Spring is here and I'm loving it!

Spring has definitely sprung here in southern Ohio. Our forsythia bush has bloomed, the Easter Lilies are up, and there is that smell in the air that is just SPRING! The other day we made a trip to Chillicothe to return Cody's chest protector and exchange it for one that fit good and as we were making our way home I kept smelling this sweet smell. I asked Eric if he smelled it and he didn't so I wasn't sure what it was. All the sudden it was really strong, it was the trees lining Yoctangee Park! They are in full bloom and so beautiful, so I just rolled my window down and took as many deep breaths as I could before the flow of traffic took me away from the trees lol. I'm not sure what kind of trees they were but they're beautiful and they smell good.

We're wrapping up the school year here and while we're still learning, I can at least see the light at the end of the tunnel. I can't wait for this summer break and a much needed vacation.

We celebrated Cody's 8th birthday a couple of weeks ago. We had a nice turnout. The weather wasn't cooperating very well but, it was nice for everyone to get together. I love watching my two families meld together and I catch myself just sitting back at staring at the loved ones around me. I like that my family can do that.

Austin will be turning 2 in May and boy is he rotten lately. I think that we have hit that "terrible 2's" full fledge and are embarking on the "trying 3's"! He asks why after EVERYTHING.
Me: Austin go to the bathroom it's time for a bath.
Austin: Why?
Me: Because you're filthy.
Austin: Why?
Me: Because you were playing outside.
Austin: Why?
Me: Because it's nice out.
Austin: Why?
Me: Because God is showing us how beautiful his love is.
Austin: WHY?
Me: Because He is good.
Austin: WHaaat?
Me: Because He is good.
Austin: Who?
Me: God.
Austin: Oh, okaaaay. Loves you.

He is a riot for sure. He's definitely a handfull though. My Mom gets a little irritated with me because I say that he is bad all the time. But, he is. Believe me, that's not anything to be proud of. He's just so stinking rotten that half of the time I want to pull the my hair out and the other half I want to cry because he's so cute!

Here's another anecdote of Austin. We are constructing a larger dining room and the men were up on the roof putting the shingles on and so forth. Austin was playing on the ground by the swingset and he sneezed. My brother says Bless You! Austin said Thanks AMEN! He screamed Amen at him lol. We have been working on our prayers and stuff and he has struggled with remembering to say Amen. Well he doesn't forget now lol.

I love my boys. They are so cute and sometimes not that well behaved, but, they are mine. There definitely could be worse. I love my family, my wonderful husband, my in-laws, my family, and our extended families. I love it all!

snow among other things

Well we finally got a good snow down here in Southern Ohio. Hence, my husband is out playing in it on the four wheeler. He somehow contracted poison ivy while cutting up some firewood for the garage earlier in the week. He's pretty itchy but we're wondering if it's poison ivy or oak or sumac. He usually gets covered head to toe when it's ivy and he only has it on his wrists and eyebrows (from wiping sweat).

We went to Dayton to the doctor the other day. Cody needed some prescriptions refilled and he got a cold a couple of days before the appointment. We wanted to make sure it wasn't anything Dimetap couldn't take care of. It wasn't so he and now Austin are both on Dimetap for a little while. That's one thing about winter that bugs me is the stinking colds. It doesn't help that we live in Ohio where one day it's 42 degrees out and the next day it's 25 with a windchill of 18. Crazy Ohio weather I swear.

Everything has been going pretty good. Austin slept all night in his bed one day this week and the next night he didn't sleep at all. Last night he tossed and turned a ton and was literally kicking the crap out of my chest.

Cody is doing excellent at school. We have left the Roman Empire, the Islamic Empire, and now we're learning about the Vikings. He's started his multiplication tables and is continuing to read at what is now calibrated as an 8th grade reading/comprehension level in grade 2!!!!! He's so smart. I don't know where he got that from. lol

We're continuing to pray for a dear friend of the family. She will hopefully be getting a much needed surgery early next week.

I've been planning Cody's birthday party a little at a time. He'll be 8 in March this year. I have so far ordered him a Birthday Boy t-shirt he knows nothing about. I picked the day and time of the party. And, yep that's it that's all I got...lol.

I can't wait for Spring to get here. I have been tanning a little and trying to monitor portions so that by the time full fledge summer gets here I can be in a bathing suit on the boat and not worry about which fat roll is hanging out of where. Yeah now get that image out of your head I dare ya....lol.

Somehow I have managed....

Somehow I have managed to not post anything for months. That is awful! Not that I haven't had plenty of stuff to post just that I haven't posted anything...lol. I don't know where to start even. I guess I'll start with homeschooling and work my way from there.

Homeschooling is everything I thought it would be and more. I love homeschooling Cody most of the time. It's so fun to watch your child "get" a concept and give you his points of view on the topic. The curriculum of Ohio Virtual Academy is much more advanced than a regular public school. So much in fact, that it keeps me thinking about our subjects after we are done with them. History is by far the most in depth to me. We have learned about The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, Christianity (how it was spread throughout the world), Catholicism, and The Islamic Empire so far. These are topics that our local school district teaches in Middle School at best. As much as I love homeschooling I don't think we'll be continuing next year for more than one reason. The first reason is Austin. Austin is one of those I have to have my Mommy for everything children, and while that is great on one hand, it seriously debilitates our school days. The second reason is more of a financial reason. I feel like I need to be contributing more financially to our family. So we'll see how this summer goes but more than likely Cody will be going to the local school for third grade next year.

We had an awesome Christmas season filled with tons of family and memories. We got a couple of Christmas surprises. The first being that my sister-in-law (Eric's sister) is expecting baby number 2! A complete surprise to all including Karen and Jason. My brother and his wife will start attempting to get pregnant in the spring/summer! Two of Eric's cousins are expecting as well.

Oh I have so many thoughts running through my head right now it's really hard to put them in order enough to get them typed out lol.

I feel "lost" most times anymore. I don't know why but I wonder what my purpose is. Obviously it's to be a mother and wife and those roles are my upmost favorites. But don't I have anything else to offer the world? I have been thinking about journalism and such. Something I could do at home and send in somewhere but I for one have no clue how to do that and where I should even start. An online magazine (is there such a thing? I don't think it's called magazine.) would be awesome but again I have not researched or done anything about it. In my wonderful world where I have an amazing husband/best friend and two awesome boys how could I possibly feel like something is missing? I almost feel ashamed to type it on here and it may make an editing cut before I publish. I just feel blah. Eric is laid off right now and maybe it's our financial issues that cause this blahdism but I just feel blah.

We have big plans for this tax season. Hopefully we will be able to pay off our truck, pay off a small loan to my Grandma, and give Mom and Dad some money towards the groceries and electric bills that they've had to pick up the tab on. I don't know where we'd be without them. We'd also like to get Cody's four wheeler fixed and a chest protector bought for him. We'll see how that goes. Our original plans was to buy a boat but that's not feasible at this time. We're working on our financial situation and trying to get ahead of it. We do not, by no means, spend outside of our means, but, you have to have means to pay your bills and with layoff pay it's just not there.

This is all I have time for right now. More to come I'm sure.

Oh p.s. Austin calls Karen's baby bump Noah. So when we find out the sex of her baby let's hope for Austin's sake it's a boy! lol.

Has my life resolved to this?

So I just realized how completely geek-y I am sometimes. Okay stop laughing now, I know. It is only Thursday and I am completely wishing the weekend away until Sunday when I can watch the Season Finale of my shows on Lifetime! Drop Dead Diva is such a great show. Then I watch Army Wives. It really doesn't have a lot in common with real Army Wives and only somewhat of an actual concept of the the real Army, but, I love it anyway. So the Season Finale's are this Sunday and I'm thinking YAY can't wait to watch them and AWWWW it's the Season Finale....lol.

Homeschooling is going great. Cody is continually surprising me with his intellect. Austin is Austin and that's all I can ask for. He's a handful and sometimes makes it near impossible to complete lessons. Mom tries to take care of him as much as possible, however, with her NMH it's hard on her and inevitably wears her out completely in one day. I was seriously considering just putting him into Paint Valley School District Monday, but, when I talked to Cody about it on Tuesday he started crying and said he didn't want to go. He loves homeschooling. I was shocked and knew it all at the same time.

We are planning a great trip Saturday to King's Island's Hauntfest. We are planning on taking along our dear friend Beatty and his special someone Annie. Hopefully, Karen and Jason will be able to join us as well. We are so excited. We can't wait to ride the Diamondback at night and for our wits to be scared out of us.

Work is slowing down for Eric and that's a scary thought. We had put money back to save for winter's financial hiatus, but, I had to have 6 teeth pulled/cut out so there went our savings account. Seriously it left us with $25 in there. It was awful and I feel incredibly guilty. This winter when we are scrimping and scraping it's gonna be because of me. Yay! We will make it through but hopefully we will win the lottery....ahahaha.

Okay so I'll close with some funny and charming antecdotes from Austin. Funny=When we fake cry to achieve a kiss from him-he calls us "baby". Charming=Today he told me bible and was carrying his children's bible around. How cute is that!

I Love Fall!!

Cody's teacher is at it again. Here's the latest poem.

I LOVE FALL

I love fall! Fall is exciting.

It's apples and cider.

It's an airborne spider.

It's pumpkins in bins.

It's burrs on dog's chins.

It's wind blowing leaves.

It's chilly red knees.

It's nuts on the ground.

It's a dry crisp sound.

It's green leaves turning.

And the smell of them burning.

It's clouds in the sky.

It's Fall. That's why......

I LOVE FALL!!

-Author Unknown

Isn't it though? This poem just sums it up. I do love fall. I like the baking and the apple crisps. The smell is out of this world. I love to walk out the front door, coffee in hand, and just smell the leaves and all the fall-y things.

Homeschooling is going great. Cody is top of his class. He scored first in the state and his school on an online game that preps them for the OAT tests. He's never got anything less than 100% and his teacher is still thinking about the advanced learner program for him. All is good. Life is good. I love my husband SOooooooo much. We have really "connected" as of late and it's wonderful to have "that" type of a marriage.

The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee

The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 CUPS OF COFFEE

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle,
When 24 Hours in a day is not enough,
Remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the openAreas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee. From under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.
The students laughed. "Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided,"I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things - family, children, health,Friends, and Favorite passions - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car. The sand is everything else --the small stuff.

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued,"there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.The same goes for life.If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff,You will never have room for the things that are important to you.

So...Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play With your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal."Take care of the golf balls first --the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked". It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."


Cody's teacher sent us this today and it wasn't until I had cried for the better part of the afternoon did I get it, to it's fullest intent.

Homeschooling and so forth

So Monday will mark the start of our third week at school! So far it has been amazing for.....well me. Not so much for Cody and it breaks my heart and is frustrating all at the same time. He is doing AWESOME as far as the work goes. He's gotten 100% on the many (I'm talking like 20-30 tests in two weeks) assessments that we do! He's paying attention and sitting through the day perfectly. However, if you ask him, he hates it. He wants to be around the other children. I completely understand, I just don't know what else to do. I'm terrified to send him back to a b&m school where the same problems from last year will undoubtedly carry over to this year. I'm at my wit's end here.

Here are a couple of pictures of him doing his science experiment.

Working hard on his science experiment!

Measuring very carefully I'm surprised his tongue isn't hanging out.

Tasting the secret formula! Kool-aid with no sugar=pucker power!

So disgusting. I had agreed fully aware of what I was getting myself into that I too would taste it. I was afraid he wouldn't have tasted it otherwise. Now I don't blame him. I thought I would puke. Mom tasted it as well. So disgusting