Only a Number

Tomorrow Quinn turns 5.

And realistically she will be no different than she is today.  I mean 4 and 364 days is pretty much the equivalent of 5 and no days.

I tried to say that about turning 30 and spent my birthday sitting in the dark of my house eating large quantities of ice cream.

You see 5 is a milestone to me.  When a little person magically turns into a big one.  When they no longer have Mommy and Me classes - they do everything by themselves.  A whole world of independent opportunities opens up when you are 5.

Now let's be clear - this post really is all about me, not Quinn (I will save that one for her actual birthday).  I am about to have no more children under the age of 5.  And I am FREAKING OUT!!

This may have something to do with the fact that the majority of my close friends are either attempting to become pregnant, pregnant or have babies under the age of 1 (or close as it makes any difference).  And here I am with my biological clock ticking away and my eggs curdling as we speak.  I don't really want any more children but I enjoy thinking that I have the ability to have more, which that fantasy is shrinking by the day.

So no babies on the horizon AND two "school-age" children equals hitting yet another milestone on my rapid approach to Happy Acres Retirement Center.

Tomorrow is the birthday party for Quinn but today is the pity party for me.  So raise your glass of wine and salute my approach to middle age! .

Pumpkin Patch 2011

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Defense

Generally I consider myself the photo chronicler of the family.  I take the pictures of the life events so when we retire into the old folks home we can sit in our rocking chairs and remember all the things that the kids did.  I don't take the best pictures, I just take a lot of them.  Raif is the portrait taker and the photographer of the family.  Which is why I am patting myself on the back for this picture that I took.  Not a bad action shot of my defense man saving a goal, if I do say so myself.

BattleGround All Hail

A couple of weeks ago Greyson was selected to be a Kindergarten representative in the Homecoming Choir that was going to sing the Alma Mater at the Homecoming Halftime.  I suspect he was chosen for his vocal exuberance rather than his actual vocal talent, since he has inherited both his parents inability to carry a tune in a basket.  But whatever the reason, I was so very proud of him.  And of course, he did a FANTASTIC job.  He wasn't a bit nervous to walk out on the field and sing to close to 1,000 people and as you can tell from the video he knew all the words and definitely sang with that exuberance I was talking about.

FYI: He is the adorable little guy, first row all the way on the right wearing the green sweater vest.

Tired

We women who are crazy enough to have "Irish Twins" (or close enough to make any difference) consider ourselves part of our own little tribe.  We seek each other out at playgrounds, soccer fields and even airports.  With a knowing nod and smile we ask "So, how far apart are yours?"  Then we swap stories about the audacity of other parents who think are kids are actually twins or compare continual months of potty training and then of course we have to launch into "You know they say that having them this close together is actually harder than having real twins."  Though I suspect a Mom of real twins might have something to say about that if she overheard us.  By this point in my conversation my kids are probably arguing over who gets to slide down the slide first or yelling that the other one touched them and so if I am talking to a parent of older kids I asked my standard question "It gets easier right?"  Most of the time, they say yes.  I have had more than one parent tell me that now that their kids are teenagers that they are best friends, which is comforting and adds a ray of hope to my day when my kids fight over EVERYTHING.  But about a year ago, when I asked that question, the Mom just smiled at me and chuckled "Well I don't know about easier, but it does get busier."

Was she ever right.

In the last 3 months I have become the busiest Mom in America.  OK, that may be a tad of an overstatement, but it feels like it some days.  With two kids in school and two kids doing competitive sports (and in Greyson's case 2 sports at once) I feel like I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off pretty much 24/7.

Hockey practice Monday, soccer practice Wednesday and Thursday.  Friday night football games most weekends.  Three different games in two different locations on Saturday morning.

Two children in two different schools with different schedules and special days.  Can I tell you how much I cringe at the announcement of a "special day?"  Hat day, jersey day, spirit day, wear fall colors day - all additional details I have to cram into my rapidly diminishing memory bank.  Did each child finish their homework? Does Greyson have an A/R reading quiz? Is it tomorrow that Quinn needs to bring in a zoo based stuffed animal to play zookeeper in dramatic play? Special assignments like making a rocket based on their favorite book or putting together a Me-Mobile.

Then pile on working at Raif's office two days a week, volunteering at the school's library and helping with teacher prep day.  Sprinkle on top the grocery store, Costco, various other menial life errands and my insistence that my children get a home cooked meal (not fast food) every night even when we have 30 minutes between school and practice and you can see why my hair is turning grey.

If you spend more than 20 minutes with me at one sitting (which is pretty rare these days) you would come away thinking I am the most popular person in the world the way my phone constantly goes off.  Little would you know that those constant beeps are reminders going off of all the things I have to do these days because I have given up on actually remembering them.  Thank God for technology, my second brain, because I probably would have forgotten one of my kid's names at this point if my phone didn't remind me.  Oh and I would caution you to stay upwind of me because since I don't pencil in a shower these days there is a good chance I haven't had one.

All my complaining aside, I wouldn't have it any other way.  I am thankful that we have the means to allow our kids to do all their extra curricular activities and go to amazing schools with so much going on and I am especially thankful to Raif for working so hard so that I can be able to volunteer at school as much as I do.

I probably should thank him sometime....I guess I will need to schedule that in two weeks from Thursday!

A Boy of 6

For every birthday we usually do a special photo shoot but this year with Greyson turning 6 on the cruise we didn't really have time around his birthday and then school started and sports started and well time got away from us.  We did manage to get in a mini-session at the tail end of our Erim family pictures.  But I couldn't let this time pass without putting up some of my favorite pictures of my amazing 6-year old that I cobbled together over the last two months.

Roots

My kids may have a European pedigree but way deep down inside they are Kansan at heart!!