Reading Till My Eyes Hurt and Other Stuff

I know I've been neglecting my blog the past few days but it's been for a good cause. I recently discovered Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Series. I am.....well....obsessed. I can't put it down. I am pathetic I know. I've even managed to drag a few co-workers into the "book club".

I know I'm late to the game, but better late then never right? I want to be done with the last 2 before the movie comes out on November 21st. It's like Harry Potter all over again...but with a darker twist.

In other news, because of the reading I have completely ignored my "training" and have not worked out since I ran the 5K on Friday. I feel myself getting fatter as I type.

So at work, in an effort to get the Air Force fatties back into shape, they have launched a 10,000 step challenge. They had this extra cool machine that measured our height, weight, BMI and body fat percentage all in a few seconds. Yeah. I don't know if that was such a good idea for me. I mean, yeah it is cool to get the pedometer and challenge each other at work to see who can get the most steps in a day (I'm totally winning with yesterday totalling 12, 239 steps) but I really really didn't need to know that my BMI is 1 number away from being overweight and my body fat % is not excellent, not good, not even average, but POOR. WTF! I can't believe this shit! I knew I needed to get into better shape but damn! They also were nice enough to point out that out of my weight (which I am so not going to put on the Internet) 43.2 of them are fat pounds. Ugh!

So, maybe what I need to be doing is taking my apparently fat ass to the gym and dragging my book with me.

In motherly news, La is still struggling at school the week. While she dared not get another "blue" card, she has proceeded to bring her happy tail home with 2 "pink" cards in a row. Yup. I have become the wicked witch because this mama isn't going to budge. Apparently she is trying to break the world record on how long a 5 year old can be punished. Way to go La....NOT.

Tough Love...for both of us

Tonight was really hard for me. With La turning 5 next week I've set my mind on giving her "real" punishment when she acts up especially in school. At the beginning of the school year I laid down the rules and swore to stay consistent.

A few months into the school year and she's been doing great. There have been 1 or 2 "pink" cards but a long stretch of "green". I figured she has matured alot and we were going to have a good year. La is a really good girl but I know with her if I give her an inch she'll take a mile.

All last year she got mostly "green" but surely had her share of "pinks" but never "blue" or "yellow". She hasn't had anything worse than "pink" this year either. Until today.

I came home from work and she met me at the door with the news. She got....a....BLUE card today. WTH! I couldn't believe it. My baby had never had to be warned more than a few times but never lost recess time. I didn't know what to do. I have a really hard time disciplining her because she's mah baby!

Today was different. I knew I had let it slide too many times and she was testing the water. I was invited to my girlfriends house for dinner where me and La frequent. She loves playing with her kids and asks everyday to go there. Originally I had planned to grab La and run over for dinner before I went grocery shopping. But once I got word of her behavior of the day I knew I had to make it known that I mean business.

I explained to her that I wasn't going to reward her for bad behavior and I left. Yup, mom that never goes anywhere but work and the gym without her sidekick left her home with dad. She couldn't believe it and fell out crying. I almost cried myself and had to close the door behind me before I gave in. I don't know if anyone else understands but I have such a connection with my baby and when she's upset if physically pains me. To have her crying out for me was excruciating. I had a good dinner and talked it out with my friend who gave me lots of encouragement.

When I got home, she was sitting on the floor and her eyes were swollen. She came to me and we talked some more. She cried and cried and cried and I cried with her and I explained that I love her but I want her to grow up following the rules and to be a good honest person. I know she young and it may be hard to understand now but if I don't start while she's young I'm afraid she'll be a spoiled brat and I want her to be spoiled, but within reason.

Maybe I'm going about it all wrong. Once again, I'm new at this. It's like closing pinning the tail on the donkey, close your eyes and hope you hit it on the tail.

5K, Gifts, and Bees

Weird title huh? Sometimes is more amusing to just say whatever comes to mind.

Well so far I've had an interesting weekend. Friday at work was "Sports Day" which means we close the offices and run around like little kids on Field Day...remember that? Yeah I know you do.

So since I'm "training" to run a half-marathon, I thought it would be fitting to run in a 5k. Nothing I hadn't done before and I run 3-4 miles quite often. Well what I didn't take into account was 1/How cold it would be 2/The hills going up and down and 3/When you are in a race sometime a competitive demon comes out.

Long story short, I pushed myself very hard but I'm proud of myself. I ran it in 28 minutes and some change. Pretty good since I usually run 3 miles in 30-31 minutes so to run 3.1 in 28 was a nice personal accomplishment. While I came in as the 4th female it still made me smile inside to know not only did I beat out a handful of other women but a few men as well.

Ok so, after that run I was really exhausted but still had to make my bi-weekly trip to get my step-daughter. I met up with her and her mom and when she got out of the car she announced she had a birthday present for me (it told yall they keep comin'). I thought it was really sweet. She told me to close my eyes and surprised me with....a 20 oz bottle of Deer Park water. Ha! Apparently she was at the gas station with her mom and came to the counter with 2 bottles. When her mom asked her why she had two, she explained that my birthday had passed and I really liked Deer Park water. Love that girl!

Ok so that was yesterday. Today was Gymnastics for La and I got my hair did. Yup, I'm cute like that. But afterwards I met up with my MIL (mother-in-law) and she had bought me a ticket to The Secret Lives of Bees and she got tickets for the girls to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Yeah whatever. But my movie was sooooo goooood. OMG! I cried and laughed and cried some more. Now that I've seen the movie I'm going to read the book. I'm telling you to go and see it. Gone now, get out of here! Get your tickets. Ok maybe tomorrow but go.

Tomorrow....laundry, laundry and more laundry. Wanna have a laundry party? No fun? Yeah, I know.

Mani Pedi Kindergarten Style

It's been about 5 days in a row that Little Lady had been begging me to polish her fingers and toes.

Me being the no-good-why-bother mother I am have been putting her off for, um...5 days in a row.

Today ended up being one of those, if-anything-else-goes-wrong-I'm-going-to-cry days at work so I decided that we would head to the food court on base and I got Subway and she got a slice of cheese pizza.

After getting home I decided to get her in the bath early so I could do her hair and just chill before bedtime. Well after her bath, she went straight for the polish that has been sitting on my desk for the past 5 day. I finally gave in and told her to come and sit so I could make her all shiny and pretty.

Nope. She wasn't having it. Apparently her friend Courtney, who is 8, get to polish her nails ALL BY HERSELF, so of course she's almost 5 which makes her the all knowing and queen of doing things like a "big girl".

My throat closed and I began to sweat at the flashes of nail polish that would end up on my carpet. But then I remembered the post by Lara about things she does good as a mom and letting her kids be creative and not worrying so much about the mess.

So I let it happen. She was so proud of herself and in turn it made me cry. Not because I was sad but because she is growing so fast and I can't seem to keep up.

While I think she polished more skin than nail, I consider it a mission complete.

I love you La La and tomorrow it's mom's turn. Yup. I'm gonna let her give me the Preschool Spa Treatment.

They Keep Comin'

Well, well, well....Guess who is still getting birthday presents in the mail? Not sure? Me!

So my BF who is stationed in Korea right now sent me a cutie pahtootie coin bag that looks similar to this:

Thank Erin. You sure know how to treat a girl! She also included a few pictures of my adorable nephews.

In addition to that I also got a package from my mom. She works part-time in the store called Brighton Collectibles. They have many beautiful things and this is the first of my soon to come pieces. I really wanted this bracelet and guess what? I got it.

Yeay me. It turned out to be a really great week and now I can look forward to planning (with my friend) La's 5th birthday party coming up soon.

+++++++++++++++++

Here is what you would have heard last night at my house.

"Mama, is it my birthday tomorrow?"

"No baby, in 15 more days"

"Oh....ok"

5 minutes later.

"Mama, is it my birthday when I wake up"

"No baby, in 15 more days"

"Oh, ok mama"

Apparently tomorrow and when she wakes up are not the same thing. Silly me. I have a lot to learn and in the meantime I will be using Beth's idea of a chain link calendar for my counting challenged preschooler.

Introductions

Being new to the blogging community is almost like being a High School transfer. All of the kids have known each other for a while and have there own cliques. I am currently the new kid that everyone is trying to get a feel for. I started this blog as a stress reliever and to record silly things my baby does.

I enjoy reading other blogs, especially other mommy blogs and reading funny stories and getting new tips and ideas. So I thought that maybe if everyone got to know me a little better they would leave me a few comments now and then and if I'm really lucky I could get a few followers. You? Come on, come on. (See I've been forced to beg)

OK, so here's a few thing you should know about me.

1. My name is Keyona and I turned 27 last week
2. I was born and raised (for the most part) in Maryland
3. I have been married for 5 years
4. I have a daughter who is about to turn 5 on the 29th
5. I have a step-daughter who will be 7 in December
6. I was adopted by my stepdad when I was 14
7. I have 4 brothers and I am the only girl
8. I have been in the Air Force for 9 years
9. I deployed to Iraq in 2003 and don't really talk about it
10. I am a TV junkie and don't care to help it
11. I love running and am currently training to run my first half-marathon
12. I have a great sense of humor (at least I think so)
13. I don't have many friends but I think it's because I haven't met the right ones yet
14. I love taking photos and hope to take photography classes one day
15. I love this blogging thing and hope to get better and meet new people!

OK, so now that we are familiar let's be friends.

Weekend Ramblins' and Rock Concerts

I found this idea on another blog and thought it would be interesting to see my own outcome. You have to answer questions and google image search those answers and post the first image that comes up (hoping nothing perverted or sick pops up).

Here's what I got....

My name is: Keyona

My middle name is: Rochelle

My favorite vacation spot is: Bermuda

How old am I: 27

Where I'd like to go someday: Africa

Where I grew up: Maryland

Favorite Food: Italian Food

Favorite Treat: Cookies

Where I live right now: Bolling AFB, DC

Favorite Animal: Dogs

Favorite Color: Purple

I'm married to: Hubby

Describe hubby: Crazy

What I do for work: U.S. Air Force

See, now wasn't that fun? Yeah? No? Oh well I liked it.

In other unrelated news. I went to my favorite store on earth Target and found a cool, new, full of awesomeness headband. Yup, only $4.99...I heart Tar-Jay. I figured I could rock a headband now that I am sporting a new look. To make it even better I had dinner at my girlfriends house so I didn't have to slave away at the microwave "making" dinner. Cool cool. I even got a yummy pina colada to top off the evening.

Happening as I type.... My hubby's friend calls the house and asks him to come over. My husband leaves out and comes back with a "toy" his friend got for La. Yeah. Apparently I've done something to piss him off because it's one of the Walmart brand organ/pianos that has no volume level and at 10pm at night it is just what she needed to give her that extra bit of energy.

I'll be plotting all night on ways to sabotage that toy. Jeez, a mother's work is never done.

Check out her jammin':

Check out her doing the "Robot". God I love this kid.