A busy day!

Well, today was quite a day!
Here's the list of what I accomplished:
Registered my van (actually got the temp plates because I still have work to do to pass safety and emissions)
Renewed my drivers license
Reinstated my phone (I forgot to pay and it got turned off Friday)
Made it to 2 doctor appointments
Turned in paperwork within minutes of the deadline

I feel like I did something today!
I'm exhausted!
I actually got it all done!

Lucky for me, I brought my boys to only a few of these errands. I have some awesome friends who really have supported me and helped me out! {thanks the heavens all my friends have stepped up and supported me, I've seriously needed you, and I'm probably going to need more... so stand ready!}

So I learned a lesson today! At the first DMV (the one for the vehicle registration) my Bob-a-loo was running around like a wild child. I gave him SEVERAL warnings about staying with me or he won't get his special treat. Guess what, he didn't stay with me. The crazy part, I actually stuck to my guns and denied him his treat. The BEST part... when we went to the next DMV (the one for the drivers license) he was SO GOOD and kept asking if he was being good enough to get his treat this time. I'm going to have to remember this, if I actually follow through with consequences, they will learn! Amazing!

I learned another lesson, too. Just do it! {thanks nike for that slogan, it comes in handy a lot of the time!} I REALLY didn't want to do my dumb paperwork. I HAD to get it done today by 6 or the consequences were really nasty. I still put it off. Then, my computer was being horrible and so slow that the 2 things I needed to print off almost didn't get printed off. Then I had to scurry on over to fax said dumb paperwork out. It was such a hassle! I didn't want to do it! BUT I did it, it's done, and all will be right in the world today. My mom told me to leave out the emotion and just get it done. I wish I had followed her advice. I will next time. really! Why make it harder than it has to be? seriously! {a lesson I apparently still need to learn}

So, my crazy busy day is over! {hooray} Even though it was tough, and frusterating, I'm grateful for today. I have accomplished something that felt hard. I am stronger than I think. {remind me this the next time I have a day like today!}

Happy 6th Birthday, Monkey!!!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful little boy! I can't believe 6 years ago you made your entrance into this world. I am so grateful for everyday you have been in my life! Happy Birthday, Monkey!

It's official, he's now 6 years old!!!

I think he enjoyed his birthday. {It was a lot of fun AND very exhausting for mom}

Notice the cute boys in their own special crowns {I made monkey's late the night before his special day, so we could crown him king for the day. Well after a morning of fighting over said crown, Bob-a-loo got one thrown together too!}

We had a lot of fun at Chuck-E-Cheese for Moneky's birthday party! It was great to have friends for Monkey and Bob-a-loo!

I'd say the pizza WASN'T the highlight of the party, but the kids ate their obligatory 1 piece.

Then it was off to ride, play and enjoy the fun atmosphere!

It's good that boys don't get caught up in who played with who for how long and all that kind of stuff. {birthday boy wanted to hang more with a friend he doesn't get to see very often so he left his other friends to play with eachother most of the time}

Since we were out so late partying, Monkey didn't get to dig into his new toys till this morning. AND dig in he did! All morning he put together his awesome lego firetruck! Then spent the rest of the day {after school} looking into his other goodies! We'll have atleast one more day of toy exploration tomorrow!

Happy Easter!

We have had a fun adventurous Easter Holiday!
First of all I made a slight miscalculation and blew up some eggs I was boiling. {Not to self, do not start on lawn care when boiling eggs AND if you hear popping inside, go check on it.}
Yes, once I realized they were still boiling {or not really anymore} I ran inside and found this... {I did remove the pan before I thought to take a picture.} This picture really doesn't do it justice, you can't tell there's blown up egg on the wall and EVERYWHERE!!!

Isn't he the cutest *mad scientist* ever!

And of course we HAVE to have a naked egg dyer as well.

What would we do if Bob-a-loo decided to keep clothes on himself?

At least at times I want to take pictures.

Monkey was very meticulous about his egg dying. He used the kitchen timer to make sure each egg had it's fair share of dye time. And of course, the eggs had to be cared for one at a time.

That's why Bob-a-loo's eggs were poop color brown, he had to keep dying for the same amount of time as Monkey, so they got colored 2 or 3 times each.

Ahh, Easter Morn egg hunt. These cute boys wanted to be super hero's,

so they were.

the easter bunny found very creative hiding places...

It was lots of fun to find everything!

But it was more fun to eat the candy!

plus 50, how I done it

Not long ago my step-sister blogged about how she went from a size 12 to size 2. Yes, she is amazing! She had posted some really great, completely do-able suggestions that I am looking at incorporating into my life. I really enjoyed that post. But that got me thinking...

I have gone in the other direction with my weight goals. Well, I've gained myself 50 pounds in the last 12 months. Am I proud of this...NO {actually HELL NO!}, but it is my reality. So I thought I would give some *what NOT to do* suggestions, so you don't follow in my {larger and larger} footsteps.

Don't: {this is in no particular order}

1) Completely stop exercising.

1 year ago I was going to the gym and shaking my boot-ay 6 days a week for at least 1 hour. I'm serious, and that's how I was able to stay sane while being alone with 2 kids since my husband had already moved to Washington. Now, I will tell you that I didn't quit all at once. But when I did move to Washington {in March 2010}, I didn't have a gym membership, so my boot-ay shaking seriously diminished, slowly to nothing by the end of the summer.

2) Have MAJOR life altering stress bombard you almost constantly for that year.

Apparently I'm going to give snip-bits of what I've gone through, but not the Whole story.

Sorry if that bugs.

Too bad.

3) Be an undiscriminating emotional eater.

I can't say I didn't try to control my emotional eating, but that can be quite difficult! Especially in the very emotional moment.

Drug of choice: anything sweet.

Preferably m&m's, ice cream, candy, cookies {I just LOVE my g-ma Noble's famous chocolate chip cookies}, or anything left in the house.

4) Be a single mom.

nuf said.

It sucks!

5) Find yourself in a depression

so that emotional eating is compounded by just not caring if I'm 450 pounds and can't physically get myself out of bed... because I don't want to get out of bed anyway.

Yeah, that sucks too.

6) Have a thyroid disease.

OK, so this one is funky and I'll tell you why. I actually have an overactive thyroid {also called graves disease or hyperthyroidism}, which usually means that person is really skinny. BUT my doc re-assured me that gaining weight is also quite normal (even as much as those with an underactive gland)... so there!

Now to add insult to injury, the medication I am taking for my thyroid disease can make me gain weight because it's now slowing down my thyroid... Seriously, can I ever win?

So these are just a few suggestions. If you can avoid any or all of these, you will probably be in good shape {or better then I am}.

Lucky for me, I have Melanie's suggestions to follow, friends to walk and shake my boot-ay with, and a desire to change. I wish I could lose it faster than I gained it, but I'm pretty sure it's going to take me longer.

Such is life.

Spring can begin now!

I feel very confident I know why spring has been holding off and winter is trying to keep a tight hold on us...

Because I hadn't finished my snowman quilt.

OK winter, I'm done. You can go now.

Yes, yes I do know that the world revolves around me. That's why I had to finish this quilt today. Once I realized what I have done I felt very guilty and needed to ammend it as quickly as possible!

Atleast all I needed to do was finish sewing the binding on, otherwise we might have been stuck in more winter weather through June!

My boys might be a little sad, they have enjoyed looking outside and seeing the snow. But I think they'll get over it quickly once they realized they can actually go PLAY outside {and it's not freezing}!

So enjoy the approaching spring, I've got us covered!

The Zoo!

We had a fabulous day at the Zoo on Friday! It was a last minute decision, last minute invitation, from my best friend Samantha! We were SO EXCITED to get out of the house and do something fun!

The boys really enjoyed seeing all the animals!

We got to see animals and things I'd never gotten to experience. Such as very active tigers! They were walking around and being active. While we were viewing through a window, 2 of the tigers climb into the water (right at the window). My favorite part was the tiger coming RIGHT UP TO THE WINDOW! seriously. He came right up to us and walked along the window. {I was quite grateful for the window so we could see it up close and still have a barier!}

I asked the boys what was their favorite part of the zoo. Monkey immediately yelled, the park! That was the last thing we did, play and expend any energy they may have left before getting into the car.

Bob-a-loo said the "lion" {I asked, do you mean the tiger... we didn't see a lion}. He thought it was great getting to see the animal up so close!

I then asked, what about the gorillas? Yeah, they both yelled, and it ate it's poop. Yes, that is true. We *got* to see the gorilla defecate into her own hand, turn the other way, and eat...something. Oh my. That was not quite my favorite part, but it was ...umm, interesting.

So much Thanks for Samantha for inviting us to join her at the zoo. It was such a great outing! I'm so grateful for the support I have received from fabulous friends!

conferences, authors, adults, enjoyment

I just have to share the really fabulous day I was lucky enough to enjoy.



I went to a librarian conference as a vendor. I know. sounds boring. right. not so.



I was lucky enough to get to spend the day with AnnMaree Montgomery, my upline supervisor with Usborne Books and good friend, and with Kimberly Greene, a fantastic author and exciting, charismatic, down-to-earth woman. {Kimberly wrote *My Sister's a Popstar*, *The Fame Game and Me*, and *My Life on TV*.}




So as I write this I realize that maybe to the untrained eye, this would seem like a boring, no big deal, sort of day. But to me, it was fantastic. How often to I get to have adult conversations ALL DAY LONG? AND with a *famous* author {if she's not famous now, she will be soon because she is amazing at what she does}. AND have these said adult conversations about real life issues, like what children are learning by watching tv and how those stories so drastically effect how they view and treat the world, themselves, and others. And talk about fun things, and interesting things, and boring things, and our children, and our views, and religion (well a bit), and life.



I got to be an adult, with adults, not worrying about my kids, not worrying about dinner, or the house, or my normal day to day stresses. I got to laugh, smile, think, interact, talk, listen, enjoy, and be an adult.



hmmm. Is there a theme going on? If you haven't figured it out yet, I can simplify.



I. like. being. an. adult. not. just. a. mommy.



Don't get me wrong.

I L.O.V.E. love being a mom to my beautiful, special, fantastic boys. Those boys have been the greatest gift in my life. I adore them. Period.



I just have a difficult time enjoying life as a *mommy* when I can't get a break from being *mommy*.

Day in, day out, no reprieve, no rest, no break.

This becomes very taxing on me; physically, mentally, emotionally.

There are days I feel lucky I made it through (and let's be honest, I feel lucky my boys made it through too).



AND days like today really help build me back up. I got to be an adult, with thoughts, ideas, insights. I got to be a person. I even felt like a professional person. Oh, that's good.



The icing on the cake is that my boys were very happy when I got home. They enjoyed a fun day with grandpa (minus the sick 3-year-old that decided the last 1 1/2 hours he'd vomit and diareah all over the place). They were sweet, loving, and just adored me when I got home {even my poor sicky}. And you know what, that felt good too. When we're together ALL THE TIME my boys just get sick of me; I'm not fun, or special. I'm just mom. Since we spent a whole day apart, we all could see our love and adoration for eachother. It was good. What's that saying? Seperation makes the heart grow fonder {something like that anyway}.



Another perk of this day is that I was able to enjoy bedtime. I know. How is that possible. I swear, bedtime is my nemesis. I dread bedtime. I adore AFTER bedtime, but the getting to bed and to sleep is the WORST. TIME. OF. DAY. AWFUL. However, today it was enjoyable. They didn't act too different from normal. {Bob-a-loo didn't feel to great so he got in bed very easily.} But today I wanted to hear what they had to say, the pillow talk, chatting, their silliness. It was a perfect way to unwind and discuss the day. And since we weren't together ALL day, we had something to talk about. I still had to ask them to calm down. The difference was that I was already calm, I wasn't upset with them being excited. I enjoyed their enthusiasm and was able to let them talk themselves down from the day and to a place of peace and rest.



It's amazing to me how crucial my state of mind is on how I deal with my children. The saying *If mom aint happy, aint nobody happy* comes to mind. A plan is in the works. My boys diserve a mom who appreciates them DAILY! I will make this happen. I'm not going to lie, it may not be a quick fix, but it is coming. I aint gonna be that *aint happy* mom no more!