The Peanut Gallery

Feeling Fine... and Valentine's!

2012-02-13T12:19:00.002-06:00

This week we are exploring "Dental Health" activities as well as preparing for Valentine's Day tomorrow. In all the years I have been doing daycare, I must admit, dental week is one of my favorites. There are SO many cute things to do.

Today we decorated our card holders... we started by writing our own names.

It takes a lot of thought...

Then we glued hearts on and used stickers as the final step...

Even the small peanuts enjoyed using stickers... great fine motor practice as well.

This might be one of my new favorite activity. The egg cartons were our teeth and the white/blue paint was the toothpaste.

We used toothbrushes to "brush" our teeth. We had to make sure we brushed on the sides, in between, on top... everywhere. It was a good teaching tool as well- it is important to brush everywhere not just the tops of our teeth.

Our story of the week... every year I get a dental kit from Colgate, another reason I LOVE this week. It has a DVD, CD, toothbrushes, and fun dental games to play. It is a free program I signed up for 3 years ago. Such a cool program....

Lastly, my favorite learning prop. I bought our teeth prop with one of my first grants. We use it 1-2x a year but I still LOVE them. I know, it's a little silly but they are really cool to demonstrate brushing and proper oral hygiene!

Ahh, dental week... how I love thee!

iphone pictures...

2012-02-13T10:22:00.007-06:00

Yep! I am sporting Dustin's wii pj paints. Him and Gaby have a matching pair. I stole them because I can not seem to get warm today. I know, you love the socks too!

Kenni and I watching the Grammy's last night... I think we are also sporting the same hair style too!

Cute little peanuts... the Kindle Fire brings such peace and happiness.

Kenni LOVES books! She is "reading" her favorite baby book. Her favorite page is when the baby goes, "nite nite".

Kadyn and I started reading, "Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo". Kadyn isn't ready chapter books yet, but this gives her and I some time to snuggle and read together. We just finished our first book. I was looking to see what others I could order when I went into Gaby's room to organize her books, and found 2 more. I am so excited. It's a cute little series. It's one we can grow with- I am reading to her now, but soon, Kk will be reading them to me.

Mia

2012-02-10T12:20:00.002-06:00

There is a whole lotta cuteness in this 3 year old little girl!

Posing like big sister Kadyn

My little diva!

2012-02-10T12:16:00.001-06:00

Today we did a cute little Valentine Project, "Thumbody" loves you!

We also started painting our Valentine card holders for our party...

The peanuts are getting super excited to exchange valentines on Tuesday!

2012-02-09T20:46:00.000-06:00

Mia after preschool... she fell sleep! Still so cute!

A total blur... still cute...

2012-02-09T19:33:00.002-06:00

Today I was on the verge of grumpy all day. It really changed minute to minute to minute if I was happy or grumpy. Ever have days like that?

The last three days I have been horrible on my food consumption. I really was just hungry all day and I stopped worrying about what I was eating. It's okay though, I think I am over it. And now, I am undoing my 3 days worth of damage. Yikes. I hope some day I will be able to to handle stress in my life without turning to food. But until then, I will always have bad days- lucky it was only three days.

I love being a stay at home momma and an outside the house momma too! What an awesome opportunity I have been given. I love getting to experience both worlds, however, after my 2 mornings "at work" I am always glad to be home. I have realized that even on my worst daycare days, I could never work outside of the home full time. I love my daily school, work, momma, wife, daycare kids routine to ever leave my children and home. I also love working with our nursery program, the gals that work with the kids, and the families I get to see each week. It's totally a God thing how I get the honor to do both jobs!!!

Had a nice dinner out... my hubs fixed dinner for him and the kids. I ate out. I felt bad for a half of a second. I got to have a dinner with a great friend- our kids go to the same school, church, and her son(s) will be marrying into my family! I treasure mommy night outs. I find the people that I am drawn to for friendships are a lot like me. Busy mommies, kids, crazy schedules, and that makes it hard to get out. But... we do it... we need to... we have to stay sane so we can be good mommies, wife's, keeper of the crazy schedules. I give a lot of praise to Dustin, who supports my mom time out, and never makes me feel bad for going out!

Have you ever been super stressed over silly things and then know they are silly things but still stress over them??? Yea, me either! Mia has her big girl preschool screening tomorrow. I think she is perfect- most days, some days, I mean maybe on Friday's... but still, it is a screening, she is getting judged, she has to perform, and do well. And let's face it... it's Mia, she will do well if she wants to do well, or she will suck and it will be her choice to suck. So... we'll see what happens. I have been stressing over this for some time now. Because I am one ball of nerves, I begged for Dustin to take her. This year- I just can't do it. Silly??? Maybe... It's preschool, It's Mia... and It's emotional for me!

I haven't been talking as many pictures... what's up with that??? Hopefully I get back on track for that. We are still doing fun things for daycare- but a lot of reviewing, so not as much to capture I guess...??!!

I am kinda over watching TV... lately when I get home my TV shows (American Idol and Biggest Loser) haven't taped. So I crawl into bed and (still) watch Friends.

So, in 2 weeks I will be doing something I never thought I would be doing... I am going to our church's woman's' retreat! This well be an experience for sure. If you're lucky, I'll even blog about it! I have never been the camp out, spend the night, stay up all night telling deep secrets type of person...I know, I think I just stereo typed a lot there, sorry! But, maybe a little part of me is looking forward to it. After all, 24 hours with out kids... :)

Anyway... there are some ramblings for the night... and a cute picture of Kenni watching around in my miss matched tennis shoes. Why is kids walking around in our shoes such a cute thing?? I don't know, but it is!

A total blur... still cute!

Our Family Pet...

2012-02-09T19:20:00.003-06:00

Kadyn got a preying mantis (?) kit for her birthday! We sent away for the live larva and it came in the mail Tuesday. Here is Dustin, doing his dad duty of taking of this thing.

This is what came in the mail

Figuring everything out...

Kadyn was so excited to see them hatch... but will have to wait 3-6 weeks.

Finding a space got them... where this momma doesn't have to mess with them.

Three to six weeks we'll have a new family pet!!!

In the mail...

2012-02-07T12:16:00.002-06:00

Today the older peanuts worked on handwriting journals...

Letters P, Q, and R

The little peanuts worked on stamping our letters...

They really get into the stamping, one of our favorites.

We sang our, "Welcome song", and had some dancing time.

My crew after learning time. We talked about "R" words, and letters.

We even made our own mailboxes.

With cute little flags and everything...

We finished up our morning by making counters. We are up to number 13 and 14 this month. So, we put 15 beads on a pipe cleaner to help us review counting to 15.

For circle time, we reviewed all of our letters A-R, shapes, colors, and numbers 1-14. The peanuts had a busy morning!!!

So Lucky...

2012-02-07T12:11:00.002-06:00

Yep! It's time to double it up, or even triple it up!
Sickness is all around us now...

Poor Kenni!

2012-02-05T21:55:00.001-06:00

Poor Kenni!

Dustin was out the door going to watch the Super Bowl game. Kendal was upset when he left- super cute though. She loved her daddy big much!

cards

2012-02-04T20:03:00.002-06:00

Mia normally fights me when we do handwriting activities during our daycare days. Tonight she came home with her Tangled valentine cards and wrote her name 20+ times for her class. No fighting and did a good job! Her and Dustin went down her preschool list of names and she hand picked each card for her friends. It took a lot of thinking on her part!
Some moments she is the cutest thing. My little left handed girl is growing up.

Week 4 and week 5...

2012-02-03T21:09:00.005-06:00

I am taking a picture each week to help keep track of my progress as I strive to loose 35 more pounds. I wish I started sooner but here is week 5. The picture sucks... there was a big weight lifting dude in my personal space so I was trying to hurry up!
Week 5: ran 1.75 miles
.25 miles walked
lifted weights
ab machine

Week 4: Finished couch to 10K app. Running 4 minutes, walking 2 minutes for 60 minutes.
5 miles total

Isn't this gross?? After running, this is the hot mess my hubby gets to see. I know, he is one lucky man!
This was my first time to get 5 miles in 60 minutes.

Monday's weigh in... down 12 pounds! (2nd time to loose it though)

Our special mail...

2012-02-03T14:58:00.002-06:00

This week our them is Special Delivery...
Today we decorated postcards...

We placed stamps on our special postcards...

Getting ready for the long walk to the mailbox, okay, not so long, but still fun!

So excited to mail off our postcards...

There they go...

One on one reading time... Friday we work on a level A reading book.

2012-02-02T22:44:00.001-06:00

I am so glad it is almost Friday... Friday is my plan the menu, do my odd load of laundry (stuff the doesn't go into the hampers but still need to be washed), get daycare prepped for next week day. It makes me feel good to have everything ready from next week on Friday.

Which means I can relax, not meet my calorie burn because I am reading a book and being lazy on Saturday and Sunday. Even though I LOVE being lazy, we have 3 hair cuts for the girls on Saturday. I am torn, I am ready for them to have shorter hair, especially Mia, but it'll probably end up as trims. But still... I love being lazy on Saturday's and Sunday's!

My Peanut and I had a hard night. Just when I think I just might be getting this parenting thing down, I am brought back to reality! I have posted about Kadyn and our struggles before with school. I am hoping to get some answers, support, and new things to try after meeting with her teacher next week. We had tears, we had yelling, and we had hugs. Parenting will always be the hardest thing I have ever done.

We had two nights at home this week... tonight and tomorrow. I am almost too happy about this. I love nights at home. I even bought a board game so we could have a family game night that didn't involve Wii, Ipods, or Kindles. Old fashion fun!

I met up with a friend that I hadn't seen in a while- It was so nice to see her and chat with her. Kinda like we picked up where we left off. Lot's to catch up on but it felt like old times seeing my friend again.

Breaking Dawn is coming out on DVD... I simply can not wait. Nuff Said!

I am on week 5 and am down almost 12 pounds. Week 4 was a blur- it was hit and miss on working out and journaling my food. I must say, writing everything down has been the hardest thing for me this time around. Tonight was a good workout. Exercise is my stress reliever. After my emotional night with Kadyn, I was glad to be at the gym after she went to bed. I am so happy that I have this outlet. Week 5 is a good week... so far!

My goal is to be in bed by 11:00pm every night... well, not tonight since it is 11:05 and I am still blogging. You know why I am up so late this past 2 months??? I'm not working, cleaning, or exercising.... I am watching "Friends" on Nick at night. I have seen them all, but I can not stop watching them. I wish I could say I was doing something uber productive but nope... watching "Friends".

I am wrapping my random post up now... Here is a cute pic of Kadyn on her birthday. If you think of her- prayers and positive thoughts for her are so welcomed! Taking it one day at a time!!! Love this peanut- I will never never get this parenting thing down but I will promise to do the very best job that I can.

Fun pictures from the Gallery!

2012-02-02T22:32:00.001-06:00

2012-02-02T22:30:00.001-06:00

Random cute picture of Kendal with socks on her hands!
When she is really showing off, she makes the socks talk.

2012-02-02T22:29:00.001-06:00

Just a random cute picture of Mia eating her banana!

Such a nice evening...

2012-02-02T22:20:00.002-06:00

The kids ate their dinner, (yes! it is PB&J)

It was Wednesday night... kids are lucky they get dinner on Wednesday's... :)

The point is that is was just a nice evening to eat outside,

and to wear shorts!
It's January 31st... this rocks!

Our Spring, I mean, Winter day...

2012-01-30T12:30:00.002-06:00

This week Monday and Tuesday we are finishing up our winter theme, Sparkles and Shivers. Normally I don't mind doing a winter theme because it's winter time. Although I have LOVED having no snow, I have hated teaching about it when it is over 60 degrees this past week. So, we talked about ice today, played around with it in a sensory tub, and then painted with it.

We turned our ice blue but using food coloring...

Our ice art.

Playing outside... we skipped some of our center time so we can enjoy the morning.

My little peanuts loved being outside as well...

In the morning, I have all girls...

Love having a day like today...

This just makes me laugh...

2012-01-30T12:18:00.002-06:00

This Sunday was our first, " We are all getting up and going to 8:00 service which means everyone has to be ready and walking out the door by 7:15, the kids are cranky, my mom is running late, and I am grumpy after fixing 4 sets of girls hair, and I didn't go to be until after midnight" Sunday.

We had been doing really good until Christmas hit- then we were out of our early morning routine. But this past Sunday- we did it. We made it to 8am service, all 7 of us, and it just about killed us!

Anyway- back to the picture... after we came home, had lunch, put 2 peanuts down for a nap, the other 2 settled in to watch a movie. Dustin and laid down for a nap. At that point I was over tired and got giggly. I started messing with D, throwing his pillows off, and just making it very hard to sleep. He finally grabbed Kadyn's sleep mask and put it on. I tried to capture a picture of my fully grown husband sleeping with a 7 year old girls sleep mask. Didn't get the picture but got this instead. It still makes me laugh because I know what is under the covers... hey, hey PG rated! It's an adorable hubby of mine wearing a sleep mask!

It's Friday....

2012-01-27T12:43:00.003-06:00

We started our morning out with one of our favorite things to do... blocks.
They love building houses and towers.
Then, they knock them down!

Today I fixed K's hair... she has piggy tales... too cute!

Today my little A is pulling herself up on everything!!!
She even picked up the chalk and made a few marks on the easel, that is after I redirected her from eating it. She got it... she getting big... she watches those big kids!

Monday and Friday's are our journal days... today we worked on writing numbers 11, 12. We also used our blue crayon and traced octagons.

This month we are starting one on one reading time. I have learned a hard lesson through my older peanuts how very very important early literacy is. I just completed a 6 hour class on early lit. centers and how to incorporate it into our every day centers! We have always worked on letters and writing, but now we are taking it one step further. We are reading. Just as they do in Kindergarten, we are working on sight words and reading books. Never too early to start... so we are.

And today is Friday... have a great day!

I got new hair...

2012-01-27T12:25:00.003-06:00

Well, a new hair cut! I really like short hair. I have had it short a couple times in my life...

Here being one of them... May 2010, our 10 year wedding renewal. I really loved how easy it was even on the days I had to fix it.

Closer up... man, who is that hottie I am with?? Oh, sorry... focus, hair post! Kendal was 4mo at this time and still nursing. This is when I gained back 35lbs that I had lost after Mia was born. I felt like my face was getting fuller and I need to grow my hair out... so I did.

I change my hair all the time... curly, straight, longer, shorter... it never seems to be the same for a long period of time. I really like having choices, I really don't like having to fix it!
Here is my before pictures from last night... not the best, I had just came home from the gym.

Kadyn wanted to be in the picture too- poor thing has a wicked head cold! Major bags under her eyes...

Again, the back... when my hair gets super wet, it is so curly which is nice but it looks out of control some days.

After I worked out with a friend, she offered to cut my hair that night, we both went home cleaned up and I was on my way to her house... luckily, she only lives 2 minutes away from me. We had been discussing choices for a while. And, here we are... the new short pixie goodness!

It's so silly but I love my new shirt hair. I feel edgy... just a little. I feel like my face shape can handle the shorter hair again. It keeps me motivated to keep working out, losing weight, and keep my hair short. I am in my happy hair place!!!

Our morning at the Gallery...

2012-01-24T11:37:00.007-06:00

A little free play...

Today we practiced writing number 11, 12 and drawing snowman circles.

I was so proud of how hard they worked on their tracing slips. I am really seeing some progress... Yeah!

Little A ready for circle time... when we start singing our songs, she starts jabbering and getting excited!

Even the peanuts that are too young to write are getting practice, I give them markers and paper too- they are forming some fun shapes and gaining muscle control... my hard working kids!

2012-01-23T12:32:00.000-06:00

Parent watch night...
Mia is doing her ballet moves.
She is too cute to watch.

Kendal's new blanket

2012-01-23T12:31:00.001-06:00

Kenni loves her new Dora blanket. She got it from a friend at church- she has stayed on her blanket all morning!

Sparkles and Shivers

2012-01-23T12:07:00.002-06:00

Today at circle time we introduced the letter, P.

We also did learned how to sign the letter, P.

During circle time we came up with a cold weather chart... the peanuts came up with words to describe winter, cold, and snow. We had lots of fun words!

Today we used our fingers to make icicles. I squirted white paint at the top of each page and the kids used the tops of the fingers to drag the paint down to make icicles.

Lots of fun finger painting...

"My hands"

We created a fun winter scene today...

Birthday Party pictures...

2012-01-23T10:55:00.002-06:00

This past Saturday we had Kendal and Kadyn's birthday parties... here are some fun pictures from the crazy day!

Ahhh! The birthday week is over! Until next year!

jeans and my favorite running song

2012-01-20T13:35:00.003-06:00

I put my favorite pair of jeans on today (for the first wearing out of the dryer). Normally I am doing a few tricks to loosen them up a little.

Not today.
I even double checked to make sure today was the first wearing and not the second when they lose shape.

Nope!
They actually fit well today. I was doing the happy dance as my favorite jeans are just a little looser then they were last time I wore them. Just a little more breathing room too.
It's all because I am on week three of tracking my food, working out, and counting calories!

I am not gonna lie, week two was my hardest week by far. It was the week I felt so hungry, so tired, and no progress. But week three is different... I have spunk, I feel full, and my jeans fit better!

I have my weigh in (at home) on Monday. I have birthday cake on Saturday. This will be my challenge. It's not just birthday cake, it's the super greatest in the world type of cake.

The night before last I ran a mile and a half, last night I almost did 2 miles. I don't like running but I love how I feel after I am done, the results I see in my body, and I love seeing that each day I can go just a little bit longer.

While at the gym last night, I had my music on. When I hit Coldplay's "Fix You", I changed it to repeat for the rest of my work out. As many of you know this song has so many special meanings to me. But as I listened to the words as I was running, the song took on another meaning to me.
Words like, "When you try your best but you don't succeed. You get what you want but not what you need."
I can so relate. I have been on a weight loss journey now for over 2 years. I have had ups and downs. But I find motivation from this song, to keep going and to keep building. Not to give up. I feel like some days I need to be fixed. I need to fix how I look at myself and body. Be proud of the changes, the tears, the hard work.

" I promise you I'll learn from my mistakes"

As I finished my run, I ended on this line. I told myself, I will learn from my mistakes, not lose sight of my goals again, and not gain my weight back. It not worth it. It's not worth my jeans fitting tight, feeling like a failure, and making excuses.

"Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones"

This line brings me my strength. This is how I feel when I walk away knowing I had a good workout- all stress is gone from my body, I feel like I am on a high, and I feel great.

So there it is... my jeans fit good today!

Good Ol' Fun Friday!

2012-01-20T12:56:00.002-06:00

Today we had a couple friends visit today...
We started our morning playing with blocks.

I am all for arrange marriages for my daughters. Kenni has already picked her husband... I approve! She is giving her friend from Sunday School a hug.

Water painting... we talked about how the paints were dry before adding water. After we added water, we discussed how the paints changed. Fun little science experiment.

Play dough time...

The little ones finished up their art by making a steering wheel for transportation week.

At circle time the kids picked their favorite wheeled vehicle. The kids had a hard time writing with a big sharpie. After we were finished, we talked about each one and explained why they were our favorite.

Next week...sparkles and shivers.

2012-01-20T12:40:00.001-06:00

Just plain ol' 2 year old cuteness!

Kenni's birthday dinner...

2012-01-19T20:02:00.002-06:00

Kenni's birthday dinner was a day late... sorry kid! We couldn't fit it into our crazy Wednesday routine and she is only 2 so I figured a day late wouldn't hurt her.

Tonight we had cheap pizza... my little super star!

Dad stopped my Billy Vanilly and bought a special birthday cupcake. She was so cute, while we were singing, "Happy Birthday" she kept backing away from the candles.

Then she wanted nothing to do with her cupcake, I tried to give her a bite and she told me, "Yuck, I don't like it".

She is into Dora. We got her a doodle pad all for herself, no sharing needed, and it has Dora on it. She was so excited to start drawing on it!

A couple of big girl cups and Pj's.

Finished off the night with Just Dance 3, a family favorite!

Birthday week is almost over!!!

Transportation week....

2012-01-19T19:54:00.002-06:00

Here are some pictures from our week of transportation... a very fun idea from Adriana. She taped the living room off for roads for the cars... the kids had a blast.

Making cars from paper plates and candy wrappers... no candy came in the wrappers, bummer!

Race time... in the paint! making car tracks...

More tape, more fun!

Vroom...Vroom...

Happy Birthday Kadyn!

2012-01-17T13:27:00.002-06:00

Traveling down memory lane as Kadyn Denise turns "7" today. Kadyn is our second peanut and is the child that taught me no two children are alike. Kadyn presents her self as this shy little girl at school and sometimes in public, but when she gets home explodes with laughter and energy.

Her labor was nothing out of the norm- long, painful, and lots of drugs. She was a good baby but horrible night sleeper. The first 6months of her life, she went to my moms house for childcare.
Kadyn never followed the typical milestone timeline- she was a late baby to sit up, crawl and walk. She was going to do it her way and on her time- still true to this day.

Kadyn 4 years old...

Kadyn's birthday... turning 4.

Kadyn turning 5 (the next day I had Kendal)...

My little diva... turning 6.

Her party at Chuck E Cheese...

Kadyn has always been my little girly girl...

and now 7... she looks more mature now!

beautiful...

Happy Birthday Kadyn Dee...

Happy Birthday Kenni!

2012-01-17T12:55:00.002-06:00

Kendal took us all by surprise from the moment I found out I was pregnant to how awesome of a baby she is. Kendal is totally God's work- He knew what the plans were when giving us this perfect little creature to complete our set of girls.

Tomorrow my baby turns two. Can I even call her a baby anymore? She has become this tall and slender toddler. She doesn't walk anymore but runs everywhere, she talks more then any of our peanuts ever did at this age, and she is now testing her boundaries just as any 2 year old would.

Our little Kendal... 1st day of life!

Kendal turning one... her bright blue eyes are one of my favorite features of this little girl. It comes from her daddy and is such a great reminder that she made from both of us.

Celebrating our little peanut...

Our toddler Kendal Lynn...

Getting some pictures of what seems like a big girl in my eyes...

No signs of an infant anymore...

Just a fun loving, keeping me on my toes, talking out loud, loves to dance little toddler!

Happy Birthday Kendal...

Vroom, vroom, beep...

2012-01-17T12:45:00.002-06:00

We are starting a new theme this week... "Wheeling Around".
We talked wheels, cars, and different types of transportation.

We spent some time in our journals today. These are really not the peanuts favorite thing to do so I added letter stamping into the mix and it made the time go by a lot faster! We worked on letters: M, N, and O.

Each child got to stamp the letters and then practice writing them.

Even the little peeps had fun stamping letters...

one was mad when it was time to clean up...

We set up our math center this morning using car, train, and jet sorting cards.

For science we talked about inclines. We saw how the wheels helped the cars move. We added and subtracted blocks to make different inclines. We even talked about different sizes and weights of the cars to see if it changed the pace of the car.

odds and ends...

2012-01-17T12:25:00.004-06:00

Last week I took on 2011 pictures and starting projects. Let me just say, each kid has over 400 pictures for 2011 alone... I'll be busy for a while. I am really trying to add a couple of hours a week to scrapbook. We'll see. My goal is to do traditional paper/sticker scrapbooks for the kids and put our family ones in digital. We'll see how it goes.

Yesterday I had an unplanned day off. It was great. I caught up house work, read my Kindle, Dustin grilled out, and I went to the gym before 9pm. I did wipe out on a treadmill, while walking and tore up my knee a little but over all no harm done but my ego will heal as well.

After whining about my weight-loss, I finally saw some movement on the scale... Thank You Jesus! I felt success again and boy that really helps me stay motivated. I'm getting there, slowly. What doesn't kill ya makes ya stronger... I will be one strong cookie when I hit my goal weight!

Today we kick off the birthday week. Today Kadyn turns 7. We bought some good ol' Sam's Club cupcakes for her to hand out at school. The older peanuts are into Angry Birds so I thought she would enjoy these. They are such a good deal and a time savor.

Because I had yesterday off, I am a day behind on normal tasks... So, today I am putting together "coin rubbing" sheets for our Cubbie art for tomorrow night. It didn't seem too hard when I was planning it but we have 90 kids, so I had to make enough sheets that one entire group could do the project at a time. It went by fast after I got started...

My online study... I am so excited to get the book. Now I am playing catch up! I am still nevous about this year commitment but I so badly want and need to do it.

Just a random picture of a cute, one day shy of being a 2 year old, little girl. She loves hats, she wears them all day around the house... but what I really love about this picture is...

these cute little feet in the dress up shoes.

Am I sappy today or what?!?

2012-01-12T17:30:00.004-06:00

The older I get the more emotional I have become, really??? Is that fair, I don't think so. Today was a day I fought back tears all day and I am not sure why. Am I going through menopause? Do I have some emotional disorder that comes after having 4 children? Is it the winter blues even though today is the first day that it seems like winter!?! Am I going crazy or am I just a normal momma??

I have been super emotional about my weight. I am at 2 1/2 weeks of working out everyday and making good choices (for the most part, 1-2 slip ups) but I am not seeing the results I want. I don't know if I need to push myself more or what the magic answer is. It is hard to work out and say no to certain foods and still not see the numbers you want. I am sure with time I will results again. However this week it has been super hard to make myself work out. I have put it on Facebook several times so I have accountability. It's like my motivation isn't carrying me to the gym anymore so I have to make a huge effort to get there. This week I needed to see all my hard work pay off and I didn't feel like I did. It's a life long journey so I know the pounds are not going to melt off. I want to be able to lose the weight and keep it off not just for a short while but for a life while.

My mom has been on my mind for a while now too. It has been 6 years since she had her stroke. I don't know how it can seem like yesterday that it happened and seem like it happened so long ago. I love my mom. I love her very much but when she had her stroke things changed. We don't have a close relationship like we used to. I tried. I failed. I still fail... everyday. The person who lives with us isn't my mom. It's not a mother daughter relationship at all. She wants me to check in and tell her where I am at every time I leave the house. She gets mad because I can't not meet her needs, I get mad because she has lost all desire to make things better for herself. My mom has lost a lot since her stroke. Our relationship is more of a caregiver relationship vs a mother and daughter. That makes me sad. I reached out to my parents after the stoke had happened- I prayed everyday that God would heal her and my dad's traveling job would change. The fact she didn't die was a miracle in itself. Because she is not the same mom I had, I have put space between us. I still have this prayer and dream that my mom will become independent and my dad will get a job that she and him can live together again. I want her to have her life back. I want my mom back.

I started an online bible study. It is reading the bible in a year. I am not caught up and it is frustrating me to tears. I read the first 2 chapters of the bible and wanted to stop. I was reading it but I was not comprehending it. I feel like this is something I need to do-it's something I want to do. I finally talked to a friend that works at the church. I told her, "I am an audio learner, so if I am listening to the bible is that the same as reading it?". Am I still accomplishing what I am supposed to. It was good to get support from a person that reading, listening whatever it takes is okay. After my talk, I am ready to start again and get caught up. It's overwhelming to start again.

Next week is the birthday week. My baby peanut is going to be two. I remember the day I found out I was pregnant with her. Two years ago I could not imagine getting to this point fast enough but now that we are here it could slow down just a little. She is already acting like she is two. Mia has been a great role model for her...NOT! She is talking back now, she says, "stop that", and "no, don't want to". Her most recent behavior is taking off her diaper and peeing/pooping everywhere. I even used tape to keep the diaper on and the stinker still managed to take it off. It's sad that she is almost two but in a way I am glad she is almost 2. I have done my time with raising my infants. It's time to turn the page into our next chapter... the toddler years!

Kadyn's birthday is the next day after Kendal's. She will be seven. Her birthday represents so many things to me. We moved into our home 25 days before her first birthday. When we celebrated Kadyn turning one, it was almost as if we were celebrating more then that. We were celebrating a year of her life, buying a new home, a new start for Dustin and I, and a new life for my mom. Her party was simple but meant so much. I will always remember her first birthday- so many milestones.

I think this post was a way to get over my hump of emotional crazies. I feel better opening up- throwing it all out there, and moving on. I don't have time to dwell in my sorrows so I refuse to. My hope and my strength comes from God. I can do everything because of He gives me strength. He will give me strength to make my fitness goals a reality, He will give me strength to love my mom and dad for who they are, He will give me strength to read my bible and study biblical truths, and He will allow me to celebrate my peanuts and not be sad because they are growing up but be happy in watching them grow.

3 little pigs

2012-01-10T13:01:00.002-06:00

today we are making little pig houses...

For lunch the kids help make pigs in a blanket...

some didn't wait and ate the raw hotdog...

making our lunch...

We also used our snacks to pretend they were sticks... just like the pigs house.

Our little pigs houses... we blew them down, just the wolf.

then we had our library time on our mats...

Such a good day at the Peanut Gallery...

My new journal...

2012-01-09T14:57:00.003-06:00

I am going one week II of wearing my body bugg. This is a device that you wear 24/7 that tell you how many calories you are burning. You take it off only when you shower, swim, or logging food. It is a great motivator to stay active.
I have met my calorie burn 13 out of 14 days but the scale is not moving that much for me. Which is my hint that my food intake is still way off. I tried keeping a rough guess in my head but again judging by the slow loss, my guessing is off.
Today, I started my food journal again... I even bought a pretty journal. I am taking it day by day. And today is a good day!!! My calories are where they need to be!

Once Upon a Time....

2012-01-09T14:05:00.002-06:00

Our new theme started with us learning about Humpty Dumpty.
During circle time we reviewed the popular story... we acted out the story and had a great fall.

During art we made an oval into Humpty Dumpty.

Some of our eggs had happy faces and some had sad...

While the peanuts were drawing their Humpties, we were making hard boil eggs.

Each peanut put eggs into the (not boiling) water.

After the eggs were cracked, we used the shells for our art.

Our math game... "On our way". While I made lunch the kids worked on this fun matching game.

For lunch we made, "Humpty Dumpty" egg sandwich.

Tomorrow we explore "Three Little Pigs"....

Flyin' High...

2012-01-06T12:22:00.006-06:00

And the need to simplify!

I really don't know where to start. I don't know it if it is the New Year, coming back from a well rested time off, getting back on my weight lose train again, or a combination of everything.
But...

I feel great. I feel energetic, and my heart feels full...I'm not trying to brag about life or say we have not had our trails this past year, because we have. But for the first time, in a long time, I feel the need to simplify and it feels great. It's small everyday choices I have started to make that are making huge a impact on my daily attitude.

I am so humbled and overwhelmed all at the same time. I feel like God has been working in my life over time this year. I react different to things and I look back and think, " that is totally God's transformation", not mine. He has placed things on my heart this year (still meaning 2011), that in the past have not been on my top 10 list.

I knew this week was going to be tricky. My older Peanuts did not return to school until Thursday however we had daycare start on Tuesday, church kicked off their semester on Wednesday, Awana started back up, and I had dr. appointments to work around. Have you heard that saying, "it takes a village to raise a child?" I certainly felt that way a lot this week. I had my sub at daycare here a lot this week so I could be at a million places at once. Without help from her- nothing would have been able to accomplished. This week was a great example on why I need to simplify.

I love being able to reflect. I don't offend myself when I say, "wow, I really sucked". Or, "you really could have done this better". I take it all in and count it as a learning experience. I try very hard not to be down on myself when things do not go correct. Last time I checked, there was not a manual on, "how to be a perfect wife, mother, teacher, skinny person, Jesus lover, friend, cook, taxi driver, accountant, planner" on the shelf. If there is and I missed it, please let me know- I'll download it to my Kindle. Yesterday, I second guessed every move I did. It was a crazy feeling of not goodness. I hated not knowing if what I was doing was the right choice or what direction I needed to go. Finally as I was working out, I replayed my day in my head. It all worked out. Every choice, every move, every direction I went. It all worked out.

I have re-learned this week, you can be super prepared and things will still not go as planned. Wednesday was a great example. Morning bible studies kicked off, nursery was planned for, lessons were ready and still situations came up. I could not have planned for them even if I had tried but in that moment, I thought, "I have failed this job, the church, the nursery staff and most of all, my God". I continue to learn from my mistakes, learn to listen, and give my 100%.

I have the need to simplify... here are some of my changes I have made.

I have started doing laundry every day. I thought I liked have more loads to do only 1-2x a week but I don't. Something would always come up and I would miss those laundry days and 4 loads of laundry turned into 14. I am only on my first week of this but wow, what a change it has made. Everyone has their own hamper and each day I pick one and do it. This way, one load belongs to one person. When I am done folding it it all goes into one place, one trip! Simple!

I started back to the gym in December- took some time off around Christmas and started back up. I love how I feel. When I work out, I am in my happy place. Instead of making it to classes, I am just doing the treadmill. I make a calorie burn goal so if I choose to walk, I know it'll take longer then if I run. But I stick to that number. Walk, run, lift weights... whatever. The guess work is out of my workout...simple.

We have family dinners now. I don't know if I can really communicate how big of a deal this is for Dustin and I. We have tried to come up with arrangements of our space for the last 6 months to make this possible. With our new fire exit downstairs, it has happened. We have family dinners together... simple.

Slowing down for the kids' sake. On busy nights we would just pick up food, eat it in the car and be on our way. No matter how early we are needing to leave, I am cooking dinner. I love eating out but it helps with nothing... it's not healthy, it's drains our budget, adds wear and tear to our car with all the trash and spills, and it adds stress to getting to wear where we need to go. So, even if we are eating a frozen casserole or peanut butter and jelly for dinner at 3:30 in the afternoon, we will.... simple.

Going through my closet...I have too many clothing options. It drives me crazy. I wear tee shirts, workout pants, and flannel pants on daycare days. On church days, I may upgrade to jeans and make up. I feel like I need to purge and make my wardrobe more simple. Donate things I don't wear, get rid of my "I gained a couple of pounds and I need my next size up jeans for a couple of weeks" and keep it simple.

I have not been in a bible study in years. It hasn't been on my list "to-do" or when a good study was offered it was only on Wednesday mornings or evenings which both do not work for me. This time around our church is offering a reading the bible in one year study on line. How awesome is this. They are posting pod cast from the Wednesday study and the notes will be on a blog. This has always been a goal of mine. I have picked the bible up before and just been confused. This study will break it down and explain. How simple is that??? We even have accountability partners so we don't fall off the bible reading wagon....it's sweet... (and simple).

There is still a tons of things I am reflecting on and hoping to make more simple. I still need help with that. Like, how to make Kadyn's homework/reading time a more pleasant experience, how to get those ever so famous, always talked about date nights to happen, how to keep on the diet wagon and make 2012 my year to hit goal weight, how to make late night mom's nights happen more often without taking away from family.

It's a lot to take in. It's a lot to change but man, change feels good. Simple feels great!
I just pray that I keep on going. I hope I never loose focus, and keep the simple.

Picture time...

Downstairs rec room... all the doll house/barbie stuff and cubbies filled with "center" type toys and activities were upstairs in the dining room and Kendal's room.

Downstairs rec room... not many changes but so much better then it was.
All of the kitchen, dramatic play, and tent from Kendal's room is now downstairs.

Behind where I am taking the picture is a fold out table for free art play, folder games, and writing activities.

2012-01-06T11:17:00.001-06:00

All my friends were back today. I love my time off during break but I sure did miss my little peanuts!
We are doing some writing activities at the table... which is now in the kitchen. They really did a great job of adapting to the new changes. I did have to let a little control go by little the peanuts be in the kitchen. More of our day will be spent in here for crafts, meals, and table activities so with a couple of rules, the kitchen is open to them now.

My cheesy grins...

Today we worked on a Dora worksheet. We learned about staying active and circling our favorite things to do like skating, playing basketball, and jump roping.

We also practiced writing our names and drawing shapes.

During writing time, the little peanuts played with the doodle pads... great way to introduce literacy at a young age.

My happy little baby... she is draining from her nose and mouth as she is cutting teeth. Still pretty happy though!!!

Peanuts waiting on me to start circle time. One peanut told me, "I really like your new school".

So bummed this is blurry! We read a new book today, "Llama, Llama home with Mama". Cutest book ever. I really hate buying hard back books, but this is one series I have done it with. We all acted out the book by using our tissues and pretending to be sick. Each peanut took turns taking care of each other!

Outside Time... we have loved this mild winter! No cabin fever yet for us.

Oh, the pillow pet...

2012-01-06T11:05:00.002-06:00

Gaby and Kadyn have wanted a pee-wee pillow pet for a while. After Christmas Dillon's had them one clearance for 6.50. At this price I gave in and picked 2 out. The choices were slim and there were not a lot left.
I gave Gaby the dog. After playing with it for a while, she noticed there was a hole in it. I didn't think much of it, safety pinned it up until later. Then, Gaby asks, "mom, where did you get this, it smells like you have been smoking".
Okay- not a smoker, never have been, hopefully never will be.
I smell the dog and I almost puke. The smell that came from that dog was nasty. I am not sure how I didn't catch it before.
Someone must have taken it back to the store because of the rip, and someone placed it back on the shelf. I then remember that her PP didn't have a tag when I was buying it.
Click!
It all makes sense now...

I then start freaking out... germs, sickies, head lice, ect. Everything that could come from this dog is now in my house and on my child.
Both the dog and the child got hot baths and scrub down. Crazy silly?? Maybe, however I run a daycare, I work with kids... germs and lice are EVERYWHERE!

I went back to the store... no more dogs or pets to be found. Gaby was heartbroken but I just couldn't get over the whole dog smell thing. Later that week Dustin went back and saw a few more. But guess what... the dog was not on sale. Back to 12.00. So he picked it up and what started out to be a great deal ended up to be a lot of stinky, germy, mess!

2012-01-06T11:01:00.001-06:00

I love this family...

(our first meal... I think, at the table. Dustin grilled out and had food in his mouth when I took this)

And this table...

I am sure soon it will get old and the newness of the table will wear off but for now I love the memories it is bringing to our family!

Toasting on NYE

2012-01-06T10:54:00.002-06:00

Kendal did not make it to midnight... maybe 10:30ish which is super late for my peanut that goes to bed by 8:30p. We Gave her sparkling grape juice. She loved it. Getting her toast in before her bedtime.

(Yes! This is how I really look on a lazy day at home... Dustin is sure a lucky guy.)

Kadyn and Gaby have no problem staying up to midnight during the summer and school breaks. I do not know how they do it but it scares me how functional they are the next morning after a late night! Yikes, their teens years are going to be scary!

Toasting at midnight... 2012 here we come.

Part of my clan... watching the ball drop and watching Dick Clark which was a little creepy. I feel for the guy and the health issues but just let it go. He was scary. Totally off there, sorry!

It wouldn't be New Years without fireworks. At midnight Gaby pushed the button to start Dustin's mini light show off...

Happy New Year!

Just Dance III on NYE...

2011-12-31T21:38:00.002-06:00

Starting our evening with a snack bar for dinner...
then the party started with Just Dance 3

Kadyn, Mia, and Kenni rockin' out...

My little dancing queen

Kenni has some moves for a 23 mo. old.

Mia just moves... everywhere!

Yes, you are never too old to bust some moves!

dancing peanut was getting tired...

Kenni was our MC for the night...

Our new table...

2011-12-31T21:32:00.002-06:00

After 5 years of not having a dining room table, we arranged our daycare space, again so we could eat together as a family.

This is such a huge deal... in the past, Dustin and I (and Gaby and Kadyn) sat in the kitchen eating, then we added Mia in her high chair. Then when Mia and Kendal needed big girl chairs, we begun to eat in 2 different rooms. The kids ate at the daycare table in the dining room and Dustin and I ate in the kitchen.

When we told Gaby we had a table, she replied, "So we can eat together like we used to". Yikes, that broke my heart!

Our first pictures at the table...

View from the living room... I love our new table...

Yep! I still love it.

2011-12-31T21:28:00.002-06:00

This is pretty much what I looked like for the past 4 days... hence Dustin snapping this picture and I didn't even realize it!

Yep! I still love my Kindle Fire.

Kenni's ears...

2011-12-29T15:11:00.002-06:00

After our trip to the zoo we headed to the mall to get Kenni's ears pierced. All of the girls have had their ears pierced between 12-18 months.

It was nap time, she was not wanting to sit down.

Kenni had a sucker and she was super happy.

Getting ready...

All done... and no tears...

Then she realized what happen...

After we left...she was still not happy... not even lunch helped her. Kendal crashed on the way home. She was a tired girl.

But looks so cute... My little peanut!

Trip to the zoo...

2011-12-29T14:59:00.003-06:00

Today it was over 60 degrees... we took advantage of the awesome weather and went to the zoo.
Dustin was back to work so it was a fun time with me and the peanuts.

It was fun to walk around... all the peanuts had a blast.

They loved using the maps to see where we were...

the "Stuffed" animals

We watched the hippo for a long time... they were playing around.

I hate the rainforest... however, seeing how much Kenni loved it made it all worth while. She loved the flamingos. She stood watching for over 8 minutes. She did not want to leave...

She was talking to the flamingo, laughing at it, and pointing to it.

Kadyn and Mia

The petting zoo...

Kadyn's almost 7 year old pictures...

2011-12-29T14:53:00.002-06:00

During Christmas vacation I tried to get Kadyn's 7 year old pictures taken. I wanted to snap a few myself to document that she is 7. Here are a few of the better ones... I had fun messing around and taking her pictures. One January kid down... one to go.

Kadyn Denise

One of my favorites...

Saw the idea of using scrabble letters on Pinterest...

Our good ol' chair

2011-12-29T14:43:00.002-06:00

After we put our Christmas decorations up this year- we got rid of a family favorite of a chair. It was broken and it took up lots of space. We bought in the Mother's day after Gaby was born- this chair was almost 10 years old.
Sad to see it go- it has held all of our babies, sick kids, nursing children, and lazy tv watching mom. It has had a great life.

2011-12-27T10:03:00.001-06:00

Christmas Night...
One tired little peanut

Christmas Morning...

2011-12-27T09:56:00.003-06:00

Christmas morning came bright and early... it was at 8am that the kids started getting up. We had to wake Kenni up...

Gaby and her Pokemon cards...

I love her expression... she finally figuring out what she got. Kadyn got one big thing- her American Girl doll. I was scared that she would be mad that she didn't have have as many gifts under the tree- she didn't care. She loved her doll- and named her Lucy.

My little Mia...

My sassy Kadyn... so happy.

Mia figuring out her new toy...

Rock Chalk Gaby Goo...

Getting ready for Santa...

2011-12-27T09:50:00.002-06:00

Writing their notes to Santa before bed...

Putting cookies out for Santa

Christmas Morning... Gaby and Kadyn

Christmas Eve- at our place

2011-12-27T09:40:00.002-06:00

Christmas Eve was at our place- my dad, mom, grandma and brother and his family were all here to celebrate.

We started the night out with Gaby showing the grandparents her 2 Christmas songs. (Yes! We are totally proud of her)

All the cousins ready to unwrap gifts...

Gaby loved her air hockey table. She was pretty happy that she put it together all by herself.

Grammy and Papa got Gaby music cd's and a cd player... she was so excited.

Gaby had gotten an art kit for her birthday- kadyn fell madly in love with it. Grammy and Papa got her one for Christmas.

Mia got an activity set too... she loved the plastic "cutters".

Kenni got this cool aqua doodle animal. You have a water pen and can draw on her belly.

Reese and Leo...

Christmas Parties...

2011-12-27T09:29:00.002-06:00

Last Thursday was crazy... we had everyone's parties that day. I had a sub come so we could do Mia's party, then Dustin stayed with her, I left to the older kids' parties. Lot's of fun and it was totally worth the crazy afternoon.

I started out in Kadyn's room... they have 3 stations they rotate to.

Kadyn's art...

1st grade class photo.

Parties are not as cool when you are in the 4th grade??? I don't know. They played a couple of games and ate.

Mr. T reading a Christmas Mad Lib

3/4 of my peanuts...

Mia's party

2011-12-27T09:25:00.002-06:00

Mia's preschool party...

They had stations to rotate around... she made a Christmas bracelet/ornament thing.

Stringing the beads on...

Dad came over and hung out with Mia. Once he got there, I went to SHES for the older kids' parties.

Making her hat.

My little Mia Rose...

SHES sing along

2011-12-27T09:20:00.002-06:00

The last day of school, the kids have a school wide Christmas sing along. We found out last minute that Gaby was playing. Dustin was able to arrange his work schedule for the concert. I was so happy that he could make it. It was her first time playing.

Gaby and the school orchestra.

Playing their songs...

It was very sweet... Kadyn's teacher invited her to sit with her so she could see Gaby play.

The big picture...

last day of daycare... 2011

2011-12-27T09:15:00.002-06:00

The last day of daycare was pretty laid back and relaxed. We baked cookies....

I had lots of helpers.

Little babe A unwrapped her new toy...

The kids LOVED playing with the daycare new toys... we now have 4 of these.

Hopefully there will be no more fighting....

The kids love them. Thank you Brandi and Mike.

My awesome new toy...

2011-12-21T09:32:00.004-06:00

Yes! This would be my new Kindle Fire.

Yesterday as kids were dropping off one of my parents gives me a gift and says it was from everyone. I really had no idea what was going on but thought my parents were acting a little off the day before. It finally came together. They all pitched in and bought a Kindle Fire, a case, and screen protectors.

Wow! What a gift. I really wanted one. I wanted to start reading books more and thought it would be a great investment for the kids to use as well with all the kids books and movies you can download for free. I already loaded my first book, FB, and email onto my new toy. It is just that cool.

Just last week at dance I was telling one of my parents how much I wanted one- not knowing the plans were already in the works- she played it off rather well. I told her I'd probably have to wait until the January birthday's were over. She agreed with my choice... now I know why.

When I first opened the box and saw what it was, I thought to myself, "Well, that was mean, they wrapped my gift in a Kindel box to make me think that was what I was getting". I never in a million years would have thought they really would have gotten it for me! Then I continued to open, it was just me and the kids... they really didn't understand what it was until I showed them. Then they added a little more excitement to the moment. It was super hard to wait until nap time but it allowed my gift to charge.

What an awesome morning. We did our Christmas party, I got the coolest gift ever, and we ate everything we wanted. (not counting calories this week)

To my parents, I can not even begin to tell you what this means to me. This is one of the coolest things that anyone has done. The thought of the plan, the time, and money that was put into this is a lot, and I know that- this gift is so very special to me not only because it is a cool new gift but because it was from all of you! Each of you are my friends and a part of my family! I love you all and I thank you! It was a great idea and I have already put it to use!!! You all ROCK!

When I first started looking into a Kindle, I told Dustin I wanted one. He replied, " We already have one and it's paid for". So I thought it was cute to have a picture taken of Kendal holding the Kindal.
"Two of my favorite Kendal's"

It's a cool gift... Gaby already figured out that Amazon already had free movies to download. She is really good with tech products and jumped right into using it.

TBC light show

2011-12-21T09:24:00.003-06:00

View of the building: first show of the weekend.

The kids came and helped on Sunday night...

If you missed the show, come and see the automated show. It's running every night until the 1st.

This weekend was spent working at the light show at our church. Dustin and I really love being a part of this awesome outreach for the community. Each show on average had over 200 cars in the parking lots. Dustin works inside with all the tech stuff and I get to walk around talking to people attending the show.

It was a humbling experience to say the least. It was neat to see how many new people came out, it's so easy to talk to people about my faith when you have such a huge prompt such as the light show. So why can't I do this all the time??? It was an emotional time, I realized I need to step up my game, not only at Christmas time but all year round. I saw the sign... and it came to me in the form of a light show!

Kadyn's Curls

2011-12-21T09:16:00.002-06:00

Kadyn's hair has never had any curl to it at all. I have used hot rollers, curling irons, and many types of curlers. With dance they are supposed to have it curly and Kadyn always has it straight.

Aunt Kara was watching the girls last weekend and tried form rollers on her hair. She wet her hair down and rolled them into her hair. She slept in the curlers over night and here us what we woke up to.

Kadyn's hair is long. it goes to the middle of her back when combed out. With these curls, it was above her shoulders. Too cute!

Her hair stayed curly for 2 straight days... she loved it!

My little Shirly Temple

Christmas party....

2011-12-21T09:01:00.002-06:00

Yesterday we had our daycare Christmas party. We had a pretty laid back morning since the kids really just wanted to play with their gifts.

C had to open his before school...

K opening hers before school too...

Time to eat... we had frosted popcorn, cookies, little smokies, chips and dip, and carrots.

Lot's to snack on...

Gift time... closing their eyes for the big surprise.

Our party crew...

Little K with her dirty face and book...

The pony's were a hit for my girly girls.

Cupcake frosting all over A's face...

Lot's smiles...

The daycare also received some awesome gifts for everyone to use. We got 2 new doodle pads (because the 2 we have are always being fought over), glue, glue sticks, a target gift card and construction paper.
Thank you parents for making our day a great one.

Another sweet treat...

2011-12-16T13:11:00.002-06:00

This morning we made a fun snack. The kids loved unwrapping the Rolo candy for our treat. We also made it a learning activity. We sorted, counted, and divided our candies.

All of our hard work paid off... we will be enjoying these for afternoon snacks!

2011-12-16T13:08:00.001-06:00

Someone in our house, who will remain nameless, is in denial about what season we are in. This is a perfect example of picking my battles with a strong willed 3 year old!

Candy makin' time

2011-12-16T12:48:00.003-06:00

Christmas time means peanut brittle time...

It's so funny to me that Peanut Brittle holds so many memories for Dustin and I. I remember when I was dating D back in highschool. I was going over to his Mema and Pepa's for my first Christmas. Dustin was giving me the run down on what would take place. At the end of our conversation Dustin said, "Oh, and don't eat Pepa's peanut brittle. It's a special batch just for him. He eats all the peanuts and spits the brittle back into the container".

Peanut brittle is something my mom made every at Christmas. She had the recipe timed and made it perfectly every time. She handed it out to everyone. The first Christmas after her stroke, she couldn't make it. I was determined to make it and to make it well. That Christmas season I made one batch that was even worth trying. It was one expensive batch of brittle. I was so mad and sad. I couldn't make peanut brittle and it was one more thing my mom couldn't do.

After my peanut brittle meltdown, Dustin called his mom and got her recipe. It's the recipe Mema made for Pepa. We even got Mema's brittle making pan to use. This boy saved our families' tradition. He made a batch and it was outstanding.

So every year Dustin is now in charge of making the peanut brittle... and he even signs up to bring it to his work gatherings.

Can you guess what Dustin was working on last night???

Can you guess what I had for breakfast???

Kadyn's Christmas Concert...

2011-12-15T21:14:00.003-06:00

Kadyn had her first school performance as SHES. She was off the wall excited and she did a great job. Just with each of my children, my heart stops as they walk on stage and take their place. Kadyn is in first grade and it was her first time performing at her school.

These concerts are crazy. They fill up super fast, the room gets super hot, and the view of your kid gets super hard to see. The concert started at 7pm however to get a chance at getting a seat for my mom with her wheelchair we had to get there at 6:15. It's a lot of hurry up and wait. I felt super bad but we got a babysitter for Kenni and Mia. I knew Kadyn's concert would be a longer one and the little peanuts are just not the best audience. Once we got there all bad feelings went away. Being there 45 minutes early and then sitting for 45 minutes through the concert- they wouldn't have made it through! It was great to focus on Kadyn and all of her hard work. It was a great choice to have the peanuts at home.

My beautiful little first grader... We tried 2x to get her hair curly, this was the best we could do.

Getting close up's before the concert.

Daddy and Kadyn... (note the huge bags under the hubs' eyes- dude needs to catch up on sleep)

Kadyn's girl friends... Faith, Abi T. and Abby F. Great group of kids.

So excited to see Kadyn perform.

Before they dismissed, I ran up and got a close up of the girl... she was so hot after being on stage for a while.

Grandma Dee and Kk

Our music teacher... each concert I am totally amazed at what she teaches our kids to do. She has high expectations and never fails to deliver a great concert.

The night ended with Kk riding on Papa John's leg and a drive through trip for shakes at Sonic.

Kadyn's friend...

2011-12-15T21:11:00.002-06:00

Waiting for Mia's concert to start... Kadyn and her friend Cooper playing a game. I love the smiles!

Mia's preschool concert...

2011-12-15T20:56:00.003-06:00

Experiencing the "firsts" with each of my children never gets old. Today I experienced yet another first. Today was Mia's first preschool concert. It...never... gets... old... fixing their hair, having the right outfit, making a big deal of her night, and still getting nervous for them as the concert starts and they walk on stage.

After our daycare day was finished, we jumped into the bathroom to start on her hair. Mia's hair already has so much curl, but we wanted more. Mia LOVED getting the curlers put into her hair. She giggled and laughed the entire time.

Mia and her friend. When we got there, the kids played around on the stage... he grabbed Mia and started dancing.

They actually had some good moves. (On a side note- I love this family... they have 3 boys and their mom/dad went to high school with Dustin and I. I just can not say enough about them- their mom picks Mia up for school every Tuesday and Thursday and their oldest is Kadyn's age. I get to see her at school a lot and she is also my gym buddy! I am determined to have one of my daughters marry one of their sons... :) )

Singing on stage... (the little guy in the red sweater vest is in our Cubbie's group at church too- too cute getting to see him as well)

Yes! That's why I posted this picture!

Always have to get a picture by the tree... I think it is a written rule somewhere. My little girl looks so big.

Mia and the twins...

Even Kenni wanted to be on stage...

Random cute picture...

2011-12-15T20:48:00.002-06:00

Mia's super cute shoes for her Christmas concert... I wish they made these in my size.

Christmas art...

2011-12-15T20:46:00.001-06:00

Homemade crafts are the best...

2011-12-13T09:45:00.002-06:00

Today is Lucia Day. In Sweden, this special day honors Lucy, a saint of light. Yesterday we made Lucia Day Crowns.
The kids started by tearing green paper.

Gluing it to their paper plates.

Then we added candles.

I love making homemade ornaments... for years I teased my mom for making me put this noodle blob on our tree that I made while in preschool. Now that I am a parent, I totally understand why she treasured it so much. Our tree doesn't have my crafty ornaments on it anymore- but each year I still go through each of my bulbs and love the memories that each ornament has. This year I had to repair the noodle ornament- it's only 30 + years old.

Another ornament that was made in 1981.

Now we are making our own noodle blob ornaments for my daycare parents to treasure. This morning we glued the circle noodles into patterns. After they had dried, we'll be painting them and putting glitter on them. I am so excited to see how these turn out. I am even more excited to have Kenni and Mia's noodle blob to hang from our tree.

Homemade crafts are the BEST!

Kadyn's Christmas Recital...

2011-12-11T19:53:00.003-06:00

Kadyn and Mia take dance lessons at Fuzion School of Dance. Today they put on their First Annual Christmas Dance recital.
This is Kadyn's 4th year of dance..
Kadyn's 1st grade class danced to, "I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus".

I was a proud momma, she did an excellent job on stage. We even got a few smiles in between hip shaking.

So glad she is having fun...

dancin' away...

My little sassy girl!

My awesome little dancers!

When we got there, I was in such a bad mood... I was tired, had a headache, and the room was totally hot. After I saw my little peanuts up on stage, it totally melted my heart and changed my mood. I was so proud of them.

Mia's turn...

2011-12-11T19:36:00.002-06:00

Mia and Ainsley before the show... Mia danced to " Holly Jolly Christmas" and Ainsley danced to "Santa Baby".

Up on stage... Mia's 2nd recital

So proud of my little dancer...

Getting all of her moves in...

Christmas Recital 2011

2011-12-11T19:26:00.001-06:00

Saturday was spent... making 50 jars of Christmas presents, making Christmas cards, and trying new recipes...

My kitchen is a mess but it was totally worth it because ...

I had a cute helper helping me... and

I have 50 of these babies made!

World's easiest sticky bun recipe...
1/2 cup of syrup
1/3 cup of brown sugar
3 tsp of melted butter
2 tsp of cinnamon
1 package of grands biscuits

mix syrup and butter in a bowl
mix sugar and cinnamon in another bowl

spray your bunt pan with non stick spray
layer the bottom with half of the syrup mixture
sprinkle have of your sugar mixture
put the biscuits in the pan
pour the rest of the mixtures on top
Bake at 375 for 20 minutes

Group shot

2011-12-11T19:23:00.001-06:00

All the kids from our small group.

Christmas party

2011-12-11T19:14:00.002-06:00

Friday night we had a small group Christmas party. Each family brought gifts for the kids to exchange, food to share, and a white elephant gift for the adults.

Kadyn and I

Love Kenni's smile... she doesn't look like a "I now talk back to my parents and tell my mom "stop it" kinda kid" in this picture.

Last year I was introduced to the most wonderful type of popcorn ever... it has white chocolate, peanut butter, and peanuts in it. Wowza, it is yummy! I now know two friends that make this awesome treat!!!

The couples and our Christmas Attire...

Our group picture... man, Dustin is totally short!

Gift exchange time... we passed on our talking Christmas tree to a new home.

Our friends were the new owners of this beauty!

This picture really has no explanation at all...

Salt dough rocks...

2011-12-09T12:04:00.003-06:00

Today we made a hand-print ornament to take home. I saw this recipe on Pinterest and knew I would be doing it with my peanuts. It was easy and the kids helped me make the dough.
4 cups of flour
1 cup of salt
1 1/2 cups of water
Kneed dough for 15-20 minutes
roll out, make hand-prints, bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes. May need a little longer depending how think it is.

Our little hands going into the oven...

The finished product... ready to hang on the trees!

I am so excited at how these turned out.
It is such a great reminder as a parent and daycare provider that my little peanuts don't stay this little forever.

Gingerbread houses...

2011-12-09T11:59:00.003-06:00

This morning after breakfast M and A were sharing a blanket. A told me, "Laura, take our picture".
So... I did!

Our gram cracker, aka ginger bread houses, project.

I knew these would not be take home keepsakes. But it is always a fun time for the peanuts anyway.

I sat out all the goodies and the kids were able to decorate and eat whatever they wanted. Kendal just ate...

The older peanuts did a great job of actually decorating.

Mia's sad face... her masterpiece fell apart. She was heartbroken and cried.

Thursday...

2011-12-09T11:54:00.002-06:00

Stir the bowl of Gingerbread,
Smooth and spicy brown.

Roll it with a rolling pin,
up and down!

With a cookie cutter, make little men...
Put them in the oven,
til' half past 10!

2011-12-06T12:07:00.001-06:00

It's Gingerbread week...

The lil peanuts made "Winter friends" this morning...

The big peanuts worked on Gingerbread men puppets...

This morning we read, "The Gingerbread Man", and traced our gingerbread math cards for table activities. The kids enjoyed a good laugh when we read "The Gingerbread Pirates" yesterday.

Our finished product.

The finished look...Kenni loves playing with glue.

The girls hung out in the kitchen center a lot this morning...

Baby A tried a new toy this morning. She loved it until she was getting tired... poor girl!

Pizza Rolls... another pintrest thing. So simple, why hadn't I thought of it. The kids got to make their own pizza roll for lunch.

my thoughts for the night...

2011-12-04T22:14:00.004-06:00

It's Sunday night and I should be sleepy... I am not. I am dreading the next two weeks because of the sure craziness that has been planned. It's nothing out of the normal for us but we just have a few different things like school concerts, dance recitals, and seasonal church events added into the mix.

I just love this picture- Dustin was on the couch Saturday and the younger peanuts came and cuddled up with him and Mia requested a book. I love that these girls have such a awesome role model as a father. I pray for each of my children that they find a husband that is like their father and settle for nothing less. It is moments like this, I am overwhelmed with what I have in Dustin. To him, it was a few minutes reading to his girls and to me it was so much more.

We had a pretty productive yet lazy weekend at home... does that make any sense at all?? I did things at home since the weather was cold and rainy however it was all at my own pace. I got some much needed work done on my nursery job from home, a weeks worth of laundry finished, dishes caught up, well... until we ate again, and more.

So, Dustin and I hired a babysitter tonight. This is a huge step for me. Since we have had our peanuts, I can count on one hand the amount of times we have had a babysitter that wasn't a family member. I hate doing it and it is a huge trust issue for me. As many of you know, we had an issue come up when Gaby was in daycare (for a brief 2 months) when she was three years old. That has truly tainted me when it comes to having others watch my kids. So, we just went without date nights or tried to have family watch the kids. Tonight we just wanted to get out to watch a movie and spend a little time together before the next 2 weeks hit us. We had a middle school girl come over- I am good friends with her mom, and we tried her out. Success! We have someone we can call for the kids and the peanuts had nothing but good things to say!

Let me just stop and say this- I love my husband. When I brought up the idea of going to the movies, I joking asked if we could see "Breaking Dawn". He said sure and I went with it. It was my second time seeing it but I will admit, I loved seeing it with Dustin. Not many hubby's would go see this movie and I was uber excited that he did. He didn't even mind when I was openly going gaga over Robert Pattinton. What a man, what a man! I will sing of his praises for a while. I just love the time we have as adults. We have great conversations and I never fear that we will run out of things to say. Movie or not- it was just nice to sit with him, holding his hand, and just having him by my side! Okay- sorry that turned into more cheesy rambling...

I made it to the gym 6x this week. This was 6x more then I made it last week. I feel it- I am over tired at the end of the evening but so glad I did it. I am making a change to help save money and to switch up my work outs a little. I am quitting Jazzercise, and 24 hour fitness and going to Maximus. This gym will cut my work out cost by 75.00. I can do the treadmill for my running and choose to attend classes they offer. It's hopefully the best of both worlds. I am nervous because Jazz classes are where I lost my weight last year. However I am looking forward to something new and hopefully will get me excited again.

Mia and Kadyn both have school performances next week. I am looking forward to seeing how Kadyn does. She had a little dose of singing for the church kids choir but seems a little more nervous this time around- We picked out a cute skirt for her to wear. I have no expectations for Mia, I really just don't know. This will be her first performance as a preschooler. She had a recital for dance last year and did really well so maybe she'll surprise us again... who knows.

This last week I had Mia's first parent/teacher conference. Again, I was a little nervous. She is doing great and they said she was shy. What?? Really!!! Do you really even know my child??? I guess it is good that she is good at school. They were happy with her progress and said she is great to have in class. I'm good with that- I am proud of my little Mia Rose!

With that I think I am done- just an update to share along with all of my ramblings... have a great night!

Daycare stays open until 10pm... yes! 10 pm!

2011-12-04T21:57:00.003-06:00

Once a year I stay open late for my daycare parents. This concept was introduced to me from a friend that owned a daycare too. I open it up to all children in my program including my school age kids that stay on days off or come before and after school.
I do this for my parents- it is a small Christmas gift to them. They can do whatever they want- shopping, relaxing, dinner, movie, party... whatever. It is a fun way for me to hang out with my daycare kids too- it is kinda our holiday party, it's our time to relax, not worry about rules and just enjoy your evening.

The night started with a pizza party... I didn't have enough chairs so we had a very large picnic!

Friday morning, the peanuts and I made a batch of frosting. They loved getting to help!

Our "craft" for the night was a gift for our moms. We made a sugar scrub. Everyone had an important part.

After we added everything in the bowl, everyone had to take a turn mixing, and smelling. We made peppermint.

Before we put it in the jars, I tried it out on Dustin... always a good sport!

Snack Time

I had 14 kids total. I had to do everything in groups. They kids didn't seem to mind and did a great job of waiting until their turn to come to the table.

We also made "Happy Helper" aprons. We talked about how we can help our parents out around the house. Picking up out toys, going to bed without fights, put dishes away were all things we can do to help.

More happy helpers...

Our night ended with baths for some, Pj's, and a movie. We started watching "Santa Clause 3". I sat down to watch it with the peanuts and shortly after I did, I had a lap full of friends wanting to sit and watch with me. What a great way to end our night!

Until Next Year!

Never thought I would be here... another weight post!

2011-11-29T13:23:00.004-06:00

I never thought that I would be in the position that I am in today. I have goals, I have motivation, I have time, and I love working out. So, if I have all of these things why has it been so hard to keep up with loosing weight.

I never thought I would hit so many milestones in one month to turn around and undo what I accomplished. To hit my goal of being under 200 lbs just to gain it back. I have always heard of people loosing a ton of weight just to gain it all back- I always thought- how does a person do that, work so hard and then let it all go to waste. I understand it now. I know how easy it is to make a few days of bad choices, not work out for a couple of days, and to say, "I'll start over tomorrow". I totally get it. I actually remember when I hit my highest moment- it was in May of this year when I did my first race, was 199lbs, and I was working out 6 days a week. It felt great, I looked great, and I didn't mind that it was just a way of life for me.

Then I let my guard down. We had a relaxing awesome summer and I just didn't want to work on losing weight- I wanted to be lazy and enjoy my family. That is what I did. I look back on my summer and I wouldn't change anything about it except for my eating habits. There was no reason to resort back to unhealthy eating just because I wanted to enjoy my evenings at the pool vs. at the gym.

Then this fall came around... I told myself, it is time to get back on track. Get the rest of this weight off so I can then maintain. I tried. I failed. At this point, I lost motivation, I didn't want to work out, and I filled my time with other things. So easy to do... and I did it. I did the one thing I promised myself I wouldn't ever do and that was to stop caring. The last two months I told myself it was okay to be a size 24 again, it was okay to eat whatever I wanted, and it was okay to be fat and fail. I just didn't care!

The week that Dustin and I went to our concert was a huge eye opener. While we were shopping, Dustin took the above picture of me. When I came home and saw this picture- I could see how much fuller my face looked, how untoned my stomach area is, and I remember how tight my new shirt felt. This was my "Ahhh crap" moment. This was one of my lowest moments ever.

Today is a new day, God's mercies are new each morning. While I know my weight will always be a trial for me, I need to keep going. I need to get back to where I feel good about myself again. Today I weighed in, I am at 212.4. That number is humbling. It's hard to type and hard to read. But I feel like if I am honest with my friends about my trials of weight loss that something will come from my adventure. It isn't about just the number on the scale- I know this. It is about feeling good and living healthier for my family. It is also about reaching out to others- being accountable, and knowing that loosing weight is do able. I will always have bad days, weeks, or months however I hope and pray I never stop caring like I did. I hope I will always want to be healthier for my husband, my children and myself. I do care. I do have goals, time, and motivation to make it happen.

Praying for a better weight-loss update next time around... seems like a lot of the same ol' words lately! I just never thought I would be here!

One more day

2011-11-29T13:15:00.002-06:00

We have one more day on our Fall/Thankfulness theme. I am so ready to move on. I spent yesterday prepping our games and lessons for December and I am excited.

This week we packed up our fall lacing cards/sorting objects and got out the Christmas and winter ones.

We put up our orange, black, and brown color puzzles and brought out red and green.

Switched out our library and have fun, festive Christmas stories to read.

Wrapping up our fall crafts this week...

Yesterday we made scarecrows... that weren't very scary.

More harvest fun... bubble wrap painting.

One more day and we are switching into Christmas mode!

Last step...

2011-11-29T13:02:00.002-06:00

Decorating the tree!

Saturday night we dug out the kids' ornament boxes. Our tree is simple, each child has an ornament from each year since they have been born. I still have my box of 30+ ornaments and to this day buy a dated bulb to keep the tradition going. Last year was the first year I didn't put all my childhood bulbs up. It's about our family now and their bulbs. It means a lot to me to see just in 10 years how each child has changed and how their interests grow.

Kadyn loved getting the ornaments up.

Dad and Kenni; she really got into it this year. When the pine needles would poke her she'd say, "ouchie, ouchie".

My oldest Peanut, it's amazes me how big she is getting. It seems like yesterday we were still in our two bedroom apartment celebrating her first Christmas! She was only a month old and my brother was meeting her for the first time.

Mia only had three ornaments to hang so she kept stealing bulbs from her sisters to hang. Or she would take them off the tree and rehang them!

Putting on the angel... Our little angel comes from Dustin's Mema.

Our little tree decorating crew!

Oh! Christmas Tree...

2011-11-25T23:23:00.002-06:00

Another Fluke tradition is getting a tree from the Christmas Tree Farm. For eleven years, we have had a real tree per Dustin's request. He loves it. We both grew up with fake trees and I guess because of that he is set on getting a real tree. Our kids know no other-

Our crew at the tree farm... it was so windy.

The peanuts loved running around.

Looking around for the perfect tree...

We loved this one... it reminded us of Christmas Vacation.

This is our tree for this year...

Racing back...

My little cheeseball- she had lots of questions about the tree, cutting it down, and bringing it back to our house.

Heading home...

On the way back we stopped at Reese's Fruit Farm and had apple cider shushes and popcorn. Trip Successful!

Christmas Tour

2011-11-25T23:11:00.002-06:00

I will be the first to admit, last year I was the Christmas Grump. I didn't want to get a tree, decorate, or do lights. I really am not sure why I was just in a crazy grumpy place. Thank goodness I seem to be in a much better place this season. I took today to get out our inside decorations and get them up. They are simple, non traditional, bright and cheery! I love how it looks. Today was the decor- tomorrow we put the tree up.

As you walk up the stairs, you see the "fake" tree. Dustin would never allow us to have a fake tree as our family tree- he is kinda a tree snob. But, I wanted a "tree theme" so we will have 2 tress up this year. We made the wreath above it too- I bought garland at Hobby Lobby at 50% off but didn't end up using it so we wrapped it and hung it. It looks so bright and cheery... LOVE IT.

As you walk into our split level home, you will see this. My masterpiece from Pinterest. I have bulbs left over from last year. I made it using a wire hanger and bought the bow-again 50% off from HL. I am over the moon excited how it turned out.

Our entry way... lights, garland, wreath, and stockings. We do have a fireplace downstairs but I like hanging them here to show. We are missing the "N". While D was hanging lights he dropped it. The kids are so excited to see the stockings come out.

My new addition this year was the cone trees. I love how they complete the look. This display is on top of the TV stand.

More bright trees...

On top of the toy cubbies... We are ready for the holidays!

Santa baby!!!

2011-11-25T22:57:00.003-06:00

This years Santa pictures crack me up... it is a Dorsett-Fluke tradition to get a picture with Santa each year- even in highschool, I remmeber dragging Dustin out to the mall to get a picture taken with Santa. To this day, we have one for every year.

This year was tough- Gaby refused to smile. She sooo did not want to talk to Santa or get a picture taken. I threaten and almost had to ground her just to get these. This year Gaby has brought up a lot of questions about Santa. Even though we celebrate Christmas for Jesus, it makes me just a little sad that she is questioning such a huge childhood tradition. She knows and understands that this is not the real Santa, but I think she still believes there may be one "real" one. I am almost too scared to ask her-

Anyway, back to the pictures...

Mia and Kadyn did fine with Santa- these two are my cheese balls. Kendal did fine as long as she stood next to him. Then Gaby just ... well... didn't do much of anything! :)

One on one with Santa... Mia was in it for the cookies. After the picture, Santa gave each peanut a yummy frosted cookie.

Kadyn is a natural...

Then there was Kendal... she wanted off his lap and wanted her cookie. I love these, it makes my laugh every time I see them.

Gaby starting to warm up a little...

Then Dustin and I...

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-25T22:42:00.002-06:00

Thanksgiving Day we gathered up and had dinner at our place. We had my mom, dad, grandma, here along with Dustin's mom, step dad, sister, her boyfriend, and his family. It was a tight fit but we made it happen. We transformed our living room into a dinning area. I love decorating- we have had the same table setting for a few years now so each year I try to make it look different. I was happy with this years look.

I made little turkey's out of cookies, candy corn, and chocolate covered cherries. I made little candy corn candles using all supplies from the Dollar Tree. I even picked up the mini sparkling juice and wine glasses there too- It is my favorite place to shop.

Dustin's job is the turkey. The day before was spent smoking one turkey and the day of he fixed the "normal" turkey. He loves doing this... really, he does!

We get a little silly in the kitchen. Gaby and I peeled and cut up 10 lbs of potatoes.

My grandma was able to make the trip from KC with my dad. I am always happy to see her. And of course I am not bitter at all that she remembers Dustin and everything about him but not me and the girls. She has always had a special place in her heart for Dustin and it still shows.

All the food in our small kitchen...

All of our guests and family...

And at the end of the night... we are still smiling!!!

Thanksgiving at daycare

2011-11-21T13:05:00.008-06:00

A special guest came to read to the peanuts today. We had a fun time as we read "Llama, Llama mad at momma".

I had a helper today. She ate the peanut butter cups as I was making the pilgrim hats for our table settings... who can say "no" to that face???

We also made turkey feet...

After the paint dried, we glued eyes and feathers on...

Then it was time to do our Thanksgiving lunch. This year I did not do all the side dishes like I have in the past- it is simply too much food for the kids. Our simple meal was turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, and pumpkin bars.
I am thankful for these guys.

Gaby turns 10!

2011-11-21T12:56:00.005-06:00

Gaby had her 10th birthday at "Going Bonkers". This place is fairly new to Topeka but we have seen several places like it in Kansas City. It was a neat place to have her party however it was super busy.

Gaby and her sports themed cakes...

Opening her gifts... she had a good turn out of family and friends come.

Playing games...

It was nice place to have her party- I didn't have to do anything which makes it that much more fun. After having Gaby's party here, Kadyn wants one too- I guess we may be back in January.

Our KC night out... out of order pictures!

2011-11-21T12:38:00.009-06:00

For my birthday, Dustin bought tickets to one of our favorite bands, Mates of State. It is a husband/wife group. The concert was awesome and they played an awesome set of music.

Because they didn't go on until after 11pm, we stayed the night in KC and made a little getaway out of it. The next day we went Christmas shopping, lunch and just enjoyed hanging out with no kids. I am so thankful for my mother in-law who stayed with the kids Tuesday night and Wednesday so we could enjoy our time.

Going into the mall... we went into the American Doll store. I was so excited to be in this place, I was transformed back to my doll playing years.

Dustin not so happy- but he stayed in there as I looked around and drooled over everything they had. It was a neat place.

One of my favorite places to get the kids' clothing- however I normally just order online, so it was super cool to go in and look around. I was proud, no purchases were made at this store. I didn't have a coupon.

"Color me happy, there's a sofa for two". This was in the lobby of the hotel.

Dustin and I at the concert...

The chick from the band came out to see her family so I took this picture and then we got a picture with her... too cool!

In our room... The hot tub that didn't work. It all worked out and we had a great time despite the tub not working. We got a discounted a room and a gift card for our next stay. It was only a day away but it was much needed and super productive.
Love getting time with just my hubs.

Total catch up post...

2011-11-21T12:18:00.007-06:00

Last week, Gaby had a field trip to a one room school house here in town. They spent the entire day learning how to learn, "old school". She had to pack her lunch in a pail, and the food had to be authentic to the time period. Gaby thought it was cool because they did homework using real ink.

Gaby's Juniors ceremony. (Yes, she is in her PJ's, it was for a school spirit day and she forgot her other outfit at home.)

Hockey Time... We joined our in-laws for a RoadRunner's game after our early Thanksgiving dinner at their house. We are so cute...

This was Mia's second game. We lucked out because they were giving out free tee shirts. Before we got to the game I told Dustin, "We need to buy Mia a tee shirt because the one she is wearing is too short". The kid had her belly hanging out... shesh. Who let her out of the house that way???

It was Kendal's first game... she did really good but was a little scared when all the air horns went off. Kenni has the death grip on Dustin.

My cute little hockey fans...

My in laws host a hockey player, Andrew. He stays with them during the season- it was pretty cool to have him come over and sign the kids' shirts. Gaby was the most excited. She couldn't wait to wear it to school and show it off.

It's Friday!

2011-11-18T12:53:00.006-06:00

Today is PJ's day at SHES. The girls were so excited and it makes for an easy morning of getting up and ready. Gaby was also happy- she is taking her birthday treats to school today.

We finished up our lessons on Manner's.

We also spent some time playing with our food. The kids had marshmallow and pretzel sticks. They had to build something with it and explain it before they could eat it.

Our "J" snack... Jello!

Pinterest... Oh my!

2011-11-18T12:36:00.008-06:00

Let me just say, I need another time consuming website with really cool ideas to look at all the time like I need a hole in the head. I am slow on the Pinterest train but I am finally on. And, I love it. I have so many cute, cheap, decor, art, kids things I want to try. If you never have been to the sight, it is pinterst.com however, if you want to join, I'll send you an invite- much faster to get on that way...

Okay... back to the projects. The first night I got on, I was in crafting heaven. (However, they have food recipes, cleaning tips, fitness...everything) This was my first project with the girls. The handprint canvas Christmas tree. I need to add the star and the kids want to make circle stamps to stamp on decorations. It was a cute and fun little thing to do.

My Christmas bulb project... so simple. I put that green foam in the far and wrapped it with cheap moss from Walmart. Went outside and picked up some branches.

Added some hip ornaments; I love the lime green, blue, pink Christmas colors.

Greatest invention ever... they are shiny plastic bulbs. I hate the glass ones with the daycare and my girls but unless you are looking up close you can not tell they are plastic! Score.

I got them at Walmart too- 8 bulbs for .97. You really can't beat that...

My last idea from the site was to wrap gifts and instead of using gift tags, use pictures. Gaby is turning 10 on Sunday and I needed to wrap her gifts while she was not at home. It was fun to use the pictures and also a trip down memory lane.

Nice weather we're having...

2011-11-17T07:57:00.009-06:00

Tuesday was a great day to eat outside... the morning was spent learning about manners.It's been a fun them this week.

Right before I started lunch I got a call that Gaby forgot her violin- so I ran it up and brought back lunch for the peanuts. I love the warm fall we are having- I am sad to see that it is leaving us soon.

This week is America Reads week. We are having guest readers come and join us for a good book. This week we had the aunt of one of our peanuts come. Thank you CJ for coming.

The kids are still talking about her visit- she came in uniform and in her car. The kids loved it.

We had a paint sharing activity too- we started out with 5 kids and one brush and one water color set. The kids had to use their manners in order to paint. We lasted about 10 minutes- then I got watercolors out for everyone.

Our Manners Bear...

Our week in a nutshell...

2011-11-11T14:44:00.002-06:00

Most weeks I am able to keep up on everything I NEED to do... however, the last 2 weeks I have had to have a marathon laundry day to catch up. I normally do a little every day but I kinda like doing it all at one time and having it finished for the week. Normally it isn't THIS bad but, this is "sick" laundry from Kendal too. Blah!

My mom and I just finished 6 hours of in-service from the ERC. It was an awesome literacy based training and I learned a lot- but the nice surprise is that each daycare got a gift card to purchase items to help build literacy. And, guess what... my order came in yesterday. It was fun to unwrap all of our new goodies to help with reading and writing.

One of the nights, the trainers talked about how these puzzles help build the muscles that kids need to write. I purchased two since I have 3 toddlers that would benefit from these. Kenni had fun trying it out this morning.

I always get so excited about this... I know I have blogged about this before. I have a friend that has a little girl one year older then Kendal. After each season, she lets me go through her clothing and buy them from her. Kenni is a lucky kid. She gets to look cute and it is cheap for this momma! Ahhh... such a blessing.

In October I received my visit from KQRIS. It is a stressful and humble time for sure. The gal that did my observation was here most of the day watching how we do things. She could show up any day in October. Yesterday I got my rating and score in the mail. Last year I was 2 points away from a 4 star, and this year I am 3 points away from a 5 star. This is awesome. My goal was to hit 4 stars for sure. I was proud of my kids for being awesome during the visit- and the remarks that were given overall are not bad. I am pleased with this years experience. Good news is now that we hit 4 stars, I don't have to have an observation until 2013. Yeah! Next step is my consultation to see where/what improvements can be made.

I am counting down... next Tuesday after work, Dustin and I are heading off to KC to see "Mates of State". The concert doesn't even start until 10pm so we are staying over and coming back sometime Wednesday. I am thankful to my mother in law who is camping out with our peanuts and has morning school duty. However, I am so stoked about spending the time with Dustin and jamming to some great tunes.

In the same week, I have girls night out on the 18th to see "Breaking Dawn", then a friend visiting that same weekend, and Gaby turns 10 on Sunday. Such a busy week. At least we are getting all the sickies out this week... knock on wood.

For some reason our DVR is screwing up... so I caught up on all my missed shows on the computer, which isn't bad because the commercials are a lot shorter. However, I hate just sitting on the computer. It's so non productive for me.

On that same note, I sucked it up badly on my eating this week. I made my calorie burn but went over each day on my calorie intake. I am sure it had nothing to do with the 6 boxes of girl scout cookies that came up missing over 5 days... Yikes! But, I am looking forward to my weigh in tomorrow, to get the damage written down and strive to make this week a better one. I even got my 2 miles in today even though I felt like I was going to hurl the entire time.

Just a cute picture... I love this kid, most of the time!

There it is... we are caught up for this week. Thanks for letting me ramble!

Our Friday...

2011-11-11T14:34:00.002-06:00

We ended our week with Kendal getting sick Thursday, two others in daycare getting sick, and me getting the stomach yuckies too... So, we started our day with a movie and snack.

We ended our Sleepy Theme by making cotton ball sheep to count.

We glued on cotton balls then the kids drew the sheep's legs and face. Even Kenni got into it.

Our weekly reader tided into our theme as well. We talked about animals that sleep all winter long and the big word, hibernation.

Working hard on the last page...

Mingo the monkey asked us to answer the question, "what do we do when we can't sleep?", here are our answers...