NYC

I am going. With my favorite travel buddies. At Christmas time. Through the roof excited.

That's it.

Random thoughts and updates.

First off the venting:

- Life is highly unfair and sometimes being positive in a situation is REALLY hard. Sometimes the injustices of life are far removed from us. We see them on tv or read about them in the newspaper. But sometimes they are close to home. And they break you heart. Please pray for these things:

- B & L (my brother/sister in laws) are stuck in a foreign country away from their other children for 3+ weeks trying to bring home a little boy with DS. But the judge said no. And so now they have to jump through a ridiculous amount of hoops (they are professional hoop jumpers at this point though!) to get an appeal. And to beg another judge, hopefully a nicer more compassionate one to let them take their son home to meet his brothers.

- My friend Karen is going through chemo. And that sucks in and of itself. But a "regime" has been laid out for her of chemo and radiation and reconstruction surgery and that plan spans out almost a year from now. Being in a tough situation with the light at the end of the tunnel being sooooooo far away, well that sucks even more.

- And on that same note one of Todd's coworkers has a little girl who was recently diagnosed with leukemia. I don't know him much less his little girl. But I know what it is to be a parent. And they too have a plan that provides a good prognosis but a long haul, even longer than Karen. And the little girl is not even two. So she is in pain and doesn't get it.

So pray for them. Quite frankly I think sometimes that's all we can do.

On a more positive note:

- The kids first week of school comes to an end and its been terrific. After a few false starts Tori now has the correct schedule and is thrilled that one of her BFFs is in 6 out 7 classes with her. And she has an elective and its not band. Score!

- I celebrated 31 years this week, the 28th birthday I have shared with my brother. We had a lovely dinner with him and Taylor as well as my parents at the Green Iguana. Odd little place but yummy. And I got the most amazing gifts. Books, sheets, etc....and another rocker for my front porch (insert visions of coffee in my rocker looking at the lake on a cool southern morning), studio lights for my photography (hello newborn photography!) and season tickets to the Broadway series at the performing arts center (9 nights out in one year - I might faint!). Mucho gracias to all those who spoiled me, I feel much loved.

- House projects next and next and next, underway. Laundry room (I know its weird but I spend ALOT of time there) and bedroom and studio all works in progress. Photos coming soon.

First Day 2011

It was with a bit of melancholy and a bit of joy that I sent the kids off to school this year. With my current work schedule the summer flew by way too fast and I got to hang out with them way less than I would have liked. And while every year I think "I can't believe they are in ___ grade already," this year it hit home like never before.

My baby girl started middle school. She is less the little girl who wants cuddles and playtime and instead is growing into this young woman who wants to have coffee dates, show me the boy she thinks is cute and wear make up to school. She shaves her legs and shops at stores in the junior section. And quite frankly this mama is not ready. And while I am proud, so so proud, of the amazing woman she is becoming, it scares the hell out of me.

But what would life be without growth. And this is what I believe parenting is - teaching your kid to make it without you. And so she went, on the bus for the first time, to the big bad world of middle school. New haircut, new outfit, even some new attitude. And she did well. She had fun, she dealt while her schedule got changed four (YES FOUR!) times, and she is ready for a new year in a new place and new adventures.

And Tristan started 3rd grade. The second 1/2 of elementary school. You know the one where you want your mom to drop you off in car circle NOT walk you in. And you definitely do NOT want her to take pictures at the school. And you definitely CAN pick out your own first day of school outfit and you will wear the shoes with skulls on it because they are "awesome." And you want the notebook with baseballs on it, not that boring blue one. And you got this, because you've done it before. And he, too, had a great first day!

I was not the mom that cried on the first day of kindergarten. And I always thought those moms were a teensy bit crazy dramatic emotional. But those moms that cry when their kids go off to college...well I am starting to get that.

Max turns 4!

August 20th is Max' birthday, and while we don't always "celebrate" we always acknowledge it. So some extra cuddles, some cute pictures, a few belly scratches and a pizza crust later Max is officially 4 years old (aka 28 dog years old). Funny because as annoying as his yappiness is I have a really hard time remembering him not being around. I find him highly irritating but love him anyway!

#3, #7. #10. Check, check, check!!

3 - sidewalk chalk the driveway. LOVE sidewalk chalk. You can use it to make big things but not have to store or trash those big things. What's not to love about that?
So our driveway might be teensy bit larger than we anticipated it being, and the sun might be a teensy bit hotter than we considered, and our free hand drawing skills with chalk on cement? They might be lacking. But it still was a nice summer activity and added some color to the driveway until a summer storm washed it away.

That is a dolphin. Just so you know.

Our chalk drawings are a little like that cloud game...where you try to see shapes in the clouds. The kids told me this was a centipede, the kind that curl up when you get close.

And Tori told me this was a monkey eating a green banana on the beach. Riiiiiiiiiiiight.

I also got the kids closets completely cleaned out, reorganized and ready for the first day of school tomorrow - #7 complete. And #10 - my closet. Done. And I even attempted to shop, got a new shirt and a cute new pair of pants but decided to wait on much else. This week I also got a gym membership and am hoping to lose 15 lbs by Christmas and then get new clothes.

This is the last official day of summer according to the school board...but my list is not complete and in my world summer ends when fall starts, which means I have exactly 1 month to cross off the rest of my list!!

Photogenic

She did not get that from her mom.

#5 - check!

Summer Checklist item #5 - take a family mini vacation to the other coast completed. Three days in Fort Lauderdale, just the four of us, just for fun.

So I read this blog, Enjoying the Small Things (link at bottom). And Kelle, the writer, has an amazing way with words. And she sees things through rose colored glasses, all.the.time. I am not her. I will never be that girl. But she has inspired me to be more positive. To look at the bright side and seek out the good times with family and friends even amid the monotony that sometimes becomes daily life...or the trips that just don't go the way you planned.

Or didn't plan. Which is what happened. I ALWAYS have a plan. And this time I didn't. And it will never happen again. Because instead of having a list of things to do, places to do those things, directions, times, etc...we spent a lot of time figuring out what to do and where to do it and arguing about it in between. But...if I look back on the weekend it was still a good break from normal and good family times.

Friday we got there at lunch time and checked into our hotel, then due to stormy weather took off for Sawgrass Mills (gigantic mall). It was crazy. Totally packed with people who had no qualms about pushing by you or grabbing whatever they wanted whenever they wanted no matter whether they had to do it over you or not. And we may have been in an English speaking minority. For dinner we checked out this little place called 17th Street Grill that had the most amazing sweet potato fries EVER! A late night swim and some games in our hotel room rounded out the night.

Saturday the sun was shining so we headed out for the beach, armed with boogie boards, for some east coast waves. But when we got there...well the waves were not there. But the kids enjoyed attempting to catch little fish that swam around their feet and I enjoyed some time in the sun.

This picture is not the best I have taken but it IS funny. But more importantly - proof that I went on this vacation too. See, in the right lens, girl with camera = me! Might have forgotten to give the camera to Todd over the weekend...

We decided to leave the beach in an attempt to find a place to rent kayaks but by the time we finally found it the storms were rolling in and between that and the cost being double what it is over here we decided to check out the Discovery and Science Center. It was a lot like our MOSI but the kids enjoyed it. And Grandpa Doug would be proud - they got try various flight simulators. One of the coolest things was actually outside the building. A clock based on gravity but it looked like a giant marble run.

That night we went to see the Smurfs 3D, ordered pizza afterwards and played cards. Sunday morning we enjoyed the hotel grounds, swimming and checking out the huge koi pond before we got back on the road.

#2 - check.

My Summer List #2 - picnic at the beach with friends - done. Okay so it was altered a tad (no picnic per se) but gorgeous skies called for beach time and beach time is always better with friends.

Mike taught my boys to skim board...something Tristan had been trying to learn for awhile and really caught on to yesterday! I see this becoming a new favorite activity!

Meanwhile everyone else kind of did their own thing...moms chatted about mom stuff, fish swam away desperately trying to avoid the net the kids had, crabs ran for the same reason, sand was dug up and tossed around and everyone had a lovely morning.

And then the daily summer storm rolled in and we rolled out. Breakfast for lunch ensued at the local IHOP and all went home happy!