The Cycle

Where do I even begin?  This past month has gone by so quickly, I can't even begin to think of all the things that have happened.  Gretta turned 5, that's obviously the biggest deal of all.  She thinks she needs to go to Kindergarten.  Right.NOW!  That kid is awesome.  I love her.  I love all my kids, of course. 

In fact, lets talk kids for a moment. 

I have the best ones there could ever be, I'm pretty sure.  They have been through Hell, and it just keeps coming.  Luckily, they have a great support system between Sean and I.  He is a great dad.  The kids get shuffled back and forth every other weekend, and on Wednesday nights, and they are handling it amazingly well.   Emma was student of the month at her middle school, Maggie is understandably the smartest kid in her class, and Gretta is just about the cutest sassiest kid I've ever met.  But even through all this turmoil, they have managed to keep going.  Not giving in to the temptation to turn on one another that so many kids face when their parents split up.  The just keep going.  I attribute this to a lot of things, but I know that the many many many many prayers I've said, and some of you have said on their behalves, are working.  I always knew they were exceptional.  I always knew they would shine when life got tough, I just never thought this would be the kind of tough they would deal with. 

Let's hope this is the worst of it for them. 

In the meantime, life just keeps on going, whether we like it or not.  Things are hard.  Then they're better.  Then they're hard again.  It's a cycle, albeit a  more exaggerated cycle than anything I've ever experienced before in my life.  I hope one day it will all settle in like it's supposed to, and "normal" will reappear. 

In The Middle

This week we have quite a milestone. We have middle school orientation.

I'm so not ready for this.

I've been dreading the day my kid goes off to middle school, practically since the day she was born. I remember it like it was yesterday.

Lots of good memories, some bad ones, but mostly good.

Still, I am having major reservations about her walking into that giant school, her being a little bitty thing for a prospective 7th grader. All those 8th and 9th graders will look so much bigger than her, and I'm sort of associating bigger with meaner. I don't know why I'm doing that.

She's a good girl, she has good friends, and she makes good choices, so I don't really need to worry about her. But my mother bear instinct is really strong, and I just want to protect her from all the things she'll see from this point on in her life.

Homeschool is an option, but not one I'm putting much stock in. She isn't really interested in that right now, and I can't say I blame her.

Can someone please make time stop? Maybe for just a year? Or a day? I'd even take a day.

When It's Cold, We'll Skate

We went ice skating at the Olympic Oval on Saturday. It was a pretty good time. I'm still a little sore. Apparently ice skating uses muscles that bowling and blogging don't. Go figure. My left butt cheek is getting pretty rock hard from bowling, and now my right cheek is sore and stiff from ice skating. My rear end is pretty much a mess. Now I know how J-Lo feels.

Enjoy the rare glimpse into my life with these adorable videos (just a few seconds each) of my kids "ice skating". More like ice walking, but whatever.

Gratuitous

I'm gonna be honest, I had to read that title repeatedly to make sure it was spelled correctly. It is, right?

Well, it's time for the annual Table Dance Of Joy at our house. Yes, folks, I literally get up on the table and do a little happy dance. You may remember it from this post, and this post. This was the first time Sean has been around to see it. He was impressed.

The table dance comes because, like I'm sure you've seen on Facebook and every single blog you read, it's back to school time. I'm just gonna say it, I don't really look at your kids' back to school pictures. I'm sorry, I just don't. And I don't really expect you to look at mine. I'm totally okay with that.

But I do expect you to see the proof that I did indeed do a table dance.


See? Proof. And if you need a verbal witness, ask Sean, he'll tell you. I may have even given him a little shimmy just for kicks.

(Also, note the glitter toes. So awesome. I love mine. And guess what? Yours truly does them now! So give me a ring, or a text or a FB message, and we'll get you hooked up)


And here's Emma. 6th grade. Holy crap. Really? She rode her bike to school today with some friends, and I think she was pretty excited, although she's at that age where it's not cool to get excited anymore, so she tries to keep it inside.

Maggie is obviously missing, since she's doing school at home with me, so I'll do a back to school picture of her tomorrow when she gets her new clothes on.

Back to school also means my fabled return to blogging. Ah, schedule, how I've missed you. I'm hoping to hop right back on the every day blog post thing, so I'm sure you're all on the edge of your seats for that. Stay tuned.

Because I Was Tired Of Hearing Them Fight

I woke up Saturday morning(ish), and the first sound I heard was my kids fighting. So since I had to do it anyway, I had Emma throw on her shoes, and we headed out for a run. I intended on it being a mile or so, then dropping her off at home, and finishing my 5 miles alone, but she insisted she could make it.

So we ran.

7 miles to be exact. She kept up most of the way, and we only walked up the biggest hill, and probably the last 2 miles. What a trooper. I'm a little sore today, and she's pretty sore.

But I was tired of hearing them fight, so maybe next time she'll learn that if she gives her sisters any crap, she and I are heading out for a run.

Mother of the year right here.

Of Running And Life

So I ran on Saturday. Are you tired of hearing about this yet? If you are, I apologize, but you might want to quit reading here, because similes are about to be thrown around, and it won't wax poetic by any means.

As I ran, I had some technological issues. They really sent me into a fit. My headphones broke, my Nike+iPod wasn't working and the GPS was beeping every few seconds. Things were not going well, and I was only about a mile into a brutal 3 mile uphill run. I was pretty much pissed. My iPhone is lucky it didn't meet its fate at the bottom of the Provo River. Lucky for me, Sean was there to patch up my needs with his headphones and a once-over with the GPS. He pushed me (literally) up the trail to get me started running again.

I found my groove just as I got to Bridal Veil Falls. I stopped to wait for Sean and the girls and did some light stretching. The falls are gorgeous this time of year (insert photo here, you're welcome) with the heavy run off. I almost said heavy flow, how silly would that have been?

Anyway, I got thinking.

Life is so much like running. Go ahead, say "Uh, duh genius", it's fine. I can handle your ridicule.

One day you might feel like everything is working against you. Uphill, headphones falling apart, technology spitting in your face. And you just want to quit. Luckily (hopefully), most of us have someone in our lives to patch us up and push us on our merry way.

Once Sean and the girls found me, we chilled at the falls for a few minutes, then decided to head down. Emma was on her bike, so she asked if she could ride ahead of us. I was fine with that, so she started off.

I began running down, which is easier only in theory because my toes and knees were on fire, and found a good pace. I did realize a ways down the path that Emma hadn't stopped to wait for me. Hmm. I started asking people if they had seen a little girl on a pink beach cruiser.

No one had seen her.

I started to panic a little bit. I picked up the pace. Realizing probably too late that I had already run 5 miles, I couldn't run any faster, but my heart and head were rattling off several scenarios at the speed of light. Most of the scenarios involved the "Dun dun" at the beginning of Law And Order.

I started scanning the river bank for a pink bike. I started asking every person I passed if they had seen her.

Still, no one had seen her.

My feet ached, and my heart pounded. And then I realized, this is life. We feel good and happy, then suddenly, even as we coast down a hill, things can get scary again.

Finally I reached the bottom of the path and turned off to our parking spot, and there sat Emma, happy as a clam, eating a sandwich and listening to her iPod.

I have never felt such relief in my life. 6 miles under my belt, 3 uphill and hard, and 3 downhill and terrifying. Imagine.

We stopped and had some lunch with her, and tried not to lay into her about getting lost because she didn't think she had even done anything wrong. Which, in her defense, she didn't because I told her she could ride on ahead. I guess I need to be more specific.

As lunch wrapped up, I had some nervous energy to expend, so I tackled another mile down the trail and had Sean pick me up. 7 miles. That last mile I really started thinking about how much we struggle through life, just as in running, but when we look back on what we accomplished, all we really remember are the good feelings and the progress.

I guess that's why we keep at it. Both running and life.

This One Time, At Band Camp

Emma had her first ever band concert last night. I'll admit, I had pretty low expectations. But I was pleasantly surprised! She has a natural musical gift, for sure, you should hear her sing! I just have no idea where she gets it. Sean and I sing casually, not soloist quality, and I play the piano, but not well, not even well enough to accompany the Primary adequately. But Emma definitely has it. It's a great feeling seeing your kids excel. Can you tell I'm proud?


The program.


Her name in print!


And here she is, at the ready. The director had them do a great thing. At the very beginning of the evening, he had them show us what they sounded like the first time they tried to play their instruments. It was a loud, horrible, ear splitting sound. So of course, every note they played after that seemed much better in comparison. A sly trick to show us parents how far the kids have actually come in the 6 short weeks they've been practicing.

Emma did a great job. She looked so beautiful sitting up there, and you could tell she was proud of herself, which makes a wonderful sight. She got a new skirt, courtesy of my mad sewing skills, and new black shoes just for the evening. She's a wonderful young lady, and I am so proud of her!

Okay, Here You Go

So we headed to Kentucky over Labor Day. It was great fun! The drive was long, but our kids are seasoned travelers, so it wasn't a big deal. I still cannot get over the greenness of Illinois and the surrounding states. It's amazing how lush it is.

Here are just a few of the pictures, I'll do another post tomorrow with more pictures. I know how much you just love looking at my kids and our super exciting life.



Here we are at Tootsies Landing Ferry. It took us across the Mississippi from Missouri to Hickman, Kentucky. We didn't know it at the time, but it saved us about 2 hours of driving. We were just along for an adventure, and when we saw the sign for a Ferry, we thought that would be perfect. The ride took about 15 minutes, just long enough to eat the picnic lunch we packed, and then it was off to find our way back to camp.


Here are the girls playing on the beach at Kentucky Lake. Ken Lake is the second largest man made lake in the nation, I'm guessing second to Lake Powell. It's so beautiful, and the water was nice and warm. This picture takes me back to my childhood. I bet we have a zillion pictures just like this from when we were kids playing on the beaches of Lake Powell.


If you look closely, you can see that is all 3 of my girls on the tube. Yep, I never thought I'd see the day that Mags would be brave enough to conquer the tube without Mimi. Not only did she love it, she went alone for a good 20 minute ride, too. Gretta loved it, and didn't want to get off. Of course Emma loved it, too. I think she secretly likes getting thrown in the lake by dad.


And here is our littlest captain. She took to driving like a fish to water. Shortly after this picture was taken, we sort of ran aground and bent the crap out of the prop. Oh well, it was a rental. In her defense, there were no buoys marking shallow water, or any other hazards, so how would she have known? Please notice Gretta asleep on the couch in the background. She had the best nap with the rock of the waves and the hum of the motor.


After our day at the lake, we went for a little hike. First thing we saw was a couple of deer hanging out just a few feet from the parking lot. That was about it as far as large wildlife goes. We did see lots of possums, racoons, and turtles, though.

So that's it for today. I'll post more pics tomorrow.

Two

Today I let my kids go off into the big blue (or gray, as the weather would be here in the Midwest) yonder. Decked out in all pink, my Maggie climbed the stairs of that big yellow bus, and suddenly grew up.

I'm gonna be completely honest here. I wasn't sad to see her go. I'm sad to see her grow up and not be my baby anymore, but she is more than ready to be at school. Since she is almost 6, she is the oldest for her grade, and it shows.

Emma started 5th grade, and that completely blows my mind. I distinctly remember being in 5th grade. It feels like I was there just yesterday. I think Sugar Daddy and I even had the same teacher. To think that Emma may possibly be in the same class as her future spouse makes me a little sick to my stomach.

Here's the Chicas getting their model on. You can't really tell from the picture, but it was pouring rain. Just the kind of day to go home and snuggle back under the covers for an hour or two.




And here goes Mags. That bus has never seemed so big. She could barely get up the first step! At least she has morning Kindergarten, so she and Emma can sit together on the bus on the way to school, and then she'll come home on the Kindergarten bus when it's not so crowded and loud with the big kids letting off after-school steam.

Normally, I do a little table dance for back to school. Don't get me wrong, there was a lot of dancing going on , but due to an ongoing hip issue, I can't climb up on the table anymore! I guess I'm out of a job now, too. I don't think Workmans Comp covers that sort of injury.

Vacay Day 8

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Emma's big day!

Stupid blogger, I forgot it uploads pictures in reverse order, so these pictures are kind of anticlimactic.


Emma scoring a DS. It's about time, too, everyone else on the planet has one. She was so excited. We had her open her other gifts first, which included a little Burberry inspired purse to carry a DS, an accessory pack for the DS, and a DS game. She still hadn't put it together that she might be getting one for her last present. Duh.


Here she is in the midst of opening the last present, which was wrapped in baby paper, more baby paper, birthday paper, and more birthday paper. It took her forever to finally get to the goods inside.

She was thrilled.

I can't believe my kid has survived 10 years! I mean, really, not only has she survived, she has actually flourished, despite my lack of parenting abilites. She is a fairly well adapted kid, makes friends easily, and loves to have fun. She loves her Grandma, misses Nunny, and wants to be a fashion designer. She is a great big sister, babysits when we need her to, and appreciates the extra things we do for her, like waking her up in the middle of the night to go to Coasters After Dark with mom. She is a great singer, reader, and student.

We love you Emma!

Child Labor

Emma takes after me in a lot of ways. She has a head of beautiful blond hair, she has a sparkling personality, she's extremely humble, and she loves to read.

Her love of the books naturally leads to a love of writing.

So we decided to pimp her out a little. Not in that way, in a good way.

She has started her own blog all about being a food critic for kids menu food. How fun is that? She has always wanted to be a food critic, and this will be a great way to get her started.

So check out her new foodie blog here, and be sure and leave a comment. She loves it!

FFF

Well, today is the day. Stitches come out. I'll be handling this myself, since I am qualified, but that certainly doesn't make it easy. I know she'll be freaking out, and I'll need some restrain assistance for sure. But we can do it.

On another note, Emma will be going to the doctor today to get a prescription for her allergies. They have been so bad this year. The Zyrtec isn't doing a dang thing for her, so it's time for something stronger.

Maggie will also be going to the doctor today (goodbye, $40 in copays!) for a different kind of problem. You see, I took the kids to the Forest Preserve yesterday for a little hike. We did a 2 mile loop, and the kids didn't have to stop once! Maggie was so proud of herself. I was very proud of her, too. You see, Maggie is not a nature lover. She hates anything that flies, crawls, creeps, or wiggles. So she was basically in her own personal Hell yesterday. But she was a trooper and made it through.

We were nearly done, when she feels a bite on the back of her left knee. She swats at whatever it was, and brings her hand up, and it's covered in blood. I thought she had just gotten a mosquito mid-bite, and perhaps it had tapped an artery or something. ;) Well, on the way home, she said she didn't feel well, and the rest of the day, she was limping all around. This morning I checked it out, and there is a red hot swollen area the size of a dinner plate from the back of her knee, around the side, and up and down from her thigh to her ankle. It's probably something that needs to be checked out, and perhaps treated with a steroid.

So today isn't really FFF. At least not for you. I, on the other hand, get to play doctor, which will thrill the heck out of Sugar Daddy.

Skipping

I'm skipping today's Mother's Day Week post in lieu of something much more important.

Emma's talent show is today.

She performs for the school today, and for the parents later tonight.

She has braids in her hair, and looks adorable.

She's a little nervous. I'm a lot nervous. I want her to totally rock it. I know she will.

But I'm still a lot nervous.

Potential

She made it. My kid made the school talent show. I'm thrilled. She has potential, for sure, and I love that someone else recognizes this as well.

And I just booked a ticket to Utah for the middle of April. Just me, myself, and I. No kiddies. I kid you not. (I crack me up.) SugarDaddy is taking a couple of days off to daddysit, and I'm taking a couple of days for myself. I technically won't be in Utah for more than a few hours, since I fly in Friday morning, and leave that afternoon for Vegas. But it's better than nothing. I get to see my family, which has the potential for being a very.good.time.

Plus, I heard my mom's headstone just got finished. I can't wait to see it. I'm sure it's beauty won't do her justice, but if anyone could get it close, it would be my dad and the painstaking hours he spent getting it just right. Potentially wonderful to see a finished area dedicated just to her, and not just a blank spot of grass.

I know I missed our Fun For Friday, and I have a doozy in mind. I might double it up this week, depending on how exciting my life isn't for the next couple of days. But I promise, it will make you laugh. Okay, chuckle. Okay, at the very least, roll your eyes out of courtesy.

Later!

Hiatus

My kid has strep. Again. This is like the bajillionth time in the last year and a half or so. I'm really really really tired of 10 day antibiotics. I'm also tired of her screaming through a penicillin shot, and then doing 10 days of antibiotics on top of that. I'm hoping she'll be getting her tonsils out within the year. But we'll see.

So, on that note, I'll be back tomorrow with something good. Not great, but probably not that good either, so don't hold your breath.

On a completely unrelated note, my feet are muy stinky.

Totally Random

I realized yesterday that it's been a while since I posted any pics. I guess my thoughts have gotten better of me than my camera has. But here is some proof that I do indeed take pictures most days. I just don't get around to uploading and posting them like I should. Bear with me.


Emma playing dress up with Mags. This is a pretty rare occurrence around our house these days. Emma is growing past the dress up stage, and to be honest, she and Maggie rarely play anything together anymore. Unless it has to do with the computer or the DS, Emma pretty much stays away from having much to do with Maggie. I think she sees her as the annoying little sister. I remember being that annoying little sister. It's a hard stage.


Here is Gretta enjoying opening up her birthday present from Poppa. When we were in Utah for the summer, my mom had this little fox that graced the bottom shelf of one of her cabinets. Gretta always found it and carried it around the house. I had completely forgotten about it until it arrived as part of her package. You can see she pretty much thinks it's the coolest thing ever.



This was her first expression after ripping open the paper it was wrapped in. She was as shocked as I was. But then she hugged it, kissed it, and tried to ride it around the house like a horse.


Pre-tearing of the goods. She also got an outfit that she thinks is pajamas, a pack of Care Bears playing cards which have mostly found themselves shoved into every nook and cranny of the toy room, and a fancy schmancy card with Minnie Mouse on it. She loves it all!


Here is Maggie showing off her Valentines boxes she made for her dance class. We only had to make like 10 valentines, so instead of buying a huge pack of cards for $3.00, we went to our local craft store, bought 10 pieces of paper for $1.00, and used their die cut machine to cut the design for the boxes. She folded them, I glued the bottoms, and she filled them up with candy hearts. They were the hit of the class for sure.

So that pretty much sums up the most interesting pictures I've taken in the last few weeks. I'm still on the lookout for a funny Friday image, but I'll keep looking. I have the best one, but for the life of me, I can't find the picture to go with the story. I'll do my best, just for you.

*I have been asked about the origin of the fox. I can honestly say I have no idea from whence it came. It's just always been around the house, and I never thought to ask my mom about it. You know, it wasn't one of those important things you think about in the last few weeks of someone's life. I find myself having a lot of those moments. I wish I could call her up and ask her. Anywhoo, if any of you know where the fox originated, I would love to know.

At Least It's Clean

Yesterday started out like most days. Up and at em bright and early. Emma off to school, Maggie awake and dressed in her standard outfit consisting of a Hannah Montana shirt, jeans, and the puffy pink skirt over the top of the jeans, all of this topped off with sparkly pink shoes. She is all girl. And Gretta being her silly self carrying around 13 binkies and her milk. We headed over to the local Starbucks to meet up with some friends and get "coffee", which is code for Hazelnut Hot Cocoa. Mmm. I chatted up the ladies while the kids sufficiently destroyed the table and chairs with donut pieces and spilled milk. Eh, we'll just leave a tip, no biggie. After I had my fill of funny stories and gross sex talk, it was time to head off to Maggie's dance class. She danced her little butt off. Gretta got her white-girl groove on, too, and it was hilarious.

So we head home. I've decided that on the way, a trip to Linens N Things is in order, to take advantage of their misfortune of going out of business and scoring an electric blanket for cheap. Sounds good, right? Yeah. So I'm heading along, minding my business and listening to Cathy and Judy's Sex Thursday talk show, when I approach the turn off for my street. Should I continue to LNT, or should I head home and put Gretta to bed? Hmm. If only there was a way for this decision to be made for me. If only.

Then suddenly, "Waaahh, baaarrrfff." Gretta has spewed all over in her car seat. Decision made. I turn up the street and head home as fast as I can. She continues barfing in her seat, not really crying, mostly just saying "Eeewww", and looking at her slime covered hands. We whip into the driveway, I pull her out of the van, and strip her down naked on the grass. Mind you, it's 30 degrees outside. But I'm not taking any chances of having my van smell like rotten milk, as I was doomed to drive around a Jeep that smelled that way all summer. My bad. But I digress.

I pop G in the tub, and start the mind numbing task of disassembling the damn car seat. Does that remind you of the movie Short Circuit? "No disassemble, no disassemble! Number 5, alive!" That movie reminds me of Meg for some reason. And again, I digress.

What the heck is with those car seats? I mean really. I understand the need for safety and all that good stuff, but who hasn't had their kid puke in the car seat, and needed to rip it apart STAT? You'd think they would make them a little easier to get apart for washing and sanitizing and such. This is the second time in 5 months I've had this kid puke in her car seat. I should be a pro at this by now. I'm not. So now I have a clean, sanitized, taken apart car seat in my dryer. Sugar Daddy is out of town, and this time I don't have an identical model to copy like I did last time. What's a girl to do? I guess I'll stay home and take care of business here. Or I could attempt to put it back together. But at least it's clean.

In Case You Haven't Had Enough

I understand how boring it can be to browse the various blogs on your Google reader and see only images of mediocre children dressed up as mediocre characters. But I bring you Emma. A most beautiful child, in a most beautiful home made costume. I had a few people tell me they needed to see all of my kids in their costumes, so here you go.

Yes, she's in a poodle skirt, made by yours truly. Even the little doggie and leash. Yes, because I'm that talented. And yes, she's wearing her pajamas underneath. We took this picture on Wednesday afternoon because I forgot to get a picture of her on Halloween. She was home "sick" that day, cough cough. But what can I say, I'm a big softie about stuff like that. But seriously, she is sick. She has an ear infection. Her first ever. So I thought she deserved a day off for that.

2nd Picture

I was tagged by Rachel, (which reminds me, I'm still not positively sure as to how to pronounce your name correctly. I've heard it like Ray-shell, and I've also heard it like Ruh-shell, so if you could enlighten me, that would be super!) who challenged me to post the 2nd picture ever uploaded to my computer. Wow, this is going way back in the way back machine. I have a few less chins, and Maggie has a whole lotta black hair! And I can't believe Emma. She's always seemed so grown up to me, but she looks so little in this picture. So here you go.




I think my BFF Lisa Blackburn took this picture, she also gave Emma that little dolly, which we still have! We also still have the jammies Emma has on. My mom gave those to Emma when I was still in the hospital after giving birth. Of course now, the sleeves and pants have been cut off to fit an ever growing child, and making them much more comfy. Gretta was just wearing them the other day, and they are trash-tastic! But I digress.

Maggie was about a week old in this picture, I think. I know she was still pretty new, because I can only fit in those jeans I have on for about the first 2 weeks after I have a baby. Then the tummy puffs back up, and there's no way in Hell those things are going on. They've been that way with all 3 babies. Plus, obviously I was still not sleeping much, just look at that shiny skin and the apparent lack of blow drying skills. Nice. Sugar Daddy is looking good as always, though. He's my babe.

This Is Life

I have a killer cold. If I was a man, it would be a "man cold". And if I was motivated at all, I would put a super duper link to the "Man Cold" on YouTube, but you can "Tube" it yourself, cause I'm lazy like that. I fell asleep at 8:00 last night. It rocked. But I still feel like total crap.
*Oh, alright, I linked it. Geez. Now I need a nap.

Gretta is repeatedly trying to wedge herself under my computer chair. With each and every attempt, she bonks her head, hard, on the frame. And yet she continues to try. Tenacious, yes. Mentally ill, possibly.

I have seen Sugar Daddy a total of 15 minutes this week. No, that's a bad thing. See, it's his busy season, getting everything sorted out to different retailers for their Christmas sales. Which means he works at 5AM and gets in just after 7PM. I know I shouldn't complain because it's much harder on him than it is on me, but it's my blog, so I can complain about whatever I want. And tonight he's partaking in the Cubs vs. Brewers game in Milwaukee, so that means he won't be home until after midnight. I don't feel bad for him, though.

Maggie had her first dance class yesterday. Yeah, I'm such a good mom, I forgot the camera.

Emma missed the bus yesterday. Again. So she was late.

Gretta has a fever, a rash, and a limp. This warranted a trip to the ER, but she checked out fine.

My slutty dog has decided it's much more fun to spend the days philandering around the neighborhood than being cooped up in the house with a sick bitchy mom. I rarely know if she's in or out. And to be honest, I don't care anymore.

Oh, and I've been wearing the same pair of denim capris all week. I change my shirt and bra, of course, and my undies, but the pants, they just keep calling my name. I need a new pair. Or pairs.

Feel free to slap the Mother of the Year award right here.