Updates

I know, I know. It's been nearly a year since the last time I was on this thing and even longer since the last time I posted anything. Here's an update on how we are doing:
Landon is getting really big. He will be playing tackle football this fall. I am super excited about that. I have been wanting him to play football since he was 5 and now finally. He is going into the 2nd grade this year.

Chase is as wild and crazy as ever. He still has no desire to play any type of sports. Although he did decide that he likes tumbling and gymnastics. He is going into kindergarten again so he can be a little more mature before starting 1st grade. Plus we loved his teachers from last year and are excited that he will be back with them again this year.

Allie is still our sweet, sweet princess. She can still hang with the boys just like she was one of them. She starts preschool this fall at Protestant Preschool. She will be our last one there and it's kind of sad. But here's to new changes and growing up. I still haven't decided if she will be doing any gymnastics or ballet this year. We can start her on it but I think it may be a little early for it.

Kylie is growing into a little lady. She starts 7th grade in the fall!!! I know I cannot believe it as well. She will be in 7th grade. She can play sports this year at school and she is excited about that. She wants to play volleyball, basketball, and softball. So if she makes the teams she will be very busy all year long.

Yard Dreams

My yard dreams are finally coming true. Jay and I finally got rid of the dreeded bush in the front yard. But when we ripped it out we found that it was there for a reason! It was hidding the old well. So now there was a pipe sticking up in the front yard. Jay doesn't want to get rid of it completely because he is scared that during the zombie apocolise we may need water. So we worked around it. We planted a nice flower bed and even got a Japanesse Maple tree. We had one at our last house and it was so beautiful! I always loved walking outside and seeing it stand out in purple. It took some money and a little bit of time but I love the outcome.

 Getting all the bricks layed.

Of course DC has to help

 End of day 1

  The finished project. I am so proud of us!

Cutesy See Thru Drawers

So this isn't my first Pinterest project but I think it is one of my better ones. I started out with the three drawers in A's room. I got three pieces of scrapbook paper with different patterns but around the same colors from Michael's. I cut them down to the about the right size then slid it into the drawer and cut the rest down to the correct size. I spred mod podge over the inside front of the drawer and put my newly cut scrap book paper on top. I smoothed out all the glue with an old credit card so there were no bubbles. And then you seal it with some more glue around the sides.

This was so easy. So far I have done A's drawers, the boys drawers, and some of the ones in my room. It makes them so much cuter and you don't have to look at the mess inside the drawers.

Back to School

The school year is approaching rapidly. It will be here before we know it. Which is great. I am so tired of not being on a schedule. It was nice to begin with but now I cannot get anything done. A hasn't napped all summer long. Last night she layed down at 5pm and got up at 10pm and wanted to lay all night. I haven't been the gym either. The quality of child care that they provide during the summer isn't comparable to the girls who are in there during the school year.
This year K will be starting 6th grade. She is in middle school. It seems like only yesterday when she was walking into the school for kindergarten with her book bag that was bigger than she was. Now she is walking around with a cell phone and always stays held up in her room.
LT will be back in the first grade. He had some trouble last year. We were working to figure out what was going on and couldn't make a decision until the later part of the year. By then he was so far behind that there was no way to get him caught up. He has a severe form of dyslexia and some ADD. Now that we know what is going on we are better prepared for what he needs. He's playing soccer because he loves it and he is really good too. And he cannot wait to start Cub Scouts again. This year he will be a Wolf and able to do alot more.
DC will be my kindergartener. Boy do his teachers have it coming. I hope they are prepared to deal with his full force. I'm sure he will be fine but Jay is a little worried that we will be called to come and get him every week for misbehaving. He is also playing soccer this year. He is excited because he will be on the big kids team. I am excited for him.
A is getting big and mouthy. She talks so well and knows her ABCs already. She can spell her name and count as well. She is going to be so smart. But she is a drama queen. She will hang out with me again this year.
As for me. I am on my last year of my first degree. J is so excited but I don't think he realizes that I still have another two degrees to get before I am completely done. He will learn.

Summertime is Here

Summer time will be here before we know it. The kids have 7 more school days before they are out. I'm nervous. I don't hide it. My kids (especially the boys) fight from sun up to sun down. I am constantly telling them to calm down or quit running through the house or quit fighting. I am always telling DC to use his inside voice. Ha I don't think he has one. It's normally loud and louder and then just jet noise.
LT was just diagnosed with a mild form of ADHD, which I think it is much worse. He is always needing something to do or he gets "bored". That's all I here out of him. "I'm bored" or "I'm hungry". So I am already spending alot of time finding things for them all to do to keep all of them busy but especially him. The others can sit and watch a movie without complants but he cannot sit still and just watch. There will be something to do each day. Something to keep them busy. I have summer day camps and vacation bible schools lined up for them to participate in.  We will be headed to the pool at least a few times a week so they can let it all out too. Naptimes will also be a must! Or at least quiet time.

Wet Oatmeal Kisses

Can make you think about the important things in life...

 

Wet Oatmeal Kisses
by Erma Bombeck

ONE OF THESE DAYS YOU’LL EXPLODE AND SHOUT TO ALL THE KIDS,
“WHY DON’T YOU JUST GROW UP AND ACT YOUR AGE!”
... AND THEY WILL…

OR, “YOU GUYS GET OUTSIDE AND FIND SOMETHING TO DO –
WITHOUT HURTING EACH OTHER. AND DON’T SLAM THE DOOR!”
AND THEY DON’T.

YOU’LL STRAIGHTEN THEIR BEDROOMS
UNTIL IT’S ALL NEAT AND TIDY,
TOYS DISPLAYED ON THE SHELF,
HANGERS IN THE CLOSET, ANIMALS CAGED.
YOU’LL YELL, “NOW I WANT IT TO STAY THIS WAY!”
AND IT WILL…

YOU WILL PREPARE A PERFECT DINNER
WITH A SALAD THAT HASN’T HAD ALL THE OLIVES PICKED OUT
AND A CAKE WITH NO FINGER TRACES IN THE ICING
AND YOU’LL SAY, “NOW THIS IS A MEAL FOR COMPANY.”
AND YOU WILL EAT IT ALONE…

YOU’LL YELL, “I WANT COMPLETE PRIVACY ON THE PHONE.
NO SCREAMING, DO YOU HEAR ME?”
AND NO ONE WILL ANSWER.

NO MORE PLASTIC TABLECLOTHS STAINED
NO MORE DANDELION BOUQUETS.
NO MORE IRON-ON PATCHES.
NO MORE WET, KNOTTED SHOELACES,
MUDDY BOOTS OR RUBBER BANDS FOR PONYTAILS.

IMAGINE…. A LIPSTICK WITH A POINT,
NO BABYSITTERS FOR NEW YEARS EVE,
WASHING CLOTHES ONLY ONCE A WEEK,
NO PTA MEETINGS OR SILLY SCHOOL PLAYS WHERE YOUR CHILD IS A TREE,
NO CAR POOLS, BLARING STEREOS OR FORGOTTEN LUNCH MONEY.

NO MORE CHRISTMAS PRESENTS MADE OF LIBRARY PASTE AND TOOTHPICKS,
NO WET OATMEAL KISSES,
NO MORE TOOTH FAIRY,
NO MORE GIGGLES IN THE DARK,
SCRAPED KNEES TO KISS OR STICKY FINGERS TO CLEAN
ONLY A VOICE ASKING, “WHY DON’T YOU GROW UP?”
AND THE SILENCE ECHOES: “I DID.”

Happy Christmas

Yes I am a slacker. I know that it's the middle of December and I didn't even make it to day 7 of my Thankful things for the month of November. But as I told my mother when she asked what happened....Life happened. Life happened and we had to grab the reins and hold on tight.
It's December, the middle of December and life is still happening. Everyone is getting ready for Christmas. That includes us. We are in high gear with Christmas parties or at least something to do everyday. We even have a Christmas party tomorrow during the day. It's crazy busy around here. The kids just did the churches Christmas play. DC did so much better than I ever hoped he would. I was hoping that he would put on his costume and just stand up there and look cute. He did so much more. He put his costume on with pride and he marched his little King butt right up there on that stage and he sang and he did the motions and everything. I was so proud!

 K had a solo and did great! She never disappoints when it comes to that. She was born to be a star.

 LT was a rapper and had a special part. He was rocking out to the song! He was so cute! It was a huge success. But I'm glad it's over!

So I am almost completely done with my Christmas shopping. I have a few more people then I will be done. We decided last Christmas that this one would not a big present year for the kids. Last year we went, or I went, a little over board on the gifts and after all the presents were opened there were so many that they never even played with. So this year we said 5 was the max and we have stuck to it. I am so proud of us. Five gifts for each child and we are about done with them.
J says that he has something very special for me. Something that he has wanted to get me since our first Christmas. So I am so excited to see what it is. He keeps talking about it and I cannot think of anything that I have wanted for ten years. But he says that it would be some thing that I would ask for. SO I am completely clueless.
School is going great. I get to skip my final exam in my keyboarding class because I have an "A". I am completely done with three classes so far and I only have two final exams to go. And I will be DONE for this semester anyways.

Day 6...Our Home

Today I am thankful for the roof over our heads. It's not something that you think about everyday and it's something you may take for granted. But today I am thankful. I am thankful that we have this great house that we have turned into a home. At one point in time, not too long ago, J and I were so scared that we wouldn't have a roof over our heads. We were trying so hard to keep our old house but we couldn't. This house became available and we decided to leave the house that we had brought our two sweet boys home from the hospital to and had gone trough so many good times and some bad times. But that was the home that we had built for us. We had to leave and we weren't too happy about it. But now we can't see ourselves living any where else. J is two blocks away from the fire dept he loves and we are right down the road from his parents which the kids LOVE!!  We are working on some remodeling and are getting ready to build a shop in the back yard!  Cannot wait.
Some things need to be redone and we are handling it one step at a time. We will get it all done eventually.

Day 5...hahahaha

Today I am thankful for Edy's Mint Brownie Ice Cream. Yes I went from adoring my wonderful children and my husband to ice cream!  A girl just wants her ice cream. Yesterday, when I was supossed to be writing this, I wasn't feeling too well I curled up on the couch with the tub of ice cream. It made me feel so much better. It was just what I needed.

So Today...Day 4

So today I am thankful for my daughter. She is everything I wished for when I wished upon a star. She is my dream come true. And my moms too! I had kinda written off having a daughter because my oldest brother has two boys and my next brother has two boys. We Manning's seem to only have boys. So when I found out I was pregnant I had already decided that she would be a boy. When the ultrasoung tech told us that she was a girl I wanted to cry. As soon as the ultrasound was over I called my mom who was in a meeting and still answered the phone. She thought I was joking around with her. I could hear the excitement. I was thrilled. I couldn't wait to paint her room and find all her bedding and buy clothes. I think J was just as surprised as I was. He was excited about having a little baby girl around again.
The first time I held her I just wanted to cry. So tiny and precious. Being raised with two little boys is not going to be easy for this little girl. But I will teach her to find her own way.
Now she is my little Miss Priss. She has read hair and an attitude to match. She knows what she wants and she will tell you about it. We don't really know what all she is saying just yet but it will come. But for right now it's totally cute!
She's her daddy's girl and her mommy's world. She lights up my life everytime I see her and I love how she comes running when I come back from leaving her a bit.

Oops! Missed a Day....Day Three of what I'm Thankful

Day three. Today (or rather yesterday) I am thankful for my first born. My first born son. He is my sunshine. Truely. I have it tattooed on my back. And while my tattoo represents a piece of my history and my future, I got it with him in mind. So he is my sunshine. He was for a long time my only reason for getting up and going on throughout my day. He brings so much joy to my life. I look at him and I just want to smile. He is the sweetest child (no really all his teachers have told me this) He has a love for me and his daddy and his baby sister that is so sweet. He recently lost his two front teeth and I didn't think that he could get any cuter but I think he did. He is my baby. He loves to cuddle and sleep in my bed when daddy is away.
Right now he is struggling so much with school. We are having him do some tests in December so that we can see if there is anything else we can do. His teacher and I are working with him daily and he gets extra help at school with reading. My fear is that he will have trouble to the point where his self esteem will take a hit and then he will quit trying. I worry daily about him. I love him so much and I want to give him every advantage that I can to succeed in this world. And first that comes with a great education.

I am Thankful...Day Two

Today I am thankful for my son. Even as I sit here and listen to him yell from his bed to bring him another cup of milk, I am thankful. He is my sweet baby boy. Actually, he is as mean as a snake but he's mine. I love him to death and back. He makes me laugh so much every day. He is my comedian. He is his daddy's boy though. Him and J have bonded more than any of the others really. Probably because they are so much alike. He doesn't like school too much, or at least that's what he tells me everyday when I pick him up. But he is doing well at it. He loves soccer and being outside. He loves to swim and run and play and he can climb anything that gets in his way. He is a tough little sucker that's for sure. He loves to fight anything and everything. Him and Landon can really throw down now-a-days.
I don't know what I would do without my little man. I love you DC. You are my baby boy and always will be.

Be Thankful...Day 1

Today is November 1, 2011. This month each day I will write about one thing that I am thankful for.  I am actually thankful for these things each and everyday but each day I will write about one particular.
Today...Day One...
I am thankful for my wonderful husband  and my best friend. J and I have been together for going on 10 years. This December will be 10 years. In fact we meet 10 years ago this month. And for some reason, even though both of us had issues, I knew from the moment I saw him that I had found the man I would marry. I tried to dismiss it. But something about him, about us together, I just couldn't look away. It took us only a month to figure out that we wanted to be together. It was a long month and we both had to make some hard decisions but here we are 10 years later. We have the best kids in the world. I look at them every day and think to myself that they are the greatest thing  that we could ever have created.
I love you J. Here's to 10 more wonderful years.

Life Lessons

I want my children to grow up with the valuable life lessons that everyone should know. I would normally write these down for them to read later to remind them of what they need to know. But if I write something in this house on a piece of paper it's sure to get lost. So I have decided to put them here. On the internet so that they have them forever.

Life Lesson #1: To my sons; always open the door for the lady behind you, or your date.
To my daughters; give him the opportunity to open the door for you.
My dad would always go out to the car for my bonus mom when she got home. Always, everyday, as soon as she pulled into the driveway he would get up and go outside and help her with whatever she had to bring in. Even if it was just a lunch box. That has made an impact on me.

Rush, Rush, Rush

Fall is here and so are the busy schedules. It seems like every fall we are running around like crazy trying to do everything and anything that we can. There are so many ball games and fall festivals and fairs to attend. We just can't do them all. But we try. I love running around. It may make me worn out but I feel like I have accomplished so much in a day if I spend it rushing kids to soccer then to karate then back to pick kid A up from soccer just to head back to karate to pick kid B up from there and then it's off to the house to cook dinner and shower and hit the bed. Also the kids sleep so good after a good soccer practice. Or whatever sport they are playing at the time. Jay mouns and growns about how busy we all stay but it gets me through the day and I don't spend the entire day sitting on my butt eatting whatever I can find in the cabinet.
Take this week for example. Monday started with my waking up before the sun and then getting the kids up and ready and out the door for school. Dropped the big kids off and then hustled back to the house for some cleaning and laundry before running back out the door to go to my class. Done with my class an hour later and off to pick up Allie at Grams's. Home to feed her lunch and put her down for a nap. Ah, peace and quiet. At least for an hour or so. I work on homework, laundry and catch up on a show that I have had DVRd for a couple of weeks now. Still didn't finish one episode. Wake Allie up and go pick up Chase from his school. Then I'm on a mission to collect as many US Cellular cards for the elementary school that I can for a contest that we are in to win $150,000.  Pick up at the elementary school only after having to spend 15 extra minutes getting Kylie off of the school bus.  Rush home to do homework, more laundry, and make dinner. Ha! I think I am on top of things today. When we pull the pork tenderloin out of the oven we discover that it nowhere near ready to eat. So Jay whips out the frying pan and starts cooking. (We make such a great team when we work together). We eat dinner as a family. It doesn't happen always but it's something that Jay and I try to do as much as we can.
After dinner is over Landon and Jay are off to cub scouts and I rush the others out the door and over to Grams's b/c I have two meetings at the school tonight. Home from meetings and Grams's and it's showers and bedtime. Now I lay here in the bed with my laptop out and a 4 year old beside me asleep.   Jay is still at the fire department or at Bingo so it's Chase and me hanging out in my bed.
Tomorrow will be just as busy but just typing all of that has made me exhausted so I'm going to curl up next to my buddy and wake up in the morning to do it all over again.
Good night!

Eagle Scout in the Making

He's growing into a little man now. Tonight was his first night of Cub Scouts. He has waited so long to be a boy scout.  So many years watching Kylie do a Girl Scout and talking about how he is going to sell more cookies than her. We had to explain that boy scouts don't sell cookies. They sell popcorn. So once he figured out that he would say that he would still outsell her just in popcorn. I haven't heard much of the details of how the night went but he is really excited about it and I had to persuade him to take off his uniform so he wouldn't get anything on it at the table. Jay will be his Pack leader or Den leader or whatever they call it. I am so glad that they have something that they can do together. He never really bonded closely with Landon when he was a baby. Landon is so much of a mommy's boy that he really doesn't give Jay the time of day. So I'm so happy that they have this to do together. I just hope that he sticks with it. For a few years at least. He will gain so much from scouts that I just can't teach him.

Baby Girl Gets a Haircut

I finally took Allie to get her first haircut. It went better than Landon's first one, thank the Lord. Landon screamed at his first haircut and everyone after that too. He is just now comfortable going to get a haircut. But Allie did well. We gave her a chocolate bar and she sat there and ate it while Becky cut her little curls. I wanted to cry but I stayed strong. No tears were shed. Probably because I could see her sweet little face again without having to move her bangs. She still has curls in the back so not all is lost. Maybe she will have a little bit of curly hair. At least for a little while.

So Many Changes

So many changes and so little time to enjoy those things that are changing. Allie has turned one. She is actually 14 months now. We have had our last first birthday and Christmas. Our last first tooth and sickness. And tomorrow we will have our last first haircut. Her hair is going crazy. It is totally unmanageable and I cannot do anything with it besides pull it up into pig tails. Which is totally cute but when it's down it's crazy. I wanted to wait until she was two but that just isn't going to happen. So tomorrow we will check another first off the list and I will cry over one last bag of curls.
My baby girl has her own little personality now too. She may be the baby of the family but she will tell those boys what she thinks. And we just wish we could understand her. She will tell me that she needs a diaper or that she is hungry or if she wants to go to bed. She will at least bring me her blanket or a snack when she is tired.
With all the big kids in school now we are getting to spend more time together. I can sit and watch her play for hours. She looks so happy just sitting there undisturbed. We cleaned out her closet today and she was right there with me the whole time helping. Or at least throwing stuff all over the room.
She is just so amazingly wonderful. I am so glad that God made me her mommy!

Turning Over a New Leaf

I love the fall. It's September. The weather is cooling off.  I noticed the leaves are starting to change colors. Fall is here. Or at least it is coming. And with the new season arriving, I've decided to turn over a new leaf as well. I am going to try to be more welcoming and more open about things.  I tend to hold grudges for a long time. A trait that I inherited honestly.  I can hold a grudge better than anyone I know.
There are lots of people that I know that have hurt me or have been rude or who just don't like me. I am not totally aware of all these people. I think sometimes that people just don't get me. I don't have many people that I am truly friends with. Most are acquaintances that I deal with through school or the fire department. There are a few who are true friends. Maybe this is true with all people. As you grow older you realize that having a few great  friends is better than having a whole mess of those who are merely just there. I could probably count on one hand how many of those who would rush over and help me out in a time of need.
 I have decided to put myself out there more. To be more likable. To be more friendly. Cause Lord knows I can be hateful if the mood strikes me.
We will see how this all goes.

B-I-N-G-O and a Vasectomy

Tonight I had my first lesson in Bingo. Real Bingo though, for money. Jay and Josh and Karrie have been going for about a month now and have really gotten into it. I can see why, it's FUN! So now we are going to have to come up with a schedule of how we are going to rotate playing bingo and watching the kids. He doesn't know it yet but yep, I believe that's going to happen.
Allie turns 1 on Sunday. I cannot believe my baby will be one. Chase turned 4 last week. I cannot believe that he is 4 years old already.  He goes to school this year. As long as the government doesn't shut it down before we can get him in. I took him to the doctor on Tuesday. He had to get four shots and his finger pricked. Poor little fellow I felt so bad for him.
Now that Allie is a year old and Chase is 4, Jay and I have started the discussions of having another baby. I would love to have one more and at one time Jay wanted an entire football team. But now he is thinking that he might be done having babies. He doesn't want to be 65 and sitting at their high school graduation. And he didn't want to be 75 walking his daughter down the aisle.  So we have made an appointment to go talk with a doctor about a vasectomy. While I am not totally for it, I do see his point and there is a part of me that would like to be done. But just yesterday a baby commerical came on tv and I about cried! I would love to have one more but I know that I do not want one right now or even 10 months from now and we aren't getting any younger with each passing day. So I have agreed to go and talk with a doctor.