Giving y'all something to look at...

I don't know how people do it! I feel like I'm running in the same spot trying to play catch up and people just whizz right by with an easy pace! Phew! And I'm dog tired! lol

Early May was Reagan's dance recital. Her class performed to three songs. She did really good and it was obvious of her oldest sibling status. If the girls didn't move fast enough off the stage in front of her, she kind of shooed them and gathered them. She won a trophy and was very happy about that (everyone got one).





Then from there, it was the last month of school busy-ness. Class parties, field days, etc. Reagan and Ryan did miss a week for my grandma's funeral, but they hopped right back into the swing of things upon returning. Reagan's record was brought to council because she had missed one too many days of school. But because she is a super student, it was fine. Just annoying. :)

I was recently called to be Activity Days Leader (I think I was called end of February?). It is fun to be able to go with Reagan, although she does act kinda naughty since I am there. ;) We are taking July and August off, although, I don't know if that was because the lady doing it before is a teacher and that was her way, or if that is how the primary wants it done.

June brought Ryan's 7th birthday! He had Christian spend the night and Bon took Ryan, Christian, Reagan and Ty bowling.


The 10th was the kids last day of school. We did the tradition of going out somewhere after school to get a treat. I had asked Reagan earlier in the week about our tradition and she didn't know we had one. Um...maybe it's more for me? I pick them up the first and last day of school and we go to Sonic or Dairy Queen and get ice cream. This year it was Dairy Queen.







Father's Day went well. We made (bought) Bon an apron with handprints. He liked it! One of the boys said that now he could wear it when he made us lunch. lol (since we gave it to him after church and we hadn't eaten yet)


This week Ryan is at Scout Day Camp. It's only day 2, but it is super hot this week (compared to last week's fairly mild temperatures). They provide the lunch and yesterday's bologna and cheese sandwich was "gross...even the bread tasted disgusting! and all the scouts got to drink was chocolate milk and the staff got sodas!!" Such inequality!!! ;)

Also in sad news....My good friend Mary is moving this week. :( Super sad!!! They are going back up to Michigan for a year until her husband's job takes them somewhere else. I threw a party on Saturday for her, one last get together with all the girls that played bunco. Fun and sad all at the same time. I will miss her a TON!


First crops of the season, besides lettuce and strawberries. Those potato peels Mom had me bury did surprisingly well. Maybe a surprise to me, but not her...I'm not sure. :)

Reagan's baptism

Happy Birthday to my sweet girl, Reagan! She turned 8 on March 19 and was baptized. She was so excited and I don't think she was nervous or scared at all. It was a small gathering with just enough priesthood holders present. :) It was great! I'm so happy for her and can't believe I have an 8 year old!

Something to read!!

Spring is a time for renewal. For getting projects started. For spring cleaning. For starting the busy-ness that nice weather seems to bring on. Such a busy time ahead of us and I am already starting feel my head spin! First up...Reagan's birthday and with that brings her baptism!


I started a new blog that has my "crafty" stuff on it. Things I'm redoing or improving.

http://sweetandcraftybeckylou.blogspot.com/

Stop on over! I promise to post here more!

Cuffs for my new coat

So because I have long gorilla arms, I have a hard time finding coats, sweaters, shirts, etc., that have long enough sleeves without leaving me to look like I'm wearing a tent. I have been looking for a winter coat that wouldn't break the bank. This weekend, I spotted a really cute coat at Walmart! I snatched it up. The sleeves seemed long enough and it fit great around my body.

However, upon further wearing, I noticed that the lining of the sleeve would slip down and come out below the end of the sleeve. So I thought...how can I fix this problem and make the sleeves even longer? (even though they were long enough, I thought that one washing might ruin the length)

My solution??? Socks!! I was so excited to show Bon tonight when he came home. So I will show you how I did it!

First...my sleeves before starting. See the lining?



My socks.



I cut below the ribbing.



Then I folded them in half to make the cuff.



Then I pinned them into 4 equal parts.



Then I pinned them onto the sleeve.



I sewed on the seam that shows on the outside of the coat.



(I actually pinned the first one on wrong, so when it's done it shows the raw edge. I don't want to unpick and re-sew, so it will stay that way.)



I corrected my pinning/sewing part on the other sleeve, but there isn't an obvious difference.

The final result...a little blurry. :)



I'm super excited about it! And I kind of melted the fake fur on the hood a little bit... oops!! lol C'est la vie!

Mt. Holly Holiday Parade

So these guys, Bon and Mary and her kids showed up to support (and freeze!)



this one as she marched in the parade!!



She said she had fun, but her feet hurt. She told me she waved at a ton of people she didn't even know! lol It was in the 50's, maybe the 40's even and windy! Everyone who was smart was bundled up!

Next week I think Ryan will be riding on a float in the Belmont Holiday Parade with his scout troop. I'm hoping for warmer weather! :)

Happy Belated Birthday Bon!

(I just saw this in my drafts folder! Sorry for the messed up order!)


I hope he had a good day! It started out great! The kids and I were up before him and so we hopped in the car and got some Krispy Kremes since Bon isn't a huge cake fan. This was the best picture out of two with him and three of the four kids.




Then we went to the Discovery Place. We laid on a bed of nails...



Played Tug of War ...


And you wrote yourself a Happy Birthday message out of Kapla blocks!


It was a great day!!

New look

I changed the look of my blog. I kinda like it! I better like it I guess, since I wasted time on it instead of putting laundry away, cleaning the kitchen, etc., etc.

:)

What Reagan did

So during one of my sewing streaks this summer, Reagan begged and begged to have me teach her to sew. I had her practice on a piece of lined paper, first following the line and then following the guide lines. She did very well, but I was nervous that she was going to get her inexperienced fingers. She did really good. We made a baby blanket.

Here is the finished project!



Here she is while sewing. So cute!

And the business goes on...

It seems like from the time that October started, it has been go, go, go and it isn't going to end until....January??!! But I guess maybe all this going will keep my spirits up. :)

I never got Bon a present, but we did spend the day together as a family and that was really nice. There was a moment when we were sitting just talking to each other with no kids demanding attention and he commented on how nice it was. Just to be together. And I agree.

Halloween came and went. I would post pictures, but somehow I can't get the computer to find them and when I stick the card back into the camera, it doesn't show them there either...I will be so sad if they are gone. Bon is trying to help me find them.

Up next is my friend Mary's birthday party. It's this coming Saturday and we are having it here. She turns 40 on the 8th and acts like she's 17. She is so fun!

Ryan stayed home from school today. He has had a runny nose for the last couple of weeks and just sniffs it in because he refuses to blow his nose. I keep telling him that he'll get an ear or eye infection if he continues, but he just won't blow it! So after school yesterday I noticed that his eye was getting red. Great. I asked if his ears hurt. At first he said no, but changed his answer. We trekked to the dr. this morning where it was confirmed that he didn't have an eye or ear infection. The Dr. flipped his eyelid up and found a foreign object that was irritating his eye. Got that out and then put a drop of "water" *wink wink* in his eye and looked at it with a black light to make sure it wasn't scratched. All was fine, so I'm glad for that.

Parent-teacher conferences are tomorrow. I love going to those and hearing the good stuff about my kids. :) They are good kids.

Last minute. Not ready!

I do this every year and every year I tell myself that I will do better next year and then...well...it's just a vicious cycle that I can't get myself out of! PROCRASTINATION!!!

Bon's birthday is on Saturday. I have no presents, no date planned, nothing.

Trick or Treat is on Sunday. I *think* my kids know what they want to be, but I can't be certain. I'm not ready for that either. Ryan has to dress up Friday as his favorite book character. Hmm...we haven't even discussed this. I will have to ask him in the morning...if I remember.

BUT, I actually have a couple of presents stashed away at Brenda's house for Christmas so my kids don't find them and rip into the box. So having a Christmas gift purchased before December 1st is something new for me. lol

Teething is for the birds!

Evan is having such a horrible time teething. His top two teeth are making their way down and taking their sweet time. Ugh. And add to that his first cold...well, it makes for long, sleepless nights. He was up every two hours last night and took 45 minute naps today instead of his normal 2 hour stretches. Tonight I gave him Motrin instead of Tylenol and put baby orajel all over his gums.

I am slowly making progress on painting rooms. The kitchen is painted, as is the front hallway area. (but not the foyer...we are going to have to hire someone for that, I believe) I just have one wall left on our family room and I will probably pause for a little while. OR I might do the dining room. :) Kitchen is Tomato Bisque, and the rest so far is Tawny. A darker brown (don't remember the name) is going on the wall with the fireplace. (all Valspar colors) I am deciding on a greyish blue for the dining room. Choices, choices...

glimpse into the future

This past weekend we were able to watch two extra kids. Our friends Brenda and Brian were celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary by going back to their honeymoon spot of Gatlinburg, TN. We had their 8 year old and 13 year old here from Friday until Sunday. They were great! While they were here, I asked G (the 13 year old) if they had a birthday gift for their dad (since his birthday was Monday). She said that they hadn't gotten one yet. Since our family doesn't shop on Sundays, I took her and Evan to the mall on Saturday night to get a gift. We had so much fun. She is so respectable and just a fun teenager to be around. She really has her head set on straight and even told me that when she does things, she thinks about what impact it will have on someone now or even in the future. Wow! How many 13 year olds think like that?!

Anyway....I felt like that time was a glimpse into my future. I love having a daughter and I hope that Reagan will be level headed like G. I know that we will have fun and do fun things like that. We do fun things now, but on a different level. But it reminds me that I should cherish the time we have now, instead of wishing it away. I remember as a first time mom how I couldn't wait for her to sit, crawl, walk, etc. And now she is almost 8!!! Sometimes I want that cuddly little baby back just to sit and snuggle with.

I guess I just need to remember that life is too short to wish away. Glimpses into the future are fun, but the present is pretty awesome too.

Ah, the innocence of children.

Ryan got in trouble yesterday for pulling a neighbor girl's pants down. I guess they were all playing a game where they laid on top of each other and he decided to pull her pants down before laying on her. (yikes!) So I reprimanded all the kids for playing a game where you lay on each other. But as I was trying to explain to Ryan about the pants thing, I asked "Why are boys and girls different?" His first answer, bless his heart, was "Their hair." :)

Pause time, please!

Life is so busy lately. I need activities and days and nights to slow down! I feel like the mad rush to Christmas is already starting and now my mad rush of celebrating won't end until Evan's birthday...ahhh!! He can not get older! I feel like I am losing and missing all the memories I want to keep and treasure forever. And at the same time, I want that moment of frustration gone. Today Evan was grumpy all day. Which made me grumpy. I yelled at the older kids too much because I was tired of whining and the messes that were made and this and that and on and on. Tomorrow is a new day.

Some pictures from this summer

Something huge happened in our house this summer.



Bon decided that these shoes were done. They had served him well for the at least 11 years that he had them. For the last....oh...really long time, they have just been his "work outside" shoes. You know, the ones for mowing, gardening, doing anything "manly". And for the last year or so, every time he would wear them, his socks would be FILTHY! Like he might have not had shoes on to begin with kind of dirty. So really, why bother?! So after cleaning up from Ryan's birthday party (notice the festive paper plate in the trash), we said farewell to this fine pair of shoes.

His new outdoor shoes are a pair of running shoes that we had gotten from Nate & Shanel a couple of years ago and have just sat in the closet. They might be a little big??, but his socks aren't orange when he takes his shoes off...which is a huge plus. :) (orange because of the red clay/dirt we have here in NC.)


And just a few pictures of the kids playing in a pool at my grandma's house this summer. The lazy days of summer were upon us.

Ty, who takes the saying "Mothers of little boys work from son up to son down" quite literally. Today while we were checking out at Target, he was chattering on and on and on and I couldn't tell if the worker was annoyed, so I jokingly said that he didn't come with an off switch. She laughed and said her 5 year old was the same way...talk, talk, talk. Sadly, it's good to know I'm not alone. :)



Reagan, such a tender spirit. Gosh how I love this girl! I was looking through her school papers today and I came across a paper she had written. They were writing mock letters and I vaguely remember her telling me after school one day about this. How she had chosen me because the teacher didn't know that "Becky" was my name...it was her "friend". Here is what her letter said.

"Dear Beacky,
It was fun with you teaching me how to sew. You are a good friend. I like it when you smile. It is fun sewing diffrent colers.
Love,
Reagan



Ryan is gaining so much independence this year. He has joined Tiger Scouts and enjoys going to the weekly meetings with Bon. They will be selling popcorn at a booth at our town's Harvest Festival this coming Saturday. Which reminds me that I need to sew the patches onto his shirt before then... :) The other night Ryan and I were in the kitchen. I said "oh snap" to something and Ryan mumbled something and then started laughing. I said "what did you say??" He was embarrassed to tell me, but he said it again into his elbow. "Sweet Mama!" (said like a southerner who really likes something) I asked if that's what he said and we both cracked up. Who knows where he learned that from!

Last two days of school part 2.

Ryan had his awards day on the last day of school. He was given the Mr. Goodbar award. It's funny because Reagan was given that award in Kindergarten. Here he is with his teacher Mrs. Taylor. She was super nice and loved Ryan to pieces. :)



I wanted to start a tradition for the first and last days of school. So I picked up my kids (plus a neighbor/friend, Christian) and we went through Wendy's drive thru for Frostys. It was a great treat for the hot last day of school!

Last two days of school part 1.

Reagan was given two awards on her awards day for her class. The first award was titled "The Walking Encyclopedia". She was so thrilled to get that with a puzzle. The second was her award for AIG. (academically or intellectually gifted---basically a gifted program)



Reagan with her teacher, Miss Jenkins, who will be getting married in 2011, I do believe. :)



On the front steps. The last day of school!! A cupcake bag holding the gift for our great bus driver Miss Tracy! We didn't know it, but she was driving her last day! Now she does something else within the school. We miss our Miss Tracy!!!


The bus stop gang getting on bus #10!!

Last day of school present

This is late, but I wanted to share what I came up with for end of the year gifts for my kids teachers. I got some of my idea from another blog, but then came up with the rest on my own. It's hard to read the writing, so this is what it says: "It's o"fish"al!! You have been an AWsome teacher! Now that it's break time and your life isn't revolving around school, I hope you have time to get sun-kissed! Thank you for being a "tote"ally great teacher and helping me become "note"iceably smarter!" And in case you can't tell what all was in the gift "tote", it contained A&W root beer, Sunkist, a note pad, a Kit Kat bar, a pack of Orbit gum and a package of Swedish fish. (although you could always use Goldfish crackers also.)

It was inexpensive and all the teachers said they loved it. I'm sure they are supposed to say that...even if it's something crappy that they hate. But I like to think that they thought it was unique. :)

A little downtime

Ahh....all the kids are in bed. Peace. Silence. All I hear is the football game Bon's watching in the other room, the hum of the baby monitor and my keys tapping on my laptop. Bliss.

Tomorrow Bon and I celebrate our 11th anniversary. We pondered last night about would we have changed anything that has gotten us to where we are and the answer was no. We are so happy together and our life together just gets better and better.

Happy anniversary babe.

a little update

Just a little bit about what is going on here....

The kids started back to school and so far are "bored". I think they are stuck in the first weeks where they test to find out what they do and don't know, so it's mostly review. Reagan is in AIG, which is the gifted program here. She's also in AR, which is advanced reading. Her reading level is pretty close to that of a 5th graders. I'm excited for her this year and I hope she'll do well.

Ryan was lonely for the first couple days of school during recess. He said he didn't have anyone to play with. He was also excited that he wasn't the shortest kid in his class either. I think that he will do well in first grade since he copies so much of what Reagan does.

Ty is still full force most days from sunrise to sunset. He is a crack up and says the funniest things.

Evan is 8 months today and I can't believe how time has flown. I want to freeze time and keep him little. I am feeling the heartache of him being our last baby. He is expressive and is starting to move around a little more. I bet within two weeks he'll be crawling.

Bon took this past week off of work and it was so nice to have him home. He was able to get Reagan from school and we went to the dentist and ran errands. I know he's not excited about going back to work, but it pays the bills.

I am dealing with life right now. I feel like I've been overwhelmed and consumed by emotions lately and so I've been working on that. Trying to get my life in a working, sensible order. I went to a new doctor on Thursday and she is testing my thyroid levels and is putting me on some medication to help with my depression and anxiety. There are some days where I say something to the kids and immediately regret it...wondering how I would feel if roles were reversed and I was being treated that way. I hope they will forget all the harshness they have gotten from me in their early lives.

I also got news that my grandma is going to be put on Hospice. I will talk more with my sister tomorrow, but "failure to thrive" was mentioned and that is never good. I had just commented to Bon that you can see such a decline from last year to this year. Knowing she has had a good life, it still doesn't make it easier.

So some positive things to reverse the sad...

I am planning on painting our walls very soon...
I painted our kitchen and made curtains to hang on the deck door/window. I will have to take pictures and post....
I have many sewing projects lined up. Bag, shopping cart cover, skirts...
Reagan started dance class last Monday...she was so cute!
We signed up Ryan for Tiger scouts. He's super excited because you get to camp and hike and make stuff.....
I am signing Ty up for a "mousersice" class. Basically tumbling. I hope he'll like it....