Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate,
our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves,
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest
the glory of God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we're liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkdgK3adrmw
Marianne Williamson

As we start out this year, we have a chance to really let ourselves shine through. We have a choice to make on how we will live out the next year of our lives, how we will react in situations, how we will live each day. We are capable of great things, each one of us! Somewhere along the way, we've lost sight of that though. We've been told that we were incapable of excellence, that we were meant to live a life of 'simplicity' (ie. poverty), that we were meant to be 'just a mom' or 'just a wife'. We all had dreams of what we wanted. We all saw Cinderella in her castle or Sleeping Beauty being kissed by the prince, and our hearts skipped beat. Deep inside us, we all wanted that. We wanted to be swept off our feet. Now, our 'prince charming' is wearing holey sweatpants, drinking beer or sitting watching football, not sweeping us off our feet like he did during those early years of dating. But don't be fooled. WE have changed too! We've settled for the comfortable atmosphere of our homes, knowing that our husband will be there, despite our looks, weight or attitude. We forget to do our makeup, wear our hair pulled up most of the time and have our own holey sweatpants. (And yes, I'm sitting with my hair pulled up, no makeup on as I type this!!) We settle for the "This is how it was meant to be" or "this is how it's going to be so I just need to accept it" mentality.

It's time to change that mindset. We are ALL made for something bigger than mediocrity. We want our kids to strive to be the best they can be in their classes, their sports or their other activities, but we don't push ourselves the same way. Could it be that we are scared of what would happen if we demanded that same type of determination for ourselves? Could it be that we are scared of the person that we have hidden behind our extra 20, 40, 100 pounds? Could it be that if we became the person we were designed to be, that we might just find ourselves in a position of authority, in a place where people wanted to KNOW us and we were surrounded by friends.

In this near year, I challenge you to find yourself. Become the you that you were designed to be! God has called us to bigger and better. Make 2010 YOUR year to shine!!!!

A Look Back at 2009

I can't believe it's been a full decade since we all feared Y2K. We wondered if the lights were going to go out. Many stockpiled food and water. We made plans for the 'what if' that lay before us. New Years came and went without a glitch and we all let out a huge sigh of relief. Here we are, 10 years later, still wondering what the night and tomorrow will bring. Terrorist attacks are now the new Y2K. We wonder if Times Square is safe tonight. We wonder if the airplane we are about to get on will make it to our destination safely. The fears aren't quite as vivid as the one 10 years ago, but they are still there, etched in the back of our minds, in a dark place that we really don't want to visit.

As we leave this decade behind us and look to the next, what will our lives be? If someone would have asked us on December 31, 1999 where we saw ourselves 10 years from, would this be the place? Are we where we dreamed we'd be? I never in a MILLION years would have imagined myself in Georgia, much less going to school to be a DOCTOR! Who would have ever thought! I never would have imagined, 10 years ago, that I'd have 5 kids, that I'd have just celebrated my 14th wedding anniversary or that I'd be back in school. Life can take us in crazy places, that's for sure! Back in 1999, as we sang Prince's "Party Like its 1999" at the top of our lungs, I imagined I'd be living in a big house with a pool and on a lake. I'd be driving a nice car and wearing nice clothes. WOW! Was I off base!

I am now pushing forward and taking the steps to make those dreams more of a reality. Each class I pass, takes me one step closer to a nice house, a nice ar, and beautiful things. Each quarter takes me one step closer to helping other people better their lives.

So, at the end of this year, I ask you, are you where you thought you would be, if someone would have asked YOU 10 years ago? Where do YOU see yourself in 10 years? What steps are you going to take to get there? This is the time to change your life! This is the day to create your future! This is YOUR time!

Babysitting in the Milano House

I HATE to use the tv as a babysitter, but sometimes, especially with finals approaching and being home with all 5 kids by myself and needing to get studying done, it's the only way. Thank goodness for a 2 hour Incredibles movie!!!!

Lego Boys

My boys LOVE legos. Seth is constantly asking for more sets and will spend hours building and creating amazingly odd contraptions and space vehicles. Micah got his first set for his birthday and now Jacob is into them. The other night I came upstairs and found Seth and Jacob building...TOGETHER! (odd occurance in my house for these two to do much together since there is such an age difference).

Bathtime Fun

Tonight, while getting his bath, Jacob found David's play shaving stuff in the bathtub. He was so excited to try it so I got some of my shaving cream and let him play with it, to see what he would do. It was so cute! Needless to say, bathtime turned into some fun photos.






Next Came a Long Conversation with Rex (or as Jacob calls him "Rexie".)



Next he pretended to Swim. Love the smiles!



Lastly, "Mr Independent" brushed his teeth for bed...and don't forget the tongue!

The kids have started school....

...and I really need to keep up on this blog better now! We had a rough summer. The middle of July, our nanny, who's been with us for 2 years, just up and left us. We still don't know the entire truth behind why she left, but she told us she she had a job offer (which was a lie, but whatever) and that she needed to make her own way. She showed up at the house, with MY garbage bags and 7 of her friends, and moved out. It threw Tim and I into a whirlwind of emotions, planning, trying to figure out what to do next. We had just finished our first week of our quarter and so really were at a loss. It's not easy to find childcare for 5 kids, let alone so quickly. Fortunately, family was a big help. Tim and I left Monday night and drove to Lexington, KY were we met my dad and my brother-in-law who took the kids the rest of the way to Michigan. While in Michigan they alternated between my parents, my sister and Tim's parents, spending the weekend with my family and the middle of the week with Tim's family. While they were there, Tim and I raced to come up with a plan. We started looking for a house closer to the school and moved. The kids came back to Georgia the weekend before starting in their new schools, which by the way are AWESOME schools. They are some of the top schools in the state and have so many programs for the kids. Seth auditioned for the band and had high rankings in every single instrument. They told us that he has a natural ability for music and that just about every instrument he picked up, he was able to play, and many sounded like he'd been playing for years. A lot of kids couldn't get sound out of some of the instruments but he got not only sound but actual notes and tone out of every one. He excelled at the bassoon and percussion though and we were told he had an innate rhythm. He picked percussion as his first choice, bassoon as his 2nd and alto sax as his third, and came HIGHLY recommended on percussion and bassoon. He was chosen to play percussion and is currently working on the bells and will be learning drums soon.
Mikayla was asked early in the 2nd week to try out for the Aristocats musical they are putting on. She has auditions this next week so I'll keep everyone posted on the results. Her teacher had heard that she has competed in Odessey of the Mind the last two years and likes that she has experience with drama.
Katelyn and Micah both are doing well with the adjustments and making great strides. Micah is learning to write his letters and Katelyn is mostly in review right now but doing excellent with it.
Mikayla has already had her first field trip. It was with her accelerated class and was to the water treatment plant. They are learning about how water is used and the importance of it and in the next couple of weeks they will doing a project called Water Kids where they will be testing and monitoring (monthly) the pond in our subdivision. It's a great program (and sure beats the "Cowboy theme" her last school had. It's a great experience for her and a great program.

Anyways, that about sums up the first couple weeks of school. I will do better with updating this. It seems that almost daily there is something now to write about so it should be much more active. :)


Mikayla (3rd grade), Katelyn (2nd grade) & Micah (Kindergarten)


Seth...the big middle schooler


Micah outside his Kindergarten room


Micah at his desk

Micah's Birthday

It's been a while since I've posted to this blog, but now that the kids are in school, it seems there is a ton that can be written about, pretty much daily. I'll start out by writing about Micah's birthday. It's always different being down here with no family around to celebrate with us. Our school had free tickets to the Atlanta Braves game for that same day so the boys all spent the day at Turner Field, cheering the Braves to a win over the Florida Marlins! He had so much fun at his first baseball game!

This year we had Jamie & David living with us though so we had a nice little party for him. We also had some friends of Jamie's over too so it was a good little group of people. Micah had wanted a dirt cake, so it can't get much easier than that when it comes to baking!! Grandma & Papa had bought him his present (Better Batter Baseball) when Granmda was here in June. We bought him his first lego set, a big dinosaur floor puzzle, a really cool lazer gun thing (which I actually bought 2 of so we could avoid fighting!!), some transformers and a nap mat for school. He also got his first baseball glove, a digital camera, Spiderman coloring books and a few little things.

Happy Birthday to my 5 year old!!!


Seats right on the 1st base line.


A dad and his boys!


Seth & Micah


Birthday Boy!


Micah and his baseball glove

Seth's Last Day in Elementary

It's so hard to believe that one of my kids is done with elementary and moving on to middle school! I can't be that old, can I? On Friday, Seth had his last day at the Intermediate school. The didn't do an actual graduation but celebrated each kid during their awards ceremony. Every kid got an award and walked across stage to get it. Seth's was for his IMI Math Test score (although I'm not sure what the score was). The rest of the day was filled with a party, celebrating their moving on to middle school. At the very end of the day they did the "5th Grade Walk". All the other classes were brought out into the hallway to cheer on the 5th graders. A lot of the girls (and some of the boys) were crying, as they lined up and walked through the halls, one last time, to the graduation march. It was pretty emotional to stand and watch, although Seth and his group of friends never cried and couldn't understand why everyone else was. Mikayla, on the other hand, was sitting in the hallways bawling her eyes out, which made almost the entire 2nd grade hallway start crying. Her teacher and I didn't know whether to console them or laugh. LOL Anyways, here's a few pictures from his last day of elementary! On to bigger and better...



Getting his award

With his teacher, Mrs Hawkins


With 2 of our neighbors. Ok, story behind this is that the girls were both taller than Seth. He was standing on his tiptoes to try to be taller (which is why he looks like he's about to bust open laughing) and Lesleigh was trying to look shorter (which is why she was leaning in)

Micah's Graduation

Tonight, Micah graduated from pre-K. I can't believe it's been a full year since he started! He was so cute in his cap and gown and did so good at that program. They sang a couple of songs and he was totally into them. His waving at us just added to his cuteness. I've decided that preschool and kindergarten graduations are stupid though. Well, at least the PARENTS are stupid!!! The director told everyone to sit down and be considerate of the other parents. Of course, there were about 6 parents who decided to stand right in the front middle of the aisle, blocking everyone else. The director again asked everyone to sit down, and so these people sent their kids to do their dirty work!!! This auditorium was only about 15 rows so they could have easily stood along the back wall and zoomed, or stood on the side walls. One parent walks up and says "Excuse me, do you think you could send us all pictures of OUR kids since you are blocking all of us from seeing??" It was quite humerous! At the same time, the lady in front of me was walking up to tell them to sit down and I was walking up. I said "You know, we all have kids too and you are blocking about 12 rows of people from seeing THEIR kids! Go sit down". Of course, a few didn't like it and one called me a name...yep, in front of all the kids! Such a classy group of people!

Anyways, here's a few pics of Micah. Isn't he just the cutest???


Micah and our neighbor Ashley who was also graduating tonight



Waving


Singing. The pics are a little blurred cause it was so hard to take pictures around the stupid people


Getting his diploma





Micah and his teacher, Ms. Belinda




Getting ice cream after the ceremony

New Bird

So, we are crazy. No, WE aren't, TIM is!! For as long as I can remember, he's wanted a cockatoo but since they run $1500 or so, plus the cage and accessories, that wasn't ever going to happen, or so I thought. A couple weeks ago his mom called and there was a cockatoo that needed to be 'rescued'. Long story short, he drove up to Michigan and picked up the newest member of our family, then turned around and drove home. She was a free adoption and came with all her accessories. She is quite sweet (although at the moment she is trying to find her place so is trying to be a bit dominant and aggressive, but it shouldn't last long). Her name was Nicki, but that's not much of a bird name so we changed it to Chloe. (Ok, I know that's not really a bird name either but it's better.) She's already learned her name and when we walk in the door or she hears us, she'll say "Hi Chloe" as an indication that she wants us to come and get her. It'll be an adjustment period but I think in the end she'll be a great addition.