Where Did This Month Go?

Since I got a complaint today about my slacking on the blog I thought I'd better post a few updates on what we've been up to! Tim has been teaching the kids how to play Texas Hold 'Em.

Kennedy and the boys have been busy with lots of hockey practices and games. Tonight Kennedy played at the Sports Center and the boys played at the Youth Arena at the same time. Mom went to one game, and dad went to the other. Next weekend we will have to switch because they have games at the same time again. Seems like we have a lot of that in our future.
The kids have a new "check system" behavior plan. Each check carries a consequence and if your checks total more than five by the end of the day.... let's just say it's not a good situation. It seems to be working all right; except for our Thanksgiving trip to the cities when they fought almost constantly. We were treated to Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's and Ryan, Ann and the girls came. Baby # 3 should be here in a few weeks! This weekend we decorated for Christmas and the kids hung up all their ornaments. This year's choices were a Wild hockey puck for Carter, a sparkly guitar for Cooper, a school bus for Kennedy and a watermelon slice for Katelyn. The kids have also been working on their Christmas lists, but I am not going to post them this year since last year they got duplicates of everything. I have done a little Christmas shopping, but am hoping to get a good start on it this week...in addition to hockey practices on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, church activities on Wednesday and a Spud hockey game on Thursday.

I wish they would have gotten pencils!

The worst part about the day after Halloween is that after my kiddies are up and off to school I am left to face four huge bags of candy staring at me all day. It takes will power minute after minute to not dig in and eat every last Butterfinger in their stash. Unfortunately, we have so much candy that this struggle could continue for the next few weeks. Should I just let them eat it all so that I can't? Should I throw it all in the garbage so no one has to face the temptation? What's a mother with a bad chocolate habit to do?

Helper Day

Today was Kennedy's helper day at kindergarten. She got to show off her new haircut and wanted to wear something "fancy" for her big day.

Weekend Festivities

On Friday Kennedy threw a little Halloween party for her friends and on Saturday Carter, Cooper and Katelyn got to invite friends to go to the Haunted Farm.

Happy Birthday to the Queen!

We hope you are having a great day!

Uh Oh

Daddy finally talked our little Sweet Lou into trying hockey...and she loves it. It will be fun to watch her...and dad said he doesn't mind being at the rink five days out of seven! 

wtf?

 

Bedtime at our House

This is what our house looked like at 9pm last night. Music blaring, kids dancing on beds, and Carter intently watching to see if dad could get to the next track on the GameCube. Meanie head mom had to put a stop to all the fun and send everyone to bed.

Soccer Weekend

We had gorgeous weather this weekend and spent lots of time outside watching soccer games...two yesterday and two today! 

Watch This

Tonight...8pm...ABC....enough said.

A Lost Weekend

This weekend I watched the entire second season (24 episodes) of the ABC show Lost. I had watched the first season last fall while the second season was on tv, so I had to see the second season before season three starts in October.

I watch too much television...and the Tivo makes it too easy. I am feeling just gitty this week that some of the new seasons start, with my favorite, Grey's Anatomy premeiring on Thursday night at 8pm! The other shows scheduled on my Tivo for this season are One Tree Hill, The Office, Desparate Housewives, Real World, Laguna Beach, 2-A-Days, The Biggest Loser, The Bachelor, American Idol, and new shows 6 Degrees, Studio 60, Friday Night Lights, and Smith.

A Parenting Dilemma

Should you force your child to play a sport? Most parents I discuss this with would unequivocally say "NO"! (I have visions of a few of the little rookie hockey players who spend most of their time rolling around on the ice while their dad looks on with stars in his eyes hoping to live out the dream through his son.) However, with our youngest child, we have chosen to go against the advice of others and force Kennedy to play soccer. Her first practice was this week. You know it is not going well if you have to threaten your child with a spanking just to get them in the car to go to practice! This child however, if left to her own desires, would spend most hours of her childhood happily passing time in front of the television.

Good news, she said she thought practice was "kind of fun" and almost sounded excited when she told me that the coach said she had a big game on Saturday. Looks like our attempt to "know better" might turn out okay. I'll keep you posted.

First Day of School

Congratulations to Mom and Richard

 

A Bear and a Best Friend...Priceless

Here is Kennedy and Grace after our fun trip to the cities to go to Build-a-Bear Workshop for Kennedy's birthday. Kennedy named her bear Vanilla and Grace named her bear Gracie. We all had a great time!

The first stage is denial...

It's hard to believe, but our baby did turn six today. Despite all my efforts to keep her five forever, she turned another year older. As I put the big "6" candle in her cake tonight I still couldn't believe it was for my youngest child. It seems like it should still be a "3" or maybe a "4"...but definitely NOT a "6"! I guess the push will really be on for that "China Baby" now! C'mon Tim, please?

These are the days...

We are on Vacation!

After a fun weekend at WeFest and the Lake, we are now on vacation for the week. Tim played his qualifying round in the Pine to Palm golf tournament this morning and we are off to the lake to spend some time with friends tomorrow and then to Tim's lake to relax for a few days. There will be a few more rounds of golf at the end of the week...and before we know it our vacation will be over!

It was Awesome!

Instead of the joyful reunion I envisioned after being away from their mommy for two nights, I got crossed arms, stomping feet and we don't want to go home tantrums. Guess they had a good time. Cooper's favorite parts were campfire and singing songs, fishing off the pontoon, and kayaking. Carter's favorite parts were playing games in the gym and listening to his counselor talk like ET. "He was so funny mom!"
Something that suprised me about their camp experience is that it sounds like they did not hang out together too much. Even at the very first gathering right after we dropped them off, they sat a few rows apart. I thought they would really like the comfort of having each other there...but I guess they didn't need it as much as I thought they would. It is a bittersweet feeling watching your kids grow up and move on to the next stage...excited to watch them try new things , but sad that they are old enough to be so independent and don't need their mommy so much anymore. However, they were glad that they decided to bring their blankies (there was quite a discussion about whether or not they should and if the other kids would laugh at them.) It turns out all the other boys had blankies too! Mom knew best on that one!

Hello Mother....Hello Father

Carter and Cooper are away at Bible Camp for the first time! It is only for two nights, but that is long enough for me! We dropped them off yesterday and they seemed a little nervous, commenting that they didn't know the rules. I'm sure they are having a great time...even though it is raining today for the first time this summer...figures!

Carter, Cooper, and the CUP

Workin Hard for the Money

The neighborhood kids set up a lemonade stand at the golf course yesterday to earn a little spending cash. They also sold golf balls which seemed to sell even better than the lemonade! The boy next door happened to be the CEO of the enteprenuerial adventure and only paid the boys $.50 each for their duties...but that was just fine with them! Poor Kennedy came out to see if they needed any help but was told to go home.

Thirty Years Ago...

It's my birthday! I LOVE my birthday. I have a feeling that sentiment might change as the numbers get higher, but for now I will freely admit that I LOVE LOVE LOVE my birthday! My kids, however, are already tired of hearing me say, "It's my birthday today!". It is true that nobody cares about my birthday quite as much as I do... in honor of my big day I have posted some photos of July 12 over the past three decades. They are my 1st, 4th, 14th, and 24th birthdays. I also want to wish my niece Jillian a very happy 3rd birthday today...Happy Birthday JillyBean!

Fun at the Lake

Be sure to check out all of the photos from the lake this weekend on the Flicker Badge to the right. Just click on it and click view as slideshow to see all the pics! Happy 4th of July!

Our Wednesday Morning Entertainment

Here is a typical summer morning at our house. All the kids were captivated watching Katelyn and her friend play a dancing game!

My Vacation

I have been on vacation all this week. For the most part, I do have to say that it has been wonderful and I have hinted to Tim more than once that I could really get used to this! Coming home from the gym and sitting down and reading the paper in the quiet house is my favorite!

However, on the downside, my vacation has been filled with several chaffuering duties daily. The kids have had bible school all week in the morning, golf on Tuesday, volleyball camp everyday, hockey camp everyday and baseball tonight. What fun to dress up in hot stinky hockey gear in the middle of the summer. Yes, I'd have to say that the cult better known as Moorhead Hockey has lured us in. But then the kids see Brian Lee in the lobby, or watch Matt Cullen on tv, and you know this is where it all starts; with mom getting them dressed and schlepping them and all their equipment to the rink during her "vacation". So, when they hit the big time, let's hope they remember these days (not the part where I scream at them to hurry up and get their stuff on cause we're going to be late again, or wonder loudly why can't you do this by yourself yet, you've been in hockey for two years already.) As I was discussing with my friend Melissa the other day, in a few short years, us mothers will be banned from the locker room only to be left standing in the lobby wishing for those days when our little boys needed our help.

**Editor's Note: This entry is not meant at all to brag about the amount of this mother's involvement in her boys' early hockey careers. This task falls largely on the shoulders of dad, and boy do we appreciate it! It is not also meant to imply that there will be hockey careers at all...but hey parents can dream right?

Golf...Family Style

We played in our first Family Fun Golf Tournament at the Moorhead Country Club last night. What a winning team we make! It certainly is a test in patience golfing with four children. They had a blast though. They must have said atleast 49 times..."this is fun...I like golf." We scored a16 on our five-hole-scramble. Not too bad!

The Four-Million Dollar Photos

I'm quite sure that people just like me are the reason that People magazine thought that 4 million dollars was quite a bargain for these much sought after photos. I loaded up seven children and hauled them to Target yesterday to get my copy!

Then last night I went to see The Break Up with a friend and the whole time could not stop thinking about Jennifer Aniston and how this whole thing must be so difficult for her. Can you imagine your life being played out like this for the whole world to see? Are Brad and Angelina wrong for being together? Do you really think Jen has moved on with Vince and can find it in her heart to be happy for them? Why is the world, me in particular, so interested in this story? Guess you could say I need to get a life!

Last Day of School!

It's off to the the big school next year for Katleyn. The boys were thrilled and a little relieved to see that their teachers had written down 2nd Grade at the bottom of their report cards...meaning they passed! Who knew they were so worried about it? Tommorrow will be an adjustment having the big kids around...better get to the grocery store today to stock up those cupboards.

Memorial Day Festivities

After a weekend at the lake, we spent the day at the MCC pool and then had a picnic at the park with our good friends. It feels almost wrong that we have to get the kiddies tucked in early tonight, sunburn and all, for another week of school. The "feeling" of summer is officially here.

Summer is almost here

Unlike Fargo schools who only have two days of school left, we on the Moorhead side will be going until June 5th. The kids got some good practice in for summer today with the season debut of the sprinkler.
 

 

My Favorite Shows

If you are a Grey's Anatomy fan, I hope you caught the season finale last night. If you missed it, it is on my Tivo and you can come and watch it! I have already watched the last ten minutes three times...mmmm,mmm,mmm. So good. Best show on television right now in my opinion.

And for my favorite sitcom.... The Office. The season finale for that was last Thursday which was also delicious! The first season is available on DVD and the second season should be available this summer, so you can catch up before season 3! Funny, funny show.

And my guilty pleasure this spring has been my favorite "reality" show, 8th & Ocean on MTV. I'm alittle embarrassed to even admit that I watch this. It is pretty much just a bunch of beautiful people behaving in destructive ways, but I'm hooked.

Happy Mother's Day!

Check out the mom wizard at salary.com to see what the average mom is worth! I did my calculations and should be earning over $119,000 per year for all of my mom duties. Oh, but that's the best thing about mothers...we love those kids so much we do it for free.

The end of an era....

I'm not sure if six years qualifies as an "era", but it should. Preschool days are officially over at our house. We have had kids attending Little Lights for four of the last six years, and today was our baby's last day! The photo is of her receiving her graduation certificate from her teacher.
I have never really understood mothers who wanted to hang onto their children's younger years...until now. I have informed Kennedy that if she never wants to start kindergarten and stay little forever, that it is okay with me. I have also never been a mother to cry when sending her children off to school ("better in your hair than mine" was what I was thinking...what a horrible mother), but I'm willing to bet that a few tears might be shed come next September!

Eleven Years Old

I'm not sure either of us new what we were getting into eleven years ago today. We look so young...we WERE so young! It has led us to a wonderful place and a wonderful family. Happy Birthday Katelyn!

New Toys

Here are the boys...up way past their bedtime trying out their new Nintendo in their new sports room. It was quite a birthday weekend! I think dad had just as much fun with the new toy as the boys did.