Ah, Where Has the Time Gone?

Had a new experience this morning and it prompted me to want to write about it. First thought was to utilize this existing outlet to post my thoughts. Imagine my surprise when I logged in and realized my last post was in 2008, yikes! So many times I write posts in my mind, but somehow the words never make it from my mind to the keyboard. I digress...

This morning I had the unique experience of getting to visit the GA Department of Labor office. In and of itself not a bad experience, employees were as kind as they could be when dealing with lots of folks and the place was not in disrepair but beyond that, wow. It is interesting that the office is in an older building, hidden down a hill and tucked in the backside of a cul-de-sac, just pulling in makes you feel as though you should be a bit ashamed and they are tucking you away from prying eyes. I realize it's just an inexpensive location and my tax dollars thank them, but in the moment it is humbling. Not saying DOL should have fancy, expensive offices but I do wonder what effect that might have on the morale of people entering the facility in search of employment.

As I enter the building I am greeted by two "guards" one of whom is kind enough to open the door for me, which prohibits me from seeing the sign stating "NO FOOD OR DRINKS", so the other guard kindly tells me I can't enter. "Excuse me?," I respond. "You can't bring cups in here," he states. So I proceed back out to the car to leave my insulated, spill proof coffee mug. Now, back in one more time to no clear direction on where to proceed. Thankfully a kind man waiting for the same meeting points me in the right direction. I walk to the counter to check-in and the woman proceeds to speak so fast she almost made my head spin. As a fellow fast talker I appreciate the art, but lady, wow! My favorite was when I ask her a question about something she had just said and she looked at me confused not understanding how I didn't get it all the first time.

The rest of the time there was not overly interesting, just funny to me that speak down to you the whole time. The woman leading the meeting was nice, and professional, but certainly there is a feeling that people are looking down on you somehow. A little encouraging pep talk would be nice now and then. I realize it is a system that people abuse and they want to make sure that doesn't happen, but still, a little positive energy would go a long way.

The highlight to the day? Learning that because I was one of the lucky few who had filed on-line I would get to leave early in the session, yahoo! Thankfully the experience lasted just under an hour, and now I will be rolling in the riches of the world of the unemployed, ha! Better yet, good motivation to find a job to not have to rely on the system, and it's many check points to sustain my family. Hm, maybe that was their intention the entire time...

Stay tuned. You never know how many years until the next post!

Pink Party!

We had a great time at Hannah's party this past Saturday! Everyone was decked out in their pink, even parents & grandparents carried out the pink theme (even Charlie!)! Thank you to our friends and family who came to celebrate Hannah's special day. She had quite a full day with presents, breakfast at Waffle House with Kelley, then party and more presents, and lots of time to play with her friends. Charlie and Lilly did great letting it be all about Hannah for the day! Well, they really did want to go to Waffle House for breakfast but instead they were good sports and helped to decorate for the party. Here are a couple pics from the day (thank you Mom & Duckwalls for taking pictures!).

Hannah McCay

Hard to believe that Hannah will be six years old tomorrow!

Tomorrow will be a special day filled with lots and lots of pink, and friends, and family! She has already requested a date with Daddy to Waffle House for breakfast, and they have to sit at the counter. Tonight we decorate; she has been quite concerned that the decorations are not in place, but I was hoping to surprise her....not my little party planner, she wants to make sure everything is perfect! I am so proud!

This morning while everyone else in the house was asleep, we had quality time together baking cookies for her birthday celebration at school. She was very clear that she wanted sugar cookies, and chocolate chip to make sure there was a choice. Another important piece was that everyone should be able to have two cookies. Happy to report that our baking was a success and there will be lots of cookies for everyone! She has been looking forward to this celebration since her first day of school back in February. Frequently over the past months we have had talks about what would happen on her celebration day. Just as we have been counting down the days to her birthday she has been counting the days to her celebration!

While the cookies baked we had a chance to sit and look over pictures that she was taking to school to make a timeline. I printed photos from when she four months up until our trip to the beach a couple weeks ago. She has grown into such a sweet and loving child over the past six years, and she is still as beautiful as the day she was born. I am looking forward to watching as she learns and grows even more in this next year.

I love you Hannah Miss-a-kay!

Okay, so it's been a while

When I first set up this blog I had the idea that I would constantly be posting things that were going on in our family. Not so much for others to read, but to serve as more of an on-line diary. One place to record all the interesting things that happen in our family of five. Now quite a bit of time has passed but I am finally going to start plugging away at this forum for documenting our life. Rather than trying to go back and recap many months of interesting events I'll just start with this week in our life.

Week started off icky with Charile & Hannah going to the doctor. Thankfully Kelley was able to stay home from work to take care of the babies. Both have a sinus infection and cough, and are now being treated with medicine. Thankfully they are not contagious, but that hasn't kept Kelley and me from having scratchy throats. Hopefully we will get all the sickness out of the way now before the holidays arrive!

On Monday (10/13) Charlie lost his third tooth (on the top, in the front). He was too cute when he called me at work singing "all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth"! He is just the cutest boy, and with the loss of each tooth he melts my heart even more. To hear him talk you can detect a slight whistle, precious! Financially he is doing quite well with losing three teeth since February. The cash just continues to roll in under his pillow from the tooth fairy. I'm thinking of pulling some my teeth for cash! At school, he is getting ready for a Historical Pageant and he wants to portray Neil Armstrong. These next couple weeks we will be creating an astronaut costume at home....should be fun!

Hannah is counting down the days until her birthday. Saturday she turns the big SIX! I cannot believe that she is going to be six, yes, I am in denial, let me stay there for a couple months. She is also such a beautiful girl inside and out. We cut her hair (short) and it seems to suit her so well. But, it is making her look less like a baby. Where did this big girl come from all of a sudden? She is reading so well and enjoys making lists. Hannah definetly has her mama's addiction to lists! Monday night she made a list of everything that needs to be done for her party and who was in charge of what. Kelley was wondering why she put him in charge of just preparing everything -- he has to make a pinata, and a pin the nose on the clown game! One thing is for sure, Hannah knows what she wants. Yesterday at school she was stung by a bee! Don't know how things went at school when it happened but by dinner she didn't seem to be bothered and was showing off where she was stung (on her face, ouch!). She has recently expressed that she would like to be a fashion designer when she grows up. This morning she laid out Charlie's clothes for him so she is already training as a stylist. I can't wait for the day that she starts telling me how to dress...should be interesting!

Lilly, where do I start, she is Lilly! A continuous bundle of energy that can be channeled for good or bad, that's my girl! Sunday night while Kelley was at church she decided to play daddy. This being a good idea to her because it means she gets to boss around her big brother and sister, and sleep in my room. She was in character the entire night, and did not like it when I would call her Lilly. Even Charlie and Hannah played along and started calling her "Dally" (a mix of Daddy and Lilly). Throughout the night she called me "Honey"....which I found funny because Kelley doesn't frequently call me that, interesting what children pick up I guess. When Kelley got home she was happy to revert to being just Lilly and cuddling in my lap. For all the frustrations we have with her at times, she is such a loving child. Instinctively, she knows just the right thing to say at the right time. I have some of the best conversations with her, and she seems to genuinely care about my answers to her questions ("What you doin'?", "How was your work today?"). You gotta love some Lilly! Her haircut from last week is also priceless on her! Short 'n sassy, that's what we call it and it is her to a T!

At this point I should probably write something interesting about Kelley and me but I'm not sure what to say. I managed to wake up at the crack of dawn to walk this morning which has been getting increasingly more difficult the colder it gets! Kelley has been wonderful this week to take care of the children on Monday and pick up from school on Tuesday. Tonight we are hosting small group at our house so after work we will be cooking chili and cleaning. Believe it or not I am actually looking forward to those activities! Today work has been so quiet, it will be nice to be up and moving around. Plus, we get to see some of our friends!

To whomever may read this, thank you for sticking with me to the end. For my sake, I hope to write again soon!

Today is the first day of our new family blog. The kids managed to all stay in their own beds all night! This is quite an achievement in our household. As a treat they got to watch a cartoon this morning. I was pleased that they did not get upset when it was time to turn the TV off. This morning was actually quite pleasant.