Today I'm 35

Valerie and Dad (scary white man in scary tight swim shorts.....thanks 1979!)

 Today I turned 35.    I have been reflective on this birthday, probably because I've been dreading it for a week....a year......longer.   The closer it got, the more I felt a lingering sadness or disappointment.   I don't know if I can put it into words, but this year marked some kind of finality for me.   I finally have to admit.....I am no longer young.  20s are quickly vanishing in my rear view.   Yes...yes...yes....I know "35 is still young".......but let's be really really honest....it is a far cry from the 20s and moving rapidly towards 40.   I felt like I was coming face to face with the fact that I'm not where/what I thought I would be by this point in my life.   I spent a couple days leading up to my birthday feeling sorry for myself, convincing myself that I had failed somehow AND then........................a thought.............    

Valerie 7 yrs old.   (Kate's age)

 SO WHAT?!

No, I'm not where I thought I'd be and yes, I've made lots of wrong turns and detours and taken quite a few scenic routes....................

SO WHAT!? 

YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY BABY!

In many ways, I have grown so much and I started thinking about all the things I like about me.  I haven't failed at my journey.  It's not finished, and what is written isn't so terrible.   I'm a pretty good me.      This led into pretty much the best birthday ever.   In years past, I have kept my birthday a secret and somehow expected others to divine this information, but this year (partly due to my distress) I (and facebook) told people.......

My birthday is TODAY!
and then.....I let myself ENJOY it instead of thinking all the ways I let another year slip away.   I focused on all the good things about my day and me and all the things I have to look forward to, and I have to say this has been the best birthday ever.     My sister in law made a beautiful dinner and cheesecake on Sunday (end of mopey period) and she took Jessica for me today.  I went and joined the YMCA to start working out and doing fun things as a family.   Then I poked around Walmart and enjoyed picking up a few things alone.  Christopher took the day off and we enjoyed a nice lunch with no kids and really talked.  I felt reconnected to him in a way we haven't in a long time.   We talked about things that needed talking about and things that were just fun.  We held hands.  We poked around Barnes and Noble and talked some more.  Then we got to pick up our kids from school TOGETHER!  (even with the dog)  

All day long facebook and email kept buzzing with birthday wishes from friends and family who I love and who love me back.    I talked to my parents, who are out of town, and enjoyed hearing from them.  My friend, Jamee, and I made a lunch date at my favorite place for Wednesday.   I can't wait!   The icing on the cake was when my dear friend, Sally, picked me up, gave me a super gift and stole me away for some pie.   I adore her and I love talking to her.   She is just awesome!  She makes a better me and has really helped me to grow.    It made me feel so super special that she made time for me!   (like sitting at the cool kids table)    It is the end of my day and you know what?    

35 LOOKS PRETTY GOOD ON ME. 

In honor of my day and of the reflection I have been able to have here are my 

 20 Things That are Pretty Great About Being Me and 15 Things I Am Looking Forward To

1.   I can really rock short hair.  

2.  I have a husband who I am still in love with.  

3.  3 great kids that I brought into this world....I mean, wow!   

4.  so many wonderful friends who are true blue and would be there for me   

5.  I am much cooler now than I was growing up.

6.  I tell it like it is.  

7.  I am real--no fakeys here.   

8.  I have super fun socks that I like to mix n match.  

9.  My van has AC AND a DVD player! --movin on up  

10.  My dog is the snuggliest sweetest mister.    

11.  I have grown so much as a person and feel much more in touch with me.....and I kind of like me too.  

12.   I've become a lot less concerned with what other people think.  

13.  I love people for who they are.   

14.  I live close to my parents and my brother

15.  I have a great job and bosses

16.  I've decided that changing my dreams doesn't mean I've failed at the other ones....it means I've grown into new ones.

17.   I make cool things.

18.   I can play with the kids and enjoy it more than they do.   

19.    I have learned how to play Plants vs Zombies

20.  I can say I love you.     

1.  Getting in better shape to keep up with my kiddos 

2.  Showing my children how important our faith is.  

3.   Loving my body.  

4.  More adventures.  

5.  Buying my first house.  

6.  Being a 2 car family.  

7.  Running a 5k.  

8.  Keeping a clean and organized house.  

9.  Keeping records of our memories.  

10.  Sending kids on missions.   

11.  Sending kids to college.  

12.   Retiring in the mountains or as a DisneyWorld character.....yep....I think that would be cool

13.  Learning more about myself and my place in the world.  

14.  Loving more.  Giving more.  Learning more.    

15.   Finishing my degree. 

Back By Popular Demand....and More Awesome Than Ever!

I can't even believe that it has been 3 years since I've updated this blog.   So many many changes since then (new jobs, new kiddo, new pets, new experiences) and yet many important things have remained the same (still married to the same stud, still live in the same home, still attending same school).   It would be completely impossible for me to try and "catch up" this blog.  So....I'm not going to catch it up.  I'm going to go from here.  I'll be making at least one entry a week to keep up on our happenings and I will try to do at least one flashback entry a week.
This summer has been idyllic for us in many ways.     We went on a dream vacation to Disney World.  We've played and loved and laughed together.  Christopher has a promotion which is really providing us a financial security that we haven't experienced before.
  This week, we went to the dentist!   The kids LOVE going to the dentist.   Seriously...they jump up and down.    Kate gets jealous of Dallin because he has an appliance and gets to go to the dentist more than she does.   We go to Dr Bain in Pflugerville.   This is all 3 children's 2nd dental appointment.....ever.....yes, I have issues.  I am super proud of myself for getting them all in a second time ON TIME!  Yay me!     They all did great and had no cavities.  They made it in the cavity free club.  Here are there facebook photos (or mugshots...whichever)   

 

In case you were wondering.....yes....we now have 3 lovely children.  Our sweet Jessica (the lone blonde) was born December 1, 2011.  She is really something and keeps us hopping.  We adore her.  She was especially cute at her dental visit.  She climbed up and sat in the chair.  She wanted to know how everything worked, and she entertained the entire staff by singing "ABCs" and "Hot Dog Hot Dog Hot Diggity Dog"  (from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse).   She definitely stole the show and was just so excited to be big and do this big kid thing.  

My big kids also wrapped up swimming lesson with Tadpoles.    Tadpoles are the swim lessons before you get to be on the swim team, the FAST Frogs.     It was 6 weeks of 4 day/week lessons, and they both improved so so much.  They can now both swim the length of the pool in freestyle.   They can also do backstroke and are learning breast stroke and butterfly.   They are not olympic level or anything and the strokes/form still need a lot of work, but 6 weeks ago they were both non-swimmers.   They had so much fun and can't wait to go next year.  The best news is that they will both be able to be FAST frogs!    Yay!   Looking forward to swim team next summer. 

Dallin's 1st Day of Kindergarten

Dallin started Kindergarten today at Gattis Elementary School. He has a wonderful teacher named Miss Thompson and already has some friends in his class.
A couple of years ago, we didn't think public school would be an option. Even 1 year ago, I was leaning towards homeschooling him this year. However, he has progressed so much and grown up so much that I knew he was ready. After we checked out the school, I realized that the best thing for him right now would be the hardest thing for me. He was ready. The school is great, and I am blessed beyond reason to have him at the point that he will not only survive, but excel in a social school setting. However, the selfish side of me still does not want to believe that it is time to let him go.
He is so darling and helpful and sweet around the house. He tries so hard. I love him beyond words. It was hard to finally get him "human" just in time to send him away. The house feels very lonely without him. He was sooo excited to go to school. The smile on his face and the twinkle in his eye was priceless. He was a little nervous about school, but he was all set to go this morning. He woke up early, got dressed and announced that he was going to be "the coolest kid in school". Of course he will! Nana made sure he was set up with new Star Wars gear for school-back pack, lunch box, shirt, even Darth Vader shoes with a blinking death star. He felt like a million dollars. We made sure his lunch was packed with his favorites, his gluten free classroom snacks were ready, and we had finished his "kissing hand" to take on the first day of school to remind him of home.
Christopher and I were able to get the day off and be there to walk Dallin into his classroom on the first day. He was so excited to show daddy his "desk". He seemed cool as a cucumber, and very happy. Before we left, he made sure I gave him a big hug at his desk. I am so thankful that he still wants a hug from his mom :) We were in and out. We didn't want to prolong the goodbye and make him anxious. I managed to not shed even one tear in the school. I felt so hollow and sad leaving him behind. It was like leaving my heart. Once we were halfway to breakfast (we promised to take Kate out to "Cracker Bear"), I cried. Then when we got home, I found his ratty blanket he had left on my bed and I held it and cried some more. I am counting down the minutes till he comes home and wondering what he is doing every second. Today feels especially long. Kate was sad to see Dallin go, but has decided that not having him around during the day is "great" and she can hardly wait to have more "Kate time". I am happy that she is taking it so well, and I think she will really mature this year being the "oldest" at home.
We are all excited to pick Dallin up from school today and hear all about it. We love you our big Kindergarten boy!

Splish Splash at the Sprinkler Park

In spite of the serious water shortage, the sprinkler park is still open and we decided to take advantage of it. We typically go at least once or twice a year and I hadn't been yet this year. The kids really enjoyed it. Kate played with one little spray of water most of the time. She would sit on it, put a bucket on it, uncover it, cover it back up....this amused her for some time. Dallin found a group of older boys to run with. They are really growing up fast. Kate looks so tall to me. Those long legs just kill me. What a cutie pie.

Our First Family Trip to Sea World

On Monday, we went on our first family trip to Sea World! It was SUPER fun! We were able to go with my entire family so the kiddos got to go with Aunts and Uncles and Nana and Papa and their cousins. What a memorable experience! We left early and took a girl car and a boy car up to Sea World. By the time we got our passes and got into the park, it was about11. We went to a Beluga Whale/Dolphin show called "Azul". The kids (especially Dallin) LOVED it. They had a really funny guy come out and entertain before the show and during the show there was all kinds of acrobatics and diving in addition to the whales and dolphins. We all had "all day food passes" which were AWESOME because we could stop whenever we wanted and get as much food as we wanted at one of the restaurants. This made it easy to keep everyone satisfied and hydrated.Here is Kate eating her turkey leg that was bigger than she was. LOL She got the attention of a lot of passers-by with this sucker! She wanted it soooo bad!
While we were there, we were also able to visit the new Sesame Street Kids land Kate was a little scared of the characters even though she LOVED watching them! and ride some of the big roller coasters. The lines in the kiddie land were really bad and it was hard to wait, so it was good that they had a sprinkler park area and a huge netted playground (which I crawled all around following Kate until I thought I was going to pass out!) Dallin was tall enough for one of the big roller coasters the "Steel Eel". It kind of scared him a little (which was a new thing for him), but he recovered quickly and is already talking about going on it again.
We were also able to catch the Shamu show....always a classic. They had a baby Orca that was 1 year old and was so cute...swimming around and copying mommy. It was especially funny when it tried to "splash" the audience....it almost got some water out of the tank. LOL Dallin insisted on sitting in the splash zone and I think both kids were shocked when they were hit with TONS of ice cold salt water. They almost started crying, but since Christopher was laughing...they laughed too.
Before we left, we saw flamingos and sea lions and were also able to see some bottle nosed dolphins. Last, we stopped and saw the sharks. I think this was Dallin's favorite. He had been talking about it for days. He just sat there and watched and kept saying "Whoa!!! Look at that! Wow!" It was really neat to see the sharks, but totally awesome to watch Dallin watching the sharks.
All in all, it was a super fun day. We had so much fun being with the family and getting to do so many things. There is still so much I want to do. I am excited that we have a pass to go back again :) Yay Seaworld!

We Love the Library!

Our city has a fabulous children's library. It is one of my favorite things about living here. Their children's programs and so well organized and awesome for the kiddos (not to mention the amazing staff). They have storytime for pre-k groups as well as toddlers and even babies have their own. Not to mention the puppet shows, movies, and special events they host on a regular basis. We go to storytime every single week. My children know "their" librarian by name "Miss Jane" and have been known to chase down people who look like her in public yelling "Miss Jane! It's me!!" I think it is good for them to learn to love the library at an early age, and I am grateful to be someplace that is making that sooo very easy. Here we are getting our name tags at the beginning of storytime. Yes....Dallin is glaring at me. Every week the librarian has the children line up and tell her their name for a nametag (that goes along with the theme for the week) Older children can spell their name for her. Dallin enjoys speelling his name (and everyone else's who is with us). It is pretty impressive....until he starts to correct the librarian "You know...ONLY the first letter of the name should be capitalized...the rest are lower case so that is wrong." (Good job son...now if you could be that diligent with your own school work!) Check out our totally rockin hats on hat day storytime! Except Kate. She refused to wear a hat...not even a tiara, but she was completely willing to wear her Belle dress out in public. The children's section of the library is the ENTIRE bottom floor. They have murals, kid computer stations, some fun lil toys and the crowd favorite "giant red bathtub!" Last week, they had a community leader storytime. It was AMAZING (also totally packed...daycares and preschools have discovered our awesome library and have started coming out). They had a police officer address the kids as well as fire fighters who gave a fun presentation (with singing and a smoke limbo) and even a postal worker. It was really great!
The kiddos even got to check out the fire truck!

We LOVE our library and our awesome storytime librarians! HOORAY!

Our Son....the Pretty Pretty Princess

We'd like to take this opportunity to announce that after months of agonizing effort...trying and failing AGAIN and AGAIN through tears and tantrums.......

HE FINALLY DID IT!!!!
Ladies and Gentlemen....our son, Dallin Kellogg is
THE PRETTY PRETTY PRINCESS!!
Words simply can not describe how honored and proud he felt at this accomplishment. Kate got this game for Christmas and Dallin has played it over and over and over with her. He has REALLY wanted to be the Pretty Pretty Princess....and he loses every time. He FINALLY did it! After 3 months and countless bouts with that cursed black ring! You have never seen a child sooo happy. I think he was waaay more excited to win than Kate ever was. He was just beaming. :) So adorable. His first words upon winning "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I WON! I'M THE PRETTY PRETTY PRINCESS! My Daddy is going to be so impressed with me" (And yes, yes....he was. LOL) We love you Dallin! You will always be our pretty pretty princess.