Baseball begins!

with a 2 1/2 hour practice. Oh my I thought it would never end. Here is my gorgeous boy all ready to play ball!

Good day here! Kids had a great day at school. Caroline had dance and did great she has made another friend there and Lily(girl she made friends with 1st day of school that sits at her table) continues to be an ongoing conversation at home. The next 5weeks are going to be busy with ball, but Nick is very excited. He also did a great job hitting with the machine. That is all from here.

Have a great day!

Happy Sunday!

Well we are getting ready to start a new school week. Nick is starting ball tomorrow night Whew. The next month will be busy playing twice a week.

We have had a great weekend. Friday night we went to dinner and rented a movie and watched it with Doug. Saturday morning we had breakfast in bed while watching handy manny. JOhn fixed pancakes and the kids thought it was wonderful. Nick got a hair cut (a little shorter than momma wanted). Isn't it big boy looking? then we headed off to the pool where we played with the Hoaglands. Church last night and then out to eat with the Hoaglands. Sunday morning the kids and I went for doughnuts, cleaned the basement, laundry, ironed uniforms, and started dinner all by noon. If you know me that is impressive. We swam today with Mollie and Morgan (twins from the pool) and tonight we are having dinner with Grandpa and Grandma. Tomorrow we start a busy week.

Here are the kids cleaned from Friday. They are now earning an allowance for keeping their rooms clean and overall obedience. It is working so far.

You will have to use your imagination on this one, but this is Caroline reading (notice the book is upside down) at the pool.

We made it!

Well we have made it through 10 days of school. The kids have learned so much. Caroline's name was chosen today so she got the morning message. This is a note (message) that she writes to the students every day. The kids have learned that Good morning is the greeting, Love Ms. Hunt is the closing and the middle is the body. Isn't that amazing.

We went to open house on thurs night and I am feeling much better about school. She told me my kids were a hoot and so funny. They are very comfortable and doing great. I can't explain to you how very excited they are every day when they get in the van. They immediately start telling me about their day. Also, we still haven't had crying or not wanting to go to school. They hop right out of the car and off they go. I'm so thankful they love it. I'm sure it makes my life much easier.

I cleaned the kids rooms (gross, yuck, nasty, dirty, etc,). 2 bags of trash and 3 loads of laundry and 3 hours later they are spotless. Dusted, swept, mopped, clean under the bed, organized, closets arranged, the whole thing. I dare anyone to think about messing it up. We incorporated some new rules tonight I'll let you know how that goes. I also cleaned the rest of the house too. Always feels nice to have a clean house.

this weekend we are planning on playing, swimming, and going to the batting cage. Nick got his official call tonight for fall ball. He is playing for the yankees again and is very excited. Practice monday night. Game Tuesday night. Wow that is fast. It is only a month though. After telling Nick about it he insisted on practice at the batting cage bc he will be playing machine pitch. Uncle Jason don't freak out. I've already done it for you. At least this team is 5yr olds. I think it will be ok.

FYI I'm lovin' these right now.
I'll take pics this weekend.

That is about all from here I think. Have a great weekend.

Dara hugged Ali Edwards

Oh my goodness!!!!! Dara is at CHA in Nashville as I type this at a crop where Ali Edwards is. She got to meet and hug Ali. For those of you that don't know Ali is my very very favorite Scrapbooker/artist. I would love to meet her and pick her brain and just learn the creative things she knows. Oh my goodness! I can't believe it. Of course she called me immediately to let me know. You can check Ali out on her blog here.

On to our day. I did much better today. No tears. No going back to bed. I ran errands, cleaned around the house, worked on some layouts and picked up the kids. Tonight we went bowling with the twins from the pool Mollie and Morgan. We had a blast. We met at 5:30 and I looked at my watch for the first time at 7:45. Bedtime is 8:00. The kids, the moms, and the dads all get along great. We will see each other again on Sat at the pool.

The kids had a good day at school except for a couple of discipline things I am upset about, but not the kids. Tomorrow night is open house. We'll see.

That is all for tonight. The pictures from the bowling alley didn't come out. Hope you enjoyed the pictures of Caroline in her wig.

The blonde bombshell!

Here is the blonde bombshell you have been awaiting. Itsn't it hillariously? The kids had another great day at school. A drama group put on a show today that Caroline loved. It was about making good decisions. Homework tonight was a writing sheet. A's. and 15minutes of reading.

Dentist apts were good today. Due to the Potts' bite we have been referred to an orthodontist. I was warned about this, I had just forgotten.

(I couldn't get this one to flip)

Wednesday we are going bowling with the twins (Molly and Morgan) from pool. We are all very excited. Thursday we have open house at school. The teacher will explain what is expected of the kids and volunteer opportunities in the classroom.

Here are the pics from the batting cage on Saturday.

That is all from here. We love you all!

Ok here I am. My computer is still in repair world at Best buy somewhere so I am using John's work computer. We hadn't been able to get it to connect to our wireless so that is why I haven't updated the blog in a couple of days. So here goes:

Friday Caroline had her ear tubes removed. Yes it was surgery and it went well until the anesthsia started to wear off. she was so mean and nasty. She screamed at the top of her lungs for 1 1/2 hours after we got in the car. She couldn't walk and got mad because I wouldn't let her try. It was kind of scary for a while. After a nap she was back to her old self and doesn't remember any of it.

Nick went to school by himself on Fri. and did fine with it. We were worried that he would throw a fit but he didn't. We had a great weekend playing, at the pool, the batting cage, watching High School Musical 2, and visiting Grandma and grandpa. They were ready to go back to school today. Seems like they are learning a lot and are always excited to tell you about their day.

I'm hanging in there. It is very quiet and lonely around the house, but I'm trying to keep myself busy. I have a couple of pictures of Nick at the batting cage, and Caroline in her new long blonde hair which she is sleeping in right now, but my batteries died again so I will try to post them tomorrow.

Hope you are all doing good.

sorry for the absence in posting, but my beloved computer is broke again. So let me get you caught up. The kids absolutely love school. Their teachers name is Mrs. Hunt. They get to sit beside each other at a round table for 4. They are sharing a locker with one other person and not each other. They are starting to ask when they get a day off and today when they got home Nick immediately put his pj's on. The last couple of days they have been 100miles a minute, but not today.



I'm very lonely around here during the day. The house is very quiet and i can't seem to get motivated to do anything. I did some cleaning today and plan to work tomorrow. Dee's got in some cool little mailboxes that you can decorate. Awhile back the kids wanted mailboxes and made some out of boxes and left each other notes. So I think it will be cute to have real ones they can leave notes in. I will take a picture when I get them finished.



Caroline is having outpatient surgery on Friday morning to have her ear tubes removed. Not really a big deal, but they have to put her to sleep so it has to be done at hospital. The dr said it would only take 3-4 minutes. It will take longer to put her under. This will be Nick's first day at school without her. He is not very excited, but i hope he will be fine after he gets there.



Here are a couple of pics. We hung our family pic in the dinning room. Let me know what you think. I made this spot for the kids to hang their backpacks and it is working out pretty good. it is easy for them to reach. That catches you up on what is going on here. I'm just trying to deal with the changes around here.

The 1st day!

WEll we have survived the first day. Nick was up before I woke him. He came in and said "Mom I say the light and new it was time to get up and get ready for school." I laughed so hard. When we got to school they got right out, looked back and at the same time said " bye mom, bye dad". It made me feel so much better to know they were comfortable and school was where they wanted to be. SO NO TEARS!

When they got home they were 100 miles a minute telling us what they did and how much fun they had. It took us 45 min to do homework. Yes homework on the first day. They are excited and can't wait to go back tomorrow. Enjoy the pics.

Our weekend!

WE had a great weekend with the family in l'burg. Friday was a hay ride and 400 degree fire for hotdogs. Nick enjoyed everything but the story about indians. We had a sleep over at Kim's with Joe, Sara, Alex, Kim, Mike, Skylar, and Jaryn. Aunt Carol stayed at Granny's. Saturday Aunt Carol rudely woke us up at 8:30 and we headed down to Granny's for breakfast. Caroline and I went for pedicures and Nick stayed and played with Grandaddy. After our pedicures we swam until time for the party. The party was for Alex and he turned 1. He is gorgeous. The party was a hit, but after the party the Blair kids (my dad, Sis, and Aunt Carol) got crazy. All of them went down the blow up water slide. We went back on Sunday and played in the pool all day. It was great to spend time with family and have so much fun. It won't let me add pic of Alex I will try again tomorrow.

Gotta get the kids to bed. School again tomorrow. I'm so glad they had a good day. Still no tears.

3 days and counting!

Today I went to the dr and I'm "officially" allowed to drive. Whoo Hoo! My leg is healing, but has not healed all the way. This means I have to wear the air cast for 4 more weeks. I also have to continue to take the aspirin just in case. He did not interrogate me and never questioned if I was being "good" or not. You could still see through the bone on the xray where it was broken.

We also dealt with the kids rooms today. I'm almost embarrassed to show a picture of them, but here they are. Nobody judge me bc they were clean 3 days ago. I have no idea how my kids can make such a mess that quick.

Went to the pool this afternoon and it was so hot I stayed in the pool the whole time we were there. That is very unusual. The kids love it when I get in with them.

Tomorrow we have a lot on our plate. Aunt Carol and Uncle Danny get here at 9:30. Caroline goes to the ENT at 2:00, then to school for "meet the teacher", then home to get ready for family pictures at 5:30, and finally to l'burg for a hay ride and cook out. We are spending the night and will be there for Alex's bday on Saturday. Whew I'm tired already.

Here is what I did last night after the kids went to bed....ironed all Caroline's uniforms. Yes I ironed.

HOpe you have a good weekend.

4 days and counting!

Well I have made it through another day. I ironed Caroline's uniform shirts and am washing jumpers and shorts. I still have to iron his shorts and her jumpers. I didn't realize school was going to cause so much extra work for me. I spent an hour on the phone making dr apt for kids and taking care of business. Then we headed to the pool around 4:00 to meet John after work. The kids and I swam for a couple of hours and John never made it bc he had a flat tire. Now we are watching Everyone's Hero and taking it easy tonight. It is even hot in the house.

I am a pathetic mother. We are on our school schedule, but this morning we got up at 7:30 and by 9:30 we couldn't hold our eyes open....so we went back to bed. My kids that never sleep were back asleep within a minute of laying down. I'm praying they are going to be ok next week. I'm hoping they will be so busy that they won't get tired.



Joe, Sara, and Alex arrived safely at Granny's today. She was oohing and aahing over him when I last talked to her. I can't wait to see him. Aunt Carol will be here on Friday and we have big plans in the burg. Then home to start school on Monday. Still no tears.



Here is a pic of the kids laying on the couch with John watching the movie.

5 days and counting!

We spent the day at home this morning doing things around the house then went to Dee's to turn in a sample. They are redecorating and getting crocs. I'm so excited. They are adding a gift shop in the middle of the store. They are getting rid of fabric I think. Scrapbooking is staying.

I took the kids to the pool this afternoon around 3:30 and John and Doug met us after work. The guys and kids played basketball in the pool which the kids really enjoyed. It wasn't very crowded and that was nice. The water felt like bath water, but after sitting in the sun it felt great. I think it is only the 3rd time I've been in.

After swimming I fixed burgers for dinner. I got about 15 items listed on ebay today. I wish I had gotten it done, but it takes so long to do. If anyone has any pointers let me know.

Tomorrow hold more of the same. Trying to get ready for school. I'm trying to get house straightened up before so I don't have to spend my first couple of day without kids home cleaning. We'll see.

Joe and Sarah will be at Granny's tomorrow and Aunt Carol and Uncle Danny will be here on Friday. I think we are heading to l'burg for a haw ride on Frid. and back on Sat for Alex's 1st bday.

No pics today. Hope everyone had a good day. I'll update tomorrow.

6 days and counting

Good evening! It has been a very crazy day here. We headed out about 10:30 to run errands and didn't make it back home until 3:00. That included the grocery, the school, 1 target, 2 target, office depot, and the post office. It took 4 trips to find crayola 8 pack crayons. Can you believe that? I couldn't either. We did get the basement cleaned up tonight and the kids rooms started. I also managed to cook dinner and if you know me that was a feat.

You will be proud of me though I haven't cried yet. I do say yet bc I know it will happen. They are in seriously big trouble for the way they have been acting so next week might end up being a relief (for a little while---maybe and hour or two) My plan was to go to the pool, sit in the big people section and read until school was out, but John is taking off and spending the day with me. He has something planned but I don't know what. I'll let you know.

Some very exciting stuff going on with me on the creative front. I was asked to be quest designer for a local kit company and my work is up on their website. Here is the link: http://www.scrapbookloversdream.com/store/information.php?info_id=72 I am very honored they asked. They are a great group of girls I enjoy getting together with to scrap once a month.

In other news I'm just trying to find a job. I applied at the school, but I haven't heard back. Sometimes it takes awhile so it could be after school starts. I can also be a substitute which might not be bad. I'm also looking into photography at a couple of the local studios. Photography is such a big deal to me. I love to take pictures and try to capture that moment. I also love pictures. You will never come to my house and see a picture covering another picture. I don't believe in it. K I guess I'm rambling.

Let me tell you about the pictures.

Caroline's feet under the lemonade stand! Aren't they adorable. She has gorgeous feet.
Nick picking out folders for school...I finally talked him out of the lebron James basketball one and the nascar one. He settled for puppies and general sports ones.

This is caroline showing me the book she found in a cart is really a composition book. How does she know what that is? I have no idea John and I just looked at each other thinking she is right!
Here is the family at the lemonade stand. Pretty sophisticated huh? Caroline was the boss and Nick was the contractor that way he could leave when he wanted. How she came up with that I have no idea either. She had her cash drawer and pen and paper to keep track of how many customers she had. She gets it from John.

This is her writing down a customer. I think it was Uncle Steve who I called and asked to come down. He was a good sport and that was great. He even paid extra for his lemonade.
That is it. We are going to try to go to the pool in the morning before it gets to hot. If that is possible. It is 77 degrees in my house right now and my ac is on 67. I don't think it will ever cool off.

Oh well day 7 was crazy in our countdown, but I did get to mark a few things off my list. Maybe day 6 will be better.

PS: Please keep DeeDee Barfield and her family in your prayers. Steve is deploying on Wednesday to Iraq. If you don't know that is Melanie's sister and she has 4 young girls. He will be gone for about 6 months. She will need all the prayer we can give her over the next 6 months. We love you dd and think about you everyday. You are in our prayers and hopefully everyone else that reads this. You are strong and can do it. Keep the faith.

7 days and counting!

Can you believe there are only 7 days until school starts????? Neither can I. We spent the day getting new uniform shorts for Nick and returning socks and getting the right ones. Nick also needed underwear and pj's.

The kids started the day off with a Lemonade stand. Caroline was so cute counting her money and pouring lemonade. We had 4 customers and I think they made $2.50 or $3. I love the pictures I got(wish I had new camera back). After the above mentioned mall trip we headed to the pool. It is sooooo hot outside. I was even in the water most of the time. I think we will spend most of our week there since it is going to be 100 degrees.

Tonight after dinner we went school supply shopping at Target. That was an adventure. They are out of most stuff and it was so crowded. For those of you that are keeping track I made it through all of that without a tear. I think I might be saving them for Monday. The kids have been such a handful the last couple of weeks I think it is God's way of making school a little easier for me. I could use a vacation about right now.

I'm working on my 35 item to do list. It is a little overwhelming to have so much to do in one week. It might have been better to not have a list except I would forget half of it.

I will update as the week goes. Hope everyone is good. Not letting me post pic. I'll do it tmorrow.

Ok I tried several times from Nashville to post and they didn't save for some reason. Have no idea why.

Just a quick post to let everyone know we are home safe after a very long 5 hour trip. We got stuck in Bowling Green in stand still traffic for over an hour. After lunch at Mcdonalds right next to the News Inn (where the Uhls, Barfields, and Deans swim) the kids were not happy about getting back in the car.

We are glad to be home and out of the car. We have a busy week ahead getting ready for school. We found out today which teacher the kids got (not one I wanted but not the least favorite) so Monday we have to go pick up a supply list. Can you believe I am one week (9 days) away from my babies going to kindergarten?????? Neither can I. Oh well.

I will post pictures tomorrow. Now I have to get kids to bed and get myself to bed. I'm exhausted after the week!!!!

Just wanted to let you know we are safe and sound in Nashville! Our 3 hour trip was very long. 10 minutes in Nick was already asking if we were here yet. We made it on half tank of gas, but made 3 stops to use the restroom. Oh well traveling with kids.

Our room is awesome (as the kids say). It is two rooms with a frig, microwave and living room. The couch is a pull out and the bedroom has a king size bed. At least if we all end up in it we will have enough room. Looks like we are going to try Nashville shores water park, the zoo and hit Oprymills mall and there is another mall right by our hotel that looks nice. It should be plenty to keep us busy until friday.

The weekend was great! Nick had his last ball game. He got his trophy and that made him very happy. We also spent time with Lauren, Emily, Don, and Vicki. The kids had a blast playing at Gattiland and Grandmas.

My leg is doing good. I will be glad when the 9th gets here and I can officially walk. It feels great and I can do almost everything. I have full range of motion. I can even move it in a circle. I think I am doing pretty good for 21 days out.

I forgot the camera in the van and John had to take it so I will take pictures tonight and update tomorrow. That is all that is going on here.

9 days until Aunt Carol gets here.
14 days until school starts.

Ok here are the "much anticipated" pictures. Of course they are not as good as they would be if I had my new camera, but at least they are pictures.

1st cast
The kids being happy! The moon boot!

The air cast!

The last one is what I am in now. I will probably be in this the rest of the time. I am doing good. It feels much better everyday. We are almost through week 3 and into week 4. Whoo hoo! Don and Vicki will be here fri. night. The kids can't wait to play with Lauren and Emily. We are leaving on Monday to go to Nashville for the week with John. He has another 5 day conference and after the San Diego trip I'm not staying with Nick by myself. We are talking about going to a water park Wednesday afternoon. This conference is weird bc John has 3 half days and 2 full days. So he will get to spend time with us. Our family vacation for this year. It will be fun and I'm just glad I'm getting to go.

We are counting down to the start of school. I just realized tonight that we are down to 2 weeks from Monday. Whew I can't believe it. Caroline told me tonight that she would still "like" me after she goes to school. So grown up acting.

That is about all that is going on here. I'm glad to be taking care of my family again and I know John is too. It feels good.

Another good day here! Nick's dentist apt. went great this morning. All is good from his fall. Just needs to have his teeth cleaned.

Then, John and the kids took me to take the paraeducator test. I passed! Whoo hoo! Now I just need to send my resume in and wait to hear. The math was very hard for someone who has been out of school for 15 years. That new math is going to be a challenge when the kids start doing homework.

Oh yes they have 3 weeks before school starts. Whew where did the summer go?????Oh yeah I know in the creek with my camera and leg!

My leg is feeling better today. I can put some weight on it even though I'm not supposed to. I had to try it out. Ok.Ok.Ok stop lecturing me! I'm not walking on it even though I want to so bad. So no one needs to call to yell at me. I think I might have tennis arms when I get off these crutches. Ok that is all that is going on here. I don't have time to post pics tonight. I will tomorrow.

Love ya all!

PS Aunt Carol will be here in 17days!

Great day!

Today has been a good day! I stayed with the kids by myself this morning while John enjoyed a well earned golf game. Then I cleaned the living room and bedroom up "from my wheelchair". It has come in so handy. I'm glad we rented it.

I also have quite a bit more range of motion in my foot. Yes I'm allowed to take it out of the cast and move it 3 times a day. It is not hurting as bad and feeling more stable. Whoo Hoo!

That is about all that is going on here. We take Nick back to dentist for check up from his fall and then I'm going to take the paraeducator test at the school board. I am trying to get a job as a teaching assistant at the kids school. Pray I pass...the math is a booger!!!!!!!!!! This new math is crazy. It has taken John and me both to figure it out.

I'll update again tomorrow.

Maybe our luck is changing!

Great news from today. I had my re-scan and the blood clot is stationary and has not moved. The tech told me today that it was not going anywhere. Whoo Hoo...Thank you LORD. The little bit of trouble breathing I had she thought was nerves.

Can you believe we went to the grocery today and still forgot batteries. I can't believe I did that. So still no pictures. Nick had a game this morning and he did great. He got to play pitcher and got 2 outs. He did get called out at 1st base for the first time. He did great!

Other than that we went to hospital for test, grocery, and to dinner tonight. Trying to get the kids to bed now. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers! 2 weeks down....2 to go!

Quick update. I had to go to dr yesterday for pain in my calf muscle. After a long morning we found out I have a blood clot in a secondary vein in my leg. I have to go back tomorrow for another scan to see if it has moved. If it has i will be admitted for a couple days observation. If it hasn't moved I will continue to take aspirin. I have also been taken out of my hard cast and put in a walking cast. Joy, Joy! I still can't walk on it and am using the crutches, but it is much better than being in the hard cast. melanie took pictures of my leg today so they will probably be on her blog.

I can't take or post any pictures bc my new camera (that I loved so very much) drowned in the creek with my leg. I finally found the old camera and after taking 2 pictures the batteries died. I have sent John twice to buy some and he keeps forgetting them. So I have a couple of pic when I get batteries.

I sent the new camera back to canon to see if it can be fixed. I don't think so, but we will see. It had a warranty on it, but not sure if it covers water damage. I loved that camera, I loved that camera, I loved that camera. Oh I'm so crying! I'm miserable without a camera. It is something i use everyday. Oh well! I'll let you know what happens.

Melanie, Riley, and Reed came to take care of us today. It was wonderful to hold Reed. He is the sweetest baby. I got to feed him twice whoo hoo! He smiled everytime Nick talked to him or walked by him. We are so thankful to have great friends that take good care of us.

I think that is all for now. I will keep everyone updated and will post pictures as soon as batteries arrive.