If i had a million dollars.....

....(If I had a million dollars)I'd buy you a house(I would buy you a house)If I had a million dollars(If I had a million dollars)I'd buy you furniture for your house(Maybe a nice chesterfield or an ottoman)And if I had a million dollars.......I'd be rich. (Barenaked Ladies)

I hope those of you who know that song get it stuck in your head, i did. What would i do if i had a million dollars?? I was listening to a radio morning show after i dropped Ella off at school. I will say it is the one thing i enjoy about being up and out that early. Anyway, new research was out and the average cost for raising a child today is $220,000. Yes, that is two hundred and twenty THOUSAND dollars. I came home and found a few websites. One website even had a calculator to estimate the cost for a child given the birth year, income, parents in the household, and college preference. That calculator estimated that it would be about $340, 000 for Ben. WOW. Safe to say it will cost us maybe $300,000 per child. I couldn't think of a better way to spend a million dollars. :)

Me and my million

CHEERTASTIC

I would have written this blog over the weekend but i just could quite bring myself to relive the experience we had on Saturday. Ella started a cheerleading camp. Yes, Ella started cheerleading. Anyone who knows me knows that this was a hard things for me to do. I mean really how annoying can cheerleaders be? No offense to you cheerleaders. :) We arrive early to sign her up. She was excited enough for all of us. She got her name tag and i pulled back her hair as we waited for the class to begin. They were called to the circle to stretch. Stretching she can do. Thanks to the four hours of gymnastics a week. The teachers were just what you would expect, cheerful and loud. Trying to get Ella to be loud is a bit difficult. They learned arm movements and the names of those poses. Then they worked on two jumps. They covered a lot of ground in the basics in the 45 minutes we were there. Parents are only allowed in to watch on the first session. They are asked to wait outside or run errands from this point on. Well, except for parent helpers. Just my luck, Ella wanted me to help. I am so lucky. Why couldn't she play softball and ask me to help???? Maybe later. I turned in my parent helper sheet so I hope they will let me do registration or something unrelated to the actual cheering. All i heard Saturday afternoon and Sunday was "CHEER POSE, HIGH V, LOW V, T, BROKEN T, DAGGERS, CANDLESTICK, RIGHT DIAGONAL, LEFT DIAGONAL, TOUCHDOWN, LOW TOUCHDOWN, TUCK JUMP, SPREAD EAGLE JUMP" (the all caps would suggest the yelling of the names). Lucky me. She also required assistance from Eric and I. I will have to say i enjoyed Eric helping. It takes a great Dad to practice cheerleading moves with his daughter. As much as i dislike all the pom poms i am so excited for her. All she has talked about is cheerleading and watching her in class, it seems to suit her. :)

CHEER POSE! Hands on your hips and a smile on your lips.

Rowdy Rascals v. Light Blue Team

I would put our opponents name but i don't have a schedule so i don't know what their name is. Thursday i prayed for rain again. No luck. We arrive and get down to the field to find that only two other players showed up. At least one was Dominick so i thought we had a chance. As the game begins i realize there are Dads coaching the other team. Like, real competitive dads. Great. They were playing four on our three. Well, the little brother didn't stay on the field so it was four on two. Anyway, we were doing pretty well. They were keeping time to the second and lining up their players like pros so i was happy that we were keeping up. Jack wasn't really feeling it but did keep up. At one point Jack got the ball mid-field, this was likely due to the fact that Dominick was sitting in his Mom's lap and Jameson was peeing in the bushes. He ran it down to the goal and was so close but one of the other three boys on the other team got the ball from him. From this point forward it was all down hill. Jameson wanted to go to his car so his dad obliged. Dominick was obviously very tired. He would kick the ball a few times and then go lay on his mom. Jack was left to play himself. The other team continued to play three and sometimes four players against Jack. He tried. I think the other coaches just wanted to win but finally Melissa said we were done. We still won by one or two. That is what they get for trying to play unfair. The upside was there were enough left over treats for Ella and John to have one so all the kids got to have a treat time together. They love that. Backup plan for next week : we are putting John in the extra shirt and sending him in. At least he would stay out on the field. :)

Rowdy Rascals, Game 1

Yesterday was Jack's first soccer game. I can't say I was very excited. Unlike most of you I was praying for rain so we didn't have to go. My luck no rain. Better get it over with. I was almost positive that we would be quitting after the game. I knew those boys weren't even going to be able to participate because of their inability to stay focused and not fight with their brothers ( also on the team). I am sure I have mentioned Jack is on a team with three sets of brothers. When we arrive we are greeted by jack's coach(and babysitter), Melissa. She informs me that one of the younger boys is sick. For a bit it looked like Jack and Dominick would be the only two representing the Rowdy Rascals. Good news, here came a set of brothers. To bad it was the ones whose Mom is constantly on the field. You can tell I don't have high hopes at this point. The game begins. The other team kicks off. There they go, well the two brothers were fighting on the field and Jack just stood there in the middle of the field as of he were a spectator. HA! Dominick scored so back to the middle. Kickoff, Jack runs. I guess he just needed a refresher and was possibly checking out his opposition. Anyway, Jack kept up most of the game. He eventually started doing a backwards " victory dance" after they (by "they" I mean Dominick). Not sure how but Jack managed to score one goal! Yeah, Jack! I was so excited but I am pretty sure one of the other teams players assisted Jack. :) The other team quickly fell apart. So did ours. The two brother fought and the little one grabbed Melissa butt so the Mom finally pulled him off the field. The older one played momentarily after that. Eric quit keeping score when we were up 13 to 2. Yes, Dominick the dominator. Unfortunately I heard his mom tell him that Thursday his brother would be back and hanging all over him. Great! I see a glimmer of hope for the season.
Fingers crossed.

The County Fair

Last Friday night Eric and I went out to eat to celebrate the passing of the state inspection and then to the county fair. We were scoping it out for the kids. That should really say I wanted to ride the rides and I couldn't do that if I had the kids. Anyway, the highlight of the evening was watching sexy rexy and bobo brazil win the wrestling match. We stood and watched them tag team in a ring I was sure could collapse at any moment. In order to get the full effect we had to participate in the heckling. I shouted out a few " get him" and before I knew it Eric was yelling "drop the elbow". As spirited as we were we couldn't hold a candle to the little kids in front of us. They must have been groupies. It was almost too much fun to have in one night. Saturday we took the kids. It was the last day of the fair but wasn't very busy so it was great for the kids. I do hate it was during the day. The fair is so much more exciting under all the lights. We found the ones all the kids could ride and started there. First the carousel then the 4-wheelers. They had the most annoying horn and Jack found a way to hold down the button the entire time. I wanted to tell the girl to stop the ride so i could yank him off since he couldn't seem to hear me yelling as he passed. John wasn't tall enough for any of the other rides so while Ella and Jack rode the race cars Eric and John played a fishing game. Ella and I rode the swings together and Eric rode the parachutes with Ella and Jack. He obviously didn't realize how fast the ride went and that you also swing side to side as you go. I could hear Jack screaming with excitement as they passed. Their faces were priceless. We stop at the petting zoo where I pick up the bunny for the kids to pet. Too bad you weren't supposed to do that. How lame is it to have bunnies to pet but put up such a tall fence that only adults can reach? Around the final stretch and we find a train for John to ride. After a funnel cake, lemonade, and cotton candy we were on our way home. A great day at the county fair.

What a week

Wow. Another blog less week. It isn't for lack of things to write about. We will start with a brief recap of Jack's soccer.


Last Thursday was awful. The other boys were fighting, running around, and would in no way cooperate with Melissa. What i found the most aggravating part was that the parents really did nothing to correct their children. One set of parents found it amusing and funny that their two boys were defiant, one mother continued to chase her boys around the field, and one Dad just stood there and watched his boys fight( i am sure the mother would have stepped in). After practice i talked to Melissa about doing more disciplining of the children because there is no way they could play a game with the boys acting that way. Melissa calls over the head of the sports at the Y, E.J. Yes this is the same guy i had problems with at the sports camp. Nice guy and he knows i am serious. I explain to him my problem and he promises to come by on Tuesday to watch and have a talk with the boys if necessary. Tuesday was upon us and off we went. The worst two boys were absent but the other 4 showed up and put on a show. E.J. did come by and have a nice chat with them and they were good until he left. Then they got crazy again. There is pretty much no hope. It is amazing how the boys don't even mind their parents. Anyway, today was picture day. One of the little boys got the photographers stamp and went to town on his paper while the little brother pulled at the tripod. The photographer was not happy. We got ugly tan shirts and our team name is the Rowdy Rascals, fitting. This season stinks and we haven't even had our first game. Boo.

Notice out of the 7 players only 4 are listening, one isn't there, one is running away and one is checking out his butt!

Ella is still loving school. Last week she came home with her fundraising packet. Yes, her second full week of school and we are already fundraising. What happened to the candy bars or lollipops?? We are selling jewelry, Christmas items, and magazines. Fear not, i have mailed out of town cards so you too can make your purchases. Will you be one of the lucky recipients?? HA! She talks about Shaqwez (spelling??) a lot. I think she likes saying his name. It is pretty funny to hear. Staying busy with her gymnastics.




Jack and John are doing well without her here. They are learning how to play together without Ella mediating. I think they are going to be good friends. Both want to fill Ella's "position" while she is at school. John is not the least bit scared to fight for it. He is pretty brave to take on a guy twice his size. It is like a Chihuahua trying to take down a great dane. Good thing Jack is a lover and not a fighter.On the upside both are wanting to help me do everything so I always have an extra set of hands. Still working out the schedule. Almost there.



Ben is doing great. Really clingy right now. He loves his Mommy. Sitting up and eating stage two foods. Really getting big. I cleaned out all the 3 to 6 month clothes. We can really see his two bottom teeth now. They are sharp. I love seeing him smile.



The job is drawing to a close. Eric has to make a trip over to Raleigh and then swap somethings out in this hospital and then it will be completed. No idea when or where we will be headed next. We are just settled in here and riding it out as long as we can. The hospital is beautiful and i am so proud.



That should be a brief synopsis of the last week. I am sure there are a hundred or more funny stories that i have left out but i am just to tired and my brain is no longer functioning. I will close out with a pray list. Please remember Eric's Mawmaw, she was in the hospital with an infection and is now home and they have found a cancerous spot on her face. Pray they will get that removed and it will not cause her any other problems and that she will continue to regain her strength at home. Pray for his Uncle who had a stroke. Pray for my Grandfather as he continues to heal from his knee surgery and my Mawmaw who fell. Thankfully nothing was broken. There are many more but i will leave those unspoken. I think you could just pray for us and our families and the Lord would get us all. :) Much thanks.

Ben's 6 month check up

Ben had his 6 month check up today. Technically he is 6 months and two weeks. He weighted in at a lofty 17.5 pounds and was 28 1/4 inches long. This is about the 50th percentile for weight and 90th for height according to Dr. Gessler. In comparison to Jack and John, Ben is the same weight as Jack but 2 inches taller and Ben is 2 inches taller and 2 pounds heavier than John was at this age. John looks like such a runt but he makes up for it in his "scrapiness". Ben looked very healthy. I did have some concerns. He was rolling over from his back to his tummy all the time but lately when i lay him on the floor he is content to stay on his back. He often arches his back and pushes himself around the living room. I can lay him over the boppy to play, he can push himself up, he can sit up, and he can push himself around the kitchen in his walker (not sure this is really intentional) but rolling over isn't something i really see him do anymore. Every time i encourage (push) him, he will put out his leg in an attempt to not roll over. :) The doctor saw no problem with that. I even demonstrated the sitting and the anti-rolling over skills. He assured us that he is making progression and that is what is important. 3 shots and a oral vaccination later and we were out off there. Next check-up, 9 months.

Since Eric and i couldn't agree on which picture was better, you get both. :)

Just another manic Monday......

Well Tuesday for us. Ella was back off to school and the boys and I were at home trying to get back into our routine after the long weekend. We picked Ella up from school and started the busy afternoon that lay ahead. Dinner and then off to Jack's soccer practice. Yes, Jack is signed up for another riveting season of soccer. Same coach different teammates. This season doesn't look like it will be as great as the spring. Last season we dominated, this season we will be dominated. All boys but they seem to have a hard time following directions. One mother spent so much time on the field chasing her two boys I thought she was on the team. John played as much as he could. He followed Melissa around like he was her assistant. John and I left to take Ella to gymnastics and then back to pick up Eric, Jack and Ben. Home for baths and bed for the boys and then to Gymnastics to get Ella. Home for her bath and ready for another big day. It is hard to imagine how this will all work when all four have activities and practices. Taxis may be an option. :)

Eric and Ben were enjoying the show

Jack and John with a little one on one action

John showing off his skills

Yeah, Jack has still got it!

Snake......

Our weekend was relatively uneventful. Lots of rest and hanging out. The kids attempted to help Eric install lights under the cabinets in the garage while i slept. I think the kids did more playing than helping. Without out all the necessary supplies they came in with the intention of finishing it later. While waiting for lunch, Eric was being very thoughtful and sweeping the kitchen floor for me. I ask him why since we just bought a vacuum cleaner for the hardwood floors but he was doing it so I let him do his thing. As i am coming into the living room i hear this, kitchen door into the garage open..."AGHHAGHGHHHGHAHHHHHHHHH SHIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" kitchen door to garage door slam shut. I thought Eric might have broken a leg but then he is yelling at the kids to get back and as i am looking at him i realize he has a look of terror on his face. What could have happened? I start to laugh, "did our mouse scare you?" Eric can't seem to speak so he just shakes his head no. He finally catches his breath and says "no it wasn't a mouse, it was a snake!" followed by the full body shiver. Eric had opened the door to return something to the garage and when he opened the door our little snake friend raised his head to say hello. Eric wasn't happy to see him. It was probably a little over a foot long and a little thicker than a pencil. Looked like just a rat snake. Most likely in search of our mouse friend. The snake has been removed from the garage and Eric couldn't help but think about where else snakes could be hiding in our house and just how close had he and the kids come to the snake that morning in the garage? The lights never got installed. Good times.

Game Day!

Today is the first day of the football season! Eric can finally breathe again. He has been so excited for the games coupled with the fact that he didn't have to work today he couldn't contain himself. He got up threw on a pair of shorts and the ugliest Auburn shirt he owns. You know one of those hideously tacky bright orange ones with the eyes staring at you. I apologize to any of you who own a shirt that looks like that. Anyway, he didn't have it on long before Ben threw up all over it. I am sure he could tell it was an Auburn shirt. We knew we wanted to run some errands so i told all the kids to run up to their rooms and find anything red and white Alabama or orange and blue Auburn and put it on. They all took off. I first threw on a nice grey shirt thinking it would be a good shirt to wear but then thinking i might be mistaken for Big Al, i changed into a beautiful crimson shirt. Eric of course threw on the other tackiest shirt he owned (thanks to Mom and Dad for getting it for him for Christmas last year). The kids come down in their outfits. Ella is dressed in her Alabama cheerleader outfit. Score, 1 point for me. Jack and John in their Alabama football jerseys. Score 2 more points for me. Eric asks Jack about his allegiance to Auburn and Jack shut him down with a big Roll Tide. While i am doing my hair Eric dresses Ben in a less tacky Auburn t-shirt. I feel bad for him so i give him the baby. I am positive when he is older and can choose his outfit he will pick Alabama too. HA! In town we got a lot of looks but we had a blast. Getting the kids ready for bed and awaiting the wonderful night full of football and laughter as Eric screams at the T.V. :)

I apologize for once again posting a hundred blogs at once. Read them at your leisure. And i know some of you are probably wondering....the infamous "happy dinosaur" picture was found this morning. As Jack predicted, Eric couldn't stop laughing.

Davis Regional Medical Center

Eric's final city building inspection was last week. They passed and got the Certificate of Occupancy. Now it is just finishing up all the little stuff. Touch ups here and there. "Massaging" the building as Eric put it. State inspection is on Friday and after that it is just clearing out the trailer and fencing. Eric was told that there were no jobs starting right now but to stay here for now. Fine with us. He has to be in Birmingham at the beginning and end of October and hopes to take some vacation in between. This will be the first time Eric has been on vacation and we can't go anywhere because Ella is in school. I better get used to it i guess. Praying that the Lord will put us in the right place with a home, church and school. He hasn't failed me yet.

Ella's first week of school

This school schedule is throwing me for a loop. I like to think we are pretty flexible but I am having to get up around 5:30 a.m. I am in no way considered a morning person and Eric never thought he would see the day where i was up before him. I get up and hang out in a quite house until i have to get Ella up at 6:15. She gets up and reminds me how if i wake her up early it makes her cranky and then puts on her clothes that were laid out the night before. She comes down for breakfast and then we fix her hair and brush her teeth. Pack her snacks and then start to load the sleeping boys in the car. I try to be out by 7 or a little after. School starts at 7:30. Home to feed the boys and then we begin our day. We are ready to go get Ella about 1:45 and we wait in line until the 2:15 dismissal. Still trying to get a lunch and nap schedule in place is tricky these days.

Ella has a few stories from school. Monday she met the rest of her class. One little boy in particular has really latched on to Ella. I mean latch in the literal sense. Justin seems to hug Ella a lot. Even against her wishes. By Tuesday she had enough. She said he tries to "love up" on her all the time and he doesn't even mind in class. As she was explaining this dilemma to her dad he asked Ella " am i going to have to come down there?" and then he told Ella to tell the little boy if he didn't stop her Daddy was going to come down there and "stomp" him. That is excellent parenting. :) Turns out Ella took her Dad's advice and informed me on the way to school a few days later that she had indeed told him (in her country-est accent) "you don't won't my Daddy to come down here" and when that didn't work "my momma and daddy are gonna come down here and stomp you". Not a proud moment for me. HA! I instructed her to tell her teacher which seemed to work better. Tuesday, Ella got her new backpack. We had attempted to get her a new one of her choosing for kindergarten but because of Ella's and my indecision and my procrastination the one she wanted (along with her 2nd, 3rd, and subsequent choices) was no longer available. We were on the search again. We finally found one and ordered it. We received an e-mail two days later stating the backpack was no longer in stock. Finally we find another one. I think it is the best of all. I ordered it but refused to pay $120 to have it shipped in time for the first day of school so until it arrived Ella used her favorite travel backpack. She loves her new one. She can wear it over the shoulder and as a backpack. It isn't uncommon for her to wear it one way into to school and another when she comes out. :) Tuesday was also picture day. Too bad it was too chilly to wear the dress we spent our Sunday shopping for. When it was time to put her tennis shoes on she couldn't find them. Great! Two of my pet peeves are being late and unprepared. We were both that day. She hadn't put her shoes away and couldn't remember where she took them off. She wore flip flops even though she had P.E. that day. She got there right as class was starting. I am hoping she didn't do the cheesy smile. By Friday i think we were all tired. Her friend Terri had been out since Wednesday sick. Ella came in talking about her new boy friend, Aiden. They swung together at recess and then slid down the slide holding hands and then back to swing together. I let it slide because she was so happy she had made friends with a boy. She normally sticks with the girls. As i was telling Mom about it on the phone Ella informed me that "Shaquez is my boyfriend". I thought she said Sanchez but i was quickly corrected. It is "Shaquez"(spelling most likely wrong). Anyway, as we entered gymnastics i told Ella she didn't need a "boyfriend" she was only 5. I followed that with "you can have friends that are boys but you can't have a boyfriend until you are 16." HA! She got smiley faces everyday so this has been a great week for her. She is off Monday for the holiday. She is loving school and can't wait to get back.

Happy Birthday to me....For real

Once again i have allowed so many blogs to back up that i will have to be concise so this doesn't turn into a novel. Rewind to my birthday. Last Saturday Eric took me out. We tried out a new place, Big Daddy's. I am sure i know why they won awards for the seafood and not the steaks. Next time i will stick to the seafood. :) The company was good so it made it a nice dinner. Off to check out a band. Eric was pretty stoked even though he tried to act like he wasn't. The Part-Time Blues Band was playing at Queens Landing right on Lake Norman. Eric had checked their website and everything. Classic Rock was their style and so we went. After hanging around the entrance debating we decide to go in. Too bad we hadn't made that decision before all the chairs disappeared. No biggie. Found a wall and sat to enjoy the show. In the hour and a half we were there i knew one song and Hoochie Cootchie Man wasn't it. I can't say that they played the entire time we were there. They took about a half hour or longer break. I am convinced they had to check in with the nursing home. By 10:30, old people were really getting down so we called it a night. It was super fun (funny) watching the dancing. I can definitely say they were "part-time" and when they said classic they really meant CLASSIC. I am always grateful that i have a husband who tries to do nice things for me even if it doesn't turn out so great. Sunday, was my actually birthday. Thank you for all the phone calls. I wasn't feeling well but we ventured down to the mall just to spend some time together and to find Ella a "picture day" outfit. I strolled through Anthropologie and all seemed right with the world. HA! After a ice cream and cookie break we were off to Old Navy still in search of an outfit for Ella. We did find her a dress at Old Navy so we came home and prepared for the first full week of school. 27 is going to be a great year.