For Once, I'm Early!

We were out and about today and noticed that Santa had already made his way to the shopping center. Everyone knows that there's nothing like waiting in line for an hour with not only your impatient children, but everyone else's. Noticing there was no line, we decided to go ahead and cross this one off the 'to do' list. Don't judge because my kids aren't wearing their festive red, instead, it's festive grey...oh well, we can't all be perfect. Anyways, Sweet Pea was beyond excited to share what she wants, the No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed board game. Turkey Butt would like a Pokemon game. Hooray for simplicity! However, as soon as we left Santa and walked into TRU, the I wants continued. Turns out, they were saving the big stuff for me, thanks children!

Yep...it's been a while

And I apologize...down time is a rarity around here...working full-time, taking 6 hours of graduate level classes, working out 4 times a week, swim practice 3-4 times a week, living as a single mom (DD has been gone A FREAKIN LOT lately), and trying to maintain a household has overtaken our lives....

We are good, busy, but good...Love this time of the year...

Don't know much else, so here are a few pictures to enjoy....

Sassy new do....

climbin like a big kid

happy to jump

not too sure about this....

Happy Fally Y'all!

Where has it gone?

My summer is gone :(! I can't believe it's been 10 weeks! Honestly, it doesn't feel like summer. I've done my best to do summer type things during the day, but as soon as my kids hit the sack, I spend the next few hours working on homework. Because of my crazy class schedule, we really didn't go any place this summer. Turkey Butt spent one week with the aunts. Then he and Sweet Pea spent a long weekend with Nana. I have two weeks before the next round of classes starts up again. I must be crazy, because I will be taking 6 hours, working full-time, taking Turkey Butt to swim practice 4 days a week (most weeks), working with a personal trainer for 6 weeks, trying to find something to entertain Sweet Pea, managing a household (with minimal, wait, NO help from Daddy Dearest, sorry, but he'll tell you it's true), and maintaining some sanity. It could get scary around here.

I've been working on my classroom for a few weeks now. In about 6 days, I have managed to accomplish what would have taken one day if my kids were not there to 'help'. What truly happens is that I spend the majority of my time entertaining and tending to them. I'm hoping to get an afternoon this weekend and wrap it all up.

In other news, TB shot a rabbit. Nana's boyfriend (fiance now) is an avid hunter, so he's been training my eldest in the ways of the hunter. After said rabbit was shot three times, it then became dinner. Both of my kids enjoyed this, a lot, I'm told. So sad I missed it ;)!

Sweet Pea has been medicine free for a month! AMEN! We had blood drawn this morning, so hopefully, when we visit the pulmonologist in a few weeks, he'll tell us her immunity levels are up (PLEASE!). The not so good news is that we also visited the dentist to confirm that most likely, she has a dead tooth:(. She fell about three weeks ago and busted her lip in a really bad way. We never even thought that her tooth was injured. Now, it's turning a faint shade of grey. The dentist said it could be bruised, but the coloring on the back was darker than the front, so most likely it's dead. Hopefully, her body will let it stay in there a few more years and as long as that happens, we'll leave it alone. Also, once SP gets a little older, we have the option of kind of coloring the tooth so it matches the others. Poor baby, makes me feel so bad. The dentist assured me that there was nothing that could be done for it. Still doesn't ease my guilt.

That's what we've been doing! I'm really excited about this school year, crazy busy and all! I'm also considering investing in one of those commercial grade margarita machines. I think I'm gonna need it!

It's the Simple Things, Really....

It's really the simple things that make me the happiest.......

New highlighters....with liquid inside.....sigh......

A nice clean car.......sigh.....(I know you're betting it won't last, you're right).....

My sweet children, happy and healthy.......

Life is good!

Gone, Gone, Gone

Our summer is full of things that aren't going the way we had planned for them to. Case in point, this weekend. Our annual tradition is to go 'home' for the 4th of July. It's a nice small town celebration, the kids go crazy and we can actually 'shoot' off some real fireworks. First hurdle, Daddy Dearest is out of town for work and won't be home til Friday, that's ok because Turkey Butt's got VBS and he's finished at noon on Friday. Problem solved...NOT. One of my online classes has a quiz scheduled for Saturday. Normally this would be ok, but once we get home, neither of our moms has an internet connection (I know, I know) and I wasn't crazy about the idea of heading over to the local McD's to do my quiz on a Saturday. Solution, leave on Saturday after finishing the quiz (which doesn't open til 11). So, we head to bed planning to get up, pack and leave upon my completion of the quiz. Sweet Pea decided she didn't like those plans. Let me back up, this week is the first week SP's been completely medicine free and how do I ruin it? I take her to the play area at the gym of course.....Yesterday, she started sneezing and had a yucky nose. And of course, last night she started running fever, so when she woke up really miserable this morning, the trip home is cancelled. Which is ok by everyone in this house except for Turkey Butt. Another summer tradition involves the oldest boy spending a week with his Memaw and his aunts after the 4th. TB was not happy about these developments. He knows that his time for spoiling is his week away from his mom and dad! Luckily Auntie #2 came through and met DD in Vernon to pick up the boy, whew....he thought his trip was cancelled! Looks like Auntie #1 may be planning an RV trip for Turkey Butt while he's visiting.....

Now comes the hard part! Upon his return, my oldest child will no longer be allowed to ask for everything he sees, eat whatever he wants, watch whatever he wants, and have his every whim catered to! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my in-laws and I LOVE the fact that they LOVE to have him. He has lots of fun! BUT, there is a certain amount of re-training that comes with his return to reality.

I'll miss him while he's away and I dread those first few days of his return, BUT this is a time for Sweet Pea to get some special loving form Mommy and Daddy Dearest! Maybe next year, SP will join TB, whatever will I do then????

BTW (for some reason I'm compelled to type like I text), SP is OK, still running fever. Hoping a long nap and the rotation of tylenol and motrin will help. I'm so thankful that she entertains herself, unlike her brother!

Has it been a month?

OK, it has...wow! Where does the time go?!? I can honestly say (if I haven't already) that this was one of my favorite years to teach ever! I'm really going to miss those kiddos, but I'm hopeful that next year will be just as fabulous!

Summer! Yeah, it's here, but it's not relaxing and rejuvenating like I'd hoped. Instead, it's been filled with boy scout camp, swim lessons, vbs, professional development and 6 hours of graduate level classes. I'm experiencing a LOT of anxiety this week. The work load this week is from hell, add to that trying to keep up with housework and entertaining two kids.....I'm on overload.

This master's stuff is really hard. Part of the problem could be my high level of distractability...I've just got too much going on....imagine that! Right now, I've been trying to read the 50 page chapter entitled "Information Policy: Stakeholders and Agendas". It just ain't happening right now....

3 going on 13....

Three years ago tomorrow, I was blessed to become the mother of the most amazing little girl in the world. I get all teary eyed just thinking about it! My Sweet Pea was born May 24, 2007 and she truly makes our little family complete. Here she is before we came home from the hospital...

On her first birthday....

And last year, turning 2....

She is truly the most awesome child ever! She is sweet and funny...All girl! She loves having her hair done and wearing dresses. Princesses are her favorite and she's discovered that she loves to have her nails painted.

Here she is last weekend....

Pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself! I'm afraid I may be in for some rough times when she becomes older! Sweet Pea is almost as stubborn as her mommy! She flat out REFUSES to entertain the idea of potty training. We have all kinds of books, videos, panties, stickers, special treats! You name it, we've got it! She knows all the words to the books and sings all the songs. Every morning she says to me "Big girls wear diapers, mom?" I tell her that big girls wear panties, so she continues to refer to herself as a baby. Once school is out, we are getting rid of the diapers and poor Sweet Pea won't have a choice....oh, how I pray this works out well for us! Fingers crossed!

Anyways, happy birthday to my little girlie girl....I adore you with all my heart and I'm privileged to be your mommy! I love you!

It's All About the Mac...

Oh yeah! I know I've been MIA for a while, but I've been without my computer and life has been tough!! Here's the scoop, my laptop was my 'push present' for Sweet Pea almost 3 years ago (that's a whole different post, coming soon!). I've had several issues with my HP and I've never been very happy with it...I took my computer into Best Buy on Mother's Day to have it sent off to be repaired, WELLLLLLLLL, I got an email saying they couldn't fix it and they would give me credit to purchase a new one! YEE-HAW (y'all should know that my warranty would've expired in 2 days). So, we loaded up the family and now I'm the proud owner of a Mac Book Pro! I'm so pumped! I'll be starting my Master's course work (June 7, YIKES), so I feel like this couldn't have happened at a better time!
Everything else is going swell, school's winding down, summer's coming, life is good....
More news later y'all, I promise!!

To Answer the Previous Question...

Obviously not. I went on my merry way this morning (in the rain and yuck) with a goal of finishing this 5K in 35 minutes. I had my podcast downloaded to pace me through it. Started off great, I was about 20 seconds off pace at the mile mark. Easy enough to make up, right? Somewhere between mile 1 and 2, I stepped off a curb and slipped. I rolled my ankle completely and fought the urge not to cry and cuss. The pain was kinda bad, so I walked about half a mile. Then I decided to suck it up and finish it running. It was a slow jog and the course was tough...but I finished in about 39 minutes (the same time as my 1st 5K). Now, however, my right ankle is swollen and I scream in pain anytime I put any weight on it.....good times, right???
Obviously, God does not intend for me to be a runner, right?

Am I a Runner?

That's the question I've been asking myself since I finished my first 5K in March. I've tried and tried to convince myself that I love to run. But the truth is, I don't. I never have and I'm starting to wonder if I ever will.
I've hated running since I was in Junior High. I went to all the track meet and did the obligatory events and pretty much sucked at them all. I continued to participate in track in high school and it was the same story. I can't think of a time that I ever won a ribbon in track for anything. Why did I put myself through that torture? Because where I grew up, EVERYONE participated in EVERYTHING. I remember playing volleyball and basketball with 7 people on our team. In basketball, if you got in foul trouble, it really was trouble, because chances were, there wasn't anybody on the bench to take your place. I've never really excelled at anything, BUT, I experienced almost everything.
So fast forward almost 20 years and I'm running. I'm running more now than I ever did in high school. Thank you C25K! If you don't know what it is, google it! It's awesome! I am running 3 miles at a time. My goal is to run three times a week, but life is crazy and my family comes first, so two is the norm. When I was in school, I never ran more than two miles at time, this is truly a first for me. I can't believe how much progress I've made. The fact that I can do any type of physical activity for more than 5 minutes is HUGE!
Here's the hard part, I thought I would grow to love it and look forward to it. I don't, I still dread it and hate the thought of running. I have to force myself to run. I just signed up for my 2nd 5K next week and I'm considering training for a 10K... I think I've lost my mind. Why do I do it? I'm not completely sure. This is a major accomplishment for me and I'm not ready to quit (like I always do). I also feel really good AFTER I run. Not before, not really during, but when I'm sitting at the table with my strawberry protein shake (gotta rebuild those damaged muscles).
I guess my question is, Can someone who hates to run be a runner? If so, that'd be me....Maybe I am a runner....

Has It Been a Month?

Yes, it has been a month since I've updated! Wow, where has the time gone? Here's a brief rundown of what we've been up to....
*I ran (and finished) a 5K!
*We are switching pediatricians (it's a loooong story)
*Sweet Pea had a good report from the pulmonologist
*We just spent 5 days in Houston/Galveston for Spring Break

Here are a few pics from our trip....enjoy!

Just an Update

Last week, I got to get away and go to TCEA in Austin for 3 nights. Man, I did NOT know what to do with myself! I slept til 8:00 ALL THREE DAYS!!! It was heaven! The only bad part was that I got to spend MY snow day on Friday driving home, instead of being snuggled up with the fam :(! Of course, Sweet Pea would start running fever after my first night away. Thank goodness DD was ready to spend 3 days cooped up with her (2 of those days, Turkey Butt joined the party!). Anyway, my Sweet Pea should now be renamed Pissy Pea. I'm not sure whether it's the re-introduction of the steroids, the age factor, or just not feeling good, but OMG, SP's been a holy terror....DD and referred to her as Satan's Spawn all weekend. The wrong look or the wrong snack can send this child into the most high-pitched shrill coupled with the hissy fit from HELL....woah...it's rough! We ended up at the Dr's office just to be sure there wasn't an 'underlying' issue, and well, there wasn't....Lord help me, if this is what our future will be! DD now has what SP had and he's been at home all this week, not getting much better. I really feel bad for him!
In other news, I need a weekend in a big way, how about you?

Perspective.....

It's been an incredibly rough Monday...one of my sweetest, most amazing students lost her father to leukemia over the weekend. I was in shock, speechless and I spent a good part of the day hovering on the verge of tears. Have I mentioned that I have the most amazing class ever? They are so kind and caring, immediately they wanted to help, a few of them cried too, but ALL of them were empathetic and sad for our friend. Wow...to be 8 and lose your father...I just can't grasp it....My prayers are that this family will be able to find the comfort and strength they need from The One who can provide it...This whole situation reminds me to give thanks to God for what I have and to live my life to the fullest, because, truly, it's not my own...
I must now take a few minutes to brag on my sweet husband, who knew I was having the day from hell! He had dinner on the table when I got home. He gave Sweet Pea her bath AND her breathing treatment, THEN he helped Turkey Butt paint his derby car...awesomeness....
I am in week 3 of C25K (couch to 5k), and my 5k is in 6 weeks...my teacher teammates will be joining me for this race and I only hope they aren't bored as I am sure I will be moving very slowly! It should be fun and I just hope I can 'run' (aka jog slowly) the whole distance....We shall see!