Jake's Marching Band Debut

What a busy week...Here is a video I did on my camera for all of you that missed Jake's first marching band performance. Can you find him?

(He is the last trombone player looking from L to R.)

I think he is finding that doing both football and marching band to be a bit much. He was very tired last night....he had been on the go since 545am! School, then football pratice until 430pm, home to shower-eat and get dressed, then to Withington Stadium at 6pm for practice before the game, we finally were home at 930pm.

BEWARE!

Completely chaotic week ahead!!
(actually a continuation of last week!)

• football
• orthodontist
• marching band
• choosing instruments for elementary band
• work!! working loads of XTRA hours
• meal planning for all the chaos

Had a great weekend- although our boys did not shoot a deer. :-( Jake never saw one...Koda saw a doe with 2 fawns and could not shoot her! He was with my cousin Marshall who eventually talked Koda into thinking about a shot....and just then they all took off. Run Momma , Run! :-) I was so proud to know that beneath the teenage hard surface there is still a tenderhearted young man that listens to his heart!!

Had a great visit with family! Sure do miss them all living so far away. Somedays I ask myself why I moved in here ... then I smile and see all my men!! But I sure do miss my family!!

Hope everyone has a great week.

JILL and KRISTIN - did you get the crop invite for Oct 6th? Had not heard from either of you.

First game of the season

and they fought hard in the end....however were defeated by Battle Creek Lakeview. :-(

Not the best pics....Steve did take a few though. I think I need a better camera from Santa....LOL hint hint

Jake DID get to play lat night - the last quarter he was in on two plays. He says a dude bigger than him knocked him on his 'toosh' the first time- THE NEXT time he went in he said he got a much better stance and knocked him down....he felt GOOD! It was great to hear him tell it....isn;t that the best part of youth sports? listening to them do the play by play!! Love it.

*Jake had been sick and the coach had told him that he would nto be allowed to play as he missed practice and school one day and another day he had a jammed locker with his football pants inside.

Happy Thursday everyone - lunch date with beth!! Now there is my fuel for the dreaded Thursday before heading north for yuouth hunt....my brain has been zooming all morning already making lists!!

many signs of fall

OH my the many signs of fall are appearing!!

• sick kids!! ALL 3 and the BIG ONE 2 w/ ear infections, 1 w/ sinisitis, 1 w/ a sinus headache


• vibrant red, yellow, orange leaves on the sidewalk and yard


• football is in full swing


• youth hunt weekend is this week - bag a buck boys! pleeeease


• weekend trips north have become fewer


• homework every night


• need sweatshirts for the bus in the morning


• Riley hesitates to go out to do her business in the morning - it's cold Yorkie's do not have an undercoat - so she has been burrowing under the blankets at night


• Mom is planning her winter getaway - dinner is Oct 14th

Other happenings in our life....my Dad's cancer counts are on the rise again even though he had the surgery. Which means he starts radiation soon.

I picked up my sexy specs today! Now I AM OLD! Dr. Buseth said I should wear them for reading, crafting and driving for now.

Please do not laugh TOO HARD!

Riley will soon be going to have her surgery- her friend FLO finally left! WOO HOO- now that was nothing I want to go through again!

Happy belated 31st Birthday, Jill. so sorry I missed the day!

just a few updates

The future Kid Rock - he thinks or Hank Jr!! He loves his new guitar from G & G - 15th bday! He also takes guitar class this year as an elective class.....and he is getting pretty darn good, if I say so myself!! LOL

a fish eye view of the girls from our weekend...we had a lot of fun!! The craft fair was fun too@




























Riley's Halloween Hat! She looks very sad here don't you think? She tolerates it long enough for us to snap a pic then it comes off!! LOL Jake found it among the costumes at Meijer when we were all grocery shopping yesterday and he thought it would be a cool way to get her to dress up- so now we are putting it on her daily trying to get her used to it! LOL




















Big busy week ahead! Jake's first football game this Wed in Battle Creek.
Youth hunt is this coming weekend....Jake and Koda are hunting up in Shelby- my old stomping grounds. they will hunt with Steve and my cousin, Stephanie's hubby, Marshall on their 15 acres!! Koda hunted the same spot last year- and it was warm out- they saw turkeys and squirrels. :-( Hoping they will get a shot this year. I think Marshall is more excited than my boys....he cannot wait! Steve II and I will go up also...but planning to stay Friday night with my dad then go to visit on Sat evening- back to my dad's Sunday for his bday dinner.
Should have my sexy new specs this week !! Interesting to see how different life is without the strain!! LOL

Have a happy week.

“You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you don't trust enough.”
“There’s plenty of days when I’m like ‘Oh God, why?’ But that’s just life. It’s every job, not just mine. Every moment is not perfect. But it’s definitely more good times than bad.” —Beyoncé, singer/actress

ahhh refreshed

The girls weekend was a BLAST!

• Friday
• dinner at Applebees - my favorite
• craft lessons by the PRO - My momma
• cocktails in the room with crafts
• Saturday
• alarm woke us at 6am - then Mom and I had the giggles and woke up Barb!

loved the gigles with the girls!!

• breakfast in the hotel
• craft show in GR - 9am - 1pm (broke my flip flop at the craft show- had to go bare foot!! ewww until I found a booth that had the crochet flip flops. :-)
• lunch at bennigans - YUM
• Hobby Lobby - yeah baby - Steve is lucky Jackson does not have one!! $$
• Pappa Johns chicken alfredo pizza for dinner....
• swimming and hot tubbin
• crafting some more
• Sunday
• breakfast in the hotel - more fun watching all the weird people!!
• headed for home around 1130am

We had a great time.....love spending time with my mom and sis in law!!

pics to come- Blogger will not play nice tonight!!

WOO HOO

a short week. Love it and hate it too.

Love it as I need a break- hate it because Monday was a holiday, I took a 1/2 day on Tuesday, and now Friday off - and it is end of a py week- which means I have to work a couple hours on Sunday to complete payroll- UGH!
But on that note- I am going to make certain that I have an awesome weekend with my mom and sil. :-) Planning a crafters weekend- BIG craft show in GR tomorrow morning we are going to....Christmas ideas? Just spending time with the girls is always fun. Hoping this weekend we steer clear of the police, no running red lights, Mom- LOL We always have fun memories.

School is going well- Steve is struggling a bit with the morning routine. He gets on the bus himself at 811am and he does not like that. I leave at 735 for work so he spends a 1/2 hour alone and walks to the bus stop.....big deal for most- for the baby of my family which has always had a brother with him at every school- now I have three at three schools. OH well- he is being forced to adjust. Steve Sr offered to call Kyle and arrange to pay Bradley to get him on the bus as Brad is able to get himself and 2 siblings on the bus after his parents go to work- he did NOT think that would be cool.
Jake loves Parkside. and football. He got home after 6, ate dinner, did some homework and crashed OUT COLD before 9! LOL
Koda loves his classes this year but hates lunch as he does not know anyone this year on his lunch. He has chemistry, geometry, spanish and guitar class- those the favs :-)

Hoep everyone has a nice weekend. Back on Sunday.

Happy Labor Day

Happy School Starts Tomorrow Day -

to all of us parents that are so ready for the schedules!!

ME!

I am not a good person for an unscheduled - go as you please days. I feel ill when the day passes and nothing was accomplished. Am I ill? I think so, but I know others just like me...confess. LOL Although once in awhile I do enjoy a day of R & R but I usually plan those...LOL

What a week coming-
Tuesday -
Mom- going to work at 1pm - making sure everyone gets to the correct place- and using some comp hours up
Koda- school starts - hoping the Advil 600mg keep him comfy enough he can tolerate his desk seat! (he broke his tailbone- LOL)
Jake- school starts- he is nervous! After school he has his football physical.
Steve- school starts- riding the bus and learning the ropes as he will start his day long after all of us.

Wednesday-
first full day of school for all 3

Thursday-
hope everyone gets the hang of catching the bus, finding their classes and homework

Friday-
No work for mom. Get everyone off to school, eye appt for mom and then off to meet Mom and Barb for the fall girls getaway- craft weekend.

Return on Sunday- have to work on Sunday after the long weekend...ugh. Payroll Monday comes quickly and everyone wants to be paid. LOL

Did you all get the invite to the all day crop in Jax? Oct 6 or something - anyone planning to come? let me know asap.

Learn any awesome lunch packing tricks, treats or ideas...pass them along.
I made BIG chocolate chip cookies for lunches yesterday morning- one per kid per lunch!!

big plans?

None here...keeping the last weekend of summer as simple as we can.

• making lunch packing goodies
• spending one whole day at the lake - farewell to summer
• getting groceries
• making menus - I will be gone all weekend starting Friday at 1 !
• washing up the school clothes
• creating my organized binder for schedules, bus routes, upcoming events notes
• planning the wake up plan.....how many showers can we get in before a 642 bus pick up time? how early do I wake these kids? ugh
• who still needs what for the first week?
• Riley needs a bath - FLO is still here! ICK!! I am tired of this already
• fireworks tonight at the Cascades - we have not gone in years. snuggle with my hubby in the bed of the truck is the plan and watch summer head out :-)
• now I am exhausted....we will see if I accomplish any...lol

Thanks Beth for the link to Gillian;s (is that right?) blog...love it. Any other to share?

:-)

We had a great week followed by a nice weekend! Yeah.
School clothes shopping are almost complete ! hooray. Amazing how much they can grow over a few months, isn't it? Shoe sizes were a great surprise....Koda (15 yr) - size 12, Jake (12yr) size 13, Steve II (11 yr) 9.5 Where will we shop next year? The lady told us we need to start surfing the net for sites that sell over size 13...lol. I need to search for football cleats now.....actually should have been a few months ago. (Jake is planning to play for Parkside.)

Steve and I made salsa this weekend....YUM. Steve and I thought a lot about what we wanted to do with all of our tomatoes.....and he thought of salsa. It was a nice way to use the peppers (banana and green) and tomatoes. We had what we thought was A LOT of tomatoes.....but we got 4 quarts and 2 pints of salsa out of all of it.

Crazy work week- payroll Monday 6am-3pm, Tues and Thurs Home Health Aide computer training, Wednesday right after work is Jake's school open house, Friday I am seeking some R & R!!

Have the girls weekend plans made. This year a little more low key....not as much personal time available for me this year after all the illnesses and surgeries. We have a Holiday Inn Express suite booked in GR. Planning a visit to Meijer Gardens, a chic flick and crafting!

Sent my $$ in for the Crazy Croppin Chics weekend in Novemeber over in Spring Lake again....oh I am so ready and need to scrapbook. Count me in.

Just needed to leave a little update and let you all know...we are all ok. Riley is feeling better but still hanging with FLO :-( poor baby. Grandma- she will graduate back home in 2 weeks if all goes well as planned. Dad is doing much better- his electric current therapyis helping things progress along. :-) Otherwise, all is well.

Update

The boys are back

Gram Meek is making great progress at Arbor Manor - just some more rehab and she will be back home in a couple weeks.

Koda now has an acoustic guitar - Happy Birthday from Gram and Gramps

Took a 1/2 day today....Koda needed to get his schedule - LOSER Mom that I am let him go to Gram's and miss his orientation/ schedule pick up day

Lost our rubber bands at Gram's for braces....picked up a couple of new bags

AUNT FLO visited Riley.....ewwww! Noticed she was PMSing this week ....LOL

Had to go buy her some undies....and she got denim ones...what can I do for a lap dog that lives in the house? I could not punish her and make her stay in her kennel.....so we went to Pet Supplies Plus and bought pants. :-) She was not sure what to think at first but now she prances around in them...lol HEY- We all love new clothes - great cure for the PMS blues!! LOL

Next HUGE adventure....tackling the school clothes adventure.....and SHOES!

Have a great week

Babbles from the Barton's

• busy week
• Gram is in the hospital. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall!! 10 stitches in her elbow and lots of black n blue. Lucky no borken bones.
• Spent all day Sat babysitting Gram at Foote. She is very confused and stumping the drs. Looks like she will be heading to a nursing home for some rehad tomorrow. She is PO'd but she will have to deal and be encouraged daily to play along!!
• Kids heading North to Gram's for the week on Tuesday afternoon.
• My training officially starts tomorrow- after an early morning start for payroll. working 5a- 5p tomorrow.
• tried Netflix again....tired of running to get movies...lol Watched Firehouse Dog today..cute movie.
• Fighting hard to get back some organization in this house...everything has been chaotic all summer. Bedtimes, chore lists, meal time (kids during the day)
• This mom needs organizaton.....any hints would be appreciated.....
• Hoping the week without them will do it
• need to get school stuff soon.....thinking shoes, backpacks and a few shirts will be a great start!! They grow too fast now to buy ahead..... shoes- Koda 12 D, Jake 12.5, Steve 9. Where do I buy shoes after 13? Beth, can you advise?
• Another yummy garden meal...BBQ chicken, fresh green beans, Corn on the cob from our garden!!
• Have a great week.

garden grub

YUMMY, nothing says summer better than a dinner with garden goodies

Tonight's menu:
Stuffed green peppers (peppers from my garden)
Corn on the Cob (from my garden)
Deviled Eggs

Happy Birthday to my friend, Kathy and my FIL, Bob.

FUN

a challenging start

Oh my!! did our Pleasant Lake Camping trip start out with a HOOPLA!

Everyone was ahead of schedule
We checked in early
Started hooking up
Neither of us had the right plug for 50 amp service? OH brother.
Called camper sales- NOPE not one
Called the office at the campground- she giggled and said we could borrow 2 for the week! :-)
Sent the kids up on bikes to retrieve - only one came back!
One crashed, one was standing by.
I start to head to the crash site....and here come two on bikes....one skinned up and bearing miles of road rash. (Steve II)
I started examining the damage- thinking a little Neosporin and bandaids will do after some scrubbing up- and then he pops off his baseball hat! and says- "UM Mom- my head is bleeding too!" SURE WAS - with a 3 inch gaping split!!
VROOOM off to Express care for staples and glue!!

*note= Steve Sr had just tried to get RXs filled after his ENT appt on Friday to learn that when I changed positions/ entities within Foote, they cancelled by insurance and forgot to reactivate under my new cost center!! So I battled with them all afternoon and they told me we would get it settled on Monday! I said to the gal in HR- I have 3 boys and we are going camping- WHAT IF? WOW- a preminition, I guess.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

:>)

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

:-)

Just a happy little post. Things seem a little normal again. (is that possible?)

Dad decided to go with frequent blood tests to check his PSA levels for now. If a change in the #s occurs- he will decide then on radiation. :-)

Christmas in July this weekend. Camping this weekend at my all time favorite aunt and uncle's. They have a farm and we all park in a circle in a big lot....and have a blast. Cousins I see a couple times a year (maybe) that grew up across the street from me. Loads of laughs. I am bringing Vodka Slush....YUM

Tonight is Big Brother a new favorite show of mine. SICK*O addicted to reality TV. LOL

Starting to get someone trained to do my job so I can move on. Got news my new pay and salary are now in effect. No more punching a clock. :-0 I will be done in my intake job on Aug 11. Only one more weekend and then only when others are off on vacation or in a pinch. One more week of vacation added.

Jake is done with band camp....no more lunch hour taxi runs. Until Aug 1st-driver's training starts.

Just wanted to let all my friend know I am back and feeling a little more like - ME!

Did you ever read this book to your kids ? We have had to purchase 3 or more copies of this book for Koda - as we wore the other copies out! If you add loads of emotion to the words and really play up the part....the kids would roar! we read this every night to Koda, then Jake and then Steve...they all loved it. (we acyaully ended up with 5 copies in all - I saved the first and the last!! )Oh the sweet memories this book brings to us all!! oh those days are gone all too fast!!

NOW- if you should ever run across this book when out shopping in the Little Golden Books section....would you PLEASE buy three copies as I would love to have one for each of them as graduation gifts!! :-) Planning to go search on line now.

WHEW!

Great news.

Dad 's got his results back last night.....his lymph nodes were negative. No cancer.
Now he has to make the decison whether or not he will choose to have the radiation. He follows up with the dr on Monday and they will go over all the options then. My oldest brother will join him at the appt.

He was so relieved and sounded so light hearted when he called last night!
Thank you to all of you -MY FRIENDS for all your thoughts, prayers and words of wisdom that helped us through one of the toughest times.

"Friends are the most important ingredient in this recipe of life."