Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Safe and Sound

We are back in Texas safe and sound! We got in this morning at 1:30am - 16 hours in the car! Now the unpacking, organizing and unlimited fun of cleaning happens! hee hee
Happy New Year to everyone!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Happily Waiting for Christmas in cold MO

We are safe and sound, warm and toasty sitting in Bonnie & John's house. We all made it fine. We had a lot of excitement in the days before our trip so we are happily relaxing and taking it easy.
1.) A came down with a fever the afternoon we were supposed to leave for MO - 103.1 fever! I freaked took her to the doctor who couldn't find anything wrong so she wanted to rule out any kind of infection (bladder or UT), since her fever shot up so high and so fast - that meant 19 month old torture i.e. a catheter and blood work. Thankfully they didn't find anything, sadly it would have been nice to hear, "sorry it's just a childhood virus that we can't do anything about" BEFORE we held her down twice! It was sad, but comforting to know that we weren't leaving town with a child that needed medical attention.
2.) A continued to feel crummy, upset stomach, no appetite, tired - but no fever.
3.) A and I went to my Mom & Dad's house in MO where I spent a day and a half with them - that was fun and we got lots of work done.
4.) Jason brought the rest of the kids on to his folks house. They went ice skating, saw a light show and relaxed. When Z was done ice skating he said, "I want my feet back." hee hee
5.) Finally on the way to MO we had a fun conversation about Santa Claus - we've decided that he must have lots of helpers and we think we know who a few of them are (do you know any?):

France - Jean Claus
Mexico - Charro Claus
Australia - Didgeridoo Claus
Canada - Gretzky Claus Eh
Denmark - Sven Claus

Merry Christmas everyone!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Ouchy and Book Time

Here's a couple of pictures to tide you over until we return from MO.

A's stitches - we are supposed to change the bandage at least every 24 hours.


Last night I sat down to read to Z and all my little book lovers joined me. Jason snapped some cute shots.


Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Stay in bed!

Today is one of those days that you should stay in bed, you should make your entire family stay in bed - yea right good luck with that!
It started as just about any day with Jason's Clan, the morning went something like this,
K put your shoes on, K brush your hair, yes B I know you want to get to school early, K put your shoes on - no more watching TV (yea I know the TV should be off!). Z & A stay here with Daddy so I can just go drop the big kids off - WAAA!!! Ugh!

The day proceeded like most days with Jason's Clan:
the babies and I went to work at childcare, we had lunch we put A down for a nap, we had a meeting for The Journey, the big kids came home, I got dinner ready and I began to go to another meeting for church.

WHAM! That's when it happened - those of you with weak stomachs turn back NOW!

K, Z, A and I were heading to the car to take them to my friend Heather's house so that I could go to my staff meeting with Pastor Kyle. We got out to the car and I watched (in slow motion) my 18 month old take a header into the van door! As most Mom's out there know, my reaction to these "minor" bumps and bruises will play a major role in A's response so I grabbed her up real quick to hug her and say, "boom - shake it off, all better!" I think I may have gotten the boom out when I saw the gash on her forehead and I cupped my hands on her forehead and ran back to the house! Apply pressure, stop the bleeding, check the size of the wound, oh heavens how do I know what size goes to the hospital and what size is just a boo boo?! B tried to help, asking what he could do, how he could help - K stayed out of the way and watched Z! Thank God for those wonderful big kids - B even washed the blood off the back porch window! A - not so cooperative! She ripped three bandages off her head, we dumped an entire box of band aids on the bathroom floor and generally disagreed with each other as to how to proceed. I finally gave in to her argument - ran back to the van where I drove speedy-quick to Heather's to get her opinion (I had decided that my brain was no longer functioning up to capacity!). She took one look at A and said - yes ER! She took Z&K, my friend Belle came and got B and off A and I went (I actually had to put the car in reverse and ask where to go - hospital - huh - where?!).
A looked tired on the way there - it was just a long drive, no concussion!
We got to the ER and she was happy, messy but happy. They took vitals - she didn't like that, they put some numbing agent on her wound - she really didn't like that. They told me to keep that bandage on for 20-25 minutes so I asked if I could get her a snack - no problem. We got some little vanilla sandwich cookies - ate and played - she's such a sweet, happy girl even with a big gash in her forehead! They came in to explain that they would be putting her in a papoose to do the stitches - basically restraining her. I understood but warned them that when she gets really upset her gag reflex kicks in and she could/would throw up (duh - cookies!). Sure enough they got her bundled up I tried to calm her but to no avail. I decided she's like a skunk - tick her off and she's going to do something nasty! They ended up having to put her on her side so that if she threw up she wouldn't aspirate and the doctor was able to put three stitches in her forehead. Poor Baby A! It was horrible - I have been a mother for over 10 years and this was a first - hopefully a last too! When they were all done she didn't want anything to do with them, I had to sign the discharge papers with an outstretched arm because if they got to close she'd pucker that bottom lip and start to wail again - VERY sad.

Time for bed - where I should have stayed!

Monday, December 15, 2008

To sit or not to sit...


I think - NO!

Flashback....

What a difference a year makes.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Miss me?

Dear Friends I haven't left you! My husband has grounded me from my computer. He's busily installing Linux on our (the kids and my) computer - why you may ask would a man of his intelligence install a program on our computer that we don't understand, we don't use and we don't really need? Good question, next time you see him away from our computer will you ask him and keep him busy for awhile?
Until then I'm currently using his work computer to post this blog - in other words no pictures.
We will be leaving on Friday evening to go back to MO - our family awaits us there and we can't wait to see them all.
I'm busily trying to get the Christmas Eve children's performance prepared so that it will go off without a hitch even though I won't be anywhere in the vicinity.
I've been working a lot of hours at the Baptist church doing childcare, cleaning house, doing laundry and preparing to begin substitute teaching in the spring.
I have some really great pictures to share too - A was not a Santa fan this year, neither was Z. Poor A was traumatized, Z was spared. B&K got some really incredible new bikes for Christmas from G'ma Judy & G'pa Harold - so I have some pictures of them trying those out with Uncle Scott.
So stay tuned - pictures to follow when I have a spare minute!

Monday, December 8, 2008

Outtakes

Today my dear friend, Rachael, let us intrude on her house in our jammies - now that's a true friend!!
As I began creating the annual calendar for the grandparents I realized that I was severely lacking a group of 6, so Rachael used her wonderful talent and helped us out. Here's some outtakes of the action - enjoy, these are funny!!

Friday, December 5, 2008

Z funny

I bought a cool mist humidifier for the babies bedroom yesterday. BK & Z were completely enthralled with this new addition - weird within itself! The funny was last night when we put Z to bed he said, "Mommy can I turn on the generator?" Ha ha!

Seriously?!

This morning I had one of those moments when I ask myself, is this REALLY what I signed up for? Here's how it happened.

Me: (lazily taking my shower)
Z: (walking in the bathroom): Mommy can I have blah, blah, blah (i.e. I have no idea what he said).
Me: Go ask your Daddy
Z: Aw....
Me: While you are at it go tell B I need to talk to him
Z: (leaves moaning)
B: What do you want Mom?
Me: Get a dollar out of my purse for school.
B: I can just take one of mine (aw that was sweet).
Me: No that is your money just get one out of my purse.
B: Okay.
K: Mom! I need my field trip money TODAY!
Me: Okay, I'll write a check when I get out.
K: I have another permission slip too.
Me: Okay put it on the kitchen counter, I'll sign it and get you a check.
Z: Mommy can I have some candy?
Me: (In my head: Seriously?! Is this what I signed up for?) K close the door behind you, Z go talk to your Daddy!

I love my children but, why oh why, do they have to ask me questions during my shower? To B's defense I asked him to come talk to me... but the rest of them! Thank heaven's A slept in!! Oh yea - I think I forgot to wash my hair!!!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

The mascots

Tonight we went on a nature scavenger hunt with the Girl Scouts. I couldn't help but smile at all the little people who were dragged along on this adventure. One of my friends pointed out that all of the girls in our troop have younger siblings and therefore they all have these wonderful, caring natures.
Here's some pictures of the little mascots of our troop.

Writing a book

That is what I want to do! If I could write like this incredible woman then I would be all over writing a book!! I've thought for a long time that people should know there are words in the English language that you never thought would go together until you have children!
Tonight I heard my husband's gentle voice say, "A. don't sit on Z.'s head." Huh? Double take.... no not anymore - I'm used to this type of crazy conversation.

Here's some other examples that I've had in my 10 years of motherhood:

Don't put your toe up your sister's nose.
It just kept coming (pointing at the toilet paper all over the floor).
Do not toot at your sister.
No growling at the baby.

Mom's out there - I know you know what I'm talking about. What are some of your favorites? I promise I won't steal them - I won't be writing that book. I think it's God's plan that we should learn these things on the job - no one would ever believe us anyway until they live it!

Monday, December 1, 2008

Pictures from the Turkey Trot

Before the Turkey Trot
Jason, B, Shawn, Sherry (sporting a neato turkey visor), Justin

Mark was jealous of my way cool hat!

See he even got a profile picture of it!


The boys (minus Jason who was in the back with me)



Check out that stride! Check out that grimace on his face... hee hee!


Smiling and pleased with his 1668th place finish (30.19 overall time, average speed 9.47)

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving

We are home safe and sound. With that out of the way I'm going to start this blog with a story.

Tuesday afternoon I talked to my Mom and she told me about this little 5K that was going to take place on Thursday morning, the 14th Annual Turkey Trot. I looked it up asked Jason if he was interested and he said, "sure, why not!" I jumped on that asked B&K if they wanted to participate too (B said yes, K said something about sleeping in to save up strength for pumpkin pie), I was able to sign the three of us up about 15 minutes before the deadline. I called my brother, Mark & his family and asked them if they were interested - they seemed hesitant but said they'd decide Wednesday. We left early Wednesday morning, met up with Mark and his family in Sherman at Chic-fil-a had lunch and proceeded on our journey to Ozark MO. After several near miss Z potty breaks we made it to MO in just over 12 hours (today we made it home in just over 10 - potty breaks really eat your time!). While we were traveling I found out that my nephew Shawn was planning on running with us and then after just a little bit of persuading Justin joined the ranks too. We got up EARLY Thursday and made our way to downtown Springfield in 28 degree weather - brrr. Turns out that this LITTLE 5K is actually the biggest in the state (according to the race officials) and this year they had over 5000 participants! Wow - this was the biggest 5K I've ever done. It didn't really occur to me until we started lining up that I hadn't thought out how we would meet up with all the boys at the end - thankfully Mark showed up to take some pictures and he decided to stay. Phew - he kept an eye out for everyone and collected B when he was done. Jason & I started the race together. We were cruising along smiling and waving at any cameras that we saw (hoping to get our moment of fame on TV) and checking out the fun costumes. Before I knew it I had gone over a mile (without walking!). At that point I decided that I had to try for 2 miles without walking. Somewhere in the midst of that I lost Jason but kept on running. Something I learned from my friend (and coach) Adrien was positive self talk - instead of saying okay when I get to that stop sign I'm going to walk I said to myself, "when you get there you can evaluate why you want to walk." By the time I finished mile 2 I knew that I had to run the whole thing - funny thing is that I never dreamed that this would be the race that I would run the whole thing - I honestly intended to walk quite a bit of it (not sure why). As I ran up the slight incline by the church where I married the greatest guy in the world almost 15 years ago I continued my PMA (positive mental attitude) and said, "look how much you've done you can't stop now, you can do this!" I ran through the square and down a hill. At the top of the hill I had a very brief moment of dread thinking that when you go down you have to eventually go up again but I couldn't waste time thinking about that. I continued on like the little engine that could until I came around the corner and my moment of dread was realized - a short but STEEP hill was right in front of me and at the end of it was.... you guessed it the finish line! I put my head down and said there was NO WAY I was walking up that hill, I refused to look at the top of the hill and just kept chugging. I did it!! I ran a 5K without walking, I felt like I won that race - who cares that I came in 2574th (do they do medals for that?). It didn't matter, I ran farther this Thanksgiving than I ever have in my life and I am so proud! The best part? My nephews, husband and son did this with me AND the boys were all on TV and on the front page of the newspaper (okay so you need a magnifying glass to see them but I can see them!).
Pictures of the race to follow - waiting on my big brother to send them to me. Until then I have some that will make you happy.

The "Cousin It" look


Now isn't that better?


Presents from Our Debbie & Our Michael


B with his flock of geese (at the park)

My sweet girls making the ride go faster this afternoon

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Hi Ho Hi Ho

It's off to MO we go!
We will be leaving tomorrow to spend Thanksgiving with my family in southwest Missouri. I'm anxious to see them all. Pictures when we get home - Jason has had the last two days off (in other words - time to take apart my/the kids computer). Otherwise I would have pictures of A's new haircut...

Friday, November 21, 2008

Earning the Polar Bear Patch



Thanks for waiting - it took a long time to narrow it down so that people might actually watch it (started at 6+ minutes!).
Enjoy!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Just one camping picture

I'm posting one picture - so you will know we are home safe and sound. Montage to follow soon - hopefully tomorrow but don't hold your breath.


Only 6 of our Girl Scouts were able to go but it was SO much fun!
We earned our Polar Bear patch - it got down to freezing and for those of you that will fuss about us being in cabins wait until you see the picture of our holey cabin!

Friday, November 14, 2008

Happy Birthday Debbie

Today is my Debbie's birthday. Legally she is my aunt but she is far to young to be my aunt so she has been dubbed "My Debbie" by my children and I.... because if she can't be my aunt then she can't be their gr**t aunt!

Happy Birthday My Debbie - hope you have a wonderful day!

My all time favorite picture of Debbie (helping K play the piano).

Happy Birthday Alex

Today is my brother-in-law's birthday - he made the very wise decision to marry Erin! He has been under the weather and so we hope he is feeling better & that he has a great birthday!

Happy Birthday Alex - we hope that your sushi is extra yummy tonight!

These are some pictures to take us down memory lane - I have more recent pictures but I love these of our first trip to Massachusetts (summer 2004). Alex with, B, K & Erin.


Thursday, November 13, 2008

Changes

I've noticed changes in my blogging since the beginning of this school year. I used to write about specific events... now it's a hodge podge more than anything else. Guess what - so is this one!

Some fun/funny stories to share - then pictures.

I have started running and swimming again - since last week. I never thought I would say it, I LOVE to swim. I don't think I could give myself a decent workout without someone egging me on but I'm learning to love the whole thing... except actually getting into my car and driving. I dread leaving in the evening after Jason gets home but I have felt great there and feel even better afterwards. This Tuesday was no exception - as a matter of fact I felt even better this week than last because I raced John (friend who I've trained with, he's an amazing tri-athlete) and beat him (he didn't know we were racing but I did - hee hee). We were doing kick board drills and I apparently have a strong set of legs - it helps that I can keep my head out of the water and breath.

Last night I went to run and we did bleachers (yep ran up and down them - yucko!) - but here's the great thing. I did the intermediate workout. I was so proud of myself after it was all done. There were a few times I thought I was going to fall off the bleachers and I'm sure I looked like I was downing a margarita at the top each time with my legs wobbling and twitching like they were but I did it! Here's what got me through that last set (4 total) - "Thank God for a body that will allow me to do this!"

Z and I went to the dentist today - he did fabulous! I took him out for Chick-fil-a afterwards and we "partied"! In other words there was an indoor playground so we could play and eat. We drove past an outdoor McD's (I didn't want to go there!) and he was a little disappointed when I "called" and they said that the play yard was closed because it was so cold (upper 60's)... was that wrong?

Brotherly Love
I walked in on this scene and couldn't resist a picture, they immediately began hamming it up as soon as I took this picture.


Sweet Big Brother
Another one that I walked into. Z giving his little sister a ride. Sweet!
I love bossy (aka A) pointing out the way she WANTS to go.

One Shot
That is all it took to get these goofy grins! I love that B&A are so in love with each other!


Straight up silly
Daddy snapped this shot - I guess the big kids are showing the little ones how you dress up for cool northern weather.


Getting ready to camp
K and I are going to Girl Scout camp this weekend. With a projected temperature of 37 on Saturday night I felt that K needed some long underwear and long socks... it will get cold in our cabins!

Last but NOT least
Tuesday night I came home to this staring at me as I walked in the door, wet and cold from my swim. Let me say that often I feel guilty about leaving to go exercise at night, but this made me so proud and happy. I don't know why she wrote it but it keeps me motivated to keep trying to work hard and show my kids that you can do anything if you set your mind to it! K - I love you and you honor me greatly!


Monday, November 10, 2008

This weekend

We were so busy last week! Saturday morning we got up early to make the trek to Houston to see Dad, Judy-Mom, Mark, Cheryl, Shawn & Justin. Justin was in a band competition and Shawn had his last regular season football game. Sadly we didn't get any pictures while we were there - Cheryl took the one picture below but that is all I have to show for our time in Houston. We left here Saturday morning got to Houston just in time to stand behind a chain link fence and watch Justin play his tuba in the military marching band - I saw one mistake but I was still impressed, sorry Justin you did great! Then we went out for lunch, played at the park and headed out to watch Shawn play football. The Mustangs scored the first touchdown and that was certainly the highlight of the game! After that it wasn't so great but we were thrilled to see Shawn play! Finally we went out for a bite after the game and then headed back home for some sleep before we got up and headed home Sunday morning. It was a whirlwind trip but left me looking forward to Thanksgiving! Thank you all for allowing us to come and invade this weekend!

K went with Mark, Justin & Cheryl to cheer Shawn on as they headed out to the game!
K's ready to sign up to be a cheerleader ~ today!

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Happy Birthday Uncle Michael

Yesterday was my Uncle Michael's birthday but I was out of town so I couldn't post this blog.

So without further ado - Happy Birthday my Michael, we can't wait to see you at Thanksgiving! Better late than never! Love, Jason's Clan


Sadly we don't get many pictures of Michael - I guess he's a little camera shy, but here's a couple from Thanksgiving 2005.


Michael with his buddy, Winston

Friday, November 7, 2008

Happy Birthday Rae Ann

Today (if I'm not mistaken, **inside joke** :) is the birthday of one of the most fantastic, amazing women that I know! Rae Ann and I met the first day of our freshman year in high school and we have been friends ever since. How she's put up with that long is a miracle in itself.

Rae Ann I hope you have a marvelous birthday!


The dorky one on the left is Rae Ann... yea the other dork is me.



hee hee, this picture cracks me up!

Seriously - Texas sun is BAD! Rae Ann looks marvelous!


Rae Ann with her sweet husband, Dan.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Halloween - finally the pictures & story

Friday was an insane day around Jason's Clan. I finished the last of the costumes (mine) at 2:15pm - right before getting the big kids from school.
It was a relatively uneventful Halloween except that A was in it this year (last year we represented Jason's Clan in MA and officially welcomed little J) - she was really getting the hang of "thank you" by about the midway point of our trick-or-treating, of course she was halfway down the sidewalk with her back to the people when she'd say it. But I heard it and it was cute!
B was Harry Potter, K was Alexa from Barbie & The Diamond Castle, Z was baby bear, A was supposed to be a lady bug but we went with easy and did the jack-o-lantern since she wasn't fond of the antenna's on the lady bug costume - when she wore it to a Halloween party last weekend she ended up wearing a pair of shorts around most of the time, I guess the costume wasn't very comfortable either.
In addition we had some friends join us for trick-or-treating - B's friend Hank was some type of scary faceless monster and McKaen was a deatheater from the Harry Potter series. Me?! I was Supermom - two people (I suspect Supermom's themselves in disguise) recognized my costume and thought it was very cute. I made the emblem out of pieces from the kids costumes - it was fun!


K had a pumpkin decorating contest at school -
I can't believe ours didn't win! Disco pumpkin!!
Disco is ALIVE!


Finally on an incredibly disgusting (but funny nonetheless) side note: Apparently Hobbes decided that he didn't get enough treats so he played a trick on us - he pooped on the bed, this was Jason's reaction which was the funny part.

Perhaps he's on his last leg.... (the cat, not Jason)