Easter Fun

We had a pretty tame Easter this year. Friday will be the family celebration, but we had fun on our own too.

The two older kids had church duties, but of course they had to be at the two separate services. :P

I know I'm biased, but isn't she the CUTEST little woman?

Well, she'd be her sister's only competition

Handsome boys

Can you believe it took me like 2 hours to get these two ready? Talk about high-maintainance

TS1 just HAD to have "silly face" pics - he's so silly :)

Basket Time!!

The girls helped with Easter dinner.

What a week...

Well, last weekend didn't start off as nice as the one before. I thought it was going to be a good Friday night; Mr S had chili already going for dinner - so yummy on a cold raining day and HP7-P1 (Harry Potter 7 - Part 1 for you non-Pott-heads) was on sale at the store - so we were going to have movie night.

So, I walked out of the store and one of my tires was COMPLETELY flat. Like - don't drive on it unless you want to wreck your car dummy. I swear it wasn't like that when I left work (grrr..). So I had grocceries piled in on top of my spare, as well as all the other crap in my trunk (seriously - how much gas mileage do you think I lose carrying around a huge box of City of Omaha Planning Dept envelopes?). Plus it was pouring rain and stupid me had forgotten a jacket in the morning. Mr S was sweet though, he offered to come down and rescue me, or find me a place that was still open to get it fixed (since it was after 5). We found a Sears close to where I was and I slowly drove there. When I got there, the techs of course say ALL of my tires need replacing. Ugh - there goes $500 I didn't plan on spending this weekend. Anyway, they were very quick and by 6:30 I was on the road home. sadly I could tell a HUGE difference in the way my car reacted to the wet road from before. At least I got it fixed.

I finally made it home and Mr S was sweet and unpacked grocceries for me so I could change and eat. We started HP7-P1, but we were all too tired to stay up and finish it :(

Reason #1 for why not having two jobs is a good thing

Yes, I'm still working like crazy,but this weekend I actually sat back and realized how nice it is to only have to work one job. Friday I didn't have to race out because I had to get to my crappy second job - yes I got stuck at work until 5, but at least I got to come home after that and relax.
Saturday was when I really got to realize it. In the morning we had JrMrS's soccer game. The weather was so beautiful (and I got my first sunburn of the year-I spend all of the summer with one from all of the kids activities).

(I love the new soccer uniforms)

In the evening Mr s and I decided to implement "family night". LMS had a really cool overnight birthday party to go to, but the rest of us participated in our first official "family night". We took the kids golfing at the country club and had a lot of fun just hitting balls. And yes we were the nuts golfing in thue middle of the tornado watch (Middleton is only about 30 minutes from us). Thank God for the weather channel app.

Yep - that's MY daughter - She's so beautiful

After finishing golfing we had dinner at the club house and then came home to relax. The kids and I had fun "playing" with my new work iPad and trying to get through additional levels of angry birds. Ugh stupid angry birds....
Sunday I worked most of the day, but looking back I still felt like I got a decent amount of relaxing time. Totally looking forward to more weekends like this, well maybe with a little MORE relaxation time.

No April Fools Joke ....10 updates for 7 weeks

Where has time gone? We’ve been so busy and moving at the speed of light most of the time around here. I’ve also had a hard time deciding to write because after mine and Mr. S’s fight before Valentines Day – I was supposed to make a promise to no longer put “everything” out there, I’m not allowed to write posts that will make me or anyone else depressed. It really upset me because I feel like this is MY sounding board and his family should stay out of it. Anyway, I’ve cooled off now so I’ll catch everyone up on the last MONTH. Bare with me on this….

1) Jr Ms S’s LEGO League participated in the Nebraska State competition. They were one of only 5 teams that were invited from Iowa. (If you remember, Jr Mr S’s team went to state in Iowa and got 2nd place) It was a very, very cool thing for the kids. It was held at the Air and Space Museum and both hangers were PACKED with kids and their robots. The atmosphere was almost like being at a Monster Truck Rally (not that I’ve ever been to one – but it’s what I would imagine it to be like). They had a DJ going and Time Warner Cable used the big screens so that they could see themselves competing. The announcers and almost all of the volunteers for the RoboExpo made it a really special event for the kids. And it was LOUD…oh my gosh it was LOUD, but in a good way – lots of cheering and screaming for the kids. Her team didn’t end up getting a trophy, but they ranked at 16th out of 60 teams which their coach said was very good for a first year team with 4th-7th graders against mostly Jr High teams that have done this before. It was a great day for them. We’re always so wrapped up in sports that it was great to see an intellectual thing get the same recognition and excitement as a sporting event. They did a wonderful job and I’d love to go back again if we can.

2) Mr S and I were able to make up our Valentines date after the RoboExpo. We dropped the girls off at my sister’s and went to dinner. It was a quick dinner, but it was nice to spend some time together. And I think our marriage is hopefully improving – I think with wrestling over, my quitting the second job (YAY – I QUIT!!), making compromises on my main job and trying to invest more time in the kids and Mr S has helped. I hope so…

3) Jr Ms S’s team got first place in their last basketball tournament - so that was bitter-sweet for them. In addition to that she had her BEST game ever – I don’t know what got into her, but she was HOT that day. And I’m the biggest retard mom and didn’t pull out my camera until the very last game. She had already played quite a bit of the first three so she only played a few minutes of the last one. The other team REALLY wanted to beat us and the fans were SO loud. But we beat them and this is what it sounded like…

(Geez – my ears hurt SO BAD after the last two days)

Awesome, huh?

4) The boys had a few wrestling tournaments to finish of the season (no surprise huh?). In fact, one weekend they had TWO tournaments because Mr S is so obsessed. They’ve done pretty well at them – mostly getting first places. JrMrS only got 5th place at districts though – so we didn’t make it to state. I feel bad for him but I am SO HAPPY for me. Now we’re done until next fall - - THANK GOD!!! (see, I can be positive about wrestling) Now if only he doesn’t OBSESS over baseball (it’s already starting – I can see it – but this sport is a little better because it doesn’t smell like armpits – or worse, I get a tan, and at least you know after about 1.5 hours or 5 innings, you’re going home).

5) We had fun at the school carnival - well, maybe I didn't - I had to work with the balloon clown (I HATE clowns!!!)

6) In addition to participating in Lego League this year, the kids also did chess club again. This was the first time we tried out a tournament though - it was really tough! The girls tried their best though and ended up about in the middle of their brackets.

7) I’ve decided that life ends after 30. This year has been SO rough and going into 31 doesn’t look to hot either. I have never had such bad health and been SO overweight. It’s sickening. To fix the odd “lady” problems I was having, we ended up having to change my birth control pill and it’s some crappy pill that makes my hormones think I’m pregnant (whoo-hoo – cause I loved the emotional roller coasters of that…grrr). On top of that its been one continuous cold after another – yuck!

8) So I turned 31 and Jr Mr and Ms S turned 11. Yay another year and another year closer to them being teenagers (I’m totally being sarcastic – really)

Whoops - forgot to buy candles, but the two candles I did have worked :)

So in total - all the March birthdays added up to 222 years!

yes - she's fake blowing out the candles since I wasn't fast enough with the trigger

9) The girls performed in the Drill Team show at their school. It was such a great program for them and so sweet of the high school girls to take the time and foster this in them – especially since we’re so far away from club cheerleading (I SO wish there was a place close – LMS would LOVE it). I was SO surprised when my tom-boy girl JrMsS decided to do it. She was so cute.

10) We had some weather excitement (and unfortunately some damage) a couple weeks ago. I was racing home from work to get home to leave for parent teacher conferences when a thunderstorm warning hit our area. I could see the clouds getting dark and moving fast in front of me (I’m such a dork I had the whole Twister soundtrack playing in my head – you know the really ominous one right before the tornado hits) Right as I was coming around a curve on the interstate the front hit and I was pushed by the wind! Scary! When I got to town it was only sprinkling so I thought I’d be able to out run the storm – um – no. I got stopped at the third light in town (how crazy does that sound?) and it started sounding like someone was CHUCKING rocks at my car. Then all the clouds opened up and it hailed HARD. I pulled over under a gas station canopy to try to prevent damage to my car and called Mr S. I was listening to the news on the radio but was worried about a tornado as bad as it was. He wasn’t even watching the tv for me – I was freaking out – I didn’t know if I should make a run for a safe place or what when…the tornado sirens went off..here I am under a gas station canopy – probably the worst place I could be other than on the road itself. So Mr S calls me back and says “Well it’s a tornado, but it’s right on top of you, so if you’re fine, just come home”. Um, SERIOUSLY!!! Eh, it’s a tornado, but just drive home – I can’t even see the freaking road in front of me it’s pouring so hard! Grr… So once it did stop I came home. Right before I got off the highway to go down our road Mr S calls and asks if I’d left yet because now it’s getting bad at the house (oh – now you’re worried?). I got home fine and pulled into the garage. By the time I’d changed clothes it was sunny out and the girls were playing in the hail trying to find the biggest ones. We had some vehicle damage, a hole in our siding and some damage to our gutters, but nothing claim-wise at least. Mr S’s stupid ex wasn’t so lucky, her house looks like someone shot it up with a machine gun – sad, but SUPER funny. Too bad she’s such a b!tch and got on the news talking about how the boys “thought they were going to DIE!” Really? If they thought they were going to die, how come they didn’t say anything about it the next day? Stupid…The worst of the damage happened at LMS’s teacher’s farm (they had cows out, damage to their old farm house, and worst of all the grain bin FULL of corn was picked up and thrown 1/2 mile down the road!)

I felt so bad, she pulled us aside and asked if she could do our conference ASAP so she could get home – no way was I making her stick around – I told her to give me the papers and go – if there was a problem I should have heard WAY SOONER than this (we see each other almost every weekend at kid stuff since she has kids the same ages as ours)

So there are 10 updates for the last 7 weeks. I promise not to go so long anymore… I love blogging and I’ve hated being gone.

Valentine's Day

The last few years have been very nice. This year however turned into a HUGE mess.

I really try to make it special for Mr. S and the kids. This year at least we didn’t have a wrestling tournament the day of. Friday morning I decided that I’ve had NO TIME for my things so I spent 45 minutes running to the store to get the girls their Valentine’s presents, cards and class party stuff. LMS and I spent some time Saturday afternoon putting together the goody bags for her class (I’m sad I haven’t been able to take the time to go to their class parties this year – I’m such a bad mom).

I also bought goodies and BAKED cupcakes and cookies for Jason and the kids on Saturday afternoon before I went to work at the restaurant.

Yummy Gingerbread cookies

Yes - they're not chocolate, but they're still yummy

I also got Mr. S a two-some special at this virtual golf place. I figured he could go and have a guy’s night with one of his friends or something. It sounded cool anyway and I know he always complains about not having the money for golf. For my Valentine’s gift I got some pretty roses.

A whole lotta nuttin...

I guess that's a good thing, right? Yes, I was pretty upset on Saturday, but things rebounded like they always do and now it's back to the same old, same old.

Honestly, nothing has really happened in the last week - which for us is weird in some ways, but in others I think it's just the season (or the REALLY crappy weather).

Last week we dealt with LMS and I (again) being sick - that sucks. She seems to be doing better though - that's a good thing. We took a snow day on Tuesday and at least I took the time to rest (well, besides baking Mr S cookies).

Saturday was rough for him and I, but after going to dinner and fighting it out some - we're better now and have moved on.

Sunday we had his grandparents over for the Super Bowl, but otherwise had a VERY quiet weekend.

So, like I said - a whole lotta nuttin, but it's probably better for us right now. The next few weeks are going to be a killer with wrestling and Basketball tournaments, work, lego league state tournament, and having to start going to chuch (there's a whole post :P).

Messed up system

I will NEVER understand our stupid welfare and child support system. Welfare is a given - it's f-ed up and none of the pussy politcians are going to do anything about it.

I used to think the child support system was okay - not perfect, but it worked. Not any more...

I've had to pay over $3000 to go after him for child support that was ORDERED by the court. He's run off AGAIN and is not paying AGAIN. He deserves to be in jail, but he's apparently just allowed to run around and do whatever he wants without ANYONE going after him.

Today I got a letter in the mail from child support services. I thought it was something about my case. Um NO! It was a freaking letter saying I wasin CONTEMPT because I hadn't reported changing jobs and providing health insurance for my kids. Are you f-ing kidding me?!!! First, I changed jobs THREE years ago. Second, my kids are not on medicaid, so OBVIOUSLY they're getting healthcare from somewhere, right? Third, they even had that I was on Blue Cross Blue Shield - if they can find that out - then can't they find out that the kids are ALSO on my policy?!!

I can't believe this. I'm calling Monday and screaming at this Jackie case worker woman. Seriously. I'm SO sick of the system. Why would you go after me?!! I'm not on welfare or any sort of support for my kids - yet I'M the one you're going to go after?!!

Ugh!!

Low..just freaking low...

Okay - I know this is another pity party, but I just don't understand why I can't do anything right.

• I can't lose weight right - I eat fairly well - I know I need to get more exercise but when am I suppossed to do that between working my full time job, part time job, doing the kid stuff, cleaning house, etc? Please tell me where that fits in and doesn't interfere with sleep - if I lose that - I'll be screwing up more than I already am right now.
• I'm not a good mom - LMS has been sick the last couple of days. For the most part the kids are very healthy - the last week or so, they've all been passing some cold around. LMS has had a fever on and off for three days now. I sent her to school yesterday - she probably should have stayed home, but NO - I HAD to go to work. I did call into my other job since there was no one to watch her, but she's still not better. I left her home today with Mr S while I went to JrMsS's BB tournament, but that didn't help - she woke up this evening with another fever! Guess I need to take her in tomorrow.
• I'm also a bad mom because the whole time I was at the BB tournament - I was stressing about not getting work done and complained through text the whole time to Mr S about how much my butt and back hurt from sitting in the bleachers all day. They played some really tough teams and I cheered of course - but being there today was the LAST place I wanted to be. How horrible is that?!!
• I can't heal right - I'm still hurt from last November and now the kids have passed me some cold - my head is so full of "cotton" it's not even funny. I feel like crap!
• I can't be a good wife - I really have no idea why Mr. S is with me. I'm a stress ball all the time, I'm hurt by tings he's done/not done and so I take that back out on him. Because he's OBSESSED with something - I HATE it. that's horrib;e - right?
• The worst of my lows right now is work - I'm so sick of my f-ups! Yesterday I was suppossed to pull a survey from a website for work. I left work early to pick up LMS (trying to be a good mom), but I was only able to pull the links to it before my stupid ass internet gave out (I don't know why it's been such a pain - that and my stupid remote connection to work). I figured I was fine since the only way to get to the survey was if you knew the freaking page name! Of course not - I'm not that lucky - while I was at the tournament - someone freaking found it and submitted a survey. The worst of it is that our client is a SPAZ and freaks about the littlest things. The other day they made me add this SPAZ lady to the email submissions - so there's no way to even TRY to cover/spin what happened. What is freaking wrong with this picture?! I STRESS about work and totally ignore my life half the time for it - when I do decide to live my life and support my kids and not worry about work - shit like this happens!!! I emailed my boss and others that will get chewed by our stupid ass client when they call (I screwed up a public email a couple weeks ago that they got chewed out for - I didn't realize it until they got the call - GOD!) I still don't think everything will be okay though. I'm probably screwing myself at work - I'm so screwed...

So, seriously, I feel like shit right now and I don't know how to fix any of this...