We are back!

We are back from Florida and I am very happy to be home!!!

April 11 Day 1:

Ron and I wake up at 5am and start getting the last items in car loaded, we wake kids and with very little turmoil we get off and on the road by 6am. We had one little speed bump while turning the corner of our street we realized quickly we didn't lock the camper on and it fell off the hitch. Thank God it happened then and not on freeway! We packed breakfast so the kids eat in the car ( cereal- poptarts), Ron and I have bagels w/cream cheese. Not much to tell about our ride except that Ron missed a few of the state welcome signs.. why do I trust that man with a camera? The kids were pretty good on the way down, of coarse we had a few fights and constant nagging but hey with 7 of us in the minivan with all our stuff its a tight fit and it tends to happen. We stopped what seemed like a 100 times for potty breaks, and even though I didn't plan on that ( altho I should of DUH potty training toddlers) we made good time and rested in Georgia for the night.

April 12 Day 2:

We woke and both Ron and I took showers, woke the kids and were off and on the road again by 7. We were about 4 hours from Disney and starting to get pretty excited. We accidently discovered a back road and missed paying on the toll road. We made it to Disney by 11am and even though check in is 3pm we were lucky enough to check in right away. We got our site 2008 and were off. Now this being our first camping experience in a pop and with the kids we had no idea how to back up the camper to our site LOL. Ron did what he could, unhooked and walked it back by hand..whatever gets the job done right? Now ... this is where it gets fun :) We started to set up the camper and the kid pile out of the car, even though we told them to stay in. The twins are running all over, in the wood area, by other campers areas and in the street all while Ron and I are trying to set up the camper. Painfully we get it all set up! We go in and change and then head off to the bus stop to go to Downtown Disney ( by now its after 3). We stop at Earl of Sandwhich and eat ( except Zach) and go to Lego Store where Zach, Quinn and Ashton get extremely spoiled. Then we go to a few more stores where Kye and Emmy get a few things, stop at Mcdonalds and head back to our camper for an early night. We get back.. sleeping sucked.. Florida is muggy there for everything is damp. Yuck.

April 13 Day 3:

Hollywood Studios!!! Ash was too short to ride the Star wars ride altho he really wanted to, Quinn cried on it. New buzz lightyear ride was super fun altho we had to wait till after 9 ( with a fasspass) to ride it. Park was super crowded. Zach and I start feeling ill... Go see Indiana Jones show ( via Zach) who loved it he then gets his own Indi-kit. Kye, Emmy, Ash, and Quinn all get faces painted $65! The 3 boys make their very own light sabers with light and sound! Kylie gets her fill of the villians store and I think bought every Jack Skellington item in there!!! We opt to leave early due to feeling ill.

April 14 Day 4:

RAIN.. RAIN.. LIGHTENING.. THUNDER.. OH YEAH AND A TORNADO! That day was fun, 7 of us in the camper all day. It stopped raining here and there but we didn't want to risk it. We ended up running to the store and hanging out till about 6pm when it finally cleared and then went to Magic Kingdom. It was such a good day there, we rode alot of rides with little wait, ate, and really enjoyed ourselves. Despite the rough start it turned out to be a great day.

April 15 Day 5:

Animal Kingdom. Ya know what happens in Florida when it rains .. it gets super muggy. Yep and we decided to do the jungle that day. Muggy+ jungle= buggy! Blah it was pretty miserable. Dino land was fun, we caught the Lion King Show ( always good), and saw the parade ( first time and I was not impressed). Thankfully we bought one of those mist fans early in the week and that helped keep us cool. Rode the dinosaur ride ( awesome) got pics from that. Ron and Kye rode the Yeti rollercoaster. AK closes early (8pm) so we headed home.

April 16 Day 6:

Epcot. This is by far one of my fav parks. We got in and Quinn insisted on riding the ride that went in the big ball. He loved the ball. We hurried and got our registration for the Kim possible missions and checked out the fire station. Everyone liked that. Rode a few rides ( nemo, figment) Kids did the masks and the missions, we ate at Moccorro, China, France, America, Mexico. I got a purse from Japan and a Nemo shirt. Kye got a cute shell necklace. We stayed for the lasar/firework show and headed home after that.

April 16 Day 6:

Magic Kingdom. Crowded, crowded and filled with rude people. Despite that we did have a great time and even though we stopped what seemed a million times to use the bathroom we got great seats for the fireworks and actually saw tinkerbell fly over us. We tried to shop after fireworks but the park became an insane made house! So we head home via ferryboat for our last time. We got to the camp and packed up a few things, the stroller and sorted our clothes ( clean vs dirty). Went to bed.

April 17 Day 7:

Ron and Ashton develop colds. We pack up in about an hour and head on the road at 8. After getting on the wrong florida toll road for an hour we finally find our right road ( we are now 1.5 hours behind). We stop at rest stop and as we undo our seatbelts to get kids out to use bathroom, Quinn pukes all over himself. We spend 20 mins at rest stop cleaning up Quinn and the car. He is now beginning to get a fever. We pass Macon Georgia to find dead lock traffic, we get off exit to find bathroom and buy moltrin for Quinn. Thankfully a wonderful clerk at Rite Aid gives us directions around construction, this delays us more but is quicker than freeway traffic. We get back on highway for a bit.. finally we get out of Georgia as it starts to get dark!! Took us over 10 hours... at a stop I notice we have no lights on camper.. we check and find we blew a fuse ( Quick cliff note: During our stay Kylie snuck into car and plugged in a converter we bought for dvd player to plug her mp3 player in. It drained our battery and we had to get a jump start from a fellow camper, we think this blew the fuse). Anyhoo more delay.. At this point we are considering stopping for the night and trying again in the morning. Determined to get home Ron and I drive all night, taking hour cat naps. We make it home at 9am, 25 looooong hours. Whew. We couldn't go back to sleep due to the kids being up and sorta rested.. so we unpack the car and camper.

Now .. would I do it again? Not anytime soon, but I optimistic that in a few years ( 2 to be exact) that it will be easier and I think despite the cost... we will fly there :) Nothing with my family is ever easy but in the end my family is always worth every bead of sweat and every tear shed.

But I can say without any doubt.. I am not a camper and will not be going camping inless I am forced .... ew did I meantion public bathrooms and showers LOL!

gullbladder

One day at the end of the day I started noticing my stomach hurt, having the flu a few weeks prior I immediately thought I was getting another batch of it. 1 day lead to 3 and by day 3 I was in agonizing pain. I went to the doctor the next morning and he gave me a order to get a ultrasound of my gullbladder, oh and of coarse to make it fun a total blood work up in which I had to fast 10 hours prior. That night .. I thought I was dying the pain was so bad I prayed for my life to end ( which I never do). So Ron took me to ER 1130-430 I was there only to find out that their ultrasound room is CLOSED at night! Yep you read that right...CLOSED. So they did some blood work up gave me an IV, so very tasty pain meds ( Im talking better than morph) I was flying and not in pain so home I went. The next day I got my u/s and blood work done. Coarse this was Friday, soo I waited the whole weekend with no results. However the kind dr. at the ER did give me a prescription for pain meds (lame ones) and that helped me during the weekend. So Monday I call.. no results.. Tuesday finally after all the waiting I find out ... I don't have gull stones! I am so defalted as I am still having pain and now I have to go back to get a gullbladder scan ( whatever that it is). But of coarse I can't get in till the 20th. If that comes back negative then he is suggesting I get the glorious camera down the throat procedure! I guess time will tell, I don't know what to think except aging ...SUCKS! If only I bought a extended warrenty on this body of mine.

Disney update

Where does the time go? My last post was 40 days ago .. I suck at this blogging.

So huge updates;
1) Ron got a pay cut so we are considering cancelling our vacation because of the large cost. But after adding some numbers and calling a few people we were able to save our trip.
2) Orginally we were staying at a All Star Music Suite ( very luxerous AND expensive $326 a night I believe). We were staying 5 nights and trying to go 5 days to parks. Now we are borrowing my sisters pop up camper and staying at the Fort Wilderness Campground, we have stayed there 2x already once in 99 in my mothers RV and in 2007 in the cabins. They are quite lovely. But more than that we are staying for 6 nights and its only costing us $436 total with our applied deposit from the suites we only owe $110. Wow huh? Plus we plan on eating a few breakfast and dinners at the camper so that will save us additional money as eating per meal cost us almost $40.

We had to get a hitch put on to the van so that cost and gas will be a bit more due to the pulling the camper. But all in all we will save about $2000. Im thrilled and honestly am thinking we will probably camp at Disney from now on.

So today it's 25 days till we leave. I have been busy cleaning the camper, and packing up. Making a gazillion list in the hopes I don't forget anything but via every trip I usually do. Last trip (myrtle beach) I didn't pack Ron any pants LOL. He is packing himself this trip! Hey I'm only human right?

Hopefully I will blog again before we go but if not I will after we get back with a ton of pictures.

Not even sure if anyone even reads this... But I love having it for myself and I am a really good listener. :)

Disney

Well just 65 days till we arrive at Disney. I am so excited and pray this time no one gets sick so we can enjoy it to the fullest. We are driving, which really doesn't bother me, I guess because I have never flown there so I just don't have any other expectation. I have been on the search for discount books, and travel games for the kids and us to play for weeks now. This year is a brand new year for me as I have put a lot more time in thinking things out. I got fun car games such as license plate find, and car bingo. I am opting out of a chip/sweet treat and looking for more healthy selections that won't send the kids into a sugar high. We are going to be having a jump rope contest at each rest stop, so that every one's blood can get flowing again. We are taking the time to eat lunch at rest stops to avoid mess and boredom. Normally when we get to Orlando we check in our hotel, unpack and head to Downtown Disney. This time we are checking in and going to Magic Kingdom, since that day is extended hours we can stay longer. I sent for our own personal maps, and if God willing the twins will be potty trained. Now some things will stay the same, we are still staying at a Disney Resort, we are still only going to the Disney parks. We will go to Downtown Disney but will save it for after we check out on our last day.

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Its amusing to me how people get so upset at the fact that we are spending so much on our trip. One must go to Disney to know why we continue to go back year after year. We never feel like we are wasting money in fact we feel we are building memories that will last a life time. We have gotten alot of " they won't remember". That is silly of coarse the twins won't remember.. they are 3, but they will see pictures and video and Kylie, Zachery and Emily WILL remember. Also who cares.. Kylie was 4 years old the first time we took her, she doesn't remember BUT.. I do we were walking hand and hand through the gates to Main Street in MK and she saw the Castle for the first time, she heard the music over the speakers and she was ear to ear grin. She was so excited and I remember her saying later " mommy these are MY princesses" as if Disney was completely put there "just" for her. That moment is priceless and although I know she doesn't remember it I know it one of the best days of her 4 year old life. Now really if we can offer that kind of moments ... shouldn't we?

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So here we go our 5th adventure to Disney has a family. Sadly Zach's favorite rollercoast " Space Mountain" will be shut down for renovations, but he amped to go on new rollercoasters. Kylie as well is talking about the rollercoasters and Emily is excited to reride them (yep that's right my 5 year old rode rollercoasters last time we went, front row even). The twins keep asking about Buzz Lightyear so I am already anxious to ride the new Buzz ride and have them meet Buzz. As for Ron and myself, as much as we are kids ourselves it's alway a treat to see Disney through our children's eyes.

Catch up Blog

WHAT is going on with us... We are all decorated for Christmas altho some of our outdoor lights have decided not to work, coarse they worked when we tested them.. isn't that how it goes as soon as you hang them in the freezing cold they stop. Our tree went up the day after Thanksgiving, we decided no glass bulbs again this year due to the twins. So far its been pretty good, we have a batch of days after we first put it up that they insisted on touching but now they don't bother. Of coarse Quinn insists that it be turned on all the time, but I indulge him because I love his spirit. We are planning on making cookies, christmas dough ornaments, and fudge. I know I got to get on the ball as time is quickly running out. I have " almost" all my shopping done. The kids give or take a present are all but done. I just have to finish for family and Ron.

CHEERLEADING.. Good golly if I had known that joining my girls up for cheerleading meant I would be basically on the squad .. whew I might of thought twice. I give credit to the girls they work HARD.. between the conditioning, gymnastics, and general practices every day ( sometimes 2x a day) they really are pushed to their limit. Kylie is doing great, she has her first competition this weekend. Of coarse I am having to donate a case of gatorade, and work the concession during Varsity and JV turn. Also have to run and pick up fundraiser stuff, and buy myself a shirt... sigh more money it always seems. Scary thing is this is just junior high, high school they require MORE money and more time from the girls.

GIRL SCOUTS yep.. you heard me right, so get those wallets open for your order of girls scout cookies. $3.50 a box Mmmmm. I am crazy btw .. as if cheerleading, pto didnt keep my busy enough I had to sign my daughter up for brownies. I am not however volunteering as a leader. She has meetings at her own school, so that is nice, one a week.

BASKETBALL?? Not sure yet but Zachery is thinking he might like to try it. At his school once a week with games on Sat. He has shown little excitement for sports so for $15 total fee I figure let him try.

BIRTHDAYS... we are getting close to January so that means Birthdays, birthdays and birthdays. Em's bday is in Dec, and Rons, Kye, Zach and myself are in Jan. Since we are going to Disney in April and the kids bdays are right after Christmas we are having their party Jan1, and asking everyone only get give the kids $5 each. They will be putting the money away to spend in Disney.

DISNEY Soooo excited. The twins are such a good age. They love Disney movies, not meantion they are both Star wars nuts. We are staying in a new hotel at all star music so that is also exciting. I have been watching for sales and buy stuff all year. Small games for car ride.. etc. We occassionally go to disneyworld.com so they can see the parks and the rides. We also have the dvd an the kids enjoy watching it and talking about what rides they want to go on. This will be Kye's 5th time going, Zach's 4th time going, Emily's 3rd time going and the twins 2nd time going. One might say we have a thing for Disneyworld!!!

Grrr teacher conferences

2 kids + 2 teacher conferences, what are the chances they will schedule BOTH my conferences at the same time? Apparently 100%. I have hubby do our son, because honestly this teacher makes me overly angry and since I work there that could be a very bad thing. I tell him all my concerns and let him go at it. In my conference with my daughter it was exactly how I expected, she is doing wonderful and if there was a chance she could do better she would already be doing so. She got the best grade 1's in everything she could possible, they aren't allowed to give 1's for SS and science because they don't test in that yet. School is her thing so no issues there. Now I go to the end of my son's conference to find out he is basically failing Writing, Reading, and Spelling. OK .. what the heck! I am at that school almost 5 days a week, I am always in the halls, heck a lot of the time I am peeking in his classroom. I have personally asked his teacher 3 times that I can remember how he was doing in class, always good, fine no issues. No progress report saying he is doing poorly either. If my son was not the honest boy he is I would not of already known he was doing so poorly in Spelling. He told me.. this should be where you ask why didn't you see the test papers.. the answer would be NO! She still has them. She has been hording his paperwork. I asked her about this a week ago she said it was because they were so busy preparing for Meap.. yeah Meap ended over 3 weeks ago. Then papers that my son saw in his bin (each student has a bin) are now mysteriously missing. Thankfully he already told me the scores. So now what? I ask some of my friends they say switch his teacher, so I ask. Apparently he is not allowed to switch classes now. I ask for an aide so he can catch up on his lost skills and I get told " No, we don't do that here" really what the heck are all the aides doing here then. Again I get told its only for " special ed" Whatever.. I know of a number of students who are NOT special ed getting additional help. Once again it's left to me, I know have to go in every day to make sure I get my son's papers from his teacher, and I may have to sit in class to make sure he comprehends and the teacher is not just passing him over. I laugh at the NO Child left behind, as it not a phrase honored at our school.

Thanksgiving..

Thanksgiving.. a time to remember what we are truely grateful for! I tend to get all wound up in my own self pity and the drama of every day chaos that I do not always remember that I am so fortunate. I am so blessed and have so much to be thankful for!

First I am grateful for an ever loving and forgivening God. Time and time again I fall from his path and yet he never forsakens me. HE is always showering me with his blessings, I await for the day that I can be in his presence.

My husband, never have I experienced a truer friendship than what he shows me. Im not saying our marriage is perfect far from it. His acceptance of my flaws and quirky ways is unmeasureable. He is kind, and caring and loyal. Always a provider, I never feel worrysome about how we will manage.

My children are a great blessing, even though they try my patience, tolerance, acceptance, intelligence.. all the "ences" LOL. I have only ever really had one passion and that was to be a parent, so I am truely blessed 5 times over.

My family and friends.. you are always there, although some of you silently. I know push come to shove you will be at my door with money, food or a shoulder to cry on. I thank you for your constant support.

New PTO Drama

So the PTO staff finds out that some of the teachers are not passing out the notes we make to the students. I don't believe they are doing it to be malicious, I think they just don't place any importance on our group or what we do. So I whip up a note asking them to please make sure notes get to the students and explain what money that we raise goes to them so they see that it's in their best interest...

Here's the note;
Dear Teachers and Staff,
It has been brought to our attention that students may not be getting full access to our notes, or information on our current programs. We do understand that you are are all very busy and have full schedules, however without your help in spreading the world we get fewer responses from our Monroe Families. This is going to be a very trying year on us financially due to the existing economical conditions. Our budget this year is $19,215,00, approximately $4000.00 of that is for teacher/staff resources not counting field trips or teacher luncheon. Getting the information out our fundraisers, raffle tickets, candy grams, and family fun nights is essential in order for us to meet our budget. Please take the time to read our notes so that you may be able to answer questions to students or remind them of deadlines. We appreciate your help. We will be posting an envelope on our PTO board for any questions, requests, or complaints you might have. Our goal this year is to make our school into a community, for too long have the teachers, parents and students been separated, only together can we make this a school we are proud of.

Do you know the teachers went crazy. They are offended. I have even been told they are rallying against me. Not sure what that entails, lol! We have been warned that now all notes must be approved and initialed by the president of the PTO, then approved by the secretary and the principal before they go out! What amazes me is I thought that being a tax payer, and a parent that I paid for the services of the school. So in all truth the principal, secretary and teachers work for ME!!! Isn't it funny how teachers, doctors and others think just because they have a license or a degree in something that you do not they feel they can over power you? Unfortunately for them, I am not one of those people. I educate myself in my rights and stand firm! Tomorrow is our PTO meeting, I'm sure it will be brought up and I have been informed I have the right to speak for myself and defend what I did. So perhaps tomorrow a new blog will be needed :)

My Teenager!

I find myself at a odd place. I remember my teenage years still quite well, and honestly I hate me for them LOL. Now that I am a parent and an adult, I realize I was just a bad kid. If I believed in karma I would say that I am getting my share of what goes around comes around. I pray that all the grief Kylie is giving me is just her trying to find herself..however I fear it's just a complete lack of caring for anyone but herself. First let me says, yes she gets good grades, no she has never gotten suspended or detention at school. She does not talk back disrespectful. But she lies continuous, about everything, good, bad.. all of it. I would go as far to say she is a compulsive liar. She steals, she is constantly obtaining things I know for a fact I didn't buy her. She gets caught taking things at the house too. I want so badly for her to get past this and be able to live a great life, but swear she resists anything good. Example; She was grounded for lying about taking a lunch to school (long story) and then she got ungrounded, 2 days later she gets in trouble for lying about not using soap in the shower (yuck right?) so she gets grounded, she is suppose to get ungrounded the very next day.. but she gets caught stealing candy, and not just any candy but the EXACT type of candy she cannot have due to her braces. So.. she is not getting ungrounded. I feel like such a failure, I have tried talking, counseling, rewarding good behavior, praying, grounded, spanking, grounding... in the end she always does whatever the heck she wants. People think I'm cruel because I'm so hard on her. But what do I do? Give up let her go find herself? Let her eat sticky chewy candy when I am paying $5600 for her braces? No one seems to have any answers except to condemn me for always coming down on her. Seems I lose no matter what, and Kylie's bad behavior continues. I wish my parents were alive to tell me that what I am going through and feeling was similar to what I put them through. Then atleast I would have the security that Kylie would bounce back and be a responsible, caring adult! For now I pray, pray she has God in her life, and that she is saved by his grace.

I voted!

Well I did it, I voted! I always feel so tiny when doing so. I know that it's my duty as a citizen and I do take it seriously. I research what I am voting for and I do not vote for things I do not understand. But I always wonder did my tiny votes really make a difference? I mean Michigan is mostly Democratic and well I am Republican.. does my vote matter as a whole? This is a year of many questions for me as I am not 100% about either candidate. I neither totally dislike or like them. I personally don't want either for president, but alas one will be. I am scared of my future when they take over the presidency. I fear of the years to come and how this will effect my family. Im not sure any political respresentative can really do things for the general people of the U.S.A. because they don't live like the general public. They are usually rich or well to do, they get to do things that the normal people don't. How can these men and women really know what is best for the middle and lower class public, which is the highest percentage of the nation? They do not live where or how we live. Sure you hear how at one time they had great struggle.. but that was before laptops, pdas, internet.. and misc things that now have changed life. Im sorry I doubt there will ever be in my lifetime a new president to bring GREAT change, or help to this nation. However I will continue to pray for great leadership and perhaps when my kids are grown they will have a true leader and be proud to be an American.

Halloween ... more tricks then treats!

10/28 Well first Halloween started with our pto sponsored family fun night. I had to be at the school at 8am to start getting the gym and hallways ready! We also had to pick up the games & booths. Thankfully Ron took off work to help. So after dropping kids off at school the work begins. First I have collect all the scarecrows from parents and students.. then put them outside. Ron volunteers to go get games with another parent.. only to find that when he gets there they are waaay to big to fit in our van. Again, thankfully we have my father in law with his trailor come and pick them up! Whew diaster deverted! We leave at 1130am to be home for the boy's bus to drop them off. After which I leave to do errands. We are back at the school at 2pm and stay till 4ish. Have to run and by run I mean speed to the house to get costumes and back at school at 445. Parents are already there.. mind you it doesn't start till 530! Party goes on 530-8pm and from what feedback I got it was a great hit. We not only broke even we made a $20 profit LOL! After clean up I am home by 9ish.. only a 13 hour day..

10/29 Up to the school at 830 to pick up the games and booths.. to return. Then back up to school pick up my own stuff (cornstalks and scarecrows). Then wait for boys to get home and make Kylie's end of the cheer season party treats (chocolate covered pretzel sticks with sprinkles). Go back to school print out November notes... pick kids up take treats to Kye. Return Emmys cheer uniform, stay for cheer party.. home by 7pm!
10/30 Twin's Halloween class party!! 10 preschoolers dressed up and parading through school :)
10/31 Ron home again! Get Zach and Emmy dressed for Halloween party and parade, Drop kids off at school, go to McDonalds for breakfast, mind you I am dressed too as a clown.. funny how many crazy looks you get being an adult dressed up on halloween.. where is the fun in the world gone? Up to school to drop off cupcakes and then watch the school parade.

In the school to help out at Emmy's party passing out treats. Leave to be home for twin's bus. Clean up back yard ( winterizing) and get ready to carve pumpkins. Let me just say how greatful I am that my sister and brother in law gave us these HUGE pumpkins but wow-o were they thick and hard to cut through!!!


Naptime yay! Everyone but daddy and the twins nap. Dinner time, get dressed up time, trick or treat time..


the twin's loved it and Ashton became quickly obsessed with no one touching his candy bag. We did 2 full blocks and 1/2 of another. Kylie and a friend passed out candy and I promised them I would take them to haunted houses. So finally at 8ish I was backing out of the drive to take them and carefully looking to not hit any trick or treaters that would be wandering the streets ( because they were alot of em) I backed up into my neighbors brother's car! Smashed out my tail light.. and barely I mean barely scratched this guys car.. I was coasting not even foot on gas... he insists on me calling the police for a police record.. fine I do. Police come and do report.. now here is the fun party (not really) see I got this ticket in April, there were a ton of people picketing on the side of the street. Lots of firemen there so I was looking to read signs to see their cause and I ran a red light ( just turned red but red none the less). At the light was a police officer.. I immediately pulled over and let him follow, he didnt even have time to turn on lights :) He lowered to a no pts obstructing traffic $150 ticket!!! I paid it... apparently their computers didn't feel the need to send that info on, so I am driving on a suspended license because of it.. in which the police officer doing the report just gave me a court date to resolve!!! I have reciept of the payment and the bank statement showing they got their money... but now not only do I have a broken tail light I have to go to court!!! Grrrr. Can I just tell ya Im happy Oct is over??!!!!

PTO mayhem

First off let me say that had I known the frustration, intense work, and general lack of volunteers and participation I would of got from joining the PTO I can honest say that I probably would not of joined. I joined in the beginning because one of the last year's members had to quit due to her parents health, also because I was basically the only regular attending parent. I went in with high expectation and hope that we (the 4 members) could turn this school around and do some new exciting.. even great things for our children's school! I got nominated as Secretary but my duties have well surpassed that of just a record keeper. I came up with what I thought were great ideas. One idea was called " change a kid's life" and what we wanted the kids to do was bring in spare change. I bought piggy banks for each classroom. Each month we would count the change and it would go into a account for helping our own families within the school. My first frustration was that I would have to do this by myself.. no one in the pto helped me. My second was when I went to collect the money I noticed that the teachers tossed aside the piggy banks. Obviously they are not into helping the families within the school. I reached out to the Media dept at our school and now have it being announced on the morning news, hopefully that will help. Another idea I had was that we could get businesses within the community to help us out via gift card, certificates, or however they could.. again this was left up to me to do solo. I don't want to sound like the other PTO mom's do nothing.. that isn't true, they all have their hands into something or another. I just feel overwelmed. I don't want to not do these projects as I think once they get going they will really make a difference, and I don't mind the work as nothing worth doing is every easy! Today my frustration is we are doing a Pantry food drive, this is a huge undergoing and it looks as once again I am flying solo! How will I do all of this alone? How is it no one sees I need help? I have meantioned how it's too big of a job but it seems as if everyone is just too busy to help.. I want to quit.. I want just give up because it's so hard, but I know that if I do there is no chance for these people I am trying to help to get help through our school. I just really wish it didn't have to be so hard to help others and to get others to help out! Also I am having a hard time managing taking care of 5 kids,being a good wife, working on the pto, 2 girls in cheerleading and trying to be there for some friends in crisis. If I were one more person I swear I could get a handle on how much work there is too do. Every time I feel like I am going to get some downtime another project has to be started. How do I manage all this.. what do I give up if anything.. where are all my answers hiding?

Post overload

Bear with me while I start this site.. many new posts!

Cheerleading; Emily season is over. Technically she has a week left but they only have a week till competition and being that she is a mascot she is not allowed to compete. She is bored and tire.. so Im not making her go! I mean she is 6, and for the past 2 months she has given up her life for this sport, Im dang proud of her! She still loves cheerleading but just is tired of practices and with it being so cold out and the division not providing warm ups for the mascots well.. she is just cold!


Kylie ....all I can say is Wow! I am so proud of her, although I did tell her she would make a good cheerleader :) She went in to cheerleading without even a back bend back this summer and now here she is with her back walkover, back handspring and currently working on her back tuck! Although her schedule is gruling for both her and the family, we are sooo proud and happy she is on the squad. Sideline cheer just ended ( last game was yesterday) now she just has to deal with tryouts and God willing she will make competition ( basketball season). Keep your fingers crossed!

A day at the farm

So the day starts just like every week day morning.. per chaos. Wake up to an alarm clock that Im sure would look much better in a million pieces, get up, get dressed, and wake up Zach and Emily (yeah right). Then I go downstairs to make lunches, today I get to make 3 additional lunches because the twins and I are going on a field trip to a Farm. Yay! As I am making the lunches I realize I don't have enough sandwich baggies.. is nothing ever easy? So I decide I will run to the store and get those single pringles you can get..ok so done with lunches at this point. Now to go rewake Zach and Emily! I have to do this EVERY morning, Zach usually a few times. I then get the twins up to get dressed. Oh I forgot to meantion that Kylie is already up and dressed because she has a game today. Ok fast forward past the yelling, rewaking, and too many numerous questions like " are you going to school barefoot today?" We are now in the car.. I drop off Zach and Emmy and am now on my way to the ortho because today is the day Kylie gets her braces (yep I am a horrible mom) so I go in let them know of our arrangements ( arrangements are her grandfather is picking her up and dropping her off at school), then she goes in and I am finally on my way to the school for the twin's field trip. Fast past the waiting to getting on the bus. Now the bus ride there was great, Quinn looked out the window the whole time, while Ashton and I played.

Trip was loooong all the way to Canton and good 30-45 min drive on a bus with 20+ 3/4 year olds. We get there and first thing mommy uses the rest room TIP don't drink alot of coffee before a bouncy bus ride!! Then we at the playground, the twins love this and play quite good. Now we move to see the animals in the barn, they have sheep, goats, bunnies, kittens, baby pigs, cows, the works.

But now we are in the barn with 40+ people and me with 2 toddler boys. Can I just say that it's impossible to watch 2 boys go in 2 totally different directions!!! Chaos breaks out.. I am now doing my very best to keep composure and not freak every 5 secs I can't find one of the boys. This field trip will be remembered by many as me calling the boys names or asking have you seen him. Finally I bail out of the barn and go out to a hill that despite is wet, I let the boys slide down repeatedly. After about 15 mins everyone joins us outside and we get to go on a hayride. But not before Quinn and Ash and Jackson (a little boy they convinced to be bad) run away chasing the tractor pulling other guests on a hayride. Finally on the hayride, and Im in blissful happiness. The boys watch what can only be described as boring scenary. We get off the ride and instantly Ashton takes off, I slowly begin to panic when he repops. We eat lunch but instead of the warm barn we were promised we end up eating at the playground.. do I need to explain?

The twins don't eat instead they inch toward the opening in the playground and eventually take off sending me to run at my fastest to catch up to them and then drag them back.. no really drag they would not walk. Ok so now its diaper changing time.. thankfully the bus driver lets us use the bus ( its warm) and we head to where they are giving horse back rides. OH but its near this quaint little play lighthouse with a slide and swings and tractor to play on... really!!!

So needless to say the twins did not ride the horse, instead I spent the remainer of the time chasing them from on thing to the next. At one point they were 50 yards away from each other and I just stood in middle waiting to see who would run. At 1230, 30 mins before we were suppose to leave I gave up and took both boys on the bus to sit and wait. So what did I learn ... never go somewhere with wide open spaces alone with the twins.

Insanity

My schedule Im sure is gonna be the death of me. This summer I spent $20 a week in gas, and no joke had some to spare. Granted I didnt go alot of places but still..Now every weekday morning I go to the middle school, then the grade school, then the twins preschool and usually back to the grade school to do PTO stuff. Add to it cheerleading one girl goes 3-5pm the other 5-7pm but on game day its 6-8 and on gymnastics day its 745-945pm. My weekends are spent due to games on Sat! My poor son is not even permitted to do a sport or hobby till one of the girls is done with cheerleading!! Im up to $60 a week in gas!!! Gah! The scary part is this is just with 2/5 children in activities.. what is gonna happen to me when all 5 are doing stuff? I am convinced I either need to start saving for Kye to have a car when she turns 16 or recruit drivers to help out!