new moon

Tonight I am going with a gaggle of women to see New Moon.
I can't believe I am going on opening night, that is so not me.
I am not a crazy fan, I am mainly going to watch my friends swoon and cry and be ridiculous.
I am interested to see this movie and hope I make it through- I HATED the first one.
So why am I going to see the second one?
I don't really know, peer pressure I guess, I wanted to be cool like all my friends.
Of all the books, New Moon was my favorite, I like Jacob, I wanted him to be the chosen one, not a vampire fan.
I am excited because it is girls' night out and after spending all week inside with these two monsters, even a cheesy movie sounds good.

Just got back from the movie and had a blast!  The movie was very entertaining, much better than I expected.  The audience was awesome, cheering and swooning, it was a lot of fun, it probably would not be as fun if it wasn't a packed theater with people who really got into it.  A whole bunch of us 11, to be exact did a girls' night out and did dinner and the movie, it was so much fun, I forget how much fun hanging out with the girls can be, I can't wait to do it again.  So tonight I got to pretend to be 17 again and out with my friends, drooling over a guy on the screen and laughing hysterically.  It is all good.

Thankful

1- two healthy children- even though they seem to have permanent runny noses
2- naptime- it is so quiet and nice
3- being able to stay-at-home while the kids are little
4- preschool, lance's vocabulary has increased and he loves the social interactions
5- dvr- love watching tv on my own time
6- Christmas- my love language is giving gifts so it is my favorite holiday
7- indoor plumbing- can't imagine life having to run outside in this cold rainy weather
8- that I am around in this century, i love my gadgets and modern amnenties
9- food to eat
10- freedom

15 Months

Ms. Lily is now 15 months old. 
She is getting so big so fast.
She is extremely mobile.
She can say bye-bye, uh-oh, momma, dadda, all aboard, and seems like she is on the verge to saying a whole lot more.
She loves to dance,
play with lance,
clean and pick up as well as make a big mess,
she keeps me on my toes and is a joy.

I am so thankful for my sweet baby girl and enjoying watching her grow.

over my head

My graduate class this semester is Research Methods and Applications and the final project- due in two weeks is writing a research proposal.  Tonight is the last night of class before the proposals are due and I am trying to get a lot of mine done today So someone can review it in class today, but it is so hard to get started.  I don't like the project, I am not crazy about the topic, and I don't like writing everything perfectly in APA guidelines.  It is like pulling teeth trying to sit down and get something done, it is all in my head, but it is so hard getting it down on paper, or I should say the computer screen. 
I am thankful though I took this class first so it is out of the way and done. 
Now if I can just get this done so I won't have to work on it over Thanksgiving!

sleep glorious sleep

Lily slept again all night last night, it was wonderful! 
Unfortunately Lance did not.
My poor buddy was coughing and hacking and just quite pitiful.
He was up for quite some time, now if we can just get him sleeping all night we will be one well rested happy family.

And totally random-
There is someone who is flying over the city in an airplane pulling a banner that has a picture of an aborted fetus and says "10 week abortion" with a 800 number.  Just saw it again out my window.  I am against abortion, but I am also against tactics like that.  Is that really effective?  Does that really change people's hearts?  Why doesn't this person or group who is probably from out of town use the money they are spending on fuel, lodging, food, and who knows what else to counsel women, show them love, support women who choose to have deliver their babies instead of aborting them.  I personally think changes happens through relationships and love, not through fear, hate, and gross images.  That's just my two cents, I am not saying I am right and I am not saying I'm wrong, I just think that there are better ways to make a change.

another beautiful day

Today is a good day!  
This morning we went grocery shopping then came home and had lunch.  After lunch we played outside and it was so beautiful.

If we didn't have all that rain last week I might have taken the sun and warm temperatures for granted.  I love being outside when it is warm and sunny.  I also love that Lily can do so many more things outside without me having to be right there, she is getting more and more independent which makes playing a lot more fun, it isn't Lily and Mommy playing with Lance, but it is more Lance and Lily playing with Mommy, much more fun.

So today is a really good day, not only because of the sun, but because Lily slept all night last night! 
First time in weeks, maybe a months, she got in a bad habit of getting up a lot.  It could be a fluke, but I set up a humidifier in her room and I don't know if it was the moisture or the sound, but she didn't wake up at all which makes me feel so much better.  I have been able to handle the kids, have so much more energy, don't feel like I am in a fog, though I still lack the motivation to get everything super tidy and do the laundry- saving that for when it is too dark outside or raining.


So today is good and I am so thankful.  

why does it have to get dark so early?

Today was so warm and sunny.
We spent all afternoon outside and didn't want to come in, but we had to since it was dark.
I wish it would stay like today all winter, but then there would be no snow and Christmas isn't Christmas without coldness.
Okay, so maybe I need to rethink things.
Maybe. .

Free Friday Night Fun

We are always looking for something different and fun to do especially on weekend nights when it can be depressing to be sitting home alone.

Last night we took a chance on something fun and something free.
We went to the train station to see the Amtrak train arrive from D.C..  Though it may only be fun if you have a train fanatic in your family.

We hit the jackpot since we got to see the Amtrak arrive, but we also got to see a freight train with double high containers pass through, well actually some passed partially through, it was so long that when it stopped wherever it did, there were still cars in the station and as far as  you could see.

 (Lance and Jeff watching the Amtrak arriving into the station)

It was so cool to see the trains up close and to speculate what might be in the containers especially since the logos on the containers looked foreign.  There was one container that had something on it which we couldn't tell if it  was a design or letters.

The train station had something for everyone- Lance and Lily were fascinated with the trains and Jeff and I enjoyed people watching.  It was kind of like watching people at an airport, but not since we were outside and there were no planes.

While waiting for the train, we looked at the Amtrak map and dreamed about where we would like to visit via train.  The city's "nature center" is located in the train station so we had fun looking in the windows and watching the large lizard and possum in their cages.  

The only downside to our night out is that the kids went to bed much later than normal and unfortunately got up earlier then normal.  So our hour of fun last night, has left me with two grumpy, overly tired children today, but it was worth it, it was fun to dream about taking the train across the country, you know like back in the "old days"\

it's a dark time

life has been tough this last year and I can't wait for things to start looking up because I am so tired of looking down. 
I listened to a podcast yesterday and Joseph was mentioned, Joseph went through a whole lot and everyone but Joseph prospered and was blessed, but in the end Joseph was blessed and he prospered and if he hadn't gone through all he did he would not have been the man he was.  Now applying that to myself. . .
It can be difficult to keep my sights on the bigger picture when I feel like I am drowning in the right now. 
It is also hard to know that everything is going to be okay when it seems hopeless.
There is a plan for me, for me to prosper, and right now I am being molded and refined and though it is painful, the result will be wonderful.
I think I like the happy-go-lucky-everything-wonderful Christianity better than the real, painful, growing faith in Jesus that I have.

my son, the bully

This morning when I dropped Lance off at preschool his teacher stopped me and told me that she was having problems with Lance being aggressive towards the other children.  She thinks that he gets frustrated that he can't communicate verbally with them and so he lashes out.  I am so embarrassed that my kid is the bad one.  It is bad enough he has such a limited vocabulary, but then to add aggressive makes me sad.  He can be pretty mean to his sister, but I had hoped that he wasn't like that at school, but apparently his aggression is coming out at school too.  As if I don't already have enough stress in my life.  Can just 1 thing be easy, why does everything have to be so darn difficult?
Also, on the Lance front, we have been having potty training problems.  I thought we were good to go, then he got constipated and didn't want to go and now he keeps going in his pants and not even trying to make it to the bathroom, very frustrating and gross.So like everything in my life, it is two steps forward, one step back.