Cautiously Optimistic

Hello faithful blog readers from your not so faithful blogger. Due to my facebook hiatus I have decided to try to become a more active blogger. A lot has changed over the last year. One of the biggest things has been the birth of our fourth child, Justice Burke Loraditch. He is a doll and truly a joy to be around. However, now the blog's name is in question. It could be changed to three redheaded monsters and one sweet brown haired baby!

So, cautiously optimistic, that is the way we are living these days. We trust God has a great plan for our lives, He just hasn't revealed it to us. Currently we are a household of six living with a household of two. Yes, we have moved BACK in with my parents. So far it is going well, as far as we are concerned. Who knows, mom and dad may have a different story.

Why are we living with mom and dad, you ask? Well, we put an offer in on a house back in MAY that was accepted and we were due to close in June. We decided not to try to sell our house, with the market the way it is now, so we searched for the first part of June to find a renter. We did, and we think we found a good one, everything was settled there, we would close on the 20th of June and she would move in on July 1st. That was the plan anyway, our plan. By mid June it became apparent that we would not be closing on the 20th, maybe the 24th, maybe the 27th, maybe July sometime! It was time to move out of our house, but where, we didn't know. We busted our bums getting out of our house, getting it in some sort of nice shape before new people would move in. So with our stuff tucked safely at Kelly and Sven's, Mom and Dad graciously allowed us to move into their home, it was only going to be a week or so, no big deal. That was the plan anyway, our plan.

It quickly became apparent that we weren't going to be closing by July 6th, maybe the 13th, maybe the 15th, maybe the 20th. Now it is extended to the 26th and things are looking bright(er). There is hope that we may close within a few days of that very date. That is the plan anyway, our plan. Who knows, all we can do is stay cautiously optimistic.

As far as the blog goes I encourage you to do the same. I am going to do my best to keep updating the blog. I can't promise pictures, I can't promise posts, I can't promise anything even remotely entertaining, but I hope to provide some combination of all of the above. That is the plan anyway.

And the hits keep coming...

Peyton comes up to me in all seriousness this afternoon with a burning question. "Mom, when I grow up and play baseball for the cubs, can I use this bat?"

"It HAS the cubbies on it!"

The things kids say

So Peyton has a new owie on his pinkie, actually quite a big chunk of skin has been removed. Anyway, while doing a little first aid today Ronni asked Peyton why he was having a bandaid if there wasn't any blood anymore. I told her because it would help the skin heal faster. So she asked Peyton how long he would be wearing the bandaid and he said, "till summer" She apparently didn't think this was out of line at all and was satisfied with his answer. As soon as I got the bandaid on though, Peyton said, "I feel so bad for myself, Ronni do you feel bad for me?" R- "Yes, Peyton, I should have prayed for you and your pinkie at church, I would have said, please make peyton's finger better, we pray to the Lord, Lord Hear our Prayer!"

Wow, all the while I was thinking, do I put this on facebook or actually blog because I knew it was shareworthy!

The things kids pick up

As you may have heard, we are in another biggest loser competition. It is really great to see the changes it has made for our family. Forget the weight loss, I think it is great that my kids asked if McDonald's is healthy, to which I answered no, and then a week later when we ate at McDonald's they asked why we were eating there if it wasn't healthy. Also, I love that they ask all the time if this food or that food is healthy. However, what I heard today takes the cake. Ronni was talking on a pretend phone and said, "15 calories? You have to be kidding me!"
Here is a Peyton nugget- As we were leaving my parents house the other day Peyton almost fell down the stairs. My mom asked if he was okay and he said "Yeah, my guardian angel catched me".

A Sensitive Heart

No I am not talking about myself. Veronica has such a kind heart and apparently a sensitive one too. Today we were watching a movie and when it became apparent that the main character was sacrificing himself to save the world, we heard this odd noise. It was Veronica weeping, full fledged sobbing. Words can not express the way my heart felt when I heard her crying because she was sad that someone (an animated figure, no less) was getting hurt, I just wanted to reach out to her and try to make everything better for her. Thankfully Daddy jumped right up and cuddled her and we found out within a minute or two that he indeed lived! But for those few minutes, our little girl was heartbroken... so was I.

All I can think of now is being careful to guard her heart so as to not lose that sensitive nature that makes her so special. She can only watch so many movies with this kind of thing in it before she is desensitized. I look forward to Veronica growing up and seeing what kind of person she becomes, I pray she takes this compassion and love for others (animated or real) and does something great, I am sure she will!

I did it!

I was trying to go a whole month without blogging, and it is safe to say, I did it. It is also safe to say, it wasn't hard and I wasn't trying! Without even blinking February went by and now here we are in March. I have plans of doing a better job blogging, but then, I have said that before.

The problem wasn't that there wasn't anything to say, there was a lot going on in February. A very special little boy turned 4, we went to a hotel to celebrate. We were running this way or that way the entire month, which, for the month of February is good. Normally this is the month where I am most affected by the winter doldrums, that hasn't been the case this year, despite record amounts of snow fall and cold and days below 40 and days without the sunshine...

So here we are in March and things are going well. I have a few things I can update you with for the kids, pictures to come later.

Veronica, last week she had a couple of blog worthy moments. The first, we got a lot of candy from Tim's work and there are two types of suckers, blow pops with a gum center and tootsie pops with a chocolate center. I asked her if she wanted the tootsie pop and she said, "No thanks, I will have the other one because I am fast forwarding from chocolate." I was very impressed that she remembered that she wanted to fast from chocolate during lent, the second day of suckers in the house didn't fare as well! :) Also, she was holding Felicity and exclaimed. "Wow, you are a lot heavier than last week!"

Peyton turned four on February 17th, Ash Wednesday, so we celebrated his birthday early. Thanks to my sister in law, Sarah, I found a great deal on priceline for a hotel, we went and had a marvelous time. It was nice to have something to break up the monotony of winter. I think it may be a yearly tradition for our family. Peyton has all kinds of Peyton-isms, his most recent, 'that is rediculous". And he says it in the most matter of fact way, that is impossible not to laugh. He also says, that is weird- all the time, I am afraid he offended someone at our church because he called him weird, really the guy was very funny and the kids all loved him but "You are weird", didn't quite convey that message. We have since tried to curb the "weird" statements.

Felicity, OH BUG! She is crazy right now. I think she is teething four teeth and is just having a terrible time. Just ask my mom, dad, grandma, my aunt Diane, my cousin Kimmy or any other poor soul that had to be around her these past few days! She just is having a rough time. I don't ever remember this with my other children, but they all have teeth, so either I got really lucky or it is a passing thing that I will forget someday!

As for Tim and I we are great. You can count us among the millions of people that would say that the Biggest Loser (the TV show) has changed our lives. We are in a new and improved weight loss competition with 14 other people, and both of us are really changing our lives. We both get in about 3 hours of exercise each week and are really trying to watch what we eat. So far since the week before the competition, I have lost 28 lbs and tim has lost nearly 15 (over 25 pounds since our first biggest loser competition last year!). Tim is back into the pant size he wore in college (wish we wouldn't have gotten rid of those clothes!) and I am in a size I have NEVER worn before, not even in high school. We both feel so much better and I am hoping for a really active spring/summer!

9 Years on the 19th

Today should be a good day, my mother turns the ripe old age of... yeah right like I am actually going to publish that on the blogosphere! But it is her birthday and that is exciting.

Also, 9 years ago today was the first day Tim and I started dating, and 8 years ago today he proposed. It has been a wild ride at times, but wonderful. Tim is a great man, and I am a lucky (read that blessed) woman! Thank you Tim for the past nine years I look forward to 90 more, er... who knows? I guess I will take what I can get and be thankful!