No posts lately

I know I haven't posted in a long time, but that is because we have been busy busy busy! Why?? Because we are moving! We are moving to LEXINGTON, KY!!!! The four of us (me, Ali, Jeff and Julianna) are moving next week. The girls are starting school on August 13th, so we have been in a mega rush. I am so excited about this. I will update more when I have a minute!! Here is Ali vaccuming her hair.

Beach day!

Sunday was beautiful out, so after church we headed to the beach. We went to Deveraux Beach in Marblehead. It is one of my favorite beaches. The water was too cold for me to swim, but the girls seemed to like it!


And of course, Jeff studied. Here he is, notice the index cards in his lap. Although I understand why he is studying and think he is awesome for the dedication he has to this test and getting his license, it's the beach! Put on your bathing suit and have some fun!! He was the only person on the beach in pants.
One last picture of the girls. How sweet are they? Of course this is between fighting and whining, but still.

May is over!

Here are some pictures from our busy month:

Oma's visit. Here is Oma and Ali in front of the diner that Ali usually goes to with Will. We went there for breakfast and of course e-mailed he picture to Will.

Ali on the ferry into Boston.
Ali and Oma at Salem Beer Works. We ate dinner there. This picture is also for Will. He loves the Beer Works (but not as much as me, Beer Works is my favorite!)
Ali at her Memorial Day show. She is next to her friend Gus, her friend Anthony's twin brother Austin is above her.
Ali and the shaker she made in daisys for the Memorial Day parade. All of the other ones had smiles, hearts, and rainbows. Hers has a big camoflage helmet for Will, a smaller camo one for her Uncle John, a green one for Papa and the American Flag. What a great kid!

Jeff's graduation

Jeff graduated from North Shore Community College on Thursday. He graduated with honors from the Physical Therapy Assistant program. He earned his Associates Degree. It was amazing being there, I was proud, but nothing compared to how his family felt. I have known him for such a short time. Here are some pictures.

Jeff about to get his degree:
Jeff and Julianna:
Jeff and his family:
Jeff and me:
You may have noticed we all had similar shirts. I found a website that made physical therapy shirts, Julianna's says "My Daddy is a Physical Therapist", his Mom's says "My son is a Physical Therapist", Jackie's says "I love my physical therapist" and mine says "My heart belongs to a Physical Therapist". I also got him a "Physical Therapist" shirt. We had signs, we held up
J-E-F-F when he walked in, then when he saw us (and turned bright red and shook his head) we flipped them over and it said W-E-(heart)-U. He was blown away. He was completely surprised, he said we made his graduation awesome. He also said that we made his graduation so special that he didn't even miss his dad, that he didn't get sad. I think that was the most important, and we weren't even aiming for that!

May is here!

May is here, a fantastic month but always a busy busy one. From now until the end of May is going to be like a race tothe finish line. Last Saturday was Julie's birthday! Yeah Julie, the big 31! On Sunday it is Mother's Day and my birthday. Yeah me, the big 33. I already got my birthday / mother's day present from Julie in the mail. She said I could open it early or I could wait until Sunday. The box is from Sephora, and as tempted as I am to open it, I am going to try to save it. I like to have something to open on my birthday, and I love to look at it and imagine what amazing things Julie has picked out for me that are inside. I have no plans this weekend besides church. Jeff has said that he will come to church, and of course we will have Julianna. We are having a cookie walk after church to raise money for the church scholarship. Following that big day, May 15 is My BFF Cheryl's birthday, Jeff has court for child support from Julianna's mother and it is the Art Show at Bates, and Alison has a picture in it!!! Nana's spring concert with the choral soceity is the 18th. The 22nd is my busy busy busy day. Alison's Oma is flying in at 5:05 to visit for the weekend, Alison is in a Fashion Show at her school for her afterschool program at 6, and Jeff is graduating college at 6. How on earth we are going to work it all out I have no idea. The morning of the 23rd is Alison's Memorial Day show at school at 9am.

Circus!

The Shriner Circus was last week, and we went Saturday night! My Papa was a Shriner, so we have pretty much gone to this circus every year since I was little (when I am in this area!). We had such a fun time! In the "big cats" act there was a Liger! So cool! I think we all agreed that the motorcycles in the big metal sphere was the best act! They had a six-year-old on a small bike go in it and drive around and around (with an adult in there spotting him) which Ali and Julianna thought was awesome! I was super impressed when the two performers took off their helmets and one of them was a woman! Here is a picture of Ali and Julianna with the tigers, $10.00 for a poloroid of them! Ack! I snapped this with my camera phone.

happy

I really like this guy!! His name is Jeff and he is awesome. Since we are both busy single parents, we decided to get our kids together earlier than we would normally. On Saturday we took the girls to Boston. We had a FANTASTIC time. The girls were like two peas in a pod. Everyone thought they were sisters, and neither of them were quick to tell them otherwise. Here are the girls, my Ali and his Julianna with a clown and their wonderful balloon creations at Fanual Hall.

I really like Julianna. She is a sweet kid. She is not close with her mom and looking for a new mom. She has started calling me mom which I am not really supporting. I am not putting the kibosh on it, but I don't want her to get too attached too quick. Although I am CRAZY about her dad, I still don't want anything to go too fast. Ali really likes Jeff. She thinks he is silly and funny. She knows she can joke around with him and she likes that. He likes her, she gives him the puppy dog eyes and he melts. He is such a dad, can't say no to the puppydog face. My dad was always the same way with Julie!

Here is a picture of Jeff and I from the other night. We couldn't really get a good picture, we kept laughing. I really like him!

Someone New

I have met someone. (Yeah me!!) His name is Jeff, he lives a few cities over from me. He is a single dad, his daughter is 8. We went to the movies Friday night, saw The Ruins. It was pretty good, I am sure the book is better though. We also went out Sunday night, went to Salem Beer Works. We had a great time talking and laughing. Jeff is a physical therapist, he is actually doing his clinical work, he will be graduating in less than a month. Being a single dad, he shares the same concerns I have (don't want to let out children get close to someone who won't be in the lives, etc) and problems (He was running late Sunday because his daughter was giving him a hard time, I was running late because Ali didn't want to go to bed). We are both looking for someone to spend some time with, go out with, possibly leading to more. I really like this guy. More to come I hope!

My little Girl Scout

Girl Scouting was a big part of my life growing up. I was a Girl Scout for 12 years, I went to Girl Scout camp every summer and I earned my Gold Award when I was a senior in High School. Now Alison is old enough to be a Girl Scout, she joined a Daisy troop in the fall, and I am so excited. She had her investiture a few weeks ago and her first event Saturday night. The event was fun, especially seeing some of my leaders. I have to say, after experiencing this event as a scout, a leader and now a parent, being a parent is the most boring. Here are some pictures of my little Girl Scout:

This is her whole troop at the investiture:


This is Emma, Caroline, Ali, Madison and Logan at the event singing their song:


And Caroline, Ali, Madison and Logan closer. Ali and Caroline are best friends, have been since the first day of kindergarten. They are inseperable, they also look quite a bit alike and act alike. Two peas in a pod! Logan is a close second, she is in a different K class, but goes to the afterschool program with them.

so much to update!

So much to update on, so little time! the big fun news is that I finally figured out how to get pictures and movies off of my phone and music on. So for today, here are some great pictures off of my phone.....

Ali's picture of Martin Luther King, Jr. Hanging up in her school on the wall:

I swear I have never let her watch South Park!!

Next is some pictures from almost a year ago. This is from the building we used to work in. It was an old dilapitated building, and these flowers were growing in the steps. I loved them, felt it was such a great metaphor!

Here is a picture of my lovely new haircut. As you can tell, I was goofing off in my car taking this picture. I do love the haircut.
And lastly, here is my sweet girl. Love her bangs?? She wanted them, and I of course let her. I think they look fantastic. Her hair is no longer in her eyes and face. She looks so darn cute. She is hugging her bear that Cheryl got her when she was about 6 months old. Like her coat? She is such a military girl!

Poor baby

My poor baby has strep throat. She has been feeling sick off and on for the last week, but I thought it was just allergies or he being over-tired. Last night she was miserable, headache, sore throat, belly-ache. She then slept horribly all night (So I got about 2 hours of sleep). She stayed with Nana today, then I took her to the Dr. Poor baby. Now she is on anti-biotics, so she will feel better quickly. Lucky for me I was put on antibiotics last week for my abcessed tooth (root canal next week, yikes!) so IF I had strep, it has already been treated.

And in other news..

And in other words, I finally finished Ali's scarf. I bought this great yarn at an Alpaca party. A friend from church's sister has an alpaca farm in Maine. She came down to show her "wares" and I bought this pretty painted yarn with the intent of making something for Alison. I found this neat pattern on my knitting calander. You cast on, then knit into each stitch, knit it until you have half of the length you want (or for me when I was almost out of yarn) as below:

Then you drop every other stitch and RIP OUT HALF OF THE SCARF! See the ripping in process below:

Then you end up with this gorgous lacy scarf. I made pom-poms for the end of it. Here is the finished project modeled by my favorite model:

Last Monday it rained like crazy all day. In the afternoon the rain stopped and it was nice out (near 60) so we went to the beach to see what the storm washed up. I love this beach. It is where I go to get centered. I always feel at peace there. It is easy to see why:

Here is Ali trying to pick up a ginormous friendship rock.
And Ali trying to tempt the waves to catch her, good thing she had her rain boots on. Like her rock pail? It is her pumpkin from halloween. She cracks me up.

Yesterday we took the train into Boston and went to:

My mom got Alison tickets for all of us (Ali, Katie, mom and I). We were 8 rows off of the ice. It was so cool! It reminded me how much I miss the theater. I spent most of the show figuring out all fo the technical aspects, the costuming, who had wigs, why the props were like they were. Man do I miss it. Time to change occupations?? Teach at a theater maybe and work backstage??

Chop Chop

I chopped my hair off today. I have been planning on doing it for a while, but I finally got the time to do it. Here are some before pictures, the back and front. Not the best pictures, Ali took them (I should have kneeled down)

And here is after. I love it!


It will look better once I put some "product" in it. I didn't have them put anything in it at the salon because of the snow. Unfortunately I couldn't donate it to Locks Of Love because I had it highlighted before. Oh well.

the New year

The new year has started at a fast-pace as usual. Ali turned 6 on the 8th. My baby is 6! I got her a cat. A real one. My cat Jet is really just my cat, she never let anyone pat her or even go near her. Ali loves pets, she loves Jet even if Jet didn't really love her back. So we went to the Animal Rescue League and adopted a new friend. His name was Patriot, but we re-named him Simba which is much more appropriate. He is HUGE, and he is only a year old. He is a love-bug, he loves being patted, and just being near us. his previos owners seemed to have some problems taking care of him, he had to have most of his back shaved because it was matted so bad. I have been cutting out mats since we got him, but he is looking much better. Here are some pics of the big boy:

Besides that, we have been busy with school and church and our everyday life!

Goofing Around

Ali got a Gabriella from High School Musical barbie from her Oma. We found out that the bracelet doesn't stay on her wrist too well, but works great for something else. Here is my punk-rock daughter.

Goodbye 2007.... Hello 2008!

I can't believe it is already New Year's Eve! Julie got me this wonderful 5 year journal for my birthday. It has a small section to write in each day, and it goes on for five years. It will be so exciting to write in it and see what I was doing or thinking one, two or more years ago on that day. I decided to wait until Jan 1st to start writing in it. I stopped by Starbucks today to get a Peppermint Mocha before they are gone for the season and it got me thinking. Peppermint Mocha has been somewhat like that journal. It only come out at Christmas time, so I can think back to where I was at each time I had it. When I first had it, Ali was 2 and I was living in Maine. I had met a wonderful lady at church, Deborah who had a son Ali's age and a daughter a few years older. She had invited us over for a visit / playdate. I wanted to bring something and since Starbucks was on the way, I stopped and got us yummy Peppermint Mochas. Whenever I drink it, I think of Deborah. At that point I was desperately grasping, reaching to figure out who I am. Although Deborah and her husband are only a few years older than me, I somehow felt like they were adults and I was a kid, and they were going to figure it out. That somehow I didn't belong. Of course, it wasn't them, they are fantastic people, I just didn't feel like I belonged anywhere. It was in fact Deborah and Jeff who helped me start onto the path that led me to myself. Seeing them togtether, seeing them happy and always working together towards the same enjoyment ahd happiness in life. I knew it was what I was missing and what I wanted to find.

The next time Peppermint Mocha came out, I was newly seperated. I had just made the hardest decision of my life, and did the hardest thing I ever had to do. I was reeling, trying to figure out what next. How to find a job, what to do, what to do with Ali. I was living with Nana and searching for my next direction. My life was in turmoil, but I knew I had taken a step in the right direction. The next step was out there, I just had to find it.

When Peppermint Mocha was next available, so much had changed. I had a full time job teaching. I had just started teaching English at a juvenile justice facility. I was running a mile a minute, trying to learn on the go. I loved my job, but the stress of learning how to do it was intense! On top of that, I had just put Ali in daycare and was nervous about that.

The following Peppermint Mocha season, Will was in Afghanistan and Ali was settled in preschool. I was unhappy with the school she was in and was pulling her out of it and putting her in the one at our church. I had become more assertive, more confident in my job and who I was. I no longer felt like a kid pretending to be an adult, I was no longer afraid to ask for what I wanted or thought was right.

Now I am sipping Peppermint Mocha, so different from that scared person a few years ago. I know who I am. I know what I want. I am happy with my life. I am not afraid to demand that is right for me and for Alison. I love my church and am very active in it. I love my job and feel confident in what I am doing. Ali is in kindergarten and is a happy, smart, healthy soon-to-be-six year old.

My 2008 resolution: pretty much the same as 2007. Work out more, have fun more. New for 2008, get my finances in better shape. Save money, no more living paycheck to paycheck. Hopefully meet someone to share some time with.

Happy New Years!

Christmas update

We had a fantastic Christmas. Julie, Pete and Lily and Mia came out for the holiday. On Christmas Eve Alison was in the pagent at our church. She was an angel. Here is a picture:

After the pagent we had an open house. We had a great time, my cousins Alan and Kristina came which was fantastic, we haven't seen them in a while. Santa came that night, and brought not only presents for Ali, her daddy and I, but also for Lily and Mia and Julie and Pete. They all came over and we opened presents and ate yummy breads made by Nana.

Next was Chinese food at one with Papa. We had a great time, ate yummy food and saw lots of family. When we were done, I headed over to work to say Merry Christmas to my boys. My church sponsered them for Christmas, I set up a tree with their names and sizes and they all bought stuff. It was a huge success, although lots of work. The kids were thrilled with all of the fantastic stuff they got. One of the girls at the church who is 8 made cards for each of them, and I think they may have liked them the most of all!

After that we went to Nana's house to visit and relax. W plugged in Ali's digi-makover thing and found out that the adults had way more fun with it than the kids did. We made each other over again and again. To see my sister with an afro and purple eyes was fantastic.

Julie & her family went home the next day, Ali's daddy headed back that night and we have been on vacation since. It has been a fantastic vacation full of mostly relaxing and spending time together. Fantastic!

This and That

So much has happened, and I have been too busy to blog. Argh! My nieces Lily and Mia turned 1 on december 1st. We drive to NY for their party and had a blast. Below are some pictures of the princesses:

Princess Mia

Princess Lily:

Cakey Mia:

Not so cakey Lily:

Mommy and Daddy with the big girls:

Auntie Katie and Ali with the birthday girls:

What a fantastic year it has been.