For real?  Snow in the forecast?  No wonder Russell has been talking about the North Pole constantly with this weather!  He said the other day, “Mommy, I always wanted to visit the North Pole” as if we were there.  He is the funniest kid, talks about his three favorite days: his birthday 7/17, Halloween and Christmas all year long.  And Brad thought I was silly celebrating my birth month of June rather than just a measily day.

Speaking of June and July, I have Summer on the brain!  GEE wonder why?!  I just can’t stop thinking about where I want to go in July after the madness of June is over.  “Madness?” you ask…let’s just call it DANCE-PALOOZA on overdrive!  Downtown Days week 1, Nationals week 2-3, Recital week 4.  And if there is time to breathe it will be spent practicing and rehearsing plus going to Carter’s baseball games.  I am mentally preparing for it.  SOOOO, in July my big hope is to go on a trip.  I want to lay on a beach chair, sip something cold, listen to my ipod and R.E.L.A.X!

Russell shooting me with his water gun on his 4th birthday.

My nephew, Robert and his mama, Rachael. Robert is a July baby too

Me and Russell chillin' on a raft at Lakewood Lake. A very favorite thing to do in the Summer is gather our neighbors and coast around the quiet lake.

Whitney and Caitlyn swimming at the waterpark.

Me and Brad on Isla Mujeres last July. I think about this place every single day.

Carter is the king of stealing bases. It is February and we've already started practicing! They'll be really good this year, I know it!

And dance...Our little star, Whitney Jane, is doing a solo for the first time. I will never tire of watching her dance and I get SO nervous for her! She handles it like a PRO!

Ok, now to go brave the freezing temps and suspected snow.  Boo…at least I can think about warmer days to come.  Thank goodness for sunny memories and lots of pictures to look through.  I can almost feel the sun on my face and the cool water on my toes.

I know, we’ve all been talking about it but this is the TENTH, yes TENTH day my children have not had school in 2011 not including the extra days from New Years and Martin Luther King Jrs bday.  We also have a four day weekend over Presidents weekend and Spring Break soon after that.  Thankfully I have very sweet children with very sweet friends but mama needs to get back to work!

My days have consisted of cleaning, waiting tables and more battling cabin fever.  The dishwasher and trash seem to generate dishes and trash on their own and are full constantly.  The herd of kids running through here are making my floors dirty, they have a constant need for drinks and snacks or new shows to be put on the tv.  The dogs are in and out constantly.  Shadow has a girlfriend who lives next door and the two dogs are constantly at each other’s doors whining for them to come play.  Everyone is having a great time so it’s all good.  It is worth the catering.  Yesterday I embraced the situation and drank out of my snowflake goblet all day.  With the help of Arbonne Fizzy Tabs I felt very energized and the special glass gave me a little festive edge.  The girls and I did a little photoshoot.  Whitney loves taking photos and has a pretty good eye.  It comes in handy when I want to get in a shot once in awhile.  We played with the timer and tripod which allowed us to get some good falling snow shots.  The boys are here but are not as excited about photos and can’t be pried away from Xbox or basement basketball games.

THIS IS MY OFFICIAL SNOW DAY OUTFIT, T-SHIRT AND JAMMIES 🙂  COZY!

With tomorrow in question I am getting work and laundry done so we can launch into the weekend all caught up.  Our streets are still snow packed and the temperatures are below freezing so it’s anyone’s guess as to what the school district will do about tomorrow.  I hope they go since we have a threat of more snow on Monday and Wednesday.  The kids are anxiously waiting for the “phone call.”

I have to say I am happy for the kids because this has been really fun for them.  My productivity relies on people doing every day business so there isn’t much to miss and I can do projects for work from home, thankfully.  I think this time has given us all a little bit of catch up time and a break from the hustle of a normal schedule.  I will also be very thankful in the Spring when our grass, trees and flowers are absolutely gorgeous from getting so much water through the Winter from the melted snow.  I’ll dream about those days while huddled under a blanket, tapping away at work presentations and emails.

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Carbs do not like my body…I feel gross, gain weight instantly and am just full for days.  SO I try to make low carb meals for me and my husband as often as I can.  I like to be creative with meals that would probably contain pasta or rice but use beans, veggies etc instead.  Here’s a recipe I made using a few different recipes found on www.allrecipes.com This is a great way to keep your favorite recipes organized and I love the ingredients feature.  Many times my dinner is determined by what needs to be cooked TODAY.  enjoy! 

http://allrecipes.com/CustomRecipe/62627970/Hearty-Low-Carb-Chicken-Sausage-Veggie-Quiche/Detail.aspx

Well, why am I surprised? I shouldn’t be since we’ve had tons of snow days Jan-April the entire time the “Bigs” have been in school. This year…with a new job/s it is extra crazy. But I will say, TODAY rocked! Russell went to school and Carter went to his buddy Q’s house so I had Whitney and Sydney. Besides the “fart tag” they were so fun! It was the right mix of them entertaining themselves and them entertaining me.

The day started with a fort making and watching tv while I worked. At lunch they made Ramen…the meal of choice these days. Besides the carbs I like it because it is cheap 🙂 After their culinary delight was finished I jumped in with my chicken, spinach, mushroom casserole. I was missing my herb garden and took a pic of it in hibernation. I had extra wine that needed to be used and the veggies were getting to their limit so I decided to go with it. The girls are so cute about coming in to see what I’m doing. I think mushrooms cooking in olive oil, garlic and wine is heavenly. Sydney came in and said “you are like a French Chef, everything you cook smells great, and THAT is a compliment.” I love how little girls who are not your own appreciate you in a new way. Sydney’s mom is amazing, she works her hiney off in a gov’t accounting job yet keeps her house super clean and cooks for her 3 hungry boys (40+, 15 & 12) plus her and Syd. We relate…she is as busy as I am with activities. We have the wild card of Russell but the blessing is her boys love him and they rock at taking care of him!

So, Snow day NUMBER…5 or 6 was pretty good. A nice balance. AND I asked my hubby to grab some rain boots on the way home so my surgical shoe and sock wouldn’t get soaked like yesterday. He obliged. They are cuter than how they feel. A bit tight on the injury but that is better than a wet sock.

And finally, can’t wait for the KU v TX game this weekend! My sister, Marci, is letting me cash in my bday present from a year or two ago and she, Rachael and Robert are keeping the kids and the dog so we can have a day, night and morning to ourselves. The walking in Lawrence, KS from the game to the establishments etc will be a strategic challenge but the atmosphere and company will ROCK!

Enjoy your cocoon time, I like to remember how busy Summers are this time of year and soak up the quiet time “trapped inside.”

I’ve had some serendipitous things happen recently and I always treasure them and take time to appreciate it when I notice them. I won’t bore you with the details but I set a few minor goals for myself and they were achieved almost instantly! It makes me think what else I can do quickly just by stating them outloud.

I am taking a really cool class by the Brave Girls Club. It is great, amazing and overwhelming at the same time. I have assignments I have to do and have a really hard time carving out the time to do them. But when I do set aside the time I’m so glad I did.

Today I did a business call with my sister. We were talking about how we want 2011 to be amazing because of how sucky the last few years have been. I love knowing I have a sister in the same brain space as me totally focusing on joy. Our dad, niece and grandma who have all gone to heaven are so on our side rooting for joy for us all! Sometimes choosing joy is all it takes. But, honestly the last few years has been about processing and doing some work on our brains so now we have done that and 2011 is a good, good thing.

Next up, wedding dress alterations, arm workouts and figuring out if my poor little foot can tolerate darling heels Jess picked out!

On another note, we went to an 80s party which was a huge bright spot in our January!

Ok seriously? What is up with these people just springing a new zodiac chart on us? I firmly believe I am a Gemini and attached Virgos like a magnet. According to this pile of craziness I am not a Gemini and all of those Virgos are probably not Virgos.

Capricorn: Jan. 20 – Feb. 16— Suzanne, Jessica, Kyle, Kasey and B are all now Capricorns…mmm don’t know much about that sign, must research the differences and see what comes up.
Aquarius: Feb. 16 – March 11—At least my sister, Marci, is still an Aquarius since she has it tattooed on her arm!
Pisces: March 11- April 18
Aries: April 18- May 13–Mom is still an Aries
Taurus: May 13- June 21—THE NEW ME SIGN, share this with Paula. Not happy about this but maybe Brad is right…I’m a Bull-dog.
Gemini: June 21- July 20—Now Aunt T, Blake, Todd, Russell and Robert (etc etc) are Geminis? That kind of makes sense because they act very much like me…kicking me out though…I’m just not havin’ it.
Cancer: July 20- Aug. 10
Leo: Aug. 10- Sept. 16—Brad, Whitney and most of the rest are now Leos. I really don’t know how that is possible since I’ve based all of my relating skills on the fact that they are VIRGOS to a T
Virgo: Sept. 16- Oct. 30—Carter is a Virgo?! What? That is crap, he is SO NOT a Virgo! He is SO a Scorpio
Libra: Oct. 30- Nov. 23
Scorpio: Nov. 23- Nov. 29
Ophiuchus: Nov. 29- Dec. 17–How do you even pronounce this? What’s the personality? I just can’t wrap my brain around just springing an extra sign in here. What the HayBails?
Sagittarius: Dec. 17- Jan. 20—Even Jesus got a new assignment. Well, if these quacks messed with his sign I guess I can get u sed to mine…

Here’s a picture from my last super duper fun birthday! I was 38 and had both of my sisters celebrating with me, it was a really fun time. I’ll remember this fondly as my last birthday party as a Gemini…sigh…

THIS JUST IN, AFTER MY CRAZY RANT A FRIEND SAID THAT THE “NEW” ZODIAC REALLY ONLY APPLIES TO ANOTHER PART OF THE WORLD. WE “WESTERNERS” ARE STICKING WITH THE OLD 12 SIGN VERSION. THANK GOD!