Exciting

Apparently it has been a year since I have written on my blog. Facebook is the reason. Now my brother has started a blog for the new baby, so it brought me back to mine. We are so excited to add a new little baby to the family. March is just around the corner. We will be welcoming Babe-E soon.

Incredible Day

I had a wonderful opportunity to go on a "Walk for Character" today. It was the second annual "Walk for Character" in honor on Martin Luther King JR. I walked with all ages and all races. It was about 22 degrees but we were warm. We then were able to hear a local high school choir sing "Let THere Be Peace On Earth" while watching Barack Obama walk towards his swearing in moment. It was an amazing and emotional moment.
I met some incredible Americorps members who work hard to make this area a better place for all. We had a wonderful lunch.
It was amazing to be in a room of volunteers, community members and friends all listening to the Inauguation with excitement, hope and renewed inspiration about the future.

What an incredible day.

2009 goals

A good friend invited me to join her team to become healthier in 2009. The meetings are on Wednesday night which is when I am at church. However, she is graciously sending me information and including me in her goal of becoming healthier. Her team of 4 women go to meetings on Weds. evening for nutrition classes, weigh ins and other information. I have been following their progress on the team blog.


I am also fortunate enough to work with several women who are also working harder to become healthier this year. One has started an excercise program and watching her diet, the other is following the South Beach diet. The great thing is that we are all supporting each other.


I am motivated by all these women but also by the WII FIT. Everytime you get on you can do a body test and it tells you your BMI. Seeing numbers on a screen and watching how excercise and eating right changes it, even slightly is a big motivator.


So the point of this post is to have someone else to answer too.





My goals for 2009 are to excercise...when I can, eat a healthier diet (limits sugars and bad fats) and make sure my kids are eating better. I don't think those are difficult goals. I just have to stay motivated. So thank you CAT for getting me started on this journey with you even though I couldn't join the team.
Now if I could just stay away from the computer and learn to spend more time on wii fit or my elyptical I know... No Guilt No Regrets.

Tradition

The kids and I took the tree down today. I was going to take it down on New Years day, but was reminded by my wonderful daughter that it is a tradition to take the tree down on a Sunday while watching football. OK, we haven't watched football all season this year but we did today.
I loved traditions as I was growing up too. I guess I started traditions with my kids that I didn't even know I started.
Anyway, the tree is down, the decorations are put away and we are quickly headed back into routine. I'm not sure I am ready. I have enjoyed our family time during the past few weeks. Time to get the backpacks ready and lunch money checks written.

Reflecting on 2008

2008 was a tough year for my family. I'm happy to say hello to 2009. I'm hoping it will be better. Over the course of the year we lost Irene, my mother-in-law, 6 months after being diagnosed with cancer. This was 2 weeks after a good friend lost her Mother-in-law. A month later my brother had another open heart surgery with a long and difficult recovery. My son, two uncles and my father had surgery. Not good odds if you are a male in this family. My mom had to battle pneumonia again.
We did have some good times too. 3 families, all good friends added children to their families. It has been an honor to watch these babies grow, meet milestones and be a part of their lives. I love spending time with each of them. They are part of what made 2008 bearable.
We went on a wonderful family vacation to South Dakota. We learned a lot about another state and had some wonderful family time.
The kids continue to do well in school without the anxiety and sleep problems we had in early 2008. They were dealing with a lot with grandma Irene being so ill but because of loving family and terrific friends they have done very well. We are blessed with an amazing Church family. They also helped make 2008 bearable.
I realize others probably had a worse year than we did but still, I'm looking forward to 2009. One of my favorite babies has already reached his first birthday. The other 3 will soon reach theirs.
We are planning a trip to Cozumel Mexico in May for my cousins wedding. The kids get to be a part of the wedding. It is beginning to look like a wonderful family reunion.
I am praying for a surgery free year and a healthy year for all. I am so thankful for the special friends that helped us through this past year. With out them it would have been much more difficult. It is amazing how God puts people in our lives. At the time you are just happy to get to know them but then there are days when you know why they came into you life.
So Hello 2009. I'm ready for you.

Engineer, drummer or Maybe Cake Decorating?

My baby turns 12 tomorrow. It is hard to believe that 12 years has gone by. Our 4 pound 12 oz baby boy is becoming a young man with many talents. He is a wonderfully talented drummer, he is getting better everyday on the guitar, he soaks in everything he hears and sees and doesn't forget things he has learned. He is a straight A student and we are very proud of him. Today we learned he can design and decorate cakes.

This year he made his snare drum birthday cake. Great job buddy.

Happy Birthday.

First Official Family Meeting

We had our first official family meeting last night. We have been having some problems with disrespect, getting jobs done on the day assigned, arguing and yelling. I had an agenda with guidelines...no interrupting, listen, etc. I went through what we as parents expect when it comes to homework, getting jobs done, practicing instruments, and how we should start communicating with each other. After each expectation, we talked about the consequence. Everyone had a chance to discuss the expectation and the consequence and make comments about it. Some things were tweaked a bit. We had a great discussion. I think the kids felt like they were able to help with the decision making. It opened up a lot of discussion. As my Dad said..."you do have a couple of thinkers". Yes we do.

I hope this meeting helps. Their Dad and I are going to have to enforce the consequences when they are tested. I hope we are ready for that.

We also agreed that we need to try at the very least once a week to have dinner at the table all together. With our busy schedules we do a lot of eating and running. We are going to make a point of sitting at the table so we can talk, reconnect and evaluate "The Family Plan". Say a prayer for us that things go well. I'm hoping for a lot less yelling and arguing.

This May Be The Last...

Today was probably our last trip to see Santa. Our son told us today he is getting too old. He has not confirmed that he no longer believes but I think he is holding out in fear that the presents will go away if he doesn't believe. Our little girl already knows. She figured it out at Easter. I thought I would be sad when they found out about Santa but actually Mags and I have been having fun. She gets to be Santa for her brother. Even though she knows about Santa, I am still looking forward to doing the "Santa" stuff. Our family loves Christmas and we know the "reason for the season" but we also enjoy the fun and mystery of Santa. Maybe I can get them to go next year if I promise not to show the picture to their friends. :)

We usually go see Santa later in the season but this year is already packed with so many activities. I will not, however, put up any Christmas decorations until Thanksgiving is over. I feel like people forget about Thanksgiving. It didn't feel right going to see Santa before Thanksgiving but we have a special Santa we see each year and between his schedule and our schedule, this was a good day to go.

So, Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I am blessed to have such wonderful friends and a terrific family. Enjoy Turkey Day!

:)

Yes we can and Yes we did!! Change has begun. Can you feel it? I do.

Emotional Day

It's only 11am and it has been an emotional day. We went through our normal morning routine. As I was dropping the kids off at school they reminded me several times... "don't forget to vote". They get to vote in school today and were both very excited about it. That makes me proud.
After I dropped them off I went straight to my polling place. It was 8:14am and there was already quite a line. I have never seen this in my small town. I waited about 25 min. not bad. As I began to color in the circle next to Obamas name, I felt a sense of relief. I left and headed to Target. During my drive to Target I began to feel emotional about my right to vote and what that means. I began to think about all the women that paved the way for my right to vote. I decided that from this moment on I will never take that for granted again. It was an emotional morning.
Later today I will pick up my kids from school, find out who the school voted for and head to the dentist. Then we will go to the visitation of a close family friend who passed away on Sunday. He was a close friend to my parents and a huge part of my life. He was also a big part of our church family. We will miss you "Bucky". It will be an emotional evening.

Happy Halloween

I hope everyone has a fun Halloween.

.

Comfort Food

Mexican food and Margaritas, good for times of crisis, family gatherings and especially celebrations. I realized today that my family and I will use any excuse to go out and enjoy some mexican food and margaritas.
Thanks for lunch Dad!

My kids are Hippies.

It is red ribbon week at the kids school. Red Ribbon week promotes D.A.R.E. which stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. It is a fun and informative week for the kids every year. Today they got to dress up in 60's or 70's attire. My kids make pretty good hippies. I just hope they are listening to the message of D.A.R.E.

PEACE

WOW x 2

Now that's a rally!!! GO OBAMA!!

and a wonderful endorsement too. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-chicago-tribune-endorsement,0,1371034.story

Peak

I have had some time to read in the last few days. So, I decided to read a book my 6th grade son has decided is his favorite book next to the Harry Potter series. PEAK by Roland Smith. It is a wonderful story of a 14 year old boy who goes on a journey and learns a few things on the way. It is a story that I will remember for a long time. I'm glad our son read it. He even shared it with a few of his friends. He liked it so much they wanted to read it. He asked me questions about it as I was reading it. He said he could still visualize the story. I know what he means. It is a quick read that will put a smile on your face and in your heart.

Extra Credit

I have been home since Sunday evening with some kind of intestinal bug. In other words...I don't feel good. Can you hear the whining. Yesterday I was supposed to go to work but instead stayed home, slept, read and attempted to eat. When I picked the kids up from school my son says he needs glue sticks and popsicle sticks to work on an extra credit project for History class. Now it isn't due until Thursday but because of extra curricular activities and homework this was the best night to get it done. UUUGGGHHH. Luckily my friend had lots of popsicle sticks at home. So we ran to the Pharmacy and bought glue sticks...they didn't have popsicle sticks, then we ran to my friends house to get the popsicle sticks.

Then I was ready for another nap.

It is amazing to watch my son when he is determined. He finished his assigned homework in record time and started working on this boat about 5pm. He only took a break long enough to eat dinner.

He can visualize what he wants to make and then make it. He finished about 8:30 p.m. or so. His Dad cut the pieces for him but he did all the measuring and designing. It was impressive. I hope he gets all the extra credit points possible. He deserves it. I love watching him work when he does projects like this. It makes me wonder if he will utilize this talent in his Adult life. I hope his teacher appreciates the thought and hard work that went into this project. I sure do.

A 6th graders design of an Eygptian boat

Honduras

I was watching one of my favorite shows last night... House Hunters International. A very busy family in California decided they wanted to slow down their lives and move to Honduras. hhhmmm

Sounds good to me. My family has been so busy lately. My husband is working 10 hours days Mon.- Sat. I have been volunteering at school more hours than normal, working two 12 hour days a week and trying to keep up with everything at home. My kids have homework and several extra curricular activities. I'm not sure how Moms working full time do it all. I have a friend that reminded me that she doesn't run the book fair or help out with classroom parties and school auctions. We are all so busy.

So, I think I am going to start looking into real estate in Honduras. hahahahahahaha Or maybe I should just start thinking of some more realistic ways to slow down my family so we can spend more QUALITY time with each other. Honduras would be nice though.

WHEW!!

Bookfair is over and I am tired. It went very well. There was some disappointment. We found out that a second grader stole some bookmarks and a 4th grader stole some erasers. Those are just the kids that got caught. I'm sure there were other thefts. We felt like we were watching pretty close too.
All in all it was a good week. I love watching the kids and being able to see mine frequently throughout the day. I will have book fair withdrawal next week. Then I can start on other PTA projects.
Never a dull moment!!!

Book Fair

It's Book Fair week.
:)

Update

It has been two weeks since I have blogged. September is a busy month. Our little girl arrived in the double digits gracefully. She had a wonderful party. It was a fun day!!
The kids are FINALLY in the groove of school. We are back in school routine.
Youth groups have started. Our son moved out of one group and up to the Jr.High/Senior High youth group. It has been more of an adjustment for me than for him.
My women's group started back up last Friday night. We had a great evening with some pretty interesting discussion topics. It is a terrific group of intelligent women. We are very comfortable knowing that we can be ourselves, say what we want and be accepted. We might not agree with each other on several topics but we do accept each other. Another wonderful evening with friends.
Book Fair starts next week. It is a rewarding yet exhausting week. I look forward to it every year. Hopefully this year will be less stressful. Last year I was running the bookfair and planning hospice care at the same time. Two very special friends let me cry on their shoulders and hugged me through that difficult week as well as this difficult year. I thank God for them everyday!
My wonderful husband turns 45 today. We are planning a relaxed evening at home and celebrating with a chocolate cake. Thanks Betty Crocker.
Girl Scouts started this week too. The Saturday after bookfair we will be selling cookies at the local dentist. It's cookie caravan time. In Oct. we will sell door to door.
It has been a great September so far. We are settling in to the school year and some early fall temperatures. I'm ready.. bring on the chili, the soups, the chicken and dumplings. Bring on the bonfires, Halloween and Girl Scout cookies.