This week...

I haven't had much time to myself so I am making some time now to blog. Jeff left for a week long training in another state on Sunday (Mother's Day). He left about 2:30pm. Since then two of our children have lost a tooth. I'm not good at being the tooth fairy and with everything else on my plate this week I forgot one morning. Ugh. Monday it was up and getting the kids ready for school and to school on time. Then Peanut and I had some serious grocery shopping to do. Come home and unload said groceries. Then go outside and enjoy the beautiful weather practicing riding her bike without the training wheels. She is getting better but doesn't quite have it completely. While I was picking up the toys outside that I had asked her to help with she went inside and gave herself a hair cut! Which I wrote about on the last post. Then get the kids from school. We had an hour to get homework done and dinner eaten before we had to head out the door for Monkey's baseball game at 5:30. We got home around 8:45...grandpa took us out for ice cream afterward. Tuesday up and out the door and then come home and clean the house that hasn't been cleaned or vacuumed in days, plus a load of laundry that needed to be done so that Monkey's uniform was clean for his next game. My mom-in-law comes over to try our blendtec...which was so fun! After lunch we ran to the library to take back a movie and get a book I have waiting for me. Then more work on riding the bike before we have to get the kids from school. GG had track practice until 5:30, so the boys came home and did homework and ate dinner before we had to take Monkey to practice and pick GG up from practice bring her home and feed her and get her started on her homework. Gave the little kids baths before heading back out to pick up Monkey from practice. GG took a shower while we were gone so that Monkey could get one when he got home. Put the three youngest kids to bed, after Red and I researched Ruth Wakefield for his project due next week, then helped GG with her science fair project until 10pm. Realize that I wanted to take a bath and soak but was too tired at that point so decided I would get up 10 minutes earlier and take a shower in the morning. Wednesday get up take kids to school go to Bible study and then work in the cafeteria. However, at Bible study Peanut had an accident which is SO unlike her but still it happened and I didn't have extra clothes. My friend has 4 boys one her age so she lent us a pair of gray sweat pants. Peanut was NOT happy about the clothes. She refused to come out of the bathroom. I finally got her out and she was fine. Then she flipped out on me again at school when I took her to the Kap room. She said, "They are going to laugh at me." I assured her that no one would know she had on someone else's pants or that she peed her pants. But if she didn't stop crying they were all going to be looking at her because she was making a scene. No one made fun of her, she told me when I picked her up! We got home around 1:30 and decide Peanut needs a nap today because Monkey has another game tonight. This afternoon will be another round of quick homework doing, lunch making, dinner eating and out the door for Monkey's game. Then get home and put the kids to bed so that I can decorate Red's room for his birthday which is tomorrow! I hope I don't forget the ice cream sandwiches in the morning. Thursday Peanut has her last class before her recital this weekend. Then after school Red has baseball practice and a spring concert at school. So it will be another crazy busy day. Friday should be pretty laid back once I get the kids to school. I do have to work from 1:30 to 4:30. But once I get the kids from school we will eat and I will put on a movie until Jeff gets home! Then we can tag team this weekend ;) Which believe it or not is WAY more crazy than this week! I look forward to Friday...and give single parents a big hand for all they do! Being the only parent is exhausting work.

Mother's Day

Well this year was different then all the others I have ever celebrated. We got up early and went to early service and then went to the flee market with my in-laws. We walked the whole place which took about 2 hours and got some good finds one being a new bike for Red's birthday coming up soon. It wasn't a super hot day out but I got some sun! The rest of the day was pretty laid back because I ended up getting a headache but the kids were really good so that helped big time! I got some really cute homemade gifts from the kids...all but Peanut because I didn't make anything with her and she didn't go to Sunday school at church to make anything there she was pretty sad.

Other than that today Peanut gave me a present of cutting her hair. Ugh it looks so scraggly and she has her ballet recital this coming weekend. Great timing!

I'm still alive...

Yeah baseball season has started which means total BUSYness! Here is a glimpse of our upcoming week...
Tomorrow: Peanut has pictures for ballet and Monkey has a baseball game at 1pm. Then night church.
Monday: track practice was canceled :)
Tuesday: Monkey has practice and GG has a track meet
Wednesday: JAM
Thursday: Red and Monkey both have games at the SAME time! It is Red's first game of the season. And GG has track practice.
Friday: GG has a birthday party and we have the last Friday JAM of the year!
Saturday: GG track meet (morning) and Monkey has a ball game (evening).
Sunday: Mother's Day...I get spoiled ;)
 
Just in case you were wondering JAM is the Junior High Ministry at our church. Jeff and I help out with the youth!  So that is just a glimpse of our crazy schedule as the season gets going there is something every night it seems. We are so blessed to have two vehicles. Only 5 more weeks of school!!! And we got our pool pass renewed, oh yeah!

The last of the trip update...this may be long!

Tuesday the men went golfing and us girls took the kids to the San Antonio Zoo. It is ranked 5th in the states. This was the only picture of all four kids together and I realized I didn't take that many pictures while we were there! oops
 
That night for dinner we went to a Bar-BQ place that ended up having live entertainment on Tuesday nights, score! Peanut loved dancing to it and get a few people to dance with her :)

Since this was the last night with my Aunt Ellen and Uncle Roger we had to get a picture with them!

Wednesday morning we got up and started our trip back home. We stopped in Georgetown, Tx to go in the caves. That was pretty cool, the kids loved it. Just a few pictures from there...

 We got to touch only this section...

 group shot minus Jeff

 There was water running down that thing behind the kids it was really cool. The water was super clear! After the caves we drove to Oklahoma where we spent the night. Thursday we drove to Branson, Mo getting us there around 3pm so we had some time to explore and relax. For dinner that night we went to The Hard Luck Diner where the waiters and waitresses sing to you. Our waiter sang, "I can't help falling in love with you" to Peanut. It was super cute! So glad Jeff was able to capture it.

The next day, Friday, we did a ton of fun things! One of which was the old time photos that you see around my blog but I will add one to this post because I doubt I will keep them up for years to come! Enjoy some pictures...

 we went go carting and GG was the only one tall enough to drive her own car and she was thrilled!

 The rest of us doubled up.

 Then we did the bumper boats so the three older kids could each drive something.

 Peanut with my dad, getting sprayed by Monkey. My favorite picture of this activity!

 The boys in a water battle :)

all 8 of us in full color

Then we rode the Ducks. Once we got in the water the "captain" let each of the kids drive the duck. We do have a picture with each kid driving but trying to keep this somewhat decent in length! 

After we did the Ducks we went to The Dixie Stampede with the horses but cameras were allowed. It is a lot like Medieval Times where you eat with your hands. I think the funniest thing was when they dropped the whole chicken onto Peanuts plate for her to eat. That was really fun and I think the kids really enjoyed that experience. I just wish I could of taken pictures. After dinner we went mini golfing. I took pictures but they didn't turn out good because of the movement they were somewhat blurry. But you all know what mini golfing looks like. And that concludes the day in Branson, Mo. It was a fun filled day.

  

Saturday we got up and drove to St. Louis to visit with my oldest brother and some of his kids. We also saw the Arch but didn't go in it the line was WAY too long. But the kids enjoyed seeing it up close. Here are some fun pictures we took.

 see that clump of people? That's our kids :)

 up close to the Arch

 That is what it looks like looking up

 Jeff and I by the Arch!

We got home late on Saturday night and it took about a week to get back to normal non-vacation life! I also want to say that our kids did a great job on the road trip since we were in the van for about 40 hrs getting there and back.

Part 2 of our trip!

We've been home a week now and I finally feel like things have settled down and we're back to normal around here! I want to start this post off with the video that didn't work in the last post because I want people to see it :)

Moving along...on Monday we went to the Alamo and River Walk in San Antonio. I thought it was super neat to hear the story of the Alamo, because I honestly didn't remember it from school. Here are some cool shots we got at the Alamo...

For lunch we ate on the River walk

After lunch my dad and step-mom took the kids to the Children's museum and Jeff and I went on a segway tour of San Antonio. It was SUPER cool. Once I got over my fear of falling off or getting hurt I had a blast. We had a private tour because the other couple canceled, score for us! First pictures of us on our segways!

 Jeff getting his lesson

 Me getting my lesson

 In front of the Alamo 

Now what the kids did while we had fun :)

It worked out great that the San Antonio's Children's Museum was right across the street from where Jeff and I had our segway tour. And bonus with our museum pass they all got in for free!

Then we walked back down the the Riverwalk and took a boat ride and got some ice cream! YUM!
 

Once again this is getting really long it will have to be continued...and I'm not even adding all the pictures we took!

Our long awaited Texas Trip!

Remember last year how Jeff and I went to the Bahamas? The cover story for the surprise cruise to the Bahamas was that we were going to Texas. Needless to say that the kids were disappointed that they didn't get to go to Texas last year so we made it right this year! Friday (30th) we got up and loaded up the rental van and started out on our road trip. We did as much driving as we could that first day so that we could get to my Aunt's for dinner on Saturday.
 

 This is how the kids watched movies!

Not sure why he is making this face but since he did I am putting it online :)

We were super excited to cross into Texas that we stopped to get some pictures. As you can tell it was super bright outside and this is the best shot we got! 

Sunday we went to Sea World, I hadn't been there in years and I actually really didn't remember much of it. It was so fun! We went to all the shows and rode some of the rides. Here are some of my favorite pictures for that day....

 watching the dolphins eat

 my dad and Red

 Peanut was so excited to meet these Sesame Street Characters!

 Before the 4D movie

 

 Peanut in a cool tunnel

The kids watching one of the shows at Sea World!

(the video that was here isn't working and I don't have time to fiddle with it just yet...check back to see Peanut on down)

 

 Notice: Peanut has her hands in the air the whole way down. She is in the back row all the way over to the right.

 This is what they looked like after that water ride!

To be continued...

Booked

My hair appointment for Friday that is! I haven't had a hair cut in, um, years?! That is really sad. The other day (about 2 weeks ago) I was sitting on the couch and looking at the ends of my hair. They were split and dead and just a hot mess. SO I got out my little nail scissors and started cutting all the split ends I saw. No need for a hair cut I just fixed my problem right?! WRONG. A week later I was looking again and saw a bunch I missed so I repeated the above process. I thought that should be good enough now. Well it wasn't I am still finding them. Which brought me to my breaking point, I need a real hair cut that gets like 3 inches of hair off of my head. So I did it. I called and made an appointment. I guess $75 for let's say two years is good for hair care.

On the topic of hair Peanut was outside riding her bike. We are currently working on her riding two wheels. It isn't going so well. Anyway, I was putting on her helmet and was looking at the ends of her hair and I saw split ends. I didn't think little kids could have that?! I asked if she wanted me to cut her hair and make it healthier so it could grow longer and be like Rapunzel. She was all about it. I took her to the bathroom and cut about an inch off of her hair. It looks SO much better now. GG needs a trim too. The girls are both growing their hair out to either donate or sell, so they've got a ways to go before they have the length needed. Haha I just wrote a post about hair. I have other things on my mind but I'm not willing to share them. But I wanted to write.

Oh in other news...I just got the book The Vow, you know the book that the movie is based off of? I read it in two days. It was so good. Nothing like the movie. I actually think I liked the book better because it was a true story. Though it has put a fear of driving in me. And we are taking a road trip this year. OY 

Ahhh

Let me catch my breath. This weather has been absolutely gorgeous which means lots of days playing outside and all together busyness! On Friday night was the Sports banquet for the fall teams. Since GG was on the cheerleading squad she was able to attend. This was our first of many sports banquets I'm sure. It was really cute. And the best part is she won the Charger Spirit Award. I was SO proud of her. What a great award to win as a CHEERleader. Spirit is definitely something you should have an abundance of! I still haven't gotten a picture of her with her trophy...see we have been *that* busy. It is a really quality trophy with her name on it!

Jeff and I had been talking about whether we were going to go look at a van on Saturday all throughout the week with neither of us really committing to spending our Saturday van shopping again our curiosity won out! It was the best priced van we have seen for such low miles.The down side was it was an hour drive from our house. Since we had a ton of time in the van on the way there Jeff said he spent most of it praying that God would show us a clear sign if this was "the one". When we got there we were immediately greeted and shown where the van we were going to look at was. As we drove to the van the fan in our van started acting really funny. We turned the heat off and the fan started blower higher. It was so weird. First sign it was time to get a newer van. We looked at the new van and took it for a test drive. We were sold. Then we started talking price and they dropped the price a lot right off the bat and took our van for more than we were looking for and they gave us a FULL tank of gas. Which one dealership said they would absolutely would not do. This place was so nice and friendly. We drove away with a van with the lowest miles we have ever own in a vehicle. The only funny part of the day was the fact that all the kids loved the new van and wanted us to buy it and when we actually bought and we were driving away three of them started crying over leaving the old van. OY.

Another thing that stuck out in my head about the day was how many of the employees complimented us on the kids behavior. At least 5 people said something about how well behaved they were. I was very proud of them as we were there for at least 4 hours. Ok I'll tell you my secret. The three older kids have a ds and Peanut uses Jeff's ipod and we let them play games in situations like these. They don't have access to their ds at all the times so it makes it special when they get to play. Also they don't get bored playing them. It has worked great for us. I'm not a big fan of letting kids sit infront of a screen as much as they want. And it works in our house!

Today was Monkey's first practice of the season and it was beautiful outside. I think they are going to have a really great team this year. All the boys looked like they knew what they were doing. I am really excited for the games to start up. Plus, a boy whose mom I became friends with last season is on the same team! Good times. This week will probably drag though because on Friday I am heading out of town with some friends from church for a girls weekend/moms conference. I am looking forward to some free time.

sicky

Sickness always throws me for a loop lately. Like when the school nurse calls and asks you to come pick up one of your kids from school early because they have a fever or is puking. Thankfully we only get the calls to pick up for fevers and not puking. But those calls always seem to come at the worst possible times. For instance, today 10 minutes after Peanut fell asleep for her nap, which she only naps on church nights (Wed and Fri) because they are late nights, the phone rings. I finally found someone to sit at our house while I ran to school. It is now almost 3 hours after she came home from school and she is completely fine. Her head doesn't hurt anymore and she was running around with her brothers outside. Here's the kicker she can't go to school tomorrow even if her fever never returns tonight. So here I am with my 11 year old at home, the rest of the family is on their way to church for the evening. I guess a quiet night at home with my oldest child is just what the doctor ordered. 

So blessed

This post is mostly for me to remind myself just how blessed I am. Sometimes I lose sight of the blessings. In our Sunday School class we were talking about this topic and one of the men was sharing that when we go through trails/struggles is when our relationship with God grows and how that is the biggest blessing that we can receive. I have been thinking a lot about that. When things aren't going exactly the way we want or things are just hard. First do we stop and lean on God through it and secondly do we count our blessings of the growth in our relationship to Christ through it? I would love to answer those questions both with YES. But if I really stop and think and I'm truly honest I think I do maybe 50% of the time or maybe even only 40% of the time. Let's just use tonight as an example. A typical day would be me picking up the kids and getting home at 3:50ish and Jeff pulling in around 4:10ish. Jeff would go over homework with the kids while I make dinner. Then we eat together and do the rest of the night together with the kids. Today I got the kids but Jeff didn't get home until 5:50 just in time for dinner, but he was still talking on the phone for work. He made it to the table right before everyone was done eating. He quickly ate and then left for a church meeting that will bring him home around 11pm tonight. Compared to my "normal" night these nights are somewhat stressful. Here is the blessing I can see in it. Today Red stayed home with me to go to a friend from church's birthday party. I had asked the teacher for his Monday homework last week so he was completely done with all homework for tonight. He is typically the kid we spend the most time helping and checking his homework. Thank you Jesus for this small blessing. There are others like it isn't shower night so it is a little more laid back. But I want to be able to count my blessings in the hard times and realize that they come from my relationship with God growing stronger!