I know its been a while since I posted. I really don't feel like posting now, but I wanted to let those few who do read my blog know that the reason I haven't been around is because the last 2 months have been a total nightmare for me. C totally pulled the rug out from under me, so to speak, by announcing one day that he wanted a divorce. I won't go into the details, but I will say that I was and still am in shock. So, the kids and I are now in SC at my mom's awaiting a temporary settlement hearing to get some money for us to get our own place. I am looking for a job, but as you can imagine, it is not easy. Apparently, noone wants to hire a stay at home mom of 7 years, especially in this economy. So, that's where I am at right now. I hope to be back blogging one day, but right now I am just trying to make it day by day. T is very sad about it, and K doesn't really know what is going on. They are, at least, enjoying the time that they now get to spend with the grandparents.

Life as Mom has a recipe swap going on every Thursday and today is all about yummy summer desserts! One of my favorites has always been banana pudding. I remember my Grannie making it often when I was little. This recipe is very similar to the one she used to make, but just a tad fluffier.

Creamy Banana Pudding
(makes 15 servings)

1/4 cup lemon juice
6-7 medium banana, sliced
3 cups 2% milk
2 (4oz) packages vanilla instant pudding
1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk
16 oz. Cool Whip, thawed
1 (16oz) package Vanilla Wafers

Drizzle lemon juice over banana slices. Whisk milk and pudding in large bowl for 3-4 minutes or until blended and slightly thickened. Add condensed milk and mix well. Chill 5 minutes. Fold in whipped topping. Layer Vanilla Wafers, bananas, and pudding mix alternately in large serving bowl until all ingredients are used, ending with pudding mix. Store, covered, in fridge until serving.


If I am taking this to a potluck or serving to friends, then I add some decorative touches to the top with extra Cool Whip.

I've been very unmotivated to blog lately. I guess that's because there just isn't that much going on here these days. T is in school until next Thursday (why on earth do they need to be in school that long!?!) and then we are headed to SC for a couple of weeks. Once there, we have a bunch planned-C has a reunion to go to with his fraternity and we are going camping with my mom and sister for several days. I am hoping to meet up with a couple of friends while we are there also. And of course, we have to see family so it will be never ending. Oh, the joys of going home.
I found this cool blog that is listing some things to do with your kids throughout the summer. Life as Mom has done all the research stuff and is listing it all on her site for others to use. It looks like it will be fun, as well as fairly educational for the kiddos. She will have a different theme posted each Monday through Labor Day. Go here to see what she has already posted. At the very bottom, she has posted the theme for each week. Next week will be great since we are going camping right after that.
Well, that's about all I have for now.

I have been away for a couple of weeks so I didn't get to finish my spring cleaning project. With Simple Mom. Once I get caught up on laundry and other stuff, I am going to continue the process.

 
 

I posted this on FB, but wanted to post it here too. The reason I have been away from home. He had a massive heart attack while getting ready to go camping with my mom and sister on Mother's Day, which was also my sister's birthday.

 

Kenneth Allen Winham

 
 

5/12/2009 12:47 AM

 
 

Mr. Kenneth Allen Winham, 60, died Sunday, May 10, 2009, at Aiken Regional Medical Centers.

 
 

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Harvest Baptist Church with Rev. Glen Davis officiating. Interment will follow in Aiken Memorial Gardens.

 
 

Pallbearers will be Ricky Woodward, Dewey Toole, Bobby Timmerman, Joshua Barron, Cameron Baynham and Joseph Baynham. Honorary pallbearers will be S.C. Highway Department maintenance employees in Aiken.

 
 

Mr. Winham was born in Louisiana, a son of Lila Mae Reese Palmer of Shreveport, La., and the late Morris Allen Winham. He moved to Aiken in 1969 and was a supervisor with the S.C. Highway Department. He was also a member of Bethel Baptist Church.

 
 

In addition to his mother, he is survived by his beloved wife, Phyllis Funderburg Winham; two daughters, Becky (Caleb) Risinger of Middletown, R.I., and Bonnie Winham of Aiken; a son, Michael (Terri) Winham of Louisiana; two grandchildren, Teddy and Kelsie Risinger; three sisters, Dorothy (Richard) Rouse of Ft. Worth, Texas, Marsha Miller of Owensboro, Ky., and Joyce Welch of Ft. Worth, Texas; and a brother, James (Thelma) Winham of Johnston.

 
 

Memorials may be directed to the Aiken Heart Association, 1003 Hammond Road, Aiken, SC 29803.

 
 

Mr. Winham's online guest book may be signed at www.shellhousefuneralhome.com.

 
 

Pasted from <http://www.aikenstandard.com/obits/winham>

 
 

I never would have thought that it would take me 2 days to clean the living room, especially considering that the only thing that really needed decluttering/cleaning was the bookshelves and movie cabinet. I do need to switch out some toys for K, but those are in boxes in the garage so they will have to wait until we can get them out. But, the bookshelves are now decluttered and the movie cabinet is looking better. I put all of our DVD's into a case and tossed all of the individual plastic cases. I am hoping that we can get C's dad to put most, if not all, of our VHS movies onto DVD for us since he has one of those nifty little machines that does that. And then, the movie cabinet will look awesome!!
Here is a before pic of the bookshelves:

And here are the after pics:

I left the bottom 2 shelves on each one open because K likes to pull anything on those shelves off. I am going to get some baskets to put some toys in for her so they are not out in the open and it looks nicer.
And I have a nice little box of stuff for the thrift store. I hate doing yard sales so I am not even going to bother with trying to do that. I suppose I could try to sell some of the books on ebay or another used book site, but I don't know that I want to do that either. I don't have the patience to list each one, much less that much uninterupted time.
Today and tomorrow (and maybe the day after!) I am working in the kitchen. I did unclutter some of that before we moved, but I think I can overhaul it some more. We'll see. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten any before shots yet. But I still have a ways to go so maybe I will get one or two at least!

I decided to do some spring cleaning with Simple Mom. She has a pretty good way of doing things and it just might make life a little easier along the way too.
Here are some photos of what I have gotten done so far today.

before
after

before
after

before
after

I am pretty much done with the downstairs. It isn't anywhere near done, but it looks better. Not a lot in my giveaway box, but that is only because I have mostly paper clutter downstairs. I should have more later this afternoon after I have gone through the upstairs bedrooms. I'll post more on that this evening.

K is finally getting some hair to play with! Unfortunately, its so thin that it barely stays up! She is a cutie anyway.



C and T went fishing this past weekend and caught the most fish they have ever caught together. T even caught most of them himself. When I told him that he had to help his daddy clean the fish, he informed me that was "only for when it was a contest and they had not been having a contest." Crazy kid. He went off to play and when he came back to find the fish already cleaned, he was upset that he didn't get to watch/help.



The weather is finally warming up here in New England! Yippee! The sad thing is that the temp was only in the high 80's this past weekend and some of the kids were complaining that it was "sooo hot". C and I had a good laugh over that. Being from SC gave us a pretty good tolerance for heat, I guess.

That's about all that's going on around here. Just waiting for school to get out for the summer. We found out that T's school is being closed at the end of this school year so he will be going to a different school next year. 4 schools in 2 years is not such a good thing, I don't think (we will move again in Feb/Mar next year). Thoughts of homeschooling have crossed my mind, but I'm not convinced that I want to go that route-T just doesn't learn that well from me/us well anymore. Unless, that is, its about something totally useless, like fishing or how to store worms for fishing. We'll see what time brings.

Here are some Easter pics of the kids. It was pretty chilly that day so they didn't get to spend too much time outside, other than the walk we took at a local park (where we nearly froze to death!).


T refused to wear a coat to church that morning so he complained the whole time, of course.
I can see a very faint glimmer of warmer weather on the horizon. It's been in the 50's the last few days and may hit 60 this weekend. But according to the weather channel, it's gonna rain just about every day next week. Blah! At least it has been sunny so T has been able to go outside for most of his Spring Break this week!
That is about all that is going on around here. C is pretty busy with school work and T is also so we don't have any big plans coming up. Hopefully, we will sit down and plan our summer in the the next week or so. Warm weather can't get here fast enough!!

but its NOT! It is still in the 40's here during the day and the wind is like ice! My mom told me yesterday that it is already in the 70's in SC. Oh to be home in the South...!
Anway, T-man is not liking school at all these days. He says all they do is WORK! He likes the fact that we are close enough that he can ride his scooter to and from school. Of course, that means I have to carry it back and forth for him. K likes riding in the bike stroller on the way. She just sits back, relaxes, and checks out the view as we go along. Whenever I ask her if she wants to get Teddy from school, she gets all excited and goes to the front door. When we get outside, she goes straight to the stroller and waits for me to put her in.
Not much is going on around here right now. T is in school until the end of June so we will be sticking around here until then at least. He has Spring Break coming up so we may take a short little trip then.
These are some current fave pics of them from the last couple of weeks:

We arrived in Rhode Island on Saturday evening, just ahead of the winter storm that dropped several inches of snow all along the East coast. I was going to make the drive from VA to RI in 2 days but decided to just keep pushing on since the kids were being cooperative (for once). And its a good thing I did because we woke up to about 1/2 inch of snow Sunday morning, with snow and sleet still coming down and a winter storm moving in Sunday night. When it was all said and done, we had about 5 or 6 inches of snow, maybe a little more. It's been interesting, to say the least! T has had a blast playing in it. C bought a sled for him and there is a fairly big hill right behind our house so he has been out there every day. K has been too sick to go out. She's had a really nasty cold for the last few days so I haven't let her out too much. She went out today with C and T, but couldn't stay long because she got cold. I'll upload some pics later of T in the snow.

Tomorrow is packing day! I think I have just about everything taken care of. I hope so anyway. Whatever is not, will get done afterward. Maybe. If I have the energy left.
So, I will be computer-less for a week or so until we get up there and settled in. Hope everything goes smoothly!

The VA Living Museum had "Reptile Weekend" this weekend so I took the kids since T enjoys looking and learning about those kinds of things. He had a blast! K was fascinated by the fish and the reptile show. T got to touch a python at the end of the show. He thought it was so cool.

Here is one of the poisonous snakes that are kept at the museum. I'm glad it was behind the glass! Click on the picture for a better view of the snake.

and counting! That's how long until we hit the road for RI. The movers are coming on the 23rd and 24th to get us all packed up and loaded. We will check into housing on the 2nd so hopefully, we can have a door to door move this time. I still have so much to do before the movers get here. Lots to get rid of, keep out for us while traveling, etc. And of course, finish painting the cabinets and laundry area. Thankfully, I have some great friends who have been helping out so I should be able to get it all done.
Not much of an update, but that's what is consuming our lives right now.

I am a bit late posting photos of the first b-day party fun. It's been crazy here with painting, organizing, and getting C off to RI yesterday. We did manage to squeeze in a small party with some close friends on Friday evening. She was too tired that night to do much with her cake so we tried again on Sunday and she LOVED it! But she didn't like all the icing on her hands...

I have been soooo busy the last couple of weeks. We found out that we have to go ahead and move to RI if we want to go with C. So, we are moving in March. That's just over a month away. Crazy! C and I have been doing some painting and trying to get the house in shape for renters (hopefully!). Not that we are painting for the renters, but because when I changed out some stuff from the previous owners, they didn't bother to take anything, i.e. towels rods, shelves, etc, down to paint behind it. So, now we have these ugly holes that need painting and we don't have the paint that they used. Nice. Not! I have been wanting to paint for the last 3 years that we have been here but C has not been on board with it until now.
So my little baby will be ONE YEAR OLD in just a few days. I can't believe it! She is still not walking on her own yet. I guess she knows she can get there faster by crawling. She honestly looks like she is running on her hands and knees sometimes! Its pretty funny to watch. And she wait until we turn our backs and then takes off, either for the stairs or the bathroom. She likes to go fishing in the bathroom. Thankfully there hasn't been anything for her to fish for!
T-man still has a love/hate relationship with school. He has a great time when he is there and enjoys showing off what he has learned, but he would much rather stay home and play. And he will tell you as much if you ask him! He was most upset when we told him that we were going to be moving soon. He is going to miss his best friend. I know he will adjust, but I still worry about him.
I have been so busy that I haven't even had time to take any pictures lately. How sad is that? I hope I don't forget to take pictures during the move. Chances are that I will forget since C will not be here. Oh well... we'll see. That's all for now...

1. Enough with the cold temps without snow.

2. Moving to RI causes me to be conflicted.

3. I've been craving Mexican.

4. My friend Shawna makes me laugh.

5. I wish I could go to lunch with a friend next week.

6. Our move has been on my mind lately.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to keeping warm by the fire, tomorrow my plans include maybe some shopping and Sunday, I want to take a nap!

1. It's January; and we are moving soon.

2. Taco Bell is what I crave most right now.

3. Cork and wine go together like 2 girlfriends and chocolate.

4. Time alone is so nourishing.

5. Let us dare to take the risk.

6. I need to organize my home.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to working on a layout, tomorrow my plans include doing some solo shopping and Sunday, I want to relax and take a nap!

Six things about a boy...

1. loves to go hunting and fishing.
2. is crazy about Star Wars
3. loves to play with military/war stuff
4. has a heart-melting grin
5. loves to make his little sister laugh
6. can't stand getting up to go to school every morning

Love you, bud!

I can hardly believe that it is 2009! 2008 certainly seemed to fly by, didn't it? I guess that is what happens when you have a brand new little one. My big boy turns !6! tomorrow! He is getting so big. And learning more and more every day. I'll try to remember to do a birthday post tomorrow for him. My little one is almost one! That should not be allowed! She is such a sweetie too.
A new year and a new blog look. I may change it around some more, but I'm not sure yet. We'll see. I haven't come up with any resolutions for the new year. I did start a 365 photos blog to try and motivate myself to take more photos on a daily basis. We'll see how that goes. My first post was a close up of my new bedroom furniture. I'm still in awe at how beautiful it is. I have started thinking of my one little word for this year, but haven't decided on anything yet. I will give myself a couple of days to figure it out.
I finally got all of my Christmas decorations down. I still have to wash a couple of towels and dishes, but then I will have it all put away. Now to just vacuum and get the furniture moved back into place. When that is done, life will start getting back to the normal routine, at least until C leaves at the end of the month. T goes back to school next Tuesday. I will hopefully start going back to the gym every day. Well, at least 4 days a week since I will be keeping a friend's 2 kids on Fridays. That's about all that is going on right now. I'll have to post some of T's b-day party pics tomorrow.