Fall is in the air...

OK, so we live in Florida. Fall isn't in the air here until closer to Thanksgiving...or sometimes even Christmas! :) Steve likes to tell people that in Florida we have two seasons: Summer, and Summer-Lite.

At any rate, it's getting closer to the end of October, and that means HALLOWEEN! The kids are really excited this year, probably because they understand more about dressing up and playing pretend than they possibly could have last year. When I chose their costumes, I brought them home from the store and they tried them on. They were SO excited. Ariel (from the Little Mermaid) is one of Megan's favorites, and Buzz Lightyear is Jeremy's hero. He constantly runs around the house saying, "To infinity, and beyond!"

Their first chance to wear their costumes outside the house was this past Thursday at one of the local county libraries. The library held its annual "Unscary Halloween Party," and we went with my mom and my niece, who is only 6 weeks younger than Meg and Jeremy. We all had a lot of fun, and it was a nice way to make a test run of their costumes before it's Trick-or-Treat time. Plus, Aunt LaLa is one of the youth librarians at that library branch, so we got to see her, too!

Walking For A Cure (Part 2!)

I was asked to follow up on my walk for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer with the American Cancer Society. The walk took place last Saturday, October 11th. There were more than 2,500 walkers on the beach that morning, and it was so awesome to see so many people all there for the same reason.

My team was "Katie's Pampered Pals," associated with the kitchen product company I'm an independent consultant with. :) My parents walked with me and the kids (in the photo above they are pulling the kids in their wagon...truly the worst idea my dad and I could have come up with, since it was SO heavy to pull that across the sand in certain spots). My friend Alyssa (aka Aunt LaLa to Megan and Jeremy!) also walked with us. The storms were trying to roll in but it didn't rain on us!

Thanks to everyone who has been so supportive about this effort. I'm still collecting money through the end of this month (October), so let me know if you're interested in making a small donation.

Walking for a Cure

The kids and I are participating in the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk this Saturday. I'm excited, but a little disappointed in myself because I haven't really put the effort into the pre-walk activity that I should have/planned to. I haven't raised much money. I haven't done iron-ons for t-shirts so that the people I'm walking with have matching shirts of some sort. I know I can always do better next year, but since this is my first year doing this particular walk I was hoping to be more prepared than I am.

On a positive note, my mom and dad are going to be walking with me and the kids. I have a couple of other friends who are (hopefully still) planning to walk with us. It takes place at the beach in Jacksonville, and we have to be there at 8-something in the morning because the walk kicks off at 9. It's less than 3 miles, definitely not a marathon, and I can walk the whole way...no running for me.

I am fortunate that I have not had anyone in my family go through the horrors of breast cancer, but the future is never certain. Some very good friends of ours are dealing with this in their family at the moment, and the lady who was diagnosed recently had a double-mastectomy performed. Their whole family has really been an awesome testament to the power of hope, and it's given me so much purpose in what this walk will represent.

We also are already planning to be involved with the St. Augustine Relay For Life again in May of 2009. Steve and I are hoping to spend the entire 18 hours at the track again, something we haven't done since the Relay right after the kids were born and my parents kept them at their house for us. For more information about the American Cancer Society and all of the services and programs they offer, visit www.cancer.org!

TGIF

I don't know exactly what it is about Fridays that just makes me HAPPY. I love Fridays. I stay home with the kids full-time, I have NO mandatory Monday through Friday obligations (just freelance work and business stuff that I can schedule around my family), but there is just something wonderful about Fridays. Maybe it's because I know all of my friends who work full-time outside the house are (mostly) off on the weekends. Steve and my brother are both cops, so that rule doesn't apply to them. But every OTHER weekend Steve's off. I love those weekends especially.

Anyway, this is one of Steve's work-all-weekend weekends. We won't be seeing much of him. He was three and a half hours late getting home from work tonight because there was a call right at the end of his shift and he didn't feel right turning it over to the oncoming shift since he was already involved. Times like those don't frustrate me (often), because I know he has an important job to do and that he does it so well. I miss him, but then I think back to the fact that he was off Wednesday and Thursday this week. And will be off Monday and Tuesday next week. :)

Another good thing about Friday is that my friend Debbie has a work schedule that gives her Fridays off. She lives in Gainesville and had been planning to drive to Jacksonville to visit her mom and wish her a happy birthday in person, so we made arrangements to have lunch, just me and her and my kids. She's expecting her first child in February, just found out it's a boy, and it was so fun to see her interact with Megan and Jeremy. She's always loved them to pieces, but I think now that she's expecting a baby of her own they really take on a whole new level of interest for her. She looks great, barely even showing, and it's going to be so fun to watch her go through the rest of her pregnancy and become a fantastic mommy to this sweet little boy.

Well, I'm out of rambles for tonight. Until next time, have a GREAT weekend!!!

Funny Sunny Days

Steve's working this weekend, Friday through Sunday, which means he was off today and tomorrow. Kind of a mid-week, weekend-replacement time. :) I don't mind. Weekends are usually easy enough to fill, because there are so many things going on, other family members are off work, and I can always find something to do to keep the kids occupied. Having Steve home on a weekday is just one more reason I'm grateful to be home full-time with the kids, because we can really treasure the time we get to spend together.

We basically just stayed close to the house for most of the morning, and then took the kids to the park to play for about an hour before we had a late lunch back at home. We took a bag of almost-old bread with us and fed the fish from the dock at the park. Megan mastered the art of breaking the slice of bread up into small chunks and tossing it in for the fish to gobble up, but Jeremy was just as thrilled to chuck the whole slice in and watch it float away. The fish didn't seem too interested in a big piece, so it was kind of funny. Nothing we did or said could convince him to break the bread up into little pieces. :)

We are now nearing the end of September, and today was a beautiful example of the weather that (hopefully) awaits us in the months to come. Mid-seventies, blue skies, nice breeze. I'm not in enough denial to believe that we won't have ninety-degree temps back sometime in the next week or so (this is Florida, after all). But just for today it was nice to pretend that the cooler weather was coming.

My favorite thing about going to the park is that the munchkins are completely exhausted when nap time rolls around. Always a good part of the day for me! I got the kids down for nap and Steve used their nap time as a chance to run to Jacksonville to pick up some equipment for work...leaving me a full two hours to read a book and just sit on the couch and relax. I should have done some dishes or laundry or cleaned up the clutter in the home office, but I opted to use that time for myself instead. And the great part is that I don't even feel guilty...it's little things like taking time for yourself that can keep you sane in a silly, zany world.

My Addiction

Hi, my name is Katie and I'm a scrapaholic.

I have been dealing with this addiction for roughly six years now. I have an uncontrollable urge to buy pretty printed 12"x12" paper for no given reason. I find it fun to think of ways that I can take photos of my kids to MATCH the paper I already have (as opposed to buying paper that matches the photos I already have...). Stickers are fun. There's just something about a sticker that screams "Buy me!"

OK, so I'm not really THAT addicted, but I really love my once-a-month crop nights. I get together with a group of ladies who are suffering from the same complications of the craft...too many photos and not enough time to scrapbook them all. I'm currently plugging away at scrapbooking our Disney vacation. Last night I scrapbooked six pages, bringing my grand total (for my Disney album) to 16. The album I have for this collection only holds 20 pages as a standard, but I am determined to find a refill pack to bring the capacity up to 40. I'm hoping to have the darn thing done by Christmas. My kids' baby albums may not be done until they are graduated from college, but gosh darn it, my Disney album will get done someday soon!

I am completely infatuated with digital scrapbooking...it's less complicated, it's a lot neater as far as journaling goes, and I don't have to drag out all of my supplies to work on a book...I just have to turn on my computer. But it's so nice to just spend an evening out once a month with this group of women, to chat about what's going on in our worlds and what our kids are up to these days. Being able to use whatever creative juices I can muster brings a sense of accomplishment. My scrapbooks might not be the prettiest, or the most clever, but to me, they are a way to tell my story. I want my kids to look back one day and think, "Wow, that looked fun." Because realistically, they're more likely going to forget most of the memories from their earlier years.

Anyway, I have another month to wait until my next crop night. I'll try to be patient. I might even try to organize my supplies to help make it easier to work when that evening rolls around. :)

What Goes Around, Comes Around

All too often this is a phrase that is looked upon in a negative light. But I've been observing my kids lately, and I've come to the conclusion that it can also be positive more often than not.

Megan and Jeremy have been the best of friends since day one. In honesty, they haven't had much choice! They haven't spent more than a few hours apart ever, occasionally split up for doctor's visits or trips to the grocery store. But the bond they share is not one of obligation. It's one that can only be shared by siblings. Don't get me wrong, they have their fair share of spats and quarrels. They don't always respect each others' personal space or state of mind as much as I would like. It warms my heart, however, when they sit close together on the couch, heads huddled close to discuss a favorite book and point at pictures. Megan, who tries to be the little mother to Jeremy, will actually put her arm around him and draw his head closer to hers because she has seen him cuddle up with me or Steve, and she wants the same affection from him.

When they play (most of the time, anyway), there is a common sense of purpose. They pull all the food out of the drawer of their play kitchen, haul their kid-size plastic table over from across the living room, and take turns serving each other a "meal." They pretend to eat the (plastic) food they're served, say "please" and "thank you," and then chatter like they're sharing some important information about their day.

Lately they've been drawn to their alphabet blocks even more than ever. Since they've been identifying letters for almost nine months already, they play games by asking each other where a certain letter is. They even give each other a high-five when the letter is located. :)

It's days like those when I sit back and think about everything that we've been through to get to this point. I miss my old job, miss the people I worked with and the responsibilities I had, but NOTHING compares to the satisfaction of knowing that I am raising my kids full-time, and raising them to know the value of love, respect and appreciation for each other and others. Children truly do learn what they live, and it gives me hope that my children will continue to grow into kind, compassionate and generous people.