Christmas Party

Hey friends.. Skip and I have decided we are not going to have our annual Christmas Party this year. It has turned into a wonderful tradition and are sad about skipping it this year. Skip and I both have mono and have been warned by the MD that we need to take it easy this holiday season (yea right). We are going to AL and FL during Thanksgiving. Waverly's foundation, A Fresh Hope, is having a Christmas event on 12-21-08. Squeezing a Christmas party seemed like too much this year. We hope to see you all at our party in 2009.

Blogging limitations

A read a lot of really funny and inspiring blogs. A lot of the blogs are written by moms of younger children. The stories are very funny and I can related to most of them. So.. here comes posting on my blog. You see, I have to be careful posting on my blog because my 2nd, 4th and 5th graders are frequent viewers of the blog. If I were to post an embarrassing story, it would not be a good day in the Gilcrease household. I wouldn't want to embarrass them but there are some stories I think are funny and sweet that would be a reason to move to Canada in their book. I would love to tell stories of funny things they say or do but I will just have to jot a little note down and save it for when they have kids.

Another limitation is my kids' friends also read this blog (Hello Brandon and Megan)... so even if my kids missed a funny story on this blog, their friends would be sure to tell them about it. I was almost most in hot water over the ear piercing story. So... for now.. we will have to stick to censored stories for curious minds.

RANDOM UPDATE: Skip now has mono. Wonder where he got it from?

Mono aka The Kissing Disease

Well.. all through my tween and teenage years, I went through mono testing anytime I got overly tired. I swam for Swim Atlanta and swimming 25 hours a week on top of school can wear a gal out. I never got mono, ever. I knew a ton of teens that got mono, but never me. I think I secretly wanted it as a teen so I could take a break from school, swimming and get some rest. I have always been a big sleeper. I am the type that needs 8 hours to be worth anything the next day. You are risking it if you call me past 9:30 on a school night.

Well.. fast forward 25 years... About a month ago, I was beat. I was flat exhausted! After two weeks of feeling horrible, I went to the doctor. I had a throat culture and came home with a Z-pack. A week went by, still exhausted and feeling like a truck ran over me.. I went back in and had blood work done. On a side note.. the nurse at Dr. Loe's office rocks! I honestly did not even feel the needle that was sucking a few vials of blood out of my arm. So.. Dr. Loe called me this Monday morning and woke me up because I sleep a lot now.
Here is the conversation:
Dr. Loe: Hello Jennifer, this is Robin Loe. How are you feeling?
Me: Not so great. In fact, I was going to call you today.
Dr. Loe: you don't feel good because you have MONO. Your blood levels are through the roof.

We went through the details of mono, recovery, side effects, etc. You are not suppose to get mono once you round the corner of 40. Dr. Loe basically said I would be pretty tired for the remainder of 2008. My side hurts because my spleen is swollen. I will have off/on fevers. I need to be isolated for another week or two. My husband has questioned me on how I got the kissing disease. You don't have to kiss someone with mono, you only need to have a droplet of saliva. Can I tell you how gross that is to me? Somewhere, somehow, a droplet of saliva from some random person got into my mouth. YUCK!

Now, let's exam this a little closer. How in the world is a working mother of 3 suppose to clear her calendar in October, November and December? I think it is fair to say these are the busiest months of the year. There are fall activities, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. A Fresh Hope is doing a Christmas event 12/21. My mom has demanded a list of activities I plan on cutting out. I offered to let her come here and cook/clean but she declined that offer. I love you mom if you are reading this.. Our strong point is just not cooking. My mom called me Wednesday morning and woke me up to tell me to get some rest. Now mom.... does that make sense?

So.... I am looking a little worse for the wear right now. I have cut back washing my hair to every 3-4 days rather than every other day. Doesn't that count for my list of activities I am cutting back? I have high ups and downs. During the downs.. I am good for nothing except a little complaining and sleeping. During the ups.. I try to get as much done as possible. This just throws me into a down moment. It is a roller coaster ride.

Thank you to my kind friends that have sent notes, made me soup, and called. No one has offered to give me a hug and I can't understand why. I should be able to be in public more at the first of next week. I probably shouldn't swap spit with my hubby for a while (even though he said it doesn't matter because if he has it, he has it). By the way.. he is getting tested tomorrow.

Mighty to Save

I have really enjoyed this song lately. I love the message!


Mighty to Save by Hillsong

Everyone needs compassion
A love that's never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
A kindness of a Savior
The hope of nations

My Savior
He can move the mountains
My God is Mighty to save
He is Mighty to save
Forever
Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

So take me as You find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender

Shine your light and let the whole world see
We're singing for the glory of the risen King...Jesus

What I love about the Fall..

Fall is my favorite season of the year. My totally random list of reasons I love fall:
** I love the cool crisp weather. I love feeling the change from being blistery hot to a nice chill in the area.
** Auburn Football
** Pumpkin Fraps!
** You can say Autumn to sound fancy
** Christmas Shopping starts- I love Christmas.
** It's fun to put on jeans again. It is a like a whole new wardrobe appears. With any luck.. I am able to wear this 'new' wardrobe again.
** We burn fires in the fireplace as it gets colder. I love the sound of wood popping and the smell of real wood burning.
** We finally get into the school grove. We kind of flap around aimlessly in August trying to get back into the routine.
** New Hampshire in the fall is breathtaking!!! We lived in NH for 4 years. Our backyard was so incredible. We actually had to close our blinds so our house was not glowing orange inside.
** I loves watching the leaves change colors.
** It is fun to see the pumpkins, hay bails, and scarecrow decorations.
** Fall Festivals
** Apple Cider- YUM
** Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving - Don't you secretly wish the Great Pumpkin showed up? Poor Linus.
** Our whole family gets flu shots to help protect Grant from getting the flu (and ourselves). Good times at the Gilcrease house on those days!
** Church always has great events in the fall. I love the Western Jamboree, Dinner in December, Children of the World, etc.
** I smile knowing the kids from the Back to School Drive are enjoying their new back packs.
** Pumpkin Spice Yankee Candles
** Picking out the Halloween Costumes.. Halloween is fun! The kids love dressing up!
** Sleeping with the windows open
** Shows start up again.. no more reruns
** Thanksgiving... we always visit family for Thanksgiving. I love it!
** We usually get to Tampa at least once in the fall to visit the Gilcreases.
** Fall Weddings.. They are so beautiful!
** Youth Fall Soccer- So much fun

Ear Piercing and life...

I had to be 13 to get my ears pierced. I don't remember how old I was when I got my
2ND holes. I do know I was 16 when I got the 3rd hole in my left ear... through the cartilage.. Ouch! I remember that one vividly as I proudly wore the earring for 4 hours before my parents demanded it disappear. To be honest... I don't think they liked the 2ND holes anymore than the 3rd.

We had decided that our daughters (not son) had to be 13 to get their ears pierced too. You know.. the ole parenting style of "you can do it when I did it". Well, when Waverly was 9, all she wanted for Christmas was to have her ears pierced. THAT WAS ALL! After much thought.. I agreed. Skip, on the other hand, was very much against it. We finally convinced him that she was old enough to take care of her ears. It turns out, that was not the problem. He viewed ear piercing as a sign of growing up. I didn't see it that way to the same degree.

So.. on 12/26/06, the family loaded in to the van (RIP) and headed to the French boutique, Claire's. For those without tween girls.. Claire's is a money pit. Wish I had part ownership of that place. The very qualified young ladies at Claires (after they finished munching a snack) both got on either side of Waverly to proceed with the minor surgery. Now this is where it gets interesting.. Picture this.. Claire's is packed full of tweens eager to spend their Christmas money. Grant is bored stiff. Kendall is hiding in the furtherest corner because she didn't want to see Waverly get hurt. Skip has tears in his eyes (literally). Waverly is sitting in the chair crying. I am trying to convince the young employees that I am not making her get her ears pierced and that it was completely her decision. Here is a photo of the "HAPPY MOMENT".
Can you see the joy in this child's eyes?

Well, Kendall turned 9 this summer. She proudly announced that she is never getting her ears pierced. We were all a bit relieved. Well, about 2 weeks ago, she came home from school stating she was ready to take the plunge. Here we go again. We load up the car and drive to Claire's. This time, Grant was a bit more interested and watched. Skip was tearing up again. Waverly hid in the corner. Kendall sat in the chair squeezing a teddy bear crying. I was, again, trying to convince the nice employees that we are not making her get her ears pierced. Here is a photo of the happy girl:


Doesn't she look thrilled:


But.. the tears were gone in seconds. They are both now pierced. It should be the last piercing experience for the Gilcreases if all goes as planned. Skip is still a little sad but he is handling it much better. One of the fun memories we will treasure forever in an 'odd' way.

Our mini-vacation! AHHHHHH

Skip and I try to get away together each year, ALONE. We started this in 2002 after Grant was born. Our first year with Grant was trying to be mild. That year, we went to Puerto Rico. The following year, we went on a cruise only to find out Grant got sick when we were gone. We went straight from the airport to pick Grant up at Grammy's house then straight Scottish Rite to have him admitted. After a week long cruise then a week at Scottish Rite, we needed a vacation. The next year, we headed to Atlantis in the Bahamas. Incredible resort! I highly recommend it. The next year, it was London for Skip's 40th birthday. Last year was Dominican Republic for my 40th birthday.

This year...... take a guess... Helen, GA. Yep, the north GA mountains. See, Dave Ramsey is starting to have an effect. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. We had as much fun as any of the other 'more distant' destinations. We stayed in an incredible cabin with a wonderful view. We watched a lot of movies, basically chick flicks (P.S. I love you, 13 going on 30, Legally Blonde) Skip was very patient but I think he was thrilled to watch the Auburn v LSU game Saturday night. Great game.. wish Auburn would've pulled through.

Saturday, we went to Helen to eat. Well, while enjoying a nice Oktober Fest beverage and German meal, we met Squirrel and her family. Squirrel is a Harley Rider who was in Helen for a benefit ride. Great lady but boy can she talk. Here is a photo of me and squirrel.

Helen is a bit more colorful than I remembered from my younger days. We saw Hermann Munster riding in the back of a car:

As we were walking to our car, guess who we ran into,? Yep, it was squirrel riding off into the sunset.

It was a great weekend! Thanks Mom and Dad for keeping the kids.