Outside Stuff....

I love my children... Truly I do but I enjoy other subjects also. :) Here are some of the pretties on our lots. I am trying to take my camera off auto focus and enjoy its full potential.

So the results are back...

I had my meeting with the school this morning. Megan is on the low end of average for intellegience. Her speech other than a slight tongue thrust is good. So basically nothing they can do except for what they are doing. I have her in tutoring 1x a week, the teacher is sending home books everynight that we are doing above and beyond her homework, and she is doing extras for her in class. We did decide that she processes things a bit slower. At this point they are not recommending retension. We will have to make up a little lost time over the summer. The teacher tutoring Megan says she is a breeze to tutor, she is like a little sponge and wants to know more. She is normally this way with me unless she has it in her head to do something else. LOL! Ethan we are still waiting to see the verdict for him. I am praying he will do ok. If anyone knows a way to organize a 8 almost 9 yr old and keep him on task at school, feel free to enlighten me. Ryan we are just waiting to see where he ends up for next year (its not neighborhood schooling here, they like to call it choice and I like to call it lottery) He has started guitar lessons and is loving it.

Other than that we are well, just hanging in here. This economy has caused us to make a lot of hard decisions. We just keep shoveling forward in hopes that it will get better.

A small update:

Easter was wonderful, we had a great time with some good friends. I am so thankful for them. We ate good food, swam, talked, and egg hunted. It was a good day! Our family went to Lion Country Safari the day before so we missed all those crazy city egg hunts as we do every year. I don't know how people deal with all the mobs of people. Perhaps that is yet another dose that I have my momma. :)

Ryan: He is doing beautifully in school, very proud of my boy. He is getting ready to transition to Middle school next year, in fact I need to get his application turned in soon. We live in a county with choices.. You make a list of what you would like and they pick whatever they randomly feel like and put your kid there. Doesn't that sound great? Ok... so I am praying he will get one of our top 3 picks. He is thriving well in his Boy Scout Troop, they are going on their second campout next weekend. It sounds like so much fun honestly.

Ethan: He is doing ok in school. His biggest pitfall is his lack of organization, I have tried and his teacher has tried. I just pray he did well in the state testing which he informed me was EASY Mom!! Cub scouts is so-so for him, he is loosing interest which is making thing tough. He wants to be big like his brother. The next year will be interesting with them being more seperated in school and activity.

Megan: Oh lord, she is just a handful. She definately came last for a reason. She is pushing all my buttons at once to see what I do. She is doing ok in school, she is coming along better in reading and math thankfully. Hoping it will be enough to get her through. She is liking Girl Scouts but that is yet another so-so. It will all work itself out one way or another.

It's hard to believe how quickly time is flying by...

Sometimes it feels so slow like please hurry up. And other times its just like OMG... I can't believe that we have already blown threw all this.

So lets see... we have kids that have been sick and got better. Parents who are now getting sick. We had a chopped full couple days, I personally am relieved its done. So much prepartion that for the most part was fun but to clumped together. In the past three days, I have had my first meeting with Megan's troop since we seperated from the kindergarteners. It was mainly still run by Meg's leader who works for council now, but it was much calmer than having 20 girls in a room. We did our swaps for ingathering, which turned out SOOOOO cute. When I get my computer fixed (doesn't want to upload my photos) I will upload some pics. Then saturday we had ingathering and it was fun, but after all the prep and then being the hot sun was again happy that it was finished. Meg didn't get to do her swaps this year because we had to leave early. She had Father/Daughter Dance w/ Daddy at her school @ 4 pm. Again, have some cute pictures, will share when I can. They had a good time and it was a good memory for Megan. Then today we had our cub scout Blue & Gold Banquet where our boys earned their ranks. My oldest Ry has now finished cub scouts and is moving on to Boy Scouts. I am very proud of him as well as Eth for working hard to finish their requirements. I think a good time was had by all.

Tommorrow I have a field trip with my Diva and the rest of the week is fairly uneventful.. YAH!!!!

More lost teeth and such...

Things here are about the same. We are all done with soccer till probably the fall. I am actually happy that scouts and school will be the only thing occupying the kids time for a while. Speaking of Scouts Ryan is crossing over (moving up) to Boy Scouts in March. This sunday he will be presented with his rank at our Pack Blue & Gold. And then in 2 weekends after that he will go over the Ceremony and officially be welcomed into his new Troop. I think he is a bit nervous, but I think that is understandable. Luckily many of the boys from his den are coming with him. Ethan is earning his Bear rank this sunday. Because most of the moms who have run this pack for the past 2 yrs are moving onto Boy Scouts we are loosing a lot of our support system, so there is a possiblity that Ethan will be joining a new pack (he has friends there so he is very happy). With Megan's scouting her leader actually is working for council now so I am stepping up to do Megan's troop w/ her help. She is working on bridging to be a Brownie in May. First meeting for me is friday night with the girls. Outside of that Ryan is going into middle school next year and we are applying for a special school, a Marine Oceanographic Academy Prep School. We are praying that he makes it in as he is very excited about it. They only 25 students out of the district for each grade. So we have recomendations coming together and such. Ethan and Megan will stay put at the school they are at. Oh!!! And speaking of Ryan he has lost 3 teeth in the past 2 weeks... Crazy... I keep teasing him that he is a snaggle puss! ;)

Other than that not much else to report.

Turkey Day and Beyond...

Well my lil sister came into town wednesday late. And thursday we went to my stepdad and his fiancee's home for Turkey dinner. It was very yummy and we have leftovers to prove it, ok so we HAD leftovers they are more or less gone now. LOL!!! Friday I got up and did some BlackFriday shopping, we buzzed around the house and then took the kids and a friend to see Madagscar 2, very cute movie. Saturday am we got up early and took a run to see the property in Punta Gorda the boys have a contract on. Its really beautiful and quite peaceful inspite of a little road noise from the highway. The kids had a blast, they took the paddle boat out to the island and played king of the hill, well the older boys did. LOL! Even my Dad made it out to check it all out. Then we enjoyed some time at the house and went to a Christmas event in Fort Myers in the evening where our friends son played with his recorder group from school. Sunday we got up went and attempted to fish a bit but a) we forgot the cast net and b) the fish weren't bitting due to the weather. We got a bite to eat the house and then headed back towards my Dad and stepmom's house for a visit with them, my sister, brother in law and nephews. It was nice to see everyone and then off we went back home again. We are all pretty well tired. But that is my update for now. Pictures will follow tomorrow. Night!!!

And a few more...

Yah they were super silly tonight. We went to the doctor and then went and had chinese at a restaurant called Pei Wei. Mmmm!!! It was so good, we rarely eat out these days so it was a great treat. We are starting to get completely slammed w/ soccer and scouts starting up, but we honestly enjoy both things so much. We also got rid of the big truck and took on way lower payments with a new Scion. I am starting a seasonal job at QVC on the 13th, looking forward to that inspite of the hours being 9 pm to 2 am, also praying they will keep me on after the holidays. The plus to it is it doesn't mess with the kids stuff to much and when it does Rob will just step in. We are pretty much hanging in here, the economy stinks right now and Rob's business is not the best but we are hanging tough.

When life gives you lemons, just make LEMONADE. :)

A little update on the family:

Ry ~ He finished off the school year on the Honor Roll. He has just done amazing since 2nd grade when we started doing some changes. He also got a 5 out of 6 on the three components of the FCAT test, which from what I understand is outstanding. When I took him for his Annual Check up his Ped was so very proud of him and sung his praises multiple times. The boy was grinning from ear to ear. He has also finished up his Webelos I rank in Cub Scouts, by February/March of next year he will cross over into Boy Scouts. I am so excited for him, but it will be different as this is more of a journey about and BY him. We will still be there for him, but it will just be a different format. He is really looking forward to Fall Soccer, he moves up to a new age group which sometimes is intimidating because he is low man on the totem pole. We have decided to pass on the Competive team since Gas is so expensive. We also visited the allergist this week and has been very healthy... Thankfully one of three. LOL!!!

Eth~ Well this year was a struggle for him. Alot had to do with the fact that his 1st grade teacher last year was very off task with the reading. So he started behind the ball, he made a lot of progress with help from his teacher (what an angel) and his reading buddy through Big Brother/Big Sister. So hopefully with a little help this summer we will get him up to speed for school. He has finished his Wolf Rank in Cub Scouts and is going to be a Bear next year. With becoming a Bear comes more opportunities. He is really loving it and this summer we are going to work on some of his belt loops. And of course he is sooo looking forward to Fall Soccer. I am curious to see if he becomes intimidated because has again moved up to a new division (like Ryan) and normally that sets them back a bit. But he is excited that he is now in Rec Soccer and there are GOALIES!!!! LOL! We have had a really rough fall/winter/spring with him, he has been on many steriods and antibotics and we need to figure a way to manage him in order to keep him healthy. So the allergist did a lung function test and while his capacity is good some function of the lungs is at 48% and should be 75% or better. So for now we have added Advair 2x a day in hopes to keep him healthy, we go back in July to see his progress.

Meg~ Lets see... School well she made it on to 1st grade BARELY. Her teacher was less than impressive and I seemed to have to jump through hoops of fire to get what I requested done. We have 2 student evaluation meetings and thankfully the guidance counsler understood my side. She made a lot of progressive the last marking period because of my request of a reading buddy, more support work for him and the teacher to make some adjustments. I really feel it could have been so much better, so we are praying for a better teacher this coming year. She has had a great year with Daisy Scouts. They were able to do a service project for a family in need, I was very proud of her generosity. We are looking forward to next year when we sell cookies. And Meg played fall and spring soccer (the boys only played fall soccer). Daddy coached the Spring soccer to give us an opportunity to see if she wants to proceed in Fall again. We are on the fence, I might try something through the community center. We went to the allergist with her and last year when she was tested they determined that she has a low Immune System. We also discovered that her tetanis shot did not hold, so I took her for another shot. I had to take her to have her blood drawn to see if she held that shot and will figure out how to proceed from her. Unfortantely just like her mother and one brother she is sick a good bit of the time. We have had a lot of behavioral issues with her and are just trying to figure out something that works with her. She also displays many of the ADHD stuff that her big brother, so I feel us going down this road again.

R and C ~ We are hanging in here, it has been a very difficult year. The business has suffered greatly. We have picked up a little business but have lost double or more of the business we gained. Its a very hard time for many families. Our home is in the process of being sold, the payments are just greater than what we can do at this time. But home is where the family is so we will survive. I worked in an insurance office as a secretary from August until the last day in May. I enjoyed it but due to childcare costs outweighing my paycheck I am at home for the summer with the kids. I have also accepted a Subsitute Teacher position with the school district. I am hoping that I will be able to get a more permanent position with benefits but for now this is a good opportunity to work the same hours as my kids. R has many projects in the fire... LOL!!! He has acquired a FREE RV... so that should give you an idea of how much work will likely be involved in it. We plan to put it up on our property in Ocala, so that when we visit we have a place to stay. He has also planned and is occasionally gone up to start storage shed to put some of our stuff in for the transition. We hope that by next summer we will permanently be residing on the land. Oh I also have a new set a wheels or should I say a well loved set of wheels... LOL!!! I now own a 96 Town & Country Van. It has a lot of quirks that we are working through (so add another project to Rob's list... OY!) We are coming up on the one year anniversary of my mom going to heaven. Its been a rough year full of bumps and tears, and I think coming closer to that date has just made it that raw again. On a bright note, my Mother in Law, has come to live with us. It has been a fairly easy transition and its nice to have family closer.

Well that is about all for now, if you made it this far you are a Saint. Thanks for stopping by... We will be off to Alabama next week for our yearly family trip. The lake is full of water this year and we are soooooo excited! I will have lots of pictures to share when I return.

Lighting wasn't the greatest, but couldn't resist my boys.

Here is the reason Rob was with his buddy, on the excellent adventures of Lucy the BUS!!!


A quick vist at Poppies house on our way to pick up Daddy from his adventure with his buddy John. Thats a whole other story ;) We sure don't get enough time with our busy schedule to see Poppie and Nonnie was visiting Aunt Hilary and the boys, so we missed her this time too.

Small update:

Megan: Has lost another tooth. LOL!!! She is still as stubborn as ever. We are gonna need some strength to get through the years with her. She loves going to school and still loves Daisy Girl Scouts. We are actually going to our first Girl Scout event tommorrow, I will try to post pics later.
Ethan: Has lost another tooth too! LOL! He is still stuborn... Hmmmh I got a theme going on with these kids... I am sure they don't get from their parents are anything... LOL! Anyway, he is doing well in school and making great improvements with his reading, very proud of him. He gets a citzens award each marking period for his kind heart. He is loving Scouts also.
Ryan: Is doing WONDERFUL in school, truly can't complain. The boy has come a long way with his grades. The boy we were having an issue with seems to be a non issue (THANKFULLY). He is a bit of an extreme child, very sensitive and loving for the most part. Again is loving Scouts also. Has been doing Fcat tutoring after school that was offered.

Rob and I are hanging in here, business has slowed down a bit. This is one of those times I am truly thankful for the part time job I am working.

I am going to attempt to attach a few pics from a Cub Scout Camporee from a couple weekends ago.

Ok, here is a quick run down of recent events:

*Stinky Arm Pits for the Ry Guy... Yep he is using deodorant. Time goes by so quickly. He'll be double digits this birthday.... YIKS!!!
*Ethan a tooth and has another wiggly (I will get pics soon)
*Megan lost her second tooth (WOW)
* Ry finished his Soccer Season, unfortanetely they lost their tournament game. They worked hard though and we are VERY proud of them.
* Ry is having trouble with a boy in his class. He is bullying Ry and won't leave him alone. He got in a little trouble for some words he used when he got overly frustrated with the boy. He has been talked to and we are now trying to get them to take care of the issues with the boy, so he can't do this to another child.
*Report cards came home and well it appears I have myself another ADHD child (I knew this), Miss Megan. UGH!!!!! What to do with this lil girl..... Other than that the boys are doing well.
*Rob is almost done with a very beautiful book case for the boys room. I hope it will house most of their "stuff" and PERHAPS we can keep it a bit more organized.

Well that is all for now... More later...

Hydro Farm

OMG! What a nice day. We took a Cub Scout field trip with our pack to Hydro Fresh Farms, in other words a working hydroponics farm. I just love going there. This time the kids got a real tour of it, including how the stackers are made, a stacker making contest, a lesson on bugs (good and bad) and how they treat them, a tour of their veggies and strawberries, the most unusual strawberry contest (Ethan won a gatorade) and a word scrabble. Then we got to pick strawberries, GLORIOUS strawberries... Incase you didn't catch that we got to pick YUMMY STRAWBERRIES. :) Anyhow we came home for a few minutes and then got ready to go to a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. I have since made 2 BEAUTIFUL Strawberry Pies... Which we will enjoy tomorrow. YUMMO!

Small Update....

The kids are settling into school nicely. There biggest beef is that they don't have recess. I am going to approach the school about this, but I have been forewarned by my teacher friends this is a losing battle. :(
Ryan is coping so much better and I am really proud of him for that. Last week we had to take him to the dr because he had an ear infection and his glands were swellend. We also went for Soccer Tryouts this past friday and we should get a coach assignment this week. We found out his old coach (2 seasons) is going to competitive and even tried to talk Rob into the competitive team but honestly we just don't have the time. On a down note I am having listening issues with him, I know some of it is his age... but some of it is well just defiance. I want to figure a constructive way to work with him on this as he is such a loving child.
Ethan is blending well with his classroom and really just excelling. He is just so much different than Ry. I mean he can be stubborn (MAN can he be stubborn) and defiant, but its just different. He started soccer wednesday and has Megan asst coach from 2 seasons ago and he is awesome! Ethan is just not showing as much enthiusasm for Soccer as he used to so Rob and I decided to offer him some more options next time around, but the season is just begining so we shall see. Ethan starts scouts tuesday night! YAH!
Megan is my little firecracker!! Lets see we already got a note in her agenda saying she needs to listen better, a progress report saying she needs help with listening and a phone call from the teacher saying she is not doing what she is supposed. Now she is not being mean to the other children, she just simply marches to her own band... LOL!! Of course I keep reminding her that she really needs to listen to her teacher, that its not fair for her to follow the rules. She still loves going to school. She started soccer on wednesday also and the person who stepped after Rob stepped up is an awesome coach. We are still waiting to hear from Girl Scouts which she is so excited about after being a part of the boys for almost 3 years now.

I am still adjusting to the whole working thing plus everything I used to do and most days I am pretty much flat worn out. But the extra money helps, so I will keep plugging along. I do enjoy the job, it just is hard to get all the other stuff done in so much less time. Rob is busy busy with the business and we are working on getting more advertisement going. YAH! Well I need to go pack lunches and back packs and hit the sack.

Well our trip to Alabama, was nice. We stopped on saturday and had lunch with my dad and step mom. It was nice to see them both and the kids enjoyed seeing them. Then we buzzed on down the road and got in around 6pm. I started unpacking and the boys headed out to do some fishing. Sunday am we set up for Rob's cousin's suprise party, while the kids played at the beach (the clubhouse is right on the "beach"). We got a little jet skiing in and went to the party. After the party his cousins came back to the trailor and we went for a walk on a beachy area that is normally covered with water. Rob took the kids out on the jetski and tubing. Ethan unfortantely went flying in the air, flipped over and came face first to the lake. He was ok, but mad because a) his face hurt and b) he lost his loose tooth. LOL!!! The tooth fairy rewarded him handsomely with $5 after Mom wrote a letter. Anyway the next day we did a bit of fishing (we did some on sunday too), went to see Grandma at the nursing home who was actually a little talkative and then came back jet skiid, grilled and went for ice cream. We also for the most part got everything ready to go for the next day. Got up at 7 am (8 am our time) and took off by 8 am (9am our time). We stopped through Ocala which was quite eventful since it evoked a lot of memories of my mom. We also found out we are upside down on our land :( And then we were one car away from an almost head on car accident. Holy Smokeys!!! That was super scary. Anyhow, we finished our trip home sorta somber after the "almost accident" Its funny because your life really does flash in front of you.
Today has been sort of a laid back day. But I did apply for a job through the school system and I am working on a couple other positions within the school district. Other than that not much else to report. Just getting the kids ready for school that starts in 18 days!!! Tommorrow is an Allergy Testing Day for all three kidlets... Wish Rob and I luck, its gonna stink because they all know what they are in store for.

Not to much to share. Have been in thought a lot and trying to work through my grief. Also the kids keep me or should I say us very busy. Anyway, I have spent today trying to get my house in order and tomorrow will be a packing day. We are going to alabama for a short trip. Which we look forward to every summer. From what I am being told the lake is about 8 foot (or maybe its more now) lower than the normal. So we will likely be a little more limited on our activities, but it will be great to see the family anyhow. If I don't check back in tomorrow I will be back around wednesday and be prepared to see lots of pictures! :)

Not much to post. Things have been very up and down this direction, today was a particularly low day. Nothing I can specifically put my finger on, just a feeling of low energy or inspiration. Anyway, this week I will be preparing for our quick dash up to Alabama. It will be nice to see Rob's family, I wish the visit was longer but we just don't have the time this year. Anyway, just checking in to say hi and for all those who have supported us through this very rough time I thank you!

Happy Father's Day!

Well today has been a sorta laid back day. Rob is currently mowing and was painting baseboards before. Me I have been cooking and cleaning all day long. But I have been in my pjs the entire day :) The kids have been playing and just got in the pool about an hour ago, it nice and overcast out at the moment. We were hoping to have supper with my mom and stepdad but she is just not up to it. :(