Home, Love, Family, Friends

Finally!

2010-06-16T15:38:00.000-07:00

I FINALLY got the house swept, mopped and picked up. The counters are clean, the bathrooms are clean and the kids' rooms are almost clean (this is not my job and I will not be doing it for them, however they will both be doing it tonight). The only things left are the kitchen table, my bedroom and bathroom (although the tub is clean). Everything had been spot cleaned as needed, but I hadn't had a chance to really clean it all at once until now. Well, actually I'd had the chance I just didn't have the willpower to 'get er done' until today.

The end of Vacation week 1

2010-06-11T15:48:00.000-07:00

and SO little has been accomplished! I'm almost ok with it though.

I've started back up with my physical therapy and weight loss. This summer will be about 'taking back me' or at the very least, 'trying to devote some of my attention to myself'. I intend to get back to the gym on Monday (took off a few weeks for the hurt ankle) and I'm going to try and keep somewhat normal hours. During my first week I managed to get myself all out of whack-bedtime at 1, sleeping poorly and then sleeping good once morning hits. It's hard to get anything done when I'm not getting out of bed before noon (but it was decadent for the first week).

Logan has been out of school since May 24 and he's settled in nicely. He goes to bed around 12:30 and is up around 10. He doesn't seem to have much interest in doing anything with anyone, but hopefully as summer drags on he'll become bored with hanging out at home all alone. He's been very sweet though and we've enjoyed quite a few games and quiet moments together. I'm trying really hard to be a more attentive listener so that he won't stop talking to me, but he claims I still suck at it. (Yes I asked him if he'd noticed that I'm trying harder).

Ciera just got out of school on the 2nd of June and had a school honor roll Bowling party on Thursday, so that basically counts as a school day. Today was her first day with no 'plans' and she is already complaining that 'summer is really boring'. I'm hoping she learns the importance of making plans in advance.

I'm hoping to rededicate myself to cooking at home, finding new things that the family will eat and hopefully feeding us all healthier options. I HAATE searching for the recipes though! I'm also hoping to get the house picked up, cleaned and a better system for helping it to stay that way once I return to work in August.

We have a few trips planned, some softball tournaments, a lot of softball practice, basketball games and practices and a basketball camp for Logan. It's not a highly structured summer plan, but mine never is.

He does exist!

2010-06-10T23:32:00.001-07:00

I am thrilled to announce that he really does exist! Almost 4 years ago I had the opportunity to meet a fabulous woman that I now consider a friend. She was on the opposite side of surrogacy, an IM, a woman hoping to have a child through surrogacy. All this time I have followed her journey and heard tales of 'the man' in her life. A few years ago I caught a glimpse of him, almost like a Bigfoot sighting. Was it real or was it just the shadow of another man? I've followed his blog (it's a rather annoying set up that only allows me to read the current entry, I've yet to discover how to read older entries without going back to my reader-but worth the effort) and been riveted by the experience through his eyes, a man's eyes, an IF's eyes.

Well, tonight I finally got to meet the man behind the blog. He does exist! And not only did I get to meet him, I got to chat with him for a bit before boring him to tears with my woman stories and driving him back to his basketball playoff. Fortunately, I was able to WOW him back to the room ( he mumbled something about the game being over, but I'm pretty sure it was all me).

The really, REALLY, fantastic news is that they are expecting an adorable little girl at the end of August! They've had such a tough road, but persevered and are now just 11 weeks from holding THEIR baby girl in their arms! I could not be happier for them! I'm also pretty tickled for myself. I was promised an invitation when they come through town with baby A!!

At any rate, now that things are going so smoothly, Mr. Blog does not feel the need to update. I know, I'm not really one to complain about a lack of posts, especially since this is my first post in months, but this is a man with an audience. An audience just WAITING for more details, info and a glimpse into the mind of Mr. Blog! So I'm asking you, my faithful readers (both of you). Please visit his blog and leave him a comment begging him to update. Perhaps you can suggest that he just give a 'countdown to baby A' post. Or perhaps he could blog about her name? So take a minute and go leave a comment for Mr. Blog.

And while you're at it, could you stop by another friend's blog? You don't even have to leave her a comment. Just sign up to 'follow her'. She's desperate for more followers, but is not concerned about the lack of comments on her hilarious blog. If you have the time, you may even want to read a few of her past entries. She really is a hilarious writer and I can't even imagine what a day in her house is really like (although I'm guessing it's almost how she writes it).

Thanks so much for helping a gal out!

School is out now, so the hope is that I can find my way back here to begin blogging again. I also hope to exercise a lot and love it, eat healthfully all summer, clean the house weekly and sleep in every day, all while spending amazing amounts of time with my kiddos doing all sorts of fun things. I'll try and update the things that really do happen.

Emotions

2010-05-01T23:33:00.000-07:00

A quick little note to cyberspace to hopefully get some things off my chest.
I'm finding myself rather emotional lately. So many reasons, all legitimate in my mind, but still emotional wreaks havoc on my mind.
The biggest whopper is Ciera's best friend (13) just found out that her mom has breast cancer and will begin chemo on Wednesday. Yeah, the odds are good that it will be a rough year, but she will kick cancer's arse. But the real kicker is that this incredible girl has already lost her father, around 2 or 3 and her mom is really all she has. She has a younger half brother and grandparents, but can ANYONE take the place of your parents? And even if she doesn't lose her, just the fact that she has to deal with the possibility at 13 breaks my heart! She's 13! She should be thinking only of herself and not having a care in the world! She signed up to run Race For the Cure for her mom and Ciera and I are going to run with her. Ciera and I both HAAAATE running, but it feels like the right thing to do.

Then we've got the end of the school year coming up and that always makes me emotional. However, I believe that my kids are leaving the school where they've been for the last 4 years and that leaves me feeling raw as well. It's been such a wonderful place for them, but they are both ready to spread their wings and move on to other things.
Which leaves Logan starting MIDDLE SCHOOL! I went to a K-8 and middle school freaks me the heck out! He's excited though and I'm trying REALLY hard not to project my fears onto him. I need to find others that have been through it recently to get a better idea of what to expect. I did hear some info today that has me feeling a little more relaxed.

Oh yeah, my baby boy turned 11 and although I love him to bits he's had be on the edge of my seat worrying that I'm screwing up as a parent of a boy. I know he goes through cycles and I feel like we may be heading out of this one, but I'm just freaking out a bit. I'm currently reading Raising Cain and am feeling a bit better about things. Time will tell!

The job seems secure, but there are days when I feel entirely inadequate and unprepared. I've been assured it's a rough period right now and even the well seasoned teacher is struggling.

Oh yeah, my youngest brother seems to be struggling with the death of a very close family friend and ex family member (both too young to have been lost) and seems to be pulling away from everyone and everything. He's been weighing on my mind a lot lately as well.

Those are the biggies, we'll see where we go from here, hopefully bed.

Happy 11th Birthday Logan!!!

2010-03-18T06:43:00.000-07:00

Dear Logan: I can't believe....
to be continued.

Welcome to the family, Macey Raelynn!!

2010-03-12T18:21:00.000-08:00

My sister delivered her 4th baby today! Macey Raelynn entered the world shortly after noon today. She's a robust 8+lbs and 20.5 inches long!! Baby girl is doing great and is already an excellent nurser!!

Big sister Melody was at the hospital, but was roaming the halls with Grandma when Macey was born. I hear that big sis is over the moon!

My sister is doing well. She sounded exhausted when I spoke with her, but the epidural worked well for her.

My mom stopped by this afternoon to share a picture from her cell phone. Macey is very cute and cheeky. I hope to add a picture when I get one.

Check out my Canadian friends giveaway!

2010-03-08T05:41:00.000-08:00

Monday, March 8, 2010

G I V E A W A Y - Le Creuset

Before I spill the details about my very sweet giveaway, I want to share with you a great site for kids bedding. When I decorated my daughters nursery, I kinda became slightly hooked on kids room decor and I find myself dreaming about plans for a future re-do when she gets a little older. Allchildren'sfurniture.com is a super neat online store that delivers to the U.S.A. and CANADA and I have just been browsing my heart out! This bedding set is my current fave!

Time to DISH the GIVEAWAY!

Woot Woot!

Cookware.com wants YOU to give you a...

Le Creuset 12" x 9.5" Rectangular Dish in Black Onyx

From the website:
"Le Creuset's Rectangular Dish is truly an all-in-one dish that you can use for baking, slicing, serving, and storage. Poterie Stoneware can be used in the oven, broiler, or microwave and will not absorb odors or flavors. The durable finish resists chipping, scratching and staining. This beautiful and colorful piece has sure grip handles to go straight from baking to tabletop, making an impressive presentation."

Sounds and looks dreamy doesn't it?

*Swoon*

To enter this giveaway:

All you have to do is leave me a comment and tell me what you would make for me in this fabulous dish if you invited me over for a visit! lol! Be as creative as you want - I'm not picky! Dazzle me!

To increase your odds of winning:

1. Head on over to allchildren'sfurniture.com and leave an additional comment telling me about the awesome kids bedding set that you found.

2. Join up to become a follower on this blog let me know in a comment. (If you already are of my uber fab followers leave a comment stating that you are part of my crew)

3. Follow me on Twitter and tell me so in a comment. (If you already follow leave a separate comment stating so)

4. For 2 extra entries:
Tweet about this giveaway and then comment me the link plus an additional comment that says "Tweet"

5. For 5 extra entries:
Post about this giveaway on YOUR blog. Then come back and comment me that you blogged it including the link. Then leave 4 separate comments that say "Blogged!"

Nuts and Bolts
~ This giveaway is open to residents of Canada and the USA.
~ If you are commenting anonymously please leave your email address in EACH comment that you leave so I can get in touch with you in case you win!
~ This giveaway will close on March 15th at 7 AM ET. I will announce the winner in a separate blog post and then contact the winner by email.
~ Cookware.com will ship your prize directly to you!
~ I have not received compensation for this giveaway. Just wanted to give my readers a chance to WIN a cool freebie!

Best of luck my peeps!!!

Ciera, volleyball and EARLY mornings

2010-02-22T07:26:00.000-08:00

Volleyball tryout are this week for Ciera-she's never played before, but is hoping to make the team because she just does not have enough to do this spring. Try-outs are all week at 7:15am-She and Brian have to leave at 6:45 each morning to get her there. It will be worth it I'm sure!

Here's what really happened

2010-02-15T20:20:00.000-08:00

I did NOT manage to get back to the blog to update about work (going well), Ciera's school situation (also going well-couldn't be happier) and how things are going for Logan (good days and bad days, but he's loving basketball and his new Itouch).

Here's how I actually spent my 5 days off.

Thursday: watched some tv, napped a bit, did a bit of laundry and carted Ciera around to dental appointments. Logan had basketball practice in the evening and I 'think' I went and watched.

Friday:Logan and I saw Lightning Thief and I didn't even think about how much I paid to get in (the sign of a truly enjoyable movie). We stopped by a cupcake store and splurged on expensive cupcakes (they weren't really worth the $2.75 price tag, now we know). We then picked Ciera up from school. We've all been battling colds and by Friday night mine was winning. Thankfully Ciera's basketball game was canceled and I napped through the headache. I can't remember doing anything else productive, probably a load of laundry, but who's counting.

Saturday:Logan had a basketball game and it was another nail biter. Logan has generally been on losing teams and he is enjoying his team's wins immensely. At some point by Saturday afternoon the kitchen got all cleaned up (could've happened on Friday though). I'm not sure why I'm having such a tough time remembering what happened all weekend. I picked Ciera up from a movie and we hustled butt to get her to her basketball game. After basketball we picked up Ciera's friend and headed to Brian's parents for his dad's birthday dinner. We had a great time and enjoyed visiting with everyone. Brian's cousin and family also made it up for dinner.

Sunday:Ciera had softball practice and Logan had his cousin's come play. I dropped Ciera off to see another movie (13 is expensive) and I ran some errands while waiting for her. I then got to drive several of her friends home as well. Sunday night I vacuumed the living room, the couch and under the couch. The kids and I watched a movie as well. More laundry was done.

Monday:I headed to physical therapy in the am and Ciera headed to the snow with her friends. Brian and I watched Inglorius Bastards, finally, and I did more laundry (it's all done for now though). I also attacked Ciera's room and got it rearranged and cleaned.

On the mental list there were many things that did not get done: cleaning the entire house all in 1 day, putting away the winter decor, finishing my book, Safeway shopping, Costco trip and getting to the gym. I'm confident they will all get done before my next week off for Spring Break. Perhaps the blog will even get updated by then.

5 day weekend!!

2010-02-11T09:22:00.000-08:00

The school I am working at combined the 2 presidential holidays and a zero day to give us a 5 day weekend. Neither of my kids have the same schedule though. Logan has a 4 day weekend and Ciera has 2, 3 day weekends.

I have been desperately needing this little break. Although my house has managed to stay 'picked up', and I've been spot cleaning, I have not done a total house clean since Christmas and I'm thrilled to have found the time to do it-hopefully later this morning.

I also hope to get back and really update on what's been going on, but here's a brief look at how we plan to spend the days off.

Thursday:
Regular day for everyone except me. I slept in 30 minutes, watched some morning tv and my plan is to read, clean the house and take Logan hot lunch.
Pick up Ciera early for ortho and cleaning visits.
Take Ciera to hit.
Dinner
Basketball with Logan.

Friday:
Regular day for everyone except me and Logan. I will again sleep in about 30-45 minutes.
Logan and I are going to see The Lightning Thief.
Take Ciera a hot lunch.
Maybe Ciera has volleyball tryouts? (need to find out about this on Thursday)
Ciera has a basketball game.
Logan has basketball practice.

Saturday:
Logan has a basketball game.
Ciera has a basketball game.
Family Dinner to celebrate Papa's birthday-not sure what's on the menu, but I have a few guesses.

Sunday:
Sleep in, read, watch movies, finish cleaning the house (if I wasn't successful on Thurs or Fri) and do laundry.
Ciera has softball practice.
Cook an amazing Valentine's Dinner? (I find Valentine's Day to be a nuisance of a holiday)

Monday:
We are all off this day and plan on sleeping in a bit.
Physical Therapy at 9:30
Softball lesson/copies at 11:30
Brian has a dental appt at 3.
Ciera has basketball practice at 7
Gear up for the week

I have left off most of our meals and I'm sure there will be some cross-activities and some grocery shopping.

mp-white chicken chili

2010-01-25T19:31:00.000-08:00

A week ago I bought a packet of seasonings for White Chicken Chili. I took the chicken out to defrost and put off making it for several days. I finally got around to making it and fixed an alternative dinner for the rest of the family (french bread pizza). The chili turned out delicious and Logan and Brian both tried it and really liked it.

It was super easy and a pretty cheap meal to make. It probably had way too much sodium, since it was a package of seasonings, but for a quick, warm and inexpensive meal, it wasn't too bad. (Just checked the receipt and it was a total of $3. I would probably need to double it for all of us to eat, but even $6 isn't too bad for a meal that took 15 minutes to make.)

Happy 1st Birthday Miss B!!!

2010-01-17T12:04:00.000-08:00

Today is the first birthday of a very special, very loved, little girl. Her mommy is a blogger friend of mine and has generously shared the first year of her beloved daughter's life with me. I may never really get the chance to actually meet them, but they are on my list of people to go visit if I ever had the time and funds, although not during the winter.

I am CERTAIN that they are having an amazing day and soaking up every moment of her first day in Year 1. The first birthday is such an incredible day. As a parent you are thrilled at all of the growth and change. You can't believe how quickly they've grown and are a tad uneasy about the upcoming changes, although you also can't wait to see them continue to grow and learn. To think back to the first day of their little lives, a year ago, and remember the feelings that overwhelmed you then-words do not do justice to the emotions that a parent feels as their babies grow. The birthday is just a time to stop, reflect and rejoice!

Happy Birthday Miss B! S & B, great job!!

Schedules

2010-01-09T08:57:00.000-08:00

With my new job and Ciera's new school have come some scheduling issues. We are picking our way around them and every day has a bit of a different solution.

Ciera is now attending a school that she LOVES, but it's located 20 minutes from our house. Her hours are 8:15-2:15. She has 1 minimum day per month which lets out at 11:40.

Logan is still at the Montessori. His hours are 8:10-3:00-about 5-7 minutes from our house. He has several minimum days per month that let out at 12:30. Typically I've been the minimum day mom and pick up several children on minimum days while their parents are working.

My job was supposed to be 7:50-2:00. I let them know in my interview that those hours would no longer work for me, so they adapted my hours to 8:15-2:25.

Brian leaves the house every morning at 6am and returns at 4. His commute is much longer than any of us.

So, here's are solution. Ciera and I leave the house at 7:30, I drop her off and then head back to Lincoln for my job. Logan is getting a ride to school to school with a neighbor and is currently ok with that set up (he gets his text messaging paid for not complaining about it). I get off at 2:25, 3-4 times a week I pick up a child at my school at 2:40, then we head to Logan's school to him and his friend up. I then drop off the 2 brothers. I've clearly left Ciera's pick up out of this discussion. We are still not sure what to do with that yet. For a while at least, Brian will be leaving work 1 1/2 early to pick her up (with 3 furloughs a month that he can use however he wants, this is currently working). On days that he can't leave early (like next T, Th) I will either pick her up at 2:40 or 3:30. We 'think' it will work out. Her best friend lives walking distance from the school and that is what she chose to do all of last week, so hopefully it will be fine.

Minimum days are a bit trickier. For Ciera, either she'll hang out with her friend, Brian will take a furlough day or we'll see if Grandma would like some Ciera time.

Minimum days for Logan were ok when I had my previous position. My lunch was at 12:25 and it was just enough time to pick the boys up and drop them off (the other mom is off at 1). However, with this position my lunch is supposed to be at 11:00. We may be able to move my lunch around on minimum days or I may just have to pick them up a little early-not really sure yet how we'll work that one out.

My school's yearly calendar doesn't quite match up with Ciera's and Logan's. Logan gets out the end of May, I get out the beginning of June and Ciera will get out mid-June. Also, Spring Break is on different weeks-not the best, but it's not the worst.

So it's not perfect, but it's pretty darn good considering I'm no longer at home at their beckon call.

mp-new job

2010-01-08T16:08:00.001-08:00

My subbing at the school in November, led to a full day temporary sub in Dec/Jan and I just signed the papers today for my full day PERMANENT aide today. I should get to come back next year as well, unless the budget stuff bumps me from the position. I even get benefits! The downside is I have to leave the boy I'd been... working with and move to another classroom-great teacher and sweet kids though.

mp-New Years Day, 2010

2010-01-02T00:11:00.001-08:00

Got the garage all cleaned up, organized and turned into 'Logan's Hang-out' complete with leveled pool table and his new Basketball shot game. Cleared out a bunch of stuff, hoping to find homes for it all, replaced all the burnt out light bulbs and am almost ready for family to come tomorrow. Imagine how productive I could've been if I hadn't read all day!

Happy 1st Birthday C!!

2009-12-30T14:57:00.001-08:00

Today is the 1st birthday of a dear friend that I met through the Internet. I had the privilege of meeting her in person twice as well as her husband and her adorable baby boy. She now lives much further away, but through the power of the Internet we have been able to stay connected. I eagerly await new posts from her and enjoy hearing about all of the new challenges that have come with her new home.

Her little man is so adorable and quite a miracle. I know that his little heart have touched so many lives. I hope they are all having a wonderful day celebrating his first year of life!!

13 years ago today...

2009-12-29T01:15:00.000-08:00

I became a mother and my life was changed forever!!

My baby girl has become a teenager and although Brian and I have always joked about being afraid of her teenage years, I think we are both very proud of the woman she is becoming and look forward to the next few years.

Although there are moments when we wonder how she will manage to get through the day, we are actually quite confident that she is equipped to deal with the challenges life will bring. She is a bright, funny and loving girl.

It may not always be easy, but we are immensely grateful to have the opportunity to watch her grow, learn and flourish!

OK...

2009-12-13T20:20:00.000-08:00

It's been pointed out that I haven't updated, although to be fair I did post last week and sometimes others' don't post that often.

I haven't pumped since last Sunday. Technically I should consider myself done and actually put the pump away. I still get tingling at night that makes me want to pump, just a little. It's not discomfort, but it's like a little whisper in my ear saying, 'Please won't you pump just a little. It won't hurt anyone and you can still say your weaning.' Fortunately I've been able to just go to bed and ignore the little voice. However, I did get a bit of leaking this evening and I'm not even sure how it can be possible. It's also entirely possible that the voice I hear isn't asking to be pumped, it's my breasts screaming at me to get them out of the horrendous contraption that Ciera says I need to wear each day to avoid nipple peek through. Have I mentioned how much I hate wearing a bra and I'm particularly not caring for the new padded version. I didn't want to spend too much on a new bra until after the girls had gone back to their 'non-lactating' selves. So I will continue to suffer through in my $10 padded bra and wait patiently for the hour of the day that I can take it off and let them breathe. (Perhaps more info than you actually wanted to know, huh?)

As for Christmas, it's coming whether anyone is ready or not. I'm actually doing ok though. We (I) got the tree up last Saturday and most of the holiday decor is out as well. I still need to bring out the wreath and organize the mantel decorations, but it'll happen I'm sure.

I've been working at an Elementary school as a 1 on 1 aide for a 4th grader. The position started out as a sub position for 3 days and it looks like it may turn into a permanent position. I am with him the entire school day (5.66 hours) and I've been there for 2 weeks now. I am also still at Toys Be We as seasonal help and working 16 hours on Saturdays and Sundays. I still don't really care for it, it's retail and cruddy pay, but I committed to the position for the holidays and I'm not one to not honor a commitment. I will work the 2 weeks that we're all out of school as well. This week and last week have been pretty busy with both jobs, but it's not forever and hopefully the paycheck will be appreciated. Brian is taking off the 2 weeks that the kids are out of school to hang out with them, so they should still have a good time while I'm working. Plus Brian is looking forward to the time off. He hasn't taken any 'real' time off since I delivered the twins.

We've got a couple of other things going on with school and the kids started basketball last week. They both have practice twice a week and Ciera still has softball once a week or so. Basketball games don't start until January though so I'm not missing any games due to the toy store.

The good news is I'm in pretty good spirits and still enjoying the season. I can be caught humming Christmas tunes when I don't think anyone is around. I went out gift shopping a few weeks ago and totally impulse bought. I spent 2 hours chatting on the phone and wandering the toy store. Most everything I bought is going back, but a few things were actually keepers. I've had a good time finding the things I needed and have even helped a friend price and find items that she needs. It's been a lot of fun to spend someone else's money. Anyone need a personal shopper?

I worked a full 8 hours today and my feet did not care for it too much. I'm officially headed to bed. I've been really good about waking up by 5:30 to get to the gym by 6 am before dropping the kids off and heading to work, but I'm debating about going tomorrow morning. We'll see.

Time to pack up the pump?

2009-12-02T20:36:00.001-08:00

This is a repeat entry from the twins' blog, but it's such big news in my life that I felt the need to share it everywhere.

The babes are 9 months and 10 days and I think I'm just about done pumping. I only got 11.5 oz today. I've been waiting for the output to not be worth the effort and I think we're just about there. Technically, I was supposed to stop at the end of November, but it's really been hard to stop this time. Partly because the amounts have been so high and perhaps partly because I don't really know if I'll ever have this opportunity again. I just hadn't really been ready to give it up, but I think the time is coming soon. Perhaps by the end of the week even?

So much to be thankful for!

2009-11-26T10:38:00.001-08:00

The spirit of the season is really hitting hard and I'm trying my best to keep everything in perspective. Most of October I spent freaking out and not in a very good 'mental' place. I realized this after lunch with a friend. I spent most of the lunch complaining and freaked out. Although it's ok to have days like that, I was planning to cart around those feelings for as long as it took and I'm really not ok with being that person. If I stop for just a moment, there are so many things for me to be thankful for and I need to focus on that. I can continue to work on the issues stressing me out, but not let it control our lives.

I am immensely thankful for so much! I am not going to go into all of it, but if you are reading here (and especially if you made the move to this blog from my surrogacy blog) than you are probably pretty high on my list of things/people I am thankful for!!

I hope you all have a wonderful day today and will take the time to remember all that you too have to be thankful for!

A fascinating parenting article

2009-11-24T22:45:00.000-08:00

I ran across this article on another blog and thought I'd share it with those of you who aren't on my Facebook (and why exactly haven't you added me yet as a Facebook friend?).
Definitely food for thought. I find myself constantly challenging parenting opinions (my own and others') and wondering if I'm headed in the right direction. Which things do you really stress with your kids and which things are unnecessary. Most of our choices we've made with our kids I am ok with and still believe in, however there are a few things that I definitely wish I'd/we'd done differently. I can only hope to share that knowledge with my own kids when they become parents and hope that they will appreciate the wisdom that the advice comes with.
Enjoy!

The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting

Weekend Highlights

2009-11-15T22:44:00.000-08:00

Logan had a spectacular basketball game on Friday. I'm so disappointed that I didn't bring the video camera. I would love to be able to replay his around the back dribble and left handed layup. They played the 1 seed as a 4 seed, were expected to lose and won! They play in the Championship game on Friday. This is a team that only won 1 game all season!

Saturday Ciera had her final tournament with her fall team, the Rocklin Hype. She got to pitch, play 1st base and hit. It was nice to see her finally get a chance to get on the field. She did very well and it was a great day. Logan had a flag football game as well. They did not do so well, but Logan caught 3 passes and had several flag pulls. Mostly it's just great to see him having fun and talking with the other boys.

Saturday night Ciera went to see a movie with her 'boyfriend'. She reconnected with a preschool friend by googling him and finding him on Facebook. Is it possible for 12 year olds to 'reconnect'? Anyhow, she learned a big lesson about how much easier it is to 'chat' with a stranger than talk in person while waiting for a movie to start. His parents were great about getting them together and keeping things appropriate. It was really neat for me to get to see him all grown up, 8 years later. And not surprisingly, Ciera was a few inches taller than him.

Sunday was the final day of the tournament. They won their first game (not what any of us expected) and lost the second. Then we hustled our booties out to a try-out for a spring team. Ciera had tried out for this team in the fall and was not picked up, since they already had 4 pitchers. Ciera was very much hoping to make this team, and they phoned tonight and offered her a spot. She probably won't pitch much, but she'll get some time and she'll get to play other defensive positions. This team is coached by an Olympic pitcher, so Ciera should be able to learn a ton! We are all quite excited about it.

With this being the last tournament, Ciera now has several months off before the next game. So, it was time to finally pierce her ears. We hustled to the mall after the try-out to get them done. She took the pain like a champ and is quite pleased with her new earrings.

At 10:30 as I'm desperately trying to get the kids into bed, they decide to play and giggle together. I love it when they play together, but they always do it at bedtime-which makes it SO hard for me to make them go to bed!

They are finally down and we've got a big day tomorrow.

I'm employed!!

2009-11-08T05:50:00.000-08:00

As a state employee, Brian was required to take Furlough days about 8 or 9 months ago. He's up to 3 unpaid days off a month, but he's able to choose the day (the good part). Unfortunately, we've now eaten up all of our savings trying to 'get by' until the furloughs end (currently set to end summer of 2010). As a 1 income family in CA we've always had a tight budget. When we take a look, there are not a lot of areas that we can make cuts to make up that kind of a pay difference. So, it became time for me to find SOMETHING that would pay me rather than just volunteering.

Available jobs are also pretty hard to come by right now. I am not being super picky, applied darn near everywhere (except Ace hardware) and I finally received a call for an interview at Toys B They (not the actual name of course). I have been an employee for 1 week now and it's finally looking better.

It's not a dream job by any stretch of the imagination and it's only seasonal help, but it helps to fill the furlough void and I can work the hours around the kids' school schedules. I was unable to attend Ciera's softball games on Saturday, but made it for Logan's flag football. There will be some minor inconveniences, but it shouldn't be too bad. It will be crazy busy and it's super hot moving around cashiering, but it could be worse.

The first few days were really tough on my legs. I was so tired after a 4 or 5 hour shift, I actually slept 11 hours after my 3 shift, but by yesterday (1 week) I was doing ok.

I will continue to keep my eyes open and look for something a bit more enjoyable and profitable for after the holidays.

mp-Thursday

2009-10-22T07:51:00.001-07:00

On the agenda today, fingerprinting, grocery shopping, food prep, walk the dog, wii fit, laundry, football practice and some reading (The Lost Symbol). Oh, did I mention the cranky child?

Working moms do all the same stuff, it's just not such a highlight in their day. They don't need to post it all over the internet. Everyone does laundry, grocery shops, walks their dogs and takes their kids to practices, for me it's worth mentioning.

I have to get fingerprinted to get on the school sub list. The clearance I had 5 years ago is now expired.

Logan is always cranky in the mornings. We desperately need to get his butt in bed before 10, but we just can't seem to make it happen. Perhaps tonight.

mp-educational value of Facebook

2009-10-16T09:20:00.001-07:00

There is educational value in FB apps. My 10 year old has now learned how to make a cheeseburger thanks to Cafe World. He tells me, "Making a cheeseburger is pretty easy. You just need the burger, some cheese, lettuce and a tomato." If only it were really that easy.

mp-recycling

2009-10-01T11:38:00.001-07:00

Finally headed to recycle my newspapers, cans and bottles! I'll be taking bets on the value.

Edited to add: I brought home $64 and change for cans and bottles we've had since May. There is no pay for newspapers, but I like to dispose of them in the newspaper recycler rather than in my garbage can (it just feels cleaner that way).

Birthday brownies for breakfast

2009-09-26T23:03:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure there is an unwritten rule somewhere that brownies should be eaten for breakfast on your birthday. I made them for myself this year, but hubby and Ciera claim that they will make them next year. We'll see!

It was a pretty good day, although far too hot for a 35th birthday!! The big 35 didn't bother me today, but it's been eating at me for the last few weeks. 35 means that I'm really a grown up and perhaps there are some grown up changes I need to make. We'll see about that as well.

Long day today and tomorrow starts even earlier!

mp-great day

2009-09-26T09:02:00.001-07:00

Brownies for breakfast, softball all day and anything I want for lunch and dinner-the makings of a great day!!

mp-oops

2009-09-22T09:40:00.001-07:00

I guess I shouldn't walk around naked with the front door open. I'm pretty sure the guy/gal that hangs pizza coupons on the door knob is pretty freaked out right now.

mp-decisions, decisions

2009-09-22T09:36:00.000-07:00

Tackled the kitchen yesterday, dare I switch out the summer decor for fall today or should I pick up some groceries? Decisions, decisions.

I love it when the kitchen is all cleaned up-every counter, every surface. Why can't it stay like that?

mp-surro gtg on Sunday-lots of Pics

2009-09-21T12:25:00.000-07:00

Want to see a ton of pics?
We had the biggest Sacramento area GTG ever, around 24 of us!
Check out the pics-

http://picasaweb.google.com/bcclbegley/20090920#

We had a great time!!

mp-Wed

2009-09-16T06:54:00.000-07:00

Head hardly hurts at all today, although getting to sleep was still tough last night. Eventually, I will stop complaining about this darn cold! This cold hit pretty hard on Tuesday when I returned from Seattle.

Everyone overslept here except me. I had to get up early to help the oversleepers get back on track.Today's to do list: place Scholastic book order, sweep, mop, bathrooms, laundry, gym, softball practice and dinner.

mp-Wed.

2009-09-02T11:49:00.000-07:00

Ground beef soft tacos with refried beans, cheese, and NACHO CHEESE for dinner last night.
Tonight we're having Ground beef mushroom patties with mashed potatoes and green beans.

The kids are home from school today and enjoying hanging out with friends.
Ciera has softball practice tonight.
Logan has a basketball skill evaluation tonight for the upcoming fall season (he'll be playing flag football as well).

I need to get the house partially cleaned and a suitcase packed because I am headed to visit the 3 year olds and the babes!! Tomorrow I will load a giant cooler full of milk, pick up my friend Melissa and drive for 12 hours. After a few hours of sleep I should be awakened by beautiful noises and beautiful faces. Melissa and I are both thrilled to pieces to be taking this trip. We have to drive home on Monday, but it will be worth every moment of a 24 hour round trip drive.

Ciera and Logan are staying home with their dad. Ciera has practice and a lesson scheduled over the long weekend and Logan has orientation for his flag football team. Fortunately all of our colds are much better today and we are feeling like we're almost healthy.

MP-Monday

2009-08-31T21:17:00.000-07:00

1st morning of green smoothies
1st day at the gym this week
1st minimum day of the school year
1st day in a long time that Brian called in sick
1st softball practice of the week
1st throw up of the school year-Logan is battling his cold-the phlegm always wins

DINNER: 3 out of 4 approved
Uncle Jon burgers (Yoshida sauce) with Tillamook Cheddar Cheese
Baked Beans
Potato Salad-store bought
Ruffles Bar-B-Q chips
Cantaloupe

MP

2009-08-30T22:21:00.000-07:00

Enjoyed catching up with my hubby this weekend. Some days we don't end up with much time to 'really' talk, and it was nice to get a chance to do that this weekend. It was also nice that 3 out of 4 family members ate the dinner I cooked-and liked it.

Ciera's cold is gone, but the rest of the family is at various points in the cycle. Logan currently has it the worst.

MP - Mini Post

2009-08-27T09:00:00.001-07:00

I'm stealing this from a fellow blogger. I find I'm not updating the blog due to updating my Facebook status. So I will try the MP-mini post and see if it works better. Hopefully at points I can come back and fill in the details.

I REALLY need to get to the store, do some laundry, finish my book, buy some birthday presents, get to the gym AND make dinner at home tonight!

ETA: I got to a few of the stores on my list, bought a few of the birthday gifts I needed and did some of the laundry. I made it to the gym, only 3 days total for the week, but there's always next week to try for 4 or 5 days. I did make dinner, it may have been my Salsa chicken taco night, not too sure anymore. I stayed up late Thursday night to finish the final Percy Jackson book and was very pleased with the conclusion.

First Friday

2009-08-21T14:02:00.000-07:00

I don't have much to say today.

Last night was our busy night. Logan had a final basketball practice and Ciera had her first softball practice with her new fall team, Rocklin Hype and they were both at the same time. I returned home to find Logan distraught over his math homework. Honestly I think the week had caught up with him and he was just tired. He did fine once we sat down with him and talked him out of his panic.

The kids got up fine today, I slept in until nearly 7 and then went back to bed after dropping them off at school. I've done nothing today except a load of laundry and picking up a bit.

We've received a ton of bad news this week and lost a few people from our lives. I don't think I'm depressed as much as I'm emotionally exhausted. This weeks news came on the heels of having to deal with other extended family issues and I'm just spent.

My brother in Alaska is headed down for the services and it will be good to see him. Hopefully things will go well and everyone can continue to stay strong.

Tonight is Logan's last basketball game of the summer season (they may have a playoff game, but I don't expect they'll win it). We have no regrets about having him play with this coach, he's definitely become a better ball handler and much more confident about his abilities on the court, but they've only won 1 game.

The weekend looks to be fairly clear, aside from a service, so it will be nice for the family to relax and get ready for week 2.

A much better morning...

2009-08-20T07:02:00.000-07:00

I got to bed before 10 last night and I feel MUCH better this morning. I even slept better once I fell into a deep sleep sometime after 12.

Ciera has been battling a cough/cold since the weekend and the cough got to her again last night. I know she's not feeling well when she's willing to take nasty liquid medicine. She woke me around 11:30 to get her cough syrup.

Logan had some trouble falling asleep last night as well, but he worked ahead on his math assignment and then went to bed around 10. It still remains to be seen if he wakes up grouchy as a result.

Logan has his last basketball practice of the summer season tonight and Ciera has her first practice with her new team. They are both at the same time, so Brian and I still have to flip a coin to see who goes where. We really prefer it when we can both go to both practices.

I'm headed to Folsom to meet up with a friend and pick up a face mask for Ciera (to protect her braced teeth and her face from any line drives).

Day 4 is looking good so far. We even have a beautiful morning breeze and I am hopeful that the day will be tad cooler.

Day 3

2009-08-19T09:01:00.000-07:00

I woke up even later this morning and I'm still tired and grumpy. The kids however are doing great with the morning routine. There has been no fighting or attitude or lounging around. They get up and get things done, except breakfast. Today was the first day Ciera ate breakfast and I just can't seem to get Logan to ever eat. This is nothing new and he does eat a healthy snack at school almost immediately. He just needs time in the morning before eating.

I didn't think I'd make it to the gym right after drop off, but at 7:45 all I had left to do was brush my teeth so off I went with no time to take a picture. You will have to trust me, they looked dang cute today. Logan wore one of my favorite outfits for him and Ciera pulled together another bright outfit.

While trying to get dressed this morning I realized I'm out of clean, comfortable undergarments, so laundry is on the agenda for today and a little more Percy Jackson-book 5.

It has been miserably hot this week, high 90's. I know it's been hotter at points this summer, but I believe we slept away a lot of the hot hours. The heat has really gotten to me this week though and has made me rather cranky. Is it wrong to have Grandma pick up the kids from school while I float in her pool?

Last night we had an amazing dinner. Logan had suggested Italian marinated chicken breasts, so I grilled them up, threw them on a bun with romaine hearts, some cheese, bar-b-q sauce and some leftover bacon. Delicious!! Plus we had watermelon at Ciera's request.

I had a good time at book club last night, while Brian and the kids played basketball and pitched.

Tonight Logan has basketball practice and we will have enchiladas (frozen from 2 or 3 weeks ago) or spaghetti with meat and mushroom sauce (frozen from 2 or 3 weeks ago) with garlic bread. The spaghetti will actually require more prep and time, so I think we'll have it tonight and save the easy enchiladas for Thursday's crazy schedule.

Here's my dinner time issue, Ciera hated last nights dinner. "I don't like chicken." Brian will not care for the spaghetti dinner and Ciera will not even eat the enchilada dinner, "I don't like red sauce on my enchiladas." Logan is the least picky, but he doesn't eat much. I have no idea what Ciera actually eats aside from lettuce and cereal. This is why I'd found it easier to just eat out somewhere, plus I don't have to cook, but lately we can't even all agree on one fast food place. I think I will just have to start planning menus around what is on sale or in the freezer (previously on sale) and hope that they will eventually all start enjoying the meal.

With Brian looking at 3, possibly 4 furlough days, I have to really look at employment for myself or really start controlling our budget and getting us the most for our dollar. Since I don't want to fill out applications, much less a resume, it looks as though option 2 will win out.

2nd day of school

2009-08-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

I found the camera and the kids grudgingly took a 2nd day of school picture for me as we headed out the door (almost on time). Ciera has become a bit of a picture freak, so she didn't really complain and Logan claims he was just unhappy because the sun was in his eyes (which it was).

Day 1 went well for the kids. They both came home happy, although they pointed out I was late. School gets out at 3:00. I arrived at 3:02, but most kids must've left a bit early that day. I can never really win, so I've stopped trying. Ciera loved being back with her group of friends and they even invited the 1 new girl and 1 of the new boys to join their group (sit with them). Logan hung out with his friends and was pleased to have an old friend back in his class.

I had a nice but nonproductive day. I finished my book club book, The Invisible Wall, and took a wee nap after going to the gym. I neglected to take anything out for dinner so we had a Back to School dinner at Jack in the Box (with 2 coupons). Upon returning home I took chicken out to marinade so we'd have a dinner at home on Tuesday.

Today they both packed their own lunches again, with only minimal help in finding the right sized containers for their food. (I stopped buying baggies last year-trying to reduce my carbon footprint-and Ciera has really hated it ("all my friends use baggies"). I headed to the gym right away and am now trying to decide if I should enjoy 1 more day of napping before getting serious about all the stuff that needs to be done around the house. I'm thinking the dog looks really lonely sleeping in the chair and I should go snuggle him in my bed, for just 1 more day.

Back to school

2009-08-17T10:17:00.000-07:00

Ciera and Logan headed back to school this morning! As it was time to leave I frantically began looking for my camera-can't forget the first day of school picture. I couldn't find it and the kids were anxious to get going. Fortunately we recently discovered that Ciera's laptop has a web cam. C quickly got it set up so that it could get both of them in the shot for me and we were set.

Friday Ciera had an appointment to get her hair cut and add some bangs. She's pretty pleased with how it turned out, but would've liked it to have been a bit shorter (although she didn't say anything while we were there about it). On Sunday Logan decided he would like to clean up his hair, so off he went with his dad for a trim. Imagine my surprise when he came back with a 1 & 2, with nothing left to 'muss up' with gel. He assures me that it's not a buzz cut, although when I gave him this same haircut for the first 9 years of his life he definitely thought it was a buzz cut. In the end, he's happy with it, his dad loves it, and I will love not having to worry about the back sticking up although it's still going to take me some time to adjust to it.

Without further ado, my 7th and 6th graders.

And no, I did not require them to wear matching outfits. They both chose their own clothes and they just both happened to be yellow (you can't see either one of their lower halves, which is really why they are wearing yellow. Logan has on plaid shorts and Ciera is wearing her new favorite neon yellow skinny jeans.)

Hopefully they have a great day. I am always a little sad that I'm one of the few parents that just drop the kids off on the first day, but they both have asked me to not walk them into class for the last 2 years. I didn't even make them lunches today, they both made their own all by themselves. Fortunately, I'm ok with that.

Another Busy Week

2009-07-18T06:56:00.000-07:00

Last weekend found us in Lodi for one last chance to win a bid to Nationals in Illinois for Ciera's softball team. They did not make it, but we are officially headed to Western Nationals in Tracy, CA at the end of the month.
Sunday was a rare off day for softball, so we used it to celebrate Brian's birthday with his family. We headed to his parents' house for some swimming, lasagna and brownies with ice cream. There wasn't much swimming done (not sure why) but dinner was great, dessert was excellent and we had a great time visiting.

Monday the kids and I headed out to get pictures taken with my mom and their cousins. My sister's boys, Brett and Bryce are here visiting for the summer from Texas. It's been a good 7 or 8 years since we'd seen them, so of course we had to do pictures. The kids were troopers and put up with not one, but two picture appointments. After pictures Brett and Bryce came home with us until Wednesday. We spent Monday afternoon swimming, Tuesday we hung out at the house because they all slept so late and Ciera had softball practice. Wednesday we headed back down to swim again before I took them back up to their mom.

Logan spent Wednesday night sleeping over at Brian's parents with his other cousins, Steven and Jack and had a great time. All of Logan's basketball got cancelled this week due to his coach having to have an emergency gall bladder removal. This left us with no plans on Friday evening, so we celebrated Brian's birthday at home that night.

Brian's actual birthday was on Wednesday, but there were so many other things going on that I didn't feel like we properly celbrated. He did take the day off, slept in and spent some 'alone time' at the video game store. He seemed quite pleased with his purchases when he arrived to take Ciera to her pitching lesson. He then spent a quiet evening with her, a Togo's sandwich and a video.

We are headed to Stockton again this weekend. I was able to get us our favorite Stockton area hotel for only $42 again. I am SO looking forward to the beds, the indoor pool and the make your own Belgian waffle breakfast.

Next week is a little less crazy, but still plenty of ink on the calendar.

My sister's boys-Bryce, 11 and Brett, 13

And I just thought I'd throw a picture in of my brother Roger's little girl, Dorothy. She'll be 3 in September and is growing so fast. Who can resist a cute little girl with frosting?

First basketball game of the summer session

2009-07-11T05:44:00.000-07:00

Friday night was Logan's first game with his new team. We were able to get him back on a team with his first coach-Coach Smith. Logan started basketball with him Winter of 2007/2008 and learned so much from him-including the joy of the game. After last winter's fiasco of a season, we jumped at the opportunity to get him back on Coach Smith's team (giving up the chance for Logan and his cousin to play on the same team).
So last night was the first game and of course it would have to be against his cousins team. Most of you may recall, Logan doesn't generally end up on 'winning teams' and last night was no exception. They got beat 42-15 by a team that only had 6 kids show up and played the last 8 minutes with only 4 boys due to 2 of them fouling out. In all fairness, the other team had a phenomenal shooter, runner and ball handler that really made a big difference.
When we started practice last week, Coach sent Logan home with a play book and asked him to learn the plays for the 2 & 3 positions. We woke up Friday morning with an e-mail asking Logan to look over the 1 plays, as Coach was going to have him play 1-point guard! Logan was THRILLED beyond words (as were Brian and I) that coach felt his skills had improved enough to be trusted with the ball so much (first season Logan regularly played hot potato with the ball). He wasn't the best point guard, but he did very well and had great confidence in himself-which is HUGE!!
One of the great things about playing Jackson, is that his mom is much better at remembering to bring her camera. Here's Logan bringing the ball down (and being guarded by Jack's best friend).

He didn't take many shots, but he made some great passes and rebounds. Sadly the game is a bit of a blur in my head so I can't recall much of it, but I hear that both boys played great. I know they both worked hard. Here's a sweaty, after the game picture. From their faces you can't even tell which kid just got smacked down by the cousins team.

Ok, maybe a little, but honestly we were SO proud of Logan for not being upset about the game and for leaving the court and the gym with a big smile. He actually had a ton of positive things to say about the game.

As for me and Ciera, we had a nice Friday afternoon. I got to have a birthday lunch with my friend Melissa and Ciera got to shop at the mall while I was eating-a win, win for everyone as Logan got to control the TV the entire time we were gone.

We're headed to Lodi this morning and are looking forward to a fun day at the pool tomorrow.

Thursday-only a few more before summer is over

2009-07-09T13:03:00.000-07:00

Today is much like Wednesday-different day, same list of stuff to complete.

Made it to Curves this morning.
Washed the dog, again. He was bit this weekend and we've got to keep the wound clean as it heals-so far so good.
Ortho appointments for both kids at 2.
Softball at 4:15-6:30 (30 minutes away-each way)-parent meeting after practice
Basketball practice 6-7 (15 min each way)

Ciera's really hoping to get to Target today, Logan is agreeing so that he doesn't have to take his shower until tonight.
BBQ chicken sandwiches for dinner-Ciera refuses to eat this so she'll fix her own cruddy dinner.
Dishwasher got run, but that's about all that will get done today since we'll be out of the house for the entire afternoon and evening.

Logan's first basketball game of the summer season is this Friday. His team will play his cousins team, so we are all looking forward to it (well everyone except Ciera). Saturday morning we are headed to Lodi for another chance to win a bid for Nationals in Illinois. Sunday we'll be swimming and celebrating Brian's birthday with his family.

Next week is even busier than this week. My sister's boys are here for the summer and we get to borrow them Monday and Tuesday. They've been in Alaska and Texas for the last few years. We haven't seen them in about 7 or 8 years. Brett is 13 and Bryce just turned 11. The cousins are all getting their pictures taken with Grandma on Monday and then the boys are going to come stay with us until Wednesday.

Ciera has softball practice T, Th and a lesson on Wednesday. She's getting a pedicure with her Aunt Betsey and Grandma on Tuesday and a tournament next weekend. Logan has basketball practice on Wednesday nights and games on Friday nights. We also have Brian's birthday on Wednesday-still not sure if he's taking the day of or not. I have book club Tuesday night (finally read the book) and lunch with a friend on Friday, not to mention laundry has to be done Tuesday and Thursday nights for uniform needs.

This may be it from me for a bit, I really have to get serious about cleaning up the house before my nephews come on Monday.

Golden Gate Bridge (and my kids)

2009-07-08T11:53:00.000-07:00

On Friday, July 3, 2009 we headed to San Francisco before our Hayward tournament. We stopped by Baker Beach for a bit of 'sun and surf'. Unfortunately it was already 5 by the time we finally got there and it's San Francisco. It was pretty overcast and very breezy. We only stayed for about 30 minutes, but the kids had a great time running in the sand and throwing a tennis ball to each other. I started out taking pictures of them with the beach behind them and then realized that the bridge was right there and MAYBE my non-local blogger friends might like to see the Golden Gate Bridge while looking at my kiddos. Without further ado:

Why I can not blog properly

2009-07-08T08:52:00.000-07:00

Here's a run down of today:

Wake early (at 8) for the bug guy.
Pump/shower/eat
Wake kids at 10 so they have a prayer of going to bed early Friday night (early morning Saturday)
Start laundry so softball/basketball clothes are clean by Thursday
Try to get to Curves, but will have to pump for 30 minutes prior to going
Lunch for everyone
Take Ciera to pitching lesson at 2:30 (30 min drive one way)
Pump again between dropping Ciera off and taking Logan to his stuff
Take Logan to basketball camp at 5
Leave camp early to get to basketball practice at 6
Hustle home at 7 to hopefully make dinner (if I remember to take anything out of the freezer before leaving at 2:30)
Pump between 7 & 9
Fall into bed hopefully at a decent hour

Things I would LOVE to also get done each day (but have so far been fairly unsuccessful)
sweep
mop
pick up stuff that is accumulating everywhere
wipe down counters
clean bathrooms
finish redoing Ciera's room (painted it a few weeks ago)
finish rearranging Logan's room (moved everything due to the spring tail problem we're having in his room)
read
get to the grocery store
take the dog to the new dog park
price adjustments at Target
returns at Ross
swimming at Grandma's

The schedule changes a bit each day, but it's basically the same. Wash, rinse, repeat. Summer is almost over and soon I can get back to cleaning my house and all of the other things that get put off for summer fun.

My Terminator

2009-06-26T19:13:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite parts of uploading photos is finding random shots the kids have taken. We have tons of shots out the van windows, of random rooftops and the back of our seats. I was delighted to find the following pictures.

On our way home from Lake Tahoe, we stopped at the outlet stores for a bit. Logan decided he really needed/wanted sunglasses. His claim was that they would help him to see his DVD screen in the car better. He insisted that he wasn't concerned with how they looked, he only cared about how things looked while wearing them. A few days later he told Brian and I that when he made a serious face while wearing them, he thought he looked a bit like the Terminator (they'd been watching all of the old ones in preparation for the newest Terminator at the theater).
Logan must've figured this out while taking snapshots of himself on the drive home.

Even a Terminator has to smile once in a while.

Finally uploaded my pictures

2009-06-25T18:18:00.000-07:00

I could save each entry and post it on a day when I just can't seem to get to blogging, but that would not be my style. I finally have a chance to do this, so I'm doing it up big. If you miss a daily blog from me, feel free to only read one entry per day. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

As soon as I remember how to post video you'll have days of entertainment.

More Tahoe pictures

2009-06-25T18:17:00.000-07:00

I just loved this picture of Logan. He's getting so grown up!

Both kids will claim that the other is no fun. I just love it when I can capture them enjoying each other. The ball had gotten wet and they thought it was funny to throw a wet ball at each other. It was a bit too cool to enjoy the spray coming off the ball.

Logan getting splattered.

Domesticated squirrels, or at least the closest I've ever seen. We couldn't believe how close they'd let us get. This poor squirrel would never survive in the wild now.

Lake Tahoe

2009-06-25T18:12:00.000-07:00

June 13 & 14, 2009
Ciera had a softball tournament in South Lake Tahoe. The weather was crazy-pouring rain and hail on Saturday and cool with blue skies on Sunday. They only played one game on Sunday, so we headed to the Lake Tahoe shore for the first time. We only stayed a little while, but the kids had a great time throwing around a nerf football with their dad (pictured below).

Ciera will rarely play with her brother, but if Brian is playing with Logan, she will almost always join in.

I asked her to turn around and this is what I got:

And she couldn't help but then strike a pose, that she asked me to delete.

Logan's first basketball camp of the summer

2009-06-25T18:05:00.000-07:00

June 8-12 Logan attended a local basketball camp from 1-4 with his buddy Brandon and his brother Colby. There weren't a lot of kids, so he was able to get a bit more one on one attention. Logan really liked the guy running the camp and had a lot of fun. He pushed himself each day to learn something new and improve. His friend missed quite a few days, but Logan went every day and made the most of the day camp.
Here are the boys headed into the gym on the first day. The lighting wasn't cooperating with my camera, so all of my other photos are very dark.

Logan's last basketball game pictures

2009-06-25T18:00:00.000-07:00

Logan is number 3
I already blogged about this, but here's the pictures (as requested by Mimi).

PIctures from the last day of school

2009-06-25T17:56:00.000-07:00

Every year on the last day of school they walk to the local park for a school wide picnic. An older class buddies up with a younger class to walk there. Here's Logan with his 'buddy'. I was so proud of him as he immediately squatted down to be at 'eye level'. He did a great job with his kindergarten buddy.

And then there's Ciera. She doesn't really care for little kids and had a tough time buddying up with a 3rd grader. She did walk near her though, so I guess that counts. Plus the girl did not get hit by a car, so she did her job.

Happy Father's Day!!

2009-06-21T22:25:00.000-07:00

Father's Day
June 21, 2009

Happy Father's Day to the best dad ever!!

I did not grow up with a doting dad or a great father/daughter relationship. One of the most important things to be in choosing a life partner was someone that would be a great father. Is it possible to really know if someone will make a great parent when they're only 21 years old? I KNOW I got very lucky with my husband. Not only is he a great man that loves me unconditionally, he's willing to support me through anything and put up with me when even I don't want to be with myself, but he's the BEST dad I've ever met!! He loves being with the kids and being an active role in their lives.

I of course did not even take my camera out today, but thankfully my sister in law is never without hers. Although none of us are very fond of getting our pictures taken, I think they all took a great one!

We spent the morning at Ciera's softball game and then headed home for a lunch of Round Table pizza. Later in the afternoon we headed to Brian's parents' house for a swim and BBQ. Brian's sister and her family even made it by.

I can't really say that Papa was the best dad ever, since I did not grow up with him, but I can say he's the best Papa EVER!! The kids always enjoy being with him and love the Papacicles! I'm very thankful that they are able to have time with their grandparents outside of holidays. I Hope they will always cherish these memories.

(I will get to updating the last few weeks soon. I even have pictures. Summer vacation has kicked my butt though.)

A little more timely

2009-06-10T11:46:00.000-07:00

As I began my cleaning on Sunday I discovered for the second day, that there was a considerable amount of water on the floor between the toilet and Logan's sink. Since Logan was home I wanted to know what he had been doing to get so much water on the floor two days in a row. He claimed he was not responsible, but it was a lot of water! Turns out the toilet had been leaking from the bottom of the tank. After doing a few online checks, it looked like a fairly easy fix. After spending all day trying to get the nut off, we realized that we needed some help. My step dad came down on Monday and got the plastic nut off for us so that I could continue to fix it. I decided to replace the entire fill valve rather than just the seal since we'd stripped the pipe pretty good trying to get the nut off. I ran out of time on Monday to finish up the project, since I bought the wrong replacement hose. But by Tuesday afternoon, it was finished up and running great. We are pleased to say we almost did an entire repair all by ourselves!

Logan was pretty disappointed with the basketball camp on Monday. He said the stuff was too easy and it was boring. We had to remind him that even the high school boys break things down into basic moves and that there was nothing wrong with working on his jump stops and pivoting. Since there were only 9 kids in the camp, I felt pretty confident that the rest of the week would focus more on where the kids where with their abilities. On Tuesday I watched the last 45 minutes of the camp and Logan looked beat! He was sweaty and red faced, but he was having a great time. They worked on 3 major points and Logan was putting them into play during the closing scrimmage. It was nice to see him much happier.

Ciera and I made it back to Curves on Tuesday, but Ciera is still a bit undecided about how she likes it.

The kids are spending a lot of time with Brian on the trampoline each evening. It's nice that they've all found a way to enjoy the time together rather than separately. Logan will even come in and invite Ciera to join them.

By 9 I was feeling really tired and had a bad headache. I woke up around 10 feeling horrible. My stomach hurt and was making very sad noises. I spent the next 1 1/2 hours in the bathroom. I very rarely vomit, so I was quite surprised when I actually became sick. I did feel much better though. I then took 2 Tylenol and headed back to bed. When I woke up this morning I felt much better. Not sure what it was, but I think I will be able to stay away from the brownies for a bit.

I'm starting the book club book today, Darcy's Story, and I'm excited to finally get started on it. I've never actually read Pride and Prejudice, but it should be interesting anyhow. This is a book from Darcy's perspective.

We have a relatively calm evening ahead. We're going to go check out Jackson's basketball game tonight and that's about it. The kids have chosen Chicken Tenderloins for dinner, so that should also be easy.

STE started a blog and it's been a lot of fun to follow. Yesterday V-R rolled over for the first time and continued to practice throughout the day. She was even got on video. It just melts my heart to see them all.

Brian brought to my attention the other day that our anniversary is coming up (I had noticed it on the calendar as well). It' hard to believe we've really been married for 15 years! That's an incredibly long time. And although we've settled into a pattern and our lives and time revolve around the kids and their activities, there's still no one else I'd rather spent that time with. I'm immensely grateful that he is supportive of ANYTHING I choose to do and he's such a great father!

Summer is not so easy!

2009-06-07T11:28:00.000-07:00

I know I've neglected this once again. But I'll tell you, it's not so easy to get stuff done now that the kids are out of school. Honestly, sleeping in every morning really takes a bite out of your day!

The camera is still in the car, so you will have to continue waiting for last weekends pictures.

On Monday I headed back to Curves. 14 weeks PP seemed like more than enough time for my incision to heal and for my milk supply to be established. I also took Ciera with me to try it out. I made it 4 times and Ciera made it twice. I still don't know her decision about going throughout the summer, but I'm back. As much as I don't care for exercising, it did feel great to use those muscles again.

My week went a little something like this. Wake up to morning pump around 5, go back to bed. Wake up between 9 & 11, make oatmeal, pump and eat the oatmeal, head to Curves, home to shower and then whatever else needed to be done for the day.

On Monday Logan got to go to his friend Garrett's house for a bit. Tuesday we headed down to Orangevale for a cancelled pitching lesson. We went to the nearby park to throw instead. Logan and I took turns walking the dog around the park. On Wednesday Ciera went to Moriah's house and Logan had his final basketball practice. Thursday Ciera came home at 2, had a lesson at 3:30, team practice at 5:30 and then went to a teammates house to spend the night. Friday Ciera had a swim party to go to for another teammate. Logan had his final basketball game Friday night.

The game was great to watch, even if they didn't win. I hadn't seen a game in several weeks and it was amazing to watch Logan on the court. Not only was he hard for me to find because of the new short hair cut (and all of the blond being cut off and replaced with a dark head of hair), but he was so much more aggressive and all over the ball. Anytime there was a possibility of a jump ball, there he was! He rebounded, dribbled confidently (which was an area he improved on tremendously), looked for the pass and shot the ball when it was a good shot to take. He's played for 4 seasons now and has made SUCH progress and he has so much more confidence about his abilities as well. Rumor has it that he'd like to play a summer session, we'll see.

After the game they had a team party at one of the boys' pool. Only 5 of the 9 boys showed up and it was COLD, but the boys hopped in the pool, squealed for about 3 minutes and then didn't complain again. For a group of boys that were strangers just 10 weeks ago, they had a great time!

Saturday we had an "off" day from everything and there were some great movies playing. So, we made a day of it. We started with an 11:30 Star Trek which most of us really enjoyed. We then headed in to Night At the Museum which was very similar to the first one. The kids really enjoyed it and I dozed off for a few minutes. Next, was Logan's long awaited Terminator 4. He and Brian had spent the last week watching the first 3 to prepare. It was a tad disappointing to them both, as it just didn't seem to have much reason to be made. It didn't do much to expand the story. However, I enjoyed it and thought it was well done. The chase scenes didn't seem as tedious as they had in the first 3. Logan then gave up and I took him to dinner while Brian and Ciera watched Angels and Demons. Brian was fairly disappointed by it as well and said I didn't really miss anything. After the movies we stopped by Walmart to pick up a small list of groceries and Logan spent some of his birthday money on a new Nerf gun. We were home by 9 and in bed by 10:30. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

Today Ciera has a 5 hour softball practice and Logan and I are just hanging out. He's shown me all of the similarities and differences between his 3 Nerf guns and I feel so much smarter for it. I'm sure this bit of knowledge will come in handy, someday! I'm desperately hoping to get the house swept and mopped, to get all of the garbage taken to the can, to clean my bathroom AND finish the laundry. It probably won't get done, but I'm hoping!

Next week Logan's friend Brandon and his brother will be here in the mornings and then the three boys will head to basketball camp in the afternoons. Ciera has a lesson on Monday night, practice on Tuesday and Thursday nights and we head to South Lake Tahoe on Saturday for a tournament. It should be beautiful up there and we're hoping to spend a day as a family discovering the interesting things about Lake Tahoe. With it only being 2 hours away, it's really pathetic that my kids have never even SEEN the lake (and we were there last summer and didn't show them the lake). Logan says he's seen pictures of it and that's enough, but it's really not acceptable.

As I look at my June calendar I realize that this summer is going to go by WAY too fast! Ciera has tournaments every weekend, practices twice a week, lessons once a week, plus time with friends, a week long softball camp and swimming. Logan has 3 basketball camps, cousin time, friend time, swim time and possibly basketball again in July. I hope they enjoyed the laziness of last week because I don't think the rest of the summer will be so 'lazy'.

At one point last week, Logan decided to buy a slip and slide and he set it up himself. He spent the better part of a cloudy day out sliding on it by himself. It was wonderful to see him entertain himself and be OK doing it alone. At some point everyone has to figure out how to enjoy 'alone' time and be OK without a group of people entertaining him.

I hope to get a bit of a better routine down here pretty soon. The cleaning really shouldn't be avoided all summer long and I really want to get Ciera's room painted, but the thought just exhausts me. This is where going back to Curves should help. I feel quite certain that once I start losing some of the remaining 35 lbs I will get some energy back.

Pictures will be posted whenever I get the energy to retrieve the camera from the van-or when Brian gets home and will bring it in for me (just realized he has the van anyhow).

BBQ Beef with Brown Rice

2009-06-04T12:05:00.000-07:00

Ciera stayed over at a friends' house last night, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to try out the BBQ Beef in the crock pot. Ciera 'claims' to not like BBQ sauce, which is crazy since it's the best condiment ever, so I knew fixing it on a night when she was home wouldn't be the best idea.

I found boneless chuck roast for under $2 lb at Sam's Club and I was thinking about dinner early enough to get it in the crock pot. It turned out delicious and I was SO pleased! I was even able to eat the leftovers for lunch today.

The BEST socks ever!!

2009-06-03T12:54:00.000-07:00

I am SO not a sock gal! I would much rather wear sneakers with no socks and even my winter boots I prefer to wear sock-less. Well, my new sneakers are great, but they require socks. There's a spot on my pinkie toe that rubs the stitching and is not comfy. With socks it's no big deal. I had 1 pair of socks that were acceptable, comfort wise, and they still weren't great.

I was at Sam's Club yesterday and did a bit of impulse buying (a great picnic set and these SOCKS). I wasn't sure they'd be much better than what I had, but at least there were 6 of them, they were soft, and they were thin feeling. OMG!! When I put them on yesterday to head to Curves, I knew they were something special. They felt amazing! They were light, soft and were slightly better than sock-less! The packaging claimed 'soft cotton + bamboo blend wicks moisture naturally' and it really appeared to be true. And here's the kicker, they are supposed to be earth-friendly because of the bamboo. "Your feet will thank you an so will the Earth." My feet are definitely thanking me and they were less than $1.50 a pair. As an added bonus, they are made in the USA. They come in Quarter Top or no show (at least at my Sam's Club).

ECO COOL by Burlington
You've got to try these socks!

Gotta love the kids

2009-06-01T12:34:00.000-07:00

I previously mentioned that the kids were doing blogs over the summer. Logan had been hesitant about doing it and has been surprised to find that the funnest thing to do when he's home alone is to update his blog. He doesn't say much, but he's been doing it rather faithfully.

Today I came home to find that his newest entry included a link to his friends' blog. I was thrilled to have him show me how easy it is to do.

Without further ado, Logan's blog (and my first chance to link something). Logan's is currently open for anyone to read. Ciera has chosen to make hers private. However, it's a school privacy issue and if anyone would like to read the ramblings of a 12 year old girl, just let me know and we'll send you out an invite.

We had a busy softball/basketball weekend that I will get to later on (we did not make it to the Championship game).

Today, at 14 weeks PP, I took my butt back to Curves. Ciera went with me to check out the equipment and see if she'd like to use it this summer. She needs to build up her strength, so it could be a great option. It's been almost an entire year since I was last there, but it's amazing how easy it was to get back into and as much as I don't like excercising, I did enjoy myself and I'm ready to get going on 'regaining me'. I figure we are now out of school, that gives me a good 10 weeks to get my butt in gear and be back in PP clothes when school starts at the end of August. I will get weighed and measured tomorrow, so that I really have a good idea of where I'm starting from.

I also intend to start watching what is going into my body. There is no real good reason to eat an entire box of Swiss Rolls by myself. So that will stop today.

So disappointed in California

2009-05-27T09:54:00.000-07:00

It was decided that yesterday that Prop 8 will stand. We as a state have officially taken away the rights of our citizens. Why? I like to believe it's because there were so many people like myself that just did not think for an instant that it would pass. Had I any idea that there was an actual chance of Prop 8 passing, I would've done a little more to show my support in voting NO on 8. I have learned a powerful lesson and only hope to have the strength to speak up next time. I am not a political person in any way. Basically my decisions are based on how something will affect me and my family, but Prop 8 passing will and can have an affect on my family.

I have a friend with an ability to get involved and really try to make a difference. She spoke at the Rally in Fresno last night. With her permission I'm including her speech. Thank you Vickye (So I Married a Republican) for your efforts and inspiration!

One thing stood out to me during the Prop 8 campaign. Prop 8 supporters were not afraid to pull the kid card. They were not afraid to say “Oh, but what about the children?” Well, I am going to pull it right back on them. What about the children?

What about the LGBT kids in this state? All 2-6 hundred thousand of them? What about all of the children being raised by LGBT people? What about their grandchildren, their nieces, nephews, their cousins? What about them? So, when they say “what about the children”, what they really mean is, what about their children.

Okay, what about their children? They are taught that gay is wrong. Ours are taught that love comes in all shapes and sizes. Theirs are taught to exclude. Ours are taught to include. Ours are also taught, from an early age, what it is like to be excluded, thanks to their children and parents.

Their children are taught that there is only one way. They are taught only what their parents want them to know, rather than all there is to know. They are taught what to believe, rather than the facts. They are taught that morality is a narrow road and that only they have the map.

Our children look at this differently. Ours are given the facts and taught that beliefs need to be backed up by them. Ours are shown the whole world and trusted to find their way with the love and knowledge we have given them. Ours are taught that morality must be aligned with justice, or it will be neither. Our children are given the entire rainbow of colors and an entire world to paint them with.

So, to say, “what about the children” is very misleading, because they really don’t care about children. They teach their own children a set of values that will fall apart the moment their child hits the real world, causing pain and confusion. They try to condemn our children, simply for being who they are or who their parents are. And, by passing and upholding Prop 8, they have shown ALL children that justice does not matter anymore, it simply matters who has the louder voice. They are teaching that equality is no longer a foundation of our country, that the majority can vote away the minority’s rights.

We know this to be a temporary aberration and will teach our children as such. We will teach our children to never stop fighting for what is right; for what is just. We will never teach our children to rejoice over someone else’s loss. We will teach our children that justice and love trump tradition, every time.

So, Prop 8 is not really about families, because they set out to invalidate the families of these children. It’s not really about marriage, because they are trying to prevent loving marriages. And it is definitely not for the children, because teaching a child to exclude is only the first step towards teaching them to hate.

So, the next time someone tells you they oppose same-sex marriage, I want you to ask them “But, what about the children?”

It's certainly something to think about!

Monday, sweet Monday-or is it Tueday?

2009-05-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

Monday was another great opportunity to sleep in. Ciera and Brian woke around 11. Logan and I slept soundly until 12. We slept away the entire morning. Ciera had softball practice from 2-5 and then we all headed to Brian's parents' to swim. The weekend was beautiful, but it heated up some on Monday. The kids and Brian all swam for a bit and I just got my feet wet.
I knew it was going to be hard to get to sleep on time, but I thought if I tried hard we might be successful. Unfortunately we started brushing our teeth a bit late.

Both kids claim it was after midnight before the finally fell asleep. That of course made it difficult to get up this morning, but we did make it to school on time, although a touch grumpy. It was another minimum day and then Logan's friends came over for an hour or two.

Somebody had a dentist appointment to get a cavity filled. She wanted to remain nameless and faceless.

Can you guess who belongs to these feet? (The coloring is off, she really wasn't that blue).

The filling went well and then it was time for a pitching lesson. Brian took her tonight and I headed out to the baseball field to watch a brave little boy play AA Farm baseball. Isaiah (from Strong and Courageous) has been fighting and winning his Leukemia battle for 2 years now. His strength and courage continue to amaze me. He has such a wonderfully supportive family too (and they're a ton of fun to visit with). I went to school with Isaiah's dad and Isaiah's sister, Sienna, went to school with my kids for 2 years. Plus, his mom is expecting a new little baby in September and she has the cutest little pregnant belly. I'm so glad that I got to see them. I had almost forgotten how much fun it is to watch a Farm game. The kids are all so excited to be there, but they have such short attention spans. They all hit great and made some great outs. I somehow managed to miss all of Isaiah's hits, but I saw him run the bases like a pro! Thanks again for the invite Oates'.

When Ciera gets home, we will head out to Target to see about a gift for her friends. She has decided that she needs to get her friends an end of the year gift, "something totally useless." We are all very excited that tomorrow is the last day we have to get up early for school. We have 81 days to prepare for the next school year!

I made it out to walk this morning and am hoping to head out again this evening once it cools off. I'm really loving the new sneakers.

Tomorrow we have our end of the school year picnic at the park. Hopefully it will be comfortable in the shade. We have no real plans for the rest of the week. Ciera and I head to Stockton again this weekend. Logan only has 2 more basketball games left in the season. I'm very bummed about missing so many of his games, but at least Brian gets to be there. I'll get to see his last game though and I'm looking forward to it.

Camera uploads

2009-05-24T18:42:00.000-07:00

Also on my Weekend List was for Brian to teach me how to upload pictures from our new camera to Picasa. My mother in law had talked me through it Sunday night, so I decided to give it a shot on my own yesterday (or Friday night, the days are blurring together already). It was just as easy as she had said it'd be.

I'm going to try to take some random shots of our days to post along with the boring text. Perhaps it will be easier to stay on top of things that way.

Also on the Weekend List is for Brian to show me how to save and import the pictures from other people's albums and from our e-mail. I know this isn't super difficult, but it does require him teaching me.

The list is growing shorter and longer all at the same time. There are so many things that need to be done and as we finish one project, I come across another that needs to be added.

Our master bedroom ceiling fan started squeaking horribly this week. So after exhausting all efforts to 'fix' it, we broke down and bought a new fan yesterday. Brian spent the better part of this morning installing the new fan. He did a great job and I'm looking forward to using the 'remote' that came with it.

Introducing,

2009-05-24T18:29:00.000-07:00

My new sneaker!

I put new sneakers on my Weekend List and I finally got over to Famous Footwear 1 hour before closing. I hate trying on shoes even more than I hate trying on clothes, so this was NOT a fun trip. I arrived armed with socks and I immediately got busy. I knew I needed to not even pay attention to the color or how hideous they looked. I simply needed a sneaker to walk in and go to the gym in that would be comfortable. I am VERY big on comfort and I haven't had a comfortable sneaker in years. I tried on several different pairs and brands. I finally settled on two and had to decide between them, without letting color or cost be the deciding factor. I tried them with socks and with just the 'footie' nylon, since I really prefer to go sockless. After 45 minutes of intense scrutiny, I finally decided on this pair. I'm actually quite excited for it to cool off so I can go test them out tonight. They are really squishy, comfy and they aren't too tight around my foot, nor does my toe rub.

I then headed over to Home Depot to pick up paint for Ciera's room. I'm thrilled that she finally decided on a color and am debating whether to get started right away or wait a week until they are out of school. Just a few years ago I could go crazy and paint all night, but my body just doesn't quite care for that type of abuse anymore. It takes me much longer to recover when I mistreat it.

Totally off topic, but has anyone seen the new Jonas Brothers show on Disney? It's playing in the background and I happened to catch parts of it last weekend as well. I'm not sure whether it's really neat that they are doing such a 'down to earth kid' show or totally creeped out by it. I Fell In Love With the Pizza Girl is not one of their better songs.

Got Milk?

2009-05-24T18:13:00.000-07:00

I typically don't post the same thing on both blogs, but I have difficulty deciding which things belong where. This seems to belong in both. I get a little 'crazy' excited when I see all the milk I've been able to freeze. It keeps me very optimistic that there will be enough to get the babies through their first year.
I forgot to take the before picture. This is my empty freezer that had 22 days worth of milk in it this morning. Each shelf holds about 40lbs of milk. I believe there are about 112, 16 oz bottles. I'm filling 4.5-5 bottles per day.
The bottom two pictures are the chest freezer my mom brought over this afternoon so I can store the milk easier. I'm a little surprised that it's almost full already. I can probably fit 4-5 more days worth of milk in it. I should have enough room to store the milk until mid to late June. Hopefully by then STE has more room in her freezers.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

2009-05-24T11:24:00.000-07:00

Even after completing so many of my list items, there was still time for some trampoline fun.
The net is in the way, so it makes the pictures look really 'dotty', but you get the idea.
Brian stands on the patio and throws the football into the trampoline. Typically the kids have to 'fight' against each other to get the ball.
Fun times!

Catching up, again

2009-05-22T16:19:00.000-07:00

I'd been doing a great job of walking my 30 minutes- 1 1/2 miles per day up until this last weekend. With the heat and softball there was no way I was going to get out and walk, although I did bring my beat up sneakers just in case (I still haven't gotten to Famous Footwear to try and find a new pair).

So on Monday I had some making up to do. I walked Monday morning and Monday night. The dog is so happy to take these walks with me, although I still haven't been able to get anyone else to walk with me. I made a trip to Costco for more bottled water and some other necessities, like milk. The kids have started drinking milk like crazy. Ciera had a lesson that night and I finished up the unpacking and laundry from our trip.

Tuesday it all finally hit me. I dropped the kids off at school and went back to bed. I woke up feeling SO much better. I got in a double walk that day as well.

Ciera's class went on a field trip to John's Incredible Pizza on Wednesday. It wasn't entirely educational, but it was an end of the year trip for the 6-8 graders. The kids had a great time. Brian now gets to pick his furlough day, so he spent the day at his mother's, helping her get the yard ready for open pool season. Then he and Logan headed to basketball practice. Once again, I got in 2 walks and am getting faster every day (maybe every week is more accurate).

Thursday I got my morning walk in the morning while it was still cool. I spent most of Thursday in Ciera's classroom finishing up some typing for her teacher. Ciera had practice that evening. I had hoped to walk the track while she was at practice, but it was just too warm still. So I walked around 8:45 at home once it cooled down.

Friday I was up at 5am to pump and decided to stay up. I got in my walk at 6:30 when it was nice and cool. I was a bit surprised to see so many people out walking or running at that hour. There's hardly anyone at 9am. I was feeling very ambitious since I was up and moving so early. I grossly underestimated how long it would take to do everything and ended up rushed by 10. I got laundry done, dishes done, cupcakes baked for Logan's class, pumped again, showered and was out the door at 10:45 to pick up pizza for Logan's class party. We are definitely celebrating the end of this school year!

Logan had a few friends over after the minimum day. They seemed to have quite a bit of fun on the trampoline, playing with the hose and water guns. By 4:30 they had all gone home and Ciera and I headed out to get a jump start on my Memorial Day Weekend List. I have so many things that I've been meaning to get done and just no time to do them. So I decided to list them all out so that we don't forget to do them while we're busy sleeping in. Brian is a little less enthusiastic about my list. Ciera and I got my Target returns done (some items I'd had since March), headed to Home Depot to get paint samples for her room and look at ceiling fans. Logan has been asking for a ceiling fan for 2-3 years and we never get around to doing it. Everyone else has a fan, I think we need to make it a priority this summer. We also stopped by the AT&T store to look at phones. The kids would both really like a phone to text, but we just can't seem to figure out how to go about doing it without spending an extra $60 a month. They both get about $20 for allowance and that's really as high as I'm willing to go for it. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of options for $20 a month. I have a very bare bones plan that meets my needs and offers a ton of minutes. I can't modify it at all and keep my minutes, so we're a bit stuck as to what to do. Someday we'll figure it out I'm sure. Ciera also thinks it's a tad unfair that she has to pay for it. So we may never do it.

Ciera has softball practice Monday afternoon and she still has to go out each day with her day, but we have no other obligations this long weekend. My nephew, Jackson, slept over Friday night, so Logan has been busy jumping on the trampoline and playing Wii with him.

It's still quite warm, although weather.com claims it will only be in the mid 80's this weekend. I'm optimistic that we can get a lot accomplished this weekend and still relax quite a bit as well.

I know, I know

2009-05-22T16:01:00.000-07:00

I really left things hanging last week.

Most of the time I don't even think twice about putting all of my information out here for everyone to see and then there are times that I have a bit of paranoia, like last Friday. I started to write about us being gone to Stockton all weekend and the fabulous deal we got through Priceline, but then paranoia hit. What if was telling someone to feel free to come rob my house since we'd be gone from Saturday to Sunday night? Are burglars really reading through all of my mundane tales, just to know when my house will be empty? Probably not, but you never know. It's just like the cars that will park across the street from our house and just sit there. They are probably just parked in the shade, near the park, enjoying their lunch or making a call. But every now and then I think someone is staking out our house to become familiar with our habits and that any day now someone is going to come try to rob us. Paranoia or perceptive?

We received game times for Ciera's weekend tournament on Wednesday night. They were going to have to be at the field in Stockton at 7am, which meant we'd have to leave home by 5:15 and Sunday's game times would also be early. So Ciera and I decided to try to get a room. Priceline here I come! I was able to get a room about 15 minutes away from the field for only $44 a night. When we arrived Friday night, we were both SO pleased! It's was a beautiful, new Best Western. The water pressure was amazing and they had pillow top mattresses with soft blankets! Since my neck had just finally started feeling better from our last hotel stay in Fresno, I was thrilled with our Priceline outcome. Since we got such a great deal, we decided to stay Saturday night as well.

Logan and Brian had a basketball game Saturday morning, so it was just me and Ciera on Friday night. We had a very nice drive down together and enjoyed a Panda Express dinner.

Saturday was an early morning, but we were thankful to not be playing in the late afternoon when it was 104. We were back at the hotel and in the pool by 3:30. The girls played great and won all 3 games on Saturday.

Brian and Logan made it to Stockton for our last game of the day on Saturday. Logan had played at 9am and since Brian is coaching he is the one that gets to go to all of the games. I was bummed to have not been there. I heard it was perhaps Logan's greatest game ever. He scored almost all of his team's points and he did a great job at point guard. He was aggressive and a team player. His team is still not winning much, but he's had a great time and really learned a lot. He's been applying things he's been taught before but never been confident enough to use in a game. I have to miss next weeks game too. I'm hoping Grandma or Papa will take some video for me though.

Sunday was another long and HOT day. The girls won their 9:45 game, but didn't play again until 2:15 (and really they didn't start until almost 3:15). The winner of the second game went on to the Championship game. The girls did a great job of hanging in there and not giving up, but ultimately the other team won. They had a girl hit it over the 205 fence and that about did us in. Ciera got to play 1st base during this game, which is why you can only see her feet in the pictures in the other post.

Logan kept busy playing with the other siblings. They got water guns and kept cool with them for awhile. They then got really spacey and started just squirting the ground. They had a ton of fun playing in the dirt and mud (a waste of good water gun water in my opinion, but it kept them happy).

We stopped by Grandma and Papa's to swim on our way home. I even got in with just my clothes on, it was THAT good! (I have since found a swimsuit). After cooling off a bit, I left the kids with Brian and I headed home to get unpacked and the laundry done. It was a long, hot weekend, but we all had a good time-and nobody robbed the house!

This is my excuse...

2009-05-22T15:35:00.000-07:00

This is one of the many reasons why I just can't seem to finish updating the week.
I'm very aware of what a bad blogger I've been. I've thought about all the things we've been doing, but I just haven't had the time to actually record them. I will get caught up by the end of the 3 day weekend, but there's a ton of things on my 'mental list' to get done. We'll see if this makes it onto the 'finished list'.

Today was the last Friday of school and Logan's class got to have their FIRST party of the year. Their teacher bought them pizza and milk. She allowed me to bring in ice cream cone cupcakes and Capri Suns. We got to make "oobleck" (cornstarch and water-fun stuff) and have a water balloon relay.

Try to find my kid-it's much harder with the new hair cut.

Playing with his retainer. He claims he never does this, but here is picture proof.

Oh look, Logan's playing with his retainer AGAIN!! It's going to be a long summer with mom on 'retainer patrol'. (The green stuff is the oobleck).

Another teaser post

2009-05-22T15:25:00.000-07:00

Logan's Sunday in Stockton
5/17/2009

Making mud pies with the other siblings

Just a teaser post

2009-05-22T15:23:00.001-07:00

Ciera's Sunday in Stockton
5/17/2009

That's Ciera's foot on 1st Base

That's her foot again!

More softball and basketball this weekend...

2009-05-15T13:50:00.001-07:00

Another hair cut and a little bit of buyer's remorse

2009-05-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

When I woke Logan up yesterday he was very adamant that he had told me he wanted a hair cut and that he thought his long hair this year just looked bad. Unfortunately he'd had the conversation with Brian on Monday night when I went to bed early. Brian called about 9:30 to share the news with me, a little late. So after school we talked about hair cuts and looked at pictures. He decided he really liked Kris Allen's hair, from American Idol. Armed with 2 pictures we sought out a place that was open at 7:20pm-most were already closed.

While getting the haircut he asked the gal to go shorter, not once, but twice. He came home sporting a faux hawk and a smile. He was happy with it all night and tried out several different styling options. Brian and I love it as well.

Fast forward to this morning and there was definitely buyer's remorse. He chose to take the anger out on me and implied that it was my fault that it was so short (a number 4 on the sides). He went to school with his angry face on and I'm curious to see if he's over it by lunch time. I 'think' it finally occurred to him that he'd be showing the kids at school and he was a bit concerned about their reactions. Who really knows. I will have to get a picture. I think it's very current AND easy to care for.

Ciera got her fillings on the right side done yesterday and did very well.

I took the van in for the 30,000 mile service and walked home briskly-25 minutes. I then tried to be productive around the house. I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped, but I got through more of Ciera's room and got the sheets changed out on both kids' beds. Then it was time to walk back to get the van (briskly or I'd be late) and pick Ciera up for her dental appointment.

We were going to have crunchy tacos for dinner, but when I pulled the meat out of the freezer it was moldy. I had taken it out once before and didn't use it, so I thought I could just refreeze it. I guess I'd left it in the fridge for too long. Moldy, frozen taco meat was not what we wanted to eat. So we headed to Taco Bell-I really wanted some nacho cheese on a crunchy taco.

Not a bad day!

Today we have very little on the schedule. I just got done walking my brisk 30 minutes, Ciera is going to Moriah's and Ryan is coming over after school for Logan. I have a meeting at school tonight, Logan has basketball and hopefully we can all be in bed early.

I've been tagged-not once, but 3 times

2009-05-12T10:42:00.000-07:00

I'm not really one for playing along, so I'll answer the questions and leave it at that, although Betsey, Jackson and Ciera can consider themselves tagged :)

Crazy 8's

Fill in the following lists AND
tag 8 blogger friends, go tell them you tagged them…

8 Things I Am Looking Forward To:
Summer
Fitting into my clothes without losing too much of my milk supply
Sleeping in
Ciera's extra softball efforts to pay off
Watching 'Super Aggressive Logan' on the court
Seeing what and who my kids grow into
Seeing STE's kids grow and blossom
Blog updates from everyone

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

Walked 1 1/2 miles
SDrove on the field trip
Showered
Ate too much ice cream
Fluffed the feather bed
Replaced the toilet paper in the bathroom and the paper towels in the kitchen
Wore a new outfit
Applied sunscreen to my face and lotion to my legs

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:
Care about cooking and enjoy it
Travel
Find a job/career I was passionate about
Find the perfect sneaker without having to look or at least with minimal effort
Spend more time with friends without losing family time
Go back in time
Actually meet some of my blog friends
Enjoy excercise

8 Shows I Watch:
The Office
John & Kate Plus 8
Intervention
Celebrity Rehab (Dr. Drew)
Sober House
Big Love
What I Like About You (Ciera's fault)
Degrassi (also Ciera's fault)

8 Favorite Fruits:
watermelon
grapes (preferably the seedless black ones)
cherries
watermelon
apples (fuji or gala are my faves)
mandarins
apricot
peach (just learned this summer that I like this)

8 Places I’d Like to Travel:
U.S. East Coast
Cross country drive of US
Australia
Europe (broad enough to count as two)
Europe
Ireland
Hawaii
Canada

8 Places I’ve Lived:
Lincoln, CA
Rocklin, CA
El Paso, TX
North Highlands, CA
Sacramento, CA
Loomis, CA
Newcastle, CA
Carmichael, CA

TAGGING:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Tuesday's agenda

2009-05-12T04:34:00.001-07:00

I'm already feeling much more rested! I was able to get to bed by 9:30 last night and had a great night of sleep.

Today I am dropping the van off for service after taking the kids to school. I will then walk home and back when it's ready. This should count for my daily walking today if I remember to keep up the pace.

I'd really like to get my bedroom back in order. I've got to put away all the 'winter' sheets, pack away the maternity stuff and clean the master bath.

Ciera gets 2 of her 3 fillings done today at 3 and then throwing with Brian. Now that the Tuesday night league is over, we are left with an unscheduled Tuesday night. I'm not sure what we'll do with it, but I imagine both kids will be thrilled to catch American Idol without having to record it.

Logan's research report is due today. He practiced the oral portion all afternoon yesterday and I do believe he is ready. Now we can focus on preparing for his oral book report that's due next week.

We only have 8 full days and 3 half days of school left for the year! I think we all are looking forward to summer this year. This will be the first summer in years that I won't be making them do a ton of 'summer work', just a bit of it.

So tired

2009-05-11T20:18:00.000-07:00

4:30am up to pump
5:00 shower
5:30-6:30 back to bed
wake up Ciera
6:40-7 back to bed
7:00 get ready, make oatmeal, fix 21 bagels with cream cheese for Logan's school snack, get Logan up
8:10 take the kids to school
8:20 back home to pump and eat the oatmeal that was hot at 7:30
8:50-10:30 field trip for Logan- Physical Fitness testing
10:40 arrive at library to find they don't open until 12
10:45 back home to pump, eat leftover pizza
11:30 sweep, mop, vacuum, start laundry, wipe down kitchen, tables and bathroom
1:00 make lunch for my mom and 2 1/2 year old niece, Dorothy
1:20 pick up Ciera from school early so she can get her hair highlighted by my mom
2:00 have tea parties with Dorothy
2:30 make dinner-scalloped potatoes with ham pieces
2:55 pick up Logan from school
3:15 return home and take dinner out of the oven-pump-have some dinner and share it with Dorothy
4:00 get everyone ready to leave or settled with afternoon homework plans
4:20 leave for Ciera's pitching lesson
5:00 arrive at lesson
5:23 start walking
5:52 finish 1 1/2 miles around the track with music for the first time (borrowed Ipod)
6:15 head home
6:45 arrive home-heat dinner-eat dinner-listen to research oral report
7:50 pump, computer time, blog time
8:40 wash pump parts-go to bed

Good thing I get to do most of it all over again tomorrow!

A wonderful weekend!

2009-05-11T11:20:00.001-07:00

I had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend.

Saturday I made my mom breakfast and we got to visit for a few hours. With our busy schedules we just don't get the chance to do that very often. While I was gone, Brian took Ciera to her lesson and Logan finished up the written portion of his research report. Brian then took the recycling and newspapers for me. We now have our garage back AND an extra $45.

That afternoon we headed to Brian's sisters for a yummy dinner that I didn't have to make, London Broil and baked potatoes with brownies, ice cream and strawberry shortcake for desert. While there I was able to trade out a table we wanted to use for Ciera's room with a desk for Jackson. My SIL had also picked up a bedding set that we wanted for Ciera, so we were now ready to start tackling Ciera's room (I had wanted to have it done over Spring Break).

When we got home I spent the rest of the evening moving things around in her room and trying to figure out how to make it fit her needs. I reluctantly went to bed (she needed her room so she could go to bed), but I didn't make it out to walk.

Sunday morning I woke up to pump before anyone else was up. Ciera had softball practice, so I got her and Brian up and made myself a bowl of oatmeal (Brian had asked the night before if I wanted them to make breakfast, but my oatmeal isn't too tough for me to do on my own). Brian, Ciera and I headed out for practice and Logan was to work on the oral portion of his research report. I walked for 30 minutes, a little bit more than a mile, and then got to watch practice, read the paper and start a new book.

We headed home at 11:30 and I didn't really want to wait for the Papa Murphy's pizza to bake, so we called in to Pizza Guys for a Pepperoni and Onion pizza (it sounded really good). When we got home Logan was dressed and had made me a card (they didn't make anything at school, they must be too old?). It was so sweet and he had put a lot of effort into making it just perfect for me. We all ate lunch and then watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I had been wanting to see this movie since it came out, but I'm so glad I didn't pay for it at the theater. It was a good movie, but very long and slow.

It was finally time that I could throw myself into organizing Ciera's room. This was the ultimate treat for me. We haven't had anything to re-do in quite awhile (I reorganized all of my kitchen cabinets within a month of the babies being born). Logan finished up his report, Ciera did her math homework and I was in a state of bliss. We finally had to break for dinner at 6:30. I was so involved and happy in the room, I hadn't even realized I was hungry. My Papa Murphy's pizza was delicious and exactly what I'd been hoping for.

At 8:30 Brian and I headed out to walk one more time (to make up for not walking on Saturday). Then back to the organizing. I finally called it quits around 10:30, but the kids were having a hard time getting to sleep. It must've been all the excitement of cleaning and reorganizing!

It's not how everyone would want to spend their weekend, but I had the best time!

Text to go with the previous post

2009-05-10T22:39:00.000-07:00

Well I was able to figure out how to put the picture of my Croc sandals up, but not how too add text. So you get a separate post. I wanted to clear up the misconception that I was walking in horribly uncomfortable 'clog-y' Crocs. When I'm not wearing those I sometimes wear my beat up, dog chewed, barely any shoelaces left K-Swiss sneakers. They stopped making the sneaker and I've been unable to find a suitable replacement in the 3 years I've been looking (although not very hard). I am hoping to find time this week to get over to the shoe store and try some on. I find shoes to be just like clothes though, they feel/look fine in the store, but once I get them home they are so uncomfortable or they aren't half as flattering as I thought they were. I'm just not much of a shopper.

These are what I've been walking in

2009-05-10T22:35:00.000-07:00

5 days in a row!

2009-05-08T22:21:00.000-07:00

I have been successful in making myself walk for 1 mile every day this week. I intend to continue through the weekend and hopefully next week I can cut down to eating sweets in moderation rather than by the package.

The scale is going down still, so I feel quite confident that if I could just master moderation that I would have a whole new (used) wardrobe to wear. I am sitting with 35 lbs of pregnancy weight at this point.

I know the pumping is really helping with the weight loss and if I would just cooperate, I'd see results. Every day I tell myself that it will be the day that I only eat 1 or 2 cookies, but so far it hasn't happened. Perhaps next week really will be the week.

I do need to get out and find a pair of sneakers that I really like. Walking a mile in my Crocs just isn't cutting it. My ankles are starting to hurt and that can't be good.

My boy is back!!

2009-05-08T20:45:00.001-07:00

Logan had a basketball game tonight and Aggressive Logan showed up on the court-finally! It is so much more fun to watch him play when he is playing his heart out. They ended up losing again, but the whole team played so much better. Logan made several baskets, some fantastic passes and had almost every rebound (something that he doesn't always do so well). He got hurt during the 4th period and had to be pulled. He was holding his rib and even had tears, so I was pretty sure he was going to be done for the game (at times he can be a bit dramatic). Within 2 minutes he was ready to go back in for the final period of the game. Apparently he got elbowed and it 'knocked the wind out of him'. I'm not sure an elbow can do that, but at least he recovered quickly and went back out full force. Brian and I were both very proud of him for coping so well.

Logan also got all of his work done this week, and there was a TON of it, including social studies corrections from the last two weeks. He spent all week working diligently on work that I thought he had no chance of completing. This weekend he needs to finish up the written portion of his research report and then we get to start working on the oral portion.

Saturday I will wake up early and drive almost an hour to make my mom breakfast in bed. Brian will take Ciera to her pitching lesson and then we will all head to Brian's sisters house for dinner with his mom.

Sunday Ciera has softball practice in the morning and then we will spend the rest of the day doing very little. I'm planning on a pizza from Papa Murphy's and some Dr. Pepper. I don't typically drink much soda (I gave up caffeine 4 summers ago in preparation for surrogacy), so it will be a big splurge.

Hopefully everyone will have a wonderful weekend and remember to treat their mother's with love.

Ortho, Oatmeal and a PS3

2009-05-08T09:18:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night was the playoffs and Championship game for Ciera's Tuesday night league. They barely squeaked by against the number 4 seed, but they did make it to the Championship game and won that game easily.

Wednesday Ciera and I had dental cleaning appointments. I believe I've mentioned before just how much I love our dental office. The gal that cleans our teeth is phenomenal and I love visiting with her. I have 2 favorite dentists and I generally get to visit with both of them when I go in.

We of course had a lot of baby talking to do. They oohed and aahed at the pictures and had a ton of supportive things to say. One of the dentists had her 2nd baby a few months before I delivered, so we were even able to talk about pumping.

Unfortunately Ciera and I both have to go back for fillings. I only have 1 and am going in this morning. I think 1 cavity during a pregnancy wasn't too bad. I do have some gum issues that I will have to start taking better care of, but again, not too bad after a twin pregnancy. Ciera has always had 'unfortunate' teeth. She hadn't had a cavity in over a year or two, so we're just thankful for the break. She has 2 little ones and a third that is a bit larger. She was unwilling to skip school for the filings though, so her appointments are spread out a bit.

Wednesday afternoon the school held a volunteer appreciation shin-dig. It was not your typical stiff event with a sheet cake and some punch. These ladies went all out and each brought something to share. We had cheese, crackers, salami with cream cheese and 'something' (delicious though) and a ton of desert choices. It was a wonderful time visiting with the other parents and with the staff at school. It felt just like a little party!

Thursday we all got to sleep in a bit. The kids had 9am ortho appointments. Logan's retainer has done it's job expanding his upper teeth, so he no longer has to expand it every other day. He just has to continue wearing it until who knows when. He wasn't too pleased about having to wear it, but at least he won't have to expand it and deal with it hurting. Ciera got another bracket added and they tightened things up again. Prior to the appointment she reminded me that she'd need 'all soft food' and asked if I'd get her Jamba Juice and a bean burrito. I'm not really sure that it hurt this time as she didn't take any Advil, but I did bring her the 'special diet'.

While I was at Jamba Juice the guy asked if I wanted to try the Oatmeal. He said "It's delicious!" After I agreed to buy it I noticed that on the Oatmeal sign it says "It's delicious!" So I was a bit leery of it. I have been making my own oatmeal every day, as it's supposed to help with my milk production. I LOVE my oatmeal. I cook it in milk rather than water and add a good spoon of brown sugar. Jamba's oatmeal wasn't horrible, I would buy it if I was traveling or needed a bowl of oatmeal while out of the house. But I would definitely NOT be tempted to trade in my homemade oatmeal for theirs. It was filling though, just like he had said.

Ciera had softball practice on Thursday night, so I took her to that and walked a mile around the track. This was my 4th day in a row of walking a mile. I'm not fast, but I was consistent with my laps and I could still feel it in my legs. I really have a lot of work to do, but I figure this is a good start.

Brian headed back to the gym this week as well. It's really hard for him though because it means getting up at 4:15. I've started helping to ensure that he's in bed by 9:30 at the latest and I get him up at 4 when I get up to pump. So far it's worked out and I'm very proud of his dedication to the decision. The choice was to start using the gym membership or cancel it.

Brian has been considering getting a PS3 for quite awhile now. At Christmas time he had decided against it, but as we were talking about Mother's day and Father's Day, he mentioned that he'd decided to save up his 'extra' funds for the PS3. It seemed rather silly to me for him to wait until his birthday in July. After seeing that he was really willing to work 'gym time' back into his schedule, I decided to get it for him sooner. However, I was going to wait two weeks until Logan was done with all of his extra big projects at school. I didn't want him to be sidetracked by the PS3 and I certainly didn't want to be fighting over it with him. Logan came home Wednesday night with virtually no work. He had worked REALLY hard at school and was well on his way to completing all of the extra work and projects, AND he had figured out how to do it all on his own. So I decided to pick up the PS3 on Thursday.

Both boys were very excited to set it up and play Thursday night while Ciera and I were gone. I was so surprised to see them both NOT playing when Ciera and I got home around 8:30. They were both getting ready for bed. I had expected it to be a late night and to fully be regretting suggesting that we attach it to our bedroom tv. They did a fantastic job of not making me regret any of my PS3 decisions!!

I'm home and almost all caught up!

2009-05-04T14:10:00.000-07:00

I left early Wednesday morning to spend 3 days with STE and family. I hadn't seen the older twins since December and the babies left straight from the hospital. So I was really looking forward to this visit. I had a great time and will post about it on twinsforthetwins.blogspot.com as soon as I get pictures uploaded.

I came home Friday night to rain! It rained most of the weekend, so Ciera's Sunday softball practice was cancelled. On the way home Friday, Brian and I stopped for apple pie and vanilla ice cream. We left Raley's with 2 additional containers of ice cream-I just could not decide.

Saturday we all got to sleep in and I woke up to snuggles from Logan (he'll deny it if you ask him though). Logan had basketball pictures and a game at 3:00. It was a close game until the last quarter or two. Unfortunately they lost, and I'm not sure what was going on with Logan. He just didn't have any enthusiasm or aggressiveness. He claimed his 'lungs' were hurting, but honestly he hasn't been sick at all so I'm hesitant to believe there is something wrong with his lungs. Sunday night he declined the visit to the dr. and said he thought his chest was just bruised from a fall he had and he'll be OK after all. We'll see on Friday I guess.

After the game Ciera and Brian went to pitch and Logan and I went to find a 'cool' hat for Logan. He'd been asking for one for awhile and this was what he decided he'd like rather than a trip souvenir from me. Within 5 minutes he had picked out the hat and was ready to go (a black Volcum hat-not on sale, but still cheaper than at Lids). We then all headed to Brian's parents' house to celebrate Jackson's 10th birthday. The youngest cousin is officially in double digits. We had a great meatloaf dinner that EVERYONE ate (usually someone opts out) and cheesecake for desert.

Sunday was either going to be a movie day or a shopping day. Ciera decided after much thought, to go to the mall. To our surprise, Logan said he wanted to come as well. So Brian opted to go with us since we were all going, but honestly I think he would've been happier to stay home. Logan picked out another summer outfit, checked out the hats, bought a video game and spent the rest of the time 'playing' video games at Gamestop with his dad. He also bought his first wallet and is so excited about it. Ciera found a pair of capris that are so tight she couldn't get them on with the security tag ,2 pairs of shorts that are too short to wear to school, 2 camis, 2 t-shirts and 2 pairs of shoe laces. We also stopped by Ulta to find a new face wash that 'smells good'. We'll see how well it cleans her face.

Instead of going home and making the planned potato and ham soup, we stopped by Togo's for a yummy sandwich. Once we got home it was time to get on with the Sunday evening needs, laundry, room cleaning, homework finishing, etc.

Monday morning went as well as could be expected. We had to leave a few minutes early to pick up Ciera's friend that needed a ride. Logan was quite upset to have to leave early for Ciera's friend and he wasn't afraid to let us all know that he was irritated. We made it on time and his bad mood was quickly forgotten (he was playing happily at lunch recess).

I took Ciera a hot bowl of soup at lunch time and then returned my library books. I really haven't gotten much done today other than laundry and wiping down the counters. I also started dinner, so that counts for something. I was going to walk the dog, but I find myself out of time.

Ciera has a lesson tonight if it doesn't start raining. Tuesday I am scheduled to get my TB test done. Tuesday night Ciera has playoffs for her Tuesday night league. Her team was the number 1 seed, so they have a pretty good chance of winning the championship. Wednesday, Ciera and I have dental cleaning appointments. There's a volunteer Thank you 'thing' at school that afternoon and Ciera has a lesson that evening. Logan also has basketball practice, so it will be a busy day. Thursday both kids see the orthodontist. Hopefully Ciera's brackets look cleaner than last time! Friday night is Logan's basketball game and then we head into our last weekend of no softball tournaments.

I hope to get the house picked up this week, buy some groceries, try to figure out what to do with Ciera's room, start walking, start watching what I eat and hope that my milk production stays high. These are all just my hopes, we'll see what really happens. I would also like to find a new garbage can that doesn't drive me crazy with the bag. We're on our 3rd one and I'm still not happy. All I want for Mother's Day is the perfect garbage can, sad really!

More ramblings!

2009-04-29T03:23:00.000-07:00

I finally fit into a pair of pre-pregnancy jeans! Granted, they were my 'transitional' jeans after P&L were born and not a great size, but they fit and that's not something I could say a month ago.

Monday while out at Ciera's lesson I walked a mile around the track and last night before her game I walked 25 minutes around the park. Every step counts.

Over the weekend I stopped waking myself up by 3:30 to pump and allowed myself to just wake when I became 'uncomfortable'. I have some sleep issues though and I was awake almost all night thinking 'it might be time'. I also found myself dreaming that I was pumping while lying down-oh how nice that would be! My supply didn't drop too bad and really I can't say if it was from cutting out the 1-4am pump or cutting out a session all together(I'm down to about 6 sessions a day). I'd been getting about 85 oz a day last week and I went all weekend without recording how much I pumped. When I started back up on Monday I was down to 75 oz and yesterday was back up to 80 oz. I go back and forth between not obsessing over how much I pump each day to needing to know down to the quarter ounce. We are 9 weeks PP though and it's almost time to stop obsessing and just pump what I can, when I can. We have another milk donor that just delivered and she is producing tons of milk, so I know that I could cut back and the babies would still have plenty of milk.

In just a few short hours I get to board a plane and go visit STE and family! I have been eagerly awaiting this trip since the babes were born and am so glad that I went ahead and booked the flight back in January. Knowing I get to visit has made it much easier to get through the last 9 weeks.

Most days I'm doing just fine, but I find myself quite irritable on a regular basis and I'm not sure what is responsible, hormones or lack of sleep. I'm guessing it's a bit of each. This 'limbo' time is tough. It's too soon PP to really think about what to do next, but the mind is racing and really wants to know where we're going from here.

The kids only have 20.5 more days of school, but they have a TON of work to do between now and then. Our STAR testing is now over, but the workload increased this week. Logan has 1 more book report that is due by the 18th and he has to do an oral presentation in addition to the written report. He also has to do a research report and it's due on the 11th. It must include an oral presentation in addition to a written report as well. Plus he has several writing assignments due this week in addition to all of his regular work for the week. He seems to have it under control, but as his mother I'm freaking out a bit over the work load. Ciera came home yesterday with a lot of homework as well. It appears that her teachers' have doubled up on lessons to get through everything by the end of the year. For some reason her work load doesn't cause me the same anxiety.

The kids did get to have a bit of fun during PE today. They got to have Skate Day. Ciera of course did not participate, but she got to hang out with her friends and goof around for about an hour. Logan got to take his Ripstick to school and ride around for 30 minutes. It was a great day for it, not too hot and not to breezy cool. It's been nice to have the weather back in the mid to low 70's.

While I'm gone, not much will be happening (this was not an accident, it took careful planning to find a few days where I wouldn't miss anything by being gone). Thursday Ciera has practice but that's it. Brian is taking the couple of days off work to get the kids to and from school and the kids claim they will stay on top of their assignments while I'm gone.

Our weekend is pretty light. Logan has basketball pictures and a game. We have dinner with my nephew for his 10th birthday and Ciera has softball practice on Sunday. I may drive to Vacaville on Sunday to have lunch with some fellow surrogates, but I just can't decide if I should or not. I've decided to wait and see how scheduled I feel by then.

I'm thinking that April may have been the fastest month this year. I can hardly believe that the month is almost over!

Really?

2009-04-27T09:55:00.000-07:00

Have I honestly not written since Tuesday? That can't be right!

Wednesday Ciera had pancakes and Logan chose bacon, but only ate 2 bites. At least I tried to provide them with breakfast and I can live with that. Brian and Logan finished putting the trampoline together Tuesday night, so Logan and his friends got to jump after school. It was still far too hot, so we hosed them down a bit. I think he had a pretty good time with the boys.

Ciera had a lesson in the evening and Logan had basketball. After the lesson Ciera and I did a bit of shopping at the mall. She went to every store looking for a swim suit with a print that she liked and a fit that she was comfortable with. She finally ended up where she started, JC Penney.

Thursday Ciera did not have testing, so she was on her own for breakfast-what a nice mom I am. Logan had a bagel with cream cheese, not too difficult. This was the final minimum day as well. While the kids were at school I ran to Costco for a few last minute items for our trip to Fresno. I of course ended up with way more than I planned to buy and didn't get to baking the cookie dough that I went for.

It was finally cool enough to go to the park with the boys after school. While there I ran into a mom from Ciera's kindergarten class. It was nice to catch up with her and I may even check out her 'book club'. I'm not really into discussing what I read, but I may give it a try and see what all the fuss is about-if I can remember to pick up the book.

Ciera and Brian headed out for team batting practice before the big tournament weekend. Logan and I were home alone for most of the evening, so we picked up Logan's favorite for dinner, Panda Express. Ciera's friend, KK, from softball stayed the night so that Ciera would have companionship on Friday while I was having lunch with my friend Millie.

Friday I dropped Logan off to school at 10am and the girls and I headed off to Yuba City to meet Millie for lunch. Her son, Christopher (born through surrogacy), is just the most adorable little guy. He's almost 4 months old and was such a good baby. I can not believe how active the little guy is! He was moving the whole time, wiggling and kicking! It was so great to see Millie with him (I loved when he snuggled into her shoulder and fell asleep) and to hear about the transition of having a new little baby in the house. I'm so bummed that she's moving so far away, but am also thrilled that I had the chance to meet her and her little guy. Hopefully if she comes back to visit her family someday, she'll give me a call and I can see her again!

Of course I lost track of time and lunch went past the allotted 2 hours. We were officially starting out late for our drive to Fresno, plus I needed to pump. That morning I finally worked on getting a hands free system and it worked great! I was able to get all hooked up and on the road. We did stop while I finished up and the girls had some Coldstone. The drive wasn't too bad (about 3 1/2 hours) and we got into Fresno around 6.

The girls immediately took off to find other teammates and I headed to the room to pump and unpack. I had made arrangements to meet an online surrogacy friend for dinner. We had a great time and again ran out of time. The girls had an 8am game on Saturday, which meant being in the car at 6:30am. So we had to end the evening, but I'm pretty sure we could've chatted for another couple of hours-and I'm not really much of a people person!

Ciera went to dinner with her teammates and hung out with them in various rooms throughout the hotel. She never really knew where she was, but she had a lot of fun. Saturday morning came way too early, but we made it up and out the door with enough time to pick up some french toast sticks.

The girls played 3 games on Saturday. They lost their first game, tied the second but lost in overtime and won their 3rd game. Ciera had some great hits though. Her hard work in the off season is finally paying off. Brian and Logan made it into Fresno at the end of game 3. We got to go back to the hotel as a family and enjoyed a nice pizza dinner in the room. The kids and I got trapped watching a Lifetime Premiere movie, Unstable. After dinner Ciera took off with her teammates again to run around the hotel for 2 hours and Logan got to play with one of the brothers. Nothing is more fun than hide and seek in a hotel! They also had a bit of fun with the luggage carts.

Brian and Logan had stayed home Friday for Logan's basketball game on Saturday. They had a nice time home alone, jumping on the trampoline. The game on Saturday wasn't quite so easy as last week. They lost 7-20something. Logan scored 4 of the 7 points though, so he was pleased by that.

Sunday was another 8am game, but fortunately for me Brian was there and could take her at 6:30. That gave me an extra hour to sleep, get ready, pump and have everything packed and loaded. We were all checked out before we left for the first game. Unfortunately, I woke up with a horrible crick in my neck. It's still quite painful today. From now on I'm taking my feather bed with me to the hotel (if I have the space I really will)!

The girls won the first game, so we got to play again. Again, Ciera had some good hits, but the girls just weren't able to win the game. We had a quick lunch at Chili's and then were on the road to come home. Ciera and I stopped by Ikea on our way and had some fun checking out all the new rooms. Once we were home it was time to unpack and get laundry done. I was exhausted when I finally went to bed at 11.

I was still able to pump fairly regularly this weekend, but I didn't keep track of how much I was getting. I hope to see where I'm at today and that the numbers haven't dropped too badly.

Today I intend to finish the laundry and get a nap in. Ciera has a lesson this evening and I believe we are having enchiladas for dinner.

Tuesday Ciera has a 6pm game and I have to get things tied up at the house before I hop on a plane Wednesday morning to visit STE and the babies. I'm so excited to get to spend 3 days taking in the changes and hopefully helping STE out a bit.

Brian will be on his own with the kids for basketball on Wednesday and softball on Thursday. I return home Friday night and then we have basketball and a birthday dinner for my nephew Jackson, on Saturday.

One day at a time!

Insert witty title here.

2009-04-21T14:04:00.000-07:00

Last night I was up until 10:40, which is late for me now that I'm up in the middle of the night to pump. Needless to say, I was dragging this morning. Ciera chose sausage and Logan got an Egg McMuffin to power up their brains for testing today.

I had been feeling like I needed to stop napping during the day. I figured 'regular' people don't just nap every day. As a result I was having a hard time maintaining my patience by bedtime, and that just doesn't seem fair to anyone. So I gave myself permission to nap during the day and hopefully it will help me to be a nicer person at 8:30 at night.

After dropping the kids off I came home to eat my daily oatmeal (supposed to help with my milk supply) and then I was back in bed. I had a 2 hour window and enjoyed every minute of that nap. I had 4 phone calls during that time and I still was able to go back to sleep after each one.

Since the kids were home at 12:30, I broke down and turned on the AC. We're looking at a high of 94 degrees today. Fortunately it cooled off nicely over night. The house was even cool this morning. The temperature should start dropping tomorrow though and we're even expecting a little bit of rain this weekend.

Some bragging to do

2009-04-20T16:32:00.000-07:00

You may recall that Friday started out really early, 3:45. I did manage to go back to bed from 6-7 before getting Logan up and pumping one last time before the field trip. We had about an hour drive to get to the 'wetland preserve' in Yolo County. Ciera hates all field trips, so she was less than impressed. I on the other hand had no idea we even had a wetland preserve and was surprised to learn that most of the Sacramento valley was once seasonal wetlands until the river was diverted.

I was able to pump during our lunch break and then we were off to drive through the wetlands and view the birds. I'm not much of a nature gal, so I was about done by then. It was neat to see and to know that it was around (in case anyone I know ever wants to see that sort of thing).

We got back to school a few minutes before dismissal. I was feeling a little tired, but not too bad considering I was up so early.

Logan had a basketball game that night and it was a great game! They won 37-11, but most importantly the team progressed so much since their first game. They'd only gotten to have 1 more hour of practice, but the boys really seemed to get the defense and offense Brian was trying to teach them. There were a lot of great assists, rebounds and shots from virtually every player. Logan really did a great job of being aggressive and not being hesitant with the ball. He got to play point guard some and his favorite, the 4 position. He made almost every basket he shot and scored double digits! He made some great assists as well. We were really proud of how well he did and how confidently and aggressively he played. He did everything we had asked of him!

After a quick hug goodbye, he was off to his Grandma and Papa's house with his cousin so that he wouldn't have to spend Saturday at the ball field. We stopped by the park for Brian and Ciera to pitch and I took a wee nap in the car. We stopped by In-N-Out for a quick burger on the way home. I headed to bed (remember I was up early) and Brian and Ciera went back out to hit at the batting cages.

Saturday we were up by 6 and at the field by 7:45. It got VERY hot this weekend-90+degrees! The girls played great and won all 3 of their games. Ciera had some great hits. It was really nice to see her hard work pay off! After the final game we headed to Grandma and Papa's so Ciera could jump in the pool. The boys had spent some time in the pool earlier in the day and said that the 68degree water felt great!

Logan ended up staying with his cousin another night, so Brian, Ciera and I headed home again. We stopped by Sam's Club to pick up a few necessities and a trampoline. Brian is working hard to get it put together by Tuesday for them (in all of his free time).

Sunday was even hotter than Saturday, but fortunately we had no sunburns at our house this weekend. The girls had another long, hard day. They won their first 2 games and ended up with 3rd place. The team as a whole really came together and showed great promise, we just gave up a bit during the last game. Ciera worked hard, ran hard and aggressively ran the bases (which she's really been working on).

After another quick jump in the pool, we headed home with Logan. It was a long and tiring weekend, but it was great to see both kids do so well. Plus I got to work on my tan and my pumping didn't suffer, in fact I got more milk than average on Saturday and Sunday.

Today was another VERY hot day-92 I believe! I took Brian's car in for an oil change and had lunch with a friend while I waited. I also picked up a couple pairs of shorts so I don't melt in the heat. Ciera and I plan to pick up some snacks in preparation for our big weekend to Fresno.

The kids have STAR testing this week, so minimum days on Tues, Wed and Thurs. Logan has his 3 friends coming over on those days (while the moms are at work) and Ciera is 'maybe' going to make plans. Tuesday she gets to go see 17 Again with her Grandma (Logan declined the invitation-he claims he doesn't like movies at the theater anymore) and then a game that night. Wednesday she may get together with a friend, but she always seems to forget to make the plans, so we'll see. She has a pitching lesson that night and Logan has basketball practice with Brian. Thursday currently has no plans or commitments. Friday we are back to a full day at school and Ciera gets to leave early. STAR testing also means that the kids get a hot breakfast all week.

She has a tournament in Fresno this weekend, about 3 1/2 hours from home, so we plan to leave early so we don't have to drive in too much Friday traffic. Plus the game on Saturday is at 8, which means leaving the hotel at 6:30AM! I'd like to get some rest before getting up so early. Friday will be a busy day though. I'm going to have an early lunch with an online friend (A Potpourri of my Life). She had a son through surrogacy and he's probably close to 4 months old already and I still haven't met him. They are a couple of hours away, but are getting ready to move much further away, so we had to squeeze in a visit. We'll leave from lunch to head to Fresno. I can't think of a better way to start a trip than a delicious lunch at Red Robin and hearing all about the last few months with her new little guy!

When we get to Fresno I also get to meet another online friend through surrogacy(So I married a Republican). I'm always a little nervous to meet new people, but I try to remember that if I hadn't been brave enough to get together with local surrogates 4 years ago that my surrogacy experience would've been entirely different. Sometimes I just have to 'get over myself' and try new things.

The good news is that the temperature should be heading back down to normal 70 degree weather by Wednesday. We just have to get through tomorrow!

Finally catching up!

2009-04-17T05:32:00.000-07:00

Tuesday I didn't even try to pretend that I wasn't going back to bed after taking the kids to school. I threw a sweater over my PJ's and off we went. I very happily climbed back into bed for a morning nap. I awoke with the intention of going to the library to pick up the 4th book in the Percy Jackson series. I was seriously bummed when I got there and found that they had cut back the library hours. They were now closed on Tuesdays and Thursdays! So I went by Safeway for a few items instead.

Tuesday night Ciera had a softball game, so the afternoon was filled with the usual hurry up and get something in our bellies before heading out. I believe we had spinach ravioli that night and Ciera had a chicken salad sandwich-spinach in the braces is a nightmare to clean! Logan also did a great job of finishing up his book report. I had hoped he'd edit it on Wednesday, but he felt like waiting to edit in until Thursday was just fine. Honestly, he didn't think it even needed to be edited.

Tuesday had been fairly breezy all day, but it was downright COLD that evening. While the girls were warming up, Brian and I walked the trails at the park. My legs were still a bit sore, but I thought walking might actually help them to feel better. I had now officially 'walked' on purpose twice since becoming pregnant!

Ciera had the 7:30 game, which means we don't get back home until at least 9:30 and by then everyone is hungry again. So after a quick snack we were all able to go to bed much later than we should.

Wednesday mornings are the WORST!! It is so hard to get up on Wednesday's after going to bed so late Tuesday nights. I contemplated letting the kids sleep in, but then remembered that STAR testing is next week and they'd be missing out on the practice tests. So, up and ready, except for me. I'm getting pretty good at taking the kids to school in my PJ's-which I swore I would never do.

Wednesday I did NOT go back to bed! I can't honestly recall what I did with my day, but it did not involve enjoying the softness and warmth of my bed. I did make it to the library though.

Ciera had a pitching lesson at 5:15 and Logan had basketball practice at 6:30. I hear that the practice went really well and Logan did a great job bringing back his aggressiveness. Hopefully we'll see it again at his game Friday night.

Ciera and I stopped by Target to try on a few 'feminine' items. Ciera had expressed an interest in something other than a sports bra and I finally had a few minutes to let her try on some other options. $37 later we were headed home. Since Wednesday was such a busy day, there was no home cooked meal. We all had to get by with Panda Express for the boys and Carl's Jr. for Ciera and I. I don't think anyone complained though.

Thursday! What can I say about Thursday! I started the day with copies at school and a walk around the park with the dog. If you're counting, this is my 3rd walk!! My legs feel great today and the walk was even enjoyable. I guess I'll have to start walking faster.

A friend from when the kids were in preschool found me on Facebook and inspired me to try to figure out how to put up some pictures. I actually found where we keep them on the computer and blew my day messing around with that.

For lunch I cooked up some artichokes. They had sounded really good and were quite enjoyable while eating them. However, they left me incredibly gassy for the entire afternoon/evening, stomach aching gassy!

Ciera had a scrimmage at 5:30, so we had very little time after school to do anything before heading out. She got to pitch some and Logan rode his rip stick around. They played until almost 7:30 though, so it was a long day. The family stopped by Subway for dinner while I ran home to pump.

Once home, Logan still needed to edit his report and Ciera had some homework to finish up as well. I was in rare form, as the artichoke gas was still really hurting me, plus it was getting late and I was TIRED! After a couple go-rounds, Logan finally got his paper edited and printed out. I could finally go to bed.

Ciera's class has an all day field trip today (Friday) that I am driving on. I was a little overwhelmed Thursday night with the technicalities of how to get us all to school on time with me showered and ready for the day. How early was I going to have to get up to be dressed, fed, pumped and with a packed lunch? I was tired just thinking about it!

The answer is 3:45! At 3:45 I got up to pump, folded the load of laundry that Ciera needed clean (at 9:30 she asked me to cut off a pair of jeans into shorts since it would be so warm on the field trip) and was in the shower at 5:00. Hot water in the mornings is carefully allocated. There was not a 'time' for me, but I figured if I showered with Brian at 5am I shouldn't throw off the schedule. So that left me some time now to get caught up. I have every intention of going back to bed for 45 more minutes as soon as I wake Ciera up.

Tonight is Logan's second basketball game. He then gets to sleep over at his Grandma and Papa's so he doesn't have to wake up so early on Saturday. Ciera has a tournament this weekend and both days we'll have to be up early. We have to leave by 7 on Saturday and Sunday could be even earlier. Thankfully our last game on Saturday is at 2, so we should be able to get to bed early on Saturday night.

I will try to update on Monday if napping doesn't win out. It's possible that Brian will get a chance to upload the Easter pics this weekend, but I can't make any guarantees. I know I said they'd be up Wednesday night, I won't make anymore promises.

Monday-our easy day

2009-04-16T15:23:00.000-07:00

Aside from everyone having to get up and get somewhere on time, Monday was supposed to be our 'easy' day on the calendar. We had no lessons, practice, games or anything. Within an hour of taking the kids to school my mom calls to see if the kids are available. My mom decided to take my niece, Dorothy, to get her picture taken and found out that my other niece, Melody, didn't have school. So she thought she might be able to get a picture taken with all of the local grand kids. I decided that I could realistically get the kids to the portrait studio after school without too much effort. The kids weren't thrilled, but at 10 & 12 they can be bought with 4 quarters and an ice cream at Dairy Queen. The pictures actually turned out quite nice despite Logan's sweat P.E. hair. It was also nice to see Dorothy and Melody for a bit. I hadn't seen them since Christmas.

While at the mall Ciera checked out a few stores and Logan and I picked up a birthday present for my nephew-a whole 2 weeks early! Ciera didn't understand why I didn't wait until the Friday before his birthday, but I feel so much better knowing that it's been bought and we're prepared.

Of course everything takes longer than I expected so, Brian got dinner started for us. We ate quickly and Brian and Ciera were off to pitch and hit. Logan also got some basketball time with his dad while I was pumping.

Logan has hopefully his last book report of the year due on Friday. He began writing it on Monday evening. I helped him with how to include quotes, but the rest of it he has done on his own. He finished 3 paragraphs on Monday and felt he had plenty of time in the week to finish it up.

Monday I had planned to get caught up on the blog, but my keyboard was acting up again. I'm not sure what it is, as it's now working just fine, but that's my excuse for not blogging Monday. It had nothing to do with the wee nap I took to make up for having to get up so early to get the kids off to school. I really have no idea how working people do everything!

Pre-Easter Pictures

2009-04-16T12:38:00.001-07:00

Brian was beat last night, so we have no new uploaded photos. I'll have to give in and let him teach me how to do it. Here are a few pictures to hold you until I learn or Brian has time.

Here's Ciera with her new checkered pants, I believe I mentioned them previously. And of course no picture is complete without a crotch shot of Scamp! And if I'm taking pictures, we may as well take one of each kiddo. Here's Logan making his 'Uncle Jon' face!

Easter Sunday

2009-04-15T13:07:00.001-07:00

I awoke on Sunday feeling refreshed, until I went to stand up. The backs of my thighs were killing me from the weeding the day before. Every step was painful and honestly lasted for 3 days-I'm just now feeling almost better.

Ciera and Logan had plans to go see the Hannah Montana movie with their Aunt Betsey and Grandma, so everyone was up early. When Logan woke up, the kids headed out to find their baskets. Logan was pretty disappointed to find that the Easter Bunny did not hide their baskets this year. "He just left them in plain site?" Apparently the Easter Bunny forgot that he/she usually hides the baskets for the kids to find.

Once he got past his initial frustration he dug into the basket. It was the exact basket he had seen at Costco a few months earlier and Brian and I had told him it would be a waste of his money to buy. He loved the little yellow duck though! Ciera was delighted by her basket, as it had everything she had picked out. (I dropped her at Walmart one day and asked her to pick out a basket and the stuff she wanted inside of it, with a dollar limit. Sometimes I wonder if she'd like a bit of a surprise, but she assures me she likes it just the way it is).

Around 9am my mom stopped by to drop of Easter baskets for the kids as well. They were certainly going to have enough candy for the movie. So I dropped them at the theater and I headed back home to finish the yard, sweep the floor-again, clean the kitchen and get dinner started.

We got everything done, food started, showered and I was getting in my last pump before everyone arrived. Then they all arrived, Brian's parents and his sister's family. There's just 10 of us, so it's not a ton to cook for, but cooking is such a big deal to me I tend to stress a bit when cooking for others. Fortunately, Easter dinner isn't too hard (which is probably why I volunteer to do it most of the time). After taking a mid week vote, it was decided we'd have ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, baked beans, asparagus, corn and rolls-easy enough.

I will pause to give a huge thank you to Brian's Aunt MaryLou! When Ciera was first born she came for a visit, along with his Gram, and they each taught me a few recipes. MaryLou showed me how to make ham and we all love it. It's just pineapple juice, brown sugar and cloves, but it's so much better than the horrible glazes I recall from childhood hams. She also taught me how to cook asparagus at the same time. Every time we make ham, we always think of you and your visit!

After we ate, the kids decided it was time for the egg hunt. Honestly, how can you really hide eggs for 10 & 12 year olds? You can't really, it's the exact same as when they were 4! We randomly toss them around the yard and they sprint to see who can find the most, the fastest. After they were all collected, they emptied the eggs of candy and then rehid the eggs for each other! Next year I'm not going to bother stuffing the eggs. We will toss out the empty plastic and let them 'hunt' and then we'll have a bowl of candy on the table!

It was a lovely day with beautiful weather. We all sat around the table chatting while the kids continued hunting for what felt like hours-they were very careful about where they scattered the eggs.

Then it was time for dessert. Brian's mom had brought apple pie, vanilla ice cream and brownies. It was all delicious and the leftovers were great later on in the week.

We were one of the unlucky families that had to go back to school on Monday, so we tried to get to bed at a decent time. Brian and I did take an extra few minutes to fluff the feather bed though, and it was an amazing night of sleep!

I've found that I'm starting to sleep through my middle of the night alarm. It may be my bodies way of saying it's tired of getting up at 3am every night. Next week I'm going to try cutting it out and see if I drop in supply much. I had planned to not drop it until 12 weeks, but it may be time.

I will edit this tonight to add in pictures, so check back to see how big the kids are getting and their self picked Easter outfits.

Saturday-what was I thinking?!!

2009-04-15T12:54:00.000-07:00

We woke up Saturday to a beautiful sunny spring day. We had blue skies and 70 degrees as a high, who could complain about that?

I had volunteered to host Easter with Brian's family, assuming that the kids were too old for an egg hunt and the state of our backyard would not matter. Well, my 10 & 12 year old kids absolutely thought they were young enough for an egg hunt, so Brian decided to tackle the yard. It was truly overgrown and just the thought of doing anything to it always wore us out. But, if Brian was really going to get up and do it than I may as well get out there and help. Brian's plan was just to weed-eat it all down to an acceptable height. I on the other hand, feeling energetic 7 weeks pp decided to actually pull the weeds. I figured it had rained all week, the ground would be damp enough that they would pull up easily. And they did, but there was a lot of them! I lasted about 1 1/2 hours before I started feeling dizzy and tired. I gave Brian the go ahead to just weed-eat the rest of them.

But we weren't done yet. If we were going to finally do stuff in the yard, we ought to take down the broken trampoline and move the basketball hoop. And if you're going to do all of that, you really need to sweep up all of the patio areas.

After spending the whole morning and most of the afternoon outside working, we then headed to the ball fields to watch Ciera's friend play softball. We only stayed for about an hour before heading back home so Ciera could go pitch with her dad and Logan could play some basketball on the new 'court'.

My memory has still not quite recovered from the pregnancy, but I 'think' we had asparagus raviolis for dinner that night. I'm working very hard to make meals at home that will use up all of our frozen items.

I'm pretty sure we all fell into bed rather exhausted. We all had an early day coming up.

It's all the feather bed's fault!

2009-04-15T12:36:00.000-07:00

I would LOVE to update about our weekend, but we fluffed the feather bed Sunday night and I just can't seem to get out of it! Once I finally drag myself out of bed for the second time each day, I have just enough time to make myself presentable for the portion of the day that requires me to run all over with the kids. Then when we return home, the bed is whimpering my name and I just hate to hear it sound so sad. Perhaps tonight I'll borrow Ciera's laptop and can really blog about the Easter preparations that have made me so tired, perhaps!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T22:00:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend, but I'm exhausted! I'll update tomorrow. I hope you all are as tired and full as I am!

Another sporadically rainy day

2009-04-09T10:54:00.000-07:00

It rained off and on all day Wednesday and it looks like today will be more of the same. It's not a heavy rain, just enough to keep the sidewalks damp.

Wednesday morning we got a surprise phone call from Logan's friend Matthew. Logan's day was saved from STAR practice work and he got to spend several hours with his friend shooting baskets with water balloons-in the rain.

I spent the time FINALLY getting the house cleaned up some. I hadn't actually swept or mopped under furniture since the cleaning gals did it during my 2nd week of recovery. I hadn't even swept the 'visible' areas since Logan's birthday in mid-March. If you do the math that's far more time than should've ever passed, but we don't eat off the floors so it's OK if they are covered in dust, dirt and dog hair.

Logan had a rock crystal growing kit on my kitchen counter since the beginning of March and I finally decided that it needed a new home. Of course that meant I needed to reorganize and purge some things from his bedroom. And if you're going to reorganize you should wipe the dust off the shelves at the same time.

Yesterday afternoon I was feeling a little overwhelmed with so many 1/2 started projects, but today I am thankful to have finished up so much. Logan's room feels done enough for me, the bathrooms and the shower are feeling pretty clean, the floors feel wonderful to walk on barefoot, the spots have been scrubbed out of the area rug, all of the counters but one are squeaky clean and I still have all of today ahead of me to get the table cleared, newspapers recycled, my room picked up, a smelly load of laundry done and Ciera's room to 'organize' (once I make the bed it will feel almost done enough).

I managed to take a lasagna and garlic bread out of the freezer for dinner last night. I loved it and thought it tasted even better than when I first made it, but Brian and Logan still didn't care for the spinach in it. I have learned my lesson about sticking vegetables in foods that they don't belong in. I am now left to eat lasagna for lunch for many days. I'm tempted to stick some of it back in the freezer, but the point was to make room for milk.

I also spent last night reorganizing the freezers and moving all of the food inside and all of the milk to the garage freezer. The plan had been to take all of the milk with me when I go to visit at the end of the month, but I think I'm going to have to send out a 3rd shipment since the airlines are actually restricting how much baggage I can bring. It does feel good to see how much milk I've made though. Perhaps we won't have to find other milk donors in 6 months and STE, our donor Kari and I will make enough to sustain V&B for the entire year ourselves. I went ahead and ordered a set of Pumpin' Pals yesterday and I'm anxious to give them a try. They are a set of flanges for my pump that are tilted so you can sit back comfortably and the milk won't back up into the tubing or spill out on me. Some people love them and find they produce more milk, while others find that they don't get as much milk from them. I'm hoping to love them. I also ordered a 'nursing cover' to use while I pump in the van and when others are around so I don't have to go off by myself for 40 minutes. There was a great deal at Udder Covers and I only had to pay shipping. I'm very happy to report that the PISA is doing just fine maintaining my supply.

Ciera is supposed to have a scrimmage game tonight, that may or may not get rained out. Logan and I are going to get going on his STAR language practice questions and we may bake cupcakes too.

Friday Logan gets to spend the day with his friend Garrett and I'm going in to see if my haircut can be fixed. I was just never really happy with the bottom layer-we'll see. Friday evening Ciera gets to sleep over at Rachael's house, so we get another quiet evening with Logan. Logan has taken to sleeping on our bedroom floor, 'since it's Spring Break'. Last night we all watched Marley and Me and tonight we get to watch Beverly Hills Chihuahua-should be fun-ish.

Spring Break in Sacramento

2009-04-07T18:40:00.001-07:00

Spring here always brings unexpected weather. For Logan's birthday and Easter I never quite know whether to buy capri's or pants, long sleeve, short sleeve or a tank top! The unpredictable weather is part of what makes it difficult for me to find 'post pregnancy transition' clothes.

Monday was a beautiful day, almost too warm. It was 80 degrees, sunny, blue skies and a slight breeze, really just a perfect day. Sadly the kids and I slept away most of Monday!

We wake up Tuesday to strong winds and an overcast sky. By 3:00 it was raining hard, but by 5:00 it's turned into a nice evening. The winds have died down and it's a pleasant 50 degrees outside.

Although it's unpredictable I wouldn't trade our springs for any other, although Spring in El Paso wasn't too bad either.

Monday we had all sorts of afternoon plans that didn't work out. Unfortunately we didn't replace them with much else. The kids and Brian went to watch a friend of Ciera's play softball and I had dinner with some 'surro' friends. I made it through all of Monday with no chocolate, cookies or candy-Woo Hoo! I did sleep for a 6 hour stretch in the early morning without waking to pump. The 'girls' felt just fine, but it hurt my output for the day.

Tuesday I woke at 1 & 3:45 to pump to try and make up for Monday. We all slept in again and headed to a pitching lesson for Ciera at 1. The lesson got rained out and they cancelled her game for the evening as well. This gave me time to get a 47.5 lb box of frozen milk to FedEx by 5:00, so it all worked out. Ciera has spent the evening finishing up some math that I wasn't aware she had and Logan is spending the evening playing with water balloons that he bought with his birthday giftcard (thanks STE-there is water everywhere!).

I do believe we will sleep in again on Wednesday, but up a little earlier. Ciera gets to spend the day and night at a friends' for her birthday. I believe they get to shop at the mall as well. I'm not sure what Logan and I will do, but we'll be having lasagna and garlic bread for dinner. I'm trying very hard to get the freezer emptied out so we have room to store BM, but every time I use something up I seem to buy something else that needs to be frozen!

Spring Break begins!

2009-04-06T10:31:00.001-07:00

Friday was our final day before Spring Break! Logan's class went on a field trip to the Eco Station. The Eco Station is a really great non-profit organization that takes in unwanted 'exotic' pets and cares for them, as well as educates kids that they are not 'neat' pets. They are basically the SPCA for lizards, birds and fish.

I thought that I had been there previously with Ciera, but when we started the tour I realized I had been there with Logan when he was in 1st Grade. As a 6 year old he was unwilling to touch the lizards and snakes, but this time he loved it! The tour guide is a very funny guy full of useful scientific information. He even carries around in his pocket the state science standards for the different grades so he makes sure he's touching on the 'important for each grade' information.

We then went to a nearby park for lunch and to play. The weather was beautiful and the kids had a great time. Logan even got out his basketball and used the basketball courts with a few kids.

Friday night was Logan's first basketball game of the Spring season. Brian is coaching and they only got 1 hour of practice, so we weren't expecting too much. Also, they only had 6 boys with an additional boy added at the game. They ended up losing, but we can only go up from here! It gave us a good opportunity to see what Logan can really be working on and hopefully he will bring his confidence back onto the court with him in 2 weeks.

Saturday was a blank day on the calendar and we took advantage of it by sleeping in and only leaving the house to rent movies. Actually, Brian and Ciera still went out to pitch, but Logan and I declined to get out of our PJ's.

Sunday Ciera and Brian had to wake up to get to softball practice, but Logan and I got to sleep until 8:30. We had a quiet morning. I started to clean up the kitchen and got sidetracked into reorganizing it instead. But I finally got the counters wiped down before heading to bed. I got Ciera to clean up her room with the promise of a trip to Target when it was clean. Logan has a few gift cards burning a hole in his pocket, so he came as well. Since the three of us were going, Brian joined us as well, although I know he regretted the decision 10 minutes into the trip.

Logan got his orthodontic appliance on Thursday, but really just started wearing it Friday night. It's basically a retainer to expand his jaw and do something to keep his bottom teeth from hitting the inside of his top teeth. There was a lot of playing around with it in his mouth over the weekend, but I think he now understands the importance of leaving it alone, hopefully.

Today is our first day of Spring Break. Logan and I slept until about 9:15 and Ciera is about to be woken up. She has a lesson at 3 and then will be seeing a movie with my mom. Logan opted out of the movie, there just wasn't anything out right now that interested him. We are hoping to set up Savings Accounts today, but that may wait until tomorrow-somehow it's almost 11 already!

A new home?

2009-04-05T10:46:00.000-07:00

Today is Sunday! Ciera is off at softball practice, Logan is enjoying the Sunday cartoons and I've decided it's time to start a new home. I tried to find a new page template that I liked better than the cherries, so that this place had it's own look, but I chose the cherries because I loved them, not because they represented surrogacy or babies. So, the template comes with me with a few font color changes and a new title. Really I will still write about the same things, as monotonous as they are, but the title now fits a little better and I'm not mucking up the twins' page. I hope to still see some of the same faces, but understand that my day to day life is just not as exciting as growing a baby or two :)