Can you believe she doesn’t like these?
Category Archives: Katie
Can we please stop time?
Olives first (and last) baseball game
I thought we’d try taking Olive to the baseball game so she didn’t have to stay cooped up—plus it was nice weather and Katie promised to take care of her.
Ha. Haha.
I mean overall she was good, but she went crazy if dogs came near her. And Katie quit about 45 minutes in. So this might be the heat time we take her…
Finally tuckered out right as the game was ending. Of course.
Too Many Zooz
We took the kids to their first concert! Anna and David and the kids also went—and we took one of Owen’s friends (Lucas).
The planning and prepping was exhausting (trying to figure out what we need to pack and take to eat since we’d never been there) because apparently the thing to do at Ravinia is arrive early and picnic and hang out)! Plus we had an early access pass (but only for four people!) from a neighbor…so Tom and David went first with Owen and Lucas to get everything set up and our spots staked out!
The boys started with their fancy drinks. (Yes, David brought glass glasses!)
As Anna and I were on our way with the other three kids, we got this pic via text:
Owen was in heaven!! He got to meet Leo P of TOO MANY ZOOZ before the concert! He’s been listening to their music for years and playing their songs on his bari sax for months! Tom had seen him walking around and told Owen to go meet him! We were all so excited for him!
The kids went up to sit right in front of the stage. We ate our charcuterie and drank our drinks. The boys made more drinks.
I thought I took one more with everyone looking…but apparently I didn’t.
Our view from our seats. The kids were right in the front row!
Overall everyone had a great time and Anna and I decided we would maybe do it again.
Here’s a video of the band:
Katie’s school avatar
They had to create a computer version of themselves and add things they liked. I’m not quite sure about the weights, LOL.
I just never expected this.
This is all Katie’s crap I pulled out of the kids’ bathroom closet—I’m just stunned. This was after I’d told her to clean everything up—which apparently she took to mean shove everything behind closed doors.
On the left you’ll see the stack of random containers that ALL had some level of water still in them. Dirty dishes. Snack bags. Water bottles. Garbage. Tupperware.
I just can’t even with this girl.
And then she gets pissed at ME when I make her come back to take care of it.
She got grounded after this. She has GOT to learn she cannot do this.
So this happened.
After way too much 10yo drama of course.
She was supposed to get her room picked up on her own before she went to grandparent camp—and if she didn’t, I was going to go in and clean everything out. Everything. She barely managed to do enough to pass muster.
Upon her return, she had to redo everything (she had just shoved everything everywhere). And there was D-RA-M-A because she (of course) didn’t want to do it but she didn’t have a choice as she didn’t want to lose all her things.
If she would just WORK CONSISTENTLY it would get done. But she stops to paint her nails and play with her dolls and everything else under the sun. I eventually went in to help her because I was at my limit…and because she was getting a new queen bed.
We had told her she could get one when her room was clean but of course it has been more than 6 months and she couldn’t do it. So we weren’t planning on doing this AT ALL…but Anna and David were getting rid of their guestroom bed and frame so it was now or never.
You’d think KNOWING a new bed and frame was coming would kick get into gear but no. Still drama and avoiding working on it. So that’s where I stepped in. We took EVERYTHING out of her room. Got huge storage boxes and I just literally pulled crap out of cubby holes and off shelves and dumped it in. There were dirty dishes, plates of food, bottles full of liquid concoctions, mounds of dirty clothes, and my god the garbage. Paper, tissues, empty boxes, empty candy wrappers and snack wrappers galore, clumps of hair, broken crayons and pencils, markers with no tops, and on and on. We took out a full garbage bag and a huge box of recycling.
Then she vacuumed and I steam cleaned the carpet (which has been destroyed—it’s covered in colors and stains and who knows what that she has NOOOOOOOO idea how it happened). Then the frame and mattress.
Now the long slog of bringing everything back in her room (and emptying out the guest room of ALLLLL her junk…while trying to get her to get rid of stuff…and keep her room picked up).
Happy 50th!
I decided to do something different — and a bit bigger for Tom’s 50th!
A friend’s pool party housewarming
She does this hair all on her own!
This is more what I expected for the first day of school.
Cuter hair. Cuter outfit.
First day of 8th and 5th!
Katie lost her “Class of 2030” shirt…and her desire for a cute first day outfit! And I’m so glad I got her a nice haircut yesterday so she could put it in a ponytail.
Katie’s school haircut
Or rather, a trim. She freaked out every time I called it a haircut because she DID NOT want it short. I assured her I just meant a trim.
Meet the teachers!
Owen ran into a few friends in his math classroom!
Katie has the same teacher for fifth grade that Owen did (Mrs. McCowen).
Ice cream treat before school starts
We took Olive with us!
And she got a pup cone!
Good morning, girls!
Olive helping fold a blanket
Lunch with the kids
I surprised the kids and took them out for lunch today!
My two cute girls!
I had to wash her hair myself today because she said it’s been about a week since she did it. Ugh kids. (She also wanted to wear LipSense today so she’s wearing Sunshine with Diamond Kiss gloss.)
But look how cute they are?!
I’m not crying—you’re crying.
I found this text on Katie’s phone tonight during one of our regular random checks.
REUNITED!
Don’t let all the smiling faces fool you—leaving Agate sucks.
Until next year…
Saturday
The kids wanted to go mini golfing and us ladies wanted to go shopping so we piled in the car and off we went—Katie actually sat in the waaaay back without a seat and she thought it was great fun!
All the feelings tonight.
It’s really strange being here at my dad and Lin’s house…and he’s not here. I keep expecting to see him shuffling in to say good morning, coming to the table for lunch, grabbing a Coke from the fridge, sitting in his rocker, sneaking some cookies, or giving him a kiss goodnight.
But at the same time — and of course something I feel immensely guilty about — is that it’s almost… easier? less stressful? a sense of relief? because there was so much involved in his daily care and dealing with his anxiety.
I’ve pretty much been avoiding any serious grieving before now because we only really saw him 2-3x a year so it was mostly “out of sight out of mind” (as crass as that may sound). But being here…and the memorial service is later this morning…well, I predict I will be a hot freaking mess. Just writing this is hard.
I don’t want to adult today.
An evening at Agate
Esrey Park
The kids love this park—and it’s right down the road from the house—so we took them there tonight!
And the best of the bunch.
Grandparent Camp 2022
All photos and captions are from Gramma Jean!
Grandparent Camp moves to the UP!
I didn’t even get out of my PJs!
The weather was perfect again so I spent the day in the chaise—in my PJs—and finished my second and third books!
Tom kept me from being parched with my new tumbler full of margaritas.
Got this photo update from Anna:
And then it was campfire and s’mores time!
A damn fine day.
We started the day at the craft show…where Katie decided to spend some of her money on a henna tattoo!
Then the kids took grandma and grandpa’s bikes out for a spin. Can you see them?
Right in the center of the picture!
It’s not the pool and it’s not my egg chair but it’s still a damn fine day.
My view!
I made the kids stay outside because it was just perfect weather. They’re making up their own rules to Candyland—which involved running around the house and naming fruits and vegetables. It’s crazy what creativity happens when they don’t have their devices!
Then Tom worked at getting the swing up!
And Owen enjoyed riding around the yard on grandma’s bike!
Once the swing was up, that was Katie’s favorite place to be! Sometimes she even let Owen push her!
Tom kept me from being parched with my new tumbler.
Got this photo update from Anna:
And then it was campfire and s’mores time!