Blog Slacker...

There are no excuses so I won't even post any :)

A little rundown on the past 5 months!! OUCH!!

• Zoe started school off going full days but it was WAY too much for her so we cut down to half days.
• She had surgery on Aug. 12 to release her hip muscles and ham strings in hopes that she will be walking. She was casted from the top of her thighs to the tip of her cute toes. All clad in PINK of course! Her cast also had the bar in the middle to she could not move her legs.
• Zoe turned 5 on Aug 31st! We didn't have a party because she was not in the spirt.
• Zoe took 2.5 weeks off of school to recover from her surgery. She learned quickly how to get off of the couch and scoot herself around.
• Sept the casts were removed and honestly I was sick to see the scars that were suppose to be 1" long ...they were 3.5" LONG!!! It was a huge shock but a small price to pay to help her lead as normal of a life as we can.
• In Sept it was back to therapy as normal and slowly we got out Zoe back. She was scooting and not crawling until mid-October. Then she was off like a rocket. Up and down the stairs, jumping on the couch, escaping out the back door, playing in the dog food and water...our baby was back to normal.
• 4 short days after the casts came off we went to pick up her braces. Usually this takes 4-6 week but there was a cancellation so they called us! Her braces are light blue with butterflies all over them...very girly. They don't seem to bother her at all.
• She is now cruising the furniture and will walk with assisstance. We are hoping to get her walker by the end of the year to give her some more independence. She tires very quickly but we knew it would take some building up to do.
• Zoe is doing WONDERFUL in school. She is more involved and is getting use to structure. She gets so excited every morning when she gets in her "kid kart" to go out and wait on the bus. On the way home she usually sleep because she is totally wiped out.

Now on to Zada...

• She is "Little Lacey" from sun up till sun down. NO JOKE!
• Zada will be turning 4 on saturday (Nov 7th). She is super excited to have her party and her little friends come over!
• She is learning so fast that Tom and I can barely keep up! She will say stuff and we are like "WHAT?!?!?"
• Her new favorite saying is "Mommy you are the bestest mommy ever." Quoted straight from her.
• She loves to play dress up and watch "WW" with her daddy. (WW means WWE)
• She is very protective of Zoe and will let anyone know that.
• She is starting to understand that Zoe is a special child. She will ask questions and we explain to her the best we can.
• We are teaching her how to write her name. It is the last thing she needs to learn to test into school early next fall.

And us...Tom and Lacey

• Tom is still working for an amazing company and putting in lots of hours. We are so blessed that he got this job when he did...right at the collapse of the economy.
• I am trying to chase the kids, pack lunchs, clean house, cook dinner, shop and be the best wife and mom I can.
• I am still babysitting and love it! Finally got a good group of kids and parents...NO DRAMA!
• We enjoyed our 4th anniversary in August with Dinner out and a trip to Walmart. We left Zoe and Zada with Jaye and Lisa but at the time Zoe was still having a hardtime so it was best to make a quick date.
• We have finally closed up the pool for the "winter" and hope to be back in it in April.

I will try to update more...but life is crazy busy right now.

Over Due Update...

See this pretty little girl...

She takes up 80% of my attention and time 24/7. In four short days on July 20 she will venture to a new level...she is going to kindergarten! FULLDAY! I am super sad...I don't like letting go...i don't like the fact that I am not with her 24/7...but I understand for her to excel...to learn...to grow...she must do this. We met her teacher back in May and I feel that it was a great first impression for Tom and I. I know she will be in good hands. There are only 8 kids in her class and she was accepted for a grant to obtain her own teacher! We got in her "chair" that will be used for transportation prior to and after she is uncasted from hip surgery. It is bright red...so Zada picked her out a red backpack and lunchbox. Her clothing is all washed and hung up. Her shoes are wiped clean and in the shoe rack... It seems unreal that she is going to be by herself (away from us) all day long! She will go to school until Aug 11, have hip surgery on Aug 12, and have a date of Aug 24 for her to return to school. So I have been a total basketcase...and I will return when the shock has worn off.

Update...

Ok...where do i start??

*the weather has been fantastic here in sunny AZ

*we are super blessed to have an in ground pool to survive another HOT summer!

*we met Zoe's teacher ... she starts school in July (BOO!!)

*we met with Zoe's Ortho Surgeon...decided to go ahead with her hip muscle and hamstring surgery (it will be some time in early August) I have struggled with this decision. There is a 75% chance that she will learn to walk with this surgery. I hope it will be worth the stuggle that we are about to embark on.

*Tom's job has been super busy...like 55-60 hour weeks

*Zada is growing up quickly...tonight she asked to learn how to write her name

*Zada lost my debit card somewhere in the house (BOO!!)

*Been taking tons of pictures but have not uploaded any yet...maybe I will do that tonight and then post some tomorrow...

Hope life is good for everyone out there in Blog Land!

Week in Review...

*Took Zada to the Farmer's Market. She pointed at a Pineapple and said "oh mommy I don't like cactus". When i tried to explain to her that it was a pineapple she said "no mommy we have that cactus in yard like that" We do indeed have a cactus in our front yard that looks like a half buried pineapple.

*Picked up papers to register Zoe for school...it is a day I have never wanted to happen but it is time to get her freedom. (atleast that is what i keep telling myself)

*Enjoyed dinner on the grill almost every night.

*My husband endured an injury (closed fracture) on his right wrist while playing softball. He is still able to work but wow he is a big baby when he is hurt or sick!

*Started walking again...it feels so good.

*Went to the pork shop for pig ears and found some "Apple, Maple & Pecan Sausage Links". Zada and I had these this morning for breakfast with eggs and strawberries...SO YUMMY!

*Had a girls night with Lisa (SIL) on wednesday night...watched Bride Wars...it was good!

It hasn't been a very eventful week...but wanted to update the blog quickly.
Tomorrow I will post 7 more budget dinners.

Random...

*Zoe started back to therapy!

*Mercedes finished a full week of Girl Scout camp...she loved it!

*Got our pool light fixed

*Missing my sister-in-law/best friend...she will be home soon

*Preparing for Tom's 30th!

*Been planting flowers

*About to turn on the A/C

*Kids have been playing outside from the time they wake up...until bedtime.

*Got the sprinkler out for the kids!

*Took pictures and got them printed of the girls.


Been alot going on...picture post to come later :)

Update

Hmm...I guess this will be list style again...sorry!

*cleaned out the garage...i can now park in it! :)
*Tom is working TONS of hours and got a promotion at his "daytime" job
*Tom's computer business is starting to pick up
*Zada is almost completely potty trained...it is the #2 that is giving us a problem (sorry TMI)
*Garage sale this weekend :)
*Getting new living room furniture
*Bought a deep freeze so I only have to go "BIG TIME" grocery shopping once a month
*Zoe got approved for her therapy and respite care!!
*Tom is on a small break from softball but it will start up again soon
*We have been going to the gym again. (it feels so good)
*The weather has been so nice here...about time to put the long pants away until November!
*David Stremme is back in NASCAR!! <3 hometown boys!
*My momma turns 50 this week! (we got her a new computer!)
*We didn't send out a christmas letter or picture this year...with the death of Tom's dad I just didn't find the time...we are making up by sending out Easter pictures and an update letter!
*I have started taking Zada to the public library...it makes her feel big and she loves to get new books!
*We continue to have dinner with Jaye and Lisa every night and it seems to save all of us $$$
*Zoe now has all of her shots to start school :(

I think that is about all for now...pictures will come soon!

Lots of love until next time :)

Date Day...

With work being totally nuts once again i decided that it was time for a Daddy and Mommy Date Day. We just went to Phoenix but had a great time. We didn't have anything planned just went with the day. We started the day at IHOP, then went to the Phoenix Science Center and saw the "Titanic" artifacts display and the IMAX movie "Titanica". You weren't suppose to take pictures in the artifact display but with my extra quiet camera i was able to get a few shots of some artifacts that were displayed close to the ground...





The last picture is a man made iceberg which was really cool. Alot of the kids in the display were melting their handprints into it.

We then went on a walk around down town but a Dbacks game was about to start was the streets were very busy with families headed to the ball park so we decided to hit up the HardRock cafe for a snack. The nachos there are awesome.



We then went shopping at Tempe Marketplace, Mesa Riverview and had dinner at Logan's Roadhouse before heading home for the night.

The weather here in the Valley has been PERFECT! It has been in the mid to high 80's during the day and dropping into the 50's at night.

Last night while we were at dinner we got some great news! Tom's brother and sister-in-law finally got an offer on their house in Indiana!! This is one step closer to having our favorite family members closer to us. We hope that all goes well and they will soon be on their way to "the valley of the sun"!

Today has been a very laid back day. All of us got up this morning and went grocery shopping. Then we have been catching up on some cleaning, watching some of our favorite shows, laying around and tonight we will be grilling out for a simple dinner with hardly any clean-up...my favorite for a sunday evening.

until next time...

lazy sunday update...

One person I haven't talked about much would be my great friend Brandy that i love so much...This is a woman that has battled from the very low times of life to be one of the greatest people i have ever met. She picks me up when i am down...i can talk to her about anything without her judging me...she loves me unconditionally...and i love her more than she will ever know. She is one of those people that you would hand pick to be in your life because she is fun, hard working, and accepts you for who you are. The picture is about 2 months old and i wanted to do a post then but it totally skipped my mind. I LOVE YOU BRANDY!

now a little update of the family....

Zoe seems to be doing much better since surgery. For the first few days she was sleeping better but it seems like she just doesn't like to sleep. She is eating a little better and the bad behavior seems to have taken the back seat for now.

Zada is growing like a weed and learning lots of new things...and not all of them are good...but we will take the good with the bad. She is a Papaw's girl for sure! I have been trying to work with her on asking for things instead of pointing and screaming...but she is 18 months old and does what she wants!...so that is getting us no where at this point. We are going to try to start potty training and letting her discover the potty on her own so hopefully by the end of summer she will be out of diapers....then we will put Zoe in cloth diapers...i know it seems silly but i am pretty excited about it.

Tom is working tons...hoping that the company that he works for will soon be buying a heavy duty tow truck. Of course when he is off he enjoys to take over the TV for all the "manly" shows that me and the girls don't care for.

I have been working some overtime and enjoying that to some extent. Hopefully all the over time will come to an end now that we have hired a few new people at work to help cover the shifts. Besides that we have had some crazy people at the office here lately...a drunk that threw a beer bottle at the window, a young punk that spit on the window (guess he was too dumb to see there was glass there and it wasn't going to hit us), of course lots of mexican's that can't read or speak english and want to know why we don't hire a translator....ummm because prop #201 made english the language in the state of arizona...can you believe that!!! it is the US you dummies. And we finally figured it out at work...."Why does it take 6 mexicans to pick up a car from the police impound?"....one to drive there, one to speak spanish, one to translate, one to pay, one has the car titled in their name, and one has the drivers license to pick it up....sad but true.


now since i was tagged i have to list 10 things that make me happy...

1.my kids
2.my husband
3.my health
4.being able to take Zoe to the best Doctors in the state
5.driving home everyday with a mountain view
6.knowing my kids are safe everyday with my mom
7.my husband's bbq chicken (we had it last night...yummy!)
8.kisses from my babies
9.diet coke from sonic with real cherries in it
10.my great friends

these aren't in any order...except the first 3...

i love all of you...