Blogging, what is that?

That is how I feel lately, I never have any time to post, let alone read up on other blogs. I miss my sahm days:( I definitely am working more than I expected to and it's amazing how just working 2-3 hours in the middle of the day throws a kink into everything else! I had a nice four day weekend, but I babysat Natalie's friend Friday and babysat 2 kids on Monday so nothing really got caught up. Oh yeah and throw in a play date, a night of puking by Elena and a trip to the Dr with Ethan (luckily not the ER) because he sprained his wrist!!

I really want to take more time on here, but I need to hop in the shower and get ready to head to the cafeteria! Lunch duty calls once again. I go to a new elementary school today so I get to torment a new group of kids. YAY!

I hope I can get this new routine down and get back to blogging. I miss it. Really, I do.

Have a great Tuesday and probably week too!

Wordless Wednesday - my 3 yr olds drawing

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Wordless Wednesday - Last days of summer break

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I've been tagged!

My friend Katie over at greatlife-happy2bme has tagged me for a meme. Now it is 6 random things or quirky things. I don't know if I could think of 12 random and quirky so this will just be a combo of both. Thanks for the tag!

1. First one since I have been thinking about my past pregnancies with my first baby turning 8. When I was pregnant with him. I was completely obsessed with what I ate each day. "The books" said I needed to eat this much of this and this much of that so I made charts and was sure to eat EVERYTHING on the list. Never touched caffeine because the book said not to, not even chocolate. Chocolate had caffeine. One time I drank root beer assuming all root beer was caffeine free and when I realized there was some in it, I freaked!

2. On the same subject when I was pregnant with my girls I had my cup of decaf each morning and had chocolate everyday!

3. My favorite candy bar is peanut butter twix, I like to eat all the chocolate and peanut butter off the top and sides and then eat the cookie part.

4. I am constantly misplacing my sunglasses. In fact I stopped buying sunglasses that were at all expensive and now buy cheap ones because I leave them everywhere I go!

5. I cannot go to bed at night unless I make sure everything is shut and locked up, if I fall asleep and am not sure I need to get up, check all the doors and downstairs windows, lock the car and make sure the garage door is shut.

6. I cannot leave the house without forgetting something. It is a joke in our house that I have to make one more trip back inside for something. Sometimes more than once - it is horrible!!

I think those things were more quirky than random, but there you have it a little more information about my life :)

Wordless Wednesday - Ethan's 1st Demo Derby Car

For more wordless wednesday posts check out Five minutes for mom or my friend KC!

New Beginnings

First day of school underway and Miss Elena starts today. She was so excited. She picked out a
Hannah Montana shirt to wear with sparkly silver shoes and of course a silver headband to match. I was never so accessorized as a kindergartner. Not even in high school! Anyways, I keep thinking I need to pick her up in a few hours. That will be different. She didn't act nervous at all and we found out there was a little boy from her preschool that she played with all summer that is in her class. So that was reassuring. A familiar face.

Ethan wasn't so crazy about his first day. Lunch was later and his friends were all scattered. It will be better for him today I am sure. He thinks he doesn't need me to walk him to/from school anymore. He got mad when I made him walk with us. Big second grader.

My first day was fun. It was great to see all the kids that I know and the teachers were so nice. Surprisingly Ethan's teacher from last year was quite chatty and told me of a job opening. So I am going to see what I can do about getting it. The ladies I worked with were great and I got to work with my friend who got me my job so that made it so much easier getting into it.

Natalie was super excited to go to the babysitters, but had a rough afternoon. We'll see how she does today.

So my new beginning besides working out of the house is getting back into working out! I have been such a slacker and I can feel it. I don't usually go by the scale, I go by how I feel and lately I can feel that I have put on a few pounds. When I went to the Dr a few weeks back his scale said I have gained 12 pounds since late spring!! WOW! So I have been watching what I put into my mouth, trying to snack on veggies and such and since I just have one child with me starting today I amgetting back into walking daily. I took the kids to school and took Natalie on a 30 minute walk. I am gonna shoot for 30 min a day this week, bump that up to 45 next and keep moving until I am at an hour. I will walk until the weather gets too yucky and then I will head to our local rec center.
So wish me luck with this. It is so hard to get into a new routine.

Okay now I am off to bake a chocolate cake for dessert tonight. Hmmm wonder how those 12 pounds snuck on? I have no idea!

Back to School

The last weekend of summer vacation. A month ago I was dreaming about this, craving the regularity of a schedule. I have 2 going to school this year. My middle child is beginning kindergarten and although I have been so excited for her to go, now that we are days away I am getting sad. I know she will thrive in that environment. She loves school I am hoping it continues now that it will be an all day everyday thing. I am looking forward to days with just me and my 3 year old though. She is at such a fun age, I know we will make lots of special memories together.

Another thing about school starting this year that I am nervous/excited about is I am going back to work. I was hired by the school system the kids go to in May as a substitute helper. I will float between all the schools wherever there is a need, secretaries, library, teachers aide, kitchen. I am a sub so I can for the most part choose my schedule. Well I got a call with a request to work at the elementary school my kids attend for the whole week next week. I will only be working for two hours each day just to help in the cafeteria. Perfect. I will be here with them before and after school. I am glad I will get to see them at school each day, but nervous about returning to the work world. I have been home for over 3 years and even before that I was only working 1-3 days for 2 years before that. But I know once I get in there it will be fine. Natalie is excited about going to the babysitters, she has been telling me for weeks that I go to work she will go to the babysitters. So I know the adjustment for her will be fine.

Well I better get myself ready to go shopping. Just a few more items to pick up and the kids are ready for back to school!

Thursday Thirteen - MOPS MOMMAS!

I went to our county fair yesterday and since I usually run into so many mops moms there, I thought I would do a Thursday thirteen on who I see. I did see a couple more than 13, but oh well. It was fun catching them all off guard when I said "Hello, SMILE!!"

(If you don't know what MOPS is, be sure to click on the word above and it will take you to the website. Great Group every mom should know about! This years theme is adventures in motherhood, so seeing these mommas at a fair was quite fitting)

I left names out for privacy reasons, but the last one is ME:)

Happy Thursday!

Wordless Wednesday - Storm Clouds

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Tacke it Tuesday

My tackle for today sounds incredibly simple, but I have been down for 2 days straight with what I am guessing is bronchitis. I have had a scratchy throat and then a sinus thing, but it is in my chest so bad and I cannot get into the Dr until Thursday. Tomorrow is kids day (free day) at our county fair so I am resting all I can today so I have the energy to hopefully get out there tomorrow.
So my tackle today is LAUNDRY! stripping beds, washing bedding and the mountain in my laundry room. There probably is a good 5-6 loads of laundry to wash, dry, fold and put away. Which with the way I am feeling will be an all day tackle. YUCK.

Click the button above for more tackles.

Stuffed Puppies!- Right up my alley:)

My Sweet little Natalie just loves, I mean loves dogs. She has her little toddler bed full of them. Different colors, different sizes all with names of chocolate or m&m's her fave things in the world. Unfortunately her momma is more of a cat person. And our old kitty is pretty set in his ways I don't think any new animals are in our near future. BUT over at Five Minutes for MOM I saw this awesome giveaway that would make her year!! AND they are giving away 3 so big brother Ethan and big sister Elena wouldn't be fighting over them. They all want a dog so badly. This giveaway would be perfect I mean how cute are these? If you want to check out the store that is sponsoring the giveaway- A Rocking Horse to Love, just click the link here go to the stuffed puppies section to view more.

I don't do many of these giveaway write ups, but a life size stuffed puppy? So worth it. So wish me luck!

See how excited they would be to win?

Updates

Back and have some time to catch up a bit. YAY! Seems this summer is absolutely flying by! I guess that is a sign of getting old, eh? When you are young time drags on and on and when you get older it whizzes past. Anyways.
First thing is my dear son Ethan who I am sure will cause me to grey waay before my time, Is in the clear with his tooth!

For now anyways. Last week we went to the dentist and he says his tooth is being held by the bone. It has grown around and is now supporting the tooth and the X-ray showed that the root is reattaching. So we are back to normal for the most part. I am still going to take caution with some of the things he does or bites into. Of course we come home from the dentist and that same night he thinks he is going to pull out his ramp and start jumping his bike. YIKES! Don't think so. But he was able to play in his last ball game of the season which was nice because all season he wasn't allowed on the field, only could bat with the protective helmet on. And we can actually swim now too. This whole summer has went by and we only could go to the private pool we belong to a handful of times. I am hoping we have many sunny days left so we can get down there and enjoy them.

While this was taking place with Mr. Ethan Miss Elena wanted to get in on the action and dislocated her elbow. It was a rainy day and we were leaving the dentist office I took the kids to the mall to play. Just as we were getting ready to leave she does one last dive off a toy and must of fallen just right. I didn't see the fall, but she complained all day about it hurting. I figured it was bruised because nothing appeared to be out of place. When my dh got home from work I took her out to the ER since our Dr was on vacation. 3 Hours later it was all back in place and life was good. Other than she had to rest her arm for 2 days in a sling. She hated that you would've thought the world was gonna end. How would she react if it was broken? Anyways glad that is behind us as well.

I have spent most of the summer sick. ICK! I had strep throat in the beginning of summer and for the last 3 weeks have another lovely sore throat. I guess I better start taking better care of myself. eh? I will make a mental note to do that.

Some positive, I mean WONDERFUL news is miss Natalie is now Potty trained!! YAY!! It took a little time, but once she had it down, she had it down. It has been over a month and we have only had 3 accidents. She is thrilled with herself. I cannot believe I am finally done buying diapers! 7 1/2 years straight of diapers, diapers, diapers. I almost grabbed the microphone at Walmart and announced it to the store I was so excited when I bought the Princess pull ups. My last package I will buy for myself!Whoo-hoo!! She wears the pull ups at night, but she wakes up dry. I still am making her wear them a little longer to avoid any messes. But Go Natalie Go!!

I started am currently babysitting Elena's best friend and her big brother until school gets back in which has been an adjustment around here. Now this week they are sick so their mom is keeping them home (which I soo appreciate!) I also will have Natalie's best bud a few days in there so at least they all have someone to keep them busy.

Even though we have had to lay low. And I mean low. I couldn't even do play dates because I just didn't feel like telling Ethan no 300 times so I just avoided anything he might have trouble controlling himself with so that was friends, parks, beaches, etc etc. We did do the summer reading program at the Library and they really go into that this year. Natalie was old enough to participate too so that was fun. She is looking forward to story time this fall.
We did go on our annual 4th of July family camping trip which was a lot of fun, we went to the drive in movie a few times, the zoo, VBS, and lots of just hanging out together which I am loving.

I am so torn about school coming up, part of me wants to keep them home longer and have more fun together and part of me thinks 3 more weeks? AWWWW.

Okay I think for the most part we are up to speed now. I have more, but I will save it for another post.

I'MMMMM BAAAACK!!!

I hope for good this time. It has been over a month since I have been able to be online. We have a trusted friend who fixes our computer problems for us and my dear hubby will not allow any one else to work on it. So I had to wait for a good time for one of us to take the computer up over an hour away and then pick it up. Apparently it was a task for us because it took over a month to accomplish!

I have so much to update you with! I don't have the time now, I have been babysitting this summer and I have to get all the kids ready for VBS. I will be back with pics, stories and more. I know you will be waiting at the edge of your seat. hee hee.

I will be doing my blog rounds soon too. I can't wait to see how you all are doing and how your summers are going.

Be on soon! Just wanted to let you know I am still alive:)

And a little more....

Well if I wasn't a mess when I typed my last post, I sure was by the end of the day! I do have a major praise, well two praises from my horrible day Tuesday. When I called the dentist to get him back in they couldn't see him until 3:30! I was in tears. This is his bottom front tooth just sitting in the socket, I couldn't let him eat for risk of him swallowing it and the lady on the phone was not so nice. I hung up the phone and bawled. No sooner did I cry out to God that I couldn't do this today. That I needed some help, the phone rings - dentist office- come right in! He said it looked better after 5 days than he expected. The gum was healing up nicely around it. Oh I forgot to mention 3:30 was the time I had an appointment that I couldn't miss for my job for next school year. So luckily I was able to do that still. But my day just kept getting better. My computer had gotten some kind of virus and I wasn't able to get online at all so I had to wait for our friend who is our computer expert who got ahold of me today and fixed it, YAY! (I went 2 days without a computer, that was hard! I didn't realize how much I get online to look up stuff!) Then at the kids T-ball game I had to make Ethan sit out -and keep him and Natalie still- And while I am watching the game, Natalie slips on the bleachers and gets herself so upset she pukes all over me!!

Let me just say by the end of that day I told my dear hubby that I quit as momma! Oh yea my second praise in the midst of all of this flowers were delivered to my house and a balloon. My hubby sent them to me with a little card telling me what a great job I am doing. Okay, I'll still be momma:)

Well my littlest one, is still wanting momma instead of sleeping, so I better spend a few extra minutes with her so I can get some quiet time.

Thanks for the encouragement ladies:) I really needed it!!

Just some Ramblings

So far we have entered into a busy summer, busy for us anyways. We started the summer off with a slumber party, we went to the private beach we belong to a few times, went to see Indiana Jones at the Drive In, had some baseball games a T-ball game (those keep getting rained out) Started the summer reading program at the Library which the kids really get into and this is Natalie's first year that she can participate and she is doing great with it. Went to the zoo, caught fireflies and done sparklers. And of course friends are over every day.

My biggest obstacle occurred last week when Ethan was playing on the neighbor kids new slide pool. All inflatable, but my little man found a way to get hurt on it. He lost a permanent tooth sliding down the slide on the edge of the piece of plastic that connects the slide and the pool. I do not do well with emergencies, but luckily the dentist could get him right in and they reattached the tooth. They say there is a high chance of the tooth reconnecting if it is reinserted within an hour of coming out. But see, he lost the baby tooth next to it this last week also, so that tooth will be shifting and growing and could pose a problem. This has been a rough 5 days for me already and when I woke up this morning, the bonding (they bonded his tooth to the other permanent tooth) the bonding broke. So now we are waiting to get into the dentist again this morning.
He has been on a soft foods diet since Thursday which is so hard because he wants what everyone else is eating. He can't do a lot of the things he likes to do because he cannot bump that tooth again or the chances of his tooth going back again aren't likely. I know its just a tooth and they make fake teeth all the time, but I don't want my baby to worry about little things like that his whole life if they can fix it with his real teeth. I just had to share because I have been a mess trying to keep this active boy busy, but not wild like he wants to be.

Wordless Wednesday - Friends

check out 5 minutes for mom for more pics!

Faith Lift Friday

Encourage others and yourself! Share a scripture, quote, devotional, lyrics, or anything that has blessed you and strengthened you in your faith.For More Faith-lift Friday visit Taking The Challenge

Someone has said that before our prayers can mean anything to God, they must first mean something to us. Mindlessly repeating a prayer we memorized in childhood, or vaguely asking God to bless everyone, everywhere -- that isn't authentic prayer. Prayer is speaking to God about the deepest concerns of our hearts.What is the source of true prayer? It is a heart attuned to God. It is a life lived in loving obedience to the Father. The Bible says, "And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight" (1 John 3:22).God delights in the prayers of His children -- prayers that express our love for Him, prayers that share our deepest burdens with Him. Don't pray casually or thoughtlessly, but "come boldly to the throne of grace, that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16).


The Reverand Billy graham

Wordless Wednesday - Slow down! Geese crossing

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Tackle It Tuesday- Summer cleaning schedule

(click the button above for more tackles)

We are down to 3 days left of school around here and I am actually getting excited about this. The lazy days of summer are going to be here. Despite the news I just got today. - I have strep throat- which means at least one of my kiddos or hubby will probably come down with it also some time this week. ICK!! But me & the girls had a picnic in the back yard for lunch today and it was wonderful, just taking in the sunshine watching all the birds and just being with them. I take in every minute of it! So that being said, I just sat down and completed my tackle for today. I made my schedule that will make my life so much less stressful. I have a summer cleaning schedule. I am not a clean freak by any means, but it seems I get stressed easily because no matter how much I do, there is still a mess to clean up! During the school year, Monday is my big cleaning day. I spend most of the day scrubbing the house from top to bottom. But during the summer it is so much easier to do a little each day. What I do is I take my time first thing in the morning and that way I have the rest of the day for fun activities. I don't beat myself up if things get switched around, but I really do try to stick to it. I just made one general calendar for the summer, I am not completely rigid. It just helps me to stay on task and the kids understand a little better of what all needs to be done around here.
I made up chore charts for them. This is something new, but I asked each of them to pick one thing they would like to be responsible for and the rest are things like making beds and helping set the table. My philosophy and what I have told them is how much fun we have this summer depends on how much we can work together as a team. They help me, we can have more time to do fun things. We have a lot of fun things to do this summer!
I have put the calendar on here, it probably will be hard to read, it is clickable and if you want to copy to use yourself - go right ahead!


Basically it is:
Monday - Kitchen, laundry and sweeping
Tuesday - Bathrooms
Wednesday - Bedrooms, laundry and sweeping
Thursday - Living room, dining room, Toy Room, Halls and Laundry room
Friday- laundry and sweeping
Saturday - outside projects
Sunday - off!
Now I don't do the FlyLady thing, but I did once sign up and got a few tips that I do use when I clean.
#1 is to set a timer. 15 minutes in each room or space. You are not allowed to leave that room to take anything any where else. You put it in baskets or whatever and when you are done you move things where they go. It is great how much easier it is to stay focused. I always used to get sidetracked and go from room to room never really completing any task. The max I spend each day doing these is 1-2 hours.

#2 You break the big projects into a weekly project and spend no more than one hour each day on them.

#3 Shine your sink! Don't leave dirty dishes in the sink when you go to bed at night. I always feel so much better when I come into a clean kitchen in the morning. When I come into a sink full of dishes, I am stressed before my day even really begins.

And notice I do schedule a day off. I mean there still will be messes to clean, but I am not doing anything out of the ordinary on these days.

This looks like more than it really is, but for me it makes my summer being home GREAT!!

Menu Plan Monday

Click the button to view more menu plans over at Laura's blog.

It's been awhile since I have posted a menu, some weeks I have even sat down and been blank. I am in a menu rut! The seasons are changing and my hubby isn't eating with us as often so I don't always make bigger meals when he is gone. Those are the nights we have breakfast for dinner which we all love, but he doesn't like.

So I spent some time this last week going through my cookbooks, magazines, etc. trying to be inspired with some new easy and not as heavy recipes. I will be making some time this morning to visit as many blogs as I can too to get some inspiration. (Not too much time as it is suppose to be gorgeous today)

This is what we are having for dinner over at my house this week.

Monday: Mini Tacos, Bean burritos, spanish rice, corn
Tuesday: Ratatouille with pasta - this looks so good!


Wednesday: Pancakes, sausage, and fruit salad
Thursday: Last day of school! Slumber party, so we will be ordering pizza

Friday: Basil Tomato Grill Cheese sandwiches

Saturday: Grilled Chicken, Potatoes and corn on the grill

Sunday: Birthday Party - my nephew turns Six today!

Well that is it, if you stop by today, let me know so I can check out your menu for the week too!