8 Years of Marriage!

Today (May 27th) was my 8th wedding anniversary! I'll post a pic later, I'm up late and have to retrieve the wedding pics from "the vault" lol. We've been together almost 10 years, share 2.5 kids (we have 2 of our own and my stepson who is now only with us part time) and I love the man dearly....

...but I sometimes wonder how on Earth we ever got together. We are so opposite in so many ways. He is the Yin to my Yang. At first, I thought "well, this is okay, since my mom and dad are opposites and they've been together over 40 years". But there are times that being opposite works against you. It is hard to see eye to eye sometimes. You end up dancing around topics that can become "uncomfortable" or "volatile" almost as a courtesy to each other. Now me, I don't mind to argue, ask anyone, they'll tell you I don't shy away from a good debate. But he would rather walk away from conflict and keep his emotions tucked away...then they all come out when we're arguing over something totally unrelated.

But I love him...he is my best friend (besides my mom and my girlie friends), and he will be HONEST (painfully) when most will not. He tells it like it is. Which, believe me, took some getting used to. I'm a proud woman, and having a mirror in your face (which, BTW, I DO like to look more than I should, but I am speaking here of the inner reflection) can be tough. So even though I censor myself maybe a little more than he does, I am confident that our marriage will be here as long as we are.

Marriage is tough, but I wouldn't want to live without it, or him. I love you Papa!

Now if I could just get my mom and dad to move out here....

My Gym, Part I

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We went to a cute little kid's gym with our mommy group last week called My Gym. Kids had a blast!

Re-Pap!!!!!

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THIS ENTRY CONTAINS REFERENCES TO FEMALE MEDICAL EXAMS SOME MEN MAY NOT WANT TO READ ABOUT....BUT IT'S FUNNY SO DON'T BE A BIG, FAT CHICKEN!


Okay, last year around this time I went for my annual "spread-n-scrape", otherwise known as the pelvic exam, and my doc called me after a few weeks to tell me they hadn't "gotten enough cells" and the lab said they needed to do another. Never happened in all my 40+ years, but hey, okay I'll be a good sport and get back in for another pleasure cruise.

This year, about a month or so ago, time to get my annual again. 2 weeks later, phone call (different doc this time), same problem! Grumpily go back, she practically takes out my tonsils scraping this time, I'm bleeding like a stuck pig, sore for the rest of the day, tell my dh, "surely, they got enough that time!"

Guess who just called? WTH????!!!!!!

I repeated my concerns over the scraping ritual, and am now beginning to feel like a dried up old Halloween pumpkin. The doc says this has NEVER happened to her before! I'm starting to get worried. She is now having me go back to her partner this time for her to do the exam.

Between this and the mammograms I have to have every 6 months (another story), I should have glow in the dark boobs and a jack-o-lantern uterus. Well.....Halloween IS one of my favorite holidays! Grrrr!!!!

Sorry, I feel better now....

Bee Sting!

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My poor daughter got stung by a bee last week while trying to "rescue it" from our pool using her BARE HANDS instead of the net!

BTW, the "magical bee sting paste" is baking soda and water...works like a charm!

Kindergarten....

Oy vey! I love the little buggers, but man, the energy level just drains me! I subbed today for my son's class and by lunch time I was ready for happy hour! Not sure if I could do that all year...cheers to all you K teachers out there.

Got a little misty-eyed when I was looking at some of the 6 year old girls in class and thinking about Steph....my mind is never far away from her family these days.

K, dinner time. Peace out peeps! Come back soon, ya hear? It's getting lonely in here...and leave a comment will ya?

10 Seconds to Launch

Today was a busy day for me and the kids. School in the a.m., then home in the 110 degree heat (seriously) to swim in the pool for a couple of hours. Katie down for a 2 hr nap, then off to dance class and then home to pick up the neighbor kid and head back to Michael's school for Rocket Night.

Every year, the kids get to build a little rocket (made of cardboard tube, balsa wood fins and a small engine that stays at school until the launch), and fire them off. This year was their biggest ever, 150 rockets! They had a blast, and I will post a video when I get time. This was our first year, and it was a ton of fun. The kids were running all over the place trying to catch the rockets when they landed (they were blowing hither and yon, so it was chaotic).

I really love his school...it's a "NASA Explorer School", which means they have a partnership with NASA that focuses on all their different projects and a very strong math and science program for grades 4 & 5. Some of the teachers get to go on a zero gravity flight each year, and they do all kinds of neat projects. I think the principal has even attended a shuttle launch! Anyway, it was a great day of memories with my babies...too bad hubby was working and didn't get to see his home-made rocket launch. :-( Oh well, there's always next year.....

Sorry no video...I didn't use my Flip and my regular camcorder doesn't have plug n play and well, there's just tech issue so never mind....

Why are we Here?

Not here, on this planet, but HERE on our computers? I'm supposed to be in the shower right now getting ready for my son to come home and for all of us to go to a matinee and yet, here I am typing. Damnit! I guess it's cuz I really don't care to see "Ironman", even if I do like Robert Downey, Jr. I'm more of a chick flick kinda gal. But it's for my son and it's family time so.....here I go.

Later, skaters!

Update: It really wasn't that bad!

While the Kids are Asleep

I sneak into their room to watch them...so at peace, so pure. And the frustrations of the day and the angry words we might have spoken to each other (or the ones they hurled at one another) are all forgotten as the slate gets cleaned in sweet dreams.

The cats sleep, the dog snores, the husband rolls over and places a pillow on his head, and I blog about the emotions of the day. My babies....they are my life. I try each day to soak them up, drink them in. I used to take a million pictures and then it got so hard to have the camera with me every second and keep up with the uploading, printing, cataloging, etc. and I've gotten lazy.

Then I see in the blink of an eye how everything can change.....

...and I want to have my camera around my neck again. Savor it, record it, relive it, rejoice in it. Let my daughter smear lip gloss on morning, noon and night (clear only though), let her change her clothes 6 times a day and wear her Christmas dress in July. Let my son use as much paper as he wants writing me notes as he learns to spell and write for himself. Listen to them giggle as they hatch a plot to trick mommy or hide under the bed. Listen to the laughter of my oldest son as he plays with the younger two and uses his own nicknames for them.

Fall in love with my husband all over again when I see him as the father of these adorable children whom I love with all my heart. And appreciate that even though he doesn't "get" why I come here, or why I visit blogs or Rosie or any of those other online recesses, he lets me indulge because he knows it gives me something in the wee small hours of the night while the kids are asleep and my brain will not rest.

And now, I must get some sleep. Up to get the kids ready and be a mommy helper at school and kinder teacher in the afternoon. And I will look at all these children that I do not know and love them anyway just because they are there....and they trust me....and we are in the same space at the same time sharing experiences together....and because each child must KNOW they are loved and valued and they may not always get that at home.

To sleep, perhaps to dream....cartwheels on the beach, butterflies in the garden, a little girl with a big, pink backpack running down the hall to greet her mother.....

Stephanie Lufkin

Watch Stephanie's movie....get your kleenex....peace and love to the Lufkin family and KellyW

A Mother's Day to Remember....

So this is the weekend we celebrate moms....and yet I have a heavy heart for my "stranger friend" KW and what her family is having to go through that makes it hard for me to think about my own life as a mom. I cannot imagine putting a child to rest this weekend (or any other, for that matter). I am restless for them all and the rawness of my pain for someone I never even met astonishes me....

I lost a baby on my very first Mother's Day weekend almost 6 years ago....but for me it was in the wee stages of pregnancy and I had not seen the child grow, love, laugh, live, bond with it or have it know me as mom. So the hurt was brief and bearable. For the family of KW, I'm sure it cannot be the same...it must feel endless and unfathomable and I ache for them all. It is easy to toss off platitudes of comfort like "she is at peace" etc. for a family who feels nothing akin to peace at the loss of a child they never had time to prepare for. Robbed, cheated, angry, lost, empty, heartbroken....so many other words I know they must be feeling.

And so, this weekend I shall pray, reflect, renew and revive my role as mom to my children....to appreciate more fully that precious gift. And I shall grieve a child I never knew that belonged to a family I never met. And be reminded, yet again, that living life off the computer is the MOST important thing I can do for my family.....peace and love to all who enter.