Finally!

     Well I finally finished the tile back splash! yay!! I think it looks great. I have a few things I wish I would of done differently, but oh well. I still really like it. It looks so normal now with the new tile and when I look at the before pics they look so plain! ha! But I guess that's the point, so mission accomplished! Now I want to pick out a paint color to paint the family room and kitchen. I'm not sure when my schedule will allow it, but I'm going to try to get it done in the next month or so hopefully! Here are a few pics:

Before:

In progress:

Finished product! I realized I didn't take the same angle pictures but you can still see the dramatic difference.

 
     The boys have been having great weather for Spring Break!! I only wish I was at home enjoying it with them! Gotta love this weather forecast!! oh yeah!!

    I got my little welcome vacation package in the mail for my girls race weekend in Disney in October. yay! The Epcot Food and Wine festival will be going on also while we are there.  I'm hoping we will be able to spend a day trying out all the different foods from around the world..yum!! Of course the theme of the race has to do with the Tower of Terror. I'm not a fan of that ride at all with the free fall drop! I think I rode it one time a long, long time ago. Although, I'm hoping to brave up the courage to ride it this time and have the other girls join me so we can get a group picture in our race gear, medals in hand and screaming our lungs out as we free fall!! yikes! ha ha...

     I don't know if you attempted to try any of the new flavor chips that Lays was putting out on the shelves. I tried a few of them but none of them really seemed all that great to me. There was one flavor that Dev kept wanting to try. Well, I saw it yesterday in Walgreens so we bought it. He loved it! I only smelled in the bag and didn't try them. I'm not sure if I was scared I would be totally disgusted by the taste or be totally disgusted with myself if I actually liked them! ha ha... Maybe another adventurous day I might decide to try them. Plus, even if I wanted to try them, he inhaled them. Like I said ...Dev loved them and was humming "mmm mmmm so good" the whole time he ate them!

     We are headed to Tampa this weekend to see an air show. The boys are excited. It won't be the Blue Angels like we are used to, but the Thunderbirds will be there. I don't think I've ever seen the Thunderbirds so it will be a nice new experience. I'm assuming it will be very similar to the Blue Angels Air show.

     Both boys have history fair projects due on Monday. yuk! It's one that you have to make the presentation board like a Science fair project. yuk! Why is it due the day we come back from spring break???!!  Yes, I admit I've known about it for probably 2 months, but we have procrastinated and haven't even started on it. They picked the topic and that was it. LOL...so now we are going to be cramming this week, prob tonight, Wed and Fri trying to get it done so we don't have to worry about it over the weekend with our soccer games and air show. I don't like projects!! I know it's their project, but seriously at this age...we all know the parents have to do a lot of the work! yuk! Have I said yuk yet? ha ha...so I told Mike he is going to be in charge of helping one boy and I will help the other, I'm not doing two of them!! yuk! LOL.... I see computer searches, copy and paste, print and gluing in my near future!!

     This year me and all the boys filled out our NCAA basketball brackets for the tournament. We each did one and we will see who gets the most teams correct. I made several educated and many uneducated guesses in who I thought would win each team. It was neat to see the boys filling out their bracket and trying to decide who will win. Mike and I even went online to fill out for the Billion dollar bracket contest. The odds of winning are basically that no one will win ha ha, but I guess it's worth a try! Dev wanted to put in his bracket for the Billion dollars but I told him you have to be 18. I offered to put his choices instead of mine but he decided against it. Later he had the nerve to ask me what I'd do if his bracket had all the winning choices....seriously?? I'd cry, cry , cry!! ha ha....

    Well happy HUMP DAY! and I hope you have a great weekend ahead! Toodles.

   

Lots of busy days

    So the best part has happened! Our Disney trip with friends! Wow, it was such beautiful weather and we had such a great time!! The boys were so happy to see their friends from Louisiana!! We had a busy four days visiting all the Disney parks but it was so much fun. I have to say...Disney is amazing. We have been many, many times since 2008 and I think every time we go we experience something new or find a new ride or a new something to try. We love it! It was Mardi Gras time for the Louisiana peeps, so we saw tons of LSU clothing everywhere!! Wow, our friends even saw several people they know!! The crowds were pretty light for Disney standards. I would say there was only one disappointment, Bry was sad that Splash mountain was closed for work while we were there. But not to worry....we will be back!!  The new Seven dwarfs mine train wasn't open yet either, but next time!
     Some of my fav pics from the trip...hard to pick only a few but let's see:

     I still haven't finished the tile backsplash grouting yet. I'm hoping to get that done this weekend. It was a short week when we got back from Disney and then Uncle Tim visited us. The boys had a blast. We all went kayaking and played some tennis and enjoyed a relaxing weekend. This time we saw quite a bit of wildlife along the way while kayaking. Bry did so much better paddling this time than the last but still got tired at the end. I think next time I will make him ride in a two seater with me. Mike, Tim, Dev all paddled ahead of us quite a bit. We met back up with them on our way back. I did see a baby gator! eekk! I paddled back to get a picture but made sure Bry didn't know because I know he would of totally freaked!! When Mike caught back up to us he said a Manatee surfaced right in front of Dev when they were paddling out. Of course he said Dev was freaking out and screaming! ha ha.... so on our way back together...we saw it again! Bry freaked knowing it was ahead but managed to direct himself over to the side and then I saw it come up for air! Cool!! It was neat, although I was a little hesitant also that he might surface to close to me and tip me, but didn't happen. We saw several very cool birds also, and a very large Pelican! Bry was getting very tired on the way back so I kept giving his kayak a push from behind with my paddle. Well one too many hard pushes and oopps, by paddle got stuck on his kayak and away he went with my paddle!!! LOL....thankfully Mike was near by and could come back to help. Meanwhile I drifted straight over to the bank, but not happy about it! It was scary..for me...yuk...I kept wondering what might pop out of the brush or trees any minute..lmao...but I kept trying to keep my cool and not freak out. But luckily, it was probably one of the best places to drift if I had too, some of the other places would of really freaked me out to drift hopelessly into!! It was hysterical though. Needless to say I was much more careful the next time I tried to boost him ahead with my paddle!

Can you see the gator at the waters edge?? eekk! Where is the Momma?? 

     We are getting our summer plans all into order! I am so happy...we are going to have two great summer trips with friends to the beach! One set we haven't seen in several years and the others are moving far away....boo...   So remember my recent post about 222....well here ya go!!! So my friend is booking a condo for us for a family beach weekend. The original one she had wanted to book was already booked when she went back to book it. So she finds another one and she books it and sends me the website of the resort and the unit #....yes...I"m serious...the room # is 222!! No kidding!! :-)  So we are obviously meant to be at the beach having fun!! LOL....now if I can just hit the lottery with my 222!! I'd take any form of the # !!

     Well this weekend is going to be a catch up weekend around the house. I have a few more projects I want to get working on. This is one of our only free weekends for awhile, so I need to try to take advantage of it. Next week is spring break for the boys and they are spending it with Granny. I hope she still has some hair left by the end of the week!! ha ha...

     Bry started his classes this week with the new TKD team! He had a good time and is really enjoying it. He got his new uniform for the team and looked so cute in it!! He is really excited!

    The boys also started soccer practice again. They have two weeks until games start again. Bry has a different coach than last season, thank goodness..so I hope he has a little better season this time. Dev has the same coach and a few of the same players on his team.

     Our neighborhood is having a movie night , camp out in the next few weeks. I know we will probably go to the movie. I'm not so sure about the camp out. I am a little questionable about critters....lol...I might just see if Daddy wants to camp with them in the tent and I'll go home to my bed. ha!

     So I found these lovely things in the store the other day and decided I had to try them! I love the Magnum caramel ones, I don't buy them often....price and calories...but I had to try the new flavor!! They were oh so yummy!! I still think the double caramel are my favorite though!

     Anyway...well that's my update for now. I hope everyone has a great weekend!! Toodles.

Waffles, grades, and prayers

So I saw this online, the new waffle taco at Taco Bell. I decided we would make our own at home for the boys. Well I probably don't have to tell you that they loved it! We just cooked a frozen waffle and topped it scrambled eggs and sausage crumbles and a bit of syrup. I didn't taste it but Dev says it tastes like a McDonald's Mcgriddle. That's good to know because it will save me money just to make this at home...yippe!!  :-)

Well Bry's teacher fixed the grade problem the other day. But, he we go again! I checked computer grades yesterday and it says he got a 6/10 D on a book report! What? I had just looked at his book report the night before and he got an A. So I politely emailed his teacher and let her know she must of put someone else's grade in by mistake for his grade. I sent the papers back today so she could see for herself that he did not get a D. Boo....I know mistakes happen but this is kinda crazy! It's a good thing I check those grades constantly. I wonder about those parents that don't check the grades or might not even have a computer or way to check the grades. How many have been put in wrong??? Hmmm...

Well the tile backsplash is up!! yay!! I think it looks good. I haven't posted any pictures yet because I'm hoping to finish the grout tonight. Hopefully I will pick up the grout on my way home tonight and be able to finish it up, minus the sealer and caulk. But at least it will look finished once I add the grout. Happy!

I rocked 20,000 steps yesterday on my Fit bit Force! yay! I worked hard for it though! It says the mileage for that many steps was 9.4 miles. I believe it to be pretty accurate. I ran 4 miles in the morning, walked 1 mile at lunch and then ran about 2 miles in the evening ( I didn't wear my GPS watch just went by the time). Then you add in my regular activity for the day and voila....20,000! ha...not sure how often that will happen but it made me feel good. I usually average around 11,000 a day to give you an idea. I finally also broke my scale plateau this morning! Finally, although with the weekend vacation coming up I know it will bounce back up but that's ok. Hopefully once we get back I will get it back down and keep going down! :-) I'm curious to see how many steps I walk in Disney. I think the rides might alter it a little, but I plan to check it before and after a ride just to see what it does. I'm sure depending on the amount of motion the ride has the steps will go up but that's still activity right?! LOL.... I've always wanted to wear my GPS watch all day in Disney just to see how many miles we walk!! 

I need to ask for some prayers!! A friend from HS is battling breast cancer for the 3rd time! She is only 40 and a single Mom! This time it has come back intense and spread throughout areas of her body....She is in the hospital right now on oxygen. Please pray for strength and healing for my friend!

Yay for the weekend!

     Well this is it....I am going to start the tile project today! yikes...I sure hope it goes smoothly. I'm not sure why I'm nervous about it, I've done at least two back splashes before. I am excited though and I will be happy to see the finished project. I think it will help our kitchen out a lot and give it a little extra look. The cabinets are pretty plain, so I think this will help the over all look at least a little bit! I'll be sure to take before and after pics. I'm not sure how long it will take. I think this is a bigger area than the last one I did so we will see. Last time I rented a tile saw to cut some of the pieces( which was a little scary I admit, but I did it). This time the tiles are smaller so I bought a different tool that is supposed to work with the smaller ones....oh boy....we will see! ha ha...

     Just a note...if your child's grades on in a computer system for school be SURE to check those grades often!! I had multiple problems with Dev's previous teacher putting the grades in wrong. Well the other day I pulled up Bry's grades and he had an overall grade of an F!! Not just a test grade, it was showing his overall grade as an F. He is carrying all A's otherwise. Well when I went into the detail, his teacher had mistakenly put that he got 29/300 on a test instead of 29/30! yikes...simple mistake..but not sure when or if she would of caught it. You would hope she would of noticed her A student has an F in a subject and followed up on it. But, I didn't wait for that to happen obviously. I nicely emailed her about it and she fixed it. So anyway, be sure to keep up with your kids grades and check them with the computer. It's easy to mistype a number and mistakes happen so keep an eye out!

Now this is something!! I listen to iheart radio at work and I usually listen to a New Orleans station that I  liked when we lived there. They were talking about a place that was selling a King Cake burger this year for Mardi Gras! Whoa...I looked it up. Here's the picture! Holy Moly!! I'm not sure about this one. I guess they are trying to do the salty/sweet effect, but if you have ever had a King Cake in the past ( a good one) you'll know that the icing itself is soooooo sweet! It's yummy but very sweet so I think it would probably be overbearing of the burger itself, but that's just my opinion.

      I am looking forward to next weekend when our friends from Louisiana meet us in Disney. They are bringing King Cakes!! yummy! I have had a few before we moved there, but didn't care much for them. Maybe because they weren't from the locals!! The ones in Baton Rouge were awesome!! Excited to eat some next weekend, thanks Jen and Chad!! whoo hoo!! I sure miss several local foods we enjoyed while we were there!!

     On another note. It is always the little things!! So, I really enjoy planting flowers and digging around in the flower beds. I finally got out and bought some flowers to plant. This is just the start. Our yard has some really pretty landscaping that was pre-existing when we bought the house. But there aren't any flowers. Mostly just greenery. It looks nice but I miss the flowers. Most of the houses in our neighborhood just keep to the greenery. I decided it was time to add my own touch! I dug up a few of the green shrubs in the front under one of our palm trees and planted some bright colored flowers. I also bought another Hibiscus plant that isn't shown here and added it to the front flower bed in a planter. I've already had several neighbors comment on the pretty flowers as they walked by..yay!  Flowers make me so happy! I planted some in the back too around the edge of our patio. Mom helped me get them planted.  I also want to add some around the bottom of one of the trees in our front yard. I will need to build up the bed though, because some of the dirt is so hard or full of rocks from the building of the house I guess.

     Tomorrow is what I now call "my" day. Feb 22 or otherwise known as 2/22.  Wierd story here... I don't think I've shared this on here before. If I did here it is again with the update:

  So back when we lived in Louisiana and things in our life were starting to change and be kinda topsy turvy AGAIN....  this all started before we even knew we would move and when Mike's job wasn't going well. 

   I kept seeing the same number "222" over and over, in lots of wierd and unusual places...sometimes more than once a day.  For instance one day I went into the break room at work and the microwave said 2:22, the strange part of that is it was like 10 am in the morning!! Yeah...wierd!!  Like I said I kept seeing the number constantly and what seemed like more frequently as things started changing in our lives and we realized we would be moving. Anyway, Mike suggested I try to google the number to see what comes up.  I googled it and it was amazing what the meaning was!! I definitely felt an ease come over my mind and heart. 

Some of what i found:

The Number 222 - God's Word and the Firstborn Blessing: Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding

222, 2222 - This is a sign of confirmation that you are on the right path, doing the right thing and going in the right direction.  Continue with this train of thought.

222 is the symbol of new beginnings, the next step in the ladder.  Just as nature cleanses the air and earth with rain, 222 symbolizes fresh air breathed into your day to day routine. A renewed sense of vigor and lust for new opportunities. Take the daydreams and wishes that make your heart smile and start taking action toward making them a reality.

Your thoughts are aligned with the truth. This is verification from the angels that those thoughts are correct. For example, if you have thought about quitting your job and are daydreaming about what you would really prefer to do instead, you will receive 222 as confirmation of the ideas you had that are aligned with your soul’s purpose in this lifetime. It is confirmation that your recent thoughts are on the right path and that you should take the next step.

So exactly, what DOES 222 mean? 222 is a pattern that is a very positive sign that you are on the right path. You don’t need to worry about the future, because everything is determined and turning out exactly as it was planned. So feel to take your hands off the wheel, and enjoy the ride! Don’t bother focusing your efforts on distractions or negative feelings. You may be traveling on a bumpy road, but it is the direction you should be going. There is little you need to change in your life, and you should take comfort in this fact, and not take it for granted.

WOW!!

So anyway...as I was looking at my calendar the other day I saw that one of my good friend's birthday is coming up!!!! what??!!    2/22!!! OK, seriously??? It reminds me of how we met ( a very unique and I guess NOT by chance way), how we are friends still and how we have sent things in the mail and emailed each other at the SAME time not knowing the other one did etc... no wonder her birthday is 2/22 !!!

She was obiviously  "meant to be" my FRIEND!!

 By the way I am still seeing this number almost everyday even now!! 
Also when we bought our house here I realized something....our address equals 222.... follow me here.... 11312 ..   so 1+1=2, 3-1=2 and then the last number 2 ! Equals 222!! I didn't try to make this up, it just came into my head one day after we had decided it was the house we wanted.

 AND when I went to NYC with the girls, my girlfriend and her sister decided to get their own room and not room with me and Denise.....guess..yes guess what their room number was...........I AM NOT JOKING!!   222!!!!!!!  I freaked when I saw it!!   

So  I wanted a hair appointment before we go on our Disney trip. I called several weeks back to get it set up. The desk person told me that she is booked most Saturdays for awhile and they would give her the message and have her call me if she could squeeze me in sometime. So you might figure where this is going! Her assistant called me a few days later and they had a time and date for me.  It didn't occur to me on the phone what just happened until I sat down at the computer to put it in my calendar. So my appointment that THEY set up for me, ( I did not choose this), the date is Feb 22, at 2pm!! I'm serious!!! :-)   smile....

So things really do happen for a reason and sometimes God is sending you signs, you just have to notice and realize them!! HE is watching over and guiding us everyday! It might not be your plan but it definitely is HIS plan!!

So I'm looking forward to a peaceful tomorrow filled with happiness, praise, blessings and thanks! 


Toodles!!




 :-)  

This and that

     Well I know it's been a few weeks since I've blogged. There hasn't been too much exciting stuff happening. As far as an update on the TKD team that the boys tried out for. Well, they both made it. Although Bry wants to do it and Dev does not. Dev does not like the sparring part ( me either!! ) so I can't blame him. I haven't had a chance to talk to the Master yet. I am waiting to find out the soccer practice schedule before we sign Bry up for the team. I want to make sure that he will be available the nights that are scheduled for the team practice. I know he can't make it to Wed night class already since he has Church class until the end of May preparing for his 1st Communion. We should find out the soccer schedule in the next few weeks. I also want to talk to him about Dev's hesitation. I do know he hasn't had much training in sparring so it definitely made it more intimidating that night of try outs. Maybe he can do a trial time or something. I'm not sure, we will see in the next few weeks.

     Well we picked out our tile for the kitchen back splash.   Hmmm...I was very excited and got the whole pattern figured out including room for the outlets and everything. Now...it's time for the hard work...eekk!! Kinda dreading this part! I think I will finish getting the supplies this week and maybe start working on it this weekend. I'm excited about the outcome, just not excited about the doing part...ha ha..
   

I am so excited!! Me and my girlfriends signed up for the Tower of Terror 10 mile race in Disney in October!! yay!! These are the same girls that ran the Disney Princess 1/2 marathon with me and also went on my 40th NYC trip!! The race is at night and has an after party included after the race! We were thinking about signing up and then after reading several forums we decided we better sign up if we are thinking about it before it fills up! Well it has only been 1 week since registration opened and the race is 50% full! I am so glad we went ahead and registered! It's going to be so much fun. I'm trying to decide on some themed outfits for us to wear too! I can't wait!!

We took a nice drive this weekend down to Marco Island. It is south of Naples and about 45 minutes or so from us. I think it is the southern most part of Florida on the Gulf side that you can drive to. Wow...it was beautiful!! I felt like we were on vacation somewhere...oh wait...we are everyday now....we live in Florida!! yay!! Seriously...we found a quaint little beach with an intercoastal water area. There were a lot of people just relaxing and we saw some cool birds up close! Then we walked down the beach to the Gulf access...wow...it was a fabulous day. We weren't prepared to be at the beach, no bathing suits, chairs, sunscreen or sand digging toys for the boys but we still had a nice time. I love seeing the waves crash on the beach and the smell of the salt water!! I wanted to just stay there all day!! The boys dug around in the sand and collected a few shells. It was a gorgeous day! 

We will go back for sure and we will be beach prepared for sure!! We have closer beaches near us but this was so quaint and quiet....I loved it!

Well that's all I have for now. Toodles.

Tortured Mommy

   So last night was the 2nd night of try outs for the boys for the TKD team. Well, first let me say that they were 2 of 5 or 6 kids that were trying out. The rest of the class was kids that are already on the team and you can tell!! Last nights focus was on sparring. I have to say that sparring was definitely the part I liked the least when I was doing TKD. That is just my personal preference. I didn't like it and frankly I don't like to watch it either. So it was torture for me to watch the boys last night. They haven't had much experience sparring either. The classes they take after school don't seem to have much sparring as part of the class. I think Dev has done a little more than Bry. Well the first match for both of them went pretty well. I could tell they had nerves but they were hanging in there and doing good. Well on the 2nd round Bry's new partner was more aggressive. He wasn't doing anything intentionally wrong he was good, but I was nervous. Then it happened. Bry got kicked right in the throat! yikes...it took all I had not to run out there like a Mommy would. But the Master was right there when it happened and saw the whole thing. He was consoling him and making sure he was ok, and then encouraging him to continue. I was impressed, because with our soccer experience this is where Bry would usually head to the side line to cry it out and then sit for awhile. Luckily the Master is much more in control and has experience with this. Bry continued even while he was slightly crying and even got some really good kicks on the opponent. I could tell he was upset and probably even his feelings hurt too, but he continued to finish the match. As he sat on the sideline I could see him still breathing heavy with a few tears in his eyes and trying to compose himself. By the third match he had calmed down and did excellent. It really helped that the Master was close by and encouraging him and praising him for doing a good job. I could tell the discipline and Bry's respect for the Master truly helped him not give up. Remember, the other kids all have a lot more experience than Bry. I was so proud of him!!!! I felt like it was a milestone for him. It's not easy getting hit or knocked down, but I think it helped him build his confidence and even motivated his drive to kick better, harder and faster at the opponent!

     Dev did good also. He was a little less aggressive, but he also had a lot bigger kids to spar against that seemed intimidating. He did awesome though. He also got some really good kicks in. He did get kicked in the mouth one time that brought tears to his eyes. But, again the Master was there and Dev continued on fighting the tears and finished up the match. I can tell that this will be part of the program that I will probably be sure to miss...on purpose. I just don't like watching it. They aren't there to hurt each other, but sometimes adrenaline and lack of control takes over. I know it's normal, but I'm the Mommy so I can feel this way! ha ha... I have to say that there were a few teenage girls there that you would NOT want to mess with. They were awesome! I think one of the girls is competing to be on the Olympic team! She's that good!! Whew...we made it through the try outs though. I think they will know something in the next few days. Bry was funny though. He said the Master told the try out kids after the class that if they did not want to be on the team that it was alright. Bry laughed,  "who would want to do all that and not be on the team?!" LOL....I guess it wasn't too hard for him and he enjoyed it based on that question!

     Tonight both boys have TKD testing for their next belt. I hope to get some pics and maybe some video. We have only been to a make up testing class so I'm not sure if I will have a good view for tonight or not. Then we are watching Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 for our Friday night movie night. I hope it's entertaining. I'm ready for a nice relaxing movie night.

    So back to the gym on Wednesday morning or so I thought. I still felt a little under the weather the first of the week and chose to sleep in instead of getting up at 4:15am. Well Wednesday I talked myself into and headed to the gym at the clubhouse in our Subdivision. Well, frustrating as it was, the doors were locked!! GRrrr..that was such a bummer!! I couldn't get in like I normally do and of course I didn't really expect anyone else to come along, I'm usually there by myself most of the time. So I headed back home and gruntled through a few exercises at home. It's just not the same and I let my laziness and wishes of sleeping in take over. ha ha.. But Thursday morning the doors were back to normal. There were two other people there with me that day. It's always refreshing that I seem to have so much more energy while on running on the treadmill when there are people on either side of me!! Hee hee...it's competitive nature I guess. Whatever it takes...right?! Today I was all by myself but I did a great workout even through the leg soreness from yesterday. I do like being by myself sometimes though because I can do some of those what I call awkward exercises that I don't like to do if others are around..ha ha...not like they are paying me any attention but you get the idea!  So it's my goal to do some working out this weekend. Like I said before I don't usually work out on the weekends but this plateau is really getting on my nerves!!!

     Only 1 month now till our next Disney trip!! yay!! We just love that place!! We are going with some great friends from Louisiana!! This will be their first visit so we are so excited to have lots of fun with them as they enjoy the most Magical Place on Earth!!  LOL...Also it will have been almost a year since the boys will have seen their old neighborhood buddies!! This is going to be such a great trip! We are so excited!! It's so much fun to keep going back and seeing the boys enjoy new things and new rides every time we go. I am really hoping the new Seven Dwarfs mine train is open when we go. It was under construction last time we were there. The website says Spring, but I'm seeing a few forums indicating it just might open by the time we get there. I hope so! I love the new Magic Band program Disney is using also. They send you arm bands in advance and you can pick and load your Fast Passes on the bands before you even arrive at the park, as well as have your room key and charging privileges all on the arm band.  I love this, it makes it so much better than rushing all around the park for fast passes as soon as you get in. Some would even already be sold out by the time we got to the Kiosk or the time would be very late in the evening. So far we haven't had really any trouble getting rides we wanted for Fast Passes. I did notice they have changed it a little since we went in the fall. They have certain rides now grouped into tiers and you pick so many from each tier. It's ok with me though. It's still better than rushing around the minute you enter the park. For those of you that have been to Disney you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't been...you should!! Even adults have a great time! My biggest recommendation though is to do whatever you can to go during less of a peak season than mid summer or even Christmas! Just my 2 cents! :-)

  Well that's all for now. For all my northern peeps...stay safe and stay warm. I'll be doing a little sweating for you this weekend while we are in the 80's!! yikes..!!! Toodles!!

   

Tough cookies

     Well sometimes it's hard to come up with a snappy title for my posts so this is the first thing that came to mind. Ha ha...no real reason so just go with it!  :-)

     Anyway, we watched Monsters University a few weeks back on our Friday night movie night. I have to say I really enjoyed it. It had a great message and I thought it was a really cute movie!! I think this Friday we will rent Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. The best part of our movie nights is that I'm renting from Redbox so it's a pretty cheap movie...yay!! I can't get over how much it costs to go to the theater!! All I have to say is that Dev and Bry better start saving date night money now and plan on getting a good job, because this Momma isn't shelling out that much money for a movie and dinner night for two teens!! eekk!!!!

      Proud parents here for Dev making Honor Roll also!! Way to go!! I'm so proud at how good they are both doing in school!

     Well last week the crud almost won me over! I left work early one day to rest/sleep the day away with lots of meds on board! Thankfully it turned out pretty mild. We were still able to have our date night on Friday night. I was a little stuffy for the first part and couldn't taste the cheese fondue...boo....but luckily it got better and I was able to taste the rest of our dinner! Yay...I could even taste the dessert....I would of been really depressed if I couldn't taste the chocolate fondue!!!!! It was a very nice relaxing night and we had great service and great food.

     The boys have been invited to try out for the high level competition TKD team! It involves two nights of try outs this week. Last night was the first night and it was all cardio!! Wow...I have to same I'm impressed at how well the boys did. I mean it was at least about an hour straight of tough cardio!! The boys held in there and did so awesome!!  The second night is Thursday and they will be doing some sparring...fighting...I'm not thrilled about that part but it is part of TKD. Dev tried to back out last night before we went but I think he was just nervous. He did great and was happy he went afterwards. Surprisingly they weren't sore this morning, but I have a feeling that tonight and tomorrow might be a different story!! Watching the boys last night made us miss our TKD days!! Flashback...

I need to try to dig out some more pics to show the boys of our days in TKD...this was before kids!! LOL.. I think I might have some videos too that I know they would love to see!

We spent most of Saturday doing house chores so we made sure to have fun on Sunday. We took the boys to a nearby park and had some fun throwing the football and practicing some soccer.

The boys are getting into another eating spurt! I mean really....scrambled eggs, sausage, 2 bowls of cereal, wanting more but I said no....that's one boy just for breakfast!! yikes...some days I am in awe of how much they can eat!! They are definitely growing boys!! I made stuffed green peppers last night and Dev was upset that I only made him one!! He wanted to have at least two!! Luckily I had made some stuffed pasta shells to go along with it, thinking they wouldn't like the peppers. So glad I had some back up!!  They are eating machines!

Looking forward to this weekend. Saturday night we are having another date night. This time it's with a couple that we met in our neighborhood. They have two boys that are about the same age as ours. The couple is from this area so we are looking forward to wherever they might take us. Then Sunday is the Super Bowl!! The boys are already making requests for snacks for me to make..ha ha...so I better get to planning! We can't have a Super Bowl without the snacks..right?!! I think I have to go with Denver for the win. 

Well that's all I have for now...

Toodles

The rush is over

     Well it seems the New Years rush at the gym is dwindling. Before the holidays it was a select few of us that were there bright and early 5-6 am most weekday mornings. Well after the New Year there were quite a few new faces joining us. Well Friday and then yesterday and today it was back to just me. There was one girl there part of the time with me one day, but I've seen her before and I know she also runs around the neighborhood so maybe she was just changing up her routine or schedule. But today I was all by myself until my workout friend arrives about the time I leave. Sadly, I do not know her name but we have that same mutual smile at each other so early in the morning. I am usually finishing up my workout as she comes in. If you were to judge her solely on appearance you'd probably say she didn't need to be there. She is very slender and not very muscular either, although I have to say she does quite a bit of running on the treadmill. I don't know if she does anything after that because I'm usually gone by then. I say to myself..."this routine she has is the reason she stays so slim and trim!!" My goal too....I'm working on it! I have made it to 4 days a week. My average is somewhere between 3-4 times a week at 5am in the morning till 6am. I haven't made it to the 5 days a week yet...ugh...and I usually don't work out on the weekends either. I have been consistent with this though since the beginning of September.  I'm trying something new this week. I need or should I say want quicker results. So this week I'm adding exercises at night along with my lunch time walk also. I am tracking my eating as well, so I know it could use some help too. I definitely feel much better with all the exercise. I have a slight cold that's trying to come on but I really feel like the exercise is fending it off. At least I hope so. My friend posted a pic today on FB of us when we ran the Disney Princess 1/2 marathon a few years ago. It was so much fun!!

 I have done one more 1/2 marathon since then but it was by myself. That was not fun!! I also trained for the sprint triathlon in Louisiana that got cancelled due to weather except for the swimming part....boo...:-(  .   I would love to do another race though and preferably not alone. It helps me stay motivated when I have a race goal. Maybe I can gather a few of us girls up and do a repeat. I think her sister and (I'm sure) my friend would probably join us again, and who knows?? maybe a few others?? The Disney race was very crowded, I think it was more crowded that the first 1/2 I did in Memphis. The thing about Disney for me anyway is the atmosphere, it's so.... uh... Disney!! Yes!! It was so much fun and running around Epcot and Magic Kingdom was great!! I'd love to do a Marathon but....well I hate to blame it on my age, but I think I will. I just don't know if I could do it. I guess I really could, but the training is probably the toughest part!! The time, the effort, the commitment....who knows....maybe I'll convince myself one day to tackle that huge goal! I can see another 1/2 marathon in my future though! Ironically, after the very first one I did I swore up and down I would never ever ever ever ever do another one!! LOL...funny how your perspective changes after you recover!!

     I signed the boys up for spring soccer. We decided to go ahead and sign up with the same rec league they just played in. I am really hoping Bry will get a better coach and maybe Dev could get the coach he had. Anyway, we aren't quite ready to commit to the competitive league and all the travel and extra expense that comes along with it. Nonetheless the boys are excited. Bry is always practicing and they love watching European soccer on TV on on Utube. They really like Barcelona and Real Madrid. Bry tells me he is going to play soccer there one day!!  Today they start their Lego club at school. I am excited to hear about how it goes. It's only 6 or 7 weeks long and one day a week, except for a few Saturdays for Dev but they love Legos so I can only imagine it to still be fun!

Congrats to Bry on making Honor Roll again!! Dev made it too, but his ceremony isn't until tomorrow so after that I can share his picture. I really appreciate Mom being able to go and see them get their awards. Mike and I haven't been able to go due to work so at least Granny is there to celebrate with them!! I know it makes them so happy to have someone there at the ceremony! Thanks Mom!

I just have to share my mirror that I just bought. I love it!! It's on the wall in our dining room. It fits perfectly in the spot!  Now to work on the other wall and some paint colors.

We did get out and pick out some tile for the back splash...yay! Now we have to pick out the grout color and get the rest of the supplies. I'm not sure what weekend we will tackle this, but I'll be sure to share some before and after pics. 

I'm looking forward to this Friday. Mike surprised me with a date night!! He already had made the reservations and asked Mom to babysit when he asked me if I wanted to go. Yay of course!. We are going to the Melting Pot!! I love that place. If you haven't been it's quite the experience. It is not a place we go often, but it's a great place to spend a few hours of quality time together and enjoy some yummy fondue!! I'm very excited!! Such a wonderful hubby!

Well that's all of my rambling for now. As I've said before, please excuse any run on sentences, spelling errors, missing words etc in these posts. Writing was never my "thing" in school. Just got by with what I could....LOL....

My runny nose seems to be getting worse as I type so I am off to find some meds!

Toodles!

It's here, it's here, it's here

     The cold is HERE!! Wow, I think we were like 39 degrees this morning!! I'm surprised the town didn't shut down!! LOL... It was very chilly as I went out this morning. But on a good note we are up to 61 degrees now. I think we have a few more cool mornings ahead for the next few days but not quite as cold as this morning. I did see some people on my way into work that were very bundled up for the weather!! I guess it's the only time you get to use that stuff so you better do it while you can!!

    Another thing that is here....FRIDAY!! Yay...it seems like it's been a very busy and long week! I am happy that we are getting some things done around the house. Now that the holidays are over we can focus on getting more organized and cozy in our house. I do need to get up on the ladder this weekend and get the last strand of Christmas lights down. We've already had the rest of the decorations put up since New Years, but needing that ladder has slowed down my completion to get those last lights. But I will get it done this weekend!! I am also hoping to get out shopping for some tile for our kitchen back splash. We don't have any tile there right now and I want to add some. We will do it ourselves, so we just need to get out and find some tile that we like. I know it will give our kitchen a little extra touch that it needs. 

I'm so sad about my special coffee cup from the Kelly and Michael show...look at it! Apparently part of the design came off in the dishwasher...boo!!! Now I will have to make sure I hand wash it. I'm surprised this happened, but oh well. I guess at least the whole design didn't wash off!!

   

So I found a cute and easy hairstyle on Pinterest. It's kinda like a spiral bun or something. You just put a small headband on that goes all the way around your head. Kinda like the mini sweat bands, then you just roll and tuck your hair into the band. This was surprisingly easy! The first time I did it I could not believe it was actually easy and it looked pretty cute. Usually you see such cute ideas but you can never get it to work out the same! So here's a little picture for ya...LOL... And it stays all day while I'm at work. I  only put a bobby pin on each side by my ear because I didn't like how puffy it looked on the side. Otherwise, it's quick easy and cute. An added bonus is you have nice wavy hair when you take it out. This time I did it while my hair was slightly damp, so tomorrow I should have some pretty good waves  :-)

I finally have a link for my pics for you:  http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=1QasXDRq3Yshe  You just click on this link and then hit the view album. If you want to see the pics bigger, just double click on the first one and then you can view each one. I still haven't found the other pictures I took on Christmas day when the boys were opening presents. They have to be on one of my memory cards, I just need to find out which one!!

I think my new idea for Friday's is take out and a family movie. Tonight's movie is Monsters University. Another that the boys did see over the summer while at summer camp but they want to see it again. I have not seen it. We usually get take out on Fridays anyway as a reward and a break from cooking all week. I'm not sure what we will choose tonight yet. 

I signed the boys up for the Lego club at school. They are so excited! It's just a 7 week club at the school that meets once a week. Bry will be in the Lego club. Dev will be in the Lego Robotics club. This is right up his alley. Bry would of liked the robotics too, but it's only for 3rd-5th graders. The robotics club will even have a few Saturday competitions, that will be fun! As much as they build with Legos at home this will be so much fun for them and it's at the school as an after school club so they don't have to leave school and come back at a later time. Also when they are done with the club, they will be escorted across the street to their TKD aftercare. Convenient!! 

So as Bry's class is learning about MLK Jr. this week he is developing some questions. "Am I African American?"  After we discuss this a little that he is both African American and white, he then asks me, "Are you white?". I found that funny, but didn't laugh out loud for him to hear. I'm not sure what race he thought I was, but honestly I don't think he's put much thought into what race any of us are. All he knows is that we are just a family and we love each other. That should be all that matters....right?! One of my favorite quotes comes to mind about this, 

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."

Antoine de Saint Exupéry,

Have a great weekend!

Ten random things for Tuesday

Well it's another week into January and we are getting back into the grind of things.

1. I wanted to post a link here to my Shutterfly album of the Christmas pics, but can't get logged on to Shutterfly...I'll attempt again later.

2. Mike is really enjoying his new grill! He is a grilling machine and everything is turning out wonderful. We sure did miss having grilled food all those months that we were in transition!!

3. Both boys are having to do a history fair project. This is not good for me. I have never really been into history, I know that's a shame, but it's true. I think I'll have to make sure Daddy helps out on this project!

4. Finally getting some projects in the works around the house! Organizing things and getting some new furniture to replace what we sold before we moved.

5. The boys are really enjoying being in TKD aftercare. They only go three days a week right now and want to go all 5 days!! Wow...I'm so glad they like it. They get to do TKD and earn new rank and they also get their homework done and have free play time!

6. Back to cooking meals again this week, meatloaf muffins, spinach artichoke chicken, and salmon are a few things on the menu. I've pinned a few new recipes on Pinterest lately of some low carb veggie dishes that I can't wait to try out this week also. I'll share them if they turn out good.

7. We finally saw Despicable Me 2. The boys saw it over the summer, but we rented it again for the whole family to watch for movie night. I really enjoyed it and the best part was that I stayed awake the whole time!! That's almost a miracle for me!! LOL..

8. The boys are still kinda into making the loom bracelets. If you know what they are....if you don't they are bracelets made out of tiny rubber bands. The boys had made many for family and friends and have even made necklaces too! I think they might go ahead and use some of their money to buy the loom board that helps you make different designed bracelets. Up until now they have just been using their fingers and a homemade loom type thing we made for them.

9. I finally made it back to the gym this morning to get back into my 5am workout routine. It was tough, but I did it. There were a few extra people there with me today, I'm assuming it's the New Year's resolution folks...LOL...we'll see if they are still there with me by the end of the month. I"ll be there for sure!! My best time to make sure I get it done is in the morning, so morning it is!!

10. Mom and I went to the IKEA store near Ft. Lauderdale this past weekend. Wow...I have to say it was something!! It was our first time and it was quite overwhelming. It was a giant store with tons of stuff. We had a great shopping trip though and I found a few cute things for the house. I also got to use up a little of my birthday gift cards at Charming Charlie. I still have some gift card monies left, so more shopping is ahead! ..Retail therapy is nice sometimes!! Especially when I get to use gift cards! :-)

Toodles....

Testing testing 1..2...3..

Ok so I'm trying to figure out this blog sharing thing. For some reason I think some are getting an email from me about the new post and others are not.
Could you do me a favor please...if you get an email from me about this blog please email me and tell me yes or comment on this blog post. This would make it easier for me to try to troubleshoot why some are getting the emails and some are not. There seems to always be a little bit of sweat and tears in order for me to get something to be easy....lol...or at least it seems that way.  Thanks!!

A short recap with pics

Here are a few pics. I love my new camera. I can wi-fi the pics from my camera to my phone or tablet so I can easily share them wherever or whenever I want. The kicker....I didn't charge the battery Christmas eve so it ran low right as we were about to open the gifts. So I have a few pics easily to share here. The others are on my other camera and I have to get those uploaded from the camera memory card. I'm hoping to get to that later this week. So in the meantime here are a few to share. If you are on FB with me some of these are repeats, but for those of you not on FB...here ya go!

Of course Christmas morning the boys were full of excitement ready to open the gifts!!

They loved the paint job that Santa gave their remote control cars!! Just like they wanted!!

As I was PJ shopping for the tradition of new jammies for Christmas it was tough. Yes we are in Florida! Can you believe most of the pajamas in the store were either long sleeve and long pants, or even fleece!! What?! The boys would of burned up in those. So I decided to just get them a new shirt to wear with some pants they already had. It didn't match, but you get the idea..ha ha..

Our Christmas dinner picture. It's not like years past with all the family, but we still ate good! Missed all of you!

The boys enjoyed playing with their cousin while we were in Alabama. The gifts were nice from Mimi and Gran J but the gift bags were the most fun!! of course!!

They even got her out to play a little football. She didn't really play, she just got the ball for them when it went in the street. Cute, she looked like a ball retriever like in tennis, not sure what they are called. They all had a good time!

The grown boys having some man talk and staring at the grill...ha ha... Actually they grilled some ribs that were delish!! I have to sneak some pics out the window like this one sometimes.

Dev having a nice chat with Gran J with a cozy warm fire. Another sneaky pic!

I have more to share and hopefully it will be later this week. 

We are on day two of our cold weather, low's in the 40's.. ha ha.. But we are headed to warmer temps. The high today is around 69 and then in the 80's the rest of the week. I know I talk about the temps a lot...I love it! Next year will probably be a different story, we will be cold weather wimps and the 60's will have us bundled up in heavy coats and winter hats!! ha ha!!

Toodles for now. 

It's a New Year already!

Wow...2014 is already here and we are in the 2nd week!! Time has flown by the last few weeks. We have had a great holiday break!!

Christmas was fabulous!! It was different not having all our family with us, but we still enjoyed it. The boys were so excited Christmas morning. It was cute to see how different their reactions were. Dev was so happy and running around the room with several of the gifts he got and Bry was happy but just gave a happy smile and moved to the next gift. I have to say that each of them take after each one of us....it's probably not difficult to decide which of us Dev takes after...LOL....  Can you picture Mike running around the room screaming how happy he is with a gift?? Me either!! ha ha ha    I would say some of Dev's favorite gifts were his new skateboard, his tablet, and his remote control car. Bry's fav's were probably his wrestler guy he wanted, the tablet, the remote control car and his roller blades. This is my opinion of course and they might feel differently. ha ha..  Luckily living in Florida they were able to try out the skateboard and roller blades. It took a little practice but by the end of the day they both were doing great. I think we had temps in the 70's that day. I will have to get some of my pics together to share on here. It was a quick Christmas holiday then a few days back to work and then a week vacation in Alabama.

 We spent the New Year in Alabama with family and friends. It was great to see everyone. The weather was a bit cold for us but we handled it. We ate great food thanks to Mike's parents and had a nice relaxing time. We didn't make many plans and just relaxed and hung out. It was nice. The boys enjoyed having a sleep over with their cousin too. We even made a stop on the way home for the boys to see their Great Aunt and Uncle. They really enjoyed it and laughed seeing some old pics of Mommy hanging on the walls. So we got in around 930pm and the boys had to get up early for school. At least I thought so......good thing I checked the school menu this morning...no school!! Uh oh..I was a little confused even before the holiday not sure if they had school or not. Luckily I checked on it again this morning and they got to sleep in. Otherwise, they would of been the only ones at the bus stop!! I read the calendar wrong, today was a possible make up hurricane day, but we didn't have a hurricane this year and didn't need the make up day, therefore...no school! Silly me...and they are out tomorrow for a teacher day ( I did know about that). So at least the boys got to sleep in and didn't have to rush off to school. Too bad I didn't know that myself because I would of definitely slept in longer this morning before I crawled out of bed to go to work. :-/

Well it's back to the grind now. On my to do list...house projects, organizing, menu planning, and back on the exercise regimen schedule. I did eat well over the holidays that's for sure, now it's time to get back to the healthy stuff!
I see all the cold temps around the states and I'm not jealous at all! Wow,, I can't believe how cold it is in some of the states we have lived! We are going to be down to 37 tomorrow with highs in the 50's so that is really cold for us, but it is only lasting one day and then we will be back to the 80's by the weekend! yay

I think that's all I have for now for our holiday recap. I will get the pics together from our great holiday and get some posted on here in the next day or so. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a wonderful New Year! Here's to a great New Year ahead...CHEERS!!