11 Days and counting....

Each morning my daughter wakes up so excited to take one more link off of her Christmas Bell....and every morning I get a little bit more panic in my system. Why is it that every year I feel like I'm ahead of the game until about 3 weeks before. My panic for today is a gift for my daughter's dance teachers (which up until last night I was thinking she only had one.) And what do you buy them? I'm thinking just a simple box of mixed chocolates. Then tonight after dance we start working on teacher gifts for Friday's party. Tomorrow night is making Christmas Whoopie Pies for my daughter's class and finishing up the rest of the teacher's gifts and getting things packed up and ready to go for Friday morning. Which I've decided to take them to school b/c I'm afraid the gifts nor the Whoopie Pies will look like they should by the time they get there. Did I mention that Friday is the kids last day of school for 2 whole weeks. That means my children will be hanging with me at work for the next two weeks. Not sure if that's good or bad.

I love this time of yr but it's approaching to quickly! I need about another month. Please?

I have failed tremendously.....

I always have good intentions of blogging...but really the time just flies by these days. If I don't update my blog at work I never get it done. Yes I'm aware I shouldn't be doing it at work, but it happens. Oh come on...I'm sure you've done it at least once or twice. I can't be the only bad person..admit it. That's the first step.

So I supposed since I haven't caught with what I'm thankful I need to just make a list...I'll work on that and get back to you.

Grrrrr.....

Dear Snow,

I did not...I repeat DID NOT need to see you already today. Yes I realize that the upcoming holiday season will be here before we know it, but I'm still not quite ready. The wind cut through us last night walking from Awana to the car. I hate that feeling. So please stay away a while longer...I'm ok with you in December/January/and early February, but that is all.

Signed,

An upset person.

One of these days....

Day 7- I'm thankful for my extended family...My siblings, my nieces & nephews, etc etc. I have been through so much in my lifetime that I seriously would not have survived it without them. They have all been my rocks.

Day 8- Since I mentioned my extended family in the previous thanks..I'm going to talk about them separately...So the first person I'd like to say a special thanks is my sister, Robin. Robin is my best friend. When I was born she was 16 so we weren't close in age by any means so we didn't play dolls together or play dress up together. But through the yrs we have still been super duper close! And the older we get the closer we get. I thank God she is in my life. I wouldn't know what to do without my sister. She is always there for me. We talked almost everyday and some days more then once a day. Love her.

Day 9- My brother, Rod. I'm so thankful for him. Since I was born we've been really close. He is one that I can always go to for a chat. My mom always told me he would cancel his plans to babysit me. What a guy...not many brothers would do that. Most brothers are "too cool" to do that. Love him so much!

I'm AWFUL.

I was away at a wedding this past weekend so here are a few days in a row!

Day 4- Halloween Candy- Yup I said it....a few days last week I couldn't have gotten through the day without. Now of course I'm ready for it to be gone.

Day 5- My friend, Jenn. She lives in Australia and is home for her sister's wedding. We can go weeks without talking but we reconnect like we haven't missed a day the second she gets home. Love that girl.

Day 6- My friend, Lyndi. Love that girl. Been best friends forever...our parents took the hospital tours together when our moms were pregnant with us. That girl knows more about me then anyone. She is the one person who can bring me instantly out of a bad mood. Love her!

Day 2 & Day 3

Again....I'm behind so I'm posting two things I'm thankful in this post!

2.) God....In the past yr we have finally found a church where we feel like we fit in and the people there are just awesome. We have grown in our faith so much in the last yr I think. And the kids are part of a wonderful children's group.

3.) My parents....I lost my Mom about 4.5 yrs ago and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss her terribly. She was an amazing mother...I'm so thankful I got to spend almost 30yrs yrs with her. She passed away a week shy of my 30th birthday. My Dad is such an amazing father....he has helped me so much through the yrs and couldn't have been a better dad. I love him so so much!

30 Days of Thanks.....

So yes I'm aware I'm a day late, so today I'll pose twice! I had not even thought about this but saw it on a friend's facebook page and thought it would be a great idea!

Day 1.) I'm thankful for my life...like being alive. It's a great thing. ;)

Mother Nature is NOT happy!

Our New "Pet"

Meet Chewbacca



My son starts 4-H this coming year and we already knew we were taking hogs, but he has decided he would like to take a steer. Makes this Momma a little nervous knowing that when he shows his steer he will weigh over 1200 MORE pounds then my little guy. I'll probably be shaking in my shoes the day of cattle show.

I enjoyed the fair this yr b/c I knew next year my days of running into the fair to grab a bite to eat and then going straight back home are OVER. I'll be spending my week at the fair for the next 10 yrs.

Let the journey begin......

Meal Planning...

So I've still been meal planning but dummy me forgot to post about it. Sorry. It's been a crazy last two weeks.

This week we've had...

Monday- Ham Steak, Mashed Potatoes, green beans seasoned with Tastefully Simple's Seasoned Salt, rolls

Tuesday- Cubed Steak, Mashed Potatoes with gravy, corn, rolls

Wednesday- Dance Night Which means it's more of a throw together night due to not being home at supper time.

Thursday- Tator Toy Casserole, corn, applesauce

Friday- Grilling Night...Hopefully having some friends out to swim. Burgers/dogs on the grill, chips,

What's your routine?

Do you have one? I know with school starting and schedules becoming more consistent that if I have a routine there is less yelling, arguing, and last minute running around to get things done before the kids rush off to the bus.

This yr it's been different for us because now both of my little ones are off to school. I'll admit it's running more smooth then I ever imagined. My daughter is the type that you NEVER know how she'll wake up. Great mood or horrible...you just never know.

What are some of the things you do to make your mornings run better?

Here are just a few things I try to do to make our mornings better.

1.) Bags are ALWAYS packed the night before so in the morning they are ready to go. Makes the last minute panic of forgetting something just disappear.

2.) Either have clothes laid out and ready to go or have the options laid out for the kids to pick. My son is pretty consistent on what he wears. He would actually wear the same five outfits each week if I'd let him. My daughter likes the idea of getting to choose. It makes it more of a game for her. If she gets a choice she is also gaining a little bit more responsibility.

3.) Keep breakfast simple. This yr a friend suggested making muffins in advance and tossing them in the freezer. I used to make a big production of breakfast and try to make it to fancy. Now we ask the night before what is for breakfast and have it ready when I wake them up. My daughter isn't much of a breakfast eater and we are trying to change that but for now a muffin and milk does the trick for her and I know that belly of hers is full when she gets on the bus.

Happy September!

Hard to believe it is Septemeber already! This yr has really flown by....seems like yesterday we were just celebrating New Yr's. Am I ready for the holiday season...NOPE.I've got so much going on right now with life I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. I need to take time to breathe.

So far this week I've done great with the meal planning...Monday night changed a bit since I ended up going out of town with a friend to use some Old Navy coupons...but I just switched some things around for the rest of the week. Yeah me! :)

Here it goes.....Meal Planning Week 1

Meal planning. It's something that I have good intentions doing and I have all the food for it I just can't seem to get in it in order and get it done. So today I'll start and see how long it lasts.

Monday- Steaks, sweet potatoes fries, corn, and rolls.

Tuesday- Spaghetti & Garlic bread

Wednesday- Crock pot Cubed Steak, mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans, rolls.

Thursday- Tacos

Friday- Homemade pizza & breadsticks

What is on your menu for the week?

It's just around the corner....

School starts in 6 days. EEK! I bought school supplies today...really....almost $100. WHAT?! What happened to the days where you brought crayons, glues, and scissors? Now it's a mixture of things. My kindergartner has to take highlighters...yup you read that right...HIGHLIGHTERS. WHY?! I understand that times have changed and things are advanced but I still don't understand highlighters for a kindergartner.

Happy August....

Where did summer go? My kids both start school in 9 days. I'm quite saddened this yr...With one in 3rd grade and one just starting kindergarten I feel a little uneasy. There will be no more preschool programs, no more play dates or trips to Pizza Hut after preschool for lunch, no more cute art projects, or sweet Christmas gifts made out of fingerprints.

Where does the time go? With summer ending I look back and realize there was alot I had planned and just never got to it. Makes me sad...could I have balanced my time better and made it happen or was there just not enough hours in the day?

I sit with my date book in front of me and start planning our late summer and fall already. Before you know it you'll start seeing the Christmas countdowns. UGH.

I'm struggling....

I was doing great in my weight loss and of course my weigh in following the 4th of July wasn't pretty and now I'm backtracking. :( UGH. You mind plays some pretty mean tricks on you.

So starting tomorrow I've decided even though my body feels like it needs a coke every morning to get me going that starting tomorrow there is no more. I'll start the day with a power booster smoothie and go from there. I'm drinking half my body weight in water which in turn will help keep me "full."

It will come off...It will come off.

Almost 10 years.....

So I'm 43 days away from my 10 yr wedding anniversary....it's hard to believe that so much has happened in 10 yrs. We've seen it all. We had children, arguments, birthday parties, loss of loved ones, depression, family vacations, seperations, gained a few pounds, surgeries..... The list could go on and on. We've survived everything but still have our ups and downs.

As a women one of the biggest things that bother me when looking back at the hundreds of pictures taken since then is how different I look since the day I was married. I've put on a few pounds...I gained some while pregnant, lost some...then lost the rest when my mother passed away. Apparently being in shock and not eating will do that to you. Then after having my gall bladder out I've gained that plus some back on.

So I have 43 days til my ten yr anniversary....can you guess what my gift to myself will be?! Losing the weight I've gained and hoping to be back to my wedding day size.

I'm down one pound which isn't much but is a start.

Innocent and Overstepping.

There are people out there in the world that no matter what never wanna see you happy. There are people out there that are always the victim. There are people out there that play everyone around them. Play the innocent one. There are people out there that no matter what never wanna seem like a bad person. There are people out there that are two faced. Sadly they are everywhere.

Are you supposed to be a doormat and let everyone walk all over you. Apparently.

Respect....where is it anymore?

People AMAZE me.

It's been awhile...

Where does time go?! It's been since April since I last posted. I was going to start this blog post with how much fun I had on vacation, but then I realized that my last post was about vacation. See in March I took a trip to see my sister for her birthday. Alone with no husband or children. And the beginning of June I went on just a vacation with the husband and the children. So now all it looks like I do is vacation. :) Trust me it isn't....I wish...but it isn't.

Life has been busy...The kids got out of the school the last week of May, baseball started up mid-May, we finished dance with a recital at the beginning of May, and now the pool is open. Can we add another?!

My garden is yet to be planted. The weeds in my flowerbeds have yet to be pulled. And we have rain about every other day. UGH.

Planting season for our farm was a nightmare. It went well into June. But now everything is in the ground and now we wait for harvest season.

Picture blog is next......

Ugh.

Coming back from vacation has been rough. Feels like I've been gone for yrs. I hate that feeling. And knowing that I have so much stuff ahead of me in the next few weeks/months makes it even worse.

Have you ever just wanted to make things STOP for just a few minutes in order to catch your breath? That is how I'm feeling these days. Ever wanna go back in time and start fresh. I know we learn from everything we do and it supposedly makes us a better stronger person, but sometimes I just want to start over from day 1.

Still recovering...but better.

So today is the first day since coming back from vacation that I haven't felt like a zombie. Could be because I slept til 10:15...yup I was a slacker today. But as my mom always said, "Well if you slept that late then you needed it." So I'm going with that today.

So as I spent most of the day lounging I finally got up and decided to do something...what crazy thing you ask? Cleaning. WHY?! I've been sweeping, laundry, and picking up. Why does my house always look like 50 people live here instead of 4?

My kids are on vacation this week, and you don't even wanna know how many times I've been told that things are boring around here. They have no idea and it's only day 2 of spring break. Lord help us all.

Why do you always feel like you need a vacation from your vacation?

I arrived home from Las Vegas two days ago and I still feel like I've been hit by a truck. I had a ton of fun and love depending time with me family so that all makes up for it but I'm ready for the jet lag and the sickness to go away. I picked up a cold while out there and I'm over that as well. Ugh.

So today starts a new month..has anyone had any April Fool's jokes played on them today?

How is 2011 treating you so far?!

We are 6 days into 2011 and I already feel like I'm "better" then I was in 2010. I'm more involved in my church, I'm working out, I'm drinking way less soda, I'm getting more sleep, and I could go on and on. That's how my 2011 is going.

This weekend is my oldest's birthday. So hard to believe that he is going to be 8. Makes me sad b/c within a few yrs I won't be "cool" anymore and he'll choose to do things other then hanging with Mom. I won't be the cool one to hang with anymore..he'll have friends to do that with. I've cherished all this time with him so much and I can already see him growing into a young man.

Where does time go?

So my plan was to blog everyday and so far I've struggled. My life doesn't go back to normal til February I find myself struggling to get Christmas stuff away just in time to plan 3 birthday parties in January...so instead of getting completely back to normal this week I've spent my week putting Christmas away and preparing my home for 4 boys that will be staying with us Friday night to celebrate Grant's birthday. Then for our family party on Sunday. Only to tell everyone as they leave that we will see them in a few weeks for my daughter's party as well as my husband's. I'm ready for a long break come February 1st! I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world but really where does time go?

Happy 2011

But really...how many people in this world came into 2011 with happiness? Last night drinks were passed and kisses were shared but then after the five minutes of screaming Happy New Yr most people went back into that same mode they were before the left to go to their New Yr's Eve party. Life isn't always happy.

As I embark on the new yr I'm trying my best to look at it in a new light. Each yr I set my resolutions and then something upsets me and I throw them out. So this yr I have goals and ideas in mind that quietly I'm going to work on. Why broadcast your choices only to have someone point out later that you failed. Besides if only you know then you can only disappoint yourself, right?

So I welcome you to the new yr and hope that all your goals are quietly made so you can be proud of yourself down the road for accomplishing them .

God has blessed me with so much this past yr. Many things need to be worked on and in time it will.

Welcome to 2011.