So, it's almost been a month since I last posted anything. Not sure why it's been so long...I've had a lot of things to say, but I suppose with most of them, it was just easier to keep things to myself. A lot has happened over the last month..the kids started school!! (Woo-Hoo!!!!!!) Ty started 1st grade and Sierra is Queen of her school and in 5th grade. They both got the teachers they had hoped for, which makes for an even awesomer (is that even a word, haha) year! Ty has a male teacher which he is excited about and Sierra has one of the highest rated teachers in her school. I'm glad Sierra has her, I'm excited to see her flourish under the guidance of this teacher! Same with Ty. Today is the second full week of school. I can't believe it's only been 2 weeks...feels like it's been longer for some reason. And it's not because I wake up at 6:15 or so each morning because I've been doing that all summer long since that is when Rich wakes up to leave for work. I guess time just slows down when it's me in the house alone (well, I'm not alone, the dog's here too and sometimes it seems like he's another child, lol). I have time to do everything I want. If I want the radio turned all the way up while I'm cleaning (which I'll be doing in a bit) than so be it. If I want to watch reruns of Roseanne, than so be it! If I wanna lounge around in pj's and do nothing, so be it. It's nice. I do sometimes miss the noise of them being in the house, but I don't see anything happening to change that.

Sierra and Ty started soccer practice last week. Sierra on Tuesday and Ty on Thursday. If I put them in Youth Group this year, they'll go on Weds.....it's gonna be a busy year! But, I wanted to get them involved in activities outside of the school and I needed to get used to such a really busy schedule since Sierra will be in Middle School next year. (AHHHHHHH!!!! SO not ready for that!) Both Sierra and Ty have male coaches. Sierra tends to shy away from males, so we'll see how she does. I wasn't able to go to her first practice because I had a PTA Meeting at school I had to be at. Rich and Ty went. Rich said she did ok. There's only one girl on her team she knows, but at least Sierra and Rachel like each other and get along. They are also the oldest girls on the team. The Park District splits the age levels up, so Sierra's team is all girls, and they're in grades 3rd-5th. Ty has a few friends on his team. I was at his practice, and he just pretty much did whatever he wanted to do. We need to get him to understand that he needs to stop showing off to the Parents on the side lines and pay attention to one of the coaches. Maybe I need to say something to the coach on Thursday? We'll see. I'm sure they know how to deal with the kids. I didn't get any pics of them. I will get pics of them Saturday. They both have games on Saturday. Not sure of the times yet, I hope the coaches let us know in advance so I can let some of Rich's family know in case they wanna show up. I will definitely be taking pics on Saturday though. I haven't seen Sierra in her full uniform and Ty doesn't even have his yet. Ha, Jenny the soccer Mom. I'm totally gonna find something that says that. I need like a tshirt or a decal for the car or something. I'm hoping Sierra really likes soccer and ends up sticking with it all thru Middle and High School. I am thinking Ty will end up loving it and want to do it again.

Sierra had her first sleep over of the year this past weekend. The girl I watch after school, Gailyn stayed over on Friday night. The kids had a blast! Ty fell asleep at about 10, but the girls were up even later than I was. I gave up and called it a night at about 12:45 or so and went in my bedroom and once I layed down I was out. The girls acted silly, lots of giggling cam from behind Sierra's bedroom door. I heard some talk about boys they thought were cute...both celebrities and boys at school. Ughh, I am so not ready for that yet! Sure, when I was in 5th grade, I had silly school crushes and a major crush on Johnny Depp (who I still adore to this day!!), but I was just hoping she'd stay my innocent little girl forever! I don't want her walking in her Momma's footsteps. At least not all of them, some of them were fine! The girls did crazy make overs on each other...I'll have to put those pics up. They were crazy!!

Rich has a 4 day work week this week. He's working 4 ten hour days and has Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday off. I can't believe Labor Day is upon us already! The pool's closing this weekend. What a shame too! It wasn't warm enough most of this summer to go to the pool. Lots of days in the 70's and even some days in the 60's. I'm slightly irritated that we spent the $180 for pool passes this year and only used them maybe 10 times. Which isn't so bad because they did end up paying for themselves, I just wish we could have gone more. Especially since they were so expensive! I want to do something this weekend, but I have no idea what. We're broke...money is always tight when rent is due, and on top of that...Ty's 7th birthday is in 13 days. We're not having his party until the 19th though, I'm almost certain of it. I really need to figure it out and get invites made up though, and soon! Can't believe my baby is gonna be 7!! Where does the time go!?

I'm still looking for a job. I plan on spending a little bit online this morning searching the job sites. I need something, I will be happy with part time even. Ideally I'd like to work during the day when the kids are in school, but right about now I'd take anything. Especially with Christmas coming. Can't believe that's already around the corner!! This year has flown by! Next year is 2010...shocking! I'll be married for 10 years in May. TEN years. Holy shit!! Haha! Can't believe it. Sometimes it feels a lot longer and sometimes it feels like there is no way it's been that long. I married Rich when I was 19, I'll be 29 in Feb (yuck..one more year closer to 30). Sierra walked 2 weeks after we got married to the day. I'll always remember how she was asleep thru our whole ceremony and the last half of our reception. :o)

Anyways...I'll post some pics and then I have to get stuff done around the house. I am on 2 committees at the kids school and I chair one by myself. I am on the fundraising committee and we have a ton of deadlines this week. So, I'll be busy with that. I am on the Hospitality committee...we are in charge of the teacher luncheons. And I am the Box Top Coordinator. This is the one taking up a lot of my time so far. I want to have coolection boxes in all 18 of our classrooms and have one in the teacher's lounge. So, I've been collecting boxes and covering them in construction paper and decorating them with 'Bees' which is our school mascot. I wanted to have them all done by this week, which isn't gonna happen. So I need to have them done by next week so I can put them in each class. So...if any of you who happen to read this have any box tops or are willing to save some, let me know!! The school could definitely use them!! :o)

Here are the pics, enjoy! :o)

Sierra's Birthday Party

Sierra's birthday party was this past Saturday. She seemed to have a really good time! The girl got a TON of scrap booking supplies...and that's all she's been doing for the past 2 days. Hehe..can't say I blame her. I love doing that too! She had 4 friends show up, which was 1 more than last year. All girls this time, which was good. Since it rained right as her party was starting, it gave the girls time to go in to Sierra's room and have some girl time to chat and play with her hamster. That poor animal....I've made her leave it be since then. I figured it needed some space after it had all of those girls handling it, haha. After the rain stopped, the girls and all of the other kids (my Nieces and Nephews) went outside to play soccer in our back yard. And some of them played with Juno, our dog.....who LOVES attention!! I know when the party was over and I brought him back in to the house, he was totally pooped....he got something to drink and then passed out for a few hours, poor thing, haha. Sierra's cake was really good. Rich's youngest Sister, Charlotte, made it for us. Both of Rich's Sisters work at different Walmarts in the bakery and both do such a good job decorating cakes. Rich's other Sister, Miranda made Sierra's cake last year, but she was at a wedding on Saturday, so I asked Charlotte to do it. Sierra was happy with it and that is all that matters!
I wasn't in such a fantastic mood on Saturday though, which made it difficult to get in to the party host mood. I woke up feeling like crap...my ear hurt, sore throat, stuffy nose and cramps. Yeah, I was so pleased. Thankfully Sierra and her friends are old enough now to where I don't have to constantly be watching over them!! I could rest and stay inside while the guys were in the garage having guy time. I still don't feel good at all, but I'm trying to ignore it...which is easier said then done I'm afraid.
Ty's 7th birthday is coming up as well, his birthday is September 13th. He was a Friday the 13th baby...which Rich and I use as an excuse for his mood swings and such, lol. I have no idea what we're doing for that, but I figure I better start planning if we're gonna BBQ or just get pizza. I think with kids his age, it's best to just pick up some pizza's and let them at it. I know Ty won't care either way...which is good. He's the easier one where Sierra is pickier and cares more about things. But she is the girl..
Anyways, here are some of the pics. Sierra's best present this year was the digital camera my Mom and Dad sent her. Sierra didn't even know the package got delivered...her, Rich and Ty were at the pool and I just hid it in my room. She did get a card and a check from my Parents and that is what she thought was her present and she was kinda bummed. LOL...needless to say, she was very surprised and sooooo happy when she opened the box and saw a camera!! She's taken a million pics...mostly of our dog, but whatever makes her happy I suppose. :o)

Two whole hands!!

Today is Sierra's 10th birthday. It's so hard to believe she's 10...that's 2 whole hands!! I remember spending days teaching her to hold up 1 finger right before she was about to turn 1...now she's gotta hold up all her fingers, lol. Kinda bittersweet ya know? She's growing up...in 3 more years she'll be a teen, in 6 more years she'll be driving (yikes), in 8 more years she'll be graduating High School and in 11 more years she'll be able to go to bars....ughh! Wish I could keep her little forever, if I could, she wouldn't be a day over 2!! She was such a happy little girl!!

For her actual birthday, Rich's Mom wanted her to have a present. So she took her to Petsmart and surprised her by letting her pick out a hamster. Sierra was thrilled!!! She chose a dwarf hamster and it's super cute! It's a boy, they only had boys, but Sierra and I decided to just tell everyone it's a girl, haha. Poor thing's gonna have gender identity issues, haha! She named 'her' Peanut-July. Not sure what is up with the double name, but I told Sierra we could call her PJ fr short....not sure if she liked that too much. Sierra and Ty have been in Sierra's room all morning watching PJ play in her cage. The dumb thing gets stuck on her wheel...she'll be running too fast and her foot will come out from under her and the next thing you know, she's hanging upside down at the top of her wheel. The kids got a big laugh outta that one! I did too..it was pretty funny! :o)

Sierra has been taking a million pics of PJ. I uploaded 3 of them. PJ is a little cutie! Now Ty wants one, which I figured he would...but I told him nope. Maybe when he's 10 I'll let him. He's only turning 7 in September, so he's got 3 years until that happens, but I bet he will remember. That boy doesn't forget ANYTHING!! Our poor dog doesn't know what to think about the new addition. He didn't even notice it and I thought he probably wouldn't since he rarely goes in to Sierra's room, but once he saw it running on her wheel...he started whining really bad. I let him sniff the cage (which is a glass aquarium...which we did on purpose..that way Juno can't get her!) and he started licking the glass. Juno's a crazy dog, but he's really a sweetheart. He just wants to play with it. Sierra closed her bedroom door and Juno hated it!! About drove me crazy with his constant whining and barking, haha! I am so proud of Sierra though...she is being such a good Momma to PJ. She was concerned when PJ started eating her bedding...I told her not to worry about it. It's fine. She loves how PJ runs through the 2 toilet paper rolls we put in her cage. I told Sierra we should start saving them because PJ will eat them also.

Anyways, here are the 3 pics....she is really a cutie!! She won't get any bigger than 2 inches and I bet she's close to that now. We don't know how old she is, but the lady at Petsmart told Sierra she'll live for 2 to 3 years...so I'm sure Sierra will have some good years with her. :o)

Little Peanut July....PJ for short! :o)

What an entrance!! :o)

So got this emailed to me, it's too adorable not to pass on! I think more people should definitely do this at their weddings!!! :o)

Alice in Wonderland

As some of you know, I have loved Johnny Depp since I was a kid. I totally remember watching him in 21 Jumpstreet with my Parents. :o) Awhile back I heard about Tim Burton making a new Alice in Wonderland and Johnny was going to be cast as the Mad Hatter...which totally excited me!! I found pics of some of the characters and a trailer...which just makes me that much more excited for that movie!! Thought I would share it... Johnny doesn't look hot in the movie....more creepy and weird, but it's still him, haha!

Horrible Treatment of Animals

So....I don't always agree with PETA, think sometimes they take things a wee bit too far (Like dousing people with fake blood when they're wearing fur, or throwing flour on them, etc.) I think the best way to get people to see things from your point of view is to educate them, show them proof of what you are saying...don't take radical steps against them. I came across this on Perez Hilton's web site this morning and thought I had to post it somewhere. It made me so sad. A PETA member went undercover at the Barnum & Baily's Ringling Brother's Circus and shot some disturbing footage of how the trainers beat the elephants with bull hooks and how they whip their tigers. You can plainly see the poor elephants flinch every time they are hit. You may be thinking that elephants have a tough hide, they probably can't feel it. But they can...some of them even make a noise I've never heard before. Poor things. Just totally broke my heart!

I've been to a few of those circus's when I was younger and loved them. I still love them. I just wish that if they are going to be working with animals, they need to be properly trained on how to take care of them. I mean come on now....beating an elephant with a bull hook and poking it thru their skin and pulling them with it is unacceptable! It's cruel! It obviously hurts them! And their trainers think it's a joke. While watching the clip I didn't understand why the elephants just didn't squish their trainers....I mean come on now...they are soo much bigger than the guys/girls abusing them. Why not do that to stop their pain? Well....some of those elephants have been with them since they were born, so they have some sort of connection with the same people who abuse them. It's ashame! Such ashame!

Anyways, here's the clip:

http://www.nydailynews.com/video/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=3976421

So freaking excited!!

One of our friends was just on WWE's RAW!!! He's been under a developmental contract for some time now and is working at FCW in Florida. It's sad he moved from here to there, we all miss him, but it's awesome for him and his now Wife!! Anyways....if you were able to watch RAW tonight, he was the skinny black man who was reffing during the Big Show/Evan Bourne match! Rich, Ty and I were sooo excited and proud! We were eagerly awaiting to see him...every time a match started we looked to see if it was him or not. And when it was him, it was almost unreal. It's so completely amazing that he's there! He's living out his dream and that is all anyone wants to do in life!! :o) His WWE name is Noah Wilson, but he'll always be Justin or "Tally" to us.. :o)

Here's his debut on WWE RAW!! :o)