Summer Time Is HERE

I haven’t updated this thing in forever. And I would like to say that it’s because I am so busy being a mom and a wife and starting up this business. But it’s not. I have time that I sit on the couch and watch my favorite tv shows. I am just too damn lazy to sit at the computer and type for an hour. But I now I have finally reached the point when I feel like my readers (ha as if I have any) need to know what is going on with our life.


I normally would go in birth order starting with Kylie and tell you all about each child. And if I didn’t start with Kylie then I would start with the baby Allie. So this time I will start with Chase. B/c it’s been so long since he has been first.



Chase is growing up to be such a big boy. He has just finished up his first year in preschool. Next year he will be going to more at four, hopefully if they have it. If not then he will be home with me and I will be homeschooling him for the first year. We are going to try homeschooling this summer to see how it goes. He is picking up everything Landon says. He has his own little attitude and can be as mean as a snake. But he is so cute that I am finding it so hard to get mad at him. I think that’s why he is the way he is. I laughed at him instead of disciplining him and now he thinks he can do whatever he wants to do now. This year has been a real challenge for us with him. I don’t know who quoted the “terrible-twos” but they didn’t have it right. Three’s SUCK!

He will be turning 4 years old soon. For some reason he thinks he is turning 6 this year. I’m sure Landon has something to do with that. Probably thinks he is going to Disney World again this year. We told him that when he was 6 then we can go back to Disney World.

He is crazy. Yesterday he was over at his grandma’s house and we got a phone call to come pick him up b/c he had colored all over the walls with a black sharpie. We only have color wonder markers for that exact reason at this house. They thought I was so mean b/c I wouldn’t give the kids regular markers to play with. But now they KNOW!!



Landon is finishing up his Kindergarten year, and while it was a rough start he has really gotten the hang of it. He is doing well and now he is even riding the school bus. He is excited about the summer though. I will be homeschooling him this summer also. He isn’t reading yet and that worries me a little. He also isn’t tying his shoes yet. So this summer he will be really busy doing all that stuff. He doesn’t know it but he will be learning a lot this summer. He is playing soccer right now and played football this past fall.

He is so sweet. He knows how to light up my life. Jay gives him a hard time about being such a mama’s boy but I love it. Chase is so hyper so the contrast makes for a good evening. Landon can sit down and build a mega truck with legos and is perfectly happy doing that all night long. Even at school he loves to build with legos. He has a tendency to leave them out so I have to take them away from him just about every week.



Allie is all over the place. She is into everything. She is crawling now and even pulling up and crusing around the furniture. Anyday I expect that she will let go and take off across the room. She still hasn’t said “mama”. I’m thinking she is waiting for that special moment. It will be even more special now. She is so cute. I will say “Mama” and she says “Dada” and we can go back and forth like that for a few minutes. She has two teeth but I expect her to get a few more any day now. Her little nose is constantly running and she is pulling at her ears so I’m thinking there is another one in there ready to come through. She is eating like a champ and is almost up to 20lbs. That hair is still red. I was looking at Landon’s pictures and at his first birthday his hair was still really red so she still may grow out of it.

We will be having Little Miss Allie’s first birthday party soon. She is over 10 months now so I need to start planning. I already have the theme picked and everything. My mom won’t be too happy but I love it. It is so cute. I will post pictures as soon as the date gets here.



Kylie is finishing up 4th grade. She was on the Principal’s List nearly all year long. And when she wasn’t on the Principal’s List she made the “A” Honor Roll. We are rally proud of her. She is going to Girl Scout camp this summer. Its horse adventure camp at that, so she is going to have so much fun.



We have a summer full of activities to do. Summer camps, camping, beach and river trips, vacation bible schools, and the library summer reading program. Along with the pool and splash park visits. It’s going to be a fun summer. Hopefully they don’t make me want to pull my hair out. But I’m sure that will happen within the first week.

Spring is in the Air

It's been a while since the last post. Kids are growing each and every day. Kylie has brought home another report card with straight As! Landon is doing great in school and now brings home smiley faces every day. Chase is still fighting going to school. For some reason he doesn't like getting dropped off. But I know that he has a good time once I'm gone. And Allie, she is now sitting up on her own and we are expecting her to crawl any day now. She has been moved to her own room in her own crib. Although I am in there just about every night sleeping in her big girl bed that we went ahead and made up. Sometimes because she is fussy but most of the time it's because Jay is snoring!
Jay has started a business. Nik-Naks is up and running. It's a consignment business. Surprisingly he has done really well so far. We are having our first yard sale this Saturday so we will see how that goes.
So Spring is coming. The weather is finally warming up. Just in time too because I was about to go crazy with all this cold.  We have managed to get out in the yard for a couple of days. Landon has now decided that he does not like to go outside anymore. I am going to have to break him of that. I think it will involve unglueing him from the Nintendo DS or the tv.
Both Kylie and Landon have birthdays coming up in March. Kylie's is less than 2 weeks away and she will be 10 years old!!! OMG where has the time gone? It seems like yesterday she was climbing into the cupboard pulling out all the canned food and throwing it across the room. Now she is in the double digits. We have a great birthday present for her. I'll tell you more about that later. She is having a cookout birthday party with all her friends from girl scouts and a few others. We are planning on having a great time. As long as the weather holds out. Hopefully we can all stay outdoors for the party and not have to come inside for much.

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas

December 4th, 2010. Allie's first snowfall! And really the first time that I can remember it snowing before Christmas or in December for that matter.  The kids had a good time playing in it before it all melted by noon the following morning. They were up before 730 in the morning begging me to go out and play. So I sent them out in the cold and a few minutes later Chase comes in crying because he cannot feel his fingers anymore. Ah the joys of childhood. When all you had to worry about was frostbitten fingers and toes.
Well our Christmas tree is up. It kinda looked like Clark Griswald's tree before I made Jay cutting it down to size.  We have decided to make it a tradition to go out and get a tree the day after Thanksgiving.  I put all the lights on it after having to go out and get more lights because none of mine were working. Then the kids put up their ornaments and then the tree started to lean to that side. So I made Jay climb under it and fix that. After a few choice words he got it done.  So now the gifts are wrapped and under the tree. We are just about ready for Christmas Day. I'm starting to get exctied.

Time to Slow It Down

I always want to love the holidays. But I always end up hating them or dreading them. We are always normally broke when Christmas comes around. I know you would think that we would better prepare for them by now but no. We have so many places to go between Thanksgiving through Christmas evening. Well I have decided that this year will be different! We have slashed our Christmas list in half this year. The children will not be getting everything that they want that comes from a store this year. We won't be running here and there and everywhere this year to try to make everyone else happy. This year we will be making our own traditions.  Tomorrow we will be going to get our Christmas tree. Yes I know it's a little bit early. But Jay has plans to leave on a river trip on Friday so this works out. For Thanksgiving we were planning on having dinner at our house and cooking but once we figured out that Jay's entire family would be in attendance we had to move it to his parents house. But we are still doing the turkey.  We will not be racing off though and running to Wilson. This is part of our take it easy and enjoy life plan. Normally we run here and there for Thanksgiving, giving us heartburn from eatting so fast. This year we can go down and eat and relax and then come home before dark!  I am so excited about that. I love to see my family but being able to relax for a change is something I am looking forward to. Friday we are decorating! I love to decorate for Christmas. It puts me in the mood for the holidays. I remember decorating with my mom when I was little. We spent the whole day putting up tree decorations and putting candles in the windows. And how good the house smelled with a real  tree! I miss a real tree. This is the first year in about 5 that we will have a real tree. I am so excited about that too!
The kids will be learing the TRUE meaning of Christmas this year. They will be learning why we celebrate Christmas and then what we can do for others and the importance of family. I don't want them growing up thinking Christmas is just about presents.
So here's to slowing down and enjoying the holidays this year instead of worrying and stressing and rushing through them. Here's to remembering memories instead of having to look at the pictures to get a glimpse of how the evening went.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Trick or Treat...Smell my Feet!

October is over. We have tricked and treated until we couldn't feel our legs anymore.  Friday we stayed in town b/c Goldsboro was doing their trick or treating on this night. When Halloween is on a Sunday things get really confusing.  Kylie was a vampire princess, Landon was Superman, Chase was Buzz Lightyear and Allie was the cutest little flower ever!!!  We went to a big neighborhood here in town that most of the people there decorate and hand out candy.  It was really nice. Jay went with us for the first time ever. He is normally busy with the haunted trail or something.  And although he rolled his eyes for most of the time and wanted to leave to go to the trail we still had a good time.

Saturday night we went to Middlesex to my brother's and sister
-in-law's church for thier fall festival.  That was so much fun because they go all out with blow ups and games and trunks decorated and food with fried snickers and funnel cakes. It was awesome. Kylie dressed up as a karate kid (she looked just like me when I was her age dressed as a karate kid) and the boys wore their superheroes costumes and Allie was an ECU Cheerleader with a big flower on her head.

Sunday we went to Wilson for thier town's trick or treating. We all went over to Joey's and Jennifer's house and went through their neighborhood. That was fun just being with family. The kids had a great time and got loads of candy. After that we ordered pizzas and hung out. Letting the kids play and baby Allie and Baby Joel get to know each other.

All in all it was a great weekend. We are stocked up with candy and sweets. Now it's time to start getting ready for the holidays. Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here before we know it. As well as Jay's birthday.

With a Girl Thrown In

I am the proud mother of two rambunctious, wild and crazy boys. The aunt of 4 nephews and the baby sister to two older brothers. I was a tomboy growing up who would rather put on football pads than any type of dress.  I can throw a perfect spiral and kick a field goal with the best of them. Now I ask myself and the rest of the world "what am I going to do with this precious baby girl?" I have never mastered perfect pigtails, let alone a french braid.  It took me and my husband 15 minutes just to get her into her tights for her Halloween costume.
There are things that I know I can't do well that should be a mom requirement. Like preparing Christmas dinner for the entire family or doing a french braid. But I can teach her how to kick a soccer ball into a new that is guarded by a goalie or to climb a tree so high that the neighborhood boys are in shock. I can teach her how to fight and to fight for what she believes in. I can teach her to be brave and face the adventures life gives you head on.
God has given me this precious little baby girl that I must mold into a little lady and quickly.  I see many tears in her future from her brothers. But I know that just like mine are now, once they get older they will protect her with everything they have in them. And that's the great thing about growing up with boys.

Here in the real world

Alright so I like to think of myself as a realist.  I believe that things happen for a reason. I may not understand it when they happen but God has a plan and this is how it is supossed to work out. When I was working people called me a walking, talking Hallmark card because when somebody had some news about thier grandma falling and breaking a hip they always looked to me to tell them the truth. In this case it would be "well it's all down hill from here".   I see things clearly, normally, and I like to think that I rationalize things with a clear head. When something bad happens I hope for the best but I know that it may not work out that way.
This morning at 2am while Allie decided to keep me awake until 4am I understood how babies get shaken baby syndrone. I remember thinking this with each of my kids. No I have never shaken any of my babies. I have learned to control myself and my feelings and if I do get the feeling that I am about to lose it then I walk away.  I hear all the time "how could a parent do that to their child?!"  It's not hard.  All it takes is a tired parent and a cranky baby.  I guess because Jay and I both know how easy it is to do we both pay attention to each other and realize when the other is about to lose it and we step in to give the other one a break.
I also understand how someone can leave a child in a car. This has been one of my fears. I have many times driven past the babysitters (when I was working) or completely zoned out while in the car. Again all it takes is a tired parent.  I am also always freaking out when I don't have one of them with me. Like during the Christmas season we will go shopping without the kids and someone will ask us where they are and it takes my breath away for a second when I don't instantly remember where I left them. Did I forget them? Where are they? Then I remember that I left them with the babysitter and sigh in relief. I don't know why I do this. I have never left one of them somewhere or in a car. Maybe it's because we hear so much about it now a day.

So these are the ramblings of a tired worn out mama who is going off of a few hours of sleep. Big night tonight. The Haunted Trail starts and Jay will be working all night on it so I will home alone with the kiddies. Guess I should work on getting a nap while I can. TTYL