Ready or Not....

Ready or not, the holiday season is upon us!! Time has flown by so fast! I remember as a kid when I would hear adults say this, I thought they were crazy because Christmas always took FOREVER to get here.....now it could really slow down a little. In some ways, it feels like we just moved here yesterday and in others, it almost feels like we never left. For this reason, I am thankful right now that I am able to be home during the week. I have been able to get my christmas shopping done stress free and I have plenty of time to get everything else done...except for keep the house clean. I know that there are people out there this holiday season that have lost thier job and are really struggling day to day to make any kind of ends meet. For this reason, I am thankful for many things:
1. I am thankful that I have such a great husband that puts me and the girls first no matter what.
2. I am thankful that I have two happy, healthy children that keep me on my toes.
3. I am thankful that I am surrounded by a family that is always there no matter what.
4. I am thankful that I researched rat care and found out that the cold downstairs was causing our kids pet to become "angels" and moved the newest upstairs before we had yet another death in the family ;)
5. I am thankful to Shannon for working out with me everyday and being a great friend.
6. I am thankful that I was given an opportunity to teach college this semester, I really enjoy it!
7. I am thankful that I will be finished with all my work required for my masters degree in 1 WEEK!!!!!
8. I am thankful that Dylan comes in and makes himself at home whenever he is here
9. I am thankful that I can get cream of crab soup anytime I want and that when I order crab, it is actual crab and not some type of canned wierd stuff.
10. I am thankful that I discovered the Target eatery.....where else can you have a decent lunch with your kid for a total of $5.00 :)

Do I want a job?....yes, I do, but I want a job that I really enjoy and want to do and I am confident that I will find that, but until that time I am thankful that I am able to be picky without fear of being evicted and eating ramen noodles every night. I won't lie, when I find a job, the budget will look much better but it could be a whole lot worse.

So, this holiday season, my hope is that everyone has a list of things to be thankful for! Have a wonderful and safe holiday season!!
-Heather

I know it has been a while since I have last posted....honestly I haven't had much to post about, but anyway, I feel like I have neglected this so here we go! As you all know, we moved to Maryland back in late July. The pros of this move was I got to move close to my family and Chip has a job that he loves and is a really big step for him. The cons of this move are we left a fantastic neighborhood and lots of great friends. Now, many would say, it is just a neighborhood, big deal! But it was not just a neighborhood.....it was a place that we had many friends and many memories. We ended each week as a group relaxing, we called this fun friday, all the kids and adults got to unwind. I had a group of girls that were there whenever you needed them, whether it was to talk, watch movies, go eat or craft, they were always there. So, when this opportunity came to us, we discussed it and figured that long term this was definitely a good move. I, in no way doubt that, but lately I am struggling with a couple of things. First, I hate the house we live in and the neighborhood....it is very hard to go from one extreme to the other and I definitely have done that. I am however, very thankful that I have met a friend in this neighborhood and her and I work out everyday together. Second, I am realizing I really would like a job. Yes, I teach at the community college two days a week and I really enjoy it, but I long for more. I want the money, freedom, independence and comraderie this will bring. I have to be patient though since the economy is not going so well and everyone needs a job, but those that know me also know that patience is definitely not my strong point.

Kiersten is adjusting very well! Kylie, however, is doing good but not great. She is doing fantastic in school!! She misses her room and a yard to run around in. The yard is one thing I believe the whole family is having a hard time with. We usually spent our time after school and work outside grilling and letting the kids play, here we have had to sell our grill because they are not allowed and there is no yard.

I do know that once everything falls completely into place, this will be great for our family! I am glad to be a part of Dylan's life as well as everyone elses that lives here. I also know, the best things come to those who wait......if only I was better at waiting ;)

Farewell to a furry friend

About 10 years ago, I had a friend that was injured. He had a dog named Jake that he had no idea what he was going to do with while he was in the hospital and recovering. So, I volunteered to "watch" him until my friend was ready. Jake came to our house and immediately made himself at home, him and Oscar became friends right away. He was a little hard to walk and had a lot of spunk but was the sweetest brown eyed boy. He would lean into you so he could be as close as possible to you and lay his head in your lap and stare up at you with his sweet face. Needless to say, our temporary arrangement ended up being permanent and Jake became a member of our home. He was there when we brought Kylie home from the hospital. We came home and laid her on the floor so he could introduce himself and he was immediately smitten! He adored her, he would pace when she cried and lay beside her. He felt the same way about Kiersten when we brought her home. As they grew with him, they could climb on him, lay on him, dress him up, anything they wanted to do, he was more than willing to comply. You could not ask for a better dog with kids. Even when my nephew Dylan came along, Jake was eager to offer himself up to Dylan as a jungle gym, pillow, you name it. About 6 months ago, Jake had a seizure completely out of the blue. We took him to the vet and they thought that maybe he got into something and had an allergic reaction. We thought and thought and searched the house for something different that he could have gotten into so we could get rid of it but came up with nothing. A couple of months later he had another one, we again took him to the vet and this doctor immediately took a liking to Jake. He spent the night with him and told us that he believed Jake had a tumor and it could be months, years, there was no telling. A couple of days ago, he started leaning a little to one side....we were concerned. Then when I came down the steps on Sunday morning, I knew something was really wrong. He was wagging his tail and happy to see me as always but he couldn't barely walk and his eyes could not focus on me. With a sinking heart I called Chip down and he took him to the vet. That is when the bad news came, the tumor was so large, it was pushing on his brain and there was no turning back. I couldn't let him suffer, he had given us all he had for so many years and he deserved way better. So now Jake is running around in doggie heaven, tumor free. Our house feels so empty and strange without him. It will take a while to get used to not seeing him at the door when we get home, to not hear him guarding the house all night while we slept, but I know he is guarding us from his new home.

God does have a sense of humor.....

This title is so true and I can prove it, I have two girls! LOL!! Not only do I have two girls, but one is extremely dramatic, squealy, whiny and emotional. Those of you that really know me, can see the humor in this as I am not an overly "girly" girl. Now don't get me wrong, I am not a bodybuilder that spits and scratches myself or anything, I just don't relate well to overly emotional, dramatic people. So to amuse me, I live with Kylie. Kylie is a great kid, she aims to please, she is very passionate about things, but she can pour on the drama and the tears in a heartbeat. EVERY night this week, it has taken at least an hour to get her to bed because she is SO upset that we are going on the cruise and won't see her for 6 days...... it sounds a little something like this:
-good night kylie, i love you, have sweet dreams okay..
-sniff sniff, okay but mommy, why do you have to go on a cruise
-because sometimes grownups need vacations, but it is not for long, we will see you next week
-But, sniff sniff, don't you looooovvvvveeee me, aren't you going to miss us....why can't we GO....
-Kylie, you are getting yourself all worked up over something that is not a big deal, we will bring you a cool thing back from the Bahamas and you have lots of fun plans and we will be back before the weekend
-But I don't want to ride the bus, i want to be able to hold your hand,
-OK, that doesn't have anything to with the cruise, but you are a big girl and I am there to hold your hand until the bus comes and hold it the whole way home
-BUT mommy?
-yes, kylie
-It's just I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm going to miss you and i am going to CRYYYYYYYYY

I will spare you the repeat of all of this about another 5 times, but this has been my week. We also dropped Kylie's grandma from SC off at the airport a couple of weekends ago, and that evening consisted of a very similar scenario though the conversation was different, it consisted mostly of I am going to miss grandma, when will I see her again......you get the picture. I have heard Chip was quite the drama king when he was little so I am sticking with she gets this from his side of the family!

I started teaching my class this week and I really think I am going to like it! It is a lot different teaching college over elementary school, but in a very good way! I hope they actually learn something from me, I know I will learn a lot!

Now that school has started back, I am able to see myself getting into a sort of groove with staying at home. Two days a week, I get to watch my nephew and the other three, it is just me and Kiersten until Kylie gets home on the bus. This is a whole new world for me, so I am learning and figuring things out as I go. It will be an adventure, I am sure! I will try to keep everyone updated of my adventures as I go.

Saturday, I board a big cruise ship with my man and our best friends and I am so excited, I can barely stand it! I have my closet packed and am ready to go!! I know when I get back Jillian Michaels will be waiting for me and I will be ready! Until then, BON VOYAGE!! Have a great week :)

Settling in!

Well we made it to Maryland! It took a lot of creativity to get all of our millions of things into this new place but luckily that is just my area of expertise! :). I do miss a yard, I miss grilling out and watching the kids play, but overall we are adjusting well and keeping very busy!

My oldest baby turned 7 this weekend and is getting ready to start second grade! As cliche as it sounds, it truly does feel like yesterday I was in the hospital waiting for her to get here! Both girls are adjusting really well to being here and Kiersten likes to tell everyone that she doesn't go to school anymore :) I will definitely have to keep her learning though because I will say that her school there was doing a great job!

I do miss the farm girls and think about them just about every friday...hee hee! But I definitely plan on coming to the southern xmas show which I know will be here before we know it!

I finally got word back and am going to be teaching a class at the college which I am really excited about....I am hoping that with finishing my own masters this semester and teaching two days a week, that will be the perfect balance as I adjust to staying at home during the day which I must admit is quite a change since in NC, I sometimes felt like my job was my life. I even get to spend two days a week with "D"! That is really fun because I get to love him and hug him and then his parents get to deal with all the fun nighttime stuff. I will admit sometimes handling all three in public places gets a little tricky especially when D wants to be held but all that is is extra birth control :).

I apologize that it has taken me so long to update this and will work hard to keep it more current!

Happy Trails!!!

Life has a crazy way of throwing a curve ball when you least expect it. This is certainly the case for us right now as we have exactly 2 1/2 weeks to pack up an entire house, host a moving sale and get it all to Maryland from North Carolina!! Not to mention this emotional rollercoaster I am on now as a result! There are so many positives to moving such as:
1. I will be back with my family and where no matter where I have lived I have always referred to as "home". When I was little, I thought all that "home is where the heart is" stuff was just some sappy crap some sissy made up to put on cute plaques to make a couple of bucks. I thought home is where your stuff is,,,,,,DUH......now I am realizing just what that means and that sissy was actually right and probably got rich as well in the process!
2. I get to be there for my nephew and he will know who I am and not have to "get used" to me everytime he sees me, I will watch him grow up and my kids and him will be tight whether they like it or not. I fully expect that i get asked for him to spend the night or them to spend the night after family functions like we all did when we were kids. And Chad and Holly.....hope you don't have any plans for halloween because I already have plans for the three of them to go trick or treating together and of course Kenzie if she is available ;).
3. Chip is taking a really good job!! This is what got all of this started in the first place. I am so proud of him! He will be working for the university of maryland making a good salary and will get to finish school for free as well as our children will get to go to any university of md school for free as well!! Having two girls, we have always figured one could get married and one could go to college due to the expense of each.....well look out men, both girls can be on the "market" when they are 40 years old!! :)
4. All you can eat crabs!!! -enough said there!

So as you can see there are lots of things to be excited about. However, people have such an impact on your life and I have met so many wonderful people down here!
1. My neighborhood people!! I absolutely love my neighborhood and will truly miss the "farm crew". I will miss our fun fridays which was the perfect end to many long work weeks, I will miss scrapping nights....which by the way never did any crafty stuff until here...huge thanks for that!! I will miss walking and bunco even though I didn't get to too many of them, I will miss yard sale-ing, and so many other things. There has not been anywhere else that I have lived that I made so many wonderful friends in the neighborhood and had so much fun on so many levels! Where else can you drink a beer, watch a chick flick, then bust out some scrap book pages, while watching the kids play, drink some more and then wake up first thing in the morning and go to yard sales!! LOL. However, I will be down for visits, and will attend any functions going on at that time, plus there is facebook and email and the phone!! Hoping I can get down for the southern xmas show and we can do that again....hmmmm...pencil that in ladies!! :)
2. My work- yeah I know, at times, it is so frustrating, but I have met some really great people there also, and I have learned a ton!!!
3. Of course we go to one family but leave another, that is always the hard part of marrying someone from another state....though I will say it makes the whole "whose house do we go to first and when on holidays a whole lot easier" hee hee. They have been so supportive and I know they will really miss the girls. Though it will make our visits down "extra special" just like our time in Maryland has been the past 7 years.

So as the Johannes family starts a new chapter, I assure everyone that the book will not close, we will be down to visit whether you like it or not, we will bug everyone to have fun friday when we come down or hang out, we will be down for certain holidays and we will always be just an email, text, call, or facebook post away. It is so bittersweet as I look forward to memories to come, look back at memories made, look forward to the people I left once before and sadly back at the ones I will leave behind. Happy Trails to everyone and we WILL meet again!! Love you all!!

Summer is on it's way!!

Summer is about to begin which is my crazy time at work! It is pretty ironic when you think about it, because just a couple of years ago, I was off every summer. Sometimes I think back and say, WTH were you thinking girl! LOL. Kylie is about to finish the first grade, and I am soon to have a second grader on my hands!! YIKES!! She has already started all the "so and so is my best friend today, but then the next day she was rude so now so and so is my best friend". Her "best friend most days" actually slapped her across the face yesterday at after school!! Let's just say mommy and daddy don't have the same perception of a best friend that my child does. We finally got her in summer camp though which is a huge relief!

This weekend, my mom is coming down and her and I are going to see Wicked which I am really excited about! I will let you all know how it is!! For the 4th, we are going to see our best friends the Jarrett Family and I cannot wait!! We miss them! Then, we will end the summer with our cruise....and I cannot even begin to explain how excited I am about that!

I will finish my internship this summer (end of July in fact) and then I have one more semester and I will have my master's degree ;), . That means I actually may have free time come January....hmmmm what in the world am I going to do with that, never had that before! I must say, I could never have done any of the semesters if it wasn't for Chip. He put up with my stress and frustration every time and helped me out by taking the girls so I could do assignments and encouraging me to stick with it every time I talked about just forgetting it. He's such a good guy :).

My little nephew is growing like crazy and I am pretty sure he is the cutest little blonde hair/blue eye boy in the whole world! The girls adore him and every baby we see is compared to baby Dylan.....I think even though he is going to turn one in July, Kiersten may refer to him as baby dylan for the rest of his life...poor guy! Time definitely goes faster as you get older and even though there are days that I look at the couple with older kids and think, "man that will be nice as we are settling an argument over who got more mac and cheese than the other", most days I look at them and think .....stop growing, let's just stay like this forever!

Sometimes you need to stop and ask yourself.....

What am I thinking!! That thought has crossed my mind more than once between all the uncertainty at work and trying to finish all my projects for school while also trying to spend some quality time with the family. It gets harder and harder to make myself sit at a computer at home when I feel like I do that all day at work, and it is so nice outside, who wants to be stuck inside!! I do know it will all be worth it and I am getting really darn close to finishing! So, I am done whining and will suck it up!

Enough about me though! Kylie is a little dancing queen, she is taking tap, ballet and jazz and loves it! She will have her recital soon and I will admit I am scared that she will back out and not want to go on stage come showtime. Let me tell you how mad I will be if that happens, after shelling out all the money for her to do it. She promises me that she is going to so here is her chance to prove it. She is really doing good in school also, it is amazing how much difference there is from even the beginning of the school year to now! She is full of deep questions still, just this morning, she asked me what cancer was. If only, I could teach her to be more grateful, we'd be set, she tends to want more, more, more ....... a good friend and wise mom told me that she is too young to really understand this concept yet....so I will give her the benefit of the doubt and keep doing what I can. I got so upset with her this weekend, I started reading her this book that I am reading about a girl who grew up poorer than poor.....as her eyes glazed over and she put up with me reading out loud, Chip secretly was making fun of me. So maybe that wasn't the answer, but it was worth a try!

Kiersten, is talking more and more and every once in a while, she points something out that amazes you. For example, last night I was playing mah jong on the computer and she correctly pointed out two tiles that matched and were open that I didn't catch......hmmmm, coincidence?? maybe, maybe not, but I wouldn't argue if I have the next doogie johannes.....LOL!! OK, so maybe that is a stretch but I think my kids are brilliant either way!

Sherry and Lawrence have moved into our neighborhood and that has been really fun, we get together on friday nights for happy hour. It is a good way to end a long week!! Plus I get to play with Baby Ben and then give him back to Mom and Dad when he gets fussy, it is wonderful! Noone let me do that with Kylie and Kiersten....imagine that!

I will try not to let it go so long till I post next time, but if it does take a while, I will refer back to paragraph one of this blog........ :), oh wait, I am not supposed to whine anymore about that....whoops!

When are you going to die.....

As morbid as this title sounds, this is the question of the day for my 6 year old. Kylie asks some form of this question just about every day. If it is not this, it is how old you will be when I am....., sometimes my answer has even been as high as 108 or 114, and she doesn't even flinch, it is just ok! Or there is the question of can she live with us forever even with her husband and baby.....my answer, is of course, you can live with us as long as you want to. Or the other one, can me, her, kiersten, chip and jake all be underground with her when we die........my answer is again, of course!

I have no idea why she is so obsessed with this or where this is all coming from, I do remember however when I was young, I couldn't stand the thought that me and my family were going to die and be buried in boxes in the ground....I don't remember being quite as absorbed with it as she is though. Hopefully, this is just a quick stage, because to this day, I really don't want to think about it that much! :)

Kiersten on the other hand just does her own thing without a care in the world. She has been moved up another room at her school since she is excelling class wise in the other room which is a relief because normally when they inform us they are moving her it is because she is too big and is knocking the small kids down......that's my girl! Chip may get his football player after all in her! ;).

But for now, I am just reassuring Kylie that she will always be taken care of and that we will not leave her and we will be around for a while. Though it is not of course 100% true, it is what she needs to hear right now, I think.......save the uncertainties of the world and all that tough to deal with stuff until she is old like me ;).

I hope everyone is well and holding on in this economy! We had 70 layoffs so far in the county...the latest word from the County Manager was that he is ALMOST certain that there are no more layoffs for at least 2 years....this would be more reassuring if he hadn't said before these 70 that he didn't ANTICIPATE any layoffs..... But for now, I have a job and for that I feel blessed!

The weather is beautiful, the sun has been out for more than 2 days straight and I am loving it!! Hope everyone enjoys the weekend and the weather!!

Been a while....

I know it has been a while since I posted, I don't have much to update, but here goes....
For those of you that don't know, my work has been a little stressful lately, lots of budget cuts and we lost 4 of our part time employees, meeting with them to let them know they no longer had a job was not a fun experience......I hope to never have to do it again. They are still analyzing the budget and the reality is that my job is not a "mandated service" so we are all just hanging on hoping to make it through!
Kylie has started dance class and loves it! She is going to be in her first recital on May 22nd at 1:00pm at the Wingate University in Monroe if anyone is interested in watching her dance....I think it is great that she is really into it and will fully support whatever she wants to do in life, but I am struggling with the recital requirements such as eye makeup, blush and lipstick.....HELLO, she is 6....what is the purpose for all of that!! I don't know if this is because I am more comfortable with requirements such as a mouthguard, special socks and cleats or what, but I find this a little odd and not necessary! She is my little girly girl though and I am thinking I need to get used to that. She is also quite the fashion critic. Last weekend, Chip and Chad were getting ready to go to a concert and Kylie looks at Chip dead serious, and says...."Dad, you're not wearing THAT are you?.....that is not what you wear to a concert....." Imagine this child as a teenager......scary thought!

Kiersten is going through a little bit of the twos/threes, she is great one minute and then she goes into her laboratory and drinks some of the serum and comes out as Mrs. Hyde.... the only good thing is after going through it with Kylie, you can ALMOST laugh about most of it... We went to the zoo on Saturday and it was so fun to watch her all fascinated by the animals....the really funny thing is every animal exhibit we looked at, she was bound and determined to identify the "family" unit....that was the mom, there's the dad....but where's the baby?? ....we came to the conclusion that they must be studying families in school.

So, even though, there is some uncertainty right now....there is one thing that is certain...we have two healthy, spunky kids that make our lives more interesting everyday and that is something I wouldn't trade for anything!

Supermom........?

As I am sure all Mom's do, I feel this pressure to be supermom. We all know that woman, hair perfect all the time, so put together, so relaxed, kids so cutely dressed at all times, has the kids at the playground and when they go home, fresh cupcakes are waiting for them. After eating the cupcakes, they go play quietly in the other room while Mom makes a mouth watering dinner. Dad comes in, the kids run and hug him and they all sit down to a wonderful dinner, talking and laughing.......Right? Well, I hate to admit it but that is about as far from our life as you can get. Instead, I feel as if I constantly race this huge clock that ticks louder and louder the later it gets. At our house, Dad gets off first, goes and picks up the kids from school, brings them home, starts on homework and calls me. We figure out what we are going to make for dinner and he either cooks it or thaws out the meat for me to cook when I get home. We hurry through dinner, run up to take baths, read Kylie's books for school, fight them to get them both in bed at 8 and then collapse on the couch before we both start studying or doing whatever else we needed to get done that day before coming home to the whirlwind. Now, we even have a wrench thrown into our hectic routine and that is called Monday night dance class. So now, after dinner, we have to rush Kylie out the door to dance class and she doesn't even get home until almost 8 so we have just enough time to freshen her up and get her ready for bed. I am really glad that she is enjoying dance but I will admit, me and the other "dance" mom's don't have much in common (I know, go figure!). While, I do like my job and what I do, I really wish that I could leave at 4 instead of 5.......this would really make my nights easier, as I feel this pressure to cook and be home when my kids get home, somehow that is what I feel would make me supermom, though I know that is not true.

The crazy thing is Chad and I grew up in almost the scenario I opened with. We got home from school, did our homework and then went outside to the giant playground which was right across the street from our house. Dad got home at 5 everyday, and called us in for dinner. We ran in to dinner but unlike our taco's or spaghetti or crockpot, we had .......get this.....roast beef, real mashed potatoes, real gravy.....on a weekday!! That's weekend food at my house now! The other amazing thing is I don't remember nights going so fast. They seemed like we had so much time and it was so stress free. OK, so maybe a kid's perspective is entirely different and if it is, I would love to hear from either one of my parents ;).

I have talked to work about leaving at 4 but I don't think this will be able to happen. I am not going to push it too much as there are layoffs happening and I need my job if we want to be able to even enjoy taco's and spaghetti...LOL. BUT, the good news is, there are still small moments in our hectic evenings that I do feel like supermom. All it takes is an unexpected hug or kiss from one of the girls and occasionally, Kylie will say, You're the best mom ever.....and though I know I am the only one she knows....who am I to argue with that!!

Cereal Letdown

This morning I opened up a fresh box of Cheerios. At the very top of the box was a toy car wrapped in plastic sitting on top of the unopened bag of cereal. I find it tragic that the cereal manufacturer is robbing children of this memorable expereince. The whole fun of the "prize" in the cereal is the thrill of the chase. I remember my Mom always had the rule...."No digging through the cereal with your hands to find it". That prize would be buried on the bottom somewhere and we would have to keep eating and filling our bowl to get to it. Chad and I would eat more than one bowl not because we were hungry but because we wanted the prize....because in those days, there was no sharing the cereal prize, if you got to it first, it was yours. I can see us now, looking each other in the eye with our sly smiles reaching for the box to refill our bowl while the other one thought the themselves.....please don't get the prize, please don't get the prize. A huge sigh of relief when the prize didn't come. The next one would pick up the box and pour their cereal but would lean it real far in all different directions to see if they could get that prize to surface to the top somehow. There could only be one winner and that person was the luckiest kid in the world for that day as they blew the cereal dust off their prize and figured out what it was. I still remember the magic coin trick prize, I believe Chad beat me to that, it was so cool, you put a coin in and there was a secret slot on the bottom that the coin slid under as you said the magic words.......SIGH, the good old day!!

So, General Mills, Kellogg's and all the other cereal companies out there, Enough of this handing it to children on a silver platter, it is things like this that are making children soft and wimpy. Man up, bury that thing way down there and get rid of the sissy wrapping, a little cereal dust never hurt anyone!!

Snow Daze

Well, the south saw it's first snow storm this year.....if you can call it snow, it was really more of an ice storm. The big difference between here and Maryland is that it is now Monday and the last bit of precipitation happened mid day Saturday and I have yet to see a snow plow. The only melting has been compliments of the sun. Needless to say, schools were closed on Monday which meant I had to stay home. It honestly felt like I was playing hookie with my kids all day.

Unfortunately, it was one of those storms that was too icy and hard for the kids to play outside so Kylie was disappointed. Another one of those "No fair" moments in the tragic life of a 6 year old. She now wants to get her ears pierced again which is fine except for the drama that accompanies this desire. Everything is based around the fact that earrings make people pretty and she just wants to be pretty again.......I am really not ready for her as a teenager, please everyone start praying for me now, I will need all I can get! Though it would be nice if earrings were all people needed, right?

Now for the good news of the week!!! We booked our first ever cruise to the Bahamas!!! The Johannes' and the Jarrett's will be going on a 5 day cruise to the Bahamas in September! I am already thinking of what I am going to wear ;). We tried to talk the Basham unit into coming with us, but with sea sickness being a factor, we will try another type of vacation with them!

That is all for now! I need to post pictures of my jewelry I have made, and will do that soon!

What a crazy weekend!!

As this past weekend was approaching, I had high hopes, the Ravens were playing and it was a three day weekend. Doesn't get any better than that, right? Wrong!! Saturday morning, Chip took my car to get new tires and get the "check engine" light checked out and of course it can't be a simple switch, it has to come out with all of this work needing to be done and none of it is cheap. To make it worse, it has to be done right now because down here in NC, you have to get your car inspected every year!! And if that isn't crazy enough, it has to pass inspection before they will give you your new tag. Now, I can understand emissions test because if your car is putting pollutants in the air, you are potentially effecting everyone around you, but why an inspection? If my rack and pinion is bad, how does that affect anyone else, why should they care?? OK, enough of that. So that was bad news number 1.

We did have a great break that day though! We went to a neighbors for dinner and had a great time, the kids got to play, I got to talk crafty stuff and have adult talk, it was wonderful.

Now onto bad news #2, the Ravens didn't even bother to show up for the game!! They not only lost, they were embarassed! I mean Ray Ray can only do so much and then offense needs to help out a little!!

Sunday, we spent the day running around. Kylie went to the movies with her grandmother and Kiersten and Chip and I took G-ma to lunch and then did some shopping (nothing exciting, just diapers and the usual...). I actually have no complaints about Sunday at all. Went to bed so happy I had a whole other day to spend!!

Monday, woke up and started cleaning when I heard loud banging going on. Being a mom, I jump to the conclusion that the kids are doing something wrong, so I run out of the bathroom I was cleaning, and there are two kids sitting on the playroom floor playing tea party like perfect angels. Relieved, but then confused, I go to the top of the stairs and to my horror I see Jake slamming into the wall. I run down and his eyes are in the back of his head and he is just sausage rolling all over the place and his poor head would hit the wall. I yelled for Chip and we kept his head from hitting and waited till the seizing stopped. When it finally stopped, Jake tried to stand up, but walked completely sideways. Chip took him outside for a little bit and when he came back in, he went to lay down, only to start again but this time it was even worse. He actually bit his tongue so not only was he flailing around but blood was flying everywhere. It was absolutely awful, I have never felt so helpless. After about two hours at the vet, he was released and we have no idea why or what caused it, only several speculations. Kylie was so upset as she thought Jake would never come home (I had a bad feeling myself). Just to show how a 6 year old mind works, through tear stained eyes, she asked..."sniff.....Mommy, if Jake doesn't come home, I am going to be really sad, but I am sure I could feel better with two kitty cats".. I had to laugh at her thought process but am so glad my boy is home and doing well today!!

I know the day will come when he will have to leave us, but I am not ready for that! He has been there through so much and is such a part of the family. Everyone can learn something from their dogs! Take life easy, appreciate the small things like the sun shining through the window, a breeze through a window and rolling in the grass. And most importantly a treat is a "treat" no matter how big or small!!

As usual when it rains, it pours, but I feel lucky nonetheless!

Bittersweet Back to School!!!

Well, this was our first week back in our normal routine and I have not been able to eat breakfast yet!! Here is the normal routine, Chip gets up, takes shower, wakes me up and then goes to wake up the girls, I take a shower and then we all eat breakfast together and then I get Kiersten dressed and her and Chip go on their merry way. Kylie goes upstairs and brushes her teeth and then watches "Imagination Movers" while I finish getting ready. We come down, pack up and go. Sounds great, right!

Here is how it has gone this week. Chip gets up, takes shower, wakes me up which also wakes up Kiersten since she is right in the middle of us with a mound of stuffed animals and blankets that she brought in with her about midnight. She whines she does not want to go downstairs so we put the TV on for her and she watches that in our room while I take my shower. Meanwhile in Kylie's room, a storm is brewing because a grouchy child is dragging her feet and not wanting to wear anything in her closet and an impatient Dad is standing over her watching the time tick away. I get out of the shower, try to get Kiersten downstairs which is easier said than done. If you've ever seen the cartoons where the cat latches onto the end of the bucket because he doesn't want to get dipped in the water, that is me trying to pry her off the recliner and drag her downstairs kicking and screaming. By the time this has happened, I have no time to eat. Then Chip has to come and help me hold her down as she screams and kicks...NO NO!! We finally get her dressed and she is carried to the foyer to get her coat on. Apparently this foyer possesses magical powers, because the minute her feet hit it, her crying stops, a smile appears and she runs over tackles me with a hug and says Bye, like nothing ever happened!!
So now, I am confused, exhausted and hungry but no time for me to eat, so I have to run up get ready and then fight with Kylie over how she is going to wear her hair.....man, she is such a girl!

I am anxious to get back to "normal" whatever that means!! Next year, we are waking those girls up every day at normal time........okay probably not but it is a good thought for now!

Girl Talk

New Years Eve morning Kylie and I woke up and were laying in my bed just talking and relaxing. It was great, we had a day of cleaning ahead of us but for the time being, we were perfectly content to just lay there. I said, hey let's have some girl talk, she smiled real big.....OK! So we talked about our trip to Maryland, christmas and everything else that had taken place over the past two weeks, highlighting our favorite parts. Then, there was a moment of silence........Ummmm, Mom, I thought you said we were going to have girl talk, that wasn't girl talk... I paused....and got a little nervous to hear the answer to my next question.....gulp, Well what is girl talk then. Well, she replied, that is when you talk about butterflies and flowers and stuff. Shew!!! I breathed a sigh of relief. I know that girl talk will not mean that forever, but I am so glad that is what it is now. I am not ready for real girl talk!!

We did manage to get the house cleaned and had a great time with Chip's family playing games. Kylie even made it to midnight. Kiersten, despite a great effort, gave up and fell asleep on the couch about 11pm. You would think, wow, that is late for her, she probably really slept in then. That is what we thought too, but WRONG!! 6am, and she was up and ready to go........Chip and I, not so much. I let Chip sleep about another 2 hours and then I woke him up and begged for another 1 1/2 myself. It is amazing how you can go to sleep feeling so good and wake up feeling so bad.... ;).

We look forward to 2010 and all that it holds for us and our families and friends. Here is to the journey ahead of us and the many stops along the way!