Things are winding down...

The end of the school year is nearly here.  Even the girls mentioned has fast this year passed by.  That's pretty significant for 8 year olds so it must be true.  Has someone changed the world time clock? 

So the Lauren & Syd will finish up on Friday and Alex will be done next Thursday.  I know this summer is going to pass quickly, which I'm dreading.  Summer could linger on forever as far as I'm concerned! 

Oh and in case you were wondering L & S did have friends attend their b-day party and pictures were taken - I'm just not comfortable posting single shots of someone else's kids.  You know?

Okay, I've really got absolutely nothing to say today - just thought I should get a post up since it has been a few days.  That's the problem with blogging too many days away and you have nothing to say and when you do have something to say you do a bad job saying it...  Oh well, it's just for fun - right???

TTFN... 

Nothin' but pictures

More party highlights

If it's Monday this must be reality...

Today's reality is:

 the dog lying at my feet - paws in the air, head hanging to the side while I rub her belly with my foot. 

changing the title of an older blog post because I have noticed that people find this page by doing a search of the term "girls gone wild" (which was the title of a post - but a perfectly innocent post about little girls having dance party fun).  I hate to sound like a snob but I don't think these are the kind of people I want finding my blog.  Not now - not ever.  So the title has been changed to something much less likely to lure bad people to my pages.   

9 eight year old girls attending a Rock Star birthday party in your own home.  Seriously if you need a dose or real-life drama spend time with a group (two or three just can't do justice to the experience) pre-adolescent girls.  There's laughing and crying and screaming and jumping and boy talk and competition.  Really it is all-emcompassing and must be personally experienced.  WARNING - may lead to extreme crabiness during the aftermath and clean-up.



getting a little nervous about not having a job even though this has been an ongoing issue of choice and nothing new and yet the motivation to look for said job is severly lacking. 

Yep, that's reality...

Ebb and flow...

Life is full of ebb and flow, ups and downs, give and take, you now, all that stuff given as sage advice by those bestowing wisdom.  My life is constantly being influenced by these factors which make or break a week, day, hour or even a minute.  That's life!  Being the parent of a disabled child I can sometimes really feel that ebb and flow thing.  I don't speak too often of what it is like being Alex's mother.  I don't know if this sounds bad but I just really don't give it much thought - it is what it is (another one of  today's oh so enlightening phrases) but in it's truest form it really is what it is.  I love my son and there is nothing I can do that would change the fact that he was born with Down Syndrome.  That doesn't mean I don't have feelings and emotions about the situation it just means that I usually just take it all with a grain of salt and move on.  I'm not sure I do that in all areas of my life, but in this one I do, right or wrong.  So, I have been somewhat taken by surprise lately with the overwhelmingly sad emotions I have felt when reflecting on Alex's upcoming graduation date.  It has nothing to do with the sadness I feel about my baby growing up and becoming more independent it has more to do with what he (and truthfully me) will not be fully experiencing during this journey of his life.  I was caught very off guard after receiving the first graduation party invitation of the year (and each one thereafter).  Tears began pouring down my face.  I actually had to sit there for a minute and think "what the heck - what is this about - why am I crying" and then it hit me.  All this joy and anticipation about the graduation festivities, the summer parties, the college preparations, they aren't really a part of Alex's life, our life.  I mean we'll have the graduation and eventually we'll have the party (there seems to be a bit of procrastination going on by the main party planner in the house but what can I say, it happens) but the meaning and significance isn't quite to same. Although I have a soon to be graduating high school senior in words it is a surreal experience for me as in many ways Alex is still a child and will always remain that way.  I feel a bit shameful saying those words because other than the day Alex was born I have not given much thought to the things I might miss in life because of Down Syndrome.  The things I have experienced and the pure, unconditional relationship I have with my son is something few have the privilege to feel - it is a gift (really, can you believe how sappy this is - but it is how I feel - even if I do sound like a writer for Hallmark).  When I feel sad about things with Alex it is because of how they affect him, but this, this graduation thing, is hitting my own feelings of loss.  It's making me sad.  I am missing the journey that most parents with a graduating senior are making.  So there you go, my selfish feelings.  I know this too will pass with the ebb and flow of everyday life, but it was just so unexpected.  It was a low I didn't anticipate.  So there you go, I've talked, I probably won't mention it again but for today, I talked...

TTFN...

Last night I didn't get to sleep at all...

I have a new idea for my Glitter Me! Etsy shop.  I saw something that inspired me and I was so busy thinking about how to execute the idea that I couldn't fall asleep.  Does that happen to you - you get so caught up in a creative thought process and you are so anxious to get started you just can't sleep? I won't even mention how many blog entries I have written in my head late at night (of course, by the time morning light is peeking through the windows, I have forgotten most of what I had thought was so witty at midnight :-))  but regardless - that kind of stuff can keep me awake at night.

In anticipation of starting a new project I have been cleaning my room/studio/office MESS (and yes that word deserves all caps, it is that bad).  So tonight I finish cleaning, tomorrow a little supply shopping and then it is onto something new - not that the original Glitter Me! signs and banners are going away, I'm just expanding my options. 

TTFN and stay tuned... 

Oh and do you know who sings that Last Night ... song (no googling allowed)?

If you give a Syd a twenty...

If you give a Syd a twenty and send her into the party store to buy cups it may take her awhile and bring a surprise.

If you give a Syd a twenty and send her into the party store to buy cups she will pick out the cups and show them to you through the store window

If you give a Syd a twenty and send her into the party store to buy cups you will wonder what is taking so long even though you can see her standing in line.

If you give a Syd a twenty and send her into the party store to buy cups she will purchase the cups and have change left over.

If you give a Syd a twenty and send her into the party store to buy cups and you see her standing in line and then you see her purchase the cups and then you see her standing in line again you will wonder what is going on .

If you give a Syd a twenty and send her into the party store to buy cups she will finally come out to the van triumphantly holding her shopping bag and exclaiming success.

If you give a Syd a twenty and send her into the party store to buy cups she will come out with a story to tell:  She will tell you she found the cups and paid for the cups and had $16.78 left over so she decided to look at the party balloons.  It is her first communion today and her birthday is coming up after all.  She will tell you she decided that a cross balloon is probably a little bit too "partyish for the day so she decided to buy the big $9.99 birthday balloon which was $10.75 after tax.  Then she will tell you she stood in line behind some guy with a MILLION balloons and it was taking FOREVER so she decided it didn't need to be inflated and moved to another line and bought the balloon so now she has the party balloon for the birthday party she and her sister are planning.  And she will be so proud of herself that there is no way you can be mad even though when you gave a Syd a twenty all she was supposed to buy was party cups...

We're on our way...

May and June are such busy months for us.  We have First Communion and Birthdays and Graduation and something else but I can't think of what it is right now.  But it's floating out there - it'll come to me.

Today was First Communion.  The house was clean.  The weather was good and the girls looked beautiful.  I think that qualifies as success.

Another Frantic Friday - The Royal Edition...

Okay yes, yes I awoke at 3:00 a.m. to begin watching the Royal Wedding "pre-game" shows not wanting to miss a single second of the big day (anyone who knows me even a little bit should not find this surprising).  There is nothing like a beautiful wedding - well actually there is nothing like a beautiful wedding dress.  I love wedding dresses - they are like the dessert of the fashion world.  It might be a little impractical to wear one every day but still, think of the possibilities!  I liked Kate's dress (and yes, I do feel free to call her Kate - we are such close personal friends and all) but it had to grow on me a bit.  It was timeless and classic.  Initially I was a little disappointed - I was expecting something more dramatic but by the time the newlyweds processed out of the church I had decided it was perfect. She was a beautiful, happy bride just as she should have been.

I'm glad I was up to see the bride and the groom and the pageantry.  It was fabulous.  And yes, I realize there are great tragedies happening in the world - tsunamis, earth quakes, tornadoes, etc. but there are also fun, romantic and grand happy events to celebrate as well as tragedies to grieve  So today I'm going to celebrate.  Maybe I'll wear a wedding dress to the grocery store - be the dessert of life.  And seriously,  think about how much fun that would be - "no I don't need my milk in a sack but if you could find a prince to carry me to my car that would be lovely"...

TTFN...

Havin' a jiggy shimmy does not a dancer make...

Oh Kendra baby - just because you know how to shake that BOO-TAY and those BOO-BAYS does not mean you know how to dance.  Seriously...  As Bruno alluded you can take the girl out of the strip-club but you can't take the stripper out of the girl. 

So yes, I will admit it I am not a Kendra fan.  She's a whiner.  She likes to be a victim and she can't dance.  She may know her way round the strip club but without that pole to hold her up she's got nothin'.  I'm hoping she will go home tonight but I am sure there will be no such luck.  Call me jealous if you like but really if she had a graceful, rhythmic move in her body I'd be all over the girl with dancing praise.

That's it.  Just needed to get that out there since she isn't taking my calls.  Sorry Kendra, I'm just trying to help, seriously :-)

TTFN...

Say Cheese...

We spent a nice Easter weekend at my parent's and here are the obligatory pictures of my kids:

Would it be a bad mother thing to say that one or more of my children may be entering that "awkward" stage???  

Yesterday...

It snowed.  It was April 19th. 

I bought cute sleeveless Easter dresses for the girls thinking how nice it would be by the time Easter rolled around. 
Yesterday, it snowed.

Last week I thought about trips to the greenhouse to get hanging baskets and pretty flowers to decorate the outside of the house.
Yesterday, it snowed. 

I am so looking forward to having a non-working summer that I can hardly stand waiting another day. 
Yesterday, it snowed.

And it snowed because of that desire I have to enjoy the summer, spending sun-filled days and warm balmy nights with nothing more to worry about than what color flip-flops I should wear.  If I were still working, stuck in a windowless cube jungle the weather would be beautiful.  The sun would shine and yesterday, it would not have snowed.  Yes, it is all my fault.  The last time I remember having such a crummy spring or summer was when I was the proud owner of a Mustang convertible.  It rained almost every day that summer.  Oh Mother Nature why do you hate me when I love MOST of your seasons so much?

In other news - yesterday the dog ate a pill which fell on the floor.  The pill was not meant for her.  If it had been a tomato or a pill she was supposed to take she would not have touched the darn thing but since it didn't belong to her and she thinks there is nothing better than food of the non-vegetable variety which belongs to her humans she ate the pill.  Dumb Dog!  I took her to the vet and 174 dollars later I found that she was just fine and the pill did not cause any ill-effects. 
Oh and yesterday - it snowed.

TTFN...  hoping for sun!

Just another Frantic Friday...

Recently there have been a number of times when I have thought "hey I should blog about that" and then I decided, "well maybe that isn't blog-worthy" (as if some of my previous posts have really been blog-worthy - HA).  So here I am on another Friday night and it is all kind of frantic - or random at the very least.

The girls have decided they are going to become skateboard Internet sensations.  I'm not sure what a skateboarding Internet sensation is but it seems to require making many, many videos and saying dude a lot. 

Alex and I went to The Wizard of Oz ballet - yes I said ballet.  I wasn't sure what to think but it was very cute and Dorthy had the most fabulous pair of red glitter toe shoes I've ever seen.  I'm not sure where I would wear red glitter toe shoes but they caused me a great deal of shoe lust.  .

Syd loves classic rock.  On the ride home from dance tonight I had a classic rock station on and first they played Me and Julio Down by the School Yard (is that the official title) and then Life in the Fast Lane.  As we pulled in the driveway Syd said "mom, thanks for not changing that great music".  Who knew and just when I thought it was all about Hannah Montana and Justin Bieber - there is hope!!!! 

May and June are going to be crazy months filled with activities so I am enjoying these last few quiet days of April even if it is snowing as I type and is a beautiful day for November! 

I feel like I live in a laundromat.  The washer and dryer seem to be in perpetual use.  The laundry mountain never diminishes.  UGH.  It doesn't help that my dryer takes at least 2 hours to dry a load of towels (and no, mom, I am not overloading it).  One of the local appliance stores has a steam washer and dryer set on sale.  Does anyone know about the steam washer and dryers?  Pros - Cons?  Input is appreciated :-)

My neighbor is still cracking the whip on the walking thing although I got a skip today (I said "here's the deal - I'm crabby and just a general PITA today so we can walk and I can bitch or we can skip".  He opted to skip - good answer :-))

Okay I told you it would be frantic or something like that anyway so it isn't like you didn't know going in today! 

TTFN...

I'm not ready...

Alex at 10 years old

Alex brought home his cap and gown and graduation announcements today.  It made me cry.  I'm not ready for this.  I'm not ready to let one of my babies leave the nest.  I never really imagined what this day would be like for me.  I know he isn't moving out tomorrow but graduation is just another step towards independence - and really what will my kids do without me (okay fine what will I do without my kids?)?  Sure they drive me crazy some days and stress me out and just tonight I thought "I need to get out of this house and away from these kids and the HotY if only for a minute" but you know that's all on my terms and that makes it a totally different story (hey at least I'm honest - selfish - but honest).  What in the world am I going to do when Alex's moving day is actually upon us some day?  I'm going to be a MESS!!

Well I guess I better start facing reality - and party planning.

TTFN...  I'm still trying to find a way to get out of the house for a couple of hours.

I don't know how much more I can take...

So this Sunday's family movie night choice was Black Beauty (Lauren's pick this time).  OMG - could there possibly have been a more depressing movie?  Between people getting sick and having to move and leave their horses behind to Ginger the horsey (literally) girlfriend ending up dead on the back of a wagon to Joe the horse's childhood savior walking by Black Beauty not once BUT twice without realizing it was him raised my anxiety level to an all time high.  Do they make family movies which aren't heart wrenching - holy bananas.

Oh and I didn't have high hopes for this season of DWTS (Dancing with the Stars) but so far I'm impressed.  I mean Wendy Williams doesn't have a chance in h#ll but the rest of them aren't too bad.  And, I have no idea who she is but that Chelsea chick can really move - just think if they paired her with My Mario (well you know in the event I'm not avialable to dance with him of course).  I'm just saying...

TTFN...

Friday Ramblings...

TGIF- although the allure of Friday isn't quite as enticing now that there is no job looming on the horizon of Sunday - still Fridays' have a carefree feel about them so in the theme of the day I've decided not to worry so much about what to write as just to write - you know :-)

Last weekend's trip to the BIG BIG BIG mall was fun.  The girls had their pictures taken at the American Girl store with the cut-out of the newest doll.  

Pictures courtesy of my mom.  I tried to take photos with my phone but I kept taking videos instead - I have no idea how that kept happening.  I'm sure it's the phone - it couldn't possibly have been me!

Lauren rode the upside down roller coaster.  The girl is a thrill seeker - people are always surprised by that fact she hides it well :-) 

The girls also rode the smaller yet longer roller coaster (Syd rode it twice as she wasn't quite brave enough for the upside down coaster).

We lunched and strolled and shopped.  It was a good day.

I've been walking almost every day with my neighbor.  Even in the rain.  I KNOW!  I tried to get out of it.  It's wet, rainy, cold, etc. got me nowhere.  When Bernie says we're walking we walk.  Man I find him annoying :-)  Seriously, as I mentioned last fall - I like walking but sometimes the motivation is missing so it is nice to have a little push (even if it does mean rain hair).  Hopefully I'll be making real progress by late spring and won't even think of skipping a day.

Lauren is fascinated with Husky's (as in dog) and is constantly drawing them.  Her newest creation is a Husky mask. 

It's pretty creative if I say so myself.  Notice the blue buttons for eyes - the girl notices the details. 

That's it.  It really isn't even much of a ramble - maybe next time.

TTFN...

So about that left lane...

today I traveled to a small town about 30 minutes from my biggish city to have lunch with my friends Amy and Heather.  As I was traveling down the highway (or is it an interstate or maybe a freeway - I don't know all I know is it has four lanes) I kept thinking how it has been ingrained in me by my father that the left lane is for passing SLOWER traffic.  It's not for cruising down the highway, driving in tandem with the car in the right hand lane thus backing up traffic and creating considerable amounts of road rage (are you listening to me left-hand drivers - you can get to Walmart just as quickly in the right lane as the left so move it over and quit blocking the flow - Holy Bananas).

Anyway,  I was traveling down the highway and I did indeed pull into the left hand lane to pass SLOWER traffic, but as I moved into the lane I noticed there was a line of 5 cars which I would consider slower traffic - each car had the distance of approximately two car lengths between them.  So what to do?  Do I weave in and out of traffic thus freeing the left lane for any faster cars which may approach (there weren't any at the time in case you were wondering) or do I cruise in the left lane until I have passed the entire line of slower traffic?  I mean really - which way is correct?  I went with the left lane driving - but it made me anxious.  There weren't any cars behind me and I kept an eye on my rear view mirror (fine I may have also been watching for cops)  but still I was anxious until I had passed the entire line of cars and could pull back into the right lane.   Was that the right thing to do?  What would you have done? 

I'm going to be traveling the open highway again tomorrow with my daughters.  We are heading for the BIG BIG BIG Mall in the BIG BIG city.  We are meeting my mom and sister for a girls' day.  It will be fun.  Both my girls have counted the money in their piggy banks and determined the amount they will be taking for their shopping sprees, my cell phone is charging, and the gas tank is full,   It's going to be a good day but if anyone can shed light on the which lane is which when there is an entire string of slower traffic that would be awesome and would do much to minimize by anxiety!  Hey, I don't have a job anymore I have to worry about something.

TTFN...

Daylight Savings Time - how I adore thee...

I know there are actually Daylight Savings Time haters but I'm not one.  Sure I miss that one hour of sleep for that one day but after that it is all gravy.  That sunlight at 7:00 p.m. does this winter hater a world of good.  Hope that Spring really is on the way.  AND bonus this week we are supposed to have at least 2 days of temps in the 50's.  LIFE IS GOOD.

That's it for today.  I know it might not sound like much but it is A LOT - I'm just sharing the love :-)

TTFN...  Go catch some rays...

Happy Birthday...

Barbara Millicent Roberts - better known as Barbie.  It's your day.  Throw a party at the Dream House, drive along the coast in your pink convertible, have Ken over for dinner.  Live it up girl!  I mean really you don't look a day over 25 and you are over 50 after all.

Oh and Lauren would like to know why all fashion dolls are called Barbie Dolls - they can't all have the same name and why are Ken dolls called Barbie dolls because Ken's aren't  Barbies at all - THEY'RE KENS!  It is a very perplexing problem to her.

So anyway, if you're at Target today go see Barbie and be sure to tell her happy birthday - oh and I MAY have mentioned this in the past but it's my b-day too.  If you need me I'll be over at the Dream House having a little birthday cake and chit chat with Babs.  Maybe she'll let me borrow her convertible...

Fluffier...

3months and she is finally getting fluffier. 

Well maybe it's not obvious to you but she is getting fluffier - really she is.

Is there a full moon?

Because really, none of the females in this house are sleeping.  The girls have been in and out of our room several times, the dog is pacing and I can't sleep regardless of the girls or pacing dog.  UGH.  Everyone is restless so I wondered about that moon thing but I wouldn't know for sure since it is cloud covered AGAIN and we are expecting more snow.  This winter will never end, although on the plus side I can't tell you how much I have appreciated NOT having to go out and deal with it or the Walmart drivers.  Who knew those people caused me so much stress - well okay I guess we all knew but still sometimes even the obvious can surprise me.

I'm going to try to sleep now.  The girls seem to have finally settled into deep sleeps -- the dog is still pacing but at least she's quiet about it.

TTFN...