sniffle sniffle

But seriously...can you believe this?! He's so giant! And he led the whole pack in the Cub Scout promise tonight. He is such a sweet boy.

PS- I was literally sewing his patches on while I drove him home from school today. And you thought TEXTING and driving was dangerous! This involved a needle.

Remember Me?

Nope- not the Rob Pattinson movie. I was just wondering if anyone even remembers who I am. You know how you forget someone's birthday so then you rush out and get a belated card, maybe you even write in it and address it, but you can't find a stamp so you set it on the kitchen counter and it quickly gets covered with mail and school papers and broken toys that need to be fixed (am I the only one who has this spot on my kitchen counter?).....so the card sits on your counter for 5 weeks before you find it again and then it just feels really awkward to send it because it's been so long and you can't decide which makes you look more flaky- sending the card this late or not sending one at all? Sorry, like everyone I know.

Anyway- I'm not going to make any kind of a commitment here, because my life is kind of all over the place, but I think I might try to blog every once in a while. Maybe.

Here are some first day of school pics to try to get back into the swing of things. Does it matter that we are already through a month of school? I don't personally think so. And since this is my blog, I guess my opinion is the only one that matters. :)

3rd GRADE?! When did he become such a giant?

And here's my little Kindergartner. She is also a little too big for my liking.

@ school

This was the most sniffly picture for me. Hazel getting in line to go in the classroom and taking a minute to straighten her nametag.

It's probably a good thing I'm doing this after the fact, so you don't have to hear me whine and complain about Hazel's stress. I guess I can count myself lucky that it only took three weeks for her to adjust to school. She is now a happy little Kindergartner that comes home with happy reports, and as her teacher told me "Oh, she doesn't cry anymore! In fact, I've even had to yell at her to be quiet a couple of times." Oh! Thanks! That warms my heart. Ha.

Belated

Hazel had a great Somewhere Over the Rainbow 5th birthday party!!!

Decorations and the infamous airbrushed shirt courtesy of Daddy.

Her bff from school, Violet, came to join in the fun.

Alex helped us eat cupcakes.

Really good cupcakes

Hazel fed her sweet cousin, Tyler some rainbow colored snacks.

Gracie just sat around looking precious

We pinned the cloud on the rainbow

And painted rainbow pictures

And opened presents, of course.

I just can't believe Hazel is five and starting Kindergarten this year. She is getting so much taller and has the cutest little smattering of freckles across her nose. She still crawls into bed with us almost every night and I try to convince myself that I will someday miss that. She has the best giggle in the entire world. She has a beautiful voice and uses it non-stop all day long to chatter and sing sweet little songs. She loves school, is a loyal friend, and adores her big brother. She is even more strong-willed than her brother, which i never thought possible. She is so inquisitive and loves to learn. She is just figuring out how to sounds out words and gets so excited when she can read a small word. She loves to make us proud, and does so every day. We love that little hazelnut nugget-face.

"It sounded a bit karaoke..."

Watch out American Idol. Hazel got a karaoke machine for her birthday.

frustrated....

Only 7 pounds so far. Let's all hope I lose at least 10 more this next week or I will be REALLY mad that I tortured myself like this.

Share and share alike

Got this from a blog that got it from another blog. It totally reflects my feelings after seeing all our pictures from GA:

Wonder Woman
Yesterday we had our family pictures taken. I was a little surprised to see the out come. It seems that my inner view of myself has been skewed for quite some time. This is how I envision myself...

It turns out I actually look a little more like...

It's funny how a few innocent pictures take the wind out of your oh so confident sails.

So I have officially started a diet today. Expect me to be grumpy for the next month at least.

What's your definition of a good day?

Let me just rant for a minute. I know Georgia isn't THAT far away...I mean- at least it's in the same country. The jet lag shouldn't be that bad, but I am suuuuuffering. I can't sleep. I have been wide awake at about 4:00 in the morning. I know every one of you is aware of how much worse everything seems when you are extremely tired.

So- in my fatigued haze, I have felt like everything is falling apart around me for the past few days. The main thing (while sparing you all the details) is that I feel like this crap-hole of a house is falling apart around me and I have to deal with a property-management company who doesn't care and doesn't take me seriously and does crappy work.

Also, my kids have been crazed lunatics since we got home and I just feel like I have been yelling at them non-stop for the past two days.

Well, today I didn't have to work and Hazel didn't have school, so I just decided we would take it easy. We went to visit my "Phoenix Grandma" who I haven't seen for a while. We picked some grapefruits off her tree, gathered some fallen pecans, chatted with her a little bit, and then headed to the library. I let Hazel pick as many books as she wanted and then we came home and sat in the hammock reading them.

I know this sounds so simple. I know lots of you moms probably do something like this with your kids every week, or even every day. But guess what. I don't. I have been so busy. I have been working every day, plus I have a demanding job at church. So between piano lessons and meetings and homework and keeping up with my house and all that other daily grind, I haven't really gotten the chance to have any quality time with my kids. And I have felt like such a failure. So this felt darn good. Baby steps, right?

An even bigger deal? Tonight Owen got through a practice session without us hating each other. Tonight ended without yelling and spankings. Tonight ended with stories and giggles and extra hugs and kisses and "I love you"s, and two kids feeling loved and protected enough to fall asleep without any fights. And for me, that's a good day. A really good day. Thanks to Nicole's post I am trying to focus on these ordinary moments and cherish them while they last.

And now a couple of Hazelisms:

While in GA, my mom was watching her color and looked up at my dad to say "She is definitely left-handed" (not sure why there was ever any doubt...we've known this since she was two) and Hazel responded with "Oh yeah! I'm left handed at home, too!" It was like she was saying "Yeah- this isn't a one-time thing. It's not just while I'm here visiting. I'm left-handed ALL the time."

Today Hazel was playing a game on the computer where you dress Michael Jackson up in different costumes while he sings "You Are Not Alone." As if the game itself wasn't random and awkward enough, she spent about 10 minutes dressing him and changing her mind about what he should have on, then looked at the finished product adoringly and said "Awwww- she's so pretty!"

Have you ever read about Flat Stanley? Well Hazel's school did a project where they made a little flat Stanley and sent it to another place to visit, had someone take pictures of his visit and send them back. We sent Flat Stanley to Aunt Meredith and cousin Avery. I was on the phone with Meredith today talking about it and she told me to tell Hazel that they took a picture of Flat Stanley making a snow angel. Hazel gasped in excitement, but her joyous face quickly changed to a confused one and she said in an amazed voice "Flat Stanley's REAL!?!?!" Because how could he make a snow angel if he wasn't? Right?! Man- the mind of a 4 yr old.

Speaking of angels.....I have a totally random thing to share that is sooo irreverant of me, but totally hilarious (in a sad way). I read an obituary today that started out "On March 13th, our precious Sheri became an angle....." Isn't that so sad!? What a horrible place for a typo.