And.....they're off!

This is how my life feels like these days...I wake up to an alarm and the race begins.  I'm in constant motion (even when stuck in LA traffic) until I literally collapse at night.  I saw a post on Facebook (hey, Beth H!) and this reflects our life right now...

My home is filled with toys & has fingerprints on everything. Its never quiet. My hair is usually a mess, makeup is rare, & I'm always tired! But there is LOVE & LAUGHTER here! In 20 years my child won't remember the house or hair but they WILL remember the time we spent together & the love they felt. Your babies only get 1 childhood so make it a good one!

I have given up on getting upset that the house is a mess.  My dream is to have a housekeeper -- even once monthly -- but knowing me, I'd want to clean up before the housekeeper would come over.  So, I live each day to the best and enjoy the moments, no matter if there's dust bunnies hiding or clutter on the island.

And what are we doing tonight????  Going to FL!  Kristina is thrilled about getting on an airplane to see Grammy, Poppy, Buddy (their dog), Uncle Jim, Auntie Erin, Jimmy, Andrew, Finnegan (their dog) and Sugar (new kitty!) as well as any other family we can squeeze into a week.  Jon and I are especially excited because we are going to take Kristina to Disney World (The Magic Kingdom) on Tuesday.  Right now, Kristina is really into Cinderella so we can't wait to share this "first" with her, along with Grammy and Poppy.

Kristina ready for Florida with her "No rules at Grandma's" T-shirt!

As for other things that have been keeping us extremely busy this last month....

Now that Kristina has moved up in class, she now has weekly homework.  What?????  She is THREE years old!  Yes, it takes us about 45 minutes each week but the homework emphasizes letter and number recognition, counting, letter sounds, fine motor coordination, etc.  Kristina takes this very serious....let's hope it sticks.

Working hard at tracing her name.

As soon as she finished, she threw up her arm and yelled "Whoo-hoo!!"  Definitely something picked up in the older class.

In addition, we also have a new member of the Deary Family.  I wish we could say we were adopting again ~ but that's not the case.  Instead, we bought a new car!  I do this once every 10 years and it's now been almost 12 years so I was due.  We looked at so many cars, did the test drives and listened to the salesman's speels...and finally ended up with a Kia Sorento EX V6 --- fully loaded.  Even the Navigation tells me when there's traffic ahead -- which in Los Angeles, is almost always.  I must say, my 2-hour commute in the morning sure is a lot more comfy and "tolerable" listening to satelite music, having my tush warmed by the heated seats (yes, it's been cold here in the am!!), and talking on my phone via the built-in bluetooth.  Kristina LOVES the sun roof and points out all the birds, clouds, the moon, etc.  I drive cars until the wheels fall off and since this one has a 7-year bumper to bumper warranty and 10-year powertrain warranty, I don't have to ask Jon to give up his weekend to work on my car.  Whoo-hooo!!  [throwing my arm up into the air...]

Just got the keys...and now I have to figure out how to use all the gadgets!

Kristina enjoying the sun roof and the new "big car."

So much more to say, just not enough time in the day.  Stay tuned....I'll try to post from FL if the computer gods look down upon us!