3 Ring Circus

Before we headed to the lake last Thursday, I took the boys swimming at a neighbor's house. They had a ball with Anna and Lilli, who met us there with mom. Matthew is so funny when he swims. He spends the entire time "rescuing" the plastic rings from the bottom of the pool. He truly cannot think of anything else if there are ANY rings that are not picked up. The best part of this scenerio is Owen. He loves to throw the rings INTO the pool! Owen will throw handfuls of rings into the pool and watch as Matthew diligently dives after them. However, Matthew tires out before Owen does! He will pick up all of the rings and then tell Owen not to throw them in any more b/c he needs a break. Well, you KNOW what Owen does. Once, I even explained to Matt that just b/c Owen throws the rings into the pool, does not mean that he has to pick them all up. But this is just not the way Matthew thinks. The rings must be picked up before he can move on. Once he got frustrated with Owen and said, "Owen, I am risking my life to rescue these rings!" That boy makes me smile!! (check out the pictures)

We had a relaxing weekend at the lake. As I mentioned, we went up Thursday night. Chris worked part of the day on Friday, but he was back and we were on the water by early afternoon. It was just the five of us on Friday. The boys really enjoyed each other, playing Batman on the back of the boat (Matt was Batman, Owen was Robin and Ben was Penguin)! They played this for over an hour and Chris and I just enjoyed laying around and listening to their fun. I haven't been that relaxed in a while. On Friday evening, our friends Danny, Shawna and Laci came up for the night. We cooked out and the kids played. Laci and Owen really enjoyed chasing one another around the deck! It began raining during the early morning hours on Saturday and it didn't let up the entire day. Though we didn't get to go out on the lake Saturday, we did enjoy sitting around on the deck (new covered part), visiting and relaxing. We even cooked out again (a little rain won't deter us from a good time)! Finally, about 9:00 pm, we packed up and headed back to Swifton. After church on Sunday, we spent the afternoon lazing around mom's house with the family and then on the Chris' parents for dinner. Clearly, I ate way too much this weekend and will have to work out extra hard this week.

Before I forget, I have to share some exciting news. For those that know Matthew, you know that his dream is to be a "film maker" in Hollywood. He already speaks of going to film school in NY and then on to Hollywood to make movies. Well, he will get to live out his dream (in part) at the tender age of 10. My sweet parents have invited him to go on vacation with them this summer and guess where they are going!! That's right, they are taking him to LALA Land. He is so excited that he can't stop thinking about it. In fact, he wants to try to meet Michael Bay and give him some story ideas that he has for the Transformer sequel! Again, that boy makes me smile!! Until next time...

Busy Little Bee

The past few days have been a whirl wind at the Keton house. Last Thursday, we went to the lake and stayed until Saturday night. We came home for church on Sunday, as it was the last day for our preacher, Brother Roger. We will really miss him! I spent most of Monday on the phone or the computer, doing work for school. That evening I had exercise class and then off to the ball partk for Ben's t-ball game! Tuesday and Wednesday were even busier. Chandra and I had to got to Little Rock for workshops both days. We shortly avoided the major accident that took place that morning outside of Newport, but we had to detour and ended up getting to our meeting a few minutes late. Good thing we left an hour early! (too bad we didn't get to stop somewhere good for lunch like we wanted) After Tuesdays workshop, we drove back to Newport and I went to exercise class and then met the family at the ballpark for Ben's last game. They won the tournament and the league!! Go Cardinals! On Wednesday, we thought the meeting began at 9:00, but it actually began a little earlier! Again, we thought we were leaving on time, but were still a few minutes late! When we came home, I got back in the truck with the family and headed back to Newport for Ben's t-ball swimming party. The kids had a ball and the parents did too. I am tired just remembering everything! This morning I'm headed to school to interview a teacher for preschool. Then tonight (after bootcamp), we are headed back to the lake. I do want to share a funny thing that Matt and Owen did the other night in the car. They were both sitting in the back seat and Owen was bothering Matt, as usual. He grabbed Matt's glasses, to which Matthew yelled, "Owen, you have crossed a line!" Owen replied, "I don't see a line." and then Matthew said in a very annoyed, big brother voice, "Owen, it's just a figure of speech!" Hey, somebody has to keep the kid in line!! Until next time (probably not tomorrow!)...

Whole Lotta Nothing!

A pretty uneventful day in the Keton house today. We slept in until about 9:00 this morning; that almost never happens (except for Matt who usually gets up around 5:00 am to watch his favorite show)! Because the weather was so nice today, I decided to take the boys to the park. I remembered that my mom was keeping the girls today, so I called to see if they wanted to go too. However, I not only got to take these 5, I also got to take along Will (my nephew), as well. Mom was keeping Anna, Lill, Will and Andrew today. Yes, that's right, I took 6 kids to the park. Who does that? The kids were great and they really enjoyed playing together. Afterwards, we came home and took naps, yeah! This evening, I went to bootcamp and then met the others at the ball park for Ben's t-ball game. I told the kids that if they could keep me "happy" during the game (by behaving), that I would take them to get Happy Meals after the game. They obliged, and we all had Micky D's for dinner. Wonder what Cornelius (bootcamp coach) would think about that!!

Mundane Monday

Well, things have certainly calmed down since my last post. However, we did have a fun-filled weekend. On Saturday, Chris, Candy, Ralph, Brian and I all headed to Little Rock for a family wedding. We had a great adult-evening and I know I really enjoyed the break. We stayed the night and returned early Sunday morning so that we could celebrate Father's Day at home with the rest of the fam. We first enjoyed a luncheon at church where we spent some time with our departing minister. After lunch, we headed to my parent's house so that we could give my dad his gifts. If you don't know my dad, then you don't know how much he enjoys his music. So for Father's Day, Candy, Brian and I gave him this cool record player that will play his old vinyl records as well as his newer CDs and tapes (we also got him an illustrated study Bible). Have fun Dad; turn it up as loud as you want! Next, we headed to Marc and Leslie's house for Kade's first birthday party. Happy Birthday Kade! The kids had a ball playing outside with all of the fun water activities. Finally, we ended the evening celebrating with Chris' family. His brother Joey and wife Shannon came in to visit and it was nice having everyone together. Today, the kids and I have been extremely lazy and stayed home all day. I didn't even get out of my p.j.s until late afternoon (I know, I told you I was lazy today)! But after last week, I think I deserve it!!!

Fishing Derby

Today was the big day! We got to take the new boat out for a family test drive. If it can survive a Keton family outing, then we're golden. We headed out about 3:00 this afternoon, but not before packing a few supplies... life jackets, fishing poles, hats, sunscreen, sunglasses, cell phone, crickets, snacks, drinks, oh yeah, and the children (can't you just hear Chris' exasperated sigh as I walked out the door with all of this stuff)! However, we get on the road without issue and get to Shirey Bay where we successfully load the boat. The boys are safely aboard and looking forward to going "fast". We get stopped where we want to begin fishing and Chris and I divide and conquer (he takes Matt and Ben, I take Owen). We get the poles loaded with crickets and away they throw!! All is great, and then Ben lets out the loudest scream I have heard in a while (well, at least since last week's bike wreck). "I'm bleeding, I'm bleeding! Get it off, there's blood!!!! He had sliced his finger on his hook and was having a mental break after seeing the blood. Luckily, mom had gotten ice (but not the medical kit). After a couple of minutes, he was fine again. Owen's favorite part of fishing was reeling in the line. I would bait the hook and throw it out, he would reel it in as fast as he could (sometimes we didn't even bother with bait)! Matthew enjoyed fishing for a while, but then he got bothered by the bugs (they are his "nemisis"). Ben caught the first fish and the other two caught fish with their Daddy's help. Chris finally asked the boys if they were having fun. Ben and Owen yelled "yes"! Matt said, "Well, I'm getting a little bored. You know, there's really not that much to do out here except fish." He and Owen took a snack break and Chris, Ben and I continued fishing. This is when disaster struck. I needed a cricket for my line and Chris had them at the other end of the boat. I slowly reached my line down to him for a cricket and that is when Owen somehow jumped in between us. The hook caught him in the face and he began to scream. Then Chris began to yell, "It's in his eye, get it out, it's in his eye!!" Meanwhile, Owen is grabbing his face and Chris is trying to grab Owen's hands. I jump up, fully prepared to pull a hook out of my three year old baby's eyeball (usually Chris is the calm one and I freak out). Luckily, the hook had gotten stuck just to the right of the corner of his eye. Crisis averted (this time). After a few minutes of crying and soothing, he fell asleep. Well, one would think this would put a damper on our whole outing. But not our crew. We are hard core. Chris and Ben fished for another hour, I held Owen, and Matthew found entertainment in reading the depth finder. He would tell Ben how deep the fish were as Ben cast his line. At one point, Ben said, "Matt, you are distracting me from casting my bait!" Once we headed home and ran the boat through the car wash, I realized there is a new princess in the Keton house. She is red, 18 feet long and has a 50 hp 2 stroke engine. Hey, she may have gotten the first shower, but I got to make dinner!!

Swimming 101

Today was an energetic day (I'm just not sure that I was the one with the energy)! The boys (Matt, Ben, and Owen), Anna and Lilli, my mom and myself all went swimming. The kids had a great time playing together in the pool. And the fussing was kept to a minimum! Mom and I had fun, too. We got to float around in the pool on mattresses and get dunked each time one of the kids swam up to grab a hold (and lets not forget the splashing-oh my gosh, so REFRESHING)! No, the kids were great and they got to play with two boys that belong to an old friend (the friend is not actually old, just known her for a long time...yeah, you get it). After the swimming, it was time to take Owen to get his hair cut. Anyone that knows Owen, knows that he HATES getting his hair cut. In fact, it takes both Chris and me to hold him to get the job done (thank you Ms. Cheryl for your skill and patience). Well, about 1 minute before walking out the door, Chris calls and says he forgot about the appt. and he is still in Jonesboro--GREAT! Well, I was not looking forward to what was to come, but we soldiered on anyway. To my great surprise and delight, Owen actually sat in my lap and got his hair cut with NO TEARS. He did fuss a little, but took it like a pro. SSHHH, don't tell Chris though. I don't want him to start skipping out on the hair cut adventures! After the hair cut, it was Mommy time. Off to bootcamp for a little R & R. Well, tomorrow we are taking the boys fishing in the "new" boat for the first time-like I said, the boat is for the children. Wish us luck! I'll let you know how that goes...

Shop til You Drop

Today I got the rare chance to spend the afternoon out with a girlfriend. Chandra and I started the afternoon off right-we ate lunch! As some may know, I recently began attending Boot Camp and I have eaten alot of tuna the last 2 1/2 weeks! So eating out was a nice treat in and of itself. After lunch, we headed to the mall. Typically, I am not much of a shopper; you can understand that I usually avoid the mall like the plague when I have my 3 boys with me! However, today, as I mentioned was 'special' (and quiet productive). I was successful in finding a dress for a wedding reception I'm attending this weekend, a few skirts and tops for church (I've been wearing the same two skirts all summer), a new purse, jewelry to match new outfits, some swimming attire for the boys and I even REMEMERED (hi Chan) to buy Father's Day gifts. The boys had fun too, b/c they got to spend the day with two very sweet, cute young ladies (Felicia and Whitney) who were brave enough to take them swimming. Really, I think I was the brave one b/c this is the first time I have ever let them go swimming without me or Chris! All survived and everyone had a ball (esp. me). I am so thankful to have had the chance to recharge my batteries! Oh, I must share the big news: Chris found a fishing boat. All is now right with the world! Until next time...

Children Galore

It's been a few days, as not much has been going on. We did go to the lake this past weekend. The weather was nice; not too hot! For those that like to visit Greer's Ferry Lake, now is the time as you will have the lake to yourselves! Not much boat traffic. The boys had a great time swimming with their cousins. Can't you just see us all piled on the boat (my three boys, Anna, Lilli, Will and Kynlie)! Not to mention the adults! It was nice and I even managed to maintain my new "diet plan" and avoided the typical boat snacks. That was NOT fun! Today we are headed to the movies to see Kung Fu Panda. The boys are really excited. I'm trying to get pumped up myself. I will need the extra energy b/c mom and I are taking my boys, Anna, Lilli, and Will! I might have to hit the popcorn today!

The Missing Piece

Well, we came home from Little Rock emptied handed. This did not hurt my feelings at all as I encouraged Chris to look around for a good USED fishing boat. He agreed. I took the kids swimming yesterday. This was the first time they had been since school has been out. They had a ball, jumping off the diving board and going down the slide. The slide at the pool we visited is very tall and Owen insisted on going down alone. He would get on top, turn around backwards and then lie down on his belly. While he would do this, I would stand by at the side, hoping and praying he didn't fall. Once he was on his belly, he would hang onto the hand rails and stretch down until I could touch his feet. He would then let go, with me hanging onto his feet and slowly go down the slide backwards. He did this about 20 times, so you can imagine that I had a very relaxing time at the pool! Actually, once the "fun" of this trick was over, he played with some young teen girls that were also at the pool (which was quite a treat for me)! We sqeezed in our daily bike ride and my exercise class, not to mention the dreaded daily chores that the kids have to help with. But, I have to share the sweetest thing that Owen has said the last two mornings. Upon waking, he and Matthew like to come get into my bed and snuggle with me (Ben is usually still asleep). Owen puts his arms around my neck and Matthew puts his arms around us both (and I him) and we give each other a "family hug". Well, after the hug, Owen looked at me and said, "1,2,3.. Matthew, Mommy and Owen. We're missing a piece." I said, "What are we missing?" and Owen replied, "Ben and Daddy." AAAHHH, what a sweetie!

All Work, No Play ...mostly

Tuesday was "all business" for the family. I had an early meeting for work and the boys stayed with Nana and the girls. Though I got home by lunch time, I still had to work quite a while from home. The boys were great about it though, and no one even argued when they had to wait a while for a turn on the computer (which is where I was working). We did squeeze in some good ol book time (Owen loves the book What I Do Best), exercise class, and of course, the family bike ride (minus Matt). I promised them that I would take them swimming today, but the way the wind is blowing, maybe we should go fly a kite!! Oops, change of plans. The phone just rang and it looks like Chris wants to go to Little Rock to shop for a new fishing boat. But it's for the children, of course. As Matthew would say, "Mom, I detect sarcasm in your voice." We'll see......

Exercise Science

Today was pretty typical for the Keton household. We spent most of the day at home; the kids were totally mistreated b/c they had to pick up and vacuum their rooms. Ben and Owen really kind of liked it, but Matt found it to be torturous. He just does not understand why such menial tasks have to be done. He was even more annoyed when I told him we were going on a bike ride to get some exercise. He said "You know, mom, I don't really like it when those bugs bite me, I think I'll just walk on the treadmill instead." No such luck; he was sprayed down with Off and away we went. For the majority of the trip, he was swatting at invisible bugs, trying not to complain too much, and Ben was following along behind saying, "Mom, am I being good?" It's funny what even the youngest can pick up on and Ben is the master of manipulation. Meanwhile, Owen (who is riding in a toddler seat attached to my bike) is pulling at my shorts saying "I'm going to get your bootie!" After returning home and eating lunch, the boys began throwing rolled up socks at one another while running from room to room, hiding behind the furniture. This began as a fun game, but as usually happens with such sports, it ended in an all out war! Finally, all three had to be separated for some quiet R&R. Of course, this was more for my sanity than their well-being. We ended the day with Ben's t-ball game and my boot camp class. Ben is playing first base on his ball team and he is quite athletically gifted. I missed his game tonight b/c I signed up for a 6 week exercise class and it ran a little long. However, he informed me that he hit a ball almost to the fence and he got all the way to third base. Go Ben! Thanks to Aunt Candy and Uncle Ralph for watching Owen this evening so that we could all get where we needed to be. Until tomorrow......

Blohg, Blohg, Blohg

As of last week, I had never even read a blog, much less considered writing one of my own. However, a friend recently invited me to visit her new blog site and I was immediately intrigued. In fact, I found myself reading blogs of people that I have never even met! You see, for me at least, people are interesting. I love to read/watch about everyday people doing ordinary things. This may explain my addiction to reality television (my "dirty" little secret)! Though I can't imagine why anyone would be interested in anything that goes on in mine and my family's lives (and possibly no one will be), I am going to strike out into totally uncharted territory and begin this blogging process. So, with this in mind, who wants to come along for the ride?!

Love to all,
Julie