A Great Day Until....

We skipped church - yeah I feel bad about that - and we really need to start making that a priority when we are home.

The weather was awesome and we wanted to get out and do something. So - what do we do? Go see a movie. I know, not exactly the "enjoy the weather" activity.

We saw the Princess and the Frog at 12:15. It was a long movie. And the shadows were scary and so was some of the Voodoo. Joshua had a hard time with some parts of it. And for me - it really dragged and I couldn't wait for it to be over.

We came home and everybody took turns playing outside. Joshua, Jacob, Layne and Matthew. I am told that Layne "has found her shot" at basketball. Matthew moved the goal over in the yard so they can play in the street somewhat and be able to dribble.

We woke up this morning with Layne having set the table for breakfast. She got plates out for everyone, put a small doughnut and piece of toast that she made on every one's plate. She had the butter, jelly and drinks all ready to go. She told me all I had to do was make scrambled eggs - so of course, I did. I also made some sausage. Good thing, too as Joshua had 3 of the 8 pieces all by himself. (Not sure how I am going to feed the teenage years!)

I was able to go to my UMW Circle meeting this evening. It was good to go - not feeling as connected this year as last - but I think that is just an overall feeling.

Called Matthew on my way home and things were good.

This is the "Until....." part - Got in the door and Matthew said "well I guess we are going to clean out bathroom tonight". Ewwww - Jacob had thrown up all over our bathroom, wall, rugs, doors, my Crocs, it was everywhere - and it did not smell good at all.

So - no more of Jacob being in charge of the amount of popcorn he eats is my new lesson.

Some pictures from today:

Our table set and ready courtesy of Layne
Artistic closeup courtesy of Matthew
Joshua - ecstatic that he snagged the last piece of sausage
Jacob enjoying his breakfast
Layne - the reason we all woke up in a great mood and had such a great start to our day -

Basketball Game Day

Matthew and I both took advantage of the opportunity to sleep in today. We didn't get up until almost 10:00 a.m. - thank you kids! And - it wasn't too bad when we went downstairs - no spilled nailpolish, no food all over the counter, nothing questionable on TV.

Layne had a game at 1:00 p.m. She was more timid than usual - but she played and stayed in the game. I think in basketball she notices her size more than in soccer. Love this picture! She and Katie Rutherford both look a little scared.



But - she ran hard back and forth across the court - she listened to the coaches - and other than seeming to be pretty tense during some down time on the court - she says she had a great game. This set of coaches are not keeping any stats and I don't keep track of score real well either - but I think they lost this one.

Here is another image showing her relative size - that is Maya from our former basketball / soccer days.
And here are the boys - Joshua is really into cars right now and it is definitely one of those things that have to go with us everywhere. Jacob has been keeping a journal lately and writing short stories - he has some of his dad's humor. Might have to get him to share a story for the Blog.

The art of basketball manipulation

Came up with a new plan for practice. Decided Layne needed to do practice on her own. The story was that Matthew needed to help Mom out at church during practice and he wouldn't be able to be in the gym.

Started the story last night at Wednesday Night Church Dinner. This is how the conversation went:

Me: "Layne, tomorrow at practice I need Dad to finish some things for me at church. He won't be able to be in they gym".

Layne: "But, why?"

Me: "Because I really need the help and you will be busy with practice and your team."

Layne: "Okay, but am I going to do soccer?"

Me: "Layne, I really don't know right now. It has been very hard with basketball and you really need to show us you know how to be part of a team before we sign up for soccer again."

Layne: "But mom, my coach and the girls said they needed me to play soccer. They wanted me to be on the team again."

Me: "I am sure they do Layne and I am glad you say you want to - but you really have to do what you say. Just because we sign you up for soccer doesn't mean that you will have the same coach and same team. I cannot promise you that - things change (key phrase here - LOL) and we need to figure out how to go along with it. Let's keep working on basketball and we will discuss soccer later."

Layne: loooooong pause "But, you will always be my Mom, right? That won't ever change, will it?"

Me: (trying really hard to not laugh and/or roll my eyes) "Yes, Layne I will always be your mom."

Now - who was in control here? Yeah - I got give Layne some points for that one - change the subject and suck up all in one.

I need a new parenting book.

Oh - by the way - Matthew doing the drop off in the gym and disappear - she did awesome with practice and had a great time all on her own.

Whewww!!!!

Not Much New

Not much to report, we are all busy, work, school, brownies, cub scouts, daycare, choir, basketball, homework, baths, bedtime. It makes finding time to game downright difficult. I figure it out somehow, it's not easy, but I make the time. Ok, maybe somethings get put aside.

Dishes in the sink, if I hold my hand up and shield my eyes, walk real fast...you don't even notice them. Laundry, ahh, just wear those jeans again, yeah, the underwear does smell a bit, but it's worn inside the jeans, no one will notice. What, your socks are stiff and crusty...just put 'em on and as the day goes by they'll soften back and be good as new. And again they are inside of the shoe, so the smell get's negated. That's usin' the old noggin'. Just how big can a pile of laundry get. Oh, wait, if we separate the clothes into whites, darks, khaki/gray. Hey, hey, look at that the piles got small again. Bppssshhh, we just gave ourselves and extra couple of days with that little trick. Toys, paper, and books, all over the floor, just cram it into a corner. That one's a bit tricky because it actually requires some time and effort, but if done right it's really not that bad. Plus you can employ the kids to help and then praise them for doing such a good job. Not only are you cleaning, but your parenting at the same time. Ah, this stuff is gold...gold.

Ya know, I might have a nice book in the works here, "How to be a Dad and Still Game" The keys to procrastination and blissful ignorance. You too can pull it off.

Oh, yeah, you have to be married to a phenomenal wife! Love you Jennifer.

Pinewood Derby

We had our first Pinewood Derby. I had worked on the car the past week. Jacob and I drew up a shape and a design. It came out quite well, pretty neat looking. Jacob named the car "Luck of the Irish". I used the mail scale at work to weigh the car, and it was about 3 1/2 oz, 5 oz is the max weight, so I knew I needed to add some weight or we were toast. I picked up some pinewood derby car weight and added it right before we took the car for check in. Unfortunately I got some glue in the wheels and I think lost some of the lubrication and it got sticky. Plus the weights really pushed the minimum height requirements, still not sure it wasn't scraping the track on the way down.

They've really got it set up for the races, a big screen with all the info from the races. They show the cars' scale speed, the time, the lane, and the place the car comes in. I think Jacob finished 3rd in all of his heats, not too terrible, especially considering the third and second place finishers for the whole competition were in his den. We all had fun with the races. I've got lots to learn before next years race. There were races for siblings and parents too, so now Layne and Joshua want to make cars for next year, they were really excited about that. Joshua ended up playing with Jacob's car like it was just one of his toys, just driving it around with all the other cars in his room, it held up pretty well.

Fire

A little excitement at work today. There was a car fire in the parking deck attached to the hospital below the ER. Hopefully nobody was hurt - but there was quite a bit of drama in an otherwise boring day.

Worked late today. Trying to get scheduling settled for the new Tuberous Sclerosis Clinic. Not liking it - not fun at all.

Feeling like a horrible mom with Layne's "punishment" - Melanie tells me that is how I know I am doing the right thing.

Layne did a good job with her letter. No complaints.

I think the boys and I will stay home tomorrow - as she won't be playing (unless absolutely necessary for the team) - not sure there is a reason to go. Still on the fence about that one.

Matthew took all 3 kids to the church to check in the Pinewood Derby car. The Derby is Sunday afternoon - I hope it is fun - and not the craziness I think it will be based upon the Pack Meetings.

Kids had a hard time getting to sleep. Joshua is pulling out all the stops, 1) he is thirsty 2) he is not sleepy 3) he needs daddy to sit with him 4) he is afraid of the dark 5) he wants to sleep in Layne's room - the list goes on and on.

Long Day

Got up late. Woke up to Matthew mumbling "it's 7:30". He got dressed and drove Layne and Jacob to school. They got there before final bell.

Joshua got to stay home and was really loving having his own time with Mom and breakfast at the house. So after Matthew got home and took his shower Joshua wasn't real excited about going to school.

Then I laid back down and promptly fell asleep!!!! Good grief! Thank goodness dad called about noon and woke me up. I guess we were all tired.

Layne had another not so great night at basketball. Kind of at my wits end. She wouldn't practice tonight - even with the coach trying to include her and some of the other girls. Sooo - she will write her coach a note apologizing for her behavior, she will sit with the team on Saturday but not play, and she will practice next week and be part of the team if she wishes to continue with basketball. If she does not - she will pay Matthew and I the $105.00 that it cost for her to play - and Matthew and I get to determine what she does to pay us back. She wasn't too happy with me at bedtime.

Ugh! So frustrating.

Wednesday Night Dinner

We did it - actually go there early - and I didn't need to beg anyone for a ride. Dinner was okay. It was good to see Tom - hadn't seen him since Christmas Eve dinner.

Was able to get caught up with some things I need to be working on for Preschool Sunday School. At least I came home motivated to work on it - had not been feeling motivation at all up until this point.

Layne was in quite the mood this morning. Had not had one of those in a while. Matthew ended up having to carry her in to school after she spent the drive throwing things at him in the car. Thing is - she was probably just fine 10 minutes after Matthew left and had a great day - where I let it annoy me each time I thought about it - grrrrr!

Will go to Costco in the morning with mom - don't want to waste my coupons!

Will post our picture later.

Busy At Work

Yes, yes, it's been a while since the last post. We have been busy and tired...still busy and tired so it'll be brief. Josh's eye is looking much better, Layne was feeling lousy but seems to be on the other side of it, and Jacob has decided to become a writer when he grows up. Need to teach that boy to type and he can post some of these blogs.

The pic of Josh is from the morning after the fall, the picture doesn't do it justice, he had a nice shiner. Layen's first game of 2010 (wow that's weird to type) and the boys hangin' out.

A Day of Firsts

First Brownie Meeting in 2010 today.

First Basketball Practice for Layne today.

First UMW Board Meeting today.

First fall all the way down the stairs for Joshua. Yeah - I will get to that one in a minute.

Layne was very excited about Brownies. They met at Publix Supermarket for a tour and taste testing in the Apron's Kitchen. They got to touch the lobsters - whooooo. All 15 girls in the troop were there. It seems like such a large group - good grief! They got balloons, chicken, cookies, juice boxes, and bags with coupons and goodies - all for free. It was actually a really nice time for the girls.

Layne and I met Matthew at Frontera for cheese dip and burritos for dinner. Layne was tired tonight and very clingy to Matthew at dinner. I was a little nervous about basketball as clingy as she was but went with the flow. Matthew and Layne left together to go by the house and get a basketball and went on ahead to the church for the UMW Board Meeting.

UMW Board Meeting was interesting. I furiously took notes - as I am the Secretary. Need to figure out who people are and what is really important. I haven't ever felt you need to take everything down - but since the previous Secretary did just that - I tried tonight and then will look at my notes tomorrow to type then up and see how it goes. We met until almost 9:00 p.m. That was new with this new president. Before it had been about 1 to 1 hour 15 minutes. But this was the first night with the new Board and we shall see how it goes.

Matthew picked up Joshua and Jacob from Grandma and Papa Jack's when he and Layne finished and they were obviously home before me - but still very wired when I got home. Joshua has decided he is afraid of the dark and doesn't want to go to sleep right. We had all 3 kids in their respective beds and Matthew and I were downstairs whispering about Layne when we heard some little footsteps. We chose to ignore and continue our conversation. Then we heard little footsteps at the top of the stairs. We each rolled our eyes at each other and waited for Joshua to get downstairs to say anything. Next thing we know - there is a tumbling down the stairs and we see arms and legs and hands and feet flailing at the bottom. He really scared himself and annoyed Matthew to no end. BUT - Mommy was able to optimize this opportunity to explain to Joshua how when Mommy and Daddy tell him he needs to stay in bed at night it is to keep him safe. That it is our job to make sure he is safe and at night he is safest in his bed because the house is dark and that way Mommy and Daddy always know where he is and can check him on. To which he replied, "because if we get out of bed we get hurt" and Matthew said "that is right". Yes, he either has a college fund or a therapy fund - whichever he needs most after we mess him up.

Layne told me she was too shy to play basketball tonight and she didn't practice with the team. I told her that basketball is a choice and this is a team sport and she needs to be with the team doing what the team is doing if she is going to play basketball. She has Saturday's game and next Thursday's practice to get it together. Good grief I can't believe we go through this the beginning of every activity that she KNOWS she likes and enjoys and chooses to do!!!!

We will only be home 3 nights this week together. I don't even have kids in high school yet and we are this busy. Unbelievable!

In the morning I have Muffins for Mom at school with Jacob and Layne. I am looking forward to it. I haven't been at school much this year - I probably need to plan a day and go to lunch with the kids, too.

Here's my girl from April 2008 - Love Her!!!!!!

Learning about Fossils

Jacob and Layne have a test on Thursday about Fossils. I made 2 sets of flash cards tonight for them to study from this week. Hopefully it will help as much as last time.

Got home from Knoxville last night about 8:00 p.m. Had a great time with my sister. It was nice to just be together. Actually got a lot of scrapbooking done also - go figure.

Fell in love with Big Love. Absolutely LOVE Bill Paxton - whoo hooo!

Busy week - will try to keep up - and keep fingers crossed.

Cotton Patch Gospel

Was able to meet mom and dad for dinner at Shane's tonight. We were worried we weren't going to meet our $35 requirement to get $25 off of our meal with Mom's coupon - but we didn't end up having a problem. It tasted good and it is always nice to have a meal where you don't have worry about a spill, who is being loud, who is being silly, and have an adult conversation.

We went to church to hear Tom Key do his one man show. I didn't know he had worked with Harry Chapin to develop a musical that was performed off Broadway - will have to look that up someday.

A little stressful day at work - there is drama around scheduling days of and who is covering what when - it is hard to feel that things are being looked at fairly when I am the only employee that works Full Time. Need to keep thinking about how I am going point that fact out and make sure it is clearly part of the equation.

Layne is going through a phase of worrying - worrying about a fire at the house, worrying about a robber, worrying about a flood (seems a little real right now) - so she was doing her best to keep Matthew in her room tonight talking when I got home.

I hope tomorrow as some more solutions at work and less "worries" from my co-workers.

And a random picture I found - I can't figure out how to open properties on the Mac (no right click) - so not sure when this was taken - but look how cute my boys are !!!!!

First Day Back to School

Layne was very excited about going back to school. She yelled from her room at 6:00 a.m. "it's time to get up" - when really we usually get up about 6:30 a.m. By the time I went in to wake her up - she was already dressed - but laying under her covers.

Jacob and Joshua did well also. Jacob was not as enthusiastic - but there was no grumbling about getting up.

Joshua promised not to cry at school and seemed to catch the excitement of Jacob and Layne about getting to go to school. And - according to Matthew - he didn't cry at school - yeah, Joshua!

Had a busy, interesting day at work. Some people are really weird - and in neurology - I think I meet a lot of weird folks. Had to explain to one lady that a 3 day admission to the hospital also included the nights. For some reason she thought she was just going to be there for 3 days and go home each evening. Her argument to me was "nobody told me it was set in stone" - so I confirmed for her "that yes, it is set in stone that you will also spend the night at the hospital". There seems to be a first for everything. I guess when I no longer get surprised will be the day I need to find something else to do.

Still cold and blustery here. They are reporting the possibility of snow for Thursday. We shall see - should be interesting if we do get snow. Would also be kind of fun.

Here is a picture of Joshua and me making cookies for Santa. He really loves being in the kitchen and he is very good. He got a great chef hat and apron from Grandma for Christmas (still have to get some of those pictures from Aunt Melanie).

Slowly back on track...

It was actually a nice transition this morning. Matthew and I were both late for work - but it helped letting the kids have time for transition.

They were very excited to be home - Joshua was literally running in circles in the family room last night.

Matthew made the mistake this morning of saying to Jacob and Layne "come on let's go to Grandma's" in front of Joshua. Boy did he want to go, too. But he ended up having a great day at school.

I am sitting here listening to Jacob teach Joshua the song "If You're Happy and You Know It" - so awesome. I have to go join in.

Here is my creative photo of the front of our house from this past Christmas. These are the only decorations still up - just too cold to be outside right now.

Again

Although I won't even pretend to say "365" - and since it is already January 3, 2010 - I decided on the overwhelmingly, boring title of 362 in 2010.

Obviously got a little busy there at the end of 2009.

The Ganotes came from Louisville on December 23 and stayed until Sunday, December 27, 2009. We had a great time. This year all 3 kids got to go back to Grandmom and Grandfather's for a few days after Christmas during their Winter Break. Sounds like they had a nice quiet time. They had a good time going to the bookstore. Layne is "totally in to chapter books".

I went to Knoxville with Melanie on Tuesday, December 29 - without any kids! Whoo Hoo!!!!! We had a leisurely drive on Tuesday and then got out our scrapbooking stuff. On Wednesday we slept in a little until about 9:30 and then ran some errands. I finally go to go the cool scrapbook store in Knoxville - Scrappin' in the City - this time. It was really nice. They had a lot of unique product and a great layout to the store in this great historic home. Looking forward to being able to get back there sometime.

Doug and Susan brought the 3 little Ganotes to Knoxville on Thursday for our Layne Christmas plans. It is always a bit hectic of a transfer and didn't get to speak with Doug and Susan much - but sounds like everything went okay.

The adults went to dinner for New Year's Eve. Melanie, me, mom and dad, Linda and her husband Tom, Linda and her husband Andrew, and Sue and her husband (can't remember his name) - which are neighbors / friends of Melanie. It was a great dinner (thank you very much for the treat Melanie) and then we rushed to get to the movie theater by 8:00 p.m. Matthew was able to meet us at the theater - he was the only one to get to see the 1st 15 minutes of Sherlock Holmes. I didn't really care too much for it - but it was nice to be out with adults.

Sounds like the kids had fun. It was a little too much for Joshua - all of the changes - and he was not asleep by the time we got back (sorry Seth and Kathryn the babysitters - they didn't get to watch their "older kid" movie this year).

We woke up on New Year's Day and said it was Christmas all over again. The kids rushed downstairs about 8:30 a.m. (after telling Jacob and Layne every hour and half hour since 5:00 a.m. to go back to sleep). It is a little crazy with 5 kids opening presents to keep track of everything - but they loved it all!

We had a game day - played Sorry sliders, Sponge Bob Uno, Yahtzee, and Monopoly Jr throughout the day. Grandma was "surprised" how competitive Layne can be at times :) That evening we drove in to Knoxville to watch a light show that a family had coordinated with music of lights in their yard. It was pretty cool. (until we started getting gassed out by the girls in the very back of the van - ewwww).

On Saturday we had the "all about Mitchell Birthday Day". From the moment we woke up he wanted to know when he was going to get his cake - poor kid ended up waiting until almost 8:30 p.m. to get his cake! But - that just means he had a very long, very fun day. We went to the Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg. It was a really nice acquarium - and Joshua's first. We got to see a Diver go into the big tank and feed some of the fish. He blew water bubbles, pretended to sit in a chair in the middle of the big tank, and then did Spiderman on the glass - which the kids loved.

We had dinner at the Apple Barn Restaurant in Pigeon Forge. Aunt Melanie planned ahead and had a "build your own aquarium" sticker set for the kids to play with while waiting for dinner and she brought "fish noses" for everyone. Obviously wasn't enough for Jacob, though, as about 10 minutes in he asked "Aunt Melanie, do you have anything else in your purse?". Gotta' love it!

Got back to Melanie's house about 8:00 p.m. and set up for cake and presents. Mom and I both had a hard time buying for Mitchell this year. So mom got to pick from the "bag of presents" that Melanie had at the house she was saving. Mom picked some monster that Mitchell had been wanting from Spy Kids - a movie he had never seen. I picked the Disney movie about animals on planet earth - Mitchell LOVES animals. When he opened mom's gift he was ecstatic!!! "thank you grandma - this is awesome - I have wanted this soooo long". He opens my present and screams "we will never ever see this movie - this is a bad movie - this movie is bad". I guess there is a part where an otter gets eaten - and that is something that he has never forgotten.

Sooo - Thanks a lot Aunt Melanie - made me look bad. Soooo not gonna' let my sister forget this one.

One picture for today - with all of this going on I did not bring a camera to Knoxville. I need to get pictures from Melanie.

Joshua got his rocking chair from Grandma. He loves having his own chair. This one is awesome - Layne spent a good ten minutes showing Joshua where Grandma and Papa Jack are on the chair and where the puppies and letters and numbers are located.

We are all still feeling the chill of 30 degree and less weather - hence the blanket and big slippers - but you can still see the awesome chair. Oh - and this little look on his face - his new Smile.