whats a middle child to do???

So Hunter's having a rough day... this happens every summer about this time, he feels his lot in life is to be the poor picked on middle child who is completely and totally over looked, under appreciated and just all around stepped on... He's jealous today that KayLea has a birthday party to go to and got an invite to swim at a different friends house before the party and then she's spending the night at a completely different friend after the party... He further boosts his arguement that Brad got to go shooting last night with boy scouts... he feels that because Brad and KayLea got to do fun things he should automatically be able to go spend loads of money buying junk he doesn't need because "isn't that fair?"

Unfortunately for him he feels he is only dammed in that BOTH of his parents are OLDEST children and so we not only have NO sympathy for him we get down right irritated by his tantrums and tirades about how much his life sucks!!!

We have gone above and beyond (in my professional opinion!) to make sure he is made to feel like his own person, we have pleaded with teachers to not compare him to his older brother they are just different boys, in EVERY possible way... I felt it was a GREAT thing that Brad went back home earlier than him so HE could be the BIG cousin and he really rose to the occasion...

We are REALLY hoping football this year will some what help in his constant feeling of injustice.. Football is HIS alone.. Brad has no desire to play (and feels like he'd be broken in two if he ever tried such a sport).. and of coarse KayLea won't ever play so he has the opportunity to really make this his own..

but really.. calling all middle children, what can we do to help him feel just as special as the others and just as special as we feel he is... a disclaimer.. we aren't willing to send Brad and KayLea off to boarding school...
ta ta

catching up on some pictures

So Here are some pic's from Old Home day... the pic's I have of the casted dog are on my phone so i'll have to wait until i'm somewhere where I have a signal to e-mail them to myself.. (i know what a process!)
anyway enjoy.. we are doing good, we spend our days at the lake when it's not raining (which is happening allot)..
enjoying the last 4 weeks of summer for us, seems like it just started.. oh wait it DID just start!!!

ta ta

HP 6

So we took the kids yesterday to see the latest installment of Harry Potter.. it didn't disappoint at least to the over 7 crowd, it was a tad bit long for KayLea but that wasn't entirely surprising since although she wants DESPERATELY to be a big kid and like and be "in to" Harry she hasn't read the books (or had them read to her.. we tried but she tired very quickly of that when the boys were going through them)... I've heard on a few entertainment'y things that the next movie will come out next year that in my book is GOOD I don't know if I could handle letting this drag on 4 more years?! who am I kidding, I'd go again if it was 10 years...

While I was sitting at the movie answering for the millionth time why we arrived early (we got there aprox 45 min before the movie started) and explaining to the kids because it's going to be packed, and in turn the kids saying "hey you were right".. (yes I didn't mind that part AT ALL!) watching the previews was interesting.. have you noticed (if you've been to a first run movie lately.. I hadn't before yesterday in a while) they must be running out of movie ideas??? I mean does every children's book REALLY translate into a movie??? "Cloudy with a side of meatballs" is coming out sometime this year.. all my kids have read it all of them like it but a movie?? really??? and how about the classic "where the wild things are" I mean it's not even an animated one, ( CGI puppets yes, animation no) and even the boys said "how do you turn an 8 page book into a full length movie"... and that kinda goes for the side of meatballs book too!

I am not as "read" as my mother, she is who I go to when the boys are stuck for a book report book having to be a certain genre, or if we are the night before a book report is due and I haven't read the book (happens more than you think!) and I have a crying son who claims "the book I read doesn't have a theme" HA! BUT I'm here to say books are BOOKS and movies are MOVIES.. why do we have to make everything into a MOVIE??? I'm not opposed to books being made into movies on a whole, there are some that scream to be on the screen HP I think is one of those.. a few others also, but I don't think I have ever said after reading "where the wild things are" "hey I'd LOVE to see that on the big screen"... why can't we enjoy both genre's separately must they always collide???

case in point "Cat in the Hat"... I have to admit it's not my favorite children's book but I've read it to all my kids.. (it's Dr Seuss after all I think CPS would be called if I didn't!) when the movie came out the bright colors and big name actors loured me into the theatre.. the movie wasn't BAD but honestly the movie had VERY few correlations to the book... it would have been just as good had they named it Dr Seuss rather than the title of the book...

Anyway that's my rant.. with so few Children's movies to choose from I'm bound to see at least one of the movies that are from a kids book... call me a sell out!

ta ta

2 more weeks!!!

So our little doggie Rowdy and his mending broken leg are doing pretty good BUT since we've been home we've had to replace his cast TWICE!!! I guess we are just too much excitment for him but today after paying through the tooth again we were told if we can just keep him down TWO MORE WEEKS we might be able to be done with the whole fiasco... we were prescribed sedatives again and told his crate and outside on a leash for potty breaks is all the excietment he can handle for now... and so the whinning begins!!! he really is a good little dog so hopefully when this is all over I can remember that again...

I guess I didn't really give much info on my new job, The job I got at the School is for a One on One aid to a mentally disabled 4th grade boy, I'm still questioning if i'm cut out for this kind of thing but figure I can put up with anything for a school year (I know from my lips to gods ears ha!) I'm pretty excited, and more excited that I need ABSOLUTELY no child care and I won't be scrambling on snow days etc. etc. BUT it will also mean I need to be back when school starts so no more extending christmas, spring and feb breaks a day or so to avoid the rush back home... but I guess I have to be a grown up working girl sometime...

Anyway thats all for now, I have a pic of the dog to post just havn't reduced yet i'll post that later..
ta ta

We are home, with good news abound!

So we got home last Thursday, we have recovered and the spoiled children are realizing we didn't pack their grandparents in the suit cases so "come back to reality" it's setting in nicely...

So we also came back to news that I GOT THE JOB at the school, I'm still nervous if I am cut out for this type of thing but I'm feeling good about it and really I needed to find something because financially things aren't so great in the Fox home... they have cut Ben's overtime to almost nothing so this job will help us get our heads above water.. ALSO, I'm happy to announce Ben got a paid position COACHING SOCCER at the middle school, Last year was SUCH a disaster for Brad that he had talked about volunteering for this up coming soccer season, when Brad brought home the notice saying he was signed up for next fall etc. etc. it also said they were looking for a new coach, We kind of thought it was a Volunteer position but that's what Ben was thinking anyway he e-mailed the asst principal (and athletic director for the school) he wanted to meet him in person; he did and immediately was offered a CONTRACT! the money isn't the reason he's doing it BUT it will definitely help fray the cost of not picking up ANY overtime (if there was any to begin with) so he can be at the soccer field after school EVERYDAY... he will be the "B Team" (Jr. Varsity) coach, there's no guarantees he will even be coaching Brad (Brad kind of hopes he'll make the A team) but regardless he's happy and excited for this new adventure..

So that's all the happenings at the fox home we had "Old Home Day" last sat and once again the Kayaking company offered free rides, we decided to skip the fireworks this year as they didn't even start until 9:30 and Brad had just come home from Scout camp and we all were beat but I guess we missed quite a show the fireworks barge caught on fire and was a huge ball of flame.. the kids were bummed we missed it ha!

so that's all I have for now...
ta ta

pictures

hey all

here are a couple of pictures I could download from someone at camp who did the slide show.. they are cute i'm still in Chicago so this is what you do to kill 6 hours! boy do I miss high speed internet I downloaded these pic's (with out converting or making them smaller!) in about a third of the time it takes me at home.. the first is a pic of some of "my girls" shivering the next the group pic then Cheri Tew and I (the person I couldn't have lived with out during this very hard week) and the last of our bishop during bishop's night (he's on the right)..

enjoy

ta ta

back but running

So Camp is done, it was a great week a VERY WET week, we didn't have ANY sun until Yesterday when we were going home... now i'm in Chicago awaiting my flight to Little Rock to join Hunter and KayLea at my parents house... I have a 6 hour layover because I insisted that i met Brad here on his transfer from Little Rock to Manchester (to get back home to go to Scout Camp next week).. He did great, he checked himself in, got on the standby list and gave his ticket etc. he didn't even need my Dad to go through security.. i'm having to really realize He's not a little boy anymore and he can handle himself in these situations, my only issues are I can see the "what if's" in this situation, what if he got stuck, what if he got bumpped.. its the stuff thats out of my control that just give me the willies... but i'm sure after this he will have grand plans to go visit various grandparents on his own in the not so distant future..

Anyway, i'm glad Camp is done, i've told them i'd do it again next year as long as the kids schedules don't conflect...
i've got pictures to post but I can't get my card reader to work on Ben's laptop so I may have to get a new one...

so ta ta for now!