Help is on the Way

Or at least it will be tomorrow. A group of us are leaving tomorrow night, headed for Houma, Louisiana. We're going to help rebuild houses damaged or destroyed in hurricane Katrina. Last year was one of the most rewarding experiences I've had, and I hope this year proves to be the same. This year there are 15 of us going. I'm really looking forward to it.

When I get home it will be time to get the garden ready...and put the flower bed(s) in. Cant wait to get in the dirt! It was soooo nice to put the basketball hoop and furniture on the patio.

Finally!

The workers came yesterday! I think they are finally done. The patio is poured, the yard is graded. We still need to put in window wells around a few basement windows, and plant grass seed, but the rest is done! Now I get to have some fun. I'm ready to start laying out flower beds and a garden. Yes, a garden. I have to look around and see where I want to put it. I think I have an idea, but I have to go check. I hope the excitement I have for this now lasts all season, and I keep up with it. I'm anticipating it saving me on grocery money...lots of fresh veggies, plus I'd like to make some spaghetti and pizza sauce, and maybe some salsa. I'd also like to can some green beans. Its all exciting now, but I know it will be lots of work. I've been doing so much better with my attitude and upkeep on the inside of the house, so I hope this will transfer to the outside as well.
Big changes in store soon, and I need to stay on top of things.

In kid news...this is one crazy week. Ali has decided to play soccer as well as softball this spring. So she has some kind of practice almost every night now. At least her soccer games will be on Saturdays, so that shouldnt interfere with softball. Livi is playing softball, and Brenna has volleyball camp all this week. She has a small league the next 2 weeks, just Weds and Fridays. I'm glad I decided to hold Maddy off one more year. I cant imagine if she was in t-ball as well right now. She'll definately play next year though.

A Better Day

Things have been a bit rough the last few days, especially emotionally. Today was a better day. I got up feeling good and rested. Made a dessert for the luncheon at church. Went to church, then had the meeting/luncheon for the mission trip. I'm really excited now. We're meeting at the church Saturday night at 9pm, and leaving by 10. Should be a good time. (Now I just need to get things washed up and packed.)

Times Change

I had a good cry today. I found out that Sis has decided to move to my dad's. Why would she do that? I have no clue. The last we knew it sounded like she was going to move in with my mom. But no. Grandma is here. The girls are here. We are here. Why is she going so far away??? The girls are going to be crushed...especially Maddy. I wish there was something we could do to change her mind. It really breaks my heart.

Tid Bits

Ahhhhhh, sugar. I had given up sweets for Lent, and did really really well. (I had a cookie after I donated blood---my only indulgence.) So yesterday came (Easter), and well, I had some sugar. And then a little more. Like a couple PB eggs, some oreo pudding, white sheet cake, strawberry shortcake trifle, jelly beans....yeah. Not a lot of anything, but a little of lots of things. Lets just say I didnt handle it well. I crashed big time today. I napped yesterday. I couldnt keep my eyes open today. I was much better off when I gave up the sweets and was eating healthier. Its rough. So I put all the candy away today. If its not sitting out where I can walk past and grab a piece, I wont eat it.

Softball season is now upon us. Alexis is on the 13-14 year old team...mostly the same kids as last year. Same coach too, and we really like her. Olivia has her first practice tomorrow (I think) and is on the 7-8 year old team. Its coaches pitch. She also has the same coach as last year, which isnt quite as good as it is for Ali. Actually, the coach isnt so bad, but his daughter is really mouthy and bossy. Oh well. Livi just goes with the flow.

Brenna will start volleyball next week. One week of camp and 2 weeks of games. Thats always fun to watch.

I'm also trying to get things together for my mission trip. Really looking forward to that!

Light

Hopefully good things to report in the near future! :)

Busy busy

We seem to have lots going on these days.

Alexis is in the thick of things with the musical. It is coming up next weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing her make her stage debut. (Its the high school musical---they're doing Annie.)

I've registered Maddy for kindergarten. She has her "preview" (formerly known as screening) on March 31st. I think she's ready. She keeps asking when she can go to the girls school.

Warmer weather has finally arrived. We're still having ups and downs, but at least the downs aren't so low. I love the fresh air. I even had the windows open one day last week.

I taught 3 days last week. Now I'm sick. I just had this awful feeling last week when I was teaching...I saw a bunch of snot nosed kids. So now I'm trying to get healthy again.

My eating is still going well. I think giving up sweets for Lent was one of the best choices I've made. It has not been all that hard at all...not even when I made a cake or otherwise. (I didnt even lick the spatula, lol.) I have a good mindset this time, and hoepfully with Lent being 6ish weeks, I'll have some better habits in place once Easter gets here. (Now I need to add in some exercise.)

Catch Up

Lets see.....

Since my last post, the biggest thing that happened was Maddy turning 5. Its very sad that my baby is now 5...kindergarten age. And speaking of kindergarten, she is signed up for the preview at the end of the month. Yes, its all becomming real. All 4 of my kids will be in school full time next year. :(

The girls were supposed to have their solo and ensemble contest last Saturday, but it was cancelled due to snow. I think it was a bit of a disappointment after all the work they've put in. But they didnt have school the Friday before, so I suppose it was for the best. They've now missed 8 days of school, and have 3 to make up over spring break.

I had conferences last night for all the girls. What can I say...I have good kids. Its nice to go in and hear good things, and have the other things we discuss just be minor. I'm so thankful my kids like school and really try hard to do their best. I dont have to push much. I'm anxious to see if Olivia changes next year. I'm not sure she puts 100% into it this year, but next year she will actually get letter grades, so I'm wondering if that wont make her do better. Time will tell....

Today is Mom's birthday. I'm just not sure how to feel about that. Two years ago, her oncologist told her she had 1-2 years to live. Had she not had such a desire to live and beat this, and seek out a second opinion, she wouldnt be here right now. So today is bittersweet. And not only that, but she had a CAT scan last week, and its clear of cancer all together. She has a blood clot, and now has to go on medicine most likely for the rest of her life, and it consists of giving herself a daily shot in the belly. Ugh! But its so much better than them finding cancer. I love her so much!

What's Next

We had a 2 hour delay on Thursday, but at least they went back to school. Friday was a full day. Now they're calling for freezing rain and snow tonight. I wonder what tomorrow morning will bring?

In other news...we have a new family member. Her name is Kya. I'm not sure how I feel about this yet. Mike came home with a new puppy yesterday. The timing is just so bad...we dont know whats up with his financial situation, there is still a ton of snow on the ground, etc. She's a purebred pit bull. And she is cute. But that doesn't mean I have to be happy about this right now. (The girls on the other hand adore her.)

We had a meeting at church today about another mission trip to Louisiana. This time to Houma. I really want to go, and most likely will. Its only going to cost $35, plus money for food on the way down and back, and spending money if we get to go into New Orleans while we're there (which I hope we do). I think Pam is going to go this time too. I'm looking forward to it.

And yet again...

Another snow day. This is 12 days off in a row (counting weekends). Isn't enough enough already???? Everyone is ready to go back.

In the last 12 days, I've left the house twice....Once last Friday to go to the grocery store, and on Sunday to go to church. I can't believe I dont have cabin fever. But when I look outside and see a sea of white...deep white...I have no desire to leave the house. It probably helped that we had the girls party on Sunday so we had a house full of company. Then on Monday two friends came over with their kids for the afternoon. (That made for 11 kids here...wasn't that a trip!)

So hopefully tomorrow we can get back to "normal". Maddy has only been to preschool 2 days this month...she was sick to start with, and now the weather. I'm not looking forward to going outside to take her to school, but I'm sure she'll be happy to go back.

Party Time

Hmmm, somehow I've gotten behind on here again.

Today we had Ali's 13th and Maddy's 5th birthday party. It was mostly family, with a couple friends thrown in the mix. I think a good time was had by all.

The girls ended up being off school all last week. Tomorrow is President's day, so another day off. We're under a winter weather advisory for tomorrow noon to Tuesday noon. They're saying another 3-5 inches of snow possible. Really? Do they know how much snow we have out there already? And we just had the driveway plowed Friday. Ugh! They cant possibly miss more school. Any more days off and they have to make them up. Plus, they NEED to go back. I NEED them to go back.

On another note, I have a photo shoot tomorrow morning. Its a 4 month old. Sometimes they go well, sometimes not. Lets hope for some good pics!

And again

Not much to say today. Another snow day for the girls. So far there's no delay or closing for tomorrow, but I cant imagine there wont be at least a delay. Seems silly to go to school for one day this week. (Friday and Monday are scheduled days off.)

Alexis is hoping for no school. She wants to get up and mix up homemade donuts. We've never done it before, so I hope we can.

I'm so tired of snow!

Sigh...

Today, my first baby turned 13. I cant believe I'm the mother of a teenager. But not only that, I can't believe she got that old already. It makes me sad.

But I couldn't be prouder of her. She's so smart. So pretty. Such a good student. Funny. Athletic. And if she wasn't any of these, I'd love her just as much. I'm so lucky to be her mom.

Ali, I love you! Happy birthday.

Snow

Oh my gosh the snow. I know I'm a bit behind here, but we got around 14-16 inches over the weekend. What a mess. Mike was loving it because he pulled 3 people out of ditches. We had a huge drift in front of the door.

There was no school yesterday. I'm not completely sure why. It was really cold, around -12*, it was SUPER foggy til after 10am, and some of the roads were a bit bad still. So I dont really know. Alexis and I still went to the basketball skills clinic and had no trouble.

Now, there's no school again today. This time I know why. Its snowing like there's no tomorrow and has been all day so far. We're supposed to get 3-5" more today, and the same amount tomorrow. Ugh! There is such a thing as too much together time.

Three of the girls are outside playing right now. When they come in, we'll make soft pretzels. The dough is ready. I'd like to do a puzzle too...something to get away from the computer/tv/etc. I have a feeling they may miss the rest of the week of school. (There is no school Friday because of conferences, and no school next Monday because its President's day. This could end up being a really l o n g "weekend"!)

Girls

I have 4. For some reason, tonight I have 8. Eight girls under one roof. (Am I crazy???) And to be totally honest...you probably would never guess it if you stopped by. Its quiet. I hear talking, the occasional laughter, but its not noisy. I love having a bigger house, and cant wait to get the basement done.

The bad side to all this...its snowing. Hard. And its supposed to snow all night. So they could be snowed in. I made sure we had food in the house in case I have to feed them all day tomorrow. Of course, Mike said he'd take them home in his truck. He's already pulled one guy out of the ditch. I was making pizza for dinner and noticed someone in the ditch across the street. So he went and helped him out.

The electricity cant decide if it wants to stay on, or go off. I'm hoping it decides to stay on. It could get a bit crowded with all of us sleeping in the family room in front of the fireplace. At least we have that option.

Games

I'm still going to basketball games. Tonight it was the 7th grade boys (A & B teams). Both times I've watched these guys, they start out strong, and then fall apart in the 4th quarter and end up losing.

Then we went over to the high school girls game. It was really good. They ended up winning after trailing most of the game. There was one whole section of students there supporting the girls and cheering. That was nice to see. I think the girls teams get overlooked too often.

On the sickness front...Maddy is still really coughing. I thought she seemed better this morning, but when I picked her up from school, they said she had been coughing a lot all afternoon. Great. I hope she sleeps well and gets up feeling good!

Still...

Maddy missed another day of school. She is coughing a lot, and I just think its better if she's not spreading her germs all over the other kids. Of course, so is Alexis, yet she's been going to school. I'm going to medicate Maddy and send her tomorrow. She's had enough home time.

I'd like to start walking tomorrow after I take Maddy to school. I need some exercise...I feel the need! Its not supposed to be so incredibly cold, so walking sounds like a good idea to me.

Sick of sick

Maddy was home sick today. She wasn't bed bound or anything, but still horrible stuffy, coughing, sounding awful, etc. Hopefully she'll be a bit better tomorrow and can go back to school, but I wouldn't be opposed to keeping her home one more day.

Alexis had her second basketball skills clinic tonight. I think the girls are having fun, and I can tell some are really trying and listening to what we have to tell them. I can also tell that there will be a couple who aren't going to get far in basketball if they don't start listening and trying what we tell them.

I went to pick Brenna up from Explorers tonight and there was a firetruck at the laundromat. I think one of the dryers was on fire. I hope there wasnt much damage.

Pic for the Week

Did another newborn today. Its my step-cousin's new baby. What a super sweet little girl.

But, one of my super sweet little girls is a bit under the weather. Maddy is fighting some kind of bug. She will probably miss school tomorrow because of it. I hope it doesnt last long. I dont like to see my kiddos sick.

Pic for the Week

Well, I cant find the pic I was going to post for today, so I'll post one from yesterday, that was supposed to go on last week's post.

I did a photo shoot yesterday of a 2 1/2 week baby girl. She was so cute. Here is one of my favorites, unedited.