40th Birthday Weekend

The hubby went over the hill this weekend

The cake my mom made for Chip's birthday

I got up early Saturday morning and made a Starbucks coffee cake and a cheese cake

Chip had been eyeing a blue-ray player and hinted that he wanted one for his birthday

We can't surprise this guy so my parents and I went in on one
 and he was thrilled even though he knew what he was getting


This girl thought it was her birthday too

I wanted to do something special for Chip's 40th but everything I thought of or suggested was shot down

He just wanted to get more work done on the deck so that's what we did

There hasn't been any blood, sweat or tears but there have been a few disagreements
We had different ideas about the hand railing and spindles so that's where we quit on Sunday
We need a few days to put some thought into how we're going to make it all work

Sunday evening my parents invited us over for a birthday supper
Oh my, does my mom know how to feed an army
Steak, fried potatoes, baked beans, salad, jello and cake and ice cream
My mom treats her in-laws like her own and spoils them rotten

So that was the extent of the birthday weekend

Spring break {day 9&10}

There just aren't enough hours in a weekend

I told the hubby that the house must be cleaned before anything was done

We've been spending all of our extra time outside on the deck and the house was being neglected

Parker's talent show partner came over to get fitted for her outfit that my mom is making

These kiddos better make it through the try outs or we're going to have some broken hearts

Grandma took the boys for a movie and sleepover so we got an evening to ourselves

We did a little shopping and had supper at Olive Garden

Sunday morning we went to church

Pastor Daniel and Pastor Tim always know what we need to hear

After church we worked on the science fair project

If my children ever come home and tell me they have a project, I'm checking out

I have spent hours on this project and it's not even mine

If it weren't for my son having a partner who has done nothing but needs the extra credit,

I would have called the teacher and told her Spencer wasn't participating

We picked up more wood for the deck
This probably isn't the safest way to haul 16' boards but we made it home

Spring break has come to an end

I had lots of fun things planned and sadly not one of those things got done
6 weeks until MY summer break starts
Maybe we'll get something done then

Spring break {day 8}

Friday was GORGEOUS with a capital G
I feel like Spring is being pretty sneaky
60 today, 40 tomorrow

When I saw the 7 day forecast I made plans to meet up with a friend at the park
I wasn't thinking about every body else being on Spring break and being there too
but we had a blast and go some vitamin D
I had to be back mid afternoon for a client
Trying to take a few days off failed - Some day I'll learn to say no

When the hubby got home, he drug me outside to work on the deck
I'd rather be out in the warmer temps than on the weekend when it's 30-40 degrees

We're making some progress but not as fast as I would like

We got a bunch of boards put on and realized that one of the braces sits up higher than the rest
We used some of my dads fancy tools and got the problem fixed but it slowed things down

 Some day soon, I hope to have those spindles up to code

This guy has been working hard

We're getting there
 although some days I wonder why we didn't hire this done or start from scratch
Using the old braces have caused some problems but anything is better than what we had before

While we were working on the deck we had a handful of neighbor kids over creating art work

Oh how I wish we had more days like this

Spring break {day 7}

I took the next couple of days off to get some things done

We needed supplies for the Science Fair project so we did some shopping

and came home and worked on that

We should not have waited until one of the nicest day of the week to be inside 

Lesson Learned

Yesterday was a tough day for this mama

I am totally over protective when it comes to my kiddos and yesterday was my challenge

Spencer has been wanting to go to a friends house 

I hadn't met the family so I kept telling him no

Last Thursday he came home from school and told me that he has a school project

and he and ______ need to work on it together

I told him he couldn't go until I met ______'s mom

I talked to her on the phone and set up a time to meet her

I dropped Spencer off at _____'s moms work yesterday and she took him home with her

I was in panic mode the whole time he was gone

This friend lives about 25 miles out in the boonies

I had Spencer text me when he got there and I checked in once

I made it very clear that I did not want them riding 4 wheelers

So..... I was a bit surprised when I went to pick him up and they were out shooting guns

SERIOUSLY!

My kids have guns but are NOT allowed to shoot them when friends are over

Spencer had a blast out on the farm and was safe and sound when I picked him up

As we were leaving, Spencer told ______'s mom- Thank you for having me!

Ahhhh..... This boy does have some manners

For a split moment, I felt like I might have this parental thing down

While Spencer was away, Parker also had a play date

He and his "friend" have been working on an act for the talent show

Parker went to her house to practice and then went to have Pizza with her family

These 2 are googly eyed over each other and it's adorable to watch them

I survived the day!

Spring break {day 4,5&6}

I'm finally feeling better
My mom gave me some amazing arch supports
 and even after standing on deck boards for 5 hours, the first step out of bed doesn't send me to my knees

I worked my tail off on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
while the kids got their cheeks wind burnt playing outside in these chilly temps

Reminder: This is why we should not have spring break in mid March in Iowa

I took off the rest of the week to spend some time with the boys and tie up some loose ends

Spring Break {day 2&3}

So much for R&R over Spring break

The hubby worked us to death over the weekend

Our deck has officially been started

The first thing we had to do was take down the fence

It worked for it's purpose; it kept the kids in the yard while they were little

I was so happy to see it gone

 The fence posts are going to have to wait for another day

The ground is still to hard and frozen 

When we realized we couldn't do any more with the fence, the hubby suggested starting on the deck

Take a look at that nasty wood

 The deck should have been replaced 8 years ago but it's not a deck we've really used so it got put off

We are reusing some of the deck {braces and posts}

Thankfully, the braces holding the deck are in good shape because they run under the house

 I'm not sure what we would do if they needed replaced

We will be getting new decking, spindles and railing 

We are adding onto the deck so all of that part will be new

The spindles that are on the deck now would never meet up to code

Chip can stick his head through them and it would be a 10 ft. drop onto cement

I will jump for joy when the boys can go on the deck and I won't have to worry

This is the most beautiful thing I've seen in a long time

Brand new treated pine decking

We have a long way to go  but it's going to be worth it

Big City Clean Up is next month and our goal is to have all the old wood off the deck by then

Spring Break {day 1}

Friday kicked off the first day of Spring break

I despise spring break

I would rather have an extra week with them in the summer when we can enjoy the weather

We're going to have 10 days off and nothing to do because it's still a bit chilly here
One of these years we're going to take a vacation over Spring break
Until then, we'll just try to enjoy it

We took a road trip Friday morning

A couple of weeks ago, I decided we could save $ by going to the Under Armour outlet in Williamsburg

The boys both needed new shoes and I thought their prices were reasonable

There's nothing more I hate than shoe shopping for my kids 

It's an absolute pain {literally- I'll explain more below}

When we got the shoes home, we realized Spencer's new shoes were falling apart

This meant half a tank of gas and half a day wasted

{so much for saving $}

 I thought we would get it out of the way so we headed to Williamsburg 

Wouldn't you know it- They didn't have another pair like them in his size

2 hours and 6 stores later, he FINALLY found shoes

These shoes nearly killed me

He LOVES them and that's all that really matters

The boys have been outside playing with friends while I'm re-cooping

It's been a rough couple of weeks

Mid February I had a cortisone shot in my shoulder for an AC joint sprain

While we were shopping for  the first pair of shoes,

I stopped in the bathroom and hoped and prayed that I wasn't getting another UTI
 I wanted to do some birthday shopping for my niece so I ran in to Old Navy

While paying for my things, I felt like I had been jabbed in the back with a knife

4 days later I was SICK.....

I couldn't go to the bathroom, sweat rolling off me, feeling like I was going to vomit
 The nurse is certain I had a kidney stone

{I hope to NEVER experience that again}

and

now I'm dealing with planter fasciitis

In a way, I'm glad Spring break hit when it did
This mama needed a break

I think some R&R is just what we needed

Conference time {Spencer}

It's conference week which means it's the busiest week we've had in a while

Tuesday night we hustled to the middle school to wait in a packed library 

Each teacher set up shop with their lap top,

probably praying only the star students parents would show up

One of the biggest concerns I had a middle school was the lack of communication

Over night, these kiddos are expected to take on some major responsibility

They still have the agendas they are supposed to write their assignments in

I sign the agenda every night and read over the messy handwriting and sometimes ask what something says

Conferences give us the extra assurance so we (as parents) know what's going on 

and how our child is doing in school

I ask a lot of questions at home:

What kinds of fun things are you doing at school?

What have you learned about levers and pulleys in Mrs. Welsch's class?

What did Mr. McCormick say about your Social Studies project?

I've learned that I can't ask questions like:

 How was your day? 

How was Science?

How did you do on your Social Studies Project?

With boys, the answer will always be- FINE

Some times I feel like I have to pry a little bit but once he's fired up, he usually won't stop

By asking questions, we also know what the teachers will talk about at conferences

{They usually go over what they have studied and what type of things are coming up}

Spencer must have caught site of his grades on power school before conferences last night

Not that we have ever had to worry

{I hope it stays this way}

We spoke with his language arts teacher first

Spencer is with her 2 periods out of the day

Before he hit middle school, I heard horror storied of this teacher

Spencer says she expects a lot but deep down I think he enjoys the class

Mrs. Sturms says that Spencer is her ray of sunshine

Always Smiling and always telling her hello when he walks in

She had wonderful things to say but has 2 concerns

He tends to blurt out and he sometimes rushes through assignments

She told us that he always does well on assignments but could do even better if he took more time

{we've heard all of this before}

We spoke with his math teacher

She loves Spencer and gave him a 5

{5's are tough to come by in the SBG grading system}

Mrs. Fick said she's so glad she has Spencer in her first hour class

She loves that he's wide awake and ready to participate while the other students have the glazed over look

Mrs. Welsch is Spencer's Science teacher

She wishes she had a hundred more of him

He works well in every group she puts him in and knows that she can count on him to help when needed

Our last stop was the teacher I was dreading the most

Social Studies.... Blahhhh

Spencer has never liked social studies and struggles to keep an A in the class

He just finished up a project and got the maximum amount of points which gave him an A

Mr. McCormick enjoys having Spencer in his class and says he knows he can count on him to be on task

Spencer gets to spend extra time with Mr. McCormick because he also has him for home room

His teacher asked if he talks about things he has seen on CNN and he does

In fact, Spencer has the news on every morning when I get up

I think he likes to be a step a head of class in knowing what's going on

Mr. McCormick said, whatever you're doing- keep doing it! He's a great kid

Every parent struggles

 We feel like we sometimes fail at the job of parenthood

I'm sure I walked out of there with a smile from ear to ear

It may only last today but it meant a lot

I'm not sure what we did to deserve this boy

He doesn't have to be told to do homework and everything comes easy

The kiddo has a 4.0 and we couldn't be more proud

The school was holding a book fair so as a treat we let Spencer pick out a few books

We don't believe in paying our kids for good grades but we do believe in praising them

 Way to go Spencer, keep up the good work!

Update {Some hard/forced decisions}

Here's an update from this post 

I saw Dr. Bries at ORA on February 12th

He ordered X-rays and said they looked great

He had me do some things with both arms and we both noticed

that I definitely had some mobility issues with that left shoulder

Months of babying it didn't help me out any

Diagnosis: When I fell last July, I sprained my AC joint

Dr. Bries gave me a cortisone shot in my shoulder {OUCH!}

and wrote up an order for physical therapy

I went to PT twice and they said I was good to go

I'm still do exercises at home

So, I was worked up over nothing

I already had my mind made up that I was probably going to need surgery

I'm still working like a dog and will be until I can't any longer

Spring has been "sprung" on us

Spencer and I are a lot alike

{this is not always a good thing}

One of the ways we are probably most alike is-

When we wake up, we hit the floor running

We are definitely morning people!

This morning, the first words out of Spencer's mouth were-

We only have 2 and a half months left until summer break

{Where did 6th grade go?}

Panic sunk in as my mind was racing and naming the months until summer break

Spring has been "sprung" on us

All of a sudden, we have a million things going on

Baseball Sign up was Saturday
{as soon as KS dries out, we'll be at our home away from home}

A science fair project needs completed

Solo/Ensemble is less than a month away

I was asked to be in charge of teacher appreciation gifts for 46 staff members in May

I feel like I should get Easter basket goodies before their all pick over
Parker is preparing for talent show tryouts
and
The Science Fair

One of the most exciting things we are preparing for
is something we have been waiting for a very long time
We will be tearing off our old deck and putting up a new 38 foot deck
{38 feet! - That's a whole lot space to enjoy the sun}
I couldn't sleep last night
I don't know if it was the excitement because it's finally going to happen
or the dollar signs keeping me awake
It's going to be A LOT of work but it will be well worth it
{I'll post pictures as we make progress}


Today it's supposed to be in the 50's
We might open some windows and get some fresh air

SPRING where are you? {and a rant}

Waking up to snow makes me want to scream

SPRING, where are you?

We're all getting a little bit irritable around here

When it's this cold, it's hard to believe that spring break starts next week

Why in the world does the school district think we need a vacation when it's too cold to do anything
Maybe they have the money to go somewhere warm

While I'm on this rant: The school district just passed the calendar for next year

We are starting school August 14th!

I'm thinking about taking the boys and going on strike until the following week

First of all: 

The hubby delivers farm chemicals and can't take any vacation from April-June/July

This leaves part of July and the first 2 weeks in August

Second of all:

We play ball until the second week of July

Yes the boys could miss some games but they signed up to be on a team 

We won't leave the team hanging and we are die-hards

Third:

 Does the school district not remember how hot it gets in August

So... we'll just have an early out every day and make it a pain for working parents

This is it:

Teachers may enjoy their breaks {Spring and Christmas} 

but they will spend more time reprogramming and teaching these children when they go back

I think we're headed for year round school

I'm only speaking for our family but I know there are a lot of unhappy parents

Back to the topic of SPRING

I have some fun things planned for spring break next week,
I just hope the boys think they're fun

I've seen some adorable Easter decor pinned on Pinterest

I'm hoping my little craft nut {Parker} will help me over break


Now if we could just have green grass

He's 12!

We celebrated Spencer's 12th birthday on his actual birthday {2/22}

Mom and her birthday boy

We had a snowboarding themed party

Fit for his new love of snowboarding and the last couple days of the Winter Olympics in Sochi

Spencer requested: 

BBQ pork sandwiches, grandma's baked beans, chips, lemon fruit fluff and a veggie tray

For desert:

Grandma's chocolate pie

Grandma also made this AMAZING cake

 because she thinks every child needs a cake even if they really want pie

To top it off, it was Neapolitan flavored

Our family spoiled Spencer rotten

What do you give a 12 year old? Money and gift cards
Taking this boy shopping nearly killed me
It was his money and I had to remind myself of that many times
He bought:

Snowboarding goggles, a new scooter

Under Armour sandals and UGLY socks

I will not be seen with this kid this summer
He claims socks and sandals are the thing to wear
What do I know?
At this age, parents are stupid and kids know it all