Toy car in my washing machine

There's a website called "rocks in my dryer" that several friends visit frequently.. not sure if it has to do with having washed clothes and a child's pockets emptied rocks in her dryer or not, but this morning, I was putting clothes into the dryer that I had washed last night. After grabbing a few, I looked down in there again and see a toy car sitting there. I had to laugh, because we litterally have toys cars everywhere and now, apparently, including our washer! After showing Kevin and laughing, I got to thinking: "Hmmm.... I don't remember there being a car in Stone's clothes when I put them in the washer." Then it came to me: I had put the car in my pocket yesterday when leaving preschool as Stone had handed it to me! Ha ha ha ha! I guess I took off my capris and didn't even remember putting it in there. Oh well.. I'm sure it won't be the only strange thing I will find in the washer/dryer in the days to come...

So we're off to WV to visit my folks, siblings, and some good friends. Be back on Monday! Then I start "teaching" the 4's on Tuesday. Should be fun, as I'm STILL not really ready! And believe me, we have worked hard! I only have 4 students so far, so I think we'll get to know each other pretty well! :)

Sad News

These are the last words I'd ever thought I'd write on here, but, unfortunately, I can't change things. If I could, I would. I've had a couple of days to let this settle in, but it's still kind of raw and seems so unfair... I had just posted that my friend Cindy was pregnant... who thought she could never get pregnant, and did after all this time (she and her husband Jimmy Ray just celebrated their 12th anniversary.) This past Thursday, after a regular monthly doctor's visit and ultrasound, they doctor determined that the baby had not lived. Really, there are no words.

I know that some of you who read my blog have experienced the same thing and so you know the emotional pain she/he are going through. And then there are others of us who have not experienced this kind of trauma personally, but know someone who has and can only offer friendship, support, and encouragement. I ask a simple request for all: that if you think of them, pray for them as they journey through the days that lie ahead. It will be tough...

Happy Anniversary!

To my parents! Today is/was their 42nd wedding anniversary. I'm thankful to have awesome parents! Yeah mom and dad!

Also, since I'm so behind in blogging, August 2 was my mom's birthday (no, I did not forget, as she was actually HERE helping us move that weekend so we got to celebrate in person for once!) but that date is also the 33rd wedding anniversary of my in-laws as well. No, we didn't forget them either! It's just we had a lot going on and I wanted to officially post on here to say happy birthday and happy anniversary to both our sets of parents! I'm thankful to have great in-laws too!

And coming up, is my SIL's (Gini) birthday and other SIL's wedding anniversary (I think 5 years??!!) I'm sure Meredith will correct me if I'm wrong! So lots of things to celebrate in August!

Thank you Lord, for blessing me with such a great family and in-laws/relatives!

Out of sorts...

So, I realize it's not like me to not post so often... I'm not sure why I haven't been in the blogging mood, but I can't seem to get jump-started again. I have tons of pictures and stories to tell, but can't seem to get motivated. Just kind of feeling blah. So here's a little to catch up on our lives...

K and I have been working hard on trying to "break" Stone of some bad habits he's acquired since our transition, namely saying "no" to EVERYTHING which we are trying to nip in the bud. This requires lots of "time-outs", which usually gets the point across for at least 10 minutes or so until he says it again. Then another time out. 10 minutes, then another firm "no" from him. Another time out. You get the picture. It's getting old, but K and I are much more stubborn than him (where do you think he gets it from anyway!) and refuse to give up our quest to make our child have some manners. We know, "he's just asserting his independence since he's almost 3." Yeah, whatever. If this is the beginning of 3, we're in for a LONG year!! This will be much worse than the so called "terrible 2's!"

Another bad habit is him refusing to eat.. eat anything, eat things we know he already likes and absolutely refusing to try anything new. So, we're starving him out. Yeah, I know, we're horrible, but seriously, the child is STUBBORN when it comes to food. What else should we do? Suggestions anyone!!!???

Otherwise, Stone is doing remarkably well for all the transition we have put him through lately. It helps to have K's parents close by, as visiting with them gives him some sense of "normal" but he often asks for Mercy and Aunt Gini to which he doesn't quite understand that we don't live near them anymore. (Major sadness!) I will be excited for him to get into a routine at preschool soon.. that will give him a lot more structure and normalcy as well.

We have had lots of fun visiting with all our new friends (and one "old" friend from college.. although she's not old, just have known her since our college days). We are thankful that God has provided so many great friends, almost instantly since arriving here. What a huge blessing!

I guess that is about it... we are currently sitting here in the living room laughing hysterically listening to Stone singing at the top of his lungs from his bedroom (the door is shut) "Bring Back, Bring Back, Oh Bring Back My Bonnie to Me, to ME!" instead of trying to go to sleep. Ha ha ha ha ha! At least he's entertaining himself. Kevin is going through a box of things his mom saved from his early school years and reminiscing while I surf the computer and blog, avoiding unpacking more!! Will get to pictures soon... I promise..

So much to catch up on...

I have lots to blog about, yet I've not been in the blogging mood as of late. I feel overwhelmed at present... I mean, transition to our new city/life has been good, don't get me wrong. But reality has set in. We still are up to eyeballs in boxes and even though we make small dents each day, the pile doesn't seem to get smaller. I miss friends from the Greenville area and folks from our church. I especially miss my SIL and all the fun/trouble we get into just hanging out with the kids.

And probably the biggest thing that has bummed me out is that I didn't get the job I really wanted. I know it's all in God's plans, but it was still disappointing. I ended up taking a part-time job as a weekday preschool teacher with a church preschool and start on Monday. I really like the director and I think I'll really like teaching there. However, because of our financial situation, it won't be quite enough for us on a long-term basis. So, I continue to search and pray that God opens the "perfect" job for me: one that pays enough, one I'll use all my gifts in, and especially, one in which Stone will also thrive and be very close at hand. That's a lot to ask for, huh?!

Kevin continues to do well in his job and really likes it, along with co-workers. We've made some good friends from his workplace already and that is cool. In his last 2 jobs, we never hung out with any of his coworkers, mainly I think because everyone commuted so far to get to work in the first place that it made getting together that much harder. But, we've been able to make friends with one couple who has a daughter one year older than Stone and another couple who is expecting their first child in October. (We told them that since the wife and soon-to-be child will both have October birthdays, that they can join in our "Hallquist Oktoberfest" festivities.)

Oh.. this is some news I've been wanting to post for a while, but I found out over the 4th of July weekend that one of my best friends (lives in the Memphis area) is pregnant. Pregnant after years of trying and being told by doctors that they did not know why she couldn't get pregnant, otherwise known as "unexplained infertility." I remembered how much she wanted a child and how much all of her friends and family prayed and prayed for her to get pregnant. That prayer has been answered and much to her and her husband's surprise! I'm so thankful and exited for her/them... the joy still hasn't worn off even after a month and a half from hearing the news. I can't wait to find out if they will be having a boy or girl and then of course, to meet this little one in person. If you think of her, pray for her to continue to have a healthy, normal pregnancy. Her name is Cindy.

That is all for now... will post again soon with lots of pictures.

The "Suite Life" is over.....

....and reality is about to set in! Although we are glad about getting to move into our new place, I, at least, will actually miss our time spent at our hotel. I mean, what's not to love? Here are just a few things we've enjoyed and a few pics to highlight our fun... more will come on our new address, the big moving day, and other fun things we've been up to these last 4 weeks....

Reasons we have enjoyed our hotel stay:

• A FULL breakfast cooked for us each morning (and we didn't have to clean the mess up either! And I do mean FULL breakfast.. just about anything you could ask for. Yum!
• An indoor pool and hot tub (or "hot water" as Stone calls it) to enjoy.
• A putting green...
• Friendly staff
• Free cable and internet
• Laundry facilities (although it did cost to do laundry)
• A work out room (never used this, but at least it was there!)
• Housekeeping services (and they even did our dirty dishes!!) I did tell our housekeeper that she didn't have to do our dishes, but she did them anyway.
• Gifts... our housekeeper gave us several little "happies" during our stay (snack items) and then today, our last day, they gave us a huge gift of 2 home decor items and 2 monster trucks for Stone. What?!!? Yeah... and a card that said they'd miss us. Seriously, they have spoiled us!!

Here are some fun pics....

Enjoying the "hot water"

Our full kitchen, including dishwasher.

Riding the luggage cart...

Jumping on the queen sized bed with TONS of pillows.

Watching one of 3 flat screen TV's in our room...

Jumping into the pool... our favorite past-timeRiding the elevator and pushing the buttons!

Playing "golf"