I really suck at blogging don't I?

I always start off with the best of intentions to sit down and write down a blog post. I wish I could be more like the bloggers who write at least once a day but I don't think that's going to happen. I guess I should shoot for once a quarter. :-)

Everything here is still good. We are having some family from Michigan come for a visit next month and while they are here we are going to celebrate 3 out of the 4 boys birthdays. Ashton turned 12 in December and while we had cake and a gift from us I felt bad that his friends are always gone(since his birthday is right before Christmas). Nicholas will be 10 on March 15th so his is the "main" birthday. And Adam will be 8 3 weeks later on April 5th so we are celebrating his as well since family visiting is very rare. 

I'm excited. We took them to a bakery and let them pick out a custom cake for EACH of them(oh yeah, we'll have cake here for WEEKS afterward...... or I'll just send a lot home with the birthday party attendees). Ashton picked out a football jersey that will be made to look like Colt McCoy's jersey from the Cleveland Browns. Nicholas picked out a guitar cake that will be made to look like an acoustic guitar(he is currently taking guitar lessons) and Adam picked out a cake that will look like....are your ready for this....A BOX TURTLE! He loves all things turtle. These cakes are going to be so awesome because this bakery just does a fantastic job on their cakes. 

I'm having some health issues, mainly with my kidneys but I am just choosing to be positive and believe it will all work out for the best. That's all I can do right now. I can't even begin to look at the "what if's". 

Mark is still working at his same job(in fact he's working today which leaves me some time to blog). I can't wait until we have some time off next month to spend a lot of family time together. It's much needed and wanted. 

Well that's all I can think to write so I guess I'll post some recent pictures and call it a day. "See" you in May probably LOL!!

 The boys at ICE!

 Mark just can't resist a nice rack.

 Nicholas helping ice the Christmas cookies

 Ashton with his cookie

 I told Adam to clean up his mess...clearly I did not make myself clear on how to do that.

 My 13 year old Matty!

 And there is that guitar on Christmas morning!

Shoot man.

I can't believe it's been over 5 months since I posted. Even more sad when I realized my last post was about our Cedar point vacation. We did indeed go and had an AWESOME time. It was just what we all needed.

Since that post the boys have started a new school year. I now have 2 in middle school and 2 in elementary. I still work full time outside the home and we are still doing football since Adam's team is going to the State championship this weekend(and I have to miss it because I have to work :( )

Other than that, life is rolling right along.

Work, work, work, work, work

Yes, I feel like all I do is work. I am in need of a vacation in a big way. Thankfully in July my family will be heading to Ohio to go to:

Yes, we are going to ride

and more

And we are going to stay at this super cool hotel with a WATER park on the INSIDE!

So less than 2 months from now we will drive the dogs to the Kennel, load up the truck and drive nine hours for roller coasters, water parks, relaxation and FAMILY TIME!!

Note to self: do not forget the SPF 100. We are not a tanning family and I'm not even sure any of us have any melanin to speak of.

Summer VACATION!!

I still, after living here for 2.5 years, cannot get over how early the south lets the chirruns out for the summer. But as of Friday all 4 of my love bugs are home for the summer. I am so proud of all them. My oldest son, *M*, got all A's for 2 of the six semesters and the other 4 he was all A's and B's so he got the prestigious award at school on Wednesday of getting honor roll all year. And in the middle school in order to get this award just having A's and B's isn't enough you have to have more A's than B's.  Now he is on his way to 7th grade. Here's a picture from his final band concert. He enjoyed band so much he is going on to the 7th grade band next year. He will play at all home basketball games.

His younger brother *A1*, had a great year too. Honor roll 5 out of 6 semesters(simplifying fractions in semester 4 was hard on him and he got a C in math, but by his next report card had brought it up to a B+ :) ) So he is on to middle school next year and following in his brothers foot steps and joining the band. He, however, wants to play the saxophone. I can't wait to hear him practice that......but that's what ear plugs are for right? Here's a picture take at the Discovery center earlier this month.

Now on to boy 3, *N*. *N* has had the hardest time since he started school. He repeated 1st grade last year but this year in second grade he has FLOURISHED! He has discovered a love for writing and is the spelling champion in his class. When school started his report card was a lot of 2's with some 3's(2 means working at grade level with teacher help, 3 is working at grade level. 4 means working above grade level). This last semester my guy has more 4's than 3's and NO 1's or 2's. He has worked so hard and it has paid off. His teacher wrote on his last writing paper "You are a MAGNIFICENT writer". Be still my heart..... Here is a picture of him receiving his award for "most improved" this year.

And on to #4, *A2*, our little firecracker. Without him life would be boring for sure. He had a good year this year as well. He came out of his shell and became Mr. Personality in the 4th semester, and apparently at the same time he became quite the ladies man. LOL. He worked hard this year and we are going to continue working with him on his hand writing this summer to make 2nd grade a bit easier for him(he writes like a serial killer LOL) So here is a picture of him. This is the ONE child I got that is a clone of me. When I got pregnant with him it was a total surprise and I told Mark "This baby better look like me and it better be a GIRL". 1 out of 2 isn't bad ;)

I got a new lens for my camera today!

Thanks to  the pioneer woman I bought a new lens for my Nikon D40. I always love the pictures where the subject is crystal clear and the background is blurry so I read all I could read on her photography section of her blog and settled on the Nikon 50mm lens and now I just have to teach myself how to use it.

So I ripped open the package which also included THIS!!!!! and quickly started snapping pictures of the doggies and the kiddies and this is what I have so far....

This is Elvis our not-so-smart, probably inbred, beagle. Notice how he even does the "elvis lip"?

This is Cady. She is our latest rescue. And very photogenic if I do say so myself.

 

And here is boy #1 with his Cady girl.

 

Boy #4 pondering if he should get off the computer and get out of his pajamas. It's a snow day, why bother?

 

And since I've looked through the first few pages and can already feel my arteries clogging, I decided to take a picture of my latest inspiration...

 

And now I will spend way too much time I'm sure figuring out my new lens and by the time I figure it out my 4 guys(and possibly the dogs) will be quite sick of me and my camera.

No more anonymous

You want to be a moron, do it with your face attached to it.

You may think I post horribly at Jennifers site but one thing you can never say is I don't hide behind some anonymous tag.


Grow a pair or go away.

Went to the movies today!

Mark and I went to see the Blind side today. It was an AWESOME movie. One we will definitely be purchasing when it comes out on dvd.

Michael Oher's story is amazing and inspirational and he is just an all around great guy! All the ways his story could have ended but he chose to persevere and is now a Baltimore Raven.

Great movie! Two thumbs up :)