The Perfect Weekend

It's not often that I get to say we had the perfect weekend, but this past holiday weekend came pretty damn close. All the kids slept in - maybe because we kept them going all day, every day, the weather was pretty good and everybody was in good moods. Saturday started with us taking the kids to Discovery Kingdom after a lunch at Sonic. Sonic, aka the roller skating place to the girls, is extra fun for them because we fold down the backseats in the van and let them have a "picnic". We sat in the front to eat and the entire time listened to little girl giggles from the back. Those giggles = pure heaven! So after lunch, we headed over the amusement park. We have season passes, so we aren't too concerned about getting to the whole park in one day, which is good because the girls ended up having definite ideas of what we were going to do. They started the day in one of the kids areas, which is great for Nacho and I because they are big enough to (and more importantly want to) go on the rides by themselves. Lu has always been our daredevil, so nothing regarding rides surprises me much. Sam has always been a little more timid, so it shocked me when she was fine riding on one of the roller coasters by herself (Lu just barely missed the height requirement to ride by herself, so I had to ride with her). Then they BOTH shocked me when the eagerly agreed to go on the Cobra - an adult size roller coaster. Lu loved it so much I think she went on it 4-5 times. They also got a big kick out of one of those rocking boat rides that swings back & forth. After getting me on it once, they took Nacho and then somehow talked me into going again. They would have kept going if I were willing to go again, but I wasn't. Since having kids, my motion sickness is even worse. It was such a great day and it was nice to do something just the 5 of us.

Sunday was spent with the Luas, after a quick trip (and lunch made up of free samples) to Costco. Two of our nephews and a niece were being confirmed, so after attending church to watch that, we went to my sister-in-law's for a bbq. It was so nice to catch up and see everybody, since in all honesty we had sort of neglected that side of the family with all that's been going on in my family. I'm admittedly not very religious, but I'm very proud of them, so congratulations Bianka, Brandon & Daniel!

Monday was the perfect end to the weekend. We went over to Nacho's cousins' house, who while family, are really good friends also. We hung out by the pool all day and just relaxed. The kids all had a blast - Jack made the perfect lounge lizard in one of the baby floats they have and the girls are finally confident enough in their own swimming abilities to swim the entire length of the pool by themselves (using arm floats). It was hard to bribe them out of the pool at the end of the day. I really wish life wasn't always so hectic because it would be great to get together with them more often. You hear that Elena?? ;)

And now it's back to reality. Luckily this week is short and we've actually got another busy weekend coming up. We actually have our weekends spoken for until the beginning of July. But this one was stress free and mostly on our terms, so it's going to be hard to top.

Weird feeling

A friend of mine had a baby yesterday and I couldn't be more thrilled for her. But in the pit of my stomach I have this weird feeling.....envy. And I honestly can't figure out why. I don't remember ever feeling this way before. Maybe it's because I'm in the process of packing away more of the clothes Jack has outgrown and I know half of his first year is almost done. Or because I'm trying to decide what to do with all of my maternity clothes and the girls' baby clothes that are taking up room in the garage.

We had a great weekend, only possible given the ages of our kids now. Jack is sleeping through the night and on a definite schedule. The girls are at ages where they're more independent. I don't want to go back to sleepless nights. Yet there is something so exciting and new about those first few days with your new baby. The excitement and anticipation of labor. Which is odd, because I remember how miserable I was towards the end of my pregnancies and I have hard, long & difficult labors. But I always looked forward to them.

I always thought I would have that "done" feeling people talk about. But I don't. Yet I can't say I know I want another one either. When people ask me if we're done, I honestly say I don't know. Because I am thrilled with the family I have. But I was also thrilled as a family of 4 and now I couldn't imagine not having Jack as a part of it. I know I'm not ready for another now, but how do you know you're done? So maybe it's the limbo I'm feeling right now that has brought on these feelings. Knowing that my family is truly complete as it is, but knowing there is room in all our hearts to add to it.

Nicknames

I realized I as just typed my last post, I use a lot of nicknames for my children. They all make sense to me, but maybe it's hard for others to follow along. So here is a list of their nicknames:

Samantha - Sam, Sami, Samster Hamster, Sami Girl, Samitita

Alexandra - Lexi, Lu, Lulu, Lu Bug, Bug

Jonathan - Jack, Jack-a-roni, Jack-a-roo, Roni, Roni Roo, Roo Roo, Mr. Man

There was a logical (to me at least) progression in each of their nicknames and yes, I realize they'll probably dislike them greatly when the get older. But for now, they're still little and they think it's funny. Oh, and if you want to talk to Alexandra, she is only going by Lu Bug right now.

Parent-Teacher Conferences

I still find it hard to believe that I have children old enough to require end of the year parent-teacher conferences, but I do and we had them. We started with Samantha who, according to her teacher, is emotionally, physically & mentally ready for Kindergarten! I assumed she was, but it's always nice to get confirmation on something like that. She gets a long with everybody, is extremely helpful....and a bit bossy. But I already knew that. And we've been working on it. I just hope we can make some progress over the summer. But I hate to say, as the first born, it might be something that sticks around. Maybe we can just tame it?

Lexi was next up and she is right on target for her age. She is helpful in the classroom, always cleans up her mess (so why can't she do this at home) and in small group is a complete chatterbox. However, when they get into the big group, Samantha tends to answer for her and she clams up. The teacher and I are both confident that with Samantha going off to K next year, Lexi will come out of her shell a bit. It has been difficult at times for them being so close in age - same school class, same ballet class, etc. But starting this summer they'll be in seperate classes for everything, so I'm hoping it will do them both some good.

I did ask their teacher if they noticed any issues with the girls after I had Jack because at home it had all gone smoothly. She said she hadn't and that she was actually amazed they both adjusted so well because in her experience that is not the case. I guess we've been really lucky!

They sent me home with the girls work for the year and their notebooks with things they've said, skills they've mastered, etc. I haven't been able to look at it yet, but I'm sure I'll get teary-eyed when I do. Afterall, two weeks from today my first born will officially be a kindergartner and off to the big kid school and my sweet Lu will be doing something without me or her sister for the very first time.

My Random Thoughts for this Week

I know you didn't ask for a trip inside my head, but you're going to get one anyways. And free of charge, no less!

I'm going to start with things I don't understand:

• Tickets went on sale for the girls' June ballet show this past week. They're only allowing 5 per family. I get that there a lot of students and the venue only holds so many, but I'm paying two tuitions. When I pointed that out, the secretary agreed, but still said the policy was 5 per FAMILY. WTH? Does that mean I can start paying one tuition and send as many of my children as I want? And it would have been helpful to tell us there was a limit before yesterday! You know, before we started telling people about it. We've been put on the wait list for extra tickets, so hopefully we can get some more. Because 2 of our tickets are already spoken for by Nacho and myself and the other 3 have already been promised to my mom, stepdad & Grandma Margaret.
• Parents at the preschool not knowing how to park. It's not that hard. We have a circle to pull into. Common sense would tell you to pull up and then the next car would pull up next, leaving as little room as is still safe between cars so that we all fit. But nope, not these parents. They'll leave 3/4 of a car length between them and another car - not enough to actually fit and just enough to piss me off.
• Crumbs. How do I get so many damn crumbs under my table? I know it's inevitable with children, but it seriously looks like they ate their entire meal on the floor. And I swear they don't! I watch them eat over the plates. I know some fall off their laps when they get up, but not enough to match the amount I'm finding. I know that sweeping ranks right up there with laundry & dishes in the never ending chores list, but if you don't come over within 5 minutes of me sweeping, you'd swear I never did.
• I hate really, really, really dislike the new sunscreen we bought (we're trying to not use the word hate in our house, since the girls took up saying "I hate" to just about everything). It's one of the aresol ones, which I knew I didn't like, but my husband somebody said would be fine. Except when I used it today, it was a greasy mess that covered more of the tile than it did the kids. And then made said tile so slippery Lu almost fell. Which meant I got to wipe up the tile with a wipe. Guess who's in charge of applying sunscreen now?
• I want to know what soap opera Lu's been sneaking in that has taught her to exclaim "You're ruining my life" everytime we have her do something she doesn't want to do.

I do want to finish with the things I'm thankful for because even though the last month has been really sad for our family, there is still a lot of great stuff

• My 3 beautiful, healthy children
• Being able to spend Mothers' Day with some of the most important females in my life - my daugthers, my mother and my grandmother. It won't be the same, since it will be the first with us missing a vital member of the group - but 4 generations? Awesome!
• Our summer plans! Besides the fun day to day stuff, we've got a trip planned in June to New Mexico where we'll get to catch up with a lot of family. And then an awesome trip planned to celebrate my 30th birthday
• My husband. Who is my rock and has been an unbelievable support. And the fact that we will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary in two short months.
• Baby giggles. And the fact that my son loves me most. Ok, I know that sounds bad, but the girls are completely "Daddy's girls." So it's nice to have one that looks at me like that. Let's just hope I can get him to say "mama" first.
• That my children know their great grandparents. And not only know them, but have been able to make life long memories with them.
• Watching my three children play together and love eachother. That the girls welcomed their brother with open arms and not a single look back at what once was. That he looks at them like they've hung the moon.
• That we're surpising the girls tomorrow with a fun day. They have no idea where we're going. Lu keeps guessing Mexico, which cracks me up for some reason.
• That we have a sitter! No, not a baby sitter, although I'd be thankful for that too. Jack, at just a few days past 5 months is officially sitting on his own. For little bits of time anyways.

Summer Vacation

The girls and I were just watching High School Musical 2, where the whole group of friends spends the entire summer working at a resort. And it got me to thinking about much I miss summer vacation. The anticipation of that last day of school and all that the summer holds. Lazy days with friends, no set schedules, sleeping in. Oh the sleeping in! And in high school,my group of friends kind of were like the kids from HSM2 - we all worked together and therefore spent almost each and every together. At the time it seemed like life was hard, and I suppose with our limited knowledge of the world then, it probably was. But now, that life seems so simple.

I wouldn't change where I'm at for anything. And I certainly don't miss the petty drama that came along with being in high school. But I have to admit there is a part of me that wouldn't mind a day where I wasn't changing diapers, paying bills and referrering fights. Chances are though, even if I got a day like that, I'd miss my chicklets within hours.

The thing is, my children are too young to appreciate getting out for summer break. For them it just means too many days between seeing their friends. And for me, it's taken on a whole new meaning. I now have 2.5 months where I have to entertain three kids ALL day. Yeah, that should be easy. But the most ironic part of all, is by the end of summer vacation, I'll have gotten used to having all my kids with me and it will break my heart to send them back to school, especially with Samantha starting full day kindergarten.*

I can hear in my head, clear as day, my parents telling me to enjoy that time. To not wish it away so fast. And I'm sure, like another other teenager, I completely ignored them. Damn, I hate when they're right. That being said (because you know I can't end on my parents being right), we actually do have quite a fun summer planned and I'm looking forward to experiencing that freedom through my children.

*I'm actually going to admit that yesterday, when I picked the girls up from school and I saw the little preschool graduation announcement that had Samantha's name on it and said "Congratulations Class of 2009", I started to cry. I'll be a complete mess on the actual day. I can't even think about her high school graduation.

My two favorite guys

Just taking a minute to show off my two favorite guys!

Bad Blogger

I feel like I've been a horribly bad blogger. I haven't been in the mood and haven't had that much to say. So to catch up on on Team Lua, this is going to be a bullet point post.

• Jack is 5 months old today! How did that happen? I feel like in the blink of an eye we'll be celebrating his first birthday. If I could only figure out how to slow time down.
• We had the memorial service for my grandfather over the weekend. I was not prepared for how hard it was for me. It was a beautiful service, the speakers were elegant and heartfelt and you could tell he was loved. The slideshow I worked endlessly on was perfect and enjoyed by all, if I believe their comments afterwards. For me it was an honor to be able to put it together. I feel like I learned so much about him doing it.
• Sort of on that same topic, I read a poem and said a few words myself. I'm not a big fan of public speaking - I've been told I speak too fast, so it's always something I'm self concious about. But I must have done ok because people kept coming up to me saying how beautiful it was and how they were holding it together until I spoke. I knew what it all meant to me, but I didn't know it would affect others the same way. I've had at least a dozen people ask for a copy of the poem - too bad I can't take credit for writing it. And for the first time, I didn't have butterflies in my stomach going up there. Maybe I've moved past that fear?
• My children are amazing. I know I'm their mother and I'm supposed to feel that way, but they truly are. For the past 6 weeks their lives have been turned upside down, with the amount of time I've spent away at the hospital and the planning, etc. Not to mention the profound sadness that has seemed to sink in everywhere. But they are resilient and didn't even blink an eye. My wise beyond her years daughter Samantha amazed me one morning, when once again I was running out the door to get to the hospital. She looked at me and said "you go be with Papa & Nana. They need you the most right now." Amazing. And the icing on the cake - they were angels on Saturday. They helped set up, they sat quiet and still through the memorial, they greeted everybody who talked to them AND they still managed to sit through a 2 hour dinner. What a wonderful feeling to be complimented on your childrens' behavior by almost everybody who meets them.
• We did manage to do a few things in the past weeks that weren't related to the passing of my grandfather. We went up to see my dad & stepmom and went to Kool April Nights. It was a blast and I'm so glad we went. I just wish it wasn't such a long drive because I'd love to go up more often.
• We also went to the Butter & Eggs Day Parade here in our hometown. It's a staple here and also a high school reunion of sorts. It's amazing the amount of people you run into, who you don't see any other time of year. But I've decided the same things strangly happens at Costco.
• Summer is almost here - one more month of school for the girls and Sam will officially be a kindergartner! I'm not sure if I mentioned it before but we got our transfer request approved, so yay!
• We've been trying to do something fun for the kids - geared around them, since they've been so good. But our free weekends are becoming few & far between. I don't understand how that happens. But we will be taking a day SOON to dedicate to them.

So that's all for now. Hopefully now that life is going back to normal (what's that?) I'll be able to blog more regularly.