It's official. I have a middle schooler.

Wow. Nearly a year since I last blogged on our family site.  As I find myself with (some) time to write as the kids slowly go back to school, I am going to try to re-enter the world of blogging. 

Too much has happened since my last post, so I am just going to plow forward.

Newsflash: I am the parent of a middle schooler.

As my dear cousin-in-law, Mo Briare, stated on Friday:

"I don't feel old, but there is evidence around suggesting it."

Here's the evidence around me suggesting that I am old:

1) I attended my 20 year high school reunion this summer

2) My oldest is now in middle school

3) My youngest is starting preschool

4) I have clothing in my closet older than the Freshman class entering college this year

5) I no longer change diapers (which is a good thing)

6) Grey hairs

7) Bursitis

8) No longer carded when buying alcohol

9) My breasts appear to be on a race to meet my belly button.

So there you have it.

Vanessa was the first to start school of my 4.  Wednesday, Jack and Josie start at their respective schools and on Thursday, I will have 2 1/2 glorious hours with no children as Colette joins the ranks of preschoolers.

What, might you ask, am I going to do with my free time?  Go to the spa? Nah. Spend some time curled up on the couch reading a book or magazine? Nope.

I will spending my precious kid-free time going to my physical therapy for my bursitis. 

Yep. Getting old sucks.

Here's the clan on Vanessa's First Day of school:

Mary Lou & Nadia (Colette & Josie's Tumbling Class) 4-10-09

So I signed the girls up for a Parent/Tot tumbling class on Fridays. Problem: I've got 2 girls and only 1 of me. Solution: Ask Aunt Bern! She generously agreed to be a surrogate parent to one of my gymnasts.

Were they excited? You bet. Should be easy and fun, right? Nope. Josie is the ultimate shy child and despite wanting to do this class, REFUSED to participate in the warm-up activities. Instead, she whinned and whinned and clung to me like gum to a shoe. Colette is NOT shy, but modeled her big sister's behavior and also did not want to participate. What to do?

Luckily, we moved from warm-ups to sommersalts and suddenly my little Mary Lou and Nadia came to life! We moved from the tumbing to the various apparati around the gym and they both acted like they were on the 2nd rotation of the summer olympics. They mastered the "ta da" (arms up) at the completion of every apparatus in the first 1/2 hour.

Here we come, Chicago 2016.

Colette & Aunt Bern warm up

Josie having a hissy fit

Here we go! Josie making the rounds on the obstacle course and Colette following close behind.

Colette showing us her best jumping skills

Josie on the uneven bars wowing the crowd


Josie master of the beam

Colette getting some coaching from Aunt Bern before starting her beam routine.

The reward: jumping from the beam into the foam pit!

Naydenov Gymnastics


You would think after such a great first class, the 2nd class would have started without a hitch? Not so. We went through the same Josie shy behavior, but luckily, the 2nd class, she warmed up during the warm ups!

Coloring the Easter Eggs 4-9-09

An annual tradition: coloring the Easter eggs. In our household of 4 kids, it takes less than 20 minutes to color 24 eggs. If you blink, you'll miss it and someone will color your egg. The kids LOVE it, especially Jack, who asks me incessantly for weeks leading up to Easter, if it is time to color the eggs.

Finally, we got to color the eggs. Don't blink, or you'll miss it.

Before

And off they go!

Colette stayed surprisingly clean despite her "dive bomb" method of putting the eggs in the dye.


Josie, well, she just loves this kind of stuff

Vanessa--on her 9th year of egg coloring still can't get enough.

Colette and Jack clearly cannot hold their excitment back.

Did you blink?

Voila! Behold the eggs almost too pretty to eat.

A little time for my little girls

What with Vanessa's school and soccer schedule and Jack's treatment and baseball schedule, my two little girls' have not known life without me chucking them in the minivan and carting them all over the Portland/Vancouver metro area. We spend many hours in the minivan waiting at practices or during rainy games--so much so that I carry a potty in the van so Josie can feel free to go potty anytime, anywhere. No need to take her to a nasty porta potty when Mommy's got her covered in the van.

So another beautiful spring week day and this time, I carted just them to a fun destination--the Oregon Zoo. We played hookie from home and had a wonderful time just taking in the sun and animals...just us girls.

Waiting for the sea lions

Whoa! It's 10 times bigger than them!

Josie LOVES wearing sun glasses

My little Colette

LaCamas Lake April 4, 2009

I know, I know. It's about time... Although most of you are my friends on FB, so you have seen these pictures. Nevertheless, I feel the need to do another blog marathon of the last month or so. Here goes!

LaCamas Lake is a quaint little Clark County Parks and Rec park in East Vancouver/Camas, WA. It's literally only a 5 minute drive from our house. On the first nice weather day of the spring, we packed up the kids and went on our first hike of the season. It is our goal this summer to try to enjoy more of our local natural areas and to discover the beauty right in our back yard.

What's nice is that it also has a kids play area/structure right when you start your hike, so the kids love it too! Really, what more could you ask for?

We'll definitely do more hiking here this season! :) Come join us!

Aunt Judy & Uncle Ed's Wedding

Just in time for their 50 year wedding anniversary. Here's Aunt Judy and Uncle Ed's Wedding video converted to DVD by Pop/Uncle Charlie. They were married on April 1, 1959 in Staten Island, NY.

Nana & Papa's 25th Anniversary Video

Pop converted film of Nana & Papa's 25th Wedding Anniversary party to a DVD and I've edited it and put it to music. Enjoy!

Need a laugh?

I don't know about you, but I could use a laugh these days...Colette's laugh is infectious...

Ahh, to have no worries in the world except which tutu you are going to wear...

My little girls make me smile...

Proud Moment for Mom: Jack's 1st Class Presentation

I had one of those wonderful moments as a Mommy today, more specifically, I had a really wonderful moment today as Jack's Mommy. Jack was required to do a social studies presentation in front of his class today. (Yes, presentations in 1st grade.) I helped make the PowerPoint (you got it, POWERPOINT) and Jack worked on his presentation skills. Apparently, he LOVES to teach in front of the class. Given that Jack doesn't seem to get embarrassed, having public speaking issues is NOT one of Jack's challenges. However, attending class and following directions when told is a bit difficult for him, which is why his presentation is such a proud moment for me.

Not only did he follow directions, he read/presented beautifully and was the perfect "game show" host at the end when he was required to answer questions. It took everything I had not to break down crying with pride watching my boy in front of the class. (The tears are flowing now, though.) So with that, I must share this moment with you.

Uploaded on authorSTREAM by crkuffner

Good job, Jack. You made Mommy proud today.