Random acts of kindness

Kate did the best thing yesterday, something that made me cry. Which really wasn't hard seeing as it was a very emotional day for me, but it was just the most thoughtful thing, so I thought I would share what a great kid she is.
As you know yesterday was Spencer's first day of school, and we had the bus ride situation all planned out. Kate and Spencer just happen to ride the same bus, so hey great, big sis will be there when he gets on, he can ride with her, no problem!!!! EXCEPT for the one problem that did come up......she had to stay after and take a test on the books she read over the summer. That meant she would not be on the bus when it got to Suncrest to pick up Spencer. You may think what is the big deal??!? Well for a little 5 year old who was very apprehensive about school in general and the bus ride home, it was a big deal, he was counting on her for that support. Again, I may have been more upset about this than he actually was, well actually that is true because he did not know anything about the whole situation, he would have just gotten a rude and scary shock when he got on and had no big sis to "take care of him".
Kate being the great kid and even better big sister that she is, went to her English teacher and explained the situation and asked if she could take the test during school instead of after. No problem, test taken, she made it to the bus on time and was there for Spencer.
Now this may not seem like a big deal to anyone out there but me, but the thoughtfulness of Kate, and the fact that she took the time to think of Spencer and what he might have to go through without her and the fact that she took action to make it right for everyone is just the best thing in my mind. What a great person, great big sister all around loving being for doing such a little thing, yet a big thing to help her little brother.
Thanks so much Kate, I love you so much. Thanks for loving your little siblings, enough to go out of your way to help them. You are truly the best.

Ponder This

Tomorrow my little guy starts kindergarten, and the big question is....who will cry more, him or me?????????? My bet is on me, we'll see how it goes.

Me from A to Z

I saw this A-Z on Gigi's blog and thought it was cool, so I am totally stealing the idea and putting it here so you can maybe get to know me better. Sorry Gig, great idea!!!

A- Attached or Single--Attached of course!
B- Best friend-- Besides Lee it would be SAMANTHA
C- Cake or Pie--Gotta be pie, my great grandma's chocolate cream pie,
D- Day--Friday, love the anticipation of the weekend
E- Essential item--Mascara
F- Favorite color--pale yellow
G- Gummies, bears or worms--Yuck, I hate those things
H- Hometown-Clarks Hill, IN
I- Indulgences--Ben & Jerry's New york super fudge chunk ice cream, yum yum
J- January or July-- July, it's my birthday month
K- Kids-- Katelyn 17, Spencer 5, Jordan 4
L- Life is incomplete without-- My family
M- Marriage date- October 11, 1996
N- Number of siblings-- 2, Craig & Jared
O- Obsession-- right now I guess reading the twilight book series
P- Phobias or Fears-- Spiders
Q- Quote--"No success can compensate for failure in the home" David O. McKay
R- Reason to smile-- My kids learning to play without fighting, & maybe finding K8 a car
S- Season-- Fall, gotta love it, that's why I got married in the fall
T- Talents-- Crafty stuff I guess
U- Unknown fact--I was the teachers pet in the third grade. She spoiled me rotten.
V- Vegetarian or oppressor of animals-- Oppressor
W- Worst habit-- Swearing *%^)$%#^
X- X-rays or ultrasounds--ultrasounds, I loved looking at my babies before they were here
Y- Your favorite food--Anything Italian
Z- Zodiac sign-- Leo

Beautiful Jordan

Today I put Jordan's hair up in a pony tail, and I thought she looked so sweet and pretty I just had to take some pictures of her. I can never seem to capture the true Jordan, or how beautiful she really is, but maybe these got a little of it. I love my little munchkin, even if she is an ornery little critter. By the way, you can click on these or any pictures to enlarge them.

Lincoln Logs..........Gotta Love 'em

When I was growning up, Craig and I had lincoln logs to play with. I loved them!! We would spend like forever building things, then fly our "bomber planes" over them and say "Frank Cannon!" (yes you had to say that) and blow the heck out of each other's creations. It was just the thing to do. Our Grandma Ream even got down on the floor in her old age and played with us. Now that is a fun grandma.

So now I have a boy of my own, and he loves to build, so much so that we should have named him Bob. He takes Lego's, Bob the builder stuff, just about anything and builds these wonderful buildings and things. When I ask him how he comes up with it all, he says "I just picture it in my mind then build it." Anyway, as much as he loves to build I just had to get some Lincoln Logs for my little Bob, uh!! I mean Spencer. Ebay here I come!!!! Wooooo Hoooo anything to do more shopping on Ebay, but that is another entire blog.

He was so excited when we got the first set, almost as much as me. Pre war ones no less, with all real wood, and the original instructions from the 30's or something. These should probably be in a museum, not in the hands of a rough and tough five year old, but oh well, I had the winning bid. ha ha ha We have been down on the floor creating and having fun. The only problem is that he doesnt let me build bomber planes, say "Frank Cannon" and bomb the daylights out of his buildings. Darn it!!! I added another set (from ebay circa 1950's) and the fun continues. We have determined that we need yet some more, but that is for another day, another bidding war............

A day at the spa......sort of

A couple of weeks ago I went to a spa party and had so much fun, and came home feeling so relaxed that I decided to have one too. Although my life has been threatened if I blog these, I think I will take that risk for the sake of entertainment. Here we are relaxing with eye patches on, feel the cooling sensation as you listen to Pachebel, and deep breath. We also put lip smoother stuff on to exfoliate our lips and make them nice and kissably soft for our honey bunnies. Got milk? Barb you are lucky, you seem to not have been photographed, but I will get you next time! ha ha ha (evil laugh). Kelly, you are such a coward to not look at the camera with your lips all white and chalky, but I love ya anyway. Thanks to everyone for coming, I hope you walked away feeling as great as I did.

Wiggling, Wiggling, Gone

Our boy Spencer wants to be big so fast. For example, he has been asking when he would lose a tooth. We assured him that it would happen soon, and soon it did. As in about a week and a half ago. He came screaming with enthusiasm that he had a loose tooth. He wanted it out before Kate gets home from Minnesota so he could surprise her, so I told him that the best way to loosen it completely and get it to come out was to wiggle it as much as possible. And that he did, I guess he has been working on it a lot, because last night, he was watching the Olympics with Lee and he started screaming with excitement "Mom come here, I just lost my tooth!!!!!!!" And here he came running up the stairs with tooth in hand to show me. As he was sitting there, I guess it just popped out while he was wiggling it, no pain or anything. Well, a little blood, but he was so gosh darn excited he didn't even care or notice. Next we had to call the grandparents and let them know of the joyous occasion.
We took pictures of the whole process, the tooth just out, spencer holding the tooth, placing it under his pillow, and the best of all, the dollar from the tooth fairy. Now he can't wait until he looses more, this has been a fun experience for him. Way to go Spencer!!!

Life's most embarrassing moments

Have you ever had one of those really embarrassing moments, one where you are red in the face, but later you have to just laugh about it. Of course you have, we all have. Let me share one of mine with you.

I was working for the Woman's Clinic as the receptionist. Among other things it was my job to greet people, tell them what floor they needed to go to if they needed that help, and answer the phone. A PBX phone system that looked like a computer but had 16 phone lines coming into it. At times the phones could be really busy as you can imagine a Dr's office with 7 doctors and 3 nurse practitioner's office could be.

This particular day, the phones were very busy, and as all the lines were ringing at once, I answered "Woman's Clinic can you hold please?" I went thru this with about 10-12 lines in less than a minute, so it was kind of stuck in my head. Just then a very rich elegant lady came in and instead of saying "may I help you?" I combined it with what was in my head, and you guessed it said, "May I hold you?" Oh my gosh she looked so put out and totally annoyed and angry with me. Giggling, I tried to explain that I had just put about 12 people on hold and the wrong thing just came out, but she would have none of it. In a very superior tone she asked where her doctors office was. Of course it was the most rich, snobby, unfriendly Dr. in the whole joint. I could tell that she was pretty much just like him, and I did nothing more to try and rectify the situation other than apologize. Later, I had to run a message up that particular Dr's office, and of course she was sitting right there. I received the dirtiest look. I think she thought I was stalking her at that point. I was so embarrassed, but I can't help but laugh a lot now when I think about it.

If you cant laugh at yourself then laugh at me when you read this, because I sure as heck am.

My Wonderful Husband

Lee and I have been married for almost 12 years now, and I still love him as much as I did on the day we were married. I should say, even more so because I have learned to love the many things he does for me and the family as well as him as a person. He is always by my side, whether in the O.R. for my C-sections, or just to be there when I am being shy around people. I cant imagine my life without my helpmate, friend and love. He brings so much happiness to my life and to the life of our children. I just cant express the love I feel for Lee. He is so wonderful, he has always been there to help with feeding the kids, clipping fingernails, helping with homework, or just playing around. What a great dad he is. I have seen places I never would have seen because he has taken the time to plan out great vacations. Lee comes up with the greatest surprises, and things to make us happy. I love you babe, thanks for a great marriage, and all your love, you are truely the BEST!!!!!!!

We ate our fill on Blueberry Hill

Oh what do you do in the summer time? Pick blueberries!!!!!!!!!! And pick we did, as well as eat blueberries. Craig and Gigi had invited us to come with them on their annual outing, so we packed up the kids and away we went. It was hot, and sweat was dripping down our backs, but boy did we have a great family time. The little kids played with Logan and Bergen, while the big kid (K8) picked with the grown ups. We talked about family memories old and new, and just about everything under the sun. Literally!! Jordan and Bergen ate so many blueberries that I am not sure if the farm made any money off of us. Spencer liked picking them, but didn't like the taste (what is wrong with that child!?!) so I guess more made it into his bucket than into his belly. I wanted to stay longer, but Lee said we had enough. Something about our freezer not having enough room. WHAT?! Like we cant go buy another freezer for the 20 or so buckets I wanted to pick? ha ha ha Actually, we ended up with almost 18 pounds and I went home and made the best blueberry pie in the world!!! It would have won Grand Champion at the fair. I also made some blueberry pancake syrup, and maybe next I'll make some jam. Yum Yum. The whole family had such a great time that we plan to go back again each year. This was our second year picking with Craig & Gigi and I think it will just have to be a new tradition.
I love doing things with the family, making new traditions, and keeping old one's alive. Isn't it the best?? Thank you for inviting us guys. See you next year in the field, or should I say, on Blueberry Hill.

The Wilderness Lodge Chronicles, Issue 2

Last month, if you will recall our adventurer went in search of the reclusive Katie Bug. This month we went searching for the smaller version. To some it is known as Jordan, to others it is known as Jojo and to some it is simply called Jo Mack. What we found is that the little Jojo watches the bigger females of her tribe and tries very hard to imitate them. Sometimes this is shown by her carrying little dolls around as her babies. Feeding, bathing, holding and rocking said babies. Other times she can be found in her habitat (playroom) cooking and serving food on the toy stove and table. And yet other times she is found to be into make up that was supplied by a Grandma known as the spoiler. Our camera caught her in the act of behaving like the older female members of her tribe today. The Jojo had put on makeup and was in the process of painting her nails so she could be "pretty". One has to wonder, if this small tribe member is like this now, how will she be when she is bigger. Hopefully her face painting skills will improve by the time she is able to date the male species. Although the reporter did think Jojo did a pretty good job on her nails for a four year old.