Reflections of 2008

So last night I was listening to those around me talk of ’08…for some it was GREAT ’08 and for others it was HATE ’08…both made me laugh, but the best part was everyone agreed they were going to SHINE in ’09!! How fun!

So here is a brief look back at ’08 (p.s. I thought it was more GREAT than HATE ;-)

January…40th birthday trip to London with my mom!

February…Kristen 11! Gets her first cell phone, which is her NUMBER 1 “great” for ’08! And cousin Hannah was born on Kristen’s birthday!

March…Kate turns 9 (and she did shine!) with a roller skating birthday party! She tried out and made her first club soccer team. She plays for WC Arsenal and we can not say enough about the coaches (First Jay, Now Kevin) who have increased her skill level and understanding of the game. Many, many hours of enjoyment watching WC practice and play!! And a trip to Memphis for an out of town tournament.

April…taking the kids to their first “real” concert, Jimmy Buffet at the outdoor amphitheater. Riding in the limo to the concert…dancing in the lawn!

May…Kristen being awarded a Glory Award from the state of Missouri. Our trip to Jefferson City to see her accept the award. Could not be more proud of what a truly kind and gentle soul she is. The whole month of May was about KJ…ending of elementary school, fifth grade trips, fifth grade field day, fifth grade swimming, fifth grade party, and DARE graduation. She had a incredible year, she was chosen as Truman’s ambassador for her fifth grade year by a vote of her teachers. She represented Lindbergh School District as a student of Character, presenting to a national board on why LSD should receive a character award! Her artwork was also selected by a panel of LSD art teachers to be shown at the Lindbergh Art Gallery for the 08-09 school year! WOW what a fifth grade year she had!!

June…trip to New York City with my bff Brandi! Kidless in a big city with a bff? Mental stimualation and a ton of fun…who could ask for more!! Figured out the bus system and subway!

Kids first trip to Disneyworld. This is definitely top on everyone’s ’08 list! (Thanks Uncle David!) The funniest part was watching Kristen, Kate, Wil and Noah in the airport singing the “We’re going to Disneyworld song” (ok so a chant they made up;-) BUT it made everyone smile and talk to them. How can you not be moved by that kind of excitement! Everyone agree the only thing that would have made that a perfect trip would have been if their cousin Tyler hadn’t broken his leg just before the trip and he could have gone with us!!

July…family trip to Hilton Head. What fun to mark off the miles with the kids…to drive on to the island and stop at the HH museum! Got a little history of the island and bought our first souvenirs, mine favorite being the red/white lighthouse lamp that is in my bathroom. Jet skis on the ocean and parasailing were on the top of everyone’s ’08. And of course what can be better than long days at the beach and nights at the pool with the people you love most in the world.

Summer also included lots of swimming in David’s pool. Swim team with the Fenton Sharks, watching the kids set personal records and Kristen excelling in all her strokes! There were trips to the creek and camping and a very memorable float trip with the Morton’s! Hours in our own pool on the back porch and on the trampoline!!

August…Kristen starts middle school. For the first time ever she is not riding with me in the car to and from school. Hard to believe how much I missed her. Those precious minutes in the car with the kids every day, checking in on their plans and seeing how the day went. Our good friends the Morton’s got a boat and we spent a lot of time on the river enjoying their and our friend’s the DuPonts boat.

October…Is there anything more fun than dressing up and eating candy?


November…Thanksgiving at my cousin John and Jan’s house. My memories of Thanksgiving were at John’s mom’s house, my Aunt Irene and I love that my kids look forward to going to J&J every year on Thanksgiving. The annual walk, Cousin Mark’s flashlights, mashed potatoes, bourbon slushies, and Chrusciki! We missed the teepee this year :-(. And our first trip to see Trans Syberian Orchestra!

Wil and Daddy going to get Sonny Snickers Ohler!!!

And well DECEMBER….I have pretty much blogged, although I have decided it would be impossible to record everything the kids do! Just this morning Wil was laying on the floor making up a song for Sonny about what a good dog he is…Kate and Wil chasing each other around the house…Kristen sleeping until noon and our conversation yesterday about her passions and hopes and dreams for ‘09…Sonny’s trip to the Vet yesterday…plus our beloved red van may be gone by the end of the day (see now you have to come back tomorrow and see what happened ;-). Could never capture every moment, but gonna try to keep a glimpse of it.

I know there aren’t many that read this, I am keeping it for a year as a record for the kids and me…but if you are reading this, know that you are so special and loved and that my kids are so blessed that you are in their lives! Remember SHINE in ’09! (((hugs)))

Christmas

Ok,so it is hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone. Actually four Christmas celebrations have come and gone. Before I completely forget everything that happened here are the highlights. Christmas Eve starts with three excited children jumping on my bed! Everyone up, showered, dressed, presents in car and off to Chutka's (my sister Amy) for Brunch with Big Grandpa and Grandma. The gift of the morning was a "time out" bear. It is actually a frog with a timer in his belly that you set when your child needs a time out. The funniest part is that all the boys, Wil, Tyler, Aidan, and Noah immediately proceeded to do things bad to get them in trouble. It was quite humorous once we figured out what they were doing!!! My sister's monkey bread was the hit of the morning. From there we all proceeded to Christmas Eve mass. Three sets of parents and nine kids, what were we thinking?? The service was beautiful, they had a good children's choir and the youth band played lots of TSO (Trans Syberian Orchestra) songs, which was a great treat for our family as we started our holiday season the day after Thanksgiving with the TSO concert downtown! Right before the service began, an usher asked Chris if our family would like to take up the offetory gifts, he passed the torch to Amy and Eric as it was their parish ;-). After several musical pews...yes that means parents and kids changing seats, the service underway and Amy's family and my two girls take up the offetory gifts (enough to bring tears to my eyes). Then baby Hannah (who was born on Kristen's birthday, so actually it is their birthday now :-), fell asleep and I got to hold her in my arms and watch her sleep, of course, now thinking that this little girl was Kristen 11 years ago, more tears...sigh. It was nice to remember the reason for the season.

Then off to Bushia's to exchange presents with my siblings and mom. The kids waited all of 30 seconds after we got there to tear into the huge pile. The highlights for my girls were their gift cards to the mall (yes, they have already been to the mall to spend some of it!) and Wil's highlight was his football (not to be a surprise as it was his first word). They all made out with a ton of presents, so here it is Christmas Eve and Santa hasn't even visited yet! The best part of dinner at my mom's was the snowball cookies! They have been my favorite for over 40 years now.



Home by 10:30 and cookies and milk left out for Santa. Everyone asleep by midnight and Santa left his goodies. The "rule" at the house is no one wakes mom and dad up until 8am, they made it to 7:30 :-). Santa leaves their stockings on the landing with magazine, crafts and fun stuff to do so the kids were up at 6:30 playing with their stocking stuffers, but after an hour they started "checking" on us. LOL. The big present this year was a new trampoline, ours after 10 years has seen its better days. Kristen got the green ipod that she asked for (it has been her ears constantly since she opened it), Kate got a Nintendo DS game, and Wil got Mario Kart and Sonic Olympic games for his Wii. Not to mention a dozen other gifts from underwear (yeah mom ;-) to clothes, to games and books. It was a very sucessful morning, with turnovers, Christmas music and mom and dad back in bed for a nap by 9:30.

Everyone back awake at 11:00. Five people in and out of the shower and off to Uncle David's where my Mom and Aunt Vic host Christmas dinner. My mom of course presents a huge meal of ham and turkey, three kinds of potatoes, green beans and more. So yummy! And that doesn't include the desert table which is overflowing! Lots of laughs and stories told! It was a great holiday! Sorry the memories are so short, but they were getting away from me!

D@mn dog...

Yes, it is a known fact that I do not like animals. SO how did this family end up with fish, a bird, a lizard, and now a puppy?? Ok, so the kids do love him and he is so cute, BUT after being in the house for almost 2 months now, we are still struggling with the potty training. Sonny was born on 9/9/08 so technically he is still young for potty training, but after traveling over the holidays and everyone being so diligent about taking him outside, it was so frustrating to come home and watch him immediately have accidents in the house. So in my brilliant parenting mode, I decide to confine him to the kitchen. I find the kid gate and put it up at one entrance to the kitchen and then block the side to the dining room. He, of course, proceeds to jump over the block. Then I enlist Wil to help me move a heavier taller box to block the dining room...he of course jumps over that. We pile both boxes and finally he is trapped. I go upstairs...come downstairs and he is chewing a hole in the gate!! OMG! I block the gate with a different box. He is trapped...nope he climbs through the railing in the stairwell. I get more boxes and block him from the stairs, nope...he jumps over the top of the boxes and through the stairwell...more boxes!! Well as you can now probably imagine PEOPLE can not get in or out of the kitchen...arghhhhhhhhhhhh!!! Wil is laughing the whole time...WHO IS IN CHARGE?

Kate's pierced ears

Well it's official... She's a preteen! Ok so not yet, but her sister and she talked me into getting her ears pierced instead of waitin until her birthday because she can't have them taped for outdoor soccer or for swim team so by the time those seasons start her ears will be healed. LOL, ok so I fell for their logic! We are in Kansas City celebrating Christmas with their grandparents and we went to the mall. Daddy was a bit shocked at first but understood the logic too (so we're both suckers ;-) she chose the flower clear gems. She was very nervous but wanted them done more than anything. She had that panic look on her face that she gets when she wants to be brave more than she wants to be embarassed by crying! I have a few pictures I will post once we are home! We had a brief snowstorm here that dumped a few inches of very powdery snow, it was fun to look at but not enough to play in. The kids are enjoying their visit with their "little" grandma, both the girl LOVE to cook and grandma always has something new to teach them. They also got some new rubber muffin tins to bake in that they are very excited about! Their cousin Jake is also here visiting. Chris and I always have fun remembering stories about his dad when we were all in KC together! Hard to believe he is going to be 16!! Uncle Colin is in from China and brought gifts from all over the world, we love to hear the stories! Everyone looks good and is enjoying the visit. The kids are already lamenting our departure. Update on Christmas when we return home!

Christmas Eve

Santa's elves were very busy yesterday and finished all their wrapping. Elf Kristen wrapped all the presents for our family and friends! Mommy elf loved it as it cut her wrapping time in half!

"Crash" aka William visited the dentist again yesterday. Tooth fixed.

Everyone here is SO excited for today and tomorrow. This morning William sang Happy Birthday to Jesus!

Christmas Eve's Eve

When I was little my mom would always wish us a Merry Christmas Eve's Eve...it is something that I remember when I was a kid and my own kids always love being the first one to wish it to me.

Another busy, busy weekend under our belt and two more "wake-ups" until Santa visits. The kids are all so excited, as I told my mom yesterday, not sure any of them still believe but they all refuse to NOT believe. Wil said yesterday, how much he loves Christmas, he said it is like your birthday, but only better because Santa always knows the perfect gift to get you, even if you don't know what you want when you open your presents you are like wow I always wanted this and it's the perfect present.

Soccer superstars all weekend long. Kate had an incredible futsol game where she not only had several impossible saves, she scored twice, winning her first futsol game 2-1. Kristen is now playing left forward all the time and had the most beautiful cross pass off the outside of her foot that led to a goal in her 3-2 win last night. Wil also won his soccer game 3-2.

Friday was the last day of school for the kids. Truman school has a tradition of "reindeer races" where the teachers pull each other on sleds to gather toys and the first team to get all the toys back home wins. Basically it is one of those scooters on wheels and a rope and two teachers race to the end of the gym, get a toy, switch places and race back. All this with 850 over-sugared, over-hyped children screaming in the stands! LOL...I will have to get pictures from work. It is so much fun.

The kids also had their annual Christmas sleepover at Uncle David's. Although Kristen missed out on the sleepover part as she had a four hour play practice (the price of fame :-). They decorated the kid tree, played with cousins, played video games and pool, went to chuck-e-cheese and saw a movie. Pretty much a perfect day in a kids world. One accident of course, Wil re-broke his front tooth, so I am looking for a pediatric dentist that is in network to fix it!

Well it is Christmas Eve's Eve and I have not wrapped one present!

Basketball

Wednesday is basketball night. Ok, so we have soccer practice too, but everyone has basketball on Wednesday night. I can not tell you how LUCKY I am that all three of their practices fall on the same night around the same time! First we drop Kristen off at the high school and then Kate and Wil and I head to Truman for our practices. Wil practices in the little gym, with his team "The Scorpions" and I coach Kate's team "The Shooting Stars" in the big gym. Kristen's coach even drops Kristen off at Truman after her practice as it is on her way home. Anyone who has more than one kid in activities knows how important it is to rely on other parents to help get your kids all the places they need/want to be. I am very thankful to everyone who helps me shuffle my kids around!!

And you might want to know that there was no whale talk in our house this morning. This morning he was speaking "guitar." More specifically, electric guitar hero guitar! LOL...with whale talk every word gets drug out in longggggggg soundsssssss...guitar hero talk gets a twang on every syllable, not to mention arm and head movements...yes, we were cracking up.

He has beat the entire guitar hero game on the first level many times. I think it is part knowing a bit about music and part having good eye-hand coordination. Fun to watch.

William

Well yesterday night was another first for us, basketball games cancelled because of the weather and PSR (public school religion for those of you non-Catholics ;-) cancelled too. I went to bed last night thinking, wow, what will I write about in my blog tomorrow, we didn't do anything...lol. Well that is if you don't count homework, multiplication facts, finishing school projects that are overdue, reading, practicing play lines, etc! And then of course there is William...who had a migraine and fell asleep at 5:30. Those of you who know Wil probably know he has had migraines since he was a tiny baby. We didn't know it at the time when he was really little, but looking back at all the times he would rub at his tiny head (ok so his head was never tiny, 15 cm at birth!) and then proceed to throw up on everything and then sleep, it is obvious looking back! I know he has thrown up in every carseat, in every car he ever rode in (sorry Mom, Brandi and others ;-), every bed he ever was laid down in, every house he has ever been to overnight, at every exciting event (weddings where my Mom had to come rescue him), birthday parties (where my Dad had to come rescue him), every classroom he has ever been in (so sorry for the janitors, that lovely lime stuff they put on the throw up, just makes me gag thinking about it), every hotel we have stayed in, funerals (where my friends had to rescue him)....ok so you get the picture. Yes he has been to all the best neurologists in the city and has had more blood work and tests than should be possible on an 8 year old boy. No, he does not take maintenance medicine yet, as the side effects outweigh the good of the medicine for now. If he starts having more than one a week, then we will have to revisit his options. His doctors are still saying there is a possibility that he will grow out of them and we hold on to that hope. But without that, everyone who has interaction with him has seen a migraine coming on and have intercepted it (thanks Sara, Amy, Brandi, Susan ;-)...a little Motrin and caffeine usually do the trick if you catch it early enough! He is definitely getting much better at knowing when they are coming on himself, but last night playing in the snow was just too tempting to come inside early enough to catch the migraine. He did not throw up, but like I said fell asleep at 5:30.

So this morning Wil wakes me up at 5:30 a.m. I tell him that he can not get out of bed until 6:30 (standing house rule), but he says mom I fell asleep at 5:30 and I'm not tired and I have a ton of energy....ok, ok, so get up. He of course gets out Sonny (our puppy, who we kennel at night) and they proceed to go outside in the snow. Both come in freezing and get in bed with me, wet dog, freezing son, laughing and full of energy. Wil says, "I have a lot of energy." I say, "Get out of my bed." lol....So for the next hour I listen to Wil and his dog, chase each other around the house, Wil says he wishes he was a dog. Kate wakes up and tells me she is going to have a bad hair day....sigh. All this time Wil is speaking in some crazy voice and everyone is asking him to be quiet...he replies, "I'm speaking in whale!" of course speaking in a whale voice (thanks Nemo)...we all of course crack up laughing. He is our comic relief.

He also recently celebrated his 8th birthday. Parties with classmates, parties with friends, and parties with family. Thanks to everyone who helped make his December birthday special. He also made his first reconciliation, which means his first communion is not too far behind. I asked him how his confession went, and he said, he waited until everyone else picked a line and then went to the priest that he likes. He said he was pretty nervous, but asked everyone when they came out of the confessional how it was and no one was crying so he figured it would be ok...lol. He did great. He is figuring out who he is and what his place is in this world. How fun!

Real Snow Day!

This morning we woke up to a dusting of snow, which in St. Louis means traffic is pretty much at a standstill. Our 10 minute commute to work took 30 minutes (not nearly as long as many of our friends!). Kristen's bus was 30 minutes late picking her up and she called me at least 10 times to make sure we still had school (yes, she was standing at the front door and I was in bed...lol). Her choir concert last night was cancelled because of the snow, we really hope they are able to reschedule.

Last night the kids had their last piano lesson of 2008. It is a huge sacrifice of time and money on Chris and my part, but yesterday, Kate said to me, "I love piano mom, like, when you're bored you can always go play the piano and it makes you happy." We really appreciate everything Miss Michelle does for our children. I am learning to post pictures and am going to figure out video soon!

Only 3 more days of school!

SNOW DAY!!!

Well it actually happened, the phone rang at 5:30 this morning telling me that school was closed because of ice. Yippee! Of course I could not go back to sleep for 2 hours! It is late in the day and this is the first moment I have had alone. It is hard work to be home with kids all day, not to mention the neighborhood kids who spent almost their entire day here or outside with my kids trying to find some ice to "snowboard" on.

The weekends fly by so quickly. Thursday night Kate and Wil had their Christmas Concert. It was packed. Wil played the kazoo and Kate played her recorder as well as sang many interesting Christmas songs.


Friday, I came home to a surprise, my sisters and mom decided to clean the house for me for my birthday. The best part was they went through all the kids closets and caught me up on the laundry (which is why I wonder, why I have done five loads of laundry today...sigh)

Friday night we went on a carriage ride through Tilies Park. There were 26 of us in a large carriage and it was lots of fun!
Saturday all three kids had their piano recital, I love listening to them play their pieces. The three of them also sang together.

Saturday night, we also went to my sister's cookie and martini party. Sunday was basketball for Kristen at the high school , 4-10 loss (yes, that was the score and they were hard won points at that). Kate had two indoor soccer games, one loss and one tie with 30 seconds left. The kids constructed our annual gingerbread house. We had our neighbor, Adam's 5th birthday party on Sunday afternoon also. I love our busy lives when we are out and about, but it makes me enjoy days at home like today where I haven't even left the house!

41st birthday

Well today I woke up to candles and cupcakes! The kids made cards and sang happy birthday. They are my biggest blessings! Of course then Wil had a melt down, he had his family birthday party last night and stayed up too late and then got up too early to play with the new car my brother gave him! Motherhood is definitely a good part of my life, but why does it have to be a 24/7 job! LOL!! This morning my classroom was full of cards from friends and my students. My cell phone has been exploding with birthday wishes (yes, if you know me I am all about my text messages ;-). My coworkers are taking me to lunch in a bit, so it is shaping up to be a pretty good day. Lots of things to be happy about and a few that really stink. So on my birthday I will just focus on the good stuff!

Five people in my family

You know the Sesame Street song "There are five people in my family..." I always loved that song and thought that five was a good number, so here I am some 40 years later with five wonderful people in my family..."and not one of them I'd swap..." at least not most days ;-). Anyway, always meant to start a blog and since tomorrow is my 41st birthday, today seems like a good day to start something new! I hope to share stories about my family, for my family, so that everyone can keep up with our busy lives. (((hugs)))