So for anyone who actually stalks my blog, I apologize. I've had time, really I have.....but I have had my mind on other things.
This weekend Tony was home for a whopping 5 days!!! It was stupendous! We went to a movie, a car show, a wedding, a roller derby game, the farm, and spent lots of time enjoying having him home.
When he left, everyone was sad. The great news is, this will probably be the last time he leaves. Next time he comes home it will probably be because he is done doing this on the road thingy. Big smiles all around. Not to mention the $20,000 in unsecured debt we have been able to pay off, WHILE I was being a stay-at-home-mom!
So let me sum up our weekend. :D
We had to run some motor parts up to Savannah to Tony's machinist guy for his race car motor. Tony will most likely not be racing this year, (since he won't get much racing in by the time he's back) but he is making sure everything is in order for next season. Then we stopped in St Joseph to take the kids to see that new dragon movie. Cute movie, although I thought for sure they would have it in 3D there, and how cool would that have been?! Alas, no 3D. It was still enjoyed by us and the boys and Autumn was happy to chow down on the bottomless bucket of popcorn.
The next day we spent most the morning hanging out inside, thanks to the lovely rain. That evening though, Tony and I went to a car show in Kansas City called Gear Grinders. Mostly we went because I needed to get in some event attendance for my roller derby league, and thought it would be a cool date thingy for Tony and I. So he walked around and looked at cars while I skated around in my derby gear and annoyed people with fliers trying to convince them to come to our game! It was a nice evening, just us, as us.
Sat we went and bought Tony a new weed-eater/whacker/whatever-ya-call-it and came home to do some yard work. First time the yard has been weed-whacked since last spring-ish! Then went to one of our friends wedding and reception. It was a nice wedding and it's always interesting to see how different people do things. She looked lovely, and guys in tuxes are always a nice sight...well except the one who really needed a hair cut, but anyway. Afterwords was the reception and we didn't stay long, because we had the kiddos, and besides them getting restless and people breaking out the adult beverages, it was bed time!
The next day we went out to the farm and pulled soaked straw bales out of our burn ravine and loaded them into the back of the truck. We then hauled them up by our pond and, using the four-wheeler we took them to the outlet/overflow area to create a damn. See our pond is super shallow, but has quite a shelf to allow for more depth, just the overflow area is too low So we blocked it and hopefully it will work! Let me tell you, the lifting of those soaked suckers, was not fun! They were sooooo heavy and we had to load them into the truck, out of the truck, and off the four-wheeler, and walk them several feet to their final destination. Whew! Then we came home and cleaned up from the yucky-ness of the bales and bathed everyone to avoid tick-chigger-poison ivy fun-ness. Seems like it worked anyway! Then I got all glammed up and Tony and I went to my roller derby game. I had a BLAST! We were short jammers (ie point scorers) for my team due to injuries, so I had to skate my butt off! Boy was I sore the next day! I skated a lot and had a lot of people telling my how awesome I did. Personally I was just having fun and don't know how awesome or not awesome I was. But we won!!! So that was fun! Tony and I even went to the after party for a little bit so he got a chance to mingle with some of my fellow derby girls! I'm glad he got a chance to get to know some of the women I talk about frequently.
Monday was D-day. So we hung out as a family and Tony marveled at how much the kids are changing. Alex is becoming a Daddy's boy, (shocker I know!), Anthony is an oh-so-adorable little stink-butt, and Autumn is the sweetest little charmer who is on the go-go-go! I tell you what, she didn't have to flash that smile but once, and Tony was wrapped around her finger!
I love my family! I have days when the kids make messes, or are too whiny for me to handle, with any shred of sanity. I also have days when I can't hug, squeeze, smooch, and tell them that I love them enough! Tony is a wonderful husband, father and provider! I know I whine that he's gone a lot, but I know he has it hard too. Being away from his kids, for almost 6 months with only a few visits in between, can't be easy. I love him, and boy do I miss him! The financial blessings have been awesome, but I'm sure glad it's almost over! One more month honey! I love you.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Ape-Walker
Autumn is getting much better at crawling. Before I would walk out of a room and do something, and come back and she might be at the edge of the room I just left her in, depending on how long I took. Now I walk back and she is halfway or most of the way through the next room.
Progress.
Of course most children get faster at crawling as they get more practice. The amusing thing about Autumn is that the second room is hardwood flooring (well Pergo fun stuff really) and she
hates crawling on it because it hurts her knees.
So she ape-walks. Literally. Hands and feet, not hands and knees. Mind you, the progress is interesting to me, because before, she would whine and holler at me the whole time she ape-crawled/walked.
I always knew she was coming and had gotten to the harder flooring cuz she was so dang vocal about it. I'm not sure if it was, "This-takes-me-forever,-come-pick-me-up-Mommy!"-cry or a "This-really-hurts,-how-dare-you-make-me-suffer,-come-pick-me-up-Mommy!"-cry. Either way, I rarely did. I know, bad mommy that I am. But mostly I was walking away to deal with my mischievous boys, or mundane household duties, both meaning I couldn't pick her up right away.
Well now, I'm frequently caught off-guard when I walk back through a room, because suddenly she is there at the doorway to the third room, or halfway through the second, and she didn't fuss, cry, whine, or holler at me to come get her. It's like she had bells on her toes before, and somehow she figured out how to silence them now. Not that I'm complaining about the lack of upset noises, just different.
This it gonna take some getting used to. I will especially need to take care walking through the house with a full basket of laundry. Stepping on her will make her holler at me again for sure!
Progress.
Of course most children get faster at crawling as they get more practice. The amusing thing about Autumn is that the second room is hardwood flooring (well Pergo fun stuff really) and she
hates crawling on it because it hurts her knees.
So she ape-walks. Literally. Hands and feet, not hands and knees. Mind you, the progress is interesting to me, because before, she would whine and holler at me the whole time she ape-crawled/walked.
I always knew she was coming and had gotten to the harder flooring cuz she was so dang vocal about it. I'm not sure if it was, "This-takes-me-forever,-come-pick-me-up-Mommy!"-cry or a "This-really-hurts,-how-dare-you-make-me-suffer,-come-pick-me-up-Mommy!"-cry. Either way, I rarely did. I know, bad mommy that I am. But mostly I was walking away to deal with my mischievous boys, or mundane household duties, both meaning I couldn't pick her up right away.
Well now, I'm frequently caught off-guard when I walk back through a room, because suddenly she is there at the doorway to the third room, or halfway through the second, and she didn't fuss, cry, whine, or holler at me to come get her. It's like she had bells on her toes before, and somehow she figured out how to silence them now. Not that I'm complaining about the lack of upset noises, just different.
This it gonna take some getting used to. I will especially need to take care walking through the house with a full basket of laundry. Stepping on her will make her holler at me again for sure!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
At the Park
When I was working on my last post, something was not working right. Either the internet, or the blog site, or my computer, or me....but I wasn't able to post all I wanted to post. So here is the park escapade from our Easter weekend!
First off, I started taking pictures of Anthony going down the slide, because he is just so dang stinking cute!!
Then of course I had to include Alex on the photo fun!
Which then led me to capturing a smile from the most handsome of my three Manley Men!
And I can't leave out the Princess of All Our Hearts!! Since she is such a charmer, getting a picture of only her is a tough chore...so why fight fate? Here is Autumn with some of her adoring fans! (:
This last on, you might wonder where Anthony was. He was too busy going down the slide to be bothered with a sister. (: But shortly after this picture was taken, Alex had to use the park restrooms, and Tony took him. Anthony of course, being the entrepreneurial boy he is, decided the moment was ripe to sneak some of Daddy's pop.
And of course after having sneaked a drink once, he did it again and again, and even then after he had drank the rest while Daddy was busy loving on Autumn, he started in on the ice!
All in all, not only was it a lovely day for the park, but it was a lovely family day, pop stealing and all!
First off, I started taking pictures of Anthony going down the slide, because he is just so dang stinking cute!!
Then of course I had to include Alex on the photo fun!
Which then led me to capturing a smile from the most handsome of my three Manley Men!
And I can't leave out the Princess of All Our Hearts!! Since she is such a charmer, getting a picture of only her is a tough chore...so why fight fate? Here is Autumn with some of her adoring fans! (:
This last on, you might wonder where Anthony was. He was too busy going down the slide to be bothered with a sister. (: But shortly after this picture was taken, Alex had to use the park restrooms, and Tony took him. Anthony of course, being the entrepreneurial boy he is, decided the moment was ripe to sneak some of Daddy's pop.
And of course after having sneaked a drink once, he did it again and again, and even then after he had drank the rest while Daddy was busy loving on Autumn, he started in on the ice!
All in all, not only was it a lovely day for the park, but it was a lovely family day, pop stealing and all!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
A Great Weekend!
It's been a while, I know, mostly I've been wallowing in my own self pity that my husband was gone and wouldn't be home for six whole stinking weeks. Ugh. But this weekend the pity party came to and end and Tony came home for 3 days! 3 glorious days!
So I picked Tony up at midnight Thurs night and took him back at 5 am Mon morning. Blah. This is what we did in between!!!
Friday, while that storm blew through, (it was crazy!!) Tony was out in the garage working on a motor that we then drove to the Smithville area to swap with his friend. His friend didn't have his motor out of his race car yet, so Tony, Craig, and Ryan (said friends, twin friends that Alex mixes up all the time, hehe) pulled it out while the kiddies and I entertained ourselves. Autumn was quite excited with their dogs, especially one named Jersey.
All she wanted to do was sit with the dog. All the boys wanted to do was watch cartoons on their massive TV and/or wander outside and stare longingly at the pond and four wheelers. Then we headed to St Joseph. While we waited to meet Amber and Mark to get Alex's bike (which I forgot there while I was there tending their children while they were in D.C. for a week) we got some play time in at the McD's Play Place, which wore the kids out, as was the plan! We headed home, and enjoyed dinner as a family for the first time in what seemed like forever!
Saturday we enjoyed the beautiful weather, picked up the yard, gathered all the straw bales along the house, (we used them to help insulate the north side of our house for the winter) took them to our farm, went for a walk around our pond (which we realized is super shallow) and then headed to Cameron to buy a used trampoline. We took it home and set it up! Alex and Anthony were so excited! It was perfect timing too, because our neighbor had a trampoline that Alex got to jump on now and then, but the super windy storm the day before had snapped the frame on it. Plus Anthony can jump on ours, whereas before he didn't get to at the neighbors. Then we went out to dinner with friends to celebrate Craig and Ryans' birthday, and headed to a country western club. I tried to do some line dancing (which would be a blast if I didn't feel like such an idiot being the only one who didn't know the dances!) and Tony played pool. We both had a lot of fun!
Our final day of together time, we spent almost completely outside. Anthony, Autumn, and I have the sunburns to prove it. Thankfully Autumn and I only got slight pinkness and no discomfort, but Anthony got some pretty red cheeks going! We played in the yard and puttered around til it was time to go to the Shatto Dairy for an Easter Egg Hunt.
There we got to see calfs, (one was just 24 hours old!) and although the hunt was pretty brief (lots of kids there and Alex and Anthony each got only 3 eggs) is was just so nice to be outside and to have Tony there! 
Then we made a trip to St Joseph to get something for Tony from a friend and decided to go to the park. It was such a great day for it too! While there, I shamelessly shot pics, including Anthony sneaking drinks of Tony's pop (Anthony just loves pop), and the kids playing on the park equipment. Of course it was a beautiful day for grilling, so we went home and grilled out! Alex wanted to have a picnic, so we laid out a blanket in the backyard and enjoyed the good eats!
All in all it was a wonderfully relaxing and enjoyable weekend. It was so nice to be together as a family, to enjoy the beautiful weather, and to be able to get some things done as well as some fun too!!
So I picked Tony up at midnight Thurs night and took him back at 5 am Mon morning. Blah. This is what we did in between!!!
Friday, while that storm blew through, (it was crazy!!) Tony was out in the garage working on a motor that we then drove to the Smithville area to swap with his friend. His friend didn't have his motor out of his race car yet, so Tony, Craig, and Ryan (said friends, twin friends that Alex mixes up all the time, hehe) pulled it out while the kiddies and I entertained ourselves. Autumn was quite excited with their dogs, especially one named Jersey.
All she wanted to do was sit with the dog. All the boys wanted to do was watch cartoons on their massive TV and/or wander outside and stare longingly at the pond and four wheelers. Then we headed to St Joseph. While we waited to meet Amber and Mark to get Alex's bike (which I forgot there while I was there tending their children while they were in D.C. for a week) we got some play time in at the McD's Play Place, which wore the kids out, as was the plan! We headed home, and enjoyed dinner as a family for the first time in what seemed like forever!Saturday we enjoyed the beautiful weather, picked up the yard, gathered all the straw bales along the house, (we used them to help insulate the north side of our house for the winter) took them to our farm, went for a walk around our pond (which we realized is super shallow) and then headed to Cameron to buy a used trampoline. We took it home and set it up! Alex and Anthony were so excited! It was perfect timing too, because our neighbor had a trampoline that Alex got to jump on now and then, but the super windy storm the day before had snapped the frame on it. Plus Anthony can jump on ours, whereas before he didn't get to at the neighbors. Then we went out to dinner with friends to celebrate Craig and Ryans' birthday, and headed to a country western club. I tried to do some line dancing (which would be a blast if I didn't feel like such an idiot being the only one who didn't know the dances!) and Tony played pool. We both had a lot of fun!
Our final day of together time, we spent almost completely outside. Anthony, Autumn, and I have the sunburns to prove it. Thankfully Autumn and I only got slight pinkness and no discomfort, but Anthony got some pretty red cheeks going! We played in the yard and puttered around til it was time to go to the Shatto Dairy for an Easter Egg Hunt.
There we got to see calfs, (one was just 24 hours old!) and although the hunt was pretty brief (lots of kids there and Alex and Anthony each got only 3 eggs) is was just so nice to be outside and to have Tony there! 
Then we made a trip to St Joseph to get something for Tony from a friend and decided to go to the park. It was such a great day for it too! While there, I shamelessly shot pics, including Anthony sneaking drinks of Tony's pop (Anthony just loves pop), and the kids playing on the park equipment. Of course it was a beautiful day for grilling, so we went home and grilled out! Alex wanted to have a picnic, so we laid out a blanket in the backyard and enjoyed the good eats!All in all it was a wonderfully relaxing and enjoyable weekend. It was so nice to be together as a family, to enjoy the beautiful weather, and to be able to get some things done as well as some fun too!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)