christmas in july camping

We took the kids camping this past weekend to a Yogi Bear campground about an hour away from the house. We had a lot of fun even though the weekend did not start off so good. Rylee and Zach were awful Friday night into Saturday afternoon. They were being very uncooperative and acting like plain 'ole brats. Sometimes we really feel like these kids do not appreciate what they have and the fun things they get to do that some other kids don't ever have the opporunity!

After no smores on Friday night because of the way they were behaving and a threat to pack it in and not go see Yogi, Cindy, or BooBoo they shaped up and it turned out to be a pretty fun time. The campground was celebrating Christmas in July so there were decorations every where. They put on a Christmas show, even though the majority of the songs played were from High School Musical? It was good though, the kids got to go up and stage and dance with the bears and the other Yogi employees.

We came home yesterday afternoon, and the kids got to play in the pool for a little bit. It has been unseasonably cool here the last few weeks and the kids have not gotten to go swimming at all. Even though it was only 75 on Sunday I let them go in because it was pretty warm in the sun.

Brienna has been suffering from a pretty awful cold. She is acting like such a trooper though. I have been sucking out some pretty nasty stuff and other then absolutely hating the nose sucker she does good. I am hoping that it is on it's way out as she has had it for a couple days now. She has been doing really well with her breakfast and dinner, so I decided yesterday to try a Gerber puff all broken up to see how her pincher grasp was. She is close, but still spent most of the time chasing it around her tray! It was awful cute to watch!

nascar race

This past weekend we went to the Nascar race in Joliet. We camped for a couple of days, watched the race, and then came home on Sunday. It was a really good race this year which is good because it can be pretty boring at that track.

It was a really good time. We sent Brienna to his parents house, and Zach was with his father. On our way home we dropped the trailer off at Yogi Bear where will be camping again this weekend with the kids.

a new parenting book

So yesterday I had a very heated discussion with my ex about the things that he has been saying to Zach. On our way home from Day Camp yesterday Zach gave me a lengthy run down of a conversation that he had with his father over the weekend. Joey decided to let Zach know that Gary was not his father, and was just Mommy's boyfriend. So now an already confused child about his situation is even more confused about why Gary is not his Daddy. Let me stress that I have NEVER forced Zach into calling Gary, dad. He did that all on his own, and so whether he chooses to or not is completely up to him, but I was pissed that Joey thought it to be his reponsibility to try and tell Zach what Gary was to him. It was a very drawn out argument, and I am sure he did not listen to a word that I had to say. I have enough problems with Zach's behavior because of his confusion about life, but since this weekend things have become noticeably worse. Zach has been acting out with a lot of aggression, and it pisses me off because I know that it is a result of what happened over the weekend.

To keep the good news going, we found out today that Gary's ex-wife broke up with her boyfriend today. So now life has again become increasingly more difficult for us since she is back to being really bitter and blaming Gary for her current life situation. He found out from his 5 year old daughter when he picked her up today when she said "Daddy, Jimmy is moving out...Oh no I was not supposed to tell you." She is seriously telling her 5 year old daughter to already keep secrets from her father. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! So this makes guy number 5 that Rylee has seen in bed with her mom and now this one is out of the picture too.

All of these things are the reason for my heading. Obviously both of them need to start reading a completely different parenting book!!!! The one they are both using now was obviously not a popular reading!

wedding planning

I think it is really starting to hit me how quickly this wedding is going to be here. I have been making some good progress in getting a lot accomplished as far as the location, a DJ, a photographer, and an officiant. I went the other day to get my dress, and found what was exactly the dress I had in my mind.

It was a good thing I went and did that this week. I was told to have the alterations done in time I would have to make the appointment by the middle of next month. I only had to try on three dresses before this one so that wasn't bad. Gary and I have started talking about the other details. We are trying to do as much as we can ourselves in the interst of saving money. Since the room we are renting is here in our subdivision we have to do the majority of the dinner details ourselves, plates, silverware, glasses, etc. Although I am extremely excited to be going through this with Gary, there is that part of me that keeps saying that I can not believe that I am doing this for the second time!

It is starting to become a bit stressful, but hopefully we can get everything put in place soon so that all we have to do is sit back and wait for October 10th to arrive.

zach's birthday and holiday weekend

Zach had his 4th birthday party on Friday at a place called Pump It Up. They have nothing but giant inflatable things in which the kids can slide, jump, and run through. It was a great set up, and of course he loved to be the center of attention. He had some friends and cousins there, and it seemed like everyone had a great time.

We were able to have a picnic on Saturday after the rain finally let up. It was a chilly day,but the sun finally made it's appearance and it turned out to be a really fun afternoon. We went to Outlet mall by our house where they have the fireworks on the 4th every year. We got there at about 4pm and walked around for a little while to do a little shopping. We brought our picnic and set up right behind the car.

After dinner we found a spot in the grass and waited until about 9:30pm when the fireworks started. Brienna was such a trooper. She slept through the whole thing and did not move a muscle once. I was very shocked.

Sunday we went to a party for Zach's soccer team and Zach got his very first black eye playing in the pool with the other kids. He was not happy, but I thought it was pretty funny. Two of them jumped into the pool at the same time and her heal hit him right in the face. It's a little hard to see in the picture, but it is a perfect little half circle around his left eye.

Brienna turned 5 months on Sunday. She is getting very close to crawling. She will pull her legs up under her and then push with her feet to scoot to wear she wants to go.

birthdays, birthdays, birthdays

This week has been crazy with birthdays. After mine we had Rylee's and my Mom's yesterday. We had everyone over again to celebrate. It was a little disheartening to hear Rylee say after she opened every present that she already had that at her Mom's house, but then again what should I expect she is completely spoiled over there. Tomorrow I have Zach's birthday party, and his actual birthday on Saturday. He has been making this week very difficult for me to justify having this party for him. I swear with every year he gets the more defiant and just impossible he becomes. He is definitely testing every patience I have this week. If I didn't pay the $200 for the party I would have definitely cancelled it.

I will be very thankful when this week is over. I have not stopped running around like a chicken with its head cut off since Monday. I am really looking forward to our camping trip next weekend to Joliet to watch the Nascar race. It should be nice and relaxing with absolutely no children!

Despite all this craziness I am most amazed that my little Baby Bee is going to be 5 months on Sunday. I seriously can not believe that that much time has already past. She is starting to scoot around on the floor which means that she is going to be very mobile very soon. She is eating her baby food with her cereal twice a day, and is just the most amazing baby. Everyone at the child care center at the gym tells me everyday when I drop her off how she is the most personable and happy baby! I'm sorry I am bragging just a little, but I can't help it!