New Years Resolutions....

Every year people make these New Year's resolutions that they know that they have no intention of following through with. I have been guilty of doing the same thing myself. I say to myself : "I want to eat better", "I want to exercise more", "I want to lose weight". These are all great goals and ones that I still aspire to achieve. However, this year I am going to do things a little bit differently.

This year I resolve to love myself. I am by no means a perfect person. I do not think that anyone is. I want to make this the best year ever for my children and I. Aeryn and Alex are the most important people in my life and I resolve to show them that every day.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year and I look forward to continuing this blog well into 2012!

Brothers and Sisters.....

My son amazes me every day. I should not be surprised. When my daughter was the same age she amazed me as well. She still amazes me. But I guess after parenting one child I would have figured I had seen everything. Apparently not. And judging by the way things have gone I am in for a lot more in the years to come.

I was sitting at my mother's house waiting for a call from my sister and I decided to give Alex a snack. So I set him in his high chair and gave him a handful of Corn Chex. This is one of his favorite snacks and he immediately started to devour the cereal. I went back to the couch to sit down. A few minutes later mom looked over and said "I think Alex is sleeping..."

Sure enough my little man was hunched over in his high chair, sound asleep. I was astounded. It did not look like a comfortable position to be sleeping in to say the least. I was able to pick him up out of his high chair and put him down in his play pen where he proceeded to nap for almost two hours. I guess he was a tired little man.

When I was pregnant Aeryn was very excited about the prospect of having a brother or a sister. She had been looking forward to a sister more than a brother but was happy enough with Alex. However, during this time she did not think that there was anything that her new brother or sister could do that would make her angry. She figured she would love him every second of every day. I tried to sit her down and tell her that there would be times that she would not like her brother very much, but that that was okay.  She did not believe me.

Needless to say, she is now realizing that I was right after all. Alex has become quite the trouble maker. He is not mean or malicious. He just loves his sister so much that he thinks she needs to pay attention to him all the time. When she is not paying attention he is more than happy to pull her hair, or hit her with one of his toys to get her attention back. This becomes slightly bothersome to Aeryn. He also does not say the words that she wants him to say when she wants him to say them. He is already saying Aeryn, and Sissy, but he always manages to say them when she is not paying attention.

Oi, such is another adventure. But I would not trade my life with my kids for anything.

Kids and cows....

So last night the kids and I went to hang out with a couple of friends and have a "movie night". Periodically it is nice to get together with good friends, good food, wine, a movie and Jiffy Pop. We got to pick the movie and my friend got to prepare dinner. (I was very happy to let him prepare dinner) Aeryn chose an Iron Man double feature. So at the appointed time I piled the kids in the car and we headed over to my friends. 

When we got there he introduced us to his friend who would be joining us for the evening and we piled into his truck to head out to the barn to feed the horses. This is always such a good experience for Aeryn. She always learns something new and gains a little bit of confidence whenever we hang out with this friend. He always gives her chances to do things that she would otherwise not have the chance to do. Last night it was to climb into the hay loft and throw down hay. My child is notoriously afraid of heights so it was a big thing for her to climb up there. I was so proud of her. Now I seem like a very silly mommy for being proud of my daughter climbing a ladder. 

I have always known that my little girl would turn from "Girlie Princess" into "Rough and Tumble Redneck" and watching the transformation now is amazing. She really gets into working with animals and learning everything that she can. I loved being around the farm when I was a kid. There is something amazing that happens when you know where your food comes from and how everything works. You learn things that you can not fully learn in any other setting. 

Aeryn now wants to raise pigs, cows, chickens and turkeys. She already has chickens. Which my friend is taking really good care of. (It is kind of hard to have chickens when you live in a third story apartment) Now that the cat is out of the bag that I have gotten AmberMae a pig Aeryn is happy to know that she is getting one as well. That only leaves cows and turkeys.....The adventures begin. 

A day worth remembering...

There came a time in my life when Christmas was not a very exciting day. Then I had Aeryn. Once you have children the whole outlook of the holiday changes I think. At least for me it did. And today was no exception. There are so many things in my life that I should be thankful for and sometimes things get so crazy I forget to be thankful. And then there are days like today when I feel so darn happy I could sing and dance aloud in Times Square.

I was woken up by Aeryn at 6. Compared to last Christmas mornings 6 is pretty late. (Last year by accident my mom let her out of bed at 2 in the morning thinking that it was around 5) That was a nightmare! But this morning was nice. We woke up Christina, who had spent the night, and the Alex and then tackled the piles of presents that Santa had left. In the middle of the chaos Aeryn proclaimed her love for Santa because he had left her the Smurfs game for her DS. It made me laugh. Following that we went to my mom's house to open all of the gifts that we had gotten for each other as well as some from Evelyn and her family.

Christmas dinner is always at Evelyn's and has been for the past 16 years. It is such a great tradition and I enjoy the time I spend there every year. This year in striving to be "the best auntie ever!" I managed to get AmberMae the one thing on her Christmas list that she did not think she was going to get. Something that she has been asking for for at least a year now. A pig. A real live, making bacon pig. She did not get the actual animal today as the person that I am buying it from has a sow that is due in January and we will be getting two from that litter. However, today she got a "piggy bank" with the clue: "think Pinoccio". It took her a few minutes to put two and two together to get four. But once she did she could not contain her excitement. I guess I really did get "coolest auntie ever!" status.

Dinner was fun filled chaos followed by an evening relaxing with my children. I end my day with a reflection of happiness hoping that my readers enjoyed their day as much as I did mine. These are the days worth remembering for a long time to come. My kids will be able to look back on today and say "Hey, remember that Christmas where mom almost shot her eye out with my new bb gun".

Yes folks, that's right. I almost shot my eye out with Aeryn's new airsoft  gun. I was "testing it". Pretty much just seeing how it loaded and how it worked. Apparently while cocking it I also pulled the trigger. The next thing I knew a little plastic bb flew from the gun, into the metal door, and back into my face, striking me just above my left eye. A little bit painful and a whole lot embarrassing

So on that note. I say goodnight I am off to knit and fall asleep enjoying the Christmas lights a bit longer.

A little bit of happiness

So, as I sit here on the eve of Christmas Eve I look at our beautiful Christmas tree and smile. Because of the rules of the apartment that we are living in we are not allowed to have a real tree but that does not get us down. Every year we hang the ornaments that have come to mean so much to us as well as new ones that we add each year. It makes me happy. Seeing the joy on the kid's faces as they hang each ornament was really the best ending to a day that I could ask for.

Now Chrissy and I are sitting here on the couch, the tree shining brightly, and Season 1 of Glee playing in the DVD player (Thanks Ken!). I think I may be turning her into a Gleek after all. She seems to be enjoying it.

Tomorrow I will wake up to my smiling children and probably a not so smiling Christina. (She is spending Christmas with us and is not much of a morning person) We will relax in a house for a while before heading to mom's where Aeryn will wrap her Christmas gifts.  It will be very exciting trying to get her into bed tomorrow night.

A very exciting relaxing week is in store for us. I look forward to every minute of it.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

FINALLY...I am finally filled with the magic of Christmas Spirit! All it took was waking up to a bit of snow this morning. This is my last day of work before Christmas vacation. Thank all that is holy for a job that includes build in vacation time just when you seem to need it.

I am looking forward to spending time with my kiddos. These last few weeks have spent in such a chaotic manner that I have barely had time to know which way is up. And unfortunately this affects my children. Part of single parenting I guess. But I am planning to have lots of snuggle time with my kiddos and maybe some time with friends. I did here the suggestion of a "movie night" with a friend and my kiddos. That would be wonderful.

For now I am going to finish up my day with some amazing students. Later people!

A little help for someone special....

So, some of you know my amazing nephew Paul. Some of you do not so let me just say this kiddo (who is a month away from being 14 and would probably love for me to stop publicly calling him a kiddo) is amazing. He is also super creative and loads of fun to have around. 

Well in order to get money for Christmas gifts, and whatever else it is that almost 14 year old boys want Paul has started himself a crafty little business. And I mean crafty in a good way. He has started to produce PVC marshmallow guns. This item is taking the fun of shooting and adding a non injuring projectile. Much like a nerf gun only you get to EAT your ammunition. These things shoot mini marshmallows which he has agreed to include with each and every purpose. The guns come in different styles and colors which are shown below. 

These days, how many kids are coming up with such creative ideas? It is not often that I see kids this age doing something to actually earn money. It says a lot about the type of person that he is going to grow up to be. So I told my sister that I would give him a plug or two on here because apparently people are paying attention to what I have to say. For this I thank you and would love it even more if you could help out by supporting my kiddo. They are inexpensive and if you order now (email or facebook me), and if you are local we can garuntee delivery before Christmas. I think it would be a great stocking stuffer. (Now you all know one of the things that Aeryn will be receiving). They are fun for the whole family. I am hoping he has some available when we all go over for Christmas dinner because I can not wait to get one in my hands. Thank you in advance people. Pictures and prices as follows...

Orange and Yellow Tie Die

Camo

The two above are the small model. Price is $6

Flames

Paintball Spatter

These two are the large model and the price is $10

This last model is called the Kentucky Long Rifle and measures in a whopping 2 1/4 feet! You can see it here measured against the large model. This baby can be yours (or a loved ones) for only $12.

All models and patterns are interchangeable. For example you may want a small model with the paintball splatter. Or a large model with Camo. Thank you in advance guys for helping out my "kiddo". I will actually make a deal to stop calling him kiddo if he can get at least ten sales from my blog post. It will pain me greatly to do so. But I am willing to make the sacrifice. 

Hurray for Sundays....

Today, due to both Alex and mommy not feeling well, we stayed home. It was nice. Aeryn colored and played games, I got to knit, and Alex got to just be Alex. Which these days is rather interesting. I knitted, a lot. I was able to finish a gift for a friend as well as get almost to the point in my sock where I have to make a heel. But that is for a different blog

So my rant that has been building...Hope you enjoy.

So at work we received a memo stating that due to heating costs we were being asked to conserve energy and to take some precautionary measures. I am all for saving the district some money. Heck I could give them a whole list of tedious ways that they could save money, or put it to better use. But this heating thing kind of annoys me. And keeps annoying me.

One of the precautionary measure is to make sure that the heat is turned down to 61 degrees at night and then to turn it up to 67 degrees during the day. We were also told that the temperatures would vary around the building so that we should advise our students to dress in layers as well as doing so ourselves. Now I don't know about you, but dressing in layers all the time is not actually the most comfortable of arrangements. Not to mention, when they say the temperature varies, they are not kidding. If you go to one side of the building it is cold enough to wear your jacket while just down the hall you feel ready to hit the beach. So, as an aide, am I to carry my jacket around with me all day as I go from room to room? I am sure that there is a better system in which we could work this.

The other thing that came to me, amidst some discussion is the whole act of turning the heat up and down. Personally I think that the building should be kept at one constant temperature instead of fluctuating it. I would imagine that with a building the size if the one we are using it would be more cost efficient and use less oil to keep a constant heat then to heat it back up in the morning once the heat has gone down. Maybe I am wrong. All you readers out there (and I know you are out there) may have a differing opinion. Feel free to share it with me. I will gladly admit to being wrong.

In retrospect this did not turn out to be the rant that I had originally thought. BUT I had to get it off my mind.

Now as I sit here on the couch listening to the church bells ring I am able to reflect on the fact that in one week we will be sharing Alex's first Christmas. Aeryn can not wait to help him open his presents. (I foresee her doing a lot of helping because he is not very interested in that process as of yet) I look forward to another week of cookie baking with a culmination of spending lots of time with family.

Christmas also means a week off from work! Hip Hop Hurray for us! Hopefully I will be able to get myself into town and see the beautiful new baby that my friends Jen and Nate brought into the world. If you two are reading this : Be prepared for a lunch date! They welcomed Baby Addison into this world this past Monday but with sickness going around our house I have not wanted to contaminate their precious bundle of joy with our germs.

Have a peaceful evening!

Christmas funk....

Lately I have been in what I like to call "The Christmas Funk". This time of year I get a little bit melancholy thinking of all of my family and friends who are not here to spend time with during the holidays. It is also that time of year where there never seems to be enough money or time to go around. So this is the reason I have not been able to write in a couple of days.

Things are better now, there is still not enough money, and time is still in short supply. But after spending some time with family and great friends...I am in a better mindset.

There is only one more week until Christmas. The kids and I will put up our tree tomorrow evening. We have been holding off for the time being. I figured that it would be far too much hassle to deal with two kittens, the dog  and Alex around the Christmas tree. But Alex has been a good boy with Grandma's Christmas tree and has not tried to touch it since it poked him. Maybe I will get lucky.

One more week of school/work (I never know which to call it) and then a whole week off to spend with Alex and Aeryn. No big plans for the time. Just some time to relax, and play with our new Christmas presents. Maybe some time with friends as well.

Tomorrow's blog will be better. I feel a rant coming...It started in English class yesterday and has been building since Friday.

If you like to talk to tomatoes....

When I was in high school I got introduced to a great show by a group of friends. Veggietales is a cartoon with a bunch of vegetables that sing and dance and tell stories from the Bible. I fell in love with this show and am happy to announce that that love has been past of to both of my children. It is all Alex has wanted to watch for the past three days. It is also the only movie that Aeryn will actually sit and watch. She usually puts on a movie and then wanders off after watching for a few minutes. I guess if my children become addicted to a cartoon they are doing pretty good to choose the one that tell you life lessons and how to be a good person.

It is cold season and boy am I starting to feel it. Things have been crazy lately and I am getting a bit worn out. Thankfully we will have school vacation in a couple of weeks which means lots of extra time with the kiddos. Maybe I will have time for some restful sleep then.

Aeryn is determined to get Alex to walk. He has taken a few steps (all of them to her) and now she is sure that she is the one that is going to get him to walk full time. Watching the two of them is comical. She is such a little mini mommy. And there is no one that he loves more than his "sissy". I guess that is one of the advantages. The age difference. I am not going to have to deal with all of the sibling rivalry of having children close together. Would I have chosen to have children this far apart? Probably not but I am going to enjoy it while I can.

Cookies, cookies, whose got the cookies?

Patty Cake Patty Cake Baker Woman

Bake me some cookies as fast as you can...

I would like to start this post by saying that today was a great day! Due to the fact that I have to take cookies to work tomorrow for our staff meeting I decided to make cookies today. And when I make cookies I like to make sure that I make enough for everyone. So I enlisted the help of Aeryn and my sister Nancy and the three of us set about making cookies. 

Now since everyone has a different favorite cookie we decided that we would make spritz cookies, peanut butter blossoms, sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies. We had to stop after making spritz cookies and and peanut butter blossoms and I will have to finish the sugar cookies tomorrow because cookies got out of hand. We stopped after around twenty dozen cookies. The sugar cookie dough is chilling in the fridge until I get out of work tomorrow. 

When I was younger my best friend's family would have "cookie day". The four sisters as well as a couple of friends would skip school for the day and we would make dozens and dozens of sugar cookies. I am continuing that tradition with my child minus the skipping school part. It is a little harder for me to skip school these days. My supervisor would frown upon it. But today was amazing. 

Aeryn and Nancy used to cookies press to press out both the spritz cookies as well as the peanut butter cookies while I continued to make batter, prepare spaghetti sauce, and boil lasagna noodles for dinner. Along with all this I was in charge of watching the oven (because I was standing in front of the kitchen) so I had to handle with cookies in and out of the oven. The cookies came out amazing. 

The holiday season makes me love spending time with my family. They all mean so much to me and I know that with the chaos of my day to day life I do not get to tell them that. So while I was shopping for things for dinner, I decided that I would invite my sister Evelyn and her family for dinner as well. Unfortunately she had to decline. So instead I made her a pan of lasagna to enjoy for dinner tomorrow. Her schedule is just as crazy if not crazier than mine. Mondays are the worst for her. So tomorrow I will know that I have made her life a little bit easier. And at no extra hassle to myself.

Now I sit here, writing this blog, watching some mindless TV and knitting. 

A great day...

Today was a great day. I spent some much needed quality time with my children and did not worry about anything. I did not do any coursework today. (Something that I will make up for tomorrow night) I also did not let worries get to me today. Today was all about eye-crinkling smiles.

Aeryn did not feel well this morning so we did not attend basketball practice. For Aeryn to actually WANT to miss a practice she really does not feel well. So I let her rest until it was time for us to make an appearance down to the Christmas Tree farm to see Jay, Lee and Zeke. Mostly Lee and Zeke. The wagon ride around the tree farm was awesome, and quick. It was FREEZING. I feel badly about Jay and his mom Cathy being out in the cold all day. Yuck! My little Alex man now thinks that the hind end of a horse is "pitty" (pretty). Hopefully his viewpoint changes. That really is NOT the pretty end.

Christmas cards came next along with wrapping presents for Chris (Alex's aunt) and Donna (Alex's grammy). We also put together some Christmas stockings for Alex and Aeryn to give to Dreyvin and Klayton, Alex's two older brothers. We all met up at a McDonald's that had a play place and the kids played for a couple of hours. It was a lot of fun and I hope that we can meet up again soon. Family is important and I want Alex to know that there are many people that love him dearly.

Our evening was spent watching Christmas movies and laughing over Alex playing with his new toy. It is an amazing little "barn" with magnetic animals that have been split in half. You have to match up the front and back end of the farm animals and it sings to you, as well as gives the name of the animal, the sound it makes, and tells you a "did you know" fact about it. You can also mix and match pieces and it sings you a silly song about a "Horse-duck" or "Cow-pig" or whatever you put together.

Now I sit with some "me time" which lately I have spent blogging. As I sit here I think more and more about family and how important they are. Next weekend I get to go have Christmas dinner with a part of the family that I do not usually celebrate with because we are all so spread apart. We get to sit down and have a nice meal together and our children will play. I am very excited, and looking forward to it.

No rants for the evening. Just calming peace and tranquility. The simple happiness that makes you feel that for the moment everything is right with the world.

Where are you CHRISTmas?

Where are you Christmas?

Why Cant I find you?

Why have you gone away?

-Faith Hill

So my Friday did not happen as I had hoped it would. Instead of relaxing at home with my kiddos I ended up braving the Christmas shoppers. (OMG I said Christmas! I will get to this rant in a bit.) Aeryn had an amazing idea for some Christmas gifts for family at a family Christmas (I said it again!) party. I can not say until AFTER next weekend what the amazing idea was but we decided to do the shopping for those items instead of staying home. Along with the shopping (Thankfully we only had to go to two stores) I went to the post office to get stamps for my sister. Never again I will I dare to go to the post office right before Christmas (oops there is another one). I stood in line for half an hour. Had quite a good chat with the lady in front of me as we marveled at the fact that they had only one person at the counter, a nice gentleman, while three other women ran around and shouted things. One of them got increasingly annoying as she kept yelling at the line of customers (which was at least 50 people long). She was trying to get them to all get out of line and use the new electronic system. Which is all well and good for anyone who does not have to pay with cash or a check as the machine only accepts cards.

Anyway, now on to my rant about Christmas. Not the holiday. The word. When did it become not ok to say "Merry Christmas!"? I apparently missed this memo. Now I am not a particularly religious person. But even I know that Christmas is about the birth of Christ. Now we have a "Holiday Tree" in the White House. And a "Holiday Tree" in state capitols. We have to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". I was sitting at work the other day discussing this with a friend and we are both confused. Okay so we are supposed to be politically correct. Not a problem. But people have become so afraid of offending someone that they are willing to massacre a beautiful holiday. Personally I think that people should be allowed to celebrate their own holidays without having to compromise what they believe. If you believe in Christ, celebrate Christmas. If you don't believe in Christ, don't celebrate Christmas, but don't ask everyone else to follow your way of thinking. It is all a marketing ploy. We want people to buy more stuff, at CHRISTMAS, people buy said stuff. In order to get more people to buy stuff, even those who do not believe in Christ, we try to take the Christ out of CHRISTmas! Get with it people, celebrate the holiday that best goes with your beliefs. But do not get mad at me when I was down the street and wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

That is my rant for the morning. I am going to take the kids to see their favorite boys (pictured below). Then we are going to head out for lunch with Aunt Christy and Grammy Donna.

The "Boys" happen to be of the four legged variety. Lee and Zeke are a local team owned by a friend. Aeryn loves every opportunity she is given to spend time with them and hopes to have a team of her own some time in the future. You can take my little girl away from the farm but you can not take the farm away from my little girl. In case you are wondering, the team is also available for functions and parties. I rented them for Aeryn's birthday party last year, and they also made an appearance at our Halloween party this year. 

Merry Christmas Everybody!

My Sparkling Rays of Sunshine explained...

You are my sunshine,

My only sunshine.

You make me happy

When skies are grey.

You’ll never know dear

How much I love you.

Please don’t take my sunshine away.

-Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell

So I have been asked as to where I have gotten the name for my blog. (Apparently on the outer surface I do not pull off being a sunshiny person very well) The answer to this question is simple. No matter how much doom and gloom the day brings I always have two rays of sunshine that make me happy no matter what else is going on. Their names are Aeryn and Alex and I would not trade their love for anything in the world. I have come to a conclusion about my children. They were given to me at times in my life when I needed them the most. Without them I would not be the same person that I have come to be today and for that I am truly grateful.

Aeryn came to me when I was 19. I was young and ill prepared for the life that a child would bring. But with her I had a reason to be a better person. And to not take paths of destruction that I otherwise could have taken. Now I am not saying that I am a perfect person, nor a perfect mother. But I am however; better than I would have been without this amazing little girl. Aeryn has for the longest time been my partner, in crime, my sidekick. After a couple of failed relationships near the beginning of her life things tapered off and I eventually realized that we really did not need a man in our lives to be the people that I wanted us to be. 

Once I realized that fact, it was a lot easier for me to focus on what was best for her and I. I moved out of the town where I had lived my entire life into the town where I now live. When we first moved to this area when Aeryn was four we lived in a house that was directly next to the apartment complex that my mother lived in. It was convenient for all of us and worked out very well for my first year here.

It was easier to be happy here. Gone was the negativity and stigmas from the past. Starting over was just what my little girl and I had needed. Nearing the end of my first year in the new apartment I reconnected with someone from my past; someone who I thought that I had loved, and may have actually loved when I was younger. We started dating, he moved in and then because he had two children from a previous marriage he and I moved into a bigger apartment. It was still in the same town, about ten minutes from my mother. That relationship lasted for almost three years. There was talk of marriage but then things did not work out. I will not go into too much detail because that will bring a feeling of negativity to my blog that I do not want here. I only delve into this topic because it explains the coming of Alex.

After the breakup I commuted a carnal rule that I usually adhere to, the two of us remained friends. I have a problem with remaining friends with a person after you have been in a relationship together. I feel that things get awkward and that there really is not a comfortable way to move forward. I was okay with ending the friendship, and moving forward with our separate lives, but he was not. Needless to say things went a little farther than friendship and Alex was born in January of 2011.

Now I have stated that my two children were given to me in times where I needed them. Alex came at a time when I needed to see the person I had been dating for who he really was. Not a bad person, just not a person that I want in my life. He has made some choices since Alex’s birth that I cannot condone or agree with and he has cut himself out of the life of his child. His decision, not mine. It does not make me hate him, or even feel any negativity for him. It makes me sad. He is missing out on a lot. But the lesson that I learned here is to let go and move on. And I have.

So Aeryn and Alex are my Rays of Sunshine. They make me smile without meaning to and provide my day with endless amounts of laughter. Without them I would be no one. No I cannot really say that either. But I definitely would not be the person that I enjoy being today.

My darling girl....

My daughter, the original ray of sunshine, completely made my morning this morning. First of all, it was the first time this week that she did not drag her feet when it came to getting ready for school. We made it down to teh babysitter's (which happens to be on the first floor of my apartment building) with time to spare! I was able to chat with Louise before heading out the door to meet Inge.

The part of my morning that really made me smile though is the moment that I realized that I have nothing planned for the evening. This is such a rarity in my house I am almost beside myself with happiness. Aeryn asked her usual question of "Are you picking me up from school or am I riding the bus?". To which I responded "I will pick you up and then we are coming home because we have no plans tonight." My cherubic child then smiled at me and asked "Well, since we don't have anything going on, could I make a play date with Maria?"

As much as I did not want to say no to her, because I know that being so busy we hardly have time for play dates, I had to. And I think she may end up thanking me for it. We are constantly on the run, going here there and every where. It is hard to catch a little bit of down time. I am hoping for a nice quiet evening. The plan for the moment is to go home, make some dinner, and watch a couple of movies before eventually falling into bed. This may get changed up a little if I add in a couple of hours to study for my Civics test. But at least we will be at home.

I often forget about the importance of home. Parenting by myself I do not get as much time as I would like to get out and socialize. It can get a little lonely and I find myself at my mom's house when I do not have anything else planned. We have dinner and watch TV and just having another adult around is a comforting thing. But then there are times when I just want to enjoy the quiet peacefulness that is my house.
 

Second post today...Blog addict? I think so.

My favorite time of the evening is usually that point after dinner, where I get to cuddle with both children and watch a movie before tucking them into bed. Unfortunately this all changes when sports season arrives. In the fall it is soccer, then there are a few weeks of down time before basketball begins, and after another brief period of down time it is time for baseball. I was lucky enough to be blessed with a child who is interested in any sport she can participate it. So tonight after practice we were able to rush home with a quick dinner and helping Aeryn with homework. Snuggles will be brief because the morning comes early for my little munchkins. 

Thursday really is my favorite day of the week. It means that the work week is almost over and the chaos of the weekend is about to hit me full in the face. Tomorrow I will get a chance to enjoy lunch with a very good, and spoiled friend, and submit the last of my work for one of the history classes. 

The weekend always holds excitement around here. This weekend we will be visiting with Alex's Grammy and Aunt Christy. His father may have chosen not to be a part of his life but I do get to enjoy the fact that he still has that entire side of his family to grow up with. Past disagreements have been set aside and everyone is moving forward with nothing but love for my little man. This also means that Alex get's to spend some time with his two older brothers. Up until recently they did not even know about their little brother. Thankfully their mother and grandmother saw fit to help me change that. Alex is a baby full of love and he deserves to be able to show everyone in his family that love. 

I should stop writing for the night and get back to doing homework....as much as I really don't want to. But it does not pay to procrastinate. I have a goal and I need to stick to it. No matter how much I think these classes are going to be the death of me.

Thankfulness...

Today has become one of those days where I am truly grateful for the amazing people  that I have in my life. My morning starts out every day by getting ready for work, and getting both children ready to go to the baby sitter. Fortunately I have found an amazing babysitter, or better yet, she found me. She is my first person to be grateful for. Unless you are a parent you really can not understand the stress of leaving a child in someone's care for an extended period of time. Louise is amazing! Not only does she take great care of Alex during the day, but she is also willing to make sure that Aeryn has breakfast and helps her study her spelling words. (The studying of the spelling words has attributed to Aeryn's improvement in spelling this school year.) With Louise doing these things it means that I do not have to stress out as much about getting Aeryn up earlier than she would really need to be.

The second person that I have to be thankful for early in the morning is Inge. A valued coworker who is currently my ride to work until my car gets fixed. She faithfully shows up at the sidewalk in front of my house at 6:30 every morning. I hope she knows how appreciative I am of this as it relieves another amount of stress.

There is a "crew" at work that I am thankful for just because they make me smile. Working in education is a frustrating experience at times. And again, this is a time where unless you also do this, it is really hard to understand. I have developed "go to" people who I know that I can count on to just be able to make me smile when a smile is needed. A real, genuine, eye-crinkling smile. Hopefully these people know who they are as there is a rather large list to name. How often can you go to work every day knowing that you look forward to working with your co workers? I hear over and over again how miserable people are at their jobs, and how they can not stand the people that they work with. I LOVE my job. And for the most part I also love the people that I work with. And the ones that I do not enjoy working with, I just get over it, put on my big girl pants and move on. Thank you Kelsey and Peggy, Sally, Nate and Jen, Jay, Rick and Missie!

Sometimes I make my mom for granted when really I should be thankful for her more than anyone. Take today for instance. My mom has been faithfully picking me up from work every day since my car broke almost a month ago. Today Aeryn has a eye doctor's appointment. Our plan was for mom to pick Alex up from the baby sitter, pick me up from work, go collect Aeryn from school and then go to the appointment. This was all well and good until about twenty minutes ago when I was walking down the hall of the school and it hit me that I am supposed to be tutoring a student after school today until 4:00. After a hurried phone call to mom and my sister Nancy we managed to work out that Mom and Nancy would pick up the kids and take Aeryn to her appointment and then they would come pick me up at school. My mom is always so flexible and willing to help where ever it is needed. And knowing that she is there eases my mind a bit because I know that no matter what is going on my mom has my back.

For a day that would normally loaded with endless amounts of stress, this one really is not so bad. Thank you to all of the people making it possible to smile and be happy at the same time as running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I know that I do not say it enough but you help to make the days sparkle just as much as my Rays of Sunshine do. 

An Introduction...

So with the encouragement of my good friend Erin, whose blog I am absolutely addicted to, I have decided to start my own blog in hopes of proving that life really is not as bad as it sometime appears. No matter what the day brings you there is always something to smile about. Life is worth living to its fullest.


So, for those of you who do not know me. I am Michelle. Surprisingly the only person I know how to be. I am currently a single mother of two amazing children (of which I will talk profusely in just a short little bit), living in rural New Hampshire. I work as a Para Professional with the local school district and get the pleasure of enjoying high school over and over again. Please not the sarcasm in the previous sentence. Don't get me wrong. I truly love my job. But what kind of nut would you have to be to sign onto a job like this? Keep reading this blog and you will figure it out.


Along with being a single mom and working an amazing job, I am also currently a college student. Having started college later in life than some of my peers, I have just now figured out what it is that I want to be when I grow up. A math teacher. Yes, I said it. Not only do I want to relive high school over and over again. I want to teach the subject that I had possibly the worst experiences with when I was in school. Wish me luck. I have chosen not to go into a conventional college situation and instead am working on an online college degree program. You will hear much about this in future postings I am sure.


Now about my children.....

This is Aeryn. My nine year old little spit fire. She may look all cute and innocent in this picture here. But do not let her fool you. Aeryn has been and probably still is my trial and error child. For those of us with multiple children you probably will know what I mean. She has experienced me at some of my worst parenting moments. Times when I had no clue what I was doing but still, together, she and I made it through. She is a brilliant little girl with a keen mind for logic, science and math. And she also plays just about every sport that she can. Another thing of which you will probably read about a lot.

This is Alex. Almost 11 months old at this point. 20 lbs of sheer toughness. Again you should not let his cuteness fool you. He is as stubborn and determined to succeed as his mother and his big sister. I have no doubt in my mind that he will be quite the charmer and be able to get his own way from just about anyone in the future.


Well that is enough for my first blog.