Hot!

Today

Partly cloudy. A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms late in the afternoon. Highs in the mid to upper 90s. Peak afternoon heat index readings 104 to 109. Southwest winds 10 to 20 mph. Gusts up to 30 mph in the afternoon. This is the forecast for today according to Weather Underground. Naturally, cause I am intelligent, I figured I would pull the weeds in our new lawn early this morning to avoid the blazing heat. Didn't work. Cause it was already 109 out at 9:30 this morning when I went out there. That being said, I still have to pull the weeds in the front. So if no one hears from me by tomorrow morning, please alert the authorities to come to my house for a "well-being check" as I am sure I will be dead on my lawn. But it is a nice lawn now!

The Culprit

The reason I am not a good blogger anymore:

Facebook.

It is so much easier to just type out one or two sentences and let people know what's going on in your life. Easier than typing out a narrative. So to catch you up (all 4 of you that read this) I have compiled a random sampling of my facebook statuses since my last post. It pretty much sums up what has been going on in our lives.

June 20

10 years ago today, Matt and I were about to embark on a terrifying 106 day journey. We had no idea just how amazing that journey would be!

June 21

I have one very excited little girl reading a new book on her new Kindle.

I can't complain about all this rain...saves me from having to keep moving the sprinkler on the new sod!

June 22

A remake of Footloose??? Really!!!

Clean house. Full belly. Good Will Hunting on tv. Breeze coming through the windows. Me lounging on the couch. I love summer break.

June 24

Getting everything ready for the sleepover!!

June 25

‎*YAWN*

June 26

12 years ago I married the greatest guy in the world. Happy anniversary Matt! I love you!

June 27

Caitlyn has her first black eye. That's what happens when you run through a sprinkler and hit your friends head with your face.

June 29

I hate you insomnia. That is all.

While packing for the lake, Caitlyn says:
"Sometimes I think we take moms for granted."
From the mouths of babes!!

June 30

Waupaca bound...

July 7

Making our way home from the lake. I have one worn out little girl on my hands. That's what happens when you swim from sun up till sun down I guess!

July 9

Getting my girl ready for her Girl Scout camping trip! I think I'm going to miss her more than she will miss me!

July 10

Driving my girl to camp :/

July 12

Having a "mole" (by the name of Michelle Tatela aka Nurse) has eased my separation anxiety tremendously!! I am the lucky mom getting updates on activities, photos, and even a video of my kid doing the Macarena periodically.

July 14

Oy Vey!!! I certainly have my work cut out for me here :/

July 15

Had a wonderful sleep last night. Now, work for the day and then....I get to see my girl!!!!!

July 19

It's DynaVox, not DynaBox. It's the little things that have a tendency to push me right over the edge!

July 20

It's gonna be a hot one today folks!!

July 24

Was going to cook dinner, then decided against it. Going to Chipotle instead.....mmmmmmmm

July 25

After watching the news this morning, it doesn't look like I'll be turning my AC off this week either :/

July 26

Listening to Cait talk to the dentist cracks me up!! The conversations she has when she doesn't know I'm listening LOL

No cavities for Caitlyn! Love hearing that from the dentist (mainly cause it just saves me money). Aaaaaand....she may not need braces afterall; maybe just a tray or a retainer. Will know for sure after the next visit in January!

July 27

Caitlyn just asked me if we could watch a Lifetime movie and take a nap in my bed. Man I love my kid!

July29

Think I have an ear infection :/

July 30

I love that Caitlyn still asks me to read to her before she goes to bed. Tonight's book of choice was 'Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late' by Mo Willems.

Wordless Wednesday

This is our neighbor's son Connor. He is 3. And we think he is a little in love with Caitlyn :)

Wordless Wednesday

You can't see her very well, she is in the back corner wearing a white shirt and dark pants.

You know you haven't blogged in a long time when....

You have completely forgotten your password. And no matter what you try, you can not get into the stupid thing. Obviously, I eventually got the correct one. Only to remember that I changed it at some point for some ridiculous reason. Needless to say, it has now been changed back to one that I know I can remember. That is, provided I log on more frequently than ever 4 months.

So I will make this recap pretty short and sweet.

Caitlyn made her communion, and looked absolutely stunning in her dress. Of course I cried, which means by the time her wedding rolls around and she wears a white dress just as gorgeous I should be a blubbering idiot that they have to physically remove from the church because I am frightening small children.

Dance recital was in May, and the girl was fantastic. She is looking forward to signing up again this year. We're just not sure what she is going to be taking yet though. She is thinking ballet, but that may fall on the same night as girl scouts. And she doesn't want to give that up. So she may end up in Hip Hop again for the first semester and ballet second semester. We'll see.

Once school was over (for both of us) we were in full swing with the birthday parties. She had her friends party at the glow in the dark mini golf place by our house. Everyone had a ton of fun, but I don't think we will be having another party there. I wasn't too impressed with the staff. Then the family party rolled around at our house. There were gifts a plenty.

Once the birthday festivities were over, we moved into vacation at the lake mode. It seemed we were gone for most of July. And when we were at home, my time was spent unpacking, doing laundry, and repacking for the next trip. While on vacation, Cate tubed by herself on her stomach for the first time and absolutely loved it. I am thinking that next summer we are going to have a hard time keeping her off of that thing!

By the time August rolled around, we were trying to spend some time at home chilling out and doing some things locally. Caitlyn also decided to take another trip with my mom to Wisconsin Dells at some point in there. By the time she came back home, it was just about time for me to return to school and for football practice to start up again for Matt.

Which pretty much brings us up to date. I am back in school and football is in full swing, with the season opener today (which we won!!!). In more exciting news, Caitlyn has finally conquered riding a 2 wheeler. Yes, she was late in acquiring this skill. You see, if there is one thing that I have learned about my kid, it is that she will do things when she is damn good and ready to do them and not a moment sooner. I have tried and tried and tried for the last 3 years to get this child to ride a bike without training wheels. Every attempt by me was thwarted by Cate saying "Nope. It's easier with the training wheels on." Yes, I know she is correct, but come on already, just ride the damn bike without the training wheels!! Well, apparently, she was ready to do so this past Monday. She got on the bike, Kelly gave her a push from behind, and off she went. Without any issues. So just like she did 8 years ago when she was born, she will do things at her own pace and there is nothing I can do to make it happen otherwise.

This evening while at my mother's, she was riding her bike and fell. She decided to break her fall with her face, as opposed to her hands and managed to give herself a fat lip and a chipped tooth. Of course it is one of the front teeth, and a permanent one. We should be at the dentist within the next few days. Fun. I suppose I shouldn't complain. She could have broken a bone or something right?

Today is....

Hmmm?


Time: 10:45 am
Condition: -2° F


Feels Like: -25° F

Forecast for tomorrow

Time: 7:00 am

Condition: -8° F


Feels Like: -25° F

Traditions

(foreword: I was going to post more pictures, but Blogger is being a jerk, so they will come later)

Happy Christmas Eve to all! It has been a busy day here. And yet, relaxing at the same time. For the last couple of years, we have managed to stay home on Christmas Eve. Which I really enjoy. Caitlyn gets to really experience what the night before Christmas is all about.

Since I was a child, my mom has let us open one present on Christmas Eve. The really good gifts were never under the tree by then, so there was no fear of us getting the good stuff the day before we were supposed to. I have carried this tradition over with Caitlyn. She was in my room around 10:00 this morning urging me out of bed so she could open her present. When she finally decided on which one, she wasn't all that thrilled with it.



Connect 4 was not on her list, and I thought she would enjoy it. After we played a few games, she packed all the pieces back up and put it away. Where it has been since this morning LOL!!! It's all good, she will have the gifts she loves tomorrow.

We then went to the grocery store. Which I have decided will never again be put off until the day before Christmas. Because, good LORD that place was a freaking disaster. But I did find this really cool gingerbread decorating kit. The cookies are made and all you have to do is load them up with the gooey gel and candy decor. Right up my alley. Mom and Dad even got in on the fun of decorating them!



I was also thinking that I want to bake cookies with the girl every year on Christmas Eve. But not from scratch. I am perfectly content buying premade dough and then using some cookie cutters. Regardless of where the cookie comes from, it's the actual process of shaping the cookies and spending time with me that is important to Caitlyn. So who cares if I make the batter from scratch or not right? Caitlyn loved, LOVED, doing this. And the cookies are quite tasty too ;)

Because we don't have a fireplace, Caitlyn early on began asking how Santa gets into her house. Right around this time, my friend Shelley sent us a Santa Key. It was perfect timing. The key is now hung on the outside of our door every Christmas Eve. Once Santa uses it to get in, he hangs it on the inside of the door.

The last of the traditions that took place tonight was right before bed. Since Caitlyn's first Christmas, I have bought her new pajamas to sleep in. Her first were from Gymboree and had the cutest little penguins all over them. Of course, they were preemie sized. She has had some really cute ones in the years past. I think my favorites were a green, red, and white striped pair that came with a stocking sleeping cap. She was able to pick hers out for the first time this year. And she didn't pick a pair that have a Christmas theme. Instead, they are just a winter theme. And they are no longer preemie sized, but rather a 7/8. Amazing I tell you. I just can't believe how big she has gotten!

She is now tucked in her bed, after checking one last time where Santa currently is on the Norad Santa Tracker. He should be here in a couple of hours according to them. So she knows she has to fall asleep quickly.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!!! I know we will.

Christmas Concert and other things

The girl had her Christmas concert at school. It was splendid. All of the second graders were on the stage at once, so there were about 95 kids up there. They sang 4 songs, of which I really can't remember the names. Caitlyn had a sore throat that week, so she kept making faces at me and motioning that she needed a cough drop. As if I could do anything about that at that very moment.


She also got her progress report, which basically is a midterm report letting parents know where the kids are at and where they will be when report cards come out. Caitlyn is overjoyed, as are we, with her grades. She has all A's right now. That is what her goal for the year is. I can see that sometimes she gets too focused on her grades and is quite the determined child when it comes to getting an A on anything. I often have to remind her that B's are fine too. And C's are okay provided she put forth her best effort. She does know though that a D or an F really isn't acceptable around these parts. But where she gets this drive from to succeed in school like this, I'll never know.

More to come after Christmas :)
I am pretty much done with all of the Christmas stuff. Not only is just about everything bought and wrapped, I have also wrapped the Santa gifts for Caitlyn. Truly, this is a huge feat for me. Santa's gifts always come in wrapping paper that is different from any we have in the house. I buy it special and it is based on what Caitlyn is "in to" that particular year. In there past, there has been Barbie, Princesses, Tinkerbell, etc. This year, it is High School Musical. Go figure. Once all Santa's gifts are wrapped, the paper is put away under the stairs, never to resurface. Well, at least not until she knows Santa does not bring her gifts. Which should be within the next year or so. Mainly because the kids at school are really starting to talk. Which is fine with me. We got a good 7 years, hopefully at least one more, of the sheer excitement and joy of Santa, and I am content with that.

We have been having crazy weather here in Chicago. Loads of snow and freezing cold weather. The snow and ice resulted in snow day for me on Friday. And it allowed for Caitlyn to play outside with the neighbor's son while I shoveled. This weekend has brought us temperatures that are below zero, so we have been pretty much holed up in the house. The only good thing to come out of that, is all the stuff I have been able to get done since it's too cold to leave.

Caitlyn loves to knock people down in the snow. Here she is getting my neighbor.

This is going to be a long one!

OK, time to catch up on everything that went down since last Thursday. We were going nonstop! But had an amazing weekend!

First off, the concert. OMG! The girl and I had such a fantabulous time that I am already wanting to take her to another one. She is a little superstar. I picked her up from school and we hit the road right away since we had about a two and a half hour drive. It's a good thing we left when we did cause the weather was crappy and there was blowing snow all the way there.

We got to the hotel, checked in, got ready, and headed right back out the door. When we got to the venue, we bought a Carrie Underwood t-shirt (for her not me). And that stupid shirt was $30.00!!! Yeah, you read that right. For a lousy t-shirt. But it was the only thing she asked me for all night, and it's a good keepsake for her. So we splurged. Then we sat down and had some hot pretzels with cheese before the show started.

When we got to our seats, I was amazed at how great our seats were. There was a runway that ran down the middle as well, which gave us a great view of the performers as they came out there.

So when the lights dimmed, the girl got so antsy I thought she was going to explode. Everyone had their cameras pointed at the stage ready to take a picture of Carrie. Not me. I had mine strategically aimed at the girl ready to get the expression on her face when Carrie came out. And it paid off!


So here are just some random pictures that I think came out pretty good.











Caitlyn's most favorite part of the concert was when the confetti fell from the ceiling at the very end! She wore her ear plugs the entire night and never complained about them. And afterwards I was so glad that I had her use them. She didn't complain about any ringing when we were back at the hotel at all.

So all in all, I am so so so glad that I bought those tickets. Yes the concert was wonderful, but we had so much fun hanging out in the car on the drive up there and back and having dinner and breakfast together. We just yakked and yakked the entire time. So it is definitely something that the both of us will remember for many years to come!

When we got home on Friday, we had enough time to unpack our overnight bags, only to repack them for the weekend. Once we were packed, we headed out to have our nails done and be pampered for just a little bit longer. Once they were dry, we went and picked up her dress from the cleaners. We went through a drive through right quick and got home with enough time to eat while Matt packed his bags before we had to head out again.

At the hotel, Caitlyn went swimming with her cousins and uncle while Matt and I got ready for the rehearsal. Then we were off to the church for that. Before we knew it, it was 10:00 and we were stuffed with loads of good food and had to make our way back to the hotel because we had to get up so early in the morning.

Once back at the hotel, all the kids went into one room and climbed into bed....while the adults headed into another room for a few nightcaps! Again, time got away from us and suddenly it was 1:30 in the morning!! And Matt, Caitlyn, and I had to be up at 7:00 in order to make it to the hair salon. So we had to shag everyone out of our room...much to their chagrin.

So we got up bright and early, raced to the salon, got hair done, raced back to the hotel, got dressed in our finest, and raced out the door to the church for the 12:30 ceremony. Which was absolutely beautiful. Caitlyn did fantastic walking up the aisle and looked so gorgeous!! She was a perfect angel throughout the entire ceremony and never complained about how long it was taking.

After pictures were taken, we all headed back to the hotel for some food. Once that was eaten, I told Matt that I wanted to the girl to take a nap as I knew she would end up being exhausted if she didn't. Lo and behold, it took her all of about 7 minutes to fall asleep once I had her out of the dress and in the bed. Then I managed to squeeze in a nap as well.

At 4:45 we were awake and getting dressed again to head to the reception. Where a good time was had by all. Once the kids were picked up at 10ish by the baby sitter, the adults were allowed to indulge in some spirits and act like fools on the dance floor.

Needless to say, by Sunday I could not only wait to get home and do nothing, but I was so eager to actually sleep in my bed that I practically walked in the door, dropped the bags, and headed straight for it.

Monday was hard and all three of us were really dragging ass. But it seems that we have recovered today. If you have managed to read all of this nonsense, you certainly are devoted. I will reward you with some pictures of the girl in her flower girl dress. Tell me this kid isn't going to be a looker when she is older.

Innocence is Bliss

Caitlyn and I were in the car the other day and we were listening to the Carrie Underwood CD (of course). The song Before he Cheats was on and she was signing it at the top of her lungs. She suddenly stops and says:

"Mom, I have a question."

N: What's that baby?

C: What does she mean when she says cheat? Is she talking about like cheating in a game or something?

I thought to myself, if she thinks tearing up someone's car is reasonable retaliation for cheating on a game, what in the world is she going to do if she ever has a boyfriend who cheats on her?? God help that guy! Then I thought about how innocent her question was and how she really didn't have any idea what the song was really about. So I told her in simple terms that her boyfriend wasn't nice to her and that's why she is destroying his car. And I swear to you, she had this look of utter satisfaction on her face. It was almost frightening.

Needless to say, I think when it comes to dating, she will probably be able to hold her own.

Tomorrow is the concert and we are completely psyched for it! She is having a difficult time sleeping tonight because she is so excited. I booked a hotel room for us so that we don't have to drive back home afterwards since it is about a 2 hour drive. The weather here has been kind of crappy, so I am not taking any chances of driving that late for that long should it end up snowing or something. Besides, it will give us more mommy-daughter time, which is always a fantastic thing!

When we get home on Friday, we are going to have our nails done for the wedding. Then we are off to the hotel that we are staying at for the wedding. Where she plans on doing nothing but swimming until it's time to go to the rehearsal.

Then Saturday we are getting up early to have our hair done. Then the wedding starts at 12:30. The reception doesn't start until 6, so we will have some downtime in there.

Sunday, we have a birthday party to go to by our house. Hopefully that will be low key and relaxing, cause we will need it.

All in all, it will be a crazy busy weekend. And come Sunday night, I think we will both be so wiped out we won't know what to do with ourselves.

I can't wait to see her reaction tomorrow when she actually sees Carrie Underwood in the flesh. She is going to go insane!

Report Card and Reaction

I will start with the report card and parent teacher conferences. First of all, the teacher had us shagged out of the room within about 7 minutes. Matt says it's because we had the meeting about 2 weeks ago, I say it's because she just doesn't want anything to do with us. Whatever the case may be, it made for a quick and easy conference.

Caitlyn's report card was outstanding. She was all worried that she was going to get a C in writing. And Cate puts a lot of pressure on herself to succeed in school. She and I need to work on curbing that at times. Sometimes I think it is how she views school and other times I think it's just part of her drama queen genetic make up. Either way, she really strives to do well at school. And it showed on her report card:

Reading A
Writing B
Math A
Science A
Social Studies A
Library A
Music A
PE A

and she got a ribbon for excellent citizenship. So all in all, a great report. Teacher had nothing bad to say about her. Said she participates all the time in class and is so well behaved that she often forgets she is even in there. To say we are pleased is an understatement.

The outstanding report card led to the big surprise. After she saw her report card, all she did was ask me what her surprise was. She had to wait until we got her from my mom's, went to the office supply store for more crap for my homework, and ate dinner. So by the time I told her I was ready to give them to her, she was already near spontaneous combustion from the anticipation of it.

I made her close her eyes and put her hands out. (side note....why do we do that?) I put them in her hands and told her to open her eyes.

The look of complete shock on her face was priceless. The interesting thing was that she knew what they were immediately. Obviously she read what it said, but I didn't expect her to know they were concert tickets.

Without looking at me she said:
"You got Carrie Underwood tickets??" In a low voice, completely stunned.


I told her yes and that was when the jumping and screaming and of course, tears began flowing. Yes, she cried. That's what my kid does. Apples and trees I tell ya!


She wanted to just sit and stare at them all night, but I had to put them away because I just knew if they were laying around any longer something was going to happen to them.


And now the countdown begins.

Tomorrow is the Day!

So tomorrow is Caitlyn's report card pick up. We have our conference with the teacher at 4:30. I am fairly certain that it will go just fine. I have no worries after our last meeting.

BUT..... I told Cate that if she did awesome on her report card that I had the best surprise ever for her. I know her report card will be fine, so I figured it was a good way to work the tickets in as a gift to her. She has no idea what the surprise is and she WILL NOT stop asking me what it is. If the kid was more observant around here, she would have seen them sitting on the dining room table since I got them last Friday!! But, alas, she is not and there they sit. She is also going nutso because the country music awards are on tomorrow and Carrie Underwood is going to be on them. So she and I have a date to sit and eat junk food and watch the awards. (I just need to make sure that I have the insane amount of homework done that is due on Thursday so that I can sit with her and watch them)

I have to say that I loved the idea of putting them on the breakfast plate that I received. But I had horrible visions of the things getting milk or some other runny substance spilled on them and not being able to use them. So I nixed that idea.

Will let you know how it goes!

I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE HER FACE!!!!!

Decision Made

I bought them!!

I managed to bargain with the seller and get her to sell them to me for $65.00 less than she wanted. So I got 2 tickets, 21st row, for $190.00. Which is only $80 a ticket, so not bad. It chokes me up a little to think of that money being spent on them. BUT, I got my tuition reimbursement check last Friday and somehow we managed to get a nice little check from our mortgage company. Seems there was leftover money in our escrow account when we refinanced. So I could rationalize the frivolous purchase knowing that between those 2 checks, there is plenty left over to throw into our savings account.

The girl does not know yet. And I need a creative way to tell her about them. So if anyone has any ideas, feel free to share with me please.

Thanks for voting in the poll. It was kind of fun having that up there to check daily and I may consider putting one up every week. Something silly. I really considered the 3 comments that were left too, that encouraged me to just go ahead and do it. The one that I took to heart the most was Colleen's. Her daughter Kennedy has had a really rough go of it over the last year and her comment really put everything into perspective for me. So thank you Colleen :)

Now I am super excited to go to this concert. Not because I really want to see Carrie Underwood, I have already seen her twice at Country Thunder. But I CAN NOT wait to see Caitlyn's face when she hears we have the tickets. More than that, I CN NOT wait to see her face when she is a mere 50 feet away from her. I know I will be the only fool in the audience crying. And not because of the performance, but because of how happy my little Mojo is going to be!

Poll

Ok, Caitlyn loves (LOVES!) Carrie Underwood. She can't get enough of her. There are 2 tickets pretty cheap on ebay. Normally I would buy then in a heartbeat and take her. Here are the issues I am having:

1. It's a Thursday night, I would miss my last class of the term.
2. It's a Thursday night, she would miss school on Friday.
3. It's in Madison (I'm in Chicago), so about 150 miles away.
4. We would need a hotel in addition to the tickets and other crap I end up buying.
5. It's 2 days before she is standing up as a flower girl in my brother-in-laws wedding.

I don't know what to do. I really really want to take her. I just hate that it's so far away. There are still tickets at ticketmaster. However, by the time that I pay all the silly fees they have, I would end up paying the same amount for those on ebay which are FAR better seats.

Vote in the poll that I have put up in the side bar and tell me what to do.

******EDITED: Those of you who vote, leave me a comment and tell me your reasons for voting yes or no***********

New Voting Machine

This is priceless. Matt and I were watching Chocolate News on the Comedy Channel, don't ask, it was on after South Park, and this was a skit on there. I thought it was hysterical. Let's just hope it's nowhere near the truth!

Oh, and wish me luck tomorrow. We are meeting with the teacher at 3:00. Say at prayer at that time that I don't hurt this lady and end up in jail. Will update tomorrow after the meeting.