January 1, 2018
How can it be 2018 already?!
2017 wasn't a bad year. We had some good times and some good things happen to us. My middle son got straight A's and was inducted into National Junior Honor Society. He made the 12U All-Star baseball team and they finished 4th in the state! (This is the division that can go all the way to the Little League World Series!) My youngest son's Little League minor's team won the championship in their division/league! He joined a club diving team! He has fun doing flips off the diving board. We went to Hawaii! All 4 kids swam in the ocean! My daughter did great in her dance recital & gymnastics class. My oldest son completed his 1st year of high school. He was inducted into Key Club. He did pretty well in school while taking a tough course load. The Diamond.backs had a great comeback year in MLB! We did have a few setbacks one being when my oldest son fractured his elbow and had growth plate separation and was out of baseball for 4 months, which can seem like a lifetime to a teenager! All 4 kids adjusted well to their 1st school year in their new schools in our new city. My daughter boldly decided to attend a different school for Pre-K this year and is flourishing and loving it. We got to see my parents a lot and they helped me out so much with getting the kids to all of their activities.
Now for goals and resolutions for 2018. The kids are settled in to their new routines. It's time for the hubby and me to focus on our health and wellness for a while. This means back to the gym on a serious schedule, changing my diet, losing weight and sleeping more. Easier said than done, huh?
Yeah, yeah I know almost everyone says these same things and has the same aspirations for resolutions.... and by the middle of January are not sticking to them anymore. One great thing about moving back to a big city is the abundance of delicious restaurants to try. One bad thing for my waistline is the abundance of delicious restaurants to try! ;)
There are so many fun things here in our new city to do. However, that means that
I spend a lot of hours a day in the car sitting in the car driving the kids all over town to school and activities. Which means less time to be up and mobile burning off calories. :(
So I will check back in periodically and see where I'm at and how well I'm sticking to my resolutions for a healthier me!
Oh- the adoption front- Cambria's baby sister was born in January. I can't believe she is turning 1 in a couple weeks! They are doing well. I'm so happy for her birth mom, fiancé and baby sister. We still have a well-functioning open adoption. We were planning to go back East to visit her birth family around her birthday in the fall, and guess what hit at the same time?! Hurricane Ir.ma! So we figured it was best to stay put out here in the west. So maybe next year we can try again to make it out there to visit.
Happy New Year 2018! I hope it is filled with an abundance of blessings for everyone.
Monday, January 1, 2018
Monday, November 6, 2017
November 2017
The hubby and I went to the Bruno Mars concert! It was great! It was packed in there. The arena was great and had great energy. Fun night!
I continue to be bad at blogging on a regular basis. Heck, I can't even read all my emails and delete them. In addition, I have 85 unread text messages on my phone at this very minute. Most of them are texts with coupons or announcing some deals at various stores like Ma.cy's, Old Na.vy, Pay.less, Fam.ous Foot.wear, etc. I'm much better at reading and replying to texts from friends and my mother! ;)
I'm trying hard to keep up with my life and adult responsibilities all while giving the kids a great life.
The days speed by faster and faster. It is amazing that it is already November. How?! Does anyone have any big Thanksgiving plans? I am going to visit our old town one day over the break to visit a friend who moved out of state but will be there visiting! I hope it doesn't snow.....living back in this hot desert is making me soft.
My daughter is in Pre-K. Didn't we just bring her home from the hospital? This is the last year we will ever have a child in Pre-K! She is still in swimming lessons and gymnastics. After complaining about going to dance class for months and months last spring, we took a break this fall. Now she asks me daily when she can start dance class again. And tennis lessons. lol I need to clone myself and I need about 3 more hours in the day.
My oldest will be old enough to get his driver's license next year. Notice I didn't say he's getting his license next year! lol. He has to prove himself to be responsible enough to operate a car. Right now I have trouble on a daily basis getting him to throw out food wrappers in the trash can and put dirty forks into the sink. Sigh.... teenagers.
This year we have a child in Pre-K, elementary school, middle school and high school! We are busy at the baseball field still watching my 3 sons play ball. Jacob played flag football through the school this fall and loved it. He is already talking about playing it again next year. They haven't asked about tackle football- thank goodness because I'm not a fan. Sorrynotsorry.
The doctor in me is too worried about concussions. It is time for me to renew my specialty recertification next year, which involves taking a lengthy exam. I will have to start studying here pretty soon, which means one more thing to add to the crazy schedule. Sleep? I guess I can sleep when I'm 80! Joshua has started taking diving lessons. He loves it! That kid is fearless! He is a natural! It is so cool to watch him on the diving boards (high dive and regular diving board) and he has only been taking lessons for a month. My oldest son is doing club and high school fall baseball. The coach has them doing strength training too and it looks like it is paying off. He is hitting the ball so much harder. He is also busy doing his sophomore service project thru school...tutoring elementary kids.
Oh well that's all for now. I must go do more laundry and do the dishes and make lunches and.... the list goes on and on!
I continue to be bad at blogging on a regular basis. Heck, I can't even read all my emails and delete them. In addition, I have 85 unread text messages on my phone at this very minute. Most of them are texts with coupons or announcing some deals at various stores like Ma.cy's, Old Na.vy, Pay.less, Fam.ous Foot.wear, etc. I'm much better at reading and replying to texts from friends and my mother! ;)
I'm trying hard to keep up with my life and adult responsibilities all while giving the kids a great life.
The days speed by faster and faster. It is amazing that it is already November. How?! Does anyone have any big Thanksgiving plans? I am going to visit our old town one day over the break to visit a friend who moved out of state but will be there visiting! I hope it doesn't snow.....living back in this hot desert is making me soft.
My daughter is in Pre-K. Didn't we just bring her home from the hospital? This is the last year we will ever have a child in Pre-K! She is still in swimming lessons and gymnastics. After complaining about going to dance class for months and months last spring, we took a break this fall. Now she asks me daily when she can start dance class again. And tennis lessons. lol I need to clone myself and I need about 3 more hours in the day.
My oldest will be old enough to get his driver's license next year. Notice I didn't say he's getting his license next year! lol. He has to prove himself to be responsible enough to operate a car. Right now I have trouble on a daily basis getting him to throw out food wrappers in the trash can and put dirty forks into the sink. Sigh.... teenagers.
This year we have a child in Pre-K, elementary school, middle school and high school! We are busy at the baseball field still watching my 3 sons play ball. Jacob played flag football through the school this fall and loved it. He is already talking about playing it again next year. They haven't asked about tackle football- thank goodness because I'm not a fan. Sorrynotsorry.
The doctor in me is too worried about concussions. It is time for me to renew my specialty recertification next year, which involves taking a lengthy exam. I will have to start studying here pretty soon, which means one more thing to add to the crazy schedule. Sleep? I guess I can sleep when I'm 80! Joshua has started taking diving lessons. He loves it! That kid is fearless! He is a natural! It is so cool to watch him on the diving boards (high dive and regular diving board) and he has only been taking lessons for a month. My oldest son is doing club and high school fall baseball. The coach has them doing strength training too and it looks like it is paying off. He is hitting the ball so much harder. He is also busy doing his sophomore service project thru school...tutoring elementary kids.
Oh well that's all for now. I must go do more laundry and do the dishes and make lunches and.... the list goes on and on!
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Summa time
I have officially fallen into the same downward rarely blogging pattern as some of my favorite bloggers. Only I'm worse because when I do actually blog, I never put cute pictures in my posts- mostly because I can't figure out how to anymore and I don't have the time to really sit down and figure it out!
Oh well. I'm busy with my family. Which isn't a bad thing, right?!
My daughter will be five in two months. Two months, you guys! I've had a daughter for almost 5 years! Our open adoption is going well at this point in time. I keep telling her birth mom we will go back for a visit the next season or the next year, and before I knew it, it's been almost 5 years that she hasn't seen her baby girl. I feel bad. I would be so sad if it was me. She asks politely every so often when we are planning to visit, but she never pressures me. I want to go back in September for her birthday and have a birthday party with her birth family and visit the hospital she was born at. Her birth mom has a new baby....6 month old baby girl who is absolutely beautiful and has the same eyes and smile as Cami! Their baby pictures look similar. I want to go back and visit and get a picture of Cami with all of her sisters. Her birth mom is doing well- I'm so proud of her and happy for her. I would love for Cami to have a sister for her to grow up with on a daily basis in the same house, but what can I do? (Well, I realize we can try to adopt another daughter, but I think we are at the stage in our lives where we are good with our family size.) My daughter is so darn smart. I realize everyone thinks their kid is brilliant, and you are not supposed to say it out loud because it's bad manners right?! lol, but I think I can say it out loud since I had nothing to do with her DNA and how smart she turned out. The things she says and is aware of at 4 years old continues to amaze me. I am constantly asking her, "How did you know that?!" and she just giggles.
Next month I will have a child in 10th, 7th, 4th and Pre-K. What the heckie?! How did that happen already? I will lose my sh*t and become a blubbering mess a year from now when my baby is heading off to kindergarten! So emotional! For now I'll enjoy her last year before official school starts. This summer has been so busy. Lots of camps and Hawaii and my 2nd son made the Little League All Star team! He was the new kid in town since we moved her last year and he made the team! It was so fun and the coaches were amazing and the kids were great. We lost last night to our old district which is so ironic. We ended up 4th in the state! That's cray cray! 4th! We are a small district, and to field a team that good with a small pool of players is incredible! :) Another mom told me there are 118 little league All Star teams in my state, which gets narrowed down to 14 after all the district tournaments. So then the 14 district teams play at the state tournament which is a double-elimination tournament. We made it to the top 4! Our old district won again tonight, so they play in the championship game tomorrow night! Whoever would have thought I'd become such a crazy baseball mom?! ;) School starts back up in a week and a half. I still have back-to-school stuff to do.....like get backpacks! I tried to get them new Un.der Arm.our backpacks (their favorite) in June, and they didn't have any out yet!
I haven't blogged because I've been busy with my family, but also there hasn't been anything super interesting to report. The BIL and I have made up lol so no drama there. It's been nice actually. I don't need the extra stress. His daughter (technically their cousin, but in name only) still pretends my kids don't exist but I've given up my crusade to get everyone to acknowledge how truly wrong this is. My kids don't care. One day they finally told me they don't care at all if she ignores them or not. Out of the mouths of babes. Honest to a fault. I was like, "What?!?!" So as it turns out, I've been wasting so much energy on trying to get her to have a relationship with her cousins, and it was all for nothing. At least my kids don't care and their feelings aren't hurt. Speaking of cousins, my darling nephew is getting baptized next month and I'm going to be his Godmother!! I'm so excited! My brother is the Godfather to 3 of my kids. The BIL is the Godfather to my 4th kid- ironic..... (and he is not the Godfather to the kid he and his wife and kid ignored.) Today one of the in-law's relatives sent me a friend request on Facebook.... I just had to laugh because after the drama happened a few years ago, I found out she was talking smack about me. I haven't accepted her request....
It is so hot here. We are just trying to get thru the summer without melting away! HA! Cami had her dance recital last month....it was a tap dance to Splish Splash....OMG it was so cute! She did great and was so darling up there on stage! She is really into gymnastics and is doing well. Josh loves doing flips- front flips, backflips, roundoffs, cartwheels anywhere and everywhere including the baseball field (YIKES!) so he wants to take a boys' gymnastics/NIN.JA class when school starts. These are the 3 things he keeps bugging me to let him do: baseball club team (which he already does), boys' gymnastics class, and piano lessons! He is an interesting kid! Zack is a high schooler/ typical teenager who wants nothing to do with his parents. Sigh... this too shall pass! HA! ;)
All 4 kids had a good school year considering it was our first year down here after we moved last summer. Big changes for all of us and they handled it well. Academically they did well (Jacob made the National Junior Honor Society and got straight A's all year! His school is really hard and an A is 94%. A 93% is a B!!!) Zack got inducted into Key Club - it's a service organization. They all made really nice friends this year, and so did I! :) I asked them last month who wants to move back to our old town and none of them raised their hand!
Wishing everyone a great school year this fall, and to those who aren't in school or have kids in school at this time, sending wishes for the next season of life to be great!
Oh well. I'm busy with my family. Which isn't a bad thing, right?!
My daughter will be five in two months. Two months, you guys! I've had a daughter for almost 5 years! Our open adoption is going well at this point in time. I keep telling her birth mom we will go back for a visit the next season or the next year, and before I knew it, it's been almost 5 years that she hasn't seen her baby girl. I feel bad. I would be so sad if it was me. She asks politely every so often when we are planning to visit, but she never pressures me. I want to go back in September for her birthday and have a birthday party with her birth family and visit the hospital she was born at. Her birth mom has a new baby....6 month old baby girl who is absolutely beautiful and has the same eyes and smile as Cami! Their baby pictures look similar. I want to go back and visit and get a picture of Cami with all of her sisters. Her birth mom is doing well- I'm so proud of her and happy for her. I would love for Cami to have a sister for her to grow up with on a daily basis in the same house, but what can I do? (Well, I realize we can try to adopt another daughter, but I think we are at the stage in our lives where we are good with our family size.) My daughter is so darn smart. I realize everyone thinks their kid is brilliant, and you are not supposed to say it out loud because it's bad manners right?! lol, but I think I can say it out loud since I had nothing to do with her DNA and how smart she turned out. The things she says and is aware of at 4 years old continues to amaze me. I am constantly asking her, "How did you know that?!" and she just giggles.
Next month I will have a child in 10th, 7th, 4th and Pre-K. What the heckie?! How did that happen already? I will lose my sh*t and become a blubbering mess a year from now when my baby is heading off to kindergarten! So emotional! For now I'll enjoy her last year before official school starts. This summer has been so busy. Lots of camps and Hawaii and my 2nd son made the Little League All Star team! He was the new kid in town since we moved her last year and he made the team! It was so fun and the coaches were amazing and the kids were great. We lost last night to our old district which is so ironic. We ended up 4th in the state! That's cray cray! 4th! We are a small district, and to field a team that good with a small pool of players is incredible! :) Another mom told me there are 118 little league All Star teams in my state, which gets narrowed down to 14 after all the district tournaments. So then the 14 district teams play at the state tournament which is a double-elimination tournament. We made it to the top 4! Our old district won again tonight, so they play in the championship game tomorrow night! Whoever would have thought I'd become such a crazy baseball mom?! ;) School starts back up in a week and a half. I still have back-to-school stuff to do.....like get backpacks! I tried to get them new Un.der Arm.our backpacks (their favorite) in June, and they didn't have any out yet!
I haven't blogged because I've been busy with my family, but also there hasn't been anything super interesting to report. The BIL and I have made up lol so no drama there. It's been nice actually. I don't need the extra stress. His daughter (technically their cousin, but in name only) still pretends my kids don't exist but I've given up my crusade to get everyone to acknowledge how truly wrong this is. My kids don't care. One day they finally told me they don't care at all if she ignores them or not. Out of the mouths of babes. Honest to a fault. I was like, "What?!?!" So as it turns out, I've been wasting so much energy on trying to get her to have a relationship with her cousins, and it was all for nothing. At least my kids don't care and their feelings aren't hurt. Speaking of cousins, my darling nephew is getting baptized next month and I'm going to be his Godmother!! I'm so excited! My brother is the Godfather to 3 of my kids. The BIL is the Godfather to my 4th kid- ironic..... (and he is not the Godfather to the kid he and his wife and kid ignored.) Today one of the in-law's relatives sent me a friend request on Facebook.... I just had to laugh because after the drama happened a few years ago, I found out she was talking smack about me. I haven't accepted her request....
It is so hot here. We are just trying to get thru the summer without melting away! HA! Cami had her dance recital last month....it was a tap dance to Splish Splash....OMG it was so cute! She did great and was so darling up there on stage! She is really into gymnastics and is doing well. Josh loves doing flips- front flips, backflips, roundoffs, cartwheels anywhere and everywhere including the baseball field (YIKES!) so he wants to take a boys' gymnastics/NIN.JA class when school starts. These are the 3 things he keeps bugging me to let him do: baseball club team (which he already does), boys' gymnastics class, and piano lessons! He is an interesting kid! Zack is a high schooler/ typical teenager who wants nothing to do with his parents. Sigh... this too shall pass! HA! ;)
All 4 kids had a good school year considering it was our first year down here after we moved last summer. Big changes for all of us and they handled it well. Academically they did well (Jacob made the National Junior Honor Society and got straight A's all year! His school is really hard and an A is 94%. A 93% is a B!!!) Zack got inducted into Key Club - it's a service organization. They all made really nice friends this year, and so did I! :) I asked them last month who wants to move back to our old town and none of them raised their hand!
Wishing everyone a great school year this fall, and to those who aren't in school or have kids in school at this time, sending wishes for the next season of life to be great!
Monday, March 6, 2017
March 2017
Well, it's a new year (it's been a new year for a while!) and I missed January and February's posts!
I am really sucking at blogging. I am so busy with my new life in my new city and don't have as much free time anymore. We are in a big city now, and I spend a lot more time on my behind in my car driving the kids around town.
Christmas was nice. Although we all kept saying that it didn't really feel like Christmas because it's so warm here in Phoenix! I had another birthday after Christmas (already?!) and Josh turned 9, Jacob turns 12 this weekend, Laney the crazy dog turned 3 last week.... we celebrated my dad's birthday this weekend, and he is pushing 70 next year! Z will be 15 this summer (say whaaat?!) and Cami will be 5 in September. How did that happen?! Since she has a September birthday, she will do Pre-K next year. The director of one of the preschools we looked at said she thought she would pass the test to start kindergarten early (this fall), but we decided to wait. Z is the youngest in his grade, and it shows. Josh is a January birthday, and that is much better.
We went to the Suns vs. Cel.tics basketball game yesterday. It was a great game! The Suns tied it up with about 4 seconds left in the game. The Cel.tics got the ball and I figured they'd make a last minute basket and they'd win. There were SO many Cel.tics fans at the game...green shirts everywhere and they all stood up in front of us during the last 2 seconds, and so I missed the lasts play. All of a sudden, everyone started screaming and cheering and the crowd went crazy..... apparently, the Suns stole the ball from them and made a 3 point shot at the very last second and won with a buzzer-beater shot!!! It was so exciting!
The 3rd quarter of the school year is almost over. Fastest year ever! My kids have all had a good school years so far in their new school in their new city. I'm so proud of them. It's tough to move and make new friends. They were so brave. Dave and I have made new friends here too, and are enjoying hanging out with them. My kids are at amazing schools. We narrowed down the choices, and the kids ultimately picked which schools they wanted to attend, and they made good choices. Whew. J & J are doing Little League baseball now, so we are busier than usual. Z has a fractured humerus around his elbow and growth plate separation. (Say whaaat?!) He has been banned by his physician from throwing anything for 3 months. That puts him around May 17th. Practically all of spring baseball season. Kind of crushing. Now he gets to go to physical therapy and hopefully they can work their magic and get him to be able to extend his arm again. He is busy with school. He has tough classes (3 honors classes) and his school is hard. He used to be able to coast through school before and get straight A's. Not so much anymore. He has to work hard now! However, that's what we wanted for him... a challenging school with a rigorous curriculum so he wouldn't get bored. He likes his high school and wants to stay there. He has made some nice friends. Next year, he wants to take 2 honors and 2 AP classes. I told him maybe to slow down a bit and pace himself! He is also taking photography which will be a good class. He is taking summer school.... not because of remedial reasons. People often look at me like he failed a class when I tell them he's taking summer school! Not so. Not so at all. The vast majority of kids at his high school take summer school. Overachievers! And plus they have to take 7 classes a year to graduate (the public schools in our state are usually 6 classes a year and senior year is 4 classes and the kids are done at noon!), and they take a religion class every year. So kids usually take summer school to get ahead in math or open up room in their schedule for more electives or a 7th hour advanced PE class or a study hall. He is hoping to take a study hall in the spring to spend more time studying for his 2 AP tests in May. I can't believe I'm talking about sophomore year already!
Jacob got inducted into the National Junior Honor Society in January! I'm so proud of him. He is doing so well at his new school. It is a very hard school. Lots of work and homework. An "A" is 94% and a "B" is 93% Not an "A-" !!
Josh is doing well in 3rd grade. He is also making his communion and confirmation at the end of April. (In AZ, they make these sacraments in 3rd grade.) My dad is going to be his sponsor! My brother was Z's sponsor and my mom was Jacob's sponsor. So it's my dad's turn! lol ;)
And Z will probably be Cami's sponsor because he will be 19 then and old enough to be a sponsor.
Cami loves, loves, loves gymnastics! Really loves it. She does NOT, however, love swimming lessons. But I tell her "Girlfriend, learning to swim is a necessary part of life...especially when you have a pool in your back yard!" She has her dance recital at her new dance studio in June.
I'm doing ok. Tired. So tired all the time- I need to sleep more and come up with how to make there be 26 hours in the day! I'm having fun hanging out with friends and family. Trying to get back to working out.
Cami has a new baby birth sister. She is 2 months old. I cannot believe she is 2 months old already! She is so cute. I'm not surprised....her birth mom only makes cute babies!
Happy 2017 everyone.
I am really sucking at blogging. I am so busy with my new life in my new city and don't have as much free time anymore. We are in a big city now, and I spend a lot more time on my behind in my car driving the kids around town.
Christmas was nice. Although we all kept saying that it didn't really feel like Christmas because it's so warm here in Phoenix! I had another birthday after Christmas (already?!) and Josh turned 9, Jacob turns 12 this weekend, Laney the crazy dog turned 3 last week.... we celebrated my dad's birthday this weekend, and he is pushing 70 next year! Z will be 15 this summer (say whaaat?!) and Cami will be 5 in September. How did that happen?! Since she has a September birthday, she will do Pre-K next year. The director of one of the preschools we looked at said she thought she would pass the test to start kindergarten early (this fall), but we decided to wait. Z is the youngest in his grade, and it shows. Josh is a January birthday, and that is much better.
We went to the Suns vs. Cel.tics basketball game yesterday. It was a great game! The Suns tied it up with about 4 seconds left in the game. The Cel.tics got the ball and I figured they'd make a last minute basket and they'd win. There were SO many Cel.tics fans at the game...green shirts everywhere and they all stood up in front of us during the last 2 seconds, and so I missed the lasts play. All of a sudden, everyone started screaming and cheering and the crowd went crazy..... apparently, the Suns stole the ball from them and made a 3 point shot at the very last second and won with a buzzer-beater shot!!! It was so exciting!
The 3rd quarter of the school year is almost over. Fastest year ever! My kids have all had a good school years so far in their new school in their new city. I'm so proud of them. It's tough to move and make new friends. They were so brave. Dave and I have made new friends here too, and are enjoying hanging out with them. My kids are at amazing schools. We narrowed down the choices, and the kids ultimately picked which schools they wanted to attend, and they made good choices. Whew. J & J are doing Little League baseball now, so we are busier than usual. Z has a fractured humerus around his elbow and growth plate separation. (Say whaaat?!) He has been banned by his physician from throwing anything for 3 months. That puts him around May 17th. Practically all of spring baseball season. Kind of crushing. Now he gets to go to physical therapy and hopefully they can work their magic and get him to be able to extend his arm again. He is busy with school. He has tough classes (3 honors classes) and his school is hard. He used to be able to coast through school before and get straight A's. Not so much anymore. He has to work hard now! However, that's what we wanted for him... a challenging school with a rigorous curriculum so he wouldn't get bored. He likes his high school and wants to stay there. He has made some nice friends. Next year, he wants to take 2 honors and 2 AP classes. I told him maybe to slow down a bit and pace himself! He is also taking photography which will be a good class. He is taking summer school.... not because of remedial reasons. People often look at me like he failed a class when I tell them he's taking summer school! Not so. Not so at all. The vast majority of kids at his high school take summer school. Overachievers! And plus they have to take 7 classes a year to graduate (the public schools in our state are usually 6 classes a year and senior year is 4 classes and the kids are done at noon!), and they take a religion class every year. So kids usually take summer school to get ahead in math or open up room in their schedule for more electives or a 7th hour advanced PE class or a study hall. He is hoping to take a study hall in the spring to spend more time studying for his 2 AP tests in May. I can't believe I'm talking about sophomore year already!
Jacob got inducted into the National Junior Honor Society in January! I'm so proud of him. He is doing so well at his new school. It is a very hard school. Lots of work and homework. An "A" is 94% and a "B" is 93% Not an "A-" !!
Josh is doing well in 3rd grade. He is also making his communion and confirmation at the end of April. (In AZ, they make these sacraments in 3rd grade.) My dad is going to be his sponsor! My brother was Z's sponsor and my mom was Jacob's sponsor. So it's my dad's turn! lol ;)
And Z will probably be Cami's sponsor because he will be 19 then and old enough to be a sponsor.
Cami loves, loves, loves gymnastics! Really loves it. She does NOT, however, love swimming lessons. But I tell her "Girlfriend, learning to swim is a necessary part of life...especially when you have a pool in your back yard!" She has her dance recital at her new dance studio in June.
I'm doing ok. Tired. So tired all the time- I need to sleep more and come up with how to make there be 26 hours in the day! I'm having fun hanging out with friends and family. Trying to get back to working out.
Cami has a new baby birth sister. She is 2 months old. I cannot believe she is 2 months old already! She is so cute. I'm not surprised....her birth mom only makes cute babies!
Happy 2017 everyone.
Saturday, December 31, 2016
December 2016, Y'all !!
Holy cow, how did it get to be December already?! And the 31st at that! I know everybody always says time goes so fast, but seriously this year was a mad dash from start to finish! I've seen so many people on social media saying FU to 2016. It was such a horrible year for so many people. And ALL, I mean ALL, the celebrity deaths this year were unbelievable, especially in the past week. However, 2014 is still at the top of the list as being the crappiest year for my family. (Right up there with 2008 when my husband was extremely sick and almost died, but that illness extended from 2008-2010. But my son Joshua was born in 2008, so that year wasn't all bad! Joshua is an amazing kid and I just love him so much, so 2014 is still worse than 2008 for me!) Don't get me wrong, we did have to deal with some bad crap in 2016 over here, but we had some good things happen to us, too.
January: My oldest son got into the high school he wanted to, it's a really great school that has a competitive application process and it has an amazing reputation as a college prep high school and helps kids get into good colleges. He took the entrance exam and rocked it. I mean rocked it! I was so proud of him! The school is in the city we used to live in before we moved up to Northern AZ 11 years ago. My youngest son turned 8. 8 is great! ;) And last but not least, my baby nephew was born! He is so darling! I'm finally an aunt, and I couldn't be happier!
February: Had a fun Valentine's Day weekend get away with the hubby. The kids had a snow day...in northern AZ! ;)
March: My middle son turned 11 !! Spring break trip to Phoenix/ Scottsdale. My boys had shadow/interview days at prospective new schools in our new town we were moving to (back to). They got into all the ones they liked ( and still to this day are on the waiting list for another school that Dave and I liked, but they were not crazy about! Lol it's a free charter school and admission is by lottery and so they have low turn-over because it's a good, free school that has a good reputation for getting the students into the highly sought-after private high schools in town.)
April: Met my new (and only!) nephew finally for the 1st time! We took a fun trip to San Diego to spend time with them and went to Disneyland and spent my friend Tracy's birthday with her! I went to my annual medical conference and got to see old classmates and colleagues.
May: End of the school year! Grades 9, 6 and 3 are over with for my sons! They all did amazing-- they had great academic years. Zack went on an end of the school year trip to Magic Mountain and Knott's Berry Farm. We celebrated Dave's birthday. We also put in an offer on a house in the new city we were planning to move to (move back to!) and it was accepted of all days~ on Mother's Day.
June: My oldest son got invited to do this summer honors program at his new high school.....so he took Honor's Biology. He got an A. :) Holy cow it was hard! So challenging. But that's why we wanted him to go to this school. To get an amazing education and be challenged. (The school also has highly competitive sports programs and a strong religious backbone.) The trifecta/ Triple Crown of schools, if you ask me. He didn't know a single person on his 1st day and he met so many nice, really good kids. He also did the summer freshman baseball program. We moved to our new city and our new house this month.
July: Holy cow I think it was the hottest summer since I moved to AZ in 1986! However, the kids had fun swimming in our first ever pool!! It even has a diving board! We also took a trip to CA and enjoyed the cool air and beaches in Santa Barbara. We went to Magic Mountain and the temperature was only 104* !! Yikes! The kids didn't mind. The kids also did a baseball camp in our old city and one in our new city. It was a fun summer hanging out with friends.
August: A new school year began! Here's to 2016-2017! My kids started at their new schools and are doing well and made nice, new friends. The boys all made a travel baseball team too. We had a stay-cation at a local resort with some friends who were visiting. Z went to his 1st (and 2nd!) high school dance! I went out with a bunch of new mom friends and had fun. Celebrated my mom's birthday with her... lunch and massages! We sold our house!
September: My baby girl turned 4! She started swimming lessons and gymnastics. Dave got to go out of town on a golf trip with some friends. We went to the 1st high school football game with Z and some friends. We won! My mom and I took my daughter to the American Girl store and had lunch in the bistro with her for her birthday!
October: Cami had her 4th birthday party with her new friends from her new preschool at the train park. It was so fun! Also, D's brother came to the party! And Tracy and her family were in town and joined us too and we went to PF Chang's for dinner with them which was a really nice time. D and I celebrated our anniversary with a trip to Vegas to see Absin.the and Bl.ue Man Gr.oup. Fun weekend and the food was delicious and also made a trip to Canyon Ranch Spa!
Cami started at a new dance studio and loves it! WHEW! We both loved her dance studio and teacher in our old town, and miss it quite a bit. Thankfully this new studio is good and we love her new teacher. And this year Cami is learning tap....she is so cute in those tap shoes!
Halloween! How can we forget Halloween! All 4 kids got invited to parties/trick-or-treating with new friends they met this year at their new schools! And the weather was perfect for trick-or-treating! No jackets (or gloves or scarves, for that matter!) required this year! ;)
November: Had our 1st Thanksgiving in the new house. My parents and brother and his family came to dinner. We had a great day! Zack had a great fall freshman baseball season with the school team. He was also playing with his travel team. Busy, busy! The family did some volunteering/ Service hours over Thanksgiving break. Jacob started playing on his middle school basketball team. The weather finally cooled down and dropped below 100*! That is note-worthy! I've never been so happy to see my UGG boots! HA! I got to celebrate a dear friend J's birthday with her at a local resort. Lunch and the spa (see a theme here?!) ;) I got to meet an adoption friend and her family IRL finally after being FB friends for 6 years! We had such a fun day with them at the trampoline park and the kids got along so well....fast friends!
December: The 3 younger kids performed in their school Advent programs (It's a Catholic School) and did so well! So cute to watch! Zack made it through his first set of high school final exams. Wish him luck! Joshua is playing on a basketball team with the local YM.CA. We celebrated our first Christmas in our new house with my parents. Andddd.....I celebrated my 29th birthday (I've lost track of how many times I've celebrated my 29th birthday! HA!) and D and I had a weekend stay-cation at our favorite hotel and ate at our favorite restaurants and watched the Phx Su.ns beat the Tor.onto Rap.tors which was a Christ.mas miracle! Great game! And a birthday trip to the spa rounded out my birthday celebration.
So now it's the last day of 2016, Y'all! What a year it's been! And that was only the highlights! Some relationships were mended with family members. Eyes were opened to realize that some other relationships were not worth mending. We made new friends in our new town. I got to see old friends here. We all enjoyed good health. We counted our blessings. D got a wild hair and bought a mini van! ;) Yes he bought one! We bought one in 2005 and I traded it in a few years ago..... I thought we were past that phase! No soccer mom here at my house. My kids don't play soccer anymore. Lol! Just kidding- those mini vans are great. We are looking ahead to 2017 and making goals (serious goals). Hoping to make it back to Maui this summer. Realizing my 1st born will be out of high school in 3.5 years already. Need to pack in a lot of fun stuff and memories in the years to come. Cami is going to be blessed with another baby sister....in the next couple weeks! Yes her birth mom is pregnant again and is due with another baby girl in 2 weeks. She asked Cami and I to help pick out the middle name for the new baby. (Awe! So sweet!) So Cami and I came up with several names to choose from, and she picked one of them! Of course Cami put her own name on the list and the names of some of her preschool friends on the list! lol that girl!) ;)
I can't wait to see pictures of the new baby. I'm sure she will be beautiful...her birth mom only makes beautiful kids. For reals! Our open adoption with her birthmother is going well. I've become closer to her paternal birth-grandma too and the foster mom (kinship) of her oldest sister so the kids can stay in touch. It really is a work in progress....forever evolving, I'm sure. After watching my friend search for her birth family using an.cestry, I'm glad I stuck it out with the open adoption when things were rocky. This way we will always have an open path connecting my daughter to her birth family. It is natural to want to know where you came from and know your roots. I want my daughter to have easy access to her history. I also want her to know she is loved so, so much by her birth family.
To wrap up the resolutions for the new year..... there's always that resolution to get back to the darn gym. Hee hee! Since the clock is ticking and there are only about 8.5 hours in my time zone left before the clock strikes 12, the window of time for me to stuff my face with junk food is dwindling! I better go and enjoy the last day of guilt-free snacking.
Cheers to everyone and I hope 2017 is a magnificent year for everyone filled with an abundance of blessings.
January: My oldest son got into the high school he wanted to, it's a really great school that has a competitive application process and it has an amazing reputation as a college prep high school and helps kids get into good colleges. He took the entrance exam and rocked it. I mean rocked it! I was so proud of him! The school is in the city we used to live in before we moved up to Northern AZ 11 years ago. My youngest son turned 8. 8 is great! ;) And last but not least, my baby nephew was born! He is so darling! I'm finally an aunt, and I couldn't be happier!
February: Had a fun Valentine's Day weekend get away with the hubby. The kids had a snow day...in northern AZ! ;)
March: My middle son turned 11 !! Spring break trip to Phoenix/ Scottsdale. My boys had shadow/interview days at prospective new schools in our new town we were moving to (back to). They got into all the ones they liked ( and still to this day are on the waiting list for another school that Dave and I liked, but they were not crazy about! Lol it's a free charter school and admission is by lottery and so they have low turn-over because it's a good, free school that has a good reputation for getting the students into the highly sought-after private high schools in town.)
April: Met my new (and only!) nephew finally for the 1st time! We took a fun trip to San Diego to spend time with them and went to Disneyland and spent my friend Tracy's birthday with her! I went to my annual medical conference and got to see old classmates and colleagues.
May: End of the school year! Grades 9, 6 and 3 are over with for my sons! They all did amazing-- they had great academic years. Zack went on an end of the school year trip to Magic Mountain and Knott's Berry Farm. We celebrated Dave's birthday. We also put in an offer on a house in the new city we were planning to move to (move back to!) and it was accepted of all days~ on Mother's Day.
June: My oldest son got invited to do this summer honors program at his new high school.....so he took Honor's Biology. He got an A. :) Holy cow it was hard! So challenging. But that's why we wanted him to go to this school. To get an amazing education and be challenged. (The school also has highly competitive sports programs and a strong religious backbone.) The trifecta/ Triple Crown of schools, if you ask me. He didn't know a single person on his 1st day and he met so many nice, really good kids. He also did the summer freshman baseball program. We moved to our new city and our new house this month.
July: Holy cow I think it was the hottest summer since I moved to AZ in 1986! However, the kids had fun swimming in our first ever pool!! It even has a diving board! We also took a trip to CA and enjoyed the cool air and beaches in Santa Barbara. We went to Magic Mountain and the temperature was only 104* !! Yikes! The kids didn't mind. The kids also did a baseball camp in our old city and one in our new city. It was a fun summer hanging out with friends.
August: A new school year began! Here's to 2016-2017! My kids started at their new schools and are doing well and made nice, new friends. The boys all made a travel baseball team too. We had a stay-cation at a local resort with some friends who were visiting. Z went to his 1st (and 2nd!) high school dance! I went out with a bunch of new mom friends and had fun. Celebrated my mom's birthday with her... lunch and massages! We sold our house!
September: My baby girl turned 4! She started swimming lessons and gymnastics. Dave got to go out of town on a golf trip with some friends. We went to the 1st high school football game with Z and some friends. We won! My mom and I took my daughter to the American Girl store and had lunch in the bistro with her for her birthday!
October: Cami had her 4th birthday party with her new friends from her new preschool at the train park. It was so fun! Also, D's brother came to the party! And Tracy and her family were in town and joined us too and we went to PF Chang's for dinner with them which was a really nice time. D and I celebrated our anniversary with a trip to Vegas to see Absin.the and Bl.ue Man Gr.oup. Fun weekend and the food was delicious and also made a trip to Canyon Ranch Spa!
Cami started at a new dance studio and loves it! WHEW! We both loved her dance studio and teacher in our old town, and miss it quite a bit. Thankfully this new studio is good and we love her new teacher. And this year Cami is learning tap....she is so cute in those tap shoes!
Halloween! How can we forget Halloween! All 4 kids got invited to parties/trick-or-treating with new friends they met this year at their new schools! And the weather was perfect for trick-or-treating! No jackets (or gloves or scarves, for that matter!) required this year! ;)
November: Had our 1st Thanksgiving in the new house. My parents and brother and his family came to dinner. We had a great day! Zack had a great fall freshman baseball season with the school team. He was also playing with his travel team. Busy, busy! The family did some volunteering/ Service hours over Thanksgiving break. Jacob started playing on his middle school basketball team. The weather finally cooled down and dropped below 100*! That is note-worthy! I've never been so happy to see my UGG boots! HA! I got to celebrate a dear friend J's birthday with her at a local resort. Lunch and the spa (see a theme here?!) ;) I got to meet an adoption friend and her family IRL finally after being FB friends for 6 years! We had such a fun day with them at the trampoline park and the kids got along so well....fast friends!
December: The 3 younger kids performed in their school Advent programs (It's a Catholic School) and did so well! So cute to watch! Zack made it through his first set of high school final exams. Wish him luck! Joshua is playing on a basketball team with the local YM.CA. We celebrated our first Christmas in our new house with my parents. Andddd.....I celebrated my 29th birthday (I've lost track of how many times I've celebrated my 29th birthday! HA!) and D and I had a weekend stay-cation at our favorite hotel and ate at our favorite restaurants and watched the Phx Su.ns beat the Tor.onto Rap.tors which was a Christ.mas miracle! Great game! And a birthday trip to the spa rounded out my birthday celebration.
So now it's the last day of 2016, Y'all! What a year it's been! And that was only the highlights! Some relationships were mended with family members. Eyes were opened to realize that some other relationships were not worth mending. We made new friends in our new town. I got to see old friends here. We all enjoyed good health. We counted our blessings. D got a wild hair and bought a mini van! ;) Yes he bought one! We bought one in 2005 and I traded it in a few years ago..... I thought we were past that phase! No soccer mom here at my house. My kids don't play soccer anymore. Lol! Just kidding- those mini vans are great. We are looking ahead to 2017 and making goals (serious goals). Hoping to make it back to Maui this summer. Realizing my 1st born will be out of high school in 3.5 years already. Need to pack in a lot of fun stuff and memories in the years to come. Cami is going to be blessed with another baby sister....in the next couple weeks! Yes her birth mom is pregnant again and is due with another baby girl in 2 weeks. She asked Cami and I to help pick out the middle name for the new baby. (Awe! So sweet!) So Cami and I came up with several names to choose from, and she picked one of them! Of course Cami put her own name on the list and the names of some of her preschool friends on the list! lol that girl!) ;)
I can't wait to see pictures of the new baby. I'm sure she will be beautiful...her birth mom only makes beautiful kids. For reals! Our open adoption with her birthmother is going well. I've become closer to her paternal birth-grandma too and the foster mom (kinship) of her oldest sister so the kids can stay in touch. It really is a work in progress....forever evolving, I'm sure. After watching my friend search for her birth family using an.cestry, I'm glad I stuck it out with the open adoption when things were rocky. This way we will always have an open path connecting my daughter to her birth family. It is natural to want to know where you came from and know your roots. I want my daughter to have easy access to her history. I also want her to know she is loved so, so much by her birth family.
To wrap up the resolutions for the new year..... there's always that resolution to get back to the darn gym. Hee hee! Since the clock is ticking and there are only about 8.5 hours in my time zone left before the clock strikes 12, the window of time for me to stuff my face with junk food is dwindling! I better go and enjoy the last day of guilt-free snacking.
Cheers to everyone and I hope 2017 is a magnificent year for everyone filled with an abundance of blessings.
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
November
Oops I just noticed I skipped October's post! And I have some interesting updates! We had my daughter's 4th birthday party last month (it was several weeks after her birthday due to fall break and other scheduling conflicts). Her preschool friends from her new preschool came and it was so fun - she had a blast. D's brother also came to the party! I was shocked, but it was nice. We got along fine and all's well that ends well. I'm glad he was there to share in our family celebrations with my kids after all this time. I felt like I could finally exhale about the family drama after the party. Fresh start. My friend T who moved to CO and her kids were in town and came to the party too! So that was fun. Cami loves my friend's daughter!
I can't believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving! How did that happen already?!
We are having dinner here with my parents, brother, SIL and 10 month old nephew. Our 1st Thanksgiving in our new house.
We celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary last month in Vegas and our 23 year dating anniversary yesterday! We sure have had some bad crap flung at us over the past 23 years, but we have always managed to come out on top...together.
I have been busy hanging out with my old friends that live here and also hanging out with some new friends! The kids are doing well in their new schools (their new schools are all really challenging.....I guess we're getting our money's worth?!) and making nice new friends. We are busy all the time, which is good AND bad. I need to get back to the gym- going out to eat too much at all the yummy restaurants here! lol
I took my Golden Retriever for her 6 month chest X-ray to see if he cancer has come back yet (it usually metastasizes to the lungs) and it looks clear! Hooray! I love that dog so much.
On the adoption front.... this Friday, I will get to meet in real life one of my adoption FB friends! We were signed up at the same agency and she is in AZ this week visiting. Her 2 sons are similar ages as my two youngest kids. Cami's birth mom is pregnant again and due in January with another girl (that's 4/5 babies that are girls!). Her plan is to parent this baby with her boyfriend/fiance. I can't wait to see the baby- I'm sure she will be absolutely beautiful. People tell me all the time that my daughter is beautiful. She is stunning. I hope to get to meet Cami's new baby sister sometime soon. Hopefully next year, as this year is almost over. I just mailed Cami's brother's birthday gifts today. I hope he likes everything.
Oh well I better go finish cleaning the house for the Turkey day feast tomorrow!
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. May you be surrounded by love and laughter and cupcakes.... definitely cupcakes! (Some things never change!) Actually, I don't have any cupcakes at my house currently! What?! And don't forget to always count your blessings.
I can't believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving! How did that happen already?!
We are having dinner here with my parents, brother, SIL and 10 month old nephew. Our 1st Thanksgiving in our new house.
We celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary last month in Vegas and our 23 year dating anniversary yesterday! We sure have had some bad crap flung at us over the past 23 years, but we have always managed to come out on top...together.
I have been busy hanging out with my old friends that live here and also hanging out with some new friends! The kids are doing well in their new schools (their new schools are all really challenging.....I guess we're getting our money's worth?!) and making nice new friends. We are busy all the time, which is good AND bad. I need to get back to the gym- going out to eat too much at all the yummy restaurants here! lol
I took my Golden Retriever for her 6 month chest X-ray to see if he cancer has come back yet (it usually metastasizes to the lungs) and it looks clear! Hooray! I love that dog so much.
On the adoption front.... this Friday, I will get to meet in real life one of my adoption FB friends! We were signed up at the same agency and she is in AZ this week visiting. Her 2 sons are similar ages as my two youngest kids. Cami's birth mom is pregnant again and due in January with another girl (that's 4/5 babies that are girls!). Her plan is to parent this baby with her boyfriend/fiance. I can't wait to see the baby- I'm sure she will be absolutely beautiful. People tell me all the time that my daughter is beautiful. She is stunning. I hope to get to meet Cami's new baby sister sometime soon. Hopefully next year, as this year is almost over. I just mailed Cami's brother's birthday gifts today. I hope he likes everything.
Oh well I better go finish cleaning the house for the Turkey day feast tomorrow!
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. May you be surrounded by love and laughter and cupcakes.... definitely cupcakes! (Some things never change!) Actually, I don't have any cupcakes at my house currently! What?! And don't forget to always count your blessings.
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
4
My baby is 4! How can she be 4 already? We had a glorious time celebrating her birthday last week! We had a family party with dinner and cake, she took treats to preschool, she talked to her birth mom and older birth sister on the phone (so sweet!), her birth mom wrote this heartfelt and loving post on Facebook, my mom and I took her to the American Girl store this weekend and she got her first doll(s) and some accessories, and we had a delicious lunch and birthday cake at the bistro at the store! SO. MUCH. FUN!! Her birth sister sent her a birthday present too...oh my goodness how sweet. She will have a party with her preschool friends in a few weeks. The theme for the family party was Barbie, and the theme for the preschool party will be My Little Pony. It should be fun...if the weather cooperates! The place is outdoors with lots of fun stuff to do. So many of her birth relatives including both birth grandmas, birth great-aunt, aunt, and her little sister and her adoptive mom who I lovingly refer to as my sister momma, since the girls are sisters!, ;) wished her a happy birthday on Facebook and told her they loved her. Her birth father wished her a happy birthday, too. I couldn't ask for anything more. Her step great-grandma told her she loved her and wished she could have met her and enjoys watching her grow up on Facebook. And so did her step-great-grandma's daughter. Which makes that nice woman her grandma's step-sister. Bring on the water works. That warmed my heart so much. So blessed for our open adoption.
Did I mention she got one of her American Girl doll's ears pierced?! For reals. We bought earrings FOR. THE. DOLL, y'all.
I can't even.
They even said not to take the earrings out for 24 hours, or the holes will close. Just like a human's!
Saturday she had her first dance class at her new dance studio. It is a combo tap/ballet/tumbling dance class. She loves her new tap shoes! She loved the class, and knew a couple girls in her class from this summer preschool program she did here in our new city. The teacher was great. Sweet, fun and peppy. 2 of the things I miss most about my old town besides my friends are her dance studio and my hairdresser! This dance studio is really good and the people seem nice. I heard they do well at dance competitions too (when she is older we will explore dance competitions! lol)
I have an appt. with my new hairdresser tomorrow.
I can't wait to see what this year of being 4 brings for my amazing daughter.
Did I mention she got one of her American Girl doll's ears pierced?! For reals. We bought earrings FOR. THE. DOLL, y'all.
I can't even.
They even said not to take the earrings out for 24 hours, or the holes will close. Just like a human's!
Saturday she had her first dance class at her new dance studio. It is a combo tap/ballet/tumbling dance class. She loves her new tap shoes! She loved the class, and knew a couple girls in her class from this summer preschool program she did here in our new city. The teacher was great. Sweet, fun and peppy. 2 of the things I miss most about my old town besides my friends are her dance studio and my hairdresser! This dance studio is really good and the people seem nice. I heard they do well at dance competitions too (when she is older we will explore dance competitions! lol)
I have an appt. with my new hairdresser tomorrow.
I can't wait to see what this year of being 4 brings for my amazing daughter.
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