Update

Well tonight is the last night we will be at our Valdosta house...the house where both the boys were born and the first house we ever owned...I think it might be a teary drive off! We actually are staying in the hotel on base until friday morning when we close on both houses and then drive up to our new hometown of Albany, GA. We took the kids up to see the new house on saturday so they are all excited and so am I. It is much BIGGER and NICER than the one we are in right now. God has really blessed us!

I taught my last class at the Valdosta YMCA on friday and it was so sad. I was all teary eyed and all my regulars had tears going also :( I have gotten so close to the people in my classes...it will be sad not to see their smiling faces every morning...and you have to admit my job does not feel quite like a job...I get paid for working me and them out! It is in the works for me to start at the Albany Y in January but I will have to start at the bottom up and prove myself all over again. But it is a nice Y and I am excited there was an opening for me! I did get to go run my 8 miles this morning and that felt good! I have been teaching so many classes I don't get to run very much anymore. I feel I will be sore tomorrow!

So I am packing up my computer tonight and will put it back together at our new house! A new adventure awaits!!!

God's Timing!!

Yes...He has His own timing right?? WE GOT A HOUSE! And it is a beautiful house for a great price! We are so excited that we aren't going to be homeless for Christmas! We actually are going to close on both houses on friday Dec 19th! YEAH!!! So we get to get in and settled before we leave for Christmas vacation! We are so relieved! thanks for all your prayers. Here is a picture of it!

Oh Ellie!!

So I put Ellie to bed the other night and she was mad at me for doing so....I went to the living room and headr her say this "Mom Hanna Montana ROCKS but you do NOT rock!!" and if that was not a big enough insult she then tells me "Mom you are not invited to my 6 year old birthday party!" (side note- her birthday is not until March!!!) Where does she come up with this stuff? I was just laughing to myself....she really thought she had me! I just told her the normal mom response..."ok Ellie, I love you, now GO TO BED!!!"

WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!!!

It's late and I'm tired so I won't be calling everyone...but I wanted to let you all know WE SOLD OUR HOUSE TONIGHT!!! Praise the Lord!

Lots of new pictures!

Ellie at Mimi's
Go Giants!


Everett and Papa

Everett, Amelia and Piper
Everett and Merritt

Playing football with Daddy

Little Man Rett!

edwin starts on monday!

Well my month of fun with having Edwin home is almost over! He leaves for Albany on monday...he is going to stay there during the week and come home on the weekends...we havn't sold or rented the house yet so the kids and I will remain here till we do...We thought we had it sold but thet backed out last minute! I am really praying it sells in the next few weeks and then the kids could change schoosl after Christmas break...wouldn't that be good timing?! Not much else going on here...I will try to post some new pictures soon :)

What is it with kids and the word...

POOP! All the way home from work last night the kids could not stop saying it! Ellie was saying she knew how to spell it and then they were putting poop in front of every word they could think of...poopy Evan, poopy brush, poopy head...you name it they added it! They have done this a few times now, laughing like crazy at themselves...I just don't get it! Is it that funny? Or is it a word that is just slightly naughty so they can say it without getting soap in their mouth but it still pushes my buttons?!

It's been a long time...

I know it has been a long time but that made it even harder to sit down and write. We had a GREAT vacation up to NC. We got to see so many friends and family and really got to spend some quality time with many of them. It was just so weird to come back home...I mean this is kind of our home but we will be leaving it sometime soon. So as nice as it is to come back home it was still strange.

We actually went up to Albany yesterday and to tell you the truth it just stressed me out more...I know that in time we will be settled there TOGETHER and I will find my new job, friends and church but it can all be a little overwhelming!!! Especially because Edwin starts in 2 weeks and we havn't sold or rented our house yet. So it looks like we will be here without him during the week which I have to just take a deep breath and count to 10 about...and will have to do that a lot while he is gone! But I have done it before and at least they are sleeping through the night and going to school and Edwin will be coming home on the weekends...so as a former military wife I know I can handle it I just don't want to :( I am reminded of what my mom always tells me "God doesn't give you the grace till you need it." So I know I am kind of freaking out about it right now but I know that when it comes God will give me the grace and patience to be the mother I need to be! So when you say your prayer,s pray some for us...I know God blessed us with this job so He must have his timing with everything else as well!

Elastic waistband...

ok so Edwin and I are trying to find him new dress pants for his new job and he only wants pants with an "elastic waistband." Does he know that he is only a 31 year old man??? Whatever happened to my "hot husband"? JUST KIDDING! He is still way hot but elastic pants...REALLY??? He had some from Kohls and you better believe me he couldn't find them at the stores so he had me on the internet ordering them! Too funny...on a different note...I am LOVING having him home! I can't believe he has to go back to work next month! I told him this was the most consecutive time (1 month) he will have off until he retires :) To all those in NC we are in counting...2 days! We are so exited!

Not a baby anymore...

I didn't want to say anything until I knew it was for real this time...but there will be no more pacifiers in the Zapata house! Everett has now gone 2 days and 2 nights without one...yeah! It was much easier this time thank goodness...the only real time he missed it was this morning when he woke up at 5:30am and he was crying and looking everywhere for it! Somehow it still is a little sad for me...knowing this is it...Everett (now Rhett a lot of the time) is not a baby anymore and there are no more coming...very weird...for me anyway...Edwin loves the fact that he the last one and he is growing up! Maybe we can get out more as a family! I am just praying I get to be an Aunt pretty soon and that will cure my baby fever!

New pictures...finally!

Cowgirl Ellie
At the park...they love this rock
Nana gives them change for their piggy banks. Even Everett loved it! And this is Evan from picture day. You can double click on the pictures if you can't see them very well...

Not an Air Force wife anymore!!!

As of 9:30 this morning we are OFFICIALLY out of the military!!!! I don't know when it will hit us! We are both so exited to be "free". Now if they want him to work overtime he will get PAID for it! And no more worrying about him leaving me for months at a time...I don't know who of you know but his squadron was about to go to 6 months here, 6 months gone!!! That is no kind of life for a family...but don't get me wrong the air force has been good to us...it has made us stable on our feet and given us a good start to our life together and unforgettable friends that we will have for a lifetime! But we are both exited about the next phase in our life. There are still many unknowns but at least we will be TOGETHER!

We get to visit home!!

Well Edwin got his official start date and it is not until Nov 10th which is what we wanted! So a week from tomorrow we get to go up to Franklin for a week! Fall is my FAVORITE time of the year and I just can't wait to get up there and enjoy the changing leaves and see our family and friends! Plus it is still hot here so I can't wait to put on jeans and a sweatshirt and feel a chill in the air! Not to mention the feeling of being home and playing cards and eating your mom's cooking!!

Also our real estate agent is letting us put the house up for rent this week so we just need it to rent or sell...either one and I can move with Edwin...he is actually going up there today to check everything out...we will let you know what he thinks!

We have a JOB!!!

So Albany, GA here we come...not quite where either of us wanted to go but it is a really good opportunity for us there...Edwin got the official word yesterday! We are exited about the position he got and what that will mean for us in the future...it is a great stepping stone and the way the economy is right now we are blessed to have it! So they are working out a start date and we are trying to figure out what to do as far as our house is concerned...but things are moving along...Edwin's last day in the Air Force is actually thursday! It has been good to us but we are both so exited to be out from under it and feel a little more freedom in our lives...it is really nice to know he won't be leaving me again!! For now the kids and I are staying here in Valdosta where they are settled in school and I can keep teaching at the Y...if we have not sold the house by the end of the year, our contract will run out and we can rent it out so then we can move to be with Edwin...in the mean time it looks like Edwin will be there during the week and home on the weekends....be praying something works out as far as that is concerned...we would really like to be able to move with him :) Still lots of unknowns but at least we have a JOB!!! Thanks for all the prayers and we'll keep you updated!

halloween

ok so right now I am trying to figure out how to explain to a 5 year old why we don't celebrate halloween....I knew that this would get harder as the kids got older but finding the right words is quite difficult...especially now that she is in kindergarten and they have the whole classroom decorated! At this point she understands that she is allowed to dress up everyday and have candy anytime so she is not being "left out" of anything...but you can't quite go into the history and origin of halloween with a 5 year old! Growing up we had many families who did not celebrate halloween so I think it was easier but we do not know a single family here that does not participate...We are standing firm to our convictions on this but please be praying that we can find the right words to express them to our children in a way that they can understand...this one is a kind of hard one to write because I know many people may not agree with me but this is what I am dealing with at the moment.

separating...

So I keep making the mistake of telling people we are "separating"....they all respond with a big "I'm sorry to hear that....or are you ok?" I respond by saying "of course I am ok I'm very exited about it!" After that they really look at me wierd. Then I figure out they think I am saying that Edwin and I are separating and I am really saying that we are "separating" from the Air Force...It is been quite funny and I keep accidently doing it! Ohhhh the english language right?

10 MILES!!!

I just finished breaking my record distance and running 10 miles without stopping!!! I am SO EXITED...well my tummy is not doing so well and my legs feel like they are going to fall off but still I am so exited that I was able to do that! i guess it's time to sign up for a half marathon...we'll see....

Oh Everett!!!

So Edwin and I have always been in wonder about how Everett is SO MUCH different than Evan...so much calmer and cuddlier and just all around less active than Evan...well today, after bragging to my boss about how good Everett is in the nursery and how much he loves it, I pick him up and they said he had a "rough day". I asked if he had been crying and they said no he had body slammed 3 kids to the floor and slapped another leaving a red mark!!! This is my sweet little Everett we are talking about!!! I mean I was in complete shock...I know where he gets it from but my goodness I didn't know what to say! The thing is that Everett and Evan have been wrestling more and more and of course, Everett can do no harm on Evan so Edwin and I were just thinking how cute the boys were....well....I guess Everett has learned a thing or two from Evan and we are going to have to watch him....I am still in disbelief!!!

new pictures

It has been a whole week since I have blogged anything...time flies! Here a couple pictures we took this week...the first is of the kids showing me their funny faces...note Everett has his tongue out also :)


Next is of the kids outside looking at the clouds...they like to find animals and such in the clouds...I remember doing that...how fun!

Then Evan goes pee outside and Everett is trying to take his clothes off so he can do it too...he has been doing that more and more but he doesn't ever actually go if I take his diaper off...at least he kind of has a clue of what he needs to do...that is a nice thing about him being the last one. Once I get him potty trained...NO MORE DIAPERS!!!

Growing Boy...

Let me just tell you what Evan ate for breakfast before school!

-A whole Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
-1.5 pop tarts
-a muffin
-4 cheese and crackers!!

I mean this is all before 8am this morning!!! It is just unbelievable what he is eating right now! How much is he going to eat when he is a teenager....that is just a scary thought!

Daddy makes it better....

So I made lasagna the other night and I gave some to Evan. He then proceeds to tell me that "daddy makes it better!" I told him that daddy had no clue how to make lasagna and he told me "yes he does! He puts it in there (pointing to the microwave) and gives it to me and it is better than yours!" What a character! I mean what do I say to that?! He (Evan) got his hair cut today and it is so cute I will have to take some pictures and put them up...right now I need to go get ready because Edwin and I are going on a date tonight! His parents came up for the weekend so they are going to watch the kids...yeah!!!

Lately...

well lately I think I have put moving out of my head...well it would help if I knew where we were going to go! Since we don't know where we are going I can't spend anytime making plans! So everything is STILL at a standstill!!! Anyway...just trying to enjoy my life here with the time I have left...Here are some new pictures...Everett decided he wanted to dip his passy in his food and then suck on it...and this picture is of Everett playing peek a boo with us from the garage, it was so cute! And here is a picture of Edwin in his blues (without his jacket) with Ellie and Evan...I will say this picture DOES NOT DO HIM JUSTICE!!!! Keep us in your prayers!

sick sick sick

Ellie and I got food poisoning over the weekend and it was just plain HORRIBLE!! She and I were locked in my room taking turns in the bathroom all weekend! Poor thing I felt so bad for her! I have to say, though, that it was quite nice to get that time with just Ellie and me...We watched Pollyanna together...I remember watching that as a little girl with my mom and dad so life came around full circle as I watched her watch it...and then I saw her cry at her first movie! If you have never seen the movie Pollyanna falls off a tree and her legs are paralyzed...Ellie kept saying "how sad for the little girl" and then I look over and she has tears running down her face!! It was so sad and cute at the same time! I reassured her that Pollyanna gets her legs fixed but she still thought that was so sad! We also watched Annie which she hadn't seen before either...poor Edwin had the boys all weekend to himself but he made it! he took them to McDonalds and let Everett climb up the top of the play area for the first time! Everett loved it...and Edwin gave them baths as soon as they got home :) Those play areas are just plain gross! But the kids love them! I am off to get some more rest but I will post some pics later of Edwin in his blues! He has to wear them every monday now and he looks SO GOOD!!!

Everett's new discovery

So Evan was into everything at 9 months so I appreciate the fact that Everett has waited until 17 months to start getting into everything! But he has finally realized that he can push the chair up to any counter or drawer and get into things. his favorite is the silverware drawer! I will be in another room and I hear the silverware clanging and I know he has proceeded in taking everything out of it! Here are some pictures...Edwin and I are amazed everyday at his cuteness...I know he is ours so we are quite biased on this one but really is he not so darn cute?!!! I mean yesterday I am laying on the couch and he comes and climbs on top of me and starts giving me big kisses all over my face (Everett not Edwin..ha ha)! He has such a sweet nature to him...much more calm then Evan could ever be :) The thing about Evan is that he is little Mr. Perfect at school! He hasn't been in trouble once! I think he is as calm and obedient as he can be at school and then comes home and runs wild! At least I know that it is in him! Evan and I have had some special little moments together this week...I have to focus on those instead of all the other moments that he is pushing my buttons!

Finally...

It's so funny I put that as my blog title and it has already been a title! Anyway...not finally we know where we are going and not finally we sold our house and not finally we heard back from Marietta but FINALLY someone at least came to look at our house!! Listen at this point I am taking whatever positive I can find and running with it :) I had actually just got Everett to bed and there was someone at the door...they had called Edwin but I thought they had already come by...so I got Everett up and left for a little bit...we'll see if they make an offer but I was just exited that my CLEAN house finally got looked at! No one would believe how CLEAN I have been keeping my house!!! With 3 kids too! Edwin asked me how we managed to keep it so clean for 3 weeks straight but couldn't before! Ha ha! Well...true but it's a lot of work!

1 point mom, 1 point Everett

Everett did really well switching from the bottle to the sippy cup but I gave up on the passy thing real quick :) After he screamed in the bed for 30 minutes I gave in...too much stress right now already...can't handle the screaming right now...I will deal with the passy next month!

Cold Turkey

Well given that Everett is 16 months we have decided to take away the bottle and pacifiers cold turkey today!! He is doing well so far but we will see at naptime how it goes without the passy...usually it is harder on me than it is on them because I don't have a passy to just put in the crying mouth..but we will make it! I will blog tomorrow and tell you how it went :) The sad thing is that it just reiterates that Everett is no longer a baby which means I have no more babies :( I hope I can move closer to Becca and help her with all of hers!!!

My little helpers!

The kids love to "help" me cook....yesterday we made homemade banana pudding. I made the pudding and then gave each (including Everett) a pile of vanilla wafers and some sliced bananas. So when we were ready to put the cookies down they were throwing them in there, then came the bananas and then mommy put the hot pudding on...Everett is just growing too fast! He slid the chair right up to the counter and helped just a "good" as the other two...the pudding turned out really yummy....lots of cookies but that is how I like it...a big thanks to my big helpers!

Tattoo and other things...

Well here are some pictures of Edwin's tattoo...The swelling has gone down a lot so it is not "quite" as big as when he first got home! We are both still trying to get used to it! I guess we have no choice right?!

Evan dressed Everett up in his pirate stuff and Everett came out saying "ARG!" It was so cute!

This is what are front ditch looked like last night with all of the rain from Hurricane Fay...I wish Edwin would have taken a picture of our neighbor's house...he had a river on both sides of his house! Thank goodness the rain has stopped!

And this picture is of Everett watching his favorite show Yo Gabba Gabba...I vowed never to let my kids watch it, not because it has anything bad but because it is more annoying then Barney if you can only imagine! But he LOVES it! He asks for it by name and gets so exited! He climbs up on our bed lays down on the pillow and starts saying "gabba gabba"...it's just too cute, I can't resist!

6 kids 5 and under!!!!

Yes that was my day today!!! They canceled school today for a "hurricane day" which didn't really start till about 5pm but whatever! Anyway a girl Edwin works with has a two year old and they canceled her daycare so she showed up at 6am with Riley. Of course I would watch her...it is the worst feeling to be stranded not knowing what to do with your kids...and then I had another friend with 3 and 4 year old boys that I watched for a couple hours also...PRETTY CRAZY!!! I mean that is a 5,4,3,another 3, 2 and 1 year old!!! You have to remember that it is raining so there is no taking the kids outside! To those of you who have known me all my life must be getting a good laugh...I mean I never did any babysitting or even wanted kids period! And now I can handle that! How much I have grown! They were all pretty good it just was a lot of kids in one house! My thoughts go out to the Wright's and the Rusch's who always had many more than that (and keep getting MORE)!!!! Seriously...I think I would go crazy! At least my most wonderful husband got home and sent me to my room to take a nap! My head was about to explode by the end of the day! Can he get any BETTER????? I love him and his new tattoo! Pictures of that will post soon :) Oh yeah you must be praying because Edwin and I both are feeling much more at ease the last couple of days :) Thanks!!!

Sooner than we thought...

Well we found out today that we actually get out October 2nd! I just don't know what to think about that...we have so much to do and don't even know where we are going!! At least we get paid through December! We still havn't heard either way on the Marietta job and I don't think my body can take much more of not knowing! I am usually really good about not stressing things that I don't have any control over but this is taking a lot! I didn't even realize I was stressed until I looked back on the week and realized I had been really short with Edwin and the kids, had a lot more gray hair (seriously...not kidding! They are actually white :( ) and my face keeps breaking out which never happens! I know I need to be trusting that God has made a place for us and we just need to be patient while we wait to see what He has in store...I am just realizing that my head has not told my body that yet!

In the mean time my kids keep doing little things that keep me laughing...well they keep me yelling sometimes too but today was just kind of funny! I was on my way home from work and I called my house trying to get Edwin and the answering machine came on. But it wasn't the usual message. Ellie or Evan must have pushed the record button at some point and the whole message was Everett screaming and the others whining about something...if anyone called I guess they just got a moment of my crazy life on tape! It was quite funny!

Anyway...keep praying for us...that through this time our trust in God will only grow and pray my body will get the message also! I mean I am only 28 and have gone gray!!!

Weekend without Edwin OVER : )

Here are some pictures I took over the weekend. One is of our dining room now that we painted the green paneling beige...it looks so much better! We put our house up officially this week so we are praying someone falls in love with it like we did!


The second picture is of the kids...I walked in on them like that! It was too cute...they were actually all getting along for the moment :) Look how big Everett is getting!!


And then I thought this was so cute of Edwin and Everett eating their corn together...I guess it is just an example of how I find the joy in the little things right now!

Handsome Boy Shirt

Evan calls his shirts with collars "handsome boy shirts." And now that he has started school he wants to where nothing but those...All summer long he wore BB shorts and tshirts but every morning I lay them out and he tells me "Mommy I have to wear a handsome boy shirt to school!" I guess I will have to invest in a few more since he won't where any of the 30 tshirts he owns!!

Ellie's 1st bus ride...LOST!!!

ok so Edwin and I had already decided that I would take and pick up Ellie from school...I mean it's the safest thing for a 5 year old right? But Ellie kept going on about how she wanted to be a "bus rider"...so i decided to let her ride home with her friend Kamri because she got dropped off SECOND...so what would happen right? Well Kamri's mom called me and Kamri got off the bus but Ellie didn't!! so I rush over to the school and they make a call to radio the bus driver and she said Ellie wasn't on her bus. So then they call Ellie's teacher and she said that she put Ellie and Kamri on the bus together, she was sure of it...so if Ellie got on the bus but wasn't on it now but didn't get off with Kamri where was she?????? Can you even imagine what was going thru my head?!! So they call the bus driver again (the bus driver just happened to be a sub yesterday of all days) and she rechecked and Ellie WAS on the bus...did she just want to give me a heart attack or what? So Ellie arrived back at the school safe and sound and that will be the end of her bus riding days for a long while!!!! Not knowing where your child is, is one of the scarriest feelings in the world! I don't know how I will ever handle her getting her drivers license and going on dates and such....how do people do it without God...I mean there is no peace like putting our kids in His hands....thank you Lord for keeping her safe!

TEETHING...the SCREAMING won't STOP!!!

Seriously...God has blessed us with an amazingly well behaved 3rd child...I mean he just blows us away everyday, until....he starts breaking a tooth!!! Then the screaming won't end :( We have tried everything! We even have tylonol with codine and that only breaks it for a little while! I thought he was just getting 3 but I was putting hurricane gel on his gums and realized he was breaking 3 molars also! Some of the points are already through and I didn't even know it...just pray I can get throught this without screaming MY head off :)

Getting the house ready...

So yesterday made our 2 month mark and this sell by owner deal is just not working! So Edwin and I have been scrubbing (I mean SCRUBBING, hand and knees...you know I never do that) the heck out of our carpet so we don't have to get new carpet...it is paying off but boy am I going to be sore tomorrow!! And we are calling a real estate agent tomorrow...we have got to get some help getting people in...even if we are going to have to fork out that real estate agent fees...YUCK!

Oh and you'll never believe what we did! We took all THREE of the kids to Red Lobster today!!! If you know me and you know my kids this was huge!! Ellie has been saying she wanted to go to Red Lobster for months now...Edwin and I are still trying to figure out how she even knows what it is...we VERY rarely go out to eat anywhere. But we finally decided to take them today and they were so good...for those of you who know my kids this may come as a complete shock I know! But they were just a joy to be around and made it enjoyable to do something special for them. If you don't know the kids you're probably wondering why Red Lobster would be so special but hey on a military salary and kids that are crazy it is a big deal :) And Everett loved the live lobsters...he was hilarious...he just kept going up to them smiling and laughing and then would run away screaming only to do it all over again...he is definitely in my very favorite stage...exception of the teething...well hope this makes up for my lack of posts!

BUSY BUSY BUSY!!

Wow, Evan hasn't even started school yet (next week) and my life has gotten crazy! Getting Ellie to and from school, packing her lunch, doing her homework, and getting them ready in the morning was a lot to add to my schedule! Not to mention keeping the house clean (we have it up for sale) and everything else that goes with that! She is loving it though! She just needs to get used to not taking naps! She is REALLY tired when she gets home...

Edwin's boss got a call from the people Edwin interviewed with last week! We are just so exited because it is where we want to be...I guess I can say right? It is in Marietta, ga and that is a really good compromise for us...close to home and friends but still near a city but Edwin won't have to commute inside Atlanta every day...anyway they told his boss that he was one of the best interviews! So we are just playing the waiting game but glad we are still in the running! Please keep praying! He actually got offered a really good job in Ablany, Ga today but we really want to wait on that as back up. We wanted to be a little more north than here...PLEASE!! It is SO HOTTTTTTTT!

Anyway so that is our update! Along with the fact that saturday is our 2 month mark!!! It is so hard to believe that in 2 more months we will be living somewhere else! This is going to go way too fast for me! But hey if we are moving to Marietta then bring it on!!

Kindergarten!!!!

Here are some pictures of Ellie on her first day of Kindergarten!!!

Ellie starts kindergarten tomorrow!

It is so hard to believe summer is already over and my little girl is starting kindergarten tomorrow! I thought I was so ready but now I feel like I have nothing ready for her! I did get everything on the supply list so that's good! I will post pictures of her first day...she is SO EXITED!

here are a couple pictures of my birthday with the girls last night...it was SO MUCH fun! But I missed Edwin so much! We have no babysitters here so he couldn't take me out so he did the next best thing and let me go out with my friends...so sweet right? The only thing is that it was like spending a holiday without him! I just felt like my best friend should have been there...in these past few years where our friends have come on gone our friendship only grows stronger...he is truly my best friend and it was weird not to celebrate with him! But don't get me wrong I did have tons of fun! We went to our favorite mexican restaurant and they started clapping and singing and brought me a sambrero (sp?) and put a PIE IN MY FACE!!! I have never had that happen before!!!

Birthday Girl

So it's my birthday today and Ellie is being so cute! I don't think she has called me mom all day...she just keeps calling me "birthday girl"! "Birthday girl can you make me a sandwich" and "birthday girl can I watch a movie" and so forth and so on...too cute! And I thought I was turning 29 today but come to find out I am only turning 28! I totally gained a year! And my wonderful husband is giving me the day off....it is only 1pm and I'm off with the girls for the rest of the day/night!

Pictures and Callbacks

I finally got my camera to work so here are the pictures of the kids cleaning the walls and with their charts. Also the other picture is of evan and ellie getting "married". Ellie explained to me that she knew it was "just pretend because she can't really marry her brother!" The kids were playing in the back and came out dressed like this....it was so funny! Ellie had gotten into my lingerie finding something that resembled a wedding dress and Evan raided Edwin's closet...they even have dress shoes on! So funny!

Edwin's phone interview went really well...he actually recorded it for me and he sounded great! I guess we have to wait 2-3 weeks and they call back the top three for face to face interviews. And I guess all that praying yall were doing worked because he got 3 more callbacks yesterday!!! It was VERY exiting! We are still really wanting the one in Atlanta but at least we might have some options!!! Keep praying...it works! We'll keep you updated!

trying new ways to get Evan to behave!

I started Ellie and Evan a chart yesterday...They get a big sticker if they are good at the gym (Evan has not been good, imagine that!), and they get stars if they do stuff like make their beds and brush their teeth, etc. We have kind of been at our wits end with Evan so hopefully this visual approach might help! They got stars for everything yesterday plus helped us wash the walls! Even Everett wanted a rag to help! So cute! I have pictures but for some reason can't get them downloaded...

On to our great news...Edwin got 2 callbacks for interviews today!!! And one of them is for the job we really want! So they are calling at 1pm tomorrow so everyone please be praying! We were just so exited to get some callbacks at this point! We won't know anything anytime soon and I am sure it is a longer process but just be praying that Edwin is relaxed and can be himself tomorrow...he is incredible at his job so hopefully they will be able to see that when they talk to him....also I failed to mention that he has all the kids all day tomorrow because I have my spinning certification from 8-6!!! He is just going to take them to the gym nursery about 12:30 and wait for the call...weird how that one worked out right? Hope the kids are good for him tomorrow! We'll let you know how it goes!!

Baby Cason

My good friend here, Jolee, just had a baby a week ago. His name is Cason Seth Berry and he is SO CUTE!! I went over there today and didn't want to let him go! It is nice to have a baby around that I can hold and not have to be up all night with though!! I just forget how little they actually are! Not to mention how big it makes Everett look! Check this picture out of him feeding himself with a spoon! He will not eat without one! And he won't sit in his high chair either...he has to sit with the big kids! So cute!





Edwin and I have spent all weekend doing stuff to the house and packing up all the extra stuff...less we have to do later...it really makes me realize that October is not very far away...still don't know where we'll be...keep praying for patience and His timing :)