It's Been So Long

Oh my goodness! I can't believe I've been away so long! I Facebook everyday, all day long but never seem to have the time or patience to sit down and think up a blog post. Putting pictures on is especially daunting. I don't know why, but it is.

The past couple of months have seemed busier than ever and yet "things" are suddenly getting easier. Mr. P is now two. It feels like I've made it, so to speak. I know we have a lot ahead of us with an active two year old boy and that dreaded three year old phase but we made it through babyhood and oh, what a relief! He is so fun right now. Of course, as I say this he is chasing his oldest sister to give her a "pankin'' Why this kid is so obsessed with spankings, I have no idea. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I want to know. Could the G-monkey have anything to do with it? Let's hope not.

Speaking of the G-monkey...What a joy she has turned into! Everyday I am amazed at how sweet she is when about 6 months ago, I would gladly have lent her out to anyone who would take her! I'm not sure if it is because she is 4 1/2 now or if it is because she started "school". In any case, I'll take it! She is still stubborn and adventurous but it is now channeled into more acceptable doses. I like her! I really like her! And, I am so relieved to be able to say that!

The Princess is more princess-y than ever. By the end of the school year, she had developed a little bit of an attitude, especially with me. I really felt it had something to do with my not spending much time with her lately. Because she is the oldest and is very capable of caring for herself and because she is busy with school and always rushing somewhere, she tends to be left alone to fend for herself. She reacted to this mistake on my part by becoming almost helpless and very rude to me. Thankfully, school is now out. She has had lots of attention from me and has magically improved. I must remember this for next year.

She brought home her journal from school. What I noticed the most was how important we as her parents are to her. Anything we did for her, no matter how small to us, was monumental to her. I hope I've learned my lesson! I've resolved to do more for her at school next year. She is absolutely worth a little more effort on my part! It also helps to know that as all three of them get older, the basic care of them gets easier and I can focus more on the actual parenting of them.

As for DH and I, we hope to spend the summer improving our home. We seriously considered moving but were unable to find something that felt "worth it" as far as money and time and work goes. It will be such a major undertaking should we ever decide to move. We have been in our home for over 10 years now. There are so many memories here and so much junk! We realized that over the past 10 years we have added to our family and did all the mechanical necessities to our house but we have never focused on the things that make a house a home. So that is our focus this summer. To that end, I am sitting here looking at den walls with only wallpaper scraps hanging from them. I have to get all the wallpaper from the '90's and the layer from the '50's off and then texture the walls and paint. I can't wait to see it when it is finished but the "during" is pretty bad.

I guess I should get back to it. Hopefully, this is the first of many more posts. It's good to be back!

In a Funk

Hello blogworld!

I decided to take Spring Break off from blogging and lo and behold it stretched to two weeks! Funny how that happens. Writing is a discipline and lately I haven't been very disciplined about anything.

I'm in a funk.

I'm in that place where I'm overwhelmed as a wife and mother. Everything seems an imposition where it once was a joy. Ever been there? What do you do to get out of it?

A Few Random Events

Here is my post for this week. What a week! It wore me out and I'm still trying to recover.

We finished up swim lessons for the Princess. I am really looking forward to a less hectic schedule for March. She really enjoyed them though and improved her swimming a great deal.

On Friday, I volunteered at the Princess' school to help with Jump Rope for Heart. The Princess seems to have inherited my coordination or lack there of so I was pleasantly surprised to find that she is a good jumper. She was a little bummed that she hadn't won a prize but I was relieved to have dodged more junk for her room! Don't tell her that, though.

That night, some mommy friends and I got together for a grown-up slumber party. It was great fun and a good chance to unwind a little. It was also the first time I had been away from the kids for the night - EVER! Yes, the oldest is 7! Sad, I know! There is already talk of another. I do think that next time, I will drink less and sleep more. I guess I thought I was back in college for a night! No, it wasn't a wild party but for a girl who might have a drink every six months, it was a little much. At least I didn't have to be mommy that night or the next day really.

Saturday was my mommy's birthday. We went out for dinner to celebrate and then had cake and ice cream at my grandparents'. I also received my family presents that day because Sunday was my birthday. Thank you, everybody!

Sunday, I had planned to sleep in a little and let dh take the Princess to CCE, then go to church. But, we woke up early with the Monkey in our bed. She was not feeling well and had a croupy sounding cough. When the Princess woke up, she was crying that she was tired and didn't feel well. Could she please go back to bed? Being the wonderful mother that I am, I said sure, grateful that we could skip all of our morning activities. I did go shopping with my mom in the afternoon and that was very fun and successful. That night, we had pizza and watched Horton Hears a Who. The kids and dh had made a cake while I was out so we had that too. I tried very hard not to think of the sick germs that might be in there. Am I catching dh's OCD?

All in all, it was a great birthday and a busy week. I am having a little problem with this new age that I've turned but we just won't talk about it. I have been thinking of my sister a lot. She was 29 when she passed away. I should be grateful for the chance to grow older and not worried about it.

Oh, and one more thing. I gave up cussing for Lent. It is going very well. I've only messed up twice and those weren't very bad words. Even the kids have noticed that Mommy doesn't say bad words anymore!

Don't I sound bad? Drinking and cussing in one post! Good thing my Baptist preacher grandfather can't read this!

Have a great week!

Catching Up is Hard to Do

We have had a crazy February! We added swim lessons for both girls and it amazes me how adding 2 hours a week of activities changes everything. And, to top it off, I actually had to pull the G-Monkey out of her class. There were some very wild boys and she was the only girl. Pair this with a teacher who didn't seem to be very much in control or even very aware of what the kids were doing and G and I both ended up pretty scared. I decided it was not enough that the teacher had the ability to save my child should anything go wrong but that she should be able to prevent most accidents from happening in the first place! This is the first time I have had to be "That Mom" but as I kept promising G that I wouldn't have her take a class unless I trusted the teacher, I really felt that I had to pull her out when I lost that trust. What would you have done?

The Princess sang at church this month too when the bishop came for confirmation. She did great and I was so proud. It also brought back memories of when I was confirmed. I really like that there is a new policy that the kids be in high school in order to be confirmed. I was in sixth grade and I don't think I knew what it was all about. I just remember that I hated the white dress I had to wear.

This month was also the science fair at the Princess' school. She is in first grade and did a project about clouds. I was really dreading this because both dh and I hated science fairs in school. I should have known though that she would pretty much handle the whole thing on her own. She came up with the subject, did all the reading, decided what project she wanted to do from several we found in books, and everything. She learned a lot and can now predict the weather based on the clouds in the sky. I might be a little annoyed at having another weather buff in the family! I, myself, just like to consult the weather channel!

Well, tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. What are you doing for Lent this year? I have decided to give up cussing. I have really developed a potty mouth and am starting to have trouble controlling it around the kids. Wish me well. This is something that I REALLY need to change!

Also, I am now totally addicted to Facebook. So I am making a commitment today to update this blog at least once a week. Hold me to it please! See you next week!

The Shack

I finished reading The Shack today. If you haven't read it yet, READ it! Then, let's talk about it...

Tagged!

OK, I hardly ever do these because usually, I can't figure it out. But, I think I can handle this one. Here is my sixth picture from my sixth file. I agree with Robin, if you are reading this, you are tagged!


This is the Princess, at 4, with my Grandpa. He acts as Santa for several organizations he is involved with. I guess being Santa is a family tradition! Isn't she cute? She has naturally curly hair and at four, that was ALL she had. That wasn't a haircut! The Monkey now has this same 'do only hers is straight as a board, like her Mama. This seems like just yesterday...Monkey was only 1 and Little Man wasn't even a twinkle in his Daddy's eye. My, how things can change in 3 short years!

I can't wait to see your pics!

Did I Never Do This???

Where is my brain? On FaceBook, I guess. I really thought I had done this already! Here are some pics from our Christmas(es). Blogger uploaded them backwards so I tried to describe them.

With DH's family on Christmas Day after our Chinese food lunch. One of my favorite traditions.

Look what Santa brought!

He came! This is the first year that Santa brought something big for all three kids. It didn't fit under the tree well and we couldn't get a good picture either.

Spreading reindeer food...we do this every year before bed on Christmas Eve.

My three watching our aunt's new kittens.

At my aunt's...I didn't realize it was so obvious I was sick! I thought I was looking pretty good until I saw these pictures!

Sneaking a pic in front of church on Christmas Eve. Little Man was with my mom so I could pay attention in church.

The Princess (in red) singing in the Children's Choir at our Christmas Eve Mass.

Nothing New Under Our Sun

I haven't been posting at all because there has been nothing new to post about. We have spent the time since Christmas just enjoying simple time together and trying to get reorganized.

DH and I have decided to take on some simple projects around the house to make it more livable for us. We have really outgrown this place! When we bought our house, 10 years ago, we had no children and loved to entertain and do house projects. Now, we have 3 children and would rather have no maintenance to do and we never entertain anyone over the age of 7! My how things change! We also never thought we would be here more than 5 years. We bought all of our furniture with the thought of moving into a larger house and many things just aren't working for us. We did a pretty extensive search for a new house and fell in love with one completely out of our price range. Now, no other house seems to compare. So, we have decided to stay in our house and ride out this crazy market while saving money to make that dream house more affordable. I will be very busy in '09 reworking our current house while making sure not to invest more than we would get out of it should we sell and making sure to save money toward that dream house. That is a tall order. If we can do it, though it will be so worth it.

We do have a big change coming tomorrow. For the first time ever, I will be putting my kids in Mother's Day Out, and getting some time to myself! I am so excited! I will let you know how it goes!