5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 Party Time!!

Today was Andrew's graduation party. Ronda, Kari, Renee and I spent most of the morning prepping food and decorating the pool area. Everything went off without a hitch and we all enjoyed a great party. As usually it was difficult getting the kids out of the pool. They're addicted to that thing! In the middle of the party the shuttle went up without a hitch. We watched the preparation and count down on the TV then ran out to the yard to watch the shuttle take off. Roman was in awe!

Graduation Day - Congratulations Andrew!!!!

Today was Andrew's graduation. So hard to believe this kid is out of high school! Wow. Am I really getting THAT old?? Or rather is Ronda, cause let's face it I was only 12 when he was born! LOL It was a gorgeous sunny evening as we all headed to his school's footfield to watch the ceremony. And it actually wasn't half bad either. The speakers were almost entertaining even. The kids also enjoyed seeing another big cousin walk down the aisle to except that most important piece of paper! It's important to me that they know WHY we're there and what it all means and the significance of a high school graduation. I know because of the example set by their big cousins, my kids too will someday walk across a similar stage to except theirs!

More KSC and beach fun!

Since Abby and Megan were at Aunt Ronda's, Bethany did NOT want to leave. So, she stayed with them and James, Roman, Hope and I headed back to Kennedy Space Center for more fun. It was strange not having the Bmonster with us, but we all had a fantastic time! We started with the Shuttle Launch Experience and this time Hope didn't chicken out. In fact, she loved it!! Then we toured Explorer and caught the Launch status report. We had to exit that a bit premature in hunt for a bathroom. James and Roman then headed to the rocket garden while Hope and I went to the playground. We had a quick space dots break then caught "Mad Mission to Mars", a fun children's skit. It was partially 3-D and also had audience participation. My kids are very leary of volunteering for such things, well, maybe not B, but Hope and Roman definitely are! So, when the first 4 volunteers were called up they sat on their hands with heads down to avoid notice. LOL All the kids had to do was hold a ball so show the solar system... no big deal. So the next time a volunteer was called, Professor Hope Von Braun hesitantly raised her hand. She got to go up, they were VERY excited to meet her and then she got to demonstrate gravity by shooting off a rocket across the stage. Way cool! She was very proud of herself! Next up..... a wacky space chair?? The possibilities alone sent Roman's hand flying up into the air before he could think straight. Much to my amazement he ran on up too, AND was not disappointed. The new captains chair was decked out with boosters that raised him to the roof. As he grinned, the two astronauts started a cheer.... R-O-M-A-N Roman Roman!!! He pumped his arms in the air in triumph and just totally played into it. It was too cute! After the show we headed to see the robots and called it a day. There was soooooooooooooooooooooo much more to see, but Sarah was getting out of school early and we all wanted to head to the beach too.

We made it back to Ronda's in time for lunch, then packed everyone.... Kari, Kermit, Abby, Megan, Emma, Sarah, James, Roman, Hope, Bethany and me .... into cars and headed for the beach! The kids swore they saw lots of dolphins and manatees while crossing the river. I'm not too sure they weren't imagining them, but I can say for certain that we saw plenty more sting rays once at the beach! A whole group of about 8 that twice swam past us. The last time they passed Kermit yells, "Kari, STOP!" What does she do?? She takes off running as fast as she can to get out of that water! LOL It was a little rainy while we were at the beach and quite windy. Still we hung out for a good hour or more before heading home for a dip in the pool and dinner before attempting to settle in a baby and 5 excited kids ages 3-8 for the night, all in one adult free room! After a busy day in the sun, they surprisingly began dropping like flies with little fuss!

Kennedy Space Center

Today we slept in, then got up and headed off to Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. I used to work out at Kennedy and James worked as needed on as an ultra-sonic tester for the rockets out of Canaveral Air Force base. We loved being a part of the space program while we lived there and looked forward to passing this onto our kids. They didn't disappoint! Roman was fascinated by everything. Hope and Bethany enjoyed it too. We decided to start off with the tour. Our 3 hour tour was closer to 5, but hey, we saw EVERYTHING! Of course, with a launch just a few days away they got to see the shuttle on pad A from the observation deck. It was a bit hot out there so we treated ourselves to some space dots. Man are those things addictive! Roman loved the little astronaut helmet they served it in and washed it out in the bathroom and carried it with him the rest of the day. After the tour we went into the gift shop, he set it down and walked away! Later we stopped for nachos and ice cream and he convinced the cashier to give him another. We ended our day at Kennedy for the new Shuttle Launch Experience! Man was that awesome!!!! Bethany was too short so we had to do a parent swap with her. Hope just barely made the cut, but when the noise and smoke and cautions during the video prior to simulation scared her enough that she was NOT going near that thing! LOL James, Hope, and Bethany were escorted to a live feed room to watch. They saw the same video, and us in the simulator, they just didn't feel the motions. Basically it starts by putting you on your back feeling as if you're in a shuttle ready for lift off. The count down begins, you feel the rumbles as the boosters fire and the vibrations of lift off. You're walked through every step of the way, as the engines die down, then back up again before entering orbit where they simulate a feeling of weightlessness and open the doors overhead with an aerial shot of earth. It was amazing! When we came off James got to go on while I stayed with the girls. Roman loved it so much he snuck on with James for a second ride! During their ride and listening to me explain it to another mom on kid swap, Hope decided it wasn't so scary, but it was too late. The park was closing and we were late for dinner!

Of course Ronda was also late for dinner, so we missed our reservation and had to wait. On the way over she called and said it was a reservation for 15 that she had invited some friends. Doing the math, with 5 additional people, our suspicions were confirmed.... Kari and Kermit surprised us by arriving a day early! We all met at Dixie Crossroads, a family favorite and the most amazing rock shrimp ever!!! You just can't get seafood like that in Richmond! The kids were really surprised and so excited to see Abby, Megan and Emma. Once we finally got our table everything went perfectly. We had a great waitress, the service and food were excellent, and everyone was in great spirits. The perfect ending to a great day!!

Big Day for Animals

In coming to Florida the kids learned a lot about the local wildlife. We saw alligators at the zoo yesterday. Hope's biggest wish was to see a real dolphin. So, in crossing Banana River to head to the beach today I reminded them to keep an eye out for dolphins and Sarah saw one! It was hanging out next to the bridge. We quickly stopped and when he surfaced the first time we could have reached out and touched him he was so close! We watched for a good 15 minutes in awe. As we were preparing to the leave, not more than 15 feet away this giant tail came out of nowhere and we all recognized the classic manatee! He sat in the water within view for awhile, but never resurfaced for us. Still it was quite exciting!

We then headed off for a fun day at the beach! We spent several hours there, just our little family and Sarah. The water was great! However, our neighbors, well, let's just say shocking!!! The 2 ladies next to us were sun bathing in the buff, or nearly. They at least had the decency to keep their bottoms on, though there were little left to the imagination with their tiny string bikinis. And yes, they were topless, and NO Cape Canaveral is NOT a nudist beach! The shock on several of the men's faces walking by was priceless! Sarah and I couldn't stop laughing at one in particular. He was kinda creepy and kept walking back and forth pacing in front of them. He would openly gawk, then sit and just stare at them, get up and pace, the sit on the other side of them and stare. It was crazy!!!

There were also 2 fisherman just past the bathing nudies and one of them caught a large sting ray. He was probably a good 3 foot in wing span. The kids enjoyed watching him real him in, then set him loose again. We spent the rest of the time building sand castles so Bethany could destroy them and catching minnows. Roman and Sarah also did some boogie boarding.

After that we headed back to the house for a swim in the pool and dinner. After dinner we kidnapped Andrew (he was finishing a final!) and headed back to the beach for an evening walk. This time to Cocoa Beach as Andrew wanted to show us where he works. He works at an Inn in Cocoa Beach about a mile from the pier. We met the two dogs that live at the Inn and headed for the beach. We started towards the pier, not expecting to actually make it. Roman and Bethany of course headed straight for the water and wasn't long before they were drenched, despite numerous threats and attempts to keep them from the water. They didn't grasp the concept of walking on the beach. Why go to the beach and not get wet?? Kids! About 3/4ths of the way to the pier Sarah remembered it was karaoke night there, so we set off to join the fun. Of course we all arrive in bare feet, covered in sand, no money, and 2 dripping kids, but hey, it's the beach! No one even gave us a second look. After 1 fantastic singer, and too many horrific ones to count, much griping from Andrew about wasting so much time there, and 2 sleeping kids, Sarah's turn finally came. She same Redneck Woman by Gretchen Wilson and did fantastic!!! It was great and lots of fun.

On the way back to the Inn Hope announced she had to pee.... NOW. Andrew weighed the options, grabbed her and ran back to the pier. We saw her riding on his back as he ran thinking, what an idiot! LOL NO WAY would have put her on my back! LOL We knew all was fine when they returned later the same way. Once back at the Inn Andrew gave us a tour of the hotel. It was neat for the kids to see what goes on behind the scenes. He also took us back to meet his birds. Andrew was hired on 2 years ago primarily to maintain 2 Macaws that live on the property. Although he does many other things for them now, he still also take cares of the birds. One red, one blue, they are absolutely gorgeous! They are too big and their claws too sharp for the kids to handle, but they did get to pet them and we got pictures (again, if Sarah will send them to me, I'll post some!).

After a dolphin, a manatee, a sting ray, 2 macaws, a full day in the sun and water, plus a 2 mile walk on the beach, the kids crashed hard!

Happy Memorial Day!!

Today Ronda, Andrew, Sarah, James, Roman, Hope, Bethany and I headed to the zoo, well, after Ronda took us for a detour! Yup, she got lost on the way!! We're following behind her with James in the passenger seat... "Where does she think she's going?" "It's off Wickham, I'm telling you, it's off the Wickham!" "The woman couldn't get herself out of a brown paper bag!" "Does she ever come off the island?" "I'm telling you, she missed the exit." "She's wrong!" Of course we get off the next exit, which is a good 10 minutes up the road and my cell rings.... "Julie, where's the zoo?? Andrew thinks we passed it and should have gotten off at the last exit! I thought it was this one." hahahahahahahaha, yup, James's "I told you so's" were enough to drive even the sanest person mad!

In route back to the zoo, we stopped at RJ Gators for lunch where all 3 of my kids actually ate alligator tail! AND, they LIKED it!!!

Finally we arrived at the zoo. We toured La Selva, then quickly made our way around the Florida wildlife exhibit to get back around in time to see the alligator feedings, which about 15 minutes after what should have been the start, we read the small print that says, "Wednesdays and Saturdays only" Ooops! Roman was disappointed to miss the feeding, but loved seeing the alligators up close like that. Next we went on the train. It sucked! We didn't really see much on the train ride itself, and the conductor was all kinds of rude, but seeing James get in and out of the tiny kid sized train was worth the laugh! Sorry hon, but it was funny!!! After the train nightmare we stopped for cold drinks and headed to Australia. Several years ago when Andrew and Joey were maybe 12/13 years old, we took them to this same zoo and in the middle of the Australia exhibit they got their first real up close and personal lesson on the birds and the bees as we had to explain just what exactly these 2 Kangaroos were doing! Andrew couldn't stop giggling through the exhibit just thinking about it, and fortunately, my kids were spared this life lesson!!! They did however, thoroughly enjoy feeling the Lorey's. They were beautiful and fun. I'll post pics if Sarah sends me some. There were tons of them everywhere and the kids got to hold, pet and feed them. Can't say as much for the giraffes though. When we got to Africa the only animal in sight was the white rhino. While he was awesome to watch, we were disappointed to learn the giraffes were not out and our tickets to feed them were worthless. Oh well! Overall it was a really nice day!

Oh yeah, and later in the evening, Sarah pulled Hope's tooth #9 out! Hope was thrilled!!!

And....... we're off!

After a busy night with the wedding, we all slept in. I unpacked and repacked the suitcases, weighing them in to make sure we didn't go over the 50 lbs weight limit that would cost us an additional travel fee. Once complete we set off for the airport. Jim dropped us off. He is going to bring our car over to long term parking next Saturday to save us a few (or $60) bucks. When we arrived we went through baggage, got our boarding passes, walked through security, stopped to pee, and walked right on the plane. No waiting whatsoever. The pilot even shaved a full half hour off trip. We were scheduled to arrive in Orlando at 5:05 pm and arrived instead at 4:35 pm. We had luggage in and hand and were picking up the rental by 5:05! Ahead of schedule we headed off to Merritt Island. I know they have been having a dry spell, but I am seriously surprised by just how brown everything is on our beautiful beloved island! Anyway, we arrived at Ronda's a little after 6, dinner was waiting, and the kids quickly found their way to the pool, where I believe they would probably spend the rest of our trip if we let them!!!

The Wedding

The kids' officially have a new aunt! Welcome to the family Aunt Karla! (officially - as Karla has been with us for over 6 years!)

Today Rob and Karla got married. The ceremony was beautiful, as were her two little flower girls! Although we were running a tad late to the wedding and weren't 100% sure we were even going to make it in time, and things got a little stressful getting there, once we arrived, all was fine. The wedding was outdoors at a lovely old mansion. The weather was perfect and overall the entire evening was too! The girls came down the aisle with their heads held high and smiling the whole way. They forgot to throw the rose petals till about half way down, at which point Bethany all but froze, grinning from ear to ear I think she dumped every petal from her basket as her feet appeared glued to that one spot and the bridal party tried desperately to coax her down further. She just stood there grinning and even waved at a few! Finally as the bride began to make her entrance, Hope just pushed her the rest of the way. It was priceless! Bethany told me before the ceremony that she just didn't think she could stand there that long and not talk, but she did great, once she made it down the aisle!

The reception was just as wonderful. Bethany danced her little behind off with nearly every guest in attendance. She finally began to crash when they slowed things down to throw the garter and bouquet, but she hit the dance floor immediately after determined to keep up. She was half asleep and sitting on her bottom in the middle of the dance floor moving to the beat when we finally drug her away to say goodnight! Hope was a little off this evening. She just wasn't feeling well, a little peaked, and coughing. I just hope she's not getting sick for our trip! And Roman, well, I think for him at this age weddings are just icky, boring at best. He did love that London Broil though, as he went back for 3rds and then 4ths when the chef wasn't looking!

It was a beautiful wedding and I wish Karla and Rob much happiness!

Big Foot Boy

Last night we had to go and buy Roman new shoes as he was blowing a toe out of his old ones. He was in a size 4, just slightly smaller than MY feet. The new shoes?? A size SIX!!!!!! His foot is much bigger than mine now and he's only 8 years old!!! My baby boy is getting too big too fast! I was shocked and a bit saddened to realize that his next shoe shopping trip will most likely be in the men's department, no more boy's! It didn't help at all that he also bought a new shirt while we were out... a small men's! How did this happen?!?

A drunk, an amputee, and a blonde try to move a couch....

Sadly, there's no joke about this one! Though I have NEVER laughed so hard in all my life!!!!! So, Jeni (the BLONDE!) is moving to Kansas next week. She wanted to give her couch to Bernice as she's not taking it with her, but didn't have a way to move it. So last night I go to help Jeni move this couch. Bernice meets us there to get it off Jeni's 2nd floor apartment and into my truck. Brilliant idea by the blonde.... let me go see if my neighbor, Jim, will help us move this thing! Great. She's gone a lot longer than expected and Bernice and I are trying to figure out what the heck she's doing. So she comes running back up hysterically speaking something about a Jim and a missing arm. Turns out Jim, who is drunker than a skunk, has a brilliant idea too..... let me ask my friend to help us! Problem being, the friend is an amputee with only 1 arm! Bernice runs down to peak and see what's going on and comes running back up the stairs holding her side, bent over, laughing hysterically.... "Oh my god! Jeni got us an armless man to move the couch!!" I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in all my life. Not AT the man's prosthetic arm, not AT the man himself, he was just as sweet as could be, but at the thought of a drunk and a one armed man moving this big couch we were all too lazy to move ourselves! To make it worse, the drunk comes upstairs and pushes the couch down the stairs for the one armed man to bear the brunt of the weight, then he proceeds to SIT DOWN on the top step and push the couch down one step at a time as he scoots his behind down each and every step! I was in tears and had to hide in the back room. It was just too much!!!!

Took them 30 minutes, but they FINALLY got the couch down the stairs and into the truck. We set off for Bernice's. Now Bern lives all the way on the other side of Richmond and took us through a scenic detour straight through downtown Richmond. It was a nice drive, but we had no idea where we were by the time we got there! Well ,as we pull up her daughter in law comes over to help. She's DRUNK! LOL She is trying to perfect the appletini and was practicing a wee bit much last night! Before we left she comes running back across the yard with a shaker in hand to share. I got out of sampling cause I was driving, but Jeni sucked it up and had a drink. I thought she was gonna get sick! Apparently it was VERY strong!!!

So finally we're in route to go home. Bernice gives us directions, right, right, left on Laburnum and take 64 all the way out to 288. Easy enough! We get on 64/95 and start talking. Thinking we were on 64 and knowing it's a bit of a drive neither of gave the time lapse a second thought. Besides we were yapping away and not paying attention anyway. Next thing I know Jeni says, "Have we passed Broad yet?" I dunno, let's see if we can figure out where we are..... Oops!!! We're on 95, NOT 64!!! And we're just a few miles from Kings Dominion by this point, a good 30 minutes north of where we needed to be! So we turn the truck around and finally head back. It was after 8 before I got Jeni safely home. We're thinking "The three hour tour, the three hour tour!" by then!

It was an adventure of a night to say the least!

Baseball Season

As I've mentioned before, Roman is playing baseball for Reams this spring. They have yet to win a game, and while I have strong opinions on why and how to resolve the problem, I will keep all that to myself so as not to stir the pot!

Most games Roman walks away with his head down in complete frustration. It is hard to watch. He is a competitive spirit and all this losing is wearing him down. Last week James took him to the batting cages and we bought a pitching practice net that is not only helping his accuracy, but also his catching as the ball returns as hard as is thrown! Basically we decided we'd take it upon ourselves to truly teach him a game I have always loved.

The result.... at last week's game he hit his first ball. Truly hit it, hard enough to safely make it to base. Of course he had to slide into 1st, but not from pressure, all for show! LOL He's been dying to do that! After a few more plays he found himself on 3rd base. For a team that had to date only scored maybe 5 runs all season and faced such ending scores as 1-20 more than once this season, scoring was HUGE! So, as Roman's awaiting his first score of the year, the ball is hit. He's running.... the ball is being thrown home.... the catcher is standing ON the base awaiting the catch and blocking home plate. What does Roman do?? He never slows, he puts his chin to his chest, with batting helmet on, he plows over the catcher, who is half his size, and sends him flying backwards. Coach West (his football coach) begins jumping up and down cheering him on beside James. "THAT's my lineman!!" "No fear!" "Can't wait till football season!" "Did you see? That kids' built like a brick house!" began ringing all around us. Later I asked Roman what on earth he was thinking..... he says, "Mom, that was Providence.... PROVIDENCE!" (the ONLY team to beat them in football last season) "All I saw was that kid that knocked me down at football and he wasn't gonna stop me this time!" LOL I told him it was NOT the same kid, he swore it didn't matter, they may have lost the baseball game to Providence in the end, but Providence did not take Roman this time around!

James jokes that they're on track for a perfect season.... of loses! It really is a bit pathetic, but we are slowly seeing a little bit of improvement in the team with each game. And I am getting a lot of compliments from the other parents on how great Roman looks at the plate. His batting stance has been perfected and he is good for one big hit almost every game now! Who knows, maybe they will pull off a win before the season's over!

I survived!

Happy Belated Mother's Day to all!!! I hope each of you had a wonderful one. I actually got to spend it with my mommy, so who could ask for anything more?

So, we survived the weekend!!! Bethany's recital was at 10am. We had to be there by 9:15. She was too cute for words. All the concerns on what she might do on stage with that big of a crowd were for nothing.... she was nearly perfect! Just the picture perfect little ballerina who barely missed a step through her entire performance. I didn't go to the parade as it was starting to drizzle as we left B's recital and I wasn't sure if they were done by then or not. James and Roman seemed to have had a good time when we met up with them later. Apparently Roman horded his candy while his fellow scouts tossed theirs very quickly. By the end he was the only one left with anything! Hope's recital was at 6 and we had to be there by 5:30. Her 1st number was tap, which was done to the old country song "Convoy". A song i truly don't like! They enter the stage in squatting formation scooting in backwards while holding on to the person in front of them. I have dubbed this number the "train wreck" since the first day I saw it! Boy did they make me look the fool! Those girls were fantastic. For 6 year olds it was quite shocking. They all did fantastic!!! The ballet number went almost as well. Poor Hope was expecting flowers and at least one sibling to greet her in excitement after her last performance, instead it was just me. I told herI didn't get her any flowers, and that greatly disappointed her..... I didn't, my mom did! When we got back to our seats she was thrilled with her awaiting reward for doing so well. We stuck around till the end so she could go on stage with all the big kids before heading home and literally crashing!

Sunday came much too quickly. The kids brought lots of goodies to my bed. A beautiful stain glass butterfly picture frame from Roman, a wonderful hand print with poem from Hope, and a finger painting picture from Bethany to name a few. We then went and woke Grandma up. We all got dressed and headed to church. Then out to lunch at Olive Garden with the Perkins before saying goodbye to mom. The rest of the day was spent lazily watching movies and relaxing with my babies. A perfect Mother's Day!!!

Baseball, Recitals, Moving, Grandma.... Oh MY!

Whew! It's been one crazy week, even by my standards! This week we had Bethany's recital rehearsal on Monday, Roman's baseball game on Tuesday, Hope's recital rehearsal on Wednesday. On Thursday I helped Jeni pack for a few hours after work and Roman had cub scouts. Tonight mom arrives, tomorrow are the girls recitals .... they got stuck in different shows!... and Roman has a parade for Cub Scouts, then Mother's Day on Sunday! All this after having NO weekend last weekend and working a 50 hour work schedule!

This is insanity, even my standards!!!

Bethany the Baker

Last month Bethany snuck into the kitchen undetected while James was playing video games. A short while later he discovered her in the kitchen with a small ball filled to the brim with cake mix and water and about to crack in egg to add. Not knowing what measurements she had already used, he went ahead and transferred the contents to a larger bowl and helped her finish her cake. It was AWFUL! And Bethany couldn't have been prouder!

So, earlier this week B came up to James and said, "Daddy, can you play some Call of Duty or Halo please?" As she gave her sweetest, 'I'm not up to anything, really!' smile. He questioned, "Why?" Finally she confessed... she was gonna try to sneak in and make another cake for Mother's Day.

Hopey-isms

Hope was just laying here talking about she had to spit out her chit-chat and get all her 'chit-chatcherin' done before she gets to school. That got James asking if I had ever bloggedabout her 'Hopey-isms'. Here's a list of a few regulars that always crack us up:

This fall she was be 'cheerleadering'.
At ball games she goes to get hotdogs at the 'concussion' stand.


okay, those are the 3 I can think of off the top of my head this morning... hey, it's still early! I'll keep this list updated as they come back to me.

Life through Roman's Camera

I uploaded Roman's camera, as I've been using it to take pics too... hey, his is nicer than mine!!! LOL Anyway, here are a few pics worth eternal capture from the eyes of my son....

The Crazy Tooth

Okay, so this post is nearly a month late and I can't remember the exact dates, but it must be documented! Last year Hope lost her 1st 2 teeth, the bottom center ones. Before doing so, both permanent teeth came in behind them and pushed them out the front. What dentists dub "shark teeth"! So I suppose it should not have been overly surprising that her top 2 front teeth were just as stubborn. I do not have a pic of the first on that came out, which was literally loose for more than 6 months!!! By the time it came out her second one was loose too and looked like she had lost her 3rd and 4th top teeth, which she hadn't. Then her permanent tooth came down and popped the 1st loose tooth out. Then the second permanent tooth came down and for weeks that blasted tooth would not come out. Here's a pic taken on 4/14 (Wacky Wednesday). The following week I pulled it out cause I couldn't stand looking at that crazy tooth anymore! LOL

Catch up

Well, it's been awhile since I posted and I'm determined not to let this get away from me again. I have several drafts started from the last few weeks, but need to set aside some time at home (hahaha) to upload some pics for them before publishing. Overall life is insanely hectic in the Trettel house!!! We are winding down dance this week. Baseball is in full swing. Cub scouts and Daisies are winding down too. The kids are in testing and end of year stuff which stresses Roman out. It stays light entirely too late outside making bedtime near impossible these days, so we're all more than a little sleep deprived! And I am busy busy busy working on a big project at work that has had me insanely busy. I'm not the type of person to put more more into a job than is required in my 40 hours a week. To be honest I don't care for overtime because it takes away from family time. Sure the money is great, but is it worth it?? This project hasn't bothered me much as I know there is a firm end date. We basically have 6 weeks of this project and the bonus pay will come at a good time. I've tried to maneuvre OT to early morning hours that don't interfere with the kids, but it is exhausting! This past weekend was my turn to work. Although, for Jeni, unrelated to work, I elected to miss Roman's Sat baseball game, having to miss Sunday's as well because I was just too exhausted just about killed me. I NEVER miss games and that was a guilty stab in the heart. I tried, but man I was tired. Basically my weekend went something like this... Saturday got up and mowed the yard. Went to Jeni's for a Cinco de Mayo party and stayed until she kicked me out around 6. Watched a movie, then went to bed at 8 and slept till 11. Got up, started pumping the caffeine and settled in to work from home. By 3 am on Sunday it was clear that I was not going to get everything done from home, so off to the office I went. Returning home a little before 9 am Sunday morning. Roman had a 1 o'clock game, so after finishing up a big more work, I finally crashed at 9:30 planning to sleep for only 2 hours. When James woke me at 12 to tell me they were leaving I felt like the worse hangover ever and had to admit defeat and spent the rest of the day sleeping and watching movies. They didn't come home till 7 that night. It was the first time I had seen the girls since Friday at dinner as they spent the weekend with Gma. I had barely seen Roman and James much more than that all weekend. I managed a nice last minute dinner with the 5 of us and we all hit the sack for an early bedtime.

So on top of work and regular routine I am trying to make it up to them with some one on one time this week. Yesterday was with B as she had her dress rehearsal for her recital. Hope's in on Wednesday so I'll get some time with her then. Roman has a game tonight that I will NOT miss. Thursday I am ditching them all to help Jeni pack and mom will arrive on Friday. hmmmm, guess with Mother's Day coming up on Sunday, all I really want this year is some kid time. I sure do miss them when times get crazy like this!

On the 23rd of this month we head to Baltimore for Rob and Karla's wedding, then fly to Florida on the 25th for a week of much deserved vacation! I can not wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!