January wrap-up

January.

It’s been rather uneventful. We’ve all had the sinus crud and cough, but so far Jarrod’s the only one that had it bad enough to go to the Doctor (or he’d tell you he was the smart one and I am the hardheaded one who wouldn’t go. . . ) I think we are all on the mend now. Therefore it’s probably time for someone to get sick again. It’s a never ending cycle!

Last week Stratton was out of school on Monday. He spent the night with Gigi and Pops and then my mom took him to the dentist to get his teeth cleaned. I wasn’t there but both she and the hygienist (yes, I called to talk to her) both said he did good. He does have a cavity in the very back. He will have to get that filled, and since he will need to be sedated we will see a pediatric dentist here in Jonesboro for that on the 18th of February. That’s going to be fun. Last Tuesday we took Arden to her post-op appointment. Her ears looked great! And we got to be one of the first patients to be seen in the new clinic at the new hospital. . .it’s swanky. And it’s clean and shiny and new. . .and as nice as a hospital can be!

Jarrod has been hunting on Saturdays. Torture. I mean I’m fine with him going, he deserves to get to do something fun once in a while, but the kids have been cranky and hard to deal with. It’s just difficult to handle with them alone. Arden is a leach. Stratton is a perpetual whiner. They drive me crazy. I sure love my kids.

I feel ya, sister.

Stratton woke up last Friday with a fever. A low fever, but it was a fever and you know what the rules are for school! So he got to spend the day with me at work. He likes to visit (I think he might be coming out of his shy shell) and I’m fairly sure no one in the office got any work done. He was disappointed that Nathan wasn’t in the office that morning. He adores Nathan. He will sit in his office and talk to Nathan all day. And I’m not sure why?? Anyway, on this day Nathan was out of his office so Stratton left him a note on his desk. I sent him this picture and told him he was being replaced. . .

The next CFO??

Arden is doing good. She is starting to talk a lot more. I’m not sure if her hearing is better now that the new tubes are in, or if it’s just her time?? Either way, she is trying to say pretty much anything we want and it’s adorable. I totally forgot how cute this stage is. Jarrod took Stratton to see the Globetrotters last week but it didn’t start till 7pm so Arden and I stayed home so she could get in bed on time. I love spending time with her alone. She’s a completely different child when Stratton is not around! Sweet and snuggly. And as usual right beside me at all times. Sometimes this behavior is endearing-like this night when I avoided the laundry and dishes to get some one on one time. Other times like on Saturday’s when the house is a disaster, laundry is piled to the ceiling and the dishes are spilling out of the sink it’s not quite as cute.

T.R.O.U.B.L.E.

The only pic Jarrod got of him at the Globetrotters.

They were going to buy tickets at the ticket window, but as they were standing there a nice man asked if they needed tickets and offered to give them 2! He said they had bought tickets for all their grandkids for Christmas and 2  of them couldn’t come so the tickets were just going to go to waste, and Jarrod was welcome to have them!! Pretty lucky, right?? THEN they get inside and their tickets are basically on the front row! Stratton LOVED it! He keeps asking when they are coming back! Before they left that night Jarrod was going to let him buy a basketball, but they were all out, so he got some arm bands instead. He was so proud of them!! He even wore them to school the next day.

Arden liked them too. . .

Stratton is back in the swing of things at school. It’s hard to believe that Parent Teacher Conferences are just in a couple of weeks. Seems like they just started back! He is learning so much! The other day he said “did you know a baby swan is called a signet??”. Well, Guess what?? I didn’t know that!! I’m sure this is a trend that is only going to become much more prevalent in the future! He is also doing so much better when I leave in the mornings. It used to be a long process of hugs and kisses before one of the teachers got free and could peel him off of me. The last couple of weeks he barely acknowledges I am leaving! One week he even let us drop him off at the gym and got walked to class by another teacher! He’s getting to be such a big boy. And while were on the subject of big boys. . .

Stratton’s at the top of his class!

Literally.

He’s the tallest in his class by an inch and a half! Craziness. I just had to go buy him new pants. I think he’s grown in inch in the past 2 months. He is now wearing a 6. HE’S FOUR!!!! Apparently, his growth spurt didn’t get the message? It’s frustrating trying to find pants that are slim enough (NOT SKINNY!! What’s with the skinny jeans for boys?? Ick!! I hate them!) and long enough. The only brand of athletic pants that will fit are Under Armor, and of course they are crazy hard to find this time of year! He can still wear a 5 in them because they are about 3/4” longer than the other brands. There should be a rule that kids can’t have mid-season growth spurts! Luckily, there are lots of sales so I haven’t had to pay full price for much.

It’s been such a cold winter! We feel bad for Sadey when it gets below 30, and then she gets to sleep in the house. Lately, we’ve been letting her come in more and hang out. The kids love it, but they get mad because she just wants to be petted and loved on. She will retreve a ball for awhile, but she’d much rather lay her head on Jarrod’s leg and get a rub!

 

Arden thought Sadey should wear a hat. . .

Then Sadey licked Arden. . .

. . .and this was the reaction.

Funny Puppy. Woof. Woof!

We read WAY too many Biscuit books at our house.

Jarrod’s new job is going well. He claims it is a welcome break from working at Entergy. But things will be changing soon, as the farmers start getting back into the field! It’s nice to have him home every night and not get phone calls in the middle of the night! Most nights he gets home before the kids and I do! If he leaves right at 5pm, a lot of times he will call and offer to pick Arden up, which is such a help! I actually cooked supper a few times! It’s amazing what you can get done in 20 mins when a toddler isn’t clinging to your leg! He got his official business cards. You should probably go ahead and plug his new phone number in, we plan on getting rid of his old phone and number as soon as his contract is up in a couple of months.

I’m super busy, as always! But there are lots of new projects that are taking up the majority of my time and keeping 14 sales reps, in 5 different states, happy can be a bit trying. Here’s an example of what I deal with day to day. . .

Yes, that’s a note written on TP. Men?!

Although, it did get my attention.

Our annual Ag for Autism Bracket Bonanza fundraiser is coming up on March 18th. So every free minute I have at work, I’m working on that. We sent out 1200 invitations yesterday. . . . Please pray for me. I know that many people won’t respond and come, but if they do I might need more than a Xanex to deal with planning this event! I’m already developing an ulcer. This event really puts my nerves on edge. It has the potential to be huge and do so much good, but it also has the potential to be a bust! We all work so hard, I’m sure it will be a great event and we will raise more money than last year ($30,000 net) so I shouldn’t worry. But I do.

We have a pretty big event on Monday as well! The president of CornStates (the seed and trait licensing branch of Monsanto that we deal with) is coming to congratulate us on reaching a big milestone. . . selling a million bags of soybeans! They are having a luncheon for us (that I planned, of course) at Omar’s and I’m sure there will be some speeches and blah, blah. . . but it’s a pretty big deal for an independent seed company like us! We are now one of the top 3 independent seed companies in the entire U.S. Monsanto has the data to tell us if we are one, two or three, but they won’t release that information, and we don’t have any way of confirming it on our own, so I will contend that we are #1! Ha! Anyway, all the sales reps are coming in so it should be a fun day.

January is just about over and February is on it’s way! It’s going to be a busy month. . .Super Bowl, Sports show, a concert and weekend in Memphis, Valentine’s day and Jarrod and I both have birthdays. . .whew, I think I’d better get some sleep!