New School Year...Super Late, I know!

Summer flew by as usual and the new school year was fast upon us...wow.  I now have a Freshman, a Kindergartner, a Pre-Ker, and a feisty, sassy, cutie pie of a 2 year old at home with me :)  Don't really know how Summer and Fall zoomed by, but here's a recap of the beginning of the school  year!

 Peyton started the 4's Pre-K class with Mrs. Darla & Mrs. Tonya this year, and boy - was she excited for the first day!  She loves school...loves to play, loves snack time...just loves it!  She had a rough first week as she was testing her boundaries with her new teachers, and spent some time in the infamous "sad chair" :(  I'm happy to report, she has now found her groove and is excelling!  Her best friend Grant is in the same class, and the two of them just have the best time together.  I love getting to class early to pick her up and hear that infectious little laugh...just makes my heart smile to know she is so happy :)

 Annie started EHS as a Freshman this year...new school and new friends. She had a rough time at first, but made the volleyball team and is really doing great. She actually made the JV team and really kicked it into high gear, and is now playing basketball. Her dad and I are really proud of her...such a fantastic kid! 

Devin started Kindergarten at our parish school and is loving it! I had no doubt...at all :) Buying her lunch at school has probably been her favorite this so far...except for recess. Her teacher asked me if I would be willing to help out with recess...so, Bristol, Peyton, and I head out to recess after lunch each Tuesday. I love that Devin is SO excited and proud to show me and her little sisters off. I know this won't be the case for long, so I plan on taking full advantage :) Love how she runs to me at pick-up and hugs me like she hasn't seen me in days...love that kid!

This was each of them on the first day of school!  They were all SO excited...except for Bristol.  She had a bit of a hard time letting her sisters out of the car since they had been together every day over the summer.  Don't worry, she's over it...and thoroughly enjoys her alone time with momma during the day :)  Bristol is such her own person....she is the perfect combination of all of us.  Super-smart, witty, adorable, and really funny...we have so much fun with her! 

No work on Memorial Day? I think not!

My husband and I are gluttons for punishment...him more than myself.  We own a couple of rental houses which are a constant work in progress.  Not necessarily because of the houses themselves, but because of the tenants occupying them :)  This is most certainly a learning process and we are more than likely making just about every mistake possible.  With that being said, one of the houses is vacant.  We took the opportunity to make this house a little more...bullet-proof, if you will :)  Not real bullets, but trying to make it where it is hopefully indestructable to careless people.  We have done a complete bathroom remodel (down to the studs) and laid porcelain tile in the kitchen.  Lots of work, but it looks great!  This house  had an addition on the back and a large overhang over the patio.  Jason tore ALL of that out!  This weekend we tackled the leaking basement....

This home was build in the 20's with a concrete block foundation.  What does that mean?  It leaks.  My parents watched the kids and we tackled the foundation...from the outside!  Good thing our local Ace Hardware rents construction equipment because we needed a backhoe :) 

It was scorching outside.  All weekend.  I talked to my sister in AZ while we were working...it was in the 70's there...how horrible is that?  The job had to be done anyway :(  We started digging up the dirt around the foundation, and found the majority of the soil was clay.  Gummy, sticky, hard to dig away from the foundation, clay.  We didn't let that stop us. 

I called JULIE the week before to make sure all of the necessary lines were marked since we would be digging.  Guess what didn't get marked?  Of all things...the sewer line.  Oh yeah, we hit it.  In like 3 places :)  Just a hiccup, and another run to Lowes, and it was repaired.  Pretty gross though. 

Once our trench was dug, we used masonary mix to repair any holes in the cinder blocks.  Messy stuff.  Once dried, we painted on a rubbery, foundation sealer to keep the water OUT! My over-achiever husband made us do 4 coats!  Let me tell you, standing in that trench, surrounded by wasps (Jason got stung numerous times!) painting on black junk....felt like being on the surface of the sun...seriously!

After everything dried, and the sewer line had been repaired, it was time to fill in the trench.  Thank God for that backhoe.  I couldn't imagine doing all of that digging by hand.  We leveled the yard, and fixed the downspouts.  Now to finish the siding, paint the house, new steps off the back, and a handful of things inside. 


I am VERY happy to report the basement is dry!!! 

Annie is a Freshman...WHAT???

You read that correctly...Annie is officially done with middle school.  Where in the world have the past 9 years gone?  I mean, seriously.  Seems like just yesterday we were making the haul to St. Peters to watch her Kindergarten circus! 

For those of you that know me, you know I have THE.BEST.STEP-DAUGHTER.EVER.  No joke.  This kid has loved me since day 1, and I have loved her :)  This is a great kid.  She makes great grades, plays tons of sports...well, is sweet, loves her family, is sweet with her sisters.  All around great kid!

We are super-excited to see what the next 4 years holds for this girl!  Of course, there will be the usual high school drama...  Girls are SO mean to each other.  Boys will be idiots.  There will be broken hearts, hurt feelings, making some bad decisions, I'm sure.  BUT...we are hoping for LOTS of fun times with friends, goofing around, great teachers, learning experiences, good decisions, and tons of fun while continuing down the to success!

The commencement ceremony was pretty long, with lots of different speakers, and awards given.  There were TEN valedictorians!  And yes, they ALL gave speeches.  Annie participated in chorus for the past 2 years.  The 8th chorus participants sang their class song.  Here is Annie getting her certificate from Mr. B!  After the ceremony, they had a reception in the gym with snacks, drinks, and cake/cupcakes!  There were 3 little girls who could've cared less about anything other than getting to the cake!

After a bazillion pictures and goodbyes...(and cake) we went out for a celebratory dinner to Olive Garden (Annie's choice).  It was about 9:15 when we rolled in, so you can only imagine what shape the little girls were in!  MaMa, PaPa, and MiMi joined us, and a good time was had by all.  Our server even treated Annie to a special dessert, by telling her to choose anything on the dessert menu...on him! 

We are so proud of Annie, and are even more excited to to see what amazing things this girl has to show us in the future. 

See ya later Wolfbranch...Hello Belleville East!

School Ends & Summer Begins!

Friday night we celebrated Devin's Pre-K Graduation!  The school put on a wonderful, funny, tear-inducing program.  The kids were presented with a diploma, sang several songs, and had a reception afterwards.  The commencement wouldn't have been complete without someone throwing up, right?  No worries, it wasn't us - but it did happen.  After the festivities and pictures were over, we went out for a celebratory dinner at Devin's favorite restaurant...Lobster Crabs! (aka Red Lobster) where she dined on her own lobster tail!  Super fancy dinner for a super fancy girl! 


Where in the world have the past 2 years of preschool gone?  It truly seems like Devin was just a baby...I guess that's just how life happens...  5 years and 2 little sisters later, she is a pre-k graduate :(  Next stop...Kindergarten!!!!  Watch out world, this girl's got big things in store for you!

We could not be happier with our choice of preschools...honestly!  They have just been amazing.  Devin thoroughly enjoys school and looks forward to it daily.  Mrs. Darla & Mrs. Tonya have just been awesome!  Huge thanks to them for making her first school experience a positive & super-fun one!

Peyton also  had fantastic teachers this year for her 3yr. old class...Mrs. Michelle & Mrs. Jenny!  She absolutely loved school so much, we let her join Miss Jenny's Tue/Thur. class in addition to Mrs. Michelle's MWF class!  PeyPey wanted to go everyday like her big sis, and she was having so much fun - how could we say no? 

Goodbyes are always rough...Peyton really, really became attached to Mrs. Jenny!  I think she probably got away with murder (or would have if need be) in Mrs. Jenny's class!  She was a bit partial to PeyPey...can't say that I blame her :) 

We had such a great school year.  The girls and I made wonderful friends in the process as well!  We went to the park after school this year with our friends just about every day the weather would permit!  Looking forward to more fun with friends this summer too!! 

Mother's Day

I hope all the mothers out there had a fabulous day, where they were treated extra special!  I know I did.  We didn't get as early a start as Husband would have liked due to an unscheduled migraine, but who cares.  My crew came up the stairs and sang me a super-sweet Mother's Day song in unison.  And so were the first tears of the day...

We left the homestead and headed up towards Alton...no one would tell me where we were headed.  As we approached downtown Alton, I thought maybe we were going to Tony's for lunch?  No.  Passed the turn off and continued up the River Road towards Grafton.  We travelled all the way across the Brussels Ferry into the little town of Brussels, IL. where we had a family-style lunch at the Whittmond Hotel.  This hotel was built in the 1800's. Great food, super-relaxed atmosphere...we all loved it!  We had a bit of a wait, but were able to sit on the huge front porch and talk, while the girls played.  Devin said it was the best lunch ever! 

After a delicious lunch, we headed back across the ferry.  The girls loved this.  We got out of the car and walked to the edge so they could watch.  I remember taking this same ferry ride as a kid....love it then too!  We stopped at the same fudge/ice cream shop that my parents took my sisters and I to as kids. 

Once the sugar high set in, we figured it was probably in everyone's best interest to head home.  It was a beautiful afternoon and we were hoping it would still be warm enough to get in the pool for a bit when we got home.  On the way, we stopped and walked around by the Piasa Bird in Alton.  The caves are all fenced off to block anyone from entering, but they are still pretty neat to look at.  The girls saw the painting of the bird on the cliff side and started telling their own versions of why the fence was there...probably to keep the bird locked inside to keep him from eating little kids!  A good time was had by all :)

We bid farewell to the Piasa Bird and headed home. We made it home just in time for the girls to take a quick, chilly, dip in the pool!

I am so thankful for my family, and even more thankful when we get to spend an afternoon like we did.  They all picked out wonderful cards for me, which again called for some tears.  My gift was an awesome digital picture frame for the wall, and a giant Hershey bar...do they know me or what?  The girls and I will be taking my mom to lunch at her favorite tea room this week, so the festivities continue!  Annie spent Mother's Day weekend with her mom and grandma camping, and had a great time, I'm sure.  We always miss her when she's not with us :)

Happy Mother's Day to all the momma's out there!

May Craziness

 I am the ever-so-proud mom to 4 amazing girls...Annie 13, Devin 5, Peyton 3, and Bristol 2.  My husband and I are sometimes lucky to just hi-five eachother prior to crashing out at the end of a successful day :)  But...we.love.it!  These girls make every day so much fun, crazy, chaotic, and full of love, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. 

May is a crazy month for us, as I'm sure it is for everyone with kids...the end of the school year, and the beginning of summer!  Devin & Peyton have their last day of preschool on Wednesday.  This year has flown by.  Devin will graduate from Pre-K on Friday night.... this is not going to go well for me.  I have a feeling I need to purchase water-proof mascara immediatley.  I just can't believe I am going to have a Freshman, a Kindergartner and a Pre-K-er...one more year with my baby before she starts preschool!

This morning, Bristol and I, were doing our typical weekday errand running.  We were returning some items to Home Depot this morning, when my phone rang....school calling.  Peyton threw up on the playground at school.  Even worse, she threw up on her friend Jackson!  After a mad dash to the school, I found her feeling  pretty much ok...no real idea what happened.  Poor Jackson :(  Guess I'll apologize to his mom in the morning!