Balance

David is participating in the Flying Pig Kids Marathon. He has to walk, jog or run 25 miles between now and May 3rd. Then he will finish the last mile at the Kids Marathon on May 3rd. I am excited to walk with him as it will be good exercise for me too. He has a chart to mark off his miles, his water, fruits and veggies too. There isn't a spot for cake which at this moment, he is consuming a rather large piece of Costco birthday cake. Wonder how fast he'll run tonight at the YMCA?

Someone please explain...

Please explain to me why my boys cannot replace the toilet paper. I can, their dad can, but they seem to not notice. Why?

Birthday Boy

WFMW: Birthday Celebration

In honor of Ethan's birthday today, I made these for his classmates. I stamped Happy Birthday on one side and taped a McDonald's treat certificate on the other. He will pass them out today for everyone to celebrate his birthday.

I decided to try this instead of the usual "goody bag" of stuff.It was very inexpensive and easy. Hope the kids like it.

Party Time

Ethan's birthday is fast approaching. He had been asking since his last birthday if he could have his party "somewhere". His past 2 birthday parties had been at home with friends over. In fact, my boys usually have their parties at home. We didn't do an "away" party for David until he turned 10 and the same for Noah. So why did I give in to an "away" party for Ethan? Basically, for my sanity. Yep, the thought of having 7 other little boys in the house for 2 hours was making me wacky.

I do o.k. with having lots of kids in the house when it is warm, like for David and Noah's birthdays. But Ethan is a February baby - too cold here to go outside. So, we bit the bullet and are heading to Lazer Kraze this Sunday to celebrate his birthday. The boys will get 2 laser tag missions, pizza and drinks and I don't have to clean-up!

Celebration

It is official - Noah is now a Boy Scout. The Blue and Gold banquet was a big success and the younger boys enjoyed watching the Webelos cross over. It was really cool to have David bring Noah over the bridge into Boy Scouts. I am also very proud of my husband for all of his hard work and dedication to scouts. Noah's den was his second time as a leader. Ethan has already asked him if he will be his den leader - we'll see.

Rite of Passage

Tonight is a big night for Noah. He will cross over into Boy Scouts from Cub Scouts. It will be a big family affair with grandparents attending. David will help with the ceremony as a Boy Scout and Josh will as the den leader. I am surprised that Noah stayed in scouts this long, but he has really gotten into it. He is looking forward to all of the cool camp-outs and adventures that the scouts will have.

Listen Up

Check out this post about hearing loss and kids. http://ifonlyihadsuperpowers.blogspot.com/

My kids definately need the cool ear buds she features on her blog.

Under attack

A nasty virus has invaded my body this week. I have spent 2 days in bed, sleeping and feeling like a truck ran over me. I didn't shower today until about 30 minutes ago and will end up back in bed soon. I am not a good "patient" and this has slowed me down way too much.

Does this happen to you?

Our boys like to have sleepovers on the weekends in each other's rooms. At first this seemed like a great bonding time for them. Lately, I don't think so. Every time they do a sleepover, someone gets mad. Usually it's Ethan - go figure. He will complain about something and end up sleeping in his own room. Then the next morning, he will go in and start bugging his brothers. After that, all I hear is yelling and whining.

It happened again this morning and I am ready to ban sleepovers for a long time. I wish they would get along at least so I could sleep in!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Not like it used to be..

The big dance has come and gone. I must have some serious memory loss, since I don't recall my junior high dances being so "touchy". I had the honor of telling one boy to remove his hands from his girlfriend's behind. A few parents caught some kids kissing and had to break that up.

I think I am just old-fashion in my thinking, but these kids are in 7th and 8th grade! I have to say that the majority of the kids were well behaved and looked very nice dressed up.

I really want to keep my boys in a bubble now, so that they don't grow up so fast. It was funny to hear how many parents thought the limo was too much.

Oh, wow!

The big semi-formal dance is almost here. David still hasn't decided what to wear, but since he is a male, we know it won't take him long to get ready.

I have learned that one of the 7th grade girl's mom is renting a limo for her daughter and friends. I didn't have a limo for prom or my wedding. I am floored by this and curious to see it tomorrow night. I can't fathom why a junior high kid needs to arrive in a limo to a dance that is held in the gym/cafeteria.

Growing up too fast?

He Love Her (yeah, yeah, yeah)

Now that you have the Beatles song in your head, let me tell you why. I have linked up to We Are That Family's S.W.A.K. carnival.

I have been married for almost 14 years to my hubby, Josh. We married when I was 20 and thought we knew everything. We quickly had a baby after our 1 year anniversary. There were many trials along the way and through out them, we have learned to lean on each other.

We have found encouragement from our church and our friends and each other. I love him dearly and know that he loves me, even when I'm cranky.

Go give your hubby a big kiss today!

Get out your dancing shoes

Casual Dress

Dressed-Up

David's junior high is having their semi-formal dance this Friday evening. I have suggested that he wear something like he is wearing in the above photo. I have been told that the girls will all be in dresses and that the boys should really try to dress up some.

David would prefer to wear something like the above casual photo, but with jeans. I don't know if I should push the dress-up issue or not. I was told that there were kids that arrived by limo last year! Is that crazy or what?

I will be chaperoning again - help me now!

Going to School

Today, I submitted the final paperwork for becoming a sub secretary or sub aide in my local school district. I am hoping to be able to sub a few times a month for the remainder of this year. Then in June, I am taking a big plunge. I am going to get my sub teaching license and apply at my kid's district and a neighboring district.

I had thought about just subbing for elementary, since I don't want to dare try to teach calculus or French. After talking to our principal, she urged me to apply for all grade levels. Apparently, the higher grade levels leave very easy lesson plans for subs called independent work. Sounds good to me.

I hope to bring in some money to help with our budget and be on the same schedule as my kids. Hopefully it will all work out.

Running on Fumes

Yesterday was our elementary school's winter carnival. For the past 5 years, I have helped recruit the volunteers and chaired the event one year. It is a simple carnival, with games such as: Duck Pond, Go Fish, Bean Bag Toss, and Putt-Putt.

The kids always enjoy the face painting and the bounce house. We also have a Silent Auction and I actually won a really nice gift this year - a family membership to our local zoo. I paid $20 less than what it is worth, so I feel like I got a good deal.

Our family is still worn out from Friday night set-up and being there for 8 hours yesterday. We would do it all over again tomorrow for the kids.

Busy Bee

I am feeling like a bumble bee lately. Buzzing here and there, trying to be productive. I seem to buzz from one project to another without finishing them completely. I wonder if I am actually getting anything accomplished with all of my buzzing.

Am I spending time with my kids? Am I spending time with God? Am I spending time with my husband? Looking at my calendar filling up, shows me that I need to take out the busy stuff and fill in the slots with my family and God.

Do you ever struggle with being too busy? How do you balance everything?

How I know...

that I am out of shape? I can't sit down today without major pain. The class I took at the Y has so many squats that I don't bother to count. Let's just say, that my legs are so sore, I hope I don't have to run from anyone!

Back to "normal"

The boys went back to school today - yeah! It feels good to get back on a schedule. I took a class at the Y this morning and am feeling the pain. It is called Muscle Max and it combines cardio with strength training. I have taken this class before, but always need to modify it for my back. I'm sore today, but hoping I can continue with the class.

Thank you for praying for Michelle, she was able to go home and is doing much better.