My Children: A Mother couldn't be Prouder!!!

I know every mother probably thinks this (even if she doesn't say it out loud); "My kids are the BEST kids in the world".  Well, objectively speaking, mine really are!  As objective as I can be... lol ("laugh out loud" for those not familiar with the jargon).  I was pleasantly reminded of how blessed we are after the recent Father's Day photo shoot.  The kids wanted to do something really special this year. If you don't know Charlie, I have to tell you, he is difficult to buy for (if he needs it- he has already bought it; if he doesn't- he'll take it back) and even harder to surprise! 

Even though picture taking is not high on their list of enjoyable experiences the kids were great sports (well almost- RC wasn't very happy as you can see in some of the video pictures).  And to make matters worse, to keep it a surprise, they had to give up Charlie's softball game (which they love to do every Friday evening).

These are more than just great pictures of our good looking teens... even Chris, our photographer, (TheStoryPhotography.com) mentioned what really great kids they are and how easy they are to work with... the pictures reflect who they really are.

Phillip, Olivia & RC in full Black Belt Gi

The karate pictures bring back memories of the many years of training (me dragging them ... and then, them dragging me); while juggling carpooling, homework, football, baseball, wrestling, swimming... all through hot summer days and winter snowstorms. The boys testing for their black belt together; running their 2 mile run in record time, sitting in "shiqudatchi " for hours with their instructors on their shoulders and Olivia testing a year later at 12 with her oldest brother running right beside her... pushing her forward.

The wonders of DNA: the same genes, same parents, same house... very different kids...

RC, 17

RC is a our quiet teddy bear... with a gentle heart bigger than his stature.  One story about RC, in particular, stands out for me.  A few years ago we were visiting the traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall at the fairgrounds. As usual, there were long lines, crowds of people and one nervous mother (me) trying to keep a headcount with one eye on the little heads and the other on the wall.  As I turned to do my "every 10 second" headcount, I suddenly realized that I could no longer see RC... he had lagged behind.  I grabbed the other kids, back tracked through the crowd and was ready to give the "you stay with me no matter what" lecture. I quickly noticed that he had his arms full of stuff that was not his.  He had stayed back to help out a dad so he could lift his young daughter up on his shoulders to do a pencil trace of a name of someone that they had loved and lost. No one has to ask RC to do things ... he just sees where people need help and he gives it.

Phillip, 16

Phillip is our social magpie, comic relief and swamp land salesman... There is constant laughter, very long stories and up to minute product reviews in our home. And a few "I like Turtles"... don't ask!  I remember one time when he was very little he told me that I should buy cascade because it was the BEST, and it is the best because they said so... I thanked him but explained that we were not buying it, because we didn't own a dishwasher.  He was very upset because it was the best and we had to have the best to make things easier for me. Phillip brings the smiles and laughter to our home in his own unique and creative ways. We have since bought a dishwasher and yes, we do use cascade! 

Olivia, 13

Olivia is beautiful, talented, athletic, smart ("high honor roll smart") and VERY organized ... we use to call it "bossy" but she has blossomed into an amazing leader. Given any task she breaks it down into steps, delegates and pulls everything off without a hitch.  She has become my linchpin ... not being able to do what I use to do; since the onset of my fibromyalgia. When Olivia was 2 she only had about 5 words in her vocabulary. As parents we were of course very concerned.  We took her through testing, hired a speech therapist and within 6 months she had over a 1,000 words (using them hourly of course). Her therapist, Lisa, said "she was just waiting patiently to be able to say them perfectly, before she wasted any breathe saying them". 

Charlie and I are truly blessed; it is so nice to be reminded between the: "When are you going to clean your room?" "Who loaded dirty dishes on top of the clean dishes in the dishwasher?" and the all too frequent  ".. you need how much money, and by when? "

Apple ... get a sense of HUMOR!

This is absolutely ridiculous! 

Is Apple that rigid that they can't laugh at themselves (what about their Mac/PC Vista Commercials)?...

Do they think we are that stupid? ... Are we not going to buy it because Ellen made a joke??? PLEASE!

... of course "smartphones" are difficult to use... thus the "smart" in the phone. 

We love our gadgets and we love to figure them out... and if we didn't we wouldn't even think about touching an iPhone!

I love ELLEN... Why would Ellen feel the need to apologize?  Does she need the sponsor money so badly?

... how long would it take her to apologize to everyone she has ever made fun of...

Just saying....

Apple Isn’t Laughing at Ellen’s iPhone Commercial Parody [VIDEO]

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Lessons Learned from Oscar, Razzie & Sandra Bullock!

I'm back... boy have I missed this blog; had to take a brief break...
During my absence there were many ideas that I wanted to share that came and went (ya know; if you don't write stuff down... it's gone). Some of them were quite wise... if I do say so myself. You'll have to take my word for it. lol :)

Anyway... on to Oscars and Razzies! I am not sure if you caught the 2010 Oscars; I doubt anyone caught the Razzies (were they even televised?).

Sandra Bullock (one of my favs) became the first actor EVER to win both an Oscar (best) and a Razzie (worst) in the same year. She was honored in her profession for both performing her best and her worst within a 48 hour span...

I thought I would share the lessons I learned from my pal "Sandy":

*It can be graceful & classy to laugh at yourself! (btw- google the clip of her accepting the razzie award- it is worth it)

*Don't be afraid to take risks!... people always remember the BEST and the WORST... no one remembers those that play it safe in the middle.

*Look to Challenge yourself!... it is ok to be scared. There is more passion and energy in a personal challenge; then there will ever be if you go into something thinking "this is gonna be easy".

and finally, it doesn't much matter in the long run if you land on the top or on the bottom; as long as you continue to follow your heart.

"Whatcha" think??? ...

Post Vacation/Holiday BLUES? ... Do you know what I mean???

Is it me? or is taking a break harder and harder as you get older?... and the longer the vacation; the harder the transition back. I was even able to get the "vacation" from my vacation (we flew home on Thursday afternoon... adding on a long weekend) and still ... MONDAY 1/11/2010 was one of the hardest days I have had, since I can remember.

So .. I hit the web for some relief ... so many words of wisdom and advice(some links attached)

Here is my summary checklist (and favorites):
#1- Take a "vacation" from your vacation! Come home atleast a day early to transition back:

CHECK ... did that; 4 days early!

#2- Celebrate being home! ... i.e. relish your own bed, cuddle with your pets that you had to kennel (trying to forgive yourself for causing him to loose his voice from barking for 14 days solid):

CHECK... fresh sheets & my own pillows; PRICELESS! btw- I need to stop giggling at the barkless dog & show him some compassion.

#3- Touchbase with a co-worker or weed through e-mails the night before to avoid any huge surprises. (like when I returned from my dad's 70th birthday trip in south dakota in '07 and my entire office was downsized and my boxes where waiting at the door - but that is another blog for another day):

Check... kept-up casual "whatcha doing" conversations with bestest facebook friend/co-worker. Skimmed the subject lines of my 168 e-mails.. confident that there was nothing earth shattering to deal with monday morning.

#4- Take care of you! If you did not get a chance to keep up on your healthy lifestyle while on vacation with plenty of sleep, water, and activity (i.e. hikes, walks .. etc) Get back on schedule ASAP:

Check... easily downed 6-8 bottles of water daily with the mini frig in the hotel, we built-in a daily trip to the gym as part of our routine (with 3 active teenagers it was one of our most enjoyable family activities).. sleep? ... well I fixed that when we got home by saturday night!

#5- (Last and Favorite!)start planning your next vacation!

Check????... Any suggestions on how to spend MLK day next monday???? lol :)