Snow Day!

I love, love, love the snow! I am completely anti-cold weather and love that I live in Texas so I just have to deal with it minimally, but the snow makes the cold weather so worth it! On Friday morning we woke up to this.....
Isn't that beautiful? We went to bed knowing that school had been delayed to start at 10:00, but then awoke to find that school was canceled for the whole day! What fun! The kids didn't even mind missing their Valentine's Day parties to get to play in the snow! This made for a really short week for me too! After a week of viruses I had already missed a day and a half so then to have Friday off made last week a really short one. Not to mention that Monday is President's Day and we are out for that as well. I spent most of the day changing socks, putting clothes in the dryer, and saying "Shut the door guys!" but it was a great day! I think the last time we had snow that deep (around 8 inches at our house) I was in the 3rd grade. The only thing better than having snow as a kid is seeing the snow through your own kid's eyes.

And we're back....

After quite the hiatus from blogging, I am plunging back in! I know I should probably go back and catch up on what has happened in the last 6, no 7 months since I last blogged, but I am not gonna do it! I am just jumping back in with a fresh start! I will try to hit the hi-lights of the latter part of 2009 in future blogs, but today I am just going to post a picture of some BEAUTIFUL children (and I am not at all partial!!) We took these pictures right before Christmas....
Told ya they were beautiful!! I will make this picture bigger as soon as I remember how!! That is what happens when you don't blog for 7 months!!

Bad Blogger

I am having blogger guilt. It has been over A MONTH since my last blog. So much is going on right now that I don't even know where to start...so I'm not. Life is life, and this too shall pass.

My babies are doing wonderfully!!! Kortlen gets more fiesty with each passing day. I can't even imagine what Jr. High is going to be like. Please start praying for me now!! I have rescheduled her eye surgery for June 26th. I am so ready to get that done. Her eyes are getting worse and worse, so it is time. Tonight she was singing Hannah Montana's "Hoedown Throwdown" and dancing it on my bed. It just made my heart smile. She is precious and a gift from God...I am so thankful.

Kerrigan has her second dance recital this weekend. She is pumped (and, of course, that means I am SUPER busy....gotta love recital week.) She is doing a duet with her cute little friend Brittany, a solo, and 3 group routines. So much fun. There is nothing like seeing your baby on stage. LOVE IT! Kerrigan is so independant. I love her sassy little self and her huge personality. She is a princess!

Quinton is winding down the school year. Quinton was diagnosed with dyslexia last summer and we really worried about first grade....but there was no need! That boy is so smart! He made straight A's and never made less than a 100 on a spelling test (after being told last year he would never even be able to DO a spelling list this year that is quite the accomplishment). That is thanks to a great dyslexia program and the BEST teachers ever (We love Mrs Sample and Mrs Widemon!). He is going to go to summer school this year (Boo to early mornings) to help him stay on task with his reading, but my easy going boy will love it. He has such a sweet funny spirit and a love for life; he is such a joy.

I have lots of changes coming up in my life. I have taken a full time teaching position at the high school next year. I know that this is the best decision for me at this time, but it is so bittersweet. I love teaching, and know that I will love adding algebra to my teaching day, but I am sad that I will not be teaching at the studio next year. I am also sad that my girls will be away from me all day, but hour wise I think it will stay about the same. I am thankful for Erin, First Kids, and Aunt Charliene because I know they will be loved and well taken care of while I am at work. I also have taken on selling Scentsy...which I LOVE!!! So fun! Keep our family in your thoughts as many changes are ahead. I appreciate it.

Keri

DADGUM IT!

As parents, we don't want our precious little angels (yeah, right) to have potty mouths. We try to come up with little sayings that keep our own potty mouths at bay, at least around the kids, right? Well, one of my favorites is DADGUM IT! Pretty acceptable, even out of the mouths of babes, right? Well, that is unless your youngest angel translates that saying to be DA-OM IT! Go ahead, say it out loud. Now picture a 2 year old running around saying it. The committee just called and they are engraving my Mother of the Year plaque as we speak.

My baby is TWO!!

I can not believe that Kortlen Jane is two years old (as of March 28th). What happened? Where have the last two years gone? Two years we were given this little unplanned blessing and I can't imagine life without her. We celebrated this special day with a "Princess Parade Party" at the studio. We had everyone bring their favorite riding toy, decorated everything in pink, and had a great party!

Isn't that a cute princess castle cake? Cynthia Bellar made it! She does a great job!

Here is the birthday princess stealing lick of icing off her cake! Guess she liked it. I think we lost 2 cupcakes due to those little slobbery finger swipes!Here is Miss Kort getting ready to blow out her candles. She was a little unsure of everyone singing to her, however is still singing to herself daily. I love the fact that she gets it this year. After we brought home her gifts she sat in the living room floor saying "this kortwyn's birt-day doll" and "this kortwyn's birt-day dress" etc. She was so excited that it was all for her! I guess being the 3rd child and just over a year behind Kerrigan she is used to getting hand me downs and things that are for "the girls". I guess she really felt like the princess. Love that girl!

Fort Worth Zoo

I love this picture....That is Halli, Kayla, Kortlen, Quinton, Kerrigan and Heidi (aka all of the Benson cousins) enjoying the Fort Worth Zoo. Nana called on the Monday of Spring Break and told us all to get ready and head to Fort Worth. Right then. With no notice. I don't do no notice very well, but I got online and reserved a hotel, grabbed a suitcase, picked up Kristi and Kayla, and drove on up to meet Nana, Charliene, Kelli, Halli, and Heidi for a trip to the zoo on Tuesday. Oh, yeah, I did call Len also to at least let him know that his family was hitting the road! The kids had a blast! That was all of our first trip to that zoo and it was beautiful. Glad I did the "no notice" thing that day.

Leaving you with a picture of the two oldest cousins. This is at IHOP before the zoo. This picture reminds me so much of Shane (my cousin) and Kristi when we were young! (Check out the condiment buildings they worked so diligently on while waiting for pancakes!)

Warmer Weather = Dirty Bath Water

I am loving this weather and so are my kiddos! They spent the entire weekend outside. You should have seen the dirt (and smelt it...ooh wee!). If the toes weren't bad enough when we took the crocs off, the bath water would do you in! Tonight, after the water drained, there was this nice layer of dirt on the bottom of the bathtub to remind me of just how nasty those babies were when they got into that tub. My joy is that the dirtier that bath water is, the more fun my kids have had during that day. I am so thankful for the fact that they are healthy and able to run around outside and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Also, my kids have an awesome place to play outdoors...right next door at NANA's! We live next door to my mom, and my sister and her twins live with her, so they also have built in playmates. Nana has the coolest backyard ever. First of all, the view is phenomenal. (I will post a picture of that soon, so you can all see it.) Also, my mom has a green thumb, so the flowers, trees, bushes, grass, etc. always look great, except when the grandkids or the dogs get to digging. If that is not enough, she has an excellent driveway with an awesome hill that is the best place to ride bikes. Don't forget the swing set, the enormous tree swing, the "short" trampoline, the miniature horse in the back, and the jungle gym! I mean it is a virtual petting zoo/nature trail/park all right next door. No wonder they want to live there instead of here! (Could be because they think Nana hung the moon and I am "the meanest mom alive"!!)

Let me give you an example of how EVERY morning that the kids don't have school goes at my house:

Me - opening one eye as I am being woken by one of my kids to this question
Kid - "Can we go to Nana's?"
Me - (on my way to the potty) "not yet"
Kid #2 - "When can we go to Nana's?"
Me - (on my way out of the bathroom) "later"
Kid #3 - "I wanna go to Nana's! and I want coke peez!" (that is Kort)
Me - "Not right now...and no"
Kid - "But we need to go to Nana's - I want to ride my (insert bike or scooter or whatever here )"
Me - "Nana's still asleep" or "Nana isn't home" or whatever lie I can come up with to buy me 15 minutes.

Okay, now I could go on, but it would get extremely redundant and I think you get the idea. It is not that I don't want to go to Nana's, but I like to at least get a few chores done around the house before we spend the entire day outside! Some days I can hold out for a few hours; others, we are there before I can even change out of my pajamas! Now, when we drive up after school, it is the same scenario. And don't even get me started on those girls asking me if it is a school night. Heidi, Halli, and Kerrigan think if it is not a school night that they should spend the night together! They spent Friday night at my house, and KerrBear spent Saturday night over there this weekend! I think that it is so cool that they are so close. It won't be long before Kortlen is right there with them. Poor Quinton...he is the only boy. He and Len are so outnumbered!

By the way, I am on to that son of mine. Someday he will read this and laugh. He has gotten in the habit of asking me if he can have an apple at night because a)it is healthy and he knows I will let him have it and b)it takes him FOREVER to eat it. Pretty slick, huh? Pushing that bedtime back via fruit. It is a banana for you tomorrow night Mister!!

All in all, it was a great weekend!