I think I can, I think I can..

Weight Watchers that is. Well I've already cheated on my first official day yesterday. I'm doing it from home since we can't really afford for me to go to the actual meetings. It's funny, I've never done it when I wasn't breastfeeding, so this is definitely more of a challenge since I get 10 points less a day. I know the first week is the hardest, but it's funny how fast your points can add up if you don't pay attention to what you are eating. For instance, yesterday I was making the kids lunches and had a bag of mustard pretzels open grabbing handfuls at a time and then going, crap, I need to look up the points. Half a cup was 3 pts and I get an allotted 20 pts for the day and I hadn't even had lunch yet and had already had a big breakfast. I mean seriously, by the time it got to dinner time, all I could eat was water, so of course I cheated because that was not going to cut it lol. Then we went to the baseball field that night and (of course) divulged in a snow cone and then fries later. So today is a new day and I'm being "good" so far and saving most of my points for tonight since I'm making chicken chilli and I probably dump about 2 cups of cheese in my bowl alone lol (I hate to skimp on the cheese). I felt I should post this so it would force me to stay on track since I've now officially admitted to my blog followers that I will be doing this. Wish me luck!! :))

A much needed break...

On Friday night, my good friend Christine had a birthday party at her house celebrating her 30th along with Jordan's. I took the night off while Daryl watched the kids and I got to play. We ALL had a blast!! What a fun night! Thanks again Christine for hosting :)

Happy Father's Day to all you Super Dad's!

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Allergies??

When we get health insurance again (hopefully soon), I am taking her to an allergist. I don't know why, but occasionally she gets these really dark circles under her eyes. We've broken it down and know it's not from lack of sleep, not the sunscreen (since she pretty much wears it every day and it doesn't happen every day). It's gotta be something she's eating right?? Maybe the environment?? It's just really annoying when you don't have a diagnosis for it. She said it doesn't hurt. She does have eczema, which flares up occasionally as well as keratosis pilaris (lovingly inherited from me..poor girl). Hopefully my cousin (who is a doctor) will have a better clue than we do.

Not again :(

So I'm not sure if I ever blogged this or not, but about a few weeks after I first bought the van, I accidentally hit the trunk release button on the key chain instead of the sliding door button while the van was in the garage with the garage door down. I was working for Avondale Toyota at the time and my boss told me they'd fix it up for free. It really was pretty small (nothing like what was pictured above). But since it was new and free, I figured I'd definitely take him up on it. Then a few days before it got fixed, Corbin got inside my van as we were loading up and went up to the front and hit the trunk release button on the inside of my van (with the garage door down again). No biggie since we still were getting it fixed.

Well everything was going good until last Sat when we were watching our nieces. Daryl had gone ahead to the gym (we are borrowing Jeremy's Tahoe while he's away) and I met up with him with the kids an hour later. I went out to load the a car seat and booster in the van and went back in to get the kids. I must have put my keys in a very desirable spot because roughly 2-3 mins later, I find my niece holding my keys smiling. I don't think anything of it and just say, "thank you" and round up the kids to get going. I immediately hit the garage door button in my garage and then I start to hear a grinding noise and run for my van. It was too late though and the damage was done. What I'm assuming happened was my niece hit the button and it released the trunk easily since it was already unlocked. I (of course) didn't think to check my van before opening the garage door..but why would I. I ask her if she pressed any buttons and she is just grinning from ear to ear. I can't get mad at her, but inside I'm shaking because it looks awful and right now we can't afford to get it fixed. Hopefully one day when we finally have an income we can get it fixed...but until then I get to cringe every time I look at it :(

Oh well, the life of having kids right?

Music

So I've decided to add music. If it annoys it or you'd like to view a small video and the music gets in the way..scroll all the way to the bottom and you can easily pause it. Just an FYI! :))

Getting ready for the new school year...

So I wanted to update you on what is going on. I have the kids enrolled and now and as of today, so am I. We were up in the air about going to Flagstaff, but we really couldn't afford to live there on our own and we'd have to try and rent/sell our home in the next month for it to be able to work. So for the time being..Corbin will be returning back to Litchfield Elementary next year for special needs preschool. Instead of the usual Monday-Thur (8-10:45), they are taking Monday away from us due to the budget cuts. Tatum will be going to Crown Charter for kindergarten. I checked into it and it is an excelling school with great feedback. The main reason is for the simple fact that it is free and is full day (8-1:40), whereas the other hours would only go until about 10:45 in our district (I did have to order uniforms though). So that doesn't really work with our schedule. Daryl and I have been procrastinating about what to do, so that is why we have waited for me to sign up at Estrella Community. Finally yesterday night, he gave me the green light to do it and the two classes I would need (Math, Bio/lab) had only one seat available in each. I tried doing it online last night, but my page was not up to do date and it wouldn't allow me..so I tried first thing this morning at 8am and sure enough, the Math, Bio and the lab were already filled for the days/hours I needed. I was livid! I went ahead and signed up with whatever I could and hopefully someone will drop out of the ones I need and I get can the better teachers. If you go to ratemyprofessors.com, you can look up your professor to see if they are good or not (although some teachers won't be on there). So the original professor I wanted for Math (which is my worst subject) scored really well and now the one I'm left with has things on the site that say DO NOT TAKE A CLASS FROM HER, SHE IS HORRID! So I'm a little freaked, but have a few months still to try and switch if someone drops. I checked into Tatum's old preschool at Trinity Lutheran and they offer a daycare program there. So on the days I go to school and he's not in school (and she is), I will take him there for a few hours. They do circle time, crafts and bible study, so it will be fun for him. I really wanted to wait until my youngest was in kindergarten before I went back, but things have definitely changed in our household lately. The plan is for me to go to school and receive my RN. Maricopa has a wait list of two years and Coconino does not (although I need more prerequisites for Coconino). I did go for 2 years before I married Daryl, but I took no Biology. If I would have, I could already been on the wait list..but I didn't know. I am taking Math here even though I don't need it in case we eventually transfer to Coconino (which they require) and it will only help for the NET test. Daryl is still looking for work and may try and take a few online courses as well. When I'm done and working, it will be his turn to go back to school. We wish we could both go at the same time, but obviously that won't work. It's a very exciting/unnerving chapter in our lives right now and I will be sure to keep you updated.

Seriously, it's like a squeegee for your butt!

...Not to mention that you have to clean it every week when the flies start having a party on it. Well, I guess it gets clean when you use it to scrub your back in the shower lol.

Our summer plan

Daryl and I belong to a gym/spa/cafe called Lifetime Fitness. This place is AMAZING! They have the best childcare watch, classes, pools, spa, etc..etc..Unfortunately, after having a membership for so long, we had to put it on hold due to our family's economic situation. For $10 a month, we could keep it and then join back up with no fees. We are still having an economic situation, but since Daryl has been home, we've been doing more things such as eating out, movies..stuff that costs money. Not only that, we've been finding ourselves putting on a few pounds because of it all. We've been wanting to put the kids in activities over the summer since they have been starting to get a little bored, so we talked about it and decided that we would rejoin only for 2 months..well almost since we were already into June when we joined (school starts the 3rd of Aug). That way, we could work out, the kids could play with their friends they made months ago (we hadn't been in about 5 months) and then we could top it off with an hour of swimming. Amazingly, Tatum has really started getting good at it. I finally talked her into going down the big slide (pictured) and then she just swims to the side and gets out. The first day, I stood there waiting and watching to make sure she made it (there is a lifeguard at the bottom, but parents aren't allowed in). Now she just goes by herself. It makes Corbin so mad that he's not tall enough. We watched our nieces yesterday, so we took them. I had my phone with me and snapped a few pictures. Devin and Tatum practically lived at the slide. I took a class and Daryl manned the little ones. Then we went to Jillian Pings birthday party and then brought them home and had them take a nap at 5pm and then went to Ryan and Christine's to help celebrate her 30th. You should have seen all the kids. I mean, it's like 11pm and everyone's still going strong. Our kids (of course) lasted the longest. We left at 12:30 am and they stayed awake the entire time. It's 9:30am the following morning and they are still sleeping. I wish I had pictures...

Marissa wants me to post more, so Marissa, this post is for you lol.

First Drive-In

We had big plans of putting the kids to bed early tonight since they needed it..that is until Daryl suggested we try taking them to a drive-in to see how they do. The thing is, the movie (Imagine That) didn't start until 8:20..but what the heck..we still did it. Ate way too much candy and Corbin had to pee one too many times. Daryl and I took turns taking him over by the trash can where no one could see him so he could pee lol. Cute movie, although the sound kept going up and down throughout the entire movie, so that was a bit annoying..other than that..it was a super fun experience!

**My mother-in-law and I decided to give up sugar together a few weeks ago. I lasted a week, but then gave in to my one true guilty pleasure once again..and again..and again... I seriously need to kick the habit again. I did have more energy that week, despite the major cravings I started having on day three. I feel so guilty and she doesn't know I cheated yet..well maybe now she knows if she reads this ;p

Happy 62nd Mom!!

My mom turned 62 last Sat. We went up to visit her in Cottonwood with my brother, Dan and his family. Since she has a tenant now renting her main house..she now lives in her barn which has been converted to a guest house (Daryl was seriously impressed). Since we were a little crammed for room/space, we decided it would be in everyone's best interest to camp. It's getting me one step closer to actually doing it with the kids. Granted, we had a toilet, kitchen and I slept in the guest house with my mom, Theresa and baby Sammy while everyone else did their thing. I'm SO thankful that I did since I got up to go pee at 5am and heard the roosters going like crazy all around her house (Daryl said they lasted for around 2 1/2 hrs). She said three of her neighbors have farm animals, but you can still hear them on all three corners despite the fact she's on 2 acres. The kids actually ended up sleeping in until 8 which I thought was nuts. They must have been really tired though.
On Sat, we went over to the creek in Sedona and my mom ended up slipping and seriously spraining her wrist. Now my mom is tough and for her to compare it to labor..it must have really hurt. I've seen pictures of her where she's whacked herself in her face with a shovel after furiously digging a ditch for pipe in her ground, she fell off her bed and bonked her head on the side and drew blood..but no biggie. So she has it in a sling, but of course doesn't have medical insurance and is hoping it will just go away. Her tenant does healing, so she's working with her with that. I've been calling her several times a day for updates on her wrist and she said she's fine, but she can't even see her wrist bone anymore and thinks it might be shattered. Well that's great! Nothing like shattering your wrist on your birthday. Good thing social security kicks in soon I guess..that's one bright side to this whole ordeal.
We were supposed to go to some crawdad festival that night, but skipped it because of mom (not to mention we were all exhausted). So we went back to the creek the next day and worked on our tans while the kids/men swam :)

He said he was tired, but really only wanted to be able to be alone so he could play lol.

Right after the incident..she was all smiles since she had an ice cold beer in her hand to numb the pain some..that is until the pain really kicked in later.

Pool party at the Moreno's.

Tatum being brave and finally jumping in on her own (even though she has a noodle)..she'll get there :)

This won't be a wordy post since I am packing for Cottonwood for the weekend, but I figured I'd throw in a few pictures for fun!