I thought this blog thing was going to be so easy and it wouldn’t be a problem for me to find time and things to post but this is hard (“that’s what she said” wink-wink CR).

Going back to work after the holidays was brutal. I really did enjoy my time off and had myself second guessing if I wanted to continue working. Hmmm, what to do – what to do? Well it didn't take me long to realize I needed to jump right back into the swing of things. I made a personal goal to myself and my kids that I will not work over 60 hours a week and will do my best to keep it under 50. I’m focused on getting myself and my family healthy. Yikes, I wonder how healthy this bottle of wine is… JUST KIDDING!

Jeff is still driving across the country to work each day, ok ok – only across Houston but it seems like it’s across the country when traffic is as bad as it is sometimes. There are days it takes him 2 hours to get home. God is good, he put a co-worker in Jeff’s crew that also lives in so they’ve been car pooling the last few weeks. This is great as they get to take the HOV lane and bypass all that traffic and we get to save money on gas too. He is ecstatic the Saints are going to the Super bowl!!! GEAUX SAINTS! With Jeff growing up in New Orleans, he’s been a fan since he was a kid. We hope this brings great things to the city of New Orleans. It breaks my heart to go there and see the city in the shape it’s still in since hurricane Katrina.

The kids were very excited to go back to school. They received their report cards last week and I’m happy to announce that Kiarra had 7 A’s and 1 B (missed an A by 1 stinking point) and Jayden had all A’s. We are so proud of them. We’re not sure about Tamia’s grades as she is not allowed to share that information with us (baby mama drama – call me sometime and I can give you a good laugh).

Taryn had a rough couple of weeks back at daycare after being home with me those 18 days. 10 of her friends transitioned to a new room and she got 6 new friends in her classroom. She started acting out in ways she’s never done and having weird potty accidents. I’m not even sure we should call them accidents. This child has the craziest imagination and does the funniest things. Of course it’s funny to me now but at the time, I was not too happy with her. One evening she took all the clothes off her baby doll, sat on her baby and pee’d on it!!! I asked “Taryn, what are you doing?” She responded “Mommy, my baby had to go pee pee so she did – see!” Seriously, all I could do was laugh. She tells us the funniest stories about her dog (imaginary) and her pig that lives in her room, again imaginary but really funny. I try to get the stories on video but they are not as funny as when we are driving down the freeway and she is telling me the stories for the first time. I know I sound like a broken record but I would do anything to freeze time so all my kids would stay the exact ages they are right now.

Tamia and Kiarra are both turning into young women (yes, I said it - women – read between the lines). They are maturing in ways I’m not ready for and in ways that honestly scare me. Boys look at them when we are out and it’s just not right. In my first posting, I wrote about Kiarra’s teacher and how awesome she is. Well, I have some bad news – she retired! Kiarra came home crying one day because it was her teachers last week due to her retiring early to care for her husband who is very ill. It was a very tough week for Kiarra and for all of us. Mrs. Chevalier may forever be Kiarra’s favorite teacher. She was a true blessing to all of us.

Jayden decided he wanted to have a food fight at school this week. For those of you, who know us well, know we do not tolerate this behavior (even though I did it and it was a blast), we expect our kids to behave proper in every situation or at least make good choices. We’ve been working with him on that and coaching him to not follow other kid’s when they choose bad behavior but to think about his actions and the consequences prior to making decisions. As you know Jayden is very emotional, I can look at him with my “you’re in trouble face” and he immediately starts to cry but he took his punishment for this behavioral very well. He didn’t cry, he used good manners and he chose his punishment which was very appropriate for what he did. He’s growing into a mature young man himself and we are very proud of him for recognizing his bad behavior and wanting to do something to change it. Oh yea, and after 6 months of Jayden growing his hair out, he finally wanted to cut it. He's back to looking like a boy again.

On the same note, Jayden and Kiarra decided to lie about something (that was actually really funny if they would have told the truth) the other day and I made them write “I will not lie again” 50 times. They also had to write 5 sentences on why they think they shouldn’t lie. They each wrote a few that brought tears to my eyes. I won’t name names here but the sentences they came up really touched my heart and made me realize that now and then we are doing the right thing as parents by disciplining the way we do.

• I will not lie again because I get in trouble.
• I will not lie again because it hurts God.
• I will not lie again because I love God.
• I will not lie to my parents or my friends or their parents.
• I will not lie again because I might not have a good life.

How powerful is that??!! And again, I’ve learned a lesson from my 8 and 10 year old kids!

Well, that’s all for now peeps.