A Day In Our Life

What is there to say about Morgan..

2011-09-15T08:54:00.000-07:00

Its official! She is the most wonderful, hyper, on the go, shakin' and movin', sweet, lovable, cuddly, stubborn, little girl I have ever encountered in my life. She is constantly on the go and doesn't break, for anything! I love my baby girl, but some days I like the idea of having her just slow down for a minute, maybe for some snuggle time. Its not realistic. She has way to much to do and refuses to let anyone stand in her way, even her mother!

I do have to give her credit when it comes to skyping with daddy. She will give him some attention, very limited that is, and once she is done talking, she is headed in her own direction and nothing will slow this little girl down! While I type this she is learning the art of opening doors.. something I am sure will just drive me more crazy.

I love this little girl, she is a couple weeks shy of being 14 months and I really would like time to slow down, just for a bit.. I miss cuddling with my baby girl.. something she obviously does not have time for.

Sewing in circles!

2011-09-12T19:13:00.000-07:00

I have recently started sewing again and I am IN LOVE! I love being able to do something that has an adorable outcome.. and of course I am sewing things for the girls! I just finished a dress for Morgan and made a matching one for my friend Allisons' daughter Makenna..
They came adorable and it makes me want to do more!! The downfall? Fabric is way more expensive than picking up a dress at the store, but the fact that I can call it mine makes me happy!
Revitalizing my sewing I have started thinking about reopening my boutique.. I just hate mewing deadlines, I much rather sew when I want to and do what I want.. but making some extra money while doing something I enjoy is always positive! I guess time will tell what I should do!
Other than that the weather the past few days has been AMAZING for September! We have had some really cool weather filled with rain and some of the best lighting
Fall is right around the corner!!

And the beat goes on

2011-08-31T14:41:00.000-07:00

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

If I hadn't taken on enough in my life, the roller coaster has continued.
Our schedule is crazy and we have our routine down to a science, and of course I made a good thing crazier.. I am so prone to this and I realize in my life its inevitable that I will eventually take on more than I can handle!

Enough with the small talk, Ill break it down. Hailey has been committed to volleyball for 2 1/2 years now.. with that said she has had practices 2 times a week along with games on Saturday.
Now Chloe has enrolled in gymnastics, at first we started out with 1 day a week and we have now moved to two. For those trying to keep up, that means we have 2 days a week where we do not have an event.. but hold on.. why stop there?!?!
I am now starting Morgan in a little gym class which is a few hours a week. Whohooooo!!!

All I can say is I cannot wait for Darren to come home, Ill let him do some running around for awhile.

I also need to add that when growing up and thinking about having children, I never realized that your world literally revolves around their schedule.. I thought it was a newborn thing, boy was I wrong!

Lost in the mix of fun!

2011-08-30T13:25:00.000-07:00

Yes... its been awhile since I have updated but with so many events in so little time its hard to find a minute to actually focus on a blog (anyone with a toddler knows what I mean!).

So in a nutshell....

Darren came home for R&R the end of July.. we had a FABULOUS but quick visit.. it was definitely harder saying goodbye the second time.. The visit couldn't come at a better time.. the kids needed it just as much as we needed it! We love and miss him so much!
During Darren's visit home we gathered the children and headed to San Diego for 5 days which included a trip to the Beach, Sea World and Disneyland! We had a blast!!!!!
While Darren was home our little Morgaroo turned 1!!!!! Of course we celebrated her birthday by spending the day at the beach in San Diego followed by a spaghetti dinner which she clearly enjoyed
To celebrate Morgan's birthday we also had a party at the house prior to Darren returning to the desert! She LOVED her cake!!

Now it is back to reality.. the girls are back in school, Morgan is attempting to walk and Darren is counting down his days until he returns home!

Below are a few pictures from San Diego as well as Morgan's birthday party!!

Let the good times roll....

2011-05-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

Summer is here!! Well not technically.. but hey with the kiddos in school one more week and the start of summer programs beginning shortly after, how can we not say its summer? Life has been unusually calm the past couple weeks, who am I kidding.. its been CRAZY!

Morgan has discovered the art of crawling..yes its true, my chunky baby has gotten off her caboose and has decided to become as independent as a ten month possibly can.. as I type this she is discovering the dogs water bowl for the third time today.. yay.

In addition Hailey is finishing up another volleyball season, but don't think that she will actually be taking a break.. oh no another season is right around the corner!

Chloe will be having a kindergarten graduation on Thursday to celebrate her graduating from the first level of elementary school.. not quite sure what that is about, but we shall see! I don't ever remember having a graduation for the promotion into first grade.. but I guess its a reason to celebrate, so why not!

Thats really all that is going on in the Lorenz house this week.. I am sure there will be more to update soon!

Caution: Fun Ahead!!!

2011-05-06T12:03:00.000-07:00

Thats right... this weekend I am stepping out of the norm and have everyday jam packed.. I am pumped and excited.. and if my allergies would only go away, it would make it that much more exciting!!!

Saturday I have a military spouse lunch to go to at Texas Road House.. now if getting together with my friend Mandy (who is also attending) and potentially meeting new people isn't fun enough.. the location definitely rocks! After it is suggested that we head over to the mall.. Retail Therapy? Yes please!!! The beauty in all of this is I actually get to take a temporary break from being a mommy.. Darren's mom is keeping Morgan!!! This will be my first time away from her since Darren has been gone.. and I have only left Morgan with Darren.. can we say scary?? Yes! In any event.. it is needed and I am soooooo excited!!!

Sunday is Mother's Day!!! This is my 9th Mother's Day.. however it is my first Mother's day with 3 kiddos.. I LOVE spending time with my kids, and Mother's Day is a guaranteed mom/kid day! I am pumped! In the morning I am heading to church with the inlaws.. which will be followed by skyping with the hubby which will be followed by what I hope is a fantastic lunch at Mamma Louisa's.. yum!

The only thing that would make this weekend better would be to have my momma here to celebrate Mother's Day with her! I love her so much and she is an AMAZING, FANTASTIC, BEAUTIFUL woman.. and I am lucky to have her as a mom. She is one of the strongest people I know, and I am glad that she passed that strength down to me!

Thankfully I got a head start on cleaning up the house today, so this weekend is bound to be Mucho Fun!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!!!!!!

When all else fails.. SMILE!

2011-05-05T10:22:00.000-07:00

Today I am completely and utterly annoyed.. definitely not with anyone.. just myself! I have the worse case of allergies and I am praying for this to be over!!! I think it may just be God's way of telling me to slow down.. the last few weeks have been non stop running errands or running around with the kids and I think my house and my body reflect it!

Which brings me to my next point.. I have recently gotten back into couponing.. I have always done it.. just being more strict with myself now. I coupon for several reasons.. the obvious it saves money!!!! I love that I can save so much money while getting things I need!

Another reason for the couponing is that it is very time consuming.. while I definitely need more time in a day.. for me its relaxing and makes me happy.. strange right? I love it, and I am not ashamed :)

As a result of my couponing, I have started a spreadsheet to show how much I am saving.. I am very excited to share that for the month of April between groceries, household items and some clothing expenses I spent $419.01 but saved $575.41.. thats over 50%!!! I am so happy about this! Its definitely a result of couponing and shopping smart!

Other than couponing and preparing for the summer I have decided I am going to finish painting the downstairs of my home (a project I started over a month ago and have about 30% remaining). I am also going to go through and slowly organize EVERYTHING!

We bought our home over a year ago and at the time being pregnant, wherever things were left, that became their home.. I am now convinced we will be here for awhile, considering the current housing market, therefore I would like to encourage permanent homes for everything! This will definitely be an ongoing project, and with a baby in the house, it will be a bit of a challenge! Hopefully there will be pictures to follow!

A day in need

2011-05-01T12:43:00.000-07:00

Its Sunday again which means in only a few hours we will be back to Monday and the craziness that waits ahead. Its hard to believe we are officially into May! While I am excited for the time passing.. the summers tend to bring even more craziness to our lives! Kids are going in every direction.. the heat is INSANE and as a parent you are supposed to stay calm. Ha!

On another note I would like to share some positive information. Yesterday the girls and I attended the MOMC Event which stands for Month of the Military Child. This incredible event was just what we needed to get some positive flow through our lives. I took some pictures, however regret not taking more!!

The event was hosted at the YMCA Triangle Ranch Camp in Oracle, Arizona (about a 2 hour drive from our house in Vail). This was an all day event that included patriotic ceremonies, activities for the kids which included a team building obstacle course, lunch and lots of new friends!

Its nice to get together with others who can relate to how you are feeling.. they can relate to their spouse being gone, feeling like the world is on top of your shoulders and of course the day to day chores of the house, kids, etc. I am so glad we attended this event and will continue to do so in the future. It turned out to be a long, but beautiful day!

Our Day Started at 6:00am!

Our piece of the puzzle:

Morgan fell in love with ponies!

Easter Sunday

2011-04-28T09:42:00.000-07:00

Life has been insane lately.. mainly because of Easter coming and going.. the girls preparing for the summer camps and Morgan is on the loose! She is literally trying to manuever her way any way possible which includes her walker, rolling and she is now trying to pick up crawling (silent yay.. as I thought she would NEVER get there!).

The heat has come which has literally stomped on my motivation leaving me pretty much motivationless (don't think thats a word, but you get where I am going...) I am trying to stay focused on continuing to decorate my house, especially before Darren comes home for his R&R in August! I am so happy I started the project, but its all a matter of completion at this point.

On top of that I have had a lot of time to reflect on my life recently. While we definitely have had our rough times (who hasn't?) I am completely content and happy with my life. I have an amazing family, friends, children and husband. I feel so blessed. I know at the end of the day God know what he is doing.. while I sometime doubted his decisions.. I feel like he has put me in a good place in my life.

I am currently praying for the people in the southern United States who are losing their lives and their homes to terrible weather and tornado's. I am praying for my husband as well as all of our military serving overseas. I am also praying for some close friends who are having a rough time right now.

Morgan and grandpa on Easter!

The girlies!

Recovering from a long day!!

Silence?

2011-04-08T19:54:00.000-07:00

For the first time in a long time the house has been quiet at 7:30pm. The girls are with their dad.. Morgan is sleeping peacefully, for the first time today.. and well there's me and the dog.

While I absolutely love the fact that for the first time this week chaos has been at a minimum, I can't help to feel slightly bothered by the silence.. Its funny to think this very time last night I was craving silence and peace, for just a moment and now I feel empty with the silence.

No fear.. I have many things to tackle while I have these free few minutes.. I can start with the laundry, start hanging pictures on my newly painted wall.. or just sip on a glass of wine with my kindle.. The last idea is extremely tempting!

Go ahead,, take another swing!

2011-04-07T14:43:00.000-07:00

Ugh! I truly feel like the last couple days have really been testing me. I am not sure if it is the onset of this unbearable heat which is likely to continue for the next 7 months.. or the fact that life seems to be slipping out of my hands faster than I can blink.

Between the kids, Darren being thousands of miles away and Morgan in the middle of her teething, I feel like life has come right up and smacked me in the head. While I absolutely love my life, I would pass on this deployment nonsense any day, and with that said, we can do without the teething as well..

I keep telling myself to take a deep breath and this too shall pass.. but for the past few months it has been one thing after another.. at what point does it pass?!?! I truly hope its sooner rather than later.. a few more months of this and I may just throw in the towel, cut my losses and you can find me somewhere on the beach in Jamaica with a cold drink in my hand.. but with my current luck, it would be raining.

Now that I have vented and gotten out all the negativity from my system, lets focus on the positives! I LOVE LOVE LOVE my family.. I have an awesome, supportive family. I love them so much and even though most of my family lives outside of Tucson, they still mean the world to me. Family is definitely the building blocks to happiness!

I have an amazing husband! He is the kind of guy who puts everyone else first (not to say this doesn't come back to bite him sometimes) but he is a genuinely good person.. not many guys out there like that! Darren does not have any alterior motives, he just lays his heart out there and hopes for the best.. he is amazing. I love him so much and without having as strong a bond as we do, I don't see how we would get through this deployment.

I love my kids.. they are all so very unique and that makes them so special to me.

Hailey is my realistic thinker.. she questions anything and everything that doesn't quite sound right.. she loves to be involved in planning family events and she likes to make sure things run smoothly.

Chloe is my artistic social butterfly. She loves painting, coloring, drawing and she is so darn creative! On top of that she is soooo very social.. its no doubt she got her social skills from her momma!

Morgan is going to be a lot like Darren.. she is very mellow, at ease and goes with the flow. She loves life and everything about it, including the wide variety of food available to her currently. Morgan is very observant.. she is constantly watching everything around her and nothing gets past her!

Just talking about the girls has already put a smile on my face. I'm going to roll with the punches and hope for the best. I got this.

Its that time of year.. again!

2011-04-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

You know.. that time where I decide that I am going to keep up on my blog, because updating it to me is so important.. who knows if it will last, but either way I feel good about updating it!

There is no way I could update everything that has happened in the last year or so in this little blog.. I guess I could but it would probably take DAYS! In a nutshell, baby Morgan made her appearance July 25th, 2010 weighing in at 6lb10oz and 19 1/2 inches long. She is a wonderful baby and she amazes us everyday! We love her so much!

Hailey is doing fabulous in volleyball... she loves it and she is good, what more can we ask for? This summer she will be attending the David Rubio volleyball camp at the U of A. She is very excited!!

Chloe is loving kindergarten! I think she may enjoy the social part slightly more than the learning, but she has always been my social butterfly! This summer Chloe will be attending a Girl Scouts day camp for 2 weeks! She is so excited! I also plan on getting her enrolled in gymnastics!

Darren recently deployed to Kuwait for a year. We expect him home in March 2012. Of course him being gone is VERY hard.. but we try and keep in touch through skype and phone calls! He is an amazing person and I feel absolutely blessed to be married to him.

Other than the kids camp this summer, we are planning on relaxing and trying our best to manage the heat!!

What Blog?

2010-04-15T11:28:00.000-07:00

So I have not updated this blog in what feels like forever (I think I used that last time I updated too!). Life has been busy.. but that is nothing new!

In a short summary we found out we are having a girl so "buy some pink shit" has been our motto and we bought our house.

The baby news was completely exciting, we were thrilled to be having a girl, and I have to admit Hailey and Chloe were pretty excited too! The house is coming along wonderfully (I think thats a word) but it was an exciting venture and we are so happy to finally be home!

Other than that good news Hailey is getting ready to finish up the school year next month and getting ready for her exciting week at camp. Chloe is getting more and more eager to start kindergarten, even though I am truly going to miss her during the day!

I guess that is about all for the updates, for now anyways.. maybe when I get a little more extra time in the near future I will update more!

Baby 101

2010-01-19T15:49:00.000-08:00

The future so bright, I gotta wear shades!

2010-01-11T10:11:00.000-08:00

I was hoping when 2009 departed it would take the craziness with it. Our first weekend of 2010 was spent in a hospital overseeing Darren's mom who had been rushed to the hospital and it was later determined that she had a blood clot in her brain. It was a very scary weekend, but thankfully she is doing great, and recovering well.

With 2010 now in full swing, we have some exciting things coming our way. As I mentioned in previous posts, we have a baby who will be arriving this summer, Chloe will be starting kindergarten and some other big projects are in the works which we are completely thrilled about, but will be discussing later because its just to soon!

Other than that we had an awesome Christmas, and a Happy New Year. For now we are loving the Tucson "winter" weather, with Hi's in the 70's, but as we all know, this to shall pass.

I hope everyone had a great holiday season, and what the heck lets do it again next year!

HEY! There's no singin' in the North Pole!

2009-12-24T17:04:00.000-08:00

Christmas is 6 hours away and the countdown has begun. Thankfully this year I have discouraged the girls from waking me up at 5 am to open presents, and hopefully the bribe has worked. I am relieved that Christmas is almost over, as I have been feeling extremely exhausted and overwhelmed. I am not in the "Christmasy" spirit and I am not sure if its because the lack of family around to spend it with, or the eagerness to move on from this year.
While our Christmas plan is simple, it consists of having Darren's family over, in addition to all the kids and stuffing our face with as much Mexican food as physically possible. I am excited because I have felt a void of cheese enchiladas and cheese enchiladas are by far my fav food!
While I am missing my family, I am excited to spending the evening with my fabulous husband and sister Elizabeth.. and tomorrow I will awake and remind myself that the Christmas shopping is done and it is now time to take down the tree which has been up since Thanksgiving!
To all of my friends and family, have a wonderful Christmas and stay safe!

And the hits keep coming....

2009-12-16T15:22:00.000-08:00

Here's the deal.... I am going to try ridiculously hard to keep this post positive even though I feel like the world is collapsing around me! I could have never imagined how overwhelming family events can be and how much of a toll they really take on you. I honestly wish I could pick out a family who is in a state of chaos similar to mine and start a bitch fest that mainly consisted of rambling on about how much their family sucks, but that would just be cruel.

I am tired, boy am I tired.. I am drained emotionally and physically. I feel like since Thanksgiving events have taken place one after another without a chance to breathe a breath of fresh air. I am certain that life is not suppose to be this difficult. The saddest part? I don't even know where to start.

Since I am all about venting right now, I am going to lay it all out there and we will find out who really reads my blog.. ha

Ok.. so I am pregnant, (8 weeks this Friday) While I am completely excited, and cannot help but smile ear to ear when I think of holding my little baby, I am completely terrified. After the events that took place in July, I am a paranoid freak of nature who is cautious about everything that I come in contact with and that includes anything from an undercooked taco, to the neighbor (in my opinion hes a little off). I hate how once you have a terrible pregnancy experience all of the sudden your world is focused on what you should and should not avoid. I hate it all! All I can say is right now I feel blessed and I am praying that this little baby sticks around and makes it.. God only knows how much I have prayed about this.

Secondly... the car issue, which might I remind you I am still completely pissed off about. Who do things type of things happen to??? I realize luck is not something that runs in my blood, however I have never felt that I have bad luck.. The whole incident was just irritating, and took away from my Christmas money... bastards.

Thirdly, without giving away all of my brother's private information, basically hes sick and has been for a long time. My brother makes decisions that are not good and are harmful to himself. My family and I got sick of standing on the side lines while he self mutilated himself, therefore we got him admitted into a hospital that will hopefully help him. Bless his heart I know he is miserable where he is, but I just want him to get better. I have been dealing with the brother issue since last Wednesday (coincidentally enough, it was the same day I got my car back). I hate to see him upset, but he just needs help and thankfully it seems like the doctors are helping.

Family brings more family... Since my brother has been in a somewhat crisis state, we have had a lot of family involved trying to help, which has made the situation more stressful than necessary. I think that is why I am so drained...

Yesterday I went to Phoenix to see Hailey perform at the State Capitol building, it was great. I actually have video and pics that I will post later when I gather the energy. In addition to seeing Hailey, I also met my half sister Elizabeth who I have never met before.. It was awesome to finally meet her and my new little nephew!

So upcoming we have the holidays... while I love this time of year, its one more thing to drive me insane. I have most of the Christmas shopping done, but still have little things here and there.. it's probably a sin in some way to say that you are excited the season is almost over but I really, really am.

That is what is going on in my life. How I wish I could have a bottomless margarita to ease the tension, and unfortunately margaritas (the good ones anyway) are on the no-no list for being prego. So I will continue what feels like an uphill battle and I will laugh at the fact that God is being humorous and playing a few little tricks on me, which are probably being done to keep me on my toes.

Until next time.......

When it rains..it pours!

2009-12-08T16:11:00.000-08:00

I feel like this year has been one giant rain cloud, while life has definitely been rewarding, I felt like we dealt with a lot of battles too. Our most recent battle? Our brand new Outlook is broken...

I kid you not, and it was no ones fault (which really sucks because it makes is so much better when you can at least blame someone!). Last Wednesday I decided to skip my class (problem #1) and go to Pima to turn in some books and maybe do a little shopping. On my way to Pima I heard a metal clunking noise while driving. Upon arriving to Pima, I noticed fluid gushing from the front of the car which I quickly realized was not a good sign.
I called Darren who instructed me to contact our roadside assistance (which we have taken full advantage of) and have them tow the car to the dealership. I did as instructed.
Darren came and picked us up from Pima and then we went to the dealership and the looked at the car... here comes the bad part.
The service manager who I had managed to piss off already (which I am blaming on hormones) had looked at the car and found a metal rod had penetrated the radiator, a/c compressor and power steering fluid holder. This in all was going to cost around $1,800.... some mistake I made.
After speaking with the service manager we were advised to contact our insurance company to file a claim (ya because it wont make his rates go up)... well again I did as I was advised and now we are waiting for our car to be fixed (our car which we bought brand new in July...ughhhhh) and we have a nice little payment amount of $500 due.... some storm.

Time flys when your having Fun!

2009-12-05T16:33:00.000-08:00

Life has been nuts lately and I realized that my blogging updates totally suck right now. I am making a promise to myself to stay on top of my blog and avoid not posting for to long!

Where to start...

To begin October we went to Los Angeles to visit my parents. While there we went to the Santa Monica Pier, Disneyland and Knottsberry Farm. The girls had a blast and it was a nice way to get away from the heat and all the craziness at home. Our lovely slide show is below :)

The rest of October was pretty slow.. we had the girls for Halloween which is always a blast! Again slide show below!

Thanksgiving we had at our home this year, it was lovely. My parents came down from Los Angeles, and Darren's parents came over. It was a super nice day.

Chloe's turned 5 on the 29th of November, so we went ahead and had her party the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I will post pictures of that soon!

Other than that we are just getting ready for Christmas. Unfortunately this past Wednesday I was driving and got a metal rod stuck in the radiator, so my brand new outlook is in the shop to get fixed... so for now I am stuck at home.. definitely not the fun way to start out December!

Well.. for now that is all, I feel better that I have updated our blog, and going forward I will try and keep on top of it! Have a great weekend!

What a CRAZY weekend!

2009-10-04T14:38:00.000-07:00

This weekend has been absolutely mind blowing!

Friday night we had planned for our friends Mike and Nicole and their daughter McKayla to come over.. we got take out from Chuy's and managed to have a blast.. it was a cool night, so we spent most of the night on the back patio enjoying the weather and having a few drinks.

Darren happened to glance at his Navy scheduled and realized he had his Navy weekend, which quickly eliminated all of our weekend plans! Knowing he had to get up early, he still managed to stay up late and hang out!

Saturday, Hailey, Chloe and I were running around practically all day running errands. The evening came and we had plans to attend our friend Shasta's birthday party and then bowling after with our neighbors.. lets just say that half way through the birthday party, Darren was falling asleep!

We ended up coming home, and upon our arrival we were greeted by a little mouse running across our garage.. ughhhhhhhhh. If that isnt bad enough, we opened the back door to let Frankie outside and there was another mouse.. ewwwwwwwww.

Today has been somewhat calmer. Chloe and I have spent the day lounging around and I have managed to get some homework done! I am now in the process of recording the Dallas Football game and plan on watching it with the husband as soon as he gets home!

On top of everything else, I have been dealing with some family issues that has thrown a curve ball in our direction. We are keeping my brother in our prayers, and hope the outcome is a positive one.

You can't be late until you show up

2009-09-26T09:43:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe how long it has been since I have added a post!

Life as usual has dealt some completely random things. Its amazing how one action can have such a unexpected outcome. Its one of those things where you wake up and you can't remember whether or not you are dreaming. Some of you may know what I am talking about, others will find out over time I am sure.

Other news, the kids are out of school for the next 3 weeks for their fall break. It will be nice to have Hailey home during the day, the hard part will be keeping her busy. We are contemplating a trip up to the Grand Canyon the last week the kids are out of school, we will see whether or not it works out.

School for me has been going well, there is 1 class in particular where the instructor must be convinced that I have nothing better to do with my time, so she piles on the homework. Luckily we are almost half way through the semester!

I have posted some pictures from last night.. we went to Chuy's near our home and ended up having a blast! We sat on the patio and there ended up being live music. Amy was down for Phoenix, so she joined us.

Labor Day Weekend 2009

2009-09-08T15:01:00.000-07:00

This Labor Day Weekend my parents came into town and stayed at the Embassy Suites. We pretty much hung out there all weekend swimming, eating and enjoying some college football!

The Parents:

Hailey playing with her new camera:

Again.......

Chloe was wide awake....

And passed out just as fast!

I must admit this is a little random.. we parked in the parking lot next to a GMC Acadia (I think) and we decided to take a picture to point out the similarities.. the picture didn't turn out to well, but it seemed like a brilliant idea at the time!

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Labor Day Weekend!!!!

Rain in the Desert

2009-09-03T15:48:00.000-07:00

My favorite part about Tucson weather is the awesome temperatures in the winter time, and the monsoon during the summer. This year I think all Tucsonans have felt a little ripped off because our monsoon season has consisted of maybe 7 or 8 days this year. Well today it happened... It rained and it rained hard, in fact it is still raining!

There is no comparing the smell of rain in the desert, it is a smell I long for all year round, and finally we get to experience it once again! I tried to take some pictures of the rain, but unfortunately they really don't capture the rain image!

Our Date Night!

2009-08-31T11:17:00.000-07:00

So for us to not have kids on a Friday night is almost near unheard of. We always manage to have at least one which means that night consists of doing "kid" things.

Somehow we managed to be childless this past Friday night and I must say it was perfect timing! I feel like Darren and I haven't had a minute to ourselves to just be and that has taken a toll on us, in addition I started school last week which has added to the craziness!

So Friday night we decided to go to Sakura and for anyone who has not been to Sakura and has not done the Teppan Yaki (or however it is spelled) you must try it! Its an amazing experience! I have not been there in years, so it was a super nice treat!

We had an amazing evening which included great food, good wine and a great Teppan Chef!

Fall 2009

2009-08-26T09:47:00.000-07:00

I am really excited about this time of the year.. The Dallas Cowboys have their first regular season game on the 13th of Sept against Tampa Bay... go Cowboys!!!!!! I am also set to start school today. I am excited to hopefully be done with school soon.... it seems like I have been going to school for years and years.

The other thing exciting about this time of year is we are closer to having cooler weather. While living in Tucson has it perks the number one downfall is definitely the 100+ degree weather. Its miserable during the summer and while the monsoon does provide a little relief, it is still hot.

I defnitely think the next few months will be a nice change of pace and I am looking forward to having some fun with the family, maybe even squeeze in a trip to California!

Hailey's 8th Birthday

2009-08-25T16:15:00.001-07:00

Funness!

2009-08-17T12:43:00.000-07:00

Sunday night we decided to go to dinner and we opted for Pizza Hut (Mainly because its the only thing close that we haven't had lately). The food was great, and as usual with all the kids the entertainment was great!

We enjoyed great pizza... and
took goofy pictures..

and pictures of feet....strange I don't remember that one..

Dylan and I also decided to create a Fantasy Football team.. our Draft is Wednesday, I can't wait!

Lazy Sundays...

2009-08-16T14:36:00.000-07:00

I must say today was one of the most quiet Sunday's in a long time. With Darren working this weekend with the Navy, Hailey with her dad and the boys with their mom, the only ones home have been Chloe and I.

While I miss the fact most of my family is gone, it has been nice having a little bit of peace and quiet. I could have used this time to get more done around the house (like I ever get caught up..ha!) Instead I have decided to lounge around in my comfy clothes switching between the Disney channel for Chloe and the Food Network for me.

While I haven't gotten to much done today (besides laundry) I have gotten a few new recipes for dinners. I think today was a perfect start for the rest of the week!

"Time can change in every breath we take"

2009-08-14T15:59:00.000-07:00

This has got to be one of my most favorite quotes ever. Its so true, because things change in a matter of minutes or sometimes seconds. It is scary to know we are so close to the end of the year, and I just got used to the idea of writing out 2009. Where has all the time gone?

The one thing I have always been told is that you can buy anything in the world except for time, and now that I have children and I witness how quickly they are growing I realize how much that quote really coincides with my life. I hope that going forward I will always have the realization of how precious time really is and how precious life really is.

Golf N Stuff + Stuff

2009-08-12T13:35:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Hailey and Chloe were with their grandmother, and we had Dylan and Kyle. Since we didn't have the girls, we figured it would be nice to take the boys to do something special.

Friday night we ended up going Cosmic Bowling, which has to be one of the funnest things ever.. We played 3 games, Dylan won the first time, I won the 2nd time and the 3rd game was incomplete.. and a side note for the husband... if you weren't so competitive, it wouldn't hurt so much...I still love you though!

Saturday night we took Dylan, Kyle and their friend to Golf N Stuff... we got there around 8:30 and didn't end up leaving until midnight! I have posted some pics, unfortunately they did not come out to well I think because of the darkness.

Sunday Darren and I started a 2,000 Piece puzzle (because we have that much time on our hands, Ha!) I have posted a picture of Day 1's Completion.. we have yet to work on it since then and it is still sitting on our coffee table, but we are bound and determined to get this thing finished!

Monday night our A/C ended up going out.. we had someone scheduled to come out Tuesday evening, which meant that Chloe and I were stuck in a hot house all day, luckily the weather was mostly overcast which kept the temperature somewhat low until the afternoon when the sunshine was bright and hot!

The house actually got up to 89 inside... it was really sad because at one point in the afternoon it almost felt cooler outside then inside... sigh. Luckily we are up and running again and things seem to be going well. I am looking forward to this weekend even though we have zero plans which is actually nice for a change!

Its the Case of the Mondays

2009-08-10T11:52:00.001-07:00

I cannot stand Mondays... Now that I am home you would think that would go away, its not like anything really changes for me, its pretty much like any other day with the only difference being that Darren is at work after a weekend.

It feels like now that I am at home my days collide into one and its hard to keep track of everything going on. I feel so overwhelmed with things I have to do it makes me wonder how I managed to juggle everything before staying home.

I hope eventually with going to school, taking care of the house and kids that I manage to come up with some sort of system or schedule to make my life more efficient. The funny part is its been so long since I have stayed home with my kids, I often wondered what moms that stayed home did all day?

My answer to that question... is whatever they want! I see my daily schedule being very flexible.. I go with the flow on whats going on with Chloe and Darren's day. I tend to make plans and try to schedule what I am going to do.. but the plans change at a drop of a hat. My main priorities throughout the day are:

1. Be home at 2:30 to get Hailey from the bus
2. Make sure the house is straightened
3. Make sure Frankie gets out to go to the bathroom
4. Make sure dishes are done
5. Do laundry if Darren needs clothes for work
6. Check up on all my social accounts (Facebook, Myspace)
7. Try to come up with some brilliant idea for dinner while trying to satisfy everyone's taste
8. Work with Chloe on all of her preschool stuff (teaching her letters and how to write them)

Of course things to do get thrown into the mix all the time, but overall this is my To-Do list every day. I don't have a particular order but they beautiful thing is they all get done!

I Heart Cake

2009-08-07T15:29:00.000-07:00

But not just any cake, I am totally craving this amazing chocolate cake from Costco. I believe the name of the cake is the "All American Chocolate Cake". Its comparable to heaven in a bite. I love it so much.. I think I may convince my husband that we need to take a road trip (literally a road trip) to Costco to pick this little baby up.

The problem with including the husband is this master plan is that he may actually want a bite of my little piece of heaven. I am not sure how I feel about this seeing as we have to strategize and execute a road trip to get the cake. This may be one treat I want to store and hide and keep all for myself. While many of you may think this is a selfish move, all I have to say is once you try this cake, you too will end up plotting a secret cake relationship.

The second part of the plan that is an obstacle, is the fact that this cake comes with a cost, and a hefty one at that. In one 8 oz slice of cake is 900 calories and 38 grams of fat. Now I am not the type of person to sit there and count calories, however I do have a pretty good idea of the amount of calories I intake at a meal or snake. With that said, it really comes down to what you want and what you need... for me this cake is clearly a need!

In July.....

2009-08-06T14:29:00.000-07:00

We got a dalmatian. Her name is Frankie, shes super cute!

Frankie and Darren.. I think Frankie was terrified of the camera, she took off running as soon as I pulled it out... weird

Chloe was silly.....

We couldn't find Chloe for about 20 minutes, and finally came to realize she had fallen asleep under the side table and she had placed pillows around the table to hide herself!

My friend Kasey had baby Landon.. Congrats Kasey!!!

Hailey started 3rd grade, Dylan started 8th grade and Kyle started 6th grade

We bought a brand new 2008 Saturn Outlook.. I love it!

Also in July... My stepsister Donna had baby Joshua and My friend Crystal had baby Jase.. Congrats!!!!

My Top 5 Summer Must Haves!

2009-08-05T13:39:00.000-07:00

The weather in Tucson has gotten out of control (I'm talking temperatures as high as 107) and because of this I have compiled a list of things that are must-haves during the summer in Tucson. Now I could think of probably a million things that are necessities, however this is really just the things important to me!

#5 Must Have: Sunscreen

#4 Must Have: Bright Nail Polish

#3 Must Have: Margaritas

#2 Must Have: Eegees's

#1 Must Have: Flip Flops

50%

2009-07-30T14:03:00.000-07:00

So my truly wonderful husband and I had a slight disagreement on completing things 50% vs. 100%. Now I will not go into detail about the disagreement but I would just like to take a step back and look at all the great things that are less than 100% complete.... Certainly the world is not made up of all 100-Percenters and I know for a fact that my loving, sweet, handsome husband has not completed everything 100%... Darren if you are reading this, I am talking about the dishes from dinner last weekend that you were going to finish in 5 Minutes :)

I guess my point is that even though some things are not 100% complete that doesn't necessarily mean that they are terrible... I think it is important to appreciate the completed part and if the remaining incomplete part is that important then it can be submitted for review by the panel (whoever that is).

I have created a list of incomplete things to defend my argument...

My top 3 Awesome things that are not 100% Complete

1. The Movie, "The Day After Tomorrow" how can they simply end the movie with people migrating to Mexico.. what happens next? Do we rebuild civilization or not?!?! Despite the fact I feel the movie was incomplete because the ending was missing it was an awesome movie, and I will continue to watch it on the cable networks when there is nothing else on tv.

2. Shorts... self explanatory. Obviously shorts were made because some genius decided to make a pair of pants that were only 50% complete... Personally I love shorts and I would be miserable wearing pants in 107 degrees. (Please be advised this is strictly opinion only!)

3. Pedicures... now I am not going to knock pedicures for one minute.. I will take a pedicure over pretty much anything at any given time.. there is something fabulous about pedicures that just drive me crazy! The only thing I want to point out is maybe the pedicures are not being completed 100%. I think the salons need to scratch the term "Pedicure" along with the term "Manicure" and lets just do "Cures" How fabulous would it be to walk into a salon and ask for a "Cure" and just know that not only are your feet going to be "Cured" but your hands will also be "Cured". I don't think people should be given an option on whether to "Cure" their hands or feet.. are they even comparable??? Even though I feel as if my "Cures" are only completing half.. pedicures are still quite amazing!

Almost August Already?!?!?!

2009-07-30T13:20:00.000-07:00

Today I was looking at the calendar trying to figure out why in the world the Vail School District does not have school on Monday.. its not a holiday and for goodness sake they have only been in school for 2 weeks!!!

While trying to convince myself that the calendar was off and there was clearly some holiday or event missing from my calendar I realized we are 2 days away from August... where has time gone??

Hailey's birthday is on the 23rd and I haven't even started thinking about places to have it at.. I guess with all the craziness lately things have just gotten overlooked. So now I need to scramble to get somewhere reserved (I'm thinking somewhere we can avoid the heat!) and get some invitations sent out. 3 weeks and counting... wow!

Other news... I am going back to school to finally complete my degree! Classes start August 26th and I cannot wait! I feel like it has taken me forever to get to this point, but going forward it should all be a breeze.. I am so excited!

My New Blog!

2009-07-28T13:36:00.000-07:00

I have decided to start a Recipe Blog.. I just added my first recipe! You can check it out!!

http://dinneratourhome.blogspot.com/

Hope you Enjoy!

There may be pain in the night, But Joy comes in the morning

2009-07-27T22:56:00.000-07:00

July 22nd we found out the baby's heartbeat which was once beating was now completely gone. In addition, the baby only grew 1 week and a day. This was a really tough pill to swallow for Darren and I, I don't think we were quite expecting this.

Like everything in life, we were ready to see where to go from there. The fabulous doctor we have explained our options which were quite simple... we could wait up to 3 weeks for the baby to miscarry on its own, or we could schedule a D & C. To start the healing process sooner, we opted for the D & C and scheduled it for Monday the 27th (Today).

Today was a very painful both emotionally and physically. I think this was a good thing for us, because now we can move forward and let our scars heal. I have always lived by the line that "Time heals all wounds". I think this is such a true statement especially in instances like this.

We will never know why this happened, or what made this happen, all we know is that going forward we are stronger because of this. Darren and I have been able to grow through this experience and we have had a lot of time to emotionally reflect on what has happened.

I think we are ready to move forward and what may be in the future will be.

Thank you everyone for your support and kind thoughts during this difficult time. We feel as though a piece of our family has been lost, but moving forward we have 4 amazing children to get us through this!

Coming up we have Hailey's 8th Birthday, so we are looking forward to planning that! I cannot believe how she has grown.. she continues to amaze me everyday!

We will keep you updated on any new news in our family!

Our Camping Trip

2009-07-13T12:04:00.000-07:00

Saturday July 11th we decided to go on a camping trip to Mt. Lemmon. Hailey was with a friend so we took Dylan, Kyle and Chloe. We took the kids fishing, bought homemade fudge and made smores!
At about 10pm that night someone threw a rock at our tent hitting Kyle in the head. We ended up in the emergency room until around 1:30. Kyle ended up getting 1 stitch and a tetanus shot.

It definitely was not the way we planned on our camping trip going, but thankfully Kyle is ok now.

We will try again in a few weeks!

Our Camping Trip Pictures

2009-07-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

8 Week Appointment

2009-07-10T14:26:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday July 8th we had our 8 week appointment. Dr. Eisenberg was great, however there were a few concerns.

We did our ultrasound (note the pictures) and he was very concerned that the baby was only measuring 7 weeks and the heartbeat was only at 120 beats per minute, where it should be at around 160.

We scheduled a follow up ultrasound for Wednesday July 22nd. We are crossing our fingers that everything will be great!

2009-07-10T14:25:00.000-07:00

2009-06-30T16:16:00.001-07:00

Were Going to Have a Baby!

2009-06-30T15:45:00.000-07:00

Its true.... On June 6th we found out we are going to have a baby! While they baby comes as a suprise, we are super excited with the thought of adding to our family! We decided to keep it a secret from EVERYONE until we had the pregnancy confirmed by the doctor.

June 12th we had our very first Doctors appointment. We met with the nurse practioner who gave us a whole world of information and in addition to that we had the usual blood tests and physical exams done. We were thrilled to have the pregnancy confirmed and they nurse practioner gave us a due date of February 19th, 2010. Valentine's Baby?!?! Maybe....

June 16th we got a call from the Nurse Practioner who explained that the Hcg levels were only at 183 which she thought were extremely low for how far along she thought we were (at the appointment she guessed us to be around 4 weeks and 2 days, where the Hcg levels were reflecting a level of 2-3 weeks). The Nurse practioner expressed concern over a possible miscarriage.

June 16th was also the day we told Darren's parents, who I think was suprised, but excited!

She gave us the option of heading into the office to get the Hcg levels checked again, to see where we were. We immediatly went down to the office and got blood drawn again.

June 17th we recieved a call from the Nurse Practioner who said that the levels were now at 1530 which where the normal range of where we needed to be. She told us she felt a lot more comfortable with where they were at, so there would not be a need to check them for a 3rd time unless we wanted to.. we felt confident!

June 21st (Fathers Day) we told my parents who were super excited!

We have slowly been sharing the pregnancy news with those around us and everyone is absolutely thrilled! Only 33 weeks left to go!