1st day of school

Wow, another year! Janie is in 4th grade and my babies are begindegarteners. Don't you love it! I love walking into school and seeing the boys sitting at their desks. Janie loves her teacher. So far, so good!

Higgins Lake 2009

So we've been back for 2 weeks now and I thought I would finally post some pictures. As always, the family had a great time on our 9th annual trip up north. Each year is a bit different. I remember our first years up there when Janie was just a little tyke and my sibling weren't even thinking about children. I was dealing with naps and bottles and bedtime. Now things have changed. My kids are good for an entire day on the boat fishing and tubing but it is my siblings who now have the little ones.

Good quality family time and busy, busy!




With cousin Abby




The first fish. Look at that water!


Janie learning to ski

The Allisons

Kyle-isms

It is confirmed that Kyle is going to be a player. Lord knows, he is always playing me! The latest ~

K: I hate brushing my teeth!
Me: We don't use the word "hate" in our house
K: But God made me say it
Me: Why did God make you say it?
K: Well, God gave me my words

Darn Christian Preschool!

After an evening of Kyle not listening, I finally put him in time out. He says "I guess I am not having a very good night huh? Mommy, I will try to have a good night once it gets dark."

I could go on and on...

Selfish Mommy?

As I have stated before, my kids have always gone to bed well. I never rocked or fed them to sleep. Sometimes they talk, play or read in bed but bed time is bed time!

For the past several years, Janie has gone through spurts of wanting someone to lay with her or rub her back or hold her and on and on. Lately, we think she has been going through some anxiety issues maybe due to the pressure of gymnastics or maybe not. Maybe it is because I work and am not here with her each morning (so she tells me) Whatever the case, it is very trying. I am bouncing back and forth between saying to myself "she is only going to be young for a short period so eat it up while you can" and "I need my time". Truth is, I need time to myself at the end of every day. Call me selfish because I kind of think I am. I am a better mother and much more patient when I have some down time. Lately, Janie is up until we are all in bed. She still goes down at 9p but she spends 2+ hours fretting over when I am coming to bed and when I can be here again in the morning.

I love my girl so much and snuggle her tons. I tell her every day how proud I am of her. I give her responsibility and have expectations but I don't pressure. I tell her that once gymnastics is no longer fun, we are done. Truth be told, I want her to grow up knowing how much I loved and supported her. I want her to remember us playing and reading and swimming and laughing. I don't want to screw her up but it scares me. Am I too selfish?

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!