GO ME!!! THIS IS JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG!!!

So, everyone knows that I am loving going to the gym and today I have to do some bragging.....I have lost a total of 5 lbs!!! YEA~~~ I really needed to see that today. I have really been trying hard to stay focused as well as stay positive, but when you watch things like "The Biggest Loser" it makes it hard.
I guarantee if all I had to do was eat right and exercise as much as I wanted I would be skinny in no time!! The day to day life worries come in to play and you realize that you can't remember when the last time you ate exactly what you were supposed to. Anyway I am really thinking this is just the tip of the iceberg on the weight loss issue. Thanks to all of you for being so encouraging!

Caden, Jen's son, is spending the night this evening while she goes in to have surgery tomorrow, so please keep her in your prayers. She is having a stint put in one of her kidneys so that she will be able to pass some stones easier. She is such a trooper to have passed several of these on her own...I am such a weenie that there is no way I could have ever done that. Anyway, Caden is having a blast with all of the kiddos. And if Keely will leave him alone he might could play with everyone else.....she has been showing him everything out here. I even ventured in to United earlier with all 5 kids....the looks from everyone were priceless!!

STRESSED OUT!!!

I have figured out what to do when I am stressed......last night I had a lot on my mind when I took Tyler to the park for Football practice, so I decided that I would just walk around on the side walk a time or two until I felt a little bit better. Besides I was going to the gym in a couple of hours anyway, so I would get my "true" work out there. Well, one lap turned into 11...yes that is right 11 which means in an hour and half I walked 5 1/2 miles! I was talking on the phone most of the time venting and what not so time just flew by.(thanks Amanda for lending me your ear!) Then I got in the car and thought "yeah, I think I'll for go the trip to the gym and go home and take a long hot bath". I had no idea how much exercising can truly be a stress reliever. Who would have thought that I would embrace the whole idea of getting sweaty???

Eric is still gone and man oh man I really miss him this week. I am ready to see his sweet smiling face that lights up the room.

Prayer Request:
Eric's dad, Billy, is having a colonoscopy done on Monday. We are all feeling a little anxious about the results. Please prayer that it goes really well for him and all of our worries are put to rest. Also, prayer for my sister and Cannon, my nephew, that everyone gets over the awful stomach bug that they have all had. My friend, Jenifer has 2 kidney stones and is in A LOT of pain right now...she will see an urologist today, so please pray that he is able to give her some answers to relieve this horrible pain.

**Ok, seriously none of you have stepped up to the plate on the talking me thru drinking all of the nasty tasting junk before my testing???? I can't imagine why no one would want to do that?

On to another subject:
I have watched Bishop TD Jakes before on TV, but never really got that into it. But he has a new book out that I can't wait to read...It is called Repositioning your Life(??). I can't wait for this winter when you can curl up in bed and it is cold outside and get down into a really good "can't put it down" book. Does anyone have any suggestions??

Well, I have rambled on for awhile and now hear the girlies talking to one another in bed, so I better get off here and get on Mom patrol. I hope you all have a wonderful blessed day!

FREE AT LAST!!!!

Were are now finally pacifier FREE!!!! YEA!!! The girls are 17 months and ever since they were probably oh let's see ummm 6 months old I have wanted to get ready of that stinkin' pacifier!
Monday night I put them to bed without their pacifiers and of course there was lots of crying, but they finally gave up and went to sleep....BUT Keely decided that Maggie needed one in the middle of the night, so she got up, got Maggie and put her in bed with her along with a pacifier. So, then all day Tuesday I preceded to find every single pacifier and throw them all away so that Keely would not even have the option. Needless to say we had about 25 of those boogers around here. Marlee and Maggie did just fine Tuesday and today I can report that they don't even realize what they are missing. We had to complete this task before Daddy got home....he never wants to hear them cry and honestly thinks that we will just deal with the "no pacifier thing" later even if that meant trying to wean them off of it at 5 yrs old. ;-)

Ty had his game today and did so wonderful again!!! The girls and I had to watch from the car because it was so hot out in the sun.

Eric will leave to go out of town again tomorrow after Ty's game...This has been the shortest weekend ever!!

WE SURVIVED!!

So, we survived the week without Eric. He is taking his test right now and will soon be on his way home. YEA!!! Everyone has missed him so much this week.

I took the girls to the fair with Jennifer, Keri & her friend Melissa along with all of our kiddos....man what a sight!! We had such a good time and honestly think we have to all get together more often. While we were there I picked up Sean(Amanda's son); he is such a good little boy. The kind that you almost don't even realize that you have another kid with you, because he is just that good.
Tyler is supposed to go this evening with a friend and honestly that completely FREAKS me out to have him go to the Fair at night without me. I know that he is growing up and I have to let go, but seriously....he is still my baby!!!

I have to get ready to head to the gym, so that is all for now.

A LOT of EVERYTHING!

So, I know that I have completely let down all of my fellow bloggers with my lack of blogging lately........Please forgive me that this one is about a lot of different things that have been going on.

Keely:
Well, remember me saying that 3 out of the 4 were sick....I spoke too soon. I received a phone call from the school on Monday afternoon that Keely had fallen in a hole and "broke her foot". But remember that at home I still have 3 kids sick and Eric is at work, so I went and got her, brought her back home and called the doctor to see if she would just call in orders to the hospital for an X-Ray. Thank goodness that our doctor is so understanding and totally gets the whole concept of having more than just one kid. She called in the orders and when Eric got home I took her to hospital. Luckily!!!! It was not broke....and since Keely has no emotion about things, it is hard to tell how bad something is hurting her. Anyway to make a long story short the doctor and I agreed that since she had sprained her foot it would probably be the best idea to sit this soccer season out. Which Keely honestly didn't even act like it fazed her one bit. But other than that she is doing really well.

Tyler:
Tyler had his first game on Saturday and did GREAT!!! His love for Football has grown so much since last season. He is truly loving the game now. I was just glad that he was able to get over the Viral infection that he had earlier in the week so that he could play in the first game. He survived with only a jammed finger!! YEA!!! All of the girls are Tyler's cheerleaders so I made them little jerseys with his number on the back.....they all looked so cute.

Marlee & Maggie:
The girlie's are finally well and back to their ornery selves. Maggie has started talking a lot more and tells me that she is "done" all of the time. "I done!" "I done!" And then of course Marlee is such the ham that she is constantly wanting me to sing to her...our new song is "Little Bunny FuFu". She really amazes me with all of the motions that she knows.

Eric:
Eric is off to Kansas City, MO for the week. He is taking a class for work at the local college up there. He will come in late Friday night and then have to leave for Oklahoma on Sunday afternoon to be gone another week. Please join me in praying for a safe trip with out any worries and also that he is able to take this course and pass it with "flying colors". He is so smart and always does so good with stuff like this, but has been so stressed out lately that I am hoping that it doesn't interfere with this class.

Me:
Okay, enough about everybody else lets talk about me...HA HA!!! I love going to the gym!!! Can you believe that those words actually came out of my mouth?? I was able to go and work out all last week and then even got the opportunity to get to work out with Jen on Friday. I honestly couldn't do any of this with out the great motivation from Keri. She is so awesome at keeping you wanting to achieve more and more. Thanks, SIS!!!
We went to church this morning and I had invited Tyler's football coach and his wife to come with us and they came!!! It was friend day and what a blessing to see this very sweet couple come with their whole family. The church had a big meal afterwards and everyone was able to stay and eat. I truly thank God for placing us at Plum Creek...not only do we get to worship our Saviour, but we have the most awesome opportunity to do it with our wonderful family. God has just blessed me in more ways than are imaginable.

Here are some pictures of the game on Saturday:

Marlee

Maggie
Cute Jersey
Tyler is the one running with the mud all over the front of his pants.
Tyler...Great game boy!!!
~~~~~~~~~~

3 out of 4 are SICK!!!

So, when you have this many kids and it is the beginning of cold season you are bound and determine to have at least one kiddo sick.
Marlee woke up yesterday morning with a high fever, cough and couldn't talk....she would try but nothing would come out. At noon our doctor's office was having clinic, so luckily I was able to get her in....she has a viral infection, but sounds horrible. Then of course I come home and notice that Tyler has red checks and his voice is sounding weird. Which for him that would mean Strep Throat!!! He was the only one last time who didn't end up with it, so that would be about right. :) Anyway, he insisted that he was NOT sick and that I had just completely lost my mind, but this morning I woke up to him crawling in bed with me saying that "Momma my throat hurts and I think that I have a fever." And then Maggie is still having the lingering cough and runny nose, so this morning I have used a whole can of Lysol on my house AGAIN and bleached everything in sight to try to get us all over this junk. This is just the beginning I am sure of what is to come this Winter. I guess you just have to take it in stride and always remember it could be so much worse. Oh, and believe it or not Keely is the well and doing just fine right now.

Friday I went to see Dr. Ellington a gastroenterologist about my stomach issues. He feels like that since I have been battling these issues for awhile that I probably have IBS. Aren't I so lucky to have that diagnosis?? It sounds so sexy I know....You are all jealous and wish that you could be like me, but that is not all of it. I have to have a sonogram of my gallbladder, since I have been having some higher abdominal pain, and an upper & lower GI done. Seriously I just wanted a pill that would make me have some regular poops and low & behold I end up with the whole battery of test for intestinal, colon & stomach issues. But I guess if this gets me back to "normal" I can't complain. Who wants to sit on the phone with me and talk me thru drinking all of that junk before the GI???? Anyone....Anyone???? It sounds so exciting, so make sure and mark your calender for October 8th...6:00PM.

I hope that you all got a great laugh at this, because at this point that is all there is left to do. Have a blessed weekend!!!

Oh, and I almost forgot I got my hair cut on Friday as well as joined the gym....I love my hair and I hope you are sitting down...I LOVED working out. I was sore the next day, but truly loved everything about it. I haven't ever even been in a gym, so it was really exciting for me to get to see all of the neat machines. And thanks to Keri I have a great motivator to want to be healthier and not so out of shape.

WE GOT BANGS!!!!!

I decided this evening that Maggie needed some bangs, so then my Mom came over to see the "damage" and suggested that Marlee get some too. Marlee was a lot more cooperative getting hers done than Maggie, but the job is done and over with. The pictures kinda of make them look a little lop sided, but I assure you that they are straight. ;-)

~Marlee~

~Maggie~

Pictures from this weekend...

~The Wisdom Teeth~

(pretty disgusting huh??)

~My Cousin Cody @ the Game~

(#75)

~My Cousin Robin Playing the Bass Drum~

(in the middle w/ the ponytail)

We had such a great time, but I realized as I was down loading all of the pictures that I didn't get even one family picture. :(

I am not sure really where to start....

So, since I have been really bad about blogging lately this one is going to be kinda long.....

I'll start with our weekend:
We had my Uncle Joe & Aunt Pam come in from Missouri on Friday and then Saturday my Uncle Tommy & Aunt Angela came in from Hale Center. Anyway to make a long story short we had almost 30 people out here on Saturday and I had the honor of getting to feed them all. It was so much fun!!! I love to cook so that was truly right up my alley. We also got to watch my cousin, Cody, play at Dick Bivins on Saturday. His sister Robin was there as well playing the drums. I loved getting to see them all and having the time to sit and visit. We honestly can not allow that much time to pass by without getting together again.

Eric's Birthday:
Friday was also Eric's 36th Birthday. He was such a good sport to put his "Birthday Meal" off until Monday night. Of course, you always get to pick what you want for your meal and he picked Chicken Fried Steak...YEAH!!! (a personally fav of mine as well)

My Wisdom Teeth:
I had 2 of my wisdom teeth out on Thursday....the top 2 to be exact. Along with 4 fillings done. And I have to say the anxiety of knowing you are going to go in and have this done was worse than the actually procedure. The doctor was great and I you know me and if I was hurting you would have all heard about it.

The Girlie's:
Maggie has CROUP!!! YUCK!!! I haven't ever really dealt with this before, but it truly sounds horrible. She is doing better today, so let's just pray that Marlee doesn't get it.

Keely Girl:
Keely has done great with school so far. She is playing soccer and just loving it.

Tyler Boy:
Tuesday night Tyler was at football practice when he fell or something(...I'm still not really sure how it happened..) and hit the inside of his wrist. It started swelling up really quick, so we thought that we should have it looked at. After being at the ER for a couple of hours the doctor came in a said that it wasn't broke. YEAH!! He had bruised the tendon that would cause something similar to Carpal Tunnel pain. Anyway, he has a brace and is doing fine.

I have pictures off all of the events that I'll post in a little while.....