freedom is not always painless...

Just a quick note.... we are free of football (hopefully for the rest of our lives) and we are free from volleyball (only for 2 months). As happy as I am to have some freedom.... I'm probably more sad. This freedom means that two of my children lost games today. Jordan's team was in the "Super Bowl". Played one the the best games they played all season but still lost. It was a good experience but it took too much family time. Makayla's team made it to sectionals and lost in the first round. They played ok but it was not the year for state. Anyway... setting the clocks back and heading for bed. Really bummed about the times change too! Glad to gain an hour... sad it's gonna be dark at 5pm tomorrow. I'm just full of conflict tonight... sleep tight!

Halloween night....

you know what I'm going to say....

Life has been busy!!!!!
Hannah had a birthday on Monday. We are officially a two teenager house. Oh boy you might need to keep us in your prayers. Hannah has hit her teenagerness with both feet running:)She thought it was funny that Makayla and I picked out these shoes for her. This picture captures the real Hannah. This is how she looks most of the time.... her mouth is moving:)
This is what Makayla does most of the time... study for tests. Jordan does not look very excited huh?Makayla's team won districts on Tuesday night. It was a great game to watch. Here is a link to the news story. Makayla made the district 2nd team. She will play in sectionals tomorrow in Strafford.
It's Halloween night and I am a bad mother who didn't get pictures before sending my kids off tonight. Maybe later. I'm relaxing tonight before the storm of the weekend get in full swing. Jordan's last football game is tomorrow. Then we are off to the volleyball game. Throw in a basketball practice and homework and you have a full weekend.

Just having some fun...

I started by rearranging. It sometimes helps me get in the mood. And I put some stuff out on the table so I would use it.Then I dumped all the things I've been saving for just the right page into a muffin tin so I could see what I have.

Then I just pulled out paper and used whatever I wanted because it is stupid to save things for just the right page. Every page should be just the right page right?
Then I stayed up until after 1am scrapbooking. Not something I get to do very often. Hannah had some friends over to spend the night. I've been baby sitting them. I am READY for bed. The TV is going off in 5 minutes and I'm going to sleep. It has been a good night and I need to do this more often!

I have a love hate relationship with....

my bed! I love to be in it. I can't wait to get there some days and I rarely am ready to get out of it in the morning..... but I can not get to sleep in it! I just want some sleep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I want to lay my head down and not remember anything until morning. Is that too much to ask? If my geology teacher would just stand at the end of my bed and lecture I'm sure I would fall right to sleep just like I do in his class everyday:) But that might be a little creepy!
This week was Jordan's last regular season football game.... now if we could just stop practicing! He still has super bowl on Nov 1st. They have not won a game yet... think 2 more weeks of practice will really make a different? No! And yes I have a bad attitude about it!
Hannah played her last volleyball game last Thursday. She started basketball Monday:) and practice is at 7am tomorrow. Leland skipped town so I'm on early morning duty tomorrow of course!
Makayla played her last regular season volleyball game tonight! Districts start Tuesday. I see the light at the end of the tunnel! It's a pin point of light but it's there I see it!
I need a snow day:)

P.S.

Is anyone else sick of this? Lets just vote tomorrow. The debates and the commercials and constant news is not going to change my vote... how about you? And frankly if you have not made up your mind yet should you really be allowed to vote? Please lets vote tomorrow and end this misery!

Is it ok if I post with no pictures?

It's kind of boring... but... well I don't have any new pictures....
I should not have cleaned house for two day... I am WAYYYYYY behind in my homework. What was I thinking? Man dumb dumb dumb.....
Ok back to homework...... Later

Finally fall.....

My house may not look like it but it really is fall. This is about all I have around the house to show my fall spirit.
And this is why I am keeping myself from going and stocking up on some cute fall stuff. Yesterday we went to College Heights Christian Church. We still have no idea where we will end up but thats where we went yesterday. Anyway, they are starting a series on financing. Scary topic but one which must be dealt with at our house. We have to write down everything we spend everyday. Well it has kept me home today. I did spend .72 cents on my Diet Pepsi today but I ate lunch at home and didn't go buy the new fall candle that I have been just waiting for time to go pick up. I'm interested to see just where all our money is really going to! So when you are home and avoiding homework guess what else you can do.... clean the top of the fridge! This has been driving me nuts for weeks.
Much better don't you think?

I worked on the family "message" center too....Maybe we can actually use the board for messages now instead of just a mess! So I guess I'm still productive today even if I am avoiding school work:)

Monday...

is usually not my favorite day of the week. Today I have the day off. All of the sudden Monday is not so bad! I remembered how you have a clean house while you are raising kids.... you send them to school and you become a stay at home mom. I remember those days. It's been awhile but it came back to me. So the floors have been vacuumed and the sheets have been washed. Now I need to get a shower, grab a Diet Pepsi and set down to read a book for class. I think we should have every Monday off! I found some pictures of Hannah.

It was a good weekend...

The toilets are clean, the laundry is caught up, the dogs have had a bath, the house is reasonably clean (anyone who has kids knows it is nearly impossible to have every room clean at one time), car is washed, homework from last week caught up, made a yummy lunch for my grandma’s birthday, and the yard is being mowed right now, all in all a pretty productive weekend. We had Cougar Run on Friday, Joplin homecoming football, school carnival yesterday, Makayla even had a couple of friends over, and Jordan’s football game last night.

I didn’t get to the scrapbooking, maybe tonight….

What really cracks me up about this picture isn't the fact that they are in the dog house but look at Makayla's knee. At what point will that girl not have skinned knees all the time? She is almost 16 years old. Her knees always look banged up:)
Jordan is #85. He is the first one in the line that is kneeled down.
I think he was mad about something. He was the only one standing there. He was watching the game but he did not look very happy.
That's Leland in the foreground. I have no idea what he does but he gets to wear a coaches shirt while he is doing it:) I really do have 3 kids. I have no idea where Hannah was during all these picture taking opportunities. I'll dig some up of her and get them posted.

Hold the phone....

I ignored my kids, husband, dirty house, and homework and lived life on the edge last night.... I went to the movie with a friend. Do you know how many times I've done that in my adult life? One time... which was last night. I've got to get out more often. Everyone was still alive when I got home.. the house was still dirty... and I should be doing homework right now. And I am going to guess that you didn't feel the world stop turning either. I plan on doing that more often. This is part of my Quit-putting-the-world-on-hold-until-you-grow-up plan. I may get really crazy today. I've already started on the house cleaning. I'll get on the homework in a minute. Then I may just scrapbook today too. Oh man, prepare to fly off into space when the world comes to a grinding halt. I'm sure today will do it!
Well Christina and I went and saw Fireproof.Made me laugh... made me cry. Good movie.Acting was a little off but the message was great.


Off to live life and quit putting it on hold! Later!

still keeping it real....

For the past 36 years I have gone to church on Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday nights. For the past 36 years I have not missed very many of these services. There was a time when I didn’t want to go to church, at least not as often as my family went, but I went. I could stay out on Saturday night, but I had better get my rear out of bed and be setting in the pew and ready to go. I respect my parents for the expectation. I have imposed the same rules on my children. But things have changed for our family. Times are different. Every Wednesday night I feel like I am breaking the rules by not going to church. It is unsettling. I’m just trying to adjust to the changes in my life.

Holy smokes I have a smart kid....

Makayla was inducted into National Honor Society! We are so proud of her. She worked very hard to get here. She has given up sleep and running around with friends. I hope that she enjoys high school but I hope that she makes the most of her time there also. I remember just a couple of years ago I thought I was going to pull my hair out over her schooling. She was unmotivated and was just flippant about her grades. I would lecture her (which by the way is a common parenting practice that just doesn't work). I would remind her how lucky she is to get to go to the school she goes to. I would remind her about the sacrifice that our family made to keep the kids at College Heights. It went in one ear and out the other. I have no idea when things changed. It was subtle. Then last year I notice that my kid, who had mediocre grade in middle school, had a 4.0 her freshman year. I was shocked. It wasn't that I didn't know she had it in her. That was one of the things that frustrated me so much. I knew she could do it, she just didn’t see the value in it. Once she had some success she just took off. Well… all that to tell you how proud I am of her and her hard work. She has also seen some hard work pay off in volleyball too. About 3 games ago she moved up to varsity only. She had been playing JV and varsity this season. When she was moved up she was given a starting position. It is such an honor for her. She has worked hard for 5 years to earn that position. It is such a blessing to see your children working hard and seeing the fruit of their labor. As I sat through the ceremony tonight I felt tears come to my eyes. I flashed forward 3 years in my life to the day my baby will graduate from high school. Three years is such a short time. She has such big dreams. She may not stay around home. God has got some major work to get my heart ready for that day. Way to go Makayla! It is days like this that make parenting you an easy job! Now let’s not talk about the mornings we argue with each other all the way to school…. btw I have 2 other smart kids I'll talk about them next time:)

just keeping it real....

I’ve been thinking…. yeah I have found some time to do some thinking…anyway…. I am living with my life on hold. I have found that anytime I think about cleaning my house, or buying some new shoes, or what to fix for dinner…. I think about how my life will be someday. You know… some day when I’m not in school anymore. Someday when I have a job. Someday when I get a paycheck. I have already spent that thing a hundred times over. There is no way that the paycheck I’ll receive will ever buy all the things that I have already spent it on. I really want to be content. Really I do. And I think at times I really am. But then I realize that I am spending way too much time thinking about someday. Now here’s the reality of it… when we first got married we had no money, as I’m sure 90% of you out there. My mom and dad bought us lots of stuff. When my mom went to the store she always picked up extras for us. My grandma shared a lot of potatoes with us. We ate a ton of Hamburger Helper, hot dogs, and Mac-n-Cheese. I’m sure you have all had a time in your life just like that. And here is the really odd part…. when I think back to that time… well it was a good time. It was uncomplicated (well at least financially). It was uncomplicated because there was nothing to be complicated Well just maybe there will be a day I’ll look back on this time and my life and think… man that was a really fun time…. HHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! It is really hard to believe that right now.
Will there ever be enough time pass that I will forget how dang hard it is to be a mother and wife and be in school? I HIGHLY doubt it. I bet I say “December 09” about 10 times a day. Every time something comes up that needs to be bought, or fixed, or…. You get the idea… I say “December 09” like that will some how make time pass faster. Well it won’t pass any faster. And I don’t want it to! I don’t want my kids to grow up and leave me! I like my family. I can’t imagine life without toilets to clean, a constant pile of laundry, or meals to fix. What will I do with myself?
So now you see the dilemma… please remind me that these are the good times. Life doesn’t get any better that it is this moment. I am exactly where I am supposed to be right now.

just checking in....

Its been busy as I'm sure you all can relate to. Hannah had a tournament today. They placed 2nd. They did a good job. Jordan's still playing football. I'll get some photos of him next. We've been meeting ourselves coming and going. All good stuff. Just busy stuff. Makayla made National Honor Society. We are so proud of her. I have no idea where she got so smart! I"m thinking it's not from her parents!

Checklist:

*Replace Dog- thinking about it
*Replace children- maybe... I was so excited when they learned to say their first words. Now that they are teenagers I've started questioning the wisdom in teaching them to speak:) I used to wonder about people who spread their kids out so far. Well now I know why. Who wants 3 teenagers in you house at one time? It would be much better to have a little one around all the time. Someone who will set on your lap and tell you how much they love you. And by the time they are old enough to be teenagers the older kids have kids to tell you how great you are. No, I didn't want to do it that way. I wanted them to all grow up together. What a dumb idea!
*Hire a house cleaner- I wish!
*Drop out of school- NO I'll have to start paying my student loans back... only 11 more weeks to go!
*Run away- anyone want to join me?

I have a dog that has lost her mind. If she was one of my kids I would have sent her away to live with her grandmother. But no... I'm gonna start crating her. She makes me so mad! This week she has decided to tear my house apart. She generally try's to find something to do while I'm gone. But this week her game has turned expensive. She has decided to start climbing out the window. Nice huh? Only she does not remove the screens first. So two screens need to be replaced now. Today she decided to ripe the curtains apart. What the heck! So the crate is going up this weekend and she will learn to like it. With my luck she will find some way to injure herself while in the crate and we will have some huge vet bills to pay. I really am not in the mood to train a dog. Anyone want a new dog?.... oh probably shouldn't have told you about her week before I asked that right? opps my mistake:)

I have NO business being on this thing.....

But who else should I whine to? I am in over my head.
School is over whelming... I knew that would happen. They have not really done anything for the last 2.5 weeks. Today they dropped the bomb. I knew it was coming but I still was not prepared. Volleyball started. Again I knew it was coming.... but I was not prepared.
Please don't just drop by my house. I just might die form embarrassment!
I'm just overwhelmed.
So I'm just here to say boo hoo for me.....
That's all I have to say... I know I could give you all the details and I'm sure someone out there can top my problems. So I'll save you all the gory details. Let's just say that when I'm stressed I don't sleep but I do eat and if you have seen my butt lately you know that I could do without the eating.
So.... now I'm off to tackle the laundry...yes I'm back to washing jerseys 3 times a week.... and the homework is just plain wrong..... I did put Leland in charge of spelling words and memory verse for Jordan... spelling is not my strong suit anyway.....
ok thats enough whining for now.... is anyone still listening? Oh I'm sure you are anxiously awaiting the train wreck right? You are just waiting for the day I get on here and tell you that I was told teaching probably isn't the job for me.... By the way I have no time for posting pictures either.... later... may be a lot later.....

Mom twisted my arm again...

She forced me to go down stairs and play again. She is such a bad mom. hehe I was actually a little bit productive. I actually made 7 pages this month 4 of those were tonight. When compared to April and May when I made zero pages I feel very productive. These are simple pages but it seems that's my style these days. I'm ok with that:) I've even use some old paper I had. Oh my the horror of it.

Just a glimps....

into the weekend.
Jordan had a football jamboree. I've got to be honest with you... I was lost the whole time. I have NO idea what was going on. But I did get a couple of pictures. Nothing great. I was too far away. Jordan is #85.
Makayla and I took pictures for her leaf project. This is the sad face I looked at most of the day. She is having a hard time with her new found singleness. We are doing a lot of talking and reassuring. We are trying to undo what he took 8 months to create. We are trying to keep her busy. Well that's about it for now. I want to take the kids on a picnic tomorrow after church. If it's not 100 degrees we may do just that!