Four Planes and A Wedding

The day after Ella turned 1 she made her first trip to Seattle. My dear friend Julie was getting married and I wasn't about to miss it and since Ella hasn't met my side of the family yet it was a great opportunity to have her come too. So up at 4am and on a plane by 6 to get to Seattle by 11:30. She did great on the flight even with teething. My mom and grandma met us at the baggage claim and off we went to Marysville. I had a jam packed schedule and unfortunately didn't get to do everything or see everyone I wanted. That is the downfall to having limited time. Do I get 5 minutes with everyone or select a few and hope to get to the rest another time? Tough call and a broken heart no matter what I do. I was glad Ella took to my mom quickly and stuck to her like glue cause I had to attend some things with out her. I hoped she would be good at night and sleep for me, which she did ok until about 1am when she would wake up and want to sleep with me. Then she was up at 4:50-5:00am. She took naps, I did not. Julies wedding was wonderful and beautiful and it matched Julie perfectly. The decorations and festivities were so Julie I couldn't have imagined it any other way. I felt truly blessed and fortunate that she allowed me to be a part of her special day. She is a very important person in my life and I love her very much and miss her everyday. She is like family to me and I just value her friendship deeply. I was able to meet my niece for the first time and go fishing with my dad and brother. My mom invited family over on Sunday and it was good to see everyone that came. The trip was short and sweet and I would have loved to stay longer. I thought about moving back several times but realized that the schools are too crowded and over populated with kids who show too much of their underware and swear like its the only words they know, I-5 is still too busy and when it takes 2 hours to travel 40 miles on a Saturday you know its really bad, and when I watched the news the top stories were of people getting shot, stabbed, or arrested for drugs. I like my small community and even though there are dangers all around they mostly consist of kids who drive a little too fast in the neighborhood, skunks and the neighbors who catch them, and those few punks who like to steal bicycles. We have the occasional drunk drivers, petty thieves, and some home grown weeds which are not to my liking if you know what I mean but it doesn't compare to a town who's mayor is also the towns heroine supplier. So for now I can dream about finding the happy medium and know that one day it will come. I miss my family and my friends and the ocean and the mountains but I love my kids and my husband and the life we have together. thanks for reading xoxo

Ella turned 1

My heart has melted as it usually does when it comes to my kids. I love them with all I have, all that I am, and all that I ever will be. There is not much I wouldn't do for them, as a mother should. So on the 19th of July my last baby turned One. I spent the night before getting ready for the big day. I made her a cake and a cupcake of her very own and it wasn't much fun. Not because I was sad about her growing up so fast but because its so gosh darn hot that the frosting kept melting and I had to keep putting it in the fridge and when it was all said and done it didn't turn out like I had wanted, especially because she is my last baby. I would have loved for her to have the best cake ever but I guess it won't really matter because she won't remember it anyway. Alex and Jade helped her opened her gifts, well they actually opened them themselves and she enjoyed playing with them. Her grandparents came over for her birthday song, cake and ice cream which she ate all by herself and then Daddy gave her a much needed bath. It was a good first birthday for her even if she doesn't understand what happened. She is such a good baby and I will miss every minute of it even though I was there for all of it. She is turning into a toddler but she will always be my baby. Happy First Birthday Ella. thanks for reading xoxo

104 and a Sergeant

Today was different...Ella had a low grade fever yesterday which turned into a 104 degree temp today. So off to the doctors office at 3 to find out her ears, nose, throat, and lungs are all clear and her fever is unexplained. So with Tylenol and Motrin we should be able to deal with this fever, however, we are planning on leaving town on Wednesday. Its hard when they can't tell you what hurts or explain how they feel. Its even harder when your the busy mom trying to make them feel better.

We had a visitor today, well actually Michael had a visitor. He was a Marine recruiter. He was here for almost 3 hours talking with Michael. I appreciate the time he spent here and hope that it wasn't a waste. Michael has some decisions to make and tonight when we talked he agreed he would have an after high school plan by end of wrestling season. I hope everyone will support him in his decisions and offer words of encouragement and wisdom and be nothing but positive about whatever he wants to do. We all want what is best for him but we have to remember the only one who can determine what is best for him is him himself. Thanks for reading xoxo

Is it September Yet??

I never thought I would be the mom that says "I can't wait for school to start back up again!" but lately its all I can think about. Alex has been going to summer school for the past 4 weeks which helps a little but he gets home around 10:30 then I have to start lunches, change diapers, and put the girls down for naps. He is frustrated because he is so active and most of his friends are still at summer school or not available to play. He waits all day for his dad to get home and because he has to get up early still he is limited on play time with him. He is cranky in the morning and doesn't want to read at night. There are only two days left but each day is like pulling teeth with him and I am really ready for it to be over. I hope that when summer school is done he will get better. So this morning when I went in his room it melted my heart to see him sleeping like this. They are so much sweeter when asleep. I love him so much and feel bad about not having enough patients for his pissy attitude when I know its hard for him at this age to be buckled down with sisters who are 5 years younger then him and having his BFF (dad) be at work all day. Today I have arranged a play date so lets hope everything goes smoothly. thanks for reading xoxo

Hot Chocolate and Toast

When I was younger I used to stay the weekend at my grandpa and grandmas house alot. It was almost every weekend. I would dress up in my grandmas clothes and sometimes even my grandpas. We would go up to the farm or take road trips. It was the greatest time. When my grandma was working my grandpa would make me breakfast. He never cooked and I can not even recall him making his own sandwich. I remember that because grandma would say things like "well its time to make papa his sandwich" or "papa can I fry you an egg." Anyway, on the Saturdays or Sundays that my grandma would work, grandpa was in charge of feeding me breakfast and it was always the best. He would get out the toaster, pop in some bread, warm up the water, and make me some hot chocolate and toast. He made it better then anyone!! On the days he felt like it, he would ask me if I wanted it fancy. I always said yes. The difference between fancy hot chocolate and toast and regular was nothing more then how the toast was cut. Regular is rectangle shaped toast, and fancy is all kinds of shapes but still perfect for dunking. Sometimes he would put ice cream in the hot chocolate and sometimes I would get whipped cream. There was always marshmallows and a spoon to slurp it out of. I loved it and it was so yummy. I haven't had it in awhile but lately its been on my mind. I think its because Alex has been asking for hot chocolate and I finally got some for him. Imagine its 90 degrees outside and the kid is dressed in pjs and wants hot chocolate. I am still trying to convince him he should dunk some toast in it but for now he is happy with marshmallows. It is going to be fun being a grandparent when I get much older because I learned from the best and so I had better teach Kato how to make fancy hot chocolate and toast so the kids won't be disappointed. thanks for reading xoxo

Michaels Sammich

Michael is a big eater so no wonder our food bill is GINORMOUS!! Here is a triple decker turkey on wheat. He pounded it in about 6 minutes. Sometimes there are advantages to wrestling season, like less grocery shopping for mom. Next year the weight classes will be different too so we will see how it goes. Thanks for reading xoxo

The Mohawk By Alex

Alex decided he wanted a hair cut. He also decided he could do it himself. So the clippers came out and Dad left the bathroom. After a few minutes and a quick look at what he was doing Alex decided to let Dad work on it a bit but was adamant about not letting him work on the top part which Alex thought was perfect. So Kato did the best he could with the time he had (which isn't long because Alex complains rather quickly that he is too itchy) and asked if Alex was happy with the results. With approval the clippers were put away, hair cleaned up and Alex was in the shower. I hadn't seen the end results but knew it might not be the best hair cut he had ever had. Especially because Alex had started it, didn't care if it was perfect, and was using his Dads electric razor for some of it. Needless to say there is room for improvement but Alex really liked it...until he had to go to school. He was worried everyone was going to laugh at him. I actually had to walk him to class that day cause he started crying on our way there. I told him if he doesn't like it we can buzz it off. When I picked him up that day he said no one made fun of him and he wanted to keep it. Each day since his Dad asks him if anyone said anything about it and he always replies no, even if someone says its awesome or looks great! So here we are on day three of it and I finally got a couple of pics. When Michael was younger he wanted a checker board style so Kato and him made it happen, it only lasted one day. Here's to kids and their hair styles these days. thanks for reading xoxo