26 days left of summer...WHAT?

Wow - I haven't posted since March??  I don't even remember March!  That was like 4 years ago, wasn't it?  Now we are heading towards the end of July.  What a great summer we are having though.  Let's do a quick recap - we kicked off the summer with our usual summer kick-off party with all our friends, then went to the yearly rodeo which is one of my kids absolute favorite things to do, we have been to several summer movies, obviously been to the pool hundreds of times, done some athletic camps, Bible school, went on a couples get away with friends (oh how I miss that weekend - what a blast!!) gone camping the last 3 weekends in a row (and yes, we survived the crazy heat!!), we hit the river and floated 4 miles with 11 kids and it was awesome, we have slept in, I took the kids on a mini road trip to Manhattan, watched cartoons, eaten ice cream almost every day (thanks mom for the amazing ice cream maker that we use WAY too much) and had a multitude of playdates and sleepovers.  So, what is left to do this summer?  Well, the annual World's of Fun trip is less than 2 weeks away - the kids are counting down the minutes, we are headed to Dodge City to where "real cowboys live" according to Lucas - who is PUMPED up to see real cowboys, he has his cowboy boots all shined up and next week we are spending the week at a friend's lake house.  It's been a busy, relaxing, fun summer that is going way too fast.  Soon all the kids will be back in school - oh wait...did I say ALL?  Why YES!  I did!!  Lucas starts pre-school this year so he will be one of the big kids for a few hours 3 days a week.  He is so excited and already has his backpack ready to go (he has had it ready since last February).  I will have a second grader, 1st grader, kindergartener and a preschooler - so exciting!!  As for today, I have 2 kids out at the farm and 2 boys still at home here.  Our plan?  eventually get up off this couch and be productive.  We'll see if that happens - the pool is sounding pretty nice...

{3 month rotation}

It seems as though I have become a lazy blogger - 3 months in between posts is a bit ridiculous.  Unless, of course, you look at my calendar and realize how I am spending my time these days.  The last time I posted it was Christmas...and now it is officially spring break!  Wow!  In those 3 months quite a bit has happened here.  Austin and Ashlyn played a season of basketball in which they both learned a ton and had a blast.  Austin really started to understand the game with lots of help from his dad.  And many hours on the back patio shooting baskets.  Ashlyn eventually stopped twirling her hair on the court and even made a basket!  Lucas turned 3 although he wishes he was 8 and Gabriella turned 5.  I had some pretty major sinus surgery which was NO fun, except that I got to spend a few days with no kiddos in the house and snuggled up with my husband - kinda like a second honeymoon, minus the pain and enormous amount of snot.  After all the health issues I have had with my asthma the last two years I am excited to say I have started sleeping at night and am able to breath again!!  I wish we could have solved this problem 2 years ago, but alas - I think we are on the right road now.  Turns out everything the asthma docs were doing for me was wrong which is extremely frustrating as we spent a lot of money on things that didn't work, but I am finally feeling some relief.  Now we just have to wait and see if the problems return or if this was a one time occurence.  So far my asthma has been way better so that is a very good sign.  I go back to my pulminologist in 2 weeks so we will learn more about where to go from here with the asthma.  They don't think any permanent damage was done to the lungs so that is great news.  So, I have been a bit slow, but am back on the right track now thanks to all my family and friends that have helped us along - I've never seen so many people jumping up to help out! I had meals brought here by all kinds of people (delicious) and my parents and Shawn's parents were real troopers in taking all the kids for a week.  My mom probably wins the award as she had to get Austin and Ashlyn ready for school every morning for a week (I think she is still recovering from that).  They sometimes have a little problem "focusing" in the mornings.  They have to be out the door by 7:30am which can be a bit of a challenge.  Now we are all looking forward to a week off school and just relaxing.  The kids have been playing together all morning as I write this - they are so happy to be home and still be in their pj's.  And, yes, I am still in my pjs too - we are starting spring break 2012 with a bang!! I need to get my pics posted, but I can't get them downloaded, something is wrong with the files - I plan on getting that done this weekend - I am loving my new camera and can't wait to show off some pics!!