Sadness Is...........

Okay so I pushed it off long enough.....I'M SAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have tried to avoid the pit that has been in my stomach and really only complained about it to Trina and My hubby, but it no longer seems sufficient. I told myself that I wasn't going to blog about it because that would make it real when I finally read it out loud or maybe because I didn't even want to go that in depth in my mind, but it is what I'm feeling. And that is what this blog is for, right?? I mean this is about my life and there is a MAJOR change that has occurred and I can't pretend that it hasn't effected me.
I feel like I could cry as I type and if anybody knows me at all then they know I am not a crier. However I have broke out of my little mold because I have shed many tears over this move. It is crazy because I have moved so much when I was a child that I think I kinda became numb to it but then again I was the one always leaving.....Not this time. I am the one left behind and maybe that makes it worse or maybe not. It doesn't matter because it still hurts.
It is no secret that Trina is one of my best friends and that her leaving leaves a huge whole in my world. At first I was kinda angry and thought why did I allow myself to be so entangled in someone else's world. She was not my immediate family ...why was I sooo attached?? However it was out of my control because the Lord had a hand in this friendship. The chances of us living in the same town for the rest of our lives were slim to none, even though that would have me one happy lady. But reality hit and it didn't happen. And now the Lord was expecting us to add another dimension to our friendship...distance. My next feeling was complete sadness........ And that is where I have been for days now and probably will be for sometime.
It is not like she is JUST a friend to me, we have way more of a bond, for lack of a better word, and even though she is gone we will always have that. When we first met and really got a chance to get to know each other we just clicked. I knew that it was a gift from the Lord. When I first started coming to our church I would look around and see all the girls who had these great friends who they would giggle with, and share things with and I so wanted that. Then a few years later and after Rusty and I had been married she moved back to our part. Some major relationship changes were going on with me and I know the Lord knew I was starting to feel alone. So the Lord answered my prayer, not when I asked, but when I needed it and I am so THANKFUL that he is aware of me and brought her into my life. From there I guess as they say .. the rest is history.
Sure we have our silly times, okay a lot of silly times, but we also have had many, many spiritual conversations, times when we have just laid it all on the table and we both walked away stronger and closer for it. She has taught so much about who I want to be and the example she is...well bottom line is because of her I am a better sister in the faith, wife to my hubby, and mommy to my kids. Her laughter will forever stay in my heart as well as the friendship that we established. Not only did the Lord grant me a friend who feels way more like a sister than I can ever explain, but he also allowed us enough time for it to form and blossom and for that I am also very thankful.
Great friends are hard to find but lifetime friends are almost extent in these days...she walked into my life at the perfect time and even though our last minutes trips to the park with a chai in our hands, our spontaneous Wal-Mart runs, our lunches at the local Mexican restaurant, and our movie dates are all gone.. I know that the Lord allowed us to become irreplaceable in each others lives for a reason. So, for now I will continue feeling sad and sometimes lonely but in time that will lessen, because really nothing has changed except for a little geography.
I Love You Trina Leah!!
BTW..Is it wrong that I miss you already??..hehe

Sound Advice

There are many many conversations that my 2 boys have that I do not hear but the few that go on in front of me seriously sometimes crack me up. You see I know I have explained Jake's personality and that he is a worrier and literal and really he can't let some things go. Jarred on the other hand is more down to earth and really doesn't get shook up by a lot of stuff. Oh sure things upset him and has some mini-meltdowns, but he definitely has more of a adventuresome spirit than Jake. Jake the cautious one, is the child that is pulling all his siblings in the house in a hurry when the neighborhood bully dog is roaming around while Jarred is wanting to back outside to see if his owner is missing him. Get what I am saying here..Jake can spot a problem a mile away, but Jarred, well if he does see it then he will probably try to find a solution to it or at least give some good ole 5 yr old advice.
Example of 1 among many conversations:
During the first week of school this year Jake came home and I asked him if he brought the lunch menu so we could determine what days he needed to take his lunch. He told me this....
Jake: I know I put in my folder.
Me : Well it is not here.
Jake: OHH that boy next to me must have grabbed it.
Jarred: Did you tell him to give it back?
Jake: I didn't know he took it Jarred.
Jarred: Oh well why did you sit next to him?
Jake: Jarred, I had to sit there, you just don't understand.
Jarred: Well I would still ask for it back. And maybe you shouldn't sit by him tomorrow.
Jake : Sigh..rolling eyes
The next day Jake gets home from school and I ask if he brought home the menu...
Jake: Oh I forgot it again.
Jarred: Sighing.. Did you sit by that boy again??

Another example:
The other day Jake came home from school and was so excited about this assembly they had at school where this guy came and did a lot of yo-yo tricks. Well you guessed it Jake now wants a yo-yo and was talking about all the cool stuff he could learn to do with it. We were sitting around the dinner table and the following convo went down....BTW our pet dogs name is Joey.....
Jake: It was so cool I want a yo-yo.
Jarred: Me too.
Jake: I wonder if I could learn to walk the dog..you know what that means right mom and dad?
Rusty and I nod our heads... ( you know it is a yo-yo trick)
Jake: Yeah I hope I can learn to do that.
Jarred: You can Jake, we will just practice on Joey. We can walk him to the park.
Jake: Jarred, that is not what I mean.
Jarred: You just said you wanted to learn to walk the dog, so we can. We do have Joey ya know??
Jake: Again sighing and rolling eyes.
You see what I mean, very sound sensible advice for a 5 year old don't ya think?

Shower Issues

The time change has definitely effected Hailey, but not in a good way. Instead of sleeping in a little more she has decided to wake up an hour earlier than before. So really she is waking up 2 hrs. before normal!! I know Daylight Savings Time was a couple of weeks ago but we just don't understand it. Rusty and I often talk about it and think maybe it makes sense and we are just confused, but no we are not...she is off!! I state this little problem because before the time change I used to get up with Rusty and Jake, get them off for the day and then take my shower and have about 30mins. to myself.
Well that is a distant memory and now I find myself laying in Hailey's bed with her "pretending" to be asleep in hopes she will close her little eyes and drift back off to sleep, but nope, she does not.
So up we go and a new routine is started. I set her up with a sippy, turn on Dora and then I attempt to slip away to shower. Notice the word attempt because basically it never works. On the rare occasion that I do get to shower in peace it is in record speed and I should feel out of breath as fast as I go. But that is not the norm and I either get a crying baby in my bathroom who is wanting to get in clothes and all, or I end up taking a shower with her...it normally is the second.
So you see it now becomes the acrobatic session of shower time where the whole time I am maneuvering my body to stop the spray from drowning her all the while trying to apply shampoo to my hair. The the rinsing is just a nightmare because our shower head is one that is set up high and sprays directly down...so there is no where for her to run..soap in her eyes is almost guaranteed. So I then pick her up to rinse my hair and well that too can become quite the difficult trick trying to avoid a direct face shot. Really it isn't enjoyable for either of us, but she ALWAYS come back for more.
Whatever happen to the relaxing shower time where I could enjoy the hot water and shave my legs in peace..( no Mrs. Martin , I am not referring to that time..hehe) Seriously I feel like a contortionist and like I just worked double time just to do something as simple as bathe.
I used to shower when she was napping but that faded as my days got busier and I had more stuff to do and I couldn't push errands off until late afternoon. Sigh.... Well I know it is not the end of the world and it won't last forever, it better not, but for now at least I am getting some morning stretches in, right??

My Clothes Horse

This morning I was at my computer making the rounds to all my blogging buddies when little Hailey Ann kept coming up to me demanding my attention. Each time she would walk up she had another piece of clothing half way on her body and complaining in frustration that she needed help to complete her task of getting it on. I would help her and then send her on her way determined that I was gonna get through my computer time and get going with my day.

So as my "session" was done I noticed my little one looking rather bulky and started to take count of how many pieces of clothes she actually had on. The amount was crazy, and so I took some pics to have proof of her little dress rehearsal. So here she is my little diva..............

Starting with 2 shirts and 4 pairs of pants.... I guess she thought she needed to continue to put ALL the clothes on that came across her path, good thing I got off the computer when I did or I don't know if I would have been able to find her amongst the layers.........


1 shirt 4 pairs of pants..... As you can tell some of these are her big bubba's pj's as well....


Still 3 pairs of pants and as you can see she was starting to get bored with our modeling session.....


Down to 2 pair of pants. The only way I could get her to hold still was if I promised her that we would get dressed after I was done, so in her mind I'm sure that meant more clothes.


Finally 1 pair of pants and 1 shirt, just like every other normal child in America.

I guess she kinda missed the mark if she was going for the whole "classic layered" look, huh?

The Sock Basket

Okay..here it is...Something that I've been hiding from the world and from all the company that graces this home of mine, and really I'm not even ashamed of it. What is this dirty little secret you ask?? Well it is this.............



My sock basket!!
What is a sock basket you ask?? Well come come, let me enlighten you to a whole new world of laziness. You see this little basket of mine helps me shrug some of the laundry responsibility, but yet at the same time I can still seem like it is ALL part of my organizational system by keeping it in a basket. You see, Genius aren't I?
I know I am not the first intelligent woman to stumble across this idea and I know this because some of closest friends also use this little tool in their homes. My hubby on the other hand really is not fond of this tactic, okay I'll be honest it actually drives him crazy. You see he was raised by a southern momma who did right by her hubby and kiddos and always made sure that to start their mornings off there was a clean FOLDED pair of socks in her loved ones drawer.
Not this mommy. Oh sure when we were first married and still in the Honeymoon stage, I folded socks, but then again I dusted and mopped every day as well..hehe Oh how times have changed.
Rusty attempted to tame his riotous and unruly wife one time as we had several couples over at out house for dinner one Sunday. This was a couple of years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday..
Somehow the subject of us women not keeping up on laundry came up and my dear hubby took this opportunity to make an example out of me and asked an older lady in our church for some advice. You see he was hoping that the scripture in Titus where the older women are to be the EXAMPLE to the younger women would apply here. So feeling very confident in his approach he had the following conversation with an older sister of our church...
Rusty.. "So Sister__ can I ask you a question?"
Sister__.. "Sure Bro. Rusty, but I don't know if I'll have the answer."
Rusty.... "Oh I'm sure you will do just fine. So not to get to personal or anything, but where do you keep your socks?"
Sister__.. "My socks?"
Rusty... "Yeah, your clean socks. You see my wife and I have been having this debate for sometime now. I just wanted my wife to see how an older sister in the church handles it, so where do you keep your socks?"
Sister__.. "Oh..Bro. Rusty, I keep my socks in a basket in my laundry room."
Okay so the look of SHOCK on my hubby's face was priceless and the look of satisfaction on my face was well kinda mean..hehe, but I couldn't help it!!
So now a few years later we still have the sock basket and when ever he gets fed up with searching for socks in the morning I'm a good wife and find them for him, but he knows that I know I'm just following the example that he brought to my attention and was set before me..hehe. Every now and then I surprise him and fold them on special little occasions..He still clings to the fact that someday his dream of waking up to a drawer full of folded socks will come true, and I'm alot of things, but I'm no dream crusher. So I'll let him believe in this fantasy because after all wishing is what makes the world go round.

Wrestle Mania

Okay so those of you who have read some of my previous posts have noticed that the word wrestling seems to be popping up quite frequently. No, I'm not obsessed with the word it just seems like the last few months this sport has been dominating our lives. So I thought I would share some pics of what has been monopolizing our weekends.



First I'll give you a little background info... Jake has been wrestling since he was 3yrs.old, yes I said 3, but really he wanted to ...I promise. This is his 5th year and really he has had quite a bit of success but I guess we must have hit a wall or something because he is starting to burn out. The pressure he puts on himself to succeed plus the pressure that the sport itself puts on you by being an individual thing is just apparently too much for my little worrier. He broke the news to hubby and me the other day and after we got over the initial shock, because really we thought he loved to wrestle, we decided that he is WAY too young to be this stressed out about anything, especially an extra circular activity. I mean his stomach would sometimes hurt because he was so nervous, so I'm thinking that we are way past the point of fun here..ya know?



This is Jarred's 2nd year and really I can't quite decide if he likes it or not. He talks about wrestling ALL the time, but when it comes down to tournament time he waiver's and is very reluctant to continue with the day... Sigh. So it is big time drama, he cries and then Rusty gets irritated and then we explain to him that if quits then that is fine, but he won't get a medal, which he wants desperately. So he then rethinks his decision and so we go round and round the mulberry bush and by the end of the day our little family is emotional drained from a LITTLE GUY WRESTLING TOURNEY!! It is crazy and I'm ready to chuck it all, but then the next week comes around and I hear tons of promises on how they DO want to wrestle and they can't wait until Saturday...



Anyway here are some random pics of the boys..they look so cute in their little singlets, don't they??

Jarred is the one in red..aren't they soo little??


So he took the little boy down immediately, but he was still crying the WHOLE time.....


This is a different little opponent, even though Jarred is on top, he is still not enjoying his wrestling experience...


This was the first match out of the previous 5 that he did not cry at all..BIG VICTORY HERE!!

Now on to Jake..........

Jake (the one in the red) in his ready stance...I'm sure his little heart is beating 90 miles a min..


I'm sure Rusty is encouraging him to suck-up the other boy's arm and SQEEEEEEEZE!! Really it is not as bad as it sounds..hehe

This is Jake going for the pin......


And this is Jake getting the pin!!

So, that was some of the pictures from our last 2 weekends and so far the boys are both undefeated. Anyway we will see what this weekend brings..I'm not quite sure what to hope for, but at least they keep it interesting!!

Logic of a 7 yr. old.......

My Jake is such a sweetheart, but this little man of mine has got some issues. Well I'm sure most of you have now figured out that he is quite the worry wart!! He is such a literal joe as well that he totally thinks that what you say is what you mean. So, with my sense of humor this is sometimes frustrating in our many conversations. His constant worrying is obsessive and tends to get out of control. Jake's worries are ALL over the map and range from being abandoned, never happened, to our latest issue.. fear of riding in elevators. We recently stayed at a hotel and to his demise our floor was located on the 4th floor and so my little guy was constantly running up and down 4 floors because he would not ride in the elevator. As he explained it.."How do we know that we won't get stuck, and if we do there is just no way to get out. Oh no I'm not riding in that baby."
He is definitely my question man...So whenever we go somewhere he wants to know WHERE we are going, WHY are we going there, and HOW LONG it will take. The very next question is will I be leaving him in the car?? Now I do not make this a habit of leaving my 3 children in the car, but the way this little boy acts you would think it is my M.O. I mean quick runs in to the post office or to pay for my gas and that really is the extant of it. He also wants to make sure that I always have my cell phone so we can call for help if needed..hehe ( His poor wife and children, I mean he is an ulcer waiting to happen!!)
So Friday I ran to another town (30 miles away) to Wal-Mart to buy some last minute things for our big wrestling tournament on Sat. About half way home I noticed that I was flat on empty. Now I knew this when I reached the town earlier but I forgot and then on the way home I looked down and was quickly reminded. I was pretty sure I could make it and that we would be fine, but you know I was definitely keeping my eye on the gas gage..hehe I decided not to share this little piece of info with my kids because I knew Jake would FREAK out and the questions would be coming at me fast and furious and I wanted to avoid that drama. However out of the blue my little worrier asks me,"Mom, what would happen if we broke down right here, would we make it home?" Me, really not thinking and focusing on just getting to my little house mumbles, "I don't know we might just have to find that out." Really kind of surprised that he heard me, he says, "What what do you mean." I try to play it off, but he has now honed in on the possibility that something could be wrong, his little stress sensor, and I am done for. It is either fend off an artillery of questions or reveal to him that we are low on gas and there is a slight possibility that we could run out. Well now that the cat is out of the bag and he realized that we really didn't have great cell service, I notice him leaning over every 5 seconds to see where we are at and how much gas was left. It kinda made me giggle and I tried to reassure him but his gas gaging was so obvious that I could tell he was not believing a word I said.
He was looking out the window, mind whirling I'm sure about all the terrible scenario's that are about to take place, and all of a sudden his demeanor changes and he says, "I have an idea." Feeling kind of guilty that his worries were giving me a chuckle I encourage him to share his new found solution. Thinking that maybe he had come to terms with the fact that the odds of us actually running out of gas were very slim, or if we did it would not be the end of the world and we would ALL survive the experience. He says, "Do you see those houses over there on the other side of the river?" ( The road that we were driving on runs alongside a river the whole way home) I say, "Yesss." Confused as to where he was gong with this. "Well we could just go to one of those houses for help," he says. "Well that is great Jake, but how are we gonna get to their house..there is a big wide river between us," I say thinking that he must have just over looked that MINOR detail. He says, "Yeah I know, but we could just swim across and then walk up to their house from the shore." Okay people, I know some of you are thinking okay well he is just being silly, but NO he was dead serious and the look on his face was stone sober. How extreme is this child? I said, "Jake we can't swim across the river, it is too cold and what about Jarred and Hailey?" He then informed me that he planned it all out and I could put Hailey on my back and he would simply help his little brother swim across the river and it really didn't look that wide. I was so totally blown away as to what his little mind came up with that it made me laugh. Can you just imagine me trying to explain my reasoning to the homeowners that we were seeking help from. "Sorry to bother you, can I get some help? Yes I know I'm soaking wet, and my children look like drown rats and there lips are turning blue from the cold, but I ran out of gas over on the highway so I just put my little family in the freezing water and we swam across the river for some help." I'm pretty sure that IF the people decide to help me, their next call would be to social services and Jake would have a whole new set of worries..LOL
I guess it is a good thing that for now I'm the brains behind our little outings.

The Little Beggars!!

So on April 16 ( my oldest child's B-Day) of this year it will be 8 years since I was able to eat a complete meal in peace without any little mouths begging for a bite.....Okay I might be exaggerating a bit, but really it is not by much. Trina always teases me about waiting to eat lunch until late in the afternoon, but I do this because it is my only meal that I can eat uninterrupted. Hailey is napping and the boys don't hassle me over every little nibble so I enjoy my freedom to eat at my own pace. You know it is a break in the usual way I eat where if I want to be stingy and not share my meal I will scarf it in like 30 secs. or hide the plate with a pillow.. I know this all sounds EXTREME, and it even makes me giggle as I type it and but at the time it all seems perfectly normal to me..hehe
Anyway for all you good mommies out there that think I am just over the top and would gladly share your mere morsels with your babies, I am sorry...and for all you mommies who totally get me and have been there, done that...well here is a little story for ya......
So today is my hubby and my 9th wedding anniversary, (Happy Anniversary Honey!!). We have been on the go so much lately with my birthday weekend and traveling with sports tournaments that we decided to just spend this one at home. Really we have already had our time away and we couldn't afford to continue to take these weekends away, money doesn't grow on trees ya know..LOL (A little quote I OFTEN heard from my Dad.) Anyway, so this day was basically just another day and I was TOTALLY fine with that. The evening got away from us and we decided to just do a McDonald's run for supper. I am soooooo burnt out of that place that I said none for me and so I just scrounged around the house for something simple. Rusty got home with the bag and I of course took the opportunity while he was gone to call Trina and chat with her for a short spell. I was pacing around and lost in our rived conversation (hehe) when Jarred came up to me and handed me a box from McDonald's that looked like a chicken sandwich box. I opened it confused as to why my hubby would buy this for me and to my pleasant surprise it was a cinnamon roll. I was excited, you see cinnamon rolls are so my VICE...LOVE THEM!! This must be a little treat for me on our special day. I went back to my convo w/ Trina and as I was walking through the house I was nibbling on the yummy roll. Totally wrapped up in out chat I was dodging little ones left and right and really not thinking much about it. I put the box down in the kitchen determined to save SOME of it for after dinner. I walked back through the dining room and bumped into Jarred (beggar#1).
He said, "Where is it?"
I said, "Where is what?"
He said, " You know your sweet roll."
Really only half listening to him I was still puzzled as to what he was referring to and then I saw his fork. I turned around and saw Hailey (beggar #2). They both had forks in their hands and had been following me around the house sneaking bites while my dear Trina was distracting me with her witty humor!!
I quickly informed the little Piranhas that this was MY treat and they already had theirs. I relayed this story on to Trina and she immediately chuckled and said,
"You so have to post about that!"
And so I did.

Gottcha!!

It is almost impossible for me to have a TRUE Wordless Wednesday, so I'm gonna change it (at least for me to)....A Few Words on Wednesday..hehe Hope nobody is offended by the transition.

Looks like SOMEBODY found mommy's chocolate..................

Looks like SOMEBODY can't decide which piece to have first..................

Looks like SOMEBODY got caught!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eyes Like A Hawk

So this Sat. morning we were up and around getting ready for the boy's first "Little Guy Wrestling" tournament (I'll post about that experience later) of the year when my hubby realized that between us we only had like 4 bucks on us. Well this would never due because the entry fee for each of the boys was like double that...not to mention how my kiddos LOVE their snacks at these tourney's.
Of course he was already ready to go and I was still scrambling around to finalize all the last minute details that we needed to have done if we were gonna be out and about to the big part of the day. No worries he said he would just run to the bank real quick and get some cash.
About 15 mins. later he comes back through the door with a a little smile on his face. He starts off with ,"Soooo..guess what I found?" Not a clue as what he is referring to or really what he could have possibly found at the bank other than money, I play his little game and said, "What?"
He said that as he pulled up to the ATM a man pulled up behind him. The man got out of his truck, which was very unsettling to my hubby, and started walking up to Rusty's truck. Now Rusty said he wasn't that worried cuz we live in a pretty small town and the threat of robberies at the local bank/ATM center was not a real problem in these parts, but it definitely made him stop and watch this man approach. The man then stopped at our tailgate, bent down and picked something up and then continued walking up to the window. Rusty turned his head to see what this man was carrying and the man said, "I think you dropped something." It was Jarred's BASEBALL GLOVE. Apparently it just dropped off our tailgate as Rusty pulled up, and the man saw this and was nice enough to bring this to his attention. Crazy that this glove stayed on the whole way to our bank..now granted we only live about 2 miles from our bank and the fastest possible speed he could be going during this jaunt is 40mph, but still.
I'm just glad that we got the little tykes glove back cuz it is quite the drama around here when someone loses their glove and I try to avoid that when ever possible. So THANK YOU eagle eye ATM man, and believe me my little boy thanks you as well, you really saved his little hide.....

Amazing Deals!!

So a couple of weeks ago on the way back from my amazing birthday weekend Trina and I sweetly asked our hubbies to stop at a little outlet mall they she knew of. There were a few stores there that we were hoping to catch some good deals at and help us get a little more bang for our buck than the average mall shopping could...Oh don't get me wrong I definitely hit the mall as well, but it was the end of the weekend and I knew the only way MY hubby was going to comply with more shopping was if I proved that the deals were worthy. So the Carters and Oshkosh's stores were our main target and that was really our only mission. As we left the 1st store and headed to the 2nd we walked by a store called The Children's Place . She suggested we go in and me well I never turn down a chance to shop..hehe Plus the guys had already lost focus in the world of baby PJ's and can't live without outfits and the headed for KB Toys.
We really didn't have much hope of find AMAZING deals cuz we had been to a couple of their main stores in a couple of the malls earlier that weekend and the prices were in the running of Gymboree and Baby Gap. At the front of the shop we saw the saw the same items that we saw at the other stores and really at about the same prices. We split up and I wanderer off to the girl section for Hailey and she wandered over to the boy section for Roman. We kept making our way toward the back both I 'm sure looking for the clearance section. As we approached the backside of the store there were several circular racks that was loaded with clothes. We each started weeding our way through the bulging area and when I looked at the tags I saw the price said 1.99. Double take..1.99??
Yep almost everything on these racks were from 1.99 to 3.99. I was shocked, and at about the same time my dear friend found her little gold mine in the boys section and well from there is was kinda all a blurr..hehe
No really, we were both giddy with excitement and we kept hollering over to each other showing what amazing buys we were about to get!! I was very skeptical and even asked a lady next to me if this was for real. These were some serious CUTE clothes people!!
I gathered several things and felt very foolish that earlier that day I was just so excited about the sale Baby Gap was having and I bought a little shirt for 9.99. Well I picked up what I could justify as not an excessive amount because after all I had already bought lots of new outfits at other stores thinking that I was catching a real break on the prices. Yeah right!! I headed to be checked out and I asked the lady if we just got lucky and stumbled on to a sale weekend and she said no that they always have these racks!!!
I am still so pumped by my purchases. I even took a pic so I can prove that the 1.99 clothes weren't just a figment of my imagination.

I did pick up another cute outfit but of course she had already worn it and it was in the dirty clothes basket when I took this pic. Yes i am the type of mommy that puts on the new clothes the very next day..hehe
So anyway there it is, you guys now know Trina and I 's little secret that we stumbled on to that weekend. This is a great little outlet store and I don't know if we are just lucky in this area or if this is a norm for The Children's Place stores. Either way i advise you to check it out...it is definitely worth the time!!!

The big #5!!

So a couple weeks back was one of my little men's birthday...Jarred turned the big #5!! He has so been looking forward to this age it is crazy. I remember last year only a few short days after he turned 4 he asked how long it will be until he has his NEXT birthday and will be 5!!! Very impatient....ummmm I wonder where he gets that??..hehe

So now the big event has come and gone and he is definitely LOVING the age 5 status. Every time I'm on the phone with somebody and he walks into the room he will come up to me and whisper, "Hey mom tell them I'm 5 now." He will actually stand there and wait until I relay the message to the poor soul on the other end of the line. He will then walk away smiling as if I just told them he won the lottery. Such a cutie he is..I adore him so!!

So here are a couple of pics that I took at his birthday party. We had to have it a couple days late cuz our family was battling the flu that week. Rusty and I gave him a new bike that looks like a dirt bike which that is all this little boy is about lately!! Anything to do with dirt bikes or motorcycles and he is ALL other that. We gave him that present on his actual birthday cuz we felt bad that he was sick so I took some cute pics of him on the bike, but little Hailey Ann decided to remove my memory stick from my P/C and it is nowhere to be found..sigh...

Anyway these are some pics of the big bash......

Here he is with his "hunting cake" It was quite the decision trying to figure out what kind of party we were gonna have. You might notice the football candles and that is because he also wanted a football party too so Dad just improvised..hehe

Here he is with big brother and little sister....You can tell Jake was trying to work it all out for me..hehehe


Apparently he was not impressed by our "Happy Birthday" serenade


Hope you get what you wished for!!!!




This is the whole crew!! Aren't they cutie pies??

Well there you have it..... My little guys is now 5 going on 16....they grow up so FAST!!! We Love You Jarred and Happy Birthady!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

"A girl after my own heart!"

Where's my ATM card????

You know those commercials that talk about either Visa, MasterCard, or American Express, and not to leave home without it?? Well people..they are speaking the truth!
Yesterday I went to "town" to get some groceries at the old faithful Wal-Mart. Jake is out on winter break, a.k.a. our local high school basketball teams are playing in the state tournament, and so He was home from school. I also had my niece for the day so that makes child #4.
So off we go to get all the groceries that my little cart could carry along with a child in the front basket seat, one in the main basket part, one riding on the end and one straggling along behind me because really there was no other place to put him. Unless I loaded him underneath the basket. Can you imagine the stern looks from the Wal-Mart employees that I would get?? You know the ones where they look at you disapprovingly right before they tell YOUR child to set down or tell you that he/she is gonna fall...love that..like you are that bad of a mommy because you let you child stand up in the big basket part of your cart. Does that bug anybody else or am I just over the top about that??
Anyway, we arrived in the town right at lunch time and well the troops were starting to get restless and they needed food. I thought no biggie I'll just grab them a quick bite to eat and then we can get to Wally World, and knock this errand out in no time.
Well the decision was made and we went to Burger King. As I unload all the kiddos and we were walking up to the door I remembered that they do not take checks anymore..Grrr. You see I have "misplaced" my debit card somewhere around my house and I have not been able to find it anywhere. And to make matters worse, Hailey loves to play with my wallet. So that means that she takes everything out and puts it where ever her little heart desires. Needless to say that also means she has taken out any and every other credit card that I had in there. Point being, all I had was checks because I rarely carry cash.
So I then piled all the children back into the truck and headed to Taco Bell where I was sure that they took checks...I mean I was sure I had written a check there before.
We AGAIN filed out of the truck, walked in the place, I got all the kids situated, including high chair and all. Went through the drama of what ever one wanted to eat, walked up to the counter and big as a barn a sign that said.."We no longer accept checks, sorry for the inconvenience." Yeah right!!
Double GRRRRRRRRRRR!
I then had to gather all 4 of the kids AGAIN and leave the restaurant explaining the whole way out....
Come on Jarred, I know you wanted a taco, but we will be right back..Yes I know we already did this...
Yes Jake I have money, just not with me. Yes, it is at the bank..Yes I know where a bank is...
Come on Jackie hold Jake's hand..Yes I know you are hungry...
Let's go sissy... We go bye-bye....
**Sigh**
Next Stop .......A BANK......
Next mission...Find my ATM CARD!!!
Next rule..NEVER leave home without it!!