Christmas

This year we had a really fabulous christmas! We opted to stay home Christmas day and it was GREAT! No running around from house to house with tired over stimulated kids! It was nice to let the kids just play with their new toys all day. We instead invited people to come here and enjoy dinner with us. Nick, Tina, kaytee, Jerry & Glenna all came over and the kids were really excited to give them the gifts they bought them with my dad. I love to watch them show as much excitment in giving as they do in recieving. As far as recieving goes, I am pretty sure the kids got just about everything they wanted...besides the puppy Alyssa has been begging for! ryan got his PS3, a video camera, a bike, and more. Alyssa got a keyboard, DSi, Wii games and more. Chloe got a baby doll set, dollhouse, ball pit, and more. They got Alot of great things this year! JR and I got a laptop from my wonderful mom!!! LOVE IT! JR got me and Ipod touch that I am in looooove with. I got him tony hawk ride (not sure he likes it) We also got some gift cards.

Better than gifts was just the pure joy of watching my kids sooooo excited with anticipation! Ryan woke up at a little after 2 am and we werent even asleep yet. Alyssa was up at about 5 and we all got up. She was so excited and kept yelling "santa came!!!" It was adorable. We have all just been lounging around and not doing a whole lot of anything except for JR who is back to work. I really need to get back on track and get the house in order. I need to find a place for all this new stuff.

I am really looking forward to 2 more weeks of the kids being home from school...hopefully we can go do something fun.

Cheer Parade

So Alyssa is done with cheerleading and to finish it off they had a performance in the San Bernardino christmas parade. It was so cute and my little girl made me so proud. She doesnt really like cheerleading all that much but I made her finish out the class because her costume was expensive and I wasnt going to let it go to waste. Even tho she wasnt into it like I was hoping, she really gave it her all. I think she is just a natural performer in whatever she does. She was out there with the biggest smile on her face, yelling louder than anyone and proved that she had really learned her routine. I was PROUD!!!! We were all bummed that JR had to work but we kept him updated with lots of pictures :) It was a fun day and I am SO proud!!!

Thanksgiving and more

So Thanksgiving has come and gone. It was really nice this year. We decided to stay home and do our own turkey dinner and I loved it. It was alot of work but so worth it not having to go anywhere or deal with anyone we didnt want to. I am a little bummed because I didnt end up getting many pictures :( It was just busy busy. The kids didnt seem to mind that we stayed home like I thought they might so we may be doing this again next year...who knows. I am sure we will catch crap about it but I dont care :) I am so tired of worrying about everyone else. What matters most is my little family and what works best for us. Anyways, it was NICE!

I so enjoyed having the kids home for the week and I was sad to send them off to school today. I cant wait for christmas break!

I went shopping for black friday and I am SO glad I did. This year toys R Us opened at midnight so I met Cinthia and Marty out there at 10 and we waited for it to open. I was able to get almost everything I wanted and then some!! The only thing that sucked was standing in line to pay for 3 looooong hours!!!! After that we got some starbux and I headed home to get JR and we went to Walmart and Target. I was focused on some big ticket items this yr so I missed out on some smaller stuff I really wanted to get. But I was able to get the stuff that mattered the most and my kids will be SO happy Christmas morning!!! It was alot of fun and so worth pulling an all nighter, beyond sore feet, and still trying to catch up on sleep. I will be doing it again next yr for sure!!!

We are now on the Christmas countdown. Tree is up and the house is 90% decorated. I'm working on it but its not easy when Chloe and Alyssa cant stop playing with everything and my garage is full of boxes from my grandma that I am trying to find the time to go thru. It will get done...eventually :)

There is alot coming up so I plan to update often. Here are some pics from thanksgiving and tree decorating...

some pictures of halloween

well i suck at this....

So much time has passed since my last post. I seriously suck at blogging!!!! Lets see, alot has happened since May which is when I last posted, I think. The kids both started school. Ryan started middle school and Alyssa started Kindergarten. Both are doing well although Ryan seems to be having a little bit of a struggle. Its a whole new world for him and I suppose he needs some time to settle in and get adjusted. Alyssa has jumped right in to kinder with no problems at all. She absolutely LOVES school!!!! She doesnt want to miss a second of it, thats for sure!

JR started a new job....so far so good. FULL hours and some overtime...nice!

We had a loss in our family. My Grandma passed away. My kids were not especially close to her and they dont really understand death all that much. Well, Ryan does I think but Alyssa and Chloe are obviously clueless!! Ryan has experienced quite a bit of death in our family (JRs side) I will miss my Grandma very very much. I wish my kids could have been closer to her.

Chloe turned 2! My baby is getting big FAST! She is such a blessing. I couldnt imagine a minute without her. I thank God everyday for my little surprise!!!

Halloween has come and gone. The kids had a good time I think. Alyssa was soooo excited and Chloe was curious. Ryan wanted to hang out with his friend and scare ppl while JR and I took the littles trick or treating. Different, but he is getting older :( Ryan was a scary, bloody doctor, Alyssa was Hanna Montana (again), and Chloe was a ladybug...sooooo adorable! Next yr will be alot of fun I think since Chloe will be older.

Here we are in November....its almost Thanksgiving! We are staying home this year. Just layiong low and enjoying our family. Counting our blessing. I am looooving this life :)

Lots of good stuff coming up....I will get better at this blogging....i will!!!

Where do I start??

I suck at this blogging thing!!! Seriously its been several months since I posted anything on here. I guess I will go back to June. Ryan graduated 5th grade. Its bittersweet for me. Watching my son grow into an amazing young man is exciting. I love watching him grow more confident and sure of who he is BUT its also hard to see my baby boy growing up and getting closer to 18!!! oh how i dread that day!! Anyways, the graduation was great! The 5th grade classes all sang songs (which made me cry) and then were presented with awards. He ended up getting honor roll and I am so proud of him! He worked hard and was dedicated and achieved his gold. Proud mama here!! After the ceremony we headed to lunch with papa and called daddy to tell him how everything went. We were all sad that he couldnt be there with us :( After luch we went home and got ready to head to the park for his graduation party that he was sharing with his fellow 5th graders. They had a great time!! It was a very fun day and the end of a chapter....but the beggining of another one :)



Alyssa also graduated preschool. It too was a bittersweet day. I was very sad for her to leave her school. I felt like she was safe and was learning so much about GOD and I looooved that!! her teachers were amazing and she still talks about them often. She misses them very much. For her graduation they sang us songs and then we had some yummy desserts. Her teachers made a memory book of the year and it was one of the best gifts I have ever recieved. it was simple but had pictures of all the events throughout the year. Its very special ans i will trasurer it forever!!!

Alyssa and no training wheels

For a long time now I have been thinking Alyssa was ready to learn to ride with no training wheels but time just gets away from us. Monday afternoon we finally did it and took the kids up to the school parking lot so Alyssa could learn to ride. I was super impressed! That girl got on a rode like a pro!!!! She didnt fall once! It was soooo cute!! We plan to go up to the school alot this summer and let the kids play since there is so much room. My little girl makes me proud!

Ryans Birthday and our loooong fun weekend!!

So last weekend was ALOT of fun. Ryan celebrated his 11th birthday last Friday and I think it was a great one. He had a couple friends spend the night and yeah, that was CRAZY!!! The boys ended up staying up all night long!!! They had alot of fun tho and we didnt have one issue. They even tried to stay in the tent out back and actually lasted until 4 am. It was a fun time for sure and I am glad we did that instead of a big party.

On Sunday we went to papas house for a bbq/birthday party and that was fun too. It was pretty kick back and nice to just chill. Of course my kids were filthy dirty by the time we left and Alyssa took a mud bath when we got home but it was fun. Ryan ended up with something like 330 bucks for his birthday this year....by far the most he has even recieved. He bought some stuff and he still has a little money left over....hopefully he will save it!!

Monday, I was extremely tired and we just stayed home and chilled out. This Fibro is kicking my ass and its getting so hard to do the normal things I used to do soooo easily!! I have to find a way.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend :)

Updates

So lets see....whats been going on with us? Not a whole lot actually!! We have been taking a break from outside activities for awhile now to focus on our family. I would like for us to spend more time together and thats what we have been doing and its great!! The other night we played scrabble and monopoly and it was alot of fun. I would like to have a dedicated family night again like we once did so we are going to start that up. I just need to figure out what day will work best and put it on the calendar!!

Ryan is doing great and is almost done with elementary school :( I cannot believe my baby boy is sooooooo big now. I can still remember his first day of Kindergarten. I cried all the way home, went to my friends house and cried my eyes out, and watched the clock slowly pass time. It was hard for me. At that time he was my only child and I didnt want to let him go even for a second!!! He did amazing and didnt seem to care lol. Since then I have watched him grow from a shy little boy to a confident outgoing young man and I am very proud of him!!! I know he will do well in middle school but that first day is going to be very hard for me :( Its hard to let go.
In just a couple days my son will be 11 yrs old...wow!! Needless to say he is super excited and is forever talking about buying a car. I keep telling him to slow it down!!!!

Alyssa is doing good. I cant believe she is 5 already. That little girl truly amazes me. She is smart as can be and I am in awe of her. I watch her play and listen to her words and she is really someone special. She has a gift. She will be graduating preschool on June 9th. I think that might be a hard day for her. She truly looooves her school and its going to be hard to say goodbye. It will be hard for me too because this school has done so much for her and I am very grateful. Today she brought home this alphabet book that she made and she practically didnt put it down all night. It was cute. She said she wants to keep it forever and ever. I love her innocence.

Chloe is amazing. She is for sure my baby girl. Her smile lights up my life!!! She is just pure joy. She is however getting into that little stage we call the terrible 2's. So far it hasnt been bad but there have been a few huge fits and some obvious defiant behavior (which secretly makes me laugh) Shes a really bright little girl and is already trying to potty train. She loves to sit on the potty and will pretty much sit there as long as I let her.

What can I say, my kids are amazing :)

Crazy

Thats how I feel these days. Completely exhausted and emotionally drained!!!!!!! My mom has been really sick and last week we spent the night in the ER and she has pneumonia. She is slowly getting better. This past Monday, my mom was not feeling better so we decided to head out to urgent care. When I picked up Ryan from school he had this really strange rash on his arms and it was hot and burning so I decided since we were going I might as well have him checked out. Then I figured since we would be there anyway maybe they could check Chloe. I thought maybe she had an ear infection.

So, they checked Ryan and the Dr had no clue so they had to draw some blood...his very first time ever! I thought he would freak but he was calm about it. Lucking for both of us I wasnt in the room when they drew the blood :) Although I am kinda bummed I missed it....i would have liked to take a picture!! The blood came back normal but we still dont know what it is. They put him on antibiotics and gave him a cream. He cant use the cream tho because it burns....hopefully it will clear up soon. Its the mystery rash!!!!

SO, they checked Chloe and the Dr said her ears were fine but she sounded wheezy and wanted to do a chest x-ray. They found out she has pneumonia :( SHe didnt even seem that sick! They gave her breathing treatments and of course meds to take home. She has to have a treatment every 4-6 hours. She is doing alot better!!!! SHe isnt eating but is drinking so thats good. The meds she is on are very strong so they are causing her tummy issues which is giving her a painful diaper rash but I am very happy that we caught the pneumonia early and that she should be back to her normal self really soon!!!

I am starting to get sick too...well I am all the way sick. But its not too bad. I am trying to push thru it. I dont have time to be sick!!!!!! I cant wait for everyone to be well and all this stress to be over. I am really tired!

Student of the month

So my superstar son got student of the month!! yay Ryan. My kid rocks :) He is such a good kid and I just love him SO much! I cant believe how big he is getting...time is flying by. He sure does make me proud!

Allergies

So Alyssa had he appointment yesterday and she was tested for 20 of the most common allergies and she was negative. Thats great! We still dont know why she is getting the eczema but its actually doing well with the aveeno and they gave me new cream for her face so hopefullt it will work. I think the winter is really bad for her so thats why it was getting worse. I am glad we have it under control now. As for allergies, the Dr said that it wouldnt really affect her behavior even if she did have them. She said that eliminating certain foods like sugar and red dye could be a trigger but thats not considered an allergy. We are planning to do this soon. We are actually all going to follow the feingold diet which has been very effective for kids with ADHD. It will be hard for all of us but it will also be good for us. I decided we should all do it because I dont think its fair for Alyssa to have to eat everything seperate from us and plus it will be healthier for all of us. The kit is around 100 bucks so I will have to figure out when we can squeeze that in the budget. Its not going to be easy now that JRs hours are cut but its a neccesity so we will make it work.
Alyssa has a Dr appt with her regular ped in a couple weeks for a behavior consult. I dont think its going to do any good. Most peds dont diagonse this young and honestly I have brought it up before and was told I need to parent different. Whatever!!! I am far from perfect but I know her behavior is not because of the way we are parenting. I am sure there are things we can learn to help but her behavior is out of control. Her teacher seems to think she is fine...hyper but not ADHD. I would agree is she saw her more than 6 hours a week. Anyways, we have a very long road ahead of us. I am going to do whatever it takes to help my baby girl!!!!!

A visit with Great Grandma

My grandma is not doing so well these days so Alyssa and I decided to drive out to see her yesterday. It was a nice visit!! I only wish I would have visited her more in the past few years. I want my kids to know her better and I really love visiting with her. So I plan to visit at least once a month and send her more cards and pictures. Alyssa had fun even though there wasnt much to do. She chased grandmas kitties, ate and apple (shocking!) and colored LOTS of pictures. I am glad we had that time with her and I hope for much more time!!!

whats up with us??

Once again I have slacked! I will get better at this. Time has a way of escaping me.....my life is a bit crazy lol. So what have we been up to??

Ryan~ He is no longer doing travel ball. Hes pretty upset about it but it was too much for him. Hes been a pitcher for a long time and his arm is just SHOT!!! He is taking a much needed break and we are trying to decide if we are going to try spring ball. He really wants to play baseball in middle school and/or highschool so he wants to save his arm as much as he can. Hes already had some injuries to his knee and also has some issues with his feet...they are flat and it makes running and even walking painful. Time will tell. Maybe he will get into something else while he is taking a break....who knows. As far as school is concerned, he is doing well. He likes it and is looking forward to his science project.

A week or so ago I took him for a new eye exam since he has been complaining about not being able to see far away. He was already diagnosed as being farsighted and wore glasses for reading but this dr said he is definately nearsighted and needs everyday glasses. He didnt seem to mind and picked out a nice pair and I had the pleasure of paying the huge cost!!! I think he forgot them today tho!!!


Alyssa~ What can I say about my Alyssa??? Sooooo much going on with my baby girl. My heart is breaking for her. I hate to see my little girl go thru anything hard in life. I just want her to live a very happy life. Its going to be a long hard road for her. One thing we are dealing with is eczema....which I think I have somewhat under control. I started using aveeno oatmeal bath, body wash and the lotion. It has really cleared her body up. He face is another story. Still trying to figure that out. We have an appt next week with an allergist so maybe we will get some answers. I hope so. We are also dealing with the very real possibility that Alyssa has ADHD. I have thought this for the past year. I have gone back and forth about it. I am convinced she does have it and I am moving forward to help her live with it....to help us all live with it. Its very very stressful on our family. There are alot of options but right now medication is not one of them. I have found a program that I believe will help her and even tho its going to cost alot, I believe it will help and its the natural way. I think our whole family will follow it and we will all benefit. There is going to be major changes in our family but I see only good things coming from it!!!! Time will tell :) I am hopeful for her and our family and excited to get things going.

On a lighter note. Alyssa will start cheerleading tonight. Yay! We have been waiting for nearly a month and its finally time. She will also start gymnastics again soon. I found a more affordable gymnastics program for her that I hope will also be a little more active. She loves gymnastics but I felt I was paying tooooo much money for not enough activity. I also found a fun acting kinda class that we may do.....maybe later in the year. There are some other things we are trying but I will save that for another time.

Chloe~ Oh my baby girl. My JOY!!!!! She is getting so big. Here are some things she loves to do:

Flips like her big sister
She does the $5 dollar subway commercial with Alyssa and it cracks me up!
She picks her nose ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
loves to pose for pictures
plays with hotwheels and makes car sounds
loves to push her baby in the stroller and feed her a bottle
loves to scream when getting her diaper changed
loves to blow kisses by putting on finger in her mouth and pulling it out
love to give random kisses and hugs out of the blue
LOVES to sit on my lap so I can read to her
loves to play outside
loves to draw!!!! just like big sister
love to say "mine" to everything she touches!!!!

Thats just a few....more to come.