Catching Up

Wow! Has it been that long since I've last posted? Don't get us wrong, we haven't been doing nothing. I think the problem is, we've been doing too much. As this is semi my memory bucket, I think I'll catch up on what we've been up too.

Let's see. We had Super Wy's birthday party which was lots of fun. Of course, it had to be a dinosaur themed party so I made a Dinosaur Valley cake with volcano and all. He was in the limelight and loving it.



I helped host a baby shower for an awesome friend and baked the shower cake. It was loads of fun hanging out with woman, talking about babies, and just watching the excitement of a soon-to-be new mother.



Then this last week was all about Halloween preparations. Costume finalizing, candy purchasing, pumpkin carving. Friday I went with Hubby and the boys to Holy Terror's Kindergarten Halloween party. They were so silly playing fun games, doing crafts and walking a costume parade.



And then next thing we knew, it was Halloween. Drama Queen was a Psycho Clown Nurse, Parkour Boy was a Dead Car Victim, Holy Terror was Optimus Prime, and Super Wy was Sheriff Woody.

Phew! What a couple of weeks!




I think now that we've started the holiday season it's going to be a little hectic for the next couple months. As you all know, my favorite holiday is coming up...Thanksgiving.

But before we dive into that busy stuff, Hubby and I will probably take the kids to the beach for one last relaxing day before it all kicks off.

Drama Queen Turns 14

Wow! Has it really been 14 years? The girl makes everyday an adventure. Drama Queen's always been in a hurry. Even when she was born, which was a week early and took under 6 hours. She came out pissed, glaring at the world, and looked like she'd just been in a brawl with bruises all over her face because she was too stubborn to let her head cone. (Yes, her head came out perfectly round...it was creepy.)


She arrived with my family's bright blue eyes and the Norris family's auburn red hair. It lightened to a pretty strawberry blonde she's always wishing to dye. Born the only girl, we soon found out was because God was having mercy on us. She rules and "manages" over the boys - even the older and her father most of the time - because it's easier than facing her wrath.


I love the passion she carries out everyday with with. I love the moodiness that keeps you on your toes. And most of all, I love waking up, seeing her, and knowing she's my girl. With another year gone, it's another year closer to her leaving home and that makes me sad. I hope she looks fondly at her childhood years as she runs full steam into the teenage years.


I know she been a joy to us and we wouldn't have it any other way. So, happy birthday, Baby Girl! We love you!

Parkour Boy Turns Fifteen

"Three more years and I am on my own!" Parkour Boy smiles and tosses in a fist pump.

My heart cracks a little more and I fight back the tears. I smile, nod, and give my best "Mom-style" fist pump (the kind intended for full embarrassment impact).

Everyone else sees a young man growing into adulthood. I can see that too. But what they don't see?

The little toddler who squealed over dump trucks and fell in love with C3PO. The young boy of 5 who, for years, introduced himself as a paleontologist. The little toe-head who would run and jump in my lap and cuddle, but refuse to hold my hand in the store because he was "a big boy".

If I close my eyes real tight I can feel him as a baby wrapped tight in the nook of my arms. When we're on the beach I can look at him in the distance walking with his dad...and I'm not seeing the teenager in deep discussion. I'm seeing the little boy giggling and holding Daddy's hand.

I love him so much, and I'm proud he's independent, strong-willed, and excited to start his own adventure. But my heart breaks a little bit more the closer he gets.

Why am I a babbling mess? A cry baby at the drop of a hat? Happy one moment and completely a wreck the next?

Monday, Parkour Boy turns 15.

Don't get me wrong...I am happy but as any Mom will tell you, it's a double-edge sword. Each milestone ahead of them is farther away from you and your protective wings. And I'll admit, with Parkour Boy it's a little keener than the others. He's my first and the most like me. He's the one who altered my whole life. I looked into those baby blue eyes in the hospital and could feel the shift. THUD! My heart fell for him and I was from that moment on a Mother.

He's my poet, my artist, and my adventure partner. He's fearless, tiresome, internal yet goofy too. He's a brooder and a natural cynic. Parkour's an old soul who's ready to take each moment in depth and draw from it the most he can.

God, I love him (oh man, here come the tears again...damn it).


Happy birthday, Honey. I love you very much.

Love of My Life

Bowling balls smashed into the pins. Teams, teens, and families either cheered or jeered. I followed my cousins along the dim, smoky viewing galley to the billiard room. There, on the other side of the pool table stood a tall young man with red hair peeking out of his hat and the brightest green eyes I'd ever seen. Those eyes looked up to smile at my cousins and met mine instead.

My heart skipped a couple beats. A slow blush rose from his neck up to his cheeks. My heart fell.

He had to be mine. I knew at that moment what it was to fall head-over-heels.

Sixteen years later and I still feel the skip of a heartbeat whenever I look at him. Every morning I look over at him and my heart falls all over again.

Today he turns 32 and we've grown a lot since that night at the bowling alley. The love I felt for him then pales in comparison to the love of today. Ash is an amazing husband and father, but most importantly in a long-term relationship, he's my best friend and fellow geek.

Geek you say? Oh yeah. He's not a sci-fi geek like me but he's got a bright big GEEK pin stuck on his heart. Besides our joint geeking of Japanese films, Transformers, and Rally Racing, his major geekdom is fishing (hence the cake).

For his birthday I let the kids have free reign to get him special stuff just they picked out. Super Wy got him a fake banana and a screwdriver. Holy Terror got him a rubber mallet. Drama Queen got him a carpenter square. Billy sketched him a fish picture and framed it.

Then the kids and I baked him a chocolate cake with chocolate pudding filling and chocolate icing. Drama Queen decorated it with, of course, Ash's favorite thing...fish.

I cannot believe the luck to find someone so great and to still feel the passionate love after so many years. My only hope is that he and I get many more birthdays together.

Happy birthday baby...love you always and forever!

Birthday Fun Facts

Word is leaking out...today is my birthday. As many of you know, I'm kinda neutral about "the day" (30th year set aside and best forgotten). So, instead of blathering about my age, the dang effects of gravity on my body, and the looming expiration date...I wanted to have fun with it.

I found a site that listed some really great fun birthday facts. Here are my top ten favorites from the list:

• More people celebrate their birthdays in August than in any other month (about 9% of all people). The two other months that rate high for birthdays are July and September.
• A recent survey suggests that more people are born on October 5 in the United States than any other day. October 5 holds a not-so-surprising significance, as conception would have fallen on New Year's Eve.
• The least common birth date in the U.S. is May 22nd.
• Since your last birthday 31,536,000 seconds have passed.
• In the past year your hair will most likely have grown 12 cm and your nail about 4 cm.
• Your heart beats at a rate of around of 72 to 80 beats per minute - since your last birthday it will have beat about 42,075,900 times.
• You breath at a rate of about 30 breaths per minute so, since your last birthday you have taken approximately 15,768,000 breaths.
• The volume of blood in your body is approximately 5 litres. The heart pumps about 280 litres of blood around your body every hour - that’s 2,688,000 litres per year!
• The average garden snail (not one that has entered the Olympics 100 meters race) moves at around 0.03 mph. If one set out on your last birthday, and walked non-stop it would have traveled 263 miles. If you walked this distance non-stop you would complete it in around three days.
• World population has grown by around 76,570,430 since your last birthday. In the time it takes you to read this another five babies will have been born.

To see the full list visit the Tokenz site. I have been so blessed with a great life, great family, and great friends. I hope you all have a great day, I know I will with my new book the hubby and kids got me.

Thank you guys!

Lucas Turns 11!

I'm a lucky Auntie for the most part. In a time where more extended families are living farther apart from each other, I get to live near half of my nieces and nephews. Yes, we're large enough that I can use the term half without it seeming ridiculous: I have 4 nieces and 4 nephews.

Wednesday was my oldest nephew's 11th birthday. He's the second human who made me an Aunt and the first child of my sisters. He's the first to nickname me something other than Aunt Amber, and the nickname I only allow him to use (sometimes to the jealousy of my other minions)

I don't tell his mom, because it's a mother's constant battle to fret over their kid, but I love Lucas' wild child side. He's a one and only and couldn't ever be mistaken for anyone else.

I love that he can be moody, tempermental, and mouthy. I was moody, tempermental, and mouthy. Heck, his mother was too. (See a family trait immerging?)

He's those things because he's energetic, passionate, and full of life. He's a special soul that doesn't want to conform to societies whims. Part of me, that inner anarchist, roots him on. "Fight the system, my little man!"

I can't wait to see what kind of man he grows into, what kind of mark he leaves on this world...because I'll tell you what, no one else will leave quite the same mark.

Below is a slideshow to a very fitting song. Hope you enjoy this glimpse of my first nephew.



Luc-e-Bear...happy birthday, sweetie. Love you honey!