Off to Arizona

Aaron left this morning to live in Phoenix for a while to be there for his mom. I'm driving out tomorrow morning and hope to be there by Saturday dinner time. We truly appreciate the help that everyone has offered and we have already taken. Without all the arms hooked around us together, it would not be possible for us to do this much for our family.
For anyone reading this blog that does not know what is going on, I won't go in to details, but in summary, Aaron's mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 Ovarian Cancer yesterday. This is very new to us. None of us know how to walk down this path or where it will take us. Right now it is just one foot in front of the other, day by day.

Pray people pray.......

My mother in law is in surgery. Give us all the prayers you got.

Good times, good results...and the unknown

Had such great weekend with an old friend from high school, his awesome girlfriend and her two little cutie girls. We had fun around the firepit catching up on old times, hit up Grant's Farm and the Magic House.

Our token family picture at Grant's Farm. Love love love this place....and so did the other million people there that day!
All the kids in the Cinderella carriage at the magic house. We only made it through half of the new expanded one, but that was enough for us and the kids.

Matt, me, Katie and Aaron - new friends + old friends = great times

The Magic garden...


Today was back to reality. My lil sis had her surgery today. The morning did not go well as she was in excruciating pain when we arrived. The surgery couldn't be soon enough. But everything went as well as they hoped and she is recovering nicely. Should be home tomorrow. I took Mackenzie with me so we could enjoy some special time.
Aunt Cheryl, Mackenzie and Aunt Caitlyn

After we knew that Cheryl was out of surgery and in recovery, we took a little break from the hospital and headed out to ride the horses. Mackenzie was a natural and loved every minute of it.

Mackenzie getting to enjoy getting a chocolate long john at QT. She takes after her momma with her favorite donut of all time.

We are back home now, not quite ready for the week to begin. We have some other medical stuff going on with family that we are very concerned about- so send us your prayers and love and we will forward them on. Hopefully tomorrow will bring more answers........God willing.

quick updates, lots of pictures

We had missed the one in November, so when we heard NKOTB was coming back to town, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity again!

We didn't get to go together, but we met up for one song...Hangin Tough baby!

My lil sis was in town, so I got to take her to her first concert. We were like two 14 year olds together! LOL


NKOTB!!! Me, Cheryl (sis), Dawn and Jenna


Me and Cheryl



This past weekend we had a BBQ. Now you all know that I love keeping up on all these Quad families, well, this was the closest I'll ever get to a quad pic! lol All the babies are within a week of each other, and since we had already planned to celebrate Austin's 1/2 birthday - we let all the little fellas join in. It was so stinkin cute. I think this may have to become a yearly event.

Sean, Austin, Nathan, Christopher (the twins)

"Here buddy, you want a bite?" so sweet sharing

Nathan going in for the sneak attack
So all the other boys had been picked up and taken to be cleaned up and I went outside and Austin was still sitting in the same spot - this kid wasn't going to miss a single bite of that cupcake! LOL

Just some random pics - Sweets for my Lil Sweets

roasting smores with Grandma and Pop

ice cream cone heaven

I took the kids to the park to feed the ducks on one of my days off last week. They love feeding the ducks. There was a mommy with her 8 babies and the kids thought they were so adorable.

Yesterday I took Mackenzie to get her school supplies for this year. Can you believe she starts school in a month! Here she is trying on her new backpack....can you guess what kind it is???

Hannah Montana of course! - her idol!

Night before last Turner was running around the couch, tripped on something and hit the table in the living room.

This is what it looked like that night.

And this is what I came home to yesterday! We told him he looks like our little boxer! Poor guy, but he says it doesn't hurt or anything.

Here are some pics from the 4th of July. It rained, but we did get a little break to light a couple off.

Turner not so happy because Sissy got to hold the flag in the first picture (not shown)
And literally 2 second later - don't you just love how they can turn it on and off.

My little muscle man - see how stinkin adorable this guy is!
Austin LOVED the fireworks and was fascinated by all the fire and flashes. My little pyro!

And this is what happened when the sparkler went out and I didn't have any more.

A few more things - Aaron and I ran a 5K this weekend. Well walked/ran. But hey we did it and I was so proud of Aaron for pushing through and it was nice to do together.

Also, yesterday Aaron learned that he passed his Praxis (teaching certificate) exam with FLYING colors. I am so incredibly proud of him. He is going to make an extraordinary teacher.

Oh, and the in-laws have left. We hated to see them go, but I must admit, I've enjoyed having my bed back. Hopefully by the next visit we can have that bedroom and bathroom in the basement finished!

Oh my gosh it seems like time just gets away from me. We've had Aaron's parents in town since the 4th and are loving every minute of it - REALLY...yes I am loving having my in-laws here, how many a girl can say that! I just love watching them interact with the kids and making the memories, and Aaron is so happy to have his parents here. They got in on the 4th, I knew they would tired from a long day of travel so I had made a dinner to stay around the house and have something ready. We got a break in the rain for long enough to have Aaron light some fireworks outside for the kids, then later we were going to go to the big fireworks but it got rained out, but we ended up pulling in to QT up the street and being able to see quite a few home displays. The kids loved it. Since then we've more been hanging out around home. Tomorrow we have a day planned to go to Elephant Rock and Johnson Shut-ins. Turner thought we were going to the zoo - couldn't quite understand why we were talking about elephants if we weren't going to the zoo! Tonight they are at catching up with old friends, and Friday we are having a big BBQ with their friends, ours, our neighbors and their friends - should be a great time. I just love having people to our house!
So what else is going on....well Turner is potty (and poopy) trained completely now! Of course he still tries to talk us in to candy every time he goes! lol He is really such a character. Just love this little guy. So stinkin cute. I know I say that all the time, but so so true. Of course he is at a stage where he whines and cries at the drop of a hat, and maybe I coddle him too much, but I don't necessarily think it is such a bad thing and don't really pull the "be a tough boy" regimen. I do think he is tough, and he is one of the most affectionate kids in the world. Some wife someday is going to thank me for not squashing those emotions.
Mackenzie starts school in only a month and a half. I truly can't believe that. She LOVES doing her gymnastics and seems to be taking it pretty seriously now. She is very disciplined, but I don't want to overpush her in anything. She is hilarious with her "Are you Serious!", "whatever", "Does that even make any sense mom"...sure as a teenager it will drive me up the wall, but now it is really just her being funny - not moody or disrespectful. And Aaron and I joke around like that all the time so she is truly a product of us (God help her!)
Austin is just a character right now. Everything is "no". And he repeats EVERYTHING that the kids say....from "chicka chicka whow whow" to "whatever"....I mean everything. It is hilarious. He really does not see any difference between them and him. Thinks he is just as big and can do anything. Did I mention the kids is S-T-U-B-B-O-R-N ......don't know where he got that from! LOL Oh and funny about him...he likes to give himself sink baths. I haven't witnessed it yet, but a few times Aaron said he will be in the living room and hear the kitchen sink turn on and Austin will have pulled a chair up, climbed in the sink and be turning the water on. Goof ball!
Well, got stuff to get to and this isn't even a glimpse in to our exciting lives. Man, really can life get much better. Sure I have days when I want to scream or cry or something, but that just makes the next day all the better and "real".

Catch up time

I've so bad lately about posting on here. I guess it just seems like all anyone cares about these days in Facebook. But then I have to remember that this is my journal. Even though I do love that maybe there is someone else out there that enjoys reading along with our life, the main purpose is for me to capture the here and now for me and the kids to look back on.

So with that in mind...now where in the heck do I start. I guess I'll just start typing down all the random things going through my head - so this may come in out in no good order at all....
SO Turner is potty trained! I'm sure someone is thinking - well it is about time - but truth be told, I don't have a big issue with pullups, so I really wanted to wait till he was really ready because if not it wasn't worth it for me. Notice that I did only say "potty" trained - he is still have accidents with the "poopy" trained, but he has gone in the pot, just not all the time. But he hasn't had wet pants since we started, so we are very excited.
Mackenzie sometime over the past month has grown up too much for Dora. I don't know when it happened, but all of a sudden when she would want the TV on and I would say "Want me to turn on Dora?" she started saying "No, I want Disney channel (e..g. Hannah Montana, Drake and Josh)" Just another thing that proves my baby is growing up. Next thing I know - Chou Chou is going to be stuffed in the bottom of the closet :( She is done with the Spring season of soccer. We decided not to do t-ball this year. She is much more in to soccer, and it just seemed like we would just be doing it to do it.
Austin is growing like a weed. He understands just about everything these days and he is imitating words. He is proving to be just as much "boy" as Turner. Everything turns in to a gun around the house and he goes around pointing and going "Phst phst". He also morphs in to a dinosaur randomly and will start "roaring" at us.
Aaron and I are exhausted from school. This last week was my last week and Aaron had school every day on top of his night school. But now that week is done and I am on my 2 week break. Next up is Finance - whooo hoooo!
We are getting ready for the inlaws to come visit and can't wait. I just can't wait to see them get to "meet" the kids all over again. I see them change week to week, so in 6 months are practically completely different kids.
I still don't have my camera back from my bro, so no new pics :( Hopefully we will get it back soon and I will be clicking away!

Happy Father's Day

It is late and I'm tired, but have to take a moment to tell you what a wonderful father my husband is. Aaron surpasses my expectations everyday. The fact that he has this time at home with the kids is such a true gift we have been given. And the fact that he sees it that way too makes it even better. These kids love their daddy. We fit as a family so seamless and easy. His feature "Family Fun Days" will be a family tradition for years and years to come. I love you so much sweetheart and can't even find the words to express how much you mean to me.
The kids were so excited for Father's Day this year. We got daddy a new big tent. It was supposed to be a surprise, but then on Wednesday, Aaron was looking for his phone and Turner said "maybe it is in your new tent" Mackenzie was pretty upset that the surprise had been ruined but we told her not to worry about it because it was still a surprise what it looked like. Tonight everyone got to make their own speciality homemade pizza and we had gotten an ice cream cake which we decided to keep a secret....well, Turner of course blew that one too. But then we played it off like he was just talking about a "pretend cake" and surprised him with it later! It was so cute to see the whole thing. I have so much to post about other stuff, but right now I just really want to snuggle up with my honey and enjoy my time, so I'm gonna log off.
PS - my sister is here to visit for the week before her surgery!!! Yea, I LOVE my little sis, and love having her around.