Happy Turkey Day

Time sure does fly when you're busy. I've spent the last week going through Christmas stuff and am officially done decorating. Whew. I've also been Christmas shopping up a storm, determined to get the things I knew I wanted to buy before the whole shopping season kick off starts on Friday.

Tomorrow we'll be spending the day over at my sister in law's. Her family is in town from Iowa and really knows how to make a feast. Then we'll pour over sale guides after dinner. You won't find me shopping on Friday, though. Ashley is in the Santa Parade downtown this year in her school's marching band. She's super excited. Let's just hope the weather holds in the upper 40's since she's not going to be able to fit anything more than a sweater and Cuddl Duds on under her uniform.

After the parade on Friday, we'll be heading up to my mom's for the weekend. Luke, my aunt's golden retriever is going home now that my aunt has moved into her new place. After a couple months of having him here, the kids have really gotten use to having him around. They are handling it just fine though and understand that he's going home to his mama.

We'll also be making our annual train ride to downtown Chicago on Saturday. We have not yet decided what we'll do in the windy city yet, but we'll figure it out. Every year we've gotten pictures of the kids in front of the Macy's Christmas tree and then eat lunch downtown somewhere.

It promises to be a busy weekend! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Yesterday

Ah, yesterday. Yesterday was my first time subbing as school secretary and it was everything I thought it would be! I loved it and could totally see myself doing it full time if a position were to open. It was a bit hectic for the first hour, but settled down after that. All weekend I was nervous about having to use the intercom system - there's just something about microphones and intercoms that freak me out - and while I did make one little mistake, it wasn't such a big deal after all.

It's been over 8 years since I've had a full time job other than being mom and running a daycare out of my home. I didn't realize that I do actually miss working a little bit, so I do hope that they call me again. I would love to be trained gradually and then land the job full time when they build another grade school.

For now though, I still feel like it's more important for me to be here when the kids are out of school.

Possiblities

Since school started, I've been supervising recess for 2 hours a day at one of our grade schools. I've really enjoyed it and look forward to it every day. They have a really great group of kids there.

I expressed an interest back at the beginning of the school year about being trained as a back up school secretary in our school district, in hopes of being able to sub for them and maybe even becoming one of them later on down the road when Ryan is in middle school.

I had kind of forgotten about it since nothing seemed to come of it, until this afternoon when the principal at the grade school that I work at called me and asked if I would be interested in covering for their secretary on Monday. I am so incredibly excited! I hung up the phone and actually squealed in delight!

This may just be a one time deal as their backup is probably unavailable, but maybe, just maybe this could be my chance. If I don't royally screw up answering phones, maybe they'll ask me to sub again. Maybe this could be the start of something promising.

I'm excited - so excited, but am going to have to go shop for a pair of khaki's or something this weekend as my whole wardrobe consists of jeans. Yippeeeeeee.......

Never Say Never

I'm eating my words, just so you know. Last year while putting up my Christmas tree, I nearly pulled every strand of hair out of my head in frustration at the whole section of lights that thought it would be fun to see how high my stress level could go. Yes, I eventually calmed down and gave up, but with this year's season quickly approaching, I felt it was time to do something about it in hopes of saving myself from the stress this year.

For the past few days I've been shopping for a new tree. A pre lit tree, even though I swore never again. Let's face it - who really wants to spend hours stringing lights when you can buy a tree that already has it done?

While running in and out of every store in Peoria that sells them, I've come to the conclusion that I honestly do not feel sorry for these major retail stores who are crying "whoa is me, our sales are down drastically." Why? Because only one single store impressed me by being competitive. Only one store made sure I didn't leave without making a large purchase because they were the only store that beat out everyone else with their prices.

Everywhere I went a quality 7.5 foot pre lit tree was going to cost me $300. Not happening here. My last tree (which I really did LOVE until it died) was purchased at Sears and they did it for me this time, too. They came in $75 cheaper than everyone else - and it included a rotating base!

World's Favorite Mom Today

I am now one very favorite mother to one very happy 12 (almost 13) year old daughter right now.

Three weeks ago when we were up at my mom's visiting, my brother gave my daughter his friend's EnV texting phone because he had gone with another carrier and no longer needed it. Because he went with a new carrier, Ashley had to wait a certain amount of time before we could activate the phone. It's been killing her, to say the least.

Every weekend we've tried to activate it, just in case the phone was released from it's old number early. We forgot this past weekend, so I just tried it without telling her a little bit ago. It activated this time, so I brought it to her and the surprise on her face was worth more a million bucks!

Grandview Drive 2008, Part Two

Here are the pictures from our second day up at Grandview Drive.

Biggest Loser

Yay, yay, yay for me! I was this week's biggest loser at HFH with my 4 pound loss!

Fat Ticker Friday

Guess who lost 4 pounds this week? Yep, me - for a total of 7 pounds lost now! I now get to display my 5 gone badge from Hot For The Holidays over there on the left and the 10 pound badge is only 2.5 pounds away.

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I haven't been very good about getting to the gym lately and am tired of my jeans being too tight, so I vowed it was time to get back on track. I still haven't been back to the gym, but I've really been trying to cut back on how much I'm eating, which seems to be what worked for me this week. Hopefully if I keep that up and add a few days at the gym next week, I'll be able to hit that 10 pound mark - and then work on the next 10.

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Tonight is family movie night at Ryan's school, so I'll be treating myself to a gondola and some popcorn and then it's back on track tomorrow.

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(And I really wish I knew why blogger messes up the text formatting so much when you add a picture to posts. It's really frustrating me to have to keep putting periods between my paragraphs.)

Election 2008

So, I'm already glued to the TV and will probably be there or in the vicinity throughout the course of the night. I'm watching Ellen right now on TV because I got tired of Oprah's biased election show and I'll be darned if I didn't get a little teary eyed when The Agape Children's Choir started singing Change My World. It really made me think about what an impact everything we do has on our children.

And? I've now got a huge crush on Anderson Cooper. What a cutie! Funny, too.

I voted this morning after a 40 minute wait in line. When I left, the line was out the door and growing. It's amazing how many people have turned out to vote this election. This should be a pretty exciting night!

Grand View Drive 2008

Yesterday afternoon, we took the kids up to Grandview Drive here in Peoria to take some fall pictures on our own. Grandview Drive is home to some of the biggest homes ever seen and even has a castle with a moat, but most importantly, has the most beautiful views of the bluffs around the Illinois river. Here are some of the best pictures we took. We're actually going back up there again today to take more with Bret's brother and family.

Halloween 2008

Once upon a spooky Halloween, there was a stay at home mom (SAHM) who dreamed of becoming a princess mom. She wished upon a star for her fairy godmother to appear when her witchy friend from work/school showed up and POOF went the fairy godmother!

The SAHM made it through 2 hours of small children asking "What are you supposed to be for Halloween?" and then cruised across town in her minivan to her son's school and watched the annual Halloween Parade.

Clearly facing the wrong way in line, but oh so cute heroic looking.

Cuteness onstage for all to see.

School obligations completed and SAHM is happy to be home and out of those itchy velcro rollers. Could really use that fairy godmother to do something with this mop.


Still way too big, but camera does not show the full extent of bigness, thank goodness.


The kids got home from school and we headed outside to take pictures. Ryan is a brave Army Sargeant, Ashley is dressed up as Bacon (her friend whom she is going trick or treating with is the other half of her costume, Eggs. Bret thinks he's 10 again and makes a pretty sweet Viking.

Before the kids head out with friends tonight, we took them to trick or treat at Bret's Dad's house as well as a couple of his mom's close friends' houses.

Bret is now out with Ryan and Ashley caught up with her other half (eggs) and I'm left here to answer the door with two big overly excited dogs.

Just a little note to the hoodlums that came and wiped out our bowl of candy sitting on the porch while I was taking Ashley to her friend's house, RIGHT after my husband filled it - My witchy friend is coming for YOU!

Update: Oh my freaking hilarious! I was not expecting this when the door bell rang! This would be Bret and our neighbor Scott.

School Pictures 2008

It seems we missed getting together with Bret's brother and family this year for our pictures up on Grand View Drive due to bad weather and busy schedules, but the kids did bring home some cute ones from school instead.

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My grown up 7th grader...

My little man, the 2nd grader...

I even got my picture taken now that I work in one of the schools, but hell will have to freeze over before I share that one.

Worried Mama

Daisy waits for Ryan's bus and greets him at the door. Then she does the same with Ashley's bus. Only Ashley didn't take the bus home today. She stayed at school to watch the basketball game. It's been 30 minutes since the bus came through our neighborhood and this mama is still waiting for her pup to get home.

Consumed

I officially opened up my Rock The House (school carnival) binder today. I will probably be consumed from now until March. I'm not sure how I got talked into being Vice President of the PTO, which means chairing RTH again this year. I've spent the last couple of hours sitting at my computer working on volunteer lists and sending out emails begging parents to chair booths. I may need a drink or two when the rejection emails start coming back. (Just kidding.)

For those of you who put up with me through out all of this last year, I'm going to need your support again as I'm flying solo this year. So if it fails, it's all. on. me. Yikes.

I learned something from last year, though. I am going to do a lot of delegating. These people are going to find their own volunteers. Why should I do it for every single committee this year? That is probably what consumed so much of my time last year.

Let the good times roll...

Doesn't Get Better Than This

I don't know this family personally, but I have friends that do. I've cried over the pictures and videos, signed and passed on the petition. Extreme Makeover Home Edition chose them! They are here in the Peoria area, building this family a new home! Click here.

Hope

Towards the end of last school year, we were pretty worried about Ryan academically. He went through a lot of testing and the results left us pretty discouraged and worried about his future. We managed to get through the end of the school year with some progress made.

Now we have just completed the first quarter of this new school year and I am amazed at how well Ryan is catching up. Tonight was our parent/teacher conference with his teacher and I must tell you that I was expecting a lot of low grades since that seemed to be the norm last year. I am happy to report that his report card was a lot better!

While he still has some struggles when it comes to reading comprehension and writing, his reading fluency is really coming along. One month ago, Ryan was reading 41 words a minute. And now? 81! He doubled it in one month!

Reading and Writing struggles aside, he's doing excellent in all other areas. His confidence level is growing. That was one of the things that broke my heart into a million little pieces. If something was too hard for him to grasp, he'd get very frustrated - because he knew that he was supposed to be able to do it, but couldn't. Now, he's showing more confidence and his self esteem has improved as well. He no longer fights us when it's time to sit down and do school work.

I'm teary eyed right now. I'm so proud of him. I'm less worried. I see the progress. I'll never get tired of hearing him read out loud.

Six months ago tonight, we lost my mother in law. It was easily the most awful night of our lives. Tonight is particularly tough, because she is the person we would most love to share this with. She beamed with pride when it came to her grandchildren - wanted to know every detail of their lives. This would have made her more proud than any straight A report card because it gives us all hope. It shows us that Ryan will catch up and will succeed.

Sick

I've spent most of this holiday morning in bed so far. When I got up this morning I was a little achy, but figured it was still from all the hiking I did on Saturday. The achiness hasn't gone away and not it's joined with some queasiness and a fever. Why me? Is it from sleeping in an extremely damp tent or was someone among the other 20 families sick? At least my kids are self sufficient. They'll find their way up to the pantry for lunch eventually.

Camping Among The River Bluffs

We are home, happy to be clean and looking forward to not sleeping on the ground tonight. We camped with 20 other cub scout families from Ryan's school last night at Camp Wokanda, the old boy scout camp, which is now a park district owned area that is settled among the river bluffs here in central Illinois. When we entered the camp grounds, we came across this breathtaking view of the color changing trees and the glass like lake.

We survived two hikes - one with some rather treacherous climbs up steep hills in the afternoon and the other along flat ground at night with flashlights. The weather was perfect and the kids had a really great time. Ryan explored in the forest behind our camp site with all of the other boys. That particular part of the forest was made up of HUGE rolling hills covered in trees. The kids could run up and down the many hills and were in our sights the whole time. It was the perfect location.

Sleeping conditions, as one would probably expect, were not the best. Bret and Ryan had both cots and I thought I was a genius for bringing the big egg foam crate from Ashley's bed and folding it in half under my sleeping bag. I slept, thanks to ear plugs, but not very comfortably. Ashley and her friend, who stayed in their own big girl tent, had a similar problem. All I had for them were some foam pads to put under their sleeping bags. What can I say? I didn't feel like messing with the air mattresses after they leaked the last time we used them.

Anyway, we're home and I've posted many of our pictures over at Flickr (Click here for slideshow) if anyone is interested. I'm too tired and there are too many to post here. Enjoy!

Sleeping With The Creepy Crawly Things

In ten hours we'll be on our way to the Boy Scout camp. I think I've packed half of the house. Always be prepared, right?

Camping With The Boys

My idea of roughing it when it comes to camping is the Girl Scout way - in heated cabins with running water and flushing toilets, using duraflame logs to start camp fires, having mattresses accessible to lay on the floor underneath my sleeping bag, and having pizza delivered for dinner.


We have on a few occasions "roughed it". In fact, the last time we "roughed it" was with our neighbors two years ago. (See that post here.) We "roughed it" with a TV in the tent, a gourmet chef and a cul de sac for bike riding.

Why am I bringing all of this up, you ask? (Hangs head in shame.) Because I just committed us to camping with Ryan's Cub Scout pack this weekend. A day and a half of real roughing it camping. No duraflame logs. No beer. No heaters. No TV's. With 50 other adults and kids. In the woods. IN THE WOODS!

Ok, maybe I'm over reacting, but I've never camped for this long a stretch of time before. A day and a half. (Stop laughing!) Usually when we camp as a family, we arrive and set up camp right before dinner, eat and drink, sleep and then get up early and go home and shower the camp fire smell off.

In the handout we were given, there is a list of what to pack. Number one on the list? "Personal clothing - be prepared for cold and rain. We will get dirty!" Yikes. Number two? "Personal grooming items - camping is no excuse for bad breath and body odor." OMG! People actually have to be reminded of this? Last on the list? A sense of adventure - this will be fun." Ok, they've got me. I'm excited, because Ryan really wants to do this with his friends. I'll put aside my own fears to watch him experience his first Cub Scout camping trip. But, man! It sounds like we'll have to hose each other off as soon as we get home.