The Weekend

It was a good thing that we spent every minute outside this weekend while the weather was beautiful. Today it is a totally different story, it's freezing, windy, and snowing. I have been under the weather for the last few weeks, and I'm thinking that the weather has something to do with it. Here are a few pictures of the park on Saturday.

We also went to Cabela's the sporting goods store on Saturday night with my family.

I walked around the store with a giant camera around my neck, I totally looked like a tourist.

It was fun taking these pictures, they almost look like they are still alive.

First Day of Spring

Yesterday was the First Day of Spring. We celebrated by spending most of the day outside. I have to admit I have a serious case of "Spring Fever," I'm so glad to finally have some sunshine. Jasmine and I dropped Damon off at school and we headed to the "District" for some shopping. Jasmine took a nasty spill on the sidewalk early in our shopping, but was a good sport and let me patch her up right there on the sidewalk. Luckily I always keep a First Aid kit in the car, I guess it's a "Mom Thing." After shopping we picked up some lunch, went home to get Chloe, and rushed to the school to pick up Liv and Damon. We went straight to the park and the kids played on the playground while I took a few pictures. Here are some pictures showing the first signs of Spring.

After playing on the playground, we went to the lake. The kids enjoyed throwing rocks in the water.

Then we went for a walk. The kids had fun running up and down the bridge.

The kids decided they needed to sit down for a little break.

I took these pictures with my new camera. I think the turned out OK, except the lady at the camera store told me I had to have a UV filter when shooting outside and I think that made some of the pictures turn out a little blue. I have so much to learn, but I'm loving every minute of it!

Olivia's Peeps

Olivia's second grade class put ten eggs in a warmer yesterday and today five of them hatched. I let her take a camera to school so she could take pictures of every minute. She came home and told us all about these cute little chickies. Here are some pictures of Olivia's peeps.

Here's a little clip show of one hatching.

Kids Say The Funniest Things

The last few days I have been laughing my head off at the kids. Sometimes they say the funniest things. Yesterday I told Jasmine that she couldn't sit in the front seat of the car and she said " relax mom, I'm a professional." A few days before that Olivia and Jasmine decided to gang up on Damon and started chasing him through the house and he yelled "mom, I need back-up." Olivia's class is hatching chickies in their classroom to kick-off Spring, when I asked Damon what he thought was inside the eggs he said "CHICKS MAN." To me that is hilarious since I watch "The Soup" every week and they have a segment called "Chicks Man" and it's Ryan Seacrest's voice that announces it. Today I took the kids to the park and some little kid came up to us and just started telling us about his cat, Ginger. After talking to us for several minutes his dad called him to come home. Damon told him " hey get a dog, cats are creepy." I'm sure they've said more funny stuff but these are the ones that made me laugh the most!

St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

John and Damon made this cute Leprechaun Trap. Damon gets to take it to school today for Show-and-Tell.

Wearing Out

I have been working on my Photography Class all week. I started working on my photo project over the weekend. I took some really great pictures, unfortunately my laptop is wearing out and won't let me download the new software for my new camera. John's computer is so new it won't download the software either, so I have no way of posting pictures from the new camera yet. Since I invested all this money in photography classes and a new camera, everything else is falling apart. My laptop isn't working right, the dryer only works sometimes, and our TV is on it's last leg. Isn't it funny how right before Spring all major appliances stop working. It seems like we go through this every year, we have to replace all these really expensive items at the same time that everyone in the family needs new Spring clothes. It's also the time of year when we want to finish putting in the yard, OY!

The Slower, The Better

I have been working with a trainer for the last four weeks. I lost 1.5 lbs. this last week, which is much better then gaining a mysterious 3 lbs. like last week. We found out that last week, I actually gained about 1.5 lbs. in muscle and the rest was water retention. So I'm pretty excited about losing and not gaining. I have only lost about 3 lbs. and have put on about 3 lbs. of muscle so far, but I have been working really hard for the last month and was hoping to lose more like 10 lbs. by now, but my trainer assures me; the slower the better. My trainer is wonderful and has been really patient with me and my picky eating. She mentioned that I have to stop drinking Pepsi if I want to lose weight. Whhhat? I've never heard of such a thing. I am appalled! I can't believe she wants me to stop drinking my precious Pepsi. I outta slap her in her skinny face. j/k I've been drinking Pepsi for breakfast, lunch and dinner for at least 15 years. I wonder if they have a rehab for Pepsi drinkers? I'm so sad right now, I could cry. But I guess I need to at least try Diet Pepsi again (gag me) if I want to continue to lose weight.

Olivia's Pictures

Make a Smilebox slideshow

A New Week

Parent Teacher Conferences went great! We found out that Olivia tested for the A.L.P.S. Program. Which I guess means she is gifted and above grade level. We are so proud of her! Unfortunately, her school doesn't have that program. We would have to transfer schools if we wanted her to pursue it. After talking to her, she decided that she doesn't want to switch schools for the fourth time in four years and that she will stay right where she is. Damon also tested above grade level and is doing great. He just refuses to ride the bus to school. I actually feel better taking him anyway, I feel so much better watching him go into the classroom and knowing that he got there safely.

I received my first unit in photography last week and have been working on it ever since. I've already learned so much from it. We went on Saturday to get a new camera. I actually have two digital cameras that aren't very old but until last week I didn't know that you want a camera that is not so automatic that you can't make adjustments with the lens and speed. I've been so busy this weekend that I haven't even been able to take my new camera out of the box. I'm a little intimidated at this point but I'm sure I'll figure it out. It's funny for the amount we paid for my new camera I could have bought a new dryer or dining room table. I've been needing a new dryer for over a year and our dining room has been empty for over two years. But I think a new camera is way more fun! We can just keep using a folding table when guests come over to eat and the clothes are fine air drying. I'm just lucky that my husband has a sense of humor and didn't mind the decision I made to purchase a new camera. He has been really supportive and great and that means to world to me.

Not much going on this week. I got to view Olivia's pictures and they turned out beautiful. I'll be working on a slideshow this week, I'm just waiting for the photographer to sell me the copyrights so that I can post them. So here's to a new week!

Frustrated!!!

Today I am really frustrated! The Reading Program that I have been working on at the school is falling apart. Volunteers aren't showing up like their supposed to, or their leaving before the job is done. Not to mention they are not reading my emails so when they do show up they are doing it all wrong. I do have a handful of dedicated volunteers but they are getting overwhelmed with the work-load. I've had to re-organize the whole program, yet again. I have to go to the school this afternoon to find out where we go from here. Another thing that has been frustrating me is my diet. I met with my trainer yesterday and I gained 3 lbs.! How in the world did that happen? I have been working so hard. I expected to lose at least 2 lbs. this week. My measurements are going down, so I'm losing inches, my trainer and I just don't understand how I gained 3 lbs. I have a way of baffling doctors and now trainers. I wish diets were easy!

I received my online lessons in photography yesterday. I'm so excited to get started. I found a course that you can take from home and even get certified. They send you 30 lessons and assign you a student advisor who is a professional photographer to evaluate your work. I figured it's a start. I'll do all the lessons from home and also take as many classes as I can. Check out the website if your interested: www.nyip.com

I am still waiting to get Olivia's Communion pictures, they should be ready to view any day now. I'll make sure to post them as soon as I get them. I'm a little nervous about the pictures, I'm afraid they might not turn out since she had such a bad hair day. Her hair is super straight. I mean it won't hold curl for anything. I tried to tease it, but it just looked frizzy. We found this really cool hair accessory that gives your hair volume without having to tease it so much, check it out: www.bumpits.com I order one yesterday so that she can wear it for the actual Communion in May.

Today we will be going to Parent Teacher Conferences. I'm really excited! The kids are doing so great at school. Damon was a little below Kindergarten level at the beginning of the school year and is now testing above grade level. We are so proud of him. Olivia has always tested above grade level, school has always been really easy for her.

Weekend Review

This weekend I had the pleasure of meeting up with some girls that I went to Middle School and High School with. These girls haven't changed a bit, they are hilarious and we had a great time together. It was fun to hear their stories and find out about their lives now. Thank goodness for Blogs and Facebook maybe now we can keep in touch easier.

As for the rest of the weekend I spent that in bed sick with a migraine and a touch of the flu. John and I had plans to go out with friends for dinner on Saturday but had to cancel. I was supposed to meet up with my friend Rochelle for lunch on Sunday but missed that as well. I hate being sick and now I think I have an ear infection. I did however loose another 2 lbs. this last week. I hope to loose at least another 2 lbs. this week, but being sick I lost 2 days of exercising, so we'll see.