New Family Member

Sunday afternoon after coming home from church and having lunch, I laid down on my bed to rest and browse some social media. I got on my Facebook and a friend of mine posted for a friend of hers who was trying to find homes for some kittens. Of course, the animal lover in me had to look. This was the first photo I saw.


 A D O R A B L E!!! Now if you know anything about cats, I was amazed to see five, yes FIVE calico/ tortoise shell kittens in one litter!

I showed them to my husband. He shocked me by saying that we should get one. Since my daughter has been still missing her beloved cat Teeko. He said this would make her very happy.

We called the girl who had them, and I was shocked to find out that she still had all five. She didn't live close by, an hours drive away. In the rain from that Tropical Storm Debby.

So much for my nap.

We piled the kids in the van and headed out on an adventure. We did not tell the kids where we were going. It was pretty funny because Little E kept thinking we were going "somewhere". For him that meant to do something.

After getting to her house and meeting the kittens, it was a tough choice. We originally had chosen one that had half orange, half black face. But we wanted Miss K to choose the kitten. Or shall I say, let the kitten choose her.

Which is how it was for she and Teeko.

After at least 30 minutes or longer of playing with five kitties, we took home Mollie, formerly known as Viper. The kitten with the orange stripe down her nose. (far left in photo above)

It has taken some adjusting for her, she has cried every night in her "room".

Little E wanted a kitty of his own, and I have been feeling pretty badly. I'm a softie to animals and my son. There was one kitten that was attached to ours and has been lonely since we left.

We'll see..

Not like I need another mouth to feed. I have a human one coming in November. What is a girl to do??!

Friday Fragments #201

I'm sure you've seen your fair share of these funny yourecards on Facebook or other social media sites. I was browsing on the internet and couldn't resist posting this one. I have this fetich with grammar and spelling, so it only makes sense. And since most of the cards are quite vulgar, I wouldn't post many of them anyways.

Today( Thursday) at Miss K's school, the awards ceremony for the third graders was held. This year has been an amazing school year for her, starting with her most wonderful teacher. Without this teacher, Miss K may have struggled yet another year academically. She excelled in many areas, academically and socially. In the second quarter of this school year, K received the Citizenship Award for the first time since entering elementary school. Today, she received the Citizenship of the Year award in her class. It was a proud moment for the hubs and I.

I was reading in a moms group for parents of children born in November 2012 today. The topic they were discussing was "have you bought anything yet for your upcoming new baby. I have not, am I behind?" I have actually bought a few things for baby #3 only because the items were in excellent used condition and I couldn't pass up the deal. Except for the stroller system, which was new. But it was also a great deal that may not be when we get closer. When I think back to both my other children, I don't remember being as eager to buy things so far in advance. Except for Miss K, we did buy packs of diapers every other week before she was born.

For the summer our church will not be having any enrichment classes or children's ministry on Wednesday nights. I'm sad that we won't be meeting during the summer. I am looking forward to more time with the kids, especially since Miss K does not have dance classes in the summer either. Time to catch up on reading for all of us. I'm looking forward to teaching Little E to read more than just sight words. One of the websites we'll be using is www.Starfall.com . Miss K's elementary school uses this website in the classrooms during free time.

After three days of rain, rain, rain. It has finally subsided. Even though Friday has a 70% chance of rain, it has not rained very much. I'm thankful for all this rain we have been getting but wiping the dogs' feet every time after they go outside has become a tiring task. My plants and lawn are very happy with all this excess water.

Today was the last day of school for our county! I went in to help with a party that Miss K's teacher and I planned for the last day. Unfortunately her teacher was diagnosed with the flu on Tuesday and was told by her doctor to not be at work the rest of the week. The last week of school no less. :(  thankfully by today, she was feeling a little better and made a surprise appearance in class for 30 minutes, during the party. We're going to miss not having her as Miss K's teacher. She was such a blessing. If only we had her every year!

PYHO: Little E

Bittersweet moments in my life.

Last week, my Little E graduated from preschool. He is only a few months away from entering into his formulative years in school.

In thirty nine days he will turn 5. A milestone birthday. At least in this house we consider it one.

I sat back today and reminisced over the day last August we walked into the preschool where he was going to attend and remembered the excitement in his eyes. We chose a Montessori based school, based on high recommendations from a friend.

Little E couldn't wait to pull out a play-mat and join in.

Convincing him that he would be back in just a few weeks was something he just didn't comprehend. Now thinking about it, it seems like it was just yesterday. It brings tears to my eyes and a lump in my throat when I realize that almost another year has gone by.

How much longer will my little boy run to my arms for comfort from mommy hugs? School changes a child. They become more independent. The comfort of mom is saved for home, where friends cannot see.

I am mentally preparing myself for another year that I hope will not fly by. I hope that the birth of baby #3 does not overshadow the accomplishments that my second born will do.

My soon to be middle child. How will this change and mold his personality? My sweet "double" kisses boy. So many changes ahead for this little guy. A year of many firsts ahead. Am I ready?

Friday Fragments Episode #197

**My month of April sucked. There is no sugar coating it. I was glad to see that the month of May had arrived. I was thinking like a clean slate and everything could resume "normal", or whatever the new normal could be. May 1st was good and has been good so far. Except for my allergies giving me trouble-again.


**Logging into Pinterest using Facebook should be a no no for me. I wasn't thinking when I logged into it on Wednesday that whatever I was pinning was showing up on Facebook boards. I haven't spilled the beans on Facebook to friends I don't talk to regularly, about the baby. I was waiting until next week after my 13 week ultrasound. I had no clue until I got to Miss K's school Thursday morning that several people saw what I was pinning. Whoops!

**I know that we're a LONG way off from knowing the sex of the baby, let alone needing a name for it. But I have been on the hunt for a few weeks. The hubs is soooooo picky. We agreed on a girl name, but he has not been in agreement on any boy name. The other problem. We know so many people now that we're on baby #3 and most of them have at least two children, so a lot of boy names are taken.

** This week, I'm 12 weeks along and the baby is the size of a lime. Not bad considering we have 28 weeks to go. I can't wait until I can feel my little lime moving around. That has to be hands down, one of my favorite parts of being pregnant.

** I mentally decided what would be my favorite Mother's Day gift from my husband. I would like him to take the day off, and do everything I do the whole day. From making lunches, dressing kids, dropping kids off at school, picking up kids, lunch in between pickups for himself, homework, and dance class. While I get to sit and enjoy myself. :) Ah, one can dream, right?

**I uploaded my very own first pin last night! Miss K's school has been celebrating Teacher Appreciation Day all week and yesterday we presented her teacher with this homemade gift. I brainstormed from Pinterest and this is what I made! (except for the rubberbands) I'm so excited about this craft, after the response I have received from it. It really is flattering when other people like your work and want to copy it.

Source: i92.photobucket.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

Top Ten Reasons I Won't Be Going on a Trip

Now that my husband has arrived home safely from his trip to Haiti I can say there is now way I would be traveling to that country, or any other country and leave him home with the kids. Not until they are at least independent children who no longer need some one to be constantly watching them I might give him a few days with them, but not a week.

My TOP TEN Reasons why I will NOT leave the husband in charge

(even though I love him and he means well)

10. The kids rooms will be complete disasters. Or as I say "BOMBS". The kids know this word well and will come warn me that is looks like a bomb. 

9. Bath time will be questionable after swimming in a pool. Even if Miss K's hair is completely loaded with chlorine and looks like it too.

8. Our dogs will get fed when the kids remember it. The cats might as well pack their bags and head to the neighbors house for a week.

7. Our newspaper delivery will go unnoticed, only the delivery guy will realize something is up when the lawn is covered in them. ( I get 3 subscriptions)

6. Laundry might be washed and certainly not sorted.He might even join the ranks with me and accidentally wash magenta sheets with other colors and not immediately remove them from the wash.- it happens!

5. The kids will become regulars at McDonald's and the staff will know them by name.

4.Being the "mom taxi" would pose a definite issue for him. One reason I only work part time to work around the schedules of the kids. 

3. I might as well take stock in paper plates, disposable utensils and buy throw away everything. Think like we're camping. Because the dishes may never make it out of the sink. (He said that his room mate in Haiti was messy and it drove him crazy. So my OCD has rubbed off, but now that he is back home, he no longer needs to be clean. He assumes and knows I'll just do it. Would he MAN UP and do it while I was away?)

 

2. Homework! It's been known that daddy does not have the patience for Miss K when it comes to homework. Especially when it comes to math. -not his best subject.

1. Housework. It's not going to happen. I run a tight ship and I know that the house will still be there when I get home, but in what condition? After the bombs and the dogs, I might as well hire a cleaning lady as soon as I stepped off the plane. Or he might as well. After greeting the kids and the hubs, I would be inspecting it. Sadly, leaving a list won't cut it.

The only way I'm leaving the house, is if I hired a nanny for the week, along with a house keeper.

Hot off the Press!

We're Expecting

 

Yes, you read that right. I was hoping to hold out and wait another few more weeks and have better ultrasound photos to share. But I can't contain myself any longer. There have been several times where I would have liked to mention that in addition to what else was going on, that my hormones were "out of whack". I figured some one would catch on and the questions might have come. So I'm putting it out there!

We're looking forward to this new chapter in our lives and cannot wait to welcome another little boy or girl into the family. 

PYHO: One Click Away

Last week I posted about my time management or lack there of. I came in today to read emails, reply to comments and realized that I had not written another post since that one. Boy, that is disheartening.I obviously did not motivate myself enough to write anything. It's not the motivation, really. I have that. It's finding the time, the peace and quiet of the day to write down what's on my mind. When I get an idea to write about something, I've been typing snippets of it on my "notes" on my iPhone. Good idea, right?

Not really. I never seem to get back to them. Then when I do, it's been a few weeks and the idea seems dead. Who wants to read about a silly story that happened three weeks ago? Maybe some one.

I'm not going to let this get the better of me and my writing. For now, my life behind the keyboard has been very full and I know that if I stepped away from the real life, what's going on, that I'll miss it. Then I'll have nothing to write about. 

Miss K went to her very first dance competition this weekend. We left the boys at home. It was mother/ daughter time. And thanks to the lovely hotel we stayed at, the use of my lap top never happened. They want to charge $9.95 a day for internet use. We were there three days!! I was hoping to write about the weekend. Post pictures of my sweet girl taking classes, dancing on stage. But it has had to wait.

Last week Little E was sick, a sore throat that started on Thursday that lo and behold became strep throat on Monday. I have no idea how my husband checks the kids while I am away, but I know he is not like myself. I ask how the kids are feeling in the morning. 

So a trip to the pediatrician, a throat culture and we determined he has strep. Four dollar antibiotics and two days home for me with the little guy. And amazingly I never noticed that he was a little run down. Because by yesterday afternoon, he was full of himself.

I'm glad to be back at work today. It's quiet here today. Which is how I am writing this post. Stealing time here.

So you see, I have stuff to write, but not enough time to click it out. The stuff of my life, which my life is consuming.  Does that make sense? I am not complaining. Just venting. I take conferences for scrap booking to have time to do that. I need to take a getaway weekend to write. Authors do that, right? I'm not an author, but heck.

I'm glad I have this outlet when I get the time to use it. My friends on the other end of this, the ones who comment, encourage and read my "stuff",a BIG thank you. A million thank yous. For without you, I might not write as often. 

I know that is not what this is about but today. thank you!!! 

PYHO: Time Management

 
Time management has always been an issue of mine that I just can't seem to conquer. Being a mom to an eight year old child with ADHD, that is involved with extra curricular activities, plus an intelligent, full of energy four year old, those responsibilities take up a lot of my time. 
Then you add in working outside the home 15 hours a week split between three days, all the chores that come with owning a home that have pets living in it and dedicating my family and myself to our church. 

And I can't forget spending quality time with my husband after the regular day to day chores are done, when I'm finally sitting down taking a breath of air. 

Where is the ME time? Now, I do have free time in my day and when that time is, varies from day to day. Sometimes that time still gets used for some other unexpected trip to the store, the bank, or a catastrophic mess (we've had a few of those lately) and when the day is over after those "extras", I am exhausted. Leaving my extra time in the evening, to pass out asleep.


The time that I try to set aside for myself is split between three important things to me. Blogging. Reading emails and other blogs. Reading my devotions and Bible. I have several other things I would love to do, but they get put by the wayside more often than not. 


I love to write when I have the time. Okay, we've covered that my time is very limited. I used to sacrifice sleeping time and would stay up at least an hour longer to write my posts. But that caught up with me after too many weeks of doing that. Then I dipped into my time that was spent on reading my devotions and wrote posts during that time. 


Feeling guilty about not reading my devotions caught up with me and I had to find time some where else to write my posts. Really? How does anyone else do this? How do other bloggers find the time to write posts, read other posts, read emails, respond to emails? 


Why do I feel so guilty about something that is supposed to be a hobby? Something that I enjoy. 

Friday Fragments: Episode #183

My husband decided to have dinner out on Tuesday night after Miss K's dance class. She gets finished by 6:45-7:00pm so it's a common thing for us to go out. But this week was the Schwan's Tuesday and since this weekend is Superbowl weekend I needed snacks for the party. For the life of me I could not remember the delivery man's name. I had the hubs leave him at note.. addressed..Dear Schwans' man. Yeah, that's pretty sad. 

*******

I punished the kids this week with taking away the privilege of riding in daddy's Element when they wouldn't obey and were being disrespectful to me. It was a long ride home for me having to listen to Little E saying  "we're never getting to ride in daddy's car again" over and over and over again, in between sobs. It was more of a punishment for me than them!

*******

I walked into the restroom at work on Wednesday to wash m my hands real quick, knowing that Little E was in there. I figured he was probably sitting on the toilet reading a magazine. To my surprise, he was standing in the sink trying to get a paper towel. Of course the first one he yanked off, tore and it was not good enough anymore. Again, he is becoming more OCD daily.

*******

I was so glad to see that Grey's Anatomy was new this week. It was quite a different episode than normal and my husband said he just couldn't get into it.

*******

I'm planning a Super Bowl party for this weekend. I've bought most of the food and we've invited a few people but some can't come. So I hope I don't have too much food. I've got wings, twice baked potatoes, cheese sticks, dip and chips, mini pizza puffs. I haven't had a party since Miss K's birthday and I'm actually excited about entertaining.

 *******

I try really hard each week to keep up with my weekly devotions for church. This week I've actually made the time to read the booklet and keep up with the Bible passages. I want to share a few sentences that really struck a cord with me in my devotional book. 

Christianity is not just about getting forgiven and going to Heaven when we die.To give God nothing when he has given us so much would be to sin against his love; it would be to turn God into our servant and salvation into an insurance policy. 
 It makes you really think.

PYHO: Drawing the Line

I tried feverishly without any luck to find a previous post to give back information on the post I am writing about. Of course, I'm not very good at always labeling my posts and cannot find the one I want. I thought for sure that it was a PYHO that I posted it in, but I cannot seem to find it. so hopefully for those of you who read my blog regularly, you'll remember this person. If not, I hope that I can give you enough back ground.

When do I draw the line? Or where do I draw the line? This friend of mine has made decisions and said things that have bothered me before and being the good friend, I let them go.

 When we first became friends it was just she and I. We spent time together, having long conversations and enjoying each others company. One of the conversations was about when they used to have a playroom in their house before their youngest was born. They used to have the children of their guests play in there with their own children. After their youngest was born, instead of letting other children play in their kid's rooms with their kids they forbade it.

I didn't think much of it. She told me that the rule applied to her sister's kids because they were destructive and broke toys and made messes they didn't clean up.

The first time we got our families together, my kids were allowed in the bedrooms. I thought nothing of it.

A few times later, we showed up to closed bedroom doors. It wasn't noticed until Little E attempted to go into her boys' room and was told he wasn't allowed. That struck a nerve. 

Really?

My kids have never been allowed to leave some one elses house without helping to clean up and we have never broken a toy. So what the hell happened?

Of course I let it go. I never said anything. Which I regret now.

I thought subtlety sending the message that if she was going to dis include my kids, then I would be the same way. But it only lasted so long at my house.

My husband and I decided that we would limit the playing to either Miss K's room or Little E's. We alternated it each time. We haven't been together with our families in awhile and the kids were really excited about having their friends over. I still had my rule of one room open. It was a bad night for me and maybe I was just feeling weak and didn't want to argue.

Miss K asked me if she and one of the girls could go in her room and the rest of the crew play in Little E's. Sure, why not.

You would think a child the age of eleven, my friend's oldest, would be the most responsible. Maybe when they're keeping a close eye on him. He should have been the one keeping an eye on the little ones to prevent breaking toys, but he broke several toys that belonged to Little E.

You know how it goes though. They don't say they broke the toy. The kids bring it to me and tell me it needs new batteries. I was a little surprised since the toy was only three weeks old. I complied and replaced the batteries. Yeah, it didn't fix the problem. After further inspection,it was discovered the toy was broken. A toy that I don't know where to buy, since I have never seen one in the store. One that was a gift from my older brother to my son.

The icing on the cake. My friend never offered to replace it or even half attempt to. Not that I would have let her pay for it, but the offer would have settled my mind. So now I am unsettled about it.

So the line has been drawn. I'm not sure if I should say something? We're pretty close of friends, or at least I thought so. Do I risk the friendship? It is that petty? I know that if I don't say anything, my actions will speak louder than words. The next get together at my house, you'll be sure to know that the bedrooms doors will be locked. The message will be loud and clear. Even without words.





I am linking up with Shell at Things I Can't Say for her weekly meme, Pour Your Heart Out. Link up and join, read others, support those who have poured their heart out this week.

Friday Fragments #181 and Five Question Friday:

 After last weeks fragment post about my laundry, I used the tip from Ann in the Up about throwing in two loads of laundry a day every morning. Now I didn't get the loads in every morning, but I did three on Monday, one on Tuesday, two on Wednesday (thanks to a doggie having a potty accident) and one on Thursday. The laundry mountain never appeared. It was much easier doing one at a time.

 I don't know if I ever mentioned getting a dog back in October that started out as a foster. We fell in love the first day and adopted her. I felt bad for closing the door on fostering dogs for the rescue group so I told them I would open my door to another dog. Well we got another foster last Saturday and boy, having three dogs is a lot of work. Especially this one that came to us. The poor thing has been in several foster homes and needs to relearn basic doggy manners. In a weeks time he has done quite well. I'm impressed. The person that ends up adopting him will get a well mannered, sweet tempered dog.

 The one day that I didn't walk Miss K to class (I have walked her every day this year), I miss out on finding out that there is an awards ceremony for 3rd grade. Sitting at work, I get a text. K received the citizenship award. I couldn't believe it! I missed seeing her get this award!! I was SO bummed. My husband and I were so proud of her that we took her out for dinner, her choice.
This was the first time she received this award since starting Kindergarten.

I have another busy weekend ahead of me. My grandmother was in the hospital for four weeks and last weekend went to a rehab center. She should be there two weeks and then re evaluation to see if she is capable to go home. ( she has been bed ridden for two years) I am going into visit her on Saturday and Sunday. I haven't seen her in three weeks. Again, another reason the laundry work has been a blessing in disguise.  

I really dislike Florida weather. It's really stinks when it can't decide whether it wants to be cold or warm. We went from low 40's at night, last weekend to high 70's Tuesday through Thursday. Then a front pushed through, brought sprinkly rain and now today dropped back to the 50's in the afternoon. It has created a head cold for me. Hot throat, runny nose, sinus pressure..... ugh.


I usually don't combine memes, but this Friday I'm going for it. It's easier this way since I have a full plate this weekend. Heaven help me.






1. Where do you hide the reeeally good snacks?  Well if I told you, then you might come over and eat them. Then when I go looking for them, they'll be gone. Just kidding. Really good snacks would be home made cookies or chocolate covered ice creams bars. All of which are in the deep freezer in the garage, where the kids never venture to unless given permission. Because once, the freezer was left open and you can figure out the rest.

2. Do u keep your vehicle clean or am I the only one who has things falling out of their van?  I try VERY, VERY hard to keep my van clean. I regularly have it washed and I don't like clutter left in it. No toys, books, food wrappers, left over food (that will never and has never happened) or what such will be allowed to take up residency in my vehicle. I carry a small dust pan and broom and a micro fiber towel to wipe things down. Yes, I am THAT anal.

3. Have you ever been to Vegas? Nope. Can't say that I have.

4. Warm room light blankets or cold room warm snuggly blanket? Cold room with snuggly blanket. I would get a nose bleed in a warm room. I prefer to not run the heat (this is Florida, mind you) unless it drops to the 30's or below outside. So prepare to wear socks, long sleeves and snuggle into a warm, fuzzy blanket at my place.

5. What is the worst airplane/flying experience you've ever had?When Miss K was 14 months old (2004) and I flew home from Colorado after visiting my cousin who had just had her second child. I bought one ticket and had her ride in my lap. Going there was not bad because the plane was half full and she rode in an empty seat next to me. Coming back, it was a full plane, the afternoon (she missed her nap) and she was bouncing off the walls. It didn't help that we almost missed the plane, they had to hook up the gangplank (or whatever that is) so we could board. I'm sure the people on the plane were thinking oh great, a woman with a child held us up. Just great. K was not content to sit in my lap and watch tv, she was wiggling and crying. The guy next to me went to the bathroom a gazillion times and then he stopped coming back until we were descending. I felt horrible and apologized several times. I never have done that again. I will never try and be frugal and pay the consequences.

What's in YOUR bowl?

I never analyzed why I choose the foods that I do for children. It's common knowledge that "kid" cereals are plain junk and that you don't feed them to your kids. At least that is my idea of them.
My mother never bought them for us and the only time I got a taste of Apple Jacks was when we visited my cousins and that was when we were little. My mother cooked us a meal all the way until high school.

After leaving home I indulged for several years and bought the crap for myself... You know the ones. Reeses Puffs cereal, Fruit Loops....

But my idea changed when I had my own kids. There is not enough nutrition in those boxed cereals. But not much thought went into my choices. I prefer to have my kids eat eggs and wheat toast for breakfast or oatmeal with fruit, or yogurt and fruit with granola. I eat the same things now and I want them to be able to make good choices later too.

So it was befitting to read this article about the top worst cereals you can feed your children. It's written by the editors of Prevention Magazine. It was astounding to see that some of the cereals had as much and if not more sugar in them than a Twinkie! And that is when you serve the suggested size of one cup! That means you don't fill the bowl or you might as well just give your kid a candy bar for breakfast.

It makes me feel good about the choices I have made. We do have cereal in our house and thankfully one of them ranks in the good choices category, Honey Bunches of Oats. I have been buying the Kashi cereals and they didn't do the study on them. I would have liked to see where they rank. They did study some healthy organic choices that can probably be found at stores like Whole Foods or your local health food store.

My kids won't be seeing the likes of these at the breakfast table anytime soon. Maybe if they added some whole grain, cut the sugar and removed the colorful dyes. Ah what's the point.

Memories Captured: Bonding Time

I have taken hundreds of photos of my children. Just in the last month.

I have taken thousands and thousands of photos of my children in the eight and half years I have been their mother.

But then there are those photos that you get and you really don't realize that you captured an essence with the photo. I have taken a few that I look at and can see the moment.

I can feel the emotion that was happening at that moment.

I love this photo that I took this last summer of my children at our final beach trip of the summer.
 We walked on the beach to say goodbye to the ocean, the birds, the salt and sand.

We left them behind and we took some memories home with us forever.

I'm linking up with Galit and Allison.

Friday Fragments #180

I'm Friday Fragging again this week! I've been trying to get back to regular blogging and sometimes I just don't have enough to post or I ramble on and maybe my posts are borrrinng. I kid you not, sometimes I need to try and cut down. I've got to stop getting off track. It happens so easily. Which reminds me of a post my friend Adrienne at Stories from the ShoeBox wrote about with adult ADD.

I finally put on my "big girl" pants and removed some "friends", or used to be friends from my personal Facebook page. I was tired of toxic people that I've talked about more than once. They seemed to be stirring up more drama and I am more grown up than that.

What do you do when your garbage company doesn't pick up the trash? Thanks to some monetary changes, the county changed who picks up our trash. And for two weeks now they haven't come when they should.

A few weeks ago a customer gave me a recipe for Bacon Cheeseburger Pie. I finally made it this week and wow, was it good! It tasted more like a cheesey manwich (sloppey joe) pie, but it was a hit with my husband and Miss K. Little E wanted nothing to do with it.

I lost a few pounds this week. Finally!! I've been struggling with ten pounds that came back after quitting the gym last year. Honestly I really wasn't losing much weight going to the gym and eating better.I blame it on being over 30. My SIL nicely told me once, "you"re no spring chicken anymore". Thanks alot.

I'm on a laundry strike this week. I have actually not washed a load all week. I had the kids bring their dirty clothes into the laundry room last night and just stared at them. Not really. I had good intentions of starting washing but I was exhausted from a full week back to work, taking kids to school/dance classes, midweek church, I couldn't face it. How often do you do laundry?

New Years Eve: A Year in Pictures

So I tried to get photos for my post from my husband's computer for this post and I was doing like he said and clicking away at the pictures and when I was finally done....after going through a years worth of pictures.....only 16 downloaded. So I had to go back again and pick the ones I wanted and messed up again.

I will not attempt to rearrange them, because I do not want to run the risk of losing one and having to go back on his laptop again. So here is my 2011 in no particular order.

Santa Claus at Sea World December

Little E getting his first treatment since his was an infant , July

Miss K on her 8th birthday, August

Little E with a cake mustache at Miss K's party

Bolwing at a birthday party, September

Last beach weekend of the summer, September

At the pool on the last beach weekend, September

Saying goodbye, September

Our first Monarchs, October

10 year Anniversary, October

The hubs and I, Channelside Tampa, October

Monarchs hatched, November

Posing after painting the house, October

Church picnic, November

First Performance with the SODA POPS, Rosen Shingle Creek Resort, December

Ready to perform, December

First Christmas with Sadie, our foster turned adopted pooch, December

Fishing trip with my dad, January

First trip of 2011 to Sea World, February

Little E with his guitar that was donated by a friend, January

First beach trip of the year, Spring Break, March

Birthday Party in the park, March

First Camping trip in 2011, Salt Springs, March

Easter Egg tradition, April

First time Easter egg hunting at my house, April

Random photo, May

Trip to New Smyrna Beach to visit relatives, May

After a full day, Father's Day weekend, June

Recital for SODA Dance Studio, Ballet Ms. Dion's class, June

Short haircut for Miss K, June

Summer begins and mommy takes kiddos to work, June

Little E turns 4, July

Shamu Rocks,Summer at Sea World, July

Visit to Uncle Travis, Aunt Christy's house for the first time, July

So I hope you stuck with it and viewed my year in photos.

I hope that 2012 holds as many surprises, good and bad, as 2011 blessed us with. We have had so many life changing experiences this year and hope to continue in the directions we have been heading. May God bless us and you all this year and that it prosper in the ways you hope for.

Happy New Year!!!