Bah Humbug...

I'm so not ready for Christmas. What did I say in my last post about it being easier now that none of my kids believe? What was I thinking? For some reason, it has been very hard to wrap up my shopping this year. I think the pressure is on because I can't blame Santa if everyone isn't pleased. My budget just isn't in line with my intentions. Ugh.

Plus, we lost a dear family member this past week. Our dog, Buddy, who we have had for over 12 years, was hit by a car on Friday, December 18....just one week before Christmas. We are still trying to come to grips with it.

We first got Buddy because Kaylee and Whitney were immensely afraid of dogs when they were little. I mean really afraid. Like, crawl-up-on-your-lap-and-dig-their-nails-in-your-back-if-a-dog-was-in-the-room kind of afraid. A friend was building a house and didn't want a dog in her new house, so was giving him away. He was about 1 year old at the time. He definitely cured the kids of their fear. For that, I am grateful to him.

However, I had my issues with Buddy - especially recently. He shed. A lot. Lately, it was in the form of very large tufts of fur left randomly around the house. Since he was housebroken when we got him, he never had any accidents. At least, not in the old house. For some reason, in the past month and a-half, he had at least six mishaps here at the new house. You have to understand - the carpet at the old house had been there at least 10 years before we moved in, so I was not overly concerned about it. However, all of the carpet here is fairly new and really nice. I had just about had it with him! Plus, did I mentioned that he followed me? Everywhere. I can't count the number of times I tripped over him. Oh, the guilt.

Also, we had a fenced in yard at the old house with two gates. Buddy had gotten to the point that, even if the gates were left open (which happened a lot), he would not venture out of the yard. It just didn't happen. He just understood that his spot was in the back yard, and could have cared less if he was free to venture out. On Wednesday of last week, one of the gates here was accidentally left open. He was let out at least four times after that and never wandered away. For whatever reason, Thursday afternoon, he left the yard. Jeff and I were at Whitney's basketball game when Kaylee called to say she couldn't find him. Jeff left to help her look. We had driven separatley, so I waited for Whit and came home. I wasn't too concerned, really. I mean, he never ventured out, so I was sure he wasn't far. We couldn't find him that night. We had to tell Whitney and Cassidy that he was lost. But, we reassured them that we would look again the next morning. I had the day off, and was going to have posters printed and passed out. I'd go door to door if I had to. Buddy would come home. Kaylee texted her friends. One person called to say they saw him crossing Walnut Street about 4:00. Jeff went back out to look with no luck.

On Friday morning, Jeff left for work. He was running a little late, but still decided to make a sweep of the neighborhood where Buddy had been spotted before he left town. He didn't get far before he saw him. Buddy was in the middle of the road. He could tell it had happpened recently. Right after he got there, a cop arrived because he had gotten a call that a dog had been hit. Jeff called me to let me know to come with a bag. The kids had heard the phone ring, so they knew something was up. Jeff came back home to give them the news. That is one moment I will never forget. There are so many things that could have gone differently, and the outcome could have been better. Those are the things I keep thinking about...the "what if's."

So, if the stockings aren't hung by the chimney with care. If the halls aren't all appropriately decked. If I can't manage to go out and get those last few gifts to make everything "even," I hope everyone understands. My heart just isn't in it right now.

Santa Who?

This is the first year that none of my kids are official "believers" in the big, red elf. Cassidy cornered me last year shortly after Christmas and relentlessly asked me if Santa was real until I told her the truth. I tried everything I could think of to avoid the inevitable, but trust me - she was not going to give up until she heard it from my lips. That was about the same age that Kaylee made us tell her. Whitney has never approached the subject - she just kind of let it go quietly. I think she was always more concerned about disappointing us by letting us know that she had caught on. (That's the kind of kid she is.)

So, while we will always embrace the spirit of Santa - we no longer have to make up stories about how he can get all around the world in one night. I don't have to tell the kids I have a "meeting" with Santa to discuss how they have been all year as a cover-up for shopping. I don't have to hide different wrapping paper for the Santa gifts. However, we also no longer have the leverage of bribing them with "Santa won't bring you anything this year." It is bitter-sweet in many ways.

That being said, I am so ready for this phase! Don't get me wrong - those years were fun while they lasted, and I wouldn't trade them for anything. Writing letters to Santa, sitting on his lap, putting out cookies and milk, and staying up all hours just to get everything wrapped while the kids slept. But, this way just seems simple. We discuss wants vs. needs, and talk about staying in a budget. I've even let them pick out some of their own items so I don't have to deal with return lines! I realize this doesn't sound very spirited, but we can relax a little and really enjoy the season instead of stressing about them being disappointed on Christmas morning. My biggest challenge is going to be hiding everything from prying eyes until then.

Oh, don't worry - they may still get a couple of surprises:)

If You Give a 16-Year Old A Mower...

If you give a 16-year old a mower, and ask her to mow the yard, she will. (Sometimes.)

If her dad asks her to keep the mower running until the gas runs out, so he can winterize the mower, she will get bored. She will attempt to sit in the swing to "mow" and the mower will shut off. She will then try to start it while in the swing.


Once the mower starts, she will try to tie her sleeve around the automatic shut-off "lever" so that she doesn't have to keep squeezing it for it to run.


When that doesn't work, she will get bored and text her friends until the gas runs out.


The end.

Cassidy and Whitney went Trick-or-Treating yesterday. BAD MOM ALERT: I DID NOT TAKE ANY PICTURES! Don't judge me...it was really cold out, so you couldn't really see their outfits anyway. Give me a break, I've been doing this Halloween thing for 16 years, and this is the only one I have not photo proof of. Just trust me - they went.

Cassidy had her 10th birthday party last week. We had to postpone it due to the whole flu episode, but it turned out pretty well. It is really nice to have a basement to shove a birthday party down to. Here are just a couple of pictures.




Oh - we have discovered that birds love our new house as much as we do. So much so that they attempt to fly right in through the front picture window. I've heard them on several occasions. However, Kaylee finally found "evidence" yesterday. WARNING: IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH, DO NOT LOOK AT THE FOLLOWING PICTURE. For some inexplicable reason, my husband thought it was "cool" and had to take pictures. It's like living with an 8-year old boy sometimes.

The large smudge on the window is what it left behind on impact. It then bounced back on to my wicker table. Lovely. I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

Working Mothers of the World - Unite!

What a week. And it looks like the next one won't be much better. Cassidy was sick last week. Remember when I had to pick her up from her friend's because she had a temp? Well, she went to school Monday - no problem. She woke up Tuesday with a temperature, and seemed a little out of it. Like every good working mom, I told her to eat her breakfast and see how she felt later. Kaylee kept telling me it was the swine flu. I kept telling her Cassidy just had the sniffles and mind her own business. She finally threatened to call Children's Services on me if I sent Cass to school. So, Cass stayed home.

I got her in to the dr. in the afternoon. Once there, they registered her temp at 104 (I'm surprised they didn't call Children's Services). The dr. pretty much told me it was, indeed H1N1, without coming right out and telling me. He was trying to be very politically correct about the whole thing, since they aren't officially testing for the virus, so he can't actually call it H1N1. But, he basically looked at me like "you know what I'm really saying here." He came in the room with a face mask on for the exam. That'll get your attention pretty quick. After her exam he proceeded to get out a canister of disinfectant wipes and wipe down everything from his stethoscope to the pen he used to document her file. All the while discussing this "unknown" source of flu with me. It was very surreal. Kaylee gloated. Yes, she gloated when told that her sister really had swine flu. Siblings are great.

So, Wednesday I stayed home 1/2 day with her. Jeff was supposed to get off a little early, so I figured he'd be home not too long after I went to work at 12:30. No - he got off at his regular time. (Again, I'm just waiting for Children's Services to show up.) These are the days that a working mother loathes. My gosh, your child is home sick, but you have obligations and commitments at work....people counting on you and duites to fulfill. I HATE these days. I'm sure my mother is looking down from Heaven shaking her head.....she never was thrilled with the idea of me working after I had kids.

I was feeling a little punky myself. Not horrible, mind you - just headache and scratchy throat. But, I woke up Thursday with a very sore throat and throbbing head. Temperature only about 99.7. MAJOR lineup of activities I had to take care of at work that day, including an evening banquet to attend. What to do? Cassidy was actually feeling a little better. But, I took the advice of every public service commercial urging me to stay home if not feeling well, and called in sick to work. I very rarely call in sick to work and the guilt on this particular day would have been very painful if my condition hadn't allowed me to sleep through 3/4 of it. That was really as bad as it got for me - sleep. I'd wake up just long enough to think "wow, I've been asleep a long time, I should get up." Then, I'd roll over and go back to sleep. Cassidy even brought me drinks and took my temp!

Friday I just was a little tired and dizzy. I stayed home 1/2 day again. Cassidy had been without fever for over 24 hours, so could have possibly gone to school, but she had a bad headache, and I figured why push it on a Friday?

We were supposed to have about 10 or so girls over on Saturday for Cassidy's 10th birthday party. We had to postpone to give me an opportunity to disinfect the house. And that is what I did for the majority of the weekend - cleaning and laundry. Oh, and help Cass catch up on loads of homework.

Why do I give you this much detail? Why not just say we were a little under the weather last week and continue? Well, you have to appreciate it when I tell you that Whitney woke up today and just wasn't herself. I kept asking what was wrong, and she would just say, "I don't know, I'm just tired." I finally took her temp and got 100.5. That is when I knew it wasn't over yet. I urged her to take some Motrin. She said her stomach felt funny. I told her - oh, it's not the stomach flu, you will be fine. She then puked all over my kitchen floor. (After I had cleaned.) I don't know if it is the same flu or a different one. All I know is that I have to go to work tomorrow. This sucks.

Sending Hugs

Please say a prayer for this family. I found their blog through another blog I follow. I don't know either family. Someone suggested it to me one day, and from there I link to other blogs, etc., etc. Jeff thinks it is weird that I read about people I don't even know. For some reason though, I love learning about other people's lives. We really have more similarities than differences, and it is comforting to see that. However, this family has just suffered a major loss, and my heart aches for them. How do you reach out to someone you have never spoken to "in real life?" I'm sending hugs to them through prayers, though. Please do the same.

Fall is definitely here to stay. I am resisting the urge to run out and buy pumpkins and mums for our front porch. There is always something "more important" for our money to go toward. I know - that is no fun. I am pressuring Jeff to get some drywall and painting done in the basement, so we can move our old TV down there, so we can buy a new one for the family room upstairs. To him, these things take time - time to research televisions, read consumer reports, and visit every TV showroom in the tri-state area to find the best deal. To me, running to Wal-Mart and throwing one in the cart is sufficient. So, we have a difference of opinion here. Men really are from Mars sometimes.

Cassidy attended a mini cheer camp last week, and got to cheer pre-game at the home game on Friday night. It was pouring down rain. Not fun.

After she was done, we left the game and I took her to a friend's where she was spending the night. I got a call on Saturday morning that she was shivering and had a temperature. Hmmmm, maybe cheering in the freezing rain was not such a great idea? Mother-of-the-year award, here I come! She slept a lot yesterday, but her fever has broken and she seems to have perked up. She does have a nasty cough still. She has this week to get better because we are having her birthday party next weekend.

What can I say?

I think my blog is getting boring. This is why I stopped scrapbooking - every year started to look the same....back to school; Halloween; Christmas; sledding; last day of school; zoo trips; dance recital; birthdays. I don't feel like my life is that boring, but it is definitely challenging trying to make it sound interesting to anyone else! That is why I've been absent a lot - nothing new to say. So, here goes some more repetitive stuff.


Homecoming was last month. We had a parade/pep rally the Thursday before, which was the first time Van Wert has done it for years. It was a lot of fun, and I hope the tradition continues. Each class got to make a float. Here is the sophomore class float, which won! It would look more meaningful with kids on it, but Jeff took the pictures. He helped with some of the construction so to him, the actual float was more important.

Kaylee with her date (they are "just friends").

All of the girls and their gorgeous dresses.

Whitney has also had a couple of games.

Other than that, not much to blog about. It has definitely gotten cold too fast. We continue to do some home improvement projects. Jeff is building a shed (read: guest house). He has until the first snow to get it done because I insist on parking in the attached garage by then. I have NEVER gotten to park in an attached garage before...how sad is that? I'm trying my hand at dry wall patching - just because I want to get some stuff hung on the walls and don't want to wait until Jeff has time to do it. I figure it's just dry wall - I can't hurt it too bad. He may have a different opinion :).

Kids are doing well in school. We have had some of the typical high school drama to deal with, but I guess it comes with the territory.

Well, I have to get some housework done because Jeff and I are going bowling tonight. Have I ever mentioned that I hate bowling? How do I get talked in to these things?

Catch-Up

I'm getting so bad about posting what is going on, that I'm having to play catch-up. Of course, school started. It seems like we didn't even have a summer...although all of us getting ready in the mornings in a new house was different. Here are a couple of first-day pictures:

It was Kaylee's first day to drive to school, so I wanted to get a picture of her in the car. She wasn't cooperating...

Football also started. Guess who is on the 35-yard line during the pre-game (which just happens to be right in front of our seats)?

She was trying so hard NOT to look right at us!

We are also in the middle of the VW County fair. UGH! Why they start school before the fair is beyond me. School has already been canceled twice due to fog, so the kids are getting an extra-long fair break over Labor Day weekend. They love it.

Cassidy is adjusting to her new school. We moved her from St. Mary's this year. It was a hard decision, but we just felt it was in her best interest. She is in fourth, Whitney is in seventh, and Kaylee is a sophomore. Where does the time go?

I've been doing a little painting, and Jeff has been busy with some household repairs (washing machine leak....don't ask) and planning to build a shed. There is always some project taking our time (and money). Oh - and our van broke down at the mall last week, so that has only added to the adventure. Luckily, it was covered under our warranty, so that saved a few bucks.

I'm sure ther is more than that going on, but that is all my brain can process right now. Gotta go to bed. 'Night.