Archive for November, 2007

We are home once again. How quickly life zooms by, I can hardly catch my breath! We had a great visit with our family and friends. Even our kids were well-behaved most of the time. In Starkville, we stayed with Robbie and Jimmy Richardson, who were like Jay's adopted parents while he was away at school. The highlight of the trip for me was getting to meet the Richardson's 19 month-old granddaughter, Carley. Carley was born with severe disabilities and has already had several surgeries, but she is the most precious little girl! She is tiny, weighing less than 13 pounds, and she has a smile that lights up the room! Her parents, Tony and Adelli, need lots of prayers as they raise this little miracle, as well as her two older brothers. Save a few for Carley, too, that she will grow and develop as much as she can. She is truly a joy!

Driving this trip was not much fun, as it rained most of the time. I'm ready for some sunshine! Well, right now I'm ready for bed. Jay made it to New York for the last week of his contract there. We're not sure where he'll go from here, so please keep us in your prayers as we have some decisions to make. Thanks!

The kids love playing hide-n-seek, especially Eliza. She took the concept a little farther today, though. She was coloring in her new Dora coloring book when I noticed that she had colored the whole page black. "Why did you color everything black?" I asked. "So the bear won't see Dora and Boots!" she replied. Apparently, in the story a bear is chasing after Dora and Boots. But he won't find them now, thanks to Eliza!

Sunday night we went to the church for a Thanksgiving dinner. Jay was already headed back to New York, but my family was there, and we had a good time, even if the kids were bouncing off the walls. When it came time to say what we were thankful for, I couldn't think of anything to say. It's not that I'm not thankful, it's just that I have so much to be thankful for that I couldn't name just a few. I could say my family, a loving husband, 2 healthy and happy kids, my own health, our home, God's grace and forgiveness, abundant food, financial security, etc., etc…. It just seems I could never name enough things to do justice to my gratefulness. James, however, had no problem thinking of something. When his turn came around, he looked down at his plate and said, "I'm thankful for…french fries!" And everyone agreed. Eliza, on the other hand, is thankful for Easter eggs. I'm not sure what brought that up!

Well, we made it home from our 2 weeks in New York City. It really flew by, despite being crammed into a tiny one-room apartment. We did manage to move down the hall half-way through our trip on Friday. I had to move our stuff while Jay was still at work, and James slept in the stroller the whole time while Eliza helped me carry stuff from one apartment to the other (she had already had a nap). The new apartment smelled better, but we found out that the couch did not make down into a bed, so we let James sleep on the couch and made a pallet for Eliza from the comforter that was on our bed. It worked out okay. The weather was pretty cold, but we managed to have a good weekend, going to The American Museum of Natural History (aka the "dinosaur museum") on Saturday, and Central Park on Sunday. The kids had fun playing on a very large playground, even if their movement was a little restricted from being all bundled up against the cold. Jay was off work Monday for Veteran's Day, but we were pretty tired from our weekend activities, so we just stayed in to recuperate, playing the Wii and enjoying being a family. We went to Times Square for supper one night, as James had said it would be better to see it at night. When I asked him why, he replied, "Because of all the lights!" It is a very impressive sight, but it's almost too much visual stimulation for my taste. Even the Subway and police stations have sparkly lights…I guess otherwise you wouldn't notice them at all!

Wednesday I took the kids back to Madison Square Park to run around in the slightly warmer weather…I think it got up to 50 degrees! They had fun collecting leaves in the stroller and chasing pigeons, a favorite pastime of theirs in New York (and there are certainly a lot of opportunities!) Thursday I did laundry, dragging it from our 32nd floor apartment to the "gallery", the second floor where the laundry room is. At least I won't have as much laundry to do here before we leave for our Thanksgiving travels. Our trip home went very smoothly, despite having to get up at 4:00 Saturday morning to catch our plane. I have put up some pictures from our trip on my flickr page. A few more are still on Jay's camera, so they will be up eventually!

We will be busy this week, with a field trip to Pinnacle Mountain with James' class Monday morning (his teacher called me to tell me about it tonight), and driving to Memphis Wednesday, where I'll pick up Jay from the airport and we'll spend the night at my grandmother's house. Thursday morning we'll drive down to Philadelphia, MS, to have Thanksgiving lunch at Jay's grandmother's, and then down to Brandon to visit with his mom for a few days. Then on to Starkville, MS, to see some friends, and back to Memphis on Sunday, in time for Jay to catch a plane back to New York. Then I'll drive home, hopefully not getting in too late. Life never slows down, it seems, and Christmas is just around the corner! I'd better start shopping soon, ya think?

Well, we made it to New York City for what is most likely our last visit (I mean it this time!). We are making it, in a small studio apartment about the size of my parent's den. And we are about to move down the hall into an even smaller apartment, due to a strong smell of cigarette smoke in this one, probably coming from the next door neighbors. I can barely smell it anymore, but it is bothering my nose and eyes, and I know it can't be good for the kids. We bought a humidifier after the first night, because it was so dry. We also got the kids some little chairs so they would have a place to eat. We do have a very nice view of the city (we are on the 32nd floor), and in the new apartment we will have an impressive view of the Empire State Building, which is just a few blocks away. I'm still not sure what to think about moving, but hopefully it will be for the best.

It has been very cold here, with highs in the 40s, so we have mostly been staying in. That has been interesting, cooped up in a small space with 2 active kids, but I'm not quite crazy yet. We did brave the cold this morning to go to the playground at Madison Square Park, where the kids enjoyed having some space to romp and I answered survey questions from two different groups of college students. They seemed extremely grateful; I guess not many New York moms are willing to take the time to answer their questions, it takes an Arkansan who just can't seem to say no! We were pretty cold by the time we got back to the apartment, but it was a good outing.

We had a fairly uneventful flight, which was good, and the taxi ride was interesting. James struck up a conversation with our driver, who told him his name was Tony (his printed name on the seat-back was something Middle-Eastern-sounding). He was impressed with James' conversational skills. Eliza had been running fever Friday, and she was still feverish for our traveling on Saturday. The fever finally broke Sunday night, and we have all been pretty well except for a few sniffles. Eliza has finally had a two-year molar break through, and she has been chewing on whatever she can find. We have been watching TV, playing card games and the Wii, and enjoying seeing Daddy every night. I think he's happy to see us, too. After all, that's why we're here. :)

Last night we went to the church for "Trunk-r-treat", the party they do every year on Halloween. The kids had a great time dressing in costumes, jumping on the moon jump, playing games, and getting lots and lots of candy! James went as a cowboy, and Eliza was a puppy dog. Afterwards, we went trick-or-treating to the two closest houses to ours, just to complete the Halloween experience. I did manage to get a few pictures, so check them out!