Botanic Gardens (warning: picture overload!)

I took the kids to the Botanic Gardens today. I have been wanting to go and today seemed like the perfect day! We went early and stayed for a couple of hours. It was starting to get crowded by the time we left, so we timed it just right. We had fun walking around and taking pictures. At one point we saw some bees flying around some flowers. We spent quite a bit of time watching the bees collect pollen from the flowers. It was really interesting to watch and Addie was fascinated! She kept saying, "They won't hurt me, Mommy. They are just worried about the flowers. They aren't worried about me." Even Bryson had fun watching. Usually, if he sees a bee, he runs screaming like a girl in the opposite direction! We walked and we talked. We ran and we jumped. We had a great time. I love spending time with my kids and love it even more when they are all getting along!

We left and went looking for something to eat. I spotted a Panera and HAD to stop. I love Panera and will eat there any chance I get. There were four college-age girls sitting at a table next to us. Evidently, we are very entertaining. They watched us the entire time we were there! Of course, Addison did have peanut butter from the top of her head down to her legs. She even managed to get some on my watch! I heard them talking about how cute Jackson was. I think he heard them, too, because he kept trying to turn his face away from them. Bryson was our refill man and they were quite impressed with him, too. At least we gave them something to talk about!

Drew was at home cleaning and getting ready for Pily to come. We are going to have Bryson's birthday dinner tonight and take him shopping at Toys R Us later this evening. Gram (Drew's mom) took him shopping and out to dinner last night. Thanks, again, Cheryl! Bryson is having a great birthday weekend so far.

Addison was complaining about her throat hurting on the way home. Hopefully, she isn't coming down with strep throat. Bryson missed 3 1/2 days of school last week. I don't want to miss any more work this year. I know Drew doesn't mind missing, but I hate to be gone! :0)

10 years old!

Tomorrow Bryson will be 10 years old! I can hardly believe that it has been 10 years since I became a mommy to this little boy. (I blogged about his birth here last year.) The past 10 years have gone by so quickly. I am so blessed have Bryson as my son. He is a sensitive, caring boy. He loves with his whole heart. He is a wonderful big brother to a little brother and little sister. He is turning into a sweet young man. I look forward to watching him mature and grow into a wonderful man. Bryson, I love you with all my heart.

Pictures and Bullet points

Me and my baby girl.

Jackson, Bryson and Addison

Jackson LOVES his big brother!

Addison~ this was the best one I could get.

Me and my three sweeties. Don't you just love the top of Addison's head!

These are our pictures from Easter. Addison wasn't really into taking pictures that morning, so there aren't any good ones. We have been very busy lately, so I will just update using bullet points. It's just easier that way.

• Over Spring Break we went to the museum and I lost my camera bag along with my camera cords. This is why I haven't posted any pictures until now. My wonderful husband ordered some new cords and I just go them in the mail today.
• We are counting down to the end of the school year. Only 38 more days to go! Woo Hoo! Bring on summer break! I am so ready to spend time with my kids and Drew. I can't wait to hang out at the pool and the local water park. I plan on doing a little work for next year, too. I just need to re-energize.
• I help with my flowerbed in the front yard. I am hoping to get some help from one of my friends. I don't know what to plant and have been putting it off. I wish I knew what to put there, but I don't. I am not too proud to admit it!
• I decided that the Easter Bunny was NOT coming to our house this year. I even told the kids he wouldn't be coming. We have spent so much on Bryson's mouth this past month that I didn't want to spend any more money. Drew was all for it. He didn't do the Easter Bunny growing up and doesn't really care to do it now. So, Saturday night I was in bed thinking about what a bad mother I am because my kids were going to wake up Easter morning without an Easter basket. Yes, I know Easter is about the resurrection of Christ and has NOTHING to do with the Easter Bunny, but I still felt bad that I was taking away some fun from them. (Yes, I have problems with guilt! That is a post for another day!) I even shed some tears over it. Stupid, I know. Well, my super sweet husband gets out of bed, gets dressed and goes to WalMart at 10:00 on a Saturday night to get the kids something for Easter. I fell in love with him all over again at that very moment. He was so sweet. I KNOW he didn't want to go, but he did it for me and the kids. He is so self-less when it comes to us and that was just one more way he expressed it. Thanks, again, Sweetie! YOU ARE THE BEST!!!
• My dad, stepmother and little sister are coming up this weekend for Bryson's birthday. I can't believe my first little baby is going to be TEN years old! I'm sure I will have a special post for him later this week. His birthday is on Friday.
• We decided to not have birthday parties for the boys this year. We are just going to make their favorite meal (When I say "we," I mean Drew!) and take them shopping for a present. The were fine with the arrangement and Bryson is looking forward to going shopping this weekend.
• Today we went to a funeral of a friend from church. Blake battled cancer for 5 1/2 years. We know he is in a better place and is now cured and healthy! I pray for peace and comfort for his wife and kids. I can only imagine how difficult it is losing your husband. I have lost a sister and my mother and that was hard enough.
• After the funeral, I was on my way back to school and got a text from my EA saying Bryson was in the nurse's office with a temperature and headache. When I got to school she had already rearranged my day and got all my duty spots covered for the afternoon so I could take Bryson home! I am very thankful!
• I took Jackson out of school early, also. Drew has track practice after school today and I didn't want him to have to try to leave early to pick Jackson up. Believe me, Jackson didn't mind one bit!
• Last night Addison told us she didn't want to be a sister anymore. She wants to be a brother. Later, she said she wanted to be a sister again. Silly girl!
• I did a bunch of lunges this morning and yesterday morning, so I am very sore. It is on my mind, so I added that! Not really important to anyone but me!

Those are just a few of the things going on this week. I will try not to go so long in between posts. My dad even e-mailed me to tell me I hadn't posted in a while! At least I know he is reading!

My Glamorous Life (Try not to be jealous!)

I thought it would be fun/depressing/interesting to blog about a typical day in my life. Here goes:

4:00 Alarm goes off and I talk myself into getting up. Yes, I have to talk myself into it about 95% of the time. It doesn't come naturally to me. Put on my workout clothes, wash my face, put in my contacts and brush my teeth.

4:15-4:20 Arrive at the gym and talk myself into actually going in and not turn around and go home.

4:20-5:30 Work out. Usually this is alongside a friend who is great motivation. Hi, Nancy!

5:40-5:45 Arrive home and jump in the shower.

5:45-6:45 Get showered, dressed, make-up on, fix Addison's hair (Drew takes care of everything else before he leaves. Thanks, Sweetie!), grab something for breakfast.

6:45 Get in the car and drive to work. Usually I have to drop Addison off at Miss Linda's, but not during track season! Drew doesn't have to be at school as early as he does during football and basketball seasons, so I LOVE track season!

7:15-7:20 Arrive at work.

7:20-3:45 Work. I teach K-5th grade Physical Education. I only sit down at lunch and during my conference period, so I am worn out by the end of the day! Some days we have staff meetings after school, so I leave a little later on those days. We had one today, but we were finished by 4:00. Thanks, Mick!

4:00 Drive to Miss Linda's to get Addison

4:15-4:30 Walk in to discover Addison is still napping, gently try to wake her up, console her because I am not Daddy, convince her that she will live if Daddy is not there to pick her up today.

4:30-5:00 Drive home.

5:00-5:30 Put something on for dinner, play with the kids outside and enjoy the nice weather.
When Drew is home he cooks dinner. Tonight he is at a track meet, so dinner was up to me. Mondays and Thursdays are track meets, so I don't like those evenings very much!

5:30 Finish dinner while the boys are taking a bath.

5:30-6:00 Eat dinner and clean up the kitchen. The boys are responsible for putting their dishes in the dishwasher and sweeping the kitchen floor.

6:00-6:15 Take a bath with Addison while Jackson reads his book to me three times. I also answer any questions Bryson has with his homework.

6:15-8:00 Take care of anything else that needs to be done. Play with the kids, read books, straighten up, do laundry, blog, etc.

8:00 Put kids in bed and fall into my own bed, exhausted, and try to find the energy to face another day.

I get tired just thinking about it! I know that it won't always be this busy. I know it will get easier as the kids get older. I also know that one day I will miss days like this.

Our Week

We had such a great spring break this year. I don't want it to end! We still have two days left, so I will squeeze every ounce of enjoyment out of it that I can.

We went up to Oklahoma for a few days and are now at home for the rest of the week. We got to see my grandparents, my uncle, a couple of aunts, some cousins and even some of their kids. The boys cried when we left, of course. They hate to leave and already want to know when we are going back. Unfortunately, I don't think we will go back until after school is out. That is only 10 weeks away, though! Yes, I have been counting since, well, before Christmas!

Bryson went to the orthodontist today. His top teeth are very crooked and he has some extra teeth. I have been wondering when we should start looking into braces, so we decided to make an appointment and get started. He is going to have two teeth pulled this Tuesday and will have braces put on the following Wednesday. That was a lot quicker than I had imagined, but we are ready. I am not ready for the bill, but that's part of it.

Jackson ran a slight temperature last night and woke up with a temp of 101.5. We were supposed to meet Drew's brother, Matthew, his wife, Carrie, and their kids for a picnic today, but I had to cancel. Jackson ate dinner last night, breakfast this morning and then ate lunch. Around noon he told me that he threw up last night. He said he made it to the toilet and didn't want to tell us. I told him that getting sick is something he can wake us up for. He said he just got too hot and threw up. He ate dinner tonight, so I think he is okay.

Addison is getting a cold. Her eyes look like she doesn't feel good and she has a very snotty nose. She has been sitting around watching Elmo all day. Hopefully, all will be well by Monday morning.

The weather today was just beautiful and I was a little sad we couldn't go anywhere. I did sit outside in the back yard for a little while and read a magazine, so I got some sun time.

Well, it's back to work on Monday and the big count down begins!

Spring is in the air!

Yesterday was such a beautiful day. I had the gym doors open all day. I wanted to get some fresh air and air the gym out, too. That nasty stomach virus has been going around and (if you know me well) you know I am TERRIFIED of the stomach virus. I don't know when this started, but I am afraid of it. So afraid of it that I am going to stop talking about it NOW!

Anyway, the day was beautiful. I took one of my classes outside to enjoy the weather. You never know when it's going to change, so I have to take advantage of it when I can.

After we picked Addison up at Miss Linda's we rode will all the windows down and turned the music up really loud. We don't get to listen to anything fun when Addison is with us. She likes to listen to "her songs," so we sing a lot of ABC's, days of the week, songs about manners and vowel sounds! When we started going a little faster, she yelled, "Woo Hoo, Rock and Roll!" I don't know where she learned that, but it was funny! She said it several more times and I laughed each time. That girl is such a character.

When we got home, we broke out the sidewalk chalk, scooters, balls and bikes. The kids played out front while I pulled some weeds in the flower bed. Our front flower bed looks so bad right now. I really need help this Spring with it. I just never know what to plant. We played outside for a while and I read part of a magazine. After a while we went in to do our nightly chores: laundry, baths, dinner, homework, etc. Drew was at a track meet, so he missed all the fun.

I absolutely love this time of year. I hope today will be just as nice. What is your favorite time of year?

What is a girl to do?

I have been fighting the "shopping bug" for a while now. I have wanted to go shopping, but didn't/couldn't spend the money. Yesterday, I ventured out by myself for a while just to look around. I was also prepared to purchase a little something, too. I bought the kids each a new outfit for Easter, then went in search of something for myself. What I found was frustration and a realization. A realization that I am completely out of style and frustration that I just don't know where to start! I left several stores without buying a single item. I don't like what is in the stores right now. I saw shirts with chains and zippers on them. I also saw a lot of tunics and leggings. TUNICS AND LEGGINGS! When you have big legs and a big bootie, like I do, you can't wear tunics with out looking pregnant! I won't even tell you what leggings do to legs like mine! So, here I am wanting to buy something cute, but not knowing where to start. What is a girl to do?