Complete Exhaustion

I am beginning to realise that my son tends to sleep in awkward places/positions.

Also, if you have not seen the link to the sidebar of my blog about the MckFamily, please click or use the link mycharmingkids.net
Baby Stellan and MckMama need lots of prayers right now.

One Big, Huge Update

Since our hard drive crash, I have been reluctant to upload pictures, but I bit the bullet, so here they are..

First, we have two new family members, Tippi and Luma, named after none other than Super Mario Bros. characters. After we lost our cat of 13 years, John kept saying we need a new outside cat. Well, Aliya's girl scout leader coincidentally emailed that they found 4 baby kitties on her doorstep. John then decided he wanted the two girls, and there ya go.



Tippi is the Tabi and Luma is black and white. They are both very sweet girls. We have had them for a little over 2 weeks and it is amazing to see how much they have grown. The picture was from back when we just got them, they are now bouncing off the walls in my sunroom.

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Last week, John and I finally bagged the leaves that have been accumulating in the back yard since the start of fall. They were horrible, and we both just couldn't take it anymore. While John was gone to get gas for the mower, Joshie decided it was his turn to do some yardwork.




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Christmas was actually wonderful this year. We had everyone over to our house and didn't have to rush around like previous years. The kids got to open and enjoy their toys, it was just wonderful.

On Christmas Eve, we did drive out to John's Aunt Darlene's house for Christmas with her and her family. We stayed for a bit, until John John drove us insane with "Can we open more presents?" We finally came home and let the kids open their one present. The older two got Super Mario Bros. pjs and Joshie got a hammer/peg wooden toy.







Then, they got a bath, brushed their teeth, laid out the cookies that we made earlier for Santa, threw the reindeer food in the yard, posed for one last picture, and went to bed.



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Christmas morning, before bright and early. Aliya came in our room at 4:30. I had told her that I was not getting out of my bed until 6:00, so she laid in bed for an hour and a half watching A Christmas Story. Finally at 5:59, we got everyone up and downstairs to the tree. John John is not a morning person, and was very upset about being up so early.

Aliya, being the Christmas Pro she is, dove right in to her presents from Santa. She got Mario Kart DS and a Mario DS lunchbox to store her DS. She got a ton of other stuff, most of which revolved around Mario. But, she also got a new bike.






John John sat amongst the presents, determined to not open a thing until he was good and ready.



Joshie dove right in with a little help from Daddy. He got a Little People Parking Garage and a ride on bulldozer.



Finally, John John was ready to open his presents. He was super excited that Santa brought him his own Nintendo DS, so now he didn't have to steal sissy's and hide behind the couch and play.





Then the kids played with all of their new toys, and Aliya rode her new bike, which I didn't get any pictures of, but I did get a video with my new Flip Video Camera John got for me.




Then my dad, step mom and brother came over and we exchanged gifts. I also slacked on any picture taking, but Granny D took plenty of pics with her new camera, so if I get those, I will add them.
Aliya got a digital video camera, sweet! John John got a smart cycle and Joshie got a bunch of cars, which is his favorite.

Later, my mom and step dad and Nana came over and we had our Christmas Lunch. It was delicious. Later, we did none other than open more gifts. I finally remembered to pull out my camera and got a few shots. Aliya got the Hannah Montana guitar game, and John John and Joshie got a wagon.





The kids passed out early that night, John John was on the couch, done.



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And I just had to add this cause it was super funny. Last night, as John and I were heading up to bed, we found John John asleep on the stairs. I guess they were more comfy than his bed.




Whew! That was alot. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.

Photo Tag

Ok, I was tagged by my girl Lucie.
Since our computer is not currently working, (thank you Joshie for tipping it over) and I cannot access my actual picture folder, I am using my photobucket account.

First the rules...
1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer
4th photobucket folder is Belly Pics from Joshie

2) Select the 4th picture in the folder
Belly shot at 20 weeks

3) Explain the picture
This was back in January 2007 I believe, around the time I was 20 weeks with him. I cannot believe he is already 18 months old :(


4) Tag 4 people to do the same NO CHEATING!
(cropping, editing, etc!)
1. AJ
2. Kristin
3. Kyla
4. Sheree

Wordless Wednesday-worded edition

So much has gone on the past week, it is hard to keep up. John started a new job. He now works in Gainesville, and not in the house (lucky). He works 4 days a week, 10 hour days, plus 2 hours of driving each day. So, needless to say, I am working harder too.

I am also sick today. It's a combination of sore throat, sinus pressure, cough and stress.

I met with John John's teacher today. He was accepted into the Occupational Therapy program at his school. His small muscle tone is still very weak, and although he has made tremendous progress the last 6 months, we have decided that it is still needed. He had his first class today and I am sure he had a blast.

My baby brother, who is not actually a baby, but 21, graduates from college on Saturday. I am so proud of him. He is getting his Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering. We are driving down to Tampa with Aliya to see him. My mom is going to watch the boys for us.

Family Photos

A few weeks ago, my buddy Lucie had a portrait party. The photographer was Lori Robison, and she was fantastic! I had to tell her how appreciative I was because we have not had a great family pic in...ever. Someone is always crying or blinking or not sitting still. It's just a pain usually, but Lori was great. So, if you are in Jacksonville and looking for a great photographer, hit her up.
Now for the pics...

In Memory of Kaye Sarman

I apologize in advance. I haven't felt like blogging in a few weeks. Things are hard right now, and just emphasized more by the holidays.

I wanted to write today about my Mother in Law, Kaye Sarman. She passed away 3 years ago today because of lung cancer. She smoked for 30+ years.

She was a wonderful person. Probably one of the most outgoing, friendly, caring and loving people ever. Although we didn't agree on everything, we respected each others opinions, she was my mother in law.

Ms. Kaye, as everyone called her, was diagnosed with lung cancer on Friday, May 13th, 2005. I will never forget that day. Just that previous Saturday, we celebrated Aliya's 3rd birthday up at a local park. I knew she was in alot of pain, and had been for some time. She finally caved in and went to the hospital that Monday I believe. They tested her for days, thinking it was one thing, trying out different medication. Finally, we got the news that Friday. The Dr. told us it was terminal. I was actually in the room with John John, as well as her sister Sue, when we were told. I remember she turned to me and asked me "What should I do?" I looked down at John John and I told her to fight. And she did.




The next several months were horrible for her. She went through many rounds of chemotherapy. She cut her hair off. One of her sisters from Arkansas moved in to help care for her. And all the while, John's dad was there by her side. We were all praying for a miracle.


One day while we were visiting with Ms. Kaye, she turned to me and told me "When I die, I want to come back as you and John's third kid." That sorta threw me for a loop because we weren't planning on any more kids, and I wasn't ready to hear "When I die" spoken yet.

Thanksgiving, 2005. We had planned on having it at my house, but since Ms. Kaye was very weak, we were going to have it at her house, so she could be comfortable. The night before, all of us kids showed up at the house. Ms. Kaye was laying in bed, in lots of pain, and we piled up all the grandbabies on the bed and got a quick picture. That was the last picture of them all together. That night, she sorta seemed out of the loop, not quite all there. Something wasn't right.


The next day, Thanksgiving, John's dad took Ms. Kaye to the hospital, for the last time. We all went to their home and made Thanksgiving dinner like we had planned. Then we loaded it up and took it to the hospital to be with her. That was the last night she could talk to us.

The next week and a half seems like a dream. We practically lived up at the hospital. We watched John's mom slowly fade away in that hospital bed. The night of December 2nd, John came home to sleep in our bed. He hadn't been home in many days. We got a call that morning, the 3rd at 3am. His mom had passed. We both knew when the phone rang. We laid in bed and held each other and cried.

She was so amazing.

Time for another change

in hair color I mean.

This time I have extensions in. My hair doesn't hold certain colors and it fades. So, I went with extensions, they will not fade. Let me just tell you, some people (like my parents) are gonna freak! John loves it though.



The actual color

I've been tagged

Rule #1: Link to Kristin who tagged me. Yes, I was tagged before, but I forgot to, so I am making it up now.

Rule #2:
1. I think I have some sort of OCD. Things have to be done a certain way or it will drive me crazy!

2. I like to have crazy/different/odd highlights done in my hair. I think it is a rebellious thing I do just to drive my mom crazy...who probably also has a form of OCD.

3. I bought the book "The Memory Keepers Daughter" in hopes of reading it. I've only made it through the first 2 chapters and I can't seem to pick it up anymore. It just didn't catch me and hold me, ya know?

4. I drive a minivan. Not out of want, but out of necessity. But I swear I do not have a soccer ball on the back.

5. My favorite color is purple. It used to be blue when I was young and has morphed into purple as I've gotten older. It is now an eggplant color.

6. I have severe stomach ulcers that I can't seem to get rid of. They started out after I had John John and have not gotten better. I can somewhat control them with medication, but that gets hard and expensive to keep up with. I obviously live a high stress life, LOL.

7. My initials are ASS. I think it is super funny, so I named Aliya he name so she could carry on the crazy initials too. Honestly, John and I wanted to name her Aliya, and her middle name is Selene after my dead sister, so it worked out that way too.


Rule #3:

I am going to try to tag 7 people, hopefully I can, I don't want to tag people that have already done this, so if I do, I am sorry.

1. Lucie, yay!

2. Abbey, let's go girl!!! Soon to be mama!

3. Lindsey, time to have another post

4. Jen, have you done this yet??

Ok, that's all I've got, sorry to break the rules, I know I suck.

Rule #4: Now and I going to comment on everyone's blogs.

Weekend Happenings

This weekend was a pretty relaxing one, to say the least. I had one goal, to not do anything of importance, LOL.

Friday night, we took Joshie to my mom's house and then took Aliya and John John to see Madagascar 2. It was super funny, way more adult humor than the first. John and I found ourselves laughing at parts the kids were clueless on.


Saturday, we pretty much laid around the house all day. Watched football. I actually went to a few stores by myself, which was nice. I was planning on doing some Christmas shopping but I always seem to second guess myself when buying for others.

Then Saturday night, Aliya lost her first tooth. It has been loose for well over 2 months. She refused to move it because she was so scared. I took her to the dentist a few weeks ago because her permanent tooth was coming in behind the baby one, and they informed me she needed all 4 bottom ones pulled to allow the permanent teeth to move forward. At 100 bucks a tooth, John and I decided a nice bribe could help the situation. We told Aliya that for each tooth she got out, she would get a new video game. We figure tooth pulled=100 dollars or new game=30. You can see the importance of the bribe.

Well, back to Saturday night, she kept biting her tooth. It was so floppy in her mouth that when she took a bite of anything, she would somehow get the tooth too. Then she would cry cause it hurt and I couldn't get her to touch it. So, being the wonderful mother that I am, I grabbed a piece of toilet paper, held her and popped it out. I swear the second I touched it, it came right out. She even was like "It didn't even hurt!" She was so happy to be done with that tooth, and the tooth fairy even came and gave her a dollar. Nice!


You can see the permenant tooth coming in behind the missing one. It was imparative we got it out soon. I just hope the other 3 come out ASAP.

Then on Sunday, like we promised, we took Aliya to get a video game. She chose Yoshi's Island for the DS. We also went by Sams and got a few things, more like 115 bucks worth of yummy groceries. Hopefully, our cabinets will stay stocked for a month. I think the next time we do a Sams run, we will leave the kids with someone. It is too hard to bulk shop with 3 kids.

Our Story

I thought today I would write about how John and I met and were married.

John and I met in high school. We both went to Robert E. Lee in Jacksonville. He was a senior, and I was a freshman. We actually had one class together and it was gym. What I remember of the first few times I saw him was how gorgeous he was. John played football and was ripped. I can't remember how we started talking, John would say it was cause he thought I was cute, but whatever. We became friends and everyday he would ask me to rub his back in gym, and I would. However, his girlfriend did not like that, LOL. Nothing ever came of our friendship that year, John went off to college and I started my sophomore year.

I would see him off and on for the next couple years, then my senior year, John showed up at a party I was at. We started talking again, and I remember how much I really liked him. I was dating a guy at the time, so we exchanged numbers and that was it.

Sometime around prom, my boyfriend and I broke up, it was actually a week before prom and I was pissed at him. That Friday, I got a call from John. He heard that my date and I broke up and was calling to see if I wanted to go to dinner.


We went to the Olive Garden. I remember exactly what I had, fettucini alfredo. We talked and laughed, and on the way home, John asked me to my senior prom. (How romantic, especially since he was 21 and way older than us high schoolers.)


Since that first date, we have been inseparable. We were engaged that next Valentine's Day and were married May 2000, 2 years after our first date.

Election Day

Make sure you get out and vote!

Unwelcome Visitor

This morning, we had a visit from wild animal.

While I was washing dishes, I happened to look up and see a raccoon head peeping out from the side of the house. It was 7:30, well the time just changed, so he was out very late.

The last few nights John thought that some animal was making an appearance on our back Florida room. It is a finished sun room that we added a doggie door so Daisy can go in and out from the porch, to keep her out of the weather if she happened to be outside. We also keep her dog food and water out there.

So, I look up and see him and I yelp like a girl. "John! The raccoon is on the back porch!" He was still sleeping in, lucky!, and I wasn't sure if he heard me screaming. I did what any blogger would do, I ran and got my camera and tried to snap a few shots. It was so weird, it's like he was so humanized, he could care less that he saw us through the glass, he was after that dog food.


About the third John call, he comes down the stairs, pellet rifle in hand and loads it. Then opens the back door a crack and aims. At this time, the raccoon was pushing his head through the doggie door to come in...POW! Got him in the neck. He took off and ran up on our back deck. John went to the other door to shoot him again and he took off up the tree.



Obviously, a pellet rifle shouldn't kill him, but with kids and a dog, a raccoon that isn't scared of humans could be bad, John wanted to put the fear in that little guy.

I got a few tree shots after he climbed higher up.