where_she_goes

6:30 came way too early this morning. Victoria says as she's waking me up and bringing me to life "time to make your coffee mommy" this cracks me up enough to actually wake up!

She has a new not so cute thing now too... she says "I hate you" to everyone who tells her no on something. It's not very attractive. Trying to get that one broke.

Jim's coming this afternoon for dinner and he's bringing us some movies and tv series he recorded. I'm excited to see the Pit Boss!

I need to go feed Tonya's frogs...

My mom is moving back here this summer. She is very excited and anxious. I'm slowly adjusting to the idea of her coming back without my dad. Lots of time to deal with that reality but I prefer to get all the emotions dealt with and out of the way as soon as possible, I hate that depressed feeling. It will be nice to have my mom again. It will also be a constant reminder that I have no dad! ugh! Life's just not always easy. I know.

My brother, his wifey and Jr. came over and spent a couple hours with us today! It was nice. Jr and Vic actually played without running through the house screaming for a change!
Walk today, water intake up, got the diet under control... feeling good.

saying goodbye to danielle today truly sucked ass. i cried when she got here and cried when she left. i miss her so much and i hate idaho. her husband says he is going to fly me to idaho soon for a visit with them as a gift to danielle... whatever.
i just wish she had never left oregon in the first place. she told me i am always going to be her best friend and she was crying when she left! danielle is not a crier : ) I love her!
anyway, goodbye's are not my thing. so until next time... i miss you.

I actually cried when I saw Danielle this morning and the girls... serious tears. Now I know for sure I'm emotional and... I missed them!
We are getting ready to go to Zoo lights!
Dinner tomorrow night, my father inlaw is joining us I think. Should be fun.
In the meantime I have to share Danielle with the Eirvin's, sigh.

an excellent start to the new year, my good buddy Danielle is coming in from Idaho today! So happy to see her and the girls.

well I got my snow, thanks!!! we had so much fun. even the dogs had a blast : )

5 days of camping was awesome. We had so much fun and it was relaxing and peaceful and... wonderful.
We spent a good deal of time exploring the forts, flying kites, climbing Astoria Column and playing at the lake. We got lots of exercise and ate really good too. I loved how everyone helped with everything, happily. Brandon would get the buckets of water after each meal for me to boil and do dishes, Joey was the campfire King and Victoria entertained herself very well. I can't believe she too climbed the Astoria Column, twice! The view up there was amazing.
Josh has already started football practice and Brandon starts next week, both my boys are playing this year and I'm so excited!
We are trying to get on the back to school routine now, with bed times and we have to figure out early dinners as they have football practice from 5:30-7:30... plus homework time. Should be interesting the next couple of months.
I think I'm ready!

We had some fam over tonight to celebrate Brandon's birthday, he seemed to have a good time. Too much noise for my liking. My brother's family plus mine is a lot, add anymore and one can not hear themselves think let alone talk. ah!
Brandon got some video games, new sketchers, a scooter and some money. He was most happy with all. He was so funny when he called grandma Jeanne to thank her for the money she sent he said "thank you, that was really nice, I mean FIFTY dollars is a lot of money!" So cute.
I wonder what she thought hearing him say that : )
Tomorrow's his actual big day, will probably take them all to the park. Brandon can ride his new scooter!
Count down to the camping trip is on! Probably should start getting stuff prepared for it, check out the gear and all that jazz. I'm looking forward to getting away and just hanging out with the family in a hopefully peaceful scene. We are going to the Fort, at the beach. Should be fun.

Victoria has a fever of 103.2 this morning and was up at 1:30 am as well, tylenol. I am feeling a little better but still kind of crappy, I hope she rebounds quickly. Her fever is much higher than the one Joey and I both had. Poor baby.

Next weekend is her birthday party.

I have to go to Tigard and watch Lexi and Noah tonight for Mandy, they were suppose to come here and sleep over with Vic but not now that she is sick. They still need me so I agreed to go to their house just for a few hours. I hate to leave sick baby but I'm sure Joey can handle excessive tv watching and juice sipping : )

I wonder if Brandon will be next or if he will skip it, I can only hope.

My babies are going to be 3 and 10 this month. Time flies. Josh will be getting his permit by this time next year, that is crazy stuff.

I need to drink more coffee, today is likely to be a long one.

We are sick, why in the middle of a heat streak we have the flu I will never know but we are, sick!
I am trying to ignore it today and get things done, it worked except that I am super tired as a result.

The bed. I am so excited about this. Victoria will be moving up to a "big girl bed" for her 3rd birthday in less than 2 weeks. I was excited about moving her out of her crib this time last year and into the toddler bed but this is much more exciting for me. She is going to be using my old bedroom set from when I was a kid. Not only that but it's an antique set that belonged to my grandmother and her mother before her! Pretty cool family history going on. Not to mention the fact that my grandmother in 1945 did a self portrait on the back of the vanity mirror, on her wedding day! It's just awesome. I loved to turn it around when I was a kid and look at the woman I never knew and imagine what she was like. This bedroom set is the only thing I have ever had from my biological father's side of the family, of him or them... it's just meaningful to me. I use to day dream about what those people were all about, what they looked like.. if they cared about me. I would later learn I am the spitting image of him and his sisters.. and that they most definitely thought of me often and carried pictures around from when I was small : ) Makes the absence more bearable.
Now my precious daughter will have it all and I know once I get it all set up it will be a blast from the past. Good memories. I used it from the age of 5 until I was 13. My dad refinished it for Victoria last year and it's been sitting in the garage waiting!
It's a spindled head and foot board, a chest of drawers about 4 feet tall and a vanity set. So darling. My father made her a matching vanity chair and covered the seat portion in soft pink fabric, the wood is all very dark.
The mirror is broken so I have to take that in and replace it otherwise it's all good to go.
It's a full sized bed, not a twin. Grandpa Jim is getting her the mattress and box spring for a birthday gift. I already have the bedding. I can't wait and I'm more excited than she is about it. Wait til she realizes mommy or daddy can lie down next to her on her big girl bed! She's use to being the only one that can fit on her bed : )

Joey's closing, I'm congested all to hell and Brandon is starting to bug me... it's late and I'm just tired. He wants to stay up late because there's no school but that means no alone time for mom, ever. Goodnight kiddo!
Victoria is catching the cold/flu thing as well, she had a temp after her nap today and a slight cough this evening. I wish we could skip the next few days of sick kids and move on.
Josh has been in Phoenix since Tuesday, haven't really spoken to him other than a hello text once. I'm sure he's having fun with his uncle, cousin and crazy father. They are probably doing a lot of boating and planned to take him to the grand canyon. I forgot to send a camera with him, geesh. I miss him but on the flip less noise is nice too.

We are going to Chuck E Cheese for a small bday party for Vic and her little friends next weekend, should be fun. Joey gets off work just as the party starts... he forgot to request that day off. She is happy about going to that place.
On her actual bday we are just doing cake at home and I think Joey's siblings are going to stop in.
Then we get to plan something for Brandon who will be the big 10 this month!

I'm sick, night.

Day from hell, and it's not even 1:00. Bad sign when you have a list a mile long before noon.
Blake the great has been awful today, truly truly awful. After finally feeling like I got things under control there, Josh pulls a fast one.
April called from Fred Meyer to tell me Josh and his friends had skated over there and were in the store.
Well he was suppose to be one block away from home at a friends' house, he did not have permission to go to Freddy's. So I call him on his cell and ask him where he is, he says he is at the park down by our house... pretty far away from Fred Meyer.
I told him I needed him to come home and then took his skateboard and his phone and he's grounded now. I gave him a list a mile long of chores to complete before his grounding is over. He's hard at work now, the little kids are napping and I'm finally able to chill out for a few.
Joey is closing tonight, slept until around 10 (must be nice) and is leaving at 2. Blake will be gone around 3, I am looking forward to the evening with just my own kids. It's exhausting parenting 3 some days, then add someone else's (spoiled) child to the mix and it's a wonder I don't drink.
This is WAY harder than having an outside job!

Please be happy Paula, find something to smile about today... I will go find something.

My daughter is too adorable. She sings the Ghostbusters theme song, come on that is funny! She gets this serious face and changes her voice deeper... "there's something strange, in the neighborHOOD..." she cracks me up.
She likes bands on Yo Gabba Gabba and tells me "that's the most beautiful band I ever seen" and the other day told us she wants to be maybe a robot for halloween or a ghostbuster, and if she's a ghostbuster that is not a princess... so I guess she has a debate on her hands as to which way she wants to go with it. She's just comical, she thinks out loud and with such great imagination.
She also is very sure of herself and what she wants most of the time, can be quite demanding. Most of the time we can all laugh at her but every once in a while she does try my patience. Wouldn't change a thing. She's smart, social, funny, sensitive, creative and cute. Actually she's beautiful : )
She is getting so big, hard to believe. Next month is the big #3. We are probably going to invite her lil friends over for a bbq and swim party I'm thinking. I hope not as big as last year, just the people she is close to. One can never keep these things small it seems, you invite one you invite 6.
Oh goodness... maybe we will do it at safari sam's instead. I don't know.

Joshua is flying out on the 28th to Arizona for 2 weeks to stay with his uncle Dan. Of course Channing will be there by then so he will get extra time with daddy-o. Dan invited Josh out before we knew Channing would be there, they are taking him to a theme park and just wanting to spend time with their nephew. Since they moved there they have seen Josh every couple years. Brandon can go out when he is older. Josh will be flying solo for the first time and is both nervous and excited. He saved up some money for the trip, is looking forward to going on an adventure. I took my first solo flight at 13, I'm sure he will be fine although I am hoping to get an escort pass to take him all the way to the gate!
I do not enjoy the boys being gone for that long of a period but I'm happy for him that he gets to go.
Channing said he will want the boys to fly out each summer together for 2 weeks. We shall see!
Joshua is so big, he's got to be about 3 inches taller than me and just gets cuter by the day. Handsome. The girls come in swarms. Interesting to watch. By the way "little girls" these days are quite.... verbally advanced, we shall say.

I am looking forward to the time with Brandon while Josh is gone, he does so much better when his big brother isn't home. He will just tend to be calmer and better behaved and we tend to spend better time with him if that makes any sense. Last night Joey played 360 games with him for quite a while before bed. They had fun.

My brother and his family came over last night for bbq, it was fun. The two little kids did drive me a little nuts though. Jr and Vic ran around squealing for most of the evening, loudly and made quite the mess of her room. You'd think I'd have more patience for that sort of thing, but I don't! The rest of it was good, we haven't had them over all together since Christmas.

Tonight is g-pa Jim.... I am not ready for the garage situation but will figure it out later. Procrastination!

Channing says he's leaving in a week, moving to AZ. Josh is out spending the night with him tonight and Brandon spent 3 nights with him before that. There have been a lot of goodbye's going on and I can't believe he's actually leaving!
I am a sappy kind of person so when it comes down to it I can see the sap in just about anything, I feel a little sad. They won't see each other but maybe once a year at best from now on. I can not imagine leaving my kids for any reason, any circumstance. But I get he isn't me. I also get he has learned to live without them for many years now and maybe he really believes Arizona holds something better than Oregon has for his life. Who knows. I just felt bad when his mom told me that he cried when Brandon left the other day! Tears! Holy moly.
Anyway, on the flip side it is best for EVERYone that he leaves. He is the worst influence on the boys, provides the most chaos and does nothing to help us raise them. I cringe sending them to visit him, but it's their dad. Now I don't have to worry with it anymore. He will be far enough away to stop causing such "alternative" influences. You know, being drunk and fighting with your girlfriend at 2:30 in the morning. Stuff like that. Ugh.
Goodbye Channing, I hope you find what you are looking for. I also hope you get your life together, go back to school, get a job and oh maybe even pay child support! I hope you will finally be happy and perhaps even sober. One can hope.

Joey doesn't say much about it, but I think he is looking forward to Channing being gone as well so he can be the only dad. He pretty much hates Channing and blames him for most of the boy's issues.

The new floors look amazing, I feel like we are sitting in a new house. I can't wait to do more! Chris will be doing the hallway next week. Once one thing is done it just seems as though you must get the next thing done. Grandma has been very kind in all that she is doing for us and with us, we will pay for it in the sale price of the house but it's all worth it.
Speaking of grandma we think she has had some mini-strokes... worried for her and talking regularly to her and Sandy to make sure she is ok. She's a tough lady, but 76 isn't spring chicken : ( I need to go to the beach more often and keep visiting her a lot.
Victoria dearly loves her grandma Jeanne! They are very good friends : ) so sweet.

Grandpa Jim is coming tomorrow to help us clean out the garage and make a dump run. Fun. Then dinner. I am suppose to be making something creative tomorrow... geesh. I need to find a recipe on the net. Better start looking.

Chris finished installing the new floors in the kitchen, laundry and entry today. It's dark wood, actually American Walnut, it's dark with just a hint of deep red tones. It looks pretty good. He has to come back tomorrow to finish trim and the carpet people are coming in the morning to replace the family room carpet. We decided to go ahead and have the wood floors continue over into and down the hallways as well, the carpet is just too old and yucky to wait any longer on, while all the transitions are pulled up I figured we should go forward with it. However we had to order more cases of the flooring so it will be 2 more weeks on that part.
Little by little things are getting done. I have to dump a ton of bark dust under our front windows in the "flower bed" area tomorrow, as it looks like crap. April picked up bark dust at a discount this morning for us, yeah for friends and their employee discounts!

I have been having an ongoing love affair with a handsome older man for the last 2 weeks. He's a doctor! Well I had an eye exam for the first time in forever. The doc said I am far sighted (who knew) and that I have a vertical imbalance. He put contacts in this week and plans to have me come in once a week for a new pair until he reaches a certain level or something and then will order glasses for me in that prescription. He's trying to help me with my headaches and thinks the vertical imbalance might be the cause...
whatever. The point is that the contacts are driving me crazy, they feel funny and I blink a lot and swear I can't see a thing! Simply because my eyes are constantly irritated and blinking. gr! I can't wait to see him next week so I can whine to the handsome old man!!!

The kids and I spent a 4 day weekend at the beach for 4th of July. It was my first time being at the ocean during fireworks! It was cool. Long Beach was packed, but Ocean Park where we were was not so bad. The house at night was so incredibly peaceful I didn't want to leave. I put the kids to bed in their rooms and got a book from the actual author that lives across the street from the house we stay in, and I curled up in a chair by a little gas wood burning stove looking thing. All by myself, in peace, reading, ocean in the back ground and no cell service. loved it. A lot of the neighbors were actually out at their beach houses for the weekend so I got to meet some good people. Sandy made me drinks in the evening... I was just relaxed the entire time!
Joey worked part of the weekend (came down for one day) and was sick the other half the weekend, poor baby got the flu and missed 2 days of work! He never calls in.
The bonfires on the beach were fun, the ocean is just a wonderful place to be. I still would like to move there. Joey said perhaps eventually he can transfer to the coast!

I am going to sleep so good tonight, I took a percocet and am feeling mighty ready for bed. A little tongue twisted though.
Joey decided the kids needed to have a fun night out so we took them to safari sam's to play. They had a good time, run their lil buns off and Joey played with vic in the jungle the whole time. So mommy got to chillax, sitting at our table and just enjoying some peace. Who knew I'd have to go to a kids' play place to get some of that? weird. But it was awesome and there were very few people there. ahhhhh.

I like the dark haired girl on G4... she's so pretty and her casual humor is cute. She also wears some pretty interesting pieces of clothing sometimes, tonight being on of them.
"you've just been fead" Oh her name is Olivia. In case you were dying to know.


Today was weird, I can't even go over it right now.

I am seeing the surgeon on Wednesday next week and having a consultation over the "mass" in my jaw. Fun! can't wait. Until then I am taking antibiotics and pain killers as needed. Although I can't take them during the day when I'm home alone with my kiddo... sometimes my face hurts! ahhhhhhhh. Other times it's not bad.

Whatever.

slept through the storm. sadly. more pills and feeling a little loopy but getting use to it. can't sleep on the pills, can't sleep with the pain... was exhausted after 2 nights of very little snoozing so I actually crashed pretty hard for 2 hours this afternoon. joey made dinner on my new stove without me : ( but it was good! he cleaned up very nicely too... we might allow him future use as well : ) hehe

calling surgeon tomorrow... hope we can afford that crap! yeah.

oh gooooooodnessss gracious.

Ok so I went to the dentist this morning at 7, he did xrays and exams and found two spots on my jaw below the teeth near the end of the nerves... one mass is right up against a nerve causing the pain that I thought was my teeth. It's not teeth related at all, it's the mass causing all the issue. owwwwwwwie. He gave me antibiotics and vicoden and told me to keep it in me, see an oral surgeon asap and get the mass taken care of. Could be a cyst that needs relieved via surgery, or of course the old standby... a tumor.
Fun!
I have taken 2 vicoden in the past few hours and a naproxen and it's barely taking the pain down to tolerable. ugh.

on to brighter news. my kitchen looks amazing! i love love love it and can't wait to get the floors done next so it will be complete. i can't stand any clutter in it, or near it and don't want any messes in there! haha Oh I have to cook in there tonight for the first time, I just don't want to get anything on the pretty counters or the stove, crazy I know... drugs talking.

we are taking a family weekend and going to the beach to visit grandma weekend after next, Jim will be there as well... father's day weekend. I can't wait for that, fun!!!
I need some peace and tranquility and no stress, seriously. Get away.

No word from my m-law... left messages in every place possible so she must not want to talk. sigh. no response from Jessie either from my email... must be busy.

Channing is moving to AZ this summer (so they say) and wants to plan a few specific visits with the boys before he goes, good riddance!!! grrrrrrr

I want my ex-jerk to pay child support, he owes so much.. his license is getting suspended now. I am really irritated. I am fine with supporting the kids all these years I just think it's wrong for him to not consider it a responsibility of his as well... something he should be helping with at least a little!
Grrr.

I had 5 original King's in my house tonight, it was awesome! Joey's dad, brother and sister came over to bbq along with grandma, and auntie Sandy. We celebrated Jeanne's 76th birthday!
This was the first time Ben had met grandma, so that was fun for her. I have no idea why none of the kids ever looked her up, I am just too weird to let a grandma go walking around and not track her down and say HEY, I'm related to you!
At least we have her now, and she's pretty wonderful.
Sandy cracks me up, as usual. Although we didn't get to chat too much tonight, with so many peoples. Tomorrow I'm sure will be fun for us to gaggle with each other. I swear Sandy is the coolest gal. I love her!
Jim has to come cut our cabinets a little more tomorrow and Wednesday is install day! yay for new counters and stove! whoopie!

Ben took lots of pictures, I can't wait to see the ones I took of the 5 King's, they will be darling. I might have to put one in a frame! Jess didn't talk much, girl has not got the gift of gab. I want to shake her sometimes or hold her upside down until she busts up laughing or choking me, either one : ) I would love to hear her voice more... but alas her is "berry quiet" as my daughter would say. Jeanne and Sandy both pulled me aside and said "I thought Ben was the shy one...?" haha!
They were glad to finally meet him. The three King men are all so much alike, whether they know it or not. Proving environment is only part of our personality... that biology sure comes into play as well.

Both my younger two kids have this mysterious rash on their bellies... really bugging me. They act fine, no fevers or itching.. looks like a heat rash but I don't know. I want to know what they are allergic to so I can avoid it! ugh.

All is quiet, dogs are sleeping, kids are sleeping, house is back in order and hubby is playing... um...Lost Oddysee.

I loved having the fam over tonight, it was really nice. I hope we can do it again soon. I'd also like to hike myself and daughter back to the beach soon for another girls only weekend!

Vicki invited us to a bbq weekend after next, can't wait! I am really happy having her back in my life, super happy actually.