6 year old lady

at 5
1. What is your favorite color? pink and purple
2. What is your favorite toy? Mommy's computer
3. What is your favorite fruit? strawberries
4. What is your favorite tv show? PowerPuff Girls
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?peanut butter & jelly
6. What is your favorite outfit? dresses
7. What is your favorite game? CandyLand
8. What is your favorite snack? cheese crackers
9. What is your favorite animal?  giraffe
10. What is your favorite song? Glee
11. What is your favorite book? Olivia
12. Who is your best friend? Caroline
13. What is your favorite cereal? Cocoa Puffs
 14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Swim
15. What is your favorite drink? Lemonade
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christimas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?  Taggie
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? donuts
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? chicken and bones (chicken wings)
20. What do you want to be when you grow up?a princess

at 6
1. What is your favorite color? pink and purple

2. What is your favorite toy? Barbie

3. What is your favorite fruit? watermelon
4. What is your favorite tv show?The Fresh Beat Band
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? peanut butter sandwiches

6. What is your favorite outfit? dresses
7. What is your favorite game? Wii

8. What is your favorite snack? chocolate fish crackers

9. What is your favorite animal?  elephants

10. What is your favorite song? Glee

11. What is your favorite book?Junie B. Jones
12. Who is your best friend?Caroline
13. What is your favorite cereal? Cocoa Puffs

 14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? draw with chalk
15. What is your favorite drink? Fuze
16. What is your favorite holiday?Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Taggie  
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?chocolate cheerios
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? chicken and bones

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Cowgirl

I love it when...

As my oldest child turns 6, I reflect my life since she's entered it.  She's about to start first grade, and she's had so many milestones.  Just this past year, she learned to read, she lost 2 teeth, she learned to tie her shoes (and her friend's shoes), she can swim to the bottom of the pool, she can swim the length of my parent's pool without taking a breath.  These may seem trivial to you, but to a kid her age...it's a big deal.

As I lay in bed last night, I thought of all the things I absolutely love about this kid. So, I thought I'd call this post, I love it when..
-I wake her up, and she says, "Mommy, can you wait just a minute and cuddle with me."
-she begs to stay up late so I can read her Junie B. Jones.
-she is so excited her blue eyes sparkle.
-she wakes me up because she's had a bad dream and I have to cuddle with her in her tiny twin bed (I just know this won't last forever.)
-she smiles at me, and she says, "Mommy, I love you."
-she kisses me goodbye every day at school, and right now, she doesn't care who sees her.
-she helps me in the kitchen.
-she asks if she can clean.
-she laughs so hard she snorts.
-she wants to be a girly girl.
-she has great manners.
-she smiles at me.
-she winks at me.
-she's sick and wants me to cuddle with her and take care of her. (I don't like her being sick, but I like her needing me.)
-she reads me a book.
-she makes me art.
-writes me a note.
-I love her zest for life.



I love everything about her. I feel like having her in my life makes me a better person.

New Outlook

So, it's been almost a year since my last post.  A lot has happened in the last year, but I never had the "blog bug."  I never felt anything was really noteworthy, and I never really had the time.

I've created new goals for myself: Goal #1-Make "me" time. This would be creating time to: blog, read, scrapbook, craft, and workout.  Yes, I said workout. 

For those that know me, I'm kind of allergic to exercise.  I almost break out in a sweat just thinking of exercising.  I have friends that religiously workout- bootcamp, running, etc.  So, after taking a good look at myself in the mirror sans clothing, I decided it was time for the inevitable.  I decided to start the C25K program and Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 days video.  I'm not gonna lie.  It hasn't been easy.  After 2 weeks, I noticed a definite change.  I have more energy.  I'm eating healthier.  I journal what I eat.  A lot of times just looking at MyFitnessPal to see how many calories something is deters me from eating it. I am pretty sure I've lost inches (but I promised myself I wouldn't re-measure until after 4 weeks--still 2 to go.) I still cheat though.  I'm not giving up hamburgers, guacamole, queso and chips, etc.

So, I guess you could say that I'm just a normal girl trying to improve my life.  I want to be a better mom, wife, colleague, friend, and me.

OH, I decided to rename the blog. I'm still working on the design.  It's a work in progress...so you'll see it change over time.

Katie's first day of Kindergarten

The anticipation was killing me...notice, I said me. Katie is my oldest, but she is a mini-version of me. She looks like me, acts like me, and frequently I'm startled by things she says to me because it's as if it came out of my mouth (except I'm 31 and she's 5.)

Every time I thought about my baby walking down the hall away from my 4th grade classroom with her hands clasped in her daddy's I cried. I don't know why, but it's like she's growing up, and I can't stop it. I know that sounds silly, but when those big blue eyes look at me and she smiles, I melt. In those small moments, I want everything for her.

I read this mom's blog about letting go of her youngest, and I empathized with her. She explained how her baby girl took off on her first day of Kindergarten totally surprising her. She jumped out of the car, walked down the hall by herself, hung up her backpack and started her day...without her mom. In that instant, I realized that Katie has been ready for Kindergarten the entire time. It was me who wasn't ready. Don't get me wrong. I am so looking forward to the day she brings home a book and reads it cover to cover. The day she runs home to tell me she lost her first tooth at school. The day she tells me a boy was mean and he shoved her (because secretly he thinks she is adorable.)

So, I steeled myself for the worst today. I made Katie her favorite, homemade buttermilk pancakes for breakfast in shapes: heart, flower, and butterfly. She wanted to wear a denim dress and pink flower in her hair (all of this decided last night.) She and I set off at 6:45 AM since I had to be on duty at 7:30. We had an uneventful ride to school, but Katie always keeps me entertained. We drove with the sun rising straight ahead. Katie said, "OH, what a beautiful sight!" We got there, and she was just itching to go to her class, and she couldn't wait for Dave to get there. He finally did. We waited for the principal to make an announcement that they were sending students down to class. Dave took a picture of Katie and I, and off the hall they went. I didn't shed a single tear even though there was a giant lump in my throat. I guess it was 8:20 when Dave came down to let me see the pictures and said she was clingy at first, but as soon as her friend, Julie with the Rapunzel backpack, showed up, she was good to go. :)

I am truly blessed that I work where Katie goes to school. I may not have walked her down to her classroom, but who else gets to see their kid 2-3 times during the day at work. I also get to hear how her day went on the way home before anyone else does. Plus, she practically tackles me when I show up to pick her up from the YMCA. Now, I am thankful for those little things. :)

Snow Day, Yes Please

We lost 4 days of school one week and 1 day the following week due to snow (and ice.) This was Katie's dream come true.

Kenzie didn't really know what to think about all of the snow.

Still Wild at 80

Happy 80th Birthday, Grandpa! He celebrated the big day by having fajitas at his house. Katie, of course, had to help him blow out his candles and help him open his gifts. She is such a good helper. I hope that I'm as spry and lively when I am 80.

Easiest baby ever...

Mackenzie is four months old, and I'm convinced that she may be the easiest baby ever. She has no stranger danger. She hasn't been sick (by now we already had a nebulizer for Katie's asthma.) She smiles at EVERYONE...and very little makes her unhappy. She rarely cries. Dave thinks she is more difficult because she didn't sleep through the night as quick as Katie, and she still has rough nights. If that's our biggest problem, I'll take it. I personally think that if I had Kenzie first, I might have wanted a litter. OH well, two girls it is. Financially, I don't think we can afford more than 2.