10 Things Tuesday

Posted on August 19, 2014 by Sheila

1. I am enjoying our vacation this week at Cherry Grove SC. I do wish that Amanda could join us for a couple of days.

2. Unfortunately, we have shared a nasty cold. Kendall is working on day 5, Matt on day 4, Lily on day 2 and Zach started today. The good news is that we are still enjoying the beach just for shorter period of time and with lots of medicine.

3. Because of the cold, everyone took a nap today. The little kids all slept for almost 3 hours and went to bed tonight early so hopefully they will feel much better in the morning.

4. This morning on a hour long walk on the beach, we found some of the largest shells I have ever found. Zach and I found one that is as wide as his hand and as tall as my hand. He carried it the whole time and then when we came inside gave it to me “cause I love you!”

5. The tide is on a very wired this year. It is going out till around 10am and by 3pm there is no beach left. Because the kids are early riser, we are still enjoying 5 hours and making lots of sand structures.

6. We were able 2 see live star fish and a live crab this morning as well.

7. Kendall found 3/4 of a sand dollar. This is the only “broken” shell they are allowed to keep!

8. Last night, Monday, we went to the Pirate’s Voyage” It was crazy expensive but we all enjoyed the food and the show. It was amazing!

9. This year, Zach is such a different child. He is getting really brave on the boogie board and is playing alone in the sand and ocean!

10. The condo has both a dishwasher and washer/dryer. I brought paper plates so we have yet to run the dishwasher but have washed 10 loads of clothes all ready.

10 Things Tuesday

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Sheila

Decided to join Carla over at her blog for this 10 Things Tuesday.

We had our last “swim meet” of the year today. Next Saturday, we will participate in our county swim meet. I am really glad to see the kids all enjoying a sport that encourages physical activity.
Both Lily and Kendall attempted to swim the “butterfly” stroke today, unfortunately both were disqualified because of their feet but I am so very proud of them for trying! Lily is now able to swim all four strokes, in fact she earned a first place in the breast stroke today!
My work schedule this week is awesome, I get to work a day and have a day off.
Today, I spent the majority of the day running errands for the kids. Our stops included the orthodontist for Lily, Public library, Education store in town, piano lessons and finally the swim meet.
Lily and Kendall both have become excellent readers this summer. They are spending about an hour each day reading for pleasure! Kendall has been work on the” Junie B Jones” series. At the library today, we were able to find another 10 of these chapter books for her to read! Lily is reading a series called “Baby Sitter Club” in addition to some of Laura Ingles Wilder books!
The stop at the Education store today has been the excitement. The kids enjoyed a train table and shopping area while I was in search of some Math work books. I am really disappointed to not be able to find a work book of addition and subtraction problems on a first grade level. I will be using flash cards instead to work on this skill.
I made a quick trip to CVS tonight after reading about a great deal on Pantene Hair products. I was able to purchase 9 bottle of shampoo for $10.03 including tax. This is great timing as we were running low on shampoo!
The little kids have been attending Vacation Bible School at my brother’s church this week. The church is providing a meal for them each night. Because of this we are still eating leftovers from Kendall’s party. I hope this will help to reduce our overall grocery budget for the month as well!
Matt was able to make some repairs to my car last week and it is currently driving like when we first bought it. The even better news is that he spent half of what we had originally thought the repair would cost.
This weekend marks the anniversary of Amanda’s accident and Remington death I know that it will be hard for both of the older girls so prayers are appreciated.

Kendall’s Party- Part 2 “The Fun”

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Sheila

Watch this jump!

Getting ready for cake

Opening presents is fun!

Kendall read each card aloud!

Sam did not know this was taken but he really is an awesome life guard and the kids love him!

Thanks to Mr.Tim for helping with the grilling!

Granny and Paw Paw watching!

Amanda and my niece “E” do you think they are related? Personally I think they both look like their Granny.

Busiest Day of School

Posted on June 14, 2014 by Sheila

Wednesday, June 11th, was quite possibly the busiest day of the school year for us. It was also the last full day of school. I knew in advance that I would not be able to attend all the festivities, due to the implementation of a new computerized medical records system at my work. I had asked Amanda to help out and she did. I was so thankful! First thing in the morning was the Awards Assembly for 3rd and 4th graders. Matt, myself, Zach and Kendall all attended to watch Lily. She was able to achieve “A” honor roll for both the 4th quarter and all year!

Brooke, my niece, who is 9 months older than Lily also made both a Honor Rolls.

Next Kendall had a “Fiesta” for the entire Kindergarten Group and Lily had a class party. Zach and Matt went to the class party that was themed “The Awards” . In Lily’s classroom, they have been doing a movie theme all year. The invitations were to come and watch your child walk the “red Carpet”. Here are some pictures to enjoy.

Amanda attended the Fiesta with Kendall and joined her for lunch. After lunch, Matt, Zach and Lily were able to attend Kendall’s class party. So as you can tell I was really not missed at all.

Wordless Wednesday

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Sheila

A good view of our most recent family pictures~

Random Tuesday Thoughts 5/6

Posted on May 6, 2014 by Sheila

Life is going at its usual hectic pace around here so this is the prefect way to update with things going on.

The highlight of the last week and most like of the entire month if not the entire year was the Christian music concert that Matt, myself and the little kids attended on Sunday. It was outside at our fairgrounds. We were able to see several bands including The Newsboys. It was awesome, we all enjoy! One of the surprising things is that we were all able to wear matching shirts that we purchased for our last trip to Disney, 3 years ago! I am going to try to post some of the picture tomorrow. We had awesome seats that left me with ringing ears.
This weekend, I am planning on a yard sale at my BFF house. The goal of any yard sale is to make $100 and I hope to exceed this goal. All proceeds will go toward cheerleading for the next year as both girls plan to be involved. I have a good idea of the money that will be needed in the next six months and it will be a huge stretch but as always God will provide!
Our square foot garden is growing. I was able to plant with the help of the kids the sweet potatoes last week. I hope that by the end of May we will be able to enjoy the fruits of our labor! One thing that the kids are really enjoying is each planted their own square of green beans. So far Kendall and Lily are tied for most plants growing.
Both Amanda and Haley will be starting or have started new jobs this month. I praying that they both enjoy working and can begin to save and get on a good financial track.
Last Saturday, I spent most of the morning weeding the flower beds around the house I am excited that the new flower bed we created in front of the house is growing.
The end of the school year is fast approaching with it comes lots of year-end events. Unfortunately, at work we getting a new computer system the last week of the school year. I am being faced with some very tough decision about which activities to attend.
May is going to be a super expensive month but Matt has another new website on the horizon so I hope this will help offset the cost.

End of an Era— Potty Training Ends!

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Sheila

I am so excited, the biggest and best milestone has occurred at my house. Zach is finally completely potty trained even at night. This means that I have bought my last pull up/diaper EVER! Let me repeat after 8 consecutive years of buying diapers/pull-ups I AM FINISHED!

Each of my children has been very different in regards to potty training. Both Amanda and Haley, were completely trained before they were 2 years old. In fact, I think I remember Haley being trained before 18 months. Lily was also a very early trainer, I distinctly remember that she was completely out of diapers/pull ups prior to Kendall’s birth. Lily was 2.5,when Kendall was born. Kendall does everything on her own terms. The last time she wore a pull up was during our Disney trip in April 2011. I seriously debated keeping her in pull ups during the day at Disney but she refused! Kendall was 33 months old during this trip.

Then we have Zach, he currently is 4 .5 years old. He has been trained during the day for a year but continued to pee regularly at night. We finally decided that we had to get serious. So we made him wear underwear to bed. To our surprise and amazement, he did not pee the first night but did the second night. Our strategy worked and less than 3 weeks later, he has had only 2 accidents at night!

Join me in my happy dance!

December 26th – A Day of Reflection

Posted on December 26, 2013 by Sheila

On Christmas Eve, I received a phone call that provided proof of how busy this fall has been. The portrait studio called to remind me that I could pick up my pictures. “You must have the wrong person” was my first reply. After a couple of confirmation questions, I realized they were talking about Zach’s birthday pictures that we had made the first week of September. I honestly had completely forgotten about them. If you know me or have seen the inside of my house or even “enjoyed” my wordless Wednesday post you realize, I love pictures, to completely forget about pictures is not something I would normally do. We just have stayed extremely busy with all kinds of activities. This phone call proved what I had already decided to do for Christmas, enjoy some quiet relaxing non busy time at home.

I am glad to report that this has been a success. The plan for today is a little shopping and dinner with friends but in reality if I ended up at home until time for dinner so be it.

Christmas Eve was spent catching up on some chores and make breakfast for the next several morning. Amanda and Scott arrived at noon, some opening of presents and a quick trip to Walmart, resulting in all the kids enjoying new toys for an hour. My dad called and we left to go over for my family celebration. It was fun and relaxed with lots of laughing and some more gifts. I can’t forget the traditional game of Rook, that was won by myself and my brother! The kids were exhausted and all asleep early by 7:45pm.

Christmas Day was even less eventful. We did awake early, Santa had arrived! Another area that has been successful this year is we greatly scaled down Christmas. The little kids received one gift from Santa; Zach a drum set and headphones, Kendall and Lily both American girl dolls. Stockings had candy only. In addition, each had 2 additional presents from us, one from Grandpa Abbott and one from Aunt Deanna under the tree. But the lack of 6-10 gifts a piece was not noticed. We had a quick easy breakfast of bagels with the entire morning spent playing with the toys. The little kids have been the most engaged and happy I can remember. Amanda is working today but checked in this morning and Haley stayed till breakfast. She has spent the rest of the day celebrating with her Dad’s family. Everyone, well except Matt, stayed in pajama’s all day and alternated playing together and alone.

I can honestly say this has been one of the best most relaxing Christmas’s in memory.