The Man I Was Meant to Marry.......

Okay so never mind that we are both married now and never mind the fact that I am sure we both now have wonderful spouses and houses where kids rule the roost. For about three hours of time on November the 11th, Joey Mcintyre and I were finally together! lol lol lol. Eight of us went to the NKOTB concert and had a WONDERFUL time! We all had matching shirts and feather boas and had glitter spray from head to toe. We met at Olive Garden prior to the concert and you know they were thinking we were all crazy but we didn't care. We had so much fun and yes to answer all of your questions, I did get to touch my Joey's hand!! I had waited several years for this moment and to be honest it wasn't quite as magical as I had thought, I was kind of expecting the whole Cinderella from house maiden to fairy princess transformation and it just didn't quite happen! Oh well, guess Michael is just stuck with me now! I even washed my hands before I got home which tells you I must have been less concerned than I thought with holding on to his germs. The night was one that all of us needed and we had so much fun just letting ourselves return to the days when we were crazy teenagers who were just after a good time. Lindy and I had killer seats and we could NOT wait to get our pictures back. Here are a couple since I know you are all just dying to see them!

Halloween 2008 with the Webb Family

This was my final year getting all four of my kiddo's to dress up my style, which means all in one theme and group. I chose Scooby Doo. They looked so cute and we had a lot of compliments that night. This was one of the last stops we made so they kind of looked a little frazzled but you can get the general idea. Hope you all had a great Halloween and got more treats than you could eat.

Fall Festival

Today was the fall festival at the elementary school and the kids had such a great time. The weather was absolutely perfect and everyone there had looked forward to it all week long. Usually I am sitting somewhere running a booth and helping with kids and this year, I took a break from that. I spent the entire day just following my kids around and enjoying every minute of being there with them. It was really a nice change of pace for me and I know they enjoyed it too. We all had a great time looking and doing all of the fun activities they had planned for us to do. I got to go on the hayride with each of them and that is kind of how I planned my day. It really isn't that easy to get time in with each child when the party only lasts a few hours and you have four kids to try to do everything with. My kids were all in different groups with different teachers so therefore, it wasn't like I could just take my four and do everything they wanted to do, instead I had to find one group and do some activities and then go to the next group. It was fun but I kind of wish they would let you just take your kids with you if you are there anyways. Oh well....I guess it's one less thing for the teachers to worry about if they know where all of their students are. Anyways, Michael pulled the hayride for the kids so I would go with one of them and then after they got off of the hayride, I would go find the next one and do some things with them until it was time for their hayride. This means a I rode the hayride four times but to be honest it was kind of nice to have the breeze blowing and just have a quieter time to sit with each of the kids and talk to them about how much fun they were having. Hope you all have a safe and happy Halloween and a great weekend all together.

Til Next Time

Halloween Fun Grown Up Style......

Last Saturday night was the annual Wilford Halloween Party that is hosted every year by Brad and Amanda. Michael and I went as Mary Ann and Gilligan and Travis and Mary Jo Sawyer went as Ginger and the Skipper. Our costumes were a hit!!! Everyone really liked all of them but just could NOT get over what a GREAT Gilligan Michael made!! I couldn't help but attach this photo so that everyone could see the wonderful job we did on our costumes....lol lol lol. Actually it was probably the most comfortable and easy costumes we've ever worn to a Halloween Party and easily the cheapest as well! We all had a blast so thanks to Brad and Amanda for another great time!

And a good time was had by all.........

This weekend we did so many fun things! I went to KC Friday night with Mary Jo and Jenni and we stayed with Melissa Galloway (Melissa Berry for those of you who knew her as that). We went out to the power and light district and had a blast! We went to one of the bars that featured 80's and 90's dance music and had a ton of fun. After that we went back to Melissa's and crashed out and were back up by 7:00 to get ready for the day of scrap booking that was ahead of us. We started classes at 8:30 and were done around 1:00 and we made a ton of really neat pages and a very pretty wall hanging to feature our pictures on. Then we left KC and headed back.
We got back to Trenton just in time to have Mary Jo dump us off at the football game that the boys were playing in and within just a few minutes, the boys were showing up. After helping at the gate for a little while, I went and got my seat and waited on the family to arrive. They did and I have to say daddy had them all there, dressed nicely in matching clothes, and even had their hair kind of done! After the football game we went to eat with my dad for my birthday and then headed home.
Sunday morning we got up and got the kids ready to go to the Renaissance Festival in Bonner Springs. We all had a great time but the kids especially LOVED it. They loved the people in costumes who stopped to talk to them and the activities that they did and they even loved just walking around and looking at everything there was to see but most of all they have talked about the shows they watched. There was a magician that was actually very very good, a fire eater that was entertaining, and the jousting competition which Alex truly loved. After a full day at the festival we headed home and called it a day just in time to get the kids tucked into bed after a shower at their usual bedtime. It truly was a GREAT weekend and we all had an awesome time!

My Birthday

Today is my birthday and I L-O-V-E my birthday!!! I am so excited that it is nice out and that I have an evening all planned with friends! I have had soooooo many birthday wishes and have loved every single one of them!! So thanks to those of you who are reading this and wished me a great day!! Love you all :D

Jess

A Busy Weekend for the Webb Family

What a busy weekend! It is almost one of those weeks where you realize it's Monday morning which is about the furthest you can get from the next two day break you get to do the things you WANT to do and not have to be at work. Now I love my job and my boss is great but let's face it, there is just nothing at all like those days when you roll over feeling the sunlight on you and seeing as you open your eyes that it is filling the room only to look at the clock and see that it is 9:30! Those days are GREAT!! I had one of those days this weekend but I was really hoping for two with the week that I experienced last week! Last week as many of you know, we were blessed with the stomach flu which managed to make it through all four kids and I was READY for a break from sickness, kids, and kids with sickness! So Friday night I made plans to go out with a friend of mine from church. We went and had supper and really just enjoyed visiting! We had a great time and plenty of time left so we just decided that we would go to Wal-Mart. We loved looking around and just visiting as we walked up and down the aisles like kids who had never been there before! For those of you who have children, you realize just how long it's been since you really got to look at the things on the shelves and just take your time and enjoy the store. I know it sounds crazy but trust me, go sometime when you don't have the kids and you will find yourself in areas of that store that you didn't even know existed! Anyways, we made it home around 12:30 and were both very thankful for the fun evening out!
Saturday morning came however with quite a surprise and shock! Michael had left to go to the hayfield. Now haying is a very trying time for our family and while we aren't the type that need to spend every minute together, we do like to occasionally see Michael. We don't need him pouring over our every move but at least one meal a day and more than ten minutes of his time is something that we love having! During hay time, it is almost as if I am a single mother! Last year I helped him in the hayfield and we BOTH loved it. The work got done twice as fast and we got to spend the day together even though we were on different tractors it was nice to just be out there together getting the job done! This year however, has not been so easy and I have not had the opportunity to help him out the way I did last year so it has taken longer and we haven't seen each other but it's almost over now and things will get back to normal! So Saturday morning, Michael was up and gone early and had left a note that the kids were not to wake me but instead let me sleep until at least 9. Somewhere in the 8:30 neighborhood, the phone rang and Avery comes in to my room toting the phone shaking me and saying here mommy your friend is on the phone. That was okay and I wasn't mad but after talking to my friend for about five minutes, someone else beeped through on call waiting. The conversation went something like this........
Kim: " Hey, I just wanted to let you know that we are taking your child to the emergency room."
Me: "Okay can you tell me what happened"? (As I am jumping out of the bed and dressing as fast as I can so that I can get my other kids ready to go.
Kim: "Well, you know, fell out of a tree, hole in the chin, broken teeth, lot's of blood and Randy thought it would be best to bring 'em in".
Me: "Kim I just need for one second for you to know that Abby Jo spent the night with Lindy last night and until I finally am catching on, now mind you I haven't been up long, and I am just figuring out that you do not in fact have my child but instead you are talking about my Carson"!
Most of you know that me and Carson are buddies, it is no secret that he is by far my favorite Radcliff child and I will take him hands down any time no questions asked and he is often referred to as my child when talking with Kim. So without knowing that my actual daughter was not at my home, she had managed to scare the crap out of me as I am talking to her and trying to figure out why Lindy was with Kim at a garage sale and not on the soccer fields where Macy was playing! So after getting calmed down from that misunderstanding on my part and realizing that all of the children who were actually born to me were fine, I decided I was up anyways and there was no way I was going to sleep! So we started cleaning house. After a week of four sick kids, I couldn't wait to clean up all of those germs that were infesting the place! So after a day FULL of cleaning, we headed off to that nights football game and really enjoyed watching our kiddos play! We won the game and the boys were really excited! We then traded around some kids (which is a normal event...you can never go to a place, attend a function, and go home with the same kids you brought. For those of you who don't know this, it's illegal and could result in a huge fine of fit throwing followed by a lecture on how everyone else's parents are nicer than you are)! So we finally left the football stadium, got supper, headed home, swapped clothes, picked up Abby Jo from her friends house, and went to another couple's house to play cards. We had a lot of fun doing that too and it was nice to actually get some of that togetherness time I was talking about in.
After getting home late again, we decided that even if Michael was going to get up and head out early, I WAS NOT!!! So we unplugged the phones, set his alarm to go off for when he wanted up and fell fast asleep. The next morning when I rolled over and looked at the clock, I realized that it was 10:15 and the only thought I had about that was MISSION COMPLETE!!!!! One day I got to actually and fully sleep in and I was VERY happy about it. So I got up, had the kids whip up some eggs for their visitors and grabbed a bite to eat myself. And after another full day of cleaning finally got my house almost put back together but all of the laundry, dishes, floors, dusting, and all of that stuff is now completed!! So last night I went to the business meeting, came home, helped with the normal jammies, supper, baths, etc and put my sleepy kids to bed in their comfy beds all fitted with clean sheets and I set down to enjoy a little tv. It was a jam packed weekend full of fun times, lot's of cleaning, and many activities but now I think I need a vacation from the weekend!!

Fall is here!!

For those of you who don't already know this Fall is my favorite time of year! It's a time that I love because of the beautiful colors on the trees, the smells of the crisp clean air, the sound of the kids laughing as they step on the fallen leaves that crinkle underneath their feet. It's a time where sweatshirts and jeans are the normal wear for our family and everyone seems just a little bit happier. The air is just a little bit cleaner and the activities are just a little bit more fun!
It's not so hot that you have hair sticking to your neck anymore and you don't serve as a before dinner snack for all of the bugs. It's also a time when a sweater or sweatshirt is enough, no bulky winter coats are needed and the snow and ice aren't making it impossible to drive anywhere. The pumpkins are being brought in by the truckloads to be turned into jack o lanterns and the costumes for trick or treaters are in their full glory at any retail store you walk into. It's just a great great time. It's one of my favorite times to just sit and enjoy my family and it is the time of year that I get reminded of just exactly how thankful I should be for all of the blessings in my life! I love the excitement that we feel during a great hay ride followed by hot chocolate or the feeling you get when you watch your kids try to lead you through a corn maze when you really know that they have no clue which direction to go. I love the way my kiddos run to stay warm and almost make you dizzy with all of the energy that they have pouring out of them and the smell of the brand new apple cinnamon candle you just bought that welcomes you when you walk back inside. It's just a great season full of yummy smells, beautiful colors, and warm fuzzies and I am so thankful that it's finally here!!

What a Day!

So yesterday morning I get up the gumption and the want to, to get all of my work caught up at the office. I got sooooo much done! I was very excited to see the top of my desk again! After work I went home and started chopping up apples for canning applesauce and apple butter. It isn't a hard job and I love doing it with my friend Mary Jo who was on her way over so it was not big deal. I made supper in the process and had it all ready to go and my stove had apples cooking on all four burners it was going so great........then all of sudden I kept hearing popping noises and I didn't think anything of it other than well I guess my stove is hoping to be done soon. My stove is only 1 1/2 years old but it wasn't the most expensive one in the store, nor was it the cheapest but just a stove that accommodates us well! So Mary Jo got there and we are cooking up a storm on the apples and just as we are about ready to start running them through the strainer, we hear a LOT of popping and I turn just in time to see sparks shooting out of the stove. They were going everywhere! So Mary Jo who was standing towards the back corner of the stove at least had the forethought to shove it forward and unplug it. By this time the house was full of smoke and it stunk to high heaven! After the stove cooled off, we lifted the hood and saw that it had burnt some of the wiring underneath the hood and one burner for sure was going to have to be completely replaced. We sent the kids outside to the picnic table (thank you God for the nice day to accommodate them yesterday) and Mary Jo and I just kind of stood there looking at each other like okay now what????? So we decided that she would take the rest of the apples home with her and I would brave it out to the hayfield to tell Michael. Luckily no one was hurt, Michael wasn't mad, and the apples were almost all saved (one pan scorched due to the high burner heat). Michael came home a little later, checked it all out and has assured me that we should be able to salvage the stove with a replacement burner and some wires. Let's just hope he's right!

Football Pictures!

Here are some photos of Alex and his friends in their football uniforms! I just thought that since I have talked so much about it, you all deserved to see how great and tough he looks.....the one with him flexing his muscles cracks me up big time! They are such a handsome group of boys and such great friends. We are truly blessed to be surrounded with all of our great friends...and their kiddos!

Sick Days Already?????

So yesterday I had done the whole private talk with myself, you know the one that goes something like this, "Okay Jessica, you have a lot to do today and we are NOT going to play on facebook and myspace all day, we are going to really get in and get our work done. It really doesn't matter that someone is gloomy because of the rain or that so and so likes your new pictures, you have GOT to get your work all caught up and done!" So I was actually working away and doing very well I might add getting all of my work caught up. That's when the phone rang!
It was Denine at school and Alex was in the office, sore throat, headache, and a sort of upset tummy. Okay fine, he has sinus issues and with a little tylenol, he'll be back up to par in no time. I went up there and there he sat weeping. He really did look sick and so I took him home, gave him medicine, tucked him in with the best fluffy blanket we own and went back to work leaving him and Michael to comfort each other since Michael had worked the night before and was asleep on the other couch. So as I am headed out the door, the phone rings again.
"Hello again, Mrs. Webb. This is Denine and Avery is in the office complaining of a headache and I know you have tylenol here but I didn't know if by chance she'd had any this morning. So I told her to go ahead and give her some and tell her to wait it out until after lunch. This was at 10:15. So yes two hours after school started, my kids are calling the house.
About lunch time, I head home to check on the boys and get Alex some soup and realize that he probably could rest really well with the help of Nyquil. So I head to the store to pick some up and while I am checking out, Michael calls. He says, "hey where you at?" I tell him I am at the store and you are NOT going to believe what comes next.."okay well Denine just called from the school and Abby Jo is crying because she has a headache, sore throat, tummy ache, and is having trouble breathing. So before you come home, you might stop by and give her some of whatever you have bought for Alex." Now some of you know this and some of you don't but Abby Jo has been blessed with asthma. We are able to keep it relatively under control but when the weather goes crazy like it has been lately, it's all we can do to keep her out of the hospital. So I go back down the aisle in the store and pick up some more medicine to take by the school. When I get there, she is laying in the nurse's office and sees me and automatically tears up. So I go in, gatorade in tow and give her the medicine I bought her along with some gatorade and she automatically feels better. So I walk her to class and check her back in with the teacher and away I go. While walking by, I notice that Avery is at lunch so I go in and check on her and she said that she is now also feeling much better. I head out of the lunch room only to see Alissa in the hall. I tried to sneak out (for fear she would be sick too at this point) but she saw me and needed me to stop and feel her loose tooth. This tooth she has, has a cap on it and it drives her crazy and does hurt because when she wiggles it, the cap digs into her gum which is exactly why she needed me to feel it. She had just gotten done eating so it was really bothering her now. So up to the office we go, grab her a tylenol and I head out the door and she heads to class. I finally make it home to see the boys and give Alex more medicine and maybe force some chicken noodle soup down him if at all possible only to find them both zonked out. So I left the medicine, the gatorade, the chicken soup, and I headed back to work leaving a note on the table that simply read......

Here's your soup and something to drink. You really need to eat and drink as much of this as you can. Take 1 1/2 Tablespoons of the medicine and try to go back to bed. If you need me and I don't answer at work, I'm probably out sick!

I love you,
Mommy

**Now today, I think I may be getting whatever we are passing around!**

The very last first loose tooth!

That's right you heard me. The Webb family is currently experiencing the very last time that one of our children has their first loose tooth! Abby Jo was getting ready for school this morning and all of a sudden I heard a blood curdling scream from my room. So I look in and Avery is standing there comforting her like kids do when they are praying that the mom or dad doesn't find out that they have in some way just torchered each other! So I look in and say honey what happened? Avery yells right off, I didn't touch her!! Then she hollers into the living room,(we do not speak in our house rather holler from room to room like a bunch of lunatics that can't take that five steps to get to one another, it's just something we do) She (Abby Jo) asked me if her tooth was loose so I felt it and told her yes and she is just freaking out now!! So I convinced Abby Jo after feeling her tooth that it wasn't loose due to the short amount of time and lack of wanting to deal with the drama queen right then. Little does she know that within two weeks she will have a hole in her mouth where her first little tooth fell out. I can't wait to tell her about it tonight and explain that it isn't a scary thing and that everyone has to lose their baby teeth. I know it is going to be instant water works and screaming but after I explain, I really think she will be fine!

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

I guess I will call my blog that because I don't really have anything to say but felt like I should add something! I know it's crazy that I of all people don't have anything to report or share but right now our life is all about getting into a routine so there isn't much crazy stuff going on.
Football practice is going well. It has proven to be much better than I previously thought and I think that even though Alex is little the pads they give them make them look big, mean and tough so maybe I won't have to worry as much as I thought originally.
School is going well, Dr. Phil and Oprah have recently been returned to the great outdoors and they were a big hit at school so everyone was very much excited about that! No major stories from school to share so I guess on that front no news is good news right?
AWANA started up again last night which is fun for us. The kids and I really enjoy it for the most part and I am excited about several of the changes that are taking place this year. I think it will help with the older kids getting bored and give the kids something to be excited about.
We haven't had any illnesses, broken body parts, teeth falling out, glasses breaking, major injuries or anything like that happen recently so I guess this must just be the calm before the storm for us! I have to say, I am kind of liking this calm spell and I hope the storm holds off for a long time! I have been thinking about Halloween Costumes for this year though. I need a new and original idea for this year. In the past we have been The Dukes of Hazzard, The Wizard of Oz, Princesses, Cheerleaders, Hunters, Cowboys you name it. The first two were my favorite and one of the pictures I have included should explain why. They just made the CUTEST Dukes of Hazzard ever! The other pic is one of them last year. The oldest two kids are trying to decide if they are even doing it this year....one more thing my kids are doing to prove to me that no matter how hard I try, You can't make them babies forever!

Two Toads!

Okay I forgot one of the funniest parts of the entire weekend! Yesterday evening as the kids and I were cooling off from all of our working, Alissa found a toad in the yard. Her class has been doing a science unit on toads and frogs and she was very excited to find it and take it to school with her. So when I asked her what it's name was, she told me what else? Dr. Phil. This to me was very funny since we don't ever even watch Dr. Phil but I went along with it and went and got her a jar with a very good lid! A little while later, Abby Jo brought me a toad that she had found and as I was getting her a jar and another very good lid, I asked her what it's name was and to my surprise, her toads name is Oprah!! So today the kids left for school and I could hear them talking about Dr. Phil and Oprah the entire way to school. I was rolling with laughter and I can only imagine what the teachers thought of the Webb kids, their toads, and the fact that my kids could tell you all the latest on Dr. Phil and Oprah.

What a Great Weekend!

We had such a GREAT weekend and the fact that it was a long one only made it that much better! Friday, two of the kids went to spend the night with friends so the two that were left and I got all gussied up and went to dinner. We had such a great time, they were all dressed up and so pretty! Then we came home and changed clothes and grabbed Michael and we all went to visit with the Loyd's who were up this weekend. I didn't plan to stay long and had went in the house to visit with the girls while Michael went out to the shed with all of the guys. Later on, one of the girls came in and asked if I could go talk to Daddy for a minute because he wanted me out there so I went out to see what was going on and he said, "Well are you about ready"? I thought he meant that he wanted me and the girls to go ahead and go home, so I just kind of looked at him and said "are the girls bothering you or something"? (Just so no one is confused, this was the arrangement we had already set up. I was taking him and Travis up there and then taking the girls home after visiting for a few minutes so I thought maybe the girls were just getting on his nerves or something and he was ready for them to leave.) That's when he looked at me funny and said, "No Hunny, it's 12:30 and I am ready to go home". I was shocked! I could not believe it was that late and I didn't even realize it. I figured it was probably around ten and had been thinking that it was probably about time to go but the kids were having a great time and I just never thought we had been there that long! So we loaded up and went home.
Saturday morning we got up and went to Cindy's and had breakfast with the Sawyers, it was very yummy and we had a great visit. After leaving there, we went and picked up the other two kiddos and headed home for awhile. We did a little cleaning around the house and got some laundry caught up (which with 6 of us is a never ending chore). Later, Michael and I got around and headed for St. Joe. After dropping off the kids with the sitter we were headed out. Now most of you know that I am not the driver in St. Joe and KC others may not know this about me but Saturday night I was the dd which was just fine with me! We headed to Boudreaux and had supper and it was sooooo good! Then we went to the casino and played on the machines for awhile. Not a big winning to report but no big loss either so I am happy with that. After we left the casino, we headed back towards Trenton, this was funny! I don't mind driving in St. Joe and have actually gotten pretty good at doing it but when those overpasses have overpasses that's when I get nervous! Especially when there is lot's of traffic and there was. So we are driving along and I am doing very well on the overpasses with overpasses and watching the signs to see where my next exit will be......that's when we get to our exit and there is a police car, lights flashing, pulled across the center of it and he is waving us by! I am trying for the life of me to figure out what is going on. There is no wreck, no totaled out car, no nothing that would explain why he was blocking the only exit out as far as I know but there he stands just waving us on! So we go on up and see about 50 flashing lights, that's when it hits me, we are heading for a sobriety checkpoint! Now this was kind of a scary thing to me, I had never been through one and even though I wasn't drinking, I just had no idea what to expect! So we get up there and there is this line of officers and when the driver at the front of the line get's to the stop sign, we all stop and the officers come up to your car. The guy I got was really nice and he just looked at my license and said, Mrs. Webb have you been drinking anything tonight. I just answered him and said no and he said, okay well have a great night and drive safe. That was it, nothing more, and it was over. Everyone in the car was very thankful that I was driving and so was I!!! So anyways we finally get back to Trenton and stop in at Trackside for a little while. We didn't stay long but it was nice to visit with some of the people there.
Sunday morning Michael and I got up and went to church and it was a very different sermon. It was good but one of those that makes you think for sure! After that, Avery and I headed to town and we were going to go on over and get the other kids that were in Gallatin but then Michael called and said he needed to haul some of his uncle's cows over there so why didn't he just pick them up which was great by me! So we ran to the grocery store and to the Dollar store and then ate a quick bite at sonic. Then we came home and did a little more cleaning and then headed over to a friends to help put up wall paper border. After this we all met back up at a bbq hosted by the Sawyers and had a great supper. There were several of our friends there so it was a lot of fun and Travis is quite possibly the best bbq chef around!
Yesterday we slept in and then I got around and headed into town to get a few things we needed and when I got back, we all started into working! The kids and I cleaned off the entire front of the house with the hose, two mops, a scrub brush and a lot of elbow grease. It looks much better! Then we cleaned out a bunch of stuff from the garage and the basement entryway underneath the deck. It felt so good just to get rid of a bunch of the junk we had accumulated over time! After that we gave the kids baths, fixed a wonderful supper, and then just did the once over on the living room so that the blankets, pillows, clothes, shoes, and everything else that it had caught over the weekend were out of our way this morning! Finally we snuggled everyone into their beds and Michael and I hit the bedroom and started a great movie. About an hour and a half later we were asleep. It was a great weekend and we all feel rejuvenated and excited about everything we got done!

I Just Passed on the Bargain Bug to of All People, My Husband!!

First of all you need to understand that I am the world's biggest bargain shopper, when I find something for one of my kiddos that I have been keeping my eye on and it is marked down to two or three dollars, it is almost guaranteed that I am going to let out a big "Wooohhhhh Hooooo" in the store! So today Michael and I went to Milan together. I needed to make a deposit for work and he needed tractor parts since he is getting ready to hay. We went to the bank first and it went as usual, walk in, drop a deposit, say the "have a good weekend" that everyone says and back out to the truck. Then we go to Braco's Farm Supply and we are after a part for Michael's tractor.......that is when the fun began!! He went in needing some kind of gasket that was $8.00 at the Case store in Gallatin and he found them at Braco's for $2.75 a piece so we ended up buying two since they were such a good deal. Then he saw the exact same cylanoid he had just asked a friend of ours to pick up in Gallatin since he was going anyways. At Gallatin it was going to cost $67.00 and at Braco's it was only $27.00 so that was a savings of $40.00!! Well needless to say that was all it took! He was thrilled and couldn't stop looking around. After all, so far we had saved $45.50 and he just couldn't wait to see what other bargains he could find. So then he goes on to find a can of some kind of spray that he wanted and it was cheaper too! By this time Michael was like a kid in a candy store and was just looking at almost everything. That's when I spotted the biggest bargain of the day!! For two years I have been looking at a tractor seat for Michael and I's Anniversary because that is something he both needs and wants. I know not romantic but when you have been together for 16 years and have four kids, you learn to buy things you need and want and that are more expensive and you can then blame it on the holiday and the fact that you had to buy something anyways so it was easy to justify the expense! I have checked on this seat on e-bay, at the Case store in Gallatin, and even looked at Amazon and found that they were somewhere between $200-$350.00. That is something that even I could not justify so I decided that if it was meant to be then it would just show up. The other day we were talking about the fact that he was getting ready to start haying and he made the comment again that he really needed to get a good tractor seat since his is now down to a few pieces of loosely laying stuffing and the metal and I said to him, "Well every year you say that and every year we pay for you to go to the chiropractor to undo the damage that you do to your back by not having one, so if you can find one for the same price as the chiropractor is going to cost even for two year's worth of treatments, then consider it yours". So today we are walking around Braco's with Michael looking at everything and now just checking things out that he doesn't even need to see if he can find anymore bargains and that's when I spot it....The full tractor seat, new pads, new metal, all brand new and in the box and you will never believe that it was on sale for $99.95. So with the $45.50 we had saved and had already budgeted for, and the $100.00 difference at least between the one there today and the cheapest one I had found elsewhere, we ended up basically buying a $200.00 or more seat for $54.50 which was approximately the cost of shipping the seat that I had found for $200.00. Michael could NOT believe that I had managed to find it and I was ecstatic! So needless to say, the day turned out great, I no longer have to worry about what big item my husband needs for our Anniversary, I got what I got him at an incredible price, and he now fully understands what I am talking about and why I am so excited when I get a good bargain!!

AWANA Family night was so much fun!

Last night we had the AWANA kick off family night event at our church and we had the BEST time! They had several games and divided us up into teams. We (our family) was on the green team along with the Sawyers, the Sauls, the Herring's and a few more it was a GREAT team! We played against the blue team and we just knew we would beat them without any problems....well we were WRONG!! They ended up beating us by several points but it was still something we all had a great time doing. The theme this year was Family Olympics and let me tell you the games were hysterical!! We started out with an oreo cookie twist, followed by a balloon popping game where each balloon held a piece of a bible verse and then you had to put the verse together, then we had a paper airplane flying contest, a make the bed as fast as you can contest, a bubble gum blowing contest, and finally my personal favorite (because I wasn't in it) a baby food feeding contest. You should have seen Mary Jo and Breanna feeding each other and eating the baby food! I laughed so hard I had tears rolling down my face before it was over! Of all foods one of the ones they chose was carrots!!! I could NOT believe that they had chosen those for the teams and neither could Mary Jo, the first thing she said was "Breanna, I get the bananas you get the carrots"!! The looks on their faces were priceless to say the least. After the games were over, we went into the fellowship hall and had supper and the food was beyond excellent! We did an ethnic theme to the food, since it was the Olympics, so we had several Mexican dishes, some Italian food, a few Chinese foods, and several great desserts. My personal favorite thing was some kind of dessert that Amy Axtell brought, everyone wanted the recipe and I plan to e-mail her in a minute and get it from her, it was awesome! I think that everyone had a great time and I hope that it really geared everyone up for the coming months of AWANA. I think that our group has really went down in size but I know that whatever God's plan for us is in AWANA will happen this year.
So overall, we got beat and had to go through the line of food last but it was worth the wait! The games were awesome and the fellowship was wonderful! It was all in all a GREAT family fun night for the Webbs.

Friends

So I was reading an old classmate of mine, Andrea (Herrold) Pullan's, blog today and I got to thinking that it is funny how at one time you could not have convinced me that we would not be the kind of friends that talk everyday about things going on in our lives. It's funny to me that at one time, the day just didn't seem complete until I had talked to each one of my high school friends and now I don't talk to them very often at all. I know that people change and your whereabouts change and just life in general changes, but I don't think that people realize until later on down the road just how much things change.
I know that while she and a lot of the rest of my class went off to college to begin their studies and trainings, I stayed behind and began a family. I don't regret that decision and I couldn't be happier for her and the classmates that went on to get their college degrees. All I am saying is that sometimes it makes me really think and cherish the friendships that I have now because I realize how quickly they could be gone. There is a part of me that wishes we were all close again it was really a fun time but of course I would want to bring the friends who have come to mean so much to me now along too. I have so many great friends now and I would love for all of them to meet and get to know all of the friends from my high school days! I think it would be hysterical to see them all together and would be a great time for everyone. I still talk to and see some of the kids from my class often and love that I get that privilege. It just surprises me when I think of how close we all once were and how now we never even exchange Christmas cards.
I don't blame this change on anyone, Lord knows I haven't tried very hard to keep in contact, I guess it just occurred to me today while reading her blog how much has changed and how different we all turned out after all. It's fun to reflect on who we used to be compared to who we are now and think about how much different our life paths were than what our planned paths were. I guess there isn't really a reason for this blog just something I was thinking about and thought I would share! Kind of makes you want to call and old friend tonight and see what's been going on in their lives doesn't it?

Football.......I hope I make it through this one!

So since it was mentioned in my last post, many of you know that Alex is playing 5th and 6th grade football in Trenton this season. This is something that we are all excited about but something that as a mom I am a little concerned about as well! Now as most of you already know, Alex is my ONLY son....he is just a little guy and he is by far my easiest child to tend to. Therefore, when these BIG boys come running after my son, I am wondering how Alex is going to feel about me standing up and screaming at the top of my lungs "You leave my baby alone and go pick on someone your own size"!! I am very concerned that I am going to be "that" parent that is watched like a hawk which no one wants to sit by and the sole reason that this year security guards are hired to stand on the sidelines and watch for parents who are ready to take down even the biggest of 5th grade boys! After thinking about this for over a week now, I have almost made peace with the fact that boys twice and even three times the size of my son will be doing their personal best to not only catch my son but thrust him to the ground in order to cause him to drop the football he is carrying! While this isn't really something I want to deal with, I am making headway in accepting the thought of it. We will see how it is in person when game day gets here!
Now let's talk about what I know about football. Well I know there is a ball, I know that there are lines on the field, and I know that you run as hard as you can once you catch the ball. I also know that when you go ten yards then you are back to a first down and you only get four tries to make it another ten yards. Pretty good right? Okay well now let's discuss what I don't know. These would things like how much is a touchdown worth, what it's called if you decide not to kick the ball after a touchdown is made but instead run it somewhere????? I also don't know how many points this fancy maneuver is worth but I am sure in time these lessons will come. My friends have found great fun in giving me sports terms that they know that I have NO clue about understanding and seeing what I can possibly come up with as an explanation for what they might mean. Two of these terms that come to mind for me are a jamboree and a chain gang.......which by the way I have now learned the definition of both and urge you to google it and see what you can find out. I can honestly say that I, along with Damon Neff plan to sign up to even be part of the "chain gang" and can't wait to be down there in the middle of the action past the security guards and only about ten yards away max from the first 5th grade giant that decides to make my baby his first target!

All 4 kids have started school.......Now What?

Okay so all four of my kids have now started school. This was not an easy task for me to let happen and I can't say that I am still all that excited about my baby leaving the nest but we all knew it was bound to happen someday. The youngest, Abby Jo, really seems to love it and I can't believe how much easier it has been for her to transform from a preschooler to a kindergarten student than I thought it would be. The other kids have been doing it for a few years but I was also excited to see what they thought of the first day. So after sitting at my office (which many of you know is right next door to the school) all day waiting on them to come bursting through the door, it finally happens and this is what I hear......Mommy hey Mommy hi Mommy you know what Mommy hey Mommy guess what......no kidding.....you know in the movie What Women Want when he can hear all of the women's thoughts around him and it sounds like a beehive? That is exactly what I was hearing only instead of the buzzing sound, it was a Mommmmmmmmmmmy sound...it was crazy! So I finally line them all up and tell them that they each get to tell me one great and one not so great thing about their days. Avery first (Alex was at a friend's house waiting to get taxied to football practice so I didn't get his info until later that night) then Alissa, and finally Abby Jo. Avery who is a year younger than her brother in school, says it was so great mom, remember how last year Alex had to read for an hour every night? Well I only have to read for 30 minutes a night and no weekends and no holidays!!! She was thrilled to say the least and I am pretty sure it was more because she was going to get to share this with Alex (who isn't the most excited about reading) than because she caught a break!! So then comes Alissa who for some odd reason and I really have no idea where she even got it now refers to everyone as her peeps??????? So after reminding her that my name is Mommy as it has been for the last seven years of her life and not peep then she goes on to say that her favorite part of the day was that she loved her teacher and Morgan was there. Morgan is her best friend and Alissa just thinks she is IT!! No matter what you have or have not done or have or have not owned it is just understood in our house that you will NEVER be as nice and kind and beautiful as Morgan is in Alissa's eyes so I was truly not surprised by this statement. Her only bad thing was that the boys had gotten faster over the summer so now when they play chase (which to us 30 somethings is also referred to as tag) the boys actually can catch the girls sometimes and Alissa is not as happy now that she can't beat them all the time. Then comes Abby Jo and for those of you who do not know her, she is a bit, okay a huge serving, of a drama queen. She is funny when she doesn't' mean to be and has the ability to exaggerate immensely if it helps plead her case. So here she comes excited that it is her turn. She shows me her pictures that she made, tells me she can now write her name perfectly (the amazing abilities of a teacher I guess because I have yet to see it perfectly but to her it looks exactly like Mrs. May's so we will just continue to discretely work on that at home), and that her favorite part of the day is nap time. I just kind of sat there looking at her with what must have been one confused look on my face! "Nap time, honey do you mean circle time?" She just looks at me as if to say, I don't think I stuttered and says "no mommy nap time.....it's my favorite, everyday it's going to be my favorite". So I decide to push further knowing that she is not expecting me to not understand why nap time is not automatically her favorite part of the day even though she fights nap time at home as though you were asking her to take a knife and cut off her own hand! So I say "Abby Jo, why is nap time your favorite part of the day"? That's when she looks at me even more confused than I was looking at her and says, "well Mommy, nap time is my favorite time of the day because I am sweepy". Guess that says it all. School is back in session, our schedules are back in turmoil, the kids and I are exhausted and Michael is still trying to figure out which events we are in and where and what comes next!