OH MY!!

SO much has taken place...School started C Cakes turned 3, Big C went to Washington, Cheering, dance, soccer, cross country, church activites, FCA,Engineering, drama production,Big C elected HOSA Pres, Homecoming, Sweet Pea turned ONE!!! OH MY! And on top of keeping up with everyones activities I'm now working 2 jobs!! Data entry which is really a halftime job working 20hrs a week and still doing a photography biz all while being mommy fulltime!! Needless to say the blog has been neglected. I will try to upload some photos soon and give a more detailed update. But for now its naptime which means worktime :)

A year has passed

Hard to believe it's been a year ago today since we lost my step dad! I can't even tell you how many times we have wanted his input and advice on things!! Yes we joked and it annoyed the hell out of us that he always knew everything about whatever came up! If he didn't know it he had the time to google and call and figure out how to do it!! And that we have missed time and time again!! He seems to like to make his point through flickering lights....seriously twice we were either talking about what he wanted or deciding what to do and out of the blue the light around us flickered! DooDooDoo!!! I always knew my mom was an amazingly strong woman but she could never have proved it more than over the last year and a half!! If the first year is the toughest then I think she will be A Okay cause she really couldn't have been dealt a more difficult 12mo than what she just conquered!! Now for her to enjoy retirement!! Through the year time and time again I was reminded that blood is not what makes you family!! I will always be sad that Kyrie and Caull won't know their PaPaw but know he is watching over us all! Not sure if that is good or bad :) guess if my lights flicker we'll know!!

LDOS

2 weeks later!! :) Sue Bee Sue Bee!! Not sure she is really excited about 1st grade...she'd much rather take her teacher with her!! Finished up the year reading up a storm! I think she made the rounds through all the grades to read to their classes! C Bear rocked his awards this year!! Every single award was checked on his list except perfect attendance (which he missed by like 30min the day his sister was born)Most proud was he got the Citizenship award second year in a row! The kids must be really bad in his grade ;) We survived the 6th grade...they really should make Tshirts! She is excited to be starting middle school! I think this one is going to be our athelete! She's excited about trying out sports!! Not sure she'll like morning practice though! As for now she's ours that likes sleeping late on Summer mornings! She is at church camp this week! Sit back and hold on tight!! The next 4 years is going to be a wild and crazy ride with Red!! 12 days into Summer and she has already been to cheer camp and at church camp now!! Hard to believe this time next year Big C will be starting the application process for college!! WAY TOO FAST!! He did get the job he applied for he is now just waiting to turn 16! He will be working at the hospital! He is volunteering until then doing what he got hired to do! He has already been to leadership camp, he goes to nationals this month, TN on a church trip in July plus another leadership camp and then will start work the 1st of Aug!! Crazy busy! But he should be an phenominal leader by the end of the Summer!!

Confirmation!!

On May 27th we had the honor of watching Red confirm her faith in God!! It was the most awesome confirmation services I have seen! The pastor included each child into his sermon. They each had a bible verse chosen for them. Hers was Romans 15:13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. As he came to Red he touched on her smile and Joy that she brings with her everywhere she goes. He nailed it!

Thoughts!!

2 quotes for the day!! "Astrophysicists assure us the universe has no center. Therefore you cannot be it." and If you want your children to turn out well, spend twice as much time with them, and half as much money ~Abigail Van Buren~ We may be way off on how we raise kids totally messing ours up- but it hasn't shown through "yet" at least!! Both of these quotes could be the motto for our family!! It gets so hard to teach kids that you have to work hard for everything you get in life! It makes me sad though sad that the world is lacking people that my kids can grow up and relate to. It makes me sad that most kids just say I want and it appears because they are "special". What ever happened to earn the money and buy it yourself? So many kids these days do believe it all revolves around them! Yes we support our kids dreams and we act like the scribble on the paper is the most beautiful thing ever! But at the same time we tell them you put your pants on one leg at a time just like the boy next to you. So yes all our kids are "special" but everyones kid is "special" the ones who work a little harder, give a little more effort, and have priorities in check end up having a little bit more special life!! But sadly the speech the first quote came from has come with debate....heaven forbid we give it to these young adults straight heaven forbid someone break it to these spoiled kids that if you want others to think you are special you might have to actually work for it! Heaven forbid someone say you are special- but not near as special as your momma brought you up thinking you were! :) The second quote ties in with the other and I came across them in 2 completely different areas in the same hour!! Though a vacation to a private island does sound nice at times!! Heck just 5 minutes alone at this point would be nice ;)

UGH!!!

In the last 2 weeks my youngest 2 have sure decided to grow up on me!! :/ I started watching Sue Bees teacher son (2 wks older than Sweet Pea) 2wks ago. By the 2nd day Sweet Pea decided to show off and start slithering. That would be her form of scooting and she is just about as fast as a snake too!! Can't believe she is coming up on 8mo (that went too fast) She is starting to have much more personality too still tough to get a smile out of her unless she's in the mood but those are happening much more!!She says bye, blows kisses and does the silliest faces!! She is a good cross between Red and Sue Bee depends on the day! As for my C Cakes...he is talking,counting,learning colors,learning signs :( turning into a little boy to say the least! As for the rest of life...we are on countdown mode!! 7 more school days!! Yes I am counting down because I am ready to have my kids home and a slower routine! Most assume I count down dreading a house full of kids!! NOPE we actually like having em around :) Although it seems the # of days all 10 of us will all be home together are few and far between!! I was never one to shuffle my kids between grandparents, aunts ect all Summer but now that my older kids have so many trips each Summer I cherish every bit of time with my little ones that much more!! Even if it's just lazy mornings at home and afternoons at the pool!! I LOVE SUMMER!!! BUT before that we have awards, banquets, confirmation, job interview (Yep thats right Big C interviews for his first job tomorrow), about 3 more field trips, field day, Kinder graduation and I'm sure other things that I'll be told about the night before!! ;)

Food On The Table

My new favorite thing!!

www.foodonthetable.com


Can a favorite thing be a web site?? Well mine is!! I got a free lifetime membership code a couple months ago! Google maybe there are codes still out there!! I tried another menu site last year and it was OK but nothing like this! First you put in the store you shop at. The site then pulls up menus that work around your stores sale items. And when I say menu I mean you get a TON to choose from! I can then go in and adjust my serving size (cause yes no recipe is for a large family) Once I choose my recipes for 2 wks its on my menu...I then hit get grocery list it will show me everything I need to make everything on my menu. I then can delete what I already have. Once thats done I can pull up all sales at my store and add what I need to my list. And if I still have things to add I can type it in myself! My menu stays earmarked so I just have to pull up the recipe for the day and its all right there. It gives you all the nutitional info and you can request diet specific recipes too! I've been using this for a couple months now and there has not been a "bad" recipe yet! Its given us a change in meals, saved me a TON of time, and probably a little money too! Even if you have to pay the yearly fee it is well worth it!! ****UPDATE**** Found this on another site.... Sign up and use the code “SPRINGFREE” through the month of May and you can get this service for NO CHARGE!