Downhill.

I've joked with The Husband that it's all downhill after a person hits 30.  

(TMI alert...)

I woke up last month on my 30th birthday to a bleeding c-section incision.

Freaked.Me.Out.

The Hubs and Ryan took me to the doctor to get checked.  You know how with certain surgeries you have a drain left in so that fluid can drain out?  That's not the case with c-sections.  But I apparently had some fluid that needed to come out and out it came via a tiny hole in my incision.  To top it off, my doctor stuck a stick in the hole to make it bigger and then pushed more fluid out.  I warned you about too much information.  Then as if that wasn't painful enough, she stuck another stick in the hole that had silver nitrate on it that burned like crazy and turned the skin around it black.

Happy freaking birthday to me!

Luckily, the day picked up.

We had dinner and cheesecake at my parent's house to celebrate my day and this little man:

slept long enough so that I could eat my dinner uninterrupted!

He knew just what to get me for my birthday.

Mother's Day.

I was woken up to a wonderful present this morning...

 Bill and the girls made me breakfast in bed...

 And gave me some handmade gifts...

 And then we all went out to lunch.

I look a little goofy because I was talking...but everyone else looks cute!

Today has been such a great Mother's Day!

Flashback Friday.

Taking it back to the 80's today!

My dad gave me a bunch of old pictures and I just had to share a few...

My brother and I are so little!!

Happy Friday everyone! 

 I don't know about you but I'm SO glad that the weekend is here!

Flashback Friday. Way Overdue!

Talk about a WAY overdue blog post.

I took a mini blog-cation.

But I really hate letting another Friday pass by without a Flashback!

Here's a couple of pictures I found today in the ol' archive.

Baby Kaeleigh (and baby Karen--my 21 yr old self) in early 2004

And Maylyn and Kaeleigh in December of 2006.

So stinkin' adorable...I love it!

Happy weekend everyone!

Here's hoping the kids sleep in tomorrow!  :)

Flashback Friday.

Seven years ago I was looking like this...

Whoa.

That's a big belly!

Kaeleigh's 7th birthday is in 3 days.

I feel so old!

Flashback Friday.

We went to a wedding back in 2006 and these are some of my favorite pictures from that night...

Potato Head.

Yesterday was the Halloween Parade at school.

My friend Liz, one of the other aides in our class, and I decided to make a costume that the kids would recognize.

So we were Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head!

We got all of the supplies from Michaels and made the shirts.

All of the pieces were attached with Velcro so they could be taken off and moved around just like the Mr. Potato Head toy.

It was awesome and everyone loved them.

Including the guy at the Wendy's drive thru at lunch who asked me for my shirt.  LOL

Kaeleigh and Maylyn are going to be fairies.

Here's Kaeleigh walking in the parade. 

 I wasn't able to get a picture of Maylyn but she looked super cute.

They are so excited for tomorrow!

Woods Canyon.

We went camping this weekend, back up to Woods Canyon Lake and it was gorgeous!

It got down to about 49 degrees at night.

Fair warning, picture overload!

Fishing for a frisbie.

Watching the fishing.

They got it!

My campfire expert.

Being crafty in the woods.  Painting pumpkins.

On the lake!

Celebrating the Husband's birthday with a pumpkin pie.

Golfing.

Maylyn was in Heaven!!

Such a fun trip, we can't wait to go again!

Exhausted Patience.

I was doing so well blogging last week

and now I'm back to slacking off.

In my defense, I have been exhausted the last few days.

Going back to work has been an adjustment for sure.

I'm getting up extra early to get myself ready and looking presentable

before I wake the kids up and get them ready for school.

The job is going really well so far.

I've surprised myself because I'm not always the most patient person

(just ask my husband)

but I haven't even come close to losing my patience at work.

Even after being hit and pinched and poked, I'm doing okay.

I do, however, need an earlier bedtime these days.   :)

Job.

Awhile ago I mentioned a job offer.

I didn't go into detail because I had a test to take, and a background check and all that jazz that goes along with getting a new job

so I figured I'd wait to talk about it until it was a sure thing.

I'm working as an Instructional Aide for the autistic Kindergarten class at my kid's school.

Today was my first day.

It was a learning experience for sure.

And one that will teach me patience.  (a virtue I tend to lack)

The  biggest perks for the job are that I start when my kids start school,

and I'm off when school is out.  I get to see them both throughout the day when I'm on campus.

And I've also got the same holidays and days off that they do.

Pretty good deal all around.

Here's the picture we took this morning before we headed out.

Just had to take a picture for mama's first day of 'school.'

Catch up.

I am slacking in the blogging department.

So, lets play catch up.

On Friday I mentioned my 10 year reunion.

I didn't end up going to the reunion, but I did attend the

 Warriors and Kids Get Together put together by two wonderful ladies I went to school with, Kathryn and Marily.

They also have an amazing website that you can visit here that's full of everything Mesa, Arizona.

I had a good time on Friday. It was nice to get back in touch with old friends.

 The kids?  They had a freaking blast!

They kept talking about the jumpy castles and the popcorn, the root beer floats, and all of their new friends. 

Here they are with their new friend Aden.

(Photo by ChickyPoo Photography)

They were so busy running around that I didn't get a professional photo of us.

I did manage to get them to stand still long enough to take this one myself.

They were rocking the blue and orange.  :) Future Warriors?

On Saturday they played a little dress up with some stuff the Husband bought them.

They performed "surgery" on my hand.  It was pretty funny.

Sunday Maylyn was invited to her first birthday party for the school year.

She went to Pre-K with Clare and they are now in the same Kindergarten class.

This is my child. She attacked the pinata.

And was happy with the results. :)

On Monday, the Husband left on a business trip.

We were pretty jealous of the celebrities he got to meet.

We spent the time without him keeping busy.

  Chaperoning kids to school.  Having dinner with my parents.  Coffee dates and a kid-free visit to the library.  Trips to urgent care. (Maylyn has strep throat. Again.)

I even got a job offer.  (More on that later.)

And today is Wednesday.

Look at that, I'm caught up!

Flashback Friday.

Ten years ago I graduated from high school.

Our 10 year reunion is tomorrow and I'm still on the fence on whether I'm going or not.

But in the meantime, enjoy this picture of me from back then...

(This pic is actually from my graduation announcement and was taken right before senior year started.)