Last Day with a Single Digit Child

It is hard to believe my "baby" will be turning 10 tomorrow.

Morgan, Spencer & Haylee are on Fall Break this week, so I took a few days off to enjoy with them.

Today I took Morgan & Spencer to do a little shopping. They wanted to go look around Walmart and I had to pick up some cake mix so we can make cupcakes tomorrow. Morgan wanted to go to the Goodwill and look around. We had bought her a few shirts there a few weeks back and she loved them so she wanted to go see for herself. She ended up getting two dresses and a couple of shirts. Spencer looked but they didn't have a whole lot in his size. We were able to find him a shirt and a pair of pants.

Meme took off work a few days this week too and she is spending a few nights with us. She brought on of my favorite meals tonight so I wouldn't have to cook. Smokey Pig BBQ is amazing. I love their shredded sandwiches. She brought three pounds and two of them were eaten. Yay for me I have some leftovers for later in the week. Mom said it was my "push" present...10 years late (lol)!

After supper Morgan & Harley wanted to make brownies so they each made a pan.

Morgan & Harley making brownies

While the brownies were cooking they talked Meme into going upstairs to play with them. They ended up playing in makeup.

Spencer was staying away from the makeup

Meme, Morgan, Gracie & Harley

While he girls were upstairs I was looking through some older pictures of the kids on my computer. I don't have any of Spencer as a baby on my computer because they are on my external hard drive & my USB port on my computer is broke. I found some of him and Morgan when they were smaller though. It made me kinda sad seeing how much they have changed and grew over the years, but also happy that they are healthy and able to grow. I have been very blessed in my life. I count my blessings every night that God blessed me with two happy, healthy, rambunctious children!!! They keep me on my toes, but I wouldn't have it any other way!!!!

2005

2006

2006

2006

We are heading to bed fairly early because we have a huge to-do list tomorrow!!!!!

His last night as a 9 year old

Couch to 5K...Day 1

I have been wanting to start walking/running for a while,but didn't want to do it by myself. After many weeks of hounding my husband he finally gave in & said he would go with me. I have had "Couch to 5K" app OB my phone for a while now so we decided to use it. Today we completed week one, day one. It is a three day a week program that can be completed in as little as nine weeks, but if you are not ready to advance you can repeat days over. It eases you into being able to run a 5K. You start with a five minute walk to warm up then you complete three intervals of walking/running. Each day you progress to more running & less walking. We will be completing the first day over on Wednesday due to the fact that we were both more out of shape then we thought. I completed day one, but it was a little rough toward the end, and now my legs are killing me.

When we finished running we went to Pizza Hut for supper. Then we went to Walmart to have my glasses adjusted. I ordered a pair online & only paid shipping for them...will post more about this tomorrow. While in Walmart the kids and the husband had to look around (and try ever hat in the store one).

Three of my loves

Add caption

Saturday Around Our House

We have been looking for a bigger tank for the fish, but we unable to find one that someone didn't want a "small fortune" for, so Bobby said let's just build one.  We got all of our supplies together and headed to his work (where all of his tools are).

The kids were in trouble because they forgot their ears today

The sides waiting to dry

The tank all finished

The crabs hiding out in their new home

Bobby says we need more crabs & decorations now since we have this big cage for them.  

We had planned on taking the kids to pick out pumpkins to let them carve, but they we not behaving very well.  Maybe they will be on better behavior the next weekend they are here so they can carve them before Halloween.  They all lost money today & I made more money off them today, then they did off me.  Maybe one day they will learn how to get along & quit fighting/arguing/back-talking.

We have reading time at our house for thirty minutes every night.  At the kids new school they have to have so many AR points every nine weeks.  This way they all get some reading time in and hopefully they will ALL meet their goals.  I just happened to catch them all during reading time tonight.

Visiting Pa

Tonight we headed to BG to visit Pa.  The last time to girls saw him he was really sick and they were upset the whole time we were there.  Tonight he was in better spirits.  He tried talking to the girls & were smiling at them.  We gave him pictures of all the kids to hang on his board.

Gracie, Pa, Harley & Haylee

After visiting with Pa we headed to Sam's Club to pick up a few things. Then a stop at the Home Depot to get supplies for a DIY project tomorrow.  We had to stop and get gas & this is what was parked in front of us.  The kids were amazed & thought it was real.

Catching Up

Sorry to overload your Google reader today.  I am trying to catch up on the last couple of weeks.    Here are the links to blogs being posted today.

9-3-12  No School=Sleepover

9-11-12  Update on Bobby's Dad

9-12-12  No School

9-17-12  Weekend Recap

9-20-12 A Night At The Ballpark

9-22-12 Up All Night

9-24-12 Morgan On Cloud Nine

9-27-12  Update on Bobby's Dad

9-29-12 A Day At The Hospital

9-29-12 Update on Bobby's Dad

Update On Bobby's Dad (9-29-12)

Thankful today Bobby's dad is in better spirits.  He is talking, laughing & cutting up.  We took his some lunch & he ate a little.  He was happy to see we had brought him a Diet Coke (even though it had to be thickened).  They found out his blood is too thick.  They started him on IV Heparin to get his blood the right level.  They said he would be in the hospital a few days to get his levels right.  They have decided they are not going to send him back to the rehab facility he was at.  They are looking at their other options before deciding where he will go.  He is progressing, but still has a long road ahead.

Bobby standing in the road smoking, so he wouldn't be on hospital property.

Bobby's brother & his wife brought his daddy a phone.  He was tickled to death with it.  After his sister & brother got to the hospital we left to run some errands.  We ended up at the pet store to get the dog some shampoo & get Harley a crab (since her's died). 

A Day At The Hospital

Today has been a long, rough day for the whole family.  When I arrived at the hospital when I got off work the AM his dad started crying.  He was so pitiful.  He said his mouth was hurting, so I swabbed it out for him.  The nurse came in and told us what to expect today.  Luckily he was on the floor I used to work on, so I knew the nurse.  They were going to run several test and then move him to a stroke certified floor.  The first thing they did was send him for the MRI.  They had to send him via ambulance across town because he is too broad to fit in the machine at the hospital.  When he got back from the MRI, they sent him to the Cath Lab for a TEE.  The heart doctor wanted to look behind his heart to make sure everything was OK.  He was put to sleep in order to do this & they had a hard time getting him woke back up.  The heart doctor said his heart looked good.  Once they got him woke up enough to go back to his room, they transferred him to his new room.  He was hungry & ready for something to eat, but had to wait for speech therapy to evaluate him to see if it was safe for him to eat.  He finally got something to eat & drink.  We wanted to see his neurologist to see what his thoughts were on the stroke, results of MRI and what the plan was going to be.  Unfortunately his neurologist wasn't on call this weekend so he seen the doctor that admitted him.  He couldn't tell us much more then we already knew.  He couldn't get the MRI pulled up, so we will have to wait until tomorrow to know anything more.  By this time he had a lot of company coming in and out.  Bobby's cousin & his wife came down to see him & wanted to take us out to eat.  We hadn't had anything to eat all day except a little snack, so we took them up on the offer.  We headed to Shogun's to eat.  After we ate we headed back to the hospital before we headed home to get some clothes.  Bobby wanted to be close to his dad, so we got clothes and went to mom's to stay.  We got back to BG around 12:30 AM.  We were both wore out & exhausted.  Bobby had been up for almost 46 hours (he had a few cat naps) and I had been up for almost 40 hours.  We both crashed!

Update on Bobby's Dad

They re-admitted Bobby's dad to the hospital.  He has had another stroke.  They are going to run a bunch of test tomorrow.  Bobby has gone to be with his mom & I will head down in the morning when I get off work.  Please remember our family in your prayers.

Morgan On Cloud Nine

The one night I left my good camera at home...My daughter plays baseball with her brother.  Some of the players had to leave early and they didn't have enough to play, so they ask Morgan to play.  She was on "Cloud Nine".  

Yes, that is my daughter in the outfield

Morgan batting

Spencer batting

Happy Fall Y'all

It's beginning to look like fall around our house...thanks to my creative & crafty mom.

Up All Night

Morgan woke me up about 2:30 this morning complaining with an earache.  She had been complaining with her 12 year molars coming in for a few days, so I was unsure if the earache was related to her teeth or not.  I gave her some Motrin & she went back to sleep.  I told her when she got to school to have the nurse look inside her ear to see if it was red/infected.  About 8:00 am the nurse called me and said she thought it was infected.  I called the doctor's office, but they wouldn't call her anything in until they seen her.  I went and picked her up from school and headed to the doctor.  She was a little upset the she wouldn't be seeing her regular doctor.

Waiting to see the Dr.

We saw the new nurse practitioner   She was very nice & friendly.  She did have an ear infection.  We left with two prescription.  On the way home she wanted McDonald's for lunch, so we stopped to grab her something to eat.  I had to run some errands and pay some bills, so she tagged along.  She got a cupcake and a Dr. Pepper at the bank.  She said, "I like missing school & running errand with you!"

We then headed to Walmart to get her medicine filled.  My new insurance is for the birds.  I had to end up calling the company myself because Walmart couldn't get the prescription to go through.  After 30 minutes on the phone with the insurance company they finally got it all figured out.  It still cost a small fortune to get the medicine filled because of the deductible.  

After all the other kids got out of school we headed to BG to see Bobby's dad.  The girls had not seen him since his stroke.  It really upset them to see him in this shape.  He had been sick at his stomach all day.  Bobby's mom was trying to get the doctor to send him to the hospital to get him checked out, but they didn't feel it was necessary.  

When we got home Bobby's mom called & said they were sending his dad to the ER to be evaluated.  Bobby took me to work; took the kids to Meme's & he headed to the ER to be with his mom.  They came to the conclusion he had ulcers that were causing him to be sick.  They gave him some medicine and sent him back to rehab.

A Night At The Ballpark

This little boy has been heavy on my heart since I found his page on FB a few days ago.  He is a 13 year old boy from KY fighting cancer.  You can read about his story HERE.  His family is putting together a "Thumbs up for Lane" book, so we submitted a photo for the book.

The girls at the ballpark.  Morgan is the talk of the ballpark because she is the "new" girl.  All the little boys call her "Princess", and she LOVES it :)

Spencer got his first hit tonight at his ballgame.  We were all so PROUD!!!!  Baseball has always been his favorite sport.  Hopefully fall ball will get him ready for live arm in the spring.

Something New

The kids have has chore charts for a couple of weeks and the are doing FABULOUS with them. They each have four things to do each day. They can earn extra money a few different ways: 1) Doing a chore on the extra chore chart 2) Doing a chore off someone else's chart (only if they are not there that night). Each chore/responsibility is worth twenty-five cents. They can also earn money for good grades at school. For every "A" they get on their report card or every "100%" or "Distinguished" they score on a test they earn $1.00. They have all been doing so week in school and we want to reward them for their hard work. They each have their own containers to place their money in and they can save it to but something they really want. Every night we check off their list and they get paid. During this process they add up their check marks to see how many quarters they will be receiving; then they have to tell me how much money that equals (a little extra math practice every night = win, win). The kids containers are filling up fast and they are already talking about what they want to buy. Some want an otter box for their iPod touch, a game for their game system, an I-tunes card and some just want to save it. This has definitely been a good thing for our house. It helps the kids learn responsibility and helps keep our house clean/tidy.

So now for the "something new". When you put five kids together who are all spoiled rotten you have a few minor issues such as: back-talking, whining, crying, being bossy, not listening, being in someone else's business...the list could go on & on (I know all kids have their moments & do all these thugs, but when you have five and they do it frequently it causes chaos). Therefore this weekend the kids will have to start paying us a quarter for every time they do something on the list. Hopefully when they start loosing their money they will stop these behaviors. We will see how it works out. We have tried several things before & some things work while others don't. We are open to trying new things to make our house run smoother and we both know if we don't stop it now it will only get worse. These next few days we will be transitioning the kids into this.

This will be hanging around the house as a little reminder ;)

The chore charts. Each child has a different color & the yellow one is extra chores. 

Fun At Walmart

Morgan had a math test today & made a 100%...SO, SO PROUD of her.  She is doing so well this year & really trying her best.

After school we went to pick up Morgan's glasses. She LOVES them.

After getting her glasses we had to pick up a few things from Walmart & the kids wanted to look around. Morgan found the bicycle helmets & had to try every one of them on.

Weekend Recap

On Friday night they moved Bobby's dad to a rehab. He had a stroke on Sunday and spent the week in the hospital. Thy said he would probably have to spent about 14 days in rehab if everything went as expected. We are hopeful that he will make a full recovery. He has right sided weakness in his leg, his right arm is flaccid & his speech is slurred. It was really hard on Bobby's mom to leave his side. No one is allowed stay the night with his at rehab.

On Saturday we went back to visit him.  Bobby's aunt & uncle went with us.  He was very tired from therapy. He didn't have much to say to us while we were there. He slept most of the time.

After leaving rehab we took Jerry & Linda to Shogun's to eat.  Neither of them had ever been there and they were both amazed.

Linda & Jerry

Linda wanted me to get a picture of them cooking the food

We stopped by Brad & Beth's on the way home. They were burning some stuff when we got there & Bobby had to play in the fire.  We watched a few movies before heading home.

On Sunday we stayed at home all day cleaning house and catching up on laundry.  It was the first time in a week we had been home.  I even cleaned out my closet, got some fall clothes out for the kids & got some of my fall decorations out.  

Sunday night Spencer & I made a trip to BG to the ER.  He was having an allergic reaction to some medication.  Hopefully he is straightened out now & on the road to recovery.