Wednesday Oct 28

Halloween is almost here and the kids are super excited. I can't wait to have them all here and see what they are dressing up like. Last year we got a great group photo and I hope to get one this year too. Alex had his grandparents day at preschool today and he wore his Wolverine costume. He looked great!! They made a cute pumpkin project using a roll of toilet paper. Grandma Jayne was there to help. This weekend should be fun. The little kids are going to the grandparents while Kato and I go to a Badger football game. Then back at our house we will trick or treat at the neighbors. I am sure the boys will want to watch scary movies. Not sure what is in store for Michael. Happy Halloween thanks for reading xoxo

Girls weekend

It was a great weekend even though it was only Jade and I. The boys went to the cottage to help get it ready for winter so Jade and I had a girls weekend. Friday night we played and watched tv and went to bed. I get a little nervous being alone here which is silly but when you are used to having your husband here you feel safer. Anyway we woke up Saturday morning and had breakfast and Jade had a little bath. We got ready for the day and headed over to Jaynes house to visit the Aunts and an Uncle who were visiting while Keith was up at the cottage. They were busy make soups and painting. After our visit we went to Madison to find Jade some shoes and run a few errands. We were not successful in finding some shoes for her and I was ready to give up. I didn't go to the mall because I didn't take the stroller and carrying Jade is not something I wanted to do. We went home and had lunch and I decided to try the outlet mall. So after a bit we headed out again. I was thinking that the outlet mall would be the perfect place to find her some shoes but decided to stop at the shoe box in Baraboo. I am glad I did cause I found her the perfect pair of pink and white nikes. They are super cute and they match mine. So after the shoe box we stopped to get some groceries. After that I picked up 4 chick flicks and we went home. I managed to watch all the movies last night which is impressive considering it takes Kato and I 4 hours to watch a 1 1/2 hour movie. I put Jade to bed at 9:30 cause she didn't have her usual long nap and she was tired from all the shopping. After the movies I went to sleep and woke up excited to have my boys home. I missed them but it was nice having some girl time. Its going to be a busy week with Halloween and trick or treating along with extra kids on Thursday and Friday since there is no school. Its now time to get ready for football. Thanks for reading xoxo

JV and Varsity Football comes to an end

High school football has come to an end. Michael had a very busy season with alot of ups and downs...literally! The JV team did fairly well this year compared to past seasons, they finished 7-3 which includes the game against Wisconsin Heights. It was kinda sad though because the boys get it in their minds when they are going to suffer a loss and they end up doing just that. They give up before the game even starts. Also it doesn't help that Deforest and Waunakee are usually undefeated except when they play each other. I think as our town goes the boys are more of a wrestling type anyway. So good job to the JV team I am really proud of our Eagles!! As for the Varsity...well they sucked!!! I am not going to even post their record as it is really truly bad. The good part was Michael got to be a member of the team and he did get some playing time with the big boys. As a matter of fact last night was their last game against the mighty Waunakee and they lost but Michael got to start. I made sure to tape the game although I doubt he will want to keep it. I hope that next season they do well and I am looking forward to going to his games. Today wrestling officially started and I know Michael is excited as he somehow almost prefers this sport now. I think it is because it is more of an individual sport and he doesn't have to rely on others to win, its all up to him how he does. He can control the outcome more. I love that he plays sports and I will always encourage my kids to play sports over anything else. He still has to find a job and juggle school, sports, working, and play time. I know he can do it! He is a great guy and everyday I look at him I feel proud of him. I just love him and want nothing but the best for him. thanks for reading xoxo

Are you going to act this way...

Its funny how things can come back to bite you. The other night we were sitting around the table eating dinner and Alex was acting a bit out of line. He wasn't too bad but it was getting to that point. Kato asked him "are you going to act this way up at the cottage?" You see the boys are heading up there for a weekend and the girls are going to stay home. It is going to be a clean up weekend so if we all go one of us would have to stay inside with Jade and that person would not be very helpful so it is better to just stay back. Anyway, back up at the table Alex answered with a "noooo!" It was fine and we went on to eat in peace. Later that night as we were watching a movie and hanging out Alex and Kato were playing a bit in the living room. Kato must have been a bit rough with Alex cause he started to whine about it being too rough. At that moment Alex turned to his dad and yelled at him "ARE YOU GOING TO ACT THIS WAY UP AT THE COTTAGE?" It was too funny and I couldn't help but giggle a bit even though little Alex was very serious. I guess it just goes to show we really do take after our parents!

Chloe is here!!!

On Wednesday we welcomed our newest family member, Chloe Lorraine. She is my new niece born to her wonderful parents Nicholas and Courtney. She has an older sister Bailee. She weighed in at 7 pounds 12 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long. I wish I could have been there to meet her. That is the hardest part about living so far away from family. I miss out on alot of family stuff and don't get to see family as much. I would love to be able to have my nieces come over for the night or babysit them or just be able to watch them grow up. I wanted to be the favorite auntie who spoils them. Plus I want my kids to know their aunts and uncles. Too bad we can't cut out Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota so that Washington and Wisconsin could be neighbors.

Its Sunday again and that means more football. I hope to win this week as I got my butt spanked last week in Fantasy Football. I didn't even score 1/2 the points my opponent did. It would be nice to get 100 points. We will see how it goes. thanks for reading xoxo

ps i tried to upload a pic but its not working i will try later

One step forward two steps back

It seems that no matter how hard we work to get a little bit ahead something always happens to push us back again. Its a never ending cycle of one step forward two steps back. Michael is going to be 16 in a couple of weeks. I got the privilege of going for a drive with him on Sunday. He needs the hours before he can get his license. So we were able to talk for a bit about things. He mentioned he would like to join the military. I support that decision if that is what he really wants to do. He said college isn't for him, I am fine with that as long as he is. If he came to me and said Mom I want to go to college I would help him get there. If he wanted to be a circus clown I would help him with that too. When he was six he didn't want to be Michael anymore he said he didn't like his name and that he wanted his name to be Title Wave so I called him that for a bit. Even when he was 4 and didn't want to live with me anymore and wanted to run away I said ok but you will leave me the exact same way you came into my world so being the supportive parent that I am I allowed him the opportunity to run away by striping him down and putting him outside the door and closing it. It gave him the chance to run away and leave just like he wanted only as he was standing there buck naked outside the door he realized it might not be the best plan so he apologized and I let him back in. The bottom line is I have tried in my own way to be supportive. I don't want him to be unhappy and when he was 13 and wanted to go live with his dad I let him go. He came back and I think he is a better person for being able to make those decisions. He got to see what it was like and he got to do something I never did...get to know his dad. So now he is turning 16 and a big door of responsibility is upon us. As we were driving he made comments about how he wants his license right away and how he wants to be able to drive to school. I asked him how he would pay for the gas to get there. I asked him about his plans for a job. We brought up a ton of things that needed to be talked about and we even butted heads a bit. So today I called the insurance company about a quote for how much its going to cost to add him and the truck full time on our policy and I just about passed out. Our rates are going to triple and things are already tight enough. When I was his age I was working, going to school, paid for my own car insurance, I even bought my first car myself. I played sports and babysat and still had time with friends. I found out also his grades are not at a good level and he is splurging on school lunches when we had a deal of how much lunch money is enough. So now you see when we get a little bit ahead something always happens to push us back. I love him but I think its time for him to get some things on his own. thanks for reading xoxo

Night of the Living...sick and not feeling well

Sometime Wednesday night Alex got sick. Not a fever sick but vomiting sick. It was horrible as he was up until 11:15 getting sick then through out the night he woke up to vomit some more. My heart was broken as he looked at me and asked "when is it going to stop?" I knew he was hurting cause he had nothing left to vomit up yet his little body kept trying to purge the toxins. The next morning Kato took him to the doctor who concluded he had gastroenteritis. So he was on a no food diet, but he could have flat coke, jello water, and Gatorade. Poor little Jade must have had some of it too because she woke up with vomit all over her and her bed. I felt bad because I never knew she too had gotten sick during the night. She never woke up and cried or made a fuss. Kato stayed home to help take care of them and I continued to have kids that day. It turned out little Eli also got some stomach aches and as he was going big job he said he was going to throw up so with two kids sick it was a handful. Eli went home early and he was so sad to be sick he asked his mommy to take him to the hospital. It was cute but sad because I knew he was hurting too. So later that night after all the kids went home Kato decided Alex was ok to eat a bit. We gave him some banana and he held it down. The doctor said to start with the brat diet...bananas rice apples toast. Well someone gave Alex some stuff he should not have had and come early Saturday morning Alex was vomiting blue stuff and was sick yet again. This time it got all over our bed and so we had to get up at 4am and change all the stuff. The boys stayed up and I went back to sleep. Alex started getting better again but this time we stuck to the brat diet and resisted the urge to give him what he wanted to eat. We told him he would get sick again but its not easy telling your kids they can't eat something when they are hungry and haven't eaten much in the past two days. We brought up the Halloween decorations and started decorating the inside. We will finish up the outside today but it is so cold outside. The Packers have a bye week this week so maybe we will have a relaxing Sunday. Lets hope all the other daycare kids are well and have had a good weekend. thanks for reading xoxo

Goodbye Summer Hello Fall

Its definitely not summer anymore. We are expecting temperatures reaching the high 40's! Its cold, wet, and yet beautiful. The colors are changing and the grass is still green. It really is a nice time of year. The leaves are reds and oranges and some are falling off the trees. Its crispy outside and it feels good to breathe in that fresh air. I love being super warm under the covers and having it chilly outside the covers and snuggling the kids to keep them warm when they sneak into our bed at night. I love that it means thanksgiving is almost here and Jayne will be making her super yummy stuffing!! I don't really love knowing that we will be cooped up inside and the children will be restless but we always manage to get by. We had a great summer although it wasn't nearly as warm as we would have liked. The garden produced tons of cucumbers, peas, and tomatoes, and we got a couple of carrots. Some flowers from last year popped up and a friendly bird deposited a sunflower that sprouted up. Kato has been eating cucumbers now for a good month. Alex likes them too. We got to go to the pool and play outside alot. Alex learned to ride a two wheeler. We went up to the cottage and had great fishing. I guess if I could have changed one thing about this past summer it would have been the temperature, it needed to be a bit hotter. Now it's time to prep the snow plow and put away the outside toys cause soon the snow will be falling and if you haven't seen our driveway well lets just say its a small parking lot! thanks for reading xoxo

Green Monster and Facebook

Just when I thought I had created a monster, the monster destroyed itself. For the past few weeks I have been encouraging Kato to try Facebook. I wanted to build him a farm mostly but also because I thought it would be a good way for him to get in touch with his Navy buddies and family and of course a few close friends. See, I am very picky about who I let be my friend on Facebook. I get requests but don't always accept because I am not the kind of person who wants hundreds of friends especially if they are not my friends only acquaintances so I figured Kato would be the same way. The nice thing about FB is that you can pick who you want as a friend, what they can see, and you post what you want when you want. I don't want pedophiles to see my kids, I don't want to chat with people in high school who weren't my friends back then and I sure as heck don't want to be bombarded with crap. Anyway, Kato has been teasing me about my farming and playing my games when I get a chance to. I get to check it through out the day on the itouch and sometimes on the main computer when the kids are napping or eating or at night and sometimes I don't log off. So finally on Saturday I get him to start on FB and he begins with alot of questions that were honestly driving me crazy. He was really concerned with it and how it all works. I tried to answer as best as I could but its kind of hard if you don't know FB or haven't seen it. So Saturday night he starts looking up friends and people. I teased him about looking up old girlfriends which lets face it almost everybody does and its not a big deal just be honest about it. I also teased him about figuring it all out and that its not so complicated. It was all in good fun until our movie started and he was still on FB. After the movie he continued to be on it and he and Alex stayed up to watch another movie together. Jade and I had gone to bed and at about 3:30 in the morning Jade wakes up. I get up and notice Kato isn't in bed. I figured he was sleeping on the couch or with Alex. I had to go get Jade some milk to help her back to sleep and as I get down the stairs with her in my arms I realize Kato isn't sleeping he is STILL on FB!!! I couldn't believe it. I had created a monster! He had been on FB for about 8 hours!!!! And he didn't even start a farm. I made a comment about it being 3:30 AM and we had to get up and go look at a house. I was a bit upset but whatever. So he comes upstairs and goes to bed. I couldn't sleep anymore because my shoulder was hurting and I was a little concerned about the entire thing which yes seems stupid but I didn't want FB to consume him so much. Anyway, I ended up watching He's Just Not That Into You which at this point wasn't the best movie to watch considering my husband was up all night looking up old girlfriends and whomever else. Ok I was maybe a little jealous. So you can imagine my surprise when he was up at 7:45am with Jade. I asked him about it and he gave me vague answers so I just let it go cause I would rather not know then have him lie to me. Besides its not like I can't find out but if I can't get a straight answer from him then do I really want to know...no. So tonight he tells me he decided FB isn't for him and he doesn't want to be on FaceBook. So needless to say I am fine with that but a little sad because its a good way to get in touch with REAL friends. Someone like him who was in the Navy and has buddies all over the world should have a way to get in touch without his concerns getting the best of him or me. Maybe in time or maybe I should just let him use mine either way its really up to him even if I don't get a Farming Neighbor out of it. thanks for reading xoxo

Trains and Toddlers

Today the Jesus Loves Me Preschool had their first field trip. Alex, Eli, Luci, Kale, Jade, Stacey, Staceys mom and friend, and I all went to North Freedom and rode the trains. It was fun. The kids were super excited to go. We got up there around 11 and had some lunch. It was chilly out and the kids didn't eat very well plus they were excited to get on board the train. After a 5 minute potty break we boarded the train, got our tickets, found a seat and away we went...at about 2 miles per hour. The train was old fashioned and had alot of history that none of the children were really interested in but they are only 3 and 4 years old. The setting was pretty because the colors are changing. We had an entire car to ourselves so the kids were playing up and down the isle and just having fun. Sometimes I caught them looking out the window all quiet and I couldn't help but wonder what they were thinking. For most of them it was their first time on a train. We rode for awhile then the engineer unhooked the engine and drove it to the back of the train, rehooked it up and we went back to the station. It was about a 50 minute ride. The conductor punched our tickets, answered some questions and helped us on and off the train. It was a great field trip and I am glad I was able to go. Now all the kids are snoozing...thank you fresh air!! thanks for reading xoxo

Thursdays Game

I went to go watch Michael play in the JV game against Baraboo in the rain and wind. The team was really hyped up about the weather and they had too much fun. My broke a** umbrella barely did me any service and my shoes were puddles inside. I watched the game standing cause the bleachers were wet and my hands were freezing. Even with all the negative stuff it was probably the most fun I had watching Michael play ever. I think it was because he had such a great time. The guys were growling and hooting and really just loved the game. By the 3rd quarter they decided to call the game which was a good thing because it was thundering and lightening out. Besides every other play was a turn over since the ball and field was nothing but a mushy mud puddle. The Eagles won 22-0 and at the end of the game they did belly slides in the mud. I thought about how muddy the kids were but as soon as you saw the laughter in their eyes all you could do was smile and love that they were loving the moment. I wish every game could be that way for the boys cause they have really had a great season so far. They are 5-1 with 3 more games. thanks for reading xoxo