I know....I know....please don't remind me

Ok...so I KNOW it has been FOREVER since I last blogged. I got behind at Christmas and then it seemed like the more I had to blog, the more overwhelming it was to get it done. And now it's April and I can't believe how fast 2009 is going! I now there's lots I need to write about but first I figured I just need to rip off the band aid and blog something, anything, just get it done!
Highlights from this year so far....

January-I can hardly remember...it seems so long ago!
I think Jason had his first Pine Wood Derby for scouts.-

We headed home to Wisconsin (well, my home) for my uncle Bill's funeral. He was way too young and it was hard but I am grateful we were able to be there with my family. One of the benefits of living within driving distance.

February-Sean turned 36 and we had some friends over to celebrate

Jackson was chosen as the Star Citizen of the quarter in his school. I always thought he would be my trouble maker when he got to school but he is proving me wrong! This gives me enormous hope for Tyler...he is at that age that can be...trying on some days! :)

March-

My dryer started acting funny (more to follow)

New school boundaries for our city were announced and my life became consumed with canvasing the neighborhood with petitions, attending school board meeting and meeting with the superintendent. Surprisingly, I loved it. All of it, from the meetings to working with other moms to just feeling like I was making a difference. I had forgotten how much I enjoy stuff along those lines. It was a good wake up call for me to stay involved however I can.

April -

Dryer still acting funny. Bought new washer and dryer (which I LOVE!!! Seriously, I could write an entire post on it! Load of towels...30 minutes to wash, 30 minutes to dry!!) On removal of the old dryer we found a bird inside it! It looked like it had been stuffed, it had been cooked by the dryer. Then we found a complete birds nest inside the dryer vents in the roof. FUN! But, at least I got a new washer and dryer out of it.


Jackson turned 6!! I can't say much because this one has to have it's own post with pictures but it was a fun day and he is a great kid!

We started a major re-landscaping project on our house and I am loving it. As soon as I finish this I am heading outside to plant more and I can't wait! :)

My parents came for Easter. It was lots of fun and the boys all cried when they left. Tyler still asks me daily why Grandpa can't come over!

Swine flu... The kids school closed for a while but thankfully opened back up again last Wednesday. Originally they were going to keep it closed until May 14th!!

And now...it's May. I can't believe it. This year is going by so fast. I can't believe the kids are almost out of school!! I will try to be better in the coming weeks about keeping up with the blogging! Sean got me a mother's day present that should help greatly with that effort!! (more to come about this one if future posts!) Hope you're all doing well. Enjoy these few pictures that I will post to prove to everyone that, yes, we are still alive!

A Lesson Learned....

Last Saturday it was military appreciation night for the University of Alabama Hockey Team. So, we were able to get free tickets to the game. I was excited to go, I knew the kids would love it and you can't really beat free. My biggest dilemma as we were getting ready to leave was which camera to take. I didn't really see a need to bring the big powerful canon. My thoughts were that I wasn't going to be framing any pictures of Hockey players... I could take some pix of the kids before we left the house and then I wouldn't have to carry around the big camera. My other reasoning was that my 8 year old has taken a serious liking to photography and is constantly trying to convince me to let him take pictures - I am MUCH more comfortable with him using my older camera. So... I had decided, and I felt good about the decision, that my old, somewhat reliable Canon power shot would suffice. I packed up the 40D, hoping not to hurt it's feelings, grabbed the power shot and was out the door.

The game was so fun, so exciting and both Jason and Jackson were having so much fun taking pictures of the players - each getting really excited if they managed to capture the puck in the picture. Then, during the break between the first and second period they introduce the parents of all the players. (It was homecoming - I don't think they do this every game) Guess who we then find out is sitting just below us.....Kurt Russel and Goldie Hawn. I could have died, I sat there with all my earlier thoughts running through my head..."I won't need a powerful lens or zoom, what will there really be to take pictures of?" And then, there they are with their perfect hair (seriously, Kurt Russel had AMAZING hair) and I am sitting there with my useless camera. A camera, I had just begun to hate. Why such a strong word, you may wonder? Well, it is because my old camera goes through batteries in what seems like a matter of seconds. (it didn't help that we bought some terrible batteries online because the price seemed so great) So, by the time I realized who was there, I had no camera abilities at all. I did however, have a ton a hokey shots, some even have the puck in it - if your lucky you just might find it.

Here he is....the son....the number one. It was probably a boring night for his whole family. This Mr. Russel is the back up goalie and didn't play all night! :(

So....lesson learned - never again will I leave my nice camera at home. Jason can take all the pictures he can get out of 4 double A batteries on the old one, but I, will always take the newer one. You can never know what picture you may be missing.

On a side note - the part of the evening my husband found hilarious was when in the midst of my frustration I turned to him and said, "I am SO blogging this!"

All for One and One for All!

All last month, at least 3 or 4 times a week, I would consistently hear the words, "Mom, how much longer until Halloween?" Well, after much anticipation, it finally arrived. The boys were thrilled to dress up in their Musketeer costumes and head out to gather as much candy as they could carry!

The evening began with a Truck or Treat at the church building. (Trunk or Treat= cars lined up in the church parking lot with trunks open as the owners of those cars pass out candy and visit with friends) It was supposed to start at 5 pm and due to the kids excitement, we were actually on time. The problem was that not many people were. My kids made the parking lot circle in about 6 minutes and then what? Well, cars were still pulling in...so they just kept circling!! All in all it ended up with plastic pumpkins filled to the breaking point and then they were ready to leave. Except for Tyler, who went around the circle maybe twice and then found a place in the grass to sit and eat his treasures!

This is my friends daughter as little red riding hood. I couldn't resist posting it! She is so cute!

After the Trunk or Treat, we headed home to conquer the neighborhood. Jason, Jackson and the friends we had over couldn't wait to start. But, once again, Tyler felt a little differently. Here is what he looked like as soon as we got home:
So, while Tyler slept, we went from door to door having lots of fun. That lasted for about an hour until we realized that Jason was no longer with the group. This is NOT the first time I have lost Jason on Halloween. I think too much candy does things to his brain. I wasn't too panicked this time, he's 8, he knows his address, and last time he was only 5. So, I ran back home and he was getting there at the same time I was. All was good but we decided that was enough fun for one Halloween night. We went inside where the adults had fun visiting and the candy trading between the kids began. All in all, it was a great Halloween. We still have TONS of candy if anyone needs some! :)

Cotton Belt of America

So apparently we live in the Cotton Belt. This is a phrase that even a few months ago would have meant very little to me. But not anymore. I have fallen in love with cotton! (Is this sounding too much like a fruit of the looms advertisement?) I mean, I had seen the plants, they were green, they were every where, toward the end they had little white dots on them and then suddenly, they were gorgeous. Breathtaking. I had no idea cotton looked like this. I am sad I didn't get my entire family into the field for a picture but we aren't going anywhere so there is always next year. Here it is, my newest love. Let me know what you think!

Pumpkin Patch

So, these next two posts will be a little out of order. I completely forgot about them but they are still in the Fall theme of things.

A few weeks ago Jackson had his first field trip. Tyler and I went along for the fun and brought some friends along with us. The field trip was to the local Pumpkin Patch, Tate Farms. I have been to a lot of pumpkin patches (I even remember my first field trip to one in Kindergarten!) but this one was the best by far. They had corn beds, hay mazes, tricycle pits, bunnies, and hay lofts where you could jump into piles of Hay. The kids had a blast and it was fun seeing Jack interact with all of his classroom buddies. Tyler, of course, felt like such the big kid to be included in Jackson's fun!

My only complaint for the day was that I got much better pictures of my friends children than my own. Oh well. Here were the results.

Here is Tyler with his two buddies Kayla and Luke. Kayla, Anna, Luke, Jackson, Tyler and Stephen.

These last two are of my friend's daughter Kayla but I just loved them!

Jackson with his best bud Johnathan from school.

Halloween Party Time

This year we were invited to a Neighborhood Halloween Party this year and it was a lot of fun. The first of a new annual tradition. Sean and I dressed up as a "Cardiac Arrest." He was the police man "arresting" and I was the "Heart" (a jail uniform with felt hearts pined to it. I thought it was pretty creative but I can't really take credit - you sure can find great stuff at the last minute on the Internet! We will have to start planning next years costumes soon... although knowing my tendencies for procrastination, I am sure I will leave it to the night before, once again!

The boys were dressed up as the Three Musketeers. My mom got them adorable costumes with these huge hats and swords. They were thrilled - anything involving swords, pretty much always gets a seal of approval from my boys! They were so cute they won the costume contest for "Best Boy Costume" It was a really fun night for everyone!

Pumpkin Carving

About a week ago we carved our pumpkins for Halloween. It was a lot of fun and every year it gets a little easier for mom because the kids are more and more capable of carving their own pumpkins. This year I only had to carve one!! Jason was so proud of his final creation. Jack and I worked on his together and Tyler decided to color his! It was a fun Halloween!

This last picture does a great job of showing you the wall paper I will be taking down shortly. Any advise on getting wallpaper off the wall??