Long Time, No Blog

It has been a really long time since my last entry. I am not sure if anyone even follows this blog. I know that Richie does while he is at work. I think all of "his people" get a kick out of the happenings at the St John house!

As I reflect on the last several months, I can think of a lot that has happened since my last post. The family took their vacation in late July and drove to Boston! It was great. The kids travel really well, we are blessed there. Rich and I left the kids in the care of Auntie Deb and Dawn and the BatVan in the care of Uncle Bobby, and he and I went to Milwaukee for his FBI retrainer. We had lots of fun, just the two of us. That is the first time we have been off together without kids since we were expecting Payne. It was some much needed time away. When we returned to Boston, Rich took me to see the EAGLES at Boston Garden's! That was too cool. To be as old as they are, they can still rock! They went onstage at 8p.m. and when Rich and I left at 11:50 p.m. ( we only left because the last train out of Boston was at midnight!), they were still onstage!

There were no accidents while we were gone, until the day we were to leave to head back home and Payne was watching Uncle Bobby work on the motor for the waterfall for the pond in the backyard, and Payne put his little hand on the pump motor to brace himself so he could see the polywogs in the pond and burnt his hand. Rich, Auntie Deb and Payne made a quick trip to the ER and got it all wrapped up then we left for Alabama. He was no worse for the wear and was swimming again in just a few days.

While Rich and I were in Milwaukee, we both read a wonderful book. The Shack. My Sunday School teacher, Ms. Tommie encouraged us to read it. I loved it. Rich loved it. That is the first book I have read in years. If you get a chance to read it please do.

When we returned from Boston, school began. Emma is in the 5th grade, Meggers is in 1st and Payne is in 4P. It is hard to believe that in August, Emma will be in middle school and Payne will be in Kindergarten!

I promise to keep up with my blog this year because I don't keep up with family like I should and this is my way of saying that I love you all. I have good intentions but you know what they say about that!

I love you all and please let me know that you are reading this or else!!!

Angie

This pic was from Christmas Eve. Santa drove through our neighborhood on an old firetruck. We caught up with him and the kids jumped out and got pictures with him!

Summer Fun

Let's see, what have we been doing since school got out? Well, we started out at Water World and are now spending our days at another pool. We are having lots of fun and making lots of memories. We went to the beach for the day not too long ago. This was really the first time that Payne remembers the ocean. He told me that he liked the water, just not the sand and seaweed. The seaweed was only bad right at the shoreline, then the water was beautiful! Meg loved playing in the sand and Emma and Rich had fun using the face masks and checking out under the sea!! Here are a few Pics:

We are also getting ready for vacation. We leave the end of this month for Boston and Milwaukee. We are driving the kids to Rich's sister and he and I are flying to Milwaukee for an FBI Conference. This will be the first time since right before Payne was born that Rich and I have been away just the two of us! We are looking forward to getting to know each other again! We will return to Boston on the 30th and Rich bought me tickets to see The Eagles at Boston Gardens!! I am PUMPED. I love the Eagles and cannot wait to see them. This is my anniversary present. Rich and I have been married for 13 years and I love him more today than I did then. Really, I do. I just love him different than I did 13 years ago. If that makes any sense!!

Today, we worked in the yards, and after we finished and were cleaning up and watering flower beds, Meg and Payne decided they wanted to learn to ride bikes with no training wheels. Those who know Meg, know this was possible disaster!! She surprised me! Just a few more lessons and I think she will have it. Payne did great also, he is just a natural at everything. He reminds me more of his daddy everyday. There is not a whole lot that Rich does not do well. He masters everything, excepting Mac and Cheese! Payne is going to follow in his fathers footsteps. Here are a couple of Pics from the Bike Lessons:

Love you all,

Angie

I know...

Yes, it has been over a month. Trust me, lots has happened since my last post. Where do I start?

Emma had a science project to do. She choose to do it on Cyclones. I was surfing the web for info on the recent cyclone in Myanmar and she thought it would be interesting. We made a cyclone and Margaret helped with the display board. I think it turned out great.

Mary Meaghan graduated from Kindergarten! She absolutly loves school. She wanted to know if she was starting First Grade in June. I had to explain that we had a couple of months vacation then she would start 1st grade. She was sad at first but then I reminded her of Water World!

This is a picture of Meg-Meg and one of her teachers at Church. Anna surprise Meg by coming to her graduation. This made her day. After it was over, we checked her out of school so she and I could spend the day together, she choose to go with Anna!! Made me feel special!

T-Ball is over and I must say, I am a little sad. I love baseball. Those of you who have known me for a while know that this has always been a passion of mine. I can remember watching moms at highschool baseball games and I could not wait to have my son play ball. If I can brag, I am going to even if you don't want me to, Payne shows some real promise as a ball player. Several weeks ago, he had been begging his daddy to pitch to him. Rich did not think that he was ready, but boy was he wrong. He was hitting them!! Later, he wanted to go to the batting cages and once again, he was able to hit the balls! The best T-Ball game was against the Mets. Most of the kids on that team go to church with us. It was good it was T-ball, because we were all cheering for the RBC kids, regardless of teams. Before this game, we had a big cookout at our house. My mother, sister Debby and brother Eddy and his family were there along with our friends, Neil and Tiffany and their son Landon. Landon and Payne played ball together and Neil and Rich were the coaches. It was lots of fun. After the cookout, we all went to the game. It was really special for me to have my brother there to watch Payne play ball.

Play Ball!!

Well, friends, it has begun. T-Ball Season is now open. Saturday was opening ceremonies and God blessed us with the weather. It rained early Saturday morning and then quit before we even left the house. Each team was called out and names announced. As you can see, Payne is a proud Dodger! Rich is a pretty proud coach too!

I know that it seems that I only talk about Payne, but you must remember, he is with me more than the girls. Keep that in mind.

Meg-Meg is singing at school tonight for our PTA program. Her program is titled "I Like School and School Likes Me". She is soooo excited. She truly does love school. She is still a reading machine. She has read 60 something books since she came back from Christmas break. Way to go, Meg.

Emma had associational Bible Drills this past weekend. She needed 16 points to make it to District in Ozark and Emma got 13. She was upset, but we told her for her first time, that was great. Out of all the first timers, she scored the highest.

Maddi is on Spring Break this week and spending some time with us. Yesterday, we went to clean the van, that is usually Wednesdays job, but I did not do it last week. After that we went to the grocery store and strawberry patch. I think I have decided that I want her to come live with me! What do you think, Lisa, can we work out some kind of arrangement!

I hope you all have a great week and I will post pictures of Meg-Meg from her PTA program later and if I can get Emma's head out of the clouds, I will get some of her too.!!

GO DODGERS!

Happy Easter!!

Well, Easter Sunday was, as always, an event! The children looked precious. Buying clothes was nothing out of the ordinary. Payne is easy to shop for, shorts and a shirt. Meg-Meg was pretty easy also, she is still young enough that she knows she wears whatever we tell her too. Emma on the other hand, well, let's just say, I ran out of happy pills and tried to stay in the car on our last stop. Rich was not letting me off that easy though. We went to Kohls and managed to find a few things that did not make her or myself scream. She ended up looking beautiful. I just can't get over the fact that she is not my 4 year old daughter with the pretty little bishops anymore. I do not want her to grow up and I am steady losing that battle. She is a preteen and I do not like it one bit!!

I was polishing Meg's shoes Saturday night and they were all scuffed up. I thought to myself, why am I letting her wear this million dollar dress and shoes that look like they belonged in the garbage, well, I'll tell you why, I can remember being a little girl and my precious mother always bought me new shoes for Easter. I always had to wait till Easter Sunday to wear them and you guessed it, they hurt my feet so bad that I cried. I vowed that I would never do that to my girls!! I polished those shoes and no one noticed them against her beautiful little dress.

On Saturday night, Rich read Benjamin's Box to the kids before bedtime. Payne pulled out his treasure box and as Rich read each section, Payne would hold the corresponding piece of the story. That is an Easter tradition at our house. The kids love it. It is a great way to introduce the Easter story to young children. We started this when Emma was 3.

Payne had his teeth pulled on Wednesday before Easter, and as you can see he is very proud of his toothless grin!! The tooth fairy brought him dollars and he has hidden them from his sisters!! He starts T-Ball this week so I am sure that before long, we will have lots of ball park stories.

I hope you all have a good week and I love you all.

It has been a while

Well, it has been quite some time since my last post. I am sure that lots has happened that I have now forgotten so I will just make up stuff and pretend that it all happened to ME!!

I guess the newest thing is that I got a CPAP machine last week! How fun. Those of you who know me well, know that I peel the paint snoring. I used to think my Daddy snored loud. I used his snoring to know that he was Okay and breathing, I wish my loved ones felt the same way!

This is what my mask looks like, except mine has a blue gel pack inside, for comfort purposes!

Each morning when I wake up, my kids ask if I slept with my mask. I had one that just went in my nostrils but it rubbed a blister between my nose and upper lip, so I had to try a different one. Laugh if you want, but I already feel better. And for the Sisters, wait till our Labor Day Weekend trip!! We will all sleep better!

That is the latest saga at our house. Oh, Payne said this morning that his bluejeans made him look like a geek!

Love you all and I promise to blog again soon, even if I have to make something up!

The Middle Child

This, my friends, is Mary Meaghan. Need I say more.

Yes, I do need to say more. She is my princess! Rich has challenged me to be more loving towards her. I think the reason that she and I do not get along any better is, you guessed it, we are just alike.

Meg-Meg, as we call her, is precious. She is the life of the party. She is also the family attorney! She mediates for everyone, especially her daddy. As most of you know, she was only 17 months old when Payne was born. She referred to him is "That". She was denied her special time between 18 months and 3 years. I think she is just making up for lost time. We love to pick on her about her STRONG Northern accent. Rich's family all live in Boston and she talks just like she grew up there.

Meg-Meg has started reading. Actually, I was informed that she has been able to read for quite some time, but she has just recently let me in on that little secret! She comes home everyday and can't wait to climb in my lap and read me her library book. This is shocking to us because she hated to be read to when she was little. The picture is from our favorite summer hangout, Water World. She was probably mad at me for who knows what.

This is a true depiction of Meg-Meg, beautiful, isn't she. Emma used to say, when Meg was little, that she had eyes like Blueberries!

Payne's Teeth

This was just after returning from all the Doctor's visits. The sunglasses were a prize from Dr. Bess.

This was the next morning. For those who don't know the whole story, Mary Meaghan would not go anywhere near Payne until the swelling went down in his gums. Made for some quite days at my house cause you all know, when the two of them get together, well... It was really sweet though, Mary Meaghan cried every time she looked at him.

This is the best he could do at showing his gums.

Friends

I have been thinking alot lately about a dear friend of mine, Betsy. She and her husband live in Pennsylvania. Betsy and I go way, way back. She has been my friend for as long as I can remember. We went to church together and one night she spent the night with me and I am sure that Betsy can remember eating crackers and cheese on the baby mattress that was under my bed. Don't ask me why my mother kept a baby mattress under my bed. You would just have to know my mother!!

That night started a beautiful friendship. Betsy was two years older than me and sometimes it was hard because she was at different stages in life than I was, but eventually things evened out and I think we are probably on the same page now.

As I watch my oldest daughter mature and form friendships, I am reminded of Betsy. I pray for God to send her Christian friends that will always be there for her. I also pray that she will be a positive Christian influence on them. Betsy was always there for me, no matter what, she always loved me, even when I was not lovable. Betsy and I have shared some really special things. When her father died, I hurt for my friend. I felt her grief in such a powerful way. I think that was when I truly felt and knew the definition of friendship. Betsy hurt and grieved with me when my father died.

Even though I have not talked to her in a while, (she won't stay in one state long enough!!) I know that we could pick up right where we left off.

One of my favorite things

Okay, so this is Payne Richard, born October 24, 2003. He was such a surprise to us all, except Emma!

All mom's need a son. This little boy is such a sweetie. Most of the time! He is not a very affectionate child though. He does not like anyone to see him give his mommy hugs and kisses. He says that morning smoozies are for mom and night smoozies are for dad!! Afternoon smoozies are for no-one!

One of my favorite things are Payne's two front BLACK teeth. Yes, I know that may seem strange to you but let's remember that this is a private blog, only for friends and family, so you guys already know that I am strange. As for those of you who don't know the "rest of the story", here it is:

In July 2007, my children were at Water World with my sister, Lisa. I had gone to the doctor about my knee, (that story is reserved for another post!). I had just returned to WW and gotten in the wave pool with Lisa when Payne asked if he could jump in. Sure, I said. Our friend, Margaret, was there to catch him if he needed it, but he was doing really well. Then he decided he would show off for his favorite lifeguards, and started jumping off backwards. Well, I am sure that you can imagine what happened next. Yes, he hit his mouth on the pool deck. I was watching from the knee deep waters of the wave pool, when I saw Eliot jump in and emerge with my son in his arms, nothing but blood from the nose down.

After getting him to the first aid room and determining that the blood was coming from his mouth, I called the dentist, she was out until 3 p.m. Keep in mind it was 1 p.m. Lisa and I took him home and I got nervous and took him to the Pediatrician who then referred us to Dr. Bess, who is a really good looking oralmaxofacial surgeon. After visiting three doctors that day, Payne went home with a really monked up grill and lots of bloody towels.

Well, over six months later, Dr. Wright feels that it would be best to remove the damaged teeth. They are baby and he will loose them in the next few years anyway. If this had been one of my girls, I would be heartbroken, but he is a BOY and those of you who know him, know that he is 100% BOY. I will try to post a better pic, so that all will see how BLACK those two front teeth really are.

Just one of my favorite things...

Getting Started

This is all new to me. I was introduced to blogging when an acquaintance was recently in the middle of spending the last few months with her mother who was terminally ill with cancer. I thought, what a neat thing. I enjoyed reading her blogs and begin to think that this would be something I would enjoy.

I talk to my sister almost every morning on her daily commute to work. We must enjoy our time together at 5 am. You see, I have three children and trying to catch-up with loved ones is not possible when the two younger ones are awake. Don't get me wrong, they are not wild animals, (okay, yes they are!), children just want your attention when they can't have it. I don't want to miss telling loved ones anything. I want to share it all with each of them. I just can't do it everyday. I already should be folding laundry instead of this, but this is much more fun!!

I want you all to enjoy. As I learn more about this process, I will post daily pics and every little thing I can.

I love you all and hope you enjoy.