Brings back memories

I have been trying to sift through old photos recently because I have a multiple picture picture frame to fill up. All sorts of memories come back to me as I look through them. The picture below probably brings up the majority of the early memories of our married life - oh so joyful and full of love, but oh so many struggles as well. But believe me, all the struggles and sleepless nights were totally worth it!!!

Don't look too closely though - you'll notice there's lots of dust on the little table beside the chair...and look at the Mt. Dew bottles!!! Too funny!!

The little things...

Every morning I sit and push the kids along to get ready for school - usually because they are running behind! This morning, as I was getting the kids' vitamins, Mia announced to me that she wanted the 'red' one. Right at that moment Kale took the only 'red' one out of my hand. I'm sure he did it just to make her mad (yep, Kale would do that!) so I told him he needed to give it back to her. I could have just as easily swapped one of the other ones for another red one but little things like this seem to be a constant battle for the two of them.

Amilia is a child of many hugs, kisses, and strong will - but she is also a child of many hits, pushes, and tattle-tailing on her brother. They truly fight as much as they love - maybe that's why they fight the way they do. They are both very passionate kids and very strong willed. I thank God every day that he gave us Anabelle to help even things out!!!

As most mornings would have played out, Mia would have scolded Kale long after I had already done so (and quiet enough that she would hope I wouldn't hear)...but to my surprise, she did the exact opposite! While Kale was pouting in his chair, Mia took her red vitamin and exchanged it with Kale's orange one - all while thinking I wasn't watching. It's those little things that I've come to find the most precious of moments - and for my strong-willed little girl that was a big deal!! Thank you, Lord, for the little things...

Thatching the yard

Ah, yard work...how we love it so (said with sarcasm) but part of the joys of living on an acreage. We have been hard hit the past couple summers and feel like we have done nothing but cut trees and work on fixing our driveway. Still lots of work to do - but Mommy's favorite is mowing the lawn!!! Yes, I LOVE to mow! I am one of those that finds accomplishment in seeing my progress! Sunday we decided we needed to get to work on thatching the yard and bagging it. Chad decided it was time to let the girls learn how to drive the mower - I'm not quite sure I'm going to hand over my mowing responsibilities quite yet though...I'm a little anal about straight lines and as you can tell, the girls aren't quite to that point!!!
(Ana)
(Mia)

Spring soccer season has officially begun

Soccer has begun!!! YAY!! We love soccer at this house and nothing is more fun than watching our kids run around and be exhausted when they're done - Haha! No, really, we do love this sport and we're excited that Kale has now joined the crew.

Kale did great running out to his coach and practiced for about 30 minutes...then started to have a breakdown! Why it took 30 minutes, I'm not sure. This kid...oh so tough, but oh so timid at times - his sister, Mia, is exactly the same way. Hopefully after he has his first game and realizes how much fun it is, the hesitancy will go away. Not sure who this trait came from - but it's one that drives me crazy!!! It's a tough thing to handle for a parent (ME) who was never the shy one or afraid to try new things! Maybe they're trying to teach me patience...we'll see how that works out for them! Haha

"Now I'm Mike"

For those of you who are avid HGTV watchers, like we are, you have probably seen Mike Holmes (Holmes Inspection or Holmes on Homes). He is our absolute favoritest (as Kale says) and even have to DVR his shows!! One thing you can count on is that if Kale hears the music for one of Mike's shows, Kale comes running and is mesmerized the WHOLE entire show. He will even sit down sometimes and say "Can we PLEASE watch Mike?"

So, during Auction Fest, when I saw these tools, I knew Kale would want them...and sure enough, the first thing he said after he got his gear on is, "Now I'm Mike, Mom!!!" We may have created a monster!

Time to get out the checkbook!!!

If there is one thing that I could say has been one of the most fun things about being an at home mom, it's that I get to spend my time volunteering for activities at the kids' school. I have more fun carting students around from activity to activity, reading in their classroom, helping out if a teacher is sick in Kale's preschool, etc. The one thing I don't always enjoy...setting up for the schools biggest fundraising event!!!

This whole week - and couple weeks prior - has been about Auction Fest. It's a night that is filled with laughter, fun, and making money to help support our Catholic School - something that those who are prior students of, parents of, teachers of, and current parent/students of truly find value in. I always volunteer to be the classroom parent and decorate. I do it because I get to design creative things with the students for their classroom item to be donated and because I get to be around people are truly a joy to be around while decorating. It's a lot work, but we have lots of laughs during the process...but MAN, it takes up a lot of time!

Kale has been a trooper - he has gone in with me every year and blown up balloons that are used as decorations and is becoming quite the helper!! The teachers and students get quite the kick out of him!!




So, now it's time to get ready to get out our checkbooks and do some bidding! The girls have already begged for us to bring home their class donation (gas grill, grilling utensils/seasonings, meat certificate, bean bag toss game (that the class personally designed), blankets, portable picnic table, and horse shoe game.) They begged for last years class donation as well but that went for $1500 so needless to say, after plenty of bids put in by us it didn't end up in OUR house!!! hahaha