10 things I've done this week:

1. I've washed 14 loads of laundry.
2. I have cooked dinner in my crockpot every night this week (except Wed. when I made a quick run thru McD's). I've had one for the last 12 years and I've just discovered how much I love that appliance. It's made my life easier.
3. I spent 3 days straight at my sister-in-laws doing my own version of the show "Clean Sweep" while they are out of town. I would love to post before/after pics but I don't think she would like that too much. But let me just say that her house looks AWESOME now.
4. I've gotten only about 4 hours of sleep each night (and I can't take it any more!!)I don't fall asleep until 1 or 2 in the morning and then I toss and turn all night but then I have to get back up at 8 and I am seriously dragging butt all day.
5. I have drank (or is it drunk?) at least a pot of coffee every morning with the hopes that it will get me moving. It works for about 2 hours and then I crash and burn. (I don't have any caffeine after lunch so, no, that's not what's keeping my up all night.)
6. I've watched a total of 6 soccer games in the last 4 days. Brooks and Chandler won their first game ever on Tuesday and then they turned around and did it again on Thursday. They were thrilled and so was their coach. Shelby scored a few goals during her games and Tyler is just happy to be wearing a uniform. Who cares if he has NO CLUE as to what's going on during the game, he just loves being out there.
7. I've praised the Lord that Rachael's surgery went as planned and that she is doing well.
8. I've talked to Micah and Blake at least 10 times a day and miss them even more after I hang up the phone. I'm ready for them to come home. (13 more days!!!UGH!)
9. I've had to take the Suburban back to Toby the mechanic. It was making a loud knocking noise. They think it's just something that wasn't put back right when they replaced the transmission so hopefully it won't cost a dime.
10. I've started packing. We're going out of town (again) this weekend. We're just taking an over night trip to Memphis. Got some things we need to take care of. Hopefully it will be a blessing to us and not make things worse. (I know none of that made sense to ya'll, but it's a bit personal and I just don't feel like talking about it right now.....maybe I'll share later.)

If I could think of a title, it would go here.

Sorry for the disappearing act. But I'm back for good now. I promise! Not only were we having a hard time with our internet connection, but with all that has been going on around here, it was just plain impossible to sit down and write a blog. All that has been fixed and everything has sorta settled down some what (or as much as it can with 6 kids in the house). And now for one of the longest updates you have ever read.........

First off, let me just give a big THANK YOU for all of the comments and emails I have gotten about Chandler and my sister. We appreciate your prayers so much and need them daily.

We went to court on Aug. 21 and Jamee told the judge it would be best to let Chandler stay with us until she got the help she needed. It went a lot easier than I expected and I'm very thankful Jamee was so cooperative. Jamee has to meet all of the requirement set forth my DHS and we go back in 6 months for another hearing. The following few weeks consisted of talking back and forth with DHS, answering a million questions,bringing Chandler to some dr. appointments, having a home study done and jumping thru a few more hoops. But now we are official foster parents! Not only can we keep Chandler, but we can also keep other foster kids if the need/desire should arise. But I'm not sure we're ready for that just yet. Six kids is enough for us right now.


We had a very close call with Shelby. It involved a tree branch, her eye and a trip to the E.R. Doesn't sound very good does it? Well, it wasn't. I have pictures to prove it but I will spare you all the gore and just tell you what happened. Here is the condensed version. She was outside picking berries from a tree and walked into a broken off tree branch. It poked her in the eye. Fortunately she closed her eye just in time and it only ripped her eyelid but not the inside of her eye. They called in a plastic surgeon and he stitched her eyelid up. Just like that. Well, not just like that but this is the condensed version so I'm not going into all the details. That girl was so BRAVE! She never shed a tear. Not a single tear. She was more worried about missing soccer practice than she was about what the dr. was doing to her eye. She got 5 stitches and a pink teddy bear out of the whole deal. The stitches are now out and she looks great. You can hardly tell what had happened.

This last picture of her eye was taken about 4 days after the accident.







We also celebrated a few birthdays in September. Blake turned 11 and Brooks turned 9. This is the first year ever that the boys had separate birthday parties. Blake had a spend the night party with about 5 other boys and Brooks chose the have his birthday party at the skating rink. (I'm going to post pictures as soon as I get them loaded onto the computer.) I think the boys had good birthdays. Among other things (like a ton of money), they both got a pair of Heely's. I tried Blake's on just to see what all the hoop-la was all about. I didn't get it. I couldn't figure out how to make myself go.
Anyway, mom came down for a visit around the 16th (Sept.), stayed a few days and then headed back to IN. She took Blake and Micah back with her. They will be staying with her until I go up there to run the Louisville Marathon which isn't until October 21st. Yep, they will be gone almost 4 weeks. It's been nice only having 4 kids but I still feel like somethings missing. Well, Duh. That would be my kids. I'm ready for them to come home. I miss them so much I'm going to cry if I don't stop talking about them. Moving along....

Did I mention that I have 4 kids playing soccer this year? Yep. JM is coaching Brooks and Chandler's U10 team, Shelby is playing on the girls U8 team and this is Tyler's first year playing. That is why Blake and Micah are the ones that went back to IN with mom-they were the only ones who didn't have soccer games for the next 2 months. So we are out at the soccer fields every Mon, Tues, and Thurs. night for games and sometimes we even have practices on Weds. and Sunday afternoons. Can anyone say "we love soccer!" ? I say that to myself several times a day while gritting my teeth, looking for lost soccer socks, lacing up cleats, strapping on shin guards, and just generally trying to get everyone to where they need to be at the right time, with the right uniform on. Fun, fun, fun. No seriously. We do love it and I do look forward to watching their games. If it's wasn't fun, I seriously would not put myself thru that much stress. So far it's been good, but once the weather starts getting colder, I might change my tone.

That's about all I got on us. That just about brings you up to date on everything that's gone on here. I think I left out a few other minor details out. For example: our trip to the Space and Rocket Center, getting different living room furniture (notice I didn't say "new"), having a garage sale with a friend of mine, my husband joining the church again-without telling me until later (the same one we left b/c there were some issues), the power streering going out and locking up while I'm driving the Suburban, the transmission going out on the Suburban (not at the same time as the power steering but again, while I was driving), and me getting an earache so bad that I went to the doctor and she told me I had a bulging ear drum and fluid in both my middle and inner ear. But I'm fine now and so is the Suburban, in case you were wondering.

By the way, I would like to ask that you all pray for my niece Rachael and her family. Rachael has been diagnosed with a rare brain disorder called Chiari Malformation. She is having brain surgery tomorrow morning. They flew all the way to North Carolina to have the surgery done. You can read about her story here.






*Edited to add a few random pictures that were already on my computer.......

The Hatfield Crew (along with MawMaw Hatfield) at the Space and Rocket Center:




This one cracks me up. My mom is wearing Micah's size 3t Spiderman shirt! She somehow squeezed into it when Micah asked her if she wanted to be twins with him:


Chandler and his sister Hannah spending some time together:


Speak no Evil, See no Evil and Hear no Evil (a.k.a. Blake, Brooks and Chandler):


And last of all, me doing what I love to do, but never seem to have enough time to do it:

It's been an entire month since I've had a chance to blog and what a month it's been! Instead of trying to think back on all that has happened, I will just give you an update on what's going on right now.

We have had some phone/internet problems and hopefully that is all fixed so I can get back to regularly blogging. I've sure missed it!

Anyway, back a few months ago I wrote about my sister Jamee and my nephew Chandler. I was concerned about the both of them. I love my sister but she has a lot of problems and I was worried about Chandler's safety and care. With out going into a lot of detail, I will say that my prayers have been answered and Chandler is now in my care and custody. It took CPS and the cops getting involved but now he's in a safer place. He has been back with us for almost a week now and it looks like he will be with us for a while. That poor boy has been through and seen so much. (If you know us personally, please just email me if you have any questions.)

I need to get off now but please keep us in your prayers!

Let the fun begin!

We are here! We got to my parents house Saturday afternoon tired, worn out from a long trip, but very excited to see them. Our trip didn't start off like we had planned. We were supposed to leave around 7:00 Friday morning, stop in Murray, Ky to measure some windows for JM's job, then drive on to my parents. We didn't leave the house until 7:00 Friday NIGHT due to some unexpected problems with the hitch on the van. It was late when we got on the road, and even later when we got to KY (like 11:30 late) and we still had another 3 hours of driving. My parents live in Eastern time zone so it would have been 4 in the morning when would finally arrive at their house. We decided to just stay in Murray. Now we're here and everyone's happy. Except poor JM who is driving all over the great U.S. of A. measuring windows in a car with no a/c. I miss you, honey!



Yesterday (Sunday) we went to the Louisville Science Center. It was very cool, as usual. We spent the entire day (from 12:30-5:30) playing and learning (well, I hope they learned something!). We also watched an IMAX movie "The Living Water" which was about ocean life. Very neat.



After we got home we did the usual. Play, dinner, baths, etc. Brooks keeps asking to walk around the neighborhood. When asked why he wants to go, he'll say it's because he likes to walk, which is a complete lie. I think he's spying on the cute girls that live a few doors down. :)I cannot believe the kids have been staying up past 11:00 every night. It doesn't get dark here until 9:30 and as Micah said last night, "We can't go to bed, it's not dark yet." He's right. It's hard to settle down and get ready for bed when the sun is still shining.



Here's what the rest of our week looks like:



Today: We are going to run some errands, get haircuts, go to the mall, stop at a HUGE goodwill store near the mall, and then go to Chuck E. Cheese.



Tuesday: Driving to Santa Clause, IN to go to Holiday World and Splashin' Safari. We were going to do Six Flags but this other place has more rides that my kids are interested in (smaller, not as scary). And their water park looks alot bigger. The kids are excited about going and so am I. I wanna go on some water slides!



Wednesday: We're headed to the Louisville Zoo. Tyler and Micah have never been to a zoo before so this should be alot fun for them.



Thursday: Huber Farm and Orchard. This is just down the road from my parents. It looks like alot of fun for not alot of money!

That's all we have planned so far but that could change at any given moment. (Remember, God's in control!) I have other places I would like to go but it my have to wait until we visit again.

Indiana....Here we come!

Yippieee!!! I am so excited!

We are leaving tomorrow morning to go visit my mom and dad in Indiana. And we'll be there for 2 weeks!!

This unexpected trip came about when JM landed a big contract with Dollar General and they want 40 of their stores tinted by the end of July. A good portion of the stores are in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan so it just makes sense for us to go up and stay with my parents while the work gets done. The plan is for me to stay with my mom for a week and then help JM out the other week while my parents keep the kids. It's going to be a lot of work but the hard work will definitely pay off!

I am so excited. God has heard and answered my prayers. I needed to see my parents and we definitely needed the money. Getting this job has been a blessing in so many ways!

Anyway, I'm going to try and blog while at my mom's but I'm not going to promise anything. My mom has a ton of energy and never seems to slow down, so we will probably be on the go the entire time we're there. WOO HOO!! I CAN'T WAIT!

Water Babies

We went over to some friends of ours and swam all day Saturday in their beautiful pool . The kids (along with JM and I) had such a great time! Here are some pictures of the fun:

Micah-3 yr. Tyler-5 yr.

Brooks- 8 yr. Shelby-7 yr.



Blake- 10 yr.

Blake and Brooks showing off their diving board skills:

This is what a full day of swimming will do to a 3 year old:

The kids are back. And a few other things.

They got home from camp on Saturday. Stinky, smelly, tired, but full of stories. They had such a great time. We were a little worried about Brooks. He called home Monday night (their first night there) and already wanted to come home b/c no one was playing with him. He said he was being left out of everything. We told him to just stick it out and if he still wasn't having a good time, he could home on Wed. He ended up staying the whole week and he had a good time.
After they got home, unloaded all their camp stuff, JM reminded them that it was Saturday and the yard still had to be mowed, even if they were tired and worn out from being at camp all week. Brooks said, "yes sir" and then muttered, "I wanna go back to camp". Who can blame him?

While the kids were at camp, I had to get rid of Sadie, the basset hound that we got back in March. Why did I have to get rid of her? Long story short: she stinks, howls waaaayyy too much, hates being inside but runs away when we let her out, tore up the carpet in our living room, tore up the linoleum in the kitchen, and the hair. Oh, the HAIR! That dog sheds sooo bad! I couldn't stand it anymore. She was stressing me out, and I am already stressed out enough as it is so I took her to the pound on Friday. I paid them to take her. I also gave them 3 bags of puppy food so I don't feel bad about leaving her there. Also, the kids were begging me to get rid of her. She had become a pain in the you-know-what.

Now this week we are getting back into the swing of things. I am trying my hardest to stay on a regular school schedule. I have been struggling with a few personal issues ( depression, anxiety) and it's been hard to get done what needs to be done. JM said something the other day that made me want to snap out of the funk I'm in (it's not working yet, but I'm determined to get there). He said, totally out of the blue, "I think the kids need to be enrolled in school this year." I didn't say anything. I didn't feel like fighting with him about it (plus the kids were in the car with us) so I kept silent. I just hope and pray that it doesn't come to that. My kids have no desire to go to school. Except Shelby, she is just curious about it but I think her curiosity would fade the first week there. Anyway, just hope and pray that this will all work out. I think I would just sink further into depression if my children were sent away all day.

Thursday Thirteen: Why I home school

Here are just 13 of the reasons why I home school.

1. I feel that is what God has called me to do.

2. We can spend more time together as a family-my children are each other's best friends!

3. We can go on vacation whenever we feel like it.

4. My children don't have to deal with peer pressure.

5. I don't think I could get all 5 kids dressed, fed, and out the door to catch the bus at 7:15 a.m.

6. We finish most of our lessons by lunch time every day and I don't have to deal with homework every night.

7. I don't have to worry about bomb threats, assaults, or school shootings.

8. I can keep my children as far away from drugs as possible.

9. I know what they are leaning and it's so much fun learning new stuff together as a family!

10. They're developing very important life skills such as cooking, cleaning, organizing, and money management just by being at home.

11. They learn how to socialize with people of all ages, not just their peers. It's amazing to watch a 10 year old hold a serious conversation with someone 4 times his age.

12. I enjoy being around my kids.

13. It's not for everyone, but it's definitely what works for our family.

Pardon my mess

With Blake and Brooks away at camp and Shelby staying at Mawmaw's house for the week, I decided to do something I have been putting off for looong while.

Clean and Re-Organize the little kids room.

I say re-organize because, believe it or not, it was organized at one time. But that was a very long time ago. And things had just kinda got outta control. The room turned into a Disaster Area! Then I just pretended I didn't see the mess in there. Denial is sometimes a good thing.

See what I mean:

Pretty bad, huh?

We (meaning Tyler, Micah and I) spent the better part of the morning going thou all of that stuff. I found 4 sippy cups, 2 lost shoes, the remote to the dvd player that has been m.i.a. for over 2 months, and a few other things that I will not mention here. I threw away 3 huge bags of broken toys/trash and have 5 bags of stuff to take to the Salvation Army.

After going thou and sorting stuff, I put it all away. Then I moved the beds, dressers, and toy boxes and vacuumed under everything and along the baseboards. I even washed all the dirty walls! Hadn't done that in a while.

All that hard work, I think it looks pretty good.

Now if I could just get it to stay that way!

Happy Father's Day

Here is the Father's Day letter I wrote to my dad, but did not send. I decided to post it on my blog for him and the world to see......

Dad,

Well, since it is Father's Day I should wish you a "Happy Father's Day". You know how I feel about this so-called holiday, that's why you're not getting a card from me. (I think you should honor and love your father every day not just one day out of the year, and I do.) But it dawned on me that I don't tell you how much I love you often enough. I love you and all that you have done for me. I love you for putting up with all the crap I have put you and mom thru these last 30 years.

You have taught me so much. Like how to ride my bike, how to skate, how to drive, how to work hard and how to take pride in everything you do. You even taught me how to make the most delicious chili in the whole wide world.

I have lots of great memories with you like camping when we were little, riding "inside" the corvette, and you taking off work to drive me to Memphis just to see some boy I was crazy about. But my favorite memory was the last time we were in South Dakota. We sat up until the wee hours of the morning talking and laughing with Cookie and Gary. You told stories I had never heard before. It was so much fun!

Anyway, I hope you know I love you! And thank you for being my dad!

Love,

Amber

p.s. Thank you for sharing your Bing bars with me. (You did know it was me who kept taking them, right?)

Here are some of the pictures I have, but mom has all the good ones!

I know this last one was taken before you were a dad, but I found it when I was going thru my pictures and I couldn't resist posting it! I don't know why, but it cracks me up! :)