I am an awful blogger...

Yates' girls all cleaned up for church!  Hope you are all doing well! I can't believe how quickly the holidays are flying by.  We had a lovely day at the Yates' house on Thanksgiving Day and are so blessed to have such a wonderful family.  Ate way too much but left plump and happy!  Didn't try to make it out shopping on Black Friday this year...there was really nothing I wanted this year.  I did go to Lifeway for a few deals but everyone was very well-behaved...no pepper spray!  Just celebrated Troy's birthday on Thursday.  He was at his Clarksville apartment so we had a party for him on Friday night.  Keep praying for all of us!  God is so good and we thank Him for the job but this split-family living is kind of tough.  But, we Yates' girls are pretty spunky and strong...we are up for the challenges in life and God gives us a pep-talk when we need it!

Will update this more this month since I am going to be a wacky, stage mother.  Molly sings the National Anthem on Thursday night for the Heath basketball game.  I will try to post a video.  Madeline is Clara in the Nutcracker so I will try to get that, as well.  Love to all of you and enjoy this holiday season!  We have been given such a beautiful gift from God!

CaveGirl!

Middle School Halloween Costume Day!

Mothers who brag are annoying....

Does it really matter who's is who's????  Just proud!

My little bird soaring through the air....

Grandkids

All the grand-kids together 

makes a very happy Grandma and G-Daddy!

Luke, Madeline, Molly, and Lucy..

Look! The sky is falling!

Don't get me wrong...I don't want anyone to die...but I am really excited about this 1 ton, bus-sized satellite aimed straight for America.  I mean, really, how exciting can one Friday night get?  And, the best part, they can't pinpoint the location  until about five minutes before it hits so we all get to participate in the solar excitement of whom and where the fireball could land. This is better than anything I could rent from RedBox....Oh well, hope you all make it.  If I don't blog again, you'll know why....


Had an epiphany the other night that woke me up from a deep sleep and slammed me into a concrete wall.  Here I am, grateful, that Molly is still years away from driving.  After all, that is when the real worries start, don't they?  Until, I realized that for the past few months, I have been letting Molly drive without a seat belt on a large convertible with a tail.  Now granted, she is wearing a helmet, but what is a few inches of plastic between her and certain death?  Not a whole heck of a lot...Am I bad mother for letting my child be best friends with a 1,000 pound monster that drops almost as much poop a day as it's body weight?  The other night, she came home and told the delightful story of how Avante stepped down on her foot and pinned her for a few minutes until two other girls came and pushed the great beast off of her.  Dear God, I need a sedative.


Now, on to Thing 2...after going to the teacher a few weeks ago and asking her to increase her math workload, Madeline hit a road block.  She got back a math paper with four problems wrong.  She stood up, marched up to the desk, and according to her teacher, stated, "I am not the least bit impressed with my performance on this assignment.  If it is okay with you, I would like to redo it and improve my overall grade average."  What did I give birth too.....?  A politician?  Nothing like being up at the school and EVERY second grade teacher telling you the same hilarious story about your kid.  Yes, the Yates make life very exciting wherever they go...


Troy, poor, sweet thing...still on 5-10s right now.  Comes home in an exhausted mess to a manic, compulsive wife who is cranky from playing single mom all week.  I do try to make each weekend as peaceful as can be, but as life usually proves to us, this is an impossible feat.  Our goal for most weekends is trying not to leave a mark when we start throwing dishes at each other.  The kids love it when we fight...good family times.


God is so good!  We have all we need and so much more!  Praying for each of you as you go about your week!  Love to everyone!

September is NEVER going to end....

Yes, for those who have not picked up on my sarcasm and anger...I hate the last part of the summer with a passion.  Hell is nothing but one long September that you have to endure for all of eternity.  More of a reason for me to spend each day walking closer with Christ so I can be in a cool climate forever.  I dream of pumpkin spice cappuccinos from Starbucks, candy corn (the harvest mix, of course) and corduroy anything.  If I could wear corduroy underwear, I would.

So, with all that said, we are all trying to be patient as October peaks around the corner.  The girls are doing well.  Troy is working hard in Clarksville.  We miss him very much but he is coming home on Wed nights to visit with us.  I know that exhausts him but he says he wants to come and see us.

I hope each of you is doing well.  I will leave you with some chuckles....Every week, my youngest child gets snarkier and more sarcastic.  While I am deciding how many smacks she deserves on her backside, I hope you enjoy these Madelisms.....

To Mommy when I wasn't paying attention to her..."Hey lady, I am trying to ask you a question."

To Mom after dinner..."Can I go play in my room like a small child should?"

Conversation between mom and Madeline..."Why does Molly like to go to the stables?"  "She likes horses."  "Molly is a horse's butt."  

Madeline to her teacher, "You are not challenging me enough in math."

Mom to Madeline..."You are in my seat...do you mind."  "Nope, do you?"

Have a great week!

Joy Of My World!

September 4th, 2003:

I went to see Dr. Greene for a check-up.  I was 8 days over my due date and ready to internally combust.  So, I unleashed a monsoon of teardrops and my sweet doctor said, "Let's get you over to the hospital and get this little gal here!"  Praise God!  Within four hours, my darling, sweet girl was placed in my arms.  What a tiny piece of God's great glory and love!  I knew she had been hand-picked for me and that I had been equally appointed for her.  No day passes where I don't praise God for the great gift He has given me.  I love my Madeline and I know the rest of you do, too!  But, enough with the sentimental mommy honey-drip...Here's to 8 years filled with...

Sleepless nights, snorting giggles, 12-foot waves of baby spit-up, thumb-sucking, DeeDee holding, cartwheel turning, endless work on telling time, begging you to brush your teeth, tangled hair, cranky mornings, millions and millions of kisses, banging your arm on every door-frame, picking up the cat up by her hind legs, fears of getting to bed past 8, Pippi Longstocking movie marathons, dirty underwear folded up neatly in your drawers,   always wanting to be in my lap, screaming when daddy walks in the door!

I love your crazy ways and am excited about what your 8th year holds!

Love,

Mommy

Brandon Heath/Jars of Clay

Got free tickets on Saturday night to see Brandon Heath and Jars of Clay at the Carson Center. We got the tickets through the guitar player for Jars of Clay who is related to a friend of mine.  The concert was awesome and Brandon Heath was so down to earth.  He came out for autographs and instead of sitting behind a table, just hung out with the crowd.  He was super nice and oh, so very talented!  Check out his music if you don't know him already!

We girls said goodbye to daddy tonight!  Always difficult to do, but I lightened the mood for everyone by planking on the hood of his car!  He laughed himself sick!  Wish I had taken a picture.  Next week, I am going to owl on his car....Hee-Hee.  Look it up, people!

The week has been really rough with Madeline.  She seems to be doing better but keep praying.  If the tummy stuff does not resolve soon, we may have to take her to a specialist.  Trying to avoid that if we can!  Molly is doing well at school and seems to be settling into the middle school schedule.  I am getting ready to start Fall Festival at Concord.  I have been ticket chair for the last three years so September and October are always busy for me at the school.  

Thought the horrible heat was over but it is supposed to hit 99 on Thursday.  Uuuggghhh.  Make sure you laugh at me in January when I am complaining about the sub-zero temps!  Yes, I admit it...I am a Fall/Spring girl.  No extremes for me...!

Hope you are all doing well.  Got to skype with Grandma Carol the other night so for anyone else who skypes, give us a call!  Lots of fun!

Love to you all!

Holding my breath!

Could this be it?  Is today the last day of hell-fire and brimstone?  Weather channel says high of 98 for little, old Paducah and then it has the 80s for the next 10 days.   Hate to get excited.  I know September can hold quite a summer punch sometimes.  I know Fall is still a good 6 weeks away, but I am dreaming of pumpkins, crunching leaves, and cinnamon sticks!

Keep Madeline in your prayers.  This week has been very hard on her.  I accidently fed her something with milk in it on Sunday night after church and within an hour, she was screaming in pain.  It went on for a while.  Kept her home on Monday so she could be near a bathroom.  I thought it had passed but Monday night came and she had another violent episode of stomach pain.  I didn't know what to do...Troy was in Clarksville, Molly was upset...so, I asked her if she wanted to go to the hospital and she said yes.  We went to the ER and it was going to be four-five hours so I gave her another dose of phenobarbital to help with the pain and took her home to sleep.  The next morning we went to her pediatrician and he said the initial allergy on Sunday night, attacked her stomach and intestinal lining and it might take a week or two to feel better while it healed.  He put her on another medicine to help the healing.  Anyway, she is better today and off to school.

Anyone feel the big shaker yesterday?  We didn't but down here we are always in apprehension over the "BIG" one to come.  I know it is only a matter of time before the New Madrid opens up and swallows us all down....eeeeekkkkkk!  Come look for me, dear friends and family!

For those who have followed the drama, Troy and I had a big, black tumor removed on Monday.  Yes, who knew that a very nice black GMC Sierra could cause so much pain when you were carrying it on your back!  The economy pressing down on it made it much heavier, but alas we were unable to unload the monster and now we get to start afresh.  However, I know my husband misses his big man toy.  He has to share my car for a while...wonder how that will be:)  What we learned from the truck phase of our life....NOT ALL COMPANIES OFFER A CAR ALLOWANCE...so be careful!

Hope you are all doing well!  We love you and miss you and are praying daily for you!

Friday

Molly has made it through another week of middle school.  She is still stressing out about getting to class on time but I know this will get easier for her.  She was asked to try to sing the national anthem and has been practicing it here all week.  I am ready to stick the flag in my ears.  She is quite good and had the class cheering when she was done, but if I have to hear her belt it out one more time, my ears are going to bleed.  

Madeline loves 2nd grade...apparently, all the do is eat and go to recess.  I haven't heard about any school work.  I hope they are learning something.

Troy is home from Clarksville and ready to do a whole list of honey-do's this weekend.  It is hard being away all week and coming home to a cranky housewife!

Hope you are all doing well!

We Survived....

Yes, we are still alive!  We made it through the first week of school!  I am exhausted...the girls are exhausted...I think the dog is even tired!  Molly has to get up at 6:00 and catches the bus to the middle school at 6:40.  Classes start at 7:30.  Madeline sleeps in a bit and we have to have her at school at 8:40.  I had wanted to take Molly to school but decided not to for several reasons.  It is a good 15 minute drive for me to get there...(I will receive no sympathy from you city folk who have to drive longer to get places!).  But, to us small town people, I can usually get anywhere in ten minutes so driving out to Timbuktu for the middle school really starts my morning off with queasiness.  The other reason is sweet Maddi...what would I do with that girl from 7:20 until 8:40...shop at the mall????  I really think she needs her sleep so I pack Molly on the bus each morning and pray for her safety.  The afternoons are so much better!  Molly rides the bus home and gets here at 2:50.  We have about an hour together before Thing 2 gets home from the elementary school.  Great time to do homework or chat about the daily soap opera of middle school girls....

Molly ended the first week of middle school in a tirade of drama.  She walked in, dropped her backpack, fell face-first onto the couch and in a muffled voice, declared that she hated middle school.  Her locker is too high up and she is too short to get books off the top shelf, lunch is filled with gossipy girls, and she doesn't have enough time to get from class-to-class...Wow!  Doesn't this sound familiar to all of us???  Guess school never changes:)  

Madeline has loved every minute of second grade.  She has a darling teacher and already she is Madeline's favorite teacher of all time!  The first day of school, she came home with a yellow Positive Incident Referral card.  These are handed out to students who have fabulous behavior/manners.  Her's stated that she was a great listener.  Did I hear that right????  Madeline Yates?????  Do they have the wrong child????  I am positive that I have to ask that kid fifty time a day to clean her room!  Might check and see if there are two Madeline Yates in her class.  That has to be why!

Troy got home on Happy Thursday Night.  And, of course, we were happy!  He and I missed our 14th anniversary together so we spent Friday together without the kids.  Very nice to have him to myself!  We went to lunch together and basically came home to be lazy.  That's the best way to spend an anniversary!

Hope you are all doing well.  Have seen a break in the heat down here so we are enjoying the outside a whole lot more.  We love you all!

6:30 this morning!!!  Way too early for old mum but looks like little middle school gal is ready to go!  

My King...

Holy, Holy is my most High God...How I praise Him tonight for my blessings...my life, my children, my world...As I sit here typing, I am listening to the most beautiful praise music and wondering how life can ever be any better.  When I leave here, I will go to my sweet babies' rooms and lay my loving arms on them as they sleep.  I will be praying for God's protection as they begin school.  I pray for their hearts as they will most certainly be broken by others.  I pray for the decisions they make, that they may see the brightness of Christ as they decide where they need to turn.  God, even if they turn away, may the light be so bright on their backs that they feel the loving, warmth that you have to offer.  I pray for their daily protection, for their safety, for their health.  And, God, may their voices be heard.  May they NEVER be afraid to profess the name of Jesus and share it with others around them. Oh, Holy God, bless them as you have blessed me....

Each of you, my dear beloved family, pray for my darlings as they go to school tomorrow.  Pray daily and know that you, too, are in my prayers....

My Horse Gal...

Molly taking riding lessons....

New Record for Paducah?

Wowzer....Just hit 120 degree heat index!  Can't even walk to the mailbox without breaking a massive sweat!  Stay cool everyone!

Baby Bird Flew Out of the Nest!

Molly first day of Kindergarten & Madeline (2 years old))

Should that sweet baby be going to middle school???  Oh, man, I can't believe it is already here!  Last night, Molly and I went to middle school registration.  She is very excited!  Walked out confused and scared, but with a schedule in hand and a new cool, hot pink Heath Middle tee-shirt!  I think she will be wearing that on the first day of school.  After meeting the teachers and decorating her locker (a must-do for complete middle school success), we did a mock run-through of her schedule, starting from the bus drop-off to seventh period.  Don't we all remember those first few days of big school!  


Lost my marbles this weekend and had a yard sale in hell...Can't believe people came with a heat index of over 100...But, I MADE 100 and that was worth a little bit of sweat.  While I was working the yard sale, Troy and Molly went to Current River with the youth group.  They traveled five miles down an icy cold, not-so-currenty river and ended up with burned backs and sore arms from paddling   Molly said, "There were way too many people there with Bud Lights!"  But, fun was had by all and I got stuck cleaning dirty lake towels/clothes.


Sunday, we all sat in the congregation of Friendship Baptist, no lights, no sound system, no visual, and thanked God our church was still standing!  The people from the electric company said the church had been hit by lightening on Saturday night and the whole wiring system was burned to a crisp.  They said our church should have been in a heap of ashes that morning but we know God had another plan!  Praise God!  


On our way to school physicals and then to Madeline's registration for 2nd grade.  Not much we need to do, though.  We were up at the school yesterday and Madeline talked her new teacher's ear off for about an hour while I did PTO stuff!  She is certainly ready for the 2nd grade!  


Love to you all!  Have a blessed week!

Sad Sunday Nights

Yes, it is another Sad Sunday Night here in Paducah.  Just sent daddy off to Clarksville...but, there were way fewer tears than last week so that is good news for Mom!  We are hearing the lovely sounds of thunder and are praising God for some cooling rains!  Looks like some of you should be hearing it soon, as well!  It has been so hot here but I am sure in a few short months, I will be complaining that it is too cold.  I am definitely a Fall/Spring person!

Had a lovely day at church today.  Our new prospective music leader led the service.  We vote next week.  He seemed rather traditional and I am hoping he can let it loose a little, as well.  Troy thinks he was making the older members happy and maybe he is right.  We suspect the week after we vote him in, he will show up in jeans and carrying his guitar!  That should make them all roll in the pews!

Hope you are all doing well!   We are planning a trip to see Troy in Clarksville this week.  We won't be able to do that once school starts.  And, we are buying school supplies this week.  That should set me back a hundred bucks!  Remember when all you needed was a pencil box with one box of crayons, some glue, and couple of #2 pencils in it.  Now, they want the parents to buy paper towels, clorox wipes, baby wipes, and hand sanitizer...do they want me to come up and clean toilets, too?  And, what is with 15 glue sticks?  Are they eating them for snack time?  The FBI needs to look into this....

I am champion of the world, LOOSER!

We love Thursday nights!

What a fun night!  First, Daddy came home tonight!  What a blessing!  We have missed him so much!  Before he got here, the girls and I went to a coffee-house concert and saw Cloverton play!  They were awesome!  We talked to the band before we left and Molly was beaming from ear to ear!  Cute guitar players are here new love interests!

Finished the night out with Jenga...see if you can see who the champion is in video above...hee-hee!

Hear Ye, O Hear Ye

Okay, the first step in admitting you have problem is admitting you have a problem.  My name is Wendy and I am a FBaholic.  So, I am no longer an abuser but I thought to myself, how will I keep up with my loved ones.  How will I post adorable pictures of my kids, brag about how smart they are, or let people know I am sailing my yacht in the South of France next week?  For all of you who truly care about what goes on in the Wonderful World of Yates, I have put you on my blog list and every time I post a crazy picture of my ADORABLE kids or brag about their entrance into Yale, you will be the first and only to know!  Want all of you to know we love you and miss you!  This is a great way for all of us to keep up!  Feel free to post messages and to continue to e-mail us.  I know I might be missing on the biggest social network the universe has ever known, but I am also not living under a rock!  I can get my e-mails, calls, and texts on my very SMART phone!

Yucky Bug

Okay, I am way over the stomach bug.  Girls have been in horrible pain.  Called the doctor today and he said there is a terrible virus going around lasting 7-10 days!  Yuck....  Anyway, we are surviving on a lot of Popsicles and juice...The heat is not making things any better around here.  Normally, 95 degrees can be handled on a short term basis, but one week later, we all feel like over-cooked hams.  Are we ever going to have refreshing rains?????  Hope you are all well!  Do not come to the Yates' house...I repeat, do not come to the Yates' house!  We have the plague!