It has only been a 1.5 years this time.....

Hello my faithful readers! I went 4 years between posts the last time, and this time it was only 1.5 years. My blog is always on the back of my mind and when something great or funny happens I always think "hey, I should remember that and write in my blog about it." 1.5 years......you see how far I have gotten with that idea..haha. 
   Well lets see, what has happened in the last 1.5 years......My oldest child did, in fact, graduate! True, she still lives with us, but she got that diploma, nonetheless! My first middle child is a senior this year. She wanted to quit school last year, but she is navigating along better this year. (Thank God) She was recently nominated for Homecoming Queen but that deserves a separate post. :) My 2nd middle child is now in 7th grade. We had an extremely difficult year last year which almost resulted in homeschooling. (Not sure how that would have went. ;) ) This year we are off to a much better start. He is in Junior High and has to move from class to class which is a nice change for him. My youngest is in 5th grade. He is still my comedian and best little buddy (his siblings call it being a Mama's boy) and he still dislikes school. He doesn't like the sound of getting a job at 10 years old (which I told him is his alternative if he quits school) so he muddles through week after week. As his mother I cant understand because school comes easy to him and he seems to be well liked by his peers. Hopefully I don't have a hermit in the making!! (or a serial killer)
   Al, as I said before, has been dabbling with sand carving. He loves his new hobby and does very well with it, and hopefully someday he will be able to do it full time! As for myself, I am still as busy as ever. Being a chauffer is a big part of my day these days, oh and I have also become a nurse without going to school.....nurses around the world---you have my immense respect!!!! I also recently acquired a sewing machine. I have always wanted one even though I have never used one in my life. Strange I know, but hopefully with time I will become an expert without sewing any fingers together. I have also recently been flirting with the idea of learning sign language.....seems fun, right?
   Hopefully I can write a few posts today....it is cold and gloomy so it is a good day for it. Thanks for reading, and I will catch you on the flip side.

4 Years in 4 Minutes....Annnnnnnd Go!

Since my last 2012 post, some things have happened. Some that I remember and some that I don't. I will do my best to highlight what my aging brain can remember. (it is, after all, 4 years older and over 40 now.)
   In the last 4 years my oldest has endured school and is now a soon-to-be graduating senior. Whaaat?  She has also become a Viking, apparently.

 Those who know her know that her small ponytail is now a long braid through the magic of hair extensions. She has become addicted to a show called Vikings and chooses to look the part....sort of.  It is a look that will never be forgotten due to the photographic evidence of Senior pictures. :)  She don't leave the house much so that's all there is to say about that. ;)
   The 2nd oldest is now a sophomore in high school. Just yesterday we were fighting over 6th grade math!! She has been a cheerleader the last 2 years and we are super proud of that!!

                                      

Oh and they both have gotten their driver's licenses!

    The 2nd middle is now in 5th grade (thank God he made it). He just finished his 6th year in basketball. We are hoping he will go out again next year....he will get to play against other schools which is exciting! He wants to play football like his big brothers but he says it's still not the sport for him because he isn't big enough. He started baseball practice last week. He started with T Ball in Kindergarten, and now this is his first year in the Majors. My sweet little man will be 11 in May!! Oh, and he had his 1st band concert at Christmas! It was more fun for me because I finally got to buy dress clothes for a little boy! :)

 Our youngest little man is now a 3rd grader. He has his ups and downs with school but I think he has finally made peace with the fact that school is his "job" for the next 9 years and he ain't getting out of it! ;)  He has always been my adventurous one, usually sporting a Mohawk with weird colors. He had one such hairdo that earned him the nickname Skittles. I usually post his funny random saying and advice on Facebook but I am hoping to catch a few gems for here! ;)  The newest thing to happen for him was glasses....he was the last in the family to get them. I think they make him look pretty handsome! ♥

 As for me and Al, I would have to say our biggest news would be that we became grandparents!! (Weird right??...I always thought grandparents were little old people with white hair, not cool hip people such as ourselves!)  Little Taylor Rosemary was born on September 10, 2015.  She can be a turd bird but we LOVE her just the same! ♥ We love her Mama to pieces and we could not ask for a better mother to our grandbaby!! Oh and her dad is pretty great too! :) Al found a new hobby sand carving glass. I will have a separate post about this because it is so awesome and so is he!
   As a family, we got a dog. Her name is Jayda Blue and we got her 1.5 years ago. She is a turd bird but we love her just the same! ♥ We have the 4 cats that we have always had but we did acquire a fish last fall. (By us I mean Emily got it as a gift from the volleyball coach as a gift for Senior Honor Night) His name is Levi....he is a turd bird but we love him just the same! ♥ (because fish are so darn hard to take care of...)
   I am sure that more than this has happened in 4 years but like I said....the memory thing! That and some things are worthy of their own post! Until next time....







Are You Ready For Some T-Ball?

When our oldest was younger she kept our early summers occupied with rookie baseball and then softball.  It was a great time but Mother Nature was very unkind at times.  Well Emily has moved on to bigger and better things so now the title of Sports Jock has fallen to our 7 year old Gabriel.  He was in little kid basketball his kindergarten year and was your typical "I would rather be playing tag with my friends than pay attention" kid. (as was most of the kids in this league)  Well this past year, after watching his first game, we thought "here we go again."  Well, on the way home from that first game, Albert had a man to man talk with him about being a good player and paying attention.  So he started practicing out in the driveway. Well that lasted a day or so but the talk must have stuck with him because at the next game and all the ones after he was an animal. He literally got almost every rebound, including the ones he fought his teammate for....:-/.  Well the same went for T-Ball.  The first game consisted of him playing tag with his friends and not paying attention at all!  In his defense, they only have 1 real practice before their season starts and he didn't get a good feel for the game last year because Mother Nature rained out most of his games! Well, Albert had another man to man with him and now he pays attention better but tries to get every ball in the outfield and always wants to be first at bat.  Hopefully by the time he gets to the higher levels of play, he will have a better understanding that his teammates are actually there to help him! :-)  I also hope that when he is a senior in high school playing basketball, he still waves to me and tells me "Mom, I love you!"

Gabriel playing 2nd base. (in the red shirt...his team is called the Cherry Bombs)

Still on 2nd base

Getting ready to bat.

Slugger!

Just made it to 1st after an awesome hit!

What Rollie does at the T-Ball games.

(notice the lovely shade of blue on his toes...his Dad loves it!)

Another photo op for little brother!

I Told You I Would Be Back

Well here I am.  I have survived a preschool graduation and an 8th grade graduation. I have survived making 3 sheet cakes and 48 cupcakes. I have survived cleanup after 8th grade graduation and I have survived letting my little man go to his 1st ever sleep over with someone other than family. We all had a great time and the best part is that I didn't have to fight to get the kids ready for school!  Please enjoy the following pictures of our graduation adventures.....like any good bad mom, I didn't get a very good
picture of my 8th grader but I will be posting some when the "better" ones come to me. Have a great day!

Rollie's preschool graduation cake

Preschool cake....again

Waiting his turn at the famous preschool track meet

Dad was Rollie's race buddy

Maddie spruced up for graduation

Gabe got bored and decorated Munga (Grandma)

I got the graduate and JJ(grandpa) in one picture

Heading over to get his diploma

1 of 2 8th grade graduation cakes

 

                           Cake #2 of 8th grade

                           

48 cupcakes for 8th grade graduation

8th grade graduation class motto (LOVE IT!)

Emily actually getting her diploma (I don't claim to be a professional photographer)

oh, and we ate another smurf!

GRADUATION!

Well today is a milestone. My last baby is graduating from preschool.  My hero Linda has taught all four of my children and Rollie is the last one. THANK YOU Linda for hanging in there for me....it is OK to retire now. :-) (oops...you gotta wait 1 more year for my nephew, Sabien, to graduate...haha) I am gearing up to decorate my sheet cake for the graduation this afternoon.  We will attend the graduation this evening and watch Rollie become an official kindergartner! THEN.......tomorrow, I get to bake & decorate 48 cupcakes and decorate 2 more sheet cakes for my oldest Emily's 8th grade graduation! Good thing I had all my kids so close together.  ;-)  Oh, and I get to make treats for Gabriel's class for his birthday treats! Well, I am off to get my housework done before I pick up the graduate from this last day of preschool but I will be back in the next day or two to let you know how it all went and hopefully a few cake pictures too!

First Day of School...2011



Well the day has finally arrived. I get to spend my days in peace and quiet again. Yes, school has started.  Now all the fighting that is done for my viewing and hearing pleasure will be done after school and on weekends.  Don't get me wrong, I will miss having them around but I think I can get used to it!

  Usually on the first day of school every child wants me to go to their classroom first and gets mad when I finally have to choose one and it wasn't them.  This year, however, everyone ran off to their own classrooms and left me and the youngest in the dust.  So I bought planners for the older two (these things didn't exist when I was in school) and headed to Gabriel's classroom first.  What a sweet boy. I told him I would help him find his desk.....which had his name on it.......which he was literally standing right next to.  I told him "look for the desk that has your name on it". He chose a desk a whole row away with a girl's name on it.....oh no! Did he forget his name over the summer break?  I doubt it.....he heard his name in it's entirety plenty this summer.  Good luck Mrs. W. 

  As for the other two....I took Madison her planner and she barely paid heed to my presence until....when I turned to leave I thought she was gonna ask me to stay for the day.  I knew she wanted a hug and kiss goodbye but that would be totally uncool for a six grader.  As for Emily the eighth grader.....she took the planner hugged her little brother and told me "bye mom".  I know it was code for go away but I read between the lines and distinctly heard "Goodbye Mother. I Love you. Thanks for being the best mom a girl could ask for. I can't wait to see you after school to tell you about my day and, oh yeah, I promise to clean my room and do the dishes after supper."

    My littlest starts his 2nd year of preschool the 29th.  I feel I should make the best of this year with him for next year I will surrender him to the public school system and I will find myself childless 8-3 M-F for the time in 13 years. Weird.  HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL TO KIDS AND PARENTS!

You Ever Been So Nervous You Wanted To Throw Up?

I felt that way every time I had to give a speech or do a demonstration in school! But this isn't about me, it is about my Emily. Ever since the softball season started this year she has been telling me that she wants to be a pitcher. She mostly plays outfield or second base but last night was THE night! She finally got to pitch for the first time! We were playing against a team that mostly had little girls on it and only the ten year olds were supposed to pitch, but the coaches talked it over and decided that it would be ok for Emily and a fellow teammate who is also 11 to pitch. I think they allowed it because neither one of them had ever pitched before! I think what made her the most nervous was that she was our first pitcher on the mound and didn't have a "guide" to follow! She actually did quite well for her first time! She got a few strikes and managed not to hit anybody. (hey...that is doing good in my book) She almost got a girl out at home plate and she even got a hit that took her to second base! To top the whole night off the coaches only gave out 1 game ball last night and Emily got it! I hope last night was the just the boost she needed to finish out the season strong! Thanks to our game tonight in Livingston I will be missing my first night if golf league....We are so proud of her and we hope she does well! Until next time....

Wonder what 2nd place looks like?

2nd place looks pretty darn good if you ask me or any other parent of the girls on our softball team!! Our team went into the tournaments with a bye because we were in first place but we lost our first game which meant we had to claw our way back up to play for 1st and 2nd. Then we had to play 3 games on Saturday and come back early Sunday for another! I know she won't decide until the very last minute (like everything else) if she wants to play next year and I will be fine with whatever she decides, but I sort of hope that she will continue with her softball career. I think she saw things differently towards the end of the season, especially during the 3rd game of the day when we had a tie score and she slid into home for the win! Not too bad for a girl that was always too afraid to slide before!! Now that softball is over the girls are pretty excited to get down to real summer business -- swimming and sleepovers! It is hard to believe that a month ago they hated school and in a month they will be asking when it will start again!! My second oldest darling had to endure tournaments on her birthday so we are having her party tonight. Which reminds me....I better go get her cake baked for the party!! Until next time....

Is is June or December?

My oldest darling and I travelled to Livingston last night for one of her softball games. All day long I waited and waited for my phone to ring saying that it had been cancelled. I had good reason -- we had already suffered through a miserably rainy game IN Livingston the night before. Honestly, I would have taken the rain again over last night!!!! I am pretty sure that I saw snow on the way there. When we got there I waited in the car with a friend until the game started (or so we thought) and we decided that since neither of us had any of our other children with us that we would just sit in the bleachers this time -- the cold, hard, metal, small (barely big enough for a 6 year old butt to fit on) EXTREMELY UNCOMFORTABLE ones!! I kept wishing I had brought my comfortable chair to sit on but it was all the way back at the car and the car was about 20 miles away. (Our girls get the great privilege of playing in the back forty)
I was dressed for June with a sweatshirt when really I should have been dressed for December in my winter clothes! Silly me....I never thought to bring my snowsuit! The game finally got going and after a while the sun did come out for a bit....long enough to thaw my nose out. I even had to do the one thing that I always get after my kids for doing.....pulling my sweatshirt down over my knees! (I hate the shirts stretching out) That almost turned into a trip to the emergency room for me when my foot slipped and I fell forward. Had I not caught myself I would have smashed my faced right into the lower bleacher! After my friend stopped laughing she said that had that really happened she would have at least waited until she got to the car before she laughed at me! Now that is a TRUE friend! LOL. By the time we got ready to go, nothing on my body worked. Except, of course, my nose which wouldn't stop running! I had started shivering uncontrollably and all of my extremities were numb. It was an interesting walk back to the car. Despite all of that the game actually turned out to be a good one....we won and everyone played well. I can't wait for the next game...anyone want to go with me?? Until next time....

Here comes summer....that means baseball!!

Our oldest little darling has been playing baseball/softball for about the last 4 years. When I say playing I mean chasing butterflies on the field or finding really pretty rocks for her collection. She was also more worried about what the "snack kid" brought for snacks than whether she got a hit or not. In the rookie league each kid gets about 100 attempts to hit the ball before their turn is over and then they usually forget where first base is. The whole point is to try and teach the kids good sportsmanship so they don't even keep score. (At least the adults don't...there is always at least one kid per side that keeps score!) My little lovely has finally moved up to the minor league. Her first game is tonight and she is TERRIFIED! She is scared because this is her first year with "fast-pitch" and she is afraid of getting hurt. (I have seen some of these girls pitch and I would be a little afraid myself!) She told me that she hopes she gets to play somewhere in the outfield where she doesn't have to do much....I told her that I don't think there is a position of play on the OTHER side of the fence. I am sure that if there was a position for "hot dog getter from the concession stand" she would be first in line. I'm not too sure but I think that the other 3 fourth graders on her team might feel the same way. I tried to tell her that after she gets through her first game she will get the feel for it and do better. She is already asking if she HAS to do this next year! We will see how she feels next year but she WILL finish this year....I already paid for everything! I will try to keep you updated on her season -- she has tournaments to finish out the season in July so I am sure there will be a few blurbs about it here and there. Lets hope that she stays safe, can maybe learn something and (you never know) she may even find a new special butterfly or rock!! Until next time....