Back To School!

How the time flies. J starts back to school, 10th grade, in three weeks. School clothes, school supplies, bus fee - All very expensive. If only J was more like me as a teen. I was aware of money and where it comes from and where it goes. I would get the most I could for a set dollar amount. She doesn't plan her clothing into the winter months - she is only concerned about her current wants and needs.

Evening Cook Out

We went to a military friend's house last night for a cook out and had a great time. Hubby and I took E with us. We knew ahead of time that there were going to be a few other kids there her age so it worked out very well. The kids had a great time playing in the sand volleyball court or checking out the river which was right there as well. Within two minutes of arriving E was a grubby little girl. There was dirt/sand all over her face and arms. Needless to say she got a bath immediately when we got home.

E played by herself mostly in the sand, but it was nice. Hubby and I were able to sit down and relax and actually visit with the other people in attendence. Overall it was a good time. We definitely have to do more things like this again. Now that we have our own grill, I think we need to do this at our house sometime. There isn't as much for the kids to do, but we do have a trampoline! Next time I get some wine/winecoolers for myself!

Daycare Infractions

I'm so thankful for the great daycare center that I have. E loves it there. Has a really good time and has learned so much. A neighbor mom and I were out last night so the kids could play before supper. She asked me what I thought of a punishment that her home daycare had implemented on her 2yo daughter. Apparently little girl had two seperate incidences on two seperate days.

Rainy Day Thoughts

Its raining again, and I'm tired. At least there's no wind. I want the sunshine back!

It's Thursday and Hubby will be home tonight. I can relax a little and get somethings done. He's planning supper. I think it will be steak.

E requested a Dora or Princess cupcake from Walmart. We'll see what Daddy brings home.

We need to get to bed earlier tonight. E doesn't want to wake up in the mornings lately. I think it's the strep catching up with her. Of course after her steroid meds at supper time, she doesn't want to sleep at all until after 10pm. Only two more days of that med. Then its just the antibiotic. At least her cough is getting better. Still yucky but not nearly as bad.

I'm tired and here at work. Already done a lot in the last hour trying to clear up some confusion on a warrant. Turns out it was done right the first time on our end and court was just confused. Either way it's taken care of, and I'm the only one that did any extra work, mainly just running back and forth to dispatch to clarify files. Have some reports to type so I suppose I should get started. Yippy yay. Rainy day. Walking tacos for lunch - Human Services fundraiser. Yummy!

Fed Up and Irritated!

***DISCLAIMER: This is a vent, a long one, so whoever wants to comiserate with me, please read.***

I am just fed up and irritated with so many things in my life. Sadly they are just minor petty things but they have been adding up and going on for so long that it is driving me crazy.

I can't wait for summer to be here and school to be out. J will be going to Virginia (Yes, she moved again!) to visit her mom, and I will be free of her attitude and demands for 5 weeks - the most peaceful happy weeks of the year! She has mommy issues which get taken out on me. I can't tell her to do anything without getting whining, snotty, bitchy attitude back. She can't stand living with her mom, but doesn't see the difference in what she has here vs. what she has/would have down there.

We have been hounding her for the last 6 weeks to get her grades up and refocus in school. Finally her grade in language arts dropped to an F, and she got grounded immediately. Lost her phone and the internet at home for 2 weeks. Well somehow in three days after talking with her teachers and getting some extra credit and retaking some tests, she has brought her grades up to Cs and above - in three days. Says she likes how it feels to be bringing her grades up. We have been telling her every week, every week, what her grades were and asking about certain assignments that she did poorly on. But take away her phone and internet and suddenly she isn't failing anymore. She just doesn't see the connection.

My Baby is 3!

Where has the time gone? E is now officially a 3 year old with all the attitude and energy that go with it. I still remember her being this teeny tiny little thing when we brought her home from the hospital....

We had her party on Saturday and everything turned out very well. I procrastinated getting invitations out to everybody but the ones that showed were the ones that mattered anyway. It works out great that the non-family people show up early/on-time, and the kids get to play without all these strangers around. So nice.

It was kinda funny that after all the little kids ate lunch, they all had to go #2. So in sequnece all three little kids went to the bathroom or were changed, and it was done! We were very proud of E since putting poo in the potty is not a consistant thing yet. To do so with a house full of people is pretty impressive.

Ree's Book Signing - MOA, MN

Wow! What a day! I didn't know what to expect....

The Pioneer Woman - Ree Drummond - was at Mall of America (MOA) in MN on Saturday November 21, 2009 as part of her book tour promoting her new cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Love her blog and love to try new recipies. When her book was available for preorder, I jumped on the bandwagon and ordered two - one for me and one as a Christmas gift for my good friend. Once I found out one of the stops for her book tour was Mall of America in Minnesota, I had that day marked on my calendar over a month in advance.

Thanksgiving....

With Thanksgiving coming up in, oh wait, it's NEXT WEEK! Where does the time go? Hubby is trying to get things ironed out for determining who will be at our house. Hard to do since my side of the family doesn't do well with giving much notice. Hopefully I will know by or during this weekend. Should be pretty drama free though, the way I like it.

Not ME Monday!

Welcome to Not ME Monday. This fun filled way of admitting our imperfections and living to tell about them was born from MckMama of My Charming Kids. Check out the standards we try to live up to!



Alas another week has come and gone. I most certainly did NOT allow my little girl to stay up all day long on Saturday with no nap to speak of. I absolutely did NOT try for two hours to get her to lay down only to have the afternoon waste away. We did however have a good cuddle time, but alas no nap. Surprisingly she wasn't that cranky in the evening. I still am not ready for her to be done with naps entirely.

New things...!

On Veteran's Day, My friend M came down to visit for the afternoon. We were planning on going to Applebee's for their veterans meal special, but alas there was a line out the door when we got there. That's what you get when you have a VA Hospital in town. Hubby thinks they were probably bussing veterans over there during the day. E decided to fall asleep before we got there. So after deciding to go elsewhere, she suggested a small adventure. Thought what the heck. Asked her what she had in mind.

Trick or Treat!

Pebbles - Cave Girl

Well we survived Halloween. J hung out with her friend A all day. They did come with us to the mall, but had to leave right away because A had to be home. Weird. J ended up spending the night at A's house (without parents mind you, big trust factor there).

I had a haircut that afternoon. E was dressed up in her costume, because we planned for her to trick or treat around the mall. Never did that before, but turned out really well for us. It was indoors, it wasn't raining, it wasn't cold. Fairly comfortable.

Not Me! Monday...

Welcome to my first Not Me! Monday post... Not Me! Mondays was started by MckMama of My Charming Kids blog. She is one of my favorite blog authors. Straight forward, tell it like it is. That is MckMama. So in an effort to try to live up to her standards, here is my Not Me! Monday posting.

Potty Training...

I am just going with the flow (no pun intended!). I don't want to rush E into potty training. At daycare she sees other kids use the potty so she got very interested in it. Since then she has requested to sit on the potty. We got her a little Baby Bjorn potty seat that she uses sometimes. Lately she has been requesting to use our big potty. She manages to balance up there very well. She can even hold a book while sitting there all by herself. Will have to get a pic at some point just for memories sake. Last night she did poop in the big potty. So proud of her.

She's getting so big!

We are doing some cosmetic work on the van so we had to install E's carseat in Daddy's truck. Daddy took us to work and daycare this morning, so I snapped this pic with his cell phone camera on our way. E is just too cute. It was pretty cold this morning so she had her little winter hat on and her warm fleece jacket. We always have Mr. Bear and "kie kie" (Blankie) with at all times. She was in the center of the back of Dad's truck and was resting her foot on the back of the passenger seat.Glad this isn't a permanant setup. It's really hard to get her into the back of the truck and then get her strapped in. She is currently 22 months old! Almost 2!

First Day of School...

This has been one long day...

What a start we had today. Getting ready for work as usual,then making sure J is awake and getting ready on her first day of school. Everything is fine and dandy until I tell her she needs to come up and get something to eat. She then proceeds to tell me that she is getting a ride to school with the neighbor boy and his mother. She never asked me. She never mentioned it to me. Apparently she mentioned it to Dad a few minutes earlier, but he didn't approve either.

21 months...

Where does the time go...?

It has been 21 months since my little girl joined our family... 27 1/2 hours of labor, c-section, 5 days in the hospital. E was 6# 12oz, 19.5 inches long. She is my little angel. It amazes me how fast they grow up. She is walking, running, talking (trying to), enjoys certain cartoons, specifically her current favorite is Blues Clues, then Dora, Tigger and Pooh, and Little Einsteins. She like reading books (being read to) and jamming to music. Since watching Blues Clues the last week or so, she has started talking more and actually interacting with the TV a bit more, pointing things out that she sees.

Puppies...

E loves puppies...and kitties... and...

E got to pet some "puppies" last night. One of our neighbors has miniature pinschers (their own and ones they foster for a rescue group). Every night they go out for a walk and sometimes we are outside to see them and other times not. Well yesterday evening J, E, and I were outside playing and talking and the "Pins" went for a walk down to another development, and we happeend to still be out there when they came back.

Summertime Fun...

Splash pad...

E, J, J's friend A, and I spent a little time at the splash pad yesterday. As soon as we turned the corner and E could see the water on the splash pad, she got so excited and started saying "Water, water, water, water" over and over again. She was so happy to get out of her carseat so she could go check out the water.