We made it through a crazy June, packed full of things. The best and most important was Maggie's 4th birthday party. Every year I try to take the girls birthdays off so that we can be together on "their" day, but this year it was not possible. Because Maggie's birthday fell on a Wednesday there was no way I could get out of work. So we decided to tell her that her birthday was Saturday not Wednesday..I felt so guilty but she didn't catch on and was just as happy waiting a few more days.

Friday came around and we did our family gifts and Grandma Lyn came over for cake. Maggie got to pick whatever she wanted for dinner and she picked pizza...easy enough. Maggie LOVES her pineapple and ham pizza. Jonn stopped and got a small piece of cake from Safeway and they wrote her name on it, that was sweet.

Saturday was the big party, for friends and family. Maggie was SO excited. Mainly because her best friend Kayli was going to be there. They all played in the pool at Grandpa's house and we had hot dogs and a cake. Maggie had so much fun playing with her firends and her cousins. It is so fun to watch her grow and interact with her friends. I can't wait to see how much she grows this year.

We had our ups and downs this year. We tried preschool (that didnt' go over well), she is still very shy in large groups, she did find a great friend in Kayli and loves playing with just her. She comes out of her shell and really enjoys herself when Kayli is there. Maggie discovered her bed and goes to sleep in it every night. It is strange to have her not sleep through the night now. She loves to dress herslelf and do her own hair. Every morning she does it all by herself. She if very independant and doesn't want help with anything. And she gets very mad when she does need help.

It was a tough year for your family as a whole. We lost our sweet loving Grandma Jo and Grandpa Joe's health is failing. It was not the same without either of them at the party. I know they both would have been there if they could have. But I hope they both know that it's ok that they were not. I know they are both out there watching Maggie grow and kicking themselves for not being able to take part. I hope Maggie grows up knowing that her Grandparents...all of them...love her.

I love you my Maggie Jane. You are a strong willed, strong minded, funny little girl. A girl I am proud of daily and can not wait to see what the following year brings for you.

I love you my little 4 year old! Yes u are this many 1111!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

My sensitive little girl

It's been a crazy few months, many ups and downs. Finally coming to the realization that Dad IS better off in a nursing home. He seems happy for the time being. Would still like to get him closer and into a good adult family home. But that is another story for another day.
Mom has been trying to get a house and that, in itself, has been a challenge. And again another story once its all settled. Three strikes and I thought we were out. But today it came up again. She needs to get a house that is her only way to get to the end product of getting Dad closer and to a good adult family home.
After seeing Mom get so excited and then have it all fall apart I was satisfied with the fact that she wouldn't be moving closer, wouldn't be getting more independance and wouldn't be getting herself closer to the prize.
Today I broke down, broke down to the words "they were wrong". How one group of people could ALL be wrong was crazy. I had just settle everything in my mind and in my heart and it all came rearing its ugly head AGAIN.

I had had enough and I had to walk away, in tears, heavy tears...the kind u have trouble breathing from. Little did I know that my youngest, Maggie (age 3.9) was right behing me. My place to cry is my bathroom, it's farthest way that no one can hear me. I sat down put my head in my hands and just let it out. Something I do very seldom, but seems to be happening more often lately. I looked up after a few minutes to Maggie standing a few feet away. She looked sad..no concerned. As I was looking at her she started walking towards me and put her arms around me and rested her head on top of my shoulder as I continued to cry.Nothing was said. She just held ME, a 3 year old held her adult mother in HER arms as I cried. My crazy, loud little Magpie was there right when I needed a shoulder to cry on. Little does she know that was the most special thing ANYONE has ever done. A simple gesture by a simple little girl made it all better.

One day u will know how u helped your Mama through a tough day. I love you Maggie Jane. Thank you for being there for me. I promise to pay you back one day.

Mom

Christmas is upon us!

How did it all sneak up on me? Christmas is knocking at the door. The toy commercials are in full swing. And for someone who uses the TV as a learning tool/babysitter it makes for a long day.
Ok ok so the real problem is this, I try to sleep for a few hours during the day (take time now to look up the local CPS number, get it ready won't be the only time u will be thinking of calling.)so I put on a show Maggie likes. Usually Clifford the big red dog or George the Monkey (AKA Curious George) The only problem is that they are only 30 mins long. So every 30 mins Mags wakes me up to start a new show. I can live with that..BUT NOW with all the toy commercials on she wakes me up saying I want THAT..really the weeble wobble tree house, can't live without that Maggie? Oh look next commerical... a baby doll!

Maggie- "OH MY GOD! I NEED THAT!"
Me- "Really Maggie do u really need another baby doll to undress and leave on the floor for Lilly to drag away and do bad things to in the other room?"
Maggie- "MOM! MOM! MOM! YES!

I am writing Maggies parts in caps because SHE IS SCREAMING THIS!!! Which, again, doesn't help my nap.

So I guess this is what the next two months has in store for me. Yeah Christmas!

Maggies first day of Preschool

Today was a big day for Mags, she had her first day at South Hill Co-op Preschool, and did fairly well. She had been pretty nervous about the entire process. I started at the beginning of summer, trying out another preschool a friend of mine goes to with her son and that went drastically WRONG! So I decided to just go back to what was comfortable and enroll her into Emma's old preschool.
It was quite a shock to both Mom and myself when we realized that Mags teacher would be the same lady that caused us to pull Emma out of the preschool 6 years ago. For once in my life thou I gave the teacher the benefit of the doubt and gave her a second shot. Maggie connected to her right away and maybe, just maybe it was me overreacting last time, maybe.
So the first day was good, she woke up early and was ready to go to school right after dropping Emma off. Trouble was I was still in PJ pants and she hadn't eaten breakfast. She didn't want to go home, she wanted to go NOW. Somehow I had to kill about 20 mins...and boy shoes can be hard to find when u need them to be.
Once we got in the parking lot and I told her PupPup wasn't allowed inside school she got a bit nervous and started to cry. I think this was her way of letting out the anxiety so I didn't make a big deal about it. I was actually hoping to be able to leave and run to the grocery store.
That idea was quickly shattered when we got inside the classroom. Not clingy as Emma was, or maybe it was that I wasn't as nervous as I was with Emma, I decided I better just stick it out for the day.
It was really fun, she never really let me out of her sight. Oh she did one time when she had to go wash her hands for snacktime. We played outside, with the sand table, a train set and sang some songs. That was about her 2 hr day in a nut shell. She never really let go and relaxed but had fun I think. It will take her a few more days and probably a rough day when the teacher tells me its time to go. I have mixed fellings about that day. Hate to make her so upset but knowing it will be ok in the long run, is a tough pill to swallow.
All in all, I call day one a success. I am so proud of her for making this new exciting new step. She grew up too fast. No longer my little baby girl or my toddler. She is now a BIG girl and ready to face the world. But is the world ready for her...I hope so. Love you Mags.

WARRIORS!!

Well that was one of the most exciting things I have done in a long time. I had so much fun running in the 2010 NW Warrior Dash. It was in North Plains, Oregon. About a 3 hr drive from Puyallup. Mom watched Maggie for the day to allow us a calm quiet ride. Emma came with us too, after a failed attempt to spend the night at Lydia's house-entirely different story.
I was in constant text message contact with a few friends that were going to run the race and had headed out to the location before me. Somewhere in our driving directions we managed to miss our turn and ended up getting lost in Hillsboro, Oregon. After a quick detour and a stop to purchase a map, we were back in the right direction.
Once we arrived it was evident that the line to get into the parking lot was going to be long. It was down a long windy road, the back up was HUGE and we had under an hour before my heat started. I got nervous and decided to make a run for it. NOT a grand idea for someone who has had 2 children and an entire bottle of water without a potty break. Needless to say I wet my pants running down the hill. A friend from work noticed me running by and joined me in the mad dash thru the backed up traffic. We passed Chad and Heather on the way to the registration and was told that check in was easy and not to worry. That helped but I still had have a bladder I needed to empyt before I ran.
Chad was right, check in was quick and the porta-potty was...not to bad. Off to the start line..where the hell is it??
Found the line pretty quick after that and found some friends from work,high school and Chad and Heather again. Yeah we can all start together...


The race itself was a blast. I tried to keep count of the obstacles so that I knew how much I had left. I lost count they came too quickly. Although I started with Chad, Heather and a few others, I quickly was left behind on the 3 HUGE hills that started the race. Me and hills don't get along. So the first few obstacles I did alone which was fine. Everyone was very helpful and nice. At one point in the "marshy bog" where u had to wade into FREAKING ICE COLD waist deep water and hurl yourself over logs, I had to hell, "Someone push my ass over this log" and someone did.
I finally caught up with my friend, Kristen and Jason, on my worst fear the cargo net climb. Jason had bolted a camera to his bike helmet and took a video of the entire race, so they were running slowly to get pics and change the batteries in his helmet came. Nonetheless, I CAUGHT THEM! So I ran most of second half with them, which was soooo much more fun. The best part about the entire race was at the obstacle that involved a ladder that led to a cargo net that u had to crawl over about 10 feet off the ground. I was laughing and prob blabbing the entire race. Someone crawling next to me said HELLO, I looked over and there was Mikaela. Behind her was Jeff and Dev. hahah Yeah more of my people!! hahah The rest of the race Mikaela and I kinda played tag. Meeting up at obstacles and then she would sprint by me.
Almost to the end I realize that I haven't seen John or Emma the entire time. I hope they are not still in line to get into the parking lot, and then a little voice sayins "Hello mom!" and I look over and there is Emma with the video camera in h and. I was so happy that they were there to see me finish and see the mayham that was the warrior dash. I will definately do this again if they come back to the NW next year. What a fun event..until next time...WARRIOR ON!

Happy Birthday frame for Bec

I always like to make something for my sister in law for her birthday. She is such a great friend of mine and one of the only ones on my husbands side that understands and, I think, likes my scrapbooking addiction.
For the second year in a row we have set up weekly playdates for our kids to hangout and find different parks or things to do over the summer. It's so fun, and for me, important for the cousins to hang out and really enjoy and have memories of them doing things together. I myself never had my cousins around, if some of them walked by me on the street I may not even recognize them..sad I know.
So anyways, I made this fun 8x8 frame for my sister in law to put in a picture of the kids at our next get together.

Happy birthday Bec!

Emma is part of history

Emma was part breaking the world record for the biggest gathering of redheads in one spot. Mom and Chad notified me a few months ago of a lady who was a photographer from Sammamish who needed 250 people to break the world record. So she contacted the Guiness Book and was going to try and break the record.

On July 17, 2010 on a high school football field in Sammamish they did just that. 901 people showed up, all proud to be redheads. Emma's best friends Mom took her onto the field for the picture. We also met my best friend in elementary school (and who I beleive started my love of red headss) Cindy (Chaplik) McCammant, there as well.

There were all kinds, shades and ages at the gathering. We saw many children- from the brightest of red haired little boys to cute little girls w/ pig tails of copper. There was one lady probably in her late 80's there in her best teal polester suit. It made me think of Auntie Alice and Grandma Magarin. How proud they both would be of Emma for embracing her red hair and being a part of this event.

I can't lie, I was a bit jealous of all of them, hair glistening in the sun. Even if I paid for it my hair would never be as beautiful and crowd pleasing as Emma's and her fellow red heads.