I Hope I Don't Make A Habit Of This...

weekly posting! :( Sorry guys!

So, I've survived a week and a half of work! And guess who else did...

Thomas...

and so did Anna-Kate!

Derek just barely did... ha!

Wednesday of last week my position was turned into a full time thing! So I'm now working from around 9-6 everyday.

That was a little more than I expected but I feel really blessed to have a job! I am really enjoying cooking and actually feel inspired to cook when I get home, which is opposite of how I thought I'd feel. Last week I sold a buttermilk pie that I made. Tuesday I made a chocolate sheet cake and sold all of it! Then I made two for today! ha! They sold really well and someone ordered a whole one for Friday!

I'm sort of funny about cooking. See I really love food and I love cooking but I also really love to make people happy! So, more than anything I cook for other people! I guess that's why I'm enjoying the job so much! That and I really think we make the BEST poppyseed chicken and mexican chicken I've ever had! Seriously- it's SO good! Just about everything I've tried there has been my "favorite." (I have LOTS of favorites! ha!)

Thomas has handled being away from me pretty well. He's obviously cut back on nursing, which makes me sad, but I'm glad that he's doing well. Saturday and Sunday he was super clingy but hopefully he will get used to things soon.

Anna-Kate has done good too, my working doesn't really affect her too much. She has gotten sent home with a few "sad" notes this week!! Monday, she bit a little boy. I think it was because he had a toy she wanted! Tuesday, they were standing in line and the teachers had just told them to be quiet. Well she was struggling with her hair and a little boy tried to help move it out of her face and she bit him! I don't think she bit very hard but still! She has NEVER bit a child before that! Then today, she got another note because she wouldn't stop fiddling with her jacket! She is my strong-willed baby! Sometimes it's really hard to get her to listen! Don't even get me started when it comes to her clothes!!

I'm not sure if she's acting out or just beng herself! ha! Hopefully we will get adjusted to a new routine soon!

Monday, Derek woke up late for work, so I had to get Anna-Kate up and ready for school. Then I had to get Thomas up and nursed and ready for the babysitter. Then I had to take the dogs out and feed them. I ended up being way late for work. Of course Anna-Kate was late too. I pulled up to the school and Anna-Kate was so excited! haha! She said, "okay mom, you can just let me off here." We weren't even close to the entrance! She's so funny!

Derek ended up getting sick Monday poor thing! It seems like there's a stomach bug or something going around! Hopefully the rest of us won't get it! He was pretty miserable. He stayed home yesterday. Today he is finally feeling better!!

Maybe once I get into a better routine I will be back here more and I will have the usual picture updates and all to share! I love the fall and I have so much fun reading what other people are cooking and how they're decorating! I hope to be able to share a few things myself! :) 

New Role

It wasn't too long ago that I was blogging about my decision to stay at home. If you read closely I did mention that if our financial situation got to where I needed to work, then I would. 

Of course, just as I was enjoying life at home... I made the decision that I needed to get a job. It's a decision that I've been struggling with for the last month now. 

I know, I know... bad blogger for not sharing! I was honestly just so filled with anger that I couldn't bring myself to be such a negative blogger! 

Derek and I both have been looking for a job, with the hope that Derek would be able to find something that was good enough for me to continue on at home. I had two job interviews but none of them wanted me! Ha! 

From the beginning of my job search I thought about working at this really cool place just up the street. She makes casseroles ahead of time and people can just drop in and pick up one for lunch or dinner! I think it's a really cool concept and I really enjoy cooking. Plus, I live just 2 minutes away! 

Well, the woman who owns it decided to take a chance on me! I started yesterday afternoon! I will be working from about 11- 6 M-F. I'm really excited because I still have the mornings to get everything in order and to go to my Ladies Bible Class and the MOPs meetings!! I am super excited about this because missing those things has been tearing me up the most! (Next to missing out on being at home with Thomas and picking Anna-Kate up from school, of course!) 

Sorry for the shameless self- promotion, but I wanted to show you where I work! I was standing at the end of our sidewalk! See how close it is?! :) Oh and if you live in our ward- you better vote for Derek! haha just kidding!

I had so much fun yesterday! I was pretty busy so I didn't have much down time to think about missing Thomas or Anna-Kate! Plus, I needed to run an errand, so I was able to stop by and nurse Thomas! 

Derek and I are looking for a babysitter/ nanny to keep Thomas and then pick up Anna-Kate from school and keep her. So for now, we're just taking it one stressful day at a time! :)

Thomas did SO good while I was away yesterday! 

When I got home, Anna-Kate was playing outside, Derek was sweeping off the driveway, Thomas was taking a nap...

dinner was on the table, the table was set AND

Derek had cleaned up his mess in the kitchen already! 

I just have one question... why on earth is 3:30-5 the witching hour for me?? When Derek gets home, Anna-Kate is usually laying on the floor with her blankie, whining and Thomas is usually wandering around fussing or on my hip... dinner is rarely done on time and there's no way I've even thought about sweeping off the driveway! Why was it so easy for him?? You know I'm just kidding, but it does make me think... ha!

Oh I have to share this story from yesterday morning!! Yesterday we all woke up a bit late, so Derek and I decided that we would just go to chapel with Anna-Kate. We tried to tell her, so she knew what to expect but when we walked in she bawled because she couldn't sit with her class! Derek tried to calm her and was telling her she had to sit with us. At the same time they were right in the middle of the devotional talk! The speaker said, "Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God?" Right then Anna-Kate yelled (in response to Derek) "NO!!" haha! It completely sounded like she was replying to the speaker! I had hoped that since we were sitting in the back no one would really hear, but she really yelled it out!

Here's Anna-Kate in chapel, obviously upset!

Thomas doesn't look excited here, but he enjoyed chapel!

Today my schedule was bit crazier. I just worked from 12:30-4, but it still worked out for me. I'm really hoping to find someone who is flexible and can work with the craziness of it all! I had a good day... even if I did mess up a batch of cornbread! Boo to me! Luckily, I was given a little bit of grace, but I just really hated messing up! I'm hoping for a little bit more cooking success tomorrow!

When I got home, dinner was already done. Thanks to me! I was able to throw some things in the crock pot for pot roast! :) I love when I can use my crock pot!! We ate an early dinner and then I picked up while Derek gave baths. After that, Thomas went to bed and Derek went campaigning. Anna-Kate and I decided to go on and make chocolate no-bake cookies for Bible study tomorrow! Haha... you know just on a whim!

We both wore our aprons, which I loved!

It is SO hard to keep miss thing out of everything!! Everytime I turned my back she'd have her little fingers in the peanut butter, or in the sugar mixture! lol! She kept saying "I like sugar! I like the butter!"

I'm not sure when the last time I made these cookies was, so Anna-Kate did not know what to expect! When I told her to scoop some out and drop it down, she just kept piling it on! haha! 

Can you tell where she dropped hers? haha!

Derek informed me mine were too large, but I like big cookies! :)

I'm so glad that I was able to squeeze in a little one-on-one time with Anna-Kate! I want to get in as much time with her as I can!

Now I'm off to go make some buttermilk pies! Yummy! 

County Fair

Tuesday afternoon Anna-Kate had a half day for parent/ teacher conferences so I picked her and Kristen up. We went to eat lunch with the family and then came to our house to play!

The girls made tiaras... which they loved! They were so cute putting the stickers on and then wearing them for a while after!

After we played for a while, we went to the county fair with my friend, Liz and her son Ben! I was very glad to have an extra set of hands! Thanks Ryne! Thomas fussed most of the time but the girls really enjoyed it!

We took them over to see all of the animals!

They had chicks and hatchlings (those were my favorite... so sweet!)

and goats

and sheep

and a Zebu

Kristen didn't like the cows moo-ing at her! This was right before one of these ducks bit Anna-Kate! After that she asked "do they bite?" before she'd pet any animals!

and a miniature pony

and longhorns

and a yak

I loved the little Bison!

and cows

This is a Scottish Highlander... he was pretty cute!

and little piggies! 

The girls got to feed the animals!

We went pretty early so there was not a big crowd at all! After we pet the animals, the girls and Ben went for a pony ride! They loved it!

Then we walked around and got snow cones and cotton candy... but I figured Derek's parents were keeping them, so no worries about the sugar high! Ha!

After the fair the girls were WORN out! I took them to Derek's grandmother's house so that I could go meet Derek for parent teacher conferences!

I know I'm a dork, but I was so excited about going to hear what the teacher's thought of Anna-Kate! Of course, she's right on track and doing really well! She's only brought one note home because she did not take a nap and talked the whole time! Anna-Kate's teacher makes a portfolio and keeps certain papers the whole year so we can see how she's learning. Anna-Kate has never been one for coloring or drawing much. I've tried to get her interested in writing letters and drawing shapes but it just didn't interest her. Honestly, I think we are too much a like for me to be able to really teach her! So far most of her papers and drawings were just scribbles but they told us that's the first step. I'm really excited to see her drawing more shapes and making people!

Anna-Kate's class has had color days. Tuesday was purple (that's why the girls were both matching). Their class made a book with the adventure of the purple crayon. Each child "drew" some part of the adventure with a purple crayon. Anna-Kate had "the adventure" to draw! Haha! Very abstract!

When we got done, we went to get Thomas and Anna-Kate. Thomas was super sleepy so I got to nurse him to sleep and then he snuggled with me for a while. I love it when he sleeps on me!!

We laid him down when we got home and he slept Wednesday until after 11! I was sad to miss Ladies Class, but I know he needed to sleep in!

Derek and I volunteered to do a home bible study so that some of the parents with small kids can still go to a home bible study but don't have to be far from them. (We are right across the street!) So, I spent some time cleaning and getting ready for that yesterday too.

I'm really enjoying it! Derek is leading the class and he always does such a great job!

This morning Thomas decided to sleep until 9, so we were late to MOPs. (Mother's of Preschoolers) I can't remember if I mentioned that I have started doing stuff with this or not! I missed the first actual meeting so this was my first time going, excluding the kick off mixer! I'm really looking forward to meeting other moms!! I had a lot of fun today! Hopefully next time we wont be late! :) 

Weekend In Franklin

Last Friday was my grandmother's 88th birthday. We all call her Nani. She's amazing! She was born and raised in Germany, was a nurse during WWII, met an american soldier, had 8 children and then moved to the United States! I always love talking to her because she has such strength. I feel like I grow so much, just from spending 5 minutes with her! Sadly, when I visit Franklin, I don't get to see her much because she lives in Nashville! She hadn't even met Thomas yet! So I knew I had to see her for her birthday!

Derek couldn't take off work to go see her so I headed out Friday morning with Thomas and Anna-Kate! It's a 5-6 hour drive there, so I was NOT looking forward to my drive! I tried to time it so that they both would nap along the way. Thomas fell asleep pretty quickly and Anna-Kate fell asleep about 30 minutes into the drive. They both woke up in Marion so we stopped for lunch. I had SUCH a wonderful time eating lunch with them! They were both in really great moods! They ate really well and then we all headed back to the car so I could nurse Thomas. We made a bathroom trip right before we left and then we headed on our way! Anna-Kate fell asleep right as we were getting into Memphis and Thomas slept off and on. They both did so well on the last part of the drive! I got very lucky with two great travelers!

We got into town on Friday around 4:30 and met my sister at my grandparent's house. We just all visited for a while and then went to meet my dad and other sister for dinner. Then we walked around Target a bit. Anna-Kate loves Target! Haha!  When I got back to my grandmother's we were all tired but we stayed up visiting a little more. I think I was dreading sleeping because I was afraid Thomas would do terribly!! Thomas totally surprised me when he crawled up on top of me and fell asleep just a few minutes after laying down! It was so sweet! He slid himself off pretty soon after and slept so great the rest of the night. Anna-Kate slept with my grandmother.

Saturday, I met my sisters at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Anna-Kate and Thomas were still sleeping, so I got to go alone! I didn't hardly know what to do with myself! haha!

My sister and her baby came back to my grandparents house and I got to show her how to make baby food for her son! It was really fun sharing that with her!

Then we all went around town to run some errands and to get my Nani a birthday gift. It was a little crazy, but we managed! Anna-Kate only got like a 30 minute nap, so she was really, really sleepy!

After that I went to pick my older sister up from work and we drove out to my Aunts house for my Nani's birthday party! It was SO nice to see all of my family! I think all the noise and the people scared Thomas a little bit but he warmed up to it. Anna-Kate had fun playing with everyone too!

Sunday we all got up and went to breakfast. My older sister came over afterwards and gave me a sewing lesson while she hemmed some of my pants! I'm so excited to try out a new pattern soon! Plus, I've got some fabric for some pillows for my sofa! My Aunt came over with her 3 children while we were sewing, so it was a good distraction for Anna-Kate. Greer gave Anna-Kate some of her Fancy Nancy things she had outgrown! It was really sweet! Anna-Kate had so much fun playing with Greer!! I was glad she wore herself out! After my sewing lesson, I packed our stuff up and loaded the car.

This was so cute! I'm glad my sister snapped a pic! I was feeding Thomas water out of a straw and then Anna-Kate picked up her straw and started doing the same! She's such a sweet big sister! 

Anna-Kate was asleep before we got out of the neighborhood! She slept until I got to Memphis, which was good because since I was meeting Derek in Lepanto, I only had an hour to go! Thomas woke up because Anna-Kate was loud but he didn't really fuss!

I was so glad to see Derek in Lepanto! So glad that I let Anna-Kate ride back to Searcy with him! Ha! She's great in the car but she's quite the chatter box!

Yesterday, I spent most of the morning trying to get things unpacked but I got distracted with uploading all of my pictures- imagine that! ha! Then I spent the afternoon tidying up the house for my first ever Bunko night!

I had a very small crowd but hopefully next month we'll have more! :)

Today I'm trying to get all my chores and blogging done because Anna-Kate has a half day! I'm picking her and Kristen up at 12:15 and then grabbing Ryne at 12:30. Then we are going to the County Fair! I've been in Searcy 6 years now and have yet to go! I'm really looking forward to Anna-Kate seeing all the animals! Then this evening we have our first parent teacher conference!! I am really excited to hear what Anna-Kate's teachers think of her!  Then, tonight is the premier of Parenthood!! Derek and I love to record shows and watch them together! A lot of our favorites are coming back so we are really excited! Tonight is just the start of the fall premiers!! 

Wordless Wednesday- Anna-Kate

Blogging Funk!

I don't know what it is but lately I've been in the biggest funk! 

I can't think about anything to blog about! 

We have been fighting allergies and all the wonderful things that go along with that...

sneezing

runny nose

ear infections... 

Gross I know. 

I wish I could say that's why I've been a bad blogger, but it's not. 

Other than being sickly we've not had a lot going on! 

It's just basically been school and work for Anna-Kate and Derek. 

Thomas and I have been working on some sort of routine for ourselves as well. 

See not much exciting to blog about! Hopefully things will get more lively as we get more into the fall! 

Maybe it will lure me out of this blogging funk! ;)

Wordless Wednesday- Sibling Love