Single parent week comes to a close!

My week of single parenting is finally up! The kids and I dropped Jerry off at the airport right before lunch last Saturday. He was supposed to be home LATE Friday night... well, 2 days later... he is finally home!! Hooray!

Our week went well. The kids and I went shopping for Sydney's birthday party, which we are having on the 4th with our families. I braved Michael's first and then we went to Target! They were really good for the most part. They helped me with ideas on what to pick out for the gift bags and the like. Tinker Bell is the theme but we are also going to "hunt" eggs! Should be fun.

Friday was a bittersweet day for me. I had to say good-bye, for now, to some neighbors. They are moving to GA, the same place we are going. It has been nice to really get to know them. It makes our move that much more smooth in my mind. We don't have to start from scratch with friends or for me... a support system!

I also had some childhood friends come over from out of town with their children. We had so much fun! All the kids played well together. Melissa had her 2 year old daughter, Amelia, and her 7 mos old son, Eli. Krysta had her 15 (?) mos old son, Victor. So we had LOTS of little ones, but it wasn't overwhelming. We fed the kids dinner and visited for awhile then got the kids all ready for bed. Once we got the kids settled, we ate BAD food and watched Twilight. We had to pause a couple of times, but that just meant we got to get refills on our food! The next morning our kids slept in until 8:30! It was wonderful!! We fed the kids breakfast. While the coffee brewed brewed for us, I made the adults lemon scones. We visited some more, and then they loaded up their child(ren) and headed out.

It is always so much fun to have friends over! The ones that you have known for a long time bring something different to a visit! To think back and revisit all the silly things we did, or serious things that happened... We had a nice time catching up on each others' extended family, baby stories, and life in general. I don't get a lot of adult time with other women. So when I get it... I enjoy it and cherish it. So THANK YOU Melissa and Krysta for stopping by to visit me and my kiddos!

Today the kids and I played the Playstation 2 and just had fun. We ate pizza and hung out until bed time. THEN Xavier decided he was going to hide under his bed while everyone else got ready for bed. This really isn't something new, I just let it go longer this time. I decided that if he wanted to hide... he could hide. I put all the other kids to bed and hugged and kissed them and left the room. A little while later, I heard him banging around playing. So I went in and asked him what he thought he was doing. He said he was ready to get ready for bed. I told him it was past that time and he better just get in bed. Jay was also informed that if he incited his brother to playing, he would be spanked as well. Sure enough, I had to spank their bottoms a little while later because they were playing again. However, I did not hear from them again!

Jerry pulled in safe. He had to take a taxi because I didn't have anyone to watch the kiddos and he was flying in late. It is good to have him home. We are going to be mapping out our "game plan" for the move and all that here in the next few weeks. Hopefully, we can make a trip to GA to do some house hunting... but as of right now... our calendar is looking VERY full!!

We'll see and keep you all posted!

Single parenting

Well this week I am a single parent. At least it is a week! Jerry meanwhile gets to enjoy AZ weather for the week! I am hoping for at least... spring weather! It always motivates me to clean and reorganize!! I might just paint some walls this week too!!

Our neighbors that are moving to GA (same place where we are going) are leaving this Friday... their packers are at their house and the movers come tomorrow. I will miss them! But at least I know I will see them in a couple of months. Unfortunately, they might not be just across the street anymore... but at least a short drive!

Jay has had a couple of really good weeks with school. His reading is so much better! He is motivated to read! Anna on the other hand, has been having a tougher time. I am not quite sure why, but I am hoping to narrow it down because it is really getting old! She seems to be getting more emotional... sigh... oh the things to come!

Xavier is now asking to do school! That is exciting and daunting all at the same time! Sydney even asked... but I think she was just more repeating what Xavier was saying. Who knows though... I start with Xavier she might want to as well! Could be good!!

Jerry and I are going to be attending the Cincinnati Homeschool Convention. It is downtown this year, so it should prove to be fun! I am looking forward to it. I am not sure how much he is, but it will give him some good bonding time with Caleb while I attend sessions. I am thinking that I am going to switch up some of my curriculum. I need boxes to check off... I think. We'll see.

I am slowly attempting to organize and slim down some of our possessions. It would be nice to have everything organized before we move, but I am just hoping to have the important stuff done!

Hope all is well!

Ways to freak out kids... and Xavier's birthday!

Tips on how to "freak out" a 6-year old... When daddy brings home "bait minnows" and has extra that he puts in a vase... DO NOT attempt to freshen water without holding something over the opening to keep fish inside the vase. They WILL jump out... and land inside the garbage disposal! They WILL flop around. Well, at least until you run water and turn on the disposal... then, not so much! Of course for me, all of this occured in front of Anna, whom Jerry had told the fish were "hers". Traumatized... she screams, "NO!! You killed my fish! My fish! My fish! You killed my fish!!" Yeah, I got to be the voice of reality on that one! While I am trying to explain as rationally as you can while being screamed at... I am continually trying not to burst out laughing at her! Finally, I gave up and had her call daddy so he could explain that those fish were going in the freezer that night anyway to be used as bait at a later time! Bless her little heart... she is so sensitive. Next time, it is all dad dealing with the fish!

We celebrated Xavier's birthday two weekends in a row! We went home for a last minute family get together and had a great time. We got to see family and the kids and I got to see Uncle Andrew and Aunt Sandy's new house. It was so beautiful out that weekend that we played outside on Friday and Saturday. Then we came home and three of our kids came down with allergies! Isn't that fun?! I ended up getting a touch too, however, I always end up getting the hideous cough at the end of mine... and that has been LOADS of fun.

This past weekend we took the kids to brunch at the Big Boy up the road from us. We questioned our thinking on the way out the door with a SCREAMING Sydney, and again when we were seated. But as soon as food was put in front of her (we did the breakfast bar), she was as good as gold! We had such a good family time on Saturday and it flowed over to Xavier's actual birthday on Sunday... it was nice. We spaced out his presents and I think he savored his birthday far more then if he just tore into them.

All in all he had a good birthday. He got books -which he loves, a scooter, helmet with knee and elbow pads, Pinnochio, and an outfit from Gma!

It is amazing that he has grown so much. I have to start thinking about Preschool with him next year... Makes me wonder how Sydney will react when he starts doing "school". Anna didn't like being left out when I started with Jay... Sydney is her own little person though... she might not care on bit!

We are still trying to decide if we want to rent or buy in Ga. We have a realtor and are approved for a loan. Now we just have to find time to go down there and look! We will keep everyone posted!

Time to shed.

This week a neighbor moved out of the neighborhood... and two more are scheduled to move in the next couple of weeks too. I am feeling the itch to move. Mainly because all of my close neighbors are moving. I can't wait for the nicer weather to get here. I want to go through a lot of things and shed things that we have out grown or don't need anymore. That makes it sound like we have a lot of unnecessary things in our house, and really we don't. We just have 5 kids and along with that comes all of their "accessories" that are needed at one point or another. So my goal will be to find an organizational way to have things where they need them, when they need them, and be able to FIND them! Ha! In other words, get rid of things that are not going to be used again for another child and label what I store.

We are going to head over to IN this weekend to celebrate (Aunt) Mary's birthday and Xavier and see family. My brother and his wife and child moved to Fishers, which is a suburb city of Indianapolis, so we want to stop by and see their house. My parents put their house on the market so we might have to stay with Jerry's parents more. Which will be interesting! My father-in-law told us if we ever needed to stay with them they would pull their camper into the driveway to stay in, and we could have the house! I thought that was pretty funny at the time, but now... I see his point! So it will be interesting to see how it all pans out.

Next week Jay and Anna are getting their 6 year old molars capped and I get to get a temporary crown put on a tooth! Yeah for me... did you catch that bit of sarcasm? I really do not like the dentist. I am glad the my kids don't mind going. It will be interesting to see if that changes for them after Tuesday. I wouldn't think that it would, but you never know. Jerry had his teeth capped when he was younger so he hasn't ever had a cavity. He doesn't know how lucky he is! Thankfully, my MIL will be coming over to help watch the kids so I can get their appointments and mine done.

Other than that... I don't know that we have anything else going on. We finally got Sydney over the bug that Jay had. Poor thing got sick all over again on Saturday after she had it on Wednesday! It was not good. But we are past that and moving on!

I hope everyone's week is going well!