Sage advice...

I really doubt that I am the only Mother that this happens to. This morning as I droppped the boys off at Grandma K's before work I left Jordan with saying "You decide how your day will be with your choice of attitude & behavior. You need to find a better attitude and a smile."

Mean Mom city, I know. Some mornings I just can't get that kid moving despite doing everything I can to have him ready for school the night before. I am almost ready to start having him sleep in school clothes. (Not really. That's gross)

On my 1.2 mile drive to work I kept hearing my statement over and over in my head and realized that I must needed to say it this morning. Not for Jordan, but for me. I like to think that my family is full of non-morning people but in reality it is just me. I am really, really not a morning person. I can't wait for my boys to be teenagers, if only to sleep until noon with them!

I made up with my little buddy at lunchtime. I felt horrible for leaving him like that. A shiny quarter and promise of buying a pencil from the machine in the office did the trick.

I also made up my mind to try a little harder in the morning to start mine and my babies days off right with MY OWN good attitude, and behavior of course.

About time...

Yeah, yeah... so I am a total blog slacker and a half.

I blame the heat. Seriously though, it's November for heaven's sake and it is still so stinkin hot around here.

It seems the end of summer has come and gone and Autumn is on our doorstep. I feel like there should be tons of things that I have missed blogging about but I just can't remember much...

Except for these:

1. Jordan is rockin the Kindergarten thing. And he has his first real girlfriend. Her name is Kelly.

2. I have ANOTHER new job. But it happens to be this working mother's ideal job... I work at Jordan's Elementary school. I am in charge of attendance, enrollment, withdraws and all sorts of student records. And I have lunch duty with the 1st graders. I am a milk carton opening pro! I seriously LOVE my job. Go Freedom Falcons!

3. Dillon sliced a hunk of his toe off last week. Its pretty nasty. I totally cornered the ER Doc in our ward on Sunday to see if it was really Dr. worthy or not (not). Thanks Dr. B!

4. My entire family minus my bro-in-law Eric came to visit a few weekends ago. We survived. All 17 of us... and the 2 dogs and 15 fish too!

5. We are halfway through the soccer season (Yeah!!)

6. My favorite Holiday (Halloween) passed. I felt like we slacked off a bit this year. We didnt even carve a pumpkin. We did however go to:

• Boo at the Zoo
• The Halloween Carnival at school
• Trunk or Treat at church
• Trick or Treating at Fry's
• Trick or Treating on our street (all 6 houses with lights on)

and all sorts of places dressed up as this:

I am declaring it a success. Jack-O-Lantern or not.

And that my friends is about it. At least I think so anyways.

So this new job...

Yesterday started my 4th week at the new job. I am working as a PC Technician for the Liberty Elementary School District. I like it enough. The pay could be better but the commute definitely could not. It was such a change moving from I-10 morning traffic to 1 stop sign and cornfields. I love my new commute.

When I interviewed for the job they (all 4 others in my department) asked me questions and there was really only one that I didn't know. Everything else was a walk in the park to answer.

Imagine my surprise when 4 weeks later I still haven't done any of those tasks. Everything has been brand new and is on the verge of "manual labor". They even had to buy me a special "little" ladder because I am too short to reach the ceiling mounted projectors. That and the teachers tend to frown upon climbing on the desks.

So to all my dear friends who have been inquiring as to how I am doing:
1. Thanks!!
2. I am alive.
3. I'm getting the hang of it.
4. It's going good.
5. I will be better at getting back to you. Dang the Internet filters here... a girl can't even surf the Internet!

An Act of Dill...

Last Thursday night The Midgets and I arrived home after 2 hours of soccer practice & errand running. As soon as I opened the door I heard Toots making a horrible worried/scared bark/growl /howling noise. Upon further inspection I saw the kitchen floor around her kennel was wet with an inch of water. It would not be the first time I walked through an inch of water on the kitchen floor, but that time it was accompanied by 3 inches of bubbles and I knew the culprit instantly.

This time I noticed the dripping sound coming from above and made a mad dash to the upstairs bathroom where I found the faucet handle broken off and the water running full blast. Awesome. Well awesome if definitely not the word I used at that given moment. I made a frantic call to the Hubs to get home ASAP and spent the next 1 1/2 hours frantically mopping up the floor.. er I mean floors.

It was really not my finest hour... Er hours.

I held it together until Blair walked in the door and then I blubbered on him like a schoolgirl. And then my baby (Jordy) blubbered on me like a schoolboy. Poor baby was so worried we were going to have to move away and that our house was ruined. I hate scaring my kids like that.

Now that a few days have passed it seems like not that big of a deal. All except the holes in the dining room ceiling I guess...

Bend it like JoJo...

The time has arrived for my baby to enjoy his first taste of organized sports. Another bonus of Mommy's commute/working day being 2 hours shorter each day.

Jordy was nervous before his first practice. He didn't even want to play soccer, we sort of forced him into it. We are mean parents like that. Right after that first practice he pretty much refused to get off the field. Boy howdy, my baby loves soccer!

JoJo plays in the same league and at the same field his Daddy played at all those years ago. Daddy was pretty happy to watch his boy slide tackle a kid during his first practice. Mommy wished he had chosen someone besides the coaches kid!

The first game for "THE TIGERS" is this weekend. We are all looking forward to it!

A Midget Update...

Jordy is now a month into school and is loving it! He comes home excited everyday and can't wait to show us the papers in his red folder. Yesterday was especially exciting because he brought home the Scholastic book order papers. Such a rite of passage... longing to order from those newsprint pages. We attended our first parent-teacher conference last week and Jordy's teacher did not have anything but nice words to say about him. In her words he is "well ahead" of the rest of his peers and my heart almost burst with pride.

Never one to be outdone this little Pickle has become the apple of his Grandma's eye. His behavior now that brother is in school all day is wonderful and he gets a glowing review when Mom gets home from work. We love our little Dilly but he definitely takes after his Hunt side with his stubborn, pigheadedness. These last few weeks have been heaven sent.

Now for a Mom update...

Friday will be my last day working for USA Today. I stopped just short of ten years and leaving is bittersweet. The ladies I work with have seen me through the last of my rebellious teen years, becoming a wife, a mother etc. It's almost like I am leaving home.

I have taken a job working for the local school district as a PC Tech. My ultimate goal is to get on at Jordy's school and follow the school calendar but this transition will at least get my foot in the door.

I am excited, nervous & sad. But it will be for the best. I just know it!

Mario- A Comic By: Jordan

Once there was a little alien walking down the street. And then it started to rain. It melted the little alien all up. And the little girl was happy because that alien looked scary.

SpiderMan flew up into space and then there was a meteor about to hit the Earth. And then Spiderman made the Earth have a bouncy thing around it. And then the meteor bounced off it onto the moon and then Spiderman turned the moon around with a bouncy thing around it.

And then there was a game I play with happy face and sad faces and I try to find all the happy faces.

Superman flew up into space and then he said "Go on Superdog".And then the Superdog spit a bomb at the alien guy and he blew up. And then he put up one of his guns to shoot something up at him before he fell down onto the moon. And then he fell on the moon. And then the meteor was going to hit Earth again and the alien blew up so he got smoke on it.

The end.