Where ya been, stranger?

Wow, I'm really behind on blogging lately, huh? It's been a crazy summer... busy, and when it's not busy I'm lazy (lol), so.... there ya have it!

The girls and I went to MO to visit my parents a few weeks ago and had a really good time. The girls basically stayed in the pool the entire time- they had a blast! The road trip there was nice. D and Chelcey stayed here in KY (Chelc had to work), so it was nice to get some quality time with 'ole Courtney. :) We jammed out to some hoopty music there and I learned some quite interesting songs (lol). It was fun! The little ones did great, probably the easiest trip we've ever made. So it was nice.

I had to take Aspen to the dr. on Monday because of her ear. Come to find out she had swimmers ear [go figure, huh?] :) So, got her medicine and she's now good as new.

School has been keeping me busy. We FINALLY decided on the school for Savannah and I am absolutely thrilled w/ the decision, and so is she. The school seems like the perfect fit for her in every way. Tuition is almost triple for her now, which is tough, but we have to do it. We took her by for a tour today so she can see the school and we met with the director. Come to find out, Savannah's friend Annie who was in her 1st grade class last year, will be going to the same school as Sis and they are in the same class which is MORE than awesome!!!!! It really makes it SO much easier, on ALL of us. :) :) I can't tell you the amount of tears and stress this whole situation has caused me because you want to make sure you're making the right decision for your child and this has really been tough. I'm finally at peace with it. I was on the "undecided" line between two schools until out of the blue a friend from school called me, who I hadn't talked to in a few months, and we ended up taking for about an hour. She's such a blessing and it was SO God why she called. I can't even begin to tell you. I needed to talk about all of this with someone who knows Savannah on an academic level (her Mom was the principal and her two sons have always been in Addi's and Aspen's class, so we know one another really well) and who "got it" from a Mother's perspective, ya know? So what a blessing it was to hear from her... just at the right moment. SO GOD!

Anyways, so we go tomorrow (Saturday) so Sis can take her test, then Sunday they are having a bowling party so the kids can get to know one another, etc. etc. which we're going to go to make the transition even easier for her. Thursday evening is Parent night, where we'll get to meet with other new parents, meet the facility, etc. then back to school night is on the 18th, and then first da of school is the 19th.

Chelcey took the placement test for Christian Academy so we can get her out of public high school and she has been accepted. The only DRAW back is they want her to do the student lab for math help which is an additional $6,000- in addition to the $4900 tuition. She goes on Wed. to take an educational assessment test ($600, it never stops!!!!), so they can dissect where her math problem lies to then get a plan in place. She will be rolling into Geometry this year and though she maintained a C average in algebra last year, they are nervous. It's an advanced school anyways, but that is on Weds. school starts for her on Thursday, and I'm praying we can talk them into letting us do another type of academic support for her aside from the student lab. Otherwise, honestly, we'll be cutting so many corners to send our kids to school it won't be funny. With the amount of tuition we are paying for all 5 of them we could be sitting in a million dollar home. No lie. I can tell D is feeling the pressure of it all, but the way I see it- I told him for 2 years now that we should explore Portland Christian School (which is literally ONE block from our house) that is half the tuition of Christian Academy. Public school is out of the question for him, so honestly, there's nothing else to talk about (his words). So, he said he'll make it happen, so... I trust that he will. I have been talking about getting a part time retail job (Children’s clothing store) during the day which wouldn’t pay much, but it would at least off-set ONE child's tuition. He's better with the idea, says if I "want" to that I can (mighty white of him!) but how I don't have to and he would rather I didn't.. But that I "can". Of course, every job that I talked about he has something to say about it. The whole "working in a mall" thing, I guess. But come on...it's a CHILDREN'S CLOTHING STORE, not too many hot guys to have to worry about in there (lol). So, we'll see. I've been pretty pumped about it the last few weeks, but after going to the school today and KNOWING what's ahead of me with the 3 campus', and all the hustle-bustle with school stuff (it never stops with 5 kids!), I'm going to play it by ear and see what happens. An adjustment period will have to take place getting back in the swing of school and stuff, but hopefully by late September, early October I'll know which route I'll be going. :) I'll keep ya posted, don't ya know. :)

Monday is back to school day for Aspen, Addi, Courtney, and Chelcey. We still have to get uniforms for Court and Chelcey, a few shirts for Aspen/Addi.. shoes for Court and Chelc, backpack for Court, and school supplies for Courtney, Chelcey, and now Savannah. Other than that, we are good to go. Sounds like we still have a lot to do, but trust me... having 5 to get ready, when you are half way there, it's a good day. :) So, hoping to pound that out this weekend.

Chelcey and Courtney are with Chris (their dad) today, shocker... i know. He hasn't seen them since a week before Chelcey's birthday (April), yet he drives to get his son every week. I'll never get it, but.... not my place to. He wanted them for the weekend but I said no, too close to school and we have too much going on. The way I see it, he's had since April to come and get them but he just never made the time. So why should we disrupt OUR lives/schedules to cater to him? No thanks. He hasn't paid child support since December anyways, so it's not like he doesn't have an extra $360 in his pocket each month that could have went to coming to see his kids, but... whatever. Don't get me started. Anyways, he came down to take them to Six Flags for the day. He told one of them to bring a friend since they need 4 people, so Courtney invited Selena, her friend from church. I was really glad because she comes from a tough home, and she was REALLY excited. :) Courtney insisted on paying her way with her babysitting money (she's so good that way!!!), but I insisted on at least giving her money for her lunch. Hopefully their dad will pay for them to eat, but.... knowing him, I'm not going to count on it. Don't get me started... (lol). So, Victoria brought Selena over at 10am, Chris got here around 10:45am to pick them all up, and then D and the girls and I went to Savannah’s school. Selena's spending the night, so Courtney will thrilled. Her and Selena get along SO WELL... they are really good friends. :)

I am in the "purging" zone, simplifying things around the house and getting rid of SO MUCH STUFF its unreal. I had TWO garbage bags FULL of trash JUST from my kitchen desk.. is that pathetic or what? Papers still from LAST school year... don't give me that look. :) But, it's clean. It's "almost" organized (few more things to go!) and it makes me feel better. I'm getting ready to go tackle the girls rooms now. I spent over 2 hours folding/sorting clothes up there the other day just to have them get into them (dress up), and now they are all mixed up. They WERE all over their floor (talk about a melt down on MY part, oh those poor kids... oh those poor NEIGHBORS who had to HEAR it. Yeah, I was ticked. Add PMSing in the mix and well, you know how it can be!). They folded them back, but I now have to re-sort the things. I want 1/2 of the stuff out of their room gone by the time they start school. Goodwill, here we come......

Chelc and I went to lunch at Red Robin yesterday.. I had the best salad EVER. I exchanged some curtains at Penny's and FINALLY got my front room panels and valances. I'm SO stoked!!! What color did I go with you ask? Why CHOCOLATE BROWN, but of course! D insisted that we didn't go with chocolate brown, but after trying TWO different colors in that room, I did what *I* wanted to do. The boy can simply get over it. Besides, the house is the woman's domain... when the heck else has a man needed to make curtain decisions? The boy has ISSUES... MAJOR control issues, but..... we are talking about curtains right now, right? Right! Anyways... I really like them! I'm going to get D to hang them up tonight and I'll share pictures :) FINALLY, after 3 years we will have curtains in our main room.... I won't know how to act. Yes, I didn't "need" to buy them right now. Heck, I probably shouldn’t have bought them right now. The lady put the tuition amount + enrollment fee in front of me this afternoon at Sis' new school and I was really thinking that I should have waited on the darn curtains :) BUT.. what's done it done. Besides, I had a $49 credit from returning the other curtains, a $15 off coupon from their sale, so.. it wasn't all THAT bad. Besides, I'm happy.. doesn't that count for something? Retail therapy at it's finest.

Ok, this is a freaking novel so... going to end this here so I can go tackle the little ones room. Still have this toile' to hang in there, their butterflies, and their artwork.. so once it's all done I'll post pictures. :) I even bought camera batteries at the store yesterday (aren't you proud?)...

Oh.. houseboat pictures and homaroma pictures coming soon. I'll see if I can upload a few now. :)

See ya...