Family Shots

If you can't tell I am so lucky to have the cutest kids in the world. I am bias but I think these family shots turned out good! Yea. If you have ever taken picture with kids you know how challenging it is. It never figures that someone is doing something different. But with one of the best photographers I have worked with and the help of M&Ms, these ones turned out. I am so happy with them, you will see them again as Xmas cards.

Look for a few Halloween ones too coming soon.

The Next Clare

So the 2010 cast of the Nutcracker was announced this week. For the first time it was bitter sweet that I was not casted. As much as I love to preform on a stage, it is time to pass on the stage. I was very surprised to see that Laura was casted though. I was told that she needs to be 6 years old to try out. However Laura was casted as the youngest member. She is going to be a Ginger Child and lamb. This was the same part I was in last year. I almost wish I was Momma Ginger just so that Laura and I could be on stage together. But I am just to old and out of shape to be a pretty sight. Regardless I am so excited for Laura. She will be very cute in the costumes and I don't think she will get shy on stage.

I asked the directer of the studio if I could borrow the DVD just to show Laura what it was all about. She fell in love. After I showed her her part, she said she wanted to be the one in the red outfit. This was the Rose Queen-the second principle role. Her response was "Yeah, I just want to be Rosie". Then she spent the next 30 minutes dancing in front of the TV dancing like the ballerinas. It was adorable. I loved it. I can't wait for December to come.

I tried to post the video here but it is very dark. I will work on catching the next time our Clare does a local performance.

Really?????

I can't believe it. If you have talked to me in the last month or so you would know that I have learned that I am highly allergic to many, many things. I am lucky that I don't have to change many things of my life to accommodate. Just staying away from onions and garlic which I love. Regardless my point is tonight I was outside about 7 pm for my kids exchange. I know that I was outside for 3 minutes and I started itching like crazy. I truly thought I was having a reaction to something. As I was absorbing my kids for the first time today, and I was going through a mental check list of what I had done and what I had eaten. Not coming to a conclusion I threw on some lotion and when on with the bath routine. As I was running the water I was itching like crazy all over my legs and arms. Laura was cute and offered her medicine for her skin to try and help me. It was not until everyone was in the bath and had a moment to look at my skin. It was then that I saw that I had over 20 mosquito bites covering me. I too am allergic to these. So I had welts every where. I could not believe that I was eaten alive within a short time. With this many bites I had to have be standing in a cloud of them. How could I not notice them? Really???? So I am itching like a crazy women. So then I run to the Benidral. Of course I don't have any, so I find the kids bottle. I end up taking 4 spoonful (which is what the box said) of bubble gum flavor to control the swelling. Why me? I am get shorter patients with my health these days. My next doc appointment is not until Nov. but am thinking about calling them in the morning and moving it up. So I will keep you up to date if anything happens. In the mean time do you know any ideas to get rid of itchiness?

Cute Sayings

If you don't know I am collecting cute sayings and comments that children of all ages say. Email them, text or call me to share and I will add it to my collection.

Quote of the day is from Laura at the age of 4 years old with a sassy attitude. " See Momma I am so smart and I haven't even gone to college yet."

If this a sign of what my future hold until she moves out and does go to college, I have got a lot to worry about.

Halloween Hits the Ralston House

As you can see the season is upon us. It is so much fun to see the holidays through the eyes of a child. If you feel disspirted (word?) by the holidays, grab a kid next to you and watch them react to the simplest things. Their excitement is addicting and motivation. As my kids "helped" me decorate the house for Halloween they were over the top. And each day they get up they are excited all over again. Talk at the dinner table is about when we are going to the pumpkin patch and ticker treating. They are even excited about see their old art work from last year that I saved as part of our decorations for this year. How fun it is to see them with such passion that it has sparked my love for it again too.
So if you don't have your costume picked out. Grab that kid standing next to you in the grocery store line and head down to the closest Spirt store and fall in love. (Don't really do the kidnapping part. It is illegal. However if you ask their parents I am sure they will just give the kid away.) If you are not that daring just fallow a family around the Spirt store to see the same reaction. You will find me next to the walking broom trying to figure out how that thing works.....

3 in a Row

So for the last 3 weekends I have had my kids with me. Now some may say that it is not a big deal, they have their's every weekend. These people probably would also gladly give their kids away for one or a dozen weekends. But that is the difference with me. I don't get to choose to have them gone. I have them ripped out of my hands and have to look like it is a great thing as to not set a bad example for them. However I have counted my blessing and enjoyed every moment for the last three weekends. We have all had a good time. Today we finished up the afternoon at my parents swimming. Well the kids swam and I sat on the side. (It was freezing!!!) I was just thinking how much I have loved the time with them. I did not realize how much I dread the weekend they are gone or even the exchanges that happen during the week. Don't get me wrong the time is not all bliss. There are defendant times when everyone is unhappy but I love those moments too.
I guess I just need to get better at filling up the time they are gone. I hate being home without them. I am thankful that my friends and family understand this and call on me often. As I get ready for bed and think about the weekend, I place my head on my pillow with a smile of the fun things that have happened. Yea sleep until the dog falls asleep right next to me and is snoring louder then any guy. Ah, life.....

Cafetiera recipe

So I have found the right recipe to make you kitchen smell just like your elementary cafetiea. For me it was horrible memories for me but for other it may be happy. So to get the perfect smell you need to be bleaching something in the sink and be baking chicken nuggets at the same time. This smell makes the perfect mixture of a childhood memories. Try if you wish but I could not air my kitchen out fast enough.

False Alarm and Other Stuff

Okay no new news on the potty training. Actually I think that it was over excitement if there is such a thing on this road. I have only gotten him on the pot a few times since. I am not pressuring him. We only go on his request. Speaking of him, he just called me in to his room to change his wet diaper only 3 mins after I put him down. I guess we will be reading our stories on the potty yet again.

For those that are fallowing Trace's stomach issues. We had an appointment 2 weeks from today but they called to reschedule it for 4 weeks from today. I am bummed. Not that anyone looks forward to going to the docs but I do. I want to know how to make him better if possible. Also a side note, he was standing on the scale yesterday and weights 27 lbs. That is 4 lbs less then the being of summer. That means 4 less pounds of poop! Many say he is happier which I can agree to a point. I see the two year old tantrums everyday too.

Laura was recently tested the Kindergarten exit test. (It is great that one of my good friends use to be a kindergarten teacher and my daycare does this anyways.) They just use this test as a guideline to see where the child is as they start the preschool program. Then they test again at the end of the school year to see how the child has grown. The test is measuring 26 skills. Laura got 23 of 26 right. This is what they are suppose to know as they leave Kindergarten. Most parents would see this as a celebration. I see this too but I really see TROUBLE! I see her getting bored and talking to her neighbors at school. Then when the neighbor kid won't talk to her, she will start to sing to herself. (I only know this because this is me at every meeting. Well maybe not the singing part-nobody wants to hear that.) Oh well as a teacher I will see this and can challenge her more at home. I hope.....

Trace, Laura and now me. I am doing okay. I recently had a opportunity to see what my life would be without having to do drop offs and pick ups with Mac. I was surprised to see how much less stress was in my life. I did not know how much stress I had just with these exchanges. There is not arguing, yelling or anything that would make it stressful. It is the unknown I guess. I don't know how Laura will react each time which I am sure she is feeling from me. I don't know how their needs will be addressed while they are gone and etc. I am working on this but it did just prove to me that it would be better for me and maybe the kids if he wasn't around. Time will tell.


Since I am also here I would like to raise my glass for a cheers to one month of school down and 9 more to go. Is it really that bad that I am only counting down the months?

Solitary Confinement

These are words that are hard to hear let alone think of myself doing it. Most people can handle and even enjoy a bit of alone time. Some people need it. Others like me ( I know there are probably only a few) could not have a worse punishment. I truly can not hang out by myself for very long. Any poor sole that has ever crossed my path in the years of traveling back and forth to LA would know that I am not a solitary kind of person. I am the crazy lady who will talk there ear off and all I really stopped for was a Coke. This is also why just about everyone I know gets a call on my way to and the way back from LA. I need the social aspect. It is not that I need to talk it just the exchange and the charge I get from people.
So by now you are wondering why would I do this to myself, right? And on a holiday weekend?Well I defiantly did not do it by choice. The Friday night of Labor Day weekend I had the car packed and was even leaving 30 minutes a head of planned. As I start to on to the on ramp of the freeway, my car temperature bell comes on and dash is lit up like a Christmas tree. So thankfully I was walking distance to home but even more thankfully I have a great brother and sister who came to my rescue. And even more thankfully that I found a place that serves margaritas to calm my nerves as I waited. My car was put back together enough for me to drive the mile back home. Thank you Travis! It is home that it stayed parked for the weekend. Even my bike was not working at that point. What a bummer. I had fun plans that I had been looking forward to for months and then this happened. I was so disappointed by the situation. Then to top it off I was home, and on my own. I did not talk to anyone face to face for 48 hours. While this is heaven for many. It was hell for me. Thankfully the court BBQ was on Sunday night so I could walk there to get my social fix. Monday brought lots more interactions that filled the void and to keep me from going crazy. Please, please never make me live this again.

Oh No Not That Road

So Trace has shown a small, very small interest in the potty. As of last weekend he has only sat on it twice just to take it for a test ride. Neither times did he do a thing. Since this is his idea I am not pushing and settle for just a test ride. Well after coming home this weekend at his dad's he seemed more interested. Right away Sunday night he asked to use the potty. (Mind you that he is still in a diaper and I had planned this to be the routine until we figure out the digestion issues.) Regardless you do the potty dash any time potty training kids mentions the potty. You and I did not know that I do short distance dashes in record time. So Laura, Trace and I are all hang out in the bathroom for 10 minutes to "practice". Everyone gets a potty candy for the effort and we move on. Monday, yesterday, getting home so late from dad's again does not leave much time for the new tricks. But I guarantee this morning Trace was up for a test ride. Right away he wanted to try before we even got dressed. As much as I am all for encouraging, I have to plan for more time in the mornings because of this. We were late getting out of the house because of our new potty time. It is kinda humorous that it is a family time on the potty. Next we will start singing to pass the time. Just wait....
Well tonight the action really happened. But don't get your hopes up just yet. So as soon as we got home this afternoon, Trace made his request. At this point I am starting to wonder if he is just trying to get the candy or if he is really interested. But today while having a family meeting around the potty, I talked to Trace about really doing this. I asked him if he was ready to wear big guy pants and underwear like his friend Tanner. He seemed very excited. However I am not really ready. I kinda want to be done with runny poop before we start this but the dreams of no diaper overwhelms me. After our test ride this afternoon we put a diaper back on for dinner. Just as we sit down he dumps a load. I think oh well maybe we will get the next time. As dinner ends and I am washing dishes Trace tells me his tummy hurts. I suggest some water to drink and then he seems fine.
We head outside for another challenge in itself, cutting his hair. So he is cruising around naked covered in hair. We all dust off and head for the shower. Trace mentions poop. Knowing that he just empty himself at dinner less then 30 minutes ago I tell him to go sit on the potty. I am not to worried about him doing his business on the carpet as much as I am interested to see if he can get on the potty by his self. Well 30 seconds later he comes back whining. So I think he can't climb up there by his self. I tell him never mind the potty and to jump in the shower. He is upset and keeps trying to get me to help him. So trying to be supportive and committed to this I fallow him. What I find in the bathroom shocks me.
One Trace did go poop on the rug right by the potty. Lots of poop. And even worse Hunter got there before me. Enough said.... Well if it had been any other kid you probably could have picked up the log and put it into the potty and be done. But poor Trace's poop is not that. So needless to say it was a small lake on the rug, the floor and the bathtub. As I tried not to get mad and upset him more.But I kept thinking "What is my luck with poop? Why have I picked up more then my share of poop in this life time? Isn't there a limit to one's opportunities to do this?" In the mean time all I keep saying to Trace is good things to positively enforce trying to make it to the potty. Laura is my shadow just saying things like: "These things just happen. Good job trying to get there. Yup these things just happen from time to time." Only hours later I am looking back thinking how humorous this is. Why me? Am I really ready for this new road with Trace. It would figure that this would happen now. Because I bought two cases of diapers from Costco because of the sale. Laura potty trained herself while Trace was only weeks old and colicly. So I figure this can be that harder and I have yet to do the boy thing. Floating cheerios anyone?

All the single ladies, all the single ladies....

This a post I wrote about 10 days ago and never finished. It is finished now and very important to my life. So enjoy the belated post.....


"Put your hands up." My hands are so up. They are up and I am dancing my happy dance. I am officially divorced. It is a bitter sweet. It is the end of a chapter in my life that had good times and gave me my most treasured things, my kids. But it is the end of a unhappy marriage. So toast to me as I start the new chapter on my life. I am free to create a new life with someone new who really will treat me as I deserve. (By the way do you know any single tall men? Rich is a plus.) I am ready to get my feet wet in the dating world. So I will document my dating adventures as they come. You know me something weird, funny or crazy will bond to happen. Anyone up for a drink for celebration?

And the Race Begins

It is that time of year the race begins. The race being the school year. For those who have a corporation job I know you must hate me. My race is a crazy one. I instantly feel like there is not enough time in the day to get anything done right or well. For example I never get to spend enough time with my kids while I am working. I don't ever do as much cleaning around my house. And I am sure that I don't do all of the prep work for school that I could do. But I do the best that I can and make sure I don't go any more insane than I already am. Unfortunately this lifestyle takes a toll on me. I know that my patience runs thinner and my health suffers, but what else can I do? All I know to do is appreciate what I do have. I am thankful for the time off. I am thankful for shorter days then corp. jobs. However I can not help but wonder how can I do it better? How can I catch my head that has been cut off and is rolling down the hill. Maybe they will figure out how to make cloning cheaper and easier so that my double can do the yucky stuff like work. That would be great. In the mean time I guess I will continue my addiction to caffeine and my count down to the next summer off.

187 more days to go!!!!

It is DONE!!!!!!!!!

Could you hear me singing in the shower? I am sure people in China could hear me singing. I am so very happy it is done. It is now a beautiful bathroom that I love. I love the design. I am proud of it but I do feel bad that so many people stopped their lives to work on it. I am more then thankful for all of the help I received. I just feel bad that it was a project that turned into a village project. And for that I am so thankful for all the time everyone that put into it. But it is done.

I have learned so many things within this project. I learned countless things about construction, plumbing, electrical, and tiling. But most important I learned that I will NEVER, NEVER do anything like this again. I pray that this is not like child birth. One of those things you forget the intensity after a while. If I start even dreaming about another project, please, please hit me up side the head!

Just like they say on TV that if you do it yourself it will cost less. Just like on TV I would love to have the house appraised like they do to see the value difference.

After all of this I just have one question. Is it bad when all the people that work in Home Depot now know you by name?

Really?

Irony? Sometimes the situation is humorous and others it is just not...... So there is a show on HGTV called Renovation Realities. I should have been on this one. It is about renovation projects that don't go as they should or stupid people trying stuff that they should not even be dreaming about. I am the latter. The stupid bathroom project is soooooo close to being done. I have two, count two, things left to do. As of this morning I had 7 things to do so I feel today was productive. Even with my face the throbbing off with my sinus infection. With my kids at daycare I busted my booty and worked hard. I even got done with all I could with an hour to spare. So with my face throbbing I took some drugs and laid down for a quick nap. While sleeping I hear a load crack. I looked up and could not see anything, so back asleep I went. It was not until I got up did I see the corner of the mirror had cracked then fell off. Really? Really? As you know from previous blogs I have posted, that this project has taken double take, after double take, after double take. I have not gotten to do ONE thing just once. Well I lied. The above rack from Target that holds the crap, went together just fine and up in one try. SO out of every stage everything has been done twice except for the $10 crap rack. Really? This also this brings back to the opening question or statement. I am the latter who should not even be dreaming about these kinds of projects.

PS I will post finished pictures as I finish the last two things the first time and the second time I do them.......

The Bathroom Update

So if you know how to turn the pictures please, please tell me.

These are the last pictures that I have of the bathroom project. If you have talked to me in the last 2 months you know that this has been a dream, a nightmare and everything in between. But even these pictures are out dated. The tile has been finished and is curring. The paint has been touched up and the window treatment is up. I am down to less then ten things to put in. Yea!!!!! I think everyone is Turlock is going to hear me sing "Glory, Glory." when I get to take my first shower.

The Worst Parent Award Goes To......

So if you know me at all, you know I have given myself this award several times. But after the bike day and the broken arm I gave myself the Lifetime Worst Parent Award. We are not talking about not feeding your kids fruit at every meal, or letting them have two Popsicles a day. I am talking about bad, really bad parenting issues. I know that all parents make mistakes here and there. But when they are dangerous mistakes, that you know are bad and then did them by mistake. For example, one of my bestest friends forgot to buckle her baby in the car seat today. Not to much of a big deal. ( I have done it to Laura. However now Laura is old enough to tell me that I am loser for not doing.) But today her daughter leaned out of the unbuckled car seat and fell the foot and half. Thankfully both are fine. But is it bad when my friends have earned their own awards too? Have I rubbed off on my friends? I hope not! Is it bad parenting when other people on the street raise an eyebrow? I hope not again. I am just trying to take each moment at a time and not kill anyone in the process. Regardless I am reminded of my award with each look at the cast or each scare I have caused. Thank Goodness that kids love unconditionally.

Only 3 weeks left~

Back from vacation and back to the grind. Well really the only grind is my bathroom project that I am afraid has turned into a burden to many more then I. But on the way home I did realize that I only have 3 weeks left of my summer vacation. While I know this is more time off then most get all year, I am still sad. Words can never explain how much better, simply and enjoying my time off is then the year. I just feel like I can mange compared to just struggling to survive during school. Well I guess three more weeks to live it up is better then none.

Vacation was great. We spent the weekend with a great friend of mine and her girls. It was an adventure for all of us. The weather was a bit overcast for us but the break from the heat was great. We got to do almost everything we wanted to. But in the end I think we hoped the trip lasted longer.

Well I better get back to the bathroom before the last few weeks fly by like the first 5 did.

Happy 4th of July!

I hope this finds you all enjoying or enjoyed the special day with friends and family. I am on my way to the neighborhood party and am hoping that my kids are there. We will see.

Well if you talk to me on a regular bases you know that my summer project is remodeling my master bathroom. Well I guess you could say that I am about half way done. Maybe. My 3 week time frame is so far off I barely even remember what the time line was. And for the record, there is not one thing that I have done right the first time. Every thing has had to be redone at least once. I know I am learning, but it would be nice to have one thing go well. So maybe on the 6th week I will be done due to doing everything twice. We will see.

Today a neighbor came over and he said that he use to do this stuff as a side job for over 10 years. He gave me lots of helpful ideas. I was so upset about my track record I asked how much would he charge to just finish the project. I don't think he took me truely because he did not answer. I would have handed him cash on the spot if he would have done it. But he did offer to come over on his day off to help and another neighbor is going to help in the evening when he gets home from work too. So the moral of the story is I am blessed.......
I am so thankful for all of the help and then to have two neighbors stop everything to help me. I almost can't even say help because I am not much of any help these days. The heavy lifting has taken a large toll on my back and my hands. I am not able to do much and even typing is painful with meds. So I know that I am blessed and I am forever thankful for it.

Half way right(big sigh)???????

PS Posting my first pictures and not sure how to turn them. But at least they are there.

Summer Days

During the summer my family's routine goes out the window. I am not sure if it is sun going down later, or my lack of structure. Regardless bed times are not kept with busy packed days. Don't get me wrong, we are having a great time and we really don't have to be up for anything in particular in the mornings. It is just hard to keep a schedule. I really don't know how to measure what bed time should be based on how much we did that day. One minute one child is melting into crash mode and then the next minute his is have a great time playing with the dog and we have avoided the crash all together. I would like to use myself for a measurement but I am always tired and sore so that doesn't work. How do you know when to much is just to much? We all seem to enjoy everything we are doing but it is hard to do all the fun things that summer offers. Maybe I should just retire early and pretend it is summer all year round.

My Grace That I Still Haven't Gotten

So tonight I had a birthday party to go to. It was a surprise party so timing was important. Of which I am usually pretty good at but not always. Other then pulling over on the side of the road to sign the card I felt we did great on time. Invite said to be there at 6pm sharp. My kids and I pulled in at 5 minutes till. I felt good. Yea for me, until I pulled into the driveway that was completely empty. Okay so I know that it is a surprise party and lots of people were coming but where was everyone parking their cars? The guest of honor lives 10 miles out in the country so there was no other place to park except the driveway. So as I am turning around and about to leave I decide to take a chance. I run up to the door and knocked, thinking that everyone is hiding inside and can tell me what the story was. Well to my surprise the birthday guy answers. So now I am standing there thinking do I have the wrong day? How did I mess this up? Did I just mess up the surprise? Not to mention my kids and I are all dress up for a party so it wasn't like I could say we were just in the neighborhood and wanted to say hi. So thinking fast I came up with a story. His wife comes to the door not acting as anything is wrong. I tell her that I have that thing in the car that I called about. (even though she and I both know that I never called about anything.) So I had her walk out to the car to see if she "wanted it". Thankfully I did have something in the car for her to bring back into the house. It was then she told me that the party was not at their house it was at a restaurant about 15 minutes away. I am not sure how I jacked up the info, but we were still going to beat them. On the way I was thinking about how I could have done this. All I could come up with is that the return address said their house so I just assumed..... I did not even keep the invite because I wrote it on the calender and thought I know where they live so I threw it away. So there wasn't even a chance for me to double check. I know what you are thinking only me, Hayley Ralston, could blow it and save my ass in less then one minute flat.

The Dog Shampoo

So if you did not know Trace has a GI issue. Well we started medicine for it 2 days ago. This makes his poop very runny. ( I know gross visual, but I promise this is the only gross part.) So we have been adjusting our lives to this new adventure. I am defiantly having flash backs to newborn days. This morning we had a major blow out and it ran down his leg and on to the carpet. So I am trying to scoop Trace up without getting any of this on me, pushing the dog away and trying to answer Laura's question of "What is happening?". So after Trace had to have a bath because it was so messy. I got to the task of cleaning the carpet. As I am digging through the cleaning supplies, I can only find the new carpet cleaner that came with the dog for accidents. I decided that if it is good enough to deal with dog crap it could handle kid crap too, right? It did! Thank goodness we got a dog.

They are home!!!!!

So today my kids came home from being on vacation with their father. I can not even describe how much I loved seeing them, hugging them, and kissing them.

Over the last year so many people have told me," Enjoy the times when they are gone. Do something for yourself. Get a hobby." Well it is harder then anyone thinks. How do you enjoy your time doing anything when you feel like apart of you is gone? How do you become passionate about something when your heart is missing the most important thing? I do try. I am lucky to have friends that help me fill the time. One friend even called me "the every other weekend partner in crime." Although it made me laugh, I felt like a crappy friend. Because in my heart I know that I am not myself without my kids. Granted I can not focus on people or things with my kids but I still love being their frazzled, crazy mother.

Regardless they are home!!!! I love it. It was even more fun to have such a big surprise for them. Hunter! They were surprised but not as excited as I thought. They loved him from the first moment. Laura is always calling him to come into each room with her. She toke the responsibility of feeding him right away. After he cleaned his bowl, she asked if she could do it again even though it had only been 8 minutes. We attempted a walk again. Learning my lesson the last time I did not let the dog stop long enough to do his duty. I decided he would just have to wait until home where there is a shovel. Trace loved holding on to the leash. Hunter does not pull much with the new harness but he did pulled Trace. This is only because he walked so slow. I am sure they will figure it out too. On the way home from the walk Laura asked when Hunter was leaving. I said never if it was okay for her. She thought it was great idea. I guess Hunter got her consent.

As we climb into bed, I am so happy they are home. The empty feeling is gone and I look forward to the arguments and the whining for the rest of the summer.

The new man in my life.

So as I got home from my trip. I met a guy who just melted my heart from the moment I saw him. He is very out going, and kind. He has great manners and listens well. He loves to snuggle and he doesn't talk to much. He has already moved in and made himself comfortable. Most of you already know that I am talking about Hunter.

Hunter is my first dog. He is a 6 year old Beagle. He is so very cute. I am so happy that I found him. He is not a puppy so I don't have to do all the training and deal with the puppy stage. Yea!!! As the original owners left I was filled with mixed feelings. But the main thing that keep going through my mind is I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT DOGS!!!!!! What have I gotten my self into???? Thankfully the owners were very informative. They gave me lots of basic info about him. But he missed them and whinnied for about 12 hours. Now he is more comfortable.

Not long after he got here, about an hour, I had to go to a birthday party. I was so unsure of leaving him by himself. The owners said that he was house trained and that he would not chew on the kids toys, but I was not sure. We had only been together one hour. So far he had not cared about the toys and he did his business outside but I wasn't sure if I should trust him on his own. However I did it. I thought it is just stuff and let him be 0n his own for his evening party. Three and half hours later I came home to a very happy Hunter and a normal house. Not a toy gone and no accidents. I was so surprised. Yea!!! We can stay in the house by ourselves.

The next day I took him on his first road trip across town to my parents. I know you are probably laughing because yes the road trip was only 3 miles but remember I still don't know what I am doing. He hung out while I did my things and minded well. It was another success.

Tonight we even went on a walk. All day he has been pulling on his leash and pulling me. But the owner gave me this thing that goes on his nose. (I put it on backwards at first and realized that could not be right because the straps were covering his eyes.) He hated it at first and worked very hard to get it off but in the end it worked. At first I am not sure who was learning to walk on the leash me or Hunter. I did not know what I was doing. Have I said this before??? But it did not take us long to figure it out. By the end of the walk we had a rhythm. But here is where I need lots of work. I know that you need to clean up after your dog if it poops. So I was prepared with my plastic sack and we were about half way around the block and Hunter does his duty. So I am the responsible one who whips out my bag and picks it up. However I am not sure how it happened, but about half of the poop ended up in the bag and the other all over my hand!! It was so squish and smelly I started gaging. So not only did I have to carry the poop baggy home but I had to be caked in it to. I was so gross!!!

Just for the record too. I would much rather wear baby poop then dog poop any day.

Yuk!

I know what you are thinking....

So I know what you are thinking.... You are thinking that I am like so many other people who start something but don't keep it up. Well that is very true of me in the aspect of working out but not with my blog. I have been out of town and did not have a chance to get down to business.
Over the last week, I kissed my kids good bye as they headed out on vacation with their father and I set my car on cruise control. If given the chance my car always heads south. So I tried to fill the emptiness of my kids with great friends. It is not that I did not miss them but I also loved spending the time with a great friend. I had a wonderful time in So Cal. I got to spend lots of time with my girlfriend and her daughters and also her family. It is a great thing to be on vacation and to be surrounded by great people. After moving north more then 8 years ago, I am so very lucky to have two great adoptive families. Both of my girlfriends are moving on their lives and their families are warm enough to take me and my clan in anytime we are in town. I am so very lucky to have such great friends with wonderful families who love me and support me even though the miles are far and the time has been long. Thank you so much for the wonderful trip. I can wait to return again soon.

Day One

So yesterday had to be the worst day of pain I have ever had. Even worse then waking up with 20 staples in my tummy from 2 different c-sections. This one broke my heart kind of pain. Most of you who will read this already know but for those who don't. Trace and I crashed on the bike. Right away I do assessment on all of his body parts to see the damage. For all the crashes we have had, this one is the topper. I will never be able to explain the feeling of your heart stopping as your find you have severally hurt your child. As I discovered Trace's arm severally deformed my mind started racing. I am not the type of person who goes into panic when emergencies happen. I am the one who barks orders and scares the weak around me. My first thought was calling 911. After deciding that I could drive or really fly the 2.5 miles to the ER, I threw Trace into the car, helmet and all into his seat. The whole time yelling at Laura, "Get in the car! Get in the car!" Poor Laura does not handle any yelling well and then to have me acting like a crazy lady, more then scared her. I only ran back into the house for one thing. The frozen bag of peas. I know all you Orange County people think this must be an Amish thing but it works better then ice because it can mold to the injury. Leaving the bikes in the road, I tore out of the yard. I am not even sure if I did the seat belts. I did more then speed to the ER. I even thought about being pulled over and how I think I would just keep going. Maybe even sticking my hand out the window to tell them to just fallow me. The whole time I am trying to apologise to Laura for yelling who is more upset then Trace. Believe it or not he did not cry the whole time. Once we got to the ER, I was again telling Laura to run with me. "Run like we are in a race." So I am sure it was a site to see. I am carrying Trace and the peas running(!) with Laura fallowing me with my purse and her bike helmet still on. By the time we checked in I was sweating more then I ever had from my nerves. Trace was in shock and almost passed out. Laura was trying to cuddle, looking for comfort. That is pretty much how the next two hours went as we waited to be seen. It was the most horrible thing that I have had to go threw. Even after the C-sections I had beautiful babies to show, but this time I had pain in the eyes of my child. I truly hope no one ever has to see this personally. It was awful.

Just Starting!

So I am not sure why I decided to start this. Maybe I am amazed by a dear friend and my sister who Blog regularly. Or maybe it is that I am on summer break and I can go days without talking to anyone over 4 feet tall. Or maybe I have miss my favorite creative outlet. Regardless of the reason I am going to try. So I preappoligise to everyone who chooses to fallow this for my many, many, many spelling errors, bad grammer and my horrible writing quality. But my hope is to throw out my questions and get feedback, to put my thoughts into words and just have fun.
Cheers!