Trying to Get to Turkey Day

I love this time of year! Our weather kinda starts to change which for us means that it's like in the 70's and 80's as opposed to the 90's and 100's, the kids are settling into their sports and I'm finally settling into the schedule that follows. This year, I think I've mentioned, is crazy! Lots going on and not enough cars or "me" to go around. Doug has taken on a new venture and is coaching a team that practices about 80 minutes away and most weekends around here are crazier than the weekdays.

This year our Thanksgiving will be hosted at our house as usual with our amazing cook...aka "Gammie" with her sidekick aka "me"! I'm hoping to try some new things along with the traditional things we have come to know and love. The Gorgonzola Broccoli dish is making my mouth water just thinking about it right now. And no Thanksgiving vacation would be complete without the hockey tournament for us to be running back and forth to which will be Ryan's this year. Unfortunately this year, Mark and Stacie and the kids will not be within driving distance to come over for the fun since moving to Florida. They will be missed!

As I type this post, I'm listening to AJ play XBox with some friends via "Live", Ali and her friend prep for a bonfire party tonight, and Ryan and Jack arguing about who knows what which always ends with Jack telling Ryan to "go away"...I'm tuning it all out to think of the things that I am thankful for this year. Here are my top 10 things that I am thankful for in no particular order:

#1: Less frequent ER visits

#2: Magic Erasers

#3: Car Insurance

#4: Red Wine

#5: Halloween candy

#6: my BFF because she gets an earful on a daily basis and comes back for more

#7: OxyClean and Bleach Pen (I love you both equally)

#8: my DVR for making my life so much more organized

#9: Target

#10: my family...if it weren't for all of you, I would have nothing to do but sit on the couch all day and eat ice cream

What are your top 10 and I hope we are one of them! Happy Thanksgiving! XOXO

Another Busy October

October started off pretty amazing with a trip up to Washington to visit Micah and family. Jack and I had a blast visiting and relaxing and enjoying the wonderful weather we miss down here in Southern CA! The second weekend in October was Ali and AJ's homecoming. AJ didn't go but Ali wouldn't miss it for the world. She went with a friend and those great purple heels didn't make it past the first hour and she ended up wearing her Vans. McKenzie and Haylee hung out with us for a whole day pretty much so I decided we needed to make some pumpkin cakes and decorate them. Messy but fun! AJ was a huge help since Ali was working....yes, she has a job now working at Aliso Viejo Ice Palace running the birthday parties.





Potty training my last child! ......not really but he will sit there and go in his diaper and read...I guess it's a start!

Today we went to the Irvine Park Pumpkin Patch with Adam, Jenn, and the girls. I had not been there since AJ, Ali and Ryan were about 7 and 2. The kids had a blast! Ali was again working (go Ali!) so for us it was just the boys.

Back to School! Back to my sanity!

We made it to the first day of school! As sad as my kids are to see summer go, I am definately one of those moms that by August is ready to be back into a routine. Maybe it's the constant taxiing or the 50 million sleepovers or just the fact that I am slightly...ok, more than slightly OCD and like things that are routine. I like my morning mocha while I watch the news and then having my time with Jack until he goes down for his nap and then taking my "me" time which is usually laundry or showering until the kids roll in around 3ish. This year is total chaos! The kids started school this past week and now that AJ and Ali are juniors, they had alot of their classes done and are able to not take a full days worth. So let me give you an example of what my typical day looks like:
6:20am AJ and Ali leave for school which starts @ 6:45...thank God for my neighbor Heidi who gracially takes them every morning
6:45am Get Ryan up so he can be out the door by 7:30...he rides his scooter
12:00pm Leave to pick up Ali from school
2:30pm Leave to pick up AJ from school and drop off Ali back at the school for cheer and ryan is usually getting home right about now
5:30 pm Pick up Ali from cheer practice at school

Now that is just my Monday. On all the other days of the week, they have "block" scheduling which means they only have 3 of their classes which also means that some days AJ is out with Ali and then somedays he's not. And on Wednesdays Ryan is out at 1:05. Oh, and did I mention that today AJ dropped his Trig class and now his schedule totally changed!
With all that said, believe it or not, I am actually looking forward to this year. Ali is on the Varsity Cheer team so that means going to Varsity Football and Basketball games (no offense to JV but they just aren't as exciting). AJ is playing on the Varsity Roller Hockey team and as of right now, Doug has been asked to head coach. Ryan started playing ice hockey for OC Hockey Club this year which is already proven to be much more exciting with a tournament already this past weekend. And then there's Jack. Back in June I bought that "My Baby Can Read" program and told myself that we would start once the kids were back in school. So far so good. It seems very mommy-friendly which I like and Jack seems to already be picking up on some of the words...we will keep everyone posted! Aside from that he is obsessed with shooting pucks in the garage and almost everyday wears some form of super hero garb. Most of the time it's the Superman cape my mom made for Ryan when he was little and he climbs up on the coffee table and tells me he can fly as he jumps onto the couch 100 times.
As for Doug, business is...well business. It's slowly but surely picking up and he's making some pretty positive moves towards merging with some big companies. I am so very proud to have such a hard working husband that at the end of a long day in this tough market, never says no" to a toddler that wants daddy to shoot pucks at him while he plays goalie.
My computer isn't cooperating with me lately but stay tuned for some great pics from our fun filled summer!

Guess who's getting their tonsils out tomorrow???

Ohio

Well, we made it home safely and are still trying to get used to the time change but overall the trip was a success. We layed Doug's mom to rest on Wednesday and then spent the rest of the time going through a houseful of everything. Berdie was definately a hoarder if I ever saw one! We spent day and night going through what seemed to be endless amounts of things from jewelry to old pictures to randomness. My sister in law Lori won the prize for best find...a donut in a jacket pocket still in tact...yuck! We were able to empty out all the perishables and donate all her clothing to the halfway house that she worked at. For as many days as we spent and 40 bags of trash later, we still have only scraped the surface. Doug and I will be flying back to finish up going through the house and hopefully make more headway this time around. We did meet with a lawyer that advised us about what we need to do with the estate and we also got to spend some much needed time with family that we had not seen in a long time. We also got a chance to visit the cemetary where Doug's grandparents are and his sister. In California you don't see too many cemetaries. The headstones at this place were amazing and beautiful!

Lori and Jack swimming

Jack and cousin Abigail

Berdie's funeral

Day Three....yippee! :-)

Today was a work day except I woke up with a post red wine headache/migraine that would not go away...even with the good drugs I took. We stopped by a few banks to switch around some funds and to pick up his mom's death certificates that we need for tomorrow morning's meeting with our estate lawyer. We then headed over to Doug's moms to dive into the 30+ years of stuff. Our goal was to go through as much stuff as possible and divide up what was to be kept and what was yard sale stuff. The only roadblock was that there is a person in his mom's will that gets first dibs at the "houselhold furnishings" (long story) so I couldn't really just start moving things around and make decisions other than things I found that I knew were Doug's or family things. I did manage to find some pretty cool things like Doug's marine picture from when I was like 6 and some great old pictures of his grandparents and him when he was very young. All in all we spent about 6 hours there and even though we went through alot, there was no where for it to go AND it doesn't look like we even made a dent. I'm starting to think we should have rented that Uhaul and drove here. Doug's sister was a blessing and met us at his moms and took Jack, Ryan, and Ali to the animal park and then back to our hotel to swim. We kept AJ to be our muscle man. :-) We also had a locksmith out to the house to change the locks and tomorrow we are meeting ADT at the house to put in a security system and then meet our lawyer downtown. Again, Doug's sis is meeting us to take the kids to the zoo.....amazing! Right now Doug is golfing with a friend and we are awaiting our pizza delivery. What an exhausting day but thank goodness my headache has finally left the building!

Day Two in Ohio

Today was Berdie's viewing. Like I said yesterday, I had no idea what to expect. The viewing was from 2-7 and we were their the whole time standing along side Doug's mom in her coffin receiving people's well wishes. I will admit, it was a little weird at first. I haven't seen Doug's mom in a year and a half and I've never seen an open casket. To my suprise, she looked better than she did when I last saw her. The funeral home obviously gave her a good makeover and she looked so peaceful. At first even Jack went up to her and said "night,night Grandma". It was so cute and made me a little emotional. Doug was in and out with his mood. One second he would be fine and cracking jokes about things he would remember about his mom and the next minute he would be knealing at her side crying. It was a roller coaster of emotions with person after person walking up with another story of how Berdie saved their life or Berdie was such a wonderful person and touched their life in some way. It was nice to hear but at the same time made me sad to know that as many lives as she touched, we always came second. We did not have the same stories to tell...stories of how Berdie saved our lives and how if it weren't for her we wouldn't be here. We were lucky to have seen her once a year if that and it was a special treat for her to remember our birthdays. Doug did not have the kind of relationship most people have with their mom. As I listened to each and every person say the wonderful things they would say about Berdie or tell a funny story about her, I thought to myself, I hope that when it's my turn to leave this world that people would have funny memories to tell and people would say how I touched their lives and how they wouldn't know what to do if I hadn't been there....and those people would be my kids.
So at the close of our 2nd full day in Ohio, we are sitting here in our hotel room watching tv and eating ice cream and getting ready for our big day tomorrow of going through Grandma's house and the kids going to the animal park with Aunt Lori.