Another day in the life...

Okay, so we are in a second day of really cold weather (for us) and I am already done with it. It is not so much the cold, it is getting everyone functioning in the cold. We all ready have issues getting out the door on a normal day, on a cold day it is much worse.

I love my daughter Bailey, I really do. However, she is not one of my favorite people to be around between 6:30am - 8:00am in the mornings. She is not a morning person and I am. Other that, we have very similar personalities (so I am told). This is possibly why we drive each other crazy, especially in the early morning hours. Bailey's main concern in the morning is her nail polish and lip gloss. Today, instead of putting her shoes/socks and coat on, she was applying neon green nail polish to her nails in a last ditch effort to "get ready". I was already packing Jake into the car, hurrying to put the recycle bins out which Peter forgot to do and trying not to freeze to death. Okay, still no sign of Bailey so I back the car out of the garage and hover in the driveway, cranking the heat, waiting... The girl flies out of the house without a coat and nothing on her feet! She throws her backpack in the car, complaining that she just smeared her freshly polished nails all over her white sweater because I was rushing her. I sent her back in the house for her coat, she already had her shoes and socks in the car (or so I thought). Anyway, she is back in the car trying to get her coat on and her seat belt on. Next, I see her tying her green converse sneakers up and realize she is not wearing socks. She said she doesn't like wearing socks with those shoes. Okay, so it is the coldest morning this entire winter and she doesn't have socks on, let's hope her Teacher doesn't notice. We are almost to the school and running late, no turning back for home now.

This is pretty much a normal morning for us - except it usually about 30-40 degress warmer! I keep wondering what I have in store with her when she is a teenager. I think that my Mom privately gets a little laugh at this when I give tell her my Bailey stories, probably thinking this is payback time for me! She is a very good kid, very smart (did not get that from me), artistic and very athletic. She is also extremely stubborn and always thinks she is right (did get that from me!!!). I guess I need to remind myself to have a lot of patience!

I am getting a cold and it is cold outside....

Okay, tomorrow is going to be the coldest day we have had all winter. The low will be 29 and the high 50. For all of you that live in really cold places, I realize that it probably sounds warm to you. To us here in Florida, this kind of forecast sends shivers down our thin blooded bodies. When I first moved down here I laughed at people that bundled up for these type of temps. No, I didn't laugh in their faces, just inside my head. I saw them bundled up in their coats and sweaters, freezing to death. Okay, so I now admit I have turned into one of those people.

See, when it gets cold here we actually have to think about what we are going to put on our feet. Bye, bye everyday flip flops, we have to get some shoes and socks on these feet! The hoodie sweatshirts we use for "cooler days" don't seem to cut it anymore, we have to pull the big guns out of the closet. The kids are all layered up, because in the afternoon it won't be quite as cold as the early morning trek to school. Tomorrow morning, I am sure the big excitement for my kids will be the ability to see their breath while outside. When we have gone "up North" in the Winter, the highlight of those trips have been the kids seeing their breath.

Our biggest challenge will be getting everyone out of their beds and moving. On cold mornings such as these, I am the first one up to make sure the heat is cranked. Then everyone bundles up with blankets around the kitchen table while eating breakfast. Hot chocolate is a must on mornings like these.

I have to admit I do enjoy these cooler days, but it makes it easier to enjoy because I know I won't have to wait months until it is warmer again. Some people say that is why everyone gets sick so much because of the temps changing all the time. Okay, well I am sick again, coming down with a cold or possibly a sinus infection. I guess I will just wrap myself up in a blanket and sip hot chocolate until I feel better!

Jake and his silliness

I decided to test putting multiple photos on my blog by using some of my "many faces of Jake" pictures. As you can tell, this little guy always makes us laugh!

This is how Jake expresses his happiness over a Christmas gift!

Jake does his best to act crazy!

He will often strike some kind of Ninja pose!

Whenever I have my camera out, I always happen to catch Jake at his silliest!

Pros and Cons of back to school after the holidays!

Today we had to face life and head back to our normal routine. This included me waking up at 4:00am so I could get a good start to stressing out for the day ahead. Luckily for me the kids agreeably got up and were ready without complaints. Most mornings I am not so lucky. I did get a call from the school nurse mid day, informing me Jake fell off the playground equipment. He will be fine though, even though he will probably have a bruised forehead for a few days. Jake is resilient. We were in the ER with him once as he had split his chin open; while in the waiting room he was hopping around, jumping off the chairs with his chin hanging open. He is a daredevil. There was also the time he jumped backwards, naked out of the bathtub and split above his eye open.

Okay, so I have some pros and cons about back to school:

Pros:

My house is quiet!
I can do an hour workout without feeling guilty.
I can go the store without kids!
I can get my work done without feeling guilty.
I can be on the telephone without being interrupted!

Cons:

My house is quiet... (Okay, this makes both lists)
Making school lunches (This wouldn't be so bad if my kids would eat something different, same lunch, every day. Might sound easy, but very repetitive.)
Trying to get out of the house on time. (Most mornings as we head out the door, Bailey has her shoes & socks in one hand and her hairbrush in the other! By the way, I give this girl an hour and 1/2 to get ready...)
Homework (need I say more)
In the car all afternoon driving to their activities
Bedtime (My kids are night owls! They do not enjoy going to bed early).

All right, well I have to get back to work as I only have 1 1/2 left of quiet!

Cindy's swamp

Okay, so this morning I tried to sleep in... After all, I was up half of the night giving tylenol to Jake, the poor kid. Behind our house is a conservation area; which in Florida that translates to swamp. Down here in Florida they rename things to not make them seem so bad. At the kids school a portable is a "learning cottage" some people try to pass off cockroaches as "palmetto bugs". Thankfully, those are not a concern to us.

For the most part, I like our swamp. We do not have any neighbors behind us and it is pretty to look at. This morning however, some fool bird was squawking his head off and keeping me from sleeping in. We have an unusual assortment of birds, anything from cardinals to eagles. We have these extremely tall white birds that walk around, I imagine those are the ones making the awful racket outside my window.

We do have an assortment of animals back there. There are alligators, wild boars, possums and even wolves. One day I happened to look out the back thru the kitchen window and a wolf was in my back yard. The animal control officer explained the wolf was probably rabid from the way it was behaving. Nice.... No, he didn't catch the wolf, but we didn't see it again. Do we ever go in our backyard, no way. We thought about having it fenced but Jake is allergic to the grass here in Florida so we wouldn't be back there anyway. Don't get me started on the grass here...

Luckily we have a nice sized driveway and we are always out front. The kids are always on their bikes or scooters, hitting balls or playing catch...

I will add a picture of the swamp. In the winter it is not as full and as green as it is during the summer. I think it is much prettier in the summer.

Happy New Year!

I have decided to start the New Year off by setting up a blog. I figured if my sister Lisa can do it, then I can do it too! Her blog is a cooking blog with great recipes, she is the master chef in the family. I get all my recipes from her. You probably won't see any recipes on my blog and I am not sure if my life is interesting enough to warrant having a blog, but we will see...

Today started off with the taking down of all of our Christmas decorations. Everyone slept in until 10:00am but me. We went to my friend Amy's New Years Eve party last night, so the kids were up late. I do enjoy the quiet of the early morning hours. Generally, I am up everyday between 4:00am -5:00am. I am an early bird, I cannot help it! Usually, that is when my best thinking is done for the day! Hmmm, so I wonder why I am creating this blog this time of the evening....

After working in the house all day with the football on in the background, everything is put away and the house is clean and spotless. We even cleaned out the garage. I might as well get as much done while I am motivated. I am sure my family had a more relaxing day in mind. Oh well... Starting on Monday we return to the chaos of normal life, so I at least wanted to the house clean and everything put away. Well, everyone is watching Indiana Jones right now, however, I know if I sit down and start watching a dvd, I will be asleep in an instant.

Today is my Mom's birthday! Happy Birthday New Year Baby!

I am looking forward to 2008. I am hoping for a happy and healthier year for all of those I know.