Picnic dinner

Last night we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and pick up some pizza and head to the park with the kids. Raegan wanted nothing to do with sitting down at the table to eat, she just wanted to go play....she was standing just to the left pointing with one finger to the playground and with the other finger up one nostril...

and what is a visit to the park without some photos...

the boys found snails...raegan held one until it came out it's shell and scared the daylights out of her causing her to scream at the top of her lungs...the kids were checking them out and this is as close as she was going to get. no more snails for her!

trey found some frogs to torture

It was a much needed, nice relaxing night!

Education Celebration

Last night was "education celebration" so Trey, Raegan and I skipped out of Trey's soccer practice and headed to school while Daddy, Ethan and Avery went to her practice. The 5th and 6th grades strings, band and chorus were all giving performances in the gym. Strings was first thank goodness (for raegan's sake and my sanity) I didn't get any good pictures during the performance since he was in the back row. He has chosen to continue on with playing the viola in middle school as well so has signed up to take 6th grade strings. Speaking of middle school, today they had a field trip to the middle school and got to eat lunch there. I believe Trey used up his entire lunch balance that he had on his account all on today's lunch...pizza hut pizza, gatorade, beef jerky, chocolate cupcake...his words of middle school lunch choices..."awesome" we will be setting some limits next year but i told him to have fun and get what he wanted today. He said he did pretty good practicing with the locker combinations, something he has been a little worried about so that set his mind at ease a little. He is excited and told me today "i am growing up" just in case i hadn't noticed!!

we checked out the classrooms as they had lot's of the kids' items on display for the parents to see.

Today i took Avery out of school early to revisit the audiologist to get her ear re-checked. Her left ear that compensates for her right ear (that she has hearing loss in) has had a flat tympanogram (she has fluid in her ears) with hearing loss for several months now. Her allergist put her on a 20 day antibiotic to hopefully clear up anything in there but at todays visit it remained the same...frustrating! The audiologist would like us to consult with an ent. It wouldn't be as big of a deal if she didn't have hearing loss in the other ear but since her left one is her "good" one and she is not hearing as well out of that one now she thinks it is "not something we should wait out". I'm not sure if they are going to want to do tubes but that is just what i am expecting them to say but we will see, hopefully not. Hopefully we can get it resolved without that but i'm not sure how.

I grabbed my camera and went into the back yard to grab a couple of pictures of the kids swinging. They were not swinging...i gulped and then took a picture...

she's is being quite the example for those two little monkeys...as if they need any more ideas! They were right there with her thinking she was the coolest big sister ever.

If you are friends with me on facebook, you have probably heard me whining this week. This girl has been giving me a run for my money...just purely exhausting me...i love her to pieces but she is a handful...

We did mow all that long grass after i took these pictures. I got the front done and as soon as i started the back the mower blew up...well, not literally but it stopped working and was smoking so it may as well have. Thankfully we have a really nice neighbor down the street that has a riding mower and came and whipped out our back lawn in no time flat.

I'm trying to kill time. I am staying up till almost midnight to try to win a toy off ebay for Trey that he has put a bid on. He has been checking it non. stop! I have got to win this thing so that my ear can have a breather...14 hrs mommy, 12 hrs mommy, 4 hrs 15 minutes, 3 hrs 24 minutes...

Hope your having a great week!

Once upon a time

Once upon a time there were two guys that each had a motorcycle. They decided it would be fun to go on a bike trip. Since one of the guys was my husband and the other my brother in law Greg we decided it would be fun if my sister Susan and her kids came to stay with me while they were gone...

Fast forward several days...the guys had called us early in the evening and told us they were setting up camp for the night and getting some rest. Susan and i were hanging out in our living room just watching tv. My kids were gone...i believe at Grandma's for the night...Susan's kids were in the bedrooms. We had both kind of dozed off, it was getting later in the evening.

All of a sudden Susan woke me anxiously saying "Elisa, i think someone is at the back door!!" We froze, listening for any noise at the door...i could see the door was cracked open from where i was sitting...i assumed that the intruder was either already in the kitchen or just outside the doors (french doors). I have literally never been more terrified in my entire life! I yelled as loudly as i could at Susan "GET THE GUN!!" as i headed to the front door--insert that i am a horrible aunt, here i am about to bolt leaving 4 kids in the other room...what kind of an aunt would just bolt?! I'm going to just go with the thought that i forgot there were any kids in the house...we will just go with that and hope i do better next time! My sister screams at me at this point to call 911...

That was all it took...the guys couldn't get in fast enough. They came rushing in trying to calm us down. Susan had some choice words that only pure fear would bring out and i think she might have beat on her husband for a little bit ;) They felt horrible. They had only tried to surprise us, not scare the living daylights, which they certainly did out of us!

Back up a little...they had not come in quick enough for my speed dialing fingers. I had already called 911! I am sure they had every reason in the world not to believe me when my shaky voice said "oh i'm sorry it was a misunderstanding. we thought someone was breaking in but it is our husbands here surprising us by coming home early from a trip"...i mean come on that sounds believable don't ya think?

The reply i got was "ok honey but i need to send some people out to check on you anyway ok?" "some" people was two or three cop cars and several officers in our yard and on our front porch. Johnny and Greg were sitting on the couch being stared down by the officers while i explained that they truly were our husbands and that all was ok.

Now, do we really have a gun in the house? No, we don't. But i thought at least the intruder might think " oh no we have a terrified chick that's going to blow my head off", at least that's what i wanted him to think! i could yell "get the sword" we do have a few of those. Maybe i will try that next time.

On the other hand, i don't think there will ever be a next time. A next time at least of our husbands trying to surprise us by sneaking in the back door...

Thanks Dora

Thank you Dora, good work...your mission is accomplished...your work here is done...

Was it a morning like this

that a mommy lost her mind?

I wake up with a pounding headache, i didn't sleep well due to the fact we had loudly mating cats outside our window...disturbing

I begin my 15 daily times of trying to wake my soundly sleeping daughter Avery...each time my tone getting less and less patient and louder each time...and ending with threats of that she will be going to bed at 7pm!

I flip on the boy's light, that's all it takes for Trey...he get's up with no prodding

I head out to make lunches, still hollering at Avery every few minutes...finally she is up so i get all her medicine out (has consisted of 4-7 pills and 2 nasal sprays this month) and start her waffle

Ethan comes meandering out ready. to.eat!

Avery and Ethan are eating beside each other and start to fight about "mommy, avery is staring at me" back and forth in that same manner through the whole breakfast!

Time to wake the cranky one...Raegan never seems to wake happy, she fusses till she has a juice cup! I have to quickly change her cause she will soon soak through her diaper only if she hasn't already...more often than not. She is somewhat happy once she has her juice and sitting at the table waiting for her pancake....as i pick her up no 15 minutes from the time i have sat her down she has soaked through her new diaper and her shorts are soaked...it's a test diaper...i give that one a big fat F!


I tell Trey to brush his teeth at least 5 times...i don't think he got them brushed!

Raegan wants to be held and lot's of crying insues when put down. She also has not come to grips with the concept of "i will get that for you in a second" and Lord help me till she does!!

I say it's 8:00, time to get in the car now!

I say it's 8:05, Ethan you are going to make your brother and sister tardy if you don't get your shoes on NOW!

That's it your getting carried to the car...i told you 3 times to put your shoes on...crying!

Time to pray in the car...I say it's avery's turn...she says no i think it's your turn...ethan says it's his turn, even though he did yesterday and with that avery says oh ok it's my turn and starts praying before anyone else can get their say in.

Avery and Trey argue about brake lights, yep...brake lights!

Birthday Dinner

Johnny turned 36 yesterday! He is now "a year older" than me for the next 3 and half months, i have that long to rile him about being an old man!

We had a busy evening of soccer practices so we had a late dinner after at Spin Pizza. It was our first time there...really good pizza!

I took Raegan to the dr yesterday and she had strep so we are hoping and crossing our fingers and toes that it doesn't spread throughout the family!! She took the shot with a lot of screaming and informs everyone she "got a shot", even the guy trying to tell us about the pizza got interrrupted with "hey, i got a shot!" She did great for daddy's dinner but then was ready for some more motrin by the time we got home!

Happy Birthday Babe, hope you had a good one!

Nebraska Spring game

On Saturday we headed to Lincoln, Nebraska with our two oldest kids. It's not very often that we get to do something alone with them so we were excited about giving them some undivided attention. Raegan and Ethan were getting some Grandma time in, so they were happy as little larks! Johnny and the kids had gone shopping for food Friday night while i was working and had the cold box packed. We had steak and grilled chicken while we tailgated before the game.

the stadium was packed...almost 78,000 people...lot's of red!!

at half time we got to go out on the field for the kids drug free pledge...this is the kids on the 50 yard line

Johnny has been a huge Nebraska football fan for years...his kids are now also big fans and me, i'll be honest...i did more people watching than game watching but it was fun enjoying the day with my hubby.


And i hadn't mentioned the day could not have been any better in the weather dept. sunny and 68-70 degrees! Perfect!

Tidbits

Here are a few tidbits...

Johnny- keeping very busy with work. his company is extremely busy which is great! He is beginning another project. The pavers that we purchased for our back patio last year did not get laid last summer so that is something he is wanting to get done so that we have our little fenced patio area complete! He is getting ready to celebrate his 36th birthday next week...i can always give him a hard time cause i' always younger than him...by a few months!

Me- working lots and running lots. Going to do a 5k in May and then probably another half marathon in June. Getting so excited for lot's of visits to Worlds of fun/ Oceans of fun (we have our season passes) and looking forward to spending lot's of lazy days at the pool this summer. In the middle of a diaper study with Raegan and then i should probably start potty training her...uuug! The thought of being done buying diapers is about the only motivation i have for that!

Trey- is playing soccer with his buddies again through Upwards. He is growing like a weed and is very proud that he is catching me. He has pulled his math grade up a letter this last quarter so he was and should be very proud of himself! He is looking forward to going to summer camp for the first time this summer. He excited but yet nervous about starting middle school this next fall. He is going on another field trip there this month and get's to eat lunch there which he thinks is pretty cool...i'm sure he will get all the "fun" food!

Avery- is playing soccer with two of her friends through Upwards as well, she loves it! She is having a rough allergy season and missed one day of school this week because of them. We are trying a whole new regimen of meds and going back to weekly shots temporarily to hopefully help her. Since she had to go to the nurse a couple of times yesterday to have her eyes irrigated they are keeping her in at recess the rest of this week (counts are supposed to be very high the rest of this week) so she goes to the office and reads during her recesses. She doesn't seem to mind one bit, she's sick of holding a washcloth on her eyes. She is still waiting on mommy to get moving on her pink room...hopefully soon! She asked for several days to have a certain thing in her lunch on "cold lunch" days and mommy would forget, so this is what i found on the counter one night after she went to bed...



Ethan- asks 250 questions a day! i'm exagerating but i wouldn't doubt at all if that is close. He naps really good some days and then other days he will come out after 30 minutes and say he woke up and then asks how i know he didn't sleep. He my little picky eater has turned into a little piggie (most of the time) We crack up watching him eat/ shoving it in. His favorite is "soft meat" aka: salsbury steaks. When he sees me cooking that and mashed potatoes he get's all excited and says "oh mommy you made soft meat, yay!" He still balks at any and all other meat he has to chew too much. He is very excited to go to Worlds of fun...he will be spending lot's of hours at Camp Snoopy this summer!

Raegan- has done awesome in her toddler bed pretty much from day one. Wasn't the battle i thought it might be. We have had to discipline a few times but not too many. She is on Orapred right now because her eczema was really flared on one of her legs but i'm very happy that this time it hasn't seemed to affect her sleep like last time! (she was like a wired energizer bunny that wouldn't stop last time) he gave her a lower dose because i told him what happened last time, so i guess it has helped. She has had a raspy voice and i mentioned this to the allergist. We will be going to see an ent if it remains the same after 2 months of increased allergy meds. She continues to wear her momma out being independent and wanting to do everything herself in her OWN time. She is starting into the stage of picky eating. A lot of things that she used to eat she will now not touch, such is the life of a 2-4 yr old i have learned through the years! Oh yea, and she has done awesome with her ear tubes!! no ear pain, no antibiotics for months...this after being on antibiotic once to twice a month for life makes for a happy momma!

Hope you are all having a great week!

Olathe half marathon

Saturday was the Olathe half- marathon that i have been training for. I don't think we could have possibly asked for better weather for the race!! I shed my long sleeves by mile 4 or 5! I bought a new watch for the race and at about mile 6 the stinkin alarm started going off and wouldn't shut off so i hit a button and completely erased and started my time over! Thankfully i was always withing sight of the 2:00 hr pacer (they carry a long stick with the pace times) so i pretty much knew how i was doing on time. I wanted so bad to break the 2 hr mark but my body just wasn't agreeing no matter how much convincing my mind was trying to do to it! You know, something like "cmon Elisa, suck it up and get moving!" But the pacer inched away...i ended up finishing in 2:02:55.

waving to my family

My husband, i can't ever accuse him of not being supportive!! He got the kids out of bed early and drug them all over olathe this morning cheering me on in about 5 different spots. He lost track of me at one point and didn't make it to the finish line till right after i finished but it sounds like Raegan had quite the stroller ride with him trying to make it there in time!

mile 9...just two more miles Elisa and you will feel like barfing...oh i'm sorry, is that gross?

my mom happened to be in town for something else and came out to watch me finish! it was such an encouragement to know she was going to be at the finish line. she is where i get my love of running from! and...brian, the guy in red to the right (yea the one passing me) is from our small group. we must have been running pretty close the whole time and finished within seconds of each other

my supportive kiddos that cheered me on, i loved seeing them on the route!

my sister Julie, me and my mom who came out to cheer me on, thanks guys! (do you think i could cram any more food in my hand??)

i love this little handy thing they printed out for people like me who don't know how to run their watch so that we can know our official time and pace!

Ethan was hugging my leg after i finished, very sweet!

I'm glad it's over but i am ready to start training for the next one. I really want to focus on some shorter distances this summer and try to improve my time. I have once again got race fever!

Spring beauty

I have really been enjoying all the beautiful trees i have been seeing, so many white ones, i don't even know what kind they are because i am tree illiterate but they are gorgeous and i love this one too...

Our tree has taken a beating over the last several years. We lost half of it during an ice storm a few years ago...that made me sad. It's hanging in there, even though a little lopsided. I love when it blooms, i love driving into the driveway and seeing all the pink flowers. I wish it would stay that pretty all summer!

Deana Rose

The two little ones and i went to Deana Rose farmstead with a friend from our small group and her little guy. It was pretty chilly but was starting to warm up about the time we were heading out to go home. We didn't stay very long today because i have to take Avery to her allergy appointment this afternoon...which means naps are a big necessity! Of course because of the necessity of them, that means that more than likely the kids won't fall asleep...that's somehow just how it goes around here it seems!

Here was our morning...

I bought two bottles for them to feed the goats, ethan handed raegan the bottle and said "here's your bottle raegan" to which raegan replied "oh thanks ethan" and stuck it right in her mouth!! i yanked it out ever so quickly, but gross!!

ethan wanted to feed the baby ones and would get mad at the big ones for hogging the milk

raegan, unlike her momma as a little girl was not afraid of the goats. all three of these goats were going after her bottle and she smacked one and said "NO goat, you are not taking turns!!" she scolded them several times.

ethan loved riding the john deer tractor

We had a fun morning. It has grown quite a bit since i went last. I'm anxious to take the older kids too, i think they will really enjoy it!