busy, busy, busy

just pretend that this post is a series of posts that occurred on the actual day of the event.

4th of July with cousins.  They had been running around the backyard giggling & I asked them for a serious picture.Caleb, Rory, Eli, Caitlyn.

 

Eli’s 7th birthday. July 18

 

Rory’s gift to Eli

 

Rory’s 9th birthday. September 5th

 

Eli’s gift to Rory

 

Christmas program at church. December 18th

 

Christmas morning. December 25.  The kids thought the telescope was a video camera set up to video tape them opening their gifts. HA!

 

This was Eli’s favorite gift….his vest.  He gave me the biggest bear hug & thanked me many times before going to open another gift.

 

She has been wanting a pillow pet for about 3 years.

 

We went to Schmidt’s for lunch with some of the Adkins crew.  We stopped at the candy shop during our hour long wait.  The kids picked out nerds and wax lips/mustache.  I was going to crop the pic, but I wanted to keep Rob in there holding my purse.  hehe

 

It was a fun year!

Just Rory

Spring Concert

Just a couple of pics from Rory's spring concert: The Bear Went Over the Mountain

searching for dad



waiting for the singing to begin. or waiting to sing.

Father/Daughter Dance

Rory and Rob had their first Father/Daughter dance back in February. Was only able to get a couple shots because we were running late, hungry, and Rory was really excited.

Rory insisted that Rob wear pink & black to match her outfit. What a dad! Love it.

It has already been a wild ride

Dec 31 - Out delivering Sunday's preschool lessons to the teachers when the van started making a really wired noise. Pulled in behind some shops that had a Starbucks on Broad Street so Rob could check it out. The bolt that holds the caliper bracket on the wheel came loose. More specifically the threads were stripped....layman's terms: it ain't holding the brakes on. Ended up calling my dad to bring some tools so Rob could tighten up the bolt (that was before we realized that it was stripped.) Unfortunately he grabbed the wrong tools, had to go back home and come back. Ugh! Mostly for dad. I was sitting at Starbucks with the kids and my mom who came with my dad on the first trip.


Side store....so we're sitting at Starbucks enjoying hot cocoa, coffee and vanilla bean scones.


Two women walk in with a young boy.... tell me if you've heard this one before.

Anywho, the older women says.....wait for it, wait for it..... "It smells like coffee in here."

My mom and I just looked at each other, but Rory's face said it all... "Well, duh!"

We are trying to raise our kids to not be sassy with adults, but that was the first time I wish she had not minded me.


Rob put the bolt back on and he and dad carefully drove it back to their house via back roads as mom, the kids and I followed behind. Praying that the thing stayed put for the 3 mile drive.
We ended up staying for dinner, chicken & cheese and beef & bean burritos, and worked on a 1000 piece puzzle. Mom gave us her car to use through Monday because of work and school.


Jan 1 - Not much going on. Rob returned to work. Hoping to find the bolt he needed for the van. But it being a Saturday and New Years Day nothing was open.


Returned to mom and dads for dinner of pork and saurkraut, roasted potatoes, green beans, rolls, and deviled eggs. Thought about working on the puzzle some more, but it was too cold on the back porch.


Jan 2 - Church. Work. Home.


Jan 3 - Kids didn't go to school.

Got an email over Christmas break about Rory. Nothing bad. A lot of miscommunication between us and the teacher. It all got worked out, but.......we enrolled the kids in a different school today.


There have been a LOT of things that lead up to this decision. The hard thing for us was that we really liked the kids teachers and the kids loved them.


Rory's teacher called me and we cried. I tried to reassure her that our decision had nothing to do with her, but a big part of it had to do with things along the administrative line. We felt that the teachers were not getting the support and backing that they needed and deserved. She agreed. Which is sad. She told me that she has a saying that she repeats every morning "it's my job, not my life." We talked about had sad that is for her because we both know and understood that being a teacher those kids do become a part of your life. I told her that I would continue praying for her that God would give her strength, hope and encouragement.


Jan 4 - Still down to 1 car. Rob ordered the part yesterday and it should be here tomorrow.

Got Rob to work at 8 am. Took the kids to the new school at 8:30 am so that we could finish up paperwork and meet their teachers. Forgot to give the kids their milk money and had to turn around and take it to them. The kids were so excited because there is a "real" playground and they get to go outside.



Sitting at work right now finishing up this post that I started last night. have to leave at 3 pm to get the kids and then head out to get Rob from work. I have a headache, I have to pee, but I'm too tired to get up. It has been a really long 4 days.


I need to end this on a positive/happy note.......


I AM THANKFUL...

~that my husband has a steady job,
~that I have a job that has some flexibility
~that the school nurse was able to talk Rory into not calling me because she was nervous about being in a new school. she was paired with with another little girl to be her buddy and show her around. Nurse Katie said that she seemed to be doing better this afternoon.
~that Eli has not been sick but once this school year
~that we do have another (small) car that we can all fit in, all be it tightly, with our big winter boots and coats
~that my dad was not working the day that our van broke
~that the temperature was 62 the day the van broke
~that my kids are learning to trust God and speak His truth to their friends

My Aunts Are Going to Kill Me

I just set the kids down to the table with homemade beef & noodles, bread & butter and a glass of milk. Went back over to the stove to scoop out my own nice steaming bowl of comfort goodness.

Rory piped up and asked if grandma Rose was my mom's sister. (This is going to be a good conversation...something to blog about. I just know it.)

Me: "No, honey, she is my great grandma, and grandma Martha's mommy. That also makes her (great-great) aunts Ruthie and Randee's mommy too."

Rory: "So grandma Martha is younger (than Ruthie and Randee.)

Grandma Martha is actually the oldest of 9 children. I'm not saying which of the two aunts mention above is the youngest but I'm hoping she will still let me use her Cricut sometime.

I'm sooo dead.

Who Do Ya Love….

This is Rory’s backpack…

 

 

This is who she carries with her to school in the top zipper portion…

Papaw Jim

CANDY, Costumes & Lame Tricks

Punch bowl 2/3rds of the way full with candy that Eli can have: nut free. The other half I have asked Rob to hide from me. Yeah, Right.

Pirate & Cat Princess of Littlest Pet Shop Land

Cool!


Lame!
This was in one of the kids candy bag from last night

Editors Note: I just checked out your blog Jen, how funny that we posted about the same thing.

She Lost It in a Raslin' Match

First Night of Soccer-Rory

Before we invest $65, or more, for "real" soccer we are taking a soccer clinic class at the YMCA for $25 to see if we really like it. Paid for by papa Jim and grandma Vicki (part of her birthday present.)
Bought our soccer socks with shin guard inserts on sale for $5.49! I'm a happy mama about that.
Soccer shorts were hand-me-downs from the Adkins' cousins. Just another reason to love older cousins.
Soccer shoes were found at the resale shop for $6.00.
So, we will be in soccer clinic 1 hour, once a week for 7 weeks. Not bad for $12.

What's Wrong with Me?

My kids will never be able to say "This is me on the first day of school."

NNNNOOOOO.

I just look at all the other mom's pictures of their kids all week on their first day of school and say "Oh, don't they just grow up so fast." Never dawning on me that Monday was the first of 2nd grade for Rory and I NEVER GOT A PICTURE!

So here is a picture of the kids on the last-day-of-the-first-week-of-school eating melon, egg salad sandwich (Rory) and ham sandwich (Eli). Enjoying the breezy-no humidity-80 degree weather.

Chores & Good Behavior

Well, it's the evening of the end of the first weekend of summer break...does anyone know when school starts?

Just Breath.

So...I have decided that my almost 5 (gulp) & almost 7 (sniff) year old should have a little responsibility around the house. We now have a chore chart. (:] me smiling smuggly right now)

Just your basic chores:
1. Make your bed
2. Put your clothes on...they pick out their outfit the night before & put it at the end of the bed.
3. Put shoes away.
4. Pick up toys.
5. Put jammies on.
6. Brush teeth.
7. Get into bed & staying there.
All of these are to be done without whining/crying/complaining that you're tired/hungry/thirsty/something hurts. When it does occur then the Good Behavior jar comes into play, the chore must still be completed, and no sticker is obtained.

I have a few extra credit chores:
1. Folding the wash clothes.
2. Helping me put away the laundry...mostly their stuff and the towels.
3. Putting the silverware away when the dishwasher is done.
I also plan on teaching them each to clean the bathroom sink...I'm tired of cleaning up dried toothpaste (Rory), and cleaning the toilet...I'm tired of seeing pee on the hinges of the seat (Eli).

Every chore is worth 5 cents. That's a minimum of 35 cents for the basic chores every day. I run the dishwasher at least once a day, and do 1 or 2 loads of laundry a day.

Rob made a basic chart on a spreadsheet and I picked up some stickers from Michael's for $3.00...

Needless to say the kids are very excited about the stickers.

Good Behavior Jar...I saw this on another blog which I have no idea which one, but if you have seen it with these glass "stones" please let me know so I may give that lovely lady credit where it is due.


So how does this work, you ask? Good question.

First, the Good Behavior jar is to teach the kids that all behavior, good or bad, has consequences and we must accept them & learn from them.

When an act/word of kindness is witnessed (by me or Rob), or a chore is completed for three days in a row without being reminded...they get a stone. If the chore is completed for a whole week they receive 3 stones.

They can also have stones taken away. This happens when after they have been asked to complete a chore and they are asked a second time, an unkind word/deed is witnessed (by me or Rob), or if the whining/crying/complaining ensues. Along with a stone being removed there will also be a timeout and a moment to talk about the behavior & how they will try and change it.

That's it!? Stones in a jar! Are you kidding me?

Calm down. Have to say that my kids would love to just sit and play with these beautiful stones (so would I).

We have promised them that when their jar is full they will get a special treat. Now I'm not talking a piece of candy or a new box of crayons (that's what restaurants are for). I'm talking a trip to Build-A-Bear to get an accessory for their pet with the money they earned, a meal out to their favorite restaurant (Steak-N-Shake for Eli, Bob Evans for Rory) compliments of mom & dad, a trip to the toy store with the money that they have earned, the chance to pick the movie for movie night 2 weeks in a row. There are so many different things that the kids say they want. It just depends on their mood and what they are into at the time. They will only be allowed one thing, especially if it involves mom & dad opening up their wallets.

Our goal this summer is for the kids to understand & appreciate being responsible with the things they have. Instead of always wanting something else or wanting more.

There might have to be some tweaking along they way, but we are up for the challenge. If you have any ideas about "rewards" send them our way. We really would rather their "rewards" not involve money or very little.

I once heard Denzel Washington say "Do what you have to do, so you can do what you want to do".

I want to raise my children in a God-loving, spirit-filled home, so I can send them off into the world with great confidence that God has a firm grip on their heart. And that I will one day hear my heavenly Father say "Well done my good and faithful servant".

Kids Sleeping

I was going through the pics on my computer and trying to get them organized. Ha!

Well, I could not believe all the pics of my 2 kids sleeping. So here are a "few" (okay, all) that I have chosen to share with the rest of you.

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And Our Next Model Is...

RORY! Modeling her "new" Pillowcase Dress...


It seems to be a little big on her. Maybe using fabric instead of a pillowcase for smaller girls would be the best thing.

The shoulder...I pulled it apart a little so you could see the ribbon
I can't wait to get started on making more of these.

There's a Big Space in My Heart & Her Mouth

Well, she lost the #4 baby tooth this morning biting into a boiled egg. I know, I know...how did she do that. When she bit down her bottom teeth pushed on it and really loosened it up. After a little rinse with salt water and a few tense moments of "just pull it out" from the rest of us...out it came. She's growing up too quickly! Yes, for those of you who know me, I'm crying.