Oh, Hey There!

I've missed you! No, really, I have! Oh so much has been going on, and on top of everything, I have been experiencing the most sickly year I have ever had! My kinders have been sickly...like for real sick...over Christmas, 8 of my 18 had the flu. They've passed around horrible stomach bugs all year, strep, colds that never end, terrible ear infections, Fifth's disease, pink eye...oh the horrors of kindergarten! It has never been this bad though. We have a new cleaning crew, and I have to wonder if it isn't coincidence that germs aren't going away anymore. Fortunately, so far, I haven't had the bad stuff...just a general feeling of ick. Yes, I meant to say ick, not sick. It has not been fun. And along with the sickly kinders, who by the way have allergies out the wazoo, SPRING FEVER HAS HIT. Me, my intern, and the kids. In full force.

I am dying to get in my garden and work. According to The Farmer's Almanac for this year, my area has had its final hard freezing spell of winter this week. Now, I did not use that trusty resource last year, and guess what? My garden produced a total of 2 dinners worth of potatoes, about 10 meals of fried okra, an occasional tomato, 2 quarts of green beans, two carrots, and about a half dozen sweet potatoes. That's it. And last year, it snowed in May. May 7 to be exact. The day after I put out my tomatoes. I cried. I so hope the almanac is on the money this year. I want need to be out there, nursing my plants and filling basket upon basket of beautiful produce that I can practice my canning skills on. It isn't supposed to rain again until Sunday, so I am planning to be out there tomorrow evening, planting cucumber and green bean seedlings. I also have some turnip and pepper seedlings, but I don't think that they are quite ready to transplant. I did plant my potatoes and onions about 10 days ago, and the onions have started to sprout, which is definitely exciting!

What else has been going on? Well, Lefty had her last ever cheer try-out two weeks ago and made it. She was named captain of her squad!!! I was asked by the other senior mom to be the President of the booster club and Treasurer for the squad. The other senior mom is Vice-President and Secretary. It's gonna be a busy year. Boo decided not to try out for cheer this year, but did try out for dance team. She was a nervous wreck, but I had no doubt that my tiny dancer would do just fine. That will be a new thing for us; we've always been a cheer family, so competitive dance team will be a new adventure. The Boy tried out for his basketball team and didn't make it, BUT he had better luck trying out for track. He is in his first year of being able to do school athletics, so it's a pretty big learning curve. Also, baseball season starts next week for The Boy. Things are gonna be oh so busy for the next two months. Lou tried out for her middle school band and chose to play trumpet like Lefty. I hope she enjoys it.

As for me and my man, we've just been following the kiddos from this to that. We haven't done any more craft shows or anything, although I scouted one out last weekend that is a definite possibility for November. I have gotten a little discouraged. Things have been very slow. Like non-existent. I sold two wreaths last month, and that has been pretty much it for 2014 so far. Kinda sad. However, one of those was for a church a few towns away, and it turned out fantabulous!

Speaking of churches, we have been visiting a new church. We went alone the first week, then last week, we took all four kids. They seemed to enjoy it. Boo asked to go with us this coming Sunday (when she is going to be at her dad's). I am glad she wants to go.

There is so much more for me to go on and on about, but I guess I can save some for other posts! Weather for example. My new addiction. A diet (or the lack thereof) update. New cooking adventures. The four new florals I made. School. Theatrical performances. A band performance with the Beatles. Spanish Honor Society. Faith.  I truly could go on and on. But I will wait.

Right Here Waiting...

Oh.
   My.
      Word.

Life is so busy. There has been so much going on, and I knew it had been an eternity since I was last here; since I even last visited a single blog or really thought about posting. I have all of these fantastical ideas for posts swimming around in my head, and yet there seems to be no time or inclination lately to actually sit down and put them into print. I just wanted to tell y'all that I am still here. And this blog and all of the bloggers that I usually adore reading posts from are always right here waiting for me to take the time to share with them. What has kept me away from you? Well. These are the top ten things (in addition to Mother's Day, Father's Day, 4th of July, Lefty's first prom, our last dance recital, cheer try-outs for Lefty and Boo)...

1. Finishing another year in kindergarten. Finishing always seems to take so much out of me!
2. Beginning preparations for the new year in kindergarten. It will be my eighth year! Wow!
3. Professional development meetings for new things happening in our state regarding education.
4. Staying home and spending time with all four of my kiddos. For the first time ever, we chose to have them during the first part of summer, rather than in the middle. I am really liking it this way.
5. Having and recovering from surgery. Nothing serious...just a boob job and a touch of liposuction. I am at three weeks post-procedures, and I am loving the results of both!!!
6. Getting to be an Aunt for the second time! Weston is so precious, and Carson is the best big brother!
7. Working on the garden that would be. Chris keeps saying that this is just not the year for my garden. It has really sucked. I still have hopes that it will just be a late bloomer. Literally.
8. Becoming the mother of a 16 year old daughter. There are no words. 
9. Throwing a Sweet Sixteen bash. Hilarious!
10. Preparing to get a business license for my mesh obsession. 

I do have pictures, I swear. Uploading them is just another thing that I have not yet gotten around to. But I will. Promise. In the meantime, enjoy the ones that I do have!

Where Have You Been?

and what have you been doing??? I have been everywhere but on this blog!

I have seen more rainbows in the last month than I have in my entire life!

We have had serious drought conditions since May. September has brought us much more favorable weather...and the promise of better days to come!

One week this month, I saw at least one rainbow every single day. Insane!!! God was making me a promise that week...









I have spent time watching my precious girls do this...one as a Jr. High cheerleader, and the other a Sr. High. Where has the time gone? *tear*

Hubby and I put out the fall decor, which got me wanting homemade bread...so I made some. First. Time. Ever. and it was Y.U.M!!! must.make.more.soon.very.soon.

And finally, we are going to attempt to do a couple of craft shows next month. **serious nail biting here!** Therefore, I have spent pretty much all of my 'spare' time in the craft room, either crafting or cleaning or planning. Some of the results look a little like...

 OH...and I have been spending some time getting to know these sweeties!!!

SAHM (only for the summer :-( )

When the girls were little, I was a stay-at-home-mom. I loved it. EVERY MINUTE. They were my life, and that is how I wanted it! I would give anything to be able to stay home again. To have dinner prepared more often than not; to have after school snacks ready; to be able to pick them up in the car rider line; to take them lunch on occasion; to not worry about who would get them where they need to go after school or to appointments; to be able to take care of wifely things that get neglected now; to be involved in community things and school groups; get my drift???

As it is now, we eat out during the school year more than we are at home for meals; the girls ride the bus or stay after school (with hopes that someone is able to bring them a snack); they eat sack lunches every day; doctor and dental appointments send me in a tizzy because I have a hard time finding someone to get them there for me when I can't get away from work (it doesn't help that I work 30 minutes out of town); the house stays a wreck except for the day after the cleaning lady comes (so one or two days every other week); I never get to stop by to visit Hubby at work or have lunch with him; PTO? What's that? I have hinted and asked, but no luck. Anywho...

So summertime is a tease for this SAHM wanna-be. I stay busy doing things with the kids and trying to get as many appointments in as possible so that I don't have to worry about them during the school year. For the month of July, we have Loo and The Boy, so that makes it extra fun. We have been trying to cook new foods, so each kiddo gets to choose a meal a week. Some of the things we have tried are...

French dip roll ups and poutine (steak fries drenched in gravy and topped with cheese)

Sweet and spicy bacon wrapped chicken with twice baked potatoes

Loaded baked potato pancakes

Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad (served with burgers)

3 Cheese Chicken Penne, Green Bean Casserole, and Baked Zucchini Chips

Summertime pretend SAHM time also lets me get a lot of this done...

And it's never far from my thoughts that my time as a SAHM is just a dream and I have to get back to this...

Beginnings

With January comes a new year. A chance to do things differently; a sense of renewal; a burst of determination and energy to apply towards many goals. I am hoping that for me it is a new beginning.

As I blogged in my last post, I have not felt right for a long time. I should have recognized what was going on, and I honestly probably did, but was in severe denial about it. I have started taking an anti-depressant again after stopping taking them cold-turkey nine years ago. I thought I was doing okay without them, but now I realize that a lot of my body aches and joint pains were a symptom of the depression that was creeping back into my psyche. It has been three weeks since I began the medication, and already I am feeling better. Granted, I still have bad days, but nowhere near what they were. My body feels better than it has in years, particularly my back, which was badly injured in a car accident a few years ago. I am finding it easier to smile without having to force it. I don't feel like I am watching my life through a fog anymore. So far, January has brought me the beginning of a life without constant pain.

Feeling better has given me a lot more energy. I don't want to just sit anymore. I want to be up and doing something...to be busy. On the same day that I began my medicine, I met with a trainer at the local fitness center. I have gone about 3 - 4 times each week since then, doing a combination of weight training and cardio. I have lost four pounds and two inches from my belly. It's not much, but it's a start...a new beginning.

Over the Christmas holiday, I found that I have a knack for making wreaths. I already knew that I enjoyed creating floral decor and centerpieces, so the wreath-making shouldn't have surprised me. What did surprise me was the hubby's suggestion that I try to sell them. So...another beginning. 'J's Jingle Jangles' was born. Look it up on Facebook! I don't know where it will go...if anywhere...but I am anxious to see what happens with it. It is a 'slow season' for things like wreaths, so I may not have much luck until the fall. Until then, I will have fun creating!

What new beginnings has January brought to you?

It's a Bird, It's a Plane...No, it's...

my Christmas break flying by!

It will be super hard to go back to school on Monday, since my kiddos don't go back until Thursday! I was happy that I got some good reading in though...I read the entire Hunger Games series last week. It was so good! The movie will be fantastic!

Anyway, we have been so busy during our time "at home." I have hit the gym 7 of the last 10 days. Go me! Lefty usually goes with me, but her time available for workouts will be slim when school starts up again because of cheer. Basketball season ends in a month though, so that should free up some time for her. She had a winter semi-formal to go to on our first day home. She went looking like this...

The very next day we hosted our first round of Christmas. It was a giant spaghetti supper with hubby's family. There were a few minor mishaps (spaghetti in the floor...twice, and a broken dish), but it was pretty perfect. As anti-social as I am, I always love hosting get togethers at our house. This was a great pic of all the kids!

On Monday, I got mah hair did. That and a trip to Wal-Mart took pretty much the whole day. Tuesday brought 9 teen-agers to our house for a 'movie night.' They didn't watch a single movie.

After that, the week was spent wrapping gifts and getting ready for the rest of our Christmases. In all, we had four, and they were all terrific! We went to my dad's on Friday, where this little guy and his big gift were the spotlight all night...he kept asking...'open pehsents now? I eat, open pehsents?'

Then there was Christmas with my mom at our house...my nephew 'Little Boy' loves opening presents...no matter whose they are!

And Christmas morning, before kiddos took over, looked like...

After kiddos, it looked like Christmas threw up in our living room!

My precious family gave me some great gifts! 

This was all of our trash after the big day...

And on the day after Christmas, hubs and I had a shopping date! I always treasure the days he and I get to spend out and about (or just home) alone together.We braved the crowds (which were really pretty non-existent), a pouring rain, and had PF Chang's for lunch. Yum! This was the haul for the trip home...

The girlies and hubby worked together to put the new net on the trampoline. They told me to blog it.

 Then, maybe best day of all...perfect hubby built me shelves so that I could finally organize my craft room! He says he will build some more to finish it. I was so excited to get it situated the way I wanted and to have workable work spaces for quilts and other crafts.

 The two newest additions to my wreath stash are these. But I actually sold the last one! Woo hoo!

There are only three days left of my break. I imagine half of one will be spent at school, the rest...who knows!