I Am Honored

I have been nominated not once but twice for this wonderful Nice Matters Award. This is what the award is about -

“This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world. Once you’ve been awarded please pass on to seven others whom you feel are deserving of this award."

So I am now going to nominate seven other deserving bloggers for this award and I humbly thank those two ladies who thought enough of me to nominate me for this award.

Here are my seven bloggers:

Lynne -from A View From the Inside - http://lynne-aviewfromtheinside.blogspot.com/ - Lynne is such an inspiration. She homeschools, works, and still finds time to take care of herself by working out. She is tireless and is a good friend whom I am privileged enough to know in person as well as on the web. She definitely fits the bill for this award.

Sharon - From The Bird's Nest - http://www.nesthome.blogspot.com/ - Sharon is such a good mother. I love her thought provoking posts and how her love for her family shines through her writing. I am also inspired by her faith and her weight loss quest through Weight Watchers. I enjoy her and her blog. I am privileged enough to know her through a coupe of venues and I am hoping to meet her in person someday soon.

Justine - From Justinespired -http://www.justinespired.blogspot.com/ - Justine is just a wonderful woman and a phenomenal writer. I love reading her posts which are equally inspiring and entertaining. I am also inspired by her deep faith. She has such a zest for life that shows through her writing.

Ruth - From Just Another Day In paradise - http://thetuckerbunch.typepad.com/ - Ruth is one of the kindest, sweetest people I know. I met her online and have had the great privilege of talking to her on the phone. She is so inspiring and has a very deep prayer life. Her prayers have kept me going for almost a year now. She is very insightful and ha a deep trust in the Lord, Our Lady, and the Saints.

Katie - From Redheadmama - http://redheadmama.blogspot.com/ - Katie is joyful. She is always smiling and she is a very busy Mama. She volunteers and gets involved in her kids activities. She also helps out at church. Katie is always thinking of others and reaching out to them. Her blog is just a peek into the wonderful woman she is.

Bridget - From Our Magnum Opus - http:///www.ourmagnumopus.com/ - Bridget is one amazing woman. I know her in "real life" as well as being able to stay connected through an online community. Bridget personifies Christ and the virtues of a holy woman of God. I feel so blessed to know her. Her blog is inspiring and so is her lifestyle and that of her family.

These are the women whom I feel I know well enough to nominate for this award. Each of you is truly special to me and I am so thankful to have you all as part of my life in some way, shape, or form.

Maggie's 2nd Birthday

On Wednesday the 26th Maggie turned 2!!!! I can hardley believe that my baby is two!!!! She is such a sweet girl. She is very smart, bossy, sweet, into everything, and the ruler of all our worlds.

Her birthday celebration was a lot of fun. She was born on my parent's anniversary - the only granddaughter - and named after my Mom. They were able to be down here for her birthday and their anniversary. We also had my sister, my brother - in - law and my nephew over. It was lot of fun. She is at an age where she is fun to watch play with her gifts. Her two favorite were her cell phone which came in a purse and her Dora fabric toy boxes. She kept talking on her phone - her mother's child - and putting the toy box on her head. It was adorable. She loves Dora and would name all the names of the characters on the Dora things for her bedroom. She also loved her Care Bear (theyare second to Dora) cake and was licking frosting off the bottom of the Care Bear. It was was very funny to watch her dip the Care Bears bottom on the frosting and lick it off.

We are grateful for our daughter and we are enjoying watching her grow up though at times it is bitter sweet. This is the first time that there is no new baby in my arms or on the way when I have a child turning two. It was strange yet we are really able to enjoy her and the other kids. We are looking forward to many more birthday celebrations for her and all of our boys.

Happy 4th Birthday Christian

Happy Belated 4th Birthday Christian!!!

On Thursday it was Christian's 4th birthday. We had a very nice day. For dinner we had Chicken Parmesean and for dessert a yummy ice cream cake. We got Christian his very own football helmet. We also got him a scooter complete with helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads. He loves his scooter and rides it all over the place.

Christian is a very sweet boy who loves his mama! I can hardly believe that he is 4 already. Some of his accomplishments this past year include potty training, learning to swim, diving off the diving board, and leaving behind the toddler stage for the big boy stage. We are very proud of him ad we love him a lot!!! Happy Birthday buddy:)

RJ 's Third AAU Game

Here are some pics from RJ's third AAU game. We missed the first two because they were a double header a couple of hours away and he went with his coach.

This was the first game of a double header against a very good team. They beat us soundly but the kids never gave up and tried their best. RJ looked good and is loving AAU baseball.

Maggie Gets Her Nails Done

Girls are soo much fun!!! The other day I was doing my toe nails and Maggie decided she wanted me to do her nails. I had gotten her nail polish for little girls a while back and she wouldn't let me do her nails. She had to adjust to the fact that it had to dry, but she let me do it:) They look so cute!!

Drive By Blogging

Hey all - I have been soo crazy busy and exhausted that I have been neglecting you all. I have to post and I am sending out this drive by blogging to let you know I am here and will blog very very soon. I owe two wonderful women who named me for The Nice Blogger Award and I will get to you both - I promise. We are hanging in there and I miss you all

My First Week Of Work

Yes - I said work! I started working from home this week as an Independant Contractor to a company in Chicago. I code legal documents for them. This week was a little hectic I must admit, but got better as the week went on.

First off it was hard to find time with schooling the kids, keeping the house clean, baseball, etc. Then the first batch of documents I coded was almost entirely in German!!! That was a huge challenge and it took me almost 5 hours to finish a batch of 20 documents. Not a huge money maker. The next batches just got easier and now I just have to hone my typing skills - and my German:) (jk) - and I should be able to complete more batches per hour and make some extra money.

It has Begun!!

Today we started school. Though we did not do a full day we started to ease into our school work and our school routine. Over all it went well, but there is some adjusting that needs to be done. They need to stay focused, entertain themselves better, and get used to less TV and electronics time. I am proud of the boys especially Nate who had his first day of Kindergarten. It is hard to believe I am schooling 5 kids this year! We will need to stay on track and work together but we are looking forward to a great year!!

Mikey's First AAU Double Header

Yesterday was Mikey's first ever game with AAU. The 13 and Under Bombers played a double header against the Nort Port Cats. Each team won a game.

We met at teh Pine Island Super Target and caravaned to the North Port fields. Getting there at 9:30 am. Because their was no time limit we ended up not being done until 5:30 that evening. It was an exhausting and hot day but so much fun.

I am very proud of Mikey. It was a challenge playing on such a big field- the same size as a major league field. He was the extra hitter the first game and played left field. In the second game he played center feild until the last inning when he was moved to left field. He had a lot of hits and was walked twice by being hit with the ball. He loved it and likes his team mates alot. All the boys did great despite the heat. We lost the first game 10-8 and won the second game 16-15 despite being down 10-0 in the first inning!! Not one kid on their team struck out all day! That is quite an achievement! Though they have things to work on I think they did very well their first time all playing together and we are looking forward to a great season.

pic1 - mikey in the van ready to go; pic 2 - the caravan waiting to get on the road; pic3 - Mikey's first AAU hit; pic 4 - Mikey after scoring his first AAU run; pic 5 - The team listening to the coaches after the games were done ( mikey is stretching)