Dance away now!

That is a late 80's Roxette song title_ remember that one? Thinking happy thoughts for the team this weekend. So proud of B and MM with this team!  Get out there and show KAR what you guys can do!  Dance away with a barrel full of Platinums and trophies gang- dance away!

It's the MOST wonderful time...of the year!

Truthfully, this time of year consists of tons of work to be done, but my favorite back-to-school commercial was years ago for Staples with the dad riding the cart down the aisles to the Christmas tune..."It's... the... MOST wonDERful time... of the YEAR!" and the kids dragging behind.
(click link to see commercial on YouTube)

Though I'm not sending mine OFF every day to school which was the whole reason that commercial at the end of summer was always hysterical, but it still makes me laugh. Yes, I tortured my kids and made them start lessons today. B even woke up early to get busy and was mostly done by 10 am. Monster Man didn't give too much fuss as he's super excited to be a first grader now! He will have double the work load from last year which will be an adjustment for him time-wise, but the smart little stinker can handle it- as long as I can keep him focused! That will be my chore for the year.

So this busy month of the year includes getting school started, dance intensives, reunions, cousins visiting, last minute vacations, church festivals---whew!! Time to buckle in and hang on!!

Little Heroes

Smiling. Happy. Ready to give their all. Ready to get on that stage and WOW the crowd!

Only a few pics for the moment. Just a teaser for ya!!

Where am I?

I have fought with the idea in my head that keeping up with my bloggin’ friends and getting my own vents out on a daily or near daily basis was causing me to lose time and be really behind on my “to do” list…apparently NOT! I have hardly blogged over the past two months, just skimmed over a few blogs to try and not completely lose touch, and I’m still in the same office/basement/laundry disaster that I was previously! AAARRGGHH!! So I’m back!

I realize now that even though things are crazy busy I need to have my bloggy
time…if nothing else just to have a few minutes…or three hours-who’s counting?... to
myself. Things I need to get out of my head because the record is skipping badly up
there and it’s making my stomach hurt. First record I’m gonna bump off the turntable will be the Justification posts. I need to finish that. I really should email it to a few family members, but one step at a time! :-D

Let me catch you up on my nutty life:

* I did clear an area for school shelves, assembled those and have the school

books and supplies organized...and 8 weeks later it is STILL organized!! YES! I have
about half of the sewing stuff out of the Pit and down to the basement, but still
doubting that decision. I reorganized my desk in the Pit for more usable space, but
there are still 6 piles, elbow deep, of stuff scattered across the sides of the desk and on my filing cabinets.

* I posted about the new addition, Lucy. She is doing wonderfully and is turning
out to be have a great temperament and a huge appetite. She is currently at 4 cups a
day. I need to buy stock in Nutro dog food.

* Kids are doing well with school work. Miss B is finally “getting it” with
multiplication and division facts, and Monster Man did well on his Kindergarten
readiness test. He does well with phonics sounds, but we are still working on some
letter recognition. He loves math--flying through it.

* Fall dance classes and dance Team practices are underway! The kids love it! If
I could afford it, we’d be doing dance for hours on end every day. Keep dreamin’
guys!

* Deer bow season has officially begun which means Mr. FixIt gone most every
weekend. He will also be traveling a good bit this month, so we may not see him
until Thanksgiving. Then gun season will start so we won’t see him until New Years.
but my freezer will be restocked with lean ground meat, steaks and roasts. I really
can’t complain.

* Cold weather is here to stay, and I hate it. Though I love the changing leaves
and the fall festivals, farm outings and pumpkin festivals. I have to start layering
clothes again, I’m already cold. I took a 20-minute nap on the floor with the puppy
Monday because she was really warm. I was that cold. I woke up numb on my left side, but I was toasty!

* Work. HA! Work, schmerk. Not happenin’! I need to get working on my ebay boxes of stuff to sell, which is part of my office/Pit problem. Too many things piled up that I need to get rid of. I think the whole pile overwhelms me, so maybe I should
do one or two items per day. If I can stick to it until I can see daylight or heaven
forbid FLOOR in the pit, I’ll be in good shape. :-D FlyLady is frowning at me
because I can hear her saying, “Fling, fling, FLING that clutter!” Until my bills
are not putting me in the negative, I don’t have much choice I need to sell, sell,
SELL!!

* Fall TV. I don’t watch much TV, but I love CSI and ER. Woohoo!! Very sad
dramatic first episodes for both- pass the tissues! I'm so excited nonetheless!

Ok, I think that does it. At least for now. Carry on people.

I wrote this on Wednesday...today is SATURDAY! So I've not kept my blogging promise, but I did get a few things listed on ebay--woohoo!!

Spring pictures

Finally some new pics:
Mount St. Helens and BC trip, dance, barn with Grandma M, pool time at Grandpa G's

Summer- bout time!

School hours and subject completion are in the home stretch, the weather is nice enough to leave the windows open in the day (though only a few cracked at night so not THAT warm yet), dance recitals are on the horizon and both kids are growing out of shoes!! It must be SUMMER!!

WOOOHOOOOO!! Picture me doin' the happy dance!! Ok, well maybe not...anyway, even with pouring rain all day, the previous several days of sunshine have made me feel MUCH more content with the world. Thursday and Saturday I worked on some seriously cleaning that I had been neglecting-- windows washed inside and out, curtains washed and heavy LR curtains put away leaving the light sheers for summer, blinds from the kids' rooms pulled down/scrubbed/back up, and I even shampooed a couple carpets. Boy did they need it! I just need to work on a few more carpets and do some kitchen re-organizing and I'm pretty well wrapped up except for daily stuff. Of course the Pit of Shit/Office is in need of a stick of dynamite or a black hole to drop by and suck all the crap out I don't know what to do with, but I'm not letting it rain on my "Summer is finally here" and "my house is decently clean" parades!

I say again- SUMMER IS HERE!!! YEEEHAAAWWWW!!!

-sorry for screaming--I've been waiting for long, treacherous, frigid months for this!! Really.

The only voices...

I hear at the moment are my calves screaming, "You evil B!TCH" and my heels whimpering for mercy. Tomorrow morning, the calves will be throwing knives at me all the way down the stairs, every step with a wince.

Yes, I had dance class earlier this evening. I really love it though! It is a fun time to joke and talk with ADULTS and not the 4-year-old crowd, not to mention I get as much workout in dance class as I do running myself on the the elliptical, mostly because it's exhausting and after a run through of our routine, I am in need of oxygen! Funny thing though my butt is not complaining. No slew of profanity or even smart remarks from that area tonight though it should be the body part with the most grief. Shhhhh...don't tell Miss N! :-D Those parts need the most work but they are the biggest babies and really don't want to participate and she could cause them pain! I've blocked from memory the steps we did in class a while back that made us scream, "Omg, my THIGHS are on FIRE!"

Apparently I need to get back on the elliptical so my back end and thighs can join in on the fuss fest and be prepared for those upcoming steps of death in future dance class because Miss N will remember them. Oh yes, she will, and a room of adults will turn into whiny 8 year olds begging, "Do we have to?! Awww MAN!"

I'm sure she loves those voices. :-D

ETA- It more than likely would be whiny 8 year olds...3 year olds still think torture is fun.

Voices of the Brain

If you know my kids, you know Monster Man...and you know how unbelievably ornery and witty and just dag-gone CUTE the little fart can be, even when he's just driving you to drink... heavily.


Imagine this little hooligan man in dance class -the only boy, little girls approaching him before and after class wanting to talk to him or hug him. Jeesh. Little Casanova is not yet 5 years old. So being a focus of attention and dramatic to boot, his behavior can fall off the deep end pretty quickly. Some days to the point I am chompin' the bit to go drag him out and warm his butt all the way to the truck! Anyway, his teachers haven't kicked him out yet; he's only had to visit the "blue chair" once I think, though he deservingly has lost reward stamps at the end of class a couple times. Big ~BIG~ deal! Kids value those suckers! He'll come out squealling, "TWO STAMPS MOM!!" proudly displaying one on each hand after a good day. Some days he only gets one....a few times over the past two years no stamps at all, which he knows a butt warming after class is inevitable. Double whammy for no stamps.

This evening, in talking about our day before bed, Monster Man was informing Mr. FixIt that he received TWO stamps for dance class today. :-D Then he proceeds to tell me (like I wasn't there) that he won a game of freeze dance they were playing the last few minutes of class but at the beginning of the game he had a hard time playing.
"Why is that buddy?"

"Because my brain wasn't listening. My BRAIN (said with big eyes and dramatic face) was making my body move around and was NOT listening. My brain was making me bounce around like this." Monster man demonstrates bouncing, head bobbing and goofy eyes rolling.

"Then Ms. Leigh's BRAIN made me sit down." (picture a totally defeated face)

OH MAN!
How about those voices??
I near peed myself laughing.