Missy's Moments

    Summer goals included golf. Finally all 4 of us got out tonight. It was cold. It was wet. (really wet!) It was cold. Did I mention it was wet? Our shoes started to squish when we walked. It was fun. Sam shoots left handed in hockey, swings a bat left handed, and we bought him left handed clubs for his birthday (he doesn’t know that yet! shhhhh ) and he’s been using a old right handed set we have so tonight we borrowed some from the clubhouse that were left handed jr. clubs. Oh my did it prove to be a night to not be in a hurry . 3 hours to get the four of us around 9 holes. Did I tell you it was cold…. oh and wet? It was fun though. I had my first birdie- it was pretty- here is where my shot off the tee landed. (Rick and Sam using their feet to give a little perspective ) On the 9th hole Eric had a chip shot from about 40 yards out that he sunk into the hole! That was fun but of course I was so wet (and cold) I didn’t get a picture. When we got home we p...

I went the whole day not knowing what was on today's list.... oh the curiosity just about killed the cat! I paid special attention to just about everything as to not miss any potential gifts! Well the something I'm reading is actually a surprise gift. I heard somewhere that a new autobiography that was out was really a good read. Funny I have no idea where I heard it, I may have even seen something on the Today Show.... who knows..... I decided to go ahead and have it delivered to my kindle and instantly I was drawn into it. There hasn't hardly been a page that I haven't thought to myself "I could have written this". I'm just over 1/2 way done with it and I'm sure shortly I will not be able to say "I could have written this" because her son grows into the heart of every tween and teen girl in America and even though Sam sports a pretty handsome shirt and tie combo with his jeans and is playing Ode to Joy on his guitar pretty well he's n...

I am so thankful for my two little guys... (which they are not so little anymore) They are both so fun, so smart and so DIFFERENT... right down to the way they look. I found this video of them and they had just turned 4 and 5. Eric was starting Kindergarten and Sam preschool. They were playing UNO with Rick and I don't think I had ever seen this video before. It is an absolute PERFECT picture of the two of them. Take note that Sam never stops moving and Eric is just as mellow as can be. That is still true of them. Also notice the YELLOW KNEE HIGHS they are both wearing (not sure if you can see Eric's)- yep those yellow Mickey Mouse knee highs were the favorite ALL summer that year- Sam more so then Eric, I have TONS of pictures of Sam with shorts on and those silly knee highs! I sure love them. (the boys well and the knee highs too)

I am thankful for the memories my boys will have of growing up and hanging out with Daddy, raking leaves or whatever other project happen to be going on outside our house walls. I knew exactly what pictures I wanted to use for day four. At our old home it was a yearly tradition to have a leaf raking day and all three boys would help Dad get the trailer filled and they it would get hauled off to the compost pile. The boys would have so much fun out there laughing and playing and probably much to Rick’s dismay only a little raking actually went on from anyone under age! Our new house only has a few baby trees that don’t really require raking. In fact I think the few leaves they have blew away. By the time they are big enough to produce a fall mess I’m hoping our boys will come visit and clean up mom and dad’s yard just like in the ‘old days’ Did you notice Princess Kayla was no where to be seen? Easy answer for that- 1. either there was shopping going on or 2. there are to many ...

This first picture is a perfect picture of the glimmer Sam gets when his smile is full of fun! (and maybe a bit of mischief ) Here we have Eric- his smile is always so genuine. He melts my heart. This picture was taken when Jack was about a week old- do you recognize that exhausted but completely joy filled smile of a new mom? I think we forget those first weeks consist of more than just exhaustion and feeding and diapers. This last picture was taken in 2006. A lot had been happening in our lives the months previous to this and it was really a treat to be able to spend some time together. I’m not a baker so I bought one of those gingerbread house kits. From the looks of things my kids have gotten my talents. There are just two many smiles to choose from! As you can see the smiles of my kiddos are my favorites. I could have kept going and posted tons of old favorite pictures and even new favorites! I am thankful for my children, their smiles, their laughter. I love it when we ...

October has just flown by! I can't believe all the fun happenings and I can't believe I have been basically sick through most of it. Hence why I no blog. (well at least that works for an good excuse this month) Today is Halloween- if I have never voiced my opinion about Halloween before let me tell you this is one of those 'there is no point other than to make parents crazy days'. Valentines Day also falls under this category. I have sucked it up once again in the name of watching the boys carve pumpkins (even though Eric almost barfs every year cleaning it out- oh the joy) and dressing up. I have declared this to be the last year of Halloween in the Eagen house. Last year I bribed encouraged the boys to go out to dinner and go bowling instead. Next year I will be well armed with a plan. Nuff said. In October: Eric played some great basketball games! We loved his coach and Eric really got in there and gave it his all despite the fact he was the smallest on his ...

Last Friday was really sad- seriously couldn't find five minutes to sum up my week.... not that it matters to you but it does to me and the blog is really about me right? (kind of kidding) So this morning after a very short nights sleep I woke to get ready for the day. After daily maintenance on me and the house, the daily lunch making chore I went through a lock down drill with my 11 year old son, slipped a cell phone into his pocket and said a prayer before I put him on the bus. Homeschooling really becomes more and more appealing to me everyday. Seriously what an "IN" satan gets with me when it comes to my children. Completely grateful that he's about a day late and a dollar short because as I got in the car to head to my Friday morning study I heard this song: Safe and Sound (Mercy Me) No more boarding up my windows So that I can lay low Nobody's home No more trying to run away from Tired of being afraid of What I can't control The hardest part I...

  Middle school… middle school… middle school. I’m still not sure it has hit me completely. You are such a sweet young man. I guess I invision you almost in a protected bubble and hope and pray daily that you are protected from the things of this world (in particular the middle school world). I think for the most part you are. The way you look at life with your sweet spirit, you say hello to the kids that often other kids don’t say hello to, You are bothered when kids on the bus swear and you ask me to pray with you for others that are hurting, including Sam who on most days I know you pray just to find patience for him! You amaze me with how smart you are, the way you toss numbers around in your head and throw out answers that I need a calculator for  is just plain cool. I can’t even mention your spelling- it’s almost embarrassing how often I have to ask you to spell a word for me! Your ability to understand your faith in a real way and take to heart God’s lessons for ...

This week has been long and fast. Does that make sense? I love the first week of school and I AWAYS forget how exhausting it is. Both at home and at work. I have some great first day of school pictures and I am so impressed with how Eric has handled middle school. I can't wait to find time this weekend to post a bit more about that. I am not shocked by Sam's week. He has been a walking 10 year body of emotion. For all kinds of reasons but the biggest reason is that is who Sam is. Teaching him to not compare and react is going to be something that will be a day to day process in his teen years and really working on it the next 2 years before middle school is going to be crucial.... sigh . Did I mention it's exhausting too? (sorry needed to vent a bit about that one) I'm looking forward to the weekend. I'm looking forward to sleeping past 5:30a tomorrow. I'm looking forward to sitting with my husband and not being in a hurry to ...

Jack loves his Uncle Sam and Uncle Eric. Uncle Eric and Uncle Sam love Jack. No question about it. Jack loves to play with them and the feeling is quite mutual. It has been amazing to watch.

Eric turned 11 last week…. 11 What freaks me out a little more is that along with 11 comes middle school. It’s not Eric I’m worried about- it’s all the other kids. I have a feeling this will be yet another lesson in trust. Seems like the older each of my children get the harder some of the lessons in trust are but I must say that God is faithful and I am always able to come to that peace that passes all understanding. So with that in mind I will choose to be excited for Eric and we’ll walk into middle school looking forward to the opportunities and not scared of the what if’s. Enough about me….. Eric is 11- did I mention that. He turned 11 on the 27th of April and this mama was out of town. I had an early childhood conference that I was at for a few days. Leaving was hard because Eric was very concerned about me not being here but he and Rick and Sam had a great day. He started out his day doing one of the things he does best (and baffles me with) and that is his Math M...

last night- kitchen counters were filled with stuff pizza crumbs all over the stove laundry baskets were filling up again clutter is piling up again (everywhere) lunches were to be made for today there is always stuff to be done it seems but last night was a perfect night to me- Sam cuddled up next to me, Eric was in the recliner, Kayla and Jack were on the couch all snuggled up, Rick was watching the hockey game downstairs. The dog- well I don’t really care but I’m sure she was curled up somewhere in the mix. I hope I have another night soon where I get nothing done "The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." ~Zephaniah 3:17 this picture was taken last week by Liz Traff - Jack came to meet my co-workers sweet friends at work. Has nothing to do with last night but I sure love this picture.

Eric loves to snuggle, he did then and he does now- only now he’s 10 and doesn’t fit quite as well in my lap so we make do- he curls up next to me on the couch and squishes his body up so he’s in a nice ball shape and snuggles. He’d never admit it. He’d never let me take a picture of it like below. But I don’t care. I’ll take them as long as he’ll give them

All 4 of my children were under one roof for Christmas this year. Hope it is a start of new traditions. starting on the left. Kayla, Bobbie (aka mom), Chris (brother), Alissa (Chris’ better half), Eric, Sam, Me, Jordan, Ryan (cousin), Kathleen (aunt). And behind the camera is Rick. All 11 of us enjoyed a great Christmas. Oh let’s not forget these two… Macy aka dufus and Bixby

10 From The Phone What's on your phone? What do you do with those pictures? Here are some randoms I found. 1. and 2. Zipline at Ironwood Christian Ranch. Yes I have height issues, apparently my children don't. Eric: Sam: Rick's response when I texted this photos to him: "and you don't let them cut their own meat?" That's fair (but they still can't touch a steak knife) 3. and 4. Flapdoodles. Have you been there? YUM-ME! A gift from a student - Thank YOU! 5. A visit with Rick's Dad and sisters Becky and Cindy. 6. The first time I saw our Grand-Baby. I went with Kayla to her appointment and the little sweetie waved to us :) (I'm already wrapped) 7. My fun co-worker and his pink sunglasses. (seriously he cracks me up daily!) 8. The near death moment for Macy aka garbage mouth, bottom feeder, carp or whatever else you can come up with for an animal that does this! Her days are now spent in a kennel again. grrrr...

Rumor has it that I don't like change. Apparently in the past I have been known to get a little... shall we say "on edge" when things change. I am quite certain that I am making good strides in getting past my refusal to accept reluctance to change, yet there are changes happening in my life, and in the life of my children, and in Rick's life. The emotions with each situation are so different I wonder some days just how one can go to through all these different feelings and not loose their mind. Well I don't really wonder, I do know how, but it doesn't change the fact that some days the rawness of emotion is exhausting and frankly there are days where I just pray and thank God for those distractions that keep me going. Last summer we made the decision to put our house on the market. We really had no timetable to keep for when we sell but honestly I don't think either Rick or I was prepared for the fact that it would take 9 months to sell our house ...

The boys and I started our spring break by heading up to St. Paul to visit the Boy King- The King Tut Exhibit . The exhibit itself was pretty interesting, what was tough was trying to get the boys interested in the journey to Tut himself- really it was all about the prize at the end for them the mummy. (which is just a exact replica). Sam would stop mid tracks and again remind me of how they make mummies... the gory details of how they are gutted. Nothing morbid or future serial killerish about his fascination but regular boy goofiness. Case in point- one of the statues had his son standing next to him naked- and yes all the parts showed- and yes Sam and Eric pointed, giggled and completely missed the fact that the statue like all the others had incredible details and colors and it was just amazing to me the ability and talent put into each one. I wish we could have taken pictures but they were not allowed inside the exhibit. In fact my friends daughter was scolded for trying to eat a...