Happy Birthday!

Bailey went to a Birthday party for the girl on her left. Both of the othet girls are in Bailey's preschool class.

Surprise!

Mallory's best surprise face. If she had tonsils, you'd be able to see them.

Joseph & his Pokemon

Joseph with Treecko & Mudkip.

Natalie and Daddy

Natalie loves to play and sing songs with her Daddy.

Up and Down

Natalie has figured out how to climb up and slide down the stairs on her tummy. Where did we put that gate?

The Young and the Restless

This is a picture of the two oldest and two youngest in our family. My Grandma, my Dad, Bailey and Natalie. We were visiting with my Grandma in the hosptial. She had a mild heart attack earlier in the week, but she is feeling much better now. I think she looks great at almost 98 years old.

Great Grandma & Taylor

This picture was taken when we visited Grandma after Taylor's gymnastics meet. Taylor placed 4th on the floor and 5th on the vault. She had placed on the vault before but this was the first time she placed on the floor. She also had her best score on the bars today.

Merry March Meet

Taylor and I need to get up very early in the morning to get ready for her meet. Taylor needs to take a shower and wash her hair so I can french braid it to keep it out of her way. I am finally getting good at braiding the girls' hair. It took me 10 years to figure out how to do it so that it looks nice. Taylor has to be at the gym before 8:00am to check-in. My Dad will bring Joseph and Bailey out about an hour later. That way they will miss the stretching and warm-up sessions. After the meet the kids and I will visit with Grandma at the hospital before I drive home.

Ring Dance

Mallory went to the high school Ring Dance tonight with her boyfriend, Adam. I think that what we used to call Junior Prom is now called the Ring Dance. As noted by the name of the dance, the Juniors get their class rings at this dance. Mallory spent $40 getting her hair down so she'd look very nice. Joe said she looked great and very much like his oldest daughter, Michelle, when she came out of the salon. I had Rachel take pictures of Mallory and Adam when he came to pick her up.

Mallory and Adam

Mallory and Adam ready for the Ring Dance

Visit with Grandma

We went to see Grandma today at the hospital. She was sitting up in bed listening to the TV when we got there. She wasn't watching it because Dad had her glasses. She was glad to get those from him. She was surprised to see the kids and I. I only have 4 of the kids as Mallory and Rachelhad to stay home with their Dad (See related posts). The physical therapist showed up while we were there to help Grandma move from the bed to a chair in her room. She needs to get out of bed as much as possible in order to get stronger. She seemed like her normal self, just weaker. She told me that someone had come into her room during the night and tried to rip out her IV. I'm sure that she was just disoriented when a nurse came in at night to check on her. She also keeps asking Dad about her purse, so he's been bringing it when he visits so that she can see that it's safe. The Drs are monitoring her this weekend and will decide the next coruse of action on Monday. Dad will not bring her home unless she is able to get around and take care of herself like she was before. She would not want him to have to take care of her anyway. We will visit with her again tomorrow after Taylor's meet before I drive home.

Shamrock Marathon

Rachel and her Girl Scout troop worked at a water table for the Beach's Shamrock Marathon. They were competing against all of the other organizations for best water table. Rachel's job was supposed to be mixing huge quantities of Gatorade. Other girls had to hold out cups of Gatorade and water for the runners to grab as they ran by the table. The prize is $500. I will update this post when I heard the results from Rachel after I get home.

Trip to Grandpa's House

Taylor has a gymnastics meet on Sunday near my Dad's house. My original plan was to come from Friday night and spend all day Saturday with Grandma & my Dad. But my Grandma went into the hospital earlier this week, so we will have to visit with her there instead. She woke Dad up around midnight because she was having trouble breathing. Dad called 911 to take her to the hospital. They put her on something to dry up the fluid in her lungs. They also determined that she had a mild heart attack. They weren't sure at first that she was going to make it. But, by the next morning she was sitting up in bed, doing much better and back to her same stubborn self, just very tired.

Rachel & Freckles

Rachel is happy because Freckles is healthy again. She had to give him antibotics for 10 days. No more funnel dog.

Natalie the Clown

Natalie had a great time eating pasta for dinner. Everyone thought I should take a picture because she looked like she had clown makeup on when she was done.

More shorts for Joe

I finished these shorts for Joe last weekend, but haven't had a chance to post a picture until today.

Cheerleader

Natalie and I cheered for Mallory.

Volleyball Tournament

Mallory played in a Junior Olympic volleyball tournament on Saturday. She is #18. She was getting ready to pass the ball.

Sweet Brother/Sister Moment

I just couldn't resist putting this picture up. What a sweet brother sister shot!

Taylorville

Welcome to Taylorville! As you can see, taylor finished her science project. She had to build a small town that light up. We ran a small set of battery powered lights throughout the buildings. It looks very cool in the dark.

Green Booties

After helping Taylor I took about an hour to sew these booties together for Natalie.

Science Project

Yesterday, Taylor called me at work to ask me to pick a few things up on the way home from work. She's got a science project due Friday and she's just getting starting. Of course, she's known about it since sometime last week. She needs to build a town with buildings that light up. She needs battery powered lights and something to make the buildings. We went shopping and got popcicle sticks, craft foam and a small set of lights. When she got home, she ran off with the sticks and got started. She glued most of the sticks together to make the 1st house. I had planned on her using the sticks to build the frames for the houses and the craft foam for the walls. I had to get more sticks today so she could make the rest of the six buildings she wants in her town. She had gymnastics tonight so didn't get to work on the project at all. So, tomorrow evening, she has to finish the whole thing.

Leaky faucet fixed for 24 cents

I finally took apart our dripping outside faucet yesterday and decided I'd try fixing it by seeing if it just needed a new washer. I put all the parts in a bag and took them to Home Depot. The first guy I asked was an idiot, the second person, a woman, pointed me in the right direction. I got a new washer for 24 cents. It took me about 1 minute to get the faucet back together and turn the water back on. Yeah, no more leaky faucet. Why didn't I do this months ago? Because I didn't know it was so simple. I thought we had to get a whole new faucet because this one is welded into the house. Very cool!!!

Funnel Dog

We had to take Freckles to the vet today. He hurt is foot on Friday, but it didn't seem to bad. By today, he wouldn't walk on it. The extra nail on his foot was infected. The vet clipped and cleaned the wound and put this collar on his so he can't lick it. He has to wear the collar and take antibotics for 10 days.

Natalie the Model

Natalie models her latest outfit. The shortalls are made out of flannel so they can be multi-seasonal. Here I added tights and a long sleeve shirt so she could wear them even though it was chilly outside.

Easter outfit for Natalie

This Easter outfit for natalie is not quite done. I want to put Easter egg buttons on it, but can't find any in the store, so I have bid on some on eBay.

Joe's New Shorts

Joe was giving me a hard time because I hadn't made anything for him in a while, so I whipped out these easy shorts with pockets. Mostly he wears them to bed, but sometimes he ventures outside with them on. The blue pair are a NASCAR print. The green pair are for St. Patrick's Day.

Taylor Babysits

I'm so proud of Taylor. She babysat Joseph and Bailey for me last night while I went to see the HS Spring Concert. About an hour after I left the power went out leaving the 3 kids in the dark. Taylor didn't panic, she took the kids next door so they wouldn't be alone in the dark. Being in the dark is much scarier than when the lights are on. Good Job Taylor!

Joseph and Bailey

Joseph and Bailey eat a dinner of chicken nuggest and fries made entirely by Taylor.

Natalie Eats Nuggets

Natalie sits on the floor and eats chicken nuggest and fries like the big kids.

A Music Filled Evening

I wish that the schools would coordinate events so they don't overlap. This evening, the middle school band performs at the school district's annual Music Festival competition at 7:45pm. The high school's Sping Music Concert that Mallory is performing in is also tonight starting at 7:00pm. Since the middle school should also have it's own Spring Music Concert, I will go to the high school concert. Hopefully the HS concert will be over by 8:30pm because Rachel needs to be picked up at the MS at 8:45pm. Also since both of the older girls are involved, I either have to find a babysitter for the other 4 kids or bring them with me. Maybe Joe will get home early tonight instead of later. If he can finish up his week's work by 2:00pm on Thurday and get on the road, then he gets home around 6:00 - 6:30pm. Otherwise he waits until after rush hour and gets on the road around 7:00pm and gets home between 10:30 - 11:00pm.

The Cleaning Frenzy Continues...

Last night I asked Rachel to pick up and vaccum the family room since most of the mess belonged to her. She tends to come home from school and drop all of her stuff, shoes, coat, backpack, purse, etc on the floor in front of the sofa. Then I think her backpack explodes and scatters her homework all over the room. At least this is what I usually find when I get home from work. I'm trying to get her start picking up after herself. Anyway, by the time she was done, she had not only cleaned the family room, but she had also mopped the kitchen. I like being surprised like that. Thanks Rachel!

Clean Sweep

I have been asking the 3 kids who share the room over the garage to clean it for the last week. To add to the normal mess, Sunday while I was out of town, Bailey and Joseph emptied the large toy box of stuffed animals too. So tonight when it was time to put the kids to bed, I decided to do a quick clean sweep. I ended up filling up 3 large trash bags with trash and old toys. The room looks much better, but still needs some work to be done.

The last of the winter sewing projects

These booties, one pair for Natalie and the other pair for the babysitter's son, are my last winter sewing projects. Starting tomorrow, I will be starting my spring/summer projects. Any ideas?

Shopping!!!

After Taylor's meet the girls and I went shopping. The gym we were at was surrounded by at least 100 different stores. Taylor had gotten a $20 gift card for Target for her birthday and it was burning a hole in her pocket. So we went to Target, then Old Navy and then a shoe store. Everyone, including those at home, got something to wear, mostly shirts. Rachel and Taylor both got new Nike shoes, on sale, of course. Nikes seem to run about a size smaller than other brands so Taylor got a women's 8 and Rachel got a women's 11. We could have shopped more, but we were almost 2.5 hours from home and I didn't want to get home too late on a school night. Both Natalie and Taylor slept for the second half of the trip while Rachel watched a movie. Natalie had been diarrhea free for the whole day. The minute we got home and I handed Natalie over to Joe, she threw up all over his shoulder and loaded up her diaper with one cough. Ick! So into the tub she went. A little later, while I was feeding her some rice cereal, she bubbled that back up like a volcano. So back into the tub she went for a second time. This time Bailey got a bath too. Natalie was back a sleep by 10:00pm and I hope she sleeps better than last night, when she was very restless.

Taylor at Gymnastics

Taylor came 5th place on the vault!

Gymnastics Today

Taylor and I got up today at 6:45am to get her ready for her meet. She took a shower first and then got dressed while I took a shower. After I got dressed, I french braided her hair. If you had asked me 15 years ago if I could french braid, I'd have said No and would have thought that I'd never figure out how to do it. Well 15 years and 5 girls later, I'm finally getting pretty good at it. Taylor and I got breakfast while Rachel stayed with Natalie and got her dressed and fed. I dropped Taylor off at the gym and went back to the hotel to get Rachel and Natalie, breakfast for Rachel and check out. Up to this point, Natalie had been diarrhea free, just blowing a lot of stinky gas. Natalie nursed a lot during the meet. I ended up leaving about half way through the meet to walk next door to Wal-Mart to get Pepto Bismo for Rachel because she now had Natalie's diarrhea. One of the Dads from Taylor's gym watched Natalie for me in case Rachel had to go potty while I was gone. Natalie was alseep in his arms when I got back. She woke up when he transferred her to me and was cranky on and off the rest of the meet. Rachel took the medicine and feel much better after about 1/2 an hour. Taylor did not have her best day all around, except on the vault where she came in tied for 5th place with her best score yet of 9.3, but she did well enough to qualify for the State meet coming up in May. Her total score for the 4 different events had to be at least 33 to qualify and she got a 33.7. Yeah Taylor!!!