Son number One

It's not my birthday, or my oldest kids birthday that makes me start thinking about how much time has gone by. It's always Kid Number Two. Not this year so much, even though he turned 15.
Yep, Fifteen.

On January 10th.

Because his birthday is right after Christmas, it sort of sneaks up on us. We plan his gifts when we plan Christmas presents, but it really is difficult to ever do a party.
It's still during Break, so that was difficult when he was little....

This year, he wanted to movie hop with his friend all day - and the rest of us had plans, so we sang in the morning and gave him his Crazy Chocolate Cake I made. It was 4 layers of a 6" cake with mini chips on the side. Twix Bars and Milky Way Bars chopped up on top and then a Hershey Bar melted on top of the whole thing.

He didn't have to share.

He did a little happy dance when he saw it.

DJ at fifteen.

Well he isn't homeschooling it anymore. He wanted to go to High School with his sister. Well, he wanted to go to the same high school that his dad went to (never mind that I went there too, I don't count)
He's trying new things. Even if I have to force him at first. He's still doing well in school. We have had a couple of things come up. With kids. Now with a teacher. It's okay. He has to learn how to get along.

He hated Cross Country at first, now he loves it and is also joining the Track Team

It's funny, he and I argue - but I think it's because he reminds me of my brother at that age and I go into the Big Sister Your Annoying Me mode. I didn't realize it for a while, and I was just furious with him, like All The Time! Then I heard, HEARD my brother's voice come out of his mouth, and I went...ohhhh. So I don't get into it with him as much anymore.
And he's taller than me.

Mikey ADORES him right now. DJ tries really hard to be a good Big Brother to him.

He is a really great kid. He's kind. And thinks the world should be fair to everyone. He gets super excited over the wildest things. He wants to be funny, but he's not...BUT he finally-FINALLY is getting other people's humor OR playing it off until we can explain it. I think Fifteen is going to be a fun year for him!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2013 ~
We had a great Winter Break. The kids played and we just relaxed and hung out with them.
Mike and I watched the entire series of the Walking Dead and we are almost finished with Downton Abby, so we are right there with the rest of everyone else now!

It's Back to school Monday, and I wish we had another week off --

yikes! October

October is always so crazy busy and this year it seems like it started last weekend! Kelly had a few Kindergarten friends over -- they played
Knights and Princesses kill Dragons
(Paige, her friend Meagan and DJ were The Dragons)
I am pretty sure they had a blast ~

Next weekend we are having a little party for Mikey's birthday. He is turning 2!
Paige also has a soccer game later that day --

Mikey's birthday is the 5th, we will have cake after dinner, and maybe take him to the zoo while the big kids are in school.

The following weekend, Paige has a soccer game and has invited her team back to our house for pizza. Should be fun! (yes, that IS what I said, the whole team and their parents)

Mikey has his Well Baby and I even have a doctor appointment later that week.

Oh -- and Mike turns 40 on the 12th!!!

Paige has practice SSAT's the next Saturday and most likely soccer, but we don't have the rest of the schedule yet.

Oh, and she has an orthodontist appointment the next Tuesday.

And the following weekend, she is going to go out to celebrate her birthday with a couple of friends. Haven't decided where yet... House of Air maybe?
(and soccer)

Paige's birthday is the 24th. She will be 14!!!
(can you believe it?) Cake, etc.

Then we get to Halloween!
Where we have a huge block party
and every kid we know shows up here ~

Throw in the regular things:
(not counting taking them to and from 3 different schools and making sure they are fed and clean)
swim lessons for Mikey
soccer practice for Paige
hip hop for Kelly
Breakthrough for DJ
Summerbridge for Paige
and
swim lessons for Kelly

And just when will I get a chance to blog?!?

the boy is a Nerd

When you think of DJ, especially  when he was a baby, the first word that came to mind was 'sweet'. He was so cute, with his big giant head, short little legs and man hair --

DJ was very needy compared to Paige. I had to hold him all the time. He was a big boy and heavy!
(I even herniated a disk in my back)

But he was always, so sweet --
smiled and laughed all the time.
Woke me up every morning at 6am,
happy as can be, with a
"Good Morning Mama!"








And the boy couldn't wait to go to school! When Paige started Kindergarten he would pitch a fit, wiggle out of my arms and throw himself to the ground because he wanted to stay.
So, I never let him out of the stroller.

DJ was awesome like that -- once I had him strapped in, (to the car seat too) 

he never realized he could get out. 

I ended up enrolling him in Preschool earlier
and leaving him in it longer than the others, because he loved it.
When Paige came home from school, I had to set him up so he could "do homework" with her.
He practically told Mike and I to Get Out when we brought him to his first day of Kindergarten ~

DJ has always been challenged with his fine/gross motor skills and in the early days of school this was a huge concern for us. Fortunately, DJ is a sweet boy and has never been discouraged by this.
The boy has heart.

Now my Little Man is a 6th grader.
6th grader.
Girls like him -- but he has no clue that that is what is going on.
No clue.
He reads all the time. Finishes novels like they are magazines. Reads when he is in the car -- when we are trying to talk to him. Reads the table -- before we make him stop. Reads under the covers with a flashlight -- which we let him think he is getting away with
(sometimes)
He likes listening to old AC/DC and is amazed (...every time!) when Dad and I can sing the lyrics.
He loves having a blog, but never has time to write in it. Thinks he is so cool because he has a Twitter account, but then forgets to tweet.

The couple of weeks that he had off between his Summer Program and school were making him antsy. So he was driving everyone to distraction -- and making me crazy!
This last week, since school has started,
has been the happiest I have seen this guy in a month.
He is giddy.
Animated.
Talking about his new teachers, telling us that the girl that follows him everywhere is "good", signing up for Track Tryouts.
But his biggest goal right now which is causing him the most anxiety excitement is getting on the
Principle's Honor Roll (straight A's)
again 
because now in 6th grade he can earn a LOCKER.

So I think it is official. My Sweet Boy, my Little Man -- has become
a huge
Nerd.

and they are off to school

DJ is now a 6th grader!

He had no worries on his first day back, everything was ready to go and Dad got him to school by 7:20!

{yikes}

 

The girls and I got ready for the Big Day while Mikey slept...

We had to wake the poor little guy up at 8am

because Kelly was ready for Kindergarten and Paige was ready for 8th grade!

the swimmer

Back in February I talked about getting Kelly into swim lessons since she was under the impression that she was already able to swim, but in fact, couldn't.

We tried the Park and Rec, but I had to be in the water with her and the pool was always a couple of degrees too cold! Besides, they ended up not even being 'lessons'. They were 'get your kid used to the water without crying' sessions and we didn't need that.
It was fun for her, but not so much for me.

I brought Mikey and he (like me) hated it too. It was just too cold --

Well, we were down by Crissy Field by the old air hangers, dropping Paige off for a birthday party at House of Air and went to turn around and saw a swimming pool.
I ran in to check it out and it was La Petite Baleen I had no idea that any of these things were even down there! There is even a rock wall climbing place, but I don't know the name of it --

So in April, Kelly started lessons at La Petite Baleen and now she is definitely a swimmer!

She has worked her way up and has earned 5 ribbons
(the first one is just for not crying) and is now trying to earn her 'purple ribbon'

She LOVES her swim lessons!
I was going to stop them when school starts, but she is so good at it and likes it so much,  I signed her up to take her lessons after school.

And then, when my big three are in school, I can take Mikey -- their pool is warm!

sibling love

I used to believe that for siblings to get along well they needed  to be close in age. I don't know even know how I came up with this --
My brother and I are 3 years apart and there were plenty of times that we didn't get along, but most of the time we did.
My mom didn't get along with her brother and they were 13 months apart.
My dad is one of eight siblings. Four boys, four girls. My aunt just recently told me that they each grew up thinking of themselves as an 'only child'.
Explains a lot.

Paige and DJ are 26 months apart. Paige and I both just doted on DJ and he adored her. Gave her his first smile, first laugh.
{sigh}
DJ was so little and had these full body belly laughs -- it was so freakin' cute!

Paige is now almost 14 and wants to be an only child
(at least some of the time)

Kelly is six years younger than DJ.
It has been great for DJ. When Paige started feeling a bit too old to play with him all the time, it was just about the time that Kelly was old enough to play.
And I have to say it again, DJ and Kelly are inseparable.
Inseparable.
He is her favorite person. She waits for him to get home from school.
They talk and play all the time.
All The Time.

Paige turned 12 a couple of weeks after Mikey was born. Every baby should come with a 12 year old sister. He LOVES her.

At that time I had a Newborn, a Preschooler, an
Elementary student and one in Middle School.

I know "all siblings fight", but mine are not allowed to. I wouldn't allow someone else to say mean things to one of my kids, so I don't let them say mean things to each other.
No, they don't always get along, but I do insist that they will show each other kindness --
(Paige is the one having the most trouble with this lately)
Some of the time they do need a reminder (DJ) and I have had to ban them from speaking to each other (usually in the car)
But for the most part, for now they all get along.

And who knows how Mikey will fit in to the dynamics of it all?
In just a few short years Paige will be going to college.
{sigh}

I'll have one in College, one in High School, one in Middle School and one in Elementary.

My goal is for them to all to like each other
and get along --
and for one of them to take DJ with them when they move out.

angel island

I think it is great when my kids are able to go on field trips and such. Paige has been to Stanford, the Google headquarters and just recently she went on her big trip to Olympic Park in Washington.
DJ, being younger, hasn't had as many opportunities as Paige yet.
He did remind me that he went to Napa last year for five days.

He reminded me of this when he was saying goodnight to me Thursday night and (I guess) I was looking pathetic since I wouldn't see him until Saturday night.

He is camping on Angel Island with the rest of the 6th graders from Breakthrough. I know he is having a blast. They rode the ferry over and they are sleeping in tents -- Can a kid have more fun than that?

I will tell you though -- I am tweaking hard. I always do, especially when (like this time) they can't even call to say good night. I know he is fine. I know he is having a wonderful time.
I just miss him.

I like to have my kids with me --
(I don't even like it when they go to school)

I know.
It's not even like we are doing anything. The rest of them are watching Wipeout...

I am thrilled that he is getting to do this. I am. I have never been camping there. And since I have decided that I will never go camping again,
unless I can have my Tempur Pedic Bed, HD TV with tivo and a full sized bathroom,
I will never get to do it with him.

How do parents cope when their kids actually leave home? I seriously can't even imagine.

We tease Paige that we are going to move to wherever she ends up going to college -- and we probably will!

But right now, I am missing my little nerd that packed a book to go camping.

mama is a nut-case, day 1

So, yeah. Paige is on her trip.
Her school takes this trip every year. There are two other trips the kids can go on, one to Yosemite and one to Washington DC. I think the one for DC is only for 8th graders -- and the one to Yosemite has a ton of kids that go.
She went with about 30 kids up to Olympic National Park in Washington. They are staying in cabins, but will be hiking out to stay for two nights in tents.

We had to bring her to the airport super early, so Mike just didn't go to sleep Friday night and woke us up at 3:30. I had slept maybe 2 hours. We left DJ and Kelly asleep -- they had a 'sleepover' in Kelly's room and we brought Mikey with us. (Grandpa was home)

We got her to the airport Saturday morning. She needed to be there at 5 am, so of course WE were there at 4:30. That was even after stopping to get me coffee --

They were allowed to bring one bag, a sleeping bag and a backpack. Paige and I had her bag completely packed the Sunday before. (you know I don't like to do anything last minute) She had one extra of everything they said to bring -- shirt, socks, etc. She packed it all into a pretty big duffel bag that she borrowed from Grandpa and I had her do it all herself, so she'd be able to repack it on the return trip home.
We are at the airport and I am looking around, I am amazed at how HUGE these other bags are! I can't believe these kids are bringing them. I wish I had a picture of some of them. They are easily 3 times as big as Paige's bag. What the heck are they even bringing? I can't even imagine. Don't they realize they are camping!?

Paige is excited, but nervous. I want to wait with her, but I need to get back home too. So I left her. At the airport.

I held it together. I didn't even cry.

She sent me a text before we even made it to the freeway.

I thought texting was stupid when it was first out. I mean, who would write something out on your phone when you could just talk? Duh.
Paige and I text each other ALL THE TIME. It's crazy. It is so convenient. It allows her not to have her mom calling her constantly, but it allows me to know what is going on.

They ended up waiting there for another hour before getting on the plane. After the flight they had a three hour bus ride to the camp. It was such a long trip that all the kids were tired and she was bored from texting me, that she even did some homework.
(can you believe they got homework!)

I, have not slept this entire time, mainly because Mikey is awake, but also, Mike is asleep and Paige keeps texting me...

She called me right before they had to turn in their phones.
Yes, they have to turn in their phones and get them back for about 15 minutes at night.
(grrr)
When she got her phone back she called and got to talk to everyone. She called on the house phone, because sometimes my cell doesn't work in the house. We have  'dead zones'. I can have my phone right next to me and it won't ring -- but it will beep to check voice mail. So weird.
She sounds tired, but it seems like she is having a really good time so far. They have changed the plans a little and will be staying in tents two nights instead of one.
It's cold there. And raining.

I'll admit it, as I hung up the phone, I did tear up a little. But I am sure she couldn't tell.

I mean come on. I had never even left her (or any of them) with a babysitter --

After she called, we were downstairs for a bit. My cell phone was upstairs charging, but when we went to bed, I saw that she had sent me a text.

"Don't cry. I'll call tomorrow night. Love you guys"

I sure miss that girl.

my grad

Kelly went to school for the preschool graduation today. It was so nice of them to invite her back for it!

Last Monday we went back for pictures and rehearsal -- and when she walked in the room, all the kids started shouting her name. She just lit up! It was a very special moment for her, one that I hope she always remembers.
Today, all the children were up on stage and sang songs and danced a little. It was very cute! Miss Kell even had a solo at the end -- she almost froze up, but she got through it.
They gave her a diploma (hehe) and a binder full of her art work and pictures from the last year.

There was a party after and the kids got to play together for a while. Even Mikey had a blast ~

* later tonight I'll post the pictures I took to the May 2011 album on Picasa, but first I need to help Paige finish packing for her TRIP.


My big girl had a hard time saying good-bye. In fact, she couldn't do it and was crying because she "didn't want to leave". She never does this. I guess it was just overwhelming. I just let her know that it was okay to feel sad and we just left. She gave no farewell hugs to her friends or her teachers -- poor thing.
She really is a sweet girl.

{sigh} I can't believe I have another one ready for Kindergarten....

preschool

nI am taking Kelly out of Preschool next week. I put her in about a year ago to make sure she'd be socially ready for Kindergarten -- I figured Miss Bossy Boots could learn a few things hanging out with her peers.
She loved it.
They loved her.
(I've missed her)
But now I've realized that her Kindergarten is a full day and I am running out of time to just have her with me.
So she will have a longer 'Summer' than the other kids.

I am going to have to restock my art supplies....

after school

DJ's school had parent teacher conferences last week, so he was out at noon Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Kelly gets out of her school at 12:15. Their schools are not that far away from each other, but we wanted to make sure to get Kelly on time, so Mike asked DJ to hurry out on Tuesday. He did, but being DJ, he was too early and thought we were late, so started lecturing us until he saw that it was 11:56 when he got in the car.... We ended up being early to pick up Kelly and waited in the car before going in. Boy was she happy to have her brother *pick her up* from school!

I should point out that Mike and I are both on time people. I mean, really on time. The sit in the car because we'd rather be early than late and still go in 5 minutes early people.

So on Wednesday we are less worried about the pick up time and leave the house later than we did on Tuesday. We arrive at his school at 12:04 and we don't see him. I get out of the car at 12:06 to look for him and ask one of his teachers if she has seen him. (we still have to get Kelly too) As she is letting me know what a wonderful student she thinks DJ is, she is calling the office to see if he is up there. Maybe he is mad that we are "late" and went to the office to call us to see where we are?
She says he isn't there. Hmmm. I check the cafeteria, the gym, the front of the school. I am starting to get upset here. Everyone is gone. Did he try and get on the bus and go home? I don't think he would do that but...
I get the baby out of the car and grab the stroller so Mike can leave to get Kelly. I walk towards the public library to see if he is with the kids sitting out front. I get to the corner and I know DJ would not have crossed such a major street without permission --- I walk back to the front of the school and call the office myself and leave a message (!) saying I still can't find him.
I walk to the other corner and I am near panicking at this point, turn the corner and see him walking towards me.
I burst into tears.
Which made him burst into tears, so maybe I should have handled it differently...
It's 12:26 pm
Alright, I know he is 11, but wow -- it is an awful feeling not knowing where your kid is. Even for 20 minutes.
It ends up that a teacher for the older students told him to wait upstairs even after he told her that we should be there any minute -- and then another teacher told him to go up, so he did. He only came down when one of his teachers who saw me earlier told him I was waiting.

I think I should be mad about all of this, but I am just making him take his phone to school now. I will be happy to explain to someone why he has it if it gets confiscated.

busy week

The big kids are starting back up with their after school programs. Both Paige and DJ are in summer programs that also have tutoring/electives during the school year. Paige was in the same one that DJ is in now. They both worked very hard to get into them and enjoy them very much, even though we as a family don't get much of a summer break!
DJ is at Breakthough and Paige is at Summerbridge
Mike's brother Bob also did Summerbridge (um... 30 years ago!) and went to University HS, so we are crossing our fingers that Paige can get into there too.

Kelly will be starting Kindergarten this Fall and I already had all her paperwork ready, when I found out that there were openings at SF Public Montessori. Really know nothing about the school, so we will all be going to their Open House this week. Paige went to a Montessori preschool, so I do know a little -- and I think Kelly could do very well in this type of school setting.

Throw in a doctor appointment, swim lessons x2, ballet and short days for DJ and we have a fun filled week!

La Familia

I have tried to blog before, but I always feel like I need to fill in the back story. Then, I never get to it, or feel like I leave too much out (or say too much) This time I am just going to start it and see how it goes.
I met my husband Mike when he was in the 8th grade. He went by Mikey then -- yes, I am a couple years older (26 months!) and even I still called him Mikey until after DJ was born. Now he is Daddy and "Daaaad!!!" to the whole crew. Mike played football in HS and college and still holds records for it in the city.
I don't know anything about football.
I was an Army Brat. Moved to San Francisco when I was 13, so I started high school here. I am crazy about my kids and head over heels in love with my husband. I like to garden, but I am not very good at it, I love to read and I am obsessed with taking pictures of the kids. I post them on Picasa http://picasaweb.google.com/carolaissa and I am usually more up to date on them, but I have felt very scattered lately.

As I finished the last sentence, the oldest one (Paige) came home from school with a migraine and as I was taking care of that situation -- since she can't go to her after school enrichment program, but we still need to give a ride to her friend -- Mikey, the baby, turned off my laptop and switched off the wireless connection. Meanwhile, daughter #2 (Kelly) is annoyed with me because I paused her show and can't seem to wait one second more for it to be turned back on. Mike is picking up DJ from school and now I am one-hand-typing trying to nurse the baby... This is it, this is my life.
I wouldn't change a thing.