From: The Schneider Family

Happy 8th Birthday Blake!!!

Can you believe this kid is 8?  Hard to believe that in just a few short weeks Blake will be getting baptized.  Blake is so much fun!  He says the funniest things and is totally serious about it.  You have to be careful what you say to Blake.  He's quick on his feet and he will come back with some of the best responses.
 

Example: 

Blake - Lindsay, will you help me get some milk?  Me - Just a second. 

Blake -One.

He cracks me up.  He always puts a smile on my face.  Even when he's angry and gets all tense and red and stomps up every single step to his bedroom while saying mean things through his teeth-I still smile!

Blakers, I love you so much.  Thank you for being such a fun part of our family!  Have a GREAT birthday!!

Pity Party

As unattractive as it is and as hard as it is to admit, I've been  feeling a little sorry for myself lately.  Do you ever just get in one of those moods where you know you have nothing to complain about, yet you feel the need to complain about everything?  Well, that's the kind of mood I've been in the last few days. 
Maybe it's the change in the weather around here, or hormones, or lack of exercise, or stress about the upcoming holidays.  Whatever it is, it's getting the best of me at the moment.  Unfortunately my husband is taking the brunt of it.  I love him so much yet he seems to be my go to guy when it comes to needing to take out some frustration.
Josh tells me quite often that I'm a pessimist.  I'm beginning to believe him.  Not that I don't want to see the good in every situation, I'm just an analyst by nature and I tend to OVER analyze any given situation.  I'm not sure how this bad habit started, but I'd sure like to figure out a way to stop it. 
I've been feeling really left out of life lately.  Like I'm not around.  Kind of like I'm watching everything from the sidelines.  I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that Ryson is getting older and is very self reliant (Which should make a mother proud right?).  Some of it is because my husband is very capable of doing anything (and everything) that needs to be done (Which should take the burden off a wife right?).  The irony of it all is that I've always WANTED the stress and chaos of being a MOTHER and lately it seems as though being a mother is the last item on my 'to do' list.
I had taken a side job a few months ago to see if I could transition into doing something on my own (at home).  I quit that job Monday.  Not that I couldn't do it, not because the extra money wasn't nice,  but because it was one more thing 'to do'.  I wasn't happy going from one job to another twice a week.  It just meant missing out on what is/isn't happening at home (which is really where I want to be anyway).
I feel to busy, yet not busy enough all at the same time.  It's hard to explain and this is only the tip of the iceberg, but I needed to get it off my chest so that I can take a deep breath and reset.
I have a wonderful life, we've worked really hard to get where we are today.  I need to buck up and realize that I should be THANKFUL that I am surrounded by people that LET me 'watch from the sidelines'.

Happy 16th Birthday Zak!!!!

We are so proud of you and ALL of your 16 years!!! 

Halloween...Again

I know I posted about Halloween not to long ago, unfortunately we got to do it all again.  haha

Last night we had a bunch of friends over for chili and cornbread and let the kids go run around the neighborhood begging for candy.
It's kind of nice that they are old enough that you can just give them a curfew and set them loose and not have to walk all over (usually in the cold) watching them go door to door.
Ryson is getting too old for trick-or-treating but he just couldn't bring himself to stay home.  He and his friends decided that they all needed to get together and go.  He didn't have a costume or any idea of what he was going to be but we told all of them that if they were going to go trick-or-treat, then they had to at least dress up.
At first he wanted to be a zombie or just do some crazy makeup of some kind, but with people coming over, I didn't want to have to spend the next hour or so putting makeup on him. 

Instead, we came up with the best costume ever!!

Talk about the best form of flattery....it was classic!!

Happy Halloween

Homecoming?!?!?!

Zak attended the Kentwood Homecoming a couple of weekends ago with his "girlfriend" Heidi.  No he is NOT 16, but it's not like ANY of his parents waited until they were 16 to go to their first dance so we all had a hard time telling him he couldn't go (especially when he's 16 in SEVEN DAYS).  The idea that there was a HUGE group of kids going made us all feel better.  Pretty sure Zak had the time of his life!

Zak and a bunch of other people met up at one of his friends houses for pictures and to load the party bus.  There were tons of parents there taking pictures so it was a bit crowded and hard to get any great pictures but we did the best we could.

Zak was not happy about wearing his sling for the dance so it lasted through maybe two pictures and it was off. 

 The popular attire for the evening was Vans and bow ties.  Any color/style you could imagine.  These are just a couple of Zaks broskyz.  His date also sported the turquoise swag...

                

             Zaks Crew.
        Chase and Alex.

Heidi.  The date/girlfriend.  Posed for pictures for probably a solid 45 minutes and I don't think we got a single one where Zak isn't pulling some kind of face.  He LOVES the camera but HATES being "normal" so this was as close to "normal" as I could get.



Exchanging flowers 

It was so fun to get to go and watch Zak start this new milestone of his life.  I'm a bit anxious to think what is ahead for us with him and dating, but so far he seems to be pretty level headed when it comes to girls and what is expected of him. 

The most surreal moment of that day, was watching him get on the party bus with that whole group of kids and knowing that the rest of the evening was out of our control. 

We trust Zak to be a good kid and to do what he's been taught no matter what crowd he's with, but it sure is a helpless feeling to stand back and watch them grow up!

Party On!!!