Thankful...

Oh Dear!  I can't believe it's been so long.  I always have the best intentions of keeping up with this blog.  So today, I'm at work & yes, it's Black Friday, 2012!  Isaac and Jacob are on their way to New York to help with relief efforts after Hurricane Sandy just devastated the area.  There is a group of 10 going up from our ward, and almost 1000 going from our stake.  They will be doing hard labor like ripping out ruined carpets, cutting out ruined dry wall, shoveling out water and mud from people's basements.  They took sleeping bags and MRE's and will hopefully crash at one of our church buildings.
Yesterday for Thanksgiving, Jacob went to the Turkey Bowl to play football with several men and YM from our ward.  He seemed to really enjoy himself.  Isaac, Erica, Mikayla, and I went to the church to meet up with some people who wanted to do a family fun run or a turkey trot.  The 5k wound up being 3.52 miles rather than the standard 3.1.  Although I shed a few tears from the pain and lack of breathing abilities, we completed it! 
After that we went home to gather the food we prepared and loaded up to go to our friends, the Bearman's, for a Thanksgiving Feast.  It was super yummy and everyone seemed to have a blast eating, visiting, and playing.
I'm super blessed right now with good health.  After fighting a rare bacteria for most of the year and three unexpected surgeries, I am so blessed to be healthy.  My spirits are high and my energy levels are almost back to normal.  I'm able to work out now, so I anticipate my energy levels to continue to climb.  I'm blessed with a wonderful family and a happy home.  I love having a husband that makes me laugh and makes me feel like a queen.  I love that we are happy together.  I'm so grateful for my Heavenly Father and they guidance of the Spirit.
May all of you have a happy holiday season.

Can't wait to post about....

If I make a list of everything, then maybe I'll remember to update this blog....
Being sick
Kids school year activities
Maureen's visit
Aria's visit
Jacob's first kiss
Primary president
There's more but at 3:11 in the morning, this will have to do!! These things will be good posts to update this a little!!

Is Summer time for School work?

It's that time of year!  The teacher in me struggles each summer with whether or not to implement a "school work" section into our summer break.  Every single part of me and my training knows that my children need this.  Every single part of me knows that my oldest will read no matter what.  Every single part of me knows that my middle NEEDS me to implement a schedule for her.  And every single part of me knows that my youngest will be a little rebel about this.  So, I think I will try to be creative.... If I work on cooking with Erica, that will help implement both reading and math.  If we go to the library, everyone will be excited to get new books to read.  And if I make myself set a timer and sit down with them, we can get a lot accomplished in a little time about 3 days per week.  I could work out a deal with Jacob where he helps with one while I help with another, and that's actually keeping him busy as well.  Although he's always hated having to be a peer tutor....see....being the smart kid isn't always so fun!
Anyway, I think my one that needs more attention will not mind doing some stuff with me, since she will view it as time with me, rather than time working.  And I bet she and I could sneak off and do some sewing together as well!   So....I guess you could say that the teacher in me won on this struggle!  : )
Happy Monday to Everyone!

The Cast(s)

Water proof cast

I never posted on the blog that Erica broke her leg during her 4th grade picnic.  Her and another student were playing and they fell on top of each other, sat out of playing for about 10 minutes to rest, then got up and went on playing.  Then the next day was Field Day.  Her foot/ankle/bottom of leg area was tender, so she opted not to participate in any of the racing events during Field Day.  By the time she got home on that Thursday, her limp was quite substantial.  But me still being wary, told Isaac that I would take her in for an x-ray AFTER piano lessons.  So that night we went in, and the doctor was shocked to see the x-ray, the bottom of her tibia is fractured and her growth plate was broken as well.  Luckily on Friday, the orthopedic doc that we see had an opening.  She got to choose a really cute tie-die looking cast (pictures in a little while).  Of course after getting that cast was when everyone started asking us why we hadn't gotten a water proof cast.  Well, we didn't know there was such a thing.  So we went for her 2 week check up on Friday, where she got permission to start applying weight, and we got a water proof cast.  It's the greatest thing since sliced bread, especially because it's summer time!! 
There's an art to getting all the water out, but so far, so good.  Now she goes back in another 2 weeks and I'm sure he'll do another x-ray at that point to see how the healing process is going.  Everyone says kids heal so quickly.  I hope that's the case for her, even though she's being such a trooper!!

Last day of School

Today is the last day of school for the 3 munchkins.  That means our year of having a 7th grader, 4th grader, and 1st grader has come to a close.  All in all, it's been a pretty good year.  Jacob always keeps us on our toes and we routinely have to check his grades online.  For some reason, even though he probably only turned in half of the homework assignments he should've, he still managed to stay on the honor roll all year!  I guess it's a good thing he makes nearly a 100% on all his tests!
Erica has shown vast improvements this year.  School doesn't come as easy for her as it does for Jacob, so she has to work really hard for her grades.  But I remember when I was teaching, that students like Erica were always well liked by teachers!  Hard workers are the best!!  Her biggest struggle is spelling...which she gets from her dad!  She made the biggest improvements in math.
Mikayla is a lot like Jacob when it comes to school.  She does work hard and is hard on herself when she makes mistakes.  But she's very haphazard when it comes to homework.  And she will not be one of the girls with the cutesy handwriting.  Mikayla loves compliments on her clothing and loves to wear cutesy outfits. 

They are all 3 registered for Summer Camp at Fort Meade.  We will be able to drop them off at camp, then work our 8 hours, then pick them up and head home!  It's a pretty sweet deal, even if I lose my quiet commute to and from work!  It will also keep them busy and active this summer.  Jacob is the least excited about it, but the one that needs it the most.  He's getting much better about socializing and making friends so this will be a good experience for him, even though he usually talks the ears off of the counselors!

Boys will be boys....

We were very lucky to have someone from church give us some cupcakes (6 of them).  Really, we got lucky because I had keys to the church building to go "save" the cupcakes, so we were given 6 out of kindness for my efforts on the rescue of the cupcakes!  They were Cherry Limeade cupcakes and the girls seemed to love them.  Anyway, last night there were 3 left and Mikayla decided on the one she wanted (the prettiest one, of course).  She wrote her name on a paper plate with a sharpie and put the cupcake on it for the morning after breakfast. 
Jacob is up before the girls.  He thought it would be funny to switch the prettiest cupcake on the plate with one of the others from the island.  So he did the evil switch and then left for school.  A few minutes later, Erica came down, took a bite out of one of the cupcakes on the island and proceeded to fix her breakfast.  When Mikayla came downstairs, the first thing she noticed was that the cupcakes had been switched.  The one on the plate was no longer the prettiest one AND there were two rings on the plate proving her theory.  Then she went over to the island to find hers, and low and behold, the one Erica had taken a bite of was the prettiest one!!!  So the tears began to roll.  Bless my baby's heart!  Her brother meanly switched them, her sister innocently took a bite of one, and now she didn't get to eat the prettiest cupcake any longer.  She had to settle for one of the "ugly" ones!! LOL...  Keep in mind these were white cupcakes with pink frosting and a cherry on top of each.  They were all pretty! 
Luckily Daddy was home to help dry the tears and while each girl enjoyed their cupcake, Daddy enjoyed the third one!

Play Ball!!

It's all of their first years to play ball!! They are all loving it!

Time must fly!

Time must fly by because I didn't realize I hadn't typed anything for about a month!  With all 3 kids in baseball/softball life has been a little crazy!  The first week of April we went to Arkansas and had a great visit with my mom for a few days.  She also threw a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese for Mikayla while we were there.  Mikayla turned 7 (speaking of time flying)!  Then we traveled a little north to see Isaac's sister, Aria and family.  We had a fabulous time seeing them for just a short time (long enough for dinner), and went to a rib place that had the largest ribs we've ever seen.  Their little boy is so full of energy.  My mother-in-law says he's just like Isaac was when he was little.  That same evening we drove to Isaac's mom's house.  We had a wonderful visit there as well.  Isaac's stepsister brought her little girls up to play with our girls for an afternoon, and one of my best friend's from college brought up her little girls to visit with us for an evening.  It was just great to visit with everyone.
The rest of April is somewhat of a blur of baseball/softball, Isaac's drill weekends, roadshow practices for Jacob, me still being Primary president.....wow life is crazy busy. 
I find myself missing Maureen a lot.  Our lives are pretty busy and we dont' get to talk as frequently as we used to.  I told Isaac that I need a friend, a girl friend in him...LOL!  It's easier to talk to her during a commute, however, with gas prices, Isaac and I have been carpooling together.  So I really enjoy visiting with him, which results in not talking with Maureen.  It's somewhat of a double-edged sword!
Anyway, yesterday was Erica's birthday.  We made it very special for her.  I can't remember the last time we broke the Sabbath day and purchased something on a Sunday....but we did yesterday.  With bowling, baseball, softball, roadshow practice, roadshow performance, roadshow cast party....Saturday was a little full.  So Sunday, we did our traditional donuts for breakfast.  Then we went to church, but left early.  We took the family to see Chimpanzee (a Disney documentary), then to Bugaboo Creek for dinner (Erica's choice).  we got home about 8:30 and the kids headed to bed!
We tried to postpone birthday celebrating to this week, however, we have 4 nights of baseball/softball practices and games and church on the 5th night. 
So.... off to be busy!  I know I will miss it when the kids grow up!

Stay tuned....

With softball and baseball starting up, I realized I have some new things to blog about.  Then I realized that I have not ever blogged about the kids bowling either.  My kids bowl on leagues every Saturday morning.  They are getting better and better.  This is something that I did as a child (from 5 yo - 18 yo).  I loved it.  A few years back we had contemplated starting the kids in bowling, but didn't.  Then last year we started the girls.  Jacob wasn't really interested at the time, but we took him with us every Saturday morning.  After about 2.5 months of him just sitting and watching, he decided it couldn't hurt anything for him to give it a shot.  He had an amazing coach, Coach Jonie.  I don't know if she knew how great she was for Jacob or not, but his confidence grew.  All of his fears of others making fun of him for not being the best, were laid to rest, as that behavior was not permitted, with or without Jonie around, the kids just didn't act like that.  With all 3 of them bowling now, and on their second year, it's fun to watch them try to beat their average, or try to beat their coach like they got to do a few weeks ago.  Two of the kids were invited to a tournament this year, but we declined as the tournament would happen on a Sunday.  So the next time everyone is at bowling, I will have to take a few pictures so we will have them here.