God grant me the serenity...

...to accept the fact the my 8 year old is a compulsive liar. Seriously - I'm at my wit's end w/ Hannah...I once again busted her this week for hiding papers w/ bad grades in her backpack. This is the THIRD time she's gotten in trouble for this and the THIRD time we've had to punish her for it....what am I doing wrong??!! Our standard "punishment" for papers w/ a "C" grade or worse is the child has to tell us what went wrong (i.e. rushing, sloppiness, not reading the directions), correct the paper then no TV for the rest of the evening. Of course, if the paper was related to a new subject or something they're having difficulty with, we just help them correct it and try to explain the material - then move on, no punishment.

The majority of Hannah's issues are directly related to rushing, not paying attention to the details, etc. The crazy thing is, Hannah doesn't even really like watching TV so why she hasn't caught on that she should just take the small punishment is beside me! Instead, she gets into waaaaay bigger trouble by lying...I'm very frustrated at this point. Not only am I disappointed in her, I don't know how to make her stop. We've tried what seems like everything - positive and negative reinforcement - however, we keep coming back to this same issue. With everything else, she's a great kid!!!

Of course, I'm thankful that I have 4 healthy, happy kids and I know I shouldn't be griping but I'm just reaching out to see if anyone has any better ideas....at this point, I'm open to any suggestions!

Weekend in Bumpus Mills, TN

Yes, there actually is a place called Bumpus Mills in Tennessee and yes, before you ask, its in the middle of nowhere!! Mom & Scott have their "weekend home" on Lake Barkley and we love to go there to visit. Shane & the kids love it just a bit more than I do - I prefer to go to their "city" house in Nashville - hello, Bumpus is so remote, I can't even get a fountain Diet Coke! But I have to admit, the view is gorgeous and it is pretty fun riding around on the Kabota all-terrain & the four-wheeler...the kids stay outside the entire time and are absolutely filthy but boy are they havin' fun getting dirty! Gramma Cindy always has a "project" for them too so they look forward to that...this weekend we decorated halloween cookies and had a rock contest. The rock contest was for two reasons...1. Mom had cute little "1st Place" ribbons & some $1 bills burning a hole in her pocket so she was looking for a reason to give them to her grandkids and 2. Her rock garden was needing some more rocks!!! This apparently is going to be an on-going thing since she's given them each their own space to fill w/ rocks each time they come :)

Mom & the girls before "rock hunting"

Cookie Decorating

The rock contest winners!

The boys all went fishing Saturday morning while us girls went to the local Piggly Wiggly (love it!) to get the fixings for the cookies. By lunch time, the boys were home and we were making "mummy dogs" - hot dogs w/ breadstick dough wrapped around them - another "crafty" idea Gramma found in a magazine. Scott & Shane gave another secret fishing spot a try after lunch while the rest of us went on our rock hunt. 20lbs of rocks later (that's a guesstimate on the weight), Mom & I enjoyed a much deserved beverage while the kids cleaned up their rocks.

After the big boys got home, we had a pretty competitive game of wiffle ball that was, thankfully, injury-free for us old folks!


After dinner & showers, Hannah & Katie played checkers w/ Grampa Scott while Nick & Emily played "Go Fish" w/ Gramma Cindy...Shane & I just sat back & watched all the fun going around us! It was a nice break from having the be the entertainers :) After breakfast this morning, we packed up & headed home. Its always great to visit family, but its always good to get home too!

We had a visit tonight from my other parents (Beth & Dad) - they stopped by w/ Halloween bags for the kids - very little candy (thanks!!) and some "fun" stuff like Floam & Silly String (no thanks!!) - Beth is paying me back for the years of me giving my brothers "fun" stuff like Play-doh & finger paints!

At last, its quiet in our house...w/ the exception of Shane's comments to the TV re: the poor calls by the umpires in the World Series game. What is it about men talking to the TV like the people can actually hear them?! Like if he says "Bad Call!" loudly enough, the umpire in Philadelphia will look up & say "My bad"....must be a guy thing!

Happy Fall Y'all!

I've said it before but I'll say it again - I LOVE FALL! I could really do without the other 3 seasons but I guess that wouldn't be much fun. The girls & I went to Etienne's & got pumpkins/gourds on Saturday so I've actually, for the first time, got a "fall scene" on my front porch...corn stalks, straw bale, mums, etc. The corn is courtesy of my father-in-law and the straw was picked up by Shane so this has truly been a family effort! After school today, we decorated pumpkins w/ the kids...I found these totally cool "Mr. Pumpkin-Head" kits at Walmart and the kids had a blast picking out the eyes/ears/nose/mouth combos for their pumpkins.

The fun didn't stop w/ the pumpkins...the kids have been trying to rake together a pile of leaves for a week but the trees weren't cooperating. But today, they were finally successful - of course, this meant raiding the neighbor's yard but I really don't think they'll mind!

Here's our weekend re-cap...

• We went to Buffalo Wild Wings Friday night w/ the girls then stopped at Lic's on the way home - pumpkin pie ice cream - YUM! I started fighting a head cold on Friday and it stuck w/ me most of the weekend but the ice cream helped :)

• On Saturday, Shane headed to the race track to drag race his newest creation - did pretty well for his class. The girls & I had our last soccer game - beat the only undefeatable team left! Our record ended up being 4-1-1 so I was very proud of our team. After the game, the girls & I had lunch, went to Etienne's for pumpkins then came home where this momma took a much needed nap b/c my cold was kicking in. After Shane got home, I got the girls dressed in their costumes for Ed & Theresa's "Hallo-wienie Roast" and we headed out - the weather was absolutely perfect for hotdogs & marshmallows.

• Nick went to Evansville this weekend to visit his baby sister Ana and they went to the zoo and got their pictures taken. He brought home a lovely rubber snake from the zoo (watch out Gramma Cindy - he says he's bringing it w/ him next weekend to Bumpus Mills!). After I picked him up Sunday, we came home & gathered the rest of the gang to go out to Beth & Dad's for lunch...it was great to visit w/ them & Daniel...our lives are all so busy that sometimes the weeks get away from us so I'm glad we were able to spend a few hours with them on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

And now we're here...another work week. Not so busy this week which is absolutely fine w/ me!

Parent/Teacher Conferences

For those of you who know my children, you can imagine my, um, let's say, "anticipation" re: attending parent/teacher conferences! Not that I have bad kids; I actually have absolutely great kids but, they also have a great amount of energy & precociousness! Especially the younger three...

Here's a rundown of the conferences:

Katie - her teacher referred to her as an "angel" - no surprises there! Teachers always love Kate b/c she's such a sweetie and wants to please. She's doing really well in keeping up with the class but does need to work on her speed & reading comprehension.

Hannah - our social butterfly! Thankfully she's improved her mid-term grades - really had nowhere to go but up on one of them :) She's reading very well and loves her "chapter" books. Her area of opportunity is definitely in paying attention to the details...something Miss Ants-in-Her-Pants struggles with.

Emily - my combo kid - Katie's sweetness & Hannah's energy! Em is in 3rd grade and reading at a 5th grade level which thrills me to death - my fave thing in the world to do other than spend time w/ family & friends is reading a good book so I love it that my kids enjoy books too. Em's teacher describes her as "bright but bossy" - that's our Emily! She needs to work on keeping on task but other than that, her grades are very good.

And finally, Nick - Mr. Kindergarten. Nick has a first year teacher so I didn't know what to expect but it went well - she thinks he's very smart but doesn't always want to share what's in his head. I don't know where he could possibly get any stubbornness...LOL! He's all boy which leads to rough-housing w/ other boys so he needs to learn to keep his hands to himself, but all in all, he's doing great!

So, another round of P/T conferences done with...can't wait 'til the next one!

Catch up...

So, it's been entirely tooooo long since I've posted! Last week was absolute chaos at work (I termed it "A Week of Mondays" if that gives any indication...) and we had soccer practice, a make-up soccer game, haircuts & school pictures, Nick's first official Kindergarten field trip (Shane chaperoned) then finally...the weekend!

The weekend didn't prove to be any calmer...Saturday brought us laundry, a soccer game, laundry, Shane & Nick to the race track, laundry (we have a loooot of laundry around here!), lunch at Snack Shack for the girls & I, Wal-mart for Halloween costumes & the required accessories (hello - I have 3 girls), Kate to a friend's house for a few hours, the twins & I to buy mums then went to Mass, picked up Kate then went to Shane's aunt & uncle's house for a wienie roast. We got home around 9pm then 6 showers later...fell into bed!

THEN, Sunday started with a monumentous event - Nick lost his first tooth! It was a little traumatic on both Nick & I (for different reasons of course) but Shane came in for the save & yanked the tooth out...thanks Dad! After that drama, we took the girls to Religion Class then headed north to drop Nick off at Anna's so Shane & I could head to Indy for a Colts game....totally sweet seats too - free tickets sitting in the corner of the end zone! A double plus! Theresa picked up the girls and kept them all day so all 4 kiddos had a great day. We all got home around 7pm which gave us enough time for another round of showers before hitting the sack. WHEW - what a weekend! Here's some pics...




I don't think this week is going to be much calmer...we had another make-up soccer game tonight (played muuuuuch better than Saturday, thank goodness!), tomorrow starts the Book Fair at school which I will be working at for my required 2 hours, then the Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet tomorrow night (I'll definitely have a picture of me from that event to post but I'll save the details for later), Parent/Teacher Conferences on Wednesday along w/ 1/2 school days Wed & Thurs and no school on Friday...wowza!

I think that's enough for now...I'm going to go catch up on everyone else's blogs that I haven't read for a week!

You're my inspiration...

Do you all have those people in your life that inspire you? It could be someone you barely know or one that you've known your entire life...I have several and they all inspire me in different ways and for different reasons...

My parents - for obvious reasons! My mom & dad faced a tough decision when they found themselves expecting me - young, not married, conservative families - but they gave it go and did what not everyone else would have done - got married, moved to Alabama for Dad's work & had me! While they didn't stay married, they made me feel loved and both went on to marry other people MUCH better suited for them. They've inspired me to be a loving, tolerant parent - who is still working on having more patience!

Nancy Epperson - my boss at my first "real" job out of college. Nancy was my mentor and such a strong woman in a very male dominated company. She wanted us all to keep learning - she involved us in things that she didn't have to because she knew we would take that knowledge with us. She inspired me to be a strong woman, a compassionate boss and a good friend.

Abbie Raber - my cousin & little sister. Ab's easy going demeanor may fool a lot of people into thinking she's a pushover but she's surprising a lot of people lately...her faith leads her and she's an amazing mom - two things that will guide her in her quest for answers in this rough time in her life. She's inspired me to stand by my beliefs no matter what others are telling me to do.

Jennifer Zimmer - my closest friend from college. Jen worked full time and went to school while being married to her best friend...her & Tony provided a safe haven for Nick & I when we left Steve. Her unwavering support was priceless and her work ethic inspiring! Now, with 2 beautiful kids, a full time career and that same best friend, she's working on her 2nd Masters degree while coming to terms with her son's developmental delays. Jen has inspired me to never stop wanting more in life - even when we have to work hard to get it.

Ernie Beasley - my maternal grandpa. Never have I met a more tolerant, patient man who's quiet strength has led our family to be the solid group that we are...I should include Grandma Grace too b/c we all know that half of a man's strength lies in the woman who stands beside him. My grandparents are supportive even if they may not agree with our choices. They have inspired me to always value family, the good, the bad & the ugly!

I could keep going...but I'll leave those for future posts! I hope all of you take some time to think about your inspirations in life...and don't take them for granted.