Just Me!!

MH ( M issing H usband ) day 2. All is going great. I used to think I couldn't single parent on my own, but if forced too, I now know I can. Don't get me wrong, or think ill of me for saying such! I do love having Mark around, and pardon the cliche, but "He completes Me." Despite that, I am having fun. Mark never puts constraints on my time, but when he is around I want to do nothing but be with him. I tend to leave myself unattended too, for the most part. By that I mean, I put aside my hobbies, desires, and free time to be with him. So in his absence, this is what I have been doing: Day One consisted of staying at home with Charlie, and getting things (the house) under control. We did manage to cook up some yummy delicious Peanut Butter Oatmeal Sandwich cookies , that I had intended to share with my dad (gone now--sorry dad). Because I baked, I ended up taking the kids to dinner, and then off to the craft store to buy supplies for Princess Lanie's homemade sof...

Okay, I love my work schedule. I work three days a week and then get four in a row off. No complaints, other to say....where did my four days go? They sped by so fast this week that I am scrambling to get the house together for THE pass of to my husband. I finished getting the house cleaned, fridge cleaned out of old stuff (meat from last June...yuck!), vacuumed the floors and stairs (hate the stairs), and laundry well on it's way to being finished. Now I just have to make enchilada's, go to the store, and somehow fit in a shower and nap. It'll get done, it always does. By Sunday I will be saying, wow that three days of work went so quickly....

I have never really thought about celebrating March 17 th , until two weeks ago when I picked up Corned Beef from Costco. My whole family loves Corned beef, so this was an easy meal to get everyone on board for. I also rented Rat Race, but soon discovered that it was not age appropriate for my wee ones. Disney Channel saved us by showing "The Luck of the Irish" at 5pm. I bought chocolate coins, and milk chocolate 500.00 dollar bills, and rootBEER for floats. It was a fun night. The kids are all hopped up on sugar, but hopefully they will head to bed with fun family memories and full tummies! We struck gold...mom! They're.....CHOCOLATE! Want some? Ethan's St Patty's Comic Strip

Due to an oversight in scheduling, we ended up entertaining our In-Laws and babysitting my niece and nephew. I thought 5 kids would be no problem, but they kept me very busy the whole night. We had a big poopie accident, so I had to put Jaxon in Charlie's p.j.'s while I washed his. He ended up going home with his own clothes on! Hey, not my fault that he didn't have a change of clothes, right? Valerie enjoyed G and G's company. She received a 25.00 gift card and two books on CD. She loved them! She said "I am going to get a heat rock for Scratch because he didn't get anything for his birthday!" How sweet. She is growing up. Look closely at the picture and you will see that she is even wearing a ring! Change is in the AIR....

Does blogging isolate us? Is Facebook ruining our lives? Are we headed to the end of Socialization because of multimedia? Either way, I am very proud of my family for journaling their daily lives in our new family website for the past 9 days. It has become routine. I love it!

Not only do I have to continue to endure my own birthdays, which brings me another year closer to being old, but I also have to watch my kids get older. My baby, the one who I tried to birth for 12 long hours this day, 11 years ago. The same baby who I was way too tired to hold for the first two hours. The same baby who I held in my arms, after everyone had gone out of my postpartum room, late into the night, and named secretly by myself. The same baby who was the cutest thing I had every laid eyes one. The same baby who left me crying at her crib the first night I was home. The same baby whom I got up with every two hours, rocked, kissed, and sang lullabies too. The same baby........I could go on, and on! That same baby is 11 years old! Crazy! Happy Birthday, Valerie. You are the sweetest baby.....um, preteener that I know. You're standing in front of me now, playing Happy Birthday on your recorder....I am your biggest fan. I love you....I AM SO PROUD OF YOU.

Charlie's first dentist appointment Ethan's 9th birthday