Tuesday Tidbits!

We have had a busy week so far, and we are only three days in!!

• On Sunday Kendall and I went to the outlet malls and I hit the mother load on jeans! No more mom jeans for me!!! I also got a few cute tops for the spring and summer! Kendall had a ball playing on the playground! She especially loved "driving" the cars.

• Yesterday we had a great meal courtesy of Justin and the internet. He found this AMAZING recipe for hamburgers. These Chorizo Burgers were the best that I have had in a long time. **Warning: the nutrition information will probably send you into heart failure.. so make the burgers, savor them, and then if and only if you must know, take a peek at the nutritional facts. I just want to say that Justin picked this out all on his own and I did not look at the recipe until just now!!**

• I actually got off work on time today so I decided to get in a quick workout before picking up Kendall from school. I just love that little girl! When she saw me she said, "Hi Mom, did you have a good day today?" She is just the sweetest.
• We had spaghetti tonight (with turkey meat) and Kendall insisted she eat hers with ketchup. She ate everything on her plate, so I must say a big thank you to the ketchup!!
• I had taken all my surgical hats home over the weekend to wash and Kendall had to try them on. When she saw us in them she said, "Mom, we're cute"!!

• Now I am catching up on all my girlie shows that the husband can't stand and listening to our very loud fish tank!!
• Hope everyone is having a great week!  

Phone Photo Fun!

I am linking up with Ashlee and Savanah today for Phone Photo Fun!

Since I haven't linked up in a while, these pictures pictures are of the past month.

 Kendall playing "her game". It's a good thing we

have insurance on that thing!

 Bench I am thinking about for our front porch!

 Not even March and our calendar is filling up fast!

(I have since added three things to our calendar!)

 On the way home from Church!

 And this is why I love Gymboree! Kendall sat there and watched

cartoons while I did some shopping!

 I'm sure everyone feels like this at one point or another!

 Enjoying the nice weather and going for a ride!

This is what happens when you fall asleep and there is a toddler around!!

It's Official!!

This past summer I wrote that Justin had decided to change careers and go to EMT and Fire school. Then in November he started the interview process for our local fire departments. After a long three months (yes, the interview process took that long), we got the news this past week:

The newest member of the

City of Bryan Fire Department!!

He brought home all of his new gear, so of course, I had to get an "action" shot!! 

Kendall loved wearing the "fire truck hat" so much

that she refused to take it off! 

Fishing at the coast!

Earlier this month, we went down to Port Lavaca with our friends, the Savarinos, and we had the best time!! It was cool and rainy at times, but overall we had a great weekend.

Mark and Justin headed down early Friday morning and took the girls with them. Amy and I left later that day (someone had to work!!) and he had such a gun time just having girl talk!!

The girls trying to look for an allegator! 

Kendall also caught her first fish. However, she did not catch it on her own fishing pole....because as soon as Justin would cast, Kendall would shout, "I have a big one!!" and immediately start reeling in the line!!

 Wonder what is in Kendall's shirt??? Why it's her

tackle box of course!!

On Saturday, Kendall and I joined Justin out on the boat and we also caught a couple of big ones!! And I am proud to write, that I actually held a fish with my bare hand...three times!! And I only dropped it once...I swear it some how licked me, though Justin says a fish doesn't have a tongue!!

Sunday brought the coldest weather, so we cleaned up the house and headed home. We had an amazing weekend. Thank you, Savarinos, for a great, memory filled, weekend!!

Happy Valentines Day!

Last month I bought the cutest Valentines shirt from Gymboree (60% off!) and two matching bows (that cost more than the shirt) for Kendall to wear to school for her Valentines Party. I had this image in my head of my darling little girl wearing her shirt, with her hair in pig tails and big bows, and sparkly shoes. I was then going to take a picture of my darling little Valentine and send it to her daddy.....

Well, reality hit me hard this morning. First Kendall didn't want to wear her jeans, nor her special Valentine shirt. After I convinced her to wear her shirt, I went to do her hair. When she realized her hair was going in pig tails, she threw a huge fit. But that fit did not compare to the one she threw when I tried to but her bows/ribbons in!!! Oh, and she refused to stand up until I took off her sparkly shoes and put on her tennis shoes!!!

So that picture perfect picture I had in my head turned out like this....

 The only way I could get her to calm down and "smile" for a picture was to promise that I would take her bows out before we left for school....

And since she wouldn't stand up, you can't even see the expensive bows!!!

Oh, well...the lesson I learned is that you don't need to have a picture perfect outfit and smile to have a perfect little Valentine!!

Winter Gala

In mid January there was a "winter gala" at Kendall's school. Three classes all picked a song, and then performed it for the parents!! The gala lasted about 10 minutes, but it sure was cute to hear all the kids sing! Kendall's class sang "It's Cold Out There" and they all looked so cute in their coats and jackets!!

 Jacob & Kendall

waiting to go on stage!

 About to perform!

Aren't they cute?!?!

 

My Life as a Working Mom

Today on Kelly's Korner for Show Us Your Life Friday, the theme is working moms. I thought I would share a little about my life as a working mother.

I am a surgical nurse at a local hospital. I have been working there for the last five years. I absolutely love being a nurse, especially working in the OR. I am the nurse that goes to get the patient and takes him to the surgery home. I then help anesthesia put the pt to sleep, position and prep the patient. The most important part of my job is that I'm the patient's advocate while they are in my room. Even though the OR can get really intense at times, I love my job.

Now for my take as a working mom. I feel both proud and guilty of working. I'm proud that I am able to contribute to our family while taking care of Kendall, maintaining the house, and cooking. Though there are times when I lack on the cleaning and cooking part!! I am proud that I am showing my daughter that you can work outside the home and still be a good mommy.

I do deal with a lot of guilt. I still feel guilty in the mornings when I drop Kendall off at school. But it does my heart good to know that she is being well taken care of and she loves her friends at school. I also am dealing with bitterness. Justin and I have struggled to find a Church that we really like and I think I am a lot to do with that. Let me explain: I have been wanting to do a Beth Moore Bible study for forever, and I would also love to be part of the MOPS group. However, at every Church that we have attended, they only offer bible studies on a weekday morning and the MOPS group only meets on weekday mornings as well. I feel like the Church isn't thinking about their working moms. Just because we work every day, it doesn't mean that we don't need spiritual and fellow mommy support.

My days during the week are very full and very long (they begin at 4:30am and end around 9:30 or 10:00pm) but I love my life. I am thankful I have such an amazing family to support me and love me. This post is me just being honest about my feelings, so I hope I don't offend anyone or sound to ungrateful!!

Birthday Party Fun!!

**Ok, so I actually started this post almost a month ago! But Blogger wasn't working right that night, and I just never got back to it!! Now, I'm trying to play catch up with all my posts!!**

This year we had Kendall's birthday party at Power Sports. The package included everything but the cake and party favors. The staff even provided punch for the kids and cut and passed out the cake. The kids got to play on all the gymnastics equipment and and they all had a ball. I think even a couple of them (including the birthday girl) cried when it was time to go. I know where we will be having Kendall's birthday for the next few years!!

Already to go to her party!

My sweet family!

 Kendall & Papo

 Sweet Sarah! She asked me about 7 times

to take her picture!!

 This was the only picture I got of Kendall & Jacob!

 Justin & Uncle Ryan

 Kendall & Baby Nate

wearing her Minnie Mouse rain jacket!