So it's been a few days since my last post and I still have blogging on my mind. Funny thing is, there is nothing crazy exciting or unusual going on that makes me think hey, the works needs to know this. And we aren't (as a family or me as a person) that interesting either. Just busy. Today I drove 45 minutes away while the kids were at school to a nursery and came home. Then I did something so sad. I watched a little series on YouTube, called Last Days I think. It's basically interviews of people who have terminal illnesses and about, well...their last days. Terribly sad. Enlightening. Humbling. Perspective. So then I picked up my kids and snuggled with them as best I could before they ran outside to play with friends. I am very thankful for my handfuls. We did homework and dinner. Now the house is quite as Matt and I read/blog to the sound of the rain outside. Boring. Maybe? But I love my life. I am homebody and there is no where else I'd rather be. Except maybe the beach. Maybe. :) Disclaimer: this was typed from my phone. I'll find the errors tomorrow.

Day in the life.

A day in the life. Wake-up at 6:50, hit snooze, wake up at 6:59. Get up at 7am. Turn on the lights, put the kids clothes on their pillows so they can't say they can't find their clothes. Make my bed, brush my teeth. Roll-call, for the 4/5th time to get them to the bathroom. Threaten to not fix the girls hair. Get the boy downstairs because he is ready in 5. Throw on something, get the girls done,get them downstairs to start their breakfast and I put on some make-up. Get downstairs, help them finish breakfast. Get lunches made, agenda's and folder's in backpacks, coats, shoes, and anything else they need. Grab my preschool bag and leave the house at 8:05. Then 2 car lines until 8:25 then head to my preschool. Unless someone has forgotten something. In that case, run back home and to the respective school to drop off.Then go to work. Work until 1:15-ish. Go home. Start laundry, make other beds, clean up after breakfast, make phone calls, check emails, peruse FB/Pinterst, check the real mail, think about dinner or nix all that and go to Publix. 2:50 head to car lines. 3:35 get home. Pull out homework, think about dinner again. Get ready for practices, etc. Start dinner at 4, flash cards, reading, etc. for the kids. Eat at 5, divide and conquer and head out to respective activities for the kids. Hopefully home by 7, shower the kids, pick up their "dirties" and realize I forgot to change over the load from earlier. Do that. Start another load. Get the kids in bed, head downstairs to clean up after dinner. Fold the laundry from earlier or at least think about it.Shower. Lay down. Get up to turn off something, whether it's a light or a toy. Pray. Sleep. :)

About time

Busy Bees we are! Wow, what a year. Me working, all the kids in school, all of their activities. It seems like there is ZERO time to blog. Of course, I find time to check FB and Pinterest. It has been an amazing school year, both girls cheered and Wy played football. Sadie is still in piano and been diagnosed with ADD. We made it through the holidays and have just started Spring ball. Audrey won Little Miss Buford and now we just have to round out the rest of the year and make it to my all time favorite part of the year...SUMMER. Can't wait for family and beach time. Although family time means a bit more this summer since we will head home to OK for a bit since my dad has been diagnosed with cancer. There...there is where my year has gone.

Wow! Almost 2 years since my last post! So much has changed! We are no longer residents of KS, Matt has new job and a new house. Back to the Southeast for us. Loving the weather here, we've been here since August. Audrey heads to school in the Fall and my kids are loving it here. I am going to try to and update more often (ha! I say, that EVERYTIME).

Not Really.

Okay, so I rarely post but I think that is acceptable since I don't have too many followers. Unlike some of my blogging friends I don't have awesome blogs with hundreds of followers. No pressure to blog for sure but I do like to update periodically to chronicle our lives, mainly so I can look back and show this to the kids. They LOVE looking at pictures of themselves. They think they are soooo funny. My pictures albums are in aweful condition since they flip through them quite regularly. It used to bug me, you know, them messing up the pages. But now that they are messed up, I think it's cute. Anyhow, I think I last blogged in April so what's new. Hmmm. In May Wyatt turned 5, he is growing up I tell you. He's been in t-ball and is just a great athlete. Sadie had her last day of school. She wasn't feeling well but was a tropper and spent the whole day there. She is such a good reader already! We are in swimming lesson now but Audrey sat out today because she has a scrape she is afraid of getting wet, that girl is crazy. My inlaws came for a week and then one of Matt's hunting friends came for a few days. And not much new with me. Hoping to make it to Oklahoma in July, which reminds me to call my mother right now before I forget. But I'll leave some updates pics of the kids.
~Catherine

Life Is Good!

Life is good, it's not always great but ALWAYS good. Matt, the kids and myself are so blessed. We are are happy and healthy and made it through another Kansas winter! This is my favorite time of year, with all the new life around! There is a kill deer bird who even laid her eggs on the lot next us, so we have been keeping an eye on it. Such a cool lesson for the kids. Unfortunately Matt is traveling here and there, and bad things usually happen in his absence, like in October it was me contracting swine flu. Last month the car battery died and I was gratefully rescued by my dear friend Heather (and my own mechanic skills, I replaced the battery)! This time it's the water heater. Seriously. But even when things aren't great, life is still good. Our time is being spend outside on the yard, at the kid's events (soccer) and at church. What is better than that? Sadie even won 2nd place in a writing contest at her school. Wyatt has a career 6 soccer goals and Audrey, well her conversing skills are the most adorable I've ever seen. Now I am off to make dinner for my awesome family! Like I said, life is good!

I Admit It!

I am an awful blogger! A post every 3-4 months is not good. Especially since all the bloggers I follow post every 2-3 days! I just don't have to time (or energy) to do so. Speaking of energy, mine is returning with the sweet sunshine that has finally decided to come here to Kansas. Well, a bit of cold snap tomorrow, but the past week and a half have been great! Since I was last here so much has happened. We have kindergarten round-up for W this Friday, my little man is growing up fast! My brother got married in Idaho so the fam flew way up there for the event. And his baby is due in about 3 weeks. Do the math, I know, but we still love him! What else? Easter was just here and we did 3 hunts in one day. And while they are fun I don't get super excited about them because it's not the meaning of the holiday. But the kids know the reason, which melts my heart. I heard them discussing it in the backseat one day, so cute. From here on out we have kite days, zoo days, family fun night and other kinds of activities at school. Add that in with sports and church, we are a family on the go for sure. Life is good. We are happy, healthy and ready for what comes our way. My kids are so fun at their ages now. Really, lots of fun, makes me sad to think they all be grown up some day.



And just for giggles today Wyatt asked me why Carrie Underwood doesn't know her last name!

Random

Random photos. We had an awesome Christmas with just us and the kids.We also celebrated a bit with family friends. Good times!







Megan, Me and Susie

Wy at the "dance party".

A fell asleep in place after playing with toys all day long.

S and some friends. Aren't they such posers?

The Reason for the Season

I wrapped up (haha, notice my pun) the shopping today. My in-laws sent cash so I had to do their shopping for the kids and it was my last trip for gifts. There were so many people spending oodles and oodles of money on gifts. Overflowing or multiple carts were in abundance. All fine and good. I just hope everyone takes a step back to remember the reason for our celebration. We don't overdo "it" ourselves and never really have. We don't spend a certain amount or worry obsessively over the big thing this year. While the gifts are nice, I'll be re-iterating to my kids the whole meaning of Christmas. And remembering myself, the ultimate sacrifice given for me. With that said, I hope you all enjoy your holiday season with family and friends. And speaking of family...here is our annual family picture. Merry Christmas!

A Million Years!

It feels like a million years since I have blogged. The last half of this year has been a whirlwind! My oldest child started kindergarten, my baby started preschool and my son goes to full-day preschool a couple days a week. I quit my part-time job, it was too much to travel and the expectation to be away more was finally coming to fruition. I was being pulled in a million directions and to be honest multi-taking chores is one thing, your life is quite another.

My papa Hugh died in August, we went to Michigan in September, I came down with H1N1 in October and in November my dad became really sick so I left my family for several days to be with him. Add in all the school and church events and upkeep of the house and family, I am one crazy lady! So that is it in a nutshell. I have been so busy that I finally ordered some pictures but I was so backed up that had to order 1000 photos just to get caught up to this Fall! Coming up I have the girls' and my husband's birthday parties (I'll be baking a lot!) and my brother's wedding after Christmas. Don't know the exact date of that event but it's a funny story so we'll be in Idaho at some unknown point in the future. Oh, and Christmas, I have 2 gifts left to buy and 4 to make so I am sort of on top of that one. But it is a great and wonderful life I have been blessed with, so I don't mind it one bit. Well, I have my moments...

You Know Your Hungry When....

you are driving down the interstate and see a billboard with a sandwich on it, then as getting closer you realize it is a furniture store billboard with a leather couch with pillows. That was me last night on the the way to St. Louis. Thank goodness I am home!

Are They Related?

Thankful

I am really thankful right now. There are so many situations a person/family can fall into and I am telling you thank God literally it has not been me/us. I have a blessed life. And in all seriousness, glory be to God for it all!

Busy

May is filling up fast. Yesterday we held Wyatt's 4th Birthday party, and roughly 30 friends attended. Call me crazy, but it was fun. I think it might be the first birthday that he will ever remember and I think it was memorable. Next weekend I have a special getaway on Friday night, a baby shower on Saturday, Mother's Day and the circus on Sunday, then Wyatt's actual birthday on Monday. The next week I am having an Arbonne party followed by a weekend of hopefully finishing the basement. The next week I have my work trip to St. Louis and if I have enough energy, I plan to make it to my monthly once a month cooking group that I missed last month. Then for a couple of weeks we will have family in town. We are busy bees around here.

And did I mention that Wyatt gave Audrey a haircut? Poor thing, she doesn't have a lot to begin with. So now, being so short, it is especially frizzy and we can barely make her famous pig-tails.

This is Sadie acting a goofball at Wyatt's party.



Here is my Audrey striking a pose.

Here is Wy at his Pirate themed party and Wy again testing for his orange belt.

Police - Open Up!

At 2 a.m. this morning I was awakened by a knock at the door. I rolled over and told Matt to go get it. He was out of it and just shrugged so I jumped out of bed just as the door bell began ringing. I knew it was the "law" based on the fact I could see the spot light shining VERY brightly through the front windows of the formal living room. The whole time my heart is about to jump out of my chest. My first thought was that Wyatt left the house, he has tendency to be very sneaky about trying to leave but he would have go past our bedroom door so surely I would have known if he left, right? I got to door as the policeman was walking off. He never really said, "Police, open up!", I just thought that was a catchy title. Anyhow he sees me and tells me that the garage door is open. What? He tried to get dispatch to call but they couldn't get a number on us. So thanks, I think. Thanks because I wouldn't want anyone to steal our stuff but we live in a nice area and that doesn't normally happen around here. But no thanks for the heart pounding the knocking and bell ringing caused me. I was so shook up that I couldn't get back to sleep. I have that problem when the phone rings late at night also, I always assume the worst. I checked on the kids, to verify their whereabouts just in case, and to love on them.

I am so bad...

at keeping this darn blog updated! We have been so busy. Trying to finish the basement for one thing and long list of events at preschool and work of course. But thank goodness Spring has FINALLY sprung! I think the on again off again cold killed any chance I had of my seeds and bulbs coming into bloom so I bought more and I need to get those in the ground. I actually mowed the front yard myself. I haven't touched a lawn mower in ages and it was fun, until Rufus ran down the road and that was the end of that. I am looking forward to this summer and I can't wait for our pool to open. This is the last summer before Sadie starts kindergarten so there is a lot I want to do. Wyatt's birthday is just around the corner, so I am planning a big bash for him and I need to get his invites to preschool tomorrow! I have become quite the procrastinator lately. I used to get things planned weeks in advance but now days, a couple weeks of planning works. So sorry for being so absent on here lately but with one dog, two jobs and three kids, I am quite busy. Oh, and congratualtions to my step sister Rebecca, she just gave birth to her 4th child, Cooper, last week!

Update and Pictures

Basement Update: The walls are up! Yippee! It looks good. Just a little taping and bedding, paint and flooring and it is good as done. My step dad did a great job. He was pretty thorough and did some quality work down there. I've got a custom bar to order, maybe a kegerator (for Matt) and some comfy furniture for me. I will post pictures of it as soon as it is complete, and believe me I can't wait.

On another note, here are some recent pictures. We were over at my friend Erin's house and she was nice enough to snap some photos of the kids and myself. I think she is a budding photographer, so thanks Erin!

It's Gonna Be Grand

It probably won't be grand, but nice I bet. The basement that is. When we bought this house a year ago the basement was one of my main concerns. It is only half of a basement but has a wonderful large nook area that is begging for a bar. We may even add a bedroom to double as a workout room which is what the entire basement functions as now. Definitely a bathroom since my step dad is a plumber by trade, a small family room and a new office for me! No more office/home office/guest bedroom/ playroom. I am so excited! My step dad called me this morning to tell me he'll be here next week to begin the process. My mind is racing with all my ideas. Poor Matt though, I can already feel that he's going to be tired of me talking about it. I was just about to call the granite place to schedule that for the kitchen but I might as well wait to have the basement bar done at the same time. Ooh, and I can order flooring, I already know the wall colors, should I do an accordion or pocket door to open up the bedroom area to the family room area? This house was built mostly to my specifications when we bought it, we were able to choose a lot of the things. However we were to late to choose granite or wall colors so it will be great to be able to choose EVERYTHING. Hmmm...decisions, decisions...but it's going to be fun!

Dream

I had the weirdest dream last night. I was in the building where I went to elementary school. I was seeing the teachers who taught me from 2nd to 5th grade, Mrs. Maxwell, Mrs. Condict, Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Askins and they weren't saying anything but I had the overwhelming feeling I didn't belong there...and my dad was there. So strange. It was dark and it was like I was trying to hide. It seemed earie in my dream but in reality, I loved those teachers and that school. My only guess is that this is coming up because we are about to start kindergarden round-ups with Sadie. Interpretation anyone?

Life

I am sick today. Not deathly ill like a couple of months ago, but I'm feeling miserable none the less. The kids have been sick intermittently so it seems like there is always someone with an illness. Even Matt was feeling under the weather yesterday and that is very unusual. So we are sick and the weather sucks - I think I am starting to get cabin fever. When there is ice and snow, it is so yucky out and the kids complain about being cold if I force them out into the weather. It is so cold here and has been for while and I can't wait for Spring and the pool at the country club to open! I kept the kids home from preschool this week so we have had a lot of time together and I have had a lot of time for reflection and to be thankful for our truly blessed lives. Really, we are in good health (generally speaking), want for nothing, are in God's good graces (most days anyhow) and are just generally happy and thankful for it all. Some days I wonder what in the world could make this life better?