I Am A Phoenix

The definition of a Phoenix Bird is as follows (according to Wikipedia): A phoenix is a mythical bird with a colorful plumage and a tail of gold and scarlet. It has a 500 to 1,000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of twigs that then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix arises, reborn anew to live again. The new phoenix is destined to live as long as its old self.

Many of you probably saw my facebook post from a few days ago about exciting things happening and are wondering what's going. Or my sister told you and the word spread....either way, I can now let the cat out of the bag. Last Thursday Carson was offered a new job! The job is at the same campus that he currently works at just in another department. He's going to be an alumni enrollment counselor. Basically what he's going to be doing is enrolling people who have left school for various reasons. They may be people who left because of money, time, misadvisement, or downright displeasure with the school. So he's leaving the glamorous life of management-or as I like to call it, baby-sitting-for the fast paced much more appreciated world of enrollment. All for the same salary plus over-time which he never got before!

Sorry to lead everyone on without explanation, but he didn't want me to really say anything until he officially accepted the job which happened yesterday.

To some of you, this might not seem like a big deal, but I have to say that the last 8-9 months have been really hard for him in his current position with a lot of disappointment. I can't tell you how great this is going to be for him. Imagine how it would feel to be hand picked for something. Instant confidence boost. Hence the reference to the phoenix bird. In the last week or so, I have seen a glimpse of my husband that has been hidden for a while. Someone who is excited about work and feels like he can do it well because someone believes in him. It's a great feeling. I'll leave it at that otherwise I will get really mooshy and I know a lot of you don't appreciate that. Suffice it to say, this a huge blessing and a definite answer to many prayers.

So there you go, we're not moving, not buying a new house, not buying another car, and I'm definitely not pregnant.

Dear Nightlights....

Dear night-lights, protect my sleeping babes. Burn clear and steadfast tonight.

~Granny Wendy in the movie Hook

Mr. Will...I could watch him sleep for hours!

About 6 weeks ago we move Audrey into Siobhan's room and they share a bed now. Totally old school and I love it! They have a lot of fun too.

Keepin' It Real

The Other Day, a friend of mine needed to escape her house with her girls for a little while so asked if she could come by and let the girls play together. We happily obliged but not without the warning that I was still in my pjs and the house was a mess. Cue the whirlwind of cleaning. All toys picked up, carpet vacuumed, laundry baskets taken up stairs, kitchen floor swept, table wiped off, dishes haphazardly thrown in the dishwasher...you know the drill.

The Doorbell Rang, and I felt the house was somewhat presentable. When my friend walked in, she said, 'you house doesn't look bad at all!' That's when I let me little secret out. I said, 'I have never cleaned that fast in my life!' That started a whole conversation about how we need to keep things more real. We got to talking about how people post pictures on their blogs of house and kids and sometimes you look at them and you say to yourself, 'are you really able to keep your family room looking that nice all the time?' or 'how do you get your kid's clothes to stay that clean all day?' or 'did you creatively crop that picture?'

Well, In The Spirit of keeping things real, I thought I would post about what I did today. When it comes to my housekeeping, I'm not great. In fact, I pretty much suck! But whenever I know that people are coming by, I always make sure that they places they see are as well cleaned as possible (or that time allows). But 90% of the time, people aren't coming over to see our master bedroom so I tend to neglect it. It's a horrible way to live, but I do. I pretty much avoid straightening and cleaning it at all costs. Well, I tackled it today and I'm pretty pleased to announce that it's almost done. Not all the way done though...my kids didn't make it very easy today and I had a sewing project that I wanted to post. But I made a great head way. Here are some pictures of the things that have been dumped and haven't their way all the way home until today.

Carson's suitcase from his business trip. He still hasn't unpacked yet. :)

A pile of shoes that came from the over-flowing shoe basket downstairs...I needed to move them about ten more feet to our closet....

A pile of stash fabric and sewing projects conveniently dropped next to my sewing desk....too bad the sewing machine is set up down stairs. And of course with a diaper thrown in for good measure!

Dance Class~

Back in August, Audrey started her very first dance class! She was sooo cute! Siobhan also started her class, but I totally forgot to take pics of her. I'll take some this week and post them!

Such a cute ballerina!

As you can see, she is so good at paying attention...this was when the teacher wanted them to hand on the bar like a monkey, she the only one doing and so she's obviously the star student. Yeha, I'm totally kidding!

Stretch! She loves to make pizzas while doing a straddle and making sandwiches while doing a butterfly! So cute! She asks me everyday if she can go to gance cwass.

In other news that has a surprisingly similar subject matter, I started teaching back in August and everything is going very well thus far!

Grosgrain: Indian Summer Shirt and Skirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Grosgrain: Indian Summer Shirt and Skirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Setting Aside Some Time

I'm going to set aside some time tonight to sew. I have a lot to do, but I feel the need to do something creative. Maybe while I'm watching So You Think You Can Dance or Glee. I will sew tonight!