Another week gone!

It's been a long rough week so again, I'll play some catch up. Sunday Amy and I woke up and headed to the hospital to see Granddaddy and a precious baby girl! I got a call from Justin and he filled me in on how it went with the kiddos...hilarious! So, he was going to let Rylee sleep in the room with him as a sleep over, that of course didn't pan out so he put her to bed and played games and had a sleepover with the boys instead. :-) Justin is usually a very hard sleeper, never hears anything that goes one, except of course when I'm gone and it's going on in your very room! Justin says about 2:30am Logan jumps up off the ground and bolts, seriously bolts, down the hallway running as fast as he can. You know our house is kind of a circle around the rooms into the kitchen and back to our room, so anyway, Logan goes down the hallway, down the dining room, through the kitchen, through the laundry room, into our bathroom, finally making it our bedroom only to JUMP over a sleeping Cody in his sleeping bag on the floor and land on the middle of the bed. Justin says "what are you doing?" And Logan's reply is..."You told me to run." Justin replies, "well now I'm telling you to go to bed!!" The only thing we can think of is that he was dreaming of baseball and he ran the bases home. Makes me laugh that Justin got to experience it!!

Anyway, they had breakfast and headed to OKC to meet up with me. We went to see Heather and Tim and little Avery. She has the best nose, absolutely adorable. Then we headed down to see Granddaddy and then Justin took the kids to Chuck E Cheese. Sunday was Logan's birthday so it was a special treat! I can't believe he turned 12. It's amazing to me. Sometimes when I look at him I still see this little guy...Happy Birthday Logan!!
After Chuck E Cheese they went to my moms and took naps. Justin came to the hospital and got me around 3 or so and we came home. We did some more work outside and the kids played in the sprinkler. We came in and had dinner and we all crashed, long emotional weekend.

Monday we hung around the house and did some grocery shopping. AND I'm happy to say that with all the coupons I was given I saved...$49.50!!! Not too shabby huh, no extreme couponing there but hey, it's money!! Monday night Logan had practice and the kids and I got eaten alive by mosquitoes...ugh, hate those suckers.

Tuesday we hung around the house all day until of course the storm came in. We went to our neighbors cellar and hung out while it blew past. Granddaddy and Uncle Robert were at the hospital at the time and they had to wait in the hallways, ugh, can't even imagine. How scary!! My mom made it safe to the hospital after the storm had passed thankfully. The weatherman gave a list of things you needed to pack for your bag to stay safe...helmets were one of them and Cody was pretty adamant about having them, so...Logan went to the garage and got everyone one!

I'm getting ready for a PTA meeting to plan some things we have to do this summer and convention. And that's about it. Hope you guys are having a great safe week. Love and miss you all!

Where to start??

I think the last day I blogged was last Thursday so I'll just go over a few things real fast. It was Cody's last day of school and we were planning on meeting up there for the party and lunch but plans changed. Logan, Rylee, and I went to Wal-Mart and got a couple thing we were missing and then went to the library. I finished up the "Hunger Games" trilogy. LOVED the second book but the third one took a little to get going I thought. Either way, very good books and excited to see how on earth they turn them into a movie that kids can watch!! Geez. After the library we ended up going back to Cody's school after much coaxing from Logan. Got there and helped get the kids outside for a whole day of bounce houses and fun. Rylee was in absolute heaven!!! Cody played with all his buddies while Logan, Rylee and I went from thing to thing. We got to have a hot dog lunch with the kiddos and more play. By the time 2:00 came around all three kids were ready for naps! Thursday night Logan and Cody both had games which we thought would get rained on but ended up being nice. Cody's team won and Logan's lost...story of our lives.

Friday morning was pretty much more of the same...chores, laundry, different chores, pick up, read. ;0) The kids talked me into letting them play outside in the sprinkler for a little bit. Happy, happy kids! Rylee has no idea still how to work the pull out water guns, but she sure loves to pretend she's filling them up and spraying you!

It was Cody and Rylee against Logan...a little unfair I thought!!

Rylee didn't help out the team much, poor Cody ended up with a bucket of nothing because Rylee kept dumping it out!

Friday night I am pretty sure we just hung out. We were supposed to have a game Saturday, actually a double header, but it was rained out again...ugh. Justin went golfing that morning but had to cut it short to head to the hospital. My granddaddy, my moms dad, had checked in on Thursday with pneumonia and took a nasty turn for the worse on Saturday. We got there and were told to pretty much say our goodbye's. Ugh. My dad met us at the hospital and took the kids with him so we could spend some time with granddaddy and my mom. BUT...while we were there we got a chance to sneak over and see Justin's cousin Heather too. She was having a baby! When my dad had enough of Rylee he gave us a call and Justin went to get the kids. He decided to go ahead and bring them home while I stayed in the city.

Amy got there in the afternoon and we spent the rest of the day at the hospital only leaving to get Uncle Robert from the airport, which was about the same time the baby was born!!! I'd have to wait until morning to see sweet little Avery Faith! :-)

Meanwhile back at the McNeill house...Justin got Rylee to bed and the boys all decided to have a sleepover in our room. The boys got their sleeping bags and played games until they absolutely had to go to bed.

While at the hospital I did a lot of reflection about Granddaddy and all the people already gone. I remember Granddaddy telling me stories about flying planes in the war. He had some soldiers from another country in the plane, that even though they were on our side, he thought they were mean, evil almost. He didn't like to listen to them so he would just fly up high enough so they would pass out from the elevation. That always makes me laugh because if you know Granddaddy, it's probably the meanest thing he's ever done. He's an incredibly nice, kind, loving, loyal and caring man, I hope my boys grow up to be half the man he is. I also remember when he started taking computer classes, I always thought that was neat. An 80 year old man going back to school to stay up with the times. I know he enjoys reading the blog too and honestly, after Grandma passed away he's really the strongest reason I keep going. I love him with every ounce of my heart and am so proud to have him as my Granddaddy.

On a totally other note...THANK YOU so much to everyone who sent coupons!! You are all awesome. I have the best family, I can always count on you whenever asked. Love, love, love you all!

Already Wednesday??

Wow, so far...summer is flying by! Can't believe we've already made it past Wednesday!! Spent pretty much most of the day doing laundry, ugh. Other than that, just playtime. Started the day with Rylee stealing almost all of Logan's kolache...luckily he's a good enough brother to laugh about it! And as usual, Cody's playing some sort of ball. That kid...

Stayed in our pajamas most of the day, didn't want to dirty any more up for laundry! :-) Had some lunch, our new rule this summer is to have at least one veggie and one fruit at lunch...today was brussell sprout day and I really thought I'd be met with attitudes. But, turns out that if you put season salt on them kids will devour them!! Who knew! Yum, my favorite!

It was around lunch time that I learned that the book I read on Tuesday already has two more in the series...dang it!! Luckily enough, Logan had a dentist appointment so we were going to town anyway. Stopped at the library and shock of all shocks...THEY HAD BOTH!! Hip, hip, hooray!!

Dentist said Logan's teeth are looking great but next time they're going to have to place a lip guard in. He wasn't too excited about that, but it's a wire with a rubber plate attached that helps push your lip out so it doesn't fight against your moving teeth. He said Logan's chin muscles are too strong. :-) Anyway, they had to take a mold of his lower teeth and will make it this month to attach in June.

We came home and I finished up the fire from the tree and the kids played outside a little. Logan showed the little ones his moon shoes he got from Debbie a couple years ago. They're still too big for Cody, but he liked to pretend!!

Came in and started dinner. Justin had to work late so we went ahead and ate without him. Got the little ones in bed and when he got home we watched American Idol. Gosh, I really dislike Haley, hope she goes home tonight. Ugh, I've sat through I don't know how many shows and don't know if I can stand her one more. Ick, ick, ick.

Well, that's all for now. Today is Cody's last day at school, they're having a party this afternoon so he's pretty excited. And of course ball tonight. Sadly, he's only got 2 more games in the season. That is if we play, weatherman said it's supposed to rain, of course that's what he said last night too, so we'll see!!

Hope you're having a great week. Love and miss you all!

Tuesday

Tuesday was just about worthless I think. We got up and went to Wal-Mart...again...to buy Logan a little something for baseball. He's got a new position, catcher! And needless to say he didn't have quite all the "protective" gear he needed. He was a little nervous at first about wearing a cup but Cody told him it would all be fine! :0) Cody really wanted Logan to get a new green cup. Boy was he surprised when we got home and Logan showed it how it worked!! (I'm sure Logan will love this story when he gets older huh?)

After a little playtime and lunch everybody took a rest. Logan and I read. Started a new book yesterday, "The Hunger Games." Um...really, really crazy and really, really good. Hard to put down and totally different from "Heaven is For Real" that I read the day before!!

A little after the kids got up Justin, Pappy and Memaw came in the door. We went outside and cut up what was left of the tree and made a pile to burn, ahhh, that feels good to have some of it done!! After that we loaded up and headed to Logan's game. He did an amazing job at catcher. Really super proud of him, with only one practice under his belt even! It was a rough game and we got beat pretty bad, but Logan did great at catching at least.

Pappy and Memaw went home and so did we. Got everybody in bed and then lit the fire. It burned really good until about 11 and then started to fizzle. I stayed up and read so I could "watch the fire," actually I couldn't put the book down, had to know how it ended. So at about midnight I read the last page and was totally disappointed with the ending, guess they are leading it up to book two? Ugh. Anyway, other than the ending a good book. Got in bed and it started to rain and thunder. A nice shower to sleep with and I didn't have to worry about the fire anymore!!

So that's about it. Another day at the McNeill house. Hope you had a great one too. Love and miss you all!

Ahhhh, Monday

Monday is always an interesting day. Usually it's trying to get back in the swing of things, but this Monday was different. With Logan out of school we didn't get around as early and we got to have a nice breakfast together which usually doesn't happen during the week. (Don't know where Logan went, but I promise he was there!) Ah yes, I remember. For some insane reason Aunt Amy decided to give him his birthday present without any witnesses!!! That means no pictures or anything, doesn't she know I need to scrap the opening too?? UGH!! :-) However, this grin made it worth it, another "favorite" shirt, a super cool alien Ipod cover, and a gift card to iTunes. Awesome!!!

We took Cody to school and ran some errands and then came home. Had lunch and put Rylee down for a nap. That's when Logan has to read so he went to his bed and I sat in my chair with my new book. Next thing I know, I'm done with the book and Rylee's waking up...2 hours later!!! I walk in the hallway and Logan is smooth passed out. Fell asleep reading I guess! Must have needed it. Let him sleep a little more and then went to Cody's school program. I so, so, so wish I didn't have dial up because I have about 4 videos I want to upload. He did awesome!!! Here he is after he got his medal. So proud!!

I let Logan go with him up to his room to find his backpack. Rylee talked the pastor into giving her a medal and you can see...she's just as proud of hers as Cody was!

Came home and got stuff together for ball. Logan had practice and Cody a game in a hic town nobody has ever heard of!! Rylee, Cody and I headed out and watched him play. Another great round of hitting and a super play on 2nd. He really wanted nuggets when the game was over so I stopped at McDonalds and got him some...he was a happy kid! Drove by the ball fields and Justin was still there with a couple of kids practicing. We stopped and played for a little bit and then all headed home. Made the rest of us dinner and put the kids to bed. Ahhhh, Monday is over!

Hope you had a great, quick Monday. Love and miss you all!!

Ooops, forgot!

Forgot that I wanted to ask for something from you guys. Justin and I have been watching "Extreme Couponing" on TLC for the last couple weeks and are amazed by it. So we've decided to coupon. These kiddos are eating more and more and my grocery budget it getting maxed out!! So, if you get the Sunday paper or any coupons that you don't want or use would you save them for me?? Please? I would really appreciate it, now if you use them, don't worry, but it you're just throwing them out...keep em' for me!!

Thanks so much in advance! Love and miss you all!

Weekend!

Actually our weekend started on Friday. Went up to school to help with some Box Top parties and then hung around and cleaned up concession and organized some things for PTA before summer...because oh yeah...Friday was Logan's LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

Cody and Rylee played with the kids in gym and outside since there really wasn't much going on. They even hung out during one class' party! :-) Then the assembly started. Rylee and Cody found somewhere else to sit. They did really good during the assembly, probably because they had a friends phone and other kids to talk to! At one point Rylee got sleepy. Nobody is really sure if she fell asleep or just took a good rest!

It was finally Logan's classes turn for the awards and I could barely get him to look at me!!! UGH.

Kept looking away...

Finally his teacher told him he better look before he got in trouble!! :-) He did great as usual, principal honor roll, outstanding awards in all subjects, he lettered his year in basketball, and got a trophy for reaching over 1 million words read for AR. Quite proud of that one!! :-) Got him to stop for a split second before joining the others.

The twins came home with us so we loaded up and headed home. I had to fix some of Logan's shirts so I got out some blue thread. Can't really see in this picture, but it was 18 cents...and I bought it from TG&Y!! ;-) made me smile, and honestly it was a little hard to open it but I did.

When Justin got home we headed to the lake. The boys played some games until bedtime.

And did puzzles.

Rylee went to bed and when she woke up she broke out the play-doh. She learned how to roll it this weekend and things making little balls is very cool!

Cody and Russell played a little spiderman before the big boys woke up.

I knew that the big boys would probably go with Justin in the boat for a ride so I brought the Gator and Four Wheeler for Russell, Cody and Rylee to enjoy. I think I might just bring them every time, came in very handy!!

It was super cold out and windy so they decided to hold off on the boat ride. We sat around and tried to decide what to do.

Goof balls...

We finally decided on bowling!!!

It was fun. Been a long time since some of us bowled so it was interesting to say the least!! Cody did a pretty good job, he wanted a smaller ball but they didn't have one. And how about this...first ball Logan threw...a strike!!! Yewoza!

Cody didn't do too bad either!

The twins had a little trouble in the beginning but by the end they got it figured out. And as you can see...Logan wasn't too far behind Justin!! Good job Logan!!

After a couple games of bowling we went for Pizza. (Thanks Grammy) Here's the kid side of the table. Tried to get Rylee to sit with us, but she wasn't interested.

After we ate the big boys and Justin went to the water while we stayed around and played.

When they came back they had all kinds of stories. The two I remember were that they TUBED! Brrrr...can't believe it. They said it was totally worth it. The second story is of Justin taking a nose dive from the front of the boat to the concrete. He was loading the boat and slipped, hit his head on the trailer hitch and then the bumper before he landed on the concrete dock. The boys said they just heard him moaning so they went to check on him. He was ok, just really hurt and tender.

Sunday morning Rylee and Cody woke up early and played quietly.

Then the rest of the crew woke up and watched some Tom and Jerry.

We went outside and played around for a moment and then the boys went back to the water. Brrrr again!! They came back a couple hours later and had tubed again, saying it wasn't as bad as the day before. We then started a very unfriendly game of football between the McNeill family and everyone else.

Rylee and I sat on the sidelines and ate.

Fixed lunch for everybody and then headed home. Justin and all the boys (even Cody) headed up to the ball fields to work on hitting. They didn't get home until after 8 and had a great time. Justin was pleased with every one's progress. And he was proud to say that Cody hit off the pitching machine at 48 mph!! YIKES, wasn't too excited that he tried that, but knew if any 4 year old could do it, it would be Cody. Obsessed is a good word for Cody and baseball!!

Grilled some pork chops and then watched a movie. Long, fun weekend coming to an end. Logan's excited his summer has officially started, Cody has 2 more days of school so he's a little bummed. However, it won't be too bad. Monday is his program and he has a game and then Thursday is his end of the year party and he has another game so he'll be happy about that!

Hope you had a great weekend. Love and miss you all!

Shhhh...

So Thursday was an awesome day. Very quiet around the house, after Cody and Logan went to school that is!! I did a lot of baking, going to try to turn over a new leaf in the kitchen this summer. Wish me luck! I made some no bake cookies and puppy chow...I caught Rylee in the puppy chow while I was finishing the cookies.

BUSTED!!

Went and got Cody from school and waited for Logan to get home. Shortly after he did we headed out to Cody's game and Logan's practice. Rylee adores Cody's boots because she can put them on and off...she was determined to wear them to the game.

The boys thought it was hilarious!

Got to the game and watched the Rascals win!! Woohooo. Cody hit a couple great balls to at least 2nd base if not a little farther. He only has 3 games left so if you're coming to watch him you better figure out a time!!

Logan has a pretty intense practice. They had a super rough game last week and their coach was very angry. (the coach being Justin of course) He came home pretty exhausted and ready for his last day of school!!!

That's all for now. Hope you enjoyed your week! Love and miss you all!

Almost done!

We've had another busy week. Tuesday I cleaned house and the kids played ipods...ok, Rylee played a pretend one, but she felt important. Tuesday night Cody, Rylee and I headed out to his away game while Justin and Logan stayed in town and played here. We got to the game and has fans!! Nanny and Papa came to watch. Cody had a couple great hits and a play at 2nd, he was very excited to have them there. Afterwards we went to McDonalds and got to see Batman!! He was there taking pictures, the kids weren't sure at first but later stood beside him long enough to snap a picture on my phone.

Wednesday was a pretty quiet day except for the fact that Cody is now officially a PRE-SCHOOLER! I went up to school and enrolled him for pre-k. He was super excited and so very sad when we had to leave. So far 3 of the kids he has at Mother's Day Out are in his class so that makes it even better!

Came home and took naps...oh wait, before any of that happened, Rylee made this mess! Stinker!

Logan got home after naps and they played dress up. Didn't even know I had this costume!! But she loved it anyway!!

And Cody's favorite standby costume...Buzz!

Logan is counting down the days of school. 2 more counting today!!!! So excited he can hardly stand it! He's having the twins come home with him on Friday and they're spending the weekend with us...should be fun, and I should go to the store and buy some more food I'm sure, there's never enough for all three!!!

Hope you're having a great week. Love and miss you all!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there. Hope it was amazing!! We woke up Sunday morning a little late, for us anyway, and I fixed breakfast. We played around inside for a little bit and them headed to Wal-Mart so I could get some groceries and Cody could look at bikes. We took two cars so I actually got to shop around all by myself!! Perfect gift! When I got home Justin had put Rylee down for a nap and the boys wanted to go fishing. They got dressed up and headed out. Ahhhh, quiet time! Rylee woke up about the time they got home and I made some lunch and then we headed outside for the remainder of the day. The kids rode bikes...Rylee's riding her "new" one...Cody's old one.

And Cody's riding his very own bike!! He needed to move up some time now, and finally we found one!! He was SUPER excited!

Of course no day is complete without the go cart craziness. Made me smile but also made my heart hurt a little. Bo loved chasing that thing around, don't know how many times I would look for her, she loved those kinds of days. Still hurts. Logan and Cody have started this week to ask about possibly another dog. Can't honestly say I'm ready to fill that space up in my heart with another one, know I'll love it just the same, just don't know if I'm ready.

Cody is officially old enough to take Rylee for rides, he usually doesn't mind either so that's really great becaue Rylee LOVES it!

Until of course Logan gets his out and then she ditches Cody pretty fast!

And then all of a sudden they start getting in the car. They're taking me out to dinner. Awesome!!! No cooking or cleaning up...another great gift! We had a great dinner and came home and put everyone in bed. Justin and I watched "Salt" which wasn't too bad, I'm assuming they're making a "Salt 2" soon though!

All in all a wonderful Mother's Day!! Hope you had a great one too. Love and miss you all!