Lazy Day

Today was a lazy day. I felt out of it all day. I didn't do much of anything. I need to get busy and get some stuff done. This summer will be over before I know it. Kevin got the time off for vacation next month and I need to get some stuff accomplished before then. I am excited for our trip. We are going to Oklahoma for the Crews family reunion and then onto Houston to visit. I want to go to Galveston for a day and take the girls to the beach. I also want to go to Sea World in San Antonio but not sure if we'll swing that. It will be nice to get away as a family.

Tomorrow is girls weekend. Sheila and I are going to Kansas City to spend the night with Enola. We get to go to my favorite restaurant since it is my birthday! I love my friends!

We Are Home

My sister called on Monday afternoon. Her babysitter's husband had passed away unexpectedly and she was desperate for someone to watch Lily this week. The girls and I packed out suitcase and headed for Lincoln. We got home late last night. Kaelyn and Lily are five-months apart in age. I was so impressed with how well they are playing together now. Finally! It made our three days there much more enjoyable.

Love Shack

My HS BFF came over for a bit last night. We drove into Boonville and run to Walmart and drove through town, reliving the past. It was a beautiful night. We opened the sunroof and blasted Love Shack on the stereo and for a few moments, I felt sixteen again.

American Sign Language

I just pulled out all of our sign language books, of which there are eight, and I am going to start studying. My goal is to become a certified American Sign Language interpreter. I have always wanted to learn to sign but since meeting Kevin and his family, my desire has only strengthened. It is important to me that my children learn sign and can communicate directly with their grandparents and aunts and uncles. This is their culture. I am trying to find a community intro class that Kaelyn and I can take together. I know now is the best time for them to learn as their brains are young whereas mine is old and slow!

Sad!

I have been cleaning around the house today. Just vacuuming and mopping floors, a little dusting and a few other extra jobs. The house was looking pretty good when Kaelyn takes notice. She looked around, and commented "Is somone coming over, Mom?"

Graduation

Kaelyn graduated from preschool last night.

Little Sister

Friday night at the hotel, we all went swimming. Kaelyn was taking water into her mouth and spitting it out. My Dad saw this and told her to stop, that maybe someone had peed in the pool. Kaelyn thought for a moment and said, "Maybe Kate". I laughed and laughed when I heard this. I suppose it is only natural that as the little sister, Kate will forever be blamed for all the wrong-doings these two get into. Kate cannot defend herself yet, but I wonder what Kaelyn will do when she can. However, in this instance, Kaelyn was probably correct...it is likely that Kate did pee in the pool!

Our Trip

I have to say it is so good to be home. I had looked foward to this trip for months, and it was a great one, but it is always good to be home. The trip home last night seemed to take forever. We were all tired and cranky and that made for much fun when there were five of us crammed in the car. But we made it.

The weekend...we picked up Christy at the airport Friday morning and headed north to Des Moines. We went off the beaten path and stopped by Madison County, Iowa. We drove through Winterset, and saw the birthplace of John Wayne. We laughed as we imagined John Wayne, staying in Iowa, and just being a regular local. We got directions and headed to see Roseman Bridge (above), the covered bridge that was the star of the movie "The Bridges of Madison County". It was very pretty out there and I was glad we stopped.

On Saturday, we went to Adventureland, an amusedment park east of Des Moines. It was the first time for Kaelyn and Kate going to an amusement park. Kaelyn loved it and Kate was a hand full. She was tired but it's really not a place for a two-year-old. She was actually very patient, riding in her stroller. Kaelyn rode rides all day and had the best time.

Graduation was Sunday. It went well. For some reason, they left me off of the commencement program and didn't have a seat for me. I had to sit in the very last row. But it all worked out and it is done. Now I just need to finish my internship to get my diploma and I am done!

Playroom Pictures

Finally, here are the playroom pictures. It was worth all of the hard work and was good for me to have a project to throw myself into these past few weeks.

The playroom in it's entirety.

The Diamond Wall. It took Kevin and I three tries and four rolls of painters tape to get the diamonds to measure right. Then I hand stenciled a rose at each junction of the diamond. There are two "K"s also stenciled for Kaelyn and Kate.

I painted this entertainment armoire to match the decoration. It also has diamonds on them but I went back over it with glaze to give it an antique look. The same roses and "K"s are stenciled on it.

Mirror, mirror on the wall. This is for the girls to play dress-up.

We, and when I say we, I mean Kevin, laid this new flooring. It is a vinyl tile that comes in strips like wood floor. It really looks good and I am happy that it is moppable as this room exits to the backyard so dogs and little people are always tracking in.

American Idol

I love American Idol but since I am so busy during the day and evening, I have to DVR it. I love my DVR. Pause, fast foward, rewind...so much control, right at my fingertips. I find myself, for a split second,wanting to rewind the radio when I miss something. I sometimes wish life were like that...there are so many moments I would love to rewind or pause and even a few I would like to fast forward through! But, back to American Idol. I do love it and am very happy with the final two. I love David Cook. Watching the show on DVR, I have my own way of judging. I watch them all but if they aren't catching my attention, I fast forward through them. Kind of like the Gong Show. Mind you, I am usually watching this at 12 am so I have to do this or I'll fall asleep. That being said, I have never forwarded through David Cook's performances. They always keep me entranced. I love his voice and he has such charisma. I can't wait for next weeks show.

Final Farewell

I went to the farewell barbecue for my work tonight. It was really nice and I felt special. It was also very hard as this was so much more than a job for me. I will always miss it but know I made the right decision. I worked with the most amazing people, both clients and employees. The company I worked for is having some troubles right now and it's unfortunate because they do a lot of good. I truly hope they can work through the issues.

One more day before our trip to Des Moines. We got a lot of housework done today, with mom's help. Thanks Mom! I am close to getting my house back. Now if only my washer was working! Mom has saved the day there too doing umpteen loads of laundry for us. It's amazing how much laundry we go through. The play room is done! I took pictures and will post tomorrow. I am too tired tonight.

Lots of Laundry

I walked for over an hour today with my new iPod. I love it! It sure made the walking seem to fly by.

As the days go by, I am more and more convinced that I made the right decision for me and my family. I am still working to get the house cleaned and organized and then can just maintain it. I hope to get some serious work done with my mother-in-law here next week. But in the meantime, I have to have the house at least presentable when she gets here. I made a list dividing out all of the rooms in the house and am trying to follow it. Then the washing maching starts leaking water out the bottom. I took three loads to mom's tonight and have at least another three to do.

Excited!

God does provide one way or another. After talking to friends, I realized that the iPod that I needed, uum wanted, was around $150. I didn't need (want) it that bad. Then I remembered that my cousin Karl had been trying to sell one when he moved here. He had been given one at a promotional thing and didn't have much use for it. So, he gave it to me. I am so excited and trying to load a bunch of my CD's on to it. Not only that, but the ones I needed/wanted was 4GB and this one is 30GB! Not really sure what a GB is but that is okay!

We are close to getting the playroom done and it is so cute. No one could ever accuse me of doing anything halfway. I think we are going up to the PTO carnival and playground dedication this afternoon. And that is all from this neck of the woods.

Great Day!

Today was a really great day. My BFF Enola came to spend the day with us. We did a whole lot of nothing and had a great time doing it. We walked to the restaurant and had lunch. We took the girls to the school playground and watched as they played in huge water puddles pretending to be mermaids. We had dinner at mom and dad's and then came back and got the girls ready for bed. It was so nice just spending time together, having a chance to talk and catch up.

Otherwise nothing much new to report today. I am going to go paint diamonds on the wall in the playroom now.

iPod Search

I am still trying to get the playroom done. It is taking forever! It's going to be really cute when I am done, just not sure when that will be!

I have walked 45 minutes the past two mornings. I want to get an MP3 player to walk with. I did a search last night and realized that I know next to nothing about them. So I called my friend Jennifer and she told me that I needed an iPOD Nano. The walking has felt so good. Yesterday I headed out of town and walked down a gravel road. It was so peaceful. I am reclaiming simplicity in my life and it feels great!

Manic Monday

I have spent a good part of the day painting the toy room. It looks like a princess threw up in there! It is pink and purple and blue and lavendar and dark pink and tinkerbell green and well, you get the picture. I need to do the wallpaper border and a few other things and I think it will all come together. Kevin got the floor done this weekend and it looks great. I am so excited to have a floor that I can just mop up after the dogs run in with dirty feet.

Kate is finally starting to really talk and I feel like we are getting to know one another. I was on my way out the door to work when she would be getting up in the mornings. She goes to bed at 7 pm so our time together was limited. I am really enjoying my time with her. I look at Kaelyn, five already, and realize how fast they grow up and I don't want to waste a single minute. This is the most important job I will ever have.

It was a good weekend. Mom, Dad, Kaelyn and Devan loaded up in one car while Kellie, Kate, Clairice and I loaded up in mine and we all headed for Nebraksa on Friday. It felt great to be headed out of town. I hated to leave Kevin home but he got a lot done for us while we were gone. We didn't do much but just spent time together as family. We had to referee the girls some as they squabbled like five girls together will but they had fun. As always, just being with my sisters, is healing to me.

It was a good trip, I feel strong and ready to face the week.

Happy May Day

Well, I guess May Day is officially over now but I was wondering if anyone celebrates May Day around here. We always did when we lived in Lincoln. We would decorate little "baskets" and fill them with candy. Then we would take them to our friends' homes and leave them on the doorstep, give a knock and run! It was so much fun. When I moved here, no one seemed to know what I was talking about.

I started painting the play room tonight. I used Posies for Pooh and Honey Pot Purple on one wall. On the main wall, I put one coat of Fairest of Them All and am going to put diamond shapes all over with Pretty in Pink. Kevin is going to use Bibbidi Bobbidi Blue to make a cloud ceiling. I have always wanted a cloud ceiling! Yes, I know...this room is for the girls but I can't help being excited about it! Not sure what to do with the other walls yet.

And my best news of all is that Christy, my mother-in-law, will be coming to visit us for six days. She will go to Des Moines with us for our graduation and then come stay with us for three days. Her positive nature is infectious and will be a good influence on me. She is also the best painter I have ever seen. When she was here for Christmas, we painted the dining room and living room. I hope to do our bedroom this visit.

SAHM?

Life is a journey...I try to live by this motto as truer words were never written. This blog may actually become interesting as I document my transition from career mom to stay-at-home mom. And maybe not.

The highlight of my day yesterday was that my girls actually had three meals. And then Mom burst my bubble and said that they'll probably get fat now! Fortunately I think they have more of Kevin's skinny genes than my pleasantly plump ones so they won't have to worry about that. Prior to this change, our meals were hit and miss. We had fast food at least one time a day, hence my ever expanding figure. But no more!

And regarding my figure, I walked with the girls in their stroller twice yesterday and it felt good. Our little town is so pretty. There was a nice breeze blowing and fragrant lilac in bloom. It was really nice and it felt good to be doing something for myself.

Amazing how everything can change in just a few short days!