What... the what....

 

After cookie decorating we went home so the kids could rock their onesies to a Halloween birthday party. During this party, they had a magician and let me tell you, my 41 year old mind was BLOWN!

I would say about 3/4 of the show, I could not believe what I was seeing. It was so great and such a fun time. 

So in, in fact, that the girlies want to have him for their birthday... so in February we are going to have him come and entertain for our 17 year old and almost 14 year old. It will be a lot of fun.

The girls are wearing the balloon hats that the guy made for them.

Halloween Cookies

In keeping the family bonding going during this tough time of the youngest's grandma having cancer, we decided to get together and make Halloween Cookies at her house so she could be a part of the fun. 

I made 1 batch and cooked them at my house and then we had 1 batch that I brought so everyone could help with cutting them out. It was a fun day. Many cookies were made and decorated and then we each took some home to enjoy later.

There were many talks, many laughs and just a really good time making memories together. 

Our beautiful cookies...

The littlest having a blast decorating. She was doing so good too...

Oh you know... just 2 women making it work... The ex wife and the new wife... 

 

My Lil' friend...

 

This is me, sitting next to my Lil friend.
In all reality, this little kiddo, is my daughter's little sister on her dad's side. I never imagined my life would include a little girl who was my ex-husbands daughter with his wife, but it does. She is my lil friend and I love her. She is a part of our family and we are always so excited to see Lil J. I can't imagine life without this little SPUNKY kid in our lives. And she loves her sister so much and her sister loves her as well. 

I was there the day she was born. I got a text the night before saying they were on their way to the hospital and to stay tuned. As soon as we got the go ahead, we got ready and headed up to the hospital. She was just a few hours old when we got to see her lil face. The funny part of all of this, is her mom was talking to the nurses and she asked her if she had a support system at home to help with the new one. Her reply was: Yes, my husband's ex-wife is going to help out. And it was true. I have been helping out since day 1. We ended up staying until after dinner so my kiddo could spend all the time she could with her little sister before we had to go home. She was so sad she had to leave, but they needed to get out of the hospital and home so she could come and stay with them. That weekend I brought my kiddo up and ended up staying to help out. I helped my kiddo with taking care of her sister and what she could do to help her step mom out and then helped do what I could for the new mom, all while enjoying some newborn snuggles. 

This little girl is 5 going on 6 and I love her more today than I did the day she was born. 

Thank you for being a part of our lives LIL J.
You will forever be loved and a part of our family!

Auburn Online - here she comes...

There are many reasons we decided to move the youngest to the new Auburn Online School for the new year. 2 of the biggest reasons are:

- Having to wear a mask all day

- Limiting exposure due to a high risk family member

What a horrible experience middle school has been for her. Poor kiddo. She started middle school in person in 6th grade in September. Then COVID hit and that spring they switched to online schooling and then her whole 7th grade class was online. Now she is finishing middle school online, but this was our choice. I know all the kids have gone through this and it just sucks. Praying next year things are better and she can go back to school in person for her first year of High School.

Her grandmother up here has cancer and as much as she wanted to go to school in person and she even said she would wear a mask all day, the decision was made by all of us for her to go to online schooling to limit exposure. That way she would be able to see her grandmother more during this time verses limiting the time with her due to a possible exposure. 

So, we switched her to Auburn Online and she is doing such an incredible job. She had all A's and just is an outstanding student. I am so proud of my kiddo. She works hard for her grades and she is proud of herself. And bonus, one of her favorite teachers switched to teaching online and she had him for the first half of the year. She also LOVES her art teacher. She is sad, because now they found a permanent teacher for art. The teacher that she loves doesn't have all her credentials, so she was a sub teacher until they found a replacement. But she loves this sub so much! She is sad she is leaving.

All and all, it was a great decision. We have made the best out of it and we have done so many things during the holiday with her grandparents and spending that good quality time together.