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!!!!!

Nana's Moving to New York :(

If you haven't heard, my mom is moving to New York. The day is too quickly approaching. She has taken a job working for my Uncle Tom being the nanny of his four kids still at home. I know she's going to be absolutely great with them, but my kids are going to miss her severely. You see my mom spends a lot of time with me and the kids. It seems, even when we aren't able to visit one another, we always find time to talk, even if just a few minutes.

I'm sure mom is going to have a tough time at first, but we plan on staying in touch via phone, email, web cam, and hopefully at least a visit or two before she takes off across the ocean. One of mom's requests before she left was to get some extra pictures, so last time she was here we took a bunch. Now I'm not exactly peachy keen in the pics, but Mom wanted 'em, so I figured I could share a few...

Here's Nana and the munchkins!

Me and My Momma

Nana getting Keenan

Nana and Sha..I can see the resemblance.

Nana and Brenna Mae...what a cheeser!!!

Sorry it's sideways, but this is the cool cookie cake Mom got for the kids when she came down!

So to you, Mom, good luck, best wishes, and all that jazz. We really are going to miss you! You had better figure out that web cam as soon as you get there, cause I'm sure the grandkids are gonna want to see you! Love you!!!

Winter Swimming

Well it definately is winter! We are at a roasting 19 degrees today, but over the past few weeks we've seen highs in the single digits and even some days below zero when factoring wind chill. It's been a pretty frigid winter. So I love to say that we've been swimming quite a bit despite the weather!

In December, Chuck & Becky invited the kids and I to Gurnee Mills for Christmas shopping and winter swimming! We had a great time and got some good deals!

This is the girls jumping in the hot tub at the hotel.

Then for Shailyn's Birthday she wanted to go to the indoor waterpark in Indy, Carribean Cove. This is the kids chillin on the back of a crab!

And here's all three of them again standing in front of the big pirate ship. They had such a blast and enjoyed spending time with Trish and Jimmy, me and Matt, Chuck and Becky, and even Mechelle Jones!!!! We got to eat at Texas Roadhouse, too! Thanks again Trish and Jimmy for that!!!

And the BIRTHDAY GIRL!!!! Love this pic!!!

Then we had the opportunity to hit Turkey Run this last weekend with Chuck & Becky!!! We visited the nature center to see the birds and a cool star show in the planetarium! And ofcourse we visited the pool! Brenna's progressing so well with her swimming! She swam all the way across the pool four times, without ANY assistance!!!

Shailyn loved floating around on the little Styro tubes and shooting the water out of them! Keenan didn't join the crowd this time. He was supposed to be going to a rollerskating party with his....wait for it....girlfriend (yes, he's only in third grade), but apparently she was grounded and neither of them were able to go.

So we are now looking for our next swimming outing! Hopefully it's not too far off!

Happy Winter!!!

Jealousy...

So, my awesome sister-in-law made me jealous! I love being able to see my nephews and see what the whole family is up to! ...So I figured they may like to do the same. And I'm feeling spontaneous right not, so what they hey!!!! Right?! I'm testing it out right now and we'll see if I can keep it up to date!!! I'm gonna keep this first one extra short 'cuz I'm anxious to see what my page looks like! You'll get more later! Muah!