ok, maybe 30 isn't as bad as i thought..

last night my family threw a surprise birthday party for me. i was TOTALLY surprised. i had no clue they had this going on. it was at my dad's house. i thought we were going over there because we had started this tradition of the adults going out for an adult's birthday. even when i saw all the cars, i still had no idea. it wasn't until i saw the crowd on the front lawn. my wonderful husband started planning this in may. he did such a fabulous job. i guess my kids had known for a while too...well, at least the older ones. josh and zack had no idea what was going on. the boys and i had had the day to ourselves. we went up to the fairgrounds, we went to a feed store, we went out to lunch, zack helped me wash the pig. it was a great day for us. they were just as shocked as i was.

this is my 3rd surprise party. i have had no idea anything was going on at any of them. my best friend jessica (she was there last night) threw me a surprise going away party when my parents split up and i was having to move away. well, she and her mom (we were like 13). her mom was there last night too. she was like a second mom when i was growing up. i actually called her mom and her husband dad for a time. i practically lived at their house for months before my parents split. i was so glad to see them, and jess's 2 kids. i hadn't seen them since they were like 4 and 2. they are like almost 9 and 7. beautiful, well behaved, and i could totally pick them out of the crowd. brady looks just like he did, jenna is the spitting image of her mommy.
i think jessica threw the second one too. for my 14th or 15th birthday . she and shawn. maybe sara helped too. and my mom helped of course. i can't remember my teen years to well. i want to say my 14th birthday because i wasn't into drugs at that time...and shawn was around a lot then...but i don't remember that well. i just remember thinking (before the party) wow, the house sure is clean. then friends started showing up. i can't believe i have been so blessed with family and friends that find me so worthy of all that planning and sneaking around.

what's funnier is i had told hubby i didn't want a party. no thanks. not because turning 30 bothered me so much. more because i don't like putting my mom and dad and diane in the same room...or town. it is too nerve wracking. i spend the night hoping mom doesn't drink enough to decide she wants to start something. my dad and diane, i don't worry about them. mom, well, she's another story. i would have been sick for weeks had i known about this party. (like i was before my wedding and my sister's wedding...and jeff's 30th party). mom "had a little captain in her" but she was well behaved. i am so glad. (maybe i'll put this in for my miracle on miracle monday)

thanks to my dad, diane, hubby, mom, sister in law deb, for putting this together for me. i have truly been blessed with you all in my life. thanks to all the friends and family that came. you people totally rock! for those that couldn't make it, i'm sorry you missed it, it was a great time.
thanks to my kiddo's. you didn't spill the beans, you decorated the house so beautifully, and you got along! i couldn't ask for more (except you to help clean the house and your rooms once in a while!). i love you all! thanks to God for putting you all in my life!

happy father's day

well, i think my hubby is enjoying his day. i say "i think" because he is no where around. he went to the cardinal's game. haley is in florida. she is loving it! i talked to her yesterday, and she was swimming and having a great time. kids have been driving me crazy. i get 3 more on monday...my little sister is working on monday, and i'm not sure if this will be a regular thing or not. it depends on the hours she gets. if it's first shift, i'll be getting them everyday. if it is second shift, then i just don't know. and third shift...well, i hope they would get to stay home and sleep! it's not like they live that close ( a good 25 minute drive without traffic), so i can't get them to school when it starts...and i can't pick them up either. i guess we'll just see.
my dad is heading back to florida today. we spent the day with him yesterday, and my 4 remaining kids spent the night there. they love spending time with my dad and stepmom. i wish my grandpa would have made it yesterday, but my stepmom's dad was there, so the kids had 2 grandpa's to visit with. they have no other grandkids so they love my kids and my nieces. i miss haley. she's the biggest help. she's always willing to do what i need her to do and with little complaint. grace is a great help too, but some stuff she's still just a little to young/small to help with. now, alex, he's a great help...when he feels like helping. otherwise, well, not so much. josh and zack, they like to do their own thing. josh thinks he can shirk helping and still get to do the fun stuff...no way pal!
well, off to the in-law's house for celebrating....and playing cards.

the last visit of the year...

today is my last friday lunch with my grandma of the school year. my grandma lives pretty close, and so on fridays, we go and visit her after i get one of the kids off the bus. it's pretty nice. we meet up with my mom, my sister and my niece, and eat lunch and visit while the kids play. all the kids look forward to it. they love going there because grandma always has cookies for them. she is the ultimate hostess. my grandpa likes seeing us too, he loves my boys. he calls josh his little linebacker. i only get to go there during the school year. otherwise i have too many big kids and there isn't much for them to do there. so, until next school year, i will be missing out on grandma's hot ham and cheeses. darn it!

my nephew graduated from high school yesterday. his party is this saturday. it is amazing how far he has come since his accident this past december. he is walking just fine now. he is still brilliant, and his personality is the same or better than before. i hope he remembers how lucky he is to be alive...and holds on to that. i'm trying to decide what to bring for his party. do i bring brownies, or pot-luck potatoes? i don't want to make my twice baked potatoe casserole. it takes too much time, and my mother in law is already making potato salad (blech!)

i am getting my hair cut this wednesday. i am getting it all cut off. i like being able to put it in a ponytail, but i also hate having to put it in one every day. i'm not getting it colored though. i used to always get it highlighted, but i want to try it natural. i don't think i've had my natural color in 10+ years.
ok enough boring hair talk.

my garden is looking ok. one of my lettuce plants, and one of my tomato plants died. somehow they were broken off. the kids swear they didn't do it. i hope it does well. the plants i've been growing in the garage are doing pretty good. i need to get them out in the garden too. it's just been so darn cool. i am a little afraid to put them out there yet. i need to get some straw. i mulch with straw to help hold the moisture in the soil. it works pretty well. it also helps with weed control.

this sunday, we are having my mom, grandma and grandpa over for dinner. i didn't get to see them on mother's day, so we are having our own little dinner for them. i need to figure out what i want to do for them. i was wanting to do some pictures for them, but i haven't had the time (or camera) to do it. i want to get a collage frame and fill it with pics of my kiddos. they are so freakin' cute. i really want to get a picture of alex with his pig, too. how cute would that be!?

I WON! I WON I WON I WON!

whoooo hoooo! i never win anything, and yet i won a $10 gift certificate to claudiasimagination's etsy shop. i won #149 from the ultimate blog party! i chose the midsummer's night dream earrings. they are little dragonfly earrings and adorable. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5579967 i believe this should take you straight to her shop. she is one talented lady! thank you claudia!

ok, next in my line of updates is one of the families' that i watch just added to their family on saturday. baby natalie was born at 4:03 pm and was 7lb 8oz. i will hopefully get over there to see them this week. i love love love newborn babies. the size, the smell, the sounds. everything about them!

alex's team finally won an indoor soccer game. most of the teams they are playing are 12 year olds. now, the kids on alex's team are 10 and 11. so these teams they are playing are usually bigger. this past sunday, they played a team that was the same size as our boys, and they had a girl on the team. i would never say that girls can't play the same game as boys, but seriously! she wasn't really big, she was the same size as my boy. and the only thing i could think of, when i saw her out there was "please don't go by alex, he will lay you out!". and while he did pull back a little because she was a girl, he still plowed into her. it's not fair to the boys she plays against. they don't want to hurt a girl. it makes them think twice about what they are doing and they shouldn't do that in a game. they should be going for the ball and defending the goal. (i can't believe i'm saying that.) now, i wanted to play football when i was a highschooler. the boys i talked to thought it was a great idea...as long as i still had to shower and change with the team. yeah, like that would happen! but with football, you wear helmets and pads. you can't see the person you are tackling is a girl. therefore, you don't have to think "am i going to hurt her?"
ok, enough with the soapbox.

this week, my kids are on spring break. because of factors out of my contol, i will only be watching one family. these kids' don't start spring break until friday. then they are off the week after easter...when my kids are back at school. should be a fun filled 2 weeks.

happy st. patrick's day all!

blog party 2008! and my 100th post...

hello party people! my name is amy and welcome to my blog.
i don't have too many pictures, but my family is off to the right of your screen.
here are a few little facts about me...
1) for some reason i like to post in all lower case. i don't know why, but i am thinking laziness may play some part.
2) i am 29 years old, but i turn the big 3-0 in july.
3) i am a stay at home mom of 5 kids.
4) i have been married to my hubby for almost 11 years.
5) i babysit lots of kids.
6) i live by family, in fact, my husband's parents, 2 sisters, and 2 brothers live on our street. not to mention the 2 nieces and 2 nephews.
7) i am the oldest of 3...and the age difference between me and my youngest sib is 2 years and 8 mos.
8) i am allergic to cherries, montreal seasoning, and cocoa butter. oh yeah, and stress. it makes me break out in a rash if i get too stressed out.
9) i am the very proud owner of a 12 passenger van. i love this car. funny, i didn't learn how to drive until i was 18, and was scared to drive anything bigger than a geo prism.
10) i am not sure what else to say about me. but i didn't want to end it on a list of 9!

major players in my life are
jeff-my husband and father of our 5 kids. i met him the summer between my junior and senior years of highschool. i was 16, but he thought i was older (he was 19).
alex-my oldest son/child. he's 11 and thinks he's 20. he's a smart kid, and athletic too.
haley-my second oldest but oldest girl. she just turned 9 and is beautiful, smart, and athletic.
grace-middle child, and youngest girl. she just turned 6, and is the same as her sister...except she has blue eyes and her sister has hazel.
josh-boy number 2. he's smart, handsome and built like a linebacker. he just turned 4.
zack-the youngest, boy number 3. he's the only one that looks like my side of the family. he'll be 3 in july, and is potty trained, and has the vocab of a 6 year old.

i have been blessed with very smart, healthy and athletic children. they are really great kids, and i'm not just saying that because they're mine.

thanks for stopping by! leave a comment if you have time. i'd love to hear from you!