My Little Life

We are DOWN to the wire, folks. Like "running into home and your pants begin to foam" down to the wire. Party. In two day. DOS days. 1. 2. Days. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH STUFF I NEED TO GET DONE???????? Also of note: Do not plan a remodel to begin promptly after your last party guest leaves because: WHICH EVENT DO I FOCUS ON?! Holy moly. I've got taco meat to make, photo boards to finish, condiments to buy, bars to bake, nooks and crannies to clean, playoff games to make, Little League practices to forget (which I have done...too many times than I want to admit) and there are only so many hours in the day. Several of those hours which require me to be fast asleep lest I turn into an angry monster that bites people's heads off because I didn't get enough sleep. Forget "beauty" sleep...I need "nice" sleep. Although...beauty sleep could be seen as a "need" as well. And if we're speaking of "needs"...I also need an...

I know you've all been glued to your computers, anxiously awaiting a report on how I handled graduation...well wait no more! The time is here! This moment in my life seems so surreal. It's like the last 18 years passed in the blink of an eye...so cliche, right? Well, cliche sometimes equals "spot on"...especially in the case of growning kids. Mamas, hug those itty bitty babies close tonight, smile at that umpteenth temper tantrum, and let today's potty accident cause you no worry, for before you know it, those days will be gone and you will be facing that baby heading off into the great big world all by himself. It breaks my heart. But at the same time, I'm so very excited for him. And nervous. And happy. And scared. And oh my. My emotions. I wish he could REALLY realize (and appreciate) what an amazing time of his life he's in right now. Anyway, I got side tracked, sorry about that...graduation. It was just as I expected. When I saw the kids...

After I wrote my last post, I realize that I basically made it sound like our success was a one woman show...which I can assure you, it was NOT! Sure, it was my determination and hard work that got us through, but without some pretty amazing people by my side, I'm pretty sure I would've fallen flat on my face MANY times. In fact, maybe it was MORE because of those amazing people that we didn't become what "they" said we would?! So...let's recognize some of these amazing people, shall we? First up...my mom and dad. I mean, let's all be honest here...without them? I'd've been living in a box under a bridge. ;) Honestly though, their support was extraordinary. Allowing me and Pal to live at home every summer during college, helping to watch the little monster (yes, yes he was a little monster at around 2...just ask my dad!), getting him to go potty on the potty chair when I had tried and tried all DANG day to get him to go, coming to my college...

In less than one month, I will open my home to oodles of people in honor of my biggest boy's graduation from high school. While that all sounds highly thrilling and unbelievably exciting I've gotta level with you: A party planner I am NOT. I mean...how do you plan for food? How do know how many people will come to your "Open House"? Will anyone come? Will they ALL come? Who even invented open houses, anyway?  And, HAVE YOU SEEN PINTEREST? I mean COME ON. Why's there always gotta be a mom out there who "out moms" us all and makes the rest of us mere mortals look like total schleps? Do we all have to eat off tin plates and sit on straw bales whilst we sip from apropos colored paper straws stuck in kitschy cute mason jar mugs? What happened to the respect for the Solo cup? Did it die with What's-His-Name's catchy song? I mean, Red Solo cup, I WILL lift you up...and then I'll promptly toss you in the trash and throw you to the curb, a...

My baby. My first born. That boy who first made me a mama. He's 18 today and I think I may need to spend the day in bed with a box of tissues, crying over how quickly the time went. I mean...SERIOUSLY. He's nearly as old as I was when I had him. HOW CAN THIS BE PEOPLE?!?!?!?!? How can that little boy who used to reach his pudgy little arms up to me and say, "I wanna hold you me" (sounded more like, "Ina hoed choo me", though...) be a legal adult? Old enough to vote. To gamble. To rent rated R movies. To buy cigarettes (he better not). To get married (see above). People. I need you to do something for me.  Right now...go find your babies, study their faces, smell their sweet breath, hold them in your arms and squeeze them extra tight, because tomorrow? Tomorrow you'll wake up and find that they, too, have suddenly grown up and become adults right before your very eyes. I hope and pray that I've done right by him...

Raising a teenager (Oop, hold up, need to put in a quick side note...Dear karma gods, I am not gloating in the following sentence, I am merely stating a fact based upon my experience with one teenager...please don't get me back for this statement with any of my younger 4 children who are not teenagers and have yet to exhibit their teenage behaviors. Thank you. Carrying on...) has been so much easier than I dreaded. Yes, dreaded. Sure, we've had some difficult times, but we seem to quickly find our footing and gosh, you know what? I'll take the arguments over delinquency ANY day. Our Pal has been a joy to parent and I am so proud of the young man he has become. He's responsible and funny and smart and playful and just plain fun to be around (most of the time). Why am I bragging on him, you ask? Well, 'cuz on his first day of school, he let me do this: And I think he got as much of a kick out of it as I did!! Dang, I like this kid. (But no, Pal, I wil...

I'm struggling. Really, truly, having a hard time with my baby going to kindergarten. I knew it was coming soon, I knew it was going to be difficult, but tonight, when I walked in the door from work and saw her Kindergarten stuff from Open House? Well, the tears started. And the tightness in my heart is breaking me. At this moment, I'm sort of wishing I was one of those moms that looks forward to school starting. One that gets excited about kids going off to school and eager for changes like this. But I'm not. And I'm struggling. You'll probably hear a lot from me over the next couple of weeks about this subject...cuz I'm just not ready.  I just can't believe that my Baby Girl is starting school. That my nest in one step closer to being empty. That my first baby is a senior and I'm taking his senior pictures tomorrow. Where is the time going?????? Ugh. Please pass the tissues.