iPhone Photo Dump

 I have been cooking up a storm lately.  I think it was helping me through my stressful decision of whether or not I could actually stay home.  Turns out I'm pretty decent in the kitchen now.  I have really come a long way coming from a family that did not do much home cooking.  What I have been most excited about is I am cooking clean, whole, healthy meals.  The kids are digging it.  They especially loved the pineapple fried rice with shrimp that I served in these pineapple boats!!!

 We were lucky enough to get to go to an early viewing of Oz before it came out to the public which the kids thought was pretty cool!  The movie was much better than I had anticipated too so it turned out to be a fun event.

 That same weekend we went to the pirates dinner adventure which the kids thought was a total blast.  We were joined by even more close family so the night was pretty fun.

 Belle got picked to be in the show (well... by picked you should read her uncle lied and said it was her birthday) and she LOVED it!  She did almost fall in the water while attempting to throw her gold coin in the water.  But, thankfully she made it out safely ;)

 Belle brought her Merida with her to the hotel and asked me to take her picture.  She is getting so big.

 Cuddlebear is getting so old and he has impressed me so much.  He is the perfect older brother.  He is on student council, made honor roll and loves helping out with the littles.  I cannot wait to see what he does in life.

Sweet M* has had a fascination with being an actor from watching Disney channel so when an opportunity presented himself I jumped.  I let him audition for a part in a tv show.  He didn't get it but I was so proud of him for wanting something, talking to me about it and then being brave enough to try it.  He was so excited.  What was really cool about the experience is he realized I did it just for him and he was very appreciative.  He has come SO FAR I can hardly believe it.  Such an amazing boy!!!

March... How did that happen???

Well life around here moves at lightening speed.  I have no idea how all of the sudden we find ourselves in March meaning spring break and Easter are just around the corner.  It is interesting actually because Hubby and I got married young, started our family young and started our businesses young and we have had our head down just trying to get through it all.  But, lately my eyes have become wide open and I realized that because of all of our hard work and dedication we have built something truly amazing!!!

We have a wonderful marriage that has endured so much, a remarkable friendship, four amazing children that bring us so much joy and a few successful businesses.  I guess it is true that if you put your mind to something and work hard enough you can actually make it come true.

But, now that I am aware of our accomplishments I am also aware of our sacrifices.  As a little girl I dreamed of being a mom.  Coming from a mom who stayed home while I was young it was always my assumption that I would stay home with my babies.  However, as circumstances were I could not (or chose not to) stay home when I actually had my children.  In fact I never even took a maternity leave until Sweet M* came home and I had to take off work for a few months because his transition was so intense and difficult.

This realization that I missed out on some of my precious babies time along with the fact that my youngest... little Belle is already losing teeth and moving on to kindergarten next year has got me caught up in some kind of mid life crisis- YIKES!

So, I have spent that last 3 months or so trying to figure out what to do about it.  I am not one to sit back and watch life pass me by.  I have always chosen to live life to its fullest so whenever I have felt the need to do something I have always JUMPED!  So, after three months of careful consideration and changing my mind back and forth several times a day (driving my amazing supportive husband absolutely batty) I finally feel like I am ready for my next leap and boy is it a big one!!!

I am going to train someone to replace me at work and I am going to try my hand at being a stay at home mom.  WOOT!  WOOT!  I am so excited to be present with the kids.  To have the patience to have deep conversations with them and to listen to their nonsense jibber jabber with enthusiasm.  I cannot wait to have the time to take them to the park, make a mess with playdough and paint all without having to worry about all the work that will be sitting waiting for me.  I also believe this will slow life down a bit more so I don't lose anymore precious time with my babies. 

It is not only about the munchkins.  I truly believe this will also allow me to be a better wife.  I love taking care of my husband and I miss being truly engaged in conversation with him.  It has been way too long that I have been trying to juggle so many roles and I realize now that when you do that you can't give your all to each of them.  In that scenario everyone loses out because no one gets enough of the slice leaving me feeling inadequate at the things most important to me.  So, no more!  I am putting my foot down, making a big change and I know it is going to be the best decision I have ever made.  Life is too short not to be there with the ones you love. 

Watch out Martha Stewart because a new homemaker is coming to town!!!