First day of School

Since the kids insisted on pizza for dinner tonight I got up early and made them a big ole breakfast for their first day. We had fresh squeezed orange juice, scrambled eggs, bacon and bananas. They fly out of bed this morning to get ready. There was SO much excitement in the air for the first day of school. Look at their faces!

They totally stood backwards on this picture but we were running late so I just snapped it!
My 5th grader
My 4th grader
My 1st grader
My student...
They had a wonderful first day of school. Two came home with no homework and my oldest only had one subject she got done in 20 minutes!!! Ah the routine that school brings ;)

Anticipation

It is the night before school starts and these kids are bouncing off the walls. All summer we have had a pretty good time with very minimal complaining about being bored, until today. They had orientation last night where they got to drop off their school supplies, meet their teachers and see who was in their class this year. Which lends to today with them being BORED. They want to start school NOW. I knew today was going to be hard for them so I tried to have things to do. So we went to our chiropractor appointment and then took the kids to get their pictures taken, yeah not so exciting but still something to do right?! I will talk more about the pictures in a second. When we got home I decided that we should do something that the kids have been wanting to do for months. They wanted to go to the park that Jeff and I played tennis at a few years ago. We drive by it all the time but never stop. After lunch we hopped on our bikes and we took a bike ride to that park. It is about a 20 minute bike ride. I let them play for about an hour or so and then we headed home. Peanut needed to get a nap she is still napping. The kids are outside playing now too.

For the past few years I have been taking the kids to JC Penney's for school pictures because they are so much more affordable then the actual school pictures that go in the yearbooks. I got 13 sheets for 3.99 each. Well Peanut was hilarious today when getting her picture taken. She kept striking a pose. She would put her hand on her hip and just make the most spunky sassy pose ever. It was too funny. And of course, the photographer was trying to pose her, to which she said, "I'm going to do it like this." We were laughing so hard at her. That's my girl ;)

My Mom

This weekend we went to my mom's wedding. All four of my kids and myself were apart of the bridal party so that was a lot of fun. I do wish I would of bought the curlers instead of using a curling iron the day of the wedding. I think it would of been a lot less stressful for me. But I will remember that for the future. However, having the curling irons at the wedding was so helpful because my mom's hair had gone flat from the curls she had at the hair salon. The wedding went pretty smoothly just a few little volume/sound issues. I loved seeing all my brothers. I really wish I could see them more, they are so fun to hang out with. But I have to say that my little nephew Jeremiah was one of the bright spots in my day. As I was standing in line greeting everyone he gave me the biggest best hug EVER! Then at the dance reception he was busting a move. The best line of the night goes to him as well. He was dancing then he would point to my grandma (his great grandma) and say "dance" then he pointed to me and said "dance" he pointed to Jamie my brother Kory's fiance and said "dance" then the best line of the night was when he then pointed to Monkey and said "dance dude" It was great! I also got to meet my newest nephew too! Another highlight was dancing with my little Peanut to the song Brown Eyed Girl. I always tell her that is her song because she is the only brown eyed girl in our family. As we were dancing she walked up to the guy singing the song and tells him "this is my song! I've got brown eyes." I love that girl. She was so cute all day. During pictures she was not having a good time but as soon as the photographer would put the camera up and start to count she would snap on a sweet smile. It made everyone watching the pictures crack up. The kids did so great and behaved so well and it was a LONG day for them with really not a whole lot for them to do. The day started at 8am and ended for them at 10pm. Peanut did get a 30 minute nap in the van on the way to the dance reception which I think helped extremely. The next few days are going to go by so fast...tomorrow is the boat with grandma and grandpa M., Tuesday is dentist appointments and orientation at night, Wed is chiropractor appointment and school pictures at JC Penney's and then school starts Thursday. Oh my I'm not so sure I'm ready for this...

Promised

At the beginning of last week I had promised the kids that before summer was over I would take them to the children's museum. Well our sticky situation put a hold on that plan last week. I was bummed, they were bummed but there was nothing else we could of done. Well I am feeling VERY confident that those little critters are GONE so we went today. It happens to be perfect timing since we have been doing a media fast for the kids this week before school starts. It gave them something to do for 3 hours and I didn't have to hear "what can I do?" "why can't we watch tv?" or "I'm so bored since you won't let us do anything" and so on. Now we are sitting at home waiting for dad to get home so we can head out for the weekend. And guess what? They are actually playing a game together and have finally figured out what to do without any screen time. Isn't it amazing. I can hear the angels singing "Hallelujah" because they aren't fighting or being bored. I am one happy mama. I am so glad that I was able to keep that promise. Especially because this morning I wasn't feeling very good but as the day as gone on I feel much better. I just want to try my best to always keep promises I make but I do sometimes fail but I get back up and we move on.

Super Bummed

Tonight has been planned for over a month for Jeff and I to go out on a date. Well with the current state of our house being head lice, though I must say we are doing pretty well kicking it's butt. I had to cancel the sitter and stay home with the girlies. It totally stunk to watch my two boys leave the house with their dad when I should of been the one going. It wouldn't have been a big deal if our dates weren't so spread out. We go on one maybe once ever 2 or 3 months. I so want to change this but I just don't know how. Babysitting is expensive for 4 kids. We do have a few free babysitters but only a few of them are actually willing to watch our kids the others we have to beg and beg and that only works about 50% of the time. It is hard. Period. Anyway I had updated my status on facebook about watching the boys leave on my date with their dad. One of the comments mentioned trade sitting, which we have done once with another family who has 4 kids. Let's just say that watching 8 kids is completely INSANE. Most of our friends have 2 or 3 or 5 kids not many have 4 like us. I will definitely have to work something out with some friends to get this to happen more often with out breaking the bank for a date night = paying a sitter and then whatever we spend on the date. Ok my pity party is over ;)

Ugh

So not the way I wanted to end summer...with head lice. I am beyond upset and overwhelmed with all the stuff that needs to be done to get these little critters out of our house. All the treatments and checking for the nits (eggs) and washing all the bedding and towels after every use it just completely stinks. We found out yesterday that we had lice in our house. I spent 3 1/2 hours doing GlamorGirls hair. About 40 minutes doing Peanut's hair thank heavens hers is so fine. Both girls had it. GG's was worse then Peanut's. Then Jeff shaved both boys heads and he said he for sure found one in Monkey's head but wasn't sure about Red. Then we did a treatment in my hair and we found one louse and some nits. This is so not fun. I wish I could just shave my head and if I wasn't in a wedding in about 12 days I totally would shave my head. I have vacuumed my house top to bottom today and will need to do that every day for about 2 weeks or so. I have started doing Power 90 which is the work out right before P90X nothing like a little head lice to stop your workout mojo dead in it's track. So frustrating. Just sitting here I'm thinking of people I need to tell who might have been infected with them as well since I have no idea when we exactly got them :( Like I said so NOT how I wanted to end summer...

Our Summer in a Nutshell

The Pool. That is pretty much were we have lived this summer with an occasional park throw in here or there! A family from church got a pool pass too so when we have been at the pool they have usually been there too. They had 4 kids all summer until last Monday when she had her 5th baby. Which means the last time we went to the pool it was just my kids. It was good and bad. Good because they played with each other but bad because they got bored quicker. My friend said she was hoping to take all 5 kids to the pool this coming week!!! Also wanted to add that we have gone swimming so much Peanut's swimsuit got a whole in the butt and we had to go get her a new one...it was slim pickins and she ended up with a bikini. I finally remembered to take the camera with me the day we were alone so I got some really cool shots of them kids on the diving boards and in the water!!! I hope to get some pictures with the kids and there friends this coming week. Without further ado my favorite PICTURES! I took WAY more than this ;)

Peanut's favorite thing to do...

mid jump
into the water and then swimming to big sis
Monkey off the high dive...he's flying
GlamorGirl doing a handstand
Red's trick off the high dive
Her showing me how she goes underwater...
her under the water
These two are ones who got out of the pool before it was time to go...


What about you what have you been doing this summer?
I hope it has been as fun as ours :)

3 weeks

I am giving myself three weeks to get in shape. I talked to my hubs about how I was feeling out of shape and yucky. He told me to start working out. I told him I needed some sort of motivation and then proceeded to tell him to start calling me fat/chubby. Not a good idea. It did not motivate me AT. ALL. After the 5th time he called me that it started to hurt my feeling, so he stopped. I know I'm such a girl. I asked him to call me that to help motivate me and then when he does what I ask I don't like it. Something in me snapped today and I decided that I am going to do this working out thing and getting into shape. I think it had to do with the fact that I was thinking about how I'm homeschooling Peanut and I need to have some form of gym for her. Well if she needs to be active and move um yeah so do I. Anyway, we even took a picture tonight before we started working out to document what we looked like before. I really hope that after the first 90 days I can see a difference in that picture! I really hope that after the first week I will feel better and have more energy like I did last time I was serious about working out...right before we left for the Bahama cruise. The only funny thing is that summer is almost over and I'm getting into swim suit shape now. Whatevs! I'm also thinking that once school starts once a week walking the track at school and letting Peanut play at the park where I can see her. Or she can walk with me. I'm just really excited to see what the next 3 weeks bring. I can't believe that is all the summer break we have left. In three weeks a lot of things will be changing. I'm so thankful to God for change!

Friday!

Tonight is/was our last night alone so I took the kids to an outside movie at a local church, they have done this every year since we've lived here. The movie they played was Dreamer so because it was a horse movie they had pony rides before the movie started. I could only stand the smell of the ponies for one ride but the kids didn't seem upset! Of course, GG was too old and too cool to ride on a pony. In years past I have never brought money with to these movies. This year I decided that I would bring some. I ended up spending $2. For the great time we had it was money well spent! Peanut was cracking me up tonight. She had run to the garbage to throw some trash away and on her way back she says, "Oh no my pants are falling down." As she hanks them up. Then on the way home Peanut said, "I didn't want a real pony ride I wanted a fake pony ride." That just cracked me up! She is too funny. We sat behind an interesting lady. She felt the need to turn around and glare at any kid who made a noise, which happened to be the family just to our left. At one point Red had dropped the ball he was playing with and it rolled up by them. She turned around glared at him and then looked at me and asked if he was my son. I said, "Yes, why?" She said nothing, he wasn't being loud so I'm not sure what her problem with him was. This lady obviously thought that an outside movie was going to be as quiet as a movie theater, um okay, not going to happen.

So this week was super long but we kept pretty busy that it ended up going by somewhat fast-like. Sunday was spent with my dad, Monday was VBS, nannying, and a friend over, Tuesday was VBS, swimming and National Night Out, Wed was the funeral and then swimming at night, Thursday VBS, swimming and concert in the park! I've already wrote what we did today. I also want to state for the record that at least 3 times Red has said to me..."your the best mom ever" during this week. Thinking that means we had a pretty good week :)

My Girls...

10 year olds are very frustrating to me lately, especially when it comes to food. A few days this week we have gone to the pool after VBS in which I packed a picnic lunch for the kids. The first day I packed GG a salami and pepperoni sandwich. She got mad and said she hated that kind of sandwich. I told her I was sorry but I thought that is what I saw her make herself for lunch the day before. She proceeded to tell me she had a salami with mustard sandwich and she likes those better. Well after that horrid episode of hatred towards the sandwich I made her I decided to ask what she wanted for lunch. Knowing that we were going to the pool and I was going to be packing another picnic lunch. Guess what? She never answered my question. The other two kids told me what they wanted but her NOTHING. Not. A. Single. Word. We get to the school and off they go inside. I do my school supply shopping while I only have one child in tow and completely forget about my earlier question until I get home and start making those blasted lunches. UGH...she never answered my question. I think to myself well the other day when she hated the sandwich I made she said she liked the salami and mustard sandwich so that is what I made her. Fast forward to opening up the picnic lunch. She says, "What kind of sandwich did you make me." I reply with, "Well since you never answered me when I asked you what you wanted I made you the salami and mustard sandwich because you said you liked it." Here comes the tears and the whining about how she hates salami and muster sandwiches and she wanted a salami and pepperoni sandwich like I made her the other day. WHAT? Didn't she spend that whole time complaining about eating said sandwich. I just don't understand 10 year olds. When we are home we never have a problem because she makes her own food it is just when I pack picnics.

Onto my baby girl Peanut. This girl has just taken off in the pool this week. We have gone swimming 4 times since Friday which is pretty normal in a weeks time. She has started to really go under the water and hold her breath for pretty long periods of time. Today she was even jumping off the side of the pool into the water, would go under and swim to me. I was really impressed with how well she was doing! A few times when I picked her up and was taking her back to the side she would say let go. So I did and she swam the rest of the way. She is also learning how to back float this week. She does good until she starts to get freaked out, then she starts sinking. I just think she is too funny when she holds her breath goes under water and kicks her legs underneath her and moves her arms all crazy. I was teaching her today to kick behind her. I had her hold on to the side of the pool and kick her feet to splash the water and she was doing it. Then she was holding on kicking and then stuck her head in the water. I think next year she is really going to take off! I might get her some swim lessons this school year as part of her gym class! Other than that her swim suit got a big rip in the bottom today so after her nap we are headed out to find her a new one!

Almost

We are almost half way through this week and will get to be reunited with two of our family members. Come on Saturday get here please!!! In other news I am so sick of going outside and seeing raccoon poop all over my backyard. They have been pooping in the window well but now they are just going all over the place. There is a family of raccoon that live in a vacant house that is owned by a bank on the next street over. They come to my yard because we have the cherry tree and veggie garden. At first I didn't think they were eating any of my veggies I knew they had eaten cherries but yesterday when I went out to water right next to some poop was a half eaten tomato. So annoyed. I looked up animal control and told them my problem they told me to call my local police department which as a police officers wife I knew was not the right thing to do. But I called anyway, yup they can't do anything to help me. They told me to find out who owns the house and bring a civil suit against them, really? Not helpful. I got the name and number of my Alderman from my nice neighbor and gave him a ring. To my surprise he answered the phone and I got to tell him what was going on. He knew about this house and has dealt with issues with this house before. Mainly yard overgrowth. I really don't care how the yard looks I don't want raccoons in my yard at 5pm at night when my kids want to be outside playing because the harsh sunlight has gone down. It isn't safe for them to be in their own back yard. I am just so frustrated at this situation and the last thing I want is for one of the kids to get attacked or step in the poop and bring it in the house. Why do these things always seem to happen when Jeff is gone? UGH

Camp

Jeff and Monkey are gone this week at camp, they left Friday and camp started on Saturday. Monkey was very excited about this year there are a bunch of kids from church going and his uncle (my brother) who is 11 months older than him will be there too! I talked to Jeff on Saturday morning and he said that Monkey had a rough night...really hoping that was the only bad night he has. When I talked to him he said he had a hard time sleeping because he missed me. Poor guy. Jeff also said that the camp had a hard time placing kids in cabins because all the kids had requested to be with Monkey!!! There are 5 boys from church not including Monkey and his uncle all wanted him with them. He is just such a timid kid in big groups, he has always been better one on one. I really hope he can over come that this week and just have a great time! The only bad part of everyone requesting him is they couldn't fit all the kids in one cabin so they split them. But no one is in a cabin by themselves so that is good. Please just pray for him this week that this time builds him up and he doesn't get discouraged.

Unsure

I'm really unsure how to handle my oldest son. He is my quiet guy not much of a talker but I can tell things are bothering him. He lashes out in little ways like if I ask him to sweep the floor which is one of his chores he does such a bad job that he has to do it two or three times before it is acceptable. He is so disgruntled about doing said chore. I just don't know how to get through to him. Today he didn't want to go swimming but everyone else did so he just sat on the side staring with a mad look on his face. When I tried to talk to him he just told me to go away or would start crying. I just really fear if he keeps it all inside at the ripe old age of 9 what is it going to be like when he is 13 - 18 when the things he is going to deal with are extremely difficult and he will need me and his dad. I just want to cry and make him talk but instead all I found I can do is pray. Pray that I can take him to God's word and show him how much he is loved no matter what the world says. Pray he will open up with me and talk about what is going on. Pray that I can help him work through it when that time comes. Pray that I can be the best parent for him. I'm just so scared sometimes that I am going to mess my kids up. I just want them to be healthy and happy and know how much I love and care about them but I fail so I pick myself back up and try again. If you could just pray for me and this whole situation with Monkey that would be great. I pray that this upcoming week will be so great for him to be at camp away from life and be able to learn and grow in his faith. This is really vague but I think we have some really serious stuff going on with him.

9 years ago...

today I was miserably pregnant with Monkey. I just can't get over how super fast these years are flying by me. This is his last year in the single digits and then I will have half my kids in the double digits. I have to say that these last 9 years have changed me for the better. I love all the joy and love that Monkey brings to our family. Yes, he is a kid and he has a sin nature just like everyone in this world but he is a really great person to know. He is a super sweet guy. There is just something special about the bond a mother and son have it is completely different than mothers and daughters, not better just different. Want to clarify that for when my kids read this later on in life. Most of the time I can just give Monkey a look and he knows exactly what I am going to say. Parenting him is so fun yet can also be challenging. He is not my talker like the other kids yet when it is just he and I alone...it is like the flood gates of his lips have opened up, I so cherish those one on one times with him and I really need to make more of them happen. As of 12:05am on the 22nd I will have a 9 year old. Happy Birthday my sweet sweet Monkey!

Vacation Bible School

We are currently in the midst of our second consecutive VBS. This week is different because I am working it so I get a break but not a sit in a coffee shop and surf the internet kind of a break. I work in the kitchen so there are no kids (well except today because I brought Shane the 3 month old I watch in the kitchen with me) but it is me and my friend. So we prepare the snacks and we chat. It is my favorite place to work in VBS. Thankfully this week's snack are much healthier than last weeks but the kids are still coming down from that sugar high. I can tell when they have been eating junk they are crankier and snap more at each other. I feel like after this week of our VBS summer just flies by us in a blink. We have one more VBS of the summer!!!

We made it!!!

On Monday morning I was laying in bed and heard the most crazy wind I have ever heard in my life and two seconds later we lost power. Well that changed my plans for the day. No grocery shopping for me. However the kids still had a Vacation Bible School all week to go to. What a life saver that turned out to be! On the way to VBS there were so many trees down. There was actually a tree that was completely uprooted that left a HUGE divot in the ground where grass used to be. Craziest thing I have heard seen. Later that day the city workers were out there cutting the tree up. Once they had all the branches cut off the stood the trunk back up. Never seen that before! It was just a tree trunk with no leaves. Anyways, as Monday went on and I started hearing that other places like Great America had lost power, I realized that we were going to be a long time without power. We kept calling ComEd to see when our power would be back on and learned that over 800,000 customers were without power and the first day they just said restoration could take several days. Yipes! That is A. Lot. of. people! I wish we hadn't been in that number but we were. The whole block across the street had power so by Tuesday there were tons of extension cords going across the street to tap their electricity. We didn't ask our neighbors, though I know they would of said yes. We just really didn't have much food in the fridge to bother with that. The plus side of not tapping in was we were able to clean out the fridge! It looks so nice. Yes, we did end up throwing some food out but, really, it was maybe $30 dollars worth. Tuesday they finally gave us a restoration day Friday at noon. WHAT?!?! How am I going to survive three more powerless days??? Thankfully our electricity came back on at 5:15am on Thursday morning. It was funny Jeff set his alarm for 5:15 to go golfing, I hear the alarm and kept my eyes closed in hopes I could fall back asleep but no go Jeff hits me to tell me we got power! I laid there willing myself back to sleep which was hard because I had so many thoughts running through my head and so happy we didn't have to go two more days without it. The kids and I did make the best out of the bad situation. We did tons of play dates at the pool and park and went to fun places. It will probably be the most interesting week of the summer. One my kids will for sure remember as the summer we lost power for 3 days!!! We survived :)

Monkey

This month a lot is happening for my little Monkey man. He is turning 9 years old and he is getting glasses. I never had to wear glasses so as his mom I am really nervous for him. I have no idea what to expect. I think he is slightly nervous to get them and have to wear them in front of his friends. Kids can be so mean and I guess he is going to find out who is true friends are...the ones that don't make fun of him. I am also nervous about the his siblings. They have already made a few comments that aren't very kind and fortunately I don't think he has heard them. I just really want him to feel good about needing glasses. Tons of kids have glasses there just isn't a whole lot in his school that do. I know this is what is best for him at this point in time. He is also probably going to be my kid that is going to need braces which will be another rough event for me. I never had those either. Though I think Peanut might need those too just hoping she doesn't need the glasses. The store called and left a message saying that his first pair of glasses is in so we are going to be picking them up. I think I will wait to finish this post when I have a cute picture of him in the glasses to upload. Ok here is my handsome little Monkey in his new cool glasses!!!
Not sure why the picture is so small but we lost power yesterday morning and I'm sitting in a coffee shop to get some internet time. The kids are at VBS! This post was started a few days ago...

The Fest!

This year I am taking a little different approach on the whole festival/carnival. I actually read through some of the other activities besides the rides. The boys did the baseball skills activity and both got a trophy. They actually gave Peanut one too just because she was there. HA! Another thing I am doing differently is actually eating some of the fest food. Typically I will feed the kids before we go and then pack a few snacks but this year I figure we didn't take a vacation last year and even though I want to take one this year it just might not happen so this will be our little vacation where we spend some money just enjoying ourselves! The first night we got an elephant ear and funnel cake to share because we went after Monkey's last baseball game of the season. Friday we ate dinner there and it was pretty good. Saturday we ate before we went and got some ice cream at the fest. The kids are so shocked. This is totally not what we have done in the past :) I have forgotten to bring my camera the last few days but am hoping to remember to bring it tonight so I can get some pictures to go with this post! I remember the camera the very last day of the fest! Here are some of the pictures I took.

Ice cream YUM

My serious ice cream eater :)

Racing down the big slide!

Monkey won!

Our favorite ride...well my favorite ride :)

Swings

Monkey's favorite ride...the bumper cars!

These two went on all the crazy rides!

2011 Fest was a good one! We spent two different nights with friends. One night with friends from school and the other night with friends from church. So much fun!!!

She's HOME!!!

Today we picked up GG from camp! Boy have I missed her dearly! I really love that girl and it makes me realize how much of a help she is to me when she is gone. She had a wonderful time at camp and was so excited to have gotten two packages in the mail plus the letters she got from friends and family. I guess I need to start saving up again for next year because she really wants to go back...

End of Baseball season

Tonight was Monkey's last game of the season. It was a very frustrating game for me. Monkey had gotten hit the last two games so this game he was terrified of the ball. The first at bat he step away from the base at each pitch and struck out. He was mad at himself. Then the second time he was up to bat he REFUSED to bat. The coach even offered him some ice cream if he just stood at the plate...he didn't even have to swing. Just stand there. And he wouldn't do it. Because of his refusal the team got their second out of the inning. I was not a happy mom. He had a chance of getting walked because the pitcher wasn't the greatest. I just don't know how to get him over his fear of the ball???? I talked to him about how he has been hit 3 times and has walked away from all of them unharmed. At this point I just want to take him outside and peg him with some balls! I won't of course but I want to. He had such a great season and tonight just wasn't his night. The funny thing he still wants to play next year. But I'm not shelling out that kind of money if he won't bat. UGH Also just want to state that it stinks that the team with the worst winning season is going to the world series...how does that happen? Double UGH.

Totally Inappropriate

I was absolutely shocked by the way one of the female camp counselor was acting at the pool today. First of all this girl had some gigantic breasts. She couldn't even keep them in her swimsuit. However, the size of her chest is not what was inappropriate though. The way she was flirting with the boys who were probably about 11 to 12 years old was absolutely WRONG. Another mom and I sat and watched her for awhile and I finally said something 'cause I could tell she was watching this girl too. She couldn't believe it either. At one point she walked away from the three boys and blew them a kiss. Seriously?! She was also going off the high dive and let me just tell you it wasn't pretty. I actually felt sorry for her. At another point one of the boys came up to her to talk and his height and her chest level were the exact same. All this little boy could see was her chest half hanging out of her swimsuit. If I sent my kids to a camp and there was a counselor there like that I would be VERY unhappy with their behavior. There is no need to be flirting with young boys when you are at least twice their age. I believe I heard this girl say she was a teacher which would put her at 23ish? This world is so fallen, it makes me sick. Other than the above we had a fabulous time at the pool. This morning the two boys didn't want to go but by the time I wanted to leave I couldn't drag them out of the pool. All three of the kids are laying down for nap/quiet time.

Time is FLYING...

I can't believe it has already been two full weeks that the kids have been off of school. I feel like time is just flying by. We have been keeping ourselves pretty busy with fun activities! Like yesterday I took the kids roller skating. GG has gone on a few dates with Jeff roller skating so she sorta knew what to do it has been at least a year since she had last gone. She was cruising on her skates within a half an hour. The boys and Peanut this was their very first time. I was able to get some plastic skates for Peanut that you can adjust how fast the wheels turn. She still fell a few times but she was a ROCK star with those skates. But I am the most impressed with my Monkey. Within an hour he was actually doing better than his big sister! Red was struggling but the one employee was really helping him learn how to skate which was so great. By the end of the time at the rink he was able to go pretty far without falling down. If it didn't cost so much to go roller skating I would take the kids more because they LOVED it. And I didn't have to skate either!

Birthday Party

Today we had Monkey's 9th birthday party even though he won't be 9 for another month! This week at his school they are having a basketball camp that most of his friends are going to so it worked out well to have the party after the camp! We were planning on being at the park across the street. We got there 5 minutes before the camp got out and I sent GlamorGirl over to the park with the pizza. About 3 minutes later it was a downpour. I ran across the street to get my girl and poor thing was standing under a tree with the pizza trying not to get soaked. But by the time we got back to the school we were both drenched and then it stopped. Ugh this weather! I didn't want to risk getting rained on again so we had the party inside the school. After party for kids who are older are so nice. They completely entertained themselves by playing different games in the gym. The party consisted of pizza, chips and drinks for lunch, playing in the gym, opening gifts, going outside to do some water balloon activities, and finishing at the park with some water gun fights! On the way home from the party Monkey said, "That was the best birthday party EVER! Thank you mom for putting it together for me." Is he not the sweetest kid ever?!?!? I feel guilty that I really didn't do much in the way of planning it but he loved it. He had 7 boys from school with him made 8 so it was a good even number!

Father's Day and today

We had a wonderful Father's Day yesterday on the boat with my dad, step-mom, sister and brother plus my family. We met at 11:30am and got some food from taco bell, so NOT my first choice but I made the best choice of food I could. Then we headed out on the boat. We tooled around a bit, took the lock (never did that before), docked so the kids could swim and then pulled them on the tube. It was a very peaceful Father's Day but it was also not an uneventful one. While the kids were swimming GG cut her toe on a rock or something in the water and it took awhile to get it to stop bleeding. Oh the drama that went with that. Then on our way back to park the boat we ran out of gas. I had Peanut on my lap napping but all the chaos woke her up pretty quickly. We got to boat to the side of the river and the guy who lived in the house took my dad to get some gas. Then we were on our way. Then we went out to eat dinner with my dad. It was a really great day. Until I got home and had to lay down to sleep. My stomach was NOT happy with me one bit. I tossed and turned for a long time last night not feeling good. I even got up a few times to try and make myself throw up the food I had eaten that was causing me so much tummy pain. It wouldn't come up. I finally fell asleep around 1:45ish. Then this morning the kids and I had a chiropractor appointment, run Monkey to basketball camp, get groceries, pay a bill and un-register Red for he Tae Kwon Do class. He was pretty bummed but it just wasn't at a good time or day for the summer. We are going to sign him up in the fall. Then the kids and I went to nanny this afternoon. I really love this job. The baby is 8 weeks old and he is smiling a lot, so sweet. GlamorGirl loves to hold him and actually says she has first dibs on holding him when we go there. Now I am laying in bed not very hopeful that tonight will be any better as my tummy is still not happy with me. I didn't really eat much today. I had an apple for breakfast, some baby carrots and a granola bar for lunch and a piece of toast for dinner. I am very tired from only sleeping 5 hours last night. If you think of it please pray that I can get a good nights sleep tonight and wake up feeling a 100% better! Thanks

Trip to Grandma's house

First of all it's Father's Day and the father of this house is finally HOME! This past week he took a trip to Canada with his dad to go fishing. While they were gone the kids and I took a quick trip to see my mom and grandparents. We were only able to go Wed thru Friday afternoon due to Monkey's baseball schedule but I think that was plenty of time to break of our time without dad home. Thursday the kids went to a VBS with their Aunt and Uncle (who are both 9 years old) as I was registering Monkey the lady says, "We have another B~ here." Monkey and I looked at each other...this was a new thing for him. He has a unique name and this will probably be the only time he gets to meet another kid with his name. After it was over I asked him if he got to meet the other kid with his name. He said yes. I then asked who was older...just wanted to know. Of course, my guy was older ;) Friday we took the kids to the public pool. While we were there a family that I had babysat in H.S. was there. The mom came up to me. It has been over 12 years since I babysat for them and the girls are now both married and one has two kids. They got to meet my four. They LOVED my kids names...they especially liked Monkey and Peanuts, I think it was because they are a little more unique then the other two. I learned that the two grandkids also have very unique names, so fun. We had a great time visiting with my mom and grandparents and can't wait to go back. I really hope we get to spend a lot of time with my grandparents this summer because neither one of them are doing the greatest health wise and I really want my kids to have memories of their great grandparents. Today for Father's Day we are going on my dad's boat. But it is suppose to rain so I hope that the weather doesn't foil our plans.

Blogging

The other night Jeff was gone late with the two oldest kids at the White Sox vs Seattle game. I was trying to stay awake so I decided to reread my blog from the beginning. I only got through maybe two months but I filed away a couple entries to share with GG when I had time. I always tell her how much Peanut is like her but she just doesn't believe me. So when I was reading about how she colored on her belly when she was two I just had to share that with her! But it also made me think that I don't really blog about Peanut's silliness. I do put it on facebook but that is harder to go back and look at. So I've gone through my facebook page and pulled out some funny statuses of the kids to put on the good ole blog for memory sake. This is about a 3 month span of time April to June.

Red is counting his potato chips to make sure they are the same as Peanut's...for real kid?

Peanut says, "The birds wake me up in the morning." I say thank you birds for letting her sleep til 8am :)

during the car ride home loved listening to Peanut recite Ephesians 2:8 & 9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so no one can boast.

Peanut wants Chips and Broccoli...she means guacamole!

Peanut in the van today: I really like my seat cart! (her car seat)

Peanut cracks me up. If you could hear some of the things she calls her different body parts! Too funny...her nipples are referred to as hips or pimples!

getting ready to go watch my girl, GG, play SOCCER!!!

riding our bikes home from Monkey's practice I feel something funny on the back of my bike. I ask Peanut what she is doing and next thing I know I feel the seat she is riding in slide off the back. I stop and try and catch her. The seat hung on by a strap and she wasn't hurt. Praising God for His protection!

eating dinner I asked the kids who wanted salad, Peanut says, "I do with rice dressing." I love her word mistakes they are just too stinkin cute!

got greeted this morning with Happy Mother's Day Eve! Haha I get the whole weekend :)

was just informed that Peanut is going to have a headache on Mother's Day...little stinker!

sent my oldest on a field trip without someone from our family going with her...this is a first!

this weather is absolutely CRAZY. It just hailed here for only 5 minutes. Red was looking out the window said, "Mom it's snowing!

was just informed by Peanut that when she grows up she wants to be a human! bwahahaha

Red's (cup)cake...dueling light-sabers. He LOVED it. As did all the boys at the party.

can't wait to see Monkey's face when he gets home and sees the basketball hoop in the driveway! GG will have to wait until tomorrow...

Monkey's game today was anything BUT boring! He pitched the first two innings and make an award winning catch...they won! I'm lovin baseball.

an extremely tired Peanut crying in her bed says, "I want a banana man to come inside and I like bathes" All to not go to sleep...haha

what a great night to fly kites!!

It's FIELD TRIP day!!!! I love having the ability to go on these :)

has decided that Peanut getting a cat nap is WAY better than her skipping her nap altogether!

off to watch the B-man play baseball!!! A little chillier then I would like but not too bad :)

what a fun family night at the Chicago Bandits! Got some really cool pictures and got to talk to the starting pitcher before the game. She was super sweet with the kids!!!

asked Red what he wanted to do tomorrow night because he graduates Kindergarten and the rest of the family is going to the White Sox minus Peanut and he says, "Watch Tangled" I was prepared to take him out for ice cream or something but I'll take this instead!

Panera and the Park is how we spent our night without daddy, GG and Monkey. And now they are eating ice cream ;)

Peanut's new favorite phrase...How did you know?

The last one is the most recent and just cracks me up. When she wakes up in the morning I say go to the bathroom. She says, "How did you know?" I will tell her something and she will ask, "How did you know?" It is just too funny!!! I do have a blog in the making of Red's graduation but I couldn't find the camera until yesterday but we were gone all day doing Super Saturday with Monkey's baseball team.

Holiday Weekend

Typically a holiday weekend means that Jeff works a half day and I am home with the kids. This year wasn't much different. Jeff was in the parade and he asked Peanut if she wanted to be in it too. The three older kids were in the 4th of July parade a year or two ago with daddy. I wasn't going to go to the parade but figured I should be there to take pictures since I got pictures when the other kids were in the parade it would only be right. Anyways fairness is a totally different topic! Peanut looked super cute in the car because you could really only see her little hand sticking out of the window waving most of the time. I guess halfway through the parade she told Jeff her hand was tired of waving. After they went past us we jumped in the van and drove over to the end of the parade to pick her up. Jeff said some friends were at the end of the parade so we walked to where they were and watched the rest of the parade with them. When the parade was said and done we made plans to go swimming. Then my friend called and asked if we wanted to come for lunch. So we headed to their house for a bbq and water fun. After we ate we drove to the pool and it was PACKED, we decided to go back their house and let the kids play in the sprinklers. They ran around for about 2 hours getting muddy and wet. Then we called the pool and decided to head back. It was still a little crowded but was starting to clear out. It was nice for the kids to have friends to play with at the pool. But the coolest thing of the day was right before we left Red went off the diving board. It took him three tries before he actually jumped off but once he did he didn't want to stop! I now have 3 diving board kids, oh boy! He was so proud of himself. Though we do have to work with him to jump off the front of the board and not off the side ;) After all the running around and swimming the kids were so tired and I had such a hard time waking them up this morning.

Waiting and wondering...

I am sitting here almost 10pm wondering if my 10 year old is going to call me wanting to come home from her friend's birthday party sleepover. You see this is the first time she has done this. She has had sleepovers before but with only one friend. There are 5 girls at this party. She is prepped to call me if she feels uncomfortable or just wants to come home. We have a code question she is to call and ask, which indicates "COME AND GET ME!" How it works is about an hour later I call and tell them mom I need to come and get her because of a family emergency. I just don't know if it is 10pm now and she hasn't called am I going to be getting a call?!?! I really hope not because this girl is TIRED. Ok, I'm going to call her. She's not answering. Hmmm Not sure I'm ready for this independence! ****update she called this morning at 7:30am because she was the first one awake and didn't know what to do. I told her to go back to bed ;) I pick her up in an hour and a half!****

In other news, I just have to share the coolest thing! Jeff went fishing with a buddy Thursday after work until Friday evening. It was a short trip but he was 3 1/2 hours away so I was single parenting it. Thursday night as I was putting the kids to bed Monkey said his arm hurt. He had a scab that had obviously become infected. There was a red circle that was hot and puffy around the scab and one little line that was starting to spread the infection. I called my friend and asked what she would do. I really didn't feel like calling the doctor who would tell me to take him to the ER with all four kids in tow. She told me to use grapefruit seed extract with a little water and rub it on the infection. I also gave him a cup of water with two drops of the grapefruit seed extract. The next morning his arm was completely better! I haven't checked it today but I'm sure it is still fine. That stuff works as a natural antibiotic. If you don't have any in your house I highly HIGHLY recommend getting some. It has saved me on many trips to the doctor. When I think the kids are coming down with something I give them some drops in their drink. Many visits to the doctor have been avoided in the past year from our use of this vitamin/supplement! How cool is it that God gave us so many wonderful things that naturally heal our bodies. Our bodies are so amazing!

Field Trip

I got the pleasure of going on Monkey's field trip to the Museum of Science and Industry in downtown Chicago. One thing I love about his teacher is she always allows as many chaperons as parents who want to go. Most of the parents had two kids their kid and one more. One dad just had his kid. I like going on field trips for two reasons, I love spending that time with my one kid and their friends and two I always wanted my parents to go on field trip growing up, my dad went on one. It was the best one ever!!! I know that if I go on all of them it doesn't really make it special but I stay home and I don't want them to feel like I did as a kid. Also my oldest had a field trip that she told me not to come on and she explained her reasons. I didn't go because of her wishes and other factors. Back on topic...I really LOVE this museum out of all the ones downtown I think this is the most educational with hands on stuff to do. Our group consisted of 3 moms, one dad and the teacher and a total of 8 boys. We took them to the coal mine. I haven't been to that exhibit in years and I have to tell you it is WAY better than I remember it. We did the storm exhibit with the tsunami and tornado that was pretty cool. Went to the hatchery with the baby chicks. We did the water room which was a big hit. We got to see everything the boys wanted to see and do. It was just a really fun day. I also got to see my boy interact with the kids in his class. He is a very independent little boy and I am just so proud of him for being his own person. I love that boy with all my heart and I was so glad I was able to spend the whole day with him. I owe a HUGE thank you to my wonderful sister-in-law who came over and had some very special quality time with my little Peanut. The other three kids were pretty jealous that she got Auntie Liz all to herself and they have no idea that David spent most of the day with them. It would only add insult to injury ;)

Lovin IT

This time of year and the weather being warmer has been so exciting. I have decided that I thrive on being active. I love doing stuff with my kids and planning get togethers with my friends. This is the run down of my last few days. Monday after school to the chiropractor, homework, dinner and baseball practice. Tuesday was Red's birthday so after school was a spontaneous play date at the park with some friends (it was beautiful outside) and then to his birthday dinner. Wednesday we had BIC graduation for the junior highers who completed the course. Monkey also had a game but my step mom graciously took all the kids to it so we could be at the graduation. Thursday was a BIG day. We had Red's party at Chuck E Cheese at noon until 2pm and then right after that we picked up the older kids from school (early) and went to the chiropractor, rushed home and got dinner and off to Monkey's baseball game. Today Peanut had gymnastics this morning and then a field trip at school and then we did a picnic at the park with some friends. I still have to clean up the kitchen from dinner and breakfast but I am waiting for Peanut to fall asleep so I can go downstairs. If I leave before she is asleep she will stay up and we have a meeting at church tonight that will last until 9:30 or so and with all the running she NEEDS to get a nap today.

Just a side note about the birthday dinner for Red. We went to Chilis because the kids eat free on Tuesdays. Jeff and I decided that we were going to have the crew sing happy birthday to him. We have never done this for anyone's birthday before. He was so stinkin cute sitting there with his hands by his face. I don't think he knew what to think.

A Birthday Letter

This is the letter that Red will read from me in the morning when he wakes up as a SIX year old.

Dear Red,
Six years ago you became apart of our family. What a wonderful day! I can't image our family without you. Your smile lights up the room and your hugs and kisses are so very precious to me. You are such a blessing. You have so much energy and always keep me on my toes! I am so thankful that God choose our family for you to live, love, learn and grow in. I am so proud of you for doing a great job in school, learning God's word and hiding it in your heart, and being a good brother to your siblings. I love seeing the man you are growing up to be! You are so sweet and fun. I love you so very much. Happy Birthday!
Love, Mommy

I just can't get over how fast these years are flying by me. I feel like it was just yesterday that I was holding that 6lb 20z baby in my arms and now he is 48 inches tall and almost 50lbs. I am on the laptop that doesn't house all of our pictures otherwise I would post that award winning smile of his. It melts my heart every time. I am such a sentimental sap!!! Only on birthdays do I get this way...

This weather! And my menu

It has been absolutely crazy here. We have gone from 50 degree weather to 90! Then in a few days it is suppose to be in the 60's. A few minutes ago it just hailed here for 5 minutes. So strange. Here is a list of the meals I have planned out...
noodles and sauce
shrimp
chicken
stuffed hamburgers
breakfast type food (that is always a hit for some reason and so cheap!)
out to eat at Chipotle I have gift cards
roasted chicken salad (it has grilled zucchini and onions in it...yummy)

A day for the record!

It was absolutely gorgeous outside today and tomorrow is suppose to be the same great weather! I packed a picnic lunch for the kids and we ate at the park and played for a little over an hour with some friends. Then down for a quick nap and then to get the kids from school. Then it was a quick dinner and off to drop Monkey off at his baseball game and GG at soccer practice. Then we headed over to the game. I let the little kids play at the park while we wait for the game to start. As I was getting the kids ready to head over I noticed something was up with Peanut's shorts. I asked her to come here because I wanted to see what it was she told me she pooped in her pants. I looked and she sure did. SO GROSS. This kid has been potty trained since she was 18 months old and I can't even tell you the last time she has had an accident. I was not happy. I had to take her home, clean her up and get GG from practice so we could get back to the game to see Monkey pitch. He was on the schedule to pitch the 3rd inning. We only missed seeing the very first pitch he threw out. He got the first batter out. Then the second batter out. The third batter hit a ground ball right to Monkey he scooped it up and threw it to first getting the 3rd guy out! I was so proud of him. I was so nervous he would be one of those kids that walked a bunch of batters but he didn't! YAY. Then the second time he was up to bat (I wasn't there for the first) they switched pitchers right when he got up because that pitcher had walked 4 guys. They put in their best pitcher and he struck Monkey out. But he did get a few good swings in there!!! I'm just so proud of him for trying. When I went to pick GG up at practice her coach walked over and told me how she had picked up a hot pepper off the ground and ended up touching her face which caused it to sting. I will NEVER understand what would possess my 10 year old to pick up some random food item off the ground. REALLY? When do they out grow that nastiness??? Well that was pretty much all our excitement for the day.

Mother's Day

My second favorite day of the year! The first, of course, is my birthday ;) I really don't know why but every year on Mother's Day it just seems the kids are WAY more snuggly and lovey then normal. I mean my kids will fight over who gets to sit by my so we can snuggle and I love it. I love Mother's Day because the kids make me gifts at school instead of going out and buying something. Just a side note I love store bought gifts too! In the morning they typically make me breakfast in bed, accompanied by all the home(school)made gifts. This year Peanut is in preschool so she will be bringing me a gift too. Last year she was so sad as the other kids had gifts after breakfast. Not sure what we will do next year though! I also get some nice gift from Jeff. I told him this year all I wanted was for my diamond to be put back in my ring. Since I still have the ring in my possession thinking that isn't going to be happening tomorrow morning! No worries though because I will get it put back in soon. Anyways, this year we are getting together with my mom and grandma to celebrate. We are going to a Japanese restaurant which I'm not so sure how that is all going to work out with the kids and what they are going to eat. Also it is about 15 to 25 dollars a person, yikes! I just have to remember it isn't about the money it is about spending time with the people you love. This evening GG and I went to the store to buy all the mothers in our lives a gift...my mom, my step mom, my mother in law, and my grandma. We had fun. I also got myself some leggings to go with the Mother's Day gift I bought myself ;) I finally own a little black dress! Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out in bloggyland.

Menu Mon-Wed

I go shopping on Wednesday and so I have decided that I am going to start listing the meals I have planned for the week because I don't always make them on the day I have planned too. Sometimes it rains on the days we are suppose to grill and so I made something different.
Monday we had Fish on the grill with brown rice and Tuesday was Pub Burgers on the grill with salad and chips. The next 6 meals are as follows...
chicken on the grill,
lasagna,
chili,
pancakes with fruit toppings,
fish on the grill,
and hotdogs/brats on the grill.
Each of these meals with have a side or two with them. This should get me to next week Wednesday when I go shopping again!!!

Monkey

I could of easily tacked this on to the last post about baseball but I believe this is worthy of it's own post!!! Last night Monkey had his normal Monday night practice. During the practice the coach had all the kids on the team sign the game ball from the first game. Then he awarded that winning game ball to Monkey for his excellent plays at first, getting the guy out and catching the pop fly getting another guy out. What an honor!!! I am just so proud of him. He has really taken to this sport and is making friends with his teammates. This has just been such a great outlet for him and it is worth the effort of all the running we are now doing. I love watching him grow in new ways! I love that boy.

Games

Saturday morning bright and EARLY we got up and went to GG's second game. This team hasn't even had a practice yet! Oy. They got schooled big time. They were allowed to have an extra girl on the field. I think this loss was great for GG to go through. Up until now she has not wanted to listen to anyone's advice on how to play soccer. She is now more receptive to listening to the coaches and her father when they tell her how to do things. It was good for her to be taken down a notch! Though I will say it was sad to see them get killed out on the field it will make them all better in the end. At least that is the hope!

Monkey had his second game on Sunday. I think his confidence is building which is good. I know...I have one kid overly confident and the other not so much. Neither of them have played the sport they are doing but their personalities are just so different. Let's see the highlights of his game. He batted 3 times. First was a hit and got to first base. Then he stole second and then stole third. He didn't make it home because they got to 3 outs first. Second up at bat he stuck out but he tried to hit the ball. Third up to bat he hit the ball again and got on first. He didn't make it home that time either but he did his part :) He didn't make any great plays in the field like last game but he didn't royally mess up either which is good. He schedule the past few days have gone like this. Wed: Practice Fri: Game Sat: Practice Sun: Game Mon: Practice Thurs: Game We've been busy!!!

Family Fun Night

Tonight we took the kids to see an Arena Football team. Jeff had gotten 6 tickets from a business acquaintance. They were really good seats!!! As soon as we walked into the stadium they gave us each a gift. It was a bobble head...we had 6 but now we only have 5 one broke. Now, I will let you in on a little secret of mine...I'm not a big fan of football. But the game tonight was so fun to watch and fast paced unlike normal NFL games. Before the game started they had 4 High School football teams competing at tug-of-war one of the teams was the Pretzels, the High School I went too. The had several of these types of games through the game. At one point someone in our section was competing for some coupons. Our guy won so we all got coupons. Anyways, the things that stick out to me the most...getting on the jumbo-tron. I didn't even notice until GG started screaming, "MOM LOOK YOUR UP THERE!" Her and Monkey got on it and I went to pick up Peanut but they took it off of us before she got on. She started to cry. She was sad she didn't get to see herself on the big screen. The other thing was Red getting his arm, foot and hand stuck in the chair at different times throughout the night. After he had gotten his foot stuck I looked at him and asked, "How do you keep doing that?" Then I just couldn't contain my laughter. Seriously, how does one get so many body parts stuck in stadium chairs??? He says, "Stop making fun of me." I clarified that I'm not making fun of him, I'm laughing at him and told him he should laugh at himself. It was FUNNY. To end the night our team WON :) The kids did a pretty good job sitting there for 3 hours for this game though they did get candy and a pretzel to eat which helped. I think fun was had by all. It for sure created some family memories!!!

**I remembered another cute story. I took Peanut to the bathroom and as she was washing her hands she says Hi to the lady standing next to her. The lady asked what her name was and she told her. The lady said that is a really pretty name. Then Peanut asked her what her name was. She said, "Tonya" Peanut gave me the funniest look like "what that's my mommy's name" so I told the lady that was my name too. Then she asked Peanut how old she was and after Peanut answered she asked the lady how old she was!!! The look on that lady's face was hilarious. I told her that she opened that can of worms :) I love kids they have no idea of the rules on questions!

Baseball

Well my Monkey had his first game tonight. I was really nervous for him and his team because they were playing a team of all 4th graders. This is the first time he has played on a team like this...I know I've already said that but it's true! He played several different positions which was good for him. Early in the game a ball came right to him and he grabbed it and got it to first base to get the guy out. I was so proud of him. He did it! Then later on in the game a kid hit a fly ball and he caught it! Another out for my little man's first game. He batted twice and both times got home. We did get pictures but we all know I'm just not that good at getting them uploaded and on to the good ole blog. Anyways, when all was said and done his team won by 2 runs. I believe the final score was 7 to 5. What a great way to start the season beating a team who has older kids on it. He also had a great cheering section of grandma and grandpa M and Aunt Becky along with me and Jeff and his siblings. We actually had to tell the kids NOT to cheer for him when he got up to bat. We didn't want him to get nervous or distracted. But once he got on we let them loose! I was frozen by the end of the game but it was worth it to see him play his first game! So far my kids are rocking the organized sports :)

Menu Monday

Monday: Chicken Chili
Tuesday: Spaghetti Squash
Wednesday: Church not sure what yet!
Thursday: Beef Stroganoff
Friday: Grilled Chicken and veggies
Saturday: Veggie Stir Fry
Sunday: Breakfast foods

A day of Firsts!

This year Jeff and I decided to let the two oldest kids join leagues in the sport that they want to play. We have never done this before but the kids are so excited. Monkey decided he wanted to play baseball and GG wanted to play soccer. This morning Monkey had his first baseball practice, ever! Jeff stayed and helped with the practice. When they got home Jeff said Monkey did great. The coach kept asking him if he was sure he had never played before! I think he might have some natural talent :) The league he is in is a kid pitch league and one of the requirements is that at least one inning a first time player has to pitch. The coach said that person is Monkey! I think he is a little nervous about it but I think it will be really good for him to get to try his hand at pitching. As soon as they got home we jumped in the van and headed to GG's first soccer game. I am officially a soccer mom. I have been a wanna be for several years now but now can proudly wear the label. GG was a starter today which was pretty cool since she was a late register. I was amazed at how well she did out there. She reminded me a lot of her Auntie Liz playing. At the end of the game they put her in as goalie. That is one spot that I think is the toughest to play as you are responsible for making sure the ball doesn't get past you. She actually did really well stopping the ball and kicking. I think this is a great sport for her. Her team won! It was a great first game and her grandpa M came and watched her play which was extra special. Tonight after dinner we are going to be dying our Easter eggs and then I am going to put together the kids baskets. Another first is going to be that I am going to be hiding their baskets instead of just giving them to them. We shall see how that goes!!! I hope to post the kids in their Easter attire tomorrow.
***Edited to add that my hubby put pictures of the soccer game on his blog! You can check her out in action over there. His link is on the sidebar to the right!***

We're FINALLY on Break!

I am so happy about being on break but a little nervous too as that means me and the kids for all day everyday for the next week. Today was the first day I was going to get to sleep in but Jeff worked at 7am and when he left at 6:30am the door woke Peanut up and she REFUSED to go back to sleep. UGH. By 7 o'clock Red was awake too so I sent them both downstairs to play and be quiet. They weren't quiet, so sad. I finally got myself out of bed at 8:30am. I didn't fall back asleep but I also couldn't pull myself out of bed either. Jeff was home by 9:15. Then it was getting everyone ready for when the babysitter got here. Jeff and I had our small group with church today. I felt fine until after I ate lunch. We had this really deep dish pizza. First of all my body isn't used to eating pizza and when we do have it we normally get thin crust coupled with the fact that I drank a cup of coffee. I was dragging and thought it would help but I think it did more harm than anything else. As soon as we got home Jeff went back to work and I was home alone with the kids feeling not so good. I made them dinner and tried not to puke while making it. Then I decided that I should work out and see if that helped. It didn't. But I don't feel worse so that is good. I just hope it doesn't turn into anything. We have plans this week. Monday the two oldest are having sleepovers. One is going to their friends house and the other is having a friend over. Tuesday we have a playdate for Red. Wednesday is still undecided as to what we are going to do. Thursday we are hopefully having a picnic with Aunty Liz. Friday Peanut has gymnastic in the morning and then GG has a birthday party from 11am to 6pm! Saturday we have an Easter Egg hunt at church that I'm not sure if we are going to go to or not. We haven't even talked about it. At some point I want to decorate eggs with the kids and I have to get some grocery shopping done...hmmm.

Menu Monday

Monday: Jason's Deli (we had errands to run and no time to cook)
Tuesday: Homemade Chipotle YUM
Wednesday: Beef Sandwiches at church
Thursday: Pizza Casserole (so easy to make and a big crowd pleaser)
Friday: Asparagus Soup with Sourdough bread
Saturday: Chicken Salad
Sunday: Breakfast food

I really need to get back into the habit of making menus!

Happy

Today is GORGEOUS out! It was beautiful yesterday too but today was in the 80's temp wise. Jeff decided to wash both vehicles and I thought it would be a great day to actually clean out the van of all the clutter. I lost the diamond in my wedding ring on March 2nd. We looked everywhere and it was no where. I kept thinking to my self it is probably in the van and I'll find it when I clean the van out. That was the only thing that gave me piece about loosing such an expensive thing. Well within 5 minutes of cleaning out the van I FOUND my diamond. I was in such shock. Jeff had opened the side door on the drivers side to start the cleaning process. I unbuckled Peanut's car seat as I had a feeling the diamond might have fallen off while strapping her in, but it wasn't there. The next place I looked was the drivers side foot mat. I pulled it out carefully and started to inspect it. Sure enough there sat my diamond in one of the groves. I couldn't believe it. I told Jeff I found it and he was like "let me see" because I seriously had only started cleaning the van and done two areas. I had stopped cleaning the van to find a safe place to put the diamond. Jeff thought I was done since I had accomplished my mission of finding my missing diamond! But I did come back out and finish the job. The crazy thing is that I have looked at that mat many times thinking that is where the diamond had to be and each time I didn't see it. I guess the mat had to be brought out into the light. Bringing things into the light is always the way to go even if it isn't the easiest way to go. Now I just have to find a place that will fix the ring for me!!!

A note to see the Teacher!

It doesn't put fear in me now that I am a parent but it sure was upsetting to Monkey when I had to go see his teacher. I went to the cafeteria like I do every Wednesday and say hi to the two older kids before I pick up the two younger ones from school. Today Monkey was almost in tears as he told me his teacher wanted to see me TODAY! I reassured him I would go talk to her before I got the kids as I had about 10 minutes, he was relieved. It is actually a pretty funny story why I had to go see her, when I called to tell Jeff what happened he just laughed! You want to know? Okay, I'll tell you! Monkey's class gets packets of past work sent home, about every 6 weeks, so we can see his progress and then we sign it. The last one he got sent home his dad and him got in a conversation about cursive. So Jeff used the packet to show Monkey the correct way to sign your name in cursive. However, since he took his time and did it the right way it looked more like a 3rd or 4th grader signed Monkey's packet. The teacher questioned Monkey about it and he told her what happened. She didn't believe him. She showed him the other packets that his dad has signed and the handwriting didn't match. Poor kid was terrified. She told me he stood there completely wide eyed because she didn't believe him! I had to go in and confirm that in fact his dad signed his packet! The sad part about this incident is that there have been some kids in his class that don't want to get in trouble for their school work that they forge their parents signatures. I totally don't blame her for questioning the signature!

Content

If you are wanting to see pictures of the dining room construction check out my husband's blog he put all the pictures up there :) But I got on here to write about something that I sometimes struggle with but am currently not. It is contentment. I am just so happy with everything in my life right now. I am surrounded by wonderful friends and family. Though I do wish my sister-in-law Virginia lived closer so that our kids could play more. I digress. I know I have recently written about some medical stuff on here but even with all that I feel so blessed. We have a house that is safe and clean for us to live in. My kids are healthy...and I really mean SUPER healthy. Seriously I can't remember the last time one of the kids threw up in our house, such a blessing. Last night we had a thunderstorm and Peanut came in our room at, I have no idea what time, in the middle of the night scared. She says, "Mommy I'm scary can I sleep with you." Isn't that just the cutest thing ever. That is how she tells us she is scared. As I helped her into bed with my eyes closed because I was trying to stay as much asleep as possible. I felt her unclothed body. I asked her where her jammies where. To which she replies, "I was cold so I took them off." This is completely unique to her in our family that is. None of my other kids have ever confused cold/hot and hunger/thirsty like she has. I don't really want to correct her because I think it is just too stinkin cute, even though I do sometimes. She can't go to school thinking hot is cold! I am just really cherishing my kids and their little personalities lately. The two oldest kids since they are in school full time I have started giving them each an evening that we just sit on the couch the two of us and catch up with each other. I learn so much about them and I just think they are some really great kids! Once all the kids are in school full time I will have 4 nights of my week booked with each kid. Well I need to end this and get to school it is the day I work in the cafeteria which I love because I get a glimpse of the kids in a social setting with friends.

Under Construction

Now that we are in the season of Spring it seems to be the home improvement time of year. At least for us anyway! Our dining room floor has been ripped out by my strong husband and now we are just waiting for his dad to come over and put the new hardwood floor in that matches the living room. I am so excited not to have that transition piece between the two rooms. As Jeff was taking the parquet flooring out I was talking about taking the pocket doors out too. It would give us like 3 more inches of room in there. I don't think that is going to happen :( Oh well. The room will be painted and a new floor and trim so that is a nice face lift. The only thing left to do in that room is get rid of the wall a/c unit but that is going to be a little more in-depth with wall patching, insulting, and replacing the siding outside (which we have in the crawl). After the dining room is done minus the a/c unit being removed we are moving on to the small bathroom downstairs. We are also waiting for nicer weather to refinish the hardwood on the stairs and upstairs hallway but we want to be able to really air out the house during that process. Once those three things are done I think we are going to need a break from having our house disheveled. But we'll see maybe it will motivate us to do the entry way floor and doors and the kids bathroom upstairs?! More than likely those will happen next year...one room at a time we are making this house OURS :)