Independence

Benjamin and Jonna are growing. Not just taller, but smarter and more independant. I love anymore just to sit back and watch.

Benjamin has a superhero soul. I have said this many times, but he is going to do great things. Marvelous things, and I can't wait to be the one to say, "Yep, that is my son."

I have never seen a more patient boy in regards to a relentless younger sister. His patience reminds me of his father with a touch of my brother Jason and my brother Johnny. It is quiet, thinking, and he is a listener. As Jonna babbles on about one thing or another, he just watches her and will often say..."Jonna, you are onry." Jonna must repeat and do absolutely everything that Benjamin does. The day will come when it will annoy him to no end, but for now he is pretty proud that his little sister wants to be like him.

He is a gentle soul, like his father. He is very close to his mother. And I enjoy that, but I do want him to be more independant. While at the park last night, I watched him throw his football, climb the monkeybars, throw rocks into the lake while I sat 50 yards away seeing my boy flourish in his independance! Pretending to be a cowboy one moment to batman the next.

Benjamin still twirls my hair in his fingers when I sit beside his bed each night. And as always, I say "just for one minute". He is in speech class now with Ms. Sarah and he is making leaps and bounds. I am so happy that we are doing this now, and know that it will make the world of difference in each year here after. He will go one more year to Preschool and then I will have a kindergartner!

My stubborn spirited Jonna paid most of her attention to her toes while sitting in the sandbox.. She hummed and sang to herself as she tried to get each little toenail covered completely with sand.

She likes to test me ohh....quite often. She will talk back to me. She will throw things when she doesn't get her way. She will whine and demand. She will even call her Dad "poopy head". She also, tells me how pretty my hair is. That she likes my dress, and that her and I are beautiful, but Ben and Daddy are handsome. She hates more than anything to fall asleep. And will ask Jake or I to rub her neck, her back and play with her hair to soothe her to get there. She will ask to be held and just snuggle close for no reason at all. She is a very concerned serious girl, but yet quite funny. She is goofy, and not quite coordinated. She can run smack in to a door frame without a flinch, and it will appear she is looking right at it as she does it. Bandaids are very important to her. She would wear sandals every day. And now she combs her own hair and prefers only barrettes. She loves dresses. For over a month now, she is completely out of pullups at night. So for the first time in the past 4.5 years we have no need for purchase of diapering necessities. YAY!!!!

They both drink Chocolate protein shakes every morning. Jonna usually has a bowl of her favorite foods in the world almonds and/or strawberries. Ben sticks with a waffle, cheerios, or strawberries with honey and cinnamon.

We try to eat pretty healthy at home and it shows. Everyone always complements on how well they eat, whatever is given them. I don't know many kids that will eat baked fish two times a week, and devour broccoli and peas.

They both know how to do squats, burpees, and pushups. Ben will actually make up his own routines at night and Jonna follows him. Favorite thing to watch in the entire world! Who would have thought they would pay so much attention to me while working out at the gym. The weather has been unseasonably nice and we play outside the majority of the time that we are home. Jonna has become an excellent bike rider. She may not have her training wheels off as soon as Ben did,but she could be close. We still have lots of races. And anymore, it's Ben's idea.

Jake is busy. He is doing satellite and internet installs while getting his Paramedic clinical hours done, all while keeping up with the laundry and working at the fire stations. He has been so supportive of my new adventures as a trainer. I became Crossfit Certified just about three weeks ago and have started with coaching some classes. And I can't be more thankful to him to allow me to do this. We work pretty darn well together as a team. God did a great job matching us up.

We have signed up for a 5K together on July 1. This will be my first 5K EVER!!!! I am so stoked and couldn't be happier that my Coach at CFU will be there, but also my husband!
We are set to go to the beach for a family vacation in about a month and half. I CAN'T wait to take pictures of us and the kids down there. Ben and Jonna will be so excited!!

And well, they are still stinkin cute.

Life is good and all is well in Holee land!

4.33 and 2.33

Two good looking guys!

No, i hate this picture of me, but Jonna is stinkin cute.

Went to the pumpkin patch and playing in the sunflowers.

Gma Deena and her sweet grandbaby on her birthday!!

Serious Jonna

Ben was buried in the corn! Best thing ever!

Photo time with MOm! I found a few I hope to frame! I love having a good camera. I can always find a few good shots, and well, it helps that the kids are so stinking cute. Cooperative..NO. Cute YES!


Jonna in her super hero pose! Notice the background.


Someone else wanted to be a part of the picture too.

Ponies, Pumpkins, and Pullups!

We went to the Pumpkin Festival over the weekend! Jonna wouldn't go on the pony with me. But when Papa Doug showed up, she was ready to hop on! Thanks Doug and Ginger (the pony)!

No fear Ben took two pony rides all by himself. He rode on BERT the first time and Socks the second. On our way leaving there were actual horse rides, which of course I saw after I ran out of money. Ben was begging to ride a horse like a cowboy! We will have to do it next year for sure.

As you can see, by the end of the pony ride for Jonna, she was as proud as can be.
And I DID IT!.
I got my 10 pullups on Saturday afternoon. It wasn't in a workout, so that is my next concept to overcome. But I can head to Florida in exactly oh one month!!

The sky is orange, and the moon smiles.

There has beeen some sickness of all sorts traveling through our household in the last week, but I am hoping we are on the up and up! The fall days are beautiful. Ben and Jonna play outside to their hearts content. Last weekend, I seriously watched them play in a pile of dirt for over an hour by themselves. Amazing.

Jonna has her temper tantrums and is quite trying. BOY, is she trying. She is cutting her two year molars and believes she is the boss of everyone and anything. Not much has changed. LOL. Jake and I have found we have to be consistant. Sometimes it is hard, and I feel like I am a horrible mother. But I can't let my child run over me right?
She is beautiful. She is size 2t and 7.5 shoe. I am biased, but my daughter has been blessed with some wonderful features. Her little chin with a pixy face structure. Long eyelashes and the bluest eyes (Thanks Papa Kusick). Her hair is getting very long, and almost full ponytail worthy. She likes to talk on the phone, and her favorite person's she asks to call constantly are Aunt "tatha" and Uncle "Nohnny". She is a mother's hen, that likes to take care of everyone, and is very concerned when she sees someone has an "owie" or are sick. She has a million faces. Most of them just make me laugh. Watch out world. You are going to have your hands full.

Benjamin is also growing like a weed. He wears 5t shirts and pants. Wears a 12.5 shoe. There is just something about a little boy in cargo shorts and rain boots that make you smile. He wants to know what makes the sky orange, leaves yellow, and the moon smile. He wants to be a super hero like Aunt Katie's boyfriend, Brandon who is just finishing up with training in the National Guard. He is very concerned with protecting Jonna and I from bad guys, and reminds us constantly that he will "take them down". He practices with Mugsy.
He tells me he wants a big sister, so we called Aunt Katie and asked if she would be his big sister. She said yes. Ben looks up most to one person. He asks me all the time, when he can be like him. His Dad. Two close runner ups, are Papa Doug and Papa Kusick. Papa Doug flies an airplane and Papa Kusick drives tractors. Really, what is cooler than that?

When these two kids smile their smiles. I melt. I catch my breath and wonder how I could have been so blessed with these two beautiful children. What have I done to be so worthy. Being a Mom is hard, but its rewards are outstanding. Quoting the words of a mother, "Being a mother is like transforming into someone you thought you could never be. It's exhilerating and terrifying at the same time."

Slump

I don't feel I have these much, but I was feeling it this past weekend. I really thought I was doing good going into the weekend after working out four times at the gym, and even going on a 20 mile bikeride one evening with a friend. It was an emotionally stressful work week though, and it all came tumbling down Friday night. I didn't have much of a break till Saturday afternoon. Jake was working and I was babysitting my sister's kids. I will blame it on hormones. I don't know where else it came from, except add a little exhaustion there. And then add a touch of finance worries. I often tend to go on overdrive until my mind and body collapse.

And the worst part of all this is I crawled right into the "feeling sorry for yourself" zone. And I HATE, HATE, HATE that feeling. Because I know that is the worst thing you can do for yourself if in a slump. And as I sat there Saturday in my slump, I allowed it to take over, and be a person, that I truly dislike.

I know that when you get down you are supposed to dust yourself off, and get right back on that horse. I use this idiom because I feel I can after attending a most fantastic annual rodeo in our hometown! There is not one other activity I have found that allows my four year old and two year old to sit still for 3.5 hours. Ben and Jonna enjoyed it to the uptmost.

Family came in town, and we even celebrated a birthday for Jake's sister before the rodeo. Things started to turn up. Kids, Jake, and I went to bed late, and woke up late. 7:45 late. I can't tell you how amazing it is to sleep in past 6am. It had been a long weekend, and I was quite exhausted, but I carried myself to an earlier church that morning at 9 before I went off to waitress that afternoon.. Ok, this is where my weekend did an overall turn to the positive.

I went by myself. Jake took the kids to a later Mass with my brother and sister n law an their kids to give them a little more time to eat breakfast and get ready for church. This was a first for Jake to go by himself with the kids to church. So, I was pretty impressed!

I sat beside my ever - awesome Mom, and listened to a homily from the preist that I needed to hear so bad that morning. The story in a nutshell. Jesus died on the cross so that I can have my life with Jake, Ben and Jonna. My family is my miracle. I can't imagine a life without them, so this was a bit touching at that moment. He died so we could live. The crucifix is a symbol to remind me of this in my faith. Any time I feel sorry for myself, I need to look at a crucifix and remind myself of how really great God is and what he has done for me. He bore that cross so that I can live a life with my family. How wonderful is a gift of that. And the truth is that we all have crosses to bear in life. It is not my job to judge others crosses, but only to carry my cross that best that I can. Whatever it may be.

Talk about feeling like God just gave me a swift kick in the you know what. I needed it. So many thoughts started flowing through my head in that twenty minute homily. I thought, I am going to buy a crucifix and make sure to hang it on the wall. We have crosses at home, but a crucifix is not just a cross, it is a cross with Jesus nailed to it. I also really would like to have one on a chain to wear around my neck. "Jake--note to self Christmas gift request ;)".

I am not a righteous person. I am human and make a lot of mistakes. I don't talk a whole lot about my faith on my blog, but I have to be honest that it molds me into the person I am today. I call it my crutch. What I lean on when I feel a bit handicapped. So, this post may have a little more religious content than wanted for some, but it helps me. And who knows if it helps someone else that might be in a slump.

Moral of my mumbling: I think we all have slumps. I would prefer not to have any, but I think I am human, and it is going to happen. So, if they are going to happen, I am going to prepare myself for ways to make sure that if I feel one coming on, or it starts before I know it, I will find ways to help me get out of them as soon as possible. For my husband, my kids, and my family.

As a celebratory prize for my family after work I came home and said,"We are eating out for dinner tonight!" I wanted it to be a fun place for all of us. Hello Cici's pizza, brownies, and cinnamon rolls. Hello arcade, motorcycle and race car video games, carousel, and Big Buck Hunter! Not bad for a $16 spending fiasco on a family of four.

Ended up being a perfect Sunday, ending with a bike ride and lots of hugs, giggles, and kisses. All is well in Holee land.
Another week to come, and I am excited to be on the up and up.

Priceless Day - Father's Day 2011

This has to be a first time for this to ever happen. On Father's day!


Jake got to be with his Dad, on the same day.....

That his Dad got to be with His Dad........

On the same day that Grandma Deena got to be with her Dad!

Four generations of Holee's!

All on the same day that I got to celebrate with my Dad!

And Ben and Jonna got to be with their Dad because he was off work.

So, hopefully, this won't be the last time either!

Some other fun pictures of the day!



You can see that Jonna is in a diaper bottom and swimsuit top! I have always loved it when my kids poop in their swimming suit, when I decide that they don't need a swim diaper that day! Awesome!




Great Grandma and Grandpa Chandler

Sometimes it is hard being a parent

It;s just hard. Like when you wake up for the second morning in a row after seeing every hour of the clock with your little girl who has been sick. It's hard when that same morning that you are so sleep deprived you have every wish in the world to just climb back into bed and go into work late. It's hard when that same morning, you begin to get both kids ready, and they want to challenge and battle every little thing you say or try to get them to do. From temper tantrums, grunts, meltdowns as they throw themselves to the ground, or throw a toy at you. They don't like what they are wearing, Jonna doesn't want her hair put up. Ben doesn't like his shorts. Jonna hates that I put the lid on the cup and didn't let her. Ben doesn't want to wear socks, and he is cold. Jonna thought it would be a good idea to sneak away to Mom's room and plaster mascara all over her face and dress. Ben thinks he needs a peice of candy for breakfast before his actual breakfast. Ben wants his Dad cuz he is at work and Mom finally has had it and says, "GET IN THE VAN OR I AM LEAVING WITH OUT YOU!"

It's hard when you think you deserve more recognition. It's hard when you don't know what end is up, what end is down, where you are going, where you are coming from. What should you make for dinner? Do I have enough time to stop at the store on lunch, or clean out the van that has crackers, orange peels, tissues, cups, blankets, toys, crumbs, all over the place? What should I do next? Running in circles all the time. Sometimes, I remind myself to stop and BREATHE!! I can't even remember the last time I was able to pick up a book and read. Oh, how I love to read.

Lets' get down to business. Slow down, and just stop thinking in fast forward. The real truth is it's all so worth it. Really, who would I have enjoyed my mother's day with and went on a walk with accross the river bridge on Mother's Day while Jake was working. My kids.

As we headed home from Gma's house on sunday, I drove over the bridge as I do almost every day and saw the new bridge walk way, where all the families were taking a peacefull stroll admiring the river. So, what did we do? Mama parked the car, and said lets have an adventure! I wasn't sure what to expect, but this was it.


Almost to the top! I really thought I would be carrying Jonna a lot. It was the end of the day around 6pm, and they had both had their fill of playing. But nope, they both trekked away.


Did I mention how terrified I felt walking on this bridge while Jonna and Ben both felt the need to put their fingers underneath the fence and wiggle around admiring the huge river several hundred feet below. I think I have a small fear of heights. I wanted to stay RIGHT in the center of this walkway. Not my children. They felt the need to walk right next to the side of the fence that faced the river making sure to stop and lean into the fence to get a real good look.


Breaktime on the way down.

Seriously with two sweet kids like this that take a break to come give me a hug and say they Love me all the time. I mean me. Their Mom that sometimes forgets Ben's bookbag, or Jonna's diaper wipes for daycare. Oh, or did I mention when I pulled Jonna's elbow out of socket trying to keep her from falling down the stairs.
I would be lying if I didn't tell you how completely overwhelmed I feel sometimes. Even feeling like I fail as a parent, yes, those are the times, when I ask, "What am I doing wrong?!" or More so, "What can I do better?!"

Every day is in a adventure, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Okay, I am lying. I wouldn't mind a full nights' sleep. Sometimes, it is a little hard being a parent.

I love you to the moon and back.

Even when I go to meet a couple friends for lunch and you don't come with.

Even when I go to a Pilate's class, scheduled for 6 weeks on Monday nights from 530-630pm.(yay!)

Even when I have a weekend date scheduled with your Dad.(double yay!)

Love explosion. Like extreme. Adore completely.

Dear Benjamin and Jonna,

I love you two kids to the moon and back.

My reflection...

I am honored to say that my sister Katrina chose me to be her Sponsor in receiving her Sacrament of Confirmation in our Church. Confirmation is the Sacrament in the Catholic Church where the member receives the Holy Spirit into their life and accepts it as an adult. She is seventeen years old, and in a time that Church may be the last thing on her mind, yesterday I was very impressed. Upon Confirmation, they are accepting what the priest referred to as the WUFF PCKG. Wisdom, Understanding, Faith, Fear of the Lord, Piety, Council, Knowledge, and Good acts. Hmmmmm. I may not be exact, but remembered most:) We spent the entire day listening to talks and other's experience of vocation and it was peaceful and invigorating at the same time. Let me say, I was very impressed with my sister. It was a retreat for the entire diocese, and many students hung with their friends and stayed away from their parents or sponsors. Katie stuck with me the entire time when she could. At several parts of the day, they seperated the Sponsors from the students to hear different talks and after each one she would come search me out in the hundreds of the crowd, and just plop right up next to me. She even wanted me to sit with her at breaks. Even down to when the Bishop came to celebrate Mass at the end of the treat. I was a pretty proud big sister.

As I have grown through life, from a teenager, to young adult in highschool, then in college, then as a wife and now as a mother, I have one most favorite thing about the Church, and that is the Holy Spirit. I have been so very blessed in my life, and when I can, I like to take a chance to talk about it. There are times that I am so overwhelmed with all my blessings, all I can think to do is pray and thank God for them. Some people may ask what the Holy Spirit is. My explanation is the spirit of God. Like when I whelt up in tears of happiness watching my husband play with my two beautiful healthy kids. That is me being filled with the Holy Spirit. Just wonderful feelings of joy. So happy in your life, you want to cry.

Or when I sat in the Church yesterday listening to the priest talk about vocations. Realizing that in that very church, I received my Sacrament of Confirmation, Marriage, and my two children both received their Sacrament of Baptism. How awesome!

I prayed that I could be a good role model in the church to my sister for the rest of her life. That she may see how my relationship with God has helped me in my life, and made me the person I am today. And as they mentioned above, it is all about living it.

On another note: I want to reflect on the power of prayer. My sister Terressa, had applied for a very awesome job about two weeks ago. She is a single mother of two children, working very hard to support them and raise them the best she knows how. She has worked late nights as a waitress for almost a year now, getting by. I am so proud of her. As we all know in this economy it isn't easy getting a job, or let alone getting a job you really want. So, for two grueling weeks she waited for a call. Talk about emotional ups and downs. They kept telling her every couple days, that they would call her in a "couple days" with a decision. Well, as time passed she expected she may not get it. Each morning I say the rosary on the way to work, and I have said a special prayer to God to help Terressa out and let her get this job. She needed it so bad. In my prayers, I kept thinking. God is good, and he knows Terressa needs it, so there is really no need to worry. I even had a dream that she got it, and she called me celebrating last Wednesday. It is weird, but I seem to have dreams that actually occur, so I had a good feeling. She WILL get the job. My Dad is a teacher, and he had all of his students saying prayers each day for Terressa. My Mom, (no real need to say this cuz we all know) prayed her heart out everyday for her.

On Friday night, My Mom was checking her email, and received that email about Saint Theresa. She said she hardly ever reads forwards, and let alone sends them on, but she decided to this time.

Saint Theresa's Prayer

May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing,
Dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one.

Mom said, she finished the prayer and forwarded it on, and she heard her phone ringing within in that second. Do you know it was Terressa?! They had called her at 7pm on a Friday night to give her the news. SHE GOT THE JOB!

All, I can say is Wow. The power of prayer, I tell you. God is awesome! And you know she is ready to work. She told them she could start today! So, say a little prayer for her in her new venture!

On to my next reflection: YES, THIS IS AN EXTRA LONG ONE. But please read on.

So, many know that Jake and I just celebrated our Five Year anniversary. Well, we both turn 30 this year also.Poor guy hit is 6 months before me... Pretty memorable year for us, and what better reason to make it that much more memorable. We have tried to go to Hermann, MO each year to celebrate our anniversary. So, Jake had a great idea for this year. We both have good bikes, and the Katy Trail extends from Hartsburg to Hermann. Why don't we make the goal of biking the trip to Hermann, and stay in a Bed and Breakfast for a couple nights to celebrate. It is between a 45 and 50 mile bike trip depending on where we would begin. Now, REMINDER, I have NEVER done anything like this before in my life. With my hip problems, overall lengthy physical activities can be cause to quite a bit of irritation on my hip. And since, I have always stuck to physical activities that wouldn't irritate. I mean I have had it for 17 years of my life. I know what to do and what not to do. So, why do you think I so dearly wanted a bike last year for my birthday! TO BIKE! So, that is our goal. We will make the 45 mile trip in one day on June 11th. I have 2.5 months to train, and I am thinking it will be easy right?! HHA! I don't know we shall see. This is just so HUGE for me. I have yet to hit the road this season yet. But tonight, Jake and I are beginning the train. And I don't know that I have ever been more excited in my life about a goal we have made. This is a goal with each other and yet for ourself. So wish us luck!

And with that being said, all else is pretty well in the Holee realm!

Mr. Kusick, Dad, Pops, and Papa

Back to a little history of the family. Number one, we wouldn't be the children/adults we are today without the guidance of my dear old Dad. Let's just explain his physical appearance so you can have an idea. Five foot tall, good looking, Brick Wall with the softest heart of any man you could know.

I had mentioned before my Dad was the principal at the grade school we attended. And, one thing is for absolute certain he was GOOD at what he did. He was made to be a teacher, and a teacher of the trying age group of seventh and eighth graders. Sometimes, I joke that he is a kid at heart stuck in that time period. But really he has a stern and caring personality that compliment each other so well, they make him one of the most respected teachers I know.

Mr. Kusick was a principal at the Catholic Grade school in Frankenstein for 11 years. Mom and Dad mentioned that before he was offered the job there they were possibly going to move to Australia and Dad was going to take a teaching job there. Wow, how different would are lives be now, if he had done that?! Instead he took over the little grade school, and made it a great school. I mentioned before Mr. Kusick was stern. And stern may even be putting it mild. Talking back to him was not even an option by any student and if you did, WATCH OUT! He had the meanest look you could ever imagine, and when you got that look, you might as well go run and hide. HA! I remember as punishments for kids that acted up, they had to run around the school five times, or run up and down the two flights of steps inside 10 times. It wore you out, I never had to do it myself, but I saw many kids that did. I think my older brother Jason being one of them. After the workout, most kids were too tired to act up again. I can only imagine what parents would say today to Mr. Kusick. Well, he probably would be fired for cruel treatment to students, but whatever. Now days kids in school get away with EVERYTHING. And the parents that think their children are angels doesn't help the matter. But that is a whole other topic.

So, I keep referring to him as Mr. Kusick because that is what we had to call him at school, even as HIS children. I remember asking Mr. Kusick questions about Math, haha. So funny in my mind. That was the other thing, I believe I mentioned before. He was the BEST Math teacher I have ever come accross. He knew how to make us think and learn. He often made things into a competition, but really that was all a part of who he was. My competitive nature was inherited from Dad.

The most important thing that made Mr. Kusick a good teacher was he CARED. If his students didn't learn, then he failed, and he put every effort forward to make certain his students learned. He didn't make anything easy either. His Social Study tests were the hardest tests I took in grade school, only to compare to Coach Jeffries American History class in High school.

Outside of school, Dad kept busy too. He was the most hard-working man, I have ever known, and still is today. So, much that Pops probably needs to take-er-easy as he gets older. Gonna be 57 this year. On summer breaks he worked construction laying forms and setting concrete. He also kept an acre size garden at home with everything you could imagine. We had homegrown everything. I believe I mentioned my Dad's famous Dill pickles. Man, were they good.

One thing about him being the principal at school was if you messed up there, you dealt with Dad at home too, so the answer was- Don't screw up at school!
I always thought it was great experience for his children to know what Dad was like on the job. Not many children get to see their parent in their work environment. It makes a child hold a new respect for their parent.

My Dad has done some amazing things. I mentioned how he pulled a man from a burning building one time. No joke. He also saved my brother's best friend from drowning and being caught up in a boat propeller. Very scary situation, but Dad swam to him and pulled him away seconds before the WORST was about to happen.

His nickname at Hogan High School was "TOR" Hmmm.... how does a guy get a nickname like that. He broke his femur bone playing football, and was in a cast and on crutches for almost an entire year. Mom and Dad went to the same high school, but never met till college. Mom, always heard of this, "Tor" but never thought him to be her type. Oh, if she only knew...10 kids later. HA!

Dad went to Rockhurst College to get his Teaching Degree. He played Rugby, and we will sum that one up short. My sister's played Rugby in college. I know how WILD they are, and Dad wasn't any different.

Dad was always athletic. One thing he loved to do was lift weights though. He competed for several years in the 127lb weight class for power lifting, and still holds records for his weight class to this day, I think. He doesn't speak to much of it, but if I do remember correctly he broke the most records in 1980, the year I was born. No BD. He may just tell me that to make me feel good, but I'll take it. HA. I don't know if these figures are quite exact, but his max on Bench Press, was 280, squat 410 and Dead lift was 480. I may have some of those numbers mixed up, but they are pretty close. And those numbers seem somewhat pretty amazing to me. He was invited one year to Olympic trials in Colorado for power lifting, but never made it. I asked him about it the other day, and he didn't really explain why. Sometimes I wonder if it had anything to do with the three or four kids at home, and possibly a pregnant wife. He still laughs and talks to this day about his many competitions he would enter, and they were held in prisons. I will be adding pictures of some of these tournaments. My favorite pose is of him doing the Dead lift and the entire room is watching him. Pretty Awesome.

On a side note, Dad has a crooked nose. This is from the three times he dropped the bar on his face while doing the bench press. Note to any weight lifters-ALWAYS Have a spotter. Which also reminds me, Dad had his own weight room in the house. Who do you think were his spotters?! The kids of course. When we were younger, one of us would stand on each side. When Dad took the bar to do his reps, we pulled in the spotting bar, and we had to do it fast too, so Dad wouldn't get hung up on it. Then when he was done(he would always try to let us know how many he would try for), pop those bars back out so he could rest the bar again. Remember that like yesterday. HA! The scary thing was, when we had to help a nudge, MAN your heart would race! What if Dad couldn't make it?! But for some reason he always did when we were there. And we had to focus, no wandering of eyes. It was always funny to see him try to get Mom to spot him. She HATED doing it. She is such a worrier, and I think would have a small heart attack each time thinking Dad could drop the bar on him. Now the kids, we liked helping Pops out.

One last thing about Dad, which makes him a man I admire so much. He loves us and Mom sooooooo much! And we know it. When one of us got sick you could see the look of hurt in Dad's eyes. He was always the first one to buy us candy or a book when he couldn't think of anything else to make us feel better. The look of "helplessness" couldn't be better if you drew a picture of my Dad's face when I was about to head into the operating room for my hip surgery. I never saw my Dad look so scared in his life. And he was the strongest man I knew. He cannot stand to see Mom or any of us children or grandchildren in pain.

The day we were at the ER with Ben when he burnt his hand on the oven. They arrived in minutes. Dad was the first to come in. He has this calming look about him when you are in pain. You know his heart is reaching out to you. He saw my emotional pain, and the horrible pain Ben was in. The support to have Dad there in a trying time is one thing I am most thankful for. Even though you can see he is a nervous wreck he is there to protect his children, wife and grandchildren. I have never seen Dad in more of a loss than when it comes to Mom though. HE HATES seeing her in pain. It is so hard for him. Especially after Mom had Charlie, the youngest. It was a very rough labor, and very hard on Mom.

And as I have grown, I have learned so much from my Dad. I get my hardworking, perseverence, and caring personality from him. He taught me to always rely on yourself, never give up, and love till you feel you can't love anymore.

So, thanks Dad, wouldn't change having you as a Father for anything. I am certain every one of your children would say the same thing.

MOM

So, I am not really sure how my Mom stayed sane over the last 33 years. She married my Dad one, and then topped it off with Ten kids. :) We certainly put her through some trials, and after becoming a mother myself, it has only made me appreciate her that much more.

So, the older three above me weren't that far apart from each other. Jessica and Anna were born 11 months apart, and then 12 months later came Jason. Three under the age of three, God Bless her! Then, almost two years later I came along. Mom was 25 years old with four kids five and under. It continues to get better. Tommy, a year and 1/2 later, Terressa a year after that, Johnny a year after that. Tasha came two years after him, Katie came as a big surprise five years after Tash and then the biggest surprise of them all, Charlie six years after Katie. Mom was forty-four, Dad was fourty-seven. I remember Mom's pregnancy with him the best, as I was a senior in highschool. That's right almost 24 years difference between Jessica and Charlie.

Growing up in Frankenstein, we had a four-bedroom house, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, and a living room. And of course, Dad's favorite room in the house, was his weightlifting room/Mom's laundrey room. Pretty sure Mom spent more time in there than he did. Mom of course stayed at home most of our early childhood. She waited tables on the weekends at a little place called Krautman's Corner in Bonnots Mill, Missouri. Dad was lucky enough to stay home and keep us occupied!

During the school year, Dad being the principal, was always the first one who had to be at the school to open the doors, so he often left at 6:30 or earlier. The bus came to pick us up just a few minutes after 7am, every morning. The reason I give the times, is the fact that my Mom got up every morning to make the six that were in grade school and one that was in kindergarten breakfast. So, seven in school and Tasha(Boogs was her nickname) was the baby.

Breakfast-The most important meal of the day! Breakfast wasn't cereal either. We hardly ever had cereal and milk. It consisted of hot cocoa or juice, and any of the following... oatmeal, cream of wheat, malt-o-meal, scrambled eggs(sometimes with ham), "Mom's famous soggy toast", peanutbutter toast, and/or cinnamon toast. My point is my Mom made us breakfast every morning....no matter what! To some that may not seem like a big deal, but what time do you think Mom was up in the morning to get this meal ready for 7 kids and Dad, and still get us out the door to catch the bus a little after seven every morning.

And to seriously think I have a hard time getting out the door in the morning, just getting Ben and I ready. This one feat my Mom did for us, I try to re-iterate in our family during the work week, at least for Ben. I am not as good as getting up to prepare a meal for Jake considering he is usually out the door by 5am. But, I try to give Ben some type of breakfast every morning before we head out the door at 6:45 every morning. If my Mom can do it, so can I right! Jake gives me a hard time, because that actually results in Ben getting two breakfast every morning. One at home and one at daycare. Hey, he is a growing boy!

So that was one thing my Mom always did. The other thing Mom did was, well, take care of us. We had chores, but who do really think made everything go around or at least somewhat smoothely in that household. My Dad has always been a big kid at heart too, so you can only imagine.

If I had to say one thing about my Mom it would probably be that in my eyes she is a "saint." She is one of the strongest woman I have ever met. If she taught me anything, it was "Everything always works out," "It could always be worse." and "Pray about it and ask God."
Honestly, none of these really hit me until I was in my early 20's. I was always thinking Mom was hard on us and didn't understand. As I have grown as a person and become an adult, I realized this advice is probably some of the best to live by.

Some of the best memories of Mom are dancing to the Charleston at home, hanging sixteen loads of laundrey like it was no bd outside on the clothesline in 100 degree weather, and dancing with Dad in the living room. And she still has the best laugh, when you tell her something and she thinks it is funny or great, she has a laugh that tells you that she loves you. In that laugh you can tell, she thinks you are onry as heck, but there isn't one reason in the world she would take back having you as her child. I know that every single one of my brothers and sisters love nothing more than to get a laugh out of Mom. I can honestly say, if I get the good hearted laugh out of my mom it has made my day. I can actually sit by myself after the fact, think about it, and it would still make me smile.
Honestly, I think Jake is the same way. He loves to get my Mom to laugh, and catch her off guard. I think he understands the charisma of her laugh after being around our family the last few years.

So, Mom is pretty cool. We used to butt heads pretty hard, but Dad always said that was because we were so much alike. And I agree. Still to this day, I know that one of my life goals is to be as good a mother to Benjamin as Mom was to us. I know I will have to work every day at it to reach this goal.

Back and Forth

I have decided so my Blog continues to stay up to date with everyday things I will go back and forth on history lessons of my family and current daily adventures.

See, the most recent, being in June of this year of Jake and I on our last night in Los Cabos, Mexico.

So, yesterday was my birthday, the big 28. Even though, it was one of the calmest one's ever it was also one of the most memorable. Our one year old, Benjamin, has been going through a phase of not really wanting to sleep the whole night through. Hubby, being a fireman, and working 24 hours shifts isn't always there to enjoy the nightly parties. The parties with Ben can be quite tiring when I have to go to work the next day. Yesterday morning, being one of those mornings, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. In the last four days, I had only seen hubby for a couple hours on Saturday. He decided to meet me at work yesterday morning with a birthday card. Inside the card there was a CD. This by far is the best gift, I have ever received! It was made up of pictures and video clips of our lives together back to when we were dating four years ago, through Benjamin's first birthday, three weeks ago on the 6th of July. Inserted were clips of my interview right before the C-section, Benjamin's birth, Ben's first steps, and Ben's Birthday. It was choreographed(spelling?) with my favorite songs. I cried, I laughed, cried some more, and then laughed some more. How thoughtful! Honestly, I didn't know Jake had it in him.
For any married women, you would understand, that as the years go by, a man may not be quite as romantic as he was when you first started dating, and the newness is still there. Throw a child into the mix, and that has an affect on it too.
Anyhoo, on my 28th birthday, I was taken out to lunch by my bestfriend, and ate myself silly. I took off work an hour early, and went home to take a nap. I woke up to a dinner of one of my favorites(Sausage, Biscuits, and Gravy) that Jake had made. After Ben and I were finishing up, Jake runs out of the kitchen and comes back a couple minutes later with a cake and candles, singing Happy Birthday. While I was taking a nap, apparently Jake and Ben were baking a cake. Chocolate on Chocolate, just the way I like it. Ben's a pretty big fan of cake too.
I slept all night and Jake woke up with Ben at his 3am ritual. We are really going to have to stick to our guns and work on this by letting him cry it out.
Anyways, I had a pretty darn good birthday.

Why?

So, the question is why do I write about everything now, especially in a blog. There are several reasons. I have been throwing it around for several months now, since one of my friend's started her own blog. I read hers religiously and a few others that she has pointed me too. I love reading the stories of everyday people. I also believe in writing down your memories and journaling. Journaling has been one of my most stress relieving things in my life. You would think I would do it more. I would write off and on as a child and teenager, my every day thoughts. Oh, the juicy emotional one's were about my highschool dating experiences, and guys I thought I couldn't live without. That is a whole other blog there. Those experiences were not the life molding ones. Now, there were a few I will talk about, but that was in early adulthood.

Writing down, recording, and taking pictures, has been one of my hobbies/goals since two miracles came into my life, one being my husband, and the other being my baby. You will get to hear about them all of the time....so much you might be thinking "Enough already!"

I have been very good since my pregnancy to start a babysite and totsite about our son. I felt now is the time to indulge into a "life" site because even though my child and husband make up an enormous amount of my life, there is so much more to write about. I have included them and family, friends into the previous totsite, but I am ready for an "add-on."

What better way to share your life with people than through writing though. You can draw your own picture for people to understand. A picture can say 1000 words, but those thousand words could be so different from one perspective to the next.

One major goal of writing this, is also that one day my grandchildren and children will know me just as if I was sitting right there talking to them, long after I am gone.

At this point I may explode with all the memories flooding through my head, but I will do my best to take it slow, and explain as much as possible. This isn't a race as my "competitive side" tries to take over. So enjoy.

Only the beginning.....

Once upon a time, there was a girl. She grew up in an itsy bitsy town with her two loving parents, and at the time 7 out of her now 9 brothers and sisters. So, that puts it at 10 total, 6 girls, four boys. The last two weren't born yet. I am "number four." In naming the blog, I wanted to make certain I made it something that would define me, and well, I couldn't get any closer than that. Everything I am about, my basis, my foundation, comes from being the fourth child in a somewhat amazing family. I may be biased, but as I indulge on this blog, you may all find out why I use the word amazing.

Frankenstein is the name of the town. You may ask, 'where the heck is that.' By it's name you may think it was established by none other than........but you are incorrect. It was solely founded by German Catholic families. The one thing I remember about this town, is its Church. An Enormous, Beautiful stone Church, and the small grade school. When I graduated from the 1st -8th grade school, there were 87 students total. The town did have a "general" store, but actually the first one burnt down. Crazy enough, the owner of the store was pulled out of the burning store, by none other than my father. This is only one of the many amazing acts of my dad. Apparently, the owner couldn't fathom watching the burning of the store, and didn't want to leave it. This store was his life.

After several years, another store was built, along with a gas station. Granted, the small town that we lived in could not possibly support the revenue and expenses of this store. It closed down just a short couple years after it opened.

I do remember this store the most though. When times were good(Pulling in a little of $10,000 a year), with my Dad being the principal at the school, and Mom staying at home, waitressing on the weekends, the oldest children would get a small allowance. Fifty cents a week. HOLY COW! We were rich. What did we do with our money, we went right up to that general store, often on our bikes, and bought a candy bar or icecream bar. Did we eat it like we eat one today? No, we let the sweet indulgence of every bite melt in our mouth. That is when I learned to eat the outside of a candy bar first and then the center. Still do it today.

The school was just as quaint as could be. Four classrooms upstairs and a cafeteria downstairs. 1st and 2nd in one classroom, 3rd and 4rth grade in one, 5th and 6th, and then 7th and 8th. The seventh and eighth grade room was also the principal's(my dad) office. What exactly was a teacher's lounge, anyways?

Yep, went through every room in that school. Oh the stories to tell. We had a 15 minute recess in the morning, lunch, and then a 15 minute recess in the afternoon. The morning recess was when we would eat a snack you could bring to school. Not every morning were we able to bring one, but we did have one every so often. Thinking about it now, this was not any easy finacial task for my parents, but then again what was at that time?

We had certain things that no student could ever forget. Certain events of the school. Number one was our "Christmas Play." Roles I played were, my two favorite. "Lucy Lou" in "the Grinch who stole Christmas" in 7th grade, and "Lucy" in "Charlie Brown's Christmas. I gotta say I pulled off a pretty good Lucy, and my Mom made a dress that looked exactly like the original. I will never forget that eighth grade year, when Lucy was licked on the face by Snoopy(one of the four boys in my class) and almost in kissing stance with Simon, the pianist( one of the other four boys in my class). Not really cool, when you are going through puberty, and all the boys have cooties at that time. But definitly a lot of fun. To this day, I enjoy watching plays and the effort put into them.

So, school was great. My best Math teacher ever was of course my Dad. Still is for many children to this day. He had the best way of teaching us the multilication tables. Two teams, one number(1-12) and write out each one: for example
12*1=12
12*2=24
12*3=36
12*4=48
12*5=60

and so on all the way up to 12. The person that finishes first got a point. The team with the most points won a "little Debbie Snack." Couldn't get any better than that.

Being the fourth, I think I was also the most sick, and accident prone out of all of us. Stomach problems at age 5. Stitches age five, when older sis closed the car door to the datsun on my middle right finger. Appendicitis at 12, stomach infection age 12, and the topper, Bone disease at age 11. Still deal with to this day, but will go into that much later. Car wreck, age 16, resulted in whiplash, broken collar bone, and finger. My favorite quote ever learned from my 23yr old brother, is "No BD" which stands for No big deal.

I will talk about a lot of stories here, just like your parents tell you stories, but what is funny is that I have always been able to relate more to my peer's parents than my peers. Most of the children I went to school with especially high school, were in mid to upper class. I never really knew the difference then, but then again I don't know that I cared. Don't get me wrong I knew family's that were a lot like ours too, but none of them had over seven siblings. The other thing I wish to clarify, is that even if we were poor, not one of us knew it. Our parents gave us everything they could, and we never went hungry or with out clothes. We were extremely blessed, and I couldn't have asked for a better childhood.