After Christmas Chaos?!?

Christmas day is usually followed by a slow week of lazing around, playing with new toys and staying home! But not this year apparently. I had to work some, Todd had to work some, family came in from out of town, we are puppy training, had to return about 8 million gifts that were doubles this year, having a party, an anniversary and we start puppy classes. Whew! When vacation is over I might have to relax.

Puppy Training

We got a smart one...sort of. Okay so he still has an accident here or there and might or might not yet know his name. But he's only been here for a week and has learned to sit and lay and to play with his toys (which he did not know when we got him). I think that's good progress. And he starts puppy classes Wednesday night.

Skating

My kids got roller skates for Christmas, they seemed safer than rollerblades to learn on. Of course their overprotective daddy has them all but wrapped in bubble wrap when they head out - we're talking knees, elbows, wrists and helmet...but they are doing well nonetheless. So I asked Tristan how skating was going and if he liked it to which he replied, "I think I'll be professional at it soon."

Why wait?!

I decided I am not going to wait until New Years to start my resolutions - that just gives me a whole week to eat extra crap I don't need. So...today begins my attempt to lose weight and change my lifestyle to a healthier one. If you too are planning weight loss for the new year check out sparkpeople.com - its free and its got great tools.

Anyway here are my goals:

1. To track my food intake as well as exercise daily on sparkpeople.com.

2. To cook at least 5 nights a week. By cook I mean actually cook - frozen pizza does not count.

3. To hit the gym at least twice a week and run at least twice a week as well.

My goal is to lose 5 lbs a month which seems reasonable enough; but more than that to change my overall eating habits - eating out less, cooking healthy foods more often, etc.

Merry Christmas to all...

and to all a good night! Our day was busy but fun and I am full of Christmas cheer but running on empty so its off to bed. Pictures tomorrow.

Happy Christmas Eve

From our family to yours.

Meet Max

The newest addition to our family weighing in at the least yet - a mere 5 lbs.

Orlando Fun

We had a nice short but sweet vacation to Orlando this past weekend to kick of winter break.

Friday night we went to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party - we had hot cocoa, froze to death, rode rides, and of course saw the amazing Christmas parade. Here's us on Main Street with the castle in the background:

We went shopping at the newly redone outlet malls. Mommy got nothing but the kids made out like bandits. With a scary pine reindeer thing at the exit:

And we went to Wonderworks, which the kids loved.

Lots of Excitement

This weekend was crazy busy but fun. We got to see the Ferguson clan - Debbie and Jay as well as Greg and Nicole and baby Lucas. We went to Disney World for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party as well as Wonderworks, the Orlando upside down house sciency kind of place. And today we brought home Max - our new yorkie. Pictures to follow tomorrow.

Goodnight!

Tears of Joy.

Tori: I am so glad you are my brother.

Tristan: How come?

Tori: Because you're just fun and I like to play with you.

Me: Now tearing up while writing Christmas cards in a chair nearby.

Tori: What are you crying about over there?

Me: They are tears of joy that you guys love each other so much.

Tori: Well that's stupid, who cries when their happy?

So some sweet moments have sweet endings. Some dont. Guess which one this was?

Complications...

I was Christmas shopping online trying to get ideas and came across these things. Remember when Christmas was asking for a doll or a baseball mitt?


Maybe its just me but doesn't it seem like the kid that wants Barbie on their speakers is a tad to young for an iPod?!?!


My dr kit had a thermometer, stethescope, shot, blood pressure cuff and the thing that doubled as an eye and ear looker!

Music to My Ears

Tonight was our church's yearly children's Christmas program. Tristan and his class sang A Babe in the Manger, Go Tell it on the Mountain, and We Wish You A Merry Christmas. He managed to sing part of it, not fall of the stage and look forward at the audience the majority of the time.

Tori had a solo which she did pretty well on it. She was also a ribbon dancer, dont ask, and sang in the group choir and had a blast with all the hand motions!

All in all it was a long night of lots of kids music but its always fun to see your kids sing or perform in some way.

Sick kids...

also seem to be naughty kids. Is it just me or is this true?

Tristan's head is all stuffed up and he keeps sneezing so home he stays for the day...but its hard to keep a boy down. He wants to run and play and ride bike. He is literally sitting on the floor wearing a knights helmet pretending to drive the stool that goes with his drum set because I won't let him get up. However he randomly stands up and runs and is in permanent whiny mode.

Tori on the other hand is about to hack up a lung so she is home today as well. She has literally done 2 weeks worth of homework. Unfortunately along with super student mode she is also in "sass" mode where everything she says is dripping with the sarcasm of a 16 year old.

I cannot wait for 5:30, I think I need to run to the grocery store this evening.

On my list:
peace
quiet
sanity

The stockings were hung...

I love Christmas decorations. They all have meaning and they just make you smile. We came back from NC last Sunday morning, took a good long nap after driving all night and awoke determined to get Christmas up...getting pics and posting took a bit longer.

I have a snowman collection that lots of people have contributed too. They are cute and festive and provide my bit of winter despite the 80 degree temperatures this month. But more than that each and every one of them has a story - a fun day of shopping,a craft made with mom, someone special that thought of me, or a gift little hands picked out!

Our table is not super fancy, not super expensive, not super special - except that we eat as a family there daily, art projects and homework are completed there, we've shared laughs with friends, desserts with neighbors and meals with family. So at Christmas it gets a little special treatment.

Also in our home we believe the reason for the season and the source of our celebration is a tiny baby born in a manger, put to death on a cross, and risen and waiting his return so decorating would not be complete without our nativity.

Christmas

It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air. ~W.T. Ellis

May your heart be full this season, and the air around you magical!

North Carolina

We had a blast on our short but sweet trip to North Carolina to see Bryan, Laurie, Ian and Chase. We had a fabulous thanksgiving dinner (thanks Angelle and Laurie), Laurie and I got a steal on sheets at Kohls at 4 am, and the boys got to go paintballing while we took the kids to Monkey Joes. Then we spent a whole day in the mountains - BBQ lunch at a little restaurant, a tour of the Linville Caverns and a couple of trails to the Linville waterfalls. We had a slightly frozen but wonderful time. Pictoral evidence to follow:

The kids on thanksgiving day

The North Carolina Maddexes in the caverns:

On the trail...

to this incredible view

The kids and I with two waterfalls in the background.

Leaving on a jet plane...

Okay not really - we're actually leaving in a minivan but it just does not have the same ring too or the catchy little tune you will now be singing all day!

We leave in about 4 hours...see you Sunday!

:-(

Accountability sucks. But it keeps it real. My 21 days has to start over next Sunday - I managed to get the flu this past week which knocked me out for 3 whole days and then I had to play catch up on work stuff, ebay orders, PTA stuff and my house. And I would start over today but really - we are going to be in a car for 12 hours in 2 days - whats the chance of me waking up at 4:00 am to run? Nil! So I went to the gym today but the 21 days will have to be an after thanksgiving resolution.

Just so ya know.

Proud Mommy Moment

Tristan's class made little wall hanging things for Thanksgiving. It had a little poem, a cute little leaf border and then a place where they filled in the sentence "This Thanksgiving I am especially thankful for __________" and then they drew a picture below it.

Tristan wrote (by which I mean copied what his teacher wrote for him) his sister! Yay for brotherly love!

Tropical Christmas & Flannel PJS

I have given up my MN heritage to deem myself a true Floridian. I wear sweaters in temperatures I used to think represented short season being just around the corner, I turn my heater on when I would have opened all the windows in the past, and I never plug my car in!

So in honor of that I present my Two Cute Boutique's latest - a tropical Christmas skirt set and the warm flannel jammies I think we need even though we probably don't!

To check out the auctions go to TwoCuteBoutique! Lots more pjs coming in the next 2 weeks too.

Dr.Seuss Book

It was one of those days...I had a PTA meeting, fall festival meeting, Tori's Turkey Trot, dubbing ceremony, etc. So of course last night I wake up with a nasty migraine and have a miserable night.

This morning rolls around and I drag myself out of bed...get the kids ready...more medicine and a quick prayer that things will turn around.

Then I take the truck, our little pickup truck to pick up 9 bales of hay. What a terrible idea that was. The guy comes out to help me wearing dress clothes, tries to pick it up like a box (by hugging it) and has no muscle power to get it up into the truck. So now I load the 9 bales of hay practically on my own, using the strings to lift it like the good little farm girl I am.

Whew! One project done, they are tied in and I am on the road only to find I did not think to bring a tarp so there is hay flying everywhere, cars are getting out of my way, people walking on the street are flapping their hands in front of them. Oy!

I finally make it to Toris school, watch the turkey trot, make it through the first meeting and half way through the second one I realize my migraine is back and I am going to throw up. So I excuse myself and come back, then proceed to spill my coffee on the principal's shoe. Gotta go back and get paper towels, clean it up. Finally I am done...I have to go home and get more meds and sleep for a few.

So I am sore, covered in hay, sick of elementary schools, embarassed to high heaven and I call my dear husband for sympathy who says..."Sometimes when you tell me stories about your day its more like your reading me a Dr.Suess story." Just the thing to make me feel better...

Glad the day is over.

Six Things

I've been tagged by Rhiannon.

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.

B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.

C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

1. Todd and I celebrated 6 months of dating each other AFTER our wedding date...he is one of the few things in my life I did not overanalyze and plan to a tee and it worked out to be one of the best things as we are getting ready to celebrate 8 years this winter. Maybe I should stop thinking so hard...

2. I share a birthday with my little brother and despite that growing up I whined about sharing parties, etc...I am so thankful for it. It gives us a great excuse to always spend it together.

3. I grew up planning to not have kids. My mom was fabulous - the perfect stay home mom and I wanted a career and did not feel like I could be a good enough mom and have that. Then God sent me Tori (another one of those unplanned, unanalyzed things) and changed my whole world. I am so thankful he did.

4. I have worked the most diverse jobs ever - photographer, long distance help line, ice cream scooper, bakery assistant, magazine sales, activities director for seniors, seamstress and case manager/social worker. I still sew which you can check out here and I do case management/social work at a local hospital currently.

5. I could only eat out at Los Mexicanos and Cody's Roadhouse and never see another restaurant again and be totally ok with that.

6. My very least thing to do everyday is pick out what I am going to wear. I decide everyday how much I hate everything in my closet, even if I just bought it and loved it in the store.

So those are my 6 things...if you have not done this already...I tag you!

21 days....

is how long it takes to form a habit according to research. If you do something for 21 days straight it becomes a part of your life, schedule, etc...so in my goal to lose weight and complete that race in a decent time I am trying to form a habit...granted I am going on vacation in the next 21 days so I'll let you know how it works out BUT for now...it is my goal to run 2 miles for 21 days straight.

What habit do you want to create? I challenge you to do it for the next 21 days!!!

The Zoo

We spent yesterday at Lowry Park Zoo, all 4 of us. Todd literally could not remember the last time he was there as its always been something the kids and I did on a weekday. Anyway we had fun, saw lots of animals including the new penguin exhibit and an elephant that gave us a small show drinking from the pond. Todd and the kids even checked out this new bat exhibit...I have bad childhood memories of bats, none for me thanks!

Both kids got cheap digital cameras yesterday from Papaw and Lolly (my parents) for their upcoming vacation. Good thing we tried them out early - the zoo according to a 5 yr old with a camera (Tori's malfunction completely, no pictures of the zoo but lots of our house later):

Evidence that focusing on people porses a challenge - this was a Kodak spot with Todd and a giant fake bat.

Racket stroke.

My kids are playing tennis on the back porch. This sentence has many things wrong with it to begin with but for now ignore that there is no net, giant glass windows, not nearly enough room and no actual tennis ball for that matter.

Tristan is repetitively back stroking with much gusto his little racket yelling "got it with my racket stroke, racket stroke, another racket stroke".

What does that mean? And better question where did he get it from?

Better late than never!

Tori and Tristan were a Bucs Football Player and Cheerleader for Halloween. The pictures are not so great but better than nothing. They had a great time...Tori is a marathoner and wants to not miss a single house. Tristan was done about half way to really being done but went along with Tori like a trooper. We went to a friends house for dinner, trick or treated in their neighborhood and then all went to DQ afterwards. Lots of fun!

This past Saturday Todd and I attended a fundraising gala for the Pinellas Pregnancy Center, they provide free pregnancy tests and all sorts of services for moms to be. They do ultrasounds, parenting classes, bible studies, and offer material help. When I had more free time I was a client advocate there. We had a great time with some friends, a delicious dinner at Innisbrook and we got to dress up and be just a couple for the whole night - it was really nice. Again not the best picture but hey this was after 5 hours out!

Dubbing...

I love the things they have parents take off work for. I can see it now...

"Sorry I can't work Tuesday because I have to go to the dubbing ceremony where my daugher becomes a lady of the court."

Yes you did read that right. Tori's gifted class will be having a dubbing ceremony Tuesday during school and they would like a parent to represent each child. They will then be knighted or dubbed a lady of the court. They are learning a dance, memorizing a poem and must wear a shirt/tie or dress.

I think we're getting a bit carried away with ths medieval times study.

Bon Jovi is back...

I was at work on Halloween night (from 11-7) and the crazies were spilling in one right after another. So a lady who I have already checked in to our psych ward 3 times comes through again...gotta love the frequent fliers...and once again she answers my favorite question with my favorite answer.

Me: Is there someone you want me to contact and let them know you'll be staying with us?

Her: Yes, Bon Jovi as usual please. He'll wonder what happened to me otherwise.

Should I ever end up in the hospital I think I'll have them call Matt Damon.

Accountability.

I am posting here because I need to be held accountable to more than just Todd.

I am like the Kool-Aid mom at Christmas (not Martha Stuart like some people I know) that does the cookies and the candies and the pies and the class parties and the adult parties and the egg nog and the go, go, go that leads to fast food - and I cannot gain another pound - or they will ask me to play the jolly old fellow himself!

So...I need a goal, I am a goal oriented person. So the first week of Dec I am running a 5K and my goal is 28 minutes...a little under 10 minutes per mile. There is one at the Spa on Dec 8th and one at the zoo on the 5th...have not decided which. It depends which one I can talk a friend into doing with me.

If you are in the Tampa Bay area or will be visiting then and are interested let me know, looking for a running buddy!

Accountability. Yep now I wrote it, posted it and people know I am doing it so I can't back out. So thanks for your help :-)

Hear Ye, Hear Ye...

Get our your calendars people this is important stuff. I lied, Christmas does NOT begin with black Friday it begins next week, next Thursday to be specific.

Why?

Because the red cups, gingerbread latte and peppermint lattes all return to Starbucks. So if you need me next Thursday morning, you know where to find me!

Pumpkin Patch

The kids picked the "perfect" pumpkin, and free of spiders! This patch had some issues with spiders so we had to find one without them.

Now we just gotta carve it!

Castle

The fabric castle.

It looked better on the way to school but I forgot to take pictures then.

Some pictures!

More to come tomorrow but for now...

At the lamest fall festival of all time in St.Petersburg. Don't go to it, ever. But here are a couple of pics anyway.

Papaw, Tristan and Daddy with the antique car sitting on the porch of the "print shop".

The 4 of us by a kind of cool tree (did I mention it was a lame festival, not too many kodak moments)

These others were at Bahama Breeze for Taylor's birthday.

Birthday girl Taylor, me and my dad

Uncle Jonathan and Tori - after they had finished telling each other every riddle they each knew, both nerds, love em both!


Stay tuned, pics of pumpkin patch and costumes to come, later this week!

No time to blog today...

so here is a recent favorite of mine! This is the most true song ever....for moms everywhere!

1 month from today...

Is Black Friday. Just so you know.

Laurie we can go out for a little bit right?!

I am not a huge shopping freak despite that this post makes me seem like one. But I do love a good sale. But more than that - to me it officially kicks of the Christmas season and I LOVE Christmas. The baking, decorating, shopping, wrapping, the musicals, the day trips and celebrations in the community, the parades, and of course special times with family.

I feel Christmasy just thinking about it.

Fishing.

Is for tweens, maybe teens and adults. Not elementary school aged children.

We spent the evening on the Safety Harbor Pier. A cute little manatee peeked his nose out at us a couple of times. A sting ray molested a pier support directly below us. Swarms of extra large minnows flipped out each and every time we dropped a line in the water. And we watched this guy with a huge net bring in a lot of fish.

Unfortunately we caught nothing. 2 trips fishing with the new poles. 2 trips without any fish. And the phrase of the evening - "this is boring".

Big decisions...

I have decided that when you grow up you forget what big decisions are. You have to make HUGE decisions all the time - where you'll live, how you'll spend your money, how you'll earn your money, even how to raise your kids. So you can skip the big decisions...like what to be for Halloween.

This year Tristan so far wants to be a Bucs player, red Spiderman, black Spiderman, Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalk, a dog and a hot dog (saw the costume, thought it was funny).

Tori would like to be Princess Leia, a pirate, a princess, an M&M or a snow princess (yes we still live in FL).

Oy vey. So this weekend I told them we would go out shopping and they needed to decide...so stay tuned!

Gifted.

The county said my daughter's gifted and that sounds good. So they send her off to this class where they learn random things - last year they learned about inventors and inventions, this year medieval times. And she gets some challenging math and she goes on some cool field trips and she sees all her friends that are not in her class so what could be bad about it right?

She has to build a castle - which sounds fun but do not be fooled. It has to be 18 by 18 - CANNOT be made of any building materials like legos, clay, wood, etc - and must include the following: moat, drawbridge, tower, turret, keep, bailey, gatehouse, and a portcullis (that crisscrossing gate thing inside the front door).

And she wants to make it out of fabric...I tried to talk her into sugar cubes but when the girls mind is made up, its made up.

All the girls.

All the girls in Tristan's class love him. They chase him on the playground. They want to sit next to him in circle time. So I ask him about this:

Me: Do the girls like you at school Tristan?
Tristan: Yes
Me: Do they chase the other boys?
Tristan: No
Me: Do they chase you?
Tristan: Yes
Me: Well how come they like you so much?
Tristan: Mom (you know in that tone like I know nothing at all), I AM a very nice boy!

Glad we don't have self esteem issues :-)

5 things...

I bet you did not know about me.

1. I can touch my tongue to my nose.
2. I share a birthday with my brother, he is NOT my twin.
3. I am addicted to crossword puzzles.
4. I hate cooking but love to bake.
5. I am old music junkie - my mp3 player has everything from Under the Boardwalk to Thriller on it.

Have you done this? If you have not posted 5 things about you that we might now know than do it!

My little Diva!

This past Sunday was children's Sunday at our church and Tori sang a solo. Poor kid spent the whole week before with a nasty cold so she got little time to practice. And of course this is the shunshine song...but considering the giant gap in her mouth she did a great job! And as always she had a blast.

Funny Signs

Someone sent me these and I thought they were funny so here they are! Funny REAL signs throughout the world.

Great Translation Skills here!

Update

It's been so crazy around here with Todd and I both working full time and fall activities in full swing. So here's my quick update...I switch to nights next week and will then be part time so I can go back to sewing, blogging, etc...

Yesterday Tristan turned 5, which makes me feel ancient! He got two great new costumes so I'll get some pics later this week...and boxing gloves...what every kid needs - Spiderman costume, Buccaneers football uniform and boxing gloves. He is also the star student in his class this week - when I asked him what he did to get this honor he said "duh mom its because I'm special". Silly me!

Tori is singing a solo in church Sunday and has been busy practicing - you would think she is practicing the song but no - just practicing saying sunshine. She lost ANOTHER tooth (by lost I mean Todd pulled it out) and now has a giant whole in her head which prevents her from actually saying sunshine. She now says shunshine which would not be an issue except that the song she is singing is Let the "ShunShine" In!

My job is going well - the crazies keep coming and I am learning lots of cool stuff. Todds doing good too - still messing with computers!

Thats all for update for now. Back next week.

To Do

Is it just me or do Sats tend to start with huge To Do lists?!

Party!

Thursday we celebrated Tristan's birthday in a small but fun way! With just a couple of church friends, one of Tori's friends and their cousin Aedan it was small but nice. We went to a place called Pump It Up, a gym type area filled with gobs of inflatable - slides, bounce houses, and obstacle courses! Then we went for pizza. Here are a couple of pics.

Tristan climbing the slides stairs:

Tristan and best friend Caleb

Tori and her best friend Shannon

Busy busy busy!

Still working full time so the whole blogging thing is not going to go so well this week. I cannot wait to switch to my night hours that are only part time. In the meantime I have to be out the door by 6ish and every night this week we have something - musical practices, softball, brownies, birthday parties - oy vey!

So I have not quit this whole blog thing, just slow to post right now.

8:15 am

Know what that is? How long I slept in today!!!! Amazing huh?

The kids are spending a fun filled weekend with their Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Taylor (and of course Tristan's best friend, Jake, the black lab). So Todd and I are alone for a whole day. We're gonna go rollerblading on the causeway, have lunch on the water, go out with Dave and Rhiannon and Eric and Brenna tonight and see a movie, IN THE THEATER.

Neat.

Insanity

When most people say they start a new job and its insane, well its a figure of speech. But my job is insane.

Today I spent time with someone who believes himself to be "Elvis", someone who thinks they are going to be the new music director of the hospital, 4 people who tried to commit suicide in one way or another and a man who overdosed on heroine/cocaine so much so that he has lost muscle control in half his body. I also listened to someone shower for 2 hours straight, and they happened to be wearing clothes.

So this may make me crazy as well but...its good so far. Never a dull moment.

Funny stuff!

A woman came home, screeching her car into the driveway, and ran into the house. She slammed the door and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Honey, pack your bags. I won the lottery!"

The husband said, "Oh my God! What should I pack, beach stuff or mountain stuff?" "Doesn't matter," she said. "Just get out."

*********************************************************

Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right, and the other is a husband.

*********************************************************

One day, a man came home and was greeted by his wife dressed in a very sexy nightie. "Tie me up," she purred, "and you can do anything you want."

So he tied her up and went golfing.

Day Two

Today was SO much better. I still have no idea what I am doing but hey thats ok...they are not leaving me alone yet! The ER is a busy place - lots of hurry up and wait.

I think this job will definitely keep me on my toes.

First Day

Whew - after 7 years as a stay home mom my first complete day of work is over. It was SO boring. I thought I would be thrilled by adult conversation but instead I spent hour after endless hour hearing about every law that pertains to medical professionals and a slew of acronyms I am supposed to know apparently!

However, tomorrow I actually start work on the behavioral health floor - so stay tuned! I have faith its gonna get good.

Calories...

Whose terrible idea was it to make all the foods with the most calories and fat and carbs and all those other things that pack on pounds or at the very least prevent me from losing weight....

To taste so darn good.

Can you tell I had a donut for breakfast?

Latte Art

This is amazing - I love art found in everyday things! Especially my favorite everyday things like coffee.

Open House

Tonight was Open House at Tori's school. Tori has been stressing about getting to school like 20 minutes early to finish her math work so we have this conversation tonight.

Us: We were wondering about the math work, she says she needs to get to school in time to finish it and she is running out of time. Is she not getting something done she needs to be?

Mrs.V: Oh no she is getting it done.

Us: Well she is very concerned if she is not here right when the door opens that she cannot complete it before morning announcements.

Mrs.V: No they have time to work on it in their private work time too...it's just that Tori is a bit, um, (awkward pause) obsessive about it being just so.

A bit obsessive? In the 2nd grade?

I'm blaming Todd.

Labor Day Weekend Update

I love long weekends.

Friday night we had dinner with some friends and she came over to hang out while her husband and Todd went and helped Dave unload all their stuff into storage. Then Sat we went for ice cream with Dave and Rhiannon and Ty - yum!

Sunday evening we went up to my brothers for a BBQ - ate way too much food!! Tristan SO loves their dog - so now for the next couple of days we have to go through the "why dont we have a dog" - "but every little boy but me has a dog" - spiel that he is SO good at it. He almost convinces me it would be fun and then my sanity returns and I remember that it would be one more thing mommy has to take care of.

Yesterday we went rollerblading and bike riding. Tori is getting so good on her bike though she still has her moments of panic if she gets too close to anything else. Tristan is good but good with training wheels. When it finally cools off we'll take them off and teach him but right now its too darn hot to run with him!

We also had lunch with Brett and Alicia and their family as well as Doug and Mary. We sat on the porch overlooking the water and despite complaints from those who shall remain unnamed it was absolutely gorgeous! You gotta be outside on Labor Day - its a rule, at least in my own head.

So this is my last week as a stay home mom - so I am living it up. Getting my hair done, going to coffee with a friend, eating lunch at Tori's school one day and Tristan's another. Off to enjoy it.

It's official!

I am not an illegal immigrant, I do not have hepatitis, I can reach over and touch my toes, as well as lift weights of 35 lbs and my arms do reach straight up when I want them too.

Therefore I am officially a new hire of HCA West, training begins a week from Monday. Now I just have to memorize a bunch of pyschotropic drugs, acceptable lab results, and insurance codes before then...

Sleeping In

Is a thing of my past but gosh sometimes I miss it.

Take this morning for example - the alarm goes off at 6:15 and we never manage to go to bed before midnight. Todd hits snooze and we are granted 10 minutes more of peace...then its time to get up.

Tori gets herself dressed, still needs helping getting her massive amounts of hair brushed out. Breakfast is on the table, where is Todd? STILL in the shower so I proceed to bang on the wall. Make lunches, check that homework folders are safely tucked in backpacks, add morning snack and a bottle of water and send any money that needs to be paid for lunches or field trips or "enrichment" supplies!

Todd finally emerges, gathers his stuff and off they go - whew two down!

Tristan, thank goodness, likes to sleep in so I can grab a quick shower, and just as importantly a cup of coffee, before its time to start ALL over with Tristan - at least his lunch is already made.

Gotta love mornings!

I thought...

that having two kids in school would leave me LOTS of free time.

I was wrong. 'Nough said.

Kayaking...

Have you ever had one of those days that you are just bored with the stuff you do every other day? You want to do something different.

Saturday was one of those days - I was sick of the pool, it was too beautiful outside to go to the movies and I decided we needed something new...so out came the crocs and bathing suits and life jackets and to Honeymoon Island we headed.

I have had the opporunity to kayak quite a bit in the past, Todd got to once on our cruise and this was a first for the kids! It was a lot of fun. We saw dolphins, picked up some huge shells, and swam for a bit at the Caladesi Island beach.

Then of course Todd's arms were tired, Tori was "melting", and Tristan was bored.

Oh well - it was fun while it lasted. Back to the weekly routine!

And so it begins...

This week began a crazy amount of new stuff in our life! So what better time to start a blog right?

Tori started 2nd grade - loves it of course. Her teacher is a bit strict but lets her go to the library everyday if she wants and so she's happy! Tristan started preK which he also loves. He is bringing home papers already that show they are doing something despite the fact that he can only seem to talk about the absolutely amazing and perfect height basketball hoop. And after being a stay home mom that designs kids clothes for a hobby I accepted a job offer. Its all the things I want - 3rd shift, flexible, part time, and in a behavioral health ward & ER! And I get to train with a friend I met in college, which is a great bonus.

So to new things...new opportunities...and a new space for me to babble!