Life with Our Three Boys

Finding my way back to blog world

Wow, it's been along time since I posted.

I'm here and life is good.

It seems like Face book has taken over and thats where I spend most of my time when I'm not working on pictures or scrap booking or taking care of the kids, or  painting my home still.

What's been going on in my life you wonder?

Well first off...

 I joined a local mommy group, which has made this transition here a lot more easier. I have a great group of  ladies that I have coffee with every Monday. Salvador has a new group of friends that he gets to play with at least twice a week. The best part is that the are all boys and seem to get along unless someone is in a funk. I actually have grown up conversations daily! That has done wonders for my mood. I no longer bottle things up and pour them all over hubby when he gets home. We have Girl Night out once a month and our family parties are busting out of our homes because we all have great big families who love to get together. On Halloween I through a party and had over 30 people here. It was great. I am so thankful that I have these Mommies in my life because it has become so much more then a play group.

 I'm still hitting the gym. No change in weight to speak of but I go 3 times a week and am satisfied that I can run 4 miles with out stopping, I can burn 500 calories in an hour, I can finish a spin class, I push myself alittle hard each time I lift weights so I know I am strong. Losing weight would be great but something is not right with my body and I hope that soon it will balance out and the weight will come off. But I am happy. I feel great.  My insides fell healthy.

 I am working on making my business official here. Testing the waters with some free shoots to get clients, trying new things, putting myself out there more. It's slow going but I'm excited about the possibilities.

 We are on our last room to paint here in our home. I love this place. Every time I walk through the door I feel a sense of comfort. Each room is filled with us. This past weekend we finished Cruz's room and I almost cried because for the first time he has his own room that expresses who he is. He picked the colors, the bedding the decor and if you walked in you would know it was his room with out us telling you. Thats how each of the boys' rooms are. It's a place where I feel safe. I watch the kids from the office window in the evenings and smile as they play football with the other 10 boys that live here until it's dark out. I love it when I walk out at 6 to call them in and here all of the other mother calling for their kids. It hurts to think it's not forever.

So that's it.

I am just loving living life.

Never before have I been this happy. I still have my moments of feeling lost and like things go by to quick that I cant catch my breath but when I stop myself from going there I realize how blessed I am and I am back to being happy.

Time to escape

My state of mind is always cluttered with what needs to be done. The house, my workouts, dinner, helping with homework, building my business, finishing projects....

My post before was about the same thing, just feeling out of it, not sure what direction I want to go, letting life pass by.

 Last week I went full speed at the gym getting 7 workouts in in 4 days. Going twice a day most days thinking this is what I needed. By weeks end I was so tired I was crying and of course it was compound by the fact that I haven't lost any weight. My body can't keep up with what I want to do carrying the same amount of weight.

So this week I took a break, with the help of the little one being sick, we stayed home all week and I went full force to getting things around the house done. Painted another room, finished projects, got things hung, scheduled painters to come out and do the things we cant reach, got all the errands out of the way and you know what I am tired yet again with the same feeling like I haven't finished enough. There is so much more that needs to be done.

The only thing keeping me sane through all of this clutter is when I get behind my camera. I found my peaceful place where I can spend hours (even with the little guy) walking and photographing the world around me. The Savannah River is so beautiful. The river is mighty and strong yet calming and gentle. Watching the water is like a massage for my soul. I can breath. I can forget about time. My mind is clear of lists. I look forward to the days when I can go there and be free from my busy life.

Balance.

 

Is waht I need to find....

We are headed to Disney World tomorrow for 8 days. It's an odd time for a vacation but we haven't had a real family vacation in a few years. I don't think driving cross country because of a move qualifies as a vacation so this should be a nice break from all that clutter and stress from moving and settling in.

out of it

• Life seems to be passing before my sees
• Where does the time go?
• I cant find the time to write.
• I haven't scrapbook in months.
• I have taken about 50 pictures this month; normally it would be 500.
• My babies turned 8 and 12 this month; those days came and went
• It's almost October
• Working on finding new clients in our area
• My baby got pneumonia this weekend
• I haven't worked out in a week.
• Getting ready to finish painting.
• Planning a vacation in 3 weeks.
• Making lists for the same things over and over again.
• Snap out of it!
• Life is good
• Take the time to see.
• To feel.
• Start now!

Out of the mouth of my Boys

Salvador sees new tooth brushes on the table.

"You get Ronnie Cruz new tooth brushes?"

"Yes"

"Awe mama you're so sweet."

13 years

a letter to my husband:

We both have seen what we thought was the end of our road together but really it was the path that would bring us closer together.

Sometimes we might not always see our path as clearly as we wish but for me, I know that I see us together no matter what lies in the way.

When I look down my own path You are there by my side, holding my hand supporting me in everything I do. I see myself fallowing you to the ends of the Earth knowing that we belong together.

Our road may not always be smooth but we will never travel it alone.

Happy 13th Anniversary

 

A knew member of the family

Every once in awhile, about every 3 years, I get an itch for something knew, cute and little, and since I can't have anymore babies I decides to add a knew kitten to the family. His name is Spike and he is a lot of hard work! He is so cute though. He loves to cuddle in your arms when he wants to nap and thinks our shower is his pee box. Thank goodness it's just pee. Everyone around here loves him except our other cat Rocky. He wont give him a chance. he is a good addition to the family.

Last week I took some time off from doing everything. I had a CT scan done because I wa getting some killer headaches and found out that I had a pretty bad sinus infection and I am now on 4 meds trying to get it taken in care of. Not only did it hurt like hell but it made me feel bad about not working out. I'm back in the gym this week but still not really feeling back to 100%.

I did go out and venture around town looking for some places to do my photography and found some really nice parks. I cant wait to get started again. I want to up grade some things and then start trying to make contacts.

 

not much else going on, just everyday busy life.

Nostalgia I ♥ Faces

 

I didn't think I had one for this week until I dressed my baby this morning. I love the new line of vintage tees from Old Navy. Although the shirt it's self isn't old I remember my brother wearing shirts very similar. My husband has foundmemories of shirts that he collected when he was young that look like these, his favorite being Star War. Join the fun at http://www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com/    

I heart faces "Bubbles"

   

Awe! It's good to be back in full swing of things and get back to my love of photography. I missed doing these contest. Here's my take on "bubbles". My baby Salvador LOVES his bubbles.

 

 

 

 

 

Blowing bubbles is o very hard!

 

Come join the fun at http://www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com/.

Our first week of "normalcy"

Finally after  9 weeks of moving, traveling, unpacking and settling in, we are back to our normal schedule and routine. I was never much for a routine, I let my boys sleep when ever, ate when ever and did things as I felt like but within the last year or so I have gotten into this rhythm of things and I cant function right unless things are as they should be.

Our daily routine:

• Me and Ronnie get up at 6
• Coffee for me, breakfast for him
• Ronnie leaves for the bus at 7 and then I get Cruz up
• I wake Salvador up
• By 7:30 we are eating
• At 8 Cruz gets to the bus and Salvador and I head for the Gym
• From 8:30 to 10 I get my workout done
• We have an early lunch at 11
• Play Salvador's choice of games
• Nap time at 12:30-3 , the best part of my day, I get quiet time to do what ever! Usually cleaning but it's MY TIME!
• Then Ronnie comes home at 3, we have time to talk about his day and go over the homework for the night.
• Cruz comes home at 4, we take some time to talk and review his homework.
• I start dinner at 5
• We eat by 6 when hubby wakes up (he's on a night shift)
• 7pm we all go our separate ways to do as we like
• 8 we take the boys out to play
• 9 baths and stories
• 9:30 bed time for the little ones
• 10pm Ronnie heads for bed
• 10-11:30 Hubby and I have our time together before he heads to work.

I didn't really think we'd get to the point of everything flowing right. But it's just all fallen into place quickly and for the most part keeping with this schedule makes everyone happy.

    The best part for me living here is knowing the kids are happy at school so far. It makes them want to get up and go to school. The boys love their new schools. My oldest (7th grader) is in awe of the class rooms and even the kids. The school is only 3 years old so it's nice and clean and they actually have all of their electives that they don't have to pay for. In CA they didn't get much other then PE and if they did they had to supply their own stuff to take the classes. Here, there is Home and Consumer class where they will learn design and cooking, they have a Tec. class where they can learn about computer graphics and technology, they have Art which comes with all the supplies they'll ever need, and they have their standard PE but it gets them ready for the sports they want to join. They have their own football field, baseball field, and soccer field. It's a wonderful district that really puts them first and it's just not a place for them that they have to be but want to be. The kids here are so polite and not as rowdy as in CA. My son says how they all listen to the teachers and they can get through the whole lesson plan without interruption. I now see how bad it really was in CA.

    As for Cruz (2nd grader) he likes that the school is new and doesn't smell. He likes that it is indoors and that the lunches are better. I like the small class sizes and that they have a teachers aid their all day, it's like having 2 teachers. They have all the extra classes as well. Computer lab, Art, Music, and PE, all of witch he says are nice and fun. 

People tell me that CA is ahead of the country as far as how they teach but it doesn't matter when they don't have the money to teach our kids with the right books, computers, or enough teachers. We'll see where our kids fit in as far as academics. They were both A students in CA and I don't expect them to do any different here in GA.

I'm back!

 

I'm "Home".

I'm Happier then I've ever been.

I have a sense of finally being settled.

It's been a long time coming to this new place of ours. Ever since 2006we have been on the verge of  a move, waiting to get those orders to the next place which we knew would only be temporary but finally we can take a deep breath and settle into this amazing new home we have. We have been blessed to find a gorgeous home close to base, schools and shopping centers. A home that became the right price at the right time and that everything fell into place as I dreamed it would. My boys love their rooms, bigger then anything they have ever lived in, they have already made friends in the neighborhood,( which we found out last night has about 12 boys from the age of 3-13) It's safe, it's quiet, it's perfect!

Our biggest problem was our household goods. We had a moving company come get our stuff and we had the most damage to our belongings in our 13 years in the military. Countless things were damaged and a few things are beyond repair. That's not even counting some boxes that are missing.  We are putting in our claim this week and hopefully we can get some descent money to replace those things.

Other then that the move went smoothly. From California to Georgia we had no major issues. We visited family and friends along the way, we finally became 5 again when we met up with hubby in Texas and took some much needed vacation time before heading here.

I'm happy our journey is over and we can start our new chapter here in Augusta.