Lately, I have been really pondering what is truly important in my life.  I know what is at the top of my list, the same thing that always has been there.  My family.  My husband and kids will always come first. 

As you know, I work full time outside of the home.  It was rough at first, but I have the luxury of working Monday through Friday and I am done with work in the early afternoon.  There are some really great things about where I work and there are really bad factors to my work. 

Since school has let out and we have moved, I have been waking my kids up at 5:15am everyday to take them to my Mother-in-law’s house.  That is very early for the kids, especially when they are on summer break from school.  This time of year is supposed to be fun and they are supposed to burn off all their energy outside.  That is not happening.  They are tired and crabby.

I am tired and crabby. 

I feel really bad about making them get up early.  That and babysitter issues has brought me to a place where I am seriously considering finding a new job.  One that allows my kids to wake up later.  One that allows me to spend a little more time with the kids. 

Obviously, we still need the money that I am currently making and switching jobs could mean making less money.  It could also mean different hours, working later in the day but not evenings or weekends. 

I have thought about watching kids in my home for parents looking for someone who isn’t a daycare.  I also thought about the fact that if I needed to take my kids to the doctor for an illness, that would be impossible if I were watching more than one child in my home.  There were too many negatives about this option. 

But, I am still open to the idea of watching a baby or kids.  My friend found a great nanny position on Care.com and told me to check it out.  You can enter in your zip code and find families looking for a nanny/babysitter. 

I was a little disappointed to see a lot of families who live so close but the hours wouldn’t work for us….at the end of the month, we start football in the evenings and then dance starts in September.  Plus, Lincoln will be starting preschool in September and that starts at 12:30pm. 

I logged on today and found the perfect opportunity.  The days and hours are absolutely perfect!  The kids could sleep in and even leave from here to get on the bus instead of going to my MIL’s house in the mornings! 

I am not sure what to do but I did respond to that ad to say that I was interested.  I am not going to get my hopes up but at the same time it really opened my eyes up to the possibility that I could really be changing jobs. 

I have so many reasons to stay where I am working.  Hello, I just earned my week paid vacation yesterday! I love the people I work with and it is something that I love to do. At the same time, I love my kids more and I have to do what is right for them and myself. 

My family will come first and making adjustments so that we are all happy, while they can be tough, are my priority.

Most of the events that we do are for the March of Dimes.  We have a family team that we are a part of and so we participate in the annual “Bowling for Babies” event that is really a ton of fun.  Anyone in the area can go and spend the afternoon bowling, eating, drinking and trying to win some great raffles. 

We also participate in the annual walk, March for Babies in Pittsburgh.  We walk in memory of a sweet angel, Kaydence and walk in honor of her brother who was born early and spent the first few weeks of his life in NICU and then again when he contracted RSV. 

I have already added the widget to my sidebar for this year’s walk in trying to raise funds for the organization. If you have a walk in your area, I encourage you to participate.  It is a great way to help out babies and it will definitely make you feel good.

Another event that has been brought to my attention in this area is the Walk for Alex.  It is taking place in North Park in April.  His story and the details can be found here.

If you have any other events going on in your area or in the Pittsburgh area, please let me know.  I would love to check them out and see if I can join in on the fun and charity.

Anyway, Chuckie is into his basketball season and he is doing okay.  Not as well as last year but it is still early on and he has a different coach.  One that isn’t as aggressive as last year. 

He had a basketball game today and he did well.  As time was running out on the clock, he got the ball…he dribbled….he positioned his feet.  He was at half court.  I thought to myself, oh gosh, he is going to try this shot and miss it….he shouldn’t shoot from that far back. What did I know?  He made the shot as the buzzer sounded!!  He was so thrilled and proud.  I was proud. 

I love football and watching him play that was just so fun.  Basketball is a little different but just as fun.  I look forward to the rest of the season and watching him as he develops his skills. 

I have been blessed with an athletic son.  It brings back so many memories of watching Chuck in high school when he played football and basketball.  Thank goodness those are the two sports that I really understand!!

I started shopping back in September, buying a few gifts each week.  I was buying mostly for the kids so that I would know that they were covered.  They are more than covered.  I have gone overboard!  I would not be exaggerating when I say that each kid probably has close to 20 gifts each to open.  That is both crazy and embarassing.  I enjoy giving my kids what they want when I can but I did buy more than usual.  I think that when you start early, you tend to buy more.  I have to say though, I did buy some great deals and did not spend a ton more than normal.  A lot of the things that I bought, I bought at half price.  I am a good bargain shopper so most things were bought from the clearance areas, or bought on Black Friday.

Today, I am planning on doing some holiday baking, something I really enjoy but haven’t done for the past two years.  I am trying to get back to where I was a few years ago.  I have missed doing all the domestic things I was doing.  Since I started working, I have been so tired and have really skipped out on a lot of the things I used to do.  I am still finding it hard to balance everything. 

Although, along with working full time, I am bringing in money and that money has allowed me to provide the kids with a great Christmas.  I tried to get them the things they wanted.  I am proud of earning that money and turning it into a special family event that we are all going to love.  I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces when they open their gifts and see them all on Christmas morning. 

In past years, I have gotten it all done but with major stress and physical illness due to the anxiety.  This year, I have not had any anxiety due to the holidays and haven’t been stressed out.  I am really having a great time anticipating the fun and excitement.  I still have a few gifts to buy, mostly gift cards but I will get them this week and I am not worried about it.  It will get done.

We are going to my sister-in-law’s house for Chuck’s family celebration on Christmas Eve.  We usually go next door to my in-law’s house but since my MIL  is still not feeling good, it would be too stressful on her and she can’t do that.  We have the kids gift exchange and everyone is set for that.  Then on Christmas morning, my family will be coming over for my side’s celebration.  My in-law’s always come over for that too and my brother-in-law and his family will be over too because we bought for their daughter since Chuck is her Godfather. 

We do a late morning breakfast with my family and exchange gifts.  It is nice to do that and be done with all the Christmas festivities by noon and enjoy Christmas day playing with all of our new toys!

I do buy the kids matching pajamas for Christmas, they get to open them on Christmas Eve when we get home from the family gathering.   Chuck says that the older two will not enjoy this much longer and I will have to stop buying the matching pj’s.  I will continue with this tradition but maybe he is right, maybe next year I will just buy Christmas themed pajamas, but not necessarily matching ones.  I also bought Chuck and I pajamas, not matching but something to wear on Christmas day.  He swears that he is not going to wear them but I will convince him to!

This holiday season is going to be special.  I am going to thoroughly enjoy spending this time with Chuck and the kids.  I still miss being home all the time, even after working full time for five months.  I am still having a hard time going to work knowing that Chuck is home this winter without me. It has been a big adjustment for all of us but without my job, I would be stressed and worried about getting it all done this year.   I am thankful that I have a job that I like and that has helped my family out. 

Happy holidays to you and yours, may the spirit of Christmas (or any other holiday that you celebrate) envelope you this year.  Enjoy this time with your families and relax.

* Home improvements.  Since Chuck and I decided to stay where we are and fix it up, we have been talking about what we can do to make it look nicer and work better for us.  First on the list was to rip up the carpeting in the kids’ bathroom and redo that room.  It is tiny so it shouldn’t take long.  We are planning on just a few things in there since we already painted it and replaced the towel holders, toilet paper holders, etc.  We are going to put in a tile floor, whether it is vinyl tile or ceramic tile.  We haven’t really decided yet.  However, the most exciting part of all of this for me?….the trips to the home improvement stores!!  I love going there…it’s at the top of my list of favorite stores!

* Halloween.  I know it is over today but I love this holiday.  I used to really get into it but I didn’t get to this year.  Chuck couldnt’ find the one bin of Halloween stuff I have so I didn’t get to go all out as usual. The kids had a great time trick or treating.  They got lotsof yummy candy that I will try my hardest not to eat a lot of. 

* Holiday shopping.  I have begun my Christmas shopping and I am done with the gifts for Lincoln.  Halfway done with the older two kids and working on my shopping for Chuck.  We are doing a kids gift exchange for his family again so I will be drawing names soon for that and I will shop for those two gifts.  I have a great head start this year and I hope to be done by mid December…the outlook is good on this one! 

* NYC I am beyond excited for my trip to NYC.  I am hoping to see some of the sights that are famous and I am really going along for the ride with everyone else.  I am not planning on doing  a lot of shopping because I know how expensive NYC is.  I would like to go to Tiffanys and American Girl but we’ll see where we end up! 

*Family.  We have been spending a lot of time together as a family which is always special for us.  Since football ended, we’ve had lots of movie nights and days of just hanging out.  The kids are thrilled and Chuck and I are enjoying the time together.

*Babies.  Several people I know are pregnant.  A good friend just found out that they are having a boy and my sister-in-law just told us that she is pregnant.  It is all very exciting and I can’t wait to start shopping for all the bambinos!

Happiness comes in all sorts of forms for people.  Life is really good right now and I am enjoying the ride.  It’s always good to reflect on all the good things that are going on in your life.  So…what’s making you happy today?

I started in mid September.  I have been buying a few items each week to try to spread things out and not spend too much at one time.  I have gotten Lincoln the most gifts because he is just the easiest to shop for right now. 

The older kids are getting harder to shop for and so I am waiting to see what deals I can find on Black Friday this year.  Jada wants a digital camera so I will probably get that on BF (yes, I am abbreviating because I am lazy!) Chuckie wants Bakugon, Pokemon and Legos.  If you don’t know what those first two things are….you don’t want to know! 

I’ve gotten Jada and Chuckie at least 3 things already and if I am spending more on bigger gifts, I am not going to buy a bunch of little things that just get forgotten and thrown away after a month.  I am planning on giving them gift cards this year as well.  They aren’t all that fun to open but the kids absolutely love gift cards so they will be thrilled. 

Chuck wants two things…a new necklace so he can wear his cross pendant and a laptop.  So….that will be something I will be watching out for on BF.  I hear that the sales won’t be big and outrageous like past years but I am really hoping to find good deals.  I have that day off from work and I plan on being out there early!! 

Last year, for Chuck’s side of the family, we did a kids only gift exchange and I am hoping to do that again this year.  I did already buy a gift for our niece because Chuck is her Godfather so I couldn’t pass that up!  Also, last year, my brother, sister and I did not buy for each other.  We only buy for the kids and my parents.  I am lucky in that my family is small and growing up we learned that family comes first and being together on the holidays truly is a gift. 

I have begun looking for the matching pajamas for the kids for the annual tradition of opening up the pajamas to wear on Christmas Eve.   Surprisingly, the kids like it and I think it is a great tradition, something they will always remember….and it is cute!

What is your Christmas shopping plan?  What are you hoping for this year?

At this point, we need to talk to the real estate attorney that she is going through.  She said that he wasn’t thrilled that she went the rent to own route but that he and she are both willing to do whatever they can to get us in that house.  She really felt that we would be perfect tenants in the house and we would love it as much as she does.  She said she would be willing to pay all closing costs and whatever else she could do.  She really understood our situation because she was in that same situation when she bought the house in 2001. 

I already put a call into the attorney so I hope to talk to him today.  There are several options and I’m sure we will go through all of them to see what we can swing. 

There was another couple that she showed the house to.  She showed it to us first so I don’t know if that meant anything or not.  Also, while we were there, a real estate agent was there with a client showing the house.  Oops!  We are still staying positive that this could be our home.  All of us are still keeping those fingers and toes crossed and I am praying every five minutes for this to happen for us.  God willing, we will have this house.  I have to remember that.

I do believe that everything happens for a reason and so if this doesn’t happen for us, I have to stick with that belief.  Something will come along, when the timing is right.  That is, of course, if we don’t get this house!

I called the man that was going to do our pre approval through the real estate agency.  Unfortunately, our numbers are too low and we are unable to buy at this time.  Okay.  I cried, I got mad and I threw my own little tantrum while I was home alone.  I can’t say that I am pleased.  We have been working hard to clear up our old debts and trying like hell to make all payments on time to improve our credit.  It’s just not enough.  We are moving on.

We decided that we would look for a house to rent while still improving our credit.  We just need more space.  Our kids need a bigger place, they deserve so much more than what we have been providing them.  We are starting to feel like we have been failing at parenthood.  It sucks.  So, the rental house hunting began.  I looked in the paper and kept my eyes peeled for signs.  We knew of 3 in the school district!  I called and don’t you know that all three have already been rented!  Man, can we catch a friggin break?!! 

I decided to check on Craigslist because I am addicted to it and figured that I might as well try it.  I saw an ad for a house listed as a rent to own house!  It’s in the school district.  It has 3 bedrooms (we would love to have 4 so all the kids can have their own room but at this point, 3 will do!) and the lady is willing to do a rent to own!  Some of the rental payments would go toward the mortgage when it comes time to buy it.  She needs to talk to her listing agent for more information to see just how this would work because she doesn’t know all that much about the arrangements but we are hopeful. 

She told us to feel free to go to the house and walk around the yard and deck and see what we think.  We took the kids this morning and we did just that.  OH.MY.GOSH. we are in love!!  The yard is 1.5 acres and the deck is the best deck in the world..it is huge and perfect for Lincoln to play on.  Not to mention the fenced in area of the yard.  It has a garage and we peeked in the windows and it is really beautiful inside.  Did I mention that it is a real log house?!  It is quiet and serene and just great for us.  I was really hesitant to take the kids with us because they know what is going on and I would hate for them to get their hopes up and us not be able to swing it.  I don’t want them to feel the disappointment that I am so used to feeling. 

I called the owner as soon as we got home to set up a walk through and I am waiting to hear from her.  She said she is really hoping for a family to move in before winter and love this house as much as she does.  We could be that family.  We really could. 

Please keep your fingers and toes crossed for us that maybe, just maybe this could work out for us.  If you are the praying type, please pray.  All I want is to provide my children with a home with some space.  A space to call our own.  I want this so bad.  I am trying not to get my hopes up too much but I want to be optimistic.  I so badly want to be optimistic.  As Chuck said, we are in love.

I try to at least read everyone else’s sites to keep up to date on what is going on with everyone.  Is it just me or is everyone overloaded with so much going on?! 

It doesn’t help that our home computer is not working…you get online and then it shuts you down and you are offline.  I don’t know what the problem is but I think we need to clean out the computer.  The kids mainly use that one and maybe they have gotten us a lovely virus or something.  I don’t know, hopefully we can get it back up and running soon.

My laptop is doing fine but the power cord isn’t working very well and I have to rig it up against something so that it charges the computer.  I’ve ordered a new one, though, so it should be in this week and hopefully then, I can quickly charge it up and use it all the time again! 

Things are going well for me.  Work is going fine, I’ve gotten the hang of things and it’s getting easier.  The hours are great and time flies while I am there.  I was even invited to a co-worker’s house last week for a girls night of drinks.  I didn’t go because I had the kids and even though they said I could bring the kids, I didn’t want to be the only one with kids there.  Maybe next time though! 

The kids have adjusted well to me not being home.  They don’t seem to be acting differently or anything.  They’ve been patient with my crabbiness that the exhaustion has brought on too! I’m trying to really keep that in check though. I’m still going to the gym at least 3 nights a week too so that hasn’t changed too much, just the classes I am taking.  I miss going in the mornings though.  I think it is much easier to workout in the mornings. 

I am happy to say that my weight hasn’t gone up either.  I was afraid it would because of all the good food at work but I think that the fact that I can’t just snack all day is helping! 

Jada gets her braces off in three weeks!  She is so excited.  I have to see if I can take off of work though because she has to go in the morning to get them off then again in the afternoon for the retainers.  I was thinking that my mom might be able to take her because some weeks her day off is Tuesday but not that week.  I started thinking that it didn’t matter if she was off or not. I want to be there.  These are the things that are important to me.  Working and earning a paycheck is very important and vital to our lives now but my kids will always come first.  How could I miss out on this very big day in my daughter’s life, right?!  I am starting to realize that the balance of family and work is very hard.  I don’t know if I could have done this years ago.  I also decided to tell work that I cannot work on Aug. 31st as this is the kids’ first day of school.  We have a tradition on the first day where I help the kids get ready, we take pictures outside of their outfits and backpacks and then I drive them to school.  If  I have been doing this since Jada’s first day of kindergarten, how do I stop doing that this year?!  Unfortunately, my supervisor girl who is 23, does not understand these parenting dilemnas.  She looked at me like I was crazy for saying that I may need the day off when Jada gets her braces off.  I’m sure that she will think I am even crazier for wanting the first day of school off.  She will be sure to make a smart remark but that’s okay, I am still going to ask for the days off.  The other people understand, even though some of them don’t have kids either. 

I have to get my car inspected this month and time is quickly slipping away from me.  The two places that I usually go to are not open on Saturdays so I am going to have to see if I can drop it off after work and have them do it in the afternoon.  I hope they can do it.  I know that I need some things done for inspection but I am hoping for less than $500 in repairs.  It will suck but I know that it sounds like it is falling apart!  We have been looking at cars online for me.  We would like to trade mine in for something newer and bigger but not something brand new.  We don’t want a big car payment because we have a savings plan in place to buy a house so this would put a big dent in our plan.  We would rather keep on saving and get out of here!

Why is being a grown up so hard?!  I wish I was a kid again.  No responsibilities but feeding the dogs! 

So, yeah, that’s what has been going on with us.  I have so much more to say but it will have to wait.  I have the day off today and I am spending it with my family.  Time is precious these days.  I’m taking the kids shopping with me.  Time to stock up on snacks for the week!

Yesterday, the weather was absolutely perfect, not too hot and not rainy or windy.  The kids and I swam, Chuck mowed the grass and we just relaxed.  I cooked hot dogs on the grill for dinner.  There was minimal fighting between the kids.  It couldn’t get any better!

Today, we slept in and as Chuck and I were laying in bed watching Wall E, he suggested we surprise the kids and go to the zoo.  We all love the zoo.  The weatherman mentioned possible rain and we figured that it would just rain because every single time we go to the zoo, it rains.  I mean every.single.time.  We are okay with that though because we are used to it.  It did rain a little bit but it didn’t ruin our day.  I got some fabulous pictures while we were there and I will include some at the end of this post.  It was Gorilla Day at the zoo so they had some special events or activities surrounding the gorilla theme.  There was a great storyteller there, face painting, a chalk artist drawing gorillas on the sidewalk, etc. 

We renewed our membership to the zoo. We plan on going back in about  a month for Lincoln’s second birthday so by that second visit, the membership fee pays for more than itself.  

I hope everyone else had a great weekend.  Tomorrow starts a new week.  This coming week includes: my finding out whether I got the new job or not (tomorrow!), more workouts that will include more spinning since some of the classes I love are not offered right now due to an awful injury my friend got, some shopping and hopefully more relaxing.

tiger close up

the rhino eating (Lincoln kept calling him a horse!)

LionLioness close up

elephant that Lincoln absolutely loved!giraffe profilesyes, I had to take this shot!!so cute...I love this bear!polar bear!