Friday, January 2, 2009

Happy New Year

It's official, it is definitely a new year, new beginnings as we reflect on the happenings of the past year. I look forward to 2009 with many things already in the works: an upcoming birth, weddings, graduation, preschool, and my big 3-0 (oh, boy, is it really so), so I am trying my best to get fit this year. I'm not concerned about weight, because in the past I have focused my attention on losing weight and then I always end up getting mad and throwing in the towel, so this year, my focus is simply getting fit, mainly because if we proceed with the kidney transplant, the better shape my body is in from eating better and staying fit, I figure my recovery will be a bit better.
So here is to 2009, may it be filled with joy, laughter, and prosperity and little loss.
"Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true."~Alfred, Lord Tennyson,

Monday, December 29, 2008

Testing Updates

Okay, so we met with the a couple of the doctors regarding the kidney transplant and I am indeed a possible match for my mom. Hubby came with me so he could ask any questions that he had and I was glad that he was there with me. So needless to say I can donate my kidney, the next step I believe is that they will meet with a committee to decide if it is still in the best interest of my mom and myself and then they will let me know. I did say I wanted to wait till I finished my master's program. The only thing I worry about is the recovery for myself and my mom. My hubby will need to take time off work to watch the kids since I will not be allowed to do any lifting of any sort for three to five weeks and I'm not sure if he has enough time built up to take off and so any time off that he takes that isn't vacation or sick leave will have to be unpaid, which I don't think we can afford that, so if we can arrange help for the time that he can't take off then we will be okay. My dad has offered, but he will be taking care of my mom, so I'm not sure how that will work. I know that if the committee says yes and we proceed, I'm sure will we'll get it worked out, it is just trying to figure it all out now that is a bit stressful.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas

It is Christmas Eve and I've just finished cleaning the house getting ready for tomorrow. The kids are enjoying a snack and soon we will start making some sugar cookies for Santa, this is probably the first year the kids really understand, for the whole month of December I started using a nice/naughty checklist and every time they were naughty or nice they got a check mark. We counted our check marks and afterward Sweetpea exclaimed, "yeah, I get presents!" She had 17 nice marks to her 12 naughty marks and Bubba has 17 nice to 11 naughty marks. I don't know what to do now as the naughty/nice checklist was working great....I may have to think of a way of somehow continuing the list....think, think, think.
I'm looking forward to tonight, we have no plans, but I think we will read some Christmas stories, drink hot coco, and play some games with the kids. As a child we would watch old home Christmas videos, which were always fun and embarrassing and it seems that as a child Christmas always had this special magical glow on Christmas Eve with the anticipation of Santa and his tiny reindeer and the older I got the glow became dimmer and dimmer, so I have to say I have a renewed sense of Christmas spirit since having the kids, it feels like the magic of Christmas is back from when I was a child and I look forward to my children experiencing that magic and joy the season brings. And since having kids, it has also made me appreciate the season and want to give back, so we did purchase some items for the less fortunate. It really is true that the more you give the more you receive, in every sense of the word. It is definitely a trait I want my kids to learn and appreciate.

Anyway, I want to take this moment to wish everyone a wonderful holiday, may it be joyous, filled with laughter, good food, and the ones you love!

"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful." ~Norman Vincent Peale

"I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play, And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Monday, December 22, 2008

Where Dreams Come True....


Well we have come back from our spur of the moment trip to Florida, we were gone about a week. We went to Daytona Beach, St. Augustine, and Orlando - it was a busy time, but the kids really enjoyed it. They loved the beach and couldn't wait to put their feet in the water, we built a sand castle and just had fun at the beach chasing each other. The weather was wonderful, couldn't have asked for better weather.

We went to St. Augustine, drank from the fountain of youth and I finally found the spanish bakery that we would go to as a child and of course, it was closed by the time I reached it, errr. I was so dissappointed.

Then on to Orlando and the kids were in their glory...I was concerned that the kids might be a bit young for it, but they both were so excited. Bubba got to meet and greet with some characters from Disney Playhouse and he really enjoyed the Muppets 3D at Hollywood Studios. Sweet Pea went to Bibbity Boppity Boutique and had her hair and make-up done, Grammy purchased a princess dress to add to the expeirence and watching the whole experience and her expressions were priceless, she doesn't get to wear nailpolish or get to play with makeup, so this was a real treat for her and the Fairy Godmother in Training thought she was a hoot, we then waited in line for an hour so she could meet the princesses and again seeing my little sweet pea light up was worth the wait, she got to take a picture with all three of them and got to spend a few minutes with each individually and together, it was great. This was my first time at the parks with my kids and it really made me appreciate the magic that surrounds the whole experience because Olivia really believed that pixie dust was being sprinkled in her hair and she really believes that she got to meet the princessess - the innocence of childhood, a wonderful thing.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

10 minutes of HELL

Yes, my beloved little sweet pea decided to throw an all out fit of tantrum yesterday while I was with my mom at the mall. It started out with her finger grabbing everything she could touch, which I warned, "if you don't keep your hands to your side, then we will not ride the train." She stopped for all of five minutes and then proceeded to mess with the t-shirt display and so came another warning, "keep it up and we will wait in the car." So then my little man starts to follow suit of his sister and as I'm giving him his warning, she takes off and hides behind one of the displays (I see her instantly) and tell her to come over to me right now, she doesn't listen, I ask her again, nope.

Ok by this time, I had it, I could feel my blood pressure rising and my mom gave me her car keys, I grabbed the kids and proceeded to head out and that is when it started. "I'll be good!" she screamed. No, sorry - I gave you three opportunities to be good and you didn' listen, so we leave. She kicks, she cries, she screams for her nana as we head up the escalator and people are giving me the "Oh my god, what is she doing to that child" look.....Yes, people I'm holding my child's hand as we go up the escalator and yes she is screaming bloody murder because she doesn't want to go, and yes I am praying for the higher spirit to give me the strength to survive this unbearable moment. Meanwhile, my son (I think) is in complete shock of the whole event because he doesn't make a peep.

We get to the top and I see the exit door, yes, this horrifying moment is almost over as she is continuing to scream and yell, I want to say "f#@$ it" and just stay for the sake of her to stop, but I knew that if I did that, what message does that send? That your behavior was acceptable and throwing temper tantrums gets you what you want in the end, so I forced myself to continue the walk to the door, I could sense a few people behind me and finally reached to open the door and then pixie grabs anything to hold her from making into the exit door, the woman behind me almost falls on top of us. I apologize, she gives me the "poor you" look and proceeds to say something that I didn't hear because of the crying. We make it to the car, I open the door, get my little man in and then I look at my daughter and want to cry.

I say nothing to her and get in the car, she proceeds to kick and says, "I will be good, I promise." I look at her again, and said, do you think that is good behavior, what are you doing right now - I tell her she is getting a naughty check mark for her behavior and that sends her into another tizzy, finally after about another minute or so, she settles down - just in time for my mom to come back to the car.

My mom says nothing and we start to leave, then my son says, "Nanny, are you mad?" and she replies, "No, bub I'm not mad." Then he says, "Oh,okay, mommy is mad, she's f%$#ing mad."

I wanted to die at that moment - oh calgon...take me away...


"While we try to teach our children all about life, Our children teach us what life is all about." ~Angela Schwindt

Friday, November 21, 2008

Where to go and What to do

Hubby and I have started talking about planning a minivacation for the two of us, it has been a year since our last vacation to the beautiful Aotearoa and as much as I'd love to go again, it isn't feasible this year and I think we are only thinking about about an extended weekend.
I didn't think it would be hard to find a place to go and we started thinking about Grand Cayman since we went there for our honeymoon and then all-inclusive resorts in Jamaica and Bermuda...and we priced out some last minute packages which were all in all a great deal, but when I looked at the final price, I told hubby, I couldn't do it. I felt guilty for spending that much money on ourselves, those darn kids what have they done to me...passing up a nice vacation on the beach being pampered while I sip on my fruity cocktail.
My reasoning, the amount we could spend at one of those all-inclusive places, we could easily go to Disneyworld for 7 days and stay at one of the resorts there and have enough for a weekend getaway within the US for the two of us, so I told him I'd much rather do that. Yes I want a nice getaway for just hubby and I, but for the amount those places were asking, I could go to New Zealand and I definitely would choose a trip to NZ again, but since this is suppose to be a long weekend getaway, it wouldn't be worth it to fly to NZ for 4 days, especially since you lose a day with the time change.
So we know that we will be taking the kids to Orlando sometime, now it is just deciding where the two of us want to go for a long weekend...any suggestions?

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Bedtime

I wrote this poem while laying with my little ones during bedtime and decided to put it into Wordle



Here is the original poem

Bedtime by Dena Fife

shadows dance
along the wall
it's a show
for you and me

imagining
all the different
things that
we can see

If you haven't checked out wordle, it is a lot of fun...just type or paste words in and it creates "word clouds" http://www.wordle.net/