Our Adventure with Chase and Mackenzie

WOW..Three Months Since the Last Post

2009-08-18T11:54:00.000-07:00

Wowsers. Three months...as much as I love to write, it surprises me that I have taken a three month break from blogging.

My break started soon after I was laid off. I just did not seem to have much gumption to write. I am not sure, since being laid off was actually a positive thing, it isn't like I was devastated or such.

Anyway, I am still alive and kicking. We have had a spectacular summer. I have so enjoyed being home with them, hanging out. Since I haven't been tied down with a job, we had the opportunity to do a lot of fun, cool things.

We had a annual family vacation at the beach in June. My sister-in-law and niece joined us as they always do. We had great weather, which was really nice, of course. It was a great week.

We went to the lake a few afternoons to go tubing. The kids absolutely love riding on the tube. Granddaddy John absolutely loves taking them.

Another highlight was the Great Wolf Lodge mini-vacation. Boy the kids really had a blast there. It was such a relaxing trip for Sheldon and I since the kids could just go and we were able to just sit and have real adult conversation! We enjoyed the water activities too, but there was a lot of time that we were able to just chill.

Sheldon did some traveling alone this summer, once for business and once for fun. He went to a Homicide Convention...sounds like fun, huh? Most recently he went to the beach for four days on a guy weekend. He takes this trip every August, it is his recharge time.

Our highlight of the summer was the weekend of August 8. Our VERY dear friend got married at the beach. The wedding was spectacular. The weekend was so memorable. We had SUCH a good time. The ceremony was perfect. The kids and I were in the wedding, and boy did the kids look amazing. I just cannot express wow wonderful everything was. I have some great pictures. (They are posted on facebook.)

Well, now that I have gotten caught up on our summer, perhaps the next post will not be so scattered.

Busy Time of the Year

2009-05-30T17:28:00.000-07:00

Once again...writer's block. Haven't been here in awhile...thought about writing a lot, but haven't for some reason or another.

Life is getting busy here at the Perkins' house. The end of the school year is very busy it seems. I will personally be really glad when school is out. We, well, the kids, had end of grade testing last week, which I think is the most stupidest thing out there, but I will spare you the extreme details of my hatred toward the test.

After end of grade testing, Mackenzie jumped right into dance company auditions. These were pretty stressful for her...and me. Thankfully they are over too. It will be after recital before she knows anything. UGGG.

Speaking of recital that brings me to next week. Wednesday night Mac has dress rehearsal. On Sunday afternoon she has the recital. I am, and she is looking forward to this performance. Sheldon is pretending to be excited, as much as he hates it, he is very supportive of Mac and her dancing. As for Chase, we will drag him there kicking and screaming the whole way.

Saturday is going to be a real busy day. Chase has a swim meet in the morning then that afternoon/evening, he is having his party for his birthday, which is Thursday.

The week after this one will be a little better. They will both have field days, class parties, award ceremonies, then at last, the last day of school. I cannot believe that I will soon have a forth grader and a seventh grader.

Chase brought his yearbook home yesterday. As I was looking through it, I got right sick to my stomach. The seventh graders look like young men and women. My Chase still looks like a boy to me. As I looked at these kids, I realized that by fall Chase will, or possibly could have changed so much. I cannot believe how quickly these kids are growing up. It honestly seems like a few weeks ago when they were slumped over in their car seats sleeping and drooling everywhere. (Okay, they still drool, but you get the picture.)

On a different note, the pool has opened. This seems to mark the summer season for me. I could sit by the pool all day...if the kids would not start with the whole, "I am bored." or "I am hungry, what's for lunch?" I love sitting in the sun. I am not much on getting in the pool, unless I am so hot I cannot stand it any longer. In that case I wait until adult swim and jump in since if I don't I seem to be a magnet to my children, who seem to do nothing but hang on me and/or splash me. Don't like to be splashed, even if I am wet...is that so hard to understand?

Guess I have rambled on enough about nothing at all. I promise I will try to update a little more often. Maybe life will become a little more interesting once the urchins are released from school. ( I have a feeling once they are out, I will wish they were back in.)

Have a good one, chat soon.

Preparing for J's Big Day

2009-05-04T12:29:00.000-07:00

Once again, it has been awhile since I was here. I don’t know what it is but I just have not wanted to be on the computer very much.

Mackenzie and I just got back from our seamstress’ house. Mackenzie and I are in a wedding in August. Mackenzie’s dress is a wee bit too big, like maybe she is a size 8 in a girls and the dress is a size 2 in a ladies. Wee bit big. I thought Sheila (the seamstress) was going to have a coronary when I told her what we needed. She used about 50 pins to make it fit her. She was relieved to know she had a couple of months to work on it.

I am so honored to be a part of this wedding. The bride is a very close friend, actually she is more like family. I have known J, the bride, since she was 3-4 years old. Her parents owned a skating rink, in which all teens at the time hung out. Sheldon and I was a couple of the teens that hung out there. J, was always running all around there winning the hearts of anyone she came in contact with. You couldn’t not fall for her and her chubby cheeks.

Over a few months Sheldon and I became very close to her parents. Her mom sort of took all of us teens under her wing and watched out for us. Her dad was a huge, okay, the reason Sheldon is what he is today. B, the dad, was the first person that believed in him.

As you can see this family became our family. We were with them all the time. In fact we all went to the beach together for my graduation, which is where Sheldon and I officially became a couple. (Before this we were just friends that flirted way too much and denied that we were anything more than friends.)

A fond memory that I have of J on that trip to the beach was one morning she came in and jumped up on my bed and leaned in close to wake me, my first words to her was “You smell like Doritos.” That child lived off Cool Ranch Doritos. Every other food she ate was dipped into ranch dressing.

I adored J so much. J adored us too, if I say so myself. She would get my name and Sheldon’s name mixed up all the time, so she just decided to call both of us “Mesheldon”.

We saw J go from a toddler, to a little girl, to a teenager, and now to a young lady. I have a picture of Sheldon standing with her at her preschool graduation and then again at her college graduation. She is now a first year teacher, teaching kindergarten, at a local school. I know that she is probably the most awesome teacher, with her kindness and love for children.

J was a junior bridesmaid at my wedding. (Her brother was a junior groomsman, and her father was the best man.) I remember just how adorable she looked. It almost makes me cry to think that in August my daughter will serve as a junior bridesmaid in J’s wedding. What an honor. If that isn’t enough, I will also be standing there as a bridesmaid too.

The wedding will be just gorgeous. J is getting married on the beach. The bridesmaid dresses are beautiful. J’s dress is more than perfect. It is absolutely gorgeous. Chase will be wearing white linen. I cannot wait to see all of this come together. I know it will be just as perfect as J.

Nomal, or Not

2009-04-10T17:41:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile…again. It seems that I have had a bit of “writer’s block.”

Everybody is doing well. Things have changed since my last blog. I am no longer working. It has been a very relaxing couple of weeks. I was very stressed at my job, not to mention the hour long drive that I did each way. I am trying to learn what normal is. The kids seem to enjoy my being home. It is nice to be in the car rider line to pick up Mac, and wow, what a feeling to be at home watching Chase get off the bus.

I realized the other day that it had been years since I had helped the kids do their homework. I mean I had helped each kid study on occasion, but beyond that someone else had helped them at afterschool, and I was just thankful that I did not have to after a long day at work. I feel like I really am more of a part of their school day now.

I had a call from Mac’s teacher on yesterday, she and I had been trying to get a conference scheduled for some time, but with my work schedule I had not been able to get off to go. I was able to finally schedule that, and while I was on the phone with her she told me that Mac would be getting an award on Monday. Guess what…I can go even, on a short notice. Wow.

On to other things, the kids got their report cards on Thursday. They both did really well. Mac is just where she is supposed to be this time of the school year. Unfortunately, the end of grade testing is approaching. She is not the strongest reader when she has to read seven to eight long passages. Her teacher is trying to build up her endurance. I am confident that she will be just fine.

Chase, is also really doing well. After five years of his teachers assuring me that he had a reading disability and that he would really have a struggle in school, Chase has made the A honor roll for the third time this year. He has made us so proud. He does work hard. It is so refreshing to have his teachers have such positive remarks about him. I cannot even stress the relief that Sheldon and I feel.

There is really not much more going on here, as I mentioned we are just trying to figure out what normal is now.

Way to Fast

2009-03-23T13:20:00.001-07:00

It’s been a while. I just haven’t been in the mood to get on the computer once I have gotten home from work these days.

We have been a bit busy the past few weeks. It has been very stressful. I wrecked our van, which was devastating. Luckily no one was hurt. I had the joy of dealing with the insurance company, which they were actually very easy and helpful to work with. My van was totaled. I then had to go car shopping. Car shopping is not fun. I actually did most of my shopping on the internet. I found one that I liked. I went to see it and test drove it. I was pretty pleased. I went back the next day and bought it. It is a Saturn Vue. It is not new, it is a 2005, but only had 25,000 miles on it. It smells brand new on the inside. I really like it, as does Sheldon and the kids. The kids are so strict with each other about leaving stuff in it, or tracking grass in. Hopefully they will continue to be this way and they will help me keep it looking nice.

This past weekend Mackenzie and I were in Spartenburg, SC. Mackenzie had a dance competition. She did really well. It was just a very long two days. We left after work on Friday, getting us down there very late. Saturday morning we had to be at the competition dressed and ready to go on stage at 8:45am. Our day did not end until about 8pm, then we were in the car for 3.5 hours. Very late night. Mac and I were both really tired on Sunday. I am still tired. (Must be getting old.)

Sheldon and Chase had a guy weekend. I did not ask what all they had been up to. There are some things girls just don’t need to know about. It was more fun to imagine all the things they must have done that resulted in my house having some kind of tornado coming through. I really think we could get federal aid for the damage.

Back to work and school today. Weekends just go by way to fast.

I Have No Idea What to Write

2009-02-25T16:59:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in awhile...we have been really busy. It is a shame how busy our lives get that we cannot even do the little things that we enjoy. I really like blogging, a lot, but I haven't had the 5 minutes it takes to write a passage.

Now that I have the 5 minutes, I have no idea what to write.

Chase is fine, Mackenzie is fine, I am fine, Sheldon is fine...we are all fine.

I could tell you that Chase started swimming again. I think he likes it, he has had a little bit of adjustment issues. He is doing really, really good considering he had not swam since July.

I could tell you that Mackenzie had a performance with dance this past weekend. She did a wonderful job. She has several biggies coming up. In a couple of weeks she will be doing her first competition for the year.

I guess I could tell you that my life is the same. I run the above said children everywhere. I have been really busy at work. I find myself really looking for Friday each week, more so than before.

I could tell you that Sheldon is doing great. He is busy with his work. He really loves his job, which is such a great thing to be able to see.

So, as I said before, I have no idea what to write about.

Report Card Time

2009-01-28T17:53:00.000-08:00

Report cards came out this week...Once again, I am a very proud mama. Mackenzie is on grade level for everything. She is exactly where she is suppose to be. She still loves school and seems to really have a great time when she is there.,

Chase worked really hard this semester and it paid off. He made straight A's again this nine weeks. Half way through the school year and he has had straight A's. I cannot tell you (okay, I have, but) how significant this is for Chase, since he had struggled so hard in elementary school with his reading and such.

Chase gets to attend a school dance on Friday afternoon, it is only for kids that got A or B honor roll. It is during school hours which means he gets to miss a couple of classes. This is a big deal, of course.

I was out of town this past weekend. While I was away, Mackenzie had a dance performance. Sheldon was there. He described her as very beautiful and really good. He does not see her every week at practice like I do. It amazes him when he does see her and sees her progress. I hated missing it. The dance was a lyrical performances. Lyrical seems to be her favorite class right now. (Good thing since we paid so much money for those little tiny shoes)

Exhaustion has set in...so until next time...

What to Write About...

2009-01-15T13:13:00.001-08:00

What to write about…

Everything here is going pretty good. It is too freaking cold. I hate cold weather. I guess I should not complain, it is certainly not as bad as some of my friends up north.

Sheldon’s new job has him really busy these days. Some days we are in the bed before he gets home. This has been hard on the kids. Funny thing is, they are use to him being gone for night shifts when he was on the street, but I guess then they knew he was working and would not be home that night, now they wait for him and he doesn’t come.

It has been an adjustment for me as well. We don’t talk much on the phone during the day, even before. But when I do call him, usually cause I need him, he almost always says, “in the middle of something, call you back later”. Later never seems to come. It is frustrating but understandable.

The kids are doing well. Mackenzie is cracking me up, her vocabulary has exploded lately. She is talking like she is a literature teacher. I can’t seem to think of an example right now, but it is the cutest thing. She has also learned all the words to Taylor Swift’s song, Love Story. There are a couple of words that are not quite what the song says, which makes it funny, but none the less, she is pretty freaking cute singing it.

Chase is doing well. He has been working hard tying up the end of this nine weeks at school. I was talking to his English teacher recently, he was telling me some things about Chase that of course I already knew, but it was great to hear. He said things like Chase was the sweetest child, he was a very hard worker, he had a big heart, he was well liked, he loved his parents very much, and his father was a hero to him, he was very proud of his dad’s profession…and on and on.

Guess my crowd is doing pretty good.

Christmas Snapshots

2009-01-09T17:41:00.000-08:00

The Christmas Story...at the Perkins' House Anyway

2008-12-25T22:27:00.000-08:00

It went something like this:
The setting: 1:20 am, Sheldon is sitting at the desk, working hard and diligent, preparing Chase’s Ipod for the big reveal, wanting it to be all set up when the boy received it. A few curse words here, a few curse words there. A few memories of the days of putting toys together on Christmas Eve and thinking that was a pain in the arse.
Here is the way the conversations leading up to the exciting opening of Santa’s loot.
1:30am- Michelle: Sheldon, please just give up, let me wrap it and let’s go to bed.
Sheldon: Heavy sighing, little mumbling….
Michelle: We need to go to bed; it is just a matter of hours before we will be summoned by the kids.
Sheldon: Fine, but it is not ready, so I will just leave it hooked up, I will set the alarm and get up in one hour to make sure it is complete, then you can wrap it.
Michelle: Fine
{The time is now 2am}
Mackenzie: Mom, is it time?
Mom: NOO, go back to sleep.
{The time is not 2:14}
Chase: Mom is it time?
Mom: NOO, go back to sleep.
{The time is now 2:45am}
Mackenzie: Mom, is it time?
Mom: NOO, go back to sleep.
{The time is not 2:57}
Chase: Mom is it time?
Mom: NOO, go back to sleep.

At this point, I realize that there is no sleep in my future, so, get up…but wait, the Ipod is still not wrapped. I must sneak past the kid’s bedroom, retrieve it, go into kitchen and wrap it. I feel like I am a guest character on Mission Impossible as I work my way to the kitchen passing both of their rooms. I get the present wrapped, and head back to bed, thinking maybe I have at least a half hour.
{The time is now 3:16am}
Mackenzie: Mom, is it time?
Mom: NOO, go back to sleep.
{The time is not 3:24am}
Chase: Mom is it time?
Mom: NOO, go back to sleep.
Realizing that I will never get any sleep now, I roll over, nudge Sheldon, telling him to wake up, he grumbles loudly IN HIS SLEEP, cause he has escaped all this fun of waking every time my eyes closed. My theory was if we just got up, let the kids have their loot, perhaps I could get at least an hour of sleep before having to get up to go to D2’s at 8am.
The next time Chase entered, (3:30am) we got up. Sheldon was still grumbling as we made our way through the house to get to the living room.
The kids were way excited, the smiles and shouts of enthusiasm made it all worth it…mostly.
We laid back down for a catnap around 5am, arising again at 7am to go to our next designation to receive a few more cool presents. It is now 1:19am, now December 26th, and I am so tired, I cannot sleep…yeah me. Sheldon apparently does not have the same problem as he is snoring, sucking all the air out of our room…maybe I am not sleep deprived, maybe it is the air I am deprived of????

Christmas Memories

2008-12-24T04:25:00.001-08:00

The day is finally here. CHRISTMAS EVE!!!!! The kids are bouncing with excitement. I am excited that they are excited.

Monday night they were talking about how tomorrow (Tuesday) they could say it was the day before Christmas Eve. So yesterday morning, they stumble out of bed, sleepy eyed, but only for a couple of minutes. Then they seemed to wake fully and start with the today is the day before Christmas Eve chant. I can hardly wait for them to wake this morning, knowing that the excitement will be 10 times more intense.

Chase and Mackenzie are planning the sleeping arrangements for the tonight. What time will they go to bed, when they will get up, who will wake who up...

In fact, Chase has set the alarm on his cell phone to wake him up at 3am. Note to self, I have to remember to sneak that away from him and cut that off.

Every Christmas I think back on two memories from my childhood, one not so good and the other is probably one of my favorite memories of my brother and I.

Not so good...My mom and my dad, when we were all together, would let us get up whenever we woke, reasonably, anytime after 3am would be a fair guess. It was always so fun for us. We would get up, open presents, then most of the time we would all curl up on the living room floor and go back to sleep. I would always curl up with my new doll, since I got one every year!!! (I loved dolls so much.)

After my mom and dad separated, our Christmas mornings were traded, one year with mom, the next with dad. The first year we were at dad's, my new step-mother was listening to me and the excitement that I was bounding with. When I got the part of getting up anytime after 3, she burst my bubble so bad. She looked at me, her smile gone, and told me, "OH NO, you will not get up until after 7." I was totally crushed. I almost could care less about Christmas that year after that moment. I am not sure what happened between mom and dad, but that was our last Christmas morning there. (I loved my step-mother very much, this was just a bump in the road.)

My favorite memory...and it is a favorite, possibly one of my favorite childhood memories. Once my mom and dad had separated, and it was just mom, Tim, and myself nothing changed about the early waking. But the waking happened like this:

Mom and I shared a room. I had a small bed on one side of the room and she had her bed on the other. My brother had his own room. Every year, I would be sleeping, dreaming of sugar plums, when someone would grab my toe. I would look up, and there would be my Tim. He would motion for me to go wake Mom. So, I would. Do you know how heavy an adults leg weighs? Well I do. I do because she would ALWAYS have me lie down beside her, and she would wrap her arm and leg over me and begin rocking back and forth, trying to get me to go back to sleep. She would doze off, but I would be trapped. All the while, Tim keeps coming to the door and making motions for me to wake her up. Every time I would try, she would say, "Shhhh, go back to sleep honey." This would go on for maybe an hour before she would give in.

When she gave in, she would tell me to go wake Tim. Now we all know he has orchestrated this whole scheme. I would go into his room, and "wake" him. EXCEPT, he would pretend to be sleeping and wake up grouchy and disrupted that I would be waking him at a God awful time of morning. He would do the big brother bashing the little sister act. EVERY YEAR we did this. He always denied it, and what proof did I have? I was the little girl who was way more (or expressed way more) excitement about Christmas than he had. UG.

This continued on year after year. The funniest one for me now is the Christmas that he had first been married. He and my sister in law spent the night at our house. Yes, he did the same thing early in the morning. When I ran around waking everyone, he pretended to be sleeping. My sister in law was in shock that we were up so early, she did not "wake" for a good 30 minutes. Do you think anyone would believe the younger sister, when Tim was a married man and all? Well, let me tell you, NO NO NO.

To this day when this comes up, Tim will grin but still will not confess. I think by the time we were grown, Mom and D2 knew but played along.

I fully expect to be up in the wee hours of the morning. My husband never really did big Christmas' as a child so this is all foreign to him. He grumbles and says crazy stuff like, "I cannot believe..." and that is where I stop him. I like getting up, it is what we do, and I will never be my step-mother and squash that for the kids. Sooner than we can imagine, Sheldon and I will be waking up alone on Christmas morning, we better savor every part of the fun now. If they want to get up at 3, we get up at 3. I mean really, they have been excited about this day for 364 days!!!

Merry Christmas to all, and I hope you too get woken up at the crack of dawn. Have fun.

Counting Down

2008-12-21T17:09:00.000-08:00

The countdown is on…
Last week I counted down for Friday, which was my last day from work until Monday the 28th! Now I am off this whole week and I am ecstatic about it. It is Sunday night and oh what a feeling it is to know that I do not have to get up and go to work in the morning.
The kids are counting presents under the tree to see who has the most. I am certainly losing with only one gift under there at this time, however, I am typing on my Christmas present, as I have a brand new laptop. Yippee! (It types so smoothly, I have WiFi that picks up at my house, it has all these cool things…) There are many many gifts under there, and only a few belong to others. I am getting so excited about the gifts that I have chosen for everyone.

Chase is counting down the days before Tuesday, he is expecting a friend to come over. He is planning all the things they are going to do. I am not sure, but I am pretty confident that aggravating Mackenzie is in the plan.
Sheldon and I are counting down the days before Christmas Eve. D2 always takes the kids to see his aunt in Roanoke Rapids. Sheldon and I will have a day to ourselves. We will be busy wrapping, stashing, hiding and giggling preparing for the big night. I will probably be doing a little baking, Santa will have to the perfect snack when he comes by.
The kids are counting down the days before Christmas. I bet they have been to the calendar 10 times just today. I am guessing they think that it might miraculously change from one hour to the next.
I personally am counting down the minutes before bedtime, so these urchins that are sucking the life our of me will be safely tucked away for the evening….

What We Have Been Up To Lately

2008-12-11T19:23:00.000-08:00

It is amazing how fast time goes. I remember hearing my elders saying this while I was a kid. It
made absolutely no since at all. Boy has it clicked now. For example, my last post was on the first of December. It seems like it was the day before yesterday when I wrote that one.

So what's been going on in the Perkins house? It seems like we are busy all the time, so I should be able to remember right? (I also remember my elders taking about when you get old, you forget things...Hmmmmm)

Last Friday, Sheldon and I both had the day off. We took the kids to breakfast, then to school. We had some errands to run, one being at the mall. We found this awesome sale on men's clothes. Sheldon needed some new things since he was to start his new position in Investigation the following Monday. I will not go into great detail about what all we bought, but when I added the regular (not on sale) prices, it was $1140. I paid $239 for them. I was way excited, as was Sheldon. He almost got a new wardrobe, and a brand new very nice suit.

We went to pick up his take home car over the weekend. It is pretty awesome. It is an Impiala, solid black, with black tint. It looks really sharp. He looked and has looked really handsome everyday as he has left in his dress clothes and tie. He is hot.

Tuesday night Mackenzie had a school performance of a Christmas Play. She did not have a part in the play, but she was one of the singers. I looked at all the kids up there with her. Mackenzie seemed to shine to me, because she is so animated. When she is performing she looks so happy. She seems to thrive on the performing arts.

Chase got his interim reports this week, all A's again. I am so proud of his hard work. Tomorrow night there is another school dance. He is excited.

I have been buried in Christmas cards. I think tomorrow I will be able to put them in the mail. That will be such a relief.

We are all on the count down, the kids get out of school on the 19th and that is my last day at work until the week after Christmas. I am so looking forward to the time off. I take a vacation every Summer but we are out of town. I love this vacation time because I am home, with the kids, slow pace, sleep until I wake, no schedule, no rush rush!!! Did I mention we were counting the days down? Well we are!!

Excitement Starts to Build

2008-12-01T18:25:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was great here in the Perkins house. We had lots and lots of food. And then lots more. The menu began with a few items, then somehow I cooked this and that, and a little bit of this...it really was out of hand.

We had: Turkey, Ham, Deviled Eggs, Potato Salad, Macaroni and Cheese, Lima Beans, Corn, Turnip Greens, Sweet Potato Casserole, Dressing, Gravy, Squash, Rolls, Peanut Butter Pie, Chocolate Pie, Pumpkin Mousse Pie, and Rice Crispy Treats for the kids.

All this food for...ready? It was for 5 adults, 3 kids. Sheldon was at work, but I did take some food to him and his guys at the Police Department. Can I just say...left overs for days. I am tired of left overs. We had Spaghetti yesterday at D2's for supper. That was the best spaghetti ever, what a different taste than 3 day old turkey.

I shopped all day on Friday. When I say all day, I mean that I left home at 3am, and I returned home at 4pm. I loved it. I love the crowds, I love the fight of the last one, I love getting up and standing in a line at a store that I don't even need anything from, I love spending the day with my sister in law and my niece. I just love it.

I put my tree up on Saturday. This has to be the earliest I have done this in many years. My kids are driving me crazy. I think I liked it better when they could not read the names on the gifts. I put 4 gifts under the tree that have their names on them, Lord Jesus, they have begged and begged to open them now.

I do like the fact that now that we are decorated, it has sparked the excitement of Christmas with them. They are planning where they will sleep Christmas night, they cannot seem to understand why I will not let them sleep on the couch by the tree...(it is hard enough sneaking the gifts in as it is) They are asking what I told Santa to get them, they are revising their list, it is just fun. I like being the mommy and hearing all these excited questions, and remember asking the same things.

I am pretty certain that Chase knows there is no Santa, but he is doing a really good job of playing along. Mac still whole heatedly believes, however, as smart as she is, I would guess this could be our last Christmas with her believing. This makes me sad, but I guess that is just the way it works.

The joy in the kids eyes has to be my favorite part of Christmas!!!

Is it Time Yet, Is It, Huh, Huh...Is It

2008-11-22T22:18:00.000-08:00

Mac and I are going with some dear friends to see Annie tomorrow...I mean today...why am I awake at this time?? Jeez. (I am actually waiting on Sheldon to come home from work)

Mac has never seen a play like this. She has been to our local high school for plays, but that is the extent to it. Annie on Broadway is going to be so cool for her. I hope she likes it as much as I think she is going to.

Annie...many many many years ago, I remember watching this movie with my mom. I absolutely loved it. I am probably more excited to see it than she is, just because I know how big it will be. She has no concept.

Lucky and I got haircuts today. (Lucky is our toy poodle) Is it strange to anyone but me that I paid more for his haircut than I did my own??? I guess I did not get my nails clipped, a bath, and a cut...okay, I will stop complaining now that I think of it that way. Poor dog. He had gotten pretty fuzzy. Now that he is cut, he is cold. He has buried himself under the fleece pj's at the bottom of my bed. And he is less that half the size he was when I took him there. For the first few days, he sort of looks like a rat. I am sure he is cussing me out every time he has to go outside. It doesn't help that our temps here are way below normal. Today was only in the 30's. I don't think we really see this until December or January. It is down right cold.

Since I got about 2-3 inches cut off my hair, I imagine my neck will feel the cold as well. But I really like the cut, so it is worth it.

He has also been sleeping since he got home. There was a man there that I have never seen before, he told me he had whined all day. He said he had to hold him. So, yes, he is spoiled rotten, thanks to Mackenzie. He is sort of like a baby. She holds him so much, carries him around on her hip like he is a baby, she is constantly patting him and making over him. Now I guess he expects that from others now.

I started the whole cleaning up for company today. I will be cooking Thanksgiving dinner again this year. I really enjoy it. My whole family will be coming. I will do all but the ham, D2 does the ham. Sheldon has to work, which is a bummer, but I cannot complain since he worked it out to be off so that I can go shopping on Black Friday. He knows how important that is for me. Get out of my way, here I come!!! I love it. The crowds, the grouchy women, getting up in the wee hours of the morning and driving to my first destination...I absolutely love it.

I want to put my tree up early this year too. I am always late getting it up, but I would love to do that the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which means I have to get up in the attic at D2's and drag it all out. That is the worst part.

Okay, so I have went on and on about really nothing at all, so I will stop here. Sheldon text'd me about 30 minutes ago, so he should be pulling in the driveway soon. I should pretend to be sleeping so he does not fuss with me about not getting sleep. He worries when I don't sleep, or maybe he is just scared of the sleep deprived Michelle....either way, gotta go.

News at the Perkins House

2008-11-21T03:56:00.000-08:00

Hi Readers!!! It has been a busy week. Well, now that I think about it, not so busy, just a little stressed.

My work has been a bit busy this week, probably because I had to be at a meeting on Monday morning, preventing me to getting to my office until close to 11:00am. Then on Wednesday we had training for our new computer system. I will not even get on that subject, I have enough praying to do for all the ugly words I said Wednesday afternoon and yesterday morning, trying to work with it.

Sheldon and I have had a lot of heart to heart talks this week. I life is about to change once again...(and for all of you that are on the edge of your seat wondering if that means we are going to have another baby...HA HA). Sheldon was approached and asked to consider a new job. He was asked on Tuesday mid-day, and was asked to give his decision on Wednesday. We did not sleep any on Tuesday night.

Sheldon accepted the job. He will now be over the Juvenile Crime Investigations at the DPD. It will be a tough job and has some pretty hard jobs he will have to carry out. I have no doubt he can handle it, but I, and he knows that there will be times that it will be very emotional days.

Everyday he makes me proud. He has really worked his way up in the police department. It is a big deal when you are approached for a job as big as this.

The job has its perks as well. He will stop the rotation schedule, and go back to the 9-5 (even though it is more like 9-6/7pm, for a while at least. He should be home every weekend, unless there is a case that evolves that he would need to be there. The other perk is he will have a take home car, which will certainly help with our gas expenses. He will not have to be in uniform everyday, instead he will be all dressed up, looking very handsome if I say so myself.

Well, that is a quick catch up, I am sure I will think of more and will be back here this weekend.

Happy Friday.

My Kids Rock

2008-11-16T13:42:00.000-08:00

I will start this blog out saying that Sheldon passed the state exam for Instructor School on Friday. Not only did he pass, he had the highest score in the class. I am so proud of him. It was two weeks of intense studying, preparing lesson plans, and presentations. It was quite exhausting for all of us, but mostly him.

Next, I had the honor of attending award ceremonies for both kids. Thursday morning, Mackenzie had the Character Trait awards. Her ceremony wasn’t until 9:30, so she talked me into coming in and sitting in her class for about a half hour. Her teacher is amazing, I knew this before, but watching her interact and teach the children was pretty outstanding. She has so much patience.

I moved on to the gym close to 9:30 to find my seat. Eventually the kids started to file in class by class. Mackenzie seemed to be beaming. She looked so cute wearing her To the Pointe (dance) polo shirt and her little khakis. Mac received the “Responsibility Award.”
Each nine weeks there is a ceremony where certain kids get a character award, such as Responsibility, Courage, Preservation, Self Control, etc. The kids get a nice metal that is on a ribbon necklace. They look sort of like the awards that Olympian’s get upon winning. I was proud, and I took bunches of pictures, as I always do.

Friday morning, at 7:30am, Chase was invited to an A Honor Roll breakfast. It was really nice. I got to eat school sausage…been awhile since I had that, and little cartons of slushy juice. (The juice should not have ice in it, but for some reason it always had.)

We sat at a table with his best friend and his parents, shortly after we sat down, one more of Chase’s friends joined us. The principal called each child’s name out and gave them a very nice certificate. Of course these kids are getting to the “I am too cool” stage. They walked up, took the certificate, walked back to their seats and basically dropped it on the table in front of their parent. Chase was no different. Nonetheless, It was an honor to be there. I also noticed how many/few kids were in there, realizing that it was a lot, but not really when you think of the amount of students there. I was even more proud to know that Chase had earned his way to this very special breakfast.

You know, I don’t care what anyone says, my kids rock!

Report Card Time

2008-11-07T19:06:00.001-08:00

The kids got their report cards this past week. They are both doing really good. Mac's teacher told me that she was a little teacher in the classroom. I wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. She assured me that Mac was a big helper and she loved her being in the class. Mac's academics are right on track. She had a few areas that were a little week, however her teacher said that most of the kids were weak in these areas, since 2nd grade reading and writing are SO different than 3rd grade. Very good Mac. We are proud of her.

I got Chase's report card this morning. Not that his was any better than hers, it is just with all the issues we had at the beginning and the previous concerns we have had with his reading, seeing his report card filled with grades starting at 93 and going up...I was reduced to tears. He has been working so hard, and it paid off for him. I feel like this will be a huge boost in his confidence. He is proud of himself.

His grades: Literature Arts--98, Math--96, Science--94, Social Studies--96.

Wow is all I can say.

A Very Special Moment

2008-11-03T09:43:00.001-08:00

This weekend was pretty good. The kids had a great time trick or treating. Later I will have to blog about Chase’s adventure. It is quite comical.

The purpose of this blog is to share a very special moment I had this weekend. You see, my Mother was a master at cleaning, (wish I would have gotten that gene). I decided that I was going to do one of those cleanings in my office area that consist of making a bigger mess than it was originally, then getting everything organized. After about 4 hours of “this” cleaning, things were starting to look much better, I had a very strong thought of my Mom. I remembered how she would come help me do cleanings like this, and how in the beginning of these projects I would get so overwhelmed. I mean, really? I had asked her to come help me because is was such a mess and she was making a bigger mess. But in the end, my house would be so organized and beautiful. So, here I was, everything everywhere. Everywhere. So when things started falling in place, I felt such a sense of pride, and also, I knew that Mom would be proud of me.

An hour or so later, I had one last thing to put away. I said to myself, put that folder in that cabinet, and you are done.

There is a picture of my mom that I took before she was sick. It is my favorite picture, there isn’t another picture that I like any better. I like this picture so much, I have one in my living room on a table, I have one on another wall somewhere else in our house, and I have one in my room on a dresser mirror. I also have one at my office that I look at numerous times a day. This picture was also the picture that sat on top of my Mom’s closed casket. So many people commented on it. Half of those people ask for copies of it. Which, selfishly, no one got a copy. This was my happy memory, just mine. Selfishly mine.

Sometime shortly after her death, I lost the negative. This was extremely traumatic for me. I looked everywhere, many, many, many times. I never found it. I found some other negatives that were taken on the same day, but not “the” negative. I looked in every envelope with no luck.

Back to my story, my last task, I am about 1 inch away from the trash bag with an envelope that was in my hand. I opened the envelope, put my hand in it. There was a negative. I put it up to the light, it wasn’t it. It was the one that I had found so many other times, and found it lonely in its envelope. This negative had pictures taken the same day...but...once again, for some reason, I checked the already checked 137th time envelope, and yes, the negative was there. I cried.

I could not think of anything else to do but look up toward heaven and thank my Mom. She gave me a prize cause I was a good little girl and I had cleaned up like she would have.

***By the way, that is my Mom with my daughter, Mac was about 18 months to 2 years old.

Awww...Oh Well, Never Mind

2008-10-28T13:54:00.001-07:00

Conversation with Chase this afternoon:

Chase: Hey Mom
Me: Hey Buddy
Chase: How was your day Mommy?
Me: Ok…Yours?
Chase: Good…Mommy, What’s for supper?

I knew the sweetness was a trap!

The Family Tree

2008-10-25T12:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was informed that one of my great uncles had passed away. I have not seen him in many years, as he does not live around here. Over dinner last night, I was telling Sheldon about his passing and how he was related to me. I got some confusing looks from Chase.

He waited until Sheldon and I stopped talking and then he asked me in so many words, how was I, he, related to so many different people, why did I talk about step people, etc.

Wow...that is such a hard question. Truth is I must have one of the most sorted families I know of. Sheldon teases me, but last night, he tried to explain his family tree, I got pretty lost pretty quickly. Sheldon's father was adopted. He had 3 blood siblings. He had 4 siblings in his adoptive family. Sheldon has met all his "true" aunts and uncles, and actually spent a lot of time with them growing up. Sheldon is very close to his cousins from his dad's adoptive family. Sheldon's mom has 3 sisters and a brother. I have never been clear on how many cousins he has on that side.

My dad's family, well, I mean his siblings and parents. My dad has one brother and a twin sister. I have 3 cousins on that side. These 3 cousins now have 4 kids amongst them.

My dad has been married three times, providing me with a total of 3 step sisters, and one step brother, also providing me with 7 step nieces.

I have one brother, and a niece from his first marriage. (Who is the apple of my eye)

My mom had 6 siblings. I have 12 cousins. Between the twelve cousins as well as my brother and I, there are ultimately 13 great grandchildren.

My mom remarried after my dad, I have a step-sister and a step-brother, I have one step-nephew from the step brother.

When I add all these up...oh my lord. I am related to....omg....47 people, with only about 4-5 of these that live far away...far away means 1-3 hours away. This of course is not including the my second cousins and their children. Everyone else lives in the same town. I live in a small town...I guess now I realize why every time we go some where we see someone that I talk to, the kids always ask me, how do you know them? I say, I am related, they ask, how? I give them a look, and usually say it is a long story. Which it is...a reeeeeaaaaallllyyyy long story.

2008-10-22T17:20:00.000-07:00

Wow it has been days and days since I last posted. I know something had to be going on at some point over the last week and a half. Let me think...

I have managed to get out of going to our State Fair. Chase and Mackenzie both got to go with friends of theirs. This made me really happy, since I really hate the crowd. I use to really like things like that, but not so much now. Not to mention that you can go through so much money there. I was told that one ride cost about $5.00 each. Food is priced ridiculously high. I sent money with each child so I did not get out completely free, but I am positive that if Sheldon and I would have gone as well, the money spent would have been scary. You see, we would have to get a funnel cake, a roasted corn on the cob, or two, candy apples, cotton candy, plate of fries, maybe a slice of pizza, at least 2-3 drinks, and probably we would have had to try the new rage, deep fried snickers bars, or deep fried Twinkies. We would have walked away from the fair fat, half sick from eating so much...and completely broke.

Sheldon also hates being in a crowd, I mean really hates it. He gets a bit grumpy. Okay, not just a bit, he gets really grumpy. He, being a police officer, sees things I would never notice. He isn't able to do what most people can do, which is leave his job at work. He is constantly "looking."

This past Saturday, I spent the day with my two step-sisters, and two of my step-nieces. It was great seeing them, as I haven't seen one step-sister and my nieces in a long time, and when I had seem them, it was never all together. It was so nice to hang out all together. I realized how much I missed us being together. That afternoon/evening one of my nieces had a Union Ceremony. I met her partner, who was really great. The ceremony was really nice. C seems very happy, so I am very happy for her. One other great part of the day was I got to be behind my camera a lot. I love taking pictures so much, when I am doing so, I always wonder why I do not do it more often.

My brother is at Firearms Instructor School for the NC Highway Patrol. He was on a shooting team for years with the police department he was on before going to the Highway Patrol. He was first in our state at one point. Getting accepted to this school was a big deal, and once accepted, you still was not guaranteed anything. The first day there was several exercises that you had to complete and if you did not do almost perfectly on them, you went home. I talked to him late afternoon, he was relieved and nervous. He had made it through the daytime shooting, they gave him a break for supper then he had to go to night time shooting. He called me around 9pm, very excited, he had made it through.

Sheldon is going tomorrow to speak to the city council about pay increases for law enforcement officers. Sheldon is a very composed man, let me just tell you tonight, he is not so composed. He is stressed. Very stressed. I know he will, as always, do a great job. I can tell him that, but really? I have never had to stand in front of city officials and fight for the city officers. I would be pretty "un-composed" as well. I am always so proud of him and his accomplishments. He has done so well with his career.

I must go now, he needs to read his speech...cause 142 times is just not enough.

Saturday Stuff

2008-10-11T18:18:00.000-07:00

Do you know what happens when little girls go to lock ins (sleep over) at the dance studio? Well, let me tell you. They get dropped off at 7:30 pm, and get picked up at 9:00 am. During these 14 hours they play, dance, gossip...I am sure since that is what girls do, and they don't sleep. 8 year old little girls really need their beauty sleep. Today, I figured out what the term "beauty sleep" really means. It may mean that when girls don't sleep they look tired, which is not always attractive, but I think the real meaning is, the opposite of beauty...ugly. No sleep for 8 year olds means they can give really "ugly" looks, they can have "ugly" thoughts, they think everyone else is being "ugly"...until...they are MADE to lay down and nap. Napping is good. The only bad thing about napping is the first 30 minutes after they wake up, they are more unbearable than before they laid down, making you doubt your decision to MAKE them take a nap.

Chase had a friend come over today. We had heard lots about his friend. Chase really has became really good friends with him. Chase has been begging to have a friend come over for some time now. We picked L up after he finished his baseball game. Before we got half way home, I had realized why Chase liked him. He is a good kid. He is also very funny. Chase is very funny...the two of them play off each other making them freaking hilarious.

This nap I spoke of only happened because I made Mac lay down in my bed, knowing that if she laid in her bed there would be many distractions and she would remain in her state of illness. I told her she had to at least lay down with me for one show on tv...30 minutes long. Mommies know everything right?? Well, I knew if she got still, I would win and she would be asleep long before the 30 minute show ended. The only problem with this was I had to lay down with her, to keep her from feeling like she was missing anything...which resulted in me being still for 30 minutes...which then resulted in me falling asleep too.

During our little nap, Sheldon supervised the boys. I woke up, or sort of heard while I was sleeping, lots of laughing, a nerf battery operated machine gun, lots of running, some yelling...they were having a blast. I had a small dilema when I decided to get up. If I opened my bedroom door, Mac would surely be woken up by all the chaos. Not good. I very easily slid out of bed, waited by my bedroom door until I knew the machine gun needed reloaded, then I very quickly opened the door and shut it as quietly as I could. Whew...she was still snoozing!!

One of the reasons L was here was because Chase wanted him to go to church with us tonight. I think they had fun. This church we are visiting has the feeling that if the kids are having lots of fun they will not burn out and perhaps continue going to church as adults. (Which is exactly what happened to me, church was pretty boring and I was made to go, so when I became an adult...I did not go, or when I did it was so sporadic) They strongly urge all the kids to go to different clubs. In the clubs they have small discussions, then they are let loose to have as much fun as possible. For example, the room Chase goes to has many x-boxes in it. I think (since it is not really cool for Mom's to go in there) that there is lots of things in there that is cool. Mackenzie class has video games too, lots of floor games, a big screen where they watch music videos and dance crazily, there is a fully stocked snack bar, with free snacks...and by the way, I know this because I have been allowed to walk in there, apparently 3rd graders still want their mommies to walk them in. Mac had fun tonight, as did Chase and L. They were all very excited...translated to very wild when we got into the van to leave.

Sheldon and I really like this church as well, which I mentioned in an earlier post, is very big for us, since in our 17 years of being together, (marriage and dating) church was awkward for us. We just did not seem to relate to any church's ways. I have went to the church we had joined for many years. Oddly, I mostly went just for the Sunday school class. I honestly did not "feel" the sermons there. So, for once, Sheldon and I feel like we have found somewhere that is going to work for us. The kids are happy and we really like the services. This is a very, very contemporary church. The music is awesome, the preacher is a phenomenal speaker. I have looked forward to going back all week. I feel like that will probably be the case this week as well.

Can I tell you how great it feels for us to all like something at the same thing at the same time...

Proud, I am A Proud Momma

2008-10-10T18:52:00.000-07:00

I have had two incidents this week where I thought, wow, that is my child...wow! Let me explain.

I will start with Chase: Everyone knows how much anxiety Chase has experienced about school. It has been a really hard transition for him. Chase really struggles with reading. Because of this his self esteem is really low. I think that this fact has contributed to his anxiety about school. Never having a textbook before, and being handed four (one for each core class) all being at least one and a half inch thick...this is pretty overwhelming for him.

Anyway, Sheldon and I decided since one-he was still struggling at home with the anxiety, and two-because there was a schedule mix up we did not have a chance to meet his teachers, that we would have a conference with his team-this includes his four core teachers and his inclusion teacher (she is in some of his classes, she helps him when he needs it, as well as a few other kids, but because she works with different groups consisting of the inclusion students and other kids he does not know she is providing services for him)

So we meet with the five of them. We first explain to them the concerns we have had with his anxiety level, then we explained that we certainly knew he was an 11 year old boy and he would not be perfect, but asked that they remember his anxiety if they had to discipline him. Our concern is that if something happens in any class, the rest of the day he would be so anxious that there would not be any comprehension. His teachers were so understanding, and told us that they had seen the look on his face when he was nervous and they had all found ways to reassure him. It made me feel good that they had taken the time to recognize this and was taking the time address it with him.

Okay, on to the proud moment part. Each teacher took turns to tell us how he was doing in class. Four teachers repeated one by one that Chase is very well behaved, he is a hard worker, he is outgoing, he participates in class discussions, he is responsible, he has lots of friends, he seems to be a leader and not a follower...and then...his Science teacher told us his average in her class was a high B, his Math teacher tells us that his average in her class is 100-an A, his Social Studies teacher told us that his average in his class is 100-A, and then Literature Arts...100-A. My son, the one who has struggled, he is in typical classrooms and his lowest grade is an 87! We are so proud of him.

Mackenzie: I had a pretty bad day on Thursday, personally. Mackenzie had dance until 7:45pm. I grabbed a bite to eat after work and went straight there. I have found that watching her class on Thursday nights really makes me relaxed, and happy. Who would not be...10 or so little girls, all wearing pink tights, black leotards, messy little pony tails, standing at the bars, practicing delicate ballet moves. It has to be one of the cutest things I have seen in a very long time. The soft voice of her teacher calling out different positions, the little ballerinas all in sync with each other, looking so serious. Somehow, all the stress of the day was suddenly gone. I realized as I was driving over to the studio that this had actually became one of my favorite times of the week. I was ashamed that earlier that day I was pouting because the time of this class was really interfering with my evening routines.

Both Mackenzie and Chase are really making us proud. They are really good kids, even though they are...well...rotten kids.

Our Weekend!

2008-10-06T14:17:00.000-07:00

It miss you, my readers often. I ride down the road and think, hey, I want to tell my fellow bloggers about this, or I compose a blog in my head. (Yes, I admit I am a blogger addict.)

But, just as I call a friend of a family member to tell them something, they answer the phone and I have forgotten what I called for, I cannot recall these things previous prewritten in my head blogs now that I am here typing.

It has been a week since I blogged, so let me think. Sheldon was off Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. His back was still bothering him, so his mood was still "altered." I had to go to our Raleigh location on Tuesday to work, which was a pain just because of the drive, but it was good seeing all my co-workers that I don't get to see often. Chase had a bad day at school on Wednesday, making the evening not so good. Thursday I had dinner with D2, then went to watch Kenz at dance. Friday was Friday, thank goodness. Sheldon had to work Thursday and Friday and both days were really bad. A really bad day for a police officer is so much different than a bad day for some one in sales, like myself. He had taken Saturday and Sunday off so we could have a late anniversary weekend. Mackenzie also had dance convention she had to attend Friday night and Saturday.

We had two highlights for this weekend. The first one was we were invited to a local church for a Saturday night service. Let me back up for a second. Sheldon and I have been members of a church that is just down the road from our house. This was the church that we were married in, both of my children and myself were baptized there, my previous pastor was very special to me, which led me to ask him to conduct my mother's funeral, and she is buried in the church cemetery. For all these reasons, I felt like I was "obligated" for lack of better words, to stay there.

I had often times looked at other couples and wish Sheldon and I went to church together. For many years the only time Sheldon went with me was Christmas Eve services.

Saturday night we went to visit a new church. (Okay, so yes, I sort of worked the fact that the series starting was making your marriage sizzle, it was called HOT) We went, the kids too, and we ALL really enjoyed it. (Chase has taken after his father, and really did not want to go to church, and since he has such a hard time at school, another day of reading, memorizing, and learning was just a little more than he wanted) There was a class for Mac's age, that she loved. There was a group for Chase's age, which he loved, and Sheldon really liked the band, (very comtemp. church) and he like the preacher/message. I was so happy when Sheldon, then Mac, then Chase, at different times, asked if we could go back next week. It makes me soooo happy that Sheldon and I might be on the road to going to church together. Another plus is this weekend was the kick off to their new Saturday night service. For some reason, Saturday night seems more workable than Sunday mornings for us. I am happy. Very happy.

The second thing good about this weekend was thanks to my bestest friend in the whole wide world, my husband and I went on a date. Okay, the only time we could do it was Sunday afternoon, but I was willing to get any time alone with him. And Sheldon won so many points...really. He took me to see "Nights in Rodanthe." I am a huge Nicolas Sparks fan. I have read everything he has written. I also like that everything he writes is based in North Carolina. (off the subject again!!) So Sheldon takes me to see this, and let me just say, MAJOR CHICK FLICK. This is big for shoot-em up, beat their butt, blood and gore, etc man. He sighed a few times, and even looked bored once or twice but I still was so happy he took me. To make matters worse, he was ONE of THREE men in the theatre. And then, just to add a little salt to his wound, some ladies sat behind us, yeah, they were his aunt and cousin. They have always known how MANLY he is and so not the chick flick type.

I felt very special and lucky. He is so sweet to me. And the movie...pretty good!

What Is Her Name??

2008-09-29T17:39:00.000-07:00

As a child I remember seeing a Family Circus Comic about these ghost that lived in their house. Their names were NOT ME and I DUNNO.

Who spilled the toys all over the floor? NOT ME
Who left their drink cup in the living room? I DUNNO

I recently realized that these ghost live in my house now. I wish they would just come to me on a dark night and make themselves visible. I have a hunch they may resemble my offspring.

I also think that my children believe that there is another ghost that lives in our house and she just makes everything magically happen. Maybe there are several...yes, there must be several because it is surely too much work for one weary ghost.

This ghost(s) that lives in our house does so much. Here are just a few of the day to day task she performs day to day. I appreciate all she does, but who else does?

Makes sure that everyone has a clean pair of underwear for tomorrow.
Wipes the dribbled pee off the toilet seats to spare the next poor soul from a wet rear.
Writes checks out to utility companies, pays the house payment, car payments, insurance company, child care, dance lessons and swim lessons.
Sweeps up the tracked in dirt/grim/grass brought into the house.
Schedules all appointments needed.
Keeps the refrigerator stocked with frozen pizza bites, nuggets, juice boxes, etc. as well as the pantry.
Meets with teachers checking on progress.
Packs daily lunches.
Purchases clothing for each child, also makes sure they have fitting shoes.
Signs homework folders.
Washes sheets and make beds.
Earns a salary to pay for all expenses occurred by the family.
Makes sure there is a stocked medicine cabinet for those unexpected runny noses, sore throats, and boo boos.

I am pretty sure there are so many more things that this "ghost" does for our family. I am positive she has a spouse that contributes to above work when he is available, but I also have a hunch that his schedule does not allow him to always be available.

Just as I believe that the ghost named Not Me and I Dunno look a lot like my children...I bet you if the other ghost resembles myself...you think???

Wonder-rifical News

2008-09-26T16:07:00.000-07:00

I have wonder-rifical news!!!! Want to know it??? Well, I like suspense, so I will tell a few other things first.

Mackenzie has been doing great. She is still teaching school, tonight there is a lesson on rounding numbers up or down. As I walked through the "classroom" I think I answered a question correctly. I think...

As it seems, I am now the principal. I am not really feeling well tonight so I pity any child that gets sent to me. I asked her to please send a student to the kitchen table, aka the "cafeteria" to get my phone. Hey, it worked, I got my phone without any sighs or heavy walking or rolling eyes. A girl has to do what a girl has to do.

Sheldon is on nights this weekend. Yuck. He actually is getting off at midnight tonight he has a meeting in the morning.

I haven't felt all that good all day so I tried to pull the "I don't feel good, can't you come home?" It did not work. He asked me if midnight would be good enough...like he was doing it just for me! I told him very matter a factly that no, it would not work, and I know it would not work because at midnight he was not going to tell me how pitiful I am. He LAUGHED at me. The nerve of him...

My wonder-rifical news...Chase got his progress reports today. Keep in mind that Chase has always struggled with a reading disability. I have worried every year that it would really affect him as his classes got harder with more reading in all subjects, not just in reading. The first few days of school (okay, weeks) Chase felt very overwhelmed in all his classes, mostly Science. The text just terrified him. Our elementary schools do not have text books, I think the text book itself was very intimidating. For someone who struggles in reading, to have a book that is over an inch thick...that is scary.

I am getting to my point...rambling along the way.

When I got Chase this afternoon, the defeated frown that I have come to expect, had been transformed into a very confident smile. He proudly pulled the progress reports out. He handed them to me. I choked up. Really.

Science:
Attendance: Exceeds Expectations
Behavior: Exceeds Expectations
Academics: Exceeds Expectations
Comments: "Hard Worker"

Math:
Attendance: Meets Expectations
Behavior: Meets Expectations
Academics: Meets Expectations
Comments: "Chase's average in math is 98/A at this time."

Language Arts:
Attendance: Meets Expectations
Behavior: Exceeds Expectations
Academics: Meets Expectations
Comments: "Quiz grade average is 100+ and homework has been excellent.

Exploring Careers:
Attendance: Exceeds Expectations
Behavior: Exceeds Expectations
Academics: Exceeds Expectations
Comments: "Chase has an A in my class."

We did not get his social studies report, his teacher was out today...but did you see those reports?? I am so proud of him. He is proud of himself. That is very important for him. I hope this will be a huge boost to his self esteem.

I have only called 3 people to brag...that is all.

Happenings in the Perkins House

2008-09-23T17:55:00.000-07:00

Things have been going pretty good lately. Pretty uneventful, which I like. Here is a quick update...

Mackenzie:

Well, she gave up her dance teacher career, now she is school teacher. Whether it is dance teaching or school teaching, she is hard core. I think she must be the teacher for the behavioral problem children.
She got her "camouflaged" lyrical shoes tonight. They are pretty cute, should be for $19.00 they should be, huh?
She is doing well in school. She loves her teacher. The papers that I have seen leads me to believe she is doing good.
She dances two nights a week. She is on The Company at her studio. This year she is taking Tap, Ballet, Jazz, and Lyrical. She seems to much more into it this year, or maybe she expresses it more this year.
Being a child of a policeman, Mac hears some vocabulary that most kids are not always exposed to. We try to divert the questions sometimes, but Sheldon saw the perfect opportunity to have a little fun at her expense. Thanks to her Daddy, she thinks that a serial killer is a "cereal killer." He has convinced her that there is this "thing" that has killed some characters, so far, Tony the Tiger, Toucan Sam, Fred Flintstone have all been spared. Yesterday in the car she asked me if there was a "snack" killer too. When I looked at her with a cocked eyebrow, she said, "You know, like the cereal killer, is there something out there that might kill snack people, like Chester Cheeto?" How a little girl will believe anything her daddy says and doubt everything her mother says is beyond me.

Chase:

School is getting better. Even if he refuses to believes it, or admit it. He seems to be doing good as well. He has brought home quite a few papers with 100's or even 105's. Go Chase.
Swimming has not started yet, or, maybe I should say, we haven't signed him back up just yet. We felt like he really needed to get a handle on this middle school jazz before we added something on top of it.
This past weekend he went to his first high school football game. Remembering how I use to go to these games every weekend, and remembering how "grown up" I felt, it made me sad that he was there. Last Friday night he was at a school dance, this past Friday night he was at a football game!!
Everyday I am seeing glimpses of him being a teenager. I am proud of him, but sad too! If he continues to act as he is now, he will be such a good teen. (fingers, toes, and eyes crossed)

Sheldon:

Being a Sgt at the police department is going well for him. It does mean he leaves for work a bit earlier and gets home a little later. I guess that goes along with the territory of being a supervisor.
Unfortunately, he threw his back out last week, he has been pretty uncomfortable for days now. I did get him in to see a chiropractor yesterday, hopefully he will be all better soon.
He still loves his career. It is so awesome to see such passion about a job...I don't think I have ever had passion like his about a job.
His favorite season is upon us. He absolutely loves fall. He has commented on it right much.

Michelle:

I am still working at the same company. Unfortunately I do not have the same passion Sheldon does.
I spend most of my time carting children around. I use to laugh at those mini-vans that would have some stupid sticker about being the taxi driver for your kids...yeah, that is me.
I am passing the sixth grade so far. I have (re) learned the definition for many scientific terms, more vocabulary words for literature class, and I am reading a book about the Holocaust. It has been several (okay, many) years since I have been in middle school. I did not care about this stuff then, and guess what? It is still boring crap and I don't know when one would ever use this stuff in life. But I can't tell my son this!
I have given Pepsi up...for the most part. I was doing really good, but for some reason, (PMS) I have been really wanting it with my dinner. I have justified it these past few nights like this: I use to drink 4-5 cans a day, now one glass is not "that" bad. *yes i know that this is like an alcoholic saying one drink is not that bad!*

That is about all right now. Oh, I forgot the dang dog....

Lucky:

He still likes to get into the trash when no one is looking.
He dreads seeing Mac come home, since she recently started carrying him around like a baby, tossing him on the couch, dragging him on walks in the yard, trying to hand feed him cause he looks "hungry" and making him dance on his hind legs by holding his paws up in the air.
He currently has green feet because Mac drug him all over the yard while I mowed the other day, (Sheldon-back out, can't mow, yeah me)
He lives a life of luxury. Lies around all day, in the peace and quiet, snuggles up to Chase at bedtime, always looks pitiful enough to be handed pieces of food from the dinner table, and when he is done with one of the children, he just growls at them and snips their hands, and they leave him alone. (Wonder if that will work for me, growl then bite...hmm, wonder if I could get some me time if I tried that?)

Yep, that is about all here.

Oh No You Did Not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-09-19T17:36:00.000-07:00

Today has been...well a day. I worked this morning, actually until 2pm. I had to leave early to take Chase to the doctor for a "required" immunization he needed for middle school.

When I picked him up, the minute I saw him I could tell that something was wrong. He had that "look". I finally got him to talk to me, only to find out that a teacher, a new teacher, she had started on Monday of this week, had upset him, telling him that he had to re-do a whole assignment...because he did not write his name on the paper. He made a 90 on the assignment, but she was making him do this over his weekend. Now, I believe in punishment for things that my kids deserve punishment on. What I don't believe in is calling a child, a child that has freaking severe anxiety out in class. I could not get the entire scope on the situation so I called her. She is out there. Seriously. I made sure that I was not accusing, AT ALL. Chase is the kind of child that you can just talk to him and he can be heart broken. You just cannot be harsh on him. He also learns from his mistakes, by God, he is all about pleasing someone. He certainly is not going to do anything that will make an elder upset with him.

A lot was said...back and forth, , but I got really upset when I told her that Sheldon and I were very involved in Chase's education. (Most teachers have appreciated this about us.) I explained that this was the first week that Chase has not vomited every morning, had started eating again, and seemed a little more at ease.

THIS lady had the nerve to tell me that her son had anxiety disorder and OCD. She then told me that she had always thought she was helping him by being involved, but now he is 22 and she can tell that she really did not help him. She said I might want to think about this. I was furious. MY SON IS 11. I will be involved, and I will protect him right now. I will stay involved as long as he needs me to be. I know that I can not hoover over him forever, but he is still a child. I don't care if he is in middle school, he is still just a child.

I immediately called his EC teacher and vented. She is such a sweet lady. Chase loves her. She is the perfect liaison for him. She is in most of his classes with him, (and other kids that have learning disabilities) and she helps him when he does not quite understand. I truly believe that she has been a huge reason he has relaxed some. She totally agreed that this teacher was not considering his IEP. (Which by the way, I asked THIS teacher if she had even read the IEP, her answer was that she had read a lot, she did not know if she read his or not!! HELLO? Wrong answer! She could have at least lied and said yes she had read it.) Mrs B, the EC teacher was going to have a chit chat with THIS teacher on Monday morning. Mrs B commented on the fact that if Chase go anxious about something, he did not just get over it, he would think about it all day, so how could he focus? Chase has her early in the day, and I picked him up at 2:15 and he was a mess. I will not allow her to ruin Chase's 6th grade experience.

On a happier note, Mrs B told me that she just loved Chase, that he was such a good child and she really enjoyed working with him. She continued to tell me little stories about him and just how he brightens her day. That is my boy.

May You Please

2008-09-16T18:27:00.000-07:00

"May you please pour me some juice mommy?"

I don't know why but I love it when Mackenzie ask me a question that starts like this. Any time she want me to do something, she says, "May you please...whatever she wants?"

Chase and Mackenzie are getting older and their grammar has certainly improved over the years. I miss the days when they had their own words for something, or their own way to ask for something.

Of course I am sitting here knowing over the years Sheldon and I have giggled, discussed, or even told others about something one of our kids have said, but of course I am drawing a blank now. I am going to think on this, and blog it later, if for no other reason, I want to document these words out of babe's mouths.

Not Quite Grown, Just Yet

2008-09-13T18:01:00.000-07:00

Nasty, sweaty, hot, loud, and crowded. That was what I saw, smelled, heard when I walked into the middle school gym to pick my preteen up from his first school dance.

I waited til just a few minutes before 9, not wanting to show up and embarrass him. (However, on my ride over, I giggled thinking that I should have went in my pj pants, worn out t-shirt, and fuzzy slippers, just to embarrass him, I know, I am evil!) I parked my van, walked across the grassy area, all the while having flash backs from my own days at this school, and I went in through the entrance of the cafeteria.

I was immediately hit with a stench of sweaty preteens. It was horrible. Of course me being so OCD these days, I thought about the fact that Monday this sweaty dance floor would transform back to a cafeteria. Yuck!

Then, I am not sure if anyone else noticed, but the music was entirely too loud. Haven't they ever heard of soft yoga-like music?

I surely have not been to an establishment where dancing is involved lately, (heck, I never really went to them even as a young adult) but this thing they called "dancing", looked more like a bunch of jumping and flinging to me. Sort of like a cafeteria/dance floor full of epileptic kids.

I spotted my child immediately. He and his friends were sitting on the stage watching all the commotion. It was a little humorous to me since that is exactly how I acted at my dances.

I made my way to the back of the cafeteria where I saw some parents, okay, Mommies, that were not quite as brave, or stupid as me. They had stayed the entire time. Actually, maybe I was the smart one by not volunteering to chaperon. It was a little humorous that when I said hello to them, they pretty much yelled back at me their greetings. Their ear drums were surely paying for this racket.

As far as Chase goes, he seemed to have a good time. I could tell that he was a little taken back from the whole event, but still I could see a little happiness in his eyes. We drove home and he chatted the whole way home.

I was so proud of him, yet sad as a Mommy when he said this to me, "Mom, I left some of my books in my locker today, (which was a whole other ordeal with this whole middle school thing) and I sort of feel like, I don't know, maybe more like a grown up, you know, using my locker, going to a dance, stuff like that. So proud...but wait...where is my baby.

Aw yeah, there he is, a few minutes later in his room, with a wrestling figurine in each hand, fighting each other, flying all over his room, making all these silly noises. Not quite grown yet...thank God.

THE School Dance

2008-09-12T05:50:00.000-07:00

Tonight is another first in our lives...THE School Dance. You know, like drop your child off and come back several hours later, kind of thing. This morning Chase stood in front of his closet, looking for the right shirt and then the right shorts. He packed his matching Rainbow flip flops. We were off. We went to his best friends, "J", house to deposit the apparel for tonight. He is going home after school with J, then J's mom will take them to the dance.

I think I recall these dances, which never turn out to be an actual "dance". Everyone will be standing with their group of friends, which means little groups of giggling girls, and little groups o f "too cool for my own good" boys.

I am actually hoping that this will be a fun event that will help Chase "like" his school a little more. A school dance....he is surely growing up too fast, right in front of my eyes.

THE Shoes...

2008-09-10T09:21:00.000-07:00

Yeah...I should have went straight to my computer last night and tell you the Mac's big news. Truth is, I was so exhausted from the past few weeks of practicing for this accomplishment, and so happy that it finally happened, I think I may have temporally put it out of my mind.

All those dance classes Mac has been teaching, and her own classes at the studio, she finally earned her lyrical shoes. The way it works is when the girls start taking lyrical, they must earn their shoes by getting their pirouettes just perfect. Apparently Mac was having trouble with her foot being "sickled". Don't ask me, I have no idea, I actually thought she was mispronouncing a word until I heard some of the other girls saying it too.

These shoes were a big deal, but since they literally look like very miniature underwear, I am not sure why but what do I know? I am just the mommy. The girls have been waiting forever to earn these, some had already gotten them.

As mentioned on my bestest friend's post, they cost freakin $17.00. And...that is not all, they are the nude colored ones. Miss L was out of the printed ones, the big rage, the "I have to have those because everyone else does" ones. We were told she could order them, no problem...but oh no, we just could not leave with out our prize!!!

This is where I think the story gets funny. Her best friend, who I should also congratulate, not only did she win the shoes, she also made her goal, which was her right split. Way to go A. Anyway, Miss L tries a pair of shoes on Mac, they fit. A has gone to change her clothes, when she returns she tries the same pair on A. They fit. Miss L then says, well girls, the problem is I only have one pair, I can order more and they will be here Thursday. Ummmm...no! Miss L seeing the fear of not taking shoes home in both of the girls eyes, she then suggest that each one of them take one shoe, and on Thursday they could get the other shoe. Without any hesitation, this was a perfect idea to the girls. Which, by the way, I was very proud of them, both being generous enough to allow this one shoe deal without a fuss.

Mac stared at her one foot all the way home. She took a picture to send Aunt J. She sent a text message to cousin C. She DID NOT call her Daddy, she was itching to SHOW him. (Which is another funny story, since Sheldon has never seen, or paid attention to what shoes the lyrical dancers wear, his response to this little nude thing on her foot, "OMG Baby, what happened, did you hurt your foot at dance?" REALLY...have you not heard about the shoes 5000 times these past few weeks??? Luckily Mac thought he was only playing, so he got off. How do dads always get off?)

So we have the shoes, the nude ones...$17.00...and we have the printed ones on order. What? Ridiculous? Well, how many times does one earn her lyrical shoes for the first time???

5...6...7...8----Dear Lord Jesus

2008-09-08T13:47:00.001-07:00

This weekend, Mackenzie, in her own world, became a dance teacher. A very loud one at that. And bossy! I know she is imitating her own dance teacher to a point, but Miss L, she is very patient with the class and always so sweet. I think Miss L could teach a very uncoordinated person, such as myself to dance, with a smile on her face too.

Miss Mackenzie, however, I don't want to take class from her, and no one can make me! She claps her hands at her imaginary class, she stomps her feet when they just don't get the steps, she makes them repeat over and over, then she says things like, "Do you think we can add on now?" Very condescending I might add. Those little imaginary dancers, they must feel like losers.

Apparently she is teaching a class where the students have hearing problems, since she yells these commands to them, she claps very loudly to every beat she is counting off. I am not sure but I think she is teaching lyrical. I did not ask. I was scared to ask.

As exhausted as I am from hearing this "class" take place 24/7, I am thrilled to see her excited about dance. Mackenzie does not show emotion very well. She believes that nonchalant is the way to go. We see happy from her, but that is about as far as it goes.

If anyone is interested in learning to dance, I know just the place. However, you should remember this is a hard core, unsympathetic teacher, and be ready to hear "5...6...7...8, a million and two times.

Middle School Might Not Be So Bad...

2008-09-04T07:13:00.000-07:00

Well, things are getting a little better for Chase. He actually said one day this week that he had fun at school. He is still trying to get the hang of his locker. It is not the actual lock, that is perfected. It is his fear of putting something in his locker he might need, or not getting something out that he might need. It is really worrying me, since his book bag is so heavy. Mac can't even lift it. Hopefully soon he will feel confident enough to start switching things out and not bringing home every single thing he owns.

I am so glad this is getting better. It has been a loooooooong 8 days of school.

I am thinking I will have to get a second job, just to pay for his lunches. I did not know how much things were, so I started out giving him $3.00 a day. I did not want that to be another stress, I wanted him to have what he needed. I asked him yesterday morning if he was using all the money each day, he told me mostly, sometimes he would have a little bit of change left over. Okay, I will quit eating lunch before I let him go without, $3.00 a day it is.

Last night at dinner, he looks up with me with the "I really need to tell you something, but I don't know how you will react" look. What is it Chase....what is wrong now, this is what I am thinking. The conversation went something like this:

C-"Mom, everyday, I have been giving "L" about 75 cents cause his mom doesn't have the money to give him. Is that okay?"
M-(With watery eyes) "Sure baby. And it is very kind of you to be so generous."

"L" is one of Chase's very good friends. I had the opportunity to meet his mom on an outing with church. She is a single mom of 3, maybe 4 kids, I don't remember exactly. This child's father also lives far away so she really is on her own.

Maybe Chase was put in this child's life for a reason. I would hope that if my child was in a situation of this kind that someone would be put in his path to help him through a very hard time.

That Chase, he is a good kid.

Stupid Little Hersery Kisses

2008-08-31T20:35:00.000-07:00

I just want to thank my friend from the bottom of my heart. 3 pounds off, 4 pounds on! I heard this was hazard to being her friend, but I was willing to chance it.

This friend of mine, I want mention any names, my Boston travel companion, but I am not listing any names. Anyway her friend "H" introduced her to this new seasonal Hersey kiss. Freaking PUMPKIN SPICE. Really??? The good thing is they are so small can't be too many bad qualities to them, not enough room for calories, or fat, or sugar, no way. (Rationalization 101)

Well...one is a small little yummmmmy. BUT when you eat almost the entire bag, I think you could probably eat an entire pumpkin pie by yourself.

Thanksgiving tip: Save time, don't bake Pumpkin Pies, buy Pumpkin flavored Hersey kisses instead!!! Just saying....

Maybe A Wee Bit Better...Not Much

2008-08-29T09:40:00.000-07:00

It is finally Friday! Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!!

Wednesday night was really bad for Chase. When I picked him up he started to tell me that he was afraid that Science class was going to be a challenge for him. He told me he could not understand what he was reading, and when the teacher talked, he did not get that either. It was horrible. It literally took me 2 hours to calm him, which only happened after I promised that I would go over his Science lessons every single day and make sure he understood.

Yesterday I prayed all day that his day would be better. Mac had dance last night so she and I did not get home until a few minutes after 8. I had called home to get a report, Sheldon said that he had a better day and actually seemed okay. Thank goodness. I hoped that his good mood would continue until I got home since I have only seen his sad face all week, which is enough to break my heart in a million little pieces.

Today is Friday, Monday is a holiday, so I have three full days with my two children. I hope Chase had a good day today so he doesn't spend his weekend obsessing!

Sheldon is working night shift this weekend, which I hate. Luckily he is off with us on Monday.

Day Three, Only 177 More to Go!!

2008-08-27T14:04:00.000-07:00

Chase seemed a little more relaxed as he climb out of the car this morning. I said 100 prayers all day.

I called him as soon as I thought he might have made it over to the high school. I did not talk to him but my sister in law said that she thought his day was better. Great. She said he seemed to be a little more at ease. Thank you Lord Jesus!

Until...my phone rang a few minutes ago. I answer and hear this shaky little voice on the other end. It seemed as if he could not find his gym bag. Day one of carrying a gym bag, nonetheless. We talked about where all he had been. He remembered having it in his last class, but that was as far as he got...I told him to stop freaking, we would pack another bag tonight and he could check in the morning to see if it was in the class.

Knowing this would set his mood for the rest of the evening, I decided to call his last class' teacher. Sure enough, he had the bag. He said he would hold onto it until the morning and Chase could come by and get it. I called Chase back, told him, immediately his voice changed. Hopefully he will not obsess over this all night.

Can the boy just have one day that is not eventful?? Just one? Is that too much to ask for?

Please Let It Get Better

2008-08-26T17:32:00.000-07:00

Mackenzie started third grade yesterday. She was very excited last night. I would tell you how many sentences she rambled off yesterday, but I honestly do not think I can count that high. She was so bubbly, bouncing all over the kitchen while I tried to cook, tormenting the dog by trying to pick him up and play with him, which ended with her throwing him on the couch like he was a small child. (She said he was smiling, I think he was gritting his teeth, as if to say, if you don't leave me the hell alone, it is going to be real ugly.) Her teacher is fabulous. She is the best teacher ever...that is what Mackenzie says. Her best friend is in the class. Yada yada yada...

Chase, well that is a different story. A much different story. He seemed okay yesterday morning. He has so much anxiety, this was great to see him not really stressed about his first day. My day drug by. It would not end. 3:20 is what time his school releases. He was going over to the high school to stay with his aunt that works there. I email her, asking how is day went, but end up calling before she emailed back. I spoke with Chase. He said his day was "okay" but not great. He said he was nervous about his science class. That is really all I could get out of him. He still did not seem like he was stressed too much. I pick him up, did the whole who is in your class, what was for lunch, did you like your teachers, how was gym, and several more questions trying to drag (or suck the life out of) out any information I could get. I was doing the whole sing-songy voice, acting all excited and happy about middle school.

Once home, I began supper. He began obsessing. He needed papers signed, I needed to do it. Like, right then! He was super stressed that we would not get them done. He even began filling some out, leaving only the spots that I needed to sign blank. During supper he told us that he was scared. He could not tell us exactly what he was scared of, but he was scared. We gave him the big pep talk, trying to reassure every fear he had in his little body. He seemed to relax, until....bedtime. At bedtime, when we thought he was in his bed on his way to sleep, he came into our room, sobbing. He was kept saying he was scared. It was just plain pitiful. Sheldon and I talked to him and tried to reassure him, but having anxiety myself, I knew we might as well talk to the wall. But, at least he knew we were there and understood his feelings. We both went to sleep with very heavy hearts.

When he got up this morning, he got ready as he normally would. He asked if he could watch tv, I said yes. When I made it to the kitchen, to work on lunches and breakfast, he stated he did not feel hungry. I knew not to push it.

I pulled into his school this morning, wishing I could just go in there and announce to them that he would not be back, I would just home school him!!! But, since I could not do that, I gave him the most positive smile I could and sent him on his way. I felt like crap.

Once again, I waited until the end of his day, called him at the high school to get the days report. He sounded better, but he told me that Science class was really bad. He needed a composition book and did not have the exact one the teacher wanted, so he had to write in on loose leaf paper and copy it all in the composition book once he got it. He got so worked up about that his remainder of the day seemed to be a bit nerve racking. He did tell me that his reading class was his favorite, which is a HUGE deal with him since he has a slight learning disability in reading.

When I picked him up after my work day, he again told me the story of his science incident. We talked about it, detail for detail. Then I asked him, "Do you think today was better than yesterday?" He thought about it a second, as if maybe he did not want to admit it, but he said "Yes, it was." Thank you Jesus. I told him (for the 145th time) each day would get better.

He ate a good supper tonight, he chatted about this and that, he even laughed as he and I raced each other to my bed that he wanted to spread out on, when I wanted to go to sleep, or write my blog...

Hopefully I did not lie to him and each day will get better. I pray this for him. It is hard to see him so worried. Three more days, then we have a long weekend. Three more days...

Aww, First Day of School

2008-08-25T08:31:00.000-07:00

First day of Middle School, 6th Grade

And first day of 3rd Grade

Middle School Begins

2008-08-24T12:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, we have hit the milestone. Where on earth did these years go? I think it was just like last month that we were dropping this precious child off to kindergarten. It is amazing to me that he is already old enough to go to middle school.

At the beginning of this summer, I just could not imagine him ready to off to middle school. He was still a baby. (Not really, but in my eyes) Someone told me that they had felt the same way when their child went to middle school, but by the time school started their child was definitely ready. Chase has done this as well. He has matured a lot this summer. He even acts like a teenager sometimes, even though he his only 11. We see the adolescent years nearing us everyday.

Friday, his school offered an orientation just for sixth graders. Basically it was a day to get the kids orientated with where they should be and when. I was sooooo lucky that the mother of Chase's best friend offered to take Chase as well as another good friend of theirs. I dropped him off, he was nervous, but not half as nervous as he would have been had he had to go into the school alone. I think it helped with his anxiety tremendously to have two friends by his side.

I fidgeted all day. I worried all day. I was so nervous for him. 2:45 could not get there fast enough. The clock seemed to draaaaaag.

Finally, my cell rings, it is him. He sounded great. He was giggling with his friends. He said his day was good. He knew several kids in his class. His teachers all seemed nice. His favorite class was PE and Exploring Careers. I wish his favorites were English and Math were his favorites, but whatever got him through this day!

Tomorrow is the "real" first day. He seems oddly calm about it. He went last minute school shopping today. He got new sneakers, and a couple pairs of jeans. Boy, buying sneakers use to be so much easier than it was today. Oh, we also had to get a lunch box that was more "middle schoolish" than the ones we have in the cabinet.

Mackenzie will start third grade tomorrow. She is always okay with the beginning of school. She likes the socialization, and of course the thrill of wearing a new outfit. She too bought new sneakers today, as well as a few shirts and shorts.

We also bought all those friggin school supplies. Pencils, crayons, pens, paper, notebooks, folders, highlighters, and the list goes on and on. I am certain that I spent close to $100.00 just on school supplies for the two of them.

Hopefully tomorrow morning will go smoothly. I pray that it does. I guess I will, once again, get all teary as I drop each of them off in the morning. I remember totally not understanding it when my own mom did that every year on the first day of school. I thought she was a mush. Like mother, like daughter.

Here We Go, Ready Or Not

2008-08-20T19:17:00.000-07:00

NOT!!!! We went to open house at the middle school tonight. I cannot wrap my head around the fact that my little boy is going to middle school. It makes me pretty sad. He seemed to actually do pretty good, considering he has been very nervous about this big step. It did help that he got to buy gym clothes, and a cool gym bag. It also helped that he got to spend the day with his best friend, J, and they have two classes together this semester.

Friday he goes to school for a sixth grade orientation. This is suppose to be a fun event. They will meet all their teachers, a little more personally. They will take tours of the school, have a lunch, and Lord only knows what else. It is a full day, which I hate, being that is their last day of summer break.

Chase has not had much time to think about all the logistics of this orientation, since he has an invite to come to J's house and ride with him to school, then J's Mom is going to pick them up, and Chase has been invited to spend the night with them. I am very thankful to J's Mom, I do think that hanging out with J has helped ease Chase's mind. He and J laugh and cut up constantly when they are together. I like J. He is a cool kid....and he is even nice to Kenzie. I like his mother too, we have a great time together as well.

Mackenzie had open house tonight, at the exact time of Chase's...who plans this crap. I was trying to figure out how I was going to juggle this. Sheldon has had three bad nights of work, he could not possibly go in late tonight, Aunt J that is always a big help to us, she works at a different school, that had open house as well. The only option was to sprout wings and fly. Great, I will just add that to my list of things to do now.

Just when I was about to go into panic mode, I was saved. My dear friend, that does not even have a child at our elementary school volunteered to take Mac for her open house. I felt bad, that is until I talked to Kenz, explaining my dilemma to her, and then she tells me that she thinks that is great idea, she actually thought that would be more fun...so, she basically just told me she did not need me. Ooooookay.

I felt bad to some degree, but since I have known Mac's teacher from childhood, I did not really feel that I had to go in there with my normal interrogation making sure we were on the same page, and that my child was the most important one in there...(they usually just agree with me, all the while they are thinking, "This mom has lost her ever living mind). I felt like as long as she saw her cubby, her desk, her newly decorated classroom, we would be in good shape. It seemed surprising to my friend that EVERYONE knew Mac, and me...well, first reason is because most of these people have lived in this same town their entire life, as I have. Secondly, I have been an officer on the PTA the past 4 years. Third, I am that mom that is in the know, I want to know every detail on every teacher. I stalk them. I have known each school year, usually within the first nine weeks, what teacher I would like for my kids to have the following school year. And our previous teachers, they know us well, hell, they get emails from me sometimes twice a week. I am THAT mom that wants to know how they are doing. Mostly with Chase since he has had some difficulty in reading, but I check up on Kenz too.

Oh, and I love to pick them up from after school care, and as soon as they get all buckled up and we start down the road, I love to say, "So how was that math test that you failed to mention to me? or You have a disagreement with your friend S today? You both had to move your card?" I love the look in their eyes. They are frantically thinking of a story, but Mom already knows...how, that just happened like 1 hour ago, she works 30 minutes away, how on earth. How you ask, "Mom's know everything."

Here we come, very nervous, very worried, a little excited, and a lot anxious. And then there is the child that just doesn't seem to be affected. Did not even care if I was there or not. Independent, yeah, that is what I will keep telling myself.

That Boot Camp I Speak Of...

2008-08-19T18:22:00.000-07:00

OMG, Boot Camp is kicking Mac's butt. She is so exhausted it is crazy. And her appetite, dear Lord Jesus. I put all kinds of food in her lunchbox just to be sure she had enough for snacks and lunch, that little piggy ate it ALL!

And, she has aged like 6-8 years. We had to find the perfect knee high socks, cause that is what the big girls wear. We had to cut her sweats to shorts, cause that is what the big girls wear. We had to pick the perfect tank top, not too tight, but not loose either. Seriously?????

Did I mention that she also is ill as a hornet? No one can say or do anything to please her. She is so grouchy. Poor Chase could not even breathe right for her today. She even had an invite to spend the night with her best friend and SHE turned it down.

She was asleep extremely early tonight. HOWEVER, she conveniently fell asleep in my bed, knowing that I would be too lazy, and actually not strong enough to carry her to her own bed. I actually don't mind the company, once she is asleep....and not grouchy....and not asking one million questions...and not drinking all my drink....and not calling the dog up here to cuddle with....and not pulling on the covers so she can hide under them...and not asking if we can not watch whatever I am watching and turn the tv to Hannah Montana...yeah, other than that, I don't mind the company of her sweet, warm, angelic sleeping self. But don't tell her, she will forever use it against me.

Boot Camp and Such...

2008-08-18T17:59:00.000-07:00

Not much has been going on in our house the past few days. Just normal chaos.

The kids went with Granddaddy on Sunday tubing at the lake. Sheldon and I got to spend the entire afternoon together. It was very nice. We talked...without being interrupted. Imagine that. We took a nice drive through the country, Sheldon took me to see his Mom's new house. She was excited to see us.

We then drove into town and got a little lunch. We had a very pleasurable afternoon.

This the kids last week out of school, and as much as I have joked about them going back to school, I really dread it. They have had a great summer, Sheldon has been home a lot with them. We have had many lunches together. It has just been very laid back. It has been a great summer. I hate to see it end.

Chase is starting to obsess over middle school and all the changes that goes along with that. I am worried too, but if you hear me talking to him, you would think middle school is the best thing ever. Hopefully once he gets there he will be okay. I think he hates change about as much as I do. He is also worried about changing classes, and not knowing where to go. I am sad he is going to middle school. He is still my baby. It just doesn't seem right.

Mackenzie is in "Boot Camp" this week for dance. She is on the "Company" which means she is an awesome dancer...or at least that is what I think...ha. Okay, maybe not awesome, but she is on her way. Everyone on Company has to be at boot camp this week, which is about 5 hours every day of dancing, training, and there is a little socializing, I am sure. She seemed happy about it today. She is tired tonight, which is pretty unusual for Mac, she is always ready to go...and then go some more. However, as tired as she might be, she is still talking a mile a minute. That's my girl!

Chase stayed home today with Sheldon, except Sheldon slept whole all day. Chase did really good. He scrambled eggs fro breakfast, cooked microwave french fries for lunch, and ate candy this afternoon. He surfed the Internet for awhile, he went to WWE site, the child eats, sleeps, and breathes wrestling. He played video games a lot, watched tv awhile. He just chilled out. He is the kind of person that can go all day without interaction. He is growing up way too fast!

Boot camp this week, orientation at the Elementary school on Wednesday night, orientation for parents at the middle school on Wednesday night, and orientation for students on Friday at the middle school. That is our week...busy, but hopefully good. It is just me and the kids at night, which means chicken nuggets, corn dogs, cereal...sleeping in Mommy's bed, watching lots of wrestling...and missing Sheldon terribly.

Summer Days...

2008-08-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

It is so sad when your child says, "I am bored, I want to go somewhere, can we do something fun, and NOT the pool, please?" Okay, so its not sad, it is ridiculous. If, and that is a huge IF, I got to stay home and hang out playing video games, eating when I wanted to, sleeping as long as I could, going to the pool, reading a good book, no obligations, no plans, just go with the flow...I would be in complete Heaven.

Sheldon has been home with the kids most of the summer, which has been great for our pocket book, but the kids are about to explode. They need some interaction with others. I think that it is a good thing that they are going to different schools this year, since their love for each other, or lack of love, is enormous. The sibling rivalry is more than any one human can stand.

The other fun fact about this is, by the time I get home, the kids have had enough of Sheldon, and Sheldon has certainly had enough of them. So, the kids are sucking the life out of me, talking a mile a minute, asking me lots of questions, telling me about what they have done all day. Sheldon is sitting there looking at me as if a truck has hit him.

Sheldon goes back to work next week, the kids go back to school the following Monday, and life will take on a whole new form of hectic.

The Quiet Game

2008-08-05T17:52:00.000-07:00

Mackenzie just bet me that she could not say a word til tomorrow afternoon...we bet $15.00, if she accomplished this I would give her the money. She lasted less than 20 minutes and she was like a volcano right before it erupts.

The dog days of summer are coming to an end, school starts in just 21 days. The kids are bored out of their minds and I think going back to school will be welcomed. They are at each other every day, every minute too. They find anything to argue about. It is almost funny sometimes to listen to what they are arguing about.

I am ready for them to back in school, kind of, it has been nice to be so laid back this summer. But all good things must come to an end....

Hmmmm....I Don't Feel So Well....

2008-08-02T19:43:00.000-07:00

Oh my. Oh me. Oh goodness. Ohhhhhhhhhh!

I have a tummy ache. I have a tummy ache like you got when you were a child and ate way too much junk food, I have the kind of tummy ache you get from hiding in your pantry and eating ALL the oreos. I have the kind of tummy ache you get when you are so busy all day long and you don't eat any "real" food, and then you eat enormous amounts of cake, cake balls, more cake, chocolate pretzels, more cake, (there was three layers, all different flavors...I could not be rude and discriminate, I HAD to eat some of all of them).A few additional things just lying around, everywhere I looked, (and for the record, this was special food, if you listened really hard, you could hear it talking...very quietly but still...it was saying, "Michelle, eat me, eat me." or "Michelle, put me on your plate, please". These additional things were stuff like chips, dip, veggie tray, taco dip with tortilla chips, chili dip with tortilla chips, bowls or m&ms, skittles, sour skittles, m&m's with peanuts, chocolate cover oreos...oh my!

There was what I refer to as "real food" there too. What a spread. Stuffed meatballs, baked ziti, chicken wings, pasta salad...and cause my friend likes me...cold Pepsi.

The dilemma: Eat a big amounts of "real food" since it is much healthier, or eat a bite of everything in the "real food" category and dive into the "junk food" head first. I chose the second choice.
I found myself eating the entire time I was there. I gained like 17 pounds. No lie.

The wonderful host of this said party even let me bring home a ginormous slice of lemon cake, and 4, count them...4, cakeballs.

UGGG, I feel miserable, guess I need to sign off, go eat my midnight snack...and go to bed, I am tired.

And if you are wondering, the answer is yes. I am having cake, more cake for my bedtime snack. That's not odd is it?

One More....I Promise This Is the Last One....

2008-07-30T18:04:00.000-07:00

I really like this picture.

The Man I Love....

2008-07-30T17:48:00.000-07:00

Enough said....

Look What I Made....

2008-07-30T15:43:00.000-07:00

I know these are my children and I am partial, but they are beautiful children!

My Cup Runneth Over....

2008-07-29T17:47:00.000-07:00

Sheldon went back to work today. He looked as handsome as ever. He stopped by to see me this morning. My office has a huge window looking out to the parking lot. I see a marked Tahoe pull into the parking lot, then my phone rings. It is so funny, and cute. It is Sheldon, he acts like he is just calling to say hi. He's so nonchalant, as he ask if I am busy. I tell him no, and ask him to come in. He of course comes in. It has been several weeks since I seen in him in uniform, and it never ceases to amaze me as to how it makes my tummy flutter when I do see him. I am so proud of him and all of his accomplishments.

I am not sure how I got so lucky. He is amazing. He is always there for me and I am so grateful that I have him in my life.

Chase and Mac went back to Kidstop today. They haven't been this whole summer. It has worked out where Sheldon has been able to pretty much take care of them everyday. I think Mac was glad to be back. She is such a social bug, and likes to be in the middle of as much as possible. Chase, he would never admit it, but I am sure he was somewhat happy to be there as well.

Shortly after I picked them up today, Sheldon called to say hi. Chase wanted to talk to him, so I handed the phone over. Chase immediatly starting telling Sheldon how much he missed him today. After he hung the phone up, I could tell he was thinking about something. Soon after, he looks at me and says, "Hey Mom, I missed you today too, but I have just been with Dad so much this summer, it was just different not being with him, but I missed you too..."

That child, he is so considerate of everyone else's feelings. I had not even thought twice about his comments to his daddy. Mac actually told me she missed me today, but she also said she missed the dog...same right?

Those sweet children of mine...they are playing the friggin who will smile first, and who ever does is the one that just passed gas, or as they so nicely put it, who just farted in my room. Could I have ever imagined that one day, I would be sitting here with my two sweet perfect babies, all grown up and freaking arguing over who just expelled this fog in my room! Perfect!

My life is complete, my cup runneth over, what more could a girl want.....

Parasailing...

2008-07-28T17:26:00.000-07:00

We went parasailing last week, on Tuesday afternoon. The weather was a little questionable before we left for the dock. As we arrived, it seemed that the storm was pretty far off, so off we went.

In our party was Me, Chase, Mackenzie, Jennie, our close friend, Jane, my sister in law, and my niece Callie. I really had wondered if Chase would follow through with his bravery once we arrived, but then realized that "his" Jennie was going with us, and he would jump off a high building just to impress her, so my doubts were soon proven to be wrong.

I was not sure the line up for going up. I wanted to go with both of my kids, but knew that we would have to split up. Chase spoke up and wanted to go with me, and Mackenzie was hanging all over Jennie. It was unclear who would go up with Callie, since Jane was simply there for the ride and scenery.

Chase and I went up first. I never knew how this all worked out, so let me explain. You first get your life jacket on and then they hook this harness to you. It sort of felt like a diaper, I am not sure why. Once we were out in the sound and it was time to "go up" we went to the back of the boat. We were hooked on these straps. Once the wind was strong enough it sent the parachute sailing through the air, and we were attached.

This was the adrenaline part of the trip. Once up in the air, we just floated up there....which was pretty awesome....for the first 5 minutes, then we were just up there. I guess I am an adrenaline junkie, so I was really looking for more. I probably set my expectations a little high. Don't get me wrong, I had a great time. It was really beautiful and to be able to do this with my kids was a great experience in itself.

I knew that I was only going up with one of my children, and was happy that they chose and I did not have to. In the end it was probably really great that I went with Chase and Mac went with Jennie.

While up in the air, many feet away from civilization, my dear son just says out of the blue, "Mommy, I love you so much." It was so priceless, and it made the parasailing even more special. I will always remember that tender moment.

While Mac is in the air with Jennie, after only a few minutes up, she tells Jennie, "Okay, I am bored." It is probably perfect that I was not up with her. I might would have screamed! But thinking about it later, she too is my adrenaline loving child and was quite pissed off because she could not ride in "upside down" roller coasters at Carowinds last year, I should not be surprised that she felt this way.

Next Callie and Chase went up. They seemed to enjoy themselves, smiling the entire time. I know that as they get older they will remember this adventure.

Jane enjoyed her boat ride, watching each of us fly up in the air. She was perfectly content to just ride and watch.

We took lots of pictures, I mean lots, the only problem is, most of them look exactly the same! I bet we have over 100 pictures, and only about 10-15 that you can actually tell who is actually parasailing. Oh well....thank God for digital!

Seriously? Just Pee Over There....

2008-07-27T16:32:00.000-07:00

I know as a parent I have told my children to do some odd things, or things that others might find odd. I don't think I have ever been as odd as some of the parenting I witnessed this past week. I will preface this with the fact that I know, without a doubt in my mind, I am not even close to be half perfect at parenting. But....OMG!

The first thing I witnessed was this Mom who apparently had a child that was pouty. I have one of those sometimes, so I can certainly understand that it can be trying. Apparently this Mom had a "different" way of dealing with her pouty child. Every time this little girl, maybe about 7-8 years old, became pouty, the mom whipped her camera out and started taking multiple pictures, while saying loud enough for the rest of us to hear, "Oh, let me take more pictures of you at the beach crying. I cannot wait til the first day of school, I am taking all these pictures in to show everyone in your class how much of a baby you are."

I took 583 pictures, no exaggeration, at the beach this year. I looked through all of them once again, I do not have one single picture of anyone pouting. I try to avoid those pictures, as I want my kids to look back at these pictures all through the year and remember how much fun we had. I cannot imagine this child being excited about her beach pictures.

Another thing that I witnessed this week was this young girl, maybe about 9 years old, who had a serious wardrobe malfunction. She might as well just left her top in the room, as she continuously flashed everyone. Her mother was in the pool with her, playing with her, riding the slide with her, and never once fixed it. I was about to go over and fix it myself. It was driving me crazy.

Then, as my family was lying out at the pool, just enjoying ourselves, Jane overhears a conversation that is taking place a few feet away from us. It is a conversation between a mom and her daughter, about 8 years old.

Little Girl: Mom, I have to pee.
Mom: Okay, go over to those bathrooms over there.
Little Girl: NOOOO, they stink.
Mom: They stink?
Little Girl: Yes
Mom: Then just pee over there.
Little Girl: (takes about three steps away from where she was, and yes...she peed)

Right there, right in front of the 50 or so people enjoying the pool. Just took a few steps away and let it rip, right on the cement.

I know this is going to be hard to believe but the Mom and Little Girl were the same family as the photogenic whiny girl.

Sometimes, I feel like my parenting skills are awesome!

Freaking Dunkin Donut Munchkins

2008-07-27T11:33:00.000-07:00

I have been trying really hard to stay away from so much junk food. I am not real sure why one would want to set herself up for such failure, but I seem to like punishing myself.

Early in the week I enjoyed my yoga out on the beach then decided that since everyone else was sleeping, I should just run out and pick up some breakfast and coffee. (Even though I hate coffee, I have learned quickly that other really NEED this such drink in their lives, and without it, we all pay!)

I will have two chocolate frosted donuts, one strawberry, one toasted coconut....and ohhhh, you have munckins....I will have an assortment of those too. 50 is only a little more than the box of 25, well okay, just give me 50. (Rationalization 101: There are 6 of us, 50 divided by 6, ummmm....well it is less than 9 each, that isn't many!)

I found my hand kept finding its way back into this box all afternoon. I was becoming some sort of donut addict. But with my great Rationalization 101 skills, they are pretty small, so they could not be too fattening. There is no way you could pack many calories in a small round ball of donut. Just no way possible.

And...since there were not any calories, (in my head anyway) I decided that I was perfectly justified to eat as many as I wanted. And I did. We went back to the Dunkin Donuts about 3 more times over the week. Every time we went I would buy a box of 50, and Jane would buy a box of 50. I suck in math, but....if I figure correctly, that would be over 350 stupid donut holes that vacationed with us. I have decided not to think about the fact that only Jane and I liked the jelly filled, and no one but myself really liked the powder sugar ones. Refuse to think about it and you cannot make me. Nope. And, because in my head, I can think whatever I want, I am quite certain in fact, that the 4 pounds I put on, or that my scales has said, but I am not a huge fan of those scales either, they have a lying problem, I surely believe that they are going straight to Hell when they die. Stupid Lying Scales. Anyway, I believe the four pounds is simply the tan I got. Yeah, you did not know, a suntan has weight. Where were you in Tanning 101 class?

Future Stories

2008-07-26T19:01:00.000-07:00

-Just Cause they Make It in Your Size, Doesn't Mean You Sould Wear it...
-Seriously, just Pee over there....
-Parasailing
-photo session.....ever heard of sand crabs?
-the lady of the yoga store
-Freaking Dunkin Dounuts Munchkins.

This is the beginning of the entries I am writing in my head....
I will have to continue tomorrow night, when you backstroke to correct more thatn typing froward, it is bad.

We Are Home

2008-07-26T18:44:00.000-07:00

Yes. And it sucks. We left the beach this morning around 9:30am. I did not start packing my things until this morning, which is a bit unusual for me. I usually wash everything and pack everything on Friday night, but I chose to go with the denial route this time. I just did not want to leave.

We had a very uneventful ride home, which was nice. I actually drove. Half way through we stopped and Sheldon and Mac changed places. This was quite interesting. Sheldon is a much calmer and self sufficient co-pilot. Mac was busy with the radio, asking me many questions, shuffling around in her seat, asking a few more questions, then finally falling off to sleep about 30 minutes away from home.

We had supper with Jackie and her family tonight. I was more than grateful when she texted me to see if we wanted to come have sketti at their house, since, one, I had no food in the frig, and two, I really was not in the mood to cook or eat out at a restaurant. I love Jackie. And our family's really work well together. Often times Sheldon or I may have had friends but the spouses may have not really fit, that is not really the case with Jackie and Ben.

I have many more stories that I really want to document about our trip, but I am a bit worn out from our vacation, and I am snug in MY bed, which might be the only thing I am glad about as far as being home. We had such a great time, I really did not want to come home.

I think the kids were ready to come home. Chase really missed Lucky, our family dog, that is a toy poodle. Lucky is Chase's side kick. He is really attached to him, a week is a long time to be away from that kind of companionship. We had boarded Lucky, but thanks to Granddaddy, Lucky was at home waiting for our arrival. He was so precious laying all over Chase when Chase sat down. He looked pretty sad when we left again, this time for only dinner, but I am sure he was really bummed that we came in, stayed a short while, then headed off again.

I just went by Chase's room and he and Lucky are all snuggled up, both sound asleep. It just doesn't get much cuter than that.

Tomorrow I get to unpack all this s***. Oh joy. I hate unpacking...with a passion.

Good night for now, stay tuned, I promise the beach stories are coming, I promise.

XOXOXO

Sigh It is Friday!

2008-07-25T07:24:00.000-07:00

It is Friday. That sucks. That means today is our last day here, as tomorrow we will start to pack up and head back into Hillsborough. But...I would rather not even think about this for now.

I went to the Fair Market/Yoga store this morning. I bought MYSELF, no one else, just me a few pieces of bead jewelry. And I bought a Global Mama, which is a good luck charm. She is pretty cute.

I think we are headed to the beach for a couple of hours this morning, then we will go to the pool. We will probably go out to dinner tonight, we have done really good eating in this week, but we will splurge and eat out tonight!

I am so sleepy, ideally it would be nice to go lay my the pool or ocean and take me a little nap, however, I just do not see that happening. Those little urchins that I birthed will probably have 1 million comments/questions for me. Oh well...I wills sleep another day.

Still to come, my take on how everyone should have to go through a "What Type of Bathing Suit Suits Me Class." Just wait for that one....

Yes Cathy, I Did Like Him....I Hope To See Him Again!

2008-07-24T19:23:00.000-07:00

So...I am just returning from my date night. It was exceptionally good...I bought a bag of elastic hair bows for $3.00....there are 250 in the bag....ohhh I am way happy about this.

Sheldon and I did really enjoy our night out. It is funny how different a date night is now, compared to when we were really dating. I got a little dressed up, wearing a knit skirt and a purple top, and of course I had on my bling bling shoes. Sheldon looked really handsome tonight, as he wore his blue t-shirt with jeans and his rainbows. He is so tan, the light blue shirt looked even better on him than it usually does.

We left the condo just before 6. We first went to a store Sheldon had stumbled upon earlier today, it was a yoga store. They were actually closed, but there was about to be a yoga class, so the nice lady let me look around. I will be going back there in the morning...I saw some things that I NEED.

We had a nice dinner at....Hooters, cause they have the best beer, or that is what I am told...anyway, they did have a new appetizer, tator tots covered in cheese, bacon, chives, and sour cream...they were the bomb-diggidy let me just tell you.

Then we headed over to a small shopping center and walked around for a short while, nothing screamed, "Buy me, Buy me" so we left. We drove on down to Beaufort and walked by the docks. I stopped in the oldest bookstore in North Carolina and bought a couple of books. From there we were on our way to get ice cream. That is when Callie texted me to tell me they too were on their way to get ice cream, so we met them there.

I was out of pepsi at the condo, which anyone who knows me knows this is a very bad thing, so when we finished up our ice cream, we departed from Jane and the kids and headed into Walgreens, which I had never visited before...this is where I found the 300 elastic hair holder thingys. We walked around Walgreens for a few minutes. Then we came back to be re-united with the kids, at 9:47pm. Yep, we are night owls!

We really did have a very nice evening. We laughed about different things, we enjoyed each others company. It does sound kind of like Ma and Pa going to the Golden Corral, but it really wasn't like that.

Today was pretty good. We spent a lot of time outside today, either at the pool or on the beach. I got a little sun, which made me happy. I even got my hair wet today! It drives Chase crazy that I go to the pool but don't get my hair wet, I usually just dip in to cool off.

I did figure out the hair wrap thing too, and frankly, I was pretty proud of my work. It turned out darn cute. It took me about 30 minutes to do it, I had convinced myself that as soon as I did it she would wear it for 10 minutes then want it out, to my surprise, she asked me if she could keep it until school had started...one month away...which I told her, no, we would be taking it down, but I would be happy to re-do it.

So tomorrow is our last full day here. I am so sad it has ended so quickly. We have had a lot of fun. I dread going back to work, but I am trying not to think about that...I told myself I could start thinking about work at 9:00pm on Sunday night. Anyway, tomorrow we will go to the beach for our annual picture session, I always do portraits of the kids on the beach, I have been doing it for probably the past 5-6 years. It has gotten harder, rather than easier to do this. One would think that as the kids got older it would be easier to photograph them. No...it is much more complaining and whining...but...I don't care...they will smile for my camera, dammit.

I included a picture of me and Sheldon in the pool today, after 14 years of marriage, this could very well be our first picture together in a pool. Also, check out that hair wrapping thingy I did...seriously amazed myself.

The Day Before the Day Before We Go Home

2008-07-24T07:02:00.000-07:00

So, all day yesterday I felt this pressure to come update everyone on my trip, but I was just in this nasty mood yesterday. I guess trying to entertain everyone and make sure everyone was having a great time became a little overwhelming yesterday.

Sheldon had not felt well the day before, so I translated that to he was just bored and not having fun, which I guess was not really the case. The kids were being, well, kids and I took that as they were being whiny butt brats and they were ungrateful little shits. But, Sheldon came to the corner that I had started rocking back and forth in last night and coaxed me out, then explained that everyone was having fun and I needed to just relax. (Okay, so I wasn't really in a corner, but that is only because I could not find one that did not have crap strewn everywhere.)

Yesterday morning we ate our breakfast at Dunkin Donuts....yum yum. For some reason it seems okay to eat 23 munchkins, but guilty if you eat 2 regular donuts. Go figure. Then we hit all the cheesy gift shops. We were on a mission to find those stinking hair wrap thingys, kind of like you see on people who take trips to the Bahamas. It is basically embroidery floss wrapped around a small braid. We had no luck but I did find a website last night that explained how to do them yourself, so guess I will be trying that this afternoon. Yeah me.

Chase and I had this little tift yesterday, but we got that all resolved so life is better there.

I was about to get into our parasailing trip, but the us girls just decided to hit the Dollar Tree....I must run. I promise to fill you in a little later. I promise.

And....I have a date tonight. Me and Sheldon get to go out on a date. Jane is keeping the children and we are going out...HOORAY!

So, I will update more later, and just wait til I tell you all about the women here and their choice of bathing suits....whew!

I'M ALIVE, I'M ALIVE!!!

2008-07-22T19:20:00.000-07:00

I am alive, I lived through the parasailing. It was a real experience.

I am pretty exhausted, so I will save the story for tomorrow, but I wanted to at least log on and tell my friends that I am alive...before Cathy came and claimed my bling bling rainbows!!! And after the windy trip in the air, way way high in the sky, I really need my hair products....really bad....

So, night night for now, watch out for the bed bugs...

I Hereby Bequeath to my New Friends....

2008-07-22T09:14:00.000-07:00

So, in just a few hours I am going to go Parasailing. Me...parasailing....OMG, what was I thinking? I wasn't, that was the problem...I was sitting at work daydreaming about my upcoming vacation, decided to search online for tourist attractions when I came across a very nice picture of a parasailing outing. Sign us up...we want to do that! And I did just that, called and made our reservations!

What would have possessed me to do this???? Too late to back out now, they have my credit card and if you don't give them like a six hours cancellation notice, they will still charge you...screwed, I am screwed.

so in roughly 2.5 hours, I will be on a boat with my two children, my sister in law, Jane, my niece, Callie, and a very close family friend, Jennie, awaiting our "flight".

We will be going in pairs. Jane plans to just ride the boat, but not actually parasail. So, know what that means? We are short one person for everyone to have a partner. Know what that means? One of the adults will have to go up twice. How come I think that someone will be me? Cause it probably will be!

I feel this is completely safe, as we have seen many many people doing this over the past few days. I am confident, okay, a little confident that I will live through this experience. But just in case....

I do not want a church funeral, I want a graveside. I do not want music played. Please have the preacher read my favorite verses from Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes 3 Verses 1-9. And if you could, please send my on to my next journey with a can Pepsi in my hand. I might need it. Oh, and want to be buried in yoga clothes, I need to be comfortable.

I would also just like to leave a few of my most prized possessions to a few of my friends...

Jenn-I leave you my bling bling ring you gave me. I have carried it in my purse everyday and even put it on during my work day for a few moments just to feel as special as I did when you gave it to me.

Di-I leave you all my hair products, cause you do have the best hair ever. I love how you express yourself so proudly.

Julie-I leave you my craft project box. May you have actual initiative to use it. Enjoy my googly eye collection, I really cherish them, as they make me giggle.

Gretchen-You my dear, you get my yoga books. Anyone that can put their feet behind their head and is not doing yoga has missed out. I also have this one that is couple yoga...what fun...but hey, I know we spooned and all, but don't think about me as you and your DH enjoy the couple yoga book, k?

Jackie-I leave to you all my photo albums that are plagued with pictures of our two beautiful girls. I also leave to you my wireless Internet card!

Cathy-You know it girl, you get my bling bling rainbows, and the rest of my shoes. I don't have yellow, but I have red, pink, blue, brown, black and white. And could you explain to my husband that they do not all look the same, they are all specific for certain outfits. Maybe he will listen to you!

Helen-I leave to you all of refrigerator magnets. Some are gawdy, but some are pretty cool and I think they would look marvelous on your new frig! Hey, take that bottle of wine in the bottom drawer too! Enjoy!

Michelle #1-I am leave to you my Prozac pills, anyone with four little boys, they deserve Prozac, and lots of it. You can have my ambien too, once you take it, you too can go to my happy place!!!!

Rachel-I am leaving you first dibs on my house, my husband has hated it there for sometime, even though I love it, so my guess is he will have a for sale sign up quickly. Since our house will be paid for in the event one of dies, he will sell it to you for $1.00. Then you can live "close" to Chapel Hill, about 40 minutes or so. And you will be 10 minutes from Jackie and her cake balls.

Jamie-I leave you with my GPS system. Mine is named "Dammit Bee-atch" cause she says make the next legal u turn often, and it drives me insane, feel free to change her name if you wish! I am just thinking perhaps when Caroline needs a vacation, Dammit Bee-atch could step in!

Colleen-I leave you my collection of gift cards to various restaurants. You so deserve a night out, also, I would like to send your sweet baby boy to the nicest playground ever, I want him to have much more fun than hanging out in the pediatric hospital. I also want to leave your husband the "Best Hubby" award for letting you come out and play with us while you had a sick child at home.

Sara-I leave you with my J.Crew credit card, I put a $5000 credit on it, buy only flip flops. Every color, every pattern, heck, have them make you custom ones that only you will have. Purchase some for your friends if you wish, share the happiness!

Hopefully all of this will just be useless knowledge you will have, and I will be right back here blogging away, boring all of you some more, probably having a drink, but alive nonetheless!

I love you all sooooooo much.....be back later....... I hope........

Professional Snorkel-ist, we are not....

2008-07-21T15:04:00.000-07:00

Well we snorkeled today. We had a really good time. I saw a few fish, one even bit me, just for fun I guess. We decided that with the tropical storm that just went by us, the water was really stirred up, making it pretty impossible to see anything. But by goodness, we wore all the snorkel equipment that I searched hi and lo for last week.

We looked very silly too. I did not take any pictures...dang it. We did not even pull out the waterproof camera. No need.

We ate our picnic lunch, Kenz was in a poor mood cause I packed her a Nacho Lunchable and not a ham sandwich...so she pouted, and pouted. The rest of us enjoyed our banana and sand sandwiches and chips.

We enjoyed the secluded beach area we had went to. There were other people there, but they were far, far away from us. It was like we were having our own party.

I could not help but laughing at Aunt Jane as she freaked out a couple of times and looked like she was having some sort of spastic attack trying to get back on her feet while wearing the fins.

Mac hated it, she was not into the tripping over her own feet kind of thing, she could not get the breathing down, and I could not seem to get the patience to show her down, so we were not a great team.

We had fun, which was all that mattered. We might try again later in the week....if I don't lock these kids in the room that is. It has been raining this afternoon for about the last hour, and Chase has asked one bajillion times if it has stopped and could we go to the ocean...I am about to snap....breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out...deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep cleansing breath!!!!!

Day Three...The Natives are Restless

2008-07-21T05:37:00.000-07:00

Day Three, the natives are restless, seem to get bored unless someone is standing on their hands entertaining them. Beach, sand, playgrounds, outdoor pool, jacuzzi, basketball courts, tennis courts, 43 board games in the drawers....and my kids cannot sit for 5 minutes without saying, "I'm bored!" Seriously????

I had a very relaxing evening last night, as I sat on the balcony for HOURS writing my own blogs, then reading others. Sheldon watched tv back in our bedroom while the kids and Jane played badmitton on the courtyard.

I woke this morning, even earlier today than yesterday, something after 5, so by 6am I was on the beach with my yoga mat and my thoughts. I had a very good session, a great meditation, then I promplty rolled my mat, came back in our room, got my car keys and snuck out. I drove straight to the Dunkin Donuts and bought 50 muchkins, and a Box O' Joe. Oh well...relaxed and fat...whatever.

We are heading out soon to go snorkel. Chase, Sheldon, Callie and myself, snorkled last year through the aquirium here. This year we decided to go out on our own. Wonder how much water we will suck down...ha ha!

We are packing, (we, meaning Jane is) our picnic lunch as I sit on my rump and type. We, (meaning the kids) are packing the towels and yelling to each other to not forget the underwater camera....how exciting! We, meaning Callie, is spraying the kids with sunscreen and they are dancing around cause it is cold and they are yelping...

AND OMG...Mac lost a tooth last night and the tooth fairy did not stop here....bad tooth fairy. I believe that she just did not know to come to the beach, so here shortly I will be making a call to my bestest buddy from home and have her contact the tooth fairy with our location. Maybe the Tooth Fairy can make an emergency stop while we are snorkeling.

A Relaxing Sunday Afternoon

2008-07-20T16:28:00.000-07:00

Well, today was a good day. It has been on and off cloudy today but we enjoyed the pool most of the day. Smart me ignored the fact that I know you can get a lot of sun through clouds, so I am a little on the pink side, but I will be fine. I did yoga on the beach this morning. At first I was a little timid thinking I might look a little weird to the beach go-ers, but I went early enough that it was only us freaks out there, freaks being us that wanted to exercise on our vacation, so no one looked at me too strangly, or maybe I did not notice. It was actually very relaxing, I tried to imagine all the stress and worries of my life washing away with each wave. (It kind of scares me how groovy I am beginning to sound.) We, meaning me, Mackenzie, Callie, (my neice), and Jane, (my sister in law, once removed, but I got custody of her in the divorce from my brother), anyway, we have giggled constantly. It cracks me up over some of the things we giggle about. But, once we start, there is no stopping us. I had a memory today of when I was a kid, my grandmother use to tell me and Tracie, (my cousin) that our giggle boxes had turned over. Well, our giggle boxes are not on steady ground! Sheldon and Chase played in the pool for a while today. I decided to close my eyes and pretend I was asleep, because Sheldon was tossing Chase around like he was a ball. Chase was certainly enjoying himself, so that is all that mattered. We had a delicious supper tonight, thanks to Stouffers. We cooked a frozen lasagna, made a quick salad and garlic bread. It was soooo good, or I was soooo hungry. Either way, I did not have to think too hard, or work too hard to prepare dinner, which ended up being a real good thing since I had a sudden migraine this afternoon. Fortunatly, after a small nap and a migraine presription med, I was back enjoying my vacation shortly after. So now I am sitting at a cute cafe table on our balcony, overlooking a playground and courtyard. I am trying to convince the kids to go play, but I think they are afraid that I might fart and they will miss it. I just looked up in the sky and there is the prettiest rainbow, actually two, side by side. The cool thing is it looks like the ones that I use to color on paper when I was 5, it actually is a full arch across the sky. So beautiful. So, I think God did it just for me...cause he loves me!

On Vacation!!!

2008-07-20T08:01:00.000-07:00

So, we got to the beach pretty early yesterday. The weather was perfect. The kids seemed to have a good day. Papa Bill and Granny Julie, (ha ha, not really but that is what we told the staff here, so they could come spend the day with us) came to our condo to swim. Bill wanted to go down the slide here at our place. We have a huge water slide, and it certainly keeps the kids entertained. It started to rain a little while they were here, but it did not stop our fun. Later we went to supper and then to Walmart for grocery shopping.

By this time the kids were EXTREMELY TIRED, AND WHINY, at least Mac was. I ended my day sitting here reading Helen's blog, laughing hysterically.

My poor husband has heard so many times how much I am excited that I have all these new friends. I think it is pretty cool that there are people all over the United States, Canada, and even England that possible thinks about me each day. I know I think about every single person I met in Boston and I am so thankful that I had that opportunity.

Hopefully the next few days will be sunny. We are planning to snorkel tomorrow and on Tuesday we are all going Parasailing. I am so excited. I will be interested to see if the kids go through with it. I think Kenz will, Chase will probably go but he will be very hesitate.

Thanks to Jackie sharing the simple recipe of Jello Shots, I have some "brewing" in the frig....Yummy.

I am off to the pool, hoping for a little sun tan. The kids are bout to drive us crazy to get to the pool. Eager beavers.

Tonight, I Am Thankful For:

2008-07-17T21:01:00.000-07:00

-In less than 30 hours I am leaving for the beach!
-My husband and all of his hard work in our yard this week!
-Clean Laundry
-My desk at work is visable, it is grey...imagine that. I have about caught up on everything so that when I go on vacation next week...maybe it will float.
-My computer pals, can't wait to stay in contact while I am at the beach next week.
-My kids, they are so dang cute!
-I have a house to live in, healthy kids, wonderful husband, my D2 loves me dearly, my broher loves me dearly, my dad loves me dearly, my neice loves me dearly and she thinks I rock! Thats big.

....Lastly, tonight, I am thankful for Ambien, the good ole sleep medication that will allow me to sleep, and not obsess over how it is less than 30 hours before I leave for the beach and I have nothing ready, it will not allow me to feel guilty about Sheldon having to do so much work on his own this week, it will not allow me to obsess over everything that I want to be sure is done and covered for the week I will be gone, I will soon sleep and not wonder how I have became such close friends with so many wonderful women, and worry about when they will discover that I am a fruit loop. I will sleep soon, and not worry about how cute the kids are and how they use that to get everything they want, and soon, the worrying about the messy house that we live in, and how my D2, brother, neice, dad, and everyone else perceives me as a mom and housewife from the looks of my house....all of that will just be drool on my pillow....in a f.....e......w m....i.....n....u....t....e...s

I love Ambien!

Childhood....Great? or Go Ahead and Set Up the Therapy Fund

2008-07-17T06:49:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard the quote from Hope Floats (which happens to be one of my favorite movies of all time) where Sandra Bullock says "Childhood is what you spend the rest of your life getting over." I think about that quote often. Not so much my childhood, but my children's childhoods. I wonder when they think back to their childhood will they have terrific memories that they will share over the Thanksgiving table with their own families or will they just change the subject when it comes to family stories?

As a child we did not have a lot of money. There were many times that we would go to the store and my Mom would tell my brother and I no when we asked for something as small as a candy bar. We received clothes and gifts on our Birthdays, at Christmas and there was always the back to school shopping for new clothes. This was the only time we got things. Do I have bad childhood memories because of this, no, not at all. In fact, I certainly can appreciate my Mother more and all the hard work that it must have been to raise us as a single parent.

Then, if I feel this way, why do I feel like every time the kids ask me for something that I should buy it or they will remember me not getting it for their entire lives? Like they will be the ONLY kids out there without the newest version of a particular video game. How come they can flash those pitiful eyes at me and I melt? Am I creating complete monster children that will grow up to be complete monster adults? Is it fair to justify my purchases for them because they are honestly really good kids, they work hard at school. If I want something I buy it for myself, (within reason of course), so why should I not buy for them?

Growing up my house was always clean. So, did my mother set me up for anxiety over a clean house? I cannot keep a straight tidy house. It is not in my bones. I try, but I fail. We always had clean laundry in our drawers, am I setting my kids up for some bad childhood memories when they grow up and think back to having to dig through laundry baskets for a clean pair of underwear???? Or perhaps, wishful thinking here, they will be so done with living out of laundry baskets they will be obsessive to keeping their laundry caught up! Hopefully.

I never remember my mom coming home and being grouchy from a bad day at work. Surely she had to of....right? Are my kids going to grow up and remember horror stories of me coming home being grouchy and snapping at everyone? Will the happy times I spend with them, over rule the grouchy times?

Of course if I ask the kids, well, Mac will tell it like it is, which is why I choose not to ask, she might just hurt my feelings, but Chase will tell me exactly what he thinks I would want to hear, but if I could get into their heads, would they be excited about their childhood, or would they be so disappointed and feel like orphans cause we made them eat at home last night instead of Bojangles???? I guess I will never know, but I hope they are building fantastic memories everyday, memories that will make them smile as they are driving into work one day, or sitting at their desk, or as they watch their own children and they wonder if they are upholding the extremely big title of the "Memory Creator."

OMG---I Swear, We Are Still Here...

2008-07-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

So, Life....how busy can one get...it seems like when I think we are filled to capacity on our calendar, we add more.

The kids are-no were winding down. Swim season ended this past weekend, but as soon as I think things are ending, my friend talks me into letting Mac go to dance camp every afternoon this week. But...she loves it and selfishly, I do to, cause I will get to see my friend each afternoon when I pick her up. Last night, after a HORRIBLE day, Sheldon picked Mac up, and when he arrived home, he delivered me a glorious piece of Chocolate cake with white icing and red yummy cherries that my friend had sent to me. I almost cried, even though I knew she was sending it, just because it was another reminder to me that she is a wonderful friend that knew I had a horrible day, and she knew by sending me a little piece of cake, I would enjoy a few minutes, okay less than one, but I would enjoy each bite and my day would look a little brighter. It worked. I mean, really, chocolate cake for dinner makes everyone smile, right?

So Swim Champs was this weekend. The kids did really well. Mac swam on Friday night. For those who might not know, Mac hates swimming. She begs not to do swim team every year, but I make her. Why? Well, it cost all of $65.00 to join. The practices are from the end of May through the first part of July. Not a very long season at all. Practice is everyday, however. (Not that we went but that is my next story). So, the way I see it, if I have to be there waiting for practice to be over, I should have a little me time, time for me to reflect, time to read a book, time to not do anything, and if she is not swimming, well, then the time I sit changes to occupying her, telling her that I know she is hot, I am sorry, having her interrupting my quiet time with off the wall stories....anyway...that is why she swims. Also, she gets great instruction that she would never get without swim team.

So....anyway, we have Champ Friday night. My "I hate swimming" child wins first place in her Freestyle heat and her Breast Stroke heat. I am so proud I am about to burst. She acts as if it is no big deal, later I realized that she probably did that on purpose, cause if we know she is good at it, she will be made to do it more...

Saturday, our natural born swimmer, the child that loves to swim every day, swims his champs. He does very well. He swims in the later heats now, which means that his times are shorter so his competition is really tough. He received 20th place in his freestyle which is really awesome. There are a lot of kids swimming in his division. I think 84.

This swim season was a little tough on us this year. There were a couple of issues that I won't bore you with,but never the less, we did not participate as much this year as we have in years past. We did not stay of any of the potluck dinners that was after home meets, we did not do the big Spaghetti Dinner the night before Champs, we did not even go to many practices. We used the fact that Chase had swam all year long as a good enough excuse that he would swim decent at the meets, and Mac did not want to be there anyway...so screw it.

Before going to the banquet on Saturday night, I decided that I should be motherly and protect my young from hurt. See, I was afraid that after the season we had had that the kids would not be recognized very much. So....we go into the banquet, have a decent dinner, and then it is time for trophies and awards.

There is a tradition for Paper Plate Awards, which is an award that the coach makes special for each team member. Mac's plate says "Pretty in Pink" because her coach says she always wears pink...I haven't noticed, bad Mom that I am. Chase gets the "Strong Man" award, his has a muscle man drawn on it. Pretty cute.

They both get their trophies for the season. Then comes the special awards. Mackenzie gets the MVP award, which is a very nice plaque. Then Chase gets the Coach's Award from his coach. His coach talked about how he was such a pleasure and how he wanted to do so well, he had even stayed late one afternoon to practice his starts....it was a very proud moment for us.

We get to our car and Sheldon starts to laugh and tells the kids he had faith in them the entire time, it was their mommy that did not think they did well. I wanted to hit him up side his handsome head!!!! Thankfully the kids laughed!

Our Shining Star

2008-03-16T20:09:00.000-07:00

This weekend Mackenzie participated in her first performance since being a part of the "company" at her dance studio. It was called Company Showcase. Basically, according to Ms. Lauren, the owner/director of her dance studio, this was a dry run to get ready for their first competition that will be at the end of April.

The performance took place at a local arts center. We had dress rehearsal on Friday night, and then the the actual show was on Saturday evening at 5pm.

We had a meeting a week or so ago, getting instructions on every detail of the make up application, the hair style, the correct tights, and all the accessories required for the girls to wear. I am a girly girl, this should not be any problem. None, nada, zilch. Ha Ha Ha.

First, the hair style, half up, half down....easy enough. UNTIL, we cut her hair pretty short recently. After using a lot of hair spray, I was able to accomplish this first task. Then on to curling the back so it looked cute. That was like curling the hair on a monkey's head. Mackenzie is like a moving target when it comes to fixing her hair. She has to be in the know about everything, so she is constantly turning to look at whatever is going on around her.

Next, the makeup! I have been wearing make up for many years. I wear it everyday. Putting makeup on my daughter should be easy, but, remember that monkey...yeah. I apply her foundation, blush, lipstick, everything is going good. I start with the eyes, apply the shadow, it looks good, I am proud. I tell Mackenzie to go show her teacher, get her approval...I know I have done good....right? WRONG. Well maybe not completely wrong, she says it looks good, but needs to be much darker. So I reapply, and reapply, and reapply some more. Then I move on to the dreaded eyeliner. Mackenzie hates eyeliner, so she starts to fret and fuss, complaining that I am hurting her. Once I have finally accomplished this task, and Mackenzie is absolutely not having fun anymore, it is time to apply the mascara. Before doing so, I give her a good look over, making sure that my masterpiece is almost complete. I am pretty impressed, she looks like a little model. Just perfect.

I start the mascara ordeal. I am almost completely done, when she suddenly moves and the mascara wand pokes her eye. Oh Lord this is not going to be good. Her eyes well up with tears. I am frantically telling her to stop crying, sounding extremely unsympathetic, but knowing if the tears start rolling down her face, we will have a complete disaster. Streaked foundation and blush, smeared eyeliner, and black mascara running everywhere is not what we needed five minutes before call time.

It is finally time for the show to begin. I have already taken at least 20 or more pictures. Mackenzie looked like an angel. A grown up angel, but an angel none the less. I kept staring at her, thinking to myself how gorgeous she is. When she smiled, her entire face just sent out rays of light. She just looked beautiful.

She performed a tap routine, wearing a red and white polka dot costume complete with black gloves, and a head piece that had black feathers attached to it. The costume had a belt attached to it that had a diamond like buckle. She had diamond like earrings to complete the look. Her costume fit her perfectly. She looked awesome in it.

The tap performance was a little on the side of not being really ready to perform yet. According to Mackenzie, they just finished creating the dance in the last week or so. It did not matter to us moms though. They looked pretty darn cute to us. I think it will be cool to see how far they will have came at the actual recital compared to this performance.

Her second and final dance was her jazz. It is so apparent by the photos that Mackenzie really enjoys this routine. Her smile just shined while she was doing this dance. Ironically, she was dancing to "Momma, I'm a Big Girl Now". She looked it for sure. The costume for this one was pink, sparkly, and had the same diamond like buckle for the belt.

The girls really did a terrific job on this number. They had been practicing this one much longer and it really showed.

As we were leaving at the end, several people complimented Mackenzie on her performance. One friend of ours told Mackenzie that she reminded her of her little girl when she was that young by the way she was smiling on stage. Later, on our way home, Mackenzie told me that it was nice that people were there to "support" her, and she knew that Tina really watched her, and was not just saying that, because, she said she was smiling. I think this might have been the first time that Mackenzie cared....I mean, that she was proud of herself for something she had been working on. As her Mom, it was a proud moment for me to see her "shine" even more as other people complimented her. It is one thing for Mom to tell you that you did a good job, and I did, a lot, I was so proud of her. But, still, to have other people make a point to find you and tell you how great you did, that is a whole different story. I was happy that Mac had that.

Mackenzie is going to be a very lucky girl. She is that girl that girls like myself are jealous of. She is the total package. She is beautiful. She is funny. She is very outgoing. She is not shy. She is smart. She is going to be a talented dancer. All I can say is her daddy is going to very busy keeping the boys at bay in a few years.

I goofed.....again!

2008-03-13T20:40:00.000-07:00

There are times when you just know you made a mistake. I have made many. Mother of the Year Award....not planning on getting it this year...again!

Chase has been swimming since fall for Blue Devil Aquatics. Every meet he as competed in, he has made improvements, cutting his times. We have been so proud of him, and so thankful for coaching he has received. Chase enjoys swimming and he is good at it. He has worked real hard all year long.

He competed in a final meet this past weekend. It was sort of a championship meet, but for children that did not qualify to go to State Champs. As good as he is, there are some amazing kids that swim incredibly well. We have no doubt that if Chase continues to put as much effort in his training he will too be at State Champs one day.

Anyway....here we are, the eve before his "champs." Chase has this nice cough that sounds horrifying. It is allergy season, which he has a tough time with, and there are about 100 bugs in the air at school. We come home from practice and start to get ready for bed. Cough....cough.....cough....cough. How pitiful. I think to myself, he needs sleep, this meet is important tomorrow. Knowing him like the back of my hand, if I don't do something, he will not sleep at all.

You see, his nerves always get him. He starts to worry and then he gets so worked up he cannot sleep. Normally, (without a horrible cough) after some coaching, he will finally slip off to sleep. Add that cough in the mix, sleep seems to be not in the plans...unless....I just give him a little night time cold medicine. Seems like a good idea, right? WRONG.

We wake early on Saturday morning, since we are expected to be at the pool at 7:45, and the pool is almost one hour away from our house. Everything seems to be okay. Until........

It is time for Chase's first race. He dives off the block, in slooooooooow motion. He swims in slooooooow motion. It was almost as if he were on tv and they had singled him out to show how exactly to do the stroke or something. His freestyle looked really nice. Nice and slow. Sheldon and I just looked at each other. We immediately started repeating back and forth to each other, "He does not feel well." Followed by more Mommy and Daddy excuses for our perfect child.

I go down to the deck after his race and check on him, he feels warm to me. He insist he feels fine and does not want to leave. Sheldon justifies that there is so much chlorine there is no way he could share his germs with other swimmers.

Two more swims to go. Freestyle done, backstroke and breast stroke to go. 50 Back, and 100 Breast, that is four lengths of the pool. Oh my. Not good.

He started each race out pretty good, but got slower and slower and slower. I felt about one inch tall. I know that combined with the sinus/cough issue, night time cold meds the night before the big race....just not a good idea.

If there was one good thing about this meet it was that Chase felt so crappy he did not care. Normally he is so hard on himself and so nervous before every race. Not so much this time. He hated that he did not cut time off his races, but it was a passing thought.

In case you don't see what is going on here....I am trying to make myself feel better here. If I convince myself that Chase was not upset about his bad performance, then I won't feel like the worse Mommy in the world. I don't want to have to put another thing on the list of why I will not get Mother of the Year Award. My list is long enough. One day, maybe, I will get to walk down the Mother of the Year Red Carpet. At best, I can just hope that my kids will forgive me for my mistakes, Lord knows they are the ones that will be picking out my nursing home.

Brotherly/Sisterly Love

2008-02-29T09:01:00.000-08:00

What happened to the time? Like just the other day, Sheldon and I were at UNC holding this brand new baby boy, starting our new life out together as a family. When I think back to those days, I also realize how young Sheldon and I were. Sheldon had just turned 23, and I was only a couple of weeks shy of 24.

Chase was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. I had a difficult delivery with him, with some very frightening moments, for he and I. I remember seeing him and just like the new country song, I did see God that day. I will tell you, if you ever doubt there is a God, just look at a precious newborn.

I blinked my eyes and Chase was turning one. Chase has always been a light at the end of my tunnel. He makes me grin now, just like he did when he was a toddler. He always seemed to know when someone needed a smile.

What seemed like a few days later, Chase was two, and we had a second baby on the way. Just like every Mom I have ever talked to, I was petrified that I would not love the next like I loved Chase. How could I? I had experienced a love that was unimaginable. I remember the night I went into labor like it was just yesterday. My mom came to pick Chase up after she and John finished their Friday night routine of eating at Clarksville Station. When she left with my Chase, I sobbed harder than I had since I was a child myself. It hurt my heart that the next time I saw him, he would not be my only baby. This might have been the first time I realized the love of a mother and her child.

Mackenzie Claire Perkins was born the next day, with a great delivery. She was the tiniest thing we had ever seen, weighing only 5 lbs 15oz. Mom and John brought Chase to see us a few hours after her birth. And by the way, I was already in love with her, and knew that I could love two children. Chase came in to see his baby sis-ser. He loved her immediately. He was intrigued with her hair, rubbing her head over and over. We were the perfect little family. Everything was perfect....until the nurse came it to take Mackenzie to the nursery to get her vitals and such.

Our sweet baby boy, our perfect child, our son that everybody commented on how good he was, threw the worst fit one could ever imagine. He screamed at the top of his lungs because they had taken his baby away. I guess in his little mind, he had waited all this time to get her, and they just took her.

We remind Chase of this story occasionally. Since he and Mac argue all the time now. I cannot seem to make him understand that one day they will need each other. I try to remind myself that my brother and I use to fight and argue to. I am sure if Mom was here she would tell me that we were just as bad as Chase and Mac, but I would probably doubt her.

I look at the two of them and just wonder. Will Mac cry at Chase's wedding as I did at Tim's? Will Chase hold Mac in a time of a crisis and let her cry on his shoulder,even though his heart is as crumbled as hers, as Tim has for me? Will Mac try to "adopt" Chase's first born, as I did with Tim's? Will Chase secretly protect Mac when she is a freshman at OHS and he is a big time Senior, as Tim did with me? Will I sit back one day and giggle because Mac and Chase are whining to me that their own children are argueing and they are swearing that they never argued like that when they were young!

A Little More of the Nitty Gritty

2008-02-23T18:19:00.000-08:00

Well, yesterday, I wrote about the children, barely scratching the surface, for sure. So today, I thougt a little info on the parents of these precious children would be good.

Sheldon is still working in the great City of Durham, awaiting his promotion to Sergeant. He recently left the homicide unit and went back on the street to patrol. He loves his job....most days.

As a family we are adjusting to shift work again. Funny, a few years ago I was pretty good at doing the single parent thing when Sheldon worked nights. We (me and the kids) would do things, go places, see people while he worked. The kids listened to me, I was good at being the disciplinarian. Then Sheldon went on a 9-5 schedule for a couple of years. I sort of had the opportunity to step back and be the sweet mommy, one that could say, "Wait until your father gets home." See, when Sheldon worked nights, I was determined that I would handle things here at home, and NEVER wait for him to come home to handle the problems. I did not think that was fair. Now, I am certaintly not saying that I did not vent, A LOT, about how the kids had drove me crazy, or how the they had been whiny, or one had been sick, or they were fighting, or when they were babies, how they had cried all night. As much as I did not want to depend on Sheldon while he worked, wanting him to be able to focus 100% on his job, I did lean on him often. But what I did not do, was to expect him to come home and punish the children if they needed it for something they had done on my watch.

Now that he is back on shift work, and gone for several nights straight, me and the kids are learning how to co-exist. Seriously. Sometimes I think those two children have meetings on how to get momma crazy(ier). They sneak in each others room while I am sleeping and plot things agianst me. They send morse code messages. Maybe they pass notes, I don't know, but I can assure you, something goes on between those too.

I moved my office from the Raleigh location to the Durham location. This has been a great move for me. I drive so much less. I was in the car for over an hour each way, now, I am not even in my car long enough to put my dang make up on. (Yes, I am that crazy women trying to put her mascara on at the stop light.)

I work normal hours, which works great with all the running we have to do every night of the week. Chase has swim practice 3-4 times a week, Mac has dance twice a week, and I have Yoga on Monday nights. Sheldon and I take turns with the swim practices. I perfer for Sheldon to take him, becuase when I take him, Mac goes with me, and for one hour and forty five minutes, she is on Misson Drive Mama Absolutly Crazy With Random Questions. No kidding. In the future I will journal some of the questions, amazing questions no doubt.

As a family, our life is pretty routine. Monday's I do yoga, come home. Tuesdays Chase has swim, Mac has dance. Wednesday is our free night. Thursday nights Chase has swim, and Mac has dance and tumble class. Friday nights, more swimming for Chase. Saturday morning....more swimming. Sunday evenings, we go to Granddaddy's for supper with the whole family. And then we start over.....

Just a few side notes about us....

Sheldon and I have been together since 1991, and were married in 1994. We will be married 14 years in September.
I am 34 years old, Sheldon is 33. Both of us have birthdays coming up this spring/summer....which means.....I am about to be 35 years old. Oh my God!
For hobbies, Sheldon likes to play racket ball, play video games with Chase, and read comics. He is also enjoys working out.
For hobbies, I like photography.
I recently began practicing yoga, and really think I have found a new passion.

Sheldon is working tonight, Mackenzie is spending the night with her cousin. Chase is snoring beside me right now. So far it has been a really good weekend. Very laid back.

Mac spent the night with Taylor last night too, she called me tonight, I was so glad to hear her sweet voice....until she said, "I called to talk to dad, where is he?" "Work," I said. "Tell him to call me, okay? Okay, goodbye." Well........goodnight sweetie, I love you sweetie, see you tomorrow sweetie.....I thought as I heard the phone go dead on the other end.

Daddys Girl!!

Who We Are, What We Do.....

2008-02-22T13:34:00.000-08:00

I decided on doing a blog, one, because I love reading them, two, because I use to be good about journal ling my thoughts about these two creatures that live at my house with my husband and myself, but I quit, and three, becuase you people just need to know what we go through as parents of the most adorable, aggravating, intelligent, crazy, sneaky, honest, (brutially honest), precious, energitic, "spunky" (I prayed for a a spunky little girl, be careful, very careful what you wish for), and finally, the best children God created, just for me and Sheldon.

Chase is now 10. He is the sweetest, kindess child out there. Heart of gold. He amazes me as to how giving he can be. For example, he is saving every nickel and dime for an IPod. He wants one so bad he can taste it. For Valentines, I decided that since neither of the kids are big candy eaters, and we have about 100 too many stuff animals and such...I would just give them money. $20.00 each...this brought Chase's total to $68.00. Almost half way there. Well, he and I had some time to waste before we had to pick up Mac from her Valentine Party at dance. We went to Walmart just to walk around.

While enjoying some ice cream at the McDonalds, Chase asked if he could show me something when we were done. "Sure," I said. So, we clean up, and he walks me to the jewelry counter of Walmart, looks at me and says, "Pick anything you want up to $68.00. " He was dead serious. I almost cried. I told him I wanted him to keep his money, so he could get that IPod, and that I just did not need any jewelry, having all of mine and Grandma's. What a sweet, giving child. Had I had the money, he would have had that IPod that night. (So, they are a little spoiled)

Mackenzie is my drama girl. She loves to be dramatic. She is a complete trip. You just never know what she might say, or do. She has not one shy bone in her body. She likes to talk....a lot. She is absolutely beautiful, if I do say so myself. She knows how to bat her eyes to get anything she wants from her daddy, and if that does not work, she just yells out, "Daddy's Girl!" That usually seals the deal. Mackenzie likes to dance. She is on the company team at To The Pointe Arts and Dance Academy. On Thursday afternoons, I get there in time to watch her in tumble class. It makes me giggle to watch her. She spends all of her time primping in the mirror, posing, adjusting her clothes, swinging her hair around and such. We are in such trouble as she gets older. The one thing that Mac does to drive me crazy, and she knows it, is...she likes to ask the most random questions. I do not know where she comes up with them sometimes. I mean, they are out there.

Sheldon and I are regular parents...I think. I guess. Okay, maybe not. We are the kind of parents that like to hide in the closet and jump out to scare them. We like to pretend like we do not know them sometimes, which drives Mac crazy. We told them that we had a previous child, named Freeda, but we gave her away because she acted up at the table. Stuff like that... we are normal parents, right?

Our Adventure with Chase and Mackenzie

WOW..Three Months Since the Last Post

Busy Time of the Year

Preparing for J's Big Day

Nomal, or Not

Way to Fast

I Have No Idea What to Write

Report Card Time

What to Write About...

Christmas Snapshots

The Christmas Story...at the Perkins' House Anyway

Christmas Memories

Counting Down

What We Have Been Up To Lately

Excitement Starts to Build

Is it Time Yet, Is It, Huh, Huh...Is It

News at the Perkins House

My Kids Rock

Report Card Time

A Very Special Moment

Awww...Oh Well, Never Mind

The Family Tree

Saturday Stuff

Proud, I am A Proud Momma

Our Weekend!

What Is Her Name??

Wonder-rifical News

Happenings in the Perkins House

Oh No You Did Not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

May You Please

Not Quite Grown, Just Yet

THE School Dance

THE Shoes...

5...6...7...8----Dear Lord Jesus

Middle School Might Not Be So Bad...

Stupid Little Hersery Kisses

Maybe A Wee Bit Better...Not Much

Day Three, Only 177 More to Go!!

Please Let It Get Better

Aww, First Day of School

Middle School Begins

Here We Go, Ready Or Not

That Boot Camp I Speak Of...

Boot Camp and Such...

Summer Days...

The Quiet Game

Hmmmm....I Don't Feel So Well....

One More....I Promise This Is the Last One....

The Man I Love....

Look What I Made....

My Cup Runneth Over....

Parasailing...

Seriously? Just Pee Over There....

Freaking Dunkin Donut Munchkins

Future Stories

We Are Home

***Sigh*** It is Friday!

Yes Cathy, I Did Like Him....I Hope To See Him Again!

The Day Before the Day Before We Go Home

I'M ALIVE, I'M ALIVE!!!

I Hereby Bequeath to my New Friends....

Professional Snorkel-ist, we are not....

Day Three...The Natives are Restless

A Relaxing Sunday Afternoon

On Vacation!!!

Tonight, I Am Thankful For:

Childhood....Great? or Go Ahead and Set Up the Therapy Fund

OMG---I Swear, We Are Still Here...

Our Shining Star

I goofed.....again!

Brotherly/Sisterly Love

A Little More of the Nitty Gritty

Who We Are, What We Do.....

Sigh It is Friday!