Bucket List

Shamlessly stolen from one of the various blogs I creep upon while working surfing the net.  100 Things I would like to do before I kick the bucket:
 (in no particular order)

1. Publish a children's book.
2. Go to the taping of a funny sitcom in NY or CA
3. Watch the launch of a spacecraft
4. Sing karaoke in a public place without a care
5. Canoe or Kayak somewhere (anywhere?)
6. Take a hot air balloon ride
7. Ride in a helicopter
8. Snorkle in the ocean
9. Tour New York City
10. Be a missionary in an underdeveloped country
11. Go parasailing in Hawaii
12. Run a 10K
13. Walk (or run?) a marathon
14. Learn American Sign Language
15. Go on a cruise
16. Teach Kindergarten
17. Pay off the house
18. Manage a healthy weight under xxx pounds. (nonofyourbusiness)
19. Try a new fruit or veggie every day for one month.
20. Start a non-profit organization for a good cause.
21. Have/Make a friend that will sit with me on the front porch when I'm really old and senile.
22. Swim with dolphins
23. Learn to draw
24. Finish a scrapbook
25. Print pictures of the kids/events/milestones/vacations and file them chronologically
26. Help the BBF raise a million dollars (or more!) to give away
27. Own a preschool business (in a commercial building, not in my home, hehe!)
28. Ride a ferry
29. See a blimp up close
30. See Stonehedge
31. Renew marriage vows in Tahoe (maybe for 50th?)
32. Sleep by campfire without a tent/shelter (maybe on a hammock!?)
33. Place first, second or even third in a 5K
34. Memorize the books of the bible in order
35. Attend a Jewish wedding
36. Be a guest at a traditional Jewish Hannukah dinner on Passover
37. Provide respite care for a cancer patient or family member
38. Volunteer at a high school consistently
39. Design a state of the art playpark in a low income neighborhood
40. Revisit the area of San Isabel National Forest, where we got lost in the woods in August 2000.
41. Visit Bishop's Castle with my dad
42. Go sledding with the family in a secluded, perfect area
43. Make a quilt
44. Make a better quilt
45. Archive the lyrics to all the children's songs I know
46. Perform in a skit for a church/cause
47. Go to an opera
48. Go to a broadway play on Broadway
49. See the bar from Cheers on display in Los Angeles.
50. Take the kids ice skating on a lake
51. Have a garden on my property
52. Grow all my own veggies (cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, etc.)
53. Hike up Pikes Peak
54. Ride a train to (or from?) a vacation destination
55. Leave a $100+ tip at a diner/restaurant
56. Pay someone eles's mortgage for a year
57. Help build a house for habitat for humanity
58. Provide Christmas for a family in need (dinner, presents, clothes, a ride to church)
59. Teach a parenting class
60. Volunteer in a hospital (oncology if needed)
61. Have coffee/lunch with Matthew West
62. Spend 24 hours in pajamas as an adult and not care :)
63. Write an inspirational song
64. Babysit for single moms free of charge 
65. Buy groceries for the person in line behind me at the grocery store
66. Buy lunch for the person behind me in a drive thru
67. Ride along with a police officer on a night shift
68. Visit ground zero in NY
69. Collect the 50 quarters from all 50 states
70. Live a simple life with very few possessions
71. Witness a medically necessary surgery
72. Make a really good bottle of wine
73. Try a ropes course with husby
74. Drive a golf cart for golfers I know (or famous people!)
75. Write a bucket list!
76. Go white water rafting in the Rockies (again)
77. See my children grow up to be well rounded, responsible, successful adults
78. Go on a women's spiritual retreat
79. Lead a bible study
80. Do a touristy zip line in a rainforest or somewhere
81. Learn to ski
82. Get a masters degree in something unconventional (underwater basket weaving?)
83. Learn to knit a scarf for someone
84. Have a clutter free home (even before number 70 is achieved)
85. Complete a big jigsaw puzzle
86. Learn how to change the oil in my own vehicle (and become good at it)
87. Get pedicures with both my daughters
88. Give all homemade presents for Christmas one year
89. Write down something I'm thankful for every single day and then put them in a time capsule to open in 10 years.
90. Go tubing down a stream in the mountains (again - haven't done that one since early 90's!)
91. Donate my hair to Locks of Love
92. Speak Pig Latin with my kids in public 
93. Make a snow igloo in the backyard.
94. Learn to cook meals for other people (Frozen Stouffers Lasagna just isn't very ....heartwarming anymore)
95. Save Princess Peach (again) :)  - can never do that too many times!
96. Write a book filled with word plays. (I like throwing knives! I like throwing - knives.) I'madork
97. Keep a prayer journal
98. Fly a really cool/big kite with my kids at a park
99. Come up with two more things for this bucket list
100.   
101. 
     

PSA

Since I've been blogging about Julia quite a bit lately, I thought I'd give Rebecca the spotlight for a minute.
Ten things I love about my Beccs:

1. She gives cute kisses. When she wants to share the love, she'll point to the spot she's going for and then lay a big smackaroo there. Luckily, it's mostly on the cheeks and forehead.
2. She is a good listener. Yes, she employs selective listening on a daily basis, but at least she listens!
3. She is potty training herself. DID YOU HEAR THAT ONE? She's in big girl panties now, with a few accidents here and there but hey- we all gotta learn somehow right?
4. She is easily bribed. Like if we're at the grocery store and she wants to play the in-the-cart, out-of-the-cart, in-the-cart, out-of-the-cart game, I can bribe her with crackers or promise to sing songs if she'll just glue her butt down.
5. She's growing up. Finally *FINALLY* we can take her to the nursery or to the "kids care" thing at the gym, and she'll go play with the kids without having a knock-down-throw-down kind of fit. (Yes, it'd be fun if she could stay little forever, but that's a stupid thing to wish since it's not real possible and stuff.)
6. She calls donuts "no-nuts." That never gets old.
7. She is content watching her sister play on the wii, play on the computer, play with a real cell phone. She's not into the grabby give-me-mine-i-want-a-turn thing (yet).
   
8. She laughs when she farts.
9. She's almost out of diapers. (It was worth repeating, okay?)
10. She's cute and she's mine all mine all mine!
    

This 'n' That

I'm still sticking with my plan to complete Jillian Michael's 30 day Shred program. Today is day 5. I'm feeling great! It's so nice to have a plan for working out at home in just 20 minutes (35 by the time the necessary shower is done afterwards). I'm loving the facebook group that was created - all the ladies on the group are posting similar stories: sore, motivated, sore, excited, sore... It's great to have a group of people suffering to Jillian right alongside me.

I don't believe in weighing myself daily. I didn't decide to shred for weight loss as much as I decided to do it for overall feel-good results. I want to be stronger. I want to form healthy habits. I want to improve my running. ...And this program is really pushing me to reach some great goals.

It might sound crazy to you, but I swear I can already see AND feel results in my arms, butt, and "bra fat" (back, under shoulder blades) areas. I will post pictures because I know that by the end of this thing, you'll be able to see the results, too!

Tonight, I plan to go for a regular 2 mile run - my running buddy is keeping me on my toes, and I sure do LOVE her for it! I'm just a wee bit nervous about wearing my legs out, but I still plan to shred right after the run tonight. Ahem, we'll see how that goes!

Day 3

In other news, I'm finding myself to be quite comfortable at Indian Creek. I still have quite a bit of baggage to let go of... this whole faith journey business has quite a learning curve. I guess I'm older and wiser now than when I first found my faith. At any rate, the kids did really well in children's church today and Rich and I worshiped together for the first time in a long while. We even spent a few minutes chatting there and checking out the small group opportunties. Abba is calling me back - and it feels great.

In other, other news - you might wonder how the whole coupon thing is going? Oh yeah, that. Well, I'm still super excited about saving some moolah, and couponing is certainly one easy way for me to better manage our grocery budget. But, just as I suspected, I got pretty burned out on the whole clipping coupons thing on Sunday afternoons. So now, I just peruse the popular coupon websites for great deals that I don't want to miss and match my coupons with the current ads. I'm no longer gung-ho excited about saving hundreds on my monthly bill, but I am coming close to saving that much anyway just becuause I'm more aware of what is a good buy and what is not. I still highly recommend Tonya's coupon class if you ever get a chance to take it. :)

What else is going on? ...Oh yes, THAT!! Don't let me neglect to mention to you that REBECCA IS POTTY TRAINING HERSELF RIGHT NOW! She has some awesome peers that are a wee bit older than her and have taught her some tricks... she's pretty quick to learn by following examples, and has now demonstrated her ability to "hold it" and also to "go" on command. :) She loves to sit on the potty and she has lots of joy and pride in her successes. We are still in the beginning phases of this, but I'm super excited that she has taken this all upon herself! FUN STUFF!

Yawwwn - I'm gonna go spend some quality time with my kiddos now. Consider yourselves updated. :) If you don't hear from me in a while, just know that I'm busy being one of Jillian's bitches and trying to recover!

Without Kids

Grandma came and got the girls last night and I cried. It was only a sentimental cry - as I realized that pretty soon Rebecca won't be in diapers anymore, and she won't let me hold her while she drinks her milk out of a sippy cup anymore, and she won't really need me at all anymore. She'll get big like her sister - who told me last night, "I won't think about you at all mom, because I'll be at grandmas and I love grandma so much."

I know she didn't mean it, and that's honestly not what bothered me and made me sad. I was only sad because I have to learn to let go and let them grow up and be big. And that's not an easy thing to do!

But, they stayed at grandma's while husby and I had a real, bonafide date... and now it's 9:30 the next morning and I'm blogging to tell you that I'm not in a huge world-is-coming-to-an-end hurry to go get them, like I thought I was going to be.

I miss them like crazy and I can't wait to see them and hear all about their fun night... but I'm doing okay! I enjoyed my date last night, I loved sleeping in today - and we even had CINNABONS for breakfast this morning... I didn't have to share one bite with a pesky toddler. TEEHEE!!!

Grandma just called and said that she's bringing the kids home now. I'm going to go clean the bathroom just to see what it's like again ...to clean without the younger one pulling at my pant leg and the older one insisting that she help.

Feeling sorry for myself

I wonder why I'm so irritable. Let's make a list, m'kay!?

• Julia was sick last weekend, with diahrreah and some vomiting - just a 24 hour bug that she bounced back from very quickly, but it still ruined the weekend for all of us.
• Husby got that bug the next day - Sunday. Further ruining the *rest* of the weekend. Poor guy! I did/do feel bad for him, but this left me with doing all the weekend chores by myself... groceries, cleaning, etc.
  
• Monday, Julia started this ear ache business that is still bothering her today... four days later.
• Rebecca got a new tooth on Monday - and has been working on the other one all week long... resulting in lots of snot and crying. It's painful growing teeth. Luckily, she's been sleeping through some of it. But, is still waking up miserable at night.
• The daycare kids are wonky for some reason... many of them are teething, some are just adjusting their nap schedules. It's been a struggle for me to just keep everybody happy lately - which leaves little time for arts and crafts, which is the fun part of my job.
• We've been behind on the dishes and laundry all week long. That's never a feel-good feeling.
• I'm leaving for Colorado in one more week - a trip that's sure to be filled with stress and tension as well as fun and festivities. Above all, saddness that I actually chose to leave my girls over the holiday :( I'm not getting cold feet or anything... they're pretty well frozen solid at this point.
• I'm tired and cranky and can't keep up with myself.
  

And now? I feel a little better.

I know what the remedy is:
I need to go for a run. I was doing so good going 3-4 times a week and now I haven't been since last Wednesday. I also need some alone time. I enjoy Wednesday evenings when Juila is at dance class... this is when I'm alone in the car, reading a book or meditating, while she's in class - it's great! But, last night, Julia lost her priviledge of going to dance class. And husby had to go to bed early because his work sucks and they make him come in at obscene hours of the night, so it was me and the kids again.

So? As soon as all the kids leave my house today. As soon as dinner is made, eaten, cleaned up. As soon as I have clean socks for tomorrow. As soon as I catch up on my paperwork because my menus need to be submitted before I leave for Colorado if I want to claim them and get paid from the food program. As soon as the girls go to bed. As soon as toys are sanitized and put away for me to start all over again tomorrow. As soon as I hear that our Aunt is doing okay from having hip surgery today. As soon as I go for a run and take a shower.As soon as all that is done? I'm going to have to decide: do I catch up on some ME time? Or, do I go to bed.
Such is my life this week.

Teeth, Ears, and Rock and Roll - oh, and off to grandmother's house we go

Julia had her first filling on Monday. It was a cavity in one of her molars that couldn't wait until I fell out at in 4-5 more years. It's a good thing Rich took her to get her filling... I had *no* idea what to expect. Apparently they gave her a happy gas - she was excited to come home and show off her bubble-gum smelling gas mask thingy that they let her keep. She got to pick the scent. It's a pediatric dentist. She also brought home a whole baggie of goodies. All in all, she was pretty happy with the experience, Rich said she only squirmed once a little when they initially put the needle in. Of course.

I've never had a cavity, and good dental health runs in my family. So, I didn't know that they numb up half of your face! I was in tears when she got home and had only half a smile. One side of her face with her ginormous dimple, the other side just swollen and lifeless. Even her eye was twitching on the one side. I found myself sneaking away from her a few times when she got home just to gather myself back up - I was in tears.

As Rich promised, the swelling went down almost immediately, and her face returned to normal within an hour or two. She never once complained of the pain - was only so happy to show off all the toys and prizes she got from the dentist. Whew, my baby is getting big. I'm sure a cavity fill is the first of many of those struggles that hurts mom more than it hurts kiddo.

Well on the same day - Rebecca popped a new tooth out! I'm not really big on documenting when my kid gets a tooth or what have you - but I do find it funny that both my kids got new teeth on the same day. Rebecca's is tiny and ivory, while Julia's is big and silver. :)

Yesterday, nap time was cut short by Julia of all people. My 4 year old, who LOVES to sleep almost as much as I do couldn't get to sleep because of her ear hurting. She probably has an ear infection - she's had plenty of those throughout her lifetime. But, I know there's not much I can do for her. ...We could take her to a doctor that might prescribe some antibiotics, but research recently showed that antibiotics don't speed up the recovery from an ear infection all that much - and that the best treatment we can provide is just pain management. Luckily, she's responding well to the motrin.

My kids better shape up and quit with the mini-dramas by Friday evening. Husby and I have a real, bonafide date! Grandma's taking the girls and we're going to see the Led Zeppelin Tribute band play. It's gonna be fun! The best part? No curfew! We'll see the girls the next morning, whenever we get around to picking them up. Teehee.

It will be good practice, really. For me, I mean. Rebecca's never spent a night away and Julia's only had a handful of nights away from us in her 4 years of life. Next Thursday, I'm flying to Colorado alone - so the girls will be without me for 4 nights, and 3 days. They'll have their darling daddy - but that doesn't help *my* pain from the separation. Wednesday night, the girls will be at their Auntie's house overnight so Rich can drive me to the airport before daybreak on Thursday morning. *sigh*
I'm looking forward to the trip, but I know that I'm going to be a complete mess thinking about and missing my girls and husby. There's no place like home ...and while I might say that I'm going "home" for Thanksgiving.... Home is where the heart is, and my heart will be here at my home!

Thanks for putting up with my random updates. Life is moving at incredible speeds around here. It takes discipline to stop and write some of it down sometimes!

This mom gig

This mom thing is getting harder. And we're just getting started, as far as I can tell... my specialty is with infants/toddlers, and my kids just won't stop growing no matter how many long, late night talks we have about it.

I completely forgot to show up to Julia's very first EVER parent-teacher conference. UGH. I'm so beating myself up over it. It makes me feel like I'm losing control over my children. ...Wait, I guess that's exactly the lesson God is teaching me, here. They won't be little forever, and they won't be mine-all-mine-no-one-else-will-influence-them-cuz-they're-all-mine forever. This is so hard.

Luckily, J's teacher was so sweet and understanding. I still don't understand how I missed something like that... I mean, the kid had school on Monday of that week and had the whole rest of the week off! She didn't go to school on Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday or Friday ...all because the school was having conferences. Duh. Hello! Get your head out of the computer and wake up to your kid's life here, Maggie.

Anyway, at least it's "just preschool." That doesn't make me sound any better, does it? The teacher even offered to let us reschedule - but we just couldn't find a time that would work. In case you missed it, I do daycare out of the house. Like, every day. All day long. There are many, many days when I'm lucky if I see the light of day... And husby has to take off work from his job to tend to appointments or things that arise because of the limitations of my job.

Monday afternoon, Julia went to the dentist. It wasn't a routine checkup, it was an initial consultation regarding the HORRIBLE CAVITY she has... that, yes, even at her tender age of 4 years old, needs a filling. I'm telling ya - this growing up thing really stinks!

So anyway, since Rich had to take J to the dentist Monday, he doesn't have a lot of other flex time to take off so we can go to make-up conference.

This teacher, tho? She's so nice, she has scheduled a phone conference with us. She sent home Julia's checklist so we can look over it before our noon appointment tomorrow. Hopefully when she calls this house to talk to me, the babies won't be screaming and the toddlers/preschooler won't be pulling at my pant leg to tell me something that is uber-important in their world.

I'm still a rockstar to Rebecca. She's still young enough to know better. She thinks I'm goddess and I can keep fooling her with all the cool infant/toddler tricks that I know. But, it won't be long until her sister teaches her that there's more to life than mommy's way. Sigh.

This mom gig is just getting harder and harder. I'm so not ready to grow up.