Where Did the Weekend Go?

I have never been happier to see a Monday in my life.  Did I just admit that?

This past weekend was insanely busy. 

Friday:  Josie and I had signed up to attend a Homeschool Day at the Hatfield Marine Science Center with another homeschooling mom and her son.  We were both looking forward to it.  I love the beach and studying anything associated with it.

But, the Tsunami closed down the entire town of Newport. Bummer.
Since we were already packed and ready to go, and in a science-type thinking mode, we headed to OMSI instead.  Still a fun day.

Made it home just in time to pick up the babysitter, go through Little Caesar's drive through,  jump into the shower and trade my rubber boots for heels.  My husband's annual dinner for work was a nice evening out. And, we walked out with his bonus check!  Side note--is it strange that I am the ONLY wife the boss hugs? 

Saturday:  Helped Jayce sell candy bars outside of Wal-mart to raise money for church camp. (still have candy bars left if anyone's interested!)  Jayce stood in the rain and wind and sold approx. 700 candy bars. 
We dash home ( by dash I mean sped while shoving food into our mouths and yelling at Josie to please leave her shoes on) so Jayce could change into his basketball uniform.
Off to the game we went. They lost. Boo! 
Then, to a pizza birthday party for a friend.  Side note--I love Nerf!  Best thing ever for last minute birthday gifts for boys! Or grown men. Whatever.

Sunday: After losing an hour sleep, our already crazy Sunday morning routine (jump out of bed after realizing we over slept, yelling at kids to hurry up and put on their church clothes, and no, you can't wear your boots with your slacks, and trying to find the pair of pantyhose that has the smallest run and dash out the door (by dash I mean shoving food in our mouths and yelling at my husband to hurry up) ) was off the charts.  We made it to church on time. I taught my class ( used slugs as a visual aide. Big hit) and we rushed off to home. Change clothes and go to Jayce's end of season basketball pizza party.  Eat pizza, clap continuously while 12 yr. old boys receive trophies.
Watch wind blow sign over onto some poor person's car.
Dash (by dash I mean driving in the wind and rain without speaking as to not wake the sleeping children in the back seat) to Jayce's last basketball game. They lost. Boo. But, only by a few points this time (take my word for it, losing by only a few points is an improvement)

Drive back to church to make an appearance at a baby shower that was mostly over.
Take kids to Sonic to celebrate Jayce's "not totally sucky" basketball game.
Come home, put on sweats that I have missed so terribly.  Let kids veg in front of t.v.
Josie has melt down. Major. 
After 2 hours of screaming, she is finally asleep. Husband and I watch highly intellectual film and then collapse into bed.


Monday morning arrives too soon but is well received. This week, so far, we only have two birthday parties (one being my own!), one church meeting and one day of housekeeping ( I have "side" job cleaning every other week) all while trying to get caught up on school before taking Spring Break off (please, Lord).

Side note--any guesses as to what type of restaurant we will be attending the birthday party at?  My kids are so sick of pizza.  It's kind of sad, actually. You know you've eaten a lot of pizza if you're 6 and tired of it.

Here's to a somewhat uneventful week! 

Alternate Definitions

*Warning:  potty talk soon to follow*

I recently posted Jarrett's birthday interview, in which I attempted to tell you how seriously funny he is.  

Last night, after putting all the kids to bed, Jayce yelled for me to come back into the boys' room.

Jayce:  "Jarrett wants to ask you something. Go ahead Jarrett."

Jarrett: (giggle, giggle) "NO!!"

Jayce: "Yes!"

Jarrett:  "Okay. Are turds pieces of poop?"

Me:  "Well, yes."

Jarrett:  "No they aren't!!  They are people that act stupid!"

( :

All the Essentials

My 8 year old daughter has taken to carrying a purse whenever we go anywhere.  What, you ask, is essential to an 8 year old girl? 

Now, when I first wondered what Josie might be carrying in her purse and picked it up, it was quite heavy.  I couldn't think of WHAT she had in there.  So I started taking everything out, one item at a time. This is what I found: 

First, her purse. It's cute, right?

Next, her wallet. It's a felt, monkey wallet. Again, cute.

An empty container of gum. The gum didn't even belong to her. It was her older brother's.

And...the gum wrappers. That lead me to believe maybe she "borrowed" some of Jayce's gum?

A My Little Pony McDonald's toy, one old, purple barrette and some random piece of a toy.

And...one boulder. 

Now I know why it was so heavy.  I don't even want to think about why she felt the need to bring this with her everywhere. 

I guess us ladies all have something in our hand-bags that others would think is weird.

I dug through my purse and found a hole puncher. Yup. 

Hey, a lady has to be prepared for anything, right?

Wordless (Almost) Wednesday

Judd with his pet, Ruger. Also, Judd sporting some awesome facial hair.  Hard to decide which is handsomer, isn't it?

Jarrett's 6th Birthday Interview

Jarrett is, in a word, hysterical.  All of my kids have great senses of humor. Seriously!  They get jokes that most people don't. They can tell an honest to goodness joke on their own too. But, Jarrett is a ham. No cute smiles, or handsome pictures from him. They all have silly faces, most with bunny ears.

Giving bunny ears even to his balls. 

I enjoy talking to Jarrett daily.  Now that's he's the big 6, he's become much wiser.  

Me:  What did you enjoy most about turning 6?

Jarrett:  The presents.

Me: Duh. Should have known. What do you want to be when you grow up?

Jarrett:  A dog.

Me:  Okay....  You go to school. What's your favorite part of school?

Jarrett: Centers. ( that's when the kids get to pick an activity and play with their friends. They are actually learning but they don't know that)

Me: What's your favorite food?

Jarrett:  Candy

Me: No, that's a treat. I mean food.

Jarrett: Circus peanuts.

Me:  No, that's still a treat. What's your favorite food?

Jarrett:  Pancakes with clear syrup. (corn syrup)

Me:  Who is your favorite person?

Jarrett:  God

Me:  Great!  But, I mean in our house?

Jarrett:  You and dad.

Me:  But, if you could only pick ONE person...

Jarrett:  Just looks at me because he knows there is no right way to answer this.

Me:  Okay, who is your favorite sister?  (thinking that since he only has ONE sister, this would be an easy question)

Jarrett:  Just looks at me because he does not appreciate my sense of humor. 

Me:  What do you think about how the current government system is being run?

Jarrett:  What?

Me:  Never mind.  Where's your favorite place to go?

Jarrett:  McDonald's. 

There you have it. 

The night of Jarrett's birthday, Jayce, (who occupies the top bunk, over Jarrett,) said "Good night dumb birthday boy!" 

Jarrett's response? 

"Good night boy who didn't get any presents today. "

That's my boy!!

Time Marches On

In the two weeks since my last post, time has, indeed,  marched on.

There was a funeral. A moving, sweet service for a wonderful, wise man. A man that I have known since I was 5 yrs. old.
I grew up in a small town. Very small. There were 20 kids in my Senior class. And that was a large class. Many of those students had been together since Kindergarten. Michael was one of those people. When you go through 13 yrs. (13 very important, life shaping years) with the same people, they become part of you. I cannot honestly look back at those years and NOT see him. With his passing, part of me has died as well. It has been hard to understand why he had to die. But, it's not my decision to make and I know he is at peace. And, because of his life, many others have made decisions regarding their own.
There were hundreds of people at his service.  Old friends. It was a school reunion of sorts. A bittersweet reunion.

There was an operation. My mom had her shoulder surgery and all went well.  She ended up having to have some tendons and bones screwed back together. Now, she's taking it easy and will soon be doing physical therapy.
I was afraid this whole experience would change my mother, in my eyes. She would somehow become sickly and frail. But, she's been strong and courageous.  She's been wise in asking for help (which for both her and I, is difficult to do) for things she can't do but yet not needy or feeling sorry for herself. She has been thankful that the surgery fixed the problem and her healing seems to be right on track.

There was illness. It ran through our household like a semi-truck. Everyone was infected and missed out on some fun social happenings. Such is life. 

Time marches on.

There was a birthday. Jarrett turned 6!  ( I will post his birthday interview soon!). Hard to believe my little preemie 5lb baby is now 6 and becoming more independent each day. 

He's becoming SO independent, he'd rather NOT get his picture taken with mom. 

There was a getaway.  I am blessed with awesome in-laws.  Even though the kids were sick, they had no qualms about taking them for 2 nights so my husband and I could enjoy some grown-up time.  Much needed. And, appreciated.

Can't beat this view, from our hotel room. Sigh...

Judd's favorite part of the weekend. No joke. 

Time marches on.

I have wanted to blog, I have not wanted to blog. I would go back and forth between wanting to tell you all these funny things to feeling very superficial and, for lack of a better word, stupid. How can I write about the funny things my kids did when someone has died?
How can I come here and complain about my husband, who hates to go to the coast and was complaining about going, even before we left, when I know of one wife that would love to hear her husband complain.

But, time does march on.

I will enjoy it.

No Words

Nothing I write here today would be able to sum up the feelings that I have.

I have a lot of heavy things going on right now.

There has been a death of a very dear and wonderful friend. Even the fact that he was re-diagnosed with leukemia didn't make it less shocking. Maybe it's the fact that the re-diagnosis came only a month ago.
Someday, soon, I will talk more about this, but right now....I just can't.

Please pray for Michael's wife and his three little children.

Somewhat less heavy, but it still has it's own bulk to it, is the fact that my mom fell and injured her shoulder. Badly enough to require surgery. Within the week. Add to that is the fact that my dad is a truck driver and needs to work. That means the job of getting mom to and from the doctor and helping her recover is mine. Which I gladly do. Don't misread that. GLADLY.

Like I said, heavy stuff going on here.

I will be back. Soon.

In the mean time, hold your loved ones closer, tell them you love them, make the most out of every day. Spend quality time with God. Do the best with what He gave you.

That's what I'm going to be doing.