What a week...

So, this week has been crazy busy... but it really started Last week. Last weekend, I got to go camping with some of my wonderful Girl Scouts and their moms and grammas. It was a wonderful weekend! We went horseback riding and made smores and all that fun camping stuff. Monday was my son's 8th birthday, so we had dinner Sunday at Rainforest Cafe with friends and then Monday night, he got to have ice cream cake and play with all his new legos and toys. Tuesday night was Cub Scouts, so we went to the meeting and then came home and worked a bit on the Pinewood Derby cars. Wednesday night was church dinner and choir practice for both kids. Last night was the final weigh-in for the Pinewood Derby cars for my son and daughter (she gets to do one as an "outlaw"). Tonight is Pinewood Derby at the National Boy Scout Museum here in town. Should be fun. Tomorrow, my girl will be at auditions all day for the All Region Choir. Phwew... tiring. I am just thankful that we have the ability to provide these opportunities for our kids. So many people don't have that luxury.

Long time no talk

Not sure how my life got to spinning out of control, but I'm working to reign it all back in.

Lately, I've been busy just doing family things. We've been on vacation and we've been working on finding a balance at home. My daughter is ready to start 6th grade and is now a part of the Youth program at church. My son is ready to start Kindergarten. Oh my... Work has been way busy, and Hubby's work has been busy too. So, it all kind of adds up and when I get a free minute, it seems like I am either catching up on things I should have already done, or passed out because I don't sleep as much as I should.

Well enough complaining. Really, my life isn't all that bad. I do have a job. Hubby has a job. We have two wonderful children and we're still managing to make ends meet. So many are not doing that very well these days.

I do find that I have been spending more time on Facebook lately. I didn't really think I wanted to jump into that because I'm already not good at keeping up with my blog here (evidenced by the long periods of time between posts). But it has sucked me in. And those darned Farm games!!! OOOoooo!!!

Recently, I've been working on ways to trim back our spending. So, I attended a great brown bag lunch and learn from a lady who blogs and saves with coupons, participates in online surveys, etc. I had forgotten what a fun "game" it is to be that person in line with $150 worth of groceries and a fist full of coupons! It's fun. And I also forgot how much fun it is to sign up for free samples of stuff. Years ago, a friend of mine and I spent a great deal of time scouring around for free samples on the internet and we'd compare how many we could find and actually receive. Again, a fun game. I've begun to do that again and the samples, free coupons and everything are starting to roll in.

Here's an example of the fun I have had with coupons, free deals, etc. Recently, our team at work had an outing to Dave & Busters. Well, I happened upon a coupon for a free $10 play with a purchase of $10. So, already, I had saved $10. Then, I ended up signing up for their rewards program (free program) and getting a coupon for a free $10 play. So, for $12 (had to buy the refillable card), I got $30 worth of play time. Not a bad deal.

Well, I'm on the lookout for more fun, more coupons, more ways to save and just having a great time with it. I'll try to be better about posting here, so that I can share my finds and fun with you all.

Happy reading!

Random End of the Week rambling

Well, the week has finally come to an end. Phwew... Monday was kind of a bummer day for me. I was really down in the dumps due to the passing of a very dear friend of mine. And Work has been stressful in and of itself, so between those two things, I just was very down. Tuesday morning, hubby and I attended the funeral for our friend, WALTER. Walter was a wonderful man. He was kind of like a grandpa to my girl. He was kind of like a father figure for my hubby... not that my hubby doesn't have an awesome dad... It was a very nice funeral... it was geared towards a celebration of his life. Walter was a Woodworker. He was so talented with wood, that I swear he could make anything you could dream of out of wood. And, I can still hear him asking me "How's Pipsqueak?" That was his nickname for Audra. Walter also taught my hubby to make his first wood turned pen. I have that pen. I think it was a great adventure for both Walter and hubby. I think Walter really enjoyed teaching others with the same love of woodworking that he had. And I think my hubby really got a boost of confidence that he could do it. Sadly, no pens have been made since then! So many people had stories of how Walter had helped them or done something for them or was just an all around good man. Yes, he was an absolutely Good Man.

Tuesday afternoon, I worked from home, and as you know, I worked from home all day on Wednesday. Yesterday we finally got back to normal weather. It was still cold, but no precipitation and the ice was gone. Today, it was still below freezing when we left the house, but it was very nice this afternoon.

So, my big plans for the weekend are: Shopping with the girls tomorrow, a trip to the Girl Scout Shop to pick up various and assundered uniform pieces, patches and pins, church on Sunday, Confirmation Class for Audra on Sunday afternoon and Superbowl watching here at home after that. I personally plan to work on the scrapbooking project I've been given to do. I need to get it done. I still have 5 more events to scrap about before it's completed.

Well, that was a really random post. Guess I didn't have my dander up about anything today that really made me want to type just about one particular thing.

I'm off...

Parenting a miracle (or two)

Parenting... What a small word to describe such a big responsibility. Yes, it's a RESPONSIBILITY!!! I whole-heartedly believe that many people just aren't made to be Parents. And then there are the few who make it look so easy, it's not even funny (no, I am not included in that). Then, there are the rest of us. Yes, I'm a parent. I'm a mom. I love being a mom. I am the mom to two wonderful kids... Audra, who's 10, and Layden, who just turned 5 on Friday. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I consider Audra to be our first miracle. She must have been based on what the doctors told me when trying to have a second child. And Layden, well, he's our other miracle, specifically chosen for us by God. We adopted him in 2007. How lucky we are to have these two miracles in our lives. I am grateful, even on the bad behavior days... Of course, I have to remind myself of my gratitude constantly in between dealing with bad choices on those days.

I can tell you that I was TOTALLY unprepared for life with a boy. And I am not afraid to admit this. And now, nearly 2 years have passed since this bright, energetic, headstrong little guy came in to our lives, I look back and see that he really has come so far. But, he does have so far to go. And the beauty of that is that we get to go down that road with him.

And let me brag on my Girl for a minute. She's a beautiful, girly-girl who's bright and outgoing. She's bubbly and funny. And she's determined to be the best she can be in school. Thank God for that.

Parenting is no easy task and I find myself envious of those who make it look so easy. But I'm certain that they have their days in the fire as well, I am just not privy to them.

Hug your kids, love your kids, thank God for your kids. They are after all miracles...

Tough day at the vet

Yesterday morning, my kitty, Spencer, had his senior check up. I had no idea how to prepare for going to the vet. Oh, the kitty check up wasn't what I was worried about. The big thing was that I would also be picking up our Best Friend, Rocky's, ashes. Rocky was our dog for about 13-1/2 years. The week before Thanksgiving, he began to have issues that we knew were probably a sign of the end that was to come. The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Bob and I made the decision to put him down rather than let him suffer. It was a horribly sad day for us. Audra has never known a day without Rocky. Bob and I have had Rocky since he was just a 9 month old rescue puppy. When we had him put down, the vet told us to take our time to grieve and then come settle up with him. Well, yesterday was that day.

I thought I was okay. I thought I could get through it without too many tears. I swore I wasn't going to cry til I got back in the car. Needless to say, no matter how much I talked my self through it, I didn't even make it through Spencer's check up before I started to cry. The vet has been our vet for nearly 15 years and has been through our losing Sebastian Kitty years ago. And he loved to jog in our neighborhood and see Rocky, so I think Rocky had become pretty special to him over the years. While standing there paying my bill, He came over and put his arms around me and hugged me to tell me it was okay and that he understood. What more could you ask for in a vet... he's a real person. With the completion of paying my bill, I picked up Spencer in his crate and picked up the bag that held Rocky in his beautiful box. I marched out to the car, gathered my thoughts and headed home. I took the long way home simply because I wasn't ready to discuss with the kids what was in the box. And in fact, I didn't bring the box in from the car til the kids were otherwise occupied.

So, Rocky is with us again, and I realized how much I still really miss him... And, Spencer is doing well and still very healthy, even though he's large and in charge!

ROCKY 1995-2008

Pictures of the week so far...

Yep, I was playing with the camera. I'm working very hard to make sure that I take at least one picture with our Nikon D40 every day. A couple of days ago, the kids were outside playing and I got some great pictures of my son. He figured out how to climb the tree out front and now all he asks is if he can go out and climb the tree.




And check out this Sunset a few days ago... I walked out the door to come somewhere and looked up to see this. I ran back in and got the camera and snapped a few photos. We don't get clouds with coloring like this often enough. (or maybe I just miss it).

So, I'm challenging myself to be sure to take at least one photo a day with this camera so that I can get the hang of what to do in different situations. I just keep finding out how much I DON'T know about this camera. Fun for me. Practice makes perfect!

Here's my kitty too!

Our Christmas Card photos

Okay so a couple of weekends ago, we had our portraits taken by a professional photographer at the Gaylord Texan. He got some great shots of the 4 of us and some great ones of the kids too... Want to see what we chose for our Christmas Cards?



There it is! Thanks for letting me share!

Later

Aunt Alice has passed away

Last week, my Aunt Alice King had a stroke. Sunday evening, she passed away. Tomorrow, I am headed off to New Mexico, leaving the kids in Bob's Very Capable Hands! Her public funeral service is Thursday morning, but she'll be lying in state at the State Capitol Building tomorrow. The governor has set it so that the flags will be lowered to half mast. She was a force to be reckoned with and always the champion of children and families in New Mexico. She will be dearly missed. I added the video of her remembrance on the right hand side. It's very nice!

Later