finger licking good.....

Have you ever spent hours preparing a meal for the family thinking that they will totally enjoy it and compliment you for your efforts? Sure you have, we all do it. It's that little pat on the back that keeps us motivated to continue trying new things. Its the 'challenge' we face as mothers and wives, trying to keep everyone happy all of the time.

Well I was successful tonight! I made baby back ribs in the crock pot and it was a hit! Yeah, 2 points for me!!!! Bones anyone? :)

self portrait tuesday - together

So yesterday (so I am a day late) was my 13th Wedding Anniversay. Yeah!!! There were many moments when we felt we would never make it to 13. I made meatloaf for dinner (Aaron's fav) and we just stayed home together as a family. Tonight we celebrated it along with Vivian's birthday at Sambi of Tokyo Restaraunt. It was really good! Here's to many more years!!! Cheers!!!!!

Happy Birthday Vivian!

Happy 36th Birthday Vivian!!!!

here I am.......

Well it's been a while for me so here is an update of what has been going on around here. Life without little ones during the day has been pretty busy. I have managed to accomplish lots of little tasks that have been bugging me. i.e. sorting tupperware, scheduling appts, clearing out toys, some weeding, in the process of taking down pool + many more.

Today consists of taking the car to the dealer to have some minor things done and hoping they give me a rental so that I have a way of picking up the kids from school. I need to make the rocky road fudge for Sarah's chocolate party and I of course the ever dreaded laundry which seems to creep up on me daily :( hmmm what will dinner be tonight? I have been so good at making dinner everynight. My challenge? Creativity! I really do not like reading cook books (boring) so I try to create new things out of old favorites. Any ideas? please forward if you do!

Well time to feed the kiddo so that I can take them all to school and start this day! Have a great day everyone!

my last day...

today will be my last day with the kids i watch. i asked to have a few days off and it looks as though the new sitter either wants them full time or not at all. which i can fully understand, that way she can continue to make the money and not have any empty spots. i am sad. at a time in which i should be elated it makes me really sad. like i have suffered some sort of loss or something. i know these kids will be fine as will i but this transition has come quicker than i thought it would. the infamous saying 'careful what you wish for' is so true in my case. deep down this is what i really wanted and i know that after today i will be happy for the choices i have made. but is doesn't change the emotional part for today. their mom said it best to me, "i am so jealous that you get to start this new chapter in your life". so that is how i will look at it, as a chapter and this book we call life has the happiest ending ever!

my day...

well my day without kids started off really good. i was able to get many of my tedious tasks accomplished. one of which was to take a bath and shave these legs of mine. oh how relaxing it was to know that i could be in the bathroom with the door either open or closed and there wasn't a little person waiting for me. a few hours later i noticed that the tub had yet to drain. uh oh, i thought, now what did i do? well the only hting i could do at this point is wait for aaron. needless to say when he came home he wasn't too happy. guess that is tonights assignment. sorry honey :( if this is a sign of what is yet to come i am doomed!

time for me....

guess what i did today? i am in the process of switching my workdays from 5 days a week to 3. i have been battling back and forth with myself whether or not to do this and today i just did it. i felt really bad for asking to only work monday thru wednesday and i know i shouldn't but for me it's hard to say no. i have felt an obligation to continue watching the kids not only for them (and their parents) but for financial reasons as well. they have been a part of our family since birth! i love them both so much.

after listening to and reading my family and friends responses to these issues i can say to all of you, THANKS for opening up my eyes and making me realize what needs to be done. i feel good about this decision and i can't wait to have time for me! time to read, time to finish projects, time to go to the gym, just time. something we all take for granted (sp)?

http://static.flickr.com/26/40635420_eb9baf1235_o.jpg

i finished !!!!

well i made it a goal to finish the book, Little Earthquakes, on vacation. it took me a little longer than i thought but i did it. sunday night i finished it! yeah!!!!!!! i really enjoyed it and have now moved on to the suggested reading The TIme Traveler's Wife. so far so good. i am challenged in finding the time to read it but i am certain that once i get into it i will find the time. a very special thanks to joleen for the inspiration in reading these. keep me motivated jo!

self portrait tuesday - nosey

my husband is always accusing me (he's not lying) of being nosey. well with this nose it's hard not to be! some call it gossip, i call it 'staying informed'. :)

tae soo do test day!

today was testing for both boys. last month only trevor was ready to test and he ended up having an emotional breakdown. (we all have had one at some point in our lives) so we were unsure whether or not it would happen. good news, he did it and he earned his tip (a.k.a. electrical tape). he was so proud of himself for not crying this time. matthew and i were pretty proud of him too! because he didn't perfect his form technique he was required to break a board and he did! (see picture)

and he's off.......

another one goes to school.....matthew (11) started middle school today. boy was he nervous. but i am pretty sure he will be just fine. hopefully he will love it as i did.

so both kids are now in school full time, i should be taking care of business at home or continuing school myself right? wrong! i still have two little ones that i watch daily. i seriously need to figure out if we can afford to not have the extra kids. i am so done and burnt my heart just isn't in it as it was before. oh well, i guess these were the cards i was dealt in order to stay home while i did so i just need suck it up and make the most of it. :)

update....

just picked him up and he had a great day! hopefully tomorrow will go smoother for him (and me). here is a picture of trevor and miss pam.

kindergarten woes.....

today is trevor's 1st day of school. he woke up pretty excited, got dressed, ate breakfast, brushed teeth and hair all without hesitation. we drive him to his new school and sign him in NO PROBLEM. he walks into his new class and just breaks down. one would think he has never been to school before. i mean he went to preschool. so i had to leave him crying in some elses arms hoping and praying that he has a good day.

here is the before school picture:

sadness

i like many others, feel much sadness for the people affected by hurricane katrina. this should never have happened. i mean we can't stop the hurricanes or any other natural disaster but we could have been more prepared. the lives that have been lost is outrageous and who is to say what will happen when disease spreads because of the toxic waters and air that they are breathing. i wish that there was something we could do to speed up this process. i want to turn the t.v. off and not listen or see what is going on but my heart will not let me. this could have been me and my family or other family members. i am one of the fortunate ones in that i can say that i do not know anyone who has been displaced or hurt. if one lesson could be learned from this it would be to be more prepared. my heart and prayers are there for everyone!

what fun.....

what fun it has been. since my last post i have gone on vacation with my family and spent time with my extended family. can i just say that i am one of the luckiest people in the world when it comes to family. lets start with vacation. we went to freeport, grand bahama in the bahamas. we stayed at a very nice resort called ocean reef yacht club. the staff was great and the accomodations were perfect! we had a townhome larger than our house! how cool is that? we did some sight seeing, snorkeling, shopping and just plain relaxing. this was a much needed vacation for us. afterall, it had been 13 years since our last real vacation. we almost didn't make it out of miami because of cancelled flights due to the hurricane but hours later we made it home.

yesterday we spent the day with my extended family (sisters, parents, grandparents etc..) and swam, ate, gossiped, shared vacation photos and of course relaxed. oh, we celebrated birthdays as well. we had a great day. i love my family so much!!