happy birthday kj

he is 17 today. 17. wow. we have had so many birthdays over the years...koren is 23...kj 17...katie 10. there have been friends parties, pinatas, photo shoots, sleepovers, games, themes...wild west, finding nemo, supermodels, various superheros, halloween, princess, rock'n'roll...trips to the mall...the movies...pizza parties...
there have been DQ ice cream cakes...giant cookies...birthday pumpkin pies...the Billy the Blue Ranger Wilton cake that was nearly the end of me...
banners...rooms filled with balloons...piles of gifts or just a few..
this year we took kj to Walmart as we have the last year or 2, he selects his gift, we take him out to eat. after work today I made him a chocolate fudge cake with chocolate fudge icing & cheeseburgers & shells & cheese for supper. he let me take a picture of him.
the day kj was born it was so nice I didn't wear a coat to the hospital. when kevin brought koren to meet her little brother after school, it was snowing. I was c/o stomach pain, the nurse took a look at the coke & snack mix kevin had left on my bedside table & told me it served me right, get up & walk. then I got lost in the hallway & thought I would just die right there. but of course I didn't. and kj outgrew the jaundice & chronic ear infections & allergies. he did finally sleep all nite. he learned to walk & talk & got a drivers liscence. and here we are. where did it all go?
we have such good kids & I am so proud of them. smart, good looking, basically good human beings. I love that kj's stuck with band & that he loves to read. that he is brave enough to be in drama & on academic team. and that I can still make him blush & groan. and that he will still on occasion give me a hug. he'll also set me straight if he thinks the occasion calls for it. I can count on him to take care of his sister in a pinch.
I am proud of koren's many accomplishments...grades, degree, job, travel, finding a good guy...she is such a cool girl. katie reminds me so much of her, but she has her own personality. her own talents. her own dreams. her own future.
I want to write down everything so I won't forget. the most important thing I have done is have these kids. they are our legacy. they're what we leave the world. and the world is one lucky s.o.b.!

sunday

there was the sleepover friday nite. then katie got sick saturday nite. this threw Girl Scout Sunday into array...I was supposed to pick up several girls & take them to/from church &/or pool. katie got up feeling better, but she still has a ragged cough...so does KJ, + he has a runny nose. so, we made it to church, & the same 5 Girl Scouts made it to the pool...
leaders meeting tomorrow @ 5, depending on when I get off work, may just go straight there, then run home & get katie 4 dance at 7:15p.m. tomorrow is also kj's bday, haven't made him a cake or anything yet, will when I get home tomorrow. (whenever that may be...)but will probably put it off until tuesday so kevin will be home, too...we took him out for his bday last tuesday. we never do anything on the actual day. it's the way we roll.
thursday have kate's p/t conference @ 5.
friday kids have off school. kate will dance at Princeton PTO show that nite.

we got on-line & printed out info on dacshunds so we'd have some idea what we were getting ourselves into, the loud barking caused by the barrel chest/unusually large lungs is getting a bit annoying. but hey, at least we understand the cause.

I was digging in the bottom of the closet this a.m. for old jeans to cut up for kate's denim patch quilt, found some of kevin's ripped up ones, & a pair I'd got somewhere that I couldn't begin to get on, they looked about big enough, so tried them on, & I couldn't do any deep breathing, but they fit! one of the benefits of my 'new' job, less break time/less pepsi drinking time + lots more walking = getting into a bit smaller jeans. they're a faded old pair of Levi's. I love old Levi's. they're comfy. I'll pretend they look good on me, too. hey, it's my blog, I can lie if I want to!

saturday

it rained & cooled off. mackenzie & moriah have left, katie has to dance this afternoon at the Stacy Center Winter Carnival.
tomorrow~ church at Lineville-Mercer Christian & a swimming party at the Stacy Center with donations for the Women's Shelter at Trenton for Girl Scout Week.
Monday~KJ's birthday & dance class
tuesday~
Wednesday~
thursday~PT conferences
friday~no school, katie dances at the PTO show in Princeton

friday

took the day off, it's a beautiful one, too! was at trenton bright & early to get my new crowns put on, pick up my reading glasses & have them adjusted, & do some shopping...then kevin & I went out to lunch @ Dottie's, he got new hoses for the washer, so I can get laundry going...they were working on the water line the other day, when they turned it back on the water was NASTY. I ran the washer & evidently plugged the hoses full of gunk. kevin got his migrane Rx refilled. I shut off the furnace & threw open doors & windows.
katie has planned a sleepover with mackenzie & moriah tonite.
I finished cleaning her room, which we never did get to all week with the various running around, taking kj out for an early bday supper, buying/setting up a new sewing machine to start her girl scout patches denim quilt, getting a new dog, going to the park, dance class...
sasha let me sleep in till 6:40 before she had to go out. kevin took her out when he got home about 3 a.m.
ms. cuddles is still wary of the dog, but will perch uneasily on the edge of whatever furniture katie & sasha are on to make sure what's going on...

a weenie dog

kate recently decided she wanted a little house dog...a guy at work had a year old weenie dog Itty Bitty who needed a new home, already house broke, good with kids & cats, very affectionate. so, we adopted her, she is now Sasha Rose (altho Kevin calls her Spike.) everyone is taking turns on her potty emergency runs. katie is very very happy with her new pet, & Ms. Cuddles is even seeming less annoyed at a new little sister. you still hear the occasional hiss...

kj's early family birthday

the boy doesn't like a lot of fuss, so he got to pick the nite we went out to eat, {options being last nite or tonite, he chose last nite} & to select his birthday gift (a MP3 player & a Fall Out Boy cd). he chose Pizza Hut.
I used to throw huge friends parties, he'd pick a theme...Power Rangers, Pokeman, we'd build the whole party around it, cake, games, pinata~we'd invite his entire class, the boys could spend the nite, & it was wild, wild, wild. a few years ago he wanted to have a pizza party, so we invited some friends to Mercer Pizza Plus where they chowed down & then polished off the cake, too. The last friend thing was taking KJ & 3 friends to the movies at Chillicothe...the movie was Be Cool. they played at the arcade, ate tons of snacks, & sat on their whoopie cushions ALL the way home. he would just rather hang out at home with his satellite, & massive dvd, cd, & video game collections. If he didn't occasionally need a drink or to use the facilities, he'd probably never come out. not that I can blame him...

another monday morning...

made it thru my first weekend & 1st month at wolf 9---kj took katie to church, she donated her wreath. they presented her with a bible & her baptism certificate.
this week shouldn't be so busy...dance class tonite, dentist friday, GS Sunday with church & swimming party sunday.