Katelynn's Dance Recital

After a very long year of dance (we started in September) the grand finale was finally here.  Last Saturday the girls did pictures, Monday night dress rehearsal and finally Tuesday night - the Big Performance on stage.  Katelynn's group this year did a jazz dance routine to the song 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton.  They did a really good job.   It is always so cute to watch all the kids do their routines.  I could sit in that auditorium all day and watch them.  Katelynn was in the 2nd half of the show so the first half she sat and Dan and I and watched others perform.  She was getting anxious and after awhile wanted to know when it was going to be her turn because she was ready to dance.  At intermission I brought her in the back and spruced up her make-up and wished her good luck.  We took her out to Dairy Queen for a treat afterwards.  Dance is done for the summer, but I did sign her up for a one week camp with the dance studio.  The first half of the days she will be in music and voice lessons with the same music teacher she had in preschool and the second half of each day is dance.  I hope she enjoys it because it cost a pretty penny!  She loves to sing so I think she will enjoy the week.  Gotta keep her busy.

She is not happy with me!   She wanted to take the tie off.

My Angel in a tutu.

Before the show.

Getting ready.  

Final Pose!

With her Group of Friends.

She fell asleep on the way home.

Katelynn's Preschool Graduation

 These pictures are a tad blurry, but I did the best I could from where I was sitting.  Katelynn is now officially done with preschool and moves on to Kindergarten next year!  They had a little ceremony where the kids sang some songs and each graduating preschooler received a rose from a kiddo in the 3 year old class.  It was very cute.  Katelynn was pretty excited, but she also realized since her preschool was in the neighboring town that many of her preschool buddies would be attending a different school next year than her.  She was a little heart broken over it.  My little emotional girl.  We took the kids out for shakes after the ceremony and told Katleynn how very proud we are of her to have such a "BIG" accomplishment.

Getting Ready - she picked her own dress out for the occasion.

Junior - really who knows?  He said he was getting ready too.

Right before the Ceremony

Project Close Out! Yee Haw

I have successfully finished what I refer to as my first real "Business Analyst Project"~!  Since I had to work with  staff from IT and they actually built something for workers to log into and use I consider this project a little different than others I have worked on.  My trainings are done and staff are up and running on it.  So far I have had all good feed back from the users too.  I have had such a great time working on this project.  I got to meet new people and our group just really "clicked"!  We had fun and the work got done, what more can a person ask for?  (Oh yeah, probably the paycheck!)  

Our project is complete and of course I wanted to celebrate so I scheduled a meeting for a little get together after work.  Hello Margaritas!  We met for a few drinks and didn't talk too much shop (besides I am no technical person, I wouldn't have understood it anyway).  We had a good time and a few drinks last Friday.  Bonus, Bonus, Bonus!  We got a day off and will have a little surprise on a paycheck as well.  Can't complain at that.  

Pat, Joe (my boss), me, Cory, and Robin

Is Being a Super Woman Really Possible?

I am looking over everything this month and starting to wonder how much one person can do?
Super Women Requirements:

• Look Good 
• Make-up, hair and clothes.  Strive for perfection.  This entails a lot in itself.  Facials, hair appointments, nails (whether you do it yourself or go to the salon).  Every outfit needs to look well put together and the appropriate accessories.  You shouldn't wear the same outfit over and over again, which then includes shopping time.  
• Work - Give 110% 
• Work over 40 hours a week to show that you can do it all.
• Kids
• Cook and nourish, spend quality time, teach, listen and learn from them.  Clean-up after them.  Take them to activities so they can strive to be their best and learn that there is life outside of the home.
• Wife
• Clean house, do laundry, spend time together. 

This list could really go on and on and on.

As the month of May was coming close I knew that I would be extremely busy.  I have been trying to do it all and give each one of these things 100%.  It isn't working out so great for me.  At work I have projects going and not enough time in the work day.  And then to throw into the mix sick kids and daycare closures I had no idea how tough it would really be to try and get everything done.  School and activities are coming to an end and there are multiple events to go to and take kids to.  I feel horrible when something is during the day and I have to tell my little girl that Mommy won't be able to make it because I have to work.  I get home from work and try to throw something relatively healthy on the table and I have to admit we have been ordering pizza and getting take out on numerous nights.  On the nights that we have a homemade meal then there is the clean-up afterwards which takes time out from the quality time I should be spending with the kids.  Then it's bath and bed and get items ready for the morning.  I then grab a load of laundry and put the load from the day before away.  I have to do Dan's bookwork during the week at some point and really should be doing it on a daily basis.   Pay the bills, clean the rest of the house and then maybe try to get on the computer and catch up on some of my work for 30 minutes.  The pampering for me is usually out the window, no facial scrub tonight!  At 10:30pm I am exhausted and crash, which means I have probably also neglected my husband for the night.  The alarm goes off at 6am and I get to do it all over again. After awhile it starts to feel a little bit like dejavu - didn't I just do this yesterday in exactly the same sequence?
Somewhere between all this chaos I think I have lost myself.  What happened to me and where did I go?  Sometimes I can't even recognize myself. And then when I do find myself again while hanging out with friends or having lunch with a co-worker then I want more of being just me.  How do I find the balance.
I wonder if all of this is what is causing the hole in my stomach a continuous ache that seems to be getting worse each day. I think the ulcer is back and I am doing my best to ignore it right now.  Too much to do and too little time and that equals stressful living.  Hopefully things will calm down or I can find some piece of mind or figure out how to balance in some fun and live a little.
 If anyone out there has answers on how you are a Super Woman and bring it all together please enlighten me on your secret.  From one exhausted Super Woman wannabe to the next.  Take Care of Yourself!

24 Hour Cascade Challenge

Are you ready for the 24-Hour stuck on Food Challenge from Cascade Complete?  I was.  They sent me a trial packet and asked me and my kids to bake a blueberry pie dish and after we were done we had to let it sit out, un-rinsed for 24-hours.  Then I had to toss in the dishwasher with a Cascade Complete and let it do the dirty work.
See below for our results from our experiment.

Product Benefits:

Cascade Complete® All-in-1 ActionPacs™ give you the confidence of a job done right. They break down, dissolve, and rinse away tough food particles without the need to prewash.

• No prewashing

• More tough food cleaning ingredients*

• Rinse-aid action

• Powers away 24-hour stuck-on food

*vs. regular Cascade ActionPacs

New Trial Size Cascade Complete ActionPacs:

Try ActionPacs for less than $1.00 when you buy the new trial size at participating Walmart stores.

Learn more at Cascadeclean.com

  

© 2011 The Procter & Gamble Company

I have trial size packets like the one show above to give to 5 of my readers.  If you would like one please post a comment and I will send an email to the first 5.  If you would like to be in the drawing for the $15.00 Walmart gift card post your experience with using the Cascade Complete.  The best story wins!

Here is the dirty dish that sat out for 24 hours.  

Nice results!

The product and prize pack, and the giveaway were provided to me by P & G through MyBlogSpark!

Legal Disclaimer:

This product review was based on using complimentary Cascade product provided by P&G. Bloggers also received a Walmart® gift card to share with their readers. P&G does not represent or warrant the accuracy of any statements or product claims made here, nor does it endorse any opinions expressed within this blog site.

You Get What You Pay For

This post may be a little TMI, but I had to comment on it.  I didn't really think there would be much difference from one waxing studio to the next.  You go in and get done what you need to get done and pay for your services.  However, after today I have realized that there is a "BIG" difference.  I usually go to a place that is clean and the staff are excellent and knowledgeable.  I have felt they are a bit pricey, but they only do waxing at this studio and you pay for the expertise.  
I was unable to make time in my schedule due to meetings and their openings recently.  I happened to be out getting something at another store when I saw a waxing studio close by. I assume that everyone must be certified in any establishment you go to so I popped in and signed up and waited my turn.  They were also a waxing studio only so I expected remotely the same type of service.  (I was kind of shocked at how many women were there waiting for services at 10am on a Friday, but who am I to judge.  One lady even had 2 kids with her?  How does that work?  I hope she wasn't getting anything done that would traumatize her children for life.)
I discovered that you definitely get what you pay for.  This place was much, much cheaper than where I usually go and boy I could tell why in every which way.  The rooms were disgusting.  There was wax on the walls and on the floor.  I had worn shoes without socks and I had to put my feet on the floor and immediately wanted to puke.  I had to tell myself to hold it together and just get it over with and get the hell out of there.  The service was definitely not top of the line in any way either.  Maybe I should call it a Chop Shop, for lack of a better term?  No extra niceties happening at the joint.  Rip, rip and see ya later, hope we got it all.  I am still a little shocked from the situation.  I will go back to where I belong and pay the extra cost forever in this arena.  I think I was traumatized! 

Graduation Season - Congrats Adrian & Ashley

Our 2011 Graduates!
 Congratulations Adrian and Ashley for both working hard and getting your Master's Degree.
Both of you are hard workers and well deserving.  Now go and make some money!

Uncle Joe pouring shots to cheers the graduates.
I have never had a shot of Champagne before - have you?  It was a little strange.

Our guests - Jayce, Emily, Adrian, and Ashley.

My Hawley Boys - Gotta love the cousins.
Adrian, me, Jayce, and Rory.

Katelynn's new best friends for the day - Jayce and Emily (or the girl in the green dress and Jason).

We had a great BBQ/Graduation Party on Sunday.  It was hot, hot, hot and so enjoyable.  Dan made a great pork loin on the grill that he rotisseried for about 4 hours, it was really good.  We had a great time visiting with my cousins and their girlfriends and my aunt and uncle.  We played a little lawn golf and drank a few beers to pass the day.  Lindsay and Nikki sang a song for us and then a few decided (or maybe it was Katelynn) we should start showing off talents.  Jayce did a yoga move, Katelynn did her dance that she is doing at her recital and I showed that I still have a little cheerleading left in me and at 32 can still kick well above my head.  Of course someone snapped a picture of me doing this and I told them they were dead if it showed up on Facebook, seriously people - don't do it!   

I love having family over.  Its always a good time and you can just sit back and relax.   My cousins that were visiting went to the same school growing up that I did.  I watched out for these boys like a hawk growing up.  Apparently I will never live down the stories of the poor little boys that I used to beat up that picked on them.  It never fails, it is always brought up.  Some days I feel bad, but not really - don't mess with my boys.  I'm sure all three of them would now have my back if I needed.  Now that 2 of them live out here maybe we will see more of each other and have a few more family bbq's.  Slowly one by one more of them are moving to Colorado.  I wonder who will be next?

Again - Congrats to Adrian and Ashley - our entire family is so very proud of you!

I'm a Fish Killer

We had some fabulous weather this weekend and I couldn't wait to open the windows and shades in every room in the house!  This included the kids rooms.  Little did I realize or even contemplate the disaster that was coming.  Saturday I had the sun blazing in through Katelynn's room and the fan going.  Sunday as we were getting ready for our company and I was running around doing my last minutes checks for clean rooms Dan starts coming down the steps with Katelynn fish bowl.  I looked at him with a strange look, like what the hell, we are not cleaning the fish right now, really?  He looked back at me and said, I think you killed her fish, both of them.  Well, crap.  I boiled the damn fish in the sun.  Not a good way to die.  Yep, they were sitting there right on her bookcase in the direct sun and nowhere to hide.  

Dan rushed the fish bowl outside and got rid of them somewhere?  Thank goodness neither kid were around right at that time.  It's been a few days and I am waiting to see how long it takes for her or Junior to realize that the fish are gone.  There will be hell to pay for mommy.

Debate Over Words

Every once in awhile you may have a conversation with someone and you blurt out a word and they look at you with this blank look - what?  This actually has happened to me on many occasions.  I have in the past, and still do, make up my own words.  Is it a bad thing?  I don't think so.  It may drive other people crazy though!  

This is why my husband tends to possibly not believe me when I have said certain things.  Our latest conversation over the meaning of a word started last weekend.  We are preparing to have a small family get together this coming weekend and it was also time to do some spring cleaning.  The kids were on board.  Well, to be honest they probably had no idea what was coming.  I decided we would start upstairs and work our way down.  The kids rooms were then obviously first.  I went into Katelynn's room and we started cleaning.  It was time for me to eliminate toys.  We have an over abundance of them and I can't take it anymore.  So, my word of the day was, "Purge".  We are purging today.  We need to get rid of things.  Apparently according to the husband this is not exactly what he thought the meaning of the word was.  We debated over this for the entire day.  I purged the house and waste and even eliminated clothes from my own closet that needed to go.  Purge, purge, purge - to eliminate!  I was pretty successful going through toys from the upstairs, main level, and the basement.  Katelynn actually did extremely well and let me get rid of a bunch of stuffed animals that she never plays with out of her closet.  She said she was being kind and the poor kids may have more enjoyment out of them than she is.  Her words, not mine.  Junior on the other hand was spinning circles and had no idea what to think or what to do.  All he figured out was - mommy has a big bag and things are going in it and leaving my bedroom.  I actually had to bring him up to his room at one point and show him that there were still plenty of toys for him to play with.  

Tonight Dan and I were doing some bookwork and while I had his full attention and eyes directed at the computer I pulled up the word "Purge".  And what does it state Purge means - to rid of whatever is impure or undesirable; cleanse; purify. the act or process of purging.  Ha - I win this debate again! Yeah for me.  He will now know next time that I say the word Purge - what out becomes momma's coming through with bags.  There is always a need to Purge.

Sneakiness Just Doesn't Pan Out

I have been having a blast lately at work with one of my projects.  It has been a long time coming.  I started working a few months ago with a new group and we have been rocking and rolling on our project.  These guys are great at their jobs and have great personalities.  The project is coming to an end and I had a fabulous week at work last week.  I rocked my trainings for the project to staff.  I also had a couple of other trainings last week for another project that is ready to start off in another month.  I was on cloud nine and a tad hyper about it all.  Spur of the moment on Friday I said that we should head out of work a little early and grab a beer to celebrate with team.  So we did.
I was attempting to be sneaky and headed over to a different building to finish up one last piece of work and meet them.  I had no intentions of seeing my boss at 3:30pm in this building on a Friday afternoon.  I am also pretty sure that he had no intention of seeing me in that building on a late Friday afternoon.  I walked into the courthouse and walk past a meeting room.  The door to the room was cracked open and the window had the blinds up and I can't help but look in there to see who and possibly what type of meeting is going on each time I pass it.  I take a look in and I'm sure I slowed my steps and paused. Low and behold who looks right at me, but my boss.  He was doing some sort of presentation in the room.  Well, shit, that wasn't supposed to happen!  I just keep walking by and think to myself, well, I do have about 5 minutes of work that needs to get done, good excuse to be here.  I go and get my work done and tell my group that I am dead because the boss just saw me and we need to find an escape route to get out of the building.  The last thing I need him to see is me walking out with my project team early from work on a Friday afternoon.  There is a back door and an elevator so we head out - yeah!  He will never know now.
We head a few blocks away to some dive bar and grab a few beers.  As we are sitting there a few people from our work wander in because they are also meeting up for beers.  Not great for me, but I can deal.  We are having what I will refer to as some "lively" conversation.  All of the sudden we look over and who is standing there but my boss's boss!  You have got to be kidding me.  Strike 2 against me.  We say hello and chat him up a bit, but let me tell you I am freaking out at this point.  I am not wanting my image at work to be that I go out and go boozing with my co-workers, especially one that is a group of all guys.  I end up leaving a little later than I usually do to head home by about 30 minutes.  I have a terrible feeling there may be hell to pay when I get home for not calling and such so I call my neighbor on my way home to tell him to come over and have a beer with the hubby and bail me out.  Strike 3.  My neighbor answers his phone and tells me that he is already at my house having a beer.  Great, just great, completely busted on every turn that I make that day.  3 strikes and I am out.  The night ended up fine, but I will probably not try being sneaky again for awhile, at work or at home.  Apparently the stars do not align for me in this department.

Family Easter Pictures

 

As I always do - here is this years family photo and then those from the previous years.  It is crazy to see how different we are and how much the kids grow from year to year.

Easter 2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

Easter Fun

I really do try to stay on top of all my mommy duties, but Easter this year got the better of me.  I realized when we were home in Minnesota after seeing decorations out at Dan's parents house that I hadn't even taken any of dug any of mine out yet.  What the heck was I doing?  I still didn't get to it for a couple of days after we had been home and Easter was coming the next weekend.  Finally I dug out the box and found some decorations and the Easter baskets.  My daycare ended up being closed most of the week after we got back from our trip so I had to take a day off of work and stay home with the kids.  This was truly my live saver that day.  I got some of my laundry done, unloaded the rest of our suitcases and attempted to put my house back in order.  I took Junior to get his haircut that morning and we stopped at Target to pick up Easter outfits for the kids.  Whew - I was starting to worry about when I was going to get this all done.  

Saturday we all went out to get groceries, eggs, a coloring kit and I still needed a dress for church too.  Dan wanted me to wear one of my dresses already had and I said no.  We always have a family Easter picture taken and I wasn't going to wear a dress I had already worn in one.  I said I would be quick in the dress store so the entire family went in.  I wanted Dan to help me decide what to get.  Unfortunately, him and Junior did not last long in the store and they only had 4 dresses in my size for me to even try on (what the hell?!)  I found a dress and then since Dan wasn't in there I grabbed a new necklace and earrings too!  

We dyed Easter eggs that afternoon after Junior woke up from his nap.  The kids loved it.  Katelynn took her time to decorate her eggs and made sure she had one special egg for the Easter bunny.  The kids went to bed good that night, but woke up extremely early.  The first thing in the morning out of Junior's mouth was - candy?

The Easter bunny hid both kids baskets this year and they had a ton of fun looking for them.  Of course they indulged in way too much sugar at 6am, but what the heck, it was a special day.  We got ready and headed to meet my aunt and uncle for church.  Festivities were fun for Easter and we always love hanging out and visiting.  

Here are our pictures from Easter.