Family day at the lake

About 2 weeks ago, we decided to take the kids and one of our dogs (Sedona) to the lake for the day and just let them play in the water. The whole idea was actually my husband's, but I think he was more anxious to take his new truck out to play in the dirt. LOL The kids had a great time and so did our dog. It was Sedona's first time out in a place like that, and she did amazing. She chased after the tennis ball into the water for about 3 hours straight until she finally collapsed from exhaustion and slept in the shade from the tailgate of the truck. All in all, everyone was pleasantly worn out by the end of the day. Chase and Trevor played for quite a while and tried getting on one of those rafts without knocking each other over ... which was hilarious to watch. McKenna and Caya made a new friend out there and played with her for most of the time and Miranda brought her friend Tiffany because it was Tiffany's birthday. The older girls didn't do much more than stand around and check out the guys in the area, but that's to be expected of 15-yr old girls. LOL

Here are some pictures of our day:

Sedona waiting for someone to throw the ball

Miranda and Sedona playing in the water

Chase and Trevor hangin out eating sunflower seeds

Caya and her new friend trying to get on the raft

Kenna just floatin' around

We really did have a great time and will more than likely be doing it again soon!!

It's all good!!

Well, we found out last week that my grandpa doesn't have cancer and that it was just a cyst, so the family is pretty excited about that. They said that it should go away by itself and that it isn't anything to worry about ... definitely a good thing!!!

Things have been fairly quiet around the house as far as anything major, is concerned. For the most part, things are going well for the kids in school. Miranda struggles in her math class, but she's going to tutoring after school, so it seems to be helping a little bit. Trevor always seems to have homework and is getting in a bit of trouble for talking too much, but he is his father's son, so that's to be expected. LOL Chase is really working hard to keep his grades up and do better this year than he did last year, but it's a lot of work. McKenna has always struggled more than any of them, but it's not for lack of effort. She really works hard, but it just doesn't come easy to her. Caya just seems to cruise right along in school so far. The only issues we have with her are at home and that's because of her attitude.

The only other thing going on is that I have an interview tonight after I get off work. I honestly don't know much about the job or what it pays. All I know, is that I got an email from my mom last Monday, that said, "Tonya, this was sent to me. I have no idea who this person is or anything about this job, but like you know, I do NOT believe in coincidence. So I am sending this on to you. This may be the job God has been preparing you for. I don't know, but I would NOT ignore it. " Under that, was an email from some lady saying that if you know anyone that might be interested in a new career to have them send her their resume. The crazy part of the whole thing is that my mom's name was not listed in the To: field. That email was not sent TO my mom, but somehow she got it. I don't understand it, but I'm not going to question it either. I forwarded the lady my resume right then and there and she called 3 days later to schedule an interview. So, tonight I go in to interview with her and find out what the position even is, so wish me luck!! LOL


Also, my friend Bre had her baby the other day and I have to say that he is absolutely one of THE most gorgeous babies I've ever seen. So sweet!! Bre, I know you're going to read this, so I just wanted to say thank you for letting me come up and visit you and the little guy and sorry I stayed for so dang long!!! : ) It was so nice catching up with you, but 4 hours doesn't cover the 4 1/2 years it's been since we hung out. Take care and love those babies!!!

Stuff goin on!!

Well, we've got Chase in counseling and things seem to be going pretty well. He really likes his counselor and to be honest, I think he has a crush on her. The way I see it ... whatever works!! We are going once a week on Thursdays and he seems to be ok with talking to her, which is a relief because he threw a fit when we were on our way there the first time. I think he likes having someone that he can confide in and not have to worry about hurting anyone's feelings.

I guess it's pretty standard with me, there's good news and there's bad news. Chase is doing great but my grandpa just had to go in yesterday for a mammogram. I had no idea guys could even get breast cancer, but I guess it is possible. So now we're just waiting for the results to see what the next step will be. Last year he had to have part of his bladder removed due to cancer, and everything seemed to be going so well and now this. We've got our whole family praying for him and anyone else that we come in contact with. I'll be continuing to post on this topic I'm sure. My grandpa is the closest thing I've ever had to a father figure, so he means the world to me. Please keep him in your prayers.

Good News!!

Well, since I last posted, another pretty amazing thing happened. My mom received an email from a family friend saying that she had come across a group that offers free counseling!!! Seriously, what are the odds??!! They are students in their final year of obtaining their Master's Degree and they have to do actual sessions on patients with an instructor present. So ... needless to say, Chase will be recieving the counseling that he is in dire need of and hopefully they are helpful to him.
Besides that, there really isn't a whole lot more going on except that Chase made the Flag Football team at school. He worked very hard during try-outs and they chose him to be part of the team!! Yay!!!! I'm very proud of him and way excited to see him out on the field!!!

The miracle of family!!!

Today the most amazing thing happened!!! My husband and I were talking thru text about how my son Chase was starting back in on his major attitude and back talking now that school has started and how we needed to find a way to come up with the extra money to take him back to counseling. Chase is an amazingly bright and sweet little boy, but has a temper that you would not EVEN believe!! He did really well over the summer, but now that school has started again, it seems to be flaring back up. Anyway, we were discussing the situation when I suddenly got an email at work from my mom that went to both of my brothers and their wives. The email contained a prayer request for my son. Of course, I immediately started crying right at my desk because it just shocked me so much but it touched me too. In it she asked that they pray for our financial situation and for Chase to be able to get the help he needs to help him control his temper and maintain some respect. I'm not a super religious person, but I do believe in God and the things that he can do, but WOW!!!! I haven't even talked to my mom about Chase's recent flare-ups AT ALL and here she is saying that God had laid it on her heart to send out the request to my family for prayer and for possibly some help financially so we can take him to his counseling sessions. He's only gone to one session, but I think with continued help, his counselor could make a world of difference for him. Just through that initial session, she brought a condition to my attention called Oppositional Defiance Disorder. This disorder has 8 primary symptoms or signs and my son fits 6 of them to a TEE!!! As I said before, he's a super sweet kid ... he's funny, bright, caring, sensitive and very compassionate. The problem though is that he doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut. He doesn't know when to drop the subject and instead, he continues until he gets more and more trouble. Once that happens, there's almost no stopping him. Once he gets past a certain point, he cannot and will not stop. It's gotten so bad that I was going to call the cops because he hit me on the arm and tried to bite my hand because I was holding both of his arms. Once the word police was out of my mouth, he immediately snapped out of it and started crying saying that he was sorry and that he didn't want to go to jail. This is a 12 year old little boy here, so my heart was absolutely broken and I was a total mess. He's had a temper problem all his life, but not to this extent.

My mom just now sent me another email while I was writing this that said, "Tonya, you are to set up an appt. for him and pray and stand on faith that the money will be there some how. God can do anything, and money is not beyond His reach." So, I'm going to call and try to set up and appointment for him and just hope that the money will indeed be there. Wish me luck and keep me in your prayers!!!

We're almost through the 1st week of school!!!

Well, I'm happy to announce, that the entire crew started back to school Monday and they all survived!!! Miranda started her sophomore year without a hitch ... so far, Trevor started the new school and seems to like it and made more friends than he thought he would, Chase went back to his school and is right back in with his "lovely" friends that I can't stand, Kenna and Caya also started their new school and have already made some new "best friends" as well. Now, if I could only get back into the swing of things and get back on track as far as getting them to bed early and getting them up on time to get ready, then we'd all be doing swell. LOL At this point, I'm still looking for a job that I can do from home so I'm able to do more and be there for them instead of getting them out of bed and having to race out the door so I can get to work on time. Wish me luck

Update

Well, I almost completely forgot that I had this thing, so I guess I should update it a little. LOL Here's a picture taken last month of the "crew" just north of Sedona at a trout farm. From left to right we have Chase 12, Trevor almost 13, McKenna 9, Miranda 15 and Caya 7.

There really isn't too much going on right now except for getting ready for school to start. Only have 5 days left and I seriously cannot wait!!! This is the first year that Kenna and Caya (9 and 7) have stayed home for the summer and I simply can't find the words for how it has gone. I had the older 3 kids be in charge of the younger ones so I didn't have the daycare expense anymore. Now, Kenna and Caya are not the super mischievous types, so it only requires that one of the older ones be there in case someone gets hurt. Sounds simple enough, right?? Hahahahahahaha!!! On average, I get about 8 calls a day from the kids because someone is bored, being picked on, wants to go somewhere, broke something or hit someone else. Some days are obviously better than others, but that's about the gist of how it goes. You would think with my husband home on Tuesdays and Fridays, that I wouldn't get those phone calls, right? Once again ............ hahahahahahaha!! I get MORE phone calls when he's home because the kids don't think he's fair to them or they don't want to ask him if they can go somewhere because he always says no. Ok ... I have to admit ... sometimes they are right. Jeff and I don't exactly have the same views on raising kids. He expects them to be absolutely perfect at all times and I, on the other hand, understand that they are kids and that they are going to make mistakes. I think (I'll save all of that for another day when we've had a falling out over that particular topic and I just need to vent.) LOL Anyway, the kids are finally going back to school in 5 days!!! Miranda will be a Sophomore, Chase and Trevor will be in 7th grade, Kenna in 4th and Caya in 2nd. Trevor (TJ), Kenna and Caya all will be starting a new school this year and I think I'm more nervous than they are!!! The school that TJ has been going to is about 8 miles from our house and about 12 miles from his mom's house. He's gone there since like 3rd grade and his mom wanted him to go there til the 6th grade, since it's only a K thru 6 school. He was going to have to move to a new school anyway, so HE decided he wanted to go to school with all of his friends, but that would make it EXTREMELY inconvenient for everyone because we all have to work and can't go and pick him up everyday. We decided to give him the option of going to school by his mom's house or over by us. He opted for the school by our house. Now, where we live, we are directly down the street from the high school and then next to that is the elementary school where TJ will be going. My other 4 kids have gone to a different school that is across a major street from us, so they've had to have a variance. It isn't very far, but I don't like them crossing that busy street (especially since we're so close to the high school). So this year, we've decided to let Chase stay at his school, but move the 2 little girls to the school that we're zoned for. I've gone to a total of 14 schools in my life (not by choice), so the thought of them switching kinda freaks me out a little. I know that they are both VERY friendly and will have made at least 3 new best friends by the end of their first day, but it's still hard. LOL We have the meet and greet with their teachers this Friday, so we'll see how it goes.

I think I've typed enough for right now, so if there's anything else I think of later, I'll just jump back on here and go for it.