Thankful for so many things!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Since our families didn't plan anything for Thanksgiving day we decided to stay here in IN for the holiday. We invited some friends over for dinner. They also don't have family nearby, so it was a great opportunity to share our feast! It was great fun and wonderful food! We finished the day off with some movie watching and Wii playing! It was a really nice day!
We're so thankful for all of our dear friends, here and back home in IL and all of our family who we missed!

Our weekend was supposed to be spent in IL with family, but plans changed when our oldest kiddo came down ill. He has been fighting off a high fever all weekend, so we just hung out at home instead. It turned into a productive weekend, with dh and I working on some projects around the house.

I scored some good deals on Black Friday, amongst all of the crazies and managed to get a lot of our shopping done. We went and chose a Christmas tree and decorated it on Saturday. It looks lovely and is full of all of our favorite ornaments and so many memories. That's my favorite part of this time of year, looking back at the memories and talking about each ornament and where it came from. We have so many beautiful and meaningful things on our tree!

Today we're enjoying hanging out at home, smelling lasagna cooking and just spending time as a family. What a beautiful weekend we've had! Sending get well wishes to our little man and hoping that everyone else stays well!

I hope you all had a delightful holiday with loved ones and good food! We're so grateful for each of you!

May you have a blessed December!

We Honor You!

Sending out a prayer and thanks to all who serve our country, especially our dearest friends! Your families are so strong and we're so grateful for all that you do.

I know Veteran's Day isn't until Tuesday, but you all mean so much to us and we think of you throughout the year, not just on Veteran's Day!

THANK YOU!!

The C-Man

So, not only did our first baby have a birthday this month...our last baby also had one! Talk about making a momma feel old!

Our youngest is now 4 and that just makes me want to cry. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he is now more independent and is able to enjoy a lot of the same things that the older kids do. It's just so bittersweet to see your youngest turn 4. To me 4 is just a turning point. You've said good-bye to that toddler stage and you're moving ahead to the big boy point when they start school and want to do big kid things. Luckily, Connor is still very lovey and enjoys cuddles from time to time. I hope that never changes! He is certainly our love bug. He's the first to run up and give me a hug in the mornings and he is always offering kisses throughout the day. He's a charmer, that's for sure!

Connor (aka C-man in our house) is very friendly and outgoing. He'll talk to just about anyone, which is scary sometimes! He loves to try new things and is a definite magnet for danger! This child will climb anything, without fear. I can't even count the number of times in a day that he makes me gasp or grab my chest for fear of my heart stopping. There is never a dull moment with him around!

From day one Connor has always thought he could do anything that the older kids do. He'll prove it! I love that he is so willing to take on a new challenge and is excited about opportunities. I hope he keeps that enthusiasm as he grows up.

I think C-man will be our class clown. I fear that I'll get calls from the teacher one day soon saying that Connor was acting out in front of the class or trying to convince his classmates to do something really crazy. I hope I'm wrong on that one, but he is sure the entertainer of the family. He loves music and will dance to just about any tune. He plays the invisible drums on his knees while nodding his head to the beat. He's a riot!

Connor is proud to be 4 and can't wait to turn 5! (slow down little buddy!)

His favorite gifts were the many tools he got from his friends and family. He has been fixing everything in the house for weeks! He's been working hard on writing his name and practicing his numbers as well. We're so proud of the big boy he's becoming.

At one point we thought we were going to only have two children in our family. We considered stopping at that point. I felt in my heart that we were meant to have one more child. I'm so thankful that we were blessed with this bright and delightful child. What a way to complete our family.

Nate the Great!

Well, it's official...our first baby is growing up! He is 8 now. EEK!! Time has certainly flown by.

He is such a good boy. He is honest, hardworking, loyal, fair and friendly to everyone.

His first real word and favorite thing in the world was 'basketball'. He still loves sports and playing outside. He is a natural athlete and wonderful student. Nate is always smiling and has always been concerned with others and how they're feeling. He can be a jokester and will do anything to make you laugh! He's even turning into quite the smarty pants. ; ) Definitely got that from his dad!

The poor kid was stuck with a brace on his arm during the first part of September, so we held off having his friend party for a while. We knew he wouldn't have as much fun while sporting a brace and having to protect his arm. His friend party is finally going to happen this weekend! He is super excited!!

We did celebrate as a family on his birthday, made a cake and went out to dinner! Last weekend we went back to IL to have a party with the whole family for both boys. Nathan was so thrilled when he got Illini football tickets for his birthday from grandma and grandpa. He had a great time at the game! We're so proud of him and we can't wait to see what lies ahead for this amazing boy! What a blessing he is to our family.

Project Complete! YEAH!

Well, E is still loving gymnastics! I need to remind myself to take some pictures next week. She has a blast! So glad that she has found something that she really enjoys and wants to continue with.

N got the brace off of his arm and was able to start playing (carefully) with his football team again. He had to wear the brace for the game last week just to protect it. He was so thrilled to be back on the field again! He's not a sideline kinda guy, he wants to be in the action!

He also started swimming lessons again and is really enjoying that.

C is excited to have his 4th bday next week! He's having a party with some of his little friends and he can't wait. It will be his first official 'friend party'. He chose Cars plates, napkins and cups for the celebration. I can't believe my baby is going to be 4!! WAH...

We completed the float for the parade. It went really well! The kids had a blast and the weather held out for us too. It was actually really hot and sunny that day. I'm so glad to have that project behind us! Today I took some flowers and a balloon to the art teacher who helped create the stars for the float. They looked amazing! She dedicated a lot of time and effort to this project.

We're very excited to have company coming this weekend! My sister and her family are going to come and visit! We can't wait!!

Feeling better..

I'm feeling a lot better now! I've chosen to keep moving on and to keep my head up. I'm going to focus on surrounding myself with good friends, true friends and people who treat people right!

We had a nice time at the fall festival this weekend and we finished our float for the parade. : ) It went very well! The kids all had a great time riding on the float, and some walked also. They were chanting as they rode. It was quite cute! What a reward for the hard work that we all put into it. We celebrated last night since the project was finally complete!! Oh and we finished the night off with one last funnel cake from the fall festival! YUMMY!

The kids are all doing great! They're loving school and can't wait for their cousins to come and stay with us next weekend. We're hoping to go to the zoo and we'll enjoy lots of play time!

Today we've got to focus on getting this house in order. It's been totally neglected during this parade project.

Off to start a new week!!

Our busy week!

HI all!
Hope you are all enjoying the start of the week! I can't believe it's only Tuesday. We've done so much just in the past two days, it seems we should be further through the week. School is going great here. The kids are loving it! I'm enjoying it also. They really thrive on routine and it is so much more scheduled for us this time of year. Though we do have something going on constantly! The calendar is full every day.

E is adjusting to 1st grade nicely. She's following in big brother's footsteps I think. She has gotten perfect scores on all of her math and spelling tests so far and even got put in the challenge group for spelling and reading. N is doing well also. He also has continued with his A+ scores on everything. The kid just amazes me. It comes so naturally to him. E, however, has to work at it a bit harder. He can do math in his head that he probably wouldn't officially learn for several more years in school. Crazy stuff! He has a memory that just blows my mind. He'll remember stats from a game or how to spell a football players last name (that he only saw once a month ago). We love both of their teachers, so that helps as well. I've spent every free moment in their classrooms and I'm enjoying it very much. Though it is exhausting. I help E's teacher on Mondays, N's teacher on Wednesdays and then have my parent meeting at the school on Fridays. Tuesdays and Thursdays (and this week Monday) I also have daycare kids. Throw in all of the sports practices and games and homework and there is little time for anything else. Except of course the PTO project. ugh...

This parade float project is keeping me so busy. Did I mention that I'm helping with a parade float committee for our school? We have a local fall festival (in two weekends) that includes a parade. Our school always has children walk in the parade with a banner, but this year our principal decided she wanted us to have a parade float! So, myself and a few other ladies volunteered to pull it all together.
Every day I've had something that had to be completed for it. Last night I brought home something like 120 pieces of cardboard diamonds that had to be pieced together to form 20-some star shapes. Then, they had to be bent to shape (sort of like the 3-D stars you see hanging on people's houses and such) and taped together with duct tape. So, that took up most of the evening after gymnastics. A friend of mine helped me, so that split up the work. Thank goodness for her help!! Today I had to deliver all of the giant stars to school and then had to go into the teacher's workroom at school to make some die-cut letters for the giant crayons that we made this weekend for the float. Oh and the hubbies stepped up to help us paint the giant crayons (with spray paint) so that was a lifesaver as well! Then, we just had to hot glue the tops on (styrofoam soda cups from the gas station) and put black electrical tape on as the 'black lines' on the crayons.
It is like a never ending project! It will be fun to see it all come together though. I'm excited to see the end result! Our school's motto is "The sky is the limit to what we can learn!". So, our float is based on that theme. We've got a sign in the middle with the sun and our motto painted on it. Then, we made some giant crayons out of cardboard carpet rolls to put on the float. We're going to surround the trailer with hay bales (to form a safety boundary for the kids) and then cover them with blue tarps (for the sky). Then, we're going to put clouds on the outside of the boundary to make it look like the kids are sitting amongst the clouds. Also included will be the 24 (or so) giant class stars (the ones we assembled last night) that each class has decorated. This will represent the 24 classes in our school. And, that's only for Kindergarten, First and Second grades! We live in a smallish town and that is a LOT of primary school kids. I think we have something like 581 kids? Crazy!
Anyways, I can't wait to see the float all completed. We had minimal budget allowances from the PTO money, so we had to work with some donations, creative minds and a lot of hard work.
Goodness that turned into a novel! Sorry! Guess I had a lot to say today.

Otherwise in our week, E started gymnastics last night and totally loved it! She has found her passion, I do believe. She's been doing tumbling at home for a while now, so I thought we should sign up for some more formal training. She was getting mighty dangerous at home and was going to break her neck!

N watched his team's first football game last Saturday. He was so sad on the sidelines with his fractured wrist. : ( Poor guy. He was trying hard to be a good sport, but he was just downright bummed. He even turned his head to hide his tears at one point. It broke my heart. Praying that he can get the brace off soon and take part in some games this season. Football is his favorite sport and it is so fun to watch him play. He has a natural talent for this sport in particular and it is just a joy to see him play. He also starts swimming in a week or so.

C has been helping me out with all of my errands and tasks and things around here. He loves preschool and loves hanging out with his preschool friends here at home (the daycare kids). He has also been impressing me with his math skills and ability to think quickly. I'm not sure where these kids got the brain power that they have, but they're certainly making up for what I'm lacking. lol..I feel like day by day I lose more of my memory skills and all of my quick thinking ability.

I'm going to a big concert up in Indy this weekend, I'm excited! I'm going to see Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Leann Rimes and several other acts. Should be a lot of fun! I enjoy all types of music, and I've wanted to see Kenny Chesney for years. The tickets are my bday gift from my good old husband. : ) My good friend and I are going for a girl's night. I've never gone to anything like that without my hubby. It will be a bit strange. I sort of wish he could go (and her husband as well). Would have been a fun date night!
Ok, enough rambling. I told myself I was going to spend my time cleaning and organizing while the kids napped. Gotta get to it! I have an interview with a prospective daycare client on Thursday. Gotta get the house in order!

1st Day of School 2008!

All three kids looking sweet and ready to go! Poor C-man, it wasn't his first day he'll have to wait until tomorrow! But, he grabbed a backpack and was ready to go!
These two are old pros at this!
She's getting so tall!! My big 1st grader!
My handsome 2nd grader. Can you tell he didn't want any pictures taken? Stinker!

It's upon us again...the first day of school! Bittersweet feelings come along with this day. I'm sort of sad to see the kids go off to school. I have enjoyed the time with them this summer and we've done a lot of really fun things. But, they're tired of being together 24/7, so this will be a nice 'break' for them too. (and for mom!)

Here are a few pics from their first day. It was a bit chilly this morning (in the low 50's) so they had to take jackets. I'm READY for fall!

As for me, I was looking really forward to a calm and low key fall semester. I have cut back on the amount of daycare kids that I will have. We are planning lots of fun field trips, library story hours and much more since our group will be relatively small. Of course, then a little snag was thrown into it all. I was offered a job at the preschool where my children have all attended. I had to decline the position after much contemplation and prayer. Although it is something I would LOVE to do, I just don't feel like the timing is right for us. I still have a young one at home and want to be here for him. Plus, dh took a more stressful job and he really needs me at home more to tend to the every day things. So, I somewhat regretfully turned down the full time position they had offered me. Well, fast forward to this week and they called back with a second offer. This time it was a part time offer. Sounds great, right? Well, it was until I found otu it was the classroom that my youngest ds will be in!! He doesn't do well in the same classroom with me, so I don't think it's going to work out. I'm hopeful that I can take them up on a position next year or the following year. They made it sound as if they're going to continue to offer me a position anytime they have one open. I hope I'm making the right choice. I feel so torn. I love what I am currently doing and feel quite spoiled with my schedule this fall. I have to make a final decision tomorrow on the job. ugh...

Anyways, things are going well here. The kids had a fantastic first day of school! They both had glowing reviews of their day. I couldn't be more pleased with the way it started. DD even got up out of bed without any complaints and got ready without fighting me. WOOHOO!! I call that a huge success! Lets hope that tomorrow will be a repeat. Little man goes tomorrow for his first official day at preschool also. He's excited!

We spent the weekend in IL visiting my family, it was great to see them and catch up a bit!

Have a great week all!

Summer and stuff...

Summer is gradually winding down for us. We only have a few weeks left and then school starts again. Bittersweet feelings about that. I'm anxious for the kids to get back into the swing of things and I know they miss school and their friends. But, I'm not looking forward to dealing with the daily battles that we'll face in the mornings getting out the door. It's quite the challenge getting these children (or should I say our middle child) ready and out the door on time. At least we have a little longer before we have to deal with all of that drama.

The past couple of weeks we've piddled with things around the house and hung out a lot. Dh is really stressed at work, but hopefully that will pass soon. He's been busy putting up a new yard shed for our lawn tools and things. YEAH!! Can't wait to get some junk out of the garage. Maybe some day we can actually park both vehicles in our three car garage. ;) Wouldn't that be something! I would so love to have the people from 'Mission: Organization' or some other show come out and do a makeover on the garage. It's embarrassing and just stresses me out. I can barely stand to walk out there anymore.

I was awarded a wonderful trip to the ER recently due to chest pains and shortness of breath. Scared me to death considering my history of pulmonary embolism. Good news...not a heart attack or blood clot! Bad news...noone knows what's causing it. They're trying a variety of things and we'll play the wait and see game now. The chest pain has subsided for the most part, but I'm having a lot of discomfort in my limbs and some twitching in my face. I know, great variety of symptoms. Oh and I have to get fitted for some special compression type stockings for my lower legs. YIPPY! So, not only do I feel like a decrepit old lady, now I can look like one any time I want to! ;)

We also managed to take middle child (dd) in for an emergency visit (at the regular office, thank goodness). She fell off of the monkey bars at the park and landed flat on her wrist/arm. OUCHY! The cry she let out was one of those cries. I just knew she had broken it. So, I packed the van full of all of my own children and the daycare children and off we went. Lucky for us it was lunch hour at the dr. office, so there were no other patients there and they got us right in. I'm sure the Dr. appreciated being called in from lunch. oops... They did an x-ray and she didn't break it. Thank goodness! Just bruised pretty badly. They put it in a brace and sent us on our way.
We've had quite a couple of weeks!
Ok, so I didn't intend to make this into a gripe fest. Just turned into one. My apologies. I'm sure I've done a great job of cheering anyone up who chooses to read this.

We did have some happy moments though! There was a little lost dog that found it's way to our house the other night. We walked it around the neighborhood looking for the owner. Noone recognized the dog so we brought it home. Kept it for the evening and planned to take it to the shelter the next day. This dog made itself at home while it was here. Jumping up on the couch, laying in front of the fridge, eating the crumbs the kids dropped, etc.. It was so funny! Dh doesn't like the idea of a dog being inside of our home, but he actually got attached to this dog in just a couple of hours. We're all sitting here eating some ice cream and there is a knock at the door. It was the owner! Our neighbor saw them outside looking around with flashlights and pointed them in our direction. :) So, the dog was reunited with it's owner and all was good! The dog was so excited to see her! And, she told us that she has a disabled son who adores the dog and would have been heartbroken if they hadn't found it. We were so happy for them all! What a wonderful ending! We've also got an injured stray cat that has made itself at home on my back porch. Even sits on my brand new patio chairs to rest. We can't do much for it other than feed and water it and I think tomorrow we're going to have to take it in for some medical help. The tail is about to fall off or something. It is infected and so gross. I feel so bad for the kitty. He's a sweet cat too. Apparently we have a Humane Society or Animal Rescue sign posted and only animals can see it. They are drawn to our house for some reason. Maybe it's the army of kids that they see outside daily. They figure we take in all sorts! lol....

All in all, we're doing well. Glory to God for all that we have and all that we can do. We're plugging along.

Off to enjoy some chill time with my family.

Awards day!

OK, so I said I was going to go to bed, but I remembered one more thing that I wanted to share!
We're so proud of both E & N! Last week at school they had an awards ceremony. Every child in the school was awarded a certificate for a particular lifeskill (think patience, cooperation, citizenship, etc..) or area (like gym, music, spelling, etc..). Families were invited to attend these award ceremonies. So, I went on Tuesday with daycare children in tow and we watched as E got an award for library and for citizenship. Her teacher mentioned to us that she had a hard time selecting with award to give to E, because she felt she was worthy of all of them! In E's report card the teacher called E the "Mary Poppins" of the class, practically perfect in every way. We were so pleased with the entire school year and this was just an amazing finish! She was blessed with a fantastic teacher that we will miss very much next year! E enjoys reading chapter books and is trying to keep up with her older brother in spelling and math!

On Wednesday, the daycare children and I were back at the school for another awards ceremony. This time it was for N and the 1st graders. We watched as the class awards were handed out. It seemed a bit odd when N only got one certificate and the rest of his class got two per person. We could see a little bit of disapointment on his face, but he was a trooper. He kept a smile on his face and continued to applaud for his fellow classmates. Well, fast forward through 7 more 1st grade classes and at the end of the ceremony I had to slip out to go to E's class for her b-day celebration. Luckily, dh was still there to watch the finale and had video camera in hand! After I left apparently they announced some 'special awards'. Yep, leave it to me I just had to miss it! lol..

They had selected only 2 children from the class to receive an Academic Excellence award for all around acheivement. Those children were given a metal. N was one of the students to get the award!! We're so very proud if him! He continued to stay focused this year and always stayed on task. Even when things were a little 'boring' for him he still stuck with it and even made sure to help out his struggling classmates. His teacher continued to challenge him as they went along. We are consistently amazed at his abilities. What is even more inspiring is his humbleness and his compassion for others and desire to help them to be the best they can be.
His latest goal is to be in the national spelling bee some day! I can't wait to cheer him on! Seeing as how he aced all of his spelling tests this year, he is well on his way. His teacher doesn't give the typical 1st grade spelling tests either! She tried everything to come up with words that could trick him. We're looking forward to another school year with the same teacher for him. She is a looping teacher and will stay with the same class two years in a row. It is a fantastic program that really helps the children and teacher become bonded. She's able to establish each individual's learning ability and work with them accordingly. When they start back in the fall there won't be any first day nerves as they'll all be familiar and be ready to dive right into learning! I love, love, love this concept! We have several looping teachers in our school district and I truly hope it will be introduced in more schools every year!

C had a great year at preschool and is looking forward to another year there! He made some great friends and adores his teachers. We're very familiar with the preschool since it's the same place that N & E went for a few years before school started for them. It's our second home and we're so glad that we found it! All of my children have benefited from the academic and social opportunities that they offer. Each of the older two went on to kindergarten with several friends from preschool and that eased the transition greatly!

We can't wait to see what the next school year brings for all of our children. It's been a priviledge watching them develop into such wonderful people! What a true blessing from God all three of our children are to us!

Happy Birthday to my sweet girl!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday my sweet diva girl, happy birthday to you! She's 6, how did that happen?

She was a quiet one in my belly, hardly kicked and rarely moved. I thought to myself, what a calm and easy baby! Well, that lasted for a short while! Once she figured out how to become mobile it was all over! She's been going non-stop ever since. This girl has more energy than anyone I know and has SOOO much to say about everything. I love listening to her tell stories, they're so dramatic and detailed.

When asked what she wanted for her birthday she said a scooter and an 'American Girl' doll. One of her wishes was granted today! She opened up her brand new doll and was so excited! She decided to name it Chelsea Abigail (though she has changed her mind at least 4 times today). We'll see what she comes up with in the morning! She was over the moon to see that there was also an extra outfit to put on the doll. It's all about the wardrobe you know!

Last weekend she had a ball at her friend party. We went to the local paint-your-own-pottery store and they all had such a great time! The pieces turned out so cute and they were all so proud! Today for her actual bday we took her to the park for a picnic and playtime and she chose homemade pizza for her dinner! Tomorrow we're heading out to IL to visit with family and celebrate her bday with them. I have a feeling her second wish will be granted at the family bday party, but shh... don't tell her!

Right now it is 12:21 AM here and I should be in bed resting up for the busy weekend ahead. But, instead I'm doing the 100th load of laundry so that we'll have something to wear on the trip! It's amazing how quickly this stuff adds up! Who wears all of this stuff anyways?

I'm off to fold yet another load of clothes. Hopefully the power will manage to stay on long enough for me to finish it! There are storms rolling through and I have a feeling they're getting mighty close!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my beautiful and sweet girl! You're now a kindergarten grad and the ripe old age of 6! We're so proud of you!

Shakin' things up!

So, Indiana got a little surprise last week! We were awakened in the wee hours of the morning to an earthquake! Yes, an earthquake right here in good old Indiana. :) It was quite frightening considering we're not used to things like that around here. In fact, when I first woke up to the bed shaking violently and the windows buckling I thought it was a tornado. That would be what most midwesterners would assume in such circumstances! So, I jumped out of bed and went to scoop up my three children to take them downstairs to safety. It hit me that I didn't know how I could possibly get all three of them downstairs by myself. Then, I stood in the hallway for a minute to absorb what was really happening and I realized it was an earthquake instead. Still frightening, but at least it wasn't an approaching tornado about to rip off our upper floor! We definitely felt it more upstairs than dh did downstairs. He was up working on his laptop in the recliner. He felt the shaking, but it was a lot more intense upstairs. Poor ds was on the top bunk of the bunk beds and REALLY felt it! It woke him up and he yelled out to me. He thought it was a 'headless monster' shaking his bed. ;) Poor guy! We were relieved to hear that there were no injuries and that the damage was very minimal in Indiana. This quake was apparently felt as far south as Alabama & Georgia and as far north as Chicago. What a range! We've had several aftershocks since the original quake, but nothing as intense as the first.
Things have certainly been shakin' up around here! People are still talking about it! Doesn't take much to excite us these good old Indiana folks. hee.hee....

Stopping in..

I'm just not very good at this blog thing! I can't seem to keep up with life in general let alone taking the time to actually write about it! ;) I'm doing pretty good just to keep one foot in front f the other lately.
I've also noticed that whoever is supposed to be managing this so called blog isn't doing a great job of updating any pics either. Sheesh..what kind of operation is this anyways?

We've had a busy few weeks and I'm sure the coming weeks will be just the same. Such is life with a kindergartener, first grader and a preschooler! Add to that basketball, baseball, school concerts and a houseful of daycare kids and time just flies by.

Ds1 finished up basketball and went to his award ceremony which made him (and both of us) very proud. We've decided we better make him a trophy shelf so that he can display all of them that he has collected so far. They're all so special to him and will be a great reminder of the fun he had on each team. He's been blessed with amazing coaches and wonderful teammates thus far. All of the sports that he has participated in have helped him in so many areas, far beyond the actual technical skills of the sport. We couldn't be more proud of his effort, focus and good sportsmanship while playing. I'm not so sure where he inherited his sports talent from, must be the milk man! Shhh.. don't tell dh! ;)

Oh and dh is going to coach baseball this season. They had assessments two weeks ago and the season will start before we know it. Should be fun!

Dd is really turning into a young lady. I was just noticing yesterday how grown up she seems now. Not only is she acting a little more grown up, she is really getting so tall. I can't keep the girl in clothes, she outgrows them before she even has a chance to use them. She's been really trying to help with chores around the house, loves to do laundry and dishes and is just making a huge effort. This is a HUGE stride for her as many of you already know. I've definitely seen that desire come out in her to do the right thing lately and that makes me smile. I'm hoping we're moving past the very difficult phase that she had entered a while back. Fingers crossed it lasts at least a little while. Don't worry, I'm not holding my breath that it will last too long. I realize she's a female. I have 5 sisters, I KNOW all about what is to come!
Anyways, I'm just thrilled that for now the two of us are getting along so much better and she is obviously making an effort to cooperate. I even saw her writing a note today about how much she likes and loves her mommy. AWWW! Melted my heart. I mean, I know she loves me but there are days in this difficult spell that I thought she may pack my bags while I slept and throw them out the door.

Ds 2 is doing fabulous also! He seems to be growing up way faster than I had hoped as well. Why do they do that? Being our entertainer of the group he had another funny today. I was outside with my kids and the daycare kids playing (it's spring break here!!) and our neighbor stepped outside to let her dogs in. Her name is Hillary and one of the kids said "Oh look, there is Hillary". So, Ds 2 (who is 3 yrs old) goes on to say "WHO? Hillary Clinton?". It was so hilarious the way he said it. He was so dead serious and just looked at us like why are you laughing? Of course Ds 1 says "Mom, I think he's been watching the news a little too often again!". I was rolling! I guess all of the press she's been getting lately is at least making an impression on our little man! lol... Someone has been paying attention.

We're enjoying this week off from school to just take it a little slower. It's not gorgeous weather, but we'll take it. Today was a bit chilly, but the sun was shining and we were able to get out and ride bikes. That was delightful! Tomorrow and Thursday are supposed to be much nicer so we're looking forward to that. I also have Thursday and Friday off to spend with my own children and that will be a treat! I think we'll go do something fun! Not sure what..but something! At this rate anything that entails leaving the house will be a blast, I'm sure.

Oh and one last tidbit of excitement around here today... Dh got a new (new for him) vehicle! No more old rusted Cavalier. I have to admit it was a bit sad to see it drive away. We sold it to someone he works with. They have a 16 yr old that needs a car and it will be perfect for him. The car needed a LOT of work done to it, but apparently the boy's father can do it himself. One less headache for us. It was going to cost us a lot of money to repair it and it wasn't worth it anymore. We are now the very proud owners of two Honda vehicles! The Honda dealership here locally has been so good to us. They have really went above and beyond to help us get the vehicles that we wanted. Not only that but they treated our family so well and even catered to our children while we were there (both buy times). GREAT establishment!! I am still very much loving our Honda Odyssey and now dh is loving his Honda Pilot! It is so nice that we can all load into his vehicle for a change and go somewhere. That was no easy task in the good old Cav. ;) We can easily fit all 3 car seats in this vehicle! In fact, it's an 8 passenger so we could fit the daycare kiddos also if we needed to. We're enjoying it! The kids are also quite smitten with the fact that daddy's car now has a DVD player also. They can't wait to take his car on a trip to Illinois now. We'll see! I have to say it has been nice hopping in his vehicle to just run up to the store quickly. I feel a little less 'mom-i-fied' at least for a few minutes.

We were also excited to hear that some of our family will be coming to visit us for Easter this year! YEAH!! We're so happy to have them and can't wait. It's been a while!
My sister had her beautiful baby boy and they're doing well! I miss them all like crazy and can't wait to see them again very soon!

It's been a while!

Yes, I've not been very good about taking the time to share. Not like anything super exciting has been going on. ;)
I did recover from the nasty illness that had me down a couple of weeks ago. Since then everyone else has managed to get sick at one point or another. Ds #1 had a nasty cold/sinus thing with fever the Monday after I had it. Then, Dd got the stomach flu after we returned from a trip to IL last weekend. Well, now she's sick with strep throat! Poor girl! She is normally our healthiest one of the bunch, but lately she can't catch a break. I took her to the after hours clinic yesterday and got her some antibiotics, so hopefully she is on the mend. She'll go back to school tomorrow. Just in time for me to have a houseful of daycare kids! :)

We spent this weekend busy with basketball games, a birthday party (yes, again) and finishing up the new floor in the kitchen. Dh is almost completely done now. It's been a process that's for sure. It looks good though! The kids have especially enjoyed driving their matchbox cars on the new floor, it allows the cars to go much faster and make a LOT more noise!

We also managed to go out and get a treadmill this past weekend! YIPPY!! I can't even begin to tell you how heavy it is. Dh and I were able to carry it into the house, but I wasn't about to attempt taking it upstairs. We had to call in back up for that one! I'm so anxious to get all of the pieces put where they belong so that we can start enjoying it. We're both hoping this will help us get back into shape before spring/summer. Dh needs it for his heart and I need it for my winter weight! I walk regularly when it is nice outside, but in the winter I find it nearly impossible to get out. Gotta love those Indiana winters! If its not snowing, it's windy and if it's not windy it's raining. This should help get us back in gear. It even has a place where you can connect your ipod and listen to music through the speakers. Hmm.. too bad I don't have an ipod! Maybe that will have to be our next gift to each other! lol... The salesman convinced dh that this would be a great Valentine's gift to me. Guess we'll have to call the ipod a St. Patti's gift? ;)
Just kidding! I'll just enjoy the stereo we have in the room with the treadmill, no need for an ipod (yet).

Well, the kids are going to be rolling in off the bus soon, so I'd better get hopping.
Hoping that next time I check in everyone here will be healthy! Good health to all who may be reading as well!

Come on Spring!

UGH..

Being sick is just no fun! I'm finally starting to feel a little bit better, but boy was this weekend rough! I started coming down with something on Thursday and by late Friday/early Saturday I was feeling like death was near. It was a cross between strep throat, the flu and the worst runny nose you could imagine. No fun! My body hurt so badly that I could barely move.
I ended up having to miss ds' first basketball game, which made me so sad. Luckily, he'll have many more! Apparently he did fantastic! He scored 22 points! His team ended up winning 30-6, they were so thrilled. One of my daycare boys is also on the team and he scored 6 points! We're so happy for the entire team, what a way to start the season.

Dh managed to start the hardwood floor on Friday night even though I was sick. I laid around while he did the work and the kids sort of had to fend for themselves. I know, lovely parenting skills! lol.. They managed to survive the weekend and so did dh and I, so all is well. The floor looks good. Dh did a fantastic job putting it in, seems that being a perfectionist comes in handy during hardwood floor jobs. ;) He still needs to finish up the baseboards, trimwork and moldings between the carpet/hardwood. I'm not totally thrilled with the wood grains in the floor vs. the cabinet wood, but we simply couldn't afford the nicer looking wood. We sort of had to take what we could get. Anything is better than the cheap, junky vinyl they put down when they built the house. This certainly warms up the room a lot.

I'm not sure why I'm even sitting at the computer right now...I should be sleeping! I'm exhausted and can't wait to hit that bed! Had a house full of toddler boys all day today and they wore me out!! Not one girl in the group, until dd came home from school. Busy, busy boys! We painted, colored, did exercises, used laces and beads, pegs and peg boards, sang songs (including the abc's which is our theme right now), did calendar time, played with trucks, brought the basketball goal inside and shot hoops, and read ABC related books. I had to keep them busy every second. Now I'm off to REST!!

Getting back into the swing of things!

Well, we were forced back into it really. ;) School is back in session which means daily chaos, basketball has started back up and the daycare kids are all back. In fact, we've added a new friend to our daycare this week. He's a sweet and very smart boy! It has been a joy getting to know him. He just turned 2 in September but he speaks so clearly and has quite the vocabulary. He and my 3 yr old mini man will have a LOT so talk about! We're happy to have him here, he seems to fit in perfectly.

We're still missing AJ, and thinking of him daily though. We've had a couple of updates on him and it seems he's adjusting ok. Not sure how well his mom is dealing with having him back. I wish I could be a fly on her wall though! We continue to send prayers that all will be well on that front.

Oldest ds is so excited to go to b-ball practice tonight. I think he's having withdrawal issues. ;) I'm excited to see their first game soon.
DD has been struggling with the adjustment of waking up early again for school. She's not at all a morning person! Hoping that changes as she gets older, but not holding my breath at all. She continues to do very well with her reading and amazes me each day with new words that she has figured out.
Youngest ds never stops talking, I mean never! He talks from the time he wakes until he goes to sleep again at night. I think he probably even talks in his sleep! He's definitely related to his father's side! ;) I dread the day when he's supposed to be in class paying attention and is getting in trouble for talking too much. He always has something to say and demands that the entire 'audience' is paying attention. He's so stinkin' cute that you can't help but watch and wait for the show to start. If he's not talking, he's dancing or playing instruments. The child is destined to be a musician of some sort.

Dh and I are doing well. Besides the extra pounds that found us during the holidays, holy COW!
We're seriously discussing getting a treadmill! I can't seem to find time to get out in this nasty weather without children in tow to walk, so this may be the only solution.
Along with the extra pounds came some wild ideas. We decided to put new flooring in the kitchen, so he will start that on Friday. It will take a little while as it's hardwood flooring and will require precision cuts, etc.. I'm anxious to see it and hoping in the end we like it! lol... I know, sort of late by then, eh! He'll kill me if I don't like it after it's all done. It's so hard to picture what it will look like when it's all finished. Fingers crossed!

We also just celebrated our 15 yr anniversary of our first date! It was exciting, but also made us feel quite old. :) I have to give dh some credit also as he remembered before I did! That's a first!

Well, good-bye for now I suppose. Not a whole lot to comment on. I need to get everyone fed so that we can get off to practice and I hear screaming from an unsupervised wrestling match in the living room. Go figure...

Happy New Year! With a few bumps in the road..

I know, long time no post! I've been slightly busy with the holidays and all that comes after. We had a wonderful time during our extended weekend in IL visiting our family. We arrived back home on Christmas Eve, just in time to prepare for Santa's arrival! The kids were so excited to leave cookies and coke (yes coke) for Santa. They said he'd like it better than milk that sat out. Sounds good to me! The old fella may need some caffeine to keep trucking along on such a busy night. lol..
The kids were all so pleased with their findings on Christmas morning. It's so fun to watch the joy on their faces as they see what is waiting for them. We spent the entire day trying out new toys, playing games and just hanging out. It was peaceful and delightful. We ended the day by talking again about the real meaning of Christmas and how incredibly blessed we are!
We truly had a fabulous Christmas and just enjoyed being with those we love. It was wonderful!

So, now on to those bumps in the road. Fast forward to the Sunday after Christmas. We got a phone call bright and early to let us know there had been a burglar in the neighborhood. The phone call was from one of my daycare families that lives down the street. In fact, that daycare dad had helped the police capture the guy. It was an intense and scary morning for many. The burglar managed to break into 5 houses, 3 of which people were home and asleep. He also got into my hubbies car and rummage through it a bit. We could still smell the smoke from his cig break. Luckily, there was nothing worth anything for him to take in the car. We're assuming he decided the CD player was too old and/or would require way too much time to remove. We are also assuming that he decided to skip breaking into our home after seeing the big ADT security sign in front, back and on the windows. :) Thank goodness we got that when we did!! I can't even imagine the feeling that so many are having after knowing he was in their house while they slept. It's not even about the 'stuff' he could take. It's about our home and our safety! So thankful that noone was harmed. After leaving our house he went down the street and got into a few houses. As he was passing by the daycare family's house the dad saw him walk by and go into the neighbor's back yard. He jumped her fence and took out her screen to go in through the window. They called 911 and he went out to wait for the guy. The police arrived just in time to see the burglar walking out the front door clutching the lady's purse. The police officer hollered for backup and the daycare dad ran around to help him catch the guy. A very happy ending to a crazy night! Apparently the guy was out wandering the neighborhood for 4 hours that night just looking for easy access into homes. He's in jail now, thankfully.
They found him with a knife, screwdriver, some smokes and a wad of cash that he had taken. Oh and some medications that he was obviously doped up on.
That was bump number 1 in our holiday break. That same day we had to say good-bye to one of our daycare babies. He was staying with one of my daycare families (the same one with the dad who caught the burglar) and it was time to take him home to his real mother. Long story short, she doesn't deserve to have him back and his foster family is just devastated (and so am I). He's such a sweet and happy boy. He had really blossomed in their care and was doing SOOO well. Now he's back with his mother who is selfish and often unreliable. Sending out prayers that she does one of two things: 1)changes her ways and realizes what a blessing her children are or 2) decides to send him back and let them adopt him. In the end I truly just hope for whatever is God's will. We miss him so much already. I think of him daily and just want to squeeze him up. It was so hard saying good-bye to him. The kids all ask for him and want to know why he isn't here anymore. I'm heartbroken for the daycare family as I know it has been so incredibly hard for them. I can only imagine how hard it was to hand him back over to her. Legally they have no ties to him. It was a voluntary thing for her to let him come stay with them. He was here 7 months. He is only 14 months old, so he only has memories of the family here. He doesn't even know his real mother. So sad. Gosh, she better take care of that baby. That's all I can say about that for now.
We love you buddy and miss you tons!

We are going to spend this weekend just hanging out and working on some things before school starts back up. The kids are excited to get back to school! I'll get back to work as well. Dh went back yesterday for the first time. The break together was nice while it lasted!

Happy New Year all!!