November

The month is almost over and I just now managed to make a blog post. Though I don't get to post often, I still keep plugging along, one day I know it'll be helpful when I am looking back at things the kids did, sort of a baby book in other words.

So what has been going on this month? I've been pretty busy especially with Girl Scout stuff! Earlier this month, we headed to Talladega for a 100th Yr Celebration: Daisy Jam 2012 and no it wasn't a racing thing. They tons of games and activities for the girls to earn points and ribbons through out the day.  While we didn't win anything (hard to compete against large troops) we had tons of fun.  The weather was perfect, and it was pretty cool being at Talladega on the speedway and pit row. 

Jessica and I

The following weekend was another Girl Scout event, Alabama's Place in Space at the US Space and Rocket Center.  It was a sleepover and what is cool is you get to sleep under the Saturn V Rocket in the Davidson Center.  Not everyone can say they have done that. This was our 2nd year participating in this event and they change it each time.  The girls got to learn a lot about space, try hands on activities, build and shoot Rockets and of course visit all the simulators. 

Rock Climbing

Science Experiment, learning about Rocket Fuel

Girls with our Guide, Anthony

Other things in November, oh yes Thanksgiving.  It was quiet and low key.  We stayed home, cooked lots of food, had my mom over, ate lots of food, lots of pie and that was about it.  It was good though, it as nice to have a laid back day rather than a crazy one. 

The girls both got progress reports this month at school, all A's for Hailey and all A's and 1 B for Jessica.  We're proud of them both.  Jess is talking about trying out for track at school, which won't be until Feb.  I am not sure how I feel about that lol because she has spring softball too, so we'll see. Hailey will most likely be playing Spring soccer because she really loved it this fall. 

Kaitlyn is doing well right now too, she's getting used to the UCP playgroup, actually walked in this week with no tears! WOOT! That's big! She is also doing well with speech and physical therapy, so we're on the happy end of the spectrum right now.

Other than that, we're just gearing up for Christmas and I do have to brag, we're done shopping! Did the majority of it online before Thanksgiving, some on Black Friday online and in person, but we didn't go out until 8pm on Friday and the stores were pretty quiet.  The best thing was we still scored all the things we wanted at the BF price!

I think that about catches us up on November, so hopefully I can post again soon! ;)

Blog Name

So I've been thinking about the name of my blog and whether I should change it or not.  When I first started blogging it was View from A Blonde, but then I would get all kinds of strange people finding it based on what they were googling! It was crazy.  Then I decided Playgroup Mommy would fit because it was kind of my identity at that time.  Now it's not.  I am still in the group but it's not who I am...which makes me think maybe I should change.  Though if I do it, I have no idea what I would choose, so that's not helping any. 

What to do, what to do....

Changes & Reflection

Changes are coming!

The weather is changing, it's getting "cooler" and actually kind of cold the next few nights, the days are getting shorter, the sun sets by 5pm, but it's getting to be that time of year. The holiday season if you will.  It seems once school starts, the year starts to fly by until January and then it slows a little bit. 

When January comes this time, there will be some changes in my life too. I am stepping down from organizing my moms group.  If I continued until Feb 14th, I would be organizing for 7 years. Do you hear me? 7 YEARS! My middle daughter is going to be 8 in March, so the majority of her life, I've run a playgroup.  Crazy.  To think she was just 10 months old when I joined and she's going to be in 3rd grade next year, makes it all so bittersweet.

While there has been lots of ups and downs during my 7 years of organizing, I really did enjoy it.  During those years there were hundreds of happy moms and of course some that didn't agree with me or left for whatever reason, but I did my job, I helped them make friendships with other moms and ultimately that is the purpose of the group.

The last several years has really made me realize how important friendship is.  I can have hundreds of acquaintance but only a small group of true friends. That's OK with me, I love my friends, even though I don't get to see them as often as I would like, they helped me when I needed it the most. They will never know how grateful I was and still am for their help, compassion, advice and love.  So those of you reading this and you know who you are, THANK YOU! <3 p="p">

I hope in 5, 10 or 15 years I can look back at this experience and say, it was still worth it!

Hours

There simply is not enough hours in the day to get everything done. No matter how much I try to get it all done, it just doesn't happen.  I think I have (or used to!) pretty decent time management skills, but lately I feel like a failure.

The house isn't clean enough, I don't spend enough quality time with the kids, I don't get enough meetup stuff done, I don't get enough girl scout stuff done, I don't get a lot of quality time with my husband, friends or just time to myself. I hate it. I feel like most of my time is spent accomplishing much of nothing. I used to coupon, and what a time consuming job that was, even though we were saving some money.  Now I primarily shop at Aldis and no couponing and save money without the hour scouring the internet looking for the best deal and coupons to match.  You think that would have save me some time, but I managed to fill it with other stuff.

I want, need, to do better at managing my time again, I feel like I am missing out on so much because I can't get my head straight. I know my kid's activities aren't going to slow down, so other things must. I need to spend less time on the internet (yet here I sit blogging) and more time doing things that I've been putting off. I have an online course I need to take for girl scouts, and I haven't been motivated yet to do it. I did just get the info the other day though, so it's not like I've been putting it off long. I do however, have to have it done by Nov 10th, as it's for an event we're going to.

This particular issue is going on my "New Year's Resolutions" errr, goals list.  It must be done, something has to give.  There will be some things changing within the new year as well, and I am hoping that will help relieve some of my stress.

Do you get it all done? Do you feel accomplished at the end of the day?

Three

Today would have been the 3rd birthday of the sweet little angel in Heaven had I not miscarried.  Here is a post I wrote on what would have been the 1st birthday.  Remembering and it's still fresh in my mind as it were yesterday.

Tonight I say a prayer for all my friends and family who have angels in Heaven waiting on them.

What's Going On

I have little faith in my ability to blog on a consistent basis these days or ever.  I want to do it, but I don't seem to have much to say, or maybe I do, but what I do want to say will turn people off and they will quit reading and/or being my friend. Most likely the latter.

Things are well going....well just going around here.  I've started babysitting pt on MWF, so that's nice. A little extra cash flow, which I need since Christmas is coming. Let's pretend I didn't say the "C'" word and move on.  Hubby had an interview last week, it went well, they were impressed with him, and he's hoping to hear back this week for a 2nd interview.  Not really sure this would be the right fit for him, but I don't know that it would be any worse than the current situation. 

School started back about 3 weeks ago and for that I am thankful.  The last 2 weeks of Summer vacation given to us by the wonderful government of Alabama, well sucked.  The kids were restless and ready to go back to school and I was ready for them to go.  Since then, things have been going somewhat better.  Other things not so much, behavior issues with both older kids, is driving me to want to drink ALL.THE.TIME.  That's not a good thing.

K has been doing well in UCP playgroup, we've reduced PT and ST to once a month, I figure we'll be graduating out by the end of the year unless things change for the worst.  She would really benefit from outpatient therapy but it's still not in the cards. 

Some days I feel like the universe is working against me, I am trying to keep faith in God that everything will work out for us.

Channeling Part 2

So it's been awhile since I posted, we've just been super busy, but we did finally finish Dresser # 2 (off white one)! So without further ado, photos!

Only photo I have of dresser with drawers in :/

Off white with goldish trim

Before any primer

Primed and ready for paint

All done, we only did 2 coats, could have used another, but we needed it in the room!

Can see some of the brush strokes, but not the true color, it's a deep red, but looks kind of brown here. 

The girls are thrilled to have their dressers complete and in their rooms. We were making do with much smaller ones and they had both outgrown them. So now I have purple and blood red paint to use for other projects, wonder what I can paint next?

For details on the purple dresser, see my Channeling post.

So pretty oh so pretty

More craftyness continues :) I decided to make some hairbows for my cute little one (and probably the big ones too) and after knowing that I can do it and they turn out cute, I'll be selling them on my small etsy site along with my handmade crochet items. Down the road I may add even more things, but for now, this will do.

I made these bows the other day:

Aren't they cute?? I have tons of other ideas and bows to make, I just need to sit down and get on it! I am going to give away a cute 4th of July bow on my facebook page, just because! Plus once I reach 100 fans, I'll give away another one. 

So here's your chance to enter, go to my facebook page: Three Princess Designs and like our page and then go to the Giveaway Tab and be sure to share with your friends!

I am also selling them on my etsy shop, $4 for the loopy bows if you want to purchase!

Channeling

I've been channeling my inner craft goddess lately and I'll say it's been a good thing.  Last year we got two dressers for free via freecycle for the girls, and they've sat in the garage all this time waiting to be refinished. I had found a blog post on how to do it without worrying about sanding and what not and just now got around to buying the supplies. Plus we've just recently had time to actually do it. The dressers are wood ones, and I know the thought of painting any wood makes people want to cry lol but these dressers were old and in rough shape, see pictures below.

So I followed this blog post : http://icreatewithlove.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-new-green-storage-solution.html and we have gotten one done completely and it turned out great. The second one is still waiting to be finished.

The top drawers are the ones for the dresser we've just finished.

I forgot to take a picture of the dresser and drawers together, rookie mistake!

Look at that ugliness!

Primed! Only 1 coat, no sanding involved.

Done my friends! We spray painted the hardware to give it a kind of rubbed bronze look.

Close up, my daughter loves it!

So dresser 2, the white one you can sort of see in the 1st photo is still a work in progress. You see, H, wanted it to be red, um like blood red, even the color is called something similar. EWWW lol but I didn't really care since we didn't pay for the dressers and it's going in her closet anyway! So we primed it and it has 1 coat of color...but it's going to need 1 i f not 2 more coats of paint.  I should have used tinted primer, but that meant spending an extra $20 and well I didn't want to do that. So we're hoping in the end with a little more paint it turns out fine.

Thirty Five

Hmm how did I get to be 35 already? That's only 5 years away from 40.... not sure how I quite feel about that. So I turned the big 3-5 on Tuesday, didn't have much planned due to softball games and a very cranky baby lol but it turned out fine, hubby brought home a cake, a chocolate cake, so I can't complain to much. 

So last night I went out with some friends to a place called Spirited Art, you know they are pretty awesome if you've never been. You can bring your own drink & munchies if you wish, you learn to paint a painting of  your choice and have some fun! I've only done it once before and that was two years ago when I was super preggo  with K, I was so nervous that time. There isn't anything to be nervous about, but I hadn't painted in years and years.  However it turned out pretty good and last nights painting I like too.

So without further ado, Spring Breeze

Busy and Random

We've been quite busy the last week, we went to my sisters graduation from University of South Carolina the 1st weekend of May, it was great to see her walk across the stage.  While it was a long drive 9.5 there and then back out of a 3 day weekend, we really enjoyed our time there. My mom even got to go, so that was even better. :) Here is a pic of my sister and I (not a great pic of me though).

She is so excited to be done with college (at least for now) and already has a job in NC where she moved to. Ah my sister is all grown up now. We are 12 yrs apart so I watched her grow up into the young lady she is today. Bittersweet!

Kaitlyn celebrated her 2nd birthday Tuesday of this past week, and I am a complete failure as a mom, because I don't think I took any pictures of her except 1 and that was with my phone. UGH.  We were supposed to have her party this past Saturday but the weather was quite iffy and so we rescheduled (and of course it did not really rain until late that day) until this coming Sunday.  It'll probably be 100 degrees and feel like we're dying of heat exhaustion but that's better than stormy weather right? lol

2 Years Old

Last week I made a recipe from Pinterest, Mexican Chicken Ring and it was YUMMY! Here is my version:

We all really enjoyed it, all 3 kids, ate it without a fuss and we really didn't have any left overs. This was enough to feed 5 of us, about 2 servings each, so if you have more people in the family or big eaters, you'll need more than 1. We served it with salad. :)  Next time I am going to leave out the tortilla chips, didn't really think it added much flavor.

Last week we also had an appointment for K for a consult for new braces. We were stuck in between what our PT here was saying and what the doctors down at UAB were saying, both totally different. What is a person to do, ask the brace guy! He was able to make everyone happy! We are getting braces that can be solid (not movable) or hinged (movable) by them having a strap that tightens to allow either way.  YAY. So I can't wait to get them and see them on her so we can see what is best. 

And finally yesterday was Mother's Day and it was a low key thing for us. I worked that morning, spent some time with my mom in the afternoon and came home to a clean house courtesy of hubby and the kids. Then we grilled out hamburgers for dinner in between pop up tornado warnings lol (not really for us but close by) but all in all it was a great day.

How's that for random?

Cycles

I feel like we're in a vicious cycle. Just when things go better and we're getting things paid off, BAM something happens and we're back down the hole again. Sigh.

My dear husband is due a promotion at work, which would help A LOT, however they told him no because his family issues the past 2 yrs. Um, sorry, I wish that I could take it all back where my child was not born with SB and need 2 surgeries and multiple dr appointments spread out of the last 2 years requiring more than 3ish plus weeks off of work, and I wish I could take back my mom having her major stroke, making him take more time off, but it's just not possible and he should not be punished for that. He worked from home/hospitals as much as he could so not to get to far behind, but it's not enough. So yes I am thankful he has a job, they didn't let him go or anything like that, but he really needs to get out of there, they are not going to promote him no matter what he does, no matter how many trainings they send him to, so he can come back and train the people there, he's stuck.  GRRR

So now, he's looking for a new job, to move to another company, because after putting in 10 years at the current company, they are no longer a good fit for us in many ways. So any local friends that know of some openings let me know, procurement/buyer, logistics or finance is the type he is looking for. Thanks.

I am sure that some reading this (who do not know me or our situation), say for me to go to work, ha, if only it were that simple. I am working very PT at a local church, I'll be lucky to get around $100 a month (and that's on a good month) so while it's helpful to pay for gas, it's not enough to substantially change things.  We're not able to just put K in a daycare, not with her medical issues and honestly I don't know a job I could do to pay enough to cover the cost of full time care for 3 kids (1 with special needs/med issues) in the summer and still have money left.  No point in working to only pay daycare, so right now me staying home is the best option.  I need to look back into the babysitting world again and check the listings online to see if I can find something that will work with our crazy schedule.

So for now, we're trying to cut back on as much as we can, eat cheaper meals, shop more at Aldis and try to use coupons as much as possible for things at other stores. We're trying to save on gas, making several trips out of one, especially when driving across town for softball games and school pickup/drop off, visiting my mom.  So much of our money each month is spent on gas and food. There's just nothing left and barely enough to get by :( I hate living like this. 

To top it off, besides the crazy outstanding number of medical bills we have, my hearing aids have started messing up and it's really time to replace, been 5 years, but that means coming up with a little over $3000 to cover the cost.  Isn't life grand?

I know God is not punishing us, and the saying he'll only give you what you can handle, well I am questioning my ability these days to handle anything....

Catch Up

I set a new record lol I blogged 6 times in April ;) that's pretty impressive, eh? lol Alright moving on, we've been busy since my last blog, so today is catch up. We're still kicking butt with softball games, not that either girls team is winning a lot, but they are out there and play hard, 3 times a week. J had volleyball tryouts last week at school and made the team! WOOT! We're all excited for her. :) I had to get a tooth surgically removed last Thursday, so I've been out of commission a bit this past week but now am doing pretty good, just a little pain left.  We went to a super fun birthday party this past weekend and now we're back to softball and school fun.

Speaking of school, there are only 17 days of school left! Oh my, this year has flown by. Next year I will have a 7th grader and a 2nd grader...how does that happen? I only have 3 years left before K goes off to school. ARGH! Other school news, my sister is graduating this weekend, University of South Carolina, and we're going to watch/celebrate with her. So proud of her, it's been a long road with lots of changes, but she's did it :)

K is doing well with speech and physical therapy, we're ready to get her new AFO's, but her consult isn't until the 10th, so still a little ways off. I am trying to figure out to budget in some outpatient pt for her, but our insurance only pays a percentage of the cost and she has to have an evaluation for that too. sigh.

Summer is coming and we've got no big plans, just some day trips, lots of playdates and anything cheap! :) Anyone going on a fun vacation?

Spina Bifida Bowl-A-Thon

This past weekend was our local SB Bowl-A-Thon and as you know I've been working on raising money, $250.00 to be exact the last few months, but really pushed the last few days. :) Thank you to all my wonderful friends and family who donated because when I got home from the bowl-a-thon, I was at my goal! WOOT! While that amount isn't as large as some other teams, we still came in 5th in fundraising :) So thank you thank you thank you to those donors!

We had a blast at the bowl-a-thon, our team, Kaitlyn's Kingpins, had the highest team score, 632 and that was with K bowling hehe, she actually was the 2nd highest score on our team lol what can I say the kid has skills! :) We won 5 g.c. for pizza and 5 g.c. for 5 free 19 hole putt putt games, so a good family day soon for us.  There was tons of items for their silent auction, we didn't bid on any, since we didn't have any extra money but they had some cool things. Plus they had lots of raffle items.  Each team got 1 ticket per member, so we started with 5.  If you bowled a strike you got another ticket, my dear sweet husband, who hasn't bowled in years bowled a 232, so about 9 strikes, plus I had 3.  We did end up winning (well H) an Avon basket, so I am still waiting to go through our goodies.

The local semi-pro football team, The Huntsville Rockets, came out to support the bowl-a-thon as well. They weren't able to stay the whole time, since they had a game, but it was great seeing them out there. There were many sponsors and we really enjoyed our time there, can't wait for next year.

K got to try out an Ambucs Tryke and it's so cool. They are made for special needs kids, who can't ride traditional bikes, this one has handlebars that pedal the bike along with the normal pedals. So it's great because it works the good and weaker muscles. We filled out some paperwork, to get the process started, we're hoping we can get some assistance because it cost $400 to $800 or so depending on the type.  That part I am worried about, but I really want to give K a "typical" childhood and want her to ride a bike, so we'll do what we have to do to make it happen.

Ambucs Tryke Demo

Having fun at the Spina Bifida Bowl-A-Thon

Blogging

Some days I am not sure why I do it and other days I feel it's therapeutic in a way. I blog to have memories of things going on in my life, milestones and changes my kids go through, who needs baby books! I blog as a way to journal and find some peace at times.  My mind is bogged down with things I need to do, want to do, should do, and this is a little escape. 

I doubt I'll ever be a cool mom blogger, and that's OK, I don't know that I would want hundreds, thousands or more reading my everyday thoughts...but there are plenty of moms who do it and make money at it.  So sure it's crossed my mind, I could find a niche and blog it, but who am I kidding, I don't have time for that.  I have a small group of followers and some I am not even sure they read anymore, not that I blame them much.  I can understand as my life got all kinds of crazy awhile back and blogging fell to the way side. Though at times, because you know everyone who blogs, likes comments, I wonder if anyone is reading at all. 

So if you're reading let me know! :) Leave a comment and say hi lol ;)

Now on to my real reason for blogging tonight lol I've formed a team for the Spina Bifida Assoc of Alabama because as you my faithful readers know, Kaitlyn was born with SB.  So her team, Kaitlyn's Kingpins are participating in the bowl-a-thon on April 21 and I'm trying to raise money!!

Doesn't she just make you want to pull out your wallet and donate? Come on, she is ADORABLE! ;)

So if you're so inclined and want to help out Kaitlyn's team, please go to this link and donate! :)

Easter

Easter was a low key event for us this year, which is nice after the crazy busy weeks we've had lately.  A couple weeks ago we went to my moms group Spring Fling/Egg hunt which was fun.  Then for Easter we had my dad over for a bit and then we went to see my mom for a couple hours.  It was nice, she was kinda of down, not sure if it was really due to the holiday though since we found out this week that the insurance isn't going to pay for her rehabilitation.  :( Either way, we brought her an basket with some goodies in it that she likes and that seemed to help perk her up a little and some cupcakes :)

We almost forgot to dye eggs this year, not sure but how but I had forgot to even buy eggs! So my poor hubby had to go out on Sat evening and get eggs lol but thankfully we got done and they turned out pretty.

All in all it was a nice Easter, tried to get some decent pictures of the girls, but someone was always making a face, turning their head or blinking lol so here's what you get:

Dating

So you know when you and your special other first met, you went out on dates, had fun times and enjoyed spending time together, heck you even had something to talk about! Those days seem far and few between now that we're married (maybe you feel that way to?) but we're determined to get back to dating, each other ;) So now that K is older and a little easier to leave we've got my SIL to come watch the girls for us, two months in a row! Yep I am bragging lol, says the girl who hadn't been on a date with her hubby in over 2 years! It was so easy when it was the 2 older girls, I could get my dad to come hang out with them for a few hours, but his health isn't great enough to take care of a very active almost 2 year old, so it's been put on hold.

So I mentioned in a blog posts back in Feb. that what I really wanted for Valentine's Day was to go out on a date without me having to plan it.  I don't know if hubby read my blog (which I don't even think he knows the link) or someone told him or he just finally took a hint, but it happened! We only did dinner and shopping, but it was nice.  Our last date night was just a little over a week ago, dinner and a movie and shopping, yes it was bliss! We went to see The Hunger Games, though a late showing, it was great! I wasn't sure if hubby would be to into it, but he enjoyed it, there was enough action to keep his interest lol. I had already read the book so I was kind of disappointed in a few changes, but overall I felt it was true to the book.

Though dates are awesome, I forget how pricey they can be! Our dinner/movie night cost us about $70, ouch and that didn't include the shopping, but that was for the girls Easter items. It's quite sad when the 2 drinks & 1 popcorn cost more than 2 movie tickets.... I mean really!? So we'll definitely scale back our next date night and I am on the hunt for great Groupon and Living Social deals, so maybe we'll find our next adventure there! I am gearing up for our 12th Anniversary date in May, maybe we'll take an overnight trip but only if I can get a deal, hence the stalking of Groupon and LS lol.

Hookin' It

Not in a bad way! Crochet hooks ;) My moms group had a craft swap in March so I had to come up with something to make to exchange with another crafter :) I didn't want to make another scarf or blanket, besides it's HOT around here and I wanted it to be something useful not just decor, so I searched Pinterest of course, because that's my latest addiction. Luckily I had already pinned this particular item so it was easy to find! :)

Here is my creation:

That gorgeous perfectly matched lining? Hand sewn in to the purse, thank you  very much :) Also I made 2 pockets, because really what good is a purse without some kind of pocket?? Not a good one! I really love the purse and it wasn't to bad making it, worst part was making the lining and attaching it.  I want one for myself, but not sure I am ready to tackle it again.

In return I received some beautiful wall art that I had been wanting to make myself, but never got around to and I had the perfect spot for it.

Sorry the picture is blurry, it is from my phone. :) The frame below the wall art is from my moms group, it was given to me our 5 Year Anniversary. Love it too! :) Now I just need to find 2 smaller wall art items to go on either side of the flowers and I am set.

Sports

I grew up playing sports and loved it, now my kids are playing and they love it, even I love it.  I don't love the crazy hours it entails though.  When I was a kid playing rec leagues, we did not practice like kids do these days, nor play these crazy late hour games, so it frustrates me to say the least.  Last night was J & H's first softball game, they have had practice for a month, 3 to 4 times a week each, sigh.  The games last night were slated for 6 p.m. and 7:15 p.m., H being the later one. Her game got a late start, so they ended up playing until 9 p.m. Really?? Come on people, these are 7 & 8 year olds, they really DO NOT need to be playing that late when they have school.  The kids did not get into bed until 10 last night since we still had to eat and finish homework and not to mention it takes us about 15 to 20 mins to get home from the ball park.

Being our first year doing this many sports or ones that play so late in the week vs the weekend, I am still learning the ropes. I don't know how parents do this, keep up with homework, dinner, and still manage to get everything else done.  We have got to figure it out soon as games go through the end of May and I don't want to struggle every week with it.

Any advice?

The One Where

I talk about a little bit of everything. Not really surprised are you? Most of my blog entries these days are just random bits of information of things going on in my life. So I must continue my tradition lol.

So onward, first bit of news, I got a new job. :) One that is SO flexible and perfect, it's almost scary. I am going to be working part time in the nursery classes at one of our local churches.  There are a lot of great things about this job, it's less than two miles from me which saves on gas, it's completely flexible, meaning I choose my hours, the people are awesome and we've been talking about starting to go to church there. Another perk, I get to wear casual clothes, yay! Main hours are Sunday mornings of course, but I do not have to work every Sunday, as you sign up for the ones you want to work, plus some occasional Sun. nights and weekday nights as well.  Again, work as much or as little as you want.  I've only signed up for 2 days for April & May right now, mostly because of softball games and the other dates are filled with other workers. I am willing to bet I'll get a few more hours though.

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, that while I do believe in God and I pray a lot, I've been missing something. I've never felt that you HAD to attend church to believe or be a Christian and I still do not.  There is a lot more to that, but I'll just leave it at that.  I grew up in the Church, attended every Sunday, evening and Wednesday evening as well, always involved, VBS, Choir, Nursery, Youth Groups etc  My husband however wasn't, and I knew this, so I've never pushed him to go.  I know he would go with me, because that would be what I would want, but I would want him to go because he wanted to.  So a few nights ago we were talking when I first found out about the job opening, that I was thinking of starting to attend again.  He was all for it and I had even mentioned he didn't have to, but he seems like he wants to and interested in learning more.  I've done a lot more praying in the last two years of my life, than I have in a long time.  Things have been rough for us and some days I am not sure I see the silver lining and I've felt a pull.  The pull to return to church, perhaps that has what has been missing in my life that I couldn't quite seem to figure out.

A year ago my mom had a major stroke, while in the beginning it didn't seem like the outcome would be so bad.  She was alert, knew who she was, her birthday, year, president etc, however a few days later her body started shutting down.  She slipped into a coma for a little over a week. During that week the doctors gave us grim news and told us to prepare for the worst.  They started talking hospice, and what we needed to do etc. Looking back it was surreal, we sat talking about her memorial service, what to do with the house, her stuff....never in my life did I see this happening at her age.  People all around the US and a few other countries were praying for us, and God heard those prayers and she began to wake up from her coma.  I could not believe it, but I cried tears of joy.  She started talking and being alert and knew she had a stroke, but didn't remember coming to the hospital etc, but I was just glad she was alive.

This last year has been crazy, her leaving the hospital, coming to a nursing home here in AL, then literally days later the horrible April 27th tornadoes came leaving us without power for a week. Thankfully we made it through with just loss of food and a tree, so I can't complain to much.  She has come so far from where she was in April of last year, had a feeding tube, barely sitting up on her own, to now eating just fine, getting around in her wheel chair due to her paralyzed left side but for the most part I am happy.  There are still struggles and hard times, but I just pray we're headed in the right direction. 

So in the end my random post was about a lot of praying, my mom, about life and moving forward.  That's what we try to do everyday, look ahead & move forward.

Uninspired

That is me these days, I am uninspired for many things, blogging, cooking, going out with friends, etc. I don't know what happened, I am in a rut. So what exactly have I been up to since I can't seem to blog more than once a month? A little bit of everything.

Quick List:

-Making 5 Egyptian costumes, 100 swaps, poster size flag, hieroglyphs chart/puzzle, researching & gathering info about Egypt for the GS World Thinking Day.
- Speech for K
- Physical Therapy for K
- Softball practice for J & H almost daily between the two of them
- Dealing with mom stuff, trying to get her into an assisted living place vs nursing home, etc etc.
- Playgroup stuff
- Family stuff
- Random stuff, you know paying bills, house cleaning, laundry, etc.

Still trying to find some ME time in all of that. I desperately need to get out of the house more. I think I am slightly depressed these days and feel quite alone. I don't know what happened to me... I used to get out at least every other day for some type of play date, mno, mni, something. Now, not so much.

I think, well I know, a lot of it has to do with Kaitlyn.  Not blaming her, but it's hard to be around people, even friends, that have kids K's age (or even younger) who are doing, well everything.  :( I want to take her out more and probably should even take her walker, but what do you do at a play date with a walker and curious other kids. I know they will want to play with it, take it and run with it, and there will sit K, wondering what the hell just happened.  I feel so sad for her right now, she needs interaction with kids her age, but she'll get left behind since she can't just run with them when they choose to go somewhere else.

Will things ever get better? Will I ever feel like we can get out and go and not worry about other kids or parents and what they do/say/think? I sure hope so, but until then, I guess I'll continue to be a hermit and hope that a spot opens in the EI playgroup soon.

Who Spilled The Beans?

Did someone put a bird in my hubbys ear?  On Saturday he says, so I got a surprise for you, but I need your help, so it sorta ruins the "surprise" lol.  I was a bit confused, but then he proceeds to tell me he has a babysitter lined up so we can go out on a date for Valentine's Day, but needs to know what day I want to go.  We only had a couple to pick from, so Sunday night it was.  He made reservations for PF Changs, yum! and we went and did a little shopping and came home and watched a movie.  We had planned to go see a movie, but they all started at a time we couldn't make due to dinner and/or really late times.  We have tons of movies on the DVR from last year (yes we're that behind lol) so we watched What Happens In Vegas. Oh my, what a funny movie. We laughed so much!

Our sitter even offered to let us go away for the night, but Sat night I had plans, so we had to skip that, but boy that would have been nice.  I think we'll take her up on the offer in May for our 12 year anniversary though :) Now perhaps my dh picked up on my hints, when I had mentioned a lot of people were posting on facebook about their great dates, maybe I should start dropping hints more often! ;)

Not sure if we'll do anything special Tuesday, since we had our night, but I will probably let the girls choose dinner and dessert at home. Last year we fed the girls and ordered Steak Out, but not sure I want to spend that much.  I need to figure it out soon!

Lists

So it seems all my blogger friends are making lists, I can't seem to find my mojo and blog anymore, as you can see it's been a little over  2 months since I blogged here. What can I say, we've had a busy Dec, as that post was probably made right before Kaitlyn's surgery and it's been crazy since then.  So today you're getting a list.

Ha, no bullets, or numbers, I am going letters ;)

A. Kaitlyn's surgery went well! She's just about back to where she was before the surgery.

B. Post op MRI was supposed to be this past Monday, but she had a fever, we had to cancel, so now we have to wait until March.

C. K had speech eval last week, she qualifies, so now we're adding speech twice a month to our 2-3 times pt a month.

D. I want to get K into out patient therapy, insurance covers a very minimal amount, so now to come up with the extra money out of pocket to get her what she needs.

E. Taxes- filed-check, money in bank-check, paying off a few bills- in process

F. Basketball season is over, the girls had a great season, and we're getting a small break right now.

G. Softball season starts later this month

H. Having behavior issues still with H.... never ending these days. At.end.of.rope.

I. My dad is having health problems, has a rupture in his stomach or upper intestine, however doctors are falling down and will not do the test required to see if he's really OK. They seem to "think" he's over the worst part, but things could rapidly change and get worse??! >:(

J. Looking at asst. living places for my mom, rather than the nursing home she's in.  So much I could say on this but am going to refrain.

K. My house is a wreck, grrr

L. Love is in the air...um not really but Valentine's Day is next week. Hubby keeps asking what I want and what I really want to say is, I would love for you to just plan something, make arrangements for childcare, and a date for us, I mean really, what happened to you?? You used to do things like that...now, not so much.  However I won't say that, I'll be happy with a card and candy I am sure I'll get.  On the flipside, V-Day is still a little sad for me, since I miscarried 3 years ago.  I guess that'll always be in the back of my head.

M. Birthdays are coming, H's 7th birthday and K's 2nd birthday, must get planning and shopping.

N. Realizing my list could drag on forever, so I'll stop (N)ow. ;)

So the short/long of it is, I have a lot going on, but not finding time to get around to writing about it all, so this will have to do. 

Until next time.