my birthday present to myself ...

ultimately I will lose all of the weight (and then some) that I have gained since being an adult took over my daily existence. for right now, I will, in time for my birthday - JULY 30th - simply lose the sucky weight that went on after I had the stroke in June (approximately 30 pounds). we will keep track of this, report on this, and generally discuss the miraculous weight loss here - sounds fun, doesn't it?!?!

oh, and I almost forgot ...

I am turning 40 in 4-ish months ... not super happy about it!! but I will be by the time that awesomest of birthdays gets here!!

it's coming ...

faster and faster every single day! I am struggling with it ... but I can't stop it! I need a sense of humor ... some serious self-indulgence ... and some laughs to get me through it.

After 3 years of keeping a family/mommy blog ... I have decided to spend the next few months dealing with the fact that my "dreaded 40th birthday" is quickly approaching. I am really not sure HOW I feel about it, I just know there are some things I would like to "resolve" before it gets here. Thought this would be a fun place to chat about my journey!

Science Fair Hell

[caption id="attachment_89" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="still need to find non trademarked bottles!"][/caption]

Welcome to Science Fair Central where our 5th grader decided to do "something" with source water and I just became the computer junkie to help put together the board.  OMG,  I think hubbie and my graphic background has gotten all of us in trouble here...but everyone has learned a lot and when the judging commences, I will definitely be shooting laser eye-darts if they don't award him anything ... of course it might be the " I had WAAAAYYYYY too much help on this presentation from my parents" award!!

I'm out

I love blogs, bloggers and the idea of having a blog ... unfortunately, what I love and the reality of keeping a blog are two entirely different things!  SO, my blog is being retired ... I will keep my domain and probably use it to keep family and friends across the country updated with what is going on with the kids ... but in order to do that, I can't freely babble about me and my life!

I will continue to visit all of you and leave comments, but as for keeping my own blog, I am saying goodbye after three sporadic years!

Friday Night

Friday night was just one of those PERFECT NIGHTS that I don't ever want to forget.  Dad had a meeting that we knew would last well into the evening, so we knew we didn't have him to play with (and trust me, he is the "fun one" in the family!)

I picked the kids up from school, and they had some extra chores to take care of because they didn't make their beds nor pick up their rooms before they left for school.  Instead of telling them, I just handed them a note when they got in the car and told them I wouldn't listen to any grumbling, they just needed to go home and take care of their chores.

Doesn't sound like a great start, does it?

They finished their chores within a half hour and I took a break and took a shower.  Both older kids needed new swim goggles, but since they both lost theirs, they had to use their Christmas money to buy new ones ... but they really wanted to go get them.  SO, we got in the car and headed out to a couple of stores to get the goggles, caps, beachgirl picked out a new suit ... and beachtoddler insisted to using some of his money at the Disney Store.

We got back in the car and discussed where we would get our Friday Night Pizza.  The older kids asked if we could please go to Applebee's for dinner and they would like to "treat" mom to a night out.  WE DID, and it was so much fun.  The three of them and I sat in a booth for 2 hours just eating, laughing, talking & having a wonderful time.  A gentleman at the next table stopped and commended "me" for such a wonderful family and said he was sure Daddy was sorry he was missing out on this great dinner out.

Everyone behaved, was civil with one another, had lively topics to discuss...I think the neatest part was that the older two were under the assumption they were paying for dinner so they were very careful with what they ordered, BUT, it was a full 4 course meal with appetizers to share, salads, entrees from the adult menu & dessert.  I have not eaten that much food out in a long long time, but boy did they feel like they were kings!

(No, I didn't make them pay, but I would have if they fought through the evening!!)