I cannot believe how use to the kids going to school I have gotten... but I am definetely ready for them to go back to school!!!! I have enjoyed having them home for Christmas and have enjoyed being with them... but they are starting to get bored, which means torturing one another and ME!! We have been getting things done around the house, the kids have cleaned out their rooms, I have been throwing stuff away left and right and its really starting to make a difference. We are getting some couches this weekend so I am going to put the old one downstairs for the kids when they are down there. I have been taking down all the Christmas stuff and deep cleaning, and its been quite a chore!
Tomorrow is mine and hubby's 9th anniversary. We are planning on dinner, and who knows what else. It will be the first time that we have been out alone in a long time, the time alone will be good for us. Then we will go to my parent's for New Years Eve. Nothing special planned, just getting together with them. It will be nice once the kids get older and we can do things kid free for New Year's. But for now, we will keep it a family thing and include the kids and enjoy it with them. Then the kids go back to school on the 3rd!!! WHOHOOOOO!!!!! I think they are ready too. They enjoy the time with their friends and the structure of being in school. Plus, its back to activities for them! My older daughter has been missing her basketball and cannot wait for practices and games.
My older daughter has been to the chiropractor 6 times now, and I think we are slowly starting to see a change in her as far as her headaches go. She still has them, but has taken no meds in quite some time. We took her off her prescription drug a few months back and she was still pretty bad. Once in a while she would get some tylenol but now that she has been seeing the chiropractor she is barely taking that at all. She is still keeping a journal of her headaches, but I am seeing her writing in it less and less. So maybe we will not have to go to the Mayo Clinic after all. Its still over a month away, so we will see. We also have not altered her diet like the chiropractor has wanted us to, but we want to talk to a dietician first. It seems taking all milk products out of her diet is not good, but we will see. I am next on the list to see the chiropractor... that should be interesting! :o)
I hope that everyone has an excellent New Year. I hope that 2007 is much better than 2006 and that it is a healthy, happy one for all!!!

I hope that everyone had a great Christmas! Ours was really nice. No real drama, so I put that in the successful category. On Christmas Eve we went to the church where my grandparents were members. It was the candlelight service and it was very nice. Then on Christmas morning my parents came over and we opened all the gifts. The kids loved all their presents. We got the older 3 their own ipods so now I have 3 singing kids... luckily we cannot hear the music, just them singing. I am not sure which is better... hearing the Cheetah Girls sing.. or my daughters singing along to them... Oh, well. They are happy and that is all that counts. The youngest loves his workbench and has been pounding away at it. After all the present opening we had a big breakfast. My mom had gone to New Hampshire for a business trip and had a few stops along the way. One of them was in Washington. D.C. and so she got the kids some D.C. shirts and the other was in New York so she got me a New York shirt and hubby got a NYPD shirt. We got some of the kids presents untangled from their packages and then by the time we got through some of it we had to get ready to go to my Aunt's. Not all of my family was there, but we still made the most of it. It was a really bland day without my grandparents and hurt that much more without them. All the events were to start at 2 and we got there about 2:15. My other aunt did not get there til about 3:30. So some of us started the party out early and my uncle was pouring shots of Metaxa. I had a couple and a few beers, so by the time my other aunt got there, I was pretty well to the not caring stage and just basically ignored her existence along with her husband and my cousin. It was the first time I have had Metaxa and I have to say it hit pretty hard. It is one of my uncle's favorites and he was sharing the love :o) We did not stay very long. The kids were antsy and wanted to get back home to their presents and hubby was not in the mood to listen to them whine. The kids opened their presents from the family and then the adults played rob your neighbor. I had bought a really neat glass beer mug for the guy gift and I bought a bath and body thing for the girl gift. I ended up with a couple of mugs and hubby ended up with a Civil War DVD. There was not too much stealing going on so it went pretty fast. After that we stuck around and talked for a little while and then we left.
That was pretty much it as far as our Christmas went. The Saturday before Christmas I finally used my gift certificate from my hubby to one of the beauty salon's and got a 1 hour massage and then a pedicure and manicure. It was a nice relaxing time. 4 hours by myself enjoying peace and quiet is always nice! It was almost 3 hours of getting pampered and though I do not care too much for the froo froo stuff, I have to say I really do enjoy it when I do take the time out to get it done. Saturday night the guys got together to play poker and watch movies and play xbox. It was fun for all. The guys had a great time, one of my brothers friends got to playing with my phone and put his picture as my wallpaper and added his # to my phonebook, so I have 2 of my brothers friends phone #'s in my phone, which is quite weird. I did manage to get his picture OFF my wallpaper and back to my Rams logo but not without quite a bit of cussing and fighting with the damn thing. But the #'s are staying, in case there is a day I cannot find my brother and he happens to be with either of those guys... not that I think that will ever happen, but not a bad thing to have all the same.
Congrats to Geoffery over at Dog Snot on his new addition to the family! Your puppy is beautiful! If you ever want a good read I suggest him. He is always up to no good and has a very opinionated mind. He is always the first blog I go to when I get a few moments of time. Ok, well I am off to take care of kids... Lucky me, they are off til the 2nd!!!

I have not felt like posting in quite a while. I have thought about it a few times but have neglected the thought just as easily. Ever since my grandma passed away I have been PISSY. I grieved for her, but at the same time have just flat out been a bitch. I cried and cried and cried with my grandpa, but with my grandma I have cried and been pissed. I am not sure WHY I have been so pissed, but it has been the attitude that I have taken on. I am doing much better now but still have my pissy moments.
Our Christmas shopping is all done. The kids are getting a lot of the things that they want for Christmas and they are already wrapped and under the tree. It took a few outings to get all that we had on our lists but I think overall it went well. The kids had their WINTER party on Friday so I went up there and split my time between the 3 classes to get pictures of them all. My youngest stayed with his great-grandma for a few hours and enjoyed the time with her. My younger daughter made a gingerbread house, the other 2 made ornaments. My youngest will get to see Santa on Thursday at his school so I am going to go up to his school for that.
The school decided to test our younger daughter for the gifted program. She did not qualify this time but they plan on watching her and most likely test her again. She scored high on 3 of the 4 tests that they took on her. I am not sure what all was involved but I am sure that once she gets a little more learning in she will probably qualify next time.
Our older daughter had her first basketball game 2 weeks ago. They lost 34-0, which in our eyes was not too bad considering the girls had only had 1 practice before their first game and that first practice they did not have any basketballs. The other kids had 4 or 5 practices before the first game, we were just unlucky to have Thanksgiving, an ice storm and a Winter program get in the way of all our practices. This past Saturday they had a game and only lost 12-0, which is amazingly better! They finally had a practice ( with basketballs) last Thursday. Their next game is not til January so we will be able to get a few more practices in and hopefully win a game!
Also with out older daughter we have decided to take her to a chiropractor, she had her first apoointment yesterday and we will go back today to see if there is anything the chiropractor can do for her headaches. We have a few friends that have had problems with headaches and have gone to chiropractors and now get them very infrequently so we are hoping that this will work for our daughter. She is also scheduled to go to the Mayo clinic in Minnesota in February. They have a pediatric unit up there and at this point we are willing to do whatever we can to help our daughter with her headaches.
Our oldest is still struggling with school and had a really bad time after my grandma died. He is starting to pull himself back on track but we have decided that we are going to start him on the ADHD meds to see if we can improve things. We struggled for the longest time on whether this is something that we want and have finally decided that we can give it a shot and if we do not like the results will take him off the meds. But at this point we really need to worry about him and his learning.
Our youngest is loving school. He has been there for a little over a month now and is really starting to show improvement in his speech. I am sure by the end of the year we will see a great change with him and he will be ready for kindergarten next year!! At that point I think that I am really going to get involved in their school activities and will be spending time up at the school volunteering.
I hope that everyone has a great Christmas. Only 6 days away!!!

It has been a really hard couple of weeks. My grandma has gone to heaven to be with her beloved husband. On Novemeber 11th I went up to see her at hospice house and it was just the 2 of us. We had a great conversation and I enjoyed the time with her. We all went up there as a family on Sunday to be with her and she took a major turn for the worst. It was the day my dad and I both told her it was ok to go and we would eventually be ok. My dad and I sat on either side of my grandma's bed and told her it was ok to let go and to be with grandpa again. Thinking it was the release she had needed since my dad had yet to tell her it was ok to let go. She was still awake at that point and after my dad and I had that talk with her she peacefully went to sleep and held on for another 7 days never to wake again. It was the hardest thing in the world for my dad and I to tell her it was ok to go. The selfish part of me wanted to tell her NO she could NOT go, that I needed her! It was also the hardest thing in the world my dad had to do. Before she went to sleep on Sunday she told me to stay with her so I spent the night with her from Sunday til Wednesday. Only leaving to come home and shower and get clean clothes. The doctor came in on Monday morning and told us she had 24-36 hours at most. She held on all day Monday and was kept comfortable and was on Morphine for the pain. Then on Tuesday the doctor came in and said he was surprised that she was still here and did not expect her to make it through the day. Family was called and everyone was up there with her. Both my aunt's also stayed the night up at the Hospice house also. During the time that we were there my grandma was never left alone. There was always someone there with her.
Then on Wednesday, the doctor was again surprised that she was still hanging in there. She had no food or water since Sunday and he was sure it was going to be anytime. Wednesday was also the day that her apnea was really bad and she was breathing about every 30 seconds and the nurse had us all come in and say good-bye sure that she was to go at any time. We did this for 3 more days. Finally on Saturday one of the nurses talked to us and said that she may need time alone, that she may just want to finish working out the business she has to work out internally and be left alone, and that sometimes people do not want to die in front of anyone. So we all agreed to give her some alone time with just the nurses going in to check on her. No one was supposed to stay the night up there with her and MOST of us left. We did end up with a few issues. My one aunt, decided that she could not do it and took up residence in my grandma's room again, even after our agreement, which really upset the rest of us. We all wanted to be by grandma's side but figured that we were being selfish and that maybe that being alone was exactly what grandma needed. The rest of the family went home and my one aunt, her stupid husband and one of my cousin's stayed up there. We did say that they were NOT to stay in the room with grandma and they slept out in the lobby. That night was her last. She took one final breath about 6:30 Sunday morning and never took another. She died peacefully Saturday, November 18th.
Monday was her visitation at the funeral home. I was quite numb by this point and really managed to hang on fairly well. There were a lot of people that came to visit and to offer their condolences. Tuesday was the funeral and then on Wednesday there was a private family burial at the cemetary. Since it was at a National Cemetary they did not do grave side services and after the burial ceremony we went to see grandpa. They had dug the hole for grandma already. They bury them on top of one another and so we could see grandpa's casket under the silicon layer. While we were visiting grandpa they brought grandma and we saw them put her in the ground and close the vault. It was a finalization I could almost not bare. But, I do know that she is happy. She is with her beloved husband and no longer in pain.
Since all that stuff was going on with grandma our Thanksigiving was pulled off but with a lot of last minute preps. My hubby fried 2 turkey's and the rest of the family chipped in on getting the rest of the stuff done. We decided to do it at grandma and grandpa's one last time. My mom and I did the shopping on Wednesday after the burial to get all that we needed to go with the Turkey's and then on Thursday we were there cooking for several hours. It was a sad Thanksgiving without my grandparents, but I could not help but think of them together happy as could be.
I have a lot more to say, just cannot do it at the moment. I have a lot of stuff that has to be done and really ought to get started! I will continue more in depth stuff later!

So a lot has happened since I have last posted. LIKE THE CARDINALS WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!! WHOO HOOO CARDS!!! It was an incredible series and I am so very proud of the Cards!!
Friday night was my brothers last football game. Their season ended 5-5. They lost their last 3 games, yet it was the best season the school has ever had. So that is a high note! I really enjoyed going to all of his games and will miss them!!! Now we have track to look forward to since one of his coaches has talked him into doing that. That does not start til March so we will have some time off before the chaos starts again. Our daughters are full swing into their Girl Scouts and really enjoying it. Our oldest will be joining Boy Scouts sometime soon and we still have Basketball for our older daughter that has yet to start. So we will have a lot going on, just no more football :o(.
Our family moved my grandma into Hospice House a little over a week ago. It has been a heartbreaking thing for me. I really believe that the only reason she agreed to go was for my family and is not what she wants. The place is really nice and is very homey, yet is NOT home. Since she has been there she has lost more weight and is going downhill a lot faster. She now stays in bed all the time and only gets up to go to the bathroom and has to have a lot of help in doing so. I am sure it will not be long before we lose her... and it really breaks my heart.
My older daughter is still having headaches every day and has started having sharp pains in her left temple. We have decided that it is time to get another opinion and this time we are going to take her to the Mayo clinic. I want something done and I do not want her headaches masked anymore and with this new pain she is having I want it done NOW. We are getting her medical records sent to the Mayo so that we can get her in ASAP. She has lived with these headaches for the last 7 months and has yet to have a day that she does not have one. To me, that is ridiculous and I want answers, not meds that are going to mask her headaches!! Hopefully we will get answers soon.
As far as election day goes, thank God it is finally over!!!! I am so sick of seeing the stupid campaign ads I could puke! I am a Republican at heart, even though I was raised in a strictly Democratic home. But reading up on the parties and candidates has me really as a Republican. There truly are pros and cons to both sides, I just see it as which is the lesser of 2 evils and I have to go with Republicans.
I am sure there are a million other things to talk about... but for now I am off to clean house and start planning dinner!

GOOOO CARDINALS!!!!! ONE MORE WIN AND THE WORLD SERIES IS ALL OURS!!!! IT CAN AND WILL BE DONE!!!!

I have seriously slacked on the posting thing! I have pretty much just ignored my blog. Things are very busy, but that really is no excuse.
My grandma is still hanging in there. She is getting worse every day and is getting so weak it is hard for her to get up at all. She is still refusing any kind of pain meds being that she is still at home and does not want to be out of it. So she is taking 1 Tylenol PM at night before bed. She is not sleeping, when she lays down in bed the pressure on her chest makes it to where she cannot breath. We are just assuming that the lump in her lung has gotten bigger and of course her breast cancer is growing each day. Then when she tries to sit up in her chair her hip and tailbone hurt her, even with her gelpad she sits on. So pretty much she sleeps in spurts and never a fitful sleep. She has pretty much stopped eating, even the treats that I have been bringing her or making her. I have kept her stocked on pumpkin bread and chocolate shakes. The chocolate shake had to stop since they were giving her tummy problems but the pumpkin bread is still something that she loves. She has finally agreed that it is time to go to Hospice House. Of course now that she is ready there are no rooms available for her. But the next time a room does become available she will be ready.
On to the kids... My oldest child has been diagnosed with ADHD. The doctor has given him a prescription for meds and I am seriously considering putting him on them. I always thought that we would be able to handle it if one of our children was diagnosed with this disease but I am going to eat those words. Which at least we have an answer and we can figure out where to go from there. He is doing better in school so that is a plus.
Last week was an extremely busy one with the kiddos. My older daughter had a field trip to Powell Symphony Hall to hear Peter and the Wolf. I went as one of the chaperones and really enjoyed it! I do not think that the kids were near as impressed but they knew the insturments and did sit and listen. Afterwards we went to Suson park for lunch. It was just the 3rd grade so we had a great time. The kids enjoyed lunch time at the park much more than the symphony :o) That was last Wednesday, then on Friday my younger daughter had her field trip to the pumpkin patch. That was a chaotic, fun day! I was with my daughter and a little boy that is so petite and quite the fireball!! He was everywhere at once it seemed. But they had a great time together. Then when we got back they had their Fall party, all the kids did. So I spent some of my time with her, then went to be a part of the other 2 kids party. I actually managed to make it to all of their classrooms and get pictures of them! They all had a great time. Then that night the girls had their cheerleading at the high school. The girls loved seeing the cheerleaders that they were paired up with over the summer. They had a great time cheering and after they were done with that we went to my brothers game at yet another school. So needless to say my last Friday was beyond hectic. I left my house at 7:30 that morning and did not get home til about 11 that night.
Then Saturday was my scrapbooking day!! Which, I LOVE my days of scrapbooking and would not trade them for the world, but I was EXHAUSTED!! I got up early to make what I needed to bring for the day, then went to that from 9 in the morning til 10 that night. I did not make a lot of pages, but I did get a lot of socializing in!! One of my girlfriends went to Europe for 3 weeks so we looked at all her pictures and probably sat and talked for 2 hours! But it was well worth it and I loved the time away from all the kids!!
As for this week. I have spent some time with my grandma since it has been a while since I have had a chance to be with her. Monday night was my older daughters Brownie night so I went to that with her. Yesterday hubby went to Chicago for the day and tonight we have a Family Bingo thing at the kids school and my younger daughter has her fist Daisy meeting. The kids are off school tomorrow and Friday so I am sure I will have to find something to entertain them for the next 2 days!! Tomorrow night is also Parent Teacher confrences so I will have that to do also. My oldest is doing a Student led confrence and he is pretty excited about that! Then Friday is my brothers second to last football game and we will be going to that.
So... HOW ABOUT THEM CARDINALS!!!!!!! I have to say I am so very proud of our Cardinals!!! I have been a Cardinal fan since I was a child and to grow up with them has always been something that I have loved. Since we have moved back home I have tried to go to a game at least once a year. I even managed to go to games when we were living in Houston. All the ppl around me rooting for the Astros and me in my Cardinal gear rooting for my team! :o) And since they have made it to the World Series I have watched their games and am really proud of the way they handled the Kenny Rogers thing. I personally think that the Umps should have done it by the rules and pulled him from the game and done an inspection of what was on his hands instead of just telling him to wash it off. The rules say that NOTHING is to be on their hands period and I think they should have done the right thing and if it was nothing then let him back in the game. I personally think that it was pine tar and that he should have been taken out and that if that is what they found then should be suspended. And his BS comment of I did not know there was something on my hand is just stupid. Then the coincidence that he had that same smudge on his hand in an ALCS game is more than coincidental. Cheaters don't win and I hope that my Cards beat the crap out of them the next 2 nights and win the series here at home!!! OK, I am done! Going to go visit my grandma and then get ready for my fun filled night of kids, kids, kids!!! Hope all is well with everyone out there!

Things are starting to fall more into a regular routine around here. There are still a few glitches here and there but I am really loving just having the one at home. The other kids are adjusting to school and seem to be doing better. My oldest has a few good and bad days but we are getting him into the doctor to get him tested for a bunch of things. I think we knew it all along and just ignored it since he was home with me and really was only disrupting me but now that he is in a classroom setting we really need it to be under control. I have spent many tears on him and am ready to take whatever necessary action I need to to help him. There have been a few times that I have really just wanted to throw in the towel and wish that I could hand him over to someone else but I know in the long run he is much better off with me than with anyone else. I am so very thankful to my hubby who has been there every step of the way. For every school visit we have had, for every tear I have cried, for every frustration that he has felt he has been there for it all. He takes off work to go to the school meetings, he has been the shoulder that I have cried on and has been the strength to make me go on and not give up. I have to say for a man that did not make this child he has cared more about him than any biological parent ever could. I take that for granted a lot and really appreciate all that he has done for us and could not ask for a better father and dad for my kiddo.
It really has been a very rough road with him and I am sure a lot of it is genetics. But I am willing to get him the help that he needs so that it does not go any further and so that he turns into a good person. He really is very sweet natured and a really good kid. He makes some bad choices but we are working on that and hope that once we figure out what kind of help he needs it will all be under control and we can have our happy family back to normal.
In other news, my grandma's 82nd birthday was yesterday and we celebrated with her last night as well. It was wonderful to have so much family over there and to be with her. My cousin and her hubby and little one were there also. They are going to go to my brothers football game with us on Friday night, which I think will be awesome. My brother will have his own personal cheering section! :o)
My daughters will be doing poms on the 13th and then the following Friday will be doing their cheerleading. They are really excited about both. The 13th they will be doing the poms for my brother, who is really excited about that and then on the 20th we will go and do their cheerleading and then head over to my brothers football game since it is at another school. Same school district but different high schools.
I have also recently been in contact with a friend of mine from high school who I have not talked to in several years. It is great to be talking to her again and hopefully we will be able to meet up when she comes into town in November. She was a good friend in high school and I look forward to seeing her again.
Now to get house work done *sigh*

I have been really bad at posting and I cannot seem to find the time to post. My daughters have me going ragged. Things have also been adjusting for my oldest so we are spending a lot of time and effort on getting things right for him.
My older daughter has joined basketball, so not only is she in brownies but is doing basketball and also cheerleading and now poms too. That is something else the girls are signed up to do. There is a pom clinic on one of the days that they are off and they will be doing poms for my brothers football game, which of course they are so very excited about!
My brothers homecoming game was Friday and he got to play in quite a bit of the game and the dance was Saturday night. They won their game 28-0. First time in the 10 years that they have had the school that they have won a homecoming football game so they were all very excited. We got some great pictures of the game. Then Saturday my brother, his date, his best friend, his date and another one of the guys came over so that we could get some pictures before the dance. The pic I have up is of him and his date. They went to dinner and then the dance and when they left the dance they came back to our house for a little while.
Sunday we had a birthday party for my grandma. Her birthday is not til the 4th but we decided to celebrate it this weekend since my cousin is in from CO and my other cousin came in from school. It was a great family gathering, one we have not had in quite a while. It was great to see my cousin that lives out in CO since she does not get back home too often. She is preggers with her 2nd baby and is missing home really bad.
I am sure there are a million things that I could talk about but it is time for me to go see what we have for dinner! Hope all is well with everyone out there!!

Things are as hectic as ever. The kids are really adjusting to school and are really getting into it and LOVING it!! Our oldest has a few issues but we are working through them and hope that he improves on them each day. He has a great teacher and is really being supported by his family and his teacher to help him with the adjustment. Our older daughter is doing wonderful!! She has adjusted beautifully and is really loving all that she is doing. She is making great grades and tons of friends. She loves her class and her new friends. Our younger daughter is also adjusting very well and is loving school. We wondered about her and her adjustments but she is doing beautifully. She is also making a lot of friends and loves her teacher.
Our older 2 are in what is called eMINTS classes, we are learning what the program is all about and I have to say that I am really excited about it and really happy that my kids are in the classes. Our school is the only one in the district with this program and we are learning more and more as time goes on how special this class really is. HERE is the link if you would like to look into it. Our oldests teacher had a parent meeting on eMINTS and explained a lot about what is going on and how it works and the results that they are seeing from it and we are really impressed and hope that the program continues to grow so that more students will benefit from this program. Right now there is 1 in 3rd, 2 in 4th, 1 in 5th and 1 in 6th grade. We were fortunate enough to get both of our older kids into the class, it is a completely random thing and we just happened to get lucky our kids ended up in those classrooms.
The girls got signed up for Girl Scouts, so 2 more nights of the week taken up. Looks like Mondays and Wednesdays will be our Girl Scout nights. For right now our Friday nights are taken up by my brothers football games also. We have told him we will do everything we can to make it to all of his football games and so far we are holding true to that. They lost the 1st 2 games but they WON Friday against the #1 team in the confrence so we were really really excited!!! It was the best game they have played so far and we were all screaming and having a great time.
I am a year older :o( As of yesterday. Can't say there is too much exciting about that!

The only other news is our cat died on Saturday. It was really shocking and the kids are taking it very hard. Our oldest is the one that found him and is taking it the worst. We have looked at other cats and are trying to find one that will replace our beloved Spot. I am sure that we will get one eventually, it will take some time to find the perfect cat, but we will be getting another one!

Things have been very busy and very emotional around here. We found out that my grandma's cancer is in the final stage of stage 4. Which is the last stage of the cancer. She is still very dizzy and some days does not even get out of bed. The cancer is at least the size of a grapefruit and is going to eventually rupture. From the way the nurse explained it she will be in such excruciating pain that they will have to drug her and she will be in a constant doped state of mind. Nothing is going to make her better at this point. The nurse was saying this could happen at any time and we are talking a matter of a month or so, if that, or if her heart takes her, since that is working at less than 25% capacity. I am trying my best to cope with this, I know the facts, I know that my grandma would be so much better off dying before the cancer ruptures and that she would be with my grandpa and with her son, but at the same time the selfish parts of me wants her HERE, without the pain and with us and with the kids but I just know that is not going to happen. That is just the really selfish part of me that wants to keep her.
The nurse told my grandma about everything and she took it well, I truly believe that she knew about it and was trying to spare her family. My aunts have been taking turns staying with my grandma so that she is not left alone at any time. At this point we have turned hospice house down since grandma does not feel that she needs it at this time and really does not even think that someone needs to be with her 24 hrs a day. But that is not going to happen since leaving her alone would not be good. I have been spending a lot of time with her and taking the kids with me to see her whenever possible.
The kids have had a great couple of weeks of school and we are into a good routine. Our oldest son is having issues adjusting and we have met with his teacher to try and straighten his problems out and it seems to work for a day and then he is back to his old ways. I wish I could strip part of his DNA out and make the lazies go away. He has a disrespect issue when it comes to the teacher and that seiously horrifies me since my children were not raised that way. The teacher is awesome and I really like her and she is all about tough love, which I really believe my son needs. My daughters are doing great in school. Both loving it and really embracing the new experience. My older daughter is a perfectionist and she actually came home with 1 F on a paper and all the rest were A's. She was bawling by the time she told me she got the F and we had to sign and return her paper to school. It truly was not all that tragic since it did not do anything to her overall grade. My younger daughter who I thought we would have problems with is a star student and is doing a great job at learning. There is a little boy that is picking on her and if the teacher does not do something soon about it I have a feeling my daughter is going to take things into her own hands and the little boy will be going down. She will only take so much crap from someone before she blows and when she does it is NOT pretty. That is one little girl that can hold her own and the wrath of her is not something to be taken lightly. So for the little boys sake I hope he knocks off his crap before my daughter sends him crying.
We went to my brothers first football game last Friday and it was a great game. They did not get totally creamed like everyone thought that they would. They did lose 29-20 but nothing like what everyone was thinking. This Friday is going to be a different story, I think, but we will be there cheering for him!! We still do not know what game my daughters will be cheerleading at but we will be there for our girls cheering them on!!! We are hoping it is not the game that where my brother plays my old high school. :o) That game is also my younger daughters birthday, but knowing my luck it will be. Which means my daughters will be cheering for my old high school and not for their uncle. Which he does not want! He likes when his nieces cheer for him.
Tonite is the night we sign my girls up for girl scouts too. *sigh* One thing after another! To think I thought I was going to have MORE time since my kids are in school, well it has turned out to be pretty much the opposite. I have had little time and the day does not seem to be long enough for me to get much done. Speaking of which, I have to make some pumpkin bread for my grandma and go and visit with her! Hope all is well out there in the world!!!

I have finally done it... enrolled my kiddos into public school!!! *sigh* It was one of the hardest things I have ever done and I hope in the end that it pays off!! We did it yesterday, yeah I know, nothing like waiting til the last minute! But hey it got done and we are excited for our kids, who are EXTREMELY happy about it. Our younger daughter will be going into Kindergarten and is very happy. Her teacher is super sweet and has a lot of years of experience so that is comforting to me. I just feel sorry for her if she ever catches a glimpse at the REAL child. Cuz it is not a pretty site!! Our other daughter is going to be in an eMINTS class, which means there is a computer for every 2 students and they will be spending a lot of time doing things with Excel and Powerpoint and learning on the computer instead of just books. They also have a website, digital camera, scanner, and a bunch of other up to date Electronic equipment. There is only 1 class in her grade that has this and she got lucky to get into that program. My oldest is also in an eMINTS class and the same goes for him. All the same stuff and from what the teacher says a LOT of creative work and thinking will be part of her class... so LOTS of READING, WRITING, and typing for the kiddo, which he HATES reading and WRITING so it will be a huge thing for him. All 3 of the teachers that they have are women and all of them seem to be exceptional.
Everyone keeps saying, well what are you going to do with all that FREE time and how are you going to do without them, HOW EXCITING for you... well lemme tell ya, EXCITING is not the word I am thinking when it comes to 3 of my 4 kiddos leaving. NERVOUS is a LOT more like it!! Yes, I know that there are a lot of parents that do this, but you know what, I did enjoy teaching my kids and having them here and it really is not all that exciting for me, more like NERVE RACKING!!! Of course I will still have the youngest home with me, but still, it wont be the same!! Tomorrow is their first day of school. I will have to blog how I did, and how THEY did on their first day to school.
Tonight hubby and I have tickets to the baseball game!!! One of their vendors gave my hubbies office tickets and since he knew the vendor he got a couple of the tickets. They are great 1st baseline tickets, I think 5 rows back from the dugout. I am really excited!!! It will be our first time to the new stadium. Of course school starts tomorrow, but my mom is going to be the ones watching them so I think that everything will be fine with the kids.
Saturday we are FINALLY going to have a scrapbooking day. Its been quite a while since we have been able to have one so it will be exciting to finally have another one. Not sure what I am going to scrapbook yet, but I am sure I will figure something out! I am thinking V's stay in the hospital, but I am not positive yet. Ok, well I have to get the kids ready to go and take their school supplies up to school since there is so much of it.
On another note, my grandma is still not doing too good, she seems to be getting a little bit stronger each day but it is a really slow process. I saw her for a few minutes last night and she was weak and was slurring her words pretty bad. But it was 8:30 when I saw her so I am sure that the fact that it was so late in the evening did not help out. OK, well kids are going wild, better go tame them!

I have been really bad at posting lately. I really do not have much of an excuse other than I just have not wanted to post. We have decided to put the kids into public school for the first time so I have been getting all their paperwork together, physicals done and just general stuff. School starts this Thursday for our school district so it will be interesting to go from 4 kids down to 1. All the kids have a clean bill of health. My youngest is 75% in his height and in his weight. He is a good solid boy! The doctor says he is perfectly proportioned so not worried about his weight since he is not chubby. My oldest is 25% in his height and 50% in his weight. I am hoping that he will have a good growth spurt and grow into the chubbiness he has seemed to have gotten. The doctor is not worried about it and says he is still a good healthy weight so I guess I will not worry about it right now. The girls are both on the skinny side but V is gaining weight like she should be. She lost a lot while she was in the hospital and has been gaining a couple pounds a month since then.
My grandma is still not doing good. She is really weak and gets dizzy really easily. She sleeps a lot of her time away lately. I call her everyday to check on her and generally end up talking to one of my aunts since grandma is normally sleeping when I call. She is eating a little more than she has been and seems to be improving a little at a time.
Hubby finally got back from his business trip on Thursday night at 10:30 so I was able to go spend some time with my grandma over the weekend. Hubby was supposed to be there til Friday and was going to try and come home Wednesday but something got screwed up with his ticket and they were going to charge him to change his flight. So he was just going to stay til Friday but because of everything that happened with the terrorist plot being foiled and the airline delays being so long they decided to just keep their rental car and come back on Thursday night. In the time it would have taken them to get through everything at the airport and the flight they could have been home by driving, so that's what they did.
Friday I ended up sick, throwing up and just feeling horrible so I spent the day in bed. I am not sure if it was a bug or stress of everything getting to me or a combination of both. I am thinking probably a combination of both. Being a single mother for 4 days and having my grandma as sick as she is really took a toll on me. I was up a lot of Friday night with bad stomach cramps and throwing up again so I slept quite a bit on Saturday and finally felt good enough that evening to go visit with my grandma. I stayed away from her and because she is on a lot of antibiotics already am hoping that she is safe in case I had any kind of infection.
Saturday was also my brothers 18th birthday. I cannot believe that my baby brother is 18, it just amazes me!! He had a rather shitty birthday. Back in January he and his friends were caught by some undercover cops with alcohol and were told that they would be in touch. Well time went by and he expected to get a MIP ( minor in possession) ticket but never did. Then out of the blue on Saturday 2 cops show up at my parents to arrest him for this charge from way back when. So now he has to go to court next month. But when hubby and I were talking to him last night he was never read his miranda rights. They cuffed him, took him to jail, and booked him but was never told his miranda rights. So I am sure that will affect all of this some how.
Sunday I spent more time with my grandma and then hubby, kids and I took my brother out to dinner for his birthday. That is just about the extent of my life. I have more to post, but will wait since I am still pissy about it. Greed is a horrible thing, that is all I will say at the moment!

Things have gone from bad to worse. My grandma is not doing good and going downhill fast. The doctor did a CT scan of her head and chest and found a mass in her lung. He wanted to do a biopsy and she agreed til the day of the test and the doctor wanted her to sign a form saying that there is a possiblity that the procedure could collapse her lung and if that happened that they would crack her chest open and put a tube in her lung. Well, at that point she declined it and so we are not sure what the mass is but we are assuming it is cancer. The doctor wanted the family to talk her into treatment that she has refused repeatedly and none of us can do it. She has made her wishes abundantly clear that she does not want the treatment, that she does not care if she lives or dies. How can anyone fight with that? I wish to God I could fight her cancer and make it go away and keep her. But I understand her reasoning behind it and cannot blame her for wanting to be with her husband and son. She is in pain every day. She lives with it on a daily basis and does not even take pain medicine so that she can do her daily routine.
She spent 5 and a half days in the hospital. She ended up with pneumonia to top it off and ended up being on antibotics while she was there. She had a hematoma (?), which is a bruise on the brain from her fall. She was so very weak while in the hospital. The doctor has sent her home on Hospice care and a home health care nurse has been coming out a couple times a week to check on her. All in all it is a matter of time. She got home on Sunday and has yet to get back to her self and has been getting a little worse. She is very weak and not eating. My aunts have been taking turns staying with her and taking care of her.
It hurts like hell knowing she has given up and is letting the cancer eat her away. The thought of losing my grandma is killing me. I lost my grandpa 16 months ago and even though it is getting easier it still hurts. There are some days I feel so alone and helpless. Tonight being one of those times. Talking to my aunt tonight and hearing in her voice the fact that my grandma is not going to make it and then fighting with my husband who is in Chicago really just compounded all of it for me. I am just alone. End of posting for me. Hope everyone elses life is just peachy...

Things have been relatively quiet around here. It has been too hot outside for the kids so they have been staying inside driving each other and me crazy. Friday night I got out of the house and went out Scrapbook shopping with Leah and Deanna. We had a quick dinner and stopped at Maggie Moo's for desert. It was a great evening out shopping. My brother, his friends Shawn and Justin were at the house playing on the XBox when I got back so I managed to actually scrapbook a few pages :o)
Saturday hubby and the guys decided to go play. They went go-carting and some other stuff just to have a fun day. So I had kid duty for the day. The kids and I vegged since it was still so hot and then went to my parents to have dinner with my mom. Sunday was typical of spending it with grandma. She is looking more and more thin. The cancer is eating all that she has and is withering her away. She wears really baggy clothes to hide just how much she has lost but you can always tell by hugging her and it feels like hugging bones. We had a great time with her and she loves to spend the time with all of us as we do with her.
On Monday night we decided to do some running around and wanted to treat grandma to dinner so we stopped by the house and we found that she had bought a rocking chair and tried moving it into the house herself and had passed out and falled off 3 steps and hit her head. She had a bump on the back of her head the size of an egg and refused to let us take her to the emergency room. I called both my aunt and my dad to see what we could do for her. My aunt was out buying a new car and could not make it so my dad came over and we tried again to convince her to go to the hospital and she refused. I ended up spending the night with her and my aunt came over first thing in the morning. She had not improved at all and had gotten really dizzy, my aunt was able to convince her to go to the hospital and they spent all day there. Waited 3 hours to get back to a room and another hour in the room before anyone got to her. They did an EKG, XRays, and a CT Scan and a bunch of bloodwork. Xray showed that she bruised her lung from the fall, bloodwork all came back ok and not sure about the EKG or the CT Scan. They kept her overnight and by the time I had left her at 9 pm they still did not have a room ready for her. Have I mentioned how much I HATE the hospital she went to???? I really, really HATE the hospital she went to!!!!
I have yet to get an update this morning. But am assuming all is ok since no one has called. Hubby had to go out of town for the day unexpectedly to fire a few people that were doing something wrong so I pick him up later tonite and wont make it to see her today. Which really sucks but hopefully she will be home today at some point and I will see her tomorrow.
My mom has been doing traditional Korean dancing for the past couple of years and tomorrow they have a dance at Boeing so I will be going with her to that. Unfortunately her group will not be dancing but the lady that teaches them will do the dancing instead since they are not quite ready to perform the newest dance they are learning. I have seen her dance in the past and its really neat to watch what they do. They have traditional Korean dresses and they put their hair up in the traditional way and dance for people. They have been to many functions over the years and really enjoy what they do. The new dance they are learning is a drum dance and is just awesome to see. We went to see Korean dancers from Korea a couple of years back and it was just exceptional. Hopefully my mom and her group of friends will be just as good and they will get it together soon and perform it soon! That is the extent of my life. Nothing exciting, just busy as usual.

Nothing big has been going on. My daughter had her MRI and nothing showed up so she will continue the medicine and we will see if it works. I am a little tempted to try a chiropractor with her to see if we can get her headaches to go away with adjustments instead of the med that she is on. Hubby is not liking the idea at all. He does not like the idea of messing with her spine. I understand his concern and also want to do what we can to get her off of medicine that could be lifelong. We will have to discuss it some more and see what we can do.
The weekend was a quiet one. My dad came over and helped with a few things I wanted done around the house and hubby got quite a bit of his hunny do list done. A few things still left on it but overall it has dwindled nicely. Luckily we did not lose our power from the storms last week. My (Korean) grandma was the only one to lose it and she stayed with my parents during that time so it was not bad. My other grandma had hers flicker but luckily hers stayed on, the other side of her street was not so lucky. They lost it and it took several days for them to get up and going again.
My other daughter had her check up and she is doing great too. She is 35% of her weight and 80% of her height. So she is tall and skinny. She eats constantly, but she is going just as constantly also so the doctor is not concerned with her. The boys have their checkup in a few weeks so we will see how they fair. I have a feeling my oldest will be on the shorter end of his height and he has put on a few pounds so on the chunky side. Which I think he will grow into. He really has not had a growth spurt in a while so I am sure he is due for a big one. My littlest is on the tall side too, I think. He will start some sort of speech therapy when school starts. He has had a difficult time with his S's and CH's and Sh's.

Who would have ever thought in a million years that I would have daughters that LOVED Cheerleading???? Well, not only do I have 1 daughter who loves it, but I have 2, YES, 2 daughters who absolutely LOVE it. *sigh* What has this world come to???? We decided to let both of our daughters do the cheer camp this week and they have had a blast. My younger daughter has really taken to it and the cheerleaders adore her. She has really behaved herself ( I expected them to kick her out) but she has gotten stars for being good and doing the kicks, jumps, dances that she is supposed to. My older daugher has also gotten the stars for doing what she is supposed to and has really enjoyed it. Her headaches are preventing her from having complete fun, but I think overall she is enjoying herself. Today is the last day and they are having a pizza party and will do a performance for us and then something during the school year they will get to perform at one of the Varsity football games. Which they are extremely happy about.
My older daughter went to the pediatric neurologist on Tuesday and she has what is called Chronic daily headaches that are also Migraine(ish) in pain. She will have an MRI done but the doctor does not think that we will find anything. Said that she is just a serious child and that sometimes these things pop up. I am not completely satisfied with the answer since truly she is not all that serious. She gets serious around doctors and it is because of everything she has been through. She gets rather quiet and does not say much. At home she is a regular kid with lots of friends and is just plain happy. He is putting her on a medicine that will take a few weeks to take effect but is hoping that it will help with her headaches. It could be a life long drug but we are hoping that it is not. We will see what the MRI shows and then we will figure out what to do from there. I am just hoping that whatever it is we can get it figured out and taken care of so she is not suffering daily from these headaches.
Saturday we are going to have a birthday party for our littlest one. He is really excited that he gets to celebrate again. This time it will be with our family and friends. That is about all that is going on around here. My oldest is having a blast with his friends this summer and has been enjoying earning money around the neighborhood. He has managed to do quite a bit of stuff and really enjoys it.
I will prolly post more pictures of the girls since they are going to perform today. Hoping that the pictures turn out better than the ones I have taken so far. The gym is a really bad place to take pictures and they do not come out at all.

I had a really awesome weekend. Friday night I spent it with the kids and hubby and got my stuff ready to go for the float trip. Saturday morning I was up and around early and we left for our foat trip at 8. Nothing like a bunch of women on a float trip!!! It was down in Steeleville which is about 2 hours from here. Our trip was scheduled for 10 but being that there were 9 women we were late :o) We ended up leaving about 11 for a 10 mile float down the Meramec River. The people at the resort told us it would take us 4-5 hours max. It took us 8 hours to complete the trip! Problaby did not help that no one was paddling and we were not paying attention to the river and got stuck a few times since the water was low. But whatever, the most important part was we had a great time. It was also an impromptu bacholerette party for Stacy who is headed to Hawaii for a week and plans on getting married while down there. We really had an awesome time just BSing and being women. We had a 5 gallon water cooler full of jungle punch, a 2 gallon cooler full of Margaritas, 75 jell-o shots, a cooler full of beer and other alchohol and 2 coolers full of food and snacks. What more could a woman want???? :o) Overall we were a bunch of happy women!!! By the time we got back the places were closed for food and we were supposed to stay the night in a bunk house. Most of us were pretty hungry and decided that we had had our fill of fun and wanted food so we decided to leave rather than stay the night. A couple of the single women met some guys while we were floating and decided to stay behind and do karoake at the resort and stay the night down there. The rest of us left and headed home. We stopped at Steak-N-Shake had some dinner and got home about midnight. It was nice to be home in my own bed and with my family. :o) I took pictures of the trip, just not sure WHERE the cameras ended up. I am sure that some of the other ladies have them and we will end up with the pictures at some point.
Sunday was my baby boys 4th birthday and we made the day about him. We decided to hold off his birthday party til next weekend and just spend the day with him. We took him to Build A Bear and he got his bear with the batman costume and also got a fireman outfit for his bear. I also got a Pooh Bear that they just came out with! Then we took the kids to see the new Pirates movie. It was a good movie, left with a cliffhanger, which sucks, but it will make you want to see the new one once it gets done. My baby boy fell asleep about half way through the movie and the others really enjoyed it. After all that we went to my grandma's to visit with her for a while. Since it is our normal routine to spend Sunday night with her. Overall it was a busy but fun weekend.
Today I called my daughters doctor and got some names of pediatric neurologists. We decided that her living with these headaches is enough and they are not getting any better, but seem to be getting worse. She was in a lot of pain yesterday and because she is on this medicine we cannot give her any Motrin or Tylenol to help with the pain and she has to live through it. She has been on the medicine for almost a week and nothing is helping. So I am sure that the doctor thinks I am a pain in the butt, but at this point I only care about making my daughter better and will do what it takes to make that happen. So I got some names of doctors and have an appt for her for tomorrow. So hopefully we will soon have answers and can get our daughter back to normal.

So, the drama that has been going on around here has finally turned its ugly head and I have finally quit being the doormat and have taken my own steps. The kids were down here harassing my kids and I finally called the police. I know, calling the police about a bunch of kids, how stupid right? Well, the cop that came out was not all that helpful but did write up the report like I asked him to. He was not pleased about it, but did do it. He told me that as long as he is not physically harming the kids that he could do nothing about it and that juvy would barely glance at it. He talked to my kids briefly then went down there and talked to them. Hubby did go down and talk to the kids dad and told him that he has had enough of this shit and that it had better end. The dad said that it was MY kids doing all the bullying and when my hubby told him no that it was HIS kids doing it and told him all that they were doing he said that he would do something about it. His wife started in about me saying how I yelled at her on the phone a year ago and her husband told her to shut up about it as did mine. She is still hung up on me going off on her :o) All in all things have been quiet and we had a good weekend.
Friday night my best friend and I took her baby to see my grandma. It was a wonderfully relaxing evening just the 4 of us. I got to play with the baby and grandma got to coo over how cute she is and what a little miracle she is. Leah was beaming like a proud mommy :o)
We went to Meramec Caverns on Saturday, had a nice picnic by the river then went on the boat tour that they have and enjoyed that. Then we decided to swim in the river for a little while. We decided to skip the tour of the cave this time and enjoy the day outside. The kids had a great time finding shells and Hannah had a grand time finding snails and collecting them. We decided to shoot off all of our fireworks on Saturday night since we were planning on going downtown for the 4th. The kids had a great time and really enjoyed all the fireworks that they picked out and lighting them.
Sunday we went out to my aunts house to see my cousin and her little one. Nayah is now a year old and just as cute as can be!! It was great to sit around and talk to her and to kiss on the baby. Her hubby gets out of the Army in a year and when he does they are coming HOME!!! She is definetely my favorite cousin and it will be great to have her and her family back here.
Monday was a day of nothingness, which was kinda nice. Nothing really planned just stayed around the house and vegged. Then the 4th we stayed home most of the day and then picked up my dad and met up with Tim, Cristal, George and Donna to go downtown to see the fireworks. The fireworks were absolutely amazing it was the rest of the fair that was really lousy. Too many people, too many jerks, and not enough food booths. I waited in line for over an hour for funnel cakes!!! Thats how ridiculous the food lines were. But the fireworks were beautiful and the kids loved them.
On Tuesday we took my older daughter back to the doctor. She has been having headaches everyday for the last 2 weeks and I want some answers for WHY she is getting them. The doctor checked her out and has ruled out allergies and sinus issues. So now it is a process of elimination. He put her on a preventive medication that is only effective in about 30% of kids and told me not to get my hopes up. So we are trying that out and for the first full day has not done anything for her. We will give it the 7 days we were told to then I am back at the doctor to get answers. The next step is to get an MRI done. She had that CT scan 6 months ago and that came back clean so the next test will be an MRI which they say is more effective in trying to figure out the problems. The doctor also does not think that it is migraines since she is not getting sick with them or blurred vision and because of where the headaches are. So keep my baby girl in your thoughts as we try and figure out what is causing these headaches and hope that it is nothing serious.

So, there has been no drama as of lately. *Hangs up Drama Queen Crown* The kids from down the street have been staying down there and not coming up here so there have been NO issues, GO FIGURE, you keep your little shits in front of your house and everything else in our world up here is NORMAL!!!! *sigh* If only the dumb broad saw it the way us people do up here!!! All the kids up here are getting along just fine, playing, happy and staying out of trouble and the world is right once again.
I had baby Cecilia today, she is the sweetest baby ever!!! Seriously, she has been through so very much and is still just so sweet and so adorable. Kelly, my neighbor next door, was also babysitting a little baby that is only 5 weeks old and she is sooo much bigger than Cecilia who is 4 months old. Cecilia weighs in at 5 lbs and this 5 wk old is over 10. So Kelly and I sat around cuddling babies all day :o) *ahhhh, I got my BABY fix!!!!* I got to hold, cuddle, spoil, kiss, love and hug her as much as I wanted to and send her home to her mommy :o) There is nothing in the wolrd better than that!!! And of course I tool pictures of her. The pic that I uploaded is of my youngest and her. She had the cutest cow outfit on!!
Ok, well off to have dinner with the parents and to get the kids inside and showered before we go. Hope everyone is doing well!!!

Ahh, the joys of living in a neighborhood with HOOSIERS!!!!! So, I made the mistake of saying things have been quiet about the assholes down the street. They have been at it again. This time they have pissed me off to the point that I am done playing their game and it is now on and I will WIN!!!! Here is what happened: Friday night we had 2 kids from the neighborhood spend the night. I needed some time away from everyone so I decided to go visit my best friend and the baby. I left hubby with 6 kids. Well, we set the kids pool out up front since it is the only FLAT part we have to our yard and the kids were out playing in the pool. Well, the little jerks from down the street decided that they wanted to come harass the kids that were spending the night and my kids. All the kids told them to go away and kept playing. The hubby went outside and just stood there watching what was going on and make sure that the jerks left. The jerks left and hubby decided to get out of the house with the kids for a while and took all 6 kids and our dane for a walk. He walks over to the adjoining neighborhood and when he gets back there is a sheriff sitting in front of our house. Says that they got a call that hubby and I were harassing these other kids. Mind you, I AM NOT EVEN HOME!!!! So the cop talks to hubby says he told the lady he would show up so he did pats the dog on the head and leaves. Hubby calls me and I get PISSED. THE FUCKING C**T calls the police when her little JERKS are standing outside of MYYYYY house and says WE are the ones harassing THEM???? Ok, so that puts me over the edge. I have put up with these assholes enough and am now going to do something about it. I have ignored it and ignored it and I am done ignoring these assholes.
I call and talk to the Sheriff dept and now know what I have to do and will be doing it from now on. I will also call and attorney if anything else happens and slap a harassment restraining order against them. I cannot believe that the bitch has a enough nerve to call the police and say that we are the ones harassing them when it is her little jerks coming to MY house. No more Miss nice gal, I am done and it is going to be hell for her from now on! :o) I will play it the way the police told me to and I will have the final laugh in this matter. I also talked to the police dept about the call on Friday and there was no report made so I cannot do anything about that particular call but can guarantee that there is not going to be a next time without dire repercussions on my part.
*deep breath* OK, all better :o) Now on to happy stuff. The concert on Saturday night was the best I have ever been to. I hate to say it but it passed Toby by a mile and I LOVEEEE Toby. Wreckers opened, and I found out the other day that Michelle Branch is part of Wreckers, they were a great opening act, then Gary Allan came out. I like him, hes pretty good, not my fav my a long shot and then it was Rascal Flatts and they were incredible. We had center seats and they were excellent seats but there was a stage about 10 rows in front on us and the guys came out to that stage to sing a song and I have to say I was one HAPPY person. They only did one song out there and it was the "Skin (Sarabeth)" song, which is a sweet song, sad but sweet and they did an excellent job. The rest of the concert was just the best. Simply fantastic. We had VIP parking so we were able to get in and out with no problems. We had a great time with the other couple that we went with also. They had different seats but we went to dinner before the show and rode together and met up with them after the show so it was not too bad.
The rest of the weekend was good, we went to see my grandma on Sunday and spend the time we can with her. She is getting a little worse each time we see her. She is still acting happy but we all know that things are not going well. We are just thankful for all the time that we have with her. That is about it.
I have been really really busy with summer here, seems I cannot get anything done, especially laundry, and have been outside with the kids a lot especially since the jerks down the street have started their shit back up andhave also been talking to my neighbor Kelly quite a bit since we are both SAHM's. Tomorrow I will babysit Cecilia for the first time. That should be interesting :o) Ok, out of here to do more freakin laundry. Hope all is well with everyone out there!!!

Things have been so very hectic!!! Hubby got home early last Friday and since there were 2 kids that spent the night the night before it was a little hectic. I ended up taking one of the kids with me and had to pick up my baby girl from her grandma's since she had spent the night with her and still had her. Overall, it was awesome to have hubby home early.
Saturday we decided to take a family trip, we really did not have a plan in mind, but drove, we were going to go to Springfield, IL to see Lincoln's new library and his house there but we wanted more time so we decided against that and went west. We ended up at Maramec Springs. It is where the Meramec River starts. It is absolutely gorgeous there and we had a lot of fun. It is also a Brown Trout and Rainbow Trout farm. The water is just beautiful, so clear and soo blue. You can feed the fish and the kids had a blast doing that. It was just a beautiful day to be out and about and enjoy it with the kids. I will add a couple pictures of the place since it is so beautiful.
Sunday was Father's Day and we really did not do too much. Just stayed around the house and then out to dinner with my grandma that night. Her cancer is growing and is taking all the nutrients that she needs so she is steadily losing weight. She is down to 111 lbs and losing, despite what she eats and does it will just continue to eat away at her.
Tomorrow is the Rascal Flatts concert that we are going to. My parents are keeping the kids overnight (WHOOHOOO!!!). They also want them early on Saturday so that they can take them swimming, so I get almost a whole day without them!!! :o) We are going to meet up with some friends that are also going to the concert and have dinner before hand. Then Sunday will be spent with grandma.
My cousin gets into town next Wednesday!! I am really excited about that since I have not seen her in a few months. I think it is just her and her baby girl since her hubby cannot get the leave that he requested. She will be here til the 4th and has to leave that day. So we will get together before she has to go. Then the following weekend is my baby boys 4th birthday. I cannot believe he is going to be 4!!! :o(

Who in their right mind takes 8 kids to Grant's Farm and McDonald's for a FUN day??? Kelly and I. Yes, Kelly and I and my brother ventured out of our houses for a fun filled day at Grant's Farm and McDonalds. I had 5 kids with me since my son took a friend with him. Luckily all my kids were 3 and up. Kelly on the other hand had 3 kids all under the age of 3. Yes, it made for great times and a little wild at times. We really did have a wonderful time and the kids were very good considering there were so many of them. The train ride was lots of fun, the feeding of the goats was great, and the feeding of the camels was excellent. There were a lot of summer camps there so it was pretty crowded but the kids did not seem to notice. Then we decided on a McDonalds with a playplace so that the kids could wear themselves out. They did very good there too. It went surprisingly well considering there were so many kids. No bumps, bruises, cuts to be had by anyone! I call that a successful day! :o)
Our next destination... Six Flags. That will be my older 2 and Kelly and her older one. So, it should not be bad at all. Hopefully we will do that sometime next week. I really do not think the younger 2 of mine would get much out of it, plus all that walking would drive the nuts and waiting in lines so they will get to spend a fun filled day with grandma!

I forgot to mention in my last post that baby Cecilia is finally home. She came home the Friday I posted about it and has been doing great. She has her days and nights mixed up, which is really bad for mom and dad since they both work, but they are dealing. HERE is their blog that they have started about her. They do not update it very often since they are so busy with the baby but it is a good way to keep up with them if you do not talk to them on a regular basis. I have been over to see her a few times now and she is just precious. A perfect little princess.
Leah and I got a chance to get out for a little while on Friday night. Her chiropractor was having a girls night out thing. Go and get a massage and a manicure listen to a couple of guest speakers and get some free goodies. We listened to the speakers and I made an appt for the hubby and I to go to the chiropractor but we did not get the manicure or massage :o( The speakers ran over on their time talking so the other ones had to leave instead of giving the massages and manicures, which really really sucked!!! But at least we got some time out without the kiddos!
The rest of the weekend was pretty quiet. We had to get a lot of stuff done since hubby is out of town for work. Had to get all his travel necessities, clothes packed etc. We did go to my parents for dinner Saturday night. Sunday was shopping day and I went to dinner with my grandma and dad while hubby stayed home and had some time with his kiddos.
OK, so I never thought it would happen, but the day has come... my daughter is going to go to cheerleading camp. Yes, MY daughter, CHEERLEADING... *sigh* I talked to the lady that is running the camp today and she told me she would mail me the paperwork for it. So, my beautiful, smart daughter is going to cheerlead... I never in a million years thought that it was going to be possible that she would do something like this but her best friend that lives next door really wanted her to go with her and do it so I okayed it. She will also be cheering at one of the football games for the Senior High, which is where I graduated from. So that will definetely have to be a picture night! :o) Other than that, life is normal. Kids are doing wonderfully and really enjoying their Summer.

With school out things have been hectic around here. My kids still have a little bit left to go with their schooling since we had to take off so long when Victoria had her appendix out but we are working on it and will have it done in no time. Its like Grand Central Station around here with all the kids in and out all the time. Some kids stay for dinner, some of my kids leave to go somewhere else. Its just crazy, but a lot of fun and the kids are loving it. The kids in the neighborhood that I do not like seem to be quiet so far and have not caused too many problems, though I am sure as time goes on it will get worse as they get more bored with things. I have met a few more people in the neighborhood and they have all been really sweet. There seems to always be people moving in and out. The obnoxious neighbors we have had seemed to have settled down considerably and act like normal humans and not partying til 3 in the morning keeping me or the kids awake :o). There are a bunch of guys that live next door and they are all really quiet and my oldest son has a great time with them. My oldest has really taken the fact that he has to take care of his chameleon seriously and is earning money by doing jobs for our neighbors. He has mowed lawns, washed cars, pull weeds and other things that have really helped out neighbors and has earned my son money for his lizard. I am so very proud of him for being responsible and being a good kid.
We have spent a lot of time with the family lately. Hubby is still working on things for my dads store and has helped my uncle out who lost his job. Then of course spending time with my grandma whom is doing surprisingly well. She is talking about getting things done, getting cataract surgery, getting hearing aids and that sort of thing to improve her life. She said she wants to be able to hear her great gandkids talk to her, which means the world to me, since its my kids that she spends time with. She has a lot of great grandkids, but mine are the only ones that she sees on a regular basis. Granted some live out of state, but its my kiddos that shes thinking of.
Lets see, what we have been up to... Over Memorial Day weekend we did not do too much. We went to a Korean-American picnic with my mom. It was really very neat and a lot of fun. They had some proffesional dancers come in and do traditional Korean dances and they had a traditional Korean wedding and kids that did a traditional Korean dance. They were all very interesting to see and great for the kids to learn about what their ancestors did. We took Titan with us and he had a wonderful time too. We went to Castlewood park that has a beautiful creek and the kids brought their suits and had a great time. So did Titan, he enjoyed playin in the water with the kids and being around a lot of people. Then we went to see my grandpa and took some flags for him. It seems to get a little easier each time I go to see him. I still have my weepy moments and doubt those will ever go away. I remember all the good times and miss him so terribly at times that its hard to believe that he really is gone and has been for over a year. But I always remember he is in a better place and have to be thankful for that.
This past weekend hubby decided to surprise me and take me and my mom and the kids to Ste. Genevieve to the wineries there. It was an excellent surprise and was a wonderful day with lots of wine and lots of fun. I came home with 9 more bottles of wine to add to my collection. There was one winery that is called Cave Vineyard. They have a small vineyard with a few wines and an absolutely awesome cave that you can go and enjoy your wine in. They have picnic tables set up and had a live band playing and it was a wonderful 60 degrees. It also had a clear, beautiful spring fed creek that ran through it that was just amazing. Then we went to Crown Valley Winery. It is a huge winery and very commercialized. The wine they have is excellent and the place is amazing. I have been to stores that they have in the local area and really enjoy their wine. The 3rd place that we went was called Chaumette. It was a quaint, more upity place than the others. The wine was exquisite. The place was amazing, the vineyard was gorgeous, sitting on top of a hill so that you could see for miles, the rolling hills, they had a beautiful church up on a hill that you could reserve and get married in and have the reception at the winery. It really was a very romantic and perfect spot. The 4th one we went to was almost the complete opposite. It was up a gravel road next to a creek and was more homey than anything it was called Charleville. It was a small winery with a wonderful ambiance. They also had a microbrewery there. I did not try the beer since I had been sipping wine all day but would like to at some point. Since I always enjoy a good beer :o)
Then to be different we went out of our way to a place called Altenburg, it was about 30 miles further south. We went to a really neat winery called Tower Rock. It was a neat little winery with great Chambourcin wine and sweet peach wine. They also had a beautiful Great Pyrenese, which is an absolutely beautiful dog. There was also a pond on the property and you could feed the fish. The kids had a lot of fun feeding the fish and playing with the dog. About 2 miles from the winery is Tower Rock. It is a big rock that is in the Mississippi River and is quite pretty. So we went down there to see and really enjoyed it. We stopped for some dinner in a small town and that was the extent of a wonderful day.
Other than that things are pretty quiet. I have been trying some new recipes. Most have been excelent. We are trying to cut out red meat cuz of the hubbies gout. So we are eating a lot more chicken. Also eating healthier, which is good for all of us.

I forgot the biggest news of all.... BABY CECILIA IS GOING TO BE DISCHARGED ON FRIDAY!!!!!! She is 3 months old today and is in a crib and doing WONDERFULLY!!! I am soooo excited and cannot wait for her to come home. As long as she does not have any problems eating and she does not have any heart rate dips she will be coming home!!!!! Thank God!!!! Ok, now to put the kids to bed! :o)

So, I have been quiet for a while. Not too much to write about. The kids have been busy with end of school stuff. I have been busy in general, just cleaning and clipping coupons and the such ( I SAVED $17 AT WAL-MART) You see that Jen??? $17 WHOLE DOLLARS!!!! :o) Yes, I am very proud of myself!!!! :o) Granted the total was STILL $153 but hey, it WAS $170!!! I also managed to order a few things from Amazon for baby boys birthday, which is still 1 1/2 months away, but I got a good start and for a really good price!!
I have been working on a few things, hubby has been helping me and I am hoping that the plan we are working up will become a reality soon. I am very excited and cannot wait to get started and really hope that it goes the way we are planning it. Not going to get into details since we are still early in the thinking stage and dont want to jinx it. :o)
Last weekend was a pretty good one. I scrapbooked all night Friday night and managed to get quite a bit done and caught up with friends I had not seen in a while. It was awesome to see them and get a chance to talk to them. Saturday was our all day crop and my aunt went with me. I had a detour Saturday morning though. Hubby could not walk on his right foot at all and so we decided to take him to the ER (have not spent enough time in hospitals and thought we should keep at it) Come to find out hubby has Gout... it is a form of arthritis that attacks the feet. Not sure what caused it but it had him laid up for the weekend. We got him home at about 4 and I went ahead and went scrapbooking for the rest of the evening, I had left my aunt there by herself, and did not feel I should totally abandon her. I felt bad about leaving hubby but everything went well. Sunday was of course Mother's Day. It was not a really exciting day. Hubby was laid up still so we just bummed around the house and I went to my Grandma's for a while. I only stayed a little while since hubby and the kids were home. My parents, aunt and uncle were there also so it was great to spend time with them all. The kids and hubby got me tickets to see Rascal Flatts, AWESOME seats, Center HH which is just GREAT seats!!!! They also got me 2 bottles of wine. Ones I have not tried but still wine :o) I still love my wine even though we have not been drinking as much as we had been. My collection keeps growing and I will have to start drinking it more often!!! :o)
I added a picture of my sons creature. She has been testy lately since she is shedding her skin. Her head shed and then she stopped, then just last night the rest of her has started shedding so she is a wee bit crabby and has not been held in the last week. She is a really awesome creature though and we have all grown used to having her around.
And something I am really really excited about... daVinci Code comes out on FRIDAY!!!!! Yes, I know, lame to some, but I LOVEDDDDD the book and cannot wait to see the movie. My parents and brother are going with hubby and I Friday to see it, already have my tickets bought and am soo excited about seeing it. OK, enough for tonite its time to get my kiddos to bed!!!

OK, this is very funny, you have to watch this movie clip of the Evolution of Dance... I have never been much of a dancer so watching this was hilarious!!! I can still remember my cousin dancing some of these moves and to the songs. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!! And HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL YOU MOMMIES OUT THERE!!!! I will be scrapbooking tonite and all day tomorrow and not sure about plans for Mother's day yet but I am sure we will spend it with my grandma!!

The babyshower is finally over with and we have all survived. I am not sure how much of the best friend hubbies side is going to survive once they get done telling them where to go and the shortcut to get there but hey, I did my part and invited the people. Best friends hubby suggested we get a mud wrestling pit and I am sure that there would have been more than once set of people in there if we did have one. Everything turned out wonderfully and I believe everyone had a good time. We managed to pull it all off and leave before 4. I have a ton of pics from the babyshower but decided that I did not want to share any here.
On Monday I finally got up to the hospital to see Cecilia again. Its only been over a month since I have seen her (bad best friend, I know). All the kids were sick, I got sick and then the other thing happened and it seems time has not been on my side. But, I did get up to see her and spent a couple of hours with my best friend and her beautiful baby. It was nice to get some time to just sit and talk to Leah and it was AWESOME to get to hold Cecilia. I was a little nervous since I have never held a baby that small, 3 lbs 10 oz is sooo small!!! But I loved it and she is sooo sweet. Overall it was a great night and I was really happy after being with them.

We did not have a very eventful weekend. My parents moved their store so we spent quite a bit of time with them since hubby is the one that sets up all their computers and does all that stuff for them. We did manage to get away from them for a little while to shop for oldest son's bday. He told us he wanted a frog or a bearded dragon for his birthday. Well, I am not too happy with the idea of a lizard that gets HUGE and frogs may be too tempting for the cat since I am sure it will get loose in the house. So we compromised and got a chameleon. As if we did not have enough animals in this house we just added a reptile. Granted it is a very cute reptile and I think she is adorable but still. One more thing to take care of. Son is EXTREMELY happy with it and is so very excited. He has not gotten to hold her yet since they need a few days to adjust and they are very fragile creatures so no need to get her upset. We got all the stuff for her and then some. Cost us a lot more than I originally thought but hey still awesome :o) He named her Katie. Not sure where it came from but whatever. We were so busy at my parents store we have not planned a birthday get together yet but will soon. He ended up spending the night with my aunt and had a blast with her.
Everything else is calming down. The "other thing" that happened to us is hopefully coming to a close and we will not have that issue anymore. Whoever did it to us is going to pay and pay big. It has royally pissed me off and it was the last thing in the world we needed. But it did not get near as bad as I thought it was going to. I think the last of it happened this morning and all is well.
Best friends baby shower is this Sunday. We are finally coming to a close with it all!!! I have not heard from a lot of people but we will just pretend that they are coming since so many show up without RSVPing and if we have a ton of food, well I guess we have a ton of food and divvy it up between us all. The baby is doing great, she is over 3 lbs and really gaining weight. HERE is the website that her daddy built so that they could post pics of her. Its a great way to have keep up with her pics since they are taking so many. They are both really wore out especially since best friend had to go back to work. She has been getting up around 4 to pump and then goes to work. After work eats a sandwich on her way to the hospital and does not get home til 9-10 at night. So she is really wiped. Hopefully she will come home soon and they can ease into just having a baby :o)
Ok I think that is it for me for now. Nothing really exciting going on. Plus, its time to mist the chameleon.... ( and WHOS animal is it?? *sigh*)

OK, so again I am back to posting ONCE in a while. As usual my life is HECTIC!!!! I swear 2006 has been the worst year of my life and I have yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It started in 2005 with my baby girl being in the hospital and has just kept right on fuc*in coming!!
Things get a little bit better, hubby gets new, BETTER job... our Fridge BREAKS!!! *sigh* well of course we cannot afford a new one right now but do we have the choice... NOOOOOO... so new fridge. I order one. They dont have it. Tell me it will be there on a Wednesday, NOT here. I call, its on back order (*&%&^$^%$^*%) WHY did you NOT call me to let me know???? Well you should get it tomorrow.... GRRRRRR.... call the next day NOT there again. They want to give me a SMALLER one. I HAVE 4 FREAKIN KIDS, I DO NOT WANT A SMALLER ONE I WANT THE FREAKIN FRIDGE I ORDERED!!!! No such luck. Hubby calls, bitches, we get a BIGGER fridge for the same price and it will be there Saturday. *sigh of relief* They get here, does not want to fit through the door.... they finally get it into the house and YEAH!!! I HAVE A FRIDGE!!!!
Then I finally decided that I wanted to become a Creative Memories consultant. They had a special last month, the kit was only $119. It was a GREAT deal!! But they screwed something up with my order and I did not get the great deal, instead I had to pay $195 for the kit... blah blah BLAH!!! Well, I had decided that I wanted to do it regardless so I went ahead and did it. GRRRRR but oh well.
Then something else occured, and I will not go into details here, but it really caused a lot of stress on our family. Everything is fine now and it was all BS but it still happened and was something else that we really truly did not need happening. Revenge will be ours in the end... Other than that... LIFE IS GRAND :oP
Of course there are a few other things going on. But again, nothing that I want to go into detail about. Things will work out and everything will be fine. My oldest babies birthday is on Sunday. I cannot believe he will be 11!!!! Yeah, I am getting OLDDDDD... *sigh*

HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY BABY BOY!!!!! I LOVE YOU SO VERY MUCH!!!!

OK, so I have not posted in a while... No real excuse, just have not done it. So today is the day I finally post. We all ended up with a cold and were down from that, the kids were throwing up and in bed a lot, which was nice other than the fact that they were throwing up :o)
After the whole cold thing was over I decided that I was done dealing with our daughters long hair and CHOPPED it all off. Victoria had enough to donate to Locks of Love. Hannah's was too short for it but we still got it all cut off. I finally went to the doctor and he wants to do an ultrasound so I go back in a couple of weeks to get that done. I am still in pain but there is really nothing to do about it other than wait and see what the ultrasound shows.
This past weekend Clyde and I got to go out to dinner and a movie. We went to Ruby Tuesday's then went to see the movie Lucky Number Slevin. It did not get all that good of ratings but I liked it so pffttt to those stupid ratings people. I love Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman and Josh Hartnett so I thought it was pretty damn good :o) Saturday hubby helped my dad with some things and Sunday we went to Botanical Gardens to get pictures of the kids with the tulips in full bloom. I love going there and it is always so beautiful and tranquil. After we got about 300 pictures of the kids we went to hubby's friends house for a bbq. He has a farm with lots of animals. Turkeys, goats, pot bellied pigs, chickens, dogs, ducks and geese. All of the animals are really friendly and the kids had a blast playing with them all. Even the turkey's are friendly. Never pet a turkey before, but I got the chance on Sunday :o) After our long day we went to my grandma's for a while and got a chance to visit with her. I love that woman so very much!!! :o) She really is so very special to me.
Well, now that I have just given the Reader's Digest version of my life, I have to get going. Today is my other grandma's birthday and I have promised to make dinner. The Chicken Parm and the Spaghetti :o) I will have help drinking the wine this time!!!

The old picture is of him and I before the Shrine Circus or Parade (cannot remember which) The other one is of him, my grandma and I at my 1 year wedding anniversary party.
1 year ago today I lost one of the most important people in my life. He was the man that was always there for me, who loved and adored me to no end and was a hero to me. We went to baseball games together, we went to museums together and just had the most wonderful time being with one another. It was always that way growing up, if he wanted to do something fun then he chose me to share that with him. Even after I became an adult. I would go see him, visit him and be with him. I loved to hear all his stories of growing up. I loved to hear stories of his work and family life. I loved to hear about his Navy days and all the stunts he used to pull and the fun that they had. I would go to Christmas parties with him. He was so involved in the community that he lived in and would do so much stuff for them that he would go to press confrences and take me with him. All the memories I have of him are great ones. He was the sweetest, kindest, most loving man I have ever known and I love and miss him terribly. I love you, Grandpa. Thank you for all that you have ever done for me. I miss you and love you more than you will ever know.

So things have been kinda crazy. Leah finally approved a baby shower for Cecilia. So now I am in full baby shower mode and trying to get things put together for a great shower. The only problem with that is working with Leah's sister in laws on it. I could just strangle them both. Every time I came up with a date it was not good for one of them... GRRRRRRRRR. So I got to the point where I picked out a date and that is what it is going to be and if they cannot make it... well frankly I DON'T GIVE A DAMN. :o) On top of the fact that the day I picked is my son's 11th birthday. It was the best that I could do and I will just have my son's bday on the 29th instead. Fortunately for me HE understands. So now the big issue is WHERE to have it since we are talking about 50 people or more. My house is not big enough, Leah's house is not big enough... blah blah BLAH!
I have decided on a princess theme for the shower and have found some really cute things and a diaper cake that I want to make. I am planning on making all the invitations, and will hopefully have the stuff to do that today. I will have to find some baby shower games to play. Since Leah has already had the baby it will be a little different than a regular baby shower.
OK, I have other crap that has to get done... I will vent later :o)