One week in!

One of my other resolutions this year was to cut back on alcohol so I joined this group called One Year No Beer.  Umm...yeah, I've made it a week, but we'll see if I make the first 30-day milestone.

Also on the agenda - bikini body.  It's been a rough week. Down two pounds, and I'm sure I should be thrilled, but damn it, I just want to be thin right now without all that work!

Don't we all?

Anyway, we are fully back into the grind.  Luke is already forgetting his homework. Evie starts back to choir tomorrow. We all have piano lessons today (me included!).  Luke is back in band sectionals.  I had no idea what sectionals were until this year, so hats off to my band friends.  And soccer starts up for George this Thursday (not that we took a break because he continued playing indoor soccer during the break).

I'm exhausted already.  Why do I do this?  Sometimes I think it would be easier if I went back to work and just told the kids they didn't get to participate in activities. After all, other kids do that.  I wonder what the long term effects of non participation are.  I didn't participate in things as a kid. As the youngest of 6 with two working parents, it just wasn't an option.  It wasn't until high school that I got involved - all of my own desire.  No one pushed me to do anything.  I hope my kids will get to that point. Maybe I should stop pushing them so they can find their own motivation.  Thoughts?  I certainly don't have the answers.

Happy week, friends!

New Year 2017 Cheers!

Life is moving with the speed of the Millennium Falcon.  I think there have been TWO Star Wars movies that were released since I last posted here.  My kids have grown, they've made friends, they've had birthdays, they've complained and laughed, they've traveled.  Its been a crazy year and a half, and here we are. Still happy.  Still working through the daily rigors of childhood.  Still blessed beyond imagination.

So, I'll pick up here in the new year.  I didn't intend for this to be a new year's resolution, but perhaps that is the exact label it needs to light a fire under my ass.  I've missed it. And I've missed you.

So, here I am.  I am home.

Bring it on!

First update:

Happy New Year!  Hope you all are wonderful!  I've made some wonderful resolutions this year and they are really just an all-around effort to be a better person:

1. Get bikini ready - Seriously! I was in Target this weekend and they already had swimsuits out!
2. Read the entire bible.  Utilizing an app called the Bible App to do this.  It requires less than 15 minutes of reading each day.  I'm starting at the beginning and have high hopes for this year.
3.  Write, write, write!  I want to finish that book this year.  This. Is. The. YEAR!!!
4. Reduce my alcohol consumption.  Don't get me wrong; I love drinking, and I really love wine.  Unfortunately, I need a break and I think that will help with Resolution No. 1.
5. Save money and live on a better budget.  To me, this is a lot like dieting. If I'm not counting calories, then I'm going crazy. If I'm not watching my budget, then I'm spending willy nilly.
6. Get the kids to each more fruits and vegetables.  Ugh. This might be the most difficult, but luckily they are finally at an age where it isn't like pulling teeth just to get them to try new foods.
7. Reduce restaurants.  Lordy! We spend sooooo much money on restaurants and it's just plain stupid.  I hate dishes, but I love cooking so at least I'll enjoy half of this new habit.

That's it!  Any resolutions you have to share with me?

No?  No one there? Ha!  I'm sure that's right.  Well, no one may be reading this, but I'll be back soon!

Because I'm happy!

Oh my goodness!  Have you ever looked up and realized you are perfectly happy?  And then promptly freaked out because something is surely about to go horribly wrong????  Yes, I guess I am a pessimist, but right now I am ridiculously happy!

The kids are in school and doing well.  Luke and George love soccer.  Evie has joined choir and loves it.  She has a best friend here named Kelsey.  Luke and George have friends too.  Evie has straight As.  Luke has As and Bs.  I have no idea what G's grades are yet.

The house is beautiful.  The weather is currently beautiful.  Everyone is healthy and happy.  I just can't stand how wonderful it is.  And now we have this new sweet puppy added to our family.  I am beyond happy.  He's my birthday present and he's all mine.  So far, we think we've decided on the name Francis (aka Frank).  He's a chiweenie and he's approximately 10 weeks old.  He's ridiculously cute, which is a good thing since he's still having accidents in the house.

The pets are starting to get used to him, but the rest of them are all old or cranky so there's a lot of hissing and growling when the puppy gets too rambunctious!

As for me, I'm in love!

Double Digits!

And time continues to fly by.  My sweet little baby girl turned 10 two days ago.  How is that even possible????  Craziness.  She's grown up so much and she is so funny and smart.  I can't stand how awesome she is.  She didn't have a party because, well, it's hard to do that when all of her close friends are in Fort Worth and not here in our new surroundings.  Lucky for her, we overcompensated. We surprised her on Sunday after church with a special present - a new American Girl doll named Maryellen and a matching dress.  After that, we took her (and the boys) to the American Girl store and bistro.  She loved it! And she loved the food (which is maybe more surprising!)

The boys, however, were less than thrilled.  George was especially put out, but warmed up after awhile.

The next day we had dinner after soccer practice at the local hibachi place and then we came home to open more presents!  Yes, we spoiled her pink!

What's that smell?

It's the strangest sensation to walk my children to school and be taken back in time to the days when I was going to school here.  I feel like I've been transported in time like one of those movies - Peggy Sue Got Married or whatever other movie does that sort of thing.  The smell of the cut grass carried through the humid air and baking under the hot sun is the most peculiar yet distinct scent and it takes me back to days on the practice fields behind my school where I practiced drill team routines for hours, getting ready for the Friday night game.


I'll admit that high school isn't something I talk about a lot.  I mean, the people who talk about high school are promptly met with a badly sung rendition of "Glory Days" in most cases.  But, I'm not talking about high school, but more the undeniable scent of my hometown.  It's amazing.  I don't think I even knew it had a scent until I came back and smelled it.  Of course, I could do without the tinge of cow manure, but I guess it wouldn't be the same without it. And the farms are close. In fact, this is a picture of a "farm" just outside our neighborhood.

There's a Friday night football game this week at the high school Luke is going to attend, and I'm tempted to go and unleash a flood of memories.  What do you think? Should I do it?

I'll tell you that it will never be the same.  That old saying, "You can never go home" is absolutely correct.  Often times I look around this place and feel like I've been transported through time just like Back to the Future: Part II.  It's really weird.  I really am in 2015 and returning to my hometown in the future.  I'll say it again: It's really weird.  Luckily, my hometown isn't quite the mess that Hill Valley is in the movie, but there are new stores built up all over, and old, foundational stores and restaurants that are shut down.  I can't describe the sensation.

Just to add some color to this post, here we are walking home from school!

Oh the joys of parenthood! And I'm serious this time.

There are some moments of parenthood that you simply cannot possibly recreate and when they happen you will never ever forget them.  One such event happened this week and it was an absolutely precious doozy!

I had sent the kids up to bed and then Luke showed up downstairs.  I put on my mean-mom-face and asked, "What are you doing?"

He responded, "Uh, I was going to bed, but Evie is upstairs crying."

Of course, I asked why and he told me what had happened. Although I was skeptical, I went on up just to see for myself, and this is what I saw...

If you're a girl, I promise this has happened to you at some point in your life.  And if not, then please don't mention it and so the rest of all of us mortals won't feel bad about our inadequacies.  This definitely happened to me, but (embarrassingly) it happened after I was married but before I had kids.  I'm ashamed to admit that I was probably 20 years old when I tangled my hair up in a brush.  I've officially dubbed this incident the "Comb Catastrophe."  Pure awesomeness!

I convinced her (while I suppressed my laughter) that we should take a picture so that she could laugh about it afterward.  I'm not sure how I got her to agree to this through the tears and embarrassment, but she did, so I took that awesome picture.  Definitely winning Mother of the Year for this one! And then I spent the next ten minutes gently unwinding and untangling her hair from a pink comb.  I asked her why she had felt the need to comb her hair in bed when she was supposed to be sleeping.  Of course, she gave me a completely reasonable answer (one that I would have probably given when I was a kid) by just shrugging her shoulders and saying, "Because I wanted to."  She was patient and sweet.  And I was finally able to get her to stop crying when I explained that she should have come to me as soon as it got tangled so I could help her.  After all, this is my job as her mother.  I mean, really!  This is the shit I actually pictured myself doing when I thought about becoming a parent.  I'll admit there was a lot of stuff I would have never expected, but this was actually on my list for taking care of a little girl!  I also used this as a bigger teachable moment.  The point is that she has to be able to come to me with all of her problems even when they are embarrassing or when she thinks she's going to get in trouble.  I really emphasized this to her, jumping all the way into the future for examples such as when she wrecks the car, or she gets in trouble at school.  It was one of those parenting moments that felt like an after school special or a Punky Brewster episode.  It was awesome. And eventually, I freed all the hair from the comb and she looked like this.

And after some gentle brushing, all evidence of the Comb Catastrophe had disappeared.

She is awesome!  She has allowed me to fulfill one of my expectations of motherhood.  What a blessing she is.  Now let's hope she calls me when she gets arrested!

Impressed

Tonight when I was tucking in my little angels/devils, the kids asked me to sing.  To be honest, I'm not a great singer, but I'm okay.  Chuck likes to make fun of my key changes, but whatever.  I can hold my own at church anyway. So I decided to tackle Somewhere Over the Rainbow with my mediocre voice and vocal range. Yeah, I'm awesome.

Anyway, this is totally not the point of this story so I'll get on with it. George wanted a different song (no surprise there).  I asked him what he wanted to hear and Evie had come into the room to listen too.  He said they heard a new song in music today.  He sang me a song about seesaws yesterday, so I was interested to hear today's song.  He mentioned a song called Sing, Sing, Sing and Evie got all excited because apparently she had heard it to.

She started to explain, "Mom!  It's called Sing, Sing, Sing and it's on YouTube."

George interrupted to say, "it's by Louis Prima."  Needless to say, my head whipped around to face him with shock in my eyes.

I asked incredulously, "You know who sings the song?!"

Evie piped in again, "He doesn't sing it; it's all instrumentals."  My head whipped back to her as my mind processed the fact that she had just used the word "instrumentals".  I mean, seriously, I'm really impressed.  Can't wait to meet this music teacher!

The kids suggested that I Google "Sing, Sing, Sing by Louis Prima" so that I could hear the song.  Of course, it was the second thing I did after they went to bed (first on the list was filling my empty wine glass).

So, here's what I found about Sing, Sing, Sing by Louis Prima!