Updates...

Ok so, school started and everything is good with Thomas' teacher so far. Thomas seems to like her and although she is a little on the quirky side, she doesn't seem to bad. I still worry what she will be like after having kids all day everyday for a few months but I guess we'll just take it as it comes. He is next in line to be moved to the other class but I don't think they will  move him after the first week of school unless there is a concrete problem. To tell you the truth I feel kind of bad for her. She knows she is the least preferred teacher. It can't be fun knowing that you are the one that nobody likes/wants. We went to Back to School Night last night  and she was explaining that she knows that when the other teachers walk by her classroom they think she is yelling at her class and that she isn't very nice but that she has nerve deafness in her ears which makes it hard to know how loud she is talking if there is a lot of other noise going on around her. She said that she has asked the kids to give her a certain signal if she starts shouting. I don't know what to think. Honestly, I figure if Thomas is happy, I am happy. We'll see how it goes...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For those of you who are interested in the ongoing Maya saga, well, she's gone now. She left us this past Sunday and the family that came and picked her up was really great! They are the kind of people that we would totally be friends with if they lived closer. Since they drove away with her they have let me know that she is doing well and they love her already. I have to say, as much as I don't miss the barking or the other little annoyances that come with a dog, I do miss her very much. I miss her "hugging" my leg and letting we scratch behind her ears when I would come home. I miss seeing her cuddled up on my down comforter at night. I miss walking up the stairs and seeing her lying there with her head on her paws. I miss her cuddling up to me when I would go to bed before Matt, with her furry body stretched against my belly and her eyebrows under my nose. For those of you who really don't love animals this all probably sounds pretty silly and while even I will admit that she isn't on the same level as one of my children she was still one of my babies and I miss her...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, I think that's it! Exciting, I know...

Confessions of a Shop-aholic...

In the past you have been privy to my inner most thoughts and confessions from my dark side, such as my addictions to Diet Coke and Ben and Jerry's, and today's post will be no exception. I feel I should lie on my couch as I type this and picture a Freudian like therapist taking notes and figuring out how it all relates back to my mother...Anyway, lets talk a little less about psychotherapy and a little more about retail therapy. I shop. A lot. Too much really. And I am good at it!  I love to find a good sale or bargain, clearance racks...well, they...complete me. My poor husband has thus far been quite patient with my somewhat expensive form of self-help, but to be honest, it bothers me. I mean I know it bothers him too. He doesn't yell at me or berate me over it but I know it bothers him. But I don't know that he knows that it bothers me too (maybe we should both lie on a couch?), and that all kidding aside, it makes me feel weak and selfish and stressed. I don't just go spend money just to spend it. It starts because I need to get out of the house because I am going stir-crazy with a toddler climbing all over me and screaming at the top of her lungs when I can't figure out what the heck she wants. At that moment Target starts calling my name. There they have Diet Coke (said with reverence) and popcorn to occupy the Little One. There are adults to talk to that know me now (sad but true) and we talk about our kids and can actually communicate with one another. They have toys there to entertain the Munchkin, toys that she's never seen before and because of that they actually hold her attention for more than 30 seconds and I don't have to entertain her or try to decipher "toddler speak" while she plays with them. But the part that traps me, that sucks me in, is the outfit that will make me like how I look again if I buy it. The home decor that will make me feel happy and make me want to stay at home all day just to look at it. The workout DVD that is different this time, I'll actually use this one (really!) and lose all that weight that I hate carrying around so much. The jewelry that, hanging from my ears or around my neck or adorning my fingers, will make me feel beautiful again. There's the cooking gadgets that will make me all of the sudden love cooking and the cleaning items that will make me magically want to clean. There's the make-up that will make my skin look like a model's or the one toy or game that the kids don't have that will suddenly entertain them for hours on end and cure the endless arguments and bouts of boredom. Oh, and the shoes! Don't even get me started on shoes...

The funny thing is, I know all of that is a lie.

I'm a smart chick. I know that none of this stuff is going to make me the person I really want to be. Most of the time it's just more clutter that I have to find a place for or stuff I may never end up wearing. It just made me feel excited to have something new, and hopeful that it would be the one thing that would make me feel beautiful, successful, fulfilled, you name it. The part I hate though is that I actually live quite a charmed life and I don't feel content a lot of the time. My kids are healthy, my handsome husband works hard and loves me (and my stretch marks), our home is beautiful, we have reliable cars and food to eat (even if I HATE cooking it) so why am I not fulfilled? It's not that I want to go get a job, although I do miss feeling like something I do is worth paying for. I wouldn't trade my kids for anything and I'll be the first to admit that I have really great kids! Why can't I just stay home each day, seeing as I am a stay-at-home mom, and plan fun educational activities for my kids and bake bread and make delicious, nutritious meals and sing while I do dishes and laundry and feel content? Ok, that was a little much but you get the picture.

Please don't misunderstand. I don't hate my life. I'm sure it sounds like it but for the most part I really am happy. I just feel like sometimes I am never going to be successful at this mother/homemaker thing and it gets discouraging. I just don't want to keep trying to shop my issues away because it's not helping anyone, especially me. Well, once again I was probably too honest today and I hope you don't think less of me because of it. Of course, if you're still coming back for more after some of my other posts than I'll just chalk you up as a real friend and maybe we can go shopping together one of these days!



P.S. Next time you're at Target tell the girl at the snack counter that Misty sent you!

Eeny...Meeny...Miney...Moe...

So, I didn't like that my eyes were so dark underneath in our family picture and there were a few other things I didn't like so I Photoshopped our picture in some places and your job is to tell me which one looks better. If it looks too edited tell me the truth!

Now, pick one (you can click on them to see the bigger)...

Picture 1 :

or

Picture 2 :

Now be honest! You are not going to hurt my feelings either way! I need a good one so that I don't end up putting a family portrait on the wall that looks ridiculous! While you're here I'll show you the pictures I took of the kids too. They turned out really cute and Amber took one of me with Em and one of me and Matt that I really liked so I will put those here too...

Random Thoughts...

School starts on Monday. We have been school shopping this week to update the kids' wardrobes in an attempt to send them to school and not have Child Services called regarding their Oliver Twist like appearances. I think we've succeeded. We've found some clothes and shoes and they can now walk out of the house with their heads held high and reflecting well on their parents, which let's face it, if we're totally honest that's our goal in buying school wardrobes right? Can I just say, what the heck happened to being able to buy an entire wardrobe for around $100? Seriously, when I was a teenager my parents gave us each $100 and we made it work. Anyone remember Mad Man Magee's? I'm not even going to tell you how much I spent this year on clothes and shoes for my kids, and I found some pretty good deals too! Anyway, we went and got shoes today and Madison's feet are now a Women's size 10! My 10 year old's feet are officially bigger than mine! Are ya kidding me?!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Speaking of school...Thomas got a teacher this year that I have heard terrible things about. Even the other teachers I have talked to don't like her. I filed a teacher change form back when he first got assigned to her and found out this past week that he didn't get picked in the lottery to change teachers, but his little friend next door did which makes it even worse because he was excited to be in her class. Yesterday I went and talked to the office ladies and to the principal and still couldn't get him changed due to district policies stating that there couldn't be more than a 6 student spread between the lowest and highest class populations in the grade, which there already is. I even asked about changing tracks but ran into the same problem with policies! I know from what I have heard about her that she and Thomas will not be a good match and I am afraid that his love of school will take a big fat nose dive! I am SO FRUSTRATED!!! He has always loved school and always loved his teachers and I don't want that to change. It makes me sad. We've been thinking about putting them on the waiting list for a charter school that we heard about and maybe this is the motivation we needed...but that doesn't help us this year ya know? He's still on the waiting list for the teacher change so hopefully we'll get some good news soon! At least Madison got a GREAT teacher.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We said goodbye to Nikki today, well until September anyway. It was sad. September isn't that far away but it'll never be the same now. We're used to seeing her at least every other Friday. By the time we left Em was tired, hungry and grumpy and wouldn't hug Nikki goodbye and that made me sad because I know how much Nikki adores her and Emilia adores her right back. Em walks around the house sometimes calling for Nikki or randomly talking about her. We will miss her so much...*sigh*

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We took family pictures last night out on our front porch. We wanted one with Maya before she leaves us and we needed one with Em in it since she's TWO and we don't have a family picture with her yet...embarrassing! So I arranged us on the porch and my sweet sister took the pics for us. It was quite an adventure! Em wasn't exactly cooperative and we had a dog to work with too and at one point it started raining but I think we got a few good ones and really, that's all we need so when I get them edited I'll put them on here. I do have one done of all of us so without further adieu...

Whaddaya think? I wish Em had a real smile on and my eyes are a little squinty but 

otherwise it turned out ok I think... 

Anyway, Madison's bestest friend (that moved to Texas last year) is coming tonight to sleepover and go to Lagoon with us tomorrow so I'll have fun pictures and stories next week to blog about. Have a good weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Pictures with Nikki...

Much to Nikki's dismay (she hates having her picture taken) I forced her to sit with my children so I could take some pictures of them all together before she heads out. These were some of my faves and I promised a few people I would post them so they could see. So, here ya go...

(I know Nikki's gonna LOVE this one! She was teasing Thomas about kissing her cheek...)

It's Noon....and I'm still in bed.

Guess where I am right now. You already know I'm in bed from the title of this post so I'll give you that one. But guess where the bed is that I am in........Give up? It's in a Marriot hotel. Downtown. On the 14th floor. Do you know what that means? It means that I woke up this morning when my body told me to, not when I heard a toddler crying for a sippy or cracked my sleep deprived eyes open to see a face six inches away from mine requesting pancakes, to which I always groggily answer, "Go eat some Goldfish Crackers, I'll be down in a little while." I know...Mother. Of. The. Year. Anyway, this morning I woke up around 10:30, ate some donuts, in my bed under the down comforter, then licked my sticky fingers and turned on my iPhone to read my Kindle book without interruption for the next hour or so. Then it occurred to me, this is an experience worth writing about! So here I am shamelessly bragging about being in bed, at noon on a Saturday, without anyone needing anything from me, besides maybe the peanut M&M's in the fridge who clearly need me to devour them...hold on. Ok, I'm back! Frozen chocolate and peanuts will only serve to inspire my writing so let's say, really, I'm eating them for you. If I'm inspired this will be more interesting for you to read so I'm consuming frozen, crunchy bits of heaven in an unselfish effort to entertain my readers (are you out there?) more fully...you're welcome.

So this whole blogging-in-bed-at-noon all started almost 6 years ago when our beloved babysitter Nikki came for the first time. That night started a tradition of her coming to stay with our kids every Friday night while we went out on our weekly date. We started talking way back then about how when she turned 18 she would stay with our kids while we went on a vacation. Fast forward to the past few months. We knew she was leaving. We knew it would be in September so we've been thinking about where we could go so that our kids could have their parentless weekend that they have been eager about for years (Nikki's WAY more fun than us!). Then, about a month ago, Nikki broke the news to us that she has to leave on July 23 for a family reunion and then head straight to college to begin an Anatomy class that she has to fit in and it starts at the beginning of August. She's getting a degree in Nursing and I tried to explain that we are WAY more important than knowing where someone's body parts are, but unfortunately she didn't buy it and we've been grieving ever since. Well as you can see that little announcement put our long awaited "weekend getaway" at the top of our priority list and we decided all we really needed was a comfortable bed in a decent hotel, some good books, good restaurants, and a movie theater and we would have what we really wanted...complete relaxation! Yesterday we packed our bags, kissed the munchkins goodbye and drove away a little bit giddy at our new found extended freedom. We ate, we shopped, we napped, we went to the store at 10:30 at night and filled a cart with an embarrassing amount of junk food that we wouldn't have to share and we ate it in bed while watching a movie. Really, it was like another honeymoon...well, with stretch marks and cellulite that didn't accompany my 19 year old body back on our first honeymoon.

So that brings us to this morning. Blogging in bed. I have no worries about what's going on back at home. Nikki loves my kids as much as I do. Yesterday she took them to a local beach, today she was making them strawberry and whipped cream waffles with who knows what adventures to follow. I love my kids but time apart from each other makes us all that much happier (and saner) to be reunited. Today Matt and I will read, nap, maybe go see a movie, find a really good steak house, break out the Double Stuff Oreos and remember what it was like to just be us...delicious! Tomorrow we go home to most likely lake induced sun-kissed noses, abundant hugs and non-stop jabbering about the adventures had in our absence.

We will also go home to the realization that this was it. This was our last regular Friday night with our beloved Nikki. Sure she'll come back, and I text her all the time, and we've already contemplated a Hawaiian vacation that includes her, seeing as she is part of the family and all...but it won't be the same now. She'll become a nurse, no doubt one of the best, and she'll marry her missionary when he returns and she'll have her own kids and will make THE MOST amazing mom! But we will ALWAYS remember when she was my kids' "other mom", back when they were little, and we'll thank our lucky stars that she was (and hopefully always will be) part of our family!

And now I'm going to go drown my sorrows in another donut, in bed, because calories don't count on vacations!

Playing in PhotoShop...

So I started playing in PhotoShop and made an announcement for Robyn and am posting it here so she can check it out. Let me know what ya'll think so that I know what to do (or not to do) in the future for others!

More Newborn Pics for Robyn...

(Playing with overlays....kinda fun right?)

Newborn Shoot...

I did a newborn shoot for my sister's sister-in-law yesterday and oh the bliss! What a tiny little guy! My babies were never that small (7lbs.) so it's always fun to get to hold a really tiny baby. I know she is excited to see how the pictures turned out so I figured I would put some on here for a sneak peek...

Thanks Robyn for letting me play with your baby and trusting me to capture every square inch of his preciousness!  Hope you like em...

4th of July Weekend...

This past weekend we were busy busy busy! The weekend started on Friday with the last day of school (more on that later). Later that afternoon we went swimming with Matt's sister and her kids. The kids all had so much fun splashing around with each other. Even Emilia enjoyed it which surprised me because she is not a fan of cold water (remember the fountain?) but after getting over the initial shock of it and figuring out that Matt had a secure hold on her she LOVED it!

The kids ran back and forth from the pool to the hot tub for quite a while before we hauled their pruney little bodies back to the cars so that we could meet back at Matt's sister's house for a BBQ and fireworks. We ate way too much, played games, talked and waited for darkness to descend. When it did we lit a fire in the fire pit and watched a fantastic firework display put on by The Hubster, who was assisted by Thomas and his cousin Jordan, after which we roasted 'shmallows to a golden brown and sandwiched them between cookies to make gooey s'mores...YUM! After a while the kids got bored and went in to watch a movie and us adults talked around the fire until Madison informed us, around midnight, that they were tired and ready to go home. Nothin' like your kid calling curfew!

The next morning we slept in and got a slow start to the day. Matt went out to mow the lawn and the next thing I know I go outside and this is what I see...

We've had a problem with water pooling in our yard up top and he decided he had had enough and needed to put in a french drain! It turned into an all day project that expanded to multiple trips to Home Depot and planting flowers in our various front yard gardens. Madison helped plant flowers and it was so fun to watch Matt patiently teach her how to get the plants safely out of the pots and into the ground.

When it was all done the yard looked beautiful with it's newly planted red, white and purple flowers and Matt coordinated well with it...sporting a bright red sunburn!

Sunday was perhaps the longest day of Thomas's life as he was SO excited for our annual 4th of July cul-de-sac BBQ to get underway! He starts asking around December when the 4th of July is and by June he's counting days and then gets down to counting hours. We always get together with our neighbors and everyone brings their own meat and drinks, something to share and we combine our fireworks for a two-hour long show. This year was fun because almost everyone in the circle came. Of course, I was too busy chatting and eating to remember to take pictures but I did get one of Em and Thomas chillin' down in front and one of Madison as she ran with a smoke bomb hissing behind her.

It really was such a fun weekend and I'm a little sad that it is over. Of course, the worst part about the festivities coming to an end is that soon I will have to start answering the question, "When will it be the 4th of July again?" over....and over....and over....again!