So Much To Be Thankful For

Every once in a while I WILL complain about my everyday aggravations: my house, children, husband, etc., but I've made an early resolution that I will try not to do that everyday. I have ALOT to be thankful for and need to remind myself of those precious gifts everytime I start to complain. I had this opifony the other day when I took one of my children's playmates home. He lives with his Mom in a bachelorette apartment that was the size of my kitchen. The kitchen and bathroom where the size of a closet and NO she didn't give me a tour, you could see right into each room for the front door. I felt sad for her and her son because they didn't have their own space, a bedroom, to retreat to. I went straight home and thanked my husband for working so hard to give us all that we have.

On a creative note: I've been so obsessed with cleaning house and exercising that I've placed my creative side in the corner. I've got quite a few crochet projects begging for completion, but first I must complete my sister's birthday gifts. I hope I can get it all done before tonight! YIKES!!! No stress; whatever I don't complete, she'll get as a X-mas gift. :) Hope to post some pics of the completed gifts once I'm done and once I figure out how to upload pictures from my new camera.

It's Not Called Bootcamp For Nothing!

On Wednesday I woke up rather groggy compliments of the 3 glasses of chardonnay I drank the night before. I got my husband off to work and then convenienced myself that I didn't need to follow Barry's Bootcamp to the T; only a crazy person would attempt to exercise 6 days in a row. Well that's until I read a blog by More than Muscles which talked about how she held a boot camp in 30 degree weather. So I got my A** up off the couch and completed my exercise program for the day. I then reminded myself that it's not called Barry's BOOTCAMP for nothing! I'm going to have to brake out my checkbook and pay Janis for the motivation she gives me OR maybe I'll just crochet her a little something. Either way I appreciated how much she shares on her blog and look forward to the day when I can complete MAYBE 3 of her exercises listed. :)

Kept Myself Busy

As I lit the candle yesterday and placed it next to her picture, I planned to keep myself busy so my mind would not be able to think about how much I miss her. One year ago yesterday, November 18, 2007, I lost my Grandmother to pancreatic cancer. For those of you who know me, you know just how difficult this loss has been. My Grandmother wasn't just my grandma, she was my best friend. We were two peas in a pod. She was an amazing person! So after a pretty stress free day, I made an awesome salmon dinner and cracked open a bottle of chardonnay. My husband and I along with the kids toasted our Gma and talked about our memories, it was very nice. And since one glass of Chardonnay isn't enough, I went next door to my good friend's house and we toasted her one more time. Then we finished off the bottle; really good stuff. My day turned out so much better then I anticipated and I'm sure I owe that to her. I love you, Gma.

Totally Productive and So Out of Shape!

I'm proud to say that I did exactly what I said I would, well, at least when it came to cleaning house. I was very productive this weekend. I cleaned out the storage closet and kitchen cabinets on Saturday. I cleaned out the kid's closet and organized half of the hallway cabinets on Sunday. Now I just have to finish the hallway cabinets and conquer my closet; Yikes!

On Saturday I made a pot roast in the crockpot which was a HUGE hit with the family. I found the recipe on The Chic Life blog and thought I would try it out. It was super easy to prepare and tasted great! My husband must have commented how good the meal looked 3xs while slicing the meat. In the end, my oldest son said that it was "the best chicken you ever made", he calls all meat chicken regardless of how many times we point out it's not.

I don't know what I was thinking making Saturday my first day of exercise. Clearly, it was an ambitious plan and didn't happen. Monday was a much better candidate since I wake up with my husband at 4:40am. I'm able to get him off to work, exercise and shower before the sun comes up which causes the kids to wake up. So this morning, I brought down my ball and exercise band, popped in the blue dvd and got to sweating. The dvd is a 21 minute lower body work out which consisted of a warm up and 14 exercises 60 seconds each. Not too bad, but after the warm up it was clear to me just how out of shape I am. Regardless, I made it through the workout and can't wait to see where I'm at a week from now.

I'm Fed Up!

I'm fed up with all the crap that is stuffed into pretty much every cabinet and closet in this house. This weekend, I'm cleaning house!!!

I'm fed up with being Ms. Fatty McFlabby! Since the birth of my daughter I've been LAZY and DALUSIONAL. I've have come to realization that at my age you need to actually MAKE AN EFFORT if you want to look they way you did before you had kids. I not only need to pay attention to what I eat and how much, but I need to EXERCISE. I get motivated when I ready More than Muscles' blogs about her boot camps, although I must confess that sometimes I feel like I'm reading French when she describes the exercises she has does. Not to mention, they sound really intense so I probably would pass out with in the first 5 minutes, BUT it is definitely something to strive for. So that's it, NO MORE TALKING about doing it. I'm pulling out my Barry's Bootcamp box, brushing off the dust, pumping up my ball and tomorrow morning I'm getting started!!! Goodbye 145, it's time to say hello to 125 or ATLEAST 130. :)

What A Great Weekend!

What a great weekend! I love when reality proves me wrong. I was not looking forward to sleeping in a tent, but the camp out turned out to be so much fun. Who knew we had a little park, only 20 minutes away, that once you enter makes you feels as though you are in the forest. The park had two ponds with ducks, turtles and big fish. There were a couple of small trails for a mini hike and an amphitheatre. My son's Cub Scout's pack rented the park for one night which was fun to see all the different dens interacting. The Santa Ana winds picked up during the night which made our tent camping experience even more memorable.



On Monday we took our boys to Disneyland. They each had been there before separately for their 2nd birthdays, but neither really appreciated it like they did on Monday. We had a fabulous day. The lines were either short or if they were long they were fast. We were able to ride everything they wanted to. Their favorites turned out to be mine, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted House. I can't wait until March when I take Mem for our Disney day of princesses!

I'm Crazy!

So once again I've planned quite a lot to do this weekend. It's funny how things sound so much more doable in my head then in the real world.

First for tonight, friends of ours invited my husband and I out to a dinner event at a club they belong to tonight. TOTALLY, doable.

Second for Saturday night, about a month ago we committed to taking our sons to a Cub Scout's one night camping trip; in my mind TOTALLY doable.

Third, we've been promising the boys to take them to Disneyland. They're finally ate an age where they can appreciate the experience. We originally planned for my hubby and the kids to take a day off during the week for this. So since my husband has Monday off for Veteran's Day, the boys are going to play hookie and guess where we're going; you got it, Disneyland! Once again in my head doable.

So, Friday has now arrived and I've got on a ton of CRAP to do thanks to my DOABLE planning. I'm telling you, I'M CRAZY! I completely forget about all the preparation that goes into going camping even if it's for one night at a local park. So I must go now and go grocery shopping for the weekend, get our camping gear ready, figure out a way to make sleeping on the floor in a tent comfortable for my husband and I so our backs down get too jacked up, pack, give myself a pedicure/manicure so I can feel pretty night, and much, much, more. Have a great weekend all! I'm hoping mine will turn out better than I've envisioned in my DAMN HEAD! :)

A Great Time Was Had By All

Wow, what a crazy, exciting, and exhausting week! I've finally recovered from the past week/ weekend and am ready to share.

October 27, 2008: Cleaned, Cleaned, Cleaned!

October 28, 2008: Shopped, Shopped, Shopped, Cleaned!

October 29, 2008: Happy 2nd Birthday Mem!

What an exciting day! My baby girl turned 2 and she had her first Halloween party to attend with our Mommy and me group.

Mem and Seamus all dressed up!

For her "actual" birthday celebration, I made her her favorite dinner,mostacolli with red sauce, salad with ranch and garlic bread; for fun, I put out olives and croutons for an appetizer which Mem and Ant LOVED!!! After dinner, we headed out to the pumpkin patch for some pumpkins and a hay ride. When we got home we sang happy birthday and ate cake!

October 30, 2008: Shopped, Prepped, Cleaned!

October 31, 2008: Happy Halloween boys and girls!

The boy's school had their annual Fall Festive. Each year each grade parades around in their costumes and a winner is chosen from each grade. Now, EVERY year my boys ask a million times, "Mom, do you think I'm going to win?" and EVERY year I have to tell them probably NOT. "Why?", they ask and I must explain that they are looking for a literary character costume that is traditional and my boys chose to be the "IT" character of the season; this year it was Star Wars. Regardless, they love walking in the parade and love, love, love the carnival games and junk food that follow.

Halloween night was as fun as can be. My sister and her family joined us along with all our kick ass neighbors for a night of trick or treating and socializing! Halloween should be on Friday night every year.

Clone Trooper, Adikin Skywalker & Abby Cadabby

November 1, 2008: Emmie's Birthday Bash!

With an Abby Cadabby theme, we party like rock stars all day and night! She rocked it with her brothers and friends in the bouncy house, played games, opened presents, ate cake and had a blast. Once it was all pretty much cleaned up, Mommy rocked the Vanilla Stois with TiTi Shell and paid for it the next couple of days. Thank goodness I only do that once in a Pink Moon! :)

Exhausting, but FRIGIN FUN!!! Can't wait til next year!