That's what sisters are for.

Today my baby sister Colleen turns twenty five.  A fact that makes me feel both nostalgic and a little old, after all I was twelve when she was born.  I remember her "birth" day like it was yesterday and thank God all the time for her.  She brings such humor and spunk to our lives and truly brought love to mine at a much needed time in my life.  

I called her this morning and sang with my best voice H a P p Y   B i r T h D a Y! 

She called back while I was in Costco with Max, but I sang her another quick rendition not caring who heard.  She heard her monkey (his given name from his Aunt) in the background and asked about him.  I professed by telling her how earlier I looked in the mirror in Costco's bathroom and saw that my shirt was holey and see through enough that you could see my black and white bra.  That along with my messy hair was enough for me to wish for no run ins with anyone I knew.  (For those of you who know me well, know I don't often care what I wear unless I'm working.  I have clothes older than Savannah in my closet, but even I had crossed my own fine line in the sand.) 

Anyhow, I continued to tell her how Max was literally monkeying around in the cart.  So at one point, I pointed to this well behaved little girl and encouraged him to sit nice like her.  Then to my horror, I saw who was pushing the cart.  It was a mom I ran into frequently at the YMCA, who of course looked cute as a button.  She smiled a kind smile, but it could have easily been one of sympathy at how disheveled I looked.  Smiling sheepishly, I walked away.  Hey, I wanted to say, In my defense I had to rush out of the house to get one to band before school and home to get another off to the bus.  Then I was off to run several errands.  Although I admit it wouldn't have hurt to look in a mirror.  

So I went on and shared with her my feelings of ineptness, knowing full well that she wouldn't judge me.  I didn't tell her that the shirt I was wearing was the one I found left behind at the Dave Matthew's concert that her and I went to a few weeks ago.  After wearing it today, I realized why they threw it to the ground, probably after replacing it with a newer model.  Nonetheless, I will wear it again, although maybe next time I'll at least wear a cami underneath.  Hey, one person's literal trash is another DMB fan's treasure.  

When I was finished regergitating all this to her about how attractive I was looking today, she made me bust out laughing after making some comment about making out.  She never lets me take life too seriously and quickly I was back to proudly sporting my new (even if used) DMB T-shirt.  

I am lucky to have many blessings and my sisters are three of my biggest. All different, yet special, they add something to my life that I couldn't live without.  

I love you Colleen, Elizabeth and Kathleen and miss you so much.  

H a P p Y   Bi R t H d A y my sweet, funny and adorable baby sister!  Thank you for everything you've done for me and all you've brought into my life! May all your wishes come true!!!

Taken by my honey 9-1-13 at DMB concert. 

Sunflower for my sister

A sunflower for my sister.

I photographed this sunflower today with my sister in my heart and on my mind.  She's going through hell right now, so it's important that she knows that I'm here, her big sister has her back.  

A sunflower is special in that it can grow almost anywhere, under all kinds of conditions.  In tough situations it blooms beautifully, withstands the rain, then opens it's face and welcomes the sun.  

My sister, you're amazing and resilient, this too shall pass and I have faith in you.  I love you to the moon and stars and back.  

  

A day in my life...

Periodically I like to blog my days.  I think back to when my oldest four were little and some of those days, weeks and even months are a blur because of how busy I was.  I wish I had noted more so I could look back and remember some of that craziness!

Today was one of those crazy days.  I woke up in a start and had the bright idea to mow the lawn and try the mulching function.  Well I didn't know that a frost covered lawn would just clump, not mulch.  Note to self, don't mow at 7:15 am when there is still frost on your grass, all that happens is a messy mow and then your dog tracks it in all over your floor.  So I quit halfway through the backyard and came in to get the girls off to school and Max and I ready for the YMCA.

I was able to get in an hour of mom time and take a circuit (aka kick your butt) class before Max's swim lesson at 9:30.  It was nice to catch up with my circuit friends.  Max did awesome in child care, yeah for him!   Swimming went well and he was excited to even get some time in the toddler pool, his very favorite thing.  Off we headed to the arctic blast locker room to freeze, shower and then freeze again.  I swear they make it super cold so we hurry faster.  He was funny and wanted to sit on a stool, naked and have his snack and then get dressed.  As I noticed all the other naked butts that used the stools for the same thing, I convinced him to stay on his clean and sanitary towel instead.

After we got dressed, we chatted with the sports director about the soccer game schedule (thankfully the girl's games are at the same field in case they have a game at the same time) and then played some soccer in the racquet ball courts for a little while.  Max is hilarious and already a really good dribbler and kicker after watching his older siblings play.

Our next stop was the collision repair.  Our little car that we have had for a whole month got bit in the back yesterday by a bigger car driven by a distracted 16 year old driver.  (We traded in Jerry's beloved truck in order to buy our house.)  He didn't see that everyone was stopped for school busses and rear ended me on the way home from getting the girls.  All were okay and he was super sad and apologetic.  Thankfully he was also insured, but I still have to go through the pain of getting the car fixed.  Max was entertained by an elderly gentleman who lost his voice and spoke through a voice box and sounded like a robot, utterly fascinating to a two year old.

After we got our estimate, we only had a few minutes until the girls got out of school (half day Wednesdays),  we headed to the house and watched as they dug our sewer line.  We have been going over almost everyday and yesterday they finally poured the foundation!  (We wrote in the cement  last night, our own little messages that will be hidden under the floor.)   Max was entertained by the "huge crane."  He loved it and was so cute!

Off to get the girls and then home to get Max to bed.  Nap for him and cleaning and some Garden Critters work for me.

Fast forward two hours and I have to call a customer back (she was super sweet and understanding that I work from home) so the kids and I can go pick up Brayden from school.

We brought our glass recycling, so after we got Brayden, we had glass throwing therapy as we catapulted several dozen bottles and jars into the bins.  The kids love it!  Everyone should try it!

After glass chucking, they talked me into getting donuts (for Max) and apple fritters (for the older three) at the Orting Bakery.  It was buy one get one free fritter day so the kids were happy and we even brought home two for tomorrow (they're huge)!

Car ride = Music time!  Can't hear exact cause of fussing when your listening to the tunes.  Embarrassed Sage at a stop light as I boogied to a tune while we waited for our go sign.  Then I blasted some Opera to embarrass them all as we pulled into our neighborhood.  Love it!

Home.  Crazyness! Wrote a much needed email, finished mowing the grass and then had to get the girls ready for their first YMCA Soccer practice at 6:30 (different teams, same time- my second trip to the Y!)  A quick dinner that dad brought home and then the four kids and I were off!  (Dad had just gotten home and I left him for some P & Q)

Soccer practice was also crazy!  I attempted to watch both girl's practice while wrangling a running two year old.  Brayden came too and was really good (other than teaching Max how to tip a goal, literally!) Side note:  Thank goodness it was gorgeous out (we topped 70 degrees today).  Anyway, we ran around the fields, up the hills, watched the girls and had several trips to the playground to slide down the slide and cause small heart-attacks for me. (I am still a nervous wreck from Max's femur break last year and climbing causes me minor cardiac episodes.)

Practice over!  Find soccer balls then head home to hit the showers.   Dad takes over so I can call a customer back and begin typing up an order. Yeah! Happy to get those!  I am just about finished, but take a break to kiss good-night and finally take a shower (the second of the day, but the only one where I actually cleaned myself... the other was after swimming and I just got more wet while I washed Max.)

Dinner for the parents somewhere around 8:30 (normally we all eat together, but not in the cards today).  Then Survivor.  Ironic, I felt like I was on my own version of the show today.

That was my crazy Wednesday... just a day in my life, but because I typed it out, I'll get to remember this one.

Faces of a family.

On New Year's Eve 2012, my 24 year old sister got married.  The experience of watching my "baby" sister go through the rite of passage of becoming an adult was a bit difficult for me.  After all,  I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday.  I believed she was going to bring good luck to our family because I saw a full rainbow the afternoon of her “birth” day.  While she didn’t bring luck where my parents were concerned,  she brought smiles and love into my life.  I view that as lucky.  Growing up in our family was different than most of my friends.  We didn't just go through life together, we survived life together.  My little sisters and my older brother were my life and at times I was not just their sister, but their guardian, their parent and their best friend, as they were mine.    

Proud Parents

As I watched my little 'leen prepare for her wedding, there was that moment when I realized that this was actually happening, my little Colleen was going to be someone's wife.  I wanted to go all “big sister” on her and tell her a thing or two about growing up, maturity and marriage, however I quickly stopped myself (for the most part.)  When I was 24 I had two babies and was in a mess of a marriage, what did I know?!  Maybe now I could speak from experience, from the position of being older and wiser, but I realized that she had to live through her own “24” and figure things out.  I could drop a few hints, offer up some sisterly advice on love and commitment and I did, but I needed to cap my guidance before it bubbled over and she would no longer be willing to grasp any of it. 

My sisters, my friends.

Family is funny.  I look around at mine and wonder if I met these people out in the world, if we weren’t related, would we be friends?    Honestly, maybe so, maybe not.  We are so different, on different paths that literally lead to far away places.  Yet, no matter what, we eventually come back together and when we do, it’s not always perfect, but it’s wonderful.  It’s love.  There is always that first embrace, when you are almost squeezing the life out of the other person, or maybe you are trying to squeeze all your love back in, a metaphorical fill-up.  Those moments are one of my favorites, the feelings are so raw and real, the love palpable.  I am home. 

A big kiss from my little sister.

Love full circle!

We had a lot of fun during the week of my sister’s wedding, but like all family gatherings, especially during stressful times, there were some bumps.  But the beautiful thing about my family is that we get over it, we find some understanding, hand out some forgiveness and move on.  These wonderful people may be difficult at times, but ultimately they are my family and they’re encrypted in my heart forever.  Hey, I am not perfect, I have made and I am sure will continue to make mistakes in my life.  My path has been bumpy and rough at times and through all that my family has been there for me.  They might not always agree, but they don’t judge.  They love me unconditionally, as I do them.  

My loves

My son and daughter dancing!

If I could teach my children anything, it would be the importance of family.  Throughout their lives they will need that one person who will pick them up, dust them off and right their spirit again, they will need the unconditional love of family.   

I love you my sweet family, to the moon and stars, moon and stars and back!