Some cute kid stories...

Its been awhile since I posted (sorry - writer's block) so I have a few stories to share...

The kids have been dying to play in the leaf pile in the front yard for over a week but its been too cold/wet/yucky/etc. This weekend was finally nice enough and they totally took advantage of it! Sometimes it was all four of them piled in it and other times it was just one or two. The funniest thing I heard the entire time came from Emily - they were playing store/house and she said "I'm making a 30-minute meal" - seems like she's caught on to my daily addiction to Rachel Ray on the Food Network :)

Saturday was Thanksgiving at my Grandma & Papa Beasley's...waaaay too much food but it was awesome! Mom came home too so that was an added bonus. Before we left home to head to Raglesville, Shane was teasing Nick telling him how "pretty" he was in his sweater...Nick promptly replied that "Dad, girls are pretty; boys are AWESOME" - Shane & I got a good laugh out of that one!

Hannah sat in the front seat w/ me on the way to Grandma's - only because her dad wanted to sit in the middle seat & watch "Transformers"...pretty sad that the newest TV & best sound system we own are in our Tahoe! Anyway, as they were all watching a chase scene, Nick comments on how fast they were going...this prompts Shane to lecture his 5-YEAR-OLD that when he's sixteen, he better not get caught speeding! I had to break the news to Shane that Nick barely remembers to flush the potty on a daily basis - I highly doubted this particular talk was going to stick for the next 11 years - LOL!

Katie & I's soccer team FINALLY won a game last night...you'd think we won a tournament the way the kids (& parents) were cheering!! The kids on my team are so great - such different personalities but all good kids. We have 2 more games in the season - let's hope we've started a win streak :) Kate has been such a trooper - for being the only girl on a team of aggressive boys, she's held her own...she had a chance to score last night but the shot bobbled off her foot - oh well, she still had that sweet smile on her face!

We're looking forward to Thanksgiving with the Deitz family on Thursday - more of my fave foods and good times w/ family. Shane & I will make our annual shopping trip on Friday - we don't go to Evansville (I lived there for close to 10 years - I REFUSE to shop there on Black Friday!) but we shop here locally & in Vincennes. I have quite a bit of shopping already done but we've got plenty more to do...we're cutting back this year like most people but trust me, we had room to cut back! I'm currently trying to convince Shane to buy the kids a trampoline...I've got a few more weeks to work on him...

Its almost bedtime here for the kids...better go start our routine! It takes a little bit of time to get all four thru teeth-brushing/potty/hugs/kisses/endless stall techniques like questions about tomorrow/etc. etc.

Hope everyone has a safe & happy Turkey Day!

Setting records

Well - we had a couple of record-breaking events today...good and not-so-good!

First - the GOOD (which is where we should always focus right?!)....drum roll please...Nick has stayed on "green" for 3 days in a row!!!! He only stayed on green 3 times the entire month of October so we're on quite the roll! At the kids' elementary, the younger classes measure behavior w/ 3 colors - green = good, yellow = couple of warnings, red = obviously, not so good. For the most part, Nick is a yellow kid w/ an occasional foray into the underworld of red but not lately!!! GREEN GREEN GREEN...that's our mantra!

Now, the not so good...we had another indoor soccer game tonight and we lost - AGAIN. We're officially the worst team in our division...our record is 0-5. The worst part of the whole thing is we're a really good team but we can't catch a break! If there's a mistake to be had, we'll find it :) Oh well, the kids are great and the parents don't blame me so I guess we'll survive the second half of the season...my competitive side isn't too happy though!

Such a dreary day...

what a yucky Saturday!! Maybe we needed more rain than I thought but I think we're good now! I went out this morning to check on Buster & Hershey (our dogs) and practically flooded them out when I dumped the water out of the tarp over their kennel...they were snug & dry though in their doghouse so I guess I shouldn't have been so worried about "the babies"!

Our day has been fairly uneventful...Shane & Nick went out to his parents for awhile so the girls & I hung out here doing the normal Saturday morning routine - laundry, cleaning, etc. Katie had a game around noon - we got beat (again) - but my Aunt Peg came to watch so that was a plus! Aunt Peggy has been the girls' biggest soccer fan!

Nothing else too exciting has happened since then...a trip to Wal-mart (Hi Renee', Honey & Lisha!) for some "me time"...how sad :)...but I did get a few small Christmas gifts out of the way. Hard to believe Christmas is only 6 weeks away...

I talked to Mom this morning...it must have been the weather but we immediately started talking about our trip to Hawaii coming up in February...absolutely CAN'T WAIT!!! While it will be hard to be away from the kids for 8 days, we're super excited about going! Our kiddos will get some quality time w/ their other grandparents (besides Mom & Scott who'll be drinking mai tai's on the beach w/ us!) though so I know they'll be fine. I rarely wish time away but February can come as quickly as it wants!

I guess I've rambled enough...we're all hanging out here in the living room watching a movie...almost bed times for the kids - then....peace & quiet :)

A reminder...

I received the following in a "forward" email this week:

'When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better. The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.'

Now, I have no idea who came up with this or what that person was writing this in reference to but it spoke to me. I feel like there has been so much "taking" lately - 3 young girls suddenly lose their father, a beautiful woman's marriage has fallen apart, the economy has caused hardships. But, in all this, I've said so many times that God will never give you more than you can handle - not just trite words but how I truly feel. There have been many times that I've felt I've hit my limit but before I know it, the grace of God touches me and I'm reminded of all of the joys, not the sorrows.

I'm glad I didn't just hit "delete" like I do a lot of the time when I see "FWD:" in the subject line...I must have needed the reminder.

Catching up...

Hi all - nothing too exciting going on outside of the normal chaos! To catch up from my last post (a week ago - lazy me!)...Shane got home from his trip to Virginia Beach on Wednesday - the kids & I were very happy to have him home! Even though he works a lot of hours, he's always home by bedtime so we all had to adjust while he was gone. Wednesday night was soccer pics - which I remembered exactly 10 minutes before we had to be there and Katie & I were already in our jammies! A few crazy minutes later, we were out the door & made it just in time...thankfully we only live 3 minutes from the YMCA!!! Nothing too exciting happened Thurs/Friday. Saturday was another soccer game and Nick headed to Evansville for the night. I woke up yesterday totally sick w/ either the stomach flu or a bad reaction to the Long John Silvers we had Sat. nite. After the girls' religion class, I lazed around until I headed to Oakland City to pick up Nick - once home, I went to bed for a few hours to save up energy for Max's 3rd birthday party...which was totally fun :) Anna had a major houseful w/ Beasleys, Rabers & friends all crowding inside since it was absolutely FREEZING outside! Max made a haul and all of the kids had so much fun, especially on the hay ride...check out Abbie's blog for great pics!

Solo parenting for a few days...

Yep - the kids are stuck w/ me as their only parent for a few days...Shane is in Virginia on a business trip so I'm flying solo until Wednesday. I wish I could take "business trips" to Virginia Beach and stay in a hotel on the beach! He's auditing their sandpaper vendor so I guess they had to "jazz up" the trip somehow to get him to go!

The girls had their fall music program tonight (yes, I video-taped it so Shane has 45 fascinating minutes to watch when he gets home LOL) which was entertaining as always. Emily really had the rhythm tonight and she was smiling the entire time; Hannah looked like she was in pain and only smiled when she looked at me (hello - I was the one w/ the camera!); and Katie...well, I couldn't decide whether she was having fun or if she was getting ready to cry! She said she had fun so we'll go with that...

I think I'm going to subject Nick & I to a little pain tomorrow night & take the girls to High School Musical 3...we hardly ever go to the movies - for various reasons including 4 trips to the bathroom since no one has to "go" at the same time - but I thought it would be fun & keep the kids' minds off the fact that Dad isn't home. So think of poor Nick and I tomorrow night around 6:45ish while a bunch of 20-somethings are dancing, singing and acting like high school kids - oooh fun!

Halloween pics

Hi everyone - not a lot to say...just wanted to post a couple of Halloween pics from last night. It was great going trick-or-treating on a weekend night instead of a weekday...our kids actually got to enjoy a couple of pieces of candy instead of being told "No candy on a school night"!!

"Gabrielle" from High School Musical, Medieval Princess, The Hulk, "Sharpay" from HSM

Trick-or-treating on our street...

A good time was had by all...now we have enough candy to last us 6+ months!