About a week back I shared on Me Ra Koh Photography my technique in capturing the first day of school photos.  What was great this year was that the pics turned out so well last year with my “fingers idea” that we all just jumped right into it!

Check it out!

My 9th grader (notice the 9 fingers — which is kinda hard to do, getting rid of that one rascally finger!!!):

Now for my 7th grader (7 fingers) on her first day of junior high.  She was nervous…

And then there is my 5th grader.  Who, well, just said “Photo the hand!”  Luckily a hand has 5 fingers.

Happy Back-To-School everyone!

©2010 MamaBloo. All Rights Reserved.

Don’t get me wrong.  I actually like nice weather — I like it a lot.  The problem is around the Seattle area, we don’t actually have nice weather in the summer.  Or ever, really (this is my plug for people to NOT move here… not that we don’t like people, but………).

But for me, there is something about Fall that calls to me.  January 1st is never really my “new year” as much as September 1st.   I love the back-to-school supplies, the new shoes, the crisp, golden air… these are my new beginnings. 

Today was spent ushering three kids off to their first day of school, tending to a sick 1 year old, researching cabins that sleep 14 for a girls weekend away, deciding if I could tolerate even one episode of Sponge Bob, and eating a frozen Gryo.  Life still goes on, but I am ready to write.

So, I am back.

Welcome back, self!

©2010 MamaBloo. All Rights Reserved.

©2010 MamaBloo. All Rights Reserved.

Ya wanna see? 

Well, I will try to see it.  It is invisible after all. 

He wags his bum at me and says, see it?

Uh, well….

It has very small feathers on it that you need a microscope to see.

It does?

Mommy? When something is invisible can you still touch it and feel it?

I think so.  But I don’t really know for sure.

Well, then my tail is also intangible.

Of course it is.

©2010 MamaBloo. All Rights Reserved.

It won’t be long until I am begging for them make it stop.  I’ll tell you ANYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW, I would whimper. Just give me a few more gigabytes, a faster processor, an a truck load of RAM.  Just don’t make me restart one more time or wait 5 freaking minutes for my internet browser to load. 

I am pretty sure that I would rather be waterboarded than use a slow computer.

Pretty sure.

©2010 MamaBloo. All Rights Reserved.

©2010 MamaBloo. All Rights Reserved.

Taken at Izzy’s (the victim) 6th grade graduation.  The hug enforcer is big sister Jade and little Ty looks on with delight.  I, of course, think this is the best picture ever.  Gotta love siblings.

©2010 MamaBloo. All Rights Reserved.

Ben’s mom, Carin, is an equisite writer.  She blogged via the Caring Bridge website and brought such raw reality to their struggle with Ben’s cancer and then their loss.  Almost half a MILLION visitors read Ben’s story. She is now going to blog on their new site and share the next chapter in their — and Ben’s story — through their new venture with the foundation.  I do encouage anyone… everyone… to check it out.  Ben story was… is… an amazing one that I know I will never forget.

Click here to read my post about Ben.

Click here to go to Caring Bridge and read Ben’s whole story.

Click here to go to the Ben Towne Foundation.

Bring kleenex.

©2010 MamaBloo. All Rights Reserved.

—————–

We love our husbands and kids…we really do. But sometimes we just have to get away with our friends.

My trips are usually with my husband for scuba diving or with the kids to amusement parks or the beach. But we still have a conflict in interests – I like cocktails and interesting food and taking in a new city; my husband likes golf and blackjack; the kids, well, they like McDonalds, costumed characters and infrequent baths. A girls’ getaway means I can indulge my interests with like-minded friends and just get a break.

You, too? Then use this 10-step plan to get the hell out of town:

1. How will they miss you if you never leave?  The initial excitement of a trip might give way to second thoughts: Is it really OK to leave the kids? To dump everything you handle with aplomb on your husband, mother, aunt…? You betcha! It’s healthy for kids to know that there are other adults that can help them and it gives those adults and kids bonding time. It’s also a great lesson that sometimes mommy goes away but then she always comes back.
2. Assemble your posse: Grab 2-5 friends and threaten them with spa time, hiking, progressive meals, knitting, whatever sounds fun. Groups cohere into a fun energy; too large a group means that decision-making becomes harder, and so does dividing hotel rooms.
3. Mark your calendars with indelible ink: It may be tough to find a mutually open weekend. Try. None available? Try harder. You could be planning out a few months, but then you have something to anticipate. Once you find that weekend, make sure everyone – this includes spouses and babysitters! – marks it on their calendar. If you avoid making it a “loose” plan, future events can’t encroach on that time so easily. Then your most disorganized friend can’t plan their child’s birthday party for the same weekend.
4. How far away?  If you are traveling by car, I highly recommend that your destination be a few hours out of town. Too close and it’s easy for someone to delay leaving. It’s the syndrome of, “I’m just going to quickly carpool the kids home from the game, go to the store, feed them dinner, fold some laundry, send emails and I’ll catch up to ya’ll real soon…”  Traveling is part of the trip and when you’ll do lots of chatting and catching up. Who wants to miss out on that?
5. Ultimate destination: You may be lucky enough to have access to a cabin or vacation home, so the destination is obvious. Or the time of year may broaden or narrow options: My friends and I have generally gone away during chilly, rainy springs in the Seattle-area, so we’ve stuck to cities like Portland and Vancouver. Do some brainstorming among friends: Where do you all agree you’ll have fun? Make a choice and book it.
6. Think green: Finances can be a touchy subject among friends. There is nothing worse than friends deciding for others how to spend their money. To avoid conflicts that cast a pall over your weekend, get your group’s input upfront on how much they are willing to spend for lodging, meals and activities. It may be better to pass on the 4-star lodging so that each of you has more budget wiggle room during the trip for that spontaneous hot-air balloon ride, unexpected martini bar, or crazy-flattering dress you spy in the store window.
7. Back to finances:  Unless you or a friend is super wealthy and generous (lucky you!), you’ll want to establish a method for dividing shared expenses. On recent trips my three friends and I have struck upon an easy and fair approach: we ease paying restaurant and hotel tabs by taking turns paying the full bill and saving the receipts. At the end of the trip, we calculate a) the total, b) what each paid individually, and c) each person’s difference from the total divided by four. It’s interesting how closely we usually come to an even distribution; those that have overpaid are reimbursed by those who were short. A method like this eliminates that uncomfortable feeling that one person isn’t pulling their weight in the group.
8. Preparing to ditch: Depending on the age of your kids and whether you hold another job, preparing for the trip can feel exhausting. You might wonder if it’s worth it to make all these extra arrangements just to be gone a couple of days. Don’t worry, it is. Besides the camaraderie of your friends, you’ll feel that sensation of freedom…freedom to sleep in, to eat out every meal if you wish, to not decide what others in the family will or should eat, and so on. By the end of the trip, you’ll be wondering when you can get away again.
9. Do a little extra: Yes, your spouse and older kids are perfectly capable of managing without you. They may not want to, but they can. However, doing a few things to facilitate a smoother weekend for them will pay off for your next girls’ weekend (you will want more!). My husband can make the kids dinner, but I know what a pain it is making that quick trip to the store with the kids in tow, so I make sure that the refrigerator is at least stocked with staples (but I certainly don’t prepare meals for them in advance, because that is not the expectation I want to set!). And, yes, I did make sure the kids’ baseball uniforms were washed and ready for the games I was going to miss. This is also a good time to convey to your family how you expect the house to look when you return, whether completely clean or with at least a clear path from the door to the family room.
10. Come prepared with an easy cocktail recipe:  One of the most crucial steps in my opinion. You may not want to limit yourself to just one cocktail choice, but here is a great starter sangria. It’s easy and you can find the ingredients in nearly any kind of store. Pour each travel partner a glass and toast to your awaiting adventures!

Simple White Wine Sangria

Recipe from Stacy Slinkard at About.com’s Wine Guide

• 1 Bottle of white wine (Riesling, Albarino, Chablis, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc)
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 3 oranges sliced, or substitute 1 cup of orange juice
• 1 lemon sliced
• 1 lime sliced
• 1/2 liter of ginger ale or club soda (ginger ale for those with a sweeter tooth!)

Pour wine in the pitcher and squeeze the juice wedges from the orange, lemon and lime into the wine. Toss in the fruit wedges (leaving out seeds if possible) and add sugar. Chill overnight. Add ginger ale or club soda just before serving.

If you’d like to serve right away, use chilled white wine and serve over lots of ice.

Punch it up: Add any number of additions to change up the recipe above, such as sliced strawberries, peaches, handful of fresh blueberries, raspberries, kiwi, a shot or two of gin, brandy or rum, or a cup of citrus-flavored soda pop.

Janice (a.k.a. ICE) blogs weekly about her excursions into cocktail-making at www.iceclinkdrink.com.

©2010 MamaBloo. All Rights Reserved.

He rubs my feet every single night.

He carries the kids from the living room to the bedroom every single night at bedtime.  Even though I am sure he is in ample amounts of pain by the time he gets to kid #4… or maybe even #2…

He loves all kids.

He loves all vampires.

He cannot follow even the simplest plot line on a TV or Movie.  This makes me look like a freakin’ genius — especially if I actually PREDICT the ending, which I have taken to writing down and putting in an envelope to be opened after the finale so as to not ruin it for him.

He can do Calculus but struggles with dividing up a single quesidilla amongst 5 kids.

He never ever yells… at anyone.

He calls Emme “Sweet Girl” and there in no one she would rather be with than him.

He has amazing blue eyes, killer biceps, and a sexy jawline.

He tries harder than anyone I know.

He loves 80′s power ballads. Especially, “My Heart Will Go On” from the Titanic soundtrack.  Could I even make that up?

He can turn the simplest conversation into a science lesson. 

He learned to love baseball just for me.

He is deeply kind.

He works two demanding jobs so I can stay home with the kids.

He loves me not in spite of my cantankerous side but because of my cantankerous side.

His favorite students are the ones on the fringe, the ones who have lost hope in school… and then he wins them over.

That even though he turned 39 yesterday, he thinks he can pull-off looking like he is in his mid-20′s by donning a hat and baggy shorts.

Happy Birthday, honey, I love you!

©2010 MamaBloo. All Rights Reserved.