Checking in

Well we are officially done with all band competitions for the year! It was another great year for the OBHS Marching Band. I am always very proud of Jim and the work that he does and this year was no exception! We are all very glad it is over. As much fun as it and as great as it is to watch them perform we are glad to have the hubby and daddy back home in the afternoons and on Saturdays! We have a couple more regular season games and then we will be in playoff season.

The first major big news is that Drew made Principal's List for his report card!! All A's and all S's in conduct! WoooHooo! We are so very proud of him!

We have had all sorts of things going on. Two weeks ago I took the kids to a football game for the first time this season. They were really very good. I was actually expecting it to be really bad and stressful and I was most pleasantly surprised! JC was absolutely mesmerized by the drums! Drew was a big helper. We stayed through half time and got to visit with Jim a little bit and still got home about 8:30. That Saturday Jim had a competition in Southaven. It was very nice that this one was so close wo we got to have Jim home for the morning! This made our day MUCH easier! We were able to enjoy the morning having a leisurely breakfast and getting some laundry and stuff done. After Jim left we got ready to go to my mom’s for the evening. My sister and her boys came too and we had a wonderful time visiting and letting the kids play. It was a nice distraction from being home alone with the kids. Of course being all together is exhausting too! I was still running around behind JC a lot. My sister and I had already discussed that we would bath my 2 kids plus her 2 youngest together in my mom’s big tub before leaving. I wanted to be ready to just put them in the bed when I got home. So we got the kids in the bathroom to get them in the tub. I had just taken JC’s clothes off and was checking the water temp before putting him in and he started peeing on me! I was so frustrated at this point! So I came home quite tired and with JC pee on my leg! All in all though it was a really good day and I really enjoyed the visit with my parents.

This past weekend we had the last band competition for the season. Some good friends kept the boys over night for us so I got to go and even ride with Jim on the bus. Not that riding on a bus is a great fun thing to me but it was nice to just get to be with him since we had been seperated so much lately. As a matter of fact, this is the third time we have had someone keep our kids this fall for me to go to a band function. One of the parents has noticed this and thinks that Jim and I really need to rethink our idea of a date night!! HA!

Sunday afternoon the Sunday School class that we have been visiting was going on an outing to eat lunch and to Cedar Hill Farms. We have been back and forth about going because of the money and because of it being Sunday afternoon and right in the middle of nap time and all. But as it turned out I won 2 tickets to get in so we decided since we only had to pay for one person (JC is under 2 and free to get in) that we would go. Well on Sunday we finally got some rain!! Unfortunatley that much needed rain made it impossible to go to Cedar Hill Farms. We did get to eat a picnic lunch at Congor Park and then we went ahead and let Drew pick out a pumpkin since that was his reward for his report card. We are planning to go this Friday back to the farm. Jim has a week off because it is an away game that the band does not have to travel to. So I hope to get lots of great pics of them there! For now enjoy the pics below that are from the last several weeks!

Hanging out with mom while dad was at a middle school football game

Watching TV on Friday night while dad was at the football game.

Check out what I can do all by myself now....

Ready to carve the pumpkin

Drew demonstrating what he wanted the pumpkin face to look like


The finished product!

Is it November yet?????

I wish it was! I hate to wish time by since as I grow older it seems to pass by much too quicly on it's own, but I am ready for this month to be over! This is, without a doubt, the busiest time in the life of a band director and his family. My blog is suffering greatly because of all our business! It has also made a huge impact that we do not have internet at home anymore. I really miss that and being able to work on this at home. Hopefully after the first of 2011 and the completion of our car loan, HALLELUJAH!, I will be able to reconnect that service.

Since I am so incredibly behind on blogging this post may get a bit randam. I am going to try my best to get everyone caught up on everything. I do not have any pictures to post today because there has been no real time for that either!

Let's start with JC. JC is now 16 months old! That is so hard to believe. He is weighing it at more the 27lbs and is now wearing size 5 diapers! We barely even got Drew in a 4 before he was potty trained! He wears 24mon clothing although the pants are a bit long and are all having to be rolled up. Shirts we do not seem to have a length problem with. He is BAD! Yes, I said bad, and you two grandma's don't think I am just exagerating! He has a hard headed nature, and I have not got a clue who he gets that from!! But, I will break him! He can tackle his brother and pin him on the ground and he has recently been trying that trick at school which has landed him in time-out! He still does not nap good at school. I am not sure what we can do to help with that. Yesterday he had only napped for an hour and was in such a state by the time we sat down for dinner that we had to just put in him the bed and he slept for about 30min and then ate dinner and went straight back to bed. He can speed walk now. I would not call it running yet but he sure gets around quick so I consider it speed walking. He has also recently decided that he no longer likes green beans. That and zuchinni and squash are the only things he really will not eat. Although, if he sees fruit or anything sweet on his plate he just about refuses to eat the other food first. Right now he is really having issues with his allergies. I really should have began giving him claritan when the weather got cooler but I did not. So now we are giving him cough stuff and hoping that this one will not end up in his ears. He had another ear infection 3 weeks ago. Most times these little colds have ended up in his ears but I am praying that will not be the case this time. But overall he is doing great and getting big quick!

Now on to Drew. Drew is still the silly, goofy little boy he always is! He iis still involved in Cub Scouts. They are working on earning the first award for his age group. He has really enjoyed being part of this. I think once Jim gets past the band season he will be able to be more involved. He has not gotten to go on the 2 campouts that the pack has had. Jim and Drew did campout in the backyard last Saturday night. It got a little cool that night, about 40 degrees, but they stuck out the entire night and had a great time. He is doing really well in school academically. He has an all A average right now. He does like to talk a bit too much at school though and is trying to work harder on sitting still in class and paying good attention. The classwork is pretty challenging but he is doing really well and the homework is not too overwhelming or time consuming. He is doing really well at church and is starting to make friends. It will good when we transition him to the Olive Branch schools next year and he will actually see some of the kids throughout the week. He is now riding the bike like a pro! He is definitely getting a new, bigger bike for Christmas. He is still asking lot and lots of questions about Jesus and becoming a Christian. I think he is really close to making a decision. He just needs to get a better understanding of why he needs Jesus as his personal Savior. It is something that Jim and I are so anxious for and yet we do not want to be over zealous and push him too early. We just pray to say the right things at the right times and that God will lead the way!

Jim will be at band competitions for the next 3 weekends. We did get last week off which was so very nice! Last Friday was the big game against South Panola. Of course we lost but still there is always a big crowd at this game. I got a babysitter for the night so that I could go and enjoy the game and some time with just me and Jim. It has been such a long time since I just stood and watched an OB football game with him. We had a nice time and even got out of the school early enough to go get something to eat before sending the babysitter home. We spent all day on Saturday cleaning the house and the yard up. Both were badly in need! I even cleaned all my curtains and just last night got the ironed and rehung. It was very nice to have some time to actually work on that. We went to church Sunday morning and we joined that day! So now we are officially members of Longview Heights Baptist Church. We are very excited about getting involved and meeting people in our new church home. The kids have really transitioned well. It seems now it is just Jim and I that need to find our spot and begin to make some connections with people. We did really enjoy the Sunday School class we visited on Sunday and plan to be in there again this week. It turns out that I know the teacher of this class from a long time ago and we both really enjoyed his teaching. Of course we miss all our friends but we know that this is God's will for our lives at this time.

Well, the next few weeks are gonna be wild! I am flying solo with the kids this weekend and the next. The next weekend (22,23,24), will be the last week of Jim's band stuff. I am actually getting to attend that weekend. Some friends will be keeping the boys for us on that Saturday and overnight until Sunday. I am really looking forward to that. I will be frazzled after two weekends on my own! I am trying to plan some things for us to do though. Tomorrow we are going to spend the afternoon at my sisters and let the kids play for a while. I will try to do better this weekend and actually take some pictures of my kids!

Oh, before I close I will have to give an update on the new building/office renovation project at work. The church has officially moved into the new building, although there are many things that still need to be done. The office is about mid-way through the renovation project. As I type they are putting down the new flooring and hopefully the wiring and phones will all be moved by next week. We are looking at a move in date of 10/28-29. I like having a date in mind so that I can be prepared, on some level anyway! I hate moving! I am so very excited about my new office and my window but I really hate the process of moving. I meant to go take some pics on my phone of the office renovation yesterday but I forgot too and since they are up there working today I cannot. So maybe next week!

So, that will do it for another update from the Mayos!