Jacksonville Jaguars vs Buffalo Bills (here we come)

Joe and I are going to Jacksonville to visit his buddy Tony, and go to the Jaguars vs, Bills game (Joe is a BIG Billd fan). I'm excited to get out of town and relax, without children (dont' think it---- I do love being with the kids, but a break is nice every once in a while). And even more excited for the football game, as I am a big football fan...although the Indianapolis Colts are my team (sorry, Carol...who is from Baltimore; therefore does not like the Indianapolis Colts, since they originated in Baltimore).
But before we go, I have to finish the wonderful, most popular, so fun chore of laundry...yeah!! (yes, I'm being totally sarcastic).

Want to see what laundry looks like for 4 kids (and this is just the start of it).

We did it, We did it!!

The other day we bought a 300 piece puzzle to do as a family....the kids love to put them together; actually Angie likes to take them apart.......before we're finished :) It took us a couple of evenings, but we did it!!!! I love doing stuff like that with the kids...it's nice to have that quality time together. You wouldn't believe how well Joseph did finding and putting together the pieces; especially because he's not the most patient child......he did so well, that we let him put the "last piece" (which is a BIG deal to the kids).

Just getting started

This is how it looked when we started on Day 2

Oh, wait...Joseph needed to take a break and finish his homework

Ethan joined the fun

The last pieces are always the hardest; everyone was trying to be the one to find the right piece (see the way Angie is leaning on the puzzle...we had to redo a few pieces a bunch of times because of this)

We did it!!! Joe looks thrilled to be in the picture--- I did sort of force him to get in it. And even Daisy wanted to help....(see her at the bottom left of the picture)

The Finished Product (actually, this scene looks like somewhere I'd like to be)

Angelina Ballerina

Finally, after 3 boys and all the "boy" sports & activities that come with them; I have my little girl and all the "girl" sports & activities that come with her. As you all know, my little girl is more of a tomboy (what do you expect with 3 older brothers) than a little princess.... so you can imagine my excitement when she told me "sign me up for ballet, mommy"!! And that is exactly what I did. Tomorrow after school is her first class, so of course she had to try on her "atard" (leotard) to get into the mood.

Angelina Ballerina

Then Ethan and Joseph had to show Angie some moves

While all that was going on, my big boy was in his room, miserable with the flu :(

Here's what happens....

to my little lady after a long day of playing...playing hard trying to keep up with her brothers and refusing a nap. This was at 6:30pm during dinner:

Joseph thought it was pretty funny:

Science is FUN!!!

Yesterday my dad and Carol came over and we took the kids to the Science Center. We have annual passes, so we like to go every so often and enjoy the fun....and my dad loves to go with us because he loves to "teach the kids lessons". (he's such a good teacher/helper). As we were walking in, I looked up and was reminded that CJ is in one of their promotional pictures (he is in the back row, last one on the right):

We all had a great time; and Angie is about at the age where she now enjoys herself too and doesn't get bored.

We watched "Stormchasers" in the Cinedome....which was a cool show, even though I had a wiggle worm on my lap the whole time who kept having me cover her eyes & ears because she was scared!!

After that, we spent about 1 1/2 hours visiting some of the exhibits.

After the Science Center, I took CJ to a "friends" party, and then we went out to dinner....where we met up with my stepsister Casie and her husband, Dan (it was so good to see them, as I haven't in a LONG time)

Just a random post because I'm bored!!!

I'm not quite ready for bed yet.....maybe it's because I really don't want this weekend to go by too quick; but can you believe it's a Saturday night and everyone in the house is in bed and asleep already!! Normally I would welcome the quiet, however tonight I am kind of bored. We bought a 500 piece puzzle today at Walmart that we will do as a family...hmmm, maybe I will start it myself tonight and work on it until I get sleepy!! So, I've got a house full of sickness----YUCK. Angie started it (i'm pretty sure) with a head cold, then last night Joe started feeling bad, and then this morning Ethan woke up with it and he has felt terrible with it...he got fevered tonight and had bad chills, body aches, sore throat and stuffy nose!! I hate it when their sick---but I am a good nurse and I love to do it, so I will nurse them back to health.
I can't wait... tomorrow starts NFL football season (well actually Thursday was the first game, but tomorrow starts the Sunday games). I love this time of year.... GO COLTS!!!!!!!

Here are a couple pictures from last night. Joe was giving Joseph & Angie double piggy back rides and they loved it.

Look at Angie's face--- you think she liked it??

After I upload the pictures I will post about our day today. Geez, I just re-read this and well, yes it is pretty random!!!

Advice Needed!!!!

This post may seem a bit long winded, but I need to give you "history", so you can understand my frustration and hopefully have some words of advice......
There is a neighborhood kid (i will call him "C") who lives a few houses down from us and is pretty good friends with Ethan and sometimes Joseph (even though Joseph is younger than them , he still likes to keep up with and play with them). C is a nice enough boy, but is kind of nosy and bossy and ALOT rambunctious. There have been a few instances where he has been too rough and one of my kids have gotten hurt. He has broken and/or lost more than a few of the kid's toys and has flat out lied to me on two different occasions which resulted in my boys being put in a bad situation (most of you probably know that story already). Another thing that drives me crazy is that he gets to our house the minute we pull in the driveway (like he watches for us to get home); so I don't even have a second to get the kids settled, started on homework or anything. Not to mention, the dogs go NUTS when he comes around, so I then have to settle them down...all this while just getting home from work and trying to get dinner cooked and relax (arrrgghhh) Even when I have to send him home during dinner, he asks me "when can I come back, what time, how long?" to which I usually tell him that I will just send the boys down to get him,; yet he still comes back every few minutes, knocking on the door until the boys are done (again causing the dogs to go NUTS)!!! Sometimes he just makes me crazy and frustrated.... SOOOOO, yesterday he was over and they were all playing with Joseph's "Better Batter Baseball" which is a t-ball learning game/toy; and C didn't want to wait his turn for the bat, so he picked up a large stick and swung at the ball...... and hit Joseph right in the face; Joseph ended up with a big welt (see below), a bloody nose and a bloody lip:

When I went out to talk to him about it he says "my dad says I'm not allowed to play with Joseph because he is too little" to which I said "well, C, when you come to this house, Joseph is here because this is HIS house too, so if you "can't play with him, then don't come over here" (i explained that he and Ethan could play at his house, since they are the better of friends; but he can't come to our house, play on our playset, with our toys and completely exclude Joseph). Here's the thing, this is where I NEED ADVICE..... how do I handle this? How do I deal with him? He never takes responsibility for any of his actions (and I try to teach my kids to be accountable)...from the things he breaks to the injuries he causes; plus he's mouthy and not always truthful...... Do I not let him come play anymore? He is Ethan's age and they do play well together, but he doesn't mesh with ANYTHING else at our house. I feel bad for him sort of; his parents are alot older than me (he actually has an older brother who is MY age) and they let him do anything and get away with anything; so I think he is just aimless.....

ANY ADVICE will be soooooo appreciated!!! Anyone had a similiar situation?

On a happier note, some pictures of the kids:

Here is my sweet little Angie....remember the one who had a meltdown on Tuesday night. We had a much better evening last night; thanks to a good nap and a great dinner. She was so excited that I bought them "baby rootbeers"

Ethan reading his book; he is such a good reader.... when he gets started on a book, he can't put it down until it's done. This book (which incidently is way below his reading level...yes, I'm bragging) took him about 2 hours to read front to back.

CJ doing what he loves, what he is so passionate about..... his music!! He has such a gift (again- yes, I'm bragging); he can read the music, learn & play by ear and has started composing music. He plays trombone in the school band, but also plays clarinet (picture below), guitar and keyboard... I'm so proud of him!!

Thanks for letting me vent....and any advice will be MUCH appreciated!!!!!

R.I.P Jack

My dad just called me with the sad news that he and Carol had to put down their dog, Jack.... he's been in our family for 11 great years; but was just old and too weak/sick. I hate to hear that news, although I know he is out of pain and suffering; but what I hate even more is to hear my dad sound down and sad. The other hard part will be telling the kids.... I feel like they have had to deal with alot of death in their short lives already (my grampa, my mom, a few pets, their old babysitter).
Dad & Carol- I'm so sorry to hear this news; I know it is a terrible thing to go through!!! Please know that I am thinking of you both during this grieving process!!

Jack & Angie (froma couple of years ago)

Me and Jack (from a couple of months ago)

I WANT DESSERT, I WANT DESSERT........

Those are the words I heard over and over and over again for about 30 minutes.... Angie, my sweet little 3 year old, who did not take a nap at school and did not eat a bite of dinner; Angie, my sweet little 3 year old, who got up from the table and started crying "I want dessert, I want dessert" all through dinner clean up, all through her bath (yes, even while I was washing her hair and water was being poured on her head), all through me getting her dressed and for about 10-15 minutes more once she got to the couch. I finally had to tell her that if she went to sleep for a bit, then she could have dessert...and yes, I did tell her a "little fib", but it did get her to sleep!!! By 7:30 she was asleep for the night. Oh, and thank you Cj, Ethan and Joseph for being oh so patient and waiting for me to help you with your homework!! This is one of those nights where I sit here and wonder how did I get through the night???

As the good blogger that I am, I had to take a couple pictures of her meltdown:

Joseph's "Special Prize"

Remember how I said that if Joseph could get through the rest of last week without crying at dropoff, then I would treat him to a special prize....? (and before you say it: No, I won't be doing this every week, but it was a good incentive to help him get back into the swing of things this school year). So, he is way into Star Wars now and we spent a long time in Target's Star Wars section of the toys, so he could pick out exactly what he wanted. Which by the way, was very difficult trying to explain to Angie that she couldn't get a toy that day too (ok, I caved...she got a $3.00 Polly Pocket). Anyway, Joseph picked out a Stormtroopers mask. For all of you that know Joseph, you know how little he is; for his age he is very petite....so the mask was pretty big and heavy on his head and I had to hold myself back not to giggle at him trying to play "stormtrooper" but have to hold onto the mask at the same time.....
Here he is with his mask on.....

Oh, and by the way...his daddy dropped him off this morning (which I was a bit worried about, because he knows how to "work" Daddy) and he did it, with no tears!!! Who says bribery doesn't work?? hehe (i know, i know...don't even say it)