A Place of Yes

I was raised to come from a place of yes.  You always accept callings, you volunteer to bring people meals, volunteer to help with...whatever.  Well, I will always say yes to callings, and will always volunteer to help when I can, but I am going to have to learn what my limits are and to say no to something every once in a while.  For the past month (and the next three weeks), we have had something to do Every. Single. Day.  I had a slight stress induced panic attack tonight and was telling Jeremy I will probably cancel plans with friends I had on Saturday.  I already will have company in town and Shelby's gymnastics meet that day, I was feeling like it might be too much to try and do something else that day as well.  Well then Jeremy got all mad at me and told me the "plans" were really a decoy so he could surprise me for my birthday.  It's kind of funny because he calls me Nancy Drew and I always figure out birthday/Christmas presents, but I really wasn't even trying to this time!  I was just stressed, and he had no idea just how stressed until tonight. 

My energy levels are dropping pretty fast and I know I need to slow stuff down.  We can't do stuff during the day, obviously, because of work.  That means that we are driving around like crazy people every night trying to get things done.  We've eaten at Subway more times this month than probably in the past year (at least it's not McDonald's!), but the real problem is that after-work time is supposed to be family time.  The girls are couped up in the house all day, we don't need them to be couped up in the car at night.  I just need to learn that I can't do everything and that sometimes it's ok to say no.  It is such a hard lesson to learn, but so important- not just for my health, but the health of our family.  (Not to mention wallets- pretty sure in the last month we have just about covered our sitter's tuition!)  So if I say no to plans, I promise it isn't because we don't like you.  We just need some quiet time!

Goodbye, Pre-K!

We left Destin early so that we could make it back home in time for Shelby's pre-K graduation.  It was so cute.  Of course Shelby and Jorin were standing next to each other.  The kids sang a few songs and then the pre-k classes got ready for their ceremony.  They got to walk in with their caps on (They had pictures made in caps and gowns - sooooo cute.) and then they each walked across the stage as their names were called and received their "diplomas".  I didn't get any good pictures because Joey was climbing on me, but I did order the dvd (couldn't resist), so hopefully they caught it all.

After the graduation we went to dinner at Chuy's. We surprised Shelby with a little gift- some new earrings and a necklace. Just a small little gift to show her we were proud of her and her hard work this year. She was pretty happy.

 To cap off the night we had ice cream at Beth Marie's. It was all pretty great.

Wednesday was Shelby's last day.  All the kids brought in their favorite board games to play and they got Chick-fil-A for lunch.  Since she has a summer birthday I brought in cupcakes and we got to sing to her that day.  Somebody loves attention.  Also, notice Jorin sitting next to Shelby.  All the boys were at one table and the girls at another.  He walked in, saw only one space left at the boy table, so he went to the girl table and saved a spot for Shelby to sit next to him.  So sad that they won't be at the same school next year!

Destin!

We had the best time in Destin!  Our good friends' daughter is turning one, so to celebrate, they rented a beach house and invited a bunch of friends to join in the fun.  We all waited for that special girl for such a long time and were thrilled to get to celebrate her. 

The weather was absolutely perfect on Thursday and Friday.  Seriously, I was amazed that it was only in the 80s.  The water was so pretty and there was hardly any seaweed, and I never once saw a jellyfish.  Shelby was in Heaven.  She definitely has my love for the beach.  She could stay out there for HOURS and HOURS if it were up to her.  Joey had mixed feelings about it.  She hates dry sand, and can tolerate wet sand.  Overall I think she liked it though.  On Friday she was so exhausted from all the fun we had she took about a 2 1/2 hour nap right there on the beach. 

I guess that nap really re-energized her though, because that night at Fudpucker's she danced for at least 45 minutes.  As soon as she heard this girl singing on stage and saw that some older girls were dancing, she jumped right out of my arms and started dancing with them.  And when they invited some girls onstage, Joey jumped right up there with them.  She was having the BEST time.  Everyone kept asking me how old she was, and a few of them were videoing her (which is actually kinda creepy).

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NJ7H87Vw3mk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3-ylJhJv9n4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8T_9Pq0br5Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RQCxTczv4VE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>iframe>

Jenny did a great job with the party on Saturday.  Everything looked so cute, and the kids had a great time!

Seriously...we had so much fun!  Thank you Mike and Jenny for inviting us.  We love you!

Carnival

Today was Shelby's school carnival.  She has been looking forward to it all week.  They had games, tattoos, races, a train ride, and of course, cotton candy.  The kids all seemed to have a great time.  Joey even got to participate (It was that or a tantrum- the teachers took pity on me.). 

Shelby and her best boy friend (but don't make the mistake of calling him her boyfriend, though that's what Jorrin calls himself) Jorrin.  Shelby is really sad they won't be in school together next year.

I just realized Shelby amd Jorrin had matching tattoos :)

 

Whoa

Last Tuesday as Shelby and I were leaving gymnastics I got a call from the Bishop asking if he could stop by the house.  I automatically assumed he was stopping by to speak to Jeremy because he is the Deacon's Quorum advisor and they recently made some changes in YM.  I quickly called Jeremy and asked him to make sure the living room had been straightened up and got home as fast as I could.  I literally had no time to even dwell on the possibilities of why he was coming over, so when he started talking, I was startled when I realized he was talking to me, and he was talking about YW.  "Ok", I thought.  "He's going to ask me to be an advisor or the secretary, or MAYBE a counselor."  So I was completely in shock when the words "Young Women's President" came out of his mouth. 

I am so excited to be working in YW again.  While I have served as YW president before, I was only 21 then so I feel like I (hopefully) have grown since then and can maybe offer more to the girls than I could then.  Of course, this ward is MUCH larger than our tiny ward in Natchitoches, so I feel a bit more pressure there.

I was up until almost 2 last night putting together a calendar that has everything on it- gym schedule (we share a building), teaching schedule, dances, mutual- including who's in charge of what activities, etc.  With work and the girls, life is already so busy, so I was having a bit of a panic attack.  I am starting to feel a bit more organized now though, and will feel lots better after we get through mutual on Wednesday and our first presidency meeting later this week.

So that's what has been on my mind all week.  Other than that, things are good.  Turns out I do have plantar fasciitis.  I have to stretch my feet in the morning and wear these super hard inserts in my shoes.  I am not supposed to be barefoot at all, or wear flip flops.  I haven't been great at following the last two rules.  But I have gotten used to running with the inserts in my shoes, and that has helped a lot.  The worst pain is when I am in the shower and when I am cooking.  I really need to get a good pair of slippers that I can wear around the house with my inserts in them.  Also, in other medical news, my mole biopsy came back negative.  I wasn't worried about it at all, he only wanted to do a biopsy because that one mole was darker than any other moley-freckle thing on my back.  BUT, I will say that it definitely made me not care that my legs are pasty white. 

Shelby got her "report card" today and did very well.  Last time she got a few W's (working on) for things like listening and waiting her turn to talk.  She's definitely the class clown and a social butterfly.  This time she only needs to work on tying her shoes  She almost has it down.  The other school related thing that has been on my mind a lot for Shelby is the bilingual program.  When I went to register her for Kindergarten they asked if we wanted her in the bilingual program.  I am just not sure how I feel about it.  She takes a Spanish class in preschool now, and really enjoys it, but I don't understand how a teacher can teach a class of half Spanish only speaking kids and half English only speaking kids how to read (in both English and Spanish) and not have them fall behind.  I just need more info on it, and of course, both mandatory meetings are on Wednesday nights (when Jeremy and I have to both be at mutual). 

That's about it for us right now- kids, church, work.  I keep waiting for things to settle down but they only seem to get busier and busier!

Look Whooo Turned 2!

Happy Birthday to my little Joey!  I can't believe two years have already gone by.  I was just watching the video of her birth and feel like it was just yesterday (Emotionally, at least.  Thankfully not physically.)  In honor of the big girl we had a fun little birthday play date this morning with some of her friends from nursery.  I pretty much decided the day after her birthday last year that her next party theme would be owls.  I love all the cute owl stuff that I have been seeing over the past year! 

I had grand plans of creating this woodland mural to wrap around the room, and then creating this huge tree that would stand in a corner and have owls hanging from it.  In the end, this was all I did:

Not quite what I'd had in mind, but I don't think Joey cared either way.  We brought some of the toys downstairs from the playroom and just had a nice time playing together.  I think I have finally learned that if you are going to have a party for kids this young, you can't really plan much.  It can be overwhelming, and ultimately frustrating for everyone involved if you do.  After playing for a bit, we had a nice little picnic on the floor. 

Of course, after a light lunch it was time for cupcakes.  Joey decided she couldn't wait for some silly song to get her cupcake, and grabbed one right around the "dear Joey" part.

After the kids got nice and sugared up it was time for presents.  Joey got some really cute sound/music books that she looked at all afternoon.  After careful consideration in the toy aisle, Shelby chose to get Joey a cute little Dora doll. 

Joey and the girls were really cute.  We were trying to get them to all smile for us, and then they broke out the silly faces.

After the party we decided it would be a good time to give Joey her present.  Ok, truthfully, it's for both girls, and we were going to get it anyway, we just figured Joey's birthday would be a good time to do it.  We told the girls to close their eyes and guided them through the back door.  They were both so thrilled to see a trampoline in the back yard!  In a few weeks we are going to be digging a ginormous hole in the ground and putting it in. 

After some jumping, we cleaned up and went to dinner at Cheesecake Factory and then let Joey (and Shelby) ride the carousel and play on the playground.  I think Joey would ride the carousel ten times in a row if we let her.  She has the biggest grin the entire time she is on it. 

I hope Joey had a great birthday.  We love her so much- feisty-ness and all- and couldn't imagine our family without her!

Easter 2012

Another long weekend in the books.  We left Friday afternoon for Hattiesburg and got in around 12:30 am.  The girls handled the trip ok, but when we got in, Joey wanted to be up and playing.  She kept saying, "Go see Papaw?".  She finally fell asleep around 2 and then was up bright and early at about 7 asking for Papaw again. 

Every year at Easter the Gore family has a family reunion.  It is great because we do an Easter egg hunt for the kids, have a yummy lunch, and get to visit with family that we only get to see once a year.

Shelby ran straight for the Easter baskets...

Joey ran straight for Papaw.

After breakfast we packed everything up and headed out.  On our way home we decided to stop and make a surprise visit to Jeremy's dad.  He was going to drive down and meet us in Hattiesburg yesterday, but he just had back surgery a couple weeks ago and is still recovering.  Thankfully they weren't mad that we dropped by unannounced.  ;)  It was great seeing him and Stephanie, even if only for an hour. 

The girls traveled really well on the way home.  They took a good nap in the car and watched Beauty and the Beast and played.  I hope they travel that well when we head to FL next month and to UT in June!

It was a great Easter and we were glad to see everyone, even if only for a short time.  Now it is on to party prep for Saturday- Joey's 2nd birthday!!  But before that I think I am going to have to make a trip to the doctor to get my foot x-rayed.  I either have a stress fracture again or plantar fasciitis.  Probably the latter, but boy does it hurt.  I can barely even stand on it- which really stinks, because I had just started running again with minimal migraines.  Hopefully it will heal quickly.