Oh Panama, Oh Panama

Oh wait...maybe that is the tune to Canada's national anthem :) Panama is what's on the brain right now though-because my hubby is there for two months!!! for those of you who don't know- probably because I am the best communicator ever- he is in Panama City training for a new job in the investment field. SIDENOTE: isn't it ironic that I have a degree in COMMUNICATIONS! I know I know and so do all of you by my overwhelming amount of blogs, e-mails, and phone calls to keep in touch that I am horrible and it!
Anyway, just a quick post to say he is doing well and adjusting ok to life without any girls (aka- wife and kids...yes there are girls in Panama..but not so cute I guess!) He is living quite nicely in a fully furnished condo on the beachfront on the 28th floor of a skyscraper! See attached pictures! His boss is great and is teaching him a ton about business- which he is loving! He struggles with the language barrier a bit but has learned how to order a burger with cheese! Muey Importante! I probably just murdered the spelling on that :(
The girls and I are holding up ok so far- it's only been a week though- 7 more to go, but we will manage with the help and support of many loving family members and friends. I am going to go visit the first weekend in April to expand my cultural horizons-YIKES!! I have a slight phobia of leaving the country..is there a phobia for that?? But I will manage! Should be fun and exciting to go golfing in a rainforest and see the famous Panama Canal! Hope I don't come back with Malaria!
That's about it for now- I am being naughty at work to write this real quick so I better go! Here's the latest pic of my blondees too with Great Grandma Hank. I look awful so just pretend I'm not there- but the rest of them are pretty darn cute dontch'a think! Hope all is well with everyone- keep Ben in your thoughts and prayers while he's away- talk to you later!

It's crazy being a parent

I have been thinking a lot lately about being a parent- and how WEIRD it is to be experiencing things that I can rememebr doing as a child, but now doing them as a parent. It feels soo crazy but at the same time it is fun getting to experience the same things in a different way.
Macee came home from school the other day with a little torn piece of paper and a phone number written on it in crayon. She told me it was her friend Sydney's number and that Sydney told her to call and she could come over to play "Littlest Pet Shop". Well, I couldn't quite make out the scribbled number from her friend so all week long last week we tried to figure out how to arrange this play date. We finally got in touch with Sydeny's mom on Saturday and we decided that Macee could go home with her one day after school to play until I got off work. Well, yesterday Macee informed her teachers at school that she was supposed to go home with Sydney that day and the girls were talking about it all day and even tried to get Jadyn out of her classroom so that she could go with them too! The teachers were not quite convinced from the girls, so when Sydneys mom came they talked to her and actually ended up calling me too to make sure there wasn't a misscommunication between us. We were planning on it, just hadn't picked a day yet, but the girls were convinced today was THE DAY!! These are 4 year old girls! I remember going home after school to a friends house in Elementary and Jr High- but not pre-school! They are growing up way too fast!
Macee also got her ears pierced for Christmas...well DAD took her to get them done without mom! She had been wanting them, but I didn't think she'd actually go through with it! She only had one tear the brave thing. She likes them, but we have had one minor problem ever since......she is so afraid they are going to fall in the toilet when she goes potty! Mind you, Macee is very afraid of things going down the toilet and if anything is lost she thinks maybe it got flushed down the toilet......where this obsession or fear came from I do not know! Anyway, shortly after she got them pierced she started getting lots of tummy aches and we finally figured out she was not going to the bathroom very much and was getting constipated and tummy aches from trying to hold it and not have to use the bathroom- all because of her fear of her earrings falling in the toilet!!! Thanks Dad!
We finally got her to go ONLY IF someone would watch her to make sure they didn't fall in! Now we have moved on a bit and she will go by herself the majority of the time, but the minute she flushes she instantly grabs her ears (pants still down and all) to make sure the earrings are not getting flushed away! Ahh the minds of young children- they crack me up!
I know it's just going to get better, and worse...I am definitly fearing going to the "special program" for little girls in 5th grade with my kids- but who knows by then it will probably be done in 3rd grade!! YIKES! It is just plain weird right now though because sometimes I feel like I just got out of high school and now my own child is getting ready to go to elementary school! CRAZY!! I think I need to stop stressing over these little changes and enjoy it...but it's so WEIRD!!! Ok, enough of the WEIRDNESS because you all are thinking that now I am really weird! Blog to you later! Here's a couple cute pic's too! Hope you all are well!

Merry Christmas to all...

Hello All! Your Christmas wish DID come true- you are getting another BLOG from yours truly! I was way too busy working the two jobs and getting ready for Christmas this year that I did not get any cards out. I apologize many times for this :( So- here's an "E-wish" from me to you wishing you a Happy Holidays!
Things are looking up a bit in our neck of the woods- Ben has gotten a job with Megalife Insurance and recently passed his licensing exam for the state- hallelujah! It was the most nerve racking test he's ever taken- and most expensive I might add- but he pulled through and passed both two hour long exams. He will be hitting it hard the first of the year trying to make that money! It is commission based which stinks, but our area here has been booming so they needed more representatives and that is a good thing! Wish him luck!
I might also add he has had his taste of being a "stay-at-home Dad" and has decided it wasn't as he expected and finally admitted that taking care of the kids IS a hard job, and IS a JOB, and they can really wear you out! FINALLY he understands why the house wasn't spotless, dinner wasn't cooked, laundry wasn't done, etc. while I was "just home with the kids all day!" He even apologized for thinking at times I just sat at home and did nothing!! WOWWWEE! Maybe this job lay off was a good thing after all....ok not really but it has opened his eyes to a lot of things!
Anyway- the girls are great and we had a good Christmas with Ben's family here in Jerome. Macee didn't quite get what she wanted from Santa ( A new house with stairs)but she did get a Barbie movie and a Barbie styling head that she can practice doing hair on to get even better she said! She can already do her own hair and others as well, but braids is her next challenge she wants to accomplish! Little miss Jadyn got an adorable rocking horse that actually neighs and wiggles it's head and tail- she loves it and looks so cute with it. This was definatly the most fun Christmas yet with the kids as they really got into it!
Thank you all for your warm wishes and Christmas cheer sent- it has been needed and was well received! We will be in IF this weekend through New Years Day so I hope to see some of you then if you are in town! I miss and love you all and thanks for all your wonderful blogging that I read every day, namely Samantha and the Anderson- well used to be Anderson sisters!! I

I'm a dysfunctional computer person...

Ok -so I don't know why but my pictures I added are totally turned sideways- what the heck is up with that all you smarty pants bloggers of the world! I hate that all of your blog sites are so dainty and perfect and cute and yeah all of that other fancy stuff, and I can't even put a picture on the right way!!! I do love admiring your beautiful work though- especially Sam and the Anderson ( or used to be Anderson before they all got married) sisters! I only wish I had half the talent! Now I'm getting angry and depressed so it must be my bed time and I am signing off for real now. Hope you don't get a crook in your neck trying to look at these photos- mayeb someday I will be smarter than the machine! Sorry and good night! :)

Anyone in the mood for Ice Cream...

I forgot to mention in my last blog that I had my first attempt at being semi- sewing craft with Macee's Halloween costume this year. Well, ok my mom did most of it once again- but I did help! There actually wasn't too much sewing invovled , but definitly craftiness! Leave it to Brenda to pull off this one that I saw in a magazine! Doesn't she look adorable! Jadyn's isn't homemade, but she looked so dang cute I had to post her too! Looking forward to seeing all your kiddos costumes too!! Happy Halloweenie!!

I'm still alive...

So I bet you're wondering if I still exist, since I havn't blogged in oh...3 months!! I know it's awful, but those of you who know me well enough it's no surprise! Sad, but true. So amazingly everyone is asleep and I am still awake so I thought I would re-cap 3 months in a few minutes. Let's see...I don't really remember much of August other than Ben doing a lot of curb work which I will post a picture of so you all can see his marvelous work! We took our first trip alone ever without the kids since we've been married- WOW! We went to visit some friends in sunny San Diego and boy was it nice! A bit too hot and humid but we had a blast. We hit up a Padres game, went deep sea fishing, and ate a wondrous seafood meal at an awesome place right on the oceanfront! Then let's see September brought Macee's 4th birthday-yikes! Ben's 30th..I mean 29th birthday- bigger yikes for him!! Macee started soccer which is going umm...well.. it's really hard to say but she is improving. She is starting to kick the ball every now and then and not just stand there or keep running off to me on the sidelines. It's amazing how you have to remember that they are only 3 or 4 years old and not in high school sports and have NO IDEA WHAT THEY'RE DOING! It's rather frustrating, and hard for me to watch at times- but I have tried to be the proud parent who is just happy their child is getting somewhat involved in something (even if she does just stand there and kind of freak out when the ball comes near her with the crowd of crazy youngsters chasing after it....who wouldn't be afraid of that right?!)
Anyway- let's see pre-school is going well, Macee is still doing great. She actually asked me the other day if she could just be 6 so that she could go to kindergarten with the big kids. She was pretty upset when I told her I couldn't just say she was six and she would become six! Ahh their sweet little minds work in the funniest ways! Jadyn is moving right along too- getting lots of teeth, starting to talk, and blowing kisses to everyone in sight. They are definitly growing up too fast, but it's also fun to go on to the next stages of parenting and see what I have to deal with next! Listen to me babbling about parenting- who would have thought! I'm such a nut and just as big of a kid at times too, but I do admit it's pretty creepy when you become a parent and you start to realize what it may have been like for your folks! I wouldn't change it for the world though- my girls are my sunshine every day:)
Well, speaking of girls I think I hear Jadyn crying so I must be off...I know I know let her cry herself back to sleep....but I just can't help but cuddle and rock ehr sometimes-it's the best! Hope you all are well- hope you've enjoyed a day in the life of Melissa in a FLASH! I would say I will try harder to do this, but I think I do every time and it never happens, so enjoy what you get when you get it:)

Long Time No Blog.....

Sooo.. it's been a while and I've only got a few minutes so I'll make this quick. We've been having a great time in good old Jerome lately. It's a smeltering 100 degrees outside, but we havn't melted yet! We just got back from a great vacation to Montana for Ben's Grandma's 90th birthday celebration/Family Reunion and it was a great getaway! The mountains were quite a refresher, and it was fun to kick back and realx with the relatives for a few days. We only had one major catastrophe amongst 80 people, our 11 year old nephew went diving playing touch football and ran right into a barbed wire fence. Not a pretty sight! 73 stitches later though he was fine and didn't shed one tear through the whole evnt! What a trooper!
Then we came back to reality and back to work for me, but Ben has been enjoying the whole week off doing house and yard work. He has fully curbed our front yard now and I must day it is beautiful (pictures will follow when it's all done). Our little Jadyn had her first b-day on Monday...and we did nothing :( Bad mommy bad mommy!! We just were a bit worn out from travelling, sick of cake from the seven different ones we had to eat during the reunion, and you know, I don't think she even noticed. Luckily Grandma Brenda took care of her though by baking yummy cupcakes and wrapping a gift for when we stopped in IF on the way back home. Thank goodness for Grandmas! I can't believe my little munchikin is one already! Time has really flown by this year! She is almost walking and has two teeth..keep it up Jadyn!!
The fourth was...well.. quite boring since we didn't make it to IF this year like we usually do. Jerome is too cool for parades, and by the time got situated on the grass for the fireworks they were over. YIPEE! OH well, maybe next year will be more exciting!! Anywho, that's the long and reallly short of my life for now- I promise to try and be a better blogger and write more soon- I still love reading all your stuff fellow bloggers!!
TTFN!!!