The First Days of School

If it is any indication of the kind of week we had, the first day of school was Monday, and I am just now getting around to blogging about it.

Oh well...

It was the first day of school and I sent Matthew to start his last year in elementary school, Madelynne to start 3rd grade, just one classroom away from me, and Christopher off to kindergarten! I was able to get a few pictures before everyone ran out the door - me off to school myself, and Mike out the door to take Caileigh and Christopher to daycare.

The big kids off and ready for their first day of school!

Maddie all smiles for 3rd grade!

My big kindergartner!

Happy Birthday, Maddie!

Dear Maddie,

Today, sweet girl, you turn nine years old! I can hardly believe that you are nine. You are about to start your third grade year at school, and let me tell you that I am excited that you get to be just down the hall from mommy's classroom.

Since you are nine, I thought I'd tell you the story of the day you were born. Your actual due date was July 28. We were several days past your due date and mommy was miserable. I begged the doctor to schedule an induction because I knew you were in no hurry to be born. (As a side note, Maddie, nothing has changed in that regard. You do everything in your own time!) Finally I (bullied a poor new doctor) convinced into scheduling an induction for later that week. Daddy and I went into the hospital on the evening of Aug. 3, and they started doing what needed to be done to start the induction. I remember a new doctor coming in that night and thinking he was Doogie Houser, MD (I don't expect you, Mad, to understand the reference) and no way was he delivering me!

The next morning Dr. Hinkle came in and started the pitocin and broke my water - even though I asked for an epidural first, she wanted me to wait. All I can say is OUCH! Truly, you and Matthew are lucky that mommy was able to forget that pain enough to give you another brother and sister! By the way, Daddy decided to go get himself some breakfast during this time, so he missed out on the fun of Mommy grabbing the side of my bed in misery before the glorious epidural arrived.

Anyway, after only a few short hours, you were ready to be born. Just a few pushes and you were here. Absolutely perfect round head, big pink cheeks, and huge! 9 lbs, 1 oz! What a big girl!!

Now here we are, nine years later. You are definitely an independent girl! You are wonderfully creative, a talented athlete, rarely take no for an answer, and a fierce competitor.

This year, your ninth year, I wish nothing but greatness for you. I am grateful that God blessed me to be your mom. I know sometimes you and I go "head to head" but know that it's only because I want to you to be the best that you can be.

Be strong, have faith, and always trust your heart to lead you. I love you so very, very much!

Love,

Mommy

Praying For Stellan!!!

Won't you please join me in praying for little Stellan today? His mommy is MckMama from http://www.mycharmingkids.net/. He is in the hospital right now suffering from SVT and is not doing very well. Please pray for this little one.

This is the way we eat our breakfast...

...so early in the morning. Apparently, I need to teach this child how to use a spoon! Either that, or she's watched the dog eat once too often!

Eating like Izzy does!

Getting every yummy bite!

Yummy Fruity Pebbles!

Not a lot of exciting things going on right now. Summer is winding down. School will be starting very soon. Even sooner, I have to start planning for school to start. Funny thing is, for some reason I feel more fixed on getting organized around the house in preparation for school than I am in my classroom.

One thing I am going to do is get the kids some organizational items that my friend and colleague, Lindsey does with her boys. She uses the 5 shelf closet organizers to set out clothes for the week. It's not typically hard to find things for the boys to wear, but Maddie is the worst when it comes to picking out things to wear. I will let her be in control of what to wear and when, so that when she gets up, it's grab and go. I have some other ideas in mind as well. We will have meals planned for the entire week. We will have chores to do each night. I don't want to spend the money on a house keeper, so it's going to be up to us. It's just a matter of having everyone on the same page and willing to be helpful around the house. One thing is for certain, I cannot do this by myself. It takes everyone helping to make things work around here.

One more piece of exciting news - we are going to Chicago at the end of the week! Yea! I am so excited to take the girls to American Girl - I can't stand it!! I will probably be a kid in a candy store - it would have been heaven on earth for me when I was a little girl. Beyond that, I'm not really sure what we are going to be doing, but I can't wait!! The BlogHer conference will be going on while we're there, so I'm hoping to run in to some of my blogging buddies that I know will be there.

Weekend Fun!

What a fun and busy weekend we had! I'd love to say that I documented every event with lots of pictures, but I haven't gotten to the point where I have the camera with me all the time. *Sigh*

Anyway, we started our weekend off with our annual family daycare picnic. I had high hopes that the rain that was predicted for the day would hold off. No such luck. As I was stepping out of the shower Saturday morning, I could hear the tell-tale patter of rain on the window. Maybe it would pass by 11:00? Unfortunately, no. But we didn't let that stop us from having a great time. We had great food, wonderful fellowship with friends, and despite the incessant rain, the kids had a fun time. It really is great to feel like the people that you trust your children with day in and day out are people that you like - strike that - love! (I would use the "strike" but I haven't figured that out yet! If anyone wants to provide a tutorial, that'd be great)

If the weather was cooperative, we would have taken the kids to the pool located in the park we were at, but since it was pouring - and with more rain and thunderstorms on the way, we thought it best to call it an early day. On the way home, Mike stopped a local institution - Gray Brother's. He got dinner for himself, his mom, grandfather, and the kids (I passed on the starchy goodness - still trying to lose/maintain weight) I was thrilled just because the dinner question was already answered. Yeah!

After we got home, it was nap and rest time for all. Afterward, I stopped by a local produce stand for some fresh tomatoes and peaches. I made myself a yummy dinner of a tomato salad and angel food cake topped with peaches and blackberries (who knew that combo was so yummy)

Sunday morning started off nicely because I got to sleep in! We opted to forego going to church since we knew Maddie would have a tough go of her morning. She fell asleep late yesterday afternoon, and despite our best efforts, she would not wake up. She ended up sleeping until almost 10:30 pm, ate, and then went back to bed late. I knew she'd be a beast if we got her up before she was ready.

After getting cleaned up, we headed out for S.taples to take advantage of their 1 cent deals. When you're buying school supplies for 3 kiddos, you gotta take advantage of those deals. After making a Costco run, we took Caileigh to my parent's house, then headed over to a swim party to celebrate the end of the 5 yr. old t-ball season. The kids got to swim and play, and the parents got to chat and eat. We had so much fun! The best part was seeing the look on the kids' faces when they got their trophies. So cute! They were so proud of themselves and we are proud of them.

So, after spending some quality time at my mom and dad's, hanging out with my brother and his sweet girlfriend, my sister (happy birthday, Kristen!) and her fiance, and of course my kiddos, I took my dirty, stinky, exhausted kids home. Sent each one to the shower, and then straight to bed. Hopefully, they will sleep in...

Look at this Face!

Look at this face! This is one of the most precocius 5 year olds you are ever going to meet! He is talkative, lover of all sports, mama's boy, and Mr. Independent. He has also learned how to use his words in a not so positive light. What is it about turning 5 and suddenly learning how to "mock" your parents, fight with your siblings, and just being a stinker in general?

Anyway, I am sending this little man off to kindergarten in just a little over a month. He is stoked! I am not so much. I mean, I've been through sending two kids to kindergarten already. When Matthew went, I was so excited for him! Of course, I shed a few tears after I put him on the bus, and I paced the front yard waiting for his bus to return, but overall, I did fine. When Maddie went to school, I was teaching in the same school she was at, so actually it should have been a cake walk. I won't say I wasn't a mess before school, but it was a sappy morning, to say the least.

In a little over a month, I am sending this little face to a different school. He's getting on the bus at his sitter's house, so I won't see him get on the bus, and I won't see him get off the bus. I'm really pretty bummed about that. But I know he's going to do great! I know I have several people who will be checking in on him.

This is the face of a kid that will set the world on fire - no question about it. I just hope his kindergarten teacher can handle him :)

Mom! What are We Doing Today?

That is the question that I get asked about 47 thousand times per week around here. It's not that I don't want to do something. It's just that there are so few activities around here that don't cost an arm and a leg. Whether I or the kids like it or not, we are a budget conscious family. We have four children, one of which is still in diapers, and two who are still in daycare. So finding free entertainment for the kids in the summer is challenging.

We take advantage from time to time of the "free" movies at the movie theater. Of course, that doesn't include the nearly $25 in popcorn and drinks. Sure, we could smuggle in our own drinks and snacks, but being a "rule follower" it's sometimes hard. I would love to put the kids in various summer camps, but those get expensive, and when you multiply the cost times three - ouch!

Today, I took the older two kids to an outdoor water park with some friends. It was $23 dollars for just 3 of us. I shudder to think that it would be nearly $50 for all six of us to go. Oh well! The big kids had a blast, going down the water slides, jumping off the diving boards, and playing with our friends' younger kids.

We were all wiped out when we got home, so all of us took naps. We had the quietest, most pleasant afternoon in weeks! I'm thinking this was money well spent.

I know (or at least, pray) that they day will come soon where credit cards will be paid off and we will have one less child in daycare - and then at the end of the day there will be more money in the bank. At least for now, I will continue to challenge myself to find activities to entertain my crew that do not break the bank.

Not Me Monday!

Welcome to "Not Me" Monday. This blog carnival was created by MckMama over at http://www.mycharmingkids.net/. Hop on over to see what she and everyone else has not been doing this week!

To start things off, I did NOT start a family blog of my very own. I'm NOT proud of my kids and husband at all, and I definitely do NOT want to show them off or let my extended family know what we are up to!

To add photographic interest (is that a word?) to said blog, I have NOT "borrowed" my parent's Nikon D40 camera (permanently, until I can purchase my own).

To keep up my current weight loss, I have NOT been walking on my treadmill for a half hour while NOT watching reality TV almost every night. My calves and hamstrings do NOT ache because I am walking on the 10 grade to maximize calorie burn!

Finally, I was NOT beyond thrilled that my husband took Thursday off from work to spend some family time (and money) together shopping for the kids. We did NOT find jeans at the Gap for Matthew for $3.00 and for Christopher for $6.00! We also did NOT get summer clothes for Caileigh for next year in size 3T. There is no way I would try to save money on clothes for my kids by buying things for them a year in advance!

Speaking of finding a bargain, I did NOT by a Vera Bradely Tote bag for $29.00. Nope, I would never feed my addiction by finding a great bargain! I am not super excited about starting the new school year with a new bag to carry my papers and such!

OK, now that I've been able to get all the things I did not do off my chest, hop on over to some of these other blogs to read all about what they didn't do too!

Happy 4th of July!!

A futile attempt at getting all 4 in a picture. Note that Christopher wasn't into cooperating!

So yesterday morning, the gang jumped in the suburban and headed to the local 4th of July parade. This has been a local tradition for years around here. We decided to try something new and put Caileigh in the wagon instead of her stroller. What can I say? She did fantastic!

Caileigh "two-fisting" her suckers

(On a side note, I am beyond thrilled that she did so well since my sister is getting married in October, and Caileigh and another toddler will be riding in this wagon being pulled down the aisle by Christopher)

The kids, of course enjoyed grabbing for candy as the parade passed by.

There was a threat of rain in the forecast, but thankfully the weather held throughout the parade, only really beginning to rain as the parade was ending. Mike engineered a plan to keep Caileigh dry if it did start to rain.

Unfortunately, it rained, and rained. And. rained...You get the picture. It rained all day, non stop. I had hoped to head to the local 4th of July festivities, but with the rain, we decided instead to head to my parent's house and have dinner together. Also, due to the rain, all the firework shows were postponed as well.

We thought we'd try to at least view the fireworks display here in town. Sadly, we were not able to see much from the location we chose. For whatever reason, the fireworks weren't launched high enough to clear the trees that surround the park. Note to self: next year suck it up and brave downtown to view a REAL fireworks show! However, I was still able to snap at least one picture of Maddie and Christopher oohing and ahhing over what little fireworks they could see.

Introduction to My Family

I have been wanting to start a family blog for awhile now, but it seems that I let the perfectionist in me get in the way. You know, how do I make my blog look as great as all the other blogs that I love to read? Well, thanks to Google and those wonderful blog tutorial sites, I have been able to create a blog (actually two blogs) that I think I am going to be proud to share.
You see, I am a blog addict! My husband takes tremendous pride in making fun of me because I am always lurking from one blog to another. But anyway, I digress...

The purpose of this family blog is to share updates and happenings with our family, whom we love dearly, but don't always get to see all the time. I will try to post updates often and, for the sake of grandparents, include pictures.

So, without further ado, let me introduce the family...

Matthew is our first born son. He is 11 years old. If you don't see this kid in a good mood, then something is definitely wrong! He loves football, video games, and aspires to be a chef. I think we may see him on the Food Network someday. If Alton Brown is reading this, contact me!

Madelynne (aka: Maddie or Mad) is our second born and first daughter. Creative, competitive, and high spirited only begin to describe our girl! She will probably be an artist when she grows up, given the masterpieces she has already blessed us with (some great, others not so much). This girl knows what she wants, and will not let anyone or anything stand in her way of getting it.

Christopher is our third child, and second son. He is 5 years old and will start kindergarten in August (*sniff, sniff*). He is inquisitive, insightful, and thinks well beyond his years. He loves sports of any kind and has been watching ESPN with his daddy since he was a baby. He is his great-grandfather made over and we couldn't be prouder of this little boy.

Last, but certainly not least, is Miss Caileigh. She is 22 months old and is a complete joy to our family. She has her daddy wrapped around her finger, and we knew that the moment daddy held her in his arms for the first time. She is definitely sassy and she almost always lets us know exactly what she wants.

So there you have 2/3 of the Runyon family. I will include some pictures of the other third of our family (ie: my dear husband and myself) in another post.

-Kim