I missed posting last night. I was so exhausted, I fell asleep in the bathtub! Not for long, since it was obviously uncomfortable, and my drain doesn't hold the water in - it slowly drains, so it got a little chilly. Anyway, yesterday was a pretty good day. I got up early and went for a walk/jog, then to the gym for resistance exercises. Angel had cheer practice, then gymnastics at the gym - again - so I rode the bicycle for a while. Damian had BMX last night, which Angel and I can't go to this month because her gymnastics is at the same time. I miss seeing all of his races. He's been having to race against bigger/older kids lately. Last night he told me he crashed :( He seemed pretty cheerful, though.
Well, as suspected, the kids ARE having fun with their whoopie cushions. When I went to bed after typing my last post, they had hidden one under my pillow! Talk about an unexpected surprise when you go to lay down and sleep!
Today, I'm up early. I think I'll go work on my garden for a little while before Angel's dance class. Later we're going to the free movie, and maybe take a friend.
Here's Angel at gymnastics:

Monday

It's been another fun Monday here. I slept through my very well-intentioned alarm to get up and go walking - so, instead, I got up, got the kids and myself ready and went to story time at Gold Minds. I enjoy going there. I get to see some of my friends, and sit and visit while the kids play with they toys. Today, I was even offered a job there! I'd rather work for the school system, and will continue to pursue that, but I said I'd help out if they were ever short-handed and needed someone to just help out. I just would rather avoid a low-paying retail job if I can. This afternoon, I just could not keep my eyes open. I don't think I'm eating enough. So, I took a nap, then we all went to Incredible Pizza Co. The kids LOVE it there! We were meeting friends, and had a nice visit. Of course I had to limit myself to just the soup/salad bar and non-fat dressing. No pizza or dessert for me! So, of course when we got home, I was starving! I decided to have a soy protein drink. Hopefully it will tide me over for a while. The kids had a lot of fun, though. They both got a whoopie cushion with the tickets they earned. So, I'm sure we'll be getting surprises every time we sit down for the next several days. :)
This is Angel flying a rocket at Incr. Pizza. :)

WooHoo!!!! Party!!!!

It feels like all I did this weekend was party! Friday was Emily's birthday dinner, then Saturday, I was invited to an all day bachelorette party! We had so much fun! The idea was to spend the day shopping for crazy dresses - like 80's prom dresses - to wear out that night for dinner and karaoke. We went to several thrift stores and vintage stores to find enough dresses and in the right sizes for everyone. I ended up in a 60's or 70's long dress w/ flared, or "bell" sleeves that had about 6 inches of feathers around the bottom of the sleeves. :) The other dresses were all great, too! The bachelorette found a wedding dress for $30, and wore that out all night! It was so much fun! I really tried to stay on my diet, and eat as healthy as possible while we were out. Today, after church, we went to another birthday party. This one was for the son of one of our best friends. They had pizza and cake, which I had to turn down. I have wonderful friends, though, who know what I'm doing, and brought me carrots and yogurt veggie dip. After the party, we went to dinner at Dad's - where there was yet another cake!!!! I finally caved, and had 3 small bites.
Tomorrow, I'm going to try to get back on some sort of work out schedule. I'm setting my alarm to get up at 7:30 to go walking before it's too hot.
Let me see what kid of pic. I can find to post for today...

Happy Birthday Emily!!

Today's my friend Emily's birthday! We went out to dinner with her and some family and friends. Unfortunately, there were too many of us to fit at one table, so we had to split up. It was a great dinner, though, and we all had fun visiting with everyone that came. We also went to Petland earlier today. The kids love to play with the puppies. Damian chose a beagle and a golden lab retriever to play with. The lab was the sweetest puppy. If we were actually shopping for one today, that would have been my choice. Angel picked a tiny poodle. Maybe a toy poodle? I don't know, but it was tiny. It had black fur, and they'd put a pink bow on it's head. I'm not one for dressing up dogs, but the bow was cute. It was also a very sweet dog. Basically a lap dog. Both kids sat on the floor, and the puppy just went back and forth from one lap to the other.
Well, I started a diet today. So far, I'm not having fun with it. I know it's a necessary evil - but I love food - especially things that I shouldn't be eating - so when you take away everything you like, you're left with everything you don't like. :( I really wish I was one of those people who love veggies - but I'm not. I do like them at times, in the right mood, but over-all, not my fav. Apparently it's also an emotional issue for me - which I hate! So I've been in tears a few times throughout the day. I know - it's really stupid to cry over a diet. I just feel like I've tried a lot of things, and I HAVE made many dieting changes and working out changes over the past few years, but, nothing has made a difference, so now I'm making more drastic changes, and I have to honestly say that I hate it. Obviously, I need an attitude adjustment. I know it, and I hope I'm able to do it. I guess if I start seeing results, I'll feel better. Let's hope I see results soon!

Here are some recent pics. My plumeria bloomed for the first time today! Yay! I love my plumeria. It smells so wonderful - I hope Heaven smells like a fresh plumeria bloom.

Here's a rainbow the kids and I saw Wed. night. We actually saw it fade in and out as we watched.

Good night!

Busy Day!

It's been a long day! I slept through my alarm this morning, and woke up with about 5 min. til I had to leave to take A to dance class. From there we picked up a friend, and went to see a free movie at the theater. We had a little down time at home, playing games and napping - then off again to summer arts classes for the kids. I went to dinner w/ friends while the kids were in class, then we all watched a clown/magic show, which was being filmed for use in clown class at a local University. Fun!!
Last night, I finished a LO (layout) I made of A's oil painting. I used a couple kits from the Color Challenge at SAS.

Glad Dad's home

The kids are glad to have Dad home. Last night they "wrestled" for a while, then we all played games. Today I slept in too late to go to pilates, but I got my workout in during Angel's gymnastics class at the Y. Angel also had her first class of mini-cheer tonight. It's a 6-week summer session at A&B Dance Center, my step-mom's studio. She's also going to take hip-hop. That should be fun. Today, Ang (step-mom), asked if she'd also come for the "creative movement" class in the morning to help fill up the class. That means I've got to be up in about 6 hours! So, Goodnight!

He's Home!

Frank's back from his weekend in TX. He got home at 2 a.m. this morning. He's disappointed that they didn't finish their race, and that they had problems with the bike. But, he's home in one piece, which is what I care about. :) He also got to visit with some relatives while he was there, and got a replacement iPhone at an Apple Store.
For the rest of us, yesterday was pretty uneventful. We went to church in the morning, and just hung out at the house the rest of the day. This morning, we got up and went to story/craft time at a local toy store where a friend of mine works. It's a really cool store with lots of educational toys, and lots of display items you can play with. Angel spent a long time at the Calico Critter table, and Damian made a train track on the floor all around and under the train table. We love going to Gold Minds. :) After that, we went to CPO and picked up a couple free books, as part of the summer reading program through our library. We also picked up free tickets to a theater showing of the new Veggie Tales movie coming out on Saturday. Our Saturday is filling up fast! Later, the kids played outside in water. Standard summer afternoon activities. Here are some pics of the kids playing today.

Oil Painting

Yesterday was another fun day for us. We went back to my friend's house to go swimming again and Angel did her first oil painting. My friend, Megan is a great artist, and Angel is an aspiring artist, so Megan let Angel use her supplies, and taught her how to oil paint. It was fun to watch, and Angel did a great job!
I'm sure no explanation is needed, but just in case: it's a painting of a lake/pond (she used both terms), with a waterfall flowing into it. There are rocks in the pond, so the water will make pretty sounds flowing over them. There are small rocks around the lake so it's not too muddy, and people won't slip. There are flowers and a person in the grass. She really wanted to have a person, because people like to go to the lake, but she was concerned that she couldn't paint a person well. Obviously, she did fine. :) She also said she knows clouds are usually white, but she's going to do them yellow. I'm very proud of her first oil painting. She loved it, and said oil painting is a lot better than regular painting. I'm so thankful for my friend who shares her time and talent with my family, and let Angel use her supplies. She has also done murals on my kid's bedroom walls (at the house we're rennovating). Thank you Megan!!!!
I stopped by my garden (also at the house we're rennovating) yesterday evening, and I'm so excited to see it actually growing and producing. I got a cucumber and 4 jalepenos. I also have about 6 heads of romaine lettuce about ready. I don't know what I'm going to do w/ 6 heads of lettuce ready all at once. I think we have an animal eating some of the food, though. I know a few strawberries have disappeared, and I'm pretty sure we've lost some tomatoes, too. I don't know if I want to put some chicken wire around the garden, or spray some kind of animal deterrent, or what.
On a sadder note, Frank left a message last night (while we were out having fun) that the engine blew up half way through the race yesterday. :( He was racing a 6 hr. motorcycle endurance race in TX. I know he must've been really upset. His team has fast enough lap times to win - and still got 4th, only doing 1/2 the race. I'm sure he's super frustrated, but he's so good at not taking it out on the family. His message was actually pretty pleasant, and he assured me that they didn't crash, and didn't get hurt - which is always my main concern. He should be home today. Yay!

How was your 4th?

I hope you had a great Independence Day Celebration. The kids and I had a great time. We went to a friend's where we got to swim, have great food, visit, play and watch a great fireworks show. I think Damian got the most out of the day. He got to swim, ride his dirtbike, and help set off the fireworks - he was in heaven! I explained to them WHY we celebrate the 4th of July, and that we are very blessed to live in a country where we have the freedoms that we do. Frank was not with us - he's in TX for a race this weekend. We missed him. The kids crashed out on the way home, of course, and here I am blogging in the middle of the night! Here are a few pics from today, and then I'm off to bed. :)

Great News!

Well, besides the fact that I'm actually posting on my new blog - I have been accepted to be on the CT (creative team) for AllieKat Creations (at Ahhh Scrap)! This will be my 2nd designer that I create for. :) Yay! I also create for Fishinmom Designs. I'm so excited to get to work with these 2 great designers.
Some other great news is that I now have an iPhone. I love it! Hubby surprised me with it the other day, and I've been having all kinds of fun with it. I even have all my digi-scrap LOs on it!
That last pic shows my pretty blue case I got for it. I think hubby's a little jealous. :)
I'm also very excited to go to a 4th of July get-together tomorrow (technically later today) with some good friends.
Some good news for my son - he got a BMX sponsorship offer! Wow! He's a 7 yr. old, and races BMX twice a week from April through Oct., so him getting a sponsor is pretty exciting. The sponsor is SteelMX.
Well, I thought I had more great news, but I'm too tired to think of it. I'll try to remember, and post more later.
I also decided to try to post at least 1 photo/day. I usually take photos everyday, and just thought that'd be fun. Since I've not posted for a few days on my brand new blog, I'll do more than one today.

This is a yummy drink I had last night at Red Robin. It's a pomegranate blueberry limeade - or something like that. Isn't it pretty?Here's my daughter - playing w/ shampoo in the bath. We had fun. :)
Have a great holiday weekend - and please be safe!