a sucky day, freezers, and biting

hmmm...what is this place???  it looks familiar, but...oh yeah... my long lost blog. hahaha. you poor poor blog, im so sorry ive neglected you. 
   It has been a long long winter in the big woods... oh wait... wrong life... this winter has sucked though. im so ready for spring. and more ready to throw myself on a beach somewhere and let the sun roast me like a hotdog.  I do have to say until this current storm, the winter hasnt been too hateful... just too cold. the ice storm however i can deffinately do without. Hopefully our power doesnt go out. The wind storm theat knocked power out for most people last year or whenever that was, kept our power out longer than everyone because we were the smallest grid and the least important fr dp@l to work on.  nice- right.

luckily mike has been off work during this storm so far. he goes back tomorrow night. lately i havent been sleeping well when he is at work. ive been on the verge of paranoid at night for some reason. every little noise flips me out. nyquil was my friend for a while. im sure things will calm down eventually.

recently we have been considering homeschooling the little ones, and i am super excited to go to the homeschooling conference to get more info(meeting the duggars will be so neat too). i havent decided about jacob yet though. i worry about him alot, and pray that he isnt the next kid to go psycho at school. but i am not sure things would go smoothly at home if i tried. so that decision is up in the air about him. then i also question if i would really be able to teach him. they were doing highschool work in the 6th grade... geez! we will see...

mason has got 3 almost 4 teeth now, and i can tell he is going to be my biter. when he kisses our cheeks it usually ends with a bite attempt...lol and he is most likely going to start walking soon. this will be a super fun chase!

courtney well she is courtney... still in ballet and gymnastics, and loves them both. it is a drain on the wallet, but she is so happy there. and she is doing great!

all the kids birthdays are coming up and i am hopefully going to have a party for courtney this year since she actually has friends her size now...thinking about the gym. should be super fun.

i got a kindle for christmas! i love it, and have downloaded so many free books. currently im reading the secret garden... you know the one from grade school... i love it. one of my favorites!!! i still have yet to finish the happiness project, but i think i need to work my way out of my depression first.  im getting there... i know spring will help that for sure. my faith is growing too, and im relying on that to help me as well.

2011 started out on a positive note, but then came my birthday... IT SUCKED!!!  lol... i didnt even get a card from my family- nothing from mike, and i had to practically beg him to get me a cupcake at the store the next day. i even had to cook dinner that night.  one of my bff's made it a little better when i got a super nice gift and card in the mail!!!

ive been planning a family vacation to the outer banks for a while now, but then the van broke down, and the outlook for vacation began to look very bad... our friends were not able to go this year either which also made the whole thing crappy, but things happen, and we go with it. luckily our tax return looks like it will be pretty decent, and vaca is still a possibility!!! last year at this time, i was had just gotten back from hawaii... and i soooooooooooo want to go back.  maybe mike and i can go for a few days come our anniversary? ha! fat chance, but it would be nice. it will be our 10 yr this june!  i cant believe it.

i have been making small strides towards organizing the house... i did get started on my scrapping stuff, which i havent touched in like a year! it felt good to go through stuff and get rid of, and sort paper scraps... hopefully i can get scrapping again soon.  last night i went through toys and re-organized them... knowing full well that they will be a mess again tomorrow, but at least alot of the junky ones are in a bin in the garage now, and i dont have to look at them!  next task is organizing the freezers... we are very blessed to have a couple full freezers, but without order in them, i have no clue what we have and where it is... lol. so todays goal is to group things together. seems easy enough... we will see though. 

i need to get back on my wii fit soon too... another christmas gift. i did good with it for a while. then fell off the map... my weight is dropping slowly and i know that it will help that but i have to make myself do it.  all i seem to want to do lately is sleep. id love a nice long hot bubble bath- i think that might help the stress level---- oh wait... thats right the bathtub is stillllllllll not in!!! he did promise me that it would be in by vacation... i really dont believe him, and am not holding my breath. 
lol- my lack of faith in him with home improvements cracks me up...lol

well, i think im going to go look for some easy cold weather recipes.  im in a cooking mode. i do plan on posting more often again. good intentions... sigh. lol...   they will be more interesting i hope too...  till next time i ramble!!! stay warm and safe. <3

pictures, being thankful, and baby tylenol

the end of yet another day... after bedtime battles that seem to be never ending, and all the kids are in bed, and the house is finally quiet, i sit here drained of all energy to do any housework-ish thing that now would be the most opportune time to do. i am very grateful that i wont be running around psychoticly cleaning my house for Thanksgiving dinner which i have here for my family every year. but i have come to realize this is something that i often time take very for granted.  thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for what we have, and who we are. too often i think we just shuffle it away as just another holiday to get together and  gorge ourselves with food. lol. dont get me wrong- the food is good, and the company is wonderful, but the meaning is lost, and we need to find it again.

we let so many little things bother us in life...for example...a few people in my family want to go through some old pictures that i have in the garage from my grandmothers house... which means i have to dig them out, and have them over to go through them...and i roll my eyes when i think about it, but really truely, i am thankful we have these old pictures, and should be taking every opportunity i can to go through them with family members and identify people in the pics so i have things to show my kids. i need to change my attitude completely about this, and graciously surrender a day for family history, instead of selfishly act like i have something better to do. which i dont.

i am so thankful that i have family that gathers at holidays, and are as close as we are. i love holidays, and want to instill the meanings of them in my kids, and how will i do that if i let them fly by just to get on with the next one.

 there are so many things i am thankful for in my life... even things that bring sadness to my heart. my mom... i am so thankful i had her while i did. but i am also thankful that she isnt struggling anymore. i am thankful that jacob got to know her for the 2 years he did. and i am thankful she celebrated holidays with me, otherwise i may not be the person i am now.

i am thankful for my family... my aunt, uncle,and cousins... they are like my second parents and siblings... they are there for me no matter what, and they are my support system for everything.

 i am thankful for my husband, even though we have had our ups and downs, i have put him through so much strife,and i can honestly say i am so thankful he didnt give up on me.
 im thankful for the beautiful children i have, 2 are his biologically, and 1 by heart...but you couldnt tell the difference. i am thankful for the life he has provided for us, we have a house, cars, food on our table, heat, clothes, and love.

 i am thankful for the father of the one child that isnt my husbands, and as weird as that sounds, had i not met him, i wouldnt have my son... he may be the end of my sanity- he is still my first baby and i love him with all my heart. and even though he is entering the phase of his life where mom and dad are idiots, and everything they say is stupid and unfair, i am thankful that i have the belief that one day he will realize we arent so bad.

 i am so very thankful for the best friends anyone could ever ask for... one of them, i dont ever get to see because she lives out of state, but we can talk about anything, and you would swear we were separated at birth, we are so alike... the others are nearby, and i love them with all my heart...our kids love each other, and we can approach them with anything, and they still accept us for us... not the weirdos we really are... lol... they are the kind of friends who will always be there, and we can always make each other smile no matter what we are going through. 

  i am thankful for all my siblings, even though we didnt grow up together, we have become so much closer recently and i pray that we continue to, for my kids and myself.

 i am also thankful for my church family... always accepting, supportive and ready to pray for anything that needs praying for. good people that know when you need a shoulder to cry on, or know when you just need a hug, or friendly smile, to make your day better. thank God for everything he has done for us.

 i am thankful for the country we live in, where i am free to post how i feel about things for the world to read. a place that allows me to have the things im thankful for, and make my own decisions. i am so very thankful for the people that have and continue to fight for our freedom. they are so seflless, we should all be so selfless.

i am thankful that i havent killed my children when they drive me to the edge of sanity...lol... just kidding... well no not really...hahaha... seriously... there are so many little things that daily we dont even think about living without...like electric. water. tv. internet (my sanity most nights). heat...  so i suppose i could get real detailed and go on and on... not like i havent already...lol

even though i still havent finished my happiness book, i am adding another thing to my happiness tool list... babies... there are so many new babies in my family right now, and they all make my heart smile... i think babies have the naturally born happiness that is contagious... can you seriously look at a baby and not smile? no matter how crappy a mood im in, mason always can make me smile. i am thankful for that too. in a quest for happiness it is nice to have something that you know will always make you smile. 

and i am extremely thankful for you all reading this... my few but mighty followers... it makes me happy to know that someone enjoys reading about my nonsense...lol    thank you!

one more thing- baby tylenol...very thankful for that... mason is teething, and fevers arent fun at 3 am. so to the makers of baby tylenol, i say thank you!

  so in case i dont post again till after thanksgiving... be thankful for what you have in your life... dont be hasty through the holidays, and stop to enjoy every minute you have with the people you love.

 happy thanksgiving!
 eat lots, but love more.   and be happy.

pajamas, ambition, and 3 yr old attitudes.

oh my goodness... here we are!!! Ive been in kinda a slump for inspiration lately... basically lost focus. But this morning, i actually woke up, not feeling like i needed to sleep the entire day. lately it seems that that is all i want to do. but despite the fact i was up till like 130 this morning, i actually feel pretty good. more mornings like this would be nice.  mason is feeling a little extra cuddly this morning too, which deffinately adds to the goodness of today. just watching him this morning has already started the day off well... after feeding him his jethro size bowl of baby cereal and bananas, you cant help but smile when you see him smile ear to ear when the dog walks through the room... He is completely fascinated with our dog. he will bend all sorts of directions to see him. it is cute.
   I have also decided that staying in my pajamas all morning, is leading to my motivational demise, and calls me back to sleep...hehehe. i realize that simply getting dressed makes me feel like getting something done, and when im forced to get dressed i reap the rewards...example... i watched my best friends little boy a few mornings ago...which meant i had to roll my butt out of bed and stay up...i was up, dressed, and ready for the day by like 7 in the morning, because that is when mason wakes up, but they were not here till like 8 i think, and boy was i productive that morning... before 9 am, i had inventoried our pantry, unloaded and reloaded our dishwasher (which eventually id like to do before bed in order to wake up to a non-dish filled kitchen), and swept the kitchen floor... shortly after i even mopped the kitchen!  now that my house is for the most part- completely cleaned from the haloween party, it has been much much easier to maintain it... there are a few areas that still need some work, but at least it isnt making me crazy anymore. our next big event will be Thanksgiving dinner here with my family.
  I am really hoping to get through the rest of the book this week too, since im not freaking out about the house and my goal is to not sleep all day, i plan on reading during naps... wish me luck... the call of the pillow is so tempting... and i still cant seem to get rid of mt. st. laundry... but oh well i need my exercise...lol

i am so loving seeing the leaves and fall decorations out, but hate the cold... i wish it could stay warm all the time... love the seasonal changes, but i am freezing!  im going to have to go long sleeve shirt shopping soon i do believe. and i can no longer put off packing up courtneys summer clothes, because no matter how freaking cold it is outside, she wants to wear shorts...she is deffianately a summer clothes girl in her flip flops...
every sunday as the paper is brought in- i get excited to see all the holiday ads... i am so excited to go shopping on black friday. i love bargains, and shopping, and buying things for people, so this day is totally fun for me... but this year i get a bonus! my brother and his wife are coming in to town, and i cant wait to see them again!

every day that passes, watching my kids grow amazes me how alike yet individual they are...mason is making new sounds every day, and being very vocal... jacob is scaring the crap out of me turning into a teenager, yet surprising me every day with something that hints at- maybe i did alright raisng him...and courtney- well courtney, my little princess cracks me up... some days i forget she is 3... she can carry on a consversation with us like a little adult, and then the next minute be throwing the biggest fit about something... watching her play pretend with her "real but imaginary" friends (the friends she has in her gymnastics and ballet classes- that arent at our house) throws me into childhood all over again...how simple it would be to entertain ourselves like that when we are bored...lol. a little looney in adulthood, but simplistic. and ideal to keep our friends with us all the time... yet there are moments that slap you in the face with"SHE is 3!" like last night... my husband and my son were arguing... and courtney was voicing her little self inbetween which was getting annoying amongst the bickering... and he told her to please be quiet... she replied with an "i dont have to be quiet" in a matter of fact sweet and sassy voice... he said "why dont you thinkyou have to be quiet?" and here is what she said....." because im the little boss" hahahahahahah i couldnt help but bust out laughing...and you know that was one of those times where it is so not appropriate to laugh...i guess i know who thinks she runs this house...
well- i think i am going to go cuddle with my babies a while... it feels nice to be back in the blog... hope to stop in more often again... looking forward to getting out of this depression im in and be happy again... i owe alot of that to my friends too- the coming out of not being in the depression... so here is a quote i saw recently that i absolutely love... have a great day!

"I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar."
Robert Brault

and here is a couple pics from trick or treating this year that always seem to make me smile...

messy, moody, meltdowns

so i actually finished the two cleaning/organizing books- got some super great tips that i cant wait to implement once i get control over my house, and have finally had a chance to escape back into my happiness project book, and im glad because it has been a while.. let me first say that i still absolutely love love love the book, however i was starting to become a bit doubtful- how can someone truley be so positive all the time, and focus on happiness constantly... my life is crazy at times, and i sometimes dont feel like i have the time to notice what im wearing let alone remember to notice the small things, and enjoy the happy things around me... to me it was beginning to look like the Duggars (you know the family with 19 kids)- everything always seems happy, and pleasant all the time, very orderly and happy...COME ON- seriously i want the cameras to catch them on a chaotic day when the little ones are screaming, and the big ones have attitudes...that is my life...minus 16 kids. i so totally admire Gretchen(the author of the happiness project) for the persistence she has in the project, and someday strive to be more like her with organization and such, but (here comes the evil party pooper in me) even as i try to be more positive and organized-forces beyond my supermom control  (hahaha) keep me from being super sickening happy all the time... and finally she has had a breakdown in the book!  HALLELULIA!
     Somedays i dont want to be happy. Somedays i dont want to get out of bed. Somedays i feel like life craps in my house, and no matter how many times i clean it, or pick up, it is pointless. somedays my kids make it impossible to do anything or be rational at all. thus the name of my blog address...makesenseofmymess
     Here at home we are getting ready to have a big Halloween party for friends, (something we have never done before-and i am really excited about-nervous that it will be a boring ridiculous flop-but still excited) and planning it the month before was a challenge but major motivation to get my house in order because im very much an appearance person- i dont want to look like a horrible housewife. it is bad enough that im like 3 times the size i was in highschool. so- we had this plan to take a room in the house everyday and just clean it...yeah- never happened...great plan down the toilet partly due( no i will venture to say-mostly due to my 3rd shift working, sleep all day, cant finish a job he starts, husband-who i will add is the brains behind the room a day idea) now- i have 3 kids and psychotically enough i want another one, and my doc has put me on a bc to regulate me for a month to kick my cycle in the ass again...MOODINESS has entered my house like a bad cold. i admit that i have not been the most pleasant person, and i typically get crazy when it comes down to the wire with a cleaning deadline...but with 3 kids-that have been super needy lately, i feel like i cant accomplish anything around here. my though process in general with the house is that once we get it decluttered and cleaned, it will be easier to maintain as a whole. thus adding to my complete happiness goal. yeah- no...
      6 days till party and here i sit with a fussy teething 7 month old typing with one hand. looking around knowing that i cleaned my kitchen good yesterday, but seeing it this morning, you would have never thunk it. asnd seeing the remains of the closet project and laundry room project  my husband and i started-i know i have to finish them by myself.
      it starts when i roll out of bed. get to the bathroom, which i deep cleaned this week- finding 2 new toothpastes sitting on the counter from an early morning after work grocery trip my husband made this morning...while very much appreciated, why can he not move his arm a foot farther and put them in the drawer instead of leaving them sit there for me to put away.-  and of course after peeing come to find that the toilet paper roll is empty- wonderful!. then on to the next room with baby in tow because he wakes up and is instantly hungry- so is beginning to cry (i have to add that he really only crys when he is hungry, tired, or needs changed-but when it is one of those. buddy its right now) the dreaded dining room- the chronic catch all. i had the table cleared a few days ago and even had a pretty tablecloth on it, but now sits covered with adds, misc mail, school stuff that never seems to get put back in the school bag till i instruct it to, and a few odds and ends from the"lets go through this basket of crap finally"project -have to ignore it right now though on a mission for baby cereal to stop the crying... duh dum duh dum(cue jaws music)... entering the kitchen . that was mostly cleaned up last night since i could finally do the dishes after mike fixed the faucet. there sits cans of chef boyardee on the counter NEXT TO the pantry-why? open the damn door and put them in.  some people wish for the cleaning fairies to visit them at night. yes that would be nice, but id really like someone to just kill the destruction fairies that come to my house.. im not even going to look in the family room yet. its already been a freaking gorgeous morning i dont really need a straight jacket yet. it wont match my pajamas or smeared eye makeup that i forgot to take off last night.
     its beginning to look like clutter will be once again shuffled into hiding-dont judge, you know you all do it sometimes- and my house will appear to be well kept and clean all the while eating away at my insides knowing that thanksgiving is around the corner...the next deadline to attempt to get the house under control. why do i do this to myself?
     on top of my moodiness and my infants issues, my 3 yr old has been having major meltdowns lately... i mean like sit on the floor refuse to move, crying and screaming, wont tell me whats wrong, neighbors probably think im beating my kid, flipping out meltdown.
     I am sure these things all tie in to one another and feed off each other, so what do i do to get back to happy? again i sometimes just dont want to act happy and be the mom i want everyone to think i am.  sometimes i want to take the mom cape off and have a tantrum like courtney without a real explanation. i really do want to be happier all aorund, and i really do want order in my house, and life... but crappy days happen- alot i might add. so i am very anxious to see how gretchen makes it through situations like this. 
     i enjoy nothing more than holding my beautiful babies when they feel like being cuddly, but even my infant doesnt want to be happy today. ugh. 
     there is my bitch sesion for the day...if you can relate-leave me a comment on how you deal with crap like this- cause i need help... till then im going to go clean something because a clean house makes me happy, so maybe a clean something will make me feel a little better.....till i ramble again- have the kind of day you want to have! :)

planting, progress, and procrastination

wow it feels like i havent posted in a while- oh i havent... duh...i think i need all my blog followers to send me little reminders to kick start my posting every now and then... i have come to realize that when i actually post
i am really taking the time to actively work on my goal...- blogging helps keep me centered on happiness- i am taking time to really think about the little things that i tend to overlook and take for granted.
that most likely was a big jumble of nothing to all of you, but in my warped mind it made perfect sense.
       i like the fact that as i unwind at the end of the day and reflect on what the day entailed, i smile. do you end your day with a smile? i know i dont all the time.  but i need to. i think ill add that to my resolution list- find at least one happy thing at the end of each day, even if the day was crappy, and be able to smile about something.  

If you smile when no one else is around, you really mean it.  ~Andy Rooney
A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.  ~Phyllis Diller

     just tonight as i was putting courtney to bed, she began a new phase- whining and begging for just one more song, one more favorite baby... a friend of mine recently posted a link to another moms blog talking about the same thing- kids putting us on guilt trips at bedtime... i giggled as i read it, and silently said thank you that i hadnt had to deal with it...HA! Even though i dread the nights to come and the evil mom i will be by not letting her get up just because she isnt sleepy, i still smile because i know she is growing up so fast...what is one more hug, or song sang to my sweet, innocent little obnoxious she devil...some day she wont want me to tuck her in...and btw- the sweet dream thing, didnt pan out... she said  "mommy, i dont want sweet dreams-im a yittle scared" maybe she just doesnt understand yet... ill keep trying...
    my 12 yr old on the other hand...lol  i know ive mentioned before the fact that he is really into things right now that we old crotchety parents(hahaha) deem to be stupid, but are pretty cool to pre-teens apparently... you remember gum wrapper chains, and pop tab collections...what in gods earth did we really do with them, what purpose did they ever serve- none. but they were fun.  jacobs thing right now- and i find myself rolling my eyes as i type...duct tape. he wants to make things out of it. a girl he went to school with made him a wallet out of red duct tape... seriously the boy doesnt have a thing to keep in a wallet, but oh well... he begged and begged a while back to use some to make something, and we adamantly said no- how mean are we! well- today while i was out shopping for our upcomming halloween party (so psyched about it) i found gobs of colored and patterned duct tape, and of course thought of him... and even though i really dont want to find duct tape crap lying all ove:) some of you might be aware we have had issues recently with him and attitude, and schooolwork- well, the light at the end of the tunnel is appearing i hope. his doctor started him on a med for adhd, and omg i think i have a new kid! he actually came home from school and said school doesnt suck as much anymore! i dont think i could have been any more relieved at that moment. that truely made me happy because i felt like i was losing that battle badly.
     so- im slow going with the book right now due to a thousand different things going on with the family, but i am determined to keep going on my road to order. i am however finding that road has soooooo many speed bumps, many of which i call mike...lol. my husband and self proclaimed procrastinator... major roadblock lately... im finding it really difficult to get some things accomplished that need to be done because of his lack of motivation... i know i cant change him, and i need to focus on myself, but it feels like a viscious circle... i know he would be more happier with more order here in the house, and i would be more happier if he would finnish something he starts, but how do i motivate him? i have problems motivating myself at times. this will deffinately take some thought. im constanly learning to pick my battles...
     i have been really trying to do small things each day to maintain the level of clutter at home...so far so good, i slack every few days, but it has been so nice to have the living room vaccuumed almost every day, and the kitchen counters cleaned off more often.(these have been a local catch all in the house) a clean kitchen makes me feel good...i love cooking and baking but only when my kitchen is clean and i have space. so i can happily say we have had several homecooked meals lately-which makes for a happier family. grabbing whatever we can find from the freezer or cupboard works occasionally, but i feel more incontrol when the kitchen is mine. one of gretchens resolutions is to do it if it takes less than a minute...for example if im unpacking a bag of groceries, instead of getting something out of the bag and putting it on the counter, it makes more sense to just put it where it goes instead. common sense i know- but before we would unload the bags and then it still seemed like a whole nother job to put them away.  i had mike put in a tension rod above the washer and dryer in my laundry room- yay! he actually finished something i asked him to do!!! my goal for this is to avoid living out of laundry baskets... i am attempting to pull empty hangars out of my closet and hang them on the rod, and actually fold the laundry as soon as i get it out of the dryer (wow-what a concept), because im more likely to put it directly away if it is folded when it gets to the bedroom rather than have a pile in the basket that still needs folding-that will sit there till i need something from it. im not quite on top of it yet, but im getting there. even a little progress is still progress---smile.
    we are also slowly making progress on the outside of the house too finally! we finished lining the front flower beds with the landscaping bricks that have been sitting in front of the garage for a few months, and mulched it...it looks so much better now...but we recently bought an ass load of mums for the flower beds. ( i am a huge bargain shopper- and i consider myself very resourceful- however this trait combined with the people pleaser, doesnt always lend well to time management and getting the things done that need to be..) our intentions are to actually PLANT them, but sadly alot of that will fall on mike to help me-and it is hard to dig holes in your sleep.  i cross my fingers thatwe can get them planted this week! but even with them just sitting out front, when i pull up to the house i smile, because it looks so pretty. maybe im shallow because appearance is important to me, but oh well. ill be happy as i wade in the shallowness.

so- i think im going to go read a little while i have some quiet time, and maybe just maybe ill actually post again before the week passes...thanks for reading my random ramblings.... till later...

p.s- here is another fun happy tool...instant snow...one of the reasons ive been vaccuuming more- ive been letting courtney play with the snow... it keeps her busy for ever! it really is fun...messy but deffinately worth it. dont be scared to let it snow in your house... the smiles and giggles are priceless.
    

raspberry mornings, missing mojo, and a simple promise

mornings in my house are typically slow and sleepy...i tend to be more of a night owl and sleep as long as possible the next morning. my kids have also been pretty late sleepers. lately due to my shortened patience with my 3 yr old... ive been trying to get the kids in bed earlier giving me an hour or 2 of peace each evening. i admit it has been really nice. i have always been one to internally roll my eyes at other moms who complain about their kids who get up at the crack of dawn, but in turn put them to bed at like 7 oclock... it is a big DUH to me (and im sorry if you are one of those moms), but dont expect to sleep in the morning if you are putting them to bed so early. kudos to those who love mornings that early... my brain doesnt often function then.  so as a result of getting my kids to bed early i in turn have to also not stay up so late so i dont become one of the moms i criticise. my 6 month old however seems to be like clockwork, no matter what time he falls asleep... 7 am rolls around he is awake and ready to get up. ughhh...most of the time... this morning, for one reason or another-still unknown to me (im sure a nap will be in my future today) i was wide awake...about 5 am my daughter crawled into bed with my husband and i and fell back asleep. i love it when she scoots all the way onto my pillow and throws her arm around my neck, forehead to forehead...so we dozed for anothe couple hours...7 rolls around, and ruslting can be heard from the crib in the corner of my room... the kicking of his little legs against the mattress and the little grunts as he rolls his roundness around in there is a happy warning that he is about to yell for someone... but this morning- no yelling- just happy babbling, and a newly learned noise...blowing slobber raspberries... laying in bed with my still drowsy 3 yr old and passed asleep hubby, i had to giggle quietly, as to not wake them... but it was such a happy sound, that i usually wish happened later in the morning...  but this morning was different.
     after an impressive amount of time of him babbling and playing happily by himself, he started to get restless so i got him out of bed...by this time courtney was also awake and her and i had been talking and cuddling still in bed...mike still zombieish and sleeping...lol... so i brought mason to the bed with us... sat him up between me and courtney, his face beaming with smiles for his big sister all up in his face... hearing courtneys radio in her room still playing the peaceful lullabies cd in the background, and the babble and banter of my 2 little ones, pondering the possibilities that the day holds, i realized just how blessed i am... minus my 12 yr old who had already headed out the door for the bus stop i had everything in the world that was most important to me right there.  now- my friends and other family is also very very very important to me, but my heart was right there with me...
  so it was a wonderful start to the day...

now- i feel motivated to get something accomplished in the house today... our plan was to tackle a room a day to get organized... that hasnt started happening yet, but i think today might be the start of a 2 day room...(2 days rather than 1 makes it seem actually possible-not that it is undoable in a day, but lets take baby steps so i dont overwhelm myself and chuck the whole project) the front living room...not a room regularly used in our family, but its not one of those old fashioned never touched just looks pretty rooms either... we have a desk which is a major catch all, couch, chair, wall unit bookshelf, and the front corner is my scrapbooking area, which i might add is laden with inches of dust most likely... something else i really really want to get back into. our wii is in this room also, and im sure it would be used more if we had room to move around in there... the room has become a catch all of itself for clutter that we have shuffled out of other rooms, with the good intentions of getting back to...hah- never happened.  the entertainment center that holds our wii, also houses my photo boxes filled with all our old photos of my childhood, and such...since courtney has started her ballet class, i have recently promised her to find my old ballet picture for her, so that is a goal for me in this room... get it cleaned up, and find that pic for her... and in turn if the room gets done, i can set up my portable table and tackle organizing my scrapbook stuff- any one wanna help ??? lol  maybe my scrapbook mojo that i lst will be found in the clutter of the room... we will soon find out...

so, here is to a hopefully productive day, at least until it is time to go to ballet.  btw- i got my one-minute cleaning book the other day! i was so excited... so many great tips in there that make my house seem very non-daunting, and approachable to get clean and organized!!!

hope everyone has a great day!    till i ramble again...xoxo

girls day, bling rings, and pumpkin seeds

well, it feels like fall is officially here... we survived back to school! the weather is cooling off, and everything is turning brown. my family is harvesting their fields, and the holidays are fast approaching- can you believe it?!!! we have so many things that started recently, its rough trying to get down a routine schedule and try to keep it organized... but amidst the chaos, there is still a "walk through the park feel to everything"- and im so glad...i love seeing the 4 pumpkins that are sitting out front of my house, and i anxiously look forward to getting sloppy and pumpkin seedy this year carving them with the kids. i cant wait to roast the pumpkin seeds. the air is crisp and refreshing.

courtney started gymnastics a couple weeks ago, and ballet this past week... she looks like a little angel standing in her ballet line in her little slippers and leotard... and she has a blast in her gymnastics class- lets get that energy out!!! it makes me happy to watch her accomplishing whatever she is working on in class.  jacob is having fun with football, but i hope and pray he can get it together with school and keep his eligibility. he is growing up so fast- its killing me...where did the innocent little baby go, and where did this preteen kid with some major attitude issues come from...as i try to remember him being little i realize maybe this is a sort of kick in the butt to get me re-motivated to scrapbook again.   mason just turned 6 months old, and is hitting his own milestones with teething, and scooting around, i love watching how much he changes every day.

i actually got to get out of the house the other day too!!! me and a friend had our own girls day out, and i have to say...this needs to happen more often!  i think it helps all around with my happiness goals... being with good friends raises spirits, and of course shopping is always fun with friends... we started the day with our hair... it was an adventure in itself! 4 hours later...hahaha...we made our way out of the house to lunch--- looking cute even though we were sporting the minivan. after lunch and loosing ourself in cheesecake for dessert- and how does cheesecake not make someone happy, we headed to the mall... did some shopping and treated ourselves to a couple chunky fun blingy rings (very much a happy tool)... unfortunately we ran out of time, and our plans to get tattoos had to be postponed... but no worries- more girl days are in the future for sure.

so as i sit here with my blingy rings on...lol... even though they dont match a thing im wearing... i smile.

im soooo looking forward to taking trips to the pumpkin patches, corn mazes, and fall festivals this year... i will miss the warm weather for sure, but will be making deffinate vacation plans for next summer soon... ive been kind of edgy and crabby lately, but im trying to keep it under control...like a semi-happy balance of letting small crap go, and not dwelling on insignificant issues. but im glad i can still appreciate the little things that are all around me with the changing of the season...

so- sorry this post wasnt very insightful, or silly as some of the others, but i hope to post more soon now that we are settling in with our fall schedules, and hopefully getting over the teething fevers...maybe i might get a chance to do some more reading!!! i hope i hope i hope... i need some progress here at home. i did order another book to aid in my home re-organizing... it is just like the one minute organization book except it is about cleaning, im super psyched for it to get here... hahaha- i used to get excited about music, and movies, and toys and such... now i get excited about home appliances and cleaning books...lol   does that mean im getting old?  while i ponder that---enjoy the rest of the weekend......talk to you soon!