3 more days...

My kids could NOT be more excited. It makes me excited. They are soooo fun! It makes all of the hard work that I have done so worth it. Yes, I alone have done all the work. Tonight I asked Chris to pick up some gc for Hollywood Video while he was there for our paper guy and mailman (bribe for faster mail) of course he forgot! Um yah, it's not like I asked him to go out of his way, HE WAS THERE! Man, if it were up to him, our kids would be getting whatever toys he could pick up at the Citgo down the street. Not too mention what his mom and sister would be getting. I guess that's why men married woman, to take care of everything! Not bashing him, this isn't anything I haven't said to his face multiple time. Bless his heart. (look at me using a southern expression)

In other news about my sweetie, he got another promotion. That makes 2 in one year. He soooo deserves it and frankly I deserve the raise he got. :) shhhhh, it's a secret until January.

On the 28th we are going to Oklahoma to spend some time with Chris's sister and her husband. We are all so excited. I'm sure at the end of the 5 days they will be so happy to see us go and remember why they don't have kids. I have to say I am more than a little worried about my kids being there for that long. I hope we don't wear out our welcome.

Busy, busy weekend of fun planned! Chris has a bunch of time off, so tomorrow we are going to the Bounce Factory, a place that has a bunch of those inflatable jumpy thingys and then to Opryland to see the cool Christmas lights. Saturday we are going to a movie then for a drive to see the Christmas lights around town. Hopefully Chris and I won't kill each other in that period of time. Ya know, we used to really like spending time together, but since having kids we have issues with it. Love his guys; we just forget how to be a couple.

Better go get my blog surfin' in! And if I don't get on again before hand, Merry Christmas!!!

Pre-school Christmas program

My kids had their Christmas program at their school today. It was the cutest thing ever! Mason was Jospeh and Addi was a baaaaa, aka, a sheep. Even Chris, whose heart is covered in titanium was smiling and thought they were the cutest things ever! The lighting was really bad in there, but you get the idea!

ok, I really don't have anything to say, I just wanted to say Hi to the 2 people that read my blog. HI!

Not much to report, working on my Christmas cards, trying to fight off a stinkin sinus infection (I don't have time to go to the doctor!) trying to wrap up my Christmas projects, trying to do a decent job with my secret santa in my playgroup, working on some stuff for my church, and getting ready for Chris's hoity toity work Christmas party this weekend.

We've been trying to do a fun Christmas project a day. So far we have made a gingerbread house, went for a visit to Santa but ended up riding the carousel, decorated cookies, watched Polar Express and a few other things that aren't coming to mind. We still are going to write letters to Santa, make treat bags for their school mates, make Christmas pictures for their grandparents...I am not thinking tonight, I can't remember anything. Mason is learning about Jesus's birth at school so every day he grabs our nativity and acts it out. So stinkin' cute. This has been my favorite Christmas so far!

i'm it...!

i have been tagged by NO ONE, but I'm going to answer anyway...everyone else is doing it!

2 Names you go by:
mommy, Miss Candice (at my kids' school when I sub)

2 parts of your heritage:
Sadly, I don't know

2 Things that scare you:
absolutly petrified of losing one of my kids, snakes

2 of your everyday essentials:
diet Mtn Dew, loves from my kids

2 Things that you are wearing right now:
jammy pants, my fleece blanket

2 of your favorite bands or musical artists (at the moment)
Rascal Flatts, Top 40 stuff

2 Favorite Songs at the Moment:
Skin by Rascal Flatts, Deck the Halls sung by Michael McDonald

2 Things you want in a relationship (other than true love)
sense of humor, someone I can talk to

2 Truths:
i am not good at playing with my kids, I am a bit moody :)

2 Physical Things that appeal to you (in the opposite sex)
stregnth, nice smelling

2 of your Favorite Hobbies:
scrapbooking, shopping

2 Things you want really badly
a new digi slr (santa needs to get it out of the closet and hand it over :) ), peace

2places you want to go on vacation:
Florida, Disneyworld with my kids

2 things you want to do before you die:
be happy just being me, live in the state as my mom

2 ways that you are stereotypically a chic:
I like to create , I love girly stuff like painted toe nails, hair products, shopping

2 Things that you are thinking about now:
I have to teach a lesson at my church on Sunday, Chris is leaving tomorrow on a business trip

2 Stores you Shop at:
Target, Walmart

Kristi, You're next!!

My weekend

Oh my heck, I had the BEST weekend!!!! My Kristi was here....WOO HOO!

OK, that's skipping ahead a bit. We had a really nice quiet Thanksgiving at our house, then went to a friends for desert. It was so nice. Friday I woke up at 5:30AM (indeed, there is one day year that I have no problem waking up early!) But when I got to Target, the line to check out was atrocious! I waited for 1.5 hours to pay!! How ridiculous!!!!!! Kind of took the fun out of it!

Later that day, my Kristi arrived. Oh man, we had sooooo much fun. We scrapbooked, made super cute advent calendars, went shopping, went to Opryland and got lost, went to 2 different scrapbook stores, went to lunch with our husbands and my kids, took tons of pics, took my family's photographs and so much more. It was a ton of stuff to fit in 2 days, but we had a blast and it was a dream come true. So much fun. I am totally beat though. Poor her though. She is probably still on the road on her way home and she left at 8:30 this morning. Yuck! Great weekend!

Thankful day #3

My lss had a yard sale last weekend. One could take their new or gently used sb supplies in there, pay $10 and they would sell them for you. So I took my stuff in last week and went back to pick it up today. I sold almost everything. I will get in store credit when the owner is in town. It is an awesome store with tons of the lastest and greatest products. I can't wait to go back and see how much "free" stuff I can get!

Today I am grateful just that I made it through the day. Mason and Addi fought like nobody's business today. They were having their own WWE. It was crazy. I cleaned like a crazy woman all morning, then we went to the lss, then had to hurry home to be here when Ethan got here (then he didn't show up...whatever!) then cleaned some more and worked on some Thanksgiving table decorations. The entire time they were maniacs. Aack! When they weren't fighting, they were tearing up the house. Man...some days!!!!!

I don't want to seem upgrateful because I do love those little buggers like crazy. I would take a million crazy days with them rather then not have them in my life. So I guess my crazy kids are what I am grateful for today!

Thankful day 2

Before I get to my thankful business I have to say this: At my kids' MDO, they don't have school pictures taken. So today I talked to the director about possibly taking them this year. She agreed. So in the spring, I am going to get to take pics of all the kids and their classes and get paid a small bit to do it. I am soooo excited. I hope by then I'll have a new digi camera (hint hint Chris) and possibly even a back drop.

Today was a busy day. I ran around like a maniac-grocery shopping, picked up pics at Walgreens, Target to look for clothes for Mason for our family pics, to Michaels to get some stuff for a project K and I are going to work on this week (I found some dominos and dice...yeah!). After all that, I found out I screwed up our checkbook and we have WAY less money then I thought. So anyway I am grateful for a sweet husband that doesn't rag on me for spending too much money.

Thankful

Since it is the week of Thanksgiving, I thought I would post once a day, something that I am thankful for.

Today: I am thankful for a nice comfy house. It's so comforting to know that even though we aren't loaded, we have enough to always have heat, electricity and food in our fridge and cupboards. I know this is something we all take for granted, but if you've ever been in a situation where you couldn't count on those things, you know what it's like to be grateful for them.

So blessed!!

Poor Princess

This is what peri-orbital cellulitis looks like. She woke up with a goobery eye all swollen and yucky. I thought she just had a nice case of pink eye. But after a visit to the pediatrician we found out it was more than that. Apparently she's had a sinus infection for a while that has traveled to her eye. (what's up with that?) So hopefully after a course of oral and topical antibiotics it will be all cleared up. I hope it feels better too. Poor babe, she was super grumpy so she must be miserable. I hope she feels better tomorrow.

We just had the CRAZIEST rain I have even seen. We had a tornado watch from about 5:30 until 9:00pm. SO nuts! It was raining so hard it was leaking in our closed windows. I haven't ever seen weather like that. You know the worry wart I am, I had the flashlights, my purse, a battery powered radio and some pillows and blankets in our inner most closet. It was so freaky. Chris and I weren't glued to the tv and poor Mason and Addi knew something was wrong but couldn't figure it out! Luckily we only have a little bit of sprinkling now.

I was going to update my blog with some cool new pics, but my poor, poor slow, sad digi is dead. I hope that nice man at Wolf Camera can revive it...inexpensively!!! But I'll give the word version of our weekend and day.

Addi started dancing today. It was sooo cute! I had her all dressed in her pink leaotard and tights with her little ballet slippers. She was glowing she was so excited! I had her do turns and took tons of pics but they are stuck on my (sniff) broken digi. Parents aren't allowed into the acutal studio, we are all just supposed to crowd around the 2 windows. She did great, had a blast and even Miss Stacy commented on how well she listened and followed directions. Yeah Addi.

Mason and I had a date while Addi was in dancing. He was thrilled to have some one on one time with mommy. He even changed his clothes and wore something special. He had 2 long sleeve t-shirts layered on. Dang, how sweet is that! We went for ice cream and hung out at the dance studio waiting for Addi.

Last week on Sunday my ward (our congregation in my church) was split into two. So yesterday there was some major reorganization. I was called (it still makes my heart jump to think about) to be the 2nd counselor in the Relief Society (the women's organization in my church). Holy cow. I still can't believe it. I feel like I should be older and much more spiritual. But I can tell you for sure, I am going to step up and do it to the best of my ability!

My dad and his wife Peggy came to visit and stay with us last weekend. It was a nice visit. We ate a lot-O'Charley's and Wolfgang Puck Express and they played with Mason and Addi a lot. Mason followed my dad around like a shadow. He loved being around him so much. Addi was a little apprehensive at first, but she warmed up and loved on Peggy by the end.

I have been doing major projects. Now that I got this new calling that will take a lot of time and planning, I have stepped up all of my projects to get them done. I won't name them for fear that a recipient could be reading this, but I am almost done with my Christmas gift projects. Yeah, that feels good. Oh, I'm almost done with my Christmas cards too. Woo hoo!

Ramblings of my day

Today we had Ethan over, the little guy from Mason's MDO class I watch on Wednesday's, and the kids wanted to go outside to play. I asked them to clean up all the toys scattered around the house. Mason's job was to clean up his room. He did and declared it all done. So I went up to inspect and it was super clean. But when I went to scope out the closet Mason hollered at me to not open the door. What did I find when I opened the door? He had thrown all of the junk that was on his bedroom floor into his closet. Now when did he figure that trick out? So funny!

Some days I just want to shout from the rooftops how much I love being the mother to my amazing kids. Otherdays, I don't even want to get out of bed to face them. They are soooo full of energy, sponges-ready to learn, their minds going so fast, they just take in life as fast as possible. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't laugh my head off about something they do. No matter how angry I get, I wouldn't trade a day of life with them for anything. I saw John Leguazamo on Leno one night and he said this about parenthood, "The days are long but the years are short." So true. Some moments I can't wait for my kids to get bigger to do fun stuff with etc. And other days I want to pause our life so they won't grow up any more. Addi thinks I am the best. She always wants to be with me and begs to hold my hand. I love that a kiss from me makes Mason's boo boos go away. I love that he wants me to hang out with me. I love the thought that I bring him so much comfort that he wants to sleep by me. (I only love the thought of that because that little man HOGS the bed.)

Did you watch Lost tonight? WTH? How can they kill her off. I loved her and Sayid together!

That's it for today!

My Top 10 right now

1. blogs
2. flip flops (yes I know it's November but it's 75 degrees here)
3. fountain coke
4. Rascal Flats
5. Harry Potter (I'm obsessed again since #4 is in theaters in 11 days!)
6. Designing with Paper - seriously, sooooo good
7. Grey's Anatomy
8. researching new cameras
9. chocolate peanut butter Chex Mix
10. beautifully colored fall leaves

Not much!

I don't really have much to say, so I'll just say what's been happening in our family

Date
Chris and I went to the newly opened Cheesecake Factory in Nashville. Holy food! It was delicious and the portion sizes are huge. We had a really nice child free lunch.(they were in school)

Mason
Man, he is a stubborn boy. His behavior HAD been better this week. He got all of his behavior stickers at school on Tuesday and was on his way to getting them today too. Then he had some issues coloring. Apparently he got marker on his hands and that totally freaked him out so he wouldn't color any more. Well, it was still color time and he has to follow Ms. Debbie's directions or he doesn't get a sticker. She gave him 3 chances and he still wouldn't do what she asked. I think if he would have just told her that he was upset about the marker on his hands, it wouldn't have been a problem. Darn it!

Addi
She is such a funny girl! Today after school we went for a walk around the block. Mason rode his bike and Addi pushed her baby stroller the entire way. It was so funny. She kept trying to hold my hand but the stoller would veer off. SO dang cute! She is such a momma's girl. She has to help me with everything. She pulls her chair over to the counter to "help" me make dinner. I hope she never grows up. I love this age!

Chris
Poor guy. I must not be hormonal this week because I have some sympathy for him in his job. He works with people with the maturity of my 4 yr old. He constantly has to make sure they are staying on task and baby sit. I would NOT be able to stand that. Chris has the strongest work ethic of anyone I know and gets so frustrated when others don't have even a fraction of what he has. He is such a good guy and works so hard. Bless his heart! :)

Me
I have been running around like a maniac lately. Every day I have a tons of stuff to do. I am beat! I just want a day to stay in my pj's and hang out in my scrapbook room. Is that really so much to ask for?

That's it for now.

Trick or Treating


Halloween here in Tennessee is so nice. Where I grew up we always had to wear our heavy winter coat over our costumes. So it's so nice that my kids can just wear a t-shirt under their costumes and be good. Today Addi was diagnosed with an ear infection so she wasn't too excited about anything. But Mason had an absolute BLAST running around knocking on doors. The kicker is that he only likes about 3 kinds of candy so he just goes trick or treating to be social. He liked answering our door and handing out candy just as much as going out himself. SO fun!

Your best you

Today I was catching up on my email, feeling a little sorry for myself since Chris is gone still. I came across an email from a website sponsored by my church, www.ldsliving.com, it told of a story about how one member of the quorum of the 12 Apostles (a high spiritual office in my church) was comparing himself to another member. They were great friends and both admired a lot of qualities in each other. Finally after one of the men compared himself the other, and wished he were more like him, the other said to him that God doesn't want 2 of the same person, he just wants us to be the best we can be. So I need to be the best Candice Schenk I can be. I don't know about you, but I spend a LOT of time comparing myself to others. There will always be someone who is prettier from me, or has a cleaner, nicer home, or is a more adventurous mom that gets down a plays with her kids. And that's ok. All that my Heavenly Father wants from me is to be the best me I can be.

Fun Weekend!

Friday we went to the zoo. The weather was perfect, the animals we out and active and both of the kids had a blast! Saturday we went to a Halloween party at our church, then came home and decorated cookies and painted pumpkins! Fun Stuff!

Paint


Oh, the paint in my house. Makes me CRAZY. Our builders must have used to cheapest paint known to man. And when I tried to get it matched so I could touch it up...well, let's jsut say it didn't match. So I've painted and repainted to fix those touch up spots. I ended up having to paint a lot in my stairs. Of course it has vaulted ceilings. Fast forward to now. I tried to repaint it AGAIN tonight. So 3 hours, a bunch of sweat, some tears and some broken vocal cords, from telling (loudly) my kids to get back in bed again, later, the wall doesn't look much better. So now, I'm going to have to close my eyes every time I walk up or down the stairs because I am certainly not doing that again any time soon. I'm thinking of having it professionally done now.

In other news, Chris is on a business trip. I hate when he travels. I'd like to say it's because I miss him so much (and I do) or that I can't sleep when he's not here (which is true too). But mostly I hate when he's gone because I have no one to help me with Mason and Addi. There, I said it. I am selfish! I know he's there working like mad, but I am a little jealous of the dinners out and a nice quiet hotel room. Boo hoo!

Long time...no post

Wow! It's been more than 10 days since I posted. Here's what we've been doing:

we all had colds that took almost 2 weeks to recover from, I helped out at my kids' school both days (tues and thur) last week, had a couple of sb projects I was working on, ...ok now it doesn't seem like much, but I swear we were busy!

I'm trying to lay low this week, so I don't have much planned. Oh yeah!!! Chris is going to New Mexico tomorrow on business and he "doesn't know when he'll be back because the project is so messed up." GREAT! We aren't having our playgroup tomorrow, so I think we're going to stay in our jammies until Ethan (the little guy I watch on Wednesdays) get's here. We are having McDonalds for lunch, pizza for dinner and I'm not making my bed! WOO HOO! I am a clean freak and make my bed everyday, so this is a BIG deal for me. Thursday Chris and I were going to have our lunch date, so I guess I'll just take myself to lunch. I might just go to Wolfgang Puck Express...yummmm!

On a different note, Mason had a horrible day today. It started out ok, he even let me do his hair. But after I took him to his class he got a little misty. But Ms Debbie distracted him with his project. But when I went to pick him up, Ms Donna, the director, said that his behavior had been bad. He wanted what he wanted, when he did and wouldn't do anything else. Ms Debbie said that on one hand he was defiant and a stinker then he would go over and cling to her. On the way home I tried to talk to him and find out what happened, but he wanted to stop for ice cream and wouldn't listen to or answer me. He actually broke down into a tantrum with tears and everything. I've been crying all evening. I am so worried. I just with I knew what was wrong. I can tell that he is unhappy and I wish I knew what to do to fix it. I feel like a failure! He has a dr appt on Monday, so hopefully she can shed some light on our situation.

So today

*didn't take a shower until after noon

*posted some layouts on 2ps and submitted a few lo for publication (crossing my fingers)

*got to wear jeans and a sweatshirt because it's finally cool enough

*Mason got sick in the car and I spend an hour cleaning it up (poor Mae, I hate when he's sick, it's sooo sad because he never complains about it)

*I painted Addi's ennails (fingernails) and toenails. I love having a girlie girl!

*I've eaten so much junk -Smartfood, sprees, Coke & homemade peanut butter cookies. I really need to get some self control.

*started burning a new autumn splendor candle. YUM. I love the fall