Ashleigh's Temptation

The other day after school all the neighbor kids and Brittany and Caitley came running in my house saying that Ashleigh didn't get off the bus. Brittany and Caitley were really upset and on the verge of tears. I confirmed that she was actually on the bus with them and that she hadn't missed it. They said she was sitting with her friend Morgan doing homework and must have not seen our stop. So, I jumped in my car to see if she had gotten off at the next stop. Knowing my dramatic Ashleigh, I thought I would pull up to the stop and see her crying and scared, especially without her sisters. I pulled up to the bus stop and didn't see her anywhere. I asked a few other children who knew her and they said she was in her friend Morgan's house. So, I knocked and found her with her backpack and jacket off and cozy in their house having a snack. I asked, "What happened?" She quickly said,"I missed the bus stop because I wasn't paying attention". After a few minutes I realised that if this were truly the case, I would have found her in tears and upset. So, I asked her, "Ashleigh, did you really miss the bus stop or did you just want to go to Morgan's house?" She quickly started giggling and said, "I was just so tempted, I couldn't handle it. Morgan and I decided that if I didn't get off I could go play at here house." I couldn't stop laughing, but of course tried to let her know how important it was that she didn't do this again. What makes this story so funny to us is how completely out of character this is for Ashleigh. I could see Brittany doing this in a heartbeat, but not Ashleigh.

What? No School

I woke up this morning to my friend Andrea calling to tell me that school had been cancelled due to the wind chill temp of -25. Thank you thank you for calling. We never turn the TV on in the morning and my girls would have been standing out in the freezing weather waiting for the bus to come. My girls love school and when I told them it was cancelled they were all disappointed.

In my younger years I remember everytime we even heard to sound "chance of snow" we were contemplating not doing our homework in the hopes that school would be cancelled. And in Virginia where I grew up, it usually was cancelled. If there was even a slight bit of snow, we would go to school late. That was great! If there was a little bit more than a slight bit of snow then it was cancelled. My point being that we missed a lot of school because of a little bit of snow. I used to love a good snow day!

I told my girls that this could be there only chance of having school cancelled. They never cancel school here. Today we spent the morning being lazy and staying in our PJ's until noon. It's too cold to play outside and our cable was out all morning. We were pretty bored. Then the girls called their Grandma Margo to see if they could go to her house to play. Now that the girls know their Grandma's phone number by heart, she might be getting a few more phone calls a day. They spent the afternoon having a tea party with her. It's fun to have Grandma Margo live close by.

It's bitter cold out and it hurts to even go outside. I am grateful for a garage and my gas fireplace. How long until Spring?

Where Have I been Lately?

I haven't been very good at blogging lately. It seems like it's taken me a few weeks to recover from Christmas. Remind me next December to not be so busy.

I must first say that one major reason I've been so busy the last few weeks is that DJ is all over the place. He is getting into everything. It's lots of fun to watch him grow and explore, but it's lots of work.

I started back up at the gym. I haven't been comfortable taking DJ to the daycare yet, especially with all the sickness floating around. So, I have been going in the evening. It's felt so good and I really love it when I go. It's always hard to get out of the house and do it, but when I do, I feel so much better.

Laundry Laundry Laundry. I don't know what has happened, but lately I feel like all I am doing is laundry. I know that my girls are growing and that means more laundry, but sometimes I feel like I am drowning in laundry. It doesn't help when my girls feel like they have to wear multiple outfits a day. On top of that, they're always the baby laundry.

Politics! I have been sucked into the political drama. Everyday I find myself watching Fox News and I can't turn it off. This election is sucking me in and I don't even like politics. (I might be disowned from the Payne side of the family for saying that) I do love watching all the election coverage and I am so anxious about the future.

I've been busy coaching Basketball. Wow has that been more fun than I ever thought. I can't believe how much my team has improved in just a few weeks. Last week we played a team of all boys and we creamed them. I was especially proud of Brittany who scored two baskets.

Sick and sick again. It seems like we get sick, get better, and then get sick again. Everytime DJ gets sick, his schedule gets all messed up and that stinks. The girls have had a few days of not feeling well too. I've been sick too.

Snow Snow Snow! That's all we've had here. It's driving me crazy and I am already ready for Spring. I am tired of the bulky coats and snow clothes all over the house. I'm tired of the roads being covered in snow and driving conditions being so horrible. Donevan's spent hours the last few weeks snow blowing!

So, the last few weeks have been pretty crazy. I love every minute of the chaos and I am so blessed!

    

 

 

 

TAGGED

The RULES:
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog....

1.I am a night person, NOT a morning person. I love to stay up late watching tv, movies, cleaning, projects, blogging, etc. I don't like mornings and it usually takes me a while in the morning to really wake up. Kids have changed me a little bit since I can't sleep in anymore, but I still find myself staying up late.
2. I love Coke. I can't drink it in moderation. It's all or nothing and when I say all I mean pop a can first thing in the morning. One of my New Years Resolutions was to stop drinking it and I made it to about the 15th of Jan. It's a horrible addiction, but I love it. The only time I don't drink it is when I am pregnant. I can't stop for myself, but I can stop for the health of my baby!
3. When my house is clean, I am a happy person. If you knew me when I was young or first married you would know that I was a messy person. I didn't care. Something changed along the way and now that I have my own home with six people living in it, I can be a little obsessed when a glass isn't put away in the dishwasher. I love love love a clean house.
3. I can't stand the sound of styrofoam rubbing against anything. Those little packaging peanuts drive me crazy.
4. I'm not an animal person. My children and husband talked me into getting a dog a few years ago. I didn't want to get a dog because I knew that I would be the one who would end up taking care of it. That's exactly what happened. After a few years of owning a dog, I am still not at dog person. My children and husband love her, so I deal with it.
5. I've never colored/highlighted my hair. I have been plucking a few grays lately. So scary. I don't know what I will do when I have to start coloring. I'm pretty low maintenance.
6. (I'm adding one more) I bite my nails and can't stop to save my life.

IF YOU WANT TO BE TAGGED, CONSIDER YOURSELF TAGGED

Congratulations Terea!

Congratulations to my friend Terea and her family. She had a healthy baby girl on Friday!! She is such a beautiful little girl, she looks like a porcelain doll. Welcome to the world of 4 children!!! It's a whole new ball game....it's so much fun!!!

Congratulations Megan!

Congratulations Megan for being accepted to Utah State and BYU-I. We are so proud of you and can't wait to hear where you decide to go!!! You are such a great girl!!!

Me and Brittany

Where Are My Sisters?

DJ got a little too used to his sisters being around a lot over their Christmas break from school. Now that they are back in school, he stands at the top of the stairs holding on to the gate and squeals down the stairs hoping to get their attention. The only problem is that they aren't down there, they're at school all day. He's been a little sad to not have their attention all day everyday. The first week they were back in school he didn't know what to do with himself. He was so bored. It's pretty cute how much he loves his sisters and how much they love him too!

This is one of my favorite pictures. I have it sitting in my closet and I look at it everyday. This is my oldest brother Ron and my middle brother Gary. Our family spent many summers at Myrtle Beach, S.C. We have a lot of wonderful memories together. Happy Birthday Ron!!!

Happy Birthday Ron!

Happy Birthday to my Big Brother Ron!!! My brother is such a great guy and has such a big heart. I am so grateful for the good example that he's always been to me. Hope you have a wonderful Birthday!

I'm Sick!

I have a horrible cold. I feel like I got hit by a train. My body aches and my head feels like it's going to explode. Yucky!!! I hope no one else in my family gets sick. So far, it's just me. Sorry, but I'm not going to be a great blogger this week.

Basketball

Today the girls had a practice game before their first season game next Saturday. They played a quarter against two different teams. They did really good. First they played against an all boy team which happened to be all their friends from school. They were a bit intimidated at first but I was really proud of them. Then the next team they dominated. They were passing really well and rebounding and taking great shot. I can't believe how quickly they can pick it up. After the game, my neighbor and good friend called and told me that he "really enjoyed my coaching style". I guess I get a little into it. I can't help it. I love the sport and I love those kids.

Ashleigh’s Highlights of 2007

This is my guest blogger Ashleigh! The following is word for word out of the mouth of Ashleigh…I am going to tell you why 2007 was so great. My favorite thing was going to the Beach house in N.C. with my Payne cousins. We dived and swimmed in the ocean together. I loved graduating from Kindergarten because that meant that I was in first grade. Now I am so lucky that I am in first grade because I like it a little bit more than Kindergarten, but just because I get to go all day long instead of just the afternoon. I love playing outside with my friends Colton, Gracie, Cannon, Spencer and Peyton. We had so much fun outside all summer. We would play tag and we would play hide and go seek and sometimes we would go swimming at the apple club together. I lost 4 teeth in 2007 and that was great because I got $8. In March I got to stay at my Grandma Margo's when my baby brother was born. I got to go to the hospital and see my Mom and she was so happy. I was really sad because my brother was in the NICU and I couldn't go in and see him. I could only see him through the glass. When he came home I was in Kindergarten and my Dad got me out of school early, but he didn't tell me why. I didn't know that DJ was home from the hospital. He told me and my sisters to go get something out of the crib and my baby brother was sleeping in the crib. We were so excited, I even started to cry. But, it wasn't a sad cry, it was a happy cry. I hope that 2008 is just as great as 2007.

Caitley’s 2007 Highlights

This is me, Caitley! I got a Gameboy from Santa and it's green with Tinkerbell on it. I went to the cabin after Christmas too. That was really fun and there was lots of snow. I played T-ball in 2007 for the first time. My team was the Red Sox. I hit the ball everytime it was my turn, but sometimes I hit the T and the ball would just fall on the ground. Then I would get another try. Sometimes I bat right handed and sometimes I bat left handed. My Daddy told me that's called a switch hitter and he says that's really cool. This summer, I liked to swim. I love playing. I ride my bike a lot outside when the weather is nice, but now it's too cold and there is too much snow. I rode my bike all summer long with my friends Colton, Cannon, Ashleigh, Brittany, Spencer, Gracie, and Peyton. There are some older boys too, but we didn't play with them that much. I love first grade. I like to chase the big kids on the playground. I started doing that when I started first grade after the summer was over. I loved 2007 but I am really excited for 2008.

Brittany’s 2007 Highlights

    

(Just a warning…this is all over the place)

What I liked about 2007 is having a good Christmas and going to the Hannah Montana Concert. And I want to go to Disneyland and Disneyworld in 2008. I had a great Christmas Eve. 2007 was a great Chrismas. I got a scooter from Santa and I like to ride it a lot. It makes me so happy. And I also am very happy that I have a baby brother now. He was born on March 5^th. He likes to play a lot with his toys and me and my sisters. I like to do a lot of things every month. In August we went to a beach house for 10 days with my Payne cousins and my Grandma and Grandpa Payne. On 4^th of July we went to the parade and we had a great time. We went on a roof and watched the fireworks. We had a really good time at the hospital when Mommy had DJ. We got stuff from the Dr. We got gloves and masks that go over your mouth. We also got a big puffy hat. It was so fun. When we took DJ home we were so excited. He was so small and he is so big now. Now he is 10 months old. Halloween was so fun this year. We got lots and lots of candy and we haven't eaten it all yet. It's still in our bags. 2007 was so great, I could not even believe my eyes!