Testing, testing...Is this thing on???

Well, my intentions were to be better about blogging but my computer had other plans. It crashed. I knew it was acting funny and that I should make sure all my pictures were backed up but I didn't. I lost about 6 months worth of family memories. Very sad time:( Equally as sad was losing my whole Itunes library:( But I'm back with a new hard drive and a big lesson learned!

It's officially summer break!!

Yay to no more alarm clocks!!

Here's the girls on their last day of school. My baby is no longer a kindergartner
and my big girl is no longer a third grader!!!


And this party planning room mom is done!


Here are the girls' summer plans:


Swim
VBS
Play with the neighbors
Swim
Ride Bikes
Afternoons at the library
Argue with each other
Swim
Play with cousins
Weekends at the condo
Run in and out of the house 367.2 times
Drink lots of pink lemonade
Playdates
Swim
Sleepovers
Family Reunion



Here are mine:

Sleep in
Swim
Drink beer
Read 37 books
Sit in the sun while reading said books
Visit family
Drink more beer
Swim
Hang with the neighborhood moms
Yell at the kids 367.2 times for running in and out of the house
Attend my 20th high school reunion
Weekends at the condo
Swim
Lollapalooza weekend alone with hubby in the city
Sitting by the firepit
Girls Night Out
AND
Enjoy every little minute of it



Oh, look who stopped by:) You should have known he'd be here!


Twilight hit it big at the MTV Movie Awards


and I squeed like a total fangirl when the trailer for New Moon was finally shown!! November 20th cannot get here soon enough! I heart me some Robert Pattinson♥



Here's me, sister in law and niece proving how Twitarded we are.

We not only watched the Twilight DVD for the 564th time BUT we also tried out the new board game at the same time. Yes, we are already aware of our dorkiness thankyouverymuch!!

♥Happy Summer Break♥

Life finally seems to be getting back to normal!!

A lot has happened in the last couple of months.

Hubby finally got a job. NINE long months of unemployment. Not the best of times, but certainly not the worst. I too got a job after being at home with the girls for almost 10 years. I'm a second grade teacher's aide at my girls' school. I only work mornings so I can still be home with Natalie in the afternoons and be here when Sydney gets off the bus. I love it and didn't realize how much I missed working with kids!

Natalie taught herself how to ride a bike without training wheels. No help needed from mom or dad:(

Sydney won the Young Author's Award at school.

I somehow managed to lose 25 lbs. of fat that my ass has aquired the last couple of years. 25 down, ??? more to go!!

And my boyfriend graced the cover of GQ;) Yes, I include him like he's one of the family!

If my husband can accept it, so should you:)

I've missed lots of my bloggy friends. Thanks for checking in with me every once in a while to make sure I was still alive:) And to my family and friends who've been bugging me to update-here you go! Hopefully it won't be another two months before I update again!

♥♥♥Happy Love Day♥♥♥

It's Been A While...

and a long winter!!! Put a fork in me, I'm done! I literally have not seen the ground without snow since the end of November. Enough already! I've been spending lots of time daydreaming about Summer. I long for the day where my girls can swing in the backyard and ride their bikes around the cul-de-sac.

So, the job situation still has not changed. I'm done sugar coating; it sucks! I've decided to go back to teaching. I'm going to start subbing at my girls' school and helping out in the lunchroom when needed. I've put in a few applications at local coffee shops as well and got my first call back today.

While taking a break from blogging, I've gotten sucked into this:

Oh my. Someone warned me it would be addicting but I really had no idea. I have had so much fun chatting with old classmates and friends that I haven't seen in years. The stories and memories we have relived have left me laughing like I haven't laughed in years! If you aren't a member I totally recommend it! It's quick and easy to sign up!

And because this person has become a part of my life and keeps making appearances here, I thought I should share a few more pictures of my "boyfriend." Consider it eye candy, if you will♥

I cannot tell you how excited I will be when I can purchase Twilight on DVD in March! This whole Twilight saga has made me feel like a teenager again:) And for that, my husband should feel thankful! Now the incessant staring at a totally unattainable 22 year old...well we won't discuss that;)

Keeping It Real

Last week I took the girls to get their hair cut. They were both ready for a change. They each got about 4 inches cut off and layers added.

How come no one asks me if I want glitter in my hair when I get it cut?! Natalie, who loves to take pictures as much as me, felt the need to snap my picture as well. When I uploaded the pictures to my computer I saw the mess behind me. Pathetic! Still unframed window that was installed in September! Yes, September!!! My sippable soup from lunch that I couldn't bother to rinse and recycle. Healthy cereal box left from breakfast still waiting to have it's box top cut off. Water glasses. And my dorky self. That's about as real as it gets!
But I have an excuse. AND it's a good one:)

Need I say more?!

I didn't think so!

I'm revamping the books. Again. Acting all giddy like a high schooler when I think of my 22 year old crush. Checking out the fan sites like I don't have a family to take care of. Sshhh! Brandy! Don't you judge♥ I'm not quite where you are yet. He's just too pretty to give up!

We've had a lot of snow this winter. Record breaking amounts. Here's what the latest storm dumped on us. These pictures were taken from inside. I was too lazy warm to go out and take pictures of the kids playing. And apparently we were too lazy busy to cover the furniture on the deck this fall. Keeping It Real.

Hubby keeps a broom on the deck to shovel a path to the hot tub.

And when you get this much snow, you enlist the neighbor girls to help shovel the driveway. Cheap labor. Again, Keeping It Real.

As I type this we are getting hit with yet another snow storm. Gotta love Chicagoland weather. Well, not really! Especially when it causes school to be cancelled!

Back to Reality

The last 10 days have been a whirlwind! It started two days before Christmas when my sister in law Maria and her husband Dave flew in from California. We are lucky to see them once or twice a year so when they do come to visit we smother them until they leave. We basically spent every waking moment with them until they left last Tuesday. While they were here we celebrated Christmas, had a birthday party, played lots of games, ate lots of food and shared many laughs. I miss them so much already! On New Years Eve, Natalie turned 6! Where has the time gone?!
To bring in the new year, we went up north to Wisconsin and stayed with my sil, Rita and her family. It was nice to slow down after Christmas. We stayed in our pj's, watched movies by the fire, read our books, and were lucky enough to have the men stay home with the kids while us girls got out to see Twilight once more before it left the theater♥

Happy New Year!