silly samantha

our home!!!!

silly meagan

my angels

It has been a while...so this post is going to be epic! Get out your reading glasses, a glass of coke or coffee or whatever keeps you up cause it's almost been a year since my last post, and this is going to be a long one!

Our year (so far) in a nutshell:

Matt and I have had a crazy year. I have actually learned the real meaning of busy.
Matt has been in paramedic school since last year and just finished up last month! FINALLY! it has been so hard to juggle his full time job, his full time school, his other job, my job, my other job, kids school and preschool and play dates. But we did it and now he's almost officially a paramedic (final test is in October)! Yay for Matt, I am so proud of him, he has really hung in there, especially when the going got tough with his teachers and scheduling, stupid clinical's and crazy school rules! He loves his job at the county, and at the FD, and just started as a lifeguard at the YMCA, juuuuust for the hell of it! He likes to stay busy. I love this man so much! He never fails to make me laugh and look at the better side of things, he keeps me grounded!

Our biggest thing this year...Buying our first HOUSE!!!!!! We (and I mean not just Matt and I) really worked our butts off on cleaning up our credit, cause lets face it, the banks are tight asses these days and if your score isn't amazing they wont even give you a fighting chance. But on June 2 2010, we closed on our beautiful, perfect house! 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, living, family, dining/kitchen, finished basement, attached 2 car garage, fenced in yard with shed, and best ever wonderful neighborhood with kids for the girls to play!! Wahoo! The highlight of our year!

I have been working at Clip Art Salon for a year and a half now and love it so much! My clientele is growing immensely and so is my confidence! For me it has been a rough year. I never knew buying a house could be so stressful. Well it is. I think if Matt and I can survive this, we can survive anything! Ok, well this and paramedic school and Cosmo school all in 2 years...wow we really have been crazy busy. I love being a mom to the most amazing kiddos in the whole world, even when I wish for school to start! They are the lights of my life, and I love watching them grow and change and develop these wonderful little personalities. Summer was so much fun in our new neighborhood, meeting all the kids and getting to know them, making ourselves an actual home! We didn't go on any vacations, our house was our vacation this year, but we did take a day trip to the funnest water park here in Waterloo, IA, www.thelostisland.com we had so much fun there, we can't wait to go back next year! We are really looking forward to Halloween, my favorite holiday, and Matt is really looking forward to the other holidays, my not so favorite ones.

Samantha turned 7 this year. I can't believe she is 7! What a wonderful little lady she is. I love her personality, spirit and compassion! She is so tender hearted and caring, but also out going and fun! and what a smart little cookie she is! Samantha started 2nd grade this year, her teacher is Mrs. Chalupa (pronounced Kaloopa) and she really likes her, so do we! She loves to play with her friends, ride her bike, play on the computer, take pictures and read, but especially loves to swim in the deep end! She is so proud of herself for passing the swim test to be able to swim on her own now and do the diving boards! She has also learned how to ride a two wheeler, and very well I might add, she didn't give up, just kept going and in a day she had it down pat! She is gutsy and sassy, she rode a roller coaster at the water park that was pretty scary but she didn't balk, she just got on and held on tight! She has so many friends that she loves to play with all day, every day if we would let her! We are so proud of her and her accomplishments this year and can't wait to see her continue to grow and learn in all aspects of life.

Meagan turned 5 this year. Wow, she is a freaking whirlwind!! She is spunk and sass and happiness and youth and sweetness all rolled into one!! Actually I can't even put her into words she is such a loon! Meagan definitely makes us laugh, always! Even when I'm trying to be serious and punish her, she pulls a Meagan face and I crack a smile!! I'm laughing writing this she is so funny! She started kindergarten this year and loves it!! Heck, the kid was ready for it last year! She loves her teacher Ms. Reed, and all her new friends she is making! She is a zoner, if you are talking to her and the TV is on, she is so zoned onto that TV that she cant/wont listen to you! her favorites are tom and Jerry and pink the panther (the pink panther), and we cant forget fineas and ferb, our dvr is 25% full of tom and Jerry, her hands down fav i think! she is so good at gymnastics, even though we don't have her in it, she just does all these cartwheels and round offs and stuff she learned from watching friends! She loves to play outside and inside all the same, barbies, dress-ups, house and hanging with the neighborhood kids! She is super gutsy at some things and not so much on other things! She'll pick up a toad any day, but riding a roller coaster takes a lot of persuasion!

Speaking of toads, we have a ton of them around our house and the kids (mine and the neighborhood) love catching them and either squeezing them (mostly the boys do this), which if I am around I yell, and trying to keep them as pets! Oiy! And did I mention that all the kids on our street are boys except for my girls and two other girls way down the street who rarely come down. Ya it stays pretty busy around here, but we love it and wouldn't change it for the world. So that is our year in a nutshell. I could add so much more but figured you probably didn't even read this far down it is so long! hope your year has been a great one so far also.