Back to School and work...

Spring break is ending and my girls are sad. They have really enjoyed their week off. (They played their DS's a lot.) Danny took the week off to stay home with them. I ended up taking a couple of days too. But they didn't want to stay with me, they opted to go with their dad and spend the time with him. That makes me very happy. I LOVE that they want to spend time with him. It didn't hurt me a bit. I was able to play in my scraproom AND go to my LSS.... ALONE. Let me repeat that one....ALONE. It was heaven. I was able to shop and buy only what "I" wanted. So, I did. And BOY DID I!!! But, I LOVE everything I brought home. Now to get to play with it all.....

Here are a few pics: (gotta give you something to look at too...)

This was taken at the Michael Buble concert that Morgan took me to.

He really puts on a good show. And he is cute too!

Here are the two pages I did for a Disney recipe swap. One is 6x6 and the other is 7x6 - made to fit into a Maya Roads tin. I am mounting all of mine onto 8x8 paper. I like the 8x8 size much better.

I used beading supplies on this one. LOVE it.

This is the 7x6. I think I like working recipes on this size better. There is more room. Even though I put the directions on the tag, and hid them.

And here it is with the tag out. I had to decorate the whole page. I wanted them to look nice even while in use.

Hope this is a good week for you.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter. This is the beginning of the new year.

Not January 1. This is the beginning of the rest of our lives.

Here on earth, and forevermore.

Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice for us.

On a less religious, but still Easter note.

The girls decorated this cake.

We also colored eggs and finally decorated the gingerbread house that was given to us on Christmas Eve. We decorated it in Easter style.

Yes, that's Melissa laying on the table. This has become part of the tradition of decorating gingerbread houses.

Dance, free yourself and Dance

I finally did it. I started Belly Dance lessons last night. I have wanted to explore this exotic dance style for a few years now. I finally got it together enough to go through with it. And am I ever glad I did.

I was, and still am, a bit nervous. I am fat. So I knew this was going to hurt. In more than one way. I threw my self conscienceness out the window and went for it. I was very pleasantly surprised to find only myself and two, that's 2, other women in the class with me. Both claimed to not be any good. But they still had an advantage. The instructor, Ursula, said that she doesn't normally teach this way, but to follow along for the evening. I nodded my head and she began.

She lead the other 2 ladies in a routine that had already been taught. I tried my best to follow along. I shimmied, undulated, sashayed, wiggled, tipped, and stumbled. All in all, I would say I did okay. I enjoyed it greatly. I signed up for the entire session. Mostly because I didn't know that taking, and paying, for it class by class was an option. AND by the time I got to the studio, I was too nervous to think about it. Good thing. I may have only paid for one class and chickened out of going to any others. Now, though, I am commited. (I know, I know, you are all thinking I should be commited anyway.) This is one of the most female things I have ever done. This is one art form that men just cannot do in any serious manner. I felt more female last night than I have in forever. And it came from within. It couldn't have been my outfit. My pink velour sweatpants and over-sized tourist t-shirt. I am in love with this class. It was rather transforming. I have NO prior dance experience. (Tap dance lessons in second grade don't count.) I don't know dance terminology. I can't tell you what I did last night. The above mentioned terms may or may not be the correct terms. I don't care what they are called. I LOVE THEM. I followed the leader. I sucked at it. But I felt so free doing it. I looked in the mirror and saw myself dancing badly, and didn't care. It felt good. I was inexplicably uninhibited. I need to dance more often.

If you have been thinking about taking dance, I highly recommend taking belly dance lessons.

I can hardly wait until next Thursday. I can't wait to dance again. Maybe I won't wait.......

Mother's Intuituion Unrecognized

I must have been channeling "something" this past week. A lot of my thoughts were toward my baby girl. I should have known that "something" would be up with her. But, NOOOO, I didn't pay attention to my little voice. If I had, I wouldn't have been surprised, and almost interupted, in bed at 11pm Friday night. (Good thing I was being stubborn with DH. ;-D)

Melissa came down and told us her tummy was hurting her. So we let her into our bed and asked the usual questions. What did you have for lunch? (We knew what she had for dinner, we fed it to her. AND to her sisters. Neither of which were in our room complaining of upset tummies.) We also asked her if she felt like she was going to throw-up. And not a minute too soon. She jumped out of our bed, THANK YOU GOD, and ran to the bathroom. Mount Melissa continued to erupt until 9am. No swim lessons for her. (That would have been "fun", wouldn't it have been?!?!?!)

Saturday was spent trying to get her to sip on liquids and eat boring food. She had NO appetite all day. But oddly enough, NO fever either. Sunday came and she was back to her normal cheery self. Happy dance time.

This morning she was complaining of a sore throat, which I chalked up to allergies. I popped an Alavert into little mouth (one of the orally disinegrating type, LOVE those) and tried to get her to eat breakfast. Normally she can polish off two Hot Pockets, today she didn't eat a bite. Said her throat hurt too much. So being the caring and understanding mother that I am, I took her temperature and promptly cursed out loud. Darn if the little angel didn't have a temp of 100.4. Just barely too high for school. She didn't seem right either. So I called into work. AGAIN. Somehow her throat is now feeling better. She still has a fever even after ibuprofen. It never did go under 99.4. She is now playing with her sister.

I decided to play today too, since I was home and she wanted me in the same room with her. I got out the beading supplies and made these necklaces. Two of them have matching earrings. (Still have to finish the one pair.) And one has a matching bracelet. I really had fun.

I was inspired by SUPERHERO DESIGNS.

I really like the necklaces on this site, but can't justify the price. On myself.

So I made a couple of my own with the beads I had on hand. I enjoyed it so much, and I have enough beads to make a few more, so I am contemplating opening an ETSY Store of my own. What do you think?

These are really bad photos. I'll take better ones if I ever figure out how.

My delicate little flower...

This is Melissa. In all her prissy, feminine glory. I am so blessed.

She is such a goof ball. I love her. She is her mothers daughter.

This is Melissa without the goofy face.

She came home on a Friday in January (or was it Feb) and said she wanted her hair cut to head length. I asked her to clarify. She put her little hand to her chin and said:

"To here. DUH"

I had a hair appointment the next morning, so I took her with me. This is what we came home with. She decided to donate her hair to Locks Of Love. She is a cool kid.

Friday, Bagels, Lucky Me

I am sitting inside my office wishing my life away. I know I should not wish my life away, but I can't help it. I really don't want to be here. I want to go home and play. I haven't played in a while (about a week) and I miss it. I just haven't had the energy. I am going to get the energy this weekend. I WILL. I MUST. I NEED TO.

Melissa has been a pistol this week.

She demanded a bagel. We didn't have any, so I made her a "bagel". I cut a hole in a piece of toast. She was happy with it. She really isn't a "slow" kid. Just very stubborn. And imaginative.

Last night she comes out of my room with my purse in her hand.

"Mom, your purse is heavy."

"Melissa, please go put my purse back."

"Mom, I think I dislocated my shoulder."

Melissa is 8 years old. I see med school in her future.

Night before last we are all in the car coming home from dinner at Ensenada Mexican Restaurant (YUMMY). Her sister Morgan (M2) has been a pain in the a$$ for the last couple of days. I think she is getting ready for the curse to woman kind. ARGH. (Setting the mood.)

Melissa (M3) and oldest sister Megan (M1) are in the middle seats of our Ford Freestyle. Morgan (M2) is in the back most seat. None of the girls are talking to each other. All of the sudden M2 farts pretty loud. She snickers. A few moments later I hear her sniff, followed by maniacal laughter. I KNOW what has happened. I KNOW what is going to follow. I brace myself, and start breathing through my mouth. About 10 seconds pass and we hear:

"Uhhhh, SWEET JESUS," from M3.

I try to supress laughter while thinking "Where did she learn that? We DON'T say things like that." About the time my thoughts have finished, her father, my DH, utters:

"Good God Morgan."

Now you know.

I haven't gotten a chance to do much of anything creative. I did start a mini album that I had initially intended to send to my mother. But now I cannot part with. I will post those pages when I get the chance. I used my Bind-It-All and some Dollar Tree envelopes, Basic Grey's Color Me Silly line of paper, Staz-On Black Ink and some Autumn Leaves stamps. I put pictures of the girls at the beach from a couple of trips last summer. I really like the way it turned out.

Here is the inside of my fridge from last Sunday. I took this as part of the Overlooked Challenge.

And here are the magnets which adorn the outside of the fridge.

(Yes, I know the grill on the bottom is FILTHY. I'll get to it. Someday.)

Oddly, and luckily, enough, the girls decided to clean-up the frigde magnets the day before I knew that this was one of the challenge subjects.

Lucky me.

Attack from outer space....

I can't believe that it is already Monday. Where did the weekend go?!?!?!

I worked late Friday night. I know what you are thinking. I work for the government, how could I possibly be "working" on a Friday night. I had a deadline. I worked until the numbers were running together. Then, I called it quits and went home to my grumpy family. Oh, JOY.

Saturday I carted the bookends, as I lovingly refer to my oldest and youngest together, to their swim lessons. I decided to wear workout clothes and stop into the weight/cardio room at the rec center. Since I was there already, I may as well get started working out. We got to the rec center, pulled out our membership cards and waved them in front of the little scanner. Whew. Past obstacle number one. NO ONE laughed hysterically that I was actually going to use MY membership. Dropped the girls at the pool. No easy feat. They have to get undressed, stuff everything into one locker and shower before entering the pool area. Argueing with a stubborn 8 year old is no fun in a locker room where every word echos. Ask anyone in there. I am a BAD mother. I threatened to pulverize my beloved baby girl. I think she argues for the fun of it. Anyway, I stayed long enough to see them join their classes and then found my way to the weight/cardio room. I peeked inside and immediately went to the front desk. Surely I can't just walk in there and start using this elaborate equipment without an orientation. (Are you hearing the stall factor????) I was directed to the weight/cardio room for a brief orientation. Got the nickel tour. Lo and behold there was an ELIPTICAL machine (I think aliens planted them here on earth to take over our minds and bodies. Doesn't it look like some sort of science fiction outer space alien????) available for my use. WOO HOO. You can only sign up for 30 minutes at a time. It was 20 minutes until 11. Swim class ends at 11. Perfect. No problem here.

I told myself and my orientation guide that I would try for 20 minutes.

After 5 minutes, I thought I was going to die.

After 10 minutes, I knew I was going to.

After 15 minutes, I just gave up and started looking for the light.

20 MINUTES, I didn't die. I made it. I DID IT. I am so proud of myself. I felt great all day. But that is over now. What a short lived HIGH!!!

It is Monday and I have a splitting headache. It is past time for the office to accept someone leaving for an hour to workout. (Yup, my office is cool that way.) So, I am not going to work out today. I am going to give myself permission to NOT work out today. (Sound convincing to you??)