Where did the day go?

Yesterday was THE BUSIEST day ever!! I got up at 6:45, took my shower and got myself ready. Of course Ariel ALWAYS decides to get up right after I get out of the shower so most of the times when I am getting ready she is sitting to the left of me on the bathroom sink vanity primping herself and chatting with me. I love those moments! Anyway, shortly after, Caleb got up and I got the kids fed and dressed for school. I loaded up the kids along with two packed lunches and school gear and headed to Caleb's preschool. Caleb had the most exciting day planned at school. His whole class of 11 students were going to Fire Station #1 in Bentonville! Not only that but they were all going to ride in the church van together with ALL their car seats! Talk about a treat!

I had been asked to help chaperon but I knew that I didn't want Ariel tagging along since this was Caleb's field trip. So I asked my friend Mandy if she would mind watching Ariel for a few hours. She has a daughter Ainsley who is a year and a half older than Ariel, and Ariel LOVES her!

After I dropped Caleb off at school in Bentonville, I drove to Centerton to drop Ariel off at Ainsley's to play. I had exactly 45 min to get from Mandy's house to Caleb's school, and I had to get gas and stop by my house to get my cell phone that I had forgotten before I left the house!

I made it to the preschool just in time. I helped get the kids loaded and we were off! The kids had a GREAT time. Station #1 was just built late last year so everything was new and clean. I was SO amazed at how clean everything was...esp with a bunch of men living there full time! The kids asked questions and got the grand tour...including a huge living room with at least 15 recliners in it, which I thought was kinda humorous (I will show pics later)!

I then helped get the kids back in the van and then we went back to school. I helped get all the carseats out and then I headed back to Centerton to get Ariel. Once I got there I visited with Mandy a few minutes while Ariel finished her lunch. Ariel and I then went home and I worked on a gift for a couple (The Walkers) that I took dinner to last night. Then it was time to get Caleb from school. When we got back from picking him up, I put Ariel down for a nap and got Caleb occupied with a coloring project while I spent some "me" time watching and episode of LOST. Then I had to clean up the kitchen and make two meals. One for the Walkers and then one for us. I started cooking around 4:30 and by 5:15 I had both meals made and my kids, Dan and I were all sitting for dinner.

I left to go and take the Walkers their dinner at 5:30...in the pouring rain I might add! I got home at 6:40ish and spent some time with Dan and the kids. Then at 7:00, Leah and Mandy came and picked me up and we all went to the "Just Between Friends" consignment sale. There really wasn't much there. I got NOTHING for Caleb and but I did find three dresses for Ariel and I also found Ariel's birthday gift. It is a Loving Family dollhouse from Fisher Price and I got it and a full gallon size bag full of dolls and furniture for $30. I had been looking at this doll house since her second birthday for her and they run about $70.00 for the house and then each room of furniture is around $15-$20. So, I think I got a good deal!

I didn't get home until 9:00 and then I talked to Dan for a while and then went to bed. What a busy day! I will post a bunch of pics maybe later on today or tomorrow.

Running and Such

Well I am in my second week of running and it is getting easier. I ran for a full mile and a half today, which like I said before is a big deal for me since I am NOT a runner. I just want to be able to run 3 miles without falling over! Ariel is doing great at potty training. She still has one accident a day but she has learned to go poop on the potty (sorry if TMI) and I am just THRILLED about that. She gets little treasures when she poops so that encourages her. We have been busy as usual with life. Preschool, Play Dates, grocery shopping, digital design, church...lots of church activites, Dan's multiple jobs (which are going really well right now and can't get enough done in a day so he is seeing his pillow at 2:00am quite frequently), and not to mention all the other things like housework and laundry. We are ready for spring and we are even contemplating a Florida trip this summer with the kids. I will tell more about that later. I need to catch up on some house work, so until next time!

Kindergarten Pre-Registration

I just pre-registered Caleb for Kindergarten! WOW! Doesn't seem possible for him to be entering school this fall. Time has gone WAY too fast! We will register him at Central Park Elementary the second week of March since this was just the online part.

New Images

I have been surprisingly busy with digital design here the past week or so. I also have two paintings that I am working on. God is good...he knows when I need the extra money, especially when spring is coming up and the kids will be needing new clothes. These are a few of the items that I have have been working on. Please note that I have hidden all personal information.

This is a Nemo invitation that I did for a friend of mine.

Bow Hangers: This image is printed in 8x10 and framed. Then I hang beautiful ribbon from the bottom of the frame and use it as a bow hanger for a little girls room. I thought the one I did for one of my friends turned out so cute so I decided to do one for Ariel as well. I will post the final project when I complete it.

Here is another invite that I did for another dear friend of mine.

These images below are bag tag images. I have them printed in 2.5x3.5 format and then make bag tags out of them for diaper bags and backpacks. I have posted below a picture of what the bag tags look like when they are completed.

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frontback And I did this painting about a month ago and I just forgot to post it. If you have any questions, please click here or click on my logo to the right under "My Work".

Love Letters from My Sweet Boy

Caleb has been so sweet lately. He will leave me random love notes in various places and insists on doing this daily! He is doing a great job at writing and has only asked me once or twice how to spell "you" the rest of the words he sounds out and tries his best! I only hope and pray that this sincerity lasts!

This one nearly sent me to tears. He said that it was he and I bowling together...there are two bowling lanes, one red and one blue (this is the wii bowling game I am assuming) and the people that he drew were hilarious with smiley face stickers and the ears on each side. He said he was the blue (he ALWAYS wants to be blue because blue gets to pick which sport to play). And at the top it says " Caleb (in stickers) Cole. I love you. to mom. dear (der) m (guess he got distracted and forgot the "om" on the end of mom!) I think I have a serious artist on my hands...and I couldn't be happier!!

This one says "Dear mom"

And on the inside is says, "Caleb Cole. I love you. I belong to you. dear mom. I love you"

Lost

When LOST started a few years ago, I didn't jump on the bandwagon and get entrenched with the show like I do with most other shows. I thought how silly it was to watch a bunch of people lost on an island and seriously how can you make 5 seasons worth of shows from that?? Well, my mom bought the 1st and 2nd season and has watched them. She knows what kind of shows I like and she said that I would love it. So, about two weeks ago I decided to start watching them on the internet on abc.com and, yes, I admit...I am addicted! I am already in season 2 and can't get enough. Oh, and not to mention I think Jack looks a lot like Dan...do you see any resemblance? Maybe it's just me!

Caleb's Valentine's Party

Here is Caleb getting ready for Valentine's Day. His teacher from school, Mrs. Melanie gave each student a list of their friends in the class room. I gave Caleb the list and he wrote out each of his friend's names on his Valentine's along with his name all by himself. He is getting SO good at writing and he is really starting to sound out words. He also wanted to make Mrs. Melanie a special gift. Her birthday is on Valentine's Day so he painted a heart shaped box red and pink and then place a silver cross on the inside of it for her. She loved the box and he enjoyed making it for her.And here are a few pictures from Caleb's Valentine's Party at school. He had a great time and loved having Ariel and I there with him.

My Valentine's Day with Dan

On Friday, I took the kids to Eureka to meet Dan's mom so she could have the kids for the weekend. Once the kids were in her truck I felt some much needed freedom! I enjoyed my drive back from Eureka by myself with MY music cranked up as loud as I could stand it and with the sun setting to my left...it was a very peaceful drive home. Once I got home. Dan was ready to take me out. We went and rented Fireproof and then went to the Promenade to Bath and Body Works to exchange a few things. Then we went to MiMi's to eat. They had a great deal going on there where two could eat for $25.99. You got a huge order of Spinach Artichoke Dip, your meal which was a decent size ( I got asiago parmasan chicken and Dan got some shrimp and mushroom and spinach pasta) and then you got a HUGE order of Brownies with Ice Cream. There was so much food that we were able to take a lot of it home and use it again last night. When we got home Friday night it was around 10:30 and we literally came home and went to bed. We had been so exhausted from last week that we needed some much needed rest.

Saturday morning, I slept until 9:30 and Dan slept until 10:30. I made pancakes and we had coffee and sat around for nearly an hour just talking. He had to make a few phone calls and I went and took a shower. Then we watched Fireproof together. That movie has a fantastic message to it! WOW! Dan and I both were in tears a few times. After that we went to Wal-Mart and got a few things for dinner and then came home. We had our leftovers with a salad and some cheesy bread and then we had chocolate fondue afterwards with pineapples, mangos, bananas, and our left over brownie from the night before. Then Dan and I took 20 minutes and sat at the table and wrote letters to each other instead of getting each other cards and then we read them aloud. It was amazing and MUCH better than a silly card! Then we played upwords (a scrabble game) and then we retired for the evening.

This morning I slept in until...get this...12:30!!!! I woke up at 9:00 and asked Dan if he wanted to go to church and we both decided just to stay home. I cannot tell you the last time I slept until 12:30...maybe college?? We got up, had breakfast and then cleaned up the house.

This has been the best Valentine's ever! I am ready to see my kids now and I feel recharged! I will go and pick them up tonight after connection group. Hope you all had a great Valentine's!

5K here I come!

I am needing a push to get these last 8 pounds off. I have decided that I am going to run a 5K at the end of April in Race for the Cure. This is BIG for me. I hate running but I know that if I work hard at it I will begin to like it especially if I start losing a few more pounds. I think this is a great thing for me to do. It gives me a goal and I need a goal, to get me to my goal! Here is the training plan that I am going to use:

Week 1:
Day 1: Start off at a nice easy pace an run for 6 minutes at a pace you can handle. Take 2 minutes to walk or jog to lower the heart rate, and then repeat this cycle for 20 minutes.
Day 2: Run for 8 minutes at a pace you can handle and again take 2 minutes to walk or jog until your heart rate slows. Repeat this one time for a total of 20 minutes.
Day 3: Repeat day 1.

Week 2:
Day 1: Run for 8 minutes at a nice pace and walk/jog for 2 minutes. Repeat once for a total of 20 minutes.
Day 2: Run for 10 minutes and walk/jog for 2 minutes. Repeat once for a total of 24 minutes.
Day 3: Repeat day 1

Week 3:
Day 1: Run for 12 minutes and walk for 3 minutes. Repeat once for a total of 30 minutes.
Day 2: Run for 15 minutes straight and then stop and rest for 5 minutes. Repeat the 15 minute run for a total of 30 minutes of running.
Day 3: Repeat day 1.

Week 4:
Day 1: Run for 15 minutes, slow down to a jog for 5 minutes, and then run for 10 minutes.
Day 2: Run for 18 minutes, walk for 2 minutes, then repeat for a total of 40 minutes.
Day 3: Alternate between 100m sprints and 100m walks for a total of 15 minutes. Finish this off with an easy jog of 5 minutes to keep your heartrate up.

Week 5:
Day 1: Run for 20 minutes straight and then rest until your heartrate returns to normal. Repeat for a total of 40 minutes of running.
Day 2: Alternate between sprints of 100m and jogs of 100m. Repeat this for a total of 20 minutes. Finish this off with a light run of 10 minutes.
Day 3: Run for time: Run for 10 minutes as fast as you can while keeping a steady pace, and track your time. Repeat this once. When you are finished, measure the distance with your car. Use this to try an estimate your 1 mile pace.
Day 4: You’ll need this extra day for a recovery run. Jog for 25 minutes at a low pace and focus on breathing and form. Find what works best for you.

Week 6:
Day 1: Go for a moderately paced run for 30 minutes and keep an eye on your time. Measure the distance with your car to see how far you can cover in 30 minutes. This will help you find a managable pace for the race.
Day 2: Alternate between 1 minute sprints and 1 minute jogs. Focus on form and breathing trying to keep your heartrate up the entire time.
Day 3: Repeat day 3 from last week and see if your time is improving. You should be seeing major gains by this point.

Race Week!
Day 1 (Monday or Tuesday): Take a long jog for ab out 25-30 minutes and again relax and work on breathing and pace. Don’t push yourself too hard.
Day 2: Taper down to a 15-20 minute jog just to keep your legs ready for the race. This should be a confidence run because by now if you have followed the program you are running great!
Race Day: Go out there and give it your all and have fun! Don’t take off too fast, get into a nice rhythm, and then let your legs take you to the finish. You will know how hard to push yourself once your heart slows down from the adrenaline rush and your legs stop feeling like jelly.

I start the training tomorrow so I will let you all know how it goes!

Sidewalk Chalk

Just a few pics from an artist moment!

Potty Trained

My little girl is now potty trained! WOW! This is a big step and it has been a huge relief on my part. It also made me realize that I no longer have a baby in the house...which to me is a good feeling. I am ready to watch my kids get older and do things more on their own. Bye bye my little baby...sniff sniff...hello my sweet toddler!

60's in February

It's amazing how the temperatures change so rapidly here in Arkansas. Last week we had 20-30 degree days with snow and ice and this week we are having 60-70 degree days. Don't get me wrong...I love the warm weather but it is hard when you have to tighten and loosen the car seat straps so often! Here are a few pics from the past few days.

Backing up my Blog

I was having a conversation with a few of my friends last night during Bunco about blogging. My friend Amy said that she knew of a gal that lost her blog completely and had to start over from scratch. The thought of losing my blog terrified me to the point to where I could hardly sleep last night! My blog is the only place where I have recorded life's events for my kids, and I would be DEVASTATED if I lost everything. SO...that being said, I have started the daunting task of backing up all my blogs in a word format so that I can save them to a DVD and have them for safe keeping for my kids (and myself) later on in life. This will take a while and I just wish that I would have started this 316 posts sooner!