I want to be a toddler again

Back

Jack and I got back late last night from Portland. The trip was not as I expected but I still got a little r-n-r in. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I spent dealing with some serious drama at my house even though I was 2 states away which was hard to do remotely. My mom and I spent most of the time just hanging out. We did end up going through my old room that she has turned into a shrine of teddy bears and Adam/Mark's old room that is the spare bedroom. Also, I successfully adjusted all 30 of her wall clocks to all say the same time and all actually work. Jack also got to do alot of running around the yard without me worrying about him running into the street or anything. He chased mom's dog around most the time and even got to feed the llama and goats! We also went and visited Joe a few times and he was doing great despite having 1/3 of his kidney removed and a 30in. incision. He was able to come home on Sunday which was 2 days earlier than the doctor had originally expected. I also went and visited Reita one day (Joe's mom) and Jack loved her house and her! He was a real flirt and danced for us and showed off. On Monday mom had to go back to work so Micah came and picked us up and I spent the day with her and Cade until it was time to go to the airport. Didn't get to see my Dad or Tina which I was disappointed in but oh well. Overall, I was truly sad to go. I miss Washington and all that it is with the fall weather and the colors changing and just the simplicity of it all there. We are back in the OC now and I already feel the hussle and bussle beginning to reel me in....help!

Adios Amigos

So I am headed off early tomorrow morning for the town I grew up in....or the area I should say. I will need to be out the door tomorrow morning with Jack at about 5:30am to catch a 7am flight. Dad, if you are reading this, I know you're cringing at the thought of me not getting to the airport 3 hours early but that's not going to happen. Anyway, I am SO looking forward to this! My bags are packed, Jack is officially asleep, and all I have left to do is make my official agenda for Doug and get myself into bed. My calender this weekend is going to look a little like this.....sleep, nap, watch movies with mom, organize like crazy, shop a little, see Micah, see my Dad, and sleep some more. I packed about 4 pairs of sweats and my slippers. So if anyone is wondering why I go MIA with the blogging for the next few days, you know why. Have a great weekend!

Mommy needs a vacation

So the title says it all. If you've been reading my blog pretty regularly you will know that I have been stressed to the max. You know how they say that God will never give you more than you can handle? Well, I think he's pushing it a bit. So, my mom's boyfriend went in for a very serious surgery to explore his kidneys since they found kidney cancer on both a few months back. When my mom was here a few weeks ago, she said, "Why don't you come while Joe's in the hospital and we can spend some time together?" Which means she needs my professional organizing and throwing away of junk skills....yes, I am skilled in this area but sometimes it is a curse. I'm getting a deja vu here but a few years back I refinished my grandmother's desk that was probably about 100 years old and because I didn't have enough room really in my garage....I got rid of it....OUCH! Stupid,stupid, stupid! We have since rented a storage unit so I now have a spot for our keepsakes. Anyway, I am headed to Portland, Oregon on Thursday morning and I will have with me my little Jack so Doug doesn't have to stay home from work. I'm hoping to just hang out for a few days....probably see my dad since he hasn't seen Jack in a year, see Micah of course, and maybe even see my girlfriend Tina who I haven't seen in probably 8 years. I get back on Monday so I am gone a total of 5 days which is perfect. What could go wrong right? Unlike my husband when he goes away, I've put together an agenda of the days I'm gone and made arragements for Ryan after school both Thursday and Friday so no one has to come home early.

My mom's house is such a great place to get away....especially if it's raining! :-) This is a picture of the lake by her house that my brothers and I spent alot of summers swimming in and hiking at....good times.

And here's a house in Portland that I wouldn't mind living in. I would soooo love to move back to the NW! Look at those amazing fall colors!

On a totally separate note: Ali's results from her meckel's scan came up negative which means good but now we are back to square one! AAAGGGHHH!!!

Capo's first Football Game

Thursday was the JV Football's first game which meant Ali's first official cheering this season. Her team did great and our team won so it was a great way to start off the season. Even Ryan and Jack got in on the cheering. Go Cougars!
And this picture I just couldn't pass up because it captures Jack's personality. What a ham!
So, this weekend wasn't as busy as most. Saturday Ryan and AJ had hockey practice. Today I woke up with a migraine and a sour stomach followed by nausea...fun,fun! Our housekeeper came and cleaned the house and even cleaned my room as I lay under my covers. After taking a mixture of vicadin and pepto all day...I'm finally functional. I hate being sick. AJ had a hockey game (they won) and Doug took Ali and Jack with him while Ryan went to Legoland with a friend so the house was really quiet most of the day while I slept and watched tv. We did end up going to church today.....we watched the service via webcast in our bonus room. Here's how my day went.....Ali took this pic the morning...what a day!

What's the saying?

Is it two steps forward, ten steps back?? Or 1 step forward, 2 steps back?? Or is that a Paula Abdul song?? Anyway, that's what I feel like today. And just in case you are reading this my darling daughter, Ali, yes....this is about you. Today Ali had a colonoscopy because she is still having all her stomach issues and now some other issues I will not mention as to not embarrass her but let's just say they are "issues" that required a colonoscopy. So this morning we had to be at CHOC (children's hospital of orange county) at 7:30am for the 9:30am procedure and we were there right on time. For those of you that have had this procedure done, they don't usually put you under anesthesia but in Ali's case they did, which we were soooo relieved. After she was asleep I waited in the waiting room for only about 25 minutes before the doctor came out to let me know that her colon looked good with the exception of one area that she biopsied and we should have the results in a few days. She also had some really great pics that she took which I will probably include in our Christmas card so look for that. :-) Then I was able to go into the recovery room with her where I talked to her a little until she woke up and then a nurse came to take her up to another room where they eventually discharged us. Overall it was a good experience. I know I didn't personally have it done but I think even Ali would agree that it wasn't nearly as bad as she was thinking it might be. It's times like these when I've been in the hospital with the kids...in February with Jack, in May with Ali.....that I think that one on one is really great. That might sound weird but when you have 4 kids, one on one is very hard to get. Ali and I go round and round more than any of my other kids which is why when we have moments like today when we talk without distraction and I feel that she really needs me, it makes coming home and having the drama begin even sadder. Tonight the twins and Doug made some yummy pork chops and everything was sooo great....until Ali made the mistake of texting something to Doug's phone that was intended for someone else and the text just happened to be about Doug. To say the least, it was not very nice and Doug was a little taken back by it so he text her back hoping to get some sort of response like a "sorry" or something.....nothing. To make a long story short, my daughter decided to lie about the incident and now her phone is no longer her's. Before the dust somewhat settled, Ali wanted to leave, she told me it was none of my business, and then Charlotte came over to try and smooth things over.....no comment. Now the reason I write all this is not to expose Ali for this horrible person because I think she is not too far off from most teens....but to explain why I feel like I am constantly taking 10 steps back for every 2 I take forward. I'm not going to lie to you, I hate this part of parenting. I hate the hormones that make my kids freakazoids at times, I hate not hearing everything that happened at a party or about every event in my teenagers lives anymore....Ryan is still at that stage where he will tell me every little detail about everything that happened at some friends house...to the point where I am wondering when he's going to shut up. Now that my older two have shut up, I am sad. Some days I feel like I am losing these precious kids that I met almost 14 years ago. And other days I feel like the connection is so strong I don't want to let go. I hate roller coasters. I know this too shall pass but will I go insane before it passes?
Anyway, I am exhausted. Jack is on a roller coaster of his own lately and not sleeping as well...possibly the 4 last teeth he's been cutting for over a month but who knows. Oh well, tomorrow's another day and I'm sure it won't disappoint. Goodnight.
FYI Ali is having another procedure done on Thursday called a Meckel's Scan...google it.

First Day of School minus the teenagers

Today was everyone's first day back at school and can I just say "thankyou Jesus!" Ok, so I totally brain farted this year and forgot to take the traditional picture of all the kids in front of the house. It didn't help that we had to leave this year super early because they weren't giving out the sophmore schedules until today and that Ali didn't disappoint with being a little dramatic which threw me way off. I left the house at 7am with the high schoolers (mine plus 2 carpoolers) and then rushed back home to pick up Ryan to take him up to school by 8am. It wasn't too bad at AJ and Ali's school but Ryan's was chaotic as usual with all the parents wanting to take a bazillion pics (me included) and then wanting to follow the kids into the classroom to say goodbye a hundred times. I didn't go that far because Ryan kept giving me the "eye" like that might a little too embarrassing so I just headed over to McKenzie's class to see what she was up to....yes, little Kenzie is in preschool now and THAT makes me feel older than I think the fact that I have a 4th grader and two high schoolers! Adam and Jenn held it together pretty good for first timers. Adam kept wanting to go check and make sure she was ok and Jenn and I kept telling him to stop....I think he was having a harder time that anyone. So, am I sad? Hell no! I came home with Jack and put him down for an early nap since he was up for some reason twice in the night and here I am catching up on things with our fixed computer (thanks Dan) and an appointment for a nap here after I blog.

Also, I wanted to throw in a picture of Ryan and hise bestfriend, Max. The other night when Max slept over, they wanted to go tp someone's house so I said maybe they should tp Uncle Adam and Aunt Jenn's house. As you can tell by the picture, they took it very serious and got all ninja'd up, backpacks full of tp, flashlights, and all. What they didn't know is that I tried putting in several calls to Adam before we went to warn him and maybe give him a chance to hide in a bush with the hose or something and scare them but Adam didn't answer so he had a mess to clean up the next day.