9/15/12

Today was quite a busy day. And, a very late one at that!

Christian actually got up with the girls this morning (why do I feel like he’s fishing for something?!?), started breakfast and got everything going. They played out on the swing set for a while and I did my usual weekend cleaning...dishes, cleaned the counters, swept the floors, cleaned the entry way and picked up around the living room. We ate some breakfast and started the day.

Christian started doing some work in the garage and in the yard. The girls and I eventually got dressed and joined him for a while. The weather was amazing, so it was nice to take advantage of it. We pulled out all of the plants for the year, and packed away the lawn decorations. We already have big plans for next year…we need to do some work on the grass (the weeds are getting out of control – thanks to our neighbors next to and behind us that do NOTHING with their yards, and destroy ours), and we’ll be doing a lot of planting – flowers, fruits and veggies. We’re going to start our planning over the winter so we can get started on it right away in the spring…when it’s actually supposed to be done. I’m motivated!!!

The girls ate some lunch, then went down for naps. Christian ran to a Mexican market to get some lunch for us (YUM, REAL food!), then he and his dad got to work on the car…again. After replacing the caliper again last time, the brake pads are still burning. So, today they bled the brake lines to see if that would help. Fingers crossed!

When he finished, the girls were just getting up. We had some dinner, got ready and were on our way. Our new friends, Sara and Mariano (Bella’s parents), invited us over to watch the Boxing match tonight. The girls had a blast running around and playing all night. Christian and Mariano talked and chatted like they’d known each other for years. Mariano is also from Mexico City, so they already have a ton to connect on right there. They seem to have similar personalities too, and get along really well. Sara and I are very different, but actually have a similar sense of humor and interests. We laughed a lot and got to know each other. I’m excited to have some new friends, that live close, that we have a lot in common with. YAY!

We didn’t get home until SUPER late. Christian fell asleep pretty much right away. I watched a little TV to relax, then called it a night. Not sure how the girls are going to feel tomorrow!

Here are some pictures from today. A few of our play time outside, and one of the girls playing tonight.

9/14/12

Another week has come to a close. I do not like these 5 day work weeks at all!

Surprisingly, the day went pretty fast. Friday’s are always a little quieter than usual at work, so I was able to get a ton done. Always a good thing, I suppose.

After work, I picked the girls up from my mom’s. We stopped home, freshened up a bit, packed a bag then we were off to my sister’s house for the evening. My nephew returned from his basic training for the Army National Guard yesterday, and leaves for Nebraska, for college, on Sunday, so she had a little family BBQ today to celebrate. It’s crazy to see my nieces and nephews growing up, becoming ACTUAL adults. He’ll be off playing basketball, getting closer to his NBA dreams every day! So exciting. It was great seeing all of my sisters and catching up. The girls had a blast running around and playing with their cousins. The drive was not fun at all…one end of the city to the other, in rush hour traffic. Ouch. It took me over an hour to get there…the girls were not happy with me.

While we were off doing that, Christian worked some overtime, and then started taking the car apart, again. He and his dad are going to check it out tomorrow because the brake pads are still burning. DUMB CAR!

The girls and I finally got home around 9:30. They were straight to bed, and we were far behind. Ready for a fun filled weekend!

Here are a couple scenic shots I took today, I just thought they were kind of cool...

9/13/12

Today ended up being a fantastic day!

The girls are doing great at school. Olivia has pretty much mastered writing her name now, the teacher was so happy with her. Amelia’s favorite teacher is is back from Maternity Leave now, and she said she’ll be taking Amelia and some of the older toddlers into the “Big Toddler” room to start them on their pre-school learning. And, POTTY TRAINING. Ugh, I tell you, I am SO lazy with potty training this time around. I honestly have no desire to deal with it, how sad is that? I’m not ready to deal with potty runs EVERYWHERE we go, having to work on all of that all over again. I’m so content with keeping her diapered…that’s bad. I know I need to do it…she knows what to do, she wakes up dry most mornings/naps. I don’t know how interested she really is though. Miss Eva seems ready to get going on it though, and I know we should. I suppose it’s time to bite the bullet one of these days and get going. It’s hard to believe she’s moving up in rooms already though (well, part of the day anyway). She’s getting so big! In the next year I’ll have one in Pre-K and one in Pre-School. Wow.

Christian ended up taking the girls to his mom’s for dinner and to hang out once we got home. I was pretty excited to have the house to myself for a bit. I’ve been feeling so run down lately, and I can’t shake it. Not sick or anything, just exhausted. ALL THE TIME. I can’t fall asleep at night, or stay asleep, so that doesn’t help. It’s really starting to affect me though. I can’t work out because I literally do not have the energy to. I’m going to start taking my vitamins, and get back on track with my water and hope that helps! SO, some quiet time was much needed. I got right into my PJ’s, had breakfast for dinner and spent some time with the DVR. Nice and relaxing, just what I needed.

The girls pretty much went right to bed when they got home, as did I. Another day down.

I sent the girls to school in “matching” outfits today. I’ve never really gotten into the whole matching thing, but I do think it’s cute once in a while. Today, they thought it was HILARIOUS that they were wearing the same pants. It was so funny to see their reaction once they were dressed and noticed. They were a hit at school too, so funny. Here’s their pic…

9/12/12

Today was a pretty low key day. Work has been work as usual. School has been going well. Nothing too out of the ordinary.

I’ve finally decided to hop back on the Craigslist train and do some more clearing of the house. First up, we’re selling our spare room bed. It used to be Christian’s bed, at his parents’ house. He left it there when he moved into the apartment with me, then we brought it with us to the house for a spare bedroom. It never gets used, and eventually the girls are going to move down there, so we decided to bite the bullet and make some money off of it. Once that’s gone, I can use that room to organize all of the other stuff I want to sell…a coffee table, some media storage cabinets, the girls’ clothes (as Amelia grows out of them), hopefully the rest of the DVD’s/TV Seasons that didn’t sell last time, a couple of booster seats and high chairs, some infant/toddler toys…the list keeps growing. Hopefully we can get it all going out the door! I’d like to pay off Christian’s tires and the Line of Credit we needed to use to fix my car this last time – and hopefully this would help with that. I’m sick of our “spending money” going towards paying those down every paycheck! Lame. Then, when we pay the Visa off with our taxes, we will officially be debt free, and hopefully able to stay that way for a good while. So, I’ll be back to obsessing over Craigslist, and dealing with people that drive me CRAZY.

Tonight was pretty low key. Dinner, clean up, baths and a little playtime. The usual. I did finish Amelia’s 2nd year birthday video today though (1.5 months late…oops), so I thought I’d share that today in lieu of a photo…I love these videos, I’m so glad that I do them. Such a heartwarming thing to look back on.

Click HERE to watch her video. Tear.

9/11/12

I don’t really have much to share today. We had a pretty typical day of work and home. September 11th is always a pretty emotional day, it’s hard to really focus on anything outside of that. This year of course was no difference. Hard to believe it’s been 11 years, and everything that has happened and changed since that day. Definitely something you can never forget, in any way, shape or form.

I’ve been pretty discouraged with myself lately. I just can’t get myself back on the diet and exercise train for anything, and it’s really frustrating. I’ve been fluctuating between the same 2-3 pounds, so at least that’s not TOO bad, but I can feel my body losing its strength a little bit, and I don’t like that. I need to find some new things to get me excited and motivated. If I can just get myself back on track, and FINALLY pass that next goal that I’ve been hovering around for weeks now, I think that would be a HUGE motivation. Today I realized that my goal of reaching my FINAL goal, by the end of March, is really approaching pretty fast. I still want to meet that, and push myself, so it’s time to make myself accountable again!

Tonight I turned my back for a second, and found these two troublemakers, helping themselves to a bag of chips...they make quite a team, that's for sure!

9/10/12

Well, today was actually pretty good, for a Monday.

Work went well. Busy and the day flew by…but I’m not looking forward to a full, 5-day work week. Sounds brutal right about now…

Christian was home with the girls today because his mom had to work. He doesn’t often actually stay home with them the WHOLE time when he’s alone with them, so I was pretty impressed that he made it the whole day. Of course, they were dressed pretty interestingly…Olivia, in the fanciest little dress she owns (which she suddenly sneaks into ALL THE TIME), and Amelia in her shirt, and a pair of Olivia’s shorts that are at least a size too big. He was content with those choices, so I let him have that moment.

I ended up leaving a little early because tonight we were having Olivia’s BFF, Bella, and her parents over to grill and hang out. We live so close together, and the girls are OBSESSED with each other, so we figured we better start getting to know each other and hanging out. We played outside for a bit, grilled, ate dinner, chatted with them and got to know them a little bit, destroyed the play room for a while. It ended up being a pretty fun night…lots of laughs and conversation, and the girls just had so much fun together…they actually included Amelia pretty well too, which I was pretty proud of. Hopefully we can make lots more play dates for the future!

Here are some pics from tonight, including one of the BFF’s, sporting some pretty awesome kool-aid mouths. LOL

9/9/12

Well, today was a pretty low key day. We spent the morning having some breakfast, playing in the yard and breaking up the usual toddler fights. Just another day! We ate some lunch, put the girls down for their naps and watched the football game. YAY Vikings, they ended up pulling out an overtime win, so that was pretty exciting.

After naps and the game, Olivia and I ran to the grocery store to do our weekly shopping. She and Amelia just were not getting along with each other today, at all, so it was a good break for everybody. We took our time at the store, and we love that time together, so that was good. Christian and Amelia hung out in the garage, riding bikes and listening to music. She’s content doing just about anything, so I’m sure she had a blast ACTUALLY being able to do something without Olivia in her face the whole time.

We ate a late dinner when I got home, and that was about it. The girls had their baths and went to bed, I settled in with the DVR to relax and unwind for a while. Like usual, sad to see another weekend end.

Here is a silly shot of the girls today, sharing an apple (literally)...

9/8/12

Annual Apple Orchard Day!!!

The girls were, of course, up early. I had Olivia sleep in our room today, hoping they would sleep in a little bit. They weren't going to get a nap today, so I was trying to prepare for that. They made it past 7:00AM today, so I guess that's better than their usual.

We had a nice big breakfast, I cleaned up the kitchen and we spent the morning hanging out together. Then, it was finally time to get ready and head out on our annual trip to the apple orchard. We usually wouldn't go quite this early, but with the strange winter and spring we had, the crops are all ahead of schedule. I've been watching the crop "forecasts" - the ONLY apple worth going to the Orchard for is the Honeycrisp, so I've been watching to make sure we go at the right time. This weekend it is!

And, we typically go to Aamodt's in Stillwater. But, my BFF asked if we could stay a little closer to home and try out an orchard in Lakeville...so, new adventures!

It was the PERFECT day for our trip. It was cool, breezy, but the sun was shining, keeping up warm. Couldn't ask for better apple picking weather! We filled out basket, took a ride on the hay tractor, played in the hay and the hedge maze. The kids rode some little john deere tractors and we caught up with Kari and Jay for a while. Such a great day! We left with a HUGE bag of apples, and some cookies from the bakery. YUM!

When we arrived home, we had some lunch/dinner, then Christian hit the yard to cut the grass. The girls and I hung out downstairs - them ripping apart their toy room, me doing laundry. Finally it was time for baths and bed. They were a little rambunctious tonight, but pretty good for no naps. I finished laundry and caught up on the blog, while Christian went out to grab a bite to eat and a beer with his friend Lorenzo. Since he got the yard done, and I got laundry done, we should have a nice relaxing Sunday ahead of us. Fingers crossed!

Here are this years Apple Orchard pics. YAY!

9/7/12

Well, today wasn't the best day ever. The girls were on a rampage most of the day. We were originally going to meet Olivia's little BFF and her mom at an indoor playground for a while, but her mom woke up with a migraine and had to reschedule. I was bummed - Olivia was looking forward to it, and the weather wasn't great today (rain, cold, windy), so we were stuck inside regardless. AND, since I have no check card again, I couldn't take them to do anything. BOO!

We made it through the morning...breakfast, coloring, baby dolls, dress up, lots of fighting, whining and bickering, lunch and finally naps. YAY, NAPS! I did weigh in this morning, and I was actually down .6lbs - not much, but considering we had our fair trip, and I haven't started my new workout yet, I'm OK with that. Down a total of 35.2, and back over the halfway mark again. Now, to work on the next half...

I spent nap time pulling out Olivia's old 2T stuff for Amelia. There's no way the pants are going to fit her - nor do the 24 months, but I think I'll be able to get some of the shirts on her. I refuse to buy her anymore 18 month clothes, and she needs to warmer stuff, so hopefully we have enough 24 month/2T stuff that will look OK on her. I just need to find her some adjustable waist pants and we'll be good to go. Olivia on the other hand....I finally went through her closet and took out all of the 3T clothes. Some of the shorts will stay out, until shorts season is officially over. 4T tops fit her perfect, but 4T pants are already starting to get short on her. I can't believe she's going to need 5T clothes soon - how is that possible?!? For now, we're just going to get her some jammies and tops, and she can highwater it for a while.

That's how most of my evening was spent...a couple loads of laundry, cleaning out their closet. We had some yummy tacos for dinner and hung out for a while when Christian got home. After the girls went to bed, Christian and I watched "New Years Eve" together. Not the best movie ever, but it was cute with some pretty funny parts. I liked it.

Finally, it was time for bed. Looking forward to the weekend, nothing better!

Here is a (blurry phone) picture I took of Amelia, giving her baby a check up today...such a cutie.

9/6/12

It's Friday/Thursday. YAY! The girls had another great week in school. They were well-behaved, helpful, took great naps. They are doing great. Amelia's teacher was really sad when I reminded her that she wouldn't be there tomorrow. She just loves Amelia to death (who wouldn't?!?). It makes me kind of sad that they don't go there every day. I sure wish it was more affordable, I wouldn't hesitate to move them to full time.

Work flew by. I got a TON of stuff done this week (I guess the ONE upside to losing my neighbor). Christian's work has been going well too. He's had two recent paycheck issues...first, his check was short, so they paid him cash to make up the difference. Then, they overpaid him 8 hours of overtime. Those 8 hours were supposed to come back out of his check this week. The funny thing is, his check was still almost as much as it was last time, with the extra 8 hours OT. STUPID taxes, it's crazy how much of a difference it makes. It's almost not worth it to work that extra time...

We finally had a fairly relaxing night at home tonight. No car stuff. No swing set. I made a lasagna last night to eat tonight, so dinner was already done. I got the family fed and settled in, than ran to Target. BY MYSELF. It was peaceful and relaxing. We really just needed cat food and contact lens solution, but I stretched that trip out as long as I could! I feel like for the last week if I wasn't at work, it was me and the girls while Christian was busy taking care of some issue. Definitely needed a little break tonight!

When I got home, the girls went straight to bed, and we pretty much called it a night. Christian works tomorrow, and I'm sure the girls will have me up bright and early. No rest for the weary!

After dinner, the girls snuck out in their jammies to try out the bubble machine Amelia got for her birthday. It's actually SUPER cool. It works really good, and makes some HUGE bubbles...with little bubbles inside. The girls thought it was amazing...