Kissing the Coach

I know I haven't blogged in a while. We have had an extremely busy summer. The only thing I love about summer is all the outdoor activities. This year both girls have tried many new activities. Abby played T-ball for the first time. She has really made improvements since the beginning of the season. Her best two hits were her last two hits! This is one of my favorite pictures of the season. Paul was acting as first base coach. Abby was so excited and Paul was so encouraging that she gave Daddy a big ol' kiss! He told her that she better not be kissing any other coaches! Too cute

Kindergarten program

Abby had her kindergarten program last week. It was so cute! Being that Abby is the youngest, I cried knowing this is "the last" . We went through the last kindergarten round up. The last "lost first tooth" and now the last kindergarten program.

Feeling Constantly Behind the 8 Ball

I know that it is of my own doing but I'm constantly feeling behind. I have a hard time saying no when I'm asked to take something on. Between PTO, Girl Scouts, Arbonne, 3 kids and their activities and a full time outside J-O-B, I feel like there isn't a lot of time left for me. For instance, this morning I called to ask Paul if Molly took her costume to school for the musical. She didn't so I left work at 9am, got to her school just in time to see the END of her performance. So, rather than drive all the way back to work, I worked from home the rest of the day. I have found one redeeming quality about myself. For instance, I'm great at multitasking. I can work from home while uploading pictures, blogging and cleaning up my desk. Oh wait, may that is procrastination. While blogging I also discovered I haven't shared any pictures for awhile.

A couple of weeks ago, we were cleaning house and Abby ASKED if she could clean windows AND the toilet!! Here is the evidence...and she wasn't even in trouble.!

Abby's other exciting news is that she received her yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do. She is so proud of herself. She had really done well. She goes to class 3 nights a week and never complains!

The weekend is over

It's back to the grindstone on a Monday morning. When I left this morning everyone was still in bed. I wish that is where I was. The girls have one final day at home! They have had yet another VERY long weekend. There were off Thursday and Friday for Parent Teacher conferences and today, all 3 are home because of teacher inservice. I don't remember have this many inservice days when I was teaching! Anyway, we had a pretty good weekend. Friday night Abby got her yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do. She was so proud of herself. Paul worked most of Saturday. Molly had a birthday party and I didn't have to yell too much at a 13 year old! Daphne's grades have risen so she is out of grounding and now back in Tae Kwon Do. Her biggest need is structure. When she doesn't have anything to do, she does NOTHING or takes HOURS to do homework. When she has several activities schedules she is really good about sitting down and getting everything done is a timely manner. We are trying a new method with her. We are setting a time limit on homework. Hopefully, this will cure her "distraction problem". Sunday, all 5 of us were home and other than a grocery store run we were home the entire day. I seem to be on a cooking kick lately. I made steak and shrimp tetrizzini Saturday night and beef stew yesterday. I also put my new kitchen aid to the test yesterday by making sugar cookies but not sure it was a great recipe. We'll see how the cookie turn out. Stay tuned.

Ahhh...School Days

This was I've been arriving late to work for the past 3 out of 4 days helping dear children getting ready for their first days of school. On Monday, Abby started at her new preschool. She has been so excited about it that wasn't really worried how she would adjust. We walked in and the teachers showed Abby were to hand her backpack and which cubby hole was hers. She didn't bother to wait, she went straight to the toys and started playing. We called to her to tell her goodbye. She looked over her shoulder and waved, like we were definitely not at the top of her concern list. My, how fast they grow up. Molly was next on Wednesday. We had gone to "snoop night" at school Monday so she got to meet her teacher and find her desk. We took a load of items so her backpack wouldn't be quite so heavy on Wednesday. She didn't seem to have any problems falling asleep the night before, like I used to. I was always nervous for the first day of school but she seem to take it in stride. Wednesday was only half day so it was just a "get to know you" kind of day. Daphne walked the puppies up to school that afternoon to pick her up. Thank goodness for older sisters. Today was Daphne's first day. I can see the biggest change in her this year. In February, she started taking Tae Kwon Do. I can see how that has helped her self confidence immensely. This morning, she set her alarm for 5:45am in order to take a shower so that I could help her with her hair. You know, you have to look your best because you never know when their might be a cute boy in your class! She even wore a little make up! If you know Daphne at all, you know that she has always been against ANYTHING girly. She has been a tomboy through and through. At the end of July, she decided that, after a year of letting her hair grow out, that she wanted it cut SHORT. She donated it to Locks of Love! I can't wait to see how her first day went.

You've been served!!

Daphne has a friend at school who has spent the night at our house. Very nice, polite girl. Apparently she and another girl (not so nice) had a "running in" which resulted in Brittni's(the nice one) parents getting a letter from the DA stating their daughter was having charges pressed against her for assault. What I find bizzare and totally absurd is the fact the other girl's parents nor the school never called Brittni's parent to let them know there was an issue to begin with! Anyway, Daphne somehow got brought into the middle. The SRO called Daphne in to find out from her what happened. She only heard about the incident, did not actually witness anything! SOOOO, a couple of weeks later we get a notice that Daphne is being subpenaed to testify on behalf of Brittni. She has also gotten a subpena from the DA's office. When she got the first letter. I told the officer that I was a scrapbooker and asked if I took take his picture. He just laughed. I'm sure this is the first time he has ever been asked to have his picture taken while serving someone!! :)

My best friend Jennifer and I on our trip in Chicago. I think this may be our new annual place!!

Mother's Day Weekend

Wow! What a fun weekend. Jennifer and I met Friday in Chicago. She got in shortly before noon and we were off. We ate lunch at a little authentic Mexican restaurant (you can never have enough Mexican food!). Then hit Michigan Ave. First thing we noticed was that it was considerably colder than what was originally predicted. Needless to say neither Jennifer nor I brought jackets. We happened to stumble across a Tall Girl shop so we made a quick dash is to find me a jacket. I found a white denim jacket and a shirt that was really kind of out of my norm. As Paul would say, a boob shirt. We then shopped until our feet and backs ached. We found a Benigans and stopped for a drink. We really didn't want dinner at Benigan's so we went in search of a restaurant that wasn't in KC or Cincinnati. After walking blocks past where we thought our restaurant of choice was suppose to be, we settled for the restaurant inside the Hilton. For one thing, it was WARM!!! Man, it got to be really windy! We decided that we would end up spending some good money on cab fares but it was worth it. We were so exhausted that we were in our jams by 8:30pm
Saturday morning we got up had breakfast at Starbucks then headed to Sears Tower when it opened. We planned that very well. NO LINES. However, by the time we left there were lines! We then did some more shopping at Nordstrom Rack. This place was the bargain find!!! So much so that I had to buy a bigger suitcase!! Well, truth be told, the suitcase I took was Mom and Dad's since ours was broken so I was basically just replacing ours. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! :) Saturday early evening we went out to Navy Pier. We ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp. VERY good. There was a prom going on and a couple of graduation ceremony so people watching was fun. We caught a cab from Navy Pier back to Michigan Ave that we didn't think we would survive. This crazy driver was honking at other drivers, passing on the left into oncoming traffic. We were so happen to have our feet planted firmly on the ground. It took a couple of minutes before we could quit laughing and shaking!
Sunday morning was breakfast again at Starbucks then headed out to find Red door Spa for our pedicures. OMG! What awesome pedicures. We spent way too much on them but I have soft heels and that is a plus! Got to the airport in plenty of time. I was the first one on the plane after preboards. Loved it. Front seat. Lots of leg room. Got home to a sweet husband and two beautiful little girls with flowers and handmade cards. They missed me! As it should be ;)

TGIF

Any more I live for Fridays. I'm to the point of hating my job so much that getting up in the morning is getting more and more of a challenge. I left work Wednesday with my computer bag over my shoulder. As I was trying to get it in the car, I either bent or twisted wrong and pull something in my back. I've been off for the past two days. The anti-inflamatories didn't work so I got a prescription for a muscle relaxer. I'm feeling better today but it is still difficult to sit for long periods of time.
I made a delicious dinner this evening. Grilled pork chops, rice, green beans, rolls and grapes with devil's food cupcakes for dessert.
I'm writing while Daphne is at Tae Kwon Do. I've been very impressed how well she has excelled at this. What they say is true about the discipline. I think she has come into her own this year. THANK GOD!!!
No big plans for the weekend other than Jodie and Jason and the girls coming over for Cinco de Mayo. In honor, we are having tacos and Sangria. Can't wait!!!

Groundhog Day

Anymore everyday seems to be a killer day. You know, the kind that keeps you sooo busy, you're not sure when you last meal was. I feel like it's groundhog day just about everyday anymore. Getting up at the crack of dawn (LITERALLY) every morning, going to a job that is way past it's time, fixing dinner, helping the girls with their homework, activities, bedtime routine, etc. By the etc, I mean, dishes, cleaning up after everyone, putting away clothes maybe getting a few minutes to myself. Then starting the day all over again. I was really looking forward to going to Omaha to see Marcy and the kids but guess that will have to wait another weekend. I'm trying to talk Mom into going to St. Louis instead. We'll see.

Yesterday, in Girl Scouts the girls made May Day baskets to take to the residents of a nursing home. They has some trouble with the baskets but otherwise they turned out great. Hopefully, the residents with enjoy them a little. My goal for girl scouts it to have pretty much the entire calendar planned out for next week and not wait until the weekend before or sometimes the day of to gets everything together. LOL. A girl can dream, can't she?

It's Monday!

We had a beautiful weekend. Most of which was spent outdoors. Saturday, the girls and I planted some hydrangeas and layed mulched. Paul is almost finished with the front flower bed. I'll be excited to start planting some flowers. Hopefully, that will happened before the heat of the summer. Saturday night, Mom and Dad came over while Paul and I went on a date. We couldn't remember when the last time we had a date was. Enjoyed a beautiful evening sitting on that patio at Hereford House, then made are usual stop at the bookstore. What started out once as a joke has now become a ritual on our dates. MUST STOP BY BOOKSTORE. LOL
Sunday, ran some errands and Molly had a birthday party. She was the only girl at the party with 6 boys. She thinks she is pretty hot stuff. We grilled out last night which was nice. That is one thing I really enjoy about summer is cooking out. Now if we could just get the back done so we can eat outside as well, life would be good.

We are on night 3 with Abby in no pull ups. We took her to the bathroom twice in the night but still ended up wetting the bed at 4:30 in the morning. She did wake up enough to know that she had done it. Maybe we are on a turning point. I'll be thrilled when we get over this hurdle.

I still have some planning to do before this afternoon's girl scout meeting. The majority of the meeting is planned with the exception of a few details. I really need to stop waiting till the last minute to take of this. My goal over the some is to have plans made for the next six months. We'll see how realistic that is.