Sunday, May 31, 2009

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Joseph!
Wow, my husband is getting really old! He turns 33 today. We are having cake and ice cream this afternoon to celebrate. I may have gone overboard. I have three different cakes plus three containers of ice cream. Joe does not like chocolate (I will never be able to figure out how someone can NOT like the perfect food) so I made him a three layer coconut pecan cake, then made a traditional birthday cake for the boys to decorate, plus we had to have an egg free cake so Jonah would not feel left out. The ice cream is all sugar free so maybe there will not be a sugar high this time around!

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Season's End

The strawberry season is drawing to a close the end of May. We made our final trip of the year to the Strawberry Barn yesterday. This time we met "the cousins" there. Joe's sister Sylvia has three girls. (Savannah, Susannah, and Christina) Her three girls and my three boys had a great time playing and picking strawberries together. I took lots of pictures, but they were with my phone. Hopefully the quantity of pics makes up for the lack of quality.

The big cousins, Noah and Savannah on the swings.


Look how big his feet are!!! Where did my baby go?


Oldest and youngest cousins, Savannah holding Micah on the swings.

Jonah, my fearless climber.

Yes, he is growling at me...I wanted him to smile and he wanted to be a tiger.


He really does love this tire swing!

His cheeks are not normally that big...they are stuffed with strawberries!

Christina...too cute for words.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

All Tuckered Out

Jonah loves working with Daddy so much that he never wants to stop for a nap. He usually just passes out wherever he his at, whether it is on the tractor or in a chair at the shop.
These pictures were taken back in December on a day that I was working and Joe was home with the boys. He would send them to my cell phone so I could see that Jonah was indeed taking his nap at his regular time, just not in his crib!
I am going to be returning to work next week (just one day a week). I will have to be sure and leave a camera with the babysitter(s) and maybe I will get some more cute snapshots. It sure helps to make the day go by faster.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

9-1-1

I am not a nosy neighbor. However, I am concerned about the rise in theft in our county. That is why I called 911 at 2:00 this morning. A noise woke me at about 1:30. As I was laying there trying to figure out what it was, Noah came into my room and said he woke up and was scared. I got him back to bed and heard what sounded like a truck diving by slowly and stopping. By the time I got to the window, it was gone. I went back to bed and then heard it again, but when I went to the window, I saw nothing. I then heard what sounded like a lawn mower/tractor running. I woke Joe to let him know that I thought something was wrong. He went outside with a light to look around while I looked on from the front door.
We both saw tractor lights through the woods at the same time. Joe came running inside to get the car keys and said, "Call 911, I think someone just stole the neighbor's tractor." Our neighbor (if you could call it that since he lives across the road and down about a quarter of a mile) does not have a phone so I had no way of reaching him. As Joe ran out the door, I dialed 911.

Operator: 911, What is your emergency?
Me: My name is...and I live at...and I think someone just stole my neighbor's tractor.
Operator: Why do you think that?
Me: I heard a noise and saw lights through the woods and I don't think he should be working at this time of night.
(This is where I think she probably begins to wonder if I am really just being a nosy neighbor)
Operator: Ma'am can you tell me what kind of tractor or what type of vehicle you saw?
Me: We live in the woods, I could only see lights through the brush, but my husband has gone to chase them.
Operator: Do you think that is wise?
Me: Wise?
Operator: Since you can not see, are you at a place where you can hear what is 'going down'?
Me: Going down?
Operator: You know, loud voices, tires screeching, gunshots...
Me: Gunshots?
Operator: Ma'am, does your husband have a cell phone?
Me: Yes, 909-....
Operator: There is a deputy on the way. I am going to try and contact your husband, if you hear anything else, call me back.

At this point I hung up the phone and sat on the front steps, listening with all my might but once again could hear nothing. As I sat there, the phone in my hands rang, nearly scaring me to death. Joe was calling me to tell me it had been a false alarm. I am a little fuzzy on the details, but someone had run into the ditch and our neighbor was trying to pull them out with his tractor.
I called 911 again to let them know there was no need to send a deputy and apologized for the inconvenience. The operator said, (and I quote here) "It is no problem at all, we get nosy neighbor calls all the time." I repeat to you, I am NOT a nosy neighbor.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Summer Vacation

Actually, I think the more appropriate term is Summer Staycation. You know, the one where you don't have any money so you stay home! There happens to be a very good reason why we don't have any vacation money this year and it is sitting in the form of 750 foot of fencing materials on the trailer in the picture. I am so happy to tell you that we will be having our summer staycation in our newly fenced in back yard. I have been wanting a fenced in backyard for a long time now. The time has come where it is a necessity instead of a luxury. We finally got started on it over the long weekend. It is far from done, however we did make a lot of progress. With any luck it will get finished next weekend.
Pa, Papa, and Joe discussed and worked and discussed and worked.

As Noah and Jonah did their part to help.

Noah soon quit "working" to hunt for bugs. Looks like the hunt was a success!

Jonah, however never gave up his post as "water boy".

While Micah spent the day relaxing in his stroller.

So that is a little of the changes going on in our backyard. I can't wait to see it all completed! I guess when the fence gets finished we will have to pitch a tent in the backyard and go camping, thus truly making it a staycation.

Memorial Day

A special thank you to all those who have served. Because of you, my life is better. Happy Memorial Day Everyone!

Friday, May 22, 2009

Baby Names

Baby names have been on my mind lately. I think it is because my friend Melissa is expecting her third child (first boy) and is trying to decide on a name. It has gotten me thinking about the names we decided for our boys. I wanted my children to have names that were not very common but at the same time were not totally off the wall like Indigo or Luna. I always started thinking of names for my children as soon as (if not before) I found out that I was pregnant. I just don't like referring to my baby as "it".
As soon as we found out our first child was a boy, I fell in love with the name Noah. Joe and I both knew that we did not want to have a Joseph Travis Givens IV. We have the deceased Joe, Big Joe, and then Little Joe. (Yes my nearly 6 1/2 foot husband is still called 'Little Joe' by most people.) I thought that Travis went well with Noah and seemed like the logical choice. My husband, his father, and his grandfather all had the name Travis as well as my father and my brother. So my first child became Noah Travis early on for me. However, Joe was not so sure and did not finally relent until I was about eight months pregnant. We made a deal that we would name this child Noah Travis and if our next child was a girl, I would allow her to be named Megan. (No offense to anyone out there named Megan, but I despise that name.)
When we finally got pregnant with our second child, I was praying for a boy. ( Not that I would not have liked a girl, I just did not want to have to name her Megan.) We did not find out what we were having this time around and therefore had to pick out both a boy and girl name. I was set on the boy being Jonah Ozious (Jonah because I liked it and Ozious after my maternal grandfather) and the girl being Cora Elizabeth (Cora after my paternal great-great-grandmother and Elizabeth after me). Joe was okay with Ozious but did not like Jonah for a boy name and of course wanted Megan Elizabeth for a girl. It was not until we were on the way to the hospital to deliver that Joe finally agreed that we would go with Jonah Ozious or Cora Elizabeth. This made me feel much better about the possibility that we may be having a girl! I needn't have worried, because baby boy Jonah Ozious came into the world that afternoon.
We found out early on that our third child was a boy. My choices for this child were either Josiah James or Micah Joseph. Joe on the other hand came up with some really off the wall names. His choices were Rockwell Eaton or Fuller Pledge. Don't think for a minute that this was because my husband is extremely creative. Rockwell, Eaton, and Fuller are all names of truck transmissions. Pledge was a family name (a great uncle) but reminded me too much of furniture polish. I tried to get used to his crazy names, but in my heart I was already calling this baby Micah. I kept waiting for Joe to "come around to my side" but as my delivery date drew closer he remained steadfast in his quest for the "truck part" name. I began thinking that maybe Micah would surprise us all and turn out to be a girl. Even Megan was better than having my child named after an automotive part. We arrived at the hospital still undecided on a name. As I was being wheeled out for surgery, Joe leaned down and whispered in my ear, "I'll be waiting on you to bring back Micah Joseph." Aw, I still get goosebumps and teary eyed when I remember that moment.
It turns out that with every child we seemed to get later and later in picking a name. So if we ever have another baby, he or she may be ready to leave the hospital before we decide on a name. And just in case you were wondering...No, I am not thinking about a name for a new one right now, it is WAY too soon! I promise, it is just because of Melissa!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Micah, Micah, Micah




Thanks Mom for the great shots!

Great Swamp Sanctuary

Yesterday was a beautiful and glorious day, so I took the boys for a hike in the Great Swamp Sanctuary. I figured we needed to enjoy it now before my Dad gets elected to city council next week and convinces the citizens of Walterboro to bulldoze the swamp and turn it into some sort of economic/commerce park. (Just Kidding Dad!)
Seriously though, the boys and I enjoyed ourselves on our nearly four mile trek, but I really don't see what is so special about the area that would draw in 'thousands' of tourists. I have always thought the swamp to be beautiful (and yesterday it was) but as a place to view wildlife it sort of stinks. We saw a few turtles and birds, one frog, a salamander, and fifteen million mosquitoes. We see more of a variety than that in our backyard every afternoon.
Speaking of our backyard, we have some major changes happening there as well, but I will save that for another post!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Waste Not Want Not

Okay, so I am in a predicament. I am really cheap thrifty and I hate to see anything go to waste. We have tons of blackberries all over our property and we have been picking them like crazy, but just can't get them all. We have SO many this year. We eat fresh blackberries for snack and blackberry pie or blackberries and dumplings for dessert. That said, there are only so many berries that two boys and a Momma can eat!
I saw that Reid's has blackberries on sale this week. Can you believe that the "sale" price of blackberries is $2.25 per half pint? A half pint is not even enough for Jonah's morning snack! I have a gold mine in my backyard. I am sure that we have picked several gallons already and there are still more out there. My large seedless blackberry bushes are just starting to blossom, so there are many many more to come.
What to do? I don't have time to pick them all, (you know with raising three kids and all that) yet I don't want strangers in my backyard. Even if I did get them all picked, I have no idea what to do with them. Any ideas?

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Do you hear music?

Joe recently installed a CD player and speakers on the golf cart for the boys. Noah especially loves to drive around the yard listening to his kids praise CD. Sometimes he rides until he completely kills the batteries. Last night as I was trying to get him to sleep (after all the chocolate ice cream) he said, "Do you hear music?" I listened closely but could not hear anything. He kept insisting that he heard music. I called Joe from the other room (where he was trying to put Jonah down) to see if he had a radio on somewhere. There was no radio on and Joe could not hear any music either.
I was beginning to think this was some new stall tactic for not going to bed. I found nothing that was making noise in the toy box, on the toy shelf, in the closet, or under the bed. Noah could still hear music and I could still hear none.
Noah was getting upset and I gave up on the idea that it was a stall tactic for staying up later. At some point I began wondering if my child was insane, or maybe I was. Either way, we were definitely not on the same page. Noah was tired, cranky, and getting more upset by the minute. He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "Now the music is singing, can't you hear it?" At the sight of his tears, I wanted to shove a sharp stick in my ears, or maybe his...anything to end this nightmare. I really was trying to hear singing but the harder I tried, the less I heard. Then Noah says, "Momma listen with your head, not your ears."
Paranoia hits hard. Oh no, maybe he is insane...should I call the doctor? Trying to stay calm, I ask Noah to tell me exactly what the "music is singing". Sniffling, Noah says, "It is the same song that plays all the time on my golf cart...it's me, it's me, it's me O Lord, standing in the need of prayer..."
AAH! Sweet relief and hysterical laughter bubble up and break free. Without thinking I exclaim, "Noah, no wonder I can't hear it; you have a song stuck in your head." Oops. Not a good thing to tell a cranky, tired, five year old who is convinced he is hearing music. He really starts crying now and insists that I "get the stuck song unstuck and out of his head." I told him to lie still with his eyes closed and I would sing something to get the song out. Halfway through Amazing Grace, Noah was sound asleep. I made the decision then that we would have to now limit music time just as we limit TV time. I guess you really can have too much of a good thing.
As I made my way to bed (after midnight), I closed my eyes and heard very clearly...it's me, it's me, it's me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer...

Friday, May 15, 2009

Yummmm Chocolate

We gave Noah and Jonah a rare treat this evening, double chocolate ice cream. It was so much fun and an even bigger mess! Double chocolate ice cream was probably not the best idea as a Friday night treat for two boys who are rarely allowed to have sugar and never allowed to have caffeine. Nearly three hours after their bedtime and they are both still wide awake. I have learned my lesson!!!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Dixie Jane...Part Two

So this is Dixie Jane today. This morning when I got up, the swelling was worse and had spread into her mouth and nose area. Since Joe was not here to tell me not to take her to the vet, I took her to the vet!

Turns out it was not a snake bite after all but some type of abscess. The vet drew off a syringe full of yucky looking stuff while in the exam room then took her in the back, numbed the area, lanced, drained, rinsed, and bandaged her up. She will be on antibiotics for ten days to make sure that she gets rid of all of the infection.

Can anyone say MRSA??? This is so eerily similar to what we just went through that it is scary. The vet says that dogs do not typically get MRSA, so that should not be a concern right now.

Anyway, we just hope and pray that Dixie gets well soon. I don't know what we would do without her.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Dixie Jane

HELP! We went out hunting for blackberries again this afternoon and took Dixie Jane with us. We were letting her run free, without a leash and I think she got bit by a snake! As you can see in the picture, there is a huge lump on her neck. Other than the lump she is jumping around and is acting like nothing is wrong. Joe says there is no need to rush her to the vet after hours (which is exactly what I was attempting to do until he stopped me). He said that dogs will swell like that when they get bitten by something but that she will be okay. I'm not sure that I believe him.
Right now I have relented to watching her close and taking her to the vet in the morning if the lump has not decreased in size. Should I be doing something else???? I know that getting rid of the snakes would be a logical preventative step, but so far those efforts have proved futile. They are EVERYWHERE and it is driving me insane.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Arts And Crafts

Noah: Jonah, give me that marker.
Jonah: AAAEEEEK!
Noah: I need that green marker.
Jonah: AAAEEEEK!
Noah: I can't finish this here tractor without that marker!
Jonah: AAAEEEEK!
Noah: (Very sweetly) Jonah, PLEASE give me the marker.
Jonah: AAAEEEEK!
Noah: Jonah, if you give me that marker, I will give you 100 markers.
Jonah: (Pauses for a minute then hands over the marker)
Noah: Okay, when my Daddy gets 100 dollars then I will get him to buy you 100 markers.
Jonah: AAAEEEEK!

Christmas in...May?

Please meet the newest member of our family. Spotter Bunny Givens.

Some friends (Jerry & Kathleen Mixon) gave Noah a very unusual Christmas present this past year. They told him he could have the pick of any two biddies that he wanted out of their chicken yard. I'm sure all of you know how I feel about chickens and can imagine my reaction to that bit of news. When we went to their house to pick out the biddies, Noah saw that their bunny had just had babies. He decided (with a little prompting from me) that he would rather have a bunny instead of two chickens. Praise the Lord, Hallelujah, and do a little happy dance!

Jerry and Kathleen agreed that when the bunnies got old enough, Noah could come back and get one. When the bunnies got big enough, Joe had procrastinated and did not have the pen built. Then when Joe got the pen built, there were no little bunnies left. Finally a new batch of bunnies were ready and our pen was sitting in the back yard waiting on an occupant.

So yesterday, Noah got his last Christmas present and promptly named him Spotter. Right now Spotter is in the backyard munching on carrots and Noah is one happy little boy.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Mommy & Me & Me & Me

Happy Mothers Day weekend everyone! Being a Mom has to be one of the most exhausting, difficult, and frustrating jobs on the planet. On the other hand it is also the most important, rewarding, natural, and amazing thing that I have ever done or will ever do with my life.
My new haircut and color make me look so much like my own Mom that I can't help but think of her every time I look in the mirror. I take that opportunity as a reminder to pray that I will become the godly example to my children that she is to me.
My boys are such a blessing and I love every crazy, dirty, imaginative minute with them. Trying to get a picture this morning with all of us was no easy task. Noah insisted on being a pirate, (notice the one eye closed) Micah was refusing to smile, and Jonah just wasn't in the mood to sit still. Is that a surprise to anyone?

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Blackberry Season


It is blackberry time again! Joe, Noah, and Jonah went out yesterday evening to pick while Micah and I got dinner ready. They came back in with purple mouths and enough blackberries to make two pies. The boys and I baked the pies today. Noah and Jonah had a blast cutting the pie dough into strips with a pizza cutter. The pies smell great, but I used a new recipe that uses less sugar. I hope we are not disappointed.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Green Eyed Monster

***DISCLAIMER***
I love my Father and Brother both and I am very proud of their accomplishments. ***End Disclaimer.

My Dad is running for City Council. Our local newspaper did an article on him that ran in today's paper. It was a very nice article (albeit somewhat narcissistic) about all of his volunteer work and service on various boards and committees. However, the last paragraph of the article made my blood boil. This is it, verbatim.

Godley has a son currently serving in the U.S. Marines and a daughter. He has three grandsons.

I am sure most of you know the mixed emotions in which I view my status as compared to my brother's status. If not, read my post here about the bumper sticker our Mom has on her car.
I am happy that the article mentioned my brother's profession. He has a very important job and deserves a lot of credit for the work that he does. The part that upsets me is; and a daughter ...period. I repeat, and a daughter...period. AAAK! Are you kidding me?
The part about the three grandsons was a nice touch. It would have been a nicer touch had they mentioned that I gave birth to them and that I have devoted my life to raising them.
Okay, so maybe my Dad isn't the only narcissist in the family. Or maybe I am blowing this way out of proportion, but someone out there has got to agree with me. Does anyone see my point of view?

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Kid Updates

All three boys had appointments with the pediatrician on Friday. I almost cancelled from fears of taking them into a doctor's office and contracting swine flu, but we used about half of a bottle of germ-x and all came out unscathed.

Micah was seen for his two month check-up and had to get vaccines. He got three shots and one oral vaccine. So far he has not had any problems from the shots, but the oral vaccine gave him a really bad tummy ache. Micah was stripped down to nothing but a dry diaper and weighed in at 13lbs. 13oz. and was 24 inches long. He is in the 85th percentile for his weight and height. Finally, after three long weeks he is now on 100% breast milk. No more yucky formula for us. I was concerned that he would have forgotten how to nurse after having a bottle for so long, but he latched right on like he had never even stopped.

Jonah was seen for his eighteen month check-up. He did not have to get any vaccines, but had to have blood taken to check his iron and to do a lead test. Both of those came back just fine. Fully dressed down to his shoes, he weighed right at 27lbs. He is my skinny minny! His eczema seems to be changing. Instead of an all over condition, it is developing into patches over his body. This is actually a good sign that may mean it will at least be easier to control and maybe soon go away all together.

Noah was seen for a weight check. We are taking him every three months just so the doctor can monitor his weight so we can take steps to prevent it from becoming an issue in the future. He weighed 86lbs. which puts him in the 99.99th percentile. The doctor was pleased because that is actually an improvement from the last time we were there. Hopefully things will continue to improve now that we have nice enough weather to enjoy outdoor activities.

So that was our Friday. I think it will be the last time that I plan to have all three boys seen at one time. It is nice to only have to make one trip, but boy is it hectic trying to control all three boys while paying attention to what the doctor is saying.