10 Years Later

 

The first Long Grove squirrel hunt took place October, 2005.  Ross wore an orange pumpkin costume given to him from my forever friend, Jill.  I'm guessing I wore a shirt with milk stains and a sour nursing bra.  In those days we sipped Diet Sprite, Cranberry and Vodka drinks as I encouraged our newest family member suck my nipples into a fine leather.

 

And as the grown men sat around the baby gym waiting for Baby Ross' next squirm, fart, or want, us women took pictures of anything we could find to entertain ourselves while prepping for our next meal.  Grandma Green would bring some applesauce in a Cool Whip container, Grandma Claussen would have a pricy VM gift for Baby Ross and Grandpa Green would just smile.  We'd casually slip them a little more Riunite than they'd asked for hoping for a tidbit of interesting information we'd never heard before.

 

We've binged on Turdunkin and Cheesy Potatoes, take shifts eating meals verses playing train in the basement, ate more tea rings that one could count and prayed the morning would finally pass during the endless mornings of the fall time change.

 

That's our ritual.  It's not fancy.  It's not formal.  It's not gourmet and it's not relaxed.  It's not peaceful and it's not easy.

 

However, it's our Thanksgiving.

It's our weekend to give thanks for our countless blessings and the lives that surround us.  Mom busts her butt to get 'supper on'. It's not a fun job, but I know she loves it.

 

2015 was filled with laughing to Taylor Swift songs...

 

kids...

 

 

Girlfriends making awkward poses in fields...

 

Getting Kennedi to smile...

 

 

 

 

Guess what? 

10 years has happened.

 

Baby Ross participated in the hunt this year.

 

 

 

"The Cousins" reunited.

 

'Blessed' doesn't even begin to describe it.

The second batch of photos to come soon...

Champions, Blur and New Starts

We made sure he was pumped.  His uniform was clean.  He was well rested.  He had pink UA socks to support breast cancer.  He was ready to win the Super Bowl of Little Husky Football.

 

I, however somehow messed up my camera focus and ended up with blurry photos.  Typical.

 

First play of the game... Ross ran a 72 yard touchdown. 

 

Proud Mama Moment.

 

Final Score.  12 to 6. 

Cowboys Win.

 

 

However, his attention has shifted.

 

Turns out I'm a bit of an orange-cat girl.

 

We brought him home Tuesday.  He's 8 weeks old and still nameless.

 

 

Life's just too short to not have a kitten.

Flame

We've got flame!

Where I'm Supposed to Be

There have been one, maybe two... times in my life where it felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be... doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing. 

 

Today was one of those days.

 

Nothing out of the ordinary happened.  Mike was traveling and I was able to get my kids off to school on my own. 

No bigs.

 

My students arrived and I found myself laughing out loud more than 3 times in first hour. 

It's therapy for me.

 

I came home from school and sat on my front porch, simmering in the October sun until Molly's bus showed up. 

Heaven.

 

At 4:05 I head up to the bus drop-off point.  I get to pick up Maddie.  She is one of the happiest, funnest and adorable 13-year-old girls I've ever been in the presence of.  How the heck did I get so lucky?  Maddie started coming home with us after school and hanging out with the girls.  

They are obsessed with her. 

 

Therefor, life is good.

 

 

Below Maddie helps Molly with "Let It Go"

 

Maisie sings "Eye of a Tiger"

 

Maddie and Maisie playing school in the loft.

 

Below is their "family portrait". 

 

 

Later in the afternoon, I played a preacher for a wedding, a judge who signed wedding and divorce papers, as well as a doctor who stitched up a doll head, delivered a baby as it popped out of Maisie's shirt and brought Maddie back to life with the healing power of pretzels. 

Is it me, or has pretend play become an episode of Days of our Lives?

Discovering Joy

I had tired eyes today.  Could be due to the fact that our evenings get late.  It's not like we're trying to stay up late,  it's just the way it's been working out.  Could be that Ross is still sleeping on our closet floor... he's afraid up sleeping upstairs in his room for fear of 'bad guys'.  Could be that I get up at 5 a.m. to get my exercise in for the day.  Could be that I'm rewriting an entire curriculum for the FCS department at I-35.  Could be that it feels so incredible to actually be living in our house, I don't want the days to end.  Regardless of the cause, I feel tired.

 

Wednesday afternoon I came home to Molly.  The weather couldn't have been more perfect to take her baby doll for a walk around the house.

 

We started on the porch. 

Nope, still haven't gotten the stickers off the upstairs windows.  The window are above the steps and I'll need some scaffolding to reach those.

 

There's my smiley monkey. 

She has a way of making my heart feel enormous.

 

And the grass growing in our yard. 

Can you believe that?  We have a real live 'yard'!

 

Molly even discovered a snail shell in that yard. 

Animals are finding shelter in our grass. 

Love. It.

 

There is also a propane tank sitting in that yard as of today.  I felt a picture of a propane tank was dumb.

 

Eventually we came back around to the side of the porch. 

 

I clearly remember when that porch wasn't a porch.

 

October 18th 2014

 

Yep, today my tired eyes are discovering the joy that comes with gratitude.

 

Sexy Beasts and #5

I can't decide what excites me more. 

The image of this sexy beast with the wife-beater installing cabinet hardware in my kitchen Saturday morning....

 

 

Or #5 plowing through the defensive line Sunday night.

 

I recognize his shoe and arm pads in the below shot.

 

Either way, I'm one lucky mama. 

They won playoffs and Ross scored his second touchdown of the season..

We're headed to the Super Bowl of Little Husky Football next Sunday.

 

This and That

Where to begin?
If you weren't aware, Kratt the cat is missing.  He's been gone several weeks now and on Monday we thought we'd found him.  A slew of cats hang out at a house down the road.  I had a hunch to check it out after school.

Below sits an orange cat.  We called him and he turned his back to us.  I actually picked him up and petted him, calling him Kratt the whole time.  I took a photo and texted it to Mike.  Mike's response.  "That's Kratt.  He looks like crap though, we should get him to the vet."

We decided to take him home.  However, by this point we couldn't get him in the van.  He ran and hid behind fences, under bushes... but we kept stalking him.

Eventually we gave up and figured we'd call the homeowners that evening when they got home.

Turns out the orange cat wasn't Kratt.  It's George, and they've had him for years.  So there's that.

School is going well (for me) and I seem to keep the students entertained.  This week my Foods 2 kids got to develop and create a casserole recipe.  Everyone learned how long potatoes take to cook in the oven and to either chop them smaller or boil them beforehand.  Lessons, lessons.

 

My child development class has carried not only egg babies around school...

 

but also Baby Think It Overs.

 

They are beyond eager to take the doll home.  Yet the concept seems to be working like a charm and a couple kids have actually brought the doll back early.  One of my students showed up late to school with wet hair and said the doll kept her up all but 3 hours throughout the night. 

Score!

 

Molly snagged my phone and took a bunch of random photos with it.  I just discovered them and thought I'd share a few. 

 

 

 

Deer, Pizza and a Smile. 

Things are good.

 

A Mess

Because a house just isn't a home until it's been a wreck.  Another reason why we can't have nice things.

Starting to feel like home.