Ready for the New Year

I am sitting here at work right now, 3 am on Christmas morning. Not a lot going on, which is a good thing. I hate tragedy on holidays, especially this one. I requested to work tonight. Strange, especially for me, I know. As much as I would rather not work, I need the hours. Work has been extremely slow to the point that I am working sometimes only once a week. It has been like this for a couple of months. Everyone keeps thinking it will pick up because of "respiratory season", but we have yet to see the effects of that. Maybe once everyone hangs around family for the holidays that will change.
I am sad I won't be there in the morning to see the looks on my kids faces. Brett is going to try to hold them off for as long as he can. He told them he would even make them breakfast in bed, sweet, I know.
It is amazing to think how quickly 2010 has gone by. I can hardly wait to slap this year goodbye as it goes out the door. 2010 has to have been one of my least favorite years, EVER.
Lots of things happened, challenged us and helped us to grow. Maybe one day I will look back and cherish this year. Not today.
One good thing did come of the year and that was getting Brett back with us. Couldn't have asked for anything better. One more year til we are done with school and maybe I will feel some normalecy in my life. And truly, I can't complain because I am blessed with a beautiful healthy family!

Here's to hoping for a better year!

It's Great to be Eight

T-man is a huge Jazz fan. It has been fun to see this develop. He gets excited to hear about the games, asks his dad the final score, and loves to go to the games. His favorite player is Andre Kirilenko, AK-47.

He just turned 8. For his birthday party, he wanted to go to the Jazz practice facility, tour it with his friends and play basketball on the court. I didn't know if this was possible, but with a small connection ( wink, wink) to the Jazz, we were able to pull it off.

The kids loved it. Smitty was amazing. Made the tour fun, funny, and exciting for the kids. Their favorite part was Fesenko's size 19 shoe. That's right, I said NINETEEN.

Fifteen kids later, we had ourselves a party. They loved climbing up on the seats where the players get their ankles taped. They were each able to pick a player to stand in front of their locker to get their picture taken. Played a little hoop, some quick round of lightening. and then headed up for pizza and cupcakes. They even got to pick drinks out of the refrigerator.

Smitty had little bags for them all, each with player cards, a book and a Jazz fleece blanket. T-man got an autographed basketball from the team.

I think everyone came out a winner and some even scored!

Berry Fairy and More

What is up the weather being horrific every year for Halloween? I couldn't believe the torrential down pour we experienced just as we were walking out the door to go trick-or-treating. I thought I was pretty ingenious for coming up with this for lack of umbrellas:

My husband thought it was rather funny so he took a picture. Fortunately, the rain didn't last all that long and we were able to forgo the wagon. But right after the rain stopped, it got really cold. We hit a few houses and called it quits not longer after. The kids luckily had hit Brett's work up the day before and were overloaded with candy. They had 2 floors over 20,000 square feet each of cubicle after cubicle. Work provided the candy. Needless to say, we were on a sugar high way before the real thing even began. Peacocks, werewolf and a Berry Fairy, we don't get very creative in this house.

The LOVE Note

My 5 year old was so excited today. A boy handed her a sealed envelope at school today. She thought it was a birthday invitation. She opened it up and I heard a "HHHHUUUUHHH?" escape from her lips. A wide grin swept across my face as I glanced at the "invitation". "Oh", I exclaimed, "Your first LOVE note". And with that, I could see the blood inch up her cheeks. "But Mom, I don't even like him!" She wasn't quite sure what to think, but after a minute, I saw a sheepish grin come across her face and then she declared, "He has a crush on me".

About

My 5 year old informed my husband on Saturday what Fall really is about.

P: Dad, can I jump in that pile of leaves you just raked up?

Dad: No, I just raked them up, besides, I don't want you to get all messy.

P: Dad, jumping in leaves is what FALL is all about. And besides, it is Halloween, and we are supposed to have fun on Halloween.

Let's just say Brett couldn't argue with her. Chalk one up for the 5 year old.

Fall Fun

My kids look forward to this pumpkin patch every year. My husband almost squashed their dreams and decided since we had already carved pumpkins that we didn't need any more. I had to explain to him that it isn't about the pumpkins. It is about creating memories. It is about being together as a family. It is about time. It is about getting so muddy that we had to take our shoes off before getting in the car, and still having them sit in the garage to be cleaned. It is about being able to go through the corn maze. It is about being able to push a wheelbarrow to put the ideal pumpkin in. It is about being able to play on tractor after tractor. It is about being so cold, you think you might actually lose your hands, and your nose. It is about picking up a pumpkin, knowing it is the perfect one, then looking around to find THE perfect one, time and time again. After all, would it really be so bad if it was just about the pumpkins?

Beauty and The Beast

I took my daughters to Ramona and Beezus today. It was quite the heartwarming little story. I swear I read these books as a kid, but couldn't remember much of it. It gave me the gentle reminder to love my kids despite the challenges they bring. No matter how many times they really do squeeze the toothpaste all over the counter, or decide to help themselves pour a glass of milk, or make a pb and j sandwich, only to turn the kitchen into WWIII. Or the times it gets a little too quite for my liking and I have to go find my middle child getting into a little too much make-up, making her look like she is ready for the streets. These little moments too treasure!

But really, it is moments like the conversation with my middle child that really are worth treasuring. Also, that make me a little scared to see what she will be like when she is a teen!

While watching the end of Beauty and the Beast today:

P to Mom: I wish I was Belle.

Mom: She is really pretty, huh?

P: Yeah, but I just want to have TWO boys fight over me!

The Killer Bees

Last spring, while Brett was away at school and we were talking about the difficulties of him missing family things he very casually mentioned something to the effect of how he could even coach soccer if he were around.

He doesn't remember this conversation at all.

But that doesn't matter, because I did.

And of course, being the responsible and loving mother and wife that I am, I decided he should coach. Without even knowing if we would be here, I signed him up to be the coach of the U-6 league our daughter would be in.

Fast forward 6 months: the Killer Bees go on to have a 3-5 season. Not the season the coach was hoping for! He was patient and great with them although talking to him you wouldn't get the sense he felt that way.

He was so excited last week for the last soccer game....until I asked him what he was talking about. I had to inform him that it was the same league, the same players, the same team and the SAME coach for the spring season. If looks could kill, I wouldn't be typing this today.

I must say the kids really improved their soccer skills. Their listening skills can still use some work.

Way to go Killer Bees! Until the spring, wink wink.

Zoo Rendezvous

Nothing compares to people watching at the Zoo, especially at the Zoo Rendezvous. It is even better than the State Fair. This is such a fun event. It is for adults only. Entertainment, live music, animals out and about, and the few people I mentioned. Great food: Ruth's Chris, PF Changs, Donovan's, The Wild Grape, Flemings just to name a few. We got to ride around the zoo in a golf cart. Brett even was baffled by the magician. And there is something to say about riding the carousel with no kids.....it somehow brings out the kid in you.

La Familia

Brett hates familyshoots. Hates them. I have to laugh, because for a joke this year, I made him take this with me:

Didn't love it, hence the look he isgiving me while I laugh at him in this:

Havingsaid that, I thought it went well over all. My girls were sick the night before and then KK threw up that night. Very difficult to get a smile from her.

Let Freedom Ring

I just keep thinking how I have all this freedom now that the kids are gone all the time and in school. Laughing, laughing, laughing. Honestly, my life is more crazy now then it was before. I do get 2 hours once a week where all of the kids are gone. I say only once a week because the 2nd day KK is in school, I will be sleeping after 12 hours of blissful work. I will only get to sleep about 3 hours before I have to go get the girls from school, so really it isn't much. She just barely started, so maybe I will find these 2 hours more productive than I did yesterday. It really isn't much time to get much done. I barely made it into the shower. Between helping T-man with homework and running carpool everywhere, I don't find this freedom that everyone says comes. Maybe when they all are gone for the full day and I don't have to work, will I really feel like this statement has meaning in my own life. I felt bad about the older 2's pictures. It started to rain, and thunder and it was really cold the first day of school. The pictures I think show how dismal it really was. Maybe I should try to take some more, but does that really count?