I blinked and the weekend is over!

We had a CRAZY busy weekend! Saturday, Bob and Beth had Dad's Day at Nursery school and from what I understand, it was a jam packed hour full of coloring/painting, games and activies. I had a bridal shower for Erin and Bryan and while I was at the shower, Bob took both girls to his mom's house for the rest of the weekend. We spent the afternoon visiting with some dear friends visiting from Birmingham and then we all went to a Pig Roast Party for Bryan and Erin and we were the for about 3 1/2 hours. The rest of the night was spent just hanging out. I had my first glass of wine in a LONG time and now I remember why I hate wine! Yuck!! This morning we enjoyed not being awoken by the kids at 6:30 and we slept till 8:30! We went to late Church at 11:00, had lunch with mom, dad and Bryan, then headed to Bob's mom's house to get the kids and visit some friends in that town. We got back here around dinner and we are all kinda decompressing and chilling!

Bob spent all week working on the consulting business and has another jam packed week of networking and meetings. I hope we get our first client soon!! He also ordered his Laptap yesterday, so that is a happy! Its really REAL!

I'm tired just THINKING about our life right now...

Easter

Easter was very different around here this year. I think because it was so early. I just didn't get "into it" like I usually do. Thankfully, I already had things for Easter baskets and eggs that I've had since LAST summer, put away for this year. In each basket, each girl got a new pair of Princess PJ's, a new Disney bathing suit, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, a book, a "gourmet" sucker...and I think that is it. Eggs were filled with new Jizbitz (sp?) for Beth's Crocs, jellybeans, YoGos, and stickers. Each girls hunts for different colored eggs, so that is how I kept those things separate. Then it was off to Church by 8:35! Whew! We had a low-key Easter dinner later at mom and dad's house and that was pretty much it. Its just too early for Easter (even though it was WARMER this year than last year- remember that awful cold snap in April?).

Here are a FEW Easter pics- Although I took over FORTY pictures on Easter morning, not very many came out great. Oh well!

This next one is outside before Church, all dressed up - again, not something I even thought about prior to 30 minutes before Church- EASTER DRESSES or white shoes!! OOPS! Thank goodness I bought some Spring shoes during the Darling Shoes internet blow-out in January! Beth's dress is from last year-but it was the only spring/summer dress with SLEEVES in her whole closet that fit- the rest are sundresses!! I wish the trees had been in bloom - ALL my Easter pic's of the girls, so far, have the blooming Dogwoods in the background, but not this year. Oh well!

COME ON SPRING! Our household really needs a little pick-me-up right now!!

News

Well...our news....Bob quit his job. Yep - he's done. No longer EMPLOYED.
Its a long saga of a story...with ups and downs (and WAY more downs than ups lately), but it basically came down to the fact that he was purely MISERABLE and hated his job.

For 10 years (actually 12), Bob has said he wants to start his own Safety Consulting Company. That was his "10 year plan" when he graduated in 1998. In 2002, he started a small company in Indiana, to service 1-2 clients, on the side, from his full-time job. It was basically his "play" money - his boat money, his fishing money, the Disney trip money, etc....He's had the same client for 5 years and in January, they told him they just couldn't afford it anymore. Its not a bad thing. We REALLY needed to wrap up all the Indiana business (since we've lived in KY for 3 years!), plus the guy he had working for him in Indy found a new job and was moving, so it all worked out. Well, now that the Indiana business is wrapped, he wants to seriously give this a go in Kentucky. Granted, it wasn't perfect timing and it didn't all "go down" as we had hoped, but regardless, we are HERE now and dealing with it. He has a list of contacts to call and several appointments already set. Unfortunately, his "weak" side is the SELL, so he is a little scared about making all the initial sales calls to get clients - and FIVE full-time clients is all we need for a while. But, convincing 5 business owners in this area to spend $20K a year on safety is a hard job. I do think he can do it- he REALLY believes in this company and he is really what he wants to do. Isn't it Oprah that says to be truly happy in a career, you need to do what you love? I think getting back to basics (just safety) is what Bob loves to do and working for himself is his DREAM. It will be a hard, hard road in the SHORT TERM and we know that, but I think the long-term looks good.

Are we scared? Absolutely!
Are we nervous - you bet your butt!

My main worries include...oh, you know - INCOME! And Health Insurance. EEK!

We're looking into small business loans or a financial backer...we have a few avenues to explore.

The good news is that it is a relatively LOW COST business to start with no overhead. Granted, as time goes by, the expenses will mount for things like continued education for him, additional supplies, etc, but for now, there isn't much in start-up. We're lucky that he already has the business SET-UP legally, so he can jump right in to obtaining clients!

Hey - know any business/contractor/company/factory in this area that needs a PART-TIME safety guy??

Bathtime - Sarah then and now

Sarah Katherine exactly one year ago -March 18, 2007 - just shy of 11 month old:

And Sarah Katherine- yesterday, March 17, 2008 - just shy of 23 months old:

Birthday Princess

Beth turned 5 today. Its weird- I have a FIVE YEAR OLD now. Five seems so "real" to me. I guess because I have REAL memories of being five. Five is when she starts Kindergarten. Five seems so grown up all of a sudden. I can't believe its been FIVE years since she was born. Wow.

Beth had her Birthday Princess Tea Party today and it went so well. I think all 7 other little girls had a great time and they looked adorable. And out of respect for their parents, I won't be posting party pictures with anyone other than Beth in them. I'm not sure how those parents would feel about me putting up pictures of their kids on my blog, so I'll just steer clear and keep the pictures simply about Beth.

This was just before the party - telling me she is now FIVE. You can see the royal table set in the background, as well as the castle they spent a lot of time coloring. It was GREAT!!

This is Beth's cookie cake. She isn't too keen on cake, so she wanted a big cookie. Her daddy decorated it, may I add! I think we have the next Ace of Cakes on our hands...

And this is just after she opened her very first EVER Barbie. I told her she had to be five. So this was the year of the Barbie. She got four of them...and a Barbie car. Whew!

Happy 5th Birthday Beth!

A Little Easter fun

Bob's work had a family Easter Egg "hunt" and other fun activities this morning, so we took the girls to see where Daddy works and to play for a while. Both had a great time and Sarah was too funny hunting her eggs...and winning a heck of a prize! A HUGE Easter basket full of all kinds of junk she doesn't need...including about a pound of candy. But buddy, you better believe she found those jelly beans and shoved them in her mouth hand over foot! She figured out REAL fast how to open the eggs to get the jellybeans out and Eevery time I turned around she had another one in her mouth! She was completely WIRED!

Sarah - so much fun!

Sarah is almost 23 months old now. WOW- that means in a little over 5 weeks - she is turning TWO! AUGH! NOOOOOOOO............. But in all reality, I really enjoyed Beth when she was two (Beth didn't do the terrible two's - she did the horrible three's!), so I'm looking forward to Sarah being two, too! Just watch - Sarah WILL go through terrible two's and I'll be pulling my hair out this summer. She is SUCH an outside girl and I am looking forward to a summer spent outside in our yard...and hopefully at the YMCA pool, if we can get our act together and join again. She is such a girly girl and loves her dolls and playing dress-up with Beth. Then again, she'll play ANYTHING with Beth. She adores Beth.

So Tuesday night, after the girls had finished their dinner...they left the kitchen to go play dress-up. A few minutes later- Sarah came back dressed like this:

Snow boots and Little Mermaid outfit! Too funny!!

Today in our neck of woods, it is supposed to be 75 degrees (and yes, we had six inches of snow on the ground just 5 days ago! Crazy weather!). So, the girls were SOO excited to wear capris and short-sleeve shirts. I just loved Sarah's cute little new spring outfit, but I couldn't get her to cooperate very well for a picture - Little Einsteins was on and heaven forbid I interrupt her watching Little Einsteins! Geez.. So....here is Sarah in her cute little outfit, telling me to take a hike!

Notice that "capris" on Sarah are more like pants- she is still so short!! She has her 2 year old check up after her birthday and I'm anxious to see how much she has grown since her 18m check-up.

We have a busy weekend coming up - I have two parties on Saturday (Kelly's Kids and a wedding shower) and Sunday is Beth's 5th Birthday, complete with a big 'ole Princess Tea Party with 10 little girls! Its going to be a little nutty, but I think it will be a fun time! Stay tuned for Princess Tea Party pictures on Sunday!

Anyone up for a Backyard BBQ?

The grill is ready to be fired up!

There is plenty of outside seating!


The kids can play on the outside slide/castle while the adults hang on the patio!

What? No? You don't think its a good idea? ME EITHER!! We got a little over 6 inches of snow last night - March 8 - 12 days before the official start of SPRING! Geez! Darn groundhog!

This was Sarah's first real snow and it was a little deep for her short legs - she preferred to be carried to ride on the sled!

Beth and I made snow angels and had snow fun for a while!

And even in the 25 degree temperature and 6 inches of snow - all Beth wanted to do was SWING! Some things never change....

Silliness...

FUNNY NAMES - what are yours?

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) - Prudy Sebring (that is so weird!)
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)- chocolate thin mint
3. YOUR "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)- K.Pee
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) - Yellow Dog
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) - Elizabeth Hop****
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) - Katpe
7. SUPERHERO NAME: ("The" + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink) - The Green Latte
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) - Daniel Bill
9. STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy) - Happy Twizzlers
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) - omitted...
11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter) - Bolton Birmingham
12. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower) - Fall Daffodil
13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + "ie" or "y") - Peach Socks
14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree) - Oatmeal Dogwood
15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: ("The" + fave hobby/craft, fave weather + "Tour") - The Bow Making Sunny Tour

Profit...

Just an update about Kids Closet- it went so great! The sale made almost $37,000!!!!!!!! That means that the 40% profit is almost $15,000 for the Kindergarten/Nursery School! Heck of a fundraiser, huh?