Wonderful site for busy moms

I have recently made the best purchase I have ever made for my own sanity. I became a member of the ezmealz program and I LOVE it!!! This is a meal planning program that you pay 15 dollars every three months for. Basically, these two women sit down and take the sale ads for many different stores and they make a menu that includes seven dinners ( a main course and two sides). Every week you log on to the site and you print the menu, which includes three different grids. One box has the menu for each night, the next box has the ingredients that you will need for that night and the last box tells you how to make everything in a few easy steps. You also get a shopping list that is broken down according the the layout of the store. So you have produce, meats, canned goods, and so on. The best part about this is that they base the menus off of what is on sale for the week and the meals are wonderful. There are many different stores and meal options to choose from so there really is something for everyone. I have been doing this for 3 months now and I have to say that I do not have the first complaint. I have not made the same meal twice and every night my husband tells me how much he loved the meal. Check it out and I know you will be as happy as I am.

Click on the link on my page for the ezmealz plan.

School

Seems that my son is just not the school type. I knew this before I sent him. I contemplated home-schooling him, holding him out a year or just biting the dust and sending him. Obviously I choose to send him and there have been many times that I have questioned my decision. School is against everything that he believes in. He is my child that does not like new situations and will go kicking and screaming if made to do something he is unsure of. Not to mention that he has more energy than he knows what to do with. So, needless to say, starting Kindergarten has not been an easy task. After the first day, he came home and told me that he went to Kindergarten, finished it and is not going back. Once he realized that he had to go back, he dug his heels in and tried with everything he had to get out of it. The first week he got in trouble 4 out of the 5 days. Most days I was home crying just knowing that I made the wrong choice in sending him. But now, going into the second week, I might be seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. I have gotten any notes home from the teacher and he seems to be a little bit happier when I pick him up. I am praying that this will continue to be the case and we will end up having a great year.

Kayce is loving school. She claps when we pull into the drive of the church and starts yelling "school, school". She is very happy with her teachers and seems to just love everything about her cute little room.

Back after a LONG summer.

I am back. Most of you probably think that I was gone forever, but after a much needed, fun summer, I am back in the swing of things. Since the last post I published was from Feb., I will use this post to update everyone.
B turned 5 on March 25. We deceided that we really wanted to make a big deal about turning 5 since that is the offical crossover from toddlerhood. Since Disney is having their year of celebrations, we made reservations to spend 3 days visiting the parks. Darren's mom and dad came with us and we went to MGM and Magic Kingdom. B had a blast. He still talks about turning 5 at Disney World.
K turned 2 on Feb 17th and is really coming out of her shell. She is much less shy with people but is still the exact opposite of B. She loves to cuddle, loves her thumb and blanket and is very particular as to the way things should be. She is much more particular than even I am.
We had a very busy summer. It started out with a visit from my brother and his family. After hanging at our house for a couple of days, we all went to the Keys for a long weekend. We all rented RV's right on the beach and had a blast. I can't wait to go back. After that, we went to the TN mountains for a week with my husband's side of the family. It was a very relaxing week and the kids had a blast. From there we met up with my brother and his family one last time in PTC before we had to say goodbye. They are now in Germany for 3 years and we are already missing them. We can't wait to get over there to visit and explore Europe. After our sad goodbyes, we returned home for a few days only to pack up and head to Melbourne with our friends for a week at a beachfront condo. 7 kids and 3 moms = 3 tired moms. We did have a great time and the kids are still talking about the fun week at the beach.
We are now home and in one week B will start Kindergarten. I am a little sad and exceited all at the same time. My babies are growing up and there is no stopping it. I am just hanging on and enjoying the ride.

Kayce is 2

I can't believe that just two years ago I had this precious little baby girl. Time really does fly!! I am scared that I will go to sleep and wake up tomorrow with children who have grown up to be teenagers. In two years this little girl has gone from a shy mommy's girl to a very independent strong willed girl who is ready to take on the world. She will go poop on the potty but really wants nothing to do with peeing in it. I think this is because she has watched Blake stand to pee for so long that she thinks that is how she should do it. Many times throughout the day I will see her walk up to the toilet and pull her dress up and then shiver. I know she is peeing but when I try and sit her on the toilet she pitches a nice little fit. So Blake is now commanded to shut the door when he pees and Kayce is not allowed to watch big brother for awhile. She is trying to talk but really only babbles. Blake was a very late talker so I am sure she will start sooner or later. She still does not have a full set of teeth. I think we are setting new records on that one; however, it does not slow her down in eating everything in sight. She LOVES shoes. Today she went to the doctor in a cute little dress and her pink plastic boots. I am just not willing to fight over shoes. I thank God on a daily basis for the two wonderful blessings he has given Darren and I and I look forward to many more birthday celebrations.

we are back

We are back from our semi-wonderful trip to Kansas to see my brother and his family. It would have been a wonderful trip had we not all come down with the stomach bug the last two days we were there. It never fails that whenever there is a big trip planned, someone gets sick right before or during the trip. But aside from that, we did have a great time. We stayed at a fantastic place called Great Wolf Lodge where we did a lot of this

while it was doing this outside

We got to eat with the dinosaurs and do a little of this

the kids got to see this for the first time

Kayce spent a lot of time doing her most favorite thing (dressing up) and looking like this

and this

and in the end, Blake got to do this

Doesn't he make a cute little pilot.
But most importantly, we got to spend time with

the best cousins ever. We had a great time and can't wait to do it all again soon.

I've Been Tagged!!

Thanks to my dear friend Mary Beth over at Four Silly Sisters, I have been tagged. The directions are as follows: Open a document or photo folder and choose the fifth folder and then the fifth photo in that folder. Next, post the photo with a description about it and then tag 5 friends to do the same.

So this is my picture. I actually love this picture because it is a rare find and I was able to get it on the camera. Kayce LOVES her big brother and really strives to do exactly what he does, when he does it and how he does it. Blake, on the other hand, does not always love the mini me he has running behind him and has recently started going in his room and closing the door just to get some alone time. Don't get me wrong, he does love Kayce, but he does not always show it. This picture is one of those moments when he did not mind her being in his space.

The other reason I love this picture is because this is Kayce when she is ready to snuggle and just be loved on. Thumb in mouth and blankie in hand. When she inserts her thumb and grabs that blanket you know you can head to the rocker and she will be right behind. I know that won't last long and oh how I will miss it when it is gone. But for now, she is simply to cute.

For my five tags, I choose the following:

Amanda at 2 fun sons

Lori at Peach out of Water

Marianne at Villafjolle

Since I am not huge in the blogging world, this is it for me. So I really hope you three participate and have a great time finding your fifth picture.

Toy Story

I live in a house made of toys. They are even in my bathroom. While I sit on the toilet doing my thing, I look around and see toys. Plastic lipstick, GI Joe men, trains, plastic pink shoes, a doll with her head turned in weird ways. I just can't escape the toys. There are times that I feel like they are watching me and laughing. I really want to purge and get rid of some but my dilemma is as such: about 99% of the toys in this house were a gift from a grandparent or an aunt or uncle. So every month as I start going through the house sneaking toys into my big black bag going to the children's shelter, my guilty little brain starts to say things like, " the next time the grandparents come to visit they will notice that this toy is not here and ask what happened and you will have to tell them that you gave it away". The big black bag gets emptied and put back under the kitchen sink and all of the toys do a happy dance because they are safe for one more month. So my question to all of you lurking out there, What do you do with all of the gifted toys that come into your home? Do you just live with toys harassing you daily by laying under foot because they just refuse to stay in their designated places or do you just show the toys who is the boss of the house and get rid of them and break the news to the ones that gifted the toys that they no longer reside at this address?? The toys are forming their game plan for the month and I refuse to go down without a fight.

Resolutions

I have never been big on resolutions and really only because I never keep them. But this year I resolve to do better. I have been thinking long and hard about this and what I really would like to change about me and/or my life. I also think that by making them public to those of you who do follow us throught this blog, I might feel that accountability to stay true to myself. So without further hesitation, here are the few resolutions I have made for myself:

1. to read my Bible everyday. I began to do this last year ( again a resolution failure) and made it all the way to Deuteronomy. I have picked up where I left off and so far have stuck to reading a couple of chapters per night.

2. to be a more patient mother and wife. There are really times that I am ready to throw the towel in with my kids and my husband (don't tell them I said that). These feeling really show their head when Blake and kayce are scraping and screaming at the top of their lungs, when I have asked Darren to do something (like take a library book back on his way to the store) and realize a week later that the same library book is sitting on the counter and I am getting nasty emails from our local librarian. This year I resolve to not focus on the negative and instead realize that the kids are kids and Darren does most everything I ask him so if he forgets one little thing, I will patiently and positively respond.

3. to hire a housekeeper. In the perfect world I would already have one. Doing housework feels like I am about to have to rip out my toenails. I know this sounds lazy and I do agree but this is my one pet peeve. Somehow, someway I will find a housekeeper that I can afford and welcome her into my home with open arms.

There you go. Whether you are interested or not, that is what I resolve to do in the year 2009.
On another note, the kids are doing great. We had a great holiday season with lots of wonderful time with both sets of grandparents. The kids LOVE to spend time with the grandparents and I am so glad that they have such a close relationship with them. Blake is becoming quite the train lover. He now has a geotrax layout in our familyroom, a thomas the train table and layout in his room and now a L&N layout on a roll-away platform that he and Darren built which he can roll under his bed when he is not playing with it. Kayce also loves the trains but spends much more time at her vanity table putting on her make up and combing her hair. Most of the time they are both loving all over one another and the rest of the time they are fighting and screaming. True siblings in the making.