Movies, Therapists, and A Looming Birthday on The Horizon...

I've tried to spend this week working on school supplies, school clothes, and some fun with my older kids. Since Simon and Emi came home, they have missed out on some things that I can't take them to with little ones, that kind of stuff. So in between shopping for stuff they didn't want (anything reminding them of school around the corner!) we managed to head to my Dad's to swim and yesterday we spent the big bucks and hit the dollar movies. I haven't been the the movie theater in ages, it's sad really. :) We saw Rio....

It was really cute and I think we all had a good time together.... Until we went to Target and fought over which toy aisle we would shop in. Sigh... So ridiculous....

Today they needed the 6 month re-evaluation for Emi and Simon's physical therapy, so we're looking at another 6 months of that every Tuesday and Thursday. Then the older kids and Billy went off to hold their latest lemonade stand. :) Such budding capitalists... I guess it's a good thing that it's been at least 100 degrees every afternoon....

On  a deeply personal note, the fact that I will soon be 40 is not something I am taking lightly. I know, "age is just a number", "40 is the new 30", WHATEVER... I just look in the mirror and I see aging. I don't feel like what I see in the mirror, does that make sense? I walk in the bathroom, and I'm like, who the hell is that? Are those age spots?! Good Lord.... Ugh.... Maybe I need a facial... Do they work? Or some peeling of some kind... I should do research... There has to be a way to get through this. Billy did, my best friend did. Why am I silently kicking and screaming???

Shots, Birthday Lunches, And More Sweaty Basketball...

Today Aaron and Kevin had to get 2 immunizations. Lucky me, Billy offered to take them, he figured they'd be less emotional in front of their dad. (Kevin is SUCH a baby when it comes to needles, I mean, hysterically crying, it's insane!) So he said they were ok, but there were tears. Heck, it's a win in my eyes if people in the next room can't hear them. They're ELEVEN!! That may have been the first time Billy has taken any of the kids for shots, I told him that I figure this one visit was nothing compared to when they're 3 or 4 and you have to hold them down.... He has no idea... :)

Yesterday we took my dad to lunch for his birthday. I think he had a really good time, we were there almost 2 hours and just talked and he had quality time with the kids. It has been really hard for my kids to get quality time with either one of my parents since my mom's Parkinson's has really gone into full swing. Since my dad had to put her in the nursing home, while he still spends his afternoon/evenings there with her, he is able to drop by more. When my mom was still at home, he really couldn't leave her alone and she was bedridden. My kids missed him. They miss my mom too, don't misunderstand, but when we visit her during the week, most times she isn't making sense, or doesn't remember their names. :( Anyway, he turned 78 today and I hope we have many more to celebrate with him... Especially if we go for seafood, I had crab and it was SO good!!

Kevin and my Dad

We finished the day with 100 degree basketball. What is wrong with these people?! I suggested Wii basketball tournaments in the living room, you know, in the A/C?! I think that may be on for tonight. Let's hope, I mean, at Billy's age, it may not be a good idea to tax the body at that temperature.... :)

After Dinner Basketball... The Trash Talking Is Getting Worse... :)

One of the things I love about my kids getting older (and there are very FEW of these!) is times like this. All week as soon as dinner is done, everyone has been heading out front in 100+ degrees to play basketball. Billy and Olivia vs. Aaron and Kevin...

And you cannot have a game without the cheering section....

But man, it is HOT.......

I Think Big Changes Are Coming Around Here.... I Hate Change....

First let me just tell you that yesterday we had a huge thunderstorm that was so welcome, my kids played in it. Hopefully, it will help the hay in my backyard return to some kind of grass. 30% we get another round this afternoon they say, but it is awfully sunny right now.

We ran a ton of errands today, me and the 2 kids I've had this week. :) Visited with my mom at the nursing home, ran by my Gastro doctor for blood work papers, and hit the store. We should probably be somewhere right now, but kids are outside with the neighbors and I was hungry.

There seems to be a wave of changes coming around here. Nothing I can just point to, just the feeling that all the balls have been tossed in the air, and I don't know where they will fall. Don't know if that makes sense, or the fear and dread of my impending 40th birthday is making me nuts. That is totally possible. :) I am no fan of change, I like the steady stream of routine. We shall see what comes of it all.

This is a short post, I need to clean the kitchen and get out the door to pick up my 3 missing kiddos.

Monday, Monday.......Try Printing Out School Supply Lists, Your Kids Will Stop Talking To You...

We were off to a fast paced start, this week Kevin has basketball camp, so we were up and moving early. Of course this is when the lovely boy yells downstairs, "my basketball shoes don't fit anymore!" Of course they don't, you won't.stop.GROWING.... Ugh, this boy is just shooting up like a weed. He is at least 3-4 inches taller than his twin brother. Anyway, small shoes on and a promise to go to Academy later and Billy and Kevin were out the door while I wrestled the youngest two for MDO.

Billy called me from the camp and was really impressed. Big sigh of relief for me, we had little info on it, it's a former Spurs player than has been doing it for years now. Billy said that some kid mouthed off and they had him doing push ups! LOVE that! (that's what we do with the boys, Billy's dad was a Marine...) He said that Kevin immediately made eye contact with Billy and smiled. It sounds like it's going to be a great week for him. I miss him though, it's weird not having his sarcasm nearby....

I dropped off my littlest ones for school and Olivia and Aaron and I headed out to get some school supplies. When I printed out the list, a few of my kids stopped talking to me. :) So silly, I'm not trying to speed up school starting, I'm trying to get in on the sales! GEEZ!!! Today we managed a new backpack and a few other small supply pick ups. When I need stuff for the 3 older kids and new clothes and lunch boxes for all 5, I look for the deals...

Last point, (I know, this is a long post) I am gaining weight. BOO.... I haven't done a lick of exercise since the 5K and it is SO easy to snack when the kids are home in the summer. I have got to get back in gear or all that work from January to the end of June was for nothing. And Billy will still be fit and all and I will be dumpy. :( Back to Jillian Michaels, I suppose. She is a bit frightening....

I should go, I have to pick up a bunch of kids soon!

An Entire Day At Six Flags Fiesta Texas....

I am so sorry for a week of silence. I think may be still tired from Tuesday's marathon at Fiesta Texas, or lazy in July. Billy and I were concerned about how long the shorties were going to last (last summer I had to leave the park by 1pm), but they had a ball and made it until 4! I must say, 2 year olds hanging out for 6 hours without much of a battle is a total win. They were asleep before I hit the highway to get home. :) Billy stayed with the big kids until the park closed at 9. They were still talking about it days later... I'm just going to post some pics and then head to the tv to watch something with everybody...



And we're finally packed up and ready to go!

I love this one of the 5 kids on the train...

Awww, I couldn't love this boy more...

Billy and Simon flying...

Olivia and Kevin waiting for one of the water rides...

My five gorgeous kiddos, tired and annoyed with my picture taking...  :)

Our Boys Are Eleven... We Might Have Eaten That In Pounds Of Food...

Well here we are, Aaron and Kevin are 11 years old and there isn't anything I can do about it. :) So we spent the day eating at one of our favorites, Alamo Cafe (I LOVE that I can eat there without being glutened!) and then the mandatory stop at Marble Slab for ridiculously priced, but oh so yummy ice cream. They don't even want cake, just stick a candle in the ice cream please. My dad went to lunch with us and I hope he enjoyed it, the kids sure did. It is really difficult for my mom to join us, they would have to get the Ambulance van to drive her from the nursing home and because she is unable to move on her own, trips to the bathroom, etc are almost impossible. It's hard to have these gatherings without her, but I want my dad to still come and have time out with family and we will see my mom tomorrow.

Now for the pics!


My dad and Kevin... I really like this picture...




Olivia and the oh so yummy queso..



 

Aaron and my dad.

 Now that I've eaten their age in pounds, I'm stuffed to the gills and they didn't get younger... This age thing stinks. This time, 11 years ago, I was arriving in Florida, all by myself (Billy had to drive so we could go home with the boys together.) getting settled in my hotel and talking myself into finding the hospital so I could meet my little boys. I was a wreck and so scared to do it all by myself. It's one thing to meet the birth mom, have dinner and connect. It's totally different when the day comes and she has delivered these beautiful babies and you just don't know how she is going to react to your presence or if she has changed her mind. It was unnecessary stress, she was warm and welcoming, she introduced me to her family and while sad, she was loving and immediately wanted me to hold the boys. She will always be part of my family and we love her.... Enough for now....

Watching My Son Talk To The Chicks Makes Me Nauseous....

Tomorrow my oldest boys officially turn 11. Nothing big planned, since we already had the sleep over, just lunch out, Marble Slab ice cream and presents. (and yay for me, they picked a restaurant I can eat at!) 11 feels like the baby is all gone. I haven't heard "Mommy" from either one in ages. One of them (Kevin of course) shies away from kissing me in public, from saying "I love you", all of it. He's over  it. :) Yesterday I looked out my front window and he was sitting in the yard with a neighbor girl (an older woman, mind you!) just hanging out. Just the two of them. I wanted to throw up. He looked too comfortable, relaxed.... I am grateful he was in my yard, right in front of me, but the girls already?! The silver lining was I watched him walk her home... Nice touch. At least he was a gentleman. :)

11 years ago we were leaving the hospital....

I should finish laundry and proofread something for Billy before the shorties wake from nap. Then mass tonight, so I better get moving.....

Happy Friday!!!

We have a lot of running around today, so I'm just going to leave you with this....

"Crazy Train" Isn't A Commonly Used Term???

According to my loving husband, my phrases are not commonly used ones. Hmmmm.... I say crazy train. Like, "dontcha think this is a little crazy train?" Makes sense to me. Billy says "only to Ozzy Osborne". My husband actually keeps a running list of some of my phrases. Weirdo. Maybe I should be touched. I figure we all have weird stuff we say regularly. My mother-in-law used to kill me when she would say, "you might could do that" WHAT?!?! That would offend my English teacher self to the core. She probably still says it, we just don't talk, so I don't hear it....

Billy says "ain't". **shudder** I don't care where you're from, that word is like fingers on a chalk board to me. Now I occassionally hear my kids use it. At least my words are all listed in the dictionary. :)

And because I haven't got anything to write about on this hot Texas day, this is last night's conversation before I went to bed.

Me: "You ok?"

Billy: "Yes, for the 5th time, I am fine. You know I am not a big talker."

Me: "Yes, well, you are sometimes, like when you talk about stuff no one wants to hear."

Billy: "Let me get my list, I have to write that down."

Me: "I'm sorry you can't handle the truth.... What are you doing?" (he's writing on a piece of cardboard)
       "What are you homeless? (pause) Was that offensive?"

His list at work includes (and I should be embarassed about some of these, but I'm strangely not in the least...)

"I say thank you ALL the time, because I know it's your THING." (this is so true, he whines a lot about not being thanked enough.)

"You don't even want to get to know who I AM..." (13 years and 5 kids later...)

We're so in love..... :) Why do you suppose he keeps all this?? I figure he keeps it at the office to gaze at when he's missing me.... :)
    

We Ran The 5K And Lived To Tell!!! Happy 4th Of July!!!





The Starting Line...

We were up by 6am, out the door by 7. See they had limited free t-shirts, and hey, why run a 5K if you don't have a t-shirt to commemorate the occassion?! The run started at 8 and it was already getting hot. The boys started in the front, Olivia, me, Billy and the shorties were towards the back. I didn't see Kevin again until I crossed the finish line. All in all, I am so proud of everyone, we finished it and Billy did not have a heart attack running with 100 extra pounds of babies and stroller. (side note, Billy says there are no more babies in this house. Whatever....) I stayed with Olivia the whole run, she is a lot like me and running is not her thing.

She looks like a runner here!

Billy in motion. I can't explain the hat, don't ask me to.

But go Livvy, she pushed through it and we finished in 42 minutes. Not a stellar number, but she has never run that far and I couldn't be prouder. :)

Billy finished 1 minute ahead of us with Aaron, who sprinted out of the gate and lost steam. Lesson learned, I guess. Kevin, who was running with his best friend, finished in 32 minutes. Awesome. None of us got a trophy, but we really just wanted to accomplish the run and we all did. It was a great morning, much better than I thought it would be.

I actually really love this picture and I'm even in it!

 After you finish, you can jump in the pool to cool off before the trophies are handed out... We only let Simon and Emi stick their feet in...

Kevin cooling off after his awesome run...

We went home to recover and throw on swimsuits for the neighborhood cookout and swim. It's nice, everyone brings something, there's a DJ, and the kids swim for hours.

Can you believe she has the energy for a sack race??

Emi has become quite the fan of the pool this year...

Big kids are bowling with Billy and the littlest among us are fast asleep. Later we'll grill for dinner and have a lazy evening. Burn ban in effect here, so no late night drive for fireworks. :( Hope you had a great Independence Day!

I Guess This Is What Our Fridays Are Like Now....

I sit here, late on a Friday night because my house is overrun with people. I have one kid watching "Horton Hears a Who" on one tv. Two others are watching some UFO, God knows what show. Two others are refusing to fall asleep and I am listening to the wrestling on the baby monitor. These Fridays try the soul. :) This is the one day a week that the big kids get to stay up until 10pm. They like feeling mature, they make popcorn and hang out. They take the tv. When am I supposed to watch all my DVR shows?! So today I am sitting at my computer with you while the boys chase UFOs and Olivia is wrapped in a Snuggie with Dr. Seuss. I suppose it is just a glimpse of the future teen years when they never go to bed and are always draped over a couch eating and spilling something.

I must have been stung more than once yesterday, my right arm is more swollen now than 24 hours ago. And it itches like the devil. I hope I wake up tomorrow with a normal looking forearm. I googled it, they say yellow jacket stings can stay swollen for 48 hours. Lovely....

The 3 day weekend has begun, I hope you have wonderful plans set. Most of our weekend will be like any other, house stuff and church on Saturday, lazy Sunday. But it will be an early bedtime Sunday, because Monday at 8 am we will be running the neighborhood 5K. No way am I ready. I know I can run 2 1/4 miles without too much trouble. But we never ran the whole 5K. Probably not the best plan. The goal is to finish, not necessarily place. And for Billy to have a regularly beating heart when it is all said and done. :) I will definitely post pics, no way this is going by without that. There may even be a pic of me, we shall see. The blog censor (me) is very picky about self portraits....

Have a great 4th of July, enjoy the fireworks for us, our county has a fireworks ban due to the drought. :(