Too Fast...

I love weekends and they seem to be screaming past us lately. We are all unpacked and loving the new house. We have a family of six frogs that live under our back patio. N seems to be able to convince them to come out at his beck and call. Our bikes and scooters, chalk and bubbles are now conveniently located in our own garage. I don't think I realized how much I would love this.

Our weekend started a little early when J & S came over to hang out on Thursday night and we took the kids out to dinner and then to Fro-Yo. We got a chance to catch up a little after our crazy baseball/softball schedule. Hopefully we can do it more often.

Friday started out great! I had lunch with D. I haven't seen her in a couple of weeks so it was a surprise to see how much little baby L had grown! :) My enthusiasm for the weekend exploded around 5:00 and threatened to bring down the house but I'm actually glad for that. IGNORANCE IS NOT BLISS! Shortly after that things turned around for the better. We hung out at A's house for dinner and playing and then N and I went out for a little shopping. The kids went to Nana's for some gardening work and I reaped the benefits - lots of yummy zucchini! Saturday we got up and watched the girls swim and then ran some errands. Not long after we got home we had a knock at the door. Nana came to see the house will all our stuff. She and Papa had come the day we got the keys but it was empty. It was such a nice surprise. She brought the boys a Spiderman sprinkler that we promptly took out of the box and used (this helped us discover the frog family) and I got a Target card. MAN - Nana so knows me. I am a Target junkie! Once I figure out what to do with our flowerbeds I hope to go to Target for some new plants and flowers. I & S came over a little later and spent the afternoon at our house swimming and playing on the slip-n-slide. I even took a couple turns down the big yellow slide! :) They came with us to a birthday party before I took them back home. We did have to make a quick trip back to their house so little Miss. I (6 years old) could change into a more stylish outfit. SO CUTE! After all that fun and excitement A, N and the kiddos came over to hang out. I got to play dress up with the girls (so little A and I wear the same size shoes and she quickly became a fan of my high heel collection) and then we just hung out while A made homemade donuts - YUM! Overall we had a great time (well, I know I did at least). Today we had a family BBQ at my parents house. My dad promised the kids a water slide for the 4th of July block party next weekend. Well, I guess they have all been rented already so my dad decided he needed to keep his promise so he bought one! We got it out today to make sure it was working ok (yeah, that's why!) and the kids had a great time swimming and playing on the slide. I can hardly wait for next weekend to get here and this one isn't even over yet! This is why I so love summer. How can you be sad or depressed when the sun is shining and all is great!

I got tagged on A's blog the other day. I need to describe myself using a few different things and I am still working on that...hopefully this week! She and G will be celebrating their one year anniversary tomorrow (silly me thought it was today - it's been a busy/crazy/ever changing year). CONGRATS to them!

Happy short week!

Welcome Home!

I moved! That about sums it up.

Well...maybe not all of it. I am a homeowner again! It is freaking me out a little as I sit around my relatively newly constructed home and wait for something to break that I can't afford to fix. Is it strange to miss your property management company? Actually, I don't. I have never been so happy. My children can jump in the house without me yelling at them because of the people downstairs. While unpacking I could send them into the backyard to play and collect new bugs. I LOVE OUR HOUSE! My bestest friends in the whole world have already come over twice to hang out. A couple others came by to check the place out but we didn't have any furniture moved yet so I hope they come back soon. Who needs a property manager - I have a DAD! One that rocks. :) I don't know when I decided that I wanted to take the plunge into home ownership again? I know that my boys really wanted to live in a house, the market conditions were awesome and I am desperate for a DOG again. I don't really do little dogs (I have seen lots of really cute ones. Bruiser was one of my favs and who doesn't love Xander!) and most rentals would rather you have 40 people live with you in a 2 bedroom house than tell them you have a mastiff. I didn't even tell the boys until I was picking up the keys from our realtor. The little monsters didn't believe me when I told them it was our house and we were moving. Once they realized I wasn't kidding lots of high-fives were exchanged. :) Did I mention WE LOVE OUR NEW HOUSE?

Today for Father's Day my sisters and I took my dad out to breakfast and then to a local driving range. None of us girls are golfers but my dad loves it so we thought we would give it a try. AND? I had such a blast. Talk about a great anger management tool. I don't have the time or real desire (total lack of skill) yet to actually golf but I could really spend some time whacking the ball at the driving range. After we went back to his house for a BBQ and some swimming. It was a great day all around. Because it was a great day for all of us I have decided not to rant on and on about PTD today.

Randomness:
1. I now love Home Depot as much as I do the mall.
2. Renewed my love for IKEA this weekend.
3. Realized that my BFF is a Yanni loving dork! :)
4. Had a wonderful tea party with some of my favorite little people and my friend N.
5. I never want to live in a world without chocolate or Starbucks or a microwave...or cable! (I am such a sissy!)

Monday...here I come! If I don't start getting some things to the finish line at work I am going to get FIRED! Nice idea to go along with my new mortgage! Good thing I have D....we float in the same constantly diverted boat.....

Welcome to the 1st/3rd Grade!

Well, the final day of school is done and it was all we hoped it would be. I took the four monkeys to donuts and juice this morning before school and took lots of pictures of their messy little faces. After that it was off to school we went. Morning sing was ADORABLE! E & H's classes sang good bye songs to the sixth graders. E got a little leadership award and N presented the 6th graders with flowers. Lots of kids, teachers and parents were all weepy. I did get sad when I found out that E's awesome teacher Ms. F is not returning next year. Stupid budget cuts! She is such a great teacher.

K & J's graduation ceremony was nice and afterwards we went to my sisters for brunch and to finish celebrating my mom's birthday. Then I went back and got the boys from school and we hit the ice cream parlor. YUM! My children and brilliant - THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Amazing report cards for both. I couldn't be more proud. (Unless they decided they liked to clean?) After we came home and everyone played Wii for a little bit and then both boys fell asleep. I let them nap until E's game. He did great! Grandma and Grandpa drove back out to see it and Nana and Nana D came to watch too. Tonight they plan to stay up late...even if they still have to get up to go to daycare in the morning but that is no problem.

The teacher I wanted N to get next year informed me at sing this morning that she most certainly will have Mr. N in her class next year...WOOHOO! I don't know who E with get but I guess August will be here in no time at all.

I loved getting to spend the last day of school with the all the kids. As I sat at the donut shop this morning we laughed that people coming in thought I had four kids - k, 1st, 2nd and 3rd. OMG! I could hardly breath just thinking about it. :) Nope, I would take them all in a heartbeat. I love those little ladies like crazy too. WELCOME SUMMER! We are so happy you are here.

Last Day of School

Tomorrow is the last day of school! E and N are so excited. I can't believe my baby is out of kindergarten and E is headed to the 3rd grade. I am a big fan of making a big deal of the little things so I took the day off and we will go to donuts for breakfast with A & H before school and then I will go the morning sing presentation. After that I have to run over to my niece and nephew's 6th grade graduation and then back to school to pick the boys up from their minimum day. We ALWAYS go to ice cream and talk about the best parts of the year. I know...it pretty much seems like a day full of sugar and love and I am so ok with that!

Today is my mom's birthday...HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! :) She and my dad came out to N's game tonight along with Nana and Uncle B. After we went to pizza for a semi-birthday dinner. The boys and I sang happy birthday - yes, I use the term sing loosely. :) E has a game tomorrow night. I can't believe the season is almost over..what are we going to do with our nights and weekends again? I will actually miss it - a lot! Mostly because the boys love it so much.

The summer I have been so eagerly waiting for is finally here! I can't wait for all the fun we will have just hanging out. Swimming, playing at the park, picnics, staying up and outside later and later. I think we will have to make it to the ocean for the day. Maybe Santa Cruz...I love it there. The boys also crave Great America...being big Nickelodeon fans so maybe we will take another family trip? The options are wide open (if only my daycare costs didn't triple...it would be perfect). We always go camping with my parents. Camping translates to staying in an amazing park in their RV bigger than my apartment with all the amenities anyone could need for "camping". I love spoiled camping - thank god for my mom! :) Well just thank God for everything all the way around! Summer is the best three months of the entire year. December comes in a very close second - I mean seriously - who doesn't love Christmas!

Baby Love....

I am ANGRY! PTD is a giant jerkface! Why for the second time in a month has he shown up only to E's games and not to N's? And he shows up to nothing during the week. I want to smack him, tell him he comes to both or none at all, bury him in a field somewhere! I am grateful that N doesn't seem to notice that his jerkface dad shows up at the park long after his game has ended. I know, 9:00 in the morning is SOO early to drag your lazy ass out of bed and out to see your sons last few remaining little league games. Why is it so hard for some people to put their children first? I seriously can't even comprehend it! I am so glad the both the boys don't really seem to notice that he doesn't show-up (in more ways than one) when he should but I know and it kills me. I thought I was over my initial anger until I was talking to D today and she explained what transpired between her ex and their (her) grown daughter. This guy has two amazing children and he doesn't participate at all in their lives other than to be a complete idiot...way to go loser! They are collectively better off without him! Too bad he decides to torment them when he can't sleep.

Call me what you will, disappoint me all you want, be a jerkface dirtbag...but DO NOT do it to my children (or any children (or dogs) for that matter). I am a mama first and foremost and don't you forget it! I didn't see the jerkiness in PTD until it was too late and I guess that is a good thing or I wouldn't have E & N so I can't really regret that. Second time around? Yep SAME bad choice...way to go L! So I made the on the on-the-spot decision that I will not put my little people through that again. I am the one that should be protecting them and not introducing the losers into the mix right? So I am on a self-imposed 10 year hiatus from any kind of serious relationship (M & E are working on finding a guy with a very demanding job that I will only see occasionally and can meet all the requirements...ha,ha!) . I have two little boys for crying out loud and with a shining example of what not to be I need to prevent any additional examples...that's my job! They have Grandpa (MAN, I LOVE MY DAD!), Papa (I love A's dad too), Uncle B, Uncle A and several good examples of how to be a man! (Yikes...my babies will be men someday!) :)

I am a firm believer in LOVE and contrary to the above statement I don't hate men...I hate jerks! :) How can I hate men when I know good, committed ones do live here on earth. DC's husband T is great! He clearly loves his wife, son and soon-to-be son like crazy..YIPPEE! MK's husband M is a wonderful husband and father to their 4 kids! I blog stalk several other people with perfectly wonderful husbands/fathers. My boys will grow up to be like these men. I am a believer in you either repeat the mistakes of your parents or you learn from them. I am fairly certain that I learned from my mother's mistakes and refused to repeat them. E & N will have to decide what direction they take. As their mother I will demand, plead, bribe them to choose not to repeat! I decided early on in each situation that I will not bad mouth anyone to the boys. They are little people and have the right to make their own decisions and have their own feelings but man I needed to get it out of my system before I exploded. They will reach an age (like I did) where you figure it out for yourself. I pray (HARD) that I make the best choices I can for them and that we come out better and stronger on the other side. I know that my mentor/high school mom MG and her daughter JB did. :)

I am so thankful for my true, dear friends that listen to my crazy mom anger and respond accordingly...with wine, margaritas and/or Starbucks! :) They will always throw in a "what a jerk" from time to time too. :) and I can come over UNANNOUNCED anytime I darn well feel like it!