Fabulous Giveaway from Shopaholic in Alabama

Head on over to Facebook, Twitter and "like" and "follow" Shopaholic in Alabama!! She has a great giveaway today thanks to Caroline Grace Jewelry!! They are giving away a gorgeous silver charm necklace valued at over $300!! You can also go to www.shopaholicinalabama.blogspot.com to find out how you can earn up to 8 entries into this great giveaway!! Good Luck!!

Thanks Shopaholic and Caroline Grace!!

Well, Hello Strangers...

We have finally moved to Atlanta and I am no longer playing mommy and daddy because we are all back under the same roof...WHOO HOO!!!

So much has happened since the last time I posted and I promise to fill you all in SOON!!

I hate doing dishes, taking out the trash and washing dogs...

I mean it, I loathe washing dishes...I would rather be non-PC and use plastic and paper for everything or better yet, eat out every meal in order to avoid washing a dish. The other thing I hate is washing the dog and he doesn't like it too much either, probably because when the kids have done it they end up chasing him all over the bathroom and just terrorize him trying to get him back in the tub...not a pleasant experience for any of us. Then there is the trash issue, since we are in a more rural setting we decided to save some money and start taking our trash to the local dump ourselves instead of paying for someone to come pick it up. Well that was fine and dandy when it was not going in my car and I was not the one having to do.

I say all this because I am now having to do all of the above because I am 2 mths into an undetermined stint as a single parent. Chris started his new job in Atlanta a little over 2 mths ago so I am having to adapt to my "new" jobs that Chris normally did as well as do the stuff I always did, laundry and cooking, etc...

I will confess the first week was not too bad, I actually got some sleep because Chris was not there snoring in my ear every night and the kids were on their best behavior ever because not having dad around 24/7 like he had been for 9+ mths due to his layoff was a new experience for them. But after that first week the winds of change began to blow through our house...the DIVA was waking up everynight when I went to bed wanting to sleep with me...a wiggly 7 yr old is not condusive to a good nights sleep, Camden started bringing home C's on some of his schoolwork which is unheard of for him, the kids were arguing more and more, dishes were piling up b/c not only do I hate washing them I hate having to load and unload a dishwasher too...I cooked so someone else needs to clean only there was no one else to clean, around this time I noticed the dog, Tebow, acting funny...I think he is depressed that Chris is not around and feel he needs some doggie Prozac...he lays around a lot more than usual and will only play for a minute before he collapses to floor with a big "SIGH" and he is not trying to sleep on my bed at night either, ever since Chris left Tebow has slept in the DIVA's room or he has stayed in his bed all night...literally unheard of when Chris is home. The kids also started getting their fair share of the illnesses floating around school and then they so kindly shared them with me and that has been a vicious, unending circle and just when I thought the circle had been broken who gets ill, THE DOG!!!! Add in there that I am also dealing with a house that is for sale that is not selling and that is adding even more stress to my life.

I know many single parents and I have always admired them and all that they do and wondered to myself "How do they get it all done?" especially one friend of mine who is a single parent of 3, works full time and volunteers for just about everything, has a side business and helps her mom with her business ventures, and now that I am getting a small taste of the single parent life I have decided that it is definately not for someone like me who was already stressed because once the stress gets to be too much I become apathetic. That in turn causes the dishes and unfolded laundry to pile up, the dog to start looking like an Ewok and smelling like a bag of Doritos (I swear, he gets a Eau de Dorito smell after he has gone 2wks w/o a bath) and the trash...well, I can't let the trash sit around because it will stink.

Will be happy when we are all together again and I have my dishwasher and dogwasher back!!

Ummmmm

did not realize how long it has been since I posted an update!! Things have been CRAZY around here to say the least...

I promise to update this weekend!!!

BIG CHANGES AHEAD!!!

It has been forever and a day since I posted anything!! The kids had their 5 week break for the summer and they are already half way through the first 9 weeks of school, time flies!! They love their teachers this year and reconnecting with friends from last year and making new ones with all the new students at Thales this year.

We took a long weekend trip to Columbia,SC a few weeks ago and while Chris was working the baseball games at USC the kids and I headed over to the Riverbanks Zoo the first day and then the 2nd day we were there we headed to Spartanburg to see my friend Kellee, her hubby Patrick and their kids, Eli, Ethan, Emilee, Elliott, and the new twins Eden and Evan. We had a great weekend away and it was great to spend the afternoon with great friends!

Now on to the news...it has never been officially announced on here but lots of people already knew that Chris was laid off from his job last Oct after being with the engineering company for 13 years. After 10 + months of looking and interviewing everywhere from Houston to Norfolk to DC and right here in Raleigh he has been offered a job!!! He will be working for a structural engineering firm in Atlanta and we could not be more excited!! That means we are now purging our house and packing things and preparing to put it on the market as soon as possible and trying to do as much stuff around here as we can while Chris is still here.

My friend Jenna and her hubby Brent are in the Atlanta area and I am so excited to moving close to them!! Jenna has even hooked me up with a fabulous realtor already!! Chris has to be there to start work on Sept 8th and we will be hunting for a corporate rental for him this weekend. I pray that our house sells quickly and for the amount that we need it to sell for. The kids are excited that daddy has a new job and Camden is excited about being able to go to Braves games, the DIVA is not too excited about this impending move but I know she will handle it like a pro! I really like Atlanta and I look forward to turing a lot of my new friends into Gator fans, lol!!!

I have zoo pics to post and pics from the Cogdill's visit so be on the lookout!

Summer, Summer, Summertime...SUMMERTIME!

Did not realize it has been just over a month since my last blog! Since last checking in we had Thales Academy Field Day, one final First Grade Field Trip, A/R parties, End of School parties that included bowling and Dan the Animal Man, Grace has been to see HSM2 on stage with her friend Caroline and Camden spent a week at Camp Willowrun at Lake Gaston. I have pictures galore to share from most, if not all of these activities too!!

Let's start with Field Day...it was held at Beaver Dam on Falls Lake here in Raleigh and it was a day chock full of activities. The morning was spent with the whole school divided up into groups and learning from the Park Rangers about animals that can be found in the park and lake areas, learning Woodsman Safety and having a scavenger hunt. After lunch each grade level participated in Field Day Games that included an obstacle course, sponge toss, pizza box race and more... The kids had a blast, although it was extremely HOT the day went beautifully and ended with a Tug o War of Teachers vs. Parents and the teachers won.

Grace's class took one more field trip to Lake Crabtree the week before school got out. While there the kids enjoyed a picnic lunch, playing on the playground and then learning about the animals of Lake Crabtree from one of the Park Rangers. She showed the kids a cornsnake and had several other animals on display that had been "stuffed". It turned out to be one of the HOTTEST days for the first part of June but thankfully we had a lot of shade to keep us covered.

Both Camden and Grace met their A/R goals for the last nine weeks and got to enjoy the A//R parties the teachers had planned out. One of them had a Luau theme party and one had a ice cream party. Camden also received class awards on this day and he brought home quite a few from the "Babe Ruth Award' b/c of his love for baseball to several for Music and Character Club. Grace got a "Lifesaver" award from her class and a reading award and got one of the 3 Spectacular Spanish Awards from Spanish class. Both of them did so good this year and we are so proud of their accomplishments and can't wait to see what this next year holds in store for them. Camden even finished the year with a Straight A average in all subjects!!

For the end of year parties Camden' class went bowling and Grace's class had fun with water games. Before all of that started though the whole school got to enjoy a presentation by Dan the Animal Man. He brought a few of his animals for the kids to enjoy, there was the porcupine, the lemur, the owl and the python. The kids had a blast!! He promised that next time he would bring his alligator for the kids to see.

The last day of school also included Grace spending the night with her friend Caroline and going to see the stage musical of HSM2 here in Raleigh. The girls had the BEST time!! They got to sit on the front row and during intermission Caroline's mom bought them a poster and they got the cast signatures on them after the show. During the finale the cast throws out beach balls into the crowd and both Grace and Caroline were able to get one. They had such a great time and a great end to first grade.

Camden spent last week at Camp Willowrun up at Lake Gaston. This was his second year going and I think he had an even better time this year. He knew a couple of the kids in his boxcar from VBS at Enterprise where last year he did not know anyone in his bunk. He was SOOOOOO ready for us to leave him when we went to drop him off. This year he signed up for swimming, fishing and low ropes. Grace will get to go next year, the same week as Camden. It will be interesting to see how that goes.

Now that both kids are home for a few days they have gotten the typical summer colds. Thankfully they seem to be on the mend and should be raring to go when school starts back on July 20th!!

SQUIRREL!!

As I mentioned in an earlier post we won tickets to see a preview of the new Disney movie 'UP' that opens tomorrow. Tuesday evening we headed out to see the movie at North Hills and thought we were doing good getting there at 6:15pm for the 7pm movie...were we wrong!! There was a line that went through the lobby of the theater out the door and down the through courtyard area to the street!!! We got in line and that is when I noticed the "fine print" on the tickets..."Seating is limited to first come first serve, no rainchecks will be given...yada, yada, yada" I looked at Chris and told him I would be surprised if we got in from the looks of that line. Finally at 6:30 they started letting people in and we slowly made our way into the building and through the lobby and turned in our tickets only to be given new tickets and told to go stand in line again. Just before 7pm they started letting us in the theater and thankfully we got in!!

Chris and the kids and I found some seats and waited for the movie to start. It was a really cute movie, funny and sad at times. The animation was really good but of course it is Pixar so there was no doubt that it would be good. The kids LOVED the film as did Chris and I. There was only one thing that I had a problem with and that is how did the kid get on the porch b/c he clearly was not there when the house takes flight!! I would definately go see it again and suggest that everyone take their kids to see it too. It was nice to get away for a couple of hours and enjoy some time together at the movies. Thanks to WTVD for having the contest!