first grade.

well here you have it. the big E's first day of first grade. he wouldn't cop to it but i know he was nervous. he woke up three times the night before school started.

i'm happy to say he came home yesterday excited and happy. he said he loves first grade. heh. lets see if he's that gung ho about it in another month.

today the report was again favorable. another glowing day in first grade. but there WAS a problem. and all i can say is thank god it wasn't MY problem. some little boy made his first trip to the principal's office. i got all the gory details. i made sure i told E that should never happen to him. that that would be a very very very very bad thing if it did.

so james.....here's a couple of pics of E's first day. i have many more which you can see when you get home.

we're trying to establish some sort of routine. things are so out of whack here with E being gone from 9:30-3:30. alexander is on a new nap schedule and....uh.....he's having some trouble adjusting. lets just say he's been one cranky little monster (though absolutely adorable) for the last couple of days.

E comes home exhausted. i'm working the bedtime routine back so he goes to bed at a decent hour instead of so late like we have been doing most of the summer.

i'm feeling a little funky......not sure if it's because i'm tired....or if i'm just having trouble getting into the groove of the new routine. whatever the casue....i'm sort of living in a fog. oh. i know. it could be the 8 benedryl i took yesterday. so far today i'm benedryl free. that will change before bed. i'm tired of waking up with that 'allergy' feeling in my face....you know the one....like a sinus infection...the pressure....the runny nose (sorry if tmi)...sneezing....can't breathe....~sigh~ just makes me tired thinking about it.

anyway....boys are in the bath. guess i should go wash them. so i can get them to bed.

what does it take to make 6 boys happy?

a trip to the nevada state fair. you will be looking at james of course, and ethan and alexander. the other three are my nephews kyler, sawyer and riley. i'm pretty sure they all had a great time. i think the pics speak for themselves. as you can see it was daylight when we arrived and way way way past bedtime when we went home!

today i am...

full of mixed emotions.
i am tired of talking cryptically on my own blog.
but what i am sad about isn't mine to share.
i am tired.
i am full of allergy medication.
i am wishing i could lose more weight.
i am overwhelmed by all the sadness around me.
i am looking forward to my birthday trip. it's only 17 days away.
i am looking forward to taking the boys (mine and my nephews) to the state fair tonight. that should put smiles on their faces.
i am going to get off the computer now and go be productive.

i am....

i am a mother. but i am also more than that.
i am a woman.
i am an individual.
i am a wife.
i am a sister.
i am a daughter.
i am in love with my husband.
i am lucky.
i am tired.
i am sick of my allergies.
i am grateful for what i have.
i am feeling melancholy today. can you tell?
i am many things all at once.
but most of all i am lucky.
lucky to have james.
lucky to have ethan.
lucky to have alexander.
i am reminded to appreciate what i have.
and now i am going to finish cooking dinner.
i am also going to vacuum. lol.... hey. i never said i lived an exciting life...just that i am lucky.
with that attitude i can handle a little vacuuming.

some of this and some of that.

well, obviously i'm back from my brother's house. so not a fun trip. i am sorry for what they are going through. christine (my sil) may be coming to our house tomorrow. if so, james and i are taking her boys (all three of them) to the nevada state fair on wednesday. they need some fun. we'll see if she actually shows up.

alexander actually remembers the fair from last year. and all year long he has been asking when we get to go to the fair. well......his day is almost here! i can't believe he remembers last year's event. he was only 2!!

ethan has FINALLY mastered tieing his own shoes. YAY!!!! it's been a long hard battle but he's finally decided he can do it. i told him that was something he HAD to do before he started first grade. speaking of which....school starts in six days! in six days my baby will be gone from 9:30-3:30. i'm not sure i'm ready for that. i have worked with him several days a week all summer on writing, math, reading.... when he wants to, he reads well. the problem is he's moody. and if the mood doesn't strike him...well...forgeddabout it!! i wish his teacher, mrs. murphy the best of luck.

painted one wall in the kitchen lime pop green. oh yeah baby. it's definitly a burst of color. i'm not convinced james likes it. i know i will hear much grief from my family (my dad in particular) about the color. oh well. he doesn't have to like it.

summer is starting to wind down. it's cool in the evenings and dark outside by 8:3o now! the nightly ritual of bike riding is still happening but there's a different feel to the air now.

back to being a mommy. i must check dinner.

no one really ever knows.....

no one ever really knows exactly what is going on inside your head, inside your house...exactly what you are going through.

i can never know exactly what linda (my mother in law) is going through while jim (my father in law) is in the hospital being treated for cancer. he will have been in the hospital for three weeks on friday.

i can never know exactly what my brother and his wife are going through (but i'm about to find out). heading to my bro's house tomorrow for a few days. it's not going to be fun.

i can never know exactly what trish is going through (my sister in law). the entire family on james' side is going through so much right now....

and no one can ever know exactly what james and i go through on a daily basis. why do people find it impossible (at least the people closest to me sans james) to actually think about what is going on in someone else's life. why does my family feel the need to compare to see whose life is most miserable?

why can't my family be happy for us when good things happen? why is there always a 'rub'....some underlying comment. that is so not healthy.

james leaves for alabama tomorrow. ick.

now i'm going to scrap. and jam to some beastie boys. or maybe something else. whatever fits my mood. not sure yet. i just want to immerse myself. forget about everything else and go make something.

back in a few days.

some of this and some of that.

a few random things.

1. i have been bad. bad bad bad. i have been eating normally for about three weeks now. i must stop and get back to closely watching and monitoring what i eat. eeks. i'm afraid to get on the scale.

2. date night was fun. best part? after the wine tasting when it was just the two of us at rosita's.

3. camping was good. james was funny. YES dear. you were. you giggled like a school girl and it was funny.

4. school starts for ethan two weeks from today. not long. first grade is almost here. we have the backpack and lunch bag. i am going out today to buy school supplies (even though i don't have a list from his teacher yet) but that's a whole 'nother post.

5. couple of recent layouts. dina took that photograph on the 'the joke is on you' LO. awesome. if it weren't for her i would have almost no pics from chicago. i really like both of these layouts. i did a 12 x 12 LO. for some reason lately i've just been in a 12 x 12 mood. i have two more 12 x 12's on my desk. i may submit them for the sept scrapgal newsletter. we'll see.

6. i feel out of the scrapping loop. haven't posted on 2 peas in foreva (until today). i hate how it works. more people you know more times you post the more likely you are to get any kind of attention over there. i just honestly don't think i have the energy for it. i really do just look in the gallery and leave praise if i like something. i'm not political. in the slightest. this is the part of scrapping that i hate.

7. i'm off to take a shower and go to target. the boys are playing nicely. for now. i better hurry.

so....the night before last...

james had to work late. okay. that's fine. got home about 12:30 am. AM people. that's a long day. he went to work late the next day because he went with me to watch the boys at swimming lessons. that was good. they like it when dadda (as alexander would say) comes.

well...turns out james is working late again today. blah!!!!!! he's also going to alabama soon and then vegas. double blah!!!!!!! i may take the boys to my brother's house. IF they ever call me back. my bro and his wife? not the most together peeps. my boys want to see their cousins and...well....i guess their aunt and uncle too. ethan keeps telling me uncle barry is cool. obviously he didn't grow up with him. :wink:

today i finished up the gem turquoise (a retro aqua blue) in the loft. i also painted the trim up there. woot woot! got a lot done. i'll post a pic of the loft when it's all done. i am loving the color. takes longer when the boys "help" me..lol...but they have fun. they still fight...but less if i keep them busy and separated.

next on my list? painting the small wall up above the cupboards in the kitchen. can you say lime pop?? yeah baby. cool lime color. and yes. i'm serious. the rest of the kitchen is pearl white with some brown. the green is just the needed pop!

just a little rambling nothing about my day today. i guess since james is going to be late i'll be outside riding bikes with the boys tonight. yippy. not. my allergies will kick in and i'll be swollen and puffy. again. i'm so tired of that!

guess i should go check the front porch and see is my SG order came today. maybe that will help jumpstart me into scrapping again.

do have a date night coming up on friday. woot! auntie trish is coming to our house with her boys to watch our boys. that will be five boys in da house. but i won't be here so it's all good. :wink:

now i'm off to feed the munchkins. so we can ride bikes. so i can get red, puffy, itchy eyes. yeah. good times. lol...

i'm really not good at waiting for things.

i want the new table (well tables actually). one will be my workspace and one will have my sewing machine on it. i want my shelves. and cabinets. and i want them now. NOW. not in a couple of months when i actually have money. N.O.W. lol... it's like the birthday trip thing. dude. i'm STILL waiting!!! 31 more days! sheesh. are ya kidding me?! 31 more days? well...guess i should get used to it. it will be a lot more days than that before i get my scrapping furniture. humpf.

i feel like i will be ten times more creative if i'm better set up and more organized. it's probably a load of crap. it's probably all in my mind. but that's how i feel. i want to scrap. but feel trapped. like i'm paralyzed. sort of funny actually. it's only scrapping. what's the big deal?! in my mind i'm not willing to do anything until i'm set up how i WANT to be set up. that's what the deal is. whatevah. ~rolls eyes at herself~ guess i'll scrap when i scrap. it'll be good or it'll be crap. and that's that!

maybe i AM psychotic.

in one post i say maybe i need a break from scrapping. so what do i do? spend all day today running around to various stores looking for the best way to set myself up upstairs in the loft. i'm moving out of 'my' living room and taking over the loft. i'm sick of the crappy metal shelvy thingy holding my stuff. i'm sick of bad lighting. i spent $20 today. and it was money well spent. got myself a new lamp. it sits on the floor and has five little lamp arms that adjust each holding a 60 watt bulb. that's right baby. 300 watts to light up my world. so for now....until i find the 'right' table and shelves, etc., for upstairs in the loft i will still be downstairs. but at least i'll be able to see what i am doing.

i have a pretty good idea of what i want for myself upstairs. a table to be my work space. some shelves. holding baskets (where all my stuff currently is). a basket for all my rubs. yes. most people have things sorted by color. that's just not for me. at least if it is, i haven't figured that out yet. i will also need a smaller table to hold my sewing machine. and a comfy chair. so i'm on the lookout. went to pottery barn. that's a laugh. beautiful stuff but i'm seriously not going to spend that much money.

actually found something that might work at home depot. home depot! who would have imagined. but i'm not 100% sold yet. so i'm still looking. they have cabinets with shelves that sit on top and a table/desk thingy inbetween the cabinets and shelves which would flank the desk thingy.

no i must go wash the dirty stinky children. then put them to bed. woot!