Stage Debut - NTAC

OK how FREAKING cute are they??? According to Grandma they did great and the audience loved them. I can't wait to go see it in person!!!

Stage Debut - NTAC

OK how FREAKING cute are they??? According to Grandma they did great and the audience loved them. I can't wait to go see it in person!!!

41-55

What is this? Score for a really good defensive basketball game?
Nope.

Perhaps it's a homework assignment? As in "Read pages 41-55 by Friday"?
Nope.

This? Is now the age range I have to check in Marketing Surveys. WTH?

When did I get lumped in with (no offense intended here, my FABULOUS friends in your fifties) women with grown children??? I'm a different demographic. I still have small children. For Pete's sake, ALL my kids are still in Elementary school... doesn't that mean anything?

Not that I'm resenting my age, mind you... I actually mentioned to my friend (who gloated that she is LOVING her 40's - yes, YOU Cyn) that I might have to wait for my 50's to enjoy the freedom and flexibility she is given that my kids are still so young... And yet? Marketing experts are now considering me to be one of what I'm going call 'Post-Dependent Child' Moms. PDC Moms do not have to worry about carpooling. Their kids can drive themselves (or, at least ONE of their kids can drive the younger ones). They do not have to worry about hiring babysitters so they can go out for a drink. They do not worry about daycare. Their kids can feed themselves, and for the most part, bathe, clothe and groom themselves independently.

And yet? I had to check the 41-55 box today. And I? Am not yet enjoying the life of a PDC Mom. Yep - life (and marketing surveys) are SO unfair.

What a year...

This year has been a hard one for us and many of our loved ones. Rather than dwell on all of the sad endings - lives, friendships, and so much more - I wanted to share something that was a new beginning... Maddie started voice lessons just this fall, after performing in her first musical production down in California last summer.

This video isn't great quality and there's plenty of background noise and camera jogging (yeah - you try filming steady with 2 wiggly five year olds on your lap!).

The most amazing part to me is that this was her first time singing solo in front of a decent size crowd and she did great! Please feel free to send any comments for her - she would love to hear encouragement (from someone OTHER than her parents!)

Enjoy your week - cherish your loved ones!

Wha... it's MARCH already?

oh man... how did this happen? March? 2009 right? Gosh I hope so...


Ok - I vaguely remember something about a new restaurant... a lot of paint... and people. SNOW. LOTS OF SNOW. Food. Schedules. Staff. MAJOR HEADACHES.


ohhhh... it's all coming back to me. That was NOT a really bad, vivid nightmare. It's all real.


I'm sure I should have posted some pictures of our new endeavor... maybe if I could find the cord thingy that links my camera to my laptop... ohh - yep - that's it... we could have pictures by the end of this post!


So, Maddie is playing softball this year. We took last year off - but she was enthusiastic about trying out this year so we made it happen (well, Teacher Susan made it happen... Thank GOD for Teacher Susan... tryouts, multiple reminders to sign her up...). Fortunately she is on a team with at least ONE of her friends from Susan's... and lucky for me, Rena's mom Jen is one of MY best buddies. Games are always more enjoyable when I have a friend there too.


The girls are both in dance, and Jack likes going to Sophie's ballet class cause he has a buddy there who's sister is also in ballet. Jack also had his first "play date" with Braedon (sp?) from his pre-school... again thanks to Teacher Susan. Apparently Braedon's mom was hoping to catch a glimpse of a parent to set up a playdate... but we aren't ever there at pick up (in our defense there's that whole restaurant thing... and they get released at 11:30!).


The new restaurant is doing really well at lunch... but sometimes dinner is... well... disappointing. We are really hoping that this is just due to the slower time of year, and that things will pick up as they have in years past. Gosh - a crystal ball would be really handy right now...


Well, I'm managing to only be about 2 or 3 days behind on the really important stuff (like the restaurant newsletter - which is supposed to go out on the 1st to tell everyone about the awesome specials we have...) so maybe, just MAYBE... well, I'm not going to make any promises.


Ooop - looky there... PICTURES to upload. Yay me. Multi-tasking just before midnight... yep, this is definitely my productive time. Quiet and dark. Lucy at my feet just in case I decide to move even a SMIDGE. Ok... here we go...




Hmmm... ok picture of the family from Thanksgiving (thanks to Sister Susan for snapping this shot...). This was SUPPOSED to be in Christmas Cards. ****SEE BELOW**** Not a bad pic of all five of us. Not bad huh? Damn those are some cute kids.









And this picture of Lucy... She's SMILING. ARRGH... will try to get this one on later.


OMG I'm seriosly cursed - my network ALWAYS fails when I'm trying to upload pics to my blog. No WONDER I'm so frustrated! OK - will go try to re-boot the network again... then I have to HURRY and sneak pics on one at a time...

***BELOW*** (OOOHHHH Colored Text! FESTIVE!!!)

Okay - here's the thing... I realize I set myself up for failure. I used to make cute handmade cards and mail them out every Christmas. And some of you really looked forward to them (or so you said...). And then, they stopped coming. And some of you (you know who you are...) probably thought, "Gosh, what did we do to them to get booted off the list?" and "We sent THEM a card... HOW RUDE." Well - GET OVER IT. You're still on the list. (chances are...) And the cards? Oh, I had the best intentions. Even bought the paper. Designed them. One year I even got them all cut out and "sticky" so they were ready to be assembled. And that's where it ends. Those cards are in a box labelled "Christmas Cards 2007 - 08". Yes, the "08" was added. No - they aren't ready to go out. And now it's March. Ain't gonna happen.

Hey - Check these out! PICTURES!!!

Ok - so last time I posted I tried to upload some photos from our trip(s) to the pumpkin patch(es - count 'em - five trips in all) and I was thwarted by my not so reliable wireless configuration... (where have all my computer geek friends gone??)

So I'm going to attempt to re-post them now. Because? Well apparently, some of you care! And I re-connected with an old friend (sorry - he's not really old... but we knew each other BEFORE we could drive!) and I thought it might be nice to have some more current photos up. Yup - for those of you reading this thinking, oh sure - she's worried about some friend she hasn't seen since... well about 15 years ago but not us... hey - sucks to be you. You know I love you. But you all KNOW how cute my kids are. He has no clue. Besides - he was my original computer geek - and I'm secretly hoping he'll offer to come by and fix my stupid wireless internet. Yep - I've always had a soft spot for the smart geeky ones. Love 'em. What can I say. :)

ETA: Stupid wireless internet keeps crashing when I try to add pictures.

ETAA: Sometimes cursing under your breath and cutting their power WILL coerce bad computer components in to cooperating...

My Name is Janet...

...and I'm a poor excuse for a blogger. I think I may start BBA - Bad Bloggers Anonymous. Of course, we aren't so anonymous when friends berate us publically for NOT posting frequently (Anne). I mean really? I didn't think anyone cared. Anyway, starting a new support group for people like me has been on my list for sometime now... might as well get started with that one.

So... what have I been up to for the past 10 13/15 months (HA - Math? I'm good at.)
Weeellll.... let's see....

There was that consulting gig I took where I was supposed to have time to blog some more... (and I'm guessing you have figured out by now how THAT worked out for me...)

Then there was a lot of kid stuff over the summer...

And that cute little restaurant I own...

Oh - and the twins. Handfuls - both of 'em.

Maddie? She's actually quite self-sufficient. If you don't count the constant reminders to Do your homework-Brush your teeth-Brush your hair-FLUSH the toilet PLEASE-Turn your homework IN today please. Smart kid though. Pretty too.

So... really the most exciting news lately is that one of my dear friends just had a baby yesterday - Beautiful Gracie Joy Schmidgall joined us in person yesterday morning - wee little thing - just 7 lbs 3 oz. Beautiful baby - of course she has it in spades in the gene department... so it's not like we were expecting a troll.

And even better??? I'll get another new baby in the next few days (I'm guessing maybe Sunday now Sarah... sorry - you still look too good to be delivering any sooner...)

That's the really big news for now... although if all goes well, I'm hopeful we'll have some more exciting news to share of our own. (and... if anyone out there that knows me at ALL thinks I'm hinting at an addition to our family? BITE. YOUR. TONGUE.)