The Rat Race

It seems like people always have the best parenting advice BEFORE they become parents. Myself included. I remember all those years I said "Oh we will never be one of those families that over schedules their kids...how unfair". Right...I say this on a Saturday morning as we get ready for dance. The boy has Hip Hop, and the girl has Ballet and Hip Hop. During the week we have Taekwon Do Tuesday and Thursday, both big kids at different times, so we are at the Do Jang from 3:30ish until 6 o'clock-ish then Sunday morning consists of Swimming Lessons. The boy has also asked to play soccer which will consume one more evening a week and another hour on Saturday. How does one avoid the Rat Race while still allowing their children the opportunity to do the things they really want to do? Swimming and Taekwon Do are not negotiable. They have to do these, dance and soccer are activities that they choose. I feel like we have to allow them the choice activities so they don't resent us later for forcing them to take martial arts and swimming.

Gotta Run....my girl needs her Ballet Bun

Happiness

You know. I'm remarkably happy with my life and where it has taken me. I've been blessed with someone who is the love of my life (most days) and I have three wonderful children. This last year has offered me a lot of insight into what makes me happy, and what makes my family tick. We unexpectedly added a third child to our family (we were home free with the youngest starting Kindergarten) and as scary as it was, it's been the greatest thing that has ever happened.

Of course I was thrilled when my first two children were born, but we had decided that two was it. Five years later it's like I have been given a do-over, a chance to do all of the things I wished I had done with my first two. I definitely feel a different kind of connection with the baby than I did and do with my older children. Perhaps it is because he is a baby...maybe it's because he is THE baby, or maybe it is because I feel like he was a gift just for me, but some days my heart is so big with love for him I want to burst into tears. It's not just me though. Everyone who comes into contact with The Baby feels the same way. Family and friends adore him, my older children are amazing with him and have not had one millisecond of jealousy towards him. I know he is here for a purpose, is it to teach us something? I'm not sure, but he is sure teaching me to revel and savour every moment I can with him. The Baby is so incredibly loved, he has no idea at this age how many people love him so so much. He has allowed me to finally be at peace with being a Mommy, he has allowed me to really...be okay with it all.

He is 6 months old....isn't he cute? God I love this kid!!

FOOD

One thing I do that a lot of Moms in my generation don't do is I cook almost every day, and I bake all of the bread that my family consumes. I get such a sense of gratification in knowing that when my little ones open their lunch kit at school that they are eating a sandwich made from bread that I baked for them. Nothing says "I Love You" like fresh home made bread. Today I tried a new recipe. The Boy helped me today, he was an integral part of what came out of the oven this afternoon. Our very first load of Dark Russian Rye Bread. And it was Ohhhhh, so good!!

Here is the dough, resting, just before it is shaped and let to rise



Here is the finished product. Yes it tastes just as good as it looks!!

Oh 2010 What Will You Bring Me

Well, 2009 was filled with lots of changes and fun for our family. Best of all was the arrival of our newest little bundle of joy, and what a bundle he has been. I always wanted a big family, and although we're stopping here, I'm happy.

We capped off 2009 with a family vacation to Mexico, it was fantastic. The first time in 7 years that we have gone away on a real vacation. Shane and I were lucky enough to travel a lot in the years before we were married, but the last seven years have been so filled with just keeping our heads above water in life, that we haven't managed to rally up the troops and spend real relaxing time together. We've managed a ton of small "staycations" but nothing like this. The kids loved it, it was truly an amazing week. We have vowed to do this again soon. Like hopefully in February and to make an annual December tradition of spending a week in Mexico.


Here are my big boys strolling on the beach. Sigh, how I love them so.

Me and the baby in our shady spot by the pool.

And here is my silly girl.


So what are we looking forward to in 2010? Well, hopefully more time together as a family and crazy as I am I have joined Wardrobe Refashion. I've committed myself for six months. Six months of no new clothes for me. I'm going to try to stick to it for the kids too. Good thing I did a good amount of Boxing Day Shopping and hopefully have all the need for new out of my system. The not buying new part shouldn't be too hard, I try to stick to second hand for the kids and I as it is anyway, I can get top brand clothing in like new condition if I buy second hand and the frugal part of me reminds me that this is a good thing for our budget and the environment. What I am really looking forward to in the challenge is the refashioning of old clothing. Something I've always wanted to try but have never actually done it. Stay tuned because I will definitely be posting the good, the bad, and the ugly while doing this challenge.

My final goal is to start and complete Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred...I hear the Peanut Gallery laughing as I type this. I know....I'm going to do it though....for reals. Oh and one last thing. I need to set up a sub-section for this one and get a full length mirror but I want to do a daily photo pictoral of my frugal fashion. I think I tend to stay pretty hip with my attire (when I'm not in flannel PJs) so I thought I would share my Diva On A Dime esque lifestyle with you all, posting my outfits and where I bought each piece and the price if I can remember it. Not sure that this one is going to happen or will be consistent, but I'm going to try.

OK, so that's about it for now. Happy 2010 to all and much love, health, and happiness in the new year.

Are You Kidding Me?

It seems that whenever I have a baby, I lose my brain. Actual studies have been done showing that a woman's IQ increases when she is pregnant. What the study fails to mention however, is that it comes at the expense of common sense. I feel like for the past 11-ish weeks I have been walking around in a foggy stupor. Last week I was making a left into a parking stall at Wal-Mart and I hit the cart return....you know, the big shed that you put the carts back in when you leave? Yeah, I hit it...hard...pulled part of my front bumper off. Thankfully the world's greatest husband fixed it and didn't even yell at me. Fast forward 10 days. Today I hit the curb and flattened my front tire.

I really think I am having depth perception problems. Just after the second baby was born we bought a gorgeous 8 place setting of dishes. We picked them up on the way home from the hospital. Within a month almost half of them were broken, and now 5 years later I have about one quarter of the set left and am back to using my old dishes. I've broken maybe 5 dishes in my life before we bought this set, now it's like I have a permanent case of butter fingers. What's up with that?

Aaaaannnnnd We're Back

So I thought I would move....that was over a year ago....so I did, and then I quit blogging. Maybe just staying here is the better idea. I'll just do it all on this blog. Lots happening right now. As always. We've added another baby to our lives....because you know....we weren't quite busy enough and with E starting kindergarten I needed an excuse to stay home from work for another six years. Yeah...that's right.

I'm working on some fun little projects around the house right now. I hope to share them with you all. The big one is our "Family Message Center". We have this one spot in our kitchen that was sort of an unusable wall so I decided to transform it. It's been a slow process...you know with all that extra spare time I have. I've painted 5 coats of magnetic paint on the wall (I thought it would only take two, but it didn't, and it still needs more) then I will cover it with chalkboard paint...which might change if I can't find roll on paint. The spray kind will not work for me I don't thing. Then the kids chore charts, our family calender and anything else important will all go in that one area. It is such a great idea. I'm photographing the process and will share the whole thing once it is finally finished.

I think that's it for today :o)

So, I'm Kinda Moving

I haven't abandoned all of you here. I've just moved, sort of. I don't have the time, nor do I have enough clever banter to be able to maintain two blogs, so the bulk of my posting has been over on my company blog www.hipmelonbabywear.blogspot.com.If you want to see what's going on in my life, and how things are going on my fantastically amazing and oh so fun business adventure, then come on over and subscribe over there. I've also just posted a great solution to the yearly "Holiday Card" crisis/problem!! Thanks so much everyone, can't wait to see you over at the HipMelon blog or feel free to come visit us at the Website as well.