1st Day of Kindergarten Comparison

The Great Smokies Tease

Surprised

So wow, I logged on to my blog to get to my Mom's blog and was surprised to see I had 6 comments...guess I won't stop blogging. However, we are leaving for vacation on Sunday so I'll have to start...again...when we get back!

Old Chucks?

A LOT has transpired in the almost 3 months since "New Chucks"...the new chucks are now "old chucks", the loss of a beloved Omi (grandmother), a cancer diagnosis for one of my parents with surgery tomorrow, celebrating hubby's 33rd birthday, my precious baby boy's 2 year birthday, a 13th wedding anniversary, a new job for me and in just 2 short months we will have a 2nd grader and a Kindergartner...WOW. Through all of it...GOD IS GOOD and I am continually overwhelmed by His goodness, mercy and grace!

I do most of my updating on Facebook now...it's just easier to post all the pics at one time. I miss writing and sharing my thoughts on the blog. Corey informed me "nobody blogs anymore". I think he's wrong. I'm looking forward to blogging about my new career path soon!

New Chucks

While we were out shopping on Saturday we stopped by the shoe department at Kohls to get Joely some new "Chucks". We sat down on the floor to try on new shoes (Corey insisted on velcro...gag...thankfully he was overridden on that one, we might as well get him some sleeveless shirts to go with that velcro...I think not). After we got the right fit, I slipped the new shoes off of his feet and started putting the old ones back on. You can guess what happened next, he threw himself on the floor and started screaming. I guess even boys like wearing their new shoes out of the store! So Coach store on Friday, new shoes on Saturday...I have a glimmer of hope that he actually might be able to do some shopping with me. Then we go to Wal-Mart...all hope is gone, he seriously acts just like his Dad with even the mention of the word Wal-Mart.

I really do want to blog...

so much so that I just tried to update the blog with Corey's iPad. No such luck, thank goodness for the trusty laptop!

HCG diet is about 2 weeks from being done. Thankfully I'm finished with the starving part now I'm on no sugar, no starch for 3 weeks then I'm DONE! I've lost a total of 9 pounds in 3 weeks, not too shabby! I'm comfortably in the 130's and super happy about it. I'm contemplating doing another round in a year or so to get comfortably in the 120's but as of right now I'm thinking there's not a snowballs chance!

My girlies are on spring break. Ash is just finishing hers up and Aly just started hers. Unfortunately preschool and elementary school are not on the same calendar. Fortunately that worked to their advantage this year! Ash is on her way home from Orlando as I type. She tagged along with my parents and my brother and sister. My Dad had a trade show there so it was the perfect opportunity for Ash to get some one on one time with Grandma & Grandpa. The pics are on facebook, I'll have to tag myself so you all can see them.

Yesterday I spent 13+ hours on the road to meet my Mom half way so that Aly could spend her spring break in the Big D, Dallas that is. So far I think she's having a blast because we have not heard from her. She's got a busy Gigi and Aly week planned as well as a cousin campout, day with Aunt Jessy and I think a trip to the American Girl store. The trip should have taken me about 11 hours but Joel and I had a little detour at the Lake...he wanted to get out and stretch his legs...at the Coach outlet! How could I deprive the baby of stretching his legs?

So Corey and I got to go to Tulsa for "spring break" aka children's ministry conference and the girls get Florida and Texas. Somehow this does not seem fair! I think a Corey and Jenn trip to the Caribbean should be in order (hint hint, but I'm going to need a new passport).

I've got lots of pics to show, just have to quit being lazy and transfer them to the computer. Too bad my sony cybershot memory card doesn't fit into my laptop or I would've downloaded the pics a month ago. I've got lots of great pictures from the girls dance competition a few weeks ago. They are having so much fun competing!

Until next time...

Stranded now Starving

Last week marked one of two little getaways for the hubby and I. I had a work conference in Atlanta so Corey decided to tag along...after all, a free hotel room with no kids! It was quite an adventure. It took us 29 hours to get from St. Louis to Atlanta. We enjoyed an unexpected overnight stay in the Windy City since our flight got canceled. Unfortunately when they cancel your flight it doesn't mean that your luggage's flight gets canceled. Your luggage has a better chance of getting a seat on the next flight than you do.

We made the most of it with only the clothes on our back, I did have Corey stop at Vickie's on Michigan Avenue so I could pick up a pair of the necessities! We had fun riding the "L" , eating at Gino's Pizza and seeing the American Girl store for the very first time (cannot wait to take the girls).

We finally made it to the conference and Atlanta and we even had an extra day to stay and play. There really was so much drama...but I'm over it now. Here's a sampling....canceled flight, no luggage, no necessities, no standby, finally board the plane only to be told we need to deboard and reboard to a new plane, decided Joel might need a "leash" after I watched a lady at the airport with one for her kid, only room left at hotel was SMOKING = headache...). Sounds fun huh? At least we didn't have 3 kids in tow!

You're probably wondering where the starving fits in...NOW! We started the HCG diet while we were in Atlanta because the first two days of the 23 day diet consists of GLUTTONY! I'm not kidding, we made ourselves sick on honey buns, fritos, king size snickers, peanut butter M&M's, nutty bars, you name it we ate it! Those two days are to prepare yourself for 21 days of STARVING! At the end of week one I've lost 5 pounds and Corey's lost 10 (not fair). Not bad but it's going to take a little convincing to make me stick with it for 14 more days!

We have another little getaway planned to Tulsa for a children's ministry conference, I'm praying now for no drama!

Two Weeks

That's about how long since my last post and wow, a lot can happen in two weeks. Obviously we've made it out of the snow and can see grass again! I sincerely hope we don't get any more this season! We celebrated the girls birthdays, the celebration even included a special visit from my Mom. I've been keeping myself busy playing with American Girls, Dsi, loading iPods, etc.

We had a fun Valentine's Day filled with screaming, whiny kids but I still made our traditional heart shaped french toast, heart shaped brownies and expressed LOVE for each one of them (sometimes love comes in the form of discipline). Good thing Corey and I show each other love the other 364 days of the year or I might just have been disappointed. Actually we went out to a really nice dinner Friday night without the kiddos thanks to Aunt Peggy! She must have been able to tell we really needed two hours to our self with each other! Valentine's Day is one of my most favorite holidays. I just love showing love for all of the special people in our life. I didn't show as much love this year as I usually do (i.e. valentine cards, dinners to extended family, etc.). My lack of time to put into it might have something to do with me being back to work full-time but that's about to change!

Yesterday my baby girl turned 5! We also registered for Kindergarten yesterday too. She's so excited to go the school with Aly. Of course all day was about celebrating Ashley and her attitude definitely showed it! Thank goodness that's over. She actually got a spanking yesterday while her little friend was over for having a bad attitude and being hateful to her sister. When I walked out of my room with the wooden spoon Corey laughed and said "I don't think that's what they mean when they say you're going to get a birthday spanking"!

Now on to my exciting news. I love working again and having a career! 40 hours a week...not loving that so much. I've been struggling with this for awhile now and about 6 months ago I approached my boss about working 4 days a week, she told me "no can do". Well last week started off as a challenging week but within 24 hours she pulled me into her office and relieved me of managing a couple of small fundraising events that were taking too much of my time and pulling me away from the family for night meetings. She gave me 4 days a week and told me I solely get to focus on the Walk at Busch Stadium! So here's to being off every Friday starting next week!

Exciting news part 2...Corey and I are headed on a couple of little conference getaways within the next few weeks. There will be work to do at these conferences but plenty of playtime...without kiddos. I guess it's belated Happy Valentines Day! Pictures to come!

Cabin Fever?

I told Corey at 10 last night that "I already have cabin fever"! I'm sure it's because I know I can't go anywhere. What should I do? I kind of feel like when you're a little kid and you tell you're mom "I'm bored" and mom says "go clean your room". No thanks. If my half day at home yesterday was any indication of what today is going to be like here is the rundown:

Morning = "Mom, I'm hungry".
Mid-Morning = "Mom, I'm hungry, I need a snack".
Lunch time = "Mom, I'm hungry, what's for lunch".
1 hour after lunch (I'm still in the kitchen cleaning up breakfast) = "Mom, I need a snack".
Mid-Afternoon = "Mom, I need a drink" (yeah, me too).
While I'm cooking dinner = "Mom, I NEED a snack, I'm starving".
Dinner = "eww, what's this"?
Cleaning up dinner dishes = "Mom, can I have dessert"
An hour later = "Mom, now can I have dessert"?
Bedtime = "Mom, I need a drink" (yeah, I'm still waiting for mine too)

I'll let you know how this works out!

Let the blogging begin...again!

Thanks to my hubby for my very own laptop! I think I will do better at blogging now!

Tooth Fairy gets laid off...

The tooth fairy is officially laid off in our household...at least until Ashley & Joely start loosing teeth.

Last night Aly pulled her 8th tooth out of her mouth, that's right, 8 lost teeth since this summer! Aly shows us her tooth and then Ashley throws herself on the couch, pouting saying "no fair, Aly is going to be rich"!

Fast forward to 5:45 this morning. I'm reading, drinking coffee and working on waking up. Aly comes downstairs bawling her eyeballs out because she forgot to put her tooth under her pillow and the last place she remembered seeing it was on the kitchen table at dinner time and now it's not there. I'm thinking to myself, man, I really suck at this tooth fairy thing. So we go into the room and wake Corey up since he cleaned up after dinner and of course he says, I haven't seen it (he probably thought it was a crumb and threw it away while he was wiping up the table). Honestly, if I have to have the bad tooth fairy reputation so does he!

So Aly is stressing about her lost tooth and finally I set her aside and said, Mommy and Daddy love you so much, we are the tooth fairy...and remember how you found out this Christmas that there is no Santa? Well, there's no Easter Bunny either. She's like "Really Mom?" I then said, "just think, when you have kids you get to be the tooth fairy, easter bunny and Santa". To which she replied "Eww, I'm not having kids...they come out of your China, I'm not having any kids come out of mine".

Nice!