I'm still learning...

So I'm playing around and I figured out how to post a picture to my blog. The problem is that I posted the picture without a caption, hense the photo below of Emily-Ann in her recital costume holding her flowers post performance and me. The recital was this past Sunday afternoon. To see more photos visit my Facebook site. Just look up Cyndi S. Stepich and enjoy!

 

The Beginning of Summer 2008

SO, Summer 2008 is here. I must perfect the art of entertaining 3 children of various ages, almost 15, 7 and 5 on a shoestring budget. One of the joys of being a stay at home mommy is that I get to...ummmm...STAY AT HOME...with the kids...during the summer. Did I say that was a joy? Yes, it is. Most of the time. A definate drawback is being part of a one income household. A one income household in Southern California. In a time when gasoline is holding at $4.59 a gallon. With our minivan, that amounts to about $105 to fill up her tank. SO, I must now think of some pretty creative ways to entertain the kids. We are just finishing our first full week of the 3 of them being out of school. SO far they have been happy just to stick around the house and ride their bikes, make a "theatre" in the den (this consists of hanging a dark blanket over the french doors to black out the room and watching a DVD they haven't seen a thousand times!), play in the jacuzzi and pretend it's a pool complete with goggles and torture each other. We also went to see "Kung Fu Panda" at Citiwalk. Tim was shocked that in a week, I only put 40ish miles on the van. I told him I was really trying to cut corners every way I could.

Future Low-Cost Summer Plans:

Trips to the Library
Trips to the Beach
More Bike rides, weather permitting of course...we could even take the bikes to one of the many bike paths in the area and make a full day of it
Trips to the YMCA that we have belonged to for years but rarely go to
A movie a week (Tim gets discounted movie tickets through E!)
Picnics at the park
PLAYDATES!

If anyone has any ideas that they would like to share, please do so...I need all the help I can get. THANKS!

I'm Back! The Joys of Adoption!

I know, I know, I know...At some point, are you sure it was in this lifetime?, I said I would post everyday. What's that saying? The one about the best of intentions? I won't make excuses, I would rather give an explanation. OK, I'll be honest. Where did I get the CRAZY idea that I could start raising kids in my 40's? WHAT WAS I THINKING? Please, don't get me wrong. I AM NOT COMPLAINING...I am merely venting...and explaining. While most (ALL) of our friends that have children had them in their early thirties, I was 42...42! And they started with one at a time...well not you Colleen, you were blessed with twins. Timmy and I started with 2. Charlie was almost 9 and David was 11 months old when they came into our lives and gave us a new definition of happiness. Not quite 5 months later, Emily-Ann appeared. It seems as if God was just testing us to see if we really could handle children. He decided, after he saw the joy that the boys brought to us, to bless us with a BABY girl. She was 4 days old and just barely 6 pounds. I literally thought I was going to break her. Now she is a ton of bricks...beautiful designer bricks but bricks nonetheless. The point? I AM OLD. Maybe not of mind, I have been told I act 20 at times but of body. It is wearing out. My knees ache, not to mention my back, side, feet, neck and head. I wonder at times if I should have just tried to have a family way before I was in my forties. Then I STOP and think about what I have. I have a great husband who is not only a wonderful provider but also a GOOD man. I have 3 beautiful, funny, incredible children who may have been birthed by another woman but have been ours since the beginning of time. It's funny how God works. He always had a plan for us and for our children. I know I should never question Him but I also know I am human. At the end of the day, as I check on all 3 of them ten thousands times before I get into bed with my husband, I realize how blessed we are. Just how truly blessed WE are. I am blessed. I need to stop at times and realize how truly blessed I am.

VIRUS Go Away!

AAUUGGHH! Sickness, I am so tired of it. Once again, my house has been hit with the ugly, dreaded, VIRUS. For the second time in as many weeks, David is sick. It's not too bad this time, it's just the cough. Emily-Ann however threw up this morning. Do I need to be graphic? I think not. And Charlie is fine as usual. That kid rarely gets ill. Same for Tim. They are resiliant. The little ones and myself get all the fun. Do we not wash our hands enough? I don't think that's it, I wash my hands at least 15 times a day. I actually counted recently. And I am constantly on D & EA's back to wash their hands. I think part of the problem is the weather. I know that as soon as the kids are in school, I am going to turn off the heater, open ALL the doors and windows and bundle myself up. I just pray I don't catch pneumonia. Oh, and I will attack the house with Lysol spray. Anything at this point. OK, now back to the game...GO PATS~!

Another minute, another hour, another day has begun to slip away. It's been a busy one. Whoever said that stay at home moms have it easy was sorely mistaken. This is the hardest job I have ever had and I have had a few. I have to say it is also the most rewarding, hands down. The arguing, picking on each other, homework they "forgot" to do, mess they can make is NOTHING compared to the ONE look that melts your frozen heart. The times they walk up to you and with all sincerity, tell you how much they love you. The giggles and laughs that are the sweetest sounds you have EVER heard. The dirty faces and the way they clean themselves up afterwards, soap running down the front of their clothes. Even when you have a teenager that thinks he know everything about everything. He thinks that you couldn't possibly know anything although you have been many similar situations. How did we ever survive our teenage years? Better yet, how did our parents? I just pray I am doing them right. I try.

WICKED, WICKED, WICKED! If you do one thing for yourself (and for that matter others) GO SEE WICKED! David and I went to see it last night with Colleen and her boys, Garret and Connor. It was their second time, our first. Dave's first ever play/musical. I watched him periodically throughout the performance. He was mesmerized! He was enthralled! He loved it. How do I know? You should have heard him telling his sister Emily-Ann about it this morning while they were eating their waffles.

Dave: Emily, there were scarry flying monkeys!
Emma: Were they really scarry?
Dave: Oh yes, you would have to close your eyes. Connor did.
Emma: MOM! Did Connor have his eyes closed?
Me: (from the kitchen): When?
Emma: Last night at the "featre". Dave said he did.
Me: He did the first time he saw it, last night he was brave.
Emma: I could be brave too.
Dave: No, you would have to close your eyes.
Emma: NO I WOULD NOT!
Dave: YES YOU WOULD!
Emma: NO!
Dave: YES!

You get the point.

Back to the performance. Beautiful, sensational, FUNNY, touching, loving, loud, incredible sets, phenomenal acting. As a fan of The Wizard of Oz, a BIG fan, I have always wanted to be Glinda (GAlinda!) but now I want to be Elphaba (aka The Wicked Witch of the West). I really want to be Elphaba.

Do yourself a favor. Go see it. I am (again!).