update on several things

First of all, Tim's finger is still pretty sore. It got to looking really bad over the weekend. He had bruising up into his hand and wrist. It is now a nice pukey yellow color all over, but he is trying to move it around some more. He is still having trouble hitting it on things cause he isn't real fond of his brace for it. Last night Tim and Rachel got into a "cat fight" over the phone. Rachel just knew it was going to be for her, (because when she is here, the rest of us don't receive phone calls, teenagers....??) Anyway, she "attempted" to grab the phone from Tim's hand, and well, you can guess the rest...... she also grabbed a hold of his broken finger. Let's just say Tim said he swears he stopped breathing for about 30 sec because of the pain. I would like to say Rachel learned her lesson, but she didn't, she did it again later that night. LOL

The girls are all really good. We got both Rachel and Amberlea's midterms in the mail and they are doing really good. They are counting down the last days of school!! Josie got her swim team stuff last night and it's all she can talk about. She looks so BIG in her suit, hat and goggles. I'll have to post a picture soon. Cailyn is still drawing up a storm. Today is was a phone she drew. It was pretty good too, she made a big rectangle with a line above for the antenna and then squares inside it for the buttons.

I am doing about the same, swamped with meetings for PTO, and soccer, and swim team, and makeup soccer games, and trying to get ready for a garage sale (which isn't going very well). I am pleased to say that I have "got into" my summer clothes that I was wanting to. I think they could fit a little better on me, but I'm getting close :)

That's about it for now. I'll leave you with a picture of Josie at soccer on Saturday! She is doing awesome this year!


And this is a picture of my little table dancer. He is too cute, I forgot to turn over the bench following lunch the other day and turned around to find him standing on the table just a shakin' his bootie!! He is still keeping me on my feet, he is up to a lot more now that he is walking around too.


OH TANNER.......... !!!!

Tim, and his poor pinkie!

Over the last few years it seems like the universe is out to get my husband. For some reason he keeps getting all these injuries, but since last fall, he's been doing pretty good, that was until softball season started back up.


Thursday night he had his first Energizer softball team practice. It wasn't but a half an hour into prac. and he went to catch a hard hit ball, and caught it wrong. It hit the end of his pinkie finger, he thought it was just jammed, (that's what he told me when I questioned it, but I found out the next day, yep he knew he broke it. That didn't stop him for trying to pop it back into place, I'm sure that didn't help anything :)



So, as the evening went on, it got worse and worse. It was swollen twice it's size and bruising all over. We were all pretty sure it was broke. He did go to work half the night, but came home cause he kept hitting it on things and the swelling was starting to go into his wrist. From what he told me, every time he would smack it on something, he thought he was going to wet himself...... LOL. (that's not funny, ok, yes it is!)

I got him a drs. appt for Friday afternoon, and yes, the dr said he took a nice chip of bone off his big middle knuckle. It should heal ok as long as he doesn't hit it again. Then that will cause future problems.

(These pictures are from earlier on, it seems to still be getting worse than better today.)

Let's just say, we aren't doing too well with him not hitting it. He keeps accidentally misjudging things and hitting it on different objects. And then there was a little girl on Josie's soccer that likes to grab a hold of his hand, guess what? yep, he said she grabbed a hold of his hand several times today!! And then the cat came up and tried to lift of his hand for him to pet him, and there was an incident loading groceries that I kind of forgot about his hurt finger....opps ;)

What else can you not do with a broken pinkie?? Turns out a lot, let's see...... can't drive, can't walk, can't carry things, can't golf, can't play softball, can't workout....... seems like you use your pinkie a lot more than you think..... or Tim is milking if for everything he can....... hmmm..??? What do you think? ha, ha

I think Tim has decided once again to retire from softball. I was shocked! It was an argument if he should play or not because of our kid's busy schedule, he loves the game, but I wasn't sure if we had the time to fit that in too. So we agreed to just a few games if it works out, and now he's thinking, maybe not this year.

Maybe this last injury has finally made him see it all a little more clearly. Let's see, broken arm a few years back at his 1st ball game. Took a year off, the following year he started up hapkido again, that was a year of in and out of the dr. with twisted ankles, pulled muscles, you name it. Since he quit hapkido last summer and started just working out at the Community Center, things have been real good, that was until softball started back up. That's why I think Tim has finally decided maybe it's time to take some time off for a while, I'd hate for something else to happen and he'd not be able to make it work out, or golf this summer, that would be too bad.

That's about all the excitement for now. We had more cold soccer games this morning, and the girls are doing very well. Nothing exciting going on. Tim and I went to St Joe last night it was a nice time getting out of town together. This next week I am busy with several meetings and makeup soccer games, should be busy, just like always.

Stuck in a Rut...

That's how I have been feeling the last few weeks, like I'm stuck in this rut and I can't get out. I'm talking about my weight loss issues.

Tim, I and the girls, have still been hitting the gym on a regular basis. I've been burning the calories and lifting the weights. But I feel stuck.

Actually, maybe I'm not so much stuck as frustrated. I am really wanting to be another 10lbs lighter..... soon. My final weight 2 yrs ago when I finished the New Years Challenge was 10 less than I am now. That doesn't seem like much, but it is. I'm dying to get back to that. Why..... cause I have cute summer shorts and capris that I can't quite seem to fit into yet. I'm thinking I'm not losing the same this time either, could be part of the problem.

I'm really wanting to be in them by the first part of May. But I don't see me dropping the weight that fast. I'm at a pretty steady loss, a pound or two a week here, a week there. Which is good, don't get me wrong. I'm just dying to get into those capris, and I'm not willing to buy more. So, for now, I'm wearing the ones from the last summer, and pulling my belt tight.

In my head I have come up with all these ideas I have to make it happen. I have been increasing my workouts, but I don't really have the time to add to them. So, my thoughts are to do some extra stuff around home, continue to make some better choices, that all sounds good in my head, it's just IF I'll actually do it or not.

I'm thinking I could cut out my carbs and see what that does? I have done this before, but it's much different now when I have to fix supper for the family, that's not as easy to do. Working out at home isn't easy for me either, I always think of something else I could be doing, or don't want to get my butt out of bed in the morning. I'm more the type that needs to go to the gym to get myself motivated.

Well, poor me I know. I'm done with my rambling. I can't say I'm not losing still, I finally worked off that pound I gained over Easter....LOL. Took me a week and half, but I did it!

Thanks for listening, let me know if you have any ideas to help me out.

Cake Decorating 101

A few months back I noticed they were offering cake decorating classes at the Votech this spring. I called Gina up and jumped at the chance to learn how to decorate my own cakes and made her go with me. It's always been an interest I have had, and something I thought I could be good at, same as Gina.

I figured for $20, it would be well worth my money and chance to learn something new.

We have had 2 classes and tomorrow night will be our last. It has been a lot of fun. So far we have learned how to make a cake from scratch and buttercream icing. We've learned different borders you can use for cakes (shells, stars, rosettes.... etc) and how to make a rose. As our homework we have to bring in a cake tomorrow and she will teach us how to frost it to make it smooth and finish the cake.

So last weekend I made my cake for class. My recipe made 2 9in round cakes and I am only supposed to bring in 1 for time purposes tomorrow. Yesterday I decided to make up a batch of icing and play around with the other cake.

I wasn't real sure the proper technique for smooth frosting, so I did the best I could. I just played around with the cake trying all the different techniques we were taught. It was fun just to play with. I didn't think it turned out horrible, I sure impressed my kids..... ha.

Truthfully, I am not even a real big fan of cake, or icing really. So I am really not impressed with the taste of the cake. I am anxious to see if I messed mine up, or if that's just how homemade cakes turn out. I still prefer my Betty Crocker cakes out of a box.

I'm anxious to get to play around with my new hobby. I am hoping to never spend money on a crappy Walmart cake again. We'll see what turns out from all of it. I need to play around with some more recipes to find one I really like.

Here's a picture of my 1st ever cake.

My Cailyn Dawn.....

My favorite part of being a mom is how everyday they can amaze you. Something new they have learned, something they said, it's so much fun.

I don't often say too much about Cailyn. Just for the simple fact that she is my shyer one, she is daddy's girl, she isn't in the numerous activities that the other kids are, but that doesn't mean she doesn't amaze me on a regular basis.

I try not to compare my children, but those of you out there with kids, you know it's hard not to compare them with their different milestones they have growing up.

Cailyn, has yet to attend preschool, and I am not planning on sending her in the fall just because I am selfish and would like another year home with her while Josie is off to start Kindergarten.

A little about Cailyn.....few of her favorites........... Chocolate milk, this is a daily necessity for her. Dora and Tom and Jerry are her all time favorite cartoons, she loves Aeriel and I think would love to be a mermaid someday, except for the fact she can't stand to get her head wet. And then there is this side of her that has been peaking out for the last couple months. My daughter, the artist.

She has a real passion for coloring. She thinks it's very important to stay in the lines when coloring and is all the time saying how she just wants to draw! This makes me so happy. We have our athletes in the family, our dancers, and to have an artist would be wonderful! I always had a huge passion for art and being crafty and creative, and can see the same in Cailyn.

So, tonight she amazed me once again, that lead me to share this with all of you ......... a reminder that she is only 3.


This picture she drew of me. I asked her who helped her with it. She told me no one, so I double checked with all the rest of the girls, and nope, no one did. I find it so interesting. I was pretty impressed with it, aren't I beautiful. To explain better, the coloring above my eyes is my forehead (not a una-brow) and she just isn't real sure about how to do the arms quite yet, but I do have long legs, and a full head of hair!!

This is a picture of Tim and I together. How wonderful is that!!


And here's a picture of my artist hard at work. I dug this easel out a week or so ago. It was Amberlea's when she was 2 or 3, and Cailyn was so excited and stands and draws at it all the time now.

All my girls are just so talented, I can't wait to see what they come up with next........

Proud Mama

I wanted to post earlier but didn't have the time. I was beaming with PRIDE earlier today (and so was Tim). My Josie Posie, went to a swim clinic they had this afternoon, and did very well!!

This was the first year they held a swim clinic before swim team started up. Josie was dying to do swim team, just like her sissies, she is a little fishy, and it's not because of Tim and I, but because of what her sissies have also taught her .

Anyway, today started out with some nerves since she hadn't been in the water for 9 months+. After a pep talk,she started to show her true self. I was so happy with her!!

Now Josie has never been afraid of the water, we have had our own pool up for the last couple years, and Rachel and Amberlea taught her the strokes, (since they have been in swim team for the last 6 years) she soaks in everything her big sissies teaches her, good and bad.....ha.

But she got to show her stuff today......Josie isn't shy when it comes to her dancing or anything else, but this was a time for her to shine on her own. And she did. She swam the length of the pool holding her breathe and trying her hardest. She did stop here and there, but that's also the longest she has ever swam, being only 5. She did awesome!!!

So, the coach asked her if she wanted to be apart of swim team, and she was THRILLED, to say the least. So was Tim and I. It will be difficult getting her there everyday for practice this summer, but I'm excited to see her compete. It's a whole new experience seeing your child race along side other children. It's so exciting!!

So, this is what the first 6 weeks of summer will be for us this year, nothing new since both Rachel and Amberlea will be there to help and cheer on their sister and competing in their age groups. As proud as I am of the two of them, and as much as I cheer them on, it will be completely different seeing my own little girl out there following in there footsteps...... I was a VERY proud mom today!!

I'll post more later about our weekend events, I'm headed to bed for now.

Easter weekend and photos

I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter weekend. We had a nice weekend with all the kids. It was a long weekend though. And I think I need a weekend to recover from the weekend.

Friday started off as a fun day out with just my girls and I (and Tatum). After some errands were ran, we enjoyed dinner at the Mandarin. The girls always BEG to go here, but Tim hates it, so it's always a special treat when us girls can enjoy a meal here. This lead to some grocery shopping and then we went by Orchelyn's to check out the chicks and bunnies. A yearly tradition at our house, that leads to them begging to buy a bunny. Oh, I would love to, but I'm afraid Oscar would just eat it. And I don't want the mess. But they are cute!!

Then the BIG event of the day........ Hannah Montana movie!!! Josie has counted down for days before this event. It started out as just us, and then we invited friends and it was me and Stephanie with 8 kids. They were very good and they all really enjoyed the movie, as did I.

Saturday was a day full of egg hunts and family dinners. It started off kind of bad because we were trying to get to town for the egg hunt at Donaldson Park, and we ran into construction. It didn't even cross my mind that there would be construction on a saturday morning before Easter. Well, we left the house about 15 min. early. I am the type of person that is either early or on time cause I can't stand to be late for anything. It's just rude. So, I was not happy. These people in front of us weren't the smartest and caused our longer sit in traffic. So, we ended up getting to the egg hunt just as they started the countdown. The girls ended up with like 5 eggs, no big deal, but not much fun being rushed like that.

We went to Larry and Penny's for dinner and over to Linda's for supper that day. It was very good food and I ate too much. So much for cutting back....ha.

Sunday we had all the girls and they were up early to check out what the easter bunny left for them. They were all pretty excited. Then I got them all dressed up for Easter mass. I was real proud of myself, 4 girls, bathes, dresses, hair done, and myself for mass, cooking for meals later in the day, and a homemade breakfast all by 10 am. It's a good thing I'm a professional multi- tasker. Anyone else with girls understands this very well.

The day ended with supper at my parents with a house full of kids running around.

It was a very good Easter weekend, and I'm thankful for all the memories and fun times we shared with everyone.

Here's a few pictures of our fun, I hope you enjoy!!!

Tim and the girls dying easter eggs.

Some of their creations.

Josie on the run hunting for some eggs.
The girls digging into their baskets to see what the bunny left them.

I thought this was a cute picture of Cailyn hunting at my parent's house.

Lastly.... my BEAUTIFUL girls all dolled up for Easter mass. Poor Tim, what's he going to do in a couple more years??

Weekend events

We didn't do a whole lot this weekend, but we did have a good weekend.

It started off Friday afternoon with my final weigh in at the Community Center. I don't mind these things, well for the exception of the body test. I was anxious to see the results, maybe I shouldn't of been. It wasn't that bad, I just knew I could of done better. My weight improved, but the other measurements I would of like to have seen better results. But in my own defense, there was a different chick measuring me this time and how accurate are they really??

But I have lost close to 30lbs since last fall. I can't complain. I'm not all freaky about it either. Let's just say there are no counting calories here. I have been trying to make better choices, but I haven't cut out all the good stuff either. If I would, then I'm sure my results would be a little better, but for now, I'm enjoying working out and spending time with the kids. I am just now feeling like I am getting somewhere, I have had a few comments here and there, and the dress shorts I wanted to wear at Easter (like I did 2 years ago) well, I'll be stylin' in them again this year. That was a nice goal to meet. I still have several more goals to meet to get where I want to be.... I'll keep you posted.

As for my husband, he's a butt, I don't like him anymore.....LOL, just teasin honey, I still love ya. Most of you know my stick husband. Well, he's been working hard at lifting weights, but over the last couple months has also managed to drop nearly 20lbs. From where?? I don't know. We were shopping for a couple last minute things in St Joe on Friday night, and they were having a good sale at JcPenney's (their BIGGEST sale of the year...ha ha) and he hasn't had a new pair of shorts for 2-3 years now, but with his weight loss he thought he'd look into getting a couple pairs. He was pretty happy with himself, he bought some shorts a couple sizes smaller than he normally wears. And I'll have to post pictures someday, they are pretty cool shorts, not typical Tim shorts :-) .

As for the rest of the fam., they are doing just as well!! Rachel got a new belt for Christmas and needed us over the weekend to add another hole to it cause it was too big for her.

I haven't shared much about Josie, she's another reason our family has been working on getting healthier. I started to get concerned about her weight and saw the Dr. a month and a half back, he was happy I brought her in. He too was concerned. Josie is very active little girl, I just couldn't understand why she seemed to be gaining and I wanted to make sure there wasn't anything else going on. After several tests that they ran, they all came back normal, thank goodness, but that just left us working on choosing better options for her. Not that I feed my children all junk food, but for some reason unlike other kids, she is going to have to be limited on what she eats.

Now, Josie has never been one to turn down food, don't get me wrong, she is not our picky eater, she has a very healthy appetite. She is doing really well though, we cut out pop and juice and are trying to find healthier snack options and trying to cut out some of the seconds. I'm SO PROUD of her. I know it can't be easy, just this weekend we had a big meltdown cause she wanted a pop like her sissies. Well, I have restricted much of the other girls pop drinking, but Sunday afternoon, we had a couple frozen pizzas real quick following church, and Tim allowed them to grab a pop. Well, this didn't go over well with Josie. She hasn't really said too much, but sitting there watching Rachel and Amberlea (and Tim) enjoy a pop, just set her off, the tears flowed for quite some time. - Now I'm not a mom to give in just cause they turn on the tears, but it broke my heart and pissed me off at the same time. I have the beliefs that if one person in the family has to do without, then we can all do without (I made a deal with Josie that if she couldn't have pop that mommy wouldn't drink pop anymore either, and that made her happy and I've stuck to it, as hard as it might be). So, the other girls don't understand this concept, they think "it's not fair" Tim has cut back considerably (that's why he has had a significant weight loss) but, I still feel they don't need to be sitting there in front of her drinking pop like that. She doesn't say much at restaurants, but for some reason, it struck a nerve with her Sunday.

I'm really nervous about Easter this weekend and the overload of candy. I have told my family my feelings about giving the girls bags of candy like they normally get (I usually end up throwing half of it away). But I know Josie will be tempted, she's 5, who wouldn't be?? I can't say I didn't buy any candy this year, cause I did, but I have also made some better choices for their baskets.

Josie has done so well and I can see a difference in her already. She has lost 3 lbs so far, which is a lot for a little girl. Not that we are trying to lose, but just to sustain as she grows. I'm also trying really hard to focus on being healthy, not the weight issue, because I don't want to her grow up always concerned about her weight. I'll tell you it's been very difficult trying to get everyone on board and still letting her be a little girl that should get a treat from time to time, like we all do.

Enough about that topic, Saturday morning was the first of soccer games for Ambelea and Josie. It was cold, Really cold. They did really well, both of them lost, but they still had fun.

Saturday afternoon, Rachel brought the Twilight DVD again to watch and I joined her as did her dad. She got a huge kick out of this, cause he enjoyed the movie, and kept asking questions. It was a fun time. This lead to Rachel getting ready for Air Rock, she was very excited about going with her friends and it was fun cause she was asking me to help her pick out something to wear. I must admit that I really enjoy having Rachel around and having another girl to chat with cause I can always ask her opinion too on what she thinks of what I am wearing. Or she gives it without asking.... ha. I took her and a friend to Air Rock and then I went to visit a friend I haven't got to hang out with for a while, it was a good time catching up.

Sunday we went to church and Amberlea served at mass and it was Palm Sunday. Always a little more exciting when you have little ones with palms trying to hit each other with them or stopping them before they poke out the eye of person sitting behind you.

After we came home Sunday, Rachel and I decided to pull a joke on Tim. I took one of her Twilight posters from in her room and hung it up over our bed just to see what he'd say. Tim was busy watching the race and didn't notice a thing, well a little later he went into our room to put away his work clothes and stopped dead in his tracks, (i wasn't here to see it, I ran over to mom's for a minute). But according to Rachel, who was in there watching Twilight AGAIN, it was hilarious!!! He said, what the "heck" is that??? Rachel played innocent and asked "what do you mean dad??" He kept accusing her of putting it up there, and she just didn't have any idea what he was talking about. We all had a good laugh out of it, I told Rachel that I wished I would of thought of it on April Fools, but it was still funny anyway, you might of had to be there, but I'm sure some of you could imagine Tim's responce to a Edward and Bella poster hanging over our bed....... it still makes me laugh.....

Sunday afternoon we dyed easter eggs. Always a fun tradition at our house. Tim gets into this one, cause of course, no one is better than him, he makes his lots of different colors on his eggs, so the girls always try to out do his. It's fun! I'll post some pictures of their creations later.

That about wraps up our weekend. Didn't mean to go on for so long, Gina had an exciting weekend getting a new car that she took me out in Saturday night and Tanner starting to walk, so now the real adventures begins, not just climbing, but walking, can't wait.

I hope all of you enjoy your week and Easter weekend. We have plans for egg hunts and several family dinners. I am praying the weather turns a little nicer, but I'm not hearing great things in the forecast so far. The girls have a count down till that Easter Bunny drops by our house. It should be fun because we will have all the girls this morning. I can't wait.

What's new??

Not much here.......... we finished with Josie's last dance competition last weekend. It was in Independence. She didn't dance until 5pm so we drove down that morning instead of staying in a hotel. It wasn't a good day as most of you know because of the sleet and snow they were calling for. It wasn't that bad in Maryville, but of course in KC, it looked like a blizzard at times. It made for cautious driving. We decided to leave before awards so that we can drive home in the daylight. But by the time we got past Platte City, things were looking much better.

Josie's group won an Elite Gold and 1st in their division. The Elite Gold is like a second place. We were very proud of her and are happy that we won't have to have any more dance competitions for a while.

Soccer was supposed to start up last weekend, but was cancelled due to the cold weather. I am hoping the weather is s little nicer for some soccer games this weekend. The kids are getting anxious to play.

We had teacher conferences last week for Rachel and Ambelea. They are both doing very well in school, we are proud of them.

All the girls are getting excited about Easter. It is always a fun time of year. They love the egg hunts and the candy. We will be dying eggs next week sometime. This has become a tradition at our house we always look forward to.

Like I said, nothing to exciting going on here. Same ol' stuff. Thanks for checking in on us.