Well, it is Sunday. I usually don't have time to post on the weekends but today we are all being lazy so I thought I would take a few minutes to pop in and check my email.

Yesterday we spent the day just hanging out. Then Mr. Bill decided he wanted to go for a "bike ride and see the baby cows". It is too bad you all can't hear the way he says that. It is soo cute to hear him say bike ride and baby cows. :) He is obsessed with cows and horses lately. Anytime he sees them out the car window he yells at us all to look. Then when we pass them he says, "Bye baby cows!" :) Anyway, we decided to go on a bike ride but the baby cows weren't out. We did get to see a white tailed deer and several pheasants though. One of the pheasants was hiding in the tall grass on the side of the road. I didn't see it until it flew up and scared the living you-know-what out of me. LOL We ended up doing another six mile bike ride. Megan got pretty whinny toward the end of the ride but otherwise it was fun. We ran into our mailman twice on our ride. The second time he stopped and asked if we were tired yet. I laughed and said we were getting there. The route we took was much flatter with very few hills. It was also very peaceful and quiet so I think it may become a more regular route for us. The only downside was we had to ride back two miles on the highway. Next time I think we will cross the highway even though it adds two more miles to the ride.

I am proud to say I have inspired the inner writer in my cousin Jason. ;) He has started his own blog so go check it out. http://www.jdsaysnowhearthis.blogspot.com/ I am truly amazed at how many of you read my blogger regularly. My own husband doesn't read it, but then it would take a life or death sentence to get him to read the back of a cereal box. LOL He is just not a reader, which is too bad. I appreciate everyone of you who takes the time to read and especially those who let me know what you think.

I have popped out a couple more chapters in my romance novel the last couple of days too. SOMEONE keeps telling me he wants to read it so I may, just may, put chapter one on here later this week. I haven't gone back to edit any of it yet so I will have to do that before I get it up. :)

Oh, and to update you all on the jail situation, I found out my sister-in-law was arrested on a warrant from a previous hit and run. She is still sitting in jail today and unless my mother-in-law decides to bail her, she will be there until Wednesday. I still think it is the best place for her right now. She can't hurt herself while she is there. But then I am not the one who has to deal with the wrath once she gets out either. :)

Billy and I have decided to hold off on me getting a job. I think he realized how much more work he would have to do around here if I did get a job. LOL I told him he would have to get the kids up and off to school, do homework, laundry, and dinner every night. He said we are fine and we will worry about money later. LOL I decided since we can pay our bills and we are not in any danger of getting behind on them that we can wait. We just won't have a lot of extra money for a few more years. That is a good trade considering my kids will be raised by me and not a daycare.

Well I am off to organize this lazy group of people into some kind of activity. Have a great memorial day weekend ya'll!

TGIF! :)

Life has been the same old here. The kids and I have been trying to get outside now that the weather is warming up and the rain is more sporadic. We are getting good use out of our bicycles and our garden and flower beds are getting more beautiful every day.

Becca woke up with a bloody nose this morning. I am not sure what the cause was but is sure frightened her pretty good. It was hard not to laugh as I explained that sometimes that just happens and it is not that big of a deal. :)

I also got a lovely phone call from the Sioux Falls Jail this afternoon. Nothing gets your blood flowing faster than a man on the phone telling you he is calling from the Sioux Falls jail. Apparently my sister-in-law has found herself in trouble again. The person who called me wanted me to come get her son who is just barely two. I explained that I was 1 and a half hours away. He went to get a phone number so I could call someone at social services. When he came back he said he was told no one could take the baby until at least Tuesday when my SIL goes to court. He also told me I needed 900.00 if I want to bail her out. I politely informed him I would not be bailing her out as I think jail is a good place for her. She needs help, even if it comes in the form of jail. I spent most of the afternoon trying to get ahold of my mother-in-law to let her know what was going on. She was very disappointed when I found her. We talked about how the baby must feel being taken from his mother and left with strangers. I feel so bad for him. I would take him only because I know he cannot help himself and he does not deserve this. I would not do it for her. I did that once and learned the hard way that she is not grateful at all.

I didn't get up and exercise today. I was just too tired. I have had too many late nights and early mornings this week so I finally gave in to sleep today. Billy and I stayed up and watched The Lord Of The Rings, The Return Of The King. What an awesome movie. I loved every minute of it. I would love to be able to sit down and watch all three in a row. But 9 hours is way too long to expect my kids to sit and behave themselves. LOL

I watched Dr. Phil today (sorry Bob, don't read this part! :)
It was all about college students who are so far in debt after graduation and the difficulty of finding jobs after grad. I can soooo relate to what he said today. Dr. Phil asked if we have unrealistic expectations when we graduate and I shouted YES! at the t.v. When I started college everyone pounded into me that once I graduated I would find a good job and would have money to burn. I don't know if that is what they actually said or if that is what I heard. I graduated from college with 24,000 in student loans. My mom told me to take all I could get because I could repay them when I graduated and got a job. No one told me it would take me 20 years to repay them or that I would have five kids, a husband, and no job. I wish I would not have listened but at 18, reality is not a concept you grasp well. Dr. Phil also talked about how college students expect to be able to live as their parents are despite the fact that their parents have spent the last 25-30 collecting what they have. He mentioned that we can't all have a fully decorated house, new car, etc. right out of college. He pointed out that our parents didn't have all that right off either. It took years and years to acquire their belongings, and more importantly, some savings and assests. This point hit home for me. I have unrealistic expectations. I want to have it all but have no way to get it. Fortunatley I haven't resorted to credit cards to get it but we are having financial difficulties anyway. I would love to pay all my bills and have money to burn every month but I see now with a little work and some time I can acheive some of that goal. We need to teach our kids that just because they go to college, doesn't mean they will be making a six figure income. It takes work and sometimes dirty hard work to get to that point.

I have been exploring the option of me getting a job part time to help us pay off the bills we can pay off so we have extra money and a savings account every month. I am thinking if I can find something that is from 6-12 in the evenings and/or weekends I may be able to do it. That way Billy will be home with the kids and I will be at work. I figured if we do this for one year and apply my income to the bills to get them paid off sooner, we will be able to pay off most of our unnecessary bills. I will have to start checking into it I guess. I just hate to leave my babies. :(

Well, I guess that is about it for today. Have a great weekend ya'll!

****For those of you who haven't noticed, there is a link to leave comments at the bottom of each entry in my blogger. Please feel free to leave your thoughts!******

Do you ever have that feeling that something really exciting is going to happen to you? I have been feeling that way all afternoon and I am not sure why. I hope whatever happens will happen soon!

Today started off running. I had to get into town early because Marea was out of her med and I literally cannot live with her for more than half a day without her on it. So I got all five kids up after I exercised (a whole hour) and showered. They complained and got dressed and we left. We dropped Billy off at work and ran to Walmart. However I didn't realize the pharmacy doesn't open until 9 a.m. URRRRR! So we shopped and walked until it opened a half an hour later. Then we walked and shopped some more waiting for them to fill it. By that time we were all starving and I tried to avoid the food aisles. I went back in twenty minutes (BECAUSE THE SIGN SAID 20 MINUTE WAIT)and it was not ready yet. So I gave in and went to the food aisle and got the kids some pop tarts and koolaid. I was going to have that for breakfast too until I spotted Dr. Phil's shakes on clearance near the pharmacy. Being the wise person I am I bought a package of them so I could have breakfast and not devour 200 calories in one poptart! :) They actually don't taste too bad. I figure I will use them for days like today when I am on the run and need something to eat.

We finally got Marea's meds and bought the few other things I had picked up and we left. We got home at 10:00 a.m. so we all went outside. I mowed the back yard and sprayed the weed killer I had just bought on the obnoxious weeds that are overtaking my lawn. I hope the stuff works. If it does I am going to go back and get the big bottle. The entire north side of my yard is drowning in these ornery things. LOL

The kids played outside while I mowed. I must say it was nice to finally be able to go outside after five days of yucky weather. I don't want to hear one more farmer complain about the lack of moisture! Billy, at some point, must have gotten clotheslined by Max (the dog) because he was scared to death to go near him. I think he must have knocked him down and Mr. Bill got scared. He stood over by our swingset and yelled at me while I was mowing because he was too afraid to walk to the playhouse. It is hard to believe in one short month my little guy will be two years old. He is so smart for his age that you would almost think he was three. He talks in full sentences and is now learning his colors. He walks around asking us what color everything is. The other day he got out the Twister game and asked me what color every single circle was. By the time we were done he could tell me what color they were. What a cutie.

My brother Luke came up last night. They recently moved to Sioux Falls. He is working as assistant manager in floor coverings at the new Menards there. His girlfriend, Beth, and her daughter, Jezzmin also came with. We sat and talked and chatted for most of the evening. They left around 10:30 p.m. We let the kids stay up the entire time so they were pretty crabby when I woke them up this morning.

I was down half a pound this morning so I am thinking maybe upping my exercise to an hour a day was what I needed. Hopefully I will see a few more pounds go in the next few weeks. That sure helps my motivation. :)

Billy's cousin is getting married this next weekend. We had planned on attending but money-wise it just doesn't look like it is going to happen. That is the one downfall of having so many kids. It is not cheap for us to pack up and run off somewhere for the weekend. Gas alone will be 150.00 round trip. I bought a card for the couple so we can at least send them our good wishes. Billy and I will be celebrating our 11th anniversary in June too. It is so amazing to think we have been married for that long. I look forward to the next 11 years + with him. Our wedding was a very small and intimate one. We said our vows outdoors under a gazebo that was atop the hot spring that runs through Hot Springs. It couldn't have been a better setting. Our ring bearer, who is also our nephew, kept wanting to go swimming in the little pond that was right near the gazebo. His poor mom had a hard time keeping him out of it.

Well this is getting long so I will get out of here. I hope you all have a good day and an excellent night. TTFN!

Wow! It has been a few days hasn't it? I have been busy chasing kids and keeping up with the house. :)

This weekend it rained all weekend. I haven't seen the sun for over four days. It peeked out this morning while I was exercising but quickly went back under cloud cover. It is not raining today at least. It is supposed to be almost 80 by Thursday so I am holding out for that.

During one of the breaks in the rain on Sunday we went to the greenhouse and got our garden necessities. I came home and planted it all immediately. The garden was already pretty muddy from the last three days of rain so by the time I got done I was walking around on a good 4-5 inches of mud. We moved Billy's mom's camper back to the end of our driveway so our garden would get full sun again. I am so irked with this stupid camper. His mom drove it up here about two months after we moved into this house. It died so she left it here. Two years later it is STILL sitting in my yard. It is old and ugly and looks abandoned. I really don't want my yard to become a salvage yard. Billy and Denny (Karen's ex-boyfriend) fixed the radiator last summer so she could come get it and drive it home. Unfortunately that did not happen. Now the tags have expired and I don't know if she is ever coming to get the d!*& thing. Anyway, shortly after I got done planting the garden, the rain came again. At least I didn't have to water the plants in. LOL

Billy had a bachelor party to go to on Saturday so the kids and I just hung out and played games. He went to go play paintball in Bruce. Apparently for 20.00 you can rent the equipment and for 4.00 more you get 100 paintballs. I think it sounds like a lot of fun. I told him we may have to go try that. :) He spent the rest of the day bar hopping in Sioux Falls. He got to be the designated driver. He got home about 5 a.m. on Sunday. He got up around 8 with the rest of us and functioned fairly well all day considering he had only 3 hours of sleep. :)

Yesterday I spent the day cleaning upstairs and getting laundry done. I have all but two loads done which is pretty good now that Megan has decided it is fun to wear two of everything. This morning she came downstairs with two shirts on, shorts and pants on, and two pair of socks on. I didn't check her underwear but I would venture to guess there are two of those too. LOL

My weight loss has seemed to crash and burn again. I lost a total of three pounds and I am stuck again. I haven't lost any weight in almost two weeks. In Dr. Phil's book he says if you hit a plateau you can go back and do the rapid start program again for 14 days. I am thinking that is where I am headed. I have been eating pretty well except for a couple of days in these two weeks. I just don't understand why this is being so dang stubborn. I hear people on tv say they lost 25 pounds just by going for a walk everyday and I struggle to lose one pound and I am working my hiney off! I tell you it is very discouraging. I am starting to see more muscle under the flab though so hopefully that muscle will help me burn some extra fat. Until then I get up and plow through each workout. It is so much easier to get up and do it when you know the scale will say something different though.

I have discovered if I put more focus on me and losing weight and improving myself my bought with baby fever all but disappears. When I think about all the work I have put into flattening my abs would blow up if I got pregnant, it makes it much easier to say we are done. :)

Life has sort of been down in the dumps for me in the last few days. I hate to get on here when I feel like I have nothing posititve to say. We have been dealing with money issues (or more appropriately, lack of money), kid issues, and just overall life issues. The depressing rainy weather did not help me either. My dad used to tell me I should move to Oregon by him but after three days of rain here, I know I would never survive there. I would have to be put on antidepressants after the first week. LOL

I have been working on my romance novel a bit lately. I seem to get inspired and pages pour out faster than I can write sometimes. Other times I get bored with it and put it down. If I am ever to be a famous writer, I better figure out how to get a book done eh? ;) I also have two or three other little books in the works right now. I jump from one to the other when I have something to write. My romance novel seems to be taking most of my time lately though. I am getting into the steamy scenes a little and so far have found it surprisingly easy to write. I found if I can put my feelings towards my husband into words, it comes out very well. I hope the reader will see the love the two characters have for each other anyway. So far nothing X-rated has appeared. I am not sure I am capable of that. I am better at the read-between-the-lines love scenes. :)

Anyway, here is a pic Steve sent to me. I thought it was rather appropriate and funny too. Hope you enjoy it.

This has been the longest week in history! I have been busy but it still seems to be absolutely dragging. Is it Friday yet?!

I got an email the other day from an old friend. She has graciously asked me to teach at the Family History Conference in Sioux Falls again this year. I have done this the last two years and have completely enjoyed it. This year it looks like I will be teaching people how to make a webpage and how to do online research for their ancestors. What fun! My webpage class will be two hours and the online class will be one. I love love love to make webpages. I have four that I maintain already. Someday maybe I can find a way to get paid to do it! LOL

I am a volunteer webmaster for the USGENWEB's McCook County site. The link is at the top right of my blogger if you would like to look at it. I have been doing it for a couple of years now. If any of you out there have pictures, notes, etc. that are from or of McCook County I would love to be able to add them to my site. I am always looking for old photographs. Those of you who grew up there might have a few. I am planning a trip down there this summer to get some pics of McCook County today. It would be great to see what it looked like way back when too. Also if you have yearbooks or the like I would love to see those too. Just drop me an email if you want to share. :)

Yesterday I spent the good portion of my day rearranging. I moved my bedroom downstairs and made our old room into Mr. Bill's room. He is just about ready to sleep in his own room but last night he could not go to sleep so he ended up in with us. Then I wake up to him crashing Billy III's dresser down on top of himself. Apparently he was after a toy on the top and tried to climb the handles, thus pulling the whole thing over on himself. He got out scared but not hurt. Thankfully the edge of the bed caught the top of the dresser so only the drawers fell on him. This was at 5 a.m. I don't know why he isn't sleeping. He took a five hour nap yesterday but you think he would be exhausted this morning. Today he is getting no more than a three hour nap and then he is getting up, like it or not!

Well I better get off to my kids. Have a great day everyone!

Owie, Owie, Owie, Owie, Owie! I can't move any part of my body without groaning. I am soooo sore. Adding an extra half an hour of exercise is killing me, add to that the 6 mile bike ride we went on yesterday and I am dying. Someone just roll me to bed and leave me there! LOL

Seriously though, what an awesome day it was yesterday! It got up to the mid 70's here. The kids and I were outside by 9 a.m. I planted a ton of flowers in my flower beds, around the mailbox, beside the house, etc. I also began the tedious process of removing the grass from my bed of roses. When we bought this house, the south side had a great wall of wild roses. They are beautiful when they bloom. Unfortunately they don't take up the whole area so grass, weed, and the like have made homes there as well. Last year Billy mowed over the hole mess instead of trying to clean it up. Since I had a little guy still I did not have the time or energy to do it so I just watched him mow it all summer. This spring I have forbidden him to touch my roses! I have baby rose plants coming up all over the area and I intend to move them to fill in the bare spots. I have almost half the grass taken out. What a backbreaking chore that is.

After I got all that done, the kids and I went in for lunch. We had pb&j sandwiches. Shortly after that I layed Mr. Bill down for his nap. I watch a few minutes of Dr. Phil and decided to go outside and mow the lawn. I also watered my flowers and all the new ones I just planted. We came back in for a little while for a snack and I watched Oprah. Mr. Bill woke up during Oprah and came downstairs. He found his sandals on the stairs. He grabbed them and brought them down with him. He immediately brought them to me and said "I go outside?" I said yeah, let's go outside. So I changed his diaper and put his sandals on and we went back outside. Shortly after that Billy came home so we all decided to go for a bike ride.

Mr. Bill said "Daddy take me bike ride and see baby cows?" (The other day we went for a bike ride and saw a bunch of baby cows by the side of the road) We all started off. Becca and Megan rode their bikes and Billy, Marea, and Cassie sat in the trailer pulled by Billy. I rode my bike. We headed off north to see the baby cows. I told Billy to keep this trip short since I was already sore from all my exercise. We got to the cows, which is one mile from our house (we drove around the other day to see how far we had rode our bikes). We decided to turn west after that. Little did we know this area is full of hills. We hit the first hill and man o man was I dying by the top, but I made it. The girls had to stop and walk up the hill so Billy and I waited at the top for them. We continued on this way until we hit the next cross road. We turned south then and went another mile. We hit the highway that goes into brandt then. I didn't want the kids riding on the highway since it is busy and fast. We decided to cross the highway and go another mile south to the next road. That was another major hill! Once we hit the next crossroad we turned and headed east. We rode another mile east until we hit a paved road that runs between Toronto and Brandt. We turned there and headed North another mile and we were home. It was a fun ride and I was so excited to see my kids riding along and enjoying themselves as well. We hopped in the car then and rode around the same path to see how far we had gone. It turned out to be six miles. :) It took us about an hour and a half to go that far. I can't wait until we can go again! It was so much fun.

I think Becca learned something very valuable during our ride as well. Becca has always been the first kid to give up or quit something when she gets tired or bored. She started whining and complaining during the last two miles. Megan would speed past us zooming around and having a blast. Becca said "how does she do that?!" I told her it is all in her mind. I told her she has to tell herself she CAN do it, not she can't. She whinned and complained and complained but finally seemed to get it. She took off and rode and rode. I caught up to her and said she that is the "Can-do" attitude and gave her a high five. After that she did great. I think she has to find that drive in herself so she can succeed in life. Megan is very much like me, we are competition driven. If we can beat someone, win something, or show off, we will do it. In some ways that is good, but I have learned in someways that is bad. I have to watch myself so that I don't deliberately hurt someone's feelings by doing this. I hope Megan learns that lesson sooner than I did.


I got our Foster Parenting renewal papers in the mail yesterday as well. We have been foster parents for three years now. We only have had kids for one of those years. Shortly after we moved to Brookings we lost the one kid we did have. (She was going to an adoptive family) We haven't had a single kid since. I have renewed our license each year for various reasons, the main one being that we thought perhaps Maranda (Marea's birth sister) would be taken away from her father. At the time we thought perhaps we would take her if that happened so we kept our license up. Now that really isn't an issue and we haven't had any kids since moving to Brandt. I am debating if I want to renew our license. It is not a long or involved process but I sort of feel like it is a waste of time. Foster parents are only allowed 6 kids so we can only have one kid at a time. I think that is part of the reason we have not had any kids. Now that Marea is more stable and Billy is older I feel like I am ready to do this again. I loved having the kids in our home and knowing that I was helping a family. It has been a lifelong dream of mine to help other people, particularly kids. I guess I will have to give it some more thought. :)

I got an email from Classmates.com today. I registered there a few years ago simply to see what my fellow classmates are up to. I was sorely disappointed to find I could register but could not see any of my classmates info unless I upgraded my account by paying $$$$$. I wasn't close to many of my classmates and I was only interested really to see where they are now and what they are doing. That is not information I want to pay money for. Obviously no one else is either because only one or two of them have actually paid for the upgraded membership. I have considered starting my own classmates type webpage. I could make it free to contact each other and it would be relatively simple. A project in the making.....

The weren't kidding when they said June is the most popular month for weddings! We have a wedding on each Saturday this June with our wedding anniversary being the last Saturday. I can't believe we have been married for 11 years. Time flies when you are having fun. ;) Bob would have been having his wedding reception on the 25th had he not been recalled in Iraq. Hopefully they will be able to reschedule for when he does get home for real this time.

Well since today is promising rain and not so warm temps I think we will spend some of the day cleaning up this mess. Have a great day ya'll!

Forgive me if my typing is slow today, I am sooooo sore from exercising yesterday that I am afraid to move quickly! LOL I can't believe adding a half hour to my regular routine would do that much but obviously it did. Everything is sore but I got up and did an hour of aerobics again today. I WILL lose this weight! :)

The kids started the day off on a better note. No fighting yet this morning so that is a plus. We are going to get some flowers planted today since in is supposed to be 70 and NO RAIN! Yipeeeee! My hostas are big and beautiful now. I may have to get some more of those. They look so nice on the north side of the house. I will get some pics when they get all big and bushy to show you all. I finished laundry yesterday so I am free to play today. Oh, except the dishes. Do you have any idea how many dishes 5 kids create in a day?! When they were in school they ate two meals a day at school, now they don't and boy can I tell. I am doing two dishwasher loads AT LEAST a day. I forgot how much work five kids are. LOL

Still fighting the baby fever today. It is hard to imagine my life baby free but at some point I have to stop don't I? ;) My sister is due with their first in August. I am very excited for her. I am trying to tide myself over by reminding myself that I get to hold HER baby when it comes. And the big plus here is I can give it back when I am tired of it! LOL That will be quite a change for me.

Well, I am rambling. I don't have much to say today. I will go and get some kids showered and dressed so we can go outside. Have a great day everyone!

"The Decision to have a child is the decision to have your heart go walking around outside your body"~Unknown Author

It is the first day of the rest of the summer. :)

Today is the kids first "offical" day of summer break and boy are we starting off with a bang. I got up and exercised at 6 a.m. I figured since I don't have to run kids off to school at 7:30 I can exercise for an hour instead of 30 minutes. While doing the second half, Billy IV came downstairs crying. As soon as I finished my exercising, Cassie and Marea came down. I told them to watch t.v. and I was going to take a shower. While I was in the shower, Marea and Megan (who apparently got up while I was showering) started beating on each other. I got out of the shower and broke them up. I went upstairs and did my hair, started laundry, and woke up Billy III. I came downstairs to find two of my kids fighting again. This time I separated them and told them to watch t.v.! I started the dishes since we didn't get to them last night and made breakfast. In the middle of making breakfast, I hear Megan beating on Marea. I walk into the living room to find Megan laying on top of Marea trying to take a toy from her. OY! All this and it is only 7:45!!!! I have a little discussion about spending all summer together PEACEFULLY and go back to making breakfast. I figured I would squeeze in my online time while everyone was eating. Wrong! How many times can kids get in trouble in one hour?! So here I am ignoring the chaos going on in the living room and typing as fast as I can! LOL What a summer this is going to be.

This weekend was pretty uneventful. We spent all day Saturday just hanging out and hiding from the rain. We watched "Cheaper By The Dozen" on Dish. It was a pretty good movie, but it annoyed me that no one stopped the kids when they were being bad. I know large families have a stereotype, but I promise they are not all like that. We got up early on Sunday and went for a four mile bike ride with the kids. We came home and played kickball before the rain started in again. After that we headed to Brookings to buy some bolts for the bunk beds we got at the rummage sale. We stopped at Dairy Queen to have some ice cream. There were several older couples in there. Two asked me if those were all my kids (I get this question ALL the time). One of the gentlemen asked if Billy III was the father. I said "Yes, he is actually 28." He said Oh! I would have guessed he was a high school senior. We get that all the time too! I told him at least he has been promoted. Last year everyone thought he was 15. LOL We came home after that and put the beds together and set up Megan and Cassie's room.

I have really bad baby fever lately. I watch other people with new babies and I just oooh and aaah. I really would have more kids if we could afford it, we had the room, etc., etc., etc. I love the baby stage. The other day while Billy IV was napping I felt really "lost" wandering around my house with nothing to do. Once he woke up it sort of hit me all of a sudden that once he gets a little bigger I won't have that part of being a parent anymore. I don't know if I am ready to do that yet. I love the cuddly babies and the unconditional love from my toddlers. Do I really want to be the parent of teenagers who "hate" me and are embarrassed by me? I know Billy III doesn't want anymore kids. He didn't even want more than two. LOL I guess we will have to play it by ear and see. Maybe Billy III will get the big V next spring and then it really won't even be an issue for me.

Well I am off to do laundry because, even though I have five kids home, it is still laundry day. Someone pray that the sun comes out today so my kids can go outside. ;) Have a great day!

I did it, I did it! Today the scale said 147!!!! Wooooohooooo! This is where I was at last year at Christmas but then I ate all the Christmas goodies and went right back up to 150. :( I am soooo excited that the weight is still coming off. I am doing pretty good sticking to the correct portion sizes and the correct foods. I have an off day once in awhile but overall I am obviously doing something right. :)

Today should be fairly uneventful. I have to pay bills, pick the girls up from school at 11:00 a.m. It is their last day! We now have the whole summer in front of us. My hosta plants that I planted a month or so ago are up and getting big. I am excited to see how beautiful my front yard will be when they are all grown in. :) The bleeding heart plants seem to be struggling a little more. I have one that I don't think is going to grow at all. I only have one peeking above ground right now. All the mulch that I put down blew away in our tornadic winds the other day. We lost a few shingles in that wind too. I guess we are going to have to redo the roof next year. We were hoping we could wait until 2008 when we add on to the house but seeing how they are obviously not secure, we may have to do it sooner. :(

I wrapped up Girl Scouts yesterday too. I reregistered for at least one more year of being a leader. It looks like I am only going to have one other girl besides my two. The pains of a small town I guess.

Well I best get this day started! Have a great day!

Have you all seen these commericals for Travelocity? The first one, the "roaming gnome" was pilfered from garden and was taken on a family vacation. The bath in his hotel had a tub that got all "wooshy" He said, "Ones in danger of getting bubbles up ones whoops-a-daisy"! These commericals absolutely have me rolling on the floor in laughter. They usually come on Lifetime in the middle of my exercise in the mornings. I think my abs are getting a better workout from the commerical than the exercise. Another one he is going around the world visiting "friends". You see him in Mt. Rushmore, visiting the thinking man, at the famous naked guy (Michealangalo? Obviously college didn't help me much did it!?), and at a couple of other famous statues. When he gets to the thinking man he says "I kept telling him it was just a knock knock joke, the big silly!" LOL How unbelievably funny! When he gets to the naked statue, the point of the gnome's hat covers any obscenities and the gnome says "Oh my, moving on swiftly!" :) Whoever wrote these should get an emmy. I can't wait for the next one to come out. If you get a chance, check one out!

Not much going on today. We have a chance of snow here in lovely South Dakota. Yes, I said snow! It is supposed to be pretty cold today and not much sun. I have to get to the girls award ceremony at 1:00 today but other than that I will be hanging out at home cleaning and stuff. Last night I stayed up way too late playing Star Wars on the computer. Billy is going to get his butt kicked the next time he plays me. LOL It really is a fun and addictive game. I have begun the scenario's in the game and so far am doing pretty well. :)

I have begun reading again for the first time in over 7 years. Once I started having kids I realized I couldn't read with the kids around. I would get unbelieveably irritated when they interrupted me so I decided to put books down until they were old enough to leave me alone for an hour or two. Yesterday I read an entire book (okay it is a young reader book designed for young girls but it was good nonetheless) and today I have begun another. Last night I also sat down and read two chapters of a kids book to the girls. They seemed to really enjoy listening even without pictures.

Oh! and how could I forget this: Last night I fed the kids dinner and as they were eating I made myself something. (They had corndogs, not exactly my cup of tea, so to speak). While I was eating the kids finished and they all went upstairs. Mr. Bill went with the girls and they were all playing. I went up when I finished my dinner (maybe 10 minutes later) and found Mr. Bill in his bed fast asleep! It was only 7 p.m. Apparently the busy day we had yesterday was too much for him. He never goes to bed without me or Billy. I was so amazed he was in his bed and asleep! He slept all night too. He got up at 7:30 this morning. Not bad considering what time he went to bed.

Well I am off to play and work. Have a great day everybody! :)

It is hump day! Today is flying by!

We started the morning by getting the girls up and showered and dressed. I got them off to school and came home to get the the other three kiddos ready to go. We had an appointment in Sioux Falls with Marea's psyc at 11 a.m.

We managed to get out the door by 9 a.m. (It is an hour and 15 minute drive but right now there is a lot of construction so I gave us some extra time) We got into Sioux Falls at 10:00 (we missed most of the construction) so we headed to Walmart to do a little window shopping. We ended up buying the Shrek 3D DVD. It is only 16 minutes long and not really worth the purchase since we had to buy it with the Shrek DVD. But still it was somewhat entertaining. We got a few other odds and ends and then headed off to our appointment. We met with the Psyc. who said it sounds like Marea is doing great and so we will continue with the current therapy. He said he doesn't need to see us back for 4 or 5 months. It will be nice not to have to make the monthly trip into Sioux Falls now. We met with Marea's Therapist next. She said it sounds like things are going well so she would just let us go and if we need her to call. She commented on how tall everyone is getting. She also said it looked like I had lost some weight. I really didn't think it would be that noticeable already but it really pumped me up to know that someone can see the difference!

After that we went to the mall to have lunch. I did really well and had the grilled chicken salad from BK. It is a huge salad (all the veges I need + a little chicken). I didn't even finish it all. Then we went and treated ourselves to a cinnabon. If you have never had one you are really missing out. They are the most delicious cinnamon roll you will ever have. Billy and I split one since neither of us were that hungry.

We left then to head home. Billy is working tonight to make up for being gone most of the day so we dropped him off in Brookings. I stopped and got my hair cut too since it was really needing it. I brought the kids home and we watched the Shrek 3D movie and now they are all relaxing and watching cartoons. We only have two days of school left. I will be so glad when all my running is over for the year. I have debated putting my kids in summer activities this year. I have pretty much decided against it since it tends to use up our free time. I enjoy being able to run to town, go to the lake, or just hang out at the pool and not have to be running off somewhere. They have many years left to be in activities so I think I will wait a couple more.

That is about all for today. I hope you all had a great day!

Well it is Tuesday. This week is going to drag I can tell. :)

The girls have field day at school today. It is really nice outside if you don't mind 40mph winds!!!! I had to chase our garbage cans, patio chairs, and misc yard stuff down and lock it in the shed. I can't imagine trying to run races in this wind. I hope they are having fun.

Becca has a birthday party/sleepover this weekend. She will leave school at 11:00 a.m. Friday (early release for the last day of school) and go directly to her friends house. She will spend the night and be home some time on Saturday. I am really nervous letting her go. I know she will have fun but it seems odd to me to let an 8 year old go on an overnight trip. I can tell I am going to have to let go a little more than I have been. :( I don't want them to grow up so fast.

Megan has been really clingy and loving lately. If you know Megara, that is very unlike her. She is a lot like I was as a kid, very independent and stubborn. She usually doesn't share her feelings and I always have to stop and think about her or she gets passed over so easily. She is also very concerned about her dad and I dying. She expressed this fear about this time last year and I reassured her we weren't going anywhere. Now the last week or so she has told both Billy and I that she doesn't want us to die. I don't know where this is coming from but I wish I could help. I told her we are not going to die and that we will be here for a long time. I don't think she felt any better but I will keep telling her. Maybe I will take her out to lunch this week alone and get her to spill why she is so worried we are going to die.

Marea is well, Marea. I see more and more of her birth mom in her the last few weeks. If looks could kill some days, I would not be here. She gets very angry with me a lot and she is very manipulative when it comes to getting what she wants from the other kids. I worry that all our effort is going to be in vain. I have gone from hoping she will have a "normal" life to just hoping she can be a functional member of society and not dependent on others. I think she can be so much more if she would stop being so angry and start trying more. I don't know how you explain that to a five year old though. Somedays she can't get enough love and she is constantly telling me she loves me and some days she hates me. Now that school is out and her routine has crashed we are back to more anger than love. I can't wait until summer becomes a routine for her.

Cassie is doing great. I swear she is 4 going on 21. She is so mature for her age and always has something to say. She is very insightful and knows what others are feeling before they say it. She is going to be a very empathetic person. I am glad for her school is over. She is sooooo grouchy in the mornings that I hated getting her up for school. I have enrolled her in the afternoon session for next year so hopefully after one more year she will be ready to get up in the mornings. She already is ready for kindergarten. She knows her ABC's and can identify several of them. She can write her first and last name. She cuts beautifully with scissors too. Socially this year she bloomed. She has two really good friends at school. Both of them are named Brittany. She has good taste in friends. I don't think I will ever have to worry about who she hangs out with. She is very particular in who she will play with. She does not like to get in trouble. :)

Mr. Bill is finally starting to feel better. He is ornery today. He is getting into everything and I constantly am following him around taking stuff away from him. Our house is pretty much child proof too. Everything is either up or behind closed doors. The few things he can get into he is getting into today though. He is smart as a whip too. He talks a ton. He sounds like he is 6 or 7 not almost 2. He says full sentences and sometimes two at a time. He can tell you what he wants and doesn't want. He also knows how to get his sister's running in a big hurry. When they are all picking on him he just screams at the top of his lungs and they all move. He learned this at a rather young age and I suppose since it works, he keeps doing it.

Billy and I are doing well too. It seems each day I love him more and more. I could have never imagined on our wedding day that this is the life we would have created together. We really didn't have any plans for our future together, other than college. I am so amazed at his dedication to his family and his willingness to help other people. He still has his faults but most days those are easy to look past. He takes good care of the kids and me and that is what is most important to me. I am beginning to see more of his dad in him everyday.

It is hard to believe his dad has been gone for almost 7 years now. I remember so vividly the last time we saw him. He was in the V.A. for treatment to avoid jail for drug related problems and we were in Hot Springs visiting for a few days. Megan was just two months old so we thought we would stop and say hi. He sat and talked and we walked. We went back up to his room and he gave each of our girls a stuffed animal. It was a nice warm summer day. We said goodbye and went back to our life. That night Billy's grandma called and said his dad was in the hospital in Rapid City. They both left and Billy called a few hours later to tell me his dad was gone. They left him on life support so his sister's could get across the state and say their goodbyes, but he was gone. It took his death for me to realize what a big heart that man had. He cared about everyone and wanted to anything he could to make them happy, even if he suffered because of it. At his funeral they played "Tears in Heaven". It was a really rough day. Billy deals with death at a distance so he spent most of his day comforting his family and being the strong one. I don't know how he feels about it even today but I am sure it was hard losing the one man you worshipped so early in life. I regret Billy Jr. didn't get to see all of our kids, especially Billy IV. I know he would have been proud.

Well I have rambled long enough. I need to get back to cleaning the house and laundry. That seems to be one project that never gets done. :)

Have a great day ya'll and hug your hunny! :)

Crikey! Where did the last few days go! I haven't looked at this computer for almost 4 whole days. Imagine that! I guess I better get you all caught up. :)

Friday we spent the evening rummaging through various rummage sales. Kristina and Lance came to Brookings so we met them at McDonalds and we all had dinner together. While we were there Billy IV started acting very tired and as I took him from his daddy I realized he had a fever. We left McD's and headed to Walmart. I got Mr. Bill some children's motrin and we said our goodbye's to Kristina, Lance, Chaya, Cameron, and Cailey. We came home and went to bed. The next morning (Saturday) we were going to get up bright and early and head out for some more rummage sales but we decided sleep sounded better. We finally headed out the door at around 11:00 a.m. We went to the city-wide rummage sales in White and actually found a dresser for 8.00 (an all wood one, not a walmart cheapy!) and a set of bunk beds (wood too) for 10.00. We brought it all home and then went into Brookings to pick up Billy's van. He left it there on Friday since Mr. Bill was not feeling well. I didn't want to try to drive my van home and deal with him screaming the whole way.

Kristina and Lance also gave us a computer desk and sandbox which they put in Billy's van so we got to bring those home. We spent part of Saturday just playing at the park in Brookings. The kids had a blast running in the warm weather. After a couple of hours we decided to head home and play in the yard. Billy took the kids down to the gas station once we got home to get some gas for the lawn mower. We spent the next few hours mowing and playing. Then Billy decided it would be fun to test out our new tent. We set it up on the lawn. The kids were soooo excited to sleep in the tent. We had them all bring out their sleeping bags (Christmas presents ;) and pillows. They each brought a stuffed animal too. Billy and I inflated our airbed (camping in style :) and we put our sleeping bags out too. Fortunately it had been hot that day and it was only supposed to drop to 55F that night so we were too worried about being cold. The "camp-out" went off without a hitch. The kids fell asleep by 9:30 and slept until 8:30! They never sleep that long in the house. We got up and everybody grabbed their stuff. We went in the house and had breakfast.

Sunday turned out to be hot hot hot and windy windy windy! We spent most of the morning just being lazy. Being that is was Mother's Day, I took a nap about 11:30-1:30 and then we all went outside. Becca gave me the gift she made for me at school. It is a wooden heart that she had glued buttons, jewels, and old costume jewlery too. It is a pin. It is very heavy. I told her I will have to wear it on my coat because it pulls my shirt down. LOL She was very proud of her pin. I was so proud of her card too. She wrote, "Dear Mom, I love you a lot. I like that your nice. I like that I can talk to you when I need too. I love you alot! Love, Becca" It is nice to know I am appreciated sometimes. :) Becca and I went for a bike ride on Sunday afternoon. I took Billy's bike and Becca rode hers. It is soooo amazing how fast she picked up bike riding. I really thought she would do a lot of whining and complaining but she must have really wanted to learn. While we were on our ride she talked a ton! I think she really needed some one-on-one time with mom. She kept saying she didn't want to go home as we got closer so we rode around for almost an hour. It was peaceful in Brandt since most everyone was off for the day.

Billy took us all out to eat for Mother's Day dinner. I chose Taco John's cause for some reason it sounded really good. :) After that we went to Target and bought me a bike for my Mother's Day gift. Now we can all go for a bike ride together. :) Billy did a lot better this year than he has in the past for Mother's Day. The last few years he told me I was not HIS mother so he didn't see why he should celebrate for him. I think the kids guilted him into seeing what a butthead he was being. They like to celebrate for me and I think he finally gets it. I guess I will find out next year. LOL

Today started out sort of crazy. Mr. Bill continued to run a fever off and on all weekend and he developed a rash all over inside his mouth. I ran him into the doctors this morning. He has hand, foot, and mouth disease (a viral infection that causes sores on the hands, feet, and mouth) and he also has a yeast infection (in the diaper area) that causes symptoms similar to a very bad diaper rash. He got medicine for the yeast infection but there isn't anything they can give him for the virus. He will just be living on Motrin to stop the pain. Poor little guy. He has had this already twice before. Apparently this is a virus he is not good at defending himself against. Marea seems to be acting rather odd too so I wonder if she isn't getting the virus as well. The doctor said it is highly contagious. After the doctor's we had lunch with dad at Burger King. I had the grilled chicken salad, so I am still sticking to this eating plan. I am down 2 pounds and hoping to lose a couple each month. Now that the weather is nice I spend so much more time outside exercising. It feels great to be able to go outside. Hopefully that will help me shed some pounds quicker.

The rest of today I will spend relaxing. I have to go in to Brookings again, it is grocery day at the Sides household. I am just waiting for the girls to get home. I really need to move somewhere warm, I am so much more motivated when the weather is nice. :) I hope all is well with all of you. Have a great day!

Howdy, Howdy, Howdy!

Today is promising to be a warm and windy day. I am looking forward to the heat! Yesterday I was busy with laundry and kids. Cassie and Marea went to the zoo in Watertown for their field trip. Today Becca is off to Sioux Falls for her field trip to the pavilion. Megan's will be last on Friday.

I stepped on the scale again this morning and it still says 148. I am so excited to see something other than 150, I cannot even begin to tell you. I have exercised my little fanny off over the last year but the scale didn't budge. Now I am on day 13 of Dr. Phil's Rapid Start Program and have lost 2 pounds. I am sure it would have been at least double that if I had stuck to his plan a little better. No fear though. I have learned what a REAL serving size is and I am doing a good job at sticking to it. I never realized how much I ate before. Last night I had a bowl of cereal for dinner (I know bad me.) but I actually measured a cup of cereal (the Dr. Phil serving size) and I was amazed at how little that actually is. I probably ate two to three times that much cereal before I started Dr. Phil. I am adapting all I am learning into a lifestyle change so this weight loss will continue. I only have 13 pounds to go to get to my goal weight. It sounds like such a small amount but it sure is stubborn. :) I even took Billy out for a walk yesterday around 11 a.m. I walked very briskly for 25 minutes. I am so proud of myself. Now if I can squeeze that in everyday this weight should start melting off right? ;)

What else? Hmmmm. Not much going on here today. It is raining but is supposed to blow over so hopefully I can get outside again today. My tulips I planted in the fall are up and blooming but look pretty pathetic. I guess I better get some more planted in this fall so next spring it looks a little better. :) I have quite a few bulbs coming this fall so I should be able to make the yard look a little better.

Well, I will jump back on here if I think of anything else. Otherwise, see ya'll tomorrow!

Well it is Monday and I couldn't be happier. :)

I did pretty well on my "diet" on Sunday but Saturday we ate out two meals and I wasn't cooking for the third so I had no control over what was served. In the midst of this I still am down one more pound. Only 13 more to go. :)

We spent Saturday at Kristina and Lance's. It was nice to finally see their house. It is a really big old victorian type house. It is roomy and decorated very nicely. We got there a little later than we had planned so we hit a few rummage sales while Kristina and Lance watched our kids. We found some old metal/wood school chairs for the kids to play on. I also found a little bench I think I am going to put some potted plants on. We spent most of the day playing and just talking. The kids had a blast. It is fun to watch them interact with each other. I didn't grow up near any of my cousins so I have no relationship with them. I am glad my kids will know some of their cousins.

Today I spent all morning trying to figure out why we had no dial tone. I tried to get on the internet to no avail. I guess Billy was working on hooking up our new office phone line last night and in the process disconnected all of them. I mentioned it to him before he left this morning so he went downstairs and messed with something and came back up and said one of my phones worked. After he left I tried again and it did not work. After calling the phone company to make sure they weren't working on the lines somewhere I went downstairs and creatively reconnected the phone line. I had no idea what went where but apparently I did something right because I have a phone again. :)

Today also starts a very crazy week. All four girls have their school field trips this week. I have to pack lunches, dress kids, and keep it all straight. Here is where "mommy brain" becomes an issue. :) I have laundry to do today but other than that I think I am going to take it easy. The end of the week is promising to be warmer so I will get outside and do some planting then.
Have a great day!