I made it.

This past week was one that I wasn't particularly looking forward to. It was a week filled with book fair, mileage club and grant team review with the United Way. I had scheduled myself around 32 hours of volunteer time. I am just happy to report that I made it through the week and I didn't lose my mind in the process.

As my first year as book fair co-chair, I was kind of unsure about what I actually got myself into. We had set our goal higher than we had in the past and we hoping to be able to attain it. Well, we kicked that book fair's ass!! $500 over our new and improved higher goal! Being able to tell the teachers that they had more money per student than they expected was AMAZING!

The kids at school have been rocking mileage club. (*For those of you that are unsure what exactly mileage club is... we set up a course that is 1/4 mile long. Every lap that is run is tracked by a hole punch in a card. Once a child reaches 5 miles, they receive a small plastic foot or toe token. There are special prizes along the way- certificates on their lockers, water bottles, special toe tokens and pencils.) Our kids are KILLING it!! Not only do we have 300 of the 325 kids signed up, but our average miles per student is over 5 miles higher than the program average. I am honestly so proud to be a part of this program and love being able to watch our kids being healthy.

Grant team was really cool. I was able to sit down and watch the entire grant process deliberation and awarding. I was asked again to join the community investment committee which is yet another huge honor. :)

I finally feel like I am finding my place in this community.

A Muppet themed party

In 48 short hours, Arabel will officially be 4 years old. (How in the heck did that happen by the way?? I never approved this growing up stuff she has been pulling lately.) We had a gathering with family yesterday. I don't typically go all crazy with themed decorations and everything, honestly it seems like kind of a waste unless we are having a ton of kids that would appreciate that type of thing. Adults just don't get all excited about paper cut outs of characters the way kids do. Well, Arabel declared last week that she loves the Muppets (love is an understatement, we watch a Muppet movie at least once a day.) She wanted a Muppet party. The problem?? THERE IS NO MUPPET ANYTHING to buy in the stores. Seriously, NOTHING. It was up to this mom to try and create something out of nothing. Here is what I did. (I apologize for the lack of pictures, the party was a blur I only managed to get 4 pictures of the whole thing.... sucky mom.)

I bought a (Kermit) green plastic tablecloth. I prefer using plastic as it is super easy to clean up and after having 20 people in my house, I am all about ease. The standard size that they sell was a little long for my table, so I chopped one of the ends off and used it to cover up the area of my counter I used for food. I made little signs to put in front of the food with our Muppet themed food names... The Swedish Chef's Meatballs (swedish meatballs in the crockpot), Miss Piggy's Pink Lemonade Spritzer (pink lemonade and Sprite), It's Not Easy Being Green salad (simple green salad with dressing on the side), Fozzie's Funny Bean Dip (7 layer bean dip), Pigs in Space in blankets (mini pigs in blankets made with cocktail weenies), and Rainbow Connection cupcakes (rainbow cupcakes with cool whip and sprinkles). I bought pink and orange cocktail napkins (think Scooter orange and Miss Piggy pink.) I decorated with a couple animal print bandana's I happened to have around the house. ("Animal print"... get it?) We also played the Muppet movie and Muppets Take Manhattan while people were here. It wasn't overkill on the theme but lots of people commented on how cute it turned out. 

Here I am

I have been mentally composing this blog for what seems like forever. Really, it has been a couple days. I apologize in advance for being overly vague.

It is time for a change. I am looking for a job, but not necessarily because I want one. I think that it is high time that I head back to work though. I am not looking forward to it, but I am. I know that makes no sense and I can't help it. Going back to work will mean a couple of great things... a job means money, time away (let's be serious, we all need at least a little time away) and money. As you can see money is a driving factor for me. I am getting older and I hate that I have nothing to fall back on. I want a little something for a rainy day, a vacation, a car, a new pair of shoes and just because I am sure being rich is way cooler than what I am doing right now.

The winds of change are a comin'. I can't say for sure what they may bring, but there are some serious possibilities. I do know that there is likely to be lots of tears, tons of swearing and hopefully some good thrown in there too. I will survive and be better on the other side, no matter how hard it seems to be while I am weathering the storm.

Learning to say no

I happened upon this little nugget the other night when I was postponing my bedtime and playing on pinterest. 

It kind of sums up my life right now. I REALLY need to work on saying no.
Here is what I have on my plate right now: Mileage club co-coordinator, Book Fair co-coordinator, Box Tops for Education contest coordinator, helping with science night, VP for PTA next year- which includes throwing the first 2 events of the year... first day of school parent breakfast AND the ice cream social open house (all in the first month of school), active PTA mom, parent chaperone for field trips or anything needed in the classroom, United Way volunteer, mom of 2, wifey and friend. So.. yeah. I think this might be the limit where I have to start turning down things. Remind me of this the next time I start talking about taking on another project.

I need wine.

Back to the grind

School is back in session. I survived having to get up early, but just barely. The holidays are over and so are my excuses for not being in better shape. That means: it is grind time. I have this friend who goes to the gym 4 times a week plus does a yoga workout... it makes me feel like I am a shlub. In effort to make myself a super hot mama once again, I will be attempting to complete the 30 day shred. Every day for the next month, I will be shredding. 30 minutes, I can handle that. I mean if Rob can lock himself in his office for hours at a time working, I can probably sneak in a 30 minute workout. I already know that Jillian is the devil, my body is going to hurt.

I survived 2011

I have pretty much sucked on keeping the blog updated lately. I am calling it my holiday hiatus. Well, hiatus is over and here I am.

2011 was a decent year. No major complaints. I have a home, a family that is healthy and we are pretty damn happy. I am hoping 2012 will be even better to us. :)

Christmas seemed like it snuck up on me and then came and went as quickly as possible. I feel like it has been a whirlwind 2 weeks of vacation. I could honestly use another few days before I have to get Em up and around in the morning.

We crammed 4 christmas celebrations in 3 days. It was a flurry of wrapping paper, bows, gifts, family, food, and drinks but I wouldn't ask for anything more. I know that everyone is just dying to know what we got...

Emma & Arabel:
bunk beds
room makeover
3D horse and unicorn that you color yourself
Easy bake Oven cookie and cakes kit
DQ blizzard maker

Emma:
iPod shuffle
LalaLoopsy doll (if you haven't seen these... get on it, they are freaking adorable!!)
VTech InnoTab
InnoTab games
clothes
iTunes gift card
Toys R Us gift card
coloring stuff galore- activity books, markers, crayons, paint
color your own messenger bag
friendship bracelet kit
make your own beaded necklace kit


Arabel:
Littlest Pet Shop treehouse
Littlest Pet Shop walkables
More littlest Pet Shop stuff (she is obsessed)
LalaLoopsy doll
clothes
VTech MobiGo
MobiGo games
Toys R Us gift card

Kimm & Rob:
framed picture of Rob and his brothers & sister
framed picture of the 2 of us
gift cards to Applebee's and BW3
Visa Gift cards

Rob:
Arcardia Brewing Co. variety pack
slippers
new pens
electric pencil sharpener

Kimm:
laundry baskets
KEURIG!!!!!
Keurig k-cups
Ugg type boots
coupon book (all sorts of awesome stuff in there for local businesses)
variety pack of beer
MSU pullover

*I am sure that I am forgetting a ton of stuff. I will be back to update and add more links. I am running on battery power and laying in my comfy bed now. I feel like I need some more motivation for that. HA!

Resolutions:

I don't know that I really love the idea of resolutions. Last year, I didn't have a set resolution but I knew that I wanted to be healthier. Well, I quit smoking in August so I feel like that was a huge step in the right direction. I don't drink as much as I did before (not that it was a ton to begin with) and in general I feel like I did alright at being healthier.
This year, I would love to save money and continue being healthier. Who knows, maybe I will even start running or something. (HA!!!! Who am I kidding... I HATE running.) I am ready to move to the next level in my relationship with Rob... seriously, 2012 HAS to be my year right?? I am ready to have another baby and be on our way to the next phase that awaits.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and I wish a prosperous new year to all.