Disney on Ice

Disney on Ice about to start!

"The Incredibles" - before I had my camera figured out for the lighting.

Cael was so excited when Mickey, Minnie, Donald & Goofy came out!



"Alice in Wonderland"

"Peter Pan"

"The Lion King"

"Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs"

"Aladdin" - my battery was dying by this time so I had to shut the camera off in between pictures!  :(

"The Little Mermaid" - I wish I knew how to photograph this one.  The colors were amazing!!  They were all neon with beautiful black lights shining on them!  I was so upset that I couldn't photograph it right.

"Tangled"

The End!

April fun

Can't believe how big Mr. Boy is getting!!



Can we race, Mommy?



Happy Easter

Binky Free!

I sure did let my son go to the store & pick out a toy for being binky free for a whole week!  He, of course, picked out a package of Hot Wheels cars.....any questions about who he belongs to?  Look at that big boy carrying a bag out of Wal-Mart for the first time!



Baseball season is upon us and the La Mesa curse continues...

Let the baseball season begin!  We didn't want to see Daddy much anyway!  (Just kidding people!)

I did it myself!

So a year ago we went to eat at La Mesa with some friends and Cael fell on his face & goobered it all up.  Saturday night after the baseball tournament we went to La Mesa....and the curse continues.....

Binky Free is the Way to Be!

We hit a major milestone with Mr. Boy this week.  We have gone to bed every night since Friday without a binky!!!  I wasn't sure it would ever happen & was scared to death how it was going to go but we did it & it was so much easier than I thought it would be! 

Last Friday he & Maddi (daycare friend) were being royal pains in the booty.  They refused to do anything I asked or told them to do.  Flat out saying "No!".  It wasn't a good day.  I finally had it around nap time & said, "Get to bed!"  So I sent them both to naps without juice or binkies.  Cael, to my surprise, went to sleep!  So that night he asked for his binky.  I said, "But I thought you were going to go to sleep like a big boy without a binky."  And he looked at me and said, "Okay mommy.  No binky."  He has asked for it only once each night since then and I just tell him he's a big boy.  Oh my goodness!!!  Nap time isn't going as well.  He goes down without a bink but then he doesn't sleep....at all.  He hasn't taken a nap since Friday!  Oh my - I'm not ready to nix the naptime yet!  He is growing up so fast.  :(  Not sure if mommy is ready for it!  Especially if he's going to be my only child.  Wow.  Bittersweet. 

8/30 Random Facts about Me

What are 5 passions you have?

1. Being a good mom to Cael.
I want him to grow up to be a good man.  I want him to have good manners.  I want him to treat people around him nice.  I want him to treat animals nice.  I want him to be a well rounded good person.  None of these things will happen if I am not a good mom.  None of these things will happen if I don't model them for him.  (Except for the good man part - may have to call on his daddy for that one!)  Being a good mom is not that difficult.  It's time consuming but not difficult. 

2. Teaching
I am still passionate about teaching - I just have to do it a little different now!

3. Being happy.
Who doesn't want to be happy?  I am passionate about myself being happy, my hubs being happy & my son being happy. 

4. Music
I love music!  I love to listen to music, I love to sing, I love to expose Cael to music.  Cael dances & sings around our house all the time and I love it!  It's freaking adorable!!

5. Being a good person.
Yep, sometimes that's difficult but I'm working at it. 

There ya go - short, sweet & right to the point!

This week in pictures!

I think Cael likes the reading nook!



Cael & a daycare friend helping me clean up the sticks from the yard so I can mow.  Such good helpers!

Our Asian Pear Apple tree blooming!  So pretty!

We went outside to play when it was still kind of wet.  Cael got our big ball & wanted me to kick it so he could chase it.  His face got in the way!

Cael & I started mowing before Daddy got home from baseball practice.  It was a freaking JUNGLE!  We had to mow!!  Cael really enjoyed mowing.  We even raced Daddy!  It was Cael vs. the lawn mower and Cael won!!

Cael LOVES the movie Cars & Cars 2 and all characters in the movies.  We were looking for another orange Gremlin but instead we found a Mack.  He was so excited to find Mack!  The back even opens & we can put Lightning inside!!

7/30 Random Facts about Me

What is your dream job and why?

Tough question.  I always thought teaching was my dream job but after all the crap this year I'm not 100% sure!  I'm not quite sure owning a daycare is my dream job either.  I like that I am home with Cael.  I like that I am my own boss & don't have anyone to answer to.  (Okay, I have to answer to the state & the food program people but other than that - NO ONE!)  Maybe one day I can turn this little place into a daycare center or a preschool.  Who knows?!  I would love to do some photography.  Weddings, families, newborns, births, all of it!  I'm not quite sure what my dream job is now but I will take advantage of the time I have been given to try to figure it out.  I just saw a quote that I think sums up my situation: "Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision."  I hope this decision I made was courageous & not just scary & crazy!

Cael & Mommy's date night!

Cael & I got invited to go to Disney on Ice while Daddy was gone so we took advantage & had a date night!  We went to mom & dad's Saturday morning & spent the day with them.  Mom & Dad treated me to a much needed massage while mom was getting her hair done.  I have been very stressed lately & the lady doing the massage kept commenting on the amount of tension in my back.  Yep.  Pretty tense.  I think I may have to start treating myself to a massage once a month or so....just sayin'.  My massage was supposed to have been over at 4:00 so I could leave mom & dad's at 4:30 to meet Ashley & Noah for dinner at 5:00.  Well, my massage didn't start until 4:00!  We made it to dinner just a few minutes late but they were really fast.  We went to Fritz's at Crown Center which was just down the street from the Sprint Center.  Cael actually ate this time!!  Last time we went he played video poker & refused to eat....any questions about who his daddy is?!  Here are some pictures we took at the beginning of our date night!

From Fritz's we drove to the Sprint Center to see the show.  It was CRAZY driving over there!  We parked in a side parking lot so we wouldn't have to fight as much traffic after the show....and it was cheaper.  We parked & walked right in to find our seats.  We stopped to get a souvenir and there was nothing that got me too excited!  Cael has a stuffed Mickey & didn't need another one.  All I wanted for him were ears!!!  So I found a program that came with a crown with ears so we bought that.  Then we found our seats & the cotton candy man came by.  Cael wanted some of that.....and guess what it came with??  Ears!  So then mommy & Cael had ears to wear!  Very exciting!  Then we decided we should get a drink before it started.  Okay.  Drinks.  The choices were beer, soda, snow cones or Hawaiian Punch.  Really?  So I spent $10.00 on a souvenir cup with Hawaiian Punch.  Nice.  Those 4 things cost me $50!!!  Holy cow.  I'm glad we only have 1 kid & he's perfectly hapy with simple things! 

 I took this picture as Cael was watching Mickey take the ice.

Cael enjoyed it so much more than I thought he would!  He clapped, danced, sang & cheered all night!!  With about 30 minutes left in the show he asked for a binky & a blanky because he was "so sleepy".  He laid in my lap for a few minutes & then Noah hugged him & he got a burst of energy!  He was so funny!!  I took lots of pictures that I'll post later of the show.  We saw The Incredibles, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Captain Hook & Tinkerbell, The Lion King, Princess Tiana & Prince, Snow White, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid and Tangled.  We had a BLAST!!

6/30 Random Facts About Me

What is the hardest thing you have ever experienced?

This is a toss up.  I thought death was the hardest thing.  The experience of being there with my mother-in-law when she passed was so hard.  To be 23 or 24 years old and watch your new husband deal with his mom passing away is awful.  I couldn't help him feel better in any way.  There was nothing I could do but be there for him.  I don't know how good of a job I even did with that!  We didn't know what to do at that age for a funeral, paperwork for insurance, bills, etc.  We learned pretty quickly how not nice some people can be.  I wasn't sure I would ever face anything more difficult than that.  And then this school year happened.  Nine years after that horrible experience I get hit, blindsided, pummled with this school year.  I saw even more how AWFUL and MEAN and DISRESPECTFUL people can be.  Unfortunately it hardened me.  To be made to feel like you are not good enough.  To be made to feel like you are mean when you know you are not.  (Okay, I can admit that I can be mean but I am not just a straight up mean person.)  To be made to feel like you are not wanted.  To be forced to make a decision that will affect your entire life, your family, your finances, everything.  To be forced to make a HARD decision that you NEVER thought you would have to make in your life.  It sucked!  I am glad we are in March, not that I have a love for the month or anything, but because that means I have moved that much past it.  I have a little business now that is booming.  The worst part about this business is that it can flucuate.  I never know if I'm going to be full or not so I never know when I'm going to have money or not.  That's hard.  But it is better to be here with Cael than to be somewhere that I know I am not wanted or needed.  I will NEVER go through something like that again.  From now on decisions like that which need to be made will be made on MY terms and noone elses.