Another Teenager in the House!!

Last week Charlie celebrated his 13th Birthday!!!  I can't believe it!!  Now we've got 2 teenagers in the house.....lookout!!

The pix isn't the best, because I forgot my camera....this is from my phone!

I love you so much buddy, and am proud of the person you are.

Hope you LOVE being 13!!

Happy Veteran's Day!

Today is Veteran's Day.   I hope you take a minute to stop and pray for all of those men and women who have fought for our country and those who are currently fighting for our country.  

The picture is of my son's football team...this past Saturday.  This was right after they won their last playoff game and realized their dream of making it to the Superbowl.  One of the boy's uncle, John,  is over in Iraq with the Marines.   The boys have kind of  "adopted" him this season and he's "adopted" them.

They sent him his own Raider's Jersey...(that is their football team) which they all signed.   They've sent him tons of well wishes.  He's in turn sent them some of the most encouraging, inspiring emails each week before their games.  It has been such a neat thing to be a part of.

Last week, along with his email, he included a pix of him wearing their jersey in Iraq.  This week he sent the boys USMC t-shirts!!!  When the boys won their game, they all put on their shirts and posed with the USMC flag for a pix to send back to their buddy John.  

This coming Sat the boys will play in the Superbowl.  Win or lose, they've all learned a lot about self sacrifice, team work, and never giving up...thanks to one fine Marine.

Happy Veteran's Day and thank you to all of you who have served or who are serving our country.

We've had an exciting weekend here....it POURED down rain on Sat and both boys still played their football games.  Charlie's team basically played in a mud pit and loved it!! They had so much fun.  In the midst of the game, he ended up breaking his thumb during a tackle.

I took him to Urgent Care where they X-rayed him and said it was broken.  Today I took him to follow up with the Orthopedic Surgeon and to get his cast.  Believe it or not, this is the FIRST cast for any of my kids.

Here he is in all his glory....

Surprisingly, he is still allowed to play football.  He will just have to wrap the cast in foam. He won't be able to write because he's right handed.  Hmmmmm...he can still play football but he can't do his school work.  Sounds like a boy's dream come true!!!

Good Bye, Ty-Dye!

I've been meaning to post all week, but I am just now getting around to it.  Why??? Because all 3 of my kids have been sick with the stomach virus!!!   Doesn't that stink?   Today, they finally all went back to school.  I can bleach the barf buckets and put them away until next time.  (Oh yes, there's always a next time.)

So, I need to let you know that we've had a dear pet pass away this week.  Ty-Dye the gekko. He lived a long and happy life.....3 years.   I thought that was pretty good, until Veruka told me that most gekkos live 30 years!   (I guess Ty-Dye was 27 when we bought him.  :)

That's right, I said bought him.  No, he wasn't free.  We actually paid money.....for a gekko!  (I know, I couldn't believe it either!)  It all started when Charlie was turning 9.  He had been asking for a pet.  Veruka had gotten a kitten for her 9th Bday.....that's another story for another day.  At the time we were trying to avoid the whole dog thing....of course we eventually caved on that front.  But at the time, this was before Dakota  aka...before dog.

Anyway, we were at the mall & the kids wanted to go in the pet store.  While we were there the boys had to look at the reptiles.  I mean...snakes and lizards are required viewing for all boys, aren't they??  Veruka and I were ooohing and ahhhing over the adorable puppies when Charlie ran up and asked if he could pleeeeease get a gekko for a pet. 

I thought it sounded like a great idea....I mean a gekko...that had to be low maintenance right? He drug me to the back of the store to show me the cool gekkos that he liked.  They were neat alright, but I couldn't pull my eyes away from the price tag.......EIGHTY DOLLARS!!!!  I am not making that up!!!!  

8 - 0....Eighty!!!

I quickly recovered and told Charlie we'd need to see if we could find one that cost a little less.I was hoping he'd forget after a couple of days.  No such luck.  He wouldn't let the gekko idea go. After all, I had said yes, he could get one.  He decided he wanted it for his birthday.   He asked for $ and supplies.  My sis gave him her old fish tank, along with a thermometer and money to put towards the gekko.  I was able to find a cheaper gekko.....only 50 dollars....(can you believe it??) ....at PetSmart.

The day finally arrived, and I took him to PetSmart where we spent $50 for a carpet, water bowl, fake cave and driftwood.  Then of course there was the $50 for the gekko which Charlie named Ty-Dye.  Now that is a cool name for a gekko isn't it???  He looked like he was ty-dyed....thus the name.

Well, as we were getting ready to head to the check out, I mentioned to the overly helpful PetSmart girl, that we almost forgot to get food.  I turned and asked her,

"What do gekkos eat???"

"Crickets", she replied.

"What????  I thought I heard you say crickets???" was my reply.

"That's right!!" she said, "and don't worry, we sell them here."

"What????"

"Can't the gekko just eat cricket flavored food?"  I asked exasperated.

Apparently, not.  The girl helpfully showed me where I could get a small cage for the crickets....and food for the crickets.  That's right, food for the food of the gekko!!!!  Sheesh!

So, every two weeks for the past 3 years I've driven my butt 20 minutes to the nearest PetSmart to pick up live crickets.  Oh, how I'll miss that duty.

Ty-Dye was buried earlier in the week with a full funeral.  When we realized he had passed away, I asked Charlie if he wanted Ty-Dye to have a burial at sea or a burial in the earth.  He and Mike TV just stared at me wide eyed and silent. 

 

Then finally, Charlie asked, "Does burial at sea mean flushed down the toilet?"

He chose burial in the earth.

So, Ty-Dye was placed in the finest of caskets.....an Ann Taylor jewelry box.  He was draped in a flag...one of the mini flags on a stick...for the procession....and he was laid to rest under our Japanese Maple tree.  At the end of the funeral, Brian played taps on Charlie's trumpet.  Good ol Ty-Dye, may he rest in peace.

F. D. O. S. -- Tears of Sorrow or Jumping for Joy??

Yes, I'm still here....we've just been super busy with the last days of Summer and the First Day of School!!!

Here are the pictures....

10th Grader!!

(She wasn't too thrilled because the cheerleaders had to all dress alike for the first day...polo shirt and flip flops that they made.  Normally, she loves the cheerleader spirit days....but not the very first day of school.  I thought she looked cute anyway!)

7th Grader!!!

The middle of Middle School!

3rd Grader!!!

The year of playing the recorder and learning cursive writing!

The Middle School bus stop.

The Elementary School bus stop!

(35 kids are at our Elementary School bus stop.....it looked like they weren't going to fit on the bus, but they did!)

And they're out of here!!!

So, what did I do????  First, I met some friends at Panera for Back to School Bagels....then I met up with another group of friends and went out to lunch at Mimi's Cafe and hit Tar-jay for some shopping.  I spent the last hour of my time back at home all by myself enjoying the sound of silence!!

Ahhhh.  

Usually, I am sad on the first day of school.  I miss having the kids around.  This year though, no tears for me.  I am happy for them.  It is neat to think of all that lies ahead.  I am looking forward to seeing what the year brings for each one of them.

What about you???  What does the first day of school mean....

Tears of sorrow or..... Jumping for joy?????

Sorry, I took down the pics of my kids with the signs...because they had their real names on them....brain cramp!!  So, if you're just now reading this...imagine them all holding cute little signs with their names and grade!!!  ~Kath

Missing this Boy!

He's been away all week this week with our church at camp. It is always so strange when one of my kids is away.....especially for a week. It just doesn't feel right. There is an emptiness that I can't stand.

I get to pick him up today at the church at 2PM and I can't wait!

The Love of a Parent

This past week my family has been under seige........

by this......

......................................................a bird!!!

Sure she looks innocent, but looks can be deceiving. In her mind, we are the enemy.

  

It started about a week ago.  We noticed her hanging around a bush on the corner of our house. The following day, she'd make all kinds of noises if you walked in her direction.  I told the kids that she must be the Mommie bird and that she's probably protecting her nest of eggs.

They were all fascinated and thrilled at the prospect of possibly seeing the nest, eggs......and one day soon, the baby birds. I told them, they'd have to wait until the eggs hatched, because we didn't want to disturb the nest.

Shortly thereafter, the full on assaults began.

If one of us would enter our front yard at all, the bird would go nuts.  Making all kinds of noises and flapping her wings.

That evening Charlie was messing with the bird and trying to get it riled up, by walking in our front yard....that's it, really, just walking into the yard....and she flew at him about 90 miles per hour and nipped him in the butt!

We noticed that the next day another bird joined her....the father, I presume.

Sometimes our dog likes to go out front and lay in the yard.  That day, I noticed that when Dakota went out the birds were in a fit, making all kinds of noise and doing lots of fly bys. Apparently, Dakota is Enemy #1, as far as the birds are concerned. I decided to try not to let her out front anymore just to give the birds some peace.

The following morning when I was outside taking pictures with my new camera, I let Dakota out in the backyard to go potty.  The birds took about 3.5 seconds to figure out that Dakota was in the backyard and this time there was lots of noise, and fly bys, and then it happened, she was attacked....3 TIMES!  Poor doggy!  The birds just nipped her from behind, but she was so startled.  She had a look on her face as if to say, 

What in the heck??  I'm just trying to pee here.

The rest of the day, the birds would be up in arms, mounting tons of fly bys if any of us entered the front OR back yard!

Now it has reached a new level.  Veruka and Mike were sitting INSIDE of our house, in the Study. (That's right, I said inside!) Veruka was on my laptop sitting on the floor, by the window, when the birds started up again. They were fired up that she was invading their territory!!!

Thankfully, the eggs have hatched.  We can hear the baby birds, but have yet to even see the nest.  Veruka was the brave one who took the bird picture....thank goodness for my new zoom lens!  (Just a little aside, when she took the pix and zoomed in she noticed the bird had a spider in it's mouth.  She was disgusted and said, "Who in the world would want to eat a spider?"  I answered....."Uh....a baby bird."  :)

The kids said the birds are crazy, but I told them that they are just parents who would do anything to protect their "children."  I can totally relate.  I can take all kinds of injustices against myself.   People can hurt my feelings or wrong me, and I'll just turn the other cheek. However, when it comes to my children, it's a different story.  I will defend them to the end. 'Don't mess with my child, if you don't want to mess with me.' Do you know what I mean?

I guess that is love.

That is what these kids do to us.  They make us want to fight any battle for them.  They make us want to protect them.  They make us want to provide for them.  They make us want to make it a better, safer world for them.

That is the love that a parent has for their child.  Wholehearted, unconditional, complete love.

  

I remember when each of my kids were born, I was just amazed at the depths of my love for these brand new little babies.  In fact, I was smitten before they were even born.  Just like the Mommie & Daddy bird....protecting their babies before they'd even hatched out of their eggs.

I remember one night as I sat rocking Veruka, thinking that I couldn't imagine my own parents having that same depth of love for me.  But guess what?  They did and they still do.  It is mind boggling.

As I lay in bed last night, I was thinking about all of this, something occurred to me.

  

This same kind of parent-child love is the love that God has for EACH of us.  Not just for a few special people.  Not just for those who go to church.  Not just for those who walk a certain path, but for EVERYONE.   We are all His children.  He loves all of us wholeheartedly, unconditionally, and completely. How is that for mind boggling??

I miss being able to enter our front & back yard without fear of attack.  Hopefully, by the time we get back from vacation, the whole family will have moved on, and we can have a cool nest to remember them by.

PS.  Yes, I know that you don't spell Mommy with an 'ie'....I just like it that way.  :)

Busy, Busy, Busy!

I don't know about the rest of you, but we have been extremely BUSY with the end of the school year. Between Play Days, special activities, a Band Concert, picnics, parties and about 100 baseball games, it seems as if we are always on the go. I think sometimes, our neighbors must think we're crazy because we are constantly coming and going. It seems as if all they see of us is our tail lights as we are backing out of our garage...(and hopefully not hitting anything....wink, wink!)

This past weekend, Brian and I, along with our Little Buddy, had the opportunity to be involved in out church's Children / Student Ministry Service. We had such a great time doing it. Everyone involved did a fantastic job. The High Schoolers did an AWESOME skit. If I can get a video, I'll post it here later. The weekend was one that just reinforced how much I love our church. I am grateful to be a part of it.

I wanted to backtrack a bit, and post some pictures from Memorial Day weekend. Charlie had a baseball tournament that weekend with his Travel team. Sunday we went to a "Triple Graduation Party" for 3 of my nephews who are graduating from High School....(sorry no pix...I forgot my camera.) We spent Monday at my parent's cabin with my brother and his family.

Tournament Pictures......

Look how NICE these fields were!

A fun time at Gma & Gpa's Cabin..... 

My brother and his wife had already raked about 95% of the leaves by the time we got there Monday. What a great surprise! We finished raking, had lunch around the campfire, and then went swimming at the lake!

Pressing On

So now reluctantly, we move forward.

So many people have been hurting and sad and broken. I am ready for some healing to begin. However, even saying that makes my heart ache for Suzie and the kids.....as I wonder how they will ever heal.   Time continues to move on, as much we don't want it to.  As I write this, I am reminded of a Tommy Nelson Bible study that we did a few years ago, with the Lawyer Community Group, on the book of Ecclesiastes.

"Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.  The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises......What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again;  there is nothing new under the sun."  Ecclesiastes 1:4-9

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace."

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

(By the way, go ahead and have the Rocky Road ice cream, life is too short. :)   

Kevin's death has touched so many people.  People who've been close to God and those who are far from God.  Even if it's just been to take a minute and hug their spouse and kids and say "I love you."  We never know when our time will be.

It makes me smile to think that Kevin has finished the race.  He's won!  The rest of us are still here. We have a lot of running left to do.  We must press on.

I wanted to share with you 2 cute Charlie stories.  (By the way, it is SO strange to write about my kids using other names....but I will, for you Dad.)

Story #1

Last week, we all went to see High School Musical, the play.  Our tickets were for Wed night. When the day came, B & I felt like all of our kids really needed the change of scenery.  It was a great show and I loved seeing my kids laughing and smiling after almost a week of sadness. Even Bri sang along and danced to the songs (much to Veruka's dismay.)

Mike was cute, only ever having seen one other play, he didn't like that it was not exactly like the movie.  More than once during it, he leaned over and said, "Well, they got that part wrong."

After the play, we were asking the kids what their favorite parts were.  

Mike chimed in, "I liked it all EXCEPT the kiss between Troy and Gabriella at the end. YUCK!"

I responded, "Well, that was probably a fake kiss since it was a play."

Charlie responded with authority, "No, it was real, because they are mature people.  Mature people really kiss.  The only people who fake kiss are little kids and Wrestlemania."

Me:  "Huh?????"

Me:  "Wrestlemania???"

Charlie:  "Yeah, everyone knows Wrestlemania is fake. I've seen them sneak a kiss in there once and awhile and it's a fake one."

Me:  "Okay???  If you say so!??"  :)

Story #2

As you all know, my boys are "all boy."  Lots of tackeling each other, rough housing, football & baseball playing, video game-aholics (well at least Charlie is) and just all around loud.

This past weekend, Charlie had one of his friends from church spending the night.  I told the boys that they HAD to have the lights and TV off at midnight and go to sleep.  (We've had way too many sleepovers that didn't involve much sleeping.)

At midnight I went downstairs to make sure everything was off and to say goodnight.  I also wanted to see if they wanted to say a prayer.  The 2 of those 6th grade boys laid there, heads on pillows, tucked under their blankets, and said a prayer for their buddy, Josh.  It was so touching and sweet to see those boys lifting their friend up in prayer in his time of need.

It was one of those moments where I could see a glimpse of the man that he's going to become, and I liked what I saw.

Real things my kids have said to me.

I love you.

You're the best Mommy in the whole wide world!

You're mean.

You're the meanest Mom in the world.

I bet all the other Mom's are nicer than you. (Yes, I'm sure they are.)

You're lucky because you got to have Grandma for a Mom and she's way nicer than you. (Hee hee, that one always makes me smile. This has been said about BOTH Grandmas!)

You never let me do anything.

I should be allowed to go to the party because ________ is going and her parents are strict like you guys.

Just drop me off and when you pick me up, don't talk.

My friends all think you are cool, but they don't know you.

Why do we have to get another minivan? I want a convertible Mustang. (Oh wait, sorry, that was me.)

Mom, don't let Dad do or say anything that would embarrass me. (As if I can control him!)

You never let me drink soda. When I turn 21 I am going to drink nothing but soda, soda, soda. (I should have gotten that one in writing!)

Actually, I'm glad you are my Mom.

I love you.

New Names for All!

Hey Everyone!
I just wanted to let you know that from this entry forward, my kids will be listed by their nicknames in my blog. Since this blog is just hanging out there on the great big WWW... I figured it's better to be safe than sorry.

"So, what are their nicknames?" you ask
Veruka
Charlie
& Mike TV

"Hey, those names sound familiar," you may be thinking.....that's right, you know where they're from.

Yes, we really do call our kids these names.

Veruka got her nickname first when she was in second grade. She was CONSTANTLY saying, "Daddy, I want....." or "Daddy, I need...." or "Daddy, I should be first because....."

The boys nicknames naturally followed.

Charlie, because he is so much like Charlie in the movie.....good kid, follows the rules, succeeds in life. Also, his Dad's nickname was Charlie when he was growing up and he is a lot like his Dad.

Mike got his nickname because if the TV is on....he must watch it. He goes into a deep, meditative, trance like state, regardless of what is on.....seriously, it can even be a commercial. This is a kid that CANNOT multitask...so he will sometimes zone out in mid sentence, if he notices that the TV is on. We joke that his brain must be saying, "TV is on.....must watch TV....must watch TV." (He reminds me a lot of my future son-in-law :) ... R.H.)

Also, if you know Mike...we swear he is the next Jim Carrey. He LOVES to be the center of attention and can do dead on impersonations of Owen Wilson, Ben Stiller & many others....

So, I've gone back and changed their names in all of my past posts and from this point forward they will go by their nicknames.

Hope it brings a smile to your face.
Enjoy!

PS. M & J....check out your little girl's nickname under the Thanksgiving entry.

Charlie's 12th Birthday!

I am so sorry to have been away from the "Blog" for so long. We've had so much going on.....let me start by catching you up from the beginning.....Charlie's Birthday.

Charlie turned 12 on November 19th! I know....I can't believe it either!!! How can Brian and I possibly have kids that are getting so old?????? Shouldn't we still have toddlers and babies????

Anyway, I digress. Sorry, let me get back on track. First of all Charlie's #1 birthday request was an XBox 360. This has been his number one gift item for the past 3 years, so this year Brian and I decided to give him some ultimate joy and actually get it for him. We spoke to him about maybe spending less on his party and also trading in some old video games to go towards the purchase of the XBox.

So, he asked if he could do a sleepover party. "Sure," I said in a moment of weakness, when my brain was apparently turned off. "That sounds like a great idea."

He and Veruka typed up invites on the computer ......and Charlie handed them out.

Let the fun begin!

The day arrived, and I woke up with my brain fully functioning......Oh my gosh....what had I agreeed to? 8 boys for 16 hours! What was I thinking?

Before the insanity began, we let Charlie open his presents from us.

Here is the XBox moment!

Then it was party time.

So, what do 8 eleven and twelve year old boys do for 16 hours in your house???

Eat a lot of pizza.....

Play many, many games of "knee football"....

Eat Cupcakes! Mmmmmmmm!

Open Presents!!!!

Play many hours of Madden 2008 on XBox....

And barely sleep!!!

Now, here is the worst part. Due to my slowness in loading the pictures onto my computer and updating the blog...some of my pictures got "accidently" deleted by Veruka while they were still on my camera.....so I no longer have the photos to prove it. (She honestly thought they were all already uploaded.) Not only was there very little sleeping going on.....there was lots of fun had by all...... and there was a Sharpie marker involved!

That's right....a Sharpie marker!

Charlie woke up with a beautiful drawing on his face, done by his buddies........ in Sharpie marker.

To pay them back, he and a friend (who shall remain nameless) drew a mustache and circles on the cheeks of one of the culprits and colored all over the feet of the second culprit. (I know, I don't get the feet either!)

When they came up to eat breakfast, we saw the extent of their artisitic abilities. Of course they all thought it was HILARIOUS!

I imagined the worst...since Thanksgiving was only 2 days away.....can you imagine the poor boy going to Grandma's house with a handle bar mustache on his face???? His Mom would've died!

Well, I don't know why, but by some miracle of God, the marker washed off!!! All evidence was eliminated before the first Mom appreared to collect her tired son. Whew!

I am only sorry that you can't see the pictures.....I've learned my lesson, and will be uploading my photos immidiately from now on!

Family Pictures.....A great way to torture your kids and yourself!

Well, we had our family picture taken last week. We were due, since our last family picture was 5 years ago. In the last family picture, Mike was 2 (awwww!) , Veruka was sitting on my lap and still didn't have her front teeth, and Charlie had a buzz cut! Yep, I'd say they've changed!

Getting a family picture taken isn't as easy as it sounds.

First, I had to break the "good" news to the kids. Nobody was too thrilled about it.

Then, there was the chore of deciding what to wear. This time nobody wanted to dress up, so we went with jeans. However, there still was the matter of coordinating everyone's shirts.

Then, I had to find a time where all 5 of us were available. (That alone was next to impossible!) We came up with one time that worked.....it was an early dismissal day for the kids.
(You can imagine how thrilled they were!)

The day of the picture came and I have to say, that the kids looked so nice. Well, I should clarify that...Veruka always looks nice...the boys were the ones who looked better than usual. When they were all dressed I told the kids, that "before I had kids" this is how I thought my kids would look all the time. I mean, they looked like a catalog ad! (I had no idea that in real life boys would want to wear shorts 95% of the year, with jerseys and sweatshirts. Who knew?)

So, we got the pictures taken, which was honestly much better than when they were younger. (They have learned that if they smile nicely, the torture will end sooner.)

The great thing was that we got to select and take home our pictures that same day. Great in that we got it all over with at once. Not so great, in that I had to figure out exactly which pictures we wanted while Brian and the kids stood around bored to death. We ended up not really liking any of the pictures of the 5 of us, so they even reshot them. (Yea, the kids were soooo happy about getting to do it again!) Thankfully, those came out much better. Brian took the kids to the pet store to hold some puppies while I made the selections. After about an hour with my list and calculator, we were done.

We got to leave the Mall, mentally exhausted, pictures in hand, with 3 kids whining, "Can we please, please, please get another dog???"

I am not posting the picture, because it is going to be our Christmas Card this year. (I should have had them print a caption on it that says, "This is how my kids never look.")
So when you get it, you can think of all of our hard work that went into it. :)

***************************

Update....July 2008....I've added the picture, for your viewing pleasure! Of course, it was taken right before I got my sassy new haircut....it figures, doesn't it???

Just When I Thought I'd Have Nothing to Write About....

Well, After I figured out this whole process and got my first two posts up on my blog, it dawned on me that I might not actually have much to say. What if I didn't have anything to write about????

Silly me, I forgot, I live with three living, breathing, walking fountains of new material.

Friday night we had some friends of ours over from church. (We are part of a small Community Group and we usually meet on Friday nights.) Well, it was the end of the evening and everyone was saying their goodbyes and heading out the door, when I heard Mike yelling from the basement. He was calling for his friend Coby. I shut the front door and headed for the basement steps to tell him that Coby had already left.

"Okay," he meekly replied. Well, if you know Mike, you know that he is not meek about anything. As I stood pondering this, he yelled up to me,

"Mom, do you think you could come down then?"

Being the good Mom that I am, instead of going down, I yelled down to him,

"What do you need?"

It was dead silent for about 10 seconds and then he said, "I'm stuck."

So of course, I ran down the stairs, fearing the worst, and this is what I saw:
















He had managed to wedge himself into one of the plastic toy storage containers. (Knowing, Mike he probably thought it'd be funny, not thinking that he'd really get stuck.)


Of course, before I freed him, I had to go get my camera....this was too good to pass up. Charlie followed me back downstairs to see what was so funny. He freed his brother by tipping him over (and of course hurt him in the process....ahh, brotherly love.)

Here's the funny part. As soon as Mike was okay, guess what Charlie did????


That's right...















It makes you wonder doesn't it????
I love my kids, they crack me up. :)