What's Gonna Work? ... Team Work!

A few weeks ago, Kevin began working on the yard. It started with the disaster behind the garage. There were trees, weeds, and tons of tree stumps that all needed torn out. After digging for days, he not only cleared it all out, but he unburied a sidewalk! I began to work on the front. Flower gardens are more my specialty. ;) The first day I cleared out all of the weeds, the girls decided to be my little helpers. It was actually a lot of fun! Tonight, while Kevin was building a ramp for the deck, I planted some perennials. This is important to me, because I know that many years from now they will still be here looking more full and more beautiful than ever. It will remind me of the awesome team work Kevin and I put into making our yard unique and beautiful. It pretty expensive to do landscaping, so I started off with just a few things for now.  A couple hostas, a Columbine Origami mix, a Bewitched Rose bush, and my favorite so far... a gorgeous Hibiscus bush. :)

Meanwhile inside the house, the bathroom is almost done. The grout for the tile needs done, the wall needs touched up in a few spots, and some decor needs put on the walls. That's it... and then it will be complete!!!

Kya has become quite an amazing athlete lately. She did a full dismount off the bar at gymnastics last night, and she was the only one in her group that did it. It was so awesome! She has been doing so great in softball as well. I get to coach Aria and Autumn's tball team this year, and we start next week. With all of the sports, school activities, work, yardwork, and houswork... it's a wonder I haven't collapsed yet. Cady will be in coach pitch this year, so she will be ready for softball next year!

All-in-all... things have been good, and I am proud of my family. 8 months left until I am finished with school, and then I will have so much more time with my amazing family. :)

Thanks for reading!

Spring is Approaching Soon...

Well here we are in March of 2012. And guess what? Second March in a row that Kya has a broken bone. Poor thing has a broken finger this time. I really hope Autumn has finally learned her lesson from slamming doors on people this time. Ryelan's first birthday was this weekend, and it was a lot of fun seeing everyone and playing with the kiddos. I had 3 Finals that needed to be turned in this weekend, and I didn't do a single one. Now tonight and tomorrow night will be some major crunch time. Kevin has lost a couple people at work recently, so he has been working late almost every night. The only time he leaves on time are the nights he has his girls. Kya and Aria received a fun gift this weekend... their dad's girlfriend and her son arrived from Brazil to live with them. They are pretty excited! I made a new goal as of Friday. I would like to start saving for a couple sugar gliders! I am really excited about this choice. I wanted a snake first, but Kevin didn't seem so excited. Then I changed my mind to a monkey. I thought it might cure my baby blues to get a baby capuchin. Then when I realized that it wasn't practical with our financial situation or my work schedule, I decided sugar gliders would be perfect. A couple pets that are affordable, low-maintenance, and easy to bond with. So I hope to look back at this post within a year and see that I have reached my new goal! I believe I should get some type of gift or incentive for how hard I've worked at getting my Bachelors Degree! :) I'm back down to one job, and it really is a relief. I was getting so exhausted! I will be even more happy when I'm done with school as well and don't have to worry about homework or seminars anymore. I can go home from work and not worry about anything but dinner or some housework. Not much else going on right now. Thanks for stopping by!

Finally Some Sunshine :)

The last few days have been in the mid 40's and very sunny. That's not too bad at all for mid-February. However, I am still really anxious for 70-90 degree weather. Pinterest has some really neat ideas, and my new favorite one is the sock bun. I used a sock to create a perfectly round bun on the top of Cady's head last night, and this morning the curls were beautiful. Can't wait til my hair gets long enough to show the same results. I put my two week notice in last night at The Broadway. I could still use the extra money, but I am really missing the extra time with my family. That is more important to me. I will finally be down to one job again, and I have 11 months of school left. Kya had her first sleepover last night at her dad's house. Her friends Landry stayed the night. I hope she had a lot of fun! I can't wait to talk to her about it tomorrow night when I pick them up after work. I did her hair really cute for her yesterday before I dropped her off. Aria is getting better at sounding out small words. She is so smart, but she is the exact opposite of Kya. Kya loved to learn and loved to read. Aria doesn't have as much interest in reading. She would rather have Kya read it to her. I am hoping to start getting more housework done and the bathroom finished soon now that I won't be working all the time in a couple weeks. It really would mean a lot to me to have a real bathroom back. I'm sick of drying my hair and doing my makeup in the living room. I can't wait for it to be finished. Kevin bought me a new James Patterson book last night, "Tick Tock". I can't wait to start reading it. However, I must remember that my homework is important too. :) We had a great weekend with the girls. They had to spend a lot of time cleaning, because they would play instead of clean. But it was still nice having them all home. Kevin did almost all the cooking this weekend. He grilled quite a bit! I actually got to relax some on Sunday before working Sunday evening. Kevin and I laughed harder than we have in a long time during one of Aria's fits Sunday morning. (see featured story) Well not too much else going on right now. Just living day by day!

Story for the week:
Starring Aria June Long
Sunday morning the girls wanted breakfast, so Kya asked if she could make them all some oatmeal. I agreed, and she got started right away. Kya apparently made Cady and Autumn's oatmeal before Aria's and this enraged Aria. Aria came in the living room crying to me, "Mommy! Kya made me go last. I didn't want to go last. I am not eating my oatmeal. And she made it too runny with too much milk and water." I told her that she can't always go first, and someone has to go last. I also told her she needed to thank her sister for making her some breakfast instead of criticizing it. She was furious. She stomped off to the kitchen and sat back down at the table. Then Kevin and I hear her start yelling at Kya, "Kya! Why did I have to go last Kya? Look at this oatmeal. Just look at it! You put too much milk in it stupid. Look milk, and more milk, and more milk. This is just stupid. And it's stupid that I had to go last." She went on and on for about 15 minutes while Kya stayed completely silent. Then the other three girls finished their food and left the table to go upstairs and play. Aria was left all alone to eat at the table. I made her finish all of her food and then apologize to her sister. Goes to show... the quiet and sweet one isn't always so innocent!

Things are Looking Up!

What an amazing weekend we had?!! The girls were so well-behaved for Kevin while I was in Burlington for a class on Saturday and Sunday. Even though the days were long, the nights were awesome! I came home Saturday evening to the girls smiling and cheery faces. Kevin grilled some pork chops that I had marinated, and we had an amazing family meal. Then after the girls went to bed, Kevin and I spent some great quality time together until I finally fell asleep. I've been working quite a bit lately, so I didn't really get to see my family yesterday. I didn't even get home until almost 10pm. Tonight, however, will be much better. I have to go to Kya's conferences, and then we will head home to make Valentine's for Kya and Aria to take to school. I'm really excited for this little project with my girls. Kevin received his patches for his Master Certifications yesterday. He was pretty ecstatic about that. He should be proud of himself. :) I have just discovered how much I love Pinterest, and I'm patiently waiting for my invitation to the website! Great site for mothers and even grandparents. I hope to save money by discovering some DIY projects around the house! That's all I have for today... thanks for stopping by!

Favorite Quote that made me smile and laugh recently: "Can't. Quit. Eating. Today. I'm calling it an adult growth spurt. Too bad as adults we grow out instead of up! I could use a few inches." ~ Debbie Diewold

A Huge Bump In Life...

I haven't been on this blog in over 6 months. I just read the very last post I made and it brought me to tears. My family was all I cared about at one point, and faster than a flash of light it was all gone. Kevin and I separated last July for almost 5 months. I can honestly say this is the hardest and most challenging hurdle of my life I have ever been through. We have been back together since the beginning of December, but things are not the way they used to be. We are trying to get there, but I just don't know if that's possible. I hope so, because I want more than anything to write about the wonderful things that I used to. I love him and want to be with him, so it's worth the struggle and hopefully achievable. I'm working two jobs now. Still at Pepsi and also working nights and weekends at The Broadway. We are skipping soccer this year, because it doesn't seem to be a favorite sport in our house. Really excited for softball and tball this year though! :) I took a leave of absence from school for awhile, but I'm back at it again. I am in my last year after failing my last term. There was just too much going on in my life for me to have any motivation at all. Still having a hard time motivating myself to do my homework. My GPA is suffering significantly. So much for my 4.0 that I worked so hard for after 3 years. I have faith that my life will be back on track soon, and I will wake up smiling again every day. Kya and Aria have also been through some hurdles. There dad now travels for work, so they went 3 months without seeing him while he was in Brazil. Now it looks like he will be leaving for another few months. They seem to be ok with it, but their behavior does start to change along with all the other life changes around them. I hope they start adjusting better. My brother is about to have a baby. His daughter is due on my birthday! That is pretty exciting! Well hopefully I will get back to keeping this updated every couple weeks again. And I also hope that each time I have better and better things to write about! Thanks for stopping by :)

Getting Busier and Busier All the Time~

It's been a while since I've updated. I think sometimes that I forget to breathe when I'm so busy. I have fallen way behind on my school work, but I will make it up. I have to keep pushing on, because I have invested too much time, effort, stress, and money into this degree. I am 75% of the way to graduation. We have Cady & Autumn every day again... like last summer. I have really enjoyed it. We have gotten to do a lot of really fun things. Last night I took all four girls to the circus while Kevin was working. I had a blast just watching their little faces light up. They were so excited the whole time. They even joined in with the rest of the crowd participation yelling things at the clown :) The best part was when I sprinted to the ATM, so the girls could ride the elephant during intermission. Autumn was terrified, but I got on with her and then she had a blast! Tball has been taking up the majority of my time lately along with housework.
Kevin and I finally started remodeling the bathroom. It's very exciting, but we are already on Day #4. A very long and drawn out process. Hopefully tonight he is not missing any pieces for the plumbing and we can get the vanity put in. That has been our goal since Sunday night... haha! The girls and I went to Lowe's yesterday and picked out the ceramic tile for the floor. I really can't wait until it is all finished. It is going to look GREAT!
The girls are all enjoying summer vacation. Autumn's last day of school will be tomorrow. I give it another couple weeks until Kya starts missing her friends. Funniest story of the week:
I had the four girls in my car yesterday. The heat waves coming off of the highway looked like there were large puddles ahead. The girls were going crazy over this. So I started telling them to tell me when we hit the puddles. When they yelled "NOW" I hit the bar to squirt up windshield wiper fluid. They really thought we were splashing through puddles, but they didn't see the water on the ground. Aria says to me, "Mommy... are you like Alex from Wizards of Waverly Place?"

A Beautiful Memorial Day

Finally... a Memorial Day without rain. It was absolutely gorgeous today. The girls had so much fun playing outside. We took them fishing yesterday, and Kya did an awesome job. She sat there next to her pole so patient and just waited for her fish. Kevin got the yard cleaned up a bit more today. The weeds are really starting to take over. There's still a lot of work to do inside and outside of our new home. It's already May 30th, so I'm guessing we won't have the landscaping finished and the bathroom done by June 1st. :) Oh well... we are working on things as we can. We are quite busy these days. Between work, school, the dogs, the girls, and teeball... I am surprised we can even keep the house clean! Kya has her last day of school this week! Then she will be officially a first grader. That depresses me. The girls are all growing up way too fast. I am just glad that we got to spend this amazing weekend with all of them. The extra day off work was definitely needed! Autumn's skin is looking so much better. I let her wear shorts today, but it's not cleared up enough to wear flip flops yet. She has done a great job this weekend of not scratching, and she seems much happier. Aria was quite a little snuggle bug this weekend. I am cherishing these moments as much as I can. I know it won't last long. Cady and Kya developed some mad skills for jumping off of the swing set. Haha! They were having so much fun doing that for hours today. They get really high and then sing a little chant before they both jump and dance in mid-air. Everything else seems to being perfect. I love my husband so much, and I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family.