Having fun at Uncle Casey's

Well here we are in Kansas visiting my brother. Today marks the mid-point of our trip. We are now on the down slope of our vacation time. It has been fun, crazy but fun. First off you have to get the vision of my brother's house. It is actually a very good size, especially for a single man. Heck, it is pretty much like the duplex we lived in when Alex was born. But for a family of six visiting and only one room to be in, it makes it crazy. There is actually 2 bedrooms, one being Casey's and one being his weight room and let me tell you, it is a good weight room! Then there is the bathroom, that is small for multiple little kids running around, and then one big open living room/kitchen combo with no table and chairs and only a futon to sit down on. Very single manish.

But when you have 4 kids running around and 3 adults, it gets nutty. Especially at dinner time when kids spill stuff constantly and there is only a small area for them to sit that isn't carpet. All the open space makes it good for bedtime though, because there is plenty of room for the futon(which I get all to myself) and then there is the boys' air mattress and the girls' air mattress and Daddy's air mattress, all queens.

The only thing is that bedtimes are TOTALLY screwed up. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night Daddy and Uncle Casey thought the best way to get the kids to sleep was to put on a movie, WRONG!! The kids all stayed up until it was over, always past 11. So tonight I have kicked the big boys' into Uncle Casey's room and turned off all lights and the tv and it is bedtime. All the kids are really tired and cranky and need to go to bed. Not to mention that they all have runny noses and have that sick look to them, like they all have colds, and voices sound really off, so I know they are fighting getting sick. But alas, needing sleep is not proving to mean kids fall right to sleep.

Anyway, we got here Wednesday, went right out to dinner, then back to Casey's. Thursday we drove into Kansas City with every intention of going to Chick fil A and then the Deanna Rose Farms, which is really fun for the family. Well while at Chick fil A(I love that place!!) we decided it was too cold and miserable to be outside most of the day, so we went to Hallmark's Kaleidocsope and Sea Life, both of which were very cool!! And with the Kaleidoscope being free and keeping the kids VERY entertained it was definately worth it!!

Friday we drove into Fort Riley, and went through a museum and a half, but didn't stay for long, cause the kids were not in the museum mood and we adults were tired of them rushing us through it all. We did however get to see the army bomb sniffing dogs at work. They were walking them through the museums to get them used to carrying on their jobs while amoungst distractions. Well the Schimek's are good for distractions and noise. lol After leaving the fort, we went to Ed's Dog House and picked up some amazing hot dogs!! They were sooo good.

Today we went to Britt's pumpkin patch today. It was alot of fun for the kids. We went last year too and had to go back this year. They have a corn maze, hayrack ride, fun jump for kids, petting zoo, pumpkin patch, and so much more. The kids LOVED it!!! We also bought pumpkins to carve tonight, we had the girls' pumpkin and the boys' pumpkin. I have to say the girls pumpkin, carved by me, kicked the boys' pumpkin's butt, carved by daddy. Daddy's guide fell off partway through an was too drenched in pumpkin juice to be of any help after that.

Annual road trip

For the last 2 years we have used John's 1 week vacation that he has to take as a whole week and gone to see my brother in Manhatten, KS. The first year we went in August and it was miserable!! Now part of the reason for that was the horrible heat and the fact that our van's a/c had just gone out and we had a new born to take with us. Needless to say it was not that fun of a drive.

Last year we went in October and it was great. Weather was perfect and we were able to go to a pumpkin patch while down there. This year we are going again in October. We actually leave on Wednesday.

We are all excited. It is one of the highlights of our year. It works out great because my brother and I are really close and John and Casey are best friends. Actually that is how John and I met. And the kids LOVE their uncle!! So we are all excited. It will be a great thing to get away for 7 days and just have fun. We were planning on making it a shorter trip, but were blessed with John getting a bunch of overtime on our last check, so much so that we were able to pay our house payment early so we had the money that would have gone towards that to also take on our trip, so we wont be so strapped for cash.
Considering that it takes 3-4 tanks of gas for the trip and our vehicle is not the best on mileage, and then you facter in food, cause we have to eat out at our favorite places there for some of our meals, it adds up. But as far as entertainment, that hasn't ran us too much in the past. We go to the army base close to there, which is free, then the pumpkin patch that isn't too bad in price for a day of fun, and then to the zoo, which will actually be free this year because it is part of our zoo pass we bought. So unless we decide to go into Kansas City, it shouldn't be too much.

I am now in the mode of cleaning our house so went we return it is clean and something to be greatful to return to, not something to stress me out. Wish me luck. I keep getting sidetracked and with you kids you know how it is. You clean up a section and they get stuff back down. lol

Fun Fest at PVCA

So today was Platte Valley Christian Academy's annual fun fest. It was a great success!! We were very blessed to recieve donations towards food and our silent auction.

The kids had a blast playing the games. Livie pretty much hung out at the duck pond just playing with the ducks. She just liked playing in the water. lol. Alex loved the strong man swing, trying to prove his manliness. lol. JJ just liked wondering around trying the different games. Kennedy was so proud that she after multiple attempts won a gold fish. We actually ended up coming home with 13 goldfish which puts us up to 15 goldfish. Hopefully we have better luck with our goldfish this year. Last year we started with 11 and only 2 survived. It is funny because now our 2 "grandpa" goldfish are WAY bigger than the new ones.

Talking about goldfish I have to tell you about the "Goldfish Massacre of 2012." A woman also on the fundraising committee was donating the fish again this year. She went and picked them up last night and the man put them in a bucket. He told her to have a stream of cold water flowing through the bucket to keep them alive. Well the cold water turned warm in the night and she woke up at 1 in the morning to find all but 1 fish dead and they had overflowed in the bucket to fill her tub and clog the drain. So she had to scoop them out of the drain with a spoon. I found it funny, she did not. So John went and bought more fish this morning and we were saved. lol

My favorite part of the day was the silent auction. I ended up taking the second shift so I could be in there at the end of the auction. I bid on many items and thankfully didn't win them all or I would have been BROKE!! As it was I walked away spending the most out of all the bidders, for a total of $202 that I alone spent on the silent auction. But I got some good stuff and won some items I REALLY wanted. I won a oil change, which I paid full price for, but I need one BAD and I figured giving the money to the school was a great cause. Also won a $25 gift certificate that will go towards another oil change, also needed for our other vehicle. I won a witness wear shirt for Kennedy, a HUGE tie dye bean bag chair for the kids(which I regret, because they keep fighting over it) and a $25 gift certificate for some flowers for the girls hair. And then there was our big purchase, that we wanted to win sooooo much. This was our top item and I would have gone higher if I had too. Are you excited to see what it is? Do I have you gripping your seat? It is 2 beautiful lovebirds! Actual, real life lovebirds!

 

I love them!! We have been holding onto them since Wednesday and I am so glad they were able to return. Their prior names were Romeo(the green) and Juliet(the blue) but they have been renamed. Their new names are Marshal and Lily or Marshmallow and Lilypad. Now some of you might have figured out the reason for the names but for those of you who don't know I will explain. We have come to really enjoy the show "How I Met Your Mother" (I know it is shameful, but I do really like it) and 2 of the main characters is a couple name, you guessed it, Lily and Marshal, so that is how our lovebirds got their names. Now we just hope that the dogs leave them alone and we can get them used to us so we can tame them.

I have to say that I completely love my kids' school!! It is totally a God thing that our kids are in Platte Valley Christian Academy! When we first started looking for a preschool for Alex 5 years ago, we actually had signed him up for another preschool. Then John said something about seeing if PVCA had preschool because he went there as a 7th and 8th grader. So I called and got Alex in.

Our plan was always to put the kids into public school for kindergarten on, but we were really praying about whether or not to put Alex in public school or keep him in PVCA the spring before he would have started kindergarten. Then right around the time we needed to turn in our letter of intent for the following year stating whether Alex would or would not remain in PVCA, we were praying that God would direct our path.

Then we recieved a call, asking if we would be willing to serve on the school board. It was our sign from God that we were to stay in the school. Now 3 years later, we have Alex who is in 2nd grade, JJ who is in kindergarten, and Kennedy in her first year of preschool. I couldn't imagine being anywhere else.

What I love about our school is that fact that it really does end up feeling like a family!! Parents can be more involved in our school with it being a parent ran school and you really end up knowing everyone, where you don't get that much in a public school. And my children are learning so much and I love that they are growing in their faith and I know that PVCA is a big part of that. Our school really is an extention of the home!!

Tomorrow is one of our big fundraisers of the year and one of our family's favorite events, our annual fun fest.  This event has carnival style games that the kids enjoy. And one of the games' prizes are goldfish, so hopefully we will have more fishes for our fish tank. Then there is the freewill donation meal of sloppy joes. Oh so yummy!! And my favorite, the silent auction. This year I specifically budgets a good amount for the auction because of all the awesome donations I have been recieving from local business for the auction. I am especially looking forward to bidding on the lovebirds!! They are currently in my house and I hope that they will be returning after the even tomorrow!! And then there are the kids' classroom baskets, which are always a huge hit. So we will be bidding on those, that is for sure!!

Please pray for our fundraiser, that we would be blessed with a successful event and that we would raise our goal. Or better yet exceed it!

15 years

Yesterday John and I celebrated 15 years of being together. Fifteen years!! I can't believe it!! I mean for being 28 and 30 that is pretty amazing and then to add to that 10 years of marriage and 4 children that bring joy to our lives, 1 angels we are excited to hold one day in heaven, and our precious baby girl due in January, I am amazed at how much God has blessed us.

Has it always been easy? Heck no! Has it always been joy and laughter? No, No, NO! There are days where I would just as soon run him over with my SUV(just kidding, or am I? lol) but then I am reminded why I love him. Yes, he might drive me nuts at times, but he is truly my soul mate! All of our trials, have made our relationship stronger!! I love him more today, than the day I married him!!

I am so thankful that I didn't have to search the world for the man I would marry. I praise God for bringing us together. It has been a crazy, amazing, and awesome 15 years!!

John and I probably in 1999 or 2000 

To use or not to use!

Tomorrow is John and my's 15 year annivesary of when we started "going out." FIFTEEN YEARS!! That is pretty amazing for a couple who are 28 and 30. Got to say I am pretty proud of our 15 years of being together and 10 years of marriage. In the day and age where relationship all seem to have a short shelve time, we have made it a long time. And we plan on going for the long haul!!

Anyway last week we exchanged gifts. Of course by exchanging gifts I mean that John went and picked up both of the presents. I did however tell him what to get himself and I picked it out all by myself. But since his was a xbox game and it needed to be purchased at the local Game Stop so I had him get it. Plus I think he secretly wanted to go look around.

I was blessed with a gift certificate for a  pregnancy massage. I am so thankful for it. My only problem is that last time I recieved a gift certificate for a massage from John, I held onto it for 6 months until it almost expired. Not because I didnt want to use it but because I am the type who looks forward to things like that. And the longer I hold onto it, the longer I have to look forward to it. Once I use it, then it is gone and I don't have it to look forward to when I am trying to get through a really tough week.

Now here I am in alot of back pain and just miserable and think I should go use it today. But my fear is that today I will feel good and maybe tomorrow, but the way I have been feeling, I will just have another day of back pain with nothing to look forward to. lol Oh the dilemia of a special treat to look forward too. To use or not use until a later day. That is the question. lol

Do you ever have those days were you feel like you are doing all the housework around the house for what?! I mean I wash dishes, pick up, vacuum, wash and put away clothes to just do it again. It feels like instead of making lasting progress, I am just trying to stay ahead of the mess.

Thankfully I am not someone who expects their house to be spotless. My house is VERY lived in. There are surfaces covered with papers from school, mail, and random stuff, clothes in baskets to be put away, etc. And I honestly don't care if my house looks very lived in. I don't have trash all over(well I pick up it all, with 4 kids and 2 dogs, I do find trash on the floor), I don't live in filth, and my kids have clean clothes to wear.

But I have to admit that this pregnancy has made my aleady laxed view on housework, even more laxed. I just honestly don't have the energy or desire at the end of the night to clean while the kids are in bed. There are some nights where I go to bed not long after the kids go to bed.

Maybe someday I will have one of those houses where people could walk into at anytime of the day and it would be pretty much perfect and clean, but until that day, I will be ok with it. Just be forewarned, if you are a person who expects everyone to keep their house sparkling, maybe you should not drop in for an unannounced visit or you might see how we live. lol

A great day

Today the kids' school pictures came in. They turned out so good. I am proud to put them up for everyone to see!

Alex- 2nd Grade

JJ- Kindergarten

Kennedy- Preschool
 

We were all looking forward to after school today. Today was the day we were going to pick out halloween costumes. We also decided to take the kids to the 2 pet stores we visited last week and look.

This morning I decided to run to the local Goodwill to see if I could find Kennedy a new backpack, but unfortunately I didn't find one. I did however find one for Alex. He has had his heart set on getting a computer like bag. We decided to have the kids' use their backpacks from last year instead of spending $15 a piece for new ones. I did find Alex a bag just like he was wanting and for the bargin price of $1.35.

Then I decided to look at the halloween costumes. No I am not one to look throw racks and racks of clothes and search sizes and styles for what I am wanting, but I decided to just take a chance. Right on one of the ends of the rack was a costume just like I saw in a magazine and wanted to get for Livie. It is one that she wears her normal clothes but it looks like she is riding a pink unicorn. It was only $3.25 so of course I had to buy it!!

Then I looked down the aisle and noticed a blue sparkly costume and took a chance that it was what I thought it was. And it was!! It was a blue cinderalla dress just like Kennedy wanted, also for $3.25, so with saving the money on her dress, I decided we could buy the tiara and shoes at Walmart to go with it.

So fast forward to after school when we picked up Alex. We were blessed with their amazing school pictures and then we were off. We hit the pet stores first. At the first one we purchased 3 snails for our fish tank which were christianed Sharky, Piggy, and Tiny by JJ. And of course the kids enjoyed looking at the snakes, gerbils, hamsters, birds, fishes, etc. Surprised we made it out without purchasing anything else.

Then we went to the other pet store and picked out 2 hermit crabs, christianed Sharktale by Alex and LaLa Loopsie by Kennedy. We of course had to buy the stuff to make a home for the hermit crabs. Alex really, really was hoping for a gecko and John wanted birds. We are hoping to get love birds soon.

Then we went to Walmart for the costumes. Alex picked a ninja costume, JJ will be captian america, Kennedy, Cinderalla, and Livie didn't get anything because we already had hers. We also picked up 2 games for the boys' classroom basket for the fun night silent auction.

So it was really a good eventful day. I enjoyed it greatly.

Finally!!!

So I realized that with being without my computer, I hadn't posted what the gender of the baby is. But I now have my computer back(that's right, I am whole again!!) so I decided to do that. But I am not going to just launch into it, I will lead up too it. Bear with me, I haven't been able to blog for a while. So I am going to tell you the story behind our children's names and lead up to the baby info.

Jacob Robert- When I was in younger, I went to school with a boy named Robert Jacob, but he went by Jake. I loved the way it sounded especially since 2 of my grandpas' names are Robert, but I preferred to switch the order of the name. So when we were picking names for our little boy who went to heaven before we were able to see his precious face, we thought of many names but none could compare with Jacob Robert, especially since Robert is also John's dad's name, so Jacob is named after 3 grandpas.

 

Alexander Michael- John is actually the one who picked out Alexander.     It is the main character of one of John's favorite movie "The Time Machine." I personally do not like the movie, but I really liked the name. Michael is John's middle name. And let me tell you Alex lives up to his name!! Alexander means defender of mankind and Alex is very much like his daddy! He takes pride in protecting his siblings and those that he cares for. He feels for those in pain and worries about things that most second graders don't. He truly has a tender spirit just like John!

 

Jeremiah James- JJ is the only child that is technically not named after someone in our family. Jeremiah is just a name John and I really, REALLY liked and James went with it really well. It wasn't until after we named him that I realized why we liked Jeremiah so much. On Jacob's tombstone we chose part of the verse Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew^[a] you" to be on it. We loved the reminder that even though we never got to know Jacob in the way that most parents know there children, that God knew him and chose us to blessed with being his parents. So in a way, JJ is named after his biggest brother and is a constant reminder that God knows us in a very intimate way before we were ever created.

Kennedy Jean Elizabeth- I am not ashamed to admit that I stoled the name Kennedy from another mom. Now she had picked this name for a child that was born years before Kennedy was born and turned out he was a boy and so I didn't want this beautiful name to go unused, so I HAD to use it. lol. And then it turns out that my great, great grandma's middle name on my dad's side was Kenneda, so I guess it was a good choice. Jean is my middle name and my mom's middle name and I hope that Kennedy passes it on to her first baby girl also. Elizabeth is just a name we always loved and so we picked it.

Olivia Clara Paige- Olivia is just a name that John and I really liked. Love the nickname Livie also, so it was a great choice! Clara is after John's grandma on his dad's side. He has some great memories of her and misses her alot. Paige again is a name that we really liked. Of course John's mom says that since it is a alternative form of her name Patricia, that technically Livie is named after her. There is no harm letting her hold on to that arguement. lol

 

So finally the big reveal of the baby's name. It was quite strange in the way the name came about. Usually when we are picking names we have a list of names that we really like and we have a hard time deciding which on to pick. But with this baby, we had names that we liked but none that jumped out at us. John and I had quite a few conversations about names and never really had the long list of ones that we were choosing between. There was a boy name and a girl name that we both liked and it just seemed like no matter how many different names we discussed we just kept coming back to those 2 names. It was kinda like the names were already decided by us before we ever started talking about it and that is why we had a totally different experience than normal.

 

I have to admit that I had in my mind what the baby was and I was quite shocked by what the ultrasound revealed. I was sure I was correct and had always thought of the baby as this gender that was in my mind. I was in denial for about a week until it sunk in and now I am soooo excited to announce that we are having another...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GIRL!!!

 

That's right, we will have 3 boys and 3 girls and our family will be complete. So now onto the name of our precious baby girl.

 

Emmalee Jorja Kay- Emmalee we picked after a young lady who was a former youth group member of ours. We have had the pleasure of knowing this young lady since she was like 10 and have watched her grow into an amazing young woman of God! She also happens to be our baby sitter when she is home from college and the kids love her. She spells her name this way and we love the uniqueness of it.  Jorja is after my grandma on my mom's side. She spells her name Georgia but we wanted something different than the normal. Funny thing is that Grandma didn't like that we were naming Emmalee after her until I told her the way we were are spelling it. Then she thought it was really cute. I love my Grandma!! And Kay is after John's mom, that way she really can say a granddaughter is named after her. lol

 

I can't wait to met my baby girl!! I love this picture of her even though you can't see her whole face. In it she was opening and closing her mouth like she was talking. And I love the little hand in it and how her wrist looks kinda chunky. I am so excited!!