Spooktacular Crop

Mom and I began our girls' weekend this morning! We had a peaceful drive to Gaylord and checked in for three days of cropping, shopping, eating and relaxing. I decided to bring nothing but my computer with me on this trip. They are holding two digital scrapbooking classes that we are scheduled to attend. I'm excited to see what knowledge I might be able to gain. In the meantime, I'm working off the self taught skills I have. Here is my first page of the weekend. I hope to finish ALL of 2010 before heading home late Sunday afternoon. Challenge on!

Emotional

I absolutely love my daughter, but she has been stressing me out quite a lot lately. She is stubborn just like both of her parents, but her emotions seem to be running wild. I pray that it is just a phase... that she's developing new hormones... but I'm truly worried about what this means about the years to come. This particular picture was taken at the playground behind our condo. She wanted a ride in the baby swing and stomped off pissed when I told her that she was too old for the baby swing but could go on the regular ones. She didn't care that I offered to swing next to or push her. It took a good 15-20 minutes before I was able to get her to snap out of it. Monday night was my breaking point. I took the kids with me to Meijer in order to get groceries before heading home. Lauren has lost her respect for authority and has become spoiled. I know the part I have played in it, which is probably why I cried the entire way home. She was upset that her brother was allowed to pick out gum as he was paying for it with his allowance. As she had already spent hers over the weekend, she was not allowed to pick any out. She stomped through the store and constantly reminded me of how "mean" I am. She cried the entire time we were checking out and the entire way home... it didn't stop as soon as we pulled in either. We must have been a sight! The driver is crying along with her daughter in the back seat, and her son is annoyed with both. I just had a rush of emotions. I was upset that being a single-mother was NEVER how I'd envisioned raising my children. That led to being pissed at my ex-husband for putting me in this position. And it ended with disappointment in myself for giving in too many times in order to take the easy way out. Now it's time to reverse the effects, but that's going to be a painful process.

Clash Day

Today was Clash Day at school. As this is Homecoming week, the kids have "special days" to look forward to. Monday was Hat Day (although neither one remembered to wear one), yesterday was Favorite T-Shirt Day, tomorrow is Pajama Day (quite unfair that their father gets to take advantage of that easy morning haha) and Friday is Purple and White Day. The kids have been looking forward to today more than any other. Of course, you have more options for mixing and matching with girls, but we tried our hardest with Zack too.

Besides the stack of jeans in his closet, these new camouflage pants were the only pair with pattern available to us. Of course all of his shirts tend to have those same color tones, so this red and gray striped shirt was the most mismatched we could find. You can't tell since his pants cover them, but he is also wearing two different socks (one navy and gray striped, the other white). And being the boy that he is, his creative brain picked two different shoes of the same color; but they are different nonetheless.

Lauren really had fun preparing her outfit for the day; especially since this is her first go-round. Her navy and hot pink dress clash quite nicely with her brown, light pink and yellow striped leggings. She is wearing one purple sock and one blue. To finish the outfit off, she has on one twinkle toe shoe and one brown mary jane. But being a girl, we couldn't stop there. We decided to have fun with her hair too and gave her one pigtail. She was quite the happy girl walking out this morning! =)

Finally Scrapbooking?!?!

I haven't touched my scrapbook supplies since New Years Day. I lost my motivation when I lost the majority of my partners in crime. But I recently saw a billboard for the scrapbook show coming to Kalamazoo next weekend and decided it was time to jump back in. I made mention of the fact that I wanted to do a Disney album, and the next day my mom had the album I've been wanting on order.

This picfolio album will help me get it done faster without becoming too overwhelming because each page has 5 4x6 slots. You can either slide pictures in or create your own 4x6 embellishment or journal box. I'm super excited to get it on Thursday! Now I just have to force myself to narrow down the pictures I have. The album comes with 32 pages so 160 slots. Considering I have 300+ pictures, I really need to figure out my 100 favorites and start getting them organized this week. We only have from 9-6 to crop on Saturday, and the time will go way too fast. At least it will be a start and get me back into the world of scrapbooking!

First Day of School 2010-2011

Oh how I wish every morning could go as smoothly as the first day of school. I got up at 6:00 a.m. and almost immediately heard Zack say, "Sissy, it's the first day of school. Are you excited?" The way they were whispering back and forth reminded me of Christmas morning. Haha

Zack went to his class while I got Lauren settled. She was so excited to find a seat and get the day started. The teacher's aide announced that as soon as you'd found a seat, you should make your way over to the carpet. My mom and I were cracking up at her bouncing around and dancing with all the other students. She couldn't have been more thrilled. She got slightly timid when I told her that I needed to go and make sure that Zack was settled before school started. My mom said that she was completely fine once I left though; all smiles. When I got to Zack's room, he was busy emptying his backpack. I kept trying to get a picture but heard, "I need to get all this stuff in my desk first." He couldn't just put everything in there though. He had to empty the markers and colored pencils into his pencil box. Everything had to be organized before he could sit down. Wonder where he gets that from?!?! Lol I was finally able to take a picture and gave him a kiss goodbye. I was a little hesitant about it halfway through because I wasn't sure if that was okay in 3rd grade, but he seemed just fine with it. The minute I was done getting everyone settled and headed out of the school, the lump in my throat formed. I tried hard to keep the tears from falling... and succeeded.

I couldn't wait to pick them up at the end of the day to find out how everything went. I knew that, at the least, Lauren would be full of conversation. I waited at the side of the building where the Kindergarten classes are released, while my mom waited for Zack in the lobby. Lauren's class was the last to be dismissed... and she was nowhere to be found. Her transportation form indicated that she would be riding the bus, but Mark made note of the fact that she'd be picked up on the first day. I went up to her teacher and asked if she was accidentally sent to the bus line. Miss Donna immediately sent a teacher's aide after her, but my mom had her as soon as we made it to the lobby. I'm so glad that she didn't make it into the bus line. She wouldn't have known which bus stop was hers, and frankly, neither would I. My mom joined us at McDonald's for an ice cream treat. Both kids couldn't stop talking. I couldn't even understand half of it since they were talking simultaneously. Haha Overall, they both had fantastic days and were looking forward to the year ahead of them. I sure hope the excitement continues! ;-)

Fall TV

So who else is thrilled that Fall TV starts back up THIS MONTH?!?! While I absolutely love Summer and all the fun that it brings, I sure miss entertaining myself with mind-numbing television. Here are the shows I'm looking most forward to:

Glee - I've found that this is a love it or hate it kind of show. I definitely LOVE IT. Music is a huge part of my life, and I can't wait to see what they're going to come up with from week to week. Plus Mr. Scheuster isn't hard on the eyes. =)

Biggest Loser - I've been a devoted fan ever since Season 2. I love to see the physical and emotional transformations that the contestants go through. Once again... Bob Harper keeps my entertained. ;-)

Modern Family - This show makes me laugh every week. My favorite characters are Phil and Cameron. Hilarious!

Private Practice - I wasn't thrilled about this show in the beginning; just the concept of taking Kate Walsh off of Grey's Anatomy really ticked me off. I've really grown to enjoy the show though. I love Taye Diggs (wow that chest!) and would love to be friends with Cooper.

Grey's Anatomy - Devoted fan from the get-go. I haven't been too thrilled with the past couple of seasons however. The Season 6 finale far surpassed any other episode from the entire season. I was bummed that it was over when it was finally getting good. I can only hope that it means great things for Season 7.

Desperate Housewives - This show seems to be my guilty pleasure. I love the dynamic of the female friendships and the drama it provides.


Brothers and Sisters - I was interested in this show when it first premiered but didn't watch it due to it's air time. I decided that it was a good time to get caught up when I moved into my apartment, because I was going to need things to keep my entertained. Haha I absolutely fell in love with the show! As an only child who has always wanted siblings (I know... people who have siblings have always wanted to be an only child LOL), I watch this show and feel like a part of the crazy Walker family.

So what shows are you most looking forward to? What new shows are you considering watching?

Out of the Mouth of Lauren #1

John spent the past two nights in Hudsonville on medical duty, so the kids and I had a slumber party. As Lauren and I were settling into bed last night she says, "Mom, I want to keep you forever. How many days do I have until you're going to die?" It threw me completely offguard. What 5 yr old spends time thinking about their parent's death? Poor girl! I told her that no one knows when they are going to die but that I hoped to be here for a long time. Then two minutes later she started on a new subject. "Kids sure are fun. I'm only going to have one though, because when you have two they fight and when you have one they don't fight." I got a good chuckle out of it. But come on... her thoughts are way too serious. She's considering my future death and how many children she is going to have? What happened to worrying about avoiding boys because they have cooties and trying to decide which popsicle flavor to have today?!?!