From One Weekend to the Next....

The kids headed up north to the Rim on Thursday with Nana and Papa in 'uses RV'.  Joe and I worked Thursday and Friday and then headed up to join them on Friday night.  (someday, a very long time from now, I may tell the story about our drive up there and our inability to locate my parents and the children, but it will be a very long time from now...)

We threw up our tent and then settled in for a few days of camping, fishing, hanging out, campfire building, bb gun shooting, bug catching, good eating... you know the routine... just a relaxing weekend in the outdoors.  A fabulous time was had by all- we laughed and relaxed and just generally enjoyed another weekend of what is turning out to be one of the best summers of my life.

As I sat and watched my kiddos who (for lack of any other appropriate phrase) were having the time of their lives- I thought about the joy that my kids find in life- every aspect of it.  I was thinking back to last weekend, a weekend spent at a fancy resort- playing at a water park and eating crabs legs (Julia's FAVORITE!).  Fast forward to this weekend, a weekend in the woods- playing in the dirt and eating hot dogs (Colin's FAVORITE!).  And you know what, my kids had an absolutely fabulous time at both places... in both worlds... doing both things.  And I love that about my kids and about our family.  Joe and I set out to raise kids who would really enjoy life... and so far, I think we've been very successful.  I hope that as they grow older and as our lives continue to change that they continue to find joy and happiness in whatever they do, where ever they are.....

Another picture heavy post... but there are some GREAT shots that I just have to throw out there... enjoy.

Here's Papa and Colin off for a walk to explore....

Colin with his prize slingshot piece of wood .
(that unfortunately broke not long after this photo...)

The teaching continues... Papa sharing his knowledge of tracks, animals, bugs, etc with another generation.

Here are the prized BB guns that the kids got for Christmas. 
They shot over 300 BBs this weekend...
(and NO, nobody shot their eye out....)

Julia even gave the Momma some BB shootin' lessons.
(She really is a good shot.  Momma on the other hand....)

Here they are checking out their homemade target to see how they did.....

Colin showing how the BB pierces the target.
(and kills the boy.... silly silly boy!)

 Julia showing off her BB talent... check out those rootbeer cans!

 Colin so proud of the fire that he started....

The heroes of the trip... my kids LOVE their Nana and Papa.  What would we do without them in our lives?
(Don't they look so happy in this picture?)

One of Colin's quests for this weekend was to saw down a tree.  Joe helped him find a dead one.  Everybody helped him saw it down....

Here's Daddy helping out a little bit....
(So... Papa and Daddy really sawed the tree down, but made Colin feel like he did it.  Again, in case you missed it, Mr. Furedy and Papa are my heroes.)

My lumberjack!

Another great weekend over.... 9 summer weekends left.  Stay tuned...
Night all.
C

I've Fallen Off the Wagon...

So, for the last 8 weeks I have been awesome (seriously, rock awesome!) about exercising and eating right.  (Yes, I know, those of you who follow me on Facebook are tired of the 'I need to run.  I did run.  I should run."  posts... I am so sorry...) 

I have lost a total of 15 pounds and 4% body fat.  I have worked out harder and smarter than I have ever worked out before.   I have committed to a diet in a way that I never have before.  And I am more than halfway to where I would like to be (I'd like to lose 7 more pounds and 3% body fat).  I feel like I'm doing this the right way too... I've got a good food plan, I'm not working out crazy amounts- but I'm working out in a way that I think I can continue to do in a long term way.

But, in the last couple of days I have fallen off the wagon and I'm having a hard time climbing back on it again.....  it started off innocently enough... just one beverage that wasn't on the plan... one meal that wasn't on the plan.  (oh, and then there's the half of a bag of red licorice that I've eaten...)

One of the saddest things is that I wasn't even CRAVING stuff off of my food plan.  So, I know I can get back on track and do this.   Mostly, I feel tired and not motivated to exercise.  And, since most of my friends are now off work, several plans to go out and do fun things are looming and I know I'll want to 'take a break' on those evenings too.

I need to get re-motivated.  HELP!!  :)
Night all....
C

Fun in the Sun....

Dear blog...
What a wonderful, fun, fantastic weekend we had....  a serious departure from reality into relaxation.

Now, we are all to tired to move or think... and momma just can't pull together a blog post to save her life (seriously, I so dead that all I want to do is watch brainless TV while laying on my bed nursing my sunburn).

Here are a few photos for you to enjoy.  I promise a real post soon.....

All I can say as a wrap up is that summer so far is about as awesome as it can be....

Night all.....

Something about... summer

There's something about summer... something magical....

I've been thinking about this all day (no rude comments please, I do occasionally have deep thoughts..).  Summer is here.  You can feel it throughout our house, in every aspect of our days... summer has been absorbed into our lives and it is just so wonderful.  Our pace is different.  Our days are different.  Suddenly there seems like there are 3 extra hours in everyday... and of course there is time in one day to accomplish a million things- from chores to fun stuff.

What I can't seem to figure out is WHY life feels so different right now- what the major shift could be....

I'm still working.  If anything, my work schedule and work load are heavier than they've been in awhile- trying to transition to a new position, trying to close out the normal end of the year stuff, (of course) there are a million Kindergarteners who need to be screened, and I am working out of boxes 'cause I haven't yet found the time or energy to rearrange and unpack in my new office (I have been left with shall we say, interesting furniture, and I need to figure out how to make that furniture work in that space for ME).

Mr. Furedy is still working.  He's got a lot on his plate right now with work, and it is really filling his days.  Not to mention he's using his extra time working on his car (there is some issue with his car that he's been working on for about three weeks or so... every time he thinks he has it... foiled again), fixing the usual stuff around the house (just replaced the light in the pool- Mr. Furedy is SO handy!), and trying to squeeze in at least a little canyoneering when he can (and it has been very little lately, but now that the magical summer is here... hopefully it will be more).

The kids.  The kids are going to be spending the next few weeks with my mom and dad.  This means that their days are way more relaxed, but they are still getting up in the morning, still have a lot of the same routines, and mostly the same schedule (I'm sure the day is much more fun just hanging out with Nana and Papa than learning in school all day... I will concede to that point!).

Despite all of this, which seems to mostly be life as usual, summer seems to have seriously changed the mood in our house.  We just seem to have more time in every day.  Today I (make that we as pretty much everybody in house helped with some amount of these chores, especially Mr. Furedy and Colin)  accomplished an UNBELIEVABLE amount... from karate, grocery store, cleaning out the fridge, cleaning the kitchen (including my plant shelf that needed some serious attention), doing all the laundry, cleaning the entire downstairs (and some of the upstairs.. still need to do Colin's room), putting the laundry away, packing for our trip this weekend (more about that later), packing the kids clothes for Nana and Papa's house next week, a Costco and a Target run, an awesome 5 mile run, front and back yard edged and mowed and some new plants planted... and after all of that we still had time for a nice long swim and a great grilled dinner out by the pool.  My house is clean, my kids are clean, we are organized for next week AND it is only 9 p.m. AND I am not dead tired.

And I know that the whole summer will be like this.  (and it will be simply amazing).  It gets even better in late June and early July when I can take some time off work... that's when the real cleaning and real cooking gets started.

What I don't understand is WHY this happens only in the summer??  Is it because my kids are more rested and relaxed so they are more go with the flow?  Does just removing the homework, backpack, lunchbox packing, etc. that invades our lives during the school year really make that much of a difference?  Is it because the sun is up and shining when I get up in the morning and just fading when I put my kids to bed?  Is it because this is just what we've made our minds up that summer will be like so we fulfill our own prophecy?  Maybe the smell of sunscreen affects us in a way that we are not aware of??

I don't know.  Truly, I don't.  But I sure love it (really, love it, with every ounce of my being..).

Here's hoping that summer lasts a good long while this year....
Wishing all of you a wonderful summer as well...
C

A Letter to My Small Fry

Dearest  Julia and Colin,
On August 10, 2009, it was the first day of school and I was the proud momma of a first and a third grader.  You both seemed SO grown up to me on that day...

Today was the last day of school and I am now the proud momma of a second and a fourth grader (so hard to believe, I'm even having a hard time TYPING it...).

Check out the pictures below and see what an amazing year it has been....

Colin, you are no longer a baby (although you'll always be MY baby).  You are SO grown up now.  I've watched you learn so much this year- you became a READER (holy cow, I can't believe the level at which you are reading!), your math skills grew so much (keeping going with that algebraic thinking my dear and you can be an engineer like Daddy and your uncles!), and you gained more confidence in yourself.  You learned to stand on your own two feet and to stand up to your sister a little bit more (although the house was much more peaceful when you just took it....).  You also grew some front teeth, which is always good....

Julia, I think you grew more on the inside this year.  You went from being someone who just wasn't quite sure how much she liked herself to being a self-confident little lady.  You took off as a reader and REALLY discovered the true JOY that can be found in a good book (I still can't believe that you are starting the Harry Potter books over again though!)  You bonded with your teachers this year- I believe that Mrs. Collins (aka Ms. Stolfa) helped you discover your true self, and Ms. Munzinger helped you to understand that it was okay to just be who you are.  And I fully agree.  I happen to absolutely love the person that you are and I am looking forward to knowing you as you grow older.  And the physical changes are coming as well.  You know, the ones that you aren't quite sure how to feel about, the ones that are taking you from being my little girl to being a young lady.  (Yeah, those.  Well... momma could really stand for you to wait a LITTLE longer for all of that- K?)

Munchies- I am just so very proud of both of you!  You are both great students, great people, and overall a lot of fun to be around.  You both grew so much  this year.  You were lucky to have the best teachers who were matched (just to you) to help you grow in the ways that you needed to grow.  You worked hard, played hard, and grew an AMAZING amount.  This mom couldn't ask for even one more thing!

Happy Summer Julia and Colin... you have earned a GREAT ONE!
Love always, your momma

Dear Blog...

I miss you my friend.  I miss talking with you.  I miss pounding out my thoughts on the keyboard.  I miss long rambling posts with way too many pictures.  I even miss surfing around other people's blogs to get post ideas (no, wait, I would NEVER do that...).

But here's the thing.  I'm tired.  Not sleepy tired, but dog-gone bone tired.  WHY you ask?

WELL.....School year is coming to a close.  Choir ends on Saturday.  Colin just got his orange belt in karate.  I am working out ALL the TIME (okay, not all the time, but it sure feels like it).  Our house is cluttered.  I went off like a crazy person for a fun weekend in Vegas and haven't caught up yet.  I am moving into a new position at work and it is giving me lots to think about.  Basically.... life is just nuts and raisins right now.

So, instead of writing the lovely post that is rattling around in my head about how proud I am of my two little kiddos and how they have both worked very hard this year at things that don't come easy for them (choir and karate) and how successful they both were and how we as adults could really learn something from them and how proud I am as a momma... I'm gonna write that I am T-I-R-E-D and I am going to go to bed.

Maybe in a couple of weeks when a few more of these lovely things wrap themselves up I will be able to return and write a post that does not contain strange phrases and run on sentences.  Until then.... love and kisses..
Carrie

VEGAS Baby....

So, you know the saying... what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.  I think I am going to embrace that philosophy for our latest trip....

(I know, you are SO disappointed!!  I can hear the crying now through my computer....  oh, okay, alright, enough!!  So we'll share just a LITTLE bit....)

We headed to Vegas Thursday night.  It was a good drive, with lots of time for Joe and I to talk and laugh.  (and yeah, so, um, I slept a little bit too... hey, it had been a busy week!)

Thursday evening was fairly uneventful, but we were up fairly early on Friday morning to head here for our skydiving adventure.  (For those of you who don't know, Joe asked to go skydiving for his  birthday.  He has decided that life is too short, and you should just do the things that you've always wanted to do.  Note things that 'he' wanted to do...)  Unfortunately, after suiting up and waiting for a little over an hour, we found out that the winds were TOO high and we were not going to be able to jump that day.  (this was disappointing, but also VERY reassuring because we knew that they were taking the whole thing very seriously and putting safety above all else!)  They asked us to come back the next day at 7:30 a.m. for another try....

Friday night we went and saw Love at the Mirage.  AMAZING.  Seriously, AMAZING.  I have NEVER seen anything like it.  The music was amazing, the show was amazing, the stage was amazing..... I was blown away.  We managed (at about 4 p.m. in the afternoon) to score FRONT ROW tickets to the 9:30 show.  I had SO much fun.... and we stayed up soooo late.

Saturday morning arrived very early!  But, we were off to try the skydiving thing AGAIN.  Thank goodness the wind was calm this time and we actually got to jump. 
Here's a photo of us pre-jump... (I look so AMAZINGLY calm....)

And here's the video of Joe's jump....

 

(No, we didn't buy my video.  Trust me, the videos were WAY expensive, and so we decided that just one would be okay.... plus, Joe had bought me front row tickets to Love the night before.... )


I have to admit that I was not that excited about this whole experience... I was going to be with Joe while he had this 'once in a lifetime' experience...  but in all honesty, it was pretty AMAZING.  I was not a fan of the free fall, but once that parachute opened and I was just drifting down... looking at the beautiful scenery... there is nothing like it.  If you have never done it... I would really suggest giving it a try!  (We need to give a shout out here to Vegas Extreme Skydiving, and our new BESTEST friends... Jake and Brad.  They took very good care of us.... and I don't think either of us have ever been "closer" to a strange man before...)

After skydiving, pretty much everything else seems a little, well.... boring.  We did some shopping, I played a few penny slots, and we spent some time by the pool.  We had a really good time Saturday night- we had a great dinner and then spent a few hours rocking it at the Bar at Times Square in the New York New York.  I am a HUGE fan of dueling piano bars, and this one is the BEST.  We had lots of fun (and... shh.. don't tell him I told you... but Joe actually DANCED with me!!)  Here's the one requisite shot of me all dressed up.... (sorry, no couple photos, we just didn't think to ask someone to take our picture!)

Sunday morning we enjoyed a buffet breakfast and then headed home.... back to reality....

It was a great trip and just what the doctor ordered... for both of us!  We needed to recharge our batteries, and this trip was just what we needed before the craziness of the last month of school hits.... now to look forward to our summer vacation in San Juan Capistrano!

Have a great one....
C