Halloweens from the past

We are not trick or treating this year because it falls on Monday. I know for sure Joshua will have a Latin quiz the next day, not to mention other homework so we thought we would stay put. The kids did get to go the church fall festival and I bought some candy for them, and I have some other treats in store for them. I thought it would be fun to post some old Halloween pictures.

work in progress

my kitchen is slowly coming together. I spent most of Monday night tearing down the border. That was a job, but I got it done. I swear I don't think I will ever put up wall paper or border ever again!! Tuesday I went and bought paint and have spent the past two days painting. I'm about 80% done. I have to move the fridge and get behind there and do some touch ups as well. I'm in love with the sage green color. I can't wait until everything is done, and then of course to get my new black or brown table:)! (it was hard to capture the color with the camera....it kept making it looked washed out)

awww.......

I am using Jack's computer and I found this picture that Jenna took of him. I had to figure out how to get it to my blog! I think he looks cute in his little hat!!

Don't even ask......

Jenna trying to get a smile off of mommy after the funeral:). Don't even ask me what she was doing after her bath.

Family/Friends

These were pictures taken at the funeral. The top picture is Mrs. Cole. Mrs Cole has been the church secretary for as long as I know. When we moved to NC we rented a house in Wake Forest. I used to ride with Mrs. Cole to/from school. She is such a sweet, sweet lady. She helped prepare the lunch for the family the day of the funeral. Second picture is me, Josh, my brother Mark and my cousin Victor. We weren't really expecting any family, but Victor drove down from Washington DC. Victor is really into the Wagher history and was able to help Joshua on a family history project last year. Last picture is my cousin Debra (Victor's sister) who flew in from Atlanta and completely surprised us. Debra is a very successful corporate attorney. I haven't seen Debra since my senior year of high school. I was in her wedding. I hated that she had to fly back home immediately after the burial, but I was thankful for the few minutes we had together. I am a little embarrased to be taking pictures with her. She is like a thin fashion model and I seemed to take up the entire picture.

Soccer/Football Mom

After a rain out one Saturday and other family situations, my kids were able Saturday to resume their sports. Actually, this was the first game for Jacob and Jenna. Jacob scored the only two goals for his team and Jenna won the first award for sportsmanship. After they played, we ran to Joshua's football game. He made one fantastic catch toward the end and came close to scoring. Too bad both teams lost, but I certainly do enjoy watching my kids play and I love being football/soccer mom!!

History Project

I'm going to jump around a little bit. I have a couple of more pictures to show of the funeral, but I didn't want all the other stuff to get old. Friday Joshua had his first project of the year. They have been studying features such as seas, volcanoes, valleys, craters, etc. They had to make their own country and come up with a theme and a name for their country. They also had to have at least 10 of the 13 geo terms/features on their board. Joshua of course wanted to do a sports theme, so we made it "Collegiate Country". We had Michigan Mountain Range, Clemson Crater, Virginia Valley, Virginia Tech Volcano, Rutgers River, LSU Lake, Iowa Isthmus, Maryland Mountain, Duke Desert, Illinois Island and Stanford Sea. I think it all came together nicely and I am so pleased with it. Hopefully he will get a good grade off of it.

Here today, Gone tomorrow (a week in review)

I sit here writing this post thinking of the Casting Crowns song that says "here today and gone tomorrow" and that is what I feel like. Last week was a whirlwind that totally took me off guard. I can't believe that it has been a week already since my mom passed away.
Monday: I wake up, get the kids to school, take a nice long walk, come home and clean, cook and get things caught up.....all the while not knowing that my mom had a bad morning. She had not felt well, wasn't responding right and eventually felt dizzy and fell. I didn't get the call from my dad until 2 pm, still not knowing how serious things were. I rush to call Jack. I rush to call a friend to arrange for the kids to go over. No answer. Call another friend. She could take the kids. I pick the kids up, rush to do homework, rush to get some food down them and then we are out the door. Pick up Jack, run to the hospital. Mom is in Cardiac care. Not doing well. still unconscious. Doctors said she would not make it through the night. I take Jack back to pick up his car and head home. I turn the radio on and what is the first song I hear? "I'll praise you in this storm"
Tuesday: Start my day again. I wait for my sister to come home from the beach to go to the hospital with her. Mom made a "miraculous" recovery. Awake. She can squeeze your had and nod gently. A ray of hope perhaps? The doctors can't understand. But then the doctor says that she now has a 10% chance of survival.
Wednesday: Drop the kids off, run to get some things for their lunches and go home. I'm waiting on my sister to come to the house to pick up her dog and she calls. She is almost at my house but we have to go to the hospital NOW!! I just got out of the shower, so I scramble to leave. We get to the hospital and meet with the doctors. Mom's kidneys are 90 % down, liver is almost gone. She is being kept alive by the machines. Dad makes the difficult choice with our help to let her go from the machines. They come get us around 12:30....mom's breathing is changing....maybe 20 minutes or less. Mom ends up holding up until 4:30. We were there when she passed away......here one moment, gone the next......and went very peacefully.
The rest of a week was full of making arrangements, and of course the funeral.
I knew mom was sick, but I didn't know she would go so quickly. I still can't believe that it has been a week already. Some days have been ok, some have been really hard. Yesterday was an extremely hard day for me. Thank you for all of you who have sent emails, sent cards, provided meals, came to the funeral....etc. It really means a lot to me. I heard this song on the radio yesterday by Jeremey Camp.....There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears. There will be day when the burdens of this place will be no more, we'll see Jesus face to face.

Beautiful Flowers

Field Trip

Things have been so crazy that I have not gotten the time to update my blog. So much has happened in the last two weeks. I guess I will just go in order of the way my pictures were taken. Two weeks ago, Jenna's class had a field trip to the Museum in Durham. I hate the drive, but I love this place. It is one of my favorites. For the first time I was able to see the bears and the foxes.....part of their living exhibits. Jenna had fun hanging out with one of her best school friends, Olivia.(the one with the red headband) Her other best friend Reagan is in the other second grade class. Delany also hung out with us (another of Jenna's friends) and we had a blast hanging out together. The first picture shows the girls with Jenna's teacher, Miss Harmeling.