Half Pipe Heaven

During the Christmas break, our dear friends Liz and Curt called wanting to make a special Christmas present for #1. Curt is a very talented home builder and wanted to (with our blessing) work with #1 and Jeff to build #1 a half-pipe skate ramp.

So, the day after Christmas, they went over to Curt's house and started the work. I have never seen a kid so proud to be working in all of my life. #1 had that little 'I'm really proud of this' smile on his face the whole time he was working.


Once we got moved and over the flu, the ramp was moved here and assembled for #1 to ride. There isn't a day that goes by that the kid isn't on the ramp. And most of the time, he is on the ramp with a heard of other kids over here to ride too!

Every time he rides that ramp, he owns it. He takes care of it and worries when the it rains that the ramp hasn't been sealed yet. I am so proud of that boy and his hard work. I am so proud that his dad had the opportunity to do it with him, and I am SO thankful for friends like Liz and Curt who do things outta the kindness of their hearts.

The Big Concert

The same week that we all had the flu, we also had tickets to see Hannah Montana. Our kids always work so hard at school, in sports and are very kind, sweet kids. So I had one of these parenting moments where I just couldn't say no and resist the urge to splurge.

Both of our girls have listened to their peers talk about going to see Hannah Montana. Each time, our girls come home and we talk about how we are happy for the great opportunities that others have. I'll be honest, sometimes it has been a tough and hard lesson, but one that our kids have always been very very kind about.

When the tickets went on sale in early December, we had family everywhere burning up the telephone lines and working the Internet to try and get the girls tickets for Christmas. No luck. The tickets sold out in 55 minutes and we didn't have any.

With JC's blessing, I started my ebay quest. We lost 4 bids over the course of a month. We had a budget and couldn't go over. The week of the show, I found 4 tickets on ebay with a very low starting big and no minimum sell amount. Well, sure enough, we won the bid just two days before the show. And the best part about the whole thing was that we only paid $6 per ticket over face value and that included overnight shipping. That ebay man in Chicago was surely sent down from Heaven because not only was he doing the right thing by not gouging us, but he was very very kind and excited that we were going to be able to go.

So we called our Momo (my mom) and asked her how she would feel about seeing Hannah Montana with us. She got here an hour before the show started and showed up with new outfits for both of the girls to wear to the show.

We were all SO excited. It was such a fun night. Miley Cyrus put on a great show and we had the best girl time ever. Even though we were on the second to the last row, sitting kinda behind the stage and all still under the weather, we sang and danced our hearts out! Thank you Chicago man, thank you Miley Cyrus and thank you Jesus. We had the best time ever. We will all remember it forever.

#3 Turns 8

In January, our #3 turned the big big 8. Unfortunately, her birthday came at a time where we were trying to wrap up moving AND right in the middle of our family getting the flu. The really crummy thing is that Jeff and I were both so sick on the day of her birthday that we didn't even have a cake for her. She was SO understanding about the whole thing - but that could be because she was getting sick herself. As a matter of fact, she got really sick the day after her birthday and ended up missing the whole week of school.

I look at this child and marvel at how much she has grown. She has turned into such a kind, responsible, happy, free-spirited little girl - and I am SO SO SO thankful.


She loves High School musical and was so EXCITED to get a High School Musical throw pillow from her little brother.


Grandma Cathy and Grandpa Steve sent a big goodie box full of all of the things any good teacher needs. Including her own 'teaching' glasses. The birthday girl is so funny about taking very good care of her glasses and only wears them when teaching!


Her big gift from mom and dad was her very own acoustic guitar that 'isn't a toy guitar'. She has been strumming her heart out and 'writing' more songs every day. You might also notice in the photos that she received a pink polka dot basketball from her older brother and lots of new fancy underpants and a silky heart nightgown from her sister.

Her favorite gift came from Darlene and Dave. They sent her the High School Musical singing game for the Wii. She has been singing her heart out and all of her friends wanna sing as soon as they come over. (Unfortunately, it never crossed my mind to take a picture while she is doing it.) She has had so much fun unlocking new characters and hearing her own voice coming out of the TV!

I thank God everyday for all of these kids. I know that we are truly blessed.

A Little Nutty

Boy-o-boy, have I been a little nutty lately. I think it is the pregnancy hormones and the general craziness of our lives. At least I hope it is. I've been feeling like such a scatter brain. bleck.

Here is an example of my last 24 hours.

Sunday
Grocery shopping with #3. Went to two stores and forgot most of what I went shopping for.

Came home and was working on unpacking. Standing on a bar stool to hang something up and I fell off. Yep, fell right off that stool. Lucky that I'm not hurt more. Kinda hurt my pride though cause when I fell I pee'd all over myself. My hip and back are pretty darn sore today, but the doctor says that the baby is all good!

Today
Driving #4 to school. Ran a red light. Not a yellow gonna be red light...but a real live red light. Just didn't notice it. Drive down these roads a million times and just wasn't paying attention. Thank goodness no one was coming.

Go to the doctor's office and check in. After a little bit, they open the window say something to the tune of 'have you signed in?'. Of course, I say yes. They look and look. Well, I did sign in. Appointment time, arrival time, doctor to see...just forgot to put my name. ugh.

Then they call me back and I've gotta pee in a cup. Well sure enough, I drop the cup in the toilet. AHHHHHH!!!!!!

I wish I could shake this nuttiness. The bad thing is that it just seems to be getting worse.

Oh well, at least I am still happy and all my people know they are loved. In the end, I know that is all that really matters. :)

SPAM!!!

I've been a little frustrated...I keep getting Spam comments on my blog. Please please please, do not click on a comment if you do not know the person that posted it. One of our dear friends clicked on one of the comments on my blog (that was SPAM) and it ended up locking up/shutting down her computer. Good thing her virus scan software caught the virus before it infected her computer.

I have enabled all of the things that my good friend CG told me to. Sorry to say that if you wanna post a comment to our blog, you'll hafta go through a few steps. I wish it didn't hafta be this way, but I don't know what else to do...

A Little Love for Germany

As you know, my BFF lives in Germany. She also can't check out any blogs while she is at work. She knows that my blog has been updated, but can't look at it and it is killing her. So I thought I send her a little bloggy surprise for when she gets home.

Memories of the best of times. And aren't you so proud of yo' man!

Time For Sleep

Up late blogging cause JC is in Michigan for work. I don't sleep well when he is gone. I miss him too much. Tonight the boys get to sleep with me. Tomorrow night I'll share the bed with the girls.

I am about to try and fight for sleep. Right now though, I look at old pictures, blog a little and listen to #1 grind his teeth and #4 talk in his sleep.

Oh come sweet slumber.