Saturday

It's so warm today. We went to the beach, played with water balloons and went to the pool! I love, love, love this weather!

After the pool we relaxed for a while and then I dropped the kids off at my parent's house so I could go try on dresses for Rachel's wedding. Click here to see the dress. I'll be wearing it in black though. It looks good on all of us! I can't wait for the wedding in September! The bachelorette party is in Vegas the week before. We'll see about that one.

My grandma is not doing well. She was put on hospice care yesterday. For those of you who don't know, that just means that she has a nurse and a doctor assigned to her and they're going to stop forcing her to eat, etc. I'm kind of in denial. I just cannot believe how fast she's getting worse. My heart hurts to think about her not being around anymore. And Lord knows I don't need anything else to deal with right now. Why is it that when some part of your life get better, another part gets worse? Maybe it's God not giving me more than I can bear. Either way, it's stinkin' hard.

Wordless Wednesday (Kayley Reading)

Ten On Tuesday

1. I put the counter on here to see how many people actually read my blog. It appears that my close friends check it ten times a day or lots more people read it than I thought.

2. Last night Cole was playing outside and screamed for me. And, like all great moms should, I checked to make sure he wasn't bleeding and then grabbed my phone to take a picture. He climbed up there with the use of the jump rope and couldn't get down. What a stud!

3. I have a four day weekend coming up!

4. Four days straight of excersize have kicked my butt. I love it and hate it all at the same time. I'm cutting out Diet Coke and coffee (aahhhh!) for a few days to see if it helps get rid of these extra pounds.

5. The kids came home last weekend with lots of new clothes. Kayley really needed shirts and I think she got at least five or six.

6. I love when Cole gets frustrated and then breaks down and says "mommy, I just really need you to cuddle with me on the couch." It's so cute.

7.I have got to get me one of these!

8. This would make Tyler twitch :)

9. As you can tell, I love thereifixedit.com. Funny stuff.

10. Work is painfully slow. At least I'm getting paid to sit here!

I love the weekend

Oh what a happy weekend it was!

I got some much needed rest and relaxation along with some great exercise!

I did lots of cleaning on Saturday (including 2 hours of carpet cleaning) and my house looks amazing! My dad and I saw Iron Man 2 and I loved it! I also got to spend time with two of my coolest friends, Jen and Chelsie. We had good times (and without kids too!).

I went hiking with Georgia on Sunday after church. I forgot how much I love being outdoors. It made me think of all those mountain biking treks I would take before I had kids. And I do love my battle wounds from last October in Big Bear doing that dang single track! It was hard but I conquered it!

My kids had a lot of fun at Aunt Lisa's. I'm just going to pretend they didn't tell me that she let them sit in the trunk and go around the block ten times. Nope, that did NOT happen. No wonder they love going there! Crazies I tell you.

I forgot to post a picture of my hair last week. I absolutely love Julie! She does the best job.

On a more serious note, I would like to address the issue with my blog comments. My blog is public and that means that anyone, anywhere can read it and I'm fine with that. The good thing about it being called Batten Bloggin' is that it's my blog. So that means I write what I want, when I want and about whatever I want. So that means that leaving comments asking about my personal life is going to do nothing but make me shrug my shoulders and give you one of my goofy looks (perhaps even the infamous walrus) and move along with my day. Sooo, unless you're my friend or a member of my family who genuinly cares about me, my kids and my life do me a favor and keep your opinion to yourself.

With that said, have a great day everyone!

New Blog Pictures

Thanks for taking our pictures, Kim!

We love you and miss you already:(

Ten On Tuesday (on Wednesday)

1. I woke up at 7:10 Monday morning. You know, 20 minutes before we're supposed to leave. Surprisingly, we got out the door and everyone was on time! I don't know how we did it!

2. I'm motivated! I will resist the candy in the jar that I stare at all day long and I will be happy with my Lean Cuisine for lunch! It's really not that hard for me to eat well, I just have to start the week off right.

3. My parents and Joanna spent the weekend in Mammoth and I'm so proud of my dad for snowboarding! If I didn't have the kiddos I would have gone up there in a heartbeat. It's too hard to go on vacation with little kids. Just the one in summer is good enough for me!

4. Kayley and Cole are going up to Aunt Lisa's this weekend. I'm going to do some crazy cleaning in the house and the garage. I think I'll clean the carpets, too. Saturday and Sunday I cleaned out my closet and pulled out all my old clothes that are way too big and cleaned out the kids drawers to get rid of all the stuff that's too small. I have lots left to do though. The kids have grown out of some books and toys so I want to make room for the things they actually play with.

5. Cole had a 103 degree fever this weekend. It was not fun. Putting my child in a cool bath is not what I wanted to do but it was necessary. Poor kid, he screamed the whole time. Thankfully it worked and he slept most of the night (with the exception of watching Finding Nemo at 3am) and slept in until 9. He woke up fine and hasn't had a fever since and has no signs of sickness. I

don't get it. Maybe he's getting a tooth.

6. I took Kayley to the dentist yesterday. She doesn't have any cavities and the dentist was very proud of how she (and her mommy) brush her teeth. Did you know you're supposed to help your kids brush until they're 10?

7. I did a killer cardio and leg workout on Monday. I'm sore but it's a good sore. Tonight it'll be abs and arms!

8. I had so much fun with Kim and Peyton while they were here. It's kinda like old times plus three kids. Ok, it's not like old times with three kids but it was still fun!

9. The place we went for dinner after Krista's graduation was so tasty. It's this little italian restaraunt in Camarillo off of Carmen. Everything was homemade and it was amazing food!

10. I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow. I'm going to cut my bangs really short and just a trim for the rest of my hair. I'm excited!

It's another beautiful day today!

I took this picture outside the door of my office yesterday morning:

What a view!

Last night Kim and I got a pizookie to go from BJ's. I loved every bite. Tomorrow is my day off and we're going to hang out (with no kids!) in the morning. In the evening we'll be off to Krista's graduation! I can't believe it's already been 2 years since she started her master's program.

I had lunch with Becca today. She picked up some things from TJ's and we sat on the grass outside my work. It was nice to visit and not spend a bunch of money on lunch.

I packed my gym stuff and brought it to work with me today so when I leave I'll pick up the kids and go straight to the gym. Adios three extra pounds!

Ten On Tuesday

1. I will be looking forward to 4pm today.

2. This is hilarious!

3. Cole has finally started behaving. I put this list on how things work on the whiteboard:

1. Warning

2. Time out

3. Spanking or vinager (for naughty words)

This has always been the way I have done things, I just think he likes knowing what will come next. I make him go look at the list and it works like a charm.

By the way, the jar with rocks is working. He loves to put on his shoes to impress me!

4. I'm ready for it to be summer. I'm excited for vacation and a trip to Lisa and Greg's for their company picnic in June. I'm also ready to be tan. But no sunburns for my skin this time around.

5. I love Urbane Cafe.

6. I just ate a Lean Cuisine and it was great. Try the chicken in peanut sauce next time. Yum!

7. Kayley and I chewed those tablets from the dentist that show where you need to brush. We had a big laugh!

8. I'd like to go see Robin Hood.

9. I'm thankful that Tyler got on disability.

10. Krista, you're right. Failbook.com is so freaking funny!

My Weekend

I had a really busy weekend. It was really great though.

I had Friday off and went to Kayley's Mother's Day party at school. It was very adorable. They sang about dirty laundry and supermoms. Saturday we went to the beach with Kim and Peyton and took pictures. It was super windy but she got some great pictures anyway. The kids were soaking wet when we left. Cole was in his chonies and Kayley wore Kim's hoodie on the way home. It was funny!

Peyton cracks me up. She talks so much. She also calls me stiff. She can say my name right but she doesn't unless I tell her the right way. I love that she says "no like it" and does a great job at communicating and listens really well. Props to Kim on that one. Check out Kim's blog for a slideshow of the pictures she took.

Mother's Day was fun. We went to church and had lunch with the family (plus Tommy. He's practically family anyway). Then my dad and Tommy watched the kids and I went shopping for a bathing suit. Click here to see what I got. I love it because it's stylin' and it covers my whole belly. I already have black bottoms so I didn't get the ones that are shown in the picture.

After shopping the kids played with Noah for a while at the play area at my mom's. Justin and Taryn stopped by for a few to say hello and pick up some things. Then we had dinner with Joanna and Tommy at Rubios (Snapper Jacks was closed, boo).

Then I went to bed at 9:30. Sweet bliss.

Happy Monday!

Rocks and Rewards

We went to Michaels last night to get jars, stickers and rocks for a new reward system I started for the kids. They get colored rocks (so much cheaper than marbles) for good behavior and doing things above and beyond what they were asked. I don't really have problems motivating Kayley, it's Cole who needs help. He can dress himself, put his shoes on, brush his own teeth, etc. He just needs a little incentive. So, when his jar is filled up to the line he gets to go to Chuck E Cheese. And I let them pick their reward. Kayley still hasn't decided on hers. If it were up to me I'd want a pizookie.

Ten On Tuesday

1. I'm driving the Magnum until my brakes get fixed on Friday. It's a gas hog but I enjoy the XM radio!

2. I love that it's sunny this week!

3.I woke up last night with a ton of pain in my abdomen. I don't know what it was from but thankfully it stopped.

4. I really wish the mother of the baby upstairs would quit letting her baby cry right above my bedroom. It's getting really old waking up to him screaming every day.

5. Only a month and a half until Kayley is a first grader! Then it will be summer and the kids and I are going to Shaver Lake with my parents this year!

6. Kayley refuses to put her tooth under her pillow for the tooth fairy until her dad sees it. I told her it's going to be a month but there's no changing her mind. Whatever, the kid has been through a lot. I'll let her wait.

7. Kim and Peyton will be here soon! I'm so excited to hear Peyton talk!

8. I cannot breathe through my nose and I have a headache.

9. I have got to watch it with my eating. I've fallen back into eating junk more often and it doesn't feel good. It's time to get my good eating habits back!

10. Tyler sent me x-rays of his broken leg. So painful.

I think this is the metal plate in his leg

Here's Me Blabbing

It was a crazy weekend. The kids miss Tyler and I'm going a little crazy.

My neighbors are always drinking and having a grand old time. I think I've written before about this one. She stood at the curb waiting for her carpool at 8am with shot glass in hand and brought us jello shots as a thank you for letting them borrow a wrench.

There was one of them last night who kept screaming really loudly and then a couple of them would argue, then they smoked, then they drank some more. It would be funny if they weren't so dang loud. Then some guy came over and tried to beat the crap out of the mother of his child. Something about a custody battle.The woman was actually just as fired up as he was. If grown adults are going to act like that then no one deserves custody. Poor child. That was serious drama that I don't care to see or hear.

Kayley lost her first tooth this weekend. At first she wanted me to pull it out, then she got scared so I didn't. Later on she let me do it and it was only hangin on by a tiny bit. Its quite a milestone in the Batten fam. She's growing up too fast.

Cole was laying in my bed sleeping tonight and out of no where he whispered "wild cherry." Creeper.

I'm sick. I sound wonderful over the phone at work, too. Bring on the Halls and hand sanitizer!