"McDonald's should make these"

That is one of the things my children said today when I whipped up some of these for dinner...

Who would have thought that a couple of potatoes and some oil would bring me such accolades!!!

Hangin' In

I am still here...hanging in the best I can.

We are gearing up for the start of school in a week from tomorrow. My baby will be going to kindergarten. I can't believe he will be climbing the bus steps with his brother...sigh!

Hannah will be going to middle school...a newly built school.

We have "meet-n-greet" and orientation this week.

I have been somewhat absent on my blog because I am afraid I would be too negative.

Life is hard right now...I can't lie. I look forward to moving to the next chapter because this one has sucked!!

I am going to try to enjoy the last week of summer vacation with the kids, maybe even try to do something fun (and cheap).

I will try some positive updates this week.

Small package with a BIG impact!

12 years ago today at 7:17am we were blessed to become parents for the first time to

Hannah Elizabeth

5lbs 13ozs

18 inches long

She was so tiny, but her spirit was and continues to be HUGE.

What a pure blessing she has been and I can't wait to see what her future holds.

This is Hannah today, holding the dress we brought her home in. We didn't know whether we were having a boy or a girl, so we had bought a dress and a little onesie for a boy. We weren't expecting her to arrive almost 3 weeks early, so the dress was HUGE. Pete went with his mom to get something to bring her home in and he bought the frilly little preemie dress.

Hannah,

Happy Birthday Boo, I hope you know how much we love you!! You changed our lives and you continue to bring so much happiness to us. You are so beautiful and I can't wait to see where life leads you.

Happy Birthday

I want to wish my husband a very HAPPY 41st BIRTHDAY!!

We will be having the big July birthday family party next Saturday, but today we will have a quiet celebration with some neighbors.

Hannah and Davis called this morning from Florida to sing Happy Birthday and Matt and I are doing our best to make him feel special today (on a budget). We made him blueberry pancakes and we have a small cheesecake for him. We will go to the pool this evening for some hot dogs and margaritas. I need to run to the store so I can whip up some quick "burgers"

Pete,

I hope you have a great birthday and that you know how very much you are loved!!!

Love,
Sally, Hannah, Davis and Matty

Empty Nest...Almost

We are actually getting a taste of having an only child for a little over 10 days because Hannah and Davis went with Pete's mom's house in Florida.

Right now it feels pretty good!! Matt is so GOOD when he is by himself. I guess he has spent time by himself when Hannah and Dave were in school. We have tried to take him to the pool the last two days but the pool has been CLOSED for maintenance (I guess we have a super special maintenance team since we can't even see them doing any work). It is supposed to open tomorrow...we will see!!

Thankfully we have a playground in the neighborhood that Matt enjoys. We also ran some errands yesterday, like getting the truck inspected, tags renewed and getting Pete's driver's license renewed.

Tonight Pete has a job opportunity that he is going to apply for. I hate to jinx anything, so I will just ask for prayers that he does what he needs to do when he needs to do it. Although it has been nice to spend so much time together, it is getting a little tense around here!!

As always, any spare prayers you could send His way on my behalf would be greatly appreciated. I continue to try to stay positive, but it is getting harder every day.

The number 8

Where does the time go????

My incredible gift from God turns EIGHT today.

I wonder if he knows how much we love him.

I wonder if he knows that he saved me.

I wonder why we were given such a GIFT.

I wonder what he will be like when he doubles in age.

Happy Birthday Davis!!! We would be so empty without you!

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His party went well yesterday.

The "dessert" turned out great and actually tasted just as great!!

This "Hamburger" is a brownie and cupcake and the "Fries" are sugar cookies. We also had "ketchup" for the "fries".

I hope you enjoy a glimpse into his special day...

Anticipation

In less than 3 hours we will be celebrating Davis' 8th birthday with his friends at the pool.

Tomorrow is his birthday, but he will be going with a friend to a mini-vacation for the night (I know - I am trying to remember what a great opportunity it is for him and that I will see him again on Friday).

8 years ago today we did the same thing....my family gathered at our neighborhood pool in anticipation of the scheduled c-section the next day when we would meet our miracle.

Davis has fulfilled our dreams and MORE!!

I hope all goes well today and that my boy enjoys his party. I wish the purse strings weren't so tight, but we have managed to pull some stuff together that will make his party memorable. I think his biggest surprise will be when his cousins (Lou and No-No) show up....he has no idea they are coming.

I will post pictures tomorrow!!!