A Mother's Day letter

My sweet little Hayden wrote me the cutest letter in school for Mother's Day. I have probably read it at least 20 times and each time I get tears in my eyes. I just wanted to share:

Dere Mom

I love you and you are my best mom ever and I want to be home becaus you are pretty
I like wene you take care of me and I love you so much and will allwas be ther for you and me so I hope you like this leter

Love, Hayden

Happy Mother's Day!

I just wanted to say Happy Mother's Day to my mom, sisters, and friends. I hope everyone had a great day! I had a pretty neat Mother's Day, celebrated over the entire weekend and it was pretty darn memorable. I think my hormonal ranting finally caught Jon's attention. So, for the first time in 14 years he went all out for me. He also wanted to be able to go to the big BMX race that was held today so he knew he better be on is best behavior. Friday I got 2 dozen roses and chocolates. Then, he took Saturday off and he and the kids actually served me breakfast (that he cooked) in bed! While I was eating they gave me my gift: several cards and a cute gift basket full of candy, my favorite soda, and bath products that he and the kids shopped for. I was pretty floored. And, he didn't stop there. He mowed the yard, washed clothes, swept, mopped, and vacuumed. I was stunned but very pleased. After all that he took me to dinner at H3 steakhouse down by the stockyards. Funny thing was, I thought we were going to dinner to celebrate our anniversary and that all the goodies were for both occasions, but he totally forgot about our anniversary which is Monday! I think he's off the hook...
Today was equally as nice as I went to church and lunch with my mom and afterwards took a great nap. When everyone arrived home from BMX we sat out on the patio while the kids swam and watched the sun go down. I really had a great weekend! It really put into perspective for me how blessed I am and what a sweet, beautiful, amazing family I have. With the everyday hustle and bustle, pregnancy hormones, teenage drama, etc. that we go through each day I think we lose touch from time to time. It was nice to be remembered and pampered. I just love my family so much! I am gonna miss them tomorrow when they are at school and work and I am here with the animals and the quiet. It will make them coming home at the end of the day all the more sweet.
Jon and kiddos- thanks for a great weekend! Love y'all!

Hormotional

I am not even sure where to start... but, I'll give it a try. Pregnancy doesn't really bother me physically, yes the nausea has been bad but I've had severe nausea since my appendix was removed, so I'm used to it. I don't get swollen feet or hands, I don't get backaches, I sleep fine, etc. However, it does affect my moods. Right now, I'm an emotional hormonal basket case. I get so moody, frustrated, bummed out, and pissed off it's pathetic. Everything bugs me. I can't seem to see the bright side of anything. I'm constantly sad. Which all sounds so ridiculous. I mean, HELLO- I am having a baby not getting evicted from my house. I wish I was more happy go lucky, but I don't know how to be. I have bawled so much the past week my eyes look like I've been in more than one bar fight. And, I am letting the silliest things bother me: the kids messy rooms, the dog barking for her food, the no sunshine, not being able to get into a bigger house before the baby, and on and on. And, my biggest gripe: I look like crap, there is no pregnancy glow. My skin is blotchy, I keep getting pimples, and I have major dark circles. I know, I sound like a big whiney butt. I am sorry, but I have to vent to someone and Jon's been at the receiving end one too many times and he's sick of it. So, that's why I haven't been blogging, I am just in one big bad mood. Thank goodness I am 22.5 weeks into it and only have 17.5 more to go, unless I'm lucky and deliver at my 38th week.... here's hoping! And, I just thought I'd throw this out there- I am not looking for sympathy. Just wanted to share. Hopefully I'm not the only one that gets this way while I'm pregnant... Anyway, thanks for listening!

How lazy can one woman be?

Well, the day started out decent enough, I actually woke up before 11. That's the beauty of having older kiddos- they can wake up, get dressed, and have breakfast almost digested before I know what day it is. I had so many plans today, kind of a pre-nesting if you will. I intended to wash and fold every ounce of dirty clothes in the house, I was gonna continue on my picture organization project, we were supposed to go to Home Depot as a family for flowers and pool furniture, not to mention pedicures for me and Chloe. But due to one nasty disagreement by text with my husband, I got like nothing done. Ok, so I watched 5 episodes of True Life on MTV, washed all the dirty clothes, played Jenga and Connect Four with the kids, worked on a 1,000 piece puzzle, and consumed my weight in Crunch~n~Munch. I also got the crap scared out of me by a mouse on our back porch and one heck of a nasty thunderstorm. Wow, I amaze myself... Not really, I didn't even make dinner. Thank you On the Border! Anyway- I am optimistic that tomorrow will be better. And, just because, I have a few pics to show you. I have been having a really hard time getting my computer to download pics and every now and then they all show up... freaky. So, I selected a few just for the heck of it. Happy Soggy Saturday!

A tree by my house that looks like Tyrannosaurus Rex


Hayden and a few of his classmates at this week's field trip


Pedro hanging out in the basket on my bike


Chloe, Reagan, Hayden, and Madison after they made mud pies


Chan, Julie, and Patrick on his 17th birthday (yes, he had a birthday as did Hunter and no I never blogged about it, but I will. Promise.)

just being cautious...

Ok, so for the record these were taken waaayy back in January when Chandler had the mystery virus. But, in light of recent news (swine flu) and to keep things light I thought I'd post them. To be honest I'm more than a little concerned, but I am hoping the media is making a mountain out of a molehill... I am being super diligent about handwashing and disinfecting, just to be sure. How about you? Being just as cautious or do you even know what I'm talking about?? Anyone out there think I am right on track or paranoid? Would love to hear your opinions...

Me, keeping out the germs. At least I hope so...


Hunter, Chloe, and Hayden playing video games in their Michael Jackson masks

Status Quo

Well, since I don't have any awesome pictures or groovy stories to tell I am gonna just do an update kind of post.

I am so glad that warm weather is here! The kids have been swimming every day this week and are already begging for their friends to be able to come over and join them.... not ready for that part! Personally, it's too cold for me. But, I can almost guarantee that when I am giant preg-o I am gonna be out there like Shamu at Sea World...

Chandler FINALLY started driver's ed. Not sure how I feel about that... I mean I am excited but also nervous. Excited that I won't have to drive him around all the freaking time, but nervous for obvious reasons. Thank goodness he has to drive with me or Jon for 6 months before he can get his license. Jon was able to get him a truck already (a '77 Chevy) and he only paid $475 for it. He bought it an auction for a children's charity as a non-running vehicle and all it needed was a battery. Plus it's in mint condition. Score!

We still plan on trying to sell our house, bad economy and all. We are decluttering here and there and will be working on little projects throughout the next month. The goal is to have it listed by late May. I personally will be praying diligently that what is meant to be will be. If it doesn't sale by January we will take it off the market.

One of these days I plan on changing my blog design but I am currently feeling lazy, forgetful, and design challenged. I actually have a neat idea but I keep putting off getting the ball rolling. Maybe this upcoming week... we'll see.

Hunter, Chloe, and Hayden are all doing good. Hunter has a new girlfriend and is always texting. Big surprise. Chloe is becoming more and more of a teenage drama queen by the day. There are many unpleasant moments around here... that's all I'll say about that. Hayden is just as sweet as ever. He told me today that he would skip the big BMX race in November to help me with the new baby. Awww. And, he gets to go on his first ever field trip on Tuesday. Complete with sack lunch and bus ride. He is very excited. I am going along as a chaperone. I really can't wait.

What is going on with this freaking swine flu? Seriously, as if there weren't enough things to worry about! So scary. My prayer is that it can be contained and that proper medicines will be found and that everything will be ok. Maybe I'm being paranoid, who knows. When I was pregnant with Hayden 9/11 happened and I was so worried for my family and our new baby. Looks like I'm gonna be on edge again for awhile.

And, lastly: the pregnancy. Somebody help me- I am a hormonal monster! Ugghh! Also, I am still suffering from awful nausea. It is so bad that I had to go to my doctor for an anti-nausea RX. It does nothing but make me tired. So, I am back to wearing motion sickness bracelets. They don't work either and they don't match any of my clothes. And, you'd never know because of the nausea- but I still have little cravings here and there. Right now I could go for a steak and baked sweet potato or Chinese. It's Saturday and I am so not cooking, maybe I'll get one of my cravings satisfied... And, speaking of cravings- I have gained about 15 pounds. Yikes! My goal is to not exceed 10 more pounds, then I'll be back where I started before I lost all my weight. I fully plan on breastfeeding 24 hours a day so I can burn a ton of weight off. I have done a little shopping here and there. Mainly clothes. It is super hard to find cute boy stuff, but I'm trying. Jon and I are gonna go this week and look at travel systems and a bassinet/cradle. Once I get those I have everything I need for his first week of life. And, my personal favorite: he kicks ALOT! So sweet, like popcorn popping in your tummy. That is a feeling I could never, ever get tired of.

And that's it! Hope y'all have a great weekend! Plus, be on the lookout for a fun giveaway... I am only 10 posts away from 600! And, I plan on doing a giveaway to celebrate! Yee haw! Y'all come back now- ya hear?

quirks

Dude, I'm not gonna lie. I don't have alot to blog about. Ok, I have bought some cute baby boy stuff. Eventually I'll take photos. In the meantime here's a LIST. I know, I know your favorite...

A List of my Quirks
by: Ashley

I won't use soap if it has hair on it. Gross! I've been known to throw a bar of soap away and start fresh. Yes it's wasteful but oh well...

I can only drink root beer if it's super cold. I mean ice chunks cold. Same with milk. Only 1% milk will do and it has to be freezing. If it's not cold enough I put ice in it. My kids think I'm a freak.

When someone returns a borrowed item like say a dish or an article of clothing I re-wash it. Even if they say it's clean and I can smell the soap. It's still gonna get a re-do by me. Yes, I'm being wasteful again...

I tease my family for doing this, but I usually always order the same food every time we go to a restaurant. I like most foods but I will only eat 2 to 3 things at any given restaurant we frequent. Only because when I don't I almost always hate the new item. And, when I'm hungry I don't want yuck food.

When, I'm home alone I rarely close the bathroom door or flush. Plus, I never turn on the lights. See, I am redeeming myself for being wasteful. No comments on the no flushing. Besides, haven't you ever heard the saying: If it's yellow let it mellow if it's brown flush it down.

I use my blinker always, no matter what. If no one's behind me, on a winding country road, in my neighborhood, in the carpool lane at school. Not sure why, it's just a weird habit.

And, lastly: my van is my home away from home. I often make all my important calls there and I can't tell you how often I eat my meals there... My kids call it The Office. So true.

So there you have it. A NEW POST!! All in all a fairly decent attempt... At least I think so. I hope it will tide you over until I find something groovy to write about.... I do hope to have a new blog design soon. As a matter of fact I plan on putting my photography skills to use later today. I may even try some photoshop. And, sometime in the near future I plan on re-naming the blog to reflect our family including our new baby boy. And, speaking of names: I know what his name is, but I'm not telling....