Struggling

Man. Seems like I am struggling here. Struggling to update the blog. Struggling to find time to focus on the family. Struggling to get all my work for school completed. Just struggling....

It is so hard to be a working mama at times...with your attention divided between the kiddos, husband, house and job. Plus,throw in the mix being a pair of teachers. Yeah...so you can pretty much ensure our evenings are lost to papers and lessons and emails.  It is hard to find a balance.

Today I went with a few neighbors to a wake. Yeah. Sounds uplifting, right?  Well, it was. I love our neighbors. They are such a great group of people. Whenever something happens, these neighbors are on it. With Owen's surgery they were the most supportive people around.  When a baby is born sick, the neighbors rally around the family. When a neighbor's mother dies, they rally.  We are so blessed to have picked this neighborhood 5 years ago.  It is almost more like the neighborhood picked us--as this was the first house we looked at but it was a few thousand out of our price range. Then, a month later, we came back for our third viewing and the realtor announced it went down in price...to our limit!  How perfect.   The good thing about these folks is that we can support someone who is going through a hard time...and in the end it turned out be pretty therapeutic for all of us.  After the wake we took a long way home with a stop at Traders Joes (my first time ever...probably not my last!) and with an last-minute trip to the Cheesecake Factory! Yum!  And now I feel refreshed. These next 8 school days (I mean...who is counting) don't look so daunting now that I've had actual "Jo Ann Time". 

I gotta remember to take time out for myself between papers, dance practice, doctor appointments,  meetings and baking cakes.   Oh. Yeah. Baking Cakes...I forgot to show you how Owen's cake turned out. I have to admit. It rocked. Poor lil' booger loved it. Even though he had to wait until after dance practice to eat it!

The Dog.

Blowing out the candle.

Eating the Frog...after not realizing for a good 2 minutes that it was indeed edible.

He absolutely loved that Word World Cake.  Especially that Frog, "Ribbit" as he says. It was a great lil' day for him.   He is such a sweet lil' guy!  And even though I felt guilty leaving them this evening...I now feel like I have way more energy to keep up with their ever-lasting supply!

Birthday Eve!

Today is marks the Eve of Owen's Birthday.  While he is starting to understand the excitement of his birthday...Bethany and I are super excited to celebrate his date with him.  (Cory is excited, of course...but we totally out do him!)

We are super proud of our lil' man.  He is putting more and more words together. Sometimes it is hard to get what he is saying, but if you can use the context of the situation, usually it makes sense.

He impresses me often.  The other day he grabs some lil' crafty shapes and starts sorting the lil' suckers. Who would've thought of that. What a smart booger he is!

See...all the little squares go in a nice little row.

Owen also has transitioned into his big boy toddler bed.  Big boy toddler bed. Could that be an oxymoron. Perhaps...but I am not the one that teaches Comm Arts...so I don't care so much.   He did great switching.  When Cory was putting together the bed Owen kept going, "WOOOAH! Night-Night! WOOOAH!"  He was even trying to assist in the construction a tad bit.

It is hard to believe two years has come since we have introduced our second lil' baby in our family.  He is such a blessing. Before he was born, I didn't understand how we could possibly love the second child as much as that first one.  But man...this lil' guy has a strong place in our hearts.  We are so immensely blessed to have Owen in our lives.  He is such a great lil' guy...Target tantrums and all!

Daddy-Daughter Craziness

When I leave these two alone sometimes they create nothing but trouble. 

The other day when I stayed late at work this is what I came home to...their flippin' Bethany trick.

UP she goes...

And flipped back down.

Easter :::2011:::

Easter 2011 has come and gone. Overall, I would say it was a great success.

We are working extra hard for the kids to realize Easter is more than just bunnies, eggs and treats.  We want the kids to know the true purpose of Easter--the death and resurrection of Jesus. Yeah. Try explaining that to a three-year-old {Sorry--but we don't even bother trying w/ the 1-year-old}.  I think Bethany gets it. I mean..as much as a three-year-old can. She can tell us the story & it isn't regurgitation. She can actually have a conversation and ask questions about: sin, why we sin, does God sin, how does God feel when we sin, why Jesus had to die, and the meaning behind resurrection.  The part that kinda throws a wrench in the whole deal is the bunny and its blasted eggs. Yeah...she thinks the eggs are waiting for us in heaven. Ah..whatever works.

We did get the kiddos small lil' baskets and filled them up with a few goodies. We didn't emphasize the Bunny or anything...just that we are celebrating today and you happened to get goodies too, you know just in case eternal salvation wasn't good enough--now you have bubbles and jammies to take with you!

  We hid eggs in side the house after church.  The kids had a blast searching and searching for the eggs.

Bethany zipped through the house like an old pro at this game. She found tons of eggs.

Owen need a bit more guidance, as he would walk by an egg completely two or three times without realizing it.

Overall, it was a great Easter.  It seemed a little busy...but really all holidays seems a bit too busy now-a-days.  We have started to think outside the box in terms of holidays and busyness. With a lot of holidays it seems like we have so much on our plate: with things to do, places to go, traditions to follow, food to make, obligations to uphold...BUT we are thinking about toning down our holiday busyness and make sure we are focusing our attention on the true purpose of the holidays. Not worrying about all the running, cooking, prepping and whatnots that holidays typically bring. Then our kids can see the true purpose of whatever holiday we are celebrating and not fixate on the next item on our agenda. And as a secret-hidden bonus...we will be able to relax and enjoy the time with our family.

Oh...by the way...I owe you a huge apology. I managed not to get pictures of the awesome "Thank You Jesus" cookie cake that Bethany and I made.  This was the first year in ages I didn't make a bunny cake....but since I was failing to see the connection between the cross and a bunny; Bethany and I decided to change our focus.  Not only does this cookie cake taste amazing...but Bethany did a fantastic job of drawing three cross on it for us.  And Bethany's explanation of the crosses is one of the best explanations I've heard in a long time....  "One cross is for God {of course meaning Jesus} & two for the bad guys that did bad things.  God doesn't sin...just us.  God was born before us and He is good."

hehehe...Isn't she something...

Spring Time

 Spring is my favorite seasons.  I mean it is a time of growth and new life. Really...with beauties like these around...how could you not find yourself loving spring time?

 

My lil' magnolia tree certainly did not disappoint this year. It is one of the most gorgeous pieces of How-could-God-Not-Exist evidence around, I say!

 Spring also brings us Easter with all of the joys of that holiday....Jesus, Eternal Salvation and Egg hunts.

 Spring is time to get outside and play with the furry ones...even if they are three times your size.

And it is time to get out and learn a new sport...

or two.

 But, unfortunately, springtime is also a time for tremendous storms.  Storms that will amaze you about the wonderous world we live in. Storms that make you pray.  And storms that destroy

If you are a praying type...please pray for the devastation around St. Louis...particularly for the Renaud Empire.  A large tree fell and broke through their sunroom and kitchen.  Could you imagine? The Renaud Empire includes a loving Mom and Dad with four lil' ones all preschool age and younger.  I praise God for keeping everyone safe during the storm.  With all the damage around North County...it is truly amazing no one got seriously hurt.

High as a Kite (or not!)

Bethany has been wanting to fly a kite for a while now. So a weekend or two ago the weather was finally nice enough and it was certainly windy enough for us to give it a whirl.  

Flying a kite proved to be tricky business.

Well, not as tricky as it is to walk through a soccer net...but it was tricky none-the-less.

Cory worked long and hard to fly the stinkin' thing. 

Then he had to work long and hard to undo the stinkin' knots. Completely failing to fix this dastardly situation, we now have a knot-donning kite sitting in the garage until *I* one day when I'll have time to work on the lil'sucker!

 

Owen didn't so much have interest in the kite situation.  The playground was more his style.

Look at that teethy lil'smile.  Isn't he just a cutie-pa-tootie.  Man. I love this guy...even though he has a major case of apathy toward he whole kite-flying-situation.

 

We've got flowers and a job

Saturday I came home and saw these beauties on my kitchen table...

Immediately I thought, "ahhh...Cory hasn't been in trouble lately...why did he buy me a dozen roses?!?!"  Well, it turns out these roses are from our new, up-coming principal.  Recently, a few positions opened up at another middle school in our district & we went ahead & applied for them.  This place is closer to our sitters & ultimately closer to our house when we are no longer needing a sitter.

We went to our interviews last Monday and Tuesday.  Man...that is nerve wrecking.  I hate interviews. I always think of what I should've said after the fact.  Not so helpful, now is it?   But apparently Cory and I did great on our respective interviews and all my self-doubt was unmerited.  

We are super excited to start these new positions in our new school. We've been praying and praying and praying for God to show us what we are supposed to do for next year and where we are supposed to work...I am just grateful that God's been listening.

23 months...

In exactly one month, this pizza-faced,

Ottoman hiding, 

mitten/sandal wearing, 

sister-mimicking,

lil' bity boy will be 2 years old!



Unique Dadda

The other day I read something on Facebook that made me sad.  A friend's husband wrote something along the lines of "Wife and Kid free this weekend! Here's to being a Bachelor." Then friends responded as they tend to do. One of the responses said something like, "...unfortunately I do have my son this weekend." 

Man! How does that resonate with you?  With me, it makes me feel so sad for the wives and children of those guys. Why would any man be happy to be away from the love of his life and away from his own flesh and blood.

I am so absolutely blessed to have Cory.  God must have known something I didn't when he was playing lil' match maker eight...no wait...nearly ten years ago.  He knew I needed a man that would be an active dad. A dad who knew how to change diapers, prepare favorite meals, give baths, do laundry and be true partner to me.  Cory is such a wonderful dad to these two lil' boogers.  I don't think I have ever heard him say anything in regards to being grateful that we aren't around. He actually hates being away from us all.  Perhaps Cory isn't like the normal guy. Okay. Actually, that isn't any new. Cory isn't your typical guy. 

And because of that I love him more than words can say.

Improvising

I guess there are times in a child's life where they are totally done playing with their toys.  In instances such as those, a child is forced to improvise.

When I saw Owen sneaking into the pantry, I knew it only meant one thing--trouble.

 But then he goes waddling out w/ the large box of Pringles and starts stacking them.

He is a bit over excited about his new found playthings and as long as I didn't have to clean up a 1000 meshed up crumbs...it didn't bother me one bit! :O)

What Every Princess Needs

So what does every princess need?

Well, besides a prince.  Or a couple of frogs to kiss.

Every princess needs a castle to call her own, of course!

This lil' princess has been wanting her room redone since her lil' brothers was finished over Winter Break.   After thinking a couple of months of what to do & working on the creative juices, we decided Spring Break would be the best time to do something.   With her new obsession being Tinker Bell and Princesses, this was a perfect fit!

I think it went over real well!  The only thing she was hesitant about is the new location of her bed. Now, she can't peep out in the hall to spy on us after she's gone to bed.

Perhaps that was done on purpose....but we'd never tell her!

A fit in elastic shoes

 Don't you hate it when you are trying to have a Class A tantrum...

a grand ole shoe-flinging fit but...

 

you can't...

manage to kick off your new shoe w/ the elastic backing.

Yeah...that just ticks him off 10 x's more than usual!

Doing it Ourselves

We are certainly DIY types of people when it comes to somethings.  Laying floors...nope that isn't for us. We'll pay someone to do that. But to cut hair. Yup. We can handle that ourselves.   And in all honesty, the kids are way better behaved and sit so much stiller when I do it.

See Owen Before...

Owen After...

Bethany Before...

Hmm...looks like I forgot to take a Bethany after.

What can I say. I can't do it all--cut hair, change kids, cut hair, clean up oodles and oodles of hair and get pictures of BOTH kids afterwards.  I am not wonder woman, after all!

Sometimes...

Sometimes what Momma is eatting is better than what they are served.

Even if it is just a bowl of cereal.

Author in our Midst!

We have an author in our midst.  Cory has written three (well, four) books now.  This week, Cory received a proof copy of the third-draft of  "Light & Dark" in the mail.

Having read all his books, I've got to say "Light & Dark" is the best one yet.  I really think this one has great potential in being picked up by an agent & getting published sometime soon.  This is the second book he is making available to our students. Man, it is amazing to see him get students so enthusiastic to read and provide real, timely feedback.   I am just so proud of him for not only writing hundreds of pages of amazing plot twists and surprises; but I am proud of Cory for once he puts his mind to something, he sticks to it & produces quality work!

If Border's weren't closing...I'd bet good money saying he would've been on their shelves in the next five years!

Showing Off Owen's Brains

Our lil' man is certainly growing up.  A couple months ago, Cory and I noticed Owen pointing to letters in his book and identifying them correctly.  At first, we both thought it was just a coincidence. But after a week or two, we realized Owen was really learning his letters at a young 18 months.

Now, Owen is 22 or so months and he knows nearly all of his letters. There are a few that still trips him up (J, A, W, R, P).  However...he will point to W if asked, he just can't say it. For "P" he will just say "pah", the sound it makes. "A", he insists, is N. He's pretty adamant about that. Perhaps he knows something that I don't.

Here is Owen showing off his brains. He started off w/ his animal puzzle--doing great w/ putting the pieces in the proper place and then doing the animal sounds. We won't say the animals names...but he will almost always do the sound. You just gotta know how to interpret what he's saying!

Now, isn't his rendition of Cock-a-doodle-doo just too cute?!?!