would anyone notice...

...if I start blogging again?? let's see if I'm still on anyone's radar....after 16 months' absence :)

just a little more craziness...

some more house news! Because we weren't real confident the original house deal was going to go thru (for many reasons, mainly being the seller), we decided to keep looking at houses "just in case"....well, we found one we liked much better, was up for immediate occupancy, way less $$ (giving us more for renovations) AND in town w/ a large lot! Craziest part is it wasn't even on our list of homes to look at on Thursday - we just happened to drive by it while we were out w/ our realtor, stopped by & fell in love....our realtor turned to us right when we walked in the front door and said "I just got goosebumps - this is your house!"...talk about crazy! But she was right :) The next day (Friday), our realtor called the original house guy to see if he'd release us from the purchase agreement, (which he did thank goodness) so we made an offer on house #2 which was accepted yesterday (Sat.) - holy crap!!! All of this just proves once again that everything happens for a reason and there's a higher power watching out for us! I'll keep everyone posted as we move thru the steps...hopefully it all goes smoothly and we can start our renovations on the new house soon b/c I reallllly want to have it all done before we move in (including my brand new kitchen - woo hoo!) Oh - and I forgot to mention we sold our house too!!!

Thursday was my last day at Olon...such a bittersweet day for me. I have made such good friends there (which I know I'll keep but won't get to see everyday) and feel like I've learned a lot. I knew before the day began that I would end up being a baby at some point and I didn't disappoint! I probably had tears in my eyes 5 or 6 times...and I kept saying "I even put my big girl panties on this morning so I wouldn't be a baby!"....I guess even the big girl panties don't work every time! So I start my new job tomorrow...1st day won't be too exciting since I'll be in orientation all day but that's ok...I'm still getting used to anwering "Williams Bros." when asked where I work :)

Shane has worked hard the past month getting his S10 ready for the Car Cruise & Show this weekend...he & Nick were in the Cruise while the girls & I all watched from his grandma's house. Both of my "boys" had soooo much fun - neither one of them could wipe that grin off their faces! At one point during the build, we really didn't know if the truck was going to be ready or not but Shane was adamant that he would keep his word to Nick that they'd drive "Pedro" (yes, we name our vehicles!) in this year's cruise...I feel so blessed that my son has the dad that he does! While Shane may not have contributed "biologically", he has more than contributed in every other way in shaping who our son is! And trust me, they are two peas in a pod when it comes to "race cars" :) Here's a pic of my two grease monkeys from the Cruise:

Today was pretty quiet - the kiddos started Religion Class for the year this morning so I got the dreaded Walmart trip out of the way while they were there...then I caught up on laundry since yesterday was spent at soccer game/flag football practice/lunch w/ my girlfriends in Jasper/Car Cruise...Shane took Pedro over to the Carfest around noon so the kids and I spent the dreary afternoon just hanging out. After watching too many episodes of "Diners, Drive-ins & Dives" on the Food Network, I ended up making biscuits & gravy, fried potatoes & bacon for dinner :) Not exactly healthy but super yummy just the same!!

I know this week will hold more of the same craziness w/ the new job, houses, kids' sports, etc but I'll try to stay sane enough to remember it all to re-cap next post!

such a slacker...

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth...just had a little craziness going on the past few weeks! Between accepting an unexpected new job, making an offer on a house, putting our house on the market and all the day-to-day normal craziness, we've been a little busy :) I'll try to tackle each subject one by one...

NEW JOB: so, I've been perfectly content at my current job, wasn't looking to leave but the phone rang on a Sunday night which lead to a couple of interviews and BAM - I start my new job at Williams Bros. next Monday. I'll be working for a company they own called True Rx which is a prescription benefit management company - this is the prescription drug part of your insurance...we process claims, work w/ the client companies and their employees to make smart prescription choices, etc. etc. I'll be the manager so keep me in your thoughts as I start a job I know NOTHING about :)

NEW HOUSE: Shane & I have been looking for awhile but finding a house w/ enough bedrooms in our price range w/ the other amenities we require has been tough! We finally found one that met our needs and after a couple of counter offers, we're good! Only downer is the seller is very difficult to work with and we're not confident the whole thing is going to go thru....what it boils down to is the wife wants to move to be closer to her family but we really don't thing the husband wants to b/c he seems very reluctant to find another home - obviously this needs to happen in order for us to get HIS house! Part of the negotiations was he has until mid-October to find a home; if that doesn't happen, the deal is off so keep your fingers crossed.

OUR HOUSE: The aforementioned buy has obviously led us to put our house on the market - Shane & I were in total "home improvement" mode for a solid month and its paid off - we countered an offer on Friday that we received within the first week on the market! We should know tomorrow night if the offer has been accepted...of course we had to ask for time to find out if we have the other house or not b/c we're not going anywhere if that deal falls through...so stressful!

OTHER CRAZINESS: Kate = volleyball practice or game 3-4 nights per week; Kate = braces week 1 & still going good; Twins = soccer practice 2x per week starts tomorrow w/ games starting Saturday; Nick = flag football starts Saturday; having to keep house spotless for showings; hiring & training my replacement at work; checking off several "To-Do's" before I leave my job - don't want to leave loose ends for the rest of the team; I'm sure there's more but my brain is fairly fried :)

We've been doing some fun stuff too though...Mom & Scott were home this past week so we had dinner w/ them Thurs. nite at our house...Shane is designing their new kitchen (with his cabinets of course!) so we were up until midnight doing that w/ them...I have to give Mom some major props though b/c she was ORGANIZED w/ her notebook full of dimensions, pictures, etc - I totally see where I get some of my "skills"!! I also loved getting to live vicariously thru them - nothing like designing a kitchen with a larger budget than I'm used to!! Can't wait to see the final product.

I spent Saturday morning at the White River Valley Antique Show helping my aunt Anna w/ her flea market booth - such fun hanging out w/ her, Abbie and all of the other family members that were roaming around. And can I say, the food at the Show rocked! I managed to "carb up" quite nicely w/ noodles over mashed potatoes for breakfast then curly potatoe chips w/ cheese for lunch...not exactly a "skinny day" since we also ate dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings but oh well - I've made up for it today by being "good". I also did a little shopping - by far the best purchase was the "retro" metal lunchboxes I bought for Shane & I...G.I. Joe for him and Strawberry Shortcake for me...the exact same one I had in grade school! Love the nostalgia - but feel old that something I had in my childhood qualifies as a flea market find!

So here I am on Sunday nite...trying to think if I've forgotten anything of any merit to mention...watching football w/ my husband and enjoying the quiet of 4 kids in bed...feelin' pretty good about it allllllll!

Weekend Rundown...

Unfortunately, this post will be picture-less...mostly b/c I failed to pick up the camera even once this weekend :)

The kiddos all survived the first week of school...and were excited to be going back this morning so I take that as a good sign! Tonight was our first big night of homework (ugh) but we easily got thru it and still had dinner on the table by 6:15. Its so crazy to me that Katie is giving speeches (I don't remember doing that in 5th grade!) and Nick is learning to read...they're all growing up so fast.

Katie is starting volleyball this week - practice begins tomorrow and her 1st game is the 2nd week in September...my fab friend Steph is her coach so I know she'll learn a lot and (hopefully) enjoy it. Only negative is her games are all at 3:30 - kind of sucks for those of us that work until 5pm and even worse for Shane who works an hour out of town...oh well, its only 6 games in 3 weeks so hopefully our work schedules allow us to get to them all. I'll post pics as soon.

The twins will begin fall Rec League soccer as well as practices for spring Travel soccer here in the next month - nothing like year round soccer at 9 years old! Oh well - I love the game and am thrilled to have the girls following in my footsteps...I hope its something they stay passionate about through high school. I was never in better shape than when Coach Monty was making us run our butts off all season :) Shane will be coaching while I manage the family schedule...I think I need to get one of those SUV stickers that say "Mom's Taxi" b/c that's certainly how it feels sometimes!

Nick will be playing flag football through the YMCA this fall - not sure when those games start but he's all signed up so I'm sure we'll hear something soon. I hope he does well - he's not so great when people take things from him so I hope he doesn't get too attached to those flags!! It should be a character builder for him if nothing else.

We celebrated Shane's b-day w/ a cookout on Saturday - great friends, good food & awesome weather made for a perfect night...it was a late night but still a good one! There was more than one time that I was laughing so hard that tears were running down my face...nothing like making memories w/ friends. I'm sure there will be more made in two weeks when we have our 15th year class reunion...have we really been "adults" for that long??!!!

Happy Monday to everyone...hope the rest of week is good for all!

Back to School

So - I've been a horrible blogger this summer but my "back to school" vow is to do a lot better! Here are the kiddos this morning - all were really excited to go back to school to see friends, meet their new teachers, and best of all...break out the new school supplies!

Katie is in 5th grade, Hannah & Em are in 4th and Nick is in 1st...all had an "awesome" first day (which is what a momma wants to hear!) and no one had any behavior issues..another good thing even though Shane doesn't think the 3 youngest can make it all week without at least one! We'll see!!

Shane's 35th birthday is tomorrow and since its a weekday, 2nd day of school, also his cousin's birthday, etc. etc., we went to Evansville on Saturday to go out to eat (Red Lobster - yummo!) and do a little shopping...can I say how much I love that my hubby likes to go shopping?! We took the kids too so it was some good family time. I'm sure the kids will say the 1st stop at the mall was their fave part of the evening - candy store :) I can't say I minded my custom Jelly Belly mix either! Tomorrow, the kids & I will all give Shane his gifts, eat dinner (his choice) then head to school for Open House...after that we'll head to his grandma's to celebrate his & his cousin's birthdays...busy busy (as usual!) We're also having a cookout this Saturday so he's basically having a week-long bday celebration...not a bad thing!

That's it for now but I'll post again SOON!

Yes, its been almost a month since my last post...

What can I say? We're a crazy busy family of 6 and I'm just a bad blogger :) I always think I need to upload pics every time I post and that just takes forever on my PC so I always talk myself out of posting...silly I know but its the only excuse I can come up with! BTW - there won't be any pics w/ this post!

Here's what we've been up to lately...

The kids are having a great time 3 days a week at the YMCA day camp along w/ their Mondays at Gma Beth's and Thursdays w/ Abbie or Steph. Dad & Beth bought the kids a pool (one of those 3-4' deep, aboveground inflatable pools) so they have a blast swimming and keeping Gma on her toes :) Abbie or Steph take them to Summer Fun in the Park every Thursday...so far they've gone on a nature hunt, tie-dyed t-shirts, made arts/crafts...all fun stuff! They always have fun at the Y too - their days are pretty structured there but fun is part of the structure so we all win that one! Fridays are Field Trip Day so they've gone to Rainbow Beach a couple of times, Evansville Zoo, Spring Mill, the Loogootee pool and will soon go to French Lick for the train ride, McCormick's Creek and Rainbow Beach a few more times.

As a family, we've gone to a Dubois County Bombers game w/ Shane's parents (I highly recommend this for anyone who loves old time baseball!), made a trip to the drag strip in Lyons, hosted a very wet 4th of July cookout at our house, saw "Transformers 2", will be going to another Bombers game tomorrow w/ friends and Holiday World is in our future next Thursday.

We're also hitting our "House To-Do List" very hard b/c we're thinking of putting it on the market soon...our neighbor sold his house in less than a month - that's the good news b/c we think our's could go quickly too - the bad news is our new neighbors....really nice people but they took over 2 weeks to mow their yard and have their dog on a chain in the backyard. This coupled w/ a few other "issues" in our neighborhood have made us think we'd rather move than re-model our house w/ a huge addition.

This seems to be a fairly bland post - hopefully I can get some pics posted soon!

Happy 6th Birthday Nick...Mom is just a little late :)

My baby isn't a baby anymore...that's all I can think of! Five years old still sounds young - SIX years old sounds like a big kid! Nick turned 6 on 6/6 - a very busy day for our household since five out of the six of us were very involved w/ my cousin's wedding. We started out our day having breakfast at Nick's choice of restaurant - he & Shane rode in "Betsy" which is our '67 Chevy pickup that Nick LOVES...we hope she lasts until Nick can drive her :) After breakfast, I took the girls to get their hair done for the wedding while the boys went to do some "guy stuff"...once we got home, I painted the girls' nails then got myself ready. Nick & I headed to Anna's to meet up w/ the rest of the wedding party for pics (the girls passed out favors after the wedding so they weren't required for pics at this point) then went to the church for more pics. The wedding was beautiful and went very smoothly - Abbie & I were Jess's personal attendants so basically, we got to tell everyone what to do :)

The kids all had so much fun at the wedding reception - especially Nick & Kate who danced the night away w/ Max! I'm thinking Nick didn't mind sharing his birthday w/ the wedding since he got to "rock out" (Nick's words, not mine!) all night...how many 6 yr-olds do you know that can sing the entire chorus to "Come on Feel the Noise" by Quiet Riot?! He was quite the hit...

We had Nick's actual birthday party the last weekend in May - we rented a gi-normous inflatable water slide and invited friends from his kindergarten class along w/ other friends & family...talk about madness! We had 13 kids vying for a turn but we managed to keep control...for the most part! Nick chose a baseball theme - I had fun putting together treat bags w/ baseball tattoos, rubber bracelets, baseball cards, bubble gum & a wiffle ball but the cupcakes were my absolute fave...I think they turned out sooooo well!

(Doesn't the look on the boys' faces just say it all?!!)

Nick has also already celebrated his birthday w/ the Coy's, us (twice), the Matthews', the Deitz's, my mom, the Otto's - this just leaves the Beasley's (Mom's family) which we'll celebrate w/ on Fathers' Day...he's literally had a month-long birthday! what a lucky kid...and we're pretty lucky he's our kid :)

Soccer & Tball pics

As promised, here's some pics of Hannah & Emily playing soccer and Nick playing Tball...I've been a bad mom when it comes to Kate's softball games...I promise to take my camera to the next game!

The soccer season is over for now - we finished the season 5-1 so I'm very proud of our girls & our coach!

We're about 1/2 way through Tball...we got rained out tonight but that's ok - sometimes its nice to just have a rainy night at home :)

A weekend in Bumpus...

Another fab weekend in the middle of nowhere! We headed out Friday afternoon after taking Sadie to the vet for boarding...kind of forgot about that little part of having an indoor dog and trips out of town :) We then made a mad dash to Henderson for some BBQ pork from this little hole-in-wall place Shane found courtesy of our Garmin GPS a month ago...let me tell you, I'm not a big fan of baked beans but I could eat a gallon of their's!! I guess all of the pork drippings and such give it something special! The "mad dash" part of it is b/c they close at 7pm our time and we didn't leave Washington until 5:30...that's 1 1/2 hours to make it through E'ville rush hour to the far south side of Henderson...we made it w/ 10 minutes to go - woo hoo!

We made it Bumpus Mills, TN safe & sound...rocking out the last few miles to some 80's rock courtesy of a great radio station (97.5) somewhere out of Tennessee/Kentucky...nothing like seeing your 5 year old headbanging in the back seat! After a game of "pickup sticks" w/ Gma Cindy, the kids headed to bed...after a quick negotiation of who got the top bunk of course!

The kiddos got us all up bright & early Saturday - Mom & I then "escaped" for some much needed mother/daughter time...we headed to Paris...Paris, TN that is - hey, they had the required Eiffel Tower - to a really beautiful landscaping place for flowers. It was so hard to pick out what we wanted b/c they had sooooooooooo many to choose from but we managed. We then stopped by the Piggly Wiggly - love that place - so quintessential Tennessee huh? Where else would one find find canned pork brains in gravy?

Tim, Holly & the boys got there soon after we got back to the house - we can always count on the Evans family for some good times! They brought their go-kart to add to the 4-wheeler & Kubota all-terrain...nothing like outdoor toys for the boys! Several trail rides later - thru quite a bit of mud (ewww!) - we moved on to the "luau" portion of the evening...leave it to my mom to have a "theme" night. Tim definitely got the best dressed award :)

Nick & Scott after their trip thru the mud hole

Emily & Shane - she was the only girl willing to go thru the mud hole!

Cooling off in the sprinkler

Tim & Shane

The Luau Gang

We headed home Sunday after breakfast - pretty uneventful trip. Thankfully, our kids travel really well w/ very few "Are we there yet" comments...we were all still glad to pull into the driveway though The rest of the weekend was spent on normal weekend "stuff" like cleaning, laundry, Walmart, etc...nothing too exciting....nothing like the "luau" anyway!

I'm still here...

Hi all...yes, once again I've fallen behind in posting...chalk it up to being very busy - does that excuse have a statute of limitations?!

Let's flash back a couple of weeks...I was in Georgetown, Ontario (near Toronto) for 3 days for work at the beginning of the month...nothing too exciting except I didn't get my passport until 3 days before I left and I got majorly delayed in Chicago coming home and didn't actually walk thru my front door until 2:30am Thursday morning...this was the Thursday that school got delayed due to the extreme fog - yes, that's what I drove home from Louisville in - FUN FUN! Thankfully, I made it safely and was able to get a little more rest than expected w/ the school delay. The rest of that week was spent hosting our Board of Directors and catching up at work coupled w/ Katie's orthodontist appt on Thursday (yes - its going to be braces...great.) and a Mother/Daughter banquet on Friday. That weekend was spent running errands Saturday then Mothers Day breakfast w/ Shane's parents and lunch w/ the Beasley's...followed by pictures w/ my brothers (courtesy of Abbie!) for my step-mom. Exhaustion set in somewhere in the middle of all of that...

While I was gone, Shane played "Mr. Mom" - he took 3 days of vacation from work to manage the household which made it a lot easier than trying to manage a 2 hour commute every day along w/ our family's crazy schedule. They all stayed busy w/ practices, games, etc. Nick had his first Tball game of the season which I hated to miss but he did really well according to his very proud dad. I talked to the kids each night but still missed them like crazy...Sadie (our dog) also missed her "momma" - she got spayed while I was gone and didn't recover from the anathesia (sp??) very well...poor Shane had to clean up a few messes :(

Last week consisted of soccer practice, tball pictures, 2 dentist appts (one in Evansville), two Relay for Life fundraisers (no work for me, just my contributions!), 2 softball games, my cousin's bachelorette party, the Team Andrea RFL Hog Roast and trips to drop off & pick up Nick from his weekend in Evansville....again, exhausting but all ran smoothly w/ planning - my specialty!

So far, this week has again been busy but manageable...last night, Kate had a softball game in Montgomery that Shane & Em went to and Nick had a Tball makeup game that Hannah & I went to...this has been pretty much the only conflict we've encountered so far so we've been lucky! The twins have a make-up soccer game tomorrow night and Kate has another softball game Thursday night in Montgomery - then we're off to Bumpus Mills, Tennessee Friday after work to visit Mom & Scott at their weekend home on Kentucky Lake - I'll have plenty of pics to post after that visit!

I know I need to post pics of the kids at their various sporting events and I promise to do so soon...needless to say, they've all been doing really well! The twins love soccer and are so competitive - awesome to watch. Kate is really catching on to softball...I think we've found a new love! Nick is crazy about Tball...he's quickly caught on to sliding into bases and now insists on doing it at EVERY base...gotta love that laundry :)

Next week promises to be just as exciting as the recent ones - I'm sure I'll have another "book" to post next time I get on here...once again, I'll try to get better!

Busy, Busy, Busy...

The title of this post is really all I can say about our life right now! Between soccer, softball, t-ball, games, practices, birthday parties, baby showers, bridal showers, bachlorette parties, laundry, meals, housework, school, work and everything else that makes up our "Matthews Madness", I sometimes just have to stop. I have to stop and enjoy my family; stop and remember my blessings; stop and thank God that I have 4 crazy, healthy kids; stop worrying and start laughing more; stop growling at others when I'm in not so great of a mood; stop what-if'ing and start having more faith...I could keep going but you probably get what I'm trying to say.

I find myself saying the Serenity Prayer pretty often...sometimes just saying the first line gets me centered again - "Lord, grant me the patience to accept the things I cannot change..." but more often than not, I have to say the entire prayer :) Most of you know me well enough to know I'm a bit of a control freak - I like schedules and structure and lists and order...I have to work at being spontaneous - a bit of an oxymoronic sentence huh?! I sometimes feel I'm my own biggest source of stress. I have to remind myself that while "my" way may be the best for me, someone else's way can be just as effective. I also have to remember that my kids need to find their own way - again, not my way, their's. Just some things I've been struggling with lately - sometimes just "talking" (aka blogging) about them helps!

So - back to what my fam has been up to lately...last weekend was totally nuts so I won't go into the details...suffice to say that just about everything mentioned in the 2nd sentence of this post happened in 2 days...totally exhausting. I will mention our twins' birthday though - Miss Hannah & Miss Emily are officially 9 years old now! They shared their birthday w/ my cousin Jessica's bridal shower but I really don't think they minded too much b/c they got to dress up AND go to Aunt Anna's for the shower - two of their favorite things! Han picked our breakfast - bagels & bacon - and Em picked dinner - Mi Pueblo - so we ate pretty well on Sunday! Shane's family, my mom & grandma, my dad & step-mom plus my brother Jonah all came over for cake/brownies & ice cream after dinner. Let me tell you, if you aren't a chocolate-lover, my house was not the place to be Sun. nite...Han picked chocolate cake w/ chocolate frosting and coffee ice cream; Em picked double chocolate fudge brownies and chocolate champion ice cream...talk about coma inducing! They both got a lot of great gifts including clothes, girly stuff and cash - I feel a shopping trip coming on!

This week has been more of the same w/ practices and games for all of the kiddos. Kate had a "practice" game against the other Washington U10 softball team - she did sooooo well! Hit well and fielded what came her way...she may have found a new niche! She has another practice game tomorrow night then starts her season w/ a game against Barr Reeve next Thursday. Nick had his first tball practice of the season tonight and did really well too...let me tell you, that boy can hit the ball! His first game is next Tuesday. The twins did awesome last Saturday in their soccer game and have another one this Saturday - we'll be halfway thru their season at that point. I'm thrilled that all of our kids like being involved in sports/clubs/activities - we just have to find a way to manage it all!

Shane is in Talladega, AL tonight for work but will be home tomorrow - nothing like a 14-hr round trip drive for 4 hours worth of meetings! I'm heading to Toronto on Monday for a 3 day trip to our Corporate Office for training...at least as long as my passport gets here in time :) Its supposedly in route to me and should arrive by Saturday so let's keep our fingers crossed! Shane is going to take vacation while I'm gone - will definitely make it easier to manage our family with not having to make his 2-hr round trip commute every day. I was also worried about Sadie not getting her lunch-time potty break while I was gone so his being home means alllll of my kids will be taken care of!

I know this has been a long post that kind of jumped around and was sadly lacking pictures but my camera battery is dead and I knew I needed to get something posted before certain people started hassling me!

Hope all is well for all of you & your's...

Beach Monkeys on the loose!

We survived the Beach Monkeys!!! We had the girls' "combo" birthday party on Saturday at the Y - a swimming party with 25+ 8-10 year old girls plus Nick & Max, Madi & Molly, Shane, Stacy, Steph & Abbie - what a crew!! Believe it or not, the two hours flew by w/ very little drama...trust me, I was expecting drama w/ that much estrogen flying around but a good time was had by all! I kept it pretty simple w/ just a few balloon bouquets, a beach monkey photo shoot, tiki hut gift boxes w/ all kinds of monkey stuff (tattoos, rubber bracelets, leis, banana candy & bubbles), homemade cupcakes & Capri Suns...clean up was a breeze - just wrap everything up in the tablecloths & pitch it!

Katie & her friend McKenzie

Nick, Max & Abbie

Nick & HannahShane & Hannah

Emily & her friend Joy

Madi & Stacy

Hannah & Emily also had their first soccer game Saturday - they won 3-2...wish I could have been there but I was busy making 4 dozen cupcakes...which were devoured by the aforementioned Beach Monkeys...all 48 cupcakes disappeared in 5 minutes! After the birthday party, Stacy, Steph & the girls came over for pizza & a movie - I want to give a big shout out to Fat Boys Pizza in Montgomery - yummo!!

We celebrated our Beasley Easter along w/ April birthdays (Papa B, Uncle Donnie & our girls) on Sunday at Gma B's - good food, great family and some new friends. Its always funny when anyone brings a new "friend" to one of our monthly family dinners...I guess the sight of 6 kitchen tables lined up end to end to accommodate everyone surprises most people :) We try to go easy on the newbies - no quiz to try to name everyone or anything like that! Unfortunately, Mother Nature didn't want us to hunt eggs in the backyard so we shoo'd the kids upstairs and hid them all over the basement instead...they managed to find them all in like 3 minutes flat...gotta love the chaos.

This week holds all of the craziness as usual - soccer practices, softball practices, school, work, etc etc...but this coming weekend is far nuttier than normal...Relay for Life yard sale for Team Andrea at Jenelle's, soccer game, opening day for softball, 2 baby showers & a trip to Eville to pick up Nick (This is all Saturday btw) then religion class, Jess's bridal shower & cake/ice cream w/ Shane's fam for the twins' b-day (Sunday)...whew!

Twice in one week?!

That's right...I'm actually posting twice in one week! Not b/c I have a whole lot to say, just trying to to be better at the whole blogging thing :)

Wasn't the sunshine wonderful this afternoon? Katie had softball practice so Hannah & I took her to that while Nick & Em went mushroom hunting w/ Shane...since he's a "guy", I have no pictures to chronicle their great adventure (lol) but they did come home w/ enough mushrooms for a maybe an appetizer for the 6 of us! The best part is Nick & Em both found some on their own...Em more so than Nick but she's got 3 years on him :)

Hannah is back under house arrest for the next two weeks...once AGAIN, caught hiding papers w/ bad grades in her backpack...I am so absolutely frustrated w/ her that I can barely stand it. We stopped "punishing" her for bad papers months ago (mind you, the "punishment" was no TV that night which she barely watches TV anyway) so the fact that she's pulled this just shows me we're dealing w/ a respect issue...so, other than her birthday party this Saturday, no fun stuff - including the very coveted trip to Wal-mart w/ Mom. I'm open to any advice on this one!

We have a busy weekend coming up - Soccer game & big "triple threat" birthday party at the Y on Saturday then Beasley Easter & a First Communion open house on Sunday. Let's hope the nice weather holds out for it all!

Kate's Birthday & Easter Weekend

Our Miss Katie finally hit the double digits last week...only happens once in a lifetime! We had Shane's family over for cake & ice cream the night of her b-day...white cake w/ strawberry icing and neopolitan (sp?) ice cream at the birthday girl's request. This weekend is the big "triple threat" birthday party at the YMCA - all 3 girls have invited the girls in their classes plus some special friends & family...yes, we're talking about over 30 nine and ten year-old girls!

Katie & her new swimsuit - can't wait to see her at the Y!

Kate is also getting her ears pierced as part of turning 10 - trust me, this took extensive campaigning on my part b/c her dad was pretty adamant that she wait until 13...whatever! I gave him a slight heart attack when I (teasingly) told him she would probably be dating by then ;)

We also have a new member in our family...Sadie, our 1-yr old Springer Spaniel - currently in the house but will soon be joining our mini-daschaund Hershey as soon as we "re-model" the dog kennel w/ a new concrete floor. We lost our first springer Buster the week of St. Patrick's Day and didn't expect to have another one for a few more months but my aunt had another breeder call her needing a home for Miss Sadie...we love her!

We celebrated Easter yesterday with Shane's family (lots of together time this week!) - my fam is next week...the Easter Bunny was pretty generous w/ our kids - but not too much candy - then we went to Mass. Miss Em had an upset belly about halfway thru the service though...probably the 2 hardboiled eggs that she had for breakfast that had been in her Easter basket overnight - which, according to her father, should be safe...again, whatever! After Mass, we came home so I could fix my taco layer dip & spinach salad w/ hot bacon dressing before heading to Shane's aunt's house for a late lunch...way too much good food but that's an ok problem to have! I ate enough that I didn't eat dinner...

This week is fairly low-key for us...hopefully some soccer & softball practices if the rain ever stops then the birthday party & Beasley Easter lunch this coming weekend...hope everyone has a good week!

Looking at a busy April...

Hands down, April is one of the busiest months of the year in the Matthews household...spring sports seasons are starting, all three of the girls' birthdays are celebrated, two weekends of Easter (Shane's fam then mine) along w/ all of the normal chaos of school, work & fun...I usually feel like I totally earn Mothers' Day when May roles around!

I just spent a good chunk of the last hour calling the girls AND boys (yes, we're co-ed this season) that will be on Hannah & Emily's U10 soccer team...no, I'm not the coach - Shane is :) there's no way I can coach in the spring w/ Kate playing softball and Nick playing Tball...my role in the spring is logistics coordinator/taxi driver/cheerleader/photographer - multi-tasking at its best! Shane's biggest challenge will not be winning games - I think we have a pretty strong team - it will be keeping our boy-crazy twins focused on the game and not the boys on the field! Coach Dad already struggles w/ his little girls growing up so this season should be fairly entertaining :)

As I mentioned, all 3 girls have April b-days...Kate's at the beginning & the twins at the end. We have cake & ice cream the night of their b-days and the birthday girl(s) pick what we have for dinner. This usually means two stops at local fast food restaurants for Hannah & Emily because, heaven help us, we can't agree on one meal - that would be crazy! They also pick their themes - last year we had a puppy party for Kate and High School Musical/Hannah Montana for the twins - teenage drama at its best. Each birthday kid also picks what flavor of cake, icing & ice cream they want...we've had some interesting combos over the years. Usually, we go every-other year on the party w/ friends - this is a party year so I suggested a combo party at the YMCA - throw the kids in the pool and let them get tired :) We're having a beach monkey theme and the girls are going to invite all of the girls from their classes plus some special guests so we're looking at 35+ kids being invited...I know they won't all come but still...the thought of 35 little girls is pretty scary!!

Shane & I had to face reality last week when Katie watched the "I'm becoming a woman" video at school...in the 4th grade. OMG - I thought I was going to have to pick Shane up off the floor when she brought the paper home for us to approve her watching the video. He had the most stricken look on his face that I had to laugh....no dad is ever prepared for his little girl to grow up and I think Shane might be worse than most! He won't even let me get Kate's ears pierced for her 10th birthday...I told him if she was old enough for "the video", she was old enough for earrings!!! I'm still working on him so we'll see. When we got home from school the day she watched it, she had her little bag of "samples" so she & I went in her room and had our "woman" talk...it was killing Han & Em that they couldn't hear what we were talking about! She had a little book for her plus one for me (thank you, I like instructions!), so we agreed to read them then get back together if there were any questions...her only comment was "This seems pretty gross Mom" - I would have to agree! Can I also point out that Shane totally lucked out when our families merged - he only has to have "the talk" w/ Nick but I get to have it w/ all three girls...doesn't seem quite fair does it?!

Its time for me to get the kiddos in bed...they seem pretty tired after a day at the Y's Spring Break camp - works for me!

I'm back!

So, once again, I've been guilted into updating my blog by my friend Jen...who shouldn't have to remind me right?!! I was working on my blog background last week and my computer froze up which just irritated me so I boycotted my own blog!

Our life has been fairly busy but nothing compared to what we're heading into - spring sports season! Kate/softball, Hannah & Em/soccer and Nick/Tball will keep us running for most of April & May but I'm thrilled that they want to be involved...I'm sure I'll have pics to post like crazy so stay tuned for those. I'm not coaching at all this season so I'll be able to be a spectator again :)

Shane & I put the kids' trampoline together a couple of weekends ago - nothing like giving them this great Christmas present in a huge box then telling them "ok, now we wait for spring!" Shane & the kids got the whole project started but then I was called in as "muscle" (hahaha) to get the legs on & the net up...but before we put on the net, I had to perform some "quality control" procedures:

Shane & his work crew

Yaaay - our parents are the greatest!

What I don't have a picture of is the giant bump in the center of Nick's forehead after it was introduced to our neighbor's elbow later in the afternoon courtesy of the trampoline...Shane brought him in to me and said "Mom, I think he's going to have quite the goose egg" so I gave him a ice pack and he sat at the kitchen table....in walks Katie who hadn't been outside at the time and she asked Nick what happened...he proceeded to tell her he had a "chicken leg" on his head! After I stopped laughing, I reminded him it was called a "goose egg", not a "chicken leg"....oh the things kids say!

All of the kids have had some fun lately...the twins went to Evansville to see/hear the Philharmonic Orchestra with their classes, Kate went to New Harmony w/ her class, all of the girls had a "Just Say No" bowling party and Nick had his spring music program...this all occurred on back to back to back to back days...and Nick was sporting the aforementioned goose egg at his program. I believe the highlight of the twins' trip (unfortunately) was the puker on the bus on the way home due to overeating at the Black Buggy - soooo glad I didn't end up volunteering to chaperone that trip!

We had a good night tonight too...bummer that Shane wasn't here but he's still attending Dale Carnegie Leadership Training on Tuesdays thru April/May...the kids all needed "stuff" for their upcoming sports so we headed to Hibbets for cleats for Kate & Nick and pants for Nick...we're not sure what color Kate will need yet so we're holding off. Hannah's soccer cleats now fit Emily and Kate's fit Hannah so at least I got by w/ only buying 2 pairs. After that, we headed to Mr. Gatti's for pizza & salad then to Walmart for new soccer balls for the twins. The kids were all soooo well behaved everywhere that we went that we felt we deserved Scoops ice cream on the way home...it was our first Scoops of the season and it was wonderful! I managed to be good and avoid the "real" ice cream by having some raspberry Dole whip - not a big sacrafice if you ask me b/c its delicious!

So, now I'm enjoying the quiet house w/ all kids in bed...ahhhh, lovin' life!

Our Hawaiian Vacation

What a fabulous trip!!! I'll try to keep my summary fairly brief but get comfortable anyway :)

I was very apprehensive heading to Shane's parents' house last Wednesday night to drop the kids off...I really thought Nick & Hannah would have a hard time w/ us leaving b/c they had both expressed their "displeasure" w/ us leaving them for a week...but they all surprised me! If anyone was teary eye'd leaving, it was Shane & I! The kids were all so excited to be staying w/ Papa Ed & Gma Theresa that we were pretty well dismissed...which was much better than tears!

Shane & I made good time to Nashville...stopping only briefly in Evansville at Target for swim trunks for Shane and Henderson at Rally's for dinner to go. We, along w/ Mom & Scott, were so excited about vacation that we didn't exactly get to bed early but it still wasn't hard getting up the next morning at 6:30am. The car came to pick us up at 7:30 and we were off to the airport...here's Mom & I in the backseat...

We got to Dallas w/ no problems but quickly found out we now had a 3 hour layover instead of a 1 hour so we killed time shopping & getting a bite to eat...by 4ish, we were back in the air headed for Honolulu! A quick note - if you ever have to be on an 8-hr flight, definitely go first class :) Free drinks, great menu to choose from and seats that lay allllll the way back - WOO HOO!! Have I mentioned how absolutely AWESOME my parents are for taking Shane & I on this trip??!! Shane & I in the airport:

I have to mention Shane's "star encounter" w/ Stacy David - Stacy hosts the Speed Channel's "Gearz" show which is in any "car guy's" top 5 TV show list...he was a little star struck but managed to "talk shop" for the shuttle ride to our terminal!! This may have been the absolute highlight of Shane's entire trip!!!!

I can't even tell you what time we landed in Honolulu but we headed to our hotel in Wakiki and grabbed a bite to eat then crashed into bed...of course, Shane & I woke up fairly early the next morning (Friday) given that our bodies were still on Indiana time (5 hours ahead of Hawaii)...it was still pitch black outside which is what it looked like when we arrived so we were dying to see what the island looked like...we weren't disappointed! Here's the view of Wakiki Beach from our hotel balcony:

Our time on Oahu was spent shopping, eating, walking on the beach, touring Pearl Harbor and taking a road trip in these cool little "mini coupes" which were glorified, 2-seater mopeds that didn't go over 35 mph...a real treat on the hills :) Wakiki was VERY tourist'y...crowded but still fun. We enjoyed meals at Jimmy Buffet's, California Pizza Kitchen, Duke's WaveRunner (we think thats what it was called!), Atlantis and at our hotel...hello, $30/person for a buffet breakfast...we loved the coffee/tea bar at the hotel though!

Scott, Me & Mom at the USS Arizona Memorial @ Pearl Harbor (note: height doesn't exactly run in our family!!)

Oil on the water surface from the USS Arizona below...so sad.

Scott & Shane @ Jimmy Buffet's restaurant

Shane & I in our mini-coupe

On Sunday, we grabbed a flight to Kauai which is a smaller, less tourist'y island to the west of Oahu. We had a rental car which was good since there was nothing within walking distance of the Hilton Resort...this was our favorite part of the trip because there were less people and the "Garden Island" was absolutely beautiful! One of the mountains on Kauai is the "wettest place on Earth" b/c it gets in excess of 450 inches of rain every year - wow!

Again, we spent time eating & shopping (two of my faves!!) but we also did a lot of sightseeing including Hanalei (for those of you who know the song "Puff the Magic Dragon" by Peter, Paul & Mary!), and some absolutely beautiful beaches w/ huge waves! On Tuesday, Mom & Scott went on an ATV tour for the afternoon so Shane & I were total slugs and laid by the pool alllll afternoon - the first time all vacation that we did that for more than an hour...I told him I didn't like the fact that the tan I came to Hawaii with was fading! The weather was great the entire time we were there but the water (both beach & pool) was freezing - I only got in the pool to cool off [quickly] then went straight back to my lounge chair :)

Shane trying out the pool slide

On Wednesday, our last day (boooo!), Shane & I went on a "zip line" adventure - nothing like being 100+ feet in the air zipping between these skinny pine trees on a cable! We had a blast though - although I knew I wasn't going to fall, the 40 mph gusts of wind we were having that morning still made crossing rope bridges and standing on itsy bitsy tree platforms a little freaky!!! We were in the air for 2+ hours and absolutely loved the entire experience - our guides, Hillary & Matt, were awesome which was a bonus too.

Wednesday afternoon, we headed to the airport around 4pm to head back to Honolulu...then to Dallas...then to Nashville...then drive home....whew! We finally got home at 7:30pm Thursday evening so we calculated that we had been traveling for almost 24 hours w/ only about 4hrs of sleep on the plane between Honolulu & Dallas...but were then too wired from the caffeine we'd been consuming that we didn't get to bed until around 11:30...at that point, total exhaustion took over!

While we had a fab time and would do it again in a heartbeat, we totally missed our kiddos - we talked to them every night (but one) and were a little bummed each time we hung up...but we know they had a great "vacation" from us too! The first two nights were w/ my in-laws, the weekend was w/ Aunt Anna & her clan then the last four days were here at home w/ my step-mom & Dad...thank goodness for our family! Though everyone said they totally understand why people have kids when they're young :)

So, its back to the real world tomorrow...I know the alarm will ring entirely too early in the morning!!

Angel Andon

Never has someone I barely know touch me as much as Chelsa Knepp has...she and her family (husband Ryan & son Brycen) have recently experienced what no family should have to endure - having a precious baby born after already becoming an angel. Courtney Owens has created a memorial blog for Andon and has encouraged other bloggers to dedicate today's Valentines Day posts to the love of life...I choose my family, for without them, I would be so much less than I am...

My husband Shane - hands down the best dad...EVER! He raised his three daughters as a single parent for many years...imagine, 3 girls under the age of 3...and all they knew was love, adventure and security. He packed those girls wherever he went and oh, the stories he can tell! Single-handedly, the most wonderful man in my life! Bless his perseverance, dedication and sense of right.

Our oldest daughter, Katie - we always say that Kate marches to the beat of a drummer the rest of us have never heard of! Bless her creativity, imagination and heart.

Our oldest twin, Hannah - we will have our hands full in the next few years as our "social butterfly" spreads her wings to their fullest! Bless her outgoing personality, love of a "good time" and fashion sense.

Our little twin, Emily - she may be small but she's certainly mighty...in heart, in energy and in mouthiness! Bless her intelligence, energy and fearlessness.

Our little guy, Nick - as the only son in a houseful of girls, Nick can giggle like a girl but he's also a boy to the core...loves to wrestle w/ Dad, hang out in the shop and be dirty 24/7. Bless his quick smile, love for all things race cars and many "love you Mom"s.

For all that I am blessed with, I thank the Lord every day...and for all the Knepp family has been thru, I pray for them every day. Celebrate life every day - no matter the stress or headaches that you have; cherish those that matter...

Catching up...again

Wow - I'm getting realllly bad about keeping up w/ this blog! As my friend Jen stated in her email to me entitled "Harassment"...as in she was harassing me about updating my blog! So Jen - here's to my new found commitment to keeping Matthews Madness more current!

Life has been pretty crazy lately but that's really not anything new around here...the snow days & school delays got a little out of hand and totally messed w/ everyone's schedules...needless to say - I'm one happy momma now that we're back on track.

Our twins had a sleepover this past Friday night so we had not 2, but 4 eight-yr-olds running around here...madness :) I was going to take them to the movies but decided that sitting for two hours for a movie then coming home didn't make for the best "time for bed" scenario so we decided to take in a WHS game instead. I took the "sleepover" girls w/ me and Shane brought our other two...we could have all fit in our Tahoe but we knew Kate & Nick would be ready to leave the game before the other girls would. On our way from dinner to the game, those 4 girls were hilarious in the car - extremely loud but funny anyway. I just cranked up the "Kids Bops" to drown them out :)

Emily, Shaina, Lauren & Hannah

Lauren & Hannah playing dress up

Shaina & Emily getting ready for bed

Both of our guests had things going on w/ their families Saturday morning so they weren't able to stay long but really, that was ok b/c I also had a busy Saturday. Our Rotary Club has a Gala Fundraiser every year and this was my 3rd year planning it...Saturday night, we had a "Beautiful Italian Night" at Mulligans and raised a lot of money for our Rotary projects. Afterwards, Shane & I met up w/ my bro-in-law Dave who will heading back to Afghanistan later this week..here's Dave & our kids - they all luuuuuuvvvv Uncle Dave!

I'm absolutely stoked that our vacation to Hawaii is coming up so quickly...only a week from Thursday...woo hoo!!! Even though our weather today was pretty fabulous! After dinner tonight, we took the dogs for a walk for some much needed exercise...for all of us :) Let's just hope it hangs around for awhile...

Fun, fun in the winter sun!

Nick eating snow...not the yellow kind!

"Fun" isn't something I usually associate w/ winter but we had some serious fun today! Lot's of sledding, shoveling, digging, etc. etc. Our kids totally reminded me of how totally cool a "snow day" can be...as an adult/parent, I tend to dread winter weather since it usually leads to school delays/cancellations, horrible roads, blah blah blah - but, today, I thoroughly had a good time in the snow!

Hannah & Katie

Nick & Emily

Shane showing us how its done!

Some other random pictures from the past week...

What started out as Shane showing Nick some wrestling moves...ended up in a Matthews Family Piggy Pile!

The Beasley birthday kids...minus Kayna (1/17) who couldn't be there...Roger (2/2), Lauren (1/22), Hannah B (2/22), Chas (1/23), Gma B (2/8) and Chris (2/11)

Hannah at her friend's bowling birthday party...

Nick trying out his "Incredible Hulk" bathtime chemistry set...

Hope everyone is warm & safe tonight!