Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I hope that everyone has an amazing day filled with family, friends and lots of laughs!

I am thankful for so much this year.....It has been a little rough the past couple of months but I am thankful for that too, I am guessing it is making me a stronger and more patient person, not to mention it has made me skinny again!

I am thankful for my amazing family, without them I would be lost.  I would be crazy if it weren't for my friends, you guys are my voice of reason.  I am thankful that we are all healthy, I am thankful for the men and women fighting to keep our country safe and the families that are left behind.

I am have so much to be thankful for this year, I could go on for hours.  I hope everyone has an amazing day!  I miss all of you and hopefully will get back to blogging soon!

Man-tastic Monday Part 4

Welcome to another Man-tastic Monday!

Today I will be complaining talking about diaper changing.  It seems like (well at least in my house) diaper changing is 95% my job.  I don't know if it's because I notice or check diapers often.  But I find myself changing most of Tay's diapers.

I have heard conversations from the other room that go a little like this....

Tay:  "Daddy, I peed."

Daddy:  "Go tell your Mom."

And I end up changing the diaper.  Now Kielyn was a piece of cake to potty train, she started by herself at 17 months and was out of diapers by 2.  Taylor on the other hand is a different story.  I have bribed her with stickers, candy, big girl undies and we have only had one successful potty in the big girl potty.  Most of the time she sits on the toilet for 30 seconds, says she is done and then runs into the hallway where there is carpet and pees.

But I think we might be getting a little closer.  Yesterday she stops and says "Mommy, I'm pooping.  Better change me."  After I laughed for 30 minutes I explained to her that we need to start going poo in the potty.  Hopefully we are on our way out of diapers!

I am the only one who finds themselves changing the majority of the diapers?

Kind Of

Hi everyone!  No...I haven't keeled over.  I have just been in a funk and can't get motivated to do much besides everyday mundane activities.  We have still been busy with Halloween parties, play dates and that kind of thing but I can't even motivate myself to get the memory card out of my camera and post pictures.  :(  

The other day I really, really, really didn't want to do laundry and the girls were out of socks that I was tempted to go to Wal Mart and buy them new socks just so I didn't have to do laundry.  But then the thought of getting them both dressed, finding their shoes, getting them in the car, trekking through Wal Mart to buy socks sounded so much worse.  I finally did laundry!

I hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!  Hopefully I can get my hiney in gear and get motivated to blog again!

Not Yet

Just an FYI...

I am still having a pity party.  And NO I have not put on my big girl panties. 

Last night I dropped the girls off at my gramma's so I could go to WalMart for an hour by myself because I was about to lose it.  No really, I tried to hide from my kids....they found me in the closet and I had only been in there for 30 seconds!

1 week left before Ben gets home.  I will survive!  And maybe I will put on my big girl panties tomorrow, maybe, don't hold your breath, we will see.

 

I'm So Ronery

I'm So Lonely Ronery
So lonely ronery
So lonely ronery and sadly sadry alone arone.....

Lyrics from Team America...hilarious movie (just make sure the kids aren't up when you watch it) and in case you don't find the humor from the text and think I am crazy google it and watch the youtube video, just beware there is excessive amounts of foul language in the movie!

Anyway, I am having a rotten day.  Nothing major going on, just kind of down.  The biggest thing is that I miss my husband.  He has been gone for 3 out of the past 4 months.  And this is just the beginning of it.  Soon enough he will be gone for an entire year.  Yikes!  I know we will survive, but I miss talking to him every night, I miss seeing him everyday and it breaks my heart when the girls cry for him and there is nothing I can do to make them feel better  :(

I know I have a long journey ahead of me and it won't always be easy and I know that there will be days when I just feel like giving up, laying down, and basically keeling over.

But you know what?

 

 In the end Success will be mine!  Just not tonight, I am going to have a pity party by myself and be a brand new person in the morning!

 

IOWA fun!

Last week I was lucky enough to be able to be a bridesmaid in one of my best friends wedding in Iowa!  I had never been to Iowa and I was amazed at its beauty!  Audra and Joe live in Bellevue which happens to be right on the Mississippi River, and their backyard just happens to be the Mississippi!

View from the back patio

Absolutely gorgeous!

 I also got to see a barge go through a lock!  Seriously I was like a kid in a candy store.  We sat at the lock for an hour and a half so I could watch, it was so cool!  I was a geeky tourist!

The lock!  This is the bottom gate.

Tugboat keeping the barge in line to enter the lock.

I will spare you the 25 other pictures I have!

I had an amazing time!!!  (Thanks Mom for watching the girls)This was the first kid free vacation I have had, yay for me!  We talked and laughed for hours!  Stayed up way too late every night, but the best part about this trip was watching my best friend marry an amazing man!  I am so excited and happy for them!

The gorgeous bride!

Me!

Me and Audj!

He thought we would drop him....

Great friends!

Mr. & Mrs.

So to Audra and Joe....Congratulations and I wish you a life time of love and happiness!  I love you!

My Sister & the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Need Your Help!

I know you have heard me talk about my sisters before.  Well today, my sister Coree needs our help....meet my sister (she is the youngest sister).

Hi seester!  Coree is 25 and lives in Walnut Creek California.  She graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering from The School of Mines in Golden, Colorado.  She is currently working as an Environmental Compliance Engineer for USS-Posco a steel finishing company.


A little bit about my sister....she is the dumbest smart girl that I know....seriously, she can't chew gum and walk at the same time, but she can explain how to calculate the amount of waste that is emitted from a smokestack, knows a million OSHA rules and regulations and before she was promoted she was the foreman on a steel finishing line and could hold her own supervising a ton of guys, younger and older than her!  She is an amazing sister, friend and aunt!  I miss her terribly and wished she lived closer!  My sister has recently taken up running!  She is training for her first half marathon, 13.1 miles seriously I don't want to drive 13.1 miles let alone run it.


On November 14, 2010 she will run the Big Sur Half Marathon in Monterey Bay, CA!  She has teamed up with Team in Training to train for the race.  Team in Training is a non profit endurance training program that benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services.  They have invested more that $600 million in research since 1949, last year alone LLS made 6.3 million contacts with patients, caregivers and health care professionals.


My sister needs to raise $2,500 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  75% of all donations made go directly to fund research and patient services (this is one of the highest percentages among charitable organizations).  So today we (me and seester) are asking for your donations to LLS!  All donations are 100% tax deductible!!

Finally (and most importantly), if you know someone who has been afflicted with a blood-cancer, Coree would love to run in their honor as well.  Please let me know their name(s).
 
If you would like to donate please visit Coree's training page here!  If every 9 o'clock Dance of Joy! follower donated $5 we could raise $1760 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!


Thank you in advance!  If you have any questions or would like to talk to my sister about having her run in someone's honor let me know and I will put you in touch with her!