Wordless Wednesday

33! A new year and I'm up for the challenge.

Today is my birthday! YAY 33...I know you're thinking "No way! You look so young!" But oh yes...today begins another year of my life. I'm excited for the unknown like I've never been before. Today begins a new chapter. An unopened gift full of 365 days of more life until the next big day.

This morning I woke up with the same old plan. I wasn't expecting much...just a day with a few FB messages from family and friends wishing me a happy birthday, 4 little boys that wouldn't even know it was my birthday unless someone told them, a daughter who would probably be reminded from FB, and husband who tries to pretend he didn't forget but who buys flowers before leaving work (he isn't home yet so maybe he didn't even get them this year)...he did get me a new Dyson a few weeks ago upon the death of our old vacuum (but the fact that a household cleaning tool is my present kind of sucks b/c it would be nice to get a real surprise one of these years but you can't teach an old dog new tricks I suppose).

But to my surprise by midday I had a whole new view on things. I'm tired of the self loathing and the "oh woh is me" mentality. I did get A LOT of FB messages today, my daughter remembered 3rd period at school and sent me a text, and then she and the 2 little boys helped make me a chocolate cake when she got home, and my big boys cleaned up and sang Happy Birthday to me. Anyway, about halfway through the day today I decided that this was the year. A new beginning! A year to let go of unnecessary anger, forget about the hurt and pain, and realize the bad things don't define me.

If there is anything that I've learned from the blogging world is that everyone has a "story". A past that paves the road to who they are. Well I have been holding on to my hurt and pain for too long. And this year I'm going to put a little fork in the road and change my path.

I'm ready to LIVE again! I'm ready to work toward those goals I've been putting on the back burner. I'm ready to turn my dreams into reality. I'm ready to keep a journal, put the pain and anger into words and rip it up and let it go, and write my goals and focus on those instead.

So this my friends is going to be a complete life changing year. Starting today I will find the Danielle that use to not only watch life but make it happen. I'm ready for this challenge! Stay tuned for big changes:)

Happy Birthday to me!

"UGH! Mom do I have to?"

How often do you hear that in your house? From eating vegetables to wearing certain clothes...from getting up for school to running errands...from cleaning the bathroom to taking out the trash...from doing homework to feeding the dogs...it's a constant phrase in my house.

Well this week was no exception. The weather has been absolutely beautiful here lately. So I decided last weekend to torture my children by making them take some family photos. They are used to me snapping pictures because it is a rare moment when my camera isn't handy. And they often say "Hey mom take my picture doing ...". But when I actually say "go comb your hair and put this on" I get a resounding "UGH MOOOOMMMMMMMMMM do I have toooooo?"

Well it was even more exciting when I informed my husband he would be join us. If there is one thing he hates it's definitely smiling for pictures. In fact out or the 200 pictures I managed to snap only a few that he was actually sort of smiling in. He made lots of weird faces...but mostly in the pictures where everyone else was actually looking at the camera all at once and looking cute...his mouth was open, eyes closed, mouth squished to the side, giving me bunny ears. Looks like I better find a better bribe for him next time. I was able to get a few that I really liked though...so here's a little preview.



There are many more and I'm excited that I will be able to put some on this year's Christmas card. I can take the little bit of complaining for this great success. (I took most of the shots, but the family ones were done by a friend of the Princesses that is in her photography club at school.)

Random Ramblings on a Monday

*Love the time change....did not change th clocks upstairs therefore after showers and baths last night the boys hustled off to bed thinking it was 8:00...when truly it was 7:00....for that I am grateful!
*In great debate with myself about returning back to the classroom.
*I am ready to get out of the house each day!
*I need an update to my sweat pants and t-shirt wardrobe...I think that effects my mood so much.
*My kids are the best! I got great compliments this weekend at a birthday party about how well behaved they were.
*less than 2 weeks until we leave for the beach...and I am more than ready...broke, but READY!
*The van needs new tires and an oil change before we leave.
*Laundry is overflowing.
*I miss running each day.
*I do not like getting up at 5:00 to run, especially when the temp. is now 30 degrees or less in the morning...
*Needs to figure out how to run at night...I really need this for me.
*I also need a night time job to get caught up on things around here...hmmmm are there enough hours in the day.
*The unknown is quite scary.
*I'm letting go of who I was to embrace who I am.
*My kids are the best! Did I already mention that?
*I did not meet my Fatbet goal...but I did lose about 6 pounds and will probably put it back on over these winter comfort food months.
*With that said - I do LOVE my body b/c it allowed me to grow 5 awesome kids!
*I want to go back to school to get my masters.
*I've put my career on hold long enough and I'm ready to move forward.
*My princess told me this morning she wants another sibling. She loves our family and wants it to keep growing.
*I'm always up for another baby, but that would keep my career on hold even longer.
*I have awesome kids!
*Why do I have so much gray hair?
*I'm hungry.
*Ready to start my day of teaching!

Making messes w/ Mom