Things have taken a turn in my world and thus I have become silent. I did finish the Twilight series in record time (for me) and loved it. L.O.V.E.D. it. I don't care if it is teen-angst-first-vampire-love-stuff. I dig it. And yes, the gardening is taking over my life again, but things with my job have been clouding my mind. I really don't want to air it all out here, but the gist of it is that I hope to continue to have a job. For about a week there was so much drama going on in my office that I was sick about it. I don't usually work in the office, so once I left I felt so much better and got back into the swing of things. I have occasional reminders that I'm not as safe as I used to be, but I keep telling myself that worrying about it isn't going to change the outcome. All I can do is keep doing what I'm doing and wait to see how it all unfolds--hard thing for a "planner" to do. The good thing is, that it has nothing to do with my performance. Just a shift in management, combination of departments, and possible weird certification/tenure/seniority stuff (of which the tenure and seniority I gave up when going part-time).

I don't know if it is all the drama and the stress, or I'm just tired, or what, but I haven't been experimenting with recipes, writing or reading blogs...I've just kinda been blah. Not that I'm moping around the house, but I certainly don't feel like myself lately. Hmmm...or maybe it's that pesky little pill. TMI? Probably. Oh well. Deal with it.

On top of everything--or maybe because of everything--MY KIDS ARE DRIVING ME CRAZY. Like seriously, crazy. I'm definitely ready for some consistently nice weather (yeah right) and get them outside and on some trails. Usually they can't fight over toys or poke each other, or steal each others whatevers when we are hiking. I see a lot of that in our future. That and the beach..ooh, can't wait for the beach days.

And then next week Kaela turns 3...how in the world is that happening? It blows my mind. And when I start to think forward, it all seems like it's about to go in fast forward. I think I stole some extra time with Cameron having the late birthday and having to wait another year to start school (2nd year of PreK next year). After that, Kaela starts and then it just keeps going. I feel like I should have that extra year with her, too! With all of their driving me craziness, I'm not as sad about them going off to school, but also with all the job uncertainty going on I'm facing the reality of full-time work. I haven't worked full time in 4 years...it will be quite a change for our household when that happens. Will I have the time to blog (forget thinking about the blahs), will I have time to cook? yikes...anyway, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, Kaela...so my little girl is turning 3...

Hope I haven't lost you all--or at least not permanently. I'm sure I'll be back to my old self at some point. Until then, just enjoy the music. I know I hop on my own blog just to hear "Beautiful Life" and it makes me feel like everything is great :)

Last week we went over to my aunt and uncle's house to hang out and have dinner. They didn't happen to be there at the time, but we were in the area and it was dinner time so we decided to enjoy their house without them.

When we arrived we did the usual grab everything and everybody out of the car and head in to get things settled and ready. On my way in I caught a glimpse of something sitting on the ledge of their enclosed porch. Let me first tell you about this ledge. This ledge has seen it all. I love it and it reminds me of when I was little and wanted to be cool and sit on the ledge with the big kids. It's fairly low so you can sit on it, rest your drink, put a plant...whatever. It's really a great little thing. So I'm getting things ready in the connecting kitchen and I hear Kaela's drinking something! And I rushed out (I hadn't given her anything to drink) and saw that she drank from a plastic cup sitting on the ledge. I asked her in a very loud and alarmed voice, "what did you drink? Did you drink this?" And she just looked at me, stunned. I looked in the cup and all I could see were beetles floating. I first felt relief because it looked like water and some bugs--so gross yes, but hopefully not poison. But wait, there are bugs floating!! I gave a quick call to my uncle and yes, it was only soapy water and Japenese beetles. None were eaten--at least she wasn't chewing when I stunned her. She screamed and cried--I guess I really scared her--but other than that she is fine. Ahh motherhood.

Now over at Pioneer Woman she does quite a few "Give this picture a name" contests. While I don't intend to go that route (I'm not a photographer by any means), I can't help but imagine what types of captions could be created for this picture:




Any ideas? Put them in the comments section below. I'm living with this 2 year old--I have quite a few words, but I'll keep them to myself for now. Sorry, I don't have any prizes except my love and appreciation...awww.

Do I steal a (large) spoonful of hot fudge or warm up some 6 hr old coffee. Needless to say I chose the coffee. HA. And how disappointed I was when I couldn't get the damn cap off the hot fudge. I couldn't even bang it or throw it or anything because the kids, or at least Mikaela, are sleeping. Hmm...I could have run it under hot water. Ahh, but that is way too much work. So my older than dirt coffee and I are sitting here contemplating Oprah, my book that I have been reading for 2 months, or a little nap. My eyes are telling me, skip the coffee, throw all the clean laundry piled on the couch somewhere else and go to sleep! I don't know why I am so tired right now. I did go to the gym, but all I did was take a tour. Is is possible to lose weight by just taking the tour? Of course there was Cameron's haircut afterward and Mikaela's uber breakdown of all breakdowns in our driveway. All because I held her balloon so it wouldn't fly away. An hour later I was able to get her calm enough to eat and then throw her in bed.

All I have to say is that if my husband doesn't come home with some Edy's Chocolate Brownie Frozen Yogurt (and some creamer, sweetie. we are out) then...well, nothing will happen because I love him and need him and my house is a mess and I feel terribly guilty for not cleaning. Or cooking. Or pretty much doing anything useful. But I did calm down a nearly two year old for an hour. That must deserve some kind of praise!

note: i have a post waiting to be published. i spent a longer than long time trying to get the video to upload. with any luck it will be up tonight, but be forewarned. it's not the happiest of all posts, but it's me and it's real and well, guess you'll just have to read it and see.

I don't know how or why, but somehow we have gone from Mikaela to Kaela to Chubba to Kae-Kae. La la got lost somewhere in there, but I wasn't all that fond of that one anyway.

Daycare woes. Well, we made a decision to go for it. The daycare we have been on a waiting list for since September had one spot for Mikaela and only one day for Cameron (which we only need 2-3 days for daycare anyhow). In order to not lose our spot, we decided to move Kaela over and Cameron for his one day. He will still spend 1-2 days at the "old" daycare.

We had our concerns, but everything went really well today for Kaela. I stayed with her for about a 1/2 hour, only because I'm picturing myself as her and my mom drops me off with some total strangers. Not cool. She has been there to visit, but still, that was a while ago. Believe me, I am not one of those moms who wants to hang around all morning. (that sounds bad, I really don't dump my kid and run either...well, not totally). I LOVE her new daycare teacher, Cindy. She is warm and soft spoken and everything one could as for in a toddler teacher! I left Mikaela in her capable arms and she had stopped crying by the time I finished some paperwork and hit the door. I got an information filled report about her day (plus!) and it was a good one.

We thought that Cameron might have a hard time because he is fairly protective of Kaela, except when it's on his turf. Kyle took him in to daycare and said he didn't say anything about it. Of course, I sat them both down last night and gave a detailed explanation of what was happening and they listened intently. Then they ate all of their vegetables and headed straight to bed. yep.

Will there ever be a time when I can say, "I have nothing to do right now"? Many times I say, "I don't feeling like doing that, that or that, so I don't really have much to do". The list of "to do's" is never ending but...I'll just keep chugging along and maybe some day I'll be sitting on the beach in Hawaii...speaking of Hawaii--hey, I have some readers there! Welcome, Hawaii!! Oh yeah... that's just my mom and my aunt sun bathing and...reading my blog? YOU'RE IN HAWAII FOR PETE'S SAKE! Stop reading my boring blog. Or am I that interesting...you can't stay away...you are addicted to me! Gonna have to face it your addicted to Mel. Ha.

I wish I had some interesting photos to share. I do, but they are in my camera and I think the camera is downstairs. Or maybe it's 10 feet away, but in either case it's not within arms reach and since I'M not in Hawaii but instead cuddled under my *favorite* Christmas present...then I'm not going to get up and get it. So there.

Did I mention that I'm not in Hawaii? But, guess who is...these fools:

They think think they are so funny sending me pictures from their iPhone. 1. they have an iPhone 2. they send me pictures from their lanai. Yes, I'm going to post your photos for the world to see.

OK, I'm really not that bitter. Really. Here's me being nice and sweet: The first pic is my step father, Don, and my Aunt Chris. The next is my mom and Don again. It's my mom's iPhone so she is the one taking the pics, and poor Don is probably being forced to stand and pose or he will have to withstand a brutal whipping from a lei. Ok, I'm not bitter, but I'm not sweet either. Listen, I have another puking kid--how nice can I be right now? Luckily, I wasn't the target this time. Only the kitchen and the living room floor got hit. And she sang after each time. She doesn't seem sick. I think she's faking to get out of our playgroup tomorrow. I wouldn't put it past her.

I feel like this is my mantra lately. We have had so many ups and downs with Kyle going back to work, kids going to daycare (and getting sick every week), a lot going on at my work, and then all of the house stuff, that people have asked if I regret moving. If there is anything that I have learned from all of this craziness, it's that I don't have control over everything--as much as I would love to--and I have to deal with it as it is. So, yes we have had things pop up with our new home that are extremely stressful, but we did everything right. We had the inspection, we checked out the home ourselves, we visited several times...there isn't anything different that we could have done to make things turn out differently. Therefore, I feel like we need to just fix the problems, build our new lives in our new home and move on from here. I can't dwell on regrets or mistakes--and quite frankly I just don't feel like we made a mistake.

I also feel pretty stubborn about the fact that I refuse to let anything bring me down or hold me back. It may take me a few minutes, hours, or at the longest a day to let the reality of a situation sink in, but then I tackle the issue head on and find a solution. What else can I do? Sitting at home moping about a problem isn't going to change the situation.

I've always been a journal-er and I've realized that blogging has helped me to continue that therapy. It helps me to clarify my thoughts, align myself on the right path, and keep my family up to date! I started because I wanted to journal about all of the funny things my kids do and say, but it has turned into much more than that. I have to remind myself though, that I do want to document the kids lives and not just what is happening in the adult world :) So, on that note, Cameron has been wearing "big boy underwear" at home and has been doing great with me telling him to go potty. We're definitely not at the stage where he tells me when he has to go, but at least we are moving forward. We sing a little song after each potty and Mikaela comes in to join us in the celebration. Their relationship has gotten to be one that is supportive and playful--but don't worry, they're not angels. Yesterday, I Cameron was watching Diego and when he watches tv he totally zones out. He was sitting and Mikaela was standing behind him and running her hand through the top of his head and hair. It was very cute, except for the couple seconds I cringed to think what kind of food she was smearing all over his head. So, I'm smiling from a distance and she of course spots me and continues knowing that I'm watching. Then she started grabbing his hair as she ran her hand through and all the while Cameron just sat there and watched tv. After a few times of this he did realize and told her to stop, but it was cute while it lasted.