Work

It has been exactly 4 years since I quit my job to stay at home after Kaitlynn was born. Man, does time fly! I remember all too well how tough that transition was for me, and I even blogged about it here. It took me a good 6 months or so to get the hang of staying at home with 2 kids, and even then I still struggled along the way. I wouldn't change any of it, and I feel so blessed to continue to have such special memories with my kids while they're still little. I long for a Pause button every. single. day!

When I'm being honest with myself, there are many things I miss about working. The adult interaction, intellectual stimulation, recognition for good work, and of course, a paycheck is always nice. Of course, there are many things I don't miss and will never miss either: alarm clocks, office politics, and red tape. I also don't miss the overwhelming juggling act of trying to balance kids and home life while also keeping up with a sometimes stressful, full-time job. But despite all of the negatives, there were so many positives and those tend to be the things I have missed during the past 4 years as I've been away from my career. Along the way, I've had some opportunities pop up that would have allowed me to return to work, but they never seemed to be a good fit with my responsibilities at home.

Until now.

That's right, this stay-at-home Mom has a new gig on the side. I've started working again part-time, mostly from home, for my former company. I am doing some IT project management on a software implementation project. I'm just getting started and haven't worked a lot of hours yet, but I am feeling very excited about it. The folks I'm working with are just SO supportive and allowing me the flexibility to balance my home life with my new project responsibilities. So far, it seems to be exactly the right fit for me, and I am so thankful!

The funny thing is, I've actually been so busy lately with my volunteer responsbilities at Connor's school. In an effort to get involved, I signed up to be Homeroom Parent as well as the Junior Achivement Coordinator for the elementary campus. I think I've logged about 45 hours so far this month, whew! Thankfully the Junior Achievement work is winding down so I can start focusing a little more on my new job.

As I've been spending so much time on PTA and work, Jeff and I decided it was a good time to turn our study into a home office. I was browsing Craigslist one day and found an office furniture set that just so happened to be from the exact same set as our existing office armoire. It's turning out to be the perfect spot for me to work. Gotta love Craigslist!

The new home office (a little bare for now!)

Kaitlynn helping Mommy do some work.

Visiting my office downtown. Kaitlynn LOVED all the tall and "medium" buildings. Ha!

Busy

So I think it goes without saying that life is just BUSY. Some days I walk in the door at 8:30 PM and think to myself, "This is the first time I have been home all day." For a stay-at-home Mom, there just isn't much staying at home, you know what I mean??

Here are some random updates/pics of some of the things keeping us so busy these days.

First of all...SCHOOL. There is always something going on with one of the kids' schools. Parents nights, homework, PTA, you name it. School is just busy!!

Our daily walk/ride to school.

Biker chick. Everyone knows Kaitlynn by her Big Wheel. She is heck on wheels, ha!

Beautiful rays of sunshine!

All smiles; we love school!

Since Kaitlynn is now in school 4 days a week, we don't get much time to run errands and have downtime like we used to. But we try to take advantage of it while we can. One of our favorite stops is the Galleria, because we can shop, play, and then meet Daddy for lunch!




Mommy and Kaitlynn at the Galleria play area.

LOVE this pic, which is kind of deceptive because she looks so sweet and innocent, LOL!

What?! We get to meet Daddy for lunch?? YAY!!!

This is a Daddy's Girl through and through! She now commonly refers to him as her "sweet Daddy." (Gag me. Just kidding.)

 

Getting ready for our lunch date with Dad.



Love :-)

A special lunch with Daddy and his girl.

Our weekends lately have been primarily dedicated to football. Connor has games on Saturdays, the Texans play most Sundays, and we are also regularly attending our new church, Grace Fellowship, which we all are really enjoying. Also on the weekends, we sometimes get a rare treat to spend time with Collin and Kevin if they make the drive from their respective colleges. Collin is still at UTSA and Kevin is in his first semester at Blinn College in Brenham.

A rare treat -- all 4 siblings together for a family lunch.

Kevin in his dorm room at Blinn.

Occasionally I have dinner or a night away with my girlfriends. And when that happens, it is Dad's Night in our house. You would think the kids were at Disneyworld the way they react when it's Dad's Night. They literally shove me out of the door so they can get the fun started. I'm wondering if I should be offended??

Favorite Dad's Night activity -- making a tent!



Yo, Dad's Night rocks!

Texans Home Opener

It's that time of year again when our favorite season is upon us -- Football Season!! We can't get enough of our beloved Houston Texans, and every season always kicks off with high hopes and expectations. We had a great time at the home opener, when the Texans came from behind in the last few minutes to beat the Titans. Here are some pics from our fun day at the game.

Walking in to the game. It was a sunny and warm day.

Finally inside.

I wonder how many of our family pics over the years include Texans jerseys?

One of the game highlights: it was Liberty White day and Vanilla Ice was our halftime performer. Perfectly appropriate, and so much fun!

Word to your mother.

Sweet Dad and daughter moment.

Funday Friday with Anais

As much as Kaitlynn loves her new school, she really misses her old friends and especially her best friend, Anais. They didn't get to see each other much during the summer because Anais was traveling overseas with her family. Sometime around mid-July, Kaitlynn started asking if we could have a playdate with Anais. And by asking, I actually mean BEGGING RELENTLESSLY, day after day, week after week.

Kaitlynn and Anais are at different preschools this fall but they have the same schedule (Mon-Thurs). Since this is Anais's last year at home before starting Kindergarten, Keri (her mom) declared that every Friday would be "Funday Friday" for the two of them to enjoy some quality time together. I just love that idea! And it works out perfectly for us because Fridays are the perfect time for Kaitlynn and Anais to get together for a playdate.

Last week, Kaitlynn and Anais had their first Funday Friday together, and it was the first time they had seen each other in months. They were two happy girls!! They played together at one of our favorite play areas, rode the carousel, and enjoyed some lunch and ice cream. It was such a fun time for them, and we're already ready for the next one!

Best friends reunited!

Precious girls.

Strolling through the mall.

I just love these girls!

Fun at the play area.

Anais brought Kaitlynn a belated birthday gift. K was so excited!

Keri sent me these pics from her camera. There was no shortage of smiles on this Funday Friday!!

Connor's First Tackle Football Games

The KYF (Katy Youth Football) Texans football season has begun and is in full swing! Oh, what fun we are having in our first season of tackle football!

For the first game, our uniforms hadn't arrived yet. So Connor played in a navy blue practice jersey but didn't mind a bit.

Connor ready for his first game of tackle football.

Kaitlynn was ready, too, in her pink Texans shirt.

The first game was against the Dolphins, and they were definitely the mighty Dolphins. Although our team played well, the Dolphins beat the Texans 21-0. Although Connor had been doing GREAT in practice the week of the game, he seemed a little unsure during the game and didn't play his best. That is, until the very last play of the game when he made an incredible diving tackle to bring down the Dolphin running back. Awesome play!!!

Connor going up against a mighty Dolphin, who was a whole head taller!

One of the other parents took this pic of Connor's big tackle. This was right before he made the diving lunge to bring the runner down by his foot. Awesome!

Connor giving the other team a final "good game" greeting.

After the game, Kaitlynn was pretty in pink :-)

For our second game, I think the team was a lot more prepared for what they were going to face. They got their new "away" jerseys for the big game and they were SO cool! The letters are stitched on, just like the Pro jerseys. Our team was set to play the Broncos, and the outcome was much better this time. The Texans won 26-6, woohoo! Connor played great in the game this time. He is playing the left tackle position on both offense and defense, so he's getting a lot of playing time and loving it!
 

Connor in his "away" jersey, ready for Game 2.

Connor with his signature football pose.

The Texans run through their fancy banner before gametime. We're in the big leagues, ha!

Jeff has been taking stats during the games. You know it's football in Texas when you see cows in the background of the pic, LOL!

My favorite pic so far of my tiny Texan. Love his intensity!

Connor lined up as left tackle on defense.

At one point during the game, Connor was standing on the sidelines and yelled out to his teammates in a quiet moment, "Don't mess up!!" The coaches and parents got a kick out of that, ha!

After the game, Connor was filthy!!

We still have a long and exciting season of football ahead of us. Go TEXANS!!!