A family that ROCKS together.... Stays together!!

Holy shit! I never knew that I could sing Black Hole Sun like it ain't no thang! I just got done scoring a 96%, yeah it was on easy but I did it!!

Rock Band is the shiz. I am now drinking coffee listening to my Tink (who is a shy singer like I am) belt out Enter Sandman by Metallica! Whoever made these games are genius. Not only is it fun to do in the privacy of your own home (Don't expect to see me trying Karaoke anytime soon) but if you did see me know that I have been practicing for it and it wasn't just an unthought through decision, but its also fun to see your kids participate and sing along to Beastie boys, ACDC, Metallica and other the other favorite bands from back in the day.

What is your family all about?

I recently read a blog that had this question as the title. As my children get older and more independent it is a struggle sometimes to keep the family unity together. Tink- my middle love has so fondly named our family the Dugganators, she got the idea one year when we were planning a girl scout event that had different challenges for families. Dugganators to her meant "As long as we are doing it together we will survive!"

One thing that I have made a priority with my family is to make sure all 3 kids get the one on one time they love as well as family activities that do not cost but are fun and something to look forward too.
One of our new family activities:

Sunday night pedicures, even hubby and the boy get involved in this fun! When Drew was describing to his friends one day that he probably has the softest feet at school he got two reactions.
1. I want your mom to do a pedicure on me!
2. That's weird

Luckily both reactions made him laugh as he told me. The "That's weird" boy must have never had a pedicure so doesn't know what he is missing! heh.


My mission in my family is to not let us grow apart. I want the kids to depend on each other for advice, fun, and comfort just like they would on friends or us as their parents. I want when they get older to really want to hang out, not just because they are family.

Ever since they were little I would have them roll down the window and say goodbye to their brother/sister as they were walking into school and remind them daily to do so. Now they do it on their own and the one that is having the goodbye said to them will wait for it with a big smile and a wave and telling who is ever near "That's my brother/sister!"

I didn't have this unity with my brother growing up. I remember him being mean and hurtful and embarrassed of me. Now that we are older that has changed some but I still have deep down feelings of fear of him. I got to see him for the first time in awhile and he has 4 children of his own now and is a fantastic father and I wish I could have seen that side of him more when we were growing up.





:)

..Tap....Tap.....Hello is anyone out there?

I know its been awhile. A very long while. Well lets face it I have a lot of funny things to say and then I try to blog about it and its not so funny anymore. Maybe even a little ummmm well lets just say not so funny. Yeah, that's it.

So since the last time I have blogged a few things have happened:

I was punched by an angry dad at a soccer game (after the game was over) in my left breast area (OW why did you have to go and do that) it was pretty traumatizing and well TOTALLY unnecessary and we are dealing with the aftermath of that. **More to come as I get the details sorted out**

I got through my yearly audit at the bank which is a HUGE relief and now I can take my vacation at Thanksgiving with a clear head and not worry about whats lurking in the shadows at work.

Halloween was a blast as always! Love that day. I dressed as a construction worker at worker with a pink hard hat even! The customers loved it. At night I was a crazy mom with fake eyelashes (Only thing that was different then normal was the fake eyelashes)

and now we are just preparing for the upcoming holidays!


TTFN!

Yeah, not so much.

So hubby just called a bit ago and said that on Monday he will be going out of town for a WEEK for work.
Ummm a WEEK? Sorry but that does not work for me. Who is going to pick up the kids from daycare?? Take them to practice?? Wake them up in the Morning?Feed them dinner?? Make me coffee in the morning? Be home to ask me how my day was?? Watch TV with me?? Let me put my leg over them when they are sleeping?? So great now I need to get a nanny AND a boyfriend. Seriously this gives me the worst anxiety EVER because I really am a puss (it that even a word? Kind of a sick word huh?). I think I have become WAY too dependent on him to take care of all the little things and this definitely makes me appreciate him more. Too bad for me though because its going to happen wether I want it too or not. So I will have to put on my big girl panties and do all these things. I have done them in the past BUT its so much nicer when he is here to help. I do a lot too don't get me wrong so any help he gives is HUGE! Anyone want to come stay with me for a week? I will have wine.

MIA

Is where I went for awhile, between school starting, all 3 kids in soccer, joining the womens softball team again and working full time I am going nucking futs! Good thing we now have everything down to a science with lots of help from dh's white board, he keeps us all in check on where we need to be.

The kids are all good Drew is in the 8th grade, Tink is in the 5th and Shoshi is in the 2nd grade they are just growing up to fast!

I officially have BABY fever, which is why dh is keeping me away with a 10 foot pole. All my kiddos are growing up and I need a little baby to hold which is why we originally got another doggy but they are just not the same and if it chews up one more pair of underwear... immmm gonnnnnaaaaa...

But...

There will be no more babies comming from this momma, I will just have to get my baby fix from unsuspecting strangers. Is it still not okay to go up and touch random babies without asking the parent first? Or maybe asking a stranger if you could hold their baby and perhaps take them home to watch for awhile? Oh.. thought so.

So I guess I will have to make friends with lil babies to hold and that way when they poop themselves I can give them back to their mommy.

See I am a great friend!

Sports schmorts...

My poor little bean. She is the last child of a very sport oriented family. She loves to play sports also but is in the local rec league so doesn't play double headers on Saturday and Sundays like both her brother and sister. Yet she goes to all their games and has a fairly good attitude about it. Except when you have 8 games in one weekend and you have played barbies as much as one would ever want to play on the sidelines of the soccer field. At the last game she said "How many more games do we have mom?? I am so over this!" Wonder where she got that from?

Crocs

I spy with my little eye..........something shiny and black!

Yup you guessed it the cute little shoes below.

You might ask where do I get such cute shoes? First let me tell you they are Crocs! What was that? Are you calling me a liar?? Well go see for yourself here You by crocs What was that? You are sorry? Okay I forgive you, but just wanted to let you know there are 2 things I do not lie about and one of those things is shoes and since you appologized I will let you know a little secret.

Sshhh..

You can get some of these babies for free by entering at Classy Chaos please if you do win them (which I am really hoping I DO) take pictures and treat them good, like I would have and if I win them don't hate participate! We can even have croc playdates in the park where we are all wearing high heels chasing our children. Loves it.

Just me and my boy.....

Score!!
Going back to a store by himself


$2.00 hard earned!

Mmmmmm... love me some chinese.....

..............On the way to the mall............

13 is a really fun age, we can talk about lots of things and have a good time. I do not have to worry about fits because he needs a nap and I can give him a budget and he can comprehend what that means.

Yesterday I took Andrew shopping at the mall, he had money he saved from babysitting plus the money I gave him for school shopping and went to town. He still has enough left for his school supplies and shoes. It was awesome to see him counting in his head how much he spent and how much was left and if the item he was thinking about it really worth the amount they want for it. He got some great deals which he was happy about and now he shops in the big kid stores like Pacific Sun (his new favorite place). We shopped until we dropped and we even earned $2 by taking a 30 minute survey for some poor lady training to get just one more person ( I am a sucker I swear) we had Chinese for dinner and even thought about going and seeing a movie. It was awesome just to have some time with my little man, just him and I.

Love that kid...

Might as well face it, I am addicted to blogs!

I have found so many cool blogs recently I even have a little folder titled "blogs" tee hee.
My husband thinks I am crazy, my kids wonder who in the world these people are and I, well let's just say I love reading about how people live their lives. Its like reading a book actually. My most recent favorite book I read was Such a Pretty Fat by Jennifer Lancaster click here to see her blog. I got a little obsessive (such as staying up until 3 am one night reading it because I couldn't stop laughing!) so I had to stop reading them for a few months. I tend to do that, get really obsessive over something and have to stop for a bit to collect myself. So blogs is the new thing. I love writing one, reading several and talking about them often, I am sure my co workers and friends are like What in the world SHANNA! Stop it already. Could be worse I could be out poking peoples eyes! Be thankful its just reading blogs.

What happens when?

Get 6 adults, 6 dogs (4 of them being boxers) and 11 children together??
A darn good time! We got back late last night from our last camping trip for the summer. We had a blast despite me rolling my 4 wheeler on top of me (Thank goodness for protective gear) today my left side is pretty sore but no broken bones! YAY! I am glad we didn't get there on Thursday because they had a huge rain/hail storm that soaked all the tents and clothes and I probably would have cried We had many around the camp fire laughs where I earned the name of Fraken Jaw (why do I always get the nicknames?) and laughed until we cried. But I am home now and thankfully have the day off to recover my sore body and do some much needed housework. Hope you all had a good weekend.

...Roxy the boxer formerly known as Molly...

Ahhh to be a dog! All play and no work makes a tired duo!





Is working out SO well! I remember Jessica being so much more work to take care of but I think first puppies are like first babies, you really aren't sure what to expect and just remember it being a huge change, then when #2 comes along it a breeze! She has only had a few accidents in the house and those have been by the door in the kitchen. She follows Jessica around like Jessica is her idol and Jessica really likes her too and will let her know when she has had enough of the biting, climbing and chasing. She's a good big sister. :)

Dog days of summer

Welcome to the family little Molly! 8 week old baby boxer!

Little Molly
Jessica the best beagle in the whole wide world

Athena lover of all animals

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROO!!

I never knew what it felt like to be out of my body looking down until I held you in my arms the first time. I never knew that I could love something so much I could litterally feel it in my heart until I met you. I never knew that you would turn out to be such an amazing kid, one that not only do I love to parent but I love to laugh, dance, hang out, and just be silly with!

You are my Roo...

and...

I love you!!

Love your corny mom ;)

So there's this guy...

That I have a crush all though he is married with three kids, tells it like it is, leaves projects unfinished sometimes and even leaves his socks on the floor!

Luckily he is married to me, gives great hugs and is the silliest boy in town...

He sure beats a sharp stick being poked in the eye!

Goodbye to baseball

Athena and Gabby at the Boneville Dam on the way home
First day in Pendelton, Gabby was super tired and showing it.

Monkey Andrew

The last game

The season is now over and what a long season it was. Andrew during regular season played on a team that did not win a single game and then in All Stars they won districts and went to state.
State was fun, we got to stay in a hotel for almost a week with 4 other families and the kids played and swam at the waterpark they had there. We are glad baseball is over now :) Just in time for soccer.

The really near park we had a BBQ at

The attack of the Squirels...

On our way home from Pendelton we stopped at a rest stop and to the kids delight saw tons of Squirels running about. I am okay with one squirel and maybe even two but when there are 10-20 of them I get a little freaked out.

Heres some pictures of our little journey:

Must...not...blog...

I really should be doing other things... Like packing for instance. Everyone else is packed but me and why? I have worked about 50 hours this week so after work I have been BEAT! We are leaving at 3am tomorrow morning heading to the State playoffs for baseball!!

So until we meet again!!

...adios...

To be a kid again

They have a tough life I tell you and I never allow them to have treats. Occasionally I am even the "Meanest mom in the whole world"

But I will assure you on this day some other mean mom had that title.

..Pretty soon..

Andrew on his early 13th Birthday present

I will be the 29 year old mamma of a teenager!! Holy moly!! I can not believe my little Roo is almost going to be a teen.

10 top things I love about this guy:

1. Even in front of his friends he still hugs and kisses his mom

2. He is a huge help and I never hear him complain about chores

3. He is a great big brother to his little sisters

4. He has great sportmanship when he plays on teams

5. He still cuddles

6.He has a great sense of humor and we laugh alot

7.He is responsible when it comes to curfews and handling his money

8.He is a good dancer and loves to be silly.

9.He loves to have fun

10.He says no matter what I will always be his favorite lady

There's lots more but boy do I love that kid!!

....Week is going fast....

So the count down is on. 3 more days to get ready to go to Pendleton and I haven't accomplished very much at home besides the grocery shopping. Work I have been very productive so I guess I can not be the best at everything Eh?

Tomorrow's plan is to get as much laundry and packing as I can so Thursday and Friday I can tie up loose ends. Then Saturday morning we get to leave very early (3 am) to head to a weeks worth of unplanned vacation :-)

Summertime Oh summertime??

We have had just one week of summer where we plan our own schedule and from then on its baseball time. I never thought of myself as a mom that would sit in the stands hours on end not caring if my kid wins or loses but just the joy of watching them play and do their best would be my main concern. Now don't get me wrong, I love to see a good game when my childs team comes out the winners but if they lose I still love them the same, will buy them ice cream and even have some good laughs about the happenings of that day. I never pushed my kids into doing sports but encouraged them and made myself available to take them to practices, watch games and toss/kick/hit the ball around in the yard. Our one rule is you start it, you finish it even if you do not like it. Then next year you don't have to play.

I always get looks of pity or "I am so glad my kids do not play baseball" during the summertime however I can not tell you the look on my Andrew's face when he tagged the last out and GUESS WHAT? WE ARE GOING TO STATE BABY!!!

I may not be able to do whatever I want this summer but there will not be many more summers like this and one day I will be wishing I had my kids by my side and their activities planning my life.

My goal this week is to take more pictures :)

Sunday

Athena and Jessica

"Best friends for life"

I love Sundays! Its the only day all of us ussually do not have anything going on, we can sleep in or save the world its really up to us. Today I chose to get up fairly early and get a few things done while Athena and Clint slept in (Gabby and Andrew are at sleepovers)