Do your kids ever get confused when they meet someone and their name rhymes with another name that they know of? You've got Sarah and Tara. Ryan and Bryan. Holly and Molly. Baylee and Kaylee. My kids sometimes get confused, especially when thye don't know the person too well. Heck...I get confused with my own kids....Hey SaReagan, ReAutumn....Rea...Aut...Baylee. You get the idea and I'm sure you've NEVER done anything like that before, right?! Well....this past weekend, my 7 year old thought up a totally new one. We were working on our flip house when an interesting conversation began. Here's how the conversation went.....
Reagan: Did Satan show us this house?
Me: Huh? What do you mean?
Reagan: Did Satan show us this house?
Me: (thinking....what in the world...does she hate this house that much?) Who?
Reagan: err....uh...I always get his name mixed up. Is that his name? er...uh
Me: You mean Clayton?
Reagan: Oh yeah....Clayton, I always get those 2 names mixed up.
Growing up, I have lots of memories of playing croquet. We would go and stay 2 weeks with my grandparents at their house and the croquet set stayed set up nearly the whole time we were there. We also played a lot at home, too, but for some reason, the memories at Grandma and Grandpa's house stand strong. I remember once, my sister Aimee swinging that croquet mallet so hard, straihgt up in the air, that she conked herself right in the forehead. LOL and Ouch...what a site!
A few years after we got married, Ryan and I were living in Louisiana. We were living in Army housing and decided we needed something to do outside, with the neighbors. So.,..we set out to buy our first croquet set. We had so much fun challenging our closest friends and neighbors to a game of croquet. The men were so competitive, shooting each other's balls, flying across the yard....but it was a lot of fun!
Tonight...it was my dad's birthday. We invited my mom, dad and grandpa over for Birthday cake and afterwards, decided to play a game of croquet. Although I didn't play, I really enjoyed watching 4 generations playing croquet together. My grandpa, my dad, my husband and 3 of my kids. Of course, grandpa won...he's the ace! :) (Actually, he's the one who doesn't send other people's balls flying across the field....lol...although he's a real good shot, too). Watching this croquet game brought back some good memories of days gone for way too long! Good times!
If the weather's nice and you have some time to spend with your family, try croquet....make some memories!
Do you know that I spend 4 nights a week watching baseball? Yes, I have 3 kids on 3 different teams...I'm not sure that was a good idea. Luckily, the games only last for a month, so it won't last forever. We're thinking though...that next year, it won't happen at all! Either we'll make a family type homeschool team to where they can all play on the same team OR....this mom and dad will say FORGET IT! It has been too much of a disruption in our lives this year. Remind me of this next year when I'm ready to sign them up! ;)
What I find incredibly ironic though...is that even though we watch baseball so much during the week, we still managed to go to a baseball game on the weekend. On Sunday, we took a day trip to see the Royals. What fun! After the game, there was a free Mercy Me concert that we were also able to attend. It was so funny to see the kids' reactions. We were hearing things like "You mean this is the baseball that daddy watches on TV?" and "These are the singers that sing on the radio?" We had a great day together where everyone got along! We ate lunch and dinner in the van (sandwiches) and managed to hit the game for pretty decent prices. Ryan and Baylee were eager to see the changes that they had made to the big Kauffman stadium and we sat out in the outfield where the fountains are. I came home with quite the sunburn despite using sunblock....and it was HOT. We kept taking the kids out to the water fountain to wet them down and hopefully cool them off. Here's a few pictures of our fun!
This week, daddy decided that it was time for Baylee (11) to learn to drive the tractor. He's been mowing, weed eating, hauling and chopping wood, so this seemed like the next logical step. After some very careful and repetitive instruction, he was off cutting the grass in the field. He did a great job... and he even remembered to turn the PTO off (whatever that means...lol). Yep, this boy definitely knows more than his mama when it comes to driving tractors! ;)
On June 7th, my little girl Reagan turned 7. This is the little girl who was born at home, in a swimming pool. She was my first unmedicated birth and my first water birth, too. She was also my heaviest baby, weighing in at a whopping 10 lbs 2 oz. A year and a half ago, she was diagnosed with epilepsy. What a scary time that was for us. Her seizures are still being controlled by medication and we will begin seeing a new doctor in October as her first pediatric neurologist moved away. We are so blessed to have Reagan in our lives.
For her birthday celebration, she invited one friend to go swimming with her and we had the cousins come, too. After that, we went to the park with the grandparents, cousins and one friend and we enjoyed the carousel and train...and cake of course! The only bad thing about outside birthdays in June is you can't keep the candles lit....it's way too windy here in Kansas! It happens every year! Here's a picture of her at the birthday party.
Last weekend, we were blessed with the opportunity to go to a MOMYS Retreat near Mount Vernon, MO. Interestingly enough, Mt. Vernon is where my 6 year old was born. While we were in the area, we were able to show her where she was born. I went not knowing what exactly to expect, hoping our family would have fun. We left saying we'd be going back next year, so I'd say it was a hit!
I describe the MOMYS Retreat as church camp for families. You can give your kids the fun, camp experience without the lack of parental supervision plua as an added bonus, you have the opportunity to spend quality time with your family. It was so relaxing though because there were lots of activities planned, but no pressure to do any of them. They were all optional.
When I first arrived, I was greeted by a bunch of women who knew who I was, but I didn't know who they were. LOL. I had my picture posted on my posts on MOMYS.com, so they see me any time I post, but most of the other mothers don't, so I was a bit overwhelmed trying to figure them all out right at first. I also had to laugh as one of them was so excited that I was wearing pants....seeing she and I were the only women in pants. :) That changed little by little throughout the weekend though.
We arrived on Thursday night, checked in and went to an Ice Cream social. After that, we ran to get our popup camper set up. We were one of the few people who were camping, so we had to get camp set up before it got dark. The next morning, we were to be at breakfast by 8:00 a.m. I was really dreading that early of a rising time, but it turned out to be OK. We naturally woke up earlier than we normally do when we're out camping. It just so happened that Friday morning, we awoke to thunder. Luckily, we had our internet air card with us, so we were able to check the radar. We saw that we were about to get popped, so we got to the dining hall a little earlier than we had planned, in order to avoid the rain! Thankfully we did, as it got pretty bad out there. Our camper was OK, but the tent next door had some issues....they ended up moving to the dorms.
The rest of the weekend was nice and dry. We enjoyed not having to cook any meals for the weekend, they were provided by the camp staff. That was a very nice added perk! We spent the rest of the time, playing, hiking, playing baseball, enjoying a camp fire, having a carnival, doing crafts, and we even went to chapel every morning like "real" church camp. My kids loved meeting all the new friends. My husband and I left feeling spiritually renewed....a rather unexpected perk. As long as all is well next year, we will plan to return! Who would've thought the MOMYS Retreat would be so much fun?!
Last night, while driving to our bible study at some friend's house, Savannah could hardly wait to get there, so she says, "Mommy why are you driving? Daddy drives much faster!"
She's the little girl who notices everything. When I was making supper last week, I told her I had used the last of the chicken. She said, no you didn't, you have another bag in the freezer. I said, I don't think so. She says, yes you did, you bought 2. Me, not remembering that at all, open the freezer and find the other bag of chicken that she remembered me buying.....lol. She's such a detail girl. So unlike me! She also loves picking out the clothes for her baby sister and for herself. There's a country song by Rascall Flatts that says, "there's a blue eyed blonde, with shoes on wrong cuz she likes to dress herself" and that fits her to the T.
OK, I'm a little late updating this. I'm not sure how many readers I get any more and sometimes think I'm just writing to myself...lol. I guess that's what I get when I take so many breaks between writing. I just thought I'd post....that we finally had our precious baby girl. Here's her birth story......
I started having contractions on Sunday afternoon about 30 minutes apart. whoopee...everyone knows that doesn't do anything...lol. I was more annoyed than excited. The strange thing is though that they stayed regular, all the rest of the day and the rest of Monday. They would get as close together as 15 minutes apart...and stayed like that most of Monday, but they weren't real painful. Just that general tightness. Monday evening, while making supper, they got as close together as 5 minutes apart, but after I got back off of my feet, they went back up to 15. I was tired from being awake a lot the night before, so I went on to bed thinking.... I may as well get some sleep. I awaken at midnight to a shocked....wet feeling of my water breaking. It had been in the middle of a contraction that wouldn't have even woke me up had my water not broken.
I got up... a little more annoyed because I knew my contractions were only 15 minutes apart, if that... and I really didn't want to go in and have them want to put me on pitocin. I was trying to decide if I should wait a couple hours before I went in or what. I got on the computer to talk to my sister and see what she thought and she talked me into going. She said that she once had a labor that was like that and the contractions never got very close. So...after I've decided to go in...I go get my husband out of bed, call my mom and she comes on over while my husband is loading the car. When she gets there, we leave....and make it to the hospital by 1:00 a.m. In that time frame though, my contractions have gone to at least every 5 minutes if not quicker.
I still figured it would be a few hours at least...when they checked me, I was a 5, but could be stretched to a seven. Contractions continued....and before I knew it, I had this uncontrollable urge to push. She was born at 2:00 a.m., just an hour after getting to the hospital. The doctor had not yet made it but made it in time to deliver the placenta.
All I could think was.....wow, I can't believe we did it that fast!
This past weekend, we were able to see our new newest niece again after having last seen her on the 21st of December. She was only about 6 pounds the last time we saw her and this time she was a little over 9 pounds...but looked a lot bigger. Her head had grown in circumference (as it should have) as well as she was starting to get a little chunky ( and oh so cute! ) Well, my 3 year old remembered the little baby she got to hold in december and when she saw her this weekend, she told me that it did not look like Brooklyn. Today, she brought it up again and said... "Brooklyn didn't look like Brooklyn, she grew a new head". I had to crack up laughing. Here's a picture of Brooklyn when we saw her in December....
and again with our new baby Avery from this weekend
I sit here on this very cold (after having 70 degree weather) Saturday night thinking....wow...I only have 6 weeks left until I have this baby. I'm amazed that I can't ever seem to think of anything to write on here either. Seems like there's always so many things going on but it's always the same things....so not so interesting in my opinion...but here's our update. I didn't do a Christmas card this year...maybe this one will suffice? :)
Me?
I'm pregnant...yes....still...and I really enjoy it, but.... as the time draws nearer, I'm more ready to get to hold this baby!
I'm homeschooling.....yes.....still...and I really do love it.
I'm trying to remain control of the horrible messies that always seem to overcome my house....yes, even that....STILL. Boxes still need unpacking and remodeling still needs to be completed...it will all come in it's own time...but I'll probably STILL be doing it next year!
That sums it up I guess...but you can imagine all the running I do taking kids here or there, helping Ryan with the business and just being the mom of 4 (almost 5) children. It's fun and I wouldn't change it for the world.
Ryan?
Oh.....what doesn't he do? He's got this cool new hobby...it's called....The Great Wood Hunt (yes, I just made that up) but it involves going to find wood and throwing it in the back of the truck. He found out where the electric company is having the trees trimmed away from the lines and follows the crew around picking up wood to heat our house with. He did ask them first if it was free for the taking and they said sure. So..... in addition, he's always busy filling up our outdoor Hardy wood heater, too. Making sure to keep us all warm. He does a great job. Of course, he's also working his full time job and working at getting our new car dealership up and running (which has been a job and a half lately). He always has way more projects to work on than he has time for.
Baylee...
He's 11. He's currently still taking Karate and piano lessons. He enjoys hunting with my dad when he gets the chance. He also plays football and baseball when it's the right season. Most of all though, he's learning to be a man and he's doing a great job. He's Ryan's right hand guy....helping him with all the projects and sometimes filling in when Ryan's sick or unavailable. Moving to the country we believe has been a good move for him....he's learning so much and he and his dad spend so much time together now.
Autumn....
She just turned 9 in December. She's also taking piano and plays softball in the summer months. She's my crafty girl. She loves painting, drawing, making jewelry, scrapbooking, sewing and any type of thing she can make with her hands, she loves to do. She does her fair share of helping daddy outside with his projects, too...but I manage to keep her busy inside helping me out plenty, too. Maybe she'll be well rounded by knowing the manly stuff...and the girly stuff? She's growing up and has been a lot of fun.
Reagan....
She's 6. She's our toothless wonder. Currently missing her 2 front teeth (and some bottom ones, too), she was teased all Christmas season that she needs to sing that song. She is in her first year of piano lessons and played t-ball this summer. She's at the age where she enjoys playing with both Autumn and Savannah at different times. Autumn when she wants to be more grown up and Savannah when she wants to get down and really play. She has been seizure free for several months now...thankfully. We still visit the doctor every few months to re-evaluate and eventually will start weaning her back off of her meds. We look forward to the day when she won't have to take that icky medicine any more. I can't believe it's been a year since the seizures started. Talk about a stressful, stressful time. It was so scary!
Savannah...
She's 3. She always has us laughing. I think I've said it before, but every house needs a toddler! They just keep you on your toes and keep you happy, too. She loves playing with baby dolls and playing with her older siblings. We recently got a dog....before this she was pretty scared of most dogs. All of a sudden though, she's not scared of ANY dogs....even one with the name of Bear that is about 3x bigger than her. I was shocked! She's the one that plays the roughest with our dog Shelby.....and thinks it's great fun to play tug of war with her even though she's growlign and nipping.
I guess that about sums us up. I keep saying I'll keep this updated better...but I'm not doing a very good job so far. I'll try though!
