Oh Wow??

Yesterday Mallory and I were talking about some new flash cards I bought at Target. They are the US Presidents picture on the front and info about them on the back. She said I don't need to do this already know all the presidents so I said you do who is the president right now and her reply "George............. Clooney"... I said it is a George but his last name is Bush.. I think we better turn the TV off and hit the books!!!!

sweet boys

Mason's Hands
Cavin's Hands


These are some sweet (at least to me) pictures I took this morning of Mason and Cavin holding the flowers that they picked for me.. They love to pick any kind of flower to give me. Then they give me a big hug and look up at me with their big blue eyes and say "I love you Mommy" and every time it melts my heart.. I never get sick of these moments infact sometimes I get sad to think that in a few years they won't even hug me let along tell me they love me.. This morning as Carter rode away on his bike he looked back at me and waved and said "bye pretty mommy".. My boys are so sweet sometimes.. I love all 4 of them and their sister too...

Message of the Day..

I got this email today and thought I would share it with everyone.....



My good message for the day!!!!...Five (5) lessons about the way we treat people.1 - First Important Lesson - Cleaning Lady.During my second month of college, our professorgave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious studentand had breezed through the questions until I readthe last one:'What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?'Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen thecleaning woman several times. She was tall,dark-haired and in her 50's, but how would I know her name?I handed in my paper, leaving the last questionblank. Just before class ended, one student asked ifthe last question would count toward our quiz grade.'Absolutely, ' said the professor. 'In your careers,you will meet many people. All are significant. Theydeserve your attention and care, even if all you dois smile and say 'hello.'I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned hername was Dorothy.2. - Second Important Lesson - Pickup in the RainOne night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African Americanwoman was standing on the side of an Alabama highwaytrying to endure a lashing rain storm. Her car hadbroken down and she desperately needed a ride.Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.A young white man stopped to help her, generallyunheard of in those conflict-filled 1960's. The mantook her to safety, helped her get assistance andput her into a taxicab.She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down hisaddress and thanked him. Seven days went by and aknock came on the man's door. To his surprise, agiant console color TV was delivered to his home. Aspecial note was attached.It read:'Thank you so much for assisting me on the highwaythe other night. The rain drenched not only myclothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along.Because of you, I was able to make it to my dyinghusband's bedside just before he passed away... Godbless you for helping me and unselfishly servingothers.'Sincerely,Mrs Nat King Cole.3 - Third Important Lesson - Always remember thosewho serve.In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less,a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop andsat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water infront of him.'How much is an ice cream sundae?' he asked.'Fifty cents,' replied the waitress.The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket andstudied the coins in it.'Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?' he inquired.By now more people were waiting for a table and thewaitress was growing impatient.'Thirty-five cents,' she brusquely replied.The little boy again counted his coins.'I'll have the plain ice cream,' he said.The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill onthe table and walked away The boy finished the icecream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitresscame back, she began to cry as she wiped down thetable. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish,were two nickels and five pennies..You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he hadto have enough left to leave her a tip.4 - Fourth Important Lesson. - The obstacle in Our Path.In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on aroadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see ifanyone would remove the huge rock. Some of theking's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came byand simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed theKing for not keeping the roads clear, but none didanything about getting the stone out of the way.Then a peasant came along carrying a load ofvegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, thepeasant laid down his burden and tried to move thestone to the side of the road. After much pushingand straining, he finally succeeded. After thepeasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticeda purse lying in the road where the boulder hadbeen. The purse contained many gold coins and a notefrom the King indicating that the gold was for theperson who removed the boulder from the roadway. Thepeasant learned what many of us never understand!5 - Fifth Important Lesson - Giving When it Counts...Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at ahospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz whowas suffering from a rare & serious disease. Her onlychance of recovery appeared to be a bloodtransfusion from her 5-year old brother, who hadmiraculously survived the same disease and haddeveloped the antibodies needed to combat theillness. The doctor explained the situation to herlittle brother, and asked the little boy if he wouldbe willing to give his blood to his sister.I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking adeep breath and saying, 'Yes I'll do it if it will saveher.' As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bednext to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeingthe color returning to her cheek. Then his facegrew pale and his smile faded.He looked up at the doctor and asked with atrembling voice, 'Will I start to die right away'.Being young, the little boy had misunderstood thedoctor; he thought he was going to have to give hissister all of his blood in order to save her.

Most importantly.... 'Work like youdon't need the money, love like you've never beenhurt, and dance like you do when no body's watching....

more fun shirts

which one is your favorite. Seriously ordering one of these today.. I think it will be fun to wear out and about. I may get all the kids a solid colored shirt and then put #1,#2,#3,#4,#5 on the back what do ya think?? Aren't these sayings funny!!

New Song(All I want to do)

This New Sugarland (I am a HUGE Fan) song came out awhile ago and I am in love with it!! There has been many days lately that I have asked Clint to call and sick and stay in bed with me and the kids of course, but being the hard worker he is ( I am convinced he loves his job more than us) he won't ,but starting on Aug 3rd he is all mine for 1 whole week!!! We leave for our cruise on Aug.3rd without the kids more posts coming soon about this..

Anyway I love you babe can't wait to go on vacation just the two of us!! Thanks for the pancakes and eggs this morning they were yummy!!!

Sick and Tired of this ??

I get so sick and tired of this questions "Are they all yours?"... It has gotten so bad that my oldest son actually looked at a lady a few weeks ago in a store who asked and said "Why does everybody ask her that".. it was kinda funny, but rude I know.

Anyway yesterday was one of the funniest in a long time. Here Goes

I took the kids to city park where there was swimming lessons being held and for about 10 mins they were the only kids playing on the park equipment over walks this lady who has two small boys with her and she of course asks the wonderful question "Are they all 4 yours?" I said there are 5 oh she says is one in swimming lessons and I say NO and she said I must have miss counted I bet you do that all the time I respond by saying No can't say as I do. After many comments of I don't know how you do it, you must never have time for anything else, etc. etc.. Over walks another women with 1 child and they must know each other and she says to the lady this women has 5 kids and that lady says and I think having 2 is horrible I am sure 5 is a nightmare (can you believe that she said that) and I respond no it really isn't it doesn't matter if you have 1 or 5 raising kids is a big job being a mom is a huge job (i thought i did good) anway they go on to ask a million questions and make some more rude comments, but this is the best part towards to end of our visit the one lady says so you must be one of those homeschooling families ( I have nothing against homeschooling) and I say no my kids go to public school just like a lot of other kids and then she says are you having more kids(with a look of pity on her face) and I say with a straight face " YES WE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE 5 MORE".... Needless to say the women didn't talk to me again the rest of the time we were there!!! Serves her right sometimes people need to mind their own business. I had a friend tell me yesterday to start saying "Big Families are in" I like it! I am thinking of having a shirt made like this one

So.....

So for those of you I haven't told Clint and I are going on "The Cruise" that he received last xmas for being the "unsung hero" (a.k.a going above and beyond what he is paid to do).. We leave on Aug.3rd and return on the 7th. Part of me is so excited to be spending this time with just my husband, but the mother part of me is sick to her stomach at the thought of leaving my babies for that long. Don't get me wrong I know they will be in good hands with grandparents, but I am a Mom I worry it's my job. The main thing I keep thinking is what will Maxton think of me being gone for that many days I worry that he will think I abandoned him and when I come back he won't be mommy's baby any more, that he will be mad at me and cling to grandma. That would break my heart :( This will be the first time I have been away from him for more than a few hours since he was born. If you can't tell I am very nervous. So many what ifs start running through my mind and I can't make them stop. I have been having very horrible nightmares the last few weeks thus not sleeping well and I think the reason behind it is the fear of leaving the kids and going so far away. I will probably cry for the first day of our trip because I have left them. It is weird that when I went to New York back in Nov. I only cried on the drive back from drooping them off with grandma, but I also had Maxton with me which I think helped. I have even went so far as to email the travel agent to ask how we would get back to the states in an event of an emergency. Is this insane? I have gotten together our will, all of our important papers, passwords to online banking accts., user and passwords to all online accts. I can think of, wrote a health history report for each kid, wrote down all the accidents they have had to date, I have wrote them letters.. etc. etc.. I am losing my mind. Every time I think of leaving I start to cry. Is going on vacation suppose to be this hard? Does anybody else have this problem or I am just strange??

Oh my

All the sudden it hit me that Mason will be at school all day.. I don't know if I have just not let myself think about it or if the summer coming to an end finally made me realize that my sweet little boy is going to be in 1st grade... Kindergarten with Mason wasn't as hard on me as it was when Mallory(i cried the whole first week everyday after I drooped her off) first started because I just kind of thought of it as preschool since he was only there a few hours per day.. I have tears rolling down my face as I think of drooping him off the first day of school and how sad Carter will be without Bubba and how sad I will be not to hear his little voice asking me a million questions, to think of him sitting in the cafeteria overwhelmed and scared, and the changes I know that will happen over the course of this year. Something happens to them in 1st grade they just change from babies into big kids in the matter of months and I am very sad to see him grow up. On the other hand I wonder what lies ahead for my smart,sensitive,inquisitive,sweet,lovable,caring boy. I know he will go on to do great things and that puts a smile on my face... Mason Thane I love you more than words can say!!!

Clint's Family

This is a picture of Clint's parents house and a picture of Clint with his brothers, sister and mom..

Top: Torrey, Mom Judy, Justin

Bottom: Jamie and Clint

Does his mom really look like she could be celebrating her 50th Birthday?? I think not!!

My Boys!!!

Home Sweet Home..

Down town Centralia Kansas.. Looks really busy huh???

Small town grocery store, but everybody knows you no matter how long it has been since you have been "Home".....

We had to go "Home" this weekend for a family reunion and Clint's Mom's Surprise 50th bday party.. We had a great time. It is nice to visit with family you don't see to often and see old friends and relive old times. Mallory got to experience some small town freedom which was a new thing for her and me. She got to go on walks with her cousin with NO adult supervision and even got to go the the city pool with some of her older cousins. Sometimes after weekends like this Clint and I debate the pro's and con's of living in the City (I know that some of you don't see this as the city) and living back home in the country. We know this is where we belong but it makes us sad to think that our kids won't be allowed some of the small town opportunities that we got. You see as kids in Centralia you didn't have malls to go to daily, or inside playgrounds, and if your friend lived on the other side of town you just got on your bike and went to find him and then spent the rest of the day playing. My kids can't just get on their bikes and head for town here and if we want to play with friends we make playdates.. It makes me sad but I know this is home for us, but it is nice to go visit Centralia..

BUSY,BUSY,BUSY

It has been awhile since my last post.. Boy have we been busy!!! Mallory is feeling pretty much 100% which is GREAT!!! We had a ton of stuff going on last week.. We decided to go camping over the 4th with Clint's brothers, their wives and kids at Lake Perry (near Topeka). I was really dragging my feet about going on this little adventure worrying about how Maxton would handle sleeping in a tent with a lot of noise, but much to my surprise he did AWESOME!! In fact he loved it. He is such an outdoor baby anyway so getting to spend all day and night outside agreed with him! He didn't really care for our hour long boat rides though because he had to sit still but he managed to last for 5 hours on Friday and even fell asleep on Clint's lap on the wave runner!! The other kids had a great time too. Mason is a fire bug (surprise surprise), Mallory loves to make smores, Carter loves to get dirty and Cavin well he doesn't really know what he likes!! They all got to go tubing behind the boat and ride the wave runners which I thought they would never get off of.. All and All we had a really nice time!!! Hope everyone had a great holiday!