Forget food, Batman is the way to their hearts!

Since Chicken has pink eye, I didn't want to leave him at my in-laws house, so I took him with me (because after all 1 is better than 3 when you're out and about!). He got to go shopping with me.

Let me tell you, the boy is a nut about Batman. He's got a toddler sized batman in the play room. He's got several cars that are batman. And after he picked out a little matchbox car he wanted, we ran over to the baby section to grab some rice cereal for Cupcake. Low and behold there was a clearance display of backpacks. One of them was of batman and it had the little rollers and handle and everything on it. $5. The kid was so excited over it, he through down his car, and said, "DIS! NEE NEE!" (this, Batman --he calls batman by the song, you know, nene nene nene nene nene nene nene nene BATMAN!) I knew he was telling me that was his final decision.

I hadn't ever seen him so excited over something before so I couldn't say no. Especially for $5. He rolled the thing right to the check out and out of the store, all the way to the car. Then commenced pulling the handle up and down all the way home.

I picked up his sisters at the in-laws and on the way home he was mumbling something. I looked back and him and he grinned acting shy. I said, "What did you say Buddy?"

It was words I never thought I'd hear from him on his own because our relationship isn't the best these days since he requires so much discipline. I've been agonizing a lot over it, too and how to make things better for us. Just when you think all hope is lost you hear three little words uttered from those precious lips:

"Wuv you, Mommy!"

Hi, I'm Stephanie. Remember me?

The new me has emerged. For 3 years now, I've been sitting at home all day and my only company was a 3, 2 and 8 month old. They're great company, don't get me wrong. But I need social interaction with people my age at some point. I don't even have to talk, just BEING around other people makes me feel better.

So about 3 weeks ago I joined my local gym. And I LOVE it. I even conned a friend of mine into joining with me (shhhh, she doesn't know I conned her yet). I haven't lost much weight, but I'm getting there. Only about 2 pounds so far. I'm even starting to crave the physical activity. Yeah, I know. The devil is snow skiing right now.

But seriously, I love it. I'm also writing more. I'm taking time for myself...and as an added bonus, it's after the kids go to bed, so I don't have to feel bad for leaving everyday. They still get mommy time, I still get ME time. It's a win-win situation. I've noticed a huge improvement in my mood, too, not just toward life, but toward my kids and my patience level. With the kids being sick so much this year, I was starting to feel depressed and was spending too much time dwelling on things that in the long run don't really matter. Now? It's pretty much gone. I think this has been my ticket out of my 6 month long funk.

It's easy as mother's to forget we're still human. When you have to balance children, husbands, house cleaning, cooking, laundry and yourself it's a hard pill to swallow. Sometimes instead of God we can start worshipping those things and lose ourselves and our goals in life. We can take on so much more than we can handle like making sure dinner's on the table at a certain time, our husband's clothes are ironed (I still don't get this one since they're just as capable as we are, but I have friends who do it!), entertaining people in our home and all the while dealing with all our regular chores and sick kids. Being a mommy and a wife doesn't mean we lose ourselves in the process. Yes, we come last and that's ok...as long as we're actually on our to-do list.

When I think about how I was feeling and how I know some of my friends feel, I realize even more now, how important it is to get out, get some fresh air and just BE. For the first time in a long while, I feel like ME again. That doesn't mean my life is perfect or I have it all together, but I have a clearer handle on where I NEED to be and I'm working to get there. And the best part? I don't feel one bit guilty.

Hello, my name is Stephanie. Remember me? I finally do.

So tired....

Apparently there's nothing like falling asleep in your jumparoo. And ear infections take a lot out of her!

What a good hubby I have....

Have I ever mentioned what a good hubby I have? He sent me this email and I encourage everyone to go to the link and read the blog there, even if you aren't into photography. It's a great thought to start the day off with! And I keep reading it over and over again because Hubby made my day!

I thought this was a great post by a guest blogger on Scott Kelby's blog (he has a guest every wednesday).

http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2009/archives/3510

It's written for photographers but I think it has much farther reaching applications than just photography. Anyway, if you don't have the time to read the whole thing at least read the last paragraph. I'm glad you are taking the time to get your book finished and I hope you WILL finish it and market it until it either succeeds or fails and you have to write the next "winner." I know you'll get there eventually, I just hope you keep pushing and experimenting and find your voice and ultimately succeed at fulfilling your dream. I'll help as best I can. I love you.

Hubby

WIP Wednesday - Ed.2

My goal was to finish up Chapter 10 and start 11 last week. I'm happy to say I even FINISHED chapter 11 this week. At the end of chapter 12, I hit the black moment. I thought it would be at the end of 11, but my characters had other plans...Now I have to figure out what happens in the beginning and middle of Chapter 12 to get to the end I already have in mind. And it's going to be so sad to write it...

I even sent out a couple of e-queries to see what kind of response I would get. I only sent out 3 and got one rejection almost immediately. But hey, that's one rejection closer to an acceptance right? I know if I continue as determined as I am now, I will do it one day. I might be 70 but at least I'll be able to say I'm a published author and I'll die a happy lady.

40000 / 75000 words. 53% done!

I'm standing around 40,000 words out of what I hope to be around a 75K book. Being at the black moment by 45K words probably isn't a good sign but that's something I can go back and fix during revisions. My crit partners have already helped me immensely and I've got some great suggestions on where to lengthen, where to shorten and where to trash and write over! ;oD

My goals for this week is to write chapter 12. I'm afraid to write it at the moment because I don't really know how to get to the ending, as I mentioned earlier. So it's probably going to be like pulling teeth!

Stay tuned next week!

The Greatest Show on Earth!

We took Chicken to the circus for his birthday instead of having a big party.  At first he buried his face in my neck, shaking and terrified.  It didn't help that he was running a 101 fever that morning (I normally NEVER take my kids out when they're sick, but the $150 we paid for tickets couldn't go to waste!) but for the record once the motrin kicked in he was fine but probably still infected half the kids around us with his coughing.  I guess it was time to pay it forward since we always catch but rarely share.  I finally turned him so he could still hold on to me but see what was going on.  He loosened up a little at a time and finally started clapping and yelling and getting excited.  The elephants did it for him.  He was mesmerized.

Toward the end of the show, the lions came out.  I tell ya, there was a point where I thought one of them was going to eat the tamer.  It was stubborn and was clearly the problem "child" out of the lot.  But they were beautiful creatures.

Punky was pretty unsure of everything, too for about the first half.  She never loosened up like Chicken did but she did start talking to us again instead of just a nod or shake of the head.  Here they are watching the clowns perform.

We paid good money for the Greatest Show on Earth and it was pretty spectacular.  It was the first circus I've ever been to, so my kids and I got to share a first!!!

Misadventures in bread making

Warming eye accidentally set on high + plastic bowl = FAIL