August 2010

So August seems to be flying by without giving me a passing glance! Our summer has disappeared without asking me first. We have been kind of busy lately. We had some lazy summer days, and then some busy summer days as well. We got library cards and have been hitting the library every 10 days or so. We went to the Branson Rec Plex a couple of times. They have an amazing swimming pool with a great kids area, but they are now only open weekends and then close after Labor Day. Bailee is finishing up reading 1000 minutes over the summer, she only has 35 minutes left and 1 day to finish! Matt has been working hard talking to any and everyone. We have literally been dripping with sweat the last few weeks. It has been hitting over 100 degrees consistently, and that's without the humidity! SO HOT! We have NOT been playing outside too much. I started helping in the children's at church and I am really enjoying it. We also had our 2nd home fellowship night last night. It seems to being going well. Our group is a good size and includes our neighbors that have become our friends. And a new friend that is a hair stylist, so she cut the kids hair. Bailee got some cute layers for school, but kept her length. She wants it to grow to her feet!
We will have some changes coming up soon. Bailee will start school the 19th so that will change things up a little. We met her teacher today. She is young, this is her first year. There are pros and cons to that I think. She isn't burnt out and is very excited about teaching. Her classroom was also very organized, which I was very excited about. I am having a Tastefully Simple party here at my house and inviting the people I know to try and generate some interest. I am the only consultant here in Branson, so I should be able to make a go of it. We had decided to stay in this house through the spring, but we are now going to be moving. The house we put on offer on to buy in Oct. on 2008 is available to us again. We will be renting it, but then probably doing a lease purchase! How amazing is that? It is a little small, but it also has 3 acres with it that Matt can hunt on, burn things, and just generally do as he pleases! Only about 1/3-1/2 acre is grass and the rest is trees and forest! It does have 4 bedrooms so we will have an office area for Matt that he can use and be organized. Also, we will just be able to unpack, be settles, put holes in the wall (to hang pictures, lol! Matt won't let me in this rental) It is a quiet and pretty seclude area, but close to town too. (7 minutes from the strip) Bailee's 1st grade teacher will be our neighbor, so we already know someone:) I am sad to be moving away from our neighbors that have become our best friends here in Branson. I hope they will come across town to see us!
I am so sad that I wasn't there for it, but so happy that Casen has joined our family. Bailee is sooo excited and can't wait to hold her baby cousin! We are so happy for Jason and Kerry. The kids birthdays are fast approaching. I am amazed that I will have a 3 and 7 year old. How does that happen? We are going to see my mom and step-dad for Labor Day weekend. My mom is having a small party for the kids, and we haven't been there in a couple of years so I am really looking forward to it. I think I will try to have a small scale party for the kids the weekend after that. No big production like usual, unfortunately. I am feeling totally uninspired this year for some reason. I'll have to make up for it next year!
Bailee is still doing piano. She is learning quickly and doing well, and all without much practice. We don't have much structure in our routine, but I am realizing we need to do something. She is getting older and will be having more homework and activities so I am researching and brainstorming ideas for planning and scheduling. I think we will do a popsicle stick system for making sure things like homework, piano and chores are getting done. I also like the idea of writing on the mirror in her bathroom with dry erase markers. We will see what all I come up with! and what works/sticks!
All in all, it was a good summer. Too fast of course, but it always is. We still don't know when a CO trip will be something we can do, but as soon as we can, we will! Mexico in Nov is still up in the air, but we are hopeful in getting to go. Missouri is becoming our home and we are excited about what our lives here hold. We miss you all and hope to see you soon!

Hello again!

Ok, another month later..I know I know! At least we've seen you since then! We are spending our days being lazy for the most part and enjoying not having to get up and go. We cleaned up the basement a little and I actually got my scrapbooking stuff out. Bailee and I are going to try and get some quality time in with the scrapbooking. Bailee is still doing piano lessons. She is doing very well and starting to learn some harder stuff. Her teacher is very impressed with her. Gabriel is also still doing music class. When he does what the teacher wants, he does very well! He kind of likes to do his own thing something though. When we got home from Colorado, Bailee still had an ear infection. She went back and got more antibiotics and was feeling much better soon. I can't believe how quickly the summer is flying by. There will be a couple of baby boys joining us before we know it! The kids really had a great time seeing everyone. I think they got good time with everyone, which is what I really wanted. They were VERY worn out by the time we got home though. The time difference is only and hour, but it seems like they were up late most of the week! Our house in GJ is still on the market, and there seems to be quite a bit of interest in it, so we think it could sell soon! The pool is nice and pretty now. Jake and Domenica are taking care of it for us. Very nice of them! I hope everyone has fun plans for the 4th of July. This will be a hard holiday for me. We spend every year in the mountains with my Dad. This will be the first in quite awhile that we haven't done that, and the first in a long time with out my dad. The neighbors all do a BBQ that sound like a big party, so I think that's what we will be doing. Everyone is chipping in to buy a big supply of fireworks. I have heard Branson is crazy with tourists for the 4th, so I don't know if we will be adventurous enough to leave the house or not. Our lease in this house is up in September, so we are starting to weigh all of our options. We will most likely be moving, but we're just not sure where to. The owner want to sell this house, and we don't want to buy it, so it looks like we need to move on. We have a couple of options in mind, so we will see where God takes us! Matt is trying to dig in and meet new people. That and paperwork seem to keep him very busy. He does a lot of work from home so he is under my feet a lot...but we still love each other, so hey it's working out! I didn't get anything moving with Tastefully Simple for the last quarter. I had to get a Personal Sales Waiver, which you can only do once in 5 years. That "froze" my status so that I could continue for the next quarter with out becoming in-active. I actually have a recruit in CO that I would have lost, so it all worked out ok. I have a couple prospects for parties, and we seem to be meeting more people. Our church has a small groups thing called Home Fellowships that they just started. Matt and I will be hosting our own group for the first time in July. We finally had some people sign up under us and so we are going to meet some people! Woo hoo. I like to hear comments on here, so feel free. Let us know what's up in your worlds! The kids have birthdays coming up so I will try and overload you with ideas for what they would like, but you don't have to get them anything! Happy Summer to you all!
PS~the goldfish still lives!

oh my...

So, I guess time flies! When did May come and go? Sorry I have been slacking. Some laziness, some not feeling well. Matt, Gabe and I all had a run-in with some kind of cold. I finally went to the doctor on Monday and got some antibiotics, which has helped. The doctor was chatting with Gabe and asked him "Do you love your mommy?" Gabriel of course replied "No. I love my dad". Well, sadly, this is not new to me. If everyone loved Matt as much as Gabriel does, we would be rich! That kid loves his dad! He tells me I love Bailee. I guess that makes it fair in his mind. I have spent the last couple of days trying to find my house beneath all the stuff! Today I am getting ready and packing suit cases for Arkansas this weekend. Tomorrow Bailee has a 1/2 day, which is her last day of 1st grade, sadly for mom. I can't believe she is headed to 2nd grade! She is very excited of course! We have lots planned for the summer. Lots of art projects and playdo, swimming lessons, and playing with the neighbors. It will be over before I know it I am afraid. I am hoping to head to Colorado in September. I kind of think I would like to go over Labor Day weekend. If so, I would have a party for the kids there. What does everyone think? Then we could see the babies and celebrate the birthdays with family. I have had a couple people ask what the kids want for birthday presents, so I will try to list some ideas on here.
We had 2 new pets this week. Goldfish! But, alas, as I write this one has passed on to the sewer already. (which was more traumatizing than the death I think) The church has a huge celebration every year for their anniversary called Celebration Sunday. And I mean huge. Like 3,000 people came! People give stuff to the church the week before and they set up huge tents and people go through them and take stuff they want or need. The kids both got new toys. A Lego tractor for Gabriel that he LOVES, and a ceramic tea set for Bailee. They could have picked like 3 things, but they each only took one :) Matt got a printer that he can use when he needs to travel (like to CO next week!) They had everything from food and clothes to new vacuums and jewelry. The neighbor girl got a scooter she had been wanting for awhile. On top of that there was every kind of free fair-type food you could imagine, games, bump and jumps, all kinds of stuff. I unfortunately didn't feel very good that day so the kids didn't get to do as much as I would have liked. They did win gold fish though! We'll see how long the other one lasts!
Branson is starting to feel like home. People do have different ways of doing things, but it's neat to see it. The area is different as well. VERY hot, for sure! It rains a lot, and there seem to be turtles everywhere! We are starting to meet people. I have met a couple of moms, and our neighbors are very nice. I hope to spend more time with them this summer. Living in a rental is not quite home however. Our lease is up in September, but we aren't sure what to do then. The owners want to sell, but this isn't a house for us to buy. The house we originally liked may be an option. We are just waiting to decide on our next step! Well, kids need out of the tub and to get ready for bed! Good night all!

So here we are at the end of April. I am officially middle-aged :) My mom came for the weekend and Matt and I got a date night, woo hoo! It was fun, and it was nice to have family around. She even stayed an extra night and cooked me a special birthday dinner! I haven't done a very good job of writing, have you done a good job of reading? (just kidding) Everyone here is doing well. Bailee still has a VERY loose tooth. She has been so excited/nervous that she can't sleep at night. She is afraid it will fall out while she's sleeping and swallow it. I reassured her that this is not an issue, then found out that Matt is the one who gave her the thought in the first place! I should have know, lol. She has a field trip to College of the Ozarks tomorrow and Gabriel and I get to tag along. We are visiting a dairy farm, greenhouse, and jelly making something-or-other, and a couple of other things as well. I'll let you know how that goes. Gabriel is growing like a weed. He seems taller to me already. His vocabulary is growing even faster than he is. He talks non-stop these days. He told his music class teacher that he had money in his pocket (a dime) and when he showed it to her he told her that the guy on there was Jesus. It was too cute. He cracks me up! Piano is going ok. We had a rough week last week with it being a lot of work, but she decided she wanted to keep going. Matt is focused on work right now, which is good. His schedule is a little crazy because most people are available in the evenings, but we are managing ok. Oh, I forgot to tell everyone-Gabriel is no longer in diapers! I have mixed feelings about this. He hates wearing them, which is good. But I have to wake up in the middle of the night and take him to the potty, which is not good. Also, he doesn't sleep THAT great, so now I cannot bring him to our bed when I'm too lazy to deal with it. He is doing well, but still has accidents when he is asleep. We'll work it out, but he really is doing great with it. I have decided that in May I am going to push building my Tastefully Simple business. I think my neighbor will have a party and the headquarters referred someone local that was looking for a consultant. She works at Bailee's school, so maybe I can work that angle! We will see how it goes since Matt's schedule may make it difficult to have parties. I have lost a whole 2 pounds since getting my Wii (thank you everyone!) I am enjoying it, as is the whole family. I rented a Mario game from Blockbuster an Bailee is having fun with that. I am looking forward to May and all that it is bringing with it: warm weather, Bailee finishing up first grade, and fishing in Arkansas with Granny and Gdaddy. I hope spring time is being good to our loved ones and we miss you. Even though we chose to be far away, we still feel the effects of being here. It is great and awesome and definitely the right choice, but it can be sad too. Love to you all and happy spring!

Spring!

We had a great Easter weedend, I hope everyone else did too! The kids got spoiled, so thank you to everyone. The kids woke up to goodies and hidden eggs. Bailee found them all, Gabriel wan't interested in finding them-only eating them. Church was awesome and the kids came home with buckets of candy, thanks a lot! The weather has been very nice. The kids have been enjoying it and playing outside with the neighbor kids almost every night. Might got out the lawn mower and took care of our grass that was getting out of control. He and the kids found 3 baby grass snakes in the yard and had a blast playing with those (yuck!). Bailee is going to give piano lessons a try next week so we'll see how she likes that! These are a few pictures of our area. The town one is on the way to Bailee's school, and our house is in there too. I have a few pictures to put on, but it only lets me do a few at a time, so I will do a couple posts of just pictures. I am staring down the barrel at 30, which is a little hard to believe. (probably harder for my parents, lol) I will miss being with my friends and family this year, but I am thinking my family might at least take mom out to dinner so she doesn't have to cook :) We are looking forward to Memorial day weekend in Arkansas with my mom, but not much for summer plans past that. With both babies coming at the same time as school starting, I have no idea when our next CO trip may be. Our subdivision has a yard sale the first weekend in May, so I am planning a good basement clean out and repacking. Our lease here is up in Sept. and we're not sure if we will move or stay, so better to be ready for either! It's about time to get the kids off to bed, so goodnight loved ones!

No Sweat!

Well, actually yes, sweat. It was actually HOT today. I would be relishing this, but alas, the AC in the Tahoe is not working right now. No I am not too excited about this. Summer in the Mid-South does not sound fun sans airconditioning! Other than that, we are breaking out the summer wardrobes. I seem to find that Bailee is fully stocked for warm weather (I know you are all shocked) except for PJs. Gabriel, however, is not. He is growing so dang fast I didn't really buy him anything. I'm glad I still have a little gift card left over so I can get the boy some shorts and some flip flops of his own this year, lol! On a side note, I am enjoying being able to cool off with yummy sweet tea since good sweet tea is available virtually everywhere! Bonus of living this close to the south! We are going to dye eggs some time this week. I've been trying to get Matt to pencil us in, but Bailee doesn't have school on Friday so we may just dye them without him. Matt decided on lasagna for Easter dinner this year (not too sad since I gotta do all that cookin') so we are going Italian. Bruschetta, lasagna, salad, and probably a little cheese ball in there somewhere! Bailee is now reading at a level 28 at school. The expected level is 16 so she is doing great. We are working on telling time, but she is picking it up very quickly. Gabriel is up to his usual boy wanderings. Demo and destruction is his game plan lately. He is doing great with underwear and is now working on no diapers while he is sleeping. YEA! He has a pair of Wall-E underwear so we had to rent Wall-E today so he could actually watch the movie. Hope the weather is improving for everyone and have a great weekend celebrating the resurrection of Christ!

Home Sweet Missouri

So we made it home! The drive was fine, the kids did great and the weather was perfect. It was nice to be in Colorado and see everyone. It went by too fast of course. I don't know when we will be able to head back that way. Matt has to be in training every Monday until June. With 2 babies coming in August, I guess we will just see what happens! Matt was very glad to have us home. It is taking a little bit to get back into the swing of school and waking up at 6 am CO time, but we are working on it! My cousin Amy and her 2 boys are coming to spend the night tonight. It's not the same kind of family, but it is family to be with none the less! It has been dumping down rain all day today. Bailee was commenting on the rain, which was so loud we could barely hear each other. I told her we live in the Ozark Mountains and it rained a lot. I said this is spring in the Ozarks. She thought for a second and said "in the Noah's Ark mom?" She is too cute! Gabriel was being silly and I asked him "who are you?" he smiled and grinned "Trouble!" That is kind of funny since he seems to be a non-stop mess lately! If you are reading this, leave me a comment every now and then. It's nice to know you're there.
PS~I think I will add a little section for listing things the kids want. This isn't so everyone will buy things for my kids, it's just a place for me to put them before I forget so that when holidays come up I know what the want or need. Kerry and Jess can also let me know things for Paige and Abby, that way everyone has a resource for gift ideas. Hmmm, Kerry and I have birthdays coming up, maybe we should make a list too!

Ready, Set, Colorado!

So it's Tuesday night and I'm suddenly realizing we leave day after tomorrow! Exciting, yes.....ready, not quite! I have suitcases out and partially packed, but I think there's a lot more than that left to do. The kids are beyond excited. Gabriel thinks every time we get in the car that we are on our way. Little does he know he has a 2-day car ride ahead of him. I want to be totally prepared since I'm flying solo on this one, so I'm making lists! We will hopefully make it to Hays Kansas by Thurs night, which is about 1/2 way of our normal trip. That is where we usually stay, so I am familiar with the town. Our schedule is pretty packed full but I think we'll get some time with everyone. We have been enjoying some beautiful weather here, so I am having a hard time packing up warm clothes. I have spring fever big time! Jessica gave Matt her Nintendo 64 for his birthday so we have been playing family games of Mario Kart. Matt usually wins, but I think Bailee will be able to beat him soon. Gabriel doesn't really play, but he appreciates the idea that he COULD actually be playing, lol. Matt is busy rounding up customers and finally ordered business card, so watch out Missouri, he is on the loose! Everyone within a 50 mile radius will have life insurance before they know it! I'm not too sure he's thrilled with the idea of being home alone for this long, but I am boiling him some eggs and he has 3 gallons of milk in the fridge. I think he'll make it! Alright, time to finish packing. We will see our CO family very soon!
P.S. they guy in the picutre with Bailee is Chip. He is from Team Impact. They went to her school and she was so excited so we went to watch them at a church here. She had an awesome time and got his autograph. He blew up a hot water bottle until it exploded and smashed cans of pop all over the kids. He was her favorite :)

March, can it be?

We've had a pretty full few days! The kids both had a sinus-ey cold last week so we couldn't go to church. They felt pretty good all in all, just boogers flyin everywhere! Matt came home on Friday and we were all very happy to have him home. We loaded up on Saturday and drove 1 1/2 hours to Cotter AR to see my mom and step dad at a fishing resort they like. Gregg bought a new river boat so Bailee and Matt were introduced to river fishing and fishing with lures. Matt caught quite a few fish and Bailee learned to cast- and did well until her pole took a swim in the river! The kids had a great time and the weather was beautiful so it was definitely a good weekend. Bailee was having ear pain this weekend so she went to the doctor today and has an ear infection, but she is on antibiotics and should be back at school on Wednesday. I think I'll keep her home tomorrow just for extra rest. I think we may venture out to find the library tomorrow and see what it's like. We took a trip to Lowes tonight to check out their grills after dinner. Matt found one he likes, but is taking some time to think it over. He wants to make sure he is getting the right one, so thanks to everyone who chipped in on that. He had a coupon for 10% off at Lowes and couldn't find it today, and Gabriel was the last one seen with it. Soo, off I went to search for that. Then I saw the basket in the corner and sure enough, it was inside. I told Matt you just have to think like a 2 year old. I wonder if maybe that is what happens to my brain sometimes..it's stuck in toddler mode! I am working out the details of a trip to CO this month. I should have at least 2 Tastefully simple parties, so I will work out a schedule to be everywhere at least once during the trip. I will let you know more next week. Have a great week, and enjoy the sunshine!

It's Friday!

Well it's Friday everyone! That means church tonight and a little sleeping in tomorrow! We are going to take a drive to Fayetteville Arkansas tomorrow to see my cousin Amy and her family. I think the kids are ready for a family type visit and she has boys that are about 8 and 4 I think so it should be a nice day. It takes about 1 hr 45 min to get there, so not too bad. We will hang out and come home tomorrow night for church on Sunday.
Good news~ Matt finally made it to Colorado! After sitting in the airport and missing his flight out of Atlanta, he flew into Denver on Thur about noon. Domenica very nicely stayed in Denver to pick him up and they headed home! On the way a semi started to jack knife and side swiped the suburban, but everyone is ok. Thank God, the suburban kept the semi from tipping over on top of them, but it pierced through the side in one spot. Kind of a crazy day, but they made it! It's a little weird around here without him, but he'll be home before we know it! Bailee had moved in her reading from level 14 when we got here to 18-20. They expect them to be at level 16 when they leave 1st grade, so she is doing well. Math is a little harder for her, but I think it's because she isn't very interested in it. It has been a little warmer here the last couple of days, but I'm not sure I dare to hope for spring yet! lol
Thanks everyone who send Valentines, the kids loved getting them in the mail! We miss everyone and love you bunches!

In Gabriel's world....

So the kid says funny stuff all day long. I just need a camera on him 24/7 to catch it all, but here are a few that I managed to remember for more than 30 seconds:
we rented "poo poo pana" (kung fu panda)which was yelled excitedly accross Blockbuster repeatedly
I was getting a hot dog ready for him and he say "YUUUUUUUUM YUM YUM I love hot dogs mom" YUM YUM YUM I LOVE food mom! He was hystarically excited for his hot dog. Words don't explain how excited this kid gets for food (my kid for SURE!)
he starts walking backwards and grins at me "I"m Mater!
He was counting toys and says 1, 2, 3 (that's about as high as he goes) and then goes, "there's 29 mom" very matter of factly. 29, where did that come from?
And lastly, he has very sweetly decided that everything he pretends to read says either "I love my Dad" or "My daddy loves me"
So cute.
Bailee says stuff too, but it's all stuff that makes me thinking she is getting way too grown up. So smart that one is! I will try to get some video of Gabriel with his YUM YUM YUM. It's too funny!

Popsicles

Ok, so it's freezing outside! We went to the post office and totally skipped Walmart because it is so cold outside! Of course Bailee had another snow day today, so we'll see about tomorrow. At this point, she is going to school until Junes, but at least it will be warm then! Matt is in training this week so he is really busy, and it is definately quiet around here! Gabriel had finally decided to say his name, so Gabriel he is! He has also decided to say "roll out" every time we go to leave the house. Amazing what they pick up. Bailee's breathing is doing very well, even with the cold. There is more oxygen in the air here, and the air quality is so much better than Grand Junction. We just keep expecting she is doing better and better. All in all, we are finding our place here. Some days are harder than others, but we should be home for a visit soon!

Saturday

Today was Saturday for sure. We slept in (even the kids!), ate french toast, and hung out in jammies for most of the day. I got a few things done around the house and we even made a family trip to Walmart, woo hoo! It was nice, not being too crazy. It is just so different from life not so long ago. We were never home all day. This is an adjustment period for sure. The kids jumped in the tub, then off to bed. Gabriel is doing great with the potty, wearing underwear almost all the time. I even ended the day with a soak in the jacuzzi tub. Off to bed for a great day at church tomorrow. We love and miss everyone!

Snow, rain, snow, rain

So this morning it was raining a little, then snowing a little. Bailee went to school and it has drizzled pretty much all day. Matt and I were headed to the school @ about 3 (bell rings at 3:35) when my phone rings. The school called and said "school got out at 2:45 (due to RAIN!) and Bailee needs picked up. She is in the office" I'm thinking, how would we know that? I guess they put it on the news/radio here. I'm beginning to realize school out for weather is a VERY common thing here. In their defense, the second all this rain freezes, the roads (which more than half are hills) will be all ice, so they are just trying to get kids home safe. It just never occurred to me that she would get out early because of rain. So, I'm expecting school to be canceled tomorrow too. If so, another family day to hang out! On a side note, I scored a very cute black dressy coat for me on MAJOR clearance today, and was able to buy it with a gift card from my Daddy! Thanks Dad!

Here we go....

So I thought I would set up a blog as kind of a family web site for us. Now that we are far away, I think of little things to tell everyone, but I don't always remember. I know there is facebook, but I don't always want everything in my life on facebook. I am planning to kind of journal our day by day, and what's new in our family. I was thinking everyone else can post what's up in their lives too. It's more private (a little :)so we can be happy, sad, lonely, mad, whatever is going on. I will learn to post pictures too, I hope! So let me know if you like this or if you're reading it. Otherwise, I'm talking to myself!