what a week

We started the summer off with babysitting extravaganza and we are ending it that way too. I woke up this morning and realized that summer, my favorite season is over with, not according to the earth's orbit, but summer for me is memorial day to labor day. I am sad that is over with. It was quite a summer, my sister got married, I helped Erica with a yard sale, had to say good-bye to Erica as she moved up North, went to the beach for a week, babysat, gave my notice for the babysitting job, got a new ipod to replace the one stolen, started my own business, and made some new friends. I am hoping and praying that we will be able to celebrate the end of summer like we celebrated the beginning by going to wrightsville beach next week, but I am trying to be okay with not being able to go.
So reflections can be depressing, so this week, lesson learned: I don't want to have two boys less than 2 years apart. I don't have to worry about that happening since there is no number 2, but I don't know how parents handle the bickering back and forth. I love J and T as though they are my own, but I just can't handle their constant arguing, teasing, bickering, whining, competitiveness, ahhhhh. Despite me snapping at the them we have had a good week. On Monday, J had a birthday party so I took T and his cousin to Tiny Town mini golf. They had a blast, and so did Lance. Lance loved walking all over the green and tossing the balls into the hole. Tuesday we went to the children's museum in the morning and then the pool in the afternoon. Wednesday we went on the trail with the stroller, J's bike, and T's scooter. Yesterday we just went out to lunch. In the afternoons we read books and play games. They love to play Life and Sorry, I have fallen for Blokus. The week has been very tiring, especially being away from 8 to almost 5, but I keep focusing on the reward, hopefully our beach trip! My house is a mess as a result of being out of the house all week so I need to get it cleaned up, but since I had two hours off this morning, I wanted to relax a little. In conclusion, summer is coming to an end, I can't wait for next summer and what the future holds.

i still can't believe i'm 29 now

I have not intentionally spread out my birthday celebration over several days. Tuesday, my actual birthday we didn't really do anything. Wednesday we went out to dinner for my birthday, but I didn't feel very good afterwards so we didn't have cake, but I did open presents. I got a new ipod to replace the one that was stolen in April, itunes gifts cards, new skillets, and a new recipe book. Yesterday we finally ate the cake which was very good and I am not much of a cake person.
Today is so hot outside and I am not motivated to do much of anything. I did get our bedroom picked up this morning, but I really need to work on cleaning up the living room, dusting, vacuuming, and cleaning my bathroom. I have learned that if I don't go anywhere in the morning I am much more motivated to work in the afternoon. This morning, I went over to school and helped my mom put up wall decorations so her library would look bright and colorful.
Yesterday Lance and I went over to my old school and see the new classrooms that have been built. They were beautiful, spacious, had plasma HD TVs, computers for students, LCD projectors mounted in the ceiling, separate lab stations for students, it made me want to go back to teaching, but then I thought about the actual kids, their parents, the work, and I got over it real fast. Even now thinking about those beautiful classrooms makes me consider wanting to teach again, but it took so much time, I never did anything but schoolwork and it was so stressful. I do miss getting my room ready and organizing papers for the students on the first day back. Now that I think about it, I enjoy planning and organizing, just now actually teaching, saying the same thing over and over again and answering the same questions over and over again gets old pretty fast. Besides most of my good friends aren't teaching anymore and it wouldn't be the same without them.
One thing I do really miss about teaching is the steady income since now we are struggling, but maybe one day we won't be.

almost 30

I can't believe it, I am almost 30. I just got use to be 28 and now I am 29. I am the age my mom was when she had me. I am 365 days away from 30, wow, that sounds so old. Time flies by, my 20's are almost over with. Nothing really eventful played for my birthday, we babysat this morning, took the boys to the pool and now I have a chance to play on the internet and read my book that I am so addicted to. Amy had to go to court this afternoon and my mom had to work late so we are celebrating my birthday until tomorrow. I am not real excited about my birthday since my two good friends have moved away, but that just makes me bummed so I must focus on the positives. I have made it through another year and hopefully 29 will be the best year yet, so far 27 is the winner, 28 wasn't the greatest. Besides there is only one way to go from where we are, which is UP.
Yesterday I applied for my business license, filled out the forms for taxation, ordered business cards, and Jeff completed a very, very basic website published. The website will have multiple pages and customers can order from there and I will also have more product, but until then I have something up, and I think it looks great. I have always wanted to own my own business and here I go fortunately I can start very slowly.

legit

Lance and I went on an adventure this afternoon. We went downtown to get a business license. I registered my business name and applied for a business license which should arrive in a week. Sprouts Baby Goods is an official business. Now I need to work on business cards, fliers for the pediatricians, my website, and get the forms I need for sales tax. One thing down, ten more to go.
I discovered yesterday that Lance has one molar and hopefully he will have some more come in so maybe he will stop drooling as much as he has been. Lance has never been much of a drooler, but these last couple of weeks has been nasty, his shirts are always wet and there is always a line of drool coming from his mouth.
I am also blown away by how much fun Lance is getting to be. Everyday is a lot of fun and I enjoy playing and dancing with him, now if we can just get him to sleep till seven.

i just want a good night sleep

Lance is almost sixteen months old and I still am just looking for some good sleep. I would like to say that this latest problem is due to teeth since the little one has been drooling, but who knows. Part of the sleep problem is that I am not going to bed early enough, but I have been so close to finishing some books that I have been reading that I haven't wanted to put them down with only 20 pages until the end. This morning Lance got up at six and was very grumpy, he was crying and moving all around, we tried to get him to go back to sleep but he won't. We finally gave up on sleeping any later and got up, so only about 6.5 hours of sleep for me. Lance was a grump all morning. He fell asleep in the car on the way back from Walmart and when I tried to lay him down he woke up, I got him back asleep and tried again to lay him down again without any luck, so I held him until Jeff got home and he got him in his bed. Not a lot of sleep last night, and not a lot Monday night either. Monday night at about 11:30 Lance was awake and screaming, Jeff wanted him to "scream it out", because he said that if we got him every time he would never sleep well, I tried pointing out that Lance usually gets up at 4 or 5am, not 11:30 and that since his parents babysat that night and all he had for dinner was 2 peanut butter crackers he would probably be hungry and that getting him won't negatively impact him. After arguing I went and got Lance and we slept downstairs on the futon. I had a really hard time getting comfortable and falling back asleep, that night I did get around seven hours, but I prefer 8. The start of sleep deprivation began Sunday night, I was up till about 3 am with stomach issues. I felt so ill, fortunately I never vomited, but I felt sick and just wanted to go to sleep. Saturday night we were also up late and Lance got up early. I think sometime last week Lance slept all night until 7ish, I really could use the all nighter about now. I feel just as sleep deprived now as I did in the very beginning. Could I really handle another little one?
On a random thought: Lance and I went grocery shopping this morning. Due to our lack of funds we shop at Walmart, not my favorite place, but the dollar needs to go farther. As I was shopping through the store, I noticed all of the organic food. Food that sounds ridiculous being organic: croutons, peanut butter, baby cookies, rice krispies, and others, I can't remember what though. Organic croutons? That just sounds funny too me. Organic peanut butter, do they even spray peanuts with pesticides and herbicides and because they have such a hard shell does it make a better peanut? I know that organics are suppose to be better for the environment, and depending on who you ask, better for you, but are they really? According to my cousin, those organic peanuts might actually be harmful, but that is another story in itself. I know why the organic products seem so silly to me. When I think organic, I think living, the biologist in me, since everything made of a carbon ring is organic. Basically every living thing is organic. When I think of the organic food, I think of produce, not processed foods because the organic lifestyle gives the image of being healthy and carrying about what foods you are consuming. I personally think that someone who really cared about eating healthy wouldn't eat organic croutons because it is a processed food and really not that healthy, but then again, maybe they would feel healthy eating them because they are organic. For me organics is a food fad and I am not on board, maybe if some more info comes out I maybe swayed to dish out the extra cash for smaller amounts for organics, but for me the jury is still out. My main issue with people who try and go organic, but don't do it 100%, doesn't the good from the organic stuff get cancelled out by the bad from the non-organic stuff? I know someone who is big into organics, but they eat hots dogs, now these are fancy hots dogs, but contain nitrates, doesn't the good from the organic condiments and other food small in comparison to the harm of the nitrates? Let me rephrase: aren't the nitrates in the food worse then a possible pesticide residue that may or may not be present and may or may not be harmful? I also wonder, people who avoid pesticides/herbicides, do they use nonstick cookware? do they use deodorant? do they drink alcohol? Fortunately no one really reads this or they might be ticked offended by views, but I must say, for those out there who go 100% organic, if anyone like that exists, I am impressed, because for me, if you are going to do something like that, it is all or nothing.

too hot, way too hot

Summer is here!




It is ridiculously hot outside, so hot that I don't want to go outside. I am a little irritated because babysitting was quite short today. Lance and I got over the boys' house at 8 and we dropped them off at VBS at 9 then we picked them back up at noon and then we were home by 1 because they were going bowling with their dad. I was really hoping for an all day event so I would be able to make some money for Jeff's birthday present, I made twenty dollars which isn't bad for around two hours. I did though make out like a bandit with all of the boys' old books. Some of the books I doubt were even read, but quite a few were some of my favorites that I use to read to John when he was Lance's age. There is so much to do and so little time so I should get busy getting something done, I need to finish vacation laundry, clean up the playroom, vacuum, and really just clean up the house.




Also, I am excited because I am an approved seller for New Native Baby Carriers. I hope that I can get my website setup and get friends to buy some carriers and make a little money on the side. My business is called Sprouts and I hope to be able to sell more than just New Natives.
Sunday was Jeff and I's 7th wedding anniversary. I can't believe it has been seven years, that seems so long! My mom babysat Sunday night so we could go out to dinner. It was nice to be able to eat without someone grabbing at me, trying to eat what I was eating, and not having to rush. On several occasions Jeff had to tell me to slow down and relax because I was just shoveling in the food, I am so accustomed to eating with the time bomb I don't really enjoy eating anymore. We've made it seven years nad hopefully decades more.

beach trip and 100th post

Wow, it is my 100th post, I can't believe I have stuck with this for so long. We got back Saturday from the beach and what a wonderful week it was. The beach house was great even if it didn't have Internet which is probably a good thing, I need to spend less time on the computer. The weather was beautiful, Lance was a lot of fun, it was nice having Jeff around 24/7, the water was warm, the food was good, and it was very relaxing. We didn't do much, but we did get up earlier than I would have liked thanks to lance, but it was all good. We saw lots of wildlife, we saw porpoises, a snake, a toad, a rabbit, a box turtle, a cockroach the size of my thumb, but thank goodness no sharks. The first couple of days I was really paranoid about sharks since there had been a shark attack the week before, but by the end of the week I didn't can't anymore and went out and once I got over my fear of being plummled by the waves I had a blast boogie boarding despite the sand burn I have on my arms and belly. Lance loved the sand and the water. Having him made it a lot more fun and gave us an excuse to build lots of sandcastles. I discovered that Jeff is good at making stairs so all of our castles had stairs and we also made an Aztec pyramid just to show off his stair making ability. Jeff was also able to go meet up with some old friends and go skateboarding at Eastern Skate Supply, they had a really great time having a whole skate park to themselves, especially one that is NOT open to the public. At the end of the week I was really sad to have to go back home. I really miss getting up in the morning and walking upstairs to go sit on the porch. If I could I would move to the beach in a heartbeat.


Lance did great in the car, he had a good time playing with all of his toys and watching the trucks pass by.












Here is Lance and I enjoying the ocean after an early morning walk.






It is really hard to see in this picture, but it is a picture of a swimmer and behind him is a porpoise coming up for air. We saw porpoises almost every morning and trying to get a picture is really hard. I was also amazed at how close to shore they were. The one morning that I didn't get up and Jeff did, he watched the sunrise and then he saw a large group of porpoises jumping out of the water, he said it was like a show you would see at Sea World. I was so jealous that he got such am amazing experience because I would have loved to have seen that.








I can't get over how cute this kid is, how did I luck out and get such a cutie? He really wanted to get the camera out of daddy's face.




Lance loved using his shovel and dumping and filling his sand bucket. He also liked to destroy the sand castles that we built and early in the week he tried to eat a sandcastle and discovered that it didn't taste too good.
















On Friday night we headed to the north end of the island to see if some of the condemned houses were still intact, they were.















On Saturday, Lance got up at 6:15 and he was extremely grouchy, since I didn't want to wake the entire house since we heading home that day Lance and I went out to the beach to watch the sunrise, it was beautiful even though it was cloudy. I was kind of disappointed in myself for not getting up ever morning to watch the sunrise because it was amazing. The night before we left Jeff finally convinced me to go out walking on the beach, despite he lack of moon, it was so beautiful to see all of the stars in the sky. On one of the first nights we were there it was a full moon and there w