Needed Invention

I think I have come up with a way to make all of our lives a little easier. Have you ever seen the movie Clockstoppers? In this movie, the characters have the ability to freeze time, do whatever needs to be done, and then restart time with no one knowing that time had stood still. Now think about it for a moment....it's 4 oclock the kids are hungry and tired demanding that you "do" something with them....you clockstop them, make dinner, pick up the house, throw in a load of laundry...and then start time again! No whinning, no fighting.... just start time up again, feed them, do homework, and sit down and relax. Man, that sure sounds like a great invention to me! I could definitely benefit from that.

Konnor's Big SIS!

I just loved this picture and had to blog it. Look at those EYES!! This is Konnor's adopted big SIS Kayla. She is a very important part of our family. I can't barely make it through a week of running without relying on her for an orthodontist appointment run, a dentist appointment, or just hanging out with the boys while I run! I am very thankful to have her in our lives. She is a wonderful kid. I don't know who will miss her more next year, when she leaves for college, Konnor or myself? I'm guessing that both of us will be feeling a HUGE void. Thanks for all your help!! You're the daughter I never had.

And I thought sports were time consuming...

As you all know, I have done my share of sitting, sitting, sitting at basketball games, football games, baseball games, soccer games, wrestling tournaments (my favorite)...but have you ever been to a Quiz Bowl tournament with 26 teams. WoW. We got to PHS around 8 am and finished up close to 2:30. Now at least at sporting events you can talk, get up and move around, munch...but at this type of tourney you had to stay in the room, keep your mouth shut (hardest for me SURPRISE!), and not eat a thing. This was Kraigs first attempt at something so BRAINY (besides his all A report card), but his team did very well. Hillsdale A came in 1st, Hillsdale B came in 3rd, and Hillsdale C came in 5th (Kraig's team). Hillsdale D got buried in the dust somewhere in the second round. I was really impressed with the questions and answers they came up with. I have never felt so "dumb" in my life. Where do they learn all that stuff? There sure is a lot of GREY MATTER in the heads of those DMS 6th graders! Great Job!

Relief 2

The little stinker did skate last night for about 30 minutes and then decided that it was not real comfortable and starting to swell. I think that he might listen to mom's advice the next time this happens. We are going to try to go to school today, but I'm guessing this morning will be a little rough. He has started his Reading Recovery tutoring at 8:00 am. So far it seems to be going well. He hasn't fought too hard on getting up earlier and being the first kid at school. He thinks it's kinda cool not to miss any classtime and recess with this new schedule. This is the story he wrote about his guinea pig after he took its picture the other night. I know you can't really make out the word from these pictures, but he was really proud of his story. He LOVES to write which is a big plus.

What a RELIEF!!

What a RELIEF!! We have now made it successfully through the first of 2 surgeries to remove Konnor's angel kiss. The doctor was able to get about 80% of it this time. He sent it off to the pathology department and we will receive those results at his follow up on Wednesday. He did great! He was very brave, as we thought he would be. I, on the other hand, know why I didn't become a nurse or vet after all. I did great until after his surgery, and then...oh boy! At one point, Kirk was feeding Konnor's ice chips to me,and I had the cold wash cloth over my face. I don't know why that happens...but it just does?! Of course, Kirk says it is because I'm a wimp...I think it's because I care. Konnor's school is going roller skating tonight and he is bond and determined to go. We might be able to watch, but skating on Tylenol 3 with codine is probably not a good idea! Talk later.

PS This a picture of Konnor and his new baby guinea pig Squeakers!

Things I like about my job....

There are 3 things I really like about my job: 2 hour delays, snow days, and summer vacation! No kidding, they are such welcomed surprises. It is like you are given some free time to get things under control again. Like laundry and picking up the house. This morning I was even able to make a new "PE " music disc for class. The songs (edited) are hard to find these days. I always worry that they will swear or talk about something inappropriate. It is definitely a calculated risk. Well, we are 24 hours away from Konnor's surgery time....so far it is a go.... not sick this week. Yeah! A little nervous and lots of tears last night, but I think we can distract him through the whole thing and be fine. Trying not to looked worried yourself is the hard part. Unfortunately, he has my ability to read people's emotions. Keep smiling is what I will keep telling myself today.

Missing Mommy and Daddy

I know that I am a little old to have such an attachment to my parents.....but I MISS MY MOMMY AND DADDY!! Can't help it. It just feels like when there at their home in Michigan, they are within a close enough distance that they could come to my aid at the drop of a hat. You know, like someone's watching your back. It's not that we don't talk every other day when they gone to Florida, but it's just that proximity thing?!I know neither one of them plans to fly in their lifetime, so that pretty much shoots that idea down too.

OK, enough whinning. They have a blast when they're at their Florida home. I know that, which does make the LONG separation easier. They are probably lazing by the pool as your reading this. Unless your a morning person like me, and then mom is probably taking Casey for her morning walk (with a baggie in her hand) YUM.
They now have their own golf cart which makes motoring around their gated community a blast. Hope you having fun sunning your bum....see you in the spring (well, for me, see you in February)

Dead Beat Mom

I really wish that someone would come up with Cliff Notes for easier parenting...you know the one's we used to make it through Freshman English at college. You would think that I was the worst mother on planet Earth if you listened to my children talk. It doesn't seem to matter how much I do for them right now, they just don't get it! Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think this sounds like a dead beat mom's life: 7:45 get up, shower, and eat breakfast. 8:30 make Kirk3 and Konnor french toast one the stovetop (which is not a good idea for me) because "we always have a big breakfast on Sunday's". I had eaten oatmeal because it was my first official meal in 3 days. 9:00 loaded the dishwasher, pick up house, get laundry to basement. 10:30 go on internet with K3 to find 11.5 4E shoes that won't hurt his feet. I, of couse, cannot pick anything "cool" out. 11:00 make beds and get around to take the boys to DMS to shoot hoops. 11:20 start picking up friends on the way to DMS. 11:45 arrive at DMS and begin to scrap. There were 6 - fourteen year olds, 2- eleven year olds, and 1- seven year old playing basketball or riding heelies at this point. 12:00-3:15 Let the boys shoot, throw football, etc (this is the part where I actually did something for me: SCRAP on bleachers! Almost finished Konnor's sports book. 3:15 helped 6 boys (yeah, I lost a few along the way) find their shoes, sweatshirts, balls, etc. 3:20 swung by two of the boys houses to pick up PS2 games....Stopped at Little Ceasars and picked up two pizzas to feed the masses....3:30 arrived home with 8 boys to have a PS2 tournament and shoot baskets indoors. 5:00 Take all the friends home, start laundry, and dinner 5:30 catch grief from one pouty 11 year old who thinks that I'm always mean to him (this was the second time today this was addressed) . 6:00 finish cooking dinner(Steak on the grill, noodles, green beans and salad), more laundry, help with homework, more laundry, clean the kitchen from dinner. 7:30 Blog and now I get to put the laundry away and give a 7 year old a bath......and on...and on....and on!

I don't think this sounds like the glamorous day of a dead beat mom! Unless you count my 12 minute trip to the tanner, car wash, and gas station. How do you get them to see all that we do?! Maybe there isn't a way. But get REAL!!

No Furnace = No Heat

Here is one of my Jill inspired shots I took on the Snow Day. I sure could use another one today. I have sworn off eating for awhile. What goes in must come out! I'm trying to figure out how to teach from the potty today. I'm really hoping that Brown Street has a potty too, otherwise I'm going to have to bow out of my Super Scrappin' Saturday! I will be bummed. Not to mention Kirk told me we are supposed to get 4-6 inches of snow tonight. Thank God for 4 wheel drive vehicles.

Oh yeah, another of life's curve balls....our furnace went out last night. Guess we get to add that to the things that need repaired list. I can't imagine a house that is 5 years old being so needy?!

Blick um!!

Have you ever wondered what I looked like after spending the entire night on the potty? Probably not, but here is a really great example of how I feel! I haven't had an IBS attack in soooo long, I can't even remember when the last one was. All I know is YUCK!! I decided not to go to school today since my job doesn't allow me to run to the bathroom at will. I can't imagine leaving 30 3rd grade (or better yet my kindergarten) banshi's to take care of themselves while I run. I'm starting to feel a little better, but I've been up since 3, so who knows. Hopefully I can get my stuff around for Saturday and some other jobs accomplished today. Might as well make the most of a bad situation.

Ahhh...snow day fun!

Konnor and his friend John decided to go sledding after their snowmobiling. This is one of the last trips down the slope. Hey, wait for ME!!

The snow/ice dance....

Ahhh!! It's music to my ears...what's that? No school....WOW...a dream come true. We still had to go in for teacher inservice for 2 hours, but to be done at 11 with work, I could get used to that. It's not that I don't like what I'm doing...I just get so many things accomplished that would otherwise be squeezed into an evening after work. The other wonderful noise is that of the snowmobiles going around and around and around the house. Yes, I know I'm bad, but anything that keeps Konnor engaged for hours is a welcome relief. He is always in perpetual motion and he usually needs assistance for that movement which can be rather draining after awhile. Well, I'm off to clean carpets in a few rooms so I'll go for now. Talk to you later.

Taking Pictures

Konnor and I decided to brave the freezing cold tempratures yesterday and go out to take some pictures of the mini's. And by cold, I mean really cold!! Konnor and I are going to make Sue (our lovely neighbor) a scrapbook with all of her critters and barn. By the way, Jill, the pictures from the "farm" gave me lots of great ideas for other pictures I could take. I just talked to mom, they are in Elizabeth Town Kentucky. I guess my 3 month sulk can officially begin now.

Hornet Ball Boy

The onlyreason I posted this picture of Kraig as ball boy, is to let you know that I am almost caught up to season on Kraig's sports scrapbook. I have one more page to do tonight and then I am all set until basketball season starts (games start this Saturday). I think the next job will be to go back and do football and basketball seasons for Kirk3, and then his will be caught up too. Konnor informed me today that the reason I haven't started his book is because I don't like him. Get real?! If I didn't like him he would be off to boarding school by now. I'm sure I could find one that starts at 1st grade. Let me know if anyone knows of a good one!

It's beginning to look a lot like winter.....

I know I am excited that it finally snowed. Now maybe the boys will be able to start using the snowmobiles and going sledding again. It sure kept them busy for awhile at least. The WELL seems to be under control as of this hour, in this day, of this week...who knows what tomorrow will bring. We scrubbed out all of the toilets this morning and now we only have the water softener cleaning to go. I am glad the dishes and the laundry are able to be done. "Miss Dig" came to spray for the underground power lines and electrical this week, just in case we have to move forward on a new well in the near future. Chloe, of course, removed and destroyed most of their flags that they had put in the yard. We probably could have saved them the time with a little prior warning. BEWARE: Dog that eats everything!

Our nephew William!

Sorry can't the picture to post yet!!

This would be our nephew William, "Will" to close relatives. Konnor got to go stay the night at Uncle Kevin and Aunt Shirley's house after Grandma Abbie's party. He thought that was really cool. You never can get enough one-on-one time with your Aunt and Uncle. Konnor was happy that he and Will could take this picture together. Will is just starting to like Konnor, so he thinks he is some Dog Whisper or something.

Well, the WELL is doing a little better. It is now fairly clear and I was able to start laundry. Thank God!! I actually got to run the dishwasher too. It is amazing how much of your daily routine you just take for granted until it is taken away. I sure don't think I would have made a very good Pilgrim. The WELL people came yesterday after school and said we would need to have a new WELL drilled and attached to our existing WELL. How SWELL?! I guess we know where our tax return money is going this year. They won't be able to drill until sometime next week. We may just wait until the ground freezes again, so we don't have so many ruts. All that landscaping doesn't sound very appealing right now.

Chance...the good dog!

I felt so bad that all of my friends assumed that was Chloe on the bed with Konnor the other day....that was a picture of our good dog...Chance. Chance has been with us for nine years this Valentines day. He was my attempt at curbing a "baby fix" problem 9 years ago. Obviously it didn't quite fix the problem since Konnor is only 7. I don't think that Chloe would have layed still long enough for that picture to be taken?! Chance on the other hand enjoyed a whole afternoon of napping on our bed, which is usually a no-no! Notice the solid green comforter that was from the linen closet. So this, my friends, is our "good" dog Chance ( yes, he was named after the dog in Homeward Bound)

Life's little curve balls.....

Well, I know your wondering what on Earth is Kristin doing blogging in the middle of the day? Could it be that she had to stay home with Konnor who has strep throat. Yipee! The worst part is that the hospital has now rescheduled his surgery for January 26th instead of this Thursday. It is such a shame because it takes so much pre-planning to get everyone's schedules in line and then have to turn around and do it all again in 2 weeks. We have been nervously anticipating this procedure for 2 weeks now, and now we get to add another 2 weeks of waiting and wondering.

On another note (or curve ball), our well went bad this morning. Every spring we have a problem with sediments seeping into our well. Well, I know it's not spring, but the weather outside doesn't seem to realize this. We know have 3 toilets (yes, I am thankful for 3) that will have to be bailed out and cleaned. There is no washing dishes, doing laundry, or taking (clean) showers for that matter. Hopefully we caught it soon enough so we will only have to drain the hotwater heater and water softener. Keep your fingers crossed.

Shirley and Konnor

When I look outside at the sunshine, it makes me feel happy. The same is true of Konnor's Aunt Shirley. There is no one I know that can stay in a bad mood when she is around. She is funny, very loving, and a hoot to be around. For someone that hasn't had a sister, I am sure lucky to have such a sweet Sister-in-law. Konnor absolutely adores Kevin and Shirley. He loves it when he gets to visit their house all by himself. When your the youngest of three, there isn't a lot of by yourself time to be had. Shirley and I have similiar likes and dislikes which makes are relationship even neater. We can almost read each other's minds before the other one speaks. Thanks for being such a great person.

Birthday Treats

The only reason I posted this very disturbing picture of my grandma with a knife bigger than her body was to tell you about the wonderful way I got to spend my birthday. As most of you know, this was a very hard birthday for me (not that getting older is easy for any of us). It was a big slap in the face that I am quickly approaching the downward decent of the HILL. This realization may not scare some people, but I was really thrown by it. I mean, have I really accomplished what I thought I could by 40? Am I keeping myself healthy enough to make another 50 years like Big A (grandma)? Have I made a difference in my world? So many things flooded my thoughts....I really dreaded this birthday until Kandi suggested that we go scrap in Jackson. Well, whala! That made things all better. I had the best time trying to finish grandma's 90th birthday party albumn. It was not an easy task because I didn't know anyone there. Mom lovingly went through all 116 pictures and tried to identify who was who. I had typed the stories and memories that each of her friends had written for us at the party. I am almost finished. Kandi, Beth, and Jill brought way cute (homemade) cards and wonderful presents. They also took care of my birthday treat with Snicker topped brownies. They were delicious. Thanks again for the SUPER birthday treat! I couldn't ask for a nicer group of friends. Love you all! Kristin

2 more days!!

I can't tell you how excited I get when I know that a scrappin' date is coming up with my buddies from Jackson (and Lansing, if Jill get's away). I know it will be an evening full of LOL's and probably some good old razzing to boot. I don't even care if I get anything accomplished, it is just a lot of fun to get together. I love hanging out with them because they make my smile, and I do love to smile! See you on Friday.

PS I didn't think a persons hair could grow that much in a year! Sorry Beth:( I tried to down load a picture from snapfish of the Camp Scrap Alot but couldn't get it to work.

Oh, am I tired!

Wow! Boy am I tired after the first day back to work. The kids were excited to be back, but I don't think I found one teacher that was jumping for joy. The gym floor was resurfaced during break. It always looks so nice for about 2 minutes. I forgot what it was like to exercise 7 hours in a row. Maybe I should have done a little over break so it wasn't such a shock to the system. I'm already in my PJ's and ready for bed. Boy am I getting old. Just think, in 2 more weeks we will be half way through this school year. Yeah!

Hoping for a Snow Day!

I know it is a little crazy...but I am hoping for a snow day tomorrow. I don't think I'm going to get my wish because it is thunder and lightning out right now....but man is it nice to sleep in! I can't tell you the last time we got to sleep in as many days as this vacation. Tomorrow morning at 6:15 I won't be a happy camper. Glad I don't have to wake ME up. Ha, ha, ha!

I thought I would let you in on two of my New Year's resolutions. I figure if I make them public knowledge, I won't be able to weasel my way out of them and pretend I didn't make them. Firstly, I am going to start obedience training with Chloe which is way overdue. I know she has many bad habits that will need to be worked on too. But, never the less, we started our doggie boot camp yesterday. Secondly is a personal resolution. I figure I have 368 days before I am going to turn 40. I know this comes as a huge shock to most of you (ha, ha, ha) but I will be hitting the top of the hill next year. I figure it is my goal to be in the best physical shape of my life by the time that day rolls around. I think I can do it too. When you get to work out as part of your job 7 hours a day, 5 days a week, there really shouldn't be any excuses. Right?! OK, so maybe the icecream habit will have to go, and maybe the pop, but I'm definitely going to give it a college try. We'll have to wait and see if I can reach this goal by January 2007.

Ahhhhhh!!! What a RELIEF!

This is the only Christmas decoration left standing in the house. My mom actually made this for me last year ( I know it looks store bought!) I took advantage of everyone being couch potatoes yesterday and DE-CLUTTERED the house. I know the stuff is suppose to bring warm fuzzy feelings to a house, but get real, it is too cluttered! It feels so good walking downstairs and actually being able to see space. Ahhhhhh! The laundry is caught up and put away (as much as it can ever be caught up), the house is clean, and I am in control once again. Today is hurry up and do all the homework and lesson plans that didn't get touched all break. A science fair project and paper to be typed for Kirk3, writing workshop for Kraig, Reading Recovery for Konnor, grades and papers for Kirk2, and lesson plans for me! Yeap, I say we'd better get a move on and fast!

PS I figured out how to turn my photo, so my friends don't have to crink their necks!