CRAZY Time of Year!

We (Isaac and I) always know this is the craziest time of year, it seems!  Sometimes I think this tops Christmas! What is "this"?  Well, there is ONE PTA event that I help coordinate each year.  It just happens to be the largest event of the year.....you know the one....the one with the food trucks, Carmen's ice, bounce arounds, games, crafts, cake walk, water balloon toss, ticket sales, silent auction, etc...! Yep, that one!  The May Fair!  When I quit teaching, I swore off PTA, but I figure coordinating one event per year isn't so bad.  The 2 of us coordinators started meeting in November!  Cray Cray!!
Now, what complicates matters more is that while May Fair is occurring at the elementary school, it's usually the beginning of dress rehearsals for the middle school musical (in which both my middle schooler and elementary schooler are cast in)! WAIT? So, I coordinate an event at the elementary school that my own elementary aged daughter doesn't even get to attend?  Ummm, yes, for the 3 years now.  LOL!  So, last Friday was May Fair.  Tomorrow night is opening night of All Shook Up (this year's musical)!
We almost had a small catastrophe when Erica got sick right around her birthday (13...how did that happen?).  It seemed to start out as allergies.  When she wasn't any better within a week (plus the director had her call me during one of the rehearsals and say they needed her voice...LOL), i gave in and took her to doctor to find out she had a sinus infection AND ear infection!  Of course, the doctor did not just whisper that to me, no, he said it aloud and Erica just looked at me and we kinda just laughed it off!!  But BOY did I feel bad!!
Now, I don't know if you've had a child in a school drama production before, but, our school does not take this lightly.  I mean the quality of these shows are like what I was doing in HIGH school.  It's remarkable really.  And it really takes the whole village.  This year has been a little different for me, because of some other requirements of my time, I haven't been at the school as much, but luckily the production staff knew that I would come through with my part of the production.  What is that, you may wonder?  I head up the candy grams and flower sales.  I really love it.  I love watching the kids get excited to spend $1.00 to buy something for their friends and write a sweet message....although this year it's been cute to see a few of them put hashtags and a word/phrase, i.e. #yourock, #love, #greatvoice .  So cute, right?  Anyway, I love watching the parents come in and buy CG's for their kids and their kids' friends as well.  Then there's usually grandparents that buy.  It's precious really.  Then there are people that come out and just purchase candy grams during intermission for their favorite cast character....without even knowing them!  One year I had an adult ask me if I knew of someone off hand that hadn't received a candy gram and they gave about 10 candy grams to those children from "anonymous"! So sweet!
I remember when I taught middle school how much I adored them.  They do make my heart swell.  There's still just a little bit of innocence left about them.  They're still curious about life and still excited to love life and give to others.  I honestly watched a boy write out about 14 candy grams last night for his friends.  I have my own children want to talk to me about how many they are allowed to purchase! LOL  I've never had one child approach me and ask if anyone has bought a candy gram for them!
So our first show is tomorrow night.  We have 4 shows, one Friday, 2 Saturday, and one Sunday.  Then Mikayla has her spring choir concert on Monday evening.  Jacob has his field trip to Philadelphia (that I get to go to as well) on Wed to Thursday, Erica has a field trip to Hershey on Friday (Isaac may be going on that).  Then Mikayla has her Girls on the Run 5k next weekend.
On a side note, the Scouts just did their fundraiser where they went door to door for their flag sales and I need to organize all that money, the paperwork, and such.
We just found out that the renters that have lived in our TX house for about 4 years are moving out in June.
We are headed to Disney in June, after Jacob gets back from Kirtland, Ohio (church youth conference).
Jacob is looking for a job.  The girls are enrolled in summer camp in July.  And that's about as far as I can look ahead right now! : )  Love love love to everyone!

My work bag

My work bag seems to stay full and heavy!  I seem to try to "lighten" it at least once a week, but it is still heavy and full of stuff!  The bag that I currently carry is by Thirty One.  It has 7 outside pockets.  So what is in this bag?
~my daily food
~my water cup
~papers i need to fill out for kids for school, i usually have time for this at work
~spare fruit
~umbrella
~Scentsy catalog
~daily vitamins
~extra gum
~currently I have catalogs that the kids "dog eared" Christmas ideas in
~chapstick (this is a staple in every bag and coat pocket for me)

What do you keep in your work bag?

A few things we think about ourselves...

I started thinking and wondering what my kids think about themselves after my recent post about lists.  So a week or so ago, during dinner, and some family time, I asked everyone to tell me 3 things about themselves....as if they were talking to someone that they didn't know!  The results are as follows....I think I started with Isaac because the kids were little hesitant!
Hubster
~I'm a capricorn
~I have a huge drive to get things done
~Heavenly Father, my wife, and my kids mean the most to me

Oldest Child
~I like to sleep, especially in a car
~I'm creative
~I like to drink soda

Middle Child
~I'm very happy
~I'm hard working
~I'm musical

Youngest Child
~I like to ask questions
~I have one pet that is officially mine (Tubby, the guinea pig)
~I want to get my ears re-pierced

Me
~I have a strong personality
~I laugh really loud
~I enjoy reading romance novels

So there's a little about us that may not have known previously!

LISTS...

I am hoping that by posting this list of possible items to journal/list on my blog that I will post more frequently.  Have you ever seen the 30 Days of Lists?  Below is a free set!
I have been faithfully logging in but only to see if my sister (in-law) has posted about her family and their very ill baby. 
I need to be better about posting about ME and MY beautiful family.  If I've learned nothing else from Aria, it is to not take one single thing for granted.  Nothing is guaranteed, so I need to work harder to ensure even the smallest things don't go unnoticed or unsaid.  And when I've blogged or at least FB'd something, then I am more likely to remember and share.  One thing that we've noticed about our youngest is that she says that Isaac and I have more stories about Jacob and Erica than we do about her....so i have to be more diligent in spreading the wealth!  LOL

30 Days of Lists - complete collection

1. A few things about yourself
2. Things you are good at
3. I am looking forward to ...
4. Today's playlist
5. Weekend Goals
6. Least favorite words
7. Blog goals
8. In my bag
9. Favorite websites and blogs
10. On my wishlist
11. Date night ideas
12. Weekly rituals
13. DIYs I want to try
14. Things I love about _______
15. On my shopping list
16. Places to see in your town
17. Words that are hard to spell
18. Road trip must-haves
19. Recipes I want to try
20. Celebrity crushes
21. Things to do this Spring
22. Today I saw
23. Guilty pleasures
24. I make lists for
25. Things I'd rather be doing right now
26. Books I'd like to read this year
27. Lessons learned
28. Vacations to take
29. Favorite foods
30. Today's to-do list

Just an update...

Today I'm a proud wife!  My wonderful husband not only keeps up with all of us and supports us no matter the circumstance, but recently he's been a busy bee lengthening his resume.  He recently finished taking the Network+ boot camp then passed the certification exam, then did the same with Security+.  He has attended the A+ & CEH (certified ethical hacker) boot camps and still needs to take those exams.  Last week he attended the PMP (project management professional) boot camp and just received the email that he's approved to take the exam....so he'll be studying up for that as well.  Also, in case he hasn't been busy enough, last week he began his Master's degree...he'll be getting 2 master's degrees...MBA and MIS.  Those should keep him busy.
Anyway, I still try to workout as much as possible.  I don't really lose weight but I know I'm pretty fit since I've been hiking (should have it's own blog post) and bike riding and stuff with minimal difficulty. 
Erica and Mikayla are both in The Little Mermaid that the middle school is putting on this year and Mikayla starts back up soccer again tomorrow.  Erica is also auditioning for the solo in her DC Children's choir spring concert tonight after the regular choir practice.
Jacob is doing so well.  I can hardly wait to get the report card and reward him.  Although yesterday at church, he gave me a bit of a scare.  We got there early (around 12:30 for 1:00 church) because i needed to make copies of the YW girls camp fundraiser that we were putting in all of the bulletins.  So, the girls and i were in the library, Jacob went straight in to set up the sacrament table, isaac found us a seat and he started going over his lesson for the deacons.  Then someone approached Jacob to ask him if he had his talk ready.  Well, that answer to that was a shocking no!  Oh dear.  Once word traveled to me in the library, i quickly finished up with the bulletins, and went to see if i could help.  Walked in the chapel to see Isaac still sitting calmly.  WHAT???  Isaac very calmly told me that we were not helping Jacob with this one.  Jacob was in a classroom somewhere getting his talk together.  He was to speak on the Godhead.  He was the first speaker and actually did a really good job.  He didn't have his script written, but talked smoothly as if he were reading something.  It was in that moment that I realized that even though we've missed some FHE's and nightly scripture study, we are still doing the best we can to bring our children up to know that their Heavenly Father loves them and that the things that we do and say are only to help us be better people and be together eternally.

Another blog post i will have to write will be when I find out if my children will need to be in school until July due to all the snow we got this year!

Snow Snow Go Away

The kids are officially out of snow days from school!  Actually they were out 3 less snow days from today!  Luckily today was only a delayed start.  Last Thursday, we got about 18 inches of snow!  The kids loved it....at first.  It is very pretty and fun to take a pictures....in the beginning!  Now...I'm so OVER SNOW!!!  We are still supposed to get 2-3 more inches tomorrow night as well.  YUCK! 

Saints vs Seahawks

Today we are having some friends over that are from Seattle!  This will be a fun time to be together and watch our 2 football teams in the NFL playoffs.  I'm sure Isaac will be a nervous wreck!  Erica and Isaac both have on their Saints jerseys so I probably need to find mine and put it on!  
We don't have people over a lot, so everyone gets excited when we do.  I tend to stress about the house, the dog smell, the dog hair, etc...  However, we do work hard to ensure people are comfortable when they come over and we always end up having a great time.
Isaac isn't sure if the Saints will win or not, but I'm hoping for a good, close game!!

My Family Makes Me Smile...

I was reading quotes from many different sites today and ran across this....

The family.
We are a strange band of characters
trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste
coveting one another’s desserts
hiding shampoo, borrowing money
locking each other out of our rooms,
inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant
laughing, loving, defending
and trying to figure out the common thread
that bound us all together!

Completely Overwhelmed!!

Today, when the alarm went off at 4:40, I slowly rolled over and pressed snooze.  10 minutes later, that crazy thing went off again and I managed to get up out of bed!  It's normally not that bad....however, as Isaac started asking me what was wrong I quickly realized how overwhelmed I am feeling right now.
Here are a few of the things that are causing me stress:

• the house is not picked up or clean
• the laundry is not done--it's barely even started
• there has been NO Christmas shopping to speak of
• there are no packing lists made for our trip to Arkansas - leaving Saturday
• the dog needs a bath BEFORE the road trip
• no arrangements are made for the guinea pig yet while we are away
• did i mention no shopping has been done?
• the Christmas cards were ordered and picked up, but nothing has been done with them since

So there you have it!  A little stress for my holiday season!!

Love to all!!!

My son keeps me humble

You may be wondering how in the world a 15 year old teenager could humble his mother, right?!

Let me start by saying that Isaac and I have always loved the 1.5-2 hours we get each evening when the kids are in bed and we are left in the house, and it's so still and quiet.  It is OUR time!  He usually rubs my feet, we talk about our days, watch a tv show that was DVR'd, catch some of a football game, sneak out for ice cream, or any number of things!
Recently, we had said our goodnights with the girls and gotten our night night kisses.  Jacob said goodnight and love you's as well!  About 10 minutes later, I heard something in the office area, someone was typing!  So instead of walking around the corner, I yelled, "who is still up?".  All I remember is hearing Jacob's voice, not even what he was going to say.  I started in on my ranting.... reminding him that he has to be up at 4:55 in the morning and that he needs his sleep, and he better not get sick from not being well rested, and that he still needs to wash his face and brush his teeth....  After about a full minute of my fit... he comes around the corner and proceeds to tell his dad and I how much he loves the story in the book of Luke of the prodigal son.  He was typing it up on his Facebook status and was excited to share it with his Seminary class the next morning.  I guess something had happened in seminary that morning where their teacher challenged them to read of the prodigal son and would allow 5-10 minutes for sharing the next day.  That's pretty cool of her, especially since this year they are in the Book of Mormon for studying.  
Anyway, after my ranting and raving, then him telling us how much he loved reading this passage in Luke, I did apologize to him and he headed up to bed.  He has his moments where I am humbled by who he is!  Love that boy!