The past month or so in one HUGE post....

So, I have totally neglected my blog and a few of you decided to let me know it!! :) So here we go, this is what's been going on with the Schoch Family!!

Here's a few of the kids playing at Lake Norman, around a week after Thanksgiving. They like walking the trails and playing in the sand here!!

This the only "after" picture of the house I have, I'm going to have to take some some so you can see how different the house looks now!! Below are the "before" shots, and yes it was awful!! There is still so much more I could do to this house!!

The kids first day of school!! Their school is GREAT, I absolutely love it there!! Harrison's teacher just won teacher of the year, and Jack's won it last year!! Olivia's teacher if from MI, and is just awesome, she young and fun and Olivia adores her!! Harrison if loving K, he's doing so well, and says he would like to go to school everyday!! Jack has finally found a school that challenges him, he's in all the advance classes, and just won the school spelling bee!! We're so proud of all of them, they are adjusting really well!!

Here they are on their new street...Quarrier Drive!! This subdivision is awesome, they've made a ton of friends!!

Here it is, not much has changed except I painted the front door.

This is our kitchen...YUCK..I hated the red!!! It's been painted a nice tan color and that awful light has been replaced too!!

This is looking from the kitchen into the family room, not really a great pic, but it's all I have!! These were all taken the week we moved in, because the next week it was painted chocolate brown, and there's not boxes everywhere!! There are these great little cubbie areas in front of the two windows on the side of the fireplace, they are Max's little hand out spots!! They're a decent size, just right for him to play and store his toys in!!

This is looking into our front room, and once again that awful green was painted over with a dark tan. We don't really use the couches up front, but I'm hoping to one day, maybe like sit down and read a book!!

This is the boys room, yes all three are in one room!! It's going really well, thank God!! It's actually a pretty big room and fit's all three of them comfortably, I even went out and bought three of those blue cubbies things for each one of the boys to hold their things!! They have a HUGE closet, that has two dressers, a book shelf and it's not even full. Harrison likes to play in there sometimes :) I'm going to paint the bottom gray, I just haven't got around to it yet.

This is Olivia's room, I haven't painted her room yet either..I need to!! She has a pretty good size closet herself, not quite as big as the boys, but big enough for her doll house, toy box, and here bitty baby stuff.

This is our room, it's way bigger than we need...but we've learned to live with it :) We moved the couch in front of our bed and got a flat screen for the wall on the left. It doesn't look too big in the picture, but it's the size of our garage and family room. On the right there is a hallway that has a walk in closet on each side and the bathroom is at the end of the hall. Tim and I have enjoyed hanging out in here, something we never did in our old room!!

Here's Jack on the flow rider at Kalahari, right before we moved here!

And Miss Livy Jane, who was great at it!!

Halloween, right before we moved. I don't know what I was thinking!!

The morning of Max's 2nd Birthday!! We celebrated with a big breakfast, and then headed over to Great Lakes Crossing, and had lunch at Rain Forest Cafe and played at Jeepers!! He had a fun day!!

Here's Max at his Birthday dinner with family. Yes I made my son a rainbow cake, I couldn't help myself the cake just looked too cool!! It was a really good cake, and I no longer feel guilty for making it :)

Max blowing out his candle!! He's such a big boy!! At his 2 year check up he weighed 24 pounds and was 32 inches long. They are a little concerned about his weight and would like to see him gain a pound or two. All my kids are small, but he didn't go up on his growth chart, he just kinda flat lined. I'm working hard to fattin him up!! He's still not a huge talker, but he's getting there!! Max is such a loving baby, he loves to give kisses and hugs to everyone. He likes to tuck in his brothers and sister at night, he gives them a hug and kiss says night night, and them blows them a kiss while he shuts the door. It's really sweet and melts my heart!!

I'll take some pictures of the house now so you don't think I left it that awful red and green!! Olivia is having a birthday party this Friday, a spa party!! And I forgot to post about Olivia's birthday weekend at American Girl, I'll have to do that later!!!

This now feels like home, I love it here!! Sometimes when we're out we say "I can't believe we really live here"!! Everything is so nice, and there is so much to do!! I no longer have feeling of being homesick, but I do miss my friends and family. While I may miss a couple of things, we're so happy here!!!

Update!!

So I haven't got around to posting pics yet, I'm hoping to do that in the next couple of days. We did however get the first floor painted..yaaa! The house looks so much better and more like home now! We're getting very close to being settled in. Most of the boxes are unpacked, most of our things are put away, we just have to hang our photos and things and paint Olivia's room! I could spend some serious $$ finishing off this house, making it look the way I want it to look, but I'm just going to have to be patient.

The kids have made so many friends over the past couple of weeks, and I feel like there are always a few extra kids in my house or yard now. It's kinda weird and nice at the same time :) We did a movie night for the kids on our street last Friday night, Tim hooked up the projector and they sat in the drive-way and watched it on our garage!! It was a good time, I think we ended up with maybe like 25 kids here that night.

School has been going great, I love all of the kids teachers!! We're still kinda getting use to getting to school around 7:00 am, but the benefit is they are home at 1:45!! The school has been more than wonderful with Olivia, and really has impressed me with the level of care they are willing to give her! There is a great nurse at the school who really makes sure everyone is trained in what to do for her. I'm also only 1 mile from the school so that always makes me feel a little better.

The panic of not being home has completely left me, sometimes I think holy crap I'm not in MI anymore!!! But we're settled and happy here for now. I often have to remind myself that it's only been a few weeks. Leaving your home is not easy, I think MI will always be our home, but we needed somewhere a little different to actually live.

We're here!!

We arrived in Cornelius, NC around 7:00 pm Wednesday night, we pulled out the mattresses and a few other things and went to bed. Tim and my Dad were up bright and early on Thursday and had the whole trailer unloaded by 3:00!! We were pretty much settled in that day with all the couches, tables and beds put together. Friday and Saturday we worked on putting things away and other odds and ends. My parents left on Sunday morning and Tim and I decided to take the day off from unpacking and just enjoy some time with the kids!!! Right now the house is totally livable, but I have some more boxes to unpack and a lot of painting to do. I'm hoping to get it wrapped up in the next week or two.

Well that's how the unpacking went, but during this process I was a emotional wreck!! I wanted to go home!! I was super homesick and yes believe it or not I was missing Jackson, MI!! This feeling of panic and desperation has leaved me a little. I'm feeling better about being here and trying to remind myself of why I am here. I do know that if I want to move back to MI I can, and maybe I'll decide to...who knows. I'm going to give this a good chance. I love the nice weather and the sunshine, the people are so nice and there are a ton of kids around. The kids should start school in a couple of days, this will give me a good chance to get stuff done and explore the town with Max. There is a Gymboree class right up the road from us so I think I'm going to sign him up for a class there. I don't know I guess there's a lot to do and a lot to figure out, I'm just going to take it one day at a time right now. Well I promised the kids a trip to the park on the Lake, so I'll take some pictures and post them soon!!

So we really did it!!

Our house is all packed up and we drove off on Monday. It was a little sad, I did cry as we drove away, and when I had o say goodbye to everyone. I thought it would be harder to leave the house than it was. Once we started taking everything out it started to look less and less like our home. I will always miss that house I'm sure, I've raised my family there. We'll see how it goes. Right now I'm really trying hard to focus on all the positives we are gaining by moving. Olivia did break down in tears yesterday and cried to "go home", that killed me. I was thinking then what would I have to do to buy my house back!! Change is hard, I know it is for me so I can't imagine what they are going through. I'm just hoping and praying that when we get there and settle in that everyone will be happy. I also keep reminding myself that we never planned on living in that house forever, it was suppose to only be 5 years and we just made it 10!

We've had a blast at Kalahari, it's been a very nice distraction. Right now my kids are lying in bed eating ice cream cones and watching UP. These kids are the most important thing to me and I know in my heart that moving to NC is what is best for them, so I'm trying hard to suck up any petty feeling about my house. I'm sure we'll make this next house our home too!! Well tomorrow morning we wake up and drive home, we'll just be driving in the opposite direction then we usually do. I'm sure tomorrow will be hard when it hits me that we're not going back to our house, that this just wasn't a little get away. Wish me luck!!!

10 Years!!

Today is our 10 year wedding anniversary, I can't believe we've been married for ten years already!! I woke up around 8am this morning to my favorite breakfast, waffles with strawberries and whip cream, flowers, and a great present (coach wallet). Tonight we're going out to dinner at the Common Grill (where he proposed), and then to a comedy club in Ann Arbor. It should be a nice evening out without kids!!

I never thought I would be married for ten years, I thought maybe 5 would be my max, the women in my family never stay with their first husbands so I just kinda thought I would end up down the same path. To Tim it was never a question, he knew we would be together forever, and I can honestly say that now I do too. I feel very blessed to of had these ten years with him. So ten years later, four kids later I'm the happiest I've ever been!!

Thankful

I've been so caught up in the stress of life lately, that I feel like I have really lost my way and let the stress take over my life. It's like I've forgotten that I have a wonderful husband and four healthy, happy, great kids, that life is good!! Sometimes I get so caught up in all the negatives that I totally forget to be thankful for all the good and wonderful things in my life. I have this big wonderful family that I've always wanted, I'm moving..which is something I've always wanted to do, I have all of my kids here with me, what more can I really ask for. I'm going to put some extra effort in being thankful and enjoy all of these blessing that God has given me, not to stress so much over the small stuff. I know how fast life can change, I've experienced my life changing in the blink of a eye, feeling my life crumble, and my normal being stripped away from me. I'm just thankful that my life didn't change in such a way that she was taken away from me, I'm thankful that while it's hard and challenging that I get to take care of her, I get to keep her alive and thriving. So I I'm going to try harder to stay positive, to let stress consume me, to enjoy everyday I have with my kids!! No more stressing about packing and moving, it's just motions I have to go through, it's not the end of the world!!

Overwelmed

So to say I have a lot on my plate right now seems like a understatement!! I honestly don't know what I was thinking when I decided I would home school my kids until we moved, I must of been drunk at the moment! I love having the kids at home with me, but I am so sick of trying to keep them entertained and schooled, while I have to clean the house, laundry, cooking, dishes, pack, make endless phone calls, try to make "whine a lot" happy, and try to pretend like I'm not stressed and everything is happy, happy, HAPPY!! UGH, I'm worn out. I hate packing and would love to say that "I will never move again", but that would be a lie. I'm already dreading the next move, and I'm not finished with this one. I'm starting to understand how people settle into living in the same house for their whole life's. Packing sucks.

I guess it's time

I have only packed one box, and that was really only because I was putting up my Halloween decorations. I now have 3 weeks to moving day, I think it's time I start packing up the house..ugh. I have no ambition or desire to do this, I just know I have to. It's so funny how attached I get to "stuff", I'm terrible!! I think if I could pick up the house and land I live on and just drop it in NC, I would be THRILLED!! So anyways I'm convincing myself that it is time to just get it done :) I'm off to figure out what to start packing first, wish me luck!!!

Fall '09

I have to admit I love fall, now I would love fall in the 70's and 60's even more, but I'll take what I get! I love the leaves turning colors, wearing jeans, going to the apple orchard, soccer games on Saturday morning, enjoying hot cocoa for the first time in a long time, and being able to curl up on the coach under a blanket with the kiddies!! Having three of the kids all in soccer Saturday morning has proven to be quite the juggling act, and I'm very lucky that my Mom and Dad have been there for me!! It's impossible to be at three games at once, and Tim is coaching Harrison's team, so my parents are able to be at "the other" kids game. The kids are loving soccer, Harrison has made the first goal in the game for the past two games, we are very proud of him!! Jack has been doing great, he made four goals in his first game and two in his second, and he is a great team player! Olivia has been doing great too, and defiantly looks the cutest of them all out on the field :) She has come very close to a couple of goals and she is anxiously awaiting her first goal of the season!! And well then there is Max, he loved the first set of games when it was nice and sunny out, and then yesterday happened. Let's just say I should of left him in the car!! Haha, he was a bear!! It was so cold and rainy out, and I wanted him to wear a hat or the hood of his sweatshirt, he didn't! He cried about having to wear that hood for the whole two hours we were at soccer, such a little stinker!! Now he really should of had mittens and a winter coat on and been wrapped in a fleece blanket like a burrito!!

I still haven't started packing, I think I'm going to put it off until like the week before I move. It sounds like a complete nightmare to pack up a house that we have lived in for almost 10 years, the crap that accumulates is unbelievable!! I love my house, and I think I might always call this place my "home", I didn't know leaving it would be so hard!! I'm trying to bury all those feelings down deep and look forward to our new adventure and discovering our new "home".

Jack just had his Birthday, I can't believe he's 11, I'm not quite sure where all the time went. It's been hitting me pretty hard lately that this stage of life (raising our family) is flying by. It's hard to think that in seven years Jack could be leaving for collage, and Olivia will be a teenager. Wow, I wish I could rewind the past 10 years and just live it all over again!! And of course my baby turns 2 in about three weeks..Wow!! These are defiantly the best years of my life.

Moving update

I know some of you are wondering when we're leaving so I thought I would let you know what we have planned so far. Our plan is to pack up our moving pod over the weekend of Halloween, and then on Monday, November 2nd we will head down to Kalahari for two days. It will take the pod two days for delivery, so we're having them pick it up Monday morning when we leave, and then it should arrive on Wednesday. So we'll leave Kalahari Wednesday morning and head South to our new home in Cornelius NC!! We will be about 2o min's North of Charlotte, and right next to Lake Norman. We're moving into a great house in a subdivision called Oak Hurst, it's a nice big subdivision with parks, pools and basketball courts. The kids school will be about 2 min's away from our house, which I'm going to just LOVE, I will even be able to walk there with Max to give Olivia her shot!!

This is a lot of change for me, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared!! I've always dreamed of moving South and now that it's really happening I'm starting to get cold feet :) Jack is so excited he just can't wait to move into the subdivision and start making some new friends!! Olivia was always my go getter, but now she has become hesitant, but I know as soon as we get there she will be very happy! Luckily the two little ones are easy to move, and are just along for the ride!! Sometimes I think I'm the one coping the worst, it's hard to move from the woods to a subdivision..hoping I will enjoy my time there!! While I look around and enjoy my nice big yard and my privacy, the kids can't wait to leave all that behind and start playing with the neighborhood kids! I know that if they are happy that I will be happy!!

I'll keep on updating on the move..just in case anyone is interested!!

Beaver Island

We ventured up North for a long weekend to visit our good friends the Williams at there new home, Beaver Island! We had a great time visiting and checking out this amazing Island. The kids couldn't of been more excited to visit there friends and spend some time on the beach, and I enjoyed catching up with Missy! Here's some pictures from our trip..

Here's a picture of all eight kids, I think it's the only one I got!!

It's been too long!!

So I'm totally going to blame my husband for the fact that I haven't been blogging!! Tim gave me a new laptop, and it has taken him this long to get my pictures on here! I know what your thinking..why didn't I just do it myself right, well the answer to that is there is no way I could figure out his complicated system he has our house hooked up to!! But he finally broke down and did it, so now it's my turn to give all of you the longest update blog entry of all times..be prepared!!

This picture is from our "work" trip to Raleigh NC. Tim had to work and the kids and I enjoyed our time by the pool and exploring the city. We had a great time at this park, it had a carousal, train, and paddle boats. Here are a few more pictures from Raleigh...

(I'm having a heck of a time putting the pictures in here, every time I load a new one I have to drag it down. And I can't just drag it down, I have to put it below the next text or picture, it's taking me forever!! Anyone know of a better way to do this??)

I also got the pleasure of taking Olivia to American Girl in Chicago, we had such a great day!! We went with our good friends the Valentine's, had a great lunch and some quality shopping time. This was Olivia's half birthday present, and I gave her half her Birthday money, and she had some money saved up also. We walked out of that store with a new doll (which I swore we wouldn't), a lama, t-shirt, AG cards and earrings. It really was a great day, and I can't wait until we get to do it again!!

This is taking me way too long, so I think I'm going to break this up in a few blog entries!!

HELP

Someone needs to tell me how to add the blogs that you follow option on the side of my blog, also why does my blog have this huge white square in the middle of it? Any help/advice I can get would be appreciated!!

So I haven't blogged in forever, honestly one of the biggest reasons is Tim got me a new laptop and I haven't got my pictures on it! So I have to work out all the kinks..cause I miss blogging!!

So since I've last blogged I've taken Olivia to American girl with some great friends the Valentines, what a great time us girls had!! We've been enjoying our cold summer the best we can! The kids have swam a little and we've just been enjoying being able to be outside!

We had a great day on Lake Michigan last Sunday, I'll have to post some pics later. It's so funny because two of my kids LOVE the water (Jack&Olivia) and then my younger two (Harrison&Max) LOVE the sand. I just think it's funny how different they are!! Jack and Olivia had a great time in the big waves boogie boarding, while the little boys had a great time playing in the sand and dipping their toes in the water!

I defiantly have a ton more to talk about so I will defiantly be posting soon!!

WOW, what have I gotten myself into!!

It was a long day today, I just wrote this huge post about every little detail of the day, but deleting it sparing you guys!! Long story short my many children had many melt downs today and I am plain worn out as a Mommy!! I almost broke down in tears at the mall today when Harrison was having a HUGE tantrum when the cashier said to me "you have more patience than I ever had, I don't know how you do it". Really I feel like I'm holding on by a thread. All the crying, whining, fighting, complaining and just plain defiance is really starting to wear on me. I've questioned the quality of my parenting skills as my life and children seem to spiraling out of control!! I feel lost. I feel like I so desperately want to "quite" the most important job of my life. I feel like a failure. I don't know what to do with them. I think when I decided to have four kids I didn't realize what I was getting myself into. I am beaten down.

-Max cried most of the day. Wouldn't follow me around the park, would only throw himself to the ground in his fit of rage.

-Olivia had a 30 min melt down, screaming and punching the seat because she could not buckle.

-Harrison cried and yelled for 45 min's at the mall because Max touched his guy.

This does include all the other whining, fighting and crying that goes on all day!! Olivia has turned into some kind of DIVA and doesn't think that she should have to do ANYTHING!! I need something to give!! I need a good day, just one good day.

With all that being said I love my kids more than anything in the world, it would just be nice if I could enjoy them a little more. I end up being such a ball of stress I feel like I'm not enjoying life enough!! I need to figure something out, I think I'm too much of a push over and I need to become more strict with them. Who knows, I just know that I hate these bad mommy days!!

Thanks for listening!!

On the road agian!!

So we're on another road trip down to the Carolina's!! We left Saturday morning, after we dropped off my nephew who decided at 6:00am that he didn't want to go with us anymore..bummer!! I must say it was a pretty last minute decision for him to come with us, it happened Friday night while we were eating dinner, we said hey you want to come with us and he said "sure"! So funny, I don't think he was prepared to keep up with us!! So we had a little of a late start, but that's how it goes! The bad part was Tim and I didn't get any sleep Friday night! Wow..Harrison woke up about 15 minutes after we went to bed (midnight) then the little bugger woke Max up..who thought it was time to play. I spent the night in the living room with Max playing with toys and watching Diego..fun, fun!! Anyways I got Max to sleep around 5:30am and guess what time the alarm went off..6am..no sleep for me!! The drive seemed extra long and painful with no sleep for us!!

We arrived in Charlotte Friday night and went straight to the hotel to get some sleep!! Today we checked out the city and went to a great state park on Lake Norman, this lake is so amazing!! My kids had a great time playing in the water and walking on the nature paths. We had a cooler with us, so we ended up having a picnic lunch, very unplanned but such a great time!! Sometimes the things that aren't planned turn out to be the best! The community around this lake is amazing, we could only dream of being lucky enough to be able to live on this lake one day!!

Now we are in Raleigh , Tim is here to work for the week and me and the kids are along for the ride. The hotel has a great pool, so I plan on using that all day tomorrow. I found a cool water park that's on a lake so we'll check that out later in the week, I'll have to post some pictures for you guys!!

I hope my kids will always have fond memories of these road trips, I know I always will!! It's awesome to be able to take them to all of these places and to be able to see so many places..thanks to Daddy's work!!

Summer!!!

Wow, I feel like I haven't blogged in forever!! So much to say...

First off the summer is going great especially now that we had some really nice weather, unfortunately we have to suffer through a couple of cool days until we get some more of it!!

We've made it out to the drive in a couple of times now, we're really enjoying it this summer, the kids think it's the greatest thing ever!!

Got our pool all around and clean and have enjoyed swimming in it this week.

Our garden is growing great, the kids go out to check on it every day. I love that they are so excited over every blossom that they see!

I've decided that this week is my kids official no week of TV, computers or any electronics. This week is always really fun and I always do it a couple of times during the summer. It starts out like this "But Mooommm there is nothing to do, we're sooo bored" and it ends in my kids playing with toys they haven't played with in a long time, playing with each other beautifully and very little fighting!! It's weird. I've noticed my kids (especially Jack) getting a little moody, wanting to watch a little too much TV and video games, fighting a little too much and I know that this week really will clear that up for a little while...so here we go!!

We'll be in Raleigh NC in two weeks...YIKES!! Driving down with Tim for a work trip and to check out the town to hopefully fall in love with it, or know we don't want to live there!! Keep your fingers crossed for me, I'm really hoping this will aide in our moving decision!!

Tim is on MULA next week, so I think we're going to head over to Lake MI for a day, to enjoy the beach a little. We're deciding if we're going to go to Michigan Adventure or not, but I think we'll pass this year since we'll be going to Raleigh the next week!! I think that Olivia and I will also be heading to the American girl store in Chicago with the Valentine girls that week also!! I'm very excited for this, we're going to celebrate Olivia's half birthday (since hers is right before Christmas) so she will be able to pick out a couple of new things for her dolls. I think I might do this for her every year, it's such a bummer to get almost all of your presents in a 6 day span. So I'm just planning on letting her spend half of her Birthday money there!!

Well that was just a ton of updates on what's going on with us, just to let you know we're still here, we're just really enjoying this summer weather!!

My Max

I just adore this child, he is by far our best baby!!! We put the kids to bed a little early tonight, they had cousins over the past two nights, so they needed a little sleep. I was going to let Max stay up with me for another half hour or so and just read to him, well he made it for like 10 min's. My little angel got up and went to the gate at the stairs, then ran back to me and grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the gate, he was ready to go to bed now. He walked up the stairs straight into his bedroom, grabbed his suckie and put his hands up for me to put him in bed....I love this kid!!!

I'm not sure what I've done to deserve this little angel, but I'm sure glad I've got him!! So while I'm loving on him I thought I would dedicate this post to him and him alone, so here it goes...

Max updates...

-Still hasn't nailed saying Mama yet, this drives me crazy, all I hear all day is "Daddy" this and "DaDa" that..ugh, it gets old!! Today when he bumped heads with Harrsion I did get the winey "MMMoo" close I guess.

-Max is loving the spring (because we really haven't seen summer yet) he loves to be outside, riding bikes, swinging, riding the lawn mower (crazy obsession of his), looking at the garden, playing on HIS deck, and playing in any kind of mud, water and dirt he can find to play in!!

-When he wakes up in the morning or from a nap he says "Hi" in the sweetest way ever, I should try to get it on the video camera and post it, it's priceless!!

-He loves to eat and if he's having a cracker he has to have one for each one of his hands.

-Loves his Daddy

-Loves to shoot people with his finger guns or any other object he sees fit at the time, you must play dead when he does this!! When we shoot him back he'll fall to the ground or swing his arm to the side with a lovely little grunt!

I could go on and on, but I won't! I love watching him grow up and turn into the little boy that he's turning into, half my heart breaks as my baby grows up as the other half is filled with joy seeing him develop quite the personality!!

Only God knows what I can handle I guess...

because I sure and the heck don't!!! So WOW where to start, I would love to post about some lovely happy things right now like the kids class picnics and stuff, but that will all have to come later!!!

So on Thursday (the kids last day of school) Olivia had her first and last pump opt., what good fun that was...I will go into detail on Olivia's blog later!!!

Friday the kids were suppose to go out to the lake house with my parents to help them move rocks, they never made it because Olivia was having a fit over this pump...where it would go, how it was going to look, it was uncomfortable..you get the hint. So after hours of screaming and crying I said forget it to the lake.

Our pool pump broke, our lawn mower broke...I'm feeling like WTF is this really all happening right now!!

Went to a motor place with Tim to see if they could fix it...Harrison discovered a cup of OLD milk and spilled it in the car...NASTY!!! I let the kids out of the car while I held my breath and scrubbed the heck out of the carpet with baby wipes!!

Saturday we have a Graduation party to go to...which I was really looking forward too...then my daughter strikes!!! There is NO place to put the pump while wearing a dress, besides this belt thing which for her is very bothersome I guess. We tried I don't know maybe 12 different outfits on...my daughter yelled things at me like "why do you hate me so much", "I just want to die", "why are you torturing me like this", "what have ever done to you"!!! I begged for her to just let me unhook the pump, she refused...

It was unhooked anyways, now she's going crazy in her panties, Tim try's to carry her to the car, because she is now going in just her panties!

Overwhelmed, spent and just plain tired she is condemned to her room about 2 hours later for the rest of the night.

Why does it have to be this hard??

We didn't go to the party, I probably should of but by the time I would of gotten there the family and friends part of the party would be over in like 20 min's. I was disappointed that she is making my life so difficult lately that we can't even leave the house at times.

Don't get me wrong she's not always a stinker, she can also be the most loving, sweet and caring kid ever.

I took the pump site out of her Sunday morning, I don't think I'm ready, and I know she isn't.

I feel beaten down as her Mother.

All weekend I was thinking God knows what he's doing, because I could never deal with 3 more of her.

I'm thankful.

School is almost over!!!

I am anxiously awaiting the last day of school, I am more than ready for it to be over!!! This next week of school is a complete joke though let me give you a small run down...Jack's things will be in green, Olivia's pink, Harrison blue.....

Friday...Field day at SAC
Saturday...Olivia ballet recital
Sunday...Harrison has a birthday party
Monday...Class picnic at the lake and hike on Falling Waters trail
Tuesday...Class picnic
Wednesday...Walk to frosty boy, last day of school, and some friends over to swim
Thursday...field day, last day of school and pump class

Okay I'll be honest the list doesn't look so bad, but I know that Olivia's class will probably walk to Frosty boy or have a picnic at the park or something like that, I just haven't heard about it yet!! I think I'm going to make it to everything except the walk with Jack on Monday and then the walk to Frosty Boy....not too bad!!

And then when these next 7 days are over it's SUMMER BREAK..wow I'm so excited!! I don't have to rush around in the morning to get everyone off to school, we can lay be the pool all day if we choose to, no more driving all day long, no more after school activities, just me and the kids and day free to do whatever we choose to....heaven!! Now don't get me wrong a month or two from now I'll probably be saying that my kids are driving me crazy and I'm sure they will but that's okay!! Hopefully our days will be filled with friends, cookouts, swimming in the pool, lake days, parks, outings and much, much more!! Be ready for my early September post..When are the kids going back to school!!!

My big baby is turning into a big boy

Harrison and I had the privilege to spend the afternoon together, thanks to my wonderful hubby for keeping Max while he napped!! We met up with Sadie at put put for Jake's 5th B-day, the boys had a great time!! It was perfect..no one was there, so the boys got to run wild and act like their crazy self's!! We headed over to the park for awhile to let the boys play, there was some guy there flying a plane and the boys had a great time chasing it around!! Thanks Sadie for inviting us!!

After that we headed over to the Parlour for a little ice cream date. I realized the moment I leaned over to give Harrison a kiss and he hesitated that he's not my big baby anymore!! So sad!! He has never hesitated to give me a kiss, or to hang all over me!! So anyways we had our ice cream and got one to take home to daddy, a nice little outing for just the two of us!!

We came home and Harrison wanted some cherries so I washed a bowl of them and we sat out on the front porch spitting the seeds. Still thinking in my head that gosh this kid is really growing up, I asked him if he was ready to go to Kindergarten, he said "yes" and then asked me if he would eat lunch there, I told him he would, he then looked at me with this funny little face and said "am I going to have to eat glue there?"!! Freaking hilarious!! I told him "no" and he said "O thank goodness cause glue is bad for you". I then told him that he could either get hot lunch like Jack does sometimes or I could pack him his lunch, he nudged my arm with his and said "I'll pack my own lunch Mom" and winked at me!!! Awww, it melted my heart and I instantly thought am I really ready for him to go to school all day and miss out on all of these afternoons with just him!!! Breaks my heart they have to grow up so fast!!

Summer activities

So school is almost over...how exciting!!! Like always I think I need a bunch of activities for the kids to do all summer long, now I know I really don't need any, but I really want to do some fun stuff with the kids this year!! I know we'll spend a ton of time in the pool, but most of our pool friends moved away recently :(

So here are a few of my thoughts......making tye dye shirts, making play dough, a cooking class, making bubbles, setting out our huge tarp and turning it into a slip and slide and camping out in the back yard. I know I want to do some more arts and crafts with them because honestly it doesn't happen around here too much anymore!! I thought maybe Olivia would like to make a scrap book, but would the boys?? It's so hard to think of things I can do with all of the kids, keeping in mind that my kids are 10, 7, 5 and 1!!!

I would love any idea's!!!

I know there are a few places I would love to take them this year, like Mackinaw island, Michigan Adventures, MSU children's garden, Hands on Museum and a few water parks.

I'm wondering about camps too, last year the kids did tennis camp up at the park, that was awesome it was every day for like 3 weeks and only $10. I'm wondering if Ella Sharp park is going to do any camps this year?!?! So if anyone knows of any neat camps for any of my kids ages let me know!!

Random thoughts

I didn't want to post this in the Cedar Point post, but there are some things I've been meaning to post about...

-The whole exercise and weight loss thing...well I have been walking, walking/running, working out with this new game I bought for the wii fit...EA fitness (I think). Anyways I've made sure I do something everyday...no results though...not a pound!! I will say that my legs feel a little tighter, but it's my gut that I HAVE to loose!! So I'm now going to try to do the whole weight watcher's thing, I did this a few years ago, I did loose some weight, but shortly after I found out I was preggo with Harrison!! None of my clothes from last summer fit me (gotta love nursing), and I just refuse to keep going on looking like this!! Wish me luck God knows I need it...I love to eat!!

-Moving, yes it looks like it's a for sure thing now!! While I'm super excited to go, there is a part of me that will miss this town and the people in it!! I will be back to visit, I know that's for sure, but we're leaving behind close friends and family! I hope this is a decision I won't regret!! The things I'm really looking forward to are...better weather, better health care closer to where we live, more things to do, better schools, more opportunities for the kids and more job opportunities for Tim and I!! So I know I will be going through a very emotional few months, but hopefully it will all be worth it in the end!!

-Everyone keeps asking me about number 5? Honestly we have no idea!! We're not ready for Tim to get fixed, but we're really starting to think we might be done. While the idea of having one more is very tempting, I'm just not sure it's right. It's so hard to think about adding to your family in these hard times. Can we afford another? Is another right for the four we have? So, I guess I still don't know, all I do know is if it hasn't happened in the next couple of years, it won't be happening at all!!!

-There is so much going on these next couple of weeks with school ending and all!! Olivia has her recital, the kids have their field days and school picnics. I can't wait for it all to be over, and to be able to hang around with the kids and swim and play!! I love summer, and I'm waiting for it to come!!

A detour to Cedar Point

Tim was off on MULA last week so on Friday the kids had a field trip planned to the milk farm (yuck), well I had my own field trip in mind...so off we went to Cedar Point!! What a great surprise for the kids, we let them think they were going to school that day and didn't figure it out until like 45 minutes on the road. Jack finally said "this isn't the way to school, where are we going?" I told him we had to make a quick detour to Cedar Point and he freaked out!! All the kids were super excited, and the timing was great! We stopped for lunch right before we got there, so all of that fuss what out of the way! Our first stop was kiddie land...Max, Harrison and Olivia hopped on quite a few of these rides right away!! Olivia was being a great big sister and taking Max on all the cars, Tim and Jack sneaked away to ride their first roller coaster of the day. The day went pretty much like that, I rode rides with the kids in kiddie lands and Tim and Jack sneak off for roller coasters! It might sound like I'm complaining, but I'm really not, I hate roller coasters so I'm very happy not to have to ride them!! It only gets challenging when there is a ride that Olivia can't ride without a adult, we then have to wait for Tim to get back. It's really a day full of compromising, but I wouldn't have it any other way! Max had just a great time riding the rides, he wasn't so fond of the workers though, he would cry every time they checked his buckle or undid his buckle! Harrison being the very easy going kid he is, was just happy going on whatever he was able to whether it was with me or with Olivia...good kid!! Olivia was a little disappointed that she wasn't 48", but she'll get there!! She did get to go on the iron dragon twice and disaster transport four times!! Jack was thrilled to be 54" and got to go on the raptor (his favorite) and the mantis this year!! He was a little disappointed that he never made it on top thrill dragster, but they couldn't keep that thing running that day...o-well maybe next time!!

I have to say as a family of six outings can be a bit challenging if the kids aren't willing to be flexible, but this day went really well! I was the only one who threw a fit when Tim took Max on a ride I wasn't sure he was ready for!! Of course Max was fine, and I now feel silly for being angry about it!! It's a little stressful to be at a place like that with three kids by yourself for most of the time though, I allowed myself to stress too much...I am really going to try to work on that!! I love all the different stages my kids are in, it's great to be able to go places and make it work for everyone!! Here's a few pictures of our great day out....

Max worn out by all the fun!!!

Olivia and Harrison riding rides together!!Yes, Jack was really there!!!Olivia and Harrison waiting for Daddy and Jack to get off of the last ride of the night!!

My garden

So we finally broke down and planted a garden today!! Tim, Harrison, Max and myself headed over to Lowe's and picked out all kinds of plants. Harrison had a great time doing this, and he picked out a ton of tomato plants, strawberries, pumpkin, cucumber, green pepper, lettuce, squash, spinach and onion. We brought them home and he loaded them into his four wheeler and drove them to the back yard while Tim and I set up our fence. He was very excited and helped plant most of the plants, we decided to save some for the older kids after school. Here's a couple of pictures of the garden and the kids planting, can't wait until they are able to go pick something from the garden!!!

On Memorial day we decided it was too chilly to hang out by the pool, so we decided to head to the Toledo Zoo!! It was a great time, the kids loved it!! Max had the best time looking at the seals, they would swim by him and he would say "se se se", trying hard to say seal, but not quit getting it out!!

Max looking at the seals, he could of sat there all day I think.

A great weekend

Tim decided to heat up the pool a little on Friday night so the kids could have their first official swim of the year!! It was a little chilly still, but we ordered pizza ate around the pool and everyone (but me) took their first dip!!! Max wasn't too sure about it, but the other kids had a nice swim for about 10 min's..haha...yes swimming in May is just not a good idea!!





And yes we do love all of our kids, Jack just refused to let me take his picture!! But here they are freezing their little butts off!! Looks like a ton of fun right?



Saturday Olivia had a piano recital at the dance studio, she did a great job!! We're so proud of how good she has gotten over the past couple of months!! She loves to play and has started to write her own music with lyrics to with it. She's really good, it surprises us at times, who knows maybe one day she'll make a living off of it :) At night we went to Cascades Falls to watch the fireworks, this was also just a great night!! I love watching the kids faces as the fireworks go off, Harrison really enjoyed it this year, and Max sat happily in his stroller watching them as well!! Olivia took her usual spot on her Daddy's lap and picked out her favorites, while Jack leaned back in the chair and watched quietly, because of course he is too cool to make a fuss about them now!!



Olivia at her piano recital


Sunday night we went to Capri Drive In to watch Night at the Museum 2, the kids were very excited that the Valentine's joined us! The kids did great, this experience has been a nightmare in the past, but went great last night!! After waiting in line for 20 min's Tim took the older kids up to the grassy area to play football, while I chased crazy man Max around our car!! When the movie was about to start I walked Max around trying to put him to sleep, then buckled him up in his car seat where he fell asleep for the night....Thank God!!! Harrison made it through most of the movie, but then asked me to climb in the back of the car and lie with him....he soon fell asleep himself!! After the movie was over we packed up the car, the kids and Tim and I stayed to watch Wolverine. I think we got home around 2:30, late night but well worth it!!



Today is Memorial day we're planning on hanging around the pool again, grilling out and maybe sneaking a bike ride in!! I love weekends like these, no commitments, no huge plans, just time with the family!! There will be a lot of this this week since it's Tim's week to take MULA, another week off!! I'm hoping to take the boys to the zoo and Olivia to the Meijier gardens on Thursday after her opt.


I hope everyone is having a great weekend!!