Resurfacing

So. When life gets overwhelming I tend to turtle-up. It's the only way I know to describe what I do without even realizing. This week I realized I've gone in shut down mode lately. There has just been too many things going on in my life, the boys' lives, & my friends' lives. So unfortunately I've kind of been hiding out. Not always good at sharing my feelings. But I'm sticking my head out of the shell and seeing if it is ok to come out!

After TWO MONTHS of sickness (seriously at least 1 out of 5 has been sick until this week) we are in the clear. Oh what was that noise you ask? Just me knocking on wood. Wilson was diagnosed with an ear infection less than a week ago but he is feeling better.

My house is a train wreck. I've done some work obviously as has Andy but not enough. But it is so overwhelming with a big house, 3 messy boys, & 1 messy me that I don't know where to even start. I'll clean a room only to turn around and it be a mess again the same day or very next day.

Tyler is doing well at peeing in the potty he is terrified of pooping in the potty. Don't have any more ideas on that one.

Wilson has been very difficult. What's new. School transitions have been very hard as well as completing homework. Just call me mom/teacher of the year. I received a formal letter about his attendance and how I've already used 6/10 parent excused absences. I tell you, the boy has been sick!!

I've been so tired with no energy but am having trouble getting to bed before 10:30. Partly because Ty no longer wants to go to bed at bedtime. He keeps getting up and out of bed. Or if I try sitting next to him to wait for him to fall asleep it can take forever. Very frustrating.

I re-read Hungeer Games book 1 this week. Still so so good. Please tell me you have read it! Andy finally decided he would give them a try and he is on book 3. He is really enjoying them.

When your 3 1/2 year old says "I need to read a chapper of Mr. Incredible" you know he has older brothers!! My baby wants us to read him a chapter book! So cute!!

My Birthday

 Me and the Boys

33 candles put off some serious heat! Andy made sure to buy enough candles. The boys got a kick out of that.

The cake.

Andy outdid himself. He made this on his own! I had shown him a cake from a blog a LONG time ago that was similar. I love colorful things. I loved rainbows when I was young. Colors make me happy. Anyway, I knew the frosting was the whipped cream cheese icing but had no idea what was on the inside until he cut it open. I was very impressed! The boys thought it was very neat too! Wilson says this is the cake he wants next year. Andy made me feel very special & loved. Thanks baby!

This was a great birthday! I felt very loved by family and friends. Thank you for making my birthday special!

My New Job

Since I'm updating the blog I thought I'd update you on my new job!  So far so good. My stress level has been waaay down for the most part. It became stressful last week but I'm feeling better now!  We tested the whole school to see who qualified for intervention services in reading and/or math. Those were a long 5 days but overall it was interesting and not too bad. Then we analyzed the data and started making groups. Last week I began pulling my groups. I teach eleven 30minute groups each day. I have groups from K-5th grade which is very new for me and I really love the variety! I teach 7 reading groups and 4 math groups. I literally go from back to back Kindergarten groups to back to back 5th grade groups - but it is great! I met over 65 kids last week. Some groups I see twice a week and some groups I see every day depending on their academic needs. Last week I was struggling with knowing exactly what to do; but after some intense planning on Friday I feel much better now. Today was a great day! I am all over the building picking up kids and dropping them off. I kind of start throwing materials at some points of the day to keep switching groups so fast with no down time in between. But I love it!

Random Updates

* I'm proud to say I've lost 8 pounds! I am running and still doing the diet thing. I'm cheating a little more so it is a slower process but I am ok wtih that. So just a couple more pounds and I will move to phase 3.

* Wilson lost another tooth. The two bottom teeth in the middle are gone. This is keeping him from biting his nails- I'm thrilled! It's funny to hear him talk right now with the extra space.

* Luke is tired and grumpy a lot right now. Starting kindergarten is hard!

* Ty misses his brothers and me some days more than others. He gets mad at Andy when he tells Ty that we are at school. He says "NO. They downstairs!". Poor thing. It's hard being the youngest!

* Wilson & Luke went to watch Star Wars for the first time with Uncle Mac & Trey last night. They said they liked the movie.

* Luke is starting fall t-ball tomorrow with 3 of his cousins. He is excited!

* I have first day school pictures Andy took on his camera that I need to post.

Updates

It is hard to believe summer is coming to an end. This week at school we have our Parent Orientation and next week it is back to work with school starting on Thursday. I've been easing myself back into school with little bits here and there. The boys have all of their school supplies and the first day of school outfit ready to go. They are excited! Especially Luke with starting Kindergarten!

I am still on Phase 2 of the Du*kan Diet. Alternating between a protein day then a protein + veggie day. It is tough. The protein + veggie days are relatively easy. It's the other days that are hard. I've had a few weak moments over the last couple weeks but I feel like a treat (frozen chocolate YOGURT :) from Bruster's) is okay. We may or may not have been there twice. Ahem. Anyway! I made a healthier choice, right?! I'm still running and HAVE to find a way to keep going once school starts with the 50 hour work weeks. So all in all I have lost 5.4 pounds. Not too shabby!

We finally got the playroom cleaned up and organized. It looks great! We made Luke a new art shelf with all of his creative supplies. We are donating two boxes of stuff to Good*will. (FYI: I will NOT be going back to the shed that almost broke my hand...ouch!). The boys can actually enjoy their toys now. I am so bad about putting stuff away. I'm kind of messy at home. So I am really trying to put stuff away after I use it and still encouraging the boys to do the same. I feel so much better when the house is picked up/organized so I need to be proactive!

Before school starts we have a day trip to Cincy for CCH appointment, a day at the lake with Andy & CCY. Hopefully a few more trips to the pool.

Dieting...is for the birds.

So. I started a diet on Tuesday. The Dukan Diet. The one Ka*te Midd*leton was on prior to the royal wedding. My friend told me about it and it sounded doable. I bought the book and read up on it. I have NEVER dieted before. I've always been an "everything in moderation" type of girl. But I've been unhappy with myself for a long time. So I decided I needed to do something about it rather than just complain and feel bad about myself. The best part is that Andy thinks I am beautiful and perfect just the way I am. He puts no pressure on me in this area. He has been supportive because he wants me to feel good about myself. I'm thankful for his love and support with this crazy diet thing!!

I've been running. Not a crazy amount but trying for 2-3 times a week when possible. Haven't lost any weight but have noticed my legs are getting toned. Andy said that is to be expected as you are building muscle mass and probably eating more due to the running. So. Diet phase 1 began on Tuesday.

It was the hardest three days ever. But I have lost 3.4 pounds for phase 1. My goal overall is to lose 10 pounds. Phase 1 was protein & non-fat dairy plus 1 1/2 T oat bran per day. Since my weight loss was 10 pounds I only needed to do Phase 1 (ATTACK) for 3 days. So I ate greek yogurt with oat bran, cheese sticks, cottage cheese, tilapia, shrimp, turkey with fat free cheddar, eggs, grilled chicken etc. Those were foods on the approved list.

Now I begin phase 2. I actually cheated on day 3 of ATTACK and had vegetables with my fish. I couldn't stand not eating vegetables any longer. So for phase 2 you do 1 day of all protein (foods listed above) followed by 1 day of protein + vegetables. There are some starchy vegetables I can't eat but that is okay. No fruit still. That hurts. I love fruit! I haven't had anything chocolately since Monday. It's weird. Plus you do 2 T oat bran per day. No carbs.

I have a newfound respect for people who diet and count calories/points. It is so hard. I never realized just how hard it was! Everyday I have thought I should just quit the diet and not do this anymore. But then I remember how unhappy I have been with my belly and go get something protein/nonfat dairy related from the fridge. I didn't realize how many carbs I ate. EVERYTHING has carbs it seems! So here's to phase 2 and seeing if I can lose about 6.6 more pounds...

We Survived!

This week has been good but hard. Andy was out of town for his second week this summer. He was in Florida on a Mission Trip with his youth group. Eight days of single parenting was a challenge to say the least. 3:1 is very overwhelming, at least at the ages of 7 1/2, 5 1/2, and almost 3. The boys have kept me non-stop busy from 8am (or earlier) until about 9pm. I love my boys. Very much. But they have been difficult. When daddy is away Wilson especially tries to get away with more misbehaviors. All in all it has been a good week and I tried to plan something fun for each day.

Fun things we did this week:
Bou*nce U
Pool
Library
Big boys went to a movie with my dad while Ty & I went to lunch at Sarabeth's
Dinner @ Cara's
Dinner @ Maw & Paw's - he made the BEST strawberry-rhubarb pie. YUM.
Met my dad for dinner
Mc*Donald's playdate with friends for icecream and playland
Bike riding
playing t-ball outside

I'm so thankful for my family for taking care of us so many nights with dinner. Daniel & Charissa came over to baby-sit the boys one evening so I could go to dinner with a friend. They just wanted to give me a break and it was so nice. The boys had a blast with them. I know that was one of their highlights of the week! I'm thankful I got all the boys to the Y one time to run. Even though I wish it would have been 3 times.

At this point the house is a mess - AGAIN. I'm at the end of my rope. The boys miss their daddy a LOT. So glad he gets home today. 8 days was too many. I'm tired.

I provide great entertainment...at the DOCTOR!

So. Last week I really hurt my hand. Here is the story. I went to take two garbage bags of stuff to Good*will. I drove to a donation shed. The shed had these two small swinging doors  on the top half of a side of the shed that you pushed in. They automatically started swinging shut - they didn't stay open. So I pushed in a garbage bag and tried to super fast pull my hands out so they wouldn't get stuck. Believe me, I don't know what I was thinking. Next thing I knew the right side of my hand was killing me. It was scraped and smashed by the swinging door. I looked at it and it hurt so bad. I shoved the other bag in with a little more grace and didn't hurt myelf. My hand was hurting terribly and I looked at it again and it was bruising, bleeding and swelling. I was shocked! I just thought it was a bad scrape. The boys were in the van and as I got in Wilson could tell I had hurt myself and asked it I was ok. I wasn't. I was fighting back the tears and trying to figure out what to do. There was a Son*ic next door so I went over and went through the drive thru (they had a drive thru! I was so glad. I didn't know Son*ic had one). I had to tell them I just hurt my hand and needed some ice. They let me buy some for 27 cents and had it in a bag. I pulled over in the Kro*ger parking lot and iced my hand. Then I started crying cause it was hurting so bad. Thankfully I had a band-aid and neosporin in Ty's  backpack so I took care of the cut and calmed down. Then we drove home.

So over the weekend my hand was very sore. A bruise developed over half of my hand. I took ibuprofen everyday and that helped. But it was still swollen and sore after 4-5 days. So yesterday Jenn and Abby separately saw me and looked at my hand. I had tweeted about it after it happened. They both said I should go to the dr. So I did.

I showed up and explained to the nurse how I hurt my hand. Also asked about my ankle that has been hurting after running. So then I had to explain how I almost fell walking down the stairs while carrying a load of laundry a couple months ago. (I basically missed the last step and landed with all of my weight on my left foot - it hurt but no big deal). Then the dr came in and I explained all my clumsy accidents to her. So they did x-rays on both. And I had to tell the radiologist about the two clumsy incidents. I was feeling more and more stupid each time I told the story. Even though everyone was super nice and kind.  The dr came down to read the x-rays and I asked her about a tetanus shot because several people said with cutting my hand on the Good*Will shed I needed a tetanus shot. (Those are good for 10 years).  They asked me when I had my last tetanus shot and I said oh 3-4 years ago. (Which I really didn't want to explain why). They asked me where and I said at a walk-in clinic. I'm a little clumsy. (That was when I was stabbed in the foot by an ink pen. I didn't want to tell another clumsy story). So thankfully they didn't ask any questions but in my head I was like oh, wow. I am a big, clumsy, loser!

So all the x-rays were  fine. My hand is just bruised and swollen but is ok. I am supposed to alternate heat and ice on my hand. My ankle is fine and I can keep running. She just told me to put ice on it after I run if it is hurting. So all in all I'm glad I went. I don't have any injuries it was just a little embarrassing to keep telling my clumsy stories. They probably laughed after I left and I can see why!!

Another year ends!

My classroom is packed up and ready for moving! CME is undergoing renovation.They have already begun working on our school. The movers started last Thursday. Half of our school will be in portables for the next 18-24 months. Every box and item is labeled with a yellow label for moving. With my new job I had boxes going to 4 locations...I'm sure the movers loved moving this classroom! 

This was my teacher corner for the past 5-6 years. I can't exactly remember how many years I was in Room 10.

 SOO much stuff for 24 little 2nd graders! I couldn't believe how much stuff I had. I threw a lot of it away and gave a lot of it to my former student teacher.

The view from the very back corner of the room. I taught 2nd grade for 10 years! It was bittersweet to pack everything up and know that so much will be different next year. I'm not a very sentimental person and it all hit me suddenly the last couple days of school.

I'll still see much of this stuff in August! So glad I'm getting to try something new at CME, I couldn't imagine not being at such a wonderful school!

I have a new job!

Last week I found out at work that I have a new job for next year! I am SO excited. I will be an intervention teacher for grades K-5, teaching reading and math groups all day. I'll have between 3-5 kids per group and each group will last 30 minutes. I told my principal in March that I was interested in the position. It was a long 2 months to find out the result - but it was worth it! It will be nice to be doing something different at my school. I was ready for a change. This will stretch me since I haven't taught intermediate kids before but I'm ready!

I have taught 2nd grade for 10 years with my friend, Jenn. We have been there for each other through everything it seems. I've had so many wonderful teammates over the years but Jenn and I have taught together since we graduated from college. It was hard to tell her I was going for a different position but she has been so supportive. Even when I told her I got the job she was so excited for me. It will be weird to not be teaching together!

I'm looking forward to next school year and everything that it will bring. I have a LOT of packing to do. Packing up 2nd grade stuff for the new 2nd grade teacher, packing up my personal teaching stuff that I won't use in intervention, and packing stuff up for my new intervention classroom. Lots of weeding out, organizing, and packing to do!! As I look around my classroom I got very overwhelmed so I started with my filing cabinets this past week. I cleaned out both over a few days! Recycled a LOT of paper. Amazing how much you accumulate in 10 years.

MIA

Here's what's been keeping me busy...it's been a WHILE! There is so much going on right now I've barely kept myself afloat!

* Last week we worked most evenings on our new furniture prep and set-up. We moved the bed frame out and put our old mattress/box spring on the floor the night before our mattress was delivered. Unfortunately the platform for the tempur pedic mattress was delivered broken so now we are still sleeping with our new mattress on the floor! At least it is comfortable. :) Our pretty new bed is covered in the living room with blankets. The next evening we moved our old chest and dresser out of the bedroom. We moved furniture around in the boys' rooms and got rid of the changing table and Luke's toddler dresser. So now the boys all have plenty of drawer space with their new furniture! Our new bedroom set was delivered on Thursday. We spent the next several days moving our clothes over and rearranging etc. It is now all set except for the bed frame.

* I had parent conferences last Friday - 12 showed up (out of 15) so I am a little more than halfway done. There was a lot of prep for those and for the remaining conferences I have scheduled in the next couple weeks before spring break.

* Report cards go home this week so I've been working on those and writing comments etc. One more round of RC this year!

* The consignment sale at Luke's school starts tomorrow. All of my items had to be entered, hung, tagged etc. Thankfully with a little help from Andy and my mom the stuff was ready tonight.

* This Saturday my SIL Stephanie and I are having a wedding shower for our SIL Katie. Andy's little sis is getting married this June! It is at our house so I need to clean, go to the grocery, prep food, decorate, etc. Thankfully Steph and I will work together on everything but the cleaning. We've already planned everything so once the cleaning is out of the way it will be time for the fun stuff! Pictures will come next week. We have a couple surprises planned for Katie. I've also chosen several new recipes to make for the shower. You might think that sounds crazy - new recipes for an event but that gives me a chance to try new things!

* Of course the rest of my life hasn't stopped for the above mentioned things so you can see why I've been MIA!

Many thanks to my mama who came over on Sunday to donate her time to help me. She cleaned our double stroller so we could take it to the consignment sale and helped me clean up and rearrange the boys room. She helped me bag and tag things for the sale. I so appreciated having you here mom to help me! Love you. :)

Furniture Update!

We ordered our bedroom furniture almost 2 weeks ago. We found a simple dark cherry solid wood (no veneer over plywood) bedroom set that we both loved. If you follow the link that should take you to my dresser. Love the door front in the middle. You open it and there are 3 drawers inside! Our bed is the panel bed without drawers in the footboard. It has brushed nickel hardware and is very simple. I love it! We bought 2 nightstands, a king sized bed (YIPPEEE!!!), a dresser with mirror and a chest. It is absolutely beautiful. It isn't a red cherry - it is darker. It has whisper close drawers- so when you start to push a drawer closed, it finishes closing on its own. Wowzers! When we looked at Oak*Factory and Hav*erty's the furniture quality wasn't what Andy had in mind. He did some research and found that Kin*caid furniture is still made out of solid wood. We didn't think we'd be able to afford it but when we went it was half price! We looked, thought about it and made sure we could swing it before we went back a few days later to order it. Thank goodness for tax returns! We also ordered our mattress through a co-worker's son who helped us to get an AMAZING deal on a tempur pedic mattress and pillows. (Thanks Brenda and Kevin!!!) Our bed is going to be heavenly...we can't wait! Now we need a new comforter, sheets, and 2 bed side lamps. I can't wait to have a real night stand with drawers for things and a lamp right next to me for reading! We will probably paint our bedroom this spring/summer to match whatever comforter we find and like.

Injuries

So. I'm not always the most coordinated person. I have accidents. If you've been reading the blog for a while you'll remember this post perhaps. Or this one. This one too. And I'll stop there so you don't think something is wrong with me! But I keep finding more...

Well last week I fell down again. In my house. I had socks on but they were slippery. Wilson was in the shower and started screaming. I jumped off the couch and try to hurry in there and fell flat on my butt. But I have a huge bruise on the inside of my right knee. I was stuck on the floor for a few minutes. Turned out the screaming was because Luke turned the light out while Wilson was in the shower. But I didn't know why he was screaming...so there I was sitting on the floor not moving. My knee has been sore and is still healing.


Then this weekend I was peeling sweet potatoes for roasting veggies. My small group was cooking for a homeless men ministry and I was responsible for roasting veggies for 20-25 people. (Carrots, sweet potatos, garlic and cauliflower). I was holding a potato and peeling the skin off the POTATO when all of the sudden my hand slipped and I peeled a chunk of skin off the base of my thumb. It hurt so bad. It's not deep but it is a chunk right off the top. It still hurts badly.

You might be thinking right now that I'm just a weanie and these injuries aren't that bad...I don't know if I should agree with you or not. I would argue that I've birthed three big baby boys - but I did that with epidurals every time...I survived the pain after a c-section/tubal but there was a lot of pain involved in that too. So. Maybe I am a weanie and I don't like pain. I guess as the only girl (other than Lottie) in a house of boys that is something I'm entitled too. Right?

I'm sure some of you have other clumsy stories about me. Cara will want to share the time the herbie kerbie attacked me at her old house. Really the stories could go on and on. Have one to share? Might as well get a laugh out of these now, right?!

Happy Things :)

- The other night we had sloppy joes. Tyler thought I said poppy joes. So he kept asking "poppy here?". Then he called his dinner poppy joes. So cute!
- Last night Tyler sang parts of Jesus Loves Me as I was singing to him. He really likes that song! He has only sung with me 1-2 other times. It is the sweetest thing ever. The other boys always choose Twinkle, You Are My Sunshine, and a song I made up- called Go To Sleep. For real. Luke sometimes sings with me too. That makes me smile!
- Tyler has eaten veggies for THREE nights! Our persistent eat your veggies or no after dinner "treat" (ie: a hershey kiss or a small handfull of chocolate chips) finally worked! So far anyway!! He has been eating "balls". We have a veggie tray that I make on Monday for the week. This week it has sugar snap peas along with other veggies. Tyler likes for mommy and daddy to take the balls out of the sugar snap peas so he can eat those. So of course there had to be a joke from mommy (shocking I know!) that I found some big balls for him. It's hard to resist a joke that easy! Of course only Andy and I snicker at that - thank goodness!! But my goodness! The boy ate his veggies!!!
- A day with neither Luke or Wilson getting to Strike 3!! Yea! A great day and a wonderful bedtime! Thank you Lord!
- I have exercised 3 times in the past week. :)
- An understanding friend going through a hard time even when I showed up today without chocolate chip cookies for her trip. But I did have homemade chex mix! I ran out of ingredients and then screwed up the batter last night (Trying to multitask) so I couldn't start over. Had to dump it. But she was so nice to me this morning anyway!
- My new math group at school! It's nice to change things up every now and then.

So, life has been tough...

and I'm ready to talk about it. I definitely don't want to give off the impression on this blog that my life is perfect. It is far from perfect. Being fake is a MAJOR pet peeve of mine and I had a realization this week that I often try to focus on positive, happy things on the blog. Which is a good thing, but I don't anyone under the impression that our life is just perfect. So I decided it was time to come out and talk about the struggles I've been having lately. Some will be vague and others I've discussed on the blog before. I've been struggling to stay afloat and now I realize I've made goals. (I'm not a New Year's Eve Resolution kind of girl. Everybody is doing it then and most goals don't stick.) I'm a goal oriented person. I don't always stick to my goals but I am often making mental goals. So I'll share some of those too.

Parenting is tough. Three boys ages 7 and under. One with some anxiety issues and major opposition to anything mom/dad says. Another stuck in the terrible two's. One who doesn't want to do anything for himself. It is hard to always follow through with parenting threats/consequences. Kids can be manipulative. Sometimes when life is hard it is easier to give in. But I'm done. The boys have been driving me crazy and the house has been wild for too long. Too many battles. Too much whining. So I'm reading The Well Behaved Child by John Rosemond and trying some new things at home. I kind of made up my own version of some of his suggestions as I've not gotten very far in the book yet. (Don't have a whole lot of reading time!) We're just using a strike system - 3 strikes and you're out. Which means you go to your room for a pre-determined amount of time. On the past two snow days it was going to be 90 minutes in the afternoon. Neither Luke or Wilson got to strike 3. Yesterday late afternoon, Wilson got to strike 3 for the first time. I told him to go to his room and he could only come out for dinner, homework, and getting ready for bed. He sobbed. I didn't back down. He came to dinner and approached his homework like a totally different child! Wednesday nights are always hard because we get home from church around 8:20. I have 3 boys to get ready for bed alone b/c Andy isn't home then and it is always a nightmare. But tonight, I reminded the boys of the strike system. Told them if they got to strike 3 tonight then their consequences would be tomorrow afternoon/evening. It was a wonderful bedtime. Now, consistency is the key for me & Andy! One small success and I am feeling tons better in this area already.

So juggling marriage, working on communicating better with Andy, 3 children who are all BOYS!, working full time in a demanding job, keeping up with a house/laundry/cooking/etc, church, friends, on and on and on...this causes me to often feel like I'm failing. Because it is hard for me to stay afloat. I have high expectations for myself and I honestly get overwhelmed WAY too easily. I want to be able to handle everything life throws at me but I don't seem to be able to very well. I don't like to "need" others. Mostly because I don't want to bother anyone. (SEE NEXT PARAGRAPH!) I often carry that over to not relying on God as well and that won't work out so well. So I hold things in and don't talk or pray about it until I'm bursting. Working on that too.

I struggle with insecurity and am also reading Beth Moore's book, So Long Insecurity with my small group. I didn't realize how much I struggle with this until I started reading. I knew I had insecurities, just didn't realize how they hide under the surface to the point that you don't realize insecurity is a driving force in so many situations. God is really teaching me a lot about myself right now. Andy and I are also slowly reading Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs together. (As you can see I have mentioned 3 books I'm reading which tells you some of my goals. Plus I'm reading The Girl Who Played With Fire for by Steig Larsson - just for enjoyment!)

So. My goals in RANDOM order:
1. Consistency with my parenting. Don't let them take advantage. Be firm and consistent. I'm taking notes on my parenting book and I'll share them on the blog at some point.
2. Work on my insecurities and belive in myself. I come across as having it all together (at least I think I do!) but so often it feels as if I'm barely holding it together. :)
3. Keep reading the book with Andy and applying it to our marriage.
4. EXERCISE - for my physical and emotional health. Plus it give me time for MYSELF. I exercised yesterday for the first time in almost 6 months. When I was at the walk in clinic on Saturday the nurse said "your blood pressure is great! You must work out a lot!" I laughed. My friend also told me I had to start exercising twice a week for reasons mentioned above . My legs are so sore after the SHRED last night...
5. Somehow not let myself get so overwhelmed...not sure how to do this other than pray. And I need to do more of that anyway.
6. Borrow the book about Terrible Two's by John Rosemond from the library...not sure if that is the exact title.

That's all from my heart for now.

32 = not so bad!

This weekend we celebrated my birthday which was on Sunday. Early Saturday my mom watched the boys so I could go to the Walk in clinic. It went so quickly that I got a manicure while I was out. It was fun! I haven't had a manicure in years. Saturday night Andy and I had dinner at Olive*Garden (which was very delicious! We even shared tiramasu!) and then we went to the mall. My birthday gift was dinner out and shopping! That is what I asked for and he said it was the easiest birthday ever! Win-win! I bought new brown shoes which I love. Actually, my dad had a pair when I was a kid and I thought they were the ugliest shoes ever. But now I like them. Go figure! I also found a few shirts at Old*Navy. Two of them were on clearance and I got them for $8! The clearance was half off the lowest price. So another win! We had a nice evening out without any kiddos. When I woke up Sunday morning the 3 boys had each made me a card. :)

On Sunday night we went to my parents house for dinner. My dad grilled fish & veggies in foil packets, made delicious homemade mac & cheese, and coleslaw. Yum! Chocolate and butterscotch pie were my dessert choices made by my Ma-maw and Pa-paw. My parents bought me a 14 cup food processor! Yay! Now I can make salsa in 1 round of processing instead of 3. I'm sure I'll find many great uses for my new kitchen tool. It was a great birthday! Thank you to everyone for making it so special!

Good Reads

Here is what I've been reading the past 2-3 months. I've liked them all!

This was good- dark, slow to start, but good. Don't recommend the movie out with subtitles. I know they are remaking the movie so maybe that will be better. Haven't read book 2 or 3 yet but plan to read them!

A really good book that took me forever to get through but I really did enjoy it! It is set in Charleston, SC.

Love, love, love this book. I flew through it over break in a couple days. I'm reading book 2 right now and really enjoying it as well! This is super easy reading becuase it is juvenile literature but still really good!

Andy and I received a Kindle for Christmas from his parents. We were super surprised and very excited! I told Andy it might turn him into a reader! The Kindle is so neat! The technology is amazing. I have 10 books on my wish list from Amazon for the kindle. I'm just used to borrowing books or checking them out from the library so I'll have to fork over some money to read now...but the kindle will be fun to read on! It is so thin and light weight. Andy is reading Treasure Island right now because it was one of the free books you can download. I already have 4-5 books on my nightstand that I need to read before I let myself buy a kindle book!

Ten Year Anniversary!

Wow. 10 years can go so fast! Andy and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary on December 30, 2010. We had a wonderful date! My mom and dad took the boys around 4pm. Andy and I went to see a movie "Life as We Know It" and then walked around the mall for a few minutes until our dinner reservations at PF*Chang's! We enjoyed the movie and I even let myself get popcorn. We never get popcorn at the movies. But we were at the dollar movies so I splurged! I say never like we go to more than 2-3 movies a year!! Ha!

Anyway, our dinner reservations were at 7pm. We had a delicious dinner - Lettuce wraps, Cashew Almond Chicken, and Kung Pao Shrimp. We had way too much food but with only eating there about 1 time a year we had to get our 3 favorites! We ate the leftovers for lunch yesterday. After dinner we ran to Office*Depot and bought a large calendar to hang in our kitchen to help us with planning. Then we walked in Bed, Bath*, & Beyond to get towels for the downstairs bathroom (found the exact match to the blue in the shower curtain!), and then walked into Best*Buy to look at 22" tv's for the bedroom.

We had planned to pick Tyler up from my parents since he still needs his crib but ended up coming home with Wilson and Tyler. Wilson just couldn't get himself to stay - that was his and Luke's first time to spend the night at my parents house. Luke stayed and had a great time! Wilson regretted his choice the next morning. We told him to remember that the next time and maybe try and stay!

Anyway, we came home, watched Friends, ate some delicious pie that I made for Andy (recipe to come) and gave each other cards. We had agreed on NO PRESENTS because our plan for our 10th anniversary is to buy new matching bedroom furniture. I've wanted a bedroom suite since we got married. So we're waiting on our tax return and then we'll go shopping! But, as I was reading my card from Andy a jewelry box appeared on his knee. I was soo surprised and started crying. I opened the box and found something beautiful and sparkly inside. I couldn't believe it...we had a wonderful 10th anniversary!

Frozen Yogurt

Grandma & her boys

Terry and my mom

I had strawberry cheesecake frozen yogurt. I added the pink strawberry beads? Not sure what they were called. They burst in your mouth. Pretty cool! Check out the spoon - it's like a shovel!

Tyler had cookies and cream with a few crushed oreos on top.

Silas enjoying his treat!

Yesterday the boys and I met my mom, Terry, and Silas for frozen yogurt. The boys had a great time trying a sample, picking their flavor and adding a topping. This place is so cool! They have 16 flavors of frozen yogurt and tons of toppings.

It was a LOONG week...

This week seemed to go on and on. It was a hard week for me at school. But it's over! So looking forward to two days at home. Nothing exciting planned - just extra sleep and catching up around the house. Last night was good - came home from school and bought my first fresh salmon filets. I made a nice dinner- salmon, rice, steamed broccoli and my favorite wine. But I don't think I'll use the salmon recipe from last night again - the salmon was ok but didn't really care for the cilantro pesto - and I love cilantro! It didn't have much flavor. We LOVED the garlic rice pilaf. Easy - and will definitely make it again. Yum! But I was glad I finally tried fresh salmon! I've always been afraid I might not like it. I had to cook fish with the skin still on one side but like the meat man said, it peeled off very easily once it was cooked. I made sure to not touch or look at it! LOL!

After the kids were in bed Andy's uncle stayed at our house so we could go out. We went to Home*Depot to look at bathroom vanity's. Andy has been working SO hard on our downstairs bathroom (separate post to come). We then went to Star*buck's and had coffee and played checkers. It was fun! Even though he beat me both games. I told him I didn't think I'd played checkers in about 20 years. Of course he has all this strategy and I don't! Anyway, it was fun. Then I fell asleep watching The Closer.