Alex's 9th Birthday

My oldest kiddo just turned nine years old today! That means, that he is officially at his half-way point until college years. What the heck?! I was trying the other day to picture nine years ago. If I close my eyes and concentrate, I can picture it clearly. He was a big baby boy, and super sweet and innocent. Fast forward a year and he's toddling around the house getting ready for his baby sister to come along. Time started flying the second he was born. Now he's nine and probably just a few years from outgrowing me. He's only got about 10 inches to go! Heck, we already have the same foot size.

For his birthday this year, he wanted a New York Jets football cake. Once again, I was happy to oblige. Not the hardest cake I've ever made but he was super excited about it. He wanted to have a bunch of kids over, but he was happy to just have a couple of friends. We had a fun time with some of the cousins and then had cake, ice cream (soy for the bday boy) and, of course, presents. I'd love to say that he gets harder to shop for the older he gets, but that would not be true. He has so many interests and obsessions that it's nearly impossible to get him something he doesn't love. He finished his monster collection with The Bride of Frankenstein and The Phantom of the Opera and got a nice castle to play with them in. He also got a couple of those neat hover toys that take some crazy practice to fly. All in all, it was a fun day.

As for Alex now, he's a fun one. He's a heavy reader, staying up way past his bedtime regularly just to get a few more pages in. He's bright kid with a big imagination and great art skills (hereditary?) that he uses often. He will play every sport possible and is excelling at them these days, making more and more goals/scores. He's got a big heart and it breaks easily. He's all boy, but I've seen him break at the slightest things. Which, naturally, hurts my own heart. When he gets in trouble (not as often as I feel like it is), then he is very good at punishing himself before I even get the chance. He's a great kid and I'm so proud and blessed to be his mom. It's been an amazing nine years and I love watching this kid grow up. Happy Birthday, Alex! We love you so, so much!

Bummer

It started out as a normal day. Alex was excited to have birthday cupcakes delivered that afternoon to his class. It was Friday and just one day before his birthday. I got to the school, carrying a big pan of cupcakes and as I'm leaving the office (checking in) I see Alex coming into the office to see the nurse. The kid was barely holding it together. I could see the tears forming in his eyes. He was limping pretty bad and I knew he was hurt. I walked him down to the room and he was in some pain. By the time he got to the room, he had his foot elevated and iced. Now, keep in mind that this kid has injured himself a lot, but to date, nothing too serious. I didn't think to check his foot out at the moment. When I came back to the school to pick him up, just half an hour later, the kid could barely walk. I had to carry him on my back to Mandy's car so that she could drive him home. (He weighs 75 pounds, for crying out loud!) When I got him in the house and decided to check the foot, I couldn't get his shoe off because of the swelling and pain. It was huge and blue! I took him straight to the doc and they said that he needed an xray the following morning. The xray came back with too much swelling to see a break, but at his age, the healing is the same. He was prescribed a walking boot. Poor kid. What a bummer birthday. He also had to miss his soccer game the following day because of it. He was pretty upset, as he is pretty awesome at playing. I felt bad, but I seriously had to carry him to the bathroom and everywhere else because he couldn't walk at all on it. Thank goodness for that walking boot!

Fall Festival 2015

We try to make it to my old town's fall festival every year. This year was no exception. The kids really enjoy it. Heck...I enjoy it too. It's hard not to. It brings back a lot of memories for me. It kicks off the candy season as well. This is the first of the constant supply of candy in our house that lasts through Easter. I think that we've had some unusually great weather the past few years. There were several times when the weather was bitter or rainy and ended with crying kids with bright red hands and frozen faces. I'm glad this was a good year for it. Good times had for all. I hope to continue this family tradition as long as possible.

The Last of a Legacy

Back in 2010, I lost my precious Daisy to old age at nearly 22 years old. That’s pretty old for a cow, of course. Sadly a few short years later, her first daughter, Duchess, fell and couldn’t get up. She was rivaling her mama in age. Then there was one. Bridgette. She was Daisy’s other daughter. With Daisy, she became so thin and fragile that the winter sucked the very life from her. I had promised her one more warm, spring day. She didn’t make it. Duchess slipped and fell during a very cold day and it was her undoing. Mom and I both promised that we wouldn’t let Bridgette die in misery. This past year has been hard on her. She started to lose weight and we couldn’t get it back on. Her teeth were all but gone and cows need teeth for roughage. Even though there was light in her beautiful eyes, the light was cloudy and she was tired. She creaked when she walked and her body wasn’t digesting food anymore. We gave her one more summer but knew that she would join her mama and sister in the green pastures of Heaven by summer’s end. I went over the night before and said goodbye. My last beautiful Jersey girl. I cried so hard. I stopped by my Dad’s grave on the way over to talk to him about it. It was a rough night for me. But I knew it was right. She wouldn’t have survived the winter. The vet agreed. I will miss the sandpaper licks on my legs, the head butts, the warmth of their caramel fur on a spring day. I will miss it all. I dream of the day when I can start anew with a new herd of beauties. Until then, I can only say to rest in piece my sweet girls. The last of the legacy is no more.

 

Pictures Just for Fun

In the mad rush of life...or perhaps pure laziness...I don't post pictures as often as I'd like. My internet (thank you AT&T) has been getting slower by the week and uploading takes for...ev...er. Seriously not kidding. At times it reminds me of the good ol' days of AOL when dial-up was the coolest thing ever. So as I sit here watching a movie, I figure why not do a picture upload.

Dressing up - princess style - is the big thing these days.

Finger painting. I have to pass the time  for seven hours while the kids are at school.

Nate the Great Pancake day at school with Abby.

Grandma got new kittens. This is Simon.

This is Dusty.

And MJ - Marvin Junior (after Grandma's cat, Marvin).

Josh's 40th birthday. Lemon Bars instead of cake.

Luke and Leia.

Blood Moon Eclipse

 

We got to experience an amazing thing last night. A rare event happened in the night sky. The moon went into full eclipse and last night it was a blood moon. The moon was a beautiful red and then “disappeared” for awhile. I decided to let the kiddos stay up and watch. Oh sure, they had to get up early the next day, but sometimes these things are worth it. They loved sitting outside in our lawn chairs with blankets and taking turns with the binoculars. It was spectacular to watch. What a fantastic memory to share with my wee ones. And where was Josh, you ask? Inside. He was highly unimpressed. Strange.

Growing Responsibilities

This summer has been wet. Rain, rain, rain. The drought is officially over. With rain, came grass. So much grass. I don’t think I’ve ever had to mow so many times. Oddly enough, I ended up doing something a bit out of the ordinary. A couple of kids asked me at the beginning of summer if I wanted my lawn mowed. With the house on the market, it gets a bit crazy with the upkeep and so I decided to help a couple of young entrepreneurs with their summer job and let them mow my front yard quite a few times over the summer vacation. Good kids. They did a great job. I even made them cookies and boy did they love that. That being said, our backyard was too complicated with the pool and the trampoline and everything inbetween, that I kept up the back on my own. Alex kept asking why he couldn’t mow and in the end, I had no reason. He’s old enough. Heck, I was out on the riding mower mowing acreage by his age. Why not? He actually got a kick our of the responsibility. Next summer I’m going to pay him some allowance to mow a bit more often. At least I think I’m going to pay him.