Wondering

Have you ever had a falling out with someone and never understood why? Have you ever thought you were friends with someone just to find out they never felt the same way?

I have had this experience recently and the person, whom I thought I was friends with, informed me that we never were really friends. She hated the way I parented my children and thought that I was doing them an injustice because I am open and honest with them.

I always knew that our parenting styles were different and although I did not agree with her I never thought she was wrong. I just thought that as her children got older life would be much harder for her.

Well I have found out recently that her children are having many problems, in school and with health issues. Now I think Karma is something that we all need to be aware of and I am starting to think that it is working. I always thought that her negative attitude toward me would some how affect the way people look at me. She used to say awful things about my children and myself and I never knew any of it. I always kept our fights to myself never sharing them with other friends.

Now I am wondering if the universe has finally seen her for who she truly is. I would never wish any ill will towards her children it is not there fault that they have her for a mother. I am hoping that all these things happening to her that she will learn a huge lesson from them.

Sometime your children just need to be kids and sometimes that means making mistakes.

Happy Birthday Day

Jordan's Birthday was Sunday and I can not believe she is 7 years old already. She is getting so big and looks much older then her age.

She loves playing with her cousins and feels that she can be the little mother all the time. She is very good with them and sometimes her aunts and uncles forget that she is still a child herself.

She quit dance this year. I am not sure why other then she just didn't have the sprite of dance this year. At least that is what she told me. She is swimming again and I think she is loving it. She is starting to learn the strokes better and she even got her first gold ribbon. What an accomplishment that is. She is also trying basketball this year. I am hoping she will like that, we will just have to wait and see.


I can not wait to see what the next year is going to bring. She is growing so fast and becoming such a little diva. I am sure she is going to keep me running for many years to come.

Band Day

A couple of weeks ago was band day at UMass. This is were they get bands from all over to come and spend the day learning from each other and then the kids get to preform on the field during half time. This is the first time I have ever been to one of these events and let me tell you. I wish I had been in the band. Not only did they get to spend the day with college kids, how cool, they got to see how the college kids spend there day.


At 1/2 time during the football game all 3,000 kids got to play together on the field. There is nothing like seeing 3,000 band members on a football field playing the Shrek theme song.
It was truly amazing.

Jared had a great day and he can not wait for next years band day to come. If you are ever looking for something great to get your kids into I would recommend band.

Been a While

I know I have not been around in a while I have been working at the Big E, which is a local fair in my area. I will write more about the Big E later.

Right now I am so tired I can not think. We only have 2 days left of the fair and it is going to rain for at least one of those days. I will not be there because I will be at a Radio Disney event, which I am very excited about.

Twilight Saga

I started reading this book mainly because I love to read and wanted something different.

Well let me tell you I LOVED these books. I read all 4 of them within 1 week and thought that they were great. I loved the characters and what she does with vampires. She takes some of the myths we think of and changes them.

I understand that these books were written for teens and when my Brother-in-law found out I was reading them he was like, "So you don't really need to think when you read them" he likes to read books were you need a dictionary just so you can get through them. I like to read for the enjoyment of reading.

So if you get the chance and you are looking for something fun and different to read try the TWILIGHT SAGA by STEPHENIE MEYER.

On a sad note about these books. Stephenie was going to right a book from Edward's perspective and sadly she is not. As least not right now. Some how the rough draft of the book ended up on the Internet and people were able to read it in its unfinished version. This makes me very angry because not only did they take away her rights as an author, they also took away our rights as a reader.

Now instead of getting another great book from her and seeing it from another point of view, we now have to wait. Sure I can read it over the Internet if I want, she even has it on her own website. I read the first 2 pages from her website and had to stop. The book sounds like it will be amazing and I am hoping someday she will be able to finish it.

So I want to thank Stephenie Meyer for a great series. I can not wait to see what else you write.

School

We made it through our first few weeks of school and things are going well.



Jared is in middle school and I can not believe this. It seems like just yesterday I was taking him to his first day of kindergarten and he was afraid he would not have any friends. Now his voice is changing and he is becoming more like his father every day. He is mouthy and stubborn so we have lots of fun banging our heads together just to get homework done. He is also getting up at 6:00 am so he is a bear most days and I become a bear if I don't sleep so he and I will have to try very hard not to be bears at the same time.

He is very excited about his first dance and he really seems to be enjoying school.
Devon is in forth grade this year and although he love his teacher I think there are some kids he could do with out. He is a perfectionist and he tries very hard to make sure everything is neat and exact. So he has already had 2 melt downs because he forgot his homework at school. At this rate he will be crying more then laughing this school year. He has also started the REACH program this year. I am hoping that this will challenge him so he is getting the most out of school.

Jordan is loving school, who won't when they are in 1st grade. She has the same teacher as Devon and she is very proud of that. She loves to learn and is still amazed at all the new things out there. She is growing so fast I can not believe that she is my baby because she is not a baby anymore.

Hopefully the school year will be a great one. I know that it is going to fly by and before we know it it will be over. I am going to try and enjoy this year and spend lots of time with the kids.

Melt Down

We took the kids for a hike in the woods yesterday. We have been looking at different water falls for the past few years and this year I found on very close to home. It sounded very interesting and it had 6 different drops.



After hiking for about 2 hours and getting some great pictures we decided to let the kids go swimming in one of the watering holes. This is were Jordan had her melt down. First she was upset because her shoes had mud on them, Hello we are in the woods. Next she takes her pants off so she can go swimming. She throws them at me and they land, let me think, on the ground. Well that was the end of it she starts crying "I don't want my pants to get dirty" She keeps getting louder and louder and I am like "You are ruining my nice peace quiet here in the woods"

After crying for about 5 minutes she found that it was more fun to go swimming with her brothers. She had lots of fun and her pants were washed when we got home.
It was a fabulous day and I can not wait to go hiking again.

Vacation

This year we did not do a very big vacation. We went to many concerts and did lots of day trips so a big vacation was not really in the cards for us. We decided to take the kids to Mystic since Devon has been wanting to go the Aquarium and I really don't like the Boston one.
So we stayed in Mystic for 1 night and we did the Sea Port and the Aquarium. It was not long enough of a vacation and we would have liked to stay longer.
These Jelly Fish were some of my favorite!


The kids loved the Sting Ray tank. you got to put your hands in and touch the sting rays. This was a lot of fun.


The next day we went to the sea port. I think Jordan had more fun at this then the boys. The boys have both been to Sturbridge Village and Mystic is like that, except it has boats. It was a very educational day, which I am sure they could have done without.

So all and all it was a good vacation.

Harry Potter

The new Harry Potter movie was scheduled to come out in Nov of this year, sadly that date has changed to July of 2009. When researching why the date changed I learned that Daniel Radcliffe was going to be on Broadway. I was so excited I had to look up what he was playing in. "Equus"
As soon as I saw that I knew Jeff would not go.
See a few years ago one of my favorite actors from "Queer as Folk", Randy Harrison, was playing in the Berkshires and the play was "Equus". Jeff had never heard of it so he said "Sure we can go" The one day at work he was telling his friends and they were all like "Dude, do you know what that is about"

For those of you who don't know "Equus" is a brilliant done play about a boy who is obsessed with horses. One day he blinds 6 of them and the play is about this. It was also a movie that I had seen when I was in college. http://www.broadway.com/gen/show.aspx?SI=563868

I guess when I mentioned it to Jeff I left some of this information out. We went and saw it. I loved it, I thought the acting was brilliant and they did a wonderful job. Jeff not so much.

So I asked Lori if she wanted to go. Her reply: "I'm already there, in my mind. No, I have no issue with the fact that he is only 19."

I am so excited I can not wait to go. There is nothing like live theater!

Sadness

Today is a very sad day. Stephen was over helping Jeff measure out the deck to go around our pool. He had Bella with him, she is his 3 year old German Shepard/Hound dog. We were all standing in the back yard talking when I saw her start for the gate. I knew the gate was open and before I got out "Will she take off" She was already running. The next thing I heard was this BANG!

She had been hit by a car. She made it back to the gate by the house and she was breathing. She could not stand and would not get up. So Stephen cared to my car and we drove to the hospital. She died before we even got there. We took the next 1/2 hour saying good bye to her and then we came back to my house.

There is nothing I can say to make this better. I feel partly responsible because she was at my house and the gate should have been closed. Stephen understands it is no ones fault really. It is still a very sad day.

My Ears are Bleeding

Saturday night we took Jordan to see the Jonas Brothers. We thought that Avril Lavigne was the head liner, boy were we wrong.

We got to the show about 6:30 and it was already packed with screaming girls. At 7:00 Demi Lovato came on. She played for about 40 mins and then we had to wait for the next act. As the lights went out I put Jordan on my shoulder so she could see. I am thinking this is it, but the screaming is not that loud and the girls in front of us are yelling Avril, Avril. I look at Jeff and think we are so screwed. The Jonas Brothers are the last band.

This is the 3rd concert Jordan has gone to this year and she usually does not make it through much of the final act. She is usually asleep by then. Well now she is very mad at us and wants to leave while Avril is on. I take her and buy Cotton Candy, which is so overly priced I think I am going to drop dead right there. I need to sugar her up though so she can see a little of the Jonas Brothers.

So Avril finishes and we wait again. We wait 40 minutes for the Jonas Brothers and it is my living hell. Every time someone sends a message it is " Scream if you like Joe, Nick and Kevin. I do." Then 10,000 girls start screaming and this is just the beginning.

Once the lights go out and the music starts you can not hear anything. I am thinking I have been to many Rock Concerts and nothing compares to this. I could not even her them signing the girls were so loud. Well Jordan had enough after the first song. She wanted to leave so we told her she had to stay for 5 songs. She stood there counting each song just waiting for the pain to end.

After the 5th song we started walking to leave and we went into the building to go to the bathroom. After that we walked out and there were screens that we could watch the show on. We watched to more songs, only because they were from Camp Rock.

We left and I was totally amazed at how many people were leaving. I was also amazed at how I could still here all the screaming from were we parked.

Jordan will have to wait until she is a little order to go to one of these concerts. I am not deaf enough yet and my ears still feel like they are bleeding when I think about it.

Signing

I love to sign. I do it all the time. The kids have Rock Band for the Wii and I am always the vocal when we play. I sign in the car and when I put the kids to bed I sign them a song almost every night.

I would have loved to been a signing and in a former life I think I was. I do not know if I have a great voice. I think I am one of those people who would love to have a great voice, and I really don't

At the concert on Sunday Jared and I were signing to each other. Now at a Rock Concert you have to pretty much scream in order to sign because the music is so loud. Well Jeff recorded us at the concert and when I heard I thought my ears were going to Bleed. I said please don't ever do that again.

I sounded like a dying dog. Jared was very nice about it and said "You only sound that way because this is the 2nd concert in 2 nights and you were screaming not signing" Nice of him to try and save my ego.

So I will continue to sign and hope and dream and know that I will never be on stage some day.

I will have to leave that for Jared. He really wants to be in a band and the more concerts we go to the more he wants it. Since he will be taking vocal for the next 2 weeks he will have a much better shot then I do.

Right of Passage

Sunday night we took the kids to see Linkin Park. Jeff and I took the boys last year and they had a blast. Since their friends, Sammy and Jake, also love Rock Music and Linkin Park we decided to go again this year with them. Jordan came with us this time as well. Lori, my business partner and Sammy and Jake's mom, and her husband went.

This is the kids on the way into the concert. They were all very excited, and ready to Rock Out!

Since this was Sammy and Jake's first concert Lori decided that they should be allowed to get T-Shirts. My children have already been to 4 concerts and they got T-shirts at their first concert so Jeff and I decided we were not getting them new shirts. This made Jared very angry and I thought for a minute that he was going to ruin his night. I was like "You have 2 choices, either be made at me and have an awful time or get over it and have fun with your friends. I personally am going to have fun."


So while we are waiting for Linkin Park to go on the kids were playing and have a great time, that is everyone expect Jared.

Once the concert started everyone started signing and having a great time. Jared even came around and he was rocking out like the rest of us. About 1/2 way through the concert a security guard came up to us. I thought they were going to tell Devon to put his camera away, he had been recording part of the concert with the camera. The guard said "We need you to move into the pavilion because there is some bad weather coming."

We went into the pavilion and took the first 5 seats we could find. The kids were so very excited because now they were even closer. Jared informed me that he would like to sit in here from now on. We never sit in the pavilion because I am afraid it will be to loud and there really isn't any room to run around. Now I know if we take Jared he would like to sit there.

Jordan feel sleep as usually. This time she only slept for 1 song and it was right at the very end. So we are making progress with her.

After the concert we decided we would try and go to Denny's. Around here going to Denny's after a concert is a Right of Passage. It is like you have officially made it to the big time. So we went to Denny's. We had to wake Jordan up and she looked 1/2 dead and she ate all of her food.

I am hoping this is something the kids will remember for the rest of their lives. They have crazy wild parents that like to ROCK OUT, sing and the top of their lungs and dance around with not a care in the world.

Concert

Friday night we took the kids to see Hinder, Staind, and 3 Doors Down. We had a blast. Jordan was jumping around and headbanging like she has been doing this for years. At one point she came to me and said, "Momma, my head hurts."

I was like "Well if stopped all the head banging for a few minutes and just relaxed a little it might hurt so much." So she sat with me and feel asleep.

I did not realize that this concert was going to go so late, when Staind went on it was 9:00 and we still had one more band after that. Jordan feel asleep during Staind's last song and she slept though most of 3 Doors Down. Although she slept for part of the concert, she still had a great time and this is something she will remember for the rest of her life.

Jared and his best friend, Gage, could not stop talking about the concert. Jared would like to be in band some day and I always tell him, if that is what he wants then go for it. Since Gage was with us they both decided that being on stage is something they can do. Yesterday they spent the afternoon at Gage's writing songs and coming up with new beats. Someday maybe they will be on the stage and I will be in the front row cheering them on.

While Devon has fun at concerts, this one was to late for him. He is my artsy fartsy kid that loves to draw and look at the world quietly. Sometimes I think he only goes to concerts because that is what Jeff and I like to do. Someday he will confess that going to concerts was never really his favorite thing to do.

So we have another one tonight and I think everyone is very excited about this one. I will tell you all about it.

Tip of the Day

Give your kids some freedoms!

Yesterday my sister, Laura and her family were over swimming in my pool. My niece is 2 1/2 years old and she had a new bubble on yesterday. The new bubble does not give her as much support as the old one, so she actually has to swim a little in it. Laura and her husband, Eric, kept trying to get their daugther, Adrienne, into the pool. She would just sit on the ladder and whine that she did not want to come in.

I looked at Laura and said leave her a lone. Eric was busy with the baby, they have a 7 month old daughter Casey, so he had left Adrienne alone. I said she will come in when she is ready. So Laura stopped taking to her and what do you know. The next minute Adrienne was off the ladder and swimming.

You have to give kids freedoms whether they are 2 or 22. They need to know that they can do things on their own because you are not always going to be there to hold their hand. If they fall and need help getting back up you will be there for them, the need to fall first though.

So give them little freedoms every now and then and see how much they amaze you by the things that they can do. Children are not as fragile and unintelligent as we may think. They are very smart and learn things very easily.

Tip of the Day

Enjoy time for yourself.

I used to feel guilty about spending time by myself doing something I enjoy or spending time with my friends. Now I love it. I love being with my children and I also realized that I did not need to be with the all the time.

It has made me a better mother and wife because I am now doing things for me. That way I do not feel like I am just some one's mother or wife. I am starting to get me back a little and I love it.

So today do one thing for yourself. Whether it is reading a book or taking a long shower. Enjoy the quiet and love yourself for it.

Why am i so Tired

Maybe because my 11 year old is driving me crazy. He is a great kid and I love spending time with him. He is also very hyper and loves to bother this brother and sister all the time. Like this morning.

It is not even 9:00 and he is running around the house making all kinds of noises and just being a pain. He will sit on the couch and just start bugging one of them. I am so tired of hearing. "Jared, stop it, or Cut it out"

I tried to explain to him why this is a problem and he does not see it that way.

One day when he has an 11 year old and he is complaining about the same things I will be right there reminding him of these days.

Tip of the Day

Remember to wear Sun Screen.

I went to the beach today with the kids. Just the 4 of us and we had a blast. I remembered to put sun screen on the kids and even on myself. I remembered to reapply every 1/2 hour or so. I forgot to put it on the bottom half of my legs and now they are SCREAMING at me. I do not think they will forgive me at this moment.

I have applied cream to them in hopes that the screaming would stop and it hasn't.

Next time I will remember to apply sun screen. The days of baby oil and baking in the sun are over.

Little Girls

So I took Jordan to a jewelry party tonight since her grandmother was the one having it. I knew she would have loads of fun and that she would love trying on all the jewelry and looking at the purses. She got a new necklace and anklet, which she absolutely loves.

On the way home she was talking about my new purse and why she could not use it.

Me: "it is as big as your head. Grandma is going to get you a nice pink one."

Jordan; " Well can't we share this one. Since I am starting to act all lady like now and need a new purse."

Me: "Did you just say lady like."

Jordan: "Yes, since I spend all my time with boys, I do have 2 older brothers you know. I need to start acting like a girl and your new purse will help be do that."

Me: "Not now it won't"

I can not believe that at 7 she is already starting to take over my things. I also think it is funny that she need to start acting like girl, since when she got home she changed out of her dress and put on one of the boys tang tops and PJ bottoms to wear to bed.

I keep telling her all these boys will come in handy one day! She will learn and then we really are in trouble!

Tip of the Day

Making mistakes is okay. I was sitting talking with Lori about parents and why they are a certain way. We both agree that it is because parents do not want to make mistakes.

I say "Make the mistakes. Not only does it let your children know that no one is perfect it will also help them realize it is okay to make mistakes."

I figure I am going to make them so I might as well talk about everything with my kids and let them know that it is okay.

When they were little they looked up to me and thought I was perfect. Now they realize that I make mistakes just like everyone else.

So have fun and remember no one is perfect!

Temple Juice

We are sitting at dinner the other night and the kids ordered Shirley Temples. We started talking about them and how good they were.

Me: "How are those drinks?"

Devon: " Good, but they are just water and temple juice"

Me: "Temple Juice"

Devon: "You know the stuff that makes them good"

Me: " Now I know why you are some smart. It is all that Temple Juice"

Next time I get a drink I am going to order Temple Juice in hopes that it will make me smarter as well.

Troubling Times

Something that has really been bothering me lately is people. I do not know if it is because I just went and saw "The Happening" and then " The Bee Movie" right after or if the Pearl Jam concert really got me thinking.

I was watching a TV show with my children last night, they are 11, 9 and 6. As we sat watching I thought what is wrong with this. The kids in this show have no respect for authority and they think they should be able to do whatever they want. This make no sense to me. I am raising my kids to understand that they should respect people even if they do not like them and that there are consequences to the choice you make. Then they watch TV and get a totally different message. I never knew how much this bothered me until recently.

We always watch TV together and talk about the shows, and it made me think about all the kids out there who don't have that. They are watching these shows and thinking there is nothing wrong with the ways children are acting in them. It is very sad.

As I was talking to Lori about this she brought up another very good point. Children in TV shows or Movies usually don't tell there parents about the awful or difficult things that are happening to them. Another mistake because if my child was in trouble I would want to be the first person they come to. I want them to feel safe enough to be able to tell me anything.

So hopefully I am doing my job correctly, as their parent, and they will come to me. I hope that I have instilled enough values in them to make the right choices. I know that they are not perfect and they know this as well. Why because I am always telling them NOBODY IS PERFECT!

Happy 4th

Happy 4th to all.

We do not have big plans for the Holiday weekend. I am working today at the Monson Summerfest. We have been working at this fair for 3 years and we always have fun at it. It does usually rain and it looks like it will rain again this year.

Devon is playing in a soccer tournament and I think he is very excited about that. He has not seen any of his soccer friends since the season ended.

Looks like a quiet weekend for us

Enjoy and party lots!

Pearl Jam

We took the boys to see Pearl Jam on Monday night we had an awesome time. I think the boys really enjoyed it except for a few things, it was really loud, the people were crazy, and there was to much smoke. Okay so maybe I forgot how insane some concerts can be.

There were so many people there it amazed me. The smoke was a little much and the drugs, I completely for got about the drugs. Couple of funny things happened.

First, you can bring water bottles into a concert, but you can not keep the caps. This drives me up the wall. I can have lighters and all sorts of other things, I just can not have the cap to my water bottle, it makes total sense.

Second, I hate peoples lack of regard for certain things. I also can not believe how lazy some people can be. We are standing watching the concert enjoying the music when the following happened.

Stephen, who was standing next to me, turns and yells, "Dude, What the FUCK is your problem!"

I turn to see why and the guy behind us was peeing right there. I could not believe it. Like the bathrooms are so far away you can't walk to them or pee in a cup. No just peed right there on the ground. Jeff and I had just seen the happening and I now understand why nature would revolt against us. We are the most inconsiderate and disgusting creatures on this planet.

After all the my night was made because they played "Footsteps" This is the only song that I really wanted to hear because I have never seen them play it in concert. It means a great deal to me for many reasons and I am so glad that they played it.

All and all the night was a blast and I am so glad we went.

Boston

Yesterday we went to Boston so Jared could go to Children's for a follow up. He went there in April for his eczema, which he has had his whole life.

When he was a baby his skin was so bad that we used to have to hold him down just to put his cream on him. He would scream and cry like we were killing him. I am surprised that no one ever called DSS on us because if I ever walked by while we were putting his cream on I would think that they were torturing someone. Jeff would have to hold him down and I would lather him up. It was very difficult and the older he got the more he moved.

Finally after 10 years the doctors decided that they have done as much as they can for him and we are now going to Children's Hospital in Boston.

Last time his skin was awful and they gave us about 10 different meds and creams. This time his skin is looking great. There are still some spots on his feet that need work, and we are trying to find a way to fix those.

So all and all he is finally at a point were he is looking good. Yeah, it only took 11 years!

Tip of The Day

Today's Tip!

Enjoy your children. It goes by so fast and they get big so fast that sometimes I think we forget to just sit back and enjoy them. Yes they drive us crazy and Yes they do not do everything we would like. I bet if you really look at your kids they are good and they just stress you out because you have stress in your life.

So today sit down and just watch them. Listen to them and enjoy the wonder of being a child.

End of year party

Every year for the past few years we have had an after school party at Alice's house. This year was no different except that certain people decided that they would start a new one. I find it very interesting that Sandy will say "oh we are friends and we should be able to get along"

Then she has a separate party and does not invite any of the old people. I think she just likes controlling everything and can not let anyone have their own thing. Funny because at one time this would really bother me and not it doesn't now. I am not sure why she feels the way she does I just think it is sad.

Enough of the boring stuff.

The party was a blast and I had a great time. The kids had a great time. It is funny to watch them as they get older. They still play games and act like kids, then they talk about who likes who and why this one is mad at this one and so on. I love talking with them and finding all this stuff out. It matters to me that they are comfortable talking with me. Then the sleepover talk started and Alice said no way, boys are not sleeping over.

Last year they has a sleep over. It was Jared, Devon and Gage along with Rachel and Stephanie. They had a great time and they all slept in the living room together. This year they wanted the same thing and we were like yeah NO. (I will blog about children and sleep overs later)

Graduations

Jared graduated from 5th grade and Jordan graduated from kindergarten. It was very interesting to see how different these 2 events were.



Jordan's classes sang songs and did little skits. She even had her own solo song. She got to sign center stage all by herself with her classmates sitting behind her singing.



My mom said "she really loves this doesn't she" I said "Oh Yeah she would be on stage all day if she could" After they did all of there songs they got diplomas, which took forever because parents had to take so many pictures. Jordan decided to stay in school after she graduated. It was just her and 2 of her friends.



The 5th graders on the other hand did not sing any songs. The principle talked about all that they have accomplished and how much they will be missed. She also talked about the new road they will be traveling in middle school.

When the awards were given out Jared was very surprised that he got one. He told me that he came in 2nd in the spelling bee and he was very mad because he does not really like the girl that beat him. They went back and forth for 1/2 hour so the teachers felt they both deserved awards. He was so excited about that.

After graduation the kids came home and we had a little party with some of Jared's friends. I love being the hand out house.

Schools almost over

Well it is that time of year again when the sun comes out and the birds are singing and I am getting ready to put on my battle gear. The kids will be out of school in 3 1/2 days and I can not wait. I love this time of year.

Most parents hate when school gets out for various reason. For those who work you might have day care and that can be expensive and for those who stay home it is constantly trying to find things to entertain the kids.

NOT ME I LOVE IT! I love not having to get up in the morning. I also love that my children are getting older so they can get there own breakfast. I love spending the days with my kids doing new things or just hanging out. This is my favorite time of year and I know some of you may find that strange.

Last year Jared, the oldest, tried to convince me to home school them. I said "There is no way I can home school you because you would never learn anything. We would stay in bed and the house would never get clean" He thought this was a great idea, unfortunately though, I am unable to do this.

So begins another wonderful summer of playing like a kid and loving it. We have many big plans for the summer most of which I am sure I will tell you all about.

Happy Father's Day!

Tomorrow is Father's day and my kids are very excited because we got Jeff a Wii fit for Father's day. He has been talking about trying to lose weight for about 6 months now and his first plan is not working.

The deal was that every 5 lbs he lost he would get a nice gift from me. Basically he wanted a blow job. Now why this is different then anything we already do was beyond me, but I guess he thought that if he could only get one after he lost weight then he would lose it.

Well that lasted about 1 day. He lost 2 lbs and he looked at me and said "2 lbs right".

I said "Nice Try".

Since his first plan is not working I thought I would help him along. I think the kids will be using it more then he does.

Blue Moon

Jordan is watching tv and I hear Jared tell her.

"The name of this episode is Blue Moon"

Jordan " Oh Blue Moon, Mom my show is about Blue Moon"

Me " That is nice, what is it about"

Jordan: "Blue Moon is alcohol Right Mom"

And now I know I drink to much in front of my children.

Being Scared

Jared could not sleep last night and he kept coming down stairs to see me. I get frustrated by this because he never tells me what the problem is only that he can't sleep. Now he is the oldest and knows that in our house you can tell us anything.

Finally after 1 hour of this back and forth I finally got out of him what was wrong. He gets afraid that some one is going to take him and kill him. Pretty big stuff for an 11 year old. I told him so guy is not going to break into the house to take an annoying 11 year old who will just bug him all the time. I think he understood because he knows I am always complaining about that.

Also, he had not talked to Jeff and I think he was really missing him. This is the longest he has been away and the kids are just not used to it.

So Jared read until 11:00 and then even after he went to bed he still came in 3 times to tell me little things.

It is going to be a long summer if they are getting up at 7 am and not going to bed until 11 pm. I am going to have to start drinking more vodka just so I can me it through.

Soccer Jamboree

Saturday Devon had a soccer jamboree. This is were the kids play 3 20 min games, one right after the other.

The heat was awful, it felt like 100 degrees and I thought the kids would be dying on the field. We only had 1 sub so the kids had to play all the games.

And they did awesome. Devon made more saves then I could count. I hate watching him play goalie, but it is his favorite postion and he did so good on Saturday I could not have been prouder.

After the second game his coach picked him up off the ground and spun him around. They had played a team that was a division up from us and Devon did not let anything get buy him.

It was a great day!

Tired

I am so tired tonight I really should go to bed, but figured I had not written in a while so I would. The kids only have 13 days left of school and while this makes me very happy. I hate getting up in the morning to bring them. I know after about 1 week I might be sick of all the whining and complaining. Well now that I have totally changed what this was about I am going back.

Jeff left for Denver on Thursday and I woke up throwing up. It was so bad that I could not even bring the kids to school. They were great though helping me and getting me freeze pops.

I told Jared "See what you have to look forward to. When I ma old and you have to start taking care of me"

He was not happy about that and now when ever I ask him to do something he is like "Mom, remember when you were sick and I helped you." Like that should get him out of doing anything for at least a month.

Friday I slept all day and then my weekend went crazy. I never realized how much I relied on Jeff until he was gone. He does a lot more then I think and I really can't wait for him to be home, but don't tell him that.

I had a great weekend and I will write about it later. Right now I am going to bed!

A Great Friend

I know most of you do not know this, but one of my very good friends is going through a ruff time right now and I am halping organize a benefit dinner for her family. She is 34 years old and has a husband and 2 wonderful boys, ages 9 and 7. The following is a brief description of what her life has been like for the past few years.

In 2006 while battling Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), and Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), she was diagnosed with stage 4b Peripheral T-cell Lymphoma and under went a blood stem cell transplant. She was better for about 4 months and then they started seeing signs that the cancer had returned.

Now, two years later they are faced with the same issues as before, as well as some new ones. We just learned that Brandy may be losing her Health Insurance so it is very important for us to be able to help them. The doctors are hoping to give her a partial blood stem cell transplant, to hold off the cancer until a perfect match donor can be found for a full blood stem cell transplant. If she does not have insurance these procedures can cost up to $100,000. Brandy has not worked in 3 years and she will be unable to work for at least another 2 years.

This is what her husband had to say about her “She is an amazing person and wants to be around to see the kids grow up. Doctors have told us other people don’t make it this long. She is one for the books and I am lucky to have found her,” Eric said.

One of Brandy's favorite sayings is “there is always tomorrow, there can always be a better day"

How true that is.

24 hour Blood Pressure

So today I am doing my 24 hour blood pressure test. It is kind of a pain because I have this huge blood pressure cuff on my arm and then I have a monitor that I have to wear as well. I look kind of funny and the this goes off every 1/2 hour.

It gets so tight that I lose feeling in my hand and I feel like my arm is going to fall off from lack of blood. I can not wait to see how it feel tonight when I am trying to sleep.

All of this just so they can tell me that there is nothing wrong with me and I have to keep taking my meds for the rest of my life.

Isn't fun to get older!

Blue Bathrobe

Last night while Jeff was getting ice cream for Jordan I decided to get ready for bed. I walked into the kitchen wearing my blue bathrobe. He looked up at me and started shaking his head.

I said "What is so funny"

Jeff "Nothing I will tell you later"

me "Jordan has left so tell me"

Jeff "I think it is funny that I find you sexy in that blue bathrobe instead of some sexy lingerie"

And that is what happens when you have been married to long and have kids. Blue tear cloth bathrobes become sexy!

A Friend of Mine

I have a friend who has been battling cancer for over 2 years now. Her story is a long one which I will post about later. Right now I am posting regarding Stand Up 2 Cancer. It sounds like a great event to help raise money for cancer research. Please check out the 2 links below for more information. I am sure that I will be posting more about this as well as my friend.

Right now she is in the hospital recovering from a blood stem cell transplant that will hopefully cure her of the cancer.



http://www.individual.com/story.php?story=83220641

http://www.standup2cancer.org/

Memorial Day Weekend.

We had a great weekend. The weather was nice and we got a lot done.

Saturday - we had to buy some parts to fix the pool and then for my birthday we eat at the Olive Garden. Jeff was like so what are you going to eat. I said "I have no idea I only came her for the Italian Margarita" For those of you who don't know what that it is, it is a Margarita with a shot of Amaretto on the side. I love these and the only place to get a good one is at the Olive Garden.

Sunday - Steven came over to talk about the deck in the back. Well that gave Jeff an out for going to the parade. He was lucky he missed it. The parade was awful this year. It was basically a line of about 100 cars with a few bands thrown in. My sister and I have decided that we are going to write letters to the Mayor. He changed the parade from what it used to be and now it is worse then before. At night we went to Lori's house. Much drinking and eating an all around great time.

Monday - We opened the pool. The water was so green this year I told the kids were making a swamp instead of a pool. It is amazing what a lot of chlorine can do. Today the water is pool, but it is still far from being ready to swim in. After opening the pool we watched movies with the kids and just hung out.

It's a Small World

At the beginning of this school year Jordan met a new girl named Grace. I so her mom and was like I know her from high school, but could not figure out her name. She told me her name was Sue T, but I did not recognize the last name because it was obliviously her married name. After talking to her for about a week she told me her husband name. I was thinking to myself, “I think her husband dated another friend of mine and they almost got married.”

I called Sandee, a mutual friend, and asked her and she was like I don’t think so. Now it may have been because I said her last name incorrectly, but I totally forgot about it.

Well yesterday Sue says to me “I was at Look Park today and your name came up in conversation” Now I am really scared, because that usually means nothing good is being said. She told me she was there with Carrie and her son. I was all like “Carrie with 2 boys, and I named them.” She said it was the same one. I thought wow what a small world that she would know Carrie and that their boys played together. Then I found out how really small it is because guess what.

Sue’s husband is Carrie’s ex-boyfriend. Now I see nothing wrong with this, anyone who knows my story would understand why, but some people may find it weird.

Here are my thoughts. Life is too short to worry about the small stuff. Be happy and if you like spending time with someone, even if the rest of the world thinks it is strange, do it anyway.

Video of recital rehearsal

Her is a video of Jordan's tap number for recital

Concerts and recitals

This is has been on busy week for us. Tuesday night Jared had his first concert. He plays Sax in the elementary school band and he has had a lot of fun with it. Tuesday they had 40 students from the band playing together on stage. I was so impressed that these students, who come from 8 different elementary schools in the city, played so well together. After watching both middle schools and both high schools play they put all 177 kids on stage. I was very impressed since these students had only played together once before. It was a great experience for Jared because he got to see older kids playing instruments and I think he really felt like he fit in.

Last night we had recital for Jordan. It always amazes me how much older she looks. When she pulls all the hair off her face she is so beautiful I just love it. She was in 3 numbers, plus the finally. She is doing really well with it and she loves it.

I think it is funny because I am not the girly type and I don't really have a fashion sense. Then I look at her and think were did she come from.

Doctors

So I went to the doctor yesterday for my high blood pressure. I was seeing a kidney specialist because of my age and the thought is that there might be something else causing it, not just the stress in my life of raising 3 kids and having to be the human calendar for the entire family.

He told me if you stick 100 people with HBP in a room, 93 have it and they don't know why, scary. The other 7 have an underlying reason why and they try to fix that. After getting all my information he thinks I am one of the 93, but just to be sure he is going to run some test.

Guess what I will be doing in the near future. I will be catching all of my urine for a 24 hour period. I have to get all of it not even 1 drop can be missed or the test will not be accurate. So next week I will have to be like "Oh sorry I can't leave the house today I have to catch all of my pee in an orange jug” Not only that I have to keep to cold. Hope the kids don't mistake it for some new drink. I am so looking forward to this.

After that I have to wear a Blood Pressure cuff for 24 hours and it will take my BP every 30 mins. Boy don't I live doctors. All of this just to tell me that they are not sure why I have HBP.

I can’t complain it could be worse.

Concert Tonight

Tonight is Jared's first concert with the school band. he is very excited about it and nervous. I can not wait to see him up there playing with all of his friends. It will also be interesting because there are going to be over 200 students playing at one time. They are taking all the bands in the city and putting them together so we will have the 5th graders, the middle school kids and the high school kids.
How Exciting!

I will tell you all about it later.

Happy Mother's Day!

Yesterday was a great day. In the morning we had the in laws over for breakfast, nice, but short. Then we took the kids for a hike at the Notch. We had a great time doing with until Jordan started to get tired. She is only 6 so her little legs were getting too tired to walk. Well she finally fell and hurt herself so that was the end of our walk. We did see 2 snakes on our walk and heard lots of birds.

It did amaze me that while we were out in the woods, the kids got along great. As soon as we got back into the car the fighting started right way. I am thinking that we will have to stay in the woods for greater lengths of time because it was nice to have no fighting for a change.

After the hike we went to my moms house. This was also lot of fun.

So all and all a good Mother's Day!

Saturday morning

Jeff had to work at 8:00 this morning so the kids crawled into bed with me. This is one of my favorite things to do. Although they are getting bigger and we do not fit as well as before we have lots of fun, until. One starts tickling the other or just being goofy. This leads to stop that or you’re hurting me. Fun quickly leads to pain and then I have to kick them all out.

Today this did not happen. They all talked about their week and what new things they wanted to do. Maybe because they are getting older they no longer feel the need to bug each other, Right? I think it was all the video game playing until 11:30last night that made them tired this morning.

Start of the Day

So I really did not sleep much last night. I am not sure if I just have too much on my mind or if the beer and munches did not agree with me. Now I have to get breakfast for 3 tired children. What I want to know is when they will get their own. Devon and Jordan my 2 youngest have no problem helping themselves, while Jared the oldest would starve if I did not make him something everyday.

I know it is my own fault, I never forced him to learn how to do things for himself and now I am paying for it. Well that is all going to change this summer. He is going to learn how to make breakfast, so he can make me breakfast even now and then.

PTO

PTOs aren’t they are great thing. I am finding that it is always the same people and if you do not fit in with the click then you are out. They complain a lot about not having enough people to help, but it seems to me if I was an outsider trying to get I might not want to help either. There is a very tight group that controls the PTO and although on the surface they seem to want new people they really don’t.

I am not sure if it is like this everywhere, but it seems to be this way at our school. I also may feel this way because it seems to me that I am being pushed out of the PTO. I had an issue with one of the parents,someting totally not having to do with school, and I think she is trying to push me out. She will deny this totally and think that I am being the crazy one, but I believe this to be true. Everywhere I turn she seems to be talking to people that she never talked to before, why? Because she thinks it will get to me. Well I guess it has because here I am writing about it. Now that I have vented a little, which I am sure will be more to come since I see her every day, I am going to start my day by going to the gym. I have found it is a great stress reliever.