Are you Ready for some football??

Friday night football! The teenager is scheduled to play tonight, although he lost one of his starting positions due to his injury. He'll be starting in a special teams position and we'll see what else happens. Honestly? I'm just excited to see him in uniform and playing. If this is the only game he gets to play in it's one more than we thought he'd be playing last week at this time. Thank God for answered prayer.

Happy Birthday!

To my precious, quirky, loving, sweet, adorable FE. 9 years old today! Woohoo!!!

What Would You Do???

SB is a homebody of sorts. She likes to go to her friend's houses, but once bedtime comes she wants to be in her bed, in her house, cuddled up with her sister and knowing that mommy and daddy are near by. She does not spend the night away. She has lots of sleepovers here, but she will not stay the night at another house. It means some late nights for me as she'll stay at a party as late as she can without having to spend the night. I really don't mind though since I sleep much better with all of my kids under my roof.

Last weekend, she got invited to a sleepover birthday party. The plan was for me to pick her up at 11 PM. Around 7:30 she called and asked if she could spend the night. I said of course she could if she wanted to. I was surprised, but happy that maybe she was getting over whatever it was that was keeping her at home. At 7:30 the following morning, I was out running an errand when Mark called and said SB was sick and needed to be picked up right away. I happened to be down the street from the neighborhood she was in, so I ran to get her. Once we gathered her things and got her in the car I asked her if she was alright and what was the matter. She started crying. She missed me and daddy. She wasn't really sick, but she didn't want the girls to know she just wanted to go home. She had been crying in the middle of the night after all the girls went to sleep because she wanted to come home but it was 2 AM and she thought it was too late to call. I assured her that it was never too late to call and I will always come and pick her up.

Now here's the dilemma... SB is in Youth Group through our church this year. There is a weekend retreat coming up. I had just assumed Sb would be going, hadn't even really thought about it, but after this incident, I asked her about the retreat and how she felt about going. She's really not sure. She sort of wants to go, but she doesn't want to sleep away from home. I am sort of mixed about the whole thing as well. I think she'd mostly have fun, but I think she'll be really sad at night and out of contact with me which will worry her. And? There are a bunch of boys at our church that I don't want anywhere near her. Especially for two whole days. So, my thought is just to let her decide if she wants to go or not and not make a big deal of it if she doesn't. But does that make me a wishy-washy mom? Should I be forcing her to go on this retreat? My gut says no.

Overheard...

The Princess' teacher was absent yesterday for an appointment she couldn't miss. She had prepared the children, but The Princess was not too happy with having a sub. When she got in the car she said to me, "I hope Mrs. Trotter doesn't forget to come to school tomorrow!".

Bragging...

Following is the text of an email I received this afternoon from SB's Language Arts teacher. The assignment was to read The Monkey's Paw and then continue the story in some manner. A paragraph was expected, but SB started writing and couldn't stop. To the tune of 3 1/2 PAGES! And it wasn't due until Friday. She is so not MY kid!



I want to let you know that SB did an absolutely wonderful job on the creative writing assignment for "The Monkey's Paw." She also read her story to the class. Several mouths dropped in awe of her work. It was thoroughly enjoyable to hear her read a thoughtful, well written story. She has exceeded even my high expectations. I have taught high school English, and I can tell you that I cannot remember the last time I was as impressed with a student as I was with SB today. When her story is returned, please ask her to read it to your family. I think it will bring you all much pride and joy.

14 Years...

Today is my 14th wedding anniversary. It seems impossible that it's only been 14 years since we married since I've known and loved Mark for most of my life. We went away earlier in the month to celebrate, but our weekend was shortened and saddened by the loss of our beloved Sparky. And today? Well it's Tuesday. A day in the life. 3 dance classes, football, school and work. 45 minutes together for dinner between classes. Our usual Subway night!lol! There's no one on earth I'd rather spend every day with though. No one I'd rather go through all the things that building a life requires of us. Things haven't been so easy lately. We've had a lot on our plates. But, at the end of every day, I know there's someone who loves me and will be there for me through every trial and blessing this life brings. And the blessings are many. Happy Anniversary.

Catching Up...

I forgot to post first day of school pictures! Here are the three youngest on their first day! The teenager is not so willing to stand outside and get his picture taken, plus he had to be at school at 6, so none of him!lol!

It's been a long hard week. In addition to the issues with the teenager's knee, we've had some other minor traumas, all adding up to too much emotion. I'm hopeful that this next week will be better!

Miss Lilly, our newest family member, is doing quite well. We have had two instances of her jumping over the fence (and right back again!lol!) so we're needing to supervise her when she's outside. But, she rarely leaves my side so she doesn't really want to be out there without me anyway. She's got some little neurotic habits, but she's sweet as can be and she really seems to adore me, so she can stay!lol! She follows me everywhere I go and lays by my feet. The younger kids are doing a great job of taking care of her. They take care of her food and water and taking her out when she needs to go, so she really hasn't been any extra work for me.

The kids are all loving this school year so far. It's a milestone year for all four of them but they seem to be having a great time.

Friday is FE's 9th birthday! Woohoo!He's having a friend come to spend the night and we are going to the teenager's football game (whether he plays or not because if my kid is even on the sidelines in a jersey I will be there to support him!). Saturday the grandmas and grandpa are coming for lunch and cake to celebrate. 9 years old. Time certainly does fly...

Why Life sucks right now

Well, the Dr. said he couldn't find anything on exam or xray. BUT to be safe he wants an MRI and a consult with an orthopedic Dr. The referral will take 7-10 business days. That's 2 games down. After that it's getting an appointment and you know how long it can take to get a specialist appointment. Oh, AND? The BEST part??? My insurance changes September 1st. And I'll have a $500 deductible. Which means this MRI alone is going to cost around $600 with my deductible and 10%. Just to be safe. Insurance sucks. So do doctors.

The Waiting Game

So the trainer decided this morning that he wants to wait until after the teenager sees the Dr. to allow him to practice. Mark's coming home to take him since 1) I have to pick the Princess up from school and 2) all I'll do is cry in the Dr.s office. I'm really fearing the worst. But the teenager swears he is not going to give up lightly. He's been working too hard to not play. He'll fake his way through the visit if he has to. Surely a different attitude than a few weeks ago. That's why this sucks so badly.

So....

the general thought at this point is for the teenager to try to play with his injury. He's not in pain right now and the trainer has not, as yet, required a Dr. visit. I did schedule one for tomorrow, but right now the teenager is adamant about not going and my good friend, who is an RN, is with him. She basically said if it's torn it's torn and he can't really do any further damage. He will have pain and his knee locking up if he gets the flap of cartilage caught, which must have been what happened last night. We think he must have injured it about a year ago in a football accident with his friends and it hadn't hurt again until last night when he stepped out of his car weirdly. So, the thought seems to be that he should play and do what he can for as long as he can as it won't matter if he has surgery now or in December when the season is over. And, actually, my friend said that any good orthopedic doctor will do what they can to help him play and postpone whatever needs to be done. So right now it's about getting it past the trainer... Better news than this morning though! Keep your fingers crossed and your prayers coming!

Over before it began...

The teenager's football career that is. I got a call from the team trainer today. He thinks the teenager may have torn the cartilage in his knee. Which might mean surgery. Which might mean 4-8 weeks on crutches after the surgery is scheduled. Which will mean he will not ever play. Which will suck since he's worked so hard to get where he is and is doing so well. I just want to cry...

Are you kidding me???

Now we're suspending children for drawing pictures?????

Introducing...

The beautiful Lilly. 3 years old, golden retriever mix!

Foiled Again!

Mark forgot to set the alarm yesterday so I missed my workout opportunity. I was up on time this morning. I was at the gym by 5:30, but the person who opens the doors in the morning? Apparently sleeping in. I waited, with 10 others, until about 5:45 at which point I was not going to be able to get my workout done and get back in time for Mark to go get to work so I had to leave. Argh!

The first week of school has been a smashing success for all four kiddos. The only problem anyone is having is the teenager, who is beyond exhausted. Two-a-days plus school is tough. We're talking 6+ hours of practice a day in the heat and humidity and full pads. They start at 6 AM, practice until 7:30, go to school, then back to practice at 4:30 until about 9 PM. Then there's homework. He's been in bed by 10:30 ish every night, but has to get up at 5. Not a lot of sleep for a teenage boy, especially one who is working so hard. And it doesn't stop on the weekend. He has 6 AM practice tomorrow as well. The season starts in two weeks, so I'm hoping after that practice schedules will calm down a bit...

Our big movie party is tonight. At last count there were going to be 13 kids here. Luckily most of them are going home around 10:30. Tomorrow night I am having a date with my husband. A nice quiet date!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Tired...

I went to bed a touch later than I had planned last night, but still in time to get 6 hours of sleep before my 5:15 alarm. I've been getting up that early to go work out before Mark goes to work. exercising first thing in the morning is such a great way to start my day and then it's over for the day! It all would have been fine had I not found myself awake at 3:30 and unable to get back to sleep. a couple of weeks ago I would have just skipped my workout, but I didn't want to! Did you hear that??? I WANTED to go work out! Anyway, I finally just got up at 5:00 and was at the gym when they opened the doors at 5:30. I normally do about 30-40 minutes of weights and then 20-30 minutes on the treadmill depending on how much time I have. By the time I was done with the weights this morning, I only had 20 minutes left for the treadmill, so I decided I needed to make them count. How? Well, I started by walking faster than I normally do and then???I RAN!!! Only for 3 minutes, but I RAN!!! I was so excited and exhilarated! Woohoo!! I'm tired now, but not physically, just sleepy from lack of sleep. And then energy? It's amazing! I am actually loving exercising!

1 down, 184 to go

The first day of school went off without a hitch! The Princess had a great day. I was emotional, as expected, but my husband was with me and took me to my favorite breakfast spot before he went to work. Some of my friends from school were there and the ones who weren't were calling me to make sure I was okay!lol! I seem to be the cause of the day since I've had two more breakfast invites for this week. I think they want to make sure I don't have a nervous breakdown!lol!

Anyway, after breakfast I did my grocery shopping and made a Starbucks run for some of the staff and then it was time to pick up my girl! She was excited and had so much fun! We went to lunch and Target and then came home and did some cooking together for tonight's dinner. By the time we were done it was time to get the other kids. So the day really flew by! All the kids, including the teenager, were in great spirits at the end of the day. The teenager is off to football right now and SB has dance tonight so we're right back in the swing of things!

'Twas the Night Before School...

The Princess is ready for school as you can see. I think she's actually had her clothes picked out and on her dresser all weekend. I'm so excited for her!

All four kiddos are sleeping already, which is totally bizarre to me. I never slept well the night before school. Actually I still don't. We've had a lovely last weekend with lots of playing and spending much time together. Everyone's favorite chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast in the morning...And off we go!!!

We're All in This Together!

School has not even officially started yet and SB has already planned her first social gathering! We'll be hosting eight, yes, eight, extra girls here Friday night for the world premiere of....High School Musical 2. Bet you wish you were gonna be here!

Meet the Teacher

We had meet the teacher day at school today and of course we went, even though we know all of the teachers! Well, I guess two of SB's teachers are new to our school this year, but other than that, when you've been at a school for 12 years and you've been president of the parent group and have a husband who is president of the school board for several years, you pretty much know everyone on campus!lol!

Anyway, SB's teachers all seem awesome. FE's teacher actually came back to teaching at our school after being off for two years to take care of a new baby. She was SB's third grade teacher as well and I had a part in talking her into coming back this year to teach FE! She actually called em as soon as she signed her contract to let me know. And the Princess has the same Kindergarten teacher that SB and FE had. And even though she's been so excited about going to school, and has known this teacher since before she was BORN, she was so shy with her. But she picked out her desk and put her name tag on it and looked around the room. And then bolted out the door to play with her friends.

I love that our school has such a feel of community. I had to go into the office to buy tokens for lunch and was pushing the double stroller and herding kids and carrying the baby when the Principal came up and took the stroller from me to push it in. The nurse then came and took the baby so I could write my check. I ducked into the VP's office (she's one of my very good friends who I do girl's night with every month) and two different people came in to say hello because they heard and recognized my laugh from the front office. All of the teachers and staff asked about the teenager and looked at his senior picture and exclaimed over them. It really is joyful to be on campus again. As much as I hate that my kids leave me at all? I am so glad they go to the school they go to. Everyone knows them and everyone looks out for them. It feels like an extended family. It makes letting go as easy as it's going to get for me...

6 days...

until my littlest baby heads off to school. She is very excited. Me? Not so much. This is the beginning of a different season in my life. One I wasn't looking forward to. I've had an infant, toddler or preschooler for the past 17 years. That's a mighty long time... This school year will just be about enjoying her Kindergarten year and having lunch with her every day. When she goes to first grade, my plan is to head back to school. The teenager might be starting college at the same time...Wonder if we will have any classes together???!

Hanging in there...

We're doing better today. Actually, yesterday wasn't terrible. Until the nighttime. Sparky wasn't a watch dog in the traditional sense. He would have jumped all over someone and licked them to death rather than do any damage, but he made lots of noise. He was a barker. Last night I was having trouble sleeping, thinking too much. And I kept hearing noises outside. And I didn't have the comfort of knowing that Sparky would bark if anyone was really anywhere near our house. That was hard.

We will get another dog eventually, even though my two eldest children are too grief stricken at this point to think that it will ever be a good idea. We're going to Disneyland for a week in October and I don't really want to bring a new dog into the house before that, so,hopefully when we get back we'll all be ready to start looking. It'll be hard to replace Sparky though. He was a perfect fit for us.

This Morning...

Last night was really hard. All four of my kiddos spent much of the day and night crying, no, sobbing is really more appropriate. They all felt like they lost a best friend. So did I. I fell into a coma early last night, as soon as the kids were all asleep. I woke this morning before the rest of the house to go work out. I tiptoed out of my bedroom to leave for the gym and expected to hear the thumping of Sparky's tail from his usual spot on the couch. There was no sound. And the waves of grief rushed over me again. It was a blessing that when he decided it was time to go it happened rather quickly and we didn't have to watch him suffer, but by the same token, we were not expecting this. Not yet. We miss him so much.

Sparky: May 1998-August 5, 2007

We lost a very special member of our family today. Rest in peace Sparky. We will miss you.

Why having a 12 year old is so cool...

She bakes brownies all on her own. I just get to eat them. Yum!

Irritating...

My neighbors are in financial trouble... How do I know? Because the creditors are calling ME!! Apparently a new collections tactic is to call the neighbors of the offending party and ask them to take a phone number to the debtor. I've received several of these calls in the last months for my neighbor and I have told the companies that I am not comfortable doing this, but they keep calling! Isn't there some sort of privacy law that makes this illegal???