Fall update

I know that I am not always very good at adding to our family blog. I feel like I am just re-gurgitating our day. Iam terrible at getting my pictures out of my camera into my computer. There are times when I have found my card to be full....and it takes nearly 500 pictures! Needless to say Jeff hates when I say that I am going to Costco to pick up some pictures!

My boys have grown so much this summer. Both literally and figuratively. This picture is from a wedding we went to this summer. Jack's teacher, Miss Roberts, became Mrs. Mayer...and now we have a Mr. Mayer teaching 2nd grade and Mrs. Mayer teaching 1st. They are so much fun to hang out with.

But I digress...Somehow we now have 2 boys in middle school and Jack is full day elementary. It's become crazy. I was looking at a picture of Jack as an infant and I am having trouble remembering that. I hate not remembering. I seriously miss the infant stage. But...on the other hand I do love sleeping at night, being able to hold his hand and chat him up, and no longer having diapers to deal with.

All 3 are playing soccer. All 3 are doing great in school. All 3 are respectful, happy, loving boys. I don't know why God blessed us the way he did, but all I can say is "Thank you". I am blessed and no matter how old they get, or how tall on the measuring wall, or what grade they move on to, I am blessed and that's what counts.

my 3 boys

Summer around here is so very busy!

School ends and the free-for-all begins.

This summer doesn't seem quite as bad as the last few. We have soccer tournaments and camping trips.

This last weekend Keegan had a soccer tournament. His team was never scored on, yet they came in second. The first day our team scored 8 goals, and Keegan scored 4 of them! He could have nearly flown home on his own happiness! It was so exciting to see him love this game like that. He scored again on Sunday. They played in the final game and just couldn't finish. They went into PK's and just couldn't win there. At the end of 5 kicks they were tied 3-3. Then it goes 1 vs. 1 and we missed ours and they made theirs. It was heartbreaking. They have a great coach. He told them to hold their heads high because they played a great tourney! Then first thing Wednesday they went to work on those things that they could have done better. We are very lucky to have such a great guy as a coach.

We are off to Bridgeport next week. Camping. Eating. Swimming. Playing on the beach. It is one of my favorite parts of summer. I don't have things to worry about. I only need to pack lunches for the day and add the cooler to the boat.

I am so very ready!

Jack's first Tball game.

Konley pitching for the Cubs (minors team)

Normally our life has been all soccer. Right now it is all baseball. This week alone there will be 6 games to be watched/played. They get late. RIght now Jeff and Konley are at his game that started at 7. The other 2 weekday games start at 7:30. Pretty late. Jack, Keegan and I took the night off. We needed the break and they needed to be in bed before 10. 10!?! My boys are in bed at 8. Lights out by 9. 10 is ridiculous. But it only lasts 2 months. (I think) Jack is done next week, but Konley goes until June. Good thing he loves this game!

We chose to go to the beach over spring break. It was cold. It was wet. It was great! Jeff found a great agate 5 minutes after we started looking. We stayed in a "cabin" that was a single-wide trailer! If you left the bathroom and closet doors open at the same time you couldn't walk down the hallway. But it was fun! We had no video games. We had minimal tv. We walked the beaches for hours. We took a ton of pics! We drove to Ocean Shores and played putt-putt and skee ball. We ate pizza. We ate seafood. We remembered what it was like to be a family that didn't have a chaotic schedule. We need to plan a few more days like this a little more often. So...if we are expected at a practice or event and we don't show, we might just be remembering what it's like to be a family again.

just another monday

I sit here thinking of all of the things that I should be doing. I could be unloading the dishwasher. I could be doing laundry (tho that is a Wednesday job). I could be painting downstairs.

But I am just sitting here watching it POUR outside. How exactly do the Heavens open up like this and rain this hard?

At least it waited from the weekend. Baseball season has officially started. Konley and Jack had their opening day ceremonies and games begin tomorrow night (if the rain stops that is). Konley plays at 7:30. I can't even begin with how late that is for a school night. Can't even go there without going on a rant. Jack is still practicing but has games after spring break.

Keegan is in the middle of state cup. They are at single elimination and won both of their games this weekend. Saturday was a complete nail-biter. Tied at the end of regulation, 2 overtimes and finally went to a shoot-out where they won 3-0. Keegan made the first shot and my heart was in my throat while he lined up for the ball.

Jack and I are off to Build a Bear. We are going to re-stuff his monkey George and after I finally washed it. He is a very loved little monkey. Just like my little monkey!

Our last couple of years have been dominated by soccer. Keegan started playing select soccer nearly 2 years ago. Konly and Jack both play on rec teams in the fall. Jeff plays mens outdoor on wednesdays, I play womens outdorr on Mondays and indoor on Thursdays. I am still not very good, but I do try hard and they haven't kicked me off yet. Hopefully they won't, since I really enjoy their company.

When I looked into our future I never really figured that this would be what it's like. I am truly a soccer mom. I taxi and cheer and clean uniforms and take lots of pictures. Every year we have to decide where to keep Keegan. We have to ask if Jeff will coach anybody. It is so much better than sitting on the couch watching tv. We are getting exercise. It is good for us, body and mind.

That said Keegan had a great game this morning. We played a team without a great record, but it sometimes gives them an opportunity to shine without the stress. Keegan has a beautiful left foot. He can pick that ball up and over and cross it right in front of the goal and it looks effortless. He was able to put it in the right spot a few (6 or 7 actually) times this morning, but no one could finish it. They were great efforts. Their team is 7-1. They are playing together.

Watching my boys grow and play is so much fun. I watch as they get better. I watch as they struggle. I watch as they learn. But more than anything I watch them grow up. As long as what they are doing still makes them happy I will watch as long as they want.

So this is how we began. The large window upstairs is our room. The three windows downstairs is a family room.

This is the new family room. It looks out on the sport court. Has a slider to the left and a 6' wide opening and room for the boys and all of their toys.

This is the coolest part. At least i think. Our new room. We have 5 people, and only 3 rooms, until now. Now we have a room for everyone. Keegan will have ours, just 3 feet shorter for the new hallway. Konley will have theirs, and Jack will not move. Though I will get to clean his room, since Jeff's dresser has been in it for a few months.

We got carpet today too. THey just finished installing it. Still smells like a hot glue gun up there. But I have carpet. ANd as soon as I have baseboards we will move. I AM SO EXCITED! It's been a long 6 months. I, stupidly, thought we might be done around Christmas. Think again.

My husband has done an amazing job! People have come out of the woodwork to help us. We weren't sure we were even going to be able finish, just have to wait until we could make some more money and pay as we go. We have had electricians for free, my dad & Bob hung all the drywall, dad's from soccer have helped us with the mud 'n' tape 'n' texture and all of the trim, doors and baseboards. I didn't even know that all of these people did these things.

God has blessed us. He has given us so much more than we ever expected and I can only be grateful. Thank you to Him and to all of those who have helped us.

So we are nearly there! Yeah! Yahoo! Yeehaw! I have been painting. Painting for real. The downstairs is mocha and the upstairs is blue. i am also painting the bathroom, and the hallway and keegan's new room and .... you get the picture. I am also trying to play with my soccer moms, be the pta mom, voluntee in the class, help in the school office, take kids to practice, and be a wife. I am running out of time. I have to steal an hour here and there to add color. Thank God for all of the friends and family that have helped out. I need to finish the bathroom so we can go back to showering in our own bathroom instead of the boys. That's my plan for this afternoon.
Will get you pix when i get done and you can see the colors that i chose. Hope you like it and can come join us when we finish.

So this has been our life. The last 5 months of our lives. We have lived amongst a mess. We have lived among dust. We have lived with dressers in the wrong rooms. With things put away and still not yet found. We have moved toys and sofas and computers. But we are getting there. Today they put on the 2nd coat of the mud for the mud'n'tape. We have walls. Soon we will have paint. Then hopefully we will have carpet and can move. Our origina

l room will be Keegan's room. We have shortened it by 3 feet or so. Unfortunately we are still living in this room. Imagine our king size bed which is 7 feet long in a room that's about 8.5 feet wide. And yesterday? they added a huge piece of plastic to protect our bed. We just laugh. What else can you do? It's only 5 months out of our lives and our house will be better for it in the end. If we can all survive this bump in the road what better to do than just laugh?

And say, "thank you" to all who have given their time and expertise to our little addition!

Done Whining

So, I am done whining. Life got difficult for a while but now I have gotten back up on my horse and have decided that enough is enough. I am a 39-year-old woman and whining isn't pretty.

So, it's a new year. I don't do resolutions cuz I hate setting myself up for failure. Even little failure. So I just have some new ideas.

If I don't like the weight, change it. Just cuz my boys can eat us out of house and home doesn't mean I can, or should. So, leave the snacks to the boys. Mom and I are walking. She has been using her pedometer faithfully for months so I am going to piggy-back on her "steps". I am still (attempting to) playing soccer twice a week, and yes it is really cold once the sun goes down for outdoor, but it's still running and still good for me.

I will spend more time with the boys. Now that they are getting older the rules seemed to have changed and they just don't play the same. I'm not really into video games but we did have a Wii tournament this Sunday. I made dad stay away from the addition and anything around the house that needed to be worked on. Of course that meant that on Wednesday I was outside shoveling dirt to fill in our electrical ditch, trying to make up for not letting him do it. Who digs anyway? Tho it was great exercise. Never realized how many calories that you could burn while shoveling. Still not so good for the back.

I will be a better friend, and will surround myself with those who are in turn friends to me. They don't have to spoil me, call constantly, email or even text, just those that treat me with respect. Maybe I lose a few, maybe I don't. But the ones that I do lose were probably not meant to be in the long run.

They aren't resolutions they are just a hopeful attempt at changing what i don't like. Cuz only I can change it. Only I can make myself happy. Only I can stop the whining. At least my own. I will figure out how to stop the boys' whining when I get mine under control!