Change of Plans

It is bitterly cold here in Tx. today along with the rest of the country. But for me, I haven't been this cold since I lived in Finland. I'm thinking of breaking out the wool hose I still have just to stay warm.

I was woken up very early from my warm bed by the phone ringing. It was the school letting us know that it was closed due to icy conditions. Our district always closes before most others. The school buses just can't navigate some of those back country roads. So my three big kids would be home with me today. My youngest A. was having a sleepover at Grandmama's house so she was not going to be here. Originally I had planned on going out and doing some shopping that is done much easier without children in tow.

So now I have a change of plans. Instead of it just being me while I go out shopping it will be me and the kids home from school together one more time. And I have to admit that I'm not upset by it one bit. I can be annoyed by their loudness one more day, I can step over their messes another day. As I type, Hoss and K. are spinning in circles around the den trying to see how long they can go before they fall. I get dizzy just watching them. It's fun and annoying all at the same time. And it's something only my kids can do to me on a regular basis. So I will try and focus on the laughter of today. Knowing that tommorow it's back to school and that I won't be able to enjoy the spontaniety of their actions as often as I have been able to.

No pictures again...just ramblings

Another day, another post without pictures. I wanted to post some today but our desktop is where all my photo software is at, and our picture drivey thing is out. (Or so I'm told) so that means no pictures of what my kids did over Christmas break. I may try again to post these pictures when we get it fixed this weekend. Hopefully I won't forget. But don't hold your breath.

So instead of pictures you get ramblings from my mind. I went to Sams today. We needed to stock up on everything it seems. While I was there, freezing cold. I was thinking of La Madeline's tomato soup. I love that stuff. I happened to check the soup aisle and guess what, they had it! So I bought it, intending to have some for my lunch. Then I went on down to drop a small fortune in the meat department.

I'm getting hungry by now, never a good thing while shopping. So I happened to noitice the 100 calories snacks they have boxed up there. So then I start to wonder, if a person ate the entire box of 12 snack packs in one day and nothing else, does it still count as a 1200 calorie diet. I mean there is absolutely nothing worth anything in those things nutruionally speaking of course. But still I wondered. And no, I didn't buy them.

Instead I happened by the free sample lady who was standing next to the clam chowder. It's there I lost all will power and put that clam chowder in my basket. I love clam chowder but never make it. So instead of my tomato soup for lunch, I went for the bad stuff. But I'm not going to worry about it, since it will probably be another year before I get some again.

So there you have it, no pictures! All you get from me today is pointless ramblings about what goes through my mind. Hope you can handle it...

New Year, New Things

It's a new year now. And hopefully our family will be as blessed by the coming year as they were the past year. The kids are a bit older, things are getting a bit easier at times and harder at times. We are constantly busy and on the go. I don't see that changing in the near future. I'm excited about the new year and what it will bring for us as a family.

For those that know us in real life, you know Hubs job has not been the most stable of things ever since the Telecom bust a few years ago. That continues to be the case now, only much more shaky. So shaky in fact, that I am going to be starting a new job next week. Something that will give us a reliable paycheck and benefits in the event that something does happen to his job. I am so torn about this. It's something that needs to be done for our family and I don't begrudge that one bit. I will miss the life of a SAHM I've had for the last five years. I am luckier than most in that I have been able to do this while my children were little. And while I know this in my head, it's taking my heart a bit to catch up is all.

I'm going back to the financial auditing world from which I left a few years back. I'm fortunate that this time my commute will only be to the town south of the lake so I will not have much more than a half hour commute. If things work out the way we are hoping, then Hubs will keep his job and my salary will go to savings and paying off that pesky thing called a mortgage. We will hopefully be able to evaluate things better once we know more about his job situation.

So things around our house are going to be changing a bit. But with time we should hopefully all adjust and be back in a new routine before long. So here's to a new year and new things and to many more blessings to come.

Making Christmas Cookies

Making Christmas cookies in our house is a messy deal. I just tend to line everything up and step back. They all have fun doing what they want and I just have to clean up afterwards. But regardless of how pretty they turn out, they always get eaten. Toss in a few cheesy smiles for mom and everyone ends up happy.

What happened to Fall

I've been a bad bad blogger. But I've been a very busy mommy so I will use that as my excuse. So here is a very brief update on all that has happened since summer ended.

We had our first day of school. K. joined Hoss at the elementary school. Z. is off to Middle School now and my youngest A. is at preschool 3 days a week. They all seem to like it but don't like the homework. Does that ever change?

We had Hoss's 7th birthday party in October and it was a lot of fun with friends and family.

We visited the Pumpkin Patch and had all kinds of fun there. Although it was so muddy this year we didn't stay and play as long as we normally do. Can't really say that I minded that part of it to much though.


I even remembered to get in one of the pictures that Z. took this year. It doesn't happen that often so I thought I'd post it even though I don't like the way I look in it. But do we ever really? But the fact that both Hubs and I are in it is a rarity and worth posting about.

That naturally led us into Halloween where I was fortunate to have two Snow Whites, a vampire and a Ninja. I kid you not, Z. came home with over 7 pounds of candy all by himself. I didn't weigh the other kids bags since I was in a state of sugar induced coma by then.

In between all that we had 2 soccer teams and 2 baseball teams we were having practices and games for. I spent a lot of time at fields all across North Texas. It's slowed down a bit now and I'm very grateful for the break.

We had Thanksgiving at our home this year but since I was so busy cooking, I forgot to get any pictures. Just imagine all of us stuffing ourselves silly and then taking naps during the Cowboy game and that was us.

So now that brings us to December and all the busy things that come along with it.

Seems like a brief and silly summary of what is technically a third of the year but sadly that is it. Hopefully life will not get so crazy and I won't be so lazy as to stay away from blogging more often.

Well I've squeezed all I could...

Well I squeezed all I could out of summer and then some.

Then we got busy with getting my parents moved in to their new house. They are now only about 15-20 minutes away versus 5 hours. I do love that. But the whole moving thing, well it still stinks. Even if it's not you moving.

The kids are all in school and getting used to new routines. Sports and practices are going strong again and things are just busy. What else is new right. But things are good and I'm very blessed.

I just have to keep reminding myself that on crazy days and weeks like what we have been having going on.

The Last Drop

It is the last week of summer for us here. And I have finally convinced Hubs to take some time off from work. So this week we are trying to do some fun things with the kids close to home since we technically didn't go any where for vacation.

Yesterday we took the kids to Six Flags. It was not that crowded but very hot. Also, it was just me and Hubs and the kids. And for the record, I don't do roller coasters. They make me sick so I stay away from them. Hubs does some but they eventually make him sick as well. The boys rode a lot of the rides together and K. got in on a lot of the action. A. and I well we took it easy and got on all the rides with a mild rating. We stopped for lunch and went out to the car and had our picnic. No way was I going to spend that much money for food. Thirteen dollars for a refillable all day drink was more than enough of their prices. But it was still a lot of fun. And we did get a few pictures in here and there. Mainly of the characters. For whatever reason, A. wanted a picture of every character she saw so we have more than enough of those.


We stayed until almost closing time which for us was a major feat. And crashed into bed with dreams of motion sickness affecting any one who rode a roller coaster.

Today we did it a lot more tame than that. We had heard of a Pizza Place with go carts, bowling, mini golf and bumper cars. So we piled the kids in and got in on the Tuesday special of drinks and buffets along with cards loaded up for the fun to be found. So we ate and played. Then the kids wanted to eat again and play so they did. Then I had enough of the fun and said it was time to go so we went to redeem the dreaded tickets. (We had 52 between all 4 kids) The guy behind the counter realized real quick that my four would not be very happy so gave us an extra 2000 tickets just to keep peace in the family. (Thank you to that boy's mama for raising such an observant son who is generous with those darn tickets). So all the kids got to pick out something and they were happy.

So here it is the last week of summer and I'm trying to squeeze out every last drop of fun I can out of it. Summer is almost over and I'm so glad and sad at the same time.

A play write conversation overheard

I'm always surprised at what my kids come up with. This one still has me laughing days later so I thought I'd share.

Main Characters: Mom, Hoss and Pappy who was visiting us.

Scene: The staircase, lots of noise and activity especially around the staircase with younger sisters running up and down.

Script:
Mom- You kids quit running up and down the stairs and screaming your going to hurt yourselves or someone else. (This is said as Pappy is trying to make his way up the stairs)

Girls- ignoring mom, continue to run up the stairs making as much noise as possible.

Hoss- (squeezing himself as flat as he can against the wall of the stairs as Pappy tries to go up the stairs) Looks at his Pappy and says "Go Ahead, Old Man"

Mom and Pappy start laughing and scene fades.

Disclaimer- I know where he gets it from and it's me. It's what I tell the old people who are driving to slow in front of me or who are just annoying me. I haven't figured out yet if Hoss was annoyed with Pappy yet for being so slow on the stairs or not.

Fun and Busy Days

We have had a couple of fun and busy days this week and I've been way to lazy to post about any of it until now. Which makes perfect sense, because I'm very tired and it's already past my bedtime. So now is the perfect time for me to blog right?

Anyway, we met some friends this week at a small water park on Thursday. I had my kids plus two friends. And we met some other friends and moms there as well. We packed our lunches and ice chests full and set the children free. The big kids were off and going while the little ones stayed close to us in the kiddie area. This water park is small enough for me to be comfortable with the big kids going off and yet still big enough (for now) that they aren't bored by it. And for only five dollars, it can't be beat. I took a few pictures with my phone camera but they didn't really turn out that good. So if you want to see pictures of our fun day then you will have to visit Courtney's blog post about our day.

Today, Z. went to a sixth grade roundup at the middle school. I was not allowed to take my camera to this so have no pictures. Not that I was there for that long. They pretty much told us parents to leave the kids in the good hands of middle school teens to show them around. So all us parents left our children there to fend for themselves with the help of the older students. They all seemed to have survived the lockers and were given lunch as well. Just one more milestone which seems to be passing way to fast before my eyes when it comes to my kids growing up.

And then tonight we went to a swimming birthday party for one of our friends little girl's. It was fun but I'm worn out now. I'm tired of swimming for the time being. But my children aren't so I'm sure we will swim some more before school starts. So that's what's been going on here lately. Hopefully I'll have more pictures next time.

Patio Pictures

I have been very lazy in downloading pictures lately. So the other day when I finally did get around to downloading my camera, I had a lot. In fact I forgot that I even took these pictures until I saw them.

When we bought the house, it had a small patio and I've always wanted to extend it a bit. Well our friend Janne came back from Finland and heard about it. So he lit a fire under Hubs and before I knew what was happening they were digging out the dirt to extend my patio. No way was I going to slow that train down. So I let them.

After they dug the dirt out and framed it, they arranged for a cement truck to deliver the cement. So all we needed was lots of friends and wheel barrows and good weather. We struck out on the good weather for three weekends but on the fourth we got lucky and here is what was going on in my back yard.


The cement truck would fill up each wheel barrow and the guys would take off to pour it out.

But first they had to make it up this monster incline with a very full and heavy wheel barrow. I think I may have actually heard a swear word or two while I was standing here.

Once at the patio they would pour it in and someone would spread it out. This went on for a very short time.

Then finally all the cement was delivered and it was time for more spreading and leveling off.

This is where the guys who were still capable of standing would stand and eat the breakfast burritos we paid them with and catch their breath. Meanwhile Janne and another Finn were busy finishing off the leveling.

As you can see, lots of help from the friends and kids and lots of work. I wish I could say that I've gone decorated my new patio and got it looking all nice now, but I can't. It got way to hot to be out working in the yard shortly after we finished the patio. So now I will wait for fall.

Janne and Hubs are now talking about renting a bobcat or excavator or whatever it is they need to level out our backyard and build a retaining wall. All so that they can put up a batting cage in our back yard. Me, all I want is some new flower beds. Guess we will see which gets done first.

Wordless Wednesday

Sand Diva!

For other WW participants click here.

Fun at the lake

I took the kids to the lake yesterday. They had been begging to go for days now. So I made them help me with all the chores around the house that needed to be done and promised them a fun reward for afterward. After a quick lunch and a stocked ice chest we headed out for a fun afternoon.

The kids liked swimming and wading into the lake but as always it's the sand and mud that attract my kids so that's where they spent most the time. I pretty much let them have free reign with what they wanted to do. Since the swimming area that we were in was only to my shoulders at the deepest part, the boys could go where they wanted but the girls were fine with wearing their floaties the entire time. So after swimming for a bit, some serious sand castle making and burying the kids in the sand followed.


Everyone had to get buried but since we started with Z. the biggest, everyone else just sort of fit in his leftover space and then we recovered them.




It was a lot of fun and they are already asking when they can go back. With school starting in a few short weeks, I'm hoping to get back there at least once more.

Is it to early for military school?

It has been a bit crazy in our house lately. The kids are running free and doing pretty much what they want. And because of that the behaviour of my kids has gotten pretty rotten. It's to the point that I wonder how soon I could ship them off to military school. At the very least I am anxious for school to start so that the routine will start back up. And I will be honest, I'm ready for them to be in school when they are running around the way they have been today. Structure does wonders for them and I've been sorely lacking in that department. My own fault I know. I have to own up to my part in their bad behaviour. But in the meantime, I have been given the suggestion by Hubs to make my own military school.

Yes, that's right I can be my own drill sargent. I can make these kids get up early, make their beds, do their chores and send them off to run sprints. All before 8 AM. Then I need to take my children out in public and hope they misbehave so I can fix the problem immediately and make an example.

Have to love my Hubs sense of humor. I was all over everything he said, right until he mentioned the part about being up before 8 in the summer. Once he said that, I just checked out and started checking the prices at New Mexico Military Institute. It's really not so bad, I could sell everything we own and then we'd be set.

Darn the bulls eye

I did it again. I went to that darn bulls eye store with the intent of buying a short list of things for the kids. Instead I walked out much lighter in the wallet. But a lot of the clothes for the girls and some for the boys are now taken care of. Not to mention that backpacks have now been chosen by all but Z. Why do I go to that store...why oh why???

End of Season party

We had Z.'s end of season party yesterday. Lots of boating, inner tubing, swimming and eating. The kids all had a great time and so did the parents. We are very fortunate to have a team where the parents all like each other enough to want to spend time at these parties as well as the kids. The kids all like each other and are on a constant rotating basis of sleepovers at other players houses. Every house seems to have at least one piece of clothing that belongs to another player. So now all the parents just ask if they have clothes as their house instead of going home to pack a bag. Kind of convenient in one way and difficult to keep up with at the same time.

The team ended up losing more games than winning this year. But they somehow managed to come in 3rd place in AAYBA Little League World Series for their division. So that was a good way to end the year. So now things will settle down a bit for the next month and we can enjoy some more summer for a while longer.

Dawg Days

We have been busy this week. Z. was competing in the Little League World Series tournament this week. Seven games in six days in hot Tx. weather makes for a long week. But it was fun and our boys ended up in third place for thier division. So we are proud of the effort.

Just to finish the day off, we went to the water park for a few hours this evening. And it was fun. It's the first time in years where I haven't been afraid the entire time that one of my children was on the verge of drowning at a moments notice. The boys are old enough and swim well enough that I didn't see to much of them. They took off and enjoyed the park and periodically came back to spray water on me. The girls and I hung out in the shallow play area and the lazy river. It was fun. Fun to know that we are finally getting to the point with our kids that we can do things like this and not have to worry about every little thing. They are getting bigger and older and are easier (at times).

So while I realize that time is fleeting and they are growing way to fast. It's fun to be able to do some of the "big kid" stuff with all the kids.

Tap Tap Tap...Hello anyone still there?

Okay I have been gong a very long time. It was proven to me this morning when I typed in my blogger password and had forgotten it. Once I thought for a minute and retyped it, life was good again.

So since I've last blogged I have been busy with summer life. I now officially have all my kids potty trained. Never thought the day would arrive but it's here and boy am I excited.

We have been going to summer reading tutoring for Hoss the last few weeks. He's doing better but it's almost over and I will be glad. It's at a bad time for me. One in the afternoon, right in the middle of everything so it's been hard to get there and still do anything before or after that feels like fun summer stuff for the kids.

We have seen more movies and eaten more popcorn than should be legally allowed, but now that the kids are all old enough to sit through a movie we are finally getting to do it.

And lets not forget swimming. K. is determined to be in the big pool without floaties this summer. So we spend lots of time at the pool trying to get her swimming like a big girl. The boys are fine in the pool and A. is usually close by with her floaties. Won't be long until I have four little swimmers on their own.

I wish I could say that I've been a dedicated walker and exerciser lately. But I haven't, it's been sporadic at best but I do seem to get in at least three or four days of some kind of exercise. Not the greatest but at least it's still something.

June was crazy, we had an anniversary and two birthday's to celebrate. So now that July is here, we are back to sanity for a while at least. Hopefully I will not be as infrequent a poster now. But it seems to be a standard thing for me to say lately so we will just have to wait and see what happens.

Dare I say it?

I am afraid to say it out loud. So maybe if I just type it I won't jinx myself. I'm sure by now you have guessed it. My youngest and most stubborn daughter, A. has been in big girl panties for over a week now with out an accident. I can hardly believe it's finally happened. I think I now officially have all my children potty trained. Considering I have been changing someone's diaper non stop for the last six years and eight months (but whose counting)I think I have a right to be excited.

Can you feel my excitement!! Can you really?? Because I am.

Almost here

It's the last week of school so summer is almost here. Only three more days of having to get the kids up, dressed, fed and out the door before eight. I can hardly wait for that part. As for the rest of summer, we have lots of baseball and swimming ahead of us. Toss in a few movies and sleep overs here and there and we will be enjoying ourselves in no time. I can hardly wait.

Our Lucky Day

Well since we were so unlucky with the rain on Saturday, I guess our luck was bound to turn. And it did on Sunday. The weather was beautiful and as I was finishing up all the planting in the front flower bed I decided we really should be at the Ranger game instead. We had bought some discounted ticket vouchers from one of the neighborhood boys and need to get started on using those passes. So without much trying, I was able to convince Hubs and the kids that it was the perfect day to be at the Ballpark. So we packed up and headed off.

We got there at the beginning of the 2nd inning and I got in line to get our tickets. A very long line (seems like everyone thought the same thing I did). While I was waiting Hoss looked down and saw where someone had dropped some money. So he picked it up and started asking who lost it. No one claimed it and finally everyone around us where it was dropped said he should keep it for himself since it was only $2. Hoss was off to a good start already. Hubs and the rest of the kids were sitting on the bench waiting for me when someone walked up to him and asked he if he wanted these 6 free tickets since he didn't need them and they were going to go to waste. Since it was 6 we needed, he said definitely and came and got me from the back of the line.

We got inside, got the kids their free t shirts they were giving away and headed off to buy some food and drinks before we got to the seats. More long lines, where they ran out of hot dogs (how is that even possible) but by the time we got to the front of the line, hot dogs were again ready. So we were once again lucky. We got to our seats only to discover they were in the shade. Our luck continues. So we sit down in our free shaded seats surrounded by lots of happy people right on the 3rd base line side to enjoy ourselves. We ate, we drank and we cheered. Then the people behind us decided that our kids were to cute and well behaved (they obviously don't know us that well) so they bought some Cotton Candy and gave it to the kids to share.

To top it off, our beloved Rangers beat the Angels again to sweep the series. So we headed off into the traffic to head home. Once we got to the car, I saw where people were leaving the parking lot without a long line so sent Hubs that way. We discovered it was a roped off exit but for a small $1 donation some entrepreneurial college boys would hold the rope up long enough for us to drive through it and be on our way. So we paid our money and headed home with a twenty minute shorter drive.

So yes, we had the bad luck of rain on Saturday, but Sunday with the great family day we had more than made up for it.