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!!