KG's Hideaway

I've been busy this week. I actually started back to school. Craig told me this morning he was pretty sure he saw a pig flying, Meh.. whatever! LOL

I was going to take 3 classes but I waited too long to register to I ended up just taking a math class I needed. It isn't hard, but I remember math being sooooooooo easy in school.

We've had the baby alot lately. I kept her 3 days last weekend and by the end of it I was pretty tired. It's so fun to spoil her rotten then send her home. She's a good baby though.

I'm addicted to McDonald's iced coffee. I can't get enough!

Posted by at 8:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Posted by at 7:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Saturday morning Craig and I went to pick up our niece so she could spend another night with us. Sunday (today) was her 1st birthday party (her actual birthday isn't until Wednesday). We went shopping just to have something to do. I'd already bought her present so we just wanted to get some stuff to spoil her. (We actually bought my sister a digital camera. Might not seem like a good present for a kid but it was something my sister really wanted). Uncle Craig decided that she needed a pair of pink and white Nikes. (picture of her with them on is a few shots down) I have an obsession with Nikes of all colors so he wanted to get a jump start on hers! LOL

She was just so sweet all day! She was pretty tired but never complained. When we got home I fed and bathed her and then Uncle Craig rocked her to sleep.

I was never one to let my kids sleep in my bed, but last night a couple of hours after I put her in her crib she woke up so I just put her in the bed between Craig and I. She snuggled up to Craig and I alternately and even laid on Jade for a little bit. After Craig left this morning to play golf she and I ate then headed back to bed for a little while.

I got her ready for her party and we headed over to my sister's house. She was SO funny with "her" cake and dove right in, head first!

Everyone was just having a good time in general. This is Craig and my brother.

Have I mentioned how much I love this girl?

My dad and my brother

My grandmother (closest) my mom (with the basket in her lap) and various other family memebers

And finally, my sister and my niece.

And gor her birthday, she FINALLY got a single tooth!!!

Posted by at 7:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Jesus Christ, it's hot out! The thermometer in my truck said it was 103 outside at about 2pm today. I HATE heat...I can't stand that sticky feeling. Ryan went with me to register for school today. Just parking and walking to the registrars office brought back and billion memories. I almost backed out and came back home but I stuck with it. I just had to file my paperwork because I hadn't gone to school in a while. I'll actually choose my classes tomorrow. Probably will lean toward psych stuff. It's always interested me, but really anything medical does. I need to re-take Anatomy and Physiology again because I originally took it back in what, 95 or 96 during nursing school and I'd really like to reacquaint myself with all of that. Maybe this time I'd actually put some effort into it. I skated through nursing school with a 3.0 and I studied for only one test. Ever. That's why I'd really like to go back and make sure I KNOW what I need to know. I'm not sure I even remember how to function in public.

I'm only going to take 3 classes for the fall and depending on how that goes I'll probably take more next semester. Good Lord... what am I DOING!?!?!?!?!

Posted by at 3:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I've become bored enough to go back to school. Bah. I'm not sure what the hell I'm gonna do, maybe expand on nursing, maybe focus more on psych, I dunno yet. I'm just gonna start off with some easy breezy classes and see what develops. I was actually thinking about getting a job, but I need my freedom, so I threw that out the door. I can't even decide how many classes I want to take yet.

Good Lord, what has this world come to?

Posted by at 8:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Tomorrow (I guess it's really today) is Austin's 20th birthday! How the hell did my kids get so OLD? He was born at 8pm on the dot. I can't even tell you how cute he was. Well, when he was born he was soooooooooo ugly! They induced my labor after I'd spent a week in the hospital, so when they finally rushed me in for a c-section I was so relieved. God, his head was lumpy!!! 8lbs 14oz and 22.5in long.

He was such a good baby and was always laughing. I remember when he was about 2 years old he just became this big ball of energy and LOVED his Hot Wheels. He still has all those damn cars! He was just the absolute sweetest kid I've ever seen. Here are a few pictures of him... they are totally grainy because I just grabbed them and snapped pictures of the pictures with my digital camera because I still have my scanner undone.

Here he is about 8 hours after he was born. My GOD look how big his head is!!! My mother said his hair would fall out. It never did. When I look at him here I can't help but think the look oon his face is like, "Wha.... what the hell just happened here????" haa

This is his 1st birthday. He was already in the 110% in height!! That day signaled BiG changes for him, including moving out of his crib to a regular bed. He always went to bed at his bedtime and stayed there until I got him out of his room in the morning.

This was the Christmas after he turned a year old. Look how miserable "Santa" looks! HAAAAAA

He was about 18 months old. My grandmother had given him a stuffed dinosaur from the movie The Land Before Time. He didn't know it was from that movie so he named it Dino (instead of the correct Littlefoot!)

Here he is AGAIN with Dino, but he's 14 or 15 in this picture! (I have a thing with taking pictures of my kids asleep- too cute!) Dino, still today, sits on Austin's bed... if you can find it.

His first year of football. He was 5. He was a linebacker and LOVED to hit the kid with the ball!

A couple of cute pics of him... The picture on the left was taken when he was about 3 1/2. He looked so much older, though. The picture on the right was taken when he was 7. Good GOD look at his HUGE choppers in that picture!! His baby teeth had been so small and then these MASSIVE perm teeth came in. We had to wait almost two more years before they'd put his braces on and he had to have those for three years!

Austin and Ryan on the couch at my parents house. This picture doesn't capture Ryan's face as she watches him TRY to play Grandpa's guitar. Love it! Ryan was wearing her Aladdin dress. I cannot even describe how hard it was to pry that dress from her. She'd wear it every day if I didn't DEMAND she give it up to be washed. God DAMN it was a fight every day!!!!

This is one of my favorite pictures of him. He was dressed and ready for Prom, calling to see if his girlfriend was FINALLY ready.

And recently, with his girlfriend Lindsay

Is it just me, or does he sort of look Chinese when he was little? I've never noticed that before.

So the pictures are horrible, but you get the idea... hopefully. Happy Birthday, Austin! I love you with all my heart.

Posted by at 12:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Just as with every other day this week, I woke up around 4:45am and just tried to find something on the tivo to watch until Craig and Ryan wake up. Ryan had to be at work at 7am, so does Austin and Craig wants to be at HIS office around 7:15. It is now 7:15 and they are all gone, so since my eyes are getting a bit droopy and I'm thinking of crawling in my bed and staying there until it's time to get up and get ready for my date today with Craig. He's taking me to see a new movie I want to see and then we're off to dinner. No clue what comes after that. Maybe, if Kyra is ready to make a reasonable choice she'll get to do something fun. I'm taking her to her xray this weekend so that I don't have to deal with crowds. I'm not a fan of them!!

So, I hope everyone has a lovely Friday; I know I will =p

Posted by at 6:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Well, I'd thought Kyra's bad habits had changed while in California but I guess I was wrong. Yesterday after we dropped Kyra back off at the house after the doctor's appointments (Ryan and I went to check on the ex-bf) Kyra ate an entire pizza. Not a little one... a full size pizza. Holy crap! Then, yesterday evening I told her that she needed to do something other than watch tv or play video games and sitting around because that's all she done every day since returning from California. Her response was, "I don't know what to do because everything I do involves sitting." Uh, ya think? So, I just said "Obviously... or I wouldn't have mentioned it!" At that point she came into my bedroom and told Craig that she was going to bed because she couldn't think of anything else to do. I was 6:30. I guess it's safe to say, "Here we go again!" Lovely.

At least it didn't bother me. If that's how she wants to do it, that's how we'll do it. Her mom called me yesterday to offer her a laptop computer because her husband gets used ones from his job for free. We were going to buy the kids newones for Christmas but if she wants to give her one it's fine by me. Kyra will probably say "no thanks" to her to punish her mom or she'll accept it and still have nothing to do with her. While she was in California her mom sent her the new Harry Potter book and Kyra thanked her via email. Though they exchanged a couple of emails then Kyra still stays away. I told the doctor about it yesterday and he said that kids who do this most often remain estranged from that parent for life. Kyra doesn't change her pattern without being absolutely forced to in the most aggressive manner, so when you consider that in a few years no one will be able to force her to do anything, I'd venture to guess then that the doctor is right.

My bedroom is an absolute pigstye. I don't know how it is possible to have this much dog hair on the floor and there still be ANY left on the dogs. There are clothes everywhere in here. I've got to do something about it but honestly I'm just not that motivated this week. I need to have someone come out and give me an estimate on replacing the livingroom carpet and in the hallway on the kids' side of the house. I'd wanted to put the wood laminate flooring in there and in the all the kids' rooms as well, but after having it in my bedroom I'm starting to re-think it. Each has its advantages. Right now, I'd sooner have a maid. Really, I just want one for floors and windows. Craig told me about a year ago to go ahead and hire one but I didn't... I'm rethinking that, too.

Posted by at 7:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

This morning Kyra and I both had doctor's appointments and Ryan rode along with us. (more on the appointments in a sec) When I got back into the waiting area I noticed that Ryan had been crying. She had gotten a phone call that her ex-boyfriend (but still close friend) had gotten drunk last night and wrecked his car. Bad. Come to find out, he was loaded and decided to get in his car and drive home. He was on some back roads in Mansfield and a deer ran into the road and he rolled his almost new Mustang a couple of times. No other cars were involved and thankfully he wasn't hurt but he DID get popped for DWI. Not cool. He's leaving Friday for Mexico for his brother's wedding. You'd never know he was Mexican if you saw him. But you'd DEFINITELY know if when he started talking. Anyhoo...

So at the doctor's appointment Kyra had to get shots. She needed one for school and I went ahead and got her the Gardasi! injection, too. Ryan got the first of the three injections a few weeks ago. I could have gone either way on it, really, but I decided to do it. Last year her scoliosis had gotten slightly worse, but this year... wow. I didn't even know what to say when he leaned her over. He just kind of looked at me over her back and I was doing my best not to say, "Holy SHIT!" He believes she's much worse than 10degrees rotated and will require a back brace at a minimum, and possibly surgery. What a mess.

Ah well.... guess you can't have it all.

After all of that, we went to Jeremy's to see how he was doing and now we're FINALLY back home. It is really hot today and I just want to go take a shower... so... yeah, that's where I'm headed. Then, I'm going to watch Eddie Izzard on my tiv0. He's soooooooooo funny. Love, love, LOVE him/her!!

Posted by at 3:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

how the hell THIS happens. What the hell is going on in the world that someone can treat an animal this way and still be allowed to have it returned to them.

Wouldn't it be nice to turn the tables?

Posted by at 4:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Believe it or not, this is the first real "party" that Ryan has gone to since starting highschool. She's a good kid, for the most part, and stays away from that scene but when we were out shopping yesterday she ran into a girl she goes to school with and decided that she'd like to go to her party. She's pretty upfront with me about things so these are the rules given to her:

1) If there is any, ANY alcohol involved she doesn't get in trouble as long as she calls home and asks for a ride.

2) If the driver of the car she's in has even had a SIP of alcohol she has to call home and get a ride. We'd also be willing to take the driver and their car home without saying anything to that person's parents.

Basically, we tell the kids that we don't want them to drink, but if they do we will not punish them if they handle themselves appropriately after the fact. Lucky for me, Ryan doesn't like alcohol but never doubt the power of peer pressure.

So she'll be home around 12:30 (little over an hour from now) and we'll see if she does what's expected. I have faith.

Today, we pretty much spent the whole day on the yard. I'm so damn tired of it. It's the biggest reason I want to sell this house. It takes forever and a day to do the yard. Today, I did the weed eater thing and Craig mowed. I'm calling in a tree company to take out a few of the trees because they just choke out the yard and front of the house.

Kyra just sat and watched us work today.

Posted by at 9:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

update: We just got back from buying her tennis shoes and some more clothes. The poor girl is only 5ft 2. She didn't grow even a fraction of an inch while she was gone but she now wears a size 11 shoe!!! WTF has happened? Well, after a second round of clothes shopping today (and returning everything except two jackets that I'd bought before she got home) Kyra has a stack of new clothes. She is in a size 8!! Jeeze, Ryan wears a 9 but she's literally a foot taller than Kyra. But the shirts that I've bought both of them are the same sizes so now they can share shirts and double thier wardrobe, so there's a least an upside to it.

Kyra has already decided that she still doesn't want to see her mom... even though her mom bought her a gift for her birthday. I guess I just need to get over it because me pressuring her to see her mom isn't going to convince her. I think its been just over a year since she's seen her. When her mom had a baby back in January I had hopes that having a sister would change her mind, but I was wrong. I don't know... I just don't know.

Posted by at 4:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

OMG I don't know what to do now. Kyra has once again gained a butt-load of weight while staying with Craig's parents in California this summer. Same thing happened two summers ago, but this time it's pretty bad. So far, of all the things I've bought her, only two of the shirts fit and everything else is BEYOND too small. I don't know how its possible to gain that much weight in 6 weeks! What the hell do they eat???

Oh well, it is what it is. I'm certainly not the person who has any room to complain about weight. It's just that she already gets teased so much as it is, and this is only going to make it worse. Kids are so cruel and it only gets worse in high school. Maybe she'll drop the weight pretty quick. We'll see!

Posted by at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kyra comes home tonight and we're ready. Ryan is baking her a birthday cake and I've planned Kyra's favorite meal. All of her birthday gifts are wrapped and ready to be opened, so I think we're set. Craig has to leave early in the morning for Raleigh so if we don't do it tonight we'd have to wait until this weekend. I'm sure she doesn't want to wait.

Her birthday was actually on the 28th but since she was gone we're doing it tonight. Then, Austin's birthday is August 12, my niece is August 22, Ryan is September 15, my dad is September 29th, my mom is October 9, mine is October 10th, Craig's is November 8, my brother is November 10 and my sister's is November 18th... just in time for Christmas.

I feel like crap. When the baby was here this weekend she had a terrible cold... and now I do. My throat hurts and my sinuses are killing me. I'm hoarse from coughing so much. I KNEW not to get her once Rusti told me she was sick, but I figured it'd be ok. Yeah, right.

Craig just got back in town yesterday and now he's leaving again tomorrow morning. I feel so bad for him because he looks so tired. Maybe he'll be able to catch up on sleep this weekend. I'm almost done buying the girls school clothes. Unless Kyra has gone through a major growing spurt while in California. If not, then all that's left to buy is jeans for her and Ryan from Hollister. I have to buy Ryan's jeans there because that's the only place I can get them long enough and she wants Kyra to have some from there. We've basically thrown out all of Kyra's clothes because they're just sort of frumpy. I've bought her some REALLY cute stuff since she wasn't here to pick it out. If she hates it I'll exchange it, of course but we're hoping she'll realize that she's in high school now and dress the part. Oh yeah, I have to buy their tennis shoes and they've both asked for Dr. Martin's this year so that'll mean that I'm only buying those shoes and if they want to wear something else they'll have to wear their stuff from last year because buying their tennis shoes and Docs will cost me almost $400 between the two of them just for shoes, sooooooo I'm not doing anything more than that on shoes.

I'm just so glad I didn't wait to get school stuff ready. Typically, we're just finishing up basketball the week before school starts but since Ryan's last two tournaments were here at home, we've been able to do school shopping over the last two weeks AND school doesn't start until the end of the month this year. YAY!!

So that's all I've got right now.

Posted by at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)