Boys and Toys

Even the small males in the house are in love with the new tv.

Surgery Update

Hudson relaxed by the "goofy juice" in his hospital gown.

Huddy's surgery to receive tubes in his ears went well. He was confused as to why we were up at 5 am and not offering him some milk but considering everything he did great. Thankfully the nurse gave him the goofy juice right as he was getting pretty hungry and tired. Mom was a big help trying to keep him entertained while we waited. Hopefully these tubes will last us a good long while.

Loved

There are women in this world desperate for a child.

There are children who have suffered the loss of their mother.

There are mothers who have lost precious innocent children.

There will be a time when homemade construction paper cards will be a thing of the past and I will no longer get a coupon to redeem for unlimited hugs.

I am humbled and blessed to be Mom to these amazingly talented, smart, funny, unique, silly, adorable children.

How could I not feel loved when I was showered with these gifts.

From Parker a decorated cake, a clay pinch pot he made at school, and a coupon for unlimited hugs all day.

From Molly a bookmark, a flower and poem, and multiple homemade cards.

From Collin a bookmark and a questionnaire he filled out that says, My Mom is prettiest when she.... wears dresses , and My Mom always says ... take a shower. That's just a few of his cute answers.

From Macy a text message with a bouquet of flowers that said Happy Mother's day.

From Logan he spent the day with family with minimal complaints.

From Hudson plenty of smiles and giggles.

I love you all!

Hudson update

Huddy is soon to be 10 months old. He is babbling some saying Mama, Nana,Nini, and hey. Of course he'll say none of it when I want him to. He also is starting to crawl and has pulled himself to a stand several times .

I am sure his speech will take off after he has surgery on Friday to get tubes. Oh yes, we are getting our first set of tubes ! The ENT office loves us we give them such job security for sure. I will let you know how it goes on Friday.

Magical Land of Oz

The school play was a smashing success! Logan as Oz and Macy as the cowardly Lion , both did a awesome job and we were all so proud! These are two pictures that were taken for the newspaper. And the kids were both interviewed by the paper as well. All their hard worked paid off. Way to go guys!

Siblings

For Sale
By Shel Silverstein

One sister for sale!
One sister for sale!
One crying and spying young
sister for sale!
I'm really not kidding,
So who will start the bidding?
Do I hear a dollar?
A nickle?
A penny?
Oh, isn't there, isn't there,
isn't there any
One kid who will buy this old
sister for sale,
This crying and spying young
sister for sale?

Brother for sale,
only 50 cents.
Brother for sale,
he's not a big expense.
You can hug him, you can bug him,
you can buy or rent.
Brother for sale, only 50 cents.

Would anyone like to buy a
slightly used big brother?
Even if you have one now,
trade him for another.
He will help you with the chores
and he's really clean.
The only problem is sometimes
he can be so mean.

Brother for sale, twenty-five cents.
Brother for sale, he's not a big expense.
You can hug him, you can bug him,
you can buy or rent.
Brother for sale, twenty-five cents.

If Mom knew we were selling him,
we would really get it.
Buy him now; don't wait till June;
on approved credit.
Buy him now and we'll tell you
what we will do Mister.
We'll throw into the deal
our little baby sister.

Brother for sale, only 10 cents...........

He will always pick you up
when you take a fall.
And he's good at showing
you how to catch a ball.
He always tells these funny jokes
and does this crazy dance.
Hey wait, he sounds like a pretty nice guy.
Let's give him one more chance.
                                

Our brother's not for sale,
not for any price.
Our brother's not for sale,
we guess he will suffice.
We love to hug him,
we love to bug him, he's really rather nice.
Our brother's not for sale, not for any price

Thirteen Candles

The day has come so fast that my first born becomes a teenager. It wasn't that long ago that I was sick every single day of the the 42 week pregnancy. Logan was named after the comic book character Wolverine from the Marvel comics. Brian had been an avid collector for years so this has meaning to us. We picked William after my Dad's middle name and decided our next boy would be James after Brian's father.

I remember holding you for the first time and I was just amazed that you were so beautiful. My days soon filled with making sure your every need was met. Making sure you wore several outfits a day so you could wear ALL those cute little clothes before you outgrew them. You quickly grew into a toddler who loved Barney which we watched it several times a day along with reading your favorite books over and over.

We have cheered you on during countless soccer and football games. We've been to school open houses,spelling bees and play productions. We have been your biggest fans and toughest critics.I remember the first time you read a book, rode a bike and lost a tooth so clearly. All the late night help homework and burning my fingers with hot glue making last minute projects. Just a few memories of fleeting moments of your childhood.

But those days just flew by and today we enter a new phase "the teenage years" are here. But I think we'll be okay through it all because your smart kid and have a kind heart. During this time I am sure you will think I am unfair to you, that you know way more about the world than I do. And that your friends have a better life than you do. But the truth is I do everything because I love you even if it means making you mad. Logan, you are my Son and there is nothing I won't do for you if you give me the chance. Life is sometimes about learning the hard way just like when you were learning to walk. I would hold my breath with my arms out stretched as you toddled around hoping you wouldn't fall but trying to protect you if you did. My hopes for you are that your Dad and I have raised you with good values and morals that you can spread your wings and find independence, always having pride in yourself and your actions too. Happy 13th Birthday Logan! I hope it's a great year for you.We all love you very much!


Logan is in 13 year old heaven right now. He received an xbox 360 with all the bells and whistles and enough games from the family to keep him busy for a good while. He was happy with the clothes I picked out too . His Godparents gave him the perfect gift for a guy his age MONEY. Thanks everyone for making Logan's day special.

Change is in the air

I bet some of you had doubts but I really did go through with the tubal ligation on Monday. It is alittle odd how many people have an opinion about my uterus. Even down to the Nurse who was rolling me into the operating room. She went through the OR door saying Emergency! Emergency! Stat! This woman has six children and we need to get this started before she changes her mind. I was already feeling the effects of the calming medicine but I was thinking to myself it was pretty rude. But the surgery is behind me and I am feeling pretty good considering.

The other changes around here is the great room switch a roo. We are moving bedrooms around again. Brian and I are moving back to the upstairs Master bedroom. Macy is moving to the downstairs master bedroom. The little boys (Collin and Hudson) will be sharing Parker's red room. Parker will be moving down the hall to the room Molly is in and Molly will move into the room Collin is in. Did you follow all that?


The good and bad parts of all this is all the cleaning, decluttering and painting that has to get done in order for this to happen. But it will be great to start the summer with everything organized,clean and looking good. So far the master bedroom and bath upstairs has been painted and it looks great. I went out of my comfort zone and picked a pale robin's egg blue color. I think with the new chocolate brown and blue bedding that I found an amazing deal on ($59 at Marshall's for a king size set) the room will look great. I will make sure to share pictures after we get everything done.

We are in the tail end of play practice and next Thursday and Friday are the performances. I am told Logan and Macy are just naturals on stage and are doing a awesome job. I can't wait to see it!

New Chapter

Let's just call this one Chapter 7. It's a new direction for me, a direction that will not have an estimated due date. On Monday, April 20th I will declare my baby making days over for good. It's logical and sensible and sorta hard to swallow. I want it to just be Tuesday already!

Theses have been the best of times and the worst of times. Growing a little miracle is not that easy for my body to do. The sickness, aches and pains really interrupt my day to day life. Brian has cleaned up after and taken care of me every step of the way. God Bless him!

But in the end holding the gift of a healthy little bundle outweighed all the negative. Being a Mom was all I ever dreamed of being. And I think I have achieved the equivalent to a Master Degree in Motherhood after having the sixth. The look of shock and amazement that people give me when it comes to light confirms that.

It's been a fun ride but I am ready to end the journey at six. I am blessed beyond measure and grateful for the opportunity to Mother this group of amazing little people. This month my oldest baby becomes a teenager. In Chapter 7 I become a parent to a teen and I get to still gush over the drool soaked grin of a 9 month old angel. Moving on is bitter sweet but I am looking forward to whats to come past bibs and diapers.

Easter

The Bunny brought the kids some yummy stuff!


This picture was snapped this morning as we rushed out the door to church. I had hoped to take a few more but those nice white shirts had food down the fronts by time we made it home after lunch.
Hope everyone had a good day too!

Nine months old

Hudson Bennett turned 9 months old today. He has been out in the world as long as he has been on the inside, Wow! It's gone by fast. And he is on the brink of new things like crawling and pulling up. He is a blessing and I think it's safe to say he has everyone in our house wrapped around his finger. Happy 9 months Huddy Buddy!

Us

*Brian remarked he looked like a Goober in this picture but I think it's still good.


Together 16 years starting in the summer of 1993.
Married 14 years ago this June 10th.
Became Parents for the first time 13 years ago .
Moved 6 times so far.
Welcomed to the world 6 beautiful babies.
Grown up alot, made some mistakes along the way but achieved some important goals too.
And that's all in just half a lifetime.
Wonder what comes next?

Runaway Cart

Yesterday the little boys (Collin and Hudson) and I took Mimi out to run her errands. Collin had been up since 6 am so by the afternoon he was a real grump. He saw a playhouse in Sam's Club and decided he wanted it. He whined and complained about wanting me to buy him "the little house with the doorbell".

When reasoning didn't work and Mimi was in the checkout line I figured it was best we head out to the car. So I parked the cart next to my car so I could put Huddy's carseat in the car. Collin was still carrying on about the playhouse. As I opened the car door to place the baby in I heard Collin say, "Momma Momma" frantically. I turned around just as the cart rolled passed our car heading downhill and picking up speed. I screamed and started running chasing it. I had the carseat containing the baby on my arm too. I was in a full sprint in order to catch the cart which had already made it about 4 parking spaces before I caught up with it. (Man, I bet that was a funny sight, I bet the security got a laugh outta watching it.)Mimi came out of the store as I was pulling the cart up the hill and could tell that something was going on.

I told Collin he can be glad I have been running on the treadmill for the last few months I guess it was all in preperation for the runaway shopping cart race! Consider it a lesson learned for me. Whew, scared me!

2 Teeth

Last week Huddy popped out his 1st and 2nd teeth almost overnight. He also can sit pretty well too. Here he is in some pictures I took of him on Monday.

Newest Mom News

On Monday night Mom fell at home and hit her head. We ended up in the ER where Mom had another seizure right in front of me. Being by her side and helpless was a terrible feeling. Kristi and I pushed to have her admitted so she could see her Neurologist doctors. Testing confirmed Mom has had some seizures and they are upping her medicines. So no driving for 6 months and the fear and worry starts all over. Please keep us all in your thoughts and prayers.

*I just happen to have my camera in the car and I scooped it up with my purse before joining Mom in the ambulance. Anyone that knows my Mom knows she likes pictures and documenting everyones medical issues. She even told Kristi to video her if she was to have another seizure in the ER. Some people might find us weird. Oh well!

Spring Break

We headed to Atlanta for an over nighter with Steven , Doron and Nate and we invited Mimi along too. We had alot of fun touring the World of Coke and The Georgia Aquarium. The first picture is the kids touching Stingrays in a tank, the second is our whole group as we entered the World of Coke and thirdly Macy and Huddy at The Varsity a local Atlanta icon a greasy spoon type restuarant. I highly recommend the World of Coke because I think everyone enjoyed it. The Aquarium wasn't that good for younger children but school age kids would enjoy it . It was a nice break and we all had a good time.

Days Like This

Momma said there'd be days like this.
Days where it rains and is cold after having a few days warm weather and sun.
Days where every request you ask of the 3 year old is met with "But I not want to."
Days when parenting isn't fun or glorious but its a job you just can't quit.
Days that you just think slapping yourself in the head will make it better somehow.

Yes, Momma it's been one of those days. But we are onto a change of pace the kids are now on Spring Break from school , Brian has a few days off and we are all better. So things are looking up!!

Right to remain silent

This is the sight that greeted me when I opened the fridge yesterday. The tea pitcher had been handcuffed using Collin's policeman set and placed back onto the shelf. Living with these people is full of head scratching surprises.

Sick update: Looks like we're in the all clear. The house has been aired out and I have scrubbed and cleaned to rid this joint of the funk.

My Dad

My Dad has always been the type of person to dream of taking an adventure. We have listened to his dreams of traveling to far away lands, hiking some unthinkable trails and getting to experience amazing new places. All this from a man who barely could operate his own dvd player!

He is having an adventure it just wasn't the type he had in mind. My Dad is a prideful man. He has worked hard all his life to give his family the best. He has never been without a job and he always taken care of us. The day after Christmas he was let go from his job because of cut backs. What a shock to us all and what a blow to a hard working man in his 60's. But Dad handled it well, he dusted his self off and set out to find what would be next for him.

After the weeks turned into months he had a opportunity to train some guys on reading blueprints for the company my brother works for. One thing lead to another and they offered him a job. Woohoo, a job offer! BUT there's a hitch, the location of the project is in Kansas City, MO.

Being the adventurous sort of fellow he is he took the job. I won't lie to you the thoughts of my Dad the man who can misplace his reading glasses daily going off on his own was alittle scary to me. The thoughts of him traveling by plane and driving in a unfamiliar city did worry me. But with the help of a TomTom GPS and some courage he is doing just fine.

He is basically the Frat house Dad for several young men whom he is sharing a rental house with. He is running 2 major projects and he is surviving without Mom's watchful eye and useful advice.

I shouldn't have been so worried because Dad is a survivor and a strong man. He served 2 tours in Vietnam , he has been married 38 years, and raised 2 pretty decent kids. That alone is medal worthy in my book. So he has life skills in his back pocket for situations like this. He sees God's hand in this opportunity. Dad has the unique chance to work with the Son that he introduced almost 20 years ago to the construction business.

He is a focused and driven person and believes his work is a direct reflection on himself. He is surprising me that he is learning new skills. He even sent us some pictures he labeled using his new laptop to show us his new residence. He is learning the ropes of the airport and flying. Things that I don't think most guys his age would take to with such an open mind.

Dad we are proud of you. You are in our thoughts. We love you very much. Take care of yourself and we will see you soon.

P.S. to Dad:
If you get to missing Mom too much just burn a few biscuits and it will seems like she's there. Oh and make sure you blame it on the oven. (Come on Mom you know it's funny!)

Dropping like flies

Macy and I woke in the wee hour this morning with the virus. I am waiting to see who will be the next victim. I sent Brian out to buy more Sprite that and crackers are all we need. Hopefully we are on the tail end of this bug.

The Goings On here

Just last Sunday we had snow on the ground and one week later we are wearing shorts! Seriously it was hot today, a perfect day for working in the yard ,cleaning out the garage or a great day to sell box after box of Girl Scout cookies outside of Walmart. Did we do any of these things today?? No, we sure didn't!
Because we have been plagued with the 24 hour stomach bug. Three of the Eight of us (Park, Logan, and Bri so far) have been ill and I am sure the rest of us will follow soon. Oh yippee!

But the girls and I hit some close by neighborhoods and sold 26 boxes of cookies on Saturday. And our troop sold today at Walmart and did pretty well. Hopefully we will sell off the last cases this week.

This weather has me itching for spring, big time. Next week is our school's Spring break. We can't wait!

Southern Snow

Logan and Macy enjoying the snow. It doesn't take much snow to get Alabama kids all excited. Our Northern friends get a laugh that 1 inch of snow is considered a snow day.
My niece Hailey and Molly at Mimi's house. Mimi had the girls and Hudson over to spend the night. I told Mimi good thing she had company so she wasn't outside making snow angels by herself. The neighbors might have thought the Dog Lady was losing her marbles.
Burrr Huddy's 1st snow with Mimi. Look at that fishy face!
Hudson is thinking," Wait a second what is this white stuff, never seen that before??"

She made it!

Macy had tryouts yesterday for the 2009-2010 JV Cheerleading squad. She really worked hard and tryouts were abit nerve racking but she made it! We are very happy for her.

This week Logan and Macy found out what role they landed in the school play Wizard of Oz for this Spring. Logan will be the Wizard and Macy the Lion. I can't wait to see them both in action!

The year of the project

Logan our 7th grader has had to do alot of projects this year. Here he is with the latest one for his Mythology class. He did a model of Hermes Staff also commonly seen as the medical symbol. The pole has 2 rubber snakes around it which is hard to see in the picture but it turned out pretty cool. This year has been a hard school year for Logan but he is showing a good bit of improvement.And I can see he is really trying to make better decisions. He is getting taller and thinning down too. In just 2 months he will be entering his teenage years. Yikes! Logan is a good kid with a kind heart, I know he is capiable of big things.

Camera thief

Someone snuck my camera and took about 10 pictures. Out of all the things to take pictures of the thief took photos of the inside of our refrigerator. But atleast the camera caper took a few self portraits so I knew who to thank for the fridge inventory.

BTW I am not sure what he is doing with his mouth, in person he does not resemble a monkey with swollen cheeks. Never boring around here I tell you that!

Siblings

Molly (9) and Collin (3)

There are times when you do forget that about the screaming, fighting and hearing them wish they were an only child.

Moments like this happen often and make me know for sure a sibling really is a priceless gift.

Guy Smiley

Hudson is 7 months old now and such a happy lil guy. I love the fun stage he's in. He wakes up in the mornings and makes cute little noises and entertains himself. He is pretty independent but given the choice he would love to be on my hip all day. What a sweetie!

Bed of Nails

This week Parker's class went to the McWane center on a field trip. The above picture is Parker testing out the bed of nails which was a huge hit with all the 2nd graders. Parker had a great time on the field trip and I did my best to smile and get through the day. I am just not a huge fan of taking lots of kids, some without parents to places like this. A place where they scurry from one thing to another when there are hundreds of other kids with the same mind set. Most of the time you have to deal with rude unsupervised kids breaking in lines and not taking turns. But I survived and he was happy I was there.

Just alittle back story to this picture. Parker went to school dressed in a nice red stripped button down, but when I met him at the Museum he was sporting just his undershirt. It was a cold day and he was half dress in a UNDERSHIRT! I quickly questioned him on where his shirt was and he said he didn't like that shirt and it was at school. I am a bit neurotic about the children dressing nice in public but there was nothing I could do to fix this situation. He was grounded from the Wii for a day for disobeying. I told him maybe I should give him some payback and show up at school in a ridiculous outfit and embarrass him. He said he'd rather just get a spanking. I guess I am atleast thankful the undershirt was new and clean.

Claw foot

The best part of having pre-teens and little one is watching them find funny things to do with him to entertain themselves all in the name of babysitting . Logan and Macy got the ingenious idea to put a Batman glove on Huddy's foot. He thought it was so funny that the whole family was in stitches over him. He loves them to death and he seems to provide them plenty of entertainment too.

My black haired child?

This is some of the really funny pictures that I discovered on Molly's camera. I didn't know I had given birth to a black headed child with a staring problem but apparently I did. So funny to see what a 9 year finds to be picture worthy like her pizza while on her school field trip? Oh yes see that pile of "stuff" in the corner of her room? That would be prime example of Molly's room organization. Oh Lord, give me strength to raise this child to be a functioning adult.

Cupid

I used this picture to make candy bar wrappers that covered big Hershey bars for Collin's class. It turned out pretty cute but I am sure he will hate me for this picture when he's a teenager. :)

Time flies

Macy Jane is my.........
Unexpected treasure
Easy goin' baby
Lil shoe fanatic
Modest
Responsible
Slow poke
Social butterfly
Always on the go
Beautiful
Smiling
Klutzy
Texting Queen

I am so proud to call you Mine! No matter what life throws at you I know you will handle it beautifully. -Love, Mom

Project Onstar

Collin's class was talking about Stars at school last week and they made their own star constellations. The teacher asked each child to name their constellation and Collin came up with the name"Onstar" for his . Everyone got a good laugh over it. He doesn't watch too much tv does he?

50 pounds gone

Excuse the blurry picture but I wanted to show you these jeans that I was wearing just in September that are now 3 sizes too big. I have been really trying to change my lifestyle to make changes that I can forever live with. I am beginning to like my workouts and am getting some strength back. I have a ways to go but I will take it slow and do it the right way. No magic plan or pills just the old fashion way of counting calories, cardio workouts and weight training. I have 15 pounds to reach my next mini goal that I hope to reach by May. Wish me luck!

Going public about losing weight is a scary thing. I am really trying to face my fears and am doing alot of reading to education myself on losing weight in a healthy manner and changing behaviors so that I can keep it off. I am sure like everything else there will be bumps in the road but I know I need to do this for my overall health and well being. I want to be the best Mom for my kids and taking time to care for myself will benefit them in the long run. I will have alot of grandkids to spoil someday aand I want to be around to enjoy it!