let the whine-fest begin...

Just from the title, I'm sure you realize that it might be wise to just skip this post, right? Seriously, highly recommeded strategy.

Well, another read-a-thon has come and gone. And as much fun as it was, I now begin to pay the price for blowing off all the work I should have been doing instead. I'm not sure if I'm more exhausted from the read-a-thon and the exciting, draining, and ultimately sucky football game last night or from the thought of the week ahead. (BTW, Chris, I still sort of think that going out and celebrating by buying three books is somewhat akin to rubbing salt in my wounds! Oh hell, you know I love you anyway.)

Anyway, I may be a tad scarce this week. Which totally sucks, as I actually finished books (shocking, I know) that I could be talking about. Just going to be "one of those weeks."

Monday afternoons this semester are always a tad hectic...I have just enough time to throw together a very simple supper after picking up the boys from chess club so that Rich has enough time to eat it after arriving home from Annie's flute lesson before he has to run out the door to teach his night class. Today we also have to throw in Baker's birthday. Happy 7th birthday, Baker!

Tuesday is Gray's birthday!!!! Tomorrow, he shall be turning 9. Or so says the calendar, but I'm still somewhat in denial. Yes, that whole they grow up too fast thing rearing its ugly head. Am not ready at all, as in I haven't even wrapped his presents. Or even bought them all.

Wednesday should be fun...Annie volunteers at the library in the morning, and she'll have to just wait there and do some schoolwork when she finishes, because I will be in the dentist's chair having three more fillings replaced. Then that evening I'll be taking her back to the library for teen game night while Rich takes the boys to swimming lessons.

Thursday's pretty slow...Annie just has art class. Oops, and the boys check-ups.

Friday...if things ever get worked out, Gray will be having a friend sleep over. (They've been playing phone tag all weekend.)

And Saturday, of course, is Halloween. No, we don't have our pumpkins or candy or even all of Annie's costume. My parents are also coming to visit. We will be celebrating Gray's birthday with them. And Annie has to be at the library again, as she's helping with the Halloween party they're throwing for the little ones. And since my parents are coming, I actually need to clean, which believe me, at this point is a far bigger task than it should be...this place is currently a dump of epic proportions!

Okay, so I could deal with all of that. Not happily (I hate having so much running around to do), but I could deal and be fine. No, what has totally sent me over the edge here is the fact that I've reached the end of all the school prep I did over the summer...from here on out, it's a matter of just trying to stay one step ahead. And major #momfail this weekend. I honestly had no business blowing off all responsibilities. Because now I don't have today's EnviSci lecture/discussion plan finished, nor do I have today's history prep done. We'll get through the other subjects, and then I'll set Annie loose to just work on some of her long term assignments, but I will still be feeling incredibly guilty for dropping the ball. And I will be scrambling like hell, trying desperately to get us caught back up before this quarter ends and I have to write the damn quarterly report in a few weeks. Seriously feeling like my head's going to explode here.

So...end of bitching and complaining. Except to say that I'll be missing you this week, since I likely won't have much computer time. Have a fabulous week, everyone!!!!

on my mind this morning

*Odontophobia anyone? *raising hand very high* I finally made myself make an appointment for a check-up. And I must admit I'm proud of myself for finally doing so. It's way overdue. The only problem is that I'm now having trouble sleeping and I feel like my heart is always pounding...and the damn appointment is still 2 1/2 weeks away. I am so afraid there are going to be major problems...

*I am not masochistic. Therefore, I will never watch Penn State play Iowa again. NEVER. Two years in a row of hopes shattered by them is enough. :(

*We've been trying to make this a fun weekend for Max (we don't generally do parties, but instead give them a weekend full of fun of their choosing). This, however, means I'm even further behind than usual in answering e-mails and reading blogs. But this probably won't be the day I catch up, as I've got much school work to sneak in between Maxidoodle requests.


Okay, and after all that whining, I do actually have something fun on my mind, too:

*I'm a big fat liar. Just a few days ago, I made myself a list of all the books I had to finish before starting new ones. But already I'm heading off course. See, the Stevens family has been inspired by Becky and Becky's Mom. We're going to try something similar to their challenges to one another, though we're picking out books we honestly believe the recipient will love. (We each have to have read the book we're recommending.) So Friday night, we drew names to see whom we would be picking a book for, and then yesterday while eating lunch at McDonalds (Ugh. But McDonalds playland is what Max requested.), we handed out our assignments.

--Max chose the Warriors graphic novel series Graystripe's Adventures by Erin Hunter for Annie.
--Gray chose Space Chimps: Mission to Malgor adapted by Lauren Alexander for Max.
--Annie chose Dramacon Ultimate Edition by Svetlana Chmakova for me.
--Rich chose Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling for Gray.
--And I chose The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness for Rich.

We've given ourselves about a month to complete our assignments. Then we're going out for pizza, where we'll discuss our reads and give out our next assignments. Maybe we'll even do fun little interviews like Becky and her mom. :D

*Also on the fun side of life, I'm finally getting back to work on the library. Doing some serious rearranging of books. Hopefully more weeding out. And Rich and I figured out a few places where we can add more shelves, and I designed something for him to build for the one area. I know...so not fair to poor Rich...I design and he builds. But believe me, it would be a disaster if we switched jobs. ;)

always my baby

came as a total surprise

popped into this world too early

stole hearts from day one

will likely break some in the future

spitfire of epic proportions

 with a mind of his own

obstinate times ten

well, more like times twenty

cat lovin'-est boy around

comic relief

instigator

marvel with his hands

in possession of a very short fuse

lovable times a bazillion

HAPPY SEVENTH BIRTHDAY!

always my baby

and she's twelve...

Some fret over each passing year. For some, each birthday, most especially those "milestone" ones like 25, or 30, or 50, is met more with mourning than with celebration. I've never really had that problem. (At least so far.)

But, like many a parent, every time one of the kiddo's has a birthday, it feels somewhat like a punch in the gut. Of course, on the outside, it's fun and celebration mode. But there's that voice in the brain saying, "How did this happen?!! How can another year have flown by with such speed?!!" And it's not that you don't want your children to grow and flourish. It's not that you don't want them to become happily more independent. It's not that you don't want to be witness to the incredible changes they go through. It's not that you don't want to see each amazing, unique little person mature while hanging onto that amazing, unique personality that makes them so special.

But it would be a boldface lie if I were to say that each of their birthdays doesn't make me a bit sad as well. For every wondrous "new" phase in their lives means saying goodbye to the "old" phase. And with every year that passes, they need me just a little bit less...and yes, I admit it, I like being needed. Every day that goes by is one day closer to the day they walk out the door to grasp that life that will have little to do with me. Yes, I know full-well how selfish I sound. And I would never in a million years want to do anything to hold Annie, or Gray, or Max, back from following their dreams. Honest.

Still, in private, I needed to shed a few tears today. For somehow, twelve years ago this beautiful little being showed her sweet face to us for the first time...and in a flash, she's now this beautiful young lady. She's nearly as tall as I am. She's taking college classes. She's loaded with dreams for her future.

Okay, enough of my pout-fest.

*****

Annie today, as she turns twelve:



















Interview answers by Annie.
(Followed by commentary by me.)

Choice for birthday breakfast: chocolate dipped strawberries and mini glazed donuts with sprinkles
(She's throwing caution to the wind today. :) In general, she's very conscious of eating healthy.)

Favorite foods: pizza salad, mozzarella sticks, chocolate dipped strawberries, blueberries, raspberries
(She's been a vegetarian since the age of six.)

Present most wanted for birthday: mini laptop
(Despite it costing waaaaaay more than we would normally spend on a birthday, we did come through for her. She works so hard and it really will be useful for school...so we caved.)

Best friend: Cece.
(The giggle sisters.)

Favorite books: Warriors series. His Dark Materials. LOTR. Harry Potter series. Twilight saga.

Favorite ways to spend free time: Reading. Hanging out with friends. Playing outside. Writing. Hanging with the animals.
(By "the animals" she meant the cats and dog, but she does love hanging with her brothers, too.)

Favorite school "subjects": Writing. Science. History. Literature.
(Anything but math.)

Looking forward to during the coming year: Meeting new people. Visiting new places through books, and in real life. The Children's Literature course I'm taking at MCC this fall. The Read-a-thon.

For supper tonight: The China Buffet or Friendlys.

Current career goals: Infectious disease specialist for the CDC. Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court. Veterinarian. Author.
(A girl's gotta keep her options open, right?)

Would most like to visit: Alaska. The Bahamas. Spain. Japan. Mars.
(And any thrift store she can find.)

in our neck of the woods...

It was another busy, fun-filled week here as I'm sure it was for many households last week...

*On Monday, my sweet, sensitive soul, Gray, turned 8-years-old! He was thrilled to receive two new games for his Nintendo DS, two new bears, and a huge box of Pokemon cards. And he was thrilled to hit Chuck E. Cheese for supper, where he alone ate 5 pieces of pizza (where does this kid put it all, and how the heck are we going to afford to feed him in another 4 or 5 years?!!). Annie and I were also able to head into his classroom to deliver special birthday treats. And he got cake #2! All in all, he proclaimed it a very good birthday.



*And of course, like for so many, Friday meant trick-or-treating! And though we woke up to snow Wednesday morning, by Friday afternoon the weather was positively glorious, with the temps hitting 60 degrees! Annie went off with her best friend, but the boys hung with us. And while Annie came home with mountains of candy, the boys were perfectly satisfied to just go around our block and call it good. Then we came home and watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and Halloween is Grinch Night.




Hope everyone had a wonderful week past, and has a wonderful week coming!

a few of this week's firsts

I should be so excited...it's list-mania day. But I'm just feeling kind of blah (nothing's wrong, just kind of dragging), and it's made it hard to come up with an idea for a list. Decided to just go with a list of firsts from the past few days...

*We watched our first son turn eight-years-old.


*We threw our first snowballs of the season this morning. Not a lot of snow, but enough for snowballs.

*I mailed my first package overseas. (Sorry it's taken me so long, Nymeth!)

*I tried my first 3 Muskateers Mint. Yuck!

*I wrapped my first Christmas presents of the season.

in our neck of the woods...

Last week was a busy one. Busy in different ways than normal busy. Which means that I'm behind in all the normal things. But such is life, right?

*Mom and Dad came up to visit! We had an early birthday celebration for Gray, complete with cake and ice cream. Gray got Papa to watch his new favorite movie, Last Days on Earth, with him. Papa and the kids "dunked cookies"...gingersnaps and milk is a tradition with them (and they even let Grammy and I have a couple gingersnaps this time). Max read to Grammy. Papa and Gray played a lot of chess. Annie and Papa played a game, too, and we're still teasing Annie about how she let Papa take her queen with a pawn. Mom and I gabbed and gabbed and gabbed. Annie performed a mini concert for Grammy. Max and Papa were involved in an awful lot of rough-and-tumble tickling battles. Annie and I took them to lunch before they left the next day. Yep, we all had a great time.




*It was another fantastic week in college football! I'm trying not to "count my chickens" but Penn State is looking so good! And while I hold no illusions for the Dolphins making the play-offs or anything, a win over the Bills sure felt good!

*Baker had a great birthday...silly dog just loves it when we sing "Happy Birthday" to him, joins right in howling. And even more, he LOVES opening presents!


*Annie and I got her blog set up for What's in a Name 2. She picked out all new categories this time around. Hope you'll join us!

And I guess that about covers the highlights of life in our little abode during the past week. This coming week will be another hectic one...first celebrating the 8th birthday of one incredible, compassionate, creative, sensitive, emotional, handsome, intelligent young fellow, and then all the hoopla of Halloween.

Hope you all have a wonderful week ahead!

in the dog house

I fear that may be me. Yes, I'm quite worried that Max's teacher may not be overly pleased with me this morning.

See, one of birthday traditions around here is that the birthday-ee gets to choose what to have for breakfast. Maxidoodle chose to have a donut and chocolate-dipped strawberries. What little boy wouldn't want to start his big day with a massive sugar high, right? I mean, you only turn six once.

He did have a good half hour to run around outside before the bus arrived...let's hope that was enough...

busy, and uninspired

It's been a while since I've posted anything. Partly because I just haven't had anything of interest to say. But mostly because I've been crazy busy...with trying to finish up the third quarter of school, with starting the dreaded quarterly report, with getting ready for company, with having company for the weekend, with getting ready for Annie's birthday, with celebrating Annie's birthday. Not much time for reading, and that includes blogs...I'm woefully behind.


Anyway, Annie had a fabulous birthday...which was actually yesterday, but she started celebrating over the weekend. She chose to have a "girls day out" instead of a party...which meant we gave her the money we would have spent on a party and she went out shopping instead. She had a ball! Probably won't choose to spend her day shopping with her mom and grammy for much longer, so I made sure to soak up every bit of enjoyment I could get from the experience! How did my little girl get to be 11-years-old already anyway?!!

Last night, as is her "right" on her birthday, she set the agenda...dinner at the China Buffet and a trip to Barnes & Noble. This, combined with the books she bought on Saturday and the ones she received as gifts, netted her quite a hefty haul overall. More than a few of which are borrow-worthy ;)

I somehow managed to come home with four new books of my own. Hmmm...wonder how that happened. But with the buy 2, get one free table plus a gift card, I only ended up spending $2! Can't beat that, huh? And if I want to throw a little bit of rationalization in there, I needed one of these books (The Looming Tower) for Joy's Non-Fiction Five Challenge anyway, and I bought another (Snow Flower and the Secret Fan) for Lynne's Heard It Through the Grapevine Challenge. (The other two (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and The Boys in the Trees)...total impulse buys.)

Anyway, hopefully things will slow down a bit around here (but probably not, as I'm scrambling like crazy trying to get things ready for next quarter) and I can get my review written for 100 Cupboards. Loved that book! And hopefully I can get caught up on my blog reading as well!

a four-legged celebration

Happy Birthday Baker! Yep, Bacon turns 5 today! (O.K., to be perfectly honest, that may not be entirely true...I suspect the shelter took a little creative license on this point. But we're sticking with this date, since we have no more accurate info.)

And as Gray's birthday is tomorrow, most of the hoopla this weekend will be directed at him. But we do have a couple little things planned that should make Bacon a happy dog...for one thing, he'll get a real present! Whenever anyone else is opening presents, he goes absolutely crazy, wanting a present of his own. We always have to get a piece of wrapping paper and wrap one of his toys in it for him to open. And then he's a very happy pup again. You'd think he was a 2-year-old kid, huh?

We're also going to let him off the "diet hook" this evening. Yep, an actual can of dog food lovingly shaped into the form of a dog bone. (Hopefully I will survive this gaggingly disgusting task.)

Anyway, we are all very thankful that this lovable little rascal made his way to our family! And I hope we get to celebrate many, many more birthdays with our beautiful beagle boy.

you've come a long way, baby

Here it is, Max's 5th birthday. How does that happen? How do you blink your eyes three times and find your baby has turned into a little boy?

I feel like I should write a big post and talk about Max's birth and all my feelings from that time. But I just don't feel like it today. As joyous as it was, it was also a hard time...and today I just want to focus on the blessing that is Max!

He is such a delight! A very rambunctious, unruly delight, but a delight none-the-less!

Max, this morning:


Max, five years ago:


As I said, you've come a long way, baby! Happy Birthday, Maxidoodle! I love you!