Whittaker Woman

J.T.

It was about a month after Sohaila started Kindergarten that we began to frequently hear the name J.T.   J.T. this and J.T. that. She calls him her "Best Friend" and we all know what that means. Her teachers say they are so gentle and kind to one another. My 6 year old is in love, and Carlos is not ok (but that is another post).
This post is about the power that Mr J.T. has over my girl.
We began to talk about cutting her hair. Why we would cut it, who it would go to. It was her decision and she was all over it. Then she went to school and came home saying she did not want to cut her hair because... can you guess?   Yep J.T. does not like short hair.
So, there I was having the conversation with my 6 year old, if J.T. does not like you for your heart he is not being a good friend. You deserve friends who love you for you...Blah, Blah, Blah. I thought I had that one saved for when she turns 15. Oh well I guess I am just getting practice in.
We finally talk her into it, she cuts her hair and right after it is done she looks in the mirror and has this scowl on her face. Pouting and mad wrapped in one. I went to her and asked her what was wrong. She told me "he's not going to like it"
By this time, Carlos is crazy. He keeps asking should we take her to counseling? I just laugh.
Ok so fast forward to Friday which was her first day back to school after she cut her hair. She was so nervous. All the kids came up and told her they loved it except J.T. he was absent. Now fast forward to this morning. Carlos took Sohaila to school. When they got to her class room they waited outside the door while her teacher went and got J.T.  She reminded him that Sohaila cut her hair and gave it to a little girl who could not grow hair.  They came out the door he looked at her and said "Wow,  I like it"
Carlos said Sohaila lit up. He said that she not only smiled, but he could see all the worry she was carrying lift off her shoulders. Really is this happening to me. Do I have a teenager or a girl kindergarten? I am slightly afraid of what God might be preparing me for.  H

The pout came not long after this.

My day.

It has hit me. All this running around and pretending I am not sick has finally made me stop and sleep!
This morning the girls made me pancakes all by themselves. I allowed them to use the griddle alone and they were so excited. The pancakes looked like lumps of soggy bread but they tasted good. Once Carlos got home we went to the park and had lunch. My man was so good to me this  mothers day. I am spoiled. When we came home I fell asleep and slept to 7pm. I missed dinner and everything. Oh but I feel good now! What you do on Mothers day? H

Mothers Day Surprise!

It's mothers day so I chose to lay in bed and watch some LOST. As I was in the midst of the show my skype popped open and our friends Eric and Nancy Salley were on the other line. Whats the big deal?
Well, I have not talked to them in person since this day and now they are in Africa. They have moved with their four boys to Africa to be missionaries. Nancy and I were friends in Riverside, but what bonded us even closer is the fact that God called us both to leave what we called home. We were on the same road, at the same time together. We were going to different places, but the bumps and curves that the road took each of us were very similar. And we have emailed since but there is just something about voice communication that warms a soul!

Marketing

My kids get really limited TV. They really don't get to watch it very often. But I did give in and let them watch Hannah Montana this week. Look at my three girls they were enthralled.

And yes that is a flower clip on Losiah. He would get so mad if I took it out.

My first and probably last

Wow,  we have been so busy. I have had my grandma here, been sick and well, I have three kids... that's enough said. Carlos has been working crazy with the Drive conference, and truth be told we needed a break! So I was a little sneaky and asked our roommates if they could watch our little ones while Carlos and I went to Franklin TN, to go to our good friend Randy's wine tasting. All week we kept it a secret from Carlos.  Anyways I played it off till the last minute and surprised him. He was so excited. Oh, the joys of leaving your kids at home! Just the thought of a 4 hour car ride with silence was beautiful.  And it was. Just lovely!
We got here had a great lunch in downtown Franklin with Chad and Jen, then headed over to Randy's where we took part in a wonderful wine tasting that was to benefit Kalein. The collection of wine that we tasted was donated to him and each wine was at least a $100 bottle and a couple reached above $1000. Many vintage and quite tasty. However it was probably the first and probably last time I will ever have a glass of wine that cost so much! Our friend JVo posted the list on his blog. We mingled with lots of fun people and had a great night! And now the best part of this weekend is that it is 9:44 am and I am still in bed! 

There were about 20 great people, plus some fabulous food.

This is our great friend Spence and  Micheal W Smith.
I will admit that his music is not on my playlist, but the
fellow is pretty HOT!  He even made People 's Magazines
50 most beautiful people!  H

NO!!!!!!!!

Sohaila gets off the bus today and has her mouth closed, but has the biggest grin. I ask her what... and she shows me this

And guess what I did. I started to cry. I am not a sappy woman. I don't cry much but as I walked home I had a moment. Why? Because my first baby, lost her first tooth and I was not there. I know there will be other teeth, tons to be exact, but the fact is she is my baby and i missed a milestone.
But she is cute!

You guessed it!

Before...

After

We cut the girls hair off! How adorable are they! Wow!

Today!

4:30 and 5!

Family Night #6

Family Night #6 was Backwards night!

 
We set the table on the ground, had balloons hanging down vs floating, and we had the chairs turned backwards.

My centerpiece.

We ate dessert first!

And of coarse the dessert was upside down.

Sorry about the picture, but the kids got bun dogs. And a 7 down.
 
And of coarse we all got dressed backwards!
I actually had some games planned for backwards night but the cold got the best of me.
H

No Soap Opera watching today

I thought I would be able to watch some tv today, LOST to be exact, however I spent all day in bed. Doing what you might ask? Well besides trying to rest because of this stinking cold, I was reading all of your blogs. I spent all day visiting all 150 blogs of yours out there! Did you hear me...
I read 150 blogs today! I loved that everyone contributed. I feel like I just went on a family reunion and met Uncle Pete and Aunt Sue. You guys have some great stories! Thanks for all your link love and just introducing yourself to me. H

Snot

Have you ever had the kind of cold where your nose is
plugged, but yet continues to run? My nose is drooling
snot! What a lovely thought I know, but hey its my reality
today. I guess it's a soap opera's and bon bon day. H

The Whittaker Brothel

Yes, I called our house a brothel. There are many roads I can take that, but what I am trying to say is that my  husband is the biggest stat ho I know.  And how does the phrase go?  You become who you hang around with.
So... lets do a little roll call/ link love

Tell me...
Who are you?
Do you have a blog?
Where are you from?
Tell me what's something on your list you have done and are proud of. And your not allowed to say I don't have a list. Just tell me something you've done in life that you are proud of.

And finally tell me if you have linked me and would like to be linked here.

I'll start,
I am Heather Whittaker, you all know my blog. I live in Atlanta but have to say I am from California.
I think the thing I am most proud of was hiking to the top of Mt. Whitney! Which is the highest mountain in the lower 48 states!
There you go. Your turn.
H

Blind Date

The staff of all three North Point Church Campuses have been working their tails off putting on the Drive conference. There are tons of church staff members from all over the world here for this conference and a couple read our blogs. So what did my NO BOUNDARIES man decide... To have a  gathering.

After the awkward introductions,  It actually was neat to meet some of these people who are regular readers,  but don't have a face. I enjoyed hearing stories and how people got into this crazy world of blogging. H

Confessions of a mom...

I am almost to embarrassed to post this, but then you would miss out on this great laugh. So at my expense I give you this confession of a mom. A BAD MOM, at that.

It was a rough week. Late nights, early mornings. Cranky kids and non-stop schedules. Then it happened, I had a morning with nothing on the schedule. Oh, what a glorious thought!
But of coarse nothing happens the way it is suppose to, and at the lovely hour of 4:30 AM Losiah decided that he was going to wake up. That is the middle of the nights peeps. THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT! However I was a good mom. I got up, tucked him back in bed and without hesitation got comfy back in mine. Then, as I lay there suddenly my eyes popped open. I was wide awake...Suck!
So I opened my computer, did some blogging, read some as well and before I knew it I realized it was time to get up and start the day.  I got Sohaila dressed and out the door for school, Losiah was up by this point. We had breakfast and at about 9am he was cranky and ready for a nap. I put him down and crawled back in bed because Mama was ready for a nap too.
Right around this time Seanna wakes up and comes in bed with me. She cuddles and I fall asleep.
I am not the most coherent person when I sleep, so as I was "resting" Seanna was playing princesses  happily in her room. I thought we were fine... fast forward to bed time...
Seanna was saying her prayers and it went something like this...
"God I just pray for mommy. I pray she can go to bed early so she can wake up and get me breakfast."
Apparently she came in and asked me to get her breakfast and the great mom that I am, I ignored her. And so with her magnificant faith, she  brought it to God.  I busted up laughing. I tried to hold it in and respect her time with God, but I couldn't do it.
How awful is that. Ha it makes me laugh, but really I sound like one of those moms who are  drunks and  don't wake up to feed her children.
So there you go. Confessions of a mom!

H

Mon. Tues. Wed. THURSDAY!!!

Three more days... What will it be?

The worlds worst food!

And so we chose it! James and I were in the mood to have a
little treat so we piled in the car and headed to Krispy Kreme.
 

   

   

This is why I love Georgia!

This past Friday Carlos and I went out with Seanna to do some errands.  Seanna and I dropped Carlos off at the doctors office. He had to finish some work from this day, and while we waited we found this wonderful park. It was so cool that after we picked Carlos up, we went right back and had a little bonding time with #2!

The park was amazing. It was so green and had  great
walk ways and bridges.

We explored some more and found this great railroad bridge.

It then opened up to this great field... (Seanna picked the pose)

Which was perfect to do some cartwheels!

This park even had toys that I have never seen...

This little bucket thing you sit in and by the shape of
it and the gravity of your feet it just keeps going round
and round.

This thing was different too. It also swung you around
by the way it was shaped. So fun!

I love moments like this. We had a crazy day of errands,
but we stopped for a second and look what we have now
wonderful memories. H

I can't wait...

5 more days until...
What can it be? H

Two Grandma's, two worlds apart

So Nani, my mothers mom, is... well if you read the post bellow you can see she is concerned about things of high importance. Now my Nannan, who is my real dads mom, is... shall we say polar opposite than Nani. Look how cute she was with a little package she sent me.
It started off with a phone call letting me know that there was something VERY SHARP in the box that she was sending.
Then when I opened it I found this...

So sweet and very protective of her!
I continued to unwrap to find this...

It was another layer with a EXTREME caution note on it!
Then finally I hit the  final product which was a great knife,
but guess what...
it has it's own blade cover!

Needless to say no fingers were cut. I think it was so cute!
And so protective! Now Nani on the other hand, I am
not sure she would have been so cautious. Heck she
got a knife on the plane on the way out here. I love my
grandma's! H

Why wouldn't you pack 5lbs of tanning supplies?

I was in the bathroom the other day and I saw this bag.
I was curious to see what was inside because everything
looked like it was the same.

I opeded it up  and found this...

6 rub on tanning lotions, and 5 bronzers. Nani complained
about having to pay an extra $100 to get on the plane, she
said she needed EVERYTHING she packed! H

What about them?

We all have them in our lives. Maybe you've only have had  just one, maybe you have been blessed and have had many.  They come in all different shapes, sizes. Some are around for life, and  some for only a short time. What am I talking about?
Life changers. That's what I like to call them. These are people who come into your life and somehow connect with you so much that your life absolutely changes. Some people call them life coaches, some mentors, but I call mine my friend.

My friend Randy turns ___ today.
Carlos posted a birthday post about Randy here.
I wrote Randy a birthday email today and while I was writing it, I realized that the relationship that I have with Randy is a once in a life time deal. Besides Bobby (our counselor) there is no one else that has shaped Carlos and my relationship more.  Randy is that person in my life that I can look back on and say... They poured into me at a time where I needed direction and because of them my life is forever different.  We have been able to experience some major things with Randy. It has been so wonderful to be able to experience  a true, raw and  authentic friendship.   Randy has given me hope, he has given me a dream and he shares my passion for life and I am honnored to be able to call him my friend.
Who has changed you. What about them makes them different than all the rest?

Family Night #5

Welcome to the Movies...Welcome to the show.
We threw together a great movie night for
our family night tonight!

We made homemade pizza for dinner.

We made tickets and had a concession stand, where
everyone could get candy and popcorn as long as they paid  the big bucks!                                                                     

   
Nani was herself and complaining about how long the
line was taking to buy the popcorn.

I even used some old centerpieces to lift one of the couches
off of the ground!
It was a great night!

Stuck on you

Losiah has an obsession with sticking stickers on his face.
I don't know why he does it, but he does.

Crap, I can't stop!

It's been a crazy past year one, no it has been crazy last two years and I have not had time for much TV. If I watch something it is usually during my lunch while I eat. I have been a follower of LOST but then when we moved into our new home, adopted Losiah, decided to leave everything we have known and move across country, well LOST got lost!

Until this week.

I have been stuck, I am living up to my mans explanation of a stay at home mom ...sitting on the couch, eating bon bons and watching soap operas all day. I am not watching soap operas but I am watching LOST. I can't stop! I love ABC and the streaming video!  It's a good thing my kids  like to play together for hours! 
Have you ever watched a show marathons style?  What show?

Birthday party #12...Check, Survived...Done!

I love it when ideas come together! Sohaila had her
6th birthday party this weekend and if I do say so myself
it was great!

I made these pillows that had the info on them. It read
Bring our PJ's, sleeping bag and your favorite
stuffed friend to a sleep over that is pretend.

We had story time and sang some good night songs.

We ate Pigs in a blanket ( how appropriate!).

Then we played a game of pass the piggy.
(Piggy is Sohaila's sleeping companion)

The stars came out,

They sang to her. I know it looks like they are singing
Kum-ba-yah my Lord to her but I promise it was
happy birthday.

And what sleepover is not complete with out a movie?
This was not the original plan, but once all the kids
got there, I realized that I had no control of these sweet
children! So in it went!
When the kids left we gave them a pillow that my
grandma made of each of their first initials. They were
super cute but I did not get a picture!

I don't know who to say did this. It was either some kids
or it was Billy.  Hmmm.
So besides the stress of a party, plus the fact that I realized
I can not control 14 children alone and the small issue
of the oven catching on fire... it was a great party!
What was your favorite themed party you have gone to?

Spring is in the air!

I kept noticing birds flying to our wreath and today we found out why...

Carlos had to take the pictures because even on a stool 
I was to short. But how cute are they!
I am so excited to have some babies around here! H

"Good Morning Sunshine"

I stand corrected, taught and then given specific instructions on how to wake Sohaila up in the morning.  I had no specific way, I would rub her back trying to bring her out of her deep slumber, but I guess it was not good enough because I have been asked to change my ways. Sohaila has given me instructions on how she would like to wake up... including the words I need to say.  And so today, as my baby girl woke as a 6 year old I spoke these words..."Good morning Sunshine."

We started a new tradition on Seanna's last birthday  called the birthday string. Carlos gets on a mission and loops and ties this ribbon all through out the house. At different places we have little gifts wrapped up for her. It such a fun way to start a birthday and something we can keep doing for years!  By 6:30am we had baked 24 cupcakes for her class, made pancakes, did the birthday string and sang Sohaila happy birthday.

Good Morning Sunshine
 

 

What are your family birthday traditions?

Chef? NO!

One of my issues and major struggles in life is not being able to take a compliment. I can go into the reasons that Bobby (my counselor) has helped me discover, but I'll save that for another post. Yesterday was quite the eventful day. We had Sohaila's birthday party and while  we had 14 kids and 9 adults running  around our oven caught on fire, while I was in the middle of cooking pigs in a blanket.

Our friend Joy said "Don't you have an electric stove? Should we see flames?" It was not a big deal because the enchiladas for the adults were already done and it was just the tube thing on fire but it still was very exciting!
Anyways the days events were not over because we were having our new friend Vicky over for dinner. The challenging part of the day was that I had planned to make this amazing dinner that required an oven. So what did I do?  I busted out the toaster oven and made dinner in there. I had to take shifts but it worked out and  everyone loved it. Carlos began to proclaim that I am a great chef (which drives me crazy, because I am not a chef)
[yes she is.  this is carlos stealing her post.  She trained professionally at the Mission Inn in Riverside, CA]
That is funny I left this post open on my bed and look who came by. My point exactly. I am not a chef. I never went to school therefor not a chef. Can you call your self a doctor if you put a bandaid on someone? No.
I can say that after today and two parties with no oven that I am a quite creative cook! 
Do you cook? Burn toast? Or order in? What would you have done for party #2?

It's about time!

I love my blog banner. It was perfect when Carlos made it for me. However I am SO over it! I am a seasons girl and this picture says nothing but fall to me. So Daley came and took some new shots of us I am so excited! Carlos will put my new banner up, hopefully soon. Here is the picture.

Oh i love the blue and my couch is so great! Hurray for color!
I guess I will just copy and paste Carlos' blog post on the topic.

It was time for our quarterly Hake shoot.
This is the third time he has shot us.
Here is the first time.
Here is the second time.
We were able to lounge on our Hollywood couch.

H

Family Night #4

Strawberry Shortcake Night!
The flat of strawberries were calling my name so we based our night off of it!

We decorated in Red of coarse, the girls got a new
strawberry shortcake coloring book to begin the festivities
and also a new head band.

The grown-ups started the day with a strawberry drink!

Of coarse we had to have strawberry shortcake on a
strawberry shortcake night.

And to end the night we put together a puzzle. H

My little secret

Confession: I love to read Fiction Christian Amish books. How cheesy did I just get! Wow, I really look lame on paper! Well the truth sets you free!  Anyhow on our way home from Nashville we stopped by a Amish Community in Ethridge Tn. It was so great! We went on a wagon ride. It took us to about 8 Amish Farms where we were able to buy things from them. I got fresh eggs, butter, jelly, candy, plus some fun wood toys and everything was so cheap. The people were all so friendly and I just loved it. I can't wait to go back! H

Three for three!

Monday... Ticket in Nashville for expired tags
Tuesday... Pulled over for speeding, got a ticket for that, then another for expired tags, plus two other ones for not transferring my license and plates to Georgia.
Wednesday... Pulled over yet again for expired tags.
I have been pulled over more in the past three days than I have been in my whole life.
H

There is nothing like going out on the town with your grandma! It was so fun. We started the night at the Elrod's. Losiah has a thing for Randy.

We then went to a dinner Compassion put on for all
the artist that they work with. It was so fun to see all our
Ugandan friends.
After dinner we went to the wild horse where we met up with
Stephanie to see her man play.

No Vacancy

Hotel Casa Whittaker is closed. We officially have no more room.
There is the five of us., plus these two.   Oh and you
can't forget Nani, and now our latest cat just rolled in.
We have a full house! I have always wanted to own a bed and breakfast! H

Here you go babe...

Check this out...Enterprise Enterprise.

Where's Carlos?

Most of the time it's " Have you met Heather she is the wife of Carlos", " This is Ragamuffinsoul's wife, oh and she has her own blog too." " Heather is married to the service programing director at Buckhead" There is always a title that is somehow connected to MY MAN. I love that! He is hot, talented and just popular. What can I say I am a lucky girl.  Tonight was one of those nights. I went to a Compassion dinner that was hosted for all the artists that they sponsor. It was a night of working the tables, talking to people here and there. Lots of names and lots of schmoozing. I only wished Carlos was there tonight. He would of loved it and maybe I would have just been Heather. H