wordless wednesday

phones

I finally gave in and gave my two oldest daughters cell phones for Christmas. They have been hounding me for almost 2 years and I kept telling them they had to wait until they were teenagers. After they would tell me "only a year", I would politely remind them that they were still teenagers at age 19. That sure earned me the "mooooom" with an eye roll.

I got my first phone when I was just out of high school. Maybe I was still a senior. And it was a bag phone. The phone stayed in my truck and couldn't come out or it didn't work. It was huge I might add. Plus, I had to wait until I could pay for my phone myself. (I paid for my truck and insurance too!)

But times have changed and cell phones have become almost a necessity. I say that carefully because we obviously don't need cell phones to live, but the convenience of them and the security of having a way to communicate with the world with you at all times is what has become a necessity.

Therefore, my two 12 year olds got phones. It was quite the ordeal getting them. With Alltel switching to AT&T in the new year, it made the process much more complicated. To make a very long story shorter, there were no phones with rebates, so I would have paid full price for the phones, plus the girls would have been stuck in a 2 year contract. I ended up bringing in 2 old phones and having those lines activated. By doing this, the girls are out of contract and will still be able to pick out new phones next week. Come February we will all receive our new AT&T phones.

Now the kicker to this whole story is what one of my daughter's friends said to her. When I dropped her off at basketball practice the other girl wanted to see her phone. Right away she looked at it and said, "that's a piece of crap". My daughter didn't tell me this until she got home.

I know kids can be cruel and can say stupid things. I'm thinking kids should be thankful to have a phone that texts and can be used for calls and if it works, then who cares? But I guess that 12 year old has a better phone than my daughter. All the power to her. I just tell my girls that they'll be picking out brand new phones this week and will get them in February.

Christmas

Christmas was here before I knew it and now it's gone. Before long, in about 364 days, it will be here again and next year I hope to be better prepared and in a better Christmas spirit. I don't know what was up with my this year, but I was not feeling the season.

The kids had a blast opening presents and were so patient at every gathering, just waiting for that fun time of ripping into them. Let me tell you, my kids are pros at ripping into presents. In fact, they even opened presents so fast tonight, they didn't realize what they had got.

Shaylee and Shawndra finally got phones for Christmas. They were very excited. The boys got quite a few Lego's and had them put together in no time. One set was leveled at 7-14 years of age and they had that together within an hour. Crazy!

I didn't take any pictures this year at Christmas time and I'm kind of kicking myself for that now. Instead, I used my camcorder because I don't use that often. But ya, zero pictures were taken at Christmas.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.

Any guesses to what we did tonight?

doctor

The last couple of nights I've had troubles breathing. Last night I could feel this crap move into my sinus's more and I started getting congested. I decided after waking up this morning that I wasn't going to continue on this road of waiting to see if I get better on my own, so I made an appointment and went in. I actually had a fever when I went in which was quite surprising to me because I didn't feel like I did. I have a bad sinus infection and am currently on antibiotics, so hopefully it kicks in and starts helping!

the last minute

Well, my sickness hasn't progressed to anything more than a hoarse voice in the mornings and evenings. Although this morning when I woke up I had a hard time breathing, almost as if my throat was swollen. That was a little scary. Hopefully this kicks out of my system soon, as things are getting busy with the upcoming holidays!

Tonight is Shawndra and Shaylee's concert at school. Shaylee has to wear all black so they look like an ensemble. That was quite the challenge finding something black to go with her pants. I guess it wouldn't have been so bad had I not waited until the last minute, but I did.

This weekend will be our first Christmas gathering of the year. I still need to prepare for the white elephant exchange. I need 4 gifts that are $20 and under for the adults and 4 gifts that are $5 and under for the kids. I'm hoping to buzz to Sioux Falls either Friday or Saturday to finish up on Christmas shopping as well. Nothing like waiting til the last minute again.

you know

You know that feeling you get before you get a bad cold. You know, the one where your throat is a bit scratchy or sore and you are really tired. You know, the cute little cough that annoys you and the mildly runny nose? You know, the one where you feel like a mack truck is staring you in the face, just waiting to roll over you?

Ya, that's how I feel tonight.

today

The weather outside is frightful and I'm so in love with it. Seriously! I love a good blizzard, snow that slides in horizontally instead of vertically, wind, drifts, and snow stuck to my windows that looks like cotton balls. As long as I'm inside that is. I really hate having to outside when conditions are like this, so I will be staying inside today. Good thing I ran to the store last night!

I had a dream last night that was so real I woke up in a panic. It was all about trying to get to the airport on time to catch a flight to a conference for work, except I scheduled one last home visit before the trip, forgot to pack, and had to take a child with me. In the end I missed my flight, had no daycare at the conference and ended up staying in a hotel that wasn't in the same location as my conference. It really was truly realistic. I guess it was the nightmare version of the dream trip to Washington DC I went on last summer.

It's December 11th and I still don't have my Christmas tree up and I don't feel like putting it up. My living room upstairs is smaller than downstairs, but I want it to be in front of the big picture window, ya know? Is that bad that it's not up yet?!

I'm also a bit tired today because of having a dryer that takes about 4 hours to dry a load of clothes, I was setting my alarm throughout the night to keep the washer and dryer going, or I'll never catch up. Kind of like having a newborn, except it's a dryer! Ha!

Vikings game

I'm a bit late posting this and I have no excuses other than I've been busy and I have six kids who have been having birthdays like crazy this week. Ok, so maybe I'm just lazy and didn't feel like posting quite yet. But alas, here it is. We drove up to the cities on really crappy roads that were solid ice for over 2 hours. We stayed with my sister in law and brother in law.

Here is one of my infamous self portraits...which might I add, is very hard to take with a big camera!

The view from our seats. We were in the end zone, row 19.
The Viking who came out on his motorcycle. He was quite the actor.

The rest of the team coming out.

Praying before the game.

Favre being assisted off the field after the first or second play. I was pretty bummed that he didn't play any more of the game.

Time out on the field.

It was a fun experience being in that environment. The Vikings kicked butt with a score of 38-14.

heading out

Tomorrow we are heading out to the cities. The kids are all healthy and doing great. It has been one of the most stressful weeks I have had in a long time. I don't know if I mentioned this before, and I don't feel like checking, but Mike and I haven't gone out of town over night without the kids in over 5 years. So when I won those Vikings tickets several months ago, I was so excited to hear we were going on a trip! You may be thinking, wow...what a trip (insert sarcasm). For us, being without 6 kids, going to a free Vikings game, means I couldn't be more excited.

Tomorrow we will likely go to the Burnsville mall or the Mall of America. Crazy I know. But I'm a people watcher and being there this close to Christmas would be a perfect place to do that. And my husband, he's great...he's along for the ride with no complaints.

So now that the kids are back in school, going to practice, doing chores, it's time to get the house picked up, do a little laundry, get some sleep and head out! I look forward to posting some pictures when I get home.

Until then...stay warm and enjoy this snow!

another one

Dalton came home from school today with a 101 temp. Shawndra and Devin both still had fevers
this morning and Devin puked one more time, but Shawndra hasn't. Joseph had no fever and went to school today.

God please help Mike and I that we don't get this so we can go on our weekend trip to the cities. I'm so stressed out about this!

three of six are sick....so far

This really sucks. 3 of my kids are sick and puking. It's hitting our family hard. Yesterday it started at school with Devin. She came home and puked quite a few times and has been running a fever since. Then Shawndra came home sick from school today and started puking tonight and running a fever. And now Joseph puked.

Of course the girls used the carpet cleaner last (a month ago) and didn't put it away right away so the plunger got lost which means our carpet cleaner is out of commission. We ordered a new part, but that won't be here for another week roughly, so now we have to clean the carpet without the wonderful carpet cleaner.

And I do not clean up puke. That is left for my husband. And he's in town right now, so here I sit.

Plus, he and I are supposed to be going to the cities this weekend for a football game and a weekend away. Have I mentioned we haven't gone away without the kids overnight in over 5 years! Unless you count the one night I slipped away from the hospital when Jayden was in there for a month 3 years ago.

So go figure this crap would start going around now when we have a big weekend coming up. What if him or I get this? What if more kids get sick or are sick come the weekend? How can we possibly leave them with grandparents? Ugh. I hate this.

lots of picture taking practice

I went to the lake today to my dad and Mary's house because they requested my presence as a photographer for them. Can you believe I was nervous? I love taking pictures, but have never done anything more than my own kids and those are mainly candid shots. But today was different, I had to actually work with them a bit and mess with the lighting and alter different things with my camera. I really didn't do much with posing because it's kind of hard for them to get into certain positions since they wanted to stay in front of the fireplace or Christmas tree. I will maybe post a picture of them after they have sent out their Christmas cards.

After I was done with their pictures, I went outside with Tyson and took a few pictures of him using my 50mm lens again. I couldn't use my 50mm lens inside because I didn't have enough room to back up in the house. This one was one of my favorites.

Happy Thanksgiving

May your turkey be plump,
May your potatoes and gravy have never a lump,
May your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving Dinner stay off your thighs!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I challenge you to take some serious time to think about the things you are thankful for.

I am so thankful for my family, my children who continue to amaze me with how well they do in school with little effort, my job to pay my bills, my husband who makes me laugh and smile, getting closer to GOD and having a stronger faith in Him, and to have the ability to make my own decisions and choices.

Drive safe, stay warm, and enjoy your family. Happy Thanksgiving!

furry friends

Our furry friends (3 cats and 1 dog) were very mischievous today. One cat got on the counter and ate the top of the muffins I hadn't put away. My computer chair is soaking wet, looks like puke, yet has no smell. There was a bag of bread, let me add, an empty bag of bread on our bed with the bottom chewed out of it. My dog peed on my bathrobe and pooped in our room. Someone tell me why I still love these furry friends?

honest

I am an avid blog lover. I follow blogs of all types, from families who have sick children, families who have witnessed miracles, ladies who are into cooking, or saving money, and people I know in person. Many of the blogs I read, I have never met the writer in person, yet I feel so close to their family...because they are so honest. That is something I want to strive more towards with my blog. I'm always honest in what I write, but I tend to focus only on things that are going well, and never talk about the things that I struggle with. So in an effort to relieve my own crazy thoughts, I am going to try being more honest in all aspects of my family.

On a heavier note, we have been struggling with Dalton and stealing lately. A year or so ago we also had troubles with this. He has taken 4 small Lego kits from the school, which we returned with Dalton. Whenever he has to return something, his head hangs low and he seems to show remorse, or else his reaction is typical for getting into trouble. The other day, while he was with his biological mother, he was trying to steal silly putty from the grocery store. She talked to him. When he came home that night, Joseph brought up a handful of matchbox cars that Dalton had stolen from the house they were at. Mike called his mom and told her and that's when we found out what he had done at the grocery store. When asked why he was stealing this stuff, he replied that he has no fun toys to play with.

Other than returning the things he steals, talking to him, and giving some type of consequence, I really don't know what to do with this type of situation. It seems he takes things under impulse before fully thinking about what a smart decision is. In our house, with help from previous counselors and the school, we try to focus on "smart choices" as a common phrase when talking to our children. It causes them to focus and think a bit about what they've done or something they might consider doing. They ask themselves if it is a smart choice. Usually this works, but not always.

For now, until we figure out the answer to this problem, if there is an answer, we're just living moment to moment and doing the best we can. However, I wish there was a simple solution to this problem.

getting icy

We knew there was a chance of freezing drizzle tonight, but when my husband got the call from the HP unit, he was a bit surprised. (Why I'm not sure, considering he's the weatherman himself, or so I say.) Anyhow, it sounds like things slicked up really quick. I've been listening to the scanner tonight since he left and it's definitely slippery out. Cars and truck in the ditch. Cars not able to stop to get on the interstate. And then the construction that's happening on the interstate anyhow that's leaving traffic at a head to head situation.

I sure hope people use their brains considering this is the first real slippery situation this year. It always seems people never know how to drive on ice, or snow for that matter.

The city is out and so is my husband and his crew. Working to make the roads safer for everyone to travel on.

down and out

I've been down and out again this weekend. Another cold stumbled upon me on Friday. Lately it seems I'm sick with something every other weekend and it never fails it's whatever my families at work have been sick with. Even though I'm conscious about not touching any part of my face until I can get to my van and use hand sanitizer. I use it 2-3 times before getting back to my office where I can actually wash them with soap and water. Yet, I still get sick. I wish my body would build up some immunity, or this is going to be a very long winter.

the big tree, part 2

Here are some more pictures of the Christmas tree Mike hauled out to Pierre.

He said when they got there they said that was a big tree, but they only needed the tree to be 28 foot, so they had to cut it down.

And this was the leftovers they didn't need.

This is the final tree after it was all cut up. Mike said it was going to lay there until Friday and then they would take it inside and set it up.

the big tree

I'm home alone with my children tonight because my husband is in Pierre after taking quite the over sized load out there. Yes, that is a tree on the semi!

He said while driving it there he could only go 45 mph and the tree took up the driving lane, the shoulder, and several feet into the oncoming lane.
He had to maneuver through traffic lights, power lines, and other obstacles along the way. But now, the tree is safely parked in Pierre, awaiting it's new home at the State Capital.

Yes, this is the State Capital's Christmas tree this year. It was cut down from campus at SDSU!

Joseph's 10th

Joseph is no longer in the single digits. He is now 10 years old! We had a small celebration tonight with his favorite supper of spaghetti followed by our typical birthday cake. I love this picture of the boys.

Joseph was so calm while opening his cards and gifts. He got several Star Wars action figures. I wasn't sure if he liked them because his reaction was puzzling, so we offered to let him exchange them for different gifts he wanted to pick something different. Grandma Rhonda had gotten him some Star Wars figurines as well. After studying them over, he decided he wanted to keep all of them.
He also got a big lego set. I'm not a huge fan of legos because it seems they end up all over the house or I end up walking on them, and if you've never stepped on a lego, trust me, you don't want to. But he was happy with it so that's all that mattered.

These are also the first pictures of Joseph in his glasses. He says everyone says they make him look smart. One kid at school said he looks like Harry Potter now! I do like him in glasses though.

quirks

Joseph is doing much better. He has mild headaches. We have an appointment with a pediatric neurologist on Monday morning, but are able to cancel the appointment right away on Monday if we feel he is better. So hopefully he continues to get well over the weekend and we can be done with this ordeal.

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Jayden has some of the most interesting quirks I have noticed. He injured his finger on Wednesday at preschool. Nothing major, just a scrape on the top of his thumb. He would not show me his finger, but rather kept it hidden in his coat. When his coat was off he kept his finger hidden in the sleeve of his shirt. He would not allow a band-aid to be put on his finger. This continued into Thursday morning...and day. He wouldn't use that hand, wouldn't pull his pants down, and even took it as far as having an accident in his pants from not using it. Finally, he let his daycare provider put a band-aid on and he was ok.

Well he started in again this morning with the owie. It's like he can't see it, or refuses to acknowledge it's there. I was curious what he would do with a short sleeve shirt. He did the same thing! He pulled his arm into his shirt to keep his thumb hidden. Tonight standing here, he let me put a band-aid on it. A bit later the band-aid must of fallen off because as he was standing here he looked down, seen his owie, and immediately pulled his arm into his shirt. Thankfully he let us put another band-aid on it.

Isn't that the quirkiest thing ever?! Having to hide his arm in a sleeve to hide an owie!

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As for me, I'm so thankful it's the weekend. I had another trying week at work and with all the problems Joseph was having, the two problems pretty much pushed me over the edge. I welcome the weekend to relax and do nothing!

back to school

Joseph is heading back to school today, sporting his new glasses, which I have to say, look really good on him. He says his vision is a little better, but is still seeing some double. We started the antibiotics last night. We're hoping and praying between the glasses and the medicine the vision will correct itself.

Joseph 3:30pm

Ok, well the test was negative which is good and bad. I was worried they were going to find the worst. The thought of seeing double and having to do a CT Scan scares the crap out of me. But it was negative. Thank God. They decided not to do the CT with contrast. Instead, since he has some type of infection, the doctor wants him to try antibiotics. His sinus infection could be bothering or pushing on the optic nerve causing the double vision.

We just picked out glasses for him as well. They will be ready today, so Mike will pick them up in about an hour. He will need to wear the glasses all the time.

If the vision doesn't correct itself in the next couple of days, he will need to go back for further testing. Here's to praying it's something as simple as an infection and nothing more troubling.

Test was negative. Not doing a 2nd CT scan. Will update later.

Joseph 12pm

He had an eye appointment. With drops, she got his vision down to 20/25, but still double vision. She is very concerned about this. Plus, his one eye increased by 2 powers and his other eye increased by 3 powers. He's going in for a CT scan without contrast at 1:00pm. If that comes back negative he will have another scan with contrast.

Joseph 9am

Joseph was still seeing double this morning and had a slight headache. He seen our doctor this morning and didn't find anything major, except he does have an infection going on, possibly strep? He was put on an antibiotic. He sees the eye doctor next. If she doesn't find anything, then our doctor wants to do a CT scan.

Joseph's vision

Mike picked the kids up from school today and was greeted by the principal, who told him about Joseph's vision. He was in science today right at the end of the day and all of a sudden his vision got blurry and he got a headache, so she gave him some Tylenol. He went to the after school program as usual, but laid down in the homework room with the lights off. (Nobody called us about him not feeling well...)

The principal said she moved her fingers in front of his eyes and he was able to follow them. When I got home, I used a flashlight to shine in his eyes and his pupils constricted the same. Both eyes moved the same. He said his headache was gone, but his vision was blurry still. So I called our eye doctor at home and talked to her. She said a severe migraine could bring on these symptoms as well, but to watch him closely and if he seemed to be acting weird to take him to the ER. Well he's been acting fine, except his eyes are blurry. She wants us to call her in the morning either way and let her know what's going on and she said she would see him tomorrow if there were still issues.

Since Joseph is acting fine and feeling fine, we decided to have him sleep on it. He's been up here a couple of times for unrelated reasons and his eyes look much better, so we're hoping after a good night's sleep he'll wake up fine. Otherwise he'll be headed to the clinic for a bunch of tests I'm sure and also an eye exam.

I will update tomorrow when I know more.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! We had a very enjoyable day and night. And we had 6 little trick or treaters, since nobody was sick! Devin was a Hippy Girl. She was so excited because her dress was so "beautiful".

And Dalton was a GI Joe guy, the good guy I guess. I learned tonight that the guy in black is good and the guy in white is bad. Joseph happened to be the guy in white tonight!
Shawndra was a mixture of everything. She said she was a Super Bat Woman. I think she should be a "Where's Waldo Bat Woman" with those crazy pants. Her attitude was sure spunky when she was dressed up.

Shaylee was a Witch with a cape.

These two girls were hilarious all dressed up. Can you see the spunk in Shawndra? Didn't take long for Shaylee to follow suit!

And of course it wouldn't be a typical Halloween at our house without little Jayden refusing to do anything. Lots of bribing, some gum, a trip to the Children's Museum, and making it a game to "touch Devin as fast as he could" is what it took to get a picture with him in it. And this seriously cracks me up with him standing off to the side.

Devin's full view outside grandma's house.

And here's Joseph as the white GI Joe like I had mentioned earlier. He was the bad guy.

How was your Halloween?

flu

Boy did the flu hit me hard, and I wasn't the first to get it in our house, but definitely have had it the worst so far.

Jayden is sick and on antibiotics. Thankfully he has not come down with the flu, but his cough is really nasty. It's been bad enough where we have kept him home from preschool and daycare since Wednesday. Last night was rough with him. His cough and tantrums were uncontrollable. And trying to do anything to help him just made him madder.

Shaylee had the flu Wednesday and Thursday. Sparing you the details, hers only came out the upper end. But hers was followed by headache and dizziness.

As for me, the flu hit me at midnight Thursday night into Friday morning. It was awful. I haven't had the flu in over 15 years. I guess it was my turn to make up for it. Yesterday I slept probably 19 hours out of the day. I would be up for about an hour and then have to sleep 2-3 hours. My flu...both ends. Today is more weak and very dizzy. I was able to shower and even cook dinner. Hopefully I'm on the mend and no one else in the family comes down with this crap because it sure sucks.

Ironically, last year on Halloween, we had 2 sick kids (Devin and Joseph) and they weren't allowed to go trick or treating since they had fevers and coughs. I'm really hoping they don't get sick between now and tomorrow. They've been healthy so far, so the scary thing is...it's probably their turn next unless it skips them.

tidbits

Recent tidbits from our house:

• My laundry pile is now up to 5 full loads because our 2 year old washer decided to have the bearings go out of it.
• Jayden and I hung out together today because he still had a low fever and a bad cough, which required a trip to the doctor. Antibiotics are in the body and hopefully going to work some magic.
• I'm so proud of my school age kids who all had wonderful reports at conference time. I have 2 straight A middle schoolers and 3 elementary students with awesome grades!
• All of our garbage cans blew away in the wind. I drove around and searched and found 2 that I think are ours. Another one is out in the middle of a corn field, but there's no way I'm walking way out there to get it.
• I made chili in the crock pot today, then it spilled over the pot and into the crock (?) and produced a potent burning smell until I figured out how to get the scorching hot pot out and was able to clean out the crock. Yes, it was hot. And yes, I let it sit outside in the hurricane winds to cool it off faster.

And that's about it for tonight. :)

the dog ate my homework

I mean, the dog ate my comforter. And I think the young boy sitting next to him helped. Well not eat it, but helped destroy it.

I could hear them laughing in my room. Ok, not them, but one of them. The boy was laughing and it was the cute heart warming laugh.

So I wasn't worried. Then I went in there and looked and of course they were having a hay day tearing apart my comforter!

And I would say with the stuffing hanging from his mouth, this guy here is the most guilty. Wouldn't you say?

Friday

Today is technically Friday, even though it's 2:30 in the morning as I type this. I'm glad it's Friday too because apparently my mind thinks I don't need sleep tonight. My eyes and my body feel like they need it, but not my mind. Too many thoughts are swirling through it as I contemplate a big decision regarding work. I can't say anything more about it because most of job falls under the confidentiality rules. Say a prayer though because it's tough for me right now.

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Mike and I went after school today to pick up the girls' frozen foods they sold for band, came home, sorted through it, and delivered 1 item before we realized 4:30 is not a good time to catch people at home. We brought the food back and filled our deep freeze. Thankfully we had a deep freeze to fill. After supper we went out again and were able to deliver all but 2 houses and then 2 grandmas. That's quite the chore to deliver stuff at a later date. Not to mention there was no address on 4 houses that Shaylee sold to. We did find all but 1 in the phone book, and the other was a "let's try this address and see" and got lucky!

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Joseph came home sick from school today. They said he was complaining of a really bad stomach ache. I guess they were right because he threw up twice after getting home.

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This weekend is Hobo Days. I bet our scanner will be loud and crazy, in which most cases means we shut it off or turn it down. Funny how we used to have it loud all the time, but now find our self more annoyed with it than anything. We'll also be heading to the parade on Saturday morning. That's one that I never miss.

when times are tough

Sometimes when times are tough, it's hard to see the good in things. For me, it's been incredibly difficult to see into the future and how we will make ends meet. Financially speaking, life has been quite challenging since our central air and furnace was replaced this summer. Not only was that an unexpected expense, but we had just put new soffits and gutters on the house, so we drained our savings. That left us scrambling. Thankfully, our parents were able to give us a loan, to pay off the debt of the new units.

With these huge expenses this summer, our savings turning non-existent, I have found the day to day stuff has been extremely challenging. Coming up with lunch money, groceries, and even the change in season clothes. We have been getting by, living paycheck to paycheck, and doing the best we can to make ends meet.

Tonight, one of my closest friends, gave me a tote full of clothes for our boys. These were clothes like my boys have never had. Warm winter clothes arrived at the perfect time. I cannot express how grateful I am to her for blessing our family with this gift. Dalton and Joseph literally have a new wardrobe. Prayers have been answered. Thank you so much!

old house and more

I found an old house today. A really old house. Or at least it looks really old and really cool. It's located about 40 minutes from here. Of course I didn't have my camera with me to take pictures, but I definitely plan to go back sometime in the next week with camera in tow. I don't know what it is about this house that makes me want to snap some shots. Could it be there is no paint or now windows? Maybe. I'll be bringing pictures soon, I hope!

This weekend is Hobo Days. It's possible we'll only have one child with us for the parade. That would be really odd, since we've always had all the kids with us. Either way, we'll be in town for the parade.

Joseph's arm is healing well. In fact, he doesn't need to wear the brace anymore. I guess that's why he gives it to Dalton to wear. Ha! Boys will be boys.

The apples are falling from the trees slowly but surely. I'm betting it won't be long before Mike is climbing them to shake the limbs so the apples can fall, like he did last year. The leaves keep falling. I never realized how many leaves can come from one tree. Not that we have one tree. We actually have ten or more trees. This year Mike has been mulching the leaves instead of us raking them.

The girls have frozen food arriving on Thursday from a fund raiser they did for band. Guess we'll be busy that night delivering all the food people ordered. Hopefully people are home!

Tomorrow is a really, really busy day for me. I think I will be going non-stop from 6am until dark. Eek!

reactions

REACTIONS are gone. Not mine...but the annoying buttons that displayed below every post. I finally spent 20 minutes searching for the answer, found it, and changed it. I'm quite excited, although you may not care!

I've started this post 5 times now and I keep deleting what I write. For some reason I feel like I can't be open on my blog anymore. The things I want to write need to be guarded or maybe I'm scared of the comments that would roll in. I want to be completely open and honest on here, after all it's my blog, but I sit and think maybe some things just need to stay covered for now. I'm really hoping some day that I can just let my thoughts pour out of me.

I can say that being a stepmom is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. Parenting in general has become so much more difficult than it was when the kids were younger. Funny how as the kids get older you exchange one or more problems for others. I can see the tween/teen years are going to be interesting. And having 5 teenagers at one time is not something I am ready for. Eek! Good thing I've got years before that happens.

Today was a tough day for multiple reasons. I'm hoping tomorrow is better.

I'm attempting to post through mobile blogging.

Joseph's arm

Joseph is in a splint again. He slipped on his bunk bed ladder and his wrist hit the railing on the lower bunk. Thankfully, nothing is broken. X-rays didn't show anything, so the doctor figures he just bruised the bone. He will wear the splint for a couple of weeks or until his arm is feeling better. 2 years ago he did something similar, but actually broke the other arm, so we're thankful nothing was broke this time. He's in good spirits.

keyed

Not only was it hard coming back to work after a 4 day weekend, knowing that I had "lost" 8 hours of office time due to the holiday, but it was equally difficult to see someone keyed my work van. They give me a 2010 brand new van to drive and it's been beat up so bad in the last 6 months and it's not even my fault! It has 4 rock chips on the windshield, not to mention the huge chip that actually took the paint off above the windshield. Then it got loaned out to some other co-workers and it came back with a bent license plate and scratches down the side. But now, I have a very deep scratch across the top of the hood. $400 to fix. Thankfully it's not my bill...and that's if they even fix it.

So whoever you are...whoever felt the need to vandalize my van....I hope you feel good about yourself! (as if you even know this blog exists)

dump truck

Ever since I was a sophomore in high school, after a bad car accident, I have been a nervous passenger in cars. If the person I'm riding with isn't slowing down and leaving a space between our car and the vehicle in front of us, I'm grabbing the drivers arm and making absurd noises come out my mouth. So imagine my fear today as we were cruising along at 65-75 mph and I see the car in front of us come to a stop!

I grabbed my husband's arm and squeezed so hard the tips of my fingers hurt. Then when I realized we were not going to hit the car in front of us, my eyes turn to the side mirror where I'm watching the car and semi-truck behind us. I'm fearing they won't stop in time and they will plow into the back of our car. Thankfully that didn't happen.

Traffic came to a complete stand still. We were right in front of a bridge on the Interstate and there were cement barricades near by and there we sat. My husband could see what looked like a semi-truck in the ditch, but wasn't for sure. We sat and waited, but it wasn't long before people started getting out on the Interstate and started walking forward to see what happened. That's when we could see there had been an accident about 15 cars in front of us.

My husband stayed in the ditch and watched for emergency vehicles while I sat in the car with the kids. They really wanted to get out and look, but I wouldn't let them. Getting out on the Interstate was not safe for kids. About 10 minutes later, a Highway Patrol came along. My husband directed a car out of the line into the construction side and then directed the HP to come through around the other car. Good thing someone took a leadership role, otherwise the HP wouldn't have gotten through without other means.

Traffic got moving after about 20 minutes of sitting still. As soon as we came over the bridge, I seen wheels and they weren't on the ground, but rather, were facing me. That's when Mike said, "That's a dump truck on it's side." And that it was. Not only was the dump truck on it's side, but it's load of asphalt was all over the Interstate. It was a huge mess! I snapped this picture with my phone.

I watched the 5 and 6pm news, but neither station had anything on it. We're thinking based on the looks of things that he hit the cement barricades, got on the shoulder and then over corrected to the right, which caused him to over correct to the left and he tipped, spilling his load. But that is just a guess. I just hope the driver is ok. We did meet the ambulance as we drove by.

playing in the beans

I can always tell it's Harvest time because the bean plant becomes extremely busy. Semi-trucks wait for hours to get through. It's quite the process. Then the plant ends up creating piles on the ground. Today was Sunday so there were no trucks or anything working, so we thought it would be a great day to go check out these beans. Ok, so it's more me that wanted to check them out, but Jayden, Mike and Stewie were ready for a walk. There are two piles this big.

Stewie tried to jump in, but sank a little bit and I think that startled him. Jayden looks so little next to this gigantic pile.
He thought it was fun to run and jump in. Perfect running pose, huh?

And in he goes!

Jayden dug into the big pile.

He tried to climb higher, but with the beans being so light, he didn't get anywhere. We knew he wouldn't, but it was cute to watch.

He pulled handfuls out to sprinkle on top.

I told him I was going to pick him up and throw him in, so I did. He laughed and wanted to do it again. Once was enough.

Looking from the bottom up!

It's been a quiet weekend around here since five of the kids are gone. They'll be home again tomorrow though and then another week begins on Tuesday!