overwhelmed

Okay, so at this moment I am feeling abit overwhelmed with life. I feel guilty for feeling this way because I am so lucky that i have such a wonderful family, we are healthy, my husband has a job, we have a roof over our heads and food on the table. So I thank God for all of the blessings that we have and I do not take any of those things for granted but it seems like everything else is a mess. I feel that I am juggling so many things right now and because of that, I am unable to do any one thing well. I was doing pretty good at keeping up with school work, housework and life in general and then my husband had to let his secretary go and I agreed to take on that position. I had already started doing food photography for him, which I really enjoy and have only had to do a few shoots, which I can handle. Now I am handling all the billing and accounting. I know that once I get the hang of things, it will go alot more smoothly, but right now it seems like doing work for him has taken over everything. Throw in with that my daughter has been sick with a sinus infection for 3 weeks now. We have gotten very little school work done, we have a new puppy who as I speak is now peeing in the floor beside me...arrrgghh...hold on I'll be right back............okay I'm back and then there is housework. let's just say that has been at the very bottom of my list. It looks like a tornado went through. What really gets me is that Monday was such a good day, we did a full day of school. I was able to get some housework done, my daughter was starting to get better and then I go to bed and wake up Tuesday and BAM...the bottom falls out. My husband was leaving on a trip that morning, which threw off our morning schedule and then he tosses a bunch of work at me before he walks out the door and it was just a snowball after that. Then I notice on my daughters legs was a huge bump that had started to turn red and get pus (gross I know) so after trying to put ointment on it and a warm compress by wednesday it wasn't better. I was afraid it was staph so off to the doctor we go. Luckily is wasn't staph but some skin thing i can't pronounce that should go away on its own..big relief. And since then I just have not been able to keep up. We have missed all the activities we had planned this week, which always seems to happen. I feel like if I could just pause everything else...get my house in order, because when my house is a mess it causes me to be SO stressed out, then hit the unpause button and maybe just maybe I could handle everything else that I have in front of me. I know my problem is that I am not an organized. The thing is, it seems like all I do is try to become organized and it just never happens. I organize one hot spot then move on to the next to find that what I just finished has now been destroyed. I lOVE having my kids home with me and would never go back to being without them....i just need to either learn how to relax and enjoy the moment and accept all this madness or well, I guess there is no other option :) I do know that this too shall pass and I guess I just have to learn to live with the madness. I know that one day, all too soon, the kids will be grown and my house will be empty and quiet. Then I will miss all this mess, craziness and complete disorder...but for now I will try to just take it one day at a time and hope and pray for serenity!!! Well...I guess a big part of my problem is I am spending way tooooo much time at the computer, so maybe the first step I should take is to get my bottom out of this chair and do something. Off I go.....

7 Quick Takes

First, I just want to say "Hey Tiffany" (my first & only follower until my friend "the vintage wren" joined me)...I hope this doesn't make you fall out of your chair since I haven't blogged since MAY ;) I'm going to give blogging one more try. Hopefully I can keep it up. (I'm bad at starting things and then getting distracted by something else) So I am going to copy some of the other blogs I follow and jump back in with "7 Quick Takes" that seems easy enough...

1. Today has been a nice quiet relaxing Valentines Day. If it were up to me, I would have stayed inside in my PJ's all day but I had promised my daughter that we would go to the antique flea market and walk around. They were having a music swap, so I thought my son would enjoy that. Breanna's real reason was that she wanted to take her new little puppy out in his new dog stroller (I know...a dog stroller. I never thought I would be one of those people who put their dogs in a stroller but it's one of those things you do for your children.) She enjoyed it, but for me it was a real royal pain!!! Things were good until her & her brother started fighting over who was going to push the stroller ((LOL)) so then I knew it was time to go.

2. I am trying to knit a blanket for my nephew. I have just started back knitting and I love it. The only problem is, once I start I don't want to stop until the project is finished. But the blanket is taking a while, so I am "trying" to only work on it alittle bit at a time...so it may be ready when he goes off to college.

3. Tomorrow is President's Day and while schools are closed, we are still going to have school. My kids don't realize that schools are closed and what they don't know won't hurt them :) and we have not been very focused so far this year and I am starting to feel like we are going to be behind. I am trying to stay relaxed and not let myself get stressed because things go so much more smooth when I am calm, cool & collected. I was doing so good before the holidays but I just can't seem to get disciplined this year. This week I am determined to do better at planning out their work the night before.

4. This is going to be a busy week, we have a couple of science based activities and a make up Valentines party that I am really looking forward to. Rick has to travel a couple of nights this week. He has been home alot since the holidays and it has been really nice but his busy season is starting up so it is going to be a crazy couple of months. He is only going to be home 11 days in March & it will probably be less than that if he gets more work. I can't complain because at least he has work.

5. My hubby & son are in the kitchen cooking dinner and it smells so good. I started a new diet last week...The Eat-Clean Diet. I did good 5 days out of 7 :) but I am really trying to eat right to control my celiac. I went without any gluten for a couple of weeks and was doing really good and then last week, during a stressful moment...I broke down and had a chick fil a sandwich (and it was so good :)but I have felt so bad the past couple of days. You would think that the physical sickness would be enough to keep me away from bad foods..but it's not.

6. I am so excited about the work I have been doing for my hubby. He added "food photography" into one of the things he offers thru his consulting business and I was "hired" as the offical photographer (this so explains why he bought me a nice camera for my birthday)but it turns out that I love it and it is so much fun. I have several pictures that are on Dole's website and I just found out that my pictures are going to be published in a "food" magazine next month. I wish I could say I knew what I was doing, but really it is just the camera is really good and a whole lot of luck. But I am going to look into taking some online photography courses.

7. I don't really have a 7 and I hear that dinner is almost ready so I should probably get off the computer and eat. Happy Valentines Day!!!

We are back from our trip to California. We actually came home yesterday, but today was spent running errands and unpacking. I had to go grocery shopping because I had tried to use up everything we had before we left so we were out of everything. I couldn't sleep so I thought it would be a great time to come downstairs and journal about our vacation. Actually, I just finished reading Breaking Dawn and while I love how the book ended, I am alittle sad that it is over. Plus I think I am still on California time, so instead of being midnight, it could be 9 o'clock.

We had a wonderful time on our vacation. Disneyland was wonderful, I liked it better than Disney World because it is so much smaller. It only has 2 parks, Disneyland and California Adventure Park and they are right beside each other so you can easily go back and forth . I had planned out what all we wanted to do before we left and we were able to ride every ride and see all the sights that the kids and I had planned. With the exception of having dinner with the princess's. I have always known how expensive Disney can be, but when you live here and only go for a day at a time, I guess I was blind to just how EXPENSIVE Disney can be. Our first morning there, we had a character breakfast at our hotel with Lilo and Stitch. When you sit down, they tell you to help yourself to the buffet, they offer no menus, so Rick and I both assumed that there was no other option than the buffet. We weren't thrilled with that because our kids usually only eat one or two things so paying for a buffet is a waste of money, but then Lilo & Stitch came to the table, the kids were excited and we just went with it. Well we both were floored when they brought the bill for $100. That really changed our thinking for the rest of the trip. Rick went to the grocery store that same day and the kids had pop tarts and donuts for breakfast the rest of the time at Disney. Rick's show at the Food & Wine Festival went great. It was exciting watching him cook and watching how he interacted with the crowd....I am hoping that there was some famous food network producer in the audience and Rick will become the next Emerill....BAM!! We were able to meet the chef from the show Dinner Impossible (I've never watched it, but he was a cutie :) After Disney we went to San Diego and did some sight seeing there. It was so beautiful. LA was nice but it wasn't like they make it look on TV, it was kinda dirty. But I was determined to get one of those map of the stars houses, so I made Rick drive around until we found someone selling them on the corner. It was right in front of Michael Jackson's house, but of course you couldn't see anything other than the gate, but we drove around hoping to see someone famous.....

I was proud of myself, because I am a MAJOR germ a phobic, so the whole "swine" flu thing going on while we were out in one of the first states to have confirmed cases really put me on edge. But I was able to overcome my fears and worries and along with ALOT of hand sanitizer and ALOT of yelling at the kids to don't touch ANYTHING and don't put your hands near your mouth...I think we could be safe. But Rick thinks that I gave the kids a buzz from all the alcohol I kept pouring on them. But at least I didn't make them bath in it. The ride home on the airplane was the hardest part for me, every time someone coughed I found myself wishing I had bought face masks :) on the plus side I was so worried about germs that I completely forgot my fear of earthquakes...yeah!!! that was until Rick told me about a couple in northern California the first day we were there and then the one in Mexico when we were in San Diego...at least he waited until the trip was almost over to tell me...I think he just loves to get me in a panic.

So now it is back to the real world and back to school on Monday. We have not done any real school in 2 weeks now, so I know it could be a challenge to get back into our routine. It seems like we had just figured out our routine, so wish me luck. Well, I guess I should try and go to sleep or else I will pay for it in the morning.

Check out the $100 breakfast :)

This is the family in a barrel of hand sanitizer

I would like to take this time to thank the "sponsors" of our trip :)

my personal "celebrity" chef in action...kickin it up a notch

This is the dish that they prepared..it is cod with a mango salsa...all I could think of was FREE MEAL..whhoooaaaa

the "Dinner Impossible" Chef

This is my favorite pictures because she wasn't posing (for a change) she was watching the Pixar

parade...this is the face of pure joy!!!!! and that is what the whole trip was for

Okay, So I am starting my blog with the Simple Women's Daybook. Hopefully I am following all the rules :)

FOR TODAY Monday April 13, 2009...

Outside my window...It is a beautiful warm and sunny day.

I am thinking...that I should be doing school work instead, but the kids are playing so quietly

I am thankful for...a wonderful weekend with Rick and the kids. We had such a great Easter.

From the learning rooms...back to school...I wasn't very structured last week, we did a lot of Easter activities so I did not follow the daily schedule like I should have. So I hope this week to be able to get all of the planned school work done each day and not leave work unfinished. I also want to continue to look at different curriculum's. I received a catalog from Sonlight on Saturday and really seemed to like what they have to offer. I just have to keep strong and not get discouraged with the curriculum we are using now. I feel like Breanna is not being challenged at all and that she would benefit with more reading. John gets overwhelmed with working from a textbook so I have to adjust each days work so he is not so overwhelmed and doesn't get upset.

From the kitchen...I have nothing planned yet. I hope to have a chance to sit down today and plan out my menu for the week. Tonight will probably be take out.

I am wearing...my normal school attire....t-shirt and sweats :) I love this life

I am creating...not a thing at the moment..hhhmmm I better get to work

I am going...to get started on the housework that never ends

I am reading...The 3rd book in the Twilight series

I am hoping...for a peaceful night

I am hearing...the kids screaming at our dog Miley (yes she was named after Hannah Montana)

Around the house...is a mess as usual. I was doing good until the Easter weekend. Now there is candy, Easter grass and toys everywhere.

One of my favorite things...ice cream. I could eat a big bowl every night, but I really have to stick to some sort of diet.

A few plans for the rest of the week: starting packing for our trip next week to Disneyland. I always wait until the last minute and then get so stressed that I end up driving everyone around me crazy on the days before we leave. So my goal is to do alittle something each day. I am not to excited about the 5 1/2 plane trip, so I want to make sure that I have enough to keep everyone busy. I wonder how they would feel about do some school work on the plane....I can hear the screams now....

Here is picture thought I am sharing... okay the picture is at the top. still trying to figure out what I am doing here. But this was a picture from Saturday. Breanna and I were making an Easter bunny cake. I used an old cake pan that I inherited from my grandmother. It is one of those stand up cake pans. Well she made it look so easy...but it didn't quite turn out the way I had planned. The bunny's head fell off. Oh well, all that matters was that it tasted good and we had a good time baking.

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