The Amazing life of Grace

Thanksgiving feast

2008-11-21T16:59:00.000-08:00

So today was the long awaited Thanksgiving feast we have been practicing so hard for.Every morning going over our 5 songs,making our costumes,stopping at Super Walmart at 5am buying 15 pumpkin pies, preparing to entertain and feed 150 parents! Oh how I love being a teacher! BUT the best part is that I get the up close and personal info on my kids everyday...

Here is Bruno or shall I say, Brave Buffalo!

Brave Buffalo all into the hand movements to the songs-He is sooo our entertainer of the family

Displaying his Indian bead necklace

Here I am in my glory! Not Grace but Mrs.Boyens and for today,Princess red lips! I think I enjoy dressing up more than the kids do.
Bobby,the proud father and husband.I told him I was dressing like Pocahontas and when he saw me,he asked if he could Poke me in my Hontas!!!hahahaha
Me as the proud Mommy and crazy dressed up teacher!

To catch you up to date

2008-11-20T18:43:00.000-08:00

Well,it has been awhile since I posted an upbeat,family fun and photo filled blog ..So,here you go,Sept-Oct photos!

Bruno on his new bike from Grandma!
Look who's 5!! Bruno blowing out his candles at his Super Hero Birthday party!
A smile with Chuckee
Me,the kids and Chuck
Avery was not a fan of the rides once they started moving
Happy baby with Barney(ride not moving)
Daddy and Avery at hunsader farms pumpkin patch

Look! it's long enough for pig tails...who cares if they look like little antenna?
Us at this awesome restaurant Bobby found online,we were the only people there!
Downtown Harbor Island
Avery in her awesome pumpkin dress
Bruno and Avery at Zoo Boo
The big cheese!
My new bling! I like to call it..."The Vanessa Bryant treatment"
Us again... at the Tradewinds Resort for a little romantic getaway.Bobby gave me my new ring here.It was under the covers in our bed,covered with red rose petals!!
Blackmail picture for Bruno on "Many colors day"
Mommy and Bruno on the same day!
My first hockey game fight!
At the game
10 year SHS reunion!
Cold enough for new jackets,a fire and Hot cocoa!
Pumpkin carving outside by the fire!

It has been a long,tough,tear filled 3 months BUT in the end I have faith and my family and that's all that matters to me!

overwhelming sadness

2008-11-13T20:10:00.000-08:00

Question? is it really worth the tears if no one sees you cry? Everyone is sleeping and here I sit crying. No one to witness the genuine heart ache I feel. Not that I want my kids to see me cry.I have worn my super mom cape many days, putting my emotions on the back burner,throwing on my happy face and making sure that they don't see me suffering.I thank God for blessing me with 3 demanding children to keep my mind occupied all day. But when the house is silent and I am left alone with my thoughts,I start to slowly deteriorate.The pain is physically exhausting yet my mind can't sleep.

Maybe the puffy eyes and the mound of snot filled tissues will give it away in the morning but I want to be validated now.So...I blog! I need to vent,get it out,talk,type,write something! I can't just sit here and cry alone.I have cried alone for the last 3 months. I have never been the type to hide my emotions. I am the girl who cry's during commercials not Mrs.Bad ass,hard core pillar of strength that I have taken on the role of.I know all the right things to do..lean on God,pray,call a friend,talk to Bobby to get it out but I don't want to! I don't want to hear "it will be OK",I don't want to hear"I am sorry", I don't want to hear how strong I am. I just want to cry and have my tears and my pain seen.

My heart

2008-10-27T18:46:00.000-07:00

"Take the pieces of this heart and heal the wounds but leave the scar..."

new motto's

2008-09-25T19:40:00.000-07:00

MyHotComments

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The most beautiful girl in the world

2008-09-24T19:24:00.000-07:00

OK,I have made several posts about how cute/pretty Avery is over the course of the past 14 months but seriously...She is just stunningly beautiful. I am just so thankful that God blessed me with a daughter and such a beautiful one.

Soprano's style

2008-09-24T19:19:00.000-07:00

So we had family pictures taken Sunday evening. All I have to say is that I LOVE THIS PICTURE! This is sooo going to be blown up and hung in my house! It started off as something silly but ended up as such an awesome shot! So us!!! There are many more that I posted up on my myspace if you are interested in checking them out!
Thank you Brentwood Photography!

2008-09-15T19:15:00.000-07:00

True Love

2008-09-01T20:46:00.000-07:00

Friday night Bobby and I had our "date" night. Check out what we did!!!

Here I am with "Tattoo Jack"
Let the pain begin
Who am I to complain?Look at his head! ouuch!!
Me pretending it hurt to make Bobby feel better about almost hurling during his!
Kisses~!!!
And the finished product!

I love it! It sums up many things for me. I wanted to get something that involved I Corinthians 13 but couldn't get the creative juices flowing. I almost "punk'd" out and didn't get one.Then Bobby found this one.Like I said the tattoo speaks for itself.
Bobby also got a tat but I will upload those pics and type that story later...it's a funny one!

Back to School

2008-08-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

Take a look at this pic-it's from the 1st day of school 2 weeks ago.Notice how dark the photo is? Yeah,we leave our house by 6:30am!

My classroom!!! I love it! I have added a few more "Grace" touches since these pics were taken. Not to mention once you add 16 little friends,the classroom really comes to life!
I love my Mom's idea on hanging beach towels as the valances!!

Don't be jealous of my awesome bulletin board!!!

I am to tired to type any more right now but I wanted to get a few posts up while I had the time.But next weeks lesson plans wont make themselves. So it's good-bye for now!

Grace and B.Verra

2008-08-27T19:25:00.000-07:00

Most of you who read my blog may not even know who he is.BUT for my fellow UFC followers,I had the privilege of meeting Brandon Verra a few weeks ago.Just wanted to share this ,cause it made me feel cool! Thanks-G

Starbucks and Avery

2008-08-27T19:18:00.000-07:00

I will be the first to admit, I can't wait until Avery is old enough to really enjoy a day out shopping with Mommy.Stopping for Starbucks,going for mani's and pedi's. So Maybe I just started her a little young.

So,whats wrong with a 1 year old drinking a Vente Mocha Frappachino????
I tell you ,this..this is what wrong with it! She's a MANIAC!!!

seriously has it been a month??

2008-08-18T21:20:00.000-07:00

hello, I am not dead!! hahaha! It's already 12:21 am so I sure as heck do not have time to update my blog from everything that has gone on in the past month. I would be sitting here till 6am. So here is a brief little update :

went to MD on vacation
football season started for Drew-he made Varsity
I spent countless hrs and money in my classroom
my classroom looks amazing
I started back to work on Monday the 11th
I love my new job
The boys started school on the 13th
The boys love their new school!
My Mom is staying with us taking care of Avery,cooking,cleaning my house, doing my laundry and driving me crazy
Bobby turned 29 on the 16th
tomorrow we have a hurricane a comin!

hope to spend my "Hurricane Day" sitting in front of the computer blogging away but will most likely spend the day ironing and putting away laundry.

***I have tons and tons of pictures,I know it's hard to believe !! I will hopefully get them up by the end of the week for your viewing pleasure!!***

Show me your scary face!

2008-07-18T07:05:00.000-07:00

As prissy as Avery may come across, she is still being raised with 2 older brothers. Below is what they have taught her to do!!

a little behind

2008-07-18T04:14:00.000-07:00

Happy super late 4th of July!!!
Sorry these pictures were just too cute to not post.

We spent the morning at our new favorite summer hot spot,Bounce U! Then we went down to the beach for dinner and fire works.Nothing exciting but good family times were had by all!

Uncle Sam and the Kids-this is what most of the pictures looked like-Avery just will NOT stay still,Drew is way to cool for my geekie photo shoots and Bruno eats it up!

2008-07-18T03:43:00.000-07:00

I have mentioned in previous posts that there are some major changes happening in the Boyens house.Well,I figured now is the perfect time to spill the beans.

After 5 long,wonderful,crazy years home, I am going back to work!!!! I was offered a teaching position at a local private school and they made me an offer I could NOT refuse-FREE tuition for all of my children!!!! It has been amazing to sit back and watch God work this out for our family. I was not looking for a job,I was not looking to change the boys schools-it seriously fell into my lap,then just worked itself to fit my life perfectly. When I was made the original offer,I only thought the school could accommodate Bruno for VPK.I did not know that in the 7 yrs since I 1st taught there they opened a 1 year old room for Avery and started an LRC (learning resource center) for Drew. Call it coincidence but I call it GOD!

Next Friday is my official last day of daycare.Can I get a Whooo Hoooo? I am beyond ready to reclaim my house,my kids toys,my sanity and my family! Daycare has been good to us and has allowed me to stay home with the kids all while bringing in decent money BUT my time is up! Like my last post said,I have other kids in my house from 6:15am till 5:45(and a night time girl till 11pm) I can't even tell you how ready I am to leave for work,do what I love,be there with my kids,leave with just my kids,come home and take care of JUST MY KIDS! Not to mention all the added benefits teachers receive-paid holidays,summers off,awesome hrs,etc.

The boys are so excited.It absolutely broke my heart when I told Drew the news and his 1st response to me was,"You mean those stinkin kids wont be at our house anymore and you can pick me up at car circle?-AWESOME !" I think this will be so fantastic for Drew's academic success. The ratio's are so much smaller than public school plus he gets as much time in LRC as they feel he needs not what some standardized tests claims.

This has also been a reason for my lack in postings.If you know my personally ,you know I am a little bit of a perfectionist/freak/Martha Stuart(minus the cooking part)/theme oriented type of a girl. I love to decorate and my classroom is no exception. I have all next week to get in my room and put the "Grace" touch on it. I will be taking before and after pics to post for you all.

Wish me luck!!!!!

relaxing summer???

2008-07-14T03:59:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not posting lately-many,many many changes happening here in the Boyens house. I will start slow and hopefully be a blogging fool today to catch you all up! BUT first...

I am in need of a serious break! Summer is to be relaxing,right? Well not when you have 3 kids and run a daycare! I know it's my fault,I am the one who plans all of our little adventures.My kids are fine with packing a lunch and heading to the park for the day. I don't know why I am such a super freak and feel the need to be constantly entertaining my children.And with Bobby's work schedule ,It is mostly just me and the kids.So I am the one who plans the outing,packs the bags,gets the kids ready,takes them where ever,sets the rules for the day,feeds them,snaps all the pictures,answers the countless questions from the boys,comes home to bath and feed them,not to mention: unpack the bags,clean out the van and start 1 of the 3 loads of laundry we created that day. Sooo,there hasn't been much time for blogging!

Don't get me wrong we have had tons of fun and made many wonderful family memories.I have spent more money this summer on entertaining my kids then I have all stinkin year! We are on the go everyday! And to top off my summer madness-Football starts this Wednesday-so we will be at the field 5 nights a week from 6:30-8:30.The only good thing about being at the field is it will keep me from spending money.

Well I am done venting my "Mommy Blues" and off to start our day.But before I go let me just give you my schedule for the day.

6:00 wake up to find all the dogs bathing stuff on the living room & bathroom floor
6:15 first daycare child here
6:15-7:30 on computer,blogging,paying bills,checking email also threw in a load of towels
7:30-8:30 wake kids up,make breakfast,get everyone dressed,make beds,pack lunches
8:30- another daycare child arrives
8:30-9:30 work on the massive pile of paperwork sitting on my coffee table,and laundry
9:30-10:00 load all 5 kids in my van and off to Drew's test(will explain later)
10:00-11:00 Drew in testing while I try to creatively entertain 4 other children???
11:00-12:00 drop off prescriptions, get van inspected for new insurance, pay Target bill
12:00-1:00 get the kids lunch and play at the park
1:00-3:30 unload and put everyone down for a rest-fight with Bruno for an hr to lay down-while kids are sleeping,even more laundry,iron,clean out closet,organize DVD's that are all over my living room(thanks Avery) and I am sure there will be dishes
3:30-5:30 snack time,fold and put away blankets,play w/ kids ,start dinner and then daycare kids leave but my night time child arrives(shes great though-10 yr old girl who helps!!)
5:30-7:00 off to the gym for some serious cardio
7:00-8:30 dinner,clean up, bath for all 3 kids,story,dessert,brush teeth and bed
8:30- 9:00 scrub kitchen floor and Avery's high chair,wipe down bathroom and yell at Bruno for not staying in his room
9:00 Bobby gets home!!!!

Happy Monday!!!!!

1st Birthday Party

2008-06-30T06:46:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful 1st birthday party!!! Thank God for holding out the rain for us even though there was an 80% chance on Saturday. I guess I forgot to pray about the heat...ahhh it was a hot one!
Avery was spoiled beyond belief-I am still working on finding space for all of her new toys. Not to mention hanging up the massive pile of new clothes...thanks Grandma!!! And we still have her playhouse from my sisters being delivered on Thursday!

I uploaded tons of pics and just don't have the time or energy to arrange them in order. Enjoy them-it was such a special day!

Bruno pushing the birthday girl in her new car stroller from Granny
She just loves her new car!

The cakes! They were absolutely adorable but as you can tell the heat got the best of the big one and it started to fall over!
The cake/ present table-sadly this was taken before half the guests got there-you couldn't even see the table! She is one lucky 1 year old!!!
Handing her the cake after we peeled the fondant(sp) icing off!
Not so sure about this
Taken as we were singing happy birthday to Avery-Make a wish!!!!
Yummy-I love cake!

Making one heck of a mess
Everybody look at me!!!!
Dear God-I love this face she makes!
Mommy and Avery opening presents-OK-I will admit it,I enjoyed this part more than she did!
Her new beautiful and stylish dress from Grandma-once again this part is totally for me!
Ohhhh-look what Avery got-this was her favorite gift-her new princess car from Kat and Krista
The naked birthday princess with all her presents
Had to strip her down after the cake!!

At home in all her Birthday glory-seriously where am i going to put all this stuff?
Poor baby-no nap,cake,heat,an hour of gift opening= Avery asleep before we even had the van loaded

Mommy and her 1 year old-I am so blessed!!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Avery

2008-06-27T11:20:00.000-07:00

One year ago today, June 27th- My 3rd angel from heaven came into this world! What a year it has been! Tomorrow we are throwing her the party of all parties.I keep telling Bobby(every time he asks how much this is costing us) that I have been planning this birthday party since the day I found out she was a girl! So yes, she is having a pink princess party with 75 people!!!

Avery's 1 year old stats

Weight 22 lbs 8 oz

Length 31 inches long

Head Circumference 49cm (finally on her own growth curve,girls just got a big Ole' melon)

Below are some amazing pictures I wanted to share.From the moment we found out Avery was a girl , some awesomely gory c-section shots-do not look if you are squeamish) to a few recent shots of her.

Ultrasound shot at 18 weeks

Me holding my ready-made sign-I just knew from the moment I saw a positive sign that God was sending me a shopping partner for life. When the sonographer said,"It's a girl" I started sobbing uncontrollably-then I immediately started calling my sisters!

Waiting for her arrival
I know it's gross but come on-how freaking amazing is this???
Welcome to the world Avery Noelle
The first time I saw my princess-she looked just like Bruno!

First kiss from Mommy-look how tiny!!
Avery's hospital photo
Going home day!!!

And....

Here she is my beautiful,sassy,loving,amazing pure blessing
from above one year later
I am not one for writing and I am finding it hard to come up with the words to describe how much I love and adore her.How do you do that?
All I can do is thank God for sending her my way.
She has made our family complete.
She has her Daddy wrapped around her finger and
her brothers are so very loving and protective of her.
(I feel sorry for her 1st boyfriend)

Happy 1st Birthday Princess

Thanks for letting Mommy play dress up with a real life doll everyday!

Bounce U

2008-06-24T17:03:00.000-07:00

Not to much to blog about-just adorable pictures to share!

Avery LOVED bouncing
Drew ready to fight!!
And,Drew getting his face kicked in!
Bruno was cracking the ball,every time
Thank God Drew is an awesome football player cause baseball,Not so much!
He did master a double flip though
Peek A Boo!
Bruno going down the jumbo slide
Mommy jumping with Avery
Us again- may I point out how freaking AWESOME my legs look here?
Crawling away from me so she wouldn't have to get out!
Totally a fun way to spend our Saturday morning together while Daddy was on a conference call. Best part,it was only $5.00 for the family. Second best part,after jumping around for 2 hrs all 3 kids took a nice long nap!!!!

Summer lovin

2008-06-24T08:29:00.001-07:00

Another wonderful family day at the water park!

Thank God for Daniel(our Manny) for letting us in free!

This was Avery's 1st time with us, she absolutely loved it! Bobby would dunk her under and the little stinker would come up, spit water in his face ,give him a high 5 and then giggle!!

Drew is now man enough to go down the BIG slide and Bruno got a helpful hint from a lifeguard on how to scoop ice cream under water to swim.
(It totally works-he used to just use his feet while his arms just dangled there,now he "scoops" and swims all over!)

Love this shot of Daddy and his girl!
Avery under water
Mommy and Avery in the water fall.
Bruno going down the slide
Avery trying to climb up the froggy slide
Playing in the fountains
I am a big girl-I can walk!!!

The typical Bruno pose when he sees my camera
Showing off that new top tooth
Drew going down the slide

$1 skate night

2008-06-24T07:39:00.000-07:00

I really wanted this summer to be fun for the boys.
So we have been finding all kinds of fun cheap and/or free things to do. Wednesday nights our local rink has $1.00 skate night.
Now I only even took the boys the first time cause it was a b-day party,
I never thought either of them would be into it.
Well, Bruno can't stand it, he is that kid who if he can't do something perfectly
-he just wont do it.
Drew on the other hand,Oh my!!!!!
I am sooo impressed! He is totally into it!
The first night he spent 80% of his time on the ground.
But now(we have been 3x's) He is awesome!
He dances along with all the hip hop jams,tongue out and all!

It brings back so many pre-teen memories.
Yes, I was a speed skating champion-I won a free cherro every race!
I think I spent every Friday night roller skating from 3rd to 8th grade.
Then I was so cool, I moved on up to ice skating.
(after 9th grade I realized how uncool I really was)

I can see the same "I am the coolest thing ever"
look on Drew's face that I remember feeling at his age.
Although I just thought I was cool,
Drew on the other hand rocking his mohawk and
being the same size as a 13 yr old boy-
Well,
He is the coolest thing ever

Crazy,blurry but oh so awesome shot!!
If you look close,you can see that his tongue is out of his mouth!

Trying so hard

2008-06-21T18:49:00.001-07:00

A big huge thank you to my creative and beautiful blogging friend,Angie , for presenting me with the above Bloggers award. This award recognizes a blogs creativity and overall contribution to the blogger community. Thanks Angie!

First I would like to thank the good Lord above for blessing me with such an amazing life to blog about.I would also like to thank my husband for all the hrs I have ignored him to sit at our computer blogging,not to mention all the dirty looks he gives me every time I whip out my camera!

And last but most certainly not least my 3 wonderful,loving,amazing kids-they are my inspiration(cue music and cut to commercial)

Now I am to nominate 5 more people so I'll pick:

1) Laurie M. (The Incredible Adventures of Ian and Chase)

2) Rhiannon W. (Daverhi)

3) Angelle G. (My Crabby thoughts)

4) LeShayne M. (The T's and Me)

5) Molly P.(Material Gal Molly)

Once you have been selected, please follow these guidelines and pay it forward:

1) Choose 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award based on creativity, design, interesting material, and overall contribution to the blogger community, regardless of the language.

2) Post the name of the author and a link to his or her blog by so everyone can view it.

3) Each award-winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award.

4) The award-winner and the presenter should post the link of the “Arte y pico“blog , so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5) Please post these rules.

A little reward

2008-06-19T17:13:00.000-07:00

Well ladies and gentlemen, I am now only 17 lbs away from my goal weight!! When I get there I will post my old stats and the current.The light is there at the end of my fat tunnel!! I have lost 57 lbs since Sept 8th.(took a few months off over the holidays) I now wear a smaller size jeans then I did in the 8th grade!! It's so weird to go shopping and not have to go into Lane Bryant or the "fat girl' section for my clothes. Clothes I never even noticed before are now screaming my name from the racks.
So as a reward to myself I sent Bobby out for mushroom pizza and a cookies and cream Chic Fil A Milkshake. Sooo yummy! Food is so my drug of choice(thank God it's not crack-but at least I would be skinny hahaha)Guess who will be running an xtra 30 min each day this week???

Prettiest jack o lantern ever

2008-06-18T19:22:00.000-07:00

Avery FINALLY got another tooth!!!!
She has had just 2 teeth for the last 6 months!!
We have gotten so used to seeing her with just the bottom 2 teeth,
it's weird to see her with one on top.
Not to mention,she now looks like Sloth!
Baby Ruth!!!!!!!!

The Mohawk gang

2008-06-18T19:10:00.000-07:00

Honestly,how could I resist?
Avery wants to do everything that her big brothers do
so it was only a matter of time!
Yesterday while I was doing the boys hair,
I had a little extra hair "glue" on my hands...
Well, just so happens Avery has just enough hair to spike up.
Believe me, I can't wait for the day I get to give her pig tails but
I will take what I can get for now.

Arrrrr

2008-06-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

Pirates invaded John's Pass this weekend and
of course we had to get in the action.
We put our best pirate gear on and headed out for one heck of a fun day!

I was in shock just as I was at The Renaissance Festival at all the
super freaks these events attract!

I thought I took it a little to far with a skull and cross bones bandanna
(the hair was a little greasy that day)

There were adults there who looked like the cast of Pirates of the Caribbean.
And they were not part of the festival staff. People crack me up!

Oh well..who am I to judge when I sported that stupid looking bandanna all day
(I honestly thought I looked cute when I put it on at home,strutted my stuff all day at the festival and then saw how freaking stupid I really looked when I downloaded the pics.)

Me and the boys out front of a pirate prison cell
My little wench!!
My happy pirate baby girl-you can really tell in this pic that she has my eyes!!
Drew and Bruno with a random pirate
Only Bruno-he is the kid who always gets picked out of a crowd to participate in some sort of entertainment! Here he is taking on the role of "the good guy" in a little pirate performance
Gotcha!
Bruno and his pirate crew
The pirate family
Love,love,love this shot of the boys!

I spy

2008-06-12T19:47:00.000-07:00

Bruno: Mommy can we play I spy?

Me: I really don't want to play I spy right now, I have to drive

Bruno: Fine,I will play by myself. Iiiii Spy something blue (pause) The sky! Mommy, I am so great at this game!!!

Bruno and Bubbles

2008-06-02T12:25:00.000-07:00

Zoo Memories

2008-06-02T08:50:00.000-07:00

I am cleaning out my kodak software-deleting old photos of past daycare kids.
I've come across so many old pictures I have forgotten about.

Here are yearly Mother's Day pictures of me with the kids at the Zoo.
We have tried to make it a tradition.
It amazes me how much the boys have grown!
Drew was soooo chubby!
It cracks me up!

2004

2005
2006
2007
2008

Sex and The City

2008-06-02T08:19:00.000-07:00

Friday night was a MUCH needed girls night out!!! After staying home with kids all week and my highlight of adult contact being working out next to all the meat heads at the gym....It was so great to do my makeup,put on a cute outfit and go out with the girls.

We met up at BJ's and at that moment my diet ran right out the door. Who can turn down pomegranate margaritas , avocado spring rolls and spinach/artichoke dip??? The 4 of us girls have known each other since high school.We weren't all the best of friends back then but time,family,life and lack of caring about social status has brought us all really close! We are all 4 so different.

In a nut-shell:
Me-stay at home mom
Erika- career mom
Angel-newlywed,high school teacher
Kristin- single, middle school teacher

Yet, you put us together and we just don't stop talking!! I love how we can all learn something from one another.

Anywho-the movie was FANTASTIC!!! I was a huge fan of the series so to go back and dive into the characters lives I love so much was awesome for me.

Me,Erika and Kristin out front of BJ's
Grace and Angel with our yummy drinks!
Angel,Grace and Kristin(can you guess who the single one is??)
Me after the movie showing off my hot pink pumps!
Waiting for the movie to start...oh the anticipation!!!!

The Zoo Crew

2008-05-29T07:51:00.000-07:00

I ventured out Saturday morning with all 3 kids,bathing suits,camera , a full $75.00 tank of gas and off to Lowry Park Zoo we went!

I hate that Bobby works weekends and misses out on so many family fun days but we made the most of our day minus Daddy.

Love this shot of Avery
-she is looking off at the White Tiger-saying,"Dog,Dog,Dog"
The boys with their fake smiles!-the are so over having a camera in their face everywhere we go!
Feeding the goats
"Jo Cool" and the goat
A very hot and sweaty Mommy,distracted sweaty Avery and the goat
Check out Bruno's shirt in the goats mouth!The goat took total advantage that Bruno spilt half of his snow cone on his shirt.
A nice woman saw me struggling to snap good shots of the kids and offered to take one of all of us
Your looking at $12.00 of shaved ice right there-it was so hot I was happy to buy them!
The flyin banana

How many little boys get to say they rode a llama today?
Bruno on the pony

And this picture is of the kids feeding the giraffe

Oh yeah that's right,that's just when my battery freakin died in my camera!!! I seriously had to talk myself out of flipping out! I just kept telling myself,this is for the kids,they have the memories,I don't have to blog about every single thing we do today,this is for the kids!!!

After I calmed down ,I got the kids in their suits and let them play in the water area. Avery loved it!!! She would crawl over to a fountain,sit on it and let the water splash her right in the face.

It was such a great/fight free day! The boys were so well behaved I almost wondered whose kids I spent the day with.Drew and Bruno are so well behaved apart!!!They have the best manners anywhere they go.BUT you put the 2 of them together and most days its an all out brawl...brotherly love!!!

let me try this one more time

2008-05-29T07:48:00.000-07:00

I have sat down twice to upload all our Memorial weekend pics and to blog about all the fun we had,then...POOF, our electricity flickers off and on. So, I am giving it one last shot and if it happens again I am taking it as a sign from God that I am just not meant to blog! Here goes nothing.....stay tuned!

A Mommy's Diet

2008-05-25T18:48:00.001-07:00

Breakfast
1 grapefruit
1 slice whole wheat toast
1 cup skim milk

Lunch
1 small portion lean, steamed chicken
1 cup spinach
1 cup herbal tea
1 Hershey's kiss

Afternoon Snack
The rest of the Hershey kisses in the bag
1 tub of Hagen-Daaz ice cream w ith chocolate chips

Dinner
4 glasses of wine (red or white)
2 loaves garlic bread
1 family size supreme pizza
3 Snickers Bars

Late Night Snack
1 whole Sarah Lee cheesecake (eaten directly from the freezer)

Remember: Stressed spelled backward is desserts.

My invitation saving Grace

2008-05-23T10:17:00.000-07:00

So after many wasted hrs online yesterday attempting to create that "perfect" invitation for Avery's 1st birthday.I came across someone on Ebay who does awesome work and all for $19.00,not to mention I can print out as many as I want!!!

Her ebay name is sarawiety.
you have to check out her work!!

How cute is this invitation???It's exactly what I had pictured in my head that I wanted. I love,love,love it!! I guess it also helps that I have such a beautiful daughter,I'm sorry but I have to gloat for a moment!!

Oh the anger!!!

2008-05-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

Because having my American Idol finale cut off right as they announced the winner wasn't enough.

I have spent the lat hour on Vistaprint.com designing the most perfect 1st birthday party invitation for Avery. I was wow'd by the amazing prices they offer,$6.49 for 20 custom-made invites.I went through all the steps,changed the wording around at least 5 times,switched colors and fonts and uploaded 9 pictures of my girl on the invite.

Well wouldn't you know,the font change was $2.99,the color change was $2.99 and each photo uploaded was an additional $4.99.So my grand total for 20 invites was not $6.49.They wanted me to pay $89.95,are they serious???? Ahhh,I am so mad!

So now I am going to waste the next hour trying to find another creative way to design the invitations for her party and try to keep it under $89.95

(sample proof of the inside of the invitation)

The Walmart Cake

2008-05-21T20:35:00.000-07:00

Okay so this is how I imagine this conversation went:

Walmart Employee: 'Hello Walmart, how can I help you?'

Customer: ' I would like to order a cake for a going away party this week.'

Walmart Employee: 'What do you want on the cake?'
Customer: 'Best Wishes Suzanne' and underneath that 'We will miss you'.

And the New 2008 American Idol is...

2008-05-21T19:59:00.001-07:00

........................

Yeah thats what we got up to till our stinking DVR stopped recording!!!! No,I am not kidding! I wait 19 weeks for this moment.My favorite contestant vs Bobby's and we have to find out who wins by clicking on YAHOO!!! Is this some sort of sick cable joke??? I am ready to smash my DVR box into smithereens! Don't they come with some sort of American Idol finale micro chip????

It's back!

2008-05-17T19:01:00.000-07:00

I promise Drew that when school was out he could get a mohawk again...he had one last summer along with all the boys on his football team.

Well,there are 10 school days left and I caved! It is amazing what a hair cut does for a little boys self esteem..He thinks he is just awesome-which he is!

I am not normally one for allowing my kids creative freedom like this! I still pick out Drew's clothes everyday and probably will till he goes off to college(boys are great for that)

He just looks so stinkin cute! He is such a little man.The only problem we are having now is that I will not allow him to dye it blue! Yes, I said dye it blue. He is so into MMA being that he is now a white belt/yellow tip in Jujitsu and most of those fighters dye their mohawks.

I have to draw the line somewhere!

Mr Poser!
A great side view!
Too cool to smile-looking all tough
Flexing!!
There's my sweet little boy

Oh yeah another slight problemo with the new hair-We have family pictures scheduled for Tuesday night!!! Wish I would of remembered that before my moment of weakness.

The Coolest photo website

2008-05-14T05:52:00.000-07:00

Museum by dumpr.net

Get your own photo sketch

Created with dumpr.net - fun with your photos

Jigsaw puzzles of your own, at dumpr.net

I came across this on my friend Angie's blog-they have the coolest options for digital photos I have seen!!! check um out Dumper.net

Mother's Day Tea w/ Bruno

2008-05-09T13:25:00.000-07:00

On Thursday I had the joy and privilege to be honored at Bruno's school for a special Mother's Day tea. The kids escorted us in one by one to our little tables that were set up w/ snacks and adorable art work from the kids. Bruno kept saying"Happy Mother's Day Tea Party"! He introduced me to all his friends and their moms.He cracks me up-"This is my mom,her name is Grace" After we ate our snacks we all sat in circle and his teacher read us ,I will Love you Forever.By the time she was done reading,all the moms had tears pouring down their faces! It was a very special day with my little scar face boy!

My Mom:By Bruno Boyens

My Mom has Black hair.
My Mom's favorite food is salad.
My Mom loves me cause I been so good in the car.
My Mom loves to hang out
I love my Mom because her lets me sleep on the couch when I have a boo boo.

Bruno and Mommy at our tea party
The table decor

A Boo Boo for Bruno

2008-05-06T13:12:00.000-07:00

Last night I took the kids for a walk on the trail. The boys rode their scooters while I pushed Avery in her stroller.We live right by an overpass on the Pinellas County trail,the boys always think it is way cool to be up there looking at all the cars-Plus on the other side is the park.

Anyway,We made it to the top of the overpass then the boys decided they were going to ride the scooters down. I knew in my heart this was a bad idea,I wish I would of just stuck to my guns and said,No! I was behind them pushing Avery when I watched Bruno gain way to much speed and loose control. My screams were useless,it's all I could do as I I ran towards him. He fell face first into the concrete then just kept going,feet,face,feet,face,feet,face.I honestly thought he wasn't going to get up-it happened so fast and was so terrifying to watch. Even Drew was screaming and crying for his brother.After his body stopped at the bottom he immediately got up and ran towards me screaming..that was such a relief. I calmed him down then attempted to carry him,the scooter and push Avery all the way to our Dr's house who lives the next street over-he wasn't home.Where was my cell phone you ask? at home charging..which I never go anywhere without it!

We made it home and my neighbor who is a nurse came over to check out Bruno. He was fine just banged up and still in some shock.Our main concern was what may of happened internally-he hit his head so hard!I am a mother of 2 boys,I expect bumps,scraps,bruises,the occasional broken bone even but NOT watching my son violently go down an overpass bashing his head in the cement over and over again-Well,that's more than I can handle!
This all happened around 7pm so we kept Bruno up until 10:30 when he passed out on the couch then I woke him up every 2 hrs to checked his pupils. He was back to "Bruno" this morning insisting on going to school to show his friends his bloody face!

Last night after he calmed down
Today before school-So proud!(such a boy!)
Oh but wait,it hurts!-my little actor

Father Bruno

2008-05-03T11:15:00.000-07:00

Bruno goes to a local Catholic preschool. We are not Catholic but it is a very reputable school with excellent accredited teachers. They teach God's word and that's good enough for me no matter what denomination! Anyway-Bruno has learned to pray like a Catholic. It is so adorable!!! Here is a video of my little ham doing his nightly dinner prayer.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

10 months old

2008-04-30T03:50:00.000-07:00

We had such a busy week I didn't even have time to notice that Avery is now that much closer to One! I am so unprepared for this..OK,maybe it's denial! Within the last month she has turned into a new baby! Avery now...

Plays patty cake
Plays peek a boo
clicks her tongue
waves bye bye-to everyone!
stands in her crib screaming till I go in there
turns the tv on and off
pulls herself up and cruises around the furniture
eats anything and everything
says Dog,hi,bye bye and Dada

Can anyone tell me where my baby is?

10 years gone by so fast

2008-04-30T03:35:00.000-07:00

The time has come! Although I left SHS to get married(idiot) and actually graduated a year early in 97,I am a Class of 98 at heart! 10 years has come and gone since my days high school days,how is that? One one hand it seems so much longer than 10 yrs when I look at pimpled face punk teenagers at the mall.Then on the other hand it seems like where has the past 10 yrs gone???
Thanks to Myspace I have reunited with many old high school friends that I had lost contact with. One of my closest friends Maria and I recently got together for a lunch date.It was so wonderful to catch up with one another and to reminisce. Our actual reunion is in Sept-I can't wait!

Maria and Grace Sophomore powder puff game
Disco rollerskating
Fast forward 10 yrs-Maria,Avery and Grace!

obsession

2008-04-30T03:20:00.000-07:00

I think the Blues Clues thing has gone to far! Avery now will stand right at the edge of the tv to watch it.She is not like this with any other show-Believe me I've tried! I really wanted her to be into something girly,like Disney princesses or carebears...I know,I know-I have issues!

Not only does she stand there and watch Steve-If the TV is off she will crawl over there ,pull herself up and turn it on!!!

Classic Bruno

2008-04-29T10:59:00.000-07:00

Bruno is a watermelon junkie!
The boy can't seem to get enough.
After Watermelon with every meal yesterday and twice for a snack,
I told him he had to choose something else healthy to eat.
He sulked and went into his room.
Well, I should of known better when the house was all to quiet!
Drew was at his Dad's,Avery was sleeping
and Bobby was next door at my brothers out front.
I open Bruno's bedroom door and he wasn't in there,
I yell out his name and hear a mumbled..."I'm out front Mom."
When I opened the front door-
this is what I found.
How could I be mad at this face???

Avery's Clues

2008-04-25T03:55:00.000-07:00

Avery is in love! She cracks us all up with her infatuation with Blues Clues!
She will not watch anything else on TV(not that I want her to)
But the minute she hear 's Steve's voice she is
mesmerized for the next 30 minutes.
She now is attempting to sing along, she dances with the music,cracks up when mailbox screams"Maaaiiilll Tiimmeee"
and waves bye bye when the show is over.
Luckily both the buys were totally into Blues Clues as well.
Drew's room from 2 to 4yrs was decorated Blues Clues.
So I dug through an old box of some stuff I have saved
and found Drew's old Blue costume.
My niece had the purple blanket and Granny bought her a new talking
Blue doll that goes everywhere with us.

UFC Style

2008-04-25T03:34:00.000-07:00

My sister drives into town to drop off my 14 year old nephew for the week while she goes and lives it up in Vegas with all her girlfriends.
Well, She wasn't gone for an hour and I get a
"Aunt Grace, don't come in here"
I proceed to open the bathroom door to find
Drew's face covered in blood ,with it pouring out of his nose.

Being that Drew is in karate and that Connor is a typical 14 year old....
They decided to hold their own little UFC main event in the boys room.
Can you guess who won by TKO???

You know your son is growing up when he doesn't come crying to you over a bloody nose but he asks you to take a picture so he can show his friends!!! He was so proud that he took it like a man
Drew with a MMA record of 0-0 Connor with a MMA record 1-0
(for those of you that don't follow UFC...MMA stands for mixed martial arts)

Slippin and Slidein

2008-04-25T03:20:00.000-07:00

Granny is here visiting from Maryland and she brought the boys a new duel-racing Slip and Slide. It took a few belly flops and bruises to the knees before the boys remembered how to sail across the front yard effortlessly. We had lots of fun but Daddy wasn't so happy that we made a mud pit out of his freshly groomed front yard!

***notice Pacino in the background drinking the water off the slide?***

Mr Unorganized

2008-04-19T22:23:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wonder how Drew got every single gene his father has and not one of mine! He looks like his dad,he walks like his dad,he has the "Minshall dimples" on his lower back like his dad,he eats everything but mashed potatoes like his dad,he struggles at academics but excels in sports just like his dad
and he is so unorganized,
JUST LIKE HIS DAD!

This is what comes home everyday from school in his backpack.
A crumbled mess of tests,art projects,completed school work and
all kids of other papers I have to flatten out to read!

So being the organized one in the bunch I made him a
"Papers to go home" folder.
I explained to him that every paper he brings home goes in this folder,one at a time and flat... So far so good!

Don't do this at home!

2008-04-19T21:45:00.000-07:00

Hey,you know what sounds like a great idea???
Take 5 kids to a Devil rays game!
No,No, Double No!
Although the few pictures I took are cute,
this was by far not a night that will go down in the
family fun night book of memories.
I should of followed my instinct and stayed home with Bruno and the baby,but I felt so bad that he never gets to do big boy things...
well,there is a reason for that!
I also had my 9 year old niece and the little girl I watch a night who is also 9. Well unless it's about Hannah Montana or a Webkinz,they can't be bothered.
Drew really wanted to watch the game and
Bruno he just begged for food the whole hour we were there!
Out of all of the kids, Avery was the best behaved one there-
she just sat in her seat and chugged her bottle!
We spent a total on $120.00 for seriously 1 hour and
that put Bobby and I in a foul mood...
So what do you get with 4 grumpy kids,a drool faced baby and 2 ticked parent???
I tell you what you don't get,
A fun night!

So pretend like you didn't just read this blog and look how cute the pictures are !

Field Day

2008-04-19T21:11:00.000-07:00

Friday was Drew's very 1st Field Day! I have such fond memories of my Elementary School days participating in field day events. Now back in the day, they used to do it up. We all had team shirts,we would sign up for events and there was a trophy awarded to the best team at the end of the day. So it was really important for me to be there for Drew.When Bobby and I walked in,his face lit up!
It was the school's first year doing a field day so it was a little bit chaotic. I really should be an events planner-Although I enjoyed spending time with Drew my mind was being overloaded with ideas on how I would pull off such an event! Plus with Drew having ADHD-We walked from event to event,waited for about a minute in line,then he would decide to go to another line..Ahhh!!!

The water in a bucket sponge race
Squeeze out that water
Bobby and Drewbie
Nothing like hauling a 93 lb 8 year old around!!
The potato sack race- I was just waiting for Bobby's feet to pop out of the bottom of the sack
Mommy and her big boy..who was too embarrassed to kiss me at school!
Giving it his all in the sack race
OK-Drew does not get those legs from me-look how long they are
Showing some School Pride
The flying leap

Although it felt like 100 degrees outside- I am so so happy we went and shared this time with Drew. It's so hard with 3 kids to give them all one on one quality time.Drew's teacher even sent me a thank you email for coming. It was funny the first thing out of Drew's mouth when he saw us was,"Where's Bruno?"

Vote for Avery-we need a new AC

2008-04-16T19:58:00.000-07:00

So I am officially pimpin my kids out! Avery has the looks-so I entered her into her first baby photo contest! here is the link-Please vote!!!

https://www.greatamericanphotocontest.com/voter1/
index.aspx?referid=EmailFriends&p=480011&x=.JPG

2008-04-16T18:04:00.001-07:00

OK,Please don't call DCF on me after viewing these pictures-BUT I couldn't resist-Don't all parents do this sooner or later?

Avery and the lemon
The priceless face!!
Humm?? That wasn't so bad-I'll have more
Ahhhh! Mom,why are you torturing me???
Relief!! A sip of water

2008-04-16T17:47:00.000-07:00

Bruno started soccer 2 weeks ago and just loves it! We really don't have the heart to tell him that he doesn't have an athletic bone in his body!We think Bruno is going to follow after Mommy and Daddy and be a stage hog!But it's still fun to watch him try and great for him to get out and run off some of that 4yr old energy.Next year we will have him in acting lessons-ha!!!!

our handsome little soccer player
Going for a goal!
The "I am awesome and just made a goal" leap-but he really didn't make it..shhh! don't tell him!!
The winners tunnel
Daddy and Bruno after the game

feeling of failure

2008-04-12T10:56:00.000-07:00

So on Tuesday our air conditioner decided to take a nose dive on us. After 2 days of no air in sunny FL ,we had a friend of a friend stop by to take a look at it. Guess what?? Our unit is 27 yrs old and undersized for our house(which is against the law) and it is shot!! But the good news is we live in FL approaching the summer months and it's only $4,000.00 for a new unit! I don't even know how to deal with this but to give myself a pity laugh! It takes every dime we make now just to live in this house. Who ever came up with the saying,"Happy Home Owner",was a liar!
What makes it even worse is to see Avery wake up in a onesie with her cheeks bright red and looking like she just got out of a pool.And the boys constantly reminding us of how hot it is in our house.We have fans up in all the rooms but what good is a fan if it's just circulating hot air? Bobby and I both just broke down this morning,we both feel like such failures as parents.All the talk of saving money and building future financial security..HOW????? How does one do that while raising 3 kids??
After reading this back I can't help but to think of those kids on Idol Gives Back the other night,I know we are all so spoiled and I sound like an ungrateful brat but as a parent all we want to do is to give our kids more than we had as children. So because of my desire to be a great mom ,I feel like a failure!

The Door Mat

2008-04-08T13:33:00.000-07:00

Why is it,the nice guy finishes last? I just need a good cry and a girls night out(but as you are about to find out,I am not beggin anymore) It started with a little girl I babysat for the past 6 mths. Her parents loved me and I did everything in my power to give them the care I would expect for my children. I took pictures of this little girl and emailed them to the parents at least once a week. I'd host kiddie holiday parties,trips to the park,art projects,etc. Then she comes down with a terrible stomach virus which she past onto everyone in my family! I had to close down 1 day last week to re-coupe and sanitize the crap out of my house..no pun intended! Long story short, they refuse to pay me...or should I say her father refused to pay me. They terminated care with me and did not honor my contract by giving me a 2 week PAID notice. I love staying home and running my daycare business BUT I don't do this for the heck of it. My family depends on this 2nd income! There is so much more to this story but it's long and drawn out but the bottom line is I was screwed!(I really hate that word but it fits this situation)
I don't want this blog to turn into a pity party so instead of typing out my feelings on certain things I will just make a list of crap that happened to me this week that has made me feel like everyone is walking all over me!

-check my friends myspace profile and see new photos of a
birthday party we were not invited to

-said to 9..yes 9 friends,lets do a girls night out..lets get together..we need to hang out..lets meet at the beach...NONE of them have even responded

-find out that my sister who is coming into town next week is staying with her friend and not even going to be around but for one day to visit with me and the kids

-Set up 2 daycare interviews and both moms canceled on me 30 minutes before they were to show up

-attended a birthday party,in the rain and there were tons of people there!!! I host a freakin party and NO ONE shows up!

Family Beach Day

2008-04-05T18:53:00.001-07:00

Bobby is lovin life,
the beach is his very most favorite place,hahaha!!!
The weather is perfect and Daddy has the weekends off now!
Well that means there will be MANY beach
pictures to come for you viewing pleasure.

The 5 of us
Avery eatting the sand
My new favorite picture of Daddy and his girl
My Beach Babes

The Results

2008-04-05T18:28:00.000-07:00

I am so sorry I am just now posting this.

I have told this story countless times this past week.

Bobby and I took Avery to the Neurosurgeon's office this past Tuesday. After a neurological exam by the PA with Avery trying to pull off her glasses and eating her little tape measure, the Dr came in....He sat down and just started to stare at Avery. He takes out his measuring tape and asks to measure our heads.Both our heads are 60cm,which are off the charts..Did I really need a neurosurgeon to tell me I had a big head?? I am a Mayes,that's how we come out!

He then tells us,"I think you have nothing to worry about"
Now thank God I am married to a man like Bobby who WILL NOT keep his mouth shut and/or just let things slide.
Bobby spoke up and told him that unless he could tell us that she is perfectly healthy and that we have absolutely nothing to worry about,
we want further testing done asap!

Dr (forgot his name) took off his glasses looked us both in the eyes and said,
"I have been a neurosurgeon for 29 yrs, your daughter is perfectly healthy and you have absolutely nothing to worry about!"
Our eyes just weld up with tears of unbelievable joy!
And I felt like I could exhale for the first time in 2 weeks.
We thanked him and parted ways.

So now we call Avery,"Baby Bucket Head"!

Thank you all for your support/thoughts and most of all your prayers!

God is Good!

***the extra CSF that showed up in the CT will absorb itself naturally and the enlarged ventricle ,the Dr thinks is genetic.He said both are within the variation of what they consider normal.
His exact words were...
Big head=big ventricles-
Big ventricles=extra Cerebral Spinal Fluid***

2008-03-28T20:50:00.001-07:00

On Good Friday I kept Drew home from school and took the boys to the beach. We called our sitter to stay home with Avery so I could focus my time there just with them. As much as I hate living in FL I know why people love it here. We had such a great day! Grabbed some subs,chips and slurpee's from Seven Eleven and played for hrs. They are at such a fun age to really enjoy the beach. We found a live conch , jumped waves and dug in the sand...ahhh! The Florida life!

Mr Hard Body Drew ..he is 8 and has a 6 pack
Mr Photogenic Bruno
Self taken shot!
Bruno hiding cause he didn't want to leave

This picture simple shows how much fun we were having!
Drew riding in on a wave..he doesn't quit have the boogie board thing down yet
Another great shot of Bruno
Mommy and her boys
Baywatch,here we come!

Avery's new face

2008-03-28T20:43:00.001-07:00

All Easter weekend we couldn't get a picture of Avery smiling.
So we decided to join her in the bottom lip sucking...

Props to Nina

2008-03-28T20:31:00.001-07:00

I have to give credit whee credit is do!

One of my very good friends Nina has lost over 100 lbs in a year! She doesn't even look like the same person! No surgery either..she has done it the old fashion way of dieting! Every time I see her it's like I have a new friend.I can't even express how much I admire her strength and dedication to better her life. OVER 100 lbs...that is so freakin amazing! Just look at the pictures! Go Nina,I am so proud of you and girl...you know I understand how hard it is!!!!

Grace and Nina March 28th,2008

Nina and Grace October 28th,2006

Avery's CT results

2008-03-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhh! Well we got the results today and basically Avery just has a big head. BUT...then the Dr called back after speaking to the Neurologist and the Neurosurgeon at All Children's wants to see her next Tuesday to do his own measurement. The CT showed some extra CSF(Cerebral spinal fluid) and one of her ventricles is enlarged. According to out pediatrician this is nothing to worry about.His exact words to me were,"Just think of it as another place you get to dress Avery up and show her off to new people."He does not seem concerned at all because she has no signs of a developmental delay. But it still worries us to death! I have googled this info all day,and I am still clueless. So I really don't have any answers at this point. Her appointment is late Tuesday afternoon and Bobby and I both agree that we are not going to leave there without any answers. Until then I am going to try not to worry..HA! Who can do that???

Avery's CT scan

2008-03-27T17:56:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday Bobby and I took Avery for her for her 9 month check up.
She is 20 lbs and 29 inches,developmental right on track.
Her head circumference is 48 cm's which is way off the charts.
We have always joked that Avery has a big noggin like her brothers
but this time it's not so funny.

Dr Vaughan showed me her growth curve and her head has just shot straight up, it's not even on a curve of it's own. I was alarmed over this at her 6 mouth check up but we just pawned it off on it being hereditary. With all that said Dr Vaughan gave us a script with a diagnosis of Macrocephaly (big head) We had an appointment today at All Children's Hospital for a CT scan of her brain.

When we asked what could this mean he gave us several possibilities. It probably is just genes...Bobby and I both have big heads,and have you ever seen Marty my brother?
Another possibility is hydrocephalus, which is where they would put a shunt in her head to drain the Cerebral Spinal Fluid into her belly or God forbid it be some sort of tumor.

We get the results back tomorrow morning so all you parents out there reading this know we will not be sleeping this evening. My stomach has been in knots since Tuesday and I have Avery's name on every prayer list I know. I have a strong faith in God and know that my beautiful baby girl is in his hands which brings such a peace to my heart.

Avery was such a trooper! She just let them strap her up in a little blanket thingy,strapped her head down and she just laid there sucking her binky...I think it helped that they had sugar-water to dip it in! The hardest part was not letting her eat 4 hrs prior to the CT.

I on the other hand was a mess.To see your baby strapped down and put in such a huge machine,knowing in the back of your head that the results could be absolutely awful...I did my best to not burst into tears.

I will update everyone tomorrow when we get the results-

She's mobile

2008-03-17T18:44:00.001-07:00

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The most beautiful song

2008-03-17T17:33:00.000-07:00

Does anyone have Celine Dion's CD Miracle? If not go buy it!
Every night when I put Avery to sleep I put it on in her room.The very first song is the title track,just try to listen to it without tearing up!

This song sums up exactly how I feel as a mother.

you're my life's one miracle
everything I've done that's good
and you break my heart with tenderness
and I confess it's true
I never knew a love like this 'till you

you're the reason I was born
now I finally know for sure
and I'm overwhelmed with happiness
so blessed to hold yu close
the one that I love most
though the future has so much for you in store
who could ever love you more?

the nearest thing to heaven
you're my angel from above
only God creates such perfect love

when you smile at me, I cry
and to save your life I'd die
with a romance that is pure in heart
you are my dearest part
whatever it requires
I live for your desires
forget my own,your needs will come before
who could ever love you more?

there is nothing you could ever do
to make me stop loving you
and every breath I take
is always for your sake
you sleep inside my dreams and know for sure
who could ever love you more?

(Steve Dorft, Linda Thompson)

Happy St Patty's Day

2008-03-17T12:32:00.001-07:00

We started our St Patrick's Day by waking up to a mess!
The leprechauns took all the books off the boys book shelf and threw diapers all over Avery's room.

Then we noticed they filled our shoes with candy
The boys ate a festive breakfast of english muffins covered w/ green cream cheese and lucky charms on top,a glass of green milk and green grapes.
I sprayed the boys hair green and we all put on our St.Patty's Day gear.
You can't tell from the pictures but Bruno's shirt says,"Irish Girls Love Me".

I think this is the last year Drew will let me include him in my holiday photo sessions. I bought him shamrock socks and when I gave him them to wear I got
" the look "...the look that says,
" I am freakin 8 yrs old woman,
what makes you think you can dress me up like an idiot
and send me out in public?"

Angel's Bachelorette Party..for real

2008-03-17T09:26:00.000-07:00

Not sure what happened in my attempt to post this yesterday.
Oh well! Here goes again-

Saturday night was my good friend from high school's bachelorette party.
I was the DD so I pimped out my van into the bachelorette mobile..so funny!
We drove to downtown St Pete and back rocking out to my Party Starter Hip Hop Mix CD-Bust a Move ,U Can't Touch This,Walk This Way,Rump Shaker...
so many great ones!
We started our evening off at Tastings, a little wine tasting place in St Pete.
There is where we met Felipe-our new homeless,crack addict BFF.
After we all gave him some money,he taught all of us a secret hand shake and even posed for some pictures with us.
We then walked over to the restaurant and hit the bathroom
to sanitize our hands!
Dinner was wonderful.
To top our evening off we went to a club called Push.
It was fun but you know you are getting old when you would much rather be home in your PJ'S then out at 1am dancing.
Not to mention I bought these amazingly cute hot pink pumps to match my boa and they were KILLING my feet!

We all made it home safely around 2:20 a.m.
Last time I was up at that hour was when I was breast feeding Avery!

I can't believe I just said that out loud!
At the club-before I took my shoes off
The Bride-to-be and the bachelorette mobile
Dinner at Ceviche
Kristen and Grace
Blurry picture but here we are-Grace and Felipe BFF
Felipe! Clap,Clap,Snap, Snap ,point your finger and say,Nauh!
Bathroom break photo
Pucker Up!
Yes, penis staws were a big part of our evening!
Angel and my pimped out 05 T & C
Look out boys,here we come!
Tasting new wines
Beautiful ladies
Kristen and Grace reliving prom 1997

Angel's Bachelorette Party

2008-03-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

Drew-a sad video

2008-03-11T18:34:00.000-07:00

OK-It breaks my heart to even post this on here but in a way it's therapeutic to admit we need help. For info -see Last Book you Read blog,it goes into detail on how our lives are raising a child with an impulsive behavior disorder.

Before you watch this video please note 2 things.

First-This is just a few seconds of a 2 1/2 hour battle over doing his homework

Second-Drew is a loving,kind and wonderful little boy. This disorder controls his moods,his frustration levels and how much he can handle at once. Although it was an everyday occurrence since we upped his Focalin to the next highest dosage and signed him up for after school karate-we have seen huge improvements.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

my first blog video

2008-03-11T14:06:00.000-07:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

another new sign

2008-03-08T17:02:00.001-08:00

I thought this one was perfect to hang in the hallway over the kids bedroom doors

Where the magic happens

2008-03-06T10:41:00.001-08:00

Bobby and I got this beautiful bedding set from his grandparents for Christmas. I had it set in my head that we would not put it out until we got new bedroom furniture,well... I am not going to let this sit in storage for the next 5 yrs till we can afford that new bedroom furniture I want.
I want to get more throw pillows but for now I think it looks nice for what was a garage less than a year ago.

Amazing and a must watch

2008-03-06T09:48:00.000-08:00

This was sent to me by a friend and honestly has changed my life. After listening to this man I now feel that I can be a better mother,wife,friend and person. This really spoke volumes to me I hope it does the same for you.

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=ithct48cqw

Nearest Book

2008-03-06T08:55:00.000-08:00

Laurie tagged me-

1. Pick up the nearest book (at least 123 pages).
Life On A Roller Coaster Coping With The Ups and Downs of Mood Disorders
by Ekkehard Othmer,M.D.,Ph.D. and Sieglinde C. Othmer,Ph.D.

2. Turn to page 123

3. Find the 5th sentence

4. Post the 5th sentence on your blog
A person can be born with a genetic vulnerability to environmental influences.

Can you tell I have been really working on learning who Drew is and how to accommodate the child I have been blessed with? Although there are days I just want to shake him for his behavior issues, I know God chose me to raise Drew and I am up for the challenge.

For those of you who are not frequent readers or do not know my family personally. My oldest son Drew was diagnosed with ADHD,and impulsive behavior disorder,a developmental delay and a sensory integration disorder. Drew takes 15mg of Focalin daily to control his impulsiveness. He is a model student,even January's Character Kid at school. He is making amazing progress academically,going from a reading level 3 in Dec 07 to a level 11 currently.

Then we get home....
I have been so desperate to stop his "tantrums" that I have picked him up(he is 91 lbs)fully dressed and put him in an ice-cold shower to shock his central nervous system.I have video taped him so I could show medical professionals what I deal with.Let me state that all other adults outside of our home involved in Drew's life would never believe that he acts like that.Once I figure out how to upload a video here I will post one of his episodes for all to see. As stated by my brother,It looks like something you would see on 20/20.

Every morning when Drew wakes up we are unsure what child we are waking. Kind,sweet,loving,apathetic ,helper Drew or mean,miserable,crying,skittish Drew.We could do the same thing at the same time every day and we never know how Drew will respond to it. I have posted in the past all the methods I have tried,such as
-Reward Charts
-Taking privileges away
-Changed his meds
-having him see my raw emotions(crying)
-spanking(when he was younger)

I have been the nice mother,the mean mother,the understanding mother,the aggravated mother,etc.

Once again as stated by my amazing brother....Just like we wake up every morning to a different Drew,he wakes up every day to a different mother.Isn't that so powerful and true?? After hearing that I knew that I was the one who had to make the changes and then Drew will follow. So we have an appointment with a psychiatrist May 11th to get him evaluated then to set up behavioral therapy.I am quit interested as to what they will say/suggest.

Since the age of 2 Drew has been seen/evaluated by FDLERS,ADAPT,Project Challenge,Directions for Greater Mental Health, a pediatric developmental specialist,he has received OT and speech therapy throughout the years. NONE and I repeat NON of these "professionals" have helped us or given me answers to why Drew is the way he is let alone given me advice that works with him. I now realize that I have been holding on to this little piece of hope that Drew will hit a certain age and just outgrow it.Rather than realizing ,this is Drew and that as his mother it is my job to give him the best life possible and to help him to succeed in all areas the way he is.

I don't mean to come across like Drew is a burden because that is NOT what I mean-he is my first born true love - a true blessing and I would saw off both my arms if I thought it would help him succeed in life.

With all this said (wow-I really didn't expect to go off like that,guess I needed to get that off my chest.) I now have to decide what type of mother I am going to be to Drew and stick with it.And the worst part is ,I don't know!!

Pure Happiness

2008-03-03T19:43:00.000-08:00

I really think I may have issues! Everyone teases me about my fridge looking like a show-room fridge from Best Buy.

Hello, My name is Grace and I am obsessed with my fridge being organized.

Labels forward facing,soda lined up,no open spots and lots of symmetry.

Ahhh,there is nothing better!

The big catch

2008-03-03T19:27:00.001-08:00

Saturday my brother Marty and Bobby along with myself,Drew,Avery and Pacino(our dog) All went to the park for a little family fun.

The boys fished for the first time using live crickets as bait. Drew was not into it at all...he would get a bite,start reeling it in and the closer the fish got, the further he backed up screaming like a 3 yr old girl.

Bruno on the other hand was a huge fan! His very first cast he caught "Nemo"...although it was a fresh water fish,nowhere close to orange in color and had 2 good fins But who am I to correct a 4 year old filled with so much pride?

Big Girl Seat

2008-03-03T19:18:00.001-08:00

Our little porker has out grown her infant seat and my right bicep is abnormally large from toting her around in it. Avery thinks she is hot stuff in he new "Big Girl Seat". I am shocked she made it this far,both the boys out grew their's by 6 months. Next step-forward facing!!!

Word

2008-02-28T17:50:00.000-08:00

Hey Bruno,tonight we are having Mac & cheese with chicken...

"Word"

How many 4 yr old's respond like this??

8 months

2008-02-28T07:54:00.000-08:00

8 Months Old Today

It's so weird to think that just 8 short months ago Avery was the huge ball protruding from my abdomen.The last baby ever to kick me from the inside. It's bitter sweet.Although I feel 100% complete with the addition of her to our family,I just want to bottle her up and not let her grow up. She has gone from the pink little peanut who just laid there to a beautiful baby girl full of personality and sass!

Avery's favorite things:
Her brothers-she will only laugh aloud for them
Her Uncle Marty and the stupid way he calls her "Pookie Pookie"
Rubbing Mommies Tiffany's necklace-my girl has taste
Watching Blue's Clues
Her Binky
Taking a bath
Leaning backwards when Daddy is holding her giving herself a head rush
Saying "Dada"

The day we welcomed Avery into the world June 27th,2007

Mary's 40th

2008-02-26T18:34:00.001-08:00

Avery and I flew to Maryland this past weekend to surprise my sister for her 40th birthday. We had such a great time with all my family. Only my mom had seen Avery and my sister Mary last saw her when she was 3 days old.It was so much fun to show her off to the fam!

Me and the birthday girl
My sisters-
Mommy and Avery
Me and my niece's
Me and my niece Morgan-she is older than me
Avery on the plane ride there
Avery and her cousins
My sisters face when she saw us!
I was chopped liver-she just wanted to see the baby
Hahahaha-then Avery puked all in her hair-Happy B-day!

My Bruno

2008-02-19T20:45:00.001-08:00

The images didn't come up in the right order but I well you get the point. My baby is growing up..he really hasn't changed that much.

Bruno Oct 07
Bruno Dec 07
Bruno Feb 08
Bruo Dec 05
Bruno March 06
Bruno July 05
Bruno Jan 07
Bruno April 07
Bruno March 04
Bruno May 04
Bruno Sept 04
Bruno October 04
Bruno May 05

My Bows Suck

2008-02-19T20:34:00.001-08:00

Yeah,I have called it quits on my little bow making adventure.
I found a team of sisters who own a bow making business...
Bowdazzle.com
I ordered Avery a bunch of new bows from them,I highly recommend them!
After I buy the ribbon,find time to make the bows,spend hrs making them ,
then the clean up,ahh!!
It is well worth just paying someone else...
plus they have way more talent than I do.

FL Sate Fair

2008-02-18T03:40:00.000-08:00

Saturday was family day,finally Bobby had off on a weekend!
We had a wonderful/hot/expensive day at the fair.
You would think after all the money they make there,they would offer a dental plan to all the carnies!!

14 things I love

2008-02-15T11:23:00.000-08:00

1. My wonderful husband who many people just see as a big ass hole.I admire his emotional strength, I adore his sarcasm and I appreciate that he doesn't keep his heart guarded when with me

2.My Drew(bie) for teaching me what a mothers love feels like. For his desire to succeed even though he struggles with a developmental delay and for his consistancy in asking me every day to buy him a McFlurry even though I always say no.

3. My Bruno for crawling in our bed every morning w/ a smile on his face,for being able to go to sleep at midnight and still wake up at 6am happy as can be and for making Drew a big brother.(one day he too will appreciate it)

4. My Avery-for giving me a chance to do everything I ever wanted to do as a little girl-For the way she will only say DaDa! and for just flat out being an answered prayer.

5.My Mom although she is a little nuts I would give anything to have her live here.She has such a strong desire to feel needed..which leads into my floors scrubbed,dinner cooked and my kids babysat!

6.My sisters all 4 of them-for caring so much they seem like 4 more mothers at times

7.My nieces who feel more like my sisters.

8. My brother who although most days is a complete ass,I know he would give me and my kids the shirt off his back if need be

9.My friends the ones who listen,respond and care and who comment on my blogs

10.Bobby's friends who have excepted me as their own and actually like me more than him..hehe

11. I love packing a bag and going to the beach for the day with my family

12. I love pictures of my kids and myself

13. I love going shopping with Avery

14.I love dreaming of my future and where Bobby and I will be-how our kids will grow,etc

Parents night out

2008-02-14T18:28:00.001-08:00

A Kid-friendly Valentine's Day.
Tonight I offered my daycare parents a date night.
We had 3 extra kids join us tonight on top of my 3...
we watched Diego's Valentine movie,played outside,
made Valentine cup cakes,chocolate covered strawberries
and ate heart shaped grilled cheese
w/ pink mashed potatoes!
Not to mention Mommy made herself a nice chunk of change!

He loves me....

2008-02-14T17:57:00.001-08:00

He loves me NOT!!!
This is what Bobby brings in to me today as my Valentines Day gift..is he freakin kidding me?

Thank God,YES! He loves me!! Then 3 hours later he lays 2 envelopes on the kitchen table.One for an hour massage and another for a facial! Yay,good job Bobby!

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T08:30:00.001-08:00

Blues Clues

2008-02-13T11:26:00.001-08:00

Avery has become a huge fan of Blue's Clue's.
She will watch all 30 minutes of a show!
She laughs and dances along...
to freakin cute!

new favorite

2008-02-13T11:24:00.001-08:00

Conversations w/ an 8 year old

2008-02-13T11:13:00.000-08:00

Yes, I am in denial that I now have an 8 year old! But Drew keeps reminding me daily that he is growing up.

Me: Drew stop playing w/ yourself
Drew: My nuts itch mom!

Me: When you grow up what do you want to be?
Drew: A dentist to make good money and A wrestler to get the girls

(as we are driving home from school and a yellow mustang drives by)
Drew: Thats a tight car

I promise I am not a copy cat

2008-01-29T20:02:00.000-08:00

Of course just as I am about to post a new blog of all the cute faces Avery was making today-I click on Laurie's page and there it was..The Many Face's of Chase..ahhh!!!

What to Say When Your Friend’s Baby Has Down Syndrome

2008-01-22T19:59:00.000-08:00

After Laurie's last post and reading the arguing comments I felt compelled to find a way to share how I feel.I really wish that I was witty and had a great way with words but I am not. I am just a friend trying to be a friend.

Before you read this...Know that as a mother who also happened to be pregnant at the same time,I didn't know how to handle the news of Chase's diagnosis(T21).I am pretty sure I made every single mistake this woman's blog says NOT to make.

I know I said all the wrong things and that Laurie probably wanted to punch me in the face as I tried to comfort her while I was embracing my "perfect" new baby. I wanted to be that strong,uplifting friend,always with a smile and an encouraging word-when in reality I was broken,thanking God for my blessings,wondering the what if's,sobbing constantly yet trying to show how strong I was.why?

(I don't know how to do that cool thing Laurie does where you just type a word and when you click on it magically it takes you to that web page. So I just copied and pasted.)

What to Say When Your Friend’s Baby Has Down Syndrome By Katrina Stonoff

It’s very simple. Here’s what you do and say:

First, bring a gift (a receiving blanket, an adorable outfit, a rattle). Second, say “Congratulations!” or “Congratulations on the birth of your baby boy/girl!” or “Oh, (s)he’s beautiful!” Then ask to hold the baby (if you can). Just like you would with any other baby. The birth of a child is something to celebrate, and an extra chromosome doesn’t change that. Your friend’s baby is a gift, just as any baby is.

Having said that, realize your friend might be grieving. All parents have to grieve the loss of the perfect child they thought they were having, but most people get to do it in tiny increments spread over several decades. With Down Syndrome, you know right away that your child isn’t the athletic brain scientist with a model’s body that you thought you were having. But if you accept the baby with joy, it will be easier for your friend to–even if she thinks you’re nuts at first.

If you have positive experience with Down Syndrome (i.e. a cousin or a friend had it, and they did fine/were adorable/whatever), share it. When our daughter was born, our family practitioner told us he’d grown up in an isolated rural area, and his only playmate had Down Syndrome. The boy was born to an older couple who had long given up hope of having children, and he was a joy to them all his life. To my doctor, growing up as his best friend, he was just John (or whatever his name was). This was very comforting to hear.

If you don’t have personal experience, check out this entry, and then you can say, “I just ran across a writer’s blog, and she has a daughter with Down Syndrome who is just adorable!” (She really is adorable–go check her out!)

Give them a copy of Kathryn Lynard Soper’s book Gifts. Because Gifts tells the stories of 63 different parents, it’s a chance for your friend to meet 63 people who’ve already been there. And because it’s in a book, which she can take in little or big pieces, as she wants, it’s even less threatening than having to meet them face to face.

Your friend may be dealing with life-threatening problems (babies with Down Syndrome often have heart defects, for instance). Here, you might be able to help. Offer to care for other children if they have them. Bring in meals. Visit them at the hospital (and bring food that isn’t cafeteria food). Run errands for them. Ask how the baby is doing.

Try to get the terminology correct. In the U.S. it’s “Down Syndrome” (because it’s named after the guy who identified it, not someone who had it). And it’s a “baby with Down Syndrome,” not a “Down’s baby.” I know this sounds really nit-picky, but it’s important. This way, it’s a baby first, who happens to have DS.

If there is a Down Syndrome support group in your area, get a contact number for your friend. But don’t be surprised or hurt if she doesn’t contact them for a long time (or at all). Everybody has different needs.

Mostly, your friend just needs to know you love her and that you will love the baby too. She needs to know you aren’t going to run away and hide. And she might need to borrow your optimism (if you don’t have any, fake it).

Finally, there are a number of things NOT to say:

“You’ll be fine because you’re so strong.” First, you don’t know that. Second, your friend doesn’t feel strong right now, and this heaps impossible expectations on them. Third, we (parents of children with DS) are no stronger than anyone else. Strength develops in crisis; it wasn’t there before. Trust me: if you are blessed with a baby who has DS, you’ll develop the strength too.

“God sent you this special baby.” First, you don’t know that. Second, as a parent hearing that from a friend, we tend to hear a subtext tacked on: “and thank the Lord he didn’t choose me!” which makes it a backhanded compliment at best. Third…oh never mind why it’s offensive, it just is.

“They’re all so sweet!” (or loving or good or happy or whatever). If you find yourself saying “they all…,” stop! First, it feeds into the they-versus-us mentality. Second, the DS population is like every other population, and “they” aren’t “all” anything. Some people with DS are sweet; some are surly. Some are happy; some are depressed. Etc. (As I said before, however, if you have personal experience, it’s absolutely acceptable to say, “I knew so-and-so, and she was really sweet.”)

“Don’t worry. The baby will be fine.” Again, you don’t know that. Babies with DS face enormous physical challenges, and some of them don’t make it. And Down Syndrome is a pretty wide spectrum: while the vast majority of people with DS are mildly mentally disabled, some are profoundly disabled, and they won’t be “fine” by the standards a brand-new parent holds. False hope is false hope, no matter how lovingly it’s given.

“Oh, dear. She’ll never be able to _________” (fill in the blank: walk, read, drive a car, live independently, get married, etc.). First, you don’t know that (hmm…this is beginning to sound repetitive). Second, it’s probably not true. Until very recently, most of the research on Down Syndrome was done on a population institutionalized at birth. So any statistics older than 10 years or so are probably grossly pessimistic. Third, even if it were true, it’s too much to take in all at once. Unless you can tell the future and never get it wrong (joke!), don’t make any prophecies about the future, positive or negative.

Last, do not (do NOT!) use the word “mongol” or “mongoloid” or “retard.” I know it’s hard to keep track of the current phraseology (I have trouble with it too–is it mentally handicapped or mentally disabled?). But these words are as old (and as offensive) as the “N” word.

I suspect I’ll think of many more things well-meaning people have said that hurt, but this is a good start.

In general, be supportive. Express love. Accept the baby. You’ll do fine. The very fact that you bothered to look this up tells me that.

Be Mine Bows

2008-01-14T12:46:00.000-08:00

If interested in ordering bows you can contact me at grace_boyens@yahoo.com

How much does she look like him?

2008-01-12T20:46:00.000-08:00

The lost smile

2008-01-11T03:54:00.002-08:00

I'm not sure what is going on with Avery.It seems that she has forgotten how to smile now that she has 2 teeth. Does she know who's daughter she is?? This is not acceptable in the pageant world!

Growing up!

2008-01-11T03:48:00.000-08:00

Came across this picture the other day and just had to post this!

Ian and Bruno October 2007

Bruno and Ian May 2004

Not Bobby's 1st time at the Circus

2008-01-08T10:35:00.001-08:00

After a huge debate that he had never been to the circus...
Bobby then remembered that we took the boys 2 yrs ago!!
Hopefully this time he will remember our fun family day!

Avery and Daddy-she slept most of the show

Daddy and the kids after sitting for 2 hrs,everyone is just so happy!
Bruno and his $9.00 snow-cone

Avery seems very into it
Blue Lips Drew and his $9.00 snow cone
Me and the kiddos
I can't even get my kids to sit still for 30 sec,props to the elephant trainers

My new sign

2008-01-08T10:29:00.000-08:00

Although my un-romantic husband thinks it is cheesy...
I love it!

Bobby asked why I didn't buy a sign that said,
"Knocked her up and had no other choice"