Let the fun begin!

We are here! We got to my parents house Saturday afternoon tired, worn out from a long trip, but very excited to see them. Our trip didn't start off like we had planned. We were supposed to leave around 7:00 Friday morning, stop in Murray, Ky to measure some windows for JM's job, then drive on to my parents. We didn't leave the house until 7:00 Friday NIGHT due to some unexpected problems with the hitch on the van. It was late when we got on the road, and even later when we got to KY (like 11:30 late) and we still had another 3 hours of driving. My parents live in Eastern time zone so it would have been 4 in the morning when would finally arrive at their house. We decided to just stay in Murray. Now we're here and everyone's happy. Except poor JM who is driving all over the great U.S. of A. measuring windows in a car with no a/c. I miss you, honey!



Yesterday (Sunday) we went to the Louisville Science Center. It was very cool, as usual. We spent the entire day (from 12:30-5:30) playing and learning (well, I hope they learned something!). We also watched an IMAX movie "The Living Water" which was about ocean life. Very neat.



After we got home we did the usual. Play, dinner, baths, etc. Brooks keeps asking to walk around the neighborhood. When asked why he wants to go, he'll say it's because he likes to walk, which is a complete lie. I think he's spying on the cute girls that live a few doors down. :)I cannot believe the kids have been staying up past 11:00 every night. It doesn't get dark here until 9:30 and as Micah said last night, "We can't go to bed, it's not dark yet." He's right. It's hard to settle down and get ready for bed when the sun is still shining.



Here's what the rest of our week looks like:



Today: We are going to run some errands, get haircuts, go to the mall, stop at a HUGE goodwill store near the mall, and then go to Chuck E. Cheese.



Tuesday: Driving to Santa Clause, IN to go to Holiday World and Splashin' Safari. We were going to do Six Flags but this other place has more rides that my kids are interested in (smaller, not as scary). And their water park looks alot bigger. The kids are excited about going and so am I. I wanna go on some water slides!



Wednesday: We're headed to the Louisville Zoo. Tyler and Micah have never been to a zoo before so this should be alot fun for them.



Thursday: Huber Farm and Orchard. This is just down the road from my parents. It looks like alot of fun for not alot of money!

That's all we have planned so far but that could change at any given moment. (Remember, God's in control!) I have other places I would like to go but it my have to wait until we visit again.

Indiana....Here we come!

Yippieee!!! I am so excited!

We are leaving tomorrow morning to go visit my mom and dad in Indiana. And we'll be there for 2 weeks!!

This unexpected trip came about when JM landed a big contract with Dollar General and they want 40 of their stores tinted by the end of July. A good portion of the stores are in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan so it just makes sense for us to go up and stay with my parents while the work gets done. The plan is for me to stay with my mom for a week and then help JM out the other week while my parents keep the kids. It's going to be a lot of work but the hard work will definitely pay off!

I am so excited. God has heard and answered my prayers. I needed to see my parents and we definitely needed the money. Getting this job has been a blessing in so many ways!

Anyway, I'm going to try and blog while at my mom's but I'm not going to promise anything. My mom has a ton of energy and never seems to slow down, so we will probably be on the go the entire time we're there. WOO HOO!! I CAN'T WAIT!

Water Babies

We went over to some friends of ours and swam all day Saturday in their beautiful pool . The kids (along with JM and I) had such a great time! Here are some pictures of the fun:

Micah-3 yr. Tyler-5 yr.

Brooks- 8 yr. Shelby-7 yr.



Blake- 10 yr.

Blake and Brooks showing off their diving board skills:

This is what a full day of swimming will do to a 3 year old:

The kids are back. And a few other things.

They got home from camp on Saturday. Stinky, smelly, tired, but full of stories. They had such a great time. We were a little worried about Brooks. He called home Monday night (their first night there) and already wanted to come home b/c no one was playing with him. He said he was being left out of everything. We told him to just stick it out and if he still wasn't having a good time, he could home on Wed. He ended up staying the whole week and he had a good time.
After they got home, unloaded all their camp stuff, JM reminded them that it was Saturday and the yard still had to be mowed, even if they were tired and worn out from being at camp all week. Brooks said, "yes sir" and then muttered, "I wanna go back to camp". Who can blame him?

While the kids were at camp, I had to get rid of Sadie, the basset hound that we got back in March. Why did I have to get rid of her? Long story short: she stinks, howls waaaayyy too much, hates being inside but runs away when we let her out, tore up the carpet in our living room, tore up the linoleum in the kitchen, and the hair. Oh, the HAIR! That dog sheds sooo bad! I couldn't stand it anymore. She was stressing me out, and I am already stressed out enough as it is so I took her to the pound on Friday. I paid them to take her. I also gave them 3 bags of puppy food so I don't feel bad about leaving her there. Also, the kids were begging me to get rid of her. She had become a pain in the you-know-what.

Now this week we are getting back into the swing of things. I am trying my hardest to stay on a regular school schedule. I have been struggling with a few personal issues ( depression, anxiety) and it's been hard to get done what needs to be done. JM said something the other day that made me want to snap out of the funk I'm in (it's not working yet, but I'm determined to get there). He said, totally out of the blue, "I think the kids need to be enrolled in school this year." I didn't say anything. I didn't feel like fighting with him about it (plus the kids were in the car with us) so I kept silent. I just hope and pray that it doesn't come to that. My kids have no desire to go to school. Except Shelby, she is just curious about it but I think her curiosity would fade the first week there. Anyway, just hope and pray that this will all work out. I think I would just sink further into depression if my children were sent away all day.

Thursday Thirteen: Why I home school

Here are just 13 of the reasons why I home school.

1. I feel that is what God has called me to do.

2. We can spend more time together as a family-my children are each other's best friends!

3. We can go on vacation whenever we feel like it.

4. My children don't have to deal with peer pressure.

5. I don't think I could get all 5 kids dressed, fed, and out the door to catch the bus at 7:15 a.m.

6. We finish most of our lessons by lunch time every day and I don't have to deal with homework every night.

7. I don't have to worry about bomb threats, assaults, or school shootings.

8. I can keep my children as far away from drugs as possible.

9. I know what they are leaning and it's so much fun learning new stuff together as a family!

10. They're developing very important life skills such as cooking, cleaning, organizing, and money management just by being at home.

11. They learn how to socialize with people of all ages, not just their peers. It's amazing to watch a 10 year old hold a serious conversation with someone 4 times his age.

12. I enjoy being around my kids.

13. It's not for everyone, but it's definitely what works for our family.

Pardon my mess

With Blake and Brooks away at camp and Shelby staying at Mawmaw's house for the week, I decided to do something I have been putting off for looong while.

Clean and Re-Organize the little kids room.

I say re-organize because, believe it or not, it was organized at one time. But that was a very long time ago. And things had just kinda got outta control. The room turned into a Disaster Area! Then I just pretended I didn't see the mess in there. Denial is sometimes a good thing.

See what I mean:

Pretty bad, huh?

We (meaning Tyler, Micah and I) spent the better part of the morning going thou all of that stuff. I found 4 sippy cups, 2 lost shoes, the remote to the dvd player that has been m.i.a. for over 2 months, and a few other things that I will not mention here. I threw away 3 huge bags of broken toys/trash and have 5 bags of stuff to take to the Salvation Army.

After going thou and sorting stuff, I put it all away. Then I moved the beds, dressers, and toy boxes and vacuumed under everything and along the baseboards. I even washed all the dirty walls! Hadn't done that in a while.

All that hard work, I think it looks pretty good.

Now if I could just get it to stay that way!

Happy Father's Day

Here is the Father's Day letter I wrote to my dad, but did not send. I decided to post it on my blog for him and the world to see......

Dad,

Well, since it is Father's Day I should wish you a "Happy Father's Day". You know how I feel about this so-called holiday, that's why you're not getting a card from me. (I think you should honor and love your father every day not just one day out of the year, and I do.) But it dawned on me that I don't tell you how much I love you often enough. I love you and all that you have done for me. I love you for putting up with all the crap I have put you and mom thru these last 30 years.

You have taught me so much. Like how to ride my bike, how to skate, how to drive, how to work hard and how to take pride in everything you do. You even taught me how to make the most delicious chili in the whole wide world.

I have lots of great memories with you like camping when we were little, riding "inside" the corvette, and you taking off work to drive me to Memphis just to see some boy I was crazy about. But my favorite memory was the last time we were in South Dakota. We sat up until the wee hours of the morning talking and laughing with Cookie and Gary. You told stories I had never heard before. It was so much fun!

Anyway, I hope you know I love you! And thank you for being my dad!

Love,

Amber

p.s. Thank you for sharing your Bing bars with me. (You did know it was me who kept taking them, right?)

Here are some of the pictures I have, but mom has all the good ones!

I know this last one was taken before you were a dad, but I found it when I was going thru my pictures and I couldn't resist posting it! I don't know why, but it cracks me up! :)

My Five Senses

Here are some of the things that I'm.......

Seeing:
~ Blake and Brooks trying to do a science experiment at the kitchen table.
~Tyler watching the boys trying to do a science experiment.
~Micah, sprawled out in the middle of the floor, "reading" a book.

Hearing:
~ Shelby coming in from outside.
~Blake saying, "Rubix Cubix" over and over and over. I have no idea where in the world he got that from or why he keeps saying it. It's annoying everyone. (That's probably why he's doing it.)
~Tyler whistling from the other room.
~Micah saying, "Give it to me!". "Give it to me now". "Give it to me now PLEASE!". Tyler must have something he wants b/c now he's crying about it.

Feeling:
~Tired and Yucky Blucky. I have no energy to do anything.
~My head hurts. I've had a headache since Monday. I hope I'm not getting sick.
~Hungry, even though I ate. I'm craving chocolate. Seriously, I could easily down a whole bag of Ghiradelli Chocolate Chips right now.

Smelling:
~Burnt popcorn from last night. The trash needs to be taken out!
~My own stink. I need a shower.
~A smelly boy standing next to me, reading this as I type it. ( Hi, Brooks!)

Tasting:
~Sprite that I've been sipping on.
~A B.L.T. (minus the "B") sandwich that I just got done eating.
~That bag of chocolate chips I was craving. (Ha! I only wish I had some to taste!)

WFMW: Lost Toy Basket

Here's my first attempt at doing a Works For Me Wednesday post:

Having five kids means having a lot of toys and kid "stuff" in the house. Neither of which I mind. The one thing I do mind is having the living room full of toys and stuff.

So I came up with a rule to help keep the living room clutter free and to help the kids remember to put their stuff away when they are done with it. The rule is: You may play with your toys in the living room as long as you put it away (i.e. back in your room!) when your done with it, otherwise if you forget and I have to pick it up, it gets put in my "Lost Toy Basket". The LTB is a mesh basket that I keep in my laundry room. Anything that gets put in there has to stay in there until the 1st day of the month. Then I empty it out and give them their stuff back and we start all over.

The first few months the basket was over-flowing by the end of the month but now they all have gotten the idea. Even my 3-year old is getting better about picking up his toys when he's done with them.

It works for me!

For more WFMW ideas, head on over the Rock's in my Dryer!

It's official

School is back in session and I am now homeschooling ALL 5 KIDS AT THE SAME TIME!!! Yikes!

Micah was beginning to feel left out whenever we did "school" so I bought him his own book. Can you tell he's excited?