Long, LONG, Time...NO see

Wow! Almost 3 years since I last blogged.  So much has changed since then.
I now work full time and I have boys in  high school, middle school and elementary schools.
I wish I blogged during the work transition because it was  a crazy time for me. Year one was part time so it wasn't that bad. I had my mornings to clean, run errands or make appointments. I loved being with the kids though and felt good being back in the game.
The following year, I was offered the opportunity to get a two year old program off the ground. My prior experience was with 3's and Pre-K. Needless, to say I was scared and excited all wrapped up into one! With my own boys growing up way too fast, I've found that I'm really enjoying my "babies" . I went from working part time to working full days and that was the hardest adjustment for me. When I worked full time with my older boys, we left early in the morning, but came home to playtime, dinner, baths, story and bed. Easy peasy! Now, I come home to homework,making dinner, sports, CRE, meetings...what I wouldn't give to have those easy evenings again!
Anyway, my first year as a twos teacher was a lot of work. I was starting a classroom and program from the ground up.  Alot of the time I felt in over my head. I had a pretty small group and a wonderful assistant teacher so looking back, it was an awesome year. Last year, my wonderful assistant retired, so as the new school year was approaching,  I was looking at a larger, younger group and 3 new assistants. Again, I felt some uneasiness since I wasn't sure how it was all going to work out. By the grace of God and lots of laughs, we made it through the year. I now consider these ladies, not just coworkers, but my friends.
It's August and I'm headed into my third year of twos. I'm feeling  much more confident and I'm excited to tackle a new school year.
Now, remind me to blog in a month after the first week of school and see how I'm feeling then ;)

         R, S & L   soon to be 10th, 7th and 3rd graders

         Holy cow, they are growing up waaaayyyy too fast!

It's a Brand New Year

I have a super good feeling about this year. I've had it all week. I'm ready to set goals, try new things, be the best me I can possibly be.  I don't have a list of resolutions, just a feeling like everything will work out fine.. It's kind of weird, but I like it!

So, to all my friends and family, I wish you nothing but the best in 2014!

Christmas 2013

It's 2 days after Christmas and I am still putting away presents, still eating leftovers, still trying to recover. We had a wonderful day(s) but now I am looking forward to the new year. Here are a few of my favorite shots form this holiday season...

Before Christmas Eve Mass

Christmas Eve

These two are so silly

Life with a Tween

L wanted to leave Santa a beer to bring on his vacation when Christmas is over!

 Big Present Time...

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!

A lot has happened....

Well, a lot has happened since I last posted.

While I was in full swing of getting the kids ready for back to school mode, things came to head and a serious talk about going back to work came up. My mom retired last Fall, so we did take that into consideration as we discussed what would work for our family.

Now, I will tell you, I was in complete panic mode. Scared to death to go back to work. I talked about it here when I was in my "OMG, I am turning 40 and having a mini midlife crisis"
Here is where I truly believe I have angels watching over me.

 I made a random phone call to a local preschool and asked if they were hiring. There were looking for an Extended Care person (Daycare) and I left my name and number. Perfect, it is exactly what I did for 11 years! A few days later, I received a phone call from the director and we had a really good discussion. The position was part time, with extra hours available when subbing in a classroom. My regular hours allow me to get the kids off to school and my mom can be there for them to get off the bus. It is 5 minutes from home. I have to option of summers off to be home with the kids. Again, my angels were looking after me! I went in for a formal interview, loved it and was hired!

Now, my last blog post was August 12 and I started after Labor day. So, in a matter of three weeks, my life completely changed from what I had been used to for the last 7 years. I had definite thoughts on being a stay at home mom and had the memories of working while having babies, but working with three school age kids is a whole new game.  When they were little, we came home, ate dinner, played and went to bed. Now there are three sets of homework to be finished and checked, dinner and extracurricular activities. It is actually crazier now! We are taking it day by day though.

I am really looking forward to the slower winter months to get into a new routine...until baseball season comes knocking at the door and the craziness begins again!

Motivation Monday

What's on your to-do list for today?

Vacation

As the wise eighties girl band, the Go-Go's would say...

Vacation
All I ever wanted
Vacation
Had to get away
Vacation
Meant to be spent alone...

I know you have that song in your head now. You're welcome.

Unlike the Go-Go's, I don't spend it alone. Alone time comes in two weeks. I did have a fun time though and now that vacations are officially over, it's time to get in back to school mode.

Thoughts on being a Stay at Home Mom

I am coming up on my eighth year of being a stay at home mom.
During that time, I've represented the following...
elementary, preschool and pregnant
elementary, preschool and infant
elementary, preschool and toddler
2 elementary and a toddler
2 elementary and a preschool
2 elementary and a preschool
middle school, elementary, preschool...

This year...middle school and 2 elementary.
I've reached the milestone. All three boys will be in school all day.

Seven years, and to be perfectly honest, I still don't have it down pat. There are many days that I am frazzled and feel like there is not enough hours to get it all done. I feel like every chore that needs to be done is a battle and I am on the losing side.  Then, I'll have that rare glorious day when I am put together, the house is clean, laundry is caught up on, dinner is prepared early, homework time is easy and  I am on top of the world. Ahhhh, the perfection I imagined as a stay at home mom. Of course, I am usually slapped back into reality the next day.

I know this may sound like a complaint. I guess it kind of is. Nobody, and I mean nobody, likes their job 100% of the time. On those terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days, stay at home moms don't even have the option to leave the negativity "at the office" You are in your work environment 24-7. And I'm not talking about being a mom. That never changes...even if you go out of the home to work, your mind and heart is with your little people all the time...no matter where you are. I am referring to physically being in your house. Now, I'm not chained in my home. Believe me, I live for my Monday morning coffee time with my friends and have errands to run just about every day. I guess, for me, it's the mentality of sleeping where I work.
I have to say, there are days when being at home is harder than any job I've ever had.  I've been a working mom. I know how hard it is. I used to get two little boys up and out of the house by 6:30am every day, breakfast and lunches packed and drove 40 minutes to my job. I still had all the typical household duties...laundry, cooking and cleaning.

Enough with the negative...I truly realize what a  blessing it is that I have been able to stay home for as long as I have. It's not easy to live on one income. All the credit goes to my husband who is amazing at keeping things balanced financially. We are a good team and I probably don't tell him enough how much I appreciate all he does. We both agreed that having a stay at home parent is the best thing for our kids. I love that I am home for them after school, there is no conflict if someone has to stay home sick or I can participate in school activities. I'm glad that I am home so dinner can be prepped and I can help during homework time at a reasonable hour. I am there to wake them up in the morning and can get them off to school with a good breakfast. And during the summer, we get to relax and enjoy some down time together.

That said, with summer winding down, our days have been a little tougher. Patience all around has been waning...with me and the kids. I'll admit, summer vacation makes my job a little harder. I love my kids dearly, I really do,  but being together all this time leads to bickering...and learning exactly what buttons to push to get someone to snap.

I may or may not have been complaining about losing my mind when my husband said my "vacation" was coming up. Um, no. Like I said earlier, we are a great team, and we are both in agreement that me being home is the best thing, but vacation...are you serious?  He said that I will have 8 hours to do as I please when they are in school. Will I have more time to get things done? Yes! Will things be easier? Yes!  Will it be a vacation? Oh, HELL, no!!  The best I can hope for is that I have that the rare glorious perfection day happens at least once a week. Dare I dream...and go for two or three times  a week? Only time will tell.