A Cookie Cutter Diva's Life

My oldest and youngest had their Lil Dragons and Tae Kwon Do graduation this last weekend and got their new belts! I'm so proud of them!

My oldest had her dance recital this afternoon. She's done dance for a few years but never could get on stage so I was very proud of her for going trough with it and doing the dance! They were all so cute!!

We did an autism fundraiser craft show and carnival that didn't turn out as active in traffic as I had hoped but we raised a ton of money from the drawing and raised enough to buy all the supplies for a local special needs camp so I was very pleased with that!

I almost forgot to blog about my first 5k run experience! A 5k may not be much to a lot of people but to me it was a HUGE thing because I had never done one before! Normally when working out I'd walk a mile or two so I was very proud of myself for doing this!

So many changes have happened over the last half year.. some of the better, some not so great and some just a great learning experience to know where I stand!
I have been working on many stages in my life to slowly decrease the stress and get back to the life I once prided myself for having. Not because it was better then anyone's but because it was where I wanted my family to be. I said I wouldn't return the kids to school, I said I'd never be a working mom, I said if I worked I never would work opposite shifts from my husband, I said I'd never put my child in daycare, etc..
I chose to send the kids back almost out of pressure from trying to multi task to much .. babysitting while teaching I think personally was just a little to much with the special needs some of my kids need with their lessons and I think I felt a bit over whelmed. I loved it but I thought maybe I was not giving the the best. We weren't attending as many activities as I cared to and I felt I was depriving them of their social time. So they returned. Slowly over the months I have had nothing but regret over it. It is not the place for my 2nd child who has autism.. I have watched him lose self esteem, regress, hate it and beg to stay home. My oldest has so many issues with his asthma he is missing a lot of school which is causing him to get behind even more then he already is with his troubles with reading and math and close to failing. So over all we have decided they are just much better off at home and I miss the time so much with them and the bond I had teaching them. So they will return to homeschooling once this year finishes out.
I chose to return to work out of being bored, feeling I needed to get out, meet people, do something for me. I found the most wonderful job at a martial arts studio and was offered to increase my hours after about a month of being there which really thrilled me but I think sadly did not thrill my family after having me home 11yrs and has been a challenge with the needs in our home. So I'm having to choose to cut back just a bit on hours. A lot of people are like why don't you go back to staying at home.. I love my job, it's become like family there, I have a wonderful time while I'm at work and have learned so much there with martial arts and have found a whole new me I haven't seen in years! I think it's healthy for me and was a wonderful step and I couldn't see myself not being there and would be very devastated to leave! I just took on a little to much to fast probably for my family size and needs lol
We got a house in the country and we move in 2 weeks and I am so thrilled to go to the quieter slower paced life in the country! To let the kids have the freedom to run free and to be able to learn and do more that we enjoy! My husband is thrilled he can have a place to shoot the rifles haha
Peyton has grown and learned so much in the preschool I put her in but again to much to fast and I miss that girl like crazy and feel like she's growing up before my eyes and like I don't know my children anymore so I'm happy to have her back home again with me before I go to work! It's just not the mom I am! It's great for those it works for but it's just not me!
Feeling very confident with some of the newer changes in life again and settling back into some old ways again.. dinner time at the table every night with prayers before meals with no exception! No eating on the couch or the living room was the first start! You can't let those little things go and lose site of them! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family and I don't want to take another minute of it for granted!! These days are to few and far and to short!

since my husband was recently diagnosed with diabetes I found this diabetic cookie recipe to try out and it was really yummy and he loved it!
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 8 ounce container plain low-fat yogurt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups semisweet chocolate pieces (12 ounces)
1. Place oats in a shallow baking pan. Bake in a 375 degree F oven about 10 minutes or until toasted, stirring once. Place oats in a food processor bowl or blender container. Cover and process or blend until ground; set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, baking soda, and salt; beat until combined. Beat in the yogurt, eggs, and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the oats and any remaining flour. Stir in chocolate pieces.
3. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in the 375 degree F oven for 9 to 11 minutes or until bottoms are browned. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Makes about 60 cookies. One serving is one cookie.

Well after 11yrs of not working I have returned to work! I said I wouldn't go to work til the kids were all in jr high/high school so at least someone was driving to help with all the sports and I wanted to have my time volunteering at their school and for someone not to be raising my children over than me but the time has come and a new chapter of my life has opened and I felt that it was time to go back to work! I needed a change! With my youngest getting older and us getting out of the playdate age and more to the preschool age she was thriving for more and I put her in a 2 day preschool and she really enjoyed it. I had been back and forth on returning to work and looking for a job and turning down a few and one opened up at the Martial Arts Studio that we were going to and it happened to be on the 2 days she was going so I applied for the job and took it and it was going great and I got offered full time so I am now working 6 days a week and she is going to preschool full time and loving it! I am loving being back at work and getting the time out of the house, the time to myself and the social time! It was just time! The family is adjusting fairly well to the new changes and my husband to playing "mr mom" after school transporting them to all the activities and I am super proud of him for keeping up such a great job! So lots of changes around here lately but loving the new chapter in our lives!