new beginnings

“You must start with a positive attitude or you will surely end without one.” ~Carrie Latet

i resolve

* to take care of myself more
* to worry less about the house and play more with my kids
* to get organized
* to celebrate my family
* to drop another 20 pounds
* to plan for our Hawaiian ten year anniversary
* to use eye cream less sparingly
* to enjoy the company of my friends
* to take more showers than skip showers
* to go to Hot Yoga once a week
* to sleep
* to stay on top of the dishes and the laundry
* to stress out about the little things less often
* to use the F.I. file more often
* to be happy

Happy New Year!

not for wussies

Yesterday, we dropped Wonder Boy and Divine Miss O off at Miss O's preschool for a mom/dad day out event. They played hard, went on an adventure hike, explored and had a big lunch with friends. J and I drove to Snoqualmie Falls for a "country breakfast" at the Salish Lodge over looking the falls. It was very enjoyable!!

The country breakfast is a five coarse eating ordeal. They first bring you fruit/yogurt and bread. Then the most delicious oatmeal you've ever tasted. Then eggs and potatoes with yummy, yum-yum bacon and sausage. Last they bring out pancakes. I was so stuffed by the end of it. I only sampled a little of each and tried not to overstuffed myself with each coarse. I drank down the best hot chocolate in the universe as well. This kind of eating is defiantly not for wussies with little stomachs. Baby Love was super good and J and I were overly impressed with her ability to sit through the breakfast. We decided we would get the kids dressed up some special morning and bring them up to eat their weight in breakfast food someday very soon. There is a train graveyard close by and it would be fun to walk along looking at the trains afterwards. I'm sure Wonder Boy would enjoy that.




















The Snoqualmie Falls - lovely site!!















Baby Love and I before the eating extravaganza begun.















Baby Love sampling her fruit plate.

Afterwards, we headed to the outlet mall in North Bend and I found lots of treasures at the Eddie Bauer after Christmas sale!!! Yahoo!!

christmas goodies

I haven't posted any Christmas reviews mostly because I wasn't looking forward to going through all the millions of pictures I took and deciding what to post and what to write. We had a very pleasant and mellow holiday which I am thankful for. The kids woke up to find Santa's surprises . . . . . a skateboard kit for Wonder Boy, a wood barn to corral all her horses for The Divine Miss O and a shopping cart just her size for Baby Love. We then drove down to J's parents' house. We opened gifts with them and J's sister and her family. We got a glimpse of a white Christmas for it started to snow big flakes while we were there. We decided to pack up and head for my parents' house before we got stuck. We ate dinner with my folks with more gift opening. Then headed home. It was a good day.

















An awesome surprise from my mother-in-law. An elephant tea pot! I love it!!
















A cupcake recipe book and cupcake kit from my sister-in-law. What fun! I'm excited to make some of the yummy cupcakes in this book. Yum!!

















My parents gave us this cool game set. It has four games. Wonder Boy and I played Monopoly this afternoon. It was a hoot!
















The kids gave me spa certificates. Love it!! I can't wait to go get a facial.
















My hubby surprised me big time with this little Zune. I have been downloading music ever since Christmas. I love it!
















And my friends spoiled me with lots of little scottie gifts. So fun! I love them.

to whom it may concern

Dear GAP,

Recently I have found myself perplexed on your take regarding the issue of curviness in women. For, I was very excited to hear from a friend that you were now carrying a variety of pant labeled “curvy”. Mostly, I was excited that you, The GAP, had jumped onto the women with curves bandwagon and decided to tailor a little, teeny, tiny more to those particular women’s needs. We, my friend and I, scoured your racks and stacks of skinny jeans, tight sweaters, chucks and bohemian styled cuteness looking for these so called curvy pants. However, we were disappointed to see your small section, albeit section none the least, of curvy pants consisted of two or three random stacks of size 0, size 1 and size 2. Now I ask you . . . . . what size 0 women is in need of a pair of trousers with extra room in the hips and thighs?

We indeed did find one larger size crammed way back in the back and upon trying them on, I discovered they fit. What was even better? Those so called curvy pants were a whole size smaller than I had been normally wearing. Yippee! What delight. However, you little teaser you, made those said pants for women who are seven feet tall. Which, you guessed it, I am not. The amount of material pooling around my feet from my 5’ 5” frame was down right funny!!! Now I understand. You don’t have to hit me over the head three times for me to figure out your reasoning. . . . . . your idea of women with curves who require pant sizes in the double digits are in fact Amazonian. And since Amazonian women aren’t generally found shopping in the local mall, you assume there just isn’t a need for pant sizes above two in any version.

Oh GAP! What a jokester you are!! You fool us ladies with curvaceous figures, you cute three capital letter named, overly priced store. You lure us in with our junky trunks, teasing us with words like “curvy”, watching us get our hopes up and then snicker at our dismay. Hahahahaha! You got me!

Thanks for the laugh!
Little Irish

P.S. Can you tell your friend, Abercrombie and Fitch, to turn the music down!!!!!

visions of showers dancing in my head

J has one wall (almost) up in the shower stall. The two little divets are for the soap shelves. He even put a fancy, dancy accent.

letters to Santa

J started a fire the other night so the kids could send their letters to him via smoke signal. They write their wish lists down, seal them up in envelopes and we throw them in the fire. After, we sip hot cocoa with marshmallows by the fire.

chow time

cool site see

Check out Whip Up! It's a lot of fun!! I want to make the pennant flags for the kids' rooms.

the many faces of wonder boy

birthday boxes

I find much inspiration from these two bloggers: Angry Chicken (who, by the way, is neither angry or a chicken) and Wee Wonderfuls. Their craftiness and skills are amazing. Everytime I visit their blogs I am inspired to make something or do something crafty with the kids. I love it!! Angry Chicken posted about the boxes she makes for gifts. I jumped on the idea and created one of my own for Wonder Boy's friend. Someone at the party, whose son also is in the same class as Wonder Boy, asked me to make one for a birthday girl who is turning two. This is what I came up with. An art box with lots of fun little bits and bobbles for a budding artist to get creative with.




















I put these little bits together myself and I'm very proud how they turned out. I put small clothes pins, pom poms, wiggly eyes, paper pieces, and small Popsicles sticks in little bags. I love how they turned out.

countdown to countertops

J put the cabinets, coutertop and sinks in today. Next he will be putting tile up for the shower walls. Woohoo!!

getting warmer

Frieda and Angus getting cozier.

back to regular programming

Wonder Boy took his Tae Kwon Do test last night for his advanced yellow belt. It was a very long test and he did a great job waiting patiently.

Wonder Boy earned Listening Bear this week from class. He's a bear that the kids earn for being a good listener in class. The kids get to take him home for a night and then write in LB's journal about the adventures they had together. My mom and I had fun with him as well. . . . . . I told you the test was very long.

just doing it

I went out to dinner in celebration of the holiday with my co-workers/friends last night. We tried very hard not to talk about school and the kids we teach. So naturally there were lulls in our conversation in which no one could think of something interesting, funny or chat inspiring to say. This morning I was thinking about those quiet moments that seemed to last forever at the moment but in reality were only a few seconds here and there. Is it that we just don’t have much in common other than the fact we work together? Or is it that we all have kids and all the intellectual thoughts have drained out of brains from the chaos, noise and why questions our children inundate us with, so when we are in a room with adults we just are so surprised by the peace and quiet we have nothing to fill it up with?

I got to school with Wonder Boy this morning, everyone dressed and fed, and with all the necessary parts involved in going to kindergarten. Clothes? Check! Backpack? Check! Folder? Check! Warm coat? Check! Shoes? Check! Snack? Check! Hair brushed? Oh well, he’s a boy. Boys don’t care about that stuff anyway! One of the mothers (a mother of one) asked me “how I do it?” Saying, “I only one and I struggle keeping everything organized and on time.” Which made me think. Why is she complaining about not keeping things straight when someone else cleans her house and someone else mows her lawn and someone else remodels her house and someone else does whatever else she needs to hire someone to do. Yes, I manage three kids, two dogs (one in potty training), a husband and a house by myself while teaching preschool part time and volunteering as a kindergarten room mom and scholastic book club book orderer as I shuffle kids from tae kwon do practice and dance classes and doctor appointments. All the while I squeeze in grocery shopping and toilet paper buying in as I get my oil changed in the car and take the animals to the vet. Really? Phew! How do I do it? However, we aren’t that much different, she and I . . . . . she manages a full time job, one child, no animals, a husband, dinner out every Wednesday (I know, I know too much!), and all the workers she employs to do her odd jobs. Wow! She must be exhausted!!

I’ve had to battle a lot of battles along the way. The journey that is such my life has been an uphill struggle. Sometimes when I reflect on myself, I think how it’s felt to always be sort of fighting everything, everyone just to get ahead a few steps. One of the last weight watchers meetings I attended, the leader said something I took to heart. She said when we have a job we don’t like, or a child who has to go to school, or a sick baby who is up all night we might not like it, but we “just do it!” We put on our work clothes and go to work. We get our child ready in the morning and step out into the cold and rain to get them to school on time. We stay up all night cuddling a sick wee one, cleaning up puke and smelling like spoiled milk. Weight loss is the same thing. We don’t really want to fight the fight, but need to get over the struggle and “just do it!” I’ve always been the kind of person, even as a child, to just put my head down and plow through. To get through. To carry on. To just do it! So in retrospect, I feel like I’ve always been fighting a fight. I keep things to myself. I put on the happy smile and say “I’m fine. How are you?”

No wonder my weight is up; that’s how I deal. I read lots of mommy blogs and often relate to the struggles other women feel. I find myself laughing or saying “Yes!!” to myself sharing feelings of frustration and not feeling so alone. I sometimes read the comments other readers’ post of support and understanding and love and kinship. Instead I get how disturbing my recent steam blowing was. Because, after all, I’m the only person in the universe who isn’t allowed to have a bad week. No wonder I turn to M&Ms. They are quick and little and taste oh so good. They give me a little burst of happiness with every handful. Not to mention the crunchiness of their hard candy shell helps relieve a little stress. I now understand how I’ve drowned my feelings with food and hid my sensitive soul with excess weight. At least, I’m not drinking myself to sleep every night. I’m not abusing prescription drugs. I’m not hunting down the 17 year old, shaggy haired, pimple bearing boy selling speed at the local Safeway. No! I put my head down and carry on just like I always do popping M&Ms and swigging a nonfat latte, coming up to take a breath and vent here and there along the way.

I’m working on myself; trying to be a good parent, a good wife, a good life manager. Concentrating on the good in my life more often instead of heartaches and disappointments. I’ve lost a solid 16 pounds since February and I’m trying to hit that 20 pound mark before my one year anniversary. I try to take a little more time away from the chaos, and I work on feeding myself good food and getting exercise.

Now at the end of my tirade . . . . . . I don’t have a cute, funny way to wrap these ramblings up with. I hope with the holiday quickly staring us down and with only 11 shopping days left, you can all reflect on the things that make you happy and joyful. A dear friend recently told me “it doesn’t have to be perfect”. How true that is because after all, it’s the imperfect-ness that makes for happy memories in the end.

angus speaks

bad thomas

I know, I know . . . . .it's more like bad mom. This Thomas the Tank Engine recall has been out since September and I'm just now getting around to digging out the lead infested engines. However, truth be told, Wonder Boy hasn't played with his trains in like forever, so I didn't think much about it, because none of the kids were playing with them. Yesterday, totally random and probably because I mentioned wanting to sell the train table and trains since he never plays with them, Wonder Boy pulled them out and started playing trains with Miss O. Turns out we had quite a few bad eggs. This is one of two boxes because there were two different recalls.

gingerbread, gingerbread

The kids and I made gingerbread houses last week. Wonder Boy enjoyed getting creative, Miss O loved using all the pink cookies, and Baby Love ate as many treats as she could sneak . . . . .

You can see Baby Love's sneaky hand in this first picture. Look closely.

a huntin' we will go . . .

We went to the tree farm yesterday in the cold, cold weather and picked out our Christmas tree.

the divine miss o

The Divine Miss O participated in her very first dance recital this last Friday. It was adorably cute and put together really well. Every girl was accounted for at all times. Love it! I volunteered as a parent helper and was stationed helping one of Miss Sue's classes get dressed into their costume. The Candy Canes. I was a little sad I didn't get to help Miss O and her class get dressed into their Ladies of the Court costumes but I was able to smile and wave at O from across the way.

I didn't record at the recital itself because of the lighting and distance but Miss Sue let the parents watch a dress rehearsal this last week. I recorded the routine then. Fun stuff!! Push play and enjoy . . . . .

bad mood

I think it was right around 6:32am that I decided this weekend, nope scratch that . . . . this past week, was the worse I've had in a long time. Oh sure, it was peppered with a little sweet and light here and there. Like when the kids and I made gingerbread houses, or when wonder boy and I made up silly jokes to tell each other, or playing with the puppy, or going to The Divine Miss O's dance recital, or going to the tree farm to get our Christmas tree but for the most part it was a "no good, horrible, terrible, very bad week!!" The constant noise, the constant disarray of the house, the constant stress, the constant chasing, the constant cleaning up the same messes time after time, the constant reminders to stop doing the things I've said not to do about a million times, the constant constant!!! My frustration has turned into anger and I feel like I'm walking around like a kettle of water on the stove on the verge of whistling its high pitched squeal. I feel like crying. I feel like screaming. I feel like throwing a match in the house and walking away from the whole lot. . . . .

UPDATE: I didn't mean I wanted to set fire to my family, just to my overly, all-hope-lost, very, messy, messy house. The feeling of hopelessness and not knowing where to start is extremely frustrating. I tell myself all the time, stop wallowing! There are tons of people out there with far worse stresses and burdens. But there are times you just can't help it. Yes, I know there are people in wheelchairs and people without homes and people who have sucky jobs . . . . . . yada, yada, yada. That doesn't make me feel better about what I'm going through right now at this very moment. I did get out with friends last night for a couple hours eating snacks and laughing which raised my spirits. Although, I don't think my life likes me much right now for I learned our microwave died when I got home. Nice! Yet, another thing.

angus

On this day, the first day of December, two things happened . . . . . we woke up to snow and we brought Angus home. Yes, we did it! J researched and found a local Scottish Terrier breeder. We headed out first thing this morning and made our way down south of Gig Harbor. It was a trek. We were greeted by two little girls and one boy. Alas we decided to take our little guy home and leave his sisters behind. Sniff, sniff.



"The name's Angus . . . . . now go fetch me a beer!"














He is a quick little bugger and very low to the ground. . . . it was hard trying to get a good, cute picture of him. But believe me, he is very, very cute. Frieda the super mutt is taking it as best she can. We have been paying her with lots of extra love and attention. Angus is eager to play and jump on her, but she isn't having any of that just yet. I hope she can relax and accept him soon.

We got home in time for more snow . . . . . big, huge flakes. It's wet out and not too cold so hopefully it won't freeze and mess up the week.