Just Us Weekend

Had so much fun out with my AMAZING Hubby for our "Just Us" Weekend!  We dropped the kids...all four of them...off with my IL's Wednesday evening...and had alone time together until Saturday evening!!  We haven't taken time for ourselves like that since our honeymoon...which was...wow...going on 12 years ago this summer!  Loooong overdue!

Our first evening together, after dropping off the kids, we headed to Kroger to pick up some steaks, sushi, drinks, and a few other things.   While picking out the sushi...Danny found these...

Although we did NOT get them...they were definitely the most interesting thing we found at Kroger that night!!  :)  Mini octopus. 

While we were looking for some beer and coolers, Danny came across a beer that he used to drink all the time when he was stationed down in Texas in the Air Force...it was his FAVORITE, and he hasn't had it since he left Texas!  He was pretty excited about getting to have it again!!

Since it was pretty late by the time we dropped off the kids...we decided to just eat a quick dinner out...we opted for Burger King this night.  It was really good!  I really like their burgers & onion rings {with the spicy sauce they have}.  Mmmm!


On Thursday, we mostly just hung around home.  It was very relaxing!  Until we decided to head out to do some shopping.  When Danny was in the shower, and it was just me...it was SO quiet in the house.  I wasn't really sure what to do with myself.  I think I got a little bored there for a minute!! 

We had to run and pick up some things for our Guinea Pigs at the pet store, and went to go look around at WalMart for a bit.  Tried to not take too too long...then headed back home to grill up some steaks!!  I made some au gratin potatoes {out of a box}, and some brownies {planned on brownies with strawberry ice cream on top...it was really good!!}.  The steaks were so yummy...my Hubby REALLY knows how to grill them up tasty!!  :)


Friday was the day we were really excited for!  We headed over to Newport on the Levee!  We were pretty hungry when we got there...so we started off with some good food!!  We decided to go to the Claddagh Irish Pub & Restaurant ...and I'm so glad we did!  We had never been before...and it was MARVELOUS!!  We would definitely recommend it to anyone!  The food was fabulous...it had such a wonderful atmosphere...there were all these little nook & crannies where tables/booths were...our waitress was great...they had this "tomato jam", which is sorta like a homemade ketchup, it was to die for...we LOVED it!!  It was a wonderful experience!

This was my meal for the evening....there in that little cup is the tomato jam....delicious!!

Danny had Fish & Chips {same fries as mine}....he said his was REALLY good, too!  Commented that the tarter sauce that came with his Fish wasn't like "regular" tarter sauce...he said it tasted much better!  :)

Here are a couple shots from INSIDE the restaurant....

After we finished our meal...we headed out to the Riverwalk to take in the scenery.  It was pretty windy at this point...so we didn't last long out there.

We still had a while before our movie started...so we headed into Barnes & Noble.   We found a couple things that we were interested in reading...grabbed a table...and just hung out for awhile.  Ended up getting some coffee from the Starbucks inside the book store.  Then, when it was close to time for our movie to start...we headed out.

We saw the "300: Rise of and Empire" movie.  It was REALLY good!  We both really liked the first "300" movie, too....so we were pretty anxious to see this one.  We would definitely recommend seeing it in 3D...we did not, but wish we would have.  It looks like it was MADE for 3D.  It was very bloody...body parts getting chopped off here, there, and everywhere...epic battle scenes...yeah...it was a "guy flick"...and it was AWESOME!  :)

Saturday...our last day of it being "just us"....we went to Five Guys for lunch, picked up some food for dinner from the store, then went to pick up the kiddos!   Zach & Liam ran to us when they saw us pull into the driveway.  Zachary started crying saying how much he missed us...hugging us so tightly...which, of course, in turn makes ME cry as well!  That boy has such strong emotions!

We had an amazing time just hanging out, chit chatting, & reconnecting with each other!  I recommend a weekend "away" to ANY one!!   It is REALLY nice to recharge those batteries every once in awhile!  And when you get to hang out with just your Husband...no worries about anything else...it is AMAZING!! 

We did, very much so, miss our children though!!  The house is just not the same without the whole family together!  :)

A Day in the Life of the Conn Family

Was this a "typical" day for us....well...I would have to say....NOPE.   Nothing "typical" happens around here!!  But it was what THIS day looked like for us.

So our day begins by getting up early to take Frost to work.  He just loves his job at the kennel...which has just worked out so wonderfully for him!  His boss is AMAZING, he works so hard, and he's able to make some pocket money!

I came back home...started some coffee, check my fb & email, finalized my "what I would really like to be able to go over with the boys today, but probably won't be able to do this much" list, started some laundry, and read an article or two online.



I'm not totally sure what all Arlee did today...I pretty much leave her to do her own thing.  I did hear her recording one of her stories...I'm pretty sure she was working on some ears to wear tonight...she was re-learning her crocheting, too...and she did have me print out a Math worksheet {not sure if that was for today, or later this week}...and she took a pre-test on a website we're checking out...but beyond that, I haven't a clue.  :)  She's really good about doing "school-like stuff" on her own though.


Arlee asked me if I could help her put on one of her sparkle tattoos.  Of course I said "SURE!"...who doesn't love getting to play in glitter!!  She decided on putting her's on her neck, kinda behind her ear...

Then she asked if I wanted one...I hesitated at first, not really sure why, but then said..."why not!?!"  I'm loving my stars!!

Here are the ears she made.  I'm loving these things!  She makes them out of material fur, felt, and a headband.  This girl is so talented!

Do you see her thought bubble above her head??  LOL!  Wonder what she's thinking??


I thought the diamonds on THIS ear looked so pretty!!!

For Zachary  we are going to be trying out the Easy Peasy Homeschool.  What an AMAZING resource!!  Have you heard of it??  It is an online curriculum, all put together by a fellow homeschooling mama, and offered for ANYONE to use it free of charge!!  How great is that!?!?  Here is the link if you'd like to check it out...there is PreK/Elementary/Middle School & she's getting started on High School as well!




http://allinonehomeschool.com/



http://allinonehighschool.com/




So we did "Reading" this morning with a couple poems, discussing the poems, and going over "stanzas" and "rhyming scheme".  He also had to write one of the stanzas for "handwriting".  

I also found a free resources with a TON of great quotes for Copy Work...124 to be exact:  https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B00m3Pm7t-e-RkhHZXZNRFlCVE0/edit?pli=1

Then I enter the quotes into this website, to create a worksheet that they have to copy over the letters:
http://www.worksheetworks.com/english/writing/handwriting/handwriting-print-trace-old.html

My plan is to switch out during the week between journaling, copywork, letter writing, story writing, etc.


Today I introduced to the boys the idea I'm stealing from the DOW School!!  I will be offering "payment" for extra Math, English/Reading/Lang Arts, and Handwriting worksheets they do.  .05 for Math & English, etc.... .10 for Handwriting.   Liam did FOUR handwriting pages {which is HUGE...he HATES doing them!!  But he diligently sat and completed them all with NO complaints!!}  And Zach did TWO Math pages!!   And with these worksheets, with both boys, they WANTED to do them!!  This will be ALL UP TO THEM...if they WANT to do them, and complete them, they will get their payment...if not, then that's fine, too, with me.



Have you seen these funny "Daily Odd Compliments"??  Oh...they can REALLY hit my funny bone!  I had fun sending a few of them to Danny over IM today!  You can find them on Pinterest...here are a couple that I really liked:

 It was great getting that time to "chat" back and forth with Danny during the day!  And we shared some giggles with these great "compliments"!!  :)



When I went to go pick Frost up from work, I had Arlee make sure the two younger boys finished up getting ready themselves.  When Frost & I got back, we really didn't have too much time to spare.  He had to shower and get ready...and I definitely needed a freshening up!  Finally got everyone loaded up into the car...the kids don't like taking the car because we are all squished in there...but since I was just running the older kids to be dropped off with friends, I thought we could all suck it up so we could save some gas money today!  :)  

Frost was heading over to hang out with his girlfriend and her family.  Arlee was going out with her friend and his family.  We were planning that I would catch up with them all at the High School Hangout that was planned for the evening. 

After dropping the two older kiddos off...we went to get Liam's hair cut.  If you've seen us recently...you have seen that he is WAY overdue for one!!

And this was after a shower...so it's not as "fluffy" as it usually is!!  LOL!  Poor guy!

He was starting to help me read "Go Dogs Go" while we were waiting for his turn to get his hair cut, but then he wanted me to just read.   I think he talked to the wonderful lady who cut his hair the ENTIRE time he was in her chair!  Finishing up with telling her that he wanted to be an assassin when he grows up.  Oh boy!  I think she whispered in his ear that that would mean he had to kill people...and he was just like...."yeah".   My eyes are closed and I'm shaking my head at this point.  But he does come back with the fact that he will be a hero and only kill those who do wrong.  Good save...sorta.  Way to get out there and socialize, Liam!!  :)

Then it was over to McD's for a treat!  The boys have been chomping at the bit to use some Valentine Coupons that our friend Julie gave to them...so they FINALLY got to use them today!

 Zach got a free hamburger, and bought himself {with lost tooth money} a bacon buffalo chicken sandwich.  I love it when they get to get up there at the counter, with their own money, order, pay...just like the big boys they are becoming!!  Liam got a free ice cream cone, and an onion burger...he ordered his, but I had to pay since he didn't have enough of his own money with him today.  :)

I was not going to miss out on a treat myself!!  SO I got one of the Chocolate Strawberry Frappes!!  OH they are so good!!  I also got one of the buffalo ranch chicken sandwiches, too.  YUM!!

 

Poor Zach I think was disappointed in picking the hamburger coupon for today after watching Liam enjoying his ice cream cone.  Once Liam got about 1/2 way done...he asked Zach if he wanted the rest.  It was such a wonderfully proud moment!!

I believe he may just be singing into his ice cream cone. 

I let them play for just a little bit before we left, and headed back home.

I'm not totally sure if we were completely in the door yet before they started playing a couple games of Magic together.  With Zach being SO patient while teaching Liam how to use his cards.  Liam struggles because he can not read the cards himself yet...so it is frustrating for whoever is playing against him...but I was so proud of Zach who just took his time helping his brother.

I had come back home with the intention of doing some "school-like" stuff with Liam...but we never did get to it!  We'll try again tomorrow!


We did, however, move a couple things around in our living room, which freed up a wall...we have now turned it into "Liam's Word Wall".  With him now showing interest in learning to read...I wanted to show him just how many words he is learning!  I have these cards with sight words on them, and some that I had previously printed out...so far we have like 16 words up there...he has to KNOW them, not sounding out, no struggle, be able to look at it, and read it in a snap to get it posted on the wall...those 16 were all we had time to go thru, and get taped up before I had to get going to pick the older two up from the bowling ally.  I'm looking forward to filling up our wall with all the words he is learning!!

I had to stop on the way to pick up Frosty's new Depakote 'script...and OH MY...these pills are H*U*G*E!!  And he has to take FOUR of them each evening.  Whew!!

The two older kids both had a great time today hanging out with their "other families".  :)  And they both had a really good time hanging out with some of the other Teens from our homeschool group at the Bowling Ally.  

We got to catch up on our way home.  Talked about what they did with their other families that day.  When we got home...I shared some of the pics I had taken at the bowling ally with Danny...some of those kids are SO funny!!  We made some hamburgers for dinner...then attempted to start getting ready for bed...which is usually like a 3 hour event around here!  LOL!   Liam was the only one still awake for a quick bedtime story.  I hung out on my computer for a bit longer, even wrote a love note to Danny before I headed to bed around 2am.

I hope you enjoyed a little glimpse into our life here at the Conn Homestead!  ;)

Little Things...High Priority

Was reading over my last post...the one at the end of December...the one where I was all so excited about the prospect of the New Year that was upcoming.  {Deep sigh}  It didn't last long...sadly.  A couple big set backs, plus the ongoing frustrating stresses that have cursed our family for awhile now....all just within the first couple months....I mean...shoot...we are only at mid-February and I've already been to that point that I was ready to throw in the towel for 2014...that this year is going to be no different than the past few for us.

But...within the last couple weeks...I think I've figured out, at least, what I've been missing.  Although, my Husband and I are immensely close, quite affectionate with each other, and love each other very very much...we have slipped a bit from where we were even just 5 years ago.  With so much stuff going on around here...the homeschooling, the house chores, the homeschool group, the bills, the working, the diagnoses, the meds, the this, the that, and so on and so forth!  There is just so much!!  So much distracting us from what is undeniably important!!

While talking with Danny about this...which he agreed about what I was feeling as well...he pointed out in all of our efforts to make sure our kids were well socialized, we forgot to keep social with each other.  We went out on January 29th...for "our 29th" {It is where we go out each month on the 29th to celebrate our marriage...since we got married on June *29th*...we started this a couple years ago, we did it for the entire year of our 10th Wedding Anniversary...but then it got put on the back burner afterward}...and before that, I couldn't remember the last time we "officially" and purposely had a "date". 

I am hopeful that if we REALLY start connecting again...like we used to...it will bring enough energy between us to start things surly rolling in the RIGHT direction for us!!

We are beginning by making sure we make a point to truly connect with each other EVERY day...SEVERAL times a day!!  Making ALL of these "little" things "HIGH" priority....like...phone calls, IM's over fb, taking the time to welcome him home at the end of his workday, having fun together, lots of snuggles & kisses, etc.  And...it has been AMAZING!!

I love my Husband with every piece of my being.  He IS my soul mate...he IS my everything...he IS my love & my heart.  All I want to do is to make him happy, to love him, and to be loved by him.  He deserves to have a good, loving wife...and that is who I want to be for him, always!!  I will be working toward putting those "little things" back to their rightful place of "HIGH PRIORITY", just where they belong.

Looking Ahead to 2014

As I know I've posted in the past, I just LOVE the prospect of a brand new year!  A chance to look at that clean slate, and the hopefulness to fill it with great things!! 

With it being December 31st, New Year's Eve...it is such a strange moment that we get to experience every year.  It is almost like you are hovering between two worlds for a moment.  If you sit and think...your mind wanders back, reviewing the year that is passing, but before too long, your mind is able to look toward the horizon of what may be to come!  When looking ahead...everything seems possible!!  There is no limit to your imagination as you sit here...dreaming...wishing...and hoping what your new year will look like! 

So what are some of the things that I have had on my mind lately for our 2014??   Here is my list as of today {subject to change with no warning whatsoever}...and in no particular order:



Homeschooling:  This is a HUGE piece of our lives!  Actually...if I wanted to get "technical" about it...it's not just a piece of our lives, but our TOTAL lifestyle!!  So, of course, I want to evaluate, then re-evaluate, then remodel...over, and over, and over, and over again!!  Trying to find that perfect recipe for our family....all knowing in the back of my head, that by the time I find that "perfect" jive for us, all the kids will be graduated!!  But...it doesn't stop me on my quest for new ideas, and new ways to do what we need to do.  I've been looking at a lot more "values" and "depth" to add to our days.  More looking toward our filling our time with much "bliss"...if that makes any sense to anyone!?!  I've got a couple ideas...I will write about them later!

Family:  Definitely need to work more Family Time into our lives!!  We've been so so so so busy the past couple years...I'm in a NEED to pull WAY BACK on our commitments.  Which is a hard thing to do with so much great stuff going on!  But I must find a balance.  There are many "sub groups" off of this one of things I have in mind that I would like to try out and see if they work for us.  Things like Daddy Dates, movie nights, family day/nights, etc.  I will keep you updated on how these are going!!


Food/Being Healthy:  This has ALWAYS been a tough one for me.  I've looked into so many different diets, foods to eat, foods to avoid...it's all just SO overwhelming for me.  By the end of the day...I'm not even sure if drinking a glass a water is actually good for us.  I do want our family to be healthier though...so something is going to have to change from what we do now.  Zach's focusing...lack of... is driving me insane.  Danny has had a couple different health issues this year.  I'm overweight.  We just need to try SOMETHING.   More about this topic soon!!


Money:  We are REALLY needing a new house this year!!  It's my "biggie" goal!  We are hoping we are passed the whole identity theft things, but don't know 100% sure yet.  I need to figure out more ways our family can spend less & save more.  Danny has talked about working as much overtime as he can in the next few months to really help out.  We will have our income tax coming in soon.  But on a day to day basis...I must get back to using as little costly things as I can.  Which will end up also meaning less gas.  Which is tough, because under the "being healthy" goal...I am hoping to get out and go walking more often...which would been trying to a local walking track!  Ugh...it's all a vicious cycle.  But all of this has been on my mind lately.  I've slacked in this department...and need to get my focus back!!  I definitely feel a "back to basics" kinda post soon!!


So these are my *BIG FOUR* that I am always working toward...or at the very least, they are usually on my mind, and keeping me awake at night! 

Here is to the New Year...may it be the best & brightest year yet...may it being happiness & contentment in all things.

Nov 2nd ~ Our Day...

Nov 2nd:

We had signed both Danny & Frost up for classes at the University of Scouting, unfortunately...Danny was now, because of our broken van sitting at our friends' house, not able to attend.  Thankfully, another friend of ours was also going for classes, and was so very gracious to give Frost a ride, too.

We signed Frost up for the Youth Leadership Training.  He has been our Senior Patrol Leader in our Boy Scout Troop for some time now.  And he has most definitely grown much, and has really stepped outside of his box since taking on this role.  But, as with any of us, he does still have much to learn.  Hoping he picked up some good tidbits during his time there.

After Danny dropped Frost off at our friends' house, "the plan" was for him to get back to our van to work on it...which was just a few streets over from where he dropped Frost off...but, wouldn't you know it, the key to the van was left at home.  Danny calls me during his 30 min drive back home to let me know that I would have to go with him because although he is very talented, he's not sure he could pull off driving both the van AND car back home.  I agree...but only on the condition that he buys me some yummy cappuccino!!

After picking me up a pumpkin spice cappuccino, we had to stop into a couple auto stores so Danny could pick up what he needed to correct the problem with our van...well, one of the problems at least.  Then we headed over so I could drop him off so they could get to work.

I was really hoping to lay back down after arriving back home, but opted to get online "for a little bit".  Checked my facebook, finishing my blog entry yesterday, and a few other things.  Next thing you know...kids started waking up...so I decided to just stay up.  Did a little cleaning, and some laundry....and kept up on my facebook happenings! 

Time to get ready for Mom's Night Out!!  So excited!!  Hanging out with friends is just so much fun!!  Had the time...and didn't have to get any children ready...so I took the effort to actually get dressed up for the occasion.  Had my purple and black sweater picked out to wear.  Even did my eyeshadow in purple to match.  But after putting on my sweater...I was like, "eh"...then switched to a red shirt...but didn't think about it until I was down the road that I still had PURPLE eyeshadow on.  Whoops.  Oh well.  At least I did make the effort, right?!?! 

Was a little disappointed when I was able to catch up with Frost about his Scout class from earlier that day.  From what it sounded like, it wasn't what we were thinking it would be.  Really hoping for a more in depth explanation and activities to show him, express to him, explain to him HOW to be a good leader.  From what I got after talking with Frost...it was very much lacking...in my opinion at least.

Thanks for dropping in! 

Happy November

Wow...is that correct??  November ...already??  Really!?!?  Seriously!?!?  Where has this year gone??  I know I've said it before...but these years fly by quicker and quicker the older I get!!  Why is that??


Yesterday, I stumbled upon this article:

Living in a Garage  {www.raisingarrows.net/2005/12/stuff-things/}


Just another reminder that our family needs to scale back on our "things" BIG TIME!!  It's a very motivational read...well, at least it was for me!!  The space that the family of 11 was living in until their house was complete was only around 200 square feet smaller than our current house with our family of 6.  Hmmmmm....Got me thinking...again.

************************


Trick or Treating around our area got bumped to Nov 1st because of bad weather.  On our way over to our friends' house...when we stopped at the traffic light, white steam just pours out of our van.   Ugh!  We pull over...Danny discovers that there must be a leak in our radiator hose somewhere due to fluid being EVERYWHERE.  Oh geez...what do we do?!?!  I suggest going to WalMart and picking up treats...and just heading back home.  We know they kids would be heartbroken, but we'd have the van at home without more damage.  Danny decides sad children is NOT worth it...we put some water in the radiator and push on.

On the way, stopping at lights, the van is just steaming.  I'm sure it was quite the sight to onlookers!!  Probably a little worried that our ride was on fire!!  :)   We did finally make it...got our van parked in our friends' driveway...and there it still sits for Danny to work on Saturday morning.


 We were able to enjoy a great time hanging out on Beggar's Night with some really great friends of ours!  Here are some pics from our evening:

Liam & Zach's costumes:

Decorated yard & Trick or Treating:

Here is a pic of Frost in the light:

....and when the lights go out:

He got SO MANY compliments on his costume this year!!  Which he worked SO HARD on!  I'm so proud of him!!  There was a skull that he made light up on his staff, but it fell off during Trick or Treating.  He made the hat himself {with a little help from big sister}...which you can't tell in this pic, and I REALLY need to get a pic of it, but it has a hole on one side, which the whole inside of the hat lights up around another skull...his Me'maw helped him make the cape, and he added the cobwebs and spiders to it...he added all the lights, with some inspiration on design from me, and last minute help from Arlee.

Thanks so much to our friends for helping us out so much...one thing was a ride all the way out to our house to drop us all off after Trick or Treating.  We walked into our house with the aroma of our chili cooking in the crock pot while we were away.  A yummy ending to our day.

An Early Morning...

Had to get my "I-really-really-REALLY-hate-mornings" butt out of bed before the sun even came up Saturday morning.  Ugh.  I almost didn't.  I almost just rolled back over.  I almost said, "Ah...no biggie."  I almost missed out on spending a great morning with my boys!

Home Depot was having their kids build clinic.  I had signed up Zach & Liam earlier in the week.  It is Fire Safety month, and with their Cub Scout Pack going to be going over Emergency Readiness...I thought this would be a great thing to tie in with it!  I read that they would also get a LEGO set as well.  I knew Liam, my amazing little builder, would LOVE that!  But what I didn't know...is that they had much more going on that day as well! 

We started off building their Fire Rescue Plane...and painting them...

Then they wanted to visit the Chick-fil-a booth where we got to spin the wheel for some coupons for FREE FOOD!!  Zach also got the cow headband to wear!  :)

Next was visiting the Fire Truck & Firefighter...

The hay bale place was after...

Face painting....

 

Then back to the hay bales...

 

....and back to the Fire Truck....

We ran into some friends while we were there!  Which was great to see!  There was also a hay ride!!

After we did all we could do, we took our Chick-fil-a coupons...and went to have lunch!  I fed all three of us for like $3.42!!  The boys put together their LEGO Fire Trucks, and we played the card games that came with their kids' meals!  :)

While at Chick-fil-a, a woman came up to me and asked me if Zach always walked on his toes.  I said, yes, he always has from the time he first was learning how to walk.  She was thrilled!!  Isn't that kinda strange?  But she said she had NEVER seen another child walk on their toes like HER boy did!  We talked back and forth until our food was ready.  Zach said it was really cool to hear about another boy like him! 

I am truly grateful that I pulled myself out of bed this morning...I had an amazing time hanging out with these two awesomely cool guys!  I love them both so very much!  They are really growing up...and I still can not believe my "baby" just turned 8yo.  I'm so blessed to have had such a wonderful morning with these two...should never miss an opportunity to spend with them!