Fourth of JULY!

We had lot of fun this year celebrating the Fourth of July! We went to a River Cats game the day before, so we were able to celebrate the Fourth with Fireworks in the sky two days in a row. Here we are at our town's celabration with our friends

Doing Well

My surgery was a success I think! I can breathe through my nose and smell again! I was making brushetta the other day and smelled it; gosh I forgot how good it smells… Although I now can smell dirty diapers on the downside. They went in and removed all my polyps and swollen tissue in my nasal passages. Yay! I only had two "BAD" days. Day 2 and day 10 were the worst of the recovery. The rest of the days were manageable. Summer is almost here! Not sure how I feel about school being out... Weight loss is going well. Slowly but surely, pound by pound. Or should I say oz. by oz.! Good old weight watchers. I have lost 16 pounds since January. Only 16 more to go! Started training for my 1/2 marathon that is in July.

Motherhood

As I am thinking Mother's Day is coming up, I can't help but think how grateful I am to be the Mom of my three wonderfull kiddos. This week has been a tough one, filled with each child getting the flu from hell. I have cleaned up more vomit and diarrhea this week alone then I think all previous six years of motherhood combined. As my poor Luke lays on a blanket on the floor near me my heart aches for him. My never stop overly energetic boy has been gone since Monday. I miss the constant flow of energy, his very loud giggle, and I miss his hugs. The very triats that run be tired/frusterated are the things that I miss the most. Luke is the most loving tender child. He loves to be outside as "he goes to work" on whatever fancies him at the moment. He is the child that needs the GPS tracker on him and at the same time is the most happy sitting next to me. He is my buddy, and always knows when I need a hug or a cheer, "you the best Mommy ever!" Then there is Kaleia, the one that started this awful flu in our house this week. She is the most independent, smart, confident child I have ever seen. Oh, and I forgot competitive and boy crazy. My goodness, I have to say to her all the time "you can't date until you are 16" and "this is not a race". I think she is completely unaware of how academically advanced she is, but completely aware of which boys want to marry her and which ones don't. The very traits that drive me crazy will serve her well in life. No one is going to make her do something she doesn't want to, and nobody is going to tell her she can't do it, and nobody is going to tell her she is not beautiful or smart. I was looking at her the other day at the top of the stairs and just had to stop and think wow, she is so beautiful and she is looking so old! And then there was Shane. The most easy going lovable child. Loves everyone, and hardly complains. Goes with flow of whatever that day's schedule holds; which is differant everyday. I'm lucky he is so easy, because he has no set schedule or routine. He loves to climb things, and is a little Houdini when it comes to getting out of things like-a four point stroller harness and a highchair with a safety belt! He is very determined and will very quietly keep trying to do something until he gets it. I can baracade the stairs and he will spend 45 min. trying to get pass without a whimper. I think he enjoys the challange! I am excited to watch his personality develop more. Isn't it wonderful how different each child is-right out of the whomb. I am so grateful for my life and my husband and my kids. And although it is not always a bowl of cherries I am thankful for the times when I feel my bowl is full-even amongst vomit and diarrhea. So the blogspot format has changed and I can't find the spell check...What the heck!

Pictures

So I just emailed myself a few pictures from my phone and downloaded them to the blog. No editing done.

Here we are at dinner one night.



Easter morning, on our way out the door.



Shane this week at the park.

so busy!

So, I have started commenting a lot on another private blog, and so this one has been neglected. So sorry. PLUS, since I got my new iphone (LOVE) (FYI first smart phone) I have not taken and pictures on my camera and have only been taking pics on my phone. Long story short, I have not taught myself how to down load those pics on to the computer to post. Boo!
Loving life lately! I have made a great group of friends (dare I say close) recently and have met a FABULOUS new friend that I feel like I have known longer then the short 2 weeks we have known each other! My life has been filled with wifehood (why is that not a word!), motherhood, art, swimming, speech, boot camp, park play dates, carpool, ect. Did I just say carpool?!! When did I get old! Soccer begins soon and so does training for a challenge...have not decided yet what it will be...I guess on top of the ever ongoing challenge of loosing baby weight! (25 pesky pounds left!)
I will try to keep this blog updated more!

I made my first and second green monster smoothie today! Yum!
Greenmonstermovement.com
This is a picture of the one I made for the kids.
2 cups baby spinach
1 cup unsweetened almond milk (I used regular milk for the kids)
tbsp peanut butter
sliced frozen banana
3 ice cubes
I was not hungry all day. I told Luke it was a Jamba Juice, and Kaleia it would make her hair and nails grow and give her glowing skin. The kids drank them down fast and said they were soo yummy. You guys should try one. Adding blueberries to mine tomorrow and skipping the peanut butter and adding tbsp of flax seed.
PS
So this was posted on another blog I do from last week, but wanted to post it here too for you all to see. Update: I asked the kids what they wanted for breakfast this morning and they both wanted green monsters! HA! I also made one for Jordan to take to work this morning...I need to call him and see what he thought.

Random

Luke called or stockings "sockies" all season, and tried to wear them every day.

Kaleia was very proud that her hair was finally long enough for pigtails.

Christmas Ornaments 2011

Every year we all choose a new ornament for the tree. Kaleia picked a Tinkerbell one, Luke picked a Lighting McQueen, Shane got a little Jiminey Cricket, Jordan got a Chip & Dale one, and I of course got the ugly "Puppy Love" series ornament.

Starting to update...

Here is our Shaney Dude as we call him, back in November

Luke fell asleep with all this on his bed...a nightly routine

Luke and Jordan riding the train at the mall