Back by Popular Demand

Well, I am back! And not by choice but by popular demand...

Where do I begin??? It has been over a year since the last post and so much has happened. So, I will work backwards. Recently, we had a birthday/post-Christmas celebration with the extended family. It was a great time except that I took a lot of flack for not emailing back the kids' Christmas lists. Of course I know I should've responded with gift ideas but with a very demanding full-time career (14 hour days) and three four year-olds, I simply ran out of time. I certainly could have called people when I was working but I don't think anyone would have wanted to discuss kids' Christmas gifts at two or three in the morning.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were a big success this year. Me-mom and L came to stay with us which was such a treat for all of us. The kids sure do love their Me-mom and L. I was proud of myself that I didn't overbuy for the kids this year and as always we pulled names for Secret Santa. So everyone was at our house for Christmas Eve. It was so festive!

We went to Oregon in November to visit. We had such a great time despite the 40 degree weather. We took our family Christmas card picture at Merlin Park and the leaves were bright yellow, orange and red...just beautiful. We got some great shots but when we decided to get creative and throw leaves at the kids for more of a candid, they just got pissed off at us. J was especially mad because she lost all of the leaves she worked so hard to collect. The kids had a hard time leaving Me-mom's and still talk about going back to visit. For Thanksgiving we went to Mom and Dad's and Mom hosted an amazing event despite her broken wrist...good job Mom!

Although my stepsons A and J did not go with us to Oregon, I managed to get them together for a picture which I put on the Christmas card. A is 21 years-old now and J is 17. A is in the process of being hired by our department and should hear the good news very soon about when he will begin the academy. We couldn't be more proud! J babysits for us on a regular basis and is a huge help although I just found out he found employment at the batting cages which makes me happy for him but sad for me. We need our J and the kids are crazy about him!

For Halloween, R was a stormtrooper, K was Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) and J was Tinkerbell. It seemed rather fitting that J chose to be Tinkerbell as their personalities are very similar.

I turned 38 in September, SJ turned 41 in August, and the kids all turned 4 in June.

In July, SJ finally realized his only dream in life which was to be a K-9 handler. His first dog, Marco, had health issues and had to go back where he came from but now his partner is Rocco. We all love Rocco. And since we all love Rocco so much, we adopted our newest addition to the family in September. His name is Jackson and he is a maltipoo (maltese poodle mix). He is great and my sis-in-law wants one just like him. The kids named him Jackson but I wanted to name him Jefferson. I've been working in the ghetto too long! Side note: I like the name Rocco but we can't take credit for that name. The dog came with that name. The picture below was taken after Jack's first trip to the groomer and the hair on his head and around his nose looks a little funky to me. He is much cuter in person.

June 2008 was a big month for us. The kids turned 4 and their first year of pre-school was over. We had to say goodbye to Mrs. Janet and Mrs. Alison and it was very hard. We thought we would be getting new teachers this school year but luckily we ended up with the same ones. The hardest part for me though was trying to figure out what I was going to do with the kids all summer long. And SJ and I attended my 20 year high school reunion. I couldn't believe how old I was! The best part besides having a weekend away with my hubby was hanging out with my old friend Mimi.

I can't remember much of what happened before June which is good I guess because that means nothing bad happened.

For now, SJ is loving his new position and I am still doing the supervisor thing in south central. The kids are still going to the same pre-school twice a week just like last year. J is an animal lover. K likes princesses and basketball. And R is all boy and appears to be left-handed. Our main goals for 2009 are to stay healthy and happy and not to get our asses handed to us by the IRS at tax time. Other than that, I've just been drinking a lot of coffee and trying to stay awake...seriously.

Hopefully I will find time to update more regularly now. Happy 2009 and love to you all!!!!