Recap of the past week

The day before Thanksgiving, me and Mike had our big yearly argument. Not sure why, but we always seem to have a big one around this time of year. Holiday stress maybe? It's not good, but it always somehow gets us back on track :o) And I can honestly say that I enjoyed having my family home for a 5 day Holiday, instead of wishing they'd all go back to school or work.

Unfortunately, I don't handle stress well so I spent the week fighting off panic attacks :o( I hate that I ever have to deal with them cuz it makes life hard, but I'm thankful that they only show up occasionally.

Thanksgiving at Gramma's house was nice....until the end when another panic attack struck out of the blue, so I gave Mike "the look" and he got us all out of there quickly to go home. Sometimes I really don't give him enough credit. He knows me so well that I don't have to say a word and he knows what I need.

The rest of that evening was one big fat attack after another but I made it. Me and Haylee didn't get to go out for black Friday shopping because of me and I feel awful about that :o( But we ended up going out to the mall that Saturday instead, just me and her for several hours.

The rest of the Holiday weekend was full of Christmas decorating. Me and the girls did the tree inside while the guys worked on the outside. They did a great job!! I need to get pics outside but here's the tree inside :o)

And the teachers say...

That both boys are doing great!! Isaac's teacher went on and on about how sweet he is.....and Ethans teacher said he has all A's and he's making friends well. She specifically said that he is making "the right kind of friends" which made me very happy to hear :o) I always hope that my kids will lean toward the good crowd instead of the bad. Brandon was always very selective about who he spent his time with and we've never had any concerns with his friends.

Anyways, they are both doing well in all areas! Here's a piece of Isaac's art that we saw hanging in the hallway :o)

Making cake.....

With Haylee-Boo....then we're off to teacher conferences for Ethan and Isaac. Can't wait to hear how they are doing, especially Isaac since its his first year of school. I already know Ethan will get raving reviews as always ;o)

Report Cards

Proud of my kiddos!! Ethan made the high honor roll, Haylee got 2 B's and the rest A's.....Isaac got mostly good marks except where it said "raises hand before speaking". He got a P for progressing. Hahaha! Thats our little chatterbox! This year he is having to learn ALOT of self control :o) But he's doing well!!

Besides that, it's been a pretty uneventful week....

The weekend

Was busy!! Friday night I went with Isaac and Ethan to Mother/Son game night at school. We ate, played games and won tickets for prizes. Big fun! Daddy kept the girls and they watched a movie and made cookies together :o)

Saturday was Fall family work day at the Payne house. We raked ALOT of leaves, cleaned out gutters and put the outdoor toys away. Of course like every year, the kids got to jump in the huge pile of leaves after the hard work was over. Our neighbor (Charlie Brown) walked over with some bags of candy that he and his wife made for the kids. We've only been here for 3 months now but I really LOVE our neighbors so far. They've all been very friendly!

Today we went to church and then to Gloria's to help her with some things. She took us out to dinner, which was greatly appreciated! She also gave us alot of her old Christmas lights and decorations. She wanted her garage emptied and we lost most of our Christmas stuff in the damp basement at the old house, so it worked out well for all of us. Now I cant wait to put the lights up outside, but that will have to wait until after Thanksgiving, to stick with tradition.

Me and Mike also tried to hang a new basement door tonight. It's up there, but I'm not fully convinced that it will last for long. I'm not so sure this DIY stuff is gonna work for us ;o)

Pictures soon from this weekend!

Hide & Seek ain't just for kids!

Yes, I played hide and seek outside tonight with Isaac & Ethan, cuz sometimes it's just nice to be a kid again :o) Elyssa's been at my Moms house all day hangin' out with her Grammy, so I took advantage of some time with the boys. Brandon's doing homework and Haylee is sleeping, as usual. She must be going through some kind of girly, pre-puberty, hormonal thing cuz she sleeps alot lately - and she's a bit on the "touchy" side too.....



More Pics...

We finally had a nice day yesterday, not too cold and the sun even showed up for awhile. Of course in my mind, this meant dragging out the Canon!



Someone gave her this really cute barbie jeep for free. What a blessing for my lil girl...Obviously, her steering abilities need a bit of polishing. Either that or the tree should have moved.

Isaac doesn't care if it's Barbie....or pretty purple :o)

And isn't he sooooo handsome??

Some pics from the gym at Ten Point O in Elyria. Elyssa absolutely LOVES this! They don't really teach the kids anything. It's just 45 minutes of free play on the gymnastics equipment, every other Wednesday. I would LOVE to enroll her in one of their classes, but our funds just won't allow for that right now. Maybe after Christmas though :o)

This one shows her new haircut. Short and sassy, just like her!

In the foam block pit

Just being her cute self

And when I turned to talk to a friend, I looked back a few seconds later to find her like this....

Disappointed

  Because of some people and their petty issues, they have to ruin things for others.

  I'm learning more and more that you just can NOT please everyone. I can try, but some people really just make it almost impossible....And for those people, I'm done trying....done catering to everyone else's childish problems.

  Facebook was a great "tool" for me. I was so extremely shy before and in many ways, facebook helped me come out of my little world and get involved with other people....online and eventually offline too.

  But lately I think that being in my own lil world was much safer. Maybe not as fun, but definitely safer. I enjoy facebook because I like writing a little bit about my day - something I can share with others and look back at. But since everything has to stay so rediculously secretive, I will come here and blog instead, and a VERY select few will have access to it. It won't have the social aspect that facebook has, but maybe thats not so bad after all.

Of course, these are my feelings for today....I reserve the right to change them tomorrow :o)

Haircut!

Elyssa got her first big haircut today. It was so uneven and oddly layered - I wasn't thrilled about cutting it so short but my hope is that it will grow nicer now. Thanks Aunt Yvonne!



Halloween revisited

So it turns out the hubby DID get to go trick-or-treating with us. Yay! We had a ballerina, Snake Eyes, a vampire, a cowgirl.....and since we went with Rach & Josh so we also had a lil bunny and a Rapunzel. Good time with family! It doesn't get better than that! Our kids tire out easily so I'm glad we took the wagon with us.

Jordan

Samara, Elyssa & Haylee

Tired Ballerina

Its Halloween

And it stinks that I have to do everything alone because of Mikes work schedule....Most of the time I feel like a single Mom, but I'll put my feelings aside as always and make sure my kids have a great Halloween tonight. That's all that really matters.

Carman

We saw him, just 20 feet away. It was a great night with my Mom, Nancy, Kathy, Brandon, Haylee and  Ethan :o) How awesome to see him up close. He's still great, even without all the dramatic concert effects we've seen before.

I love these girls!!

In May....

I very unexpectedly fell in love with an old (111 years to be exact) farm house that was for sale. We had NO intentions of buying a house but I knew in my heart that this was supposed to be mine :o) There were several obstacles along the way but God stepped in and handled it all - So in early August we finally signed the official papers, bought our own home, and moved in the night before Elyssa's 3rd birthday.....nothing fabulous or fancy.....but its OUR home!! Its a work in progress but we've already done several minor things to update it and I've got a lot more ideas for the future :o)



Only 6 months....

Since I last posted. Thats awful!! But I'm about to download the blogger app on my phone so I can do it more often :o) Obviously, since I last posted, we DID make it safely to Florida. DisneyWorld was awesome!! Seeing Elyssa meet the Princesses made me teary eyed. All of the kids had so much fun and cousin Rhonda was a wonderful host. We also did Hollywood Studios, Gatorland and spent a day at the beach. I finally got to see a REAL ocean and it was everything I thought it would be! The whole week was a blast and I wish we could have stayed longer.

Since then we have had some big things happen! But I'll have to blog more about that later, cuz it's time for bed now!

Its almost time!!

Our Florida trip is quickly approaching! I keep waiting for that "thing" to happen. Ya know, that unexpected thing that will ruin the trip and make us have to cancel the whole thing. But I'm trying to stay optimistic :o)

I'm nervous about leaving. I can't really explain why. I guess it's just because we haven't gone on any REAL vacations. The only things we've done were quick trips - camping for 2 days or Niagara Falls for a weekend. This is so much farther, and longer.

But I hope it's the trip of our lives! One that the kids will never forget. I know Elyssa won't remember it, but hopefully the rest of them will. I am even excited about the long drive. I remember when I was a kid and we used to drive 9 hours to Tennessee. Everyone complained about the driving time but I loved it :o)

The big van is rented, and I will spend this whole week packing and figuring out what else we need....5 days and counting!

Not the best week ever

Last week we had a little blip in our Disney trip. It turns out cousin Rhonda can't get us into DisneyWorld for free. Not in April anyway.....so we had to make a decision: Postpone the trip or go anyways and pay to get in. Getting 7 people into Disneyworld is close to $500 :o(  Postponing the trip would mean waiting until NEXT year. We all agree that we don't want to go during the summertime because we are big babies about the extreme heat, plus that is the rainy/hurricane season and we don't want to risk the weather being bad while we're there either. Soooo, we've decided to go ahead and go in April, as planned. We will have to pay to get in, but right after we found that out, Mike also found out he's getting a bonus from work in April and that will cover it all!! So, God worked it out. Rhonda also found out that she CAN get us into Hollywood Studios for free, so that is something we'll be able to do on another day while we're there! That looks like something the kids will really enjoy!

I finished the wedding pictures and sent the bride thelink for viewing them. Apparently I forgot to take a picture of someone....the bride's sister-in-law. She is in a couple of the pictures in the background, but none of the posed family pictures. I had a bad vibe about doing this wedding and the bride and groom didn't seem very friendly. I really need to listen to that little voice in my head! But, I told them from the start that I don't know anyone when I do a wedding, so they need to be sure that they tell me who needs to be in the posed pictures and who goes with what family, etc.....I had no idea that this woman was even the brothers wife.....Ugggh! Anyways, I told her I would check my pictures again to make sure I didn't miss one with her in it, but there just aren't any. We'll see what she says now. Hopefully this doesn't ruin my future photography career ;o)

Weddings and a moment missed

I did a wedding on Saturday. Why is it that the men at weddings make me a nervous wreck?? They always act like they can't stand having to be in the pictures. I hate doing weddings, but that seems to be what I get booked for all the time....I haven't even looked through the pictures yet. Hopefully I got some decent ones but my nerves were shot.

And that is what I did all day, instead of going to see my daughter sing at the college with the Lorain County Honors Choir. What a horrible Mom.....I felt awful about it but I didn't know the date for it until a week ago and I had already booked the wedding. Mike went to see her sing, and my Mom and Dad. I'm ordering the DVD and hopefully that will help to redeem me.

Disneyworld!!

It's almost time!! On April 22nd we leave for the LONG drive to Disneyworld. I never thought I would ever be able to take my kids to Disney. But Mike's cousin Rhonda lives near there and out of the blue she emailed me with an offer we couldn't refuse: a stay at her house, and getting all 7 of us into Disneyworld for free! This is awesome considering I've only met Rhonda one short time about 7 years ago. What a blessing she is!

So, our biggest expense will be renting a bigger van for the week. I am SO excited.....Honestly, I think I am more excited than the kids. We're going to see the Toy Story characters that I love, and the Princesses and most importantly, we'll see this famous guy:

It's unfortunate that Elyssa is only 2 and probably won't remember the trip at all, but she'll relive it someday through pictures...And knowing me, there will be ALOT of pictures! :o)

3.7.11

Sometimes I just can't think of a nifty title so I'll just put the date up there instead :o)

Ethan, Isaac and Elyssa were so sick last week. I'm tired :o) It's hard to take care of everyone. Elyssa and Ethan slept so much and the fevers were out of control. Baby girl was sooooo whiney, and today is really the first day that she seemed back to normal again.

She also fell backward in her Barbie chair and cut her head open, on the day we were having a snowstorm of course!! After calling the nurse, we decided that she would probably be ok without stitches. These little people just enjoy keeping me on my toes!

I think I'll be signing Elyssa up for preschool next Fall. The same one that Isaac goes to, which is only one day a week for 2 hours. By then Isaac will be in Kindergarden, and that means that while she is there, I'll have two whole hours to get some things done....errands, shopping, etc. It's strange but the thought of that almost scares me. When I actually get to venture out without kids, I always feel like something is missing. I suppose I will get used to it - and I'll probably get alot more done without the little Miss needing to go potty every 10 minutes :o)

In other news, Saturday I went with Rachel and Josh for her 4D ultrasound. The baby wasn't too thrilled about it so she kept her feet up in front of her face most of the time...Hard to believe she will be having another baby girl in April or May!! Our family has been so blessed with healthy children.

Various Tidbits of Life

The kids have had 2 snow days in a row and right now, tomorrow isn't looking good either. I think they've already run out of snow days for the year. Of course this happens during the one week per month that Mike is on night shifts. I get to spend my whole day trying to keep these wild ones quiet while he sleeps. Fun times I tell ya! :o)

In other news, I traded in my beloved Canon XTi and got a used 40D. That's exciting stuff, although it was a little emotional to hand over my "baby" to someone else. I really think I'm going to love this new one though!! I can't wait for Spring so I can get outside and play with it more!

Miss Haylee graduated from her Dare program on Monday. Here's proof that she will NEVER do drugs :o)

And it was fun because they held the graduation at my old high school. I got to walk around a little bit and I can't say that much has changed.....other than my age :o) But thinking back to high school didn't make me sad about getting older. I was such a shy (aka terrified) teenager - and even into my 20's and early 30's. Just in the last year things have changed, although I'm not sure why. But it's definitely a good thing. I have more confidence and I feel better about myself. For once I don't feel like everyone else is above me....most of the time anyway. I still struggle with those self esteem issues, but I am a totally different person and I kinda like the new me ;o)



Birthday Boy

A few pics from Isaac's party. He got nice gifts AND ended up with $75 on top of that! Sheesh, he's only five!! Today I took him shopping with his money and he bought a big remote control jeep. He says he's going to race Daddy :o)

A couple of funnies

My kids seem to say the funniest/cutest things lately....

This morning I woke up and Isaac ran to hug me and said "Good morning Mommy!! Did you have a good sleep?" Awwwe!!

Later on, I jokingly said something about Haylee talking too much and she says very dramatically "I know! It's exhausting to be the one who talks all day long!" Haha!!

In other news, on our way home from the mall today, we ran out of gas on Island Road. My gauge must be off....but me and Haylee had fun while we were stuck in the middle of nowhere. This is my child in the middle of the road - wearing thin capri leggings and a sweatshirt type jacket. It was 12 degrees at the time. That'll teach her ;o)

Other than the wild plow truck incident, we were fine until Mike came to save us a few minutes later. Aaah, good times!

Another birthday...

And this one has me quite emotional....but not because it's my birthday - it's actually my little Isaac turning five.

He's always been our carefree, wild, energetic little boy who was totally oblivious to the world around him. Some parents would complain about that and I understand to a point. But he always amazed me with how innocent his mind was. He had NO idea that anything could ever go wrong. No fears, no worries, no regrets. Just play, eat, sleep, repeat....

Now, I see that changing. He seems to care more about other people's feelings, worries more and he acts more mature than he did even just a few weeks ago. His heart is changing and he is more aware of the things around him. While I know thats a good thing in some ways....it also makes me sad because he is discovering that bad things DO happen, and that people get angry and do hurtful things, and maybe to be honest - I wanted him to stay clueless about those things. He asks me often if we still love him and I continually tell him that nothing he could do would change that. He never thought of those things before and it breaks my heart that he would worry about such things.

I know that turning 5 means going to school soon, and then he will learn even more about the real world. Why can't they just stay young...innocent...sweet? This song pretty much sums it up for me:

"To you everything's funny.....you got nothing to regret....I'd give all I have honey....if you could stay like that"

So tonight I sang that song to him while we were rocking and he said with the sweetest little crackling voice "I'm sorry Mom, I have to grow up - So I can be a good big person like you and daddy".

Happy birthday little man, you melt Mommy's heart!!



The good, the sad and the ugly.....

Lots of random thoughts from this weekend, some good and some not so good.

Evan came home to visit. He left for Marine bootcamp in August and due to some health issues, he finished late. It was an amazing feeling to open my front door last Sunday and see him standing there in his Marine uniform. He has spent alot of time here over the last few years and I've always said he was my "other son". Saturday evening was his bootcamp graduation party. So very sad to see him leave again, but he is going to be great. He's such a great kid, despite having a rough family life.....We bought him a marine bible with his name printed on the front. Something he may not appreciate fully right now, but I hope he does someday :o)

My girl Haylee, I'm so proud of her....at Evan's party she sang karaoke and blew everyone away. We come from a long line of singers/musicians and I'm so glad that talent has been passed down to her, and even more importantly, that she is brave enough to show her gift....unlike me! She has sang at my Moms church and just recently, our youth leader asked if she would sing a song during offering in their kids church. There's no better feeling than knowing my child has a great talent AND she's using it for Jesus!! Go Haylee!!

On to Sunday - We got together with some friends and family and went tubing with the 4 wheelers. It felt good to just goof off and be a kid again!

And then came Monday - Sick sick sick!! I woke up at 5:30am with a crampy stomach and ended up with some kind of tummy bug. I am glad the kids didn't have school that day. Ethan was a great help and kept Elyssa's messes picked up. Mike picked up Haylee from Janell's house and brought home some dinner for everyone. Thank God for my family :o)

Disappointed....

I guess you should never assume that people actually "grow up" as they age. It's simply not true for many people.

On facebook I came across a couple of people that Mike and I used to work with at Dreco, which is also where we met. I told them it would be nice to see everyone we worked with again, and we decided we should set up a Dreco reunion. I pictured us all meeting up at a restaurant with our families, talking and catching up and showing pictures of our kids. I assumed that most of those drama-loving party animals had probably changed for the better after 11+ years. I guess I was sadly mistaken.

Word of the Dreco reunion is officially out on facebook....and everyone has decided to meet at a grubby little hick town BAR. These former coworkers are talking about getting drunk already, and making comments about who they hope does NOT come, and how they will make certain people feel unwelcome on purpose. Apparently it's the same old drama and the same old drunken disaster.

I'm sad, because there really were a few people I wanted to see....but I guess I won't be going - to the reunion that was MY idea in the first place :o( It's not at all what I had planned, and Mike agrees. I suppose some things are better left in the past anyways.

New Year - 2011

Happy New Year and once again, it's been too long since I've blogged here. Christmas was good. Mike surprised me with a couple of things I wasn't expecting.  A nice change from "take some money and go shopping for yourself".....although THAT is fun too :o)

Christmas Even was special this year. We had alot of family and friends at my Moms church for our Christmas Eve dinner. Even Santa showed up! We took a few minutes to recognize family members who have passed on recently, and lit a candle for each one. I hope we do that every year now.

The kids got way too much as always, but they are blessed with so many loving family members. Netbooks, a PSP, guitars, dolls, Wii games, legos, roller blades, BB guns and more - filling up this already cluttered house.

New Years Eve we went to the outdoor shop and then played some Monopoly and Wii to pass the time until Midnight. Isaac didn't quite understand it all. After the ball fell, we screamed, kissed, blew our loud squawkers, drank our juice....and 10 minutes later he asked, "When is that ball gonna fall so I can drink my juice?". That little guy cracks me up sometimes.

So, it's 2011 and I must admit (again) to being a slacker lately with my bible reading and prayer. Time just slips away so quickly and when I get a few free moments at night, I usually sit down with my computer and catch up on emails, facebook, blog reading, etc....

This morning I woke up and my first thought was that I wanted to read my bible. It was an excited, urgent feeling. Then I wondered where to start and instantly "Ruth" popped into my head. I figured there must be something to learn from Ruth. So, I woke the kids for their first day back to school, made myself a cup of coffee and sat down with a blanket and my bible. Of course Elyssa, who normally wakes up around 8:30am, woke up today before 7am. Minor setback, but I still got to read the entire book of Ruth while she snuggled with me and watched TV.

I'm not exactly sure what I've learned from this woman named Ruth. Maybe that she was loyal and loving no matter what? Something I have struggled with lately - having a bad, selfish, angry "why me" attitude......Or maybe it has reminded me that I need to be more supportive of family members who are alone. In the past few days I have felt some guilt over my husbands sister.  She never married, she is in her 50's and lives alone. She lost her Father and sister within 30 days of one another, 2 years ago. Since then she has really gotten more involved in our kids' lives, because basically, we're all she has left. Her other 2 brothers really don't care to talk to anyone and the extended family is not around much either. She goes overboard buying our kids Christmas and birthday gifts, she watches them for me to shop or for us to get a night out. Sometimes she just offers to take them to dinner and a movie.....and I have not let her know what that means to me. In fact, her birthday was december 29th and I got busy, had a bad day, and never even got around to calling her. So, maybe the book of Ruth has showed me that I need to send her an email, or give her a call and tell her how much I appreciate her.

Anyways, it's a new year and I hope that this renewed desire to read my bible sticks around. I want to be the best christian/person/wife/mother that I can be in 2011!