A glimpse of single parenthood...(and I don't like it one bit!)

Jonathan flew to Canada yesterday on business and will return to the US some time tomorrow. I have had to work every day this week, due to our mandatory "call time," and my kids have worn their babysitters out!!!
Last night was a challenge getting the twins to sleep as they both just had to be rocked at the same time! Then, at 4am, they both woke up crying for Mommy! Paige has slept through the night for practically her entire life but for some reason, she always picks nights when I am the only parent home to wake up and cry to be held! I ended up with two boys in my bed who both like to sleep sideways and right up against me! (...and here I thought I was going to have the entire bed to myself while Jonathan was out of town!!) :(
My phone rang before 6am today saying they needed me to come into work so I hurriedly got ready and drug 3 sleeping kids with "dragon breath" out of bed and into a chilly vehicle. Off to Grandma's until Mommy could leave work! Grandma had to take Parker to school and drag the twins with her. Papa filled in for Daddy and met Parker at school for lunch and brought him home! (Thanks so much Grandma and Papa for your help today!)
I ran our taxes to our tax man and hurried back home once again in hopes to lay the twins down for a nap. Paige dozed in the car and she refused to nod off again once we got home.
Jonathan had scheduled a 5:30pm hair cut appointment in Franklin, In and was conveniently out of the country tonight! Therefore, I got the pleasure of taking three rambunctious children to the appointment. I was completely stressed out the entire time and was so glad she was running on time for a change!!! I got completely embarrassed when Parker announced to her and the entire salon that his mommy likes to take baths but when she does "she gets hair all over the tub!" I wanted to walk out right then and there!
Like any normal, single parent, we grabbed fast food on the way home and are about ready to call it a day!
Oh how we miss Daddy around here. I am completely bored with no adult conversation and ready to pull my hair out due to being cooped up with 3 wild children!
The good news... it has finally warmed up and Parker is now playing baseball outside instead of throwing a tennis ball at my front door from the family room!
Have a great weekend. I am getting another year older in a few hours... I think I have popped out several more gray hairs this week too!

Nite all!

Happy Birthday Paula!

(Paula and Karen vacationing in Beech Bend, Kentucky)

My cousin, Paula and I are a whole 4 days apart! Our mom's are 1st cousins and grew up as close friends. Paula and I never grew up together but we have some great memories of family get together's and family vacations together! We also have some "not so great" memories like the time she and I were almost kidnapped by a grown man while we were camping in Bowling Green, Kentucky! (Now that is a scary story...) Paula is now pregnant with her 7th boy and lives states away. (I cannot believe we are only 4 days apart and she has that many more children than me! More power to you Paula Ann!!!) We rarely see each other but will never forget those good ole' days of camping together, etc! Hope you have a wonderful Birthday Paula! I was thinking of you today! I thought I would share with you a couple of hilarious pictures of she and I together! We thought we were real beauty queens... :)

(Real babes, huh??? Like my "stone washed skirt?")

Happy #3rd Birthday also to my cousin, Amelia Thompson. Check out my Mom's Blog for a tribute to her!

Change in plans...

Well, the weather man hit the nail on the head for once and we got the snow they were predicting! Unfortunately, Cincinnati got an actual blizzard and the Collingsworth concert had to be cancelled. So...we had a quiet weekend at home and just vegged out for a change. The roads were better by Saturday evening. I developed some serious cabin fever and dug out and drove myself to the mall! Half the stores were closed due to weather but I didn't mind. :) It was just a nice break.
Parker had fun in the snow but we didn't get a snowman built. The snow was real powder like so it didn't pack well. Jonathan lucked out and our wonderful neighbor came over and cleaned off our driveway with his snow blower! (Jonathan got out later and got him a gas card! Maybe the neighbor will help us out again sometime!! :)
This coming week promises to be extremely busy! I have a possibility of working 6 days out of 7 and the only one being truly "off" is my birthday! I am sure I will be all nice and relaxed by then! :o) We don't have big plans, just a dinner with family. I am getting too old and boring. I can't even think of a thing I need!
Did you all remember to set you clocks forward last night??? A friend of mine thought she was doing great this morning and was ready "early" and decided to go check her email! Luckily, I had written her a note last night and I had ended it with "Don't forget to Spring forward tonight!!!" When she read it, it was really 8:50am and her entire family was still in bed asleep! She went running upstairs and they all got ready in record time. They even beat us to church! (That isn't anything unusual though!)
(I've tried 3 times now to upload some pictures of our snow this weekend but Blogger isn't cooperating! Thus, a post without pictures! Sorry!!! )
Have a good week and I hear warmer weather is on it's way! Yea!!!!!!!!!

Pick your favorite...

This coming Saturday, we are heading to Cincinnati, no matter how deep the snow or water, to hear my favorite group perform!!!!! The Collingsworth Family will be recording a live video taping and we were able to get tickets to see this grand performance! (They gave away all of their tickets in the first 24 hours and told me I was the first one to email them asking for tickets!) I am such a groupie... :) We are taking Parker but felt the twins might be a little distractive on the taping! My parents are going with us and by pure luck, we are sitting together!
So...I want to know, what is your favorite Collingsworth song? I have a really hard time narrowing it down to one favorite. I guess I can say that my all time favorite would be "God is in the Shadows." Now it's your turn...

Heroes of Faith

Yesterday in our Jr Church, we started a new theme! We are discussing Everyday Heroes as well as Heroes of the Bible! We had a guest speaker that was an Indiana State Policeman! The kids loved hearing him speak and were especially excited when he let them sit in his police car, showed them his equipment, gave them badge stickers, color books, etc! I was able to snap several pictures of the kids enjoying their time with the policeman! Thanks so much Jason for coming and talking to the kids! They loved it and we really appreciate your time! We have several other guest speakers scheduled over the next two months so I will try to post some of them as well! You may know some of them!
We won't be able to attend the Bus Convention in Pennsylvania this year, but would love to be able to attend and come back more encouraged and fired up! I hear next year it will be close to us so we will have to make plans to attend!

Front of Jr ChurchOffering jackets and hats

My cousin, Kevin Thompson, taking up offering

Showing them how his Billyclub works
My nephew Carter and niece Kerrigan
Parker in the driver's seatEnjoying his time with the Policeman
Jonathan with friend, Jason Duncan