Day 209: Corn & Chicken

That is what we had for dinner, plus tatter's. It was delicious! Corn on the cob, BBQ chicken, and baked taters. Had to start everything early today, Kwin had an appt. with DeAnna today, I forgot he had one on Friday, and she called....OOPS! So he had a late one today. He was going to put on a puppet show for us, but he got shy. I'm starting to have concern with Kwin a little, he see's Chelsea not talk, and he is doing it sometimes. He didn't talk to DeAnna again, he was doing really well. If you went through what I went through, before we found out Chelsea had selective mutism, it was just worrisome. And now to see these things abrupt in your other child causes a bit of anxieties for me. I now know what I can to do to help Kwin, I am still trying to figure out how to help Chelsea. It's a road no parent wants to go down with their child. Most people don't believe in it, or don't know about it. I don't think Kwin will have SM, but it just is at your mind when he is being shy. I have a few other concerns for Chelsea, not sure if it's just an age thing, or what? But she doesn't really take good care of herself. She can leave her hair a rats nest, and I mean a rats nest! I have to tell her to change her clothes, or she will wear the same outfit....although Kwin often does that too. Which reminds me how Keagan wore that hideous sweater that he got, and wore it every. single. day. I had to hide this thing, and he would get so upset! LOL With Kwin I just say, whatever.....it's not like they are THAT dirty. lol I know, gross. But I am picking my battles. If he wants to wear the dirty shirt, then wear it. But you are not going out in public with me, wearing it. Home, you can be dirty, and in public you need to be clean. LOL. Simple as that......after many meltdowns I learned it was that simple. ;)

                                           Eatin' Chicken.

             Picture of a fairy in my garden I took today.

Day 208: The Never Ending Story Meets Frozen

I have a bad headache today....I actually have had it for about a week, or so now. It's my tooth causing the problem, and no money to go to the Dentist. So I'm dealing. :/ Chelsea left her toys on the table outside while she went off to play. Well I've already said not to leave toys around, cause you know what will happen. Mom will play with them. lol She had her Anna, & Elsa doll on this Nintendo Dog.  Well to me it looked the the Never Ending Story scene, where Bastian riding Falcor. I always thought he looked like a big, weird dog, thing. LOL So I made Frank hold the doll in the sky to look like they are flying through the air!! LMAO.

                             The Never Ending Story Meets Frozen.

Day 207: Long Time, No See.

Chris stopped over today, he has not been over all Summer. Nobody really has, and we have not been visiting anyone either. :/ But he stopped, and he chatted, and had some fun with the kids. Tossing the frisbee & football around. After dinner we went on a walk, because Kwin wanted to go on a walk. So I took a cup just in case we found some more raspberries. Frank said last walk that he saw a bunch. I filled my cup up super fast, and Frank called the boys to bring more cups. LOL Keagan rode his bike down, and he helped picked berries. We ended up with 3 full solo cups!!! There was still a lot out there too. I should start freezing some of these, we could use them on waffles....which we had for dinner, and I made my own strawberry & blueberry topping, and it was amazing!! Sooo...gotta wash & freeze some of these, so next time we have waffles, we will have raspberries with them. :)

Chelsea playing frisbee...not a good pic.

                                                Raspberries!!

Day 206: Tornado Warning

We had some good thunderstorms run through today. One was showing signs of a potential tornado, so we had a warning going on for our area. Made the kids go to the basement, while Frank & I were window watching upstairs. We had hail, and all that, but it wasn't a big storm. It did hit hard in some areas, areas that were not in the red, we were in the red. So I had a bit of anxiety, but nothing telling me to run for cover. Made an exciting day. lol As that never happens much in Northern Michigan.

                                                         Raining

                                         We were in the red.

Day 205: S'Moore's

What do we do every weekend?! If you guessed grocery shopping, you guessed right. But didn't we just go grocery shopping?! Yes. We were doing really good until we stopped at Walmart. We only had a few things to get on our list, so how in the hell did we spent over $100 there?!?! I just don't get it. I've been craving s'mores so we got the goodies to make some. We were having a great time until we started getting eaten by mosquitoes. I think everyone enjoyed at least 2 s'mores, they were so good!

I love s'mores, and that is a screen name I have, I got that from calling Keagan & Kyle my Smore boys, They have my maiden name, and Frank's last name as theirs, so I mixed the two together, and came up with S'Moore's, so they became my S'Moore boys. :) Very sweet, huh?! ;) When we got married we offered them to change theirs too, so everyone had the same last name, but they liked their last name, and they don't want to change it. I just feel bad when it comes to their wedding day....it's like one of those wedding announcements that Jay Leno had on his show. Hahaha!!! Frank & i should have sent ours in. hehehe

Day 204: Pizza Planet!!

While playing outside today, Chelsea & Kwintyn played Pizza Planet. Kwintyn calls Little Caesar's, Pizza Planet. They pretended that the grody cushions were pizza's. lol And Yes, my daughter is wearing the same outfit....grumble, grumble, grumble.....but it kept them occupied for quite some time. which was nice because, Mommy had a bad head ache all day!!

                                              Pizza Planet!

Day 203: Playing

Played a bit outside, it's a little chilly today. I wish we had stuff for smores because I am really craving one. I think we should have a bonfire this weekend, and smores are a must! Maybe Mom & Dad will have a drink around the fire too? That's a rarity, and we do have a gallon of vanilla vodka from the last gathering we had in May. We ended up with a gallon, plus!! Maybe we should invite a few friends?! ;)

                                                Chelsea just hanging around. :)

                                             Kwintyn hanging around

Day 202: Pants On, Please.

I spent the day cleaning our bedroom today. It took me all day! Not that it was filthy or anything, but I organized, and we re-arranged our room, and put up some things on the wall. Kinda looks different. While at the dinner table I didn't realize that Kwintyn did not have any pants on. And never have I thought I would be saying these words at the table......."Why do I see you're penis at the dinner table?!?!?!" Of course the boys erupted in laughter. I told Kwin to go put some pants on, instead he just went and sat on the couch. After I was done eating, I sees him sleeping with no pants on. LOL

                                               1/2 Nakie Naps. LOL

Day 201: Dentist, & Groceries, & Fire Trucks!!

Chelsea had a dentist appointment today, she had to go back because she needed a filling, and had an abscessed tooth, so she got that removed today, and we have to go back for the filling. ugh! She did not want to be there today, and the last visit hurt her, sooooo not sure why we are back in the dentist's chair? But she did good this time, and this visit wasn't as painful, and the tooth just wiggled out. She started looking like she was going to get teary eyed, so I started talking to her, and Kwintyn would repeat everything I said, and then held her hand. It was the cutest thing, and I did not have my camera. But he was holding her hand for quite a while. The Dentist comes in, and see's him holding her hand & smiles. Told ya, it was cute! lol After Frank got home we went grocery shopping. Got it done pretty fast, as we didn't have much money to shop with. LOL After dinner, we went outside & cleaned Kwin's fire truck. He was having a hit, and wanted to bring it back inside. Well, it's been outside since the start of Summer, and I said in order for it to come back in, it has to get cleaned up. So far the fire truck is still outside. lol

                                            Truck Wash!

Day 200: Same Ol' Same Ol

It seems like we do the same thing & never do much of nothing. Just another average Monday. Cleaned, and sat outside watching Kwintyn play. Older kids were doing the same ol thing, being lazy. lol I did get the whole kitchen cleaned, and then what do you know....right after I get it cleaned I get "Can I make some mac n cheese?!" Clean your mess up. "OK". What do I see dirty dishes in my sink. UGH! Dinner dishes and the rest are on you kids. :) You're Welcome.

And Wow!!! 200 days!!! Only 165 days left in the year!! My next project will be different. lol


                                              Lovely Kwintyn

Day 199: Fried Chicken & Gospel Music

Today we went to Bellaire to pick up the kids from Grandma's. Frank did some painting for her that she wanted done. Kids played, and Grandma, Kwin & I went over to Mary's. She is the lady that helped with my wedding dress, and any sewing needs I may need done. I have a project I want to do, but I need a little help. I'm re-purposing a wedding dress for Sam. I wanted to make a tree skirt, but some questions arose to what size of tree & what not, so we came up with something even better. I absolutely love it!! I'm not going to say what it is, because I want it to be a surprise. :) But super cute!! We then went back to Grandma's and sat around for a bit, and then had some fried chicken for dinner! We had salad, mashed taters, tater salad, and watermelon. We then got ready to go to Kalkaska to go see Jake perform. He is the Elvis impersonator that is really good friends with Grandma. I seen him last Fall, but this time he did gospel songs. It was kinda a way to make money for the Kalkaska adult home care, I can't remember the exact name, but a church was involved as well. He of course put on a great show, and the crowd loved him, as he has this sort of charm about him, that make him very likable. This was the first time Frank watched Jake perform, and he isn't into gospel anything, but he really enjoyed the show, Jake makes it enjoyable for everyone. We are excited to be able to see him again in 2 weeks, as he is coming to Gaylord, and will be at Culvers. Soooo already know what's for dinner that day! :) I think he's on Youtube, if you are curious. ;)

                            Jake Slater, the Elvis impersonator

                              Trying to get a high five from Kwintyn.

Day 198: Parade!!

We took Kwintyn to the Alpenfest parade today. He loved it! Even went and met an officer, and gave him a high five. The officer gave Kwin a badge tattoo, and that made his day! He was all smiles when he came back. Frank took him down to say hi while we were waiting for the parade to start. The parade was pretty good, a few new things since we last went in 2009. We stopped and got an elephant ear before heading back to the truck. We parked at Grandma Moore's so we chatted a bit. It was also our anniversary, 6 years married. :) We got lunch, and came home, hung outside for a bit, then I wasn't feeling well, and laid down. I felt better when I got up, so Frank & Kwin puttered around the yard. We went and got pizza, well we actually ate it there, then went and got coffee, and ice cream. Came home & chilled out till bedtime.

                                         Kwintyn's 1st parade!!

Day 197: Your Friendly Neighborhood, Spiderman!

Kid's shouldn't leave their toys around, or else Mom will play with them. Haha Keagan, Kyle, Kameron, & Chelsea are all spending the night at Grandma & Grandpa's. Well they are there until Sunday, so the whole weekend. It's pretty quite around here. Frank, Kwin, & I went to Big Boy's for dinner. Tomorrow we are hoping to make it to the Alpenfest parade. Kwintyn has never seen a parade before. I was always worried that he would freak out, due to the loud noises & stuff. But I showed him pics front he last time we went, which was in 2009. So he really wants to go & see the Police & fire trucks. I told him, the trucks are really loud, I think he will dig it. :) He's not so bad with the melt downs now. Then maybe I can convince Frank to take a walk up to the Alpenfest, I want a elephant ear!!

Spiderman saves the day, in this case, it was Grandma & Grandpa! lol

Day 196: Berry Picking

Just been in a funk today, so after dinner we went on a walk. We went on a long walk!! It wasn't anticipated, but we found some raspberries, and we went picking. We stopped at home after the first walk, to grab some dishes. Then we headed to the other side of the golf course to check on those raspberries. We found a few there, but not many, so we headed back over to where we were. We ended up with a quite a bit. Well, not a whole lot, but I was impressed with the amount we got for natural raspberries just growing wild. We found a worm & he had a hold of this raspberry & looked as if he was not giving it up. You could see him biting down on it, was pretty cute. :)

                                              Our Haul

                                                        Raspberries!!!

                                            The Very Hungry Caterpillar ;)

Day 195: Cousin's!!

Today we had a visit from cousin James, and the kids. Barb had to work, so we didn't get to see her. Chelsea loves her cousin Grace! They were born almost a year apart, Chelsea's birthday is 10-5, and Grace's is 10-1. They live in Traverse City, so we don't get together that often, so the kids love it when they can get together. Kameron & Keagan are at a friends house tonight, so Gavin missed Kam. I think they play more than the older boys. James, the kids, and his neighbor came over for the Alpenfest. We try to avoid Alpenfest, it's our town's festival that they do every year. We take the kids to the fair instead, and that is coming up soon!

                                     Chelsea & Gracie playing & being silly

Day 194: Wash, Fold, Repeat

Boy's cleaned their room, and left me with a ton of laundry. I have a huge pile that needs to be folded...UGH! I told them that I would fold their laundry, and that I was also going to go through, and see fit what to get rid of since they have so many clothes, and they don't take care of it. I know they have stuff that does not fit in there, too. I will allow them to keep certain things, but they have way to much clothes. That is what our home has a lot of, clothes...which then equals laundry, a lot of it! I know I'm guilty of buying the clothes, but Grandma is even more guiltier than me! LOL The kids get clothes, and stuff they need for birthdays, Christmas, ect. Instead of things they want, so it's a lot of clothes. And something Grandma buys is big, or too small for one, and so it get put aside, or handed down. I have SO much clothes for Kwintyn when he gets bigger. I have a garbage bag full of boys clothes size 4, 5, & 6's, a small garbage bag of size 7's, 2 bags of size 8's, and 1 bag of 10/12's!! I know I will be buying him clothes too, so it's my own fault! The clothes I put aside are almost like new, or they are dressier clothes, and coats! So it could save us money too? Plus the boys are always growing out of stuff...so yeah. Chelsea actually needs clothes, and so does Kwin, more less Summer clothes, and jammies, & jeans, but Summer doesn't last long here. I actually don't buy them new clothes a lot though, but some how they end up with a lot. Haha I was busy keeping up with the laundry today, and after I showered, and was ready to sit down & relax, I remembered I forgot my pic of the day! So I made one, actually 2, instead. I think they will look cute in the laundry room, if it ever gets done.


                                   Never ending love & laundry in this home.

Day 193: Just Like Daddy

The yard needed to be mowed very badly. Frank had to borrow a mower from his boss to mow. We have to order a pulley for the lawn mower, and the auto places that Frank has checked does not carry them. He's checked a lot of places, so I have to look online. Kwintyn loves to help his Daddy mow the yard. It's so cute to watch them mow. LOL Did some more cleaning today, and it doesn't look like I did much, thanks kids! They are still begging for the wifi back. Well get my house to how I had it, and then you can have your precious wifi back, kids. :D

                                     Just like Daddy...mowing the yard.

Day 192: Mom, Come See What I Caught!

I usually don't like hearing that sentence, it's usually something creepy. I hear, come see what we caught!! I look out the window, and Frank, Kyle, Kwin, & Chelsea all are looking down into a bin. What is it?! I ask. It's a baby gator!!! Yeah, right! What its it?! Come see, Frank say's. Grab your camera, too!! I go out there expecting to see a snake, nope, it was a lizard!! I thought it was a huge salamander, but it did not look like one, and Kyle pointed out it had small claws. Hmmm, never seen one of those.....to google! I believe it to a five lined skink, and it is a species of lizards endemic to North America. I had seen some pictures, and they were stated they were found in Michigan. We have never found anything like this, we find many salamanders, but they are tiny.  Changed the wifi password last night, and the kids have been going crazy with out it. Hopefully things will get done, then. :) I finally got off my butt, and cleaned today. Got quite a bit done, but still need to do laundry, and finish a few rooms. Tried a new things for dinner tonight, southwest chicken wraps, a recipe I found on Pinterest. It was good, but a little bland, is missing something but I'm unsure what it is. We used a jalapeno tortilla wrap & I think that added in some flavor too, those are good tortilla's.


                                                           Five Lined Skink?

Day 191: Ice Cream & Safety

Thanks Aunt Fran, for the ice cream treat! On Monday she had given Kwintyn $20 to go get ice cream, so we went today after dinner, and a run to the store. Kwin & I got up late. It was like going on 1:00pm!! Although we were up until almost 4am, the night before....all because he fell asleep before 9pm. Was a long night! We played on the trampoline today, and played outside. Frank flipped Kwin's car seat, so he is now forward facing! He has been rear facing since we brought him home from the hospital, so this was big! He was/is still able to rear face, but it just wasn't fitting right, and I didn't feel it was the safest way for him to be. His seat seems to fit a lot tighter FF. It sucks because we don't have the LATCH system, or anything like that. So safety first is my motto. He loves FF, and was just a smiling, and trying to hide his excitement by covering up his face, but he liked that he could see things from a new view. He has FF in Grandma's car, but never in Mom's!! I changed the password to the wifi, I got sick of the laziness, so until stuff gets done, cleaning their room included, they will know the password. :)


                                              Trampoline fun!

                                                   Hiding his excitement. :)

                                     

Day 190: Boring Friday

Nothing much was done, everyone was pretty lazy. Frank had an early day, so we sat outside for a bit. The kids played, so I guess they did stuff. But Keagan & Kyle have been lazy bums, and not doing anything we ask...I know, typical teen, but dammit it's getting old. LOL No helping out with nothing, and it drives me mad! I clean, and then it's a mess. I'm just sick of it. So I haven't been doing that much cleaning, because it's useless. So I been slacking in certain cleaning areas. We haven't done much this Summer, and it sucks. We're just broke at the time. Frank & I were talking, and things need to change. We spend way to much in food every month, it's ridiculous. I know we have a large family, and that is to be expected, but they eat because they are bored, which is 95% of the time. 3 boxes, family size at that, did NOT last a week. Drink's don't last long, either. It's also hard to eat healthy, and organic with a family this size. I meal plan, and try to budget, but I suck at budgeting. We have been going off brand, and to a cheaper store for certain items, but we are still spending a lot. I want to coupon, but I have no printer, and I don't understand how it all works, in certain details. I don't get the paper, I and when I did buy it just for the coupons, it wasn't worth it to me. I know there are things that we could cut out, I guess we will have to really study our spending, and write down everything......Hahaha yeah right, like that's gonna happen. We suck at things like this!!! Ugh!

I haven't really been to social lately. The past few days I have been browsing the internet and I am just so fascinated with some things I have come across. Some would call it crazy, or maybe even creepy. But I find it to be art. Frank wasn't too keen on the whole idea at first, but after he saw the process he was interested too. It's a long procedure, but the end is amazing. Frank & I want to make babies. :D But it may take a while, and our interest may change before then, but I want to make a baby!!! LOL!!! LOL!!!

                                            Being lazy & browsing online

Day 189: Survival Ways

Kyle is so in to survival gear, camping equipment, and hiking gear. He is always going on a hike somewhere, or wanting to do something camping related. Today he made a hobo stove out of a tin can. I guess we should take the kids camping, but we have no gear, and camping gear is expensive!! Maybe we get some items when they go on clearance? Guess I better keep my eye's out for sales in the next few months. Nothing to exciting happened today.

                                             Kyle's Hobo Stove

Day 188: The Taming Of The Shrew

Kyle found two shrew's in the window well today. He said, he thought they were hamsters. LOL We went outside, and found bucket, and I got some gloves, and we were going to go catch them. Both were scurrying around down there, and as we approached one went in to a hole, that is on the side of the window. So Frank will have to fill that back in, but it does not lead to inside it's just a hole they dug up against the house. I caught one, he practically went in to the bucket himself, the other one....that one is a bugger! I can't catch that one!! He comes out of the hole, and then gets scared, and goes back in. I almost had him, when I blocked the hole off, but he squeezed thought this tiny, little hole!! I still have not caught the little bugger yet, hopefully we can get him tomorrow. While we were down there we saw a tree frog, so we got him out as well. The one little shrew chilled in the bucket almost all day. He was cute to watch, and I was able to touch & pet him. I know you shouldn't do that, but he was cute. LOL Everyone got a turn, Kwin hand was in my hand, so I would have gotten bit, if it decided to bite. I did some research on shrews and I had no idea that a certain breed of shrew, is venomous!! I was shocked to learn that, Frank said he knew that. Interesting! Still didn't stop me from touching the cute little guy. Hahaha We did release him, and he was pretty happy in his bucket, and then finally came out. Well we ate dinner, and I went out to see if he was still there. I didn't see him, but I heard some rustling of leaves, and holy cow, the little guy was back in his bucket. LOL Last I went out he was burrowing in the leaves, and then was gone. He was pretty cool to watch. We had a wonderful dinner tonight, steak, baked potatoes...well grilled for the other's as they don't like baked potatoes...corn on the cob, which took forever to get gone, and salad. It was pretty tasty. :)

Oh! And I have been finding hearts left & right lately. I have been feeling a little down lately...nature can always soothe my soul, & heart. :) Or love from heaven, as I say!

                                            Hello, little shrew

                                           Goodbye little shrew

Tree Frog 

Shrew

Love from nature 

Day 187: Dentist & Naps

Older kids had a Dentist appointment today, 6 month cleaning. We were there 2 hours, but it didn't seem to be that long. Kwin stayed occupied, and played with their toys, he does pretty good, it's just we had problems if HE was seeing the Dr. LOL All the boys had no cavities, but Chelsea on the other hand, had 2. And she has an abscessed tooth!! She said it doesn't hurt, and has never complained of pain. I'm not happy with her dental report. She has to be on antibiotics, and have the tooth pulled. Ugh! I'm always on that kid to brush!! Luckily, it's a baby tooth. I have noticed that Chelsea & Kwin have had more troubles with their teeth than the older boys have had. Just makes me wonder. The older boys were on fluoride drops when they were younger, I declined with Chelsea & Kwin. Chelsea & Kwin were extended breast feeders, while Keagan & Kyle were formula fed, and Kameron was breast fed for 6 months, and then formula for 6 months. Just makes me wonder. Maybe it's the new crap that is in food nowadays? Our dentist's tell you, it's not your fault, as some kids are more prone to decay, than others, and that their own kids even get dental decay. Made me feel better for a second, but I still think it's our fault, they need to brush more, and we have slacked, and now they have decayed teeth. Frank's family has teeth problems, so it could be genetics, too? I showed Chelsea pictures of decayed teeth, and told her she needs to scrub those puppies really good, and she will be drinking more water, and having a tweak in her diet. She is the pickiest eater out of the bunch, so this shall be fun.

We got home, had lunch, and I was tired. Kwintyn kept pestering Chelsea, so I picked him up, took him to our bedroom, put him in our bed, and laid down with him. He was out 10 minutes later, and I took a nap with him. I was pleased that my plan had worked, as they often backfire on me. No protest's, no nothing. Just Hi, Mom. Hahaha We took like a 2 hour nap, and that resulted in a late dinner, but everyone ate well, and some had seconds. I felt lazy after my nap, and it's a dreary day here, a bit chilly. So.......I made graphic art instead. :P No way was I going to try to take a picture of Kwin sleeping, on click, and he would have jumped, and awoken.....I've tried. lol

                                                       I like you & naps

Day 186: Chauffeur

Today we had to take Grandma Moore to Petoskey to the Dr's. She needed someone to drive her over, so I had offered. Drove Grandma's vehicle, so I had to get use to driving her car, it's a little smaller than ours, but it rides nice, and smooth. And I loved that she had the LATCH system in her car, we don't have that, and I really like it. Kwintyn's car seat was much easier to set up with that. We need to start looking for a new vehicle in the future. I want a new, fancy, shiny car.....buuuuut, I also like having no car payment, so it looks like another used vehicle for us. Kyle & Kwin went along, and Kyle was really helpful. I'm glad he went with us, I would have needed the help. After dinner we went on walk, and Kwintyn was going to ride his bike, but Frank ended up carrying it home. LOL I found a huge clover flower, and was consumed with that for about 15 minutes, just snapping pictures. Sometime I get so lost in to nature, but I love it.

                                               Kwintyn buckled up!

                                                           Bike ride 
                                                         

                                                Beautiful Clover Flowers