HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Ok, so I never said that I was the best at keeping up on this blog business, and I have proved it amply by not writing for a few months =)

Much has happened since September, but I will not bore you with all the details. I am moving on with the new year and hopefully to bigger and better things.

This year I hope to have many wonderful journeys and exciting things happen. I hope to enjoy every moment of 2011!

Here's to being better about writing and to a new year!!!

School Has Started

I must say that my house is a much quieter place while I have one child at school. It is sort of nice, but there are times when Kohlton doesn't quite know what to do with himself without his sister at home to help keep him occupied. It has been fun however being at home with him by himself. We get to do a lot of mommy-Kohlton time. He is probably one of the funniest kids I have ever been around... And I'm not just saying that because he's my kid. He is truly funny. He loves to make others laugh and has a great sense of humor. Something that I never thought I'd say about a 3 year old. We have been having some good times these last two days together.

I'm glad school has started, but find myself looking back on the summer thinking that I should have done more. I should have had Nevaeh reading more, practicing math, spelling, etc. I wonder how much a child actually "loses" over the summer. We read a ton of books, but was that enough? I sort of wish that teachers would send home a workbook or something that would help prepare them for the next year. Or maybe I should have just gotten myself motivated enough to do it myself. However, school has started and I can only try to do better next year.

Here's to hoping that my daughter has a great year!

I Have My Husband Back!

It was so nice to hear the news that my husband would be coming home and know that he wouldn't be having to go back up for the strike. It is amazing how much just having him here makes me feel less stressed. It's like, I have my support system back! I can breathe, I can function and I feel that things are going to be ok.

We celebrated his return today with a little trip to the coast. We went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory and had a few samples and some ice cream. After our self-guided tour of the visitor's center, we decided to go south and see what we could see.

We ended up in Tierra Del Mar and found a beach that we absolutely loved. You can drive out on the beach and make fires on it. There is also this amazing natural bridge or arch that is so beautiful.

The other thing that was awesome about the beach was that on the far end of it was an amazing hill that was completely sand.

Of course we had to hike up it to see what was on the other side :-). It was a very beautiful view... a view that I somehow did not take a picture of. I know that Jason did on his phone, but I don't have that picture. The only picture I have of the other side is this one with Jason.

I got a picture of the trail that we left behind. Nevaeh and Kohlton thought that it was pretty fun to roll down the huge hill and successfully got sand in every nook and cranny :-).... Please ignore my finger in the bottom corner...oops!

The only thing about this trip that wasn't very good, was the fact that I forgot a jacket and we didn't bring any beach toys or equipment (chairs, snacks, etc). We had a lot of fun though and are excited to plan another trip to this beach... One where we are a little more prepared.

Slug Bug

Yesterday was an ok day. The kids and I held up pretty good. With that said, I am SOOOO ready for my husband to be home. I am not cut out for this single mom biz!

Today, we successfully ran some errands. In the process of traveling through 3 different towns and on the freeway, we saw 19 "slug bugs." This game has gotten much more fun now that we live in the Portland area where more people drive them. I wonder if they are more environmentally friendly... Anyway, Nevaeh and I had a fun time trying to spot them first. And Kohlton, well, he yelled out "slug bug (insert color here)" at every brightly colored vehicle that we saw. So, if you count the dozens (not even joking) of cars that he called out "slug bug" to, then he is the clear winner of the game for today :-). I also texted my sister-in-law each time we saw them, which I'm sure annoyed her, since she and her girls also play the "slug bug" game. That is how I counted up how many we saw. Since I do live in Oregon where it is illegal to text while driving, I will insert my "I did not text while driving" comment here :-).

Since the day is not yet through and I plan on going to the gym later, I may need to add some "slug bugs" to my score. It is a windy, cloudy, rainy day today so I am feeling the need to be lazy and lay on the couch. So, I should try to muster up some motivation and get going to the gym before I have no desire to even go. Wish me luck and send motivation my way!

Strikes Stink

Ok, so I know that people feel the need to have a strike now and then, but really, do they think of how it is going to effect other people? Don't be so selfish! Think of how your strike is effecting ME!!! How it is disrupting MY life... MY mental well being... MY kids... and MY husband. Ok, so maybe I'm the one being a little bit selfish here :-) But, seriously, I don't know if I can take my husband being gone for another week or more.

If you really don't know what I'm talking about, let me bring you up to speed. So, my husband works for a certain beverage company ;-) that one of their plants up in Washington went on strike last week. Because my husband is in management, he gets enlisted to go up there and help with delivering so that business doesn't get interrupted. He will continue to be up there until negotiations are finished and the drivers/workers go back to work. I get it, it's part of his job to do this. I get that people strike now and then to get what they feel is fair or whatever.

That doesn't mean that I have to like it!!!

I don't like being a single mom, even if it is only for a couple of weeks. Jason was able to come home for the weekend (2 nights) which I am grateful. If we still lived in Arizona, I wouldn't be able to see him until this whole thing was over. So, for that I am glad. I think there will be a lot of trips to the parks and gym this week :-) If I did still live in Arizona, I would have my wonderful sister Nilda that I would have begged to spend time with me and possibly spend the night to help pass the time while he is away, but no, I am here, in Oregon, 22 hours away... So, I will do my best to keep myself and the kids busy and happy.

Wish me luck!!!

Let's Try This Again!

For all of you that know me, know that I once had a blog... www.azroths.blogspot.com ... however, it has been a while since I have posted to it and I couldn't get into it anymore. Oh well! :-) I figured since I no longer live in Arizona, the "az" part no longer applied so I decided to just start over and hopefully I will be a bit more faithful in posting to this one. Also, my wonderful sister has kindly suggested a few times that I should get back to blogging since I no longer get to see her on an almost daily basis. So, here it goes!