This and that

My girls have been more into headbands lately and i see all these cute headbands to buy but quite frankly do not want to spend $5-$7 on a headband so for $2.46 i bought five headbands at Walmart and picked up some fabric squares and and made some fun headbands for the girls. These are my first attempts so i have a little perfecting to do yet so don't look too close...

Avery wears headbands all the time and informed me she is not a fan of the button so i'm going to have to come up with something besides the button for hers! This girl knows exactly what she likes and doesn't like trust me!

This one i put in just because it cracks me up! i don't know what she was looking at!

We had Westin and Lincoln over Tuesday, two of Ethan and Raegan's good buds. These four play together so well. I believe they were "hunting" for something. They take turns having play dates at each other's houses and always look forward to those days!

Trey had his echo done on Monday morning and Tuesday we got a call that everything was normal (praise the Lord!) so we were very happy with that news. Thank you to all who prayed. I think Trey was more worried about it than he let on seeing the relief when i told him his heart was completely normal and strong!

Hope your having a great week!

My therapy

I was in some great need of therapy this past Friday! Long story short, our van had to go to the shop last week and is in need of some major engine repair. It took 3 days just to diagnose the problem and the extent of the repair. The loongest three days ever...i am so impatient waiting especially when i am stressed about the news i might hear!

We have gone back and forth on making a decision as to what to do but have decided now to go ahead with the repair and our van will hopefully be back with us by Thursday. In the meantime we have been cramming our not so little family into John's pickup. The tight quarters have been driving me nuts but i am glad that we have it to drive as a back up vehicle.

Friday i was a basket case. I was crying at the drop of a hat and when my husband got home he said "get your running stuff on and go running" (my usual therapy) but i opted instead to go up in my attic and do some purging in my space that looked like i needed to be on an episode of "hoarders buried alive". I might be exaggerating a teensy bit but not much :)

Three hours later, 12 bags of clothes and toys, a trash cart so full it's spilling over and a back that hurt so bad i cringed every time i bent over yesterday and my attic is transformed into a semi-organized space again. It felt so good getting rid of things! I still have tubs and tubs of clothes to go through and lot's more toys to get rid of but hopefully i will do that just for fun and not when i am need of some therapy again.

Good thing trash day is tomorrow...

Amazing race highlights

Our family loves the show The Amazing Race so when our ABF class at church said they put on an annual "amazing race" we were in for sure! SO Fun! If you want to see some highlights and see John gag on the most disgusting century egg i have ever seen you can go here I would have barfed for sure, i don't know how those other girls did it...although one did barf after she had gotten it down :)

Then and now

Time flies...
but they still cuddle...
* Some updates:

I took trey in to see his regular doctor once he was over whatever bug he had and he heard the heart murmur as well and said it's what they call an "athletic murmur" so should be nothing to be concerned about. They do like to do an echo cardiogram whenever they have one, just to make sure everything is a-ok. We have that scheduled at Children's Mercy next Monday morning.

My foot hurt over spring break. I did continue to run and then it would hurt the rest of the day. But, since then has gotten much better. I can run without pain and it hasn't been bothering me after the run. I still have pain if it get's stepped on or if i stretch it a certain way. It hurts a little when i put my socks on and when i put my shoes on but then i am good...weird, i know! Crossing my fingers that the pain stays away and i can continue with my running as usual! So far i have so that makes me happy!

Tucking Ethan into bed last night i said "do i get my hug and kiss?" to which he responded with "anything for you my princess!"

I love Spring! Everything about spring except for allergies which are kicking the girl's and their daddy's patuties right now!

Kids interview 2011

I am trying to do these little interviews with the kids at least once a year so i can see how their answers change over the years and so they can look back and see their answers. This was last summers interview. I added a few questions to this year's interview.

1. What do you want to be when you grow up?
Trey- I don't know
Avery- a mom
Ethan- a policeman
Raegan- a kitty cat

2.What is your favorite toy?
Trey- my star wars toys
Avery- zoo zoo pets
Ethan- my red hulk
Raegan- dora

3. Who is one of your best friends?
Trey- Drake
Avery- Mikayla
Ethan- well, i like two of them. Eli and Meredith
Raegan- Molly and Brooklyn and Abigail

4. What is something you are excited about?
Trey- summer vacation to Colorado
Avery- going to Worlds of Fun again
Ethan- getting a Thor toy
Raegan- school

5. What is something that scares you?
Trey- wolf spiders
Avery- the people that dress up at WOF during halloween
Ethan- nothing!
Raegan- monsters

6. What is your favorite song?
Trey- In the Hands of God
Avery- Back to December
Ethan- The Gift Goes On
Raegan- The Gift Goes on

7. What is your favorite food?
Trey- mostly anything
Avery- pizza
Ethan- soft meat
Raegan- cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets

8. How many kids do you want to have when you grow up?
Trey- at least 2
Avery- 2
Ethan- 6
Raegan- 4

9. What is one thing you would really love for Christmas /birthday?
Trey- an xbox 360
Avery- ipod touch
Ethan- i would very very very love my own Thor toy
Raegan- a doll and a barbie and some cute little makeup

Our patience tester

Be forewarned: i use the word poop in this post...There could not possibly be a more appropriate piece of clothing for our little affectionately named "tornado"! She has accidents...messy accidents...she tries to clean up and then she brings her messy underpants all nicely folded up with a surprise in them and hands them to me announcing "i pooped my pants!"...it's been a rough week, we have had numerous accidents along with numerous attempts at cleaning up herself which makes for a disaster in the bathroom and ends with an immediate bath and the need for all towels in the bathroom to be washed and often time the use of a plunger!

Edited to add: the following was with paint not with poop...when i reread that i thought i should clarify :)

Tonight she painted. Along with the little ceramic house, the entire kitchen counter. Daddy got to clean that one up! Going to work is sometimes a little getaway...a little relaxation for me! But, we love our little "tornado"...more than i can say!

A few more spring break pictures

These four were so happy playing with their balloons! Right after i took the picture i reminded them to hang on tight to them or they would go bye bye...i turned around and about 2 seconds later a balloon went floating up to the tree and popped in the tree. Raegan stood there with the saddest face ever and then the wailing began!

Not 20 minutes later i heard wailing coming from the backyard. Ethan's had come off the string and floated away.

we went on a walk on Wednesday. Raegan got to walk stormy.

avery and malia on the teeter totter. we played at the park while we waited for a couple of cousins to get out of school. they have spring break a week later than us which really stinks for the kids!

we all walked to Braums and now i'm really wishing we had a braums around here after having a sherbert freeze! yuumm!! the four youngest got to ride in the wagon after they took turns walking the dog.

we snatched the opportunity to take some pictures of the cousins that were all together these past few days.

this was our crew...my kids, julie's kids and susan's kids

trey got a little ahead of himself on the being silly picture!

We stayed until bed time Wednesday night and headed back. The kids all went to sleep immediately. They woke up with the flashing blue and red lights as i got pulled over. Thankfully, i only got a warning but i did set my cruise right on 70 the rest of the trip! :)

Spring break 2011

The kids were nervous when they went to bed last night. We were supposed to be heading to Hutchinson to spend time with grandparents and cousins and they were calling for snow to fall overnight! They were a little afraid we might not get to go and that the snow would "ruin their spring break".

We were all happy to wake up and see that the roads seemed to be fine so we were up early and off...

The snow quickly melted away (bye bye snow, don't come back till next year)

It ended up being a beautiful day and we took advantage of the beautiful weather to take a walk.

It was a walk with a mission...


The Veer cousins are collecting cans for a school project so we headed out to the country to collect some cans for them to take to school...

Besides the cans in the buckets and bags, i had in the back of my stroller...a torn up little football, a plastic american express magnet, a happy meal toy, a cuzzi...all treasures that were must keeps (at least till we got back to the vehicles).

The boys couldn't resist making their way through some "tunnels".

Ethan was having a hard time keeping up with the ambitious older kids so grandpa gave him a ride for awhile. He told grandpa while up on his shoulders..."we both have white hair grandpa!"


The little girls just got to go along for the ride which they were completely satisfied with!


We went to dinner at Freddy's tonight and then the kids started bugging Grandpa to get in the hot tub... i'm pretty sure it wasn't quite as relaxing as it usually is for grandpa soaking in the hot tub but the kids sure had fun.


So day one of spring break ends... this year we are only staying for a few days due to some dental appointments that i accidentally scheduled this week and didn't want to have to move so we are going to have to cut our visit shorter than normal but i am sure we will cram a lot into three days...

Uncooperative foot

It started out as just me thinking i had tied my shoe too tight for a run (i have done that too many times to count). Where the top of your foot feels a little sore. Three or so weeks later and the top of my foot still very sore and seeming to get more sore over time i'm starting to think this might not just be a case of the tie your shoe too tight problem. From all research i've done online (and my husband thinking it as well) i'm afraid i may have a metatarsal stress fracture. I HOPE i am wrong and quite honestly don't want to go to the dr cause i am afraid of what they will tell me - you need to stay off of it for 6 weeks...cause i don't want to, i want to keep on with my training...but i also don't want to end up with something much worse so i will probably go to the dr this next week and get it checked out.

The weird thing is that it doesn't hurt me when i run! I did notice today i might be favoring that foot a little when running so maybe it's bothering me a little and i've just gotten used to it while running...you know thinking it's bruised from tying the shoe too tight. I know this (favoring it) can throw off everything and cause all kind of injuries and i don't want to do that...stink! After my 4 mile run today it had been bothering me a little just walking throughout the day but nothing too major.

John made me sit down and ice it today. I am heading out of town this next week for spring break and so i am battling to run or not to run till i get back in town to get it checked! I love running when i go back home, back to my old stomping grounds where i logged miles upon miles...

This is really going to throw a wrench in my summer race planning if it is a stress fracture! I already made my husband promise he would get me a gym membership so i could go and water run (i have had to do that before!) if i do have to take time off! Of course he agreed :)

And...one thing i have learned the last few weeks...my kids step on my feet all the flippin time! I guess that is just part of life as a jungle gym (bout send me through the roof, i tell ya!)

Spoiled last child

This last child of ours (with some major crazy morning hair) is spoiled rotten! If she can't get mommy's attention she has three older siblings that have a soft little place in their hearts for their baby sister. Mommy was busy making lunches, waffles, signing "me books", combing down turkey tails...that i couldn't attend to the spoiled child's wishes to help corral the last of those cheerios that she couldn't get. Ethan went right to her rescue and fed her every last cheerio.


Track practice has started for Trey so his school days are going till almost 5pm now, so he is worn out by evening! I think we will be spending some time at the track next week because he has a schedule that he is to follow for spring break this next week! He is really enjoying it so far!

I'm excited to hear it is supposed to be in the 60's the next couple of days...loving the sunshine!

We finally booked our trip to Mexico for our 15th anniversary that we are taking after our 16th anniversary :). Soo excited! Can't wait to do nothing but relax, relax, and relax some more...and then relax a little bit more!!

Have a great weekend!

Spring switchover

Each year at tax time i budget a chunk of money for our families clothing allowance to get the kids ready for the next season. I then love seeing how far i can stretch that money and how much i can get with it. I buy a LOT second hand (this time of year i frequent Children's Orchard even more than normal!), i take advantage of Old Navy's stock up sale (they have lots of things for $4 right now). The boys are so much easier (and cheaper) to buy for than the girls. Their spring/summer wardrobe consists of t-shirts and shorts. Soo much more to buy for the girls...

Avery went with me last night to help pick out some of her things. She picked out two matching flip flops for her and her little sister. I thought that was sweet and Raegan thought it was the coolest thing ever! I asked Trey the other day if he wanted to go with me to pick some of his clothes and he responded with "no, i don't want to go shopping...you know what i like" typical boy!

At 8:30 last night i decided to clean out the girls' closet. Not my smartest move ever but when i get on a mission...i gotta get it done! Their closet has been ridiculous! Crammed so tight (we do have small closets and two sharing each one) i was hanging things sideways off of other hangers...ridiculous messy!

This was Avery's pile of clothes that don't fit...i didn't even take winter things out yet!

Raegan's pile was about twice this but i did take a lot of winter out of hers.

Raegan took the opportunity of finding all the clothes she loves and showing her style. I am on the hunt for lots of skirts for this little girl this year. She loves to wear skirts, that's all she wants to wear.

I was sorting away when i hear"i hanna tanna" and turned around and she was walking around with this wig on. Crazy girls, it was past their bedtime!

Here is an after picture of their closet so you can imagine what it looked like before! I should have taken a before picture! All it takes to get me in a cleaning organizing mood is to watch the show "Hoarders". i can't clean or organize enough after watching that show!

Our attic is next. It is our catch all. Bags and bags and tubs and tubs of clothes in addition to all the remaining baby things i haven't sold at garage sales...it's all gotta go! I probably just need to watch a "Hoarders" marathon and that will inspire me one of these days!

Kindergarten roundup

Ethan got to go visit the kindergarten classroom at the school where he will be headed this fall. He is very excited about school and would be perfectly happy if it started tomorrow! Daddy and Mommy got to do some paperwork while he colored and played games in the classroom.

I quickly realized yesterday as i was gathering up immunization records and things that i had never ordered birth certificates for my youngest two children...oops!


Soo...besides proof that he was born, he all signed up and ready for kindergarten! He is practicing writing his name today so i think they must have written their names while he was in the classroom last night. He is also teaching Raegan how to write her name but it must not be going too well because he is smacking the paper. We might have to work on that before kindergarten!


Gotta go, Raegan is hammering with an actual hammer on her wall...

I gotta pack

My little two are in a "packing" stage. They like to pack things in back packs. They have a tent they set up and they pack their bags and go camping. They make the biggest messes but they play so good together most of the time.

I went to Children's Orchard yesterday and their was a tent set up that was for sale. I shop and check on them every few minutes and within that few minutes Raegan had "packed" all kinds of things into the tent. She had set up house and had outfits hanging from the windows, toys, hairbows, books...

We went back home so the kids could get back to their packing. I unpacked Raegan's back pack numerous times yesterday. She packs it right back up. This morning her bag is packed and she is "going to the hospital because her baby monkey broke his arm".


I wrote down two words that she still mispronounces. There used to be so many, now she's getting most of them right. That makes me sad because she is growing up. But, she still says "lillow" for pillow and "nakin" for napkin. She can say some of her "p" words though cause she said "piggie" just fine for me this morning...ha!

Ethan is going to kindergarten roundup tonight. How can he possibly be old enough for kindergarten? And then the following year Raegan will follow right behind him. I am not far off from having all of my kids in school. I'm sure i will cry the day away the first day that happens.

But until that day comes...i will enjoy my little "packers" who play, fight, cry, throw fits, give me hugs and kisses, tell me they are going to marry me someday, think their mommy is the best, and set monkeys on my head...yep, i am now sitting here with the monkey with a broken arm on my head...

F for February

That's the grade i'm giving myself for my mileage challenge progress for the month! I think i did a whopping 10 miles! BUT, today is a new month! There is light at the end of this winter tunnel!

Along with the end of the month at this house always comes a slew of things to turn in at school...reading calendars, Baip (online math quizzes) that always have to be crammed, math packets (have i ever mentioned how much i dislike math??) , sports forms, physical forms, order forms, picture forms...i gotta stop, i'm getting a headache again!

Speaking of headaches i have had a month long non-stop headache! Not sure what is causing it but it has outstayed it's welcome by about 28 days! Even when it eases up, it's still there...if that makes sense.

Raegan had her first dental appointment. She went in with the intention of being so brave! And then, they raised the chair. She fell to pieces, holding my hand and bawling her little eyes out. She calmed down a little and they pulled out the toothbrush...fell apart again, curling up in the fetal position and begging for her blankie! She didn't get her teeth cleaned or xrays done but she did let the dentist put the mirror in her mouth and check her teeth. She has her first two cavities. Soo with the help of some medicine (she won't go to sleep completely) and some laughing gas she will be getting those done in April.

Trey didn't escape the germs and ended up sick over the weekend and missed school yesterday. He had such a sore throat i took him in. No strep but he did get an antibiotic for a sinus infection. They also asked if i had ever been told he had a heart murmur...i have not. he said it could be amplified a little since he was sick. Even though from what i have read they are almost always nothing to worry about and are pretty common it makes me a tad nervous with this coming up right before track season is starting. I tend to lean towards being overly cautious so may get him listened to again once his cold clears up to see if they still hear it. He was feeling much better and went back to school today.

I am boring and random today, so if you made it this far...thanks for reading!

Insert picture...oh that's right i haven't taken any pictures the last few days...