Spring Schedule

With the warmer weather, our schedule is bulging. As if we weren't busy enough. On one hand, though, being busy with little kids reminds me that I get to enjoy this part of life that is so completely immersed with my kids. Gotta love it.

Mondays...
AM - I volunteer to teach music at the Elementary school
PM - I pick up kids and cousins from school; Trista/Trey have tumbling from 3-4; Family Night
Tuesdays...
AM - Preschool
PM - Tytan bball practce 3-4:30; Trey karate 5-6; bball/tball games
Wednesdays...
AM - My morning is free to do laundry.
PM - I tutor and teach piano 2:30-5:00
Thursdays...
AM - Preschool
PM - Tytan bball practice 3-4:30; Trey karate 5-6; bball/tball games; Tytan cub scouts 5-6
Fridays...
AM - My morning is free to clean, clean, clean
PM - I coach Trey's tball team & we have practice after school on Fridays
Saturdays...(this Easter weekend Saturday is packed)
AM - Easter party/hunt @friends' house 9:30-12
PM - Baptism in Holbrook @1; Baptism in Snowflake @3

Spring Break

The advantage of starting school early in the year (August 11th) is that we get a week long spring break. Woohoo! It's lovely having a week with no schedule...no karate, no wrestling, no scouts, no piano lessons, no tumbling, no cheer practice, no preschool, and (of course) no school.

Ryan and his brother-in-law adopted a project this week (because men can't sit idle for very long) and began work on building our raised garden beds. Another woohoo! I'm so excited to get some stuff planted this year. Potatoes, onions, peppers, carrots - mmmm, can't wait. I'm going to have each kid in charge of a section of the garden. They'll get to choose what to plant, but will be in charge of watering, weeding, etc.

Because of this BIG project, the kids' spring break has been a spring 'work' break. They've stayed outside from sun up to sun down playing with friends in exchange for assisting Ryan when needed. We did take a 'break' today and went on a hike, though. Tomorrow we might go play at the McDonald's play place, and maybe Friday we'll go on a picnic at the park. We've got to do something that constitutes a spring break right?

TWINS!

10 years ago February 19th, 2002, I gave birth to our angel babies - Ryanne Dee & Tamarrah Sue. The day was a whirlwind of confusion and sadness. My babies were born too soon and only lived a few hours on this earth. Tamarrah died first that first day of her life, and her sister, Ryanne, died in the early morning hours after midnight. I remember that night like it's engrained on my heart.

However, that experience is the foundation to my testimony. The whole plan of salvation rests upon the knowledge that I'll get to see my babies again and hold them in my arms. I miss them...but I know I'll always be their mommy. Eternity is real, and I'm so grateful for forever families.

My cousin just gave birth to twin boys a couple of days ago. They are healthy, and I am happy. I'm not surprised by the onset of my sad memory of my twins. It goes with the territory of losing a loved one, especially the loss of a child. But, I'm honestly more thrilled than melancholy for my cousin. I love hearing of happy reports of twins being born. Twins are fun. Twins are a lot of work. Twins are a miracle!

My only wish is that no one forgets about the other set of twins that were born a decade ago. Two precious girls who are up in heaven waiting for us. How lucky am I that I get to be their mommy and raise them in the millennium.

Yes, I am one lucky gal.

Pinewood Derby

I love watching my kids grow and experience new things in life (even though I'd love to keep them bottled up in a jar and keep them my babies forever :-). Tytan is now in Cub Scouts...and loving it. He participated in his first pinewood derby this past Saturday. He was so excited. We attended last year but only got to watch. He asked what he'd get if his car won first place. I loved watching his face light up when his number was announced to do his first race. And then I watched his face fall when his car came in 2nd and then in 3rd and again in 3rd and another time in 3rd. Overall, he was the 2nd to the last out of 18. :-(

Well, needless to say, this is also Ryan and my first pinewood derby experience. After Ryan talked to a few other dads after the race, we found out that you're supposed to prep the cars to run faster. For example, wheels are sanded, the spokes are greased, and weight strategically placed under the car. Who knew?

So, Tytan (as well as Ryan) are eager and ready to try again next year.

To all other 1st timers at pinewood derbies, do your research. ;)

'Wicked'...the best play ever!!!

Ryan and I took an overnight trip to the Valley last week. The kids stayed with Ryan's sister, and Ryan and I went and saw the musical 'Wicked'. And let me tell you, it was awesome. A lot of people said how good it was, and we were worried about having high expectation from what everyone was saying. But, it was even better than expected. It takes a lot to beat our already high expectations. The play was funny, it had a good message, the acting was incredible, and I absolutely loved how it tied into the story of 'The Wizard of Oz'.

This is the synopsis from Wikepedia: "Wicked explores the concept that the Wicked Witch of the West, here known as Elphaba, is a misunderstood, victimized person whose behavior is merely a reaction against the charlatan Wizard's corrupt government. It also displays her relationship with the beautiful and ambitious Galinda Upland, who ultimately becomes Glinda the Good Witch of the North."

Valentine's Day Present

Happy Valentine's Day!

As a sweet present, i received an email from my 'hopeful' publisher yesterday. This is what it said:

Dear Tarrah,

How are you? Sorry I missed your message. I missed several days of work last week due to illness, and I finally just found this message from the Friday before.

I’m glad you’re resubmitting I’m Not Cinderella...I definitely remember you.

As soon as I can, I’ll review the manuscript and let you know what I think. It will be at least a couple months, as I’m very behind in reviewing submissions. (I’m actually probably close to nine months behind, but I’ll try not to make you wait that long. :)



So, we'll see. As I've said before, patience is a difficult thing for me to endure. Cross your fingers.

Finished!

I am finished with the rewrite for my book, 'I'm Not Cinderella'. I decided to go with the original title and have the title 'Replaced' as a second option. I feel really good about the edits and other things I fixed in the book. The hook happens a lot sooner in the book and I altered the ending to be a more feasible ending for a teenage girl. So, I emailed it to my publisher and we'll see what they think. It's hard to be patient and wait for their response, though.

In the mean time, here are some cute Valentine's from the kids. They love you and miss you!

Music

I love music. Always have. Always Will.

On Mondays I volunteer to teach music to the Kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms for the past 3 years. It has been a lot of fun. I've gotten to know the kids and also gain a connection with my children's teachers. I've played piano since I was 8 years old, and I've taught steadily for the past 6 years. I love it. And I don't know what I would do without it.

Music is a part of everything I do. I walk to music, I talk to music, and I dream to music. My favorite is when I'm cooking dinner: I turn on the music and dance with my kids. Of course I'm molding their taste of what music they'll grow up to like, but they'll grow to appreciate my good taste. ;)

What I'm listening to now:
Hot Chelle Rae
Jessie J
La Roux
Cobra Starship
Lucy Hale
Cady Groves
Selena Gomez
Mindy Gledhill

Grandma, you'd love the last one (Mindy Gledhill). I'm going to burn you a cd and mail it to you. Enjoy!!!

Why does muscle weigh more than fat?

New Year's Resolutions - that is the subject.

Right before Christmas Ryan's sister, Chelsea, asked if I wanted to join her and some friends exercising. I try to keep myself active in my life and have been lucky to not have to worry about my weight too much. However, now that I'm getting older, I've been more concerned about keeping in shape. I'm reaching 35 years old this year and my metabolism has changed. I guess I'm not 16 anymore...even though my mind thinks I'm the same.

So, i took the opportunity and decided to exercise with my sister-in-law. I go everyday unless I'm teaching preschool or music at the school. It's been hard work but a lot of fun. I'll tell you that these women I exercise with are diehards. Sometimes they do two workouts. Crazy!

This is where my concern is. My muscles have never felt stronger, but I've gained weight instead of losing it. I haven't gained tons (just a couple of pounds), but it's enough to make me feel discouraged. Ryan tells me it is good because muscle helps you burn more calories. But, seriously?! Come on!

Anywho, I'm going to keep on trucking and see what happens. I'll keep you posted.

Title for my Cinderella Book

One of my New Year's Resolutions for 2012 is to finish my final revisions for my book by the end of January and send it to my publisher. Am I on track to do it? ...yes. :-) Today I'm working on page 184 out of a total of 320 pages of my book. Woohoo! It's turning out nicely, and I'm really excited about the things I've added. I actually had an editor look at my manuscript and give me some pointers. So, when I'm done I'll have to send you an updated manuscript. :-)

One of the things the editor told me was to maybe switch up the title. At first I had it as:
I'm Not Cinderella; a Tale of Ashes in Time

She said it was too long. Right now 1 word titles are really popular. Therefore, here are some titles I have been optioning:

I'm Not Cinderella
Cinderella's Territory
Charming
Ichtaca
Far far away
Enchanting

What do you think?

My name has been immortalized

How fun to come across my name in a book. And not just any 'old joe' book. A book from a national best selling author.

My path to stardom begins about a year and a half ago when my mother, sister, and I attended a retreat with one of our favorite authors, Deeanne Gist. She's this amazing Christian author. We got to go to North Caroline and visit the Biltmore Mansion. What a trip! So fun!

Well, anyway, this author was working on a new book and I just barely started reading it a couple of days ago. What to my surprise when I stumbled across a character with the name of Mrs. Chadaz. What!? I exclaimed. I called my mom and sister, and we giggled with the tribute to my mom.

But wait. The story doesn't end there. Tonight, while I was reading (I'm almost half way through the book), I came across two characters who are sisters with blonde hair and brown eyes. Guess what? Their names were Torie Cutler and Tarrah Montgomery. Not Mrs. Cutler or Mrs. Montgomery but the actual names spelled out.

So this is my documentation of my name immortalized forever...well, while this book is kept upon the face of the earth. I shall demand every person to read it. ;)