Our "professional" cleaner.

So going home after work yesterday was...TERRIFIC, WONDERFUL, PLEASANT, REFRESHING, LOVELY, EXCITING, AWESOME.... and CLEAN!!! I am pretty certain almost every one of you know how much of a clean freak I am. Well yesterday, someone else who is pretty much just as freaky about cleaning as I am, came to clean our home :) She did an awesome job and I am so truly greatful! Our "professional" (as Emma-Leigh liked to call her) did things I absolutely never do like baseboards, window sills, chair rail molding, that sort of thing. She did the routine stuff as well - bathrooms, kitchen, floors but it is amazing how much difference a clean house will make you feel when you get home. The girls were pleased and are gonna try really hard to keep it that way...until the next time she comes :)

It's finally Spring....or is it?

What a beautiful first day of Spring we had! It was a beautiful day - a little on the chilly side but the girls were able to be outside so it was fantastic! Friday night Brett, Sarah, Riley, Shawn, April and Abigail came over. I got pizza and beer and we all hung out together and played Scattegories. It was a lot of fun! Even Damion eventually got in on the game :) Riley spent the night with us and she did great! She's so cute...the picture above was taken right before bedtime. She did great throughout the night and woke up around 7:15am. She got up and played with Emma-Leigh and the Barbies and we took Brett & Sarah some lunch around 11, got the car washed after that and then hung out at home. They played outside for a little while on the trampoline and the playground and then layed down for a nap. She was picked up around 4 and after that, Emma-Leigh and I ventured to the grocery store. We had a smorgasboard of things for dinner that night - I fixed a salad at the Ingles salad bar, Madison had sushi and Damion and Emma-Leigh had a rotisserie chicken. We settled down for "Family Movie Night" with Where the Wild Things Are but didn't make it very far. We were so sleepy!!

Sunday the girls and I got up and went to church. We skipped sunday school and watched the rest of Where the Wild Things Are. Damion ended up going to the office to work for a little while and around 7 we met him and Shawn at Papas & Beer!

Today is Ayla's 3rd birthday!! Happy Birthday, Ayla!! Madison & Emma-Leigh will be leaving on Friday afternoon with mom, dad and Nana to go celebrate with her. Time goes by so fast! I can't believe she is already 3.

Oh, and in case I haven't mentioned it...Sarah is pregnant!! She is due October 28th.

Lots of things to look forward to :)

A few funny things Emma-Leigh said this weekend - she was telling me about how one of her friends at school wore a tuxedo to school and she said "He just wore the tux, not the sedo." I just busted out laughing at her. She was telling me he just wore the jacket, not the pants. Then she was describing one of her overweight friends at school as being "wide" she said that is the nice way to put it. She's so funny!

Madison is spending more and more time in her room it seems. She tends to play her music really loud and write in her journal all while watching tv and sometimes talking on her phone. She is certainly in her "tweens", only coming out for food. I ocassionally will hear her laughing hysterically while in there. I'm just glad she's having a good time!

Spring Picture Day!

My Friday morning didn't start out to well...the alarm clock said 6:13...I get up at 5:30. To make matters worse, it's picture day! Good thing is, it is also pizza day for lunch and I only had to pack snacks, so that helped time-wise. Emma-Leigh got up and got ready pretty quickly. I curled her hair and she wore a white sundress with a brown sweater over top of it and her high heel strappy silver sandals. (I did think ahead and packed her some clothes and shoes to change into) Madison wore her Abercrombie jeans with the holes in them and a blue Abercrombie t-shirt. Emma-Leigh wanted to know why Madison wasn't wearing a dress. I had to explain to her that the older you get, the less likely you are to dress up for stuff like this. She didn't quite understand but I am quite certain she will hit that same phase.

So tonight is sleepover with Rileybug night! ya-hoo!! I have been waiting a long time for this day! The girls are very excited as well. Tonight we will have Pizza & Beer (instead of Papas & Beer) at our house with Shawn, April and Abigail. A bit of a change for us but it will be just as much fun. Hopefully Brett and Sarah will join us!

I found a new XM station the other day. It is called Hair Nation and it is lovely. I added a new song to the playlist..see if you can figure out which one I listened to on the new channel!

Beautiful sunnies skies in the forecast this weekend. It's about time :)

95 days and counting...

95 days until we sail away on the Fantasy!! I can hardly wait :) Passports for the girls have been applied for and we are ready to go! Bayley will be traveling with us as will Shawn, April and Abigail. Madison & Bayley will have their own cabin - which we are hoping Emma-Leigh will want to join them - and they are thoroughly excited. It will be our first time going on a cruise and we are all looking forward to it!

This past Monday night, Emma-Leigh went for soccer evaluations. She has decided she wants to play soccer and will be playing for Biltmore Baptist Church's league - Upward. This is not a competitive league. She will learn the rules of the game (and a Bible verse or two) and become familiar with how to play. I am very excited for her! She is also excited. Madison has joined the Stage Crew for the Musical Theatre at Cane Creek. She unfortunately did not make the cast but was accepted as Stage Crew. She is very crafty and creative and is enjoying being able to participate. Damion is busy as ever at work. He has many jobs but is mainly chasing people around, trying to collect. I really don't understand why someone would have you do work on their home and then not be able to pay. We are in a recession, I guess. It's got to get better! I am working as normal - going to the gym 3 days a week and have been walking 4 miles. I am very sad that my favorite Body Step instructor, Tera, has moved away :( I must admit that I have not been to class since she left. It's just not the same. I do enjoy walking though and am hoping to have that bikini figure in just 95 days!

On another note, a mailbox jumped out in front of me yesterday as I was dodging a huge hole in the road at the entrance to Glen Arden - so now I have a deep scratch on the side of my car. Lesson learned - do not get in such a rush all the time!! Have some patience ;)

History in the making...Saturday School!

Because of the crazy weather in Buncombe County our school district has missed 11 school days. There is still more snow to come (according to the Farmers Almanac) and all the teacher work days and some holidays have been taken away. (Memorial Day being one of them, which we probably won't participate in.) So Saturday was the first day EVER of school. Bayley is staying at our house for 5 days because Cindy and Randy are in Vegas which was great motivation for Madison to get up and get ready. Emma-Leigh was MVP in her class and was able to share her favorite snack with her classmates and she was also ready to go! I had already decided to clean the house that morning and was actually pretty excited about it. The next scheduled Saturday school is March 27th - I promise I will not clean that day! :) Saturday school is like an early release day which means they get out at 12:25 and 1pm. The time flew by and before I realized it, it was time to go pick them up. I can honestly say I wasn't too excited about getting up early but I got over it.

We have been attending church at Biltmore Baptist for about 8 weeks now. Emma-Leigh is involved in AWANA's on Wednesday nights and is soaring! She loves it! Madison has lots of friends in the youth group there and is starting to come around. She told me this past Wednesday night that she gave her life to the Lord and will be getting baptised on April 14th. That was music to my ears! I am continually praying for Damion. He only gets 1 day off each week (Sunday) and sometimes even works that day but I am holding out hope that he will come around. It would mean so much to me if he were to start going with us.

We are in the middle of planning our summer vacation. This year we will go on a cruise to the Bahamas!! We are all very excited about this. Bayley has been invited and will cruise along with us. Madison couldn't be more happy!

vent session

I'm struggling this morning. Trying to come to terms with some things. Why do people act one way about a person, then when face-to-face with that person, act differently? I hate exaggerated stories. I hate when people are 2-faced. Don't get me wrong, I'm a sucker for gossip. But when actually talking about another human being, their values, morals, just them as a person - I don't do it. Some people say, "rise above it, life's too short". I get that, but right now, the way I'm feeling, I want to just remove myself from the situation all together. Don't deal with it, push it under the rug. Life is too short to have to worry about other things. Family is most important. Friends come and go. Some people live for the drama. Not me. I'm happy with a boring life. I know that what goes around, comes around. I just don't want to be a part of it anymore. It makes me mad, mad enough to cry....I'm heading out for some retail therapy.

Happy New Year!

okay, can I say again that time goes by way too fast? I wish I had the time to update everyday. My kids say the darndest things and so much happens in just one day it is hard to sit down and recap it all. Christmas was a blast. Tiff and Todd came the weekend before and we had an incredible snow storm. They were traveling into town on Friday but had to stop in Hickory and start again the next morning. They made it safe and sound but it was a mess.

Christmas Eve was spent with Damion's family at Brandon and Alejandra's new home. It is way out in Hendersonville but lovely and spacious. We had dinner and spent some time relaxing. It was very enjoyable! Then the next morning, Santa had come! (surprise! I was convinced the girls were getting coal this year) We had a great day hanging around at home. It was somewhat of a white Christmas, the snow from the previous week was still lingering (it was about 12 inches). That night, we went to mom and dad's and had Christmas with dad's family, then after they left we exchanged gifts with Brett, Sarah & Riley. I was lucky enough to be off the whole week of Christmas and it was SO nice. I enjoyed every minute of it and wished for one more week off when it was time to go back to work. No such luck :( the girls enjoyed being at home. I swear they are such homebodies!

So now it is the New Year! Madison spent New Year's Eve at a party that her friend, Briana was having at her house and Damion and Emma-Leigh were asleep before 9. I tried very hard to stay up until 12am but just didn't make it! I am getting so old! So now we are back into the routine. School has been on a 2-hour delay this week, except for today and snow is in the forcast for tonight. We will see!