What's next??

The Date is Wrong on this, actually posted 2/22/12?? =)
I just found this under drafts:

"It's funny how things work themselves out. When I decided that I wanted to be a stay at home mom, I thought that I would be home with my kids at least until the all hit kindergarten. I had even convinced myself that after they were all in school that I would slowly take classes just 2 days a week so that I could be around for field trips and soccer games. How could I have guessed that my dream job would find me?"

It's funny, sometimes I forget how much this job was meant for me. How it fell right into my lap at exactly the right time. Now Jim is finishing up with school this semester and I have told him it's my turn. Which is very scary for me. I have gone back and forth with what I want to do next. I wanted to find something that would complement what I am doing now instead of replace it. I had something in mind, and spoke to my boss about it. I had thought it was too ambitious, something I couldn't do right now.

But my boss thought it would be perfect for me and is helping me make the connections. I am taking the steps now, filling out the paperwork, looking for people in the field that can give me advice. I'm not quite ready to give it away yet, but I'm pretty excited. keep me in your prayers!!

xoxo

Me time.

I am at the bittersweet time in my life when I know that I am done having kids and I am ready to move on to the next phase of our life as a family. It's a little sad knowing that I will never again have that feeling of holding my baby for the first time. That instant, first time love. That feeling of breastfeeding my child and knowing that I am the most important person in their entire life. I love watching them grow, I just wish they would do it a little slower.

With the bad comes the good though. I am very proud of the young men that they are becoming. I love leaving the house without a diaper bag or having to prep for outings. I love that even little Landon can have a conversation with me. I love that once in a while I am still the center of their world and they want nothing more that to sit on my lap and cuddle with me. And now that they are getting older and I am working part time I am starting to feel like more than just mom. I feel like me again sometimes. I am going to spend my birthday weekend away from the boys. Just me and Jim. We are going to Cedar Point on Saturday and on Sunday we are going to sleep until we get kicked out of our hotel room.
Then in August, I will most likely going to Nashville for 5 days with MOPS! I am going to Columbus for work for 3 days at the end of August, too. It feels a little weird to be leaving them, but I am so excited for the time for myself.

Ouch

My head and back have been hurting so much lately. Thank God for Excedrin. That's what I get for giving up soda, right? My body just needs that caffeine I guess. But it's all part of an over all getting healthy and fit plan and I am sticking to it. I've done it before and I know I can do it again. More to come later...

Fun in Warren, OH.

Today is yet another Snow day. We went from zero to 4 1/2 inches over night and are expecting to double that by the end of the day. So instead of going to a new indoor play area with a friend and my two younger boys on my day off, I am struggling to find something to entertain my boys again! The play area is out of the question today because an extra kid drives the price up even more and it's a 40 minute drive that could be dangerous on a day that we are expecting so much snow..
So what is there to do now? I have worked all week and I wanted to get out of the house with my BFF and my kids for a little fun. In the summer we have lots of things we can outside. there are parks and playgrounds all over the place. We could probably go to a different one every week in the summer and not run out. There are also beaches and activities and baseball games. Lots of free and inexpensive things to do. Today, I'm coming up with Mcdonalds/burger king play area, or Chuck e. cheese. ugh. We need more for families to do in the winter around here. It's March 11th and it's a snow day for goodness sakes! It's winter here most of the year. =(

Y-M-C-A

Today, we found out that we got a family scholarship to the local YMCA. We are so excited because we will be able to work out and swim, and the kids will be able to take swim lessons for free! I have been wanting a vacation so bad and we haven't been able to plan anything because of scheduling. The idea of getting to swim whenever we want almost feels like a mini vacation. We are planning on going Saturday to fill out the rest of the paperwork. Looks like mama is going to be shaving her legs more often. =)

Things are looking up.

Things have been so crazy lately with me working 4 days a week. I know it may not sound like a lot, but going from stay at home mom to being gone 4 days a week all day is a bit of an adjustment. To top it off, I had things to do for my MOPS group and MOPS on my day off. Next week I go back down to three days, which seems so much more manageable to me. Plus one of my favorite co-workers is returning from maternity leave. It should be a good week.

Spring is almost here and I am looking forward to all of the good things that it will bring. More daylight, better weather, and time outside!! My boys have cabin fever so bad. I am hoping to spend most of our summer outside playing and working in the yard.

So today, I am feeling happy. Lets just hope it stays that way.

I need a vacation.

There are not enough hours in the day. I have been moved up to 3/4 time at work because a co-worker had a new beautiful little girl. At the same time, Jim when to 4 days at school and is gone more. This last week was the busiest we have ever been in our lives.
Add to that 2 sick kids and you have one crazy mama. Kameron has been spiking fevers so I have him on a strict Tylenol/Motrin schedule to keep it from happening again. Landon just has a super runny nose. They are all three whiny and clingy.
It feels like any spare time we have had, Jim and I are taking turns catching up on sleep. I slept from 1am to 5am then 12pm to 4pm. Jim slept from 1am to 12pm. We basically have seen each other for 2 hours so far today and it involved making dinner and cleaning up.
I know this post is full of ranting and complaining and I'm not sure anyone is reading it anyway.

How the WII made my ADHD child a better student.

Haha, I feel like writing a book. My husband decided that my family needed a video game system, so we are now the proud owners a Nintendo Wii. We raised the money to get it and researched the bet deal and I am happy to say that we bought a brand new week with lots of extras for $180 including the tax. We have spent less than $100 extra now and have the 4 remotes, the foam extensions and a ton of games. Very little of the cost actually had to come from our bank account.

Now, the best part. We are on a homework for wii time exchange. I give Nathan one hour of free wii time after school. after that, he can earn an extra hour of wii time by reading and doing homework. For some, 1 hour of reading and homework may not be that challenging. But for Nate, who has ADHD, it is a real battle. After dinner tonight, he got his school book out without being asked and read to me for 20 minutes straight. Then he went down to read to his grandma for another 10 minutes. Now he is writing his spelling words at the table alone without complaining. To me, it feels like a miracle.

I know it's a little early to be cheering the reading for wii exchange, but I have heard similar results from other friends with special needs kids. A friend of mine with a son with aspergers get their family a Wii for Christmas. After he returned to school, the teacher commented on his attitude and behavior improvement. She asked what she was doing differently. The only real difference is the boy is playing Wii for one hour before bed, and he seems to be sleeping better too.

Wii rocks.

Happy 2011.

So it's a new year and I can already tell it's going to be a change for us. Our family in complete and we are on to the next step of our lives. I'm a little nervous to see what this year will have in store for us. Jim's school schedule is very crazy this spring and it will be the first time we really have to leave the kids with a baby sitter while we are both busy. We got off to a rocky start in December because we were all sick and had to miss days of work and school. I am hoping that everything goes a little better when Jim starts on the 10th. Thank God I will be on part time.. Enough rambling, HAPPY 2011!