My Messy Life

Well like I said in a previous post, we moved.  I'm not sure where to start.  That little bluish/gray house on Equestrian was the first place we lived together as just our family of 5 for more than 1 year.  We were there for 2 and a half years and made some great memories in that cozy little house.  While packing up I had a little meltdown about leaving that house behind because of all of the memories we made there and the good times spent together as a family.  But the Lord has other plans for us and we are back living with Ben's parents.  In the long run, it's the best thing for bother families but the last month has sure been a struggle.  It was a quick, almost last minute decision to move in and then we wanted to be out before we had to pay for another month, so we had about 2 weeks to get the in-laws house ready for us and us out of the other one.  It seemed like every little thing that could go wrong, went wrong in those 2 weeks but I think it was just the Lord making sure we were committed to following through with the move.  There have still been some adjustments and "growing pains" as my hubby puts it, but life is moving along and we are feeling happy and slowly getting settled. We look forward to late night dates after the kids are in bed with grandma home and adults for me to talk to throughout the day, especially once the kids go back to school all day.  The wood blocks above my desk still read "Joyful Mess" and I've kind of taken that on as my life's motto.  I don't have a perfect life or family or house but I am trying desperately to find the joy and happiness in this mess I call my life and enjoy the moments.  I sure am going to miss the awesome buffalo knobs from the kitchen though.

He's 10

I still can't believe that my oldest is 10.  10 years is a long time, a whole decade.  He had his golden birthday this year and was 10 on the 10th.  He is such a blessing in our lives and I feel so incredibly blessed to be his mom.  Stryder hasn't always been the easiest kid for me, but I've seen a change in him over the last few months and I'm kind of getting excited about the young man he is becoming.

10 things about Stryder:
1. He is a big helper and loves to help where ever he can.
2. He loves Legos and has gotten pretty good at doing whole sets by himself.
3. Stryder still loves to dress-up and pretend he's anything but my son.
4. His favorite food is homemade pizza.
5. His favorite movie is "Man of Steel".
6. He loves the color orange.
7. Stryder is very protective of his brother and sister and pets and takes care to make sure they are safe.
8. He still loves to cuddle with his momma and I hope he never gets to old to hug me in front of his friends.
9. He is incredibly strong with some serious muscles for a 10 year old, like crazy 6 pack abs.
10. Stryder has such a tender-heart and I love hearing him tell me he loves me all the time. 

I love this boy and hope he will always remember that.

Happy Birthday Stryder!

Party Animals

My boys sure got lucky this year and scored on the party front.  On the Saturday before Stryder's birthday we had a cousins party.  We went to the park and ate a picnic dinner and had a big water fight with over 100 water balloons.  Then it was back to the house for cake and presents.  Soren was so proud of his cake because he put all those strawberries on himself. 

On Stryder's actual birthday, the boys had a friends party.  I owe my mom and sister Katie big time for putting the whole thing together.  I helped decorate and that was it.  The theme was superheroes, both Marvel and DC.  They made masks to hide their true identity, shot darts at the Joker and Venom, took pictures with the Avengers, ran an obstacle course, and had superheroes tattooed on their hands.  I think they had a Super awesome day and had lots of fun with their friends. 

I love these wild and crazy boys of mine and I'm so grateful they love each other as much as they do.  I'm also so grateful they are willing to share in all of the birthday festivities together all month long.

First and Last 2012-2013

Every year I love to look back and see how much these kids have changed over the school year.  This year I don't love it as much because I'm having such a hard time with how big they are getting. Time is a thief I would rob.

Not much change this year as far as in their faces but I know they all grew a few inches.  Oh time, please slow down!

The Saddest Last Day of School

We had an amazing school year this last year.  I can't even begin to describe how these teachers helped shape and love my kids this year and how grateful I am for it.  I feel like we were so blessed and the Lord knew we needed these teachers this year and put my kids in the very best class for them to learn and grow.
 

Stryder had Ms Carlson.  She was new at the start of the year and so we weren't sure what we were getting into.  Thankfully, she was incredible and the best teacher Stryder could have had.  He loved her class and used to come home and tell me all the fun things they were doing in class.  I cried to her more than once as I thanked her over and over again for being so great with him.  Stryder has been the one kid who keeps me up at night and on my knees the most.  This year though, he has changed.  He's not perfect or even super great but I have seen such growth in him this year and I think Ms Carlson helped.  Stryder was super sad on the last day of school knowing he would have a different teacher in the fall.  Thanks Ms Carlson for being such an amazing teacher who loves and cares for these kids and for teaching them how to succeed, live with integrity, and dance.

Shelby had Mrs. Adams for second grade.  I love these pictures of Shelby and her girlfriends and Mrs. Adams because it just screams Mrs. Adams class to me.  She was so fun and loving and had a great bunch of girls.  Shelby just continued to bloom and grow this year.  She's such a smarty pants and I know Mrs. Adams was very sad to see her move on and Shelby came crying to me later that night just so upset at the thought of not having Mrs. Adams next year.  I loved my Fridays in her class helping and looked forward to it every week.  I really connected with her and we laughed at the fact that all 3 of her kids' names start with S too.  I'm so excited to be doing PTA and be able to continue to work with Mrs. Adams in the fall and hope she's still in second grade when Soren gets there.  Thanks Mrs. Adams for allowing Shelby to be bossy and helpful in your class and for loving her so much.

Oh Ms Greenough, I don't even know where to start.  As you can see this is my third kid to have her and we love her.  She has been there for all of my kids' firsts in school.  She helps them start down the path of reading and loving school and I can't even begin to thank her enough.  It was SO hard for me to leave that last day of school knowing that as of right now we won't have her as a teacher again (however, she did promise to come back if I have another one).  She taught all of my kids "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit!" which I always continue to remind them of.  She's funny and caring and really loves those kids.  I have loved helping in her class over the past few years and will miss that kindergarten room.  Thanks Ms Greenough for your years of service, teaching and helping my little ones become big ones, even if it makes me sad to see them get so big.  We will never forget all you have done and I hope you know how much you mean to this family.

Last Week of School Madness

I'm not sure who's bright idea it was to add dress up days to the craziness that is already the last week of school but they did it.  We only managed to get a couple done due to moving (more on that to come) but here's what we did get.

 Hawaiian Day!

 Crazy Hair Day!  I used markers to color the boys heads'.

This year Soren got to have a fun water day.  It was a blast running around getting them wet while trying to stay dry.  I wasn't very successful at the staying dry part but it was so hot it was welcomed and I dried off quick.

Soren with a few of his friends.

There were water tables set up and buckets everywhere for the kids to play in and splash each other and the adults who helped.

Every Friday, a 4th grade class comes in and does a fun project with the little kids.  The big buddies got to come play in the water with them too!

 This picture is actually of Stryder's 4th grade class with the morning class.  He was a big buddy all year and loved helping the little buddies but wished he could have helped Soren's class. 

Now that I'm a PTA member working to become President, I have to attend a lot of the activities I never have before.  The last Friday of school was the picnic in the park.  I normally find a way out since it's always so hot but this year I was behind the table spinning cotton candy and flavoring sno-cones.  If you look closely at this picture you can see the cotton candy sticking to my hair.  It was really a fun time and the kids enjoyed running around the park without me getting after them.  

 It was such a fun and busy week and I'm glad it's summer now :)

Mother's Day a Month Late

May got away from me and so I'm sharing these pictures from Mother's Day in June.  

Ben made me homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  They were amazing.

I've always had this thing for glass knick-knacks.  I really love anything blue and teal.  And so when Ball jars released their vintage blue jars again, I had to get some.  My mother's day present to myself.

I love getting a picture of myself with the kids.  It's so important for them to have these pictures.  I may not always like the way I look but luckily they don't look at what's wrong, they just see me, their mom.

And that night my dad got a picture of all of us moms in the family.  I'm so blessed to have such an amazing mom who has taught me so much.  I also love that both of my sisters are moms too.  It's so fun to have that in common now.  
I love being a mom.  I don't love the pressure I put on myself to be "THAT" mom.  I'm constantly trying to remind myself to just be the mom I need to be for my kids.  And then hope and pray that's enough.  I hope and pray for a lot for my kids and I really hope above anything else, that they know how loved they are.