It's May 18th....

seriously, already? How did this year go by so quickly? In just 18 way too short days, the boys will be done with school! What in the world is a mom to do?

In just 6 days, I will be celebrating a 15th birthday with Jon! I know, I know, I AM far too young looking to have a child that old! In just 9 days, Tanner will be 7! I can hardly believe that. It seems like just yesterday I was in the hospital hearing the doctor say, "OH, is this a problem?!" as she pointed out the VERY MUCH THERE penis!

Seriously though, summer is coming...... I'm much more worried about that than the fact that I have yet to do any birthday shopping for Tanner. (Hey, there are 3 bdays in May, I like to take em one at a time....) What will we do for the whole summer? It's always so short yet SOOOOOO long. If you have any brilliant ideas, I'm super open to suggestions. Free ideas are the best since it costs a small fortune just to take 5 boys to the movies. I'm not made of money, ya know! PLEASE, give me your best ideas.....

Really hot!

It's been a nice weekend but a little too hot for my liking. AOL weather says it's still going to be 101 tonight! UGH, so not cool! I kid you not, I am going to absolutely DIE this summer. I've never been pregnant through a summer before and I'm already near melting. I'm sure I will end up gaining way more weight than normal due to the fact that I will be living on Otter Pops, slushies and ice cream. Seriously, how do women DO this? I'm obviously not as strong as I once believed. That being said, I am excited for summer anyway. There's just something so deliciously sweet as summer and all the treats that go along with it....I'm talking fruit now. Melons and berries...YUM! Such a wonderful change from the boring old apples and oranges. The food, yes, that's all I'm looking forward to this summer. How about you?

the last day

I have been helping out volunteering as a leader for the monthly book club at Tanner's school. Today is the LAST day! It's also the last day that the teacher needs help with stations. This means that I no longer have any volunteer duties at the school for the year! More importantly, this means school is almost over! Summer is definitely closing in on us. I can't believe how fast this year has flown by.

When do your kids finish up?

PS- before you go throwing a Mother of the year award at me, be advised that this is also one of the first years in a long time that I was ABLE to volunteer. Seems I always have a little person tagging along. The schools sort of frown on you bringing your babies into the class while you volunteer.

Forced vacation

I am going on a forced vacation tomorrow night. Not that I'm not looking forward to it. I am. I know it'll be fun. BUT, it's always a lot of work.....for the mom anyway. Sometimes it sucks to be the mom. Anyhow, I call it a forced vacation because I more than likely wouldn't be going anywhere if my house wasn't getting tented for termites. YUCK, I know! As I've said before, we rent from my folks and we all live on the same property. My dad is getting both houses tented so unless I want to shell out major (don't have) bucks to take the kids to a hotel for several days, I must go to Tahoe. My mom and dad have a condo there and my mom was going to be going anyway. She always invites us along so we are heading to Tahoe tomorrow night. Jared's not going being that he has to work and all......he'll be staying at my brother's house. I'm really looking forward to the time with just my boys though because Jared's been topping my Sh*t list for about a week now and I can really use the time away. This trip has been drastically altered though by Tanner getting staples in his head. I had invisioned a lovely time, lounging poolside, playing cards or reading while the older 4 swam and the baby napped. Now that picture is more like me and Tanner battling it out with games of War or Go Fish! So much for the dream. I think I'll still have me a bottle of some sort in my hand though......
If I knew how to do scheduled posts, I might attempt to write a few but my computer skills are shoddy at best. I'll consider myself lucky if this post even manages to make it on my blog...... Ok, maybe that's overdoing it a bit. I better run, I have TONS of food and stuff that must be packed up in order to get the termiting stuff done......WHAT A HUGE ORDEAL! I think I'll just take a lot of it to Tahoe though because then I don't have to buy as much there...... Still though...not looking forward to the chores ahead of me!

What's happenin?

Summer is more than half over! WOOhOOO! What have you all been up to? It's been a busy time here but I feel like I've been doing next to nothing......
Jon just returned from ANOTHER boy scout camp. He had a great time and even rode horses. If you know Jon, you'll know how funny that is to picture. He seemed to really enjoy it and is now pleading his case for getting a horse! Like I have the time or money for a hobby like that! He's been "dating" a girl....Dani. He says she may be "the one" It's so cute because I remember being seriously in love with Doug Pochard when I was about his age. Honestly, the love didn't last and I've no idea what ever became of him. I can't imagine that Jon will marry Dani since they are going to rival high schools and all but you never know. My cousin married her high school sweetheart....they NEVER dated anyone but each other!

Jake is still somewhat of a train wreck. His "blowouts" are more frequent than ever before and he's just downright nasty a lot of the time. I took him to see a new doc and she asked if he was ever tested for Autism! I will be having a phone appointment Wednesday as a first step for that testing. After looking up info online, I have to say, I wouldn't be surprised if they say he has Asperger's. I have been searching for answers for SO many years that I'd love to have something concrete as a starting point. So, please pray that the docs can tell me SOMETHING!

Tucker had his first sleepover this Sunday! Yes, he IS 10 but he's always been so nervous that I've never really pushed the issue. It was so cute when I dropped him off. His buddies ran out the door to meet him...."TUCKER'S here!" He had THE biggest grin on his face. He ended up having a fabulous time. I'm so proud of him.

Tanner's been looking for trouble as usual. Man, oh man! The things that this kid comes up with.....He never ceases to amaze me. I think he must've changed his clothes at least 4 times yesterday! I really think Dennis the Menace is a true story....based on Tanner! But, gosh, he sure is cute. I think that may be his one saving grace.

Brennen is just more and more of a big boy every day. He's become quite a biter lately. He's teething and all....Now though, when I tell him that it hurts me, he kisses the spot he's just bitten. Because, well you know, Mommy always kisses boo boos so that's just how you do it. He was having some problem with his ear last week. I took him to the Dr. and he didn't have an ear infection but it was obviously very uncomfortable. I couldn't even touch the outer part of his right ear without him looking as though I just shocked him. We got some drops and he's now all better! He's even been sleeping through the night for the last 3 nights! This is SO wonderful because I was getting really grouchy for a second there..... I guess the teeth have all poked through and now that the ear's better, he's good to go. Sleep is an awesome thing!

Nothing too fun planned this week. We may have to hit Great America one day. I'm throwing my brother's fiance a Bridal Shower on Saturday. Never done that before but I think it's all coming together nicely. We'll be off to Lake Tahoe soon enough too! Can't wait for that! Of course it's a forced vacation as our house is being tented for termites. BUT, the kids are SUPER excited. We didn't go at all last year!

week one....

Well, the first official week of summer is almost over and I must say it's been pretty easy so far. Nevermind the fact that Jon is at camp and Jake is still at school....... It has been a busy week! Jon left EARLY sunday morning as did my mom and sisters. He went to Boy Scout Brownsea (leadership training) they went to Disney World (LUCKY!) It's been a very odd week without Jon and my mom. My sisters I can go awhile without seeing but I see my mom almost daily. Jake is finishing up school this Friday and then he'll get a two week break (wish me luck there!) He's been busy with jobs lately. If it's not jobs, it's auditions! He met with NIKE! yesterday morning and then he and Tucker met with another company in the afternoon. I'm going to try to get them as many jobs as possible this summer to fatten up their college accounts. PLUS, it's always awesome to know that other's find your kids as cute as you do! Unfortunately, after nearly a week of swimming and fun, poor Tucker is sick. He's got an ear infection. It seemed to come on very suddenly (well, the pain part of it) He was fine all week and last night he started crying. Sure enough, when I checked, I found a very red ear. Poor guy. So, today will be sort of a bummer with a doctor's visit. I try to stay away from those.... Saturday will be a fun day....a 3+ hour drive to go see Jon's Brownsea graduation and pick him up. I'm not sure if Jared will be coming along but the thought of 5 kids in the car all day....NOT good! So, how have you all been spending your summer so far?

It's coming for me....

....SUMMER! What in the WORLD am I going to do to keep 5 boys occupied and happy for 3. whole. monthes!!!!? Really, any ideas? Luckily, Jake is in year round school. It's always easier to get one out of the mix, yanno? Jon will be going to 2 weeks of Boy Scout camps. But geesh, there is an awful lot of empty time, needing activities to fill it up. It's sort of stinky because summer is Jared's busiest time with the business so that means I get little to no help from him.....not that I get much help from him anyways......Heaven help me!