Our 1st Anniversary...

Happy 1st Anniversary to us! I sometimes try to remember what life was like before Shane & the girls became part of Nick & I's life and I just struggle to remember that time because we're such a perfect fit. We all became what each other needed...a husband to a wife, a mother to daughters, a father to a son, a brother to sisters. As corny as it sounds, I feel we were all meant to be exactly where we are today; even though the road here was preeeetty bumpy at times!

For those of you who don't know Shane & I's story....we actually dated briefly my senior year of H.S./Shane's freshman year of college but life happened and we went our separate ways. We both went through college, married people totally not suited to us, had beautiful kid(s) then divorced. I was ending my engagement to Wrong Guy #2 around the time of my 10 year class reunion in 2004. Shane's best friend Tim graduated w/ me so he & his wife Holly invited Shane & his floozy of the moment (totally can't remember her name!) to our reunion. I was leaving to return to Evansville at the same time Shane was heading to the ATM (to get more $$ to by the aforementioned floozy another drink!) when we stopped to talk on the sidewalk, shared pics of the cute kids we both were raising and exchanged email addresses. I moved home to Daviess County a month later in October and Shane & I started talking via email & text messages. We had our (2nd) First Date on October 30th, encountered some ups and downs over the next few months then before you know it, were engaged exactly one year later on 10/30/05. Nick & I moved in w/ Shane & the girls in Feb. 06 and this crazy family was born! Now, here we are, 1 year after our "I do's" and I can't imagine my life without these 5 people. They make me laugh, make me cry, stress me out, keep me grounded, remind me what is important about life every day, give me stories to tell for the next 50 years.....and totally complete me. This isn't just Shane & I's anniversary, its our family's....

Another weekend that flew by...

Another great weekend @ the Matthews house...nothing too exciting but a good one nonetheless. Yesterday was spent on chores (yuck), my weekly trip to Walmart (my "me" time - how sad!) then Ed & Theresa (my in-laws) came over for dinner to celebrate Ed's birthday. His b-day is actually tomorrow which is also Shane & I's 1st anniversary. We told Ed that by getting married on his birthday, we were giving him the perpetual gift of his grandkids every year on his b-day....so Shane & I could go out to eat :) Well, that's already backfired b/c they've gone out of town!!! Sneaky little suckers aren't they?! Luckily, Shane's aunt (Mickey) is going to come take the kiddos out to eat so Shane & I can go out for dinner....love her!!

Today was a fairly low-key today - I went to Lisa's bridal shower this afternoon which was fun - young love is too cute! Em was gone most of the day b/c she spent the night w/ a friend; Shane & Kate helped Gma Lela & Aunt DeeDee move some furniture; Hannah is still on house arrest so she was around the house and Nick was just hanging out...nothing much phases him as long as he has his trucks & cars to play with!

The house is quiet b/c the kids are in bed...and of course, we're watching pre-season football - fun! This week is another 4-day week for Shane & I b/c we're heading to Indy on Friday to celebrate our anniversary - think of me while I'm at drag racing alllll day on Saturday!!

Deep Breaths

Dove Chocolate wisdom for today..."Take an extra deep breath whenever you need it"...that had to be written with mothers in mind!! Surely I'm not the only one worn out at the end of the week...while its been a fairly good week around here (minus Hannah the Liar and Emily the Incredibly Slow Eater), its still been tiring! I'm not sure that will change anytime soon though...oh say, for the next 15 years! I guess I'd hate to be bored....

I'm glad to report that we're full into the swing of school - every morning gets easier & easier as far as getting my 4 little soldiers through our [carefully orchestrated] routine...I absolutely love it that my kids hop right out when we pull up in front of school, yell "love you Mom" and run in - what more could I ask for?! I think its every parents' dream to have happy, healthy, well-rounded kids - we've got that times 4 in our house!

We've got a pretty quiet weekend planned - no complaints about the quiet part :) We went to the K of C for dinner tonight - the kids ate great! Hannah absolutely cleaned her plate of shrimp & chips...she said "I'm not going to be wasteful"...amen sister! We were going to go to the 1st WHS football game tonight but decided to wait until true football weather, i.e. sweatshirts & jeans, instead of going in shorts & Tshirts. Nick was worried that he'd get in trouble though b/c his teacher said he "had" to go to the game and wear black & gold - it was really hard to convince him that the football game wasn't homework!

The rest of the weekend will be spent on laundry (me), cleaning (me & the girls), mowing (Shane), working on the race truck (Shane & Nick) and some fun stuff...watching movies as a family and I have a bridal shower to go to (cousin Trent Otto's fiancee') on Sunday. I'll try to take some good pics to post soon.

Uh oh....not a good day for Hannah!

Well, our little liar is back....some of you might know about Hannah's short trip to the dark side of lying earlier this summer and the subsequent punishment (remember her having to go to the county fair w/ us but not getting to ride any rides??!). Well, she's back at it - I won't go into all of the gory details but what could have been a fairly minor infraction - having to write a few sentences for flipping a behavior card in class for talking - has turned in to a month-long grounding for not only not telling us about the sentences but then proceeding to sign Shane's name to the parent signature line, insisting for 10 minutes to her teacher that "that's just the way Dad writes his name", not bringing the sentences to us for a 2nd time then telling her teacher she didn't know where the paper was!!! Oh my....talk about a sinking feeling when your daughter's teacher calls you at work to tell you all this....I was not a happy camper in the least bit. Just so you know - I'm sure Shane & I's parents find this funny and are thinking "what goes around, comes around"!!!! I know that's how I'll feel when my kids call & tell me these stories about my grandkids :) Needless to say - Hannah has been writing sentences since we got home and will be writing until she goes to bed...writers cramp for sure!

Busy few days...

Wow...what a busy few days!! Shane spent Friday painting our kitchen - looks fabulous BTW then played a round of golf w/ Jonah. Saturday consisted of taking the kiddos to Anna's for the day so Shane & I could get the house ready for his birthday cookout. We had a really good time at the cookout - good food, good friends & family, good times! Sorry but I didn't take any pics...for those of you w/ access to Abbie's Snapfish page - check out the slideshow entitled "Shane's Birthday Cookout"...funny thing is there's only one pic of Shane in the entire album :) As usual, most of the pictures are of all the kids...

Sunday was fairly quiet - Shane took Em & Nick fishing while Katie, Hannah & our neighbor Avery went w/ me to Walmart...should have went to church since it was St. Mary's last mass before closing but, for various reasons, we didn't go. I spent the rest of the day catching up on laundry...fun fun!

Monday was Shane's 34th birthday - happy b-day babe! We both took the day off from work and, instead of canoeing which was the original plan, Shane decided he wanted to go to Evansville shopping & eating at our fave pizza place, The Slice....no complaints from me!! We had a great time shopping at several places and just being together as a couple...we're coming up on our 1st wedding anniversary which seems kind of crazy since it seems like we've been together for so long...comes along w/ having known each other since we were 15 I guess! Shane totally scored as far as his big b-day present - I finally caved & bought him Guitar Hero - Legends of Rock...as yes, its been hard for him to put it down ever since! Check out his reaction as he opened it:

Just like a kid isn't he?!

Yesterday was also Shane's cousin Gabriel's birthday so we all went over to Grandma Lela's for cake & ice cream...here's the birthday boys:

All in all - a great weekend!

Closing in on the weekend...

We're almost at the end of the first week of school and so far so good! We went to Open House tonight at school and met w/ the girls' teachers...Nick's teacher is also an asst coach for the WHS varsity volleyball team and they had their first away game so she wasn't there. All good news so far from the girls...Nick unfortunately had a note sent home today - yes, its the 3rd day of school - apparently he was a little chatty :( I hope he continues to mature this year - he's one of the youngest (if not the youngest) in his class and he's the baby of our family...we'll see! Hannah & Emily both had really cute "all about me" papers they'd done...Emily describes herself as smart & cool while Hannah says she's "freaky" - when asked what freaky means, she had no answer - kids! Kate of course had all good feedback - that's what we expect from our "good kid"!!

Shane has a four day birthday weekend coming up...he'll be spending Day 1 painting our kitchen (fun fun!) but then the festivities begin! We're having a cookout Sat. then Shane & I are going canoeing on the Blue River on Monday...last time I was canoeing on the Blue River involved Steph, Kim &...well, never mind! oh the memories from that trip!!

I'm sure I'll have lots to talk about after this weekend! Look for lots of pics & funnies here early next week....

1st Day of School

We all survived the 1st day of school!!! I actually think...check that - know I had the hardest time of us all! The girls were fabulous "big" sisters and Nick was such a little man - I was the baby!! I knew it would be hard...heck, I cried last year and the girls were in 2nd & 3rd grades...we alllll knew this year would probably be the hardest on me - at least until Katie graduates high school!

I was so anxious to pick them up from after-school care so I could hear about their days...Katie's best part of the day was seeing her friends, Hannah loves her teacher and classroom, Emily was excited about her friends and recess and Nick....well, Nick couldn't name a favorite part but his friend Luke from the YMCA is in his class so I'm thrilled that he had someone he knew close by. When I picked them up, they were all playing and looked like such happy kids...made this mom's heart smile :) Now, let's just hope Day 2 goes as smoothly!