USS New York

So this is totally unlike me, but I got this in an e-mail and though it was pretty cool.

She was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center.

She is the fifth in a new class of warship - designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.

Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite, LA to cast the ship's bow section. When it was poured into the molds on Sept. 9, 2003, "those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence," recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. "It was a spiritual moment for everybody there."

Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the "hair on my neck stood up." "It had a big meaning to it for all of us," he said. "They knocked us down. They can't keep us down. We're going to be back."

The ship's motto? "Never Forget"

Nashville Star

No not Marty or Abby, but the TV show. For those that don’t know what Nashville Star is, well it’s the county music equivalent to American Idol, just on a smaller scale. I wanted Marty to audition for the show this year but he wouldn’t because most of the singers also play the guitar and are songwriters. He said drums just wouldn’t cut it. The show is taped at the Acuff Theater, which is practically in our back yard over at Opryland, so we are taking the kids to the taping tonight. The show comes on USA live at 9:00 central time. I know, bad parents. We are going to be keeping them up way past their bed time; the show doesn’t even begin until an hour after Andrew’s bedtime. If Marty and I wanted to go then the kids had to go too. We only have 2 babysitters and one is playing single mom while her husband in Honduras on a mission trip and the other is keeping the kids tomorrow while I’m at work. I really wanted to go because Little Big Town is the special guest tonight and I just LOVE them, thanks to Keri! I am so excited about the show; I just hope the kids have fun too. If you happen to be up tonight, look for us. We’ll be the ones with the two adorable sleepy kids. We don’t know where we’ll be sitting because all seats are general admission but one of us is going to camp out so we get a pretty good place in line.

Safe and sound. . . a very loud sound

Well, here we go. This weekend will be the first time that Marty will travel without us (he's playing in Albany, GA) and I am scared. I’m not scared of staying in the house by myself, anymore. We fixed that problem yesterday. When we moved in there was already an alarm system, it just wasn’t being monitored. As of yesterday we are now being monitored. We also had them put sensors on the windows not just the doors. I will say that I feel so much safer and at least one of my worries about this weekend is at ease.
Marty and I have been married 7 years this June and have spent 1 night apart. I know some of you are going what?!? I am going to miss him terribly but I am most scared about being alone all weekend and having all the parenting responsibilities. We have a way of balancing each other out. If something really gets to me, it usually doesn’t get to Marty. He’s the calm one when I’m upset and vice versa. Marty’s also the fun one. He can play with the best of them and never get tired of it. I hate to admit it but sometimes I just don’t feel like playing hide and seek again or go fish for the third time. I’m the nurturing one. When someone gets hurt, they come to me. When someone needs snuggles, they come to me. I can’t spend all weekend giving snuggles. I’m trying to come up with some fun things for us to do, since it’s winter and about 40 degrees, that rules out anything outside. I think I am going to take them to the circus either Friday or Saturday and of course we will take a trip to McDonald’s.
Abby is excited about being able to sleep in our bed since daddy’s not going to be there. When I was little I used to love sleeping in my parents bed when dad was out of town. Me, Shelly and Mom would all sleep together, sometimes even my cousins if they were there. Of course my parents did have a king bed. If Marty travels often, we might have to look into one of those because I’m sure Andrew would like to sleep with us too. And you can’t fit 1 adult 2 kids and a dog in a queen bed. Prince is going to freak out when he sees Abby in the bed, his bed.
I feel really guilty about being scared about being alone with the kids all weekend. It’s just something I’ve never had to do. I have a huge respect for single parents.

6 Months

We have been residents of Nashville, Tennessee for 6 months now. It really is true, the older you get the faster time flies by. I cannot believe that we have already been here for half a year. It seems just like yesterday that we left good ole secure Buford and headed out to the unknown. Some things are still unknown but at least we have a better vision on where things are going and how to get there. I feel like we have accomplished a lot in the past 6 months, some very trivial and some pretty important. We have:

• managed to paint every room in our house (ok some rooms two and three times) except for the kids bathroom upstairs. I will have to post pictures because I love the way the upstairs turned out.
• travelled back to Georgia more than 6 times. That's more than once a month. We might live in Tennessee but our heart is still in GA. We miss y'all everyday.
• Met new friends and even managed to get a "date" night twice. Ok, so one time was for a company event and the other time was for a Titans football game, not what I would call romantic, but hey it was kid free
• Found a great church and in turn found a great school for the kids
• Got Abby adjusted to school and church. She now goes to both happily and even gets sad when it's not a school day.
• Dropped Andrew off tear free twice to church. This is a huge accomplishment, might not seem like much but for Andrew it is. Last Wednesday and yesterday morning have been the only two times that Andrew didn't cry when we left him. We go to church on Sunday's, Wednesday's and he goes to school on Thursday's, so it's not like it's anything new to him. He's just like me.
• Allowed Marty to live his dream as a professional drummer. Some people have been here for years and not been as lucky as we have been.
• Realized that we have an incredibly strong marriage.

It hasn't been easy and I know we have not even faced the toughest times but we can do it. It is very empowering to be in a city and not know a single person and build a life for our family that is not only healthy but also happy.

Just one week

It took just one week of the kids being in school for Andrew to already get a cough, not a bad one luckily. We have been sick free ever since the kids got out of school in mid December and now that they are back so are the sickies. I’m not sure if it’s Abby bringing it from her class or Andrew getting it from his own class, either way before it runs it course through our house I’m sure both the kids will have some form or another. Just goes with being a mom of 2, when one gets sick so does the other.

Camel Sauce

Everyone knows what camel sauce is right? Well you should, it seems simple enough when you hear the explanation. Abby always asks for camel dipping sauce when we go to McDonald’s, which I hate to admit is quite often. Moms of little ones might know where this is going. One day after we were at McD’s we asked Abby where she thought camel sauce came from, of course she said a camel. We went a little further and asked her what part of the camel and she simply stated the humps. So we’ve figured out that camel sauce comes from the humps of the camel, but what exactly is camel sauce you ask? It’s the caramel dipping sauce you get when you order the apple dippers with a happy meal. I will call this an Abbyism and from here on out it will be called camel sauce.
It’s so funny some of the things that come out of her mouth. Of course my all time favorite mispronunciation is when Abby was learning the ABC’s song. Instead of L M N O P, she would sing purple M O P. It was so stinkin’ cute; I almost hated teaching her the correct way.

ST4KG721

ST4KG721 sounds like a good number doesn't it? I'm sure you're wondering what ST4KG721 is, well it's Abby's lottery number, see previous post. Now you would think that ST4KG721 would be an automatic, although Marty did remind me that our closing for our house up here was on 7/21 and you see how well that went. Well, I guess 721 just isn't out lucky number because Abby has been put on the wait list. Not just Abby, but EVERY kindergartner that applied for Stanford. All the Kindy spots were fill by returning 4 year olds. It doesn't look good for her. Off to find other optons.

It's lottery time

No not the scratch off kind or even the mega ball kind, although it would be nice if we won that kind too. It’s a lottery for the Metro Nashville Schools. This lottery will determine what type of schooling Abby has next year. Up here in Nashville they offer Magnet School options which include a variety of schooling options. Magnet Schools are fully funded so it is the best of all possibilities. Ever since Abby was a baby I have said that I wanted to put her into a Montessori School. I think she would benefit from that type of teaching tremendously. If you don’t know what Montessori teaching is about, look below and the list is straight off the school’s website. The schools around us are not the best , in fact if Abby doesn’t get in then we will try to send her to a church Kindergarten. I just want her to love school and get the best possible start. The lottery process begins tomorrow morning at 9:00 and we are expected to know the results by 4:00. This year is the largest amount of applications that they have ever received, over 10,000. That is split between a number of different schools but we have no way of knowing how many slots are open for Stanford. The lottery is computer generated and it is basically picking numbers out of a hat. We will let you know how it goes.

What makes us different?
*All students enter through the lottery process.
*We have three class configurations: primary (multi-age 3 years – kindergarten), lower elementary (multi-age first grade – third grade), and fourth grade transition.
*Students wear uniforms.
*Parents are requested to donate at least 35 volunteer hours per year.
*Classrooms have AMS certified Montessori teachers or teachers that are working on certification.
*Our classrooms are a prepared environment, one that is conducive to independent student learning.
*Students work on the floor or at a tables. We do not have desks.
*Our children learn sensorially and move from concrete to abstract
*Students receive individualized instruction.
*We teach writing before reading.
*Testing is by teacher observation and authentic assessment.
*We do not celebrate holidays with parties but incorporate seasonal colors, objects, etc into our lessons.
*We help develop self-discipline.
*We teach the values of grace and courtesy and building a peaceful community. *Montessori education fosters scientific and mathematical aptitudes.
*Montessori education fosters a nurturing appreciation for history and timelines. *We instill value and appreciation for cultural differences.
*We teach care for the environment.

It's positive!

They’re pregnant. Ok, so who’s the last couple that you would think would be pregnant (and no it’s not me, my baby growin’ days are over) Travis and Heidi are pregnant. I’m posting this because I know many of you reading know them, for the others that don’t, I’m sorry you’re missing out.
This is such good news. They will finally stop getting harhassed about when are they going to have a baby, I have even done this to them. Anyone who is married knows what I mean. First it’s when are you going to get married followed by when are you going to have a baby, then it goes on to when are you going to have another baby. A very vicious cycle. Of course you could do what we did and have a surprise baby that no one (even us) expected. Andrew, I love you to pieces and wouldn’t trade my life with you for anything but you were a surprise blessing. Sorry for the tangent.
They are going to be amazing parents, really really awesome parents. My prayer for them is a happy and healthy 9 months. Heidi is a NICU nurse so unfortunalty she can’t be blissfully unaware like many of us are. She is all too aware of just how precious life is and how it is truly a miracle to bring a healthy baby into this world. If you know them, or the Martins, make sure you send your congratulations and prayers their way.
To Travis and Heidi:
Congratulations! You both will be great parents and your baby is lucky to have you as parents. And the baby will find a way into the budget I promise.
If I’m doing my calculations right, maybe the baby will be born on my birthday.

Overwhelmed

I’m sure that you have noticed that I have been MIA for a while now. Sometimes, I just get so overwhelmed and can’t seem to catch up. Too many things happen over a short time span, I just don’t know where to begin. I can’t write about one thing and not write about another, so I just don’t write anything. I am sorry to all of you who check in often for updates from Nashville, but I just couldn’t get the words out of my head and onto paper (or I guess onto the computer)
I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas and New Year. We greatly enjoyed seeing everyone and finally being able to spend some quality time with family. It was needed on our part in a big way. Not only did the kids need to see everyone but so did Marty and I. Y’all have all been so fantastic and so supportive. 2006 brought a lot of changes for our family and it means so much to us to know that we have so many family members and friends behind us. We thank you for all the thoughts and prayer that you send our way. We could never have taken this huge leap of faith without every single one of you. Thank you and we love you all. I hope 2007 brings happiness and well being to everyone.

The Walters in Nashville.