One more little thing…is this a milestone? September 28, 2007

Keep in mind that Ellie’s favorite movie is Cinderella and that is her only exposure to stepmothers.

So, Ellie didn’t get her way. She was trying to talk me into something that was a bad idea…I can’t really remember what it was. Probably something really unsafe. Anyway, after several failed attempts of trying to change my mind, Ellie says, “Mom, you are in turning into a real stepmother!”

Now, I’ve gone longer than a year without swearing in this blog..but, don’t you think my four year old just called me her version of a bitch?

I had to stop myself from laughing when she said it though. I remained calm and we had what my former boss used to call a “values clarification session.” And, that was just a long talk about life…probably too long for a four year old. But, I don’t believe in spanking and our talk, I think, taught her not to call me a stepmother anymore. And, finally, I did inform her that many stepmothers are nice. She was unaware of that. She’ll probably look for a better word next time.

But, I thought you would appreciate her creativity.

Meatballs September 28, 2007

are what was served for breakfast today…

Thomas woke up at 5:30 am for the day! Then, by 6:30 he had already had two tantrums because I refused to give him cookies for breakfast. So, he refused to eat anything and was so irritable. “Cookies!” He tried to climb up the pantry shelves to the cookies which are placed back out of his sight. But, he knows where they are. I can’t tell you how many tantrums he had before 8 when his sister woke up. By the way he acted, you would think that cookies are a regular part of his morning routine. But, when his sister put in a request for meatballs for breakfast, he ran around screaming “balls!” Since serving meatballs didn’t involve the pantry, last night’s leftover meatballs were served for breakfast this morning. Thomas finally gave in. He couldn’t resist when he saw his sister eating.

You can’t make this stuff up….

Transitions.. September 28, 2007

…are emotional!

Our family is going through big changes…Andy went back to work. Ellie is going to preschool. Thomas is talking.

I have a new position with Futura. I am Michigan’s Bilingual Area Manager. Fancy title, huh? My official job description is about two pages long. The short of it is that I am managing all of the teachers. I am responsible for the recruiting, interviewing, hiring, scheduling, evaluating, training, and any other thing that involves Futura’s teachers. I’m so very excited and a bit surprised too. The director (MI owner) is pregnant and is experiencing some complications so she has to delegate some work. The pay isn’t fabulous, but it is ok and will improve with time. There is a lot of room for advancement as I really believe this company is going to grow. And, the timing is really perfect because the company is just beginning. So, I can do a lot of this job at home, but I have to observe all of the teachers. This semester there are 25 I think. So, I’m going to be crazy once that starts. So, anyway, it has been an emotional week.

On Monday, October 8th, I have to be in WI for the day training. That means that I have to fly out on Sunday sometime. Now, I know a lot of people would be so excited about this. But, I’m mostly nervous. I’m not nervous about flying. I’m nervous about Lake Michigan separating my family and me. Silly, huh! I mean Ellie and Thomas are 4 and 2. I have never left them over night. When Ellie was 2, I went to Cedar Point for a day and didn’t see her until the next day. But, I’ve never been this far from my kids. I know they will be fine. They will be with their daddy, after all. He is pretty good at this parenting thing. But, I get teared up at thinking about it.

I had a few expectations about the first time I leave the kids for the night…

Andy and I alone somewhere exotic or not exotic, just alone….uninterrupted for 24 hours. Sure, I’d be sad. But, it would be so much fun! And, the kids would just be a few miles away….

Me and girlfriends scrapbooking for a weekend! I’d miss my kids…but wine, girl talk, scrapbooking..who could ask for more? And, the kids would not be more than a couple of hours away..with daddy.

I never envisioned going to WI for training for a part time job! But, I am very excited about this job…it is perfect for me, really. I love the idea of working with adults. They must have a love for the Spanish language and for kids. So, I’m going to take my laptop and try to do some scrapbooking. And, maybe, just maybe, I’ll have a full night’s sleep uninterrupted! I hope so, because when I come back, I have a bunch of observations to do! So, if you pray, please say a prayer for me.

I hope I don’t sound ungrateful. Because I am so very grateful. We really need the money. We’ve been praying about money for several months and this has fallen into place perfectly. It is part time and will only be 10-15 hours a week most of the time. I set my schedule. It is family friendly. The economy in MI is horrible and it is so hard to find a job. So, I’m very grateful. And, they are going to pay at least part of my cell phone bill. I’ll get my very own business cards. And, I can make commission if I start up any programs at schools. It will be a while before I am really active in the sales part, though. I have to learn the management part first.

Anyway, that is my big news!

Pictures… September 27, 2007

First, some pictures from Tuesday’s trip to the zoo….

Ellie We fed the giraffes. Here is the zookeeper showing us how to do it.
So, I tried to get a picture of Ellie and Thomas feeding Rasberry. But, clearly it didn’t work. I was too busy helping them. Anyway, they loved it.

And here is Thomas relaxing. It was a hot day!!!

I have much more to write, but will try to do that later when I have more time.

Before and after…. September 23, 2007

So, I hope you know that I’m not bragging here. Ok, maybe I am. But, my true motive here is to motivate others. My motivation came from looking at before and after pictures of messy houses on the bargain hunters message board. So, I can’t bring myself to post pictures on some random message board, I’ll post them here.

Ok, I have an after here..I didn’t take a before. But, the pantry is finished! It started in the summer, and finished it this weekend. The baskets and jars are from Ikea. The baskets were 4 for $10. The quality is not that great so I’m not sure how long they’ll last. Anyway, I really wish I would have taken a before picture. But, trust me, it was a mess.

And, we bought a label maker. Here is the before of our silverware drawer. Ugh. It’s embarrassing.
And, here is the after.
And, this is the junk drawer. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that we are going to have a junk drawer. Almost everybody has one, right? Well, some time this week, I’ll post an after picture. I bought some trays. So, after I clean it, it will be an organized junk drawer. Hopefully, it will have less junk in it. I’m not going to do it today because Ellie and I are going to make apple pies while Thomas naps.

You know that you are a Mom when… September 21, 2007

Going to the grocery store alone is now classified as “me” time.

You look forward to going to any sort of store by yourself.

Your exciting purchase of the month is a label maker.

Your biggest non child related accomplishment of the weekend is going to be cleaning out the junk drawer.

You make plans w/your girlfriend to go over to her house and make labels. You’re both so excited that you can’t stand it.

You can’t walk through the house without tripping on a well loved toy.

Your time away is spent documenting your family’s life…otherwise known as scrapbooking.

You cry, at least every other day, for so many different reasons.

Your wear your children’s food, saliva, and tears on your clothes daily.

You feel guilty for locking the bathroom door just to have three minutes of privacy.

You celebrate for having three minutes of privacy in the bathroom.

Ok that is the few that I came up with in the last 10 minutes..care to add any?

some ramblings… September 21, 2007

It was difficult to leave Ellie at preschool today. I’m not sure why. But, she just seems so big. I’m sure it had something to do with her deliberate defiance before preschool. She refused to let me comb her hair and refused to comb it herself. This open defiance is new….But, if you are a parent, you know the look…..look you straight in the eyes..”No!” and then the look straight ahead waiting for what is next. I know every kid does this. It didn’t make me angry. (I used to deal with 165 teenagers a day, so I can take it.) Anyway, just these developmental milestones, I guess. Defiance, sweetness, preschool. She is growing up.

OOps, Thomas is awake and time to go get Ellie.

Fall? September 20, 2007

Back to the orchard we went!

I can’t figure out how the layout is going to be with these pictures, but we’ll see how it goes.

Anyway, this time, I took Hannah E. and Katie with us so we could get more apples. Empire apples were ready! Yahoo! And, I think we got some of the last ones at this orchard. Here are all the kids minus Aidan. I meant to upload the picture of Aidan too, but I messed up. Anyway, here are our pickers.

Here we are riding on the wagon through the orchard. Beautiful, huh? The weather has been great!

They tried to tell us that the Empire apples were gone, but we found two little rows in the middle of the orchard. Yay!

We are getting used to the routine of school too. Ellie was much less confused this week.

Last week, I had more training with Futura. It was invigorating to be around so many people passionate about language learning. I am so impressed with this company. The founder did a lot of the training. I can see why she has been so successful. I really hope this is successful in Michigan. I think it’s off to a good start. There were great teachers, the director is very professional and very thorough. And, the curriculum is excellent. I really want to raise Ellie and Thomas to be bilingual. I’ve been lazy about it, but I’m ready to work on it now!

Ok, the kids are getting restless. Time to play!

God bless Cade! September 17, 2007

Here I am, with my Godson, Cade. Isn’t he adorable?

We had a good weekend, but busy. But, everything went well. It was nice to see Uncle Ken. Ellie and Thomas kept us pretty busy at the playground so I didn’t get to talk to him too much. But a hug and a chat was really nice! I also got to see relatives that I haven’t seen in a long time. Some had the chance to talk to Andy for the first time too. All day long, I head what a nice husband that I have. (I knew that already, but I’m glad others think so.)

So, it’s Monday morning. So far, we’re relaxing a bit. I think we’re going to get around, go to the park and then take Ellie to school.

Have a good day!

#100 September 13, 2007

Yay! I have published 100 posts now!