Miserably Behind . . . But Still Alive!!!

My blog has taken a back seat to life the last 18 months. I waffle between feelings of guilt for not recording the details of our life, and the realization that I actually CANNOT do it all.

Steve has been working full-time on a light rail project in Los Angeles for the last 18 months (and off and on for the 12 months before that). He is gone Monday to Friday most weeks, so I'm on my own. We're hopeful that his assignment will be winding down by the time the holidays roll around, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

I've made the best of the situation in many ways. I've done a lot of crafty projects and sewing this past year. I've completely forgotten how to cook—a good night is scrambled eggs and toast. The DVR is set to record a whole bunch of shows that are of absolutely no interest to Steve (think Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles), and I watch them at night when the kids go to bed.

I've put 23,000 miles on my car since July 2013. But Steve has only put about 1,000 on his two vehicles combined, so as a whole, we're probably below average. The funny thing is rarely do I drive more than 5 miles in any direction from home!

The old adage "absence makes the heart grow fonder" has proven true in our case. The distance between us truly has helped us to appreciate each other more. We try to make the time together count and not sweat the small stuff. And believe me . . . most of life is filled with small stuff.

The kids have missed having their dad around as part of their every day life. It's been a year of big changes, and more lie ahead.

Olivia is now a sophomore. 15 years old. Getting ready to learn to drive.

Jack is in 6th grade. Discovering that girls kind of dig him. Wondering when he's going to start sprouting armpit hair.

Grant is in 3rd grade. Has lost 8 and grown 4 teeth. Is creatively expressing himself in many ways. Case in point: His teacher told me today that she nearly fell over with laughter when reading Grant's latest essay, about my chocolate chip cookies. His first sentence? "The first time I tasted my mom's chocolate chip cookies, I fell into a coma for 3 days." Wow, who knew?

When I look at our 17 years of marriage, this has by far been the hardest . . . on both of us. For different reasons, but equally challenging. And yet, I know we've all experienced some tremendous growth, and for that I am grateful.

My goal for the next few weeks is to get caught up on the big happenings of the year so when I print my annual blog book, it's more than 2 pages long. Stay tuned!

The Key to a Happy Life

Another funny kid story...one I don't want to forget!

A couple of weeks ago, Jack was battling a case of acute hives. We were back and forth to the doctor several times before we figured out what it was . . . poor guy, his entire body was covered in this awful red rash.

One night as we were going through the nightly ritual of creams, ointments, pills, and lotion, Jack was just sobbing. He looked awful—his neck, face, abdomen, arms, and legs were completely covered with big red welts.

As I was trying to calm him down with soothing words, this is the conversation that ensued:

Jack (in a sobbing, breathless voice): "I look so ugly. It's like I'm deformed. I'm never going to be normal again!"

Me: "You're not ugly Jack. You're going to be fine. I promise, it's not going to last forever."

Jack (still sobbing): "If I look like this, no one is ever going to love me!"

Me: "That's not true Jack. Lots of people love you. And I promise, you're not going to have this rash forever. I PROMISE!!!"

Jack (barely able to breathe at this point): "If I look like this, I am NEVER going to get a wife!"

Me: "Jack, calm down. You're going to be fine. I PROMISE!"

Jack (still barely able to breathe): "And if I don't get a wife, I AM NOT GOING TO HAVE A HAPPY LIFE!!!" (followed by a gut wrenching wail)

I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry at that point . . . his sorrow was so real and so raw that it pained me. But at the same time, I was cracking up that at 10 1/2 years old, he was thinking about finding a wife. And that he was equating a happy life with being married. Which makes me think, maybe Steve and I are doing something right . . . !

"Udderly" Hilarious

I know I'm months behind in blogging. A lot has transpired in the last 5 months that I hope to try and capture in the weeks to come. But I had a recent conversation with Jack that left me in near hysterics, and I don't want to forget it.

The boys were scheduled for their annual physical this week. I mentioned it to them over dinner one night, and Grant asked what a "physical" entailed. We had a brief discussion about it, and I did my best to summarize what all the doctor would be looking at and checking for. Grant asked if the doctor would look at his "privates", and again, I did my best to give him the information he needed to not feel any anxiousness over the appointment.

I told the boys that even grown ups have physicals. In fact, I had mine just a few months ago. I explained some of the things the doctor did, and I thought that was that. Then Jack asked rather sheepishly, "When you had your physical, did the doctor check your udders?"

I nearly spewed water all over the table. I wasn't sure if I heard him right.

"My what" I asked, with as straight a face as possible. His fifth grade class recently has been learning about the body . . . did he mean "uterus" and just mispronounce it?

"Your udders" he repeated. "You know, the things that made milk when we were babies."

It's true there were times I felt like a cow while nursing my babies. But udders??? I nearly died laughing. But not in front of him, of course :)

Fourteen...and a Freshman!

Over the weekend, Olivia turned 14. FOURTEEN!!! When did I get old enough to have a daughter that old?

We celebrated with a low-key party at home with some of her best friends.

Her church leader came and decorated her room while we were out, it was so fun to come home to the surprise!

She's pretty much past the point of us being able to surprise her with gifts, so we took her shopping on her birthday. She scored a cute new purse, and a few outfits for the new school year.

The day after her birthday was her first day of school. She went from a K-8 school with a total of 275 students into a freshman class of twice that amount. We walked around the campus the night before school started locating all her classes in the various buildings and figuring out how she was going to get from one end of the campus to the other in her 6 minute passing period!

All over campus, there was chalk graffiti by this year's Senior class. Jack decided to leave his mark right outside Olivia's Spanish classroom door!

Last week, Olivia decided to try out for the high school golf team, and she made it onto the team. Two practices and two matches a week through mid-October means I am in desperate need of a chauffeur to help with driving duties. But she sure is happy, and it's a great way to ease into high school!

A custom bag and cute uniform are part of the package!

Olivia is growing into a beautiful, accomplished young woman. She is driven, self-motivated, and hard working. I don't have to nag her (often), she knows what she needs to do and gets it done. She is super creative and kind and pretty much an all-around perfect kid.

First day of high school

Everybody says that once kids hit high school, you blink and it's over. It is bittersweet to watch Olivia growing up. It is super fun to watch her developing her talents and really becoming her own person. But we can also feel her starting to slip away from us...which I guess, is exactly how it should be.

Lucky number SEVEN!

I can't believe that it's been 7 years since we welcomed this little guy into our family.

In some ways, it feels like yesterday. In other ways, it feels like a lifetime. I can't remember life before him!

He is definitely our most strong-willed and opinionated child. He pushes the limits, throws fits, and doesn't take no for an answer. He's been a pill today, and every time I call him on it, he replies "It's my birthday, I'm supposed to do whatever I want to!" Think again buster...

Grant is incredibly bright and has great number sense. He can do mental math no problem and is constantly telling me how many more or less something is than something else, or how many minutes/days/hours until something is happening. Reading and writing has been a bit more of a challenge for him. He finally caught on to reading this past spring—it was like a lightbulb just went off in his little brain. But he HATES writing. We've been practicing over the summer.

He has no volume switch. I can hear him coming from a mile away.

Towards the end of swim season, the boys mentioned they'd like to make a switch to Speedos.
Jack has only worn his in the backyard.
Grant wears his every chance he gets!

He has enough personality for 10 kids. Seriously, the kid cracks us up all the time with his antics.

This was his "crazy" costume for swim team champs. He wore it proudly!

He is good at expressing gratitude. He thanks me for his meals daily, and his words are usually accompanied by a hug.

He doesn't like kisses. Hugs are okay, but he doesn't like me to kiss him. I try and sneak in a kiss on the forehead at night, but he usually wipes it right off!

He goes shirtless as much as possible. Seriously. He was named "Most likely to be shirtless" at the swim team banquet. He nearly ripped his dress shirt off on his way up to claim his award!

He adores his brother and sister. He and Jack have given each other the nickname of "Bubs Chubs" and it cracks me up when Jack is irritated with Grant for some reason and Grant will say "But Jack, I'm your 'Bubs Chubs'!"

Even though he is the source of most of my gray hairs, I wouldn't trade this boy for the world.

Happy Birthday Grant...we love you!

The graduate

Over the weekend, we officially celebrated Olivia's graduation from Sunol Glen.

Because the school is so small, they really go all out to make the ceremony special, and the kids were involved in the planning and presentations of the evening.

Olivia was absolutely gorgeous . . . when I saw her walking towards us right before the ceremony started, I got choked up as I saw how my baby girl had transformed into a beautiful young woman literally overnight.

We did a complete re-enactment of the first day of kindergarten photo.

The parents were in charge of decorating, and the auditorium looked amazing. Somehow I got roped into making a balloon arch, with the help of two other amazing moms.

Life-size silhouettes of all 27 students lined the walls of the room. They were so true to life that I could tell who was who, even before seeing the names!

The stage was lined with tulle and little graduate picks, complete with each student's face.

The program started out with a slideshow of the students, showing pictures of each of them from babyhood to now. Then the students walked up on stage to the tune of Pomp and Circumstance.

Olivia and three of her best friends sang the national anthem.

Olivia and Katelyn gave the class history—a recap of the nine years spent at the school.

Each student was recognized for their accomplishments. Olivia received the Presidential Award for Academic Excellence, the Superintendent's Honor Roll for a 4.0 GPA, and was recognized for the character trait of Caring.

I went in to the auditorium with a brand new box of kleenex, and fully anticipated having to use the whole thing. Miraculously enough, I only needed three tissues! For some reason, once the ceremony started, most of my sadness left, and I was filled with excitement for this next phase of her life.

A teary hug from daddy...

Olivia with her amazing Art teacher, Mrs. Campbell

Olivia with her Math & Science teacher, Mrs. Takei

Katelyn & Olivia have been BFFs since kindergarten.
They're headed to different high schools in the fall.

Eric started kindergarten with Olivia. He left the school this year,
but came to visit the graduation dance.

One last class photo

It was a beautiful, perfect evening . . . the perfect culmination to nine years of memories!

Moving on

Nearly nine years ago, my little girl started kindergarten at Sunol Glen. She was a joyful, beautiful, bubbly little girl, and we couldn't believe that she was old enough to start school!

As we looked at the kids in the older grades run around that first day, they seemed gigantic, and we couldn't even begin to imagine how Olivia would be at the end of kindergarten, let alone 8th grade.

Somehow, we blinked, and the day arrived. Today is Olivia's last day at Sunol Glen.

She has grown into a joyful, beautiful, and bubbly young woman. She has had teachers who have shaped her into who she is today and helped her learn and grow. She has had friends who have brightened her life with their laughter and love.

Now her class is moving on. They're off to high school, and instead of a class of 26, she'll be in a class of 500+. Only a handful of her classmates are going to the same high school, and it is hard to say goodbye to those "BFFs" that have made her days so much fun.

For five of the nine years, she's had her brothers at the same school with her. They hug when they see each other during the day, and Olivia is always looking out for them. It makes me so sad to think they won't all be together from here on out.

 

Tomorrow night is her 8th grade promotion. It's a big deal at such a small school...complete with a picture slide show, speeches from all the kids, speeches from local dignitaries, etc. I would like to think I'll maintain my composure through it all, but really...who am I kidding?

In spite of the tears that keep falling, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the 9 years she has spent at this school. It has been amazing, and I couldn't have asked for more.