What my Kiddos are grateful for.........

I asked my kiddos to tell me what they are most grateful for and this is what they said............

My family, turkey, God, Me (meaning herself...she is a confident child and I love that about her), Cayenne (our blue heeler), Johnny(our kitty), parents, Jesus, having a family that supports me, little xmas tree(she got her own little tree for her room), tooth brushes to keep our teeth clean, clothes, teachers because they help you learn and school because that is where we learn at.

Family, Cayenne, Evan (he is very happy he got a little brother), Johnny, christmas, birthdays, school, teachers, food, God because he made food , clothes, beds, underwear (yeah....I don't know either!), water, animals,light, light bulbs( I think at this point he thought he just needed to keep thinking of things).

Katelin is thankful for.....everyone and that's all!

I'm going to speak on Evan's behalf....he is thankful for Mama, Dada, Grammy, his bubbie and his sissies, milk, his ba ba, his toys, hugs and kisses and drinks with straws (because he really really loves those).

I know I did all of mine in my last post but just one more shout out to my babies.....I am so thankful to have these remarkable kiddos call me Mama. And I am so proud of them for the things they are thankful for, I did not probe them just asked them to tell me what they are thankful for and I think they have great list.....no mention of their toys and all of the material things they have but they, even at their ages, realize what is really important in life!



Happy Thanksgiving!

So a lot of people have been on FB posting something they are thankful for each day....I thought about doing it but I did not so........I decided I would post on here things that I am thankful for, these aren't in any particular order but here are 25 things.....1 for each day of November leading up to Thanksgiving.

1. My 4 incredible, beautiful healthy children....I was the kid who spent my entire childhood dreaming of the day I would be a mommy and I always wanted lots of kiddos and I have been blessed 4 times over and it's more incredible than I had ever imagined.

2. My husband....I am truly married to my best friend, the most wonderful, big hearted man I have ever known. He brings so much laughter and love into my life and I am forever greatful for him.

3. My mom....she is always there for me no matter what and has given up so much to do for her kids. I am very lucky to not only call her my mom but to also call her my friend!

4. Matthew, Cheston and Jakee....I wish we saw them more and I wish I had been a better stepmom when they lived with us. I'm greatful when we do get to see them and that the kids have older siblings to look up to.

5. Our home....our dream was to live in the country and while it is not my "dream home" it has been a great home and a great place to live. We have 4 acres for our kids to play and explore. A dead end gravel road with very little traffic and  a warm and safe roof over our heads. I will truly miss it when we move on from here.

6. My kids school...I love our school district and the people in it. Coming from another school district that was not so great, I so appreciate all that they do for our kids.

7. Olathe Tree Service...Chet leaving his greedy boss he worked for for 19 years and embarking on our own business was the best move we could have ever made. Definitely some growing pains but so much more peace of mind.

8. Cheryl (Chet's Mom)....while she wasn't always the ideal mom, I am greatful I had a chance to know her and to be able to know the good in her. And I am also greatful that she thought of her boys with her life insurance....without the money she left behind, our business would not be what it is today so thank you Cheryl.... RIP.....we love you!

9. My Friends....I have been blessed to remain friends with the girls I met in 2nd grade and I love them all and I have met many new friends since then and you are all an essential part to my life and my sanity so thank you for being you! Mandy, Natalie, Monica, Amy, Kristin, Angie.....Love you all!!!

10. The laughter of my children....is there really any better sound in this world?!?!?

11. Chets family....while we don't see then nearly enough we love them all dearly...Chester, Doris, Stephen, Daniel and Alison, Nathan and Chris and Michelle.

12. My nieces and nephews....we have 6 nieces, 4 nephews and 1 great nephew and I enjoy every opportunity I have to spend with each and every one of them.

13. Money...we don't have an over abundance of it but we have enough and for that I am greatful.

14. My Ford Expedition....I did my time as a mini van mom and I am so glad to not be that any more.

15. Fertility....I am obviously blessed in that area and I have never taken that for granted....I can't imagine how hard it must be not to be able to start a family and I cherish the fact that I was able to easily have my babies.

16. A baby that is a perfect sleeper.....finally! I didn't do tough love so well so we ended up with kids in our bed a lot. I toughened up a little the 4th time around and he sleeps "like a baby" every night.

17. My video monitor.....it gives me such peace of mind since my baby is not in my room with me.

18. My handy man husband....he is a jack of all trades, if something is broke he can fix it. It saves us money and time not having to wait for someone.

19. Food....I wish I liked it just a little bit less but am greatful to always have plenty to feed my family. We try to eat together at the table every night and for that I am also greatful.

20. Modern technology....all the connections i've made on FB are incredible and would otherwise never have happened. The security of always having a cell phone on hand. The world at your fingertips via the internet. It's almost hard to believe that just 50 years ago none of it existed.

21. Our Military.....for all that they are and all that they do. They are heroes in my book... Thank You!

22. To all of our other heroes....doctors, nurses, teachers, police, medics, firefighters, volunteers and lets not forget all the moms and dads (or those raising someones elses kids as their own) who are good and loving to their children (most are but sadly too many are not) and to all the hard working good people who make this country and this world mostly an incredible place!


23. To be an american....something so often taken for granted, we have so much just by being american.

24. God... I am not someone who group up with organized religion but I have a deep deep faith and belief in God and I feel His prescence in my life daily and I am eternally greatful for all He has blessed me with.

25. My Life....I am truly truly blessed in so many ways, I have a happy life, happy marraige and happy children.....what more could one ask for.

And the reasons life has been sooo busy.....

Reason #1.......Dance

Katelin all ready for dance class!

 These are from her first class back in September, she has been going 2 mornings a week....one is tiny toes (sort of an intro to ballet) and the other in tumbling. She just loves Miss Karly and she has so much fun.
Rylie is also in hip hop one night a week and she seems to enjoy it, I haven't got any pics yet bus as soon as they have a watch week I will get some!

Reason #2......Football

I am so proud of Owen, he started out not really getting into the football...just sort of spacing out on the field. I asked Chet if he thought Owen understood how to play so he asked Owen and he didn't. Once Chet sat down with him and explained offense and defense and what he's supposed to do....he made a huge improvement on the field. I don't know if football will be his sport or not, he seems to really have an interest in basketball, he shoots hoops all the time on our goal and he is really good. I just signed him up and that will be starting soon.

 Reason # 3....Volleyball

This was Rylie's second year at volleyball. She didn't get on Abby's team so I wasn't sure if she would stick with it at first but she did and I am so proud of her. She is an incredible server and has made so may points for her team....one game I think she scored 13 points and their last game she scored the winning point! She had an awesome coach this year and towards the end she really started interacting more with her teammates, it takes her time but she does come out of her shell.

Being goofy with her team!

Rylie also is involved in singing missles and has to be at school by 7:30 two mornings a week (which is not easy for her, she is such a grouch in the am), they sang at their school musical and get to sing at the mayor's xmas tree lighting. She really enjoys it.

Hair...Hair...Hair!!!

The past few days my life has been somewhat consumed with ..........

you guessed it...........hair!

It started on Saturday....

when Rylie got a feather in her hair. This is the new fad with the kids now and it turned out super cute!

Katelin got one too....but hers is just a clip on! 

 Then on Sunday...I took Katelin to get bangs!

What do you think?

I can't decide...she looks so different! I think I might let them grow back out???

This next picture is funny....she keeps trying to look up at her hair and this is the funny face she makes...

In case you can't remember...here is what she looked like before....



Oh how I wish this was the end of my hair tale but it is not....

Monday evening something caught my attention and this was the result....

Owen was itching his head so I took a look and discovered lice.....YUCK!

I knew with all these kids that I would probably have to deal with it at some point...I just hoped that I would not.

So we headed to Walgreen's that night and stocked up on supplies because I knew if 1 kid had it....then probably at least 1 or 2 others did and.......

yeap.......all 3 of them...at least Evie didn't!

So Chet and I waged warfare because I wasn't going to let those nasty things remain in my house or on my children's heads!

We have washed all the sheets (the ones they slept on Monday night were washed twice), all the coats, hats, gloves, scarfs have been washed. All pillows have been run through the dryer, mattresses sprayed and vacuumed, all sofa's and chairs sprayed and vacuumed. Kids have had their hair treated and hand picked through by me.

I am freaking out....what if I missed just one??? Will this all start again??? Will we ever be bug free again??? Will my head ever stop itching??? AHhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Chet and I both treated ourselves but never found anything but both of our heads have been itching like crazy!!!

The school nurse called today and they both appeared to be lice free so let's hope because the past 2 days have sucked! I hope we never have to go through it again but I still have 2 kids that haven't even started shcool so we'll just keep our fingers crossed and be thankful that my house it really really clean right now!!!

A Boy and his Toys......

No, i'm not talking about this sweet boy......

 although he does love his toys....almost as much as he loves dumping them out and sitting in their basket!

I'm not talking about this handsome boy either.....although he does like the new toys too!

I would be talking about this boy and this new toy..........

oh....and this is the other new toy..........

This is Chet giving Evan and I a ride...and yes I took the picture while we were moving.

So these are our 2 new go carts.....the kids all love them......

 Rylie and Abby trying to out run each other....

The little ones love going for rides....Evan also loves just sitting in them pretending to drive....

 Crazy Girls.......

Rylie cruisin around with Katelin....

We let Owen drive one with Chet or I riding with him but he is not real comfortable with it yet (it's pretty much stop, go, stop, go.) Rylie has it down but she has been driving the 4 wheeler for years now so i'm sure O will be cruisin around in no time.

So these are Daddy's new toys, he got an incredible deal on them and they are going to be a lot of fun for the entire family. He is just like a big kid on them though!!!

Those are some big shoes to fill........

but I have no doubt he will fill 'em!

Lucky for him (and the rest of us too!).....he's got the best Daddy in the world to show him the ropes!

Sleeping Beauties...........

there is something so sweet about sleeping kiddos....it may be the fact that they are quiet, peaceful, quiet, so cute...oh did I mention how quiet they are?!?! So here are some pics of my babies sleeping away........

It's not too often we end up with 3 kiddos in our bed but occasionally it does happen (a few times we had all 4 in our bed....that makes for a long night) and I try my best to sleep in the little sliver of bed that I end up with. We do let them bring a mattress in our room and on our floor about once a month, I always like having all my kiddos right there with me safe and sound!

 Fell asleep face first.....

 My sweet baby boy....sleeping away....

Quiet time for mama while waiting at school for the big kids....

He was thinking so hard that he fell fast asleep.....

On the weekends the kids like to sleep on the couch in the living room so this is often what I wake up to on a Saturday or Sunday morning........

 When Grammy went to Las Vegas we picked her up from the airport but her plane didn't get in until 11pm so this is what our ride to the airport looked like...........

 They sure were happy to see their Grammy though...........

 My little booger butt....

 Not asleep but hanging out in Evie's bed.......



Bon Fire Pit!

Is it weird that we like to sit in the driveway and cook brats and hotdogs over the fire pit??? We do live in the country so maybe it's a little less weird now! The kids love it, I think they would be happy doing it for dinner every night!

 Hanging with his big sis....

 Yummy!

 Daddy being goofy.....

 Look Mama....I can go head first....

 Haylie and Dylan spent the night so we decided to cook over the fire pit again....

We also went to a bonfire at Owen's coaches house a few weeks back, it was a BIG bonfire and Chet took some fun pictures...........

The bon fire....

Standing in front of the fire....

This pic turned out sooo funny, it looks like they are running for their lives....

My happy boy and me....