I got it back!!!!

With help from Blurbs Technical support team, I have recovered my 2008 blurb book! I am SO excited to finish it and get it printed!

296 pages SAVED!!!! yeah

Zoo almost two weeks ago...

Being a Daddy

If it is not one thing, it’s your mother.

Mothers day: May 10, 2009
Mothers day has come and past this year in a flash. I cherish the gifts of pictures colored
and glued with tiny little loving hands.
I stop to think, what they will choose for their life stories. Will they hold onto the loving
memories of childhood or choose to embrace the negative aspects of growing up without
perfect parents? How will they view me years from now when they are questioning their
own decisions and actions in life?
My hope is that they come to know that they only experience what they have chosen to
create. I hope they relish in the good memories and learn, forgive and release from the
bad memories.
So I will continue on, being their mother, being there for them with all my successes and
failures. Down the road, I may not always be the best mom in their eyes- but for this day,
at this moment in time I have a colored and glued certificate Worlds Best Mom

I've only had about 20 minutes to look through these..... but here are a few I like so far.....

Sad...

My computer crashed.... will catch up when Its back from its hiatus.

Ali’s birthday and Mothers dayAli’s birthday was on Mother’s day this year. They spent Friday night and Saturday with their dad and His mom threw Ali a birthday party at Classic skating. They came home early Sunday morning to spend Mother’s day with me. She wanted to go to the Mall on a shopping spree.. I gave her a 50 dollar limit but that just wasn’t nearly enough. We spent an hour in the accessory store picking out earrings, and finger nail polish, then we went to her favorite store Justice for girls. She bought herself two Webkinz, and a few other miscellaneous things. She finished off her spree with a tiny glass animal from one of the middle kiosk. She absolutely loved it. We came home to pick up the rest of the family and then went to my parents house where we were both spoiled with birthday presents and cake. I got a pasta press that I asked for, and couldn’t wait to try it out. Ali got a cell phone from Steph and Grandma complete with a year of service. She was so excited she could hardly contain herself. She felt like such a “grown up” for the entire day going to the Mall which is so stereotypical teenager, and then getting a phone. I think she is WAY to young for a phone and has absolutely no reason to have one, but it isn’t costing me anything and she has her built in 5 people that she can call including me and her Dad. It was a fun day, and I really enjoyed spending one on one time with Ali. I wish there was more time for that.

scratched but not torn.......

Mattie poked me in the eye last night. It hurt so bad that I said a bad word. All day today at work my eye throbbed and begged to be shut. It got worse as the day progressed. An hour and a half at the opthomologists confirmed that it was scratched (and needless to say bruised) but not torn which is a good thing.
This was my attempt at taking a picture of it. Not really doing it justice.. when you see it in real life you can see the little divet where his fingernail hit.
OUCH

Megan's Birthday

Another Tumble bus birthday. Probably her last. A few of the girls tushy's brushed the mat when they did the Zipline. I guess that means they've exceeded the Height limit for Bus fun.

Meg had such a great time.

Funny thing happened though.

before she'd even gotten home from school a little boy from her class called and asked me when the party started.. I was confused because we'd decided on who she'd invite and there were NO boys on the list. I waited till she got home and asked her what was going on. She shrugged like it was no big thing and said "oh yea, I invited Alberto". His family didnt speak enough English to understand my directions and they came just after the bus had gone. He was still so excited to play and eat cake that he didn't seem to mind that he'd missed the big show. Megan told me later that she feels bad for Alberto "cuz he's chubby, and people don't like him". I thought it very sweet of her to invite him even if it was a surprise.

Keena and Astin

FunThe stepping stones in our backyard needed to be raised to prevent the water from pooling where they laid, so I decided Yesterday evening to start digging them up in preparation for Taylor to re-set them. The kids (including the Cason's) already outside, realized what I was doing and immediately began their hunt for Worms under each stone I up turned. Every time I'd lift one up 4 bodies (Megan, Michie, Emmie and Mathew) were squatting around the hole picking through the wet soil. We'd all cheer when there was a big fat one to pull. They carefully collecting each one (big or small) and put it in their pile. After all the stones were out I proceeded to lift and turn the dirt with the purpose of leveling it out to make the water flow where we wanted it to go, and also because it was so fun watching the kids get excited about each worm containing clump. I'd ask "okay, are you ready?" and they'd all come running. or if they were distracted by the other clumps I'd call "worm alert, worm alert" and within seconds one of them was there to pick it up.You can imagine how filthy they all were when we were through. Myself included. Altogether they counted nearly a hundred worms. I don't know many Mothers that would assist their children in worm collecting, but I'm glad I'm one of them because I had about as much fun as they did!.Side note: I forgot how many muscles 'digging' worked.. I'm awfully sore today!

later....Meg laid on the floor in the bathroom reading her book while I showered. When I got out she had fallen asleep. I left her there to get dressed and prepare for the night. About an hour later Taylor got home from work, and I asked him if he'd please grab me something upstairs.He peeked down the stairs and said "you've got to come see this".. that's when I remembered that I'd left her in the bathroom sound asleep.