Where on earth do I begin? 

We are in full swing of school.  The kids are doing wonderfully in school.  Hannah has a sweet teacher, however, she leaves next Friday for maternity leave, so we start over there.  Ben has a great teacher.  He has several teachers though.  He has tested well and moved up to the highest level math and reading......wonder where he gets that from.  Zachary is doing well too at school.  He is taking high school credit classes in the 8th grade...and so far so good, but the grades come out Monday so check back.  He did though make student council....so he most certainly gets that from his daddy!

Brian and I are just working and running around.  Living the life!

We though did experience one of the most amazing nights of our lives.  I bought 4 tickets to a UT/Georgia football game in Knoxville.  So we spent the day letting Brian show us all around UT and where he went and what he did.  The best part was him showing the boys his published thesis.  They were both amazed!  It was just awesome watching Brian instill in his boys the love of UT Football from the very halls and places he learned to love it.  Zachary even went on to comment that he wanted to attend UT (which we already knew) and he might be interested in law!  That would be pretty awesome!

Hannah spent the day in Greeneville with the grandparents and came back with lots of stuff.  I will post the pictures next time.

Sorry for the long update.

We traveled to Houston, TX for Brian (because EE absolutely refused to get married without him performing the service) to do their ceremony.  Hannah was the flower girl....ISN'T SHE BEAUTIFUL!!!!  We had a blast and we brought EE back with us to live here in Clarksville with her hubby.....

If you know about our lives you know that we just moved here....EE's comments....she was so excited that we were no longer "stuck" where we were before and here where she needed us......she said that she was sorry that we had to experience all the misery but at least at the end of it she got us!

Gotta love her!  Enjoy the pictures!

Boy, now this is one flu that wouldn't quit.  Hannah, Zachary and I definately got the easier of the viruses going through my house.  We pretty much had the flu for a day then started feeling better to be completely better a few days later.  Ben and Brian however weren't that lucky.  Brian ended up going to the doctor with his flu moving from the stomach flu to junk in his chest.  Last night was the first night in   about a week that he has been able to go to bed and sleep without having a coughing spell.  I think he finally might be on the mend.  Ben's moved from the stomach flu to some kind of virus that hit his throat.  He was fine by Saturday (two Saturday's ago) but by Thursday night he was running a fever.  I took him to the   doctor Friday and he had red spots on his throat (Ben had not really even said his throat hurt).  The doctor said he could go to school that it would just run its   course...it was basically fever  and that was it.  He went to school feeling good.  The first thing he got upset about when he started running a fever Thursday night - that he would have to miss school!  Well, by 10:30 they called me from school saying that his temperature was 102, come get him, I did and 30 minutes later after the meds kicked in he was fine!  It was pretty much that   way all day on Friday.  Saturday was his soccer game  and he was so excited (he had a great game two weeks ago...made the first goal and stopped some goals when he was playing goalie).   Well, let me just say, he might have been better temperature wise, but he wasn't better any other way.  He could bearly run up and down the field.  By the second half of the game, he was stopping at half way up the field and let the rest of the kids go after the ball (and he wasn't playing defender, he should have been going after the ball).  Finally at the end he scored a goal .  But even that didn't make him feel better.  He came straight home and fell asleep only to start running a fever an hour later.  I think though he too is finally feeling better! 

  Brian went to the dr. today for a cough and came home with meds for sinus stuff and other meds with the instructions that if he runs a fever he is to come straight back to see the dr. becuase right now he has a little in his lungs and as long as we watch it he'll be fine.  Now, Ben is running a fever and saying his throat hurts and has a headache...my thought, he has either an ear infection, sinus infection or strep throat....will have to check on that tomorrow!  OKAY, SO THE FLU HELPED WITH THE DENTIST ISSUE BUT ENOUGH IS ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!!

Well, gotta go check on Benny (as Aunt Tonda calls him).

I tell ya, that was some kind of flu!  I honestly can say that I still haven't gotten my desire to eat back yet....which is great if you're trying to shed some pounds....ya know, you always have to look at the bright side of things.

Well, Fall has come quickly to MO.  We woke this morning to cool weather...the high today is supposed to be in the low 60's....which will be great for Zachary tonight since he has a middle-school football game...should be good and cool for them and really cool for us!

Benjamin has his second soccer game this weekend.  I missed his first one while I was gone on my ladies retreat a few weeks ago and they said he did awesome...played goalie for a while and stopped many goals and then made the first goal for his team...he was so excited.  He called me on my trip to tell me all about it.  I am excited about seeing him play Saturday!  (Zachary practiced with the older team while Ben practiced and said he missed playing soccer...which I would love for him to start playing soccer again because he would stop playing football.)

Well, gotta get ready for tonight...see ya!

By 11:30 Sunday night, Hannah, Zachary and I all had the stomach flu and that kept me from having to have the root canal done....       ...yep, this is me doing a dance because I didn't have to have the root canal done...HOWEVER, I could have done without the puking thing...haven't done that since I was prego with Hannah and I remember all too well why I don't like it.....but, at least I got out of the dentist pain!!!!!!

At 6:30 last night Zachary started throwing up and last night at 11:30 I started throwing up.  (Funny thing, this is the first time I have thrown up since I was prego with Hannah....I STILL DON'T LIKE IT).

Well, going to go back to bed and try not to move.

      As of right now, three out of the five of us have had the flu.  Ben woke up Friday with it,

by 6:00 Friday night we were alternating who was in the bathroom, Ben or Brian and

as of 30 minutes ago, Hannah is also getting into the bathroom rotation. 

I am watching the clock to see who is going to be next.  I must admit though that I am probably the only person on earth wanting the   stomach flu but I want it Tuesday....

NOW YOU ARE ASKING YOURSELF..WHY ON EARTH WOULD SHE WANT THE FLU....

well, here's a hint ,

here's another hint (that's me) and last hint... (this is me

after the stupid root canal that I am supposed to have on Tuesday that I have tried every way possible to talk Brian out of making me go) and sick in bed is one sure fire way to keep from having to go to the denist...UNDERSTAND NOW?

Well, gotta run hold Hannah's hair while she gets sick, see ya later guys!

Since school has started and our Wednesday night program at church has started (remember I am directing it and this year on our first night we have 73 kids), I can honestly say I haven't had the opportunity to even breath!  The boys are both fully involved in sports (Zachary had his first middle-school football game last week and Ben has his first soccer game Saturday).  We are busy, busy, BUSY!!!!!  Hannah continues to do well in Kindergarten.  She loves her teacher (who has children with nut allergies, so she knows exactly what she can have and can't have....BOY IS THAT A RELIEF!)  She is making lots of friends and is loving school.  The boys were both tested since school started and Benjamin (beginning second grade) is reading 5 grade, 3 months level and Zachary (beginning 7th grade) is reading 12th grade, 9th month level....so I was very proud of both of them for that.  Hannah is apparently working on sounding out letters because everything she says like "Kim" she starts like this "k,k,k...making the "K" sound...and then she says the word Kim...it is so cute.  She is already scheduled for a field trip (and of course she wants me to come...me and a bunch of kindergarten children.... what am I thinking!)

Well, as for me I am at home working away on the computer  and cleaning house and doing laundry and all those other domesticated things I have to do.

Well, gotta run...see ya guys!

The kids were all excited and all smiles this morning.

GET READY KINDERGARTEN HERE I COME!

OH, MY TEACHER HAS NO IDEA WHAT SHE HAS

GOTTEN HERSELF INTO!

I AM GETTING OLDER AND SO IS MOM.....

I had these things in order that we saw them, but for some reason it just put them here at random, so here they are

This is Nevada (not much a sign going into Las Vegas)

Obviously, this is Utah (MY NEW FAVORITE PLACE IN ALL THE WORLD)

This was the only sign we could find for Wyoming (let me tell you, this is not the state to be driving through when you have the stomach flu!...I AM SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE HERE!)

I was a bit afraid of this sign, my thought was...is this an indication of what Colorado looks like...IT ISN'T!!

We are almost back home to MO here...so we just took this picture quickly and kept going!

I guess really things are bigger in Texas, because this sign was huge!

Ben sucked in his tummy so we could get the whole New Mexico sign!  (Funny thing about this, there were signs going into the restrooms here to beware of snakes in the bathroom and on the grounds...my suggestion...SHOULDN'T THAT READ REST STOP CLOSED!)

The kids really are in this picture, but the sign was so tall, I had to accept being far away from them to get this picture.

Over the weekend I will put up pictures of the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert and probably our pictures of New Mexico and the Hoover Dam and Las Vegas...I will save the pictures of Utah for their own entry! 

 Well, we started our our summer this year with vacation.  The last time just our family went on vacation with no one else our middle child (Ben) was 18 months old...so, as you can tell, this was a very much needed "just us" vacation!

This was the first view we saw of the Grand Canyon!  Brian got a little spiritual on us and shed some tears!

This was one of the few times we let the kids look over, okay, so I was being a bit scared!

This one showed the beautiful Arizona sky over the canyon!

Our little Hannah, having a blast!

Ben and Zachary (I think one second before this they were complaining about being hot and this was mid May!)

This is 3/4 of us at the end of the day (dad is behind the camera).  You really can't tell by the picture, but boy did we have a tourist tan! 

We were finishing up the day and were going back to the ranger station so the kids could get their Junior Ranger badges and literally Brian almost walked on top of this elk!  You can tell this animal is used to cars and humans, it just ate until it was done and moved on!

This is pictures of the sun setting on the canyon, it really does change the colors of it!

This was our final sight of the canyon!  It really is an amazing work of God!

This is where it ended

and this is where we started!

I know that our children grow up and I have tried to accept that fact along with the fact that I am daily getting older (and by the sounds of my rice crispie "snap, crackle and pop" bones, I am getting really old fast), but I am really not ready for something that is happening exactly a week from today...MY HANNAH STARTS KINDERGARTEN! :-(  I am excited for her because she is excited, but my Hannah is such a soft-hearted little girl that gets her feelings hurt so easily and who desperately wants friends and I am so scared for her!

It seems like just yesterday that she was born and I was so excited about finally having my little girl (I know, I know, I do love my boys, but every woman wants a girl).  I remember how exciting it was to dress her up in pink and bows and all the fun stuff, but when did she go from an infant to a 5-year-old starting kindergarten!

Oh well, I guess I will just have to enjoy my time with her while it lasts!

If that isn't enough to make me feel old, Zachary is starting 7th grade...IN SIX YEARS HE GOES TO COLLEGE....now how in the world did that happen!

Well, now that I feel old enough to be sent to a retirement village and depressed enough to go back to bed and cry for the day, I shall start working my shift on the computer!

BOO HOO!