Catching Up (Again)

So besides our mini-vacation last week...

what else have we been up to?

For starters, I have been working on a project

that I am SOOOO excited to share with you,

BUT, its not quite complete

FULLY.

I am doing 8 sets,

so it is taking me a while.

My mom and mother in law each received a set

last week.

Once the others have been completed,

mailed and received...

I will share...

but I am SO excited!!

We had some friends come over to play 

a few weeks ago.

The kids that were over 

are literally almost

the exact same age as my older 3

and same sexes...

so it was PERFECT.

A had a sweet little girl to play with.

She asked if we had dolls,

um, a few...

then she wanted clothes for them.

Hmmm...I don't think we have any sweetie.

You see, my little sweet girl is growing up in a house full of boys

and with a mommy that doesn't really remember playing with dolls.

I am sure I did - 

but we have purchased dolls 

and such for her

and she just never shows much interest.

So I showed her what we did have in A's room

and left them up there.

Then a few minutes later, she came down

asking me to help her take her dress off...

boy you should have seen the look on my face,

DO WHAT??

Then I finally figured out they had found the little 

princess dresses on the back of A's door 

and they wanted to play dress up.

So I helped her get into the little dress,

and showed them where A's little dress-up earrings

and bracelets and bows were.

Oh and shoes - they needed shoes!

The little friend (L), left her headband at the house.

And A has been talking about her friend, L

and saying her name

(that is a first for my kids, they all have the memory of 

their momma and can't remember their friends' names!)

Off with the bow box to play dress-up.

So there were 7 kids in our house

and God decided to make it rain.

Thank you, sir.

No I do not really want 7 kids

yes I am happy with the 4 I have,

now please make the rain stop so they can

GO OUTSIDE!!!

Notice the girls still in their dresses.

Ok kids, time to switch.

I was not about to allow the littles on the trampoline

with those big boys.

That evening,

daddy did a little weight lifting.

He frequently does this with one kid at a time...

they were too wiggly to successfully do 2 at a time.

So mommy decided to challenge him to do

arm raises with our oldest.

(don't ask what we are watching - it appears to be a show

they are not supposed to be watching!)

Then a few months ago 

(Christmas I think)

one of my sisters sent a nifty packet of 

hand tattoos for the boys.

(here is what the box looked like)

Haha - look mommy - he's eating him.

Baby bird update:

These were taken before we left for our trip.

Unfortunately,

when we got back, we discovered that they had learned

how to fly in our absence!  

They are still coming back to the nest every night,

but they love to perch on the top of the trampoline netting

during the day.

Which means there is TONS of poop on the trampoline now.

YUCK!

Accountability Check Up

Time for an accountability check up...

What have we been up to and how are my

"projects" going?

Well the budget is going...

QUICKLY!
Between purchasing next year's school books
(more on that later)
Paying Taxes (yes, paying - FIRST time ever - don't ask!)
Easter
An out of town family reunion
(also more on that later)

April's budget was blown before the month even started.

I am keeping up with my workouts

and enjoy them most days...

I manage to do it about 4-5 days a week

for 30 minutes each time
yet I am still

chasing those first 5 pounds!!!

Meanwhile, 

my darling husband is 

QUICKLY 

approaching 30 pounds
LOST!!

I don't get it!!

I am trying to stay motivated

and it definitely helps 

that I am not breathing as hard
during my workouts

and I feel better, 

but 

the weight is just NOT

melting off of me

like it is 

my sweet hubby!

UGH!!

We have all adjusted to the 

nap time/rest time each day.

If you remember, 

the boys have enjoyed sleeping in the

box that the elliptical came in...

I separate the kids at rest time

and one "gets" to sleep in the box.

I feel SO bad saying that...

but they literally 

take turns

"getting" 

to sleep in the box!

It is quite funny.

And they insist on the top being closed 

so its dark.

Whatever works

and

makes them happy

and

gives me a few minutes of
peace
and quiet.

But I promise...
I DO NOT
MAKE THEM
SLEEP IN A BOX!

This week we finally made some decisions
on school books for next year.
I am basically following this
curriculum 
with a few adjustments
that more suit me.

We might be joining a small
co-op for the fall
where each parent leads a different class.
Art, history, science, memory work.
But it is still getting organized.

I have mentioned before that J is
done with his math book.
R got so excited after looking through
the 3rd grade math book,
he came home that afternoon
and did 11 pages out of his math book.
And is so ready for 3rd grade!
Fine by me...
I will NOT squash his drive and desire!

I am thinking about testing him in a few weeks...
gonna look into it.

So besides blowing our budget,
buying school books for next year,
getting my car registration transferred down here,
(after waiting in line with 4 kids for an HOUR)
practices,
scouts
and every day life...

We managed to fit in a couple of fun things.

The Easter Bunny was able to fit some interesting things
into the kids baskets.

The older boys each got a
"paint your own ball"
kit.
J - soccer
R - football

First you have to pump them up,
then paint them,
then let it dry,
then paint again,
then dry,
then paint,
you get the picture.
They might be finished in another month,
when I finally feel like letting them leave them out
to dry between coats.



The littlest two got
some sand for the sandbox
I insisted we ship all the way from NC.
But I wasn't allowed to bring the sand with us!
So it sat empty on the back patio
til now.

And a bubble machine
(that I *just* got around to putting batteries in)

They also each got a chocolate bunny
and I let T eat part of one.
And, for whatever reason,
he doesn't like having his picture taken lately...
so this is what you get...

We were sent another craft from one of their sweet
crafty aunts...

I didn't snap a before picture,
but she sent bunny cutouts
that said
"No bunny loves you like Jesus"
and asked the kids to create a "home"
for the bunny.

So we got out the scissors,
construction paper,
glue,
markers
and
pom-poms

And they created these
masterpieces...

Finally,
we are getting geared up for our first
"official"
visit to daddy's office.
Since he is on base, and a civilian,
he is not authorized to
escort others onto the base.
So...tomorrow is a special event
that families can come to.
In order to get on base,
I had to have an updated registration...
which I didn't...
(blame it on the move)

Hence, the NEED to stand in line for an HOUR
with FOUR kids
to get my car registered here.

While I was swapping license tags...
I *finally*
got around to a few more vehicular updates.

Before
(SOOOOOOO sad to see this go - feel free to send me a new one!)







After
(how stinking cool is this thing??? and oh so true - thank you Mimi!!!)




And I will still be rocking the NC State Wolfpack tag on the front
until I am told otherwise
by those men in blue
that might insist that I put the front tag on my car
that I got when I received the back tag.
(atleast I am assuming that is why I got 2 tags - haha)

And I am sure I will have TONS to share from my first
family reunion with this side of the family.
I am so looking forward to it!!!
(seriously!)

Random-ness...

As usual -

we have had a very busy week in this house!

We kept up with school - 

but that kinda took a backseat to my newest project

(thanks to Dave Ramsey)...

a BUDGET!  

AACCKK!! 

This is almost more daunting than

homeschooling!

I did complete Dave Ramsey's

Total Money Makeover

on Tuesday.

Well, didn't "complete", 

but got far enough into it

(over 3/4 through)

that we could get started.

I plugged this "budget" into 

Quicken only to find out 

we have already blown

most of our "budget" for March.

Luckily, there are only a few days left in March...

then we start fresh.  

We will see how long this lasts.

I have been getting better about getting up before the kids

(if I am up before the baby, does that count?)

I have worked out - not necessarily

before the kids are up 

but at least I have stayed with that.

(Let me take a minute to complain about how much

it STINKS that the pounds are literally 

MELTING off of my husband,

meanwhile in the last two weeks of working 

out, I have:

gone down 3,

back up 2,

back down 3

WITHOUT eating craziness!

UGH!  

Makes it hard to stay committed,

but I think the weight is just 

redistributing...)

Now to our week in review:

Somehow I guess R knew that this past week

was a week of changes...

cause I came down Monday morning

(after getting my workout and shower in)

and found this...

 

Him, with his books spread out in front of him

(yes and the TV)

but at least he was doing it unprovoked!

We headed off to PE and they did a few activities,

then ended the class with a little friendly

Tug-o-War!

Too funny!!!

First he tried to evenly split the teams.

Then he did girls vs boys... 

Then cause the girls needed a little help against all those boys...
he got a few moms involved...

HILARIOUS!

We had some pretty wicked weather run through here

Monday night.

 R got pretty scared and decided to "hide" from it.

 

A and T were oblivious (of course)

and A is ALL about dancing lately.

She loves playing "her dance game" 

on Kinect.

So I thought she would enjoy watching 

Dancing with the Stars 

with me.

Oh was I right!

She got up and danced with them

then pulled her poor baby brother

out into the middle of the living room floor

"Come on T, let's dance"

(NO JOKE!)

He obliged,

I think he was a willing partner,

in the beginning...

But she is slightly bigger and older,

and his willingness faded quickly!

But it was 

A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!!

We attempted to get 

some video,

didn't work out with my phone.

But hopefully they will try again on Monday.

Tuesday morning,

 I came down to BOTH

older boys doing their schoolwork 

in front of the TV. 

Whatever, at least they started...

(didn't finish there but effort means a lot in this house).

Then they made their own lunches!
(sniff, sniff, they don't need me anymore...)

Wednesday,

daddy took the older two to meet their new 

scout group.

Aren't they handsome!!!

(all 3 of them, wink, wink)

Thursday, we had co-op...

I got a kick out of the fact that the kids get

the option to play with all sorts of sports equipment,

a huge open field

and my two oldest...

sit and dig holes!

Really???

 

We recently discovered Nutella in this house...

J LOVES it as much as his momma!

I thought we had emptied the container...

apparently not...

if you look closely,

you can see 4 hands 

COVERED in Nutella

and a Nutella jar that has been 

LICKED clean!

J has told me NUMEROUS times

that I need to buy some more,

and daily asks, when are we going to the 

store so you can buy more of that

tella stuff.

 

(the jar was cleaner than this when they were done with it!)

J got some cool 

K'Nex Robo Battlers for his birthday

and has REALLY enjoyed 

building them,

when he is done with is school work,

he will whip those things out.

Its not a roller coaster,

but he did these all by himself

and I enjoyed the 

pride I saw in him as he completed each one.

 

One of my sisters is REALLY crafty!

Well they both are, 

more so than me,

but one is always doing crafts with my kids.

So when we moved,

I suggested that she send them little kits in the mail

to make stuff with.

She sent them a bunch of white circles in January 

and asked them to make her some

snowmen and then send her a picture.

We did...

Then for St. Patrick's Day,

we opened an envelope and saw this...

 

 

(yes last week)

Then every day this week, she has asked.
Did they make their Mr. Clover's yet?
No not yet.
No not today...
No we have been busy...
So finally, Friday,
I told the boys that we HAD
to make the great craft we were
sent or NeeNee would get mad at me.
J thought that was funny,
for some reason.
My sister and I couldn't decide if it
was because he couldn't picture NeeNee mad
or couldn't picture someone mad at mommy.
(probably the first option).

So we made them...
Finally!

They turned out SUPER cute!!!

A had to perform surgery on hers.

She informed me that one of its legs fell off and 

he couldn't dance

so she needed to get some "gwew".

So she disappeared into the pantry,

I heard rumblings, but was busy,

she came out with a tiny dab of "gwew"

on the "leg" 

then she proceeded to fix it herself.

(I traced her steps - and shockingly,

she had put the lid back on the gwew

AND put it back in its bin!)

Thank you NeeNee!

Then Saturday (today)

started off the busiest sports season yet.

We had:

2:15-3:15 -> Soccer practice for J

3:00-4:00 -> Baseball practice for R

3:30-4:40 -> Soccer practice for A

MERCY!

The only saving grace was the fact that they were all 

on the same general field.  

PHEW!

A did GREAT for her first practice,

she was a little shy though.

 

And the weather woes from earlier in the week were long gone...

My lily white skin is gonna have a problem down here in this 

TEXAS SUN!!

(When I say lily white, I mean it...when we purchased my first foundation

when I was a teenager...the color name was "cloud")

All I keep thinking is that I am going to burst into flames

or dust with this sun!

(yes, we have been watching too many vampire shows - 

well just one - Being Human - not

the other vampire movie things)

-AND-

Random picture of the week...

this is the second time I caught this,

T enjoys climbing up in J's lap

when he sits in their little recliner.

I am not sure if it is because T likes that chair

(which he does)

and thinks that J is taking his spot...

or if he just wants to sit with J

(in that chair)...

either way - it is still SUPER cute

 

and was worthy of a picture.

Thanks for hanging in there with this long post...

I gotta go find some aloe!