Evie - that girl!

My sweet Evie-girl turned NINE years old on Sunday!  Can anyone believe it?

Look at her here --

And now she's NINE!

I have to tell you, she is more than I could have ever expected.  She's so full of personality and wit. This girl is constantly amazing us. Truly.  I think there for a while, we were underestimating her, but I don't anymore.  She's the alpha dog with her brothers and remembers the most bizzare details about life - especially when it benefits her!

She has a best friend named Lira. They are two peas in a pod and inseparable.  If we allowed it, they would live together at one house or the other.  I'm pretty sure if I offered, Evie would pack her bags and move in with Lira and her family. It probably helps that Lira is an only child and her parents are awesome!

This weekend, Evie asked to go to Joe T Garcia's for her birthday, so we invited her BFF and family to join us.  The mariachi band sang her happy birthday while she pouted about the unwanted attention.  We didn't care.

 

All she really wants for her birthday is to hang out with Lira and get presents.  She doesn't much care about the Frozen-themed cake we ordered or the roller skates.  This actually sounds pretty normal to me, but tell me if it isn't.

Oh, and George photobombed them.  Of course, if I had asked him to take this picture, he would have acted all shy and refused.  It is his way.

And just to make sure all the kids get equal time, I ran across this picture of Luke the other day and I love it.  Plus, I just have to brag about how sweet and polite he is to strangers.  Of course, he's not like that with me, but he's AMAZING with other parents and people he meets.  I observed it yesterday and I'm totally impressed.

Speaking of my crazy, wonderful, girl, I found Evie's letter to Santa Claus already written and ready to go to the North Pole!  Apparently, she and Lira have already been discussing the holiday and what they want for Christmas.  Unfortunately, I don't think Santa can bring her what she wants, but I have to hand it to her for creativity, honesty, and a full explanation. (Translation provided below with all misspellings in order to capture the full glory and fabulousness of this letter!)

  

Evie's

Chirismas

Plan

What I

Want for

Chirismas

 

 

I want a babby puppy and

kitten that does what I say. 

They can poop enything I want.

They won't be a robbot they will be

real. The kitten will have the

softest fur and lies kids.

They won't be fat. The puppy will

have ears that hange down and are

wavey, has fluffy fur, and likes

kids.  They can do tricks and they

are best friends.  They are small

and nice. They are mine and I

take care of them. They will

not run away and I can

bring them to school and in

my classroom every day.

They are super cute. They

love me to pick them up and

they love to sleep in my

lap and with me. They don't

bite or scratch.  They were

just born on Chirismas eve.

They love me the most of all.

 

that is what I want

for Chirismas.  Please Santa.

Can you also make it snow

alot? I want to see a snowflake.

 

I'm sary I'm not neet

 

[TURN PAGE OVER]

I'm sary for hurting

Luke, but I'm uste to it.

 

I want to bild a snowman

 

Love, Evie Lastname

This letter has made my month!  I LOVE it!  I have to admit I have some concerns about her spelling, especially since she makes straight As in school.  It's strange that she can't spell, but I'm going to ignore that and embrace the true genius of this letter.  It is so Evie!

Life Update (for those who care).

Wow.  I've missed y'all.  Seriously, it's like this place is my therapy (free therapy!).  Things have been proceeding at a fast pace as usual.  Our career woes are starting to finally settle into a more stable position - even though a year ago I would have never guessed we'd be here.  But I guess that's the beauty of life - like Forest Gump said, "You never know what you're gonna get."  Truly, we are blessed that our life changes only involved finances, jobs, etc., and not the loss of a friend or family member.  I'm happy to have my beautiful babies still annoying and loving on me daily.  How could I not feel blessed?

Let's check back in with my year of New Year's Resolutions. First, let me say, that I have never paid this much attention to New Year's Resolutions in my life!  Sheesh!  So, as for resolution #1, praying with the kids on the way to school everyday, I'm rocking this!  Thankyouverymuch!  Unfortunately, resolutions #2, posting on the blog, and #3, running a marathon, are pretty sucky.  Obviously, you know the status of my blog posting.  As for the marathon, I've been terrible at training over the last three weeks.  Absolutely terrible. 

I ran 15 miles about three weeks ago (and it sucked massively), and after that, I felt like I had accomplished all I wanted to accomplish.  I mean, come on...it was FIFTEEN freakin' miles! That's a lot of mileage for this non-athletic lady!  I've run a few times since then, but I haven't gotten up to the peak mileage of 20 miles.  Unfortunately, I've run out of motivation.  Completely.  Now, with that said, I'm still planning to go to Chicago and attempt to run the marathon.  We've purchased our airline tickets, and made arrangements to be there (just Chuck, no kids - they'd be seriously bored for the 6 1/2 hours of the marathon).  The deadline to defer my marathon entry until next year has passed, so it's this year or not at all.  And trust me when I tell you that I do not ever see me running or training like this ever again.  Not. Ever.  I mean, what is this "runner's high" I keep hearing about, because I have not experienced that.  So, for all those people who experience a huge rush of endorphins, then I can imagine how great running might be, but for me, I've got all the pain with ZERO endorphins.  So, no thank you.

Here's a career update: It's pretty good.  Really!  This year, I worked on increasing my business, and it really worked!  I could still use more clients, but I'm pleased with what I've done this year.  I had a goal at the beginning of the year to get into a real office space and out of my home, but I'm thinking that might happen.  Instead, it looks like I am going to take on a partner!  So, I'll take that and push off the office space for now.  Life is pretty good.  Plus, I had a huge client come in last month so I've been swamped trying to get an emergency filing completed (another reason why marathon training has fallen down my priority list).

As for the kids, well we are in full swing of school, soccer, piano lessons, scouts, etc.  It's a rapid-moving day for all of us, and I'm taking it one day at a time because I honestly have no idea where I'm supposed to be tomorrow. 

And finally, I'm president of our local junior woman's club so that keeps me ridiculously busy.  I have to admit, I absolutely LOVE it!  I know it's a lot of work, but it's right up my alley!  I'm so lucky to be able to work with such amazingly talented women everyday.  Seriously.

As for Chuck, well he started a new job and loves it.  Lucky him.  The only thing he doesn't like is the commute - which is at least 40 minutes in good traffic.  It's soul-sucking for him, but it's worth it to be able to do something he loves and still provide for our family.

So, that's that.  Not terribly exciting, but not terribly boring either.  Hope all of you are well and loving life!

XOXO,
Me

First Day (Week) of School 2014

I'm thrilled to announce that all three children are back in school full time and doing well...and I am thankful!  I really needed to get back to work!

They all think their teachers are wonderful and nice.  Evie and Luke both settled into their classes seamlessly, and I'm so glad!

As for George, well, he's made a bit of a splash.  You know he doesn't do anything half way!  His name was drawn at the Parent-Teacher meeting and he won a door prize given out by his Kindergarten teacher.  Ummm...seriously.  This really happened.  When did they start giving out door prizes?!?  What was the prize, you ask?  It is lunch with the teacher at the restaurant of his choice some weekend.  He quickly informed his teacher that his favorite restaurant is Macaroni Grill.  I hope she wasn't thinking that McDonald's was going to suffice.

He was a little reserved when he first got there, but he's been a bundle of energy ever since.

Evie is super excited because third graders get binders.  I'm not sure why this is exciting, but it is!

And to further seal his notoriety with his teacher, he announced to her on Wednesday that the little girl that sits on the carpet square next to him is in love with him.  I'm not kidding.  She informed me when I picked him up.  Of course, I asked for more information.  He was very proud of himself.

Me, "What is her name?"

George replied, "July."

I nodded my head because I remember that name being on the roster.  "Where did she kiss you?"

He scrunched up his nose and thought about it before responding, "I can't remember."

I looked at him like he was crazy.  "A little girl kissed you and you can't remember where she kissed you?"

"Nope.  But I'm not going to marry her!"

I chuckled, "Yeah, I think you might want to wait a little while for that."

He thought some more, "I'm not going to marry her until fifth grade!"

Me, "Good plan, kid..."

I guess that's all I'm going to get out of him about that.

Later he proudly told Chuck about it and added a new detail to it when he said "July is in love with me!"  He continued, "And even after I accidentally pushed her down on the concrete, she still loves me!"

I cringed, "Oh, my.  This isn't sounding very healthy so far..."

The conversation continued, and I recorded parts of it, but it keeps shutting down my computer so I can't include it.

When Chuck heard the name "July" his eyes widened.  Apparently, he had met July at the Kindergarten popsicle party, so he nodded his approval at George.  She must be cute.  You know I can't wait to meet her!!!

And I can't wait to see what this week will bring!