Time Flies, When You're Having FUN!

A full year in fact and I apologize for our absence. If you stuck around and are now seeing us again YAY! 

It is time for us to get back in the groove of things. We are starting back up during the preparations for school starting and the ending of the first two months of living in our new apartment! The past year has had some big changes for us. We moved, my guy now works from home so I see him way more, I now have a better custody arrangement and have gotten a lot more organized in many ways in my life! 

Now it is time for the summer fun to end and that wonderful time of year when the kids do all that great learning is upon us. It is time to send them back to school. (Or homeschool if that is what you do) Some students are already back in the habit and attending classes but I still have a couple weeks of fun with them before mine head back on the 4th of September. This school year I have one going into first grade, one into seventh, and one into tenth. That means all kinds of scheduling and making sure that all paperwork and school supplies are ready to go and that we get back on our school schedule with sleep and waking up. We have also been refreshing our memories with what we learned last year so that there isn't brain mush during the first week of school. 

Now coming up in the weeks ahead I will be giving tips, links, and recommendations for the things that help our life run smooth. Also since the holiday months will be upon us shortly I will be sharing some fun family favorite recipes and traditions that we love! 

We hope you will continue following along and maybe find something that helps you "Make it Work" in your own life! 

Summer is Here

Yep, you heard that right moms and dads out there, Summer is HERE! Which of course means....no school!




I am lucky that I can be home with them while they are out. I am lucky there are with me for a good portion of the summer as they are with Dad most of the year because of school.









HOWEVER, surviving the summer with kids wanting attention the ENTIRE day can run even the most even keeled mother ragged.









My children especially could stump a Pinterest mom with the need for entertainment and attention. Again lucky for me I AM a Pinterest mom and have a plethora of ideas the are spaced out over the summer to help us stay sane in the hot weather. Last week we had our first day out together since school let out and it went about as smoothly as I could have hoped it would.

First we had a smooth morning with a shower and yummy breakfasts for the kiddos. Then we hopped the local bus down to our town's library where I signed the kids up for their own library cards, we did a puppet show and then took out some books and movies to enjoy at home. Spencer spent some time talking and laughing with the fish in the aquarium. Out side they posed with and as statues (it was totally cute).






On the way back we had a little bit of money so we stopped at DQ and got some cheese curds and blizzards before making the short walk home. It was a blast and the kids had so much fun.







I love how much they love books and having them thank me for the "awesome snack" was pretty damn great.

In the weeks coming up we have a few more library trips, a fireworks show on the 4th, probably another BBQ or two and several small activities for the days when the weather doesn't want to cooperate with our plans, such as rock painting, puppet show making, forts, and family games to play.

All in all I think summer will go well and I will miss them when they have to go to theirs Dad's again.

Zee's art page 

Spencer's picture of me and a turtle!

 I even have a blast just making art with them. It makes me smile when Spencer draws our family and when Kenzee comes up with ideas that she does all on her own with no guidance. It really shows how creative she is.





This is going to be a great summer with lots of fun memories. I cannot wait for the next day of fun planned.
I am sure you will all be waiting ever so patiently for my next update on how we are making it all work in today's chaotic world and keeping ourselves happy. Until tomorrow! Ciao!

Learning about Others

This past weekend we attended the Seattle Pride Parade! It was the kids first time really being a part of something that important. It went really well too, I expected a lot of questions and confusion. Turns out KIDS ARE NOT JUDGMENTAL like some ADULTS I know! 











They had a lot of fun celebrating LOVE, PEACE, and UNDERSTANDING! They learned that people are ALL very different but no one is better than anyone else, just different. They learned that LOVE is what is important! They enjoyed the colors, the music and the fun people they got to see marching in the parade. 

It was very fun for me to see them clapping and enjoying it when I expected them to have questions but they seemed to have no problems just accepting the way people were. I think we could all use to take a page out of their book. We should just accept the differences and learn to love everyone the way we want to be loved. 

 We spent the rest of the afternoon with friends having a BBQ and just having fun. It was really just a GREAT day! 


 I can't wait to take them again and maybe next time make sure we are all decked out to show our support for LOVE in all its forms! 

I am a woman who has a family that FULLY SUPPORTS LOVE and PEACE! We believe that you should love whom you love and never for a minute feel like you have to defend your choice! We LOVE YOU! 

From my little family to yours!  

Spencer and Me

Ever since Miss Mckenzee has gone off to CT/RI to visit her family it has been just Spencer and me during the day while Daddy works. I have to say it has been quite a bit of fun. 

We have watched all kinds of old cartoons, fun movies, had some dance parties, built "super" castles with his Mega Blocks, played games and even played hide and seek a few times (he is not very good at it yet).

He is so smart and talks to much now that it amazes me all the time. When you hand something to him and he says "Thank you so much!" my heart melts. Just this morning he surprised me with a fishy kiss out of the blue. He just grabbed my face and kissed me! I loved it, it was so darn adorable! 

I am so happy about all the time we have had one on one and I am hoping to make sure I continue to carve out some time for him even when his sister returns because I don't want to miss any moments of fun!

Starting the Year with a BANG!

DJ worked hard to make it
awesome! 

It came out so nice! 

So we are a few weeks into the new year and things are going well. Kids are growing like weeds, house is relatively organized (on a good day), and each day I am more glad I made the decision to come out here and make it all work! For Christmas we received some artwork and picture frames for the wall as well as photo paper so one of the days DJ and I were both home, we got those on the wall and boy what a difference it makes in here!
Over the holiday season we were able to get some great finds at the local thrift store and made out with four (may have been five) new totes to start organizing stuff into. At least two of them went to organizing all the decorations after we took them all down, one now houses all my wonderful art supplies from my mom and DJ, two are in the closet (one with games, another with blankets) and I think one of them has Mckenzee's new toys in it as well. SO that was six that I can think of, there may have been more it is hard to keep track when things have been so busy here lately.
     Little Mckenzee had an appointment this month because the doctor was worried her body was maturing just a little too soon. All went well though and they want to double check her bone age in about six months (because it looked a little advanced but not seriously so). She was really brave too and even had her blood taken like a champ! Which is saying something since she is TERRIFIED of needles/shots/etc.

She also is making me very proud lately. Not only did she get a great report card, but she also started reading one of my favorite books of all time! The Secret Garden, which she received from her Memere in a three-book set along with Anne of Green Gables and A Little Princess (two more of my favorites!), she is already on page 21 with only a little help needed as it is a grade level up from where she is right now. She likes it and it makes my heart happy. Another wonderful achievement for her is the work she is doing in her Girl Scout Troop. My little Brownie is working hard to earn her badges and is doing a great job. She received her first 3 badges just before Christmas for Visiting the Retirement Home, Skating, and Visiting the Library. Now she is working on her Money Manager Badge and her Philanthropist Badge, and if she sells at least 25 boxes of yummy Girl Scout Cookies she will also get a badge for that! (https://digitalcookie.girlscouts.org/scout/mckenzie6143)
     Spencer is making leaps and bounds in his vocabulary, his building skills, his dancing skills, and his memory! Every day he seems to do something new that amazes (and sometimes frustrates) me. One of my favorite things he does is blowing kisses! He does this when any of us is leaving the house, sometimes when he is leaving the room, and at night when we put him to bed. It melts my heart when he follows it up with a "yuv you mommy/daddy". His genuine excitement over little things makes me happy as well. When his daddy gets home from work or I come home from work we are greeted by a chorus of "Mommy!/Daddy!" as he runs over and hugs our legs. I adore it, it proves to me that no matter how crazy they can make me and how some days I want to run away to an island in the middle of no where just to pee without an audience, that my life would be worthless without them! They fully complete my reason for existence along with their father.

We are one whole heart beating in five separate bodies!
I LOVE MY FAMILY! 

Bragging About Baby

Today I feel like talking a little about Spencer, or rather bragging about him. Since his sister is in CT on vacation with her Gramma I am getting some one on one time with my littlest boy and learning all kinds of new things about him. 

Today I was able to catch him singing "Let it Go" from Disney's Frozen (as if ANYONE out there doesn't know that). The video I got of him was only maybe 5 seconds worth of him singing but it was enough to get the jist. He is adorable! 

He likes to repeat EVERYTHING!!! So of course now is the time for me to keep a hold on my tongue so I don't teach him a new word he is a little too young to say or understand. He can say a good amount of words now too such as:

Ball
Juice
Milk
Eat
Night Night
Bye bye
Hi
No
Uh-oh
Ouch
More
Go
Bath
Daddy
Mama
I 
You

and he understands words like:

Dance
Sing
Sit
Down
Up
Hug
Kiss
Love

Nothing beats the sound of him saying these words or seeing him dance or sing. His little tiny voice is so darn cute I want to hug him all the time! Okay maybe not ALL the time, when he is knocking over a shelf or pulling out all the DVDs or trying to raid the garbage can I am NOT his biggest fan. So yeah MOST of the time I want to love him up and give him kisses! 

That's all I have to say about that! Brag over! 

Spencer -now 16 months and 17 days old! 

Love This Boy!!! 

A New Year, New Goals

So this is 2014 and I am on my way to becoming exactly whom I hope to be.

1. I am working on moving my creativity to paper (and computer).

2. I am working on on becoming more organized, more systematic with things.

3. I have also been filling out more online applications and putting feelers out at different places I have found for information on other occupational opportunities.

4. I have also started looking into more healthy options for the family, some that may even be accepted by the kids AND DJ lol (This is still a work in process but I am trying and that is all I can do)

5. One thing I am also going to TRY to work on is my anger issues, I did relatively well today. I didn't really yell at all.  If I can keep it up I will start to feel really good I think. 

So that is just what I am working for this year. I am also looking forward to seeing my family in April and my son again in the summertime!  

Has anyone else got a list of things they are working on this year?