MOPS

Tonight was the first night of MOPS at our church for the year. It was a great night :) Last year I wasn't able to make it as much just because it was such a busy time but this year I'm going to make more of a priority to be there. I think I need to for my sanity. Between work, getting the house together, homework, etc I need to take some time out for me. Even though it's right after work it's still nice to have time with other moms who know what you're going through! Here's to a good year and a good group! Yeah!

I am so excited for this week to be over. I've been feeling pretty awful and my voice doesn't last for long so working has been a little bit of a challenge. I manage but I sure am tired at the end of the day. Looking forward to the weekend. It can't be much better :) Big game and my brother in laws are coming in town! We don't get to see Matt & Steve very much so we're looking to seeing the twins. Here's to a great weekend!

Preschool

Yesterday was the first day of preschool for Ana. She LOVED it. She went last year but this is 3 days a week and she felt like she was big stuff. This year she got to carry a backpack and had to get supplies like big sister Aiva. Unfortunately I was home sick yesterday but it was good timing as I got to see her off for her first day. If I weren't feeling so bad I would have gone with them but instead stayed back and heard the news once Nate got back home. After he came home it felt odd having both kids in school. I guess that's what it feels like to have a quiet house. Last time it was quiet was back in January when both girls stayed at my parents house for our birthdays. She ended up loving it and was zonked once she got home. I let her sleep about an hour before it was time for dinner. Today she did the same thing. She normally takes an afternoon nap but not anymore!

Aiva's been doing great with school. She's really trying to get an "orange" for the day to mean that she did AWESOME but she continues to get green meaning that she's just plain GOOD. I told her that we need to bake the teacher some cookies or brownies to get some "brownie points" (no pun intended) to get her an orange! She always wants to dress up for school which makes walking to school somewhat of a challenge. I had to go out to get different shoes and socks so her feet won't hurt on the way there and throughout the day. I think the highlight today was her buying her lunch and trading her breadstick for salad with one of her friends. At least she's making wise eating choices! She only gets to buy one time a week so this is really fun for her.

Today was my first day back to school after the long weekend. It was rough trying to get caught back up but I'll be back at it again tomorrow. I'm starting to feel better so that's good! Little Ana kept asking me if I were feeling better. I think she half cared and half really wanted to do something fun this weekend. She was a trooper while I was sick in bed...both girls were.

We've been starting to think about birthdays in October. It will be here before you know it. Not sure of all the details but Aiva is getting her ears pierced at some point. Nate's not to keen on the idea but it will grow on him. Once he sees how cute she looks he'll be OK. I can't wait! I know we're doing an iCarly cake and a Dora cake but that's all we've talked about. It's hard not to do it up big but we have to keep it small since Nate and I are going to Chicago in November. Can't wait...that's a whole different post! More tomorrow :)

Holiday?

This is certainly not the holiday weekend that I had in mind. John Chilcote was right when he just commented on my Facebook that I need a redo. Unfortunately I don't think I'm going to get one. Bummer...I've had my fair share of Hannah Montana, iCarley and any other show on Nick. Every time I get a burst of energy I try to clean but it only lasts about 10 minutes and then I'm down for 2-3 hours. Wanted to get Menu Plan Monday done so I can mark that off the list. Ana is starting school tomorrow so that's one more thing to add to the to-do list. Getting back to the MPM, here's what we have for this week. Since I didn't get to finish last week's meals, we're starting this week with them.

Monday - Italian Chicken

Tuesday - Spaghetti

Wednesday - Pancakes

Thursday - Grilled Cheese and homemade chicken noodle soup.

Friday - Pizza Night

I'm feeling the need to lay down again so I'm signing off. Have a great rest of the holiday weekend.

Buckeyes

We're very excited that it's football season and that we can watch all the Buckeye games! Here are our little buckeyes :)


Here's Aiva...



And here is Anastasia...
Today was a rough day. No matter what I did it backfired. I should have gave up when I got home but I didn't. Nate thought someone stole his phone and wallet today so after a trip home during lunch I found it in his shorts in our bedroom. Thankfully it wasn't stolen but it was pretty intense for an hour or so.

When I got home I wanted to get Aiva some no show socks but I waited after a short nap and that was hte wrong thing to do. The girls were antsy at the store, my nerves were shot, and I was ready to loose it. It's at those times that we run into people and they see the true you. Yes, it happened to me. A friend from MOPS was shopping (Shout out to you Suzy :) ) and the girls were driving me crazy and were fighting like cats and dogs. I just wanted out. I politely said hi, finished shopping, paid and got the heck out of there with Ana screaming for a "chilly" (which is an icee). If I weren't so mad I would have laughed at her comment. No laugh came out...I just wanted to get home pronto. I got dinner quick and now the girls are making up cheers about OSU. Again, if it weren't an hour past their bed time and if my nerves weren't fried I would get pictures. This is one mom who is being real...I am so ready for their bed time and for FRIDAY! TIME FOR BED!

Whoa!

Well we recovered from "moving" last night. It went fairly well I might add. It only took us 5 hours...the girls were great and we're just happy that it's over! Aiva had a great day. I guess the crew was on their way home and back at the school, someone pulled the fire alarm. According to the "crossing guard" this is the second time it's happened. Nothing like getting the fire drills over and done with at the beginning of school!

Dinner was good. Since we had McD's last night with moving, we had the steak tonight. Spaghetti tomorrow.

Funny things from the girls:

Ana - "When I get old I'm gonna be a butt doctor like Aunt Danelle and I'm gonna check Aiva's butt!" Aiva's response, "NEVER!"

Aiva - "Ana it's not called 'branch' it's called 'ranch'. Like Long Branch without the B."

Tonight we're heading to do some shoe shopping for Aiva - I'm prepared for drama from Ana. I can't get for one without getting for the other!

Moving!

Today is moving day...kind of! We're moving our storage place to another storage place. Not sure why other than we can save $20/month and it's closer. Every penny counts. Aiva had a great day yesterday and Ana is getting so excited for her school to start. Tonight we're going to curriculum night at Aiva's school to see what all she's going to be studying. Not sure if Nate's going to make it since we're "moving" but he'll attempt it. There's going to be a lot juggled into one evening. We were going to have steak but that might have to be moved til tomorrow.

Last night we went to UDF for ice cream after dinner. The girls love going there and heck, who doesn't love ice cream?!? While we were there I got a few pictures which made me think of our trip to UDF at the end of summer last year. Here are pictures of both girls...last year and this year. Here's last year...

And here is this year...

Ducks

This morning on my way to work, I saw this line of ducks walking on the side walk. It was so cute that I wished I could have pulled over to get a picture of it. Had there not been a car right behind me I would have. It looked a little something like this...It really looked like they were on their way to school. There were 5 of them in a row and it just made you want to stop and just watch them. Thanks God for giving us moments to laugh!