Mommy Can I

I guess the groundhog was right for us folks out West. We were only supposed to get < 1 inch of snow today, but instead we got about 3 to 4 inches, gusty COLD wind and 30 degree temperatures. The roads were slick, slushy and icey this morning. I did not go into work, but instead stayed home. Now I have to work tomorrow, which I would rather have off, but the weather dictated my schedule this week.

We are set to receive another hit of cold weather Wed and Fri – Sat. Hopefully, it won’t be like today.

Today was my first day at my new part-time job. It was overwhelming and exciting. There is a lot of work to be done in organizing and getting to a workable stage for me. At least I know what is expected and, it’s a lot, but I am definitely up to the challenge.

You know the best part is that I can take Winks with me. She still plays in her saucer, but would be more comfortable in her playpen. My goal is to get the office cleaned up enough that I could actually set it up for her.

It’s a little late, but I did reflect on what I’m thankful for this year, we just discussed it instead of writing it:

1. A wonderful and loving family with HUGE hearts.
2. Parents that never stop loving me even though I’m all grown up.
3. Brothers who are wonderful fathers and even though we didn’t always get along as kids, I cherish the relationships we have now.
4. My children as they make me laugh everyday and amaze me.
5. That I’m able to learn new things and see things in a new light through my children’s eyes.
6. For my loving husband, that even though years have been tough at times, we have always been able to get through it together and are stronger because of it.
7. To my friends near and far, I’m grateful to have such loyal people in my life that even though years go by without seeing each other, I still can call them my friends.
8. To be able to stay at home and see Winks grow up and be home when Scoober gets out of school to hear about his day.
9. To have such nice extended family and how they have embraced me.
10. Financial stability, as we are finally getting through the red and into the black.

We are doing fine. Things got a little hectic last month for some reason, but things are better now. We are preparing for the holidays. I’ve got almost all Scoober’s Christmas presents bought and will concentrate on Winks next month. I’m just so happy that we’ll actually be able to afford to buy presents and not charge them this year. It’s a great feeling.

Winks is crawling like there is no tomorrow. She’s still a little hesitant on taking those first steps, but you can see determination when she wants something. She’s got these cute expressions, like what did you say? We turned her around and she’s now in her front facing car seat. Just another reminder that she’s growing up and she’s not going to be a baby much longer.

Scoober is doing much better, socially, in school. He was having some trouble, even being sent to the Principal’s office for a major referral, but he has turned it around and is in a special “lunch bunch” social group once a week with the school counselor. He really looks forward to that, and it’s very structured lessons. He is doing better using words instead of his fists to solve problems. The other day a boy pushed him down and said, you’re dead. Logan got a bump on his head, but he said to the boy, “keep your hands to yourself and quit being a bully”.  I think he’s figuring it out, so we’ll just stay in touch with him and he’ll be okay i’m sure.

Husband finally got his pay increase last pay period. This helps us a lot because we are finally in the black every month! Hooray! Husband is finding that he surrounded by drama at work, but he knows he’s supposed to learn something from this. I told him, I think the lesson is how to not let the drama effect him and to just do the job and track everything, saving e-mails, etc. to make sure he is covered and then the drama will not come his way. I think his lesson is to learn patience, tolerance of things he has no control over, and acceptance that every environment is different. No complaints, he just hates the estrogen drama, as he calls it.

I’m not working part-time anymore for the Grizzly’s. The majority of the work is caught up, we finished the USAF contract and now I will just fill in when they need me. That is fine because I was starting to miss being home and spending time with Winks and doing the normal household things I was use to doing during the week. Amazing how things pile up when you aren’t home. I babysat for one week for a young couple that were moving to VA. The little girl was just 3 months older than Winks. They got along well, but the little girl started to get territorial with me and would get upset if Winks crawled over to be held by me, too. They are gone now and hopefully her parents can figure out everything and give her some stability.

We are also Tiger Cub den leaders now! We just finished up our meetings for November and the popcorn sales. Scoober sold enough popcorn to go to camp and also do some other activities if he wants. He chose a telescope and microscope for his prizes. We pulled it out last night and he really had a fun time looking at the different things under the microscope. Scouts is fun! I am learning as I go along, but doing it as a family is even more fun! Winks is very cooperative, too. Probably because it’s close to her bedtime when we have our meetings. Husband and I switch off tending to her during the meetings. He opens the meetings, then I do the craft, he closes the meeting. It’s a team effort and it is working so far.

Well, I’m off to start today’s cleaning and catching up on laundry. With Scoober off next week for 3 days and then 2 days for the weekend, I want to get everything done this week so we can just hang out.

Yes, I know, I’ve been really bad about posting in my blog. Things just ramped up around here with Scoober in school and Winks on the crawl.

A lot has happened. Scoober has now lost 2 teeth, one has already come back in, but the other he just lost last week. Winks is still working on her teeth and we are wondering where they are!

Winks is now standing and walking along furniture, walls, etc. She is finally up on her knees and hands and is crawling so fast you would swear she was running.

Husband has been taking the bus to work, which has saved us on gas. It takes him about 1 hour and 20 minutes one way to get to work, versus 45 minutes to drive, but he’s taking it in stride and enjoying that time to read and catch up on some studying.

I’m enjoying a new thing in my life and that is helping Mr. Grizzly (Husband’s cousin) with his framing business. I helped him get a military contract for some space art and we’ll be busy working on that soon. When I’m not helping prepare bids for contracts, I am working in the shop setting pictures, putting art into frames and getting them ready to ship. I even learned how to cut acrylic, which is like scratching your fingernails on a chalkboard.

Winks goes with me, which is the best part. She plays in her saucer and enjoys playing with “the boys”, Mr. Grizzly’s 2 dogs. I’m very lucky that she is a flexible baby and likes to go do things. Soon, I’ll need to bring the playpen for her to hang out in when she gets tired of the saucer.