Another one bites the dust!

Well, I've finally reached the big 4-0!  Can I really be that old all ready?  I still think we should determine age off of mental status, don't you agree?  Though I wouldn't want anyone taking away my driver's license, or wonder how in the world I've got 4 children.  Never mind!  You know, it's not as painful as every one's made it out to be though.  I was expecting more to tell you the truth after all the hype.  I will pass on a bit of advice to all of you youngsters who are only gazing upon the 40's still.  Milk it for all it's worth.  Let's face it, birthdays in general are not that exciting any more, but I did find that since everyone feels extra bad for you for some reason, they also go out of their way to be extra nice when you turn 40.  I had a day that my children didn't fight and were happy all day, a birthday dinner from my honey and delicious cake made by Megan, and a look of love in every eye that was edged with a touch of elderly concern. . . and I was even gone most of the day.  My family was all extremely kind to me-they're the BEST!  I'm just glad Megan didn't put 40 candles on my cake. . . I about passed out blowing out the few there were!

Megan's cake was SCRUM-DILLY-UMPTIOUS!!  (Unfortunately for my rear-end, I couldn't get enough of it! DARN!)

Ry-Man Superstar!

Ryan is playing little league basketball this year.  It has been so fun the watch him and all his little teammates.  It's amazing how quick the small frys pick up on the sport.  Ryan is quite the little hustler.  He was feeling bad about some of his skill ability so I had to remind him that he was playing to learn.  The skills will come as he works at it, but being a hustler is harder to teach, coaches always love the guys that hustle.  He was thrilled the last game to make a basket.  Callen has even been getting to go to his practices to help even up the numbers for scrimaging.  He's been loving it too.

Vermin...that's right, two of them.

Okay, you're right, this is just wrong!  I couldn't believe it when we allowed Megan to get a rat last spring...and like vermin do, they've multiplied.  Callen has been wanting a pet for a long time.  We keep reminding  him that we already have a dog, Chewy, but he wanted one to call his very own to love and to care for.  Megan got "Squeakers" from her science teacher for $2 (cheap pet).  She insisted that she had bonded with the rat and needed to save it from being snake food.  I was not easily swayed, but you can see who holds the power around here...not me.  Callen has the same teacher this year and so began the pleading.  We told him that if he would get an A in Science that he would be able to get a rat.  After his grade school science grades we felt fairly safe.  Little did we know that Callen's totalling clicked with middle school work and has had straight A's in everything.  So, after Christmas, with a big smile on my face, we welcomed home "Whiskers", also saved from some very nasty snakes.  I've officially cracked.  Shaun and I decided we should have made the requirement of A's throughout the school year instead.  That was way too easy for him.

So, the moral of the story is...be careful what you let into the house, things tend to multiply.  We started with a dog and now we have a beta fish and two rats.

Seth's 7th B-day!

          My BABY is now 7 years old.  It is hard for me to believe.  He's my New Year's Eve (not so much now) baby.  We went to our local pizza place, Studebaker's for lunch.  Seth decided right then that it was the best birthday EVER!  Callen got cross country skis for Christmas this year, and so he and Seth were both ecstatic when Seth got cross country skis for his birthday.  SNOW BUDDIES!  They went out for a couple of hours that afternoon and had a blast out in the 1 foot of freah snow in the back field.  Then, New Year's day, Ryan and Megan got in on the action and they all took turns going out in pairs.  The skis did not get a rest the entire day.  It was so fun to see them out puttering around.  It's so nice that they just go right out in our back yard and can be entertained for the entire day.  Brings me great joy!!  Now I need to scout out a pair for me!

                                                            Seth showing off his new skills.

                                                              Callen-my cute poser boy!

CAN IT REALLY BE?

Yes, I finally made it into the high speed world!  I can tell you already I will be wasting way too much time trying to figure out how to do all of this.  For those of you who have gone before, you might have an idea of how long it took me to just decide what I wanted things to look like, and that's without all the extra sights to search through! 

All I know it that I have loved being able to SEE and read about what's going on in everyone else's lives.  It makes me feel close to those of you that I don't get to be with as often as I'd like.  I guess I just want you to be a part of my life as much as I feel like I get to be a part of yours. . . reciprocal sharing.  Trust me, when you think your just wasting your time and nobody cares, you can know I appreciate all of your efforts.  I just hope I can figure out how to get a picture on here now!