Life's Treasures

Tonight we went to a surprise party for Conner at Ozzy Rabbit's. It is a small bar that reminds you somewhat of the River Bottom Pub but has far more customers. They have an outside area that we basically took over and had a blast. The best part by far was when Conner walked out and saw everyone...he just casually flipped us all off, turned around and walked back in the bar. So classic!! Unfortunately, in the midst of all of the other craziness, I forgot to charge my little camera so I have no pics, but trust that a great time was had. Happy birthday to my good friend's husband/best friend's bro-in-law/neighbor's brother/my brother's friend from high school who is now my friend..hope you had as much fun as the rest of us!

So things have been crazy busy with football and cheerleading and I haven't even posted any game pics but then again, I haven't even gone through all of them. Every year I do this to myself...I become the "unofficial" photographer for the team and I absolutely LOVE it but I tend to take TOO many pictures. I would say on average, I end up with 200 pics per game...not so bad if I didn't then have to turn around and zoom/crop or just decide which ones to delete. This is one reason I know I could probably never have my own photography business...I would be great at taking the pics, but I would be awful with staying on top of the editing. Anyway, the kids had their team pictures taken today and then of course, the girls wanted to have their own photo shoot. Not sure why Brent and his team didn't jump on that bandwagon but I am sure I have a few hundred pics I can include of him as well ;-).

Somewhere along the way, my son lost all common sense and knowledge of how to dress himself...

Someone couldn't decide which sunglasses to wear to Tio's grad party...let the photo shoot begin...

Wednesday night was Ed's birthday so we joined them for a dinner celebration at Chuy's in the Highlands. Dinner and the company were great but the funniest thing was that Brent ended the night with his first girlfriend. That's right, I said FIRST and GIRLFRIEND (as some of you know, Ryleigh wasted no time in having her first boyfriend in kinder..). Anyway, Brent and Madi have known each other since they were 13 months old and used to run around in their diapers together. Never in a million years would I have thought that Madi would ever think Brent was cool enough for her (no offense Brent), but sometime over dinner Madi asked Brent, in a very George Straight Check Yes or No fashion, if he would be her boyfriend. He at first said maybe and then changed his mind to yes. This was our conversation on the way to the car, Brent -"Mama, when are Dana and Ed coming back from their vacation?" Me - "About two weeks, why?" Brent - "Oh no, I have to save my money to get Madi something, it'll be our 2 week anniversary!" Ahh, such a proud Mom moment...see, he DOES listen!

Today I got a little taste of the future that awaits me as Ryleigh continues to grow up. We went shopping for things for our new puppy and Rye wanted to bring along her friend Ainsley. First stop, Ross! We were on a mission but we took a slight detour through the ladies clothing..this is where it gets good. All of their fall sweaters are freshly out, so of course, I couldn't resist trying a few on. Everytime I would put one on, both girls would look me over and then proceed to tell me, "That is SOOO CUTE" On about the fourth one, we are all standing in front of the mirror and Ainsley looks at me and says, "Mrs. Self (yes, I immediately told her there was NO need to call me that!), that would be SO cute with, like, a black tie around the waist, you know what I mean?" and before I could even respond, Ryleigh pops in with, "OH, I think I have the perfect one at home, you could borrow it Mama!" I couldn't do anything at that point but laugh and pray for the future me and the torture these girls are going to put me through! (Please do keep in mind that A just turned 7 and R is 6)

Man am I exhausted! I am back at work, combined with the kids being in school, which means coming straight home and doing homework and then trying to get dinner done and have them fed before 5 all so that we can turn around and go to football/cheer practice M, T, Th and Fri from 6 -8 pm. Then it is hurry home, eat a quick fruit (because of course they are starving again!), everyone take a bath/shower, get everything ready for school the next day and then off to bed. By the time I can finally sit to relax, my eyes do NOT want to stay open so I usually just end up going to bed too. Now, I know that this is nothing extraordinary as every Mom out there is just as crazy busy but I would really love it if I could at least have someone to share all of this with. Unfortunately, David is STILL on crap-o 2nd shift so for now, it's all on me. For whatever reason, our relationship has always been like this. David has always either worked weird hours or we were both working 2 jobs so it's not anything I'm not used to. It is just different now because in the past, the kids were younger and it was more manageable. I have always appreciated single moms because I was raised by one and I know first hand how hard and demanding it can be and I am SO LUCKY that I at least have people around me that can help out when I need a break. I love my kids but we ALL need time to just relax every once in a while. The upside of this post is that I think I see the light!! After one year, there is FINALLY a 1st shift position available so David put the paperwork in last night and now we are just waiting and praying. We should know within a couple of weeks if he can switch and if so, life as I know it will definitely be better!! (Of course this could also mean a whole new set of problems as D and I re-adjust to being home together in the evenings and I remember that it's not just me running the ship...hmm, I might be sending him back to 2nd shift...) just kidding honey!!