playing catch up....

Hmmmm... what did we do this weekend and week (so far).....

Okay... so Friday... I can't remember. Friday Bryan was off from work... for the HOLIDAY weekend... which was nice. We all slept in some... and then hung out doing a few things at home. Bryan got Trevor's motocross bike all spift up and ready for him to go out and practice at the track... his first time on the real track.... he has been on a track that Bryan made him here at the house and at the old house and has road his bike at Bryan's mom's house too, but he was excited to be on the real track. I was happy for him and NERVOUS as hell. He did great. On Friday I also meet Adelle & Amanda (she works with Adelle) for lunch, it was nice... we had Chinese!! YUM...

OH Yeah... on Thursday we went to the CIRCUS!!! we have gone for the last three years... this was the first time we took the girls to it... not sure why we didn't take them last year... maybe so we could do something with just Trevor so he had some one on one time, not sure... but they all LOVED it. It was different than the last few years so that was nice, but it always cute. Nothing too extraordinary, but something fun and local to do with the kids. :) We went to the earlier showing so after that we grabbed a pizza and a chick parm hero and went to see Bry's mom and Lowell at the campground where they have their camper for the Summer. They just put it in the weekend before. We hung out there for a while after having dinner, the kids had fun... they got to make some marshmallows while there, which is one of their favorite things to do... AND they are actually getting pretty good at it and will even eat most of them, themselves!!! lol Trevor is really good at getting most of his just right... a little brown all the way around and melted all the way through!! :)

Okay... back to Friday... I took the girls and their bikes up to the track for them to ride while Trev practiced.. Adelle meet us up there, or shall I say we met her, she was there first. lol They had a good time, but were tired... so a little cranky and I had NO voice almost... it started going at the circus for whatever reason, I wasn't even yelling or anything just started loosing it, and then it hasn't come back yet... But anyway... we did the track thing... My poor lil' boy got hurt... he fell and the foot peg went into his knee... did a pretty nasty gash/cut... deep too, and had his leg lumped up and bruised good too. :( Broke my heart to see him in pain... I can't take my kids being hurt... we got him some ice and he sat in the back of truck for a little while still not feeling great. I gave him some Motrin and put a band aid with antibiotic cream on it on his knee and he said it still hurt... I can only imagine... poor dude!! He did however want to go back out on the track... that night even and was kind of upset with Bryan and I when we told him no. I was concerned about how bad his knee was hurt... he hadn't walked on it yet since he hurt it... there was NO way I was letting him back out.

He did walk on it and it was okay... just really sore, we got home and laid him on the couch with his knee elevated ... he fell asleep pretty quickly.. he was tuckered out... long day and did a lot of laps on the bike... while he slept I put an ice pack on his knee... I think it helped keep the swelling down some... I hope it helped ease some of the pain...he slept through the night but in the morning said it still hurt. I imagine it did. But he is a trooper and still did okay playing with it... even went on the trampoline ~ which Bryan and I got the sides up and Bryan tied it all down so no one can get hurt falling off of it again. (Lauren fell off of it about a month ago and hit her face hard on a 4 x 4 piece of wood... my poor baby ~ I took her to Urgent Care, and thankfully everything was okay with her)

So Saturday ~ July 4th ~ we hung out in the morning all playing outside, jumping on the trampoline together and having fun... did some house work and stuff... got things ready for later... then got the kids and ourselves ready and headed to the store to grab a few things... Wally World was on lock down bc they had a missing child... a 7 1/2 month old... it was horrible... long story short after several hours, they found the little girl... Brook, face down in mud about a 1/4 mile from Wal-Mart... the father put her there... then went to W-M and said she was stolen from his stroller... he is piece of shit and should die a slow painful death. thankfully they found the baby and she was unharmed. what a dirtbag. i could go on, but i'm not.

anyway... we got some stuff and headed to Bryan's mom's campsite... his brother and sister-in-law and niece were here from NC... on a surprise visit... it was nice to see them. Bry's other brothers, Kevin and Joey were there too... it was his mom, step-father, brother Danny, wife Christy, daughter Alyssa, brother Kevin, daughters, Katelyn and Lacy, brother Joey and wife Cassie, his grandparents, a family friend Liz, us then later, his sister Shelby, cousins, Kelsea, Andrew, Eileen, and Kelsea's boyfriend came, and so did Steve & Adelle and Richie and Alyssa... it was a good time. :)

the fireworks were okay... we also left the camp and went to see the fireworks at the race track... they were nice. :)

the kids were sleeping for the second fireworks, but they didn't even know they missed anything and they were tired out... it was a long day... they had put on a lot of of miles... with starting off the day on the trampoline to running around the campground... it was a lot. :)

We all came home and went to bed. :)

Sunday Bryan went off on his road bike with Steve to a diff moto track to watch the races, so the kids and I packed up and went to my parents house... they had a blast... first my dad set up the kiddie pool for them, and they had fun in that. They also played in the sandbox and on the swing set and rode their bikes some... then my dad, being the WONDERFUL Grandpa that he is, took all three kids in the big pool!!! THEY LOVED IT!! Trevor has been in a few times this year already & loves it.. this was the girls first time this year and they had a great time... they were both a little nervous at first... but Lauren warmed up to it really quickly and Brooke came around soon there after!! :) I'm glad the enjoy it... I wish that they could get swimming lessons so they could all be swimming this Summer, but that isn't too likely. Maybe I can find a book or website that tells you how to teach your child to swim. Trevor will be 6 in Sept... I think that maybe he should know how to swim already... the only problem is not having a lot of time to practice... we only have a few short months of Summer and we don't always have access to water... unless I get him swimming in the big bath. lol

We had dinner with my parents and my brother, nephew ~ Walter and my sister-in-law had shown up so they ate with us too. The kids loved getting to see Walter, but they were all tuckered out... another busy and long day! Not too long after dinner, I got the truck all loaded up and headed home...

After getting home, I got a message from a friend of mine.. Bee... she was home recovering from surgery that she had the week before, and said she would LOVE some company... it was only a little after 7 so I hopped in the truck and went to see her. She only lives a few mins from me and it was nice to get to visit and to get out of the house w/o the kids. :) I love them, but a break every now and then is soooo nice!! Plus, I haven't talked/visited with Bee in ages. I see her every now and then and see her at the dental office, but it isn't the same as getting a few hours to just shoot the bull... we were chatting so much that it was after 11 when we realized the time... I didn't mind bc it was a really nice visit. I'm going to go back again soon... she is out for 6 wks... ugh... and I'm sure is bored at home. lol when she is feeling much better and up to it... I'll take the kids over too... we'll see though, she is still newly recovering. :)

Then let's see... Monday, Monday... what happened on Monday???? oh yeah... I put up my new clothes line... and happily hung out two loads of laundry... I also cleaned the deck off, cleaned the patio set ~ table and chairs and re-arranged the deck so that we can sit out there for dinner and stuff... and cleaned up the yard some and did some stuff to make our tiny backyard more user friendly! :) (** our property isn't really that small it's over an acre, the problem is that it's on a hill and covered in trees... we are going to work on both problems, but not just yet.. it takes money and time... we have some time, but very little money right now... so for now we have to make due with the yard we do have... so it was nice to move things around... make the table usable and also create a little seating area in the grass with some Adirondack chairs and a small plastic table... We also ate dinner at the outside patio table on Monday... the kids LOVED it. & the weather was perfect for it.. there weren't even any bugs!! it was GREAT!! :) Monday night after dinner we all went to the lake...we drove down instead of walking so we could get more time in at the lake... Bryan and Trevor slapped on some life jackets and tried out the new jet ski... they had a good time but it was almost out of gas so they didn't spend too much time on it... just enough. :) we all hung out on the beach and docks while the kids played in the water... then it was getting a little chilly to be wet as the sun set, so we decided enough lake, lets jump in the hot tub... we spent 40 mins in there.. it was heaven!! it wasn't really hot at all, it was some where around 95 so it was okay for the kids to be in there... i know hot tubs aren't safe for kids bc if they are too hot the kids can get a fever from it bc their body isn't that good at controlling it's temp just yet... but they were safe and enjoying the jets with us. :) it was a nice family night. :) we then came home, changed and watched some tv together before heading off to bed.

I stupidly wore my pedometer into the hot tub... but thankfully it still works fine. :) I'm amazed. the only bad thing that happened was when i was drying it off i accidentally reset it... but I knew what the numbers were from looking at it to see if it was ruined... so I just wrote them down on Monday and started over again today. :)

Today we did nothing much... OH!!! yeah. yesterday.... aka Monday, we went to check our mail at the PO... it has been a LONG while since we got it... and while we were out and about we got some ice cream at the Candy Cone! :) the kids LOVED it... they were EXCELLENT while we were there... amazing little listeners!! :)

Today it rained here... the washer leaked all over, and I did some good cleaning in my bedroom and closet... made some headway... it's looking better in there... got rid of some stuff and organized some other things... can't wait for my closet to be done... need to get all the hardware... would love a California Closet... but they are a lot of money... will settle for Bryan and I picking out some things at Home Depot or Lowe's and doing it ourselves... I'm sure it will come out great... Bry is really handy so that isn't a problem at all and I think together we will come up with a great design!!

I also went to my parents house to hang out for a little while tonight... had a nice visit with my mom and Ellen and my dad some... he was out and the was watching the game. :) went through some baby pics of Trevor... he has grown soooo much... it's unbelievable.. and went through some pics from last summer... they have all changed and grown so much in the last year, it's scary how fast time is going and how big they are getting.

And, now I'm up typing this bc I can't sleep... ugh!! maybe I'll go watch some TV bc my back and neck are killing me now...

nighty night!

Whirlwind Weekend!!

For sure!! We had one hell of a weekend!! ugh! I'm so tired but since I haven't posted here for a while I wanted to post about our weekend... also b/c I want to make sure I keep track of all this... I want to try to make a book for the kids about our summer adventures... like a real book with pictures and a story!! Maybe I will make a few about the different things we did... I'm not sure yet... it is just a raw idea still... but anyway... if I blog about it all then I will have some place to come reference when my mind bails out on me and leaves me to fend for myself.

So it all started with Thursday night I went over to my parents house again to visit with my mom and make sure she was feeling well... I was still concerned... and honestly still am. I have called her a few times every day just to check on her... she sounds okay, well actually she didn't sound good at all for a few days b/c she had NO voice... it is just coming back today... thank God... but she said she was feeling okay. I can tell by seeing her that she is a little bit sore... which I hate!! I want her to just be GREAT...but I know that is totally unrealistic... so anyway... I will deal with that since she is up and moving and feeling, I guess, the best that can be expected right now. She is even going into work tomorrow... driving herself... which means no pain meds... so I really hope she is okay. I told her I would drive her and pick her up... but she said she will be okay. I hope so. I can always go to get her if she doesn't feel well and would like to come home and doesn't feel like driving. :) So yeah... I'm still concerned and worried about how she is feeling... but I think that is normal. :)

Then Friday Bryan was home... so that was nice... we don't usually get any extra days with him being off... sometimes he will just work on the holiday just b/c things usually don't happen till later at night.. parties and stuff... but this one he actually stayed home. yay! He even cooked us all breakfast... eggs, sausage and toast!! Whatta good hubby and daddy!! :)

Then I went over to my parents house again to visit and see how my mom was doing... and just check in on everyone... my dad had gotten hit in the face last weekend while trying to fix a strut, he got hit pretty hard, it bruised up his face, and lip and cut him pretty good on his cheek bone... ugh... I was still worrying about him too...

Then I came home and Bryan took a nap... while the kids were napping too... so while that was going on... I got everything packed up for our first Fourth of July party this weekend!! I had to get the kids outfits ready for what they were going to wear there... the girls had new dresses that were sooo cute and Trevor had a new shirt... they all looked so cute in their red, white and blue... BUT I don't think I got any pictures!! DAMMIT!! I will have to dress them all in them again and get some... maybe this week... I can bribe them with candy... they are NOT too fond of pictures lately...ugh!! Oh well... anyway... so I got things ready... and then got the kids up and got them dressed then got Bryan up and we went to the grocery store first to pick up some soda for the party... which WOW the store was packed... it wasn't as bad as my last grocery store experience... which I still have to blog about... that one... well that one will have you peeing in your pants and totally agreeing w/ me about how horrible it is to grocery shop sometimes. lol
**(I promise to post about that grocery store trip this week!! It is good!!)**

Anyway... then we were off the the campground where all the local firemen camp... it is actually the fire departments campground... it is a good deal... $40 a month for a campsite with sewer, electric, cable, water, and I'm not sure what else... but it is fun to go and hang out... Bryan's mom has a camper that she leaves there all summer! Anyway.. the party was okay. Lauren and Brooke HATE fireworks!! They are scared to death of them... Lauren plugs her ears the ENTIRE time... and won't really look at them too much... and Brooke had a DEATH grip on me... which she tightened up every time a firework was set off... poor babies... I hope next year they enjoy them! But we'll see.

We went to the campsite after the fireworks and sat around the campfire for a little while then we packed up some very tired and cranky kiddos... they went from being GREAT to cranky pretty quickly... it was time to go. :)

Came home and threw all of them in bed... dirty feet and all. :)

Got up the next morning and started getting everything ready all over again for another Fourth of July party... this time it was at Bryan's Aunt's house... so I had to bring swimming stuff and extra clothes and the works so there was even more packing involved... and when I pack to go some where for an extended period of time... I pack like we are going on a weekend vacation. lol I have to bring extra clothes for all three kids... and then I need to bring warmer clothes for them for it gets chilly or if they are cold from swimming, and towels and extra clothes for Bryan and I and all this... so there is a LOT of clothes... but you know what... I'm ALWAYS prepared!! ALWAYS!!! :) lol Bryan keeps threatening to just put a dresser in the back of the truck... which seriously would make my life a LOT easier!! :) lol

So we made some zitti with sausage in it... which was YUMMY and off we went... our entire wardrobe change and all!! lol

WE had a great time and got to see some more fireworks... in which the girls didn't enjoy too much again...but I'm really hoping by next year they will be good with them... we'll see. I also want to go to Disney before then... which probably won't happen... but if it does then they will see the fireworks there so maybe they will like them. :) who knows... okay back to the whirlwind weekend...

We didn't leave there until about 11:30 or so at which point I decided that I was definitely going to take the kids and go with Bryan in the morning to a water park... he was going to be down hill mountain biking with Chris... so Heather and I decided to take the kiddos to the water park which is at the same place!! :) yay!! WE SURVIVED!! lol It wasn't too bad... Trevor and Nick were EXCELLENT... they played great together and had a blast... they even listened really well... Lauren was GOOD too! She had a lot of fun!! Brooke was beat... she was so tired and cranky and GLUED to me all day... she had fun at some points but she also cried quite a bit and wasn't too happy... but they all had such a long weekend... that maybe it wasn't the best idea but it worked... and we had a good time! :) All of us... the boys did good riding Bryan crashed once at the end of the day... his last run... but I think it was b/c he was tired out from doing it all day long... but I'm not sure. Thankfully he was okay... he had on all his protective gear... we just need to get him a chest and back protector! :)

And, we stopped for ice cream on the way home at the DQ so that was nice!! :) OH... duh and some where in there we went to Burger King for breakfast before getting to the park and then we went to this great pizza place for lunch and then went back to the park after... for about another hour or so... it was nice. :) I'm sooo tired though from the weekend... and I know I have a busy week ahead of me with cleaning and packing the camper and also catching up on laundry... we have a lot from the weekend and all... and also Lauren and Brooke have been having bed wetting accidents... which I think is b/c they are just so tired when they get into bed... they are sleeping so soundly that they just have no control of wetting... b/c they were doing really good with it... I think we just have to get back on our regular bedtime schedule or at least try, it is hard in the summer... but we are going to work on something... and then they should be okay... neither one of them wants to wear a diaper or pull up to bed... they look at is as punishment... so I don't want to do that... and I don't want to hype up the diaper and pull-up as being sooo cool and fun... so they will wear it... b/c I don't want them to want to wear it all the time again... Brooke was potty trained for a while and did NOT want to wear undies... she only wanted to wear pull-up. Thankfully we have gotten passed that. They have NOT worn one single pull-up or diaper since Father's Day!! :) yay!! yippee!! But, we might need to just at night time. If anyone has any btdt advice or just any suggestions or thoughts on this at all please feel free to comment about it... I'd love any and all input I can get.

Oh so anyway... I went off there about bed wetting and forgot what I was typing about originally. :) duH!! I know I have a lot of laundry and house cleaning this week and also getting the camper cleaned and packed and shopping for while we are away... I want to try to eat as many meals as we can at the campsite not the park... that gets way to expensive for 5 people... plus since my parents are going I'd like to treat them a few times too... they always try to pay for us... ALWAYS!! :) So anyway... I want to get some breakfast, lunch and dinner food planned out and some snacks too... they don't care what you bring into the park... so I'm going to start freezing some water and juices to take camping and into the park so they will be nice n cold to drink while we are strolling around. :)

Also, any thoughts and prayers for Jenn tonight, tomorrow during her surgery and the week to follow for a successful surgery without any surprises and also for a speedy recovery and feeling well, would be greatly appreciated! ~ you can read the post below and link her from there!!

God speed, Jenn!! I'm thinkin' of ya honey!! You're going to do great!! :) xoxoxo

Happy Belated 4th...

Happy belated 4th of July! I hope everyone had a good one! I don't have any pictures from the 4th of July... or actually any pictures from any of our 4th of July parties either. I was totally slacking with the camera. : ( I'm disappointed... I usually take millions of pictures at everything... but lately, I feel like I just have time to feed the kids and chase them around instead of taking pictures, eating, talking to people that sort of things at BBQ's. The girls are at a rough age for taking them places. They are too big to stay in a playpen or a play-yard or anything like that... they want to be FREE and run, like the rest of the kids, all over the place. BUT... at the same time, they are too little to do that without constant supervision. It is hard. I wanted to eat and have a few beers and relax at the two BBQ's we went to this past weekend... no such luck though. OH well... next year will be better. And, honestly this year wasn't bad at all. It was fun, it just wasn't the chill out and relax time that I would have loved to have. I do love watching my kids run and play and have a GREAT time though... so that was excellent. Saturday's BBQ was good and the food was great... but there were a lot of people so the girls were a little clingy... but not too bad. Trevor had some kids to play with, but was a little bit "hands on". Like some kids do... which I'm not too worried about. He is learning that it isn't nice... and one day will be big enough to not do it any more and do the right thing. ; )
Then Sunday... the food was good too, and we made ice cream sundaes after dinner... which were EXCELLENT!! It was a little chilly, but no one seemed to mind while we had some yummy ice cream. :D There were less people so the girls were more comfortable to run and play and there were more kids closer to their age... everyone had a good time... even Bryan!! ; )
So anyway... this is all I'm going to post for now... I'll try to get back here later. I have a million things to do today, on top of all the millions of things I have to do every other day! LOL
I'm having a HUGE yard sale starting tomorrow... and going maybe through Sunday or maybe just until Saturday... I haven't decided!! Well anyway, now I'm just rambling on and on!
I'll be back!