ETSY SHOP

ok that didn't work, so here ya go for now

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5180329

comming out of our shell

Well hi there. We are stil alive i promise. Summer was busy but finally the white shoes are put away and into the new rutine we are settling. Thank God Oh and the best part is i have lost 12 pounds Yeah i know but hey its all iv got to brag about.

Well lets see the kids are great. In october it will be six monthes since Ellie came home, I am both shocked it has only been 6 monthes and can't beleive it hasn't been longer. It seems like she has been a part of this family forever. Shesa adjusting well and advancing well. she does all of the things she is supposed to do as a three year old. including eat cookie dough off of a beater. a true right of passage.

Mitchell is in the fifth grade this year. He has joined the band and is a trumpet player. today he learned to play three notes. we are so proud. He also was eligable to test for the GATE program at school (brains he di not inherit fom mama) He is an exceptional young man and he makes me very proud. he is also blessed with an increadably smart mouth (that he did inherit from mama)

Keleigh the intrepid 4th grader. is also thriving although the transition to the much more independent and fast paced 4Th grade has been a rough one. But she seems to have found the rhythm a few week in and is doing very well. She is growing into a really great young woman. She's got allot of friends and i think shes just always going to be the social butterfly of the bunch.

And that leaves us with Connor. What can i say about laid back Connor. Loving the first grade. Doing well. Learning to read more confidently every day. i even catch him reading to Ellie sometimes (really sweet since she is usually beating the tar out of him. If he had his way he would turn himself into a pokemon and never leave his seat in front of the computer. Next week i am going to get to start working in his class. I've been fortunate enough to be able to do this with all of the kids, i love it.

Well that's whats been going on here. Brian has been working hard. i have been sewing up a storm and have a shop set up where i am selling some of my fun little creations (ill try to add a link to the sidebar) I should be better about posting now that things are calmed down.

what a big girl

well its 9:42 pm and all is well. but our tiniest of children is right now as i type this is sound asleep in her big girl bed. She looks very tiny at least. We are having some sleep issues so i plan to take her to my room when i go to bed but she was so excyted about being with the big kids. i thought she would never fall asleep. i had to read four chapters of the kids book before she fell asleep. its so hard to see her growing and changing so much. i know its good and right but i miised so much of her little life that i do not enjoy going through these stages in fast foreward. i will try to take a pic of ellie sleeping cuz its pert dern cute. well i am off to ANOTHER of mom super yummy peanut butter cookies.

Happy Fathers Day Big Daddy!!

Honey, thank you for being my husband and our kids dad. i am so grateful for the sacrifices that you continue to make everyday for all of us. The kids are so lucky to have you for there daddy (whatever they call you). Thank you for Mitchell and his methodical thinking, for Kyleigh and her sweet spirit, thank you for Connor and his compassion, and thank you for Ellie with her fierce stubborn streak. I love you.

WHY IS THERE NO CHOCOLATE CAKE FAIRY?

When your day hasn't been bad but you didn't really get anything done and well you really need something, just something, I'm not a big drinker, maybe if they made a Margarita with butter cream frosting, anyway, there should be a cake fairy, screw the tooth fairy and i can live with the leprechaun that visits my sons kindergarten class but God, please send me a cake fairy!!

the sound of silence

I will start by saying that i am not one who enjoys silence. whenever its really quiet i am always reminded of a horror movie right before the bad guy chopps off a head or something so i always have something on in the background (the idiot box, the radio,kyleigh whatever) but since mom had the boys in sacramento this weekend visiting with uncle lew and aunt sherri i was blessed with a bit more quiet then usual and with the girls all bunking in my room the combined noises that they make are quite melodic. For starter, Kyleigh, my beautiful 41 pound pixy snores Like a MIDDLE AGED TRUCK DRIVER. This sound only a mother could love is broken speradically by the sound of Ellie half sucking half chewing her thumb. It really is quite a sweet sound and i kind of wish i were the sentimental mom who would record this for all posterity (or at least the boyfriend at about 17) but alas i amnt.

it has been fun being all girls. we played beauty shop, went to build a bear workshop and generally just got our estrogen on but we are certainly ready for Mitchell to come home so he can take out the mounds of trash out

What have we been up to you ask????

we have been doing alot of this.

Note the concentration. she was all

about shooting that gun. She is a big

kid dammit!

We celebrated three of these

Connor is seven

and Brian and I, well, were older

please note that i am not nearly as old

as brian is, man he's old

There has ofcourse been alot of this, new fence, baseboards,yardwork, new disposal and faucet some painting blah blah bod and norm look out her come big daddy and ellie

And of course there has been a little of this, we are us of course.

But mostly everyone is healthy and happy. Ellie continues to surpass our expectations. as do all of the kids they came out of the school year with excelent marks. we couldn't be more proud of the lot of them. I'm so glad to be there mommy.