Just a quick rundown

I think Kahla had a post like this titled "Friday Night Leftovers" or something similar, and I think that would be fitting. Lots of things going on, but nothing that seems big enough to deserve it's own post. So here they are:

Cadence:

• She's doing SO well in school, and I found out today that the placement test for the reading class she's in was at a 3rd grade level. And the AR books they are sending home with her and 3rd grade! I'm so very very proud of her!
• I'm ordering her birthday present next week - an American Girl doll. She thinks it's going to be for Christmas, but will hopefully be so excited when she gets it early.
• She has started Girl Scouts, and has Upward Basketball evaluations next Tuesday. Things are about to get so busy.
• She's been invited to her first sleepover. We haven't set a date, yet, but it's with a girl that is in her class this year, and also in Girl Scouts. Her mom seems nice, and they live close. This should be interesting...

Amelia:

• She's walking EVERY WHERE!! She's now walking more than crawling, and I just can't believe it.
• She's also starting to sing to us. No real words in her songs, but you can definitely tell it's a tune. It's so very cute.
• She's 11 months old now. How did that happen? She can't be that old yet!

Mike:

• He's going Saturday to pick up another Jeep. This one is a 1969 CJ6. That doesn't run. And is in the middle of a restoration. And is 2 hours away. Yay.
• Thankfully, though, the Cherokee (that he traded the Wrangler in for) is paid off. So at the moment, we don't have any car payments, and his job covers our bills. Not much else. But the bills are covered.
• Still likes his job ok, but I don't think he'd be upset if he got transferred to a different department.

Me:

• My job is driving me insane.  People are stupid. It's just... crazy. 
• I have a few freelance things going on, so hoping those will continue for awhile and pan out. They are a nice, welcome break from the craziness at work.
• Sarah and I did our first mud run last weekend, and finished in under 48 minutes - that's times good enough for Disney! We have another 5K (sans obstacles) next Saturday in Brookhaven. It's for breast cancer research, and we're calling ourselves The Boobsie Twins. I can't wait!
• I'm planning a birthday party. It's going to be huge, but I hope the girls (Cadence especially) have fun. It will be Nov 5, and will be a Mardi Gras/Princess and the Frog party. I think I'm more excited than Cadence is!

Let's see how long it lasts...

When Mike and I got married, I tried to be the perfect housewife. I cooked and cleaned and pretty much tried to wait on him and take care of him. That was a mistake. It didn't take long before I was the *only* one cooking and cleaning, plus working and/or going to school. Before kids it was ok, but then we had Cadence. Suddenly I was still doing all the cooking and cleaning, plus taking care of a baby. Now, don't get me wrong. If I asked, Mike was more than happy to help out. It's just that sometimes, explaining to him what I needed done, then showing him how to do it, actually took longer than if I had done it myself. So that's usually what I did.

Fast forward a few more years, and now we have two kiddos. And I'm still doing the major bulk of the cooking, cleaning and childcare around here. Again, if I ask, he'll gladly help. But I have to ask. And when I ask constantly, I feel like I'm nagging. And I don't want to become *that* wife. But I can't do this anymore. I feel like I'm treading water and not making any progress. And honestly, we both work full time jobs and there's no reason that I should be doing it all alone.

So, in response, I made a chore chart. Yes, a bona fide chore chart. It has a list of all the things that need to be done daily, and I told Mike that he needed to pick 3 nights to cook and I would sort from there. He picked Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, so on those days he's supposed to make dinner, wash/put up a load of clothes and straighten the bathrooms. I'll straighten the living room and dining room, vacuum, and clean up after dinner. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the schedule swaps. I'll admit that I hate cleaning and am fine with minor clutter, so neither of us have completed all the chores on the list the last two days (I didn't vacuum tonight, and didn't get both bathrooms finished yesterday.) But it was SO nice to be able to work on some freelance stuff or take care of the girls tonight instead of worrying about dinner. So very very nice.

I'm not sure how long it will be before I'm back to doing it all, but I'm going to enjoy it while I can. Hopefully it will continue.

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Things I'm thankful for:
1) A husband that will help (even if it takes prodding)
2) A daughter that looks forward to some of her chores
3) A somewhat clean house
4) Not having to worry about dinner every night
5) A family that loves me

So alike, yet so different

So, my sister got some very exciting news this past week. She made Senate at Southern, and she's also now a Delta Gamma girl.

Now, the Senate thing is totally like me. I was student body president, cheerleading captain, senior class treasurer, member of every (mainly academic) club on campus in high school. I didn't do a ton in college, but it was mainly because I was engaged and about to get married. But I can totally see myself having done something like senate.

However, Delta Gamma is completely foreign to me. I'm not social, until I really get to know someone. I'm much much happier sitting at home in front of the tv, or reading a book, or on the computer that I am around other people, especially large groups of girls. Girls that are way prettier. And more popular. And had way more friends and boyfriends. See? I'm 31, and the thought of being in the same 100 yard radius of *those* girls from high school and college makes me sweaty and nervous and makes me want to go hide with a good book.

Cecily, though? It's unbelievable. I looked through her facebook wall, and there were SO many people posting pictures of her and congratulating her and telling her how awesome it was that she was now in DG.  As I'm looking through it, I was amazed and in awe. I don't even have that many friends, much less that many that would take pictures of me (and not me in a group - just me!) and post and comment. It was just unbelievable. And I see my daughter being the same way.

I'm so proud of the awesome and amazing woman she's becoming, and can't wait to see what she does as she gets older. And it gives me hope. Hope that Cadence will, one day, be just as awesome and amazing. Hope that even though I don't understand her at all most of the time (kinda like Momma and Cecily), it doesn't mean that she's not listening and learning, and making my teaching uniquely hers. Hope that her future is going to be amazing. And I honestly can't wait.

I love you, Cecily, and am so proud of you.

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Things I'm thankful for:

1) Both of my sisters

2) My awesome, outgoing daughter

3) That Cecily is having the time of her life

4) That we can be so different, yet still love each other so much

5) My family

More good news!!

This morning we got a letter from the librarian at Cadence's school. It said that since she is an "exceptionally above grade-level reader" she gets to take part in the advanced reading group at school. She started today, and will be going to the library to do her reading work every day. I'm so proud of her, and spent the day bragging to everyone I saw!

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Things I'm thankful for:
1) the love of reading has passed on to Cadence
2) a school that helps nurture that love
3) books. The ones she loves now, and the new ones coming soon
4) family that's as proud of her as I am
5) My girls.

Tutu Mania!

So, Cadence informed me over the weekend that she wants to be a peacock for Halloween. Really? A peacock?? Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a peacock costume that isn't A) for a baby, B) for a hooker or C) outrageously expensive? I had been wanting to find something where the two of them would match (I was thinking Rainbow Brite and a Sprite or maybe both be princesses), but Cadence wouldn't let the peacock idea drop. I spent all day Saturday searching online, and finally found a lady that could make tutu dresses for the girls for Halloween and tutus for them for their birthday party, and not charge me an arm and a leg. Cadence is getting a tutu dress with green, blue and purple and the pretty peacock mask we saw at Cracker Barrel (which is what started all of this), and Amelia will be getting a red tutu dress with black spots, and some cutesie ladybug wings and antennas. For their birthday, they are both getting purple, green and yellow tutus for their Mardi Gras party. I'm so excited for them to come in, and can't wait to see Amelia in that cutesie dress!

We also have the party planned! One of the local parks is renovating at the moment, and it's going to be absolutely amazing when it's finished. They are planning to have it open the first week in October, and we have the party planned for the first week in November, so it should give them plenty of time to actually get up and running. I called today, and we are now on the list to have the party from 2-4pm on Saturday, November 5. I'm so excited, and when I told Cadence, she informed me that I was "the Best. Mommy. EVER!!!!!" I'm glad she's happy!

I don't have plans for Amelia's gift for her birthday, but we have Cadence's picked out. She has been asking repeatedly for an American Girl doll, and we're finally going to give in. She loves Julie, but really wants the new My American Girl one that has short brown hair and brown eyes. That will be her birthday gift, but we'll get her other "stuff" (she's asking for Julie stuff) for Christmas. She's going to love it! For Amelia, it will probably be things like paper bags and boxes. She'll be one. She'll love it!

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Things I'm thankful for:
1) My two girly girls
2) Fall. I adore fall.
3) The craziness of this season.
4) Cooler weather
5) Football season and holidays

Shopping and Progress Reports

I did some shopping today, and have a very nice start on Christmas and Birthdays. The majority is from the Missions Garage Sale that the church holds every year. I work in a very nice, upscale area of town, and there is always some crazy nice stuff. This year I came away with:
For Cadence-

• Books! So. Many. Books! I ended up with 6 for her. They are Junie B. Jones and her Big Fat Mouth, 99 1/2 School Jokes, Riddles & Nonsense, Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses, The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes, The Secret Fairy in Fairyland (it even comes with holographic stickers!) and Number the Stars (one of my most all time favorite books.)
• This awesome book that's like a scrapbook and journal in one called I *heart* Being Me! It has pockets to put mementos in, and space to write things about you. It's so awesome.
• And, Operation. I will probably hate the buzzer before too much longer, but I know she'll be thrilled!

For Amelia -

• Fisher Price Brilliant Basics Stroll-Along Walker - She's getting pretty good at walking, but I think she'll like having this to push her Marie Baby around in.
• Fisher Price Little Superstar Stacker - Yeah, she might be almost past the age, but it's a stacker! And it lights up! And it was $1!!
• Fisher Price Amazing Animals Spinning Zoo - It's just too cute. And plays music. And has animals with wheels as feet!! How could I pass it up??
• Snap Lock Beads - she's almost a year old! She has to have snap lock beads!

For me -

• Two Michael Crichton books - State of Fear and Prey
• The prettiest teal pyrex baking dish. I LOVE this dish. The color is beautiful, and I'm pretty sure it was someone's grandmother's. I love, love, love it.
• Some ribbon headbands (those are mostly for Sarah, though.)

For Mike -

• I found the most awesome LSU camping chair, and it was marked $2. I made the mistake of not opening it, and it was broken. :( I'm not sure if I can fix it or not, and I half-jokingly commented that I'm sure all the Ole Miss fans at work did something to it! ;)

The best part? All of it was only $22.50!! This is why I love the Missions Garage Sale every year! I also bought a few other things for Christmas/Birthday. Amelia got a see-n-say junior, and Cadence got a Girl Scout charm, some Daisy Girl Scout socks, and a princess glitter fashion set (her daddy will kill me for that!)

We also got progress reports today, and Cadence had all 100's! Not even 90-somethings - all 100's! I'm so extremely proud of her, and she's doing so so well in school!

Long time no see! (continued...)

....

I just got some really awful news. My grandfather in TX just passed away. He was admitted to the hospital yesterday, but I don't know that any of us thought it was as bad as it was. By today he was doing worse, but the news would be bad, then good, then bad again. The last text I got was that they were starting dialysis, then that he coded. It was definitely a shock, and not the texts I was expecting to get.

The girls and I will be leaving in the morning, heading to TX, and Sarah will go with us. Mike more than likely won't be able to come because of short notice and work, but I'm glad I won't be making the trip alone. I'm very glad to get to see family, but not excited about the circumstances.

Wow. I'm just shocked at the moment. Within the last year I've gone from having 3 grandfathers to none. Wow.

Long time no see!

I know it's been awhile, but hopefully I can keep up with this more. So. Many. Changes. the past week or so! This will be long and bloggy, but since it's my blog...

So, first major change is that we are no longer the proud owners of a Jeep Wrangler. Instead, we are now the proud owners of a PAID OFF Jeep Cherokee. Notice those two bolded words? Yep, that's right. We don't have a car payment anymore! Mike had the Wrangler appraised at CarMax, and they said at wholesale they would give him almost $3,000 more than what we owed. He took all the aftermarket stuff off, sold it back to them, then used the money to buy a Cherokee from a guy at work. It's a 93, so almost as old as Cecily, but he was a mechanic and took great care of it. It has some minor problems (dry rotted gaskets, starter cylinoid is out, headliner is falling), but even fixing all of those puts us WELL below what we still owed on the Wrangler. So, no more Wrangler (for now!)

Other awesome change is that I now have a new MacBook Pro! It was bought for me by H2O Marine Accessories, and I will be working my little bahooty off to pay for it, but OMG do I love it! I also have all of the programs I need for work, so I can do stuff from home or on the road now. And since I can carry it around the house and it's actually fast, I'm hoping I can keep up with this more, too. I adore this computer. Really really really love it.

School wise, Cadence is doing excellent. Reading about 70 words per minute at every test, has made 100 on each spelling test so far, and 97 is the lowest grade she's made on a math test. And the best, most exciting news? She's been on green EVERY SINGLE DAY! And she's been in school for over a MONTH!!! I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am of her!!! She's also taken a liking to American Girl books, especially Julie (from 1974.) We've read a few of the books, and she keeps saying "Momma, these are clothes you used to wear when you were little!!" Um, no, honey. Those are clothes MamMaw wore. I'm glad she's found a book series she likes, though.

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