Fun weekend

We had a blast this weekend! The weather could not have been more perfect. We got there on Friday around 3pm and got all set up, grabbed Little Ceasars for dinner, and said goodbye to Jay as he went into work for a few hours. They needed extra work for the State Fair week...it stunk that he had to leave at the best time for the adults when we're playing games and the kids are doing their own thing, but the money was too tempting to pass up completely. Oh well...
The kids swam a while but the water was way down this year so it was very shallow. They still had fun though.






On Sat. we got up and headed to the State Fair. I love the fair! We got there at 10:30am and didn't get back to the campsite until 11pm. The kids were spent by then. We still didn't even see everything we wanted to....that thing is huge. Helen and Paul and the kids met up with us later in the afternoon which was fun. We walked around the grandstand with pangs of jealousy as we listened to Reo Speedwagon start singing 'I can't fight this feeling any longer....' Next year if they are there again we are going!!
I had my Australian potatoes, a Fair tradition..and I bought the ornaments for the kids at Holly's Hobby's, another Fair tradition...and we went on the 'Ye Ole Mill' ride, another fair tradition...although I think Jay was disappointed we were in seperate boats as he always takes full advantage of the dark tunnel *wink wink*.
I read an article in Reader's Digest once that featured the "best" of things and Minnesota was listed as having the Best State Fair. I agree....after all, where else can you pretend to be a farmer, see an Elvis impersonater, pay $4.00 for a diet coke, go to a building full of Republicans, avoid the building full of Democrats, lose your youngest child (yep, that happened for about the longest 5 minutes of our lives), go down a 200 foot slide, did I mention pay $4.00 for a diet coke, see a lumberjack show, run into 3 diffent people you know in a crowd of 200,000...and see a 200 pound pumpkin all in one day. Pretty Awesome!











On Sunday, we really just chilled. The kids played and swam, Amy and I played some scrabble, the hubbys played frisbee vollyball and kickball with the kids. It was a good day.
I really love camping with the Jay and the boys. I love that they will have this as a good memory when they are adults. I am looking forward to many more fun summers to come.

Before I write about our weekend.....

Tony decided to give HIMSELF a haircut the other day. I was at work on Thur. night and the boys were in bed when I got home. On Friday morning, Tony comes downstairs and I start to mess with the front of his hair thinking he had slept funny. Um...not quite....he had taken 2 big chunks out of the bangs. I suppose the fact that I have 5 kids and this hasn't happened yet is good. Doesn't every kid cut their own hair or their siblings hair at some point or another?? And aren't parents a big influence on their children....that said, they must have learned from me that it is fun to cut hair. So much for spiking his hair on the first day of school....it's gonna be a buzz cut for Tony. Good thing they don't do pictures on the first day.
It's hard to see it clearly on this picture, but he took a whole chunk out of the front bangs and top. Stinker.


This is the after pic. He still looks cute! Stinker.

One of my daycare moms came in the door the other morning carrying a tray with a cake on it. Since it isn't anyone's birthday, I asked her what the occasion was. She said it was just because and that she had meant to do it earlier in the summer to say thank you for taking care of Thor for the past year. Awww....I thought that was so nice of her. I mean, it's really amazing how such a small thing makes you feel good and appreciated.
The kids had a good snack that day!

Cool

We just got home from a full weekend of camping and I had 2 priorities upon coming in the house....empty the cooler and go to the computer....in that order only out of duty, not want. I've gone through major withdrawal without my puter for 4 days and now feel complete once again. I have no time to blog about our weekend adventures at the moment,(stayed tuned and know that when I DO write about it, it will mean that I am showered, in pj's, and sippin' a Mike's Hard Lemonade) but I just had to come on and change my deadline ticker. I got to knock off 4 days...just like that...and I didn't even watch daycare kids on those 4 days....THAT. FELT. GOOD!
To be continued.........

My deadline

Okay, so I was talking to one of my clients last night.....Hi Victoria....and
telling her my hopes for being done with daycare. I said how my first goal of being done in January, when we get home from our cruise, was short-lived and that now I was hoping to be done only a couple months later. She made me realize I needed to stop just hoping and making goals...which can obviously change....and just set a deadline. Set a date and start counting down. Set a date that won't change, one that can be looked at as the end no matter what. Hmmm...that made me think. Somehow setting a deadline rather than just having a goal in mind seems more solid....like it will actually happen. So, I'm doing it. I'm setting my deadline for Friday, April 2nd. This means I'll have only 2 months to go once we get home from our trip. I can handle that....I think.
That's 7 months from now...30 weeks...213 days...5112 hours...306,720 minutes...18,403,200 seconds...but who's counting.
I'm setting a 'money saved' goal on top of this deadline as well. Rather than wait until the time draws near and just see where we're at...I'm setting a 'must have saved' goal to this so that I give myself a deadline for that also. I'll keep the amount I have in mind to myself for now, but it's no small number....it's a lot and it will take a lot of work and planning, but we can do it. I'm suddenly excited about this for the first time rather than nervous and anxious.

I'm excited to do less of this....

....and more of this...


Wish me luck!

My blogging hero

Friday night, mom and Helen and I went to The Big Bowl for dinner...very yummy....and then to the movies to see Julie and Julia which, by the way, was about a blogger like myself. Only difference was she blogged every single day, had hundreds of readers, got tons of comments, was written about in many papers and magazines, ended up with a book deal, and had her blog made into a movie. Other than that.....we are EXACTLY the same. From this day forward, I will aspire to have at least one of those qualities come true about my blog. Until then, I'll be happy talking to myself and my 9 followers ~HELLO~ and knowing that what I'm doing will be a treasure to our family for years to come. After all, how else will I remember cute and funny things that my boys do/say years from now if I didn't write them down like this....
Tony (in the backseat of the car on Friday): "Hey, Thor...do you like Obama?"
Thor (one of my daycare kids): Who?
Tony: Obama, do you like him?
Thor: I've never met him
Tony: You don't meet him...he's our president. George Bush was our last president, now Obama is our president.
Thor (getting irritated at the persistant political questioning): I DON"T KNOW!
Tony: Well, WE don't like him. Mom....WHY don't we like him?? Oh yah, cuz he is gonna raise our taxes.

I love it....as dad always says, start 'em young.

Doing hair

I can't wait until it's time for me to be done with daycare and I can go back to focusing on the job I actually enjoy....doing hair. I really love what I do, but this last year it's felt more like a chore just getting ready and trying to get there on time have proven difficult. I miss the days when I could take my shower, dry my hair, do my makeup, pick out an outfit....all so I could look professional and feel good while working. Nowadays I'm lucky if my clothes are clean and not wrinkled....my hair is not in a ponytail or dirty....my makeup is not put on in the car on the way.....and I don't have bags under my eyes. Not exactly the image I want to portray to my clients. I can't give 100% to any one thing in my life. I give a piece to my work....I give a piece to my daycare.....another piece to husband....another to my kids.....leaving not much else for myself. Not that stopping daycare will mean I can suddenly give everything to everyone...but it will certainly remove a huge chunk of where my energy is lost.
Tony asked me yesterday how much longer I will have to do daycare. I said hopefully not too long and that we are just getting enough saved up for the adoption. He paused for a minute and then asked..."How much does a little girl cost?" :)

What a keeper

I forgot to mention that last Friday I was sitting on the couch talking on the phone when I hear Jason come in the door from work. One of the boys said hi and then that was all I heard. I kept talking just figuring he snuck upstairs or went out to the garage for something. After about 5 minutes I ended my phone call and got up. When I did, I saw Jay standing by the door holding a vase with a dozen roses.....just standing there waiting for me to see him. I started laughing..."have you been standing there this whole time?" "yep...Happy Anniversary" August 21st is the date of our first date that we celebrate. As I opened up the card I said "I can't believe it's been 19 yrs".....he goes, "19?....oops" I read the card and it said, thank you for giving the best 18 years of my life. HA! I'm still trying to figure out which year wasn't the best.