At the end of February we celebrated my oldest son Kevin for receiving his Eagle Scout Award! Not too many Boy Scouts achieve this award let alone at the age he was when he completed his.(15) It takes alot of hard work and dedication!



It was nice to see all the kind things many people at to say about him! As his mother I am very proud of him and I know he well deserves it!



Just know this Kevin...your little brothers look up to you and they want to follow you in the Boy Scout journey!

things I am hearing right now....

Dog barking at the cat

Me yelling at cat to get out of kitchen and dog to shut up!

11 year old telling 16 year old to get off the X-box its her turn and her show is on

16 year old yelling back saying I am not going to be home at all on Sunday and you will have all day to watch TV

11 year old in here now telling me to do something as I ignore her

Cat is meowing at me for who knows what reason and the dogs is panting very heavy

5 year old coming to explain to me in details on the fight still going on between 11 year old and 16 year old on who spends more time on the TV in the living room

Someone rattling a bag...thinking that is the cat

Must be....dog is now again barking at the cat as I still hear the bag

Quietness from my 8 year old...she always stays out of it.

5 year old trying to play referee

11 year old calling for (still ignoring..is that real mean of me)

wow now 8 year old is calling the cops on the 16 year old and 5 year old is counting down...

a pot of stuffed cabbage boiling on my stove top...

still limited on time

so I get asked often how do you do it? My answer I have no ideal we just do. I was actually off on a Saturday but no rest for me. This morning soccer games was supposed to start at 10 am for RY RY but was cancelled because of snow/cold so I am thinking well heck B's game at 11 will be cancelled too....nope it wasn't. So out in the cold me and the kids went. Forgot to take chairs which was fine cause it was warmer to move around. The sun peeked for about 3 minutes and it felt like it went from 35 to 70. After that I had to go sign Brittney up for Softball(late last minute thing) so an hour after we get home we get the phone call the the first practice is today at 4. Yikes!! Had to hurry and clean up then get the troops out the door to go by Softball stuff and then ordered Pizza out since that meant no time to cook then too pick Mark up from work all by 3.

So Softball practice last about 30 minutes cause it was colder than this morning...so then hurry home cause Mark was taking B to the Carnegie Science Center for a Boy Scout Sleepover and had to be there by 6.

Did I forget to mention I have been up since 3 am thanks to my wonder dog and cat...for some reason they both were barking/meowing wanting outside wanting to play all night and I was the lucky one to tend to them... I am so exhausted and my house is showing for that right now...but there is always Sunday.

So now my week will kinda look like this

Mon Brittney GS
B Boy Scouts
mom works

Tue Ryan soccer practice
mom work
mom Girl Scout leader meeting

Wed Alyssa Dance
B soccer practice
Mom work

Thur Brittney dance
Brittney softball practice

FridayRyan Soccer practice
mom work

Sat Brandon and Ryan Soccer games
Brittney Softball practice.

Now I did not throw in a few apts I also have too during mornings and afternoons..that just evening. And I have to say my husband is awesome cause this week alot falls on his shoulders cause I work alot of nights this week.

I also did not add my 16 year old and his activities...

Have a Blessed weekend!!!

needed lessons from Cookie Monster

This happens all too often in my house! Should just buy icing and let them eat it out of the can!

devote myself to Blogging(Well gonna try)

I cant believe how long its been since I blogged....I thought by having all 5 of my kids in school at one time all day would free up more time for me to update this but I was wrong. Also I am still drawn into Facebook... But here it goes...

So for all the few people who actually read it here it goes... A little review..

Well the kids are now 16, 11, 8, 6 and 5 and all doing as good as they could be!

Kevin is in 10th grade and still active in the HS band, ROTC and the Boy Scouts and I am proud to say he juts made his Eagle Scout last month and we are very proud of him! He will be working at The local pool again this summer hoping to save up money for that car he wants.

Brittney is enjoying her last year at the elementary school before heading to middle school which she is looking forward too. She is still in Girl Scouts and bridging over to Cadettes in May. She is now playing the Trombone and Viola at school. She went back to Dance this year which surprises me she is my tough one of the bunch.

Alyssa is Alyssa..lol. She is my laid back one but yet is getting her little girl attitude. She started playing the violin this year and is still dancing away which she loves. She is still in Girl Scouts and will be bridging to Juniors in May and I am lucky to be her leader of her troop.

Brandon is well my most rounded out kid...easy to get along with but yet stubborn with a charm. He is starting to play soccer again and joined the Boy Scouts this year too.

Ryan started KDG this year and its all day and he is doing well. Since he was diagnosed with Aspergers (type of Autism) he gets pulled out for a few hours a day to an Autistic support class but he is doing so well academically that they are weaning him with the regular class but he just has to work on some of his social skills. He starts playing soccer for the first time so we will see how that goes...

Me and hubby...well working and doing all the parent/spouse jobs too. My husband is helping out with Boy Scouts this year and I am still a Girls Scout leader. As for having more babies....hhhmmm...we shall see what happens

I am going to try to post some pics throughout the week of some things from the last year...so be warned..it might even include Christmas pics too! til then..

Have a Blessed day!

I see the end of summer comming

Yes this week is all in high 70's low 80's which is better than the 90's that we have seen more this summer than most other summers here in western Pa. School starts in one week and I see the calendar starting to feel p very fast. Kevin just finished band camp..felt bad..many band directors from all the local schools said they never remember band camps being that hot and hardly no rain...on Friday they marched at Kennywood and we took all the kids(thanks to my sister for giving me her extra tickets) but man was it packed. I am actually in the process of ordering season tickets for next summer. Kennywood just started that this year and coming up with over $600 at one time was not easy so we didn't do that this year. But while I was there the other day I asked if they were doing it again and they said yeah and if you buy it today you can apply your admission from today to the price and get to use it the rest of the season...hhhmmm.

So on the phone I went...called my mom and explained to her(that would cost me $68 instead of $89) how great of a deal...I mean my sister did give the tix for free so that was a bonus and with Kennywood being 10 minutes from my house I could take them on weekends in Sept for a few hours then I have all next year. So my mom is going to charge them(I have no charge cards...sometimes its a good thing sometimes its a bad thing) and I will pay her a little every month. So blessed to have her do that for me! Kids don't know yet...I was going to give it to them for Christmas but if I could use it this season then might as well...its usually not busy in Sept..just the locals since vacations are over.

So look out Kennywood next summer...the Grahams will be there alot! ANd if anybody ever visits this area and goes to Kennywood next summer let us know...we will surely stop by! :)

its how you live!

I came across a blog today of a mother of 4 who almost lost her life in a plane crash and was in a coma for a few months and now because of her faith is doing exactly what she wanted to do..be a mother, wife and a daughter of Christ even though she does not look the same as she did before the accident..I watched her video for the Mormon church she did and it was very touching.

And because I am labeled a "creeper" by my kids I was creeping in her old archives and looked at her posts before the accident...even like a few days before and in my mind I just thought.. wow only if her and her husband knew that in a few days this tragic accident would happen and change their life's forever.

This shows that you never know what is going to happen..live for today likes its your last..leave a legacy..live the life that our God wants you to live. Also Faith and a good relationship with our heavenly Father can get us through even the most tragic events in our lives and sometimes can even make you become stronger.