Spring time Allergies...

I have NEVER suffered more than a sneeze when others are suffering with allergies. EVER. Saturday everything changed for me. I weed wacked the yard and by midnight I could not breathe, my nose was running and I felt like my face had been hit by a frying pan. I will never again tease anyone when they start sneezing, coughing, blowing their nose again.
I realize I haven't blogged in quite a few months. I was shocked how long it had been really. I have been a bit distracted by life. ;) I will ATTEMPT to do better this summer. No promises. Right now I am on the computer and should be tackling a project or cleaning or at least folding the piles of laundry. But, everyone needs a break sometimes, right?

Complements Help SO Much!

SO, Alex woke up to eat at 6am, and I decided to run get a few groceries since I was out of milk and bread. I RAN thru HyVee and got baby food while I was there too. I get to the register and there is only 1 lane open and I think this should be fast and easy and I can get home. My knee and back were sore from working in the yard the last 2 days and I wanted to put my braces on, I felt gross since I didn't even take time to brush my teeth and I was ready for breakfast. The checker was a guy that works the overnight shift and at first he was quiet and just ran my items thru. Then he asked "So, how olds your baby?" I started talking about Alex and all my kids, and just chatting. He proceeds to tell me I look great after having so many kids so close, and said "I can see why your husband married you, you have a great personality." I was flattered and laughing since he was obviously tired and couldn't see straight since I had only rolled out of bed and put clothes on. No makeup, didn't even look in the mirror at my hair. ;) I KNOW I am beautiful, but no one rolls out of bed looking that great. And to top it all off, a $4 register store coupon popped out for all the baby food I bought! Now THAT really made my day! Flattery rarely gets you anywhere with me, but free money? Works every time! On to a great day! ;)

Leaves, Walnuts and Pizza

The kids and I started cutting down all the plants, weeds and trees that have taken up residence in our yard this summer while my back was so bad yesterday when my hubby called and asked if we wanted to go with him to help at his great grandpas house with leaves. I said sure!!! So we loaded up all our rakes, leave blower, and other tools I had been using and headed over. Keith told the kids if they picked up a 5 gal bucket of walnuts he would give them a special treat. They were so excited they filled the 5 gal bucket in 20 minutes. Then they filled some 1 gal buckets around 5 times, and I filled the 5 gal bucket 4x. So, in all we picked up around 30 gallons of walnuts and only made a small dent. YIKES! I am giving the kids a break from picking them up again today and we will focus on our yard again, but I am thinking we will go back again 1 evening this week and pick up 30 more gallons to try and help out. Oh, and the pizza part? after we had worked for 2 hours Keith's parents bought us pizza to thank us for helping. ;) I would work every night to not have to cook supper! ;)

Bonfire Fun!!!

We had such a fun time at my sis-in-laws bonfire birthday party tonight! The kids played in the dirt so much that Kelly had it from head to toe, including in the diaper. ;) Bath night again! Now on to cleaning for my sister to come for a visit this weekend. Yeah!
Also, went to a few garage sales this morning and was able to buy 4 chairs that were in decent condition for $5 each! God is SOOO good! Our current chairs are OLD and falling apart. The kids have "fun" wiggling and listening to them creak and crack. I have to push a few of them back together before I dare sit down in them, so I am thrilled to have 4 nicer chairs. Am I getting rid of the other chairs? No. All they need is to be stripped, re-glued, re-nailed, stained, varnished and they will be good as new! ;) I should have time to do all that in about 10 years.... My hoarding tendencies will be a topic for another day... :)

What is that sticky spill from???

If any of you know my mom, you know she is an excellent cleaner. She knows what product to use on what spill, stain, dust, etc. I aspire to be like my mother. I am nowhere near there yet. I know I have 4 great and adorable excuses for the way my house is. I know my back has been bad for years. I know toys have overtaken almost everyones houses that have kids. But I don't want a messy house. I don't want toys everywhere, crumbs underfoot no matter how many times I sweep, laundry piling up, and spills discovered every time I turn around. I appreciate my children and would live this way the rest of my life to keep them, but I am talking about changing me. I want to have a cleaning schedule and actually follow it. ;) I am a procrastinator to the extreme. I put things off until tomorrow, next week, next summer... ;) I have been seeing quotes that have been encouraging to me recently and I am trying to adapt to them as I make my lists of "to do".  I have many goals I want to do and not just try, not start, but to complete in the next month. If I can pull my final reasonable, achievable, realistic list I will post it soon. That is, if I don't procrastinate and then give up... JUST KIDDING!! ;)

"The major reason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it."
"Discipline is doing what you know needs to be done, even though you don't want to."
"You can do anything, but not everything."
"if you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done."
"There is no such thing as being too busy. If you really want something, you'll make time for it."

Kids Pictures Made in July.

How could I forget to show off my kids pictures?

 Ruth turned 4 this year. She is such a big girl! We started homeschooling preschool this year and she is learning to read. She also started AWANAS at our church, and will be starting tumbling at our local Rec Center.

 KJ is my big boy. He turned 2 in June, and his vocabulary is building everyday as he gains confidence. He is so loving, as you will see a few pics below.

 Kelly. Oh my little Kelly. She also turned 2 in June, and she NEVER stops talking. ;) She has her Mommies attitude and isn't afraid to show it. She may be strong willed, but she is my little shy, bashful Kelly.

 Alex!!! He is now 8 months old!! He is seriously such a good baby. He only eats once a night now, and sleeps from 7pm to at least 7am. He plays fine on the floor alone and lets mommy get things accomplished during the day. Yay!!!

 Here are my loving twins together. The photographer snapped this unprompted moment just in time. Kelly was crying within seconds. :)

I. LOVE. Fall!!!

Ahh, Fall. Autumn. Harvest Season. I LOVE it! The leaves really turned their bright colors this weekend. I hope to take the kids on a walk and collect the different colored leaves and make a project this week. We even collected the tiny acorns our Pin Oak has been dropping to glue to our project. We will be getting pumpkins to paint as well. Fall inspires me so much more than any other season. I would paint a room the bright red color of the maple leaf if my husband would let me. Another one orange. Another yellow. But, maybe I will settle for a picture of the leaves to hang on the wall and start small. Just in case I change my mind like normal. ;)
I am venturing outside of my comfort zone this fine season to make more friends. Yes, I have friends, but they are more casual than I need. I need more close friends that I can turn to for help and support, and that can and will turn to me to help and support them. I want to really be there for more people. My husband is a HUGE social person and thrives off of interaction with others. I want friends I can invite over for supper and that will stay for hours having a good time. Friends to go on double dates with. To have play dates with each others kids. I am praying God will show me who these new friends (or old friends I am not taking advantage of) will be. And that I will step out of my shell and really get to know people this year. ;)
Ok, enough babble. Hope everyone has a great week!!!