2013...

Happy New Year!

I usually have a feeling about a New Year.  What the year will be like.  Whether or not it's going to be a good one.  If good things will come or if I should not get over excited about it.  I get these feelings about Hurricane Season too and am generally correct.  Maybe I missed my calling as a Psychic Meteorologist, they have those right?

Anyway, my feelings.

This year I'm not sure what happened.  I heard more than a handful of people state that they weren't really in the holiday mood this year.  I was one of those people.  It took me a while just to be like, 'yea, ok, Christmas is here, I might as well get my decorations up.'  I did eventually get into the the swing of the holiday and had a wonderful time.  Not a whole lot of stress, a little more egg nog and sweets than was needed and in the end I can say that I had a fun and festive season.

Then, it was New Years Eve.  I don't usually make an actual resolution.  I've made a few cheesy ones over the years and just a couple years ago I resolved to write a post at least once a month if only to check in...hahahaha...*snort, snort*...a ha, a ha, ooohhhhh...sorry...excuse me while I wipe the tears of laughter from my eyes...*sigh*, ok i'm better now.

As you may imagine that resolution didn't quite pan out.  I'm still here, yes, but it's lucky if I get a post up every few months.  May I take this opportunity to say thank you for continuing to check in and reading my weird rambling thoughts.

So this year was no different, except that instead of saying 'My New Years Resolution is to, blah, blah, blah, insert typical healthy goal here'.  I said nope, not at all.  I am making no resolution.

I have been very happy with myself for a little over a year a half now.  I've lost a large amount of weight and though it still fluctuates it has stayed off.  I am eating right, with my occasional splurge or treat.  I am even in a workout routine that isn't over taxing and that I enjoy.  What is there to change?

So, back to my feeling.

When I started thinking about the New Year a few days ago, I was expecting to have some sort of thought on the matter.  A drop in my gut or a lightness in my chest.  A quick daydream in my head about the year to come and what it had in store.  What I got was...nothing.  Just, nothing.  I had no 'feeling' about the year to come and what it had in store for me or my family.

There are good things on the horizon for us, nothing carved in stone and nothing that is on the edge of becoming reality, but definite positives.  I am not a pessimist but I do also know that there is always a chance that some negatives will show up again, but we know we can handle it.

I didn't put too much thought into my lack of 'vision' for 2013 but now as I write this, here is the conclusion I've come to.  I didn't see anything because there wasn't a major fluctuation in our lives.  No dazzling ups, no disastrous lows. We are just coasting along and I am perfectly ok with that.  I think this year will be a relaxing year of settling and shifting.  We have had so much personal turmoil in the past few years and have had to scrape the bottom so often that we appreciate not being that low anymore.  But on the flip side we have had so many things turn around for us recently that even though we are still not in the clear, we are a lot higher than we were.  We can see the sunshine and smell the fresh air, how can we not be looking up?

We will settle into our lives and feel a little bit more at ease with every passing day.  We will slowly see what else can be changed in our way of life and shift them to become easier and more well planned.  We will also be preparing ourselves for our next step.  Whenever that may be, wherever it may take us, and however it may happen, this year will be our first step towards our families next mystery chapter.  And it all coincides with a new year, talk about a fresh start.

How's that for not making a resolution!?!

Today I am grateful to have my house clean and back in order.

Thanksgiving...

I had a completely different post halfway typed about the 'truth' of Thanksgiving and how people relay their weekends, but didn't like the way it was turning out so I junked it and decided to go with the standard post.

We had a nice, long, easy, family weekend.  Early dinner at Jasey's mom's, then a late dinner at Marshall and Deri's.  A little bit of shopping Friday afternoon.  Cleaning and decorating for me on Saturday and Jasey took the kids to the park and for a bike ride.  Sunday I went to moms to help on the house while Jasey took the kids fishing.  When I got home the four of us went and picked out a Christmas Tree.

Blah, standard.

I don't like this post but I'm going to put it up because I don't want to erase it a second time, post nothing and feel like I've just wasted 20 minutes.

I took no pictures, was in a slightly bad mood some of the day on Thanksgiving for various reasons and at one point ended up in tears.

But other than that it was a good day.  The rest of the weekend made up for it.


28 days till Christmas...crazy

35 days till New Years...even crazier!




I am grateful for holidays, family and the freedom to complain, even if I don't do it out loud.

Garden Surprise, Update...

The storm took down all of the pumpkins and killed off most of the watermelons.  :(

There are some new watermelons that are pretty big but with the weather changing they seem to have come to a halt.  I'll have to try and get to one so I can cut it open and check it out.

A few vines have taken over the back of moms yard, the original place that they were planted and one vine even started to put out a little watermelon.  It got to about 4 inches, then the last time I saw it it seemed to be turning yellow, so it's mostly likely a goner, but maybe the vine will survive and produce something next year.  Here's hoping.

I'm still holding out hope that there is a pumpkin vine that survived somewhere in the mass of trees and vines between the two properties and that one day I will see a bright orange ball peeking out at me mostly hidden and protected.  Hey a girl can dream.

We also pulled up the remnants of the garden, with one surviving strawberry plant which was transplanted to a pot and about 8 small sweet potatoes which tried there hardest amongst the over grown weeds.

So for now our garden adventures are over.

I Don't Know What This Post Is About...

Sometimes I wonder if my life is really boring so I have nothing to blog about or if I'm so darn busy and I have no time to blog.

I think it's a little of both.

I am always busy but a good portion of the time it's things like cleaning and laundry, so not exciting to blog (or read) about (you're welcome).  With AJ starting school I have become as involved in PTA as I can without being a board member.  I volunteer when I'm able, attend all the meetings and do things at home for his teacher.

Just last night she sent home a few little things for me to do.  But do you really want to hear about how I sterilized and bagged counting beans for their math work?  Well too bad you just did.

There was also a SAC meeting last night that I attended.  It was full of Mission and Vision Statements, new K-1 report cards and District Accreditation.  Not what you come here to read about...but that is what I do.

I actually love going to all these meetings.  I am involved and know what is going on in the school.  I am known by the PTA board members.  My face is recognized by the Principal and Vice Principal of the school.  Everyone knows Ryan too.  There are somethings that I am not able to help with because I have Ryan with me but most things she is with me and no one has a problem.  It's great!

I picked Jasey up from work last night then he dropped me off at my meeting.  I didn't want him to have to load up the kids to come get me, figuring they would be in bed by the time I got out and for the record only one of them was.  So I threw my bike in the back of the car.  It was close to 8 o'clock by the time the meeting got out.  With the time change it was dark and with the lovely weather we've been having it was pretty chilly.  I hadn't brought a jacket.  Luckily, it's only a mile to get home.  I biked home, it was great.  I bike most of the time to and from school but I'm pulling the bike trailer behind me with two kids in it.  With the weight of the kids and the trailer I've estimated I'm pulling an extra 110 pounds.  No trailer, no kids, I was flying!

In addition to all the biking, I've been getting up at 5 every morning to take Kirby for long walks and to go to the gym.  I have no expectations for this routine.  I'm doing it now and that's what matters.  I do need to get a better eating habit back.  I'm not doing bad I just know I can do better.  I'm not super strict and give myself some wiggle room cause I'm sorry eating without wiggle room is no way to live!  Candy and snacks and ice cream are in no way foods of the earth but damn it they were created for a reason and that reason is for me to enjoy them every once in a while.  So I shall.

We still love our place and now that the weather has been so nice we are leaving all the windows open.  Ok let me rephrase that.  We are leaving the two windows and one glass sliding door open.  The kids can wander out onto the balcony and use their easel and art stuff.  Kirby goes and lays out there all the time, too.  Plus, we get to enjoy the cool breeze and fresh air.  No A/C!!  I also love that since all of our living area is on the second and third floors I don't have to close the windows before we leave.

AJ and Ryan love the Gangnam Style song.  And of course they have their own versions, which always make you giggle.  AJ's Lyrics...Heeeeey, Sexy Baby, Oh, oh, oh, Oppa Gum Dum Sty...and Ryan's Lyrics...Aaaaa, sex Baby, o, o, o, Ho Gon Sta.   They are both super cute and even when the  song is not on they will sing it together and dance.  As parents, these are the sort of things that you wish will never change.  But one day their own lyrics will join the land of 'Hurkles' and 'Clock-a-dollars', those are 'freckles' and 'crocodiles' for those of you that don't speak toddler-ese.  


So those are a few random things that are in my life at the moment.  Very exciting I know.  You must be on the edge of your seat right now.  I know I am.  But that is because I'm bringing this post to a close and I have to jump up and put in another load of laundry.  
Until next time!  






I am thankful that my life is just the right amount of crazy for me.   

Garden Surprise!...

I posted in the past about the garden that mom and I planted in her back yard.  We had at least 5 different kinds of greens, multiple hot and sweet peppers, corn, sweet potatoes, green and wax beans, strawberries, squash, cucumbers, 4 kinds of tomatoes, onions, garlic, we even planted watermelon and pumpkin seeds in a back corner to see what they would do. There was much more in the garden that I'm forgetting.  A few things never became established or couldn't take the Florida heat.  We would pull them out and toss them in a pile in the back corner where moms property meets her neighbors, an old family friend, who runs a nursery.

We never had much luck with the squash.  It was one of the first things we planted and it just kept getting a fungus so we pulled it out and threw it in the corner.  When Jasey and I moved out most everything had died out from the end of summer heat so we pulled out whatever wasn't going strong and threw it in the corner as well.  That left some peppers, garlic, AJ's lima beans, sweet potatoes, strawberries, asparagus and a few other things.  I had just plated the watermelons and pumpkins and most were doing well but the ones that had died off got chucked in the corner.  We actually had a very good little compost pile in that corner!

We decided to let the weeds take over, whatever was left got thrown on the pile and pretty soon the weeds were green and lush.  Then mom noticed a vine creeping it's way along the trees over the 'compost' pile in the back corner.  Our squash that never wanted anything to do with the garden life was  growing al on its own.  How cool, it had been a good two years since we had attempted to grow the squash.  We thought maybe there would be a few ready to pick around Thanksgiving that we could cook up.

Then mom started noticing the vine all over the place.  It grew by, what seemed like, feet everyday.  Then flowers started blooming!  There were blooms all over the place...I mean all over the place!  There were vines 50 feet in the air that we hadn't noticed before!  Then mom started noticing little squash!  She kept an eye on them but after a couple days she was calling me, amazed.  They were getting so huge but didn't look like crook neck squash which is what we were pretty sure we had originally planted.

Next time I was over we went to take a look and were shocked at what we saw.  One of the fruits was more than double the size it had been just 2 days earlier.  As we looked we started noticing a lot more squash than we first saw.  There were at least 12 of these things hanging in the trees, some of them 30 to 50 feet above our heads!  Then I spotted one just over the fence line only about 15 feet up.  Mom got a ladder and I climbed up to get it.  (That shows how excited I was cause I hate ladders and this was a very unsteady area)

It was round, about the size of a basketball and dark green.  Some of the other ones were more elongated and dark green but had some lighter spots along them. We just stared at it for a while trying to figure out what it was and decided to cut it open.  

Just before we cut it open it hit us, it was a pumpkin!  The other ones with the spots were watermelons!

Our watermelons made it.  Our pumpkins were growing.  They were growing...50 feet in the air...in Florida...in trees!!!  We grew pumpkins in trees!!!

Me with my pumpkin!!!

Those are some of the vines on the ground behind me, they are in the trees in the background too but are harder to see unless you know what to look for.

I couldn't get enough pics with the pumpkin!

In the middle of this pic below the branch going across the photo is a watermelon.  You can see some of the lighter spotted lines going up and down.  It was about 8 inches long when I took the picture.   

 

There is a watermelon and two pumpkins in this pic.  The same watermelon from the last pic (top left of the middle) then go down diagonally to the right there is a pumpkin in the center of the pic and another following that same line.  They are all just a few inches apart in the picture.  

A watermelon dangling overheard.  It kept swinging in the breeze so the pic is blurry.

Cross section of our pumpkin.  It was very sappy when I cut it open.  Obviously it was no where near ripe but it had the ridges in the skin which you can see along the edge and it certainly smelling like a pumpkin.  I didn't keep the seeds, though I wish I had.  

I would say oh I'll just get the seeds from the next one but unfortunately I don't know if that will happen.  We discovered them and took these pictures 3 days before Hurricane Sandy 'hit' us.  We didn't get a whole lot but we got enough big winds to do some pumpkin and watermelon damage.  Mom called me that night and I went to her house yesterday so I could survey the damage.  About 3 big branches came down and while there are still a few vines hanging on everything is gone.  All the vines came down and most of them were snapped.  The ones on the ground are fine so far but we have no clue where they begin so it may be a matter of time before they die too.  We went into the neighbors yard and found a smashed pumpkin on the ground.  The poor thing fell to its death :(

Though we did discover a lot more vines on his side so maybe something somewhere survived.  All the fruits that we did spot were watermelons.  Pumpkins and high winds apparently don't mix.  We don't know for sure yet but we believe that the vines growing in moms yard are pumpkins.  That would be so cool!

I was excited enough thinking that this crazy vine was squash, it ending up being pumpkin was unbelievable!   It was sad to see them down, especially so soon after discovering them and so close to a couple of them possibly ripening.  It would have been neat to see one of them ripen and who knows it may still happen but I am thrilled just by the fact that they grew!  

My favorite part of fall...PUMPKINS!!!!

Officially Preschool Age...

Ryan is 3!!!!!!  Weighing in at 33 pounds and 37.5 inches tall.

Our little girly girl is no longer quite so little.

We went to a pumpkin patch the day before her birthday.  She wasn't totally thrilled about the sand getting in her shoes, lesson learned, but other than that we all had a great time.  We got there as soon as the farm opened and went on a hay ride.  Then we wandered through the pumpkins.  We always let the kids pick their own small pumpkin and we get a big family pumpkin.  We also took a peek in the market.  It was a beautiful day, the perfect day for the pumpkin patch.

AJ spent the night at my moms that night so it was just Ryan and us the next morning.  I was surprised when she woke up and remembered it was her birthday and started telling anyone that would listen.  I was even more surprised when I finally convinced her that she was no longer two.  She would argue with me when I told her she was three!!  We took the dog for a walk and had a yummy breakfast, that girl ate about 5 pieces of turkey bacon!  Isn't she pretty though?

It was a pretty lazy morning and early afternoon.  Mom and AJ drove down so we could all head over to Marshall and Deri's new house!  The kids swam in the pool and we had a birthday cookout.  It wasn't long after we ate that the kids started pestering us and asking when we were going to have cake.  So cake it was.   

I was a little unprepared when it came to the cake decorating part.  I am usually on the ball and start working on the cake a couple days in advance so I have enough time to bake and carve and decorate.  Although, I'd been thinking about it for a while I had never made a decision what kind of cake to make.  So I did what I could with what I had and this was the end result.  Kai-Lan and Hello Kitty.  Not my greatest creation to date but it was Ryan's favorite color and she knew who they were so all in all I'd say it was a success.  Though I've never had great handwriting and you can see why I prefer not to write anything on my cakes, especially without the proper tools.  

She got one of the candles blown out all by herself without spitting on the cake, awesome!  I helped her with the other two.  I didn't spit on the cake either.  

She had fun opening presents.  AJ helped whenever she had any trouble and most of the time that she didn't.  They were both so excited that there was no screaming or fighting over anything, any parents dream.  She loved her gifts, a Dora doll, a little Tinkerbell, new shoes, Hello Kitty and Princess magnet playhouses, new Kai-Lan and Hello Kitty t-shirts, new pajamas and her very own Mobigo (no more fighting over AJs).  It's so cute when they figure out presents and unwrapping.  It'll make for a fun Christmas this year!

It was a super low key day.  Everything went smoothly and the kids had a good time, how can I complain?

We are supposed to be going to Jasey's moms this weekend to celebrate again, extended birthdays are always great.  

I'm not sure if I can't believe that she's three or if I can't believe she's only three.  She is so well spoken and intelligent.  A complete turn around from a few months ago when I though she was going to be a terror everyday until she turned 20.  She definitely still has her own ideas and way of doing things but she listens and pays attention and understands when you tell her something.  It is truly amazing.  She is truly amazing.  

Ryan Addison

10/21/2009

9lb 9oz  

21in

Happy 3rd Birthday Wiggle Worm!

I love you!!!

moving on...

Summer was crazy and busy and fun.  We had lots of playdates, pool time, hanging with family and, with all of Jasey's and my cousins and friends, more births and announcements of new little ones to come.  It is a never ending parade of babies I tell you.  I love it!

With the end of summer we had a crazy new first.  AJ in Kindergarten!  yikes!  We met his teacher and walked him to class on the first day (and most of the first week).  By day two he didn't want to hold my hand once we got onto campus from the parking lot...really, already!?  After a couple days he was leading me to the classroom and by the end of the week I dropped him off and he walked by himself.  Talk about heart wrenching.  The first day of Kindergarten didn't bother me.  Him not wanting to hold my hand was slightly upsetting.  Seeing him walk away from the car with his big old backpack on and not being able to stay there and watch him and make sure he got to his class, that one actually made my heart hurt.  But he loves school, and his teacher, and buying lunch in the cafeteria (He buys about once a week) and singing, and learning all the cool new things they do in class.  He's having a great time. And just like that, more than a month has gone by.

Another big milestone in our household...Miss Ryan is potty trained!  We worked with her on and off for a little while.  I didn't want to push her but I wasn't being very consistent either.  I'd have her sit down at every change for a few days then I would realize that a week had gone by and I hadn't done anything in the training department.  In the middle of July she was doing pretty good and we had gotten into a routine.  She wasn't afraid to go anymore, which was an issue for a while.  Then I realized that we only had about a week of diapers left and I made the decision to just not buy anymore.  By the time we went through all the diapers and I recovered and used all the random ones from my little hidey holes Ryan had decided that she was ok with the potty too.  I don't know what made her change her mind, which I am positive was the only reason it hadn't happened earlier, the little ruler wasn't ready yet, but within a couple days she didn't have any problems.  Then, only a couple weeks later she decided that the potty was beneath her, she switched to the toilet and has not looked back.  She gets all high and mighty if I ask her if she needs to go potty or if she wants to sit on the potty, she will make sure to correct me and tell me, "Mommy I sit on the white toilet".  I mean, come on, potties are for babies, everyone knows that.  She is 2 going 20.

Jasey is moving too.  A wonderful opportunity come open at work and Jasey pounced on it.  It is finalized yet still in the works.  So that would be officially unofficial or is it unofficially official?  Either way it's his and paper work has gone through but we are waiting for the official move.  It's another one of those things that you feel like you are going to jinx if you talk about it, even though it's for sure.  OK, now I'm confusing myself, so I can only imagine how your head is hurting.

Our biggest news, we have moved!  Yes, again.  Yes, we weren't even at the other place for a year.  Yes, moving sucks.  But more importantly, Yes, We love it!!!  It's been two weeks since we moved and we are so glad that we did.  We liked the other neighborhood and the house but it was so big...too big.  It actually worked out perfectly because we had the room for Marshall and Deri to stay with us when they moved down here a couple months ago.  But they wouldn't be there forever and then it would just be so much house.  There was also the issue of Jasey having such a drive to work everyday.  That was an extra hour plus of us not being able to see him just from travel time.  We had already registered AJ at the local school before we made the decision to move and I had done so much research on that school that it was a big decision to have to register him somewhere else and also figure out how to deal with the timing.  We didn't plan to move until at least a month after school started and I didn't want him to get settled and then have to move schools so early in his kindergarten year.

Those were our two big concerns when moving.  Well we are now a half a mile down the road from Jasey's work and a mile around the corner from AJ's school.  AJ's school is also one of the top elementary schools in our county.  Plus, they let us register him at the school before we moved so that we wouldn't have to move him a month into the school year.  How could I not love this school from day one?!  We couldn't have picked a better location or a place we like more. It's been three weeks and it already feels more like home than the other place ever did.

Oh yeah, and we bought a new car.  It was sad to see Jasey's Tahoe drive away but we are very happy with the new addition.  Isn't she pretty?

It's been a wonderfully crazy few months.  I don't know what we are going to do when our lives settle down.  Though I think it will be a while before that has a chance of happening.  Here's to moving on!