It's okay if you are jealous.....

We are always working on projects to make our outdoors more beautiful and relaxing! The mayor has also hired a handsome man to take care of the yardwork.......no, he is not taking new clients. sorry.

The deck is our favorite spot in the morning. We just bring the indoor toys out!

I am now taking reservations for people to come sit in my new deck furniture. Prime seating times are morning hours before 11 and evenings hours after 7. If you've ever been on my deck you know why.......it is too H-O-T.

Kate demonstrating how relaxing the couch is.......................ahmmmmmmm.

Now if we can just get enough dry days in a row, we really need to get to work on sanding and re-staining the deck and swingset! Anyone want to help?

Softball Girl

Her first hit this year.

Playing 3rd

First at bat

Playing 1st

Awards Ceremony

I totally forgot to mention the most exciting thing that happened today....
Tess had her school awards ceremony and she received 3 awards!!

She got an award for "Responsibility" that was given to several kids for being organized, turning in their assignments on time and done correctly, etc. etc.
She also got an Outstanding PE award. Did not see that one coming......neither did she, she said. :) I mean, she's coordinated and all, but to the point of being Outstanding?????? Good job Tess!
Her third award was for Outstanding Academic Achievement. That's my girl! She has gotten this award in both 1st and now 2nd grade and we are thrilled. What an honor.

They give out many awards, most describing a personality trait/characteristic that we should all strive to have. My favorite is the "caring" award, and that is the one I want my kids to get, and I even said as much to the mom sitting next to me. When we got home and Tess was talking about the different awards, she said "there's an award for being a caring person. I want to get that one someday." It brought a tear to my eye.
NOW, THAT'S MY GIRL!!!

For Sale

Went to the orthodontist today. I thought selling one of my kidneys would cover it, but now am considering selling one of Andy's also. Let me know......

So we sat down with the good doctor and discussed her "entire profile" which included pictures of some JACKED UP teeth in my otherwise perfect daughter. We had a spacer placed today on one side, and will have one placed on the other side when the teeth fully come in. Remember that Tess's teeth fall out and grow back in on their own time. They don't necessarily follow any normal development schedule. Next will be an expander on the top and rubber bands on the bottom to slow down the growth of her lower jaw. Finally will be the braces at age 10 or 11 to pull everything together in an organized fashion, I guess. I got lost after "first she will need spacers......"

He also informed us, that in a small population of people, this entire process is null and void and the jaw grows wrong anyway and surgery has to be done. WHAT?!?!?! After all this work and money and trips to the office we could still end up surgically correcting this? I seriously hope cutting into my baby's jaw and wiring it shut for weeks is NOT in our future.

The best part came when it was time to discuss the financial portion of our journey. They gave us option A and option B and both of them made me want to laugh out loud. Where are options C,D, and E? Option A was to pay the entire balance in full. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Option B was to pay a considerable downpayment and then fairly large monthly payments for 20 months. The downpayment they wanted today was over $1000. next option, please......

We left without paying a dime today. And we still got a spacer put in.

How? Two things, really. I mentioned that I knew what another family had put down initially and what they were paying monthly, which varied considerably from option B. AND I questioned why if the work was going to take over 3 years they needed all of this paid off in less than 2. I mean REALLY?!?!?! The lady was very nice and quickly said "sure! Whatever works best for your family!" REALLY?!?!?! Why wasn't it presented that way in the first place? How many parents have been totally screwed out of option C?

By the way, we found out today that Tess does not even have wisdom teeth. There is a 5% population of people that will not have them. Those are some pretty interesting odds. Maybe we should consider going to the casino to pay for all this work.

Nope, luck already ran out. Tess just showed me how the spacer wire has fallen out(almost) and we are going to have to go back tomorrow. They said not to eat anything chewy or sticky for fear of pulling the wire out. Well, I do not consider my ghetto fabulous Hamburger Helper to be either sticky or chewy and yet we have a loose wire. This is going to be a looooong couple of years.

a bite of reality sandwich

I've become an avid reader of a blog found through a friend of a friend of a friend of a family member's friend......you get the picture. Anyway, the blog is written by a mother dedicated to journaling about her child's rare genetic disorder called CHARGE syndrome. The mom had a totally normal pregnancy, and had no idea her son had this syndrome until she met him face to face for the first time. This syndrome is a BIG deal and this poor sweet little boy has had a very difficult first seven months of life. Today his parents met with his care team(yes I said TEAM because it takes 20 plus specialists to keep him alive) and found out that they had the most heart breaking decision to make.....whether or not to continue doing the "above and beyond" measures to keep their baby alive.
WOW.
I am tearful as I write this because I am feeling pretty humbled by their reality right now. Pretty much puts my previously mentioned life-changing decision into perspective. My reality feels pretty insignificant compared to theirs.
I'm thinking we all need to send a mental hug to our loved ones RIGHT NOW.

Change......

Change is brewing in Crazytown........
There is something exciting and disturbing about trying to make life changes. I don't sleep well, and I find myself thinking about it all the time. Sometimes I even get a little too focused on the details and forget the big picture. The worst, though, is when I think "Yes! this is going to be CAKE!" and then I (or Andy) think of another new problem and .........back to square one. The biggest problem of all is that this involves so much more than just Andy and I. My girls are the most important consideration of all........how will change affect them?
Anyone wondering what the ^%#^ is going on? It's too early to divulge, and might be too out-of-this-world possible to even happen.
Prayers, I need your prayers.

Yook Mommie!

Picture Jane in the bath tub by herself. I go to get her out of the tub and she says"Yook Mommie! Rocks!"
Picture Jane holding little "rock" sized pieces of her POOP for me to yook at.
Picture me draining the tub, scrubbing all the toys, cleaning out the tub, and then laughing.
They did yook yike yittle rocks.

Smooth Criminal

Andy took Kate and Jane to the Verizon store today to buy a new phone. They came home with TWO new phones.....but only paid for ONE.
The sales rep guy was sooo nice letting Jane and Kate be entertained by some "demo" phones while Andy completed the paperwork, etc. etc.
Kate decided the demo phone was going to fit all her cell phone needs, so she stuck it in her pocket and brought it home.
Next was a phone call from uber-cool store guy letting us know that the phone was not in the store and "might one of your girls have it?" he asked.
When confronted with the question she told Andy that she really liked the phone but was afraid he would say she couldn't have it, so just took it.
OMGoodness.
Now here is the next problem. Do we make her take it back and say sorry (I half vote yes, Andy half votes yes) or do we return on our own and just make this a ginormous teaching opportunity.
I don't believe Kate went into the store with the intent to steal. I really don't even know her grasp of the concept. She spent the entire afternoon in a funk and gets tearful when talking about it, promising to never ever do it again. When I say words like police, law, and jail, she gets big eyes and the uh-oh look.
Her uh-oh look is so cute.
Should I worry about it becoming her future mug shot?

BIZ-ZAY

I can't believe it is already May 19th....
First I must start this post with a birthday wish for my mom#2. Happy Birthday Linda! She has graciously allowed her family to blow off celebrating Mother's Day AND her birthday....but did you know it was because she was in Hawaii?!?! I love you Linda. Hope your co-workers make up for what your family hasn't had time to do......
Now, for the Martens Month of May Mayhem. Just a quick recap of the highlights, I won't bore you with the little details...but be sure that it is the details that make our days so packed.

I started off the month with a 12 year friendship anniversary trip to Branson with my bff Tricia. After driving through a hurricane, we had two days of shopping and two nights of trying to sleep in a noisy hotel. In between was lots of laughter and girl talk.

Tess had a piano recital on the 3rd. She did great. The kids were nervous, and all of them played their songs like they were on crack, but it was good experience learning to play for an audience.

We had our first appointment for Tess with an orthodontist. OF COURSE she needs things done, and yes, it is going to cost a fortune. We go back next week to see her "complete dental record and financial package." Anyone need a kidney? I've got two and I'm thinking of selling one.

Our carpets got cleaned. Normally that would not be considered blog material, but they were so dirty, and they look so good(for being crappy carpet) that I am totally jazzed. Three words: Pratt Carpet Care. Call Rod, he does good work.

Tess's team played their first softball game last Saturday and WON! She caught a ball while playing 1st base that got a girl out, and went 2 for 3 hitting. I was so proud of her for adjusting her swing speed after her first at-bat was a strike out. Andy went over and said that the pitching machine was throwing slower that the one they use during practice. Whether or not Tess had also noticed that, I don't know, but she adjusted her swing and her next two at-bats were line drives. Go Bulldogs!

Later that same day, in the cold and rain, I went with 20+ teenagers to Shinefest at Worlds of Fun. I was wet, I was cold, and I was seriously questioning my decision to help sponsor this activity. When I signed up, I was picturing(dreaming of) a beautiful, sunny, 70 degree day! By 8:15PM(!) the main concert started and tobyMac took the stage. I was in awe. I was amazed. I was TOTALLY THRILLED to be there. Quite possibly the best concert I have ever been to. Not to mention that the audience was primarily teens (with a few adults sprinkled in between) that were there to praise God. What a JOY. If you've never heard of tobyMac, I encourage you to find their songs.....but be prepared to want to dance. I'm not kidding. It is that good. This is SOOOO not the Christian music they had when I was a kid.....I feel totally cheated out of a wonderful way to praise God and feel connected to Him.....but I am so thankful to have it now.

Kate had her last day of school on Monday. She is now thrilled to be able to say that she is in "Pre-K." What a blessing to have two kids, so far, that LOVE going to school and LOVE being outgoing and playful kids. I don't know what I'd do if I had a shy, clingy one....

Okay, I think that is most of it.....there have been softball practices, meetings, piano, youth group, and our three jobs (mine is yuck, yuck, triple yuck) sprinkled in between. I seriously need to post more often.
Now for a few funnies: Earlier this morning Kate had a purse packed and said she was going on a trip far far away. "To where?" I asked. "Some place far away like Africa?" "No, Conneticut" she tells me.
Kate just bit Jane and left teeth marks. It was while they were playing like they were animals, but still.....
Time for the Mayor to get biz-zay and start this day.

The Olympics of Preschool Gymnastics

Bridge

Beam

Vault

Bling!

Today was the final day of Kate's preschool gymnastics. Here are some pictures of the end of the year Olympics. The girls competed against each other in bridges, forward roll, cartwheel, bar, and vault. Kate came away with 2-1sts, 2-2nds, 1-3rd, 1-4th, 1-5th. What a great afternoon of friendly competition. We picnic with these girls every Monday and will miss the time to play, and the mother's time to chat.

Just a Swingin'

Hi-Five with Unkie John

Monkey Girl



Doesn't she looks so big?

Mother's Day pictures

Fancy toes


The Martens girls

My mom and brother.....and me

Fair Warning

I am giving you fair warning that in the next few days I will be playing catch up with my blogging. A couple of posts ago I mentioned how busy our summer will be....turns out I should have said spring and summer, because I've had to jot down my post ideas on a piece of scrap paper to keep up with my life.
So be prepared to read and scroll down, read and scroll down, read and scroll down..........
Hope it turns out to be worth your time :)

Happy MEther's Day!

What a wonderful Mother's day!
Yesterday I took the girls and my mother for pedicures......now we have beautiful, fancy, bedazzled toes.
Today I received breakfast in bed(a granola bar and a diet Mt Dew) and oodles of hand made gifts. For the last hour I've been able to watch CBS Sunday Morning without so much as a peep of noise from my three girls......I am lovin' this day!
After church, the wives/baby mamas (I happen to qualify for both of those titles) of the firefighters on Andy's shift will be treated to lunch at the fire station. Should be a good, and crazy time.
Jane just brought me toenail polish and is pointing to her toes.....I think she is jealous she didn't get to go with us yesterday.
Time to start my day.
I love my life!