Meet Molly!

This is Molly, the Fourth Grade Class Pet!

We were so excited to have her come stay with us for the weekend, well at least the kids were....lol. Molly is a rat. Having her in the house was kind of fun, though, once you get past the fact that she's a RAT.

The kids all had fun playing with her and holding her. I even held her once or twice. Here are some pictures of Molly with each of the kids.

I think Shailyn actually had the most fun with Molly!

They even made a little maze of boxes for her. I missed the photo op on that one though.

New Years Resolutions

New Years Resolution One....Post on blog at least twice a month....

Let's get this party started!

Things have changed quite a bit for my crew in the last couple of months. Let's keep things simple and just say the kids and I are living in a new house and we are doing just peachy!

The holidays were a great time! Mom was home from New York and we all got to spend a lot of time together! We were sad to say goodbye, but we always cherish our time we do get.

The kids are growing like weeds. They are all getting so tall. I'm sure it won't be long before Keenan passes me up.

Keenan turned 10 in December....double digits...yikes. He's doing exceptionally well in school! He absolutely loves history and is doing great in Mr. Darda's class. Keenan played flag football this fall. He seemed to really enjoy it. I'm thinking next year he may want to play on the Cheifs team, a local traveling team. We will see.

Shailyn just turned 8 this last Monday. She was so excited to be going back to school as her birthday present....lol. She is starting to get settled down a little bit in class, which has been quite the challenge this year. I got a note from her teacher one day saying Shailyn had been "glaring" at the teacher. And if looks could kill....beware. She is getting ready to start her first season of basketball on Monday. I'll be sure to let you all know how that goes.

And then there is Brenna Mae. She started in the "big" school this year. My last "first day of school". She is loving school, but isn't challenged quite enough. She's a smart cookie and is ahead of a lot of the kids in her class. We try to keep her challenged at home though. She is reading like a whiz and practices math with the older two. She and my friend Melissa's son Caedyn are pretty tight! I added a cute pic of them at the Christmas program. Uncle Jimmy about had a cow....lol.

As for me, I'm trying to stay busy and I'm starting to do all the things I've wanted to do....and then some. I've just started coaching a team for the traveling volleyball club. We are just getting started, and it is going to be exciting! Shailyn has also talked me into being a Girl Scouts leader for her Brownie Troop. So I'm having to go through all kinds of training and meetings for that! Rock on! We start selling cookies on January 17th...hint, hint! lol. I'm still working at Starkes and having a great time and constantly learning! School is also on my schedule. Still cracking away at that. I swear, I'm going to be a lifetime student....blah! It will all pay off in the end...

Well that's enough for now. I'll try to hit the blogging once a week. Wish me luck on that...I'll need it!

Mother's Day 2009

Happy Mother's Day to all those much needed moms! I always try to spend some special time with the kids on Mother's Day. This year was kind of insane. Matt got back from his hunting trip to South Dakota this morning at about 4am. So we didn't get up til about 9. Thanks to the girls ofcourse. Keenan had stayed the night at a friend's house the night before, so luckily he wasn't there to wake the girls and us up at 7am. So I got up and made pancakes and bacon for all of us. Then we had to go to Matt's dad's so Matt could unpack from his trip and wish Becky a happy mother's day. After that it was off to Matt's mom's to do the same. Then we had to go to Grandma's. We all had a good day, though, despite all the running. I got to talk to my mom, my dad, AND my brother all in the same day!!!! So that was pretty great!!!

Soccer Moms

It's amazing the things some people do. Parents should support their kids in everything they do. I know I'll always be on the sidelines rooting for my kids to do their best. Apparently that's not enough for some, though. Some parents want their kids to BE the best, and when they have a rough go of it, they yell. Not a "hey, it's ok, we'll do better next time" yell, but a "what were you thinking? I can't believe you screwed that up" yell. It just makes me realize how great my mom was at supporting me and my brother in all that we did and do. She has always cheered us on. She may not have been the loudest mom, but we always knew she was there!

Today Shailyn and Keenan both played and did awesome in soccer. It's hard to keep track of the goals, but I think both their teams won! Shailyn scored two goals and they both stayed right on top of the ball. They did AWESOME!!! I didn't have the camera today, (Matt has it in South Dakota) but here's a pic from a previous game this year of Keenan. We only recorded Shailyn's so no pics of her whamming on the ball. She is so agressive!!! She's gonna do GREAT in Sports!

Here is Keenan doing his one kick wonder! He is infamous for slamming the ball then hanging out!

Catching Up...

Okay, I know it's been quite awhile since I've blogged. I figured I'd better hit it up. I just checked out all of Dawn's latest blogs! My nephews are THE CUTEST nephews EVER!!!!! I wish I could be a bigger part of their lives!

My kids have been keeping me quite busy lately. We've had 4H meetings, soccer games, and soccer practices. It's been run, run, run. And Matt has been turkey hunting and mushroom hunting quite a bit lately, with little luck. We've only munched on a few.

But really, all Ican think about tonight is my mom. She is in New York still and today is her 52nd birthday. I'm sad that I can't be there to at least give her a hug and tell her much I love her and miss her! We talked for a bit online the other night and she seems to be having a rough go of it lately. I'm not used to not seeing her. Granted she and the kids came down for Easter, but I still miss her! I don't know what I'm going to do when she actually moves to Czech.... :( So HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA! I LOVE YOU!

Maybe tomorrow my mind will be able to wander a little more and maybe I'll post some pictures. We will see.

Unexpected Trip to Indy

So Wednesday afternoon I get a text from 'Grammy' that says "Call me ASAP". It kinda startled me, so I called right away. She and Dad had invited us to meet them in Indy for dinner. I immediately said yes because we haven't seen them since Christmas 2007. Then I start thinking, Crap, it's a school night and Indy is 2 hours away. Well we load up the kids after work with pillows and blankets for the ride home. We get to Chuck E. Cheese in Indy around 7:30 and we CLOSED THE PLACE DOWN! We had a great time and got to spend some time with Dad and Bonnie. The kids had almost as much fun as Matt and Papa did watching. Dad kept going back to get more coins to fill up the kids cups. All together the kids ended up collecting over 1400 tickets!!! Here's some pics...





Brenna LOVED this Spongebob bowling game!

Keenan and Matt played all the driving games! Keenan is actually pretty good!

Shailyn tested out her jetski abilities!

The girls had been playing skeeball throught the night, but towards the end, little Brenna didn't have quite enough umph to get the ball all the way down, so she started climbing up there. lol.

Dad and Brenna

Must be in the water

Do you ever feel like it's gonna be a bad day before you even get out of bed?!?! Well today was one of those days for me. I heard my alarm clock go off, but for whatever reason I decided to hit snooze. Well, i didn't wake up again on my own until about 7 o'clock. That leaves me half an hour to get a shower, get three kids ready and fed their breakfast, and out the door. Let me tell you, it is possible, but very stressful. There was a lot of, "I said hurry up!!!"

So I got the kids to school on time, but Brenna and I were late to Kingdom Kids, not such a big deal for Brenna, but this is my job we're talking about...lol. Then the morning seems to be getting better and then SH** hits the fan! It was a very stressful day! We did get Subway out of the deal, though.

Then I had planned on going to help my mom get some stuff done in Knox, but forgot all about it. Because I had forgotten all about Shailyn's eye doctor appointment right after school. (Another story all in itself.) So we finally get out of the eye doctor's around 5 and realize I've had two missed calls from my mom wondering where in the world I was. So ofcourse I felt horrible, but what's done is done.

So I continue with trying to get dinner done to take to Melissa's house. I got lasagna and brownies made in about 45 minutes flat. Pretty impressive huh?!

Well we got to Melissa's and had dinner. Three adults and six kids did a number on my lasagna. So well, that Matt won't even get any when he gets home. His loss, though. He could've come out with us, but he was helping Bryan all night.

Caedyn got to bring home the Wii from his dad's this last weekend, so we all tried out hand in that. We spent a good 1/2 hour trying to get the guitar hooked up for Rockband with no luck. All the kids were having a blast and then I realize it's already 9 o'clock (my kids bedtime). So we hurry to get home with snow covered roads and pull into the garage. The kids jump into the bathtub and once again I'm yelling "I said hurry up!" Shailyn and Brenna are in one tub together and they are yelling and screaming at each other, while Keenan is already out. Finally they are all done, and I put them to bed.

I guess I learned my lesson (at least for a little while)...when the damn alarm clock goes off, GET OUT OF BED!!!!!