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!

Will I EVER learn to be adaptable.....

I don't think so. Every time I think that I can finally relax and coast.... well things change again. Bummer.... I really liked things the way they were. I had become content.... well at least for the time being.... contentment is one more of those things that I struggle with. So... Makayla and "the boyfriend" are not a thing anymore. I'm ok with that in the sense that no one will ever be good enough for my baby right? But it is soooooooooooo difficult watching her deal with this. I walked around all day feeling like I was 15 again and had just broke up with my boyfriend.
We are also chest deep in National Honor Society paperwork. After all this work this kid had better get in!!!!!!!!!!!! Man I can only hope that college applications are not as difficult and time consuming.Mom twisted my arm and made me go back down stairs and scrapbook tonight. I actually made a page. Can you believe it? I sat down, picked out some picture, and made a page in less than 12 hours.
So I'm working on adapting again.... I'll let you know how it goes....

Well hello there old friend...

What have you been up to since the last time we talked? We have been getting back into the swing of a routine. All three kids have practices nearly every night. We have not all had a week night dinner together since school started. I make dinner and we start eating at 4 the last shift comes through about 8:30. Then there is the homework thing. I promise that when I am a teacher I will not purposely send homework home. Now hold me to that!
I think we have the building (Creations Unlimited) sold. So we have begun the process of cleaning it out. We just walked away from the whole thing when it closed. We even left trash in there. It was a mess. It's really kind of embarrassing that we left it like that. But we were in survival mode. Trying to figure out our lives. So now we get to mess with it.... Here is just one load of trash. I just started throwing everything away. What are we going to do with all that stuff! We already can't park in our garages.
Now here is the exciting news!!!!!! I scrapbooked with my old scrapbook buddies this weekend. We spend about 5 hours snacking, talking, snacking, scrapping, talking, talking, snacking... you get the picture. I only got 2 pages done and those still need a little work. But.... I enjoyed myself. I have got to do that more often! I have just got to plan it and forget the deadlines, dirty house, obligations and go crazy for one night.... my goodness someday I'm going to be dead and than I won't have ever caught those books up! So here are my pages such as they are... I still need to journal.. there was too much talking and laughing to do that while Christina and Andrea were around. I can't wait to do it again!


One week of school down and 17 more to go. The count down is on!!!!! Later.....

Back at it....

I cannot believe we are back to school. I took my normal pictures this year. I tried to take pictures of the girls at their lockers but they took off in some Olympic pace fast walking to get away from me. I am really missing them already.

Where oh where has our summer gone?

I would love to find an extra week or two of summer. Does anyone know where I could find a week or two. I am so bummed! This is the kids last summer night. Tomorrow might is our 1st official school night. AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! It makes my heart race and I just might eat the whole pan of Rice Krispy treats to drown my sorrows. I cannot believe it is over. This is the first summer that I have not been ready to pack the kids up and leave them on the school door steps a couple of days early. I wish I could figure out how to pause time if only for a couple of days. So I'm going to drown my anxiety in Rice Krispy treats and the Olympics.
I did get Jordan's bedroom painted and we spent the day buying school supplies. So I think everyone is ready, well everyone has what they need but they are not ready to go back if you know what I mean. Can you believe I waited until today to buy school supplies. So unlike me.
I hear to beach calling me back. If only Cher and I could really turn back time.....

Picturepolooza

Mom and I took the kids on a road trip. It was only a week long and covered over 2000 miles. We stopped in Kentucky is see my BFF (hopefully you know I'm being a dork). We spent the day with Susan and her family. We laughed until we cried several times. This is a picture from her back porch. Must be a rough life. And just for the record... when you leave Missouri and it is 110 heat index you really don't want to hear anyone complain about 85 degrees. Next time she calls and complains about how hot it is I'm going to question her about what the temperature is. The kids played a little woofle (sp)ball.
And we were obviously not sleeping enough for Jordan. I can not figure out how to turn off the underlining bit on blogger right now. I'm too tired to mess with it! We were off to Michigan next. The is Lake Huron. And that is a hugh barge going under the Canadian American bridge. Did I know we were going to be that close to Canada? No. So we didn't get to go over the bridge. Next time I'll bring passports. I had to take a picture of my kids playing with Playdough. If I had bought them Playdough at home they never would have played with it. But at Aunt Cathy's they had a blast.
Aunt Cathy took us to the beach at Port Huron.

How many cousins can you fit in a baby pool. I think we were at the limit!

This was our last stop and it was very unplanned. We wanted the kids to see Lake Michigan. I didn't want to drive into Chicago so we just pulled off the road. And we found this awesome beach in New Buffalo Michigan. The kids had a blast. I enjoyed just setting an watching.
Jordan was very happy about this stop.

This is Makayla and my cousin Amy. When I look at Makayla I am often reminded of Amy. They have similar smiles. Right now Makayla's is a little bit silver but they even have the same teeth. I love looking at my kids and seeing my family in their expressions. They're similarities go even farther than the smile. They also have the same hands. Even though Amy lives 900 miles away I am constantly reminded about this funny cousin I have who have hands just like my daughter.