Tuesday, December 22, 2009

3 times in one month

I am back. Just wanted to make Grandma Carol happy and write again for her. We would like to wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY also. We have been very busy as usual. Last monday night, my kids had their Christmas program and they did awesome. Taylor's group even sang and did sign language to Silent Night. At night we have been pretty much none stop. Not much time to sit back and relax. On Thursday night Santa made a delivery to our house so that the kids could open their gifts when we got home on Friday. It was so awesome to watch them open their gifts. They were so happy. Saturday we went to Pontiac and had the Sancken side Christmas and then our Christmas with mom. It was hard not having dad there. Mom had these awesome bears made for us all. The bears are made out of dad's shirts or pants. We all loved them. It really meant a lot to all of us. It was wonderful to see the family and to be together. On Sunday we had Christmas with Jason's mom, sister and her family. It was great. By that afternoon, we were all so tired. We went to bed very early.
This week is a short week at work for us. Lots of driving to do on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. We only have 4 more Christmas' to go. For the first time we will be done with Christmas the day after Christmas. We are very excited about that. We hope that everyone has a safe and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

I'm Back

Well it has been eventful since the last post. Last weekend, the kids and I went back to Pontiac. Saturday we went shopping with mom and both girls got their ears pierced. Tyler farmed all day with the boys. Sunday we went to Aunt Janet's and baked Christmas cookies. We had a lot of fun. Tyler farmed again with the boys. We got home late Sunday night. Monday night we went to Angel's Holiday Program. It was so cute. She played the clarinet in the band and then at they sang songs. Tuesday night I though we had a free night. But that sounded too boring so I took Taylor to the doctor. She has a Bladder Infection. She is excited because she loves the antibiotic. Wednesday night we fought the cold air and Taylor had her PSR class. Thursday, both kids had dentist appointments. Tyler has no cavities and his 6 yr molars are coming in. Taylor had 1 cavity. Much better than what I expected after all the candy they have ate. Taylor also got her hair cut tonight. She wanted it above her shoulders so that is where it is. It looks really cute. This coming Monday is Taylor and Tyler's Christmas Program. Hoping that after that I can post a bunch of pictures. Hope that everyone is doing well. We are doing pretty good. Still have a lot of moments of missing dad. The kids always want to go to the grave side to see grandpa when we go back home. They really miss him.
The boys are done harvesting. They have done a great job with all of the farming. Dad, I am sure, is very proud of them. Trevor was even brave enough to let me drive the combine at 2:30 in the morning last Saturday night. I don't think that combining corn is my next calling. I rode with Trevor to help keep him awake. I only dozed a few times. Travis needed someone with him though. He fell asleep in the tractor waiting for us to finish the round. It brought back many memories to ride in the combine again. Riding in dad's truck and in the farm machinery is a little hard because it smells like him, but yet I didn't want to get out. The holidays are going to be different this year. So glad we have such a wonderful family to share with. Well I better go. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Hello Again

Well Hello Again,
Once again, it has been pretty crazy in our house hold. Busy, Busy, Busy. That is how we like it. The kids are doing AWESOME in school. Their teachers had great things to say about both of them. They really enjoy school. Angel is also doing very well in her school, as well.

My new job is going well. I have so much to learn. Everytime I get done with a training, I get handed another. I do enjoy it though. Just a lot to take in.

The kids are all anxiously awaiting Christmas. Their list gets longer and longer everytime they watch T.V. or look at magazines. We may need a castle to hold all of their stuff. Can't wait to have our first Christmas in our new house. Which we still love. Hoping to get all of our Christmas decorations up very soon. We won't be home over the weekends so during the week is the only time we can do it.

And for our BIG news: TYLER LOST HIS FIRST TOOTH.
Sorry if you thought we had something else to say. Tyler lost his first tooth this past monday night. It looked like a shark tooth. He was so excited. Next week they go to the dentist. At least that is one less cavity I will have to worry about. All the candy they have eaten since Halloween, I am guessing that every tooth will have a cavity. The sad thing is, they still have a ton of candy. They are very good about sharing it with me, which I am very happy with. Well, I am really tired. Hope everyone had a Wonderful Thanksgiving. We had a blast with the family. See you all soon.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

It has only been two months

Well sorry once again. It has been two months since I posted. We have been really busy. The kids were both in soccer and really enjoyed it. I was one of Taylor's coaches which was really interesting. Soccer is over now and they miss it. Wednesday nights Taylor has a PSR class which is like CCD. The kids really love school and are all doing great. They also love our new house, which so do we.
As probably all of you know, we lost my dad on Sept. 26th. It has been really hard but we are all getting through this. It sucks being so far from my family at this time, but I know they all have people right there to be with them. My brothers are doing the farming right now and are doing a great job. Dad, I am sure, is very proud of them. We all miss Dad a lot but also now he is with us. WE LOVE YOU DAD!!!
This past week I learned that I have a new job. I accepted a position at Champaign Head Start. I start my new job on Nov. 2nd. I will be one of the head teachers in the Infant Toddler room. There are 2 head teachers and 1 assistant teacher. The kids range from 6 weeks to 3 years old. There are 8 kids in the class. I think that this adventure will be good for us. It also helps that there is a pay raise too.
For the last three days I have been at home with a sick little boy. Possible H1N1. Hoping this will end soon. He seems to be getting better. He does great during the day but last night his temp spiked back up. He is eating and drinking and wanting to play. I hope he feels better real soon.
Hope everyone is doing well. Talk to you later.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Kids first day of school








Well it was the kids first day of school today. They got up at 6:15 and were raring to go. We watched were the bus will pick them up starting on Monday. I had to take them to school today for my own sanity. Monday I may have to follow the bus to make sure they make it there okay. This has been really hard for me. I feel the same way I did when I dropped them off at daycare their first day when they were 6 weeks old. Only this time I am not just walking down the hallway to go to work. Instead, I will be 30 minutes away.
Well the kids are back home from their first day of school and they loved it. Some of Taylor's first words were "and I didn't even get in trouble". So they both made it through their first day with out any troubles. I have a lot of reading to do now. They both came home with info for their classes. They are looking forward to going to school on Monday and riding the bus.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Pics

Okay, so I can't get Tyler to wake up so here are some pictures. Hope you enjoy. Our first storm damage.
Part of the front of our NEW HOUSE
The other half of our NEW HOUSE

Taylor and Tyler at Graduation from
Carle Auditory Oral School (CAOS)
Taylor and Tyler in front of the limo they took on
their end of year field trip. They road this around
to different parks in Champaign/Urbana.





I'm Back

That is right, I am back. Well the kids went to St. Louis this past weekend with Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Wayne. They had a blast. They went to the Zoo and Grant's Farm on Friday and then to Six Flags on Saturday. They had so much to tell us when they got home. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa.
Well so far, in the month we have lived in the new house we have had a handful of storms. So far these storms suck. We lost part of a tree in the back from lighting. Yesterday, we had a tree limb from a tree in the front, land on the van. We have dents above the windshield and a cracked windshield. Jason got one estimate so far and it is just over $2,000. I don't look forward to storms at all. We have another one coming in tonight. Wish we had bubbles big enough to cover our house and cars.
Well I forgot to mention how great Tyler has been at the new house. He has spent a lot of time here with just us because Taylor has been at her dad's so that she can sleep in on most mornings. Tyler goes to daycare with us and has to still get up early. At night though he has been begging to vacuum, wash dishes, and mow the yard. I am so proud of him. We will see if this continues once school starts and both kids are home full time. I predict that there may be arguing over doing the dishes or the vacuuming. Which is great that they both want to help. Hopefully, I will be able to convince them to each do one chore and then they can switch the next time.
We got some more painting done this past weekend and some tile laid in the laundry room. Have I mentioned I love our new house. We have so much room. Hope all is well with everyone. I hope I didn't shock you to much Grandma. I realize it has been a long time since I blogged twice in one week. Well try to get pictures on here soon. Tyler just fell asleep and he still needs a bath before the next storm comes.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Well It has been a while

I am so sorry. It has been over two months since I have posted. We have been very busy. As most of you know we have bought our first house. The process was something I hope we don't have to do again in a very, very long time. We love our new house. We have so much more room. It is great. Buster is outside now and loving it.
Our new address is: 401 N. Henson Rd. Villa Grove, IL 61956
We have ripped out carpet in our living room and the hallway so far. We now have really nice hardwood floors. We have also painted the living room and we are going to do the kitchen. The rest of the house will be painted very soon. My awesome father-in-law put in new pipes for the kitchen so now I don't have to drain the kitchen sink into buckets. We had a little rust back up in the original pipes. We plan on redoing our bathroom soon and making our family/extra room into a very cool St. Louis Cardinals room. I can't wait until we are all done.
The kids are very excited about starting the new schools. Angel will be going to Mahomet schools this year. She is very excited. Taylor and Tyler will be going to Villa Grove Schools. Tyler and I went to a Kindergarten Mixer this past Wednesday night to meet the teachers and some of the other classmates. They start school on Friday Aug. 21st. Taylor and Tyler are going to play soccer and they start practices next week. Taylor is also going to join Girl Scouts and I am looking into Boy Scouts for Tyler. We are joining the Catholic Church here in Villa Grove and Taylor will start classes there on Wednesday nights starting in the middle of Sept. My hours will be changing at work so that I can now take the kids to the bus and then get to work. So needless to say we are going to be very very busy. I am also signing up to help at some of the PTO events. and helping coach or work concessions at soccer games. I have a feeling that things are not going to slow down any time soon.
Angel and Jason have their Birthdays on Aug. 27 so we are trying to decide exactly what we are going to do to celebrate.
The kids are with their grandma and grandpa (Wayne and Debbie) this weekend in St. Louis. They took them to Grant's Farm and the Zoo. On Saturday they are going to Six Flags. I bet they are having a lot of fun. Well that is about it for now. Hope all is well with everyone.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Sorry once again

I am so sorry. It has been a long time since I have written. We have been very busy lately. We are searching for a house to buy which has been quite the process. We have seen some very interesting homes. The pictures we are seeing online are not quite showing us what we think we are walking into. We are trying to do as much homework on the houses as possible but are always surprised when we walk into them. We just keep praying that we will walk into that one house that says welcome home. So far, not so much. Most say get a contractor and I will keep you very busy for a long time.
Taylor and Tyler are still in school. They graduate on June 26th. Tyler has his graduation from the daycare on June 12th. Angel is out of school and enjoying her summer vacation.
I am sorry to say but there is not much else going on. Jason plays softball on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights and we try to go to the early games as often as possible. We are looking at houses whenever we can which takes up most of the night. Hope everyone is doing well. Talk to you later.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Random Pictures

Tyler looking for eggs with Buster stealing eggs from his basket. Trying to take the boys picture but they both got distracted.

Finding eggs at Grandma Debbie's and Grandpa Wayne's
Taylor and Buster
Buster found a new chew toy. At least it is Bud Light.
Buster's first long ride with the family.
Buster not to let his new toy go.
Tyler really wanted to wear pants on a hot day. He got to hot
and we had to borrow a pair of shorts. Doesn't he look great.
The kids in Grandpa Wayne's new boat.
The kids and Buster in the van.
All the kids before the Easter egg hunt at Grandpa John's
and Nana Joanne's.
Tyler picked out his own outfit.
Even had a man at the grocery store say he hadn't
seen any little boys in bibs for a while.
Thinks he will be a farmer when he grows up.
Angel looking for her eggs with Buster's help.
Enjoying cupcakes and candy

Oh My, It has been a while

I am so sorry. We of course are very busy with life and now I am becoming addicted to Facebook. I have been very tired these last couple of weeks. Just don't seem to get a good nights rest between the kids and our howling dog.
Well, about Jason's hand. He went to the orthopedic doctor who pretty much told him he had no idea why he was there. His hand was not broken after all. Yeah.
These past couple of weeks we have been looking for a house. Jason spends a lot of time on the Internet looking for homes. We have found a few that we are interested in so I hope all will work out well. We have a lot of options that are needed. For instance, a fenced in back yard for the beast=;)
Last weekend we had a garage sale in Pontiac. We did pretty well. Got rid of a lot of toys and clothes. I continue to be amazed at how many clothes my children have had. Hoping to have another sale some time this summer and maybe one in the fall.
This past week was Teacher Appreciation Week. The kids took presents for their teachers and their teachers love them. We got a lot of great gifts also. The parents brought in food two days this week which was great. This weekend the kids made their Mother's Day Gifts for all the Grandma's. They had a great time doing it. Today I went to lunch with my mother-in-law Sue and sister-in-law Tonya. We went to Red Lobster and had a great meal. I then treated myself to the Gentle Leader dog leash. I have been told that this works work for pulling when taking Buster for walks. After a little nap I plan on trying this out. We will see if it works on our dog. I got the movie Marley and Me for mother's day. I can't believe how much that movie resembles our lives. Marley and Buster could be brothers.
Well I hope to get pictures on here some time this week. Hope all the mother's out there have a Very Happy Mother's Day!!!!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Sorry

Sorry it has been so long. We have had a very busy time the last couple of weeks. Tyler is feeling better now. He still has a little cough and a runny nose which has been passed to Taylor. We had a wonderful Easter weekend.
On Saturday we went to Wayne and Debbie's for a Easter/Birthday get together. The kids were very excited to see Grandpa's new boat. They had an Easter Egg hunt also. Buster got to come along for this trip and he actually didn't do to bad. He enjoyed sitting in the way back with the girls. On Sunday we went to my mom and dad's for Easter. We had a huge meal and then an Easter Egg hunt. The kids had a great time with all of their cousins. It was great to see all of the family.
The next week was extremely busy. On Monday we had a staff meeting and then had to go get Tay from her dad's. We didn't get home until 8:30. (The kids didn't have school on Monday or Tuesday so their stepmom watched Taylor on Monday and Tuesday.) On Tuesday the kids had dentist appointments in the morning. I took them their and then Tay went back to her dad's and Tyler and I went to work. After work I babysat so they met me at the daycare and then we went to go pick Tay back up. We then babysat until 8:30ish and came home. At this point I don't remember what we did on Wednesday or Thursday night. Friday the kids went to their dad's and they went camping for the weekend. On Saturday, Jason and I went to a Conference all day. I am really glad I am no longer in school. Narcolepsy set in and I had a really hard time staying awake. On Sunday we did NOTHING!!! I did go and get the kids from their dad's that evening. Mom and Lexi both celebrated their birthday's on Sunday and it was Travis and Heather's first anniversary.
The next week started off just as busy. On Monday night I got a phone call that my mom was going into surgery for her Gall Bladder. This was a little bit of a shock for me. I feed the kids and ate supper with them and Jason and then I headed to Pontiac. Mom's surgery went well and we got to see her just before 11pm. I visited with her for a few minutes and then headed back home. I got back home a little after 12:30am and it took about 45 minutes for me to fall asleep. Some time between 3:30 and 4:00 Tyler started waking up for unknown reasons. He got up about 6 times. At 5:15 my alarm started going off. I was not ready for this. Tuesday was a little rough at work. Tuesday night we went to bed early and slept all night. Wednesday night is when I started writing this. I got a phone call from a dear friend and we were catching up on our busy lives and sick children. Then Jason beeped in. He had a double header softball game that night. He called to let me know he was going to the E.R. He thought that he might have broken his hand. He had a ball hit at him and when he went to catch it, it hit his glove in a bad spot. He didn't go to the E.R. though because there were people waiting and he didn't want to have to wait all night. So on Thursday I got him to go to Convenient Care. At first they told him it wasn't broken and to just wrap it and take Ibuprofen. Then he got a call a couple hours later saying they found a fracture. He had to go back and get a splint put on. He has an appointment on Monday with orthopedics. Softball is on hold right now. Tonight we were trying to get a head start on packing things up. Okay Jason was. We are getting things ready for garage sales and hopefully moving soon. I am so tired tonight that I can't get motivated to do all of this tonight. Tomorrow we are going to take Buster to the big dog park and then come back to pack up boxes. Yeah. I hope everyone is doing well. I will try to get more pictures on here this weekend. The weather is going to be absolutely wonderful this weekend so I hope everyone enjoys. Talk to you later.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Here are the Pictures

The kids showing off their new cowboy boots from Nana Donna. Unfortantely we are at the doctor's office. Tyler turned 5 and sick all in one day. Just a Virus though. Tyler is the sick one but Taylor need a place to play her DS
Tyler's Birthday Cupcakes
That's right. Firemen and Lizards.
Tyler picked them out.
No one saw this=)
Tyler's Birthday Cake
Once again, We have fireman and lizards. He went a little crazy with the red sprinkles, it was the fire.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Tyler is now 5

Well today my baby turned 5. He had a party last week at CAOS and today he had one at daycare. This past weekend he had one at his dad's house and he got a new pair of John Deere cowboy boots and a black cowboy hat from his Nana Donna in Texas. He was so excited. I just can't believe how fast the past 5 years have gone by. I am going to get the pictures on here of his parties. Just so everyone knows he picked out the cake, frosting, and decorations. The cake and cupcakes are definitely interesting but he loved them. The little red guys are firemen.
Jason and I went to St.Louis this past weekend. We left on Sunday and came back on Tuesday. We went to see the Cardinals Opening Day Game. We had a blast but it was pretty cold. The kids stayed with a Co-worker and his fiance that used to work at the daycare. The kids had a blast also. They went to a movie, musuem, dog class, and still had time for school. They even got to paint a canvas at their house. Our co-worker is quite an artist and he has a painting room. He picked up a canvas for both of the kids to pain. They loved it and by the sounds of it they wore a lot of the paint also. I will take some pictures of their paintings and but them on here.
This weekend we are very busy. We are going to Tuscola on Saturday to celebrate the kids birthdays and Easter. One Sunday we are going to Pontiac to celebrate Easter. I hope that everyone has a great Easter. I can't find my USB cord right now so that I can download pictures so hopefully tomorrow night I can get them downloaded and put on here. Sorry.

Monday, March 30, 2009

More Pictures

All the kids on the big yellow slide. Tyler by the fire place, he loved turning it on and off
Just Relaxing
All the kids trying to get Grandpa up to go swimming
Still trying.
Grandpa's Reading material. Grandma forgot to bring him a book
High hopes that Grandpa was coming swimming.
Unfortunately, he didn't come.
Poor Maddie. Can't dress herself. Her mean mommy
got her some cubbie pants and made her a shirt that
said Cardinals Stink on the front and Go Cubs on the back.
For the first time I heard Maddie scream. She was very unhappy
about this outfit. She really liked my Cardinal outfits.
You should have seen her smile and laugh.
Maddie supervizing at the waterpark
The girls being funny!!
The nice surprise that we woke up to on Sunday
Aren't they cute!!!
Taylor and her new goggles
Angel and her new goggles
The girls on the big yellow slide

Sunday, March 29, 2009

A Great Weekend

Well we had another great weekend. This weekend we went to Grand Bear Lodge for the grand kids Christmas gift from my mom and dad. On Friday, we left right after work and went to Monticello to get Angel and then headed on our way. The kids did great in the van. They each had their own game system and headphones. I have found that headphones are my new best friend. I didn't hear any complaining about someone's game being to loud or that they couldn't hear their own. Tyler even watched a movie with Headphones. Did I mention that I love the headphones. It only took us about 2 hours to get there. We were the first ones there, other than mom and Nicole who went early to get everything set up. Everyone else came shortly after. Once everyone got there we had to figure out sleeping arrangements. Travis and Heather got the room upstairs with Lexi and Keagan and of course Maddie. Mom and Dad had the room with two beds and dad slept with Patrick and mom got a bed all to herself. Taylor, Angel, Tyler, Nicole, Trevor, and I got the room with the bunkbeds. Taylor and Angel got the top bunks. Tyler and I shared a full size bed and Trevor and Nicole got the other full size bed. Friday night I could of sworn I was sharing a room with 5 children. Trevor and Nicole were having a lot of fun with the kids.
On Friday night, after supper, mom and I took the kids to the waterpark. The resort had a shuttle that would pick us up at our cabin and take us to where we wanted to go. The kids really liked the shuttle and enjoyed the waterpark. Lexi wasn't feeling well, so her and Maddie stayed back to keep an eye on the other adults. They did a really great job. Saturday morning came very early. The kids all got up early and were ready to go back to the waterpark. The problem was it didn't open until 10am. Tyler started to try to get up at 6:15 and by 6:45 I had lost the battle of him going back to sleep. Instead of going to the waterpark though we went to the amusement park and then the arcade. They all had a great time. We then came back for lunch and then the kids were ready to go to the waterpark. We tried to get dad to go but he had different plans. The kids all tried to jump on him. It didn't work. After a few hours there we got the kids to go back to the cabin and have supper. And then guess were the kids wanted to go again. Yes the waterpark. Travis, Heather, and I took the kids back to the waterpark hoping to wear them out. Maddie even came to supervise. When we got back it was showers and snacks. I also had one of the biggest shocks of my life. Taylor asked if she could go to bed because she was so tired. Of course the answer was YES!! It didn't take long for any of them to fall asleep. On Sunday morning we were in for another surprise. SNOW!!! And lots of it. We all ended up leaving early because of the snow. Dad and the boys were worried that they needed to plow when they got home, which they were right, and since I had a longer drive and couldn't follow them I decided we should head back too. The roads weren't the best up north but the further south we got it was better. By the time we got to Champaign county there was no snow on the ground.

The kids all had a great time.
THANK YOU GRANDMA AND GRANDPA!! WE ALL HAD A GREAT TIME!!!!
Tyler and his new goggles
Maddie enjoying the pool.

This slide was a favorite for my kids.

Taylor enjoying Nana's Famous Sugar Cookies. Maddie enjoying the water. Isn't she cute?

I am going to post more pictures of our weekend but it is going to have to wait until tomorrow night. I need to go to bed now. I hope everyone had a great weekend. I will be back tomorrow to put more pictures on. Good Night.