I wanted to keep track of the special moments that we have shared, and I thought what a better way then through the blog. This is the story of AnnMarie getting her ears pierced.
Two and a half years ago CJ bought AnnMarie a pair of Mickey Mouse shaped earrings with her birth month in them. We had the green light from dad to get our ears pierced! However, I vividly remember Momma taking me on my fifth birthday to the mall so I could pick out my earrings and get them pierced. It was a rite of passage so to speak. I wanted the decision to be AnnMarie's and not mine, so I have waited.
Shortly before AnnMarie turned 4 she found the earrings her daddy bought. She wanted to know when she could wear them and I explained she needed to be 4 but when she was ready to let me know and we would plan a day of it. I asked several times if she was ready and the same response was no, not yet.
So imagine my suprise when we are eating supper one night this December and AnnMarie blurts out that she is ready to get her ears pierced. I had planned a trip to the Spartanburg Mall for a Christmas gift pick up for the next evening and it was perfect timing. Daddy was a little uncertain because we had pictures planned 2 nights later, and he was afraid of infection, but I convienced him that not everyone has a rough experience. (I ate those words later).
At the last minute I invited AnnMarie's best friend, Morgan, along for the ride. We ate Chickfila in the car as we drove the 30 minutes to Spartanburg. Mind you this is in December and I have never driven to Spartanburg in the dark, so I got a little turned around. The girls had no clue and were having a great ole time!
We had to wait a few minutes for everything to get set up and AnnMarie got to pick out her earrings. She chose Hello Kitty earrings which are adorable. The first ear upset AnnMarie and she did not want to get her second hole done. Morgan got in the chair with her and hugged her, it was so sweet. AnnMarie did fine and we finished up with no more issues, and off we went to check out the mall. The girls wanted to "shop". We got chocolate cookies and headed back home.
When we got home I decided we should probably go ahead and clean them. Imagine my suprise when I went to clean her ears and there wasn't a back on the first ear that was done. In all the excitement no one checked to make sure there was a back! We had purchased addtional earrings so I placed one of those backs on the stud.
The next morning I got AnnMarie up early so we could check out the earrings and get them cleaned. Low and behold the earring had come out...I was horrified. I promised CJ that this would be a simple and great experience, I was not doing well here. I tried getting the earring back in but to no avail. I told AnnMarie I would pick her up at lunch and we would go to Haywood Mall and see if they could get it in...or perhaps get it re-pierced.
When we got there I told the woman what happened. She was very apologetic and took a look. Come to find out the gun must of misfired and actually went into the cartiledge the first time. The first hole was not on target, so the manager advised to go ahead and redo it. AnnMarie was horrified and I felt awful. After a few moments of wressling, we finally got the ear repierced and AnnMarie didn't even cry when it happened.
Lo and behold we have had no infections and no issues. Thank the Good Lord! While it was an eventful process, I hope the memories will always be there. At least for me they will be :)
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
nothing necessarily
So I asked AnnMarie how her day was today. She said she had a good day, did some work (school work), played in the gym and took a nap. I asked her if she did any activities that she participates in, and her response was,
"nothing necessarily".
Now I don't know about your four year old, but that's a pretty big vocabulary sentence! Even Noah looked at me and said,
"Wow! AnnMarie sure does use big words!"
So, moral of the story, use big words all the time and maybe
they will start to rub off on your kids.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Our ballerina
During a recent photo shot they asked if I had any special requests. I said I did...I requested them to photo her twirling. I'm telling you, she's our little dancer! The top picture is actually the last picture of her and she is so proud...but Miss Graceful also had taken out the white drop behind us and she was a little bashful. I am so happy I got the pictures of it!!!Family Pics
Everybody tickle AnnMarie!
You can tell how much they love one another, right?
We enjoyed the beach as a family the 3rd weekend in August. Never again will we go the beach before July...the water and weather was AMAZING, and North Myrtle is a new favorite spot!
Happy New Year!!
Hello Cauble Followers!
I can't even begin to explain how simply lazy I have been with my posting and I am so terribly sorry! All is well in Taylors, SC, at least at my house! In case you weren't one of the lucky people to get a Christmas letter, here it is:
Season’s Greetings and Merry Christmas!
The Cauble family has had yet another year of bustling
activity! Christmas Day 2010 was pretty
awesome as we got to celebrate it with SNOW! The kids are holding out for the
same to happen this year, and I must admit it was pretty awesome last year. It
was the beautiful snow that has FAT snowflakes and wasn’t icy, which is what we
typically get in the upstate.
Noah finished up K-5 last year and at Awards Day won the
Citizenship Award for his class. I was so proud of the little man. He does try
so hard to make everyone happy, including his school teachers. He has started 1st grade off with
a bang this year and is steadily learning how to read, estimate distances,
learn the computer, and draw maps. He also loves to play video games on his DS
or Wii. He isn’t committed to a sports team or activity as of yet, but does
participate in the Good News Club every Tuesday, which is similar to Awana’s at
his school. He and AnnMarie also go to Kids Group every Wednesday with our
church. Noah made a huge decision this year and asked Jesus to come in his
heart. He was baptized on December 11 by his Daddy at Ridgeview Church with a
TON of family and friends watching. We
are so proud of this young man!
AnnMarie never stops talking. Poor Noah never gets a word
in! By the time you get this letter next year AnnMarie will have been in K-5
for 4 months! We are doing our best to get her ready, since she was not able to
attend K-4 in the public school system. She attends Sonshine Learning Center
where she is getting a good foundation on her letters and how to write. She
pretends that she is a school teacher all the time, holding her clip borad and
“checking” things off. She recently got her ears pierced and she picked out
Hello Kitty earrings for her first pair. They are adorable and she is doing
well with them so far. She has taken an interest in dancing, specifically
“Ballerinas” here lately, and at any given time you will see her in a dance
costume that a neighbor gave her. She
LOVES it! She will sleep in it, play in in, and even wear it out in 30 degree
weather if we would let her. She had a pair of tap shoes that she prisses
around in, but they are starting to get small. I suppose we will find her a
dance class soon…she keeps begging for me to find one and she really would
enjoy it I think.
The kids are taking an interest in snow skiing this year, so
we think we might try and make a weekend of it.
This past summer AnnMarie busted her chin while we were at a pool
party—5 hours and 7 stitches later all was well. So while we are looking
forward to spending a day on the snow, Momma is a little anxious!
We turned things around a bit and traveled to Gatlinburg, TN
for our summer vacation. The kids are
little fishies in the water, as we spent most of the week at a pool or water
park. Noah does not require swimmies anymore, but AnnMarie does. She is
determined that she can swim, and I think by the end of this summer she won’t
need them either. We haven’t been to Orlando since the summer prior, and CJ is
going into Disney withdrawals. I promised him I would take him next summer
(2013), that’s if he dosen’t come up with a scheme to go before then! We love
SeaWorld just as much, and we promised the kids we would sit in the splash zone
next time we go. I’m sure that moment will be priceless, too bad we won’t be
able to catch it on video (we’ve been told we ALL have to sit in the splash
zone for it to be fair!).
CJ never stops. Someone asked me this year if he would be
happy if he wasn’t doing ten things. I told them no. It works well for our
relationship though because I am the same way. Neither of us have the patience
to work one thing straight through, so if we have several things we can work on
we can bounce around. Not only does CJ work for Chick Fil A full time as the
General Manager, but he also has taken on the position of the Youth Minister at
our church. He enjoys the work. It never fails to amaze both of us that
ministry is continually changing and you have to be prepared to change yourself!
CJ is still in love with Nebraska football and imagine our surprise that USC
(South Carolina) is playing Nebraska in our favorite town, Orlando, on January
2, 2012 for a bowl game. The Clemson/Nebraska Gator Bowl game in 2009 was also
in FL and was really fun…but I don’t think it will be a family trip this year.
I keep trying to move up in the world. At least at
Greenville Hospital! I took the position of System’s Analyst in June 2011 and
it’s rather intersting. I now work on our computer system that exports our
daily claims to the insurance companies. I am responsible for making sure that
the processes that are in order are the best way to do things, and if not I
have to determine what we should test or pursue. With all of the health care
changes that are occuring, my workload has been a variety of tasks. The new
year should prove to be interesting, at least on my workload perspective.
We added to the family this year and got a puppy! His name
is Storm and he is currently 16 weeks old. We aren’t sure exactly sure what
kind he is, but he is definatley our third child! We believe that he is a mix
of Lab, German Shepherd, and maybe Rottweiler or Chow. Who knows! CJ says he is
getting a DNA test-it probably isn’t such a bad idea! He loves to play, is
currently teething, and the kids just adore him. Storm does well tolerating the
kids pulling on him, climbing on him, annoying him. I tell you, if the poor
puppy survives the kids, he can handle anything!
We have a lot of things to look forward to this coming year.
AnnMarie will begin school, Noah will finsh first grade, and CJ and I will
celebrate 10 years of marriage! Our first “adopted child” (Noah’s main
babysitter for many years), is expecting her first child this spring. We have
been kidding her and her spouse about when our first grandchild will be born. I
know we kid her but we really are looking forward to this bundle of joy. I know
that I will blink my eyes and it will be the time to write this letter again
and all these events will have passed. My, how does time fly!
Unfortunatley while it has been a year of celebration it has
also been a year of sadness. My mom, Monnie, passed away this past August. As
with any loss it has been difficult, but we are making it. CJ has been a
wonderful support system and given me the room I needed to cope. I am very
blessed to have a spouse that has so much pastoral training. It allowed him to
know what I needed and to take care of my extended family as well.
I hope that the rest of the Holiday season brings you great
joy and peace. Please remember the reason for the Season, and we hope to see
you all over the coming year.
Love,
Shaneki, CJ, Noah and AnnMarie Cauble
I can't even begin to explain how simply lazy I have been with my posting and I am so terribly sorry! All is well in Taylors, SC, at least at my house! In case you weren't one of the lucky people to get a Christmas letter, here it is:
Season’s Greetings and Merry Christmas!
The Cauble family has had yet another year of bustling
activity! Christmas Day 2010 was pretty
awesome as we got to celebrate it with SNOW! The kids are holding out for the
same to happen this year, and I must admit it was pretty awesome last year. It
was the beautiful snow that has FAT snowflakes and wasn’t icy, which is what we
typically get in the upstate.
Noah finished up K-5 last year and at Awards Day won the
Citizenship Award for his class. I was so proud of the little man. He does try
so hard to make everyone happy, including his school teachers. He has started 1st grade off with
a bang this year and is steadily learning how to read, estimate distances,
learn the computer, and draw maps. He also loves to play video games on his DS
or Wii. He isn’t committed to a sports team or activity as of yet, but does
participate in the Good News Club every Tuesday, which is similar to Awana’s at
his school. He and AnnMarie also go to Kids Group every Wednesday with our
church. Noah made a huge decision this year and asked Jesus to come in his
heart. He was baptized on December 11 by his Daddy at Ridgeview Church with a
TON of family and friends watching. We
are so proud of this young man!
AnnMarie never stops talking. Poor Noah never gets a word
in! By the time you get this letter next year AnnMarie will have been in K-5
for 4 months! We are doing our best to get her ready, since she was not able to
attend K-4 in the public school system. She attends Sonshine Learning Center
where she is getting a good foundation on her letters and how to write. She
pretends that she is a school teacher all the time, holding her clip borad and
“checking” things off. She recently got her ears pierced and she picked out
Hello Kitty earrings for her first pair. They are adorable and she is doing
well with them so far. She has taken an interest in dancing, specifically
“Ballerinas” here lately, and at any given time you will see her in a dance
costume that a neighbor gave her. She
LOVES it! She will sleep in it, play in in, and even wear it out in 30 degree
weather if we would let her. She had a pair of tap shoes that she prisses
around in, but they are starting to get small. I suppose we will find her a
dance class soon…she keeps begging for me to find one and she really would
enjoy it I think.
The kids are taking an interest in snow skiing this year, so
we think we might try and make a weekend of it.
This past summer AnnMarie busted her chin while we were at a pool
party—5 hours and 7 stitches later all was well. So while we are looking
forward to spending a day on the snow, Momma is a little anxious!
We turned things around a bit and traveled to Gatlinburg, TN
for our summer vacation. The kids are
little fishies in the water, as we spent most of the week at a pool or water
park. Noah does not require swimmies anymore, but AnnMarie does. She is
determined that she can swim, and I think by the end of this summer she won’t
need them either. We haven’t been to Orlando since the summer prior, and CJ is
going into Disney withdrawals. I promised him I would take him next summer
(2013), that’s if he dosen’t come up with a scheme to go before then! We love
SeaWorld just as much, and we promised the kids we would sit in the splash zone
next time we go. I’m sure that moment will be priceless, too bad we won’t be
able to catch it on video (we’ve been told we ALL have to sit in the splash
zone for it to be fair!).
CJ never stops. Someone asked me this year if he would be
happy if he wasn’t doing ten things. I told them no. It works well for our
relationship though because I am the same way. Neither of us have the patience
to work one thing straight through, so if we have several things we can work on
we can bounce around. Not only does CJ work for Chick Fil A full time as the
General Manager, but he also has taken on the position of the Youth Minister at
our church. He enjoys the work. It never fails to amaze both of us that
ministry is continually changing and you have to be prepared to change yourself!
CJ is still in love with Nebraska football and imagine our surprise that USC
(South Carolina) is playing Nebraska in our favorite town, Orlando, on January
2, 2012 for a bowl game. The Clemson/Nebraska Gator Bowl game in 2009 was also
in FL and was really fun…but I don’t think it will be a family trip this year.
I keep trying to move up in the world. At least at
Greenville Hospital! I took the position of System’s Analyst in June 2011 and
it’s rather intersting. I now work on our computer system that exports our
daily claims to the insurance companies. I am responsible for making sure that
the processes that are in order are the best way to do things, and if not I
have to determine what we should test or pursue. With all of the health care
changes that are occuring, my workload has been a variety of tasks. The new
year should prove to be interesting, at least on my workload perspective.
We added to the family this year and got a puppy! His name
is Storm and he is currently 16 weeks old. We aren’t sure exactly sure what
kind he is, but he is definatley our third child! We believe that he is a mix
of Lab, German Shepherd, and maybe Rottweiler or Chow. Who knows! CJ says he is
getting a DNA test-it probably isn’t such a bad idea! He loves to play, is
currently teething, and the kids just adore him. Storm does well tolerating the
kids pulling on him, climbing on him, annoying him. I tell you, if the poor
puppy survives the kids, he can handle anything!
We have a lot of things to look forward to this coming year.
AnnMarie will begin school, Noah will finsh first grade, and CJ and I will
celebrate 10 years of marriage! Our first “adopted child” (Noah’s main
babysitter for many years), is expecting her first child this spring. We have
been kidding her and her spouse about when our first grandchild will be born. I
know we kid her but we really are looking forward to this bundle of joy. I know
that I will blink my eyes and it will be the time to write this letter again
and all these events will have passed. My, how does time fly!
Unfortunatley while it has been a year of celebration it has
also been a year of sadness. My mom, Monnie, passed away this past August. As
with any loss it has been difficult, but we are making it. CJ has been a
wonderful support system and given me the room I needed to cope. I am very
blessed to have a spouse that has so much pastoral training. It allowed him to
know what I needed and to take care of my extended family as well.
I hope that the rest of the Holiday season brings you great
joy and peace. Please remember the reason for the Season, and we hope to see
you all over the coming year.
Love,
Shaneki, CJ, Noah and AnnMarie Cauble
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Grief
I don't suppose I have officially come out and said that Momma passed away on August 22, 2011. Life has definately changed for me since then. I have learned some things and thought I would write them down, if for no one else then for myself.
I have experienced death on perhaps more occasions then the average person. Momma had four children, myself the oldest, Torlin, Daniel and Justin. In 1990 Daniel and Justin were in a drowning accident and both of the boys passed away. They were 2 and 3. In 2004 while I was pregnant with Noah, Torlin was killed due to getting beat up at a fight late one evening. While each of these events has definately defined me and shaped me into the person and mother that I am, they did not strike me at the core like Momma's death. Perhaps because of the wild childhood I have seperated myself from reality at times. I am a "half full" glass kinda person, the grass could always be worse somewhere else and have learned to appreciate what has been given to me. I can't stand the "woe is me" type of person and to be honest, will not be a very good friend to you if I think that is how you act. But due to this, sometimes I don't realize how bad a situation is. Because it could "always be worse", sometimes I shrug off and say, I can do this...it's not that bad. I find myself now saying...It's that bad.
Over the past 2 weeks I have experienced a wild variety of emotions. Pain, shock, numbness, anger, feeling of what to do next, loneliness, and I can say that I have experienced them on a level that I didn't think possible. For someone who blocks out so much I am amazed that I can feel on these levels. Really, and I don't mean that sarcastically.
Having not been a very emotional person, in the past if you were suffering with something I would ignore you. I never knew what to say or do, so I just wouldn't do anything. I am mostly a hands on person, so if you want me to cook, watch your kids, I'm there for you. But to sit and talk, or listen, never really done it. I've never sent a card to someone that experienced a death. I figured they wouldn't have time to read it, it dosen't mean that much to them, right? Man was I wrong.Those that have sent me a card I have read and re-read. The words are so personal and mean so much. One friend sent me a typed quote that she keeps in her guest bathroom and I read every time I am there. Now the words mean that much more to me. Never again will I ignore a person and not at least ask how they are. Ignoring someone is the WORST thing you can do. The person suffering already feels like they have a target on their back and that they have grown 2 heads and all you do by ignoring them is fuel those feelings and emotions. Going back to work is HARD. No matter how long you took off, you will not be ready for this. Life has changed and while I am sure I will be back in the mode of busy, life full steam ahead mode, I am not there yet. I keep busy, but as soon as I have a moment to stop, I cry. It's like I have a 5 o'clock button that says, "it's ok to cry now..."and the tears start flowing.
I suppose I say all of this to let you know if you were patient enough to read this...I love all of you. I am so sorry if I ever ignored you. I didn't realize what I was doing. I make a vow now to never forget what a card and a hug can do.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Two Mommies
I caught Noah saying yesterday, but I don't really know who Mamaw is. You say she is your mom, but you have two mommies.
I am one of those people that when I begin talking about my family the song "I am my own Grandpa" comes to mind. I'm not kidding.
When I was 12 my mom was unable to take care of my brother and I so we moved into our grandparents home. This is my mom's dad and his wife. We refer to them as Nan and Pop. When I was 16 I asked if they would adopt me. I had lived there since I was 12 and it was the most stable home environment I had ever lived in. It just made sense. But mom was still Pop's daughter and she was still my mom. So I have 2 moms.
This summer the kids went on what I call a week tour and literally visited every set of grandparent(s) they have. This included Mom, because she was in Savannah helping Grammy out at the time. They had a blast staying up until literally 1:00 am watching movies and giggling in the living room. I am so blessed that they were able to have this time with her before she passed away. Because the kids then visited Nan and Pop right after that the relationship of who everyone is begins to get a little confusing to the kids. The kids know the difference between Mamaw (mom) and Nan, but it was getting confusing for them to call both of them my mom. I knew at some point I would have to explain it a little further then what I have in the past. I won't even go into the fact that Tracy is my sister/aunt, Ted is the uncle/brother, Pop is the grandpa/dad, etc. Whew. No wonder everyone gets confused!
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