Where are the moms

Ok, don't get me wrong I love looking at all the blogs that I can. There are so many informative ones, pretty ones, and funny ones. Every blog I come across all have small children. I would have loved to have the resources moms have today to help with raising children, money, cooking, just about anything. My problem is I can not find anyone with children my kids age. I have one in college, one getting ready to go into college and one in middle school. I know there has to be some great blogs out there with kids close to those ages. I just need to find them. There is such a big difference between raising toddlers and trying to support two households so your oldest can make it through college in this world that is so different since we were in school. I would love to see how other people are doing it, I am sure there are some great ideas on how to save money, what lines not to cross, meeting the boy friend your daughter face lights up about etc. So, where are you.

Crystal

So Nice

My 13 year old is so sweet. Mike and I went to Emporia the other night to watch Alyssa dance. Ryan and Courtney stayed home. It is just to late for them to be out on a school night. Emporia is about 1 hour and 15 minutes from our home. Well when we arrived back home I expected to have to pick up the house and clean the kitchen. Boy was I surprised. The kitchen was spotless and the living room all picked up down to the pillows all fixed on the couches. It was nice to walk into the house and be able to go straight to bed. Thanks Courtney! But now I know exactly what you are capable of. Ha Ha.

Happy 18th Birthday Ryan

Happy 18th Birthday Ryan

We were so happy you had arrived:)

Little stinker but sweet

So cute

What a handsome, smart, loving, young man you are.

We love you. Have a wonderful day.

Poor Puppy

This is Ruben today :)

This was Ruben on Thursday :(

Our poor dog Ruben. He was so sick on Thursday. I could not figure out what was wrong with him. He had a fever, he hardly moved and he kept licking his bottom. I thought maybe he has worms. When I got home from school I took him straight to the doctor. Come to find out he did have a fever of 105. It is suppose to be between 101 and 102. So it was quite high. The vet looks him all over and says he looks like he has allergies and he has been licking his bottom so much because it was his hot spot. The vet had to shave his bottom, put medicine on it and gave him a shot of cortisone. She then gave me some antibiotics for 10 days. His fever went away the next day but he still did not really act himself until today. Oh he had me scared. Our animals are just like family they are a vital part. We all love him dearly. I was so worried Thursday night that Ruben and I slept out in the living room together. I wanted to make sure he did not bother his hot spot and I got up a few times to take his temperature to make sure it was not getting any higher. I know that is crazy but he is just like one of the kids. So today my heart is so happy he is feeling better.

My Babies are growing up

Well it seems my two oldest children are growing up. Ryan heard from Emporia and he was accepted. Not that I really had any doubt but it has been made official. I can not believe Mike and I are old enough to almost have two kids in college. It does make my heart happy that they have goals. I could not be any more proud. At least until the next wonderful mile stone in there lives. I think it will be nice having both of them at the same college. Makes it a little easier on us.

Alyssa has a boyfriend and they had a wonderful Valentines Day. He seems to be so sweet and treats her so wonderful. He took her ice skating, then to a movie and dinner. He gave her a very pretty necklace and a stuffed animal. Wow, that is a lot for a broke college kid. He must have been saving for a bit. I can not believe the way her face lights up when she talks about him. I have never seen her like this. It makes my heart so happy for her.

That is what makes my heart happy today. What makes yours happy on this wonderful Tuesday.

Crystal

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day My Wonderful Husband

20 reasons you make my heart happy:

1. So very handsome
2. Work so hard
3. Runs my errands for me when you are in the city
4. Give and Give and Give and Give to the children
5. Never complain about anything
6. Tell me every dinner I make is good. When I know there has to be some you do not care for
7. Help with the laundry
8. Vacuum for me
10. Gave me the three most beautiful children in the world
11. You are so patient
12. So quite but yet strong
13. Can see the whole picture when sometimes I can not
14. Very patient
15. So kind to everyone
16. Never complains about the house being a mess or dirty
17. Never put work over the family
18. Will drop whatever to help a friend or neighbor
19. Mows the lawn on those bad allergy days
20. Always just goes with the flow of life

You are the best husband I could ever ask for. Thanks for always being there and supporting me all these years.

All my love.

Crystal

What Makes A Happy Home and Heart

What makes a happy home and heart? Here are some of the things on my list:

1. The love of my husband
2. Hearing my teenage kids talk to each other about what is going on in their lives
3. My devotions in the morning (Just starts my day right)
4. Walking into my home after a long day (It is always good to be home)
5. All 5 of us home at the same time. (not to often with Alyssa at college)
6. Eating family dinner together
7. Cooking dinner (most of the time)
8. Working in my garden
9. Working in my flower beds
10. Having time to watch a movie at home
11. Family coming for a visit
12. Pancakes and bacon in the morning
13. A clean house
14. Hearing the kids laugh
15. Watching snow fall from my front window
16. Watching the birds from my front window
17. Hearing children outside in the neighborhood playing on a warm, sunny day
18. The sound of a lawn mower
19. Open windows in the house
20. Hearing thank you for whatever from the kids

That is all for now. I know there will be more so to be continued............

Crystal

A Few Scary Things

A FEW SCARY THINGS

Just not sure what to think sometimes. I was having a conversation with a mom who is well into her 40's with a child my daughters age. Her morals to me were way off. I could not believe some of the things that came out of her mouth in regards to relationships. It makes me sad and at the same time scares me that our kids are the same age and communicate quite often. I just hope and pray that Courtney will keep the morals we have tried to instill in her as well as Alyssa and Ryan. Another thing that scares me right now is the money struggles our schools are going through. I received an e-mail today explaining some of the things our schools are considering dropping like no bus riders in town, no sports, getting rid of 17 positions including teachers so class size will be a lot bigger, higher lunch prices, kindergarten back to half days unless parent wants to pay for the other half day. reducing number of school days. That is just a few things and it depends how much money the schools loose. But oh this is so bad. Education is so important I just hope our Senators and Representative can make the right decisions. I will be keeping them in my prayers as they make these hard, hard decisions. One more scary thing are the attitudes of my preschoolers at school. Some times it is hard to believe the attitudes they have, some of the words that come out of their mouths and the way their parents let the kids act when they are with them. You know they are just copying their parents or what they see on TV. I have a hard time believing parents think some of these things are acceptable. Some thing else to add to my prayer list. I know these things should not scare me. I just need to lift them up in prayer and release them. That is so hard to do. So something else I need to pray about.

Crystal

Finally Friday

Finally Friday

I am happy it is Friday. It has been a long week. Our trip to Emporia with Ryan was a great success. He decided to apply, so we will see what happens. He really liked the professors he spoke with and all. Thought the food was good and the campus nice. He has been there several times to see Alyssa but I don't think he ever looked at it as a place to consider going until now. So, now I am already going through all the emotions I went through with Alyssa. Is he ready? Is he mature enough to make good decisions? Will he do his laundry and eat right? Oh, man all the stuff we need to get. What will I do not getting to see him everyday? I am just not ready yet. Ok, enough of that for now or I will lose it. It was nice to see Alyssa and spend a few minutes with her at her apartment. It was clean!

An update on Ryan's car window, we are pretty ignorant when it comes to the law. We paid to have Ryan's window fixed and thought that since the person that broke the window confessed to doing it (nobody we know) they would just have to pay for it. Then we get papers in the mail saying it is going to court. Oh man, we did not want that we just want them to pay for what they did. I feel kind of bad. Yes I know it is wrong for someone to be out at 6:30 in the morning with a be be gun but I just did not want any trouble for anyone. I just want what it cost to replace the window. I called the courts and she kind of laughed at me saying things just don't work that way. Even though we do not have to appear in court I still have papers and things to fill out. Wow I just don't want any trouble just the money for the window.

Courtney has a tournament this weekend. Hopefully they will do better than they did at the last one. This tournament is just 10 minutes from home. Yea, that helps so much when you have to be there at 7:30 in the morning. She loves it and we love watching her.

I think we will also go to Emporia again and watch Alyssa dance. They are doing a new hip hop routine. I bet it is cute.

I went to the store today and bought a few things that were on sale and what I had coupons for. When I gave the checker my coupons he was like, "Oh yea you are the coupon lady". Ha Ha I guess I could be called worse. I thought it was pretty funny.

Well I hope you have a great weekend. Mine will be extremely busy but a good one I think.

Crystal

College Visit

Well today Mike, Ryan and I all go for a college visit to Emporia State. Ryan is still trying to figure out where he wants to go to college. He has talked about a few junior colleges. We made a visit to one. He went to Pitt State for a visit and hated it so now on to Emporia. So far his goals are as follows: Get a degree in Criminal Justice then go to a police academy. After being a police officer/investigator he would like to be a U.S. Marshall. This is what it is for now. As some know he was thinking about enlisting. He has decided to put that on hold for now. He says it is not out of the picture but he thinks he would like to get a degree and then think about it. He could then enlist as an officer. He has also thought about being a Fireman/EMT. Well, they say the average college student changes their major 4 times. Wow. I know it is so hard to make such decisions when you are young and trying to figure out who you are. All I can really help him with is encouragement, love and a lot of prayers. Oh, and some money. Alyssa seems to be fine with him attending the same college as her. She is excited that we are coming today. I can't wait to see her. One of her good friends may be our tour guide today. I hope so. Well I will let you know how things go. Please keep Ryan in your prayers this is a big decision for him.

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Crystal

Just Monday

Hope you had a happy Monday. Mine was ok. We had a good weekend. Ryan was up for homecoming King this last weekend but he did not win. It was awesome out of all the kids in school that he was one elected. That says something in itself. It was a good basketball game though. They won the game in the last few seconds. Alyssa and her boyfriend came to watch. It was nice to meet him and talk to him a bit. He seems like a very nice young man and is very handsome. But I guess I would expect nothing less from her. Courtney had a volleyball tournament on Sunday. They did not play very well at all so we will just leave it at that. I guess we are all entitled to bad days. I finally put together my coupon binder. I love it. It is going to make things so much easier I think. I will take a picture of it soon.

Crystal