Single Parent life

Jamie's last day off work was Oct. 10th. His estimated next day off work is Nov. 7. Because of all the rain, they have issued a service emergency in Arkansas. At one point we didn’t see him for 48 hours. I have decided that this single parenting thing stinks. I’m a much better parent with him around. Period. Not because I can’t do it on my own. But I sure enjoy it more with him by my side. The good news is that he will have about 100 hours of overtime.


Check out Hassie Clare’s shiner in some of the pics below (you can barley see it in these pics). She got it at Ella Grace’s birthday party. I should have taken a picture of it the day after it happened but I didn’t think about it at the time. A 5-year-old special needs boy punched her. And then laughed. How do you explain to a 3 year old that it wasn’t his fault that he balled up his fist and punched her in the eye for no reason? The girls have been around people with special needs their entire life but they have no clue they are physically or mentally challenged in any way. She was upset because he didn’t get a spanking or time out but mostly because he laughed and didn’t say he was sorry. He laughed because he laughs at everything … not because he is a mean spirited kid. I don’t think he is verbal so him saying “I’m sorry” was out of the question. I hope I handled it okay. I told her that he could not help what he did because he has some problems that the doctors are helping him with. I lied to her and told her that his parents put him in time out and he got in “big” trouble. I think she got it because a few days later someone asked her what happened to her eye and she said “a boy hit her but he couldn’t help it and the doctors are trying to make him better.”

We are geared up for all the Halloween festivities this weekend. The girls went to the zoo this week. They had a Halloween Festival with our playgroup. They also had a Fall Festival at school. And then Tay Tay surprised us with Halloween Donuts this morning. I think we may cut out sugar cold turkey after this weekend. Sugar highs and lows are not fun with two 3 years olds.

Picture day at school (2 days before the black eye).

They have been very creative lately. They made a train out of their table while I cooked dinner. Hassie Clare is pulling the train whistle and Quinnie is holding on and saying "chuga chuga chuga."

Quinnie catching a few winks while watching a movie. Her BB (blanket) is never far.

They are fighting over the sunlight in this pic because it made their sparkly shoes super sparkly!

I love doing laundry!

This is a new love of mine brought on by the fabulous new washing machine and dryer we purchased last week. Our old washer gave up on us. I can't say that I blame it. With the new washer and dryer came a laundry room / junk room make over. It is still a work in progress. This room started out as a laundry room / band room with Jamie's full set of drums. Then we changed it to a laundry room / work out room. After we had the girls it evolved to a laundry room / junk room filled with the girls old and new toys and clothes that are stored here for safe keeping. Here is a video of Princess Hassie Clare and Princess Quinn going "pretend" shopping for 3 lollipops. In the background you can see our old washer and dryer.

Our new babies are Whirlpool Cabrios. My favorite thing about the washer is being able to watch the clothes wash - you can see through the lid and being able to put the detergent, fabric softener and Oxy / Bleach in at the top of the washer before starting a cycle. My favorite thing about the dryer is all the options, such as steam, air only and mostly how the dryer weighs the clothes, determines their wetness and drys them accordingly. Supposedly they will pay for themselves in 5 years with the money saved on energy and water. We shall see. I had no idea Jamie and I could get so excited about a household appliance. We painted the walls Dutch Boy Blue. Jamie put in a shelving system so that I have better use of storage space (not shown in the picture). Unfortunately, we have to put down a new floor because a few spots in this room are dangerously rotten underneath the flooring.
Needless to say, our granite countertops are getting put on hold .. yet again ... for a few more weeks. For the record, this is the first washer and dryer I've ever purchased. I lived in dorms and apartments before we bought this house. With marriage came his old washer and dryer that I think he got at a garage sale. We used and abused it for 10 years.

I'm sure when my girls read this in 20 years they will think "man ... those are sooo old school."

My Penney

I've known this girl for 7 years .... roughly. We met through bunko. She is one of those friends that just gets me. She is beautiful inside and out. Smokin hot body and radiant heart. We don't talk every day or every week for that matter but when we do, we pick right up where we left off. She is one of those friends that you know, without a shadow of doubt, would be there for you no matter what, day or night at the drop of a hat. I love her for this. She is an amazing mother (lots of hound dogs and a spectacular grown son), businesswoman and party animal extraordinaire! She reads my blog faithfully and I just got this email from her today:

"No blog since Oct 15th. I keep looking... :)

I love you and I enjoy seeing your family grow."

Penney is going through a hard time right now. She is losing her Daddy to an ugly disease. My family prays for her and her family every night. Throughout this difficult period in her life she still finds the time to show an interest in me and my family. Another reason why I love her dearly. I have no doubt we will be friends until the end.

So ... you wanted me to do a blog entry .... you got it! ALL ABOUT YOU. I'm lucky to have you as my friend .... thank you!

My house. Dance Party USA 2006

Her birthday party 2007. Getting groovy on the dance floor with her boyfriend-life mate!

New Years Eve 2007/2008

Halloween Bunko 2008

Halloween Bunko 2009

I only have computer access to pictures from late 2006 through last month. These are just a few pics I picked out to show how much fun we have when we get together!

Disney On Ice

I have to admit I was a little "sticker price" shocked when Jamie called me about buying tickets for Disney On Ice at the FedEx Forum. Of course Jamie being the concert / event expert that he is, he was in charge of getting the tickets. $200 bucks later, he picked out 5 great seats on the front row, center ice. There was one row of folks down on the ice in front of us in fold out chairs. Our seats were perfect and so was the show. Maema was able to go with us and that made the day even more special.

The girls were SO excited. They had no idea what we were talking about when we talked "up" the show but they knew that Ariel and TinkerBell were going to be there and that was all that mattered. They each picked out a princess dress out of their trunk of "dress-up clothes" to wear to the show (Quinn picked Snow White and Hassie Clare picked Cinderella's pink cleaning dress). They both wore their new glittery shoes that they talked Maema into buying during a shopping trip to Target. 

At the Forum before the show. We hung out with our good friends (The Cozzens) before the show.

Our best attempt at getting a picture of Quinn, Ella and Hassie Clare.

Jamie and Quinnie waiting on Cinderella to come out during the pre-show. Who's more excited?

During the pre-show they had a big display set up of all the Princess dresses. Quinn LOVED looking at them and studied every detail of each dress.

Farkle family acting silly. When you stand against this wall, a bright light flashes and it leaves your shadow on the wall.

Hassie Clare never took her eyes off the ice and she sat perfectly still ..... in our laps.

We had more fun watching the girls then anything. Seeing things through their eyes always amazes me.

The ice show featured Mickey & Minnie Mouse, Cars, Tinker Bell, Lion King and The Little Mermaid. Our camera batteries died so we didn't get any shots of Tink.

Great time, lots of memories!!!

Is there a support group for chronic over-bookers?

My, my we have been busy. Let me back up to about 3 weeks ago. We took the girls to see Disney On Ice (I’ll blog in detail with pics later). My parents started house hunting down here and found a house on the first day. Had a contract by the second day. Inspection was yesterday and they close on the 30th. We are all very excited. It is exactly 3 miles from our house and takes approximately 6 mins to get their “almost” house even though it is in a different city. In the mist of all this excitement, we have made a trip to Cape for a cousin’s wedding reception, provided room and board for 8 ladies down here on a golf trip, started remodeling our kitchen, attended our best buds baby shower, won some mula on a night out at the casino, worked our normal work week and managed not to neglect the girls too much!


On to the important stuff …. Hassie Clare and Quinn. They started back to their mother’s day out program, also called Day School. They go 2 days a week for 6 hours. The 3-year-old room is a little more structured and the rules are a tad bit stricter. Quinn got time out for the first time EVER at school …. she yelled at Mrs. Pam for not laying her blanket out correctly (shocked us all but most of all Mrs. Pam). Hassie Clare has only had one time out (shocked that it has only been once: ). There is one other girl in their class and 7 boys. Most of the kids in their class will be 4 by the end of the year and some of them are a full year older then the girls. Their new teacher is very sweet and keeps the kids very busy with different project. We miss Mrs. Ilona and still think she was the best “first” teacher ever!

The other day I was asking Mrs. Pam if my girls played with any of the other children during the day. She said that Quinn and the other little girl played together all day and that Hassie Clare always plays by herself. For some reason this hurt my heart. Not sure why. I think it will always be difficult for Hassie Clare to “bond” with other kids because she is so unique. No doubt she will be a leader …. even if she doesn’t have any followers!

I can’t wait for my parents to live down here for a multitude of reasons. My mom and I have so much fun together. Yes, she drives my C R A Z Y sometimes and yes, I’m sure I get on her nerves by being bossy and controlling. But the time we spend together is priceless. The time Hassie Clare and Quinn get to spend with Nana and Paw Paw is priceless. I have not lived near them or in the same state in 17 years (except for 2.5 months right after I finished grad school). I was 18 years old when I went away to college. They begged me to move back to the area after grad school. Like a good daughter, I gave in and moved back to the area to be near them. Two and half months after I moved back they moved away to Arkansas. Go figure! I depend on my mom for so much emotionally and man oh man does that woman make me laugh! Good times are ahead and I will make sure to cherish every moment with my parents because I won’t always have this chance. Jamie is good at reminding me of how important it is not to sweat the small things cause it could all be gone in the blink of an eye.

Quinn and Hassie Clare before open house at their school.

Hass isn't feelin' the love in this pic.

First day of school - they are only 3 and you can tell by the look on their face with their fake smile that they are annoyed by me taking a picture.

HC and Q are very into plastic hand held princess dolls. In this pic they took their dolls on a "road trip" to our bedroom:)

Dolly Parton at Halloween bunko (there are 4 pair of socks in this photo .... can you see them?????).

My bunko girls.

Hangin' w Daddy

Jamie recently took the girls to a Redbirds game and gave me the night off to hang out with my girlfriends. It really is the small things that matter. He sent me this pic from his phone to let me know they were having fun.