lack of posting

Hi everyone,

I haven't posted in awhile.  My mom passed away on June 25, I made a trip home to take care of her affairs and, now that i'm back, just haven't felt like it.  Hoping my energy for preschool and blogging returns soon - just been in a thoughtful state of mind...and tired.

Take Care!

I'm Back...

Alrighty.....just finished my 4th twelve hour shift and now i'm off for several days......back to regular posting!

4 shifts in the Emergency Room, as always, was interesting, busy, overwhelming at times, a little gratifying...and a little irritating.....typical week at work!

God be with those that lost loved ones this week.......

Where have I been this week?

Well....I apologize for being scarce......I worked Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, was off with a sick kid on Tuesday, then was on-call Wednesday, ended up working 4 hours.  So, that's 52 hours in 6 days.  It doesn't sound so bad when i put it that way....BUT IT FEELS BAD.  Ugg.....

Today I sold concessions at The Athlete's softball game (which we won 18-7, by the way) as part of our basketball fundraising efforts.  After it was over we packed everything up and headed to pick up The Queen from basketball practice....then we raced over to The Underdog's softball game and got to see her pitch for an inning (she pitched very well, though I think she might have thrown even harder if we had placed the Queen behind home plate!  Aye, those 2 fight and argue!).  The hubby had his social time chatting with all the parents and what not, by then it was 8pm so we went to dinner.  Some nights, I just don't know what else to do.  I've been so tired this week, I haven't even thought about dinner.

This weekend we go to Oakhurst, CA for the Yosemite Spring Fling basketball tournament.  Oakhurst is about 1 1/2 hrs away, near the mountains (Sierra Nevadas).    Looking forward to it!  We'll go up Saturday morning and likely will need to stay in a hotel Saturday night, to come home late Sunday. 

I haven't lived up to my commitment of posting a review each of our fund-raising efforts - but we are doing well.  Thus far, we have been able to pay for all their tournament fees ($300), gym time ($100), game admission fees, and a couple of meals out while at games, just from our fund-raising money!  I'm pleased with that.....

I promise to be back in better shape next week!  I do plan on taking my laptop with me over the weekend, so you may hear from me then given my inability to sleep when other people do!

Back to business!

Well, i took an unintentional break from blogging through the holidays as I was just too busy! I admire those that maintained their sites and still produced a wonderful holiday for their families!

We had a nice Christmas - better than last year. We really tried to keep things fairly simple this year, though the kids all got plenty. I didn't get all of my hand made items completed, but did get most of them done. Here's a rundown of gifts:

Matt: DVD player (ours broke a LONG time ago), 7" portable TV (so he can watch the game while in the kitchen)

Me: Matt got me a kitten - love her!

Jennifer: Portable DVD player with movie "Sarah's choice", a handmade notebook, Body Shop stuff, a dress, a sweatshirt fixed up with iron ons, handmade rice bag that is cinnamon scented.

Casey: an Ipod, $15 Itune gift card, homemade hair rollers, a sweatshirt customized with iron-ons, a Billabong sweatshirt, handmade rice bag that is cinnamon scented.

Sarah: I am quite proud of her gift - I took a 10 drawer "cropper hopper" and filled each drawer with something fun, educational, independent, and QUIET. Items included - Earth science cards with a handmade notebook, pen, and modeling clay to reproduce geography; a ''Disgusting Anatomy" kit on the heart, bead-making supplies, a DVD, a Leapfrog crammer (got for $14.99), and you get the idea. It was killing her because she only had 1 gift beside the tree! We wrapped each individual gift and put it in the drawers then covered the whole thing with a bike bag ($1 store)! It fits next to her bed perfectly, and has lots of good things in it. She also got a video cam/digital camera that I purchased for $40 over the summer.

Natasha: a tent, Leapfrog reader and several books, tinkerbell fairy dolls, handmade crayon roll, Melissa & Doug cookie set, an Usborne book "How big is a million?"

Arihana: a handmade cook top with pots and pans from plan toys, handmade fishing set, Leapfrog reader and several books, an Usborne book, a handmade crayon roll

I have to say this girls was completely uninterested in Christmas - she was enthralled with the kitten!

We had family over Christmas Eve for a stocking stuffer party and finger foods - that was fun, but Christmas Eve is hard as we all have so much to do. When I was a kid we had a stocking stuffer party every Christmas Eve at my Grandma's. I have such good memories of it and remember looking forward to it each year. My mom had several siblings and they all had at least 3 kids so there were cousins abounding! Our's was a smaller gathering, but I think the younger kids had fun.

Christmas Day I went to work at 3pm, Daddy and the kids had leftovers. I made a ham and all that goes with it the following day.

The week after Christmas, on New Year's Day, we met the rest of Matt's family at Knottsberry Farm for a weekend of fun! A treat from Grandpa and Grandma, each Christmas we go somewhere - at their expense. The kids will have such great memories and it's a special time.

We all left each other on Sunday, but we stayed an extra night at Grandpa & Grandma's so Matt and his Dad could look at their birds (they raise and show fancy pigeons). Grandma, the girls, and I went to Ontario Mills mall and had dinner at Rain Forest Cafe - a very cool place.

I hope to get back to regular, albeit of random content posting, this week - except on the days I work. The only things I do on those days are eat, sleep, love my kids, and work.

Hope everyone reading had a great Holiday!

Is today Thursday?

I was not very smart when i made my work schedule for this week. I'm working every other day. I worked Tues, am working today 3pm to 3:30 a.m., off tomorrow, work Sat and Sun @ 3 pm, Monday @ 9pm, Tuesday @ 3pm.......

I'm definitely behind on my Christmas crafting!

I'm back!

I haven't posted for awhile, the trip to Reno wore me out, LOL. The Van was great! comfortable riding, very little fighting amongst the group, stayed organized. Even the kids said they prefer it over our minivan or Suburban! Alas....we had to give it back. Maybe someday.....

Reno was pretty much a disappointment. Jenny got very little playing time, though our team lost every game. Unfortunately, we had 2 girls get hurt (both are ok now). The trip was very expensive for us - 2 hotel rooms, food, gas, etc. and to have her not get to play was frustrating. We won't travel that far again unless Coach agrees to play her.

All in all, we are back and I hope to begin regular posting now that things have settled down.