Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from The Cross Family!

Lots on my mind...

I've got a lot of stuff on my mine. I could go on for days about crap that I've been dealing with, but it just makes me depressed. I can't even get into the Christmas spirit. That totally sucks because K really gets Christmas this year. I just have to keep telling myself that I need to be the best parent I can be. I can't control how other people parent or treat their kids. I know that I can be "that' parent. I have been called an "over achieving parent" to my face several times and I am sure it's been said behind my back a million times. Honestly, I don't give a damn. At least I WANT to be a parent. I put my child's needs before my own. Isn't that what you are suppose to do as a parent? Do I have it wrong? I expect a lot out of myself as a parent and in my own eyes, I fall short....a lot. I am totally rambling now.

Tomorrow starts a new week. The week of Christmas. If it kills me, I will make this a Christmas that K will remember. As much as I hate to admit this...my tree isn't even decorated yet! It's been up for weeks. How sad is that. Tomorrow I have to go downtown and take care of a few things. Then K and I are coming home and we are going to get busy. We are going to make some cookies and decorate our tree. And when Brian gets home, we are going to make our gingerbread house. This year, we are putting the dang thing together with Gorilla Glue! I'm not messing with that icing to hold it together!

It's super late and I must get to bed. I don't know if I will get a chance to blog must before the end of the year. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Blog ya later!

Christmas Card Holder

I actually completed a project. This HUGE. My house is the land of unfinished projects. Heck, my house is an unfinished project! Anyway, I saw this cute card holder in Family Fun magazine. I liked the concept, but thought it would look better with ribbon. LOTS of ribbon. And they used alligator clips to hold the cards. I am going to use paper clips. Check it out...

First...start with a tomato cage. If you want to do this project, you are going to have to search for these. I ended up getting one at a small mom and pop Ace Hardware. Lowe's didn't have any out and they weren't going to get one from the back for me. Ace let me go back in their storage area to pick it out. You can find them in green, but mine was not, so I spray painted it....

(Note all the board games and Mr. Potato Heads? Those are for the preschool kids. I was able to get some great games for them for CHEAP!)

Next you will need LOTS of ribbon. Hobby Lobby has their ribbon on sale all the time. I probably had enough ribbon in my house to make 50 of these, but I have no idea where half of it is. I decided to go with a red/white/green/black theme for my tree. I just cut a ton of the small pieces.And then, just start tying and a tying and tying and tying...get the picture? It's a lot of tying, but I think it's cute.

A couple of the trees like this that I have seen on line have made a cone out of paper for the top. I didn't want to mess with that. Just took a large piece of black grosgrain ribbon and tied a knot. It brought the 3 pieces at the top together. Then I just tied a bow. Not the greatest looking, but it works. Then I took our Christmas card from this year and sat it in the "nest" at the top. I just taped the card at the back to make it stay. I think it looks cute. As cards come in, I will punch a hold in them and hang them from paper clips on the tree.

What do you think?

ARG! I need to go. I've got to be at a party in less an a hour and a half and I haven't showered or packed one single thing!!!!

Blog ya later!

Finally!

So, about a year ago I stopped letting K cash in her CEC tickets for tiny pieces of junk. I take that back...I didn't let her cash them all in on tiny pieces of junk. I would give her like 40 tickets and have her get stickers and a sucker. She was happy with that. She never knew the different. But I've been saving all the other ones. Over a year's worth. And there was about a 3 or 4 month period where we did not go to CEC because K went into a meltdown the mintue we walked into the place. She's scared to death of Chuck E. We've been twice in the past two weeks. We have sort of a tradition with our neighbors. On the kids actually birthday, we head to CEC, eat, play games and eat cupcakes. We didn't do it for K's birthday this year because her birthday fell on a Saturday and I would need to be medicated to go into that place on a Saturday. Anyway...tonight before we left, I told Brian to grab all the slips and we would cash them all in if we had enough. At the end of the night, we had 5,731 points. They had two Disney princess Barbie dolls that she could pick from. She tried to talk me into this GIANT stuffed bear and I put my foot down on that FAST. Then she spied this Tinkerbell set. It was 6,000. I told her if she wanted that, she would have to wait until we got some more tickets. Then the girl pipes up....you can upgrade for $3 and get that prize. So, I gave K the option...a Barbie princess or Tinkerbell. She picked Tink. Everyone was like..."wow! that's an awesome prize! That's a lot of tickets!" Yes, it was. She was so proud of herself and her prize. I told her we will start saving up again for another big prize. I didn't get a chance to take her picture with it when we got home. But I wanted to post a photo. This is one of the photos from our family photo shoot this month. I love this photo. I never thought about doing photos of our hands. I love the simplicity of it. My plan is to change it to black and white and have it enlarged. Over the past 4 months, K has had her photo taken a number of times. I am going to go broke buying all the photos I want! I've decided that this year, I am not doing a Christmas photo for her. She will see Santa, but that's it. And I am 99.9% sure that the photo of her and Santa will be of her screaming her head off.

Okay...list is still a mile long for tomorrow. Need to go to bed.

blog ya later!

Seriously?

I am 37 years old. I am old. I know that. And let me just say....I am over the high school drama that some mom's seem to thrive on. We are grown ass women. Get.Over.Yourself. Seriously?

On a much lighter note, I actually got some stuff done today. Took the dog to the vet. Made a run to Lowe's for somethings. I needed a tomato cage. The lady at Lowe's was like...they are already put away for the season and then just walked away. What? We have a small Ace Hardware Store by our house, so I thought I would stop by there. They didn't have any on the floor,but the manager took me to the back storeroom and dug one out for me! Awesome. Love small places like that that go above for their customers. I need to make it a point to shop there more often. Stay tuned for a project that involves the tomato cage, some spray paint, ribbon and some paper clips. Aren't you wondering what in the world I am making with that? I'm MacGyver!! I've actually got a couple of projects that I am working on that I hope to have completed tomorrow.

I know this is going to sound silly, but I have set a small goal for myself. My goal for the rest of the year is to not bring anymore plastic bags into our house. I have probably 20 reusable bags that I've bought or have been given. I need to start using them. I picked up some super cute ones from TJ Maxx yesterday. It's pink and paisley...two of my daughter's favorite things.

Okay, I am going to change into my pjs and work on some things for tomorrow!

blog ya later.

Must get going...

I've got to get motivated and get out of this house! I've got so much to do this week and today I really need to get going! Yesterday I was able to get H1N1 shots for myself and K. K because she is 4 and me because I work in a childcare facility. Since it is still so hard to get a vaccine anywhere, but the health department, I've been watching their website to see when they are offering them. I called their "H1N1 Information Line" on Sunday and they said that they were giving out 500 shots. My plans were to get up early and be there when they opened, but K slept until 9:45! We got to the health department about 11ish. We walked in, I filled out paperwork, they handed K a number, we walked into the area they were giving the shots, handed some guy the number, got shots and left. All in less than 10 minutes. Most of that time was spent talking to the nurse in code so K wouldn't realize what what about to happen. I planned it that way so she wouldn't be freaking out the entire time. When we pulled into the parking garage, she said, "oh, we are at the doctor? Ummm...how did she know that? Anyway, K screamed like she was being tortured for all of 3 minutes and then she said, "that was the worst thing ever!" and started crying again. I told Brian that when she has to go back for the booster, he is taking her.

I can not believe that it is already after 11am! I've got to get going. I am headed out for some girl time this evening with my friend Kennington. We are headed to Bare Essentials for some make-up retail therapy. I also need to get K some hairbows and some Christmas pjs. I bought her a pair, but I don't like the ones I bought. Then we are going to have dinner at Chuy's. Can I just tell you that I am in HEAVEN now that Chuy's has come to Nashville. It's AWESOME. Tex-Mex. YUM!

Since I hate posting without photos, I leave you with one of our MANY Disney photos. We happened to bump into these two while we were on our way to the Country Bear Jamboree. As soon as we got in line, we were informed that they were taking a break and would be back at 1:30pm. That happened to us quite a bit. We made the decision to stay close so that we would be first in line to see them. We went to the Jamboree and then stayed in the area their greeting site was in. We rode the Magic Carpets like 5 times and then decided to get in line when we saw that there were already people waiting. I think we were like 3rd or 4th in line. Jasmine and Aladdin were awesome. They were so cute and kept joking around with each other. This was the only time that we saw a princess with one of the "guys". Jasmine happens to be one of K's favorite princesses, so I thrilled that we just happened upon them. This was the only time we saw her other than in a parade. (Oh who am I kidding....ALL of the princesses are K's favorite.)

Okay, I am going to jump in the shower, gather all my library books and canned goods and head to the library. Thankfully, the library system is doing their Food for Fines again this year. I usually wait until the end of the year to pay my fines to see if they are going to do this. With coupons, I usually get canned goods for next to nothing, so I "pay" my fines for cheap and I also help out the Second Harvest Food Bank. It's a win-win situation for everyone!

Okay...I've GOT to get going. Blog ya later!

Crazy, crazy, crazy.

That's basically how busy I've been lately. Due to some H1N1 cases at our tiny Mother's Day Out Program, I am going to be off for two weeks instead of just one week for Thanksgiving. I am hoping with the extra time off, I will be able to get some things done around the house. My plan is to get the Christmas tree up Monday. Brian is off of work, so after he gets back from golfing and K is done with dance, I want the tree up. I know, I know...it's early! But, in my defense, we have so much stuff going on this week that if I don't get it up now, it will be December before it goes up! I can not put the tree up myself. Brian is the official "tree putter upper and fluffer"...not me. I do all the decorating, but he does the assembly and fluffing.

Okay...I need to get myself to bed. Since we are not in school this week, my plan is to head down to the health department in the morning and get K and hopefully myself a H1N1 shot. I called the health department's flu information line and it said that they will have 500 shots available on a first come, first serve basis. They open @ 7am. Not sure we will make it when they open since K stayed up so late tonight. I was too into the Indy/New England football game to realize how late it was. Oops.

I am trying to get back in the blogging bandwagon, but I've been busy, and honestly, my life is pretty boring these days. I need to spend less time on my computer and more time on other things.

Here is a cute photo of K dressed up for Halloween. She had three different costumes this year. This is her JoJo Circus one that I adore. She was excite to wear it since we had just gotten back from Disney and she got to have breakfast with JoJo. Did I mention we went to Disney??? That was the best vacation I've ever had. I mean, my honeymoon was awesome, but this was so much fun and K was so over the moon at meeting Princesses and Fairies. Lots and lots of photos to share. I am thinking of making her a photo book of all the pictures from our trip. She talks about it all the time still. Originally I told Brian that we probably wouldn't go back for 3 or 4 more years, but I want to go back next fall again! It was just so much fun and even though we did a ton of stuff, I feel like there was a lot of stuff we didn't get to do.

Okay...off to check on K and then head to bed. With a couple of the kids at school getting sick, I've been keeping a super close eye on her since Friday. Overprotective Mommy is my name!

Blog ya later!

not sure...

I am not sure if I can keep going at the rate that I've been going. Today I worked then I needed to run some errands. I needed to make some returns to Old Navy and Kohl's. When I was leaving Kohl's, the headache that I had pretty much all day long, started to get worse. By the time I was less than a mile from home, it was a full blown migraine. ARG. I climbed into bed and pulled the quilt over my head. Brian made the mistake of pulling the quilt down and got yelled at. Finally about 9pm my head was starting to feel better. Now it is down to just a lingering headache.

So, K has been gone since Sunday and I've basically gotten nothing done. Tomorrow is another school day. As soon as I get done at school, I need to run up and get my tire fixed and my oil changed. I had this tire repaired like two weeks ago it it went flat again the same day. I should have taken it back up there the same day, but I just haven't had the time. Brian wants me to get it done before we leave town on Friday. Tomorrow night is also bunco. So, I am going to come home after getting the stuff done on the truck and hopefully get a couple loads of laundry done and some other things.

I just don't know if I can keep going at this pace anymore. I'm about to drop. I can count on one hand how many times I've cooked an actual meal for my family this month. That's not good. I've got to slow down. I've got to learn to say no. And I've got to remember that I can not do everything, no do I NEED to do everything! I think I realized how bad it has gotten when I started crying over the Disney trip and the plans. Changes are going to have to be made.

Enough of my whining....I hate that I've posted without photos. This one is of K at the Zoo last month. This photo was to prove that she DID feed the birds and wasn't scared. The last time i took her in there, she poured the nectar out on the group and was ready to leave. She did get a little tense when there was a bird on my head. But she quickly got over it when she realized I wasn't freaking out. Once it finally stop raining, maybe we will head to the Zoo again. Best to get the use of our membership!

Okay, I am headed to bed.

Blog ya later!

Wow

Lots going on. Not a lot of time to post. No photos this time. I am trying to get back into the habit of blogging, but honestly, it's HARD!

Today has been a little hard for me. I got some news that literally knocked me for a loop. I read the email twice and just busted out crying. My friend...if you are reading this, you know who you are......Brian and I are thinking of you. I am here if you need me for anything.

K is out of town at my inlaws in Michigan. The most awesome husband in the world bought tickets for us to see a Michigan game at the Big House. Can I just tell you...I AM SO FREAKIN' EXCITED????? We are headed for Michigan on Friday around lunch time. We will head to the game at noon on Saturday. After the game is over, we will head to my inlaws to pick up our baby girl. Spend Saturday night there and then head home!

This week is CRAZY busy. I had some things I wanted to accomplish today. The list was a lot longer than the two things I actually completed. I got a flu shot and I returned some books to the library. I really needed to work on the lesson plan for October, but I just didn't get a chance to. I am planning on completing that tomorrow.....along with a million and one other things that HAVE to be done.

Brian and I will be celebrating our 10th anniversary on the 2nd of October. We will be leaving for Disney on the 3rd. A week of fun. Let me just tell you...I have a LOT of anxiety about this trip right now because other than having our room booked and our tickets paid for, we only have reservations for one thing an that is a Princess luncheon. That's it. We have no schedule made out. No reservations to dine anywhere. I'm starting to STRESS.

Okay...I am off to bed. I've got to get some sleep so I can get up at a decent out and plan some sore of assult on the day. Not to mention, I get to spend 5 hours with nine 4 year olds tomorrow. Normally it would be 10, but my child won't be there.

I WILL ACCOMPLISH MORE THAN ONE THING TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!

blog ya later!

My poor, neglected blog....

there are just not enough hours in the day it seems. This is my one week off from school and what do I do? I cram it full of things that need to be done. I did have a change of schedule, so Wednesday I am planning on staying home and finishing a couple of things. Monday I worked at the school. Then Miss K and I met some friends at McD's for a late afternoon playdate. Then I hit up this awesome new place in town, Sips & Strokes with Jade and Becky from my mom's group. We had an awesome time. Check out my masterpiece! Okay...it's not a masterpiece, but it matches K's bedroom decor and will hang on her bedroom wall. She thought it was pretty cute. Tuesday was another day spent at the school. We got a LOT done. The room is completely painted...trim and all. I need to get the stuff hung back up on the walls still. I need to to my bulletin board in my room and come up with something for my classroom door as well. I REALLY need to get my lesson plans done for the month so that I can get my supply list done and to the director so she can buy all my goodies. Thursday and Friday are both busy as well. I'm glad that it's a 3 day weekend, but we do have a party to go to on Saturday and one on Sunday. Seriously...before K was born, I was NEVER this busy.

I'm looking at the time and I can not believe how late it already is! I want to go to bed, but I have GOT to work on my lesson plan. Why do I do this to myself????? I can work on it first thing in the morning when I get up because I don't think we are going to the PTS until later in the afternoon.

ARG! I just looked at the Sips & Strokes calendar and there is a painting I want to do at the end of the month. LikeI don't have enough stuff going on in my busy life. And I just remembered that I need to schedule a GNO for next week to go to Bonefish. Where is my calendar? At the rate I am going, I am going to need to go see Keeley early to cover up all this grey that's popping up! I'm off!

Blog ya later. (and I promise it won't be boring stuff!)

Felt Boards

So....I made some felt boards for us to use at the preschool. I was showing the director some felt sets on Etsy and I came across a set that coordinates to the book we happen to be using this week, Go Away Big Green Monster. Here is the set that I found on etsy. I just took the book, laid it on the copier at the school and used the copies to make my "pattern". I have tons of felt around the house....except for purple, so I had to make a trip to Michael's to get purple for the monster's hair. I went for a 29 cent piece of felt and ended up with a few other things. Isn't that how it usually goes? I made two sets. I think they turned out pretty cute. I need to head to bed, but I will take a photo of them tomorrow at school. I've got to get up early in the morning and put the felt boards back together. I had Brian spray paint some old frames I bought at Goodwill about a month ago. So, for less than $15, I was able to make two felt boards for school and I have left over felt and spray adhesive.

Oh the bathroom front, Brian got the floor moulding put down. The floor actually looks pretty nice. Love the tile. I need this bathroom to be done soon because I hate taking a shower in K's bathroom. The shower seems so small compared to the one in the master bathroom. Plus, she's a little territorial over her space and things and keeps asking me when I am going to move my stuff out of her bathroom. I found my shampoo sitting on the floor next to my shower this morning. Apparently she put it there to make sure I didn't "forget".

Okay...I am headed to bed. I will post photos tomorrow of the boards. I need to clean up my mess. Felt and paper scraps everywhere.

blog ya later.

Painting

Finally. We finally have picked out a color and are getting ready to paint. We will be painting pretty much every room in the house with the exception of K's room and bathroom, the downstairs powder room and the dining room. Everything else will need to be painted. We are working at getting our house in order and will be purging a LOT of stuff from our house.

We decided to start with the bathroom. We went this morning to Home Depot and bought paint, new mouldings and a few other things. One thing that we need to do is replace our light fixture in there. With Brian's job, we are not sure what is going on, so we don't want to put a lot of money into our house right now. So, we are just going to replace it with the same thing that is there right now....the cheap one the builder originally put it.

Our goal by the end of this week is to have our bathroom completed...that includes having all the goodies I bought for the bathroom at Hobby Lobby hung up. Cute, cute stuff! The other goal is to have my closet organized. I keep getting sidetracked, but my husband has "a plan" and that includes having my closet a.k.a "the black hole" cleaned and organized.

No photos tonight, but I will take some before and after photos. Although, I did NOT take any photos of my bathroom before I cleaned the mess out of there. It was a nightmare. So much crap. And I cleaned out the medicine box too. I threw out probably $500 worth of medication. (Well, that's what it would have cost without insurance.) There were some pain pills in there that were pretty expensive. Speaking of expensive...I've got to get a root canal. On the same tooth I had a crown replaced on. The same tooth that the other dentist said needed a root canal, but my new dentist disagreed and replaced the crown instead. Can I just tell you....I'm irritated about the whole thing?

Okay...I'm out of here. I am working again tomorrow. I worked 4 days last week and on the 4th day K informed me that she had been at school too much this week. She's going to be in for a shock when she starts kindergarten next year! I am hoping that the MDO program will get the enrollment up for Monday/Wednesday so that I will be working 4 days a week in the fall. I've been saving all of my paychecks for Disney spending money.

Okay....this post is all over the place. I'm going to bed....

blog ya later.

Battle for Order!

So, I've been saying for YEARS that I am going to get organized and it still hasn't happened. And as Miss K gets older, my life becomes more hectic and crammed with this to do. It's never ending. School, playdates, errands, dance class, parties, and just general quality time spent with my child. My house is OUT OF CONTROL. So, I have decided to join the Organizational Challenge at Coming Clean: Confessions of an Imperfect Parent. She's got this awesome challenge going on and I've decided that I have got to make myself do it. You can check out the guidelines for the challenge here.

I've decided that my first area that I am going to declutter is going to be K's closet. The only problem is, my brother and his wife are coming into town on Sunday and are staying until Tuesday morning. I will try and get a few things done while they are here, but I am really going to have to get cracking on it Tuesday when we get home from school. K's clothing and shoes have taken on a life of their own!

I will take photos tomorrow and get them posted so that you can see the "before".

This is just the beginning....

I told Brian that my pedicure bill has just doubled. Do you think she will ever let me go get a pedicure alone? She loved it. She thought the pink polish was awesome, but when the girl put the flowers on there, she was in heaven! She kept telling me and Grandma, "I love my new toenails! I want to keep them pink for always!" My baby is growing up. It's fun, but it is also so sad. I want her to stay this age forever!

Cutest thing ever....

was seeing my sweet baby perform on stage with her dance class. I was the "stage mom" for her group, so I watched it from the wings, but it was too stinkin' cute. Brian video taped it for me, but it didn't turn out so great, so I got on line and ordered the DVD from the performance. Her group did so good and the dance teacher said they are one of the better classes. I will say, these girls have been together pretty much since last summer and they all get along great. They are polite with each other and I've never seen them be mean to each other. They all just meshed well together. It's going to be sad when dance starts in the fall because some of them are moving up to the next class and some are staying behind. I've not decided what to do with K yet. She will be old enough to go to the class, but I am not sure if she is ready.

I sent Brian into the theater with the camcorder and my Rebel. Too bad I forgot to put the stinkin' battery in the Rebel! My girlfriend took some pictures for me, so I'll get them from her when she gets back from vacation. But he is a photo of K and her two best friends after they finished their dances and got their trophies. Grandpa told K that we were going to have to build a trophy case for all her awards!

Blog ya later!

Let the summertime fun begin!

My wonderful husband built this thing with his own two hands and he did it alone. He bought a kit on line that had the plans and the hardware. He bought, cut and routed all the wood himself. He also modified the plans and built a roof instead of buying the tarp. The only thing left to do it to put a floor on the bottom. It is suppose to be a sandbox, but we don't want to mess with that. So, he will cover it and them built Miss K a picnic table to sit under there too. She loves her new toy. It's the first thing she wants to do in the morning. Thankfully, I can sit on the back deck and watch her! It's awesome.

Busy, busy week for us. Brian is leaving in the morning to go out of town for a week for work. While I am not thrilled because this is the week I start back to work and K has her recital, this will be one less week of "downtime" for him, so he will get full pay instead of layoff pay. If you think about it, say a prayer that GM will decide that Tennessee is the best place for them to build a new small car. If they decide to build it elsewhere, I am not sure what that means for Brian. It's sort of a stressful situation, but I am looking at it with a positive view. If I look at it any other way, it will eat me alive and I can't live like that.

Okay....gotta go. Lots to do. Brian's parents will be here on Friday. Thankfully, my house looks halfway decent!

blog ya later!

Where in the world is Hollye?

hey...I'm here. Just trying to get some stuff done around the house on my 2 weeks off. (my backspace key on my laptop broke, so forgive any errors.)

Today I've been cleaning out my wreck of a closet. It's a mess. The hallway is lined with folded clothes that will be going to Goodwill. I will probably have to make a second pass through the clothes I decided to keep because I think I am keeping more than I need or can possibly wear. I've not even attempted to go through the shoes yet.

Okay...my child is trying to show me something that she NEEDS me to order for her out of some catalog. Off to clean.

blog ya later.

Go me!

K is out of town and I've not gotten a dang thing done. I had grand plans. Oh well. I will say, I was looking forward to K being at her grandparents, but I am ready for her to be home. I miss her...ALOT. Brian does too.

I did actually get something completed today. I made Kennedy a felt board for her playroom. We have some felt board sets that she loves to play with. I lucked out and picked them up at Goodwill for $1.99. Either someone didn't realize what they were tossing or they just didn't care. These sets are not cheap. If you buy them individually, they are about $16.95 a set. I have found a place on line where you can buy a set almost just like the one I have for $30. There are 5 different "scenes" you can make. K loves them. I took them to school for my kids to play with and they loved them. The director mentioned that she would like to have a felt board, but didn't have the money for it. I found a tutorial on line...SUPER simple. Picked the stuff up today at Hobby Lobby and made it tonight in less than 5 minutes. The spray glue is what took the longest. You have to let it set for a whole minute before you bond the pieces. I got a nice 16X20 frame, took the glass out and used it. The frame was a little pricey....$17.50 and that was the 1/2 off price. I did see a frame at Goodwill tonight that would have worked for $8, but it would have needed to be sanded and painted. The frame I bought was a large white one. I think it is going to look great on the wall in K's playroom...just not too sure where it is going to hang. (the sets we have don't hang on the wall, so we use them in the car on trips.) Brian and I need to sit down and draw out the room and make some serious plans. I've got to get that closet cleaned out in there so I can start moving stuff into there. I want to put all her art supplies and things in there. I am also putting her large tilt bin in there. I honestly need a whole separate room for the "Babies and Barbie".

Anyway....here is a link to the felt board I made. I didn't take photos. Once it is hung on the wall, I will post photos of all the things in her cool playroom.

So, I actually got a project completed. Granted, it was a NEW project, but at least I finished it and didn't just buy the stuff for it and then shove it into a closet! I am hoping to get at least one thing completed tomorrow. No pressure. If it doesn't get done, it doesn't get done.

blog ya later!

I honestly can not think of what to call this post....

First off....I cleared it with the director and I will start the giveaways next week. I just need to get things together and hit some friends up for donations. Thank you to my sweet friend, Lianna for offering a set of cards from her website.

We will be hosting a Parent's Night Out/Kids Movie Night on Friday, May 8th from 6 - 9 pm. If you live in the Nashville area and want a night out without your kids, get in touch with me. Brian and I will both be volunteering our time that night, so we will be there. We are hoping to make some good money with this.

Stay tuned for more on the chip-in/giveaway thing....

So...K is going to her grandparents house in Michigan next week. I've been thinking about all the things I would love to get done. I know it won't happen, but a girl can dream. One thing I do plan on doing is making some freezer meals. I've been wanting to do this for awhile, but I just never commit to it. I'm committing! I got a recipe book that has some easy recipes in it. It's called "Girlfriends On The Go". Publix had chicken on sale last week, so I picked up quite a bit. I want to make about 8 meals just to see how they are. Then, I am going to try and round up some other moms who want to swap meals. My neighbor and I have been talking about doing this for sometime, but we've never gotten around to it. But I am on a mission. If I only get a few things done while she is gone, I would like them to be the following: 1. meals made; 2. playroom closet cleaned out and the room organized; 3. ALL THE LAUNDRY DONE. Actually, if I only get one thing done, it really need to be all the laundry. But that also means I need to get the closets cleaned out so that I have a place to hang all the clean laundry! See....it's a wicked cycle. In order to get ONE thing accomplished, I actually have to do like 5 or 6 different projects.

Speaking of projects....I added a couple of new ones to the unfinished project list. K is into headbands with flowers on them. I think she would like just flower clips as well. So, I picked up some silk flowers and I want to get those made for her. That is my plan for Thursday. She keeps asking about them. Then my cousin Jami posted a photo of a shirt for made for her niece and I decided I needed to make one too. I've got the shirt, the ribbon and the wonderunder. But I really need to make the baby doll diapers that K keeps asking for. See...I'm awful!!!!! ARG! When I die, I'll need a separate casket just for all the unfinished projects. Maybe I'll get to complete them in the afterlife!

I have to work tomorrow. I need some sleep.

blog ya later!

Coming soon....

So, Miss K's school needs some funds to finish their playground. We've pretty much exhausted asking the parents for donations. So, I'm going to do a chip-in/giveaway thing. My friend Lianna has been raising funds for her IVF and she gave me the idea. I've got a couple of things that I am getting ready to list, but I am going to be hitting up some friends for donations.

K attends a VERY small parents day out program. She attends Tuesday/Thursday. There are 8 kids in her class and 5 kids in the class I teach and that is it. 13 kids. Monday/Wednesday I think there are 12 or 13 kids as well. So, about 26 kids total in the entire school. The tuition basically covers the teachers and supplies for each month. Trust me when I say...this is not a money making business for the church. Like the school, the church is also very small. We do not attend this church, but every week when I walk in, I see the sign that shows how many people attended that Sunday and what the offering was. Attendance runs anywhere from 54 to 96. I think once I actually saw 115 on there. I know that some people would be turned off by the size of the program, but that is what drew me to it in the first place. I love that I know the name of every child, teacher and parent in the entire school. I love that my child get individual attention. I feel safe having my child there. I love this program so much that when I found out that K was going to age out last year, I pushed for them to add another class. They were originally not going to do it because of space, but at the time, they were only doing Monday/Wednesday classes. I gave them the idea of adding Tuesday/Thursday classes. When they told me they were doing that, I was thrilled and warned them at the time that I would start pushing for a preschool program at the beginning of this year. Which I did. And they have added that for the fall.

So, the playground last year was very sad, but it worked. Play structures cost a lot of money. The church was lucky enough to have one donated. (A family donated it to their church and the church didn't need it, so they donated it to us.) But, the fence had to be replaced. That took up most of the money that we had raised. We did a spare change drive with our kids. They raised over $115 in change! It was great. K was so cute about it. She would go around and pick up change all over the house. One day she was riding home in Brian's car and saw he had coins in his car. She came in and got a baggie and ran back out to his car and picked up everything she could find. Lots of coins.

So, now we have the fence up. The play structure is going to start going up, but we need ground covering now. Play soft mulch for a playground is not cheap. I called the landscaper who takes care of our common areas in my neighborhood. He also lives here. I called him last week, but he hasn't bothered to call me back. I'll try him again this week. We've got to get this playground completed. The weather here is Middle Tennessee is finally starting to take a turn for the better and the kids NEED to be outside and they WANT to be outside.

We will be having a Parent's Night Out/Kid's Movie Night next month. I'm hoping we can raise some good money doing that. Brian and I will both be volunteering that night.

Check back in a day or two and I should have the first giveaway posted!

blog ya later!

Where have I been?

What can I say? I thought for sure that I would have some sort of scheduled worked out, but I don't. Can I just tell you....Thursday is going to be one super busy day for me. We have school from 9am - 1pm. I am actually going to try and get there about 8ish because I want to get the other cabinet in my room cleaned out. Tuesday I got one cleaned out and I am LOVING it. My second cabinet will not be so easy. Most of the craft paint in stored in this cabinet and it takes up a LOT of room. Also, there are cleaning supplies in this cabinet. Regardless....it needs to be cleaned out. I found two old potatoes in the cabinets on Tuesday. I asked the aid if she had any idea what they were for and she had no idea. So, after school I have to run to the mall and pick up some stuff I have for K on hold at Gymboree. Got to use those Gymbucks. Then I have a chiropractor appt. at 2:30. He said I missed my appt. on Tuesday, but I SWEAR it was for Wednesday. Then I have to RACE back to Nolensville to pick K up from my awesome friend Amanda's house and get her to dance by 4:30. Dance is over at 5:30. Hurry home and meet up with my mom so that she can babysit for me since I have bunco Thursday. Brian has golf league, so he won't be home until after 8. I already told my mom to bring dinner for her and K and I will just pay her for it. I am not even going to attempt to make dinner.

Tonight I managed to get some forms redone for school. I printed out some kite patterns that I need for tomorrow as well. I have some laundry going that I need for tomorrow. K had an accident at Hobby Lobby this afternoon. Honestly, I wouldn't call it an accident, I call it being a pain in the arse. She was standing in the bathroom at HL when it happened and she didn't even attempt to go potty. Still having issues with the public potties. We have a few places that she will go. Dentist office, Chicken Nick's, church, school.....I am sure that are a few others, but not many. I changed her clothes. She was lucky I had her school backpack in the car and there was a change of clothes in there. I ended up having to go to the mall and buy her something else because she managed to cover herself with chocolate. ARG! She had two accidents last Thursday. One at dance class which made me so mad because she threw a fit that I wouldn't go buy her new dance clothes so she would be dressed like all the other girls. Sorry Charlie. That's what happens when you refuse to use the potty. She told me, "Mommy, I danced so hard the peepee just came out!" They also had a sub that day, so that might have been part of it. I honestly think every single child in that class came out at one point to use the potty. Crazy. The second accident was at Sonic and I don't even want to talk about it. I will say that it ended with me having words with the manager. Still pisses me off to even think about it. I expressed my disappointment to K, but she doesn't seem to get it at all.

Okay...I need to go and pack all my stuff for tomorrow. If I don't get it done tonight, I will be running around tomorrow morning. I will end up being late and will forget something and that will totally screw my schedule all up tomorrow!

Wanted to leave you with a photo from Easter Sunday. My baby girl is getting so big. She would officially be a big girl if she would USE THE POTTY IN PUBLIC! (And I know a bunch of you don't blame her because public bathrooms are nasty, but come on....you use them if you REALLY have to go! You don't just wet your pants!)

blog ya later.

Bunny!

Here is the photo of Miss K and the bunny.

Prayers PLEASE

When I arrived at work (Miss K' school) this morning, the Mon/Wed aid was there. I asked her what was going on and she said that she would let Ms. Andrea, the director tell me. Long story short, one of Miss K's teachers, Ms. Chris found on yesterday that her husband has a brain tumor. He's 37 years old. When she told me, I just started crying. Chris has a son, William who is about 5 months younger than K. And Chris is just the most awesome person ever. Her absence today was very noticeable because she sings to her class pretty much all day long and it was just so odd not to hear that. We are waiting to hear back from her as to what they found out after the last MRI. But if could please, add Ms. Chris and her family to your prayer list.

Headband Cuteness!

Here it is! I got a little happy with the hot glue, so there are some "bumpy" places on the headband. Overall, I think it looks too stinkin' cute. It does seem a tad bit big on her. I tried to

bend the headband a bit, but it didn't seem to help. Oh well. It's cute. I've got some polka dot ribbon that I am going to use on another one. I just need to get some more flowers. I got a really cute photo of her and the dog, but I don't want to post it because you can see the mess in my hallway. I love it!

blog ya later!

Things that would normally make her cry....

Today was a RECORD day for Miss K. We had a lot going on and a number of the things that she had to do today are things that would normally end with her crying. Check it out....

*Dr. appt. - we are dealing with a second round of ear infections in less than two weeks. She was happy to be at the doctor. She gladly pulled her hair out of the way so the doc could look in her ear. Normally, she cries when the doctor walks in the room. The last couple of times have been okay because she has gotten use to Dr. Carr. Threw her a curve today...Dr. Carr was off. Had to see Dr. Townsend. Miss K didn't even flinch. Got our meds and we were good to go!

*Got a haircut. She is hit or miss with this. For the longest time, she cried through the entire thing. Now, she seems to be fine with it. But I will say, she is very concerned that Ms. Honey is going to cut her hair "short like Lauren's" and she wants it "long like Emma's".

*the Easter bunny. A new store opened up in Franklin this week...Learning Express Toys. I am in love. Awesome store. I could spend a LOT of money in there. I love any sort of toy/activities that involves K learning something other than how to turn the TV on. Well, they had an Easter bunny in there. I thought for sure as soon as I heard that, we were going to have to leave. She would freak out at even seeing the bunny. I told them she was not interested in seeing the bunny. Then 15 minutes later the lady asked K if she wanted her photo taken with the Easter Bunny and she said YES! Before I could say anything, she was hugging the bunny and smiling for the camera! WHAT? They are going to email me the photo. I'm shocked. I honestly never thought this would happen.

*medicine. Again...hit or miss with this thing. If the medicine is pink, I normally won't have to worry about getting her to take it. But, you never know! She took not one, not two, but THREE mediciations today and never even paused.

It was a great day. Well....it was until it was time to brush our teeth. At one point, I threatened to beat her with the toothbrush. Not my finest moment, but I was at the end of my rope. Oh the joys of being a parent!

blog ya later!

Soccer Girl!

And yet....another project

So, today I took Miss K to Sweet & Sassy to get her hair cut. While we were waiting for Ms. Honey to finish painting someone's nails, we looking around the little "store" area of the salon. I saw these super cute headbands with huge flowers on them. I didn't think they would be expensive, so I tried it on K and she thought it was the greatest thing in the world. Of course....it was pink. Hot pink. Too stinkin' cute! $16.95! No way. All it was is ribbon, hot glued to a headband with a hot pink flower hot glued to it. And whoever made them, pulled the center of the flower out and and put a big shiny jewel in it's place. K threw a small fit when I told her I was NOT buying it for her. I know I can make it for a HECK of a lot less. So, I went to Michael's to get the stuff. Here is the breakdown of what I got...

*5 yds of hot pink ribbon - $2.50 (on sale)

*bunch of hot pink flowers - $1.99 (now...the original price on these was $9.99 and they were half off, but the lady pointed out that a couple of flowers were missing. I didn't care. I didn't need 8 flowers. And, the price tag must have fallen off when I had to yank it out of the holder.)

*bag of large shiny jewels - $2.99 (I am not sure if there were 10 or 15 in the bag.)

* headbands - $2.99 (I think there were 5 in package)

So, I spent $10.47, plus tax. Thing is...I can make probably 5 headbands with the supplies I bought. And I will still have a flower or two left and plenty of jewels. So, I am going to sit down tonight after K goes to sleep and make it. I hate using the hot glue gun when she is around. She gets too close to it and it scares me.

Okay...blog ya later...WITH photos!

I found an awesome blog!

You have got to check this blog out! Bakerella! When I grow up, I want to be like her!

blog ya later.

I promise....

this blog will return in full force soon. I'm still trying to get on some sort of schedule. Me going back to work and then we added soccer into the mix and I'm just constantly on the go. Not to mention, I've been to the dentist seven times in the past seven weeks. My dentist diognoised me with TMJ. Can I just say.....OUCH. She gave me a referal to see a massage therapist, so of course, I HAD to go! She was a little space case, but I will say, it was the best massage I've had in forever. She didn't just rub all over me with a bunch of oils. She worked on the areas that were giving me problems. I can already tell that I am going to SORE tomorrow when I get up. I'm going back again next week for a 30 minute massage. I'm looking forward to it.

blog ya later.

Very sad here in our house....

Our cat, Tabby is missing. Brian and I have had Tabby for about 11 years. I actually got her when I was working in Mississippi. She is an indoor cat. She ocassionally goes in the backyard to eat grass, hunt bugs or just sun herself. She will usually come in on her own or if I don't let her in fast enough for her, she will slip through the fence and come around to the front porch and meow VERY loudly at the front door. I can hear her it's so loud. But I can't her when she is on the back deck. Anyway....she woke me up early Thursday morning meowing because her food bowl was empty. And I knew that she was going to gorge herself, go downstairs throw up on my floor and then go outside and eat grass. It happens anytime we accidently let her food bowl get totally empty. So, Thursday I was running out the door to get to school and Tabby ran out the front door. No big deal. I was only going to be gone until 1ish, she would be fine. I think that is the last time I've seen her. I just didn't realize it until Saturday afternoon on our way home from a birthday party. ARG! How bad of a pet parent am I? It's poured Thursday and Friday night and snowed last night. She's super friendly, so I am hoping that someone took pity on her and brought her in. I posted a message to my neighborhood's Facebook group. I also sent an email to the lady who chairs the social committee and asked her to send out an email to anyone that she has an email address for and attached a flier that I made up. I had 120 copies made, so we are going to put them in the mailboxes, hang a couple in the neighborhood and take one up to the vet's office. I'm just so sad. I hope nothing bad has happened to her. I worry that she is going to starve to death. I have no idea how I am going to explain it to Miss K if she doesn't come home. She already had a conversation with Brian this morning and she told him, "Daddy, I think Tabby might be lost in the bushes." Dang it.

I just realized...I can't find my iPod either.

ARG.

Blog ya later.

Fundraiser for K's school

This is a fundraiser for K's school. For every book that we sell, the school gets $5. Stepping Stones is a very small school and they are currently raising money to redo their playground.

I have to turn the orders in by Feb. 26th. The books will be delivered on the 4th of March.

You can see all the different books here: http://www.abookstarringme.com/

Here is the information I will need for the book:
Your Name:
Boy or Girl
Age
Book Title
First Name
Name called (if different)
Middle Name
Last nameHometown
Friends or Relative (1 to 3 names)
Dedication: (With love from, Happy Birthday... or whatever you decide)
This book is from:
Date of gift printed in book:
Additional Information need for specific books
My Birthday Wish: birthdate needed
Hockey Hero: Favorite Hockey Team
Ballerina Princess: Ballet teachers name (opt.)
No More Diapers: Name of potty-trained sibiling or friend
Name of adult helping with training
Tea Party: Name of adult helper
Sibiling Book: Baby's name and gender

Payment information: Cash, checks, Visa & Mastercard. Total for the books after tax is $16.33

Wow

Who knew going back to work 8 hours a week would throw me outta wack. I will admit, even though I am only in the classroom for 8 hours, I've spent a lot of time outside of it working on little projects for the kids. I was basically handed this class and was told I had to start from scratch because the previous teacher wasn't doing anything. It was a little stressful the first week. Last week was great. Thursday was by far the best day. We did this great little craft project that the kids loved. And one mom even commented that this was the first time her son was ever excited about showing her something he had done at school.

It's still unorganized. I'm working on it. But, believe it or not, I LOVE being in the classroom and I love working with the littles. I want to go back to school and be either a pre-K or kindergarten teacher. I think those are the only ages I could handle. I'm doing a bit of research right now on places to get my certificate.

Busy week this week. I made my to do list and if I start working on it right now, don't go to sleep and just keep working, I MIGHT get 1/2 of it done. I probably need to go to bed, so I can get up at a decent hour and get to work on my list of stuff.

Okay...I've got to go to bed.

Blog ya later!

Behind, behind, behind....

Ever since our New Year got off to a rough start, I've not been able to get into a groove of any sort. I'm hoping to change that. I start working this week, so I need to really get on the ball and get some sort of system going. Today, even though it is beautiful outside, I am going to spend the day doing LAUNDRY. Seriously, I could wash for 24 hours straight and not be done.

I've got a million things going on today. This is a busy week. I need to sit down and make my list, but it is so overwhelming. ARG! I've got so many things going on right now. I need to stop, take a minute and work on ONE thing at a time and not stress about it.

I've got to finish typing up a list of donations I made to the school and then I am going to work on my menu for the week. When I'm done, I'll come back and post it.

RELAX.

Blog ya later.

Menu Planning Monday - Jan 19th

I missed last week since we were out of town, but I am back to planning my menu. I really want to try a couple of new recipes this week. I feel like we are eating the same things week after week. It's going to be another "chicken" week since I was got a bunch of chicken on sale at Kroger before we left for Michigan.

Monday - Three Bran Chicken Chili

Tuesday - My mom wants to go out for dinner since we haven't seen her much since Christmas.

Wednesday - Chicken Nick's (we have dinner with friends every Wednesday night before we drop our kids off at Awanas.)

Thursday - Homemade Lasagna, garlic bread, salad (this is a new recipe I've not made before. I got it from my friend Lindsey.)

Friday - Homemade Chicken Potpie (I'm attending a baby shower brunch and they have asked us to bring a meal for the mom to freeze for after the baby is born. I figure I'll just make two of them. )

Saturday - Shrimp & Pepper Pasta (this is one of my favorite recipes of all time. I don't make it very often. I'm hoping to find shrimp on sale this week. It's a Pace recipe. If anyone wants the recipe....let me know!)

Sunday - Chicken Parm Meatball Subs (This is another recipe I've not tried before. My friend Amanda made it for bunco and it was REALLY good. I think Brian will really like it. Not too sure about Miss K though!)

I have a dentist appointment first thing in the morning. I've got to spend an arm and a leg having a crown replaced. So not looking forward to that. Little irritated about this whole thing. I just had the crown done a little less than three years ago. Why is it bad already and why the heck won't my freaking insurance pay for it? Okay...I'm off to bed. I'm tired and it's LATE.

blog ya later.

Recipe and other a lot of other stuff

Three Bean Chicken Chili

1 small onion, diced

1/2 stick butter, melted

1 can corn

1 can pinto beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can black beans

1 can rotel

1 can diced tomatoes

2-3 cups cooked, shredded chicken

1 package of taco seasoning

1 package of dry ranch dressing

3 cups water

For garnish:

sour cream

tortilla chips

shredded cheese

In a large stock pot, cook onions in melted butter until opaque. Then add all the ingredients into the pot. Cook for about 30 minutes.

I usually serve this with sour cream, crushed tortilla chips and shredded cheese. And this always tastes better the next day for some reason. It's a really easy recipe to make and it taste great. And since it's only Brian and I that eat this, we can eat this for several days and that's fine with me. I love this chili and would eat it all the time if I could!

If you make it, let me know how you liked it.

I've not blogged in awhile. Things have been a bit busy here. We received a phone on the 7th letting us know that Brian's grandfather, Moe had passed away. So, we headed out to Michigan and were gone for about 5 days. It was not a pleasant trip. The weather was MISERABLE. It was snowing hard when we got there and was snowing hard when we left. Moes' passing was not unexpected, but it sort of was. He has really gone down hill in the past two years. He was actually in the hospital when he passed away, but Brian's parent had dinner with him the night he passed and the doctor never indicated anything was wrong. He told them that Moe would be going back to the nursing home on Friday. It's just sad. I've only known Moe for about 12 years, but I felt like I'd known him forever. He was truly a wonderful man. I made it through the viewing just fine. But the funeral was another story. It was very emotional. At least I have some wonderful memories. My only regret is that K didn't get a chance to know him.

So, with everything that happened last week, I did not get to do anything that was on my list as far as resolutions goes. I will be back to my menu tomorrow. I'm going to try and finish up one of my many unfinished projects tonight. I started making K some hairbows at Thanksgiving. The bow part is done, but I ran out of ribbon to attach them to the clips. So, I am going to finish them tonight. I was also making some bows for her best friend.

Friday was a super busy day for us. First of all, it was freaking cold. So cold that they cancelled schools. Brian and I had eye appointments first thing in the morning. At least I can say that I made it to almost 37 years old before I had to get glasses. The doctor said that explained my headaches. I've got astigmatism in one eye and I'm near-sighted in the other. Brian loves the fact that he can give me a hard time about the glasses now. I won't get them until next week since they had to order the lenses. Then I went and got my hair done. Had to cover that gray up. She cut it a little shorter than she did last time, so I am not sure if I am loving it just yet. Maybe in a week or so. Saturday I attended a fabulous baby shower for my friend Amber. I also got a chance to see two of my favorite people, Kelli Darr and Sherri. I hate that I don't get to see them very often. I'm hoping we can get together and scrapbook a bit more one of these days. Maybe once I am organized I can actually scrapbook something!

Well, the laundry room is cleaned out thanks to my wonderful husband. He did it while I was at the shower. Our dryer has been out of commission since we left for Michigan. The hose was clogged up with lint. Now it's working perfectly. Thank goodness for that. Even though I would LOVE to have a new washer and dryer, we don't have the money for it right now. Anyway, now that it's cleaned out, I'm going to spend some time in there today organizing all the stuff that is in there. There are already baskets on the shelves, but I am bad about taking things out of the baskets and not putting them back. I really need to get better about that. (My child has decided that the laundry room, since it is clean, is now her "music room". She has put all her babies in there and has shut to the door so she can play her horn that I keep telling her I am going to throw in the trash. It sounds like a fog horn. It's awful!)

Brian has one more week off. Originally it was suppose to be three weeks, but it turns out it will only be two weeks. We have a BUSY week planned. LOTS of cleaning and MANY trips to Goodwill. I've also got an appointment with the dentist that is going to cost me an arm and a leg.

Oh my goodness....I've rambled forever.

Blog ya later!

Menu Planning Monday - Jan 5th

I've been planning my menu's out for quite some time. It saves me a lot of time at the market as well as a lot of money. If I go in there with a grocery list made from my menu, I usually stick to it. Unless I find an awesome deal on meat that I just can't pass up, then I spend a bit more. I remember one time this summer I went in to get a few things and came across some meat that had just been marked down. I bought everything. $75 and it lasted us forever. And one good thing about doing a menu, I can shop my freezer and pantry and see what's there. And since my pantry is so organized, this takes me all of like 5 minutes. And before we headed out of town to Houston, I spent some time cleaning out my freezer. Everything is organized and it's easy to see what I have on hand. This week we will be eat a lot of chicken because that's what's in the freezer and I want to use what I have on hand. Plus, with Brian being off, we need to cut out grocery bill as much as possible!

Monday: Tacos, rice and beans. (Miss K will not eat this, so she will have Mac n' Cheese)

Tuesday: Homemade Chicken Pot Pie, salad

Wednesday: Miss K has Awanas, so we will eat out. Brian will have leftovers.

Thursday: Ham (left over that I froze after Christmas), mac 'n cheese, green beans, salad, rolls

Friday: Three Bean Chicken Chili - this stuff is AWESOME. I could seriously eat this all the time. I made it while we were in Texas and everyone seemed to love it. If you want the recipe, let me know and I will post it!

Saturday: Cinnamon rolls (I have not attempted to do the homemade ones yet. It's can for us!)
sandwiches, chips (lunch)
Left over chili (dinner)

Sunday: Cereal (breakfast)
Sandwiches or if there is any chili left over, Brian and I will fight over it!
Chicken spaghetti, garlic bread

Now, I am off to make my grocery list. I'll probably go ahead and make my menu out for next week as well and go ahead and get two weeks worth of shopping done. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I find some good sales!

blog ya later!

Bad start on my resolutions

I didn't go to sleep until almost 5am. That's what happens when you sleep almost all day! Dang it. I ended up changing my dr. appt. to Tuesday. So, I'll drop K off at school and head downtown. I need to get my to do list done for tomorrow because I've got a ton of stuff to do! I also woke up with a 3 year old in my bed with her ICE COLD feet in my back. I don't know what it is with that kid. If she gets up to go to the potty, instead of going back to her bed, she comes and climbs in our bed. And that child is a WILD sleeper. She ran my niece and nephew off of a queen size air mattress several times while we were on our trip.

I'm off to work on my menu. I've got to get that done before I can even attempt the grocery store. If I don't, I'll spend way too much money at the market.

Blog ya later!

Resolutions

I really suck at the whole Resolution thing, but I am really going to give it a go this year. Here is goes... My word for the year is ORGANIZATION. Yep. That's right. I am going to make it my goal to become organized in every part of my life. My house, my car, my body, my soul, my mind....everything. I've lived too long with every thing in my life being a wreck. Can't handle it anymore.

Since Brian is going to be off of work for three weeks, we are going to get a huge jump on the organization thing. He's going to be working late every day this week, so we will compile our list of things we want to complete while he is off. I know that we both also have some personal things to take care of. Eye appointments. I am going to the spa for a MUCH needed facial. But we are going to be very busy around the house. Goodwill is going to LOVE us before this is all over with.

My goal is to get one "area" or "thing" organized each week. I'm planning on taking before and after photos.

I also want to start exercising and taking better care of myself. I need to. I've lost 40 pounds and at the rate I am going, I am going to gain it all back. I want to lose about 50 more. Then I will be happy. I think tomorrow I am going to buy a new pair of tennis shoes. I've not bought a new pair is about 2 years. The taking better care of myself is all about eating and the amount of sleep I've been getting. I've GOT to get that under control. Here it is midnight and I'm not in bed yet. Doesn't help that I slept most of the day to catch up on the sleep I missed out on the night I stayed over at Joann's until 4am. But it was so worth it. I hadn't seen her in 18 months. That's the longest we've ever gone without seeing each other.

Since my house is the land of unfinished projects, one of my goals is to complete one project every week. No matter how small, I want to finish at least one. I've got some things that are pretty much done, I just have one thing left to do and I've not done it. WHY DO I DO THAT? I've got a fear of commitment! hehehe

Since I've been reading more than ever, I want to start keeping track of the books that I read. It's only the 4th of January and I've already read 5 books.

I also need to shift some of my focus onto being a better wife and mother. I've really let a lot of things go. There are so many things I want to do with Miss K, but I keep saying..."I'm too busy. We'll do it another time." Well, there might not be another time. The time is now. And part of that includes really spending some time doing a little bit of home schooling with her. As for being a better wife....I really have let my relationship with my husband suffer in the last year. I want us to start going out on dates again. That doesn't mean we have to go out to dinner or a movie, but just something together. Although...with him being off for three weeks...we are going to be getting a LOT of together time.

I am also going to make a new goal for myself every month. It will be different every month and I am really hoping I can stick to it. My goal for this month is to have all my Christmas decorations sorted, packed and stored. This is a huge ordeal because I've got stuff in the garage that still need to be gone through. The tree will come down this week and the easy stuff will be packed away before the weekend. I'll also be doing a bit of purging as well. I've got some decorations that I bought, but I've never put out. It's time to let go of those.

That's a heck of a lot of stuff. That's probably why I never keep my resolutions. I am really going to put forth the effort this year!

Well...I've got an early doctors appointment. I'm off!

blog ya later!