my daughter is an artist!! see this cute little picture here!

i think christmas is going to be fun this year... the kiddos don't know it yet but Santa has decided to get them a Wii. this excites me too because it means i get a Wii fit! we also found them a few games off the parenting site's best games for kids list. G is also getting a DSi from his dad... he should be all set on video game stuff for a while i think. Of course this also means that we can pass the Leapster on to M because she likes to play with that too and it is more age appropriate for her as well. we will have to get her some new games for that because i think G lost most of the ones we had gotten him.

the kids are adjusting to daycare again. CJ has never been but he did pretty well last week. he had a small meltdown this morning, but i think that was more because he seems to have a slight cold and just wanted to stay with me. other than that they all seem to love being able to go play with other kids. the younger two don't really get to go out and play much where we live because it is a town home area and the front is mainly a parking lot and the back just isn't very big and they tend to wonder to the street a lot more than i like. so it will be good for them to get out more.

looking forward to finishing all the other christmas shopping i have to do... i didn't really want to resort to gift cards, but i am coming up blank on ideas... we'll see i guess.

To my best friend... it is your birthday today. Happy birthday! I love you and I thank you for being part of my life, i couldn't imagine it without you!

Toddlers

at times i think it is just me... apparently it is not!

i know it has been some time since my last real life post. not a whole lot has been happening lately though. the big news is that the hubby is finally going to be returning to work. no more trying to live off my fairly puny paycheck. so YAY to the good news there. of course this means that i am going to have to figure out what to do with the kids during the day. i have been looking into the daycare that picks up from the school they are in but i was not really impressed. i was spoiled by the daycare i used to use before the hubby was not working and i would prefer to put them there but they do not pick up from the school. it is all pretty frustrating. i may have to have G do the after school program 2 days a week and put the other 2 in the daycare i like, but then i have to pick up from 2 places on those days and that just seems like a lot to do. i am already tired at the end of my 10 hour days so to add all the extra driving around in... i guess we'll see.

i have also been in the process of applying to a top raiding guild on my server. for my non gaming readers - i don't really think i can explain and have you understand why i would need to apply to play a video game... you just won't understand. to my gaming readers, i am sure you understand that this can be pretty time consuming, making sure you have all the right gems & enchants and that your gear is up to par. having them inspect and comment on every little thing and such... well, the good news is that they are interested in taking me on. i have to talk to one of the officers in game and they want to make sure they have room for me. they currently were not actively recruiting resto shamans and they have 3 main ones right now that are better geared than me, so even if they don't take me now, its pretty great that i look good enough for them to have interest.

so, better late than never, but here are some better Halloween pics of the kids. one is out of focus, but since i am at work that is as good as it is going to get. =P

**photos courtesy of Grandma Carol as i am too lazy to take my own off my camera.

**Edit: i was accepted to the guild i applied to. Yay!! I am now Khaelie of Cadia. My first raid with them will be on Tuesday, wish me luck!

**Healing WoW Post**

so, i dont normally WoW blog, but there is this "circle of healing bloggers" going around and it looked like fun so i thought i would put in my own 2 cents.

• What is the name, class, and spec of your primary healer? Khaelie, Resto Shaman
  
• What is your primary group healing environment? (i.e. raids, pvp, 5 mans) She is pretty much just doing raids at this point... occasionally i will do a daily for some extra badges but at this point 5 man healing for her is just too boring (yawning and tabbing out to facebook are not good thinkgs to do when you're supposed to be healing...). She does mostly 25 mans, but ventures into 10 mans as well.
  
• What is your favorite healing spell for your class and why? Riptide. it certainly isn't my strongest heal but it splashes and leaves little flowers on the floor.
  
• What healing spell do you use least for your class and why? healing wave. even with all the haste i stack the cast time is just too long. the only time i really use it is with an "oh S***!" Natures swiftness.
  
• What do you feel is the biggest strength of your healing class and why? we have big heals. Chain heal alone often heals the first target for upwards of 10K and then it heals 3 other targets for smaller amounts. that's a pretty big heal!
  
• What do you feel is the biggest weakness of your healing class and why? i think we could benefit with either a stronger HoT or instant. Ours is combined into one heal and everything else has a cast time, and those cast times are not little. I have a LOT of haste and still my LHW is about a second to cast (that is the fastest one).
  
• In a 25 man raiding environment, what do you feel, in general, is the best healing assignment for you? this really depends on the fight and the other available healers. if the fight is so spread out that chain heal stops after hitting just 1 or 2 people it really isn't worth it and i would be more useful on a tank. if there is a Disc Priest on the tank my big heals don't really help unless the tank is taking boatloads of damage and i would be more useful on the raid. but overall i have become quite comfortable doing whatever i am assigned to.
  
• What healing class do you enjoy healing with most and why? I really enjoy a nice Druid. Maybe i am just spoiled with the one i usually run with, but we work really well together and even though neither of us is a "tank healer" (a fact i think is outdated) we can usually 2 heal 10 mans without any issues.
  
• What healing class do you enjoy healing with least and why? Disc Priests. it is a pretty selfish reason, but when we have a disc priest i never get tank duty. :(
  
• What is your worst habit as a healer? getting too focused on grid and not seeing what is going on. Deadly boss mods has saved me from fire more than i like to admit.
  
• What is your biggest pet peeve in a group environment while healing? I think all healers dislike when there are calls for heals in vent. all we do is look at health bars, so if one is lower than it should be i guarantee we know it before you say it!
  
• Do you feel that your class/spec is well balanced with other healers for PvE healing? I think all healing classes have their own special abilities and so in a perfect raid you would have one of each. So balanced, yes, in that you can have a successful raid with any combination of healers.
  
• What tools do you use to evaluate your own performance as a healer? The fewer deaths the better! I admit i do look at recount, but mostly just to make sure i am pulling my weight in a straight healing encounter.
  
• What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about your healing class? lol shammys can only raid heal. in the absence of a disc priest of a holy pally, i think we are the next best choice.
• What do you feel is the most difficult thing for new healers of your class to learn? i think most think that chain heal spam is the only way to heal with a shaman. i admit i use it a lot, but i also use LHW and Riptide all the time as well, depending on what needs to be healed. i think that most know that they need to keep Earth Shield and water shield up, but many don't keep track of it and it gets lost in the action.
• If someone were to try to evaluate your performance as a healer via recount, what sort of patterns would they see (i.e. lots of overhealing, low healing output, etc)? it really depends on the fight being evaluated. if there is a lot of movement in the fight i am likely to be lower in the meters due to heals having long cast times. if there is little to no movement i can easily be in the top 2. i tend to have a lot of overhealing because i am almost always casting something whether it is needed or not, but until i have mana regen issues i am unlikely to change that.
  
• Haste or Crit and why? HASTE!!! i am sure i have touched on cast times already, but i like to have enough haste to get LHW to about 1 second with my totem down.
  
• What healing class do you feel you understand least? Holy Pallies. they have a beacon and a flash of light and that is quite literally all i really know about them.
  
• What add-ons or macros do you use, if any, to aid you in healing? I use grid & Clique. the only thing i use clique for is cleanse spirit. all my other spells are keybound. i really haven't even modified grid all that much. seems to work well for me.
  
• Do you strive primarily for balance between your healing stats, or do you stack some much higher than others, and why? for any shaman i would recommend stacking mana regen and intellect until you are comfortable with your mana and then switch to spellpower and haste. currently in 25man raid buffed i have about 3000 sp, 25000 mana and my regen is around 800.

I'm not tagging anyone since this isn't really a WoW blog anyways... i just wanted to share my opinion with anyone who wants to know.

we made it to Boo at the Zoo this year!! we always seem to miss it for one reason or another, and with it snowing we almost missed it again! most of the animals were hidden away inside, but we still got to see the giraffes, monkeys, and all the other inside habitats. the hippos were making noise too and they sure are loud. as most years, the kids got to put on their carefully picked out costumes and then cover them up with a big coat. CJ was able to wear his coat under his costume only because it was that big. here are a few pictures of them all dressed up. maybe halloween will be a bit warmer and then i will be able to get a picture of them without the jackets on... i guess if it is cold i can take the picture before we leave the house too, we'll see what happens.

M as a Kitty

G as a Power Ranger (with a random Captain Jack)

CJ as Buzz Lightyear with G and M

I am sick.
and it sucks.
:(