Look Who's 12!!!!

Happy 12th Birthday to the best most fantabulous young man in the world today!!  We love you to pieces Scott!!

Spring Break!!

We spent a lovely long weekend in the mountains and visiting family.  It was great to get away!  The kids had lots of fun and we walked and walked and walked!  I think I needed to get back to work to rest!  Exhausted but wouldn't trade it for nothing!  Best vacation I've had in a long time!  Hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend with your families!

What We've Been Up To

It’s been so long, it might be time for a quick update.  DH and I are still married--19yrs in Jan!  Wow!!  Seems like yesterday and a million years ago all at the same time! 

Sara is almost 12 now and getting ready to start Seventh grade in a few weeks!!  Sixth grade was a pretty big adjustment but she did well.  I don’t think Seventh grade will be too hard on her.  She’s a typical Tween—moody, sweet at times, argumentative, helpful, attitude (wonder where she gets that!).  She is going to try out for the school volleyball team!!  She’s nervous I know but she’s been going to camps this summer and she’s played recreation league for 2 yrs now so I think she has a great shot.  Keep your fingers crossed!!  She’s still in Girl Scouts and loving it!  She’ll be a second year Cadette this year and I’ll be a third year leader!  Wow!!  It’s really great though watching “my Ladies” grow and mature!

Scott is 10….and a half!  He’ll in Fifth grade this year!  He’s kinda nervous because he doesn’t know any of the teachers (he’ll have 3).  But I think once he meets them at orientation, he’ll be fine.  He is a second year Webelo Scout and will be earning his Arrow of Light and crossing over to Boy Scouts this year!  He has really enjoyed it!  I’m happy he wants to continue.  DH is the Den Leader still and does a great job!  Scott is gearing up for ice hockey again….I think.  He said this summer he might not play because he’s been playing for 6 yrs.  But he keeps talking about getting new equipment so I think he still will.  He’ll be a second year Squirt.  He played Upper House last year as a first year Squirt so we expect he’ll make Squirt A this year. 

Piper, the Hyper Dog is……still hyper!  LOL!!

Aww Geez!!

It's been over a week since I posted! So sorry!! Lots going on now: school will start soon (more to post on that later), girl scouts to start up (more to post on that later), hockey and volleyball soon (yes, more to post on that later!). Ah, it seems I have no shortage of topics.........just shortage of time! Stay tuned! I promise to have something soon!

So Tired

I'm so tired. It's been a long day, long week, long summer. Life with an ADHD child and a child who feels overlooked and insignificant because of an ADHD child is very tiring. They must be parented differently and one invariably feels the other gets the better deal. I'd just like one day with no whining, no complaining, no tattling, no repeated requests, no yelling, no stomping.....one perfect day. Is that too much to ask?

Wordless Wednesday

Yoo Hoo!

Hey! Have ya missed me???? It's been a long time hasn't it! Ahh, life got complicated as it tends to do and I've been away from blogging. I've missed it tho. Hope to keep more in touch. Lots going on with us here. School is starting soon and I'll have a 5th grader and a 3rd grader. So hard to believe!! Scott will be a Bear Cub Scout and Sara will be joining Girls Scouts for the first time and get this.....I'm going to be GS Troop Leader!!! EEEKKK!!!! Add in a busy husband, crazy Border Collie, hockey, volleyball, Silpada jewelry business, hormonal tween and ADHD and .....well......let's just say it's never boring around here!!!! I'd better learn to like roller coasters! Wanna join me for the ride????

Happy Birthday Mama!!!!

Today, I am also immensely thankful for my mother! She is an awesome lady with enormous strength. She was diagnosed with Lupus in her early twenties and told she’s be dead in 6 years. Well, she definitely beat that!!! She went on to get married, have 2 children and now has 2 grandchildren. She's a great Mom!! She hasn’t had a easy life. Lupus is an autoimmune system that attacks a lot of your systems. She has had quadruple bypass surgery, arterial grafts, 5 hip replacements and 1 knee replacement and she’s still going at 68 years old today!

Happy Birthday Mama! I love you!!!

Impromptu Date Night

Hubby and I found ourselves in the nice situation tonight. Sara went on a sleepover and the neighbor offerred to keep Scott for a few hours so we could go out dinner....alone! Oddly enough, we both passed on the offer at first. It's kinda nice to spend time with the kids one at a time. Scott is a totally different child when he doesn't feel the need to compete for attention. But he was also feeling sad and wanted a playdate since Sara got to spend time with friends so we took them up on it.

We decided to have an early dinner and enjoyed a great dinner at the Japanese steak house. We got a regular table rather than sitting at the grill. It was wonderful! I hadn't had this food in ages! But I ate WAY too much! We had a great time just talking. Normally when we go out, we don't really talk....just eat and stare around the room. But tonight it felt so comfortable. It's been a long time since I felt so connected. What a great day!!

Quarantine

I've hung the white sheet on my door. Added a sign "Quarantine--Do Not Enter". Believe me, you do NOT want to visit me now.

Sara started it last Monday night. Said she didn't feel well right before bed. Then it was painfully apparent. Thankfully, she was already in the bathroom. Better the next day but home from school. Fast forward to Friday morning. She came to my room at 7am. "Mom, there's something all over my bed and it smells really bad." UGHH!!! I had to take the comforter to a cleaner to try to save it!!!

And now, today. Scott was sick at after school care. We barely made it home before he was sick again. Poor thing!! And the icing on the cake? The dog is sick too!!! I'll spare you the gory details but let's just say she needs a new bed and we had the windows open in 30 degree weather!!!!

I have worn my hands to the nub washing them because I do NOT want to share this! Sure hope Hubby stays well, because you know how men are when they are sick!!

Santa Meets The Tooth Fairy

Well, it's Christmas here! Merry Christmas to you all!!

I am still up. We are anxiously awaiting TWO magical icons tonight! Santa, of course, will be here---just as soon as Sara gives up and falls asleep!!!!! She has been having bedtime troubles for sometime now. I thought the fear of being skipped by Santa for still being awake would help tonight, but alas, the excitement is too great and she is STILL up requesting curtain calls--what was that noise? I'm too hot. My tummy hurts. I thought I heard prancing and pawing!! Ah.....perhaps she eventually will fall asleep so St. Nick can stop in!

But the REAL excitement is for Scott. You see, he lost his very first tooth today! Yes, he IS almost 7 and we were beginning to think he'd keep his baby teeth until college! He is so excited!!! He put the tooth at the edge of the bed so the Tooth Fairy can find it! I can't wait to see what is more exciting to him in the morning: Tooth Money or Santa Gifts!!

Oh and it's Piper, The Hyperdog's Birthday today! She's 2!! Lot's going on at our house today!!

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and ask that we all remember the reason for the season. Happy Birthday, Jesus!!!

Get LOST

We have gotten LOST! Hubby found it surfing one night on the SciFi Channel. I asked him, "why is that on the SciFi Channel?" Well, it's actually SciFi and we are total SciFi buffs! I watched one episode and I was hooked! It comes on for 4 hrs each Monday night. We TiVo it of course and stay up late to watch it after the children go to bed. Once we start, we just cannot stop until all the episodes recorded are watched. Yes, we are totally addicted!!!! The new season starts January 21st so we expect SciFi will go through all the old episodes by then so we'll be caught up. Check out this cool widget but don't look ahead, it will ruin all the fun!! Come get LOST with me!!!

Need A Little Christmas...

I’m so not into the spirit this year. The tree is STILL not decorated. Hubby put it up a week ago and I JUST finished fluffing it last night. The kids have been begging to hang the ornaments but I just could not get my butt in gear. I didn’t sing in the Christmas concert this year…..didn’t even go to hear it. Hubby was supposed to take Friday off with me to do the shopping but now he can’t. The shopping is mostly NOT done!! And Christmas is just a mere 10 days away!!! I think…………..

We need a little Christmas
Right this very minute,
Candles in the window,
Carols at the spinet.
Yes, we need a little Christmas
Right this very minute.
It hasn't snowed a single flurry,
But Santa, dear, we're in a hurry;
So climb down the chimney;
Put up the brightest string of lights I've ever seen.
Slice up the fruitcake;
It's time we hung some tinsel on that evergreen bough.
For we need a little music,
Need a little laughter,
Need a little singing
Ringing through the rafter,
And we need a little snappy
"Happy ever after,"
Need a little Christmas now!!!

Kid Fears

It began earlier this summer. Our neighborhood had a rash of break-ins. It was a hot topic with the neighbors. Little ears are very perceptive. We began to arm the security system during the day while we worked and at night. Our family changed.

The children who used to play easily in the living room while I did housework in the bedroom now scream and come running when I walk more than 3 feet away from them. Thankfully, Scott has not become afraid at bedtime. He is so active that he pretty much goes to sleep once his head hits the pillow. Sara, however, is a different story.

She's terrified to be in her room alone. She will start telling us she is scared before she even gets to her room. All our attempts to help fail. She can't seem to verbalize her fears. Sometimes it noises she can't describe. Sometimes it's her closet. Sometimes it's just "stuff". It's maddening. We want to help her and understand she is truly afraid but it ultimately culminates in frustration on both sides.

She begs me to lay with her which we will not do. We try to monitor her TV as she is at the age now where the fears are not "monsters under the bed" but REAL fears like fire, tornados......someone breaking in. And it is worse when Hubby isn't here at bedtime. She's always been less secure when he isn't here. We try not to make a big deal of it.....acknowledge her fears and reassure her she is safe but then change the subject and try to get her to think happy thoughts. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. Many nights she finally gives it up based on shear exhaustion.

The really heartbreaking parts are like the night she told me she wished she could just go to sleep like Scott does and that she wished it was the way it was a few months ago when she just called me back a couple of times and then went right to sleep. That makes THREE of us!!

And then she was 8!!

My little red-headed one is growing like a weed. She’s almost as tall as I am. Of course, I’m only 5’1” so it’s not going to be hard to pass me up! She’s a big 3rd grader now. She’s gotten her ears pierced. She loves to wear leggings and babydoll tops. She loves Hannah Montana/Mylie Cyrus, the Cheetah Girls, Hillary Duff and the Jonas Brothers.

She’s not my baby anymore. She’s 8!! Happy Birthday, Sara!!!!!

School Days.......

School days, school days
Dear old golden rule days
Readin' and 'ritin' and 'rithmetic
Taught to the tune of the hickory stick
You were my bashful barefoot beau
I was your queen in calico
Those were the days I loved you
When we were a couple of kids

Yes, it's that time of year. Yellow buses on the roads in the mornings. Car Pool lines. Book bags and lunch money. Another school year has begun.

Sara is in the 3rd grade this year. She has a first year teacher again this year but so far so good. Sara likes her so that's half the battle. The homework is definitely a step up this year but she's doing very well with it.

Scott is in 1st grade and has a really good teacher. She's been teaching for 15 years and relates well with Scott. His goal this year is to earn the conduct medal at the year-end awards ceremony. He was so disappointed that he didn't get one last year. It has proven to be a great motivator for his conduct this year. He is excited to do his homework each night and is doing great with reading and spelling. Hopefully we won't have the conduct concerns we had last year!!

Here's to a great year!!

That Can't Be My Child!!

My kids tried swim lessons last year. We’d only been to the pool once or twice before that so they didn’t have much experience with the water. Scott started out gung-ho but stopped dead in his tracks when he realized the water was over his head (bad experience getting in over his head at a pool party). Sara didn’t want anything to do with it but she grudgingly submitted, frowning and scowling the entire time. She’s a really strong swimmer but she refused to put her head in the water so they wouldn’t pass her. Of course the very next week, she put her head in!!

Now it’s almost a year later. With hockey all winter, we didn’t have time to get to the pool so we are basically starting all over. I took them to the indoor pool last weekend to try to re-acclimate them. Sara got in but really didn’t want to put her face in the water. Scott wouldn’t get off of the steps. Looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us again this year.

This holiday weekend, of course the pools all opened so we braved the crowds and went to the outdoor pool on Sunday. It turned out to be not so crowded but the daytime temps haven’t been that high so the pool was very…….VERY COLD!!! Scott again would get off the steps but Sara was amazing!!

We had gotten some diving sticks to help them get their heads in the water. Sara brought them all into the pool and Hubby worked with her. At first she just kept saying she couldn’t do it, but a friend from school came over who could swim and that seemed to help. She started putting her face in and coming right back up. Then she worked up to really going under and trying to reach the sticks. She just couldn’t seem to get to the bottom of the pool. She really wanted to do this and was frustrated that she couldn’t, so Hubby held her hand and pulled her down low enough to reach and she got one!!!!!! She was so proud of herself!!! She kept working on it and soon she was just holding onto him so she could pull herself down and she was picking up 2 or 3 sticks. By the time we left (and we were only there 2 hrs), she was going under and STAYING under long enough to pick up all EIGHT diving sticks!!!!!!

We were so amazed!! Hubby said when she started staying under for so long, he wasn’t even sure it was her!! She’s come soooo far from last year! We may be looking at the swim team soon!

What? or better yet....... WHO?

I am in a state of confusion. My brain is muddled. What do I want to be when I grow up? Maybe the better question is WHO do I want to be? When I was young, that question seemed simple—a singer or a lady truck driver (thank you ”BJ and the Bear”). Where did those dreams go? Well, I sang in church all through high school then I slowly faded out of it. I recently have sung Christmas concerts with the local Chorale but twenty years of neglect has really done a number on my voice. Where I once was a top 1st soprano, I now struggle to sing second and secretly consider converting to alto. As for the lady truck driver, I can’t even back up my minivan so I think an eighteen wheeler is totally out of the question.

Once out of college, I poured myself into the corporate world. My goal then was to be the VP of quality for a medical device or pharmaceutical company. I was young…..ambitious……stupid. A few years later, I got married and the long hours and travel I was doing wasn’t much fun anymore.

Then I had children and my whole world changed. At first, I just wanted to keep working to have that “grownup” contact and I still enjoyed what I did. Now, I just want to be home. I can’t keep up with the house and the Hubby and the children and the Piper dog. I sit at work thinking of all the things I could be doing if I was anywhere but there. Don’t get me wrong. I have a good job. I make a difference for people with what I do. I have a great boss…..which is VERY difficult to come by. I make good money. But still……..I’m not happy.

I’m working on a home business that could really explode for me and eventually be my own boss…..but even with the prospect of leaving my daily 9-5 behind and working for, well, ME, I still lack motivation to achieve this.

Maybe it’s a midlife crisis hitting just a tad early. Maybe it’s a dash of depression sneaking in here. Maybe I’ve just not found my sweet spot in life.

So WHO do I want to be?

--a really good Mama who has the time and energy to spend with her children, and has the patience to help them work through their developmental phases which are wreaking havoc in our home.

--a really good Wife who has the time to keep the house kept up, who doesn’t harbor bitter resentment against her Hubby for what he does………or doesn’t do, who can forgive and forget.

--a really good Woman who takes the time to indulge in the things she enjoys like writing and photography and growing her business.

Now, how do I do this?

Marriage Monday--The Crazy Way We Met

Want this button?

Today I am participating in Marriage Mondays at Chrysalis. Thanks to Kim at The Bitter Ball for cluing me into this one.

The topic for this month is The Crazy Way We Met. To tell the story, I have to go back in time to even before Hubby and I met. I grew up in the mountains of Tennessee and then moved to the northern suburbs of Chicago with I got out of college. My brother knew Hubby from church. They were both interested in the same woman (another church member) and were at that time mortal enemies. It turned out, she wasn’t interested in either of them but that’s another story. So then they became friends. He started hanging out at my parents’ house and I think they “adopted” him.

The summer of 1992, I went home to visit for July 4th. Mom said that Hubby might come over because she had been talking about me and he wanted to meet me. MOM!!!!!! Ok, whatever. On Saturday, he came and helped my Dad mow the lawn and Mom invited him to have dinner with us. No biggie.

On Sunday, we sat together at church and then went hiking with a friend of mine. We had a lot of fun together. My friend said, “I think he likes you”. On the way home, he asked me to go to see a movie with him, Patriot Games. “Sure” I said. I think he almost fainted. So it went through out the week. I think we saw each other at least every other day.

Saturday came and was July 4th. Mom was having a cookout for the youth group so we all helped with that and then we went to see the fireworks. Something about those fireworks. I think they were magical. After the fireworks, we sat and talked for a long time. He leaned over and gently kissed me. I said, “you know, long distance relationships don’t work out”. And I kissed him back.

Spring 1993 came and we were engaged. Winter of 1994 came and we were married. So 16 years later, I must admit I was wrong. J

Interview with a 6 year old

April 24, 2008. 7:30am

Mom: So how old are you now?
Scott: {{holds up five fingers on one hand and a thumb on the other}}
Mom: So how old is that?
Scott: {{draws a “6” in the air}}
Mom: So how old is THAT???
Scott: Six!!!!
Mom: Wow!! Six years old? How does that feel?
Scott: BBWWAHHHHH!!!!! {{does a crazy dance}}
Mom: So what does THAT mean?
Scott: Good!!!
Mom: Tell me what you can do now at 6 that you couldn’t do at 5.
Scott: Go to the Sunshines. (that’s the next afterschool class up at our daycare)
Mom: Well, tell me how you are going to celebrate being 6.
Scott: TRANSFORMERS PARTY!!!!!!!!
Mom: You know what?
Scott: What?
Mom: I love you!!
Scott: I knew that!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Scott!! We love you lots!!