going to work...

the past three weeks have been a whirlwind that i am sure many of you can relate to... i have finally gone to work full time after having my precious babies... i substituted while k was a baby and did a stint of 3 monthes as a long term sub but this is the first time that i have actually had a job since o was born....

the first two weeks was crazy... i had to leave the house at 8 am and didnt get back until 7:30! it made for a great pay check but it was hard to be away for that LONG!!! there are a couple of things that saved me while i was working and i figured i would share....

                       

the first thing was knowing that my babies were in GREAT hands!! k goes to a great daycare (we call it "school")  she started going right before o was born so i could have a little break a couple of days a week. she started going everyday - j would take her in the mornings on his way to work and my dad would pick her up at 11:30. they take a nap from 11:30 - 2:30 and my parents wanted some time with her! so he picked her up and brought her to o and my mom at our house... so i KNEW my kids were in great hands and i never had to worry about that!

the second helpful thing i found was to have dinners ready for when i got home. i have a great husband who is awesome with the babies but hasn't had all that much time with the two of them on his lonesome - plus fixing dinner and plus working 10 hours in a metal building doing manual labor! so i cut him a break and had crockpot dinners or super easy dinners already planned and prepped or cooked! which was great to come home to!

 

here is a list of most of what we had and where i found the great idea from!

-meatball subs! which was awesome! and super super easy!

-slow cooker baked potatoes - so good and so easy! 

awesome instructions here - 

-crockpot tacos - great flavor - a little liquidy but totally managable and good!

yummy recipe here - 

-chicken fajitas- yummy to me! my hubby is not a fan of chicken so not one of his fav's but my mom and aunt loved the left overs

go here for an awesome recipe - 

-salsibury steak- one of our favorites and go to's!

our fav follow the link for it to become one of yours - 

-corn on the cobb in the oven - so easy and so good! we quit cooking corn any other way! and we eat a lot of corn! its k's fav! 

simple instructions to follow - 

the third thing i found that helped me threw this change was that i love what i am doing. i am teaching kids who have a learning disability or just need some extra help and tips to do their very best in school and in life. some kids have a severe disability and some just need a little push but i know that by doing what i am doing is going to help them get just that much farther in life and that makes me happy and makes the time away from my children worth it!

i also think that planning ahead and willing to get up early or stay up a little late to get everything set for the next day is a great use of time. k and j had to get up at 6:30 to get ready for school and work so i would get up at 6 and prep for dinner or get my lunch made or take my shower. or loading the dishwasher or throwing a load in the wash was a great help! its the little things that help!

i know not everyone will be able to use these couple of tips but if they help a little or if you find another great recipe from thse great sites then awesome! 

i am in the third week of my job and it has calmed down some since i am out of the training phase! 

i hope everyone has an awesome time back to work! 

 :)

AMERICA'S favorite pastime... baseball

we ventured out tonight && went to the gwinnett braves baseball game. it's a fairly local team related to the atlanta braves. my hubby was given two tickets for tonight's game... so we figured we had nothing to loose... && we did GREAT! we took both k & o. it was o's first real major outting. we've been many places but anything big like this we have always left o && took k with us but we took o this time && it went awesome. I was nervous since we only had two seats & four bodies but we actually had the row to ourselves && it was kids eat free night (amazing surprise!). they even gave o a voucher for a hot dog! so we got out of the whole thing for $10! $5 to park && $5 for nachos. I love me some ballpark nachos. 

anyways... i had a blast! the kids has a blast! && i think the hubby had a great time! 

i was really nervous about going & having enough stuff or taking what all we needed... the most important thing was:::

1. the front baby carrier! owen is a stout little boy & it was nice to have some help carrying him. 

2. snacks! didn't actually end up using them since it was kids eat free night. 

3. a blanket! it got kinda chilly and k really wanted to go play on the lawn area but we didn't have a place for o or us to have a comfy seat. 

4. last but not least... a CAMERA! you have to capture your memories. a must. 

this list isn't something super surprising but i couldn't find something like this to reassure me that I would survive!! 

 other great ideas for your bag are... sweater or jacket, a ball & glove

the FIRST

OK so here is my FIRST blog post! nothing super exciting - but it is exciting for me to write it!
let me start by introducing MYself::
HI! i'm alyson: i'm 25 and have been married to my best friend and soul mate jay for (3.5) years {together for 8}:: i am the mother to [2] wonderful kids:: kenzie.. 22 months && owen 2 months
&& that is where the name of the blog.. a KO kinda life ..comes from a play on knockout  && my kids initials

we live in a small town in between atlanta && athens GEORGIA::: my husband is a automotive mechanic at a wonderful hometown owned shop in MONROE i am a certified teacher but have never held a full time teaching job... i was pregnant with K when i graduated the university of georgia {{must admit i am a HUGE alabama fan-- ROLL TIDE!!}} & have only substituted here there & yonder to stay in the mix & i love doing it but i <3 being at home with my kids too..

i plan on trying to update frequently on ALL kinds of fun stuff... from my crazy kids, to how i try to save money so i can stay home, && all my fun projects and such i attempt and try to complete!

thanks for stopping by!!