Just Us

(After months and months of problems with my blog, it seems that everything is working and back to normal.  I've missed blogging and I like this method for journaling, so I'm pretty excited that we're back in business.)

I love these crazies.

These pictures were taken at Christmas time (2014) and if I remember right, on Layne's 46th birthday.  

No snow for Christmas - BUT - since then we have rarely gotten out of the single digits for our daytime highs (even though it is now March), snow up to our ears, and the kids have missed nearly a month of school.

(No, I'm not kidding.)

If you think you can hear my weariness of winter, you heard it right. 

I'm. So. Done.

I do love having the kids home, but when they can't go outside to burn off some energy it makes for a really long winter.  Cabin Fever has been a real thing for us this year.

But, before the weather got yucky, and it was still 2014, we had some good times.  Josie came home from Idaho for Christmas!  Yea.  We love it when Josie comes home.

This was our last Christmas that we will all be together as just our family.  Why?  Well.....

1.  Todd is graduating from high school in May.   Honestly, there really wasn't enough time for me to recover between Josie & Todd's graduations.  My heart hurts just thinking about it.  He has been accepted to both BYU (Provo) and BYU-Idaho.  And just this week he decided to accept the BYU-I offer.  But before that happens......

2.  Todd will be leaving on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the next three or four months.  He'll find out where in the next few weeks.

3.  Josie has fallen in love with ~Travis Henderson~ and plans on being married on August 8, 2015!  I'm not sure that I ever really thought Layne and I would get to this point in our lives.  To have a son-in-law.  CRAZY

So, that is what I mean about just our family being together.  By summer time Todd will have graduated from high school and off serving the Lord somewhere away from us, and we'll have a new member added to our family. Pretty exciting and fun stuff, and you can see why my heart feels like it could burst.  

Movin On Up

As usual, May gets too busy and goes by too fast.

Justin finished Kindergarten and even enjoyed it. 

It helped that he ended up with a crush on his teacher, Mrs. Johns.  



Front & Center

I love listening to the Kindergarten classes sing.  They have the funniest little songs. 

He had such a fun year...after he decided he didn't hate school.





Justin & his best friend (since birth) Micah.

Somehow they were lucky enough to get in the same class.

Go Class of 2023!!



Kelsie, Haley, Annalyn, Josie, Todd, Ben, Jonathan, and Jorie at the Modest Prom church dance a couple weeks ago.  This was Todd & Jonathan's very first dance.  Neither one of them wanted to be there, but their moms made them go.  I don't know how it went down at Jonathan's house, but Todd was NOT happy with me and wouldn't even speak all the way there.  By the end of the night they had a good time.  (Mom's do know best.)



I'm so excited Todd let me take his picture.  That doesn't happen very often.

Todd graduated from 8th grade Tuesday. 

It was 92° F outside and probably about 100° + F in the auditorium.

He worked hard all through Middle School and was in the Straight 'A' Club all four years.

Now he's off to High School.

Class of 2015!!

Mitch graduated from Elementary School yesterday.  Next year he'll be a big Middle Schooler.

Here he is with his friend Garret.  He worked hard and had lots of fun.  He's excited to get to do all the fun things Todd & Josie got to do in Middle School.

Go Class of 2019!!

Josie just finished up her Sophomore year with flying colors. 

At some point she was sure her AP class (European History) was going to do her in, but she did great.

Now she is headed to Idaho for the summer.  She claims she is going there to visit, work and help Grandma Lucy with a few things, but I'm pretty sure she just wants a time out from her bothers brothers.  I'm starting to miss her already.  

Go Class of 2013!!

As dumb as it is, I have no pictures of my baseball boys.  We've been to a baseball game every night (except Sunday) since April and I haven't taken one picture.  I've only got a couple weeks left, so I'd better start click'en.  All of the teams are doing well and they are having fun.  Mitch has been able to try out the catcher position for the first time this year and LOVES it and is even pretty darn good at it.  Justin is the youngest on his team and looks pretty little out there with those big kids, but he can pull his own just fine.  Todd's at an age that the games can get intense and are fun to watch.

Ahhh, fun times for the Coleman Family.

Let's Catch Up

Happy Fall Everyone!  It is WAY past time for a new post.  Life got real crazy these past few weeks with football, show choir, marching band, last details on our house, etc.  So here is a very quick catch up. 

Sadly, I don't seem to have any pics of Justin's birthday.  We took some so I'll have to look harder for them.  But he is now six. 

A little update for him and going to school -

Bribery is good and he was willing to go to school for 15 days without

crying to earn a Double Barrel Nerf Shotgun. 

At the end of the 15 days he decided that he really likes school.  So life got easier after that.

School also started the same week that my dad got so sick.  So when we could see that he was going to get better my stress level went down.  This all happened all around the same time so I'm not sure what really helped him, but the good news is that going to school isn't bad anymore.

 Todd played football this year.  He really seemed to enjoy it.  He really stunk when I picked him up from practice everyday.  gag   The season just got over last week.  They did pretty good this year.  He made a couple interceptions this season.  Those were fun to see.  Next year high school?  YIKES

 My dear Layne.  He has been putting the floors down in our house.  He got done a couple weeks ago, but has yet gotten feeling back in his finger tips.  I guess 1200 sq ft of tile can do that to a guys fingers.  Todd was awesome help too.  I'd dump him off after football and they'd work and work.  It looks beautiful and one of the subcontractors asked Layne if he used lay tile for a living.  That was a nice compliment.

  

Here are the boys on the wood floor Layne put down.

Mitch was sent out to rake leaves. This is what I found. A Santa hat? Really?

At some point this past month Justin needed some money so he set up his table and cash register and was trying to sell all the 'extra' scriptures we have, to us.  I think Josie and I are the only ones that bought some.  Not too bad of a deal.  $1.00 a book.  I'm glad to know that he figured out a way to make money on his own.  He even combed his hair nice and got a button shirt on.  What a guy. 

Sorry mom, this isn't the best picture. I took it on the way to school yesterday morning and it looks like I need to try again. I'll get a new one up soon.

 

We had fun with the camera a couple Sunday's ago.  The last time we did a laying down picture was years ago when the kids were little.  I'll have to find it somehow, somewhere, someday and compare the two.



Here is the kitchen floor.  Now the molding is up and it looks nice and finished.
I can't get this up where I want it.  Sorry.



School is Back in Session

And that makes me cry a little bit.

It doesn't always.  Just when I send a new little Kindergartner on their way.  And today it was my baby.  I haven't been home alone all day, everyday in over 15 years and I've got plans. 

But for today, I'm just sad.

Justin's first day of school. 

The other kids started a couple days ago.

I'll get more pics of them.

Justin was excited because his best friend, Micah, is in the same class.  We didn't expect that to happen since there are six kindergarten classes.  Justin also has the same teacher Mitch had as his kindergarten teacher,

Molly Johns.  (She may have had a hand in that.) We like Mrs. Johns. 

He told me this morning that since today was his first day EVER he wanted to pick what we had for dinner.  I said okay, what do you want?

Meatloaf!

No problem.

Well, I'd better get over my boo-hoo moment and get on with my day.

Laundromat, here I come!.....all alone, with no one to help me......

This isn't going so well.  It will get better.