Life as we know it...

What? It’s the work week already? Wow, the weekend really flew by for the ribclan. This is most likely due to the fact that we were having lots of fun during a weekend at home…well, we were home some of the time!

On Friday night, Kdee and I went to a spaghetti benefit dinner for my friend, and Kdee’s classmate’s mom, Debbie Hoople (as mentioned earlier on our blog). This woman is a walking miracle. I am beyond amazed at her strength and determination to get well so she could return home to her family. Today, only 2 short months after her horrible car accident that left her in a medicated coma for 4 weeks (to recover from her her many injuries), she is home, walking and talking like normal. It is no doubt that her strong love for her family, her family’s strong love of her and her faith healed her. At the benefit her mom joked with her that she should have worn her back brace and brought her walker to make it look more believable. She is truly an inspiration.

Later that night, ribB played in the first game of his annual softball tournament—a late game at 10pm, that’s for sure, which they won. During his game, my friend Susan and I were able to finally accomplish something we’ve looked forward to after her move to the neighborhood—a spontaneous get together! With one call, she was over within what seemed like 1 minute! We both felt like we were back in college with our late night talk. I am so happy to have her so close by! (Now, if all my other friends could move to the neighborhood, too, that’d be so awesome!)

On Saturday I got a fun day out when Susan and I went to visit our mutual friend, Shelly (whom I met at college and then met Susan through, who was a childhood friend of Shelly’s). She is due with her first child in September, and we had a lot of fun hearing all about her pregnancy, plans for her baby boy and filling her in with probably too many details of our own parenthood experiences! We definitely did a lot of laughing together, especially when Shelly opened our care package for her (which held lots of practical "for-the-mom-to-be" gifts!). I will long remember Susan and I spontaneously stopping at 2 garage sales close to Shelly’s house and digging through the happy meal toys to add to her loot (and initiate Shelly into that impending reality; for the record, my vote is with the McDonald’s toys).

I was having so much fun with Susan and Shelly that I got home just in the knick of time for rib to leave for his next tournament game. The kids and I went up to the fields to watch a bit (with lots of cheering for dad!) and play at the new playground next to the fields. ribB’s team won not only that game, but also the next one which put them into the last day of play on Sunday.

On Sunday, riB was at the fields bright and early (alright, 9am, not so early for us). Unfortunately his team lost that game, but ribB was so pleased with this team and the level of play they brought to the game each week (the league has played since May). It was definitely a good season. We later had some fun with a lunch out (always a bit chaotic, but still a treat) and picking up paint for a “secret” project to re-do Kdee’s room while she is at her grandparents this week. We’ve been long wishing to get her “big sister” room redecorated, but it seemd we could never get a weekend or long enough chunk of time to do it without "helpers" (aka kids!). We figured this week was as good as it was going to get, so we better take the opportunity. We’re really looking forward to surprising her!

And speaking of Kdee, I’m feeling like I’ve lost my left arm since ribB drove her to meet Grandpa on Sunday night. As some of you know, she’s definitely been testing our patience more lately and even despite that, I quickly missed her. The thing with parenthood that continues to surprise me is the range of emotions one can have. One minute--total gushy love, and then the next moment, mind-numbing frustration! We were both excited to have a “break” (ie-down to one child!), but we know this week is going to feel incredibly odd without our “peanut”. (On a side note, I have “Super Nanny” on and while I can empathize a bit with any parent, I do feel like a much more competent parent now!)

While ribB was “delivering” Kdee to Grandpa, I was enjoying a dinner out with my wonderful high school friends, Angie, Lisa and Jacqueline. I could seriously spend endless hours talking with these wonderful women (and practically did at Jac’s house a couple of weeks ago!). They are all interesting, insightful, funny and caring women. It’s an added bonus that I’ve known them all since Kindergarten (how rare is that?!?) and there are many things that are understood within the group. All the same, these women are a great support system for the learning curve called life. I am blessed!

So here we are, back to the weekdays and down to one child! This time alone with little B is a gift. As a second child, his opportunities for full-on mom & dad time are pretty limited. We’re enjoying all the guilt-free time of showering him with our attention. And I won’t mention how easy the morning routine has been. Nope, won’t mention it at all.
I’d feel guilty. Huh? Easy morning routine? What? As little B would say, “WHEEEE!!!!”

Some last funny things: 1) Kdee has been a climbing machine. Our front tree has been loaded with jump ropes, which are part of her climbing gear. The next time you venture to our house, just look for the one with multiple jump ropes in the tree…it’s definitely the only house on the block that looks like that! 2) little B’s version of “hello” sounds an awful lot like Droopy dog on Yogi Bear…”hairrr-row”; 3) have I mentioned my children’s obsession with deer? Have I mentioned my drive with 2 children using deer calls for 15 miles? Talk about a sanity tester after a long day. 4) Kdee has a teacher! We got an awesome letter from her this past Saturday and now school feels official. We can’t wait to meet her. 5) getting ready in the morning with little B is interesting. In a nutshell, the following image captures the scene well: being whacked with a blow up "Pirates of the Carribbean" sword while blow drying my hair or applying make up (yes, it's a McDonald's toy!). For now, I regularly wish I could get ready as fast as ribB, but alas, that's not going to happen. So, whack away young man, whack away...mama's got to get ready!

It's almost the holiday weekend! I hope the week goes by nice and easy for each of you...

pictures: 1) Shelly, Susan and myself during our fun visit; 2) Jacqueline, Angie, Lisa and myself after an awesome dinner overlooking the St. Croix River...