Life

The few of you who read my blog know that I haven't posted anything in about 2 months! Wow! I would like to apologize...its not like I have had anything else going on!

Since October 3rd (my last post) things have been a little crazy, so this update may come in a few installments. The weekend I went with my parents to the Miss. St./ LSU game my Mom told me about a cyst she had in her brain. At that point we thought it was this little tiny thing that was just there, like it had always been.  October 8th we learned different.  That little tiny cyst was actually the size of a ping pong ball and the doctor said it had to be removed. My Mom was going to have BRAIN SURGERY.

I didn't even know what to do.  I couldn't do anything from Columbia but I wanted to. It was shocking. Pretty quickly I moved from shock to doing everything I could to not stop and think about it. I went home to Knoxville for a long weekend filled with friends then back to Columbia.  The next weekend Mom would come to visit me and then we would go to Charleston for the weekend. This trip had been planned since I moved in August and it was really good for the both of us that it was still able to happen.

It was pretty cold and wet all weekend but we still had a great time! We visited Fort Sumter, where the civil war began, and of course I loved.  An island out in the middle of Charleston Harbor filled with original artifacts! Can it get too much cooler, I think not!
We also went to Middleton Place, which is gorgeous and I can't wait to go back in the spring.

We parted ways Sunday and I got things together in Columbia to return to Knoxville for a week.  Blake's Mom lives close so she came to watch the kids when I left for the surgery.

Meanwhile, at the house, the kids were pretty good. We had talked a little about Mom and that she was sick and that I had to go home when they "fix her head" which sounds funny to say but that's how they understand.  Paxton was very busy finishing up his flag football and they were all really excited about Halloween! Paxton was a gorilla (kinda scary I should say), Remi was Spiderman and Ivy was Tinkerbell.  They had a great time and are still talking about it today, and what they are going to be next year.

Tuesday, October 27th I drove home.  The Sunday before there was a rockslide on the TN/NC  line which meant I had to find an alternate route.  Stupid rockslide! My new route added at least an hour to my drive, and the really bad new is that they do not expect to have it repaired until February!!!! It stinks, alot.  So I eventually got home and enjoyed watching TV and talking to Mom a little.  The next morning was the surgery.  Mom's twin sister, Karen, got there a little later and then it was time to go to bed.  I don't know if any of us got much sleep that night, you can't help but think about the worst in that time, and that can really make you toss and turn.

Mom had to be at the hospital at 6:30am the morning of the surgery.  We got up and went with her.  At about 7am we said goodbye to her and I don't know when or if we'll ever see the same Sharon we all know and love again.  That was a long day, needless to say.  Not just because we got up early, time crept along that day. There were two options in the surgery, getting the cyst out through an endoscopy, which is much less invasive, and a craniotomy.  They called and told us the endoscopy wasn't going to work at about 10:30am and they were starting the craniotomy, which is taking a piece of her skull out to get to the cyst.  That was a major blow to us and in that moment we knew how different things really were going to be.  But we didn't quite know how.
I am fortunate to have the support of great godly friends who were really there for me that day.  They talked me down when needed.  I am blessed to have my friend Susie who came all the way out to the hospital to pick me up and take me to lunch that day, and talk about stuff other than the surgery.  Mom is thankful that I have her too.

Geaux Tigers!

I am sitting this afternoon enjoying my usual Saturday activity, Football!!! The Tigers play in a few hours against Georgia followed by Auburn at Tennessee, so my day is pretty much booked ; ).  I realized I haven't updated in a few weeks so here's a quick review of the last 2 or so weeks.
  The honeymoon is over here in the house.  After a month, the kids know me and are no longer scared of me which means... its time to test Katie!!! And since the twins are 4, they believe they can do everything. For real, everything, including say...cutting up their own apple or climbing up on the counter to get something heavy from the cupboard.  While I like their independence and "Yes I can" attitude, its a little scary at times and keeps me on my toes or makes me want to run away! I am still in the process of making connections so I am at home all the time.  I am really missing going to class with lots of other young adults and being in the student section of football games and just hanging out with friends.  I know, its only been a little over a month but I am having withdrawls!  There are some fun  "singles" events I am looking forward to with the church. We will be having an 80s dodgeball night then a few weeks later a fall festival with BBQ, square dancing and more! I love those kind of things and can' t wait for those fun times.
In the midst of my friend withdrawls I was pleasantly surprised to receive 2 texts from good friends just to say Hi! and a wall post on my facebook all yesterday morning! That really brightened my day!
I also have decided that I would like to try to do the praise team here in Columbia.  I miss it, alot.  Its been about 2 months since I have really sung and I just don't know how much longer I can go!  The email has been sent and I'll see what happens!
Last weekend Mom, Dad and I traveled to Starkvegas, MS (Starkville) to watch LSU play at Mississippi State.  We watched the weather all week hoping for no rain and the night before it looked like it was going to be nice.  When we woke up the next morning we realized the weather man was wrong.  The game was a 12:20.  It rained from about 9am to 1:30 or so.  Needless to say, we got pretty wet.  By the end of the game the sun was out and if the game went much longer we would have been getting sunburns!  The game was a bit closer than we would have liked it to be but we won! We had a great time at the game and I really enjoyed spending a weekend with my parents.  Since they have raised 2 kids I can talk to them about what I am doing here in Columbia and can give me advice on some things.  We also just have fun together and laugh alot : ).
Paxton had his first flag football game this week.  I have never seen youth flag football before but let me tell ya, its a hoot!  They are so funny to watch as they learn to play as a single player and together as a team.  Paxton's team lost the game but Paxton did great! He won the defensive award for his team for hitting down a pass by the other team!  He is very smart and knows a lot about football so when his team mates do things he knows are wrong he gets frustrated with them.  We have to remind him they are learning and that he can help them learn.

Another fun thing this week was the frog we found! One day, when we got home from school Remi came running out the bathroom saying "Katie, you gotta come see this!".  This is a little boy running out the bathroom so I wasn't sure what was going to happen but, there it was, a frog on top of toilet inside the tissue box.  We aren't sure how it got inside but it was pretty cool! They wanted to keep it but I convinced them that it was better for our little friend to go back outside. 
Next weekend the family will travel to Ohio for Patty's high school reunion and I will.... I don't know what I'll do. I may go to Knoxville, I could just enjoy an empty house : ). 

The Beach and more thinking on my new life

My first adventure to Myrtle Beach happened about a week ago but I am still feeling its effects (the sunburn on my back!) It was a retreat with the singles ministry at the church I have been trying out. I really enjoyed it. We mostly had free time which meant alot of walking on the beach (which some of you know I love so very much) and hanging out together in our rooms. There was a team competition in which each team had to put on a talent in a talent show and build a sandcastle. The weekend's theme was courage so my team re-wrote the classic RESPECT to be COURAGE, just think about it, it fits : ) We were team awkward turtle so we built an AWESOME turtle in our sandcastle contest and we won the whole thing! I was very excited : D That meant that our team got to go out to a steak dinner with the leaders while everyone else got money to buy something for dinner at walmart. We also made a stop at Ben & Jerry's : D.

While I didn't get much sleep over the weekend I did come back feeling rested. I made a few new friends and learned alot about myself, being in a place where no one knew me. This group of people is very laid back and really love the Lord, which is the kind of group I need to be in. I am contemplating looking into joining the worship team at church or if I should just enjoy Sunday School and Worship like I haven't for so long...

Since my last post the Twin's have started school consistently; Monday, Tuesday; and Wednesday mornings. I didn't realize how much faster the day goes by when you have so much to do! We have a very busy schedule with the only real down time after Paxton gets home in the afternoon. The big plus to this is that not only do they get to go and be with other kids and work on letters and such, I get a couple of hours to myself every morning : ). It is so much easier to clean a bathroom without kids getting into stuff in the other room. And I now have a much bigger appreciation for Mom's ( especially if they do not have wonderful help like me!)

The next week brings a trip home Thursday evening followed by going to see the Tigers play Mississippi State on Saturday! then home again for church on Sunday! While I have found a good church that I am learning from and enjoying, I still miss my church in Knoxville and can't wait to get back there! That weekend is also my Mom's birthday and of course FOOTBALL!! It made me sad to see Tennessee run through the T the other day and I wasn't there anymore. Its not even like I'm a big fan or anything, I just love the atmosphere, it is so much fun! Next weekend in Mississippi should be great and I am really looking forward to probably the only football game I will get to this year. I do get to see Paxton play football, maybe I will watch a future Eric Berry : )

Love and miss you guys out there!

ATuna DaTada!

This translates to Hakuna Matata, in Ivy speak : ).

You know me, I love music and I love Disney so we listen to LOTS of Disney music. They love Hakuna Matata, The Bare Necessities (from The Jungle Book) and I am happy to have introduced them to The Un-Birthday Song from Alice in Wonderland! These songs are much better than that Kid's Bop stuff. The family went to visit Blake's brother this weekend so I had about 3 days to myself. Saturday included football and food. That was it really : ). I also slept alot this weekend!

I am happy to report that I am enjoying church so far. I have been going to the church they attend, Shandon Baptist here in Columbia. They have a fairly big 20 something/singles ministry. Since I am 20 something and extremely single, it works out : ). So I go to their Sunday school then to their contemporary worship service which is really fun. The pastor is a great speaker and there are very talented musicians involved. This weekend I will be attending the single's retreat in Myrtle Beach. First of all, I GET TO GO TO THE BEACH! and hopefully I will be meeting people and making friendships, you know, with people over 4 feet tall : ). Today I told the twins I was going to the beach this weekend to meet people taller than them and Remi said I wasn't allowed. I am only allowed to make friends with people like him and Ivy, short and 4 years old. So cute! I would ask that you would pray for me in that situation. I am excited but nervous, I don't do well in these new situations generally since I am not one to go and introduce myself. You could pray that I would be bold in that situation and just go for it, I need to have friends here. NEED.

I am also happy to report that homework in general is going much better. He is starting football so when he's got something to look forward to he gets things done. Paxton is very smart, but very distracted! : )

Here is a picture from the summer with 3 of my best friends who I am missing greatly right now. From L- Beth, Emily and Leigh- all friends from CRU and ones I would go to with anything.
I got so used to being with friends and people who know me that you begin to take them for granted but when you are spread all over the East coast (soon to be world) you realize how much they were a part of your life before and how much you miss them now!

Gotta go now! Homework time!
Oh, and please Pray for my retreat! You will get an update on that as soon as I can get to a computer with internet! : )

Katie

Insurance, penguins, birthdays and school

My first full week with the kids all by myself was a success. Exhausting, but a success. Last week we had many errands to run. I had to get my new insurance in order and let me tell you, that is not as easy as I thought it should be, at least it wasn't for me! The kids and I got to know our State Farm agent pretty well : ). They even started to enjoy going by there because of the candy! Finally I got that all worked out. I also had to change bank. As luck would have it, the person helping me was brand new. I was her very first customer! Needless to say that took a little while but at least these places offer candy and something to color.
Besides all those fun errands, we visited the zoo. The Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia is another fantastic place that I really enjoyed, so do the kids. Their favorite is the penguin exhibit. You can get right up close to them swimming in the water, its like you are in the tank with them! If I didn't pull them away we could have stayed there the whole day! All of the exhibits are fun though. As soon as Paxton found out about my great fear of snakes we had to spend a good amount of time in the reptile house and it was necessary for them to point out every big and especially scary snake. NOT my favorite. The other big part of the week was school. Paxton started the second grade on Thursday and so far hasn't showed much excitement, to me anyway. And let me just say to the educators out there, 7 year olds have way too much homework! He doesn't have the attention span for all that! Neither do I!

Yesterday was the twins 4th birthday, which took them a while to figure out : ). I asked them all day "How old are you?" and sometimes I would get 4 but mostly it was 3. Tomorrow we are having a party at Chuckie Cheese so they believe they aren't 4 until their party. Grandmas and Grandpas from out of town and a few friends will all be there, it will be a nap day, for sure. We must not be cranky for company, any of us. Other wise our days are full of whatever they feel like. We get dressed up, pretend to be monkies, frogs, whatever can jump around, and are so tired by dinner time we can hardly function!

On that note I must end because now that I am up with two 4 year olds everyday at 6:30am, I have a bedtime : D and that time is getting near. Still trying to meet people, any people who aren't under 18 so your prayers in that area would be appreciated. Thanks friends! And feel free to call, comment, email whenever. Especially if you have any ideas about how to semi-painlessly get through homework with a 2nd grader.

Day One

Well, I made it through the first 24 hours, with the helpful training by the summer nanny, Staci. The family will really miss her, she is FABULOUS. We visited the Children's museum in town, Edventure, but the kids call it Big Ed's cause there is a HUMONGOUS boy named Ed inside. You get to go inside of him and see his stomach, heart, and brain! I thought it was pretty cool : ) Hopefully the kids do not get bored with that because I could do that once a month at least! Here is a pic of Paxton (7) and Ivy (3) in the fire truck and below is Ed.


After that we had lunch then visited the state house, where the South Carolina house and senate meet. I'm a dork so of course I loved it. There were beautiful paintings of all sorts of historic people inside and the architecture was just fantastic. As we walked around outside the building in the middle of downtown Columbia I couldn't help but notice how beautiful the grounds were and found myself in disbelief that this is now where I live! I am very excited to explore some more in and around Columbia and can't wait till I can make it down to Charleston! (only about 2 hours away : D )
This picture is all three kids (Paxton, Ivy and Remi) with Staci at the State House.



This is the view downtown from the State House, there are statues all
around.
This week, Paxton starts school. Oh, to be in 2nd grade again : ).

It's Getting Closer

Today I met the family. The kids were adorable, as expected. They sat at the table and for 3 years old were very well behaved. All three were pretty quiet, I figure I will see the louder side of them before I know it. Patty, my Mom boss (MB) keeps saying how she is amazed at how God has provided for her (me!) and I am more and more convinced of the same.

I admit, I am nervous. The longest conscecutive time I have ever been away from people I know is 5 weeks, much less than a year. I don't know how this is not God putting this opportunity in my life but Debbie Doubter in me keeps this fear that the whole thing is going to be terrible and I can't believe I took this job, etc.... Like I said, the Devil. Since "the call"
( I may refer to this often as it was an important part of my life so let me explain. "The call" as I refer to it, is the call I got from Campus Crusade telling me that I'm "not ready" to go on staff. You can probably tell that I don't believe that and am quite frankly angry about it. ) Anyway, since "the call" I have had a hard time with the Devil. He's getting to me and it has been very hard for me to combat this spiritual warfare. I guess I have almost been trying to ignore it, and I've gotten pretty good but I know I can't do that forever. One day, probably when I am very busy with the kids, it will really get to me but I will have to deal.

I will be moving down there on August 12. I will have one whole day with the summer Nanny and then 3 days over the weekend with the family before I start. Then I will have about a week of summer before school starts and the whole schedule changes!

That's about all I've got for now. Next, probably my thoughts on finding a church by myself. Another topic that makes me nervous : )