Happy Thanksgiving

Well, it is that time of year. When we sit down, look at our life, and are reminded of all of the things we are thankful for. I thought I would do this on my blog. So these will be in no particular order, just how they come to me.

I am thankful for:

1. My husband- although he has the ability to drive me insane, I love  that I am often still reminded by the things he does, just how much he loves me, and me him.

2. My girls- they make me so happy and fulfilled. I love watching them grow and learn. They are beautiful, intelligent and loving, and I get to be with them everyday, which leads me to my next...

3. That I get to stay home. I loved having a career, but nothing compares to getting up everyday knowing that I get to stay with the girls all day.

4. The sound of the kids running. Especially Olivia. She gets going so fast and you can actually hear the happiness in her steps.

5. The sound of my kids laughing

6. That my very best friend in the world is still my Mom.

7. My wonderful family- loving, supportive

8. Julie- my closest friend, who unfortunately is the furthest geographically.

9. My wonderful friends here in Indy. Truly my family away from family

10. hmmm there are many others, like living in America, the freedoms we unfortunately take for granted, simple things like heat and running water- that we also take for granted, but my second glass of wine is kicking in and I must go to sleep (hmmm, maybe #11 should be wine???)

For all of you, friends and or family- I hope you have a wonderful thanksgiving and truly do take a moment to think of the things you are thankful for. Everyday, I tell God, how in awe I am of the wonderful life he has provided me, but taking the time to sit and list all of it out, well, it is just truly amazing.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Liv and her unique dancing

Mom- here is the video I tried to send via email......

For Kimmy

Kimmy- here are the 2 videos I told you about

Kids Halloween Party

Fall Break

Since it is fall break, the girls and I had a 'stay at home' day yesterday. We slept in until 8:30 (yipee) then we cuddled in our jammies and watched a movie. We made pictures and cards for Dad. Then after a long and fun bath time, with all of our new bubbles and soaps, the kids went out and rode their bikes.

  We saw tons of geese across the street at the 'pond' and tried to feed them, but I think Olivia's growling bear sounds may have scared them away.

 We topped off the day with dinner together (with Dad) All in all, a very fun day.....

Ohhhh, I almost forgot the best part. The girls costumes  came in the mail today. Wonderful and talented, Grandma Peggy made them. I know, I know, they need smaller hats. I am working on it!!!

Pumpkin Patch

Last week we went to the first school trip of the year (and Olivia's first ever)
We went to Russell Farms. They got to go on a tractor ride, pick pumpkins, see (and touch) farm animals, listen to a Halloween story, play and 'do' farm work. Too much fun!!!

One Blue Eye, One Brown Eye

The other day, I was laying on my bed talking with Olivia and right next to us was JoJo (our kitty)

Olivia points to each of JoJo's eye and says "One blue eye, one brown eye.... wait. Where is JoJo's blue eye?" Then she points to her own eyes and says, "One blue eye, one brown eye." I said, " Yes, you have one blue eye and one brown eye. JoJo  has two brown eyes." Now in her perfect little self involved 2 year old way, she says, " Poor JoJo, he has 2 brown eyes, no blue eyes. Poor Kitty."

I completely love that Liv thinks having two different color eyes is perfectly normal, but how weird to have two the same color!!!!

Weekend Fun

If you scroll down you will see that on Saturday we took the girls to the Renaissance Fair, but on Sunday I think the girls had the most fun. We went to church as a family, then Shawn had to go to work. So the girls and I went to the park & headed to the grocery store. While Olivia was sleeping, Lauren and I made Apple turnovers (Lauren loved this) and then for dinner we made pizzas, and they both got to make their own. Which was so much fun. Unfortunately since I was helping them I did not think to take pics, but I do have some of the park:

Renaissance Fair

Yesterday we took the girls to the Renaissance Fair at Conner Prairie. I was totally shocked at

how many people were there. There were so many cars we had to park right next

to Allisonville Rd. But it did not seem crowded inside. The girls seemed to have fun and of

course snacked on Kettle Corn through out the event.....

They enjoyed walking around and looking at all of the booths and of course the

fun costumes

They sat and listened to the Story teller...

And before we left Lauren had a blast playing with the wooden castle.

Which are you

I am sure many of you have read this before but I loved it.....

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee (we all fall into one of these 
categories)

You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again. 

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how 
things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to 
make 
it and wanted to give up She was tired of fighting and struggling. 
It 
seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose. 

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water 
and 
placed each on high heat. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first 
she 
placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she 
placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying 
a 
word. 

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners She fished the 
carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and 
placed them in a bowl. 

Then she la dled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to 
her 
daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.' 

'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied. 

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She 
did 
and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to 
take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed 
the 
hardboiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The 
daughter 
smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What 
does 
it mean, mother?' 

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same 
adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went 
in 
strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the 
boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile 
Its 
thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting 
through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground 
coffee 
beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, 
they 
had changed the water. 

'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on 
your 
door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean? 

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but 
with 
pain and adversity do I wilt 
and become soft and lose my strength? 

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the 
heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a breakup, a financial 
hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does 
my 
shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a 
stiff spirit and hardened heart? 

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot 
water, 
the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, 
it 
releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean , when 
things 
are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around 
you. 
When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you 
elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are 
you 
a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean? 

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to 
make 
you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and 
enough hope to make you 
happy. 

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; 
they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The 
brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't 
go 
forward in life until you let go of your past failures and 
heartaches. 

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was 
smiling.

Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and 
everyone 
around you is crying. 

If you don't send it, you will just miss out on the opp ortunity to 
brighten someone's day!

May we all be COFFEE.

Has it really been that long?

So, I feel that I am really good at checking my friends Blogs and trying to keep tabs on what is going on. But somehow, I just realized that what I have failed at, is keeping mine updated, OOPS!!!

So, here we go. First of all, the kids are doing great in school. Lauren of course loves it, as she always does. Now, poor Olivia had a rocky start, but she seems to be doing much better. There are less tears and more smiles. In fact, when I picked her up on Tuesday, she came running out, all smiles, so excited to show me the project that she had made. This makes me so happy that I could almost cry. (almost....)

Today I signed up for facebook. I know, first a blog, now facebook. Although that is going to take me a while.  I know nothing about it and so far seem to suck at it. My name reads Hurt Denyse. How the heck did I screw that up. Anyway, if you see my pathetic pleas for friends, please accept me. I promise I will try to figure it all out. And I gladly accept any and all words of wisdom, like what exactly is its purpose?????

Tonight, Shawn and I are going on a date. I am so excited. We are just doing dinner and a movie but it seems like it has been ages since we have taken the time to go out, just us. I thought about inviting some friends to double with us, but I think I will be selfish and keep him all to myself.  

BTW if anyone has ER saved on their DVR, please do not delete it. My DVR got stuck last night and recorded like 15 hours of CBS and deleted everything else on it. UGH!!!!! Thank goodness I was at  a Premier party for Greys (Thanks Stacy) or I would have lost that too. Can you imagine????

Okay-  I promise to try to be better about keeping this updated. And as most of you know my camera died, as soon as I get a new one I will continue to add pics........

School Begins!!!

Both girls started school this week. Lauren started her last year of Pre School. She is in the Pre-K class and so excited. She loves her teachers and loves school in general.

Olivia- well that is a different story. She is in her first year of pre-school. I thought she would love it. Last year she always wanted to stay with her sister at school, so, no brainer, she will love school. Well, instead, she cried. The entire time. I picked her up and the teacher came out and said she cried for 2.5 HOURS. They finally went and pulled Lauren out of class to calm her down. Which apparently worked for a while. UGH!!! Then she kept telling me that she did not want to go back to school. 

She goes twice a week and Lauren goes 4 times. So on Wed, when we were just dropping off Lauren, even though Olivia knew she was not staying and going with me to bible study, she cried as we walked through the halls and passed her class.  The poor thing. Luckily on Thursday, she only cried for about 10-15 minutes and then apparently did better. Although she still says she does not want to go back. I am sure it will get better in time, but I feel for the teachers in the process!!!

Now me, I get 2.5 hours to myself twice a week. YIPPEE!!!!!. So hopefully Olivia will figure this all out, because it is good for all of us LOL!!!

We are home!!!

We made it home safe and sound. The girls had a wonderful time with my parents and as I anticipated, were not all that excited about coming home. They did wonderful on the plane and Lauren told me yesterday that she was happy to be home. Yeah for me......

I had a great visit with Julie and my parents. It was a wonderful ending to my month long 'vacation.'  Do you know that last night was the first time I cooked dinner in about 4 weeks. Wow! I am spoiled.

SO here is all that is going on now that I am home. First off, I got home late on Tuesday and went to log on to my email  and found out that my computer was not working UGH! Turns out that my hard drive has crashed, and it looks like I will lose everything that was stored on it. You know, things like every single picture that I have taken over that last year, all of my emails, email addresses, spread sheets. All of my info for Kids Ministry for MOPS UGH!!!!! I am devastated but what can I do. To top it off, it is going to take Apple 2 weeks to get my computer back to me.  Thankfully Shawn is doing without his laptop at work so that I am not cut off from the world......

I spent a lot of time while the girls were gone evaluating what my priorities are, and then how I spend my time. Big surprise, they did not match up. I am working to get things more in line and in turn have developed a list for myself of 5 things I want to accomplish each day. Different ways to spend my time. I will post about that later with my list and you all can help keep me accountable. But I do highly encourage everyone to take some time and do a self evaluation. It was very interesting and I feel like it will make a huge difference. I can not wait to write it all out and get it into action.

Anyway- I am behind on laundry, unpacking and I am afraid that my house is under a layer of dust and we all know how I feel about dust. So for those of you that are feeling I am neglecting them. I am working on getting it all together and connecting with you all soon!

I had a great time but am happy to be home and have my family all together!!!!

To Clean or not to Clean

When you are having people over, how clean should your house be? I am a little fanatical in this department, and completely blame my Mom. I was raised in a spotless home and when ever anyone came over, anything that was out was to be quickly hidden. Mail, magazines, you name it they disappeared. This always bugged the crap out of my Dad as he could then never find anything, to which of course my Mom replied, if you had put it away I would not need to hide it. I know, I digress, but I love thinking of my parents, the silliness that is them and how they have truly shaped who  I am......

Okay, back to me! I have this need to make sure everything is perfect. I try to keep a clean house to begin with, but if I am having people over, then the blinds should be dusted, the baseboards clean, etc etc.  Well, my good friend Lisa and my dear hubby have been trying to tell me that I would  enjoy entertaining so much more if I did not stress out before they came. So here we go, tonight I am hosting the MNI for my Moms group and  I did not clean. Well, I picked up a little, cleaned my  counters and vacuumed the kitchen and living room. But I did not dust, mop or even think of touching my blinds. But now I am worried that people will leave thinking I am a slob. 

Yesterday in Bible study I announced that I am trying to work on a few of my issues, one is that I am overly critical of myself and others.  I am trying to not be so critical but am afraid not everyone  is on the same mission to change as me. So if you are coming over tonight and see some dust, or something out of place, that is okay. I live in my house and it does not have to be perfect.  I do not really think that, but a good friend has put that mantra in my head and now I am going to keep repeating it.

Does everyone else see the irony, that I am stressing about this so much that it would have just been easier to clean the blinds and vacuum upstairs, where of course no one will even go........

OH well, here we go!!!!!!

Life with out the Girls

Well, the Girls left on Tuesday and are having a great time at Grandma and Grandpa's. For all of you that thought I was exaggerating, listen to this. I was talking to my Mom yesterday at 10:30 their time. The Girls had already made pancakes, painted and had a tea party outside. Seriously, they are never going to want to come home,

Then in the afternoon my sister went over and took them swimming. 

Lauren in my parents pool

Olivia going down the slide with Cousin Ryan

Last night Shawn and I went on our first date in forever.....We went to dinner and to see the new Batman movie. It is so wonderful to be able to go out and not worry about the kids.

I have been very unproductive with my days so far, but have been having a blast. I have been sleeping in and hanging out with friends during the day. Tomorrow, I must get my Butt in gear because I am hosting a MOPS retreat at my house. I can not wait. You are never too old for a slumber party right?????

Let the count down begin

So here is where I tell everyone who reads this that I am a horrible Mom, Really, I am. If you do not believe me, just read on.

My wonderful parents are coming for a visit next week. I can not wait to see them. I love when the come out. It is always fun to go see them, but there is something so special about them traveling all the way here, just to see us.  Plus, as an added bonus my kids adore my parents. For weeks now all I hear is, when are Grandma and Grandpa coming. Seriously, I am excited too, but I can only answer this question so many times.

Now, here is the best part, when my parents leave, they are taking my kids with them. Yes, you read that right, They are taking them. For 17 days, I will be kid free. Now, this is why I said I am a bad parent, I am looking forward to the alone time. Please understand, I love my kids, and will miss them. But can you imagine, I will get to clean Lauren's room and it will stay clean. There will be no one making messes as fast as I clean. I will get to finally organize my closet. I am planning to paint the kids rooms. Ohhhh, there will be no one asking thousands of questions or whining. No one to cook breakfast,  and lunch for....hmmmmm I think I will enjoy the break, but I will definitely miss them. Plus, just between you and I,  I am always fearful that my kids will realize how much better life is at Grandma's and not want to come home. Because let's face it, there is no where more fun and entertaining then Grandma's. 

So please, let's all hope I have a wonderful and much needed break, my kids and parents have a wonderful time together and at the end, my kids still want to come home to be with boring old Mom and Dad!!!!!  AMEN!!!!!!

Meet Jo-Jo

Meet our newest member of our family, Jo-Jo. Shawn and I have been wanting to get the girls a kitty. They just love Papa Jim's kitty, Kramer and we knew they would love to have one of their own.

Now we find our selves saying things like, please don't throw the cat. Please don't sit on the kitty and of course our all time favorite, please do not lick the kitty. (yes, of course that is Olivia....)

The other day, I walk in to my office, where are temporarily housing all of the kitties necessities and I see Olivia throw that cat into his cat box. "Olivia, what are you doing?" I say, and she very innocently replies, " I put the kitty in the box." Here is where I got to explain the difference between putting and throwing and that if the kitty needs to use the box, he will do it on his own.......

The cat and the dog are doing surprisingly well together. The very first night the cat just puffed up into a little fur ball and hissed at the dog. Laney just laid down and watched in what we can only assume is pure and simple wonder. Wondering as to what this little puff ball was, why it was in her house, and why her people were fawning all over it. Laney is a little jealous, but Shawn makes sure she knows, she is still his favorite!!!

FRIENDS

Do you ever just stop and realize how lucky you are? Well, last Wednesday, I was sitting at my friend Michelle's house, at her dining room table with 13 other women. As I looked around the table, I realized that I consider each of these amazing women to be my friend. How lucky am I?  I have always  had one or two close friends and then of course, my Mom and Sister. But, never have I been so blessed to have this many people I would actually call friend. Not acquaintance, or yeah, I know her, but FRIEND.  And some of these women are my closest friends. 

This group of women make up the Bible study group that I am part of. We have come to know each other so well. We pray together, we share our fears our hopes and dreams. We love each others children. We love and respect each other. It just amazes me how fortunate I am to be welcomed in to such an amazing group of women.

Maybe not the best idea

So, I finally got my kids a sandbox. Yes, Lauren is 4 years old and has never had one. Well, I must admit, they love it. I set it up last night and they have played with it for hours on end already. Sounds good right?

Well here is the part I don't like. Do you know that a little sand goes a very long way? Seriously, I have been finding sand everywhere. We had the sandbox on the deck, but then the deck was covered in sand, so every time someone walked out side they tracked sand back in the house. So now the sand box is on the lawn. Which I am sure Shawn will complain about how this will kill his grass or something, but I can not have sand every where.

Now, after I moved the sand box I had to clean up all of the sand, so what else do you do by vacuum. So there I am, outside, on my deck vacuuming. I am sure all of my new neighbors think I am nuts, but Oh Well.

So, I go to bring the girls inside, I get out my trusty baby powder (thank you Dawn for this tip: Baby Powder gets off Sand, who knew?) Anyway, I basically douse the kids, but I think we get most of it. I bring the kids into my now spotless house (did I mention I was cleaning while they were playing outside) immediately take them to the bathroom and wash their hands. All is well, right? Well, I just went into the family room to turn off the TV and there on the couch, where Lauren was sitting, is a huge pile of sand. WHERE DID IT COME FROM? I washed her, doused her in baby powder and  shook off her clothes before she came in, yet there is still sand..... Then I go into the bathroom to turn off the light and I feel sand sticking to my toes. Are you serious? I just mopped. UGH!

Maybe this sand box is just not that great of an idea........But of course, it makes my girls happy and in the end, I guess a little sand is worth. plus, it gives my house that beachy feel........

My first attempt

Okay, fist and foremost, let's be clear on one thing. I am not a writer. I love Math! Okay, if I could do Blog of quadratic equations I would be thrilled. But, no! My friends continue to encourage me to set up a blog. So here we go. I  make no promises that I will remember to keep it up to date or that you will find much more than a few pictures and some bizarre posts from me at Midnight, when I should probably be in bed asleep next to my hubby, but instead am glued to this computer. I gave up my addiction to TV.  I found that it was taking up to much of my time, but now I am severely addicted to my computer.  So much so, that I am desperately feeling the need to get a new cell phone, just so I have the internet and email in my back pocket. Pathetic, I know.

Now, you may fast be realizing that I named my blog The Ranting of Denyse for a reason. I am a babbler, ranter if you please. I love to talk and when I am writing, unfortunately for all of you that decide to read this, I write like I talk, What ever comes to mind.

So, again, I do hope you all will check out my page sometime to see what we are up to and feel free to leave comments, reminding me that I have no business writing and should really stick to arithmetic!!!!