The Elf Has Landed

FAIR WARNING THIS WILL BE A PIC HEAVY POST!

Our kids have been a bit out of control lately and I think Santa could see I was at a breaking point.

So he sent me some back up!

 She is a bit creepy but a big help for sure.

After dinner last Monday someone or something rang our doorbell a bunch. When we 

looked out side no one was there. Daddy and the kids opened the door.

(sorry about the video i was trying to video tape stealth mode)

They were so excited to get a present in November it was great! I love my oldest sons

reaction when he realizes who it is from.

After just a few min of talking about it Roman came up with the name Sally and them Paris wanted to 

add Snowflake. We all agreed that was a great name and a new tradition was born!

I'M BAAAAAACK!

Not gonna give a ton of excuses as to why I have not blogged in 12 years. Ok, maybe not 12 years but a really long time. Life has been busy and as I plan on blogging about it all in future posts I will just press on. 

So our normal Santa is watching you tradition involves smoke detectors. Weird I know but it was born out of sleep depravity and frustration. My oldest (5 at the time) was driving me up a wall and NOT listening to me. After he stuck his tongue out at me for the 4th time I took A deep breath, looked up and got an idea!

"See that?!" I pointed to the smoke detector. "That is a camera Santa and his elves watch you with to see how good you are being!"

Bam!! Instant attitude adjustment! It was awesome. As it has gone on I have caught the other kiddos talking to the detectors to either ask for something, say they are sorry for something or, yes, to rat out the others.

In recent years though it has had a bit less of an effect. They still believe, yes even the 10 year old, but they seem to be a bit more rambunctious and forget about the cameras. So i am going to try something new. (to us anyway)

The Elf On The Shelf!!

I have a plan for the introduction and when it is here I will let you know how it all went and if it is working. :)

Photo a day virgin

I have decided to do a photo a day challenge via instagram and I am thinking of posting them here as well. I am hoping to keep up with it and probably not getting off to a great start since it is almost 7 and I still haven't taken today's photo yet haha! I plan on doing a weekly update so maybe it isn't such a bad start after all......

Romans pants don't fit!!!

This may sound normal and for those of you who have kids it is all too common to put an item of clothing on your little one only to realize its way to small and their hand is turning purple ;). This time however it made me realize how close the next chapter of my life is. My plan since my last day of being a hairdresser 2 weeks before Austin was born has always been the same.......I will go back to school and become a nurse. The only change is I think I am really wanting to be a postpartum nurse. After going through labor and delivery 3 times with very different experiences every time I have come to realize how important the care you and your new little bundle receive in the hours and days following delivery are sooooo very important. Especially if you have more at home and can not have dad stay in the hospital with you. 

I really think I will be good at is and a bonus is getting to see brand new babies in the first days of life!! Now you are probably wondering about the pants......OK........So you would think my youngest starting school would be my first indication of the impending adventure but in all honesty it was very exciting and I never really thought mush about the next step. I was just thrilled Roman loves school and gets excited every time before school. Roman is not a big fan of pants preferring instead to wear shorts (he even tried it in the snow) instead. There is however one pair I can always get him to wear and they are my favorites. They have always looked really good on him but never fit right. He is a bit of a stocky lad so his pants are always too long. Rolling his pant legs up are a must but on Friday when my husband got out clothes for him and he got dressed I noticed something.......I COULD SEE HIS ANKLES!!! It was in that moment for some reason it hit me how soon he will be in school full time and so will I. I actually teared up at the sight of those precious little ankles. The times ahead I am sure will be fun, scary, awesome and horrible at some point but it amazes me how the most random things can remind us of things to come.

Hoping to be healthy

So I have given being really healthy another go. I have tried (and failed) before but I am really hopeful this time. I am going in with a different mind set. Before I never really gave portion control a lot of thought. I mean I did try to stick to a serving size. Then I would say how much could a little more hurt?! Well that obviously isn't portion control. So this time I bought a ton of ziplock bags and portioned everything out after the store trip. I am hoping the ease of just grabbing a bag will help me stay on track. My other issue was failure. If I ate some cookies I would hate myself. So this time I am allowing myself to eat cookies or pizza and be good with it. I know that as long as I try and stay healthy during the rest of the time the few times I don't will be ok! Last but not least SODA! I drink a lot of soda.........A LOT! I also drink energy drinks too......the big ones. So the calorie count alone is redic! And going diet or sugar free is not am option as artificial sweeteners is one of my migraine triggers. So soda is out. This will be really hard and I have to have some caffeine or the head aches are just as bad as a migraine but it wont be in soda form so that will be good!

WOWSER!

Not sure if that,s a word but i have not gotten this blog off to a really great start have I?! Well as I hope family over seas uses this as a way to stay connected my new years resolution is to get a fire under my butt. First I hope to get a blog facelift and some posting lessons from a friend (Hemm Hemm....paging Rachel!) Then to post the fantastic Potter party from October and the Holidays. For now I just want to say I am really happy with the place I am in now and have really good feelings for 2013!!

Ahh To Be Young Again!

So it has been quite awhile since my last post but I have an excuse I swear! It seems as I get older My health gets worse. For those who don't know the first half of the year (not kidding......From January 9th- April13th) I battled with ovarian cysts and endometriosis. Both caused intense pain and even after the surgery Is still causing pain sometimes. I knew that because they were unable to remove most of the endo tissue (since it was wrapped around my kidneys) that I was going to have to deal with it off and on until menopause.  But my body was not done betraying me it seems! I have a tooth that now needs to be pulled (JOY!) and an issues with swallowing that caused me to need to get a camera down my throat and have numerous appointments with Gastro docs and ENTs. It got me thinking how we can take our health for granted and how simple things seemed when you were young and sick.......