NO TEARS!!!

Last week was a bit traumatic for both my Sarah and myself. She started riding the bus to Head Start last week. The first day she was excited. The second day she cried. She cried four days last week when it was time to watch for the bus, and I don't mean sniffles. This was an all out DON'T MAKE ME GO TO SCHOOL cry. I told the bus driver Friday that I was going to try taking her to school and let her ride the bus home afterwards. We did that today and although she didn't want to go because she doesn't like nap time she agreed when I told her that she had to at least go turn in her homework she had worked so hard on. She was ok with that, so as we were waling in I asked her if she would want to play with her friends for a while and she said yes! She went right to her teachers and I stayed to help for a while. She is so smart! She answered all the teachers' questions. So proud of my girl! In other news I know some of you have wondered about Cole. He has made a miraculous recovery. He goes back in a few weeks, but if you look at him now you would never know that just over a week ago he had hernia surgery. He's amazing too!

My Sweet, Sweet Sarah

So I posted about being the Mom of the Year the other day because I sent my Sweet Sarah to school crying when she had a fever. Today she was crying again. It seriously breaks my heart. I'm not sure why she is not liking school, but I hate it for her. She LOVED preschool last year. Things are different here though. She rides a bus to school and home. She goes from 8-2 instead of 8-12, and she has to lay down for a little while. She also goes 5 days a week instead of just 2. I don't know what it is that is causing her to not like school, but it's killing me. I hold it together until I get in the house (can't let her see me cry), but it truly breaks my heart! Any ideas on how to help her?

SNAKES!

We are currently renting the house we live in. When we moved in the house had an AC, but it didn't work, so there were 2 window units we used. In less than a week the AC unit in the house was replaced, but the transformer on it didn't work, so we have to turn the air on and off from the breaker box which is in the office. The office is another story....The foundation of the house shifted at some point, and the office is messed up. There are holes and cracks in the wall. I'm assuming that one of the holes in the wall was just big enough for a snake. Yesterday I went in the office to turn the air on and I saw a snake skin in the floor. Being the girl that I am.....I FREAKED OUT! I called my husband and told him that the AC and the office had to be fixed ASAP because I wasn't going in there anymore! I like wildlife as much as the next person, but the fact that wildlife came in my home makes me feel violated!

Mom of the Year

Yesterday was a good day. Sarah started Head Start last week and yesterday the bus came to pick her up and she was SO excited. Today....not so much. Every day since school started she's done the same thing her sister's done. ("My head hurts. My tummy hurts. I don't want to go to school.") They don't like to wake up early and go somewhere. They don't mind waking up before 6 on Saturday or Sunday though. I know....it doesn't make sense to me either. Anyway, Sarah cried this morning and said she did NOT want to go to school. I thought she needed to go. I don't want to let her think that every time she cries, I'll let her stay home. I carried my little crying child to the bus and kissed her this and told her bye. Fast forward to around 11:30. I get a call from one of her teachers. She has a temperature of 101. Yep, that's me. The mother of the year.

Precious Angels

Lately the kids have been angels, and by angels I mean almost completely the opposite of an angel. It has been quite rough. Anyway, we were in the van after taking Elizabeth to school and Cole and Sarah were singing David Crowder's version of "Never Let Go". There were so sweet. Just like the little angels I see glimpses of from time to time.
There is something that I absolutely LOVE about this house. Every night before I go to bed I check on each one of them and I watch them sleep for a while. They look the most angelic then and so peaceful. It's my favorite time of day, and not just because it's the ONLY time the house is quiet, but because watching them while they sleep reminds me of how precious they can be (when they want to, of course!).

First Grade

Elizabeth's first day of first grade was a success. She already has a "best friend" although she does not yet know her name. I told her we should work on that today. She said she would. She also told us that she has a boyfriend, but that she hasn't told him he's her boyfriend yet. She told me that she loves her teacher and thinks she is very nice. She really seemed to have a good time. I am SOOOOOOO relieved because I have prayed for her to find friends and love her new school. I'm so glad she does even though she doesn't like to get up in the mornings.

Adventures in House Hunting.....Shedd style!

Jonathan and I spent a day in Reform house hunting. We went through all our normal channels in order to find a place to live. We stopped by apartment complexes, got a newspaper, and a shopper's guide and came up completely empty! We were upset and didn't know where to turn. We came home and that's when the phone calls started coming in.

We were getting phone calls from Booster Club members and other people in the community who were on the prowl for the perfect house for these five Shedd's. We got a call from a coach who said he had found a house for us to come see. We went the very next day, and the owner of the house had an emergency in Birmingham and couldn't get to Reform with the key that day. Four hours in the car....wasted. We were getting really frustrated, but we made plans to come back in a few days and try again.

Our next attempt was more successful except for the part where we got there around 10 and couldn't see that house until around 6. The coach did have another house for us to see, so we went to that house. It had holes in the walls and the ceiling and there was pink insulation on the floor. Sarah called this the soft house and she loved it because it was soft and pink. I, on the other hand, was not to impressed. The houses around it kinda scared me and there were bad words written on the sliding glass doors leading to the back yard. Not my number one choice obviously.

We killed time with the kids for what seemed like forever. We went to City Hall and talked with a lady there that had called us. She gave us a few more leads, and we called about one. The lady I talked to was selling her house, but it had been on the market for over a year. He husband had been the former principal at the school Jonathan will be at next year. She told me that the school was closing and that there was no way they would do a lease to own deal with us on their house.....it was like getting a phone call that the world was going to end. After calling our coach friend back and talking with the lady at City Hall we were reassured that the school had it in writing that the school would not close for at least 3 years.

I was still not convinced and was thinking about the worst....me here in Clanton with the kids while Jonathan lived in Peewee's hotel in Reform during the week. Not quite what we were hoping for, but we toured the elementary school with Elizabeth anyway.

Finally the time comes to see the house we'd tried to see before. Although the carpet needs to be replaced and the walls need some paint it has everything that I had wanted in a house. It's on the end of a dead end road, so there shouldn't be anyone out there. It had a huge front porch with a swing, a car port big enough for 2 cars, and a big back deck. Inside it had a long living room, a real laundry room (as opposed to the laundry closet we have now). It had 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, and an office. Although it had a few issues we were excited about the possibilities. We let them know we were interested and that's when our adventure began.....

TO BE CONTINUED.....