First AR test

Austin was asked by his teacher to start taking "Accelerated Reader" tests at school. We are all SO EXCITED! I forwarded the e-mail from his teacher to Brian, my mom, and sister the second I got it. I love sharing big news with everyone. He got his first book yesterday and read it at least a dozen times. His teacher(Mrs. Tunnell) went over with him what was expected and how it was gonna work.

First, he gets a Kindergarten level book, reads it, I have to ask questions, then he takes a computerized comprehension test whenever he thinks he's ready. Needless to say he was ready within minutes of coming home with the book. I was extremely nervous for him to go to school today. He was so excited and I didn't want him to be let down if he got some of the answers wrong or couldn't read the questions on the computer. I knew he could but I always worry.

So here's the outcome......................

Whew, I am one proud MAMA:-) Now we read another one tonight. This could be a long year of reading and worrying. He's the only kid in his class that's taking them so I'm thinking he's gonna get the Accelerated Reader trophy. Fingers and toes are crossed! Even if he doesn't get the trophy, I'm already so proud of him. What a great and determined kid who loves school. I couldn't ask for anything more.

Happy Halloween!

I'm already Halloween'ed out and its just now Halloween. Austin is on his second costume because he's been wearing it to so many parties that he got holes in his first one. Don't get me wrong, October is tied with December for my favorite month. Not weather wise because I love the long lazy days of summer but I LOVE the busyness of October and December. There's always something free to do and that makes me happy:-) Anything to keep the kids occupied, smiling, and looking forward to the next day even though they have to go to school. I'm sold! I try every week to have something exciting but October and December have so much that the rest of the months are just blah.

We have some amazing friends Amy and Rich Pence that live a subdivision over from us so we headed over there to trick or treat. Kaleb and Ava(their daughter) are "boyfriend/girlfriend" so they had to trick or treat together. Were so glad our kids are liking each other and we have already planned the wedding.

Were going to an island somewhere and making it a vacation for all of us. Man I hope my dreams come true. Ha ha, I know they won't but I hope Kaleb finds someone as sweet as Ava and is brought up like she is. Her parents are amazing. Oh wait, they have the same principals as us. That's hard to find these days and it blows my mind! Okay so I could go on and on. I know your waiting for the pictures.

Ava is the Candy Corn if you couldn't figure it out. The little girl dressed up as the Angel likes Austin but he laughs and says I'm a boy and your friend but not your boyfriend. Kaleb is completely smitten and so am I. I love her!

Kaleb's Report card

For some reason Kaleb's teacher has ZERO communication with parents. I'm the assistant room Mom and she won't even schedule a meeting with the Room Mom and me to find out what in the world were suppose to do. I've only seen three packets of papers come home so I have no clue how Kaleb's doing in school. Until today:-)

I love report card day. I get so excited because I already know what the grade should be(according to my kid) and I hope he's telling the truth! Luckily, he was. He got all A's and a B in math. He hates math and adds just like I do. Yes, I still use my fingers and toes. Pathetic, I know. I'm thinking he's gonna need a tutor to change his habits but it never helped me. Maybe I shouldn't have been the person to teach him to add. Its too late now!!!!!!!!!!!!

Down and Dirty Part II

The boys loved watching all the people race through the mud pit so they decided to do the kids run.

Down and Dirty!

Today we went to the LuvMud race at Shelby Farms. Brian did a 5K(3.1 miles) race with obstacles which ended in a mud pit. I dislocated my shoulder on Friday so I sat this one out. It looked like so much fun though:-(

Our Little Ninja!

The boys have joined Kempo Karate. Both of them got uniforms tonight but Kaleb was too hot so he took his off before I could take a picture. Here's Austin sporting his uniform and samurai pose.

My Big Boy Austin

Words can't describe the hurt I have in my heart about losing him to Kindergarten. He makes me laugh, cry, be crazy, and be who I want to be. He says what I'm thinking and knows me better than I do and he's only 5. We both hear a noise and giggle thinking the same thing without saying a word. I'm gonna be lost without him! He completes me more than I complete him and I couldn't be any prouder! If you ever get to know Austin you will see how truly amazing he is. He's an absolute character! He wants to move to Hollywood and be on TV but I'm not moving away from Brian and Kaleb so he's staying in Collierville!

He has an amazing personality that rubs off on everyone he meets. I don't care if your a bum on the street or the president. He's gonna make you smile. I have a lot of errands to do so of coarse he comes with me. He gets at least 5 complements a day about his hair (he has GREAT hair) he's started saying " I know duh". With a little cocky grin. I really wish people would stop talking about his hair because he gets so many complements that he knows he's cute! He smiles and people see those big blue eyes and curly hair. He gets anything he wants from stangers. Seriusly, I could make some money off of him! He gets free stuff all the time:)

Happy 4th of July!

We've been in the pool since 9, and eaten 3 Popsicles. So far the 4th has been amazing!

Phase II

As Ally(my friend) and I were running past the pool at the gym, she said she was going to bring her kids back this afternoon to swim. She started talking about how much she hated going up there because its so busy and everyone wants to borrow her kids toys. So, I asked if she wanted to bring the kids over to our house and she said yes. We were so excited. Both of us were going through the same things and really needed some girl time.
She has a boy who will be in Kindergarten with Austin next year at Bailey Station and a girl who will be in the four year old class at CUMC. Austin and Joey are buds and Kaleb does a wonderful job taking care of Kendall(the girl). After she said yes, I started wondering if 2 of our other mutual friends could come. I sent them a text and one of them said yes. The other was going out of town so she had a good excuse.

The kids and I went to the farmers market then headed to Walmart because I haven't been grocery shopping since I got back from the beach. Yes, we've lived off macaroni for the past week! We were there about 5 minutes before I got a text from another friend.
"Are we still having lunch today"?
Crap, I forgot! I've been trying so hard not to make plans this week that I hid my planner to make sure I didn't make plans. I folded on Monday(I didn't last long)and made a lunch date for Thursday. Since my planner is hidden I didn't write it down and had nothing to rely on. Now 5 minutes into my shopping adventure I realized I had to race through the place and grab the bare necessity's.
Have I ever mentioned how I love chaos? After racing through Walmart, I headed home to unload the frozen goods. Who has time to worry about the rest of the stuff? I only arrived 5 minutes late for lunch which is really good for me. I'm never on time! After an amazing lunch, I raced back home(which I was 5 minutes latter than I wanted to be) to get the house ready for our guests.
The boys now have chores so they had to do everything and quickly. I wish I could have done it all myself but what would that have taught them? So we raced again! Emptied the dishwasher, cleaned counters, vacuumed, you name it, we did it. While I was vacuuming, our guests arrived. Wow! It's a crazy amazing day and still NO screaming.

The play date turned into three hours, a pitcher of mojitos, and fabulous girl time. What else could I have asked for?
The answer: Absolutely amazing boys. Everything I've asked them to do, they were all over it and happy to do it. No screaming, arguing, hitting, whining. Yay!!! I love my life and am so glad God gave it to me:)

Answered Prayers

Before I put the kids to bed last night I promised them I would not yell today. I absolutely love my kids but I don't like the person they were making me be. Seriously, who was that crazy lady? So, today is a new day with no mistakes in it! That was my prayer/motto for today:)
I was up at 6:50! Wow, that's good for me. I'm usually up by 7:00 so 10 minutes early isn't bad. I could feel the day was starting off great. I wanted to be at the gym at 8:00(which is when the childcare opens) but Brian wanted to see the kids today since the only time he saw them yesterday was when all 3 of us were kicking and screaming. Seriously, it was that bad. I agreed and decided to go at 8:20. Once I got to the gym one of my friends was standing in the parking lot waiting for people from the "run club" to show up. I haven't seen her in about 3 weeks and have missed her smiling face. Plus, I need more smiles in my life right now. Oh, this day is gonna be great!

Then, she asked me if I was running today. Oh no! I can't run with her. Please don't ask, please don't ask. I fearfully/jokingly said sort of running if that's what you call it . She's a runner, like a REAL runner. She could kick my butt in nothing flat and I would bow to her. Seriously, she's good. I tend to trot and talk. I'm better at talking than trotting if you get my drift. She told me no one showed up for the "run club"and wanted to know if I wanted to run with her. It was my worst nightmare coming true. Seriously, you want to run with me. Panic took over. It's only 8:30 and I'm a nervous wreak. I told her I had to check the kids in and would be back. She could start without me.
Please let her have started without me! I took my time checking the kids in and putting my stuff in a locker hoping she wouldn't be there when I returned. But she was. Smiling. And honestly, it made me happy to see her again. She knew she wasn't going to run her usual pace but she didn't care. She just wanted to spend time with me. Oh how I needed that. We ran and talked about everything. There is one hill that for the life of me I can't make it to the top without stopping and I made it and another mile past it. Honestly, it was easy. I was letting that hill beat me and I finally beat it today. As of 9:30 today, my life was amazing, I had wonderful children, great friends, and an amazing God for answering my tearful prayers. God is so good. I'm glad yesterday is in the past. Not the future!

Last straw

We came home from the gym,cooked dinner, and headed to the backyard so I could fix the Polaris(pool vacuum). While I was fixing it, the kids asked me if they could stand in the pool. Of coarse I said no. Bedtime was in 30 minutes and I didn't want them wet. Besides, they had just taken a shower at the gym so the last thing I wanted them to do is get in the pool. Not 2 seconds after I said no, both kids got in the pool! WOW.....I lost it. Needless to say, both kids were sent to bed immediately and I got to hear them cry for the next 20 minutes.
Poor Brian. He came home about 10 minutes after I put them to bed and he got to hear all 3 of us cry. I'm sure the last thing he wanted was to work all day and come home to 3 crying babies. I'm so ready for this day to be over.

2 Brats for sale!

I'm at my wits end! I'm so tired of the fighting, whining, hitting, screaming, tattle tailing, that I'm about to loose my mind. My kids are driving me crazy and I'm ready to trade them in for a dog. Now, that says a lot for me because I don't even like dogs. Not that I want them to die, I just don't want one. I have enough stuff to keep clean and don't need the added responsibility. Dog lovers, please don't get offended, I just can't stand the drool, housekeeping, and everything else that comes along with animals. I don't even want a fish.
This is the first week since school's been out that we've been home and I'm about to go crazy. I'm a total schedule freak and everyone is off schedule and our lives are falling apart. Or so I feel like. I'm trying really hard to do fun stuff that they've been wanting to do but Oh my goodness. I'm about to kill them. I took them to the gym today for the first time this summer to swim and go down the water slides. We were there about an hour and they decided that they were hungry. They talked me into getting them something to eat so we went to the cafe. We stood in line about 2 minutes and they had a knockdown drag out fight over who touched who first. I pulled them out of line because I didn't want to buy them something "special" if they were acting that way. We went back to our chairs and neither one of them would stop crying so we just had to leave. I have no idea why I try! I'm so tired of their behavior I seriously would pay someone to take them away.

Nice and Relaxing

My parents watched the kids this morning for a couple of hours so Shawn and I could do some damage at the outlet mall. While we were gone they took the kiddos to the pool and swam their little hearts out. Shawn and I headed back to the condo ready to hit the beach and get some sun but the kids had a different idea. They wanted to watch cartoons. I was a little disappointed so while they watched their cartoons Shawn and I acted like white trash and laid out in the grass by the condo. Yep, we were those people. Evan and Austin joined us after awhile but liked the puddle much better than sitting in a chair. Kaleb watched TV about an hour then we headed to the indoor pool while my parents cooked dinner. The kids fought/swam for awhile and the feast was finally ready. Seriously, they always outdo themselves. After dinner we headed out to the beach for a long time. It was by far(as you can see) my favorite part of the day.

Boys love Puddles

The weather didn't start out great today but the puddles were fabulous! All 3 of the boys loved jumping, sitting, and splashing in them. I love cheap entertainment:) After swimming in the puddles, we finally made it to the beach. Then it started sprinkling, thundering, and lightning so we headed back through the puddles to the indoor pool. I was impressed that it wasn't busy or extremely hot in there. Usually you can't breath at indoor pools but this one was really nice. The kiddos swam about an hour then we went back to the beach. Yay, jellyfish weren't so bad!!! It was perfect for splashing in the waves. Shawn and Evan did get stung but we had been in the water for awhile before that happened. Then we bolted to the pool. Shawn, Austin, and I headed in around 1:00 to take showers while my parents, Evan, and Kaleb swam at the pool. We decided to eat a late lunch/early dinner so we could beat the crowds. I'm glad we did! We went to LuLu's and it was packed. Luckily, they had a lot of stuff to do while we waited and it only took about 30 minutes. Then we headed to "The Track" for some fun. All the boys(including Dad)loved it as you can see.

Just Arrived

Well, we made it to the beach and it only took 8 hours! We had to stop every hour and 10 minutes for potty breaks. The kids would tell me they had to go right after I would pass a gas station then the next one would be 30 miles down the road. Traveling with small children is so different than adult only trips. We unloaded all the stuff(which I think included the kitchen sink) and headed out to the beach. Evan and Austin ranand Kaleb didn't want sand on his feet so he took a much slower approach. Once there, the kids had a blast. About 20 minutes in Kaleb got stung on the foot by something so he and I headed back. I'm not sure if it was a jellyfish but I treated it like one. I put hot water on it and gave him Tylenol. It worked so I can't complain. Austin stayed with my parents, Evan, and Shawn and also got stung by something under his armpit and behind his leg. I did the same thing with him and it seemed to work also. I'm going watch them like a hawk tomorrow so hopefully we won't have this problem again.

Smiles

I'm not sure if everyone knows, but we have a boat in Heber Springs Ark. If you have never been there, you need to put it on your bucket list. The lake is absolutely beautiful! The boys love, love, love the lake. We bought a new tube this weekend so the boys got to try it out. I'm sure you can tell by the pictures how much fun we had:) Even Brian's parents joined in! Brian's Mom had never been in a lake before. CRAZY!

Kids first race

The boys finished their 1st Family Fun run today. It was the longest mile I have ever ran. I ran with Kaleb and he started whining about 30 seconds into it and started to walk. Austin made it about 45 seconds before he started whining. We ran 1/2 a mile to a cop on a motorcycle, ran around him then came back. After we made the turn where the boys could see the finish line(same as the start) they noticed it wasn't that far away. Both boys ran the entire way back. Brian and I were really impressed since it was so painful making it to the turnaround. I'm glad I decided to only do the 1 mile fun run. I think they would have died if we did the 3.1 miles instead! These are our pre-race pictures. I didn't take post race because my camera's heavy and I didn't want to carry it around.

Austin's growing up

Austin lost his first tooth today. He couldn't wait to call Daddy and share the good news. Austin thinks the second picture is hilarious.

Good News

Dr. Naidu's office called today. I could tell as soon as I picked up the phone that it was good news. No Cystic Fibrosis!!!! Praise God:)

Getting back into it

It wasn't pretty at all. I ran today not having run since the St. Jude half marathon and it was UGLY!!! I have a ton of congestion in my chest and could hardly breathe. I can honestly admit, I didn't love it. I think thats the first time I've ran and just didn't like it. I've gotta get back into the swing of things. Tomorrow I'll at least do 4 miles because my 3.5 today was horrible:(

Lazy Sunday

Brian, Kaleb, and I were sitting in Brian's "man cave" and noticed we hadn't seen or heard Austin for awhile. I went upstairs to check on him and this is what I found. How sweet is that. He was out cold! I'm thinking he was a little tired if he put himself to bed.

My Big Backyard

What a beautiful day! Austin and I went to the gym then headed to My Big Backyard. We spent an hour and a half in the same "fairy house". Austin made it a cafe and created tons of delicious food. Here's a couple of pictures.