The big 40!

Mike's birthday was just a couple of days ago and it was the big 40. Mike didn't want a fuss made and he didn't want presents, so the best I could come up with was the cake. I felt like I had let him down, by it not being a special birthday but Mike didn't seem to care. And then it hit him a day later. He was 40. The psychological button tripped and suddenly he felt old. I remember talking to my Mum as a teenager and her complaining about 40 and how old she felt and I used to tell her off. I would tell her that she wasn't really old and that she was only as old as she felt. I also promised myself that I wouldn't constantly be worrying about age as I got older. Now here I am heading towards 38 and whilst I'm not sure that I'm old, I'm certainly not young anymore. In my family you're lucky if you make it to 60 and I suddenly realized that perhaps that was what bothered my Mum. Our track record is not good. Mike all of a sudden felt old. Not because of something significant that happened but he just woke up and felt old. I think perhaps that in todays society these ages are hyped up and we're told that you are indeed old if you are ...... Fill in the blanks. By certain ages you are expected to have accomplished different things in your life. Married and started a family by 30, house by 40 etc etc. I finally told Mike that we had to go off of our expectations and not societies. We have been a part of the military for a very long time now and that has given us different expectations to fulfill. Our time to accomplish things like our own house is rapidly coming and we are ready for it. As for a persons age, it is just a number and we should not feel depressed by any certain number. We can never go back and so we should willingly look to the future and the positives, instead of the past and the negatives. Age is just a number!

Comittment

Yesterday we received a phone call from Jessica's violin teacher, Mrs Cordero. It turns out that Jessie had missed 3 orchestra lessons and hadn't even received the music for the christmas concert yet. Her teacher was concerned she was falling behind. When Jessie came home from school I asked her what was happening. At first she said that she just forgot her violin, but I know my daughter well enough to know when there's more to it than that. She started to cry and confessed that she didn't want to play anymore. I hate it when my kids start to cry. My heart aches for them and I want to make them feel better, but this time I knew I was going to have to do something that wouldn't be popular. We have a school instrument for her. I pointed out to her that she could have prevented another student from learning violin this year because she had a school instrument. I also discussed comittment and how she had made a decision earlier in the year, had us fill out paperwork to get her instrument and now after playing for 2 years she wanted to stop. I told her no. I talked about when you start something, you need to finish it. When I was done giving her advice, I realised that it was great advice for myself too. Always finish what you begin. Lecture done!

Confessions of a football freak...

It occurs to me as I sit in front of my tv, glued to the Cowboys game, that I am a football addict. Every Sunday is the same. I'm extremely useful and productive, until 1pm. Then all work comes to a complete stop. I gravitate to the tv and become a couch potato for the entire rest of the day. I then proceed to become verbally abusive to players and plays that irritate me and extremely loud and agitated when good things happen. Then I watch the Patriots play and we enter a new realm of experience. I'm not just loud, I'm screaming and shouting. I'm not just rude, I get mad! Tim and Emily drove by my old house once and were laughing at me because instead of being sat on my couch, I was perched on the edge of the coffee table shouting at the tv. How did this happen? Once upon a time I didn't like sports period. I grew up watching the occasional soccer match, but that was about it. One time in Scotland before I married Mike, he asked if I wanted to stay up late and watch the superbowl. I ridiculed him. Then I got married and one monday night, Mike told me he was going to teach me everything he knew about football. He handed me a beer and turned on monday night football. I have never looked back. We were living in CT and I was from England, so it was a no brainer to me that I should support the New England Patriots. 11 years later, I am a freak. I watch every game I can and I'm so sad that even the kids know not to bother me when there's a game on. I wear my Teddy Bruschi shirt with pride, fly my flag and look forward to September with a passion. I frequent message boards, constantly check nfl.com and espn.com and participate in fantasy football, even though I stink at it. What else can I say except that I love football! I absolutely 100% love football and the New England Patriots. I just needed to share my addiction. I'm done now.

Time to drop excess baggage

As I come to the end of nursing Chloe-Anne it is very bittersweet. One chapter of my life is ending and one is beginning. I have loved the years that I have gotten to have this special relationship with my babies, but I look forward to moving on also. So this brings me to the point of this. Having had 6 kids, it seems that I magically grew a spare tire around my waist. I started on weight watchers back in Virginia and did amazingly well on it. I lost 30lbs and was super happy and then we moved up here. The pitfalls of moving are that you end up eating junk for several weeks until you get settled in and then right after that my life fell apart for a few months. Wouldn't you know it, the weight went right back on. Then I had Chloe-Anne. The time has finally come when I can make a concerted effort to get some of this weight gone forever. Its not just a vanity thing (although who doesn't want to look better!), but a healthy thing too. I want to stick around as long as I can for my family and not be taken out because I didn't take care of myself. It is very easy to complain about diets and talk about how deprived you are, because you can't eat what you want to but the one thing I have learned is that you have to view it as a lifestyle change. I do know that I didn't gain this overnight and I won't lose it overnight, so now I just have to get going with this. What's my favourite thing to help me with the exercise part of this you ask? Wii fit! Who would of thought it! I've been doing strength training, yoga, step aerobics and running, all from right in front of the tv. Things really have changed! Thanks for letting me ramble.

Celebration of life

Today is a day like any other except to me it is the anniversary of my Mum passing away. If you've lost a parent, child or close friend/relative then you know how hard a day like this can be. It is easy to dwell on the sadness and what I've lost. It is easy to cry and lament to God about how cruel he is, but none of this brings her back or takes away the pain. Instead I would like to focus on the wonderful person she was and how her legacy now continues through me and her grandchildren. She loved us very much and there wasn't much she wouldn't have done for us. To lighten things up a little, I would like to share a couple of fun memories involving her. When I was about 3 years old, Mum and I lived in Bournemouth, which is on the south coast of England. She took me to the beach and we went out wading in the English channel. We were having a ton of fun when suddenly her foot came flying out of the water and she started screaming. I looked up at her and she had a crab attached to her big toe! Of course in retrospect this was painful to her, but all I can remember is her yelling "get it off! get it off!" and wildly swinging her leg around! One of the best things we did was when she and my cousin Sophie came out to the States to see me, when I was 5 months pregnant with Jessica. We went to New York city for the day and had so much fun. We went to bloomingdales and got something just to get the brown bag! We went up the empire state building and I remember Mike showing me the twin towers. After eating at a really good indian restaurant, we had tickets to see the phantom of the opera on broadway. It was amazing! Sitting next to my bed on my dresser is a picture of my Mum and I holding hands, standing in front of the theater. We had a great day. Today and every day I miss her. I miss hearing her voice and knowing that she loved me unconditionally, no matter what I did. I miss talking to her on the phone and I mourn that my kids won't know what an amazing woman she was. That being said, today I celebrate the life of Ann Patricia Napier and wish she had not been taken so soon. She is sorely missed and was loved very much. I miss you Mum.

Long time no write....

I suddenly realized that it had been a long time since I had put anything on my blog. Whoops! So here goes the condensed version of the last few weeks. Mike and I celebrated our 11th anniversary. It really doesn't seem that long ago that I walked down the aisle and married my soul mate. So much has happened over the last 11 years and we had much to celebrate. We have an amazing family and we're very fortunate in todays climate to have stable income and a roof over our heads. We are lucky. Jessie is back in the strings program and has her violin from school. She is still having a little trouble adjusting to her new school. Not with the work but with making friends. Its very important to her and its not happening fast enough for her. Josh has now joined the strings program and he will be bringing his cello home this afternoon. He is very excited. Abby and Ben are both doing well at school and Sam is now number 1 on the waiting list for pre-k. We have all his paperwork and shots up to date, so we are just waiting on a spot to come available for him. He is so ready for school. He's driving me crazy with all his energy and boredom! Chloe-Anne has turned out to be an eating machine and will eat pretty much anything you put in front of her. She's finally ready to crawl also. About time girl! Last week Mom and Dad came to visit and they finally got to meet our baby girl. All the kids had a great time seeing their grandparents and they wished it could have been for a little longer. Fall is finally here. The leaves are starting to turn and the temps are starting to dip down at night. We are able to turn the ac off and have the windows open to let the fresh air in. This is my favourite time of year. I think we are going to try and go apple picking this weekend. Anyway, that's about it. You are now officially all up to date on our lives. Thanks for reading!

Sam strikes again

So yesterday I was sat on the couch and as usual the boys left the bathroom door open, so I couldn't see the front doorbell rings. I ask Ben to see who's there and he opens the door and there's no one there. Sam has this habit of going outside, ringing the doorbell and then coming in and acting innocent, so naturally I ask Sam if he was the one to ring the doorbell. Here is his response.
"Maybe it was the flying dutchman!"
Spongbob fan anyone!