But it makes me happy...

Conversation with Jack at Walmart yesterday:

Jack (walking around with a pink and purple Dora backpack with flashing pink heart on his back): But I just love Dora backbag. It's the best backbag ever in the world.

Me: But, sweetie, you already have a backpack for school, we don't need the Dora one. Remember, you have Thomas?

Jack: But it makes me happy.

Me: (trying to choke back laughter) I know, baby, but we have to save it for someone else starting school who doesn't have a backpack. It'll make them very happy.

Jack: Ok. But you put it back...I just can't do it.

 

So dramatic.  Don't get me wrong, if he didn't already have a backpack for school, it would've been his.  But, I just do not have the space for 2 of everything right now. 

Hippity, Hoppity...Easter had it's day!

Yesterday's activities were great!  This is the first year that we've stayed home for the holiday, and we had a nice, chill day (not in the literal since, it was like 85 degrees!).  Matt was on call, but he really only had to go in from about 3:30-6:30, so we pretty much spent the entire day together as a family.

We started off with a visit from the Easter Bunny:

Candy at 9am...always a hit!

We went on an hour-long walk through the neighborhood, kids in the wagon, dogs trotting along.  I was surprised at how warm it was at 10am.  We came back home and played for awhile, then it was nap time.  The boys went down, and I went to sit outside in the adirondack to read.  I fell asleep for about 30 mins and my arms, legs, and chest got pink (got my Vitamin D for the month!)

When the kids woke up (well, Jack was the only one who slept - I will never understand how a 2-year-old can sit in a dark room, in a crib, and talk and sing for 3 hours without sleeping!), Matt was still at the hospital, so they picked their Easter basket for the egg hunt and we played outside while we waited:

Matt got home and hid the eggs...It lasted all of 10 minutes, but the boys had a great time finding them:

Jack could hardly wait to sort his loot!

(And YES, he's wearing cowboy boots with his outfit...he insisted!)

We have a busy week ahead of us...dog grooming Tues, getting my hair groomed Wed am, then off to Raleigh Wed afternoon for the major event AKA Jack's 4th birthday party!!

Stressed...

I figured that since this blog was titled "...a day in the life," I would use it to my advantage and vent.  Today, I feel stressed.  Not sure why...just woke up that way.  I want to take the kids out to play since it's a beautiful, sunny 80 degrees again today.  And I feel like I'm cheating them because I am keeping everyone inside to clean (they're playing, I'm cleaning - at least I'm not making them help me!)

I'm also frustrated that I let my house get so messy, that it's truly embarassing - and even more stressed because I feel like I lack the energy and motivation to clean it up.  I've started a bit, cleaning the foyer....that's maybe 1/20th of the actual square footage that needs it.

On a sunnier note, I've been eating really healthy and trying to stay active more and have lost about 8 lbs - which is great and all, until today when I had a lean pocket....AND an Uncrustable PB and honey sandwich (at least it was on wheat bread, right?) for lunch.  I guess I just need to get a grip and realize that shame, guilt, and hating myself over a 230 cal sandwich is just silly - the world, and my life as it were, is not going to be any worse off if it takes an extra 6hrs for me to lose the fat on my thighs!

I just finished this book yesterday, which is an excellent read for those of us that like to eat - sometimes too much.  I would recommend it to everyone!

See...I knew this would help.  I feel better by just "talking" it out.  Thanks for those of you who listened!









Props to the only other person in this household that feels the same way about food:

My Patrick...who can start on one side of an apple and eat his way through the core to the other side.

Weekend activities

So, I worked Thursday night for the first time in awhile. We weren't too busy, but it was great hanging out with my girls, Cheryl, Anna, and Kathie! I napped a bit on the couch Friday morning before Patrick woke up (sitter is out of town) and then we ate breakfast and headed toward the park! It was a beautiful day. We always park far from the park and walk along the docks of the lake to get there. The boys love to look at the water, and Patrick has discovered running, so he loves to have a "track" to run on. He doesn't seem that fast, but I'll tell you what, I have never seen little legs move so fast!! It is hilarious to watch!

Anyways, as soon as we got to the park, Patrick spotted a family eating McDonalds at a picnic table (I was saving lunch for after the playground). He subsequently pitched an ever-loving fit because I would not let him eat their food. He would not give it up, so about 45 minutes later, we left, Patrick still screaming!

Saturday was much better! We went to two playgrounds, had a picnic, and actually got some pink arms and noses (sorry, kids, mommy hasn't had to think about sunscreen in a while!) We had a great day, barring the redneck kids throwing sand and threatening each other by saying, "My mommy has a knife and she will cut your head off!" Seriously...some people around here are just astonishing. After I silently cursed these children's parents, I put into perspective how good my kids are and that makes me PROUD! Thankfully whenever the kids were ugly to Jack, he just said, "No say that to me. You hurt my peelins!" TOO CUTE!

Of course, I got called off work Saturday (and last night!) so Matt and I took the kids to the Greenville Monkey Joes to burn off some energy since it was raining. They had a blast and both fell asleep on the way home and took 3-hr naps when transferred from the van to their beds!

It's another cool, rainy day today. I do need to go to Walmart to get some sunscreen for the boys (and myself) to gear up for another lovely week of weather!

Gearing up for the next big change in our lives...

I've decided to chronicle the next big step in our lives by blogging again! I really miss it and while I've been a Facebook fanatic for awhile now, I feel like this is a better outlet to really share more than little blurps about what's going on. Anyways, next step, as most of you already know is: Moving to Oxford, NC!!

Looks like we'll be good to go after Matt's graduation on June 24th! I've already started purging/spring cleaning. Soon, I'll be posting pictures of this house and the area we've lived in for the past 3 years so that the kids (and ourselves) will remember this part of our lives!

Matt will be a doctor at Vance Family Medicine in Henderson, NC. We are all very excited for him to start his new job and for all of us to be closer to where we grew up and where our family remains.

We've lined ourselves up a 3-bedroom apartment so that we can get settled into our new town and have a nice, focused, relaxed house search when we're ready. It'll be nice to only have 1100 sf to clean for awhile!

I am going to try to keep working at OMC, making May 31st my last day. Of course, they keep calling me off due to low census and budget cuts, so who knows when my next day will be. I don't think I'll work immediately after moving. We need to focus on getting settled, getting Jack in school, and letting Patrick have some one-on-one time with mommy. And who knows, maybe get working on populating the world with more Higgins ;) Things may change if a good L&D position opens at Maria Parham, of course.

Jack is set to start K-4 at Kerr-Vance Academy in August and he could not be more excited. In fact, he was prancing around wearing his backpack the other night, but I totally didn't get a picture. He will be there 5 days/week from 8am to 230pm I kind of wish it wasn't a full-time thing, but it's such a great learning opportunity for him - I think it will turn out to be great!!

These boys are growing up way too fast!!!

HAHA...I crack myself up

So I had no idea that my last blog posted the title and nothing else! WE'RE BACK and then a nice long pause. I had written a really long update on everyone in the household one night when it was really slow at work, but accidently destroyed it with one keystroke. I had no idea that it still posted the title. So, I appologize for the slight fib...we are in fact no quite back yet...I'm still working full-time hours and think of only one thing when not taking care of the rugrats - SLEEP! Night shift is killer on your sleep habits. Anyways, maybe when the kids move off to college, I can update you on their last 18 yrs!

WE'RE BACK!!!