E-Squared

Some of you have notices that I have 2 daughters. They are the most precious and special people in my life. Sometimes I wonder how did i get to have these two special spirits in my life. I made the mistake, if you want to call it that of naming them both with 1st names that start with "E".


Elisabeth Victoria is the oldest she is named after her great Grandmother and Great Great Grandmother on her Father's Mother (German) side. Elisabeth is the German spelling of the name, she will always be plagued with the problems of people misspelling her name, just as I am.but the name also had meaning to my mother as a child she always names her baby dolls Mary Ann Elizabeth Victoria, and told her mother that she was going to name her 1st daughter that. but when I came along she decided that name was too much for such a like baby like me. So my parents decided on something different instead. Well I grew up hearing this story and secretly thought I would name my 1st daughter that name. when I told my husband he didn't care for the Mary Ann part but he liked the Elizabeth part if I would spell it with the German "S" for the "Z", the way his Oma spelled hers. Then his mother told me that her Oma had been named Victoria. So that is where her name came from.

Evelyn Lee, I knew pretty much from the beginning that she was a girls, i don't know how I but I just knew. When I told my mom I was pregnant she was getting ready to go visit her Grandmother "Mom Mom." Mom Mom was in her 90's and had lived a long life. Well mom went to visit Mom Mom,she was sick and not going to make it. So mom told her that I was going to have another baby and the she wanted Mom Mom to go and take care of that special spirit before it care to earth. My mom told her that it was going to be a girls (We didn't even know yet, I was only about 2-3 months on)Mom said she didn't know why she told her that but that she must have been inspired. Mom Mom passed on soon after, when mom came home and told me this story I told mom that I known it was a girl. I also felt very impressed that I needed to name this baby Evelyn, after Mom Mom. I asked my sister if it was OK since she and Mom Mom where close, she Ok'd it after thinking about it for a while. Evelyn's Middle name came from Mom Mom's husband, Pop Pop. It was his middle name. They had given it to their son my grandfather, then he gave it to his daughter my mother. My Mother didn't like the name so she didn't pass it on to her children. I decided that since my husband is a Southern Confederate that he would like to use one of the names of is hero's for our children. So that is how Evelyn Lee was name.

Now several years ago Evelyn and I would go to story time at Barnes and Noble, we became good friends with "Miss Annie' Hololobo the story time lady. One day she sent me and email and said to give her love to E-squared, and that began the nickname for both of the girls. They have had others some are E1 & E2, big E & Lil e or even just E & e. but we love E-Squared as much as we love Miss Annie, so they will forever be E-Squared.

Father's Day

Today is Father's Day, a day to honor our fathers her on earth. I love my dad and know that he loves me and has tried his best through the years to show me right from wrong. I remember him being at everything I did, even my violin concerts when i was a beginner and sounded like I was pulling on a cats tail. I remember how much I missed him when he spent 1 year away from us because of work (Stationed in Korea- No Family Allowed) My father was always there to give me or my family members a blessing when we needed them. I remember he slways gave us one before the start of a new school year. My father daily told me that he loved me, but what i remember are the ways that he showed it. I never saw him be put out when asked to give a blessing, or if he had to cancel something because I had a concert. My father was there for me when i needed him.

I now have another father in my life, he is my husband and the father of my 2 girls, he loves them just as my dad loves me, iIcan see it in the things he does daily.

Happy Father's Day to all.

Swim Team Written June 16, 2009

Tonight was the 1st swim meet of the season. Both of my girls are swimming this year. It is Elisabeth's 2nd year but she is on a different team this year. They are the Westover Waves. This is Evelyn's 1st year to swim on a team, she is still learning but we think she will do great. She was suppose to swim the 25 back and 25 freestyle tonight but her nerves got the better of her and she felt sick to her stomach and decided not to swim, that's OK she can try next week.

Elisabeth swam the 50 back, 50 breast and 50 freestyle, she did well except that her coach thought she was DQ'd in both the back and the breast, (we found out later that she didn't) she over came her frustration or channeled it into power and I believe she swam her best on free, her time has never been under 1 minute on the 50 free but tonight it was her official time was 59:43. Way to Go!!!! I hope she keeps it up.

Evelyn has decided to try just the back for next weeks meet. and Elisabeth has told the coach she wants the same events and she is ready to do anything they ask her to do. Her coach says she has a Beautiful -- Butterfly stroke, I would like to see her try this but she doesn't like it.

Never Been There, Never Done That, but proud of E-squared!!!!

Last Day of School

I Never thought as an adult I would look forward to the last day of school with the same anticipation that the kids do, but I do. I may even have even more excitement for it.

You see I work for the school system. I am a full-time (10 month) school Bus driver and I am also a lunchroom monitor both of these jobs are fun and stressful at the same time. I had a blast in the lunchroom today. I tried telling the classes that they had 1 more day to go, that Mrs. Williams our Principal had made a mistake, but nobody believed me, which I'm glad I didn't want to get up tomorrow and drive.

then on the way home on the bus I asked my kids to raise their hands if they hated me the 1st week I was their driver, I would say that about 90% out of 60 kids raised their hands. Then I asked how many still hated me, I only had about 5 hands this time. I then told these kids that they where not getting a treat when they got off like the rest of them did. you should have heard them start with "I have never hated you Mrs. B", "Your the best driver I've ever had" and Your the Best." I have a soft heart I gave in and let them have a treat which was "dum dums" I wanted to give them Smarties but couldn't find any. I got a few hugs on the way off and everyone got a treat. I will miss them but not much, I will have all but 12 of them next year.

Been There, Done That, and Signed up to do it again.

She's a 6th grader Now

Today June 8th 2009, Elisabeth closed a chapter in her life, she has finished with elementary school. she has 3 more days really but she has her certificate saying that she is DONE, FINISHED!!! Next year she will adventure on to Middle School, she will be on her own other that friends, I will not be following her.

Today at the 5th Grade Farewell I thought I was holding it together until they started to sing, the whole 5th grade about 90+ students stood up and sang a song for the parents called "Thanks Mom, Thanks Dad" by Teresa Jennings they also handed their mothers Red Carnations (My Favorite Flower). My Hope is that Elisabeth will continue on the right Path and make the right chooses in life. Good Luck Elisabeth.

this is the song, by Teresa Jennings.

THANKS, MOM.

optional solo
Thanks, Mom, for all that you've done. You've shaped my life with selfless love and grace.
Thanks, Dad, for giving your all. Because of you, this world's a better place.

unison

I think you are the greatest. I recall how you held my hand.
You help me to do better, and I know you're my number one fan. Oh.

Thanks, Mom, for all that you've done. You've shaped my life with selfless love and grace.
Thanks, Dad, for giving your all. because of you, this wold's a better place.

When i hurt, you give comfort. Empathize, yeah--you cry when i cry.
And we'll see all the good times. When I win, I see you smile inside. Oh.

Thanks, Mom, for all that you've done. You've shaped my life with selfless love and grace.
Thanks, Dad, for giving your all. because of you, this wold's a better place.
Because of you, this world's a better place.
Because of you, this world's a better place.

Been There, Done That, I think, it was so long ago.

On My Fridge

I know I haven't posted in a while, and I don't have a lot of time now either. So I thought I would quickly post a few quotes that have accumulated on my refrigerator. Everything below is on some type of magnet that is hanging on my frig. If you have anything interesting or enlightening please share.

Love is an act of
endless forgiveness, a
tender look which
becomes a habit.

I
Cook
Therefore I Don't
Do Dishes

Volunteers
Hands that Serve
Hearts that Care


Recipe for a happy Successful Home.

• Respect
• No-quarreling -- No Bickering
• Misunderstandings talked sensibly
• Maintenance of spiritual contacts
• Family prayers
• Constant attention to Church Dutes
• unselfish service
• Love of God & others

Stir gently-- "then love will abound and your joy will be increased.-- The most important of the Lord's work you will ever do will be within the wall of your own homes" President Harold B. Lee

"Successful Motherhood
today spans the years
and the eternities."
President Harold B. Lee

"Train up a child
in the way he should
go: and when he is
old, he will not
depart from it"
Proverbs 22:6

That which we persist in doing
becomes easier for us to do...
not that the nature of the
thing is changed, but that our
power to do is increased.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

FROGS

Two frogs fell in a deep bowl
One was an optimistic soul.
But the other took the gloomy view.
"We shall drown", and he cried adieu.

So with a last despairing cry,
He flung up his legs and said goodbye.
The other frog quoted with a merry grin,
"I can't get out, but I won't give in!"

I'll just swim around till my strength is spent.
Then will I die, the more content.
Bravely he swam till it would seem,
His struggles began to churn the cream.

On top of the butter at last he stopped,
and out of the bowl he gaily hopped.
what is the moral? tis easily found--
If you can't hop out, keep swimming around.

All Good Words to live by,
Been There, Done That, and Still trying.

Activity days/ Journaling

On Wednesday nights I am the Activity day Girls leader. This is a fun job and I love each one of the girls in my group of which I have 13. But sadly 4 of them including my daughter are moving on to Young Women's this year.

On Wednesday night I planned an activity on journaling, something that all of us should be doing. I have a group of girls from just turned 8 to right at 12 so I have to make my activities fun for all (not always an easy task) But this night I had fun showing the girls my journals. No I'm not the perfect person who write every day or even once a week but i do have a pretty thick book full of my different journals. We talked about the different ways you can journal. The old fashion way with pen and paper or now you can type into a computer, you can save it on a blog or just as a program on the computer, I have both. Some of my girls scrapbook and I told them that was a way of journaling, especially if you write captions of what was happening in the pictures. I also know that some teacher in school will have you write a report on yourself or even on a family member, I have had to do both in the past. I have kept those and keep them with my journal. If I wrote a report on a family member or someone special in my life I gave them a copy to keep with there journals.

I had some girls complain that they didn't like reading journals (I can't imagine why?) but then I told them that at least once a week they read from some one journal and i bet they didn't know it... they all say "no we don't, unless our school teacher make us" I then asked them if they read from the scriptures at least once a week and they answered yes. And I answered back I told you that you read from a journal at least once a week the Scriptures where a journal for the prophet of person whom wrote in them. After that they couldn't wait to start there journals.

I had picked up at the store a composition book for each one of them ($1 each),a pen and then I printed up a list of about 50 prompts to help them get started, because they are like me they don't want to write about the same old boring thing they do everyday. (this morning I got up went to school then came home then had dinner, Etc, Etc, Etc.) so i made up some good ones like: My Favorite desserts and why? What do I do in the summer time? Describe my room, What is your favorite story from the B of M? etc.they loved that they didn't have to write the same old thing down. They cut these prompts up into strips and placed them in an envelope that they taped to the notebook. So if they had free time and wanted to write but couldn't think of something interesting to write about they could just pull out a slip and begin there.
They where so happy and excited, I hope they keep working n them and start a good habit.

Well on the way home I decided I needed to work on my journal writing too. So I tool one of the left over notebooks and started my own. so if over the next couple of months you see any weird topics i might have just pulled out a slip of paper and started writing.

Lucky Rodent

This morning "Big E's" hamster got out of it's cage and decided to go play behind the Washer and Dryer (W&D). When I go to get him, when in the process of removing the broom it's storage place next the the W&D I knock a Hot Coco mug off the rack and I tried to Catch it when it also hit a stoneware bread pan that I had, it knocked a big chip in the pan and sliced a big Chunk of my finger. The mug was saved, I gotta have my hot coco. and by the time I got my finger bandaged up and back to together, the little varmint that started the whole thing was sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor looking for someone to put him back in his cage. He's lucky that he is old and on his last leg or he might have been flushed away.

Been There, Done that, and don't like Cuts and Blood.

2 for the price of Free

Well today was the big day for the root canal, I pray this morning that everything would go well and that I would somehow find a way to pay for the $875 bill, or what ever my Insurance company wouldn't pay. So I guess I should count my blessings. I go in early because Lyston had an appointment at Bio-life (Which I have not been able to do for a week now and have 1 more week before I can go back. another story). So get there and fill out the paper work, am called back and the tech asked all the questions about which tooth and all that stuff, took X-rays that where digital the picture came right up on the computer monitor, so cool! Then the Dr came in we started chatting and I know his boys they go to my school so we where talking about them then on to me. He again asked about which tooth and did a few test to make sure we where sure which tooth it was. So he numbs me up and lets me sit for a while, the tech comes back in and preps my mouth with a Rubber Dam and clamps the tooth. Dr comes back ask if I'm ready sure why not the right side of my mouth feels like it is sticking out about 10 ft and I can't feel my tongue or control it for that matter. So he begins, I'll spare you the details of what they do, but after he work for a while it was time for another X-ray to make sure they got it all. Instant picture on computer, look of "What the H*ll!!" on the Drs. face and the tech had a look like "Oops!"
The Dr tells me "guess your getting 2 root canals today"
Me, "WHAT????.... WHY?????"... well it didn't sound like that remember I have that damn rubber thing in my mouth.
Dr "we did the wrong tooth."
Me "2 for the price of one?"
Dr "Nope... 2 for price of FREE"
Me "COOL!!!... Lets go"

Well after about 1 hour an half in the chair I left with 2 root canals for Free. the Dr was very sorry that it happened but I probably would have had to have the other tooth done sooner or later. So I left carrying the right side of my face out to the car, I wasn't sure it was going to fit in the car with me. It still felt like it was sticking out about 15 ft from my face.

My biggest fear of the day was that I would be numb for 3 months, which is what happened with the last root canal I had done over 3 years ago. But as of right now I have no numbness in my face which is great other than my jaw being sore I think I survived.

Been There, Done That, and It was FREE

HATE Dentist

OK, so I have this problem with a tooth. I thought I could wait until school was out before I had to take care of it but NO!!! About 1 week ago I was in such pain that I knew it would be another root canal for me. Not something I'm looking forward to, especially since the last one I was numb for about 3 months after, Long story and not a fun memory. So last Wednesday I go in to see the Dentist,I would rather see the OB/GYN or have a baby in a public place than go to the dentist, I don't know why, But I HATE (Yes I Know Hate is a strong word But I have strong feelings on this.)Dentist. I have friends and people that I know from church and community that are dentist, I tell them "I like you as a person outside of your office but when you are sitting beside me with your hands in my mouth, heck for that matter when you are in your office I HATE you." they laugh and we get along great until I have a problem. That is why I have decided that I will not see a dentist that I know personally any more that way we done lose the good friendship, My OB/GYN is the 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric, I don't have a problem with him in fact I love Dr. A. but when it comes to someone with their hands in my mouth I can't help but want to bite them.

OK enough about how I hate dentist, back to the tooth. I was given an Antibiotic and pain meds and told go see Dr ??? across town and then we will take care of the rest of your teeth later. So the soonest Dr ??? could get me in as 1 week that's OK I think I can life with it until then. WRONG!!!! the pain meds make me want to sleep, So I can't take them during the day, I still have to drive the School bus. 1st night took pill before bed and exactly 6 hours later I woke up in pain, can't take 2nd pill because I have to drive in 2 hrs. next night the same thing. Finally Friday night gets here good I can take all the pain meds I want, I do. Saturday was OK, by the way tooth hurts worse at night, then Saturday night I did the same thing as I did friday night but this time the pain meds didn't work for me other than make me feel like I was in a fog all day long. So Sunday I stayed home from Church. I was thinking am I going to make it to Wednesday or will I give up before that and do what the guy in the movie "Cast a Way" did and knock the tooth out. I couldn't eat, because when I swallowed I felt like I have a rock under my tongue, and I didn't help that my daughter kept making brownies for the family and they ate them right in front of them. But by late Sunday night I thought I think I feel better, I decided not to take pain meds before bed and Slept the whole night. When I woke up this morning I could swallow and feel great other than I can still feel the tooth on that side but I think now I will make until Wednesday then I should be all better after that.

Been There, Done That, I HATE Dentist.

OH, I over did it this morning with Breakfast and now I'm a little sore but I still think I'll live.

Rain, Rain Go away, come again... In a Century!!!!

OK I really like the rain most of the time but right now I'm tired of walking to and from work in it. We did get a little bit of sun today but I was so afraid of it for the 1st hour because I wasn't sure what it was. Then once I found out that it was sunshine and I liked it it went away.

My shoes are so wet that they are starting to grow flowers or something on them. My socks are like being at the beach in the winter time, wet and cold. My toes are so wrinkly that I'm not sure they will ever dry out, not to mention the horrible case of AF I have now.

But tonight take the cake. I thought if you do something nice for the Missionaries you where suppose to receive blessings. Well last night my Hubby the Ward Mission Leader, got a call from our Elders they needed a ride home from Charlottesville (about 1 hr from us) not a problem he was off from work and he would be back in plenty of time for our Last ASL class. I needed I ride into town earlier but not a problem I have Great neighbors that where more than happy to help me so off to town I go leave the girls here waiting for dad to come home pick them up then pick me and and off to class we go. What we didn't expect was a Wreck on the Mountain, hubby and the Elders got about 1/2 way home and where turned around by the state police and told go back the other way and take the LOOONG way around. well to make a long story short, we got home at 7:30 tonight, NO Class I have to wait over an hour for him to pick me up, and I walked over a mile in the rain to get some shopping done that was planned to be done after class.

Guess my blessing is that I have such great neighbors they took my kids over to their place and fed them. Thank you Heavenly Father for the rain but I thin that 7days is more than enough, Remember your promise with the rainbow.

Also if my hubby's car was fixed I wouldn't have to worry about all of this.

Been There, Done That, and my toes are still not dry.

Where is SPRING????

Last week we had frosty mornings and hail on day, now this week we are roasting over the weekend we had temps in the 90's. So where is spring? I need and want to plant a garden but not in this hot, Hot,HOT weather. I live in the mountains because it not suppose to be as harsh of weather. I don't believe in Global Warming but after this weekend I may have to rethink that.

Pay it Forward

Pay It Forward!
If you want to participate great, if not... no big deal. Here is how to play. The first 3 people to post on this blog will receive a handmade "pay it forward" gift from me.This is how it works...So, if anyone out there is up for the challenge...
1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me.
2. Winners must post this challenge on their own blog, meaning that you will pay it forward, creating a handmade gift -anything!- for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!
3. The gift that you send to your 3 friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember it’s the spirit and the thought that counts!
4. When you receive your gift, blog about it!

If you are not one of the first three to comment on this post, you can still play along.Go ahead and start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same! It's all about paying it forward.

Let the Challenge begin!

Evelyn Is...

I have been pestered by a friend whom shall remain nameless (I hope you know who you are Steph) to get back to blogging so here I go.

Today I realized that my youngest Evelyn, "Lil e" as we call her sometimes needed to have an original piece of writing for a Young Authors celebration she was invited to this coming Wednesday. What she 1st wrote did not pass the "mother test". So I decided to help her work on one. We decided to take her name and write a poem with it. This is what she came up with, I only helped her to figure out some of the descriptive words.

Evelyn is...

Energetic, she enjoys riding her bike.
Variety, she has a lot of different stories to tell.
Excited, She is always ready for summer family vacations to the outer Banks.
Loving, she is always willing to snuggle and hug.
Young, she is only 8 years old.
NICE!!!!!

My Testimony

I started a tradition in our family that I hope my children will pass down to their children. When they turn 8 years of age and are baptized, they receive a note book full of Testimonies from Family and Friends. I know that I have learn so much about my family from reading these and I hope that as my daughters grow in the gospel that they will be able to draw strength from this book to help them when they are at a rough time in their life. I wanted to share the testimony that i placed in Evelyn's Book. I'm not one that gets up once a month and shares my testimony on Fast Sunday, I think it is because I am so shy. But I Do have one and those of you that live in my ward may want to know that so here it is.

Dearest Evelyn,
On this special day I would like to share with you something that is very special and important to me, my Testimony. As you take this important step in your life, I want you to know that I am very proud of you for making this choice of baptism. This is the first and most important choice of many on the straight and narrow path that you will make in your life.

I wish that I had a neat story to tell you about my baptism day but for me it was like any other day. I remember going to swimming lessons that morning and walking home thinking about that I was going to do that evening. I can tell you that you will remember this day for a long time.

I want you to know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. I know the Heavenly Father and Jesus appeared to Joseph Smith. I know that with the power of the Holy Ghost Joseph Smith translated the golden plates into what we know as the Book of Mormon. I know that as you read and study the Book of Mormon you will realize the love the Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for you.

I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus know YOU! They know each one of us just as I know you and Elisabeth, but they know you even more. They don’t think of us as a big group, like your teacher at school might, They think of us as individuals. They want you to talk to Them that is what prayer is for. Just as you would not be able to go a day without speaking to me or you’re Dad, you should not go a day without speaking to Heavenly Father. He will help you and guide you through the Holy Ghost, with your life on the earth.

You will receive today the greatest gift that anyone can give you, the gift of the Holy Ghost. Just as it says in the song (the Holy Ghost) he is a “True eternal friend” he is with you always, even when you think that no one else is He is there. He is how Heavenly Father speaks to us. Always remember to listen, he doesn’t yell, he uses a still small voice.

Evelyn as you go through life I hope that you will remember the covenants that you make today and remember what it says in 2 Nephi 31. Jesus loves you and He wants you to return to live with Him and Heavenly Father.

Know also that I love you and know that no matter what you do in life I will always love you. Thank you for being my daughter and making me proud, stay close to Heavenly Father and remember if you need help on the path that you are not alone, the Holy Ghost is there to help you along with your family.

Love Always
Mommy
Kasandra Barker

Baptism by ice water

Saturday, March 14th, my baby Evelyn Lee Barker was baptized. It was not what we expected, you would think with the modern tech we have that everything would go great, Right? WRONG!!!!!

We started the morning OK, other than that I had procrastinated and was up at 2am finishing her programs and the house cleaning and the oil mess on the floor (See, "Can I Scream Now!!!"). I guess she was so excited for the day that Evelyn got up at 6:30 am. I tried to get her to go back to sleep but nope she wouldn't. Oh Well. about 12:15 we get to the church, we had to set up, Lyston and Elisabeth had already been up there earlier to start the water, it takes 3 hrs to fill the font. When we get there brothers Brady and Butler were already there. They had bad news! The water was ice cold. Lyston said that when he left the water was nice a warm just the way he was told to make it. Brother Brady asked Evelyn if she liked cold water, sure it's not bad, but this was! They drained out about 1/2 of the water, they thought they would at least refill it with all hot water. The hot water heater didn't want to cooperate, so they tried filling 4 large pots with water and boiling it on the stove to add. Evelyn says I can't believe they added any water to it it was still cold. they didn't want to add anymore cold water to it and get her too cold. I guess they didn't think that when she goes under it's not going to matter. The water only came up to just above her knees.

She was one of the lucky few that have to be dunked twice. The 1st time her dress wanted to float. The second time, my Mother in-law had to get up to leave, I think the cold coming off the water was bothering her. I had a hard time watching the second one knowing how cold the water was. The second time she flapped like a fish but the witnesses said she made it under. When she came out of the water her lips where blue and she was shivering all over. She has short hair so I didn't think we needed the blow drier from home but I was wrong I should have brought it to at least warm her up. Elisabeth was a great help she cleaned up the water in the hallway and brought Evelyn Daddy's big coat to wrap around her after she was changed. I told Evelyn you will remember this day for the rest of your life now because of the water being so cold. The rest of the baptism went off with out a hitch but come Sunday morning she was not feeling great she had a sore throat, which actually started right afterward, so she didn't make it to church to be welcomed in as the newest member of the ward. she has recovered now and is doing well.

My Brother's Fiance said it's much easier in the Methodist Church, "Just a sprinkle" That's OK Mallory, I will not trade my faith even if we have it rough sometimes.

Been there, Done that, but mine was warm not ice cold. Now Evelyn you have something to tell you children about your baptism.

Evelyn's Day

OK I know its Monday and her Birthday was on Friday but I have had a busy weekend, see post titled "Can I Scream now!!!" Also I can't take credit for the idea of this post, my friend Jill does a post for her children's birthday and tell the story of their birth.

Evelyn Lee Barker came into this world on March 13, 2001. I remember that we wanted to have another baby before Elisabeth got too old so they could grow up friends. The summer that I found out I was going to have another baby, my Great Grandmother (Mom's side) past away, my mother went to see her before she died and told her about the baby that I was carrying. Mom told mom-mom (Great Grandmother) that she wanted her to go and take care of her granddaughter before she was to come to earth. I was only about 2 months pregnant at the time but my mother told Mom-mom that it was a girl, we don't know why but I believe that my mother was inspired by Heavenly father to tell her that. After I heard this story I wanted to name this baby after Mom-mom, but I also knew that my sister shared a close relationship with Mom-mom and was hoping to name one of her children after her. I asked Christina if it would be OK and she said yes. So from then on I knew that I would have a Evelyn, the Lee part is also family, Pop-pop middle name was Lee and so was his son my grandfather and my mother's, but mom didn't like the name and never passed it on to any of her children but I have! I don't think that Lyston or I ever really talked about boys names I think I knew that I was having a girl all along.

Evelyn was due the end of February, she didn't come then unlike her sister whom was on time. So I thought wouldn't it be nice if she came on March 2nd, her Daddy's b-day. Again she wasn't ready so I thought ok let's give her 4 more days and have her come on March 6th, my sister's b-day, that day came and went, not baby. Ok the next B-day I thought of was my Grandfather's and I was not waiting until March 31. So when I went in on Friday, march 9th, we talk to the Dr about what we needed to do, after and ultrasound reveled that she was going to be a 10+lb baby if we left her to her own devises, we decided to induce. I could pick the day Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. I choose Tuesday, March 13th, Why? I don't know!

Tuesday we head to the hospital, check in and the hook me up to the meds and give me the epidural after about 5-6 hours of going nowhere fast. My in-laws, Oma and Papa came to visit; they spend the afternoon there talking with Lyston, because I just wanted to sleep. They decided about 7:30p that they were going to head to our place for the night and we would call if anything happened. So my hubby walks his parents out and says "I'm going to stop at the Cafe to eat before I come back" (man was I hungry... Bring me something) "OK, I'm not going anywhere." After they left the nurse came in to check me, and when she did what a surprise she had, the head was right there ready to go. She starts calling for the midwife and other team members to come in and I said give me the phone I needed to call my mom (she had a class that night and didn't want to miss it, Oh well she did) "Hey! Where’s my husband" don't worry he will be back in time. It is now about 8pm and they say ok we are ready for you to push but wait my Hubby is not here, mom made it but Lyston who hadn't even left the hospital wasn't back. I'm not doing this without him, and then right at the last minute here he came. Ok now let’s push 3 pushes and out she came at about 8:15pm. Boy was I glad I didn't want to miss any sleep, she was beautiful from the start and I could not believe that she was 9lbs 15 oz. one more day and this baby would have been stuck.

And now when I tell her about how is didn't want to come out she looks up and tells me "the Jacuzzi was warm and I didn't want to get out."

CAN I SCREAM NOW!!!!!

Friday the 13th has never been so unlucky for me as it was today.... I thought that it was starting off great... I wake up this morning and we had about 3/4 of an inch of snow on the grounded... It didn't stick to the roads at all in our area, kinda reminded me of Camelot (it never rains until after sun down, and the fall leaves fall into nice little piles)... then we didn't have school today, that had nothing to do with the snow it was a teacher workday. (which most of the teachers I know hate, they say they would rather teach kids all day than have to have workday, Go figure???)..... So good start to the day... until my girls wake up, they are upset... you see we have had weather in the 60's this week and they have been riding bikes and playing outside every afternoon and where hoping for a day of that, both of them where mad at the snow... in fact Evelyn said "this is a waste of snow." I asked why? "Because we are already out of school."... OK note to Heavenly Father only send snow when we are in school so we can get out... then the girls realize that since they decided to watch a movie last night that they now have to clean ... and this is Evelyn's Birthday, but she had the choice of cleaning before b-day or watching a movie and she chose watch a movie... OK let's clean, they cleaned i took dad to work and did some shopping (not fun stuff, I HATE shopping) ... When I come home they have doe a great job on the house I was very impressed, I also thought that since they had cleaned it they would do a better job of keeping it clean... I wish I would keep these thoughts locked away because it never happens... but Oh Well! we work on the laundry together and then Elisabeth says mom I'll make the brownies for tonight... OK go for it, I'm trying to let her learn some cooking skills and I need to get the printer working on the computer so I can finish our taxes and print program for Evelyn's Baptism tomorrow... so she in the kitchen making brownie and I hear " OH NO! there's oil everywhere!" As I walk into the kitchen I smell the oil from the french fryer and I see all over the floor the oil from the french fryer... I am floored, I just want to cry... all over my kitchen floor is about a gallon of used yucky oil and we need to leave for a church activity soon... I don't buy paper towels to me they are to expensive for napkins which is what my family use them for... So I have nothing to grap to clean this mess up, I finally think about newpaper so I ask Evelyn to get me some... Elisabeth is upstairs getting some old towels... As evelyn is getting the newspapers she knocks over a whole container of hamster food, all over the newly vacuumed carpet... I throw newspapers on top of the oil so that they can soak up most of it and I will not have to ruin as many old towels (I still use them for other things)... Elisabeth finishes the brownies and gets them in the oven... I finish getting the printer to work and print out the taxes... Evelyn cleans up the hamster food... the brownies are done but the oil is still on the floor, waiting and if I had my say it would stay there for ever... In Fact Elisabeth had a great idea to night at church why don't we just light it on fire to clean it up... not a great idea but I did consider it for about 1/2 a second... we get ready for church, by the way this is our anual chilli cook off and I didn't have enough ingriedents to make my chilli... so we go to this and I think this will be a nice ending to an almost prefect day... not Evelyn has to have a run in with a door, why she was running in the halls I don't know but that door should not have knocked her in the head, but it did (Bad Door!)... so as I'm trying to help her with the goose egg that is forming on her head I hear her say "this is the worse Birthday ever!!!"... and right now at 2 am as I am cleaning up the messy oil off the floor I'm thinking the next friday 13th that comes around I'm staying in bed!!!

Bus and the Snow

All day Sunday and into the night and early morning of Monday we got one of our famous March snows, not as big as we have had before but enough to close schools (which by the way doesn't have to be much) I think we got about 4 inches here. It's hard to tell, because it drifted so much. So no school on Monday, Yeah! I enjoyed it some. I had to get dinner ready and buy a B-day present For the Hubby, but I enjoyed making him something he likes, I just hate having to clean the Kitchen afterwords. Tuesday day Schools are delayed 2hrs, another yeah! I can sleep in until 7am, but it didn't happen, stupid body clock. I Go start my bus at 8:15am, we have to leave at 9am, it was a cool 7* outside with wind chills in the neg numbers. My bus started fine, when I come back up about 8:45 to start my friends buses, one will not start. I should have known then to go back home, but I call the bus garage and tell them that bus #147 will not start, they send someone out. My bus has now been running for almost 30mins but it is still COLD!!! But 9am I pull out of the school, I noticed that our school road in not completely clear of snow and the the road in front of the school still has lost of icy spots, that to me is enough to tell me stay home, but I have a job to do. I get to my 1st stop about 3 minutes late not bad considering that there is still icy spots on all the roads. By the time at get to my 4th stop I am now 5 mins behind schedule, not good, I like to be on time. Continue on and try to make up time but really can't since the speed limit on the bus is 45 mph and most of my areas are 35 mph. so I continue on. As a turn on to a little country road I notice again a lot more ice than I like to see under the wheels of my bus, but I go on. Make it off that road fine, when I go into this little sub-division that I have 2 stops in the roads are clear, Yeah!!!! and I think OK we are going to be just fine, I have also seen 2 other buses that go in there come out and they didn't say they had any problems. So on I go. I have a stop that is on a corner at the top of a hill then I have to back up into a small gravel area (will be a road eventually) as I get ready to back I notice a small pile of snow there, you know the kind that the plows love to leave behind. but I also see the tire marks from the other two buses, so I figured they turn there and all was well. Well! when I turn in the everything was fine, there wasn't even any snow on either side of the snow pile so I was on semi-dry pavement. I put the bus into gear and start to go forward, hit the snow pile and go no where, the wheels just sit there and spin. OK back up and try a running start, same thing when I hit the snow pile I sit and spin, just sit and spin. After trying this for about 4-5 times and waisting about 5 more minutes I was finally going to call the bus garage and tell them I was stuck, not something I like doing as every bus driver in the county listens to the bus radios. Then the thought came to me the garage is going to tell me to put on your snow chains, But I don't want to, because I'm only stuck on a 2ft wide pile of snow. I know How do you get a bus stuck on a 2 ft wide pile of snow? I don't know but I did it! But I digress, back to the story, I really didn't want to put snow chains on then have to take them right back off again after I got off the pile. So I decided why not lay the chains over the snow pile and drive over the chains, so that is what I did. AND it worked!!!! the kids thought I was crazy and they just wanted to sit there and not go to school, so I was not their hero for the day. I continued on and about 3 stops later another bus driver calls to tell me that I had a storage door open on the left side, Oh shoot! I forgot to close it but luckily I had put the chains back in the storage area on the right side and I didn't lose my chains. I was by now running about 10 minutes late and I was the last bus to show up other than the short bus which is always late. Later that day I had a Kindergarten teacher come and ask me if I had run off the side of the road that morning? No?? Why?? one of her students whom wasn't even on the bus at the time of the getting stuck part, his stop was the next stop and he didn't see it happen, told his class that his bus driver was sliding off the road for the whole trip to school. I had to laugh, I couldn't believe that he thought that or that one of his friends on the bus told him that. I survived but I really believe now that Buses and Snow don't mix.

Been there, Done that, and Still love my snow days.

Our Story

I have to apologize, I started this story on Monday, March 2nd, but didn't finish it until today but still wanted to post it, Enjoy.

Today is the Birthday of my Wonderful Husband Lyston. But it is also the anniversary of another important day in our lives. The Story is an awesome one and I hope I do it justice.

Our Story!

August 14, 1994- We met at Church, Mom said "he has a cute butt", Dad called him "a Big Gorilla", and we had our 1st date that day. I don't know why I went home with him, (I left my car at the church no way to escape if I needed to, Luckily I didn't) especially since I had just met him, I guess part of it was that I suffered from Love at 1st sight.

Christmas of 1994- I thought he was going to ask me over Christmas vacation to marry him put it didn't happen. I told him sometime in early January that if he hadn't asked me by April 15th, then he had better leave and never bother me again. He tool my planner and wrote it on that date "Ask Kasandra to marry you or leave"

The end of February-March 1995- We took a vacation together we spent the 1st 1/2 of the week at his Folks home in the Richmond area then the 2nd 1/2 of the week we spent in NC with my Grandmother.

On March 2nd his Birthday I was planning on taking him out to a Seafood dinner down on the Outer Banks. We were going to visit Hatteras Lighthouse, on the way down to Hatteras we were talking about different ways our friends had been purposed to, I told him that I would know he was serious when he showed up with a Dozen Roses and he had to get down on one knee. Well little did I know that he wanted to ask me that evening at dinner? But pulled it off he did.

On our way back from Hatteras lighthouse he was very quite in the car and I figured that he was not feeling well but didn't want to disappoint me about dinner, he asked me to pull into a Foodlion parking lot and wanted me to stay in the car, I was still thinking that he was sick and was stopping to use the restroom or buy medicine. When he returned to the car he said he needed to go down the road and stop at another place and I had to stay in the car again. We pulled into a Gas Station, he said "I'll be right back," but I noticed that he didn't go in the station he went around back of it, again thinking that he is sick I think he has gone to the restroom, maybe the one at Foodlion was broke or something. You also have to realize that by now it is late evening and I have forgotten all about our discussion of that morning about purposes. When he comes back to the car he has a smile on his face but not the type that says "I'm up to no good" but he is also carrying a Large Black trash bag, it was funny looking he had the top of it and it looked full by the way he was carrying it. I thought OK you go to the bathroom and now you have to carrying your trash out with you????. He gets in the car puts the "trash" in the back and says "OK, let’s eat!"

I was puzzled "What's in the bag?"
"Oh nothing don't worry about it"
"OK are you sure you want Seafood? If you are feeling bad we can go home."
"No, I'm fine, I’m not sick and I'm starving! Let's Go!"

OK, still very puzzled but starving too, I drive on to "The Sands" restaurant, nice place but out of business now. We go into the place, him carrying black trash bag with him, this is not the small kitchen bag, this is the extra large garden leaf bags you but your yard trash in, so I ask again "what's with the bag?" "Don't worry about it." "OK! Not one to argue (we are still dating) we go in to the restaurant, nice quite place not a lot of customers (Off Season, luckily it's open), only one other table of people. The hostess ask us how many, smoking or non, you know the stuff. Then she takes us to a table about 10-15 feet away from the other guest. But this really weird boyfriend I have ask "can we have one that is more private?" I'm thinking "more private? What?" The hostess has the same look on her face, but takes us to the banquet room "is this private enough?" she asks. He shakes this head yes and we sit down.

By now my nose and stomach are taking over and I just want to eat, I forget all about the big black bag that everyone in the restaurant has seen him carry through. As he sits down across from me I don't even bother asking about it again. The waitress takes our drink orders and the returns with drinks and takes our food order. Then as I'm looking at my menu deciding what I want for dessert, chocolate cake or chocolate cheese cake. He slips out if his seat gets down on one knee and pulls out of the black bag of "trash" the longest white box I have ever seen and sitting on top tied up in the bow is a Teddy-bear (I'm a collector, or I just have a soft heart for them, another story for another time) he hands me the box and ask the BIG QUESTION. I was floored! I cried tears of joy and say yes, then opened the box which by now you have figured out had one dozen of the most beautiful and longest long stem roses I had ever seen. When the waitress came back with our food I was in another world! I was the happiest person on earth and then everything that had just happened in the last half hour or so came back to me, from Foodlion on. I was so surprised. To this day I still have the teddy-bear and the roses (pressed and dried) hanging on the wall in our living room.

So today is not only the birthday of my most wonderful Husband it is also the 14th anniversary of our engagement. Happy Birthday Lyston, you have and still do light up my life. May we continue on this path for eternity?