TIRED...

I don't think I have enough words in my vocabulary to describe how tired I am. I need a shot of motivation. Hopefully my week off next week will get me that. Until then, here is a cute pic of my little girl. She makes me so happy!!

TEST

Thanks to a friend I now can blog from my phone. Thanks Whitney for filling me in on this lucky find. Maybe I can stay up on my blog like promised. We will see!

Here is a pic of my mini me at school last might. She came to my Veterans day program, and we hung out with her birthday twin Kinsley before hand. We had so much fun. Happy weekend and Veteran's day.

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY MAGGIE

We celebrated Maggie's 3rd birthday this weekend. It was so much fun! I can't believe she is so grown up. Here are just a few pictures to show off what we did!

The table decorations:

 

Cousin time:

 

The cake that never got eaten:

 

Sliding down the slide:

 

Jumping on the trampoline:

 

Riding the zip line:

 

Opening all our wonderful gifts:

 

Blowing out the candles for the 2nd time:

 

Cousin picture in the mask:

 

We have had such a fun and busy weekend. Thanks for all that came to share in our fun and excitement! Happy Birthday to my sweet baby girl. Your daddy and I love you so much! We can't wait to watch you continue to grow into a beautiful little girl.

I TRULY STINK AT THIS....JOB

Well, it has been several months now and I am way behind on this. My excuse is not very good for the summer. That was when I had the most time and I didn't use it wisely. I should have blogged everyday. Now, I am back at work, and all I do is that. My day starts at 6:00 and I don't stop until I go to bed at 11:00 or later. I am really going crazy. I keep thinking it will slow down, but it hasn't. I love my job, but this year is really kicking me. I have taught for 12 years and this has to be the hardest year of my life.

I am going to make it a goal to blog once a week. I feel I need an outlet to let my frustrations out, and I guess this can be it. I need to get back on track, and have a life outside of my job again. I guess this will be it, for now!

We went to dinner with a friend tonight, and he was asking us what we did this past summer. We honestly didn't do much. Maggie and I stayed really busy and had lots of fun, but we didn't travel or go anywhere. We don't have any big plans to finish out the year, but it is not over yet.

Sorry for my ramblings. I promise to keep up a little bit better. For now I leave you with a picture of my sweet baby. She will be 3 at the end of the month. I can't believe it.

MY BABY ISN'T A BABY ANYMORE!

As many of you know, Maggie will be 3 in October. Jack and I have talked about how fast the time has gone, and how Maggie just isn't a little baby anymore. In fact, she says, "I'm a big girl!" Well, it has become that time to start new things. The first thing we have tried is potty training. A few months ago we gave it a whirl, and we were ready to stop by Sunday. Our floors were wet and it was just bad. A few weeks before school got out daycare asked if she could try a pull up. It was not my first choice, but she said Maggie was asking for it. So, I figured why not. Maggie actually stayed dry for several days and asked to go on the potty. We were super excited. Well, we have back tracked a little, so I guess we are still not 100% ready. With Maggie I always have to wait until she is ready. I know where she gets it from!! So, I know it will happen and we will just wait for that day. No worries!

Now, the next thing I wanted to do was try a new bed. She has been napping on a nap mat at daycare and I never thought she would do that. She has surprised us and has done a great job at it. This summer she really wanted to nap in our "flower bed". That is our guest bed, and I let her try it. She has done a great job with it. Jack and I have talked and really don't know which direction we are going to go with a bed, so we decided on Sunday to take her front off her crib. We don't have a convertible crib, so this just makes a day bed. She was so excited to help daddy and then to sleep in her big girl girl bed! (Yes, she says is so funny!)

 

We have been rather successful with this task. It is nice to be able to easily tuck her in and kiss her good night. She has done great so far. She has spilled out a few times, but as you can see it is not a far fall. She just says, "I fell out!" We might be investing in some sides soon!

Hopefully, we will continue to do bigger things. I am so sad that she's not my baby anymore, but I am excited to do some big girl things as well.

FATHERS DAY 2011

 

Fathers day started on Thursday for us. We went out to the lake to help my dad clean the boat. When I say clean, we cleaned. It had been a long time since the boat was cleaned, and it needed it badly. So, my sisters and I went and did the dirty work. It was a good time, but we were glad it was over. On Saturday we headed out to the lake for the first time all summer. It was a lot of fun. Maggie got in the water with her life jacket on and really had a great time. We were unsure how she was going to do. It was pretty windy out, so it took us forever to anchor the boat, but we found a spot close to the beach and had a great time. It had been a long time since we have gotten that close to the beach and it brought back some good childhood memories. We hung out and had lots of fun. After our day on the lake, we headed back to the dock for a BBQ dinner. Maggie got a cart ride from her cousin, and fed the ducks. She just had a blast and did a great job. On Sunday we met my dad again for lunch at the pier. It was a nice time. Maggie got to feed more ducks and some really big fish. After that, we headed home and hung out as a family. We ended out night with Maggie's fist "no-cone"! It was a great weekend!

SWIM HELL, I MEAN, SWIM LESSON!

 

Last summer Maggie and I took a Mommy and Me Swim class at a lady's house. If you remember from my last summer's post, she cried the whole time. I really thought this year would be different, boy was I wrong. Day one, what you can see from the pictures, was going pretty good. Maggie got in line with all the kids and followed the leaders to the diving board. They each took turns walking out and standing on the end and being introduced. Doing good so far! Maggie even got up there and did it. Then, they walked around the pool to the slide, and checked things out. Still doing good. Next, they got in the pool. Well, this is where she fell apart. From that day forward I was in the pool with her. We did out own thing behind the class. My friend Jenny and I were in the same boat. We would drive to lesson everyday and just question why we were there. The first week Maggie did a good job participating. The next week, Maggie cried and cried. If you haven't heard her cry, be glad, she is very loud. Finally, the last day before showoffs, I decided to just toss her to Mrs. Margaret. We did it over and over, and we knew she was swimming because she would come up and just scream. Not cough, but scream. She was keeping her mouth closed, so she was doing it. I finally tossed her in and then ran away and hid. Amazingly, she did it. I wish now I had done it the week before. You learn from your own lessons. However, I learned some good skills. You forget how you learned, so it was good to hear the instructions again. Not only were the lessons hard, but the days were hard as well. I forgot when I signed up for the lessons that our time was not set in stone. We had signed up for a 10:00 lesson, but that time changed on Tuesday to 11:30. 11:30 with two 2 year old's. What was Mrs. Margaret thinking? By the time we drove 20 min. to the lesson, had the lesson, and home we were all done. It was all crazy. Needless to say, Jenny and I headed out for a much needed day off last Friday. We got pedicures, ate lunch and went shopping. We had lots of fun winding down from our class. As an update to swim class: I thought Maggie would never swim again. We went to the pool on Saturday and she just sat along the side and wouldn't get in. Well, today she got in and swam under water. I am so excited to see that my money and time payed off. She did great and was so excited. Mommy felt good!