Pinewood Derby

Sawyer participated in his first Pinewood Derby last night for scouts. I am not the biggest fan of scouts. Growing up I thought it was for nerds. I think it was the shirt and ascot. Anyways, scouting is the program for 8+ year old boys in our church and of course we wanted Sawyer to participate and be able to build a stronger relationship with the boys in our church. We are behind on all the stuff he needs to get passed off...the patches he has earned are sewn on crooked by his mother...he never wants to wear his ascot (and I don't make him) and his shirt is never tucked in. We are a disgrace to all the scouting die hards out there. Sawyer really enjoys scouts. I think he was sold last summer when they had day camp. He really liked that. Plus, he really enjoys any chance he has to be with boys instead of at home with his mother and sisters and a too young Beckett. I have had to change my attitude by chanting "I love scouts, I really do love scouts, I love scouts."

I had no idea what the Pinewood Derby was. I honestly thought that the boys had to make life-size cars to race around in. Imagine my surprise when several weeks ago Sawyer brought home his small car kit. This was a job for Kyle who happily helped him with his car. Sawyer chose his car style and helped with sanding, painting and whatever else his 8 year old self could possibly help with. Kyle went to the scout store and bought a book, paint and weights...he also looked up some info. on the Internet. We honestly had no idea about how to put this thing together so that it even had a chance to win. I wanted to enlist help from my dad and Kyle's engineering coworkers at CAT. Kyle convinced me that everything would be fine (like he often has to). I honestly didn't care if Sawyer won or not...I just didn't want him to be last. Kyle and I warned Sawyer that his car might not do well because we are inexperienced at this and it is our first year, etc...etc... To make a very long story short Sawyer's car (aka "The Destroyer") came in 2nd place out of 20 some other cars!!! It was very exciting. Sawyer was so happy!! All the boys did a great job...there were no tears shed. They were all very proud of their cars. Sawyer also got an award for "Most Courteous Driver"-we were most proud of this. I couldn't believe what a production this was. They even served hot dogs and nachos-everything was computerized. I have now been educated on Pinewood Derby's. Next year I am going to try and talk Sawyer into a little fancier paint job.

Beckett's Party

I think Beckett's week long b-day extravaganza is finally over. We had a little party with just the grandparents on Sat. Beckett LOVES Blue's Clues so I was able to order him an appropriate cake. None of the party stores carry Blue's Clues decorations...I guess it is considered "vintage". That is what happens when you are the youngest of four. You get to still watch all the "old" stuff. We got Bex an art easel that took Kyle over an hour to put together. I am happy to say that Beckett loves it although I think Eden loves it more. The in-laws got Beckett a pillow pet (no picture) and a Bilibo-I had never heard of one but it is the blue bowl looking thing in the photos. You can do anything with it...you have to use your imagination. Once again, Beckett enjoys it but not quite as much as the other kids...namely, Sawyer. We keep joking with Sawyer that we are going to get him a Bilibo for his upcoming b-day but he doesn't like that idea so much. My parents got him a golf club, DVD and a paint with water book (we are going to try it today). I only spent $16 (it was 1/2 off) on the art easel. It is, by far, the cheapest I have ever been for a b-day. I was very proud of myself. But, lets face it...we have so many toys it is ridiculous. Plus, Bex barely likes to play with toys-he just likes to climb all over everything. In fact just last night he was doing somersaults all over the place for the first time and he jumped off the couch. Just when I think things are calming down with him. Kyle joked that what he lacks in speech he makes up for in physical ability.

Some random stuff that makes me happy.

I took Beckett in for his rescheduled "2" year photos today. He was totally uncooperative and it took a lot of work to get this one good photo. He told the lady "NO" like 50 times and would barely get off my lap. In this photo he is about 6 inches from me and I was giving him a ball and then stealing it from him to make him laugh. The photographer was almost on top of me. I need to make record of this so I can remember a year from now. He is always suspicious of being left. I guess the close to 24/7 we are together isn't enough. This is a photo I took of the actual photo. The other one is one I took right before we left the house.

Some people are aware of my Zhu Zhu obsession. I don't know what it is but when something is hard to find and then easy to find I still feel like I have to fight for it and buy it when I see it. The girls (well actually me) have been waiting for the Zhu Zhu clothes to come out. When I was at Walmart shopping yesterday they had the clothes. I was excited and had to get some of the outfits. In all honesty..the girls enjoyed dressing them up. Kyle makes fun of me but I don't care.

Finally, last Friday the kids received progress reports for the 2nd trimester. This is the note that Faith's teacher wrote on the bottom of hers. She has such a loving teacher this year. Faith has told me that she tells her class all the time how wonderful they are and how much she enjoys them and being their teacher. I love that she writes these notes on their reports. Also, Sawyer was telling me that the 3rd grade watched a movie about Martin Luther King on Friday. We were in the van driving and he was relating to me what he had learned about MLK and about his assassination. He was pretty tuned in to this part and had some questions and then told me, in a very sincere way, that he would have stood in front of MLK and taken the bullet. I realize that he is only "8" and doesn't probably understand the ramifications of what that would REALLY mean. However, it did convince me that he was touched by what he had learned that day and that he has compassion. Sometimes I wonder about his level of compassion when he fights with and picks on Eden.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Bex....a day in the life....

My Beckett is "2" today. Where oh where has the time gone?? I had an appt. to get his pictures taken today but on Tues. he face planted on the carpet and got this lovely rug burn on his nose (see picture taken today). We are rescheduled for next Friday. Beckett is a huge blessing to our family. He is adored by all and keeps ME hopping. Just when I think he is getting easier he will find a new skill (like just this week being able to open shut doors and waking at 5:30 am). He is now sleeping through the night...finally. Beckett is very affectionate. He isn't saying very many words yet but we know what he wants by his "grunts" and "whines." He loves to dance and watch T.V. His favorite show is "Blue's Clue's" but also enjoys "Barney", "Yo Gabba Gabba," and "Oobi." He watches more T.V. than I would like because if he isn't he is climbing on the kitchen table and getting into things in the kids' rooms. Since he can open doors now we have started locking all the doors that can be locked. He loves to look at books but doesn't want them read to him. He knows where all his body parts are and is always concerned if someone is crying. He loves food and sitting in his high chair. He can climb in it himself (of course) and say "eat." He also likes to fall asleep in it. He loves to shop. He never makes one peep at Walmart or the mall and is always ready to go somewhere. Beckett loves to color and draw. He is getting an art easel for his b-day. We are having his party with the grandparents next weekend. I will post pics. from it after. I still need to order his cake and decide on a theme. Here are some photos I took of his daily routine. We LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!! Happy Birthday!!!

Once Upon a Time....

When Kyle and I were first married (nearly 13 years ago) we lived in Burlington, IA for nearly three years. Kyle got his first job after receiving his MBA at Shaeffer Pen in Ft. Madison. Our first home was a small rented townhouse. We had crazy neighbors with three small kids and a cat that stalked us and attacked me once. They had their living room set up as their master bedroom. Since I was approaching the old age of 24 after we were married I wanted to focus on having a baby and just staying home. After a month or so I got bored and decided I would just try and find a VERY part-time job at the mall. I was hired at The Buckle. I liked this job very much and did very well. We worked on commission and my manager and I quickly became good friends as she was a year older than me. After a very short time I became a team leader, then full-time and after a few months they hired me on as asst. manager which required a minimum of 45 hrs/week and a minimum of 50 hrs. during back to school and the holidays. Kyle was doing well at his job and was also playing a lot of hockey. There were a lot of wonderful employees at The Buckle. Mostly high school and college students. I became close to many of these girls (I think we only had 3 guys that worked there the whole time I was there). I saw my co-workers more than I saw Kyle since I worked so much. They became my family. We even did a lot of stuff outside work. I listened to them complain about their parents, school, break-ups etc.... When I got pregnant with Faith everyone was so excited. Faith had pneumonia when she was born and was in the hospital for 10 days. I stayed those 10 days with her in the hospital and had a CONSTANT stream of visitors for the whole 10 days which mostly were my co-workers. They brought me food, magazines and gifts. I was an emotional wreck and would have been lost without them since Kyle had to return to work a couple of days after she was born. I was particularly close to 2 or 3 girls and one would stay overnight with me if Kyle had to travel for work or hockey. By the time we had Faith, Kyle was was working for Case. After Faith was born I dropped my position at The Buckle and just worked a couple of nights a week and a few hours on Saturdays. When she was 8 months old Case offered to transfer Kyle WAY closer to home and the grandparents. We were super excited! I was sad to leave my co-workers and vowed to keep in touch with them for forever.

Fast forward 9-10 years. I was only exchanging Christmas cards with my manager. UGH!! However, through the beautiful thing we all know as FACEBOOK I have been able to reconnect with 10 or so of my old pals. I was ages 23-26 when I worked with them and most of them were between the ages of 17-21 or so. They are now 30'ish! I still think of them as teenagers. Most of them are doing really well. However, some of them have faced a lot of trials. Two of my favorite girls have had husbands pass away. One in a car accident and the other's husband just died in his sleep at 33 years of age. The first had a 4 mo. old and the latter has 3 young children under the age of 5. They were both very happily married and things were going great. The first is now remarried and doing great. The 2nd girls husband just died a few months ago. Two other girls are divorced. One of the guys I worked with is now 33 and has one 6 year old son from a one night stand with a co-worker and is unemployed. My manager has struggled through a really weird disease and a miscarriage (she now has 2 beautiful boys and is doing great). None of them are at The Buckle anymore. My heart breaks especially for my friends that have lost their husbands at such young ages. Life was so easy and fun at ages 17-21. Unfortunately, I have too many friends that have gone through very difficult times in their lives. I realize as I get older these numbers will increase. My mind has been very occupied with these friends this last week or so and has made me emotional. I have been VERY blessed in my life and these tragedies make me realize how fragile life is. I am especially thankful for my belief in God and in heaven. It would be so sad to believe that it is all just "over" after this short earth life. One of my goal for this year (and beyond) is to make ALL my relationships more meaningful-especially with Kyle and the kids. It just dawned on me the other day that I have been either pregnant or breastfeeding for 10 1/2 years of Kyle and I's almost 13 year marriage-WOW!! Our relationship for MOST of this time has been put to the side...not by choice... but just by the demands of parenting. I am hoping to start finding more balance in 2010.

Random

Here is Sawyer. He is almost 9 but has FINALLY lost a top tooth. He has only lost 3 teeth and he is starting to get annoyed about it because Eden just turned 6 and has lost the same amount.

Here is our new family photo that I just had matted and framed at Hobby Lobby for 1/2 off!!! I am SO happy with it!! It is the nicest photo we have ever had done.

This is my "Edward" necklace that my niece, Kalista, made for me. Isn't it cute? It is bottle cap jewelry. Thanks, Kalista...you are so cute!

This is Eden with her "New Years" headband and blower. They had a celebration at school and she was THRILLED! She also just got several inches cut off her hair. It is just above her shoulders. I always hate when she wants her hair cut but I don't dare get between a girl and her hair!

Kyle pulling Eden and Bex around after the 1st big snow.


About a week ago I had decided that I was going to post something meaningful on my blog about New Years Resolutions, etc.. etc... Well, now since my time of the month and all the emotions that come with it are past, I am not quite sure what I was going to say. So I am just going with my normal goals..

1. Be a better wife, mother and friend.
2. Be more forgiving, friendly and outgoing.
3. Give more to the needy and to charities-try to seek out those in need.
4. Lose 10 lbs. (that is my goal EVERY year-I guess I should just be grateful that it isn't 50 lbs....right??)
5. Be more spontaneous.
6. Don't worry about housework so much and HAVING to have my house clean.
7. Spend less money on clothes for the kids...cause they don't care.

That's enough for now. I am stressed out already :) I might have to do this in phases cause there are so many.

We had a great Christmas break. I didn't want the kids to go back to school. We lucked out with a snow day yesterday and it was great!! Kyle and I got to go out a couple of times over the break and it was so fun. Here are some photos I wanted to post.

Here are some things I am looking forward to in 2010...

1. Going to Disney next month!! Our trip is booked and we are ready to go!!
2. Running a 5K in May. I am not 100% sure this will happen this year but I am might try.
3. I am going to "Time Out For Women." in Indy in April. This is a church function and designed to be inspiring-I hope it helps me :)
4. Going with a couple of friends to Racine, WI to visit our friend, Kira, for her 40th b-day in March.
5. Summer - and school being out-a break from HOMEWORK!!
6. Just watching my kids grow and change and spending more time with Kyle (since it is now easier to leave Beckett with a sitter).
7. Annual mini-trip with Amy and Shelly this summer.
8. Faith starting jr. high....NOT!!!!