Winter is Upon us

BRRR! As I type its 19 degrees with a 0 degree wind chill. Everything is frozen and the wind has not stopped for several days. I am ready for spring! But more of this lovely weather is on its way. This freezing cold weather makes me want to bake and warm up the house this morning was homemade bagels YUM!






The view from our balcony the frozen creek and pond

Last week was a crazy busy week AGAIN. Tyler had his preschool Christmas program so cute! He was a Camel for the show and got to be Joseph in the Christmas story :).

Erika had her last soccer game on Saturday and they took 3rd place for the Indoor soccer season! They were awesome!

This coming Saturday is Danielles ballet performance at the Mt Baker theater she is getting excited! They have worked hard to learn the different parts.

Christmas band concerts were tonight and tomorrow night but are cancelled for now due to the weather.

Hope to post more with alot more pictures soon!!

Getting ready for Christmas!

We spent yesterday decorating for Christmas, putting up our tree and taking some pictures! We got a little tree this year its only 4 1/2 feet tall but perfect for our apartment! The kids had a blast decorating it and are now very anxious for Christmas to get here!

Here is a picture from last night enjoy!

Ok Try this again

AAHHH. Ok so my plans to be an "active blogger" are not going so well! Little update..... I had my knee surgery on November 25th and it went really well. My recover is going better than I had thought it would. The crutches however are slowing me down. I had my follow up appt. on Friday and the Dr. told me I was too active for someone who had ACL reconstruction less than 2 weeks ago. Told him I didn't have a choice so my "punishment" is I have to use 1 crutch for the next 2 weeks to allow my knee more time to heal.

We are in Christmas mode today. Getting our tree, decorating the house and doing Christmas pictures! I am 99% done with my shopping already and everything is even wrapped YEAH! Kids are quite excited.

December is a busy time around our house as it is with many others. Tyler will be turning 5 on the 17th he finally decided what he wanted to do for his party so now going to see if I can pull it off. December is full of Christmas programs for school, band concerts and dance programs. I should have lots of pictures to share soon!

A big thank you to all of our friends/family who sent prayers, get well wishes during/after my surgery. We are so blessed to have all of you in our lives!

Great Weekend

What an amazing weekend this was. DJ and Erika went to Mt. Baker this weekend on a Middle School retreat for church and they had an amazing time. They had to hike to it but they did find snow to play in! They came back with some great stories of the fun and fellowship that they had. Danielle, Tyler and I had some fun back home as well. Saturday we did some shopping and went to Build A Bear where Tyler built a bear for his friends birthday party. We went to church Saturday night then came home and watched some cartoons. Today we went to a great birthday party at Fun Zone and then to pick up DJ and Erika.

Here we are at the beginning of another crazy busy week! My goal is to post to my blog every day this week with the "events" of the day as well as a recipe, tip and website to share each day!

Have a great week everyone!

Time Flies

Laying in bed this morning listening to the wind and the rain and my neighbors leave at 5:30am, I realized, my baby will be 5 in just over a month! Where did the time go? They always say you blink and they are grown the saying is so true! It seems like just yesterday he was born, learning to crawl, walk and now he is a little boy full of energy and smiles! I though I would share some older pictures of the kids!

The 1st is the kids and I on our way to Colorado in June of 2004, the 2nd is Christmas 2004 and the 3rd is Tyler 4th of July 2004!

Getting ready for the new week!

Its Sunday night about 9:30pm. Just getting things ready for the busy/crazy week ahead. Kids are sound asleep in their beds all tucked in. Today was a productive day. I just have to say I LOVE thrift stores! DJ and Erika are heading to Mt Baker this weekend for a retreat for church. They needed snow pants/boots. I went on the hunt today and found pants and boots for Erika at Goodwill for $17 all together. Found pants for DJ at Kmart for $17 on sale, still on the search for men's size 13 winter boots. Spent some great quality time with Erika today while we shopped. I love those conversations I have with the kids when we are together one on one each one is very special!

The kids were watching the FoodNetwork yesterday and decided I needed to make Chicken Cordon Bleu tonight. It was very good and was a hit with the kids! It amazes me if they pick out the meal or help cook it they will try just about anything!

Put a plan in place for the week. I work M-F and this time of year will put in 45-50 hours a week. I am blessed to be able to work from home most of the time and am able to put in my extra hours before the kids get up or after they go to bed. Too bad I don't get paid overtime though!!

Here is the week in a snapshot, this week is a little "light" with a holiday in the mix!

Monday- No preschool for Veterans day. Danielle has dance rehearsal at 5:30pm. I meet with the apartment management tomorrow to discuss issues with my downstairs neighbors (praying this goes well). Dinner will be chicken & rice and peas.

Tuesday- Everything is "cancelled" this week for Tuesday due to Veterans day. No school, no middle school church program etc. Kids and I will have a movie night! Dinner will be tuna casserole and green beans.

Wednesday- Preschool for Tyler, need to pick up fundraiser orders at the school, get Erika to the church by 5 for worship team practice and then all of us to church by 6:30 for Refuge. I love this time of extended worship and communion and love that I get to share that with my children! Dinner will be soup/sandwiches.

Thursday- Preschool for Tyler, Ballet for Danielle, have to drop off the kids bags/sleeping bags etc at the church for the Middle school retreat! Dinner will be homemade chicken nuggets, buttered noodles and green salad.

Friday- Drop DJ and Erika off at church that evening for the retreat. Will have a movie/popcorn night with Danielle and Tyler! Dinner will be homemade pizza.

Saturday- Get to hang out at home and RELAX until we head off to church that afternoon! We will eat dinner at church at Fx

Sunday- Birthday party at 12:30, pick up DJ/Erika at 3:30 and get ready for another week! Dinner will be chili in the crock pot.

Off to bed hope to get more posted tomorrow and more pictures!

Ok so another week went by with no blogging. I read lots of blogs though! Found some interesting fun sites/contests etc. Determined to get active with my blog. This past week was an adventure. Monday night in the ER with Danielle who had a nasty ear infection. Tuesday into the dr myself for antibiotics for this cold that wouldn't go away. Finally we are all on the mend!

Instituted new chore charts this past week, we had about 50% success with them. The kids are excited about them though so hoping for better results this week. They love the fact that they each get 1 night a week to help with dinner from meal planning to cooking to clean up.

Today I am working on a menu for the week, doing some grocery shopping and trying to budget for bills, copays for surgery and figure out how to afford Christmas. UGH. YUCK not my favorite thing. Then looking at my calendar for the week I had better come up with a good plan because this week will be INSANE! More later as I figure it all out. For now going to attempt to post a picture! I think I did it! This is the group that left my house to go trick or treating this year lots of fun!

Hmm so not doing so well at getting this blog going. Need to work on that this week. Had a crazy busy week last week. Tyler and I were both sick with the crud going around. While I am glad to not have soccer practice 2 nights a week on our schedule really missed visiting with the other moms and having that adult conversation! Had the 1st indoor soccer game yesterday which was much different and alot of fun. Girls lost but played very well! Was able to get back to teaching at church last night which I really really enjoy. Today going to get my house cleaned up and have a few friends over for a candle party that I forgot about until the last minute. Then maybe spend some time tonight getting my blog up/out there with pictures and all!

Another Monday

So today was a day like most other Mondays. Work, kids, laundry, cooking, laundry did I mention laundry? Where does it all come from?

After work and playing taxi for preschool and ballet settled in at home with some comfort food for dinner, Chicken & Rice and watched an Evan Almighty with the kids (again). Still need to figure out this blog thing, how to add some fun links and pictures and oh INVITE people to read it!!

Decided I need to start using a daily task list again to keep up with all the things I keep saying oh yes I can do that or help with that. When will I learn to say NO??

So it begins

Lately I have been perusing the world of blogging. That added with emails I keep getting with, how are you, what are you up to, how about an update? I decided hey I can try this blogging thing too! Not sure how exciting it will be but I will try. Sharing the ups and downs and adventures of being a single mom!