Awards and Good Grades

The school year is out and the boys did great this last semester.  Small Fry worked so hard on his reading and language arts classes and ended up with B's in those classes and A's in the rest.  I'm so proud of him.  His tutor even told me in April that he didn't need to come twice a week, she just needed to be on an on-call basis because he really didn't need her that much.  That made me feel so much better about things. We had a rough first semester but I think he pulled it together and started really putting some effort into school.  I'm so proud of him!  I can't wait to see how great he does in the 5th grade!

Tater Tot did great in 6th grade.  We made it through the first year of middle school with all A's and one 89.4 B.  He came home with the President's Honor Roll and the Star Reading Award.  He worked hard and had a fun year with his buddies.

Tater Tot loved 6th grade because he had six different teachers this year.  He especially loved his Life Skills teacher and all of the coaches that taught him.  He constantly talked about Coach Paulk, who is a young coach that teaches Science.  TT thought he was so cool.  I think Coach Paulk was even the person that taught the kids about Twitter.  Thanks Coach Paulk.....I think.

I plan to keep the kids busy this summer with some sort of educational activities.  I don't want their brains to turn to mush...ha!  We are going to try to visit the Philbrook Museum of Art, Gilcrease Museum and any other fun places that might teach them something.  I tried to mention the library and they both laughed.  I guess the library is not the "cool" thing to do.  Maybe we'll go to the library in the next town!  I'm sneaky that way.

TT starts Summer Pride next week, a program to keep the kids in good condition for sports.  He'll go in the mornings all summer.  That means I have to get up at 6:30am to take him.  Ugh!  But, I'm so glad that they are having them run when it's cool and not hot.  TT is dreading it but I think he'll enjoy it.  He loves being active.

We've already started the crazy summer running around.  We've already had 2 kids spend the night.  I think someone has either spent the night with us or the boys have been at a kids house everyday since school got out.  It makes me feel a little crazy since I like to have a routine and order.  I think I'm going to have to get used to this tween summer crazy life!

River Monsters and a little boy

Sorry for the Christmas pic but it's a cute one of my little Small Fry the Fisherman

So, lately Small Fry and I have been watching River Monsters everytime it comes on TV. Small Fry loves to fish. He loves everything about fishing.

Small Fry's favorite show

He decided yesterday that he was going to write Jeremy Wade, the host of River Monsters on Animal Planet. He sat down and composed a super cute letter and drew him the most beautiful fish. He wanted Mr. Wade to know that I said it was ok for him to go fishing in the Amazon someday. Small Fry even included my phone number. I let him do it, hoping that somehow, someway, someone from Animal Planet would call him. Who knows - it just might happen!? You have to have faith!

3rd grade Art Show

My little Small Fry loves art.  He took an art class after school this year and worked so hard on perfecting his skills.  At the end of the 3rd grade, all the students get to hang their masterpieces along the hallway and display their talent at the end of the year Art Show.  To better give you an idea of life with Small Fry, this is the conversation he and I had at 6:10pm on the day of the Art Show. He is a certified "mess".  And that's another way in the South to say he's a little Toot and I love him for it!  It makes life interesting!

 It had been a crazy day at work, including someone getting laid off and I was beat. 

 I had started cooking dinner when Small Fry sat down at the bar in the kitchen and said,

 "Mom, our Art Show was tonight and it's over at 6:30." 

I looked at him with horror in my eyes and said,

" What???  You are joking aren't you?"

He said, "Nope, and it's almost over."

I about died!  I yelled for Mr. H and Tater Tot while turning off the burner on the stove and running to the bedroom to throw my work clothes back on.  I had already put on shorts and a tank top with my hair in a clip on top of my head.  UGH!  Thank the Lord, I hadn't washed my makeup off yet!

Well, with a little hustle, we made it at 6:20. Thank Gosh we live only 2 or 3 miles from his school. 

Makes you appreciate small towns and the fact that everything is within 5 miles!

Self-portrait

Two more self-portraits....notice the shaggy blonde hair

My 5th grader with his 4th grade teacher, Ms. Hendrix...she's 9 months pregnant and as cute as can be!

Pictures of different climates

My baby turns 9

Today is the 9th birthday of someone that means the world to me-my baby H-man aka Small Fry. This adorable, blondie is the exact replica of my Daddy - charming, ornery, easy-going, carefree, funny, clever, happy and a Momma's boy.  Everytime I see his charming smile, I wonder how on earth I was able to create such a beautiful little golden haired tooter.  And...if you know me, you know that I mean Tooter in the best way possible.  In the South, he's what we call a "mess"!

He's shy but gregarious. independent but very much a Momma's little guy, mouthy to his brother but adoring in every way towards him and caring but carefree.  This little guy loves fishing, playing football, soccer, basketball..well, pretty much every sport.  He loves the Atlanta Braves because his cousin plays minor league ball for the Mississippi Braves, which to him means he's the greatest pro athlete ever to grace the earth!  He loves going to OU football games and looking for Boomer and Sooner, the real horses and the mascots, but especially his favorite players.  He still rubs my upper arm, which has always been his "pinchy" since he was a breastfeeding baby.  His favorite thing to do when he sees his dog Allie is to feel of her big ol' jowls that hang down - he will sit and feel her jowls forever and that dog won't move an inch.  He completely got the "feeling" things from me.  I still love to squeeze my favorite pillow when I sit on the bed-I have no idea why! HA!  I have to remind him at bedtime not to hug Allie too tight when she sleeps with him.  He will completely cover her with his arms and legs while going to sleep-he adores her and his Beagle Baylee!  He's the kid that always cares that others are being treated fairly and nicely - he was super upset that the teacher this year gave a boy in his class a warning card for behavior on the boy's birthday.  He also is the snacker in the family-which reminds me of his Uncle Keith! I actually have to hide the candy and sweets or he would eat them non-stop throughout the day.  He sneaks the gum out of my purse and I go in his room to retrieve it almost weekly.  Little toot-see what I'm talking about?!  Every night when he goes to bed, he still wants me right there to tuck him in and give him a big kiss and hug.  He'll ask for another hug if the first one wasn't tight enough!  I loooove that!  When he gets dressed in the morning, he sometimes doesn't match at all and he doesn't care...it's just clothes.  I found a pair of shoes in his closet the other day that I bought 3 months ago and he had never worn.  Instead, he had taken the shoelaces out of the new blue Vans to put in his old soccer cleats because they needed new laces. He had forgotten that he had brand new shoes to wear.  He'll sit in the backseat of the car and work diligently texting someone and when I look on the phone, he's just been typing in random letters so his brother will think he has a lot of people to text on his phone too.  He'll walk around all day with food stains or Crystal Light stains on his face and it doesn't bother him one bit-silly guy! 

But most of all, this is the baby that saved me.  He was 8 months old when his Dad and I got divorced.  He was barely more than a newborn when it became a house with just us and his 36 month old big brother.  He was the reason I knew I had to get up every morning and keep going.  He was the reason I got up with a smile on my face and took on the world as a confident, positive, happy single mom.  This little baby was going to have a terrific life and I was going to make sure of it.  He still deserved a wonderful infancy and toddlerhood filled with love, happiness and positive people.  His brother was the reason too but my baby never had a chance to know what a family with a Daddy at home was like.  In fact, he acts like it never affected him.  He still thinks everyone has two Christmas's and two houses with extra Grandparents.  When we moved in with my parents, this little 1 year old sweetie would get up early every morning and run into his Dan-Dan (Grandpa) and sit in his lap, begging for a sip of his black coffee.  They would sit for an hour or more before waking any of us up.  That was their time and I'm so thankful for it since he only had his Grandpa till he was 3.  

This is also the little angel who at 3, one night after my Dad (Dan-Dan) was killed in a car accident, told me that he saw Dan-Dan after the policemen came to our house and Nana and I cried real hard (which was the police telling us about the accident).  He told me that his Dan-Dan had come into the room he was watching TV in and helped him change the channel and sat and watched cartoons with him, then walked down the hall to make sure Nana and I were ok.  He was barely 3 and I truely believe that happened with all my heart because of their relationship.  A 3 year old can't make something like that up.  It was the most comforting thought in the world told to me by a toddler.  I'll never forget that conversation and I will always treasure the gift he gave me by telling me.

At IHOP-where he wanted to have his birthday dinner!  He loves IHOP!

Checking out his soccer cake with his cousin Joshua

Reading birthday cards and looking for money like a typical 9 year old

Opening presents - he got the ITouch he had been wanting so bad thanks to his Nana

His big brother with his Nana Jack and Grandpa Arch (His Dad's parents)

Goofing around with his cousin and big bubba

Nana and Momma - so proud of what a big boy he's become

He loves his Grandparents!  He had all of them at one table! That makes for a happy little guy!

Blowing out the candles!

I love that he still gets embarrassed when we sing Happy Birthday to him!  He's done that since he was a baby!!!  Silly boy!

This is what your teeth look like when you eat a ton of blue icing-he thought it was hilarious!

This is what you feel like when you eat too much blue icing-ugh.

 This is the original "team" - I've always told my boys...as long as the three of us have each other, everything was going to be fine.  But, luckily that changed 6 years ago when we met Mr. H to.....as long as we have each other and Mr. H, who they love to call Dad now that we all got married last summer, everything will be just fine.

Because...now we're a complete team!

Happy Birthday Baby!!! 

Your Mommy, Daddy and Big Bubba love you more than you will ever know!!!

Sick Day

Today Small Fry is sick so I've stayed home with him. He has some sort of stomach virus which makes me sad for him. I can't stand when my babies are sick. I'm actually surprised that I didn't have more of a chore getting Tater Tot (the older brother) to go to school.  They are such peas in a pod that if one stays home from school the other begs to stay home with him. I get the whole "It's not Fair" argument.  Tater Tot did say that they have the Little Olympics coming up for the 5th grade and today was tryout time for the relay race.  He had set up a relay team of the fastest boys in his class for tryouts and he didn't want to miss it. So cute that he really takes his athletics endeavors so seriously.  He's even started asking if he can run around the block in the afternoon to stay in shape for soccer. Granted he's 11 but I'm glad he loves to be active. 

It's been hard to be active this winter because it has been the worst winter we have ever seen in Oklahoma, especially northern Oklahoma.  We have had 4 major snowstorms, including a horrible blizzard on Christmas Eve that ruined everyone's Christmas plans.  We even woke up yesterday on Valentine's Day with an inch of snow on the ground.  The weather guys had said something about a dusting of snow but we didn't expect everything to be white when we woke up.......it was really pretty though!

I was working on my household notebook last night and staying home from work has allowed me to work on it some more. I love The Organizing Junkie so I'm listing my menu for
Menu Planning Monday.

Monday - Grilled chicken breasts with white wine mushrooms and onions, roasted vegetables, salad with balsamic dressing
Tuesday - Chicken enchiladas (made with leftover chicken)
Wednesday - Sandwiches and soup
Thursday - German smoked sausage dish (recipe below)
Friday - Homemade cheese pizza
Saturday - Pork chops with mushroom gravy
Sunday - Leftovers

German Smoked Sausage Dish
1 medium onion, chopped
3 turnips, peeled and chopped
3 large carrots, cut into large dice
3 potatoes, peeled and medium dice
1 package turkey smoked sausage, skinless

Brown turkey smoked sausage in small amount of oil, about 2 tbsp.  When sausage is browned, add onions and rest of vegetables.  Let them saute' for 10 minutes and add a small amount of water (1/4 to 1/2 cup of water). Cover with lid and let cook for approximately 30 to 45 minutes. The amount of water is purely up to you. It should be just enough to steam the dish when you cover it.  This dish is so easy and you can turn it into a chunky dish or more of a stew if thats what your family prefers.

I've also been looking at blogs on my lazy, sick day.  I've been looking at some of the best blogs.  I've listed a few below for your blog reading pleasure:

Tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com
Tidymom.com
Thepioneerwoman.com ( she lives near me and I went to school with 2 of her cousins) One of the cousins talks to the hunky Marlboro Man daily- can you even imagine??!!
Theothermama.com
Thisisreverb.com  ( Ryan is an awesome cook and just a great all around guy
Asoftplacetoland.com
kellykornerblog.com
Ronisweigh.com (great weight loss blog-she went from overweight to a marathon runner! Wow!)

I could literally read blogs all day long.  The blogs above are the more popular blogs that I started reading a couple of years ago. That's when I discovered the whole blog world and couldn't believe how much there was to learn from reading a person's blog.  I've learned about saving money, how to plan my family's menus more efficiently, great photography tips, where to look for the best sales on clothes and household items and how to do my own blog header.  It's so much fun to get all of the greatest decorating tips and DIY instructions.  My next goal is to learn Photoshop and how to make my photos really stand out.  Heck, right now I just need to remember to download my photos to Photobucket or Snapfish and actually order them.  I like to order two copies of each photo because I put one in a photo album sleeve with the date and a tidbit about the photo on the back and the other can be used for framing or scrapbooking.  I still love to actually scrapbook with real stickers and paper, not just a digital copy.  I'm a school and office supply nerd and proud of it!!!!