Sweet 16, Kids & Squirrels.

As the weekend goes ~ we never have a dull moment around this household.

Friday night we went to at 16th birthday party for my best friend from high school's daughter.  I toted all four of my kids along and Sade's 6'4" boyfriend in my car that seats 5 *please don't tell the cops*  They had a lot of fun and it was so much fun hanging out with Andrea.  It's been a long time since we hung out.  You never think when you are in high school that 15 years later you'll each have 4-6 kids and be pulling your hair out. HAHA! 

 Me & my Sade girl ~
she kind of takes after her momma
it's ok she's not offended.

Alyx with "my" green glow stick!

  

 

Connor & A.J. with their glow sticks.

Me & Andrea
Been a long time, but once a BFF always a BFF!

Saturday Jeff had to work all day and they asked me to babysit his friend's kiddos while they were working.  Of course I don't mind, I love kids and I already have four at home what's two more?  HAHA!  Famous last words.  You know how you are around kids and you all of a sudden have that "ah-ha"  moment that your kids are the most amazing kids on Earth?  Not that the kids were bad ~ don't get me wrong.  I'm pretty familiar with a kid who talks non-stop *cough, cough Sade* but holy moly sister!  I have never been asked so many questions in my life.  Connor & AJ were keeping a running tally of how many questions were asked for about 30 minutes while I ran to the bank.  By the time I got back the little boy had asked 55 questions.  HAHA!  Seriously, annoying and funny all rolled into one.  The kids were waiting to each lunch and standing around the kitchen table talking.  The little boy was looking out the back door asking, "Why do you have a fire pit?  Do you put a fire in it? Look at all those leaves. Do you make a lot of fires?  When can we go outside?  Oh look..SQUIRREL!"  Connor looked at me with this look like, no he did not just yell out squirrel.  I was trying so hard not to laugh.  Oh this is going to be an interesting day.  HAHA! 

On a positive note, I got my Christmas tree up already!  YEAH ME!  Next weekend I get to take Alyx to go visit my momma for her birthday.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone and stay tuned because I'm sure there will be plenty of stories after my car trip with Alyx.

I'm a slacker~

Wow, I can not believe it has been a month since my last post.  I'm sorry to my loyal followers.  It has truly been a crazy month and we're anxious to go to the holidays. 

A.J. is done with football, Sade is done with volleyball and we have now moved right along to our favorite winter sport...basketball!  Alyx started practice last week and here before we know it, our Saturday will be consumed with games.  Hopefully she takes off like she did last year in basketball and we might just have another Aunt Silya (the basketball superstar of our family) on our hands!

We go this week to the Rheumatologist to finally (hopefully) get some answers on A.J.'s rash and leg pains.  We're all crossing our fingers we just find out what is going on so we can get this boy back to normal...a/k/a bouncy off walls & driving us crazy!

Well, it looks like Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away.  It's also my momma's birthday ~ Happy Birthday Momma!  It is always a busy time of year so keep watching for photo updates.

One year later...he's still cute, just not funny!!

Geesh, I need to find time!  I haven't even made it to my blog!  Sorry my dear friends who check up on us!  Volleyball is almost over (THANK YOU LORD), football is still alive and kicking and basketball is just around the corner.  Busy as ever so we'll see how the winter goes.  My Thirty-One business is thriving & booming...Yeah ME!  If you haven't checked it out yet, you must go to mythirtyone.com/sararuch

So, on to the fun part....

Jeff and I celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary this past Sunday.  It's hard to believe we've only been married for one year, but the last five years have been a lesson learned and I couldn't ask for a better husband.  I decided to buy us NASCAR tickets for our anniversary.  It was a BLAST!  We had a great time and pretty hilarious, but it's nice to know Jeff and I are so funny together.  Sometimes you don't realize it until the next day.  We also learned that over the age of 30 it is a lot longer recovering time from a Sunday ~ Funday!

Me & The Cute Hubs before the race!

On our drive home Jeff took 155 photos on his Droid X, said he was trying out the options.

This is one of my favorite photos and it cracks me up.  Jeff doesn't understand why it's so funny. 

I think it pretty much sums up our marriage!  XOXO Jeffrey

Again, on our drive home.  This time I swear we were stopped at a light!

"My brother is really a sister"

Sometimes I wonder how exactly my 7 year old plays football.  He gets hurt at the drop of a hat, tells on his siblings for everything, he is very sensitive and if you look at him wrong will cry...I could go on forever!  We even refer to him as "sissy-lala" at times.  It has become quite the inside joke (hopefully it doesn't affect his self-esteem later) but he continues to play tackle football.  He loves it and at practice his coaches say he hits harder than some of the boys who are older and bigger than he is.  One of the mom's even teased me that I never feed him, because he only weights 57 pounds.  He's such a mess!  Well to demonstrate his abilities, after his game last Saturday he comes limping off the field.  Mind you, he was perfectly fine the entire game but at the end he was "hurt".  His brother felt bad for him and this is what I turn around to see on the way to the car!

Really AJ?  I mean really?  Full pads and all Connor is piggy-backing him to the car.  Way to be tough AJ.

So much to do...so little time

Do you ever wonder how you make it through a single day without losing your mind?  I definitely have had those feelings lately.  I'm trying to remain positive, but as my husband says, I have a hard time saying "no". 

Right now we have weekly volleyball games (Monday and Wednesday nights), AJ's football practices (Tuesday and Thursday nights), high school football games and of course I signed up to work concessions for Booster Club (Friday night), AJ's football games (Saturday), PTA meetings (Tuesday once a month), and I recently signed on as an Independent Consultant through Thirty-One.  I know you ask, why would I possibly sign up for something else?  I loved the products so why not?  I shouldn't really be complaining; my kids are healthy, happy and I have an amazing husband.  Lucky for me!!

Hopefully, I can keep up with my blogspot.  You can check out my new business venture at mythirtyone.com/34727  or you can email me and I'd be happy to show you some of the fun totes, bags and organizers.  Otherwise, I'll be around..being a mom taxi, trying to fit in my workouts and loving my life!

XOXO

Here is some of the product line from Thirty-One.  They are so much fun and I can't wait to do my Christmas shopping!  Great personalized gifts at very reasonable prices!

I'm finally the parent I always dreamed I'd be

I have apparently been slacking at this whole blogging thing I had going.  Sorry to my dedicated followers who don't actually "follow", but depend on my children's humor and escapades to keep them going.   The last two weeks have been hell, so I'll do my best to keep up from now on. <3 ya!

This morning Alyx wasn't feeling so hot, so she missed school.  Luckily my sister, Phoebe, is a nurse and only works weekends.  She agreed to let Alyx come visit today - thank you for that one sis!  On the way there, Alyx is telling me about how she was having a conversation with some kids at school about which parent they are scared of.  Alyx's response was her mom.  I was a little taken back by her response at first, but then she said a friend of hers told her, "Alyx your mom is awesome.  I wish she was my mom."  This did make my heart melt (especially considering the source); however, Alyx proceeds to say, "She is nice, but if she's mad everyone better watch out."  My only response was to laugh.  Inside I was thinking FANTASTIC!  I've managed to turn into my mom.  That's not a bad thing by the way.  I have to admit I started to feel pretty good about myself and glad to know my kids still think I'm cool, even if they are "scared" of me.  I'll bet their dad doesn't realize how much of a pushover they think he is, but I'll keep that one to myself!

Thank you mom for teaching me to be the best parent I can be.  My kids still think I'm cool...even the teenager!  I've succeeded....so far!

Happy Labor Day Weekend to all my friends  & family.  Wish me luck tomorrow in my 5K at Kauffman to support Autism Awareness.  Praying I do well in the race, especially running next to my baby sister..YIKES!

So school begins....

Well...it has began! School started last week and you would think our lives would slow down, but no! Sade is now in high school (still can't believe that one), Alyx is in 4th grade, and A.J. is in 2nd grade! Here is a photo from 6:30 a.m. as Sade was going to catch the bus!  Had to make A.J. & Alyx hurry to get ready so we could do a photo together!

They all love school.  Alyx loves her teacher, even though she was worried at first and A.J. well hopefully this year goes off without a hitch.

Now, it's on to the fall sports to make my life hectic as always!


Tid bits from this week:

*Football, volleyball, football, volleyball...that will be my life until November!

*Got on the scale - lost 2 lbs (probably all that running around) A.J. was excited he gained the 2lbs I lost!

*Found out volleyball games are Monday and Wednesday - Great because Tuesday and Thursday is football!

*A.J. football scrimmage on Saturday morning!  (Here is a photo)

*Finally got a date night in I don't know how long!


Well start of a new week!  Definitely ready to get into a schedule with the kiddos.  Not to mention, I'm on a hard core mission to workout.  Getting up at 4:30 a.m. really bites, but I'm in a mode so I'm going with it while I can!

Happy School Year!

Weekend in a nutshell!

Here goes my weekend in a nutshell:

Friday
A.J. get a haircut - he think it's too short, he's had the same haircut since age 2
Dinner at Fazolis - A.J. orders pizza mad only got 1 piece, clerk brought another

Saturday
Fall down my basement stairs on my way to do laundry
Pick up candy for football fundraiser - anyone want to buy a candy bar?
Have A.J. fitted for football pads
A.J. & Alyx to their dad's
Go to a movie alone - Charlie St. Cloud (worth watching - glad I was alone)
Bought myself a new purse to feel better about my fall down the stairs
Went to the gym
Went to the grocery store
Had friends over for Jeff's birthday
Bed at 12:30am (bad idea)

Sunday
Wake up at 4:30am to get ready
Leave at 5am to my aunt's house
Arrive at 6am to  Union Station
Walk in Race for the Cure 5K at 7:45
Breakfast at 10am
Shower at 11am
Nap on couch from 11:30am-12pm
Dinner at mother-in-law's for Jeff's birthday at 12:45pm
Skip babyshower because I can't stand up
Nap from 3:30-5:30pm
Wake up sore and miserable so don't do anything
Bed at 9:45pm

WOW!  Hope my week goes better!

Who is in charge of this shin-dig?

Well last night I made the adventure of picking up my adorable - soon to be high schooler's schedule and to turn in our "required" documents (like I'd lie about where I live).  Let's just say, I came close to losing my lunch!

First of all, I get home to pick Sade up and realize I left the two residency papers I needed on my desk at work.  I was immediately sick to my stomach.  My first thought was, crap our home printer has zero ink!  As I enter panic mode, we take the ink cartridge to CVS to get a replacement and CVS was a no go.  While I was in psyhco mode inside CVS, Sade is calling her Nana to see if we can come use her computer.  When I get back to the car, Sade has called Nana about 20 times with no answer.  I was so sick at this point, I couldn't process my next move.  It was 6pm and we had already heard of people waiting at the school for over an hour.  I try Nana one more time and THANK THE LORD she answered!  We bust over to Nana's house, use the computer, and jet to the school by 6:20pm (along with about 400 other students & parents).  It was ridiculously hot inside the gym with all those people and you could not see where one line began or the others ended.  Everyone was bunched up together, everyone was complaining, and at one point I said to a guy (who looked like he was in charge) "Did you think you would need an engineering degree to organize this shin-dig?"  He laughed (I wasn't really laughing) and says "Yes, I think we need to figure something else out with these lines."  I wanted to say "HERE'S YOUR SIGN!"  Needless to say we did not get out of there until about 8:30pm (2 hours later).  Sade convinced me to take her to Sonic for dinner.  I was still not feeling so well, but here we are in the drive-thru at Sonic.

It was pretty comical at this point.  I have to admit I have one of the best kids a mom could ask for and someday she will tell the funniest stories about our experiences together!  XOXO Kiddo! 

Crazy week!

It's been a few days since I've posted anything, I'm slacking big time!  This weekend was insane.  I spent my entire day Saturday running all over town to get stuff done and then home to get ready for Alyx's 10th Birthday Party!  It was a success.  She had a friend spend the night and I took them to see Ramona and Beezus (cute movie by the way).  Aunt Silya came to hang out for a bit and learned some new things from A.J.  We were all laughing so hard I think Jeff was annoyed by the incessant giggling.   

Alyx & Aunt Silya in their prom pose

Then on Sunday we started football practice.  Needless to say starting August 1st our lives (or my life) revolves around football.  Who would have ever thought that 7 year old football would be so intense?  Bad thing is I knew this going in.  We do this every year and we complain over and over again about how much money it costs, but I still allow him to play.  Shame on me!!  So, A.J. is perfecting his six-pack while we sweat to death just watching him practice every night.  I really need to find a new hobby...geesh!

A.J. on his way to practice in 110 degree heat!

Lastly, we are all getting ready for school to start.  We've gone to the elementary school and turned in the appropriate forms and have bought our school supplies.  I think the biggest hurdle is reminding myself that my babies are all growing up.  Tonight is the big night for high school schedule pick-up.  YIKES!  I genuinely do not feel old enough to have a daughter starting high school!  This is scary stuff, let me tell you.  Needless to say, tonight I will probably shed a few tears (will post photos tomorrow).

Lots of love to all and get ready for post this weekend.  Saturday is Jeff's 3.5 decade birthday (that quote is courtesy of A.J.) and I will be walking the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K on Sunday morning.  Should be interesting after a night of drinking for my husband's birthday.  I might have to stick with water!

When I grow up.....

Driving to work this morning I thought to myself, I love asking little kids what they want to be when they grow up, because you know, I'm still looking for ideas.  When I was in elementary school I always thought I'd be a teacher.  When I was in high school I wanted to be a photographer or a photo journalist.  After I had Kid #1 I thought maybe I'll work at a bank (obviously needed to aim higher).  Right before Kid #3, while I was working as a 911 Operator and Police Dispatcher I thought (for a brief second) I wanted to be a police officer.  Upon arrival of Kid #3, that was a glimmer in my mind and figured I would be a stay-at-home mom.  Apparently that did not last long.  I still debate what I want to be when I grow up and have even thought that by the time I retire I might actually figure it out.

I decided to ask my children what they wanted to be when they grow up.  Sade wants to be a photographer.  A child after her mother's heart!  She would be good at it, but I hate to tell her she'll be living with her parents for the rest of her life.  Alyx said she wants to be a cook.  I'm pretty sure she means a professional chef, not a McDonald's cook.  I can deal with that...she's a good cook.  She loves to help me cook and she actually does really well.  Maybe she will live somewhere cool like New York or L.A.  Then her mom, with a budding career during retirement, could come visit.  A.J. says he wants to play in the NFL or be a "NFL writer".  I don't have the hear to tell my 7 year old that not many kids grow up to play professional football.  Maybe he should stick with sports writing or commentating.  Based on his gene pool he's most likely not going to be 6'3" and 250 lbs, more like 5'9".    I have always been scared one of my kids will want to be a police officer (even more scared they will want to be a fireman) but the likelihood is probably pretty good.  I can deal with it now, I guess.  I just want my children to succeed.  Much like my mom wanted us to succeed.   I think I've done pretty well, but still exploring my post-retirement options.  Yes mother, one day I will be that photographer you still tell me I should be! 

I had kids so someone else would have to clean my house!

Summer is amazing! I start off by saying this because my kids are home all day.  What do they do all day you ask?  Well - watch tv, eat, watch a movie, eat, throw dirty clothes on the floor and not in the basket, eat, watch more tv, eat....you get the general picture.  This morning all four of the kids were home.  Lovely I say.  I got up at 4:30 a.m. (when Jeff was making his way out the door to work), I went to the gym, came home to make breakfast, switch laundry over and get ready to go to work.  I decided I was going to make a list of chores for each kid to do.  It was simple!

Alyx 
1.  load and start dishwasher
2.  bring your clothes up from laundry table and put away
3. clean up after yourself!

Sade
1. unload dishwasher before going to Nana's
2. take laundry downstairs and switch load over

Connor
1. bring clothes up from laundry table and put away (correctly..not just thrown in a drawer)
2. pick up room so I can vacuum when I get home

A.J.
1.  same as Connor and pick up after yourself today do not make Sade do it for you

Simple right?  At 12:30 p.m. texts between me and Sade (I preface this with the fact I refer to my children sometimes by number of "birth order")

Me- "What's everyone doing?"
Sade - "2 and 4 are in their room playing a game and 1 and 3 are in their room picking up everything"
Me - "Well 2 and 4 better get their sh*t done too or its not gonna be pretty"
Sade - "K.  I was trying 2 C if done w/parts but not cooperating/listening"
Me - "Tell them (nicely) if they don't have it done in the next 30 mins I'm gonna call and they will be grounded from the tv & video games"
Sade - "LOL.  Nicely? jk"
Me - "Yes, you say nicely - mom said......."
Sade - "LOL okay."

Needless to say my lunch hour was consumed with calling to see if 2 and 4 had done their chores!

FYI - If you ever think about having four kids...come to my house for a couple of hours!

How? How? How? Why? Why? Why?

Yesterday, when leaving work my sister called me and we were discussing how much I love my job.  I probably don't have to explain how I mean that sarcastically.  During my 20 minute rant on how I basically do nothing productive, worthwhile or relatively important all day - my other line rang four times.  Yes, four times!  When I was done complaining and got off the phone I checked my phone.  Missed calls were from a friend, unknown number, my house, and my husband. 

First call I make - my house.  This was the conversation:

Me - "Did someone call me?"
Alyx - "Yes, I did.  When are you going to be home and what is for dinner?"
Me - "I get home the same time everyday Alyx.  Why didn't you ask Jeff ?"
Alyx - "Jeff isn't home."
Me - "What? He's not home?"
Alyx - "Nope, he left."

Second call I make to the unknown number.  It was A.J.'s football coach telling me the first practice is going to be Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 

Third, phone call is to my friend.  She was letting me know her son's birthday party is Saturday at 2 p.m.

Fourth call to my husband.  Goes like this:

Me - "Where are you?"
Jeff - "I'm on the couch."
Me - "Alyx just told me you were not home."
Jeff - "Well it might help if she left her bedroom more than once a day.  She might know I'm right here."
Me - "Wow, because she wanted to know when I was coming home and what is for dinner."
Jeff - "Ok? And what is for dinner?"

LOVE MY LIFE!

Stay tuned for Saturday's blog.   We've been invited to three birthday parties, I have a meeting at 10 a.m. and Alyx's birthday party will be at 6 p.m.  I think we'll be skipping a couple of birthday parties!

15 Year High School Reunion

Dinner at Houlihan's before we went to our 15 year high school reunion.

Officially feeling old after a night of dinner and drinking with my girls from our 15 year high school reunion.  We started at 5pm at Houlihan's, which I suggested might not be a good idea, and then off to our big reunion.  Well, not so big reunion I guess but more people than I thought I suppose.  We had fun and I think Jeff & I left around 12:30 a.m.  Needless to say we didn't wake up until after 11 a.m.   Old age really isn't so great.  Recovery time takes so much longer after the age of 30.  Just a warning...just sayin'

To tired to think......

When your day starts out at 6 a.m. no wonder a mom gets so exhausted she can't keep her eyes open.  People ask me all the time how I manage 4 kids.  Today my answer is, heck if I know!  Woke up at 6:30 a.m. on a "vacation day" to take the boys to football camp.  I woke them up, showered, got ready, got the boys breakfast, reminded them to brush their teeth & get dressed (like I really need to tell them that) and then drove them to football camp.  Sat at camp from 8 a.m. to Noon.  Jeff arrived around 10:30 a.m. stayed because I had to leave to get Sade to the eye doctor (which was a complete disaster), pick up Alyx from a friend's house, take Jeff to the dealership to pick up his truck and by the time I got home at 3 p.m. I had a massive headache and was exhausted.  No one explains this part of your life when you have kids...how do we manage?  Today I can't answer that for you, because it is 7:53 p.m. and I'm so tired I can barely function.  Watching a movie on the couch with my Alyx and drinking leftover sangria from the Fourth of July sounds much better.  Maybe I should just go to bed instead!

What did you say to me?

While eating lunch with my cousin at a very noisy Jimmy John's I get a call from Jeff.  Went something like this -

Sara - "Hello?"
Jeff - "Can you hear me?"  *very noisy in the background*
Sara - "No, I'm at Jimmy John's with Amanda.  I'll call you back."

Jeff calls me back - obviously didn't hear me say I can't hear him.

Jeff - "Can you hear me now?"
Sara - "Yes, I'm eating lunch what are you doing?"
Jeff - "I got fired."
Sara - "WHAT? You got fired or laid off?"
Jeff - "I got fired!  I  hit a guy at work."
Sara - "WHAT? SERIOUSLY?"
Jeff - "No.  Just kidding, I quit." *laughing hysterically*
Sara - "WHAT?  YOU QUIT?"
Jeff - "Yes, I start a new job on Monday." *still laughing hysterically*
Sara - "Ok.  I'm going to call you back after I eat lunch."  *not laughing*

Husband thinks he is funny!  Good thing he is cute.

Sh*tty Situation......

A typical Wednesday night - no kids and the entire  night to myself!  Awesome!  My plan - go home to change into workout clothes, go to Target to buy shampoo, conditioner and female products we can't live without, head off to the gym, and then call Jeff on the way home to see what he wants for dinner (even though I already know the answer - meatball sub from Subway).  As I get home, Jeff is there with the tech from DirectTV, because the last time he went to Best Buy he had to purchase something and apparently our DishNetwork was not good enough (a story for another day).  It did not look like it was going well.  So, I hurry to change clothes, tell Jeff I'm leaving to Target, ask if he needs anything and tell him I'll call when I'm done at the gym to see what is for dinner.  I make it to Target, purchase all the list items, and a few other things.  As I get back to my car I think, do I really want to go to the gym?  Of course not, so I decide to go shopping.  My 15 year high school reunion is Saturday and Lord knows I have nothing to wear.  I go inside the mall, drag myself into the Buckle (mistake #1), spend way to much money (mistake #2) on clothes I probably won't wear in 6 months (mistake #3), walk back to my car with this sick feeling I shouldn't have just went to the gym, and as I approach my car see purple bird crap ALL OVER the hood of my car.  Let me emphasize this had to be a very large bird.  I have NEVER seen this much bird crap in my life and it was PURPLE.  Really?  Now I'm really sick!  I call Jeff to see what he wants for dinner, shocking - Subway.  I drag myself there and when I get home I tell him to go check out my car.  He comes back upstairs laughing, "Did a taradactyl crap on your car?"  I'm so glad you find it amusing Mr. Ruch!  I think someone was trying to tell me something...stick with your Plan ...you should have taken your rear to the gym instead of shopping (don't tell my husband I said that..he already thinks I have plenty of clothes).

Conversation with a 7 year old

Immediately after I posted my first blog and said stay tuned........

A.J. calls me at work, on my cell phone not the work phone. He asked me if I was having fun at work. I laughed and said, "well of course". A.J. chuckles and so poignantly states, "Who would buy a job they don't like?" I just had to laugh at the thought of buying myself a new job. Then he goes into a 5 minute rant "I just wanted to tell you hi since I didn't see you before you left this morning. I was still asleep. Why didn't you wake me up to tell me bye? I'm playing on my video game and the car is black. Alyx made fun of me. We cleaned up my room. What time is dad picking us up today? What time do you get home?" Which question do you answer first? I love my son, he's the cutest thing and obviously the apple did not fall far from the tree. My mother would say, he sounds like Sara.

Start of a blog.....

It was today that I decided to start my blog. You can thank the many hours of phone conversions with my family and friends describing the latest escapade in our house. Which is also the reason for my title, Insanity and Hilarity Ensues. I can not begin to explain how much I adore my children, however anyone who knows us can tell you my children are hilarious. How I've kept my sanity is beyond me, other than maybe my husband (who is also quite hilarious) keeps me grounded. I've even joked that "if it's funny, you are most likely not in trouble".

So, it is today I will start my venture of blogging. Family and friends keep posted for the stories you so long to hear. If you ever need a laugh you know where to find us.