SuperGreatAnn: Welcome to my Super Great life!
Joey turned 6 earlier this month. 6! SIX! It really seems like I just had him not all that long ago. Joey is a beautiful, yet exasperating soul. He is my little cuddly-lover boy, then the Tasmanian devil the very next minute. I sure do love that kid! And yes, he asked for a snow cone as his birthday treat. LOVE him! Oh, and I just realized I already did a post about Lover Boy!
Happy Birthday to my BABY! Joey turned 6 today. Here he is on all his 6 year old glory. Happy Birthday Big Bad Joe! (Note the traditional Christmas tree with the Star of David tree topper, and in true Joe fashion, note the dirty, pink frosting face in the 2nd pic)
Owen, Joey, Madeline, Bella, David
Allison, Bella and Rose on day 1 of 1st grade, and the same a month into 3rd grade. Love these beauties!
The night before Thanksgiving, Andy and I went to see the band RUSH with his old pal Marc who flew in for the show and to spend a few days with us. Our good friends ‘The Jeremys’ also went. It was at the sports arena, which is an absolute DUMP, but we had a great time…..and it was GOOD people watching! Those old guys can still put on a good show.
The People Watching:
And this one just needs some explaining… The summer I got out of high school I was at the beach with some friends. I saw a girl I graduated with there with her boyfriend making out on their towels. She would have been 18 and he had to have been around 40. (he was probably more like 30, but he looked so old and gross to me) I was in shock that she would be there with the guy. She was so young and cute with beautiful long brown hair. This couple reminded me of them. It isn’t obvious in the picture but he had long hair tied back in a pony tail. They were married. I just wonder what draws people to each other. I can see what drew him to her….. Perhaps I just need to look at the bigger picture. He might be a total intellect, or perhaps just loaded? This picture doesn’t do her justice. She was pretty hot!
There is so much to be thankful for, and for that I am truly thankful!
Fun Thanksgiving hats, and good friends to wear them with! (Joey and Taj, David and Aiden)
Girls who can rock sequins any day of the year.
Family that cooks 27 lb turkeys, and a good friend to come to San Diego to share it with. (Marc Berke flew in from TX)
And a comfy couch to relax on after dinner. Another successful Thanksgiving!
I had a birthday. A 49th birthday, to be exact. My present this year is a new laptop to replace the old one I got for my birthday a few years back… Now I just need to get back into the swing of writing. So this one’s for you, Dear! I love you very much! Oh, and this poor guy? I found him in the back yard while attempting to clean up my hoard of bottles and cans. He must have flow into the slider. Glad I found him and not the kids!
What’s the best kind of pigeon? A DEAD pigeon!
So I got out of the van a few weeks back and low and behold…Bird-O’s brother! I’m beginning to think they are my good luck omen. Now, just waiting for the good luck to kick in. 
I have finally captured a photo of Poway’s elusive Big Foot. I have been waiting to snap his picture for a year or two…
Somewhere in our neighborhood lives a boy who a few years back got a unicycle, perhaps for his birthday, Christmas or maybe Chanukah. (potAto, potAHto) I would see him riding on his way to school on occasion, if I was lucky. I know not where he lives, and believe me, I’ve asked. (ok, so I asked one neighbor girl who goes to the same Jr. high and she has no idea. I feel I have done a thorough investigation on the matter…. I don’t want to appear to be a stalker of a pre-teen boy) As the years passed and as he grew, he got a larger unicycle, perhaps for Kwanza or, for his bar-mitzvah. Well, I knew if I wanted to get his picture I had to be well prepared and act fast. You see, next school year he will start attending the local high school. He can’t possibly ride that unicycle all the way, we don’t live close enough. (or maybe he will have to get up extra early to get there) Anyway…time was running out. With only 2 weeks left of school, I knew I had to be on the ready at all times. I sometimes catch a glimpse of the boy after I drop Rose and David at school. 1 or 2 times earlier this year I saw him but cursed myself for not having the camera with me. So a few weeks back with Joey in tow, we set out to capture the elusive unicycle boy. We dropped the kids off at school and headed back home. We turned the corner into our neighborhood and pulled over. I told Joey to be on the look out. With my window rolled down and camera at the ready, we waited to get the shot. We waited and waited and waited. After approximately 3 minutes he was nowhere to be seen. Drats! He probably had already made his way to school. And so the last days of school went….always on the lookout for my 1 or 2 minute window of opportunity with unicycle boy and then it happened… 2 days in a row…right there in front of me at the intersection waiting to cross while I waited to turn…
UNICYCLE BOY!
My second oldest brother Dale and my nearly 18 year old nephew Riley are bicycling cross country this summer. They started out just north of San Fran a week and a half ago and plan to get to Delaware, or perhaps Coney Island. We’ll see where they wind up. Dale started a blog which I’m enjoying immensely. What an adventure for them both. Dale and my (3rd oldest) brother Greg have ridden a long distance trip or two in the past, but we are talking 30+ years ago. This will be something they talk about for the rest of their lives, and their kid’s/grandkid’s lives. Anyway, if you have any interest, here is the link:
http://rideacrossamerica2012.blogspot.com/
Happy riding boys!
Dale and Rose
Me: “Good night David, I love you!”
David: “I love you 2% more.”
Me (when helping Joey in the bathroom): “Wow, your poop is GREEN!”
Joey: “Mommy, green is the rarest poop of all.”
Sharpie takes a long time to wear off skin.
Look into log rolling lessons.
Kids look cute with their heads crammed together.
Little boys look adorable in baseball uniforms.
They also look adorable with their hands propped under their chin.
We went to Florida in December to visit Barbara and Paul, aka. Grammy and Grandpa, aka. Mom and Dad. Sis-in-law Liz and family were there also. One evening, Rose and cousin Sophie asked Grammy of they could play with some of her old make-up she doesn’t use anymore. Rose was in heaven as Casa de Stitzer is generally a make-up free facility. And here they are in all their glory. Too bad computers don’t have scratch and sniff….they smelled about as good as they looked! BEAUTIES!
Who needs an alarm system with these guys around? (the boys started karate….yet to be determined if they like it or not… depends on when you ask them)
I have a constant narrative running through my head. I think to myself: blog this soon so you remember. Easier said than done. I’m a super great writer in my head… so many witty things to say. Just ask me! But then the day gets snowballing and suddenly it’s time to put the kids to bed and start it all over again.
I was snooping on some random Mom’s blog where she had a picture of herself pushing a jumbo-size shopping cart at the grocery store. The kind with the car on the front, with her 2 small boys inside. I wish I had someone snap a picture like that for me. I want to be able to remember all the times that were so routine, that I never even thought to document. I distinctly remember a shopping trip where I had Joey strapped to my chest in a snuggly, David strapped into an infant car seat in the shopping cart (must have been asleep) and Rose sitting in the cab of the car at the front of the cart. I wish I had a picture of that. I do, in my head….even remember what I was wearing… a blue and white stripe polo shirt. My standard ‘Mom’ uniform. I also remember the time I did a full grocery shopping trip while holding a sleeping David, slung over my shoulder. I hope I never forget those times. I would however, like to forget all the times when we had a bad day and I would get so angry at the kids. I have tremendous guilt over times like those. But, tomorrow is always a new day. A new day to start fresh and make good memories to replace the bad. So, before I make myself start sobbing, I will wrap this up.
I was able to get on here and post because right now Joey is napping on the couch. He rarely takes naps anymore, so this is a nice treat for me. He will be in kindergarten next year, so I’m trying hard to enjoy this last year with him. With 1 last child in school only part-time. Andy….you better watch out. I’m starting to think about adopting that little Chinese baby! Good thing for you my bio-clock has retired.
