4 LONG weeks!!!

I am at 36 weeks with this pregnancy, so that means, the longest 4 weeks are upon me! I honestly have to admit that I am glad this is my last pregnancy because I think they get worse each time....maybe it is just my older, more out of shape body reacting differently, but either way, I'm not a big fan!

Last night I spent 2 1/2 hours having really hard contractions, the kind that make you stop what you are doing and take your breath away. I was just about convinced it was the "real deal" and then Jeremy walked in the door. Something about him being home and trying to HELP out, made my body realize that now was not the time for this baby to come.

I am just hoping that when I go in for my check-up on Friday that these contractions have been doing something, making some progress. I may cry the whole way home if they don't!

I have been a little slow posting our fishing pictures from before we went to K.C. so here are a few of my faves!

Preston, the fishing guide, providing simple instruction to his little sister!


Trying to patiently wait on our bobbers to move...not having as much fun as we thought!


Yes, that's me in a jacket in the middle of July! It was cool that evening after the rain and I had on a tank-top! It came in handy though because C.J. got cold too! I also love the way she looks in this picture...dirty pants, P's old boots, somewhat crazy hair...this IS Cambree Jane!


Picking out lures!

You've gotta see this!

These birthday party invitations are amazing and makes me feel like a loser mom birthday planner!

Hopefully my kids don't get wind of this and start expecting this much of me!

Vacation Post...Finally!

I had good intentions of posting about our vacation much sooner, but Flickr was giving me all sorts of trouble and I just now got all our photos uploaded. It just wouldn't have been the same to blog about vacation without photos!

Here are the kids waiting for mom and dad to get all the "junk" loaded into the car so we can G-O!



We got to Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City at 3:00 pm on Sunday and our room wasn't quite ready yet, so we hit the waterpark....FULL FORCE! The kids went crazy and hopped from one thing to the next quicker than Jeremy and I could keep up! I finally had to lay down the law and explain to them they could NOT just keep running around so fast. They HAD to wait for the adults.

After a good 3 hours of swimming and playing we were tired and hungry. Our room was ready so we dressed and headed out to eat. One of the best things about Great Wolf Lodge for our family is that Famous Dave's is right across the street! If you have never eaten there, then you are definitely missing out! The weather was so nice that we were able to eat outside and it was a lot of fun...something out of the ordinary for our family, plus much more relaxed with kids. The cutest thing happened while we were there....

The give you a small plate of fries after you order so that you can taste all of their barbeque sauces. We set out sampling each and every one. When all had been tasted {with the exception of Devil's spit...seriously?} I asked Preston which was his favorite. He, very seriously, replied, "The Rich & Sexy" which is really this



I am hoping he has no idea what sexy actually means and I would REALLY like to know where he picked up that word!

Saturday was more of the same...swimming, play, make sure Jeremy and I were completely exhausted. We did take a time out after lunch to head over for what I thought was going to be a short trip to Cabela's {I REALLY should have known better}. The kids were fascinated with the fish and Jeremy had to pick out a new hunting blind, so it was a longer trip that I expected. Jeremy got a blind, Preston found some camo water balloons to use for his b-day party, Cambree picked out a hideous camo hunting shirt {sure to be one she will wear endlessly} and I got a hooded sweatshirt off the clearance rack {which came in quite handy during our game of mini golf the next day}.



Back for more swimming before we called it a day. We swam a little more Tuesday morning before we left. After we got done swimming, we went out to play a round of mini golf. About the 3rd hole I realized why they don't charge for 3 year olds!



All in all we had a wonderful time and it was just about the right amount of time to be gone with the kids. Any longer at GWL and I'm not sure Jeremy and I would have survived! We were both so tired on the way home...we decided we needed another day just to recover!





Here's the link to all the photos if you care to take a look!

Update on Rodney

Rodney had his open heart surgery yesterday and they ended up doing a triple bypass. The surgeon and the heart doctor are both very pleased with the way it went and they think he will do well. He is still in the cardiothoracic ICU and probably will be until tomorrow. Originally we thought he might be out this evening, but they weren't able to take the breathing tube out until about 11:30 last night. Today he is having trouble keeping anything down and they finally gave him some medicine to keep him from throwing up. Still in a lot of pain, which is to be expected at this point. The outlook right now is that he will be able to go home 4-6 days once he makes it to the floor....probably 6 if I know Rodney!



Jeremy and I came home with our two kids and Jace today. Jeff and Janelle are staying in Wichita for at least another day and I felt really sorry for Jeff...we hadn't been there 20 minutes this morning and it was obvious that the kids were not going to do well for a second day in a tiny hospital waiting room. We had already decided that I would keep an eye on Jordyn and Jeff would take the bigger kids out to do something when Jeremy came out and said we would just head home. He had some things to check on at the ranch and a cast to put on the leg of a calf. We left around 11:30 and made it home around 2:30.



The kids don't seem to be too tired, but Jeremy and I are exhausted!!!! I have started having a lot of contractions since Friday and a lot of intense back pain....so I know the next 6 weeks are going to be trying for me, but I guess the reward at the end will be worth it.

I'll post more when I know more. Thanks for all the prayers, phone calls, emails and texts over the last 4 days. We appreciate them more than you know.

Kids charts

To cure summer boredom, I took this idea and adapted it to meet the needs of my kids. Stacy does this for her older children, but I thought I could make it work for my kids, to keep them from getting bored and to also help them stay focused on certain things during the summer.

I started with a digital template and then created a card for each kid that has activities they enjoy doing or that I would like to see them do more. Most of them are things they can complete on their own or with each other, but there are a few that involve Mom.

I haven't decided yet if there will be something for them once they complete all the squares...I am leaning towards not, because I can see them getting in a hurry to complete the cards to get to the reward and that isn't what I am going for. I want them to jump-start from these ideas....to get creative, to play longer and to think outside of the box while they play. We will see how well it works!

Below is a copy of each kids card. I think you can click on them and see them larger if you want to. I would also be willing to share my idea with you other parents! Just let me know if you want a copy and I will change the name to your kid's name and change any activities that don't work for you. Just let me know if you want to give it a try!

Trauma

Our day has been a long one to say the least! There are many details I could write about, but I am exhausted and ready to turn in. HOwever, I feel the need to post and let you all know what is happening with my father-in-law.

After a fantastic day visiting with friends yesterday, I fell into bed and into a deep sleep. When the phone rang at 1:00 am I was so delirious I couldn't figure out what that "noise" was! I happened to be Jeremy's mom, Janis, calling to say that his dad, Rodney, was having chest pains and they were in Pratt at the hospital. And they were going to send him on to Wichita.

To make a long story short, they did a hearth cath late morning, early afternoon today and found that he in fact did have some blockage, but that the location of it makes it impossible to place a stint in. Therefore, he will be having bypass surgery in the next day or so.

Like I told Jeremy though, it is better that they have caught it now and can do it relatively easily and without many complications, rather than having to do it as an emergency and there being more risk.

I am off to hopefully get a good nights rest and get geared up for what the next few days hold for our family! Please keep us all in your prayers.

One Month From Today...

We will be starting school!

Can you believe that school here at South Central is starting on August 11th! The flip-side of this equation is that we are going to a 4-day school week this year. It has been highly debated and hotly contested, but ultimately it was decided that it was the cost-saving measure that our district needed to survive.

I admit, I don't know enough about school funding to really make an educated guess as to what would happen if we didn't have enough money to operate. Isn't there some sort of law that public schools are required? Would they just shut down due to lack of funds? Would the teachers have to work for less pay? Like I said, I don't know the answers to these questions, I just know that at least for us we won't have that big of a change.

In Preschool, Preston only went Mon-Thurs, so this is really nothing new for us. Honestly, I am not that disappointed in the decision. I enjoy having that day at home with the kids...no work, no school! Plus it gives us a day during the week that we can get things done, appointments, outings, 3-day weekends! Preston is not really understanding the whole concept though, because all he heard at the end of the last school year was that once he got to Kindergarten he was going to have to go longer days and an extra day during the week. Now he will only be going longer days and he just keeps telling me that he is SUPPOSED to go an extra day. He will be glad when he realizes how exhausting all day kindergarten will be!

As for CJ, we still don't know if she is going to be attending preschool this year, but I hope we find out soon! We have back-to-school shopping to do and this fantastic backpack to order.



Yep, that's the one she picked out. Not the cute pink one or the lime green with flowers...the Mariner Blue Grid Camo one! I tried my best to convince her to get a girly bag, but it was hopeless. Of course, when she showed her dad which one she wanted, he said,

"That will be awesome!"

I am not sure I have ever seen him look prouder!

The other bonus to school starting so early, is that I probably won't have to worry about missing the first day of school due to labor! However, Jeremy does think Mr. W is coming 2 weeks early, so that could put a kink in the school plans! We shall see...

Happy Anniversary Honey!

We are only one year shy of a decade! Can you believe it? It has bee quite a ride, one I wouldn't have wanted to take with anyone else! Hard to believe we have two terrific kids and are expecting a third. Don't worry though, the third one won't keep me from dreaming about that second honeymoon to Hawaii someday! Thanks for always taking such great care of us and for putting up with my hormones the past few months. You have been a real trooper.

I am looking forward to hitting the 10 year mark in another 365 days! Love ya!

Photo Editing class project 1

I am taking this class called Photo Editing:Frames and Special Effects. Day one project assignment was to add a frame and word art to a photo and then post a picture to our blogs or the gallery. This is the photo I chose to work with for this project. It's a very innocent one of my kids...a rare moment these days when they are quiet and things are peaceful! I love these simple shots! On to work on project two!

Happy Independence Day!

We had a great evening doing a few fireworks at Grandma Robin and Papa Jene's before we went to the lake to get eaten by a few hundred mosquitos and see one of the least exciting fireworks displays in our country.



Preston found some fireworks in the street that someone had thrown out or dropped and here's Jeremy trying to light them on fire and "blow up" the tank....



Well the fireworks had gotten wet and weren't wanting to light, so this is what you do, right?



Throw a little gas on it and they will light!

Well not quite. Cambree said, "Look Grandma, we have a campfire!" Probably not the reaction her pyro father was looking for!





Hope your Independence Day was an enjoyable one!