it's time to move

For those of you who haven't heard...I got a writing job! Yayayaay! It's very low-key, but it's a starting point for me and I'm very excited! Therefore, I have a new blog that is attached to my other work. It is writereadsing.wordpress.com. I plan to still update this one as our personal bloggy blog.

The site I am writing for is examiner.com. I just got all of my training info, etc. so I will let you know when I have some work to check out. I appreciate any followers and please refer me to any friends if you'd like. For the time being , I'll be writing on online social media and then will hopefully be able to branch out from there in the next month or so.

Love ya'll! Have a great week!

BOOOOOO~~~~

I am so sad! Snow again today! I know that March can be a brutal month in the great state of Colorado, but I am so over the snow. We were totally spoiled the past 3 days with highs near 70 and now they have dipped again and succeeded in bumming mama haynes out. Maybe I should take advantage and bake. That will make me happy. On top of the cold, the girls and I have had colds constantly for about the last month. I'm just ready to get the windows open and air this place out.

Enough complaining...Spring Break begins on Monday. The girls have 2 solid weeks out so I am trying to find things to do to entertain them.

Anyone watch the view? I like to tune in every now and then when time allows and I am always amazed at how annoying these women are. Joy, Whoopi, and Sherri don't bother me too much but Elizabeth and Barbara are borderline crazy. Barbara was just telling Jason Wu how great she would look in an outfit of his which consisted of a jacket, cute tank, and about 4 inch long shorts. Really Barbara? You're pushing 80, aren't you? I should be supportive of journalists but these two just make me a little wacko.

Happy Friday all!

thoughts?

Maisy has been attending the same school with the same kids for the past 3 years. Parker is not a really big town so I know most of the parents around here and am cordial with the other parents of kids in her class. Well, tonite she had a sleepover for a friend's birthday. I've met the mom before but let's face it, I'm not one to organize social circles or anything of that nature. I've got my own junk going on. Just saying. Anyway, I don't know the parents well at all. Before tonight, I probably couldn't have pointed them out in a crowd. The question is, am I a bad parent to let Maisy sleepover at pretty much a total stanger's house? Another mom was leaving as I was and asked if my daughter was allowed to spend the night. I said yep! She asked me how I could allow that without even knowing the parents. (Same mom of a gal who told ella to stop talking to her and playing with her at the park yesterday, I may be bitter) I was initially annoyed. Who is she to judge me? I think I can make decisions on my own about my kids. Plus, we had a slumber party for Mais's bday in November and 7 girls spent the night. I knew none of these kids which would lead most to believe that I didn't know their parents either. They trusted me with their kids! I've been riled up about it all night but still feel totally comfortable with Maisy being able to hang out with her buddies in a place that is completely unfamiliar to me. I don't live in Gothenburg anymore, population 3500 where everyone knows your name. I guess I just have to trust these other parents to love my baby for a night. More than that, I need to trust my own gut. It hasn't led me astray yet.

cutting class

I'm blaming this darn cold on work. I haven't been sick for close to a year and 2 weeks after I head back to work, I'm down. My throat hurt so bad last night that I could hardly swallow. It was terrible. Much better today and I know the girls love the fact that I have no voice. No yelling from mommy! I got some cleaning done this morning which was good and several other errands so that I could settle into an afternoon of nothing. It never really works that way, but I had high hopes. Soph and I went to the store and picked up some oranges, rt. beer, vicks, and movies. I was so excited to just sit and watch a whole movie but miss thing decided she wanted to be mad the entire time so I just ended up trying to console a baby rather than be inspired by Julia Child. Oh well. I'll be updating with some new pics this weekend.

the girls, they are a growing

One of my buddies makes a point to put her kids growth stats or funny stories down from time to time on her blog and i LOVE reading them. Therefore, I am stealing her thunder and throwing it down under.

Sophie: 5 months old! She has doubled her baby birthweight and is sitting pretty at about 15 lbs right now and a whopping 24 inches tall. I have been a complete pushover with her up until this point with night time sleeping. I would wake between 2-4 times a night to feed that little piggy until my friends said, hello emily???!!! I'm pleased to say that with her new bedtime routine and my hesitancy to rescue her while she cries (very little crying) she has begun to sleep close to 11 hours a night! I do feed her a bottle in her sleep before I go to bed to tide her over. What a change it has made in her mood! She's always been happy but its obvious that she needed more sleep. She practically begs to be in bed by 730 when before I had her up well past 9. She is beginning to love her toys. She'll grab onto anything you put in front of her and hold on for dear life. She loves to watch the girls dance, sing, anything. She just laughs and laughs...it's so sweet. She is a sweet baby and we love her very, very much.

Ella likes to call us names. Nothing mean, but she's always done it. Mostly they are made up words, hunkapunny, monnyso, etc. Lately, she calls me a little boy and daddy a little girl. It's funny. She is always good for a laugh. In the past month, El has begun to ask us to spell words for her while she writes them on paper which is AMAZING for her. I always thought that school was going to be a huge challenge for her, but she is doing so great and catching on very quickly. She's just kind of a rebel and would like us to think she has no clue what is going on. Another funny thing, she walked into the kitchen last week; rather shuffled into the kitchen with her back hunched over. I asked her what was wrong to which she replied, "I'm walking like my teacher's grandma." Strange girl.

Maisy is the boss lady. She has no problem telling anyone what to do and will explain why it should be that way. She hides things everywhere for fear that we will mess with her stuff. She'll read a 20 chapter book in a day. She's just great. It's so fun to watch her grow and listen to the things that come out of her mouth. A couple of weeks ago we drove by a bunch of geese and she explained to me that they were not cold b/c they have feathers and are warm blooded mammals. She totes around about $100 in her wallet and refuses to spend it. It must keep her warm. She has several sure-fire ways to keep Sophie from crying and I am so thankful for this talent. She is able to go into the gas station for me now and get my Diet Root Beers, as long as I float her $1 to pick something too. Mais is tall, skinny, and growing up wayyyy too fast.

a holiday backtrack

This Christmas was AWESOME!!!! It's so rare that we get to see much of our family and this year we saw darn near everyone! The week before the holidays, my dad and his girly Rebecca came out to visit and spoil the kids. We had a great time with them and they took us out to our fave spot to eat, Hacienda! I got them both hooked on it so they practically beg to go there when they visit. Who am I to tell my company no? After a super fattening but muy deliciouso lunch, we headed over to my aunt Nancy's house who embarrassingly enough lives about 15 minutes from us. We never visit Nanc, John and the kids other then the times that dad is out but they could care less. They are so busy with their kids that its all good. We are just happy to see them when we can.

Christmas Eve Marigold arrived from sunny Florida with as much winter gear as she could pack into her little carry-on. She was able to stay with us for a whole week which was so much fun. Johnny, Melissa, and the girls (Ruby and Scout) braved the terrible weather the Saturday following Christmas so we all were able to celebrate together. Erica and Ryan were planning to come but with the unpredictable NE weather patterns couldn't make it. We missed them but will be spending Christmas with them next year in Estes Park. Clint's sis Kathy and her fam trekked out on Sunday so the girls got to hang out with Tessa for 2 whole days! They were in heaven. Clint's mom and husband live in Denver again so we got to spend a lot of time with them. They spoiled the girls, as usual. It finally felt like Christmas to me. We didn't go anywhere last year as Clint traveled to Costa Rica shortly after the holidays and the girls and I took a short trip to Florida in January. Christmas is meant to be celebrated with those you love, so thank goodness we got 'er done.

Note to parents: Santa made a ginormous mistake this year. Walmart is not open late, I repeat, not open late, on Christmas Eve. If you need to go pick up a present that you are having them hold for you, be sure to get there bright and early. Poor Maisy was surprised to learn how savvy Santa is with technology...he actually texted her to let her know that the nice folks at Walmart were holding a present for her b/c it wouldn't fit on his sleigh. What a mess.

could 2010 be the end?

Naw, I don't think that at all. I do prefer saying twenty-ten as opposed to two thousand ten though. It's got a nice ring to it.

I opted for not doing my traditional new year's resolutions this year. Rather, I've broadened them into what I feel will be much more attainable. I will share them with you all so that if you see I'm getting out of line, you can corral me back in.
1. Work on my marriage. (I believe we all need this, marriage is hard work)
2. Be healthy so that my girls can learn from me.
3. Be patient with those that I love.
4. Get involved with my church and volunteer more b/c it makes me so happy when I do.
5. Write more.

I've always like 5 goals. Not too many but enough to give me a little challenge.

I hope that you have all started the new year off right!