Please Say a Prayer

My friend called me this evening with some terrible news that hit really close to home for me. To give some background on her family, Tasha (my friend) is one of 3 girls, of whom lost their mother to cancer when they were young. Now, they are all grown and married and starting families of their own. Tasha got pregnant about 2 months before I did with the twins, and lost her baby (ironically to day that I found out I was preggo). Her oldest sister, Tenille, was preggo the same time we were, and went into pre-term labor, had Wyatt at 23 weeks. He is thriving and doing well. Ok, so Tasha and her other sister Tiffany both get pregnant, Tenille due June 07 and Tasha due Aug 07. Well, Tasha calls me tonight with the news that Tiffany's baby, Hannah is at Children's hospital and has been diagnosed with a SUPER rare form of cancer...this doctor says that he has had one other in the last 2-3 years. It is very aggressive, and very deadly. In the 200...yes, only 200 cases known, there are like 7 survivors....one is 16 years in remission, two are in the very first years (under 5) or remission, the others, she did not say. Anyway, I am just blown away. You can read her story at www.caringbridge.org and type in Hannahboles. Please say an extra prayer for this family.

Back to School

Well, summer is officially over. I started back to school on August 6th with 8 days of inservice. Berkeley had open house on August 12th, I had my Open House on August 14th, and classes began Monday, August 18th.

Berkeley is in 4th grade and her homeroom teacher is Mrs. Donna Wallace, but she has 5 other core teachers...yes, she changes classes. She has 2 blocks of Math, 2 blocks of Literacy (1 reading, 1 writing), Science and Social Studies. Then she also has the auxillary classes such as music, art, P.E., library, etc. So far she seems very excited about 4th grade. She is becoming quite the young lady. We have been taklking a little about growing up and what all that entails, and I let her shave her legs for the first time this past Sunday. She thought she was "da' bomb"! She is playing fall softball for the "Dirty Divas" and will play first base. She is a natural athlete, and is a pretty good player at all of the infield positions.

Bennett and McKinley are becoming quite the co-conspirators in mass destruction around our house. Bennett FINALLY decided to take up walking full time on Sunday, August 10th. I knew he would just up and do it one day out of the blue, as opposed to McKinley who gradually practiced until she was sure of herself. Now, we have TWO toddlers who find it great fun to destroy anything and everything within their reach. I have given up trying to pick up behind them, and just do a mass clean up each night, just to start over again. It is super funny to watch them interact to eact other and to Berkeley. They are nuts about their big sister. We did a tooth count just tonight, and McKinley is up to 11 teeth, but Bennett has her beat at 12. I guess our next big hurdle will be potty training.....and I am not even ready to think about that just yet...

Family Update

Well, I have not been really good about writing updates...so here is one.
Berkeley: She is totally enjoying summer break. Little does she know what 4th grade holds for her. LOL. All of a sudden she has realized that school isn't always going to be easy fun and games. She is getting so tall, and if she grows into her feet, she is going to tower over me. At 9 years old, she is wearing my shoes...granted I only wear 6.5/7, but geez....We will soon be gearing up for fall softball...hopefully it will be a better season than the spring. She also wants to play basketball this year, but we will see how things go with school. Her 10th birthday is quickly approaching as well. I can not believe I have an almost 10 year old.
Bennett: He is getting over his latest episode...Hand, Foot, Mouth. I guess there will always be one. He has a mouthful of teeth now...I think at last count he had 10. He cut his top 1 year molars about a month ago. He definitely LOVES to use those teeth too...to bite his sister. Yes, he is my biter, but he only seems to bite McKinley....which, I guess is a good thing, in a way. He is still not walking, although, he can if he wants to. I think he is trying to play us for fools....He is close to just going full out, but he would rather be on his knees trying to take McKinley's feet out from under her. LOL! He is such a clown. He clowns around as long as he has an audience that is laughing at him. He stands about 2" taller than McKinley, now, but he is still a little string bean.
McKinley: She is already a Miss Priss. She loves bracelets, purses, things in her hair...the whole nine yards. She has a serious temper as well, and gets her point across with her high pitched squealing. She is running everywhere and her new found fun time is having someone chase her...she loves it! She is my love bug. She LOVES to snuggle, and knows that all she has to do to get her way is lay her head on your shoudler and wrap her arm around your neck. At last count, she also has 10 teeth, which includes her 1 year molars. Although there is still less than a pound difference between her and her brother, she is still a little chunky monkey. God love her, she is still in size 2 shoes, so finding shoes to fit her is always a challenge.
Ok, so there is the latest and greatest in the world of the Mardis 5. Bill is loving his new job, and is really doing big things for this new division. I start back to school on the 6th...I can't believe I am going into my 4th year already.

Why I Love Living in a Small Town....(7/22/08)

I love living in a small community for so many reasons. There are A LOT of farms around Pea Ridge, and this time of year is my favorite, by far. Everyone knows everyone, and fresh, homegrown produce is everywhere. One of Bill's golfing buddies brought us fresh from the garden squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, and potatoes. Granted, I brought home a crap load of frozen fresh veggies and fruits from Natchez, but you can't ever beat FRESH from the garden. I grew up on fresh produce, and there is absolutely nothing like it. I am glad that my children are also growing up eating and liking the fresh fruits and veggies.

Why I Love Living in a Small Town....(7/22/08)

I love living in a small community for so many reasons. There are A LOT of farms around Pea Ridge, and this time of year is my favorite, by far. Everyone knows everyone, and fresh, homegrown produce is everywhere. One of Bill's golfing buddies brought us fresh from the garden squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, and potatoes. Granted, I brought home a crap load of frozen fresh veggies and fruits from Natchez, but you can't ever beat FRESH from the garden. I grew up on fresh produce, and there is absolutely nothing like it. I am glad that my children are also growing up eating and liking the fresh fruits and veggies.

10 YEARS (6/6/98)

Wow, how time flies. Today makes the 10th anniversary of Bill and I getting married. Looking back, I am amazed at where we are at in our lives compared to where we began. We were very young (20) and still in college, and 6 moths later, we also became parents. It has been a long road, but is one that I am so proud to have succeeded thus far and hope for many more successes down the road. We both graduated from college, though a semester apart, and moved 8 hours from our families for Bill's new job. That was difficult, but we love it here and I truly believe that this is part of God's big plan for us. One year out of college, we built our first home. They say that if a couple can survive building a home together, they can handle pretty much anything. Well, with Bill in the construction industry, he had many legs up on me as to what everything meant and what goes where and so forth. We are both very hardheaded people, so we learned compromise throughout the build. Year seven was a hard one...that 7 year itch is a nasty bug, and it almost got the best of us. But, our relationship prevailed, and I truely believe that we are stronger now than ever. Year eight brought us a surprise pregnancy, and even more so when we found out it was twins. The last two years have been a whirlwind of mass craziness. With three kids, we stay on our toes, but I think thats just the way life is and I am happy to have it be so fulfilling.