Quiet weekend?

Each week as we get closer to the weekend, Jarrod and I start the emails back and forth. What do we have going on this weekend? Who has what sport at what time? (Is it possible for the 2 of us to get everyone where they need to be.....we joke that it takes both of us and a small army to get everyone where they need to go....and on time!) We are thankful for friends and carpools! So, needless to say we usually have really crazy weekends, but we love it. This is what I always thought being a mom was all about.

This week however, the emails were a little different. NO SPORTS! Basketball just ended and we have a small break before baseball, lacrosse and spring soccer start. (Cameron still thinks he is playing all 3, we'll let you know where that one goes!)

The last couple weeks have been kind of long for the kids, especially Cameron. They just finished CMT"S (Connecticut Mastery Tests) and so I think we were all looking forward to a relaxing weekend. Apparently "OUR" idea of relaxing and "THEIR" idea of relaxing have 2 very different definitions! What started with friends coming over after school, quickly turned into a full on slumber party.....if you have boys, than you will understand why all of the furniture was removed from the family room!!! (not really, we just decided to clean the carpets this weekend!)

So, what we thought would be a quiet, relaxing weekend, ended up being crazy and loud and soooo much fun! We started bed time at 11 and were kidding ourselves that we really thought 6 boys would fall asleep that early! Especially after (I don't know how many cases of ) pop, ice cream, popcorn, and whatever else they could find in the pantry.....I should not be surprised 1 went home with a sick tummy!

I'm sure I have more than 1 parent mad at me. I did not have the heart to tell any of them that the boys did not sleep! I could still hear at least 1 of them when I fell asleep around 1:30 and I heard the video game tournaments starting back up at 6 the next morning! It's kind of funny to see how competitive they are, I had to finally shut it off to shove food down them all before Jarrod shuttled them off to baseball try-outs. We'll save that discussion for another day! (I get so worked up over the political side of little league sports.)

I get a little crabby when my house smells like dirty boys and there are socks, backpacks, video games, every imaginable piece of sports equipment, and shoes from one end of the house to the other.....but if it were all to go away, I know that I would really miss it.

So, did we get our quiet weekend? Nope. Would I change a single minute of it? Nope! I love the noise. The laughing, the silly contests they make up, the sound of the basketball bouncing in the drive-way, singing in the car(loudly and very off tune) ,basketball off the pantry door in my kitchen, watching them play baseball on the green.....I'll take it all, because I know it makes them happy and that's all that really matters!

Poor Bella

Just to clarify "not me" is not the dog. Let's not even go there. As much as I feel sorry for the poor thing, she makes me crazy most days. I was not thrilled to have a dog. After 13 years of Jarrod and the kids begging for one I finally gave in. I really do not like anything about having an animal. She goes potty on my floor, she chews on the furniture, and her little hairs make my eyes itch! The kids really do adore her though, I have to keep telling myself that daily when I'm ready to give her to the next person that knocks on my door! As if getting shoved into a kitchen cabinet was not enough torture for 1 day, I was on the phone with Nicole B. this afternoon and was not paying attention to Ethan and Lexi. I thought it was so cute that they were sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor coloring and getting along. You would think that after 4 kids I would have learned that silence and giggling are never a good combination. I guess they were bored of tracing their own hands and feet, so they thought they would do the dog's! Ethan was holding her feet down on the paper while Lexi traced and cut her little paws out. It actually was kind of cute to watch, until the dog got loose and ran and I noticed two very guilty faces and a pile of little bella hairs all over the paper and the floor. I was laughing to hard to get mad. I know it really was not funny, but you did not see the look on the dog's face, PRICELESS! The poor thing ran for her life.

Not Me!

This morning's post would be inspired by the 7th person residing in our home. This person goes by the name "not me"! I'm sure many of you have a person by this name residing in your home too, I guess you stole our name! I have yet to actually meet this little person, but he/she sure does do a lot of naughty things. More recently "not me" has managed to clog both toilets, fill the dog's food bowl with mini-marshmallows, put lip gloss on the dog, color their brother, un-roll an entire roll of toilet paper onto the bathroom floor (and we wonder WHY both toilets are clogged!), finger paint the bathroom mirror with lotion, and color the wall in the boys room with a big red marker! Imagine my surprise when I opened the kitchen cabinet this morning and found bella in there! At least "not me" was nice enough to give her a blanket and her bone! I am looking to find a new home for "not me" if you are interested.....I'm taking offers! Either that or Jarrod's birthday is next week and he would love a jumbo pack of Mr. Clean magic erasers!

1st time for everything

So.....I'm all for trying new things and I am so excited for this one! We have family and friends all over the world and I thought this could be a fun way to stay connected to everyone. I am so bad at sending pictures and even worse at emails....and forget snail mail! So, if you really want to know the good.....the bad....and the crazy things that go on in the Neeley house.....have at it!!! There is never a dull moment around here!

halloween-little people

Ok, so here are a "boatload" of pictures from Halloween. We had an eventful October this year. We carved pumpkins with McGoldricks and the missionaries....well, let me rephrase that....the missionaries carved pumpkins with our kids, the guys were watching a game, and I took pictures! The gooey mess is not my thing, but by the time these 2 missionaries left our area I totally had them trained. They knew where I kept all the cleaners and how anal I am about the kitchen counters. I was so surprised at how fast they had my kitchen clean after the pumpkin fiasco!!! We may not have been the best influence on the missionaries, but their wives will thank me one day!!! Lexi had a big Halloween party at school, it was so cute to see her interact with her friends. She has so many friends in her class this year, they all take dance and gymnastics together too. She is growing up so fast! We had McGoldricks over for soup and rolls before trick-or-treating and we saw everyone else while we were out. Not many pictures of the boys, they were with friends. Jake was with the Benedetti's and Small's, and Cameron went with the Myers. If you did not figure it out (and I can't imagine why you wouldn't) Cameron dressed up as Manny Ramirez from the Red Sox. We could not stop laughing, the wig was so funny. Our boys and their Red Sox, I think Jake was just the generic Red Sox player! Lexi was Jessie from Toy Story and Ethan was Buzz. We have the perfect neighborhood for "little kid" trick-or-treating. It's not very big, and the houses are close together. Lexi was in heaven with the little girls. It was a fun night!