Halfway through December already!?

So, it's been awhile. A lot has happened this month. I left my twenties, we've had two snow days already. Darius had his Christmas program. I have been working on my Christmas card list, but still haven't gotten them in the mail. Ewan completed his second to last semester. :) The list goes on....

But, all in all, things are good, and I am getting anxious about Christmas. This will be our very first Christmas in our new house, as a family. The four of us. Before we were at my Mom's, we were in the apartment and Sofia wasn't born yet, so we can't wait to wake up Christmas morning here at the new Auguste household! :)

I am pretty much done with my shopping, and have been feeling the spirit of Christmas. I want to buy presents for everyone...although that is not possible right now. I can't help it. I want to buy for the mailman, the bus driver, you name it. I think the holiday really needs to hurry up before I buy out all of the store's.

In the end, I am still able to clearly remember that Jesus is the reason for the season. :) Happy December. Merry Christmas!!!

Flu Bug don't bother me!

Well, I am sure Darius had the Happiest Birthday ever yesterday! I was at work, and and pretty much glued to my phone. I don't receive calls at work, and I hadn't looked at my cell phone. Apparently, West Indianola was trying to get ahold of me because poor Darius was throwing up in the bathroom! Luckily, they reached Ewan, who took him to Sunflower Prompt Care. I could have told him that they wouldn't do anything for him, but at least he tried. Sure enough, they just sent him home and said lots of liquids. He was running a fever all night, and is home again today.

Around 8:15am, Sofia woke up throwing up all over her pillow. So, now I have two sick babies! Well, my oldest baby turned 7 yesterday!

Hopefully I can keep this flu at arm's length and it won't bother me. Just like everyone says, I don't have time to be sick! The house is still a wreck from the chaotic party!

Flu bug... don't bother me!!!

Party Pooper

Wow! The party is done and over, and, it was a little stressful. I hope the kids had fun, 'cause I sure felt like I was yelling a lot. It was Sooooooo noisy. The poor girls at the party kept nicely asking if I could quiet down the boys. My response? I would LOVE to!!! I knew the party would get out of control, because Dad let's Darius invite the whole world. I wanted to be able to include everyone that Darius wanted...girls, boys, Tiger Cubs, and soccer buddies, but we had a packed house! It actually wasn't as bad as it could have been. They were all just super excited. I told them that I wouldn't bring up talking sticks since they weren't at school! I am sure they were all thankful for that. :)

The little vampires were running all around. We decked them out with capes, teeth, vampire bites, white streaks in their hair. Pictures to follow.

They played Halloween pictionary. It was cute to see them concentrate on their drawings. They did a great job!

Today is another super busy day....soccer game, after soccer pizza party, then wedding reception! I am looking forward to a day when I can regroup and relax!!! When will that be?

Busy Week...Birthday party planning.

Well, things are in full swing at the Auguste household. Tiger Cubs, dance class, soccer practice, soccer games, birthday parties.... not many moments to rest around here lately.

Well, we all know from the last post that Darius was pretty pumped about skating, and had the fantastic idea to have a skating rink birthday party. We had quite the party planned... Costume Skating party for his birthday, and his guest list was at almost 40 kids. Things were getting a little out of control, but we thought it might be fun. He wanted to invite girls, boys, Tiger cubs, soccer buddies, etc... He was super excited. So, when we finally made the executive decision to go ahead with the party, it was booked already! I called over a month ahead, but someone else already snagged the date that we needed.

So, we almost nixed the party altogether, and in fact, Ewan and I decided that we would just let time go by and not bring up a party again. When I sort of told Darius that he wasn't going to have a birthday party, he was pretty distraught. So, I cooked up the Vampire Party.

We have an unfinished basement, so it's not like it's the funnest places to hang out. It's kind of dark and creepy, so the Halloween/Vampire/Bat theme is good. So, since the party is going to be at our house, I limited him to 12 BOYS. I wanted him to be able to invite girls, but he already wanted a bunch of boys, so it was just easier to leave girls out.

Anyway, tonight after some more discussion, he thought he had invited a few girls, and I told him that we hadn't. So, I promised him that I would get the invites out to them tomorrow.

Sorry to the soccer buddies that he wanted to invite! We're going to have to rent a wedding reception hall for his party next year! The boy loves a party, and doesn't want to leave anyone out!

Skating Party, Fall Down Party...whatever you wanna call it.

Can you believe it? A real post, by me!

Wow. I knew that people were busy with kids, and I really did avoid putting my kids in activities when they were very little, because I knew my time would come. And it's here. Being home in the evenings is a thing of the past, and boy do I miss it!

I was about to take another another activity for myself, but I just don't think I can do it.

At least I can say that I enjoy the activities, and as long as my kids are having fun, I guess I'm having fun!

The latest was the West Indianola skate party. Of course, I always debate whether or not to skate myself, and Sofia usually makes that decision for me. Not this time. About an hour into the party, I decided to go put on my skates. Once I got going, I wanted to keep skating. I didn't realize how hard it is to skate slow, but I was trying to help Darius. You can't really be much help when both of you are on wheels, and when one goes down, the other will too.

Ewan kept giving me flack because two little kids skated up to Darius and I and asked if they could join our group. I said "Sure." and somehow, everyone played musical skating people and I ended up holding the hand of everyone else, but my son. Darius went crying off to the side, left the rink and went to cry on someone's shoulder. (Yes, he's very dramatic.) I couldn't turn around and skate in the wrong flow of traffic to go tell him that the kids wouldn't let go of my hand. Seriously, this little boy was hanging on for dear life. I finally had to shake my hand on the second go around to get him to let go. I felt horrible, but Ewan was sitting on the side shaking his head at me.

I skated off, and asked him what in the world I was supposed to do. He kept shaking his head, telling me that he can't believe I would skate with those other kids and not my own son. He's not letting me live this down.

Anyway, it was not on purpose, but I went and got Darius and we finished off the night. We were the last ones on the rink, due to Darius pulling me down, and me landing on top of his crossed legs. I was sure that I could have easily snapped his leg in half, and I had to drag him off. He ended up with no broken bones, but now has decided he wants to have a Skating Party birthday bash extraordinare. (Current list looks like about 40 kids, which is why I wanted to avoid the whole shindig altogether.) We'll see about this.

O Happy Day.

I used to post about how nothing new had happened since my last post. Well, things are a little different lately. Things are changing, and crazy busy!

But, the future is bright. :) That's a good thing. I know that Ewan enjoyed his days of coaching, but things happen for a reason, and we are now able to move forward with our life. I am so thankful that I am married to a person that is so hard working and family always comes first. We are one lucky family! The kids are enjoying Dad being home right after 5pm and home ALL WEEKEND LONG! Those coaching days were hard on us, since he was up Saturday morning, already out the door for shootaround, and then back home, and then back to the game that night. Or, on the road recruiting.

Yeah for computer programming. Next step will be for him to finish that MBA. Only a few short months, and he will be a Master of something!

I would like to give my husband a shout out, and say Happy Belated Father's Day. I hope you had a fantastic day. I know I had fun shopping in Nebraska Furniture Mart all day! :) You are one amazing Father, husband and all around great person, and I am so very proud to be your wife, and more than anything, proud of YOU! Thanks for all of your love, support and encouragement through these past 8 years. I can't believe it has been that long, but am happy to be able to say that I truly love you more with each day that goes by and look forward to catching up to you with the gray hairs! I love you. I love you . I love you!

Get a Move on!

Well, it's been awhile since my last post, but a lot has happened. We have wanted to buy a house for quite some time, but the timing has never been right. Well, we definitely didn't want to miss out on the first time home buyer's tax credit, so we had a small window to find what we wanted. We looked at this house posted above first, really liked it, but were willing to spend more, so we kept looking, and waiting.... We wanted to keep Darius in the West Indianola school district, so we just kept trying to be patient.

We went back and forth many times, and had pretty much decided to build. I wasn't sure if I was up for that right now. It sounds like so much work, and I am having a hard time waiting on the closing date, let alone, 4 months to build a house!!! Maybe next time around.

Anyway, we are set to close on July 6th and I am getting anxious to get back in! We love this little house, and it will be so perfect for our family. Especially for our first home. A lot has happened over the past few months, and we have been so blessed. God has given us the grace to get through the tough times, and mostly helped me to be patient, waiting on answers.

We will finally have a house of our own. Our 6 year anniversary will be July 3rd, and I just found out that I get that day of pd. and I don't work on Thursdays, so I will have Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday off to prepare for the move! It's going to be a lot of work, but I am very much looking forward to this time with my family!

The house is 2 years old, with one previous owner. A singled lady who looks like she barely lived in it! And, we got a FANTASTIC deal on it. That's the best part. We feel really good about the decision, and happy that Darius doesn't have to change schools!

Tornado Sirens...

I am listening to the sound of a tornado siren, and I have to say, it would probably be the # 1 sound that I hate the most. The sound of it just makes me visualize a dark, green sky and the tornado falling out of it. When I was walking to my car the other day, someone revved up their engine, and the initial sound, sounded just like when the tornado siren starts to sound and it literally made my heart stop, and I think it was beating about 3 times faster then it was just 5 seconds before. It's amazing what the sights, sounds and smells around you can do. That's one sound I can't stand hearing, and I am pretty much guaranteed to hear it once a week. That's a bummer.

Can I have my money now?

I knew there was something I was going to share. Yesterday, my Mom and the kids and I went to Arby's. They each had kid's meals, and when we were done eating, Sofia stood up next to me, and said, "Mom, can I have my money now? I had no idea what she was talking about and where this came from. The lady next to us about choked on her food. I mean, a 3 year old, so seriously asking a question like that. Like it was time for me to pass it out. It took me a minute, and then I figured out that they had coins in their kid's meals! They were colored coins that you could stick together. At least we got a giggle out of it! I definitely don't go around passing out money to my kids!

The Ant Farm

So, Target had Ant Farms for $1 each. They were tiny little containers with colored gel in them. Apparently, the ants can eat that gel, and it is their source of food and water. They eventually start making tunnels.



Capturing the ants is another story. Those things are fast, and do not want to crawl on what you put in front of them. We managed to catch 4 for each container. They all look a little stunned with their new surroundings. The instructions said to make sure that you had ants of the same species in the container, because they may have an "Ant War." Everytime I would go after an ant, Darius would gasp, "No. No. No. They are from a different species and they will fight each other and bite, bite bite." This made me laugh because he was just so serious about it. It says it will take about 24 hours for them to start making the tunnels.

We'll see if we accomplish another successful experiment at the Auguste household!

Is reading this blog like watching paint dry?

I knew in my brain that I had decided to paint the basement. The walls were white and not very inviting. Darius had written his name in crayon in one spot. It was time that this was done. On Tuesday night, I did a little taping and began painting with a brush around the edges of the door to see the color. I liked it and wanted to proceed. So, on my to-do list for Thursday was to paint a large portion of the basement.

I started early yesterday, around 9:30am. (Yes, that's early.) I painted the first coat by hand, with a brush. Yes, this was rather foolish, but it was like, I just kept going and didn't have the roller ready, etc... I took a break and let the first coat in the large wall dry.

I sat upstairs for a little while, contemplating if I should start the other large wall. I decided that I would wait and totally complete the first wall, put everything back where it was, and then if I was still energetic, I would move to the next wall.

I completed the first wall and was ready to move on to the next. It looks great. Significantly more inviting and warmer than before. Now my arms are another story. I have been telling Ewan that I would like to do some weights for my arms. (I used to be able to wear a tank top and not feel self-conscious about my arms, but the last year has done a number on me.) I know I should hit the gym, but I don't have time when I am doing things like painting my basement.

I told him this was my new solution. Just take up painting! Well, I will have to rethink that, but I would like my nice arms back!

Saturday, April 25, 2009... Here's how it went down:

A lot has happened between my last post and now. Darius had his last soccer game, and they lost. They were undefeated and they lost! :( Oh well, they are only 6. Earlier in the day, Ewan had decided to till the entire front yard, making it a muddy mess. But, he insists that someday, beautiful grass will grow there. I hope for his sake, that this really happens. But, he is watering and loving the rain. We had all been up since about 7:50am because we awoke to find Ewan missing, and found him outside "tending to the garden."

Then, my tornado dream last week, led me to live my worst nightmare on this Saturday as well. Here's how it went down...

A usual Kansas strange weather day. Nothing really out of the ordinary. A lot of rain. It was Darius' last soccer game of the season, and we escaped rain during the game, but it began raining on our way to the carnival at West Indianola. We took our coats in just in case, thinking that some of the carnival may be outside if it stopped raining. Well, I ended up carrying 4 heavy jackets and my arm was tired.

We had been at the carnival for over an hour, and it was time to get rid of those jackets and get busy playing games. We had already eaten, and Darius had found his all-time favorite game...Marble Madness. We walked outside to get some air because it was quite humid in the building. I had decided that I would take the coats all the way out to the van, and it was quite a ways from the school. I got all the way to the car, and just as I was putting the jackets in the back of the van, the tornado sirens started blowing. I am surprised that I didn't pee my pants or pass out, since, this in fact, was my worst nightmare FULL BLOWN. (Except for if I actually see the tornado in real life, which, I see it in my dreams.)

As you see in my tornado dreams, I am not with Ewan or the kids. And right now, I was alone. Alone on the street, far away from anyone. I was looking at the sky, luckily I didn't see anything suspicious. But, I was still in a panic. I really had to calm myself down!

I shut the back of the van and remembered that I was getting Sofia's shoes since I had traded her sandals in the van, and I couldn't let her go barefoot, so I actually went to the front of the van where the shoes were, and frantically grabbed them before I went running for the school. Now, once I reached the school, I wasn't any more relaxed. A) I had no shelter B) I still didn't know where my husband and kids were. I was running through the school. (Everyone probably thought I was crazy, since you could barely even hear the sirens from inside with all the chaos.) Someone asked what's wrong, and I said I couldn't find my husband and kids. They were like, "Yeah, sometimes that happens." and probably wondered why I was so frantic, I mean, I was just at a school carnival. I wanted to scream at them and say: "The freaking tornado sirens are blowing, I am separated from my family, and there is no basement in this place!" But, I walked (maybe ran) away and kept searching.

Now, had I known where this "tornado" was in the first place, I would not have panicked so much. I later found out from the fire department people that were at the carnival, that the tornado was SE and heading toward Lawrence. So, I calmed down and we were able to proceed at the carnival withouth leaving. Darius was having so much fun at the Marble Madness game that I couldn't take him away. Plus, we had to redeem his tickets for all of those fabulous "Chuck-E-Cheese" type prizes! We couldn't go home empty handed!

In church on Sunday, the electricity went out and a storm was brewing. All I could think about, was what Sofia was doing in Sunday School, and all Ewan could think about was the fact that the rain was pounding down, most likely washing away all of the grass seed he put down.

This was one long, eventful, exciting weekend.

How to eat fried worms...

So, when I picked Sofia up today, she had a bowl of slimy, gross, big worms. Her and Nanny found them while playing outside. She brought them home, and into the house. She put them on a plate and keeps "losing" the plate. Luckily they haven't crawled anywhere.

Anyway, she said she was going to play with her cooking stuff. I jokingly said, "Why don't you fry them?" Darius loves the movie How to Eat Fried Worms. The next thing I know, she goes and gets her grill, and it makes sizzling noises. She put them on there and was "frying" them! I love kids. They are so entertaining.

She finally set the worms free, but has already asked if she can bring some more home after she goes to Nanny's again. She said that they are under a can in Nanny's backyard. Great. What's for dinner?

This sucks. Literally.

Tornadoes suck. No really, they do. And, in my latest tornado dream, I could personally see the people being sucked out of whatever facility I was in. I still can't quite figure out where I was this time. From previous blogs, you will see that I am usually in Henderson on Washburn's campus trying to make my way down the stairs, but I am surrounded by the glass walls, and never get to a basement.

This time, it was some type of parking garage, only there were no cars, and the columns that hold the levels up, were skinny enough that you could sort of wrap your arms around them, because, that is what I did in my dream.

So, the tornado hits, and of course I see it first. (I have never seen a tornado in real life, but in my dreams, I always see them before I take shelter.) I see and hear the tornado, and head into this place. My Grandma and Mom are usually there, and my husband is never there. That's probably because I already know he is somewhere NOT taking shelter, because he believes that since he is from an island, that hurricanes are much more severe.

Yes, the damage from a hurricane may be more widespread, but if a tornado directly hits where you are, you are in serious trouble.

There are different levels in this garage and of course I am on the middle level, and my Mom and Grandma are on the level above. Now, I can see people literally being sucked out of the sides of the building. The sides that are open. I am right in the middle, where I have managed to hang on to these columns. Of course my feet are flying and my entire body is waving in the air like a flag. This time, I have no idea where my kids are in the dream. I usually end up finding out that my husband and kids are safe.

After what seems like several minutes, the tornado is over and I am quite convinced that My Mom and Grandma are dead. I try to make my way to the level above me, and I see my Mom. She's alive! I go running for her and remember falling at her feet. I didn't even hug her. I was so exhausted from hanging on and the stress of the situation that I had no strength to wrap my arms around her.

Here's where it gets bad. I assume that since my Mom is fine, so is my Grandma. My Mom tells me that she didn't die from the tornado, she had layed on a stretcher from an ambulance, and as soon as she layed down to rest, she literally laid down to rest.

These dreams totally freak me out because they are SO real, and there are so many details. We'll see when the next tornado dream will surface. Hopefully not tonight, because it is very disturbing! But, I will try not to complain. At least it's a dream, and not for real!

Tissue please

Do I seriously get this emotional over everything? Wow. Okay, so over the past few years, I have learned that I cry every single time I see a baby born on a TLC show, I cried watching 90210 when Dixon saw his Mom for the first time. I cry when people get a new house on Property Virgins. Icried on many episodes of The Secret Life of the American Teenager. To me, there is something wrong. I mean, who cries over some of that stuff? Well, apparently I do.

Thanks for reading about my emotional craziness!

hello?

Does this work?

And the Award goes to...

So, I ruined the surprise. I really did earn the $100 award for the past two months. Woo-hoo. But, I didn't realize that I wasn't being told because it was going to be a surprise. Oh well, either way, it is $200 headed right to my bank. A pleasant surprise on a Tuesday afternoon!

Back to School!

Well, today was the day that Darius went back to school. I am sure he enjoyed his time off, but he was definitely due to go back. Summer should be interesting. I am sure he will get so bored. I will have to try and come up with things for him to do so he doesn't drive everyone crazy!

We heard the squeak of the bus, just as I was helping him get his shoes on, and I had to shove him out the door, throwing his coat, backpack and lunch at him. I am sure the bus driver was amused that we were definitely not back on the ball yet. It's a lot of work to get them ready for school. I mean, Darius drags for a big because he is still half asleep! I wish he could just wake up and be ready to go, but, I guess I am usually half asleep too!

Happy Easter! (yesterday)

Well, I do hope that everyone enjoyed their Easter holiday. The family and I went to church as usual, and enjoyed a nice Easter service, and then went home to a fabulous meal prepared by Ewan. He must hate it that he is such a great chef. We had marinated pork, chicken, fried chicken, ham, corn, red potatoes, cake, apple pie with ice cream. Needless to say, I was pretty full after we ate. Of course I didn't eat everything, but at least a small sample of each.

The kids enjoyed the day and found a t-shirt and pajamas that were dropped by the Easter bunny while we were at church. Apparently, the bunny tried to stop by, but rang the doorbell and no one opened the door. It was raining, so he took the baskets and hopped somewhere else until we got home. Shortly after we ate, the doorbell rang, and they were very excited. The bunny had dropped off a basket for each of them. Darius got the volcano experiment he has been waiting for. Sofia? The tatoo stamper Barbie that was all I heard about. The baskets of course were overflowing with other goodies, such as Darius' Mighty Warrior Bible, and Sofia's Princess Bible. We had some of the Washburn players over to eat, and they thought that it looked more like Santa Claus came, but, hey, it's all good. He said, "Ho, Ho Ho! The Easter bunny is here!"

I started my new schedule today and Sofia did not give me a very enjoyable night's sleep. She was up every two hours, crying for no apparent reason. At one point, she said she was trying to lock the door. I have no idea what that was about.

Schedules, Snowgirl Cheerleaders, and More!

Where does the time go? I am so thrilled that today is my last day of working at 7am! I have enjoyed this schedule, as I get off work at 11am, but my new schedule will allow for a day off during the week, which I appreciate greatly. It seems like once I wake up at 5:50am, and come to work, and even going home so early, it's just not the same. I believe I can get a lot more done on my day off.

Soccer will soon be wrapping up. Ewan is enjoying it thoroughly, despite his hectic schedule. I admire him so much for his hard work and dedication to whatever he does.

I hope you don't mind the randomness of this post. It has been awhile, so I just tend to let it all out...

I watched In The Motherhood again last night. I have grown to really like that show, especially after watching the Oprah show last week, where she had the main actress on. It's unbelieveable what some of those mothers do to get by, but hey, they make it work! I do a few things, but none seemed to be to the extreme of the show, which, supposedly comes from the stories of real life mothers. At least we all get a laugh out of it!

Darius was out of school yesterday due to Kindergarten Round Up at West Indianola. Today he is out for a teacher training day, and Monday as well, due to being a snow day that never had to be used. Yes, we did have a very odd winter. It is freezing today, and rainy, and dreary, and I could definitely crawl back in bed. Unfortunately, I am sitting at work with headphones glued to my head, waiting for sometime to beep in and interrupt my blogging.

Let's see. I know Sofia did some silly things yesterday. She lined up her singing, dancing snowman (or snowgirl) cheerleaders and jumped along, swinging her arms. You see, I bought one of these snowgirl cheerleaders, because at the time, I was coaching cheerleading and thought the team would think it was cute, then, because I am sure whenever anyone saw one, they thought of me, I received 2 more. Actually, maybe three! That's scary. So, now I have a team of snowgirl cheerleaders. Sofia thinks it's awesome. She gets them all going at the same time. Go, Go Santa. Go, G-O, Go Santa, yeah. Keep it up, Keep it up, Keep that Christmas spirit up. Wooo!

St. Lucia Surprises...

We were pleasantly surprised with a package from my wonderful Mother-in-law, Veronica. The package was addressed to Ewan and I was sure that it was some saltfish, some Shirley Biscuits, and a few other things.

Well, to everyone's surprise, they were St. Lucia items. How exciting. You should see Sofia proudly toting around her new St. Lucia purse and coin purse. I was going to keep the little one for myself to put in my purse, but Miss Sofia snatched it up. When she looked at me with those big brown eyes and said, "Mama, whose are these?" I said, "Yours!" She was very delighted.

Darius got some new books that are similar to what Dad used to read when he was little. We are so impressed with Darius' reading skills. I can't wait to sit down with him and read all about it. :)

Twitter

Okay, so they say no one cares what you are doing. Who cares. I don't care if no one cares what I am doing, but I can certainly say what I am doing, whenever I want.

Also, if they don't care, then why do people read it and check status' on facebook. The point is, that is the way these are set up, and I do care what people are doing. I don't mean that it is important for me to know that you tweezed your eyebrows last night. Just because it isn't important doesn't mean I don't want to know. You have to combine the important with the non-important.

The only reason I am even on Twitter was to update my status on facebook when I am not at home and I have something "really important" to share. I refuse to pay $40 a month for internet service on my phone. Twitter is free.

So, feel free to follow me on twitter and send me a tweet.

Man, who comes up with this stuff? I am married to a computer programmer, I need to make him create something else, bigger and better. Yeah. That's it.

Snow- was a NO!

Well, check that out. I was all worried about getting 4-8 inches of snow and how many inches did we get? ZERO!!! Woo-hoo, AND the soccer game was rescheduled.

I didn't realize it had been that long since I last posted, so here I am. I have had some nice workouts the last few days. 3 days in a row on the elliptical combined with some weights. Feeling good now.

I'll be back later.

Okay, that's what I get...

for saying Topeka is only supposed to get an inch of snow!!!!

I read on WIBW's website that it will snow most of Saturday, and that we are looking at 4-8 inches of snow!! And the KSNT website says 3-6 inches, so I hope like many other times, those forecasters are WRONG!!! I definitely don't want any snow, but I guess if it will snow, it needs to be at least enough that there will be no soccer game.

And, ya hear interesting things from people around you when you are at work. They are saying that a man who is/was in prison, ate his eyeball. Okay, WOW. That's nice. Now back to work, only 13 more minutes to go.

Snow - no!

Aren't you so glad that I work at a job where sometimes I don't actually have to work. I only work when the phone rings. lol. It gives me more time to share here, on my very up-to-date blog.

So, I really don't remember when it has snowed in the Spring. But, we live in Kansas, so this shouldn't be a surprise. Can you believe there are areas in Kansas that are predicted to get up to 17 inches of snow!? What is that all about? Luckily, here in Top City, we are only looking at less than an inch, but there is a soccer game! I love to watch my son play soccer, but not in the snow! You can count me out for sure. Maybe I'll invite Victoria to the game!

Thankful

Well, I am thankful for the small things right now. I am scheduled to be in a meeting from 12:45-1:15pm. The problem is, the meeting is for my old team, so because my schedule says that, I have to log out and pretend that I am in a meeting. Otherwise, I would put myself out of adherance! It's crazy. So, I am taking advantage of my meeting/break, and then I leave at the very end of my "meeting."

I have just been reading some posts by others on a board. It makes me thankful.

I am thankful.....

1. That I don't have a husband who beats me.
2. That I don't have a husband who drinks all the time. (Or ever for that matter)
3. That I have a husband who enjoys going to church with me
4. That I have a husband who enjoys going to the park as a family
5. That I have a husband who is working so hard to support his family
6. That I have a husband who is in school finishing his MBA.That I have a husband who is thankful for me. (or at least he tells me he feels lucky!)
7. That I don't have a husband who is more concerned with the time he spends with his friends than his family.
8. That I have a family that will always be there for me no matter what.
9. That I am at work, not working. lol.
10. That my kids are healthy.
11. That the dental diagnosis was not cancer.
12. That I only have to work part time, so that I can be with my kids.
13. That I don't have to send my kids to daycare.
14. That I am not the one in school. (Sorry E! I admire you though.)
15. That my son has done such a great job learning to read, and has done so well in Kindergarten
16. That God has blessed us with the ability to create new life.
17. That God is there to listen when I question if he really is there.
18. That I met someone in college who knew from the moment he saw me, that we would be together, and we still are.
19. That I have a roof over my head.
20. That even though we don't have everything at this point, we still like to try and put others first.
21. That I have been given the grace to get through the difficult situations in my life.
22. That I have shoes on my feet, even though the heels are broken off of both of my shoes.
23. That I have enough money to buy more shoes, even though I already have a closet full of them.
24. That at one point in my life, men could toss me over there heads and catch me.
25. That I can be thankful for whatever I want. See above.
26. That I was and am able to have children. They are such a gift.
27. That I grew up in a Christian home, and strive to provide the same for my children.

When it rains, it POURS.

Now, these sayings usually come about for some reason. At my house, it rained, and then it poured. And, I don't mean literally. Let's rewind...

End of February, beginning of March. Okay, so I have discussed about going to the Dr., etc.. but let's just break it down.

Stephanie- woman Dr. ($25 copay)
Darius - Dr. for ear infection ($25 copay, plus rx for $100)
Sofia- had to see Dr. same day because Dr. thought she looked bad too. (Addn'l copay $25)
Stephanie- sudden ear stabbing, must see Dr. ($25, plus rx for $15)
Stephanie- antibiotics gave another type of infection. You figure it out. ($25 copay, plus rx for $5)
Darius- rash all over legs and body, plus ear still plugged ($25 copay, luckily, no meds needed)
Darius & Sofia- Dentist. ($370 cash)

We are at $640 extra expenses here. Shall I continue?

Ewan car repairs ($1200.00)
Darius- the dental work needed by 4/27 ($1181.00)

For a grand total of an additional .................$3021.00 expenses in a 4 week period.

Oh, and walking in to work today, the heel broke off my shoe, and has 3 screws sticking out of the bottom. All I could do was break the heel off the other shoe. I am officially screwed. All I can do is laugh about it.

I turn to this song that I listened to growing up in these difficult times...

Cares Chorus by Kelly Willard

I cast all my cares upon You,
I lay all of my burdens down at Your feet.
And any time I don't know just what to do,
I will cast all my cares upon You.

Prayer Requests

So, you know how at most churches, you can jot down a prayer request? Well, I decided in church on Sunday, that I need to start writing down what I need to pray for. It's like, Oh, yeah, I would love to pray about that for you, but when my list is like 20 things, I really can't remember all of that. I hope that doesn't come across as insensitive, or not paying attention, but I really can't remember it all, and I want to pray about all of it.

I mean, do people really get out a list, and check things off in their prayer? I don't think so, but I can't think of another way to pray about everything, and not end up praying a prayer that basically asks God to remember himself about all of the things I am praying about. I am working on this. I will come up with some realistic solution. I'll pray about that! lol.

Growing Crystals...

Well, since the kids are into doing experiements, I bought them a kit where you can grow crystals. We were at Michaels and Darius wanted some Crayola 3-D kit that was $20 and I knew it really wouldn't excite him that much, so I encouraged the cheaper, more interesting Crystal growing kit.

Well, now that Spring Break is over, Darius is excited about going back to school. He woke up this morning, ready to tell all of his friends that he is growing crystals. I hope those kids don't go home to their parents and say that he is growing Crystals. Hopefully they will know that it is not crystal meth or something like that! I feel like the world's worst Mom for not getting someone over to come play with Darius. He was so good, and I did try once. His friend was going out of town with his Mom to visit one of her friends. He was disappointed, but it wasn't as dramatic as past episodes.

I am going to the store this afternoon to buy all of the necessary supplies to make some delicious Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies. Ewan said that he would make some for work, but he has class tonight, and soccer practice tomorrow night, so I thought if mine passed, he could take them and share them at work. Hopefully I can out-do his, which are pretty good!

Looks like we are in for some storms this evening. I need to get on it with cleaning out the downstairs closet. (That is our storm shelter) Being in the basement alone isn't safe enough, we have to take shelter in the closet. (See previous blogs about my fear of tornadoes) Can you believe I don't have a weather radio? But, I do have it set up to receive text messages from WIBW and am always informed of potential severe weather. However, if I happen to receive on of these messages while I am at work, and my family is all over Topeka, i.e.. Ewan at class, Darius at school, Sofia at Nanny's, my Mom at the mall, it is likely that there will be a nervous breakdown. See, there are no basements in any of these places. I am home the most since I only work 20 hours a week. I would be safe, at home, with a basement, but all I can think about it it the fact that no other location that any of my family would be at has a basement, and there is nothing I can do about it.

No reason to keep rambling on about it, 'cause it isn't gonna change, but I do pray about it.

We've Got To... Work! Work! Work This Out!

Okay, so enough HSM songs... I am needing some new motivational songs for my ipod. I have been diligently spending time on the elliptical. 40 minutes each two days in a row, and plan to face the machine again tonight...and tomorrow... and probably Sunday. Maybe I will give myself a day off.

I find with the right music, I can really get going and burn some calories. Now, I was really disappointed in all of the peanut M&M's I ate yesterday, especially because I don't even really care for peanut M&M's!! But, they were there, and Sofia kept spilling them, and I kept on eating them. Nothing like eating M&M's while you are laying in your son's bed. (Hey, it's a queen size bed, with a TV in the room, and I was trying to relax) Ewan and I got rid of the TV in our room months ago. We tried to turn it into a peaceful haven, but I am not sure how that is working out for us. It still seems to get loaded with papers that need to be filed, or toys that get dragged in one way or another. But, I am working on it.

So, I am on my search for some new, heart-pumping, elliptical, calorie-burning, songs!

Oh yes, it's Ladies Night!

Well, I am currently in the process of planning an official Ladies Night. The girls from my past two jobs and I got together on St. Patrick's Day for the celebration of "another one bites the dust" at the dental office we worked for. The Ladies Night was born. The first Tuesday night of every other month will be the night to spend at El Mezcal. I am putting together the invitations, and making this OFFICIAL!

Oh yes, it's Ladies Night! Oh what a night!

Patience is a Virtue

I need to take a time out this Monday morning and thank God for everything I have and who he has made me today. There are are times in my life when I wonder if I am doing everything he intended me to do, and why I am where I am today. Then I stop, and realize how lucky I truly am. I am married to a man that loves me for me, and I love him back, for who he is. He is one incredible Dad and works extremely hard. Who else works so hard, goes back to school to get their MBA, and doesn't complain when they are still working in an internship! And, I might mention that he usually gets straight A's! His goal is to have a 4.0 in the MBA program. He has done everything to provide for his family, and there is a reason that things happen the way they do. If there is one thing I have learned over the past 5 years, it's... patience.

Today's calendar says...
Belonging to a local church body is vital for spiritually healthy couples. In the Bible, Christians are never portrayed as independent entities, but as essential "parts" of the larger body of Christ.

I am thankful to have such a wonderful church that we attend together, as a family, every Sunday. We may not be too involved outside of Sunday services, or know everyone there, but we know that every Sunday, we can go there, and take a full hour to praise God and thank him for everything he has done and given us. We are definitely a couple who has overcome adversity and I am very proud of our accomplishments individually and as a couple. We are happy to be on this journey together and I will be eternally grateful for being able to develop this kind of love for someone.

Who would have thought that I, being from Topeka, KS and never living anywhere else in my life, would marry someone from another country! But hey, I love him and that is what matters. We will celebrate our 6 yr. anniversary on July 3rd, and I can't wait for the fireworks!

Weekend Update

Well, it was a productive and fun weekend. Unexpected company always makes for a nice surprise. They also served as some additional fans for Darius first big soccer game of the season. The boys had a great time playing, which is Ewan's ultimate goal.

We were excited to have a visit from my Uncle Dusty, cousin Heather, and her son Brayden. We also go to spend some time with their new puppy, Logan. Sofia especially enjoyed herself with Logan. She was pretty worried about what he was doing most of the time.

We got some time in at the park, did some big time grocery shopping for the week. I know the kids will be home all week driving me nuts about what to eat since it is Spring Break. We stocked up and are ready for a new week.

Why don't adults have Spring Break? I keep feeling like I am about to be on Spring Break, but that is simply not the case. Unfortunately, tomorrow is a new day at work. :( At least I only work until 11am, so I can't complain too much. My new shifts will start on April 12th, and I will at least have 1 extra day off in the week since all of the options are 4 days a week. It will be interesting to see what I am stuck with this time.

Have a great Spring Break! I am sure that it will go much faster than everyone wants.

Drive me crazy!!!!!!

What a week! But TGIF! So, this week was Darius' first soccer practice. It wasn't really a practice, but more of a quick get together, and discuss practice times. Long story short, this is how my day went Wednesday....

Woke up and went to work at 9:15am. Sofia gets out of preschool at 2:45, so I went to get her around 2:30pm and between the time I was waiting for her and the time she actually came out, I went from just fine (aside from lots of snot for the past week) to feeling like someone stabbed me in my ear.

I knew at that point, that it would be a long night. I had exactly one hour to get to a Dr. and get home to get Darius off the bus. I called Sunflower Prompt Care and they said that they had no patients, so Sofia and I sped there, and they got me in after about a half an hour. So, sure enough... ear infection. Now, I had the prescription, but was going to have to make time to get it, since picking up Darius was next, then soccer, then the skating party.

Sofia and I drove home with about ten minutes to spare to get Darius off the bus. He got home, and I loaded him into the car, to head to the pharmacy.

I get a call from my Mom that Grant was looking for a ride home, and since I was headed to the pharmacy across from the mall, I thought I could squeeze that in. They couldn't find him after he was in her store. I went to the pharmacy and that took about an hour. I had about 5 extra minutes, and did a swoop around the mall to see if Grant was outside the mall since I was headed right in his direction, near his home.

Well, no luck there, but as I was driving to soccer, I noticed that my gas light came on. I figured right then was as good a time as any, so headed to the gas station. After waiting forever there, we hurried out to make it to soccer on time. I was in the turn lane with one person in front of me. Their car slowly started to roll backwards and I figured that it was just a stick shift and they would stop at any moment. Um, nope. Sure enough, their car rolled right into my van. The man got out. I stood up, and looked at him. He looked at me, almost as if implying that I ran into him. He didn't say one word. Finally, I said,"You just let your car roll into my van." He got in his car and drove off. Luckily, no damage. I just sped away and glared at him.

Off to soccer. That was short and sweet. Next up, the skating party. Ewan had a meeting with someone from his group at school. So, it was up to me to juggle the kids at the party. Of course we blew way too much money on blinking pacifiers, Nachos, pop and spray candy. Ewan ended up there near the end, and then we went to dinner.

Can you say CRAZY DAY!!!???

You really CAN quit drinking Diet Coke without rehab!

Well, it seems like it's been awhile since I posted. It was kind of a busy week last week. I started a new diet, or no, a lifestyle change. No sweets, sugar, and NO DIET COKE. Can you believe that it has been ONE WEEK today since I last had a Diet Coke. I am talking NONE. Not one drop. Not one can. Not one splurge. It is very hard to believe that I could accomplish this, because before, I would have told you that I needed to go to a rehab clinic in order to deal with the withdrawal. (I am sure that some of you have experienced withdrawal headaches, and they are NOT fun. )

The first day was the worst, but it usually goes way beyond that. This is the longest I have ever gone without Diet Coke. Even when I was in St. Lucia for two weeks, I found a way to get some Diet Coke. On Wednesday last week, I was driving and thinking I shouldn't be, since the headache felt like someone was ramming a steel rod between my eyes. (How bad is it that pop will do that to you!!??) After that, no real headaches. A few faint ones randomly, but I have survived. I believe that if I oculd get through the first week, I can make it. I haven't set any time frame of how long I will go without drinking it. Maybe forever. We'll see.

Exhausted!

Well, it if Friday and this week has exhausted me. After sitting in the tiny Dr.'s office being coughed on for an hour and a half, can you imagine that I am now sick? Well, my voice is tired, my nose is running, and I am just exhausted! Thank goodness it is Friday. It sure doesn't feel like I had an extra day off this week.

I did start a new workout regimine and have totally overhauled my eating habits. I have managed to have zero, zip, zilch, nada Diet Coke since Tuesday! I cannot believe that I have survived this long. I don't really crave it as much as I thought I would, but it has been tough.

I worked out two days in a row, and have been watching what I eat for 3 days. Things have gone great so far. I just hope I don't give in. I don't believe that I will, but, I'm trying to prove to myself that I can do it. I know I will feel better.

So, I am looking forward to this weekend, not for the usual reasons. I want to go home and go to bed. I know this won't happen, but I can dream, right? I am definitely sleeping in tomorrow though! I will have to have a talk with the kids and a lesson on how to pour cereal! (J/K!)

Girlfriend?

I forgot, this is a funny story. When the Dr. walked into the office yesterday, he started messing with the kids. (He usually does this, trying to be funny.) He looks at Sofia, and says, "Hi Darius!" Of course Darius pipes up and says, "I'm Darius!" They kind of go back and forth and then the Dr. sits down and says, 'Well, Darius. Your girlfriend called me and told me that you broke up with her and she says she still loves you and wanted me to tell you." Darius is truly convinced that Hayley is his girlfriend. (She is 19 and a freshman in college!) We all went on a "date" to the Olive Garden and he'll never forget it! It kind of worries me because he keeps asking when she is coming to spend the night again!

So, Darius kind of argues with him, and looked at him like how does he know I have a girlfriend? After we got home, Darius wanted me to call Hayley because he needed to find out if she really called his Dr. He kept saying, "that Dr. is a joke, and he is playing a joke on me. If she didn't really call him, then he is just a joke!"

Oh, kids!!!

Weekend Update

We enjoyed a fantastic weekend, aside from the fact that Darius had a fever off and on. We of course didn't think much of it, but then it was accompanied by a cough, and by Sunday night, he was beating on his ear. He started hitting the side of his head and complaining that his cheek was burning on the side that his ear hurt. Of course I had to call the Dr. Monday morning, which is never a fun thing. We made it there by 9:45am, and the Dr. took one look at Sofia too, and said he would like to take a look at her as well. (By now, she had the cough too.)

So, an hour and a half later, we left, headed to K-Mart to pick up the prescriptions and went home, and had spent $150.00 between copays and the rx. Great start to the week! :)

Friday night, Ewan came home, and I started "helping" with a project he had for school. I was helping him print them and put tabs on the notebook if that counts as helping. It was nice to just be able to work with him, and have him home! He has been so busy. He worked on the project all weekend, we didn't make it to church since Darius was sick and he was STILL working on the project. :(

So, by Sunday night, he was still working on it, and I had to go to Darius' soccer meeting, yeah, the team that Ewan is coaching, but I have no idea how he will have time! He had to go to work because they shut down the website on Sunday nights, and he was going to help his team at work. He got home after midnight and then we got back to working on the project.

Needless to say, it was a crazy weekend, but I think we all enjoyed being home and together. The kids are now on the road to recovery, both taking their inhalers and Darius the amoxicillin. Now I am back to work and exhausted. It's going to take me the entire week to catch up, but of course I am still looking forward to the weekend to do it all over again. Hopefully minus the project and any illnesses!!

Workout Escape

Today has been great. I slept in until 10:30am! Woo-hoo! And then, Ewan and I actually got to escape and get a work out in, and go to Walmart. (Yeah, that was fun.) But, it was just nice to geta away and be in the car alone with him. The kids take up so much of our time, we really have to set aside time for eachother, even if it is a workout! It does help me when he works out because it is usually a longer workout than if I went alone!

Now, E is making some homemade chicken soup for Darius who is fighting a terrible cough, and it looks like his little sister is right behind in the illness area.

We have big plans to relax, and watch some movies tonight. I am definitely enjoying the weekend so far.

Where are we headed? Into the future! What does the future hold?????

The conference went very well. :) Sofia is doing a fantastic job at preschool and is doing a much better job reaching out to other children and interracting during group play. She has fantastic cutting skills, and can write her name if she looks at it in front of her. (I think she can do this without looking too, you just have to tell her what letter comes next.) So proud of both of the kids and their hard work since the start of the school year. Time to add another? Just kidding. I am still trying to get over my baby fever illness, but I am sure I will get over that soon! The time just isn't right anyway and I think that our family is complete. I am just not totally convinced yet. That is to be discussed at a later date.

I am now watching High School Musical 3 with Sofia, waiting for Darius to get off the bus. What is with Gabrielle and Troy always ending up dancing in the rain. Isn't there something new that they can do, or does everyone like seeing the two of them dripping wet?

Still looking forward to what the future has to hold for this family, despite any bumps we might run into along the way. I know that we are all headed in the right direction and look to every new day to inspire what I should do next to contribute to this journey. We've been living day by day, trying to come up with new things to keep us busy. Right now, it's watching Corbin Bleu ask Taylor to the prom in front of the entire East High lunch room. I have seen every HSM movie and can you believe that I can never remember curly headed dude's name? It's just Corbin Bleu.
And, I must admit, I love watching him in Flight 29 Down. If you have never seen the show, you should check it out on Discovery Kids! The Junior version of Lost. Fun, fun, fun!

Shy?

Today is Sofia's Preschool P/T Conference. I am looking forward to seeing what her teacher has to say about her this time. Of course I wasn't shocked at the last conference when she told me that Sofia is very shy and they are trying to get her to make friends. The girl is super shy around others, but could drive everyone silly at home. She runs and plays and attacks her brother, and talks WAY too much. The teacher even asked me if she had any problems with her speech because she said so little at school! Ha ha!

I actually went and visited her in class for her Valentine's Day party and snuck around to watch her play. She looked like she was running around having a great time. In fact, she was wearing a firefighter hat! My mom ran into someone that has a daughter in Sofia's class. Her name is Sofia too, only it is... Sophia!) I guess her mom said that she is very shy too, but they have had problems with her wanting to take the toys home. (I don't think the girls lacks any toys at home either!!)

We'll see how today goes!

To take a nap, or write a blog...

Well, I choose both! I am extremely sleepy today and stayed up entirely too late again last night. Ewan has been so busy with school, that I enjoy just making time to be in his company, but that usually means staying up too late. (For both of us!) I wake up at 5:50am now, so staying up late is a little more difficult these days. It used to be one of my favorite things to do!

We chose to watch Man vs. Wild. Bear Grylls never ceases to amaze us with what he eats, and it always provokes discussions on what we personally would do in those situations, etc... Well, last night, he ate fruit that he dug out of bear poop. How disgusting is that? I mean, he ate one piece, and talked about how "sharp" it was, and then proceeded to keep at it, like he was eating it out of a fruit snack pack or something! Come on Bear! I haven't decided which is worse...eating that, or the rotting insides of a dead animal that has been decomposing for who knows how long. As much as I think it is great that he is "teaching us" how to survive in different areas and elements, I think I'd only last as long as I could find "real food." I don't think I would ever bite the head off of a fish straight fromt he stream in order to stay alive. Who knows. I guess you can't say it until you've been there.

Sofia is going to watch Zaboomafoo! Woo-hoo! Then, after she settles down a little, hopefully she will be ready for a nap, and I'll get mine!! That would be fantastic!

We also watched some more of our St. Lucia DVD's last night and it made me miss it that much more. :( The kids were so little, and that doesn't help with my baby fever diagnosis. I am really hoping that I get over that soon!

TTFN!

Where in the World is Matt Lauer? Hopefully St. Lucia!!!

I am trying to help Ewan and his friend out. I told him that I would make an effort to help St. Lucia gain some votes!! Some of you may be familiar with the segment, Where in the World is Matt Lauer, on The Today Show. Well, I need your help! Since E is from the beautiful island of St. Lucia and we have the opportunity to vote for the island as one of the destinations for Matt to visit in 2009, I am sure this island would love your vote. Here is the link...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23960057/

You may also visit the group I created...
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid=4f17fec3ad5d8d659690c8b69fee56e2&gid=130649650084

Your help is very much appreciated!!! Please email the link to others if you have time. If you haven't visited, St. Lucia is an absolutely beautiful island and I can't wait to go back!! Hopefully

sooner rather than later!! Thanks again!!!

-Proud wife of a St. Lucian!

Sunday, Sunday

Today was a productive day. I haven't seen Darius all day since he had to go to Nanny's after church, so, it has been pretty quiet around the house. I am now watching a Lifetime Movie after waking up from a late nap.

I went to church this morning and took Darius into the service with me since I left Ewan and Sofia at home to sleep. (We stayed up ENTIRELY too late last night!) I really screwed up by waking up, and then taking such a late nap, since now I won't be ready for bed tonight!! Oh well. Good thing there is no work or school tomorrow.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Sunday. Sorry no real news here, and I don't have anything exciting to report. A little on the boring side, but better luck next time!

Tornado Dream (More like nightmare!)

I must add this dream before I forget it! Most people know that I have an extreme fear of tornado's...

I was in a training class for my current job at the VA. We had to break for lunch and I went to the mall where Mom was working, only, she wasn't working at Gymboree. She was working at Victoria's Secret. I went there to see her and we went to the food court. We knew that my cousin Misty was in town, and would see her later that day. I looked up and Misty was walking by in the food court. She brought her son Tanner to eat, and she had him sitting in the window at American Eagle. (There was a bench in the front window, I have no idea why he was eating there.) So, I waved to Misty and she came to say Hi, and then went to get Tanner from the window.

We hadn't started eating yet, and I realized I didn't have time to eat. My Mom told me that I would have time to eat cake and ice cream, and I got into a panic and explained to her that I couldn't be back to training late since it was my first week. I went running to her store to get my purse and I couldn't find it. When I did, I went flying for the mall exit and as soon as I opened the door and looked outside, there was a GIGANTIC tornado. I knew that it was headed right for the mall, and I was a complete wreck.

I went running back into Victoria's Secret and was asking everyone where my Mom was. I was crying and everyone was laying down in the floor inside the store. (I think in real life, you actually go into the hallways!) I remember so many people there. Everyone was packed in like sardines and I was just sobbing. Everyone else was totally quiet, dead silent. Except me. I was asking a million questions. I wanted to know where Misty and Tanner were inside the wall. I was telling everyone that this was all wrong. That we couldn't be inside the mall, because the tornado would just cause the entire place to collapse on us. I was gesturing to all the poles and racks in the mall, telling them that they were all just going to land on us.

Then, I woke up. I have no idea what happened. That's probably a good thing. I have so many dreams about tornado's. Most of them when I was pregnant. That's when they started anyway, and they really have never stopped. It's really annoying because they are so real. I don't think I ever die in the dreams. I always wake up before that. I like to think that some sort of miracle stops the tornado 's and that is why I am still here today. If I ever see a tornado in real life, I am quite sure I would pass out. I have never passed out before, but I think that would do it. I hope and pray that I will never see that day. Or anyone else in my family for that matter.

Darius and Sofia Babycenter Kidisms. (Crazy things they have said.)

These are from my Babycenter "Kidisms" website. Darius and Sofia say some pretty funny things and I add them there so that I can print them and put them in their baby books to save forever. It's easier to make myself save them than to write them down. I just wanted to share them here as well! Enjoy!

DH= Darling Husband
DD= Darling Daughter
DS= Darling Son


Watching the Super Bowl, my 6 yro DS wonders if the "Steelers" are going to have to go to jail.

My DH has coached college mens basketball for the past 5 years. He recently changed jobs, and a few months have gone by. DS (6 yrs.) asked out of the blue: "Why is there no more basketball in this town?" save nevermind

Last night, I was laying on the bed, pants and a bra on, my DS (6yrs) sees my "tah-too" and asks if it grew bigger and bigger. What was he implying? save nevermind

Eating at Chili's, I told DS to eat to make sure his stomach is full. DD spoke up and said, "No, food goes up your head, not down your stomach!"

I tell my 6 yr. old DS he is stepping on Baby Alive. He replies, "I guess we'll have to call it Baby Dead, huh?"

Don't worry mom, this is an electricianal show. (My DS, 6 yrs, Watching PBS, I think he meant educational! lol.)

My DD, Sofia, just said, "Oh, is he your husband? Yeah. Dad's our husband too."

We were sitting in the dr's office (it was pretty serious in there) and a boy who looked to be about 7 or 8 years old was digging in the toy basket, stood up, and proclaimed: "Hey, I remember who this guy is. His name is Puss! (Shrek cat!)

My Darius (6yrs.) and my Sofia (3yrs) arguing over the presidential election. My DS even started all out bawling when he learned that my Grandma did not vote for Obama, (like serious, real tears!) and my daughter proclaiming "Akain!" (McCain)

Sofia knocked over the milk and w/in 2 minutes later, she knocked over my pop. I said: "What is wrong with her?" Her 6 yr-old brother says: "Maybe she just got blind for a minute."

"Mommy, we ate the sand." (Sofia, shortly after she broke a St. Lucia magnet filled with sand!) "It's yummy!" I get up to check it out and she was eating out of a tiny bowl that had cinnamon and sugar in it. I had mixed it earlier today.

My 3 year old is holding our Yorkie, Lexi, and she says: "Mommy, Lexi is wiggling because she's cole." I think that is...she's shivering because she's cold!

"In the olden days, I liked to wear that." (The olden days, is Darius referring to last week.)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Well, my Valentine's Day was celebrated last night. I enjoyed a fabulous dinner at New City Cafe. (The place described in my birthday celebration blog.) Ewan and I keep meaning to make it our monthly retreat, but we missed last month, so we are starting over that tradition.
We started out with some delicious Caribbean Quesadilla's: Jerk Chicken with Monterrey Jack Cheese, Red and Green Peppers, Red Onions and Mango w/Cilantro sauce. Yummm!! I had the Monterrey Chipotle Chicken and Ewan had the Pork Tenderloin with Raspberry-Dijon Sauce. Both of which were excellent choices. But, Ewan talked me into a Mojito and it is definitely a favorite!! I really didn't think I would like it, but I ended up loving it. Yum! I don't drink often, but if I do, it usually involves rum, so I guess it was a perfect choice. It wasn't St. Lucian Rum, but, it passed.

Ewan made the kids some banana pancakes for breakfast, and I too, of course enjoyed them. I wanted to get a workout in today, but that didn't happen. :( Maybe tomorrow. I have definitely eaten way too much this weekend.

Darius wanted to go to his Nanny's today, so my Mom took him over. He was crying like a baby saying he missed her and he got his way. It was so quiet with him gone. Sofia was sleeping, so Ewan and I had peace and quiet. That was the best Valentine's Day gift ever!! Right now, they are fighting with some Star Wars swords and the T.V. is blasting. They need to wrap it up for bed, but we usually stay up late on the weekends. (Makes it tough to get up for church, but we always make it somehow!)

Sofia somehow decided today that she wanted to go to St. Lucia. TODAY. I told her that it didn't work that way and that we would have to go in a plane, and she said, "No, I want to go in the car." Needless to say, we didn't go to St. Lucia today.

It's 10pm and I have thoroughly enjoyed my day! It's time to curl up on the couch and go watch some Man vs. Wild with E! Good night!

Parent Teacher Conference

I arrived home from the parent-teacher conference. I was very proud of Darius and his hard work. The teacher had nothing but good to say. He is doing a fantastic job and is a great student. The last conference went well, but he did have a few No's marked and a few Needs Improvement, and it was positive across the board this time. Keep up the good work, Darius!!

Pre-Valentine's Day thoughts....

I can't believe that all of January went by and I haven't posted. I will work on that. That obviously wasn't my New Year's Resolution!

Well, we are already into 2009 as March is quickly approaching. I am still enjoying my new job, but the schedule can be tough at times. I am currently working 7am-11am. I am finally getting used to waking up early, but it will probably change again at the end of March. The schedules changes every 90 days and just when I get used to one schedule, it's time for a new one. As long as I can continue to work 20 hours, I won't complain. The time with Darius and Sofia is too precious. (Even though some days, they can drive me nutty because they don't quit talking!)

I have to go to Darius's 2nd Kindergarten conference today. I am anxious to see what Mrs. Switzsky has to say about his performance. We are very proud of his hard work at home, and think it is a lot of fun to watch him learn to read. He read an entire book to me Wedneday night. I think that kind of excited him.

It is 10:40am, which means only 20 minutes and I am outta here. I am trying to come up with some special things to do tomorrow for the kids. I want to cut out some little hearts and leave them all around the house, so that they find them all day... when they go to play, or go to the bathroom, get out their toothbrush, etc... Since they don't have school, we'll at least be home with them and I would love to watch them get excited.

Ewan and I are planning on going to New City Cafe tonight. Yummy. I am very excited about that. We have not had a lot of time lately to go out and enjoy each other's company. I know it is getting to me. We have to stop and make time for eachother. But, the kids will soon be grown and not around anymore. :( They just grow entirely too fast.

I am still eagerly awaiting planning another trip to St. Lucia. I am hoping that everything with Ewan's job works out and we can continue moving in the right direction. I am so very proud of him for his hard work on his Master's, striving to get straight A's. I don't know how he does it, but he does, and I am glad to be a part of it.

As for Valentine's Day.... I doubt if E and I will do much on the actual day. Neither one of us really gets into V-Day, which is okay with me. I would prefer to celebrate our love on other random days, when it is not expected, or a "retail holiday." What does it tell you when our favorite restaurant menu prices go from $18-$30 to $38-$45!!!!???? That's why we are going tonight!!!