Life these days.

 Its been awhile! Life kinda got busy.. but I am realizing how much I miss blogging!

I'm kinda too far gone to do a "catch up" on life. Ha! That could take awhile. So... I'll just give you the short version of life these days.

Madelynn is wrapping up kindergarten... 3 weeks until summer (can I get an Amen!!) ...and then she graduates, and on to real life!! Ha! I kid, I kid. I absolutely know, and admit that I am an outta control, have no clue what Im talking about, weirdo mom who cant believe my oldest is graduating Kinder. You can laugh. I laugh at myself when it comes to this stuff. Check back with me in about 12 years when she graduates high school and leaves me. Ahh!

We have been extremely proud of her this school year! This last 1/2 of the year, they actually get grades and awards as opposed to checks and letters. We were pretty dang proud that she made the Deans list 3rd quarter! 

She is reading like crazy! Reading everything in sight. We are enjoying her reading us bedtime stories now. :)

Oh and ddid I mention she is growing into a lovely young lady? She has a heart of gold… unless she is tired. She is a COMPLETELY different person when she is tired. ;)

Payton has enjoyed ballet this school year. I am SO glad we were able to get her back into ballet after a not so successful first time around. I am thinking its gonna be her thing. She loves it. She had a recital last week and it was the sweetest!! We loved finally getting to see what she's been working on every week!

Her sweet little class. 

She has also very much enjoyed going to "school" 2 days a week. I think it has been great for her socially. She is a little like her mama and doesn't handle people very well. (Ha!) She's gotten into the groove of things tho, and talk of leaving her teacher/classroom gives her anxiety. My heart breaks for her, as I know the feeling. We are praying that away.

My Lovely! 

Stetson.. oh Stetson. What would I do without that guy?!? More and more I am seeing that he is his dad's son, Nat Jr. is what I call him sometimes. He is goofy, loves to make everyone laugh, and just all around loved by everyone. He is a joy... and 100% boy. He loves to get dirty, loves to be outside... and he has severe allergies just like his daddy... that part, I could do without. It has been a bummer of a spring for him. It has taken a lot to get them under control, but, I think that we are almost there. It involved a Doctors visit which I wasn't thrilled about. But I felt desperate for him. We are praying, praying, praying those allergies away!!

This picture decries him oh so well. :)

Since Dec. Stetson has also been in "school" 2 days a week. (So.. do the math and that means I've been childless 2 days a week.. more on that later) It has been wonderful for him! He absolutely loves it. He even asked one of his teachers if she could come spend the night with him... He is quite the ladies man. ;) He's been caught holding a little girls hand at church, and he knows a pretty girl when he sees one. Lord, help us!

Just look at him, tho. 

Days with these 3 are perfect! Life is so different now. My BABY will be 4 in three months. That seems so foreign to me... but they keep growin and we keep lovin it. They spend 80% of their day outside. Riding bikes, scooters, skating, jumping on the trampoline and playing moms and dads, or puppies and kitties. I could get rid of every toy we own and they would never know it. I am glad for that.

and me.... Shall I just save this for a whole nother post??

I think I will...

All about Payton.

My Payton.

She turned 4!!

Lemme tell you a little somethin about this girl.

She is THE sweetest child on planet earth. She is so very caring of everyone and everything.

She is EXTREMELY attentive to what is going on around her, and she hurts when she sees someone hurting.

She's calm. Very calm and loves to cuddle.

I have a confession! I struggle greatly with babying her. Thats how entirely precious she is. Her and I would sit on the couch together, buhlie (her special blanket) in hand and chill all day long. As hard as it is for me to let her grow up,  Its something that I am working on. 

Just today, as I picked her up and laid her back to cuddle with her, she sat up and told me she didnt wanna lay like a baby.

Waaahhhh!!!!

That was a devastating wake up call for me.

She's still a tiny little thing and does not eat much, but she's still on the charts, so she's gaining weight somehow. Quite possibly the chocolate milk she has to have every morning when she wakes up. Some people need coffee to wake up, Payton is an absolute wreck in the morning until she gets her chocolate milk... and it never fails, complete turn around as soon as she gets her choc milk.

She's an animal lover. I really think that she will work with animals when she gets older. Its pretty sweet.

She LOVES crocodiles/alligators.

For her Birthday, she got a manicure and pedicure. She told me she wanted those new nail press on things. Not like fake nails, but the design things. They're pretty neat... probably not neat enough for the hefty price tag that comes with it. But hey, its what the girl wanted.

.... and her daddy abliged

We spent the day with her at Mr. Gattis and she wanted to see a movie, so we went and saw Planes. Its always SUCH a pleasure to spend one-on-one time with the kids... especially the quieter ones who can sometimes get lost in the mix of craziness!!

and we got home way to late and ate cupcakes in her Birthday suit. ;)

.... and while were on the subject of this girl... She started going to "school" 2 days a week. Its been amazing for her and I! She is loving it and doing amazing! I always dreaded this stuff with her, thinking she wouldn't do well because I may have scarred her by babying her too much. I'm glad thats not the case though. 

Isn't she so darn cute??

She also started ballet up again. We are hoping this time around is a little more successful than last time. I think her doing it without Madelynn will be beneficial to her. She loved the first lesson, and told me she wants to keep going back for a loong time.

Oh, and she wants us to call her "Ballerina"

:)

Kindergarten.

Madelynn started Kindergarten this week! I am so excited about this time in our life.  We (or mama) has enjoyed getting back on a schedule. It was a great week in that aspect! Now the getting up early junk, as much as I LOVE it once its done and over with, when that alarm goes off, I have feelings of depression come over me. I admit it. I have a slight obsession with sleeping. 

I am really excited about Madelynn's teacher this year. I really think it is going to be a great year!! 

She had to "pull her clip" on the second day of school. I find this very believable for this season we're in with her. We are definitely in a little 5 year old-im-old-enough-to-make-my-own-decisions-I-dont-need-my-mom-and-dad-im-a-BIG-girl funk....

We are working through it......

but, sometimes I feel like

I dont know what to do with her!!!!

and I mean that with a WHOLE lotta love.

:)

She is a challenge for me

 If ever there were 2 more opposite people, it is her and I.

and I mean that with a WHOLE lotta love.

:)

She has looked forward to being in Kindergraten since the first day of K4 last year...

and just look how far we've come since last year! 

This face says it all! Look at that sweet, super excited, first day of school grin. 

So crazy that I have a school  aged child! Someone asked me the other day if I had any kids starting school.... and It was so weird to answer with YES!!! This is W-A-Y more official than K4.

We have had to have a few little talks with her about how this isn't K4 and things are gonna be a little different. 

It was a great first week!!

26

Helllo July and August! 

I planned all this, ya know, 

I planned to marry a man born in the month of July, and then birth our children weeks apart.... 

and did I mention the said marriage was planned to fall in there to. 

Not really. 

I didn't plan a single lick of our life!! Its all fallen beautifully and perfectly into the place that the Good Lord has mapped out for us.

One of these years I'll learn... I need to save year round to accommodate this crazy time of year for us!! 

Luckily, I have a simple, money saving husband who wanted to just spend a day with his fam at the lake on the ranch. 

There is a "flat lake" there and it was really nice to jump in, walk around and cool off!!

Once the kids accepted the idea of moss, fish and mud, they had fun!

We hopped in the truck to go to another area to swim, we all hopped outta the truck, shut the doors and heard "honk" ya know... the honk of confirmation that you're truck is locked?? 

Luckily for us, my FIL was with us and we weren't completely stranded with no cell service. Nat tried to unlock it, with no success... so off to town we headed for the spare key.

That evening we had Nat's family over for his birthday supper.

he wanted cake AND pie....

so cake and pie he got.

He is spoiled like that....

We had a great time..

and I am thankful to have him for another year of life.

So hey! Its been awhile! 

I'm sure if were not friends on Facebook, you might be wondering about me... since I kinda left you hanging and all with my health issues.

We had a few hurdles but I finally was able to get an MRI done on my brain, and

PRAISE GOD,

it all came back clear and perfect. 

Slowly, but surely all of my strange symptoms I had been having were going away. I don't think its a coincidence. 

To all you kind and loving people who prayed for me, Thank you again!

It seemed like so long of a period in life that things were weird for me... when you don't feel normal, the days go soooo slow, depression and sadness creep in... and I think its safe to say that that is the reason for my lack of blogging. 

Sooo, as I am feeling back to normal again, I hope to get back to blogging regularly again. 

After the MRI, and after a lot of symptoms had gone away, I still was having lots of headaches. They were manageable, but still so annoying!!!! Long story short, remember my tail bone issue?? Falling down the stairs in the middle of the night?? Well, that sent me to the chiropractor, and lo and behold, not only are we (STILL) working on my tailbone, but he was able to adjust me over several weeks and I  have COMPLETE relief from my headaches. I honestly cannot tell you the last time I took medicine for a headache. The chiropractor has been life changing for me. I often wonder why no doctors I saw sent me to one first to try and help me. 

My tailbone is still a work in progress.... Lordy me! This has been a journey in itself. Never in a bazillion years would I have thought I would still be dealing with this all these months later. I think I've just gotten used to it tho... It has been a long journey with the chiropractor on this issue, and it will still be awhile before things are normal. Summer trips have been killer, to sit in the truck for long periods of time. 

I'm thankful to be healthy! 

We are winding down the summer, and I think were all ready to be in a good routine. Summer can so easily rob you of routine...

I'm gettin' Madelynns stuff ready for school. She starts Kindergarten in a few days. We're getting uniforms out, putting up the stuff that doesn't fit, washing stuff, gathering school supplies.....

Here we go again! Life flies.

Ohhh, and did I mention, we are diving into the whole soccer thing this fall??

I can't believe were doin it!! Part of me still turns my nose up to the idea... I'm not quite ready to commit to anything other than school... We shall see how it goes!

3.

My baby is THREE!!!

I know, you know, we all know...

I'm in denial that he is 3.

Life is so simple.

I aint complainin'. I am LOVING this season in life. No diapers. Life doesn't revolve around a nap, I open the car door and they all pile in and buckle themselves, eating, sleeping, its all so SIMPLE!!!

I think I can safely say that as much as It breaks my heart for my kids to get older, I equally love the change in life that comes with that.

Simplicity.

My bub, my little man. Ohhh how I love that little boy. He is special.

Theres 2 things that come straight to my mind when I think of Stetson right now:

-His best friend, his favorite person in life, his side kick, the love of his life is his Payton. Those 2 are inseparable!! It makes a mamas heart happy.

and

-He loves cars, trucks, and trucks pulling trailers. He's always got a car in hand, zooming across the wall, down the stair case or on the floor. He is REALLY obsessed with his daddy pulling a trailer behind his truck, and he is even MORE obsessed with his daddy backing a trailer. He has a toy truck, with a trailer on it and he is always backing it up. He also loves to back his bikes up. NO straight parking for him. If he's told to put his bikes up, it is backed up perfectly where it belongs. He's funny.... and (obviously) really obsessed with his daddy. :)

We aren't really doing parties this year

*shock* *gasp* *shock*

I don't know whats come over me. I just didn't really feel like doing much of anything but enjoying one on one time with them.. So, we are letting each kid pick what they wanna do... and were doin it! Bubba wanted to go to the zoo. So, to the zoo we went. We had never been to the San Antonio zoo, so we thought we'd change things up a bit! It was a really nice place! I definitely think that we will be going again!!

It was hot!

(shocker, right?)

but manageable. There was lots of shade and inside a/c areas.

.....

and

...... 

this was our first BIG trip without a stroller!

It went really well, there was one time where I wished we would have had it, but we marched through and the kids did great! We were there from 10am to 5pm... so they were definitely troopers through the heat, and walking. Not to mention we woke them up at 6am to leave... and only 2 took 30 min naps on the way to San Antonio. 

This monkey put on a show for us. We stood and watched it forever. He would spot some ppl he didn't like and go nuts! I was ever so grateful for the gate between him and us cuz I have no doubt he would have unleashed fury on those poor guys. 

and because I think its a feat in life... I must make known that now, here are my 2 three year olds. ;)

Love them!!

This is something I will elaborate on in her bday post, but my Payton is OBSESSED with crocodiles/alligators... so it was pretty darn awesome when we got to the crocodile exhibit and he put on a show for us! Payton loved it.

Theres a really neat kids area where we spent a lot of time! Lots of activities for them!

and I just so happened to look on the website and see that they had a little water area for the kids.. so I was very grateful for that and it was perfect for the end of the day when we were hot and tired. 

We ended the day with supper at Red Robin, where my dear son was absolutely smitten with our waitress. He is usually shy around pretty girls, but NEVER like he was with her. He could hardly contain himself when she would talk to him. It was hi-larious!! 

Oh the male mind. 

They came and sung to him, and we enjoyed some cake.

We are blessed, and thankful for our 3 years with our little man.

5

My baby is 5! 

I can't even believe it.

We had a great day celebrating with her. Just a date with momma and daddy. We went bowling, went to play at the mall, and then went swimming! We loved spoiling her for the day. 

My sweet Madelynn, she has not changed much over the years. She's still a girly girly. She loves pink, She loves sparkles, she loves Princess' 

She talks a LOT. More than I can handle at times. 

She LOVES to take pictures, and is always asking me to "take a picture of this" as she poses. and at the same time, she loves to snap the pictures too. It is a real treat for her to get to use my camera.

She is SO ready to start Kindergarten. I am totally urking at the thought of "back to school"... her on the other hand, she cannot wait. She's been dreaming of K5 for way to long to enjoy the rest of summer. ;)

She woke up on her birthday, and was taken back that she still had feet the same size as when she was 4.

We got a good laugh about that.

We had to explain to her that even though she was a year older, it doesn't necessarily mean that she's gonna wake up that morning and be another size bigger.

She's full of life.

Full of love.

Full of joy

and she LOVES to ride her bike.

(We have been training wheel-less for about 4 months now.)

We love you, mad. 

Proud of the beauty you are growing up to be.