Plans for the week

This week will be fun but very busy.

Tomorrow I work and have my fun yearly doctor exam in the afternoon and then in the evening the church board that I work for is treating all of us preschool teachers and aides to a nice "Thank You" dinner. It will be nice to get out with my co-workers.

Tuesday and Wednesday the preschool that I work at have a big Thanksgiving Feast for all the kids. We have it both days because some kids come Tuesday/Thursday and some come Monday/Wednesday/Friday and some come to school everyday. One of the fun things about working at a preschool is that you get to REALLY celebrate all of the holidays. For each holiday there is always treats, parties and a ton of excitement. That is one of the many reasons that I LOVE what I do, working at a preschool brings out the "kid" in you almost everyday!!! My kids have Wednesday off from school so they will go to Grandmas while I work.

Thursday is THANKSGIVING and for the first time I am making Thanksgiving dinner. It will just be us (hubby and the boys) and we are also inviting Gary's brother and sister over with their kids (still not sure if they are coming though). I am actually excited that it will be just "us" this year.

Friday we are off to the baseball park at the crack of dawn!! Tyler will play at one park and Brandon will be playing at another. I will take Brandon (with Jordan and Ryan) and Gary will take Tyler. We most likely won't all be together (awake) again til Sunday night but that's what happens when you have 2 kids in travel ball!!! I truly love spending time at the park. Jordan and Ryan love it too, since they get to play all day at the park.

Jill

Random acts of kindness

Tonight while Jordan and I were out shopping we noticed a homeless man picking out of the trash to get food, he was ACTUALLY eating the food he found. This broke my heart and I just knew I had to do something. I told Jordan that we should get him dinner and he agreed. So we went through a drive thru and got him a couple of burgers, french fries, and a drink.

I had only done this one other time and my husband was with us. I was not sure how the man would react. So Jordan and I got out of the car and said, "Hello, we have some dinner for you."
I think he was surprised. He had such warm eyes. He told us thank you little one (talking about Jordan) and God bless the both of you.

I felt so good about this and I know Jordan did too. I told Jordan that we really cannot do anything to help him out of his situation but at least we gave him a meal and he will not go to sleep hungry tonight.

I also have heard of going through a drive thru and paying for the car behind you so that when they get up to the window they find out that their meal has been paid for and you are long gone.

I do many service projects with and without the kids but is in a very in-direct way. I guess I want to help the people that are around me in my day to day life.

Jordan told me that he saw that same homeless man a while back when we were shopping in that area and I think he is right. I do remember a homeless man a couple of months ago near that same shopping center trying to cross the street. I hope we do get to see him again and I will be happy to get him another hot meal (hopefully a little more healthy than fast food).


Jill

It's been over a month!!!

I cannot believe that it has been over a month since my last post. I guess I have just been busy with life.

Our Halloween was a lot of fun. Tyler dressed as a girl, Brandon was a nerd, Jordan was a skeleton, and Ryan was a army soldier. We made our first stop at Gary's God parents house, this has been our tradition since we have had children. It's funny that we don't visit with them on any other holiday except Halloween. We also stopped at my grandma's house so that she could see the kids. After all of our visits we went off to a Halloween party. We went to a baseball friends home and had a lot of fun. The kids got a chance to trick or treat in between or visits and also once we got to the party some of the moms took the little ones out into the neighborhood for some trick or treating.

November has been really nice. I am really looking forward to the holidays. I have most of my shopping done so I hope that when December is here I don't have to worry about heading out into the stores even though I know I will most likely have something or someone to buy for. Even if I have every last thing purchased I just can't seem to stop shopping at Christmas time!!!

I miss blogging. I really NEED to get my thoughts down and out of my system. I plan on slowing down and taking time for the simple things, and that includes blogging.

Jill

My Birthday Weekend

Well I am now 34 years old.
Yesterday was my birthday and a very good day.

We did not do much for my big day because Brandon's baseball team was hosting a tournament and we spent most of the weekend at the ball park. I was fine with this since my b-day is a great day but I have never felt that the world had to stop for it.

When I woke up Sunday I was surprised with "happy birthday to you" from Gary and the kids. I was also able to have a nice conversation with my mom, we always e-mail and rarely talk on the phone. I also got handmade letters and cards from the boys. In the evening Maryah (my God daughter) came over with homemade cookies and a card.
When we got back from the park I made myself some cupcakes and shared them with the boys, Gary was sound asleep.

This morning when I went to work at the preschool some of my students brought me gifts. one little girl brought me flowers and a Diet Coke (my favorite), her mom said that she just HAD to get me a Diet Coke because "that is Mrs. Jill's favorite"!!! It is so cute to see all of their little faces so excited that it is MY birthday.

So over all my big 34 was nice and simple and I had a wonderful day.

Jill

Balance

I have been thinking a lot about being balanced in my day to day life. I have noticed that I seem to really struggle with this. Lately I feel that I have many things in order. I have all 4 boys going to bed at a decent hour, I have been reading to my Kindergartner every night, I am making dinner and meal planning every night BUT I am really lagging in other areas. I need to make a doctors appointment for me, I need to make dentist appointments for the boys (and me), I need to look into Cub Scouts for Jordan, I need to call our cell phone company to try to lower our bill, I need to look at our budget and have a meeting with Gary about how we are going to change our spending habits and plenty more other things that I cannot think of right now.

I have been feeling really down about all of this. I know I need to stop my pity party and just get organized and get things done.

So this is my plan for this week. I am going to start by making a weekly list and maybe daily lists and try to keep my daily tasks in order while also tackling some of the other tasks, such as making appointments and phone calls.


Jill

Sweet Dreams My Boy

Earlier tonight my 13 year old asked me to tuck him into bed!!!
He will always be my little boy.

I love you Tyler

Getting Ready For FALL!!

I love Fall and Halloween!!!

For the past week I have wanted to decorate. Tonight my hubby took all the boys out. I got down a couple of boxes of decorations but I will need Gary to get the rest down. Everything is up in the rafters in the garage, I have been trying to find a way that I can keep all of the holiday decorations down on the garage floor so that I can get to them with out risking my life!!!

Another issue I have is that I love to decorate with Fall leaves, pumpkins, gourds, etc. but my sweet boys want all of that scary Halloween stuff they are DONE with the cutesy stuff (see the big spider on the couch). I really feel like I CLASH with my decorating for this time of year. I try to buy good quality scary stuff but for some reason this bugs me.

So here are some of my Fall/Halloween decorations, some a bit Halloween-ish, some Fall-ish (don't think those are real words)!!!

Jill

My Bucket List

I have wanted to create a Bucket List for a long time. A Bucket List is a list of things that you want to do before you "kick the bucket". Here are 25 things that I want to do before I die. I plan to add to this list and hopefully start to cross things off soon.

Jill's Bucket List

1. Participate in a 5K run/walk
2. Take a photography class
3. Ride in a hot air balloon
4. Go snorkeling
5. Go white water rafting
6. Go to the Grand Canyon
7. Go to a Broadway show in New York City
8. Go on a family trip to Hawaii
9. Go to Portugal (My in-laws were from Porugal, hubby is 100% Portuguese)
10. Serve meals to the homeless (maybe during the holidays)
11. Write and publish a book (maybe a children's book)
12. Own a convertible car
13. Go on a honeymoon with Gary (even though we have been married for 13 years we never went on one)
14. Renew our wedding vows
15. Go to a music concert
16. Go ice skating in Central Park at Christmas time
17. Rent a beach house for a week
18. Go on a weekend trip alone (I would scrapbook, read, sleep, shop,watch a good movie and take a very long bubble bath)
19. Have a candlelit dinner with Gary (at home or in a restaurant)
20. Host a dinner party for no reason
21. Teach my boys some simple go-to recipes for adulthood (hubby can't cook , need I say more??)
22. Make a family cookbook
23. Give someone 100.00 anonymously at Christmas time
24. Get up to date with my scrapbooks
25. Create a beautiful backyard (I have always had just a very plain looking backyard)


Jill

Kindergarten is kicking my butt!!

My youngest, Ryan started Kindergarten this year. He and I were really excited about it, he was happy to be going to school like his big brothers. The weekend before school started Ryan had been sick with a cold and cough and a little bit of a fever. It is now been 3 full weeks of school and he still has the cold. It is nothing major, no ear infection or sore throat but the darn thing won't go away. Having this cold has made him pretty grumpy because I think he is having a hard time sleeping. In 3 weeks he has missed 2 days of school and I have had to pick him up early 2 days!!!

On top of all of the sickness he has been tearing up in the mornings when I have to leave him at school so that I can get to work. I leave about 5 minutes before the final bell rings and he just sits there teary eyed. This is breaking my heart. He says he likes school and two of his friends are in his class. Last year he was in my preschool class and he came to work with me everyday and before that I stayed home with him so he might be just missing me a little.

If things could not get any worse....... Kindergarten homework SUCKS!!!
I have not had a Kindergartner in 4 years and I have forgotten how time consuming the homework can be. They get a packet every Monday that has about 15-20 pages. I am so used to my older boys and their Independence when it comes to their homework. I don't mind helping my kids with it but Kindergartners need your full attention, no multi-tasking allowed!!

So with this whole Ryan and Kindergarten thing I am just so exhausted. I am looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend.

Jill

Movie Ratings For Kids

I came across this great website that rates movies. This website goes into great detail of what content recent and not so recent movies contain. I have found this site super helpful when deciding what movies that I will or will not allow the boys to watch.

http://www.kids-in-mind.com/


Jill

Saying Good Bye To Yankee Stadium

Here are some pictures of our office that has some Yankee Stadium pictures. The big one is 4 boys looking at the stadium in the 30's (this is my favorite). The other one is of Babe Ruth when he retired.










We are a HUGE baseball family. My 2 older boys play travel ball and my 2 younger boys play in a park league in the spring. My husband also plays on a mens slow pitch team. I am the only one that does not play but I LOVE to watch!!
I also love the history of baseball. I love old baseball pictures and reading about some of the first baseball players. I also really like Babe Ruth. I love reading about the Yankee Stadium, "The House That Babe Built".




I have decorated our office with antique baseball things. I could never afford real antiques but I can still get the same look with reproductions.
I know that the stadium needs to come down but I am sad. This was a place where Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantel and Joe Di Maggio ran bases and hit home runs.
There is already a new stadium built for the Yankee's team. In the place where the stadium is now will be a park.


The last game to play in the stadium will be tomorrow at 8:05pm Eastern time.





Jill

Happy Saturday

The boys from the sleepover are still here and at this moment they are all outside.
We had a good morning . They all got up at 7am (not too bad) and my son came to wake me up letting me know that they were all ready for pancakes!! All of our little house guests should be gone by late afternoon.


I plan to do pretty much nothing today even though I have stuff I could do. I LOVE watching the Food Network on Saturdays. I LOVE Paula Deen!! I always get inspired to cook something new.

Hmmmmmm..... Now that I think of it I might get some Fall decorations out. I do wish it was a little cooler here though. It is hard to get ready for the holidays when it is almost 80 degrees!!


Jill

Shhhhh.... Can You Hear Them Sleeping?

I am not one to invite kids to spend the night on a regular basis but tonight was the exception. My boys are always asking for their friends to spend the night and I try to blow it off some how. I have had sleepovers before with baseball teams but I don't try to make it a habit (our last one was 3 years ago).

By the way boys have sleep overs and girls have slumber parties.

Early this week I must have been in a good mood because not only did I ask my 9 year old if he wanted to have a friend spend the night but I said that my 11 year old could have a friend over too!! I also knew that my 13 year old would be gone for the weekend at a baseball tournament so this would be something fun for my middle two boys (and my oldest would not bug the younger ones because sleepovers are SO lame according him).

The two boys came over and we had dinner, they played outside, they played inside, they had snacks, they played the X-Box, they had more snacks, and they all fell fast asleep by 11:pm!!
So I have 5 sleeping boys in my living room, they all look so cute!!

I actually think I might do this again. I did start to worry a few days ago that this might not have been a good idea but I have been proven wrong.


Jill

Missing In Action!!

Yes I have been MIA for a while.

It all started with having to update my billing info for my Internet server. So I called and had it all up dated and I thought nothing of it. I went to log on and the Internet company wanted me to confirm my billing info. Again, I thought no problem. Well, I needed to sign on with my master screen name which I don't even use!! Once I got my master screen name I could not get to the sign on page with THAT name. It would just show the name I always use which IS NOT my master screen name!! Soooooo tech support said that I would have to reload my Internet. I have gotten rid of that disk long ago. So I was on a mad search for those stupid free Internet sign on disks, you know the ones that would come in the mail every other day!! Let me tell you that THEY NO LONGER EXIST!!! I searched high and low!!! I remember finding them littering the streets a few years ago. I guess that was the problem. Those disks were filling up land fills and so they are no longer lingering in every electronics department like they used to. This is GREAT except when you desperately need one like WE did.

So I broke down and called the company to send us one and it arrived today!!!!! YAHOOOOO!!!!

Better get to all those e-mails!!


Jill

A Great Reason To Blog

I had many reasons to start blogging, here are a few of them:

- I wanted to document my family because time goes way too fast and I can always look back on my posts.

- A place to express my thoughts.

- I read SO many great blogs and I could see what a great blogging community there is for mothers and I wanted to be a part of it.


About the time that I was thinking about starting a blog I also decided that it was time to lose the weight I had gained since having my 4 boys. My baby is now 5 years old and I have had enough of this body that I hate!! After I had Ryan I continued to gain weight. When Ryan was 2 years old I started a home daycare and found myself very lonely, I would eat "kid food" to fill in the feeling of loneliness. I guess it is true when people say that food became their best friend,it sure was mine!!

So in mid July I started to watch my eating. I started to eat healthier food and discovered that I love many foods that are also good for my body!!

So when I actually started to blog I quicky realized that I would rather blog than sit in front of the T.V. and eat. I never expected it, but blogging has really helped me lose weight!!!!
I have added walking for exercise and my treat for after I have met my walking goal is to sit and read blogs or write on my own.


Just by changing what I eat, how I think and feel about food, and walking I have lost 17 pounds in about 7 weeks!!!!!


Jill

Life With A Teenager

The funniest thing happened tonight (at least I thought is was).

My husband was getting ready to take the boys to a baseball game. It is just a local mens league team that my husband used to play on and tonight was the championship game. Well, my teenager, Tyler was getting ready and wanted to wear his new jeans. He LOVES these jeans. I swear he would wear them everyday if I let him!! My hubby is awesome in many ways but he has a hard time remembering what HE was like as a kid and therefor flips out over very normal child/teen behavior. So hubby of coarse flips out on Tyler for wanting to wear the jeans AGAIN!! I really could careless if he wears them again, as long as they are clean. With 4 boys I am just grateful that they look decent and smell good. He also wasn't going to see anyone that had already seen him in the jeans. This was a ridiculous argument, in my opinion.

So all of this got me thinking about when I was 13 years old. I am in my mid 30's and Madonna was huge when I was in 8th grade. I wore the same black straight skirt and black rubber bracelets as often as I could.

In the end my husband said that he could not go if he wore the jeans (I know, he went way overboard on this one). My son stood his ground and was fine with staying home. Let me tell you, my husband loves to go to any baseball game with my son so I know this totally backfired on him. Finally in very end my hubby agreed that he could wear them but not get them dirty, I just think he realized that he must have lost his mind over this jean thing and it wasn't worth it!!

Right after that they all left. They are not home yet but geeeeeeeez I really hope he had some time to think about how he was when he was 13!!!


Jill

School Is In Full Swing!!

Today is the second day of school. I am here ALONE and it is QUIET!!

I have mixed feelings about this. I am happy that I have all of my boys in school, but I also miss them more than I thought I would. I know that part of it is because Ryan is my last boy to go to school and the other part of it is that we had a really great Summer and I was not ready for it to end.

Begining Monday I will be working at the preschool while they are in school so I know I will be busy with that. Being a preschool teacher is so much fun because all of the new students are ready to go to school for the first time (some are more ready than others) and they are just so darn cute!!

I know monday will get me in the groove of the new school year but for now I am going to spend the rest of my day missing my boys.



Jill

Our First Camping Trip

For Mothers Day 2008 we went on our very first camping trip. None of us had ever been camping other than Tyler going to 6th grade science camp. We went with Brandon's baseball team since they were much more experienced. We had a blast!! I am already getting the camping itch and I really want to go again next spring (or sooner).

So here is a pictures of my 4 beautiful boys heading down to the lake. Yes, I did make them walk in height order!!

Jill

First Day of School Snack

I have found what I am going to make the boys for when they come home from their first day of school on Thursday.

This is just so cute and easy!! It is a pencil cake that was on the Family Fun website. I am going to try to post a picture of it, I am new to this blogging thing and I still need to figure out how to post pictures but I will do my best

Here's a link to the Family Fun website so you can check it out.
http://jas.familyfun.go.com/recipefinder/display?id=50400

Jill

My Labor Day(s)

MY LABOR DAY(S)

How long were your labors?
Son#1-19 hours
Son #2- 21 hours
Son #3- 24 hours
Son #4- 21 hours


How did you know you were in labor?
I was induced with all 4 of my boys. I do wish I could have experienced a more natural type of laboring. I do like that we were able to plan a little more than have a more unexpexted start of labor.


Where did you deliver?
At the hospital with all 4 boys

Drugs?
OHHH YEAHHHHH!!!!

C-section?
Nope!! All of my boys were huge and I could have easily had to have a C-section. Ryan, my last son was 10lbs. 2 oz. 23in. and I think if he had been any bigger they would have had to cut him out of me!!

Who delivered?
Well I feel that the labor and delivery nurses did most of the work and the doctor is just there to get him out!!

Happy Labor Day!!

Jill

The Last Few Days of Summer

I cannot believe that summer is coming to an end.

As of Thursday ALL 4 of my boys will be in school!! My boys are really ready to get back to school but I am not so sure I feel the same way. I know that part of it is that my youngest, Ryan is going off to Kindergarten. I remember feeling like I will never have all of my boys in school. There was a time when I would dream about the day that they would all be gone 6 hours a day for 9 months out of the year. But WOW how did it get here so fast!!

I plan to enjoy these last days. I will just hang out with the boys. I think that we will try to make it to the beach one last time. I also really need to get them to bed earlier, Tyler (my 7th grader) has to be at school by 7:30am, WHO THOUGHT THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA!!!

I am trying to think of a special breakfast for the boys and I might make a cute after school snack. Hmmmmmmm...... Im gonna have to work on finding some cute ideas.

Jill

Tyler's Love of Baseball

My oldest son LOVES baseball and is very good at the game. Today, Tyler is on his way to Cooperstown N.Y. this has been his dream, to actually go to Cooperstown and The Baseball Hall Of Fame.

Here is a poem that Tyler wrote last year in 7th Grade.

BASEBALL POEM

Baseball is in my blood
It's always been my favorite hobby
If I didn't have baseball
My life would be boring and dull

Baseball is everything to me
It's like a ripe orange on a tree
Baseball is in my heart
I need it to live

Baseball is my air
I crave it and I need it
Crack is the sound when I hit the ball
Without baseball I don't know where I would be at all


-Written by my son Tyler

The death of a lizard

Let me back up.

Last weekend Tyler and Brandon were in a baseball tournament. When one of my sons plays in a baseball tournament that always means that we spend the weekend or longer at a baseball park. My other boys always have a great time because they run around with all of the siblings, get filthy, eat way too much junk food and always come home exhausted.

Last weekend was especially fun because they spent the weekend catching lizards. They caught 4 of them. I know the humane thing would be is to let the little reptiles go back into the wild but I really think that all little boys should at least catch a few lizards in their life time. As soon as we headed home we made a stop at the pet store for an aquarium,bark, and live crickets. We have spent this last week watching the little guys eat sleep and poop (yes, they do poop). My son Jordan has been the Chief Lizard Keeper. Jordan has made sure they have been well taken care of.

This morning was like any other morning. We checked the Lizards, fed the lizards and sprayed the lizards (they like moisture). All of a sudden I looked and one was way too still, even for a lizard. After flicking the plastic side of the aquarium it was determined that he had passed away.

We are still deciding weather or not to let the rest of them go back into the wild and we will keep you posted.

Fatty The Lizard: 2008-2008

I Did It!!

Today is my first post on my first blog. I am so proud of myself for finally taking a flying leap into the blogging world. I am a huge fan of many blogs. Reading other blogs either provides me with a ton of useful information or it helps me feel like I am not the only mother out there about to lose her mind!!

I am married to a great man and we have 4 beautiful sons. I know that living with 5 boys (hubby included) that I will have plenty of stuff to write about. I love to write eventhough I may not be the best at it. I think blogging will give me an outlet for my thoughts and also a way to meet other mommy bloggers out there.

~Jill