Alabama Bound

I have been a packing maniac, Billy has been playing tetris in the moving van with boxes and furniture, the kids have been great.

The other night we were discussing the logistics of the move. When are we getting the truck, turning off and on utilities, etc. He made the statement "We usually..." followed by I can't remember. I was focusing on the word usually. USUALLY? Did he really just say USUALLY? How many people usually move a certain way? Usually is normally reserved for things done almost routinely, you know, like "I usually hand wash the bottles." "She usually falls right to sleep." "Usually, I wear blue shoes with that outfit." I would bet not many people usually move a certain way...unless they are in the military. Come to think of it we probably wouldn't move this much if Billy did join the military. Hmmmm, I may see a career change coming!

See you in Birmingham!

Dancing in the Rain

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
Psalm 106:1

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessolonians 5:18

This is what God tells us about being thankful. I'm not so sure thankful is how I have viewed life the past few weeks - or maybe even the past year. It's been a tough year for us.

I find it easy to be thankful for the big things that come unexpectedadly, you know, like bonus checks. But during the past year those big things have been few and far between. I have not been very thankful given our current situation, and even though I am reminded daily that "All things work to the good of those who serve Him*," it's hard. My attitude has been more like, really God? How does a house being on the market for a year work to my good? How is a moving my daughter again working for my good? How is having my husband away from his family working for my good? And quietly I am reminded 2 things.

1) He is the same. Regardless of where I am, how big or small my house is, whether or not my car cranks, He is not changing. Wow - what a big thing to be able to rest on!
2) Give thanks. This came to me in Lowe's on Thursday night. I have never had any kind of God thoughts while in Lowe's. (Most of the time my thoughts are far from God thoughts, because we are there to replace or fix something broken.) I was looking for the boxes, because we needed a few more big, really sturdy ones. I stop to ask an associate where they are and he tells me he has moving boxes in his garage that they want rid of. He immediately gives me his address, cell phone numbers, and tries to call his wife to tell her I would be by to pick them up. (I have 3 of 4 kids with me so I looked harmless.) He couldn't get a hold of his wife, so I told him I would call and get them on Friday. I believe that God put him in my path. Of all the people who worked at Lowe's I get the guy with moving boxes in his garage! I realized then that I should be thankful. Thank you for putting this man in my path. I need to be thankful for the little things, because I believe that even when our worlds are crashing we can find something to be thankful for. Here are few of mine....

• Free moving boxes.
• A second car when the first won't crank.
• My brother being here this weekend to help with the afflicted car.
• Uneventful well check-ups for my kids.
• Wonderful neighbors (I am lucky enough to have them here and in Birmingham).

I'm wasting time when I should be packing, and I think I have shared my heart. Recently on my facebook a friend sent me a piece of flair that said "Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness never danced in the rain." That pretty much sums it up for me. Being thankful in the hard times is like dancing in the rain.

*Romans 8:28

Daddy's Birthday Weekend

So...Here goes the weekend recap.

Last week was filled with packing, a few trips to the pool, packing, church, packing, you get the idea. I was in Birmingham on Sunday for my cousins baby shower and a birthday/send off for my other cousin who joined the Army. I stayed until Monday to get AB registered at her new school. As I was beginning my Monday morning Billy called to tell me his tooth was hurting really bad. He has already gotten a crown, which didn't help and led to a root canal, which didn't help which led to severe pain. He needed me home so he could go to the dentist, so I rushed through the day and raced home so he could get yet another root canal. This one worked. He had a temporary crown put back on, and was waiting for his permanent one.

Friday night we were getting everything together for our yard sale. Billy left to get change for our customers the next day. He was in Kroger saying, "I need a roll of quarters, 30 1's, 6 5's," he stops and says "Excuse me" turns around and spits HIS TOOTH out, puts it in his pocket and continues...Yes folks, his crown fell off. Can you believe it?! The two root canal crown fell off! He comes home and calls the dentist at home and is to be at the dentist office the Saturday morning at 9 am.

We got up early and greeted our first customers and sold lots of stuff before Billy got ready to go to the dentist.

Remember the car that wouldn't crank? Guess what....It won't crank again. So he takes my car to the dentist and gets his crown put back on, comes home and begins trying to figure out what to do with his car.

I, in the meantime, am managing 4 kids, lots of customers and humidity. I was amazed at the turnout. No advertising, only a directional signs from the entrance to our neighborhood. I finally threw in the towel at 11 am. The baby was tired and ready for lunch, I was alone, and all our "good" stuff was gone and we had made $150. Not bad for the minimal work we did.

My brother is coming to take some things to my mom's house in Birmingham, so he gets to help figure out what is wrong with the car. Battery tests fine, alternator tests fine, starter fails test. So they put a new starter in and guess what? Car still won't crank. Today Billy gets a new battery and the car is cranking (for the time being) fine.

When it rains it pours right? I am trying to be thankful (I'll post on that tomorrow) and dance in the rain, even though most of the time I don't feel like it these days.

We lit a candle and had Kroger cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday tonight with the kids.
Happy Birthday Billy! I hope you enjoy your starter, car battery, and paid dental bills.

He is his fathers son.

The Gypsy Life...

This is the e-mail Billy sent to all his peeps...Pretty much sums it up for him...I, however, am still holding out for a miracle - and at this point 10 months seem sooo long.

All:
Our renters (we never sold the house we owned in Birmingham that was supposed to have sold, but never did as I just mentioned at the beginning of this parenthetical phrase) bailed on us a couple of weeks ago and left us with a house in desperate need of repair (updates, paint, flooring, etc).

Try as we might, we can no longer afford 2 mortgages. We’ve done that for a year, and I’m pretty sure that’s not a good option anymore… so we're headed back to Birmingham – where the nights are unbearably muggy, but at least the roaches are huge – to live until it makes sense to try and sell again.

We have been in a lease-purchase situation here in Nashville because of the aforementioned “two mortgages” situation (see “Greenville Debacle, circa 2006”).

The many thousands of dollars lost on the “Greenville Debacle” kind of taught us the lesson that we can't just sit back and "hope" things will happen the way you want them to. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet... and then chew on it for a really long time, no matter how bad it hurts.

It's bittersweet, really. Nashville is home and where we love (and where my business is) and where we have finally decided God wants us to raise our basketball team… But we also love the school Anna Beth will attend in Birmingham and the idea of getting back plugged-in to our church there makes us pretty giddy, too.

At the end of the day, we believe there's got to be some Providential reason for all of this stuff. At least that's what I tell myself when I cannot sleep and we're out of bourbon...


I will rent an apartment (or something) in Nashville (or somewhere here ‘bouts) and travel back and forth several days a week until things calm down a bit and we're able to reevaluate. At the very minimum, we’re looking at 10 months so we do not have to move again mid-school year (Anna Beth has been in three different elementary schools and she's headed to third grade... awesome for self esteem and stability).
And you never know… Bethany and the kids may decide they like Dad being available only on long weekends and by cell phone and email. Maybe we’ll be there forever.

But…

Ivey McCoig is as strong as ever and there is no plan B... So I know we'll figure out how to keep things rolling, no matter what.

I have a wonderful, patient, beautiful, loving, supportive, and (tries really hard to be) understanding wife who loves me in spite of me, and THE four most gorgeous and unbelievable kids in the world… So there’s that. But do me a favor and throw a few good words to the Man upstairs, because, as the guy who served me fried chicken this afternoon said, “These is hard times, ya’ll."
Amen.

So anyway... we just made the final decision this week and now we have 2 weeks to pack up and move. If you know any Mexicans*, teenagers** or ex-military personnel*** who might need a few extra bucks, we could sure use the help getting these boxes loaded up…

Billy
*because they are notoriously hard workers.
**because they are more often than not lazy, but desperate
***because they will probably be able to lift my washing machine

4 kids, a car that won't crank, and a bird

Billy went out of town today. He has gone to Washington, DC to the grand opening of this restaurant. His company did all the branding and such for it. He wasn't going to go, but I encouraged it. It will be good to see the fruits of his labor! So that begins the day. We skipped church because he thought his flight was leaving at 1:30 today. This morning I made a mad dash to the grocery store without any helpers and he packed to go. He was leaving at 11:30, which was plenty of time for him to get to the airport. About 2 1/2 minutes after he "left" he comes in flustered and says "My car won't start and my plane leaves at 1:10." His car won't start, thats just great. Ok, so we load everyone up - which means short car naps which lead to cranky children. He tells me to speed. About halfway to the airport he gets a text saying the plane is delayed. Whew, he'll make it. Well, the plane was very delayed and his connecting flight in Detroit is also delayed. He may still be in Detroit as I write this. So, Billy's gone and I have to work tonight. I keep the nursery at a local church on Sunday and Wednesday nights. I have lost nap time and I need a shower. I send all the kids upstairs and lock the doors and take a marathon shower while AB watches Abe. Get my shower, kids play while I pack dinner for them and get ready for church. After getting everyone ready, I am gathering the necessary bags to leave and my older kids go out the door, and come back in, and go out again. I am yelling while running around like a chicken with my head cut off looking for MC's white bow saying "Stay inside, don't let the baby out, close the door, etc." (I'm not yelling at them, I just have to yell so they can hear me from my various locations in the house) So, I'm in the kitchen checking off my mental list of things I need and they come in wide eyed saying there is a bird in the house. Yes. A bird flew in my front door and was in our front room perched on the blinds trying to figure out how to fly through the window. I open the front door, get a broom, and try to get the bird to fly out the door. Not happening. At this point I am running late. I start lecturing to my children that this is why you should obey mommy and stay inside, until I am ready to leave. Yeah, because birds ALWAYS fly in my house when you don't obey - nevermind that your little brother could get runover in the street.

Billy's out of town, and I have a bird in my house which is not cooperating at all. The bird would fly from my blinds to the top of the china cabinet and then back. So, what do I do? Realizing I need help, I ask the neighbor (who is getting in the car to take his family to a cook out with his NEW BOSS) to come assist - thankfully he did. So here we go, I have a broom trying to wave the bird out the door and my neighbor is scaring him out of our front room. Well, rather than flying out the door, he flies up above the door into a window. (for those who haven't been to my house, I have a two story foyer and den with windows all around the top). The bird flies from window to window while I am waving a broom to try and divert him to an exit. While all this is going on my oldest daughter and one of her friends are screaming "Don't kill it, Don't kill it." The bird spots a window without blinds, thinks he has a clean getaway and knocks himself out flying into the window. I run to get paper towels before it regains conciousness but I'm too late. Stunned the bird hobbles down the steps and back into the front room - right past an open door. By this point it has regained all of its faculties and we manage to get it into the 1/2 bath. I close the door and my neighbor goes in and opens that window, takes off the screen and shoos the bird outside. I'm late, he's late, and he's sweating profusely. Just another day at the Ivey's.

Hula Hoop Contest at the Pool

Fun Friday at the Pool

We went to the rec center pool Friday night for DJ on the deck. A fun time was had by all as we swam and listened to music. Ben and MC are becoming very good swimmers, if I would do lessons they would probably lose their apprehension about water over their heads, but right now I am enjoying keeping them in water they can touch in. Abe has NO fear and thinks he can swim. If I try to put floaties on him, he bites holes in them. This way everyone stays where they can touch and I try to keep Abe under raps.

My Kids and Sex and the City

Ok, so I haven't been a good blogger. My camera is broken, and I know all 2 of you want pictures, so I haven't been posting. Hopefully I can get a new camera soon and be up and rolling again.

So, I took my kids to see the new Disney movie WALL-e. Met Billy for dinner last night, he took Abe and the rest of us, plus one friend went to the movies. We got in, settled into our seats and the previews began. I was a little horrified when the new Batman preview started (its kind of scary to little girls), followed by the Mummy, and another scary preview. At this point I am very upset. The theatre was filled with small children to see a G movie about a robot. The following two previews were a bit tamer, but definately not geared toward children. At this point I am writing letters to Disney, while still confused about why they would be marketing these movies to child audiences. Disney is supposed to be the king of marketing right? Well, finally the feature presentation screen comes up and I excitedly tell my kids...Here is comes! Well, low and behold they put the wrong reel on...there in front of a room full of children comes Sex and the City.

I was relieved that Disney is not that stupid, upset that these kids watched horrifying previews, and laughing about the mix-up at the same time. As we exited the theatre we were handed free movie passes for the next visit. Thankfully no one had nightmares at my house last night.