Just popping in....

I'll be back soon. I will. I promise!

But for now, go check out Matt's photography over at Flickr. He's taking a photography class at school. It's great to see the world from the perspective of a sixteen year old young man.

5 things...

Yet again I've stayed away from this space for too long.  It's just that I thought with having teens I would have so much more time to do things for me, yet I find myself busier than ever. Along with that busyness, come the mother's worry of helping them along to good choices.  Some days it can be exhilarating and some days it's just plain exhausting. So what have we been up to:

 1. Second year of AP global social studies.  College level course given to sophomores and freshmen.  We are in round two of this hell.  We all hate this course for what it does to our family dynamics.  Matt's stuck with it because it's this or the water down version of the course.  No honors course to choose from.  

 2. Ryan gave up hockey this year. There are various reasons, but the main one is that he is just burned out at the age of thirteen.  I could get into the whole politics of the hockey program...but I won't, I want my Monday to be free of stress.

 3.  I'm struggling with time management.  It's been difficult as of late.  I think I have it all figured out and then something pops up and changes everything.  Having a hard time going with the flow.

 4.  I've started running again.  There is a young man on Matt's team that consistently comes in last every. single. cross country race.  Yet, when he crosses the finish line, he always has a smile on his face and he raises his hands in a salute.  It's inspiring to watch and gives me the motivation to plod on.

5. This is what I live with.

Enjoy your week everyone!

We went West....

to San Francisco!

And I believe, we all left our hearts there!

Be back soon!

5 things....

Saturday, Andy took the boys and their friends out tubing on the lake.  I decided not to go as I tend to get a bit nauseous when they have the boat spinning in circles in order to get bigger waves.

As I was sitting, waiting for them to come back I discovered that I didn't know any of the parents sitting at the beach.  I've officially become one of the older moms.  The mom that sits out of the fray of the toddlers and elementary school kids.  The one that can actually relax while sitting near a body of water. The one that doesn't turn her head when she hears "Mom" being screamed at the top of someone's lungs and the mom that doesn't  go running when she hears a piercing scream and crying.

It was a bittersweet feeling.  I'm sad that our days of summer are not spent on that sandy beach anymore.  Days of digging holes and swimming for hours until their fingers were wrinkled from the water.  Gone are the many days of grilled cheese sandwiches and snacks from the beach bag.

But as I watched this new generation of parents and their little ones I was happy that we were part of the long tradition of families on that beach.  I can only hope that my boys decided to find a place just as special, maybe even the one they grew up on, to raise their families when it's time.

1.  Loving caprese salads right now.  It will be even better when the tomatoes ripen.

2.  Looking for a good television show for summer.  Suggestions welcomed.

3.  Just finished reading The History of Love.  It started out slow, but in the end I really enjoyed it.

4. Do you like sweet tea or unsweetened?

5. Matt and I have started a summer blog.  We took the idea from Sarah and Anna ( can't find the link Sarah...could you send it to me?) Matt and I need something this summer.  Hopefully, this might be it.
  
Enjoy the week everyone!  

Roller Coaster Days...

Well hello!  I didn't mean to stay away so long and probably have about three readers left, two of them being family members.  But, it is what it is and to tell you the truth, I've stayed away because I figured you didn't want to hear me go on and on about the difficulties of raising teenage boys.

The gray hair is coming in fast and furious now and my hair stylist and I are becoming good friends.  The emotions are high around here due to final exams and end of year projects.

You know what they say about that frontal lobe of the brain being slow to develop?...I think it might have stopped in my oldest's.  Geesh, it has been a frustrating time.

So I leave you with a few pictures of the last week.

The weather has been good and the activities plentiful.  

Send good thoughts that I make it through to June 15th.  

...or maybe just bottles of wine!

On This Mother's Day Weekend

I didn't breastfeed-I couldn't for medical reasons.
judge me for not fixing the problem
I bottle fed my kids
judge me for ruining their immune system.
I let my kids sleep with us.
judge me for being to close to my children.

I tried Ferberizing.
judge me for terrorizing my children
I put cereal in my boys' bottles.
judge me .
I gave them cereal before they were one.
judge me for creating over-eaters.
I went to work when he was a baby.
judge me for not staying home.
I decided to stay home.
judge me for not working.
I volunteer in the school.
judge me for being a helicopter parent.
Sometimes I don't volunteer.
judge me for not caring about my kids.
My kids play sports.
judge me for not providing the arts.

My kids play instruments.
judge me for not being in sports 24/7
My kids went to restaurants at a young age.
judge me because children don't belong in restaurants.
My kids play with iPods in restaurants.
Judge me for just wanting a quiet meal and not choosing to have a meaningful conversation at that moment.
We bring our kids on vacation.
judge us for including our kids too much
We don't bring our kids on a weekend trip.
judge me for not including them.
I buy Doritos and white bread
judge me.
Sometimes I take the night off, drink a glass of wine and let them skip their homework
judge me for not being a mom 24/7
Sometimes I crack the whip and they hate me.
judge me for being a taskmaster.


I love my sons with all my heart

Go ahead
judge me
I dare you.


added: This is what I was really trying to say.  She said it much better than I.

and we are back....

Back to a routine.

Back to the books.

Back to homework.

There were ups and downs on this vacation.

Ryan had his cast off, but couldn't do any of his favorite things, thus making him a bit more miserable than usual.

But in his eyes, on the last day, he told me he had a great time.

And for that, the whole week was okay.

On the flip-side, Matt is coming out of the whole puberty thing and is again, the kind and gentle human being that I once knew.

I read two books and enjoyed eating at one of my most favorite restaurants.

I got to take a nap by the side of the pool.

I swam in the ocean and pool.

Saw the sea turtle go swimming by while we were jumping the waves.

So, another year's memories are in the books, locked away tightly until we pull them out again and laugh at all of our silly behaviors.

The first ten years at Seaside have been wonderful-here's to the next decade of fun and excitement!

just thinking out loud....

Boy, yesterday was hard.  And to be quiet frank, the day before that wasn't much better.

I'm loving the freakishly, warm weather, but it's putting a crink into our routine.

All of a sudden, we are doing summer things and on summer mode and nothing is getting accomplished that needs to be...like homework!

I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but we aren't use to this weather in March!  We live where the temperatures only reach the 80's in July and August...if we're lucky!

Last year, at this time we had mountains of snow. 

So, we will roll with it.  

I will enjoy my days on the porch, because I know they are numbered and it will be snowing in a few weeks.

I will try not to come down too hard on the boys with their work.

I will be comforting to Ryan as his cast sweats (6 more days!).

and will look at this global warming event as a time to get things done, for surely it is a cruel joke of Mother Nature's and we will have a blizzard next week!

What it typically looks like around here in March!

Taken a year ago.

Fifteen...