Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day?

Today is the 10th Anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States.  10 years ago today 2 planes flew into the World Trade Center, 1 plane drove into the Pentegon and 1 plane flew into an open feild in PA!  Almost 3000 lives were taken that day, which includes NYC Firefighters, Police Officers, and thousands of civilian workers who were trying to go about their daily business.

The images of that day will forever be burnwed in my mind.  I remember exactly where I was an exactly what I was doing.  I was at home snuggling on the couch with my baby boy Noah and the little boy Logan, that I watched every day.  I very vividly remember getting  phone calls from my husband and mother asking me if I saw that a plane flew into the World Trade Center.  I remember turning on the tv and watching the repeating videos of the first plane hitting the first tower, then the second plane hitting the second tower.  I remember watching the two towers collapse.  I remember the overwhelming feelings of shock, sadness and every other negative emotion you could possibly think of.  I was glued to the tv for days!

Today as I remember everything that happened on 09/11/2001 and the days and weeks that followed, I have feeling of love, pride and greatfulness.  Today I am thankful for all of the people in my life.  Each person that I know has made an impact on my life and helped shape me into the person that I am today.  I have learned to never take my friends and family for granted, because are never guarenteed that there will be a tomorrow...

The 2011-2012 School Year Has Begun!

Yesterday marked the 1st day of the 2011-2012 school year.  Noah is now in 6th grade, Todd is in 2nd, Autunm is in 1st and Marissa is in Kindergarten!  All of my babies are off to school, hopefully learning new things! 

Hurricane Irene

The 2011 hurricane season has begun!  Over the course of this weekend 8/26/2011-8/28/2011, a massive hurricane swept over the Eastern Coastline.  The damage was significant from New York to the Carolina's.  Many people that I know and love were in these storm areas.    I am also happy to say that the remnant's of the storm that were supposed to clobber us here in Watertown, were not nearly as bad as what was predicted!  Our area has gotten a lot of rain and high winds that have caused downed trees and power lines.  There is some flooding in a few areas, but nothing major.   I am happy to report that all of my friends and family are safe!!! What a relief!

A new school, a new beginning!?!?!

Today was a great day!  We took a significant step in helping Todd at school and hopefully home.  At our C.S.E. meeting today we were able to get Todd transfered to a new school and a new type of classroom!  This school has a "Day Treatment" program.  There will only be 6 kids in his classroom!  This is great news since Todd has a hard time dealing with all of the stimuli that comes from a mainstream classroom.  All of his classmates have some developmental & or behavioral issues just like him, so hopefully he will not feel like so much of an outsider.  The best part of the whole change is that Todd is going to be getting a new psychiatrist and psycologist that both work at the school with this program!!!  We are so excited for the possibilites that are yet to come!!!

It's been a long time!

It's been a long time since my last post.  So many things have happened.  We have had many highs and some really low lows.  We have made it thru every moment because of the love and support that we are given by our amazing families and friends!  I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things and keeping everyone updated on the things happening in our lives!

Bursting With Pride!

I am so proud of my son, Noah James Culbertson! Yesterday afternood he was given two awards at school. He was awarded the Presidential Physical Fitness Test award for exceeding a score higher than the average child on the physical fitness test this spring. He also recieved his GOLD metal for the Mighty Milers program. This is a program for elementary schol kids to help motivate them to run. It is a very hard program for the schools to get into. In order to recieve this metal he had to be able to run 78.2 miles from October thru the end of the school year. Noah was able to run 80 miles before the gym teachers stopped logging miles! This is a major accomplishment for him and any other child that recieved the bronze, silver or gold metals!! I know I could not have done it! After talking to Noah's Coach last night, my mom found out that Noah made significant progress in his gym abilities this last year! I am Bursting With Pride and am SOOO happy that Noah James is my son! Way to go Turtle Butt!!

$ OUT THE DOOR

So, my monthly check came in the door yesterday, and went in the bank this morning. Wouldn't you know, less than 12 hours later it is gone! Where did the money go you might be asking yourself...well, I paid for the mortgage, my Consumer Credit Counseling bill, bought a few groceries and bought my son his birthday presents for his 10th birthday. After doing that, there is a very minimal amount left to get us through till next month. I am sure you are wondering what happens to the money that we get every 2 weeks from Corky's checks from TW. Well, that has to pay for the cell phones, truck payment, nimo, prescriptions, numerous medical bills, groceries and a number of other bills like my JBR's Credit card. Then we have to add in all of the various holiday stuff, and presents for birthdays/anniversaries that may take place for the month!

I hate that we have to work so hard just to have the $ go right back OUT THE DOOR!

Time With Friends

When I graduated from high school in 1998, I thought life was gonna be great! At that point in time, I had great friends(or so I thought). I thought that these people were going to be in my life forever, that we would go on about our college years and keep in tough and have an occasional get together. Boy was I wrong. For the last 9 years I have lived my life without friends. The only people around me were my family. I love my family with all of my heart, but having people to talk to that aren't family is so important. It wasn't until I signed up for Facebook that I was able to reconnect with my friends.

Today I was graced with the company of my BFF's! We got together at my house for a few hours and shared lunch! We also got to chat and gossip about the BS that is always going on in our lives!

Time with my friends is one of the most precious things to me. I don't care what we are doing, time with my friends is so valuable! Saturday night was movie night, Sunday it was homemade dinner, today it was lunch. Our time together doesn't involve going out places and spending a bunch of money. It is about being in each other's company. It doesn't matter where we are, who else is there, how little money that we have. It is about being there to talk and support each other through the good times and bad. We are here for each other no matter what! We may not speak every single day or have up to the minute details about life's happenings, but that doesn't matter.

I love my girls with all of my heart!

It's Sunday!

Another Sunday has arrived all too soon. For me, Sunday is GREAT! Sunday is a day to be lazy and rest! I like to take most Sunday's to stay in my pajama's and catch up on tv shows that are recorded on the DVR or watch movies. I love this day of the week because it usually means that the kids are running around the house playing, while I am curled up on the couch in my blanket with my laptop in my lap. It also means that there will most definitely be naptime!

Sunday is also a day to spend with my family and friends! I love spending this with my family, but feel that it is most important to spend it with friends. When possible, it is great to share it with both! Anyway we do it, it definitely means that food is going to be involved! There isn't anything better than sharing great food with great family and friends!

I look forward to every Sunday! Today just happens to be SUNDAY!!