A Good education is priceless (but it comes with a hefty price tag)

I don't think anyone tells you the insane amount of worries that comes with having children. I mean it goes from the obvious like sickness and eating habits to the less obvious such as education. That is where my current problem lies. Makenzie goes to an amazing school!!! The teachers are great, the staff is very friendly, the kids all seem happy, and the tuition is reasonably priced. However, I do not feel that Makenzie is being challenged as academically as I would like. The problem first came up in the beginning of the school year when a friend of mine and I were comparing our children's preschools. (There we go again...constantly comparing) Anyways, her son was learning so much more than Makenzie and I tried to put it out my mind, but more recently some parents in her class have decided that they are not going to enroll their children next year and want to find a more academically challenging school. I have looked into these schools, read the reviews and have come to the conclusion that they are far more academic than Makenzie's current school. The children are leaving pre-K reading, writing their own names, and have basic math concepts among other things. The only catch is the tuition is $100 more per month than what we are currently paying. My husband already has a heart attack every time we have to shell out money for school and I will have a hard time convincing him to shell out even more, but what is the point of sending her to school at all if she is not accomplishing the things that I want her to accomplish in school. I already work with her and feel that she is very bright and I want school to go even further and challenge what she already knows rather than have her possibly forget what she knows. How do you decide the price of a good education???

--ahhh the things we never discussed in lamaze class...

My little beast Mode Fan!

My super football obsessed husband stumbled upon a contest for kids doing their best beast mode impressions. Being that he has brainwashed Makenzie into saying his favorite football expressions she was up for the task of submitting a video and entering the contest. Lo and behold, she was anounced this morning as the winner!!!! The video was so cute and I wanted to share it. I will post the video straight to this site later, but you can click on the link for now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PW868QyOB4

Bored out of my mind...

Let me just say, i HATE staying at home. This is part of the reason that I would consider myself an active participant of moms groups. Life as a stay at home mom is not exactly what i thought it was going to be. There are so many times when I am so bored. I try to get out of the house as much as I can possibly afford, but there are some weeks when I am actually at home. This happens to be one of those weeks (well, last week too). Ask anyone who knew me when i was growing up and you would seldome find me at home. I know many people thought that I was trying to escape my family and the drama that seemed to be a constant in my house growing up. I may have even thought that was the reason, but turns out I just cannot stand being home. I have this idealized fantasy of what I "should" be doing and when i do not measure up then I tune out and pack my girls in the car and go somewhere. I leave behind my months worth of laundry, sink full of dishes and unmade beds so that I can escape. There are many days when i wake up and I have no desire to kill myself cleaning and cooking just to turn around and see that my two little hurricanes have left a scene that could rival Katrina and start screaming that they are hungry again. Well that is what has happened in the last week or so. If I have to watch one more Grey's Anatomy episode (I have the first four seasons) then i swear i will scream. This is one of the bad aspects to moving. I am staying home convincing myself that I "should" be packing and getting ready to move ( this weekend, i mght add), but again I have no desire. Generally, I could occupy my boredom by setting up Christmas decorations, but with the move I cannot even do that. I need to get away. I need to do something. Agghhhhhh this is torture.

Winter Festival

Desert ridge high school is hosting a winter festival at augusta ranch. Please stop by for food, shopping, and a lot of fun activities! All of the proceeds will go to benefit JV cheer.

Our trip to CA

I have a love-hate relationship with going to CA. For instance I hate the six hour drive with the kids crying and a cranky husband. it seems like no matter what time we leave we run into problems. This time was no exception. However, i would have to say that the worst part of the drive was Madison throwing up on the way back home. of course, it was in the middle of no where. not even close to a rest stop so we have to pull over on the side of the freeway, but not before she has gotten it all over her clothes, her carseat, and my clothes. Brian, being the ever helpful husband gets out as well to try and "help" the situation but instead ends up doubled over puking HIS guts out too. OMG seriously... Anyways, to make a long story short traveling with two young kids is NOT fun in my book!!! Another thing that i hate about CA is the freeways. When i lived out there I could drive any freeway no problem, but I have gotten used to AZ freeways. In CA the freeways are so dark and the speed limit is more like a starting point than a limit. Heading down the 405 I got flipped off by some guy when i was in the slow lane going 85 mph. Did I mention that this was the SLOW lane!

On to the love part... I LOVE seeing my family and friends. I miss them all so much and always enjoy spending my few days catching up with everyone and anyone. Every time we visit we always feel like we want to move back home. Unfortunately brian is locked into his job for at least another year and that would be a LONG commute. Don't get me wrong I like AZ a lot and enjoy all the friends that we have made out here. It still just does not feel like home yet!

The quote on my email is very important to me and it applies to every area of my life. "Enthusiasm is Contagious. Start an epidemic." -Don Ward
I think that if you are going to commit to something you have to be enthusiastic about it. I mean if you go into a new project grudgingly and pessimistic then you are not going to get much out of it. I mean people wonder why bad crap always happens to them, but they think bad is going to happen, they give off a bad vibe, and they do not act as if they are happy doing whatever it is they are doing so of course the result is going to be negative. I try to enter life without abandon. Anything that I decide to try I look at with an optimistic attitude and treat it with an enthusiastic spirit. I truly feel that enthusiasm, like a bad cold, rubs off on everyone around you. When i used to work customer service at Kmart (over the christmas holiday-- what was I thinking???) I used to try and smile at everyone and make their day a little brighter. Oftentimes people found it hard to cuss out a checker that was smiling at them and wishing them a merry christmas. Don't get me wrong I did get the random people who were so pissed off they didn't even notice my smile until they had proceeded to bludgeon me into the ground using only their words (you know the ones that you only hear in unedited rap music) and then walk away thinking, " i ****ing hate christmas!" Anyways I have pretty much always found that flashing a smile and a few kind words can make a person's day. I strongly believe in the Butterfly effect. If I can make a difference in someone's life then maybe they will make a difference in somebody's life and so on and so on. This is the message that i want to send my girls. Be enthusiastic about life and it will rub off on others. It is a small way to make a BIG difference!

Long Live Mickey Mouse

Many of you probably do not know this, but today is Mickey Mouse's 80th birthday. Suprisingly enough this is just a few days after Madison learned how to say Happy birthday. It sounds more like "Appy bibay", but i know what it means. Anyways, back to Mickey Mouse. We celebrated this momentous birthday by going to freestone park and doing crafts with some friends of ours. I can't believe that Mickey has been so popular for 80 years. On the other hand it is nice that there is some sort of tradition in Mickey mouse ( Everyone has some memory of Mickey in their childhood) at a time when traditions are no longer that common. makenzie was in school during this celebration so it was just me and madison. I love my time alone with each girl. makenzie gets quite a bit of quality time because she does her special activities when Maddie is sleeping, but Madison does not get quite as much alone time with mommy. (On a side note having 2 kids makes me really appreciate the times when i only have 1 kid... ahhhh to go the park and not be losing my mind!) Anyways, Madison colored a Mickey Mouse picture, and made Mickey mouse ears (super cute ones that did not bankrupt me like the ones at disneyland do). However her favorite part was decorating a Mickey mouse shaped cookie. I think she enjoyed the eating part the most, but she was excited to frost it and put on sprinkles. She was so worn out that when i went to pick up Makenzie from school she fell fast asleep. That is what a mother loves best (a sleeping child). Anyways, "Happy birthday Mickey"!!!