Happy 70th Dad!

I missed posting this yesterday on my Dad's 70th birthday because my stupid computer was/is on the fritz!

Anyway, yesterday would have been my daddy's 70th. Unfortunately, he has been gone for almost 9 years now. I spent a lot of time thinking of him yesterday and wondering how we would have celebrated. Would there have been a party? A trip? Not sure but one thing I do know is that we would have all been together. All children, grandchild with my Mom and Dad. Gosh what I would give to see that!

Love you dad and yesterday and every day, we celebrate you and wish you were here with us!

Raising Children

No one ever said parenthood was going to be easy. No one ever said that it gets easier as they get older. We are now experiencing this "getting older" thing. Although Janie is still years away from being a teenager, the emotional drama of a 9 year old has begun! We seem to be dealing with two major things right now. Our first challenge is friendship/competitiveness/jealousy. This is pretty big and complex actually. Janie has a significant amount of friends and makes friends easily, fortunately. She spends most of her time with her gymnastics friends (which includes her best friend Zoe) because that is how the ball bounces. When you do gymnastics from 8:30a-2:00pm, 4 days a week, these are the people you spend your time with. If you want to do sleepovers, it is only logical to do it with a gymnastics friend since you both have to get up in the morning, right? Plus, my friends are these girls' mothers and I rely a lot on them for help with transportation/childcare.


Janie is naturally competitive. After all, both Mike and I are very competitive. The challenge is that she feels the need to always be the best, beat everyone, have the most friends, be the leader and on and on. I guess it is great that she is motivated but sometimes it doesn't work out so well. She gets her feelings hurt when her friends do things without her. I am not sure how to deal with this. She is incredibly jealous and feels like she is left out when she isn't always included. Example - two of her gymnastics friends are running in a race this weekend. We just can't make it. Mike is going to be in California and we have a million other things going on. She is devastated that "they" are going to do the race and she is not. Then she pulls out this "mom, it's not that I want to do the race with my friends, it's that I would be so proud of myself if I could do it". Really? What do I say? After a lot of talking, we have agreed to find a race for the two of us to do together. She seems satisfied so maybe it is not just about the friends.

Challenge #2 - bed! Every night is a struggle right now. She goes to bed at 9pm and gets to sleep at 10:30 or 11. She makes many trips to me in tears telling me that she feels like she will never see me again. She wants me here in the mornings but I just can't be. I have to be at work. I explain to her that I go in early and get off early so that I can be with her in the afternoon. She continues to struggle every night until I lay down with her. I get so frustrated but understand at the same time. I was a mommy's girl (probably still am) and always wanted my mom. I had big time fears of her not being with me. Those feelings are awful so I try to constantly remind myself of how that can feel and it helps me be a bit more patient.

Hopefully we will get through this phase too. In the meantime I will just love my daughter and try not to screw her up!

Texas Family Reunion

Two years ago, my amazing Uncle Bob (my deceased Aunt Janes' husband) decided that our family (Dad's side) does not see each other enough and he wanted to do a trip so that we could all be together. So, he started the planning of a trip to a Lost Pines Hyatt Resort in Austin, Texas. During the initial planning, I thought it would never get here. I mean really, 2 years out? Anyway, last weekend 38 first and second cousins, along with the parents that are still alive, flew to Austin for the most amazing weekend. It was so fantastic to reconnect with and see some of my favorite people. The kids are at the perfect age to enjoy a place like this. They played in the water while I was able to have great conversations with family. The kicker, my uncle paid for the entire trip! There is no way we would be able to go on a vacation like this so it was a huge treat! The double kicker, he said we are going to do it in another two years. Yeah! And cheers to the best family ever. I am so blessed.

The boys with my cousin Kamp son Jake


Janie dancing with Uncle Bob


My beautiful niece, Allison


Did I mention that the resort was on the Colorado River?
The entire gang!

Festival #1

Since Mike usually only has Sundays off, we try to do something as a family on most Sundays. During the summer we tend to visit a lot of festivals. Not much was going on in Detroit today so we headed to Howell for the Hot Air Balloon Festival. Of course it was too windy for the balloons to go up so we walked around for a few hours. It was a little bit less like a festival and a little more like a carnival/fair. Nevertheless, the kids had fun!

Dad's Day

I would write a nice note about my husband but he has never read my blog and probably never will so why bother! I will say that I am a very lucky person to still love my husband as much as I did the day I married him. He is a great father and I enjoy spending every minute I can with him. Unfortunately he works a lot and had to work the entire Father's Day weekend this year. So, I don't have any fun pics of him with the kids.


We did have a great weekend and enjoyed some pool time with friends and then spent Father's Day with my aunt and cousin (their husbands went to the Tiger's game). Here are some fun pictures which include my children dressed up in their cousin's dress up clothes!




PS - I miss my daddy! Happy Father's Day Dad!

Bring on Summer!

I am excited to say that I made it through my busiest week of the year at work and successfully none the less. Now it is a matter of tying up a few loose ends and we move into summer mode. With that being said, I have also recently received a promotion so I have new challenges ahead. Very exciting!


The family is great. The kids are a bit sassy and mouthly as usual but good. Owen's stitches have healed and we are hoping to go injury free for a bit.



We had a great Memorial Day to include watching Janie walk in our local parade with her softball team, a bit of kite flying and an awesome BBQ and swimming with friends. And by the way, in the picture of Kyle with the toad, the toad is dead. He was devistated when he figured it out!

Summer, here we come!

Another Accident!

I have come to realize that having boys means that we will have many more accidents in our future. Fortunately, the one last night was minor although it did require a trip to emergency and a few stitches.

When we put the boys to bed we listen to them play, argue and call us for about an hour. Since we moved them into their bunks, the going right to sleep has gone away. It doesn't help that I hear all the time what good nappers they are at school. Anyway, last night was no different. About 10pm I heard that horrible cry out that something was "really" wrong. Apparently Kyle threw his cup off the top bunk and it clocked Owen in the face. He was bleeding very heavy and despite the very small wound, it was deep. After much debate, Mike took him in. The gave him the line of "if it was my child, I would definitely stitch it". And so they did and he was a champ!

I almost had the medical bills paid off from the leg last year! That's not important right?

Enjoying the Weather!

We've been planting, gardening, mowing and enjoying this weather. Of course I haven't touched spring cleaning! Last night we had our first bonfire of 2009. Today we took our first trip of the season down to Eastern Market today to grab some fresh produce and flowers. This evening the boys enjoyed a little run in the sprinklers! Spring has sprung...finally.

Proud of My Girl

First of all a huge Happy B-day to my now 9 year old baby girl. I still can't believe she is nine. Full of so much life, I am so proud of my girl. She is a great daughter and an awesome big sister.


Janie finished her gymnastics season this past weekend with her state meet. After coming back from a rough winter and a weak leg, she finished with her best all around score of the season. She was so excited and surprised to receive 4th place on vault, 6th place on beam and 5th overall. I am most proud of her determination and hard work getting back to where she is. Way to go girl and I love you tons!

Proud to be a Mom!

I am so blessed and proud to be a mother to my children! Craziness and stress aside, at the end of the day, what else can you ask for?






A HUGE Happy Mother's Day to the best mommy in the world, my mother!

March of Dimes Winner or Loser?

The following is a list, in chronological order, of our March of Dimes path this year:

1. Debated whether to fundraise again this year knowing that Janie's gymnastics meet could fall on the same day as the walk. Also, many family and friends were going to be out of town that usually walk with us.

2. Decided that March of Dimes means a lot to me and because of MOD, many of my friends' children are alive. I will commit to fundraise!

3. Set fundraising goal - a hefty $1000 (I have made it past there for the past 3 years)

4. Sent out numerous (maybe received as annoying) e-mails begging for money. Donations were more of a struggle then in previous years, rightfully so!

5. Janie's gym received confirmation on her meet day - 8am on Sunday. We will miss the walk.

6. Decided after raising $1000+ that I would find a walk to walk in on Saturday.

7. Despite wanting to walk with my cool friend Billie, I found a walk at Kensington (literally 3 miles away) as opposed to 45 minutes away.

8. Friday night, OK Twins Team hits $1058- thanks to amazing friends and family!

9. Begin making team shirts at 11:30pm on Friday night after 10 year Anniversary dinner with hubby.

10. Wake up Saturday morning and eat a big breakfast prior to leaving for the "big walk".

11. 9:30am Saturday morning we arrived at the park to begin the walk. We ask for the location of the start and were told that Saturday was set up day, Sunday was the actual day of the walk.

12. Shed a few tears while missing a really fun time with some dear friends who totally understand "this cause".

13. Walked around the park in our lime green t-shirts as people looked and asked "did you just walk in a walk?"

14. Went for ice cream!

I am almost over it! I guess there is always next year. A huge thank you to all who donate!

Walk for Babies

Okay, I think it is time to start begging. If you see me on the street corner with my empty cup tomorrow, it is because I have not yet reached my goal for the March of Dimes Walk. In fact, I am not even close! $420 more to go to be exact.

Making the decision to fundraise this year was a hard one. Janie has a gymnastics meet next weekend that we are committed to and not knowing what day it would land on, I did not know if we would be able to walk. The more I thought about it, I realized that it didn't really matter. What the March of Dimes has done for so many premature babies is incredible. Knowing that my children and so many others are alive because of the research and funding that they have provided is so admirable. So, as it ends up, we found out today that Janie's meet in Kalamazoo next weekend is on Sunday morning, go figure! The good news is that there are two other walks in our area on Saturday that we plan to participate in (of course they are double the length).

My friend brought up this point the other day ~please consider not stopping for your Starbucks or Sausage McMuffin for one day and donate the $5 to March of Dimes. Please! For a good cause, for these miracle children, for my boys? Thank you!

2006


2007


2008

Happy Birthday 4 year olds!

Today Owen and Kyle turned four! Wow, four sounds like a new decade to me. Four sounds like a whole new world of opportunities! Organized activities, travel, shopping...okay maybe not with two four year olds!



We spent the day at Chuck E Cheese with some of our closest friends and family. The boys had a blast and I am always happy to have a b-day party where I don't have to cook or clean!

Happy birthday to my sweet and crazy not-so-little boys! I love you!



PS - We were healthy for the day!

The Good, the Bad and the Sick

It seems that the only time I blog lately is when I have something bad to talk about, like the kids being sick. I will get to that in a minute but let's start with the good stuff!

The boys went to the eye Dr. last week for a check up. They were initially sent to have their eyes tested at 9 mths old because they were preemies. At that time we were told that they would eventually need glasses and it would probably be between 3-5 years old. So, we went back this last week and went through the full examine (including being dilated which I wasn't expecting) and we checked out just fine. They are both far-sided but nothing that needs correctly right now. I did think that Owen would be really cute in glasses but who needs the added expense and hassle!

The other good news is that Mike and I leave on Thursday for Phoenix for 3 short days. We will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary soon so this is our celebration! The great part is that we are staying for free at a fantastic resort where my old boss is the Director of Operations. Of course this comes along with a 100 page audit, but hey, I critique all the time anyway.

For the bad and sick news...the kids are all sick again. Very sick! My bro (who is living with us) came down with a very nasty stomach virus last week. Despite our biggest efforts to keep him confined to the basement, the kids now have it. I am not a germ freak but I sprayed more Lysol and cleaned more counters than ever before. No luck! Kyle starting throwing up on Friday night, Owen on Saturday afternoon and Janie last night. This is not just a 12 hour gig either. It is a throw up every half an hour for 10-12 hours and it comes on without warning (hence my stained carpet). The biggest bummer is that Janie had to miss her Sectional gymnastics meet today which qualifies her for State. Oh well, it could always be worse (like if I get it and can't go on vacation). We are over the vomiting part and now just dealing with fevers and the other end. A HUGE thanks to my wonderful mom for being her and doing all of the nasty laundry!



Some good news, some not so good. I have to think that our turn is NOW over...right?

Health Update!

The good news the boys are at school. Owen's fever did not come back yesterday so we seem to be on the mend. Hope this is not wishful thinking!

I got Janie into the orthepoedic today. She confirmed that she did not see anything broken in the x-ray. She did say that a small fracture or stress fracture would not show up. She is to take it easy (no tumbling) but put pressure as she can tolerate on it. She will go back in 2 1/2 weeks for a folllow up x-ray. I guess this is all we can ask for now. I mean, gymnastics is not our life, right?

Can our turn be over, please?

Let me pre-warn you, I am going to whine here. This is not necessarily going to be a positive post so you may want to sign off now if you are not in the mood to here me complain.

I try to keep it together most of the time. The busy schedules, work, our dirty house, money challenges, blah, blah, blah. Sickness is another story. I can handle the occasional bug or infection but let me tell you, we have had our share!

As I posted a couple of weeks ago, Janie has influenza and pneumonia. She missed 5 days of school and I missed 3 days of work (thanks to friends helping me out!). Last Saturday night, while we were at my sisters, Kyle go the stomach virus. It was actually not bad. 24 hours to the minute and we were done. No biggie! Then on Thursday I received a call from school that he was crying about his ear. He had mentioned it a few times earlier in the week but wasn't really complaining so I didn't do anything about it. On Thursday I took him in and he had a sever double ear infection. They think that he has strep too but did not test for it since he was going on an antibiotic anyway.


Thursday night about 2am, Owen started vomiting. After 5 sheet changes, I again told my self no biggie. Mike took the day off on Friday and stayed home. Since yesterday (Friday), Owen has had a 102-103 temp. When the Motrin runs out at the 4 hour mark, he is hot as can be. I did take him in today figuring that it would be an ear infection also but he checked out fine, for now.


Next - Janie came home from gymnastics on Wed. with a hurt foot. Apparently she was tumbling and hurt it on her landing. She said that she thinks she heard a crack. She seemed fine on Thursday. When I picked her up from school on Friday, she was hurting. I took her to practice thinking that she bruised it and a little warm up would help it. She came home from practice in severe pain. She woke up today in severe pain and unable to put any pressure on it. Since I was taking Owen in, I had them look at her too. They sent us for an x-ray. The Dr. called several hours later and said that the preliminary x-ray did not show a fracture. She however wants us to follow up with the orthopedic to check it out as she is not convinced that it is not broken or at least a stress fracture. Mind you, this is after being cast Oct-Dec with a broken tibia!


Really? Really? I am now thinking that Kyle is on the way to being healthy. Owen probably has influenza and will have a 102-103 temp for 5 more days. And Janie, poor Janie has worked her tail off to get back into shape for competition in gymnastics. She has lost a lot and worked to gain it back. Now I am feeling pretty certain that she has at minimum a stress fracture and her season is over.

Told you that I was going to complain! Now I think I am going to have a glass of wine, or two!