Pea's Dance solo.. and update!

So, I am no longer a stay at home mommy, as I have started working full-time last Friday!  Hooray!  Although, I will not have much time for my babies, which believe me.. I cried A LOT.. nothing means more to me, than seeing my babies grow up.  I don't like missing a THING.  And I love being the centre of attention when it comes to both my daughters eyes.. but, I do need to help my hubby out, so a mommy's gotta' do, what a mommy's gotta do.  It's taking too long to get to where we'd like to be.. and when the opportunity came up, and I got a job offer.. I didn't hesitate to go and take it.  Too many signs were leading up to that moment.  Anyhow!  Here is today's dance solo, featuring..my one and only.. SWEET PEA! <3

Back to reality..

Today is my last day being at home with the girls..and it's hitting me HARD.  I'm a super suck when it comes to family, or even more, my own kids.  I would give anything to stay at home with them, and watch them grow into beautiful little girls.. but since being a SAHM isn't a paying job, I need to go make some money, and help my hubby out.. at this rate, it would take us a few more years to move out of this apartment.. and I'd like it to happen a lot sooner.. so when my old boss contacted me and offered me a job.. I didn't hesitate to take it.  All the other jobs I applied for didn't even give me an interview, except for one.  And at the job I'm going back into, I didn't apply for, or even need to get an interview.. so I took it as a sign.

Earlier, I held my babies tight, and let the tears flow.  I didn't think it would be that hard for me to realize how much time will be taken away from them.. I will definitely appreciate being with them more so, then I used too, 'cause let's face it.. staying home and doing all the chores and raising kids, is NOT easy, and it is totally draining.  So there are definitely days where I'm too zoned out to enjoy being with them, and what over-tired mommy doesn't snap, when their child/children is repeatedly says, "Mommmy..!" ..every minute or so?!

There's always a rainbow, after a storm..

So I've completely stopped my P90X journey, with sick kids, a sick mommy, and letting stress get the best of me, I had a rough week or so.  But I'm getting my act together, got a job offer at my old job, and finally getting myself checked out at the Dr's.. I hate the Dr's, by the way.  I've only gone regularly, for my babies.

So, I start working this Friday.. I am excited, but at the same time, sad.. since I won't be spending as much time with my babies.. and I know most working parents don't.. but I've been a stay at home mom for over 3 years straight.. and although it's been the most tiring 3 years of my life.. I am surely going to miss it.

Girls night out!

So, for some reason..I've been really down lately.. mostly at random times.  Haven't been like this in a long time, and not sure exactly what's going on with my body, but it's been affecting my mood, and I've been really tired a lot.  Anyway, today was all planned out, and very slowly, things just started falling apart, and I was having a mental breakdown.  I hate breaking down infront of my girls, but they also find a way to take care of me, and cheer me up.

I had cleaned most of the apartment up the other day, and started working on a project for tomorrow (throwing a little Halloween party, for my daughters and niece..so EXCITED btw!), and things just kept happening during this project, that was making me want to give up.  Anyhow, Hailey helped out, and was being a good girl, while her Ate, was forced to nap.. she took a long time to fall asleep, and Hailey ended up waking her up 20 minutes after she fell asleep.  Anyway, I started to get ready to go out, and started getting Hailey ready.. we were to do some last minute running around for specific ingredients, and then go out to eat as a family, at Asia City.  WELL, a half hour before my husband was supposed to be off work, he tells me that he needs to stay at work.  Of course, I got upset, my day wasn't going as smoothly as I'd liked, and then I find this out.. so whatever.. I dealt with it, still got everyone ready, and then I get another phone call, finding out he doesn't know when he would be done, and that he will pick me and the girls up from home, drop him off at work, and suggested I just take the girls out..which I did.  Even though these girls were a HUGE handful, their giggles made me forget about my anxiety, and all the overwhelming feelings I'd get..

Peyton insisted on having noodles, when I told her I wasn't going to order any.. so I ordered a dish, JUST for her.. which I am now munching on (all her leftovers)..

The kids preferred this instead, which I was originally going to order two of.. wish I did!  They ate most of my protein, and my kanin!

After a few stores, we ended up at Superstore (at a location I am not a fan of..super busy!), here's a video of the girls while I was waiting at self checkout.  Felt bad for the one lady there.. EVERYONE was expecting her to help them first.. not in the order her handheld device was telling her to do..sheesh.

Gooooood morning to me..

It's not even lunch time, and these girls are just so amusing this morning.  We usually sleep in, since the girls have been sick.. but we got woken up to street work, just after 8AM..and I went to use the bathroom, girls door is still slightly shut and dark.. but I listened carefully, and I heard their little voices, just having a random conversation.  Thought it was cute..  then I made their breakfast, lately it's been instant oatmeal..'cause it's easy.  I'm not a morning person, so instant anything is my best friend.  As I was making it, the girls start running out of the kitchen, screaming.. "ahhhh!!  The cows are gonna get us!!  AhhhhhH!" ..then, I give the oatmeal to the girls, and Peyton tries it.. and goes, "YUUM!  It tastes SO GOOD!" in the most valleyest voice, you can imagine on my Sweet PEA.  Then I gave them hot chocolate to drink.. and again.. "hot chocolate??  Yuuum!  How did you make that, Mommy??" ..again, in a super valley voice.

Just thought I'd blog this, before I forget.. :)

Pumpkin Carving!

So since the weekend, Peyton's been very sick, and I thought for sure that Hailey would be super sick too by now.  But, Peyton's almost better, just a lot of dry coughing.  And Hailey, with a sniffly noes!  The past few weeks, we were supposed to let the girls choose a large pumpkin from the store, that they could clear out and help choose the design to carve onto it.. but things kept coming up, and we would literally forget as we did our groceries.  Then, the last week, I just told my husband to just go pick up a pumpkin, which again, he would forget.. so luckily, my brother-in-laws girlfriend happened to get pumpkins for the girls..and we were supposed to come over and have the girls do pumpkins at their Nana & Papa's, and we were going to do a large one of our own at home (I thought.. lucky girls!).. but since they've been sick all week, I didn't think we would be able to come over at all, and we were struggling to remember to grab a dang pumpkin!  So my mother-in-law told my husband we should just pick up the girls pumpkins from their house, so here we are today!  Girls waited all day to get started!  I gave them a few choices.. Disney cartoon characters.. Jets logos, or something spooky.. and Hailey yelled, "JETS"!!, and Peyton yelled out, "SOMETHING SPOOOOOoOOKY"!!.  So as I was making the templates, I started with Hailey's first, and I guess Pea liked it, so she said.. "mommy, I want the Jets too!".. so I ended up doing so, and added a little bat :)

Here's a few pictures of them scraping out all the seeds..and as you can see, Princess Pea wasn't too happy with messy hands..

She eventually got over it.. as you can now see how happy she is!

Look at ALL the seeds, these 2 little pumpkins produced!

Here are the templates I made for the pumpkins..

I thought this one would be difficult to do.. but it was more time consuming, than anything..

This one, on the other hand was difficult!  Thought I was going to screw it up!

Here are the finished pumpkins!

Home of the cold..

Had an extremely busy weekend.  We didn't go out Friday night, we stayed in, ate some home made Taco fries (only thing we cheated on, were the frozen McCain Fries)..tried my own taco spice mix..and it tasted really good!  We also watched the hockey game..which they sadly lost.  Saturday morning, my husband dropped Pea and I off at her dance class, and he dropped Hailey off at her Nana & Papa's and then he dropped our car off at a dealership to get work done onto it.  Pea did SO good at dance, and she did so much more, compared to her previous classes.  She at first wasn't in the mood to participate..just walking around following the teachers, then got really into it, 15 minutes later.

After dance class, we then waited for her daddy & Papa to come pick us up, where we afterwards went to get Hailey, and leave Pea at Nana & Papa's for a sleepover.  We waited around there for our car to finish up, and then we dropped Hailey off at her Lolo & Lola's for a sleepover as well.  We then rushed home to get ready to go watch the Bomber game.  Which..they sadly lost.  Was a really close game too, so glad we picked that game to watch.

 

After the Bomber game, we rushed home again to get ready for a Halloween Social..

Hubby was Batman, and I was Harley Quinn!  I had a wardrobe malfunction, which lucky for me, happened at home.. the issue I had with my costume was that the top fit perfectly..but the bottoms weren't stretchy, so they were a tad tight around my booty.  So when I was adjusting my pants, the belt loop ripped right off..which I guess was I sign that I shouldn't be wearing it.  Plus, anytime I walked, or sat down, the elastic would just slide right down my booty.  I ended up wearing a pair of black leggings, and just wore the velcro belt sitting on my hips.  It turned out okay anyhow.  My hubby doesn't "act" excited, I knew he was, but a random girl who happened to be dressed as cat woman had her mom as if she could take a picture of the two of them..which happened while I was in the bathroom.  There were SO many really great costumes at this social, so I'm glad we made the effort to dress up!

Yesterday, we ended up waking up early (looks like we are programmed that way, whether the kids are home or not), and did what we needed at home, and rushed over to Denny's for breakfast..since I was STARVING!

I had their Holiday Skillet..which was SO filling..

Hubby had his usual breakfast.. eggs, ham, sausage, shredded hash browns, pancakes AND toast.. he ate it all..

After that, we picked up Pea, and went over to my parents house for the day.  Ate and watch football and the hockey game again.. which they WON!!  It was pretty exciting..woot!

Today, we all woke up with colds, and Pea has it THE worst..so I have a really good feeling I won't have any time on my plate to get any workouts in.. need to be there for my babies, when they need me..I feel so bad for them.  These are the times where I wish I could just take the pain away from them..

I've decided..

To take today off of P90X.. Not sure if I went too hard last night, or if it was something I ate.. but I've had a pretty bad stomach ache since last night.. so I've been up at least 4 times last night.. and I've been already feeling exhausted the past week.. today isn't any better.  So, no matter how badly I wanted to push through it, and just do my workout, like I'd normally do.. I think I'm going to listen to my exhausted and hurting body, and take a break.  Even though today would be my last workout for the week.. I feel it's best.. BLAH!

I actually feel a little disappointed that I'm even considering not doing my workout.. but I'm afraid of what state my body will be in after Kenpo X.


Aside from that depressing part of my blog.. yesterday was fun.  My husband goes to a church I used to attend, every Tuesday to play basketball.  This church has a gym in it, and one of my older cousins has had the gym booked (not sure if it's technically), since I can even remember!  They used to play volleyball a loooooong time ago.. but they've switch to basketball maybe 5-6 years ago.  Anyhow, I go there with the girls, so they can stretch their little legs, and be away from home.  My sister goes as well, with her daughter, while her husband plays ball.  Halfway through ball last night, more of my cousins came, with more kids!  There was nothing dangerous on the stage, to give me a heart attack, so they were able to play and run freely!  It was refreshing!

Dance class with just mama!

So the girls and I are sitting outside of daddy's Union office..I think its so cool that you can even blog on your phone using their app..makes it easy to blog instant thoughts ;-)

So my hubby got picked up by his dad, so I had mommy duty of getting the girls up and ready and drive Pea to dance.  And honestly, everything went smoothly.. I don't know why I ever worry about doing things on my own.  I used to be so independent before I started dating Jesse..I've gotten so used to leaning in him.

During dance, Hailey did VERY well..I mean, I did pack a good amount of snacks, that literally lasted her the entire 45 minutes.  For some reason, the girls go-to feeling when they're bored..is that they're hungry.  I try as much as I can, to avoid giving the girls my phone when they're bored.  I'm not judging anyone that does, don't get me wrong..but at time when I dont have a phone available..they get really upset.  Same thing with snacks!  If I don't have snacks..they get upset.  So in a way, its a lose-lose situation if I'm not prepared.

Anyhow, the husband should be out soon :)

Here are a few pictures..

Teaching the girls how to sit properly..

Pea's up!

Spinning in the hoop..

Jump up!

Time to line up..

Here's a video of her solo..

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!!

Halloween crafts & REAL baking..

After the girls had their nap, I asked if they wanted to do some halloween crafts that Peyton had picked..and they were super excited.  This was super cute to do with them, and Peyton is such a rockstar, being able to do things on her own, and so is Hailey, for trying so hard :)

Very proud..

Peyton's was the witch, I used the skeleton as an example, and Hailey picked Frankenstein..

Hailey got to choose where to put them..and Peyton wanted to pose with it..

Testing out some cookie recipes, and since all I have is whole wheat flour.. I definitely had to test out how they tasted.  The girls and I thought I tasted fine.. the husband, however..wasn't a fan.  These were sugar cookies, by the way!  I found they were really sticky.. everything was done by hand.. since I don't have a hand mixer, or a mixing bowl thingy..so I don't know if that's why, or if it's because I used whole wheat flour.. anyway..they didn't taste too bad.. you could just tell they were made with whole wheat!

Day 15 (P90X) & other random thoughts..

So, I just finished my workout for today, which was Chest & Back followed with Ab Ripper X.  Seriously.. it's still not easy..I'm sure it never does.. as they say, you just get stronger.  Chest workouts were mostly all push-ups, which are my weakest strengths.  I tried the first round of 4 different pushups with my toes on the ground, but the 2nd time around, I had to use my knees.  It also has a lot to do with my weak core.  Since I'm a week behind on Ab Ripper X.. I struggled with that too.  I wanted to quit so badly, but instead, I paused the workout, and took a breather with some stretches.  Oh, and I have to confess.. I didn't do Stretch X the other day, like I was supposed too.  I wish I did, 'because it's pretty difficult focusing, when some of my muscles (mostly my quads, thighs, and buttox) were feeling pretty tight.

Aside from all that, the other day I was over at my parents house with the girls, while the hubby's went to play ball, and I took Peyton, along with my sis and my niece, Kai (Hailey was supposed to join us, but she's going through the, "I only eat what I want" phase..so she stayed behind with my mom and brother), to the Dollarama over at Garden City.  Now, my hubby is always uneasy when I say I'm going to the store to buy something, because I almost always (not as much as before, since I don't do much shopping anymore) leave the store with more than I intended.. and he set the girl's limit to $20 altogether.  And me, I found a loop hole..he set the limit for the girl's, but not for me.. *wink*wink*.  So here I thought I'd get a few more things, which ended in a disaster.  Spent at least double the cost, but the girls chipped in.

I almost forgot to mention what it was we were buying?!  Remember when Peyton said she wanted to decorate her room with Halloween decor?  Well, that's what all the money was spent on.  Which wasn't so bad, compared to shopping at your typical stores.. like Walmart for Halloween stuff..which for the amount we spent..we probably would've been able to accumulate only half the amount.

Anyway, all the decor is up, and I think the girls are happy with their room..although, I sensed that Peyton wasn't satisfied..as if she needed more.. HMM!  Well, she picked out a pack of Halloween crafts, which I told her they can put up on the walls once they've done them..so seriously, that should be more than enough!

Here is what the Pea picked out for their room..as you can see, their room is chaotic enough.  With the amount of space they have..and the millions of toys they have.. I gave up on making their room look decent..

She just loooooves purple..

A little ghost, and some glow in the dark pumpkins..

This pumpkin, witch, thingy.. that I struggled AND failed to get down.. but their Tita came to the rescue, and helped us out!  (I thought those bats were also stickers.. but it's for the window..and too long for theirs)

And this teddy, which Pea picked out.. she actually wanted to sleep with it..

Some cheeat baking w/ the girls!

So, the other day we bought some groceries, and remembered to buy the girls some pre-made halloween cookies!  They are so cute, and were so excited to make them today.  Pea kept asking when we were going to mix some in the bowl, and add sprinkles, with dinosaurs and what not.  I guess I should make some real cookies with these girls! (They always have fun baking with their Ate Kai and Tita!

Taught the girls to spread the cookies evenly, otherwise they'd have some squished up and raw cookies..

This was supposed to be the, "Before" picture..to a, "Before & After" sequence.. we got too excited to put them in a container, I totally forgot.

They enjoyed taste-testing ;-)

The finished cookies!  Don't mind that squished one, I squished it by accident when I was taking it out of the oven..hehe..

Oh boy..

Nope, have not my stretch x for the day.. it's either a stretch day, or rest day.  I will stretch when the kids nap..as I haven't spent much time with them..even though I'm home with them all day?  Wahh?  Nope.. mornings are harsh for me.. I am not a morning person..I'm the type of person that hits the snooze button a million times, before I actually get up.  So when my girls are up, and trying to get me up too?  I send them to their room to play.. a few times..till I'm finally up.  I'm probably a horrible mother for doing that.. but I'm a horrible person as it is when I just want to sleep..hah.  So might as well get in an extra 10-30 minutes of sleep before I start my morning routine.

These days, my morning routine consists of getting the girls to feed Pixie.. and I get their breakfast ready while I do that.. I then let Pixie out onto the balcony (it's not easy physically taking the dog outside, with two toddlers to dress up for the cold..not that I did in the heat either.. it's just not that easy, PERIOD).  I serve the baby's their breakfast, and they're usually done before I can even finish prepping my breakfast.. so I always get interrupted about 10 times before I can actually sit down to have my breakfast.  And then as soon as I finally get to sit down, the kids remind of something else they need, so I then have to get back up at least once more before I can start eating.  Poor me!

Today, I finally got all of last year's Halloween decor out (which isn't much, since last year we were stingy with spending..getting more this year.. YES!) and the girls were ecstatic!  Didn't matter how scary a few things looked.. they were shouting, "YAAAAAY!!!".. and Peyton even requested to have their room decorated.  So I'm going to make an attempt to take them to Dollarama later, so they can pick out a few things..and then Pinterest some crafts they can make themselves to put up in their room.. yay?!

Anyhow, now I've just been being lazy, after a full sink of dishes, and the girls come up to me, well Peyton did..and says, "Bye mommy..me and my baby are going to McDonald's.. and then we're going to go to the playground!"..Meanwhile, Hailey (the baby) is cheering, "hooraaay" and galloping (her cute little skipping thing she does, but she's actually galloping).  I'm glad these girls are capable of using their imagination.  Most days, they'd rather sit on the couch like zombies, and stare at the tv.  Out of the millions of toys they own.. they never know what to do with it.  Till I leave them alone LONG enough to tune into their imaginations.

Anyhow, I don't think I ever got into how I don't spend enough time with them.. aside from my morning routine, about an hour after that, I start my hour long P90X workout..and when I'm done that, I feed the kids their lunch and then send them to their rooms to nap.  Usually, by the time they wake up, daddy's home from work.

So, today, instead of taking off into my room to workout or what not, I decorated the living room, so that they can see for themselves what goes up.. and it paid off, 'cause they're not afraid of the window.. which looks like this..

Too bad the lighting makes the counter look too dark.  Last year, I had most of the decor sitting in the hutch (between my living room and kitchen), because the girls were too young to understand that they just couldn't touch.  This year, I'll find out whether they are ready or not to have decor accessible.

Anyhow, that's it for now :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!

The last few days have been really nice.  Haven't had much to worry about, and not much running around to do.  On Saturday, Bubble Guppies was pretty sweet.  And the looks on our babies faces were so sweet.  They enjoyed the show, for sure.  We then surprised Peyton with a sleepover at her Ate Kai's house for the night..the look on Hailey's face, however, was a little heartbreaking.  She didn't want her big sister leaving her..but as soon as I got back into the car..my little sweetheart cheered up, when she realized her surprise, was that she had mommy and daddy all to herself!

She was the sweetest kid all night, and it was a great reminder, that our little girls are so different in their own silly ways.  Our Hailey baby just loved the attention, and she was not difficult at all.  Especially at bedtime..did our routine (haven't done a proper bedtime routine in a pretty long time)..and she was more than happy to go to bed.

Yesterday, I woke up early to prepare meatballs from a recipe I saw on Facebook (which BTW turned out great), and we all got ready to head over to my parents house.  My sister and I prepped and cooked our turkey..which turned out better than last year.. HOORAY!  We set the table for all the big kids to eat at, and had a little table set up for the kiddies..it was sweet..and went pretty well.
Although, on Saturday night, I was told our relatives had invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner, which put us in a pickle!  We already had our turkey defrosting, and food prepped for the next day..honestly, we weren't expecting an invite this year..oops!  Hopefully, things turn out smoother next year with the entire family.

Today, it's our second Thanksgiving dinner, over at my inlaws..and I'm so excited..YUMMY FOOD!  Which, I actually have to get ready for, right meow ;-)

Pea's 4th day in Dance!

Well!  Today was Pea's dance class again, this morning.. she did great.  Although, she wasn't really in a good mood..she looked pretty tired, and her eczema is starting to come back..that time of the year again.

Anyhow, regardless of that, she seemed to have forgotten all about it as soon as she started.  She's warming up to her classmates and teachers a lot more..still shy, and still hard on herself if she doesn't know what to do, or if she messed up..but she's a trooper!

She was first up, and impressed almost the entire crowd of parents ;)

I don't know if you can hear it, but a few parents mentioned how she set the bar high for the rest of the kiddies!

As for my P90X..I think I am going to have to put it on hold until Tuesday!!  Thanksgiving weekend.. bubble guppies later, and a surprise sleepover for Peapea at Ate Kai's, and date night with my babe, and Hailey baby..woot!

A little late..

Okay, so here is a video of what Pea's first day of class looked like!  This will be the last video I will be sharing, since it'll be a spoiler if they start learning things for their dance recital!  I will however share my favourite photos!

Pea's 2nd Day at Dance!

Welllll.. Pea had her second dance class yesterday, and she was ADORABLE!  I had helped her during the week, and had her practice some of the moves I noticed she couldn't do at the time.. I could tell she was excited, and proud that she was able to dance with the class.. she also got lost in her own world..spinning, and spinning....and spinning.  I'm SO proud of my Sweet PEA!  I'd say she was the cutest little girl there..but you know, a mother is always biased when it comes between their own children and other children..ha..haa.

On the other hand, Hailey did much better sitting with us, during her Ate's (older sister's) class.  I cannot wait to register her next year..hopefully she will have broken out of her shell!

Anyhow, here is another video of Pea at her dance class..

Sweet Pea's First Day of dance (last Saturday)

I am sharing a video of my baby girl, with her dance class.. so cute!

She was excited, and very nervous for her first day.  She wanted to make new friends, and give a good first impression.  She did VERY well, although you can tell how shy she was.. she kept her hands clasped together, holding them politely on her tummy..and she followed the teachers everywhere they went.  Although, she didn't do every move they were teaching them to do..she participated in the more important activities..and she was ADORABLE!

Starting fresh!

Wow!  Has it really been that long since I've blogged??  Last posts I read, I was still pregnant with my first child.  Now we have 2 beautiful daughters, and have moved 3 times since then!  I'm working on figuring this stuff out again, but I will soon post or share most of my daily activities here.. hooray!