My Week 70

January 23rd found me ever so grateful to get back to a predictable and healthy schedule. Sugar Bear made it back to school, and I was back at work. There was a TON of things waiting for me to do, but it was manageable. Sugar enjoyed being back at school with her friends. She wore a "best friend" necklace she got from our of her sweet friends, "I". We don't see "I" as much, since they are not in the same school anymore. Sugar told me this week that she wished that some of her friends from her old school could come to her new school. It is hard to see her missing them.





January 24th found us woefully back to reality. tee hee....just kidding. It was fine. work....school....dance.....then homework. I snapped a shot of Miss Sugar doing some rainbow writing. I always love how it looks when she is done. So pretty.





January 25th was yet again....work and school. We stopped by the local pottery place to pick up the finished pottery from Sugar's party. It is always fun to see all the little works of art all shiny and new. This is Sugar's gecko she painted.




January 26th brought SUN! oh the glorious SUN! I took some time during a fire drill at work to snap a few shots. I'm a multi-tasker like that. I can't waste a minute. I honestly was so thrilled to be outside in the SUN, I just didn't want to go back to my office. I can't wait for the late Spring/early summer weather.




January 27th made us soooooooooooooooooo happy to finally see the end of our week. After being off work and school all last week....it made for a super duper long feeling week. We made it through, and Sugar Bear was dancing and twirling when I picked her up at the bus stop. We had a few errands, which included stopping at my brother's house. She was having a blast with her cousins, and they asked if she could spend the night. So she stayed....and I went home and had an evening to myself. It was lovely for both of us.





January 28th let me sleep in a bit which was nice. I had just woken up when my phone rang, and it was a wonderful, long time friend calling. We talked for 2 hours. It was delightful. Love her. I then made a shopping list, and went into town to fetch my Sugar Bear and do some MUCH NEEDED grocery shopping. When we got home, we did a bit of work on Sugar's 100 day of school project.




January 29th was a rainy sort of day, so after cleaning Sugar's room, and purging clothes and toys, we did some rain painting. We put drops of food coloring on some card stock, then let it sit in the rain for a few minutes. It was fun to watch the rain paint. We let the paper dry, and might be using it to make some Valentines. We also played Sequence for Kids several times, and Sugar played her new Princess U-draw Wii game she got from her grandparents for her birthday. It is the first game that has sucked her in. She isn't much of a video game player, and that is fine by me.

My Week 69

January 16th us still at home with a sick Sugar Bear. The good news....it was a holiday, so neither of us had to be anywhere. Good thing, too. Sugar spent the entire day in bed. Poor little honey. The weather had given us a lite dusting of snow around our house in the night. The first of the season. I knew Sugar Bear was sick when she didn't even bother to look out the window to see it. :( I went outside for a bit.....the first time in 3 days. It was so pretty, and the fresh air was lovely.

January 17th was a WONDERFUL day...minus a sick Sugar Bear. She did rally on this day, and felt pretty darn good with just a low fever. The reason it was soooooooooooo wonderful, you may ask?????? I got high speed Internet, and wireless at that. woo hoo! So very excited. Previously, we had dial up....UGH.....and then Satellite Internet. That was costing us a fortune, and it wasn't very good. I could stream videos or anything. When it would rain heavy.....it would constantly be interrupted. and it rains here.....A LOT! So needless to say....I was over the top excited when High Speed opened up in my area right before Christmas. I set an appointment to get hooked up...and waited. It was so worth waiting for. I LOVE IT!!!!!!! So fast....and we can watch Netflix! Awesome....and the best party.....$40 cheaper a month. WOO HOOOOO! So you can understand that I took a shot of the modem. tee hee

January 18th brought quite a bit of NASTY weather. They closed schools in our area in anticipation of 100 MPH winds. That was such good news for us...because the Fever was back. ugh.....At least this way, Sugar wouldn't miss more instruction at school. The winds came....the rain came with it, and this was the beginning of a really big flood around here. I snapped a shot of the view from our front windows. The fields filled with water rather quickly. We had been having such a dry winter. While we needed the rain.....we could have done without getting like 15 inches in 3 days. ack. However....Sugar and I weren't going anywhere....so we hardly noticed.

January 19th was another day home with a sick little honey. I don't recall doing much of anything at all. While I didn't catch this bug, I did have a minor cold, and was so tired. I basically cuddled my girl...and read 3 books. It was sort of nice in a way. Sugar is so quiet and snuggly when she isn't feeling well. I took a shot of a Pumelo. I blogged a bit about it here. But seriously.....look at the waste on this thing. So much rind. But it is a very sweet grapefruit. I loved the taste...just not the waste.

January 20th was yet ANOTHER day at home. So...if you are counting.....this was our 7th straight day at home....in our jammies....doing nothing. Thanks to the Monday holiday and the bad wind Wednesday, I only missed 3 days at work, and Sugar only missed 3 days of school. If this HAD to happen...it was a pretty good time to have it happen. We took advantage of Netflix a lot....and I taught Sugar Bear how to play Solitaire and Mahjong on our laptop. I forgot to take a photo all day...so snapped a quick shot of the TV while The Hubby was choosing something to watch after Sugar Bear was in bed. As you can see...he has interesting choices in TV watching.

January 21st was a day of rejoicing! For a bit there....we were worried that I'd have to cancel Sugar's Birthday party yet again! Whew...she woke up fever free and feeling GREAT. Of course, she was a bit weak from being sick for 6 days, but she was so ready to get dressed (first time in 6 days), and get out of the house. Her party was a huge success, with 13 friends, and the perfect penguin cupcake cake to celebrate with her. The black frosting...oh yes....that was bad! I normally steer away from artificial food dyes, but there isn't anywhere in our town that does natural....and Sugar NEEDED a penguin cake. So...what the heck...it's just one cake! LOL too bad it needed to be black though. MAN it was so funny. The kids teeth.....ick! it stuck with you, too. I'm sure the moms loved me. Sugar had a yellow foot, so no black mouth for her. :) She was such a happy little honey, though. Great day!

January 22nd just couldn't be spent at home. We'd been cooped up for far....far too long! We met some friends at the Pottery Place, and they gave Sugar a birthday present. In this shot you see the sleeping mask they gave her, and the cake pop they brought for a birthday treat! It was lovely to be with D and I. It had been such a long time since we've seen them. We had both lunch and dinner with them. We have to make a better effort to see them more often. No excuses.

So there you have it. Our week.......what a doozy! Sugar Bear is normally so very healthy, so this was big. However...it was going around. There were 10 out of the 25 kids in her class out sick with this bug that week.

52 Weeks of ME 2012~ Week 4

I can't believe it is already week FOUR in this project. My how time is flying by.

The theme/prompt for the week was : CLOSE

I left it open to any interpretation. It would have meant so many things. I knew immediately that I wanted to get a CLOSE-up of me doing something with something that could also CLOSE. I know....I'm an over achiever like that. :)

Last night was my chance. I set my camera on the remote timer function, snapped on my fish eye lens attachment, and set the whole shebang in my refrigerator. Then I opened the door grabbed something out and snapped the shot with the remote.

The whole time I keep thinking someone was gonna yell, "Quite messing around and CLOSE the refrigerator!" tee hee.....

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The theme/prompt for next week is: At Arms Length

I.........

I am…..Corey

I want…..to be truly known.

I have…..so many reasons to feel blessed.

I wish…..I could read, sew, knit, and edit pictures all at the same time.

I hate…..the word "HATE".

I miss…..chubby baby cheeks, and sweet little fat thighs.

I fear…..that I'll fail to be the example that best serves those around me.

I feel…..the pressure of the unknown.

I hear…..rain and wind.

I smell…..rain and damp soil.

I crave…..ICE CREAM! (it makes no sense....I know this.)

I search…..for more hours in the day to do all the wonderful things life has to offer.

I wonder…..what is next.

I regret…..nothing. It's a waste of time.

I love…..deeply.

I ache…..because I am not in good physical condition.

I care…..sometimes more than I should about what other's might think of me.

I always…..remind myself whose opinion matters most.

I am not…..typical....or normal....or usual.

I believe…..that I am the "me" I'm meant to be.

I dance…..for my girl. It is always a silly dance.....intended to make her smile.

I sing…..all the time. There is a song in my heart....and in my head.

I cry…..more easily since becoming a mother. It just opens your heart, and makes one more vulnerable.

I don’t always…..get things done in a timely fashion. Procrastination is a bad habit.

I fight…..when I feel defensive. If I feel like fighting....I usually need to take a good look at ME!

I write…..less than I'd like. I miss blogging.

I never….say "NEVER" anymore.

I listen…..when I'm not talking....which isn't often enough.

I need…..to change the above. Listen more....talk less.

I am happy…..to be who I am....where I am....and where I'm going.

52 Weeks of ME 2012- Week Three

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The theme/prompt for this week was: MORNING

My week didn't go as planned.....at all. Sugar Bear ended up sick from Saturday morning, until Friday morning. Not even kidding. We didn't leave the house once in that time. I had planned to grab a shot doing something I would normally do on a week day morning, but there just wasn't anything normal about this week at all.

Soooooooooooooo....why not get a shot that is totally not normal? or at least a shot that would make you wonder just how "normal" I am. tee hee

Sugar Bear grabbed this shot of me Thursday morning. I had purchased a Pumelo on Friday....and sort forgot about it. I had never had one before, but it was for sure the biggest darn grapefruit I have ever seen. Sugar Bear and I were goofing around....and she captured a shot of me that makes us both giggle. So why not share?

Tee hee...

Be sure to link up if you are playing along. Can't wait to see your MORNING shots.

Next week's theme/prompt: CLOSE

My Week 68

January 9th was a pretty quick and busy day. We had to run home after school and work to make homemade blueberry muffins for Sugar Bear's birthday celebration at school. Sugar helped me whip them up in no time. They were amazingly yummilious! :)




January 10th is always a big day in the Living and Loving household. Sugar Bear turned SEVEN this year! How on earth can that be! Seems like yesterday I could hold her with one arm. sigh..... I surprised her by putting 7 helium balloons in her room, so that it was the first thing she saw when she woke up. :) We usually are out of the house in about 15 minutes from wake up time. I woke her a bit early so we'd have time to blow out a candle on a blueberry muffin before school. I took the rest of the muffins to her class later in the day. It was such a darling celebration. They had the birthday girl sit in the center of the circle of kids, and each child took turns telling a birthday wish they had for her. So cute. Most wished that she would have a birthday cake that was bigger than the earth, but some were so sweet. A kitten...a pony.....a bunny (she's had all of those) were among them. One girl wished that Sugar would be "filthy, stinkin' rich". lol and one boy wished that she would "not smoke when she grew up." It was quite an experience. Sugar Bear had good birthday. We opened presents and had take out chinese food when we got home that evening.



January 11th was supposed to be a simple sort of day. It was designed to be a half-day at school, with a 7 year well child exam in the afternoon. However, it went a little wonky when Sugar Bear fell on the playground before school even started, and cracked her head pretty hard on a metal beam. She got quite the goose egg on her forehead and wanted to go home. We bumped up the well child exam a little earlier, and had her checked out. All is good.




January 12th found us back to our regular schedule. Work for me....school and dance for Sugar Bear. I snapped a quick shot of Sugar Bear's dance bun when we got home. I love the little crochet bun cover we have for her.


January 13th has school for the Sugar, and a morning of CPR/FIRST AID class for me. This marked my 16th year of CPR class. Through my work I have taken it once a year, and Seriously...do they have to change it all the time like they do? I feel like I should be an expert by now. This year was a bit different though. This class was actually the "make up class". We usually do these classes in the fall. Myself and some other staff could bear to do it in the fall. You might remember that in early September, while at an all staff meeting of over 100 staff, one my co-workers died right before our very eyes. Most of us had never experienced such a thing, and seeing CPR first hand....then imaging taking a class a few weeks after was a bit much for me. I will admit that it was still a bit hard all these months later. :(




January 14th was supposed to be a special, awesomely, fun day. It was the day of Sugar Bear's PARTY! We were all set.....then about 1.5 hours before party time, Sugar Bear spiked a fever and vomited. :( NOT GOOD! We had to cancel the party, and re-schedule for the following weekend. This is a shot of my sick girl.




January 15th found us still in our jammies, and not really doing a darn thing. I literally lay in bed with Sugar Bear all day. High fevers had her feeling pretty low, and she barely talked all day. Poor sweet girl.





You'd think she'd be up and running again by now....but we are 5 days out....and she is still sick. There has been no school for her this week. We have done NOTHING....and I do mean NOTHING (well, I've read almost 3 books) for days. We are getting stir crazy, and really worried we might have to cancel the party again. :( boo hiss.....

52 Weeks of ME 2012- Week Two

Thank you to everyone that participated last week. You can jump in anytime. No need to get caught up.....or anything. Just play when you can. Your kiddos will appreciate each and every effort you made to document yourself, and your life that you share with them.
This week's Theme/Prompt was : FAVORITE COLOR
As for me.....BLUE has been my favorite color for as long as I can remember. I've been told for ages that when I wear blue it brings out my eyes. I tend to wear quite a bit of blue.....especially scarves. I love a pretty blue scarf as an accessory. Yesterday, I found myself wearing a blue shirt......blue vest.....and a blue scarf. What a perfect day to snap a self portrait. I managed to get the shot of myself in my truck again. There is something about the light through the windshield that I love. It works so good to set the camera on the dash, and get a photo of me.

Be sure to link up, if you are participating on your blog, or head over the Flickr group if you do not have a blog. :)

Next week's Theme/Prompt is: MORNING

I can't wait to see what you all come up with. :) Have a great week.

My Week 67

January 2nd was the official New Year's holiday, so we got to stay home from School and work ONE.MORE.DAY. :) We weren't sad about it one little bit. We putzed around the house doing this and that. Sugar Bear wanted to wear the fake princess nails she got in her stocking. They lasted about 15 minutes...then HAD.TO.COME.OFF! We are not girly in our house. They were what too high maintenance for us. They were holding back our adventures.

January 3rd found us smacked back into reality. School for the Sugar, and work for me. It was a long....long....long day. I took this picture of the building next to Sugar Bear's dance school. I love a cold crisp night, and the clear blue skies. I always find this window to be a bit creepy looking with the glow of the street light. I'm not fond at all of getting home in the dark. I'm looking forward to the longer daylight hours.

January 4th brought a really wonderful surprise. Sugar Bear brought home a book from her reading group at school and proceeded to read the entire thing to me excitedly. This is BIG.....HUGE for her. She learned to read when she was four. The loved it, and kept up the excitement for a month or so....then said, "I'm done. I know how to read, but I don't like to!" It has been like pulling teeth ever since. I tend to parent with the idea that "all things will come in their time" attitude. I don't push, or rush....or try to force Sugar to do anything. She potty trained late....but she did it in 3 days, and never an accident after. I like to wait until she is completely ready. So with the reading....I've just let it go. I ask her if she wants to read to me, and she always.....ALWAYS says, "No thanks!" So when she jumped in the truck soooooooooooo excited to read me this book.....I about died, but I kept my composure.....said, "OOOOO...I'd love that!" She did great. I snapped this shot at a stoplight. :) The book was "The Cinnamon Bun Mystery". I'm thinking it was the Mystery part that drew her in. So I'm looking for some beginning reader mysteries for her.

January 5th was a regular old boring day. I entertained myself at work snapping a few shots of myself on the phone. I know this confused a few readers when I posted it for my "52 weeks of ME" photo. I don't like to say exactly what I do for a living, as I tend to try to keep some stuff pretty anonymous. I will say, that I am in the Early Childhood field, but I'm not in the classroom. I don't spend a great deal of time on the phone, but I on it a bit, depending on the day. Often I'm on the computer at the same time, so it is nice to have my hands free. It just takes some getting used to. I do like not having a crink in my neck from trying to hold the handset on my shoulder.

January 6th didn't hold many new or interesting things, but I wanted to nab a shot of Sugar Bear when she got off the bus. I only get to pick her up from the bus on Mondays and Fridays. I love seeing her jump down the stairs of the bus, and run to me all full of glee. I don't care what has happened during the day....this smiling face can fix it. ♥

January 7th was a fun day for all. The Hubby spent time with friends, Sugar went to her Grandma's with her cousins, and I went to a super, duper fun girl's night with my own friends. I stayed out until 3am....and was still wide awake. We chatted it up....played some "Just Dance" on the Wii, and chatted some more. Always a good time. We need to do it more often.

January 8th was a quite day. I was operating on about 4 hours sleep, and Sugar was ultra excited about some Birthday gifts she got from her grandparents, and her cousins. We had a blast playing this fun new "I Spy" game. Sugar is really good at it, and that makes her happy. Like many kiddos.....she doesn't like to lose, so it is a good thing when she is successful at a fame. I often let her win the first few to get her going, then I sneak in a win for myself. It is a goal of mine to help her be a good sport when it comes to games. She is getting better about it, but it isn't easy for her. She gets frustrated and doesn't want to play if she doesn't win MOST of the time. I know this is normal, but I do feel it can be helped, so we are working on it.

It's a New year!

While I'm not one to really do Resolutions every New Years, I am the type of person who does take the time to look towards the future, and think about where I've been....and where I want to be. I don't neccesarily choose out things I will try to do.....it is more like I find myself reflecting and refocusing.

New Year's day 2012 found us lazing around the house per usual, when a wonderful invite "dinged" into my inbox. A lovely new friend texted us the opportunity to join her family for an afternoon outside. I didn't hesitate to accept, as I want to say, "YES" more, and stay inside LESS.

We hoped in out truck and headed on out to a local track, and marsh area. 15 years in this area......and I had never been there. I am thrilled to say that we will definately be going back. Such a wonderful place to hang out with friends.

The kiddos got busy riding bikes. Some had new Christmas bikes, some had their same old bike, but it didn't matter. Everyone enjoyed racing around the track.

Sugar Bear hadn't had a good chance to ride her bike in over a month....or two. She was thrilled. We need to raise her seat though. She's been doing some growing for sure.

It had been sort of rainy the days before this, so this glorious light was a breath of fresh air. I was feeling so very grateful for the opportunity to be out in the sun. I think it did Sugar Bear some good, as well. She was full of smiles.

All that riding around the track can make a girl thirsty. REAL thirsty. She loves having a basket on the front of her bike. It is a perfect place for a meal from Subway. The milk came in handy, for sure.

There is just something about bikes laying about that screams childhood to me. I almost stole this bike.....I love, love, love the color.

Sugar's bike is a pink hand me down. I can't wait to get her her very own bike someday. Pink is her least favorite color......but she would never complain. I love that about her. Her seat has even been 1/3 eaten by a horse.......but the basket makes it all okay.

After awhile, we all hit the marsh trails to do a little bit of geocaching. I have never done this before, so it was a new experience. WOO HOO for trying something new. The scenery was AMAZING. If I hadn't held up the progress of the group, I could have taken photos all darn day. So......beautiful.

Soon we found our first item, and the little girls got right in the bushes to get it out. Loved seeing their excitement.

Sugar was fascinated by the treasures. What an interesting hobby this geocaching is.

Did I already mention how amazing the day was?????? and how beautiful the surroundings were? Seriously....I'm so grateful for my friend reaching out and getting me off my couch. I could have missed this.....

And this......

and this.......

Here's to 2012. May I spend more time saying, "yes" and less time in my house.

52 Weeks of ME 2012- Week One

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Welcome to the "52 Weeks of ME" project for 2012.

Week one's photo theme/prompt was: NEW

I'm so very excited to get this year going. I had an idea of this week, but worried that I wouldn't have time to pull it off, so I nabbed a shot of myself at work the other day. I'm sporting my headset to our NEW phone system, and let me tell you.....I do not love it. We've transitioned to this new phone system a few months ago and we are STILL having issues. If it weren't for all the issues, I might still not be a fan of it. It is so strange not to have a handset. I feel like a dork when I'm using this headset. I thought I might like it, but it turns out....if feels awkward. Maybe, it will just take time, and soon I'll love it.....but I'm not sure.

So there you have it! Week one is done. :) If you are playing along, please take the time to link up. If you are just looking, please take the time to see what the other participants have posted.

Next week's theme/prompt is:

FAVORITE COLOR

My Week 66

December 26th was such a wonderful and relaxing day. I was suffering a bit from a cold that started on Christmas eve, but being that I was at my parent's house, I just didn't have a lot that I needed to do. I got a chance to take it easy. My dad, Sugar Bear and I had started a fun puzzle project on Christmas night. We were able to wrap it all up in the morning. If you like mysteries and you like puzzles, you really need to do one of these puzzle mysteries. We had such fun figuring out "who done it". There were two 500 piece puzzles that were mixed together, and we had no idea what they looked like. Once we got the puzzles together, we were able to find the clues to solve the mystery that we read in the little booklet that comes with it. I loved working on this with my dad and my girl. GREAT memory I'll cherish forever.

December 27th was a day of wrapping up the fun at my parents, then stopping off at the in-law's house on our way home. Nothing really got done......we just took it easy. It was nice to be back home. I snapped this shot of Sugar Bear playing around with her apple slices. I can never get good color in our bathroom. This is wear she wanted me to get the shot of her. She is a goof ball.

December 28th was a mellow morning. I was still suffering a bit from my cold. It wasn't a horrible cold, but it tired me out. Sugar Bear met up with her cousins and headed back up to my parent's house with them for a few days. She was VERY excited about this. I planned on getting some things done around the house....but I was pretty lazy. I took this photo of a fork full of the ice cream cake I made for Christmas eve. It truly could be my favorite dessert I have ever made. Thank you, Pinterest! You can see it here. If you love Girl Scout Samoa cookies....you HAVE to make this pie. WOW!

December 29th was delightful. I read.....and read.....and just sort of lazed around. My cold made me feel so very tired. Sugar had a blast up at Grandma and Grandpa's house, while mama did NOTHING. If I'm gonna take vacation time.....and be sick....I might as well be lazy, too. I'm enjoying this cozy mystery series. It is sort of like getting to knit and read at the same time. If I could really figure out how to do this....I'd be a happy, happy girl. ♥

December 30th was another simple day at home. By now....I'm not sure if I have bathed in days..... (shhhhh, don't tell anyone). I'm pretty sure no one wants to be around me, except for the dog....she won't quit giving me her ball. She is sooooooooooo obsessed with fetch. SO.VERY.OBSESSED!!!!

December 31st....New Year's eve! I'm finally feeling a bit better. I bathed. Yes....I did. and I even got a few things done. I traveled into town to retrieve my Sugar Bear, and do some grocery shopping. We headed home, set off a few fireworks, and had Miss Sugar in bed by 9pm. Too many late nights at Grandma's had her exhausted. The Hubby was asleep by 10pm, and I stayed up past midnight, but I was in bed reading from 11pm -1:07am. I couldn't stop reading "My Lobotomy". I finished it up....and finally drifted off into 2012.

January 1st was New Year's day. We got a surprise invite to meet with some friends at a local track to let the kiddos ride bikes. A German friend made some really wonderful "New Year's Pretzels", and brought them to share. It is a German tradition and brings good luck. We were to honored to be a part of this fun. It was lovely. We are hoping for many fun outings with friends in 2012.