Single Digits

NINE...................................MORE......................................DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hubby will be home in NINE MORE DAYS!

We are in single digits now! I love it when we get into single digits. It makes it that much more exciting!

We went from 180 days to 9 days left.

Some people say "boy that sure went fast".

But not for us.

I'm just happy to be in the single digits "zone"

I'm also happy that he'll be pulling into a port where he can use his cell phone to call me too.

Then he'll be home.

And we'll be complete again.

Junior High..........

Today was the Student of the Month/Honor Roll Assembly for my eldest, who is now in Junior High.

After they had the awards (of which she received one for being on Principal's Honor Roll, which means straight A's) they had Spirit Day Activities. All the junior high"ers" are divided up into different groups and each group had a certain color t-shirt, which the kids wear, and they play these games that the ASB kids make up and do.

How freaking fun is that?!!!

I remember in Junior High that we had certain activities similar to that, but I also remember the only certain people played them all the time.

Here in her school, all the kids will get a chance to play the games. The teachers of their groups have cards and they go through them and draw names so everyone will get a chance to play.

Normally, the parents do not get to watch these, as it is after the assemblies and the parents have gone for the day, but I was hanging around because I had to help in my youngest's classroom shortly thereafter and it would have been silly to leave and come back in 15 minutes.

So I sat and watched.

All the kids looked like they had fun and they all were into it.

Of course when mine saw me watching from afar, she was trying to get my attention to get me to leave.

Yea, that's what junior high is like.

Parents Not Welcome By Kids.

It's not "cool" to be seen with your parents like that.

Ahhh......it's just the beginning, I tell you!

Oh, and it's not like I do stand around her all the time and invade her "space at school". I let her go off and hang with her friends.

I mean, come on, I probably wouldn't even be there, except for the fact that I have another daughter who goes there and is in KINDERGARTEN, so I need to be there with her.

I was telling my eldest that she spends less time learning now, than she did before. They have 4 classes and then lunch, and then their elective and P.E.

She was like, "Oh yea! That's cool!"

I remember just before she started junior high this year that she was SO nervous about it and didn't want to go. Now she says "It's fun MOM!" (Oh, but don't worry, she still has the "I hate all this homework I have!" "This teacher is mean", etc.)

I'm just glad she's enjoying herself as well.

Ahoy Mateys!

Aye, today, September 19th is "Talk Like A Pirate" day, Aye!

So don on yee pirate hats and go forth Mateys! Argh!

Me children thinks me Scuffy and may be wanting me to walk the plank, argh!

Go forth and pillage and plunder and have some grog for me!!

If ye need some help on thee pirate "lingo", below is a list of some of me favorite words.......argh.....yohoho!!!!

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

Ahoy: Hey!

Avast: Stop!

Aye: Yes

Black spot: to be 'placin' the black spot' be markin' someone for death.

Booty: treasure

Buccanneer: a pirate who be answerin' to no man or blasted government.

By the Powers!: an exclamation, uttered by Long John Silver in Treasure Island!

Cat o' nine tails: whip for floggin' mutineers

Corsair: a pirate who be makin' his berth in the Med-...Medi-...that sea 'tween Spain and Africa, aye!

Davy Jones' Locker: the bottom o' the sea, where the souls of dead men lie

Doubloons: pieces of gold...

Fiddlers Green: the private heaven where pirates be goin' when they die.

Furner: a ship which be yer own, not one ye steal an' plunder.

Gentlemen o' fortune: a slightly more positive term fer pirates!

Go on the account: to embark on a piratical cruise

Grog: A pirate's favorite drink.

Jack: a flag or a sailor

Jolly Roger: the skull and crossbones, the pirate flag!

Keelhaul: a truly vicious punishment where a scurvy dog be tied to a rope and dragged along the barnacle-encrusted bottom of a ship. They not be survivin' this.

Landlubber: "Land-lover," someone not used to life onboard a ship.

Lass: A woman.

Lily-livered: faint o' heart

Loaded to the Gunwales (pron. gunnels): drunk

Matey: A shipmate or a friend.

Me hearty: a friend or shipmate.

Me: My.

Pieces o' eight: pieces o' silver which can be cut into eights to be givin' small change.

Privateer: a pirate officially sanctioned by a national power

Scallywag: A bad person. A scoundrel.

Scurvy dog!: a fine insult!

Shiver me timbers!: an exclamation of surprise, to be shouted most loud.

Son of a Biscuit Eater: a derogatory term indicating a bastard son of a sailor

Sprogs: raw, untrained recruits

Squadron: a group of ten or less warships

Squiffy: a buffoon

Swaggy: a scurvy cur's ship what ye be intendin' to loot!

Swashbucklin': fightin' and carousin' on the high seas!

Sweet trade: the career of piracy

Thar: The opposite of "here."

Walk the plank: this one be bloody obvious.

Wench: a lady, although ye gents not be wantin' to use this around a lady who be stronger than ye.

Wi' a wannion: wi' a curse, or wi' a vengeance. Boldly, loudly!

Yo-ho-ho: Pirate laughter

Kindergarten Is Going Well

She likes it so much, she lined up her stuffed animals so she can "teach" them as well.

Do you remember doing that when you were young?? Oh, I so did. Although it wasn't my stuffed animals, I would "teach" my little sisters with the chalkboard that was on the back of our bedroom door.

All Your Saturdays are Out

That's what AYSO should stand for, according to parents, not American Youth Soccer Organization, the official name of it.

Soccer season has started!!

My seasoned veteran.......

She didn't get the number she wanted, #11, like her Aunt Heidi though....

This is her 7th year playing in AYSO, and she did very well, from what I hear. I didn't get to see much of her game because.......

.....we've decided to make our Saturdays even more busy by adding another player to the mix....

I had to take this one to her soccer game, which was around the same time as her sister's game.

Now, for this division, there are no goalies. There is no keeping score. It's basically just watching them take turns going down the field kicking the ball to the little net that's down there. It is totally cute though!! About 1/2 through her game though I had to quit cheering for her out loud because everytime she heard her name she would look at me and not focus on where she was going. She was quite happy to be running with all the other girls and not trying to get the ball. By the end of the game though she was starting to get the hang of it and focusing on the ball, not all the girls running. It was QUITE cute!! I seriously need to take the video camera next time so I can capture this.

As for my seasoned veteran's game? Sadly they lost. :( Her team has some players who are just enjoying the scenery around them, for the most part and not trying on the field. Sadly for her team that they are probably not going to be high on winning games, but good for my daughter, because she's going to stand out even more as one of the better players. Yes, I am being conceited. My daughter is good. She could be AWESOMELY good, if she loved the game more and wanted to play it all the time, however she doesn't want to and that's why she's not on a club team, and doesn't want to be on a club team.

I'm just glad that next week their games don't overlap too close in times, that I can see most of my eldest's game. I'll just have to miss the last 15 minutes or so. But thank goodness I have a friend who will stay there and bring her to my youngest's game when they are done.

So stay tuned for the results of next week's Saturday......

My Lopsided Unicorn

About two weeks ago we noticed that our dog, Burbank, had a floppy ear. He's a German Shepherd and they don't normally have those.

So we took him to the vet and found out he has a Hematoma on his left ear.

Which means surgery.

Which means money.

So on Tuesday we took him back and he had his surgery.

He originally came home with a cone.

Can you imagine a cone on a big ass dog like this?

Yea, it was torture for him too.

He kept bumping into things.

Poor guy!

He wouldn't eat or drink.

The next morning I woke up and saw the cone on the floor.

Sans the dog.

Uh-oh.

So since I have never put a cone on a dog, we had to go back to the vet so they could show me how.

I also had them look at his ear.

They decided to take him back in and wrap his ear.

Picked him up after a few hours and this is how he looked.

Sans the cone.

Happy for him AND for me!

I'd much rather have him look like a unicorn, than a depressed dog with a big ass cone around his neck.

Plus they showed me how to give him his meds if he wouldn't take them with other food.

Okay, I tried.

I tried to put it down his throat, but it's a little intimidating to me to put my hand down his throat.

Needless to say it didn't work well.

So we got "Pill Pockets".

They are very squishy treats you "hide" the pills in.

That worked most of the time. But I still had to entice him to take them.

Then my friend told me to put it in Velveeta.

Well, I didn't have Velveeta, but I did have sliced cheese!

Yea, the cheese works like a CHARM!

We go back in a week to check his ear and bandages, and then a week after that he gets his stitches out.

Then no more unicorn dog.

But at least he'll have two good looking ears again!

First Day Of School!!!

Today was my girls' first day of school.
The oldest started junior high today, with her snazzy new shoes.

And her new outfit.

The youngest had HER new Dora Shoes.

And her new outfit.
She started Kindergarten.

And they both had to have new backpacks as well.

As I left the school this morning, I was thinking, "Oh my goodness, BOTH of my girls are now in school!" No more preschool, this is actually it!!! My youngest's Kindergarten teacher had all parents stop at the door. At least for the first week. Which I think is a fabulous thing. Get it over and done with, quick and easy. No drawing it out, giving the kids a chance to worry about what it's going to be like without mom and dad, etc. My youngest did great. I could tell that she was a little hesitant while we were waiting, but she got in line with the rest of them, and when it was time to go in, she went in with the rest. Now, this is only the first day, so let's hope the rest of the days will continue like this. I'm not going to say one way or the other, because honestly, I have no idea.

The eldest? Yes, Junior High. Their school is a K-8, so when they get to 7th & 8th grade, they go off to a different section of the school and have different classrooms and periods throughout the day. They don't offer many electives either. She said it was a decent day, but then again, she wasn't looking forward to junior high. Ahhh, once she gets the hang of it, she'll be fine and so used to it, she'll forget what it was like to be in one classroom the entire day. P.E., gym clothes, it all brings back so many memories for me!!!

So now both of my girls are in the same school, for two years. Yippee!!!!!! And another bonus??!!! Not having to pay for preschool anymore!!!!

What did I do all day, you ask? (Because I don't work on Mondays, just Tuesdays, Wednesdays, & Fridays). Well, I went to Michaels, Target and then I had my therapy appointment. But after that I went to my friend's scrapbook store for a while before I had to pick the youngest up. The only thing, she gets out an hour and a half before the eldest! And I live about 10-15 minutes away from the school. So by the time I get home, I have to turn around a 1/2 hour later! So sometimes I will go home, others I will go do errands and then other times I will have my friend bring her home. Back to the carpool thing next week!

Back From The Land of "Where is she?"

My girls and I have had a fairly busy last two weeks.

The girls and I went up north two weeks ago to 1. : celebrate my friend's 40th birthday (and by the way, she does NOT even look close to 30!) and so 2: my youngest could go spend a couple of days with her aunt, aka my sister.

The eldest got to go to Magic Mountain and have the wonderful tradition of having her aunt take her on The Revolution. (My aunt took me on there the first time, along with each of my sisters as well, meaning she dragged us kicking and screaming, but we did end up loving it). Then my sister and her came back down for a few days and we all went to the beach on one of those days. She also took the eldest shopping and spoiled her with stuff.

After my sister left, we went back to the beach the next day, as my eldest's best friend came out here from Colorado and so we got to see them. Her friend also spent the night, which was a real treat for my eldest, and us of course. The youngest LOVED it as well. When her friend came in the house she said, "Ah, my 2nd home" AWWWWWWWWWWWW!!! That made me feel so good, but so sad too, as we wil only get to see her in the summer when her and her family come out to visit their family.

Then the next day my wonderful Mother-In-Law came out for about a week. Part of the reason she came down was because for her Mother's Day present, we took her to sea the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. My eldest loved it as well! Then MIL took the eldest shopping over the next two days and spoiled her with stuff even more and they both went and got manicures and pedicures together. Too cute!!!!

Now, it is the weekend and other than going shopping for school clothes, we aren't doing anything spectacular. Ahh....................... nice and relaxing.............................maybe I can get over this cold that I picked up when I went and saw the Dead Sea Scrolls..............................

Happy Birthday To My Baby!

My baby is 5 today!

She started out early in this world, coming 6 weeks early. She's been on the go ever since!

She definitely has a mind of her own. She can be such the chatterbox when she is around her family or friends that she has known for years. Get her around others? Forget about it.

She has such an active imagination, I love to sit and watch her do things.

She is that girl though that will ask you a TON of questions and just when you think you've answered them all, she'll ask you one and throw you completely off guard and then you have to come back with "I have no idea" or if she continuously asks you why, you eventually have to say, "Because I said so" because you have literally run out of reasons that will suit her.

When we walk somewhere together, she automatically finds my hand to hold, and if I can't hold her hand for a minute, she'll hold onto my pants.

She is a very emotional little girl too.

She's someone you definitely have to pick your battles with.

She comes up with the goofiest sayings though and do so many things to make you laugh. But don't laugh AT her, because she doesn't like that. If she says or does something that she doesn't think is funny or amusing and you laugh, she doesn't like that and gets very embarrassed. She loves to be the center of attention when she wants to be, but doesn't like to be when she doesn't want to.

She has a love affair with band-aids. I should seriously buy stock in them, we go through them so fast. If there's a booboo, or it hurts, a band-aid must be put on it.

She used to be so afraid of our cat, she would wear rain boots in the house so the cat couldn't attack her feet. She doesn't do that anymore.

She loves our dog and loves to boss him around at times. Hell, she loves to boss EVERYONE around if we'd let her!

She is a clumsy one though. I have a feeling she will be using cups with lids on them for a LONG time. And at this point, you can't get mad at her. It's just the way she is. So cups with lids on them are here to stay for the time being. She's also a slob too. I really need to work on that.

She wears her heart on her sleeve. She's definitely not one to hide emotions.

Her eyes are so intense you instantly fall in love.

Happy Birthday to my wonderful baby, my Sweet Baby J.

Pumping Iron?

Apparently I must be, because I don't know my own strength anymore.

Either that or we just have some crappy-ass made cabinets.

Which do YOU think?? LOL!!

Swimming, Day 1

Today was my youngest's first day of swimming lessons. She was so extremely nervous and a bit scared. The good thing about it was that there were other kids there so she got to see them do things first. You could tell she was so nervous about it (my poor baby!!!), but she did everything that the teacher wanted her to do. So that's a good thing. I've got her in lessons for 4 weeks total, as of right now. I know she's scared about it, but she has got to learn. And I know once she gets over the fear of it and relaxes and figured it out, she'll be loving it. I'm looking forward to the day I can take more of these pictures and she's smiling in them.

Happy Anniversary

Today is mine and my husband's 15th wedding anniversary. That's right, 15 years. Wow.

It's a bummer though that we are not together on this day. He is still out to sea. He did call me this morning though and that was a WONDERFUL treat for me. :)

Fifteen years ago we got married in a little church that barely held 75 people. Afterwards we had the reception in my grandma's backyard. Nothing fancy at all. We just wanted everyone to have a good time.

On the way to my grandma's from the church, my mom asked us to stop by the nursing home so that my grandma could see us. She was unable to make it to the wedding, as she was still recovering from a stroke. So as much as I didn't want to go, I did. And I'm so glad I did. It was not only a treat for my grandma, but everyone in the nursing home, because they got to see us all dressed up. When I walked into my grandma's room, she immediately started crying. Which caused me to cry too. I wanted her there so much for the wedding, but at least we did get to see each other on my wedding day. That was a very special moment in my life for me and lucky me, it was on my wedding day.

Five years ago, on our 10th wedding anniversary, I was almost 8 months pregnant with my youngest. We went out to dinner to a fancy steak house that promoted the best steak around here. Sadly, neither hubby nor I thought that way. But we had a nice time anyway. It's not that often that we do get to go out on our own, so we do enjoy it when we get the opportunity, and we make time to make that opportunity on our anniversary. So we'll just have to celebrate it a few months late when he comes home.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows

I've got it.

I waited for the mailman yesterday to deliver it.

I let out a squeal of delight when I saw him deliver it.

I've read it.

I've finished it.

Finished it about midnight Saturday night.

There was no way I was going to wait to read it.

Last time I waited, I overheard someone telling their friend what happened in the book.

I wasn't going to let it happen again.

I LOVED the book.

She did a fabulous job!

My heart was definitely racing throughout the book!

I love the fact that an author like this comes around and peaks the interest in not only children, but adults.

I've even gone back and reread parts of the book today.

It's THAT good.

Dance, Dance, Revolution

Nothing's better than beating your daughter at Dance, Dance Revolution on the Playstation 2. :)

Hubby and I got the girls a PS2 for Christmas, the year before last. One of the games I made sure to get with it was Dance, Dance, Revolution. I figured if the girls were going to have a video game system, I wanted them to have an interactive one as well. (Of course now there is the Wii, which I TOTALLY want too. Oh well, maybe another year or so). And yes, I admit it, I wanted it for me too.

Growing up in high school and a little beyond that, my friends and I went to dance clubs EVERY weekend. There was Marilyns, Network (the original and the second one), 321, Magic Mountain (they used to have dancing there during the summer), Florentine Gardens, and others that I can't remember. Of course we went there to find guys as well. But damn, we were all very thin back then, and a lot of it I know had to do with dancing (yes, we did dance when we were there too)

So this Dance, Dance Revolution was as much for me as it was for them.

So today we get it out and play with it. Of course my eldest, who wasn't playing at first, comes on and gets an "A" on her playing level her first time today, whereas I'm trying to get at least a C in some of the songs.

BUT, BUT, we put on "Play That Funky Music White Boy" and I did it and I got an A with a star! I did every move and touched every arrow correctly on the mat! Ha-Ha! They may not have all been perfect, but they were either perfect or great. The eldest couldn't do it. Ha....Ha......Ha.....

We did have loads of fun playing it today though.

And it is great exercise for me too. :)

Over 1/2 Way There!

This is what's left of a chain hubby and our two girls made before he left to go out to sea.

It had 3 more colors, representing the months on it.

Even though the red looks long, there's only a little over half of the colors left.

And it's fitting that the chain is centered around hubby's "shelf", which includes a picture of him and his great-uncle in their uniforms together when hubby made chief (great-uncle wasn't in the Navy anymore, but still had his uniform and so they posed together), a picture of hubby holding a fish to our oldest (in which she has an "icky" expression - I'll have to showcase that picture later), a ship that hubby made, and a fishing reel that was my grandpa's that hubby wanted.

I'll be SO happy when we are on the last color, Pink, and especially on the last day because that means I get my husband back and the girls get their dad back.

Another "Feet" picture

I have always loved my feet.

Some people have called them "Flinstone Feet".

I don't care.

I love my feet.

Except for the time when I was 5-9 months pregnant with my first child, then they swelled up beyond belief.

I have my mom's feet.

And since my mom had my grandma's feet, I also have her feet as well.

One of my sisters has our feet.

The other ones doesn't.

My eldest doesn't have my feet.

I'm sad about that.

I think my youngest might.

I just checked and they look very similar to mine.

Left foot. Right foot. Feet, Feet, Feet.

Oh how many feet you meet.

Just had to throw in some Dr. Seuss in there.

Friends

The other night my girls and I went over to a friend's house to get together with some of my friends to say goodbye to one of them.

She came out from back east to visit with all of us and so we wanted to see her one last time before she left.

I had such a WONDERFUL time on this night! We sat around the firepit talking and laughing our asses off. My eldest was sitting next to me, while my youngest was inside playing and watching video games with a couple of the other kids.

Having my eldest next to me reminded me of me when I was her age. I loved to be out with the adults listening to them talk.

I love these friends SO much. I am completely me with them. Faults and everything and we can talk about it and never have to worry.

We have to have more of these get togethers more often.

Go Figure

My eldest daughter is spending the night at her friend's house tonight because tomorrow they are getting up early so they can be at the American Girl store when it opens. My eldest has always had some issues about spending the night over friend's houses. She would just much rather be here at home. I used to worry about it, but after talking to one of my older sisters (on my dad's side, like I said, a story for another day) she told me that her youngest daughter didn't spend the night over people's houses until she was well in high school She just didn't like doing it. And my niece is a very confident young woman too.

So today my eldest was talking about how she was talking about how she was a little nervous about going (but she did end up going) and in comes my youngest, who isn't even in Kindergarten yet and she says, "I want to go! I want to spend the night!"

Total opposites.

I'll be lucky if I am able to keep her here on weekends when she gets older.......

I See Me In Her

My eldest.

One of her softball coaches took this picture of her while we were all watching an All-Star softball game this year. I love this picture.

No, she's not smiling and the camera and you can see she's got something she's chewing on in her mouth, but it's such a candid shot.

Hubby was talking (or rather emailing me) the other day about how by watching his girls grow up, he can somehow get a glimpse as to what I was like back then.

This was me at around her age:We both have blue eyes. I had/have freckles, but she got hers from her dad. The red hair? She got every bit of Irish from both sides of our family all wrapped up in her.

She's a straight A student and doesn't have to work that hard at it. I was like that too, that is until high school came around and while I was still an A and B student, I could have gotten straight A's if I had tried a little bit more. But having fun with my friends and partying were a bit more fun.

She does love to read, but not nearly as much as I did. I remember the year this was taken, my friend and I, who went camping with us, sat around the campsite and campfire reading "The Amityville Horror". I would walk home while reading a book as well. I read Gone With the Wind in 7th grade. In the summer, I would stay up until 2 a.m. reading a Steven King novel (in high school).

She doesn't care for the really LOOOONG books (she only made it through the 4th Harry Potter book, started the 5th and lost interest), while I love them (having just finished Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince and is eagerly waiting the 2 weeks until the last one comes out).

She has her friends and there's one that she's the closest too. I had my one really close friend back then too. And I'm very happy to say that 29 years later, we are still friends.

She's the oldest, and so am I (at least on my mom's side, but that's a story for another day).

My mom relied on me to help and I do rely on her to help out as well.

In comparison to relationships between mothers and daughters, I think I have a closer one with my eldest at the age she is now, versus the one I had with my mom at this age. But in all fairness, my mom was a single mom raising two other children besides me and had to work full time as well.

I talk with to her about everything (well, almost).

She had "Family Life" classes this past year and she made a comment to her friends that "Oh, my mom already told me about this" and they were like, "Your MOM told you about this?" and she said "Yes" like it was no big deal. I love it.

She's actually listening to me!

My Baby

My youngest, my baby.

Her entrance in this world was definitely not one of normalcy or calmness.

She decided to come into this world 6 weeks early, but even at 6 weeks early, she was 5 lbs, 15 oz, which is pretty good. Imagine what she would have weighed if she waited 6 more weeks. She probably would have been like my oldest, who was 10 lbs, 6 oz!

So she came into this world 6 weeks early and she had premature lungs.

She had to be in NICU for about a week, which really isn't THAT long compared to a lot of babies and the fact that she had a collapsed lung. Here is a picture of her in NICU at the hospital. The blue lights are because she was also VERY jaundiced as well.

That was one of the worst and longest weeks of my life, worrying about her.

But she's a fighter. And she came through it just fine.

She's now a rambunctious preschooler, however the girl has got issues.

She's hesitant (to put it lightly) to try new things.

Like clothes, or shoes.

I've been trying to get her to wear sandals with a strap on the back for school, but she doesn't like them because they don't "feel right".

Or she won't wear a dress because it doesn't "feel right", even though she's worn it plenty of times in the past.

This morning she was literally crying in the car on the way to school because the dress all of the sudden felt "different".

Well, she got through the day and she was just fine.

And today we bought new sandals with a strap on the back to wear to school. And now she doesn't want to go to school tomorrow because she'll have to wear the sandals.

Sometimes she frustrates me so much with all of this and we've literally tried on at least a dozen pairs of shoes. She'll run in them, skip in them, walk in them while we're in the store, but if I ask her if she wants them, she'll say, "No".

UGH!

And then I just want to hug her and keep reassuring her that it's okay. It's not going to be bad. The shoes will be fine. And the dress will be fine.

Maybe it's because she knows she's going to be going to Kindergarten next month and she's worried about that.

Like I said, she can have issues.

She's definitely one of those people who likes to know what's going on in advance.

Days in advance.

All children are NOT the same.

I can definitely attest to that.

Sometimes you have to change your parenting styles with each child, because the same thing doesn't always work with other ones.

She certainly keeps me on my toes though!

My baby.

She may drive me crazy at times (yea, and I'm going through the pre-teen years with the eldest, no fun either), but I love them both so much and wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.