HOLY COW!

Blogging is like journaling and I'm sure by now I don't need to tell you that I was never good at keeping a journal! So, I apologize to those of you who have been checking just to come and find nothing. It was a crazy summer, here, gone, here, gone and I just don't always feel like doing this. Right now, I'm working on, as always, BALANCE. And trying to get into our groove as the school year started last week. My work schedule is based off the boys schedule and then also scheduling other family activities and making sure my splendidly, wonderful, VERY helpful hubby is available to watch the kiddos so I can work on evenings and Saturdays, is HUGE! And on occasion when we need a bit more help, my sweet, wonderful mother-in-law is available sometimes as well. We truly appreciate all the help she and my father-in-law have been, otherwise we would be home ALL the time without hardly any opportunity to keep some of our sanity by going on dates, out with friends or working to provide for our family.
Hopefully, it won't be long before I post again. But don't get your hopes up, just check back sometime and be patient with me. I can try to at least just post some pics with captions since I already give you stories when we talk in person or on the phone. Have a great day and I'm sure I'll talk with you before I post again!

Karate Awards!

Okay, a week late but finally here! I know you understand though since the boys and I just went to Pueblo and packing was a bit more important and pertinent than posting on our blog. =) So, here it is, a little video I put together showing a bit of what the kids put on and B getting his new yellow/black belt! We hope you enjoy!

Ride Baby Ride!!!

Hi everyone, check this kiddo out!!! B has been without his bike since beginning of last summer or the year before because his training wheel broke in our driveway grate. We still had not found a decent replacement but we figured we'd just bring his bike back out, take the other wheel off and see if he might be ready to just start learning without. What do you know? Our next door neighbor girl Reily showed Brendan what to do and he GOT IT in no time at all! Our little boy learned to ride his bike with only two wheels!!!! And I have a muted video for ya! I can't stand hearing my voice recorded. =) Enjoy!

Looky, looky we have some pics again!

These are a few pics for you from Brendan's karate tournament last Saturday. In this first one he was competing in Strongest Kick! As you can see, Dave got a great action shot!

This is B getting one of his participation medals, he got 4 in all and is so proud that he did well and we are happy he had lots of fun!

This is our little karate kid demonstrating a block for us!

And finally this is B getting ready to do the big q-tips, he's facing us. And the kid with his back to us is bending down, he's not really that short. ;)

We hope you enjoy! I will be sure to try and keep up posting about every other week and once in a while put up a couple pics. Thanks so much for not losing hope in us posting again!

Inspiration

Hi family and friends,

I went to my network group this morning for our speaker week and got inspired to check in with you all. Our speaker is a writer and was talking about blogging for our businesses. While I only have a family blog, I thought, well that's a great idea for the future however how can I even think of it for my business when I cannot even keep up for our personal blog?! I am sorry I have not been keeping up, the thought of having to catch up on pictures is what's been keeping me down. Knowing that I can quickly write to ya and catch you up on the kids is the least I can do right now.

Brendan just participated this last Sat. in his first karate tournament! He got 4 participation medals, for trying to be the strongest punch, kick, fastest to get out of holds and giant q-tips. He did well and most importantly had so much fun that when we got home all he was trying to do was an activity at the tournament he had not learned yet that he saw other kids doing! I have a little video of that I will post when I do a couple pics this weekend.

Carter has been doing amazingly well on the potty! All of a sudden we knew he was ready b/c he was using his pullups as an excuse and would do better if we had him in underwear. So right now we are in the middle of staying dry for two weeks straight so that he can get his special dragon blankie that he picked out at the store, just like big bro got to do when he did the same as well. We are already wild about the movie 'How to Train Your Dragon' and we haven't even seen it yet! We are trying to wait until the cheap theater but maybe we will see about going to the drive-in which is already open and showing it and way funner to do!

Dave is doing great with his job, nothing new really! I am amazed and blessed by how much he does and can do for our family! And I can't wait until we can have him quit the papers and neither can he, however we are putting it out indefinitely until we can sell our place and move. Hopefully asap!

I myself, you pretty much know from the last post, two businesses that I absolutely love with ups and downs but that's par for the course when they are dependent on others wanting and needing my services. I am busier and my income is greater than it has been since I've been out of school! I'm just enjoying work more now than I ever have, maybe because I'm more ready now than I ever have been to really be working! Plus I can still have time with my family and make my own schedule which has always been a big factor in my decision to do what I do. =)

I have put it down in my calendar that I will post the first few pictures this Saturday morning to you. And I will only pick out some key ones that are favorites so I don't inundate you with too much. After that I am going to do my best to set aside time every other week to update the blog and keep in touch with you all about the boys and us!

Thank you for being patient with me and still checking in once in a while so that I know at least one or two of you are still interested in what we are up to as a family! We love you all so much and hope you are having a blessed April.

Oh the lack

So sorry, I still have not posted any pics and have to admit that I don't know when I will. I hate to say I'm too busy, it just hasn't been my priority. I started a new business in January so now I have two businesses that I am learning to balance along with family life and still get a little me time in there as well. I have learned and those very close to me have learned, that if I don't get any alone time for awhile I can be very displeasing to be around. I am way more social than when I was younger but I've always been someone who has enjoyed my time alone. Maybe it's having been raised an only child and when my friends couldn't play I learned very well how to play by myself and be comfortable doing so. Probably also why I always thought it was weird in middle and high school when other girls could not go to the restroom without a friend tagging along. Anyway I'm rambling whatever comes into my head first, I took yesterday off to rest so I have a bit more on my plate today than I planned. It's all good though, I just remind myself that it will get done and I can always move things around since I do make my own schedule. Unless of course someone wants to come see our home which is for sale now. We got a call from a lady yesterday afternoon wanting to see it and only had about 10 minutes to do a quick pickup. We are selling ourselves and I certainly didn't want to lose a potential buyer by making her wait 24hours or more to see it. I'm very hopeful we can sell it on our own and when we have a buyer I have a real estate agent who will do all our legal paperwork for us for a much more affordable price than listing it. I'm so grateful I found her and we are so excited as a family to be making the change and be able to find a house hopefully asap! Well, I need to get. You all have a great week and we'll talk soon!

Things really have gotten busier with one in K and one in preschool! Plus I now have two jobs!

In a way I hate to say that we are so busy and yet at the same time it's a nice change as long as I have some time to relax! Which is why I have scheduled family time for us as well so we can relax. We have blocked out every Sunday on our calendar for family plus I won't work on Tues nights when Brendan has his Karate. As for getting to the blog, I've clearly had other things I've been focusing on. I can't believe it's been over a month and a half since I last posted, I'm so sorry for those of you who check fairly often. I'm gonna try to get better. What I want to do either tonight or tomorrow is put some more pictures up for you all, we have some from B's karate test in mid-Dec., he went from white belt to yellow and is back at it again. They started when school did and then he'll get tested again in May I believe! We had a very busy yet good Christmas! Got to see quite a bit of family in Pueblo for a few days and then came back home to spend the new year here and have Christmas and B's bday with Dave's parents on New Years Eve, that was very relaxing and we even let the boys stay up past midnight! Of course I warned them that if they wanted to make it that they would need a nap so they took good ones obviously. ;) I've also just started my own 2nd business! I am still massaging and loving it but have been thinking for quite a long time about becoming a PartyLite Consultant to supplement our income, plus get free candles which I love! Another big reason and the most important for me to finally make the decision is that I want to help Dave quit the paper routes he currently has by the time summer starts and I really believe I can do it! For those of you who helped me start by ordering from my starter show, I can't possibly thank you enough for your support, it means the world to me! Thanks to you I was able to earn my starter kit for free! They should be coming in a couple weeks, I will keep you posted and can't wait for our order to come. I also just set up my website with Partylite, so if you want, feel free to check it out and pass my info on to people you know in my area of Ft. Collins/Loveland! www.partylite.biz/alyssamccall I appreciate any and all referrals for both my businesses! Well, I need to get some work done and also relax before a couple of clients I'm working on tonight. Take care and I will post pics soon! Love and blessings to you all!