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!