PTA

Last weekend, I went to the Texas PTA Summer Seminar. I went with five other girls and we stayed for three days. It was so much fun and I learned a tremendous amount of stuff. I never knew what the PTA was truly about. I always just thought they put on all the parties and did stuff for the teachers. Actually, we are advocates for the kids, parent educators as far as protecting and raising their children and encouragers for public and parental involvement inpublic schools. JOin your local PTA!!! I am only the treasurer, but I am so excited about the upcoming year. Previous PTA boards have not recognized our mission and so haven't provided programs and such. We have six officers and we are all excited to work together this year. We had a great seminar in Austin and were really able to bond without our kids. We have 17 (soon to be 18...not me) kids between the six of us, not including step children. Just wanted to share my new adventure with you all. I was sick before I left and while I was there and am finally feeling a bit better, today.

Kirk's parents came up Wednesday and I caught Christaian and Caleb playing together. This is for Kevin and Katerina.

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Huney

I forgot to blog about the newest member of our family. When Lambeau went to a new home Huney arrived. She is a dwarf hamster and all the kids love her. She doesn't seem to be too much trouble an lets Karissa hold her and play with her.

The Patio

We are still working on our patio. Who knew such a small space could make such a difference. Kirk can be found most everynight lounging out there or even out there with his laptop. We still need to get a fan but I think that's it. It is wonderful to sit out and watch the kids play. The backyard needs a lot of work but that will probably have to wait til next summer. Anyway, it was a great birthday project and we both had fun putting it together.

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Happy Birthday to me.

Happy Birthday to me.

Happy Birthday to meeeeee.

Happy B i r t h d a y to me!!

Look at my wonderful birthday surprise!!!!

Many of you may not know that we had to get rid of Lambeau. When we did we decided we would make a nice backyard out of our yucky one. Step one was to spruce up the patio. Previously, we had a plastic green table and plastic chairs in 3 different colors. So last night Kirk and I had dinner and shopped til we dropped or the stores closed or the van was full. I have never seen so much stuff in our van. All that you see plus three carseats plus Kirk and I were in the van last night. So at midnight we finally sat down and relaxed on our new patio. It still needs a few things but it is a great start. Thanks, Kirk, for indulging me!!!!

Happy Birthday Kevin

Happy Birthday Kevin. We miss you. I know most of your birthday is past already with the time change. I guess it is better late than never. Karissa is sick or she would have led the singing. We made a surprise for both of you and are hoping to get it in the mail today.
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This Ones for you Mike

I woke up this morning to Kylie snuggled up to me in bed, running fever. By lunch time Karissa had it, too. I just checked on Caleb and now there are three. The weather finally turned nice enough to swim and now we are all sick. This summer is wearing me out. Only seven weeks until school starts :)

Escape Artist

So last night, Caleb woke up from the storm. He usually sleeps right thru but he is sick and sleeping very restless. He woke up about 2:30 and stayed awake until 4:30 at which time I put him in his bed to fuss himself to sleep. I am almost asleep in my bed when I notice his crying is getting louder and louder. In the next instant, he is running into my room. The little buger climbed out of his crib. So today, We have to decide whether to leave him in his crib or put up the toddler bed. I was just thinking how nice it is to have ONE kid that stays in bed all night. At nap time today I put him in his bed and he crawled out and was trying to open the door. He doesn't know how to open the door yet but I am sure it won't take long. So much for our peaceful nights!!!
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Birthday fun

Today, was Kylie's second birthday. Kirk's parents and nephew came to visit. They brought Kylie all kinds of ballet stuff. Then we decided to go to Chuck E Cheese. It was wonderful. For $50 nine of us ate and had drinks and played all the games we wanted. On top of that, they gave Kylie a crown, a balloon, and 4 tokens (4 years).Then Chuck E came out with ice cream sandwiches with candles to sing to all the birthday kids. Kylie is afraid of Chuck E so we skipped the ice cream singing thing. I am really impressed with all they do for free. After that we went to Toy R Us. They also gave Kylie a balloon, a crown and announced to the whole store her name and it was her birthday. She thought it was really cool. We also received a $3 gift card to spend at Toys R Us. Kylie was so impressed by it all. Kids are so easy when they are young. I just wanted to share all our cool birthday freebies.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Dad! We love you and miss you. Hope you have a great day. Thanks for being such a kind and loving Dad and grandpa.

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Kylie is 4

Today, Kylie is 4. In so many ways, she is still the baby of the family. She is such a little pixie. She is so tiny and even her features are petite. She is very shy but can be as loud as the big girls when she is comfortable. She cries at the drop of the hat and loves to "sleep in the middle" of our bed. She wants to big but wants to be the baby at the same time. Caleb has become her big, little brother. He is younger but bigger and stronger. Kylie loves to play with him and take care of him. She is the runt of our litter. The older girls both love to play with her and play really well unless all three of them are together. Kylie tends to be sickly and them seems even smaller than she is. She weighs next to nothing and still likes to cuddle up to us. She has tiny freckles on her tiny nose. She loves the water and riding her new big girl bike. We love our little Kylie Paige and can't imagine our family with out her. Happy Birthday Kylie-boo.

Cara's Tooth

Last night, Cara came into our bedroom and said she had her first loose tooth. We looked at it and said"Keep wiggling it and soon it will come out." She went back to bed and not 5 minutes later came in our room and said"I lost my tooth...I mean really lost it. I was trying to pull it out and then it was gone and there was a hole where it was." We couldn't believe it. It wasn't that loose. Karissa practically waits for them to fall out by themselves and here is Cara yanking hers out. Anyway, we spent the next 20 minutes looking for her tooth. She put it under her pillow and was so excited by her $1 this morning. She told me to call and tell everyone she knows she lost her first tooth.

Vacation

This was supposed to be our family vacation picture. It was the end of the second day at Sea World. It would have been great but instead of Kylie, we got Blue Dragon (Kylie won him at a fishing game).

The USS Lexington (really cool)














Padre Island
















The Alamo
















Girls at dusk on the beach

Shamu

Feeding the dolphins



Last, Wednesday we set out on our first family vacation. We left Caleb with Grandma and drove to San Antonio. We spent two great days at Sea world. We saw Shamu, fed dolphins, rode roller coasters and played at the water park. We loved the acrobat Viva show with the beluga whales and dolphins.
Saturday morning, we stopped by the Alamo. The Alamo was very hard for the kids to grasp. Karissa had studied it in school, so she wanted to see it. I checked out a kids library book and read it to them the night before. Cara didn't understand why "they had to fight instead of just talking."Then, we drove to Corpus Christi and walked on the bay and visited the beach at Padre. Sunday, we saw jelly fish off the USS Lexington and got to tour the inside of the first air craft carrier. We spent the rest of the day at the beach in Padre. Sunday night, we drove to Austin(we saw the capital all lite up) and stayed the night in the best hotel of our trip. We drove home on Monday. I caught a cold about the second day of vacation. Hopefully, it will run it's course soon. We had a great time and would love to return to Sea World and the ocean very soon. Kylie loved Shamu, Mom loved the Beluga whales, Dad loved the sharks, Karissa and Cara loved the acrobat show. They all loved the wave pool. ( Kylie informed me ...sometimes when I sneeze I know I am allergic to butterflies).

Caleb had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa and cousin Amanda. He also spent one night with Memaw and Pawpaw and cousin Chris. He loved to look at pictures of all of us but had a great vacation wothout us. We missed him greatly but knew we would wear out much quicker with him. Without him we spent 10 hours at Sea World day one and 8 hours day two. For those of you who know of Kirk's fear of the ocean...he did very well. I think he got a little above the knee deep. Cara, on the other hand, got in until the waves came and then ran out as fast as she could. She loved collecting shells and making sand castles. Kylie and Karissa loved jumping waves but not the salty taste of the water. The ocean was relaxing but very dirty.

Karissa

Today was a big day for Karissa. She got her expander removed and her top braces on. She did really great. I am so proud of her and the maturity she showed from the last time she had appliances put in her mouth. She was scared and hesitant today, but relatively easy to prod along. She has had mainly ice cream and milk shakes to eat this afternoon. She has had quite a bit of soreness. Hopefully, she will adjust quickly. She got black and hot pink bands on her braces.

Tonight, was her Star Scholar award ceremony and reception. All the students who have an A average in citizenship and academics for the year, get a medal. This is her second year to recieve a medal. She was so proud of her braces and even dressed in pink and black to match.

Graduation

Last night was the Awana Award ceremony. Karissa finshed two books and finished the second most sections in all the Sparks. She is really amazing. She didn't just memorize her verses for credit. She can still recall and recite a lot of what she learned. Kylie and Cara finished their first Cubbie books. It was alot of fun and they were all very proud.

Tonight, was Cara's preschool graduation. It was so cute. She got to lead the processional. Then they led the pledges and sang three songs. She got a certificate and a new Bible. The preschool also made memory books for all the kids. Memaw took a dozen yellow roses to Cara at school for her last day. She was about to burst with pride and excitment over getting flowers for the first time.

Caleb got a tricycle, yesterday. He didn't want to get off it at Walmart. He thinks he is big like the girls. Debbie and I went garage saling with the kids today and saw a very similar trike for $10. We could have saved $27.

My Grill

Yesterday, I got the surprise of my life. No, I'm not pregnant. I won a huge grill. When we picked up Kirk's jeep Saturday they were having a drawing for two grills. Kirk had already put his name in earlier in the week. Jamie, our saleswoman, said I could enter, too. We didn't hear anything Saturday or Sunday so we just forgot about it. Then yesterday I got a call from James Wood (the car dealership). I just figured they were calling to check on How Kirk was liking the car. Instead this guy says"Are you feeling lucky?" I couldn't\can't believe I won something. So cool to get a jeep and a brand new, mega, we could never afford and would never spend that much on, grill. Now we just have to learn how to use it and all the gizmo's on it.

Some summer do's

I felt wonderful Sunday so I mowed the lawn. I think that probably wasn't the best thing for my knee. I feel almost as if I am back to the origional injury pain. So much for my two weeks of rest. I really thought I would just slowly get back to normally but for me there is no slowly. I have too much to do. This week alone I have Awana's store night, PTA teacher appreciation week, orthodontist appointment plus Kirk is car shopping. Cara took the above picture of Kylie and I . I think you can tell enough to see our hair cuts!! I have bangs but they drive me nuts so I push them to the side most of the time. I wanted to stop having such a big forehead but I think I will have to follow Kelly's lead and cut shorter bangs. It is really funny...Karissa cut her hair very similar to mine but I talked her out of the shorter bangs because they would always be in her eyes. She opted for bangs she can tuck behind her ear and then I go and cut mine in the middle of my face!! Go figure. When my mom was here last week she helped me redo my front flower bed. I am so proud of how it turned out. I love to go outside and look at it, now. Before there were short green shrubs and no flowers. We pulled out 10 bushes and then planted lots of different flowers.

Swingset Bliss

Great motion shot. Can you guess how many tries it took to time it right?
He looks so proud!!!

Two years ago, when we moved to Saginaw we promised the kids a swing set. Last Saturday, we finally bought one. Today, it is finally finished being put together (except the stakes). The kids love it. They wake up and ask to go outside. So far, Lambeau hasn't chewed on it but you never know. Caleb thinks he has gone to heaven. He loves to swing. Who knew such a simple (but expensive) thing could make my life so much easier. My knee\leg is finally better. I mowed today without any pain. Thanks to my mom, in laws and my friend for coming over to help me be able to rest. I am going to start walking this week. Kirk is getting noticeably thin, I think he has lost about 24 lbs. WOW! The only time I have ever lost that much is after having a baby. I started a chore\allowance chart for the kids. Today was the first day. Karissa was a little resistant but the little girls love it. Karissa has been a great big sister to Cara the last few days. Usually, they can't get along for 5 seconds. Karissa has been helping Cara and wanting to sit next to her and choosing to play with her. So strange but delightful while it lasts. Caleb has discovered markers. No matter how many times I put them up and think I have them all, he finds more. I guess that is all for now. Karissa will be getting braces at the end of this month. Cara has graduation from preschool on the 17th. They do caps and gowns and everything. Kirk has a half marathon on the 20th. I guess May will turn out to be pretty busy. I hope this cool rainy weather hangs around for awhile. I am lovin' it.

Running Blues

I have not posted lately because I have been bummed. I ran my fifth run and came home feeling great. I took my shoes off and had a shooting pain in my knee. I haven't been able to run in two weeks or even walk much, for that matter. I have some kind of tendonitis. What really sucks is the run felt great and I ran further than I ever have. Hopefully, I can run again soon. I am getting around better each day. Kirk ran his second race Saturday. We didn't get to go because my knee and Kylie was sick. This was a 10k. In three weeks, he is going to run a half marathon (13 mi.) My gooal is a 5K and then just loose weight. Karissa has her school program tonight. It should be cute. She has a speaking part this year. The girls got summer haircuts Sunday. They look really cute!! LAst weekend, we went to the Water Gardens. The kids had a blast and it was free. I mostly just sat and watched. There is a huge stone mountain the kids loved to climb on and it is refreshing to be around all the fountains.

Running

Today is my fourth day to run. I am only run\walking a mile with a bit aof warm up at the beginning and end. I have to admit that I don't hurt as much today as I did. I still don't love it but I do want to run. I have not had a Dr. Pepper since Monday and I am trying to drink water. It is so funny that all our blogs are about diet and weight and exercise. It must be something to do with being in our 30's. I think when you are younger it is easier to stay thin. I have always heard when you get in your 30's the weight is much harder to get off. Anyway, I have not lost a single pound!!!! No DP, running and drinking water and no weight loss. Kirk was at 4 or 5 pounds by now and only walking. I knew it would be this way but I was hoping I would be proven wrong.

Easter in WF

We had a good Easter. The kids hunted eggs with 10 of their cousins. Caleb knew there was candy in the eggs so we had no problem getting him to hunt eggs. It was really fun to have a big Easter egg hunt. We went to Grace Sunday. It is amazing how things grow and change while we are gone. We didn't know very many people anymore. The good thing is I finally feel like Saginaw is home. I really can't imagine moving back to Wichita Falls, anymore. Karissa and Kylie didn't cooperate with the picture taking thing. Karissa hates to dress up and wasn't afraid to let us know it. The great thing about having four kids is they cover you up in the picture.

Kirk has finally convinced me to start running. I just started Sunday and all I can say is .....IT HURTS! Kirk says give it two weeks and I will love it. I really doubt I will love it but if I can shed the fat that hangs OVER my jeans, I will be happy. Alyssa, I am not one of those who is happy and skinny (but maybe I will be soon). I am prepared to be disappointed beacause I know that men generally loose weight faster than women. Oh well, maybe we can run a race together.