This is too much stress!

Tomorrow is the day we leave on our cruise!!! I am taking Brooke to school in the morning and helping with her jog-a-thon, we pick up Jake at noon, then we are off!! I am really nervous about leaving the kids!! I am such a baby!! I know it will be fun and I will be glad we went, but leaving is the toughest part. So wish me luck and I will have lots of pictures upon our return!!

Kelsey's Little Buddy

This is Adam Anderson, Kelsey's little friend. They are only 1 week apart and look like they could be twins. Our families switch babysitting since we both have 3 kids about the same ages. Last week Kelsey was over at Adam's house and when we went to pick her up she cried and pointed to go back in their house. They are so cute together! When it is our turn to watch the kids we make them play video games for hours at a time and make the babies do manual labor in the backyard. No wonder Kelsey wants to stay at Adam's house!!!

Pump It Up

Yesterday we took the kids to Pump-It-Up for a "wonderful" fund raiser for Jake's Preschool. Hey, at least we got something out of this one. Pump-It-Up is a heaven for children, and their father's. I think Dodd enjoys this place just as much as the kids. They have a big arena with several different jolly jumps, slides and obstacle courses. To have a party here it costs a fortune and it can get pretty crowded during free jump. So having the whole place just for Jake's preschool was great! It was also great that Dodd could go. He did all the work chasing the kids around and I just sat and talked with the mom's. We paid $16 for 2 hours of jumping and the school got half. Now that is a fund raiser I will do again. Oh , by the way, Brooke did not get hurt during the taking of that picture!! She is actually laughing! Promise.

Fundraisers Stink!

Brooke started school about 3 weeks ago and she is already coming home with fundraisers! They are having a Jog-a-thon. The kids ask for money from family and friends for running around in a circle! Well I guess they have this big deal kick-off assembly and tell the kids what they can win to get them all pumped up. Brooke came home that day and told me the kid who gets the most money gets a Nintendo Wii and the second kid gets an ipod. I really don't like the idea of this and I am not sure why. Is it that my child will never beg for that much money and will never win anything good? Or is there really something wrong about bribing kids to get money? I know schools need money, but don't be hanging a Wii in front of my child to get her to go beg for money. I read the papers and the smallest prize amount I saw was an ice cream party if you bring in $50. There is no way I am taking her around the neighborhood to ask all the neighbors who have already had 100 kids at their door. So I am half tempted to donate $50 and let her win the ice cream party so she doesn't get left out. The problem is when I have 4 kids going there that will be $200 just for ice cream parties. $200 would buy us a couple years of ice cream parties at home. What to do!!!

It's True!!

So there is this crazy rumor going around that I am pregnant and I just have to say... It's true!!! I am due April 23rd. My kids are split on their reactions. Jake was excited when I ask him if we should have another baby. He said we should have 19 and give them to people who don't have one. I told him that was nice but these aren't puppies I'm having. Brooke is a little hesitant. When we told her she said "you just had Kelsey". Is it bad that even my 5 year old knows it is fast! She will be fine. She loves babies but she still remembers I have to leave for a few days to have the baby and she does not like that. I am very excited! I am from a family of five and grew up thinking it was normal and that I would have five kids too. Dodd is very opposed to five. I am lucky I am getting a fourth. However, I am realizing how uncommon it is to have so many. I was pulling the kids in a wagon taking Brooke to school and I passed a lady who asked me if I had a daycare. Come on now!! Is three children really that unheard of!! I smiled and said "nope, they're all mine". I debated telling her there is another one on the way but I didn't think she could take it!

Jake and Kelsey's Birthday!

Today we had Jake and Kelsey's birthday party! We had it at the park because our backyard is still under construction. We had a great turn out with lots of family and friends! I really liked having the party at the park, however it was a lot of work planning and taking everything over there. I know why my mom only let us have birthday parties when we turned 3, 5, 8, 12, and 16. Maybe someday I will get smart and do something like that too. But for now I just can't say no. It is too much fun!!

My funny guy!

Jake was so funny today carrying all of his swords around with him. Two down the front of his pants and one in the back of his shirt. I remember my nephew Cody doing this. He would load himself with all of his "weapons". Funny boys! I hope he does not do this when he is older with real swords, the two down the front look very risky!!