Thank You!!!

For 32 years you have been my Mom and during that time I know I have said Thank You! here and there, for this and that, but I want to say it just one more time so you know how grateful I am that you are my Mom!

First of all…thank you for not giving up when your life was hard!

Thank you for showing me the difference between right and wrong by taking us back to the gas station to pay for that $0.05 Atomic Fireball!

Thank you for always telling me the truth when I had questions but never trying to “sway” my thinking!

Thank you for always trying to guide me in the right direction but also allowing me to learn from my mistakes!

Thank you for showing me how to be strong even when I am scared!

Thank you for encouraging me to never settle in my relationships!

Thank you for encouraging me and supporting me in everything that I do!

Thank you for being a wonderful “Gamma” to my kids!

I am sure there are a hundred or more things I could and should say Thank You for but really I want say…

Thank you for always being there –

in person,

on the phone,

in my head,

and in my heart!

I am not sure where I would be in life, if not for you!

A recap of the beginning of the year...

Since I haven't really updated since the first of the year I'll try to catch you up.

January started similar to all the previous January's...cold, kids going back to school, my house looking like a tornado hit, leaving a trail of paper, packaging, and toys in need of new homes. After having a two week break from school myself, I also had to jump back into my own schoolwork. Jeff, never really getting a break, was still working away at Comcast. There was also a lot of sadness in the house because Grammy passed away after suffering a stroke almost a month before.

February started off with some sadness but soon changed into celebration with Martin's birthday and then Owen's birthday. For Owen's birthday we went miniature golfing, same as the year before. He had a blast and you would never guess that one year earlier he had a broken leg. The end of February also brought a light snowfall and we found the kids playing outside, doing their best to make a snowman.

March was pretty uneventful...Leah and Matthew were doing great in school and Owen was chomping at the bit to start school since he was officially 5 years old. The kids spent some time outdoors...riding their bikes. I also had a small House Party for Philadelphia Cooking Creme. It is pretty neat stuff...slightly softer than regular cream cheese and comes in many great flavors which are good for chicken dishes and pasta. Jeff and I also celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary by going to The Melting Pot on a double date with Martin and Dianna.

April was a quite a bit more eventful. The first week of April was Spring Break for the kids so Jeff took a few days of work and we got Seattle City Passes and had a little "staycation". We visited the Woodland Zoo, Seattle Aquarium, Pacific Science Center Museum, Experience Music Project, The Space Needle, and took a short cruise around the Seattle harbor. Some of it we had seen before but there were a few new things and it was a little exhausting but overall we had a lot of fun. Chellie and I also took the kids down to Portland, OR for a night to visit my very good friend, Roxanne, who was up from Utah. We had fun visiting the Japanese Gardens, even though it was very, very cold. We also went the Spring Fair and watched a demolition derby; it was not really a true demolition derby because it was the last day but it was still fun. Although Owen did not appreciate the loudness of the cars. Of course, we cannot forget about Easter and all things related...the kids had a blast coloring eggs and were very excited when the Easter Bunny came to visit.

May brought several school related activities. There was a science fair that both Leah and Matthew participated in. The 2nd grade had an Alphabet Recital, where Leah had a solo speaking part. And the Kindergartners had a field trip to the Point Defiance Zoo, so Owen and I met Matthew at the zoo and had fun looking at all the animals. The end of May brought Chellie's birthday...mmm...ribs.

June brought a lot of fun memories. The first weekend of the month I tried something new...I left Jeff home alone with all three kids while I flew to Maryland for my nephew's graduation. This was the first time I had been away from the kids for that long and I missed them a ton, but I still managed to have a little bit of fun in between working on school assignments. After I got home, I found myself chaperoning Leah's 2nd grade field trip to Northwest Trek and Matthew lost his first tooth. The kids' last day of school was June 19th and we left that same day for a vacation to Southern California. It was sort of weird to go to California and not see Grammy but we were still able to have a good vacation. We spent three days at Disneyland and California Adventure, one day at SeaWorld, one day at Universal Studios Hollywood (thank you Comcast!), one day stuck in the hotel room because I was sick, and one day having a BBQ and hanging out with family. Lots of pictures...I'll try to add some later.

Bedtime In My House

Keep in mind that bedtime in my house is supposed to be at 8:00 p.m. as you read this:

Between 7:00 and 7:15 p.m. -

Mom to kids: "Get your take-home and start reading."
Kids to mom: "Do I have to?"
Mom to kids: "Yes, you have to."

Between 7:15 and 7:30 p.m. -

Mom to kids: "Why aren't you reading?"
Kids to Mom: "Uuuhhh..."
Mom to kids: "Get started and get it done. Bedtime is in about 30 minutes."
Kids to Mom: "Ookkaaaayyy!!!"

Around 7:55 p.m. -

Kids to Mom: "I'm done reading."
Mom to kids: "Okay...go get your pajamas on and get ready for bed."
- Kids take off running to bedroom.

10 Minutes later -

Mom to kids: "Are you all ready for bed yet?"
Kids to mom: "We putting on our pajamas."
Mom to kids: "What have you been doing for the last 10 minutes???"
Kids to mom: "Uuuummmm...putting our pajamas on."
Mom to kids: "GET your pajamas on right now."

10 Minutes later -

Mom to kids: "It's time to get into bed now."
Kids run around, laughing like hyenas.

5 Minutes later -

I finally herd them into their rooms and they begin jumping around on beds.
I go in to tuck them in and I hear:
     "I need a drink"
     "I need my blanket."
     "I gotta get (insert stuffed animals name)."
This continues for about 5 more minutes and then finally get them all tucked in, give them all kisses, turn off the lights, and walk out of the room. Then I hear:
     "Mom...I need (insert some totally random request).

Finally...nearly two hours later I sit down to continue working on my school and after several reminders to be quiet and go to sleep they finally do.

This is the story of bedtime in my house...it should be a peaceful time but instead I want to rip my hair out by the time the whole thing is done. AAaarrrgggghhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

January 2010 - June 2010 Recaps

Okay so I had high hopes about doing a different post for each month of the last year but life happens and my plans get dashed so instead I am just going to combine in it all in to two post and then maybe do one more with some pictures.

January - We started out 2010 quietly with Owen still recovering from pneumonia. He regained his strength and we headed to Southern California for vacation mid-month but instead of sunshine we met up with rain, a lot of rain, and tornado warnings. At one point the water was so high on the roads it was above the curbs. The weather did not deter us...we still made it to Disneyland and California Adventure and found shorter wait times and even a little bit of sun while we were there. We also tried something new while we where there and took the kids to Medivial Times where they enjoyed a meal WITHOUT utensils and a show with knights and a princess. They loved it and so did Jeff and I!!!

February - February started off pretty simple with Leah enjoying school and looking forward to the Daddy-Daughter dance later in the month. Jeff was busy working while I was still at home with Matthew and Owen. We had fun celebrating Owen's birthday early on the 15th by going minature golfing and getting pizza. The next day I experienced the scariest moment of my life when I watched Owen fly across our back deck in his Little Tikes car. I heard him hit the rails as I was running through the house and practically flew down the stairs to get to him. He had fallen approximately 10 feet and after rushing to the hospital, waiting through x-rays and CAT scans, we found out that he had only broken his right thigh. This was the beginning of what felt like a roller coaster ride with my not quite 4-year-old being basically bed ridden for the next two months, a series of doctor's appointments, two awkwardly postioned hip spica casts, and two surgeries (one minor and one not so minor).

March - Owen's first surgery was on March 5th to have titanium rods placed inside of his femur because the casts were not keeping his bone in the right place for it to heal properly. After staying at the hospital for two days we went home and started the final healing process. Jeff and I celebrated our 8th anniversary in the 23rd by going out to dinner (I think) and then Jeff left to go to California to deal with a somewhat complicated legal thing, more time-consuming and annoying then serious.

April - April Fool's Day found me wishing the last 6 weeks had all been someone's bad idea of a joke but knowing it was not. Owen was working on walking again , I can still remember how proud I was when he took his second "first" step. Easter was celebrated in the usual way, with the dying of easter eggs, a visit from the Easter bunny, an Easter egg hunt in Uncle Martin's backyard, and a family dinner. Spring break brought visitors from Utah, Grandma June and Grandpa Larry so we did a little sightseeing and spent time catching up. The rest of the month was pretty uneventful, Leah and Matthew helped John (our landlord who lives downstairs) get the garden started and Owen started getting comfortable on the back deck again and even got in the Little Tikes car for a quick minute.

May - Part of this recap is coming from pictures and I do not have many pictures so I can only guess that May was pretty quiet. We did some exploring and found a cool park down by the water that had tons of crabs hiding under rocks. The kids had so much fun flipping over rocks to see how many crabs went scurrying and how big they were. I decided that it was time to do something about my career future and started school with online courses through University of Phoenix to get my Bachelors in Education. It has been tough at times but I seem to pull through and I just keep reminding myself it will all be worth it in the end. At the very end of the month we flew to Utah to visit family and friends and celebrate Jeff's Grammy's birthday. It was quite exciting since I flew with all three kids by myself but they were on their best behavior.

June - We finished up our visiting in Utah and headed home. Leah finished out the school year and then summer officially started. Our closest park began charging to park there so we decided to start exploring some new parks; we found a few duds but also some good ones too. We also started bowling through an awesome program I found called KidsBowlFree.com, where the kids were able to bowl two games everyday of the summer for free. We did have to pay for shoe rentals so we did not go everyday but it was a nice alternative. At the end of the month we celebrated Mom's birthday.

Stay tuned for July 2010 - December 2010 Recaps

Something different...

Since I have been really terrible about updates this year I am going to do 12 posts between now and the end of the year; one for each month of the year. I will post a few pictures and recap of what happened during that month. Then next year I am going to do my best to do one post a month...towards the end of the month so I recap as we go. Wish me luck that I can actually follow through with this!

"The Perfect Mommy"

I was reading my new favorite blog today (when I should have been studying, I know, I'm naughty) Rants from Mommyland and they had a post that reminded me about being "the perfect mommy" and I realized that I have never strived to be "the perfect mommy".

I have only ever tried to be the best mommy I was capable of being. I am far from perfect and not afraid to admit it. Of course, I certainly wouldn't mind being a "better mommy" but if I can be there for them when they need me (even if they don't know they need me), share at least one "moment" everday with them, and tell them I love them everyday then I think I am doing a pretty darn good job.

Looking back...

As it gets closer to the end of the year, I start looking back and wondering where the year went and what did I do with my time.

I spent this year supporting, encouraging, loving, watching, teaching, entertaining, and enjoying my kids. I had my scariest "mom moment" ever this year when Owen fell off the deck and hope that I never have to experience anything like it again. I also had some of my happiest "mom moments" watching the kids enjoy the simplest things in life, like running through the sprinklers on a hot day and getting an ice cream treat from the ice cream truck.

This year I started school, showing my kids it's never to late. I can only hope that they do not get distracted like I did and they go straight to college after high school. All I can do is encourage and make sure they are ready. Matthew started school just a few weeks ago and I can already see what a huge impact it is having on him. He loves it as much as Leah does, and I can only hope the Owen loves it as much when he starts next year.

We played together, explored together, learned together, cuddled together, and laughed together. I know the year is not over and we have many more things to look forward to before it is. As I was watching Owen "play" his version of checkers, I realized again (I do this at least once a day) how blessed I am - I could reflect on all the things that I did not have but then I would lose sight of all the things that I do have.

An "I get it now" moment

So today I was getting ready to go to parent teacher conferences (the kids are doing great by the way) and I was in the back of house and told Matthew to put his shoes and socks on and to go tell Leah to get hers back on if she had taken them off. He gets aboout 15 steps away from where I am standing and proceeds to yell to Leah to put her shoes back on.

My mom got so mad at us when we were younger and would do this...I never understood why she just didn't yell herself. Let me tell you...I get it now!!!!

Time to Catch Up

I know, I know, I've been slacking on the blogging front and the last couple have been all about Owen so I decided that I would update about everyone this time. (What you don't know is that it took me over a week to do this one post.)

Here goes...I'll start with the youngest. Owen is doing awesome!!! He walks, runs, and jumps and other than a small limp after a lot of activity and 3 scars you can hardly tell he broke his leg. He is scheduled to go in on July 19th to have the rods taken out and the few times I've tried talking to him about getting them out he says they can't come out because...no reason just because. He is crazy cute and crazy stubborn and his current thing is to cover his eyes when you tell him not to do something or if he his mad at you,as if it makes him invisible or something. His favorite statement right now is "Don't talk to me!!!" He knows the entire alphabet and few of their sounds, he can call grandma all by himself at home and work, and even recognizes a few words thanks to Baby Can Read. Since I started writing this post he started reading a book called Max's Breakfast and I have only had to help him with a few words. (See video on facebook to hear him reading it)

Matthew is crazy...just crazy!!! He is a pain in my neck a lot of the time but he will just belt out "I love you Mommy" and my heart melts a little. He is so excited to start school next fall and I have the hardest time believing that he is old enough to be in kindergarten. He knows almost all of his letters and numbers up to 10 and he can write his whole name plus some of the other letters. We are hoping he will get the same teacher that Leah had because she is awesome. He loves video games and I determined one day last week that maybe I let him play them a little too much because when he was restricted from playing those games he and Owen used their imaginations to pretend that they were in a video game and they hunted for treasures and coins. Occasionally I would hear them say "pause game, down, down, down, quit game"; I chuckled everytime I heard this, but my favorite was when they would go into the closet, count to eleven (not ten but eleven), and then come out and pretend they were on a new level.

Leah has given me a new appreciation for that statement "7 going on 20". She gets so convinced that she is right about stuff and can't stand to admit that she may have been wrong and this next statement is for those that knew me when I was younger...I know she gets that from me. She did very well in school and reads at a 3rd, almost 4th, grade reading level; but as much as she enjoyed going to school, she is very excited that her summer break has started. She is growing up so fast and has started forming her own opinions about music, life, and just about everything in between. I cannot really figure out what she is into because it changes almost daily...but one thing that stays consistent is drawing and writing.

Jeff and I certainly have our hands full with the three of them plus our own stuff, Jeff with his work, still at Comcast, and me with my school. I recently started taking online courses through University of Phoenix to get my Bachelors in Education so that I can start my teaching career. We have tons of fun things planned for the summer, including but not limited to BBQ's, a trip to an indoor water park and an outdoor one, exploring regular parks, and free movies and bowling. I am doing this summer different than the last few and have actually planned out most of our summer so hopefully I won't hear "I'm bored" as much this year.

The next post will have pictures with some of the activites we have already been up to and maybe some video if I can figure out how to get them on here.

5 Weeks, 2 Hip Spica Casts, and 1 Surgery Later....

Okay, so it's a little past 5 weeks but he did have 2 casts (a blue one and then a green one) and one surgery that will leave him with 3 scars. He is doing tons better...it seemed like such a long road to get here but here we are. The first week home was an adjustment trying to get him through what I am guessing were nightmares about the fall, the pain and getting used to the cast. He slept quite a bit the first few days, although he did have trouble falling asleep...I think he was reliving the fall when he closed his eyes. I was struggling to get him to eat much although he was drinking pretty good. By the weekend I was starting to get the hang of things which was good because Owen would only let me do things for him. Jeff tried and tried but Owen put up such a fit that it was just easier for me to do things for him.

We were finally getting into a new groove and then we had a doctor's appointment a week later and found out that his bone moved out of place and so we had to take off the old cast and put on a new one. We scheduled it...went up to the hospital...waited while he was in getting it done...waited for him to wake up...then took him home and started all over again (well almost all over). We had to readjust to a new cast, it was the same thing but different; this one was formed differently and it had sharp edges that the other one didn't. Of course he was in pain all over again because they had to maneuver his leg to get it straight again. We were finally getting into a new groove again and then we had another doctor's appointment and found out that the bone moved out of place again. The doctor told us that at this point we would have to do surgery to have rods placed in the bone to keep it straight.

We went to another doctor the next day and scheduled his surgery for the day after that which was a Friday. I made arrangements for Leah and Matthew for Friday and Saturday since Jeff and I would be at the hospital all day Friday with Owen and then he would have to stay at least 1 night and Jeff had to work on Saturday. We got to the hospital in the morning, got checked in and settled Owen in; then after a little delay they were finally ready to take him in for the surgery. Jeff and I waited and waited and ate and waited a little more and then finally the doctor came up to let us know that everything went well. He told us that Owen had lost a little blood so they would check his blood cell count in the morning. We then waited a little while longer before the volunteer told us what his room number was going to be; once Owen was brought to his room we got him settled in and he went back to sleep and he slept and slept and slept. Jeff left to go see Leah and Matthew before going home to bed so he could work the next day.

Owen and I stayed at the hospital until Sunday; he drank good, ate terrible, watched a lot of TV, slept a bit and finally let me push him around the hospital on Sunday morning while we were waiting for the physical therapist to show up. She showed up and we helped Owen try to stand on his good leg but with everything leading up to this he was too weak to really do it so Owen and I headed home. He was in quite a bit of pain by then because he stopped taking the lortab because "it's yucky" so we were relying on Motrin to be enough. We spent the next few days adjusting again, getting Owen through the pain. On the Thursday after his surgery he had his first real bath in over 3 weeks and it's been all uphill since then. We went to doctor last Wednesday and the doctor was very pleased with his x-rays and took out some of his stitches. He gave the okay to take him swimming and even said  he could put some weight on his broken leg in the water so we went swimming over the weekend; Owen did not stay in the pool long but he had fun while he was in.

He is currently playing with toys in his room and is scooting around on the floor to get around from room to room. I can't believe how quickly he is recovering from the surgery; he is left now with a 3 inch scar on his thigh, 2 1 inch scars on either side of his knee cap and a fear of falling that I am hoping will be temporary.