i know.... i know..... it's been a while again

Sorry to everyone, I've heard about it from several people that I need to update my blog. I have had PLENTY of things to write, and probably could of squeezed in the time to do it, but I wasn't motivated to sit and write. But now, the end of the year is fastly approaching, and the in-laws are off on their few month stay in warmer weather, so I better keep them updated too, along with the rest of you.

Where to begin..... we'll start with the kiddos first.... they always come first.....

Cailyn is doing great!! Smart, loves life and being home with Mom and Dad still. I see little peaks of her coming out of her shell, but that doesn't last long, always depends on who we are with. My best friend and her husband, we've been lucky enough to spend a few evenings with them over the last couple months, and Cailyn is just now starting to warm up to them and will talk and play with them. It's so cute and funny!! Cailyn is VERY excited about christmas. She is counting down, and keeps talking about her surprises she is going to get. She just wants to open the presents, doesn't care so much about what's in them. Christmas should be fun... we get to have all the girls on Christmas morn this year, so that will make it extra special.

Josie is doing awesome in school. She still loves it!! She is really working on reading and sounding out words and figuring out how to spell them. That's awesome!! My Josie Posie has really enjoyed watching Rachel's ball games.... she has been quite the character. Long story short..... 7/8th graders didn't end up having cheerleaders this year, so Josie found it necessary to represent the Falcon cheerleaders at a couple of Rachel's games (she was a Falcon cheerleader for halloween). It was quite embarrassing and cute on my part..... not sure why it embarrassed me so, but it was funny and cute. She would get up in front of the crowd just the same as other cheerleaders when it was half time and do her only cheer she knew for the crowd. Josie definitely has the voice for it, and isn't shy, and the Wonderful school we attend, the parents were more than encouraging and supportive of her cheers. They would clap along and cheer right with her. It was so nice!!! -- and the best part, Big Sister Rachel didn't care, she wasn't embarrassed by her, she thought she was pretty cute too.

Amberlea is still a ball of fire!! She keeps us busy working on homework, and listening to her funny stories, and just going, going all the time. She is SO good with Josie and Cailyn and they all just play and play when they are together, but I see glimmers of Amberlea's maturity shining thru. Some things she used to 'go along' with, now she is starting to see how annoying some things can be. It's always funny when you remind them that not so long ago, they were doing that too... and you just love the look on their faces, like "i don't think so.... and please don't remind me"...... Amberlea is getting ready to play the part of Mary in the annual 4th grade skit of the Birth of Jesus. She is SO excited, she could bust!!

And then to Rachel.... she has kept us on the run!! She has finished with Volleyball and Basketball. We were VERY proud of her!! She worked really hard and being one of the few 7th grade girls that got to play all the games. She didn't make a whole lot of points (even with her dad's bribe of $1 basket) but her defense skills are great!! She keeps this up, we're going to have an awesome ball player to be cheering for in Highschool. Rachel is keeping us entertained in her own ways, she is definitely growing up. She is definitely very social, (her bff... has now been adopted by our family), they are inseparable these days, between the texts or just hangin out talking about boys, geez. - Tim is REALLY stressin' he's just getting a tiny glimpse of the future, here within the last few weeks, and it's not good....lol... no, really, we trust Rachel and hope and pray the close relationship we have with her continues and it won't be so bad. Tim just needs to invest in a good shotgun, cause the boys are already trying to break down the door. lol...

-- a few weeks back I hit a deer on the way home. That put a kink into our thanksgiving week. It was a mess, but thankfully we have great support of family that helped us out while we were without the family car. I know there are tons of things I am missing from the last few weeks I've been absent. Some good, some not so good. But we are still here, all together, and that's what matters.

We are really looking forward to Christmas with the kids. And I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas too!!!

I will do better at keeping up over the next few weeks...... until then.......stay warm, safe, and healthy!!!

It's been a long time....sorry

Rachel has been bugging me about updating the blog. I keep telling her, I know... I know... So, here is a short update to catch everyone up.

My computer is having a malfunction, so that's part of the reason I haven't got it done yet. I have been having to use my old slow one that doesn't always cooperate with me. ugh...

We went to the zoo the 1st of October. I have a ton of fun pictures to show you!! Another day though. It was so much fun with the girls and Tim. Even though it was cold and rainy, it was a Friday and no one was hardly there. Since it was during the week, we got to see them cleaning the aquariums and stuff that we wouldn't normally get to watch. We really had a wonderful time!! I laughed so much that day. I love my kids when they are little, but there is just something about as they get older and start to understand some of the more mature humor in things.... that I love too. Tim, Rachel and I were just crackin' up all day long. (Rachel wasn't excited about going to the zoo again, but I think she ended up really having a good time with us).

We also went to the Pumpkin patch that same weekend. So, it was a blur of fun cause Rachel also had her last home VB games for us to watch her play. She did good, the team came in 3rd in the tournament. So that was nice to watch. -- Rachel got a 3 day break from VB ending to BB starting up. She told us last night that she is #13 again.... she picked it. She had asked her dad back when she was playing VB what #'s he always was in school. He said either 10 or 3. I told her that 13 was the combination of the both of them and would be a Great number to have!! She thought so too.... so Tim was pretty happy when she chose to be #13 again for Bball.

We were with some of Tim's family over the past weekend. They had just sent their oldest daughter off to her 1st Homecoming dance that evening. We sat and chatted and laughed about texting and making fun of us girls, how the kid will text the mom from the backseat of the car... just cause she may not want dad or the other kids to hear what she is saying.... lol, this happens with Rachel and I too. The other dad was telling Tim his time was coming, to being stupid and embarrassing.... and all that, it was all going to be ending soon. I hope not, Rachel is pretty open with the both of us, and she is still happy every time she sees her dad and hugs and kisses him first thing. So.. I'm praying that day won't be coming anytime soon. Lol....

I've been staying busy enough the last couple weeks with a couple shows. I'm excited for the opportunity to be out there more and showing other some of PR great products. I can't say I'm making a big profit at it yet, but I am having a good time so far!

The other girls are all doing good. Staying healthy and doing good in school. Not too much has changed so far. Still homework on a regular basis, Josie is much more interested in learning to read, and Cailyn is going nonstop these days. Soccer is also pretty much done, so that is nice to have out of the way!

We have a busy month ahead of us still.... this weekend we are taking some family pictures (finally), Trick or Treating at Mozingo on Saturday night, I need to start to get the house ready for a Halloween party we are having for the girls and their friends in a couple weekends.... and my dad's birthday is also at the end of the month. Busy as always......

Thanks for checking in with us. I'll update with pictures soon I hope, once I figure out what is the matter with my other computer.

What I know.......

This is what I know that is going on right now in our busy life.........

I know that Cailyn is as spunky as ever. I know I wish that more people got to see the side of her I get to enjoy everyday. She is growing up so fast and I don't know how I feel about it. Cailyn is also starting to be more interested in learning her name and alphabet, so that makes me happy. She has also found a love for her "magazines" the Highlight magazines that my mom got her, she loves to sit and look through them over and over. And truthfully I don't know so much if it's the magazine, or the one on one time she is getting with us. This is something she's not gotten too much of cause she is the youngest and we are also so busy with the older girls. Kind of makes me sad to think about :(

I know that Josie is LOVING school. She is telling me about caterpillars turning into butterflies. Reading buddies, show and tell, rhyming words, had been drawing me some awesome pictures, and last week she was child of the week! That was exciting! She hasn't been too difficult to wake in the mornings, I'm very surprised. It's been nice that Tim now gets home in time in the mornings to help get the girls up and fix them breakfast. That really helps me out in the mornings and gives me more time help do their hair and make it all cute! Josie is also doing good at soccer. We've played 2 games and she is enjoying every minute of it! She is also getting excited for Halloween, and is practicing already to be a cheerleader. We have watched a couple of Rachel's Volleyball games... and you can hear Josie loud as can be shouting...."Go Falcons"!! It's so funny! She is full of team spirit!!

I know that Amberlea is also doing great! She is trying to work on her study habits cause she has found 4th grade to be a little more challenging. She is doing good and pretty proud when she sees her hard work pay off. We are all proud of her too. She is still a ball of energy!! Always running around and giggling, or has some story to tell!! She is enjoying soccer and is looking forward to the Family Fun Fest this weekend along with her sisters! She is still a big help anytime I ask.... and I can't tell you how much I appreciate that! She loves anything she can do to be with you, either working or playing, she just loves any kind of attention!

I also know that Rachel is doing very well!! She is really Loving volleyball!! They lost their first match last night, but it was a tough game and they did good. The other previous teams haven't been much competition, so this was good for them to lose one. Keeps them on their toes! She is still doing great in school. I love the fact I don't have to hound her about her homework and can trust that she is getting it done. She asks for the occasion help, especially on the big projects, and I am always glad to help out... (if i can...ha).

I know I love all my girls for all their different personalities! They are so much fun! I miss Rachel and Amberlea often we they are not with me and wander how their day went, and how they did on this test or with that activity?? It's hard for me at times. But they are just a phone call away. I don't chat with Amberlea as often as I should, but Rachel and I keep in touch with our texting back and forth. That's nice. I know some people may disagree with her having a phone at such a young age, but I've really seen how it has actually brought us closer together when we are not always around. I know her Mom would agree with me on this too. Plus we are building trust that she will do whats right and take the responsibility that comes with it, and so far, she is doing awesome!

I know that I have yet to mention that I have started a new business a couple months back. It's been difficult getting it going, but I'm excited at the thought of what it may be like when it takes off! And I can't say it's my own business, I joined under my best friend that does it for a full time job and Rocks at it!! I started selling Pure Romance products. I have been hesitant to say much about it, never knowing what people may think. Being a mom of 4, PTO board, member of the catholic church. But I'm slowly getting past this. I really believe in this business and the products they offer! If you've never been to a show, you are missing out!

I didn't go out thinking this was what I would do, never in my wildest dreams! But I'm so thankful for the little push I got from my friend. I wanted an opportunity to make a little extra money, something to get myself out of the house and socialize (i'm thinking a part-time job at wal-mart..ha), and knowing how she has made a full time job from PR and has the flexibility to work when she wants, I gave it a shot. Let me tell you it wasn't easy. I never thought in a hundred million years I would be able to stand in front of a room of woman and talk about something so private and help others. I'm very shy when it comes to expressing myself in this way, it was the way I was raised, and there is nothing wrong with that. I've since come to see what a boost in confidence it has given me. I still feel nervous, but every time I have another show, it gets better. I am bonding with woman out there that do have questions and concerns and and are just the same as me and are looking for ways to improve their relationships. It's really a wonderful experience. They have so many products from massage to beauty to spa to romance enhancers. It's really a great company, very tasteful, professional and is proud of what they offer and I'm proud to be a part of it!

My goals are to work on my business, get my name out there more, and hopefully some day... make it MY full time job! I'm excited for now getting to travel here and there and meet other woman. I hope that in the future I will get to travel even more. PR has taken my friend Tonya to several meetings states away, to Florida recently, Vegas and she has won a cruise to Alaska even! That's incredible to me. I've barely been out of MO, so the thought of seeing other places, makes me extremely happy! Tonya is working on her way to making it to Italy, can you believe that? wow... jealous... and I believe she can do it!

Well... that's enough about me... now you all know a little more about what I have also been up to. I'm looking forward this weekend to spending some time with the kids, Tim will be taking them to the Family Fun Fest alone though, this bothers me, I'd like to join. But I had the opportunity to attend a training meeting in KC with the CEO of Pure Romance and learn more about the company to help build my business. They don't do it often in our area, so I am going to have to miss out on the fun with my kids, but I hope they understand in the long run. That has probably been the hardest part of it all, cause I don't often have to miss anything of my kids, but I am doing this for them, for us.... and for ME! I don't often choose my own needs or wants before theirs, but I am working on this too. They say if Momma ain't happy..... no one is. Not that I'm not happy, but I hope this helps me grow and build confidence in myself that my kids will see and admire! (not that they know what mommy is doing, they just think she has lots of meetings to attend right now...lol).

We have soccer games tomorrow morning and might attend the NW game in the afternoon. Busy as usual at the Auffert house! Thanks for catching up with us. My camera is giving me fits, so I don't have many pics to post right now. Hopefully I can get that worked out and add some more soon.

Have a great weekend!

Going Pro....

Ok, maybe not PRO, but here is a picture of Rachel in her first ever real Volleyball uniform. She looks so nice, and beautiful, and competitive, all at the same time. You never know... she just may go PRO! We can only dream, but I would guess she'd love to do that in BBall more than Volleyball, either way, she is enjoying the sport. And that's all that matters.

Rachel had a good weekend with us having a friend all last weekend to hang out. We did a little shopping together, she has money to spend and thought she had to have new jeans. Well, she was right, and not cause hers were bad, but cause she has grown an inch over the summer and slimmed down 2 jean sizes. She was feeling pretty good clothes shopping! We are so proud of the wonderful young lady she is becoming. She is doing awesome in school and staying on top of the homework, even weeks before it is due....(lol), balancing school, activities, socializing and the family time. Rachel has been pretty easy to "get along" with too. No crazy hormonal teen fits... ha. Let's hope it stays that way!

Her first games start next week! She is so excited! I'm sure I'll be taking lots of pictures to add on here.

Until then....

No time to Blog

Sorry about my time off from blogging.... it has been one busy week.

Last weekend Tim was gone to Bristol, and it is amazing what I got accomplished around the house. I was pretty busy. It included 2 trips to st joe and an evening at the rodeo. It was a lot of fun, I'd never been and so it was all new to me. The girls had a good time, my brother and his kids came up and Gina, Mike and Tanner also came out. They were so cute all the kids playing in the dirt and watching the horses. Tim had a great time in Bristol, he got back home later in the evening on Sunday night.

Tuesday was Tim and I's 8th Anniversary. It was spent at a PAT water night and then the kids went to Grandma and Grandpa's so Tim and I could have supper together. It was a nice time, nothing big, maybe by our 10th Anniversary we'll do something real special, plan a trip together, but we'll see if that works out or not. I won't hold my breathe, this time of year is always so crazy for us. A little recap.... married August of '01, broke ground to our house Aug '02, Josie was born in Aug '03, Aug of '05 Cailyn came along. August is a special month to Tim and I, many celebrations including Tim's birthday and with school starting, it's not easy to find time to ourselves to celebrate. But that's ok. We have much to be thankful for.

Wednesday Cailyn turned 4. Very exciting for her, I definitely don't have any more babies around the house. She is so full of energy these days. I see her changing so much with Josie headed off to school this year. She has really stepped up to be mommy's little helper, and I'm really enjoying our time together. Cailyn has always been so laid back, never really had interest in learning typical things most toddlers do, doesn't ask too many questions, much different than Josie. I hope to work with her more and teach her some of these "big" girl things, but it's hard to teach someone who doesn't care to learn. It's so funny, she is very smart, she is very artistic, she definitely has her own way of doing everything, and that's just fine with me. Cailyn is ok with not growing up, not that she is a baby, but she tells me she never wants to go to school or be away from Tim and I, she might just live with us FoReVer... lol.

Josie turned 6 on Friday, and she'd probably move out if we let her...ha. She is so independent, she was thrilled to get hang down earrings for her birthday to wear to school. She tries so hard to be just as big as her older sisters, that it scares me at times. I wish at times she was more like Cailyn. She knows too much information that I don't think a 6yr old should know. Nothing bad of course, she can just hang out with older kids and is perfectly fine with that, sometimes kids her own age just don't interest her. That's not always good.

Josie is doing GREAT in school!! I got to talk with her teacher briefly the other day and she said that Josie was doing wonderful. That's good to hear, according to my "know-it-all" 6 yr old, there have been several kids in trouble at school. She keeps telling me she hasn't got in trouble 1 time, I believe her, this is how she always was in preschool too, but I know my Josie, and she can be a trouble maker at times.

Both girls had wonderful birthdays! They were very happy with the presents they got and we made some special treats to celebrate. I always make sure all my girls get some sort of special dessert of choice to celebrate on their birthday. I didn't want to do just cake cause I would be making that for their parties, so Cailyn picked homemade cinnamon rolls and Josie a big cookie. I enjoy baking, and I had my fill this week. I made a cake for Cailyn to have with the daycare kids, cinnamon rolls for that night, Josie wanted dirt pudding for her class at school that had to be in individual cups, then a big cookie that evening and I then created a castle cake that ended up taking me 3 mixes and 3 batches of frosting, but I was pleased with it and the girls thought it was so cool!! That's all that matters.

I got the house all ready to go with the help of my mom and dad for the Princess Party on Saturday. Mom had all the decorations I could want, so she came back and helped me turn my basement into a beautiful princess ballroom....lol. Again, the kids thought it was great... I liked it, it was a success again! All the girls had a great time. We played a couple games and Rachel and Amberlea helped me out with doing makeup and nails, and I did their hair. I thought it went great, some of the other moms thought I was just crazy for doing it, but I thought it was no big deal, I was used to handling that many kids... no problem. That part didn't stress me out at all, it was getting ready for the party that drove me crazy!

That's about it for now. I'll leave you with some pictures.

Cailyn's rolls with purple frosting!!

Josie opening her Hannah Montana movie!!!

The Castle Cake I created, the kids fought over who got the icecream cones I used for the towers.... who would of thought??

Some of the princesses getting a little pampering.

One of Josie's classmates playing the kiss the frog game Amberlea came up with. The girls thought it was pretty funny!!

All the princesses at the party!!

Busy times

This time of year is always so busy for me. I help get things organized for soccer in Maryville, have to help get volunteers for school lined up (which never goes well and I put off as long as possible), school starting up, Tim's bday, next week is our anniversary, and both the little girls' birthdays. So there is a lot going on in August for us.

I'll start with school starting on Tuesday. Josie was very excited, as Tim and I were. She looked so big and all ready to go to school. I made sure I worked it out with my daycare parents that I could go with Tim on her 1st day of school. I wasn't sure what to expect from myself, somethings upset me easily, but other things don't bother me. Well, Josie was more than ready to be there she could of cared less that she was leaving us. That's how Josie has always been. So, it was hard to get all sappy and cry when she just kept telling us bye, she was ready for us to leave. She wasn't like some of the other children clinging to their parents legs not wanting to let go. So, that's good I guess.... I wouldn't of minded a little bit of clinging though, to make ME feel better. I think Josie will do AWESOME this year at school! I'm excited to see how much she learns.

Rachel and Amberlea also had great 1st days. Amberlea seems to be very excited about 4th grade. She keeps telling me it's going to be awesome! So, I'm glad. Rachel is rachel.... not ready to get back to all the homework, but she does love to be with her friends and get more of a chance to socialize. So, she deals with the work... she is also starting VB prac today. She is excited about that! She is going to do great! She has been cracking me up the last couple days trying to "work her abs" with her dad. She got pretty good last winter, but isn't in the shape she was then ..... and let's just say, she is sore, but determined to work those muscles again. She is so funny!

* Rachel also gets her bottom braces off today!!!! YEAH!! So, I'll post a pic of the new, expensive, beautiful smile she has today!

Tim has left me for a few days.... not quite sure what to do. Ha... not really. I love my husband, and this will be the longest we will have been apart so far after almost 8 years of marriage, 4 days. But, I know he is so excited about his trip to Bristol, TN to watch the races. He has been talking about it for months now. He is like a little kid in a candy store.... about to bust! He is going with 3 other guys he is good friends with, also big race fans. They got free tickets... and they still don't know what all is included in them... he can hardly wait to find out. The guys know that they are ABC tickets that came from...ok follow me now.... one of the guy's brother-n-law is a brother-n-law to Dr Jerry Punch... (i hope that name is right) anyway, this Dr guy is an announcer for ABC that is on TV. When they called about the tickets again to see what all they included, this "guy" wanted to meet Tim and everyone and give them the tickets personally. So, they are all excited they get to meet him now too. .... Boys, I swear.

So, that leaves me alone with all the kids. I will have Rachel and Amberlea part of this time too. It will be fine. I don't mind having all the kids to myself. My only thing I don't like is listening to them cry about missing Tim. I'm glad they miss him, but it upsets me too. Cailyn has already had to call this morning and talk to Daddy. I remember when Tim years ago would go on bowling trips for like 2 days, oh.. I would be so upset and cry and cry.... not a tear this morning... lol... what does that mean?? I'm just teasing... I will miss him too... but I'm alright having my time to myself.

I am trying to plan the girls' party for next weekend... I have ideas.. I just need to get to st joe and see if I can find what I need for it. That has left me very busy too. Not sure how I'm going to get that all done.

Short update

All is going well in the Auffert house. Tim's birthday was yesterday, didn't really do anything special. It was open house for St. Gregory's and all the kids take their supplies in and meet with teacher and all that fun stuff last night, so we did that with all the girls. And had supper together for Tim's birthday!!

Josie is counting down to her 1st day of Kindergarten. She asks me first thing every morning how many more days till school. They start back on Tuesday, so I'll let you all know how that goes. I'm pretty sure it is going to be harder on mom than Josie.

Cailyn is sure acting up lately too, her spunky side is really coming out and I predict that with Josie going to school all day, she is going to really step up and be mommy's helper and just love having all the attention.

Rachel and Amberlea are also doing good, getting ready to get into a routine again. Rachel is trying to get herself organized for school and Amberlea is set and ready to go. Amberlea is a little nervous about this year (as I am) cause this is the year they "transition" from elementary to being able to handle going downstairs to "jr high" I'm not really sure Amberlea is ready for that. Could be a big eye opener for her. Or I could be completely wrong. Last year Rachel decided she was going to do good in school (not that she didn't before) but she set goals to get all A's and it wasn't a fight to do the homework and she did awesome! I didn't see that one coming at all. ha Hopefully she'll do that same this year!

So another year, with 3 kids in school now. We will have to start to balance homework, activities (rachel has VB prac everyday after school till 4:15, Amberlea and Josie soccer) and games on the weekends. It will be quite interesting.

As for myself, I've been working out still when I can. Dropped those pesky few pounds I gained back over the summer. That is good! Been kind of a wierd week for me. In some kind of a funk. I don't have much motivation, and am feeling a bit overwhelmed... hope that passes soon. Can't really pin point what is up?.... maybe I just need a little break away from home and the kids for a bit, get my sanity back. lol ...Not that I don't love my job and kids, but everyone needs and deserves a break every so often.

Hope everyone is doing good. Take Care

A quick update

Sorry, it's been a little while, but there hasn't been a whole lot going on.

We got back Sunday from our adult float trip. It was a great time like always, a little chilly on Saturday due to some small rain showers, but the sun came out and all was good again. There were a lot of us, and when I get some pics from my friend Tonya, I'll show you our huge barge we made by tying 17 canoes together. There were several couples I didn't know, but I always feel the more the merrier, it was really nice for me to spend so much time with other adults, not just children all the time. It was very needed.

This week has been busy with PTO mtgs, soccer mtgs, and I FINALLY got back to the Community Center this week. I'm pretty sore today. But it felt great to get back in and work out again. I just need to keep it up. I have another goal I want to reach. I had my annual Dr appt this week and spoke with my Dr about it, and we have a game plan, and he says my goals are reachable, so I will do my best to stay on track and hopefully get moving in the right direction again. I'd love to lose another 20 (plus the 3 I put on this summer....lol) before Christmas. That might be tough, but I'll just throw that goal out there... and I'll do my best to make it happen.

All the girls are getting pretty excited about school starting. Amberlea is ready to go, supplies and all. Rachel went on a big shopping spree with her Mom this week and made out pretty well. Rachel's body is changing and so pretty much everything she tries on, looks so cute on her.... and she "has to have it". I know this from experience and I'm sure Jenni was having the same issues with her while they were shopping together. Josie and I are going to get school supplies this weekend. She is pretty excited about it. And so am I. I'm not sure if she knows exactly what to expect with going to Kindergarten all day, everyday.

We are going to have to start getting her to bed much earlier next week and start to get her broke in, or she'll never make it.... ha. I've have her spoiled here at home with me for the last year and she slept in some mornings if she wanted to, well, a lot of mornings. She has her dad's sleeping habits, so I already know it's going to be a struggle. Can't wait.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend, Rachel is having a friend over tonight, and the rest of us are just going to hang out. I'm looking forward to it.

Fabulous Four

I think this is what I should start referring to my girls as the "fabulous four". They bring me so much joy with their wonderful personalities and I can't tell you how much I enjoy spending an evening with them all together as a family.

I would of never thought 8-10 yrs ago when I was in my early 20s and hanging out with my friends every Friday night, thinking that life revolved around being with them, partying and just having some good times, that now my Friday nights consist of hanging out with my kids, and I can't be happier!! Not that I don't mind an evening out with friends, but I'm quite content hanging out at home too.

This past Friday was another "pizza and poker" night at the Auffert house. It was a ton of fun. Both Rachel and Amberlea play with Tim and I and Josie "helps" Tim by putting in what chips he needs and then Cailyn sits with us making patterns and shapes out of her chips, very entertaining for her.

Let me tell you a little about Rachel and Amberlea. First..... Amberlea, as I mentioned before or any of you know Amberlea, she is often in her own little world. (a world I would like to visit just once...ha) But during a fast moving game of poker, this could be a problem. Every time she is dealer, we have to remind her, that she is the one dealing, after each card she flips over. And then we have all placed our bets, and she will just bet or do whatever, not really knowing what is going on. It is pretty funny!!

And then there is Rachel, who bets, just cause she knows she is going to "get lucky and win". Half the time she is right too. Drives Tim crazy! It's so funny. I was cracking up from her on Friday night. We all laughed and laughed the entire night.

The girls' favorite song right now is "Poker Face". So we had the music going while we played poker and heard this song several times. The girls and I were trying to perfect our own Poker Faces, but we weren't so good at it. Here's a few picture of some of our fun!!

This is rachel's not so good poker face, she couldn't quit laughin'.

She got her dad's hat and sunglasses...... and then realized that she couldn't see with the glasses on to know what cards she had or the chips. lol


Here she is getting serious.
Who do you think she learned it from.
"Why do I have all these girls on me?? I'm trying to play poker here"....lol

Saturday evening was a nice date out with my hubby to see The Proposal. It was very good! It was a nice evening just with just Tim and I , well, those 2 hours we went to the movie that is. We just ran the girls to my sisters and went back and got them afterwards, but I'll take what I can get.

I also got almost my entire list of "to dos" done this weekend. I am proud of my accomplishments! I'm dreading my last task, and it still might not get done for another week cause I and the girls all have VBS this week and I'm off on another float trip this weekend, adults only. That's exciting. I won't be a big baby this time when we leave, I hope, this time both Cailyn and Josie will be staying with Grandma and Grandpa, and I won't feel so bad about leaving my kids behind.

Hope everyone has a nice week!! Thanks for checking in on us.

Blah....

That pretty much tells you how I've been feeling lately. Unmotivated and just plain lazy. I haven't been to work out for 2 months now. I'm starting to see and feel the effects of that too. So, I plan on heading in for a good workout this week.

It's all Tim's fault too, he kept me going for so long. Then he got hurt, and as I mentioned I seem to always have trouble getting in there when it's summer time. He joined up again last month and has been going again. He has been going in the mornings after he gets off work, so again, I'm missing out on the opportunity to go with him. I don't make a special trip to town just for this reason, but I'm going to have to start to.

I've put back on 2-3 lbs and my energy level isn't great, and then I seem to be a snacking fool these days. I really need to just jump back on the wagon and get the right mind set again. I saw some pics of me from my float trip this past weekend that were a huge motivation. ha.

Here's a picture I found on a blog a while back, I thought it was pretty funny and is how I feel sometimes about getting on that scale. Thought I'd share it with you all.

Have a great week, I think I'm done blogging for the week (unless I add more pictures) but between my blog and updating facebook, it keeps you real busy, no wander I don't have time or energy to work out. ha.

Oh happy days......

I made my Josie Posie's night on Monday! Her reward for improving her swim times was to get her ears pierced. I took her to Wal-Mart on Monday to have it done.


She did AWESOME!! She was nervous, but never fought the lady there. We had to wait for someone to come back from break so there would be 2 girls to pierce them at the same time.

Josie sat right down and I was taking pictures waiting for her to have a big meltdown and......... nothing. She made an awful face, but that was it. I had to look to see if they had even done anything yet, and yep, she had flowers in her ears. I was so proud of her!!


I had another motive on the ear piercing. She has been asking for over a year now. She is pretty excited about being able to change them in time for her bday now, and I am hoping we can get some new earrings for her bday then. Amberlea and Rachel thought it was so unfair they didn't get their done until they were like 8. I thought Josie was ready and so far, she has taken good care of her ears cleaning them and turning them. Now I just hope she does as well when the day comes to change them. I remember Rachel and Amberlea.... big ol' meltdowns when it came time to change them. I'm going to guess she will be ok with it, she's a tough cookie.

Where to begin??

I can't begin to explain the great weekend we had with the kids. We started it off with night up at the Fair. As always, it was a wonderful time riding rides and watching the kids enjoy themselves. We ran into friends and got a chance to chat also.

The night ran longer than I hoped since we still needed to get home and load up the van for our trip to the river. It was a late night and an early morning, but the kids were great. We stopped for breakfast and didn't actually get on the road till around 8am. The girls were very well behaved and we passed the time with a very exciting car game of "cow poker". If you have never played it, it's a great game to keep the kids entertained on a long trip.

We got to our campsite around 1 and unpacked, set up tents, and were off to show the kids the river. We were within walking distance to the river, it was wonderful. The kids said the river wasn't anything like they were picturing it to be. Amberlea was really nervous and the whole thing, which was odd since she is our dare devil. Rachel took me by surprise and was at home playing in the river. I thought she might be too girly for it, but she LOVED it. Josie was a little nervous in the beginning, but then jumped right in playing with the other kids. The Niangua River is a beautiful river!! Shallow enough to usually walk across. Like any other river, it can be dangerous, but for the most part, it is very clean and safe.


It only got into the mid 80s all weekend. It wasn't bad when the sun was out, but if we lost the sun or by evening time, it was pretty chilly. Camping in our tents was pretty cold, but no one complained we just bundled up.
Saturday we got up and made breakfast and headed out to the river. We had to wait 45 min. for our bus, and that was probably the worst part of the whole weekend. We got bussed up river to where we get in, and then float the 10 miles back down the river to our campsite.

The river was full of people. More than any other year. Our raft was very comfortable and we had a great time. There were many watergun fights that we got ourselves into, or I should say the kids!! We were a good target for many people. Rachel figured out the paddling right away and was great help to us adults. Rachel showed me even more this weekend just how much she is like her dad, they had a great time hanging out together

Sunday morning Tim and I were up early and headed home. It was Rachel and Amberlea's mom's birthday and we needed to get back by early afternoon so they could see her. We made great time and were home by 1:30. Tim and I worked on unpacking real fast, I had a nice warm bath and then my sister came by and we headed to St. Joe to the Circus with some friends. I know... I'm crazy, but I couldn't pass up the chance to take the girls to the circus. Mom and Dad took us when we were little, but I don't really remember it. The girls have never been and we had free tickets, so why not? I wasn't sure what to expect, and I was very pleased with it. There was comedy, and stunts, and animals, it was a good time. I can't complain at all for it only costing my $10. It was well worth the money.

So, it was definitely a busy weekend with Fairs, Float trips, and a Circus. Cailyn stayed behind with Grandma and Grandpas..... and had a wonderful weekend too!!

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy!!

I have plenty more pictures that I'll add at another time.

Lots to tell.....

I have lots to tell..... been a while since I blogged, but I thought I'd wait and put it all in 1 post.

Swim team is finished for the year. The girls all did great!!! (of course) We had our last meet last Saturday in Neb. City. It was a long day. Leaving at 6am with 4 kids, is going to be a long day, no matter what. There were over 45o kids swimming in this meet. Between every event there was a good hour and a half wait. Thankfully it wasn't really hot that day, we actually had lots of cloud coverage and a chance of rain, so it was bearable. No big awards at this meet. Rachel did win a the heat in her back stroke and got a ribbon for that, Way to go Rach!!

The end of the year picnic was last night. Josie won the trophy for Most Improved in her age group. She was so excited cause she has always wanted a trophy for something. And she did it!! Her back stoke improved greatly, by 2 minutes (had no real clue how to swim the back stoke the first time she tried..lol) and she improved the rest of her stokes by over 45 sec from the first meet we had. She got all but the butterfly down under 1 minute, and she was close on that one too. I stood there last night knowing that she should win this medal, with my fingers crossed, hoping and praying. I was a proud mommy when they called her name. -- Josie and I also worked out a deal if she would improve her times.....a little reward, something she has been dying to have.... I'll post that at another time, I'll make you wait and see.

Last weekend Tim and I taught the girls how to play Texas Holdem. Amberlea (our 9 yr old) already had an idea from playing at a friends house and she knows her Dad loves to play, so she has been asking to play with him. So we did one night before he went to work, and Amberlea was thrilled. So I came up with last Friday, "Pizza and Poker" night. Oh she couldn't of been happier!!! We played Friday night and taught Rachel the game. She did really well for never even playing before. We had a really good time.... well, most of us. -- Tim was getting "frustrated" at us girls' betting. We would always bet every time cause we'd want to see the flop, just in case we'd get lucky and something came up that would help us out. According to him, this is not the smart way to play if you don't have good card....ha. We didn't care, so we continued to play this way and were making some risky bets/raises when we really didn't have anything. Well, to someone that plays often with the guys, he was annoyed with us, in a good way of course!! Amberlea ended up winning that night!! I can't believe it. We had another game Saturday night cause it was so much fun, and Tim and Amberlea battled it out, until Tim took the pot. whew..... he would of never lived that down if Amberlea beat him...again. *oh and I should also mention how very happy it makes to have some more poker players in the house and the girls want every Friday night to be "Pizza and Poker" cause they had so much fun!

Saturday we attended Sydni and Lexi's birthday at my parents. We enjoyed a wonderful bbq and the kids played in the bounce house and they also had a silly string fight. It was a lot of fun!!

Tonight we are headed up to the Fair!! The girls are pretty excited about this. I am looking forward to taking them, like always. Thanks Larry and Penny for the tickets!! I'll post pictures later.

Tomorrow we are up early and headed to the Niangua River in S. MO with the kids, all but Cailyn that is. I'm really nervous about leaving Cailyn behind. Not that she will be any trouble, but for the fact that I never have left her by herself and she keeps getting upset already about us leaving her. And then Josie starts in crying that she is going to miss her sister, it's a whole big drama thing. So I know there are going to be plenty of tears shed tonight when I drop her off at Grandma and Papa's. I'm not looking forward to this part of our trip. I would take her with us, but as I've said before, she isn't a big fan of the water and so for this being the first year for the other girls, it will be better off if she stayed here. I told her next year she might be big enough to go. (cailyn says she doesn't want to go either... she just doesn't want us to leave her)

As I said we will be leaving early in the morning for a weekend of camping and floating down the river. This will be the first time really camping with the girls. Our idea of camping before this was either in the back yard, or at Papa and Grandma's camper with AC and TV. Not really roughin' it considering we were only about 5-10 min from home if I really needed anything. We are all pretty excited about the trip. We even made up family shirts that I will take some pics of and post later. I'm not only excited about going with the family, but by best friends family is also going along. May sound corny... but I'm excited to get a whole weekend away with just our family and her's. It's never happened before. We rarely get to spend time together without others, which I don't mind of course, and that doesn't happen often anyway cause of both of our busy schedules. Thank God for free nights/weekends or we'd never even talk, well we would, but I would have to get a second job just to pay that bill. ha

I think that just about catches us up for now...... no, wait, I forgot, Josie has lost both her front teeth. Big excitement!! That second one hung on for a good week before I pulled it out. We are having corn on the cob tonight and I already have instructions that I will be cutting that off for her to enjoy too. I should make her try to eat it and take a picture of it, ha.

update....Rachel is now supposed to get her bottom braces off on Aug 20th. She is counting down. She has had TONS of compliments on her teeth and how wonderful they look and just how grown up she looks these days. Rachel is luvin' it..... but not Tim so much.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

Today's the day!!!.... well sort of ;)

Rachel was about to bust this morning waiting on her mom to take her to her final braces appt, she gets them off today and gets fit for a retainer. She could hardly wait!!!

So I did a little searching it wasn't hard to find a picture of Rachel before the braces, I went back thru her school pictures. This is her school picture from 4th grade, usually taken at the beginning of the year, she had to have had the braces put on shortly after this. Rachel thought it was end of 3rd, but it hasn't been as long as she remembers. I must admit just seeing the picture made me laugh, not so much because of her teeth, which obviously needed work, but just cause she has matured and changed so much in the last 2-3 years, it's unbelievable.

So, shortly after starting this post, Rachel texted me and told me they didn't take off her bottom braces. I thought she was pranking me cause it had already been a morning of pranks, so I replied, and told her I didn't believe her, but she told me that she had 1 tooth on bottom they thought was a little crooked, and wanted to wait a few more weeks for the bottoms. Let's just say she wasn't happy, to say the least.

I told her to look at the good side and at least she got the top off instead of the bottom, cause you can't hardly see your bottom teeth anyway.

So here is an after picture, kind of. The school picture you can't see too well, but her teeth were really spaced apart and crooked. Now they are straight and beautiful. It's taken her some getting used to, but shes happy that they are at least half way gone....forever.
And on similar note, I have been waiting for Rachel to get these braces off for family pictures. I scheduled an appt for the first part of August and we need to pray she gets them off by then. BUT, my Josie Posie might not have any teeth left for family pictures. She lost one of her front big teeth on Sunday night and the other one is pretty much just hanging there, ready to be pulled any day. She has a huge gap that she thinks is way too cool!! I know it should be cute, but I like teeth.

Fun Fourth

We have been so busy over the last few weekends, it has been a really good time. Last weekend we went to the St. Joe pool with my sister-in-law. It was a great time!! The kids enjoyed playing at a different pool and it was very reasonable for us. I took my 4 girls, plus Tatum and Brenda has 3 girls, so it was kind of crazy, but we handled it. After swimming all the girls went different places and Tim and I took out for an evening out with some friends of ours. We saw a movie and headed over to their house to play cards.

This weekend has me exhausted again..... holidays for us are usually a day of running from here to there without a time to stop and rest. Friday I headed to St. Joe to pick up some things from Sams and do a little light shopping. I came home in time to head to see Ice Age with some friends of ours and their kiddos. I wouldn't say the movie was great, ok, we really liked the first 2 Ice Ages, but this one wasn't quite as good. We came back to our house after the movie to play cards and the kids played together.

On the 4th we were up early and headed out the door for a long day. We picked up Rachel and Amberlea and head over to Linda's for lunch, homemade icecream, and fireworks. Tim loves this holiday with his kids, ok, well we both love all the holidays with the kids, but this one the girls get so excited about, even the older girls!!! They have a great time shooting off fireworks with their dad. They are all so much like him, it just cracks me up to sit back and watch them. It also scares the crap out of me. Rachel is into blowing things up..... her favorite firework was the "little dynamite". She went thru about all we had at Linda's and so we had to go back and buy more, 8 boxes...lol. If you aren't familiar with those, they are pretty loud and you can throw them in water and watch it blow up. Hours of fun!!!

Amberlea also liked those, but she enjoys shooting off multiple things. Meaning, she ties together 6 smoke bombs, or fire crackers, or whatever she can find to lite all at the same time. Very wasteful if you ask me. She finds it very exciting to see how many she can light at once. Josie and Cailyn mostly watched. That was good. Cailyn did her share of poppers. We still have some left over, so that probably means another night of fireworks here in our future.

After Linda's we ran up to my parents for a couple hours and then we headed to Mike and Ruth's for a bbq and the kids played together. They always have a good time together. Rachel and Trent were up to their usual sneaking around trying to scare Amberlea and Nicholas. They played a game of softball with Tim and gave us adults a good fireworks show. We headed off to Mozingo for the big fireworks later that evening. Here is a few pictures of our good times!!

The girls playing with the Dredge's.

Rachel trying to blow up Linda's tunnels.

Amberlea and Josie dancing in the smoke.

My Firecrackers....... aren't they so cute!!

Rachel's Music Camp

Rachel wrapped up the end of her Music Camp at NW with a recital. It was really good. I enjoyed the choir part more than the band. Didn't get to see Rachel too much last week which Tim and I didn't like too much, but we are glad she had a wonderful time and made some new friends. Tim and I both know nothing about music, so we really didn't understand a whole lot of what she was told us, or her mom. Jenni did most of the running and taking care of this camp. We just got to enjoy the recital. Here are a couple pictures from it.

Second row from the bottom, right in the middle.

Rachel playing her sax. She's the third one from the end.

This is a picture of her before the dance they had on Thursday night. I wasn't home to see her, so Tim took a picture for me. Doesn't she look nice! (Tim gave her a hard time about the dance, lots of instructions of what she should not be doing at the dance...lol)

And I couldn't resist adding this picture. It says so much. Rachel annoyed with her dad bothering her while she was "talking on the phone" this is a classic look for Rachel. Glad Tim caught it so some day when she has kids we can show it to her again.

Happy Father's Day Tim!!!

The girls are so excited about today, not really sure why, cause I don't think they understand what Father's Day is really. Josie asked me when Kids' day was, and I told her that's everyday around here. ha

Tim didn't want much, we had plans to go to the races, but the rain cancelled those. So Tonya and Levi and the kids came up for a night of playing cards. It was SO much fun!!! It's not often that, well actually, don't really know when the last time it was just us and them together. We had a great time and so did the kids. Aeriel, Amberlea, Josie and Cailyn played and played and played. Rachel was a little out of the loop, but she was alright with that, we attempted to teach her how to play pitch, but she just didn't catch on really. And Gunnar was more than happy playing the wii all evening. It was a really nice time!! (even though the guys kicked our butts, sorry Tonya, pitch isn't my kind of game either, I hate to bid)

Back to Father's Day, it was a blur of a morning. We slept in, but not on purpose. This wasn't good cause the girls were supposed to be serving at mass, but there was no way we were going to make it on time. I didn't get the French Toast breakfast made for Tim either and I had plans for the girls to decorate a big cookie for him, and we needed to be up at mom's by noonish. The girls got the cookie done, and it sure was "pretty".

We headed to mom and dad's for a bbq and a really fun time of hanging out together. The grandkids played in the pool, rode bikes, rode 4 wheelers, and played some washer and bean bag toss. It was great!! My parents house is always such a good time because the kids can play outside and do things we don't normally get to do. I had a hard time getting the girls off the 4 wheelers today (this is why they were so excited about Father's day I think, they just kept saying that they wanted to go to Grandma and Grandpa's for Father's Day ....lol)

Tim took off for a couple hours with his dad for a Father's Day car show. The two of them said they had a great time looking at all the cars. Tim really enjoys doing these things with his dad, and I'm glad they got to go together.

And to my husband on this Father's Day..... I don't tell you often enough how great of a father you are to your girls. It's not easy being in a house full of all girls, but you never complain.... ha. Everyone that sees you can tell just how much you love and support your girls in everything that they do!! Happy Father's Day Honey!

Here are more pictures for you...... of course.

Summer Fun!!

I wanted to share a few pics I took of the girls this afternoon. Since the sun came out and it was warm this afternoon I let them play in the water with the hose. They decided to make a water slide. We did this last year and had a pool at the bottom, but I told them I wasn't dragging out the pool, they'd just have to wing it. And so they did.

Amberlea is so smart.... she got the hose put up on the tree house just right so that they had a waterfall they had to go under to go down the slide. They were FLYING down the slide. Mostly Amberlea, cause unlike her, the other two are a little more nervous about trying things like this cause they don't want to get hurt.

After playing for a while we headed over to the pool my Mom bought for the grandkids to play in. They had a really good time just splashin' around in it for a while.

I must say that when the 3 of them are together, most of the time it is wonderful and they play and play and play!! This includes lots of dress up time, makeup, dance performances, school, outside, to just reading books together. At times I make them split up if they are having a bad day fighting with each other, but it about drives them all crazy when I say they have to stay apart from each other for a while. They have a great sisterly bond, and I just pray it continues for a few more years.... you never know what that preteen age will bring on, they might be at each others throats by then, but one can hope and pray not.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Another update

We have been super busy lately, I feel just worn out these days. The weekend wasn't much of a weekend because we (or I should say, I was) up at 6am every morning packing and getting things around for a swim meet. Saturday's was the Maryville invite and Sunday we headed to Auburn.

Both meets lasted into the afternoon and it was a long day. The only good part about it is watching the girls compete and they did AWESOME!! I'm so proud of all of them. Rachel is figuring out how to gain speed and we are seeing improvement in her this year. Amberlea is our competitive one and wants to know just as soon as she steps out of the pool what place she got. And Josie, oh Josie..... what can I say. People are amazed at how well she is doing just being 5. I had one mom tell me on Sunday they got the biggest kick out of her because every part of her body is moving, but she is standing still in the water. She knows how to do the strokes, but she just hasn't figured out how it will make her faster. BUT, last night we had another meet and we worked out an incentive to make her want to improve her speed. She was shed 12 sec, 5 sec, and 10 sec off 3 different strokes. That's awesome! I was pretty proud. I won't tell you her incentive just yet, we'll wait to see if she reaches her goal.

Tim and I want to take the girls to the pool later this week to work with her on her strokes. We are hoping the sun comes out for a few days like they say it's going to so we can get a chance to do this.

Tim got his cast off on Monday. He is super thrilled about that. He said the Dr. told him if he didn't know where to look for the break, be wouldn't of been able to see it. It healed great! He was released to do whatever activity he wants to do. It is just going to be sore for a little while still.

Rachel has her last summer VB game tonight, Tim and I are not attending. We needed a night off from all the running. 3 swim meets in a row and tomorrow is another one in Neb City I have to travel to. We decided to just stay at home tonight. I hope she does well! She is also attending at Band Camp this week at northwest. She is pretty excited about that, I hope she enjoys it and gets a lot out of it. She will have a performance on Saturday for all of us to see. That will be interesting to see what they can do compared to the little concerts we've seen at St. Greg's. I'm looking forward to that.

We are looking forward to a fun weekend with all the kids celebrating Father's Day!

Weekend Activities

It was a beautiful weekend, I'm sure you'll all agree. Our weekend started off with an afternoon at the pool Friday after I was done with the babysitting kids. That was a lot of fun! Josie has been dying to see if she was tall enough to go down the slide this year..... and sure enough she was!! HUGE milestone in her life, ha. I went up with her and she was a little nervous, but she did it. I was so scared. I couldn't go down with her, just had to watch and see how she did, it made my heart race. Not sure why since we were surrounded by lifeguards, but even still, it scares me....I'm a mom.

The first time she struggled at the end of the slide. She wasn't expecting that current at the bottom and it took her a bit to get to the ladder cause she was swept away by the current. I figured this would of scared her enough to be done, I was wrong. She climbed out of the pool and told me that was a BlAsT, and she was going again!! She went down several times Friday afternoon. She also went off the diving board several times. Her few days of swim team practice has really paid off. I see a huge improvement already.

Saturday morning was Maryville's intrasquad meet. Pretty much just a practice for Maryville and to get some seed times for the kids. Josie swam all 4 strokes. She was pretty worn out, but she did great. Backstroke, not so good..... I'll be honest. Took a long time, but she really doesn't get it at all. But, in her defense, several of the first time swimmers wouldn't even attempt it, and she at least tried.

Josie's other strokes were much better. Being close to the youngest, I'm super proud of her. It will be interesting to see how much she improves in the weeks to come. She didn't come in last though..... that was exciting!

Amberlea also did awesome. Over the last year she has really become competitive with her swimming. She moved up to the 9-10 age group this year. I don't know all the results, but in 2 of them she placed 3rd. That is really good for our first meet and that there are girls older than her. I can't wait to see what she ends up doing over the next few weeks.

Rachel, like always did a good job. Rachel struggles with speed a lot of the time, but she has beautiful form. Not sure how to get her go faster, but she is a really good swimmer. Can't complain at all.

Overall if was a wonderful weekend, got together with friends, spent time with the family, and just relaxed. Nothing better than that!!

Josie
Rachel

Amberlea