I'm so proud and hopeful....

Let me say this post is probably going to get me in trouble. So just know that's not my intention. My purpose for this post is to show my cousin just how very much I love him and how proud I am of him.

I have a cousin, okay so I have lots of them, but 6 of them(5males, 1female) have always been more like my brothers and sister than my cousins. One of them, well he's had issues. He will admit freely he's a recovering addict. He's had a hard road and life has thrown him some curveballs he wasn't prepared for and missed. Well today he's left our hometown and he's making his way to the other side of the state. He's a Cherokee Indian and has plans to start a new life on the reservation. I've been trying for years to get him to leave the area of our hometown. Don't get me wrong, I think our hometown is great in ways. It's a cute town, some of the people are awesome, I miss parts of it. But my hometown has it issues, and drugs are a major part of those issues. That's not to say everyone does them, it's to say that once you are part of that world the only way out is to leave the area for good. My hometown likes to pretend it's "forgiving" but I know from experience it's not. Once you've made a name for yourself it's not going anywhere, even if you change and prove it, the people will NEVER forget it. They will forever wait for you to fail again.

When I left 13yrs ago, at first I was really sad, I missed my few friends I'd managed to keep, I missed my family, I just missed the town, the area. But I soon grew to love my new hometown and I honestly could not imagine ever returning to the area I grew up in and being happy. I love the small town I live in, I love the people here.

So for years I've tried to tell my cousin to leave. It's hard but I truly believe once he's out of that area and the influence of his "friends" there and away from the family that he'll see what I mean.

He made the decision to leave and he's left. I'm so proud of him for making the move. It's hard. I know this. My mom knows this. I'm not sure about the rest of the family, how they feel about it. Personally I think it's the best thing he's done in years and that now he can start to live a life he was meant to live. I'm so proud of him and hopeful for his future. He's such a great man, he's funny, he's sweet, he's smart, he's good looking, and soo much more. He's got the world at his feet. I have complete faith in him.

He's starting a new life and I hope the old one will let him go. You know that old saying "Today is the first day of the rest of your life" well that's him, that's this time of his life.

I'm proud of him.

Okay I'm going now.
hugs,
WendyK

Wow, life changes

Well first let me say I'm sooo proud of my baby boy. While he is now labeled with "LD" in school, it's such a great thing for him. He's improving and getting the extra attention he needs to get where he should be in school. That's what I want, him getting help. He's excited about it too. I tell him often it means he's extra special, so he needs extra special attention!

Also he's now riding a bike without training wheels.

Isnt' he doing great? Yes I know he's not wearing a helmet, it's because he was allowed that once. Now he can't until his helmet comes in. We ordered it from the Bike shop in Atlantic Beach, he got to pick the color and was thrilled with it.LOL

We also got us, me and DH new bikes. I never imagined paying that much for a bike. But I have to say I'm thrilled to own an Electra Townie, in red.

You can't see it well in this shot but she's pretty. I'll be getting a few accessories as money allows. DH got an Electra as well but his is different than mine.LOL Both however look retro to us. Mine puts me in mind of the 1950s style of bikes. We are looking forward to riding around Atlantic Beach and just enjoying time together and away at the same time. We plan to read at home as well and will be getting the kids bikes for the beach as well, so they can ride on the road where the beach house is.

We had a field trip on May 1st and we had a blast. Me and moma and Baby Girl went with baby boy. We went to the Sylvan Heights Waterfowl park in Scotland Neck. There are some great pictures I'll have to post at a later date. Life has been busy and full. I still wish my mom would move closer to us, but I can keep suggesting and sooner or later I'll get them closer.

Work is going great. DH is really doing outstanding. It's truly a blessing and joy. He likes what he does, I like the freedom owning our own business has given us. It's hard(er) work than working a 9-5 job or working for someone else but at the same time it's OUR business, so all the hard work we, meaning namely him, puts into it is for US. Not for someone else. All the profits are ours. Which is great. I certainly know I couldn't own my own business without him. He's the one who gets up and goes to work and I just happen to help when I can and how I can. I should do more and I plan to.

Life has been good. God has blessed us and for it we are thankful. We still haven't found a Church mostly because we don't believe there is one that would work for us and with us going to the beach about every weekend it's hard. I'm thinking of looking for one at the beach, actually. I would love to find a small town old fashioned church. So we'll see.

I hope life has been good for you all and that you will remember that every small step to God gets you just as close to him as each big leap of faith. Sometimes it's the small steps that have the lasting effects.

hugs to you all,

WendyK

Busy, Busy, Busy....

Wow life's been busy!!! We recently got us a place at the beach and I love it. We've already been there a couple of times. And plan to go more often. It's close to my parents place which is great. We don't have internet at the beachplace but there is a McD's close by with it and my parents have it there. I'm soo excited. I hope everyone has a great Easter Weekend and week.

hugs,
WendyK

New Family member

We have a new family member:

Jake.

Isn't he cute?

hugs,

WendyK

Book buying and other things...

Well, I've posted to all my blogs now.LOL I wanted to let my readers know that I've posted a question/discussion topic on my blogs at www.mybookaddictionandmore.wordpress.com and www.tarheelreads.blogspot.com about book buying and how it affects the industry and authors and such. I'd love it if you'd go take a look and post a comment.

Now for us, well things are going well. DH is working steady and so far we've been bringing in more than he was making working a "job". It's still a scary thing but we are fairing well. We are excited about it at any rate. And making a few changes to shopping habits I feel has helped. They were changes we needed to make anyway, so not at all bad.

The kids are growing likes weeds. Baby girl's birthday is March 9th and I think we are going to try for a cookout here at the house. We got the kids a play/swingset the weekend. It was a monster to take down and now we've got to get it put back together, but we were waiting for a bit warmer weather and time.LOL

OKay I'm running again. Hope everyone is having a great day.
hugs,
WendyK

Snowy Birthday...

Well Monday was my birthday, and it snowed Monday night. I'm going to post a few pics.

Elvis Aaron Presley...

This is one of my all time favorite images of Elvis.

Elvis Presley was born today in 1935. And for those who don't know I'm a HUGE Elvis fan. His movies were on all day today and while I wasn't at home, my fatherinlaw and daugther watched them. I got to see a couple tonight. But I still wished him a Happy Birthday.

This is another of my favorite images.

I hope everyone had a great day. By own birthday is coming up in a little over a week.

hugs to you all,

WendyK

Resolutions for the New Year...

I got this from a friend and wanted to share it:


Priorities For The New Year

A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When class began, wordlessly he picked up a large empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks right to the top, rocks about 2" diameter. He then asked the students if the jar was full? They agreed that it was.
So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them in to the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks. The students laughed. He asked his students again if the jar was full? They agreed that yes, it was.
The professor then picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
"Now," said the professor, "I want you to recognize that this is your life. The rocks are the important things - your family, your spouse, your health, your children - anything that is so important to you that if it were lost, you would be nearly destroyed.
The pebbles are the other things in life that matter, but on a smaller scale. The pebbles represent things like your job, your house, your car.
The sand is everything else. The small stuff. If you put the sand or the pebbles into the jar first, there is no room for the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your energy and time on the small stuff, material things, you will never have room for the things that are truly most important.
Pay attention to the things that are critical in your life. Play with your children. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.” Take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter.
What a thought for the New Year. You can make all types of resolutions but if you don’t have your priorities in the right place it won’t matter. This year, should you decide to make resolutions, I would encourage you to make them in line with your priorities.


So make those resolutions but make sure you make the ones that will mean the most to you and your loved ones. Sometimes life can be too much and we need to take a moment to reevaluate just what is important in our lives. I did this at the end of 2008 and it's why I gave up my position as the Christian Fiction Coordinator and a reviewer at www.theromancereadersconnection.com. I have my blogs, www.mybookaddictionandmore.wordpress.com and www.tarheelreads.blogspot.com and this one. I'll be able to set my own deadlines, and if at times I need to put reading aside because my son needs the extra help with school, or I have my own writing to do, or our business needs attention then I can do it and not feel guilty for missing a deadline. I miss reviewing with the wonderful ladies at TRRC, but I've also found the stress relief soooo much better. It's such a pleasure now to read, whereas before it was becoming a chore. I read/review/discuss/invite authors to My Book Addiction blog from the secular section of reading, and I'll read/review/discuss/invite authors to my Tarheel Reads blog from the Christian Fiction section of the reading world. I'm hoping 2009 will find me in a much better place than 2008 did.

We lost both my motherinlaw and my DH's father's mother, both within a month of each other. We then lost my Great uncle passed away. It's been a strange, long, emotionally challenging year, 2008 was. I won't say 2009 can't be worse because it can. But thank the good Lord so far it's being good to us. My DH is now working for himself, he recently got an offer to occasionally work with a guy he's worked with for over 20yrs. That will help to off-set any losses we might have felt from now working a "job". We had figured up how many inspections he'd need to do in a week/month's time to make what he made at his "job" and so far he's worked more than that. He's much more relaxed, and we are both excited about it. This makes the kids more relaxed and excited. I'm scared but it's that good kinda scared you get. I really feel the Lord was leading us to this. My DH has wanted to be his own boss for years.

I'm thinking I might need to print off this post to remind myself often that the "small stuff" is just that it's small. There is NOTHING too big for God to handle and by letting it go, I'm allowing him to care for me as He longs to do.

I hope you all will find your own resolutions to be as enlightening and life changing.

hugs,
WendyK

Happy New Year

So it's almost 2009 and you are wondering where I've been? Well let's see, first I helped put the decorations at my fatherinlaws and my parents. Then I cooked my first Christmas meal on Christmas Eve, and we had a full Holiday season. We went to alot of places! Now I am preparing to cook again tomorrow for the new Year! I put up my fatherinlaw's Christmas stuff today, I've been putting my stuff up for 2 days now. And next weekend I'll put up my mom's stuff. We are having a Holiday Family Gathering at her house this weekend so we're leaving her stuff up for that. I haven't been reading much. But that's good. It's meant more time with family.

I guess the really big news is that my DH is no longer working a "job". He now only works for himself. It's exciting and scary. I'll try to keep updated on how things are going. So far very good. My DH is so much more relaxed and settled and I think happy. I'm actually not as scared as I thought I'd be over it all. I do think God is/was leading us to this point.
Okay I hope everyone has a great New Year!!!

hugs,
WendyK

My tree is up, my tree is up. I'm as excited as my kids. They keep asking is it Christmas now moma? Is it Christmas.LOL It's small and certainly won't win any awards, but I'm happy as can be with it. I've got ornaments from my grandmother on it and from her grandmother, as well as ones my kids have made and special ones from friends and so on. Makes me smile just to look at it. I do so love Christmas!!!

hugs to you all. Now to go put up my mom's I'll post pics of her tree later on.

hugs,

WendyK

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!!

Have a great day and weekend.

WendyK

Family pics

Well here we are. Or at least some of us. We are missing a few, but here are a few of us. In the picture with the 5 of us, 2 are missing. I'd love to get a family picture of us all since the last one was done when we were kids. And one with us with our kids and spouses. Maybe one of these days I'll get it. This is me with my cousins, but I don't see them as "cousins". We were raised to be like brothers and sisters. So I'll forever see them as my brothers and sister. I miss seeing them almost everyday. I miss the closeness we had as kids. I miss the feeling of knowing that if I needed ANYTHING I could call any of them and they'd come.

I just wanted to share this beautiful family I have.

hugs,

WendyK

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth...

Well on Wednesday my son had to go have 4 teeth pulled. We went to have one pulled or so I thought. Since he had a tooth that had wiggled but then the new tooth came in and he wouldn't let us pull the baby tooth. He lost one on the bottom, somewhere, a few days prior. I think he ate it. But this one just wouldn't come out and I was a bit concerned. So I called the dentist and took him in. They did x-rays and decided he needed 4 teeth pulled! They used gas to sedate him some and pulled four baby teeth so his permanent teeth could come in right. Apparently the new teeth were basically eating the roots of the baby teeth and rather than them coming out they were just being eaten.LOL One of his permanent teeth had started to twist so there was concern that if we didn't pull the 4 he'd need more work later on. So he lost 4 teeth, but honestly with the one that had already come in, it looks like he only lost 1/2. Later on, he'll probably have to have more pulled. Since his permanent teeth appear to be a LOT bigger than his baby teeth. He was so excited the tooth fairy left him $5 in rolled change(hey it was all I had in cash).LOL

So now we'll see if I can get him to sing that song, All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth...LOL

I've been really sick the last few days but I'll post again soon.

hugs to everyone,
WendyK

Sadness...

We found out today that my great uncle Warren passed away this morning. My great Aunt Norma isn't taking it well. But then I think they'd been together for about 70 years. So I may be a bit before I go back to posting. I hope to do a post on my great Uncle with pictures of him.

hugs,
WendyK

Halloween 2008

Well for this Halloween we went to the beach. For the first time my kids actually got to go door to door for trick or treating. They had a ball and so did I. I think I was excited as they were.LOL

In case you can't tell my baby girl is Sleeping Beauty and my dear son is a race car driver.

They had a lot of fun and I look forward to doing it again soon. Now it's time to prepare for celebrating Christmas and making sure we keep Christ in all our plans.

Have a great week.

hugs,

WendyK

I got a 100 mom!

I just had to share.....My son came home on Friday and was so excited! For the first time since school started my baby boy got a 100 on his spelling test!!!!!!!! I'm just so thrilled. I actually cried yesterday when I held it. Most won't understand I'm sure. But my son has issues with speech, vision, and a specific learning disablity that we've as yet not had labeled. Getting the evaulation done has been worse than getting teeth pulled. So he's struggled with education issues. He's in 1st grade and I think is making great efforts to succeed but it's hard for him. So getting a 100 is a HUGE deal and we are so thrilled. He is going to be rewarded for all his hard work.

I'm just so proud of my baby.

Just had to share,

hugs,

WendyK

An owl!

Isn't it great? I took this shot, this morning. I love to see nature in it's natural environment and loved that this owl didn't fly away when I drove by, then when I turned around it let me walk up close to it and never moved. It stayed there until another car came by then flew away. I wish I'd gotten a shot of it flying, but I'll admit the car scared me as well.

hugs,

WendyK

Read All About it Contest....Shiloh Walker Contest...

blog all about it
So how do you win this one? That’s easy.
You just blog about it. All you have to do is take the excerpt below and the cover graphic, post them to your blog, and then send me an email @ contest4shiloh(at)gmail.com with the words BLOG ALL ABOUT IT in the subject line. In the email, make sure you include a link to your blog post.

Prize will be:
ARC of FRAGILE, my 2/09 release (this will not be mailed until January)
Gift Certificate for $40 to the bookstore of your choice (as long as I can purchase the GC certificate online, you can pick whatever bookstore you want)
Two books from my available backlist
Goody bag.

If you select a large chain bookstore, I reserve the right to buy a gift card
that will then be mailed with your other prizes. Please allow 6-8 weeks to
receive all prizes. Other yadda yadda rules…open to anybody, no purchase
necessary, all you have to do to enter is to blog about it, and if you live
outside the country, please allow an extra 4 weeks for delivery. Contest
runs throw 11/11/08, all entries must be posted before 11/11/08 in order to
qualify. Void where prohibited.

To Enter!
Just copy and paste the info below onto your blog, email me a link to the post using the addy posted above (please double check the email addy-I’m not responsible if it’s sent to the wrong addy) and viola…you’re entered.

Excerpt
The weird sense of deja vu exploded into something
else entirely. Something that shook her to the core. His eyes narrowed and he
reached up, caught her chin in his, staring at her.
She was pale and Cullen
thought she looked every bit as shaken as he felt. “The dreams,” he muttered. He
caught her face in his hands and forced her to look at him, staring into her
pale gray eyes. The ugly, dark bruise around her left eye made her iris seem
that much paler and as he watched, the pupil flared, enlarging until just a
sliver of gray of visible.
Taige tried to jerk away and he wouldn’t let her.
“You had the dreams, too, didn’t you?” he demanded.
Her voice shook as she
reached up with one hand to jerk on his wrist, trying to break his hold. “Let go
of me.”
Slowly, he shook his head. “You have,” he whispered, dismay spreading
through him.
Dismay–and something else. She’d always held herself apart from
him in those dreams. But through those dreams, he’d gotten to know her, gotten
to know the woman she had become. She was pulling away from him not because she
was angry at him, or because she didn’t want anything to do with him.
She
pulled back because she still loved him.

releasing 11/4/08…
Want to read more? Click here

Smells?

I wasn't going to post today. I have tons I need to be doing, a great book I want to read, and packing to get done. But I was sitting here playing online and working as well. And I started to smell cigar smoke. Now I live in a singlewide, way out in the middle of nowhere. So there is no reason for this smell. DH nor I smoke, nor does anyone who's been in our house. Now in the past I've smelled my granddaddy's cologne, or something that reminds me of my grandma. And I figure they are just letting me know they are around. But I don't know of anyone who smokes cigars. I can't figure out why I'd be smelling cigar smoke. I have a cousin who smokes them once in awhile, but he's at home and fine last I spoke with him. I can't recall any one else close to me smoking them. But it's kinda freaky.

Have you all ever smelled something out of place? Something that reminds you of someone or a special memory but there's nothing around to make that smell?

Well I probably won't be around much we have plans for the weekend. So I'll post again on Monday. I'm thinking of setting up a wordpress blog. But I'll have to think some more about it.

hugs to everyone,
WendyK

a Long day....

Well yesterday I had a meeting at my son's school. My son has issues with speech, vision and I believe a degree of learning disability. I've been telling the school system since May of 08 that I want an evaluation done. It's a test to determine what he specific needs might be and how we can best help him. Well we met yesterday or rather I met with a team yesterday. They've decided he'll get help via their speech program *he goes to a private speech program done by ECU now* so that's great. But getting the evaluation done. Well, that's like pulling teeth. It's an issue because of his age. It's an issue because of the tests and so on and so on. They basically made me feel like his problems are my fault. He's behind and I get that. Is there more I can do, of course. I'm by no means a great parent, I try but I'm not perfect. But it really tees me off that I've been telling them since May he has needs and issues I want addressed and I want the testing done so we'll know exactly what areas need extra attention and maybe a way to offer him the extra help he needs. This is NOT the first they are hearing about this. They've suggested "strongly" that I remove him from 1st grade after 6 weeks in the class and put him back in Kindergarten. They made me feel as though they were hinting that because he went to a 1/2 program last year he's further behind than he might have been. I don't agree with that. His previous teacher was excellent, she helped him grow and learn a LOT last year. I don't think he would have done as well in a full day program. And my concerns are many about putting him back into 'K' now. I mean these kids will know he was demoted. I'm sorry they can say "we won't allow bullying or teasing" all they won't, it's not gonna stop it from happening. But then I have to wonder if it's better in the long run for him to redo "K" and maybe get ahead rather than being behind. I'm not sure if later in life he'll be upset that he's a year to two years older than everyone in his class. Which is more important his emotional and mental health and self-esteem or his education? And will his education do more to help his self-esteem than anything else? But then I wonder would he benefit from outside tutoring and extra help from the school, 30mins a day pulled out to practice and learn one on one with an LD teacher? I say he would benefit greatly from that, but I'm told they have temper that with what he'll miss in class. But I say "if you pull him out during reading to practice reading/writing one on one, what is he missing out on??" Is he not still learning what they are but in a one on one environment vs a situation of 22 or more students with one teacher? Am I so wrong in that? Why is it that my son is not extremely disabled, he's not Austic, he's not mentally slow, he's not suffering from disease or anything else, he just has a specific need and we can't get help. If he was a great student we'd get help, if he was severely in need we'd get help. But we fall in this little area of well he's not that stupid and he's not brilliant, you need to wait. We'll wait and see. Let's hold him back a year. But how he heck will that help him? Holding him back is all good and well if he still gets the programs he needs! If it's just so he can be in the same situation just being with younger kids and trying to learn the things he's already been through......well he had issues learning it then, what you think if you keep repeating the same information in the same why he'll just suddenly change and get it? I don't. He learns in a different way. I'm not sure what that way is. I'm not sure how to change things to help him. Basically we will end up falling through the cracks and he'll be a kid who ends up getting no help from anyone at the school system and it'll be "well if the parents......" Well his parents are trying and we aren't getting a dang thing. I want to know if NC made so much money on the lottery for education why can't a program be put in place to help kids like my son? What are we supposed to do? Just wait until he's older and others might finally see what I've been saying for 3yrs? What I'm his mom but I'm to stupid to see my child needs special and specific help? If you can't tell I'm still a bit teed. We are supposed to met again in about 2wks. No set date yet. And we'll go from there again. They want us in the meanwhile to consider pulling him from 1st and putting him in "K". I'm torn on this. And I'm still angry over it all. So I told the dh that he'll need to be off to go with me. I wanted to curse them out yesterday. So I don't think I should do this alone. I get too frustrated with it all and then I want someone to understand what I am trying to say. I know my son has speech issues that has delayed alot of his learning. He has vision issues that hasn't helped. But with the vision being corrected and the speech being dealt with we still have other issues. So I want to know what the root cause is of this issue and how to help him with it. I want answers not suggestions that I hold my son back another year. He is 7! I won't keep holding him back because they don't want to take the time to help him. He pulls down their scores. I'm not stupid. I know if he stays with the class he is now, he will likely hold them down on the EOGs next year and the next year, if they test in 2nd and I'm not sure they do. And it will affect them. So they figure hold him a year and let's see if he can catch up. If not we might try to do something. Yes this is how I feel they are treating us. We are a bother and they want us gone. If my son would do it, I'll pull him out and do homeschooling. A LOT easier on me, a better for him. But he likes going to school to play with the other kids. He wants to try this. And if he wants it then I want it for him. But I can't let him stay where he is and he's failing. He's not where the other kids are. He's struggling with the homework sometimes. He's got needs that I want met and his school is NOT doing this. So it's been a LONG day and I'm sure it'll be a LONG two weeks. I'm looking forward to this weekend and some time away. If anyone reads this and has advice or suggestions, websites, help I can get, I'd love to know about it.

hugs,
WendyK