Today is a Special Day!!!

Today is our 21st Wedding Anniversary!

I thank the Lord for these years together, I really do. But, if only my husband remembered, it would be so much nicer!

Gobble Gobble

This is the picture of a wild turkey that Tim woke me up to show me about 3 weeks ago. (I'm glad he woke me up!) This turkey is in our backyard because he found birdseed on the ground that had been knocked off from my bird feeders, which are about 3-5 feet away from him to the right, but are unseen here in this picture. I snuck out into the florida room and took some pictures of him before he noticed me. It was so cool to hear the gobble-gobble sounds he was making and to watch him scratch the ground to kick up the seeds! I was surprised to see just how "powerful" his legs/feet are!

Ahhhhh, Yes--Getting Back to Normal!

Well, the kids have been home for a little over 48 hours and all is good...

As I sit here to type this, Shayne and Kyle are here in the living room (where I am) and they are using their Dad's old keyboards--on LOUD! Each keyboard is playing a different pre-programmed song--along with each boy adding their keystrokes and sound effects to it as they try to "out play" each other, Cayden is whining/crying because he wants a turn on the keyboard, 2 of the dogs are wrestling/playing just 2 feet away from me, 3 cats have taken turns walking/crawling over me and my keyboard, Payge just snuck in the front door and ran past me as she is hiding from Trey who is still running around outside looking for her, Tim was cooking chicken outside on the grill but just walked in saying the grill ran out of propane and the chicken is only 1/4 of the way cooked, and I just finished giving Cayden a bath because he decided to play in the toilet...am I forgetting anything? Oh yes--I'm so glad the kids are home and things are back to "normal"! :)

They are HOME!!! :)

I am so grateful the kids arrived back home safe and sound--Thank you Lord! They were all safe during the week and all 3 of them said they had a fabulous time! The most difficult thing was all 3 of them needed to take turns as they were telling me about all the things they did during the week--things they ate, awards they won, games they played, songs they sang, swimming in the pool, the condition of the bathrooms they used, etc.

I could not sleep when they were gone! I slept maybe 3 or 4 hours at night and it usually wasn't consecutive either. I'd sleep for an hour or an hour and a half, wake up and be awake for 2 hours, then go back to sleep and so on. Last night was the first night in the last week that I actually slept!!! My stomach was also in knots all week, in addition to the few days prior to them leaving. It's all better now that they're home though!

Ok, now that they are all home, time to unpack their stuff and start on the marathon of laundry that awaits me!

Silly face!

Isn't Cayden making a great SILLY face?

I missed them BEFORE they even left!

Well, 3 of my babies went off to church camp this morning! :(

It is the first time for Payge...in fact this is only the 3rd time she has slept somewhere else other than home...once at a friend's house and once at our friend's house when I had Cayden, and now...camp...for 5 days and 4 nights!

This is the third year for Shayne and Kyle...they really enjoy going, although when they leave, it is always a "bittersweet" feeling. This is most likely their last year too since Shayne is moving up and next year will qualify to be in the "youth group" at church, which will mean he'll only be able to attend the "teen week" and no longer the "junior week". And Kyle will more than likely not go since Shayne won't be there (they are 1 year apart and are more like twins than anything!).

So, I'm glad all 3 of them have this opportunity to go, but it is has been tearing me up and just killing me inside! My stomach has been miserable for the last week as I approached this time and now it is doing loopy loops at 100 mph! It is about a 3 hour ride to get there and is in a different state, so those two things don't help make this any easier on me LOL. ;)

It is just myself, Trey, and Cayden at home (with no car :( ) and Dylan, who is working full-time hours this summer. I have a lot to do in my house...cleaning, organizing, etc., but this feels so incredibly strange!

Oddly enough, I almost cannot stand the quietness!!!

So, Trey and I got busy right after the kids left and made them some cards with special drawings for each of them and quickly got them in the mailbox for today's mail. Hopefully, the kids will get these pictures/notes by Wednesday or Thursday at the latest.

We have this ongoing joke in our home...Shayne and Kyle have a dog they've had for almost a year. His name is Barney and he is a dachshund/basset hound mix and he is a pain in the "you know what"! Well, lucky me, I'm in charge of this demon dog stupid mutt stubborn thing called "a dog" until they get back. He is the most high-maintenance dog I've ever had and truly is a pain in the neck...most everyone agrees as we verbalize this on a daily basis!

Well, as a joke (because one of my boys at camp needs to laugh or else he'll do more crying), I wrote him a "Ransom Note" for his dog, LOL. They'll all get a kick out of it LOL. I've included our pictures, drawings, and Ransom note below for your viewing pleasure! (CLICK ON BELOW PICTURE FOR A CLOSE UP)

Here are our "nice" notes to the kids:

Annual Rocket Launch

Last night was our annual rocket launch at our church. The weather was absolutely perfect, thank you Lord!

The winners are decided by random choice...the person in charge of the rocket launch is very fair about it and makes sure the winners are not the same ones year after year. :) He hides a special color ribbon inside some of the rockets, and when each rocket is launched, the ribbons pop out and if it is the right color, that child has won.

This year they let the girls participate, as this event is usually only for the boys. Payge won 2nd place and Trey won 3rd place! Here are pictures of my children with their rockets (unfortunately the one of Kyle is very blurry, but I cannot take another picture of him until he returns home from camp!):