Buddy walk 2009

Yesterday we took the opportunity to participate in the Buddy Walk to support the Upside of Downs, an organization formed to support families who deal with downs syndrome. We went to support our friend Sawyer, who is a friend we know through church. He is such a special little guy and we were so happy to be able to go help out.

We laced up our tennis shoes...


And we faced the dark skies, heading downtown.

And we made our way to Progressive Field.


We had faces painted...

And we got "cooool" t-shirts...

And we walked. And walked. And walked. Among a sea of other supporters, we all walked. It felt really rewarding...even though our donation wasn't much and the walk not LONG, it felt good to be participating in the community and supporting others who are facing different challenges.
(I just laugh at how big Kaden's shirt was...he LOOOVED it though. :)

Want to see the look of pure comfort? A thumb in his mouth and the other hand caressing daddy's ear. :)

We are Sawyer's Soldiers!!

(Sawyer on left, Jenna, Spencer, Kaden)

I hope this was the first of many...many times to get out and participate. To forget about US and help out...I hope my kids remember this. I hope they remember how exciting it was to be there and see so many supporters of the same cause.

I know I will...

Rained out...

Yesterday after school we met up at the Memphis Kiddie Park for an afternoon of fun.

First stop was the carousel.

Next stop was the little horsedrawn carts. After getting buckled in, however, we got word that there was a tornado warning and they were shutting the park down. After dragging 3 very sad children to the car, we got safely inside and it started to rain hard!

B-U-M-M-E-R...

So we decided to make it a movie night instead...picked up some pizza at Geppettos. (side note: Cleveland has SOOO many pizza places. We have tried to make the rounds and try a new place to find our favorites, and are having a blast doing so. :) I saw a sign for this place a few weeks ago, advertising a 12" pizza for $3.99. So we picked this place to try last night. I was pretty impressed for such a cheap price!)

(picture above was in the car waiting to go get our pizza)

We let the kids have a picnic in the living room while watching Monsters, Inc. and after they were in bed we had an adult movie fest with Jenny and Travis and watched 17 again.

Happy weekend everyone...may you enjoy your plans...even if they are rained out. :)

Hide your eyes and count to 10...

Last night after dinner, we had such a fun time playing around...

While the kid were eating popsicles, Brandon started a game of hide and seek...but it had something to do with bears. :) I can't remember how the wordage goes...but it was cute.


Kaden took his popsicle serious. Check out his face while he is supposed to be chasing Brandon. :)

Brandon even jumped out of the tree to scare the kids when they were looking for him. THAT was funny.

So of course, everyone else had to jump too...

The picture below CRACKS ME UP. Spencer looks SO DARN FUNNY! I do not know WHY he made this face, but every time I see it I laugh...

Eventually, the kids were all hiding behind the garage, so I snuck over to Jenny and Trav's backyard and surprised them through the fence...

And then some chose to join me...

Yes, Kaden IS wearing Dora the Explorer girly pj shorts. His choice. His doing. :) Whatever works to cover up the parts, is a-okay with me...so long as we aren't in public.

Brandon pretended to be a bear in the cage. For whatever reason, Kaden growled back.

Summersaulted our way back to the house for bathtime...

And for storytime we set up the puppet theater we checked out from our FREE toy lending library...and told stories that way. It was pretty funny.

I love nights like last night.

And I love my kids.

And I especially love my husband for being so hands on with them. It melts me heart every time I see them play together. He's a great man...and a great dad.

Ladies Night out...

Last night we had a ladies night out...

It was SO welcome...

With perfect weather, great company, and fantastic custard!

Just what the doctor ordered. :)

Hoping he calls one in for next week too. Same time. Any place.

How do I feel today?

Today I feel....

Happy that by 8:30 p.m. I had all the kids in bed and asleep, my kitchen floor mopped, the dishes completely done, and the stove deep cleaned. This is monumental. :)

Content with my new little job. I went to do some training today and loved it. So excited about this little opportunity. :)

Embarrassed to be new there...I just feel so small saying I am new. I don't know why. I am sure I will get over it. But then again, I guess by the time I do, I won't be new anymore.

Excited that Jenna wears uniforms to school. No more fighting over mismatched outfits. Always dressed nice. I love it! :)

Tired. I've worked hard today and my body feels it. It will be welcome to crawl into bed tonight.

Happy that Jenna was set on playing school all afternoon with her brothers, who also loved it.

Irritated that Jenna (and the boys) would only call me Jenna's teacher's name tonight. After about 20 minutes of it, it got really old. :)


Grateful. Jenny made too much dinner (boy, do I love THAT mistake!) and so we got a lovely Italian meal of stuffed shells and meatballs with breadsticks. MADE MY NIGHT! Thank you Jenny for sharing your plethera. :)

THRILLED with Jenna's school/teacher. Finding the right school for her was really important to me. I feel so blessed that we found the charter school we did. I feel like there is such wonderful communication. Every day they send home a behavior report, and I love their system as far as that is concerned. The homework is sent home at the beginning of the week and it's outlined what I, as her mom, can help her with throughout the week. Everything goes back at the end of the week. We spent about 15 minutes before bed working on her name and one of her workbook pages. It was a fun way to end the evening.

Her teacher is fabulous...she is teaching them sign language and you can tell she just has SUCH a passion for teaching! Jenna loves her art and music teachers too, and gets to start her piano lessons on Wednesday. I LOOOOOVE that this is included in her school day. Just all around pleased as punch with her school system!


I also feel....


Anxious about the future. We've started looking at externships and residencies and I am just so curious to see where we will go and what will happen. Being patient for now, just curious.

Homesick. My sister is in idaho right now with the rest of my family who lives there. I miss them. I miss her. And I am jealous they are all having so much fun together. I wish I could hop on a plane and be there enjoying every second.

Guilty. I ate a small bowl of icecream after lunch. Then I ate half an ice cream sandwich after dinner. Ooops.

Ready. Ready to fold my many loads of laundry and plop myself down to veg in front of the TV for a few before hitting the sack.

How do YOU feel today?

Random. Really random.

The other day I went into a secondhand consignment store...my favorite one to be exact.

I noticed they had a help wanted sign on the window. I casually inquired about it while browsing, just curious what it was all about.

Next thing I knew the manager was was begging me to fill out an application--and a few minutes later I was hurried to the back for an interview with the owner of the shop.

It was quite surreal. But deep inside I was squealing with delight at the prospect of having a little side job...even though at that point Brandon didn't even know I had applied for a job let alone been OFFERED a job.

Being offered the position was probably one of the highlights of my LIFE. I felt needed....wanted...appreciated for who I am. For a few minutes it wasn't about the laundry and the cleaning and the discipline at home. It was about me. About my passion for all things secondhand...and I loved that feeling. I loved being called their #1 choice and having them offer whatever I needed to make it work for me so I could work there.

I really struggled over the weekend to figure out what to do with this random job offer. Part of me wanted to do whatever it took to make it work out. And part of me knew that this isn't my time to be away...this is Brandon's time--his time to study and be in school and not have to figure in an extra schedule.

And that made me sad. REALLY sad. Not because I didn't want him to have his time, but because I wanted the best of borth worlds. And that just can't be.

When I went in to tell the owner I wouldn't be able to, we got discussing other options. I think we figured out a win win...

At the beginning of every month, I will look at Brandon's rotations and schedule and figure out the few free days/hours I have open, and submit that to them. When they need someone to fill in, they will call me on one of the days I can work. So, really light load...can still be a mom first and foremost...I still get my FABULOUS discount. I still get my few hours away, and make some $$$ with it...and I get to be surrounded with secondhand treasures.

I am sooo excited.

But isn't that quite random?? A very blessed random. But very random. :)

Have you swagbucked yet??

A few weeks ago, I posted about SWAGBUCKS....an internet reward system that gives you random bucks to search the internet.

I think some of you were skeptical. Some of you signed up. And of those of you who signed up, I can see many of you having success!

WHAT ARE SWAGBUCKS?

They are dollar amounts that are given to you randomly by doing searches on the internet. So instead of using google.com or yahoo.com, or another search engine, you simply switch to www.swagbucks.com (you can even download the toolbar to make searches even EASIER!)

As you search and earn, your account builds up. Eventually you can go in and trade your swagbucks for prizes or even cash through paypal. NICE, huh??

I am honestly kicking myself that I didn't do this earlier. The past few months of me consistently doing swagbuck searches has really paid off! In fact, I decided to keep track of how many swagbucks I earned after cashing in every single one to buy Brandon's Ipod for his birthday.

JUST IN THE PAST 20 DAYS I have earned 236 swagbucks. I normally just trade them in for Amazon gift cards because we buy a lot on Amazon.com since there is no tax and free shipping. So my $236 swagbucks translates into $20+ dollars in gift cards I got FOR FREE for just searching the internet with the swagbucks toolbar.

I do want to point out that I ALSO was able to earn so many because of the several of you who have clicked through my swagbucks link and signed up to swagbuck search on your own. Because of this, I also get swagbucks when YOU search...SO A HUGE thank you!

This really is SUCH a fun and easy way to earn some extra moolah online...if you are searching the internet anyway, you might as well be getting rewarded for it, right?

If you haven't signed up yet, CLICK BELOW and sign yourself up! I promise you won't regret it! And tell YOUR friends to link through you so YOU can earn swagbucks faster!!

And if you have ANY questions, even if you are just a lurker on my blog, PLEASE email me. I am so happy to help you figure it all out (even though it should be easy and straightforward)

hollowayfam(at)yahoo(dot)com

A few before and after pics!

Despite my lack of posting projects lately, I HAVE been busy working on them!

I have a load more to post...but for now I will post my two most recent...

THIS chair I picked up at a secondhand store for $2.50! (And actually, I bought it using my store credit, so it was FREE)

I thought it had great bones and was anxious to swap out the fabric cushion so I could make a nice chair for the living room. You see, we have a little computer armoire and up until now have just had a rolling computer chair floating around the living room. It was driving me nuts...and I really just wanted a nice, stationary chair that would look like it belonged.

I picked up some gel stain and just stained right over the old finish...no sanding needed!

I really love how it turned out!



And I got this painting free a few months ago. .. it's been waiting for the day it would be made over...

And that day finally came. I loved the shape of this frame, since it's not a traditional size. So I had a piece of cheap glass cut and wrapped a scrap piece of fabric that coordinated with our decor around the painting and VOILA! Instant message board! We put this in Brandon's study nook in our bedroom...

Just a few before and afters...many, many more to come.

First day of school...A++

As per tradition, we did our 1st day of school picture...always by the front door...always with our backpack on. :) Glad we can pass on this funny tradition to our little ones...

All day I thought about Jenna. I wondered what she was doing, I wondered if she was behaving, and how she was responding to her classmates and teacher. I wondered if she liked her lunch, if she got lost, and if she felt tired throughout the day. I got teary eyes when I heard her favorite song on the radio...I just wished I could wrap her in my arms and tell her over and over how much I loved her!

So when it was finally time to pick her up from school, I felt ANXIOUS! I wrestled with the giddy anticipation of how she would respond when asked how her first day of school went...

I waited and waited in the line of cars, driven by other parents waiting to pick up their kiddies...

And finally, as a HUGE storm was breaking out, it was my turn. My visions of jumping out to scoop her up in a giant hug were dashed as her teacher opened the door and a paper cup flew out and into the parking lot. So instead of running after my sweet girl, I was chasing a cup in the pouring rain. :)

Once inside and our way, I turned all electronic devices off and just listened...

Her response was, "SCHOOL WAS SO FUN! I want to go there forever and ever!"

We'll she how she feels at the end of the year. :)

When we got home, we gave her our little bundle of flowers the boys and I picked out for her at the store today. She was SO happy. This girl LOOOOVES flowers.

All in all, great first day. And she can't wait to go again, bright and early Monday morning. :)

Happy Tears for my girl, on her first day of school

To my sweet little girl on your first day of school, a day full of new things to be…

I just want you to know how I feel right now, and how much you mean to me…

Today your world will change and expand, with reading and writing and art,

Math, science and music will fill your days, and the time that we spend apart.

When you walked up the stairs to that big stone school with the backpack that’s half your size,

My heart and mind flooded with the reminder of just how very fast time flies.

You came into this world, 5 years ago, depending on us for your care…

To change your diapers and teach you to walk, and brush your beautiful blond hair.

And now in my mind I see you so clear, the girl you are coming to be.

Independent and brave and so full of life; You’re such a special girl to me.

It is hard to express the bettersweet feel of sending you off on your own,

where I have to believe and hope you will choose the right course by the seeds we have sewn.

On one hand, I'm filled overjoyed with the knowledge of what lies ahead.

And on the other hand I want to stop everything and just freeze time instead. :)

This is one of many firsts you'll have, one of the times I'll have to let go...

Dating, driving, college, and such...they'll be here before you know.

The day will come when things don’t go right, when you feel lonely, different, or sad.

Or it might just be the frustration you’ll feel when Reading or Math makes you mad. J

I promise my child, I have been there before, more than a time or two…

And when you feel your heart aching inside, just remember how much I love you.

As much as I wish I could protect you forever from some of the trials you’ll face,

The time is now to learn to have faith in a God who is so full of grace.

My firstborn girl, I just hope you will know, I am so grateful you are my child.

I wish I could snuggle you all day long, listening to your imagination run wild.

But as school starts, take with you that smile, creativity, keen mind and desire,

And may you always find joy in life, and your need to be learning not tire.

I hope you will carry yourself proud and tall, and be the very best YOU...

Even if what you choose doesn't align with what others think you should do.

Go now, my girl, embrace this experience and just let go of your fears

And as for me, I promise, I'm not really sad…I’m just crying happy tears.

Love, Mom

Will travel for friends...

Yesterday, we took a mini road trip to Toledo, Ohio to visit my long time friend Lisa and her family who were visiting their family in Michigan (a short 45 minute drive from Toledo)

We just COULDN'T Pass up the chance to see friends!

I often take for granted that Brandon is so willing to drive.

So, huge shoutout to the man at the wheel.

The happy front seat driver's attendant.

And our lovely passengers who so incredible endured a 1 hour and 40 minute drive without a portable DVD player. Note to self...must, MUST find the cord this week. :)

(Jenna was singing into a piece of chalk. Not sure why the concerned look. :)

The HIGHLIGHT of our little drive was the semi pulling a trailer full of cows. They were SO funny to watch, sticking their LOOOONG tongues out the side and letting them wave in the air. :)

Eventually, our trip bliss turned into bad attitudes...HOW did people survive road trips without DVD players before?? :) LOL

In reality, the drive wasn't too bad...and wasn't too long. :) Just long enough that we were ready to be out of the car and excited to see THIS sign.

And even MORE excited when we saw THIS sign...
We met up with Lisa and her family at the Toledo Zoo (which just so happens to be on the list of places we get in free with the pass my parents gave us for Christmas).

Highlights of this were:

--the baby monkey. SO adorable!

--The giraffes

--The statue. We actually stayed here more than any other place--eating snacks and resting in the shade. (it was HOT and HUMID yesterday...ick!)

--The polar bears. This was actually a really amazing exhibit...

--The aquarium. Hands down, this had to be Spencer's FAVORITE exhibit.

--The hanging masks...

There was so much more to see that we didn't even BEGIN to get to. It was a big space to cover in not a lot of time...so hopefully someday we can go back to finish the tour. :) But when Kaden fell fast asleep sitting on my shoulders, I KNEW our day at the zoo was o-v-e-r.

We headed over to Bob Evans for a late lunch. The time to talk visit wasn't nearly long enough and I wished we'd had all day long to play. :) But it was SO fun to see them and spend some time...THANK YOU LISA for making the effort to come see us while you were out this way!

After our goodbyes, we made our way back towards home...

WE LOVE OHIO...

And we love VISITORS...

If you are ever even NEAR Ohio, remember we will travel for friends!!

(p.s. Ohio DOES border Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania...lots of chances for us to travel...so come visit soon!)