New Year 2017: Let's Catch Up

So, I made one whole post in 2015 and nothing in 2016. I have to tell you I've missed my blog. So, with the new year comes a new commitment to my blog and maybe vicariously, myself.

And while I have a TON of things swimming around in this little head of mine to talk about, I think I'll start with an update since it has been 2 years since I wrote anything.

LW: What do I say about my little Lone Wolf (who as a reminder can't do anything alone)? She's still plugging away at her undergrad degree. She's only take one or two classes a semester because she's working almost full time at a swim lesson company as tech support. She moved out of her grandmother's and moved in with her boyfriend at his parent's house. They hope to move out into their own place soon.

GG: My sweet Glamour Girl is about to start her LAST semester of her under grad degree. When LW moved out of their grandmother's house, GG moved in. She has two new kitties and is happily single and having fun with her friends.  Last I heard she planned to work for a year before going back for her Masters.

The Hubs: He completed not only his undergrad, but just wrapped up his graduate degree. His biggest issue now is having  no clue what he wants to do it all of his new found spare time after 6 years of schooling.

Bunny:  My girl is 11 now. And a 6th grader. Can you believe that?? Not to sound like the proverbial old woman, but when did that happen???? And where was I??? Okay, back to Bunny. 6th grade in a new school where she didn't really know anyone with 7 different classes and teachers and teaching styles and expectations has been an adjustment. Throw in all of her classes are honors and it has been not just an adjustment but a challenge.  She and I are working through studying and organizational skills.  She's also did soccer in the fall, she's a girl scout, and in choir and youth group at our church not to mention socializing with her friends. She's a very busy kid that's for sure.

Bug: My boy is 9 years old now and in the 3rd grade. He's a soccer playing superstar and is about to try his hands basketball in the Spring. He did baseball last Spring but decided it wasn't his thing. He's had exactly one scrimmage for basketball and loved it. As a girl who grew up on basketball, this mama couldn't be more proud. I just hope his games don't interfere with March Madness! He's also in his 3rd year of boy scouts, and in choir at our church.

And Me: I'm 42 now. 42. Most of my life right now is kid centric (can you say driving the kids across all God's creation All. Of. The. Time) I think this year will be more about my own journey.  So if you're interested in reading about how this middle aged caterpillar transforms into a middle aged butterfly..you're welcome to come along for the ride.

Seriously.. Thought?

PS Happy New Year Everyone!

The Big 10

Today is our official 10 year anniversary.  If you know our family at all, you know a rose ceremony was part of our wedding.  This is where we all (LW, GG, The Hubs and myself) exchanged roses.  The point of this was to symbolize the change in our relationships as we became a family and we come together every year to exchange roses again - adding Bug and Bunny along the way, and talk about what our personal goals are to help make our family stronger.  Since we're all very busy people, we don't always do it exactly on our anniversary, so last night was our night to celebrate.  Since it was our TEN YEAR anniversary, I thought I'd shake things up a bit.

A few weeks ago I sent an email out to LW, GG and The Hubs asking them to provide me with 10 unique reasons they like/love LW, GG, Bug and Bunny respectively - with  reminder that they can't submit reasons why the love themselves.  Their egos are fine people, just trust me on this.  I sat down with Bug and Bunny separately and asked them to do the same thing. Then I got to crafting, hole punching, cutting - SO MUCH CUTTING - and double sided sticky taping and this is what I came up with.

Each kid was presented with this little booklet, made from playing cards and craft paper. It included 10 reasons from each of their siblings, 10 reasons from The Hubs, 10 reasons from me and then two extras reasons about why we like/love them to make 52 reasons.

The thing I really liked about this project was it really made everyone think about each other.  Really figure out what it is they love about them.  It was fun to see when everyone came up with similar answers - Like Bug is really funny, or Bunny sings a lot.

And more funny when the answers contradicted each other.  Like when LW said that GG wasn't judgmental, but GG said that one of the things she loved best about LW was that they could sit and judge things/people together.  (All in good fun of course - no feelings were hurt in the making of these booklets).

The best part though, was letting the kids read their booklets and try to figure out who said what.  Some were obvious, and some not so much.

But ultimately, it let each of the kids feel really good about themselves and about how the rest of the family sees them.  I can't believe we've made it 10 years, but it's easy to see the love in our family that holds us together.

Seriously.. Thoughts?

PS - this project was not my idea, I found it on Pintrest!

Empty Rooms

GG's room over the last week has slowly but consistently been emptied of all it's possessions.  Some are going into boxes in the attic.  Some are going into bags to be donated.  A lot of things are just being thrown out altogether.  And some things are being packed up to go with her.  She's moving onto campus this weekend and slowly watching the progression of her character filled room turn back into just four walls is a little bitter sweet.

When each of the older girls got old enough to start thinking about college, I told them about my experiences.  I told them about living in the dorms.  Making sleds out of cafeteria trays.  About seeing the "Grade D Meat Suitable For Human Consumption" boxes on the loading docks and eating baked potatoes and cereal the whole rest of the semester.  I told them about dropping classes because I couldn't understand the professor.  About TA's who made me crazy.  I told them about the professor who gave me an F on his final in his words because "I obviously have no idea what I'm doing" and in my opinion because he doesn't give A's in his class and failing my final was the only way I was not going to have an A in his class.  I told them about my roommates, frat parties and delivering margaritas in the shower.  I also told them about professors and classes I loved.  About projects that took me weeks to get right, and about late night study sessions at The Pantry - the only 24 hour coffee place that would let us poor college students stay as long as we liked as long as we purchased one bottomless cup of coffee.  And I told them about the amazing friends I'd made, friends I still have today (you know who you are!).

When LW went off to college, she had to do the same thing.  Clean out her room.  I had similar feelings then about watching her room slowly empty of all its character.  I think in a different house, I might have let each of the girls keep their rooms and all their old things just as they left them.  But maybe not.  Cleaning out all your childhood stuff I think is a rite of passage.  Giving yourself permission to let go of that life and fully embrace the new experiences ahead of you might be just as important as the experiences themselves.  At any rate, in our tiny three bedroom 1200 SF house, space is at a premium and LW had to clean out her room to make way for GG, and now GG is cleaning out her room to make way for Bunny.  It's tradition now, I guess.

I've described GG's entrance into the collegiate world as an adventure before, because that's truly how I see it.  New people, new places, new experiences.  Moving on campus with its semi-independence is another huge step into adulthood.  And I am at the same time excited for her, sad to see her go and a teeny tiny bit jealous of the journey she's about to go on.  College was for me, one of the very best times of my life and I know to the bottom of my heart, that she will love it as much as I did.

Seriously.. Thoughts?

.

Hiccup, Toothless & Astrid

Santa thought we'd been good, so he gifted us with 6 tickets..

to How To Train Your Dragon A Live Spectacular.

Where we got to see Hiccup and Toothless meet for the firs time.

See the gang learn about dragons.

Saw Astrid and Hiccup fall in love.

And watched the most amazing flying fight scene against the big dragon who enslaved the other dragons.

Best. Christmas. Gift. EVER.

Seriously.. Thoughts?

When Friends Become Family

As a family, we've been part of the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) for over ten years now.  We were invited one event to come out and camp for the weekend and we loved it.  Quite honestly, what's not to love?  Dressing up in historical(ish) clothes, getting to do arts and crafts, and camping plus shopping for things that have no place in the ordinary world but are still super cool like daggers, swords, armor, and all things dragons, fairies and fantasy.

But it's the people that have kept us going back year after year, event after event.  We camp with an amazing group of people every year.  We started out as a bunch of single people out having drunken revelries, then we got married, started bringing LW and GG (who the whole clan adored and immediately adopted), then more little kids (our Tweedles included) started popping up and we've moved from the party encampments to the quieter ones with quiet hours.  The experience when we go has changed over the years, but we keep going back because we love the people.  And after 10+ years, they've become family.

Last weekend we had the anniversary event of our clan - the Scottish kind, not the KKK kind.  Just a weekend to spend with people we only get to see a few times a year, to catch up, and be amazed at how the kids have grown.  Be excited for good news, commiserate with bad news and do what families do best.. EAT.  We had an amazing feast with turkey and all the trimmings, drinks, laughter, good fun and friends.  The best kind of weekend.

The best kind of weekend that was made just a tiny bit better by a hysterical and completely inappropriate game GG found.  It's called Cards Against Humanity and again I can't emphasize enough how inappropriate this game is.  It's a simple game, similar to Apples to Apples, where a black card is read and everyone has 10 pre-written white card to choose from to give the funniest answer.  The funniest answer wins the black card and at the end of the night, the one with the most black cards wins.

For example: the black card may read: What is my anti-drug?  The white cards could read: Santa Claus or Passive Aggressive Post-It Notes.  This is an adult game as some of the answers are much more raunchy than than my examples (this is a family blog after all).  So we waited until all the kids were put to bed to play and the game went on until the wee hours of the morning with so much laughter, our stomachs were sore. They were out of stock of the game last weekend, so we simply downloaded the pdf and had the cards printed at staples for under $10.  Doesn't get any better than that!

I didn't take any photos from our event. I brought my camera, but was having so much fun, I forgot to use it.  Maybe next time.  Meanwhile, we went all of last year without doing a single SCA event and this year, I think this year we're ready to get back in the game and do events again.  So, expect more pictures to come!

Seriously.. Thoughts?

November / Birthdays / NaNoWriMo

Tonight is Halloween and can I just say, whose bright idea was it to have it on a Wednesday?  I seriously think kid-centric holidays should always be on a Friday or Saturday.  Like Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday.  Give us poor parents a break!  Regardless, I'll be taking The Tweedles out to trick or treat in their Halloween finest and The Hubs - whose professor canceled class tonight so she could trick or treat with her own kids - will hopefully be joining us if the traffic gods allow.  We'll hit Mimi and Nanny's house and prowl Mimi's neighborhood before hopefully making it home before 8pm so the kids (and us parents) aren't too exhausted for school/work the next day.  Here's hoping.

And then, we'll be in November.  NOVEMBER.  Where the heck has this year gone?  I swear, it was just January a moment ago and now we're already hitting the Birthday Trifecta (Bug / Bunny / GG) and Christmas.  My bank account and I are overwhelmed.  Thankfully, thanks to some summer sale shopping for Bug and Bunny, they're pretty much set.  We're still working out what we'll get GG and LW for Christmas.  and GG is turning 18 which is a pretty big milestone.  We'll have to find something special for that since we won't be throwing a party.  The last few years has been pretty GG oriented.  Two years ago she had her Sweet 16 which was a full on backyard bash and last year she graduated so we saved our pennies for a big graduation blow-out.

This year, I've decided it's finally time for Bug and Bunny to have their first friends over birthday party for what will be their 5th and 7th birthdays respectively.  I've been shopping around trying to find something that not only won't blow the budget, but will be good for both boys and girls and the different age ranges.   I think I've settled on Jump 'n Jammin'  which is an indoor playground of sorts.  The kids can bounce, climb, jump, run, scream and generally be crazy for two whole hours with cake and pizza and when they're done, hopefully they'll all be so exhausted the parents will thank us for wearing them down.  The best part?  No set up or clean up for us.  It's win/win people!

November first is also the start of another adventure for me.  I'll be participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) where my goal will be to write 50,000 words in 30 days  - that's 1,667 words a day for those of you keeping track - which amounts to a novel.  I admit that I'm not sure I'll reach my goal.  I have a pretty good idea of what I'll be writing and gave you all a snippit of it last Sunday, but I have no outline, no character build up or really any kind of organization.  Just an general idea of what the story-line might be.  I plan to wing it.  Yeah, I'm surprised too.  That's not generally my MO being the uber-planner that I am, but I'll jump into the deep end and see what swims to the surface with me.  Hopefully it won't end up being some idea sucking tentacled writer's block.  I hate tentacles.

The blog may suffer a bit while I try to meet this goal.  I might try to supplement my blog with more story snippits or complaints of why I put myself through these things or well, random nothingness just to let you know I'm still breathing over here so bear with me.  I promise to make it up with lots of fun in December.

Seriously.. Thoughts?

Overheard Vol. 2

Bunny - "How do you know?"
Bug - "My brain is smart."
Yes it is my man.. yes it is.

GG - "I'm SO excited about your scarf!  Wanna feel it?"
She burst through the door of her room and was so random I just about died laughing.



Bunny - "Cookies! Cookies!  Would anyone like some fresh cookies?"
Bug - "I want a cookie."
Bunny - "We only have tomato-red velvet."
Bug - "Yummy!"
Tomato-red velvet, can you imagine?

Bug - "Everyone be quiet, this is my favorite song."
Bunny - "You don't even know the name of this song."
Bug - "I don't know the name, but I love this song!"
You gotta love his enthusiasm - and I love Cowboys and Angels too!

Bunny - "I would never talk to anyone who makes potions.  Unless it's in science class."

Seriously.. Thoughts?

And Now It's Too Late

"Where there has been cold, you have brought warmth.  Where my life was dark, you have brought light...

..the true magic of our love is not to avoid changes, but to navigate them successfully..today I take my place by your side."

"Today you are my daughters.  In the years to come, we will laugh together, cry together, fight together and share hope together.  And through it all, my love for you will never waiver. Know that there will always be a place for you in my heart.."

Eight years ago today, two people became one, one person was blessed with two daughters and four people became a family.  A year later we added another daughter/sister and two years after that a son/brother.  Eight years ago today, we promised we'd be there for each other, to love one another, and committed to the new family we had become.

Thankfully, they had no idea what they were getting themselves into..

and now it's too late.   

Happy Anniversary to all of us.. and here's to the journey still to come.

Seriously.. Thoughts?

College Changes You..

I know they say that college changes you.

I caught GG stretching a few days ago and didn't realize college made you into a pretzel.

Seriously.. Thoughts?

A Cinderella Story.. Sorta

It wasn't midnight, but it was close..

Okay, maybe "close" is an over statement, but she did race home after a long, hard first day of college, and she might have turned into a pumpkin.  Now, we'll never know.

When greeted by me and my camera had the audacity to ask "Really?"

Of course, really.  I mean honestly, does she not know me at all?  I know her well enough though.

She wouldn't be my GG if there wasn't shopping!  Are those new sunglasses I spy with my little eye??  Maybe some new aviators to replace the ones she lost jet skiing a few weekends ago?

Looks like she'll do okay with this college thing.  She even told me she made some friends already. So BAM!  Take that college!  My girl is ready for whatever you got!  Of course, I think I heard her mumble something about "stalkerazzi" but I'm probably just hearing things.  More photos to come!

Seriously.. Thoughts?

This Is: Frosh

This is: The Bag she took to school today.

This is: The Notebook she'll use in her classes.

This is: The Religious Studies Homework that isn't due today and she says she isn't going to do on the way, but we all know she will.

This is: The Coffee mug she put her instant coffee in this morning because she forgot to set the coffee maker to make real coffee.

This is: The Dress Up cowboy hat her dad tried to convince her to wear for the first day of school but she refused.

This is: Breakfast, to go with her instant coffee.

This is: Her Dad, looking a little tired and grumpy.

This is: Her Walking out the door for her first day.

This is: Her First Day of School photo - at 5:45 AM.

This is: too.

This is: Her Good Luck on Her First Day as a College Freshman Post.

Seriously.. Thoughts?

All In The Family

Now that school is back in full swing, we've successfully completed two homework days with little to no fussing.  Bunny had school homework for the first time last night and got it done and her nightly reading done in about 40 minutes!  Bug did 4 more worksheets I found for him and he was done in less than 15 minutes.  Two more stickers on the board and we're rolling.

Since we're starting to implement new routines and rules, we're reviewing chores this weekend.  We've always insisted that Bug and Bunny pick up the enclosed front porch we use as their play room, the toys etc. from the living room and their bedrooms at least once a week.  For weekend chores they both make sure the floors in their areas are picked up so GG can vacuum and they empty all the little trash cans around the house into the big trash cans.

As they're both getting older, we're starting to introduce new chores.  Recently I've added a night-time ritual of cleaning up the bathroom.  That means putting their toothbrushes, hair brushes and clothes where they belong instead of leaving them strewn all over the place.   I've also started giving them more responsibility when it comes to the pets.  They each take turns feeding the dog and our oldest cat (who gets wet food instead of the dry food all the other cats get).

These aren't paid chores.  I do believe in allowance for kids, but I feel like these kinds of chores are just what you do when you're part of a family.  We all help out.  We all do our part.  And I want that to be instilled in our kids - all of our kids.  I've always told GG and LW that if they want all the benefits of being part of our family (taking family vacations, going to Disneyland, and all the other fun perks) that they have to be involved in the not so fun parts of being part of this family too.  You're either all in or all out.  For the older the girls, that mostly means watching the Tweedles.  They only get babysitting money if we're doing something fun like a date.  Oh don't laugh.. it could happen!  But if we're grocery shopping or doing school/work events we can't have the kids at, they don't get paid.  That's just part of helping out the family.  It also means GG has regular chores around the house just like the rest of us on top of taking care of her own laundry and bedroom.

LW is a bit of a different story.  She is, of course, always a part of our family, but she doesn't live here.  So when we need her to pick kids up or drop them off somewhere, she's almost always available if she's not in class.  I also made a deal with her to play with The Tweedles a few times a week in return for keeping her on my cell phone family deal.  Mostly this helps us out with pick-ups during the school year, but it also is intended to help build a relationship between her and the Tweedles since she isn't living with us.  There's a huge age gap there, and I want to foster whatever relationship between them I can before she's off fully living her own life away from us.  This will start to be an issue with GG in the next year or so as soon as she starts living on campus or at least closer to school, and we'll have to work out some arrangement at that point to keep her close with the Tweedles. I don't even want to think about that yet though, I can't imagine our house without her in it.  At this point I usually just stick my fingers in my ears, close my eyes and sing twinkle twinkle at the top of my lungs in denial.

What about you guys?  Do your kids have chores? Do they get paid or is it all part of being in a family? What kinds of chores do your kiddos do?

Seriously.. Thoughts?

Adventures in College

Yesterday The Hubs and GG took a little trip to GG's new college.  They were doing a test run on the route GG will take to get there for classes every day.  The coolest part about this little adventure?

It's almost all by train.

The trip is about an hour and a half each way.  And to get to her classes on time, she has to be out the door by 5:45 AM.   She's looking pretty bright eyed and bushy tailed here, all things considered.

She's got a pretty good attitude about it and she has a plan.  We both love plans.  She's going to nap on the first train, and do all of her homework on the second train.  How many kids her age would find the silver lining in that?  She's pretty cool.  Don't tell her I said so though, I have an Evil Step-Mom Rep to protect.

By the time they hit the bus portion of her ride to school, I think that 5am wake-up call was starting to show.

But once they got there and ran some errands, I think they both were feeling better about this whole college thing.  The first day of college is in 10 days GG.  Are you ready??  Are we??

Seriously.. Thoughts?

Home Grown Artwork

I took these photos at various times over the last year or so.

Super close-ups of the kids.  All the dirt on Bug's face included.

I even managed to get this lovely shot of GG using the manual settings on my camera!  Be proud.

All the kids, except for LW.  I haven't managed to take one of her, that I loved as much as I love these.  In part I think this because she doesn't like to sit still and have her picture taken, so I always feel rushed.  Once I get one of LW that I like, I plan to get them printed on 20" tall canvases and hang them in a set of four on our living room wall.  Maybe all side by side.

Maybe in a four-square.

I've even played around with the idea..

of making them..

black and white.

And maybe by posting this, LW will swing by (when she gets back from visiting with her mom in TN) and sit still long enough for me to get a great shot of her too.  Is that a good enough hint do you think?

What do you guys like best, color or black and white?

Seriously... Thoughts?

Thank God For Little Girls...

This past school year we were overwhelmed with all things Senior.  GG started with her first day of school as a Senior.

She tried out for Rose Court and while she wasn't chosen to be a rose princess, she got to go to the Rose Ball with this cutie who became her boyfriend soon after. 

There were more dances of course.

And some classes.  I mean, I'm pretty sure there were some classes in there somewhere.  And she got to apply for schools, and then wait not so patiently to hear back.  We got the thrill of getting accepted to her first school of choice.  And followed it up with the confusion, although still thrilled, when she actually ended up choosing a completely different school.

She had casual dates with her boyfriend.

And he was her escort to Senior Prom.

She got to go on her Senior Hike.

She got to sing with her church choir for one last time.

She even got to have her senior photos taken.

She got to go to Senior Night, order her class ring, her cap and gown, and her graduation announcements, which I'm pretty sure are still sitting in somewhere in her room - un-mailed.  She even got her Graduation Party with her friends and family around her.

And it all culminated in this.

It took us a while to locate her in that sea of faces.

But we did.

And she blew us all kisses while we waited for it to start.

And then they talked.  And talked.  And talked.  

Don't they all look thrilled?  And then it was her turn to walk.

And then shake hands.

And all too quickly that little girl I met when she was 5, 

was suddenly a high school graduate heading off to college.  And I honestly don't know where all the time went.  But here's what I do know.  She has grown so much in the 12 years I've known her - grown into a strong, intelligent, beautiful young woman.  And despite all of the experiences of the last 17 years,

she is about to start probably the most exciting time in her life.  I'm excited and admittedly a little jealous. But mostly, I just can't wait to see where she'll go next.

Seriously.. Thoughts?