Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Its raining, Its pouring....




The whole back yard looks like a swamp!!
I cant let the dog out because she wont come back in and just loves to run in the muddiest spots of the yard!!
I find that your actually better to NOT use an umbrella because you get more wet trying to get the darn thing up and get everyone under it than if you would have just ran!!
Emily was splashing in the puddles and said "it's kinda like being in the bathtub"!!
I think my van gets depressed when its gloomy out for so long, she was squeaking and squawking all the way to school this morning! Uncle Brad is coming to fix her up after work!!
Oh, and I also left the side van door open for about 3 hours last night (not on purpose) and the whole inside of the van carpet is soaked and smells like laundry that has been sitting in the wash wet for 10 days! YUMMY!
I promise I really do LOVE this rain, the grass needs it, I love to make soup for lunch on rainy days and its always nice to just play inside for a change!!
Hope ya'll are staying dry!!

Monday, August 25, 2008

First day of big school for the big kids!!




It was the first day of school today and let me tell ya, I was not even ready! Shocked I must say as I made lunches the night before and wrote notes to slip in the book bags! Yes, I am that mom! The kids really do enjoy the notes! I usually slip in a school theme joke or two every week and I really do think they enjoy sharing them over lunch!!
Got the kids up on time and had a good 'ol french toast breakfast! Both of the kids were really excited and ready to get out the door, me and Emily on the other hand were sad to see them go!

After we got the kids in their classrooms, we decided to head to the park and then check out the pets at petco! Three hours later we were back at home making sugar cookies with school colors on them for a first day of school snack to share with the kids when they got home! Time actually flew by, as we played...and played...and played!!

Time however did not fly by when it came time to stand at the bus stop and wait for the kids! 2:40 the kids get dismissed, 2:45 I'm thinking they should be loading, by 3:00 they should surely be home as they are the first stop! Where are they? I keep checking my phone for the time, 3:05...did I write down the wrong bus # for them? Did they change the bus stop to another location in the hood? Did I not tell them to ride the bus home?? Okay, I am seriously going the get sick!!
...Oh there is the bus! Finally! The kids are safe and sound, big hugs for everyone and cookies!
They both said they had a perfect day today!!

Football!




Jacob started flag football for his second season a couple weeks ago and had his first game at Saturday! He just loves playing football and is pretty darn good at it I must say, and I'm not just saying that because he's my boy!!
John is not coaching this year and this has been working out fine, Jacob seems to be more involved and enjoying it to the fullest this season!
He got two flags this game that stopped two touchdowns, and although he would have loved to have a big run of his own, just froze when he had the opportunity!
Poor coaching!! That's what we say! He came over and told me at half time "mom, this is more than just a little frustrating"!! Poor guy!! HA!HA!
He is having a ball though!! We are so proud of him for giving it his all!

Friday, August 22, 2008

One project finished!!




We have been working on this patio/deck all summer and finally its is done. Short of some plants and shrubs, and some lights for the umbrella!! We are thrilled with the way it turned out and look forward to enjoying it with all the cooler weather coming our way soon! We could not have done it of course without the help of our great friend Mr.Danny, and of course the brick guy, Chris! Big THANKS!! I have to say I am so proud of John for taking on the project and finishing his first real "wood" project! NICE JOB BABE!!


..side note for today, we got Emily and new baby and she is thrilled with it! Still havent found the other one! :(

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Does "mr. I dont know" really exist??


Ya know "Mr. I don't know" the guy who gets blamed for all things that go missing in a day. Well, I guess he could be called Mr. nobody, Mr. not me or Mr. ghost (Jacob's friend).
I now have visions of this "guy" walking around our home unseen, unheard, just finding random items to steal or hide away, never to be found again!

If you have been to my home you know that for the most part I live by the motto "a place for everything and everything in its place". I have been know to stay up until the weeee hours searching for the one little lego piece or the one little puzzle piece, because I wont sleep if I cant find it and get the set complete!

So, last night when Emily's baby went missing, I about freaked out!! Now, mind you her baby goes missing just about everyday because we let her take it every place (expect the store). Usual night time routine in our home consists of the normal things, plus going on a baby hunt. Last night, the baby hunt ensued and we could not find her anyplace...the kids spent most of the day outside so really we only had a couple place that we thought it could be. I even took the flashlight outside in the woods and looked all over for her. Emily of course is no help looking for her even though she is always torn up about it, she tends to think baby is everywhere!! (if that makes sense)

Well, I was us until around 12:00 last night checking and re checking every inch of the house, garage, woods, and van. NOTHING!!!

quick facts:

*this is the 5th baby we have lost
*the second baby we have lost IN THE HOUSE
*I have found baby before in the garage refrigerator, the closet, the drawer to an end table, and stuffed into a little tiny box that really should have only fit about 10 marbles!!
*Emily has used a baby since she was about 6 months old and loves them super stinky!
*today she said "its okay momma if baby is gone, I will just buy a new one"!!

It will be me however buying it, scraping the silk with a fine tooth comb to make it scruffy for her, rubbing it all over various surfaces of the house to make it smelly enough for her and me again looking for it the next time it gets taken by Mr.I don't know!!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Fun in the summer time!


Tuesday was a GREAT day! We got up early and headed out with the kids, cooler packed, tennis shoes on, slathered in sun screen. We made a almost three hour drive to one of the most beautiful places that we have been in North Carolina! Chimney Rock Park. UNBELIEVABLE!!
We had such a great time, we started off at the "Great woodland adventure" trail (.6 miles round trip), its a great trail for the kids, as they have all sorts of things for the kids to spot in the woods, facts to read about the park and forest animals. the kids just ate it up!! From there we moved across the street to the "four seasons" trail (1.2 miles round trip) and hiked that all the way to where it connects with "hickory nut" trail (1.5 miles round trip). When we got to our destination, it was all worth it! The water fall though just a trickle really, was amazing!! Just beautiful! The rock was almost black it seemed and the water was perfect for cooling off! So pretty!

After we got back down to the car, we headed further up the mountain...in the car, to Cliff dwellers where you can walk through a tunnel IN THE MOUNTAIN, that was made and you seriously are in the mountain, so cold we could see our breath and a little wet on the floor. You take the tunnel to an elevator that takes you some 26 stories to the top where you can take a short walk to the "chimney rock"! Also sooooo amazing! The views were so pretty! From there we also walked to "The opera box" and "moonshiners cave", a natural cave! All of this means nothing to you really, but if you check out the site, you can see what I am referring to! HA!HA!

The kids did fabulous! Emily seriously RAN through all the trails, as I was about to DIE, there she was saying "common guys", "dad, I will be okay" and "I want to run like the hare"!! Katelyn and Jacob did equally as well, we are so thrilled that the kids love to be outdoors and enjoy exploring with us! Such great memories for our family!

I am trying to post a link to the slide I made, hope it works!!

http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=6bfa22a704ff3d99176c66&skin_id=601&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

Monday, August 18, 2008

Last week of summer vacation!!

With this being our last week of summer vacation, and Daddy having the WHOLE week off, we are going to do some fun things!

Starting today we will be very busy, fun busy though! I will post often and keep you updated on our fun events of the week!

Now, as for why Daddy has the week off...he said goodbye to Roadway on Friday and is starting a new job at the Hub group on the 25th. A very tough decision for John, although he has never wavered that it is the right one! We are very excited for him and our Family as we start this new adventure!! CONGRATULATIONS JOHN!!!! We love you sooooo much!

Hope you all have a wonderful week!!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

crossing things off one by one...





Today we went to the park and took out a paddle boat!! It was a ton of fun!
I admit, I was a bit scared!! I don't really like the deep water all that much and even though the kids had life jackets on I was terrified that they were going to fall in. But, I sucked it up and did it!! I wish I could say that my boat driving skills were on point, but they too lacked!! HA!HA! I could not get that darn thing to go in the direction I wanted it to! I was just waiting for the guy to come out of his little building and yell at me for running into the other boats and the dock!! I was talking to myself and we were laughing soooo hard!! Katelyn kept telling me "its just like driving a car mom". Finally I asked her to come up front and get us going, she said she would because she and her friend went on the paddle boats at girl scout camp and they did really good, so she was confident that she could help out! Well, help out she did, she was AMAZING!!!!! She continues to amaze me everyday with her abilities!! She took us all around the lake with ease and parked us too! It was great! Another thing crossed off of our list of things to do before school starts!

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Home sweet home!!





Well, we are home from the beach trip with Grandma! We all had really great time!! The drive was easy (we didn't get lost) and the weather was perfect!! The first night we stayed at the hotel and swam in the pool that was more like a hot tub, the water was soooo warm!! The next two days, we went to the beach and played in the sand, the water, took walks on the beach. It was a really nice trip!
I have a couple funny quotes from the trip...

"your the best mom ever, because you let us go pee when we are grounded" ~Emily (who has never ever even been grounded)

"my burp came up and burned out all my boogers" ~Jacob

I am sure there are more...but I cant think right now!
Posting a couple pics from the trip, hope you enjoy!

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

We are off to the beach!!


The kids and I are heading to Wrightsville beach with Grandma Tina on Thursday, so I wont be posting for a while. Poor Daddy has to stay back and work, not only at the office but he has plans to do some things at home as well. We will miss him so!!
I leave you with a picture of the help I got from the kids while trying to get ready to pack up!!
This is what happened when I asked the kids to help bring down the laundry!! Cute!! I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week!!

I spy with my little eye...








Me and the kids went to the Library yesterday and the theme seemed to be those "I Spy" books that you look for various items on each page. They have always loved these books, and often when asked to pick a book for bedtime reading, they choose a I spy book. Not much reading I know!!

Anyway, this morning as always the older two got up and went right to playing something, its like they dream about what they are going to play in the morning and start it straight away when they pop out of bed! Well this morning, they decided to make their own version of I spy! Check out the pictures of the I spy they made and see if you can find the items that I have listed. If you can find some of the items, leave it in the comments...I will be very impressed, and the kids will the thrilled!!

(the pictures did not come out as big as I hoped, sorry)

*a small white tile
*two missing pieces
*a green cheerleader
*the number 10
*three monkeys
*a compass
* a big dog bone
*Peanuts
*a hiding cat
*a jaguars tail
*a boat that floats
*a queen and a owl

GOOD LUCK!!!

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Apple bottom...Underpants??




Me and the kids went to a friends house to see their new addition last week, what a cute little boy they have. Anyway, the kids played outside while I visited and they happened upon a apple tree in the yard. They decided to make a nice little invention to wash the apples that had fallen on the ground. the invention consisted of a little tykes slide, a pool, and a basket. Katelyn of course was the manager of the operation and gave everyone jobs, someone gathered the apples, someone put the in the pool, someone took them from the pool and rolled them down the slide to a basket where someone else took them from the basket to a bowl to make some sort of soup. Really funny to watch this all unfold!!
Well, when we decided it was time to go, my kids wanted to take the apples home with them...yippee!! I quickly said no, that they were not at all ripe enough for eating but apparently Emily had already "sneaked" some into the van and put them in a cubby in the back seat. When we got home she somehow got past me with them and ran to her room to put them in her dresser!! Katelyn let me know what had went down, so I asked Emily to please bring them down (hiding my laughter). Well, she brought them down all right...IN HER UNDERPANTS!!!!
Hope you can get the gist from the pictures!!

Monday, August 4, 2008

Ride 'em Cowgirl!!




Katelyn has been taking riding lessons for about four months now and has been really enjoying herself. She has had mom, dad, Grandma and Aunt Lisa out to see her ride. She is so proud of herself. We are thrilled that she has found her "thing", something she loves and is really great at! Once a week she has a half hour lesson with Ms.Karen and Poko (the horse). Ms. Karen said that Katelyn is one of her fastest learners, that everything just seems to come to her and she just gets things very quickly! Well, she must be doing great, because she has been invited to go the Horse show with them in October. She will be entered into the walking and trotting class. She is so beyond excited!! She said she is going and that is the "end of the discussion"!
We really are so proud of her! We will keep you all posted as October gets closer!!

I'm rubber, your glue...


I remember hearing so many parents say "I cant wait for school to start" or "you know when school is about to start again, because the kids start to pick at each other". Very Naive, I thought oh no, not my kids, they love to be with each other and get along so well!! Well, for the most part I have to say that they are like best friends! They play very well together and take care of each other with such great care. Truly amazing the bond that they have!
But...I can tell that school is about to start!! The constant cries of "MOM" followed closely by the very unnecessary ramblings of a tattle tale!! Totally one sided and totally out to get someone into trouble!! How I wish I had all the answers and could stop this in its tracks, but for now I would settle for a neon sign that would pop up and flash to the children "USE YOUR WORDS TO HANDLE THIS YOURSELF"!! Thats better than one that flashes "GO AWAY", which was my first choice!