Anything But Gray

Well that was fast....

The day after the post about the kitty, her owner found her and she's gone back home to her owner's. :-)

Ceci and I were on the porch chatting before she left for work and Lilly (AKA Sassy) was chillin' in the driveway and a woman with a stroller full of kids, starts talking to her..."Sassy...you've got to go home! Where have you been?" And the kids all start calling Sassy! Sassy! 

I walked down to her and we started chatting and I told her about how the kitty showed up and just wouldn't leave! Turns out, they thought a bear had got her! They live down the street and a bear had been in the neighborhood and right around then is when their kitty disappeared...so needless to say they were thrilled to see her! 

Knowing Jaime was going to be heartbroken, me and the mom started talking and I was going to ask her if I could bring Jaime down to say hi once in awhile but before I could,  she mentioned she had a daughter that went to the same school as the kids go. They are in the same class!!! And get this....she has a son Ben's age....who's in Ben's class! LOL  I was really happy about that because I knew Jaime would feel better about the kitty being gone if she knew she could go see her and visit her if she wanted.  Which wound up being the case...she was heartbroken at first, but when they all came to get the kitty and Jaime started hanging out with her friend and Ben started playing with his  friend, it was all fine. Jaime walked down to their house, holding the kitty and her son stayed here and played with Ben for a bit. Then Ben and Ashton (what an awesome name, huh??) walked back to Ashton's house.  Jaime and Ben both stayed down there for a bit and they were both in good spirits when they came home.

All in all, she took it well.  Both Zak and I were a teeny bit bummed. This was a cool friggin' cat! lol But we promised Jaime when we go back we'd get her a kitty cat. :-)

Hopefully that will hold her over !!!!

New Addition

Last week a kitty showed up at the house. The kids (Jaime especially) loved her and played with her pretty much all day.  This kitty kept hanging around and I didn't want to feed her because I didn't want to make her stay...if she had a home, I wanted her to go home!  When she first showed up here, she was hiding under one of the cars in the driveway and a little kid that was walking down the street said to Jaime and Ben,"That's my cat, can you get him out from under the car?" So Jaime and Ben tried and she wouldn't come out and the kid left. He didn't say where he lived or anything!

Eventually she did come out and that's when the kids started playing with her.

After she was here over a day and a half,  I decided I was going to feed her...poor thing.  The kid that had been walking down the street, never came back...no one else was looking for a cat and we checked Craig's list and still no lost cat. She's been here about a week, outside...but Ceci let us use Pacino's little kennel for him and she found a kitty bad that we have up on the porch for her, so she's been fine just being outside. 

She is such a cute kitty! I'm gonna have to get a picture.  Not only does she look cute, she acts cute! When you hold her sometimes she'll wrap her paws around your neck and hug. Seriously, honest to God, HUG. So. Friggin'. Cute!!!!

We bought her some food that she loves and she's also already caught a mouse and two little birds. One was a really pretty yellow finch....that bummed me out, that bird was pretty! LOL And she brings the animals she's catching, here....so you know this is now "home" to her! Jaime named her Lily and we all like it, too. :-)

So yeah....we're so keeping this kitty if no one claims her!!!!! LOL

Someone's baby....

It didn't even occur to me to blog about Amy Winehouse....until I saw this picture of her with her mom....

It's tragic, it's sad and it's a damn shame....such an utter waste.

But when I saw this picture what I realized was taht through all the fame, the acclaim, the tabloid headlines....it gets forgotten that at the end of the day, this incredibly talented and tortured woman was someone's daughter...and they have just lost their baby....

This picture made me teary.  So many chances to save her and no one could and now her parents will go to bed every night, with their hearts' broken...: (

Sad....

Long time, no see....

I'm baaaaack. Ish. I'm not promising anything.....

As everyone knows, we're back in Alaska.....the last 5-6 months has been a whirlwind of craziness that I can't even wrap my brain around, even now.....hopefully I'll be posting more....we'll see. Like I said...I am not promising anything! LOL I do know I will get Jaime's bday pics up and a post about her birthday....I feel like a rotten mom for not doing that....

Jaime has made a friend at school that she's gotten really close to and adores. She has had sleep overs with her and she's had a lot of fun. Kellie is in a club called "Girls on the Run". Today they ran a 5k run/walk and they could bring a running partner. Kellie asked Jaime to run with her and they did it!! 5K and THEY DID IT!! So proud!!! :-)  And I'm so super thankful...it was sunny!! It was a really beautiful day!! :-) Here's a pic AND I did a digital scrapbook page about it...can't wait to get it printed and give one to Kellie's mom.

The cousins

So much has been going on, it's just been CRAAAAZY!!!!

Things are all happening so fast and I'll explain more over the next couple of weeks....but for now, I wanted to post this.  Ann and the kids have moved up here...YAY!!!....and last night Billiejo and her family (except Mikey...boo-hoo! would've been nice to see him too..) stopped by, so we rounded up all of the kids for a picture.

Most of you know this but I'm going to explain a little for the people who don't.  Me, my brother and sister grew up very close to our 3 cousins, Billiejo, Freddy and Sean. We grew up like brothers and sisters, more than cousins.  Our adult lives have kept us pretty far apart, in physical miles. Emotionally we have always remained tight and now, finally, our physical miles have become closer, too. 

We always grew up just assuming we would all live close and our children would grow up together, the way we did.  Well..it didn't quite work out that way and we have very few pictures of our children, together.  So last night, them stopping by was so awesome because it gave us the chance to get this picture....

This is the most of our children that we have had together, at one time. 

Now THIS....this makes my heart so very happy.

:-)

Halloween 2010

Halloween was pretty fun. ...nothing spectacular...the weather was good, a bit cold, but good and we kept the trick or treating to our neighborhood and the kids were totally cool with that...yay!All of us went..Niki, Rick, Gabby, Trevor, his new girlfriend, Danielle (oooh la la!!) and me and the kids.

The kids didn't even complain or anything that their Dad wasn't around...YAY! I was worried about that. This is probably one of the first "big" things he has missed in their lives.  A holiday.  And they handled like nothing was amiss. 

 I noticed his absense. I hated it. I felt like a single mom, among all the other single moms and I just didn't dig it. We waited too long, have fought too hard to be together, worked too hard on our marriage for someone to glance at me and the kids and go..."oh, there's another single mom."  I know...I really, really DO know that what some stranger thinks in a passing glance at me, shouldn't matter and it's not going to keep me up at night, for certain....but in that moment...I didn't like it. At all. And it made me miss him bad. Sorry he was missing seeing the kids all dressed up and sorry he missed going with all of us. It's was a bit of a bummer. But because the kids are what matters....of course I didn't act like anything was wrong and they had a blast! So it's all good....:-)

Here's some pics of them.....cute costumes, huh??

There's more over in the pictures under the "kids" album.  :-)  Enjoy!

Aging...

I read a really good article the other day that talked about a subject Zachary and I had just been discussing recently. 

Here it is…it’s good, read it! But read  my blog first….k? K.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paulina-porizkova/aging_b_771127.html

Aging.

Getting old.

Or to be more specific,  looking old.

The only problem I have with looking older  is….I don’t act my age. 

At all. 

If you were to compare how I act to how old I am, it’s not even close. Not even in the friggin’ ballpark.  I squeal when I’m excited…I jump up and down when I’m excited….my latest favorite song (aside from Oh Santa by Mariah) Is Move Your Body by Nelly and The Way You Lie by Eminem.  Not exactly 38 year old mom music.   I still LOVE to do things that I know will make my mom crazy. I still love to party…I could go on and on. It’s like I have decided to stay 17…maybe 21 on a good day, forever.  

And all of this I don’t care. It’s me..take it or leave it.  They only problem I see with it is  I can’t act like this when I LOOK old.  And I don’t wanna stop acting like this. I  like me. For the most part.

The last time I dyed my hair….I realized that gray hair just does not match my personality.  I can’t have gray hair and act the way I do.  Why? Because people will think I’m some old broad  trying recapture her youth by acting young.

But it’s not an “act”. It’s me. And I happen to like myself this way….I think if you stay young at heart, you stay young physically a whole lot longer.  And really, I just don’t know how to be any other way.

So my solution? Dye my hair and get my ass to the gym….stay fit, stay healthy and pray my looks don’t catch up with my age  so I can keep acting the way I do, without people looking at me funny. 

:-)

Tea Party

Jaime has a tea set that she has had since she was itty bitty.  Once in awhile the kids will pull it out and play with it, but they like to use water and they spill it almost every friggin' time. So last time they did this, I told them they weren't allowed to use real water with it anymore. 

Last night I was outside on the phone with J and Jaime came and asked me if they played with the tea set in the dining room, could they use real water. I said, sure.  And frankly, it had been so long since they last played with the tea set,  I'm amazed they remembered that I didn't want them using real water with it.  lol

So they start playing and I continue my conversation.  I got inside after a few minutes and Ben says to me "Mommy, would you like to join us for our tea party?"  No joke...he said it just like that. Cutest. Thing. Ever.

So I say "of course!" and I tell J that I have to go because I have a tea party to go to.  

And I sat down and had a tea party with my babies....they even went downstairs and got Nana nd she came, too.  It was so awesome! We were telling the kids how that in England, they have "tea" every day and my mom told the kids how her grandmother (who came to the US from England) used to have tea every day.  She was showing them how they had to drink the tea with their pinky fingers lifted up, in an ever so dainty manner. LOL 

I told the kids that maybe we could start our own tradition. I would keep an eye out for a real tea set and maybe we would have hot chocolate every day after school.  So now I am on the hunt for a tea set. LOL  I'm exited though, I think they will love that!!

After tea, they decided they were going to dress up like "olden day" people to have their tea...

I helped them find some stuff to use and got some pictures.....so cute!!!

 

Pics not the best quality...I gotta adjust my settings on my phone, but you get the idea.

: )

He's Gone...

So Zak left Tuesday.

Which sucked.

It was much harder the second time than the first time. Which I don't completley understand but whatever.  That's the general feeling this time, too. "Whatever"....

I'm not angry, not upset, not devastated....just...."whatever."  LOL

I miss him, of course....but I can't focus on that too long or I fall apart.  The problem with being happily married and actually truly enjoying each other's company is that you really friggin' miss your spouse when they aren't around.

I just flat out miss the guy. His laugh, his jokes, his hand reaching for mine, him opening the car door for me (yes, after 18 years he still does this....) hearing him play with the kids..... just so miss his essence and his presence.  I hate that he's gone. Truly hate it this time....

See...here I go...gotta stop, I'm going to cry.  I have too much to do, to cry.  LOL

On a brighter note....chatted with an old high school friend last night...well, friend might be a stretch, really.  He sat next to me in typing and  Oh God, did I have the biggest crush on this guy! LOL 

I actually got a little flustered when chatting with him....I have no clue why. Maybe it felt a little surreal, to be chatting with him.....maybe a part of me was scared to just be myself.....I don't know,  it was odd, really.  Maybe no matter how much time goes by,  some crushes still have that feeling. That nervous, I'm-gonna-say-something-stupid feeling you get. Which I did manage to do, for the record. A couple of times even. <sigh> Oh well....so much for impressing him, huh?? LOL  

But it was nice to chat.  Time flew by, too. When Zak is gone, the nights are the hardest. After the kids go to bed....not having Zak around to chat with or just having him watching t.v. while I work or write or whatever, on the computer sucks and I was thankful for the distraction.  :-)

There is a new picture album in my photos. We went apple picking for the first time since we've moved back! The kids LOVED it. :-) They had a good time! Yay!!!

And now...off to get stuff done.  :-)

Ben's Birthday

Zak has been home and things have been really busy but very nice! It's so nice to have him back....and now I'm playing catch up on a lot of stuff! Like my blog!

Ben's birthday was small and fun.  Zak got back on the Sunday before his birthday (Ben's bday was Monday) and we took him to a huge lego convention in Boston...which..umm..how do I say this? SUCKED! Totaly waste of money, poorly organized, total joke and just a free for all for advertisers. It was truly disappointing and kinda pissed me off.  Ben, of course, loved it.  But really...it was absolutely terrible.  I don't regret going, as it was for Ben and he enjoyed himself but next time boy...we will so find something more fun to do than that! Ugh!!

We had a small party at home on his actual birthday and that was fun. Nothing major, nothing spectacular and I feel a little bad. A little like a bad mom. With Zak getting back the day before and just the craziness leading up to that, Ben's party was a thrown together, grab a cake (thank you Niki and Rick!) and have everyone come for cake..no banner for him, like I did for Jaime, no tons of balloons, no friends....bad mom. : (  Luckily Daddy coming home was good enough for him and he did not notice what was missing....all he cared about was what was there.  So that is good...it makes me feel a little better and we're all allowed one kinda sorta lame birthday for our kids...yes? God, I hope so...I mean, we're only responsible for 18 of them and I've already screwed one up.  And to you all, this may seem silly and stupid...but for me? My goal as a parent is to make their birthdays so amazing that their future spouses think "Ah man...I can't compete with that!" LOL No joke...I want them to ALWAYS have amazing birthdays...and I guess I figure if I'm trying to goud their spouses into competing with their childhood birthdays...that's one way to do it! Right?  Okay, okay..whatever. LOL

Enjoy the pics!

 

 

There's more in my Library in the Ben Birthday gallery...but I wanted to post one more  here....

This photo was taken in Boston after the lego convention when we were walking back to the truck...I LOVE this... :-)

They love chasing pigeons!

:-)