They're leaving on a jet plane...

....without me.  Marc is taking the kids on their first airplane ride to his brother's wedding in San Francisco this week.  I'm excited for them - they are going to have a great time!  But, I am sad that I won't be there with them for this big adventure.  And I'm sad that I won't see them for FOUR DAYS.  I have made some plans to fill the time, and I am sure I will have fun with my goofiest girlfriend, Michelle.  But, this sucks.  I guess it's one of the divorce realities that I just can't get my head around....missing firsts with my kids. 

My kids want to talk about their excitement about the big weekend....so I try really hard to just stuff my sadness and be excited with them.  I guess today it was just too much.  I've been dreading this coming weekend for months...and the closer it gets, the more awful it feels. 

What a week!

This is gonna be a long post!

This last week started out with Miss Megan turning 10 on Tuesday....yes, double digits!  She has grown into such an amazing person...inside and out.  I know I just posted this photo recently, but it's one of my favorites.  To celebrate Megan's birthday, we took her to dinner at Applebee's and they sang Happy Birthday do her...she was thrilled and a little embarassed. 

On Wednesday night we had dinner at our friends' house....Michelle and her kiddos, John and Samantha, are great friends to us and we always have a good time together!  They have been such an amazing support to my kids and I over the last year - I honestly have no  idea what we would have done without them!

Thursday night was taco night at Aunt Katy's and then Friday evening was spent with Michelle, John and Samantha at the Hruska's house (Rudy, Doris, Jasmine and Jesse)....I just couldn't ask for a better bunch of friends!

And then there was Saturday... Saturday morning I rushed from store to store gathering snacks and drinks for Megan's birthday pool party!  We had 22 kids and at least 10 adults at the pool on Saturday afternoon....and it was a fantastic party!  It was 90 degrees, the pool was nice and cool and the kids had a great time!  Despite the inevitable exhaustion after spending the afternoon at the pool, the Hruskas joined us at Michelle's house for an evening barbeque.  I put my kids in bed at 10:00 and I'm pretty sure they were asleep by 10:01! 

Today we went to church and then the spent the afternoon at the pool - it was fun, but I am pooped!  In fact, I am so tired that I think I will wait to post pictures from all of these happenings tomorrow!

This week will be spent preparing for the first day of school next week - Megan is going to visit my hairdresser and we still have to buy school supplies!  I'm actually looking forward to the routine and early bedtimes that come with the school year schedule!

A Fun Day

Today the kiddos and I went to a Wild West Fest at the historic Kleffner Ranch....and then we grabbed A&W cheeseburgers and rootbeer and had a picnic on Little Prickly Pear Creek up the road from the ranch.  They were thrilled to spend time with Grandpa and Grandma and Aunt Katy and their cousins.  It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun!

Baseball 2012

As I mentioned in my last post, Kellan and Jacksen had a great baseball season!  Kellan had a some great coaches and it is amazing how much his game improved in just 6 short weeks.  At the beginning of the season he usually ended up hitting the ball off the tee, but by the end of the season he was almost always able to hit the machine pitch.  I am so proud of my boys!

Jacksen on the pitcher's mound



Kellan bugging his daddy during Jacksen's game

Megan discovered "spits" while watching her brothers' games

We have about a month off from sports until fall soccer and flag football begin....I wonder what we will do with all of that time on our hands?!



My Sweethearts

 Megan

 Kellan

Jacksen

Off To Camp

So, a couple weeks after school was out for the summer Megan discovered a flyer in the mail advertising a summer camp sponsored by the Living Hope Fellowship Church.  She was immediately intrigued and asked if she could attend that camp rather than going to the horseback riding camp she usually attends for a week each summer.  Her daddy and I visited about it and decided that would be a great opportunity for our little almost 10-year-old.

Today was the big day.  After work, her aunties and I drove her to Holter Lake to spend the week roughing it with a bunch of other boys and girls.  Upon our arrival, I immediately felt like it was a warm, inviting place to leave my little girl...well, except that it was raining.  We got her registered and she was assigned to a cabin, which is really a small wall tent.  We made her bed, which is actually a cot/bunkbed and gave her a hug goodbye.  I was trying my best to not cry when she leaned over to me and said "Mom, I'm going to give you something I've been wanting to give you for a long time."  I assumed she was going to give me a hug or a kiss, but I was wrong.  She totally bitch-slapped me....HARD! 

Well, as you can imagine, all activity in the cabin/tent stopped.  The counselors and other girls completely stopped talking and stared.  I was so embarassed that it took me a moment to ask why she did that.  She gave me a little giggle and said "I don't know."  After thinking about, I think she was just really nervous and didn't know what to do.  Her aunties thought it was the most hilarious thing they had ever seen and laughed about it all the way home.  I'm still a little horrified and speechless.  As we were driving, I asked if they thought she would be okay for four days up there.  They both advised that after her seeing her deck her mother, it would be highly unlikely that anybody will give her a hard time at camp.  Good point.  It'll be interesting to hear about her week when I pick her up Friday evening!

My Three Kiddos

I meant to blog more over the last couple of weeks....but we've been too busy with swimming lessons, baseball, library nights and recreating with family!

Anywho, here's an update on my three beautiful children:

I'll start with Jacksen, who generally has to go last because he's the youngest.  Mr. Jacksen spent the last year going to daycare in the mornings and preschool in the afternoons.  He LOVED preschool....but I think he loved being the oldest at the daycare more!  He graduated from preschool with flying colors at the end of May, attended Kindergarten orientation at good 'ol Jim Darcy Elementary School and will officially be a student of our most favorite kindergarten teach at the end of next month....crazy!  He can hardly wait!  In the meantime, he is thoroughly enjoying improving his already stellar swimming skills and talking our ears off.  That's right....he has found his voice and asserts himself constantly!  This kiddo has an amazing vocabulary- all of that bedtime reading has paid off!

On to our middlest kid, Kellan.  Kellan is still excelling at all sports and has discovered video games...particularly Madden NFL '12.  He is still funny as ever!  The thing that amazes me the most about Kellan is the fact that he is such a natural-born leader....despite being pretty much the smallest kid in his class and on every sports team.  I loved that he is comfotable with who he is and has such an amazing sense of security.  He ended his school year with a PERFECT report card....academics come as naturally to him as athletics.  He is just so awesome!

And Megan....our miracle girl.  Megan is getting taller and more beautiful (if that's even possible!) everyday!  She is such a confident, mature almost 10-year-old....I always think of her as kind of an old soul.  She loves to read and has decided she wants to be a school librarian when she grows up.  My little girl has lots of friends - mostly boys!  She got her braces off this past spring and her teeth
are just gorgeous!  She has a special friend (She is MUCH too young for a boyfriend!), Logan, who she is a little smitten with and they like to hang out sometimes.  Miss Megan is also an excellent student and truly loves school!

So, that's what the kids have been up to.  And me?  Not sure what to say.  I guess I'm still working on figuring out who I am and what I want for the rest of my life.  I think I'm a little lost right now.  I just know that I am so grateful for my friends and family...and these amazing kids that I've been blessed with...they are truly a gift from above! 

I'm working on a photo collage from the past year....should be posted SOON!