What is that?

Awhile ago, I woke up to a sound of six dings, for lack of a better word. I thought it was coming from my bathroom, so I got up to check it out and saw the ipod, so I figured it had an alarm on it. I went back to bed.
For the last week, it has happened every night. No ipod in my bathroom, and I don't even know where it is coming from. The first night I heard it again I woke up Mike, who was sick and really not happy that I asked him to check out the house. Our house is like Fort Knox, thanks to the previous owners. It has an alarm that sounds when all windows, doors, and garages are opened. It has stoppers on the back of all doors, so that even if someone picked a lock, they couldn't open the door. (my imagination runs a little wild with possible intruders) Anyway, Mike, in his not feeling so good state, walks around the house and finds nothing.
The next night, I am on the couch because Mike is hacking up a lung in our room, and again...this stupid alarm. So, I check out the house...nothing...and the next night and the next...and I realized the last two nights it goes off at 12:15 a.m. What is this sound? I have had both our cell phones next to me, to see if it the have an alarm...nope...I don't think it is the ipod, though it will stay close to me tonight...
Ahhhh....have you seen the Friends episode with the smoke alarm? Just call me Phoebe....at this point, I just want to go to sleep without being jolted awake by this annoying, irritating, bothersome alarm...make it stop.....
* Post A Comment!
Comments
Sep. 20, 2008 - hmmm
Posted by TheMonkeyParade
Do you have timers in other places? Like your stove or microwave? Maybe they are set for a 24 hour cycle....
* Permanent Link
Sep. 20, 2008 - ding
Posted by Anonymous
could it be the fridge not being all the shut, or the dishwasher? maybe you are just crazy and have rabies. who knows? it's probly the second choice.
* Permanent Link
Sep. 20, 2008 - ding
Posted by sam
i forgot to write my name on that last comment. it was not some random person insulting you. just sam. have a good one.
* Permanent Link
Sep. 22, 2008 - ding too
Posted by Barbara
I actually had this same thing. We had moved into our new 4 level split and all the childrens' bedrooms were upstairs while my husband and I slept in a room underneath them. One night when I went up to nurse a baby I heard what was definitely a digital watch beeping its ubiquitous "beep-beep, beep-beep" 32 times before turning off. So I knew what it was, but why was my husband's watch alarm set for 12:30am? didn't make sense. In the morning I asked him, and after checking we realized it was not his watch. I don't have one, the kids don't have one. And we forgot all about it. Until the next time I had to feed a baby or check on a sick kid. The kids all slept through it, but it drove me crazy! Eventually it stopped (I assume the batteries died) and we never found it. Until,..... We were doing some renovations and hiding inside the hollow core door of my nursing son's bedroom (which had a hole in the bottom from a door stopper incident) was just the face of a digital watch, left here lovingly by the teen aged boy who slept in that room before we bought his house. A cruel prank, but very clever if you think about it! Barbara (formerly bestsister) http://www.fuelbybarbara.blogspot.com

During prayer time tonight...

Elisa: "Dear God, please help the terrorists know better than that...."
Bekah:"Lord, please help the terrorists to be Christians."
* Post A Comment!
Comments
Sep. 11, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Gina
Your children have the biggest hearts and understand so easily what it means to love as Christ loves us! Your family is amazing!

Storms...

We haven't had rain here in quite a while, and when we we leaving soccer practice last night Caleb said, "Look mom, there is lightning" After we got home and got showers and the kids got to bed ,it started. And it rained and rained. Bekah came out and said, "is it going to thunder?" It did. And each time she came out. My girls hate thunder.
When we lived at the "old" house, The kids were on the top floor, and Mike and I were on the main floor. So, for seven years, they had the rain pounding over their heads, not me. Now,I am on the main floor with the girls and when it rains, I think it is going to come through the roof....it has been awhile since I have heard it...
Mike is working nights right now, and it is always hard for me to fall asleep the first night he is on shift. So, I enjoyed the rain and my computer. When I finally got to bed, I stretched out across my bed, something I do when he is gone, and fell asleep. Until 3:30. That was when the loudest thunder I have ever heard boomed. And, of course the girls heard it too...and were quickly in my room asking to sleep with me. (Caleb is the lucky one in the basement,who doesn't hear any of this) Now, I am not a good mom who loves to have her children come into bed and sleep with her. I like to snuggle for a moment, and then send them off to their bed. The storm didn't allow that. I said, "Ok,you can come in bed with me...but we are going right to sleep." Bekah liked that idea, Elisa didn't.
At first I thought, "this is so great. I have these two little girls in bed with me, loving on me and trusting me to keep them safe..." Elisa was next to me with her little toes up against my leg, her arm on my arm. "Why don't I do this more often?" I thought...And then a half hour past, and Bekah is passed out, and Elisa is saying, "Bekah get your feet off me...." And I say, "enough, go back to your room. Storms over." And then pray, God please don't let there be anymore thunder.
Lately, I have been in the midst of a personal storm. I have watched my due date come and go with the baby I lost. And in the midst of that I, have had my oldest sister call to tell me she is pregnant with her fourth. Don't get me wrong, I am so happy for her. She prayed for many years for her husband to change his heart toward wanting another child. The timing was just hard on my heart....I want to be pregnant too, with my fourth. That was a few weeks before my due date. And I cried.
And this weekend, while talking to my other sister about her son's birthday, she says to me, "I have news for you." "Don't say it," I think...and she does....she is pregnant with her sixth...and the rain pours down....there is so much history that I can't even right write between Beth and I and her bad feelings toward me for havig a baby when she wanted another one....so this...this news just put a bigger hole in my heart. And led me to many questions of "Is this some kind of joke? Shouldn't I be holding my baby right now, and rejoicing with them? What is wrong with me?" And I don't know the answers...but it feels like a big joke, a bad one...
So right now I am trying to see through this storm, and I am not so patiently waiting for it to pass...I wish it were as easy as curling up in bed with my girls...I recently read a "saying" that said "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass....it's about learning to dance in the rain." I want to learn that dance.
* Post A Comment!
Comments
Sep. 9, 2008 - praying for you
Posted by arajbrown
for a dance that's to come ... for joy that's complete ... for answers you don't yet see. But mostly just for your heart to heal! Love you- a
* Permanent Link
Sep. 9, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Sam
Donna, you are an excellent writer. Gina and I love you guys and we pray for you often. Those days will come. Until then you can just keep leaving me with your kids when your husbands at work and taking my wife shopping.
* Permanent Link
Sep. 9, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by smallworldathome.blogspot.com
Beautiful, beautiful post. I'm so glad you are blogging again.

Back in the swing...

Summer is officially over around here,well, except for all this heat....we started school four weeks ago, which I can't believe. And today we started our Monday Fun classes. This is the first year we are staying for four hours, and the first year I won't have Elisa at my side in my preschool class. She isn't quite in kindergarten, but doesn't need to be in preschool classes either...And so it was a little chaotic trying to figure out where the four of us needed to be each hour. But it was a great day, and even though I am teaching three classes, I have taught two of them many times, and the third I am team teaching with my friend Julie who is on top of things, and made sure we had our semester already planned before we started today.
I am already looking forward to this school year. After last year, things can only get better! Last year, right about this time, Mike and I had the crazy notion to put our house on the market, and it took a LONG time to get it ready for sale. And then we waited, and waited. And also saw how awesome God is in the process, by us finding and affording a house above and beyond anything we ever imagined. And so now in my new house, I don't have school stuff scattered everywhere, but in my new school room in the basement.
The room is cluttered and packed with every book and school supply imaginable, but, I know where everything is...and every day we do school, it is still there. I discovered after we moved here that there was more than one pencil in our house. In fact, there were about 100. It's amazing how much you have when it is all in one place, I don't even know how man pair of scissors I found. My school books are on my desk when we sit down to school and the kids workbooks are in their baskets. It makes the day so much smoother when I am not breathing fire wondering where the math book went....again....
And so, here we are, our fourth year of homeschooling...and so far we are all ready an excited for a new year. Gymnastics is back in session...AHG and Cub Scouts starts on Thursday...and we have four weeks down...and something like 32 to go....

* Post A Comment!
Comments
Sep. 9, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by smallworldathome.blogspot.com
Yay! You blogged! I'm so proud of you!
* Permanent Link
Sep. 9, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Sam
Aren't you glad me and gina helped you pick out that fine home? you're welcome.

Goodbye, Fox Trace...

Tonight is the last night we will spend together at our first house. We don't move until Tuesday, but the kids are all spending the night at friends tomorrow so we can do both closings and moving on Tuesday, and they can play. So, I wanted to make our bed time special tonight, making sure we read together and all prayed together. As I prayed, I thought of so many great memories of our family in this house....and a few not so good ones too.
I remember looking at this house, almost exactly seven years ago, with a little 14 month old boy, and thinking, wow, this house is so big for us! And then, two weeks after moving in, finding out we were expecting another baby. And bringing that little girl home, only two have to take her back to the hospital not even two weeks later because she wasn't breathing. This was the house my son became a big brother in, and we became a family of five.
I remember Bekah's first step and Caleb calling her Gekah. I remember birthday parties, play dates, and telling Mike we had a third on the way. (way before we were ready) I remember getting the news of Mike's grand dad's death, and Mike's grief. I remember bringin another little girl home, and recovering from sugery. I remember many long winter months with three very young children, cooped up because I didn't want another baby with RSV. And I remember Elisa's first steps, and that she could climb on our dining room table before she could walk.
This is the house my kids learned to run in, skip in, jump. This is also the house I started my homeschool journey in, three years ago. This is the house I taught my children to read , add and subtract, and much of the bible.
This house has trees out front, on the side, and in the back that bear my children's names. It's the house my mom taught me how to plant tulips and iris'.
Here, Mike and I have laughed and cried. We have watched many a tv show and movie, had so many conversations, invited friends over, and grieved over the loss of a baby.
And so, my prayer was one of thankfulness. These are memories that I cherish, and will always hold in my heart. So, as we move on to a new house, and new memories, I just say, "Thank you, Lord. How could I ask for more?"
* Post A Comment!
Comments
Jun. 22, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by SmallWorld
Such a beautiful post. I am all choked up! But I am looking forward to the HOUSEWARMING party that you are going to have.
* Permanent Link
Jun. 26, 2008 - I can't wait...
Posted by QueenoftheHill
...to read about the memories you make in your new house. I moved to this house 4 years ago and still get choked up if I go anywhere near the old one!
* Permanent Link
Jul. 10, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Suzanne
Just hopping over to see what you've been up to... I don't know if you remember me or not, but I met you over a year ago when I drove from the Chattanooga area to the picnic in Maryville. Are you still going to live in Maryville? Just changing houses? I really enjoyed reading this nostalgic post. Thank you for sharing so many special memories of your first "family" home. (*Sorta* reminds me of our time in our current home.)
* Permanent Link
Entry 7 of 83

Scattergories tag...

I found this tag on Suzanne's blog, who got it from Tina's blog...so, anyway, thought I would play along...
Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the questions....they have to be real places, names, and things...and you can't use your own name for the boy/girl questions....so, here I go:
What is your name? Donna
4 letter word: done
Vehicle: Dodge
City: Denver
Boy name: Dillan
Girl name: Denise
Movie: Dances with Wolves
Occupation: Doctor
Something you wear: dress
Celebrity: Doris Day
Food: Dip
Something found in a kitchen: dishwasher
Something found in a bathroom: door knob
Reason for being late: driving too slow
Cartoon character: Dagwood
Something you shout: Drats!
Animal: dog
body part: dislocated shoulder



* Post A Comment!
Comments
Jul. 10, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Suzanne
Dislocated shoulder?! *I* don't have that body part, and I don't know very many people who do. :) But, I s'pose it works. ;)
* Permanent Link
Jul. 11, 2008 - I don't think...
Posted by fyftn
... you will ever be late from "Driving too SLOW" I may aquire a dislocated sholder by making this comment. =)
* Permanent Link
Jul. 14, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Suzanne
LOL!!! -- at the previous comment about possibly receiving a dislocated shoulder for what was mentioned!
* Permanent Link
Jul. 16, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Suzanne
Hi again! I'm tagging you! Come look here: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Suzanne/561985/ (you can copy it from Robyn's tag... see link on my page.)

We sold our house!

After seven months of wondering if we would ever sell our house....
We did! We got an offer on Wednesday, not long after Mike and I had discussed going ahead with the ceiling and floors in the basement, and hours before I was going to stain the stairs to the basement to make them look better. Now, I only have to paint at our new house!
We signed the contract yesterday on ours, and made an offer on another one, which was accepted...
So now, packing up seven years of memories...oh, and waiting for the home inspections....
* Post A Comment!
Comments
May. 12, 2008 - Yipee!
Posted by Mom
I'm so glad this hurdle has at last been jumped. It's been hard to see you want something so much and have it not be happening! Keep me posted!!!