Goals for 2010

I had many goals for 2010. Some I accomplished, others, not so much. Here is where I stand...

I wanted to get a teaching job for the fall. FAIL - I ended up losing my job in June and having to student teach to get my teaching cert. At the end of the day I am a fully certified teacher no matter how it came. Still not employed though...

Wanted to lose 25 lbs. I did not lose any - FAIL. I guess I will try again this year. For REAL!!

Wanted to train to run a half-marathon. Started, quit - FAIL. I don't even know what happened here...I think it started when I was not accepted into the race. Our group did not win a spot in the lottery. Which sucks. I could have done race for a reason, but you had to raise money and if you didn't raise the amount of $ you agreed to then you are responsible. Well, with no job, I just could not take that risk. So I gave up. LOSER!!! I just gave up and quit running.

I wanted to make myself happy. FAIL. I am not happy. There are many reasons for this, but I am not ready to list them yet. Some have to do with the above, some don't.

I did follow through with wearing make-up more often. And reading my 26 books for the year (BARELY - just finished one today!!!)!!! I did accomplish a little, but going into 2011, I am feeling like a GIANT FAILURE!!!!

Here are my 26 books:
1. Dear John Nicholas Sparks
2. A Long Way Down Nick Hornsby
3. True Believer Nicolas Sparks
4. Barefoot Elin Hildebrand
5. Eat, Love, Pray Elizabeth Gilbert
6. The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold
7. A Walk to Remember Nicholas Sparks
8. The Last Song Nicholas Sparks
9. Lucky Alice Sebold
10. Almost Moon Alice Sebold
11. Crossings Danielle Steele
12. Message in a Bottle Nicholas Sparks
13. The Chris Farley Show Tom Farley
14. How to be Lost Amanda Eyre Ward
15. Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas James Patterson
16. Sam's Letters for Jennifer James Patterson
17. The Last White Knight Tami Hoag
18. 1st to Die James Patterson
19. 2nd Chance James Patterson
20. 3rd Degree James Patterson
21. 4th of July James Patterson
22. 5th Horsemen James Patterson
23. 6th Target James Patterson
24. 7th Heaven James Patterson
25. The Choice Nicholas SParks
26. 8th Confession James Patterson


WHEW!!!!! OK, more to come later on resolutions for 2011. There is a list and I have some pretty high expectations for myself. Let's hope I can do it!!

So, for 2011, HERE COMES THE SUN!!!

<3 Niki

Post Christmas Post :)

We had a great Christmas! I am having a hard time believing that it was K's SIXTH already!!! I can't believe she is growing so fast. My brother came into town for Christmas this year and on the 23rd we had a huge family dinner. It was very nice!! I really enjoy when all of us are together! It was Jose's in Dayton. It was nothing fancy but pretty yummy!

On Christmas eve we did a bunch of nothing. Kendall and I baked alllll day! We made pumpkin bread and cinnamon streussel muffins for breakfast. We made snickerdoodles for Mrs. Claus - this is what she prefers - she told us so (more on that later) and we made yummy delicious Mommy's famous chocolate chip cookies for Santa. I can't tell you the secret, but they are the best in the WORLD :). Then we watched some Christmas movies. She chose "The Night Before the Night Before Christmas" and "Santa Buddies". Two things to note. I have a book that I love called "The Night Before the Night Before Christmas". The movies was NOT the same. It was a little lame. The head elf got confused and sent Santa out on 12/23 instead and a crazy debacle ensued! Also, "Santa Buddies" is a the sequel to "Santa Paws" even though Buddies came out before Paws... Evidently K knew about this!!! It was a shock to me :)

We got up and went to see what Santa brought us! Santa filled Daddy and my stocking and he brought K a giant unicorn pillow pet, a walking puppy, Just Dance 2, and a crib for her favorite baby, Alexa (named for her BFF's little sister). Her stocking was all full of fun stuff!! Around 12:30 we arrived at Granny's and had Christmas there. We got lots of goodies there too!!! We had steaks and baked potatoes and relaxed. It was nice for K and my brother to get to know each other better. She really loves him!!

We came home and relaxed and played toys and later went and got some food from Jack-in-the-Box. Yesterday we did more nothing. We cleaned and played and had so much fun. It was so nice to let her play. About 8pm I checked K's tooth that has been loose! It was SOOOO loose. A few days before Christmas we were playing and she grabbed my fist and kind of punched herself with it. It really knocked it! Last night it was so wiggly. Her and I went into the bathroom and we wiggled it and jiggled it. She was very stressed. There were tears and snot and deep breaths. It was very dramatic. She was so brave! At this point it was hanging on by a thread!!! Finally I said, "You have one minute to decide who is going to pull it, you are me?" I started timing her - she was so cute - she was saying "mommy, me, mommy, me" after about 25 seconds, she asked if her time was up. I told her she had about 30 seconds left and she said "OK mom, you pull it." We had Daddy come in the bathroom to come hold her hand. He was letting her lean on him and she had Lulu in the other hand. She was trying SO hard. For a few minutes she would not hold her head still. Finally I had her put her forehead on Daddy's shoulder and turn her head to me. He held her tight so she would not move too much. I got a hold of it and popped it right out! I said "It's OUT!" and she looked at me with this shocked look and said "It's out??" We cheered and clapped and took pics and called Granny! It was SO fun and cute and a little heartbreaking! I can't believe how stinking cute she it with that little hole in her face :) We had promised her is she got it out we would take the puppies for a ride and go get her a shake. We finally got on our way after all the tooth whoopla and getting ready for the tooth fairy! She chose a blue slushie from Sonic! She drank MAYBE three sips! But, she got her prize!

The thing aside from getting $5 from the Tooth Fairy that she is most excited about is getting back to school and telling Mrs. McIntosh about her tooth and getting to write her name on the tooth on the wall!!!! In her classroom there is a tooth that you get to write your name on if you lose your tooth in that month. She has another one right behind it so she might have a December and a January tooth!

Today we were supposed to go to the zoo with Jayme, Ryan, and Saira, but it was really cold today and the kids all had runny noses so we postponed until Thursday!! Today we got out and went to Lonestar Scrapbook - they are going out of business and were having a 70% off sale! I spent $28.50 (that means I saved $66.50 - YAY!). We went shopping for Daddy to spend some clothes money he got for Christmas. We only thought he had a $100 gift card and when we paid we found out it was really $150! SCORE. On the way home we took K to Wal-Mart (her choice) to spend her Christmas/tooth-fairy/allowance $$$. She had $83 accumulated!! She got a small Rapunzel tower, a pack of Rapunzel people, a teacup pig, a Tinkerbell fairy tree, and some fairy friends!! She was very proud of her purchases!

We took her to Sweet Tomatoes for lunch and she loved it! The girl put away some food! She loved that she could go back for more and since she is a salad junkie it was right up her alley!!

Tomorrow we are going to Hobby Lobby (for MOMMY) and to take K to see Tangled! Can't wait. I posted on FB earlier that my house is a mess and it is stressing me but I am trying really hard to let it go and to let her enjoy being 5 and being on Christmas vacation. I am not thankful I don't have a job for January, but I am thankful that I have had this awesome Christmas vacation with her! She is having a BLAST!! Only 7 more vacation days :( We are going to make sure we have FUN!!!

Here comes the sun!!!!!

Niki

Things...

Well, I have good news and I have bad news! Chris and I are 100% fully certified teachers, BUT neither one of us have jobs...So the question is: NOW WHAT?? One of us MUST get a job. There are no if, ands, or buts about it. We need an income. Now the problem is finding one. There are very few teaching jobs out there right now so I guess we have to get another type of job. I am SO stressed you can't believe it. So, the good news is that I am finally a teacher but the bad news is that I am not a teacher! GRRRRRRRRRRR

In other recent news, Kendall has TWO loose teeth!!!!! She told me on Tuesday that a tooth was hurting. The last time she said this was a few months ago and she said it was hurting in the back. I kind of forgot about it and several weeks later when helping her brush her teeth, I saw a new molar on each side on the top that had come in. This time I told her I would check it and I forgot. Wednesday I remembered while we were at dinner with Granny and Pawpaw. I asked her which one it was and she said it was in the front on the bottom. I looked at them. You can CLEARLY see the one that is the loosest. It has kind of moved and separated from the others. I started to cry at dinner. This is just another huge step in her growing up and not being a baby anymore!! A few minutes later I checked it again and the one next to it looked loose too. So, I checked it and it WAS!!! It was so amazing!!!! Now I am on the hunt for a tooth fairy pillow and the book called "The Night Before the Toothfairy."

I said goodbye to my kids today. I thought I would cry, but they gave me a huge group hug so it helped alot!!!! My mentor was kind of like whatever - it was awkward. I am glad to be done and ready for a class of my own. After I left, I went over to K's school for her Christmas party. She had no idea I was coming. She thought I had to work the whole day. She was SO surprised when I came in! It was awesome. I helped the room mom and Mrs. McIntosh with the party and all and loved spending that sweet special time with my girl. I took a jillion pics. I just need to download them. It was super fun and again, another milestone gone by.

She had Polar Express day yesterday. She got to wear jammies to school and they got to go listen to the story being read and then went back to her classroom for hot cocoa and watched the movie. She had such a great time. She took Lulu with her to school too and they had matching jammies on. They wore super cute red sleep dresses with gingerbread men all over them! Mrs. McIntosh even sent her to the other classes to show her and Lulu's matching outfits.

I can't believe winter break is here already!!!!! Too bad I can't relax too much! MUST FIND JOB!!!! We have some super fun things coming up over the holidays!!

HAVE A GOOD CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Here comes the sun...

Niki

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OK, so sometimes I feel that I am failing at EVERYTHING!!! Today has not helped. I have felt like I failed professionally. Two people in my student teaching group have gotten jobs. Why haven't I?? I have put myself out there and NOTHING! These are two people that don't even NEED a job! Which is one thing I do need!!!!!

I also feel like I am constantly failing as a wife. I feel I am never enough no matter how hard I try! IT SUCKS!!!!! I admit, I am not perfect, but when I do try and it still doesn't cut the mustard, it is sad and puts this weight on my chest like you can't believe!!!

Sometimes I feel like I fail as a parent. I did not feel this today, but I do feel it and sometimes often.

My last failure of the day is stupid RICE KRISPIE TREATS!!!! I am trying to be a good person and make them for my good friends at the teacher meeting tomorrow and I tried to do something fancy and use the microwave directions. CAUTION!!!! Do not do this!!! My butter burned and the marshmallows did not melt all the way. I had to throw the first batch away. So, now I am on batch 2 and doing it the traditional way. I just am so down right now. Is it EVER going to get better???? I can't breath, I can't sleep. I can hardly eat. You would think that I would have lost more weight by now. I have NO idea what my future holds and it SUCKS!!!

All I can do is pray and ask my friends to pay that better things happen for me in 2011!!!

In the meantime I am trying to remember my mantra: "Love is all you need"...it is not working - thinking I need a new mantra. SOOOOOO without further adue...

Here Comes the Sun!!!!!!!!

:) Niki

December!!!!

It is December again!!! We had a great Thanksgiving us just here at home. We made a turkey and some sides and talked about the things we are thankful for. Over that weekend we went to Santa's Wonderland. We have been in the past, but Kendall did not remember it so it was like going for the first time all over again!!!

December is stacking up and is busy already. Kendall and I went to the Grinch on the 5th with Granny and she LOVED it. She has never seen the movie or read the book but had an idea what is was about. It was SO cute!!! I loved it and she did too. This is my last week of teaching for my student teaching. I have had some hard times and thought about giving up through this whole process. I think I was just really overwhelmed that I was being watched EVERY day... I am not good with pressure and someone watching over me. I am glad I am done and can get my own classroom now. When that will happen, who knows!! I have to observe three days next week and have two days of meetings and then I will be a FULLY CERTIFIED TEACHER!!!! You can't imagine how long I have been waiting to say those words. A decade maybe?????? Chris is done too and he is working on getting a job as well. I am stressed beyond all belief so we will see how the next month unfolds and PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!!!!

Kendall had her Girl Scouts Investiture Ceremony tonight! I am the troop leader. I think I did a good job :) The girls loved it and did SO well and followed directions!! BUT, all the moms AND dads and Siblings were there so it was stressful because I was being "watched". I want the parents to think I am doing a good job.

I have a problem sometimes with what people think of me. Not so much as a person, but the work I do. I try my hardest to do a great job and I want people to see that. I think that is why I was so overwhelmed with this student teaching thing. I don't take criticism well and there are times when you absolutely need to be, constructively, of course, but in the long run it is still criticism!!!

Tomorrow is the Winter Wonderland at K's school! It is going to be so fun! They are having food there and Santa and crafts and games! She is excited and I am too.

As for me overall, I feel very overwhelmed and pretty sad alot of the time. I try to be the best that I can be at everything I do and I DON'T live criticism (I know, I am ranting) but when someone in your life constantly is telling you that you are wrong and this person is full of negativity but does not see it, then you are going to have so many emotions. I love this person with all my heart, but GRRRRRRRR. I am so tired or being hurt!!!

Anyway, I will post more soon!!

Remember, Love is all you need...

Thankful

adding a few more...

My beautiful Christmas ornaments.
Kendall's school and her WONDERFUL teacher, Mrs. McIntosh.

First, let me explain WHY I am thankful for my ornaments. I absolutely love them. Every single one tells a story to me and Chris and Kendall is starting to share in the stories. We have one for EVERY YEAR we have been together. There are some left that we bought from our very first tree. There are also a few from my childhood on there. Kendall has one for every year she has been alive. I love to get them out and laugh with the family and remember the year we got them and why and how. This year she had SO much fun decorating. She can't wait to buy her new one and our family one this year. She already knows where she wants to put them. We also go to Cracker Barrel every year and get about 10 ornaments there. Did I mention I LOVE my tree. It tells such a great story! Some people I know have a fancy tree and then a "kid" tree. Our tree is OUR tree. It is my family written all over it!!

Second, Kendall's school is awesome. They have had so many fun things so far this year. Last Wednesday they had a Thanksgiving Feast. They invited parents. I was able to sneak over on my conference hour. Chris could not come but I did not tell her I was coming. I snuck in and surprised her! It was so cute!!! The girls had bonnets on and the boys had pilgrim hats on. It was awesome! K and I had a great time. Granny came too. I took some pics, ate quickly, and ran back to work. I was so thankful to have been able to do that!! Yesterday they had something called big centers. I was not able to go, but today I got to see all the fun stuff they made. She made an indian feather hat, an indian vest, a tee pee out of a tortilla, a macaroni necklace, and a place mat. They made all these things for their feast today. But first, Chris is out this week so he took her Chick-Fil-A for lunch. She was SOOO surprised! She had no idea he was coming. He said she wore her indian headband to lunch. CUTE!! After lunch was their feast. We made pumpkin bread. She was SO proud because Mrs. McDougald (sub - more on that later) wanted some of her bread. She saved Daddy and me some too! Sweet monkey! She said she also had some turkey, crackers, and some muffins. I LOVED hearing about her day and looking at all her wonderful projects!!!! She is STOKED about Thanksgiving!!!!

Now, why we love Mrs. McIntosh!!!!!!! There are SO many reasons! Kendall LOVES her to pieces. She hugs her every day and tells me all the time how much she loves her. One day Kendall was out sick for two days and Mrs. McIntosh called and checked on her. It was her b-day and Kendall was so sad. We dashed up to school to drop off her card because K was in tears for missing it. In the message when she called to check on her, she thanked us for the card. I let K hear the message and her little face lit up. About a week later, she sent home a thank you note too! She is such a sweet lady!! Last Tuesday she had surgery and we got a note she was going to be out until after Thanksgiving. I was SO sad that she was going to miss the kids feasts. She missed last weeks, but K said that she came up to their class feast today for a little bit. I thought that was SO amazing!!!

Only two more days to the big TURKEY day!!! YUM YUM YUM!!! Can't wait. I know Harry Potter and Tangled are in our future, but I can't say much more is!! I need to get fingerprinted so I can get my sub stuff in Humble's system and so they are on file for Jan if I get a job.

I am so excited to spend the next 5 awesome days with my sweet baboo's!!!!!

Peace!!!!! Have an awesome Thanksgiving y'all.

Remember, LOVE is all you need!!!!!!

Love the holidays!!!

YAY! We put up our tree today! It is so pretty!

Kendall's parent teacher conference back in October was great! She is performing beyond end of Kinder level! I was soooo proud!!! Halloween was fabulous! We had so much fun!

Girl scouts is going great! We have had two meetings and are having our investiture ceremony on the 9th of Dec.

Chris and I only have 4 weeks left before we are both certified full-fledged teachers. I took my special-ed cert test on Sat - not sure how I did - the test was totally different then the book I bought to study...SO, Tuesday will tell me what I need to know!

I have so many things going on with me and friends! Some are separating, some are adopting and some are just being there for us all. I have been having terrible headaches.

This is a random posting with random things in random order.

I love random.

I have been posting things I am thankful for all month on FB.

I want to list them here:
-KEndall
-Chris
-my parents
-my friends who love me for who I am
-my sweet puppies
-music
-technology
-the fact that you can still find kindness in strangers
-Kendalls beautiful imagination
-hugs
-thankful for my daddy, brothers, nephews, and countless others who gave their heart, soul and sometimes life to keep the rest of us safe
-weekends and the quality time they bring my family
-Pizza Hut's Book-it program
-Kendall's relationship with my mom
-I am a strong person who does not care what other people think about me :)
-Kendall's Love (she loves me infinity) and the Beatles!!
-over the counter meds
-other people's generosity
-crayons
-knowledge
-good books

4 more days to go until Thanksgiving. I will post those 4 again soon!

So, Humble has school tom and Tues (BOOOOOOOOO) so K and I will be there, but Splendora is out so Daddy will be at home! It is going to be SO hard to get up!!! But, we are teaching fun stiff and I have a sub meeting tomorrow so only half day!

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!

Remember, Love is all you need!!!!!

Monday Musings

It's late. I should be in bed. I just finished a novel that I sent out to my girl scout moms! I did not realize how much work this was going to be in the beginning. Oh well, I love it! Our first meeting is Thursday! I can't wait! I know the girls are pumped too! At least mine is!!!

Well, I love teaching. I am getting better at it day by day. MOST of my kids are so well behaved. There are a few who I have issues with, but it is not too bad. I am starting science this week and adding math next week. That means next week I will be teaching the entire class!!!!!! YIPES!!! There is so much admin stuff to keep up with aside from teaching for the program I am in. That is where I am slacking. I will TRY to get caught up Sat before an exciting Halloween party at some wonderful friend's house!!

Kendall has her first ever parent-teacher conference this week!! Can't wait! AND she gets her first report card!! YAY!!!!! I am sure I will be reporting wonderful things on Friday!!

This weekend was fun! We went to the fall festival at K's old preschool - we saw old friends and she had SO much fun seeing all her old teachers! She misses them soooo much! Then, on Sunday, we went to Zoo Boo with K's besty and her little sister (and mommy too). It was UBER HOT outside. For the most part the day was wonderful aside from the heat and the "twins" (Kendall and her besty are like twins - the have the same b-day and act like sisters) arguing. They could not agree on a side and of course they both wanted the SAME side of the rented stroller. Next time: NO STROLLER!!!! :) The love each other sooo much but sometimes they both push each other's buttons!! LIKE SISTERS!!! They are awesome though! AND the little sister who is not even two yet was the best behaved! I love that baby! She is always so happy and is MOSTLY always ready to give me hugs and kisses! She makes me miss Kendall at that age SO much!!!

Dad is getting his port out tomorrow from the dialysis!! YEAH!!!!!!!!! I am so excited!! He comes home from rehab on Wednesday and will do some in home stuff after that!

Here are some recent sillies from Kendall:
Sunday she came in and asked me: "Mommy, have you served me my breakfast yet??" I asked her if she had eaten and she said no, but she reminded me that she told me she was hungry...I should just jump right on it!!

Her new word is HOWLABUNGA - I am sure she means COWABUNGA but is insistent on telling me that is NOT what she means and that because on Phineas and Ferb they are in Hawaii it must be Howlabunga.

Today she called camouflage "mabel". Why?? WHO KNOWS!!!!!

They learn new letters every week at school and she is OBSESSED with thinking up words that start with the letter of the week! I love it!! She has already picked out her show and tell for Friday!!!!

Well, off to bed! school starts early peeps!!!

Have a wonderful week!!

Remember, Love is all you need...

WOWSA!!

SOOOO many things have happened since I last blogged!!!! First, a day or two after I last posted, I got laid off from my job...MAJOR problem!! I figured I would get on unemployment, find a teaching job and be good to go. Kendall and I would have the summer together and it would be awesome. Well, we had an amazing summer together! Some great just Kendall and Mommy time. BUT, I did not get the job I was praying everyday for so I decided we would tough it out and I would student teach, get my cert done by December and try and snag a job in January.

HA! Next step - Chris gets laid off!! DOWNER!!!!!!! We have a huge heart to heart and after the advice of a few fab people, we decide we are going to bite the bullet and he will student teach too since he did not get an internship either.

I got placed in Humble and am teaching 3rd grade. I love it! I love my kids and the school and hope they will hire me when I am done! Chris is in Splendora and teaching 8th grade math. He loves the job but hates the drive! We will be done in December and are praying for both of us to get jobs for the spring semester! At least one of us has to! If not, back to a real job (not teaching).

My life is so up in the air right now and I hate not knowing what my future holds. I know God has a plan for me, I just wish He would let me in on his secret!!!!

My dad has been sick all summer as well. He had surgery on his kidney at the end of July and had major complications. He was on dialysis for a few months. They took him off in September and he was ELATED to say the least!! We were not expecting him to get off so soon!! THEN, the last week in September he tripped and fractured his hip. They initially told him nothing was wrong with it, but a week later he went back and they found the fracture. When they were examining him, they did a cat scan and found two more huge stones. They did a surgery a few days later and another one just after that. He is now in a rehab facility for another week or so to work out the fracture. We are waiting to see how well the screws do and if it heals to see if they need to do another surgery. Only time will tell.

Another MAJOR and amazing thing happened while I was away. My sweet baby staeted KINDERGARTEN!!! I can't believe it. I cried the day before, but not the day of. Ok, well just a tiny bit but I did well. She was a rock star and so excited to be there that it was hard to be sad. Her teacher is Mrs. McIntosh at Timbers Elementary. She absolutely loves school and is learning so much! I dictated a sentence to her tonight and she wrote it!!! MY BABY IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chris turned 38 lasst night and we went to Hectors to celebrate and K and I made him a cake! I had them sing to him! It was great!!!

Fall and the holidays are coming so I will try and post more often!!

Until then, Remember, Love is all you need!!!!

I found this awesome flip flop exchange on and awesome blog today!

http://thetexasdarlings.blogspot.com/2010/06/texas-sized-flip-flip-exchange-take-2.html

I signed up and I signed Kendall up as well! It is really cool!! I can't wait to do it!!!

Go on over and check it ou!!!!

June Already??!?!?!?!?!?

WOW! I can't believe June is here. I actually have nothing to do...That sounds wacky. Aside from a couple of kid b-day parties, I have nothing. No summer school - that is a first in many many years. I really don't know what to do. I feel like a kid in a candy store :). I can go to the pool, the gym, the track, the store, whatever, and I can do it any night of the week. I have no deadlines, no papers, and no stress. It is creeping me out HA HA. The thing I am doing now is working on getting Chris and me jobs! I need to be in the classroom! I love kids and I love learning so put them together and I can teach kids! I am so ready!! So, please continue to pray for us and maybe we will be starting school with Kendall this fall!!

We had a great Memorial Day weekend. We went and played putt putt, went bowling, went to the pool, and went to the movies. Shrek 4 was cute. Not nearly as good as the other's, but I still laughed a ton! It was a great weekend and we spent some sweet bonding time as a family.

Last night (this morning) we had some excitement. About 4am a transformer blew at the house behind us. I heard it and it woke me up. I looked out the window and it was on fire. I called 911, the fireman came and eventually put the fire out. While waiting for the firemen, the thing surged and exploded about 6 more times. If anyone watches Lost, it compares to last season when the island was moving and that huge flash of light would come just before it moved. It was BRIGHT!!!!! The dogs and Kendall were scared (so was Mommy). Just as soon as I laid back down to rest with no power, there was a knock at the door. This was the light company coming to work on it I guess. I redirected him and went back to bed. It was SO hot with no power and I had Pretzel and Kendall who were laying on me. UGH. I have had no sleep. I told the daycare that I might come there during nap time to rest!

Other than that, nothing going on here. No plans this weekend at all. I am sure we will find something to do, but I hope the extent of it means I don't have to fix my hair LOL! Maybe the pool! I do have to fix some pictures to get printed! I have a retreat in 3 weeks and I am out of pics!

Well, off to nap HAHA!! Not really, let me get to work!

Remember, love is all you need!!

Have a great weekend!!

Niki

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENDALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe 5 years ago today I was in the hospital giving birth to my beautiful and amazing little angel. The time has FLOWN by. I can remember all the great things she learned to do in her first few years. I don't want her to grow up, but thinking of all the amazing talents she has mastered how can one not one her to grow and learn more???

I remember the day like it was yesterday! On Monday, May 23rd I had a check-up at Dr. Schettler's office. He checked me and I still had not progressed at all. He told me he was going to go ahead and induce and went to go call the hospital to see what day I should come in. He came back in and told us to be at the hospital bright and early (6:30 am) the next morning. It was unreal! We were having a baby the next day! Chris went back to work to tie up some loose ends and I got on the phone calling everyone and letting them know that the next day was it! I got a pedicure and spent the rest of the day chilling with Chris. We went to Wings-N-More for dinner. I could not eat after midnight just in case they had to do a c-section so at about 11:30pm, I had a HUGE bowl of cereal (maybe that is why K loves cereal so much LOL).

We arrived at the hospital and they weighed me! 197 lbs!! I had joked with Dr. S and told him his goal was to get her out before I hit 200 lbs :) His first question when he came in later was "Did we make it?" I got all checked in and hooked up to the monitors. They came in and gave me pitocin to start my labor. I was great for a long time. After a few hours I was in pain and they had broken my water so I opted for some pain meds. I got stadol and finagrin through my IV - that lasted a little while and just before 3pm I had my epidural. I remember my nurse was not nice. She did not let me hug on her while I was receiving the injection, she just kind of put her hands on my shoulders. I finally got all relaxed and about 5pm I was ready to push. I pushed and pushed and pushed and every time she would come down, but she would go back up!! The monitor that they had on me was NOT matching my actual contractions so I was constantly pushing - the nurses were making me push with the monitor and my body was making me push at the actual time. It was exhausting. I ended up having an asthma attack. I don't know if you have ever had one, but when they put the oxygen mask on you it feels even more suffocating. I took it off and the yelled at me to put it back on! We compromised and I held it over my face for a little while. Still not progress of Kendall staying in place.

They tried a new trick on me. They tied a bath towel in a knot and had me hold the knot and someone else pull the end. They thought that maybe I was not able to get up and over my belly enough to push her out. The same thing was happening. She would come down but go right back up!!! Finally Dr. S came in and he had me push several times and the same deal. At about 6:24 or so I heard him yell out "Go get Dr. ?? ready." I had NO idea what name he said, but I knew it could not be good to have another doc involved. He looked me straight in the face and with his calm German self told me "This is your last push. Let's get this baby out." I agreed. I took a hug breath and he put his forearm on my tummy. I pushed and he pushed. Out came the ladybug! I felt her arm (which had been over her head and the reason she would not stay down) hit my leg.

The ONLY reason that this is funny is because earlier in the day I made a joke about her not being ready and I put my hands over my head and said "I don't want to come out yet!!!" Wow, did I ever jinx myself.

Fast forward 5 years and she is still the most stubborn person I have ever met! I know I am stubborn and so is Chris, but this girl TAKES THE CAKE!!! She entered being stubborn and she lives that way everyday!!

She is by far the best thing in my life. She is even more beautiful and smart than I could have ever imagined. She is very loving and loves to hug and love on Chris and I every day. We get SO many hugs and kisses. She knows what she wants and is not afraid of standing her ground to get it. Sometimes this causes major drama at home because as you know, I am the same way and we butt heads. I can only imagine how much we will fight in the teen years because of her little attitude and my unwillingness to deal with it.

She has taught me so much about life and love and being a good person. I can't imagine life without her. I love to watch her sleep and we love to cuddle. She still sleeps with us, but neither one of us can bear to let her go. Just before bedtime and mornings are so wonderful. We have the best talks. I know one day it will have to end, but we are cherishing it while we can.

She is SO ready for Kindergarten. We however are not :) I know she has to go and I pray that we are teaching when it happens, but if not we will do the best we can. She is excited to get to take a backpack to school every day. She asked me yesterday if she could bring snacks to Kindergarten and did they have a movie room there. Her little brain works in magical ways and sometimes I still wonder if she was reincarnated. She is such an old soul.

I love that little ladybug to the moon and back and every day that she grows, that love grows stronger.

Remember, LOVE is all you need!!!!

:) Niki

Birthday weekend

More like WEEK! Kendall's celebration started last night and will go through WEDNESDAY! Really!! I know I know, it is my own fault, and I LOVE it! I love the look on her face at how special she feels!!!

Last night we went to eat with our great friends Andi, Gus, and Ashley so Kendall and Gus could exchange gifts since we had to miss his party. Today was a pre-K field trip to Chuck E Cheese. When they get back, Liana is taking a cookie cake and cookies to the school for us. It is to celebrate the three girls that have a birthday on Monday, Kendall, Kayli, and Mia. She is such a good friend!! I can't wait to see pics!! Tomorrow id Kendall's party and we are meeting Chris' dad in the evening. Sunday is Kayli's party and we are meeting my parents that evening. Monday is the BIG DAY!!! I will have a 5 year old!!!!! I just can't believe it! Monday she will be home with Daddy. She has a dentist appt. at 10 and then she has a well check-up at 2. In the middle they will come to see me and we will go have lunch. I can't wait!! Monday night we will give her our gifts and do whatever she wants!! Tuesday Liana and I are taking the girls to the Taylor Swift concert! SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Neither girl knows about this and they won't find out until Monday night!!!!! I can't wait!!!! AND on Wednesday the Ieva's want to go out to eat so they can give K her presents. This is only happening because she is having an all girl party.

Her party is at Bella Beads and all the girls get to make a necklace. Kendall gets a bunch of balloons, her name on the marquee, a gift from them, and a bear from them. They said we can open presents there and then we get to go to Cici's for pizza and cake!! I am so so excited! It is her first big girl party!!!!

I will post Monday!! I will def be too busy this weekend!!! I hope you all have a great weekend and REMEMBER: Love is all you need!!!

:) Niki

Pre-K Graduation

Oh my little ladybug shined!!!! We sat in the front row so she would not be nervous and she did so good!! They had such a little awesome performance. The cam in to Pomp and Circumstance and then did their whole show. Kendall's lines were "D is for dance, we love to dance with Ms. Tinkerbell" and "O is for outside, OH how we love our outside time." She came up and said them great and people giggled at how cute she was :) The received diplomas from Ms. Lori and medals from Ms. Shannon. Ms. Courtney addressed the parents and the class and she started crying which made me cry, again. Kendall and Natalie started to tear up too, but she noticed it and sat down. We took TONS of pics and then went out to Ginger Cafe for dinner with Granny and Paw Paw. It was a great day!! I was so proud of my baby. I reallyyyyy need to download pics...maybe tonight.

Friday night I got to babysit my friend Laura's 2 day old baby, Sebastian. He was so super snugly. I am in love. It stormed like CRAZY that night but when I got home we watched "Princess and the Frog" with K. It def ranks up there with Aladdin and Little Mermaid as one of my all-time fav Disney movies! I LOVED IT!!!!!!!! I finished all my school work for my online class (I am 110% finished with school) and then packed up my scrapbook stuff!

Saturday I finally got a pedi for my sad little toes and then went to an all day scrapbook crop. It was so great. I am really behind in my scrapbooks. It felt like such a great accomplishment to finish 2006. I have plans laid out to hopefully finish through 2009 by Jan 2011. Then I will only be a year behind :). Then I am going to start "All About Me" books for Chris and I for Kendall. They are slow and not time crunch crisis at all so we will see :).

This week is a slow boring and relaxing week. K has a field trip on Friday to Chuck E Cheese on Friday. That is also her and Kayli's school party. Liana is going to take cupcakes and cookies to school in the afternoon and take some pics for me :) I so wish I could go!! But, there is that pesky little thing called WORK.

Saturday is K's b-day party at Bella Beads and Sunday is Kayli's party. Monday is their b-day and Tuesday is the Taylor Swift concert! I can't can't can't wait for this weekend!!! I can't believe my little monkey is turning 5. I can remember her birth like it was yesterday. Maybe I will share that sweet story on Monday :)

Remember, Love is all you need!!!!!

Niki :)

Almost time!!!

So much has happened this week!!!

Mother's Day went great! I woke up and was treated to breakfast and coffee in bed and cards and presents. I got a home made card from Kendall and a store bought one from Daddy and Kendall - I got my new running shoes that I wanted for my marathon training (YAY) and I got beautiful flowers (tulips and stargazer lilies). It was such a good lazy morning! Kendall also filled out a form at school that asked stuff about your mom and one question was what does your mom smell like? Her answer was cupcakes!! It was so sweet. It totally melted my heart. We got ready and my mom picked us up and we went to see Little House on the Prairie at the Hobby Center. It was fun! Kendall loved it. We came back to Atascocita and met up with the boys at Christopher's for some delicious dinner and then we went back home and did nothing! I had a nice lazy Mother's Day!! It has to be my fav day of the year aside from K's b-day!!

Wednesday was my last day of school! Also, Kendall had her dance recital. It was cute. They did an 80's theme, but she got so freaked out she did not do one dance move in either song. I was so sad for her :( That evening I had my last class and I got my cert showing I completed my PPR class. I don't really feel like a teacher yet. I won't be certified until after my first year anyway so until I get a job nothing is official right?? But, it feels great to be done. I have to do my final for special populations and my field service packet and I am DONE DONE DONE!!!! YAHOOOOO!!

Tonight is Kendall's pre-k graduation! I know I am going to cry :) I can't help it! I am a sucker for these things. I hope and pray that she does not have another stage fright incident and not be able to say her lines! She has two individual speaking parts so we will see!!

I will try and post the outcome of tonight's events tomorrow along with a pic. She got a new dress and new flip flops :)

Remember Love is all you need!!!

Another Friday!

I can't believe it is Friday again! These things are rolling around too fast! Time needs to slow down a tiny bit!! Well, Wednesday I went to the clinic and I did not have strep but I had an infection. I got two shots and two prescriptions. Feeling much better today.

Had a job interview yesterday at Northeast Christian Acadamey. I think it went ok. They are wanting to make a decision fairly quick. So, I jhope to know soon. They told me they would let me know either way. So, if I don't get it at least it is an interview and I gained experience from that. I am praying all the time that the right job finds me. Kendall's school has a few positions that might come open and I have thrown my name in that bucket several times. SO... keep praying friends!

I am so excited to get started running! The training for the marathon is still two months away, but I am ready to get in the gym and start getting into some shape for the time trials in July. I really don't think I want to be in the slow group LOL. My goal is to run a mile inder 10 mins by July. We will see :)

Mother's day is this weekend. I got myself and my mom something. I ordered us each a cute collage poster from the bunny pics that Kendall took back before Easter. They came yesterday and they are SO adorable! I can't wait to give mom hers!!! She is going to LOVE it. Also, I can't wait for Mother's Day for myself. It to me is better than my birthday. I get pampered and Kendall is always so awesome. Plus, I have a great hubby who takes care of me and makes sure Kendall gets a chance to pick out great prizes and cute cards for me! I also can't wait to see what she makes me at school this year! Last year was my awesome necklacs (pic above) and the year before that was a super cute foam frame with her handprint on it and a cute pic of her in it. I love homemade gifts so much. I will report back on Monday with the details of Mother's Day.

We only have 17 days left until my baby turns 5. It just does not seem remotely possible. Pre-K graduation is in 6 days, dance recital in 5 days, and her party is in 15 days. We have such a busy May, but at least school ends next week for GOOD! I don't want to see the inside of a classroom as a student (other than professional development) for a VERY long long time :)

Chris is officially done with UH and is graduating cum laude. If now I could only get him to walk at the darn graduation ceremony!! GRRRRR Can you tell this is a huge thorn in my side LOL! I am working on him all the time to get him to go but so far no luck. We shall see.

Hope you all have a GREAT weekend and HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!

Love is all you need!

Oh swollen gland in my throat how I loathe ye

I am not happy. I very sensitive glands in my throat and today the one on my right is hurting and I don't like it. It is making me cranky and I don't feel good either. Plus, Kendall is still coughing and has a runny/stuffy nose and Chris is coughing his head off.

Yesterday I took bug to go register for Kindergarten! Like the luck that I always have, they had my appt. time wrong. They were saying it was for today. They let me do it anyway, but I don't think they liked it. We pulled up to the school and she asked if it was Daddy's school. I told her it was a school, but not Daddy's. She asked me then "Is it my kindergarten?" When I said yes she got sooo excited! I went in and filled out the three required forms and gave them a copy of the rest of the paperwork. The made copies and checked the shot record. We were good to go! I didn't even cry!! It was AMAZING! I was just all smiles and I think because she was so excited. She told a lady in the hall how she was going to go there for kinder and the lady was so nice. From where we were you could see the cafeteria and she thought that was so cool.

Also, last night Chris finished his last thing for UH. He took his last test!!! Now all he has do do is wait for grades! I am so proud of him for finishing!!!! It was great! He was not as excited as I thought but that is ok - I am proud of him enough for both of us :)

I also got a call for an interview! I am not telling anyone yet because in case I don't get it I don't want 1000 questions. I know I don't have to worry about posting it here because I don't think anyone reads this anyway except for one person who will pray so hard for me :0)

Other than that, just trying to get through the last remaining things that are left for the ACP program - there is a lot to do in a week and a half UGH!!!!

Have a great week and remember, Love is all you need :)

Niki

Friday Ramblings

HEY!! It is Friday!! Yay! I am so happy for that! Things have been going well for me these past few days and that makes me happy. Everything that could be a proposed problem is working out to not be a problem at all.

So, me and a good friend have decided that we are going to do something that is a HUGE adventure/challenge. We are going to train to run a 1/2 marahon. We are only doing the half this year and next year we will do the full. We start training in July. We train for 28 weeks and then run the race the last weekend in January. I have told a few people about it but not too many because what if I fail?? Then I will get a hundred questions. I am not planning on failing and I am SUPER excited! I have always wanted to do this and a tri-athalon so here I go. I have at least one friend running with me and most likely a second one :) That will help keep me motivated. We meet every Sat morning and run together and then during the week we run for assigned times on our own. I have already looked at this awesome heart rate monitor/calorie counter by Garmin and I can't wait to order it!!!

School is almost done. Chris has one test left for UH and he is DONE! A college graduate. I am so pround of him and I am so proud of us both. We can set a good example for Kendall now. I feel so accomplished as a family. In our teaching cert classes, we just have two weeks left and a few mini assignments. In the Special Pops class we are taking we have a TON left to do in two weeks, but it is because we are procrastinators. We have to do three movie reviews each (2 pages long for each one), a small 3-5 page research paper each, a few discussions, and summaries of our internal hours. We will do this all this weekend. I know boring! All that is left after that is to summarize all our observations and get them turned in to the teaching office and we are done!! I can't wait!!!

Then all we need are JOBS!!!!!! Please continue to pray for us that we get teaching jobs for the fall. All I have ever wanted in my life, aside from being a super mom and wife, is ti teach. I love children and teaching is such an honorable proffesion. I want to teach right now more than anything on earth (besides health and happiness for my family and friends). SO, please keep us in your prayers that it happens for us.

We go register Kendall for Kindergarten on Monday!! I am going to cry FOR SURE! I know, it is just registration, but man that is a HUGE step in my baby's life. The next week is her spring dance recital on Wednesday and her pre-K graduation on Thursday! More tears!!! The next weekend is her b-day party and the 24th she will be 5 already! Does not seem possible at all. Time flies!!!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I know I will!!!! Talk soon!!!

<3 Niki - Love is all you need!!!!

Kickapoo Kamp

All I can saw is WOW! We had an amazing time!!! Kendall and I went on a mother/daughter camping trip this weekend. We went to Kickapoo Kamp for girls in Kerrville, TX. It was so amazing!!

Friday our friends Jaime and Makayla picked us up about 1pm and we were on our way. We stopped to get gas and go to the bathroom about 10 miles outside of Shulemberg. After getting back on the road, Jaime's car was making a terrible knocking sound. We pulled over in Schulemberg and we looked around at the tires. On the front passenger side there was a HUGE bubble on the inside of the tire. Someone told us about a Firestone on the other side of the freeway so that is where we headed. No luck. Those guys looked at us as if we were STUPID. The did not have a tire that matched Jaime's and were not even willing to put the spare on. They sent us to another shop a few blocks away. When we FINALLY found that one at 3:50, they advised us that they close at 4 on Friday's. URGGGGG!!!!! OK, next idea - the lady at the second shop told us to go back to I-10 and there was another tire shop on the feeder. HUH?? Isn't this where we came from?? YEP!! It was diagonal under the freeway from where we initially stopped. We pulled in and the man was sooo old!! At least in his 70's. But, they had a tire and that is all we cared about at this point!!! He put the new tire on. This took a while because in the mean time he was pumping gas for some people older than him and ringing up sales. OK, no problem! Once done, back on the road. We finally made it into San Antonio and were following the directions. OH WAIT, in SA, the freeway splits into upper and lower levels! HEY!! Or printed directions did not say ANYTHING about what level we should stay on. We got a little lost in downtown SA but finally made it back to the freeway. Once again, on our way. We were running pretty late by this point and knew we were not going to make dinner at camp so we stopped for some Subway and headed back out. We got to camp about 7:45 or 8. We checked in and then played bingo. Kendall played the first game, but then got bored and went to look for bugs. Our cabin did not win any bingo games :( Oh well. Off to the cabin we went. We unpacked and made beds. Teeth were brushed and the girls were having a BLAST climbing onto each other's bunks. It was like their own private space. Lights out at 10:30 per the request of campers Laurie and Nicole. No problem with me. Oh wait, there was one. Kendall wanted to sleep with me...ummmm the bed was not even a TWIN!! How on earth was that going to work. Then it stormed and got cold cold cold. We made it through the night, but not comfortably and Mommy did not get a lot of sleep!

Saturday! The alarm bell rang at 7:30 and we had until 8 to get to breakfast. We had breakfast tacos, yogurt, and cereals to choose from. I had a taco and cereal and Kendall had cereal. After breakfast we had a few mins to kill before our hike. We finally got going on the hike but the first bridge we had to cross over a river was flooded because of the previous night's storm. Everyone changed into water shoes or flip flops and then waded through. Not me - I am a camper. I left my shoes and socks on and carried Kendall across. That water was COLD!!!!!! OK. through the river. down a long flat trail to the other side of the mountain and then on our way up. It was pretty steep going up after the halfway up mark. Kendall did SO great. Once at the top we stopped in a clearing almost at the top and heard the story of how and who founded the camp and the story of the Kamp for Life weekend (raising awareness for ovarian cancer for one of the founders daughter's). It was really inspiring and then the girls all got to ring the bell. It was so cute! We hiked down and went back to the cabin to rest a bit before lunch. Lunchtime arrived and we ate chicken patties, macaroni and cheese, salad and rolls. And rice crispy treats for lunch. It was soooo yummy. After lunch we had some time before our next scheduled activity. We decided to go canoeing. We canoed with Gina and Laya. It was great fun. I think we did great except for crashing into the banks a few times and then Kendall dropping an oar that we had to rescue. After this, we went back to the cabin and got ready to ride the water weenie!!! That was SOOOOO fun!! We could ride at 4/5 at a time. they pull you around the lake on this giant banana looking thing. After we all finished, the girls wanted to swim. Let me remind you how cold the water was!! WOWSA!!! So, I suited Kendall up with a life jacket and an inner tube. She started off ok and then the wind started blowing her away and she panicked! She would not focus one ounce and as I was about to go jump in, a lifeguard jumped in and saved her. Now she is telling people she almost drowned. We sat out by the lake for awhile to kill some time. We did not have anything scheduled until 5:30. We finally went back to the cabin and changed into our riding clothes. We got down to the horse ring and tehy started loading us up onto horses. We all finally got on after what took forever. They initially were not going to take us out but changed their minds and we all got ready to get going. A few of left the ring and they were going to have some riders with walkers to make sure the littler ones could handle it. Well, one of the horses was acting a tiny bit crazy to they people decided not to let us take the trail after all. We all came back in and dismounted. There were a few minutes left before dinner so we got to pet and brush them for a few minutes. It was time for dinner now. We had tacos and cake for dessert. After dinner we had mother/daughter relay races. The two that Kendall and I did were the critter toss and the potato picker. On the critter toss you had three rubber animals that you had to throw into a hula hoop. I did not make one. Kendall decided that she did not want to play this one so Makayla played in her place. The other was potato picker. You had to put a potato in a chair, sit on it, and shimmy to a bucket and drop it in. Kendall was able to do it but not me!! After the relays we just went back to the cabin and relaxed before lights out at about 10:40.

Kendall slept in my bed AGAIN. It was uncomfortable again and it was COLD so half the night I could not breathe, was freezing, and making ure Kendall never fell off. And on top of that, she was having bad dreams so she would wake up crying. The alarm bell rang again at 7:30 and we started getting ready for breakfast. The only thing we had planned for today was arts/crafts just before lunch. Breakfast today was kolaches, yogurt, and cereals. We ate and then went back to the cabin to finish packing up. We came back down, paid for our billion purchases and then walked around. We watched some tennis and ping pong for a bit and then decided to go to rifelry. Kendall shot the gun 5 times. It was so cool. I shot it too and hit the target all 5 times. It was fun. After that, we went to archery. Kendall had never shot a gun or a bow. It was so cute! She first ones were super short and then the last three were pretty long. Not too bad for a first timer. I shot it a few times and I am the only adult that hit hte target!! Makayla hit it twice on her 3rd or 4th try. She was sooo excited. She had a rough time last year so to do well this year was great. When were were done it was time for arts/crafts. Kendall made a visor and a picture frame. They are super cute. Then it was lunch time and then time to go! For lunch we had chicken strips, green beans, mashed potatoes and rolls with cookies and cream ice cream for dessert. YUMM. We headed home and got stuck in dome traffic just before and just after Sealy. but made is home just after 6.

The puppies and Daddy were sooo happy to see us. We snuggled for a few minutes and then headed to Ginger Cafe for dinner. It was good but I was so tired I could barely eat. Kendall told Daddy all about her fun time and how much fun she had. She is ready for next year and even says at 8 she wants to go by herself to summer camp!!

I am beyond exhausted today, my right side is sunburned, and my right calf is hurting. All in all we had a fab time.

It was a fun way to share the things I loved as a kid with Kendall who also seemed to love them too!

Niki - Love is all you need!!!!

So bad but I try

OK, I know I have not blogged in over a month. I have every intention on doing it, but I just get too busy with being a mom, a wife, a student, an employee, a daughter, an aunt, and a sister that I can't find the time! I know, I should take time to just jot some stuff down, but it is so hard!

Chris and I are still mostly dieting LOL! We have both lost some weight, but not too much. School has been really crazy the last few weeks and will continue to be crazy for about 4 more weeks. After that, we are both DONE!! Both will have our Bachelor's and our teaching cert classes done. It is amazing to think that in that short time we will both be done with school forever if we choose to be. Sure, we could go on to get our Masters, and I may someday, but I need some well deserved free time off to just enjoy my family :)

In all the craziness, I have noticed that my temper is a bit short. I try really hard, but when you have sooo many things on the brain and are always in a hurry, it is hard to keep calm. I will be the first to admit that I have a short fuse sometimes and I will also admit that I absolutely HATE the way I feel after the fuse ends. I was reading blogs yesterday and I came across a post that suggested this...30 Days of Gentleness. It is based on this verse - Proverbs 15:1 "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."

I loved this - it is sooo true! SO, today I am starting! I believe that if I can complete this task it may change me as a person and I can learn to not lose my temper and have a longer fuse! I think both my peeps will love this! I love when we are all happy! This morning I did not have one single thing to get onto Kendall for. I think she really responded to it!! I will keep you all posted!!

Other things to note, Easter passed and Kendall got some pics taken with live bunnies. My little animal lover had a BALL!! She did not want to put those babies down! Here are a few pics! We also went to Old McDonald's Farm for a b-day party and again, she could have stayed ALL day! We had sooo much fun! AND, this weekend is finally here!! Only a few more days until we go on out mother/daughter camping trip! I am so excited! Kendall has been talking about this for about 8 months when we found out about it and just plain camping for months before that! She is sad to leave Daddy and the puppies, but I reassured her that they will all be OK! So, look for a post on Monday to see how that went!!!

Have a great week and remember: Love is all you need!!!!!

Diet!

OK - sooo Chris and I started our new healthy living last week! It is a LIFE CHANGE not a diet. We both could stand to lose a few pounds so we rejoined the gym and started our new life! We are doing Weight Watchers. We are not going to the meetings or anything, but have all the tools from being a member in the past and are doing it on our own.

Honestly, it was pretty easy for me. We bought tons of low calorie snacks and lots of fruit. This helps me because I always feel so snacky at the office. By bringing many healthy options to work, I was doing well. I did not even crave Coke which, in itself, is a miracle. We cheated a little on Friday night. It was date night so we had a little cheat, but other than that we stuck to it. Chris weighed in on Sunday and he lost 10 pounds! I was sooo proud of him! The bug was being cranky and did not want to go to the gym that morning with us so I stayed home. I got too lazy and did not end up going at all on Sunday. Last night, I went and got my "last chance" workout in and went to weigh. I knew he was going to say I was 3 or 4 pounds lighter.

GUESS WHAT - I LOST..... ARE YOU READY..... ZERO.

I was so stinking mad. I wanted to binge right then. I knew there were some Girl Scout cookies in the pantry and I wanted them. Chris settled me down and I had my nice grilled chicken and vegetables for dinner and a diet ice cream. But let me tell you, if I lose zero again next week, all bets are off!!!

So, that is the crap that has been going on with me! Kendall has school pics tomorrow - they are the spring pics and cap and gown pics. I can't believe my little baby is getting cap and gown pics from pre-school graduation and in two short months she will be graduating pre-k and turning 5. I am very mixed in my emotions about this! I love that she is growing and learning but I miss that sweet little chunky baby!!! I just don't know how 5 years FLEW by in a minute! Our parents tell us it does, but WOW!!!! It is happening!

Remember to hug your babies and spend as much time with them as you can because before you know it they are grown!!

Niki - :) Love is all you need <3

Wednesday

OK first, let me say that a friend of a friend is having a giveaway contest - it is really cool! She is counting down the days to her b-day and is giving something aswesome away every other day! Here is the link to her site:

http://crystalchesser.blogspot.com/

Well, Chris and I kicked off our diet and workout this week. My body is soooo not used to eating light. Yesterday I has a banana, an apple, a Healthy Choice meal for lunch, an orange, a granola bar, and a turkey on honey wheat with mustard sandwich, baked chips and a pickle for dinner. It was all nice and healthy food, but boy were the cravings for chocolate and cookies baaaaddd.

We went to the gym and did the cardio workout on the treadmill that Chris' trainer gave us. It was intense and I sweat so much. It was great! I did not go last night because Chris is going back tonight and I have school so I did not want to have K up there 3 nights in a row. So, I will go again Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday and I will get in 4 workouts. That is all I can squeeze in for now without dragging the girl to the gym every single day (which I could never do). So let's hope that helps me lose some weight this week :)

I start physical therapy for my shoulder today. I am excited and nervous at the same time. We will see how tortured I am after.

Hope you all have a great day and remember, Love is all you need!

Niki

TIME FLIES!!

WOW! It has been a month since I made a real post. That makes me so sad. I remember that I need to blog, but get distracted (this happens easily) and then forget. So, I vow that I will blog more than once a month!!

Not too much happened in February. My birthday was on the 5th, we did not do too much. Just dinner with friends. Kendall also started swimming lessons at Lifetime today. Kids Playce is taking them every Friday over to the gym. Only $20 a month! Can't beat that. Then there was Valentine's day. It was very laid back. We went to dinner and a movie on Saturday and my mom watched Kendall and on Sunday we all exchanged gifts and went to lunch. Nice lazy day.
The next weekend was pretty low key as well. We did nothing on the 20th and then on the 21st, Andi and I went to see Miss Saigon. It was so good. I had NO idea the story and it was very good and shocking!!! This weekend we got new floors in our master bedroom. We put 16 x 16 ceramic tile in there. Our dresser broke (it was on its last leg anyway). It was a little funny because we knew how fragile it was and I really could not stand it anyway. The drawers were always breaking and I had to keep a screwdriver in one for when it happened. The bad news is that we are not prepared to buy new bedroom furniture so I have to spend some money on a replacement to last a year or two. Blecho.

The floors look great! Now all we need is paint!!!!! And new furniture. And new bedding. Oh yeah, maybe we will be done with our room in 2015 hee hee.

I love March so I am excited for it! Except for the rain, I am in a great mood! We signed back up at the gym and joined the Biggest Loser contest so I hope to stay motivated!!! I need to lose some weight so I can fit into my shorts!!

St. Patrick's day is coming and it is my FAV day! Being Irish, I love it!!!!! I don't go out for it on a weeknight, but I still love the spirit behind it!! Also, Kendall has school pics and cap and gown pics coming up on the 10th. She is not wanting to get them taken wight now, but I will bribe her LOL!! I also start physical therapy for my left shoulder that has been hurting me for, ohhh, about 14 or so years.

Only 22 weeks of work left if we can get jobs!! Only 2 1/2 mor months of school for us both to be DONE!!! There are some job fairs coming up this month and next month so be praying for us that we can get a job!!!

Other than that, all is the same - busy, busy, busy!!!!!

Until next time (hopefully sooner than later).

Niki
Remember, love is all you need!!

GIVEAWAY!

I saw a great giveaway on a friend of a friend's blog today! From what I can tell she is a reading junkie like me! If you are as in love with your husband as I am, then you will want to check this out!!

Go and check out her Blog...

http://www.sarahlett.blogspot.com/

More later on what is going on with the Buckalew's.

Love is all you need - Niki

YAY!! Girl time!!

Well, today is Thursday (my Friday this week) I leave out early tomorrow morning with some great friends and be back Sunday evening! Daddy and Kendall are going to have some bonding time and then Granny is picking her up on Saturday. She has some GREAT fun planned for them. They are going to the movies to see The Princess and the Frog, then going home to make smores (Kendall makes roasted marshmallows LOL) and then on Sunday they are making dog biscuits for Pretzel and Peanut. On Sunday night they are going to bring her back to us and meet for dinner at Ginger Cafe for my b-day (I know it is not until next week, but they will be out of town).

Kendall is going to get her eyes checked tonight! When she was at her 4yo well checkup the nurse mentioned that her vision was about 20/40 - well last week when I was at the eye dr. she told me that my right eye was 20/40 - i felt SOOO bad!!! How could I be such a bad mom and let her have blurry vision. SO, tonight we will see if she needs glasses.

That girl has been testing my patience this week with sleep. She will not go to bed. I try and lay her down and she will toss and turn for an hour - it is killing me!! Last night I was so tired after class I just wanted to relax and then Chris needed help on his homework and she would not lay down - it was exhausting. SO, tonight after the eye exam, I get to go home, eat dinner, do some homework, finish packing up and load my car so I am ready to go in the morning and fit some sleep in there somewhere! AHHH the joys of motherhood and being a wife. I told a girl in my class last night that I needed a maid, she said she needed a wife! I thought I was going to pee my pants!!!! So, this morning I told Chris that a wife is what I wanted for my b-day!!!

Clearly it can't happen, but we shall see - I would settle for a cookie cake and some books LOL!!

I have to go for now!!

Remember, Love is all you need!!!

Niki

Monday Musings...

Well, first, if anyone that reads this voted for SMA on facebook, the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation won 6th place so THANKS!!!!!!!!!!

Second, school is in full swing this week - the assignments are coming like crazy. Chris is definitely busier than me, but I try and help him out when I can :). He passed his math 4-8 contect exam so we were super excited!! His last obstacle is finishing this semester and graduating! Now we just need jobs to be all done and ready to go for the fall!!

Kendall starts Kindergaten on 08/23 and that is sooo scary! I am not ready for that by any means. I am ready to teach, but not ready for my girl to grow up. She is not supposed to be this big already!!

On another note, my friend Julie turned me on to a new blog and it is AWESOME!!!!!! It is called Tatertots & Jello. She has a gread giveaway this week and you should all check it out!!

Here is the link:

http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/

Well, I have a busy week and a scrapbook retreat this weekend so if I don't post again, have a great week and I will write next week (my b-day week) WAHOO!!!

<3 Niki

Spinal Muscular Atrophy and the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation

PLEASE!! Please send this to everyone you know and also vote! My friend's son had this terrible disease and passed away last year.

* SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy) is a neuromuscular disease passed on genetically to children by their parents.

*SMA Affects a child's muscular development. The earlier the symptoms are noticed, the more severe the type of SMA.

*SMA is the Top Genetic Killer of children under the age of 2!

*1 in every 40 people carry this gene.*1 in every 6,000 children are born with SMA.

**THERE IS NO CURE. **

Okay friends! It is time for some action! If you have a Facebook account, you have an amazing chance to make a HUGE difference in the SMA community.
The Gwendolyn Strong Foundation can win $1 million dollars in the Chase Community Giving Program; can you even begin to imagine what that would do for the race for a cure??
We need everyone to vote and help get the word out! I'm going to steal Victoria's post from Gwendolyn's blog and repost it below. Please help. This would be a dream come true for so many families.

This is IT! Final round voting for the Chase Community Giving campaign on Facebook IS LIVE and runs through January 22. Below are simple instructions on how you can vote for the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation to help make a $1M MIRACLE an SMA reality.
Please dig deep, be shameless, and go the extra mile to bring this home for all of those impacted by this cruel disease. We can't do this alone, but together we can make this happen!


NOW, GO NUTS!!

VOTING - simple instructions on how to VOTE!

- Go to VoteForSMA.com -- This will take you to the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation Chase campaign site on Facebook. This is where you vote. Click on the "Vote For Charity" button to vote.

- You must have a Facebook account to vote. If you don't have a Facebook account you can easily sign up for one by going to VoteForSMA.com and following the simple Facebook signup instructions.

- You may only vote for Gwendolyn Strong Foundation once, but GO NUTS! telling anyone and everyone you know to go to VoteForSMA.com to vote for the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation.

FACEBOOK STATUS UPDATES - simple instructions on how to spread the word on Facebook
Do this every day during the final round of voting from Jan. 15-22.

Go to VoteForSMA.com -- this will take you to the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation Chase campaign site on Facebook.

In the box titled "Help This Charity By Spreading The Word" on the left hand side of the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation Chase campaign page, CLICK the "Add To Profile" button.
A new box will pop open.

Add a personal comment if you wish in the white rectangular box.

CLICK "Publish".

INVITE YOUR FACEBOOK FRIENDS - simple instructions to make a personal plea to invite your Facebook "friends" to vote for the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation

Go to VoteForSMA.com -- this will take you to the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation Chase campaign site on Facebook.

In the box titled "Help This Charity By Spreading The Word" on the left hand side of the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation Chase campaign page, CLICK the "Invite A Friend" button.
A new box will pop open.

Check the boxes next to the "friends" you want to invite.

CLICK "Send Charity Voting Invitation".


PLEASE HELP SPREAD THE WORD AND VOTE!!! This can help SAVE LIVES!!!!!!!!!

Thanks everyone!!!

Niki

We made it!

Chris and I celebrated our 15 year anniversary last Thursday. It was nice - Since it was a weekday we did not celebrate. We ate fast food. He got me roses and of course Kendall had to get some flowers as well. Hers was a cute spring mixed bouqet. No doubt she picked them out herself. They were home that day so they surprised me and took me to lunch. He also got me a cute, cute, cute new Willow Angel. I love it! I did not have a couple one yet :). We exchanged cards and had a nice little family time evening.

Saturday the 9th we went on our date! We took Kendall to Granny's at about 12:30 and snuck out to see a movie. We watched New Moon. I liked it but I never like the movie as much as the book. I am sure it would have been better if I had not read it. I did learn that I LOVE Jacob in the movie! He is so cute! Oh wait, I am talking about a hot boy when I am blogging abour mt anniversary LOL! Anyway, we went home and hung out for a while and then went to the Melting Pot. I had been once before but Chris never had. In a word, AWESOME!! He loved it and I love it even more. I was so glad he liked it. It is not a cheap place and I was really hoping we were not spending all that money for him not to love it as much as me. But, we never do anything super special on our anniversary so I thought we could treat ourselves. I was so happy he loved it.

This week has been pretty boring. I am having a Creative Memories party Friday night and not very many people are comin *sad face*. That is OK, some others are ordering even though they can't come. I just want to hit the $400 mark so I can get cool prizes!!! Sunday Kendall's bff is coming over to play and then next week school starts back up. Chris is in his 2 last classes at UH and we are both taking 2 teaching classes. So, we are going to be busy again this semester but it will pay off. God willing we both get jobs and can start teaching in August.

AND, only 2 1/2 more weeks until the scrapbook retreat!!! YAY!! I have not been on one since before Kendall was two! SOO excited and it is with some AWESOME girls! I am so lucky to have met and gotten to know them better over the last year! The Lord works in mysterious ways. I have been trough a few friends, but He has lead me to some awesome ones this time and I pray that they are lifetime friendships!

Well, better get back to work :) Be back soon!

Happy New Year 2010

WOW! I can't believe that it is 2010!! An entire decade ago we were celebrating the millenium. I remember as a kid all the things I thought would happen by the year 2000 and not many of them have. We were not driving flying cars and we did not live in space. Another 10 years have passed since then and we still are not doing these things. I know technology has jumped by leaps and bounds since the 80's though. Remember being in the 80's? Remember how far off the future seemed. Sadly, the past (the 80's) is not the same distance as the future felt. I am going to be 34 this year and it does not feel like I should be that old. Time flies like crazy. When you are young people to tell you to live life to the fullest and to cherish every moment becuase by the time you blink, it will pass, but you don't believe them. Well, now I do. They tell you all this again when you are pregnant, and boy, time goes even faster when you have a baby.

Well, I can attest to that! This year my sweet little ladybug will be 5!!! Five! Really, how on earth is that possible?!?!?! She is so sweet and funny and smart, but I was looking back at pics yesterday from when we first moved into our house in Atascocita and she was so darn cute and little. It just blows my mind that in 8 short months this tiny person is going to Kindergarten!!!
She is so excited about it - I don't know if she really gets it, but she knows she gets a big girl backpack and gets to take it to school everyday. AND, she is even excited about homework! Oh she has so much to learn LOL!!

2010 is going to be an interesting year for us all. We will celebrate 15 years of marriage on Thursday, January 7th. I can't believe I have been married so long. Another thought in time flying. Also this month I will start my teaching cert classes. YAY!! I am actually really excited abou them! February will bring my b-day. Whew, 34. Nothing too exciting in March and April, but May will bring Chris' graduation from UH and Kendall's b-day. I am hoping the summer will bring peace and job offers. I am praying that we both get jobs quickly and we can quit working by 07/30. This will give us a week or two off before we begin the HUGE new chapter in our lives. Two new careers as teachers and life with a Kindergartener!

I also thought of resolutions, but I never stick to them. It is the 5th already and I have not written anything down. I have prayed about what I want to change in my life, but have nothing I am going to feel bad about. A friend of mine (Julie) posted in her blog recently that she basically had the same idea. I read it today and was so happy that I was not the only one with these thoughts. Here are some things I want to work on this year...

1. To become a better wife and mother.
2. The keep a cleaner and less cluttered home and car.
3. To exercise more.
4. To spend time talking to God every day.
5. To work on becoming a better me.
6. To try and cook more.
7. To work hard at being a great friend.

I think with my less hectic schedule this year these are things that I can work on and goals I can attain.