Attempting to be a Super Mom

Good Morning and Happy Friday! I sure hope the new year finds everyone well. Every year I look back on the year before. This year, I don't really want to do all that.  While it wasn't a completely awful year, it wasn't a great one either. We've lost loved ones. I went to two funerals this year for my only surviving Grandparents. Rylie went to kindergarten and Scottie started preschool. That's about the only things that really happened at all.... Here is my top 9 from this year on my instagram. It's pretty good at catching some highlights of the year. And the kids Christmas picture I also always say that I hope to get back to my blog. I'm not going to say that, even though I intend to. I just feel that actions speak louder than words. I'm back to videos, back to my blogs, trying to catch up my book and recipe updates. I'm also still reading. We blew past both of our goals last year. 60 recipes completed in our 52 in 2017 and 33 or so ...

Ever pop onto Facebook and see a cute little chain status that you want to do but don't want others to feel obligated to do? Well, I did.  My friends have been doing this one for quite a bit and it's so super cute I couldn't fight it any longer.  After the kids and I finished, I realized that once I post it, it will go onto my Facebook page, where I'll never see it again, so I decided to post this cute thing right here as well.  I mean seriously, how cute are my kids answers? WITHOUT prompting, ask your child these questions and write EXACTLY what they say about you. Ben age 9 *What is something I say a lot? “Swag, mom, you say swag a lot.” *What makes me happy? “Good kids” *What makes me sad? “Bad kids” *How tall am I? “5 foot” *What's my favorite thing to do? “take pictures and videos” *What is my favorite food? “Chili, most likely.” *What is my favorite drink? “Dr Pepper.” *If I could go anywhere, where would I like to go? “Disney World” *Do you think you ...

Good morning. It's been awhile, and I do promise that I have some posts planned and I truly plan on getting my vlog caught up as well.  I've been overwhelmed and can't seem to find my external hard drive anywhere.  I'm a constant mess and should be the poster child for what happens when you're unorganized. So, this morning, we came downstairs and the kids started going nuts over a butterfly in the window. Since it was still pretty early in the morning, I assumed it was actually a moth and went about making their breakfast. Rylie kept insisting that I come look, so finally I did and was in for a beautiful surprise. Shawn took the big kids to school since he is WatchDOG for the day.  I think it's cool they have the dads sign up to help at the school. I fed them breakfast and packed their backpacks and off they went, walking to school with their dad. I took the dogs out for a quick walk so they could go potty without getting too muddy.  Yup, you read that...

Sometimes as adults we don't realize how little ones are bothered by changes in their day to day lives. Shawn left for Boston on Sunday and won't be back until super late Friday night.  In the past, when he'd travel for work, it's come out as tears, bad attitudes, and Sydney having accidents on her way to the bathroom.  I recognized it pretty quickly with Sydney since it never happened while he was here and while he was gone, she'd pee her pants at least once every trip.  Since this last summer, where we traveled with him quite a bit, his trips have been small. Often only staying away one or two nights if at all, and this may be his longest trip he's taken. I've done a few fun things to hopefully ease some of the kids stress from the trip, and Rylie got to bring home her class teddy bear this week. We watched Hotel Transylvania 2, had a pizza party, made bead necklaces, and set up playdates with friends. Last week, Thursday and Friday, Rylie had...

I've been completely MIA from anything online that can't easily be done on my phone or iPad.  My blog and vlog need some lovin' and I'm hoping to get some editing done and line up a couple of blog posts as well.  Consider this me, dusting off my good ole blog and youtube account. I've been trying to upload my pictures from this summer onto my Facebook account all morning and for some reason they won't load.  Facebook is not liking me today and it's driving me bonkers.  I'll get it eventually but it's frustrating me that I spent all morning selecting them and then they don't load. Now, I need to figure out lunch for myself, Scottie, and Rylie. School is officially going now.  The big kids are in their full 2nd week of school.  Ben is in 2nd grade and Sydney is in Kindergarten.  Rylie starts preschool next week, and 2 mornings a week it will be just me and Scotland.  How crazy is that?!?! Even more crazy than the kids growing up so quickly...

Everyday, I look at my babies and realize that they are growing so fast.  Every blink, I swear they grow an inch.   Before I get into all the craziness that has been going on here this week, I've done some digging through pictures to compare all the kids at each age. Ben is in First grade!!!   Can you believe it?  First grade.  He plays soccer and baseball, and is about to start marathon club.  He's really good at math but his favorite subject in school is science, especially stuff about space.  He loves video games, superheroes, and legos.  Here's Ben, when he was about the same age as Scotland is: Here's Ben, when he was about the same age as Rylie is: Here's Ben, when he was about the same age as Sydney is: Here's Ben now: Sydney just started her 2nd and final year of preschool.  She plays soccer, baseball, and dances.  She loves anything girly, hair, jewelry, makeup, nail paintin...

What a wonderful weekend it has been.  I'm so glad to enjoy it with my family.  This was the last weekend before soccer and our Saturday mornings become complete chaos. I'm finding myself getting all wrapped up in the kids lives, which is something I really do love about being a parent, even though sometimes I ache for some me time.  Sydney is getting ready for preschool.  She'll go two mornings a week starting next week.  Her open house is this Thursday morning.  She also has dance on Monday evenings.  I promised her I'd look into a gymnastic class since I vetoed tap class.  Her dance studio is in Eudora which is only a couple of miles out of Lawrence, but on the other side of Lawrence from where we live and with all of the students here in this small town, traffic stinks and it's about a 30-45 minute drive one way.  I didn't want to do that 2 nights a week.  She's also playing soccer again, but only on Saturday mornings.  Ben is...