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!

Checking in for a very brief update...

Well here is a list of a few things going on in our life right now:

new building opening at work
office renovation at work
full swing with Band Competitions and Football Games
sick baby
mama with a messed up back

So, now that you have read the list you will undersand and sympathize with my lack of time for posting! I promise to try my best for a decent post this week!

Sooo much going on and no time for posting!

Well, to begin with, let me introduce....

Leo!

He is our new chihauhau puppy. He is 5 months old. We have been planning for some time to get a puppy but had intended to next year at the end of school. We had already planned to set aside a portion of our income tax return to get the dog and pay for all the first year expenses. Well without going into the entire story I will just say that Leo was sorta dropped in our laps! We have really enjoyed having him. He is still pretty nervous and has only really bonded with me completely at this point but every day he is warming up more and more to the boys. I am sure before long we will have 3 boys romping all over the house! He s doing good on housebreaking too. He is getting used to the routine of us being gone during the day and does not mess up his kennel. Since he sticks so close to me all the time it is easy to watch him and we really have not had to keep him confined to a certain area since he will stay right at my feet most of the time. Here are a couple more pics of him.

Having the dog has caused us to spend alot more time outside in the afternoon. The weather around here has been awesome lately and we have really enjoyed our afternoon play times in the back yard! A couple of weeks ago, while Jim was outside walking the dog in the front yard, Drew got out his bike and just started riding it! We have been working on this for some time without the training wheels but he was not getting it. Well he is now! Check out this video of him riding his bike...

He is even better now. We have taken him to the park in our neighborhood a couple of times and let him ride on the walking trail. Of course both times I forgot to take the camera! I did not even have my phone with me either time to take pics on that. I am planning another outing to the park tomorrow evening so I will do my best to remember then.

JC has moved up to the toddler room at school. It has been a smooth and easy adjustment. He is learning to cope with one nap each day rather than two. This part is causing the afternoons to be a little rough and he is going to bed super early! We have been trying to squeeze in a short afternoon nap. Somedays this works and some it does not. He is getting so big and walking better and better everyday. Here is a video of him getting on and off his four wheeler...


I have several more pics of some of our play time outdoors...




JC, we think he is crazy too!

Look out when this kid can really drive, he was way too happy in that car!

As you can see we have been having all kinds of fun!

This past Monday, Drew had his first Cub Scout meeting since getting his uniform! He was so excited.

You can see how proud he is by that big smile!! Tomorrow he has his first cub scout event, the Raingutter Regatta. He and Jim have built a boat and tomorrow morning they will race them in a raingutter by blowing air into the sail through a straw. After the race they use the raingutters to make 10ft banana splits!! I am looking forward to it and hope to get some good pics. I am also hoping to get to know some other cub scout moms. I will try to get all that posted early in the week next week.

JC also had to get in on the picture taking action on Monday night...


This week also had some sadness. My nana died on Tuesday. She lived to be 91 years old and had spent the last 2 years of her life in a nursing home suffering from dementia. I am rejoicing that she is now with Jesus and no longer in pain and discomfort. We do miss her and appreciate the prayers for our family at this time.

What's going on...

Well we have been busy getting settled into the school routine! Things are going very well overall.

Drew has had a few issues at school. None of it was real major but we have dealt with them and things have greatly improved. He has also had a few bumps along the way with the church transition. I think that he has been having a little bit of transition overload. I am happy to say that last night went great though! No problems at all!! He brought home his first ever graded papers on Tuesday and he had all 100's! We were very proud of him.

JC is now walking all the time! You will see that in the video to follow. He continues to grow and eat all the time! He is a very healthy boy!

I will leave you with the videos for now and hopefully in the coming weeks as things begin to get more routine I will blog more often with news of all the things going on.

1st Grader

Well the first 4 days of school have gone very well! This pic was of him on Thursday, the first day. He was very excited. He went right into the room when we got there, which was better than he did the day before when we went for open house!


Here are a couple more pics from before we left for school...




He had his first homework assignment on Monday and then again yesterday. We are doing pretty well on all this right now. It has not been too much just yet. His teacher tried not to assign any on Wednesday to help out families that attend church. That will be very nice!

Update on Church Visiting
We attended Longview Heights this past Sunday evening for the 3rd time. We really enjoyed it. There was a visiting pastor there preaching and his message was very convicting and encouragine, about Godliness and how to seek it. Drew was able to go to a new program for kids, Generation Praise. It is basically children's choir but also some small group activities. He loved it! He did so good going in and not being shy or scared! We were very proud of him. We are going to be there again tonight. RA's is starting for Drew tonight and there will be Bible study for Jim and I. They also have church suppers on Wednesday but we are not going to try to eat dinner there just yet. I think we need a bit more time to get settled into our school routine before we attempt that. At this point Jim and I both feel God drawing us to Longview Heights. Of course we are not joining there now. We still have 3 more Sunday mornings at NPBC. After that we plan to begin visiting Sunday School and Morning Worship at Longview Heights. God has been so good in directing us and being clear with us about what is not His will. Keep praying for us through this time of transition and change.

VERY Funny Story!!
Since I was not a blogger when Drew was little I have probably only shared this story with maybe my mom, which she probably does not remember! One night during bath time when Drew was about JC's age he pooped in the bathtub! It was horrifying and hilarious all at the same time! I remember us looking at it in disbelief and trying to figure out if that was actually what it was and then quickly getting Drew out of the tub and having to clean all the toys that were in the tub then! Well, a while back, maybe a month or 2 ago, I was bathing both boys and noticed JC making that face that just tells you he needs to go, so I quickly got him done and out of the tub, not wanting to find something floating in the water! I ended up telling Drew what he had done as a baby and why I was in such a hurry to get JC out! So, last night I was getting dinner cooked and Jim was giving the kids baths. They had not been in there very long and I heard JC crying and Drew fussing about something. I didn't really think anything of it and just figured that they had made eachother mad. I went on with cooking dinner but kept hearing the tub water running. So after the 3rd time I hear the water on I went back there and found both kids sitting outside the tub on the rug. I ask Jim why he kept running the water. He responded to me "We had an issue but I took care of it". Drew then comments "JC pooped in the tub!" I started laughing! I could not believe that both of our children had seriously done this! I cannot wait to tell them about this when they are teenagers!

Anyway, never a dull moment at our house!

Videos of JC

I have not been able to blog this week. I have been so busy at work that even during my lunch time I have been working! So I wanted to get these videos up here. Another blog post will be coming soon with all the details of Drew's first couple of days at school!