My Boy

My poor baby boy has had the barfs for the past 24 hours. SO he got to stay at home with mommy today while his little boy healed. Now when I tell you that it's my baby boy you should probably know that he's my only son and he's now 8 years old. He has asked me numerous times today if he had a fever. And I've placed my hand on his forehead to check and sometimes it felt warm and sometimes not. But he snuggled up on the couch next to me after the first couple times and told me that he thought my hand was wrong and that what I really needed to do was to kiss his forehead before I could know for sure because he didn't think he had a fever. Turns out he was right, no fever! But I must tell you what really cracked me up is that every hour or so he's been back looking at me with his BIG beautiful blue eyes tellin me that I need to kiss his forehead to check for a fever again! After doing this about 5 times I looked at him and said, I think you're just enjoying my kissin your forehead aren't you! AND he got a really HUGE grin on his face and his blue eyes sparkled and he said "yea mom I am!" I LoVe IT! Seriously love it!
NOT only that I call him hubby bubba and he loves it. I asked him if he minded that I called him that and he said no mom I like it. I asked him if I could still call him that when he was 16 and dating and he looked at me horrified and said "NO!" Oh well, he loved it for now! :)

Mama

Hello all 2 of you reading this mama's post.
Want to hear something funny...I really use to not like being called mama. Growing up I remember my mom telling me that we could call her mom, mommy, or mother but she didn't like being called mama. So we just never did. I think I assumed that same philosophy when I had my own kids. But there was one little issue...they all love calling me MAMA. It wasn't like they grew out of it, I'd say you can call me mommy..and they'd say I love you mama. Seriously I mean how did that change?!?!?! But this is the best thing about that word..now I LOVE it!

I survived week 1~

For all 2 of you who ever read this I wanted to let you know that I have indeed survived the first week of school. Granted it wasn't a full 5 days of school, but 4 ain't bad! :)
So the first day of school was Tuesday and it wasn't a bad day. Kids were all up and ready to get on the bus at least 20 min before they needed to be at the end of our driveway. THEN because it was the first day of school the bus was 10 min behind schedule so we sat outside and took all of those great first day of school pictures for quite awhile. I couldn't tell who was more nervous me or my baby girl! She went to Kindergarten this year and while she was really excited to go you can see on her face in a few pictures that there are moments where she's truly contemplating whether or not this is really a good decision. For the first time EVER in 6 years of sending my children to school (wow I can't believe this is the 6th time I've done this) my husband decided to stay at home with me. I think it was because he saw how much I cried when we took the youngest to preschool last year. He did stay home for preschool for each one of the kids, but never actual school. I didn't cry when they got on the bus or when it pulled away although I almost lost it when I saw her little face pushed up against the bus window with her blonde dutch braids sticking out behind her head waving at me while they pulled away. Then it was inside to finish getting ready and off to the school to get her off the bus and walk her into her first day...which by the way she really didn't want me to do! Apparently she KNEW where her class was and she didn't NEED my help! (eyeroll)
The rest of the week went pretty well and I stayed busy with friends and family so that I wouldn't have to think about any of them being gone and I wanted my little daycare boy for a couple days this week.....AND then FRIDAY came. Now Friday should be a good day for anyone because hello it's Friday...but for me Friday this week was a really BAD day.

You see 2 of my friends have gone back to the East Coast (COOOAST....sorry inside joke). And the fact that they're gone has made me sad, plus the kids were getting on the bus, plus no extra kid, plus my husband left for men's retreat with our church. It was so eerily quiet in my house! I've been needing to have a good long cry and yesterday was the day to let it all out. But the day ended well with my some of my girlfriends coming over to eat pizza and watch "Letter's to Juliet" which was a great movie and I really enjoyed watching it! I'm praying next week goes much more smoothly than this one!

You can lose your own children, but not other people's kids!

I seriously cannot tell any of you how many times I've said that particular phrase jokingly to other people. "You can lose your own children, but not other people's kids!" But losing your own kid seriously sucks! TODAY I was at the Fair (yes this was the 3rd time I went and I have plans to go back to a concert in a few more days so I'll have been there 4 times, yes I love the Fair!) Anyway....today we were at the Fair with friends and it's my favorite day to go because it's parks n Rec day and they have a ton of free (FREE) stuff for the kids to do. Each year there are some things that are the same (bubble blowing contest, pie eating contest, big wheel races, bowling, 5 shot basketball) and a few things that rotate like the craft they get to do (this year it was sand art). After all of those many things were done today we ate lunch and walked around to look at a few more things and play in the water area's set up for kids to cool off at...ok so some adults (not me) played in them too. After that it was off to see the Butter Cow and then we went in search of Red Velvet Funnel Cake for one of my friends that was with us. As we were almost there I heard the one man band and decided to stop and listen. My son came with me and I assumed the girls were with the rest of the group. The group comes over and I start talking and then I'm looking around and my youngest daughter (5) is not with the rest of us. Now she likes to wander a bit so I just slowly started looking around for her....and I came back to the group and tagged a different friend and said...SHES GONE! We went looking everywhere we had been and where we were walking and to a few stands where she might have gone to find us if she was lost...because that's what she now was LOST...I LOST my child...my BABY to be exact! About 10 min or so has passed and I hear my name over the loud speakers asking me to come to a certain area at the fair grounds and I took off running around people and through sidewalks tryin to find this little building. After talking to 3 different people I finally found my baby girl sitting in there chatting it up with the kids (I swear of the 3 the oldest might have been 14) and I looked at her and said "baby girl where did you go!!!" and she cried and I cried and I hung on so tightly to my tiny princess....
I had to sign a form and get my picture taken with her to make sure nothing else bad happened I guess, hopefully DCFS won't be coming and knocking at my door anytime soon!!! She cried 2 more times and so did I...and she didn't let go for such a long time.
SO I don't think I'll be saying it's ok to lose your own children because I don't wanna have that happen to me EVER, EVER again!

Cancer SUCKS

OK...so this post has absolutely nothing to do with my busy life with my kids! It has everything to do with Cancer. I HATE that word...every time I hear it...well I'd like to cry. In case you're wondering why I'm so up in arms about it right now it's because one of my b/f's is having to deal with her cancer again....there it is AGAIN...it's such an UGLY thing. She's been dealing with her cancer since she was pregnant in 2006! She's been through 5 surgeries and we thought after this last time it would be ok.....in fact for at least a year she was good...no cancer. AND now, now it's back again....so today, today I'm just...well PISSED! So that's my life today.... Praying for my friend and I'm praying that she gets to beat this mean thing again! AND this time, I pray it's for good!

School Supplies

Well I finally went and got all the the school supply shopping done in the last 2 days! I'd like to tell you that I'm currently very proud of myself because I didn't pass out when my final bill was rung up on the first day of the shopping. Now you do need to know that I have a few issues with the shopping list that I am given by my district.....I mean why am I buying copy paper and dry erase markers for my kids? I thought maybe they were going to use them in class...NOPE truth is that the teachers and the district are using them. I mean what happen to chalk boards and chalk, buying chalk is a lot cheaper!
ALSO why does my Kindergartner need 12 glue sticks? I know that they use a lot of glue but seriously 12. I have also figured this out. She doesn't need that many glue sticks, but apparently other children won't be able to bring in glue sticks...so those of us who have the $$ (which really isn't me BTW) to follow the supply sheet and buy the glue sticks will be supplying them for the rest of the classroom. I mean seriously.

The fact of the matter is some student's families really can't afford to buy school supplies and for them, I am very glad to help. BUT there are families who CLAIM not to be able to afford them and are scamming the state and living off of the rest of us who SHOULD be able to buy their kids school supplies...I mean they are able to purchase themselves I-PHONE and cable tv, and they are out to eat more often than I would be able to EVER afford to do! So the truth is I don't want to be giving a hand out to someone who doesn't need it. I don't mind I suppose but don't mind helping out the teachers, but I'd rather have a list posted that says..."the district/teachers need....." see then it will be my CHOICE to give them those things, I would still be purchasing them...just not with such a sucky attitude! OK well that's my soapbox for now.

Back from our ?Vacation?????

Well it seems to me that when you go on a vacation to see family that most of the time it's not really a vacation at all. I mean does it work like that with anyone else?
We have been gone for 10 days and I feel tired...Dean feels more tired but that's a different story.

The real reason for the start of this trip was because my middle sister (I have 4, did you know that) ANYWAY she is getting married in September and we needed to have a shower in IL at my mom & dad's church because most of those people aren't going to be traveling to IA for the wedding. So down we went. AND being good sisters the rest of us threw her a very amazing shower. HOW you may ask do I know it was amazing???? WELL it was amazing because it took us at least 12 hours of cooking to get ready for this thing My sisters and I have a disorder that makes us overachievers when it comes to food and parties of ANT kind. And frankly this party wasn't any different. You see the sister getting married hates normal bridal showers and the foo-foo food that gets served, so being the nice sisters we are we decided to throw her an amazing (from scratch) Mexican fiesta! Complete with authentic food. Have you ever cooked authentic Mexican food???? IT TAKES FOREVER! But in the end it was so delicious that it didn't really matter and Sister M totally loved everything we did.....SO Mission Accomplished.

The kids were driving us nuts the next day because it was hot outside and they were trapped inside and they really just needed to run and get out all their energy! So we let them run at the park and then Nana let them "swim" in her 4 person hot tub. Have you ever seen 7 kids ranging in ages from 10 - 1 in a 4 person hot tub? Let's just say it was extreamly comical and not very practical, but they got wet and they were happy so, score one for the home team! hahah

My mom, sister N and sister K, and I decided to leave all the children (7 of them) with my dad and husband and run to the mall to find my mom a Mother-of-the -Bride dress. It should have been a mostly easy task. First we went to a fabric store because sister K needed to find fabric to make curtains for the bedroom of her girls. We couldn't find exactly what we were looking for because she didn't have the paint samples with her. SO then we went to Lowe's and it turned out that they didn't have the paint type that she was looking for so we walked around pulling colors trying to match them to the little bits of paint that she hadn't been able to scrub off of her hand and ankles...thankfully we found one but as you can imagine it was pretty funny watching her match colors! THEN we went to Hobby Lobby and looked at a few things and laughed a lot at the signs. (If at first you don't succeed, try doing it the way our wife told you. There's a skinny girl inside of me scream to get out, but I can usually shut her up with cookies.) There were a TON of them, but we each bought a couple that we likes the best. ONE of the ones that I bought said "House Rules. Rule #1 Mom's the Boss. #2 See Rule #1" I love it! OK SO then we went to a 2nd fabric store where sister N found exactly what she was looking for to make her latest baby quilt for a friend, and Sister K still didn't find what she wanted because she didn't want to spend over $100 to make curtains for her girls! THEN we finally got to the mall where Mom tried on about 15 dresses at store #1....NO LUCK! Although several laughs! Off to store #2 where she tired on about 15 more and we found the perfect dress....except for that spot on the dress. SO we had to order the dress because they didn't have any more in her size. At that point I was so excited because it was 3pm and I hadn't eaten anything all day! So I knew we were going to get to head for some food....except that we walked past all these really awesome dresses....and mom said, I love those everyone grab a few you like and I'll buy you each a dress. Have I mentioned that I LOVE my mother! SO I found a really cute dress, in a Large...guess what.....it was too BIG...had to buy a Medium...yay me! Then a quick bite to eat (FINALLY)! and off to wal-mart where we all decided (except sister N) that a change in Hair color was in order. We bought all the stuff, and didn't ever get to do our hair.
After we were done with all the craziness at my parents house it's off to 1 set of my in-laws.
While we were there we did several things. 1) I got to play BINGO again and WON for the first time EVER!!!!!! 2) We went to the pool in 111 degree temps 3) We went to a water park as a family! 3) We swam in the lake 4) I SHOT GUNS!
AND the whole while this was going on, my poor husband was working on projects with his dad. The only day he got to come and have family fun time was when we went to the water park. I felt so bad for him, I mean it's his vacation to.

SO new rules....When we go on a Family Vacation, to call it an actual Vacation we shouldn't go visit FAMILY! :)
Now on to being stressed about school starting....Post at y'all later!

Old Memories and a busy morning/afternoon

So last night was PIE NIGHT! I don't know if that sounds interesting to you or not, but I love pie night. It's the night that I get to meet up with my group of girls....ok sometimes there's only 2 of us but last night there were 5 of us. I almost didn't get to go, which would have been horrible because I have been looking forward to this night since the beginning of July. WHY you might want to know did I almost not make it....well my husband was working on our "new" van last night, because we are going on vacation today, and something extra broke and therefore he called me and said you need to come home now I hv to get to the parts store! :( Luckily my girlfriends were still at church and chatting and I wasn't far behind them when I FINALLY got to the evening. Music was playing at our restaurant last night and a song came on that took me back to high school. Seems like a lifetime ago, me rocking out watching my boyfriend play drums in his band and chilling with the steady girlfriend of the lead singer...funny thing is now, I only talk to that girl and no one else! HA!!
ON the upside, I had great conversations and got to know a lot more about the 4 other girls I was with..one of whom is headed for Honduras to teach English for the next 2 years!!! Crazy girl.

Today, well today I should be doing something right now because there is a lot that needs to get done and frankly not a lot of time to do it in! We are leaving on vacation today, not the normal kind of vacation but the kind where you go stay with your parents and do nothing. We are combining 2 of those vacations into 1. First we go to my parents house and then over to my father-in-law's house. 4.5 days at each house. We have a bridal shower, a ball game, and a lot of other stuff to do! SO I have to pack for this vacation, and as all you mom's know the house should be at least picked up with clean laundry and clean dishes before you leave so that you don't have that to deal with when you walk back into the door! So the 5 of us will be off like a herd of turtles (turtle, turtle...sorry) ....BUT wait it wouldn't be our kinda of day/trip if we didn't add a little extra! WE are taking my 2 nieces with us....so make that 7 off like a herd of turtles! With that said, dear friends I will have to jump off of this post and jump into my day....well just as soon as I'm done with my cappuccino! :D

Almost the beginning of the end

Many of you many not realize that I'm having a hard time this summer. Now you might think that it's because I've been at home with my children non-stop since the end of May with no apparent end in sight and they've been trying to slowly kill each other since the beginning of July, but you'd be wrong. I'm really wishing that this summer hadn't gone by so fast because come August 23 my life will be drastically changing. I'm sure that this sounds way worse that it actually is but for me it's true. On that fateful Tuesday I will have to change my view of myself. You see my baby is going to Kindergarten! Yeah, I know some of you are thinking to yourselves "she's nuts, I can't wait till all my kids are in school!" BUT my job is about to change. For the past 10 1/2 years I've had the same job, a job that drives me to the brink of insanity several times a week, but still a job I love, a job I'm good at (most days). I've been a stay at home mom for 10 1/2 years..and frankly it's kinda hard to mother children who AREN'T IN THE HOUSE!
Now I realize that just because my kids are all in school doesn't mean I can't still be a stay-at-home mom, but I don't want to be lazy...although with as much laundry, cleaning, dishes, and cooking as I do I really shouldn't have time for anything else! BUT still...... So my job description is changing and I don't really like this change. Liberty has assured me that she will miss me and that she will be in my heart and that we can spend time together when she gets home so that I will be ok. Marissa just rolls her eyes at me and tells me she's sure I wasn't this upset when SHE went off to Kindergarten (I was...) and Austin, well he sorta just shrugs at me and promises me he will take care of his sister while she's at school! (He's such a good boy.........some days)
This will be a year of changes for all of us. SO we will go and enjoy the rest of our summer....it's almost over 27 days left to be exact. We still have lots to do and I'll try and post about the rest of our summer adventure....StL, MO, Lazer Tag, IOWA STATE FAIR, and lots of friends are coming. Hope this blog will be fun and keep everyone updated! <3 you all!!!