A piece of the moon

Brady is studying the phases of the moon in school, and for the next few months, he is supposed to draw the moon each night.  Well, this was the first week, and we could not find the moon 6/7 nights!  One night we even piled into the car and drove for 30 minutes to the various views of the lake.  I think we were waiting too late to do this, because tonight at 6pm we saw it on the way to basketball.  The kids were relieved.  I took a picture of the view from our backyard just in case!

dvds still at the top of the front stairs...............

Day of Discovery

We spent the day in Charlotte with our good friends.  Lunch at a burger bar, and then a great afternoon at the Discovery Place Children's Museum.  The kids had a blast getting their hands on everything.  It was a nice way to spend a Sunday, and to have the kids use their brains and some of their muscle for several hours.

and the dvds got to enjoy a quiet house, while they remain on the table at the top of the stairs...still not away, day 6

Brady Bop-its

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We were on our way out the door to our friends' house for dinner and games.  Brady, who is quite competitive, was still practicing as we walked out..........too funny!

and the dvds..........now they are at the top of the front stairs.  picture is on my cell, and for some reason can not upload it....

Sleepovers

About 4 years ago, the kids started having sleepovers every Friday and Saturday night.  To qualify as a sleepover, at least two of them are in the same room and thats about it.  It is really cute, and more so that even at 6, 7 and 8, they still get excited about it.  On Friday during breakfast, one of them will say, "guys, sleepover!" 
The latest thing is to sleep in the family room with the two couches pushed together:

I hope that this is one of the things that they remember years from now, and laugh about how much fun this was, and how excited they were, and of course, what super cool parents they had!

As far as those dvds?   Lets just say, ssdd....same spot different day, still not away day 4.....

My Life Raising Pigs

Okay, so I may not be an official pig farmer, it sure feels like it lately.   It is so frustrating when rooms are wrecked.  I am not talking about a little messy, W R E C K E D!  Socks on the bookshelves is not my idea of decor.
I had high expectations this morning.  HIGH.  I actually got up before the kids alarms, and we had a smooth "get out the door"  morning.  I usually stay home on Thursdays to catch up on housework, and other tasks.  Oh, right, back to the pig farming.... Well, the kids rooms were beyond the "tidy"  and I had every intention to clean all three bedrooms today.  Remember that I said my expectations were high?
Well, I went into the room of my littlest piggy, and looked around..........

  

Anyway, it took me 4 hours just to do Delaney's room. Now the good news is that it is head to toe done, but now I have piggy #1 and piggy #2 to take care of. Other good news however, is that since her room was so bad, the worst is over.

I even made the bed for her American Girl doll for crying out loud!  The best part about it though, was when she came home.  I waited for her to go upstairs, and after a minute followed her.  She was standing facing her window and just looking all around.  She turned around, wide eyed and grinning.  When she saw me, she ran full speed and jumped into my arms.  She hugged me so tight and did not let go.  That was the best compensation I have ever received for 4 hours of work. 

As for the dvds, the made their way into my sitting room. Now today is the night that Don does a lot of cleaning around the house, so I am assuming that he picked them up.  Now lets see how long they stay in my sitting room.........dvd day 3

A Work in Progress

Well, I know that this picture is not great but as it was pitch black outside, and there is no electricity in the room yet, it remains "as is"  for today's writing inspiration.  This is the second half of our, still unnamed, but what I think we will continue to call, back porch.  We had a deck with composite material included when we built our house.  Two summers, 50 cans of DEET, and 1,000,000,000 mosquito bites later, we screened in that area, and added a larger outdoor deck to it.  Well, looked nice, but was not functional.  We never sat outside, due to the continuing bug situation, and the heat.  We were always huddled into the screened porch.  We decided sometime in 2009, that we would screen in that area as well, and begin preparation for an inground pool as well.  I came up with the brillant idea of adding a fireplace to the newly screened area.  This has been installed today, and you can finally start to get the feel for what the finished product will be like.  We are pleased with the quality of work thus far, and although we are anxious to have this completed,  know that it will take time in order to be done properly and to all of our specifications. 
With the new year still fresh in our midst, I have again recommitted to putting myself first on my list of things to do.  I am forever inspiring and motivating people to do this for themselves, and as the saying goes, it is time for me to practice what I preach!  I have been down this road before, although luckily, the load I now bear is much less than in years past.   I am one of those people that will always have to remember that weight maintenance is an ongoing thing.  I fell into the "I am skinny now!"  trap a few years ago, and due to my ignorance, have put 30 lbs back on!    In 2004, I successfully lost 88 lbs through hard work, dedication, and most importantly putting myself first.  It may seem terrible for a wife and a mother to do this, but I will tell you one absolute truth - when I take this time for myself I am a better wife and a better mother.  I have more patience, I am stronger and it helps me focus on all of the other things that I need to get done in a day.
We all know that anything really worthwhile takes time and hard work.  We know that when things are done right, instead of the "quick fix" , the path to get there is long.  When you know what your desired outcome is, and once you make that decision to go on that path, you should not stop until you get there.  So today, even though I taught a cycle class this morning, I made the time to run 4 miles.  I felt great, and could have gone much further, but had to get back for the bus.  (see I AM a good mom!)  It also was 35 degrees, and since tomorrow I teach 2 classes back to back, I did not want to push it.  But let me tell you, that I have my focus back.  It feels wonderful.  2010 is MY year, so look out people!

And speaking of looking out, beware of the dvds on the floor in the kids' hallway....day 3!

The End of Another Day

Here is a shot of the kings and queens enjoying a few bedtime stories.  We have gotten away from that ritual, and are working on bringing it back.  It is so important to have, not only the wind down time, but the chance to cuddle and talk about the day.  I wonder if they mentioned to each other anything about the dvds on the floor....   You will notice from yesterday, that they have moved to the side somewhat, so I am not sure if someone ran by them and the power of their movement shoved them aside, or what.  All I know is they are still on the floor............. day 2.

Keep on Walking

More and more lately I have been noticing that I am THE only one who picks up anything that is out of place and returns it to where it belongs.  My "housemates"  have all mastered the art of walking past folded towels, stuffed animals, a sock, piece of paper, plastic cup, the list goes on and on and on!  Brady got two dvds for Christmas that have been at the top stairs on the ledge since December 26th......(note today's date)   Every day, these dvds are walked past, and no one has thought to carry them down the 20 something steps, and put them in the dvd drawer.  When standing at the top of these stairs, you could actually lean on the dvds, and gaze down at where they belong!  But alas, I live with the kings and queens of  "keep on walking". 

While the kids were getting ready for bed, I came up the stairs to check on their progess.  I immediately noticed that the dvds were not in their resting place!  Wow, amazing, right?    I caught my astonished breath, only to note that at some point today, they were knocked down, and obviously, could not be picked up.  I mean, that could be dangerous, someone may pull something important!  As if that did not bother me enough, note how even the dog has learned to ignore things!  I mean really, dogs usually sniff and check out everything!  So it continues, not a sniff, stare or acknowledgement by anyone.  Let's see how long it stays there.  I'll be hanging with the dogs.

"Organizing"

We have been speaking to the kids about taking more responsibility around the house, and helping out in areas that they are capable of.  Of course, the first question "Will we get paid?"  was in unison, and for the umpteenth time, I recited all the reasons why they should help "just because".  We have accidentally trained these kids to expect a financial reward for doing things.  I went with the lame "it is just a nice feeling when your house is neat"  "it is easier to play when you can find what you are looking for"  "we always get you what you need, and sometimes extra things that you want"  "you shouldn't only help to get paid", and I think at that point, the Nintendos were back on......game over for me.
This morning after religion class, we stopped at the grocery store for some essentials.  Among them were some new toothbrushes and toothpaste.  I also decided to buy the mouth rinse that they make for kids that shows them where they really need to brush.  When I explained to the kids what it was, their eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning again.  Who knew?  They wanted to make sure that all moms were aware that such an amazing product existed, and I, slightly embarrased and feeling like a terrible mother, admitted that this has been around for years.  Oh well, better late than never.
We got home and when I pulled into the driveway, I reminded the kids that we were expecting them to start helping more, and that they were going to carry in groceries.  I did not get a single moan, or request for financial compensation!  One by one they made several trips to the car and in a flash everything was inside.  I was now expecting them to disappear.  Much to my surprise, Brady started unpacking!  He said, "Come on guys, lets help Mommy unpack."  I think I would have pinched myself, but I wanted to see where this dream was going to take me.
They put away some things that they could, and at that point, I thanked them profusely and encouraged them to scram while I finished up and then made lunch.  With that, some normalcy returned and the Nintendo DS's were brought back to life.  After lunch, I told the kids that they needed to work on picking up anything lying around that belonged to them, and to start taking care of their messes.  I began to fold laundry and shout friendly reminders about who left what on the back stairs.  Delaney noticed that there were some bathroom items and in a flash brought everything upstairs.  Brady came down quickly after that to retrieve some items that we keep in the pantry for the early morning grooming ritual.  He announced that they were all going to get ready by themselves in their bathroom from now on, and he was gone as quickly as he arrived.  I noticed that there was no fighting or crying, but could tell that all 3 kids were working on something together.  Brady then asked me if it was okay to open the Lysol wipes, because Rory was going to clean their bathroom counter!  Please don't wake up, I whispered to myself.
After several minutes I went upstairs to find these strangers that had taken over my children's bodies.  There they were, grinning, kneeling in the bathroom, organizing all of their toiletries.  They were so proud of their work, and I have to admit that I am proud of finally beginning to instill a sense of responsibility and ownership into them, or finally buying that exciting mouth rinse.  Better late than never, indeed!

His and Hers

"His" would be the "I am a man, I think I am sick, it's the end of the world" bottle of Ginger Ale. "Hers" is the wine. Nuff said.

What a chore!

Today's blog is not funny, thought provoking or creative. It is about my Friday. I woke up at 4:40am. On my way out the door at 5:03 the phone rang (which scared the CRAP out of me) and informed us that schools were running on a 2 hr delay. I briefly spoke with Don to make sure that was okay with his schedule and out the door I went. I taught a "race day" cycle class at 5:30am, and then after doing some office work, taught 2 water classes from 8:30-10:30. I had a meeting until 12, left by 1 and headed to Walmart to get some groceries. I arrived home at 2pm and unpacked in time to go meet the school bus. Only the bus never came. We got a call that the bus had a flat tire, so I jumped in the car with my friend Barbara and we picked the kids up. We arrived home around 2:45, and I cleaned out the fridge and freezer with Brady and Delaney's "help". It took 2 ridiculous hours, and sadly, picture number 1 is the finished product! We then headed off to basketball, and had dinner. It is now 8:30 pm, and the laundry is still not away, the Christmas decor is still all over the diningroom, and I am not sure if I have any clean white socks for tomorrow. But we are going to settle in to the family room now and watch a movie. It is important to remember the important things, and as long as I take care of those, I am doing alright.....right?

Non-fiction

Rory came home yesterday talking about how they are starting to read biographies in the 2nd grade. She was so excited to tell me what she could recall about George Washington Carver. I asked her a few questions about it, and we moved on to math and the rest of the afternoon.

Today when she came home from school, she immediately took out her reader and began to read to me the entire chapter about his life. She read so intently, and even Brady and Delaney were drawn in to the story. The original reason behind my taking her picture, was that she was reading so passionately, and looked so darn cute, that I just took a quick picture, not yet planning on using it today. And so, she continued to read, about the challenges in his life, the things that he accomplished, and desire to share all that he knew with others. It is one of those stories that really touches you when you think about what someone overcame and did with their life. It was a reminder of the good that has and still does exist in the world. When Rory finished reading I asked her what she thought about the story. It was one of those times when as a parent I was pretty sure that I knew what her answer would be. I was certain that she was going to focus on all of the things that he discovered that you could do with peanuts - namely ice cream, cake and candy. Instead, she simply replied, "He was an amazing man." Her words gave me chills, as she summarized his life perfectly. I then asked her what homework she had regarding the story. She said, "Oh none, I just wanted to tell you more about him." She is amazing too!

Choose Your Attitude

This has been my theme today, choosing your attitude. I have been making a conscious effort lately to be as positivc as I can be. There is a quote that I keep on my computer at the YMCA that says, "you can't be unhappy if you are singing or smiling". I love that expression, and truly try to live it out. You can not always control the situation that you find yourself in, but you can choose how you react to it.

Today, being Wednesday, is another early morning for me. I teach a 5:30 Spin class, so have my alarm clock set for 4:40. For those that know me, to say that I love to sleep is an understatement! I am a true night owl, and usually if I am seeing any type of 4am, I am on my way to bed, and not the other way around. But, nevertheless, this is my fate to date, so one must do what one must do. Much to my surprise, I awoke at 4:08am. It is unbelievably rare for me to wake up without a booming alarm anytime before 9am. I looked at the clock in disbelief. My normal reaction would be annoyance of being robbed those extra winks, and I would toss and turn, grumbling and moaning until that booming siren began, and my official wake up time arrived.

When I first stared at the clock, it took a few seconds to register the time, and I noted that I felt fairly well rested. Instead of cursing Mr Sandman for skimping on me, I thought to myself, "Wow, I still have time for a 32 minute nap! How great is it, to get to take a nap right after a night of sleep?!" I kid you not, I honestly fell right back to sleep, peaceful and happy, and when that loud siren, that I need as an alarm, made itself known at 4:40, I felt ready for a great day.

I brought this positive attitude with me and taught, what I perceived to be, a great class. I continued my day bouncing back and forth between mommy at school, wife at home, Group Ex Coordinator at work, and so on. No matter what hat I wore today, I tried to choose the positive attitude. At times this was harder than others. At times I had to separate myself and find another focus until I could be positive. After settling the after dinner activity, I began to ponder my day, and my picture for this blog. My house has suffered from the result of the back to school routine, and it seemed that everywhere I turned there was some level of mess and chaos. Please let me be positive, I thought. I then entered my hallway to turn on the porch light. As I did, I was greeted by the warm light of the Christmas tree that we still have up in the foyer. I noted how pretty the tree looks, and how from a certain vantage point, if you stand in the foyer, my home looks peaceful and pretty. I found my positive spin, and took a picture to capture the moment. I then remembered that today is Little Christmas. In all the years that I have been married, (10) I have never had my tree up this late. I took the picture of the tree and smiled. I am trying to keep that smile going as I walk past the laundry, zhu zhu pets, wii remotes, and clutter. I am smiling now as I realize how lucky I am to have it. If you need me, I'll be in the foyer......

Nighty Night

Sigh...It seems like only a few bedtime kisses ago we used to all curl up on the couch and watch a Baby Einstein video, change a few diapers, read Goodnight Moon and Tumble Bumble and send the kids off to sweet dreams.

The tv now holds "just one more Mario Kart race" and while we are cleaning up the kitchen, preparing snacks for tomorrow's lunches and organizing backpacks and classroom folders, (oh wait that's all me........ ha ha Don, if you ever read this) we shout up the stairs "Rory get out of the tub" "Don't forget your teeeeeeeeeth!" "I WILL look for your library book" and so on..... the kids continue on their race towards independence. Once I get to the kids hallway, I usually hear all sorts of bleeps and tweets, and usually some high energy music playing. Certainly very different from carrying 3 sleepy babies upstairs, sitting quietly and tucking them into cribs and car beds. Tonight the scene was truly very typical of the kids as of late- lifestyle, personality and all. Delaney is almost always the last man standing. She is a stubborn little firecracker, and throughly enjoys anything that is "not for babies". She received a Nintendo DS for her birthday on 12/9 and plays it before bed. Rory has always been our best sleeper. She never has to be told twice to come cuddle, or just hang and relax. One funny story of her was when she was about 3 and we were at an interactive museum. Don went to sit on a bench and watch the kids, and she sat next to him, hands behind her head and said "AHH, this is the life!" Brady who has always been the organizer, spends more time on his collections then figuring out how to keep them somewhere neatly. Tonight when I went to tuck him in, he was all the way at the end of his bed, because he had knocked over a cup of water. He decided that instead of getting a towel and drying it off, he would remove his lamp from the area and lay the lamp on his bed. He then scooted down so that he could still lay down and use the lamp to read. I did manage to praise his smarts in not leaving the lamp near water, but we discussed the best option, which would have been drying the shelf, returning the lamp, and THEN continuing to read. He was blown away by my intelligence and thanked me profusely for this insight. We then curled on the couch and watched Baby Einstein followed by a reading of Tumble Bumble.....OR he grumbled, got out of bed reluctantly, dried the shelf and put his lamp back. You decide the ending, I am busy with very important things to do.... Tumble bumble up the stairs, open doors and check for bears.......
We continue to make wonderful nighttime memories~

Good eats!

Today we returned back to the hectic lives of school, basketball, and changes at our jobs. I started another "early bird" aka 5:30am cycle class today, so was headed out the door at 5:10am. It was 19 degrees,which is very rare here in N.C, and I can tell you that I was G L A D to have the autostart in the Enclave.

After a long day of school, work and basketball, I still had to whip up dinner for Don and I. I am always looking for good recipes, and have been experimenting with some various Hungry Girl recipes.

I can tell you that this entire taco salad, shell and all, was around 350 calories. It was delish! 100 calorie, low carb, high fiber tortilla shell, soy crumbles, black beans, onions, avocado, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, jalapenos, sour cream and shredded cheese...YUM!

The Party's Over

So, this is where I spent the better part of my last day of Christmas vacation. I camped out in my pjs next to the fireplace in my livingroom, and dedicated about 5 hours to planning the next 2 weeks of Spin classes. I will be teaching 6 of these classes this week, and want to make sure that the workouts are varied, effective, and FUN. You will see my trusty itunes account, which is home to 10,000 songs. Funny, that with all of those to choose from, I probably pull from the same 200 on a regular basis, and lately I have been trying to get in some Lady GaGa whenever I can....(LOVE HER) So there you have the tricks of my trade...computer, heart rate training zone book, tons of paper, and index cards to hold the final product. I came up with three new classes, and feel ready to start a great year at the Y.

I also teach at one of the local schools every Monday afternoon, so I have yet to tweak the Zumba class that I am doing there tomorrow, but that should only take a little bit of time. Then there is my weekly water exercise class, which does not require music, and therefore is a snap to profile. With all of the craziness of school and activities starting up again tomorrow, I felt that it was time well spent to plan ahead so that I can take whatever else comes my way.

The girls had their buds over to play with their American Girl dolls and to plan their Halloween costumes. We overheard them discussing who was going to be which Spice Girl...yikes. Rory asked if we could go shopping for her costume, and we replied, "Sure, in OCTOBER." Too funny.

Brady is captured today doing what has become more frequent...EATING. "Mom, I'm starving" is becoming a daily chant, second only to "Do we have any more batteries for the Wii remote?" I am in for quite a ride with these kids!
And so, the sun begins to set here in Sedgleyland.

day 2

Well, you know what they say...."you can't make this stuff up". In true fashion of making the "ordinary, extraordinary' I will tell you about 1/2/10 Sedgley style.

I had the fortune of getting up and heading to the Y to take a cycle class at 8:15 this morning, I LOVE to take classes, and because I teach so much, don't always get the chance to, but am going to attempt to add that to my daily routine. Anyway, I love the Y, and even if I stopped working there, (which may happen when I am like, uh, 99 ) I would still go there EVERDAY.

Took a brillant class, and managed to sweat out close to 600 calories. Great way to start a Saturday! Don had the task of bringing all 3 kids to Brady's 9am basketball practice, and we all gathered back home around 10. I was sitting at the table savoring some high fiber oatmeal when they got home. I noticed immediately that it sounded like only one of the 4 loves of my life was walking into the house. When it was Don, I was taken aback, and thought, "what have you done with the kids?" They were all still in the car playing on their respective Nintendo DS's.....not sure exactly when they even realized that they were home, or that they were sitting in a car outside in 32 degree weather.... it was one of those funny and sad moments. As much as I was laughing at the fact that I have kids in that phase of life, I was thinking how sad it is to have kids in that phase on life....

So, the "vide-its" finally realized that they were home and freezing their asses off, and came inside. Now usually I am the "Queen of Christmas Past" come Dec 26th. However, since it takes so much time to decorate our house in N.C, I do enjoy keeping the spirit going. In NY, I used to have the tree at the curb arounnd lunchtime on 12/26, so for me, to still have decor up after the new year is something else.

Once the DS's were turned off, Don addressed the kids with his famous PLAN FOR THE DAY. (he loves those) He explained that we were going to have a Christmas scavenger hunt, after lunch, and that they were to find anything that was Christmas decor related and bring it into the dining room. Well, the kids could not do this fast enough. They immediately started to gather things as if they were squirrels hoarding nuts for the winter!

Within 30 minutes, all non fragile, "yes you can touch that" Christmas decor was in the dining room. We usually put up a main tree, and then two trees just for fun in our family room, and one on the outdoor dining room. This year, since we are in the process of screening in the whole back of the house, we only did the family room tree and the main tree. As per our good friend Richard's recommendation, we did the main tree in our foyer, so that has remained in tact, and we hope to work on that and the scavengar hunt results this week.

I had to bring Rory to basketball at 1pm, and we stopped at the grocery store afterwards. Somehow, (neither one of us is taking responsibility) as we walked past a display of juice, an entire bottle of cranberry juice spilled and emptied out all over the floor. I took a picture with my cell phone, but have yet figured out the mobile upload feature. So for now, that is my mental pic of the day....

We then had some neighborhood play dates, and since we felt like some diningroom table dancing may be in the future, we had no choice but to have Chris and AnnMarie over, since they will not be hosting any dance-a-thons anytime soon.

I prepared two Hungry Girl recipes. The boneless buffalo chicken and the onion rings. They were great, however, the name of the cookbook should be called "Starvin Marvin" because it took about 2 hrs to cut and prep the onion rings!

We played a few games and shared some laughs, and here I am. Happy and ready for another brewsky....

See ya tomorrow!

2010 Ready or Not?!

"Putting our best foot forward in 2010"

I am not sure what exactly Rory was drinking, but she was up with us until 3:30am!

Wow, a new year and a new thing added to my list of things to do. To post a photo each day in 2010 to capture our year. Where will the days of 2010 take us? What will our happiest day look like? When will our saddest and most trying time occur? There are many unknowns as we embark upon another year. I look forward to another year of watching my children grow, sharing many laughs and attempting to make others happy. I am continually overwhelmed and saddened by the speed in which my children are growing up. They are becoming more and more independent, and as much as I am proud of their milestones, they are bittersweet. Just today, Delaney finally has a genuine loose tooth. She has been hoping for one FOREVER, as she is always trying to catch up to Brady and Rory. Knowing her personality, she will probably pop it out as soon as she is able. That will certainly qualify for a picture on this blog!

We began preparing for 2010, by saying farewell to 2009 with our best friends in NC. As luck would have it, we have been able to find folks as crazy as we are. We have shared many great times with our North Carolina "framily" (friends that are family) and this night was no exception. There may not have been quite as many laughs as some of our other get togethers, however the night was a memorable one.

We gathered at Chris and AnneMarie's, in our most appropriate pajamas, at 7pm, (yes Barbara, we did not secretly meet an hour earlier) and the appetizers and beverages were plentiful. I was given the esteemed task of whipping up cosmos. The jury is still out on whether or not I will keep that job in the future.......

Before the clock struck 12, we saw the dining room table crash to the floor, a gummy bear stick to the ceiling, glass end up in the appetizers and feet covered in hummus. What a way to say farewell to 2009!

The kids had fun as usual, and the grownups managed to play a few rounds of catchphrase. As I loaded some of the pictures on the computer today to find one for this blog, I am not clear why we photographed Don's foot. It has made the cut as one of the first pics on this blog, and perhaps before this year ends, I will remember the reason behind the photo's origin.

We gathered at 11:30 today, to enjoy a "Carb-o-licious" brunch at the Shraga's house. Most of the New Year's Eve participants managed to attend, and we pieced the night together, and it felt great to spend the first day of the new year with "the usual suspects".

Before the brunch ended, a disturbing phone call brought us all back to reality. A co-worker was found dead this morning, and our usual loud crowd was suddenly silent and reflected on how one never knows where our next breath will take us.

So it is my intent to cherish each moment that I am given in 2010. I will take the time to stop and shoot! To forever remember these moments in my life - not just the posed and pretty, but the puke and pouting too.

Like the flash of a camera these moments are gone, so I will smile when I can, but will do my best to remember it all.