First post for me in 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I know I'm a tad late with this but who really cares.

So Christmas is over, STBX is back at work (thank god!) and the kids are back at school/homeschool routines.  I'm going into this year with an open mind and hoping that 2012 is kinder to me than 2011 was.  My kids and I REALLY need things to calm down and return to some kind of normalcy (what ever the heck that is these days)

We are enjoying the lack of snow and cold here in Wisconsin. Which is VERY unusual for us.  By now, typically, we have tons of snow and it's really cold. But today, it's supposed to be in the upper 40's and close to 50 in some places around here today.  I swear, we are going to get hit and hit hard with snow and cold one of these days. But for now, I'll take what we are given. 

But part of me is still longing to be here:

This looks SO appealing to me. Sigh

Can you tell I'm wanting to go on a vacation??

Enjoy!

Kelly

I'm still here. It's been hot and yucky out for the last week or so, so I've been stitching away at a exchange project and nope I cannot show you until she's received it. But it's a BlackBird Designs stocking that I stitched, boy do those stitch up fast!! I just might have to do another one for myself before too long.

School is going well. I hate Ethics class. I can't wait until it's over but my other class is fun. I get to put my computer knowledge to work finally so it's fun. I just wish Ethics was fun, don't get me wrong it's informative, but a bit boring and such. I'm trying my best and I guess that's all I can ask for these days.

Everyone is doing well. The kids just got back from Door County where they had a blast! And some how I got pink eye while they were gone and it's not going away!! If it doesn't go away soon, I'll have to visit my doctor (oh goodie! NOT!)

Otherwise, everything is good. Same ole stuff different day. I better run as Sam wants the computer to play games on again. Typical 10 year old if you ask me.

Talk to ya soon
Hugs
Kelly

Starting school....

I thought this would be easy. Take a couple of classes in my "spare" time and have no worries. WELL WELL, let me tell ya, it's not easy. I found that there is a lot of required reading a bunch of weekly papers due and so on. I don't know why I thought this was going to be easy. I need to get a schedule of things to get done by my kids and let them know that after a certain time in the day the computer is mine. Right now I'm taking an Ethics class and a Information in the Online age class and I'm finding that the Ethics class is not as easy as it seems and the other general class is just stuff I know but putting it to use.

As far as the rest of the house is concerned, 2 of my kids are going on a 7 day vacation with their aunt and I'll have one of the kids home with DH and myself. Then all three are going to a different aunt's house for about 5 days on a farm, so DH and I will actually have the house to ourselves, if all works out the way it's planned.

The weather here in Wisconsin has been a little hot and humid but now a cool front went through and the weather is cooler than normal with little or no humidity. I like this weather, it's perfect.

Hope you all have a good week and I'll check in when I can. Hopefully with a stitchy update.

Hugs
Kelly

Another miserable day...

Well, it's been a while since I've posted last and a few things have come up/happened in my life.

First was Nathan's 13th birthday. He got a bass guitar and a cake for his birthday plus money from various family members. He's enjoying his bass guitar to no end and I have the headache to prove it. LOL

Then it was what would have been my dad's 77th birthday. Unfortunately, due to rules at the cemetery, I couldn't put flowers at his grave. I'll have to combine his birthday and Father's Day in one come June when I can put flowers there. I miss his smile and his laugh terribly. He would have gotten a kick out of Sam and all his funny things he does.

Then Nathan brought to my attention, that he's still being bullied. This time with threats. So tomorrow I will call the principal and talk to her and see what can be done. Nathan isn't doing his work because he's so distracted with all the bullying that's going on. I'm not sure if he's going to pass into the 8th grade, what next school year brings, or anything at this point. I'm just TRYING to get him through the next 11 weeks of school and hopefully he'll bring his grades up so that he will not have to repeat the 7th grade.

Daughter is still learning to drive, and she thinks she has a part-time job babysitting. She needs to do something with her time other than play video games and computer time. So I'm hoping that this will work out. Husband is still working his tail off as usual. He's got a bunch of work to do that will take him well into May. I'm hoping there is more work after that and I'm sure there will be. It just takes time.

That's it from mu household. I hope your life is calm and I hope things around here settle down soon.
Hugs
Kelly

Miscellaneous Stuff

Well, here it is the end of January and it's cold in Wisconsin. (Like it's supposed to be). I thought I would update those who read about my household and stuff in general.

Let's see:

DH is still working, has a bunch of projects to keep him going. Happy that he's employed as SO many people are not.

DD's grades came in today and there is room for improvement. If she wants to get into a good college, she better get her grade point average up some, otherwise her options are limited. Otherwise she is doing great.

Middle Child's grades came in yesterday and he REALLY needs to improve his math grade. He keeps getting incompletes and does nothing to fix it. The 7th grade teachers are getting these kids ready for 8th grade by toughening their policies about homework, late work, etc. Good thing, I'm ready to pounce on him like you would not believe. Overall his grades are good but this math thing has got to get better. He's feeling better about himself again. Another plus.

Youngest kid is FINALLY better. No more antibiotics. He was sick off and on (mostly on) since the Tuesday after Christmas and 4 antibiotics later, he's better. Haven't gotten his grades yet (suspect they will be in today's folder from school) but it seems he's doing well. No bad emails or letters home from the teacher.

As for me, I'm on a new eating and exercising thing. I'm watching what I eat and logging every bite into a app on my Itouch, drinking more water and tea. I'm also working out with the Wii Fit Plus program that I bought myself last fall in hopes of losing these 10-15 pounds that I gained last summer. So far, I'm enjoying the different games and routines. In the 9 or so days I've been on this new program that I put myself on, I've lost 2 pounds. My middle child is my cheerleader. He keeps me going. Everyone else is either making fun of me or telling me that it's a fleeting thing that I will do. I REALLY need to loose the stupid weight. I need a cheering section.

No stitching news, I've acquired new stash, but no new stitches put in. I've been reading a bunch so that has been taking up some of my time. Along with a cat with weight and litter box issues, I've been cleaning more than I care to.

Until next time
Hugs
Kelly

It's Wednesday Again

Let's see, It's Wednesday afternoon and my kids are home after having a 1/2 day of school today. They started WKCE (standardized testing in Wisconsin) testing yesterday and will continue with that for the next couple of weeks. All the kids hate it as it's time consuming and boring and I don't blame them but it's required for 3-12 grades I believe.

I got on the stupid bathroom scale this morning as I realized that my jeans are a tad snug and come to realize that I gained 10 fricken pounds in the last 3 months or so (maybe a little longer). I know my food choices haven't been right and I stopped walking because of the weather. But that shouldn't stop me as we have a YMCA membership with a new walking/running track. The only thing that is stopping me from going, is that at some point during the week there is a child home sick lately and I cannot take him/her to the Y just so I could walk. I suppose I could make arrangements with my DH so he goes the nights he needs to go and I could go the other nights. See..there is really no excuse. I think I need a diet buddy to help me with this 10 pound loss journey. I think on one of my email lists there is someone who is willing to be a "buddy" with me and we can encourage one another in this.

What else is new?? I started a new project from PS 2009 Limited Edition Santa kit (cannot remember the exact name but will post a picture in the coming days to show how far I've gotten) I also need to post a picture of the start before this one to show that I'm coming along with it. It's a BBD Loose Feather project. The weather is pretty today and I know, since this IS Wisconsin, the weather will change tomorrow (BOO HISS!!!)

Gotta run, a little kid wants me to play Wii Fit Plus with him.

Until next time.
Hugs
Kelly

Not a good week so far...

Hi there,

Well there is this stupid sickness running it's course through my house. First, Nathan complained of a sore throat and generally not feeling well (Kept him home from school on Monday he went to school on Tuesday and has been home yesterday and today as well), Nichole is coming down with something as well and struggled with the idea of staying home from school today (she did after realizing that she would probably come home at some point during the morning school hours), so now she took some Advil and went back to bed. THEN it's Sam's turn. He's sneezing and coughing up a storm and I looked down his throat with this thingie I bought to look in their ears but it works well in this situation. And his throat is red and he's complaining of a sore throat. If this is what swine flu or any other type of flu looks like, I WANT IT OUT OF MY HOUSE NOW!!! Wait, I bet my turn is coming soon. Goodie, can't wait LOL.

Haven't stitched in a couple days due to taking care of said sick kids. Hopefully people will start feeling better this weekend and I will make more progress on my project.

Sorry if this post bored you to death, but needed to post feelings someplace and why not my blog?

Hugs,
Kelly

FINALLY A PICTURE!!

This is my progress picture of LHN's Peach Tree Cottage. It's about 2 months worth of stitching, I know, not much but it's something if you ask me. I have so many WIP"S to finish, I should really take a break from this and try to finish one of many WIP's. Nah, I wanna start something new, SOOOOOO I decided to start this:

It's Blackbird Designs Keepsake Box and Pinkeep, Loose Feathers pattern #33. I'm doing the Keepsake box and will frame the stitching instead of making into a box. This is for our bedroom walls. Still not much on the walls even though we've been in the house 6 years. Geeze, I better get going on that. And I got the Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue to page through, so I'M SURE there will be something in it for me to work on.

Anything else going on here?? Well, the kids finished 8 days of school (2 4-day weeks) and they are tired in the morning and when they get home. My little one, Sam, is mad that people aren't always available to play after-school. Chris is still working and working 5 days a week instead of the 4 that was in place at the beginning of the summer before he went on furlough. Quiet days for me to catch up on stitching, blogs, emails and of course, the never ending battle with laundry and housework.

I hope you enjoy the pictures of my stitching and I apologize for the one picture that is sideways, I couldn't figure out how to fix that. Something my daughter will have to teach me. Love her. :)

Gotta run and get after school snacks ready for always hungry 12 year old. Have a good weekend and thanks for coming to my blog!!

First day of September

Cannot believe that it's September already. We celebrated my Mother in Law's birthday on the 27th of August, mine on the 29th (not sure how I feel about turning 38 but it came and went without much fanfare which is fine with me) And on Monday my wonderful, dear husband got to go back to work after such a long furlough.

And today is the first day of school for my munchkins (well they are 15, 12 and 9 so I guess they are not munchkins right??LOL) All in all their day went well, no phone calls from any of the schools (which is always a good thing if you ask me) and they came home hungry and a little tired with some homework thrown in for good measure. I'm sure by the end of the week they will get used to getting up early and having to move their tushies to get themselves to school ON TIME!!

Someone on one of my Yahoo lists reminded me that there are 144?? days until Christmas!! How rude! LOL


Hugs,
Kelly

A list

As August quickly turns into September, I tried to figure out what I've or we've accomplished this summer and my list is pitiful if you ask me.

- 2 of 3 kids went to Door County for a few days
- all 3 kids went to State Fair
- all 3 kids went to Summerfest and got sunburned
- Darling Daughter got her temps
- Darling Husband has been on furlough for at least 3 months now
- lots of sleeping in by the kids, me not so much
- lots of frozen treats eaten
- our for hamburgers at Larry's Deli with Husband on Fridays (will miss those when he goes back to work)
- My niece got married
- Just got word that my nephew with get married next August
- The end of the week brings my mother in law's birthday along with mine

I think that's it. Like I said, not too too impressive. No big vacations, nothing big bought (didn't have the money) Kept it low key and at home. Here's to a quiet end of August and beginning of September.

Kelly

4th of July

Happy 4th of July!!

It's kinda low-key for me today, just feel like crap, maybe even a little depressed. I dunno. I'm so worried about finances it's not funny. DH has been on furloughs 2 times already and this upcoming paycheck will be no paycheck. We had to dip into savings to make ends meet. DH will get unemployment, but that's not enough to cover anything (maybe food but that's it). I just wish DH's job would call him back to 5 days instead of 4. Hell, at this point I wish they would just call him back. Maybe in a way they did. He's supposed to go to Iowa next week on a job. And go back to the office the following week on his 4 days. I do hope this pans out, I'm so sick of this that my depression and anxiety are coming back in full force after being under control for a year or so. ARUGH I hate this!! I realize that we are not the only ones going through this but this just sucks, BIG TIME!!

On the stitching front, nothing to report. Just been in this funk and it doesn't want to go away. On the home front, Darling Daughter got her temps to drive (scary I know), Middle child is bored silly and little one (he's actually 9) wishes school would start again. I think they like the "routine of school" I know I do. They went to Summerfest on opening day about 10 days ago and had a good time, 2 kids got sunburned a little but they are nice and tan now. A lot of our flowers are blooming nicely and we get humming birds on a daily basis. We saw a mama raccoon with her babies (all 5 of them) in our backyard last night. As cute as they are, I wish they would investigate someone else's yard. Otherwise, everyone is healthy for the time being. But that could change at any minute with kids and all. :)

Hope you and yours had a great 4th of July!
Hugs,
Kelly