Working Out

Staying healthy is not easy. We've decided to try and start working out as a family to some extent. The kids are both involved in sports where gaining more muscle would be a good thing for their performance and endurance. Phil just recently completed a couch to 5K program and now is starting it with Zach, who has greatly enjoyed his time running with Daddy. For a year now Phil has also been doing a 100 push up workout. I've been trying off and on to get on course with the 200 sit ups program. SO...now we're all doing the push ups and sit ups and the boys are doing the running. I'm trying to walk everyday too, but with my schedule it isn't always easy to fit that it.

Today though I have managed a walk, and push ups 8, 10, 7, 7, and 20 and then sit ups (crunches) 15, 18, 10, 10 and 30! Now off to the rest of the day. (with my arms still burning!)

Back to the World of Blogging

Seems like with all the technology we have everything seems to just ad one more thing for us to do. Blogging has done that for me in the recent months. Once summer hit, all sense of schedule was out the door as I was trying to spend every moment I could soaking in time with the kids and the sun. Now it's fall and I find myself once more ready to set out on the adventure of blogging about life, Creative Memories, and of course hockey!

Life is good. Yes, we're busy and sometimes feel like the walls are shutting in as we're running this race that we call life, but overall it is good. Today for instance, I could choose to be upset that I didn't get a teaching job or choose to embrace what I have been given today, which is time to get some jobs that I keep pushing off to the back burner done. So, I'm choosing, the second one. Why go through life being upset! Besides, with the lack of a job today I was able to go for a walk, run the dishwasher, get cards made for my cousins new baby and thank yous done and still have time to meet a friend to work on a project at church, which will lead to Chipotle for lunch!! On top of that I'm going to be able to stop and get some new shoes and pick up some gifts that are needed for the weekend.

With working sometimes now during the days I'm finding taking the time I have to do what needs to get done is so important. Like preparing 4 dinners while making dinner Sunday evening. Now, I have at least 4 days I don't have to worry about what to do. It's all ready to go. Tonight, since I didn't have to teach today I plan on getting a couple more dinners ready at dinner. Life is good, it's what we make of it, and how we choose to live. I want to live it to the fullest!

Washington DC on a Budget!

Have you ever though it would be nice to visit the Nation's Capital, but I certainly can't afford to do that? Have you wondered how you could afford to go to some of the Nation's Best Museums? We managed a trip for 4 days, and 3 nights to our Nation's Capital this August for only $561.19! How you might ask?

First of all, yes, you have to be willing to rough it a little. We didn't stay at a 4 star hotel, we stayed at a million star vista. Greenbelt National Park http://www.nps.gov/gree/index.htm. We registered online at the link above for only $16 a night! So for 4 nights we paid $64 that's it!!! It is a very private campground. Accommodations are not glamorous, the bathrooms could have been better, but they certainly were not the worst bathrooms we've ever seen while camping. There were flush toilets, and showers, but there were also cobwebs and a few spiders. You can only have tents and small campers at the location and there is not any electric or water hook ups. As far as activities at the camp site, there was only hiking. We were only there to sleep and cook our meals, so we didn't really need a pool or other things to keep us entertained.



Traveling around town is also an issue in DC. We drove 5 minutes down the road to the Greenbelt Metro stop. The Metro is really the only way to get around DC. The cost was $4.75 a day to park, but on weekends it's free! We did buy the all day passes on the weekends as well as on the Monday we went into town. The all day passes run $7.80 but allow you to get on and off the trains at any location all day long. The only catch is on Monday-Friday the passes are not good until after 9:30 am. Regardless, these passes allowed us to move freely around the city and take in many sites without having to walk all the way back to the stop we had gotten off at to begin with. Total cost for 3 days use of the Metro $97.85.

So how about tours? We took this trip with our 7 and 9 year old children. The main thing they were interested in seeing was the things that were shown in the Night At the Museum Battle of the Smithsonian Movie. That meant the FREE museums! They also wanted to see the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and of course the White House. We wanted to at least stand in the street and yell at the Capital building as Josh Lyman does on the West Wing. http://westwingonline.net/. All of which cost us nothing. We thought about going on a tour before we went, but we weren't sure which day we'd want to go, and we definitely didn't want to pay a ton of money for a tour and have the kids not get anything out of it. In looking up info on the DC area I came across the DC by Foot tours. These tours are FREE! http://dcbyfoot.com/ They include info on the White House, Capital, Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, WWII Memorial, Vietnam Wall, and the Lincoln Memorial. They are full of interesting facts that keep all ages engaged. They meet on the Corner of 15th and Constitution and then walk with you to the different venues ending at the Lincoln Memorial. At the end they accept tips. I'm sure you could get away with paying nothing, we did give $10.00, which really $2.50 a person is a steal! It is a walk, but if you were going to see those sites anyway why not do it with a tour guide for little to no cost. Our guide was wonderful! He was a retired teacher/principal and our son quickly became his little shadow for the whole tour. He didn't seem to mind at all, and answered all of his questions as we went along.

We also took in the National Air and Space Museum, the Natural History Museum, the American History Museum, the Portrait Gallery and the National Zoo. All for FREE!! Don't forget if you are going to DC to head to the Old Post Office for the best views of the city with the shortest lines! Again it's...FREE!






Eating is always a concern when you are out and about in a different city. We decided to go as cheap as we could in this department too. The first day we ate breakfast on the road at McDonald's. We had coupons so this cost only $11.93 for four of us. We ate a picnic lunch half way to DC and then ate Skyline Chili, and Hot Dogs for dinner. We of course also enjoyed bear claws and smores around the campfire. The next morning we ate muffins at the campsite, headed in to DC with back packs with various snacks and 2 bottles of waters. We did splurge on a coke at the Portrait Gallery for $3.00. We then enjoyed an amazing dinner at our friends house in Maryland. Sunday morning we again had breakfast at the campsite, packed up a few more snacks and headed back into DC. This is the day we did the DC by Foot tour and we were so hot we had to have an ice cold water and the kids wanted Popsicles. This ran $9.00 from a street vendor. In addition to the $2.00 coke we bought earlier in the day so we'd have change for the tip at the end of our tour. We did decide to splurge once again on lunch at the National Air and Space Museum's McDonald's. Of course this ran $23.95! We did discover that we could keep the 2 pop cups and store them in our backpack, empty of course without being crushed by slipping our water bottles into them. We were then able to come back and refill our drinks and enjoy them several times while we were in the museum. This defiantly saved us several dollars! We headed back to the campsite in time for a dinner of taco helper. On Monday we also packed snacks and water. Again we bought a drink at the American History Museum. We saved our cup from the $3.00 drink, and refilled it 3 times in the American History Museum and 3 times in the Natural History Museum. We ended the day on Monday at the campsite with leftovers from the previous meals. On Tuesday we headed home stopping at Atlanta Bread Company for breakfast, Subway for lunch and then home for pizza at Georgio's. The cost for these three meals combined was $34.32. Adding in about $75.00 in groceries an additional $19.84 for ice brings the food grand total to $182.84.

We spent $91.89 on gas for the trip, and feeling like we had kept under our budget amount allowed for souvenirs to be purchased totaling $74.61. I also spent an additional $40 on photo processing and album supplies from Creative Memories of course! And 1 week after the trip had a beautiful album complete and ready to remind us of the great time we had.

This brings the grand total to $561.19! I'm not sure you could plan to see as much as we did in 3 days with four people anywhere else for as cheap! Going to Washington DC in August was a lot of fun. The only thing we'd do differently is pick a different time of year, simply as August is perhaps one of the hottest months to visit the Nation's Capital. Will we go back again, definitely there is still so much to see.

Just Ducky!

Well if this isn't just Ducky. Out mowing the lawn tonight when I realize there is a Duck in our front yard. It was just sitting there.

I mowed somewhat close to it thinking...it will fly away! Of course, it just quacked at me, or whatever it is that ducks actually do as my third grader told me "Mom, they don't really say that!" (ok, so now I have a duck in my yard and feel betrayed by all the people that taught me that a duck says quack, quack!") Really, what do you do with a duck in the yard?

Phil tried the Sean Connery move from Indiana Jones III, "Ah, I suddenly remembered my Charlemagne "

It didn't work! So instead we, of course encouraged by our children, shooed the Duck to the backyard so it could swim in the pond we just put in. Mind you 2 days ago we put 10 goldfish in the pond. Not sure they'll be there tomorrow. Did I mention the duck kept running into things and we think it might be blind??

SO now we have Anaheim the Duck in the pond with the goldfish. Tomorrow we're calling the Nature Rescue people to come remove Anaheim. She really can't stay here...after all we're Detroit Fans! Do things like this happen to anyone else??

Hey Refs...You Missed a CALL!

Do you have your cell phone handy? You might need it again on Thursday night as the Detroit Red Wings face the Anaheim Ducks for game 7. Why do you need your cell phone?? That's really simple, so you can hold it up and yell at the TV "Hey Refs, you missed a call!" or "Hey Refs, you dropped the call!" Whichever you prefer.

Now I realize there are possibly Duck fans out there somewhere, can't say I've found too many, but perhaps somewhere out there there are some. And with that in mind I'm sure they feel there were calls in last nights game that were missed for there team as well. Just the same I'm a Wings fan, and will always be a Wings fan, and therefore I would love someone to explain to me how tackling a player and sitting on him during the middle of a play when he didn't even have the puck is a legal play. OR, how is climbing on a guys back legal? Did those plays led to us losing last nights game? Who knows, they could have created power play time that may have led to a different goal scenario, we may have scored we may not have. Regardless, "Refs....YOU MISSED THE CALL!"

With that said...Come on Wings, we're not ready for the season to be over! Fight, Win, and advance!

Two Hunderd Sit Up Challenge Day 1 Week 4 REDO

Ok, it's been a few weeks. Guess that's what happens when you get sick, and then hurt your back. With that in mind I decided to restart on week 4.
Today's totals: 32, 38, 32, 32, and 100!!! Feels good at the moment, not sure how it will be feeling later.

Two Hundred Sit Up Challenge Week 4 day 1

Actually, did this on Monday...okay except for the last set that I've been trying to find time to do since Monday so maybe it's cheating but I just did them now.
32, 28, 32, 32 and 58...moving on to Week 4 Day 2 in a few minutes.

Two Hundred Sit Up Challenge Week 3 day 3 (only a few days late on posting it!)

Made it through week 3
33, 42, 30, 30 and 64. Moving on to Week 4!

Two Hundred Sit Up Challege Week 3 Day 2

The count jumped quite a bit today. Glad yesterday was a day off.
Today's totals, 30, 38, 23, 23, an 64!

Two Hundred Sit up Challege Week 3

Week 3, day one
21, 27, 21, 21 and 40 in the final set. That after doing 50 in the test to determine which column to follow in week 3. Wow! That's quite a few sit ups.

Two Hundred Situp Challenge

Day 2 (4/17)
26, 26, 18, 18 and a final set of 42! Not bad, but definitely know why they suggest waiting a day between sessions.

Day 3 (4/19)
24, 25, 21, 21 and a final set of 50!!!! Feels pretty good to be doing the ab workout. Might have to consider adding in the push ups someday...ok that must be an adrenaline thing working on my brain. Week 2 wasn't to bad (started on week 2 because of my initial test). Looking forward to starting week 3 and moving forward.

Anyone up for the challenge just check out Twohundredsitups.com

Two Hundred Sit Up Challenge Day 1

Week 2 Day 1
2009-04-16
32 total crunches after sets of 21, 21, 15 and 15.
This wasn't as hard as I thought it might be, at least so far. Happy that I'm not even sore the next day.

Two Hundred Sit Up Challenge

Phil's been doing this 100 pushup challenge for over a year, so I decided to look into the situp/crunch version of the program. http://www.twohundredsitups.com/logger.html
So...I did the initial test and qualified for week 3. Feeling pretty good about testing into week 3, although I'm going to take Phil's advice and start with week 2. We'll see how it goes.
I'll plan on tracking each day, so keep a watch. Want to join me check out the website above and let me know.

Working With What You Have

The house is in a continual state of progress. Whose isn't really. Today I decided that it is time to work a little each day on different areas. I already have the Master To Do List. (I'm a list maker what can I say). Now the goal is to start working with what I have.

The list includes things like sort through areas, that simply need de cluttered, or things we are done with. Cross the one cabinet off the list today!!! Yeehaw! Got rid of 4 puzzles and some kind of McDonald's toy that I'm sure the kids don't even know they had. Found some new space, that currently I think we're going to leave EMPTY! Now there is a thought.

Second, broke out the white paint that has been sitting by the back door in the garage for 4 months. Put the 2nd and 3rd coat on the bathroom door, as well as the cabinet in the bathroom and the moldings. Now just need to touch up the main color, painted it originally in Oct! The bathroom still needs a few new towels as they go on sale and of course the cabinets need to be sorted in there as well. It's getting done though. Best thing, other then the towels that we still need, a new toilet seat cover and a new door knob there is no more cost to the update. Added some bobble heads to the top of the cabinet (it's an extension of our Red Wings hockey room) and it's done!

Now about the gray touch up paint....

It's been awhile, time to ramble.

Life just flies by and the things that have to get done do and the rest...well not so much.
Today I was hoping to be working as a sub in our school district, but did not get called. So...instead I'm going to catch up on the things on my desk and get some other things done around the house.


In the meantime, also getting set for this Thursday when the Wings open the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Blue Jackets. Can't wait to watch. The big question is whether to skip the PTA meeting so we can watch it in real time, or dvr it and watch it later...ugh decisions decisions.

Regardless...LET'S GO WINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Time to change the laundry. Working from home is so great. If it wasn't raining I think I might even decide to do some yard work. We'll see.

Redoing old albums

Yes, I hate to admit it I have old albums in my possession. Prior to 2000 all my albums were non Creative Memories, and while documented in a scrapbook type method were not at all photo safe. My goal for this year is to start doing something about those albums!
This past week I pulled a 7x7 chocolate love album off of my shelf that I have had sitting there for almost 2 years. It already had the paper in it, and was ready for pictures. I pulled apart our honeymoon album and a day later have an album that I know will keep our pictures safe for years to come. The honeymoon album is only 13 years old. Yet, it was already yellowing, and looking bad as it was in one of those stick the picture in on the page and cover it with the piece of plastic albums. We haven't looked at it in years, but now that it is in a photo safe album, we've put it out again and the kids have already looked through it several times.
I have other supplies on my shelf so next I think I will tackle the album covering our first year, and first house. The kids are going to love seeing those pictures again, and I'm going to love knowing that they are now photo safe!
Thank you Creative Memories

New Baby

Creative Memories just launched a brand new line of baby products. They are so cute. The color combinations are beautiful. With the baby girl colors of soft pinks, greens and browns and yellows. Boy colors of browns, blues, greens and yellows. The paper and embellishments almost make me wish I hadn't completed my children's baby albums. There are so many great products. On top of the traditional papers and stickers there is a whole matching line of digital paper and stickers. Want something even quicker??? How about the new baby boy and baby girl quick kits. Complete an entire baby album in 1 2-3 hour sitting!!! It's amazing! Creative Memories is doing such a great job at thinking about peoples lives and time challenges and has created something truly for everyone!
http://www.mycmsite.com/sites/kropwithkathy/catalog-index?ts=1236628679049&event=showmenu&categoryIdParm=170172&pageTitle=New%20Baby&selectedCategory=172&eventId=172&productGroupId=13565

Did anyone else just blink?

It is February 25th. How did that happen? I'm trying to get ready for a big convention this weekend with Creative Memories. I usually look ahead and find out what I need to have done so that Monday won't be as hard. Suddenly I realized the end of the month finance stuff needs done, the calendars need updated and wow it's going to be March. Guess I better add birthday shopping for my brother in law on the list. Time just keeps speeding up as I get older, and life just keeps moving on. Happy March!

Just Do It

Sometimes I think Nike has it right. We make our list of things to do, and then we look at it. Sometimes we need to JUST DO IT. I think the part that is the most frustrating is some of the jobs never seem to go away. Laundry, dishes, laundry, dishes...bathrooms need cleaned...etc. Today I'm going to try and adapt a new mind frame about these things. Today I'm going to be thankful that we have clothes to wear, a washer and dryer right in the other room, clean water, beds to sleep in and food to eat. I'm going to remember to pray for my family as I do the jobs that simply need to get done. There is no sense in complaining about them, we all have them. I just need to do it!

What's Next?

Ever find yourself completing one thing only to wonder...what's next? Sometimes it seems like that is how life is lived. We get through with one thing and immediately need to know what's next? Right now I have several projects going. In my mind I'm trying to get all the details together and somehow I keep coming back to what I'll need to do when this next thing gets done. I guess the thing is sometimes it's fun to have nothing that's next. Just enjoy the day and not worry about where you have to go, or what you have to do. With that in mind...time to go clean the house and set up for tomorrows Creative Memories event and then get ready for World Friendship Day on Sunday. After that it's getting ready for Regional Convention...that's What's Next!

Preserving the Past

I've been thinking a lot about preserving the past lately. For Christmas I made albums for the both the kids featuring the 8x10's from birth until their current age as well as snapshots during that time. I also have been trying to go back and redo albums that are not in safe materials so they will be preserved as well. While this takes time and effort I have learned that it also helps me remember the good times, and why I feel the way I do about people, places and events.
It is stress relief in the simplest form. I don't need to leave the house, although large group crops are great. I just can focus for even as little as 15 minutes on a project and get a sense of accomplishment in it moving forward. I realize not everyone is a scrapbooker, but working with pictures is good for the soul regardless.

All Thrown Off

Have you ever noticed that when things stray from your normal routine everything gets completely thrown off? Friday and Monday the kids had off from school. We had a great time, went to the pool and the mall, played some wii games, and spent time together. Monday Phil also had off which made that day even nicer. Tuesday came and I was lost. Half of the day I thought it was Monday, aside from bible study, Daisy scouts, gymnastics, and hockey that is. Just the same it is now Wednesday and I'm still trying to get the grocery list together and get to the store, normally a Monday or Tuesday task. Get laundry caught up and balance the checkbook. Sometime this month I'd like to finish the taxes but with all the days off here and there it just doesn't seem to get done.
It's not really that I don't like having the extra people home. We've really enjoyed each others company and spent time together. I just wish I wasn't such a creature of habit as when things get out of wack it takes me a few days to recover. That and this weather is giving me a migraine! Oh, well... off to switch laundry and hopefully get back on track.

Did you know?

Did you know that 60* days are only to make you think more about spring and appreciate winter less?

Did you know that 90% of Americans don't sleep well because we are overdosed on caffeine during the day?

Did you know that taking time for yourself everyday only seems selfish if it's all day everyday and really makes you a better person to be around?

Did you know that Casting Crowns and Stephen Curtis Chapman are awesome?

Did you know that facebook can suck the time away from your day if you don't limit yourself?

Did you know that working with photos is actually a great stress reliever?

Did you know that the Wings are going to win the Cup again?

Did you know that this is a really lame excuse for a post but I've committed to trying to post 5 days a week and this is the best I can do?

Did you know that laundry and dishes always pile up, but we should be praising God that we have clothes to wear and have had food to eat?

Did you know that the to do list will never get done, so it's best to do the hardest jobs first?

Did you know that this is the last did you know?

Digital or Traditional?

The question for 2009 has been digital or traditional? This is the year I want to stay on top of my pictures. With that in mind I really need to get started scrapping my 2009 photos. The biggest question is digital or traditional? Do I print them out and scrap them, or do I create page prints and just slide them into an album.....I just can't decide. Perhaps that's why I've put it off to this point.
Digital is a lot of fun. It's quick, and comes back to you bound and finished. Somehow journaling is even easier with digital as it's a typed format.
Traditional is great too. I love the cutting, the arranging. It is incredible. So what to do!?

I'd love input so if anyone wants to vote on what I should do let me know.

Weather Change Mayhem

Every time the weather changes drastically I get to feeling wiped out. Not sure why, always attributed it to my blood not thickening or thinning as quick as the temps do around here. Now I'm noticing it's effecting my kids as well. Both have been fighting headaches as the temps have been rising and the weather is changing so much. I would rather it be 50 than 20 any day, but the fact that it will most likely dip back down makes me nuts. In the last 2 days Z has even visited the school nurse twice. Once for a stomach ache, related to sinus issues I'm sure and once for an itchy red eye...once again related to his allergies bothering him. I'm beginning to think I need to be a walking pharmacy of headache and eye relief. Or, maybe we should just move. Nah, guess I'll stop at the drugstore before I head up to school this afternoon, my heads throbbing as it is, I can only imagine that Katie's is as well.
At least the sun is shinning a wee little bit!

Facebook

Decided at the beginning of the year to see what the big deal about facebook was all about. Truth is I had mixed feelings going in. I know several people that absolutely love it, but also take a ton of time with it. Others who like reconnecting with people and have managed to limit their time on it.

I think that is truly the key. It is a cool thing to find out what people you haven't thought about in years are doing. It's fun to shoot a message to their wall, and maybe exchange a few stories. It's fun to see what others are doing when you read the updated status info. I can say it's been kind of neat to simply state " I'm working on Creative Memories albums" and know that now a whole group of people see I'm a consultant. It could be potentially good for business I would think. Yet, it can also be a HUGE time waster. It would be easy to sit on facebook for hours and play various games, search endlessly for lost friends, and join a million groups.

Just the same, if you can have self control and not spend time you need to be doing something else on it. I would say it's a good thing. It's a way to connect with people, share ideas, and network for work as well. I'm glad I'm on it. In fact, need to jump on it now to find out if things are still set with our babysitter tonight!

Another Weekend...don't blink!

Another weekend is about to be here. I know technically that Friday is the start of the weekend, but really it doesn't officially start for most people until they are home from work or school. In this case I have about 10 more minutes of weekday to deal with before the kids get off the bus.
What is in store for this weekend...if you ever read my blog or facebook entries you'd know there is one word that will appear in this weekends activities for sure..
HOCKEY!

The boys will be starting the weekend off with leaving for Youngstown at 5AM for a scrimmage. Upon their sleepy return we will do normal Saturday stuff. The evening holds a movie night for the kids with Grandparents, while I host my next Creative Memories workshop. Sunday, church and another hockey game. The kids are excited though because Sunday night we will be watching Extreme Home Makeover (sorry Phil) as Creative Memories has donated items to the girls room.

Hope everyone has a good weekend...I'm down to 7 minutes left of the week, got to run!

Enough already!

ENOUGH ALREADY! Yes, this is a pic of Katie and Zach standing on the sidewalk in front of our house while waiting for the bus this morning. It is not a trick. Simply by standing on the sidewalk they are barely able to be seen over the snowbanks. Now I realize that some of it is due to blowing the snow off of the driveway, but still. It's a little deep around here.

Is it pretty? Well, ok as the sunlight (which we usually don't see in these parts this time of year) streaks across the white frozen tundra we call our front yard the sparkles shining do make a pretty picture. Perhaps if we had known yesterdays 13+ inches were coming it would have made it even prettier, but we were told 1-3 inch accumulation yesterday. Maybe it was just a misprint on the weatherman's script and really said 13 inches to begin with. Regardless, life went on. School took place and we as only people from this part can do just kept going.

Do we enjoy it. Sometimes, but mostly this year we're done. Done of the day long storms and the snow that you can't see around at any given corner. All we could hope for is a gradual warming and melting process. Look out Southern Ohio, the snow is predicted to start melting this weekend when the rain moves in. You might want to get a jump start on those boats!

Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow

Do you know the song Let it snow Let it snow Let it snow? Here's the new version.

Oh the weather outside is frightful,
and the fire is gas so we don't light it.
Since it's northeast Ohio we just go
On the roads let it snow let it snow

Oh it doesn't show signs of stopping
The weathermen said only 3 inches would be the topping
The only job where you can always be wrong
Let it snow tends to be our song

When the kiddos get out of school
I'll have to go and pick them up
Or on the bus they'd be till tomorrow
Especially if it doesn't let up

It's better to be in school when it's 15*
In the summer we'd just be iching
Oh, well at least there's work to do
Both at home and in school.

Now the day is slowly fading
It's to cold to be outside playing
But it's pretty just the same
And for the next 2 months there will be more of the same.

Maybe Now I'll Remember

Found a new product today that I'm hoping will help my mind. It's a cleaner for the dry erase board and a squeegee to help clean it off. We used to be good about adding things we needed to do or get from the store on our board in the kitchen. BUT then it got dirty so as I was struggling to remember what I wanted to get at the store or had forgotten at the store yesterday in the aisle of Target I saw the solution. Bought it, brought it home and IT WORKS! The board is clean and ready to jot down info on. Now next time we go out we can glance at the board, grab a post it note and not have to struggle with remembering it completely on our own. Which reminds me... forgot the hot chocolate, guess I better go write that down.

Just Another Manic Monday

Another week has started and already I'm feeling the pull of having so much to do and not much time to do it. Not sure how that happens so fast. I think I have it all organized and then suddenly, the day is off and things are not going as planned. Oh, well maybe my version of the song would go like this

To the tune of Manic Monday
Got to get the kids on the bus
got have friends kids to school by 9
If I got out of bed early
I'd still be running short on time.

Cuz it takes so long to get the kids to get dressed and preparred
I'll get the kids off to school then figure out what's next to do.

Just another Manic Monday oh oh
Yesterday was superbowl Sunday
oh oh
Don't really care who won oh oh
Wings play Blues tonight looking for a hockey fight.

Ok, I'm to tired to really make the song work but at least I feel like I had one moment to myself. Got to run...kids are wanting more snack, go figure!

Car Seat Confusion

Apparently as of 4/6/09 the State of Ohio is changing their car seat law. The new law, as I'm reading it states that children under 8, AND under 80 lbs, AND under 4 feet 9 inches need to be in a booster seat. I have 2 kids. Both have been out of car seats. One for 4 years, and the other for over a year. One is about to be 9 years old, but does not weigh 80lbs and is not 4 feet 9. (My Mom incidentally is just over 4 feet 9- so how will this effect adults???). My other child is 6 and doesn't meet the other criteria. SO...as law abiding citizens what do we do??? Naturally, we got rid of the car seats with the exception of one that we keep for my friends 2 year old. So now what???
I'm actually on hold with the pediatrician at the moment scheduling a well check and they don't even know what to say about it. I'm thinking this would be a good use of the grandfather law thing. I think safety is important. My kids have to wear seat belts, but with the new law it looks like I'll be shopping again for car seats.


Pediatrician is going to call me back...they aren't sure either and agree that with the height requirement what will happen to adults not the right height. Guess we'll see what they say too.

They really should have a gage!

Kids really should come with a gage. It could say "full" when they are babies and you aren't sure if they have gotten enough to eat, and "sick take to Dr", if they need antibiotics, or "sick, but they'll make it" when it's just a cold or something.
Today we're in the "sick, but really didn't need to go to the Dr mode". Of course I know that because we went to the Dr. Zach woke up not feeling good again today. He's said that off and on this week, and I've told him each time that since he doesn't have a fever I think he can make it. But today was different. He didn't feel well and when he climbed in bed with me this morning he slept for 45 more minutes. Not a normal thing. He felt warm, looked tired and said his throat and head and stomach hurt. Which for those of you who don't know is classic strep signs, even without the sore throat. So...what to do as he had 3 tests at school today.
Now I know it could be that he wanted to avoid the tests, but he felt ready for them so I was pretty sure that wasn't it. Called the dr, got him a 10:30 appointment, then called his teacher who understanding the situation asked if he could come and take his tests first thing in the morning. So that is what we did. Of course then we headed to the dr who says he has a very stuffy nose and probably due to the weather is feeling the other symptoms but it is not strep. Now, I don't really want my kids on antibiotics unless they need them, but as a Mom trying to determine if they should go to school or not I'd rather hear it is strep so we know what we are dealing with. Thus the reason...kids really need gages!

Snow Fun

A picture from this past weekend. It was cold there, but not as cold and snowy as it is here!




Another cold wintery day here. Kids were thrilled not to have to go to school. All in all the day was pretty fun. If you can count laundry, and studying for test with your kids fun. We did get a chance to play out in the snow and even spent some time playing board games tonight. It is nice to have a stay at home day every so often. Now if we could prevent the fights over who had more popcorn and who was annoying who I would have been all set. Guess there is always tomorrow for that.

Being a Hockey Fan in Ohio Stinks!

Ok,it's not being a hockey fan that stinks, it's being a fan of hockey when the state thinks everyone wants to watch the Cavs. There are other sports people! The least the Center Ice people could do is see that the game is not on because of the Cavs and add it back into the play list. Oh, well. Guess we'll have to listne to it on internet radio instead. GO WINGS!

Home

It's has certainly been a long weekend. Good, bad. It's been both. The hockey tournament went pretty well. The boys played hard, we kept onsides for the most part, played some pretty good positions, and worked together. The North Toronto team they faced on Saturday afternoon was just tough. They scored 6 goals that we were not able to answer. Our goalie played really well the entire tournament, and it was heart breaking to watch him after the third game. He kept the team from goals in the first two games, and made us all proud in the third game keeping out other shots that could have turned into goals.
The tournament itself was well run, for the most part but the rink SUCKED! It was old, and beyond smelly. In fact we dressed at the end of the stands for the last game as the locker room smelled horrid. We all know locker rooms can smell bad, but this was even worse then normal.
Having lost the third game we headed into Canada to see the Falls and then back home. It was a long weekend, and now I'm fighting a cold which is oh so much fun. Oh, well...back to life and being home. The laundry is stacked up. Guess that's the theme for today.

Holy Moly!

To quote Mickey Redman...Holy Moly! We came to Niagara Falls this weekend for a hockey tournament. We came planning on playing Canadian teams, and sure that it was going to be really tough. They get more ice time, they have more practices, it only seemed logical after we lost all of our games at last weekends tournament. But BOY were we WRONG!
The first game we were in our defensive zone for a solid 3 minutes, unable to clear the puck. Then they got it out and look out the goals started. They weren't easy, they had to fight for most of them and really play strong. Just the same the team scored 4 unanswered goals. We won the game, and moved on to the second game.
Again, thinking this is going to be tough. And it really was. Again, the boys played hard. Zach got a shot at a break away, made his way down the ice and took the shot. It hit the goalie in the pads and rebounded right to him. Then he shot it top shelf and Bam we were up 1-0. We won the game with that score and now we are waiting for tomorrow's game to see if we will be staying in Niagara until the Championship game on Sunday.
WOW! Way to go boys!

Hockey Weekend

Another hockey weekend is just around the corner. Last weekends tourny was fun, the boys played pretty well. They got bunched up a few times, but really that was the only thing that seemed to go wrong. They barely went off sides, they kept up with the other teams decently, even the team that had beat them 11-3 the previous weekend.
Not a bad showing, although disappointing that we didn't win any of the games. More so perhaps for the kids that were on the team last year that won that particular tourny. Regardless, we talked on the way home about being proud of your effort as a team. And they did work as a team.
This weekend we're headed to NY. Another tourny on the horizon, and this time with mainly Canadian Teams. I certainly am not saying that our kids can't do it. I know they will work hard and play as a team, and have fun. Those things are important. But when you hear it's Canadian Teams you just kind of pause. Mainly because ice time is easier to get in Canada, to the tune of most days having practice. In the States we're lucky if we get practice once a week. So, we'll see. Will the boys enjoy the weekend? You bet! Will they be even more excited if they win after last weekend? You bet! Will they still have fun and learn more about hockey if they don't win? Absolutely.
Let's Go Mustangs! It's time for a Hockey Trip!
15 kids
4 hours of driving
3 games
sheets of open ice...how does Master Card put it...Priceless!

The Dog is Freaked Out

We have a wonderful, black lab, named B'Elanna. She is a good dog, with the exception of her being a bit emotional. Phil left for Florida on Saturday and ever since she has followed me around the house, going in bathrooms, and the laundry room where typically she would not go. (she isn't a fan of tile floor). She's also sat by the front door waiting for the kids to let her out when they are trying to get out to the bus in the morning. Now I don't know if it's her age this time, she's almost 12, or the fact that Phil is gone, or the fact that it is cold...today only 7 degrees at the moment. I do know it's not like her. On top of it today she has not eaten her breakfast yet. She didn't eat yesterdays until I was home around 1:30. So, I guess we'll see if she is ok after he gets back. At least he can be happy that someone in the house really missed him!

A New Presidency

I havent' had a chance to see any coverage on the inaugaration of President Obama today, but I did ask the kids if they were able to see any of it at school. Both confirmed that they did watch it. I'm glad they had the chance to witness that part of the Presidency. It is important. I pray that what they remember is that the President placed his hand on a bible and swore to uphold the law of the country and to serve well in the Presidency.
My kids know that I did not vote for Obama, and they know the reasons I chose not to. But they also know that this is who the country picked and that our job now is to pray for the President and respect his position. We might not always agree with his decisions, but we still need to respect the role he plays.
May God bless this country as it moves forward in 2009.

Mom of the year!?

Trying out for the role these last couple of days. With Phil out of town, we've done movie night and sleepover night twice in my room. Tonight, it's back to their own rooms so we can all get a good nights sleep before school starts up tomorrow. Today, I became an even bigger hero when I gave our son his birthday present 3 weeks early! We had decided together that we would get him a DS for his birthday and with an upcoming road trip scheduled this week we figured it was a good time for him to get it and make sure it works before we head out on the road trip. So far it seems to be working. I can't wait for the fight when I ask him to clean it up for the evening. Oh, well...it's a part of the parenting thing.

Focus

Wow! It is day 2 of no school due to extreme temps. Although, our -12 is not near as bad as my friends -20 yesterday. Just the same, the kids are home and now watching Tom and Jerry. We're having a pretty good day, built a cool magnetic sculpture, and the kids are getting along for the most part.
The biggest problem is staying focused on getting other things done. UGH! I don't know if it's just the other noise in the house or the fact that it's freezing out. I just can't seem to focus on anything today. The pile of stuff to get done is growing, but it's just not getting done. Oh, well. With that in mind it's off to the mess of a room upstairs to try and get a little bit more done .

PJ kind of Day!

Kiddos are home today, it's a balmy 5 degrees out. Apparently, only our district and one other close by closed, while most remained open. The kids are happy in their pjs which is fine, but the several projects we've started now through out the house are starting to get under my skin.
I was already in the midst of cleaning Z's room, still working on that actually. Now toys are strewn along the family room floor, just in case they want to play with that again later. There's a clay puck drying in my craft room, a butterfly half painted and various other things. Fun, fun fun! Oh, well. Time to work on Z's room for an hour then it will be time to play a board game or two. Might as well enjoy the time.

Overstuffed?!

Have you ever noticed as Americans we are simply "overstuffed"! Not just in the weight aspect, although as a Nation we are that too. But just in terms of stuff. I spent last week going through my daughters "stuff" and weeding things out. I ended up giving 2 garbage bags of things away, things that she could maybe still use but certainly doesn't need. I'm starting my sons room today. But even looking around my office, I have an entire mug of pens, a stack of magazines, as well as other stuff.

Perhaps this is the year to become less about "stuff", from weight to items in the house it's time to trim back and get rid of it. We don't really need it and we can't take it with us when we go, so why keep dusting it off? With that in mind it's time to head upstairs with the three boxes...keep, throw out, and get it out of my house!

Wish me luck.

Dealing with Difficult People

Started a Bible Study today called the Peace Maker. We're also going through the book by Max Lucdao called Dealing with Difficult People. While that may sound like I think I'm perfect and the others are the problem that is not the case. Regardless, in one session I've already realized a very valuable tip. We all have people we'd rather not deal with. Sometimes we are those people to someone else. The first step is trying to see them the way God does. Do we do that? Or do we see them as annoying, bothersome, whiny, etc, etc, etc. If we can see them as someone with value, and look at them lovingly then we can move towards getting along. It's not always easy, we'll make mistakes, but just that stopping and thinking about them as someone with value may just help alleviate some of the mistakes we may make.
Just this morning I know I really needed to stop and see value in my kids, where I was only seeing whining and fighting. They both need to be heard, did I take the time to really listen, or was I too focused on getting out of the house for them to go to school and me to head off to my class. SLOW DOWN, look at the situation, love the people and then deal with the situation. We all make mistakes, we are all imperfect. Now, to apply it and move on.

Schedule Change

As we cling to our planners, blackberrys or other ways to control our schedule I hope we remember what's really important. I guess today is a good example of that. I started the day with my list of what I wanted to get accomplished. I still had it running in my head when my son said he didn't feel good. I know that with the furnace on so much a sore throat is not neccessarily a sign of being really sick so I encouraged him to go to school. Shortly after coming home from the grocery store I got the call.
It's easy to know it's the school as we only get the last 4 digits sent on our caller id. Sure enough he was not feeling good and I needed to go get him. So, do I get mad and throw my arms up and give up for the day. NO! Instead, I say a pray of thanks that I'm able to go get him, without much of a problem and bring him home to rest. True, I won't get everything I was planning to get done finished today, but I will show him that Mom is there for him, and hopefully get him better so he can go to school tomorrow. Afterall, that really is why I'm home during the day anyway.

Spellingcity.com check it out!

As a Mom I'm always looking for ways to help my kids with learning. Spelling is typically practiced at our house on the way to and from hockey practice, gymnastics and church activities. (I strongly suggest if you are on the go a lot to copy the kids lists and keep them in the car, or near where you keep your car keys for grab and go practice.) We've found that to be a quick way to practice most of the time.

Unfortunatly, reciting the spelling for words is not always fun. Luckily, http://www.spellingcity.com/index.php has found a way to make it a bit more fun. The site is FREE! Which is a nice benefit. I started an account in under 2 minutes. The hardest part was picking a name and a password I'd remember, in case my computer forgets to remember it for me. Then when my kids bring home their lists I simply type the words in for them and save them under my childs name and the date of the test. Ex. Zach 1/9 for this weeks list. When we do have time in the evening they can go on and play games that help them to not only practice spelling the words but also learning what they mean. At the end of the week, the night before the test, we log on to the site and they can take a test to see if they've learned the words. I still suggest having them handwrite a practice test too, as it helps to remember what it felt like to write it down. Handwriting a test is also neccessary when the child has to write their words in cursive.

The test function on the site is also good when you first enter the list just to see what words the child really needs to work on during the week. This is a great educational site, and safe to send them to for playing a game. Which as parents we need to be so careful about. Thanks spellingcity.com, you've made one area of study a bit easier.

Brrrr!

We finally got snow! Of course with it, came the 19 degree mornings. Once inside it's fine, but waiting for the bus is not much fun. The kids were freezing too, even though they were quite bundled up. I'm hoping it either warms up a ton, or the school keeps them in for recess. I guess we'll just wait and see.
The kids were thrilled to play in the little bit of snow we had last night, but even more excited that I said they could probably play in it again this afternoon after school. Hopefully, they'll forget that they want me to play in it with them.
It's not that I don't want to play with them, it's more a matter of not having snow clothes to be out there running around in. Oh, well we'll see what happens.

Working Out

For Christmas I received the Wii Fitness Coach Program, and it's actually pretty good. I was thinking I would like the Jillian Wii Fit program, but then thought it might be to difficult to start with. I'm glad I got the program I did. It's interesting as it has been a different workout each day this week. That's kind of nice as the same ones lose my interest quickly. Each day focuses on a different area, and the "fitness coach" helps you to set goals and a routine. So far I'm 3 for 3 of my 5 days this week. I actually feel pretty good about it too, which is helpful.
It's funny how we think we are still in shape until we start a program. I'm quickly seeing that I've been less stressed and more relaxed since starting it, and also have felt more like eating better too. (Although last night I NEEDED a Pepsi!).
With the kids back in school I'm trying to get back into a routine. I'm hoping it will be a long term one.

Messy Bedrooms

Why is it that no matter how you train your kids to pick up after themselves they still end up with messy bedrooms? I'm sure some of it is due to us not standing there and watching them clean up their rooms, and some of it is just in the nature of playing with things. The crazy thing is it's not a toy issue. It's books, and shoes, and lip gloss and earrings! The hardest part is I remember clearly keeping my room a mess when I was a kid, and since Zach's room is my old room it's sometimes hard to get after him about it. So, I guess I just have to live with it, or work with both kids to pick up the mess. Getting rid of half of their things would help too. Something I'm secretly working on each day while they are at school! I suppose that sounds heartless but truthfully they would never know if things went missing, as I'm only getting rid of clothes and toys that they never wear or play with. Hope I get done before June 11th!

Starting Fresh

I wonder how many people are starting fresh today. Back to school, back to work, back to getting things done. I feel like it has been an amzingly productive day. Of course, it helps that the sun that doesn't shine often between November and May is shining today.
I've been able to exercise, get household chores done, go grocery shopping and even work on piled up paperwork on my desk. It's great! Now if I could figure out a way to do all that when the kids are on break next it would be even more amazing. For now I'll just try to keep up with the plan of getting things done.
Good luck to anyone else who started fresh today!

Happy New Year! 2009

Another year has come and gone, and I find myself of course reflecting on what that means. Goals are being set, whether out loud or internally. Some of them are that this year I will:
complain less
eat less
weigh less
stress less
read more
pray more
sleep more
learn more
spend time with family and friends more
exercise more
drink water more!

So far, off to a fairly good start and it's only 10 am. I've read, prayed, slept, family is already over and I walked on the treadmill. Now if the pace can keep up it will be a great year! Good luck with all your goals.
Happy new year!