Updates

Well, the lady came to look at the piano, and wouldn't you know that after YEARS of having it, now all of a sudden I have like 3 or 4 keys that are sticking!?!? I have no idea why they are, or how to fix them, or how much it would cost to fix. Ugg. So, regardless to who I sell it to now, I'm definitly going to have to take off the price for those to get fixed, ya know?? AND most people are going to have to hire a moving company to move it as well, as we just can't move it ourselves. Fun stuff, fun stuff.

So... Otherwise everything is going well. I'm still going to Boot Camp every morning. Well, okay, I took off ALL of last week!! (Well, Monday I went but sat in my mom's car because my eyes were super dry and killing me), then Tuesday I had a migraine, and then Wednesday I was still sleeping off the shot they gave me on Tuesday for the migraine. Thursday Blayden woke up at 3 something with a fever, stuffy nose, and super fussy. And then Friday I had a virus. Seriously, not fun!! (The rest of the family got the same virus on Friday afternoon, Saturday, and Sunday- it's made it's run through my entire family- even my MOM!!)

But, I was able to go to Boot Camp yesterday morning and this morning, even though it was raining this morning (we moved camp to an elementary school under a basketball pavilion.) ;-)

I've also been getting ready for school- mine AND the boys. I've found a nanny (her name is Susie) and I'm hoping that works out okay. I have talked to another girl who will be moving here as soon as her mom has her 6th or 7th younger sibling. ;-) So LOTS of experience with her!! And she just seems super sweet too! So, we're kind of having a trial version with Susie to make sure it'll all work out, and if so, we're good to go! And if not, then at least I do have a back up that seems like it should work. Always good to have a Plan B, right?!?!

I'm getting more and more nervous about going to school for TWELVE hours- almost the full day on Mondays and Wednesdays, and then one class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and one more class on Fridays. I'm just praying it won't be too much for me- school, the boys sports (more on that), book-keeping and paying bills for Matt, plus just the upkeep of the house, etc?!?! I feel crazy just thinking about it!!

Oh! And the last thing about me and then I'll move on to the rest of the family- my eyes are still doing GREAT! I can tell towards the end of the evening that they are getting dry and tired, but I can still see great and don't have any problems. Well, okay, I don't see great at night (horrible glare- "star-burst effect" is what they call it) but it's not too bad, and I can tell it's gotten better. And they say it should continue to get better over the next 3-4 months. ;-)

Onto the boys!!

I'll start with Daylon. He'll be starting 2nd grade this year and I'm praying they have all of the help set up already for his Dyslexia. I hope it won't be too hard and discouraging for him!!! He's had football practice (we're doing TACKLE this year!!!) almost every night for the last 2 weeks. I'm tired of it, and I've only taken him once! LOL (No, it's not too bad- I just miss Matt being home because he's out there with Daylon!!) I'm ready for the games to start though- that should be fun!!

Jace is doing good too. He's going to start Kindergarten next Monday and he's super excited. I think he'll do really well. Once he's focused on something, he's SUPER smart, so I just hope he actually gets focused on school. I think he'll surprise us all and be more like me- the dreamer, reader, and quiet one. YEAH!! I'm also going to sign him up for tennis pretty soon so he's really excited about that.

Kelton is going to be in Pre-K three days a week (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays) and is thrilled. His "girlfriend" is going to be in his class again so I think he's really excited about that. I just signed him up for flag football and I think he'll do great in that- he's such an athlete! However, I can't wait until the Spring to get him signed up for T-ball. I think he's got his grand dad's genes in him and will do GREAT at baseball!!!

Blayden is our little stinker!! He's almost 19 months old now (will be on the 27th) and is learning new words daily. Here's a list of what I can think of off the top of my head that he can say:

Daisy (our dog)
Puppy
DaDa
Mama
Bubba
Bye-bye
Night-night
Mine
Stop!
Diaper
No
Come on
Baby
Jace
Bath
Snack
Juice
Hi
Up
NiNi (my mom)
Shewy (like, stinky!)

And I'm sure there are others that I can't think of right now! He wants to do EVERYTHING that his brothers do, and Daddy is still his favorite person. He SCREAMS when Matt goes to work without him every day and as soon as he sees Matt at night he goes right to him and attacks him. It's too cute, but also sad! He'll be going to MDO 2 days a week too (Tuesdays and Thursdays) and I'm hoping that works out good and he does good at it- he's just at that age where new things are NOT okay with him!! I'm fixing to start sitting him on the potty at random times just to see what he does. Hopefully he'll be more like Daylon and potty train early (Daylon was 22 months) than Jace or Kelton (Jace was 3 1/2 and Kelton was 3!!! Lazy boys!)

And last but not least is Matt. He's been super busy with work and taking care of me and the boys. (He had to take off early last Tuesday to take me to the Express care place so I could get a shot for my migraine and then take care of the boys while I slept it off.) He's not been feeling well the last few days either, so it's not been too fun around our house. Other than him being busy and building lots of swimming pools and going to the boat whenever he can, that's about it for him!! (We're going to try to take the boys down this weekend to the boat to go fishing, etc.)

So... that's just a recent update for everyone on what's been going on in the Ratliff household. If I can just survive this next week.....

Oh, and Kelton's birthday party was this last weekend- pictures to come soon!! :-)