Stop Growing, NOW!!!!

So, everybody got home safe and sound from their adventurous summer. What I failed to mention is that my kids were not returned to me the way I left them! Joey grew at least an inch. Joel about 1/2 and inch. Joey is wearing a size 10 men's shoe, and is almost his dad's height. Oh, and his voice is cracking. Joel is completely out of the "T" sizes and wearing big boy sizes. His feet jumped a size or 2 as well. Mackenzie is pretty much the same. But she is an enigma, she really just doesn't have huge growth spurts.
To make matters worse, they all started school Monday. Really, the house was just way too quiet without Joel. And coming home from work with the house completely empty this morning was just weird! But I have to face the facts. My babies are growing up, and I must learn to deal with it. But man, where did the time go?


The whole bus stop gang


Joey being 13 now, didn't want his mother trailing him to the bus stop with a camera looking like a crazy lady. Go figure!

Home Sweet Home

After being gone most of the summer, the kids are finally home! Kind of, but I'll get to that. We also have a new resident. Russell is officially living with us, as Wes was just made his legal guardian. School starts Monday, but we are mostly prepared. Just one or two last minute things to get.
The kids got in to Charlotte late Friday night, so we stayed the night with Penny and Zack so we wouldn't be pulling in at 1 am. We all slept in a bit, and got on the road around 1. Just before Penny left to get Keith from the Columbia airport, finally home from Iraq.
One of my favorite Joel quotes so far: I was getting him settled in the back seat, and he is just yammering away about his trip. As I'm shutting the door, I guess he said "hey mommy" but I didn't heart. And I'm still trying to get myself in the car and get settled. So he says to Wes, "She NEVER listens to me!" That and he was making sure that eeveryone knew that nobody could play with his new DS but him!
On the way out we made a quick stop at Jack in the Box. Charlotte actually has the closest ones, and I desperately needed an Oreo Cookie shake and some fries!
Once we got home Saturday afternoon, we worked on unpacking and cleaning out closets and drawers, trying to make room for Russell's things. After that, the kids were out the door to find their friends. They missed me so much that both Joey & Mackenzie spent the night with friends last night!
Welcome home!
Oh, and Teri...
Joey says Joel started crying Friday night because he missed you SO much, and he's called me Aunt Teri several times already.

SCHOOL!

I registered the kids for school today, and I have to say I'm excited! No Rachel, not because I'm ready to get rid of them. I'm actually a little sad that they've been gone all summer and will start school almost immediately when they get back. I'm excited FOR them. No, really.
Joey is starting his *gasp* LAST year of middle school. He got into the advance art class (which he is SO excited about) and advanced band. And because the French teacher is no longer teaching at the school, he is taking Spanish instead. He can't wait to start testing it out on his cousins, not to mention testing out what he already knows with his teacher.
Mackenzie is starting her **another gasp** LAST year of elementary school. And she finally made it into GATE (gifted and talented enrichment program), even better, she will be in the same class as her best friend Blythe (see here).
Joel is starting ***one more gasp*** KINDERGARTEN! This is especially exciting for him as he is the only of my kids to not have attended pre-school and/or PreK. So it is really his FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!
I'm so excited I could almost cry! My babies are growing up!

Domestic Partnership

I was recently shopping for car insurance. Mine expired in July, so I was doing my yearly price check. On one site, as I was filling out their questioneer, they asked about marital status. Apparantly you are a higher risk being divorced over being married, but that is for another post. Anyway, one of the options on this particular site was "domestic partnership". I liked that, because I am neither single, nor married. Calling Wes my boyfriend sounds oh so very 11th grade. Especially after living together for a year. So I asked myself, do we qualify? I mean, most of the time, domestic patnership is a label given to same sex relationships. But, if I am living with, and commited to a person, isn't that precisely what we are, domestic partners? We share a house, bills, a blended family, chores, stress, money woes, pets, and all that other stuff. The only difference from us and a married couple is that we haven't made a public statement in front of friends and family, and clergy or legal authority that we will love honor cherish till death so us part. I don't want to down size marriage here. We are very careful not to present ourselves as married, because we aren't. We might be one day, but for now, we aren't.
But, just because we aren't married, does that mean we shouldn't be considered when it comes to certain things that are preserved for immediate family only, or for discounts that occur when you are married? So that has me thinking about the whole same sex marriage debate. I know I'm stepping into some murky waters here, but have to say, if two people love each other and want to get married, who am I to say they can't? How does it insult my marriage or relationship if two men wnat the same right to marry the one they love as I am? If a church has an issue, that's fine, then the church can chose not to officiate over the marriage, but where does a democratic government of a country that holds equal rights as one of its biggest concerns get off telling a same sex couple that the LAW does not allow them to share the same legal rights as other commited couples?
I'm just saying, if I ought to be able to use the domestic partnership title, why can't someone else get married?

If we were Jewish....

Joey would be a man. But we're not so he is just another 13 year old boy. But on this day I'm still having a rough time coming to terms with the idea that I am the mother of a 13 year old. But what a great 13 year old I have! Joey came into the world making my life a little miserable, having weighed in at 10 lbs 8 0z. No, I did not have a C-section. I did however pledge my love to the man who gave me my epidural. Joey's was a well attended birth. He had mom (of course) and even waited for dad to come home from Turkey before making his appearance. Also there were Grandma Marci and Aunt Teri. Stopping in to visit were Anne and Brian, Uncle Ernie, Brittany, and Grandpa Larry. As hard as bringing him into the world may have been, he was a piece of cake after that. Aside from some breast feeding issues at first, we was the best baby ever! He slept through the night within the first couple of weeks. At 3 weeks old, he traveled by car from Seattle to Ft. Campbell, Ky. He went through a terrible 2's stage, but by the time he hit 3 had worked it all out.
As time has gone by we've learned so much about Joey. He is very empathetic and caring. He is artistic and musical. He has played piano, trumpet and French horn. He's very smart, though convincing other's of that was a challenge at first. He doesn't test well, so he's always had to proove himself the hard way. Being the oldest he's had to become more responsible than most of his peers at his age, but responsible he is. He is easy going, and puts up with a younger and sister and brother who worship him maybe a little too much sometimes. Overall, he's just such a great kid, and I feel so blessed to have him as MY kid.

In Memorium

George died July 22nd, 2009, sometime around 1-2 pm. She was 15, and survived by many family members that loved her, others that tolerated her. George was contrary right from the bieginning. Starting with her name. We were assured by the veterinarian she was a he, so we name "him" George. Then, he turned out to be she, but the name still stuck. Geoge came into my life as a 2 week old abandon kitten September of 1994. She was my first baby. I had to mix her formula and feed her every 4 hours through an eye dropper. Then I even had to wipe her behind. Those first few weeks she slept in whatever shirt I had been wearing that day. During the day, she pent most of her time under my shirt close to my belly. As time went by George became a bit rebelious, choosing to eat the dog food over her own. She got quite fat. She didn't like too many people, she tolerated Mike and I for the most part, and I think she even frew fond of my dad. Although she seemed mean, she was protective. Out other cat, Tahli was challenged mentally, and not very good at sticking up for himself. When one of our dogs got a little overly frisky with Tahli, George came to his recsue, only to growl and hiss at him when he tried to thank her. George was a world traveler, having been born in Turkey, and lived in Tennessee, Germany, Washington, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. Not to mention all the car and plane trips it took to get to those places. In the last few years, she lost a lot of her weight. This last year she got very thin, and the last week she was barely skin and bones. She was a pain in the butt a lot of the time, but nevertheless, she was family and we will all miss her. Most of all me.
A big thank you to Pet Rest in Goose Creek, SC for taking such great care of departed pets, most off all George. They were so nice, and thoughtful. They even sent me a memorial card. Rest in peace George.
**Regretably, I have no pictures of George on this computer. Once I track down some of my photo discs, I will post for those of you who did not get to meet her.

Happy Birthday to me!

In honor of my 9th 25th birthday, I'm going to take a page from someone else's book, and give everyone one little known fact for every year of my life. I've done this a few times before, so I will try not to repeat myself, but if I do, it just means I'm not that interesting.

1. I share my birthday with a great uncle, and a great friend I've known since junior high, so be sure to wish Rachel a happy birthday as well.
2. I hated having a summer birthday growing up because a) I was younger than nearly everyone else in my class and b) everyone was on vacation around my birthday.
3. I think the worst birthday I ever spent was my 16th. I was at camp and the night before it had rained (big surprise in Washington, I know). I was on a biking trip and when it rained we slept under tarps. My sleeping bag ended up under the one and only hole in the tarp. The wet woke me up about 3 am and I ended up sitting under a tree to keep dry and reading abook until everyone else got up too.
4. Going with milestones, my 21st birthday wasn't much better. I was pregnant during one of the hottest summers in Washington. It was my due date and no sign that the baby was coming any time soon.
5. I honestly don't remember what I did for my 18th birthday.
6. One birthday I remember taking a few friends to a movie. I think it was my 11th, and they wouldn't let Kristi Hewitt in for the jumior price because she was so tall.
7. One person tried to throw me a surprise party once, it didn't go well. It was a total surprise, but it back fired a bit when I came home after work and a stop at the commissary while living in Turkey. My arms were full of groceries and I couldn't get to my key. I knocked on the door knowing someone was home, but no one asnswered. I ended up dropping the groceries all over the hallway in order to get to my key. I was pretty upset once I got inside and everyone yelled SURPRISE!
8. One year I went to Wild Waves with Mikiko and got one of the worst sun burns ever!
9. Enough about past birthdays...I'm snobby about how a sandwich is made. The spread of choice be it peanut butter, mayo, jelly, butter, whatever should reach all corners of the bread, and any other ingredients (cheese, lunch meat) should be staked neatly, not just thrown on there.
10. I think one of my main objections to house work is I hate putting all that effort into something and not even getting a chance to enjoy it before it is all undone.
11. I hate to cook, but put on a fantastic Thanksgiving. This comes from often times being away from family for the holiday, and having friends over instead. I always made the Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and a vegetable. Everyone else brought other side dishes or dessert.
12. Wes thinks I'm a hippie. I don't know about that, but in ways I guess I am a "free spirit". I would have loved to have been alive for and gone to Woodstock!
13. I've always wanted to live in New York City. Probably not permanently, but I think I would enjoy the apartment life, the culture, the little whole in the wall places you can find in NYC.
14.I have a serious celebrity crush on Colin Firth. I don't know why, I don't know what started it, but it is there.
15. Before Colin I was all about Tom Hanks, ever since Splash. I watched him on Bosom Buddies, but it wasn't until Splash that I had the crush.
>>>I'm beginning to think its a dark curly hair thing<<<<
16. My first word was water, then I'd learn boat, so everytime we crossed Lake Washington when I was little I would go nuts over the Water! Boat!
17. I loved going to Husky games with my dad. With my thermos of hot chocolate, a bag of apples from the UW Crew, and my garbage bag rain poncho.
18. I miss the Kingdome! Yeah, Safeco field is awesome, and I love it, and Quest field is great too, but I still miss the Kingdome.
19. I have an affinity for a lot of the old southern homes out here. One of these days I plan on getting up with the sun and going around to take some pictures of them. Its one of the things I've come to love about this area.
20. One of my pet peeves is when people take advantage of my non confrontational manner. I like to keep the peace, and I'm ok being the bigger person, but taking advantage of that is a quick way to make me confrontational. Maybe.
21. When I lived in New Jersey, I played BINGO almost every Saturday night at the fire house. I loved it. I had many colored dobbers, I could play several boards at a time, and I even had a couple of good luck charms on my table.
22. You know those T-shirts that say, "I'm BIG in Europe". That's me. Europeans love me. Or atleast I always seemed to have a social life while living in Europe. Not so much in the states. Does that make me un-American.
23. Speaking of un-American, I don't like Apple Pie or hot dogs.
24. I'm really freaked out about Joey turning 13 this year.
25. I'm really freaked out about Joel starting school this year.
26. I love maps. I love planning out routes, looking for cool places to stop, finding a short cut, or a scenic route.
27. Every time I move to a new place, I go out and "get lost" so I can find my way back again. Its the best way to get to know your way around a new area.
28. I am a choco-holic, BUT I don't care for chocolate ice cream that much.
29. I would love to visit Price Edward Island one day. I think I've read the Anne of Green Gables series about 4 times through now.
30. Two places I don't think I could ever live: California and/or Texas.
31. I miss Jack in the Box. What I wouldn't do for a Sourdough Jack and an Oreo shake! And Slurpees! How can there not be 7-11's around here?!
32. The last time I lived in Washington, I visited a coffe stand almost every morning, but I don't drink coffee. I would get a hot white chocolate or a strawberry Italian soda. Emily was the best barista ever!
33. I think Wes and I will keep Krispy Kreme in business just on our own habit.
34. I hate working a flexible schedule. I've adjusted to 3rd shift but the flex schedule is kiling me!