Cindy Lou Who

American Girl Dolls...

2012-01-15T22:10:00.000-08:00

Anyone who has a young daughter knows the name of these dolls and the stories behind them. And if you know about the dolls, then you know who Kit, Molly, Rebecca, Kirsten, Emily and Julie are too. And if you know who they are, then you've either read the books or watched the movies. You probably could tell me what decade each one is from too.

When Emily was turning 4 yrs old, we got her for her birthday a look alike newborn American Girl doll. Not at all realizing what an impact these dolls would have on our lives.

Then about 4 years ago, Emily REALLY got into these dolls in part because our neighbor girl (and BFF) and her BFF from school all had dolls, and so they have become a part of our lives too. Emily's first big doll was Kirsten, that she picked out for her birthday that year, and let me tell you she has been played with.

Next came Emily for Christmas a year later. I thought it was cute how "Santa" played on the coincidence of the dolls name and our Emily. Plus Emily is Molly's best friend, and our neighbor had the Molly doll.

This year for Christmas, Santa brought the doll, Kit, for Emily. Kit is the original and first doll of the series and the first one to have a movie out.

Emily all year has asked for another doll. And I'm sure that Santa was trying to plan ahead and pay it off before Christmas so had purchased said doll months in advance. When a few weeks before Christmas, Emily announced she no longer wanted anything to do with AG dolls, and that she was tired of them and wanted to give them away.

*gasp*

Now if you know anything about these dolls, or their clothes, or their accessories, you will understand that they cost as much as human clothes and furniture and I'm sure you could buy a small goat for the price of one of these dolls.

Now imagine Santa's surprise at hearing this.

So, Santa braced himself for Christmas morning, to hear the disappointment and the "I didn't want that" when Emily saw her gifts from Santa.

But much to his surprise, he heard "oh my gosh, it's Kit" and ignore all her other Santa gifts for these.

Maybe sometimes we may think we are too old for something that we may still secretly wish for, but when it comes down to it, there's no hiding the joy when it's presented.

I'm sure Santa is smiling, wherever he is!

XOXO

Emily and her new friend...

2012-01-14T13:40:00.000-08:00

Emily has this year really shined in the social department. It's been really neat watching her each year develop and something new shine through. For example, one year she excelled in her speech and language skills, and another year she "got it" in the school work department. This past 6 mos have been neat to watch her shine in the socializing. She is very aware of who is friends with who, play dates, sleepovers, cliques, but along with it comes the hurt feelings, tears, "she wont play with me" days. So we have had our share of talks explaining that it's okay to have several different friends, and you don't always have to play with the same ones. Sometimes it's nice to play with someone else. It does not mean they aren't your friend anymore.

This year a new girl moved to our area and is in the learning center with Emily. They became fast friends right away and the teacher was so excited in seeing Emily come out of her shell, she couldn't stop emailing me about how cute they were together and I should really set up play dates. So with her help, we connected with the family and every weekend since, Emily and Hayden have been at one house or the other.

The other day Emily came home in tears with the saddest look on her face I was immediately concerned. And through the tears I was able to gather this profound statement she made "I couldn't play with Hayden at Recess today because she got benched for not doing her math today and I missed her soooo much that I'm heart broken."

Ahhhhhhh....how cute is that??

But seriously, my daughter, the shy, quiet, doesn't say much speech other then her comfortable words she knows, came home and said she was "heartbroken" over missing Hayden. My heart melted immediately and I grabbed her in a hug and wiped her tears, kissed her on the head and told myself I must have done something right in this world with her for her to care so much about someone.

Then, she ran to her daddy and sobbed all over again about how "heartbroken" she was, and then ran to her brother and repeated the whole story. Now, the first time was gut wrenching and oh so cute. But by the 2nd and 3rd time, it became hilarious listening to her so earnestly tell this story and her huge wide open eyes, and watching her so dramatically telling the story. DH and I couldn't contain our laughter behind our hands.

It was then...at that very moment...that I realized the hormones and "PMS" had hit!

Well, the thought in my head was nice while it lasted.

Now I need to go pick her up from Hayden's house and their play date. :)

XOXO

New Years Eve...

2012-01-12T12:53:00.000-08:00

New Year's Eve in our home has some standing traditions that we do. We have celebrated with our very dear friends and neighbors next door for the last 8 years and it works out great because we don't need sitters as the kids play together, no one has to drive anywhere as we just walk from home to home, and its all great memories!

We start off each year at the neighbors home with dinner and board games. This was our appetizer:

The kids all play video games or dolls and snack all night long:

Then about halfway through the night, we move to our home for the more serious drinking and more adult games like Beer Pong or Pool Table. The kids love the change of scenery and new toys/games to entertain them, and we hear no complaints. I host the dessert and midnight snacks here while we play.

And the night is never over without someone starting some kind of Baby Powder fight, beer cap flinging fight, poke each other with pool cues fight, or falling down drunk!

And then at Midnight when the bell tolls, we run outside with our noise makers and fireworks and light the sky up with sparklers.

It's usually soon afterwards that the kids start nodding off, the drunks start falling down, and we run out of chocolate, so the night usually wraps up about 1:30-2:00 am.

Then we all wake up the next morning asking ourselves "why?". LOL

I hope your New Years was just as eventful.

XOXO

Happy New Year 2012...

2012-01-08T22:58:00.000-08:00

Where has the time gone? Christmas and New Years flew by, and school started back up, homework, sickness, and sports have consumed my life. I really need to get a job and have a reason to leave my home other then for doctors. I need the social interaction with ADULTS! :)

Don't get me wrong. I am enjoying my time home, and have really been able to do things I would not otherwise be able too. But I am a social butterfly. I need to meet people, talk to people, socialize. In other words, LIVE LIFE.

Did I mention that Austin is playing Rugby? Yeah, my son who has played soccer and baseball his whole life decided that this year he didn't want to play either, and surprised us by going out for Rugby. Go Figure. He didn't want to try out for Football to be the kicker, because he might get tackled, so he plays Rugby which is Football without pads! :) he loves it though. He is having the best time. I am really excited for games to start and see him in action.

Emily has had quite the time recovering from her hospital stay and new meds. Every medication comes with side effects, and she's on a few different ones that it's hard to tell which one is doing what so we can change it. So unfortunately, it becomes trial and error. I hate doing this to her. But we are hoping one of these days we find a combination that works. She has also made a new friend, and we have been busy getting to know the family and having play dates and sleepovers. her friend is "special" also, so it's quite a handful with the two together. But they get such joy from each other, it's hard saying no to them.

DH and I have been busy taking down all the Christmas decorations, getting the house back to normal, and trying to make plans for the new year. Along with a new year, comes Health Insurance decisions, Tax decisions, Deductibles, planning health care out for the year, planning finances and hating trying to second guess what the economy and the future year is going to do to us and making the adjustments. One of them being out dental insurance. Can you believe for our family of four, we were paying $150 a month for dental insurance. And that's through an employer who is paying part of it. That comes too $1800 a year for teeth cleanings. Are you kidding me? Our deductible on the insurance had us still paying $40 a cleaning out of pocket on top of that. So tell me what exactly were we paying for??? So i paid almost $2,000 a year and i only got 50% coverage? yep, dropped that coverage! Now lets hope no one cracks a tooth this year.

So 2012 is looking up for us. I mean, it has too, right? We have certainly seen our share of hard times, i mean, who am i kidding? We've seen our share of IMPOSSIBLE times, HORRENDOUS times, SAD times. So 2012 has to start off good, maintain that momentum, and end with a great promise. I'm going to do my best to remain positive, change my attitude, embrace the life I've been given, put myself first and take care of myself, and love harder. I'm going to do my best to get a good job to help carry bills, support and cheer my children on, and remain my DH's cheerleader. I'm signing Emily up for Special Olympics this month so she can join in some sports and activities, cheer Austin on at Rugby which goes for 6 months and exercise and eat healthier.

I have realized in the last few months, that my life is what I make of it. I only get one shot at this life as I am always telling my son, so I need to use my own advice and make changes to embrace it. I want to enjoy life, look forward to the tomorrow while living the today, and loving the yesterday. And only I can make that happen.

So here's to a New Year!

Happy 2012 to you and yours.

XOXO

What Christmas means...

2011-12-11T21:04:00.000-08:00

Every year I struggle with finding a way to teach my children what Christmas is about. I want to make sure they realize Christmas is NOT about the presents. It's not about the lights or the decorations. I try to find a way to enrich them that will become a memory, a reminder, a subtle thought of what the day and season really means.

Christmas can mean many things for different people. It could be about the new Red Dress, or the fancy tree, or even the parties they will attend. For some, it is about Jesus, or another higher power, and the day of birth.

And for others, it is about Family.

Family to me is what Jesus represents. His love and understanding, his forgiveness and kindness, his unconditional faith in humanity is all about FAMILY. He thought of us all as his family, when he chose to die for us. Please don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to push any religion on you, nor preach my faith. I believe we all have the right to love and believe in whomever makes us feel better.

But family, when your all together, when you take away all the outside interferences of the "retail Christmas", makes you all warm and cozy, safe and fuzzy.

You see, I use to think this was Christmas:

But life changes lately has made me realize, that Christmas is more about this:

And most importantly this:

It did all start with this:

And became this over time:

Love is Family ~ Merry Christmas!

XOXO

Prayers please...

2011-12-07T16:25:00.000-08:00

I am writing this post as I sit beside my daughters Hospital Bed holding her hand. My heart breaks for her as it seems she never gets a break. We are here for several days while they run many tests.

Last night while sitting in the doctors office, after hearing him say she had to go back to the hospital, she broke down in tears that were enough to break my heart. She cried to not go back, and although i wanted nothing more then to kiss her and tell her it was going to be ok and protect her, i knew deep inside that going to the hospital was what would help her to feel better and find whats wrong. As badly as I wanted to say "you don't have to go", I just hugged her and promised to be there holding her hand every step.

Life is so unfair for her. I'm so frustrated with how much is thrown her way. As much of a trooper as she is, and truly is my hero, enough is enough. Her life is hard enough without adding more things on. As if her road hasn't been crazy enough with road blocks, we have to encounter more. As if she hasn't already learned about strength from going through so much already, she needs to be tested more? As if she hasn't learned about patience, she needs to fret and worry more about her little world?

I have walked every step with her, gone to every therapy appointment, exercised her, taught her sign language, speech, walking and how to make friends. I've held her hand through every trial, wiped many tears and listened to her cry herself to sleep on too many nights. I've attended every doctors appointment and fought the political mess of school funding for her special education to the mess of insurance and medical funding. I have filed more paperwork for her then I care to ever see again, and I've watched her like a hawk for any new signs. I've cried myself to sleep and my brain never shuts down with the many things that still need to be done, but i have NEVER stopped fighting for her.

I know inside that she IS where she is because i didn't give up. And I know many families face much worse then we do. But just this once...just this one time...I need to say...LIFE STINKS SOMETIMES!

So please pray for her, for us, so that she may catch just a little break for once. Just enough so she can catch her breath and get ready for the next hurdle to be thrown her way.

XOXO

Happy Birthday...

2011-12-06T10:11:00.000-08:00

The Boy went and turned another year older! No matter how many times I tell him to stop aging because it's making me look bad, he keeps on doing it.

Austin turned 15 a few days before Thanksgiving, and this year he wanted to take a bunch of friends to play Laser Tag and sleep over. And I said sure! Thinking only a few friends and how I'm getting off cheap this year for a party, this will be a breeze.

So when he heard back from the invites, a few said no, so he invited a few more. And then those few came back and said "hey, plans changed, we are not out of town for the holiday, now we can come" and then I had a house full and had to drive 2 cars.

So DH and I drove these 6 HUGE, as in tall and meaty, teenage boys to Laser Tag, and waited while they played arcade games for an hour, ate in the cafe, and played 2 games of LT. Then these eating machines were hungry. So off to Pizza we went. Five Extra Large Pizza's and Breadsticks later, we headed home for an all nighter gaming night.

Oh and don't forget the Gourmet Cupcakes for dessert.

They were wound up. High on excitement and sugar. I only was awaken at 2am to the front door opening and closing. Caught 2 of them sneaking out, or should i say, sneaking in. The boys finally crashed around 5am from what i hear.

I woke up and made a huge homemade breakfast for them with 1 dozen Scrambled Eggs, 2lbs of Bacon, 2lbs of Hash browns, 1gallon of Apple Juice, 2 packages of Tortilla's for the breakfast burritos and 1/2lb of cheese.

And then....their parents arrived to take them all home.

And I collapsed.

He had a great time, and it was great seeing him laughing so much, and overall, they are a really great bunch of guys he's friends with.

But I'm scared for the big "16" party next year!

XOXO

Christmas Decorating...

2011-12-04T16:38:00.000-08:00

Now that Thanksgiving is over, we waste no time in preparing for Christmas in our household. It is our favorite holiday for my Hubby and I. I think it has something to do with us really just being kids at heart, but i feel happier, merrier when everything is decorated. And my absolute FAV is sitting in the evening's when it's dark out and just having the Christmas Lights on.

So Friday morning, the day after Thanksgiving, Hubby starts pulling all the Christmas tubs out of the shed, and I hit the stores at 5am for Christmas Shopping. Usually by the time I get home, half the outside is decorated.

You see, our home is one of those that people drive by to see. Not intentionally, it just seems to grow each year. I lost count at 15,000 lights. Add in several inflatables, yard decorations, wall designs, garage magnets, and front porch scenes, you can imagine what I'm talking about.

So Saturday Morning, the inside tubs come in, and I spend the day moving furniture to prepare for the tree, stringing and decorating all the bannister's in the house and hanging stockings. We have a Nativity Scene, a Christmas light up village, A Santa collection, 6 inside trees (4 mini, a medium one, and a Live large one), ribbons, wall decorations, you name it, we have it.

It usually takes us the whole 3 days to finish the inside and out. Christmas Music blaring, the kids help out too. Austin enjoys doing the outside with Dad, now that he's old enough to get on the roof and do them himself, and Emily helps me with the inside. She's great at directing me and unpacking everything.

There's something about decorating for Christmas, that brings out the child in me. I feel the excitement growing inside, the giddiness of a child, the warm, fuzzy feeling of what Christmas means. Watching the wonder and excitement on my children's faces, and the glow in their eyes. Christmas means more then the decorations we put up. Its the wonderment of what the season brings. It's the kindness and consideration of thinking of others, the thought that is put into the home baked goodies and gifts, the memories that are made.

Now if only I could get an elf or two to wrap all the presents for me, then I'd be really happy!

XOXO

Thanksgiving Surprise...

2011-11-30T10:07:00.000-08:00

Our family got the BEST Thanksgiving Day Surprise ever this year. One that made me scream! Made me run. It also made me tear up. And then I hit my brother!

Let me start from the beginning.

We all gathered at my sister's home for the holiday with my brother's family, my parents, my sisters family and my family. So in all there were 16 people there, sitting around, chatting, snacking on yummy appetizers from The Pioneer Woman's Blog and preparing the main meal.

And we were all reminiscing about the good 'ole days when all of a sudden...

The front door opens...

And in walked...

My Navy Nephew, Nick from Virginia!!!!

After I picked my jaw up from the floor, I ran and jumped into his arms!

And then I punched my brother in the arm.

Seriously!! I was so ecstatic, I couldn't stop grinning. You see, he just got off a Navy Ship in the middle of Chaos and War and Oceans galore for the last 8 months. And he was sent to San Diego for more training in the beginning of November. And being that S.D. is only 9 hours from me - I have been tempted many times to jump in my car and go see him. But the fact that he was on a Military Base, with my having no way of getting on, pretty much prevented me from going.

The little poop head told us all on Facebook that he had put in a request to be able to come home for Thanksgiving since he had the 4 days off, but the Chief denied it stating that it wasn't his home base and he didn't have authority or time to take off. Blah, Blah, Blah...was all I heard. I was crushed, that he was SOOOO close and yet so far away!

My parents (Nick's Grandparents) were so set in their ways to go see him, and since my dad is Military and Navy retired to boot, they made hotel reservations on base and were leaving the day after Thanksgiving to go see him.

But little did we all know, that little poop head Nephew, had conspired with his FATHER (my BROTHER) to keep it a secret, and set us up on Facebook thinking he wasn't coming!!! When he had actually driven up the night before Thanksgiving to his parents house!!!

So they played it off well, walking in alone without him and sitting around talking about him for an HOUR before that Nephew of mine walked in the door!!!

Best damn surprise ever!!!

sniffle, sniffle...

I miss that kid.

I got to visit with him the night before he had to head back to base and made him take a few quick shots since I was too busy fussing over him on Turkey Day to get any good pics.

So as you can see, he really is a poop head.

But I still love him.

And he can surprise me any time he wants.

XOXO

It's time for Christmas...

2011-11-29T05:00:00.000-08:00

XOXO

Summer Vacation...

2011-10-05T19:33:00.000-07:00

Summer Vacation for 2011 happened to involve getting up before the crack of dawn to load everyone and everything into the car and hitting the road.

There was a lot of this...
And more of this:And this is what DH's was doing:

And then there was this:

Yes, do you notice the Pillow behind DH's head, blocking the camera's angle of getting a certain SLEEPY boy in the pic???

Can you tell how super excited I was to be going away?

Stay tuned for more adventures to come...

XOXO

Happy Friday Quote...

2011-09-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

"The Value of a Man should be Seen in What he Gives and Not in What he is Able to Recieve." ~ Albert Einstein

XOXO

Boy's Weekend...

2011-09-28T09:39:00.000-07:00

Boy's will be Boy's, if you let them that is. Hub's decided that the "Boy's" needed a "Man" weekend away and get back to nature, so him and Austin packed up the truck and ran off to meet his brother for a camping/fishing weekend.

But from what I can tell from the pics that came back, there was a lot of this that went on:

And definitely some of this:
And absolutely lots of this:See? I said lots of it:There was even some of this:
ACK!!! Who in their right mind put Austin in charge of driving the boat????And while they returned to their natural roots of their "Caveman" ancestors,It's nice to know they can go have this time to be dirty, stinking cavemen and still be able to come home and shower and return to being my boy's.

XOXO

Happy Friday Quote...

2011-09-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

"I Believe...that we don't have to change friends, if we just understand that friends change."

XOXO

Boy's and their Toy's...

2011-09-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

Someone please tell me, do GIRL'S have anything in this world they value so much that they will spend 4 hours, yes, I said FOUR hours: washing, waxing, polishing, wiping, shining, scrubbing, drying, vacuuming, spraying, dusting and rinsing???

That's exactly what THESE boy's did and then got up at 7am when the "lighting" is perfect and moved into position to...to...POSE with the said Toy's!

*sigh*

Will they ever grow up?

XOXO

Homecoming 2011...

2011-09-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

Homecoming happened in our town a few weeks ago, and this year "I" as the "MOM" was banned from having anything to do with homecoming, Austin, driving, involvement of the restaurant or friends going. And it sucked! I felt so left out.

This year it was all about "Dad" being there and helping, and driving, and advice and...and...

"Mom, you're just not cool to go. A guy can't have his Mom there. Don't even think about showing up for pictures. Don't even dream about showing up at the restaurant. I'm not telling you who's going with us."

Pshh...Whatever!

So "Dad" helped him get dressed.
And "Dad" drove him in the "cool" car.
And "Dad" picked him up after in the "cool" car.
You seriously would have thought i asked to KISS him at the MALL in front of all his friends with girls looking on the way he carried on for me to get these TWO pictures of him.

And "MOM" went to a friends house and drank lots of WINE to deal with the Trauma of being left out. :o(

Really, I did.

It was good.

And it helped.

*sigh*

I still have Emily. Maybe she'll let "Mom" be involved when she's in High School.

XOXO

Family Reunions and Fish...

2011-08-30T13:51:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Austin and I hit the road for a 4 hour road trip to a Family Reunion. We went to see family I haven't seen in 5+ years, even some i've never met. Austin has only met a few of them, so it was important that he go since he is old enough to really remember and get something out of it.

Now I have to warn you. I have a HUGE family. Seriously - on both sides of my parents families. Both of my parents come from large families, and those siblings had allot of kids, and so on. So this reunion was just one branch of the extended side of my mom's family.
We had a blast, the two of us. I love road trips anyways. And I especially like driving. And i especially like not traveling with DH. Don't get me wrong, he's great and all. But when he drives on a road trip, there's no side trips, stops or potty breaks. It's "we have a destination and we won't stop until we get there" for him. Drives me nuts and the kids crying to get out.

Sooo...since I was driving, I stopped when I wanted to, shopped when I wanted too, or drove like a speed devil when I needed too. :o)

So our first night there, We all hit the pool at the hotel after dinner and then this happened:

That's not me. That's my 14-3/4 yr old who couldn't last past 9:30pm. Notice his phone plugged in and next to him?

Saturday was the actual reunion, and we arrived early at the hall to set up and prepare food. We had Homemade Enchiladas, Hand Rolled Tamales, Enchilada Casseroles, Mexican Chicken Chili Beans, Homemade Refried Beans, and Burrito Roll-ups. We had a Salsa and Appetizer Table, We had a Homemade Salad table, and we had a Dessert Table full of goodies.

Austin's favorite part, was going fishing with all these cousins he just met and also grew up with. He caught 6 fish!
But he wouldn't clean or gut them. Chicken!

The adults got together at a local bar in the evening, and Austin got to babysit the little cousins. He was in heaven. He's so good with kids. They all love him. He gets that from his dad. When DH and I were dating, he'd come by my house to see me, and be on the floor playing with my niece and nephew and totally ignore me. But it was okay, it showed me what a good guy he was and what a great dad he'd make some day. Austin's the same way. Now when my lil guy comes over, he runs into "Auw-tin's" arms instead of mine. :o(

Oh that part about "I'm driving, and I'll stop when i want too" - yea, we stopped at the Outlet Mall on the way home and shopped. hee hee

I'm already planning another road trip. It felt good to get on the road and open it up. No worries, no stress, just wherever the road lays in front of you.

XOXO

First day of school...

2011-08-16T14:02:00.000-07:00

Emily getting ready to leave for her first day of 5th grade!

She is definitely stylin, got the newest fad of "Feather in the hair" day before school started, so she's super excited to see what colors her friends all got.
Seeing her favorite Teacher and greeting her with the 1st day of school flowers for her bouquet. Where does the time go????

XOXO

Where has the summer gone...

2011-08-13T21:46:00.000-07:00

Holy cow - where have I been? Well, I apparently took the summer off from blogging. Not intentionally mind you, I've just been so darn busy. Juggling 3 part time jobs, doctors appointments, vacations, house projects, kids home for summer, summer school, play dates and somewhere in between BREATHING!

This summer just flew past so quick. The kids started back to school this last week already, and with it brings a big SIGH which means the craziness is replaced with homework and school schedules, sports practices and games.

Emily started 5th grade on Wednesday! I was so sad, this is our last year EVER at this Elementary school. This will be our 11th year going between the two kids. Austin went the very first year it ever opened as a brand new school. It was our LAST 1st day of school there and walking her to class, our last year of bringing flowers to the teacher on the first day, our last year of being with the most AMAZING Special Ed Teacher in the world who loves the kids as her own and who has managed to bring Emily out of her cocoon and is now greeted with smiles.

Austin stared High School on Thursday as a SOPHOMORE!!! Yikes, when did this happen??? Seriously, When? Oh yea, he grew another 3 inches over the summer and came home on the first day of school proudly GLOATING in my face that the PE teacher measured him at 6'1! DH is only 6'2. And this kid is only 14. He still has another year to finish growing!

They both had fabulous first days, went to school with smiles, new outfits, fresh haircuts, and new backpacks, and both came home with the "bah humbug" school has started attitude. hahahaha

My babies have changed so much this summer. This has been my first summer home with them and getting to see and do things with them. It's been great and stressful. :o) I've watched Austin do allot of maturing this summer. Looking more "manly", but also his attitude and personality. He's helped several neighbors over the summer with handyman jobs, earning money along the way, had his first dealings with a girl liking him but he didn't like her back slash stalking him, and being able to hang out with him now on our own now that he's older and able to do more adult things.

Emily has changed in many ways. She not only has hit the whole puberty thing this summer and shot up and out in every direction (sorry if any men/boys are reading this), but she has really blossomed in her socializing. She is such a lil gabber now, and so polite. She also grew this summer and is now to my shoulders and wears a size 5 shoe. Let me remind you she's 11. Her face has been changing and looking older. She cut 4" off her hair, and got the newest trend of having a feather in her hair. And she thinks she's all that now.

DH and I got away a few times this summer on our own. A few date nights, and also a "romantic" weekend away which i had no idea about. It was adorable. He had it planned for weeks, and had taken the kids suitcases over to my parents days ahead so i wouldn't notice, and told me he was taking me to dinner and my mom was babysitting. So off we went. Only after dinner he pulled into this Fabulous hotel on the river and pulled out a suitcase full of my clothes and things. And it was this gorgeous suite overlooking the river. We had the best time walking around old town and seeing the car show.

We also took an amazing family vacation, which will have to wait for another post to tell you about.

I'm sorry I've been away, and I hope i haven't lost too many of my loyal fans.

So? What have you been up to this summer?

XOXO

Summer is here...

2011-06-16T11:30:00.001-07:00

No more Homework
No more Bedtime schedules
No more Lunches to pack
No more waking up grumpy kiddos
No more Signature Checks on planners
No more Teacher emails

Because...

SUMMER IS HERE!!

We never had a Spring Season. We had Rain, Rain, Rain, Thunderstorms, Lightening and Hail until June 8, then immediately went into 90 degree heat. Suppose to hit 105 by this weekend. Really not liking going from complaining about Rain to complaining about Heat. I really love my Springs! :o(

And it's wreaking havoc on my garden. I have lots of Tomatoes, but they need the heat to ripen, lots of Zucchini and Squash dying off because there's too much water and not enough sun to make them grow. They are starting to take off now that we have sun, but I'm afraid the damage might be done. Looks like small crops this year. Boo!

Oh and don't get me started on the WEEDS that have popped up everywhere from all the rain and wind spreading them everywhere! Errr....

But I am happy that it is Flippy Flop weather and I can FINALLY put the sweaters and jeans away and yank out my shorts! Hard to believe 4th of July is around the corner, with all the rain, it seems like we should be just having Easter. I think it's gonna be a short summer.

We had several small trips planned, but I have decided to have my Hand Surgery done now so I have help while they are all home and get it over with.

What are your summer plans?

I "DREAM" of Sunny beaches, crashing waves, Cold Drinks with Umbrella's in the them, Cabana Boys, Tropical Fruits, Swinging Hammocks, and Perfect Tan Lines.

Reality Bites!

XOXO

Happy Memorial Weekend...

2011-05-27T12:17:00.000-07:00

What are your plans? Vacations? Trips? BBQ's? Family Time or Party Time?

Do we know the TRUE reason why we have a Memorial Day?

According to the dictionary, it means:
"A day of remembrance for those killed in the line of action"
An Official Holiday of Remembrance in the United States of America.

I take my hat off to those of you serving, abroad or here, away from your families, active or retired, reserves or sea bound, foxhole or Humvee, fighter jets or tanks, seals or grunts, I owe you my life, my freedom and my gratitude. I will forever be indebted to you.

XOXO

My baby is growing up...

2011-05-17T14:00:00.001-07:00

This weekend my baby girl turned 11 years old. :o(

*SOB*

Where has the time gone? Just yesterday she was sitting on my lap asking for tickles. Just the other day she was asking for help tying her shoes. Just last week she asked to cuddle. Just weeks ago she was wearing single digit clothes and I could buy her shoes in the toddler section. Just months ago, she was sitting in her door swing, bouncing her chubby lil legs and giggling that infectious laugh that always made my day and gave me that smile that would melt any bad mood I was in.

Okay...maybe it wasn't just "yesterday", but it sure seems like it. They seem to grow faster, get older so much sooner as they age. Infant thru toddler hood, seemed to take forever, but it's these ages that I long for now.

Last week, she made a list of her Best Friends.

1. Melissa

2. Haley

3. Kailey

4. MaryPat

5. Austin

6.Mom

7. Dad

8. Toby (the dog)

*SNIFFLE*

I use to be #1 in her life. And now I rank #6!!

Dad had even harder time accepting that "mom" came before him and guilt tripped her until she swapped out numbers. BOOGER! He didn't get dessert that night.

Emily and her BFF, Haley

Emily continues to be my hero! She has achieved so much in her short life already that doctors told us she would never do. Obstacles still keep getting thrown at her, but she continues to find ways around them or conquer them. I am so very proud of her. We have a long ways to go with her, but when I look back at how far she's come, I have no doubt she will find a way in this life. My precious Angel that God sent us, has reminded us that it's really the simple things in life that we need to grab and hold onto.

I love you Emily. I hope and wish that all your dreams will come true. Never stop believing. Never stop trying. Always be confident and always have Faith.

XOXO

Here comes the bride...

2011-04-21T14:05:00.000-07:00

OK - you thought i was exaggerating, didn't you? You thought I was just a little off my rocker?

There's NO WAY that CLW meant her daughter was dressing to be a "mini bride".

You were wrong.
This precious, adorable, angelic and beautiful sight is my daughter.
We had her First Communion Portraits taken.

*SOB*

When, Oh when, did my little girl grow up so?

Daddy even got misty eyed. (although he won't admit it)

And for any BOYS reading this, Her daddy has a shotgun by the front door, so don't even THINK about knocking on it! ;o)

XOXO

Babies, Tiara's & Baseball...

2011-04-14T09:30:00.000-07:00

My day's have been filled with the cutest little boy ever. I started watching my cousin's little baby boy. Remember 2 years ago, I was watching him for about 6 months when he was a newborn. My kids and I could not get enough of his sweet face. Well, now he just turned 2yrs old, and I started watching him again. He is such a joy with his personality shining through. My kids argue over who's baby he is "Ryder's MY baby", "No, Ryder's MY baby" and then I step in and take him from them and say "No, he's MY baby". hee hee. Emily is also getting ready to make her First Communion at Church. It is a very big step in our Catholic Faith. They are accepting Jesus into their hearts and souls, and acknowledging his presence in the bread (communion) and blood (wine). The girls dress up as mini brides, as they are pledging themselves to God. So I have been crazy busy planning her reception we are hosting and buying her Dress, Tiara, Veil, tights, shoes, gloves, and purse. I am so super excited to see it all on her. She's going to look BEAUTIFUL! Groupon had a coupon off for a local 1hr professional photo session. It was normally a $118.00 package and I got it for $18 (includes sitting fee + 6 sheets). I'm going to dress Emily in all her outfit and take her for pictures! I'm so excited. Then I'll use one of those prints to make her invites! Now if only I had a Groupon for the Reception. Austin started playing Baseball a few weeks ago. He is the oldest on the team, and loving it. Austin has some talent when it comes to sports and he plays with a lot of heart. But he has always lacked the self-confidence he needs to excel and drive forward in the sport. No matter what we do or say, or private lessons we pay for, he just has always had this issue. But this year, I see a change in him. It could be that he is now High School. Or that he played on a high school team, so now Little League is a breeze. Or it could be that being 14-1/2 yrs old, he finally found his mark. Whatever it is, he has been on fire this year! He is playing with such gusto and confidence, that it pours out of him now. Instead of pouting to the car after each game, he's grinning and saying "I played good, what a hit I had, I felt the sweet spot on the bat, what did you think mom?" I hear him encouraging his teammates from the dugout, being the first one out to warm up the pitcher, and assisting the coaches. And it's paying off, he's playing first string all season so far and has played First Base the whole game. His coach has asked him to consider pitching again. I'm so nervous. He really wants to try it, but all I picture is that Blue Cast on his arm for 2 months after he broke his elbow pitching in a game 2 yrs ago. He hasn't pitched since. I'm also nervous because we play on a much larger field now with 90ft bases and the pitchers mound is A LOT farther away. So he would have to throw much harder to get the ball all the way across the home plate. When I express my worries, he tells me not to worry, that he can do it. And I'm sure he can, because playing first base, he has to throw across to third or all the way to home, and he can. But i think it's the mom in me that just doesn't want him hurt again, or his self-confidence he is just getting, to take a major blow if he finds out he can't pitch as good as he use too and they don't let him. This is one of those life lessons that I can only sit back and let him try and learn from. But it doesn't make it any easier on MOM! XOXO

And life goes on...

2011-04-13T01:01:00.000-07:00

or so I hear. When one is sick, hurt, or down, life continues to move on, leaving in it's wake very little sympathy or concern for what it leaves behind. My whole life in the last two weeks has revolved around my daughter. Poor Emily has had Pneumonia so bad, they almost hospitalized her. We are still fighting it. She's been on so many meds, her poor tummy is tore up. there is nothing worse then watching your baby be so sick, and you can't do anything to help. Her fever lingered for 10 days at 105 and she has lost 12 lbs in 8 days. Broke my heart to see her like that. It makes the Mama Bear in me want to come out. Hear me ROAR! XOXO

Seriously...

2011-04-07T11:55:00.000-07:00

Where have I been you ask? Oh where to begin. Austin was sick with Pnuemonia for over a week. I got Bronchitis for over a week and thought I was dying. My lil ones I watch got sick. I got Bronchitis, Sinus Infection and Double Ear Infections AGAIN! Emily now has Pneumonia. The End. P.S. Please send the Poison Control, Hazmat Team and Quarantine tents. XOXO

My Garden is in...

2011-03-29T11:45:00.001-07:00

Yea...the NONSTOP, POURING and RELENTLESS rain has finally stopped!!! We actually have 5 days of 75+ weather and full sun before the next rain. The first day of Sun, I ran out and got my garden plants. Austin and I tore into the soil getting it ready by shoveling out the old dirt, pulling weeds, mixing in fresh Compost and Soil, and getting the plants ready. Then later that evening, Hubby and I got all the plants in the ground and the trellis fence up to keep the dog out. I'm so excited! Although all this rain, means it will be a very late harvest, if there is one at all. Late rain means a very Humid Summer, and late harvesting. Late harvesting pushes back the production into the heat of summer, and many of the veggies will burn or die. So I'm crossing fingers. This year I planted a few new ones: Red Bell Peppers Yellow Banana Peppers Artichokes Asparagus Yellow Squash Zucchini Better Boy Tomatoes Green Onions White Onions Garlic Chives Garlic I can't wait to make all sorts of yummy goodness when it starts to grow! XOXO

Where has the time gone...

2011-03-22T10:26:00.000-07:00

Wow - I apologize - I can not believe it has been a month since I posted anything. How bad am I?

I have been very busy with working 3 part-time jobs, baseball starting and lots and lots of doctors appointments.

Let's see, I have been the sole driver lately and have to take everyone everywhere. Baseball practice, games, church classes, planning and shopping for Emily's First Communion happening in May, planning her Birthday, Working nonstop, house never getting cleaned, laundry always calling my name, running from point A to point B and somehow, in between, breathing!

I promise to post something really worth reading soon. Cross my fingers...

XOXO

A new day...

2011-02-28T11:07:00.000-08:00

What a great weekend, beautiful weather, well-behaved children, and getting out of the house. It's amazing that having the Sun shining can do to your outlook and mood. After 5 days of WIND and RAIN that brought a tornado to touch down in a NON tornado area, and the next 5 days of solid WIND and RAIN again, that the two days in between storms happen to be the weekend, and brought with it SUN! :o)

Spring is on the way. The trees are budding and blossoming, the flowers are growing, the plants are sprouting and birds are chirping. It's almost time to start getting my vegetable garden ready. What to plant this year??? Hmmm...

We also reconnected with our long, lost niece and had her family over for dinner this weekend. Such a lovely visit and adorable baby boy she has now. Makes me think of days long ago and memories.

Today is our last glance of Sun, so i'm outta here to go enjoy it!

XOXO

I just have to vent...

2011-02-25T19:05:00.001-08:00

So bare with me. It may get ugly.

I am sooooo furious right now. Really??? This whole TEENAGE attitude and selfish behavior is beyond OLD with me now and I am ready to ship him off to TimBukTu for good.

Seriously! This not the child I raised, nor is it any attitude or behavior that we have around the house for him to mimic, and it is not anything that I will tolerate. Nothing pushes my buttons faster then disrespect. No matter who it is, but especially from children, much less my own. That is and always has been my biggest pet peeve. I will snap faster then you can blink if you disrespect me in my house.

The problem? I let it go on for way too long. I excused it. "It's hormones, it's teenage drama, it's independence." I looked the other way because of illness in the household and my attention being elsewhere where it was needed.

And now I have a 14yr old who thinks he runs this house.

And i'm here to make it LOUD and CLEAR that only THIS momma rules this roost.

I'm so over it. Someone's about to have his world flipped upside down.

Stay tuned...

XOXO

What we do for our kids...

2011-02-23T10:24:00.001-08:00

Last night I froze my tooshie off for that son of mine. And do you think I heard a Thank You? Nope. Not one. Not one little hug, not one "thanks" not one " 'preciate it".

Last night was Baseball try-outs and we arrived at the fields at 6:30pm so he could warm up with the guys and get checked in. It was 44 degrees out. Not bad. A Lil chill in the air. And it started late. And with a last name at the end of the alphabet, and being one of the oldest out there, he was 4th from the end of about 50+ boys.

Which means, I was still sitting there 3+ hours later with now 2 coats on, my gloves and my snow hat and it was now 30 degrees out.

Did I mention that I was Fffrrrreeeezzziiinnngggg??? That is my teeth chattering thinking about it. It's one thing if I was one of those boys running around catching balls or batting, but no, I was sitting on COLD metal bleachers for hours!!!! HOURS!!!

I vaguely remember saying I could not feel my nose, fingers or butt cheeks and my son telling me "TMI mom!"

And I vividly remember telling him that he BETTER remember this moment and what I did for him and that I expected a VERY NICE nursing home in my old age.

And with that I marched my frozen butt to the car and blasted the heater on full blast all the way home.

XOXO

Have you seen my lung...

2011-02-18T09:23:00.000-08:00

I've been sick. I've been really sick. I've been REALLY really sick.

Wanna know how sick? I haven't put on make-up in 5 days!!!

I took Austin to Urgent Care on Sunday because his cough was worse, his fever spiked high, and he hadn't moved from his bed in 3 days and THAT is so unlike him.

He had Pneumonia.

Sunday, the same Sunday, i started coughing. Sunday night, I started coughing allot. Monday I was choking. I spent the next 3 days in bed or sitting up on the couch so I could breathe and not choke. And it wasn't a cough. It was a VIOLENT cough that left me with a pounding headache from coughing so hard, and my back hurting from tensing so bad to cough.

I was miserable.

Monday, I get a call from school that Emily is sick. Coughing to the point of throwing up.

By Wednesday night, I went to Urgent Care. The doctor asked "what's wrong?" as I lay there choking in the room. I said "I purr when I breathe." He listened. He said, "do you hear that too when you breathe?" I said, "yep, like I said, I purr like a kitten." I was wheezing so bad he checked my O2 levels. Then he sent me home with 4 meds and said I had Bronchitis.

It's contagious. This Upper Respiratory Infection. Within one day of being around the person, you got it. The little girl I watch sometimes, got it. The neighbor, got it. The dog I think got it. The fly on my wall got it. The whole school is out with it. And the cough? The cough is HORRID. It hurts. It hurts everything. I swear, I coughed up my lung and it flew out of my body. I can't find it. So if you see it around, can you kindly ask it to come back? I'd like to breathe with out purring...thanks

XOXO

Happy Friday Quote...

2011-02-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

"HOPE is the ability to hear the melody of the future.

FAITH is the courage to dance to it today."

XOXO

Adventure's and Life Lessons...

2011-02-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

Lately, we've had a hard time teaching Austin just how good his life is (when he complains how "boring and horrible" his life is) compared to the times when DH and I grew up. How we didn't get all the toys they have now, or new clothes (hated the hand-me-downs), or bikes & scooters.

So a few weeks ago, DH decided that in order for Austin to understand fully the life differences of growing up with NOTHING and having to beg for odd jobs to buy food, or finding a broken lawn mower on the side of the road and fixing it yourself and pushing it up and down neighborhoods mowing lawns so he could buy socks for gym class at school, that Austin needed to SEE the difference between the house he lives in now, and houses his dad had to grow up in.

So DH packed a lunch and drove Austin the 1-1/2 hours up the hill to his childhood town. He drove him all over to the many houses they passed between, the run down country schools he had to WALK miles too, and places they use to hang out and use their IMAGINATION to entertain themselves with.

Along the way of their field trip, DH stopped off at a spot they use to hike as kids and took Austin to the creek they would swim in while they ate lunch. Austin said this was his favorite spot of the day. It was beautiful and serene. And I was so happy that DH stopped and took a few pics along the way. And let me say, they are AWESOME pics of Austin! They also grabbed a few of the creek, which in the winter time looks more like a river.

Austin hasn't said much about their day together, which usually means he learned something and is stewing on it. I'm hoping that he picks up the vibe from his dad, that he never wanted to live like that ever again, and has worked HARD all his life to make sure he had a roof over his families head. And that HARD WORK is what got him his toys he now allows himself to have.

Life lessons like these, you'll never know if they got until years later when they become adults. But I know parenting a teenager is a much harder job then parenting a newborn. We actually have to form them into little adults who can be prepared to go into the world on their own and make wise choices. And yet on the same foot, we can't force the life lessons we've already learned on them or they wont understand it, they have to LIVE the lessons themselves. That's a lesson i just learned.

XOXO

Stop the Press...

2011-02-02T15:32:00.001-08:00

I've been cooking.

There. I've said it. I've been cooking allot. Being home and not working, I'm not tired all the time, stressed (ok, not AS stressed), or cranky. And I have time on my hands. So I cook.

No Frozen, premade stuff. No boxed stuff. No canned stuff. HOME COOKED stuff.

My family is worried.

Right now, I have Beef Stew in the crock pot.

My house smells so yummy.

Tomorrow, I'm making my famous Meatloaf. Hmm, maybe mashed potatoes with it too.

Are you drooling yet?

I'm baking Valentine's cookies this weekend.

Jealous?

I need a job before my waistline grows anymore...

XOXO

Did you ever smell your mom...

2011-01-31T22:50:00.000-08:00

I've been told by many that newborns bond with their mothers through smell. And not just any smell, her smell. Yes, they also recognize the voice and know her touch, but the smell...the smell takes them back to where it all began.

My mom use to tell me a story from when she was growing up, and how she use to miss her mother after being gone for weeks at a time visiting relatives, and run into her arms and take a big sniff and melt into her arms as the smell of her familiar Momma would make her relax.

I remember growing up, I had a really rough day at school, and my mom was the school secretary, and I would fake headaches to get sent to the office just so she would hug me and take me in her arms. Thinking back now, I'm pretty sure it was the smell and comfort it brought me.

Emily spent all weekend at her grandparents and was gone for 3 days. When she got home Sunday evening, she curled up in my arms and grabbed my arm and SNIFFED. Then she looked at me and said, "Mommy, I missed you so much."

What is the smell that we seek? A hormone? A scent of home? A lotion? A detergent? A smell of food? A perfume? A smell only a Mom can emit? What is the smell?

I don't know what it is, but if it brings my baby home and into my arms and brings any ounce of comfort to her, then I'll stink of whatever smell she needs! :o)

XOXO

Anyone want a teenager...

2011-01-30T06:00:00.000-08:00

He's super cute
Sleeps A LOT
Stinky
Goes by the nick name "Pookie" from his mama
Works hard when he wants too and not when you need him too
Outgrows his clothes faster then I can buy them
Is taller then most women already and is not finished growing yet
Plays nicely with his Lil' sister when he's in the mood too
Otherwise he teases her nonstop until she's screaming
Likes to cuddle with his mama right before bedtime
But doesn't know who she is when friends are around
But knows where her wallet is when he wants something
He costs a lot in maintenance and upkeep
Braces come off in 4 months
VANS shoes cost as much as the payment for his braces
Talks on his cell phone more then he talks to his parents
Disappears into his room for endless hours at a time
Doesn't have anything to say to his parents other then "huh?, what? k, later, and fine"
Has countless girls calling his phone at all hours of the night
Said phone now left downstairs at bedtime
Has girls writing notes on his arms and backpack
Did I mention he sleeps a lot?
No really, A LOT
Did I mention the girls?
Did I mention how stinky he is?
His feet stink just as bad
So does his Axe he sprays on everything
And he goes through a bottle of Hair Gel a week
He eats a lot too
He eats everything
Nothing is sacred, he'll eat it
We have to order him his own pizza now, or we don't get any
He runs 2 miles a day in the evenings
He plays sports
He's really good at them
Did I mention that he eats a lot?
That I am now grocery shopping every 5 days instead of every 2 weeks?
Did I mention how cute he is?

FREE - to a good home
(he's potty trained)

XOXO

When you may have crossed the line...

2011-01-28T17:00:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned that I'm moving? Yep - cross country too. Going from sunny California to Snowy Vermont. But the trade off is worth it, right? I'm moving into a fully furnished with all brand new furniture and decorations, and as my daughter says, the coolest part is the backyard that has a Hot Tub built into the granite rocks with a gas fireplace next to it. And it comes with a 2011 GM Arcadia SUV and lots of $$ to pay the taxes on this property.

Ok, Ok...I haven't actually WON the house yet on HGTV's Dream Home Giveaway, but when I do, I'm moving!

Emily is the sweetest, most gullible little thing in the world, and sometimes it's fun to play with her, and sometimes when your not even trying too, she falls right into it.

She saw me doing my daily entry to try and win this house and saw the pictures of the house, and asked what I was doing. I "casually" mentioned that I was looking at our new house (insert the snicker i added here after saying it). Well, she didn't catch the infliction of my voice or my snicker and freaked out!

"Oh my gosh, are we really moving? Where's my room? Can we bring Toby? What about my Toy's? Whose going to live here in this house? What about my friends? I'm going to be sad?"

So I ask "so do you just wanna stay here then?" Thinking this would be my way out of the conversation she so already believes is happening.

"Oh No Mom, I'm moving. I want a new house. I hate this house. This house is old. When are we moving? Can I bring my doll's? Are the boy's coming too or just us girl's?"

And before I could say another word, off she ran, down the stairs yelling "DDDAAAADDD, we're moving!!!!! And mom says we're going to ..., MOM, Where are we moving too? Vermont? Dad, we're moving to Vermont!"

I slowly peak my head out the door of the office, and my husband is furious with me because he knows exactly what just happened and is shaking his head at me with a smirk and says "Oh she's gonna make you pay for that"

So I sit Emily down and try in vain to explain that we haven't actually WON the house yet, but if we DO, then we will move, but until then, we are not actually MOVING anywhere. I swear all she heard was HOUSE and MOVE. We tried watching a movie, but every 5 minutes she would think of something else she needed to pack for the move and ask if we could take it or did she have to give away all her things?

Well, by the next morning, I assumed when she didn't wake up mentioning it that we were in the clear and she finally understood we were NOT moving. That is until I picked her and her friends up from school and as they piled in the car I hear "Cindy, is it true your moving? What about Emily's toy's? Can you take the dog? I'm going to miss you? Why would you move? What are you going to do with your house? I don't want you to move? Does my mom know your moving? I'm going to tell my mom your moving. Can we come with you?"

I was ready to either cry or laugh. This clearly was getting blown out of proportion and Emily OBVIOUSLY did not GET that we were NOT moving and had clearly NOT forgotten. I can just imagine what she told the school and friends.

So I try explaining to the girls and home we went.

The next day, I had several parents ask me if it was true? Were we moving? *sigh*

Then the girls pile into the car after school and tell me "My mom said you can't move with out us, and we're going with you. So I hope your house has room. And Emily said she can't take her toy's, but my mom said I can take all my toy's so Emily you can play with my toys. I'll bring my doll's and we can share. Wanna share a room? We can play and run around."

During the car ride home they had planned the whole future and how we were all going to live together. How her friend's mom worried about how to pay the property taxes on that house, how would we adjust to the snow and how would the dogs take to the new house, "Cindy, is there room for the dogs? Is there a dog house for them?"

OK...I "may" have crossed the line in telling her that night we were moving to a new house, but I clearly was kidding and had not intentionally planned on teasing her...

Now if you'll excuse me, i need to go unpack her suitcase now...

XOXO

Happy Friday Quote...

2011-01-28T08:18:00.000-08:00

"In order to Succeed, your desire for Success should be greater then your fear of Failure."

Bill Cosby

XOXO

Happy Friday Quote...

2011-01-21T05:00:00.000-08:00

"Remember your Yesterdays, but Live for Today, and while there is

still time...make Changes for your Tomorrows."

XOXO

Diva in training...

2011-01-18T15:45:00.000-08:00

Emily has discovered the phone. I'm not kidding at all. She calls her friends on it, they call her, and they talk about everything and nothing. And they do this for 45 minutes before I discover she is still on the phone and make her get off. They talk about what they are doing right then for example "Haley, what are you doing right now?", "No, I mean right now.", "Oh really, I'm sitting in my room talking to you too.", "Wanna play on our DS' and write to each other?", "When I log on I can't see you.", " Are you sure your on your DS?", "Cuz I'm in my room on my DS and I can't see you on it?". (Even though we live .5 miles away from Haley and the DS' only have a 20ft range, she doesn't understand why Haley isn't showing on her DS)

A few weeks ago, I heard her talking again and knew she had to be on the phone somewhere. And I had just chased her off the phone a few minutes before. When I came around the corner of my office, this is what I found:
Yes, A Diva has been born.

*Sigh*

XOXO

Well, do you...

2011-01-07T21:45:00.000-08:00

Like the new look? It's for ringing in the New Year!

My New Year is starting off on a good foot so far. Good as in nothing horrendous or miserable has happened, no doctors visits this year so far, no surprising medical bills came in the mail, and I've managed to knock a few things off my list this week, of the things to get done while I am home.

Then again...it's only 7 days into the New Year...

XOXO

My Navy Nephew...

2011-01-03T18:00:00.000-08:00

Please say a prayer and remember him in your daily blessings. He is being loaded onto a Military plane right now and being sent across the world from me to try and go save the world in a not so good of a place.

This is his first "real" deployment out, and worst is that they are sending him to another crew that is not his own nor will he know anyone. It sucks that there is such a limited supply of speciality skills out there and puts you in high demand.

I worry so much about him. But I know and trust that life's roads take us to many places and he will experience things he would never be able to otherwise. And as upset as he is about not being with his guys, just as life derails from what we may have "planned", his course will be reset and adjusted many times. And the possibilities are endless for him.

I miss him so much already and love him dearly.
God Speed...

XOXO

Happy New Year's...

2011-01-03T15:56:00.000-08:00

So on NYE, our big Sammy Group of friends that we go to concerts with, decided to have a "House Hopping" NYE party! We had so much fun.The little kds playing together.

So we start out having Appetizers and drinks at one house. Then after a couple hours we move onto the next house for Dinner and drinks. Then after a couple of more hours, we ended up at our house for Dessert and drinks. Each event had something unique. We sat around a fire pit in the 38 degree weather, and we played pool and beer pong at our house.

The pre-teen and teenagers all hung together.

The kids loved it! Just when they would get bored, it was time to move to another house.

Food galore everwhere...

Everyone had such a good time. I seriously think I didn't get that drunk because there was so much food being eaten all night long it soaked up any alcohol I may have consumed. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

The men trying to compare who's better at Pool.

We made some great memories. The women kicked butt in Beer Pong, the kids played hard on the Xbox and WII, and the men tried to play several rounds of Pool but I think the cases of beer being consumed may have interfered.

Did someone say "Beer Pong?"

Since we were the last house being "hopped", it was 2am before the last person wobbled their way down the street to home. After cleaning up around the house and getting food put away, it was about 2:45am when I finally crawled into bed.

And the best part was waking up with NO HANGOVER!!

But all four of us spent the day in our PJ's on New Years Day and watched movies all day long. It was really nice having a quiet and relaxing day to end the holiday season.

XOXO

Happy New Year...

2011-01-02T12:32:00.000-08:00

I can not believe 2010 is over with already. I seriously do not know where the year has gone. But with that said, I am so pleased it is gone and good riddance! 2010 has got to be the worst year to date for my family.

We had several health blows to our family this year, and with those, medical bills that have financially drained us. Lots of issues with no answers. And then to top it off, I lost my job on December 31!

So 2011 has got to be better. It has to be a promising year. It has to hold more Hope then the last and it has to be full of answers and faith. I'm ready for it. I'm ready to see what 2011 has in store for us. For me.

It is really hard to start all over the older we get. New job, new co-workers, new commute, new adventures, new learning, and hopefully new money.

I am looking forward to in the new year a fresh start. A new outlook on life. A new and more positive attitude. I am making my new years resolution about me this year. To put myself first more. I've gotten my life and attitude derailed this year. Taking care of everyone and absorbing stress to the point of it affecting my health. I haven't been happy.

So this next year is about me. Because we all know, when momma's not happy, ain't no one happy! So I plan on making decisions that will be healthy and good for me. Even if it takes me out of my comfort zone. I'm going to challenge myself. I'm going to laugh again. I'm going to enjoy the day that was given to me. And I'm going to enjoy my kids again. And I'm going to love my husband for who he is now.

Here's to a New Year!

Bring it 2011...I'm ready for ya!

XOXO

My Navy Nephew...

2010-12-28T10:27:00.000-08:00

The last few weeks have gone by in a blur, full of excitement and events. Let me start from the beginning...On December 2, my Nephew Nick, came home for one month on leave and got to spend Christmas with all the family. And I think I might have mentioned a time or two how much I miss that kid??? Yea, I do. So when he first got home, his parents had a family dinner so we could all come over and see him. Little did they know I was stalking outside waiting to jump him when he came out. ;o)

It was so good to see him. To get my arms around him. He has had a tough last year, being out at sea, homesick and stuff, and its killed me to not be able to hug him or be there for him physically. Although I was there via Facebook IM chats late into the nights, email, phone calls and care packages. He knew he was never alone.

Nick and his sister, Stephanie and dad/my brother.

The cousins all missed him too. Nick is the oldest grandchild/cousin, so everyone looks up to him and adores him. He's always one of the ones who gets down on the floor and plays with them. And Emily has a special place in her heart for him. She always gets a special hug from him. She always has a place on his lap. And he always goes looking for her when she plays shy and hides. And then you can hear her giggles when he captures her in his arms and tickles her endlessly.

Austin adores him too, although he's a little more subtle about it. He has to play it "Macho" you know. He would pull out the Xbox every time Nick would come over and get him to play games with him. He would stand close by him and listen to every word, absorbing as much as he could of his big cousin. Even trying to fit into the conversation. He would ask me almost every night if Nick was coming over.

So Nick's last week here, we had him over by himself for a home cooked dinner and some quiet family time with him. It was so awesome. The kids almost jumped him when he walked in the door. After dinner, we visited and played card games for several hours. He looked relaxed and I couldn't help but sit there thinking to myself that this man before me was the little boy who would curl up in my lap and cuddle and watch Barney with me. Who would come spend the night and I would take everywhere pretending he was mine before I had children. That this man before me was going to be leaving soon and I just hadn't had enough time with him. That I hadn't said all I needed to say. That I hadn't hugged him enough. And then...I knew. I knew that he knew. That he knew he had a very special place in my heart. That I didn't need to say it. That he knew I would always be here for him. Because that's all I've ever been or shown him all his life. I've always been there. I've always loved him. And as much as I want him to stay, he must go out into that sometimes ugly world and make his way. He has to find his happiness. But there is no doubt in my mind that the foundation all his family has built for him, will help guide and hold him up no matter what he may face.

His ship is underway as soon as he gets back, and with the threats and status of the world today, he will be sent to god knows where to defend and assist whomever may need it. I worry about him. But I also believe in him. I know he is right where he needs to be.

Nick, I love you more then I can ever say. And I am more proud of you then I've ever been.

Just don't forget to call once in awhile.

XOXO

A message from...

2010-12-23T20:09:00.001-08:00

Wishing you a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

Be safe, Be jolly, and Be happy.

XOXO

Happy Friday Quote...

2010-12-17T05:00:00.000-08:00

"The reason people find it so hard to be happy is that they always see the past as better then it was, the present worse then it is, and the future less resolved then it will be."

Marcel Pagnol

XOXO

Christmas Trees and...

2010-12-15T10:19:00.000-08:00

Ok, I admit I tend to be a LITTLE bit of a perfectionist or maybe a little OCD about decorations being perfect. I will follow behind the children and "fix" what they hung, or adjust lights, or move tinsel around the tree so it looks "perfect". I do the same thing with the Christmas Decorations. They must be evenly spaced, facing the right direction, set in certain spots, etc. I have no idea why, or where this came from. It can be stressful and frustrating at times, especially when the kids were little and pick something up to look at.

This year, we decorated very little. Out of the 6 tubs of indoor decorations, I only used two. Part of the reason being that we are taking it all down before Christmas anyways, so it was hard to make myself put it all up.

We weren't even going to put a tree up. We have an artificial 4 ft tree, we were just going to plug that in and viola! But the kids begged and pleaded, and honestly, the house didn't FEEL Christmasy at all without one.

So Austin and I ran up and bought a 6ft tree and came home with it. DH was not too happy with us, since he had just put all the tree stuff away in the shed since I had said we weren't doing one. Oops. As soon as we got it up, Austin started begging to do the lights himself, and the star and was relentless. So I started thinking...I could totally use this to my advantage.

I let the kids do the tree all by themselves! I literally did not hang one thing. And it was GREAT!

The stinker of a son of mine, rubbed it in that he could reach the top to put the star on without a step stool! Emily hung Christmas Ornaments and tinsel with her brother.
I may have "suggested" that they make sure all sides of the tree got decorated, but that's as far as I went. I merely sat and handed out the ornaments.

We only put about 20 ornaments on and about 20 bulbs. But Austin loved putting lights on and used 6 strands on this tiny tree. LOL

They had a blast, laughing and giggling. And it was great to see them working together.

"Austin, you need to hang this one up there" Emily would say.

"Emily, Do you want me to help you with the tinsel?" Austin would say.

And I sat back and relaxed!

In my defense, I have only "fixed" one clump of tinsel that was in danger of catching fire on lights because it was so thick a clump and hanging on lights. I have not touched anything else!

And if you know me, that is really hard for me to do. But I'm proud of myself and the kids!

XOXO

Black & White...

2010-12-08T16:49:00.000-08:00

Everything takes a whole new perspective when you go black and white.

I absolutely love how the photographer captured these poses and how much better they looked in B&W then in color. I think I just might keep this family after all...pretty good looking bunch they are! ;o)

Do you see the world through color lenses where everything is bright, cheerful and colorful? Or do you see the world through Black & White lenses where everything is sharp points, as it is, no gray area?

XOXO

Family Pictures...

2010-12-07T13:01:00.000-08:00

Every year at Christmas I make sure to get some kind of family picture taken to help document our family history. Now DH hates having his picture taken, no matter the cause. So usually he puts up with it for me the few times I ask, but he usually grumbles a lot. So I've taken to alternating years between family ones and just the kids. Last year, it was just the kids, so this year, it was time for the whole Fam to be in it.

If you've ever had to coordinate pictures, then you know it's a lot of work. You have to decide on a color theme, then find outfits that match somewhat in that color family, and then make sure everyone has the right accessories. You have to get everyone there on time, showered and hair perfect, clothes pressed and make sure every ones smiling.
So to be able to look at the final project and be pleased with it, is a major feat.

And boy am I pleased!!!

And a little sad.

Because it's not until you look at your family all dressed up, standing next to each other, that you really see how grown up they are. That those years are slipping by. You see from year to year, how their faces change, who they start to look like, how tall they are, how their hair has changed, braces or no braces, glasses or no glasses, babies or teenagers.
I just want to freeze time. I want to capture the innocence of the moment. The joy on the faces, the happiness of childhood, captured in a flash.

I mean really, I'm still young, why do they have to get older??? ;o)

XOXO

Do you believe...

2010-12-03T21:00:00.000-08:00

Do you believe in Santa?

I mean really believe.

The Magic that Santa brings. The Feeling that Santa brings.

Do you believe in Santa?

I do. I believe in Santa.

My Son informed me that he KNOWS about Santa this year, and that he's cool with it. But a little part of my heart felt a tug when he said that. I want him to believe in Santa. I want him to remember what it felt like each year to run into the room believing in Santa being there the night before. I want him to feel and remember what Santa resembles about Christmas.

It's not just about a man in a red suit. It's about believing in the good. i believe in the good in people. I believe that people can change. I believe that Christmas is a reminder for us to be good unto others. To give to the less fortunate, but remember those around us who help us day in and day out.

I love Santa because for a few short weeks of the year, the children behave. I love Santa because you can't help but smile when you see one. I love Santa because he reminds me that no matter how dull or crazy life can get, that there is always more i can do for others.

Santa promotes Hope. Santa embodies the very symbol of selfless acts and kindness in the world. He loves everyone, no matter what color, size, shape, age or breed we are. He will hug you, love you, listen to you, sit with you, read to you and talk with you. he keeps your secrets, knows all your names, and reads every letter. He answers most, brings a toy for all, and eats nibbles of anything left for him.

Santa is the epitome of what a perfect parent would be. He gives kids the world without consequences, and gives parents an excuse to spoil their kids. He lets our kids believe all is good in the world, and peace on earth. He has songs written about him, books read of him, stories passed down from generations, pictures that last a lifetime. He is the one constant in an ever changing world.

He goes by many names. St. Nicholas, Santa Claus, Santa, St. Nick, and many more. But no matter what the name, we all know him. We all believe. We all wish for those feelings as we grow older, and we try and teach that to our children to cherish. And when they reach that age, of being "too old" to believe, we hope that the feeling carries on with them.

We hope they can still hear the bell ringing...

Because I can.

XOXO

Happy Friday Quote...

2010-12-03T05:00:00.000-08:00

"We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our Gratitude."

Cynthia Ozick

XOXO

Perler Beads anyone...

2010-11-30T13:42:00.000-08:00

Have you heard of them? It's the craze right now. The kids love making their own designs and then making key chains out of them. A few weeks ago, our neighbor and BFF's, hosted a Perler Bead Party/BBQ for kids and adults. The company sent the host this whole kit full of packs of beads for everyone, and man they had fun!

They started out slow, taking their time as they went. And then the race was on to see how many they could do, and how many different colors or designs they could make. Even Austin who stated he was "too old for this kinda thing" eventually sat down and made a few.
When your done designing, you then iron all the beads together. They then melt into the design you created. And you then attach the key chain clip and viola'!
It was pretty enticing, even for adults. Some got creative with themes, seen here making a San Francisco Giants one.
Adults and kids alike had a good time. Even though hours later we were finding little beads EVERWHERE! I'm not kidding.

After most of the invited kids went home, the adults then had yummy food and sat around the fire pit all evening enjoying the great company.

XOXO

Soccer Mom...

2010-11-24T11:31:00.000-08:00

Austin has played Soccer since he was 4 years old in his tiny little cleats running in circles on the field and sitting on the ground picking grass. He is now a linebacker 10 years later and mowing these boys down like their breakfast and it's a whole different game watching him play now. He's been fortunate enough to be on the same team all 10 years.

And I've been fortunate (or Crazy) enough to be the Team Mom/Manager for 9 of those years. We've always kept the same 7 or 8 players that come back each year and add in a handful of new ones. We've met and made some great friends along the way. I've had such joy in watching these boys grow up over the years. They all refer to me as "Mama ----" (insert last name here), and when we had sweatshirts made up this year for the team with our names on it, that's exactly what I put on mine. I enjoy it when they refer to me that way, or come up and give me hugs or know they can talk to me about anything. They email me themselves, call me and I know I've left a memory with them of someone who supports and cares for their well being. I make sure they have water at each game or I give them mine. I make sure they stay cool by squirting them down with misters. I make sure they are out of the rain by sitting under my pop-up tent. I make sure they have a place to sit at half time by giving them my chair. And if they are hurt, I am the first standing up checking on them, many times before their own parents.

The boys are at an age now where they are all going off in their own directions as they start High School. Playing High School sports now and not the leagues. Journeys that will take them in all sorts of new directions full of hope and promise. The future is theirs to conquer. I can only hope that they take with them a small part of what they have learned while being a part of our team all this time. That something I said or did will stick with them. That just maybe...these "big boys" will remember their "Mama ----" and think fondly of me. Because I'm gonna miss these boogers. The Stinky, Sweaty, Dirty, lovely little messes they are, I'm gonna miss every one of them.

I wish them all the best on their new adventures!
XOXO

Happy Friday Quote...

2010-11-19T06:00:00.000-08:00

"Walk with the dreamers, the believers,

the courageous, the cheerful, the planners,

the doers, the successful people with their heads in the

clouds and their feet on the ground. Let their spirit ignite a

fire within you to leave this world better then when you found it."

XOXO

Trick r Treat...

2010-11-15T09:39:00.000-08:00

Its funny how the original "Trick OR Treat" has changed with slang to now your lucky to get a "Trick r treat".

The kiddos went out robbing the neighborhood of their goodies and bringing the Yummy little treats home to Momma. What? Oh like you don't go through the loot and snag one or two (or a handful) of your favorite kind!

Anyhoo...Emily went as Alex Russo from Wizards of Waverly Place. I seriously doubt anyone (other then kids) knew who she was suppose to be. But she just "had to have it". And guess what? It was apparently a very popular costume this year. Although I never saw another one dressed as one, every store in town was sold out, and 15 websites I checked were sold out. I was near tears as I tried UNSUCCESSFULLY to convince her to be something else, but she was firm that she "just had to be" Alex. So I googled and googled and clicked and clicked and lo and behold, I found some website I had never heard of that had ONE costume in her size left!!! And it was $5 cheaper then I saw on the sold out sites. Momma scored!!! And the Lil' girl was delighted! Austin decided on HALLOWEEN DAY that he wanted to trick or treat, and needed a costume. I was so mad that he waited til the last minute, that I only went to Rite Aid and told him he gets whatever I find is left on the shelves. Which lucky for him I found this:
Ok, who has seen the scary and gory movies SAW? There's like 7 or 8 of them out now. The latest came out last months in 3D. Imagine seeing a leg getting severed in 3D? No thanks. Anyways, the first 4 or 5 the DH's and I were into. It was a story line that kept you trying to figure out who did it and then why. So even though it was a squeamish for me, I just couldn't stop watching. Then it just got dumb. After all the questions were answered, they had a copy cat killer and it just was lame. But Austin scared allot of adults that night! Most kids didn't know who he was, probably because sane parents didn't let their young kids watch such gore, but all the adults walking around knew! LOL. What's even funnier, is his shirt is a Jeff Dunham shirt that says "SILENCE, I'll Keel you!" hahahaha...

They had a blast.

XOXO

Happy Friday Quote...

2010-11-12T06:00:00.000-08:00

"Promise me you'll remember:

Your Braver then you believe,

and Stronger then you seem,

and Smarter then you think."

Christopher Robin to Pooh

XOXO

Up, up and away...

2010-11-10T09:15:00.000-08:00

Austin took his first (that he remembers) plane ride a few weeks ago to go see his Grandma. He flew on a plane when he was 2, but he slept through it all. And his Grandma (My MIL) moved out of state when he was 4, so he doesn't really remember her. Let's just say we aren't that close with the in-laws.

Anyhoo, the MIL's health has deteriorated and she was going in for surgery and we knew it was the last shot that DH's and son would have to go see her. The timing of the trip was the worst ever (just a little thing called hospital visit) but it needed to happen for several reasons, and I knew that. So after the decision was made to go, I thought it was a great idea to take Austin along. One, he really needed some guy time, and two, he really needed a chance to meet his grandma and was old enough to remember her.
We didn't tell her he was coming. She thought it was just DH's. So DH walks in room when he gets there and visits for 5 minutes or so, then says he has to go get something outside. And brought Austin into the room. It was a great shock, once they explained who he was. He had grown so tall and "manly" she was expecting a boy still. The hotel had the coolest Atrium with an indoor pool, cafe area, game area and lounge area.

Austin had a great time. They went swimming at the hotel, shopping at the mall, visiting relatives. It was a short trip but packed with activities.

And DH's took evidence that some pups couldn't run with the big dogs! ;o)

XOXO

Do you know...

2010-11-09T14:22:00.000-08:00

How to Copy and Paste on Blogger? Can someone please enlighten me? This is driving me crazy!

Do you even want to know...

2010-11-08T14:14:00.000-08:00

Where I've been? I mean, I don't even want to know. It's depressing, it's exhausting, and its down right no fun!

After getting Emily home from the hospital, the following week was spent scheduling numerous appointments, meetings and tests for her. I spent the whole week on the phone or in meetings. By evening, the pure exhaustion of very little sleep from the week before and the stress would hit and I could barely keep my eyes open by 7pm!

It has been one really long couple of weeks.

And to top it off, they think her seizures are related to the mystery illness of my DH's. So Friday I had to take him to the hospital and he underwent the same testing she did. We are now waiting to hear back on all the reports.

Waiting is the hardest part. I promise to post more later. And I will get around to visiting you all more regularly. I pop in and out when I have a few minutes, but i may not have time to comment. So know I am there! :o)

XOXO

Happy Friday Quote...

2010-11-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

"It is good to have an end to journey toward;

but it is the journey that matters, in the end."

Ernest Hemingway

XOXO

Just a little thing called Hospital visit...

2010-11-02T21:57:00.001-07:00

What a week last week was. This week isn't starting off any better. I've been in a mind fog from lack of sleep, stress, pain, heart break and pure exhaustion. Just when I think I'm coming out of it, WHAM! It hits me again.

We took our daughter to a new doctor to be evaluated and LOVE him. He listened, he acted, he reassured. Immediately upon hearing our tale, he ordered a round of tests which we promptly started a few days later.

Last Monday I took her to the hospital to have her hooked up for a 24hr EEG test and brought her home, and returned with her Tuesday morning to have it removed.

Tuesday afternoon we received a phone call from the doctor telling us our daughter was having multiple seizures and he wanted to admit her to the hospital first thing Wednesday Morning.

Imagine the bottom of your world falling out. Imagine a Nuclear bomb going off. That was what those words were to me. I wasn't sure i heard them right. I asked them to repeat it. But the information was going so fast. Bring her here, do this, don't do this, plan for this. All I heard was my heart stop beating.

The doctor had me meet him in the morning at his office (he canceled a big meeting to see me) so he could explain what they found. He then instructed us to go straight to the hospital for a 3-4 day admit for further seizure testing. And she couldn't be left alone, ever. Because of the type of testing, i had to stay with her 24/7.

And just to throw a wrench into the mix, let me tell you the rest of the story. Wednesday morning my DH and son got on a plane and flew to the east coast to visit my MIL who is ill. So I was left alone with Emily and the hospital. I immediately got on the phone Tuesday night and called my support system of family and friends to step in and help. Whether it was to be there physically, mentally, emotionally or a shoulder, I knew I needed help.

DH and I talked forever in what to do. Should he still go, should he stay. The decision was made for them to go and I would stay with help from my family. It was so tough for him to go. His heart was wanting to be here, but his head told him he needed to go. And my heart wanted him here but my head knew he needed to go. And thank goodness for text and cell phones.

It was an excruciating 4 days. She continued to have multiple and major seizures in her little brain. We still do not know why she is having them. They did an MRI and Spinal Tap on her, and numerous blood tests. Now we wait for the results. In the meantime, she is on lots of new meds to stop the seizures and calm her brain down. They seem to be working after having to work through the honeymoon stage of them. The side effects made her stoned. She was loopy and dizzy and said some pretty funny stuff.

She spent 6 days in and out of hospitals last week. I spent countless hours watching her. Endless hours sitting in folding chairs. Few hours sleeping on a cot. Hardly ate, watched no TV or heard any music, and only had texting to entertain me. I had family show up to relieve me so I could shower and change, friends show up to make me laugh, long distance friends reach out to me through text that kept me sane and grounded.

I still don't know where this journey is going to take us. But it is one I am sure she will come out shining like the star she is. She is my hero. Not once a complaint. Not once a whimper. She took it all. The wires, the cameras, the computers, the machines, the needles, the noises, the food, the medicines, she took it all.

And when it was time to go home, that smile that warms my heart to the very bottom of my soul came on her face and she said "it's time to go home mommy, and don't forget to stop for my McDonald's on the way."

XOXO

Where have I been...

2010-10-31T12:06:00.001-07:00

I apologize that I have been absent from blog land. You see, it was beyond my control and my very limits of parenthood were tested this last week. My daughter has been in the hospital all week. I just brought her home last night. Trying to catch up on MUCH NEEDED sleep and rest. Please bare with me while I recoup and recover and will be back sooner then you can blink (OK, maybe not that soon, but you know what I meant).

XOXO

Happy Friday Quote...

2010-10-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

"The difference between school and life?

In school, your taught a lesson and then given a test.

In life, your given a test that teaches you a lesson."

Tom Bodett

XOXO

You are...

2010-10-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

I saw this plague and fell in love with it:

You are the cheese to my macaroni

you are the horizon to my sky

you are the bacon to my eggs

you are the laces to my sneakers

you are the jelly to my peanut butter

you are the smile to my face

you are the gravy to my mashed potatoes

you are the bubbles to my bath

you are the milk to my cookies

you are the ink to my pen

you are the ketchup to my french fries

you are the water to my ocean

YOU are the icing on my cupcake

XOXO

Happy Friday Quote...

2010-10-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

"The truth is, Everybody's gonna hurt you. You just have to find the ones worth suffering for."
Bob Marley

XOXO

Life...

2010-10-20T10:16:00.000-07:00

Does Life ever beat you down? Wear you out?

Does Life stress you out and make you want to cry?

Does Life ever feel like it's going so fast, you can't stop to catch a breath?

I think the older my kids get, the faster it goes. They are so busy being involved in "Life" and living it to the fullest, that it makes my life whizz by. I am so grateful they have the opportunities that I didn't growing up. And they have our support for each practice and game. Each School event and Church event. They ask, we deliver.

So it doesn't surprise me to sometimes sit back and wonder, what have I done for myself lately? Am I enjoying MY life? Am I living my life to it's fullest?

So I ask you this...When is the last time you laughed?

Not the slight chuckle you give your kids when they tell a story of their day, not the fake laugh you give a co-worker telling a story of their kids accomplishments, not even the social laugh you give to a spouse or group in a meeting or event.

I mean REALLY laughed. Holding your side, tears rolling down your face, about to pee your pants LAUGH!

That's living life. That's enjoying life. That's life. Life will always have stress of jobs, house, errands, sports, school, friends, events that we can't put off. Life will always go on, whether your there or not. Life will evolve and change depending on our surroundings, peer influences and family events. Homes will change, cars change, towns change, and jobs change.

But Laughter...is always the same. Did you know it's contagious? Try it. Stand next to someone who has the giggles. They can't stop. They are giggling for no reason. They are crying they are laughing so hard. Pretty soon, your smiling watching them. Then you start chuckling. Before you know it, your laughing with them.

Laughter is not only good for you mentally, it is good for you physically. It makes a surge of hormones and metabolic acids flow through your blood streams. The hormones go to your brain and stimulate your attitude, personality, heart pumps faster, calories burn more and your day improves.

"Laughter is the best form of exercise. It's like jogging on your insides."
Unknown

So go now and LAUGH, and have a good day!
XOXO

Happy Friday Quote...

2010-10-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

"I am the Master of my Fate, I am the Captain of my Soul."
William Ernest Henley

XOXO

I'd like you to meet someone...

2010-10-12T13:28:00.000-07:00

My Beautiful Baby Girl, Emily:My big girl has grown so much this year. She has excelled with her social life this year, making several new "BFF's", having sleepovers, play dates and swimming parties. She has developed several new hobbies, is learning to roller skate, idolizes her big brother and loves her puppy dog with all her heart.

She hurts easily, gets frustrated often, cries at the drop of a hat, but has a BIG heart and loves honestly and truly. She adores babies and toddlers, loves her grandma and has always been a "papa's" girl. She is patient, kind and caring. But don't cross her, she has her mommas Tiger spirit in her. And she is the best daughter anyone could ask for.

XOXO

Happy Friday Quote...

2010-10-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

"The most precious possession that ever comes to a man in this world is a woman's heart."
Josiah G. Holland

XOXO

Soccer or UFC...

2010-10-05T12:50:00.000-07:00

We had a BUSY weekend full of High School Homecoming Football games, Bonfires, Floats, Royal Court, Marching Bands, Fireworks and Formal dances. And in between all that, we had a Soccer game.

It was an EARLY game. 8am on a Saturday is wayyyyy too early for a game. I'm just saying!

I grabbed my camera on our way out the door. And I'm so glad I did. I grabbed the best shots! We played the #1 team in our division, so it was an excruciating, violent, powerful game the entire time. We are battling for 2nd place, so our boys not only wanted the win, but to knock the undefeated title from the other team is priceless. And the other boys wanted that win like there was no kidding. And at the age of these boys, play time can get a little rough. We had a few injuries, a few knock downs and lot of shoving.

And then there was this:

Which was none of the above. Austin was merely booting the ball and the other player ran in front of him and realized he was gonna get hit so he ducked. The ensuing picture looks like Austin is decking the kid between the look on Austin's face and the kid flying forward. LOL!Austin plays Fullback/Defender position. So he normally does not get allot of ball time. We have a great Offense team. But this game everyone was playing hard. And Austin was a key player in ball time.
I love watching my kid's sports! I get so caught up in it. By the last quarter I couldn't sit in my chair and was pacing the field.

Being Team Manager doesn't help me either. It makes the boy's feel like my boys and I need to coach, cheer, heal, kiss boo-boos, water, feed, pat on the back and all around feel the pain and glory with them.

We ended the game in a Tie - which is great for us! The other team didn't handle it so well. The Coach had a hissy fit and was threatening to turn our coach in for rough housing, when his boys started it! Oh well, you roll with the punches.

XOXO

How Nervous are you...

2010-10-02T18:43:00.000-07:00

About Internet safety and your children's pictures? About sharing too much personal information? About predators or thieves getting the information? Or just about protecting your children's privacy for their future?

I carefully guard the personal information that may affect other's, but if it is in regards to me, I'm pretty much an open book. I don't talk about other family members, post their pics or give full names out. When it comes to my children, I do not discuss anything that I or they may deem personal. If I share information, it's past information, and nothing that "may" happen or may affect their future.

As for posting their pics, I feel like there is much worse out there in the world to worry about. I don't post anything that may be or can be taken the wrong way, altered, or deemed inappropriate. I post school pictures, family shots or group events.

My sister is extremely private person and refuses to share her family information on the Internet. She has made her point of view recently to us all to not post pictures of her kids on any sites. She does not want to divulge their information and compromise their future safety. I understand where's shes coming from and I respect her wishes.

So it made me start thinking...we all share information so freely among us here in blogger world. We kinda all feel like family from afar, following each other's adventures and journeys in life. Do you worry?

And now that I have you thinking about it, will this affect how you share or will you alter how you post information?

It doesn't change anything for me, but it will make me analyze my pictures more closely before posting them.

I read a story recently about a girl who was on a social network site and was posting her school team mascots and how they won a game, plus had pictures of her up and how old she was. She also in one of her pictures had the front of her house showing in them, with her house number on it. An undercover Federal Agent googled school mascots, found what town she lived in, had her picture and her street number and what the house looked like. He waited outside her house and watched her walk home from school and enter the empty house alone and noticed she was alone for several hours. When her parents came home, he rang the bell and introduced himself. He explained what he had done and why. His teenage daughter had been kidnapped and murdered because of her Internet safety being violated. His mission in life was to protect other girls from this happening to them. This agent had flown from 3 states away on his own dime to protect and warn this family. The parents called the daughter down from her room and talked with her in front of the officer. She broke down crying when she realized how close she had come from danger.

That Officer could have easily been a Predator.

Be safe out there...

XOXO

Happy Friday Quote...

2010-10-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

"Don't let insignificant people have significance in your life."

XOXO

What is your favorite...

2010-09-28T20:42:00.000-07:00

Fall brings with it New TV shows, Series and Drama's. It means new addictions, new loves, breakups, affairs, murders, liars, cheaters, best friends, accidents and family. It means reality TV, in your face game shows, wipe outs, fired from job interviews, survival on an island, alliances, enemies, medical malpractice and new careers.

So my question to you is, what is your new favorite show?

What is your returning favorite show?

Can I just say that I Love Fall TV! My fav's that I wait for all year, all summer return. Hub's and I have our fav's that we DVR. But then they also come out with some new ones. Some of our favorites include:

Survivor
Grey's Anatomy
Apprentice
Deadliest Catch
Sons of Anarchy
House
Undercover Boss
Rules of engagement
American Chopper

I'm sure I am forgetting several, but you get the idea.

So fess up and tell me your fav's!

XOXO

Little Girls...

2010-09-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

I'm going to cry!! Seriously...going to bawl my eyes out. I don't know how to handle this. What to do? What to think? I mean, isn't one child enough? Seriously!

OK - so this last week...I had to go and buy...gasp...a BRA for my 10 year old!!!!

WAAAHHHH.....

You have no idea how fast it happens. Over night. It went from a little something to "Hello!" To having the talk of "You can't get dressed in front of brother anymore", to thinking "WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?" My baby is growing up.

It's not bad enough I am dealing with a Hormonal, temperamental Teenager that you had to throw in a PMS'ing, hormonal and out-of-control Pre-teen?

And people wonder why I cry allot.

Have you seen my house? Don't come in unless you dare...

I have to go now, it's time to hide under the bed...

XOXO

More Sammy pics...

2010-09-25T15:12:00.000-07:00

Our weekend away to see Sammy was too much fun for just one post!

*Warning - these pics appear in reverse order (end of the night and forward) because Blogger would not cooperate in my upload process!*

So here are some more pics:

Hard Rock Cafe - DH and I after the show. That's my $13 drink in front of me - I about had a hernia when I found out. Apparently you get to keep the glass. I tried to give it back. They wouldn't take it. Yikes!

Hard Rock Cafe after the concert - our usual hangout! Dinner at midnight and drinks to wash it down!

Some of the guys' from our Redrocker Group!

Part of our Redrocker group! My DH's is in the middle in the back. Good Times!

My Redrocker BFF! Finally a show where we got to rock out together. Stacey fell down her stairs in February this year and broke two bones in her ankle. She's had two surgeries already and been tied up in casts and wheelchairs at the other shows. She was finally well enough to stand and rock out with us!

Redrocker Friends - our Redhead groupkeeps growing! So much love at a Sammy show!

Redrocker friendz - Both Hubs behind us having a good time!

We played many games of Quarters. The big winner was DH's! He walked away with $6 in other peeps money! Woohoo..

XOXO

Happy Friday Quote...

2010-09-23T21:33:00.000-07:00

"The most important trip you may take in life, is meeting people halfway."

XOXO

Sammy Weekend...

2010-09-21T19:57:00.000-07:00

DH and I got away last weekend for another Sammy Hagar/Chickenfoot weekend! It was the last concert for Chickenfoot and Sammy's son, Aaron Hagar was going to open for the band with Sammy's band, The Wabos, so we got a double thrill!

We got up there early with our friends and headed to our favorite restaurant for lunch, Wolfgang Pucks! It is so freakin good. We eat there every time we go to Lake Tahoe. After lunch we headed back to our suite to start the party off.

These Limes are from my tree! They are so juicy...mmm...

More friends arrived as the day went on and soon it was time to get ready for the show. Excitement is in the air!!!

Aaron put on an awesome show and ended with a great rendition of "Summer of '69"! We know Aaron. He's an excellent artist and we have two of his paintings he did of his dad. We've met with him several times up there and him and I email back and forth. So I was super excited for him as I know his passion is his art and singing. But it's hard to break into the business when your dad is Sammy Hagar.
It was really neat because Sam came out and introduced Aaron, and then he stood on the side of the stage rocking out through Aaron's whole set. He was a proud papa!

Chickenfoot did not let us down. They did another great show. I am so incredibly bummed that we won't see or hear from them for another 2 years! :o( Chad Smith (the drummer) has to return to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Joe Satriani is touring right now on his own. That's what happens with a super group. Everyone has commitments that must be met.

I had a great time at this concert. I made sure to keep a buzz but not get drunk enough that I missed the show, and I got to dance and sing with one of my BFF's through the show whom I haven't been able to for some time. So it was a great weekend.

Those spouse weekends go so quick and before you know it, kids are whining your name and demanding things again. May is a long way off before our next Sammy weekend. *sigh*

XOXO

Thankful Tuesday...

2010-09-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

Things I am thankful for today:

*DH when he sees I'm tired will step in and help out with the kids.
*For having Monday's off
*For having Family near by
*My son who has inherited my strength and determination
*Little girl giggles
*EXCEDRIN PM for Migraines

Thing's I am not thankful for:
*10yr old girls PMS mood swings
*Family being so near by
*My son's orneriness and stubbornness he inherited from me
*MIGRAINES
*Homework that is really for parents

XOXO

Meet my other followers...

2010-09-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

Oh that's right...no one else played the game. No one else left me a message, has a blog that I can stalk them at or wanted to be featured. So i guess there's only one thing left to do. Tell you about me.

So here it goes. Ready or not, here I am!

My real name is not Cindy Lou Who, although my grandfather use to call me "Cindy Lou" when I was little. My middle name is not Lou. I have no idea why he called me that. I use to think it was adorable, my own special name. Then it just became annoying. It made me feel like I was from the south.

I am happily (at times) married to my wonderful (when he's sleeping) husband for 16 years now. We've been together 19 years. I still have no idea how that can be, since I'm not even that old. I met DH at the local lake. I was there with a bunch of girlfriends, he was there with a bunch of guys, we were on the beach laying out, looking cool, music playing, when all these guys in 2 boats pulled up and beached next to us. We wanted a ride. It was really hot. And no matter how much we flirted and raised our girls to be perky, those dang boys ignored us. Or so I thought. The guys were playing Frisbee in the water, and it landed by us. I ran and grabbed it and made them come over and talk to us to get it back. The rest is history. Except one of the boats was DH's. I didn't know that. And the part about him asking my cousin for my phone number, so when he called, I had no idea which boy he was. So it was like a blind date on our first date. And because I didn't know him, I made him make it a double date with my cousin. I don't think he was too happy about that, but he played along. And look what he got out of it! ME! :o)

We tried for a long time to have our son, Austin. Every month it was heart breaking. I wanted to be a mom so bad. And I was beginning to feel like I never would be. Now I know other couples have it way harder then we did. But it felt like forever. We were on vacation in Oregon, when I had an inkling something was up. So when we stopped for gas, I ran in without DH's knowing and bought a PG test. At the hotel the next morning I took it. It was Positive. I screamed. I made DH's get out of bed (it was 6am) to come look. DH's reaction was less then stellar. He had won an award and celebrated the night before a little too much and had a bad hangover. I was not happy with DH's and never let him live it down.

So our son is now 13-1/2 and just started Freshman year at High School. This boy we wanted so badly was born a 6wk Preemie. He was skin and bone, hairy all over and hooked up to all kinds of machines. He was a very sick little boy his first year of life. Then something clicked in him. And he suddenly was a rambunctious little boy. He has played Soccer since he was 4 years old and Baseball since Kindergarten. He is a sweet, loving (when he wants something), honest (he hasn't mastered lying yet), Mommas Boy (he really is, don't let him tell you different). I'm having a hard time this year with him growing up. Puberty has taken it's ugly hands and placed them on my boy. In 2-1/2 months he has grown 4 inches, 1-1/2 shoe sizes and gained 20 lbs. I now have to look UP to him. He laughs at me allot now and calls me "Shorty". He's grounded until he's 20.

Not really.

Our beautiful daughter, Emily, came along 3-1/2 years later. She was easy to conceive but difficult to carry. I was in preterm labor the whole pregnancy. But I made it, and she only came one week early and was born on Mother's Day, 2000. She was the joy and light of our lives. Austin was so proud to be a big brother. She was Daddy's girl all the way and Mommy's heart.

At her 3mo check up, she was given her immunization shots and home we came. I noticed that she was really fussy and wouldn't eat. When I tried to feed her, the milk would run out her mouth. Then I noticed over the few hours that her face was swelling up. I called the doctor and they said to bring her in. They had to give her Benadryl shots for the allergic reaction she was having to one of the shots. Not once, but twice. They reported it to the CDC and sent us home. From that day forward, our little girl was never the same. She would just lay there on her blanket or bouncer, and just stare into space. She was content to do nothing. She never made a peep, never tried to play with her toys, never tried to crawl. She hardly ever cried. She just laid there. At every milestone doctors appointment, I raised my concerns that she wasn't developing normally. She wasn't sitting up, she wasn't crawling, she had no muscle tone. I was patted on the hand and told not too worry, that she was just a late bloomer and that by the time she was 1yr, they all catch up. But my Mommas gut told me different. She didn't sit up until she was 8mos old. She didn't crawl (she could only crab-like crawl) until she was 1 yr. She wasn't speaking other then ba-ba. At her 1yr check up, I insisted she be seen by someone. Within 5 minutes of seeing Emily, the Pediatric Neurologist knew what was wrong. We had to drive over 2 hours to see him as there wasn't one in our town. It was the longest car ride home ever. We were both crying.

Emily was Autistic Spectrum, with Developmental Delay and Sensory Integration. Each of these things being a major hurdle, each one brought with it it's own challenges for her and us. And many times they worked against each other. I immediately went into fight mode. She was in P.T 3x a week, O.T. 2x week, and Speech Therapy 1x week. We had exercises, charts, directions, programs, leg braces, pool therapy, sensory therapy, brushing her skin, watching her like a hawk for signs of distress. She finally started walking on her 2nd birthday, and had a vocab of about 30 words along with sign language. We never gave up. Although at times I wanted too. She didn't sleep at night. She had anxiety attacks and she would screamed all night long. Medications didn't work. DH's and I both worked Full Time during all this, so I took all my vacation time and would let him sleep at night and stay with Emily so he could go to work. I once went 10 days with no sleep. I literally fell apart and called my mom and cried. She sent my dad and sister over to take care of Emily and let me sleep. My sister went grocery shopping for me, I hadn't had milk in the house in 3 days but couldn't leave to go get it. And it was then that I realized I needed help, and asking was the hardest part.

Emily is now a beautiful 10yr old, who excels at her own speed. She is in a Special Ed class, but also goes to her Regular Ed class for 1/4 of her day. She only has speech now 2x a week, and no longer needs OT other then to train her teachers every year. PT is now modified P.E. and she is doing wonderful that this may be her last year.

My favorite hobbies are watching my kids play sports (I get really crazy and cheer loudly), scrapbooking, SAMMY HAGAR (he deserves all caps as I really LOVE him), traveling, friends, Bunco, Shopping, Pedicures, Getting my nails done, Massages, Sleeping in but even better are mid-afternoon naps and starring at my handsome DH's face. I live a privileged life of having my family around me that I don't take for granted. Family is extremely important and if you cross one, you cross us all and you better watch out. I am the YOUNGEST ( I really like saying that) of my Brother and Sister, and I have 6 nieces and nephews who I adore as if they were my own. We celebrate milestones with each of them, and cherish the moments. My Catholic Faith has gotten me through many painful and hard times in my life. I may not make it to church every Sunday, but I know where my roots are and how to get back there. God will forever be in our lives.

A few years ago, I read something that turned the light on for me and believe in whole-heartily. When the going gets tough, and we all ask "Why me God?", it is then that God is showing us the way back to him and reminding us he is there. If things went smoothly in life, what would there be to pray about? He tests us, with these obstacles that we think we can not possibly overcome. So we will rely on him to guide us through it. He is reminding us that he is there.

"It is what it is"

Now Move on...

Peace and Love to you all, and thank you for being apart of my wacky world!
XOXO

Meet Follower #4...

2010-09-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome again to my crazy 'lil world and stay awhile, you never know when something amazing might happen!

Meet Leah from Laughingleahloveslilies:
I found you because of Kaci. You guys were tight (like this *fingers crossed*) and she got you reading my blog and then you started your own. Or maybe you started your own and then we both mutually started reading each others? Who knows. The point is, I found ya, I followed ya, and there ain't nothin you can do about it. So there! *grin*

LOL Leah! You had it right the first time. Kaci made me (by sending emails every day and telling me I "just had to read" your funny stories) start reading your blog. It was right about the time she started me reading Confessions of a Pioneer Woman, and I was hooked on blogs. Who knew they could be so scrumptious? Seriously, it's like a soap opera that I get to be a part of. The daily life, the achievements, the funny anecdotes, the sickness, the marriages, the deaths and family.

Leah has become one of my good friends via email and blogs. I value her opinion just as much and she amazes me with her crafting ability! Seriously people, you need to check out her work! She can knit and make the most beautiful cards. She can put together amazing baskets for you of newborn. She makes my banners for me on this blog because she has way more creative juices then I do.

Leah, thanks for following along on my journey and for being such a help. I only hope you get in return what I get out of the friendship!

XOXO

Meet Follower #3...

2010-09-14T21:29:00.001-07:00

Welcome to my crazy little world I like to call "Cindy Lou Who"...The fact that you found me, read me, liked me, "followed" me, and continue to come back says allot. I like getting to meet you all through your comments and getting to know the kind of person you are.

Follower #3 is Sandra:
I found you through a comment you left on Tooj's blog, and I was drawn to your handle "Cindy Lou Who", cause things like that draw me in, and I'm fun that way. I love reading blogs, its replaced my love of reading novels, and this fulfills my need to put my nose where it doesn't belong. So you get another follower, and I get to hear all about your life, its a win-win. Looking forward to getting to know you.

Oh Sandra, I love you already. "Fulfills my need to put my nose where it doesn't belong", we are kindred spirits!!! I've never had a problem getting my nose into places it definitely doesn't belong. Just ask around. LOL

I am so glad that you did find me. And that we can stay connected even if it is through my insane, crazy, hectic, hilarious at times life. You are welcome to cry with me, fight along side me, holding your side laughter, and just be my friend.

XOXO

It's Sammy Time....

2010-09-10T23:13:00.000-07:00

DH and I are off to Lake Tahoe for the weekend for another fun filled (KID FREE) weekend of Redhead Friends and Sammy Hagar's concert. It's the last Chickenfoot show for the next few years, and it may be the last one ever as the original group. I am super excited but sad.

I can not wait to see all my Redrocker fans, have me a few cocktails (who am I kidding, it'll be more then a few) and dance the night away singing my heart out with Sammy.

Catch ya later friends...

XOXO

Meet Follower #2...

2010-09-08T16:01:00.001-07:00

Can I just say I love the sound of that...hee hee

So Kaci over at Ellyphant is my Follower #2. Kaci and I have a little more history together then just Blogger friends. Kaci and I go way back, i mean WAY back. Like years.

We use to work together and we both had this horrible 5am shift every day before anyone else got there. And it would be just us wandering the aisles and shouting across at each other. We would get goofy, take breaks together, and LAUGH allot. I knew her back before Ellyphant was here, and before she was married (I was there for that too).

Elly was the cutest little toddler girl I have seen and I fell in love with her. When she needed daycare for Elly, I hooked her up with my neighbor, Stacey. We pretty much did everything together. Bunco, Scrapbooks, work, Starbucks, shopping, hanging out, tattoos (oops, did I say that?), well, we did things. And before I knew it, Kaci had become one of my BFF's!

Then that fateful day came when she broke the news to me that she and her family were moving to Ohio. And I cried. I cried allot. I begged. I pleaded. I bribed. I stomped my foot, but nothing could keep them here. So I watched them load up my little Ellyphant, and drive away.

Through Blog land, we are still able to remain in each others lives and follow our children's activities. Kaci is the reason I started a Blog. She bugged, called, harassed and even threatened to call my mom if I didn't. She wanted to stay in touch from afar. So I started Cindy Lou Who.

I blame her.

Kaci and I have flown back and forth a few times to see each other in the past few years. And it's like we've never been apart when we are together. But it makes it all that much harder to say goodbye when it's over.

Kaci is an inspiration for me. She has lost all kinds of weight (I have no idea how much now, she doesn't stop!) all on her own, works out daily without complaint, and has even started running in marathons this year with her husband. When the world seems to get her down, she bounces back like nothing, and she always has a smile and kind word for me when I'm down.

Kac ~ I miss you like crazy, and I am glad you got to go on this journey. Now could you hurry up and get your butt back home? I need some Elly time! ;o)

XOXO

Meet Follower #1...

2010-09-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

Doesn't that sound so "stalker'ish"? I love it. Like I'm important enough to have some one or multiple people stalking me. Well...I guess you all are kinda doing that. Creepy. OK now people, back to your real lives, nothing to see here. :o)

This is from TOOJE - who use to be TOOJ - but TOOJ went and had the cutest little E over summer and then became TOOJE. It's not that complicated. Their initials people, stay with me here.

TOOJE:
Hi, I'm tooje, but that's not my real name. It makes me sound like a crazy person, but I'm not. Usually. I don't remember how I found you or if you found me first, but it was through Blog land. I think all family members that read blogs should be required to comment. I would love it if my sisters who are avid readers of my blog, would comment on my posts. I love comments. They should do what I say. I'm older.

Tooje - I love your blog. You are hilarious. I feel like I live in your world and you in mine. We can relate on so many levels. I know if we lived near each other, we would be great friends. Your sense of Humor gets me through many days. Oh and I found you on "attack of the toddler" Blog. You left a hilarious comment one time, and I just had to follow you to your site and see if you were really that funny in life! :o)

Oh and your latest endeavor with the "daily tidbits"? Well, let's just say you took the words right outta my mouth! Love the original ones...got me thinking on a few...just maybe...nah!

Thank you for being a loyal "Follower" and faithful Commenter.

Check her out peeps...she's one hilarious chick! :o)

XOXO

Happy Friday Quote...

2010-09-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

"Tell me and I'll forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I'll understand."

XOXO

Followers...

2010-09-02T15:45:00.000-07:00

So for some unknown reason beyond my comprehension of why anyone would want to "follow" my blog, I have managed to gain 7 followers in the last 2 weeks. Now, why suddenly am I so popular? I have had this blog almost 2 years, with a small gathering of loyal followers. I also have family that checks in on it too, although they would die before they would comment. I am thinking it must have something to do with a few websites I visited that you have to leave a blog name or link.

Either way - welcome!

But then I got curious. I want to know my followers. I want to "follow" you. I want the world to go around and us all to be friends! Is that too much to ask?

So please leave me a comment telling me about you, how you found me, your interests, your family, you jobs, or your life. I will be posting them in a future post so we can all get to know each other!

Have fun with it - be silly, be serious, be righteous or be sane. But please, this is not a time to be on a pedestal to lecture or judge.

I will tell you all about me also in a future post.

So hurry up and COMMENT!

XOXO

P.S. Oh and I have been having a few ladies commenting in another language. I am sorry, but i have no idea what you are telling me. You could be telling me off for all I know. So please let's do this experiment in English! Thanks

Thankful Tuesday...

2010-08-31T10:28:00.000-07:00

Thing's I am Thankful for today:

*Having a job
*Amazing kids who love me unconditionally
*A best friend for a Husband
*Strength beyond imaginable
*Ability to bite my tongue when needed
*Ability to speak my tongue when needed
*Ability to know the difference of those
*Having a big heart, although at times that means it gets hurt easily
*Stability in an unstable world
*Puppy Dog eyes
*Smiles that brighten the world
*Friends who never give up on me
*Family that is always there
*Looks that require no words
*Hugs that can make the day
*Candles that smell good and change the mood of the house
*Childhood innocence
*Childhood honesty
*A home to call my own
*Being a Mother
*Neighbors who have my back
*The Sun each day
*The Star's each night

XOXO

Happy Friday Quote...

2010-08-26T21:04:00.000-07:00

T.E. Lawrence of Arabia wrote in his Memoirs:

"All people dream, but not all equally. Those who dream by the night, in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible."

XOXO

Alice in Wonderland...

2010-08-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

Has anyone seen the new version of Alice in Wonderland made by Tim Burton? I really had no desire to see it in the theaters as I am not a fan of Tim Burton's work normally. But someone gave Emily the movie a few months ago, and this past weekend I had 6 loads of laundry to sit and fold so I threw the movie on and sat down to fold.

I have to say, I was overall amazed with the movie. Very good special effects and they did a good job with the story line. It's still kinda "out there" for little kids to see. Emily still says it scares her.

As the credits were playing, this song I have playing on my blog "Alice" started playing. And the words grabbed me. I sat and listened to it realizing it fits my life perfect right now.

My world has been flipped upside down, inside out, spun around and dropped in the last two years. And just when i think it has to get better, or we've reached the end, it starts all over. I had a medical professional look at me in amazement and say "I can't believe your still standing with all you deal with." I guess that pretty much sums up my life.

So this song, written by Avril Lavigne for the movie made me realize my life right now is much like Alice's in the movie. I fell through a hole and have been fighting my way back. Every corner, there is some rabbit or twiddle Dee's waiting for me, a smoking caterpillar telling me it's all a dream, a wicked witch laughing that I'll never get to the end.

But you know what? I will get there. I will make it. I didn't come this far to have a tea party with the Mad Hatter. So watch out Wicked Witch...I'm coming after you!

XOXO

One Year ago...

2010-08-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

I can remember the way Austin use to look and sound. But it's not until you do this, they you really see the growth and how they've changed. 8th grade vs. 9th grade!

Just so you can see what I'm talking about, here is the difference one year makes to a growing teenage boy.

I think I need to have more babies. I'm not going to be able to deal with this whole growing up thing the kids do. Someone smack me please...

XOXO

Sob....Wahhhhh...

2010-08-20T08:36:00.000-07:00

Gulp...I have someone I need to introduce you too. This person came from my body, was born into this world a 6 week Preemie with difficulties in the NICU that we weren't sure he would be alright, 20+ surgeries to date, grade school to Middle School to High School!!! Ack!!!

My Son, Austin:

Sobbing uncontrollably...My baby is all grown up! I don't know when it happened. Because in May, he was still my little boy. I still had to look down at him, Could still reach around him with my arms to hug him, could tickle him and play tag around the house.

*side note: the photos are all the same, they just gave me a disk with all three color tints on it*

Now? Now he stands taller then me by 3 inches (he's 5'9), his foot has grown 2 shoe sizes (Men's 10 now) and he's gained 15lbs. His face is maturing and filling out. Losing that babyish look of pre-puberty chubbiness.

His voice is cracking now. Won't be long before that sweet Lil' voice I love so much will be gone forever replaced with a deep, resonating sound. When we hugged before, it was his arms around my waist and I hugging his shoulders, now it is my arms around his waist and his around my shoulders. Now he is the one looking down at me.

When I see him around other kids and how he overtakes them in size, I have to remind myself that he is still 13. My baby that was so small and skinny in that NICU is now the linebacker.

He is definitely going to be over 6'2 like his dad. One doctor predicted he will be taller then that.

*sigh*

XOXO

Oh my poor blog...

2010-08-17T08:34:00.000-07:00

How I've neglected you...I promise to get back on track. I promise to start blogging again. I promise to...

Oh who am I kidding???

I will be living in my car for the next 3 months. You think I'm kidding?

Austin started High School last week. We're talking the big leagues here. His school operates on a 4x4 block system. Which means they only take 4 classes at a time. But they are Concentrated classes. So instead of 8 classes of 45 minutes each, they take 4 classes for 1-1/2 hours. Then the second semester they take a different 4 classes. So they still get the 8 subjects all year, but now the teachers have longer to get the information to sink in. I like the idea. Instead of 7 subjects (PE doesn't count) of homework each night, they just have 3 or 4 but more of it. So each night he has about 1-1/2 hours of Homework.

Soccer also started last week. Oh and guess what? After 10 years of being Team Mom/Manager, I informed the coaches and parents THIS YEAR I am not doing it. Could someone else please step up and do it? Hello? Is this thing on? Anyone? *birds chirping*

So yea, I got roped back into it. It was the coaches speech of "but you are the best of the best and how can i do it without you and you have perfected it so no one wants to take it on and how will i ever be able to coach if i don't have you?" Then it was the league going "You gotta have a manager" and the parents all standing there LOOKING at me...
Where was I? Soccer 3x a week then games start in a few weeks and we travel for those. All over. I have our big water cooler for Austin to bring, a 5 person bench seat that folds to bring, a 10 ft flag/banner to bring and assemble at each game, 3 chairs for DH, Em and I to sit in at the game, a Pop Up Canopy to sit under in the 100+ sun and a snack/toy bag to entertain Emily! Phew...I'm exhausted already.

Oh you thought I was done? hahahahahahahahahaha....

Monday starts Baseball for Austin too. Yep...just shoot me now. High School Fall Baseball. Practice is 2x a week with tournaments on weekends. Tryouts start Monday. If you want any chance of making the Spring Team, you have to play Fall. There are only 18 kids on the spring team. 8 are returning JV players. They have 30+ kids trying out for 10 spots. If you play Fall ball, Coaches give those kids 50% better chance of making it and pick those kids before any fresh kids coming in. So pretty much, if you wanna play at all, you gotta start now! Oh and Fall Ball, is 80% returning Spring players, and they only take a handful of new players. So if you bomb tryouts, your pretty much done for the year.

But NO PRESSURE...right?

I sure hope Austin can keep up with it all. He's not very good at juggling things. He's been in school one week and already missed his homework one day. So we're riding him now. Gotta start off strong.

Oh and did I mention that this is only ONE of my kids schedules??? Now you see why I will be living in my car...Take, pick up, take, pick up, take, pick up...where am I suppose to be?

XOXO

Happy Friday Quote...

2010-08-12T20:28:00.000-07:00

The 7 traits of a Best Friend:

Supportive
Active
Respectful
Caring
Assuring
Sensitive
Mindful

In other words...SARCASM...

XOXO

Date night...sort of...

2010-08-11T22:34:00.000-07:00

Sunday DH and I set off to spend some time together. With our daughter. Our son was gone for the weekend, and so it was the three of us. It was a pretty stressful weekend, so late in the afternoon we set off to visit one of our fav restaurants in a town about 25 minutes away.
This is her 1st attempt...

Emily was getting bored waiting for them to open, and then to wait for service. I happen to have my camera in my purse and handed it to her to entertain herself while we waited.
Here is her collage.

I had to laugh because all the pics she took of me were clear and focused. But when ever she snapped one of DH, it was blurry. No matter how I tried to help her, his came out fuzzy. She was having a blast. And I have to say...she got some good ones.

Maybe I see a future involving Photography for her???

XOXO

First day of school...

2010-08-11T08:29:00.000-07:00

It's so hard to believe the kiddo's started school already. Now don't get me wrong, I was ready for them to go. Well, sort of. I was more ready for them to get out of my house and give me some peace. LOL.

So I officially have a High Schooler now. I'm still having issues with that. He informed us that he wanted "Dad" to take him to school on the first day in the "Cool new car" to show off and not "Mom". WHATEVER!!!I don't have any pictures of him on his first day. Sad. But he leaves at like 7:20am and I was just getting out of the shower, and well...the camera was not ready.

Emily is now a 4th grader! She is thrilled with it. Loves her teacher. And the best part? She has her Best Friend in her class again this year! Yea! They did Sleepovers all summer together and so it was like they've never been apart. My babies are growing up and I don't like it! *stomping foot on ground*

Checking for Mom & Dad one last time...

*sigh*

On the other hand, I only have 8 more years until the last one is out of school and on the way to my freedom!!!

Gotta look at it with the Glass half full attitude, right? ;o)

XOXO

Where have I been...

2010-08-05T13:51:00.001-07:00

I can not believe it has been so long since I blogged! I'm so sorry my friends. But I have a reason. A good one. You see, I was on vacation for 10 days!!! See? I told you it was a good one.

We went camping for 5 of those days. School shopped, unpacked and washed everything, moved furniture around, clothes school shopping, school orientations, school schedules, back to work and buried in work!

I can't believe summer is over already and the kids start school Tuesday. I am half excited to get them out and I am half dreading it because it means homework, schedules, carpool, projects, sports, practices, meetings. It means jumping back into LIFE! And I'm not really ready for that.

The kids are though. They are super excited to see their friends, see what teachers they have, classes, etc. Not me.

Monday we start Soccer. Tuesday we start School. Wednesday Mom has a nervous breakdown. Thursday DH kicks said Mom in rear and tells her to "suck it up". Friday Mom takes deep breathe and ignores the fact that her son is now in High School.

XOXO

P.S. Did I mention that DH had a Mid Life Crisis and went out and bought a Brand New Muscle Car with any mention or approval from me???? Yea...that's a post for another day.

I leave you with this...

2010-07-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

"This is you're world. Shape it or someone else will."

XOXO

Sooo...do you like it...

2010-07-23T23:59:00.000-07:00

I had to get a new look. I loved the one I had, but the site I got it from changed their server host and revoked them all and yadda, yadda, yadda. So I saw this one and loved it. Changed my Blinkies too. What do you think?

Thursday was my Birthday. It was a pretty OK day. But didn't get to do anything fun or exciting. Didn't have any presents to open. No Cake. No singing. No Cards.

I am officially on Vacation right now!! 10 days off! We're going camping for a lot of it. A big family trip. So have been getting ready for it all week. So much work. To plan food, buy food, pack food, pack dishes to make food, pack camping gear, do laundry, Pack for 4 people, load it all up...I'm exhausted already.

I'm getting too old for this. My vacations are now going to require a Hotel from here on out.

So no blogging from me while I am gone. I will finish up the Disneyland pics and stories (hopefully before we go) but if not then when we get back.

Will miss you all...

But I won't miss the housework.

Or the Bills.

XOXO