday and had to pass along what she captured.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Band-aids and Compassion

I just had to share this sweet little story that LB's teacher shared with me. Apparently, LB keeps a box of band-aids in her cubby at school. (If you don't know her, she loves band-aids. She will create a scratch just to get one.) So, her teacher tells me that whenever anyone in her class gets hurt, she escorts them to her cubby and applies band-aids. How cute, even if she is my child! She is very compassionate and hates for anyone to hurt. Gotta love it!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

It's about time there was an update!

Well, I haven't posted in a while so I figured a little update was in order. Where to begin...

Cole is loving first grade and learning so much! He enjoys his homework, for now. He comes straight in the door from school and does whatever is on his list and gets it handled. I think maybe he loves to be able to check things off like his mom does! Poor kid, why is it they inherit the bad genes from us? He is also playing flag football. He is playing with most of his baseball buds from this past spring. It's fun to watch them learn a new sport together. Flag football is a little different from regular football, but he enjoys it regardless. I love to see his face when he scores a touchdown or pulls a flag! Priceless. He is also doing boy scouts. We just started a couple of weeks ago, but I think he likes it. Now, we are selling popcorn. Anyone want any?

LauraBeth is loving kindergarten. She is already reading, which is amazing to me. I'm sure having a big brother helped that one a bit! She writes and draws pictures every day. She's actually quite good at writing words the way they phonetically sound to her. For example, the other day she drew a picture of a picnic. It was complete with tablecloth, ants, and watermelon. Except she spelled it 'wotrmeln.' Apparently, that's pretty good spelling for her age, let's just hope by middle school that changes :). I have been planning on getting her registered for cheernastics, but just haven't made it to the place to sign her up. I know, I know, slacker mom! She's such a go with the flow kind of kid and for that I am very thankful! She is much like her dad when it comes to that. They are just sort of they type that are happy to be alive. It's refreshing and I should take notes. Anyway, she has made lots of new friends and absolutely loves Mrs. Keeney! We all do. I am very glad that she has had the opportunity of experiencing kindergarten with her. (I could go on for days about her teacher!)

Leah...what can I say about her? She is lots of fun and full of energy. She still doesn't play with her toys unless she is confined to a small area (like her bed) and given no other choice. She would rather turn the tv off and on and pull all of the bowls out of the cabinets! She stays with my mom and my great aunt while I go to school during the week. I know she keeps them busy, but she is a good baby. She is close to walking, but not yet. I fully expect it to be a while. The other two were almost 14 months. So, I'm not getting my hopes up. She says a few things...'mama', 'dada', 'bubba', 'that', 'Bax' (my mom's dog, except now all dogs get called this), and recently she has started babbling. She really is talking, at least she thinks so, but the rest of us have no idea what she is saying. If you reply to her with a 'what did you say?' she will repeat. So obviously, she thinks she is communicating. It's cute! She loves to eat and she loves yogurt! I'd have to say it's probably one of her favorites.

Barrett is such a big help these days. He has picked up a lot of slack for me. He is cooking for us and really stepping up with the kids so I can study. I am so fortunate that he is so supportive! Funny story about him cooking...the other night Cole asked me, "mom, when are you going to cook again?" We all just laughed and then I took the evening off from studying and cooked for him. He was excited to have green beans. If I had known that is all I had to do to get him to eat veggies! Anyway, I just have to say Barrett is such a wonderful husband and I can't thank him enough for all that he does!

Lastly, school for me is going well. So far I feel pretty good about it. We had to take a couple of math tests and had to make 90% on them to pass. I am over that hurdle! I know I said in an earlier post that my teacher indicated that A's were hard to get and she was right! It has been hard trying to teach myself new ways to think and learn. But as of right now, I do have an A average in my classes. That's even after I got a "C" on one test. Honestly though, I have never been happier to have a C. Really, I was just happy I didn't fail! I have a great group of friends that I study with every Thursday night and it has really helped as well. All of us are very much type A overachievers so we push each other. I feel like I have stepped out of my life and pressed pause for a moment. Although, I know nothing is really being paused. Each day that passes is one day closer to my goal. That's what I keep telling myself. This will all be worth it in the end!

Hopefully, that will get everyone up to date and maybe I'll have a chance this weekend to post some pics. Stay tuned...

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Soundtrack

So, if you're like me you love chick flicks. I love how they make you feel. For some reason they just have the perfect way of drawing you in to this make-believe world. I especially love the way I feel when a scene from the movie is set to some cool song. Songs are so wonderful at flooding us with emotion. I have often wondered what it would be like if my life was set to a song. A soundtrack of sorts. You know, like a theme song.

It's been a rather full last few days and my poor family had no food in the house, so tonight, after the kids went to bed, I went grocery shopping. I'm not sure why we attach the word shopping to it because to me that is not shopping. Anyway, I had my ipod in the car and decided to listen to it while I walked through the store. It was like being in a movie! My life, well the part at Wal-Mart, finally had a soundtrack. I picked my playlist entiltled "favorites" and just got lost in all the music. It actually made something that I absolutely loathe, quite bearable. Not to mention, sometimes I forgot I was at the store and would catch myself singing a little too loud.

I'm sure you are now wondering what is this randomness all about. Well, just to say, enjoy the small seemingly mundane moments. It seems like those are the times, if we get quiet, He speaks to us. You see, on my ipod there is a compilation of a wide variety of music and artists, but on my favorites list it's mostly praise and worship music. So my little moment at Wal-Mart was more than just grocery shopping. It was a really neat experience where I watched the world around me happen, but was oblivious. I wasn't tuned in to anything else. So, for whatever it's worth I wanted to share. You should try it some time...I think it was the first time I went to buy groceries and there was zero frustration...I didn't even care that there were only two registers open. That just meant more soundtrack for me!


Psalms 40:3 (MSG)
He taught me how to sing the latest God-song, a praise-song to our
God. More and more people are seeing this: they enter the mystery,
abandoning themselves
to God.

Goodbye All...

Title gotcha right? That was the point! Anyway, I started Nursing school this week. It's exciting, overwhelming, impossible, and completely invigorating all at the same time. I am totally loving being in school and learning...I know, big nerd! I wanted to post this to say goodbye to all of you who know me...apparently, this will be my life for the next five semesters. So, I hope you will all forgive me if I don't return phone calls, don't come to events, and have a glazed over look all the time. Those are the signs and symptoms (new phrase I learned today) of a nursing student. Right now, I am just trying to process a lot of information and I am trying to figure out how people do this. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger, right? Those of you who know me, know I am very much a type A person. So yesterday, when my teacher said..."if you are used to getting A's, get over it," I was shocked, disappointed, and scared. What does she mean, get over it? I have always been quite critical of myself when it comes to grades and have rather high expectations. I am trying to let her words sink in...so far they aren't. I don't like it when people tell me I can't do something. Nonetheless, I will try my best to prove this teacher wrong and try to adapt the motto of all my nursing mentors.........RN=C! Not quite Einstein's formula, but one I will have to grow to like. I'll keep you posted.....and maybe I will see all of you again in 2010!

Friday, August 15, 2008

Anyone for a game of cards?

I just had to post this! Yesterday Cole was doing something, don't really remember what, but I was having to get on to him for something. He has been looking forward to a big olympics party tonight with all of his buddies from school and so I told him that he wasn't going to the party if he didn't play his cards right. He then said...."what cards are you talking about?" Of course then the whole seriousness of the moment was gone and Barrett and I roared with laughter. Kids say the funniest things! I love their honesty!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Toys...who needs toys?

So this is what she does. She has lots of toys, I mean lots, but the only time she ever touches them is if she is emptying them onto the floor. You can see from the pictures below what she does. We call her destructo. She moves from one thing to the next "undoing". Not sure what the fascination is, but you can't stop her. Just as soon as you get one mess cleaned up she's on to the next. I only caught her in the act of this first one, but the rest of the pics are what she leaves behind.
She pulls off the letters on the fridge one by one and chunks them as far as she can!
This is the extent she plays with her toys. Notice the basket is totally empty. Usually she is up on her knees throwing the toys over her shoulder one at a time until her mission is accomplished.
She loves electronics. Phones, remotes you name it she's intrigued. Just after I snapped this picture I had to hang up the phone because she had dialed numbers and it was ringing. I hope it wasn't long distance!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

First day

So I officially have 2 children in school. WOW! Can't believe I'm that old or is it that just time flies? Either way today Cole started first grade and LB started kindergarten. My how the time has flown. Here are a few pics of the big day! It was nice that Cole already knew what to do and could lead LB around. I asked both of them what their favorite thing about today was. Cole said playing games and lunch. (Gotta love boys and the fact that food is always near the top). LB said she loved the bus because there were no seatbelts! Of all the things that make kindergarten, or really school in general, fun I never would have thought it would be no seatbelts on the bus. So here begins another chapter in the Edgeworth household...







Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Long Time No Post

Thought I would post these fun pictures of Leah and her first time with spaghetti. Check out the picture of her diaper and all the spaghetti in it!






Monday, July 14, 2008

Last NH post

These are the last bit of pictures from our trip. I'll quit now, but I just wanted to share the boat pics!





This is not from the boat, but such a great pic of LB and Jean! This was the day we left.