Huge decision making.......

Tonight I made a HUGE decision for Donovan's sake. Each year about this time (towards the Holidays) I fight and fight with myself whether or not to call Donovan's Grandma on his father's side of the family. She did not know of his existance.....well until tonight. Each year I would look her up or who I thought she was anyway. I would get the address and phone number right there in front of my face and boom....instant panic attack. I never had the nerve to call her. And her son never had the nerve to tell her of his son's existance.

Well tonight I got the best of that panic attack.....I showed it who was boss. I called first to ask and make sure I had Chris' mom's phone number and address right and to confirm it was really her. I told her I'd like to send her a card for Christmas and I was a friend of Chris. She asked my name and I told her and thanked her and hung up. Well I sat and thought a couple of minutes and called her back. I told her I wanted to clarify why I wanted to send her a card. I told her I wanted to send it for the past 9 years and never could bring myself to sending it. Then I told her she had a grandson by myself and Chris and his name was Donovan. Needless to say she was in shock. Thank goodness she didn't have a heart attack right there on the phone. We talked and she said she'd like to get to know her grandson. I am sending her pictures tomorrow in the mail. I also plan to take a trip next time we are in SC so that he can meet her for the first time. The door is open and if she wants to be in his life I will not shut her out like her son did.

Now I am going to pray that Chris can make the right decision for him and his family. If he wants to be in Donovan's life that door as well is open. It always has been. I hope he can come to the right decision not to punish an innocent child for MY mistakes as a teenager. Heck I was a child back then too and didn't always make the right decisions......but I got the best son a mom could ask for out of those wrong decisions.

I am glad I was finally able to open that can of worms. For the sake of Donovan of course and him asking questions about his other grandma. Please everyone Pray for Chris that he makes the best decision for him and his family situation whatever that may be.

Schleppy Labor Day Weekend!!!

This weekend was quite the busy one. Friday we shopped til we dropped. LITERALLY!!!! Carmen's clothes were pretty much scarce. Only 1 pair of pants fit her. So we got to go shopping all day long. Of course I, too, needed clothes.
Saturday we went to the Walkers house in Plainfield, IN (just outside of Indy). We went to the Sky concert, it's an end of the summer celebration. What a blast. Donovan played football w/ some kids he met there. Carmen and Hanna played and rolled around in the grass. We sat next to a karaoke machine so Donovan, Carmen and Hanna all got to sing. And the grown ups got to kick back, relax and eat. The night ended with a fireworks display. A very good time was had by all.

Sunday we went to the Little Italy Festival in a small town called Clinton. They had food, rides (which we made sure the kids did not see lol) food, vendors, oh and did I mention food. I was, however, a little disappointed. You go to a Italian festival and you'd think it's mostly Italian food...well not here. I miss the taste of Goose Creek where all the Italians get together and cook real Italian food. Okay enough complaining. We ate and came home.
Sunday we went to the Walker's house for a Labor Day cookout. Our original plans of going to the Ribfest went bad.....way too much money. So a nice inexpensive day cooking out with the Walkers at their home was way better. The kids played basketball, football.....oh did I say kids? I meant the guys, ha ha ha! The younger girls played on the playground while the older girls (myself and Teresa) hung out and did what females do best which is talk. We all had a very nice time. We even made it home in time to mow the grass. YIPPEE!!! (NOT)

Sports are in full swing

Soccer and Football have officially started. The season started off right for Carmen's team the "Rockets". They kicked butt in their first game. As a coach I was sooo proud of them. As a mom I was even more proud. They played their little hearts out. We scored about 8-10 goals while the other team only scored 2 goals. But they played their hearts out too. GO TEAM GO!!

Donovan's season started with the Jamboree. Basically in a nutshell it's when all the teams get together to scrimmage. His team played twice in it with no score either time. But they also played their hearts out. His first game is this coming weekend. I sure hope they make a score!!! GO BILLS!!

Carmen and Coach Colleen

Fight at soccer practice

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That's right...you heard correctly. Tonight while I was coaching "Sara's" mom told her to come on they were leaving. I told "Sarah" her mom was calling for her and we'll see her next practice (no games this weekend). So next thing I see is her mom is in her dad's girlfriend's face. I knew if I kept staring the kids would notice and catch on so I left it alone.

Well after practice the parents were all talking.

HOLY CRAP......THE MOM STARTED A FIST FIGHT WITH THE DAD'S GIRLFRIEND!!!! Mom was yelling at dad for the girlfriend being there in the first place. (side note....mom and dad are divorced) She was saying stuff like she didn't belong there and so on. Then she was yelling about "sarah" not wanting to play ball. Said she didn't have to play if she didn't want to.
(now on our game this past sunday she sure looked like she was having a great time even taking time out to wave to her mommy) Anyways, Tony said the mom started it but looked like the girlfriend finished it. Another parent finally got up and went over there i guess because it looked like the dad was holding down the ex-wife while girlfriend was beating her up.

IS THIS WHAT IT'S REALLY LIKE IN AMERICA PEOPLE???? COME ON!!! THERE ARE KIDS AROUND!!!! THANKFULLY THEY, WE ALL WERE CLUELESS (except the parents).

I hope this doesn't keep other children from returning to my practices.

The other coach knows the family better and is talking to the director about it tomorrow (she had left for the day). I gave the secretary a heads up of what happened and let her know she may have some complaints coming her way. I just hope no one pulls their kid out due to this. I/We had no control over it and were pretty much oblivious to what was going on because we were busy with the kids. I do know that some parents/grandparents were very PISSED OFF but I don't think towards us (coaches). One had to get up and walk away because of it. He said if he sat there any longer he would have gone over there.
i felt bad too....I COULD HEAR HER CRYING!!! She's too young to understand things like this. She is in a very bad situation and the parents don't seem to mind putting her in the middle of their stupid fights.

First Day of Preschool 2007

So, today was Carmen's first day of preschool. She was a little scared before going to bed last night. She kept saying she wanted us to stay upstairs in church while she was in class. (we go to the church her preschool is held in) I told her we'd be upstairs playing music so she would feel more comfortable and sleep better. We walked her inside and there was a parent/teacher meeting for 15 minutes then we hugged and kissed her goodbye. We told her we were leaving and would be back to pick her up. So we were off to run some "grown up" errands. (really we just went to the post office and bought a new vacuum.) : ) When we got there to pick her up she was really happy and said she had fun. She even mentioned names of some kids in her class through out the day. They made necklaces today. She said, "Mommy, I made this for you." She let me wear it all day until football practice when she said, "Mommy, I want that back." LOL Typical 3 year old. Below is a picture I took of the necklace. So, Thursday is her next day of school. Hope it goes as well as this day did.

2007 up to date blog

Well it's been one heck of a year. I'm not even sure where to start. I guess I can start with today and work backwards. Today is Donovan's first day of 4th grade. Man I remember my 4th grade teacher. Mrs. Glover i think was her name. Yeah, that is it. She was always on my ass cause I talked too much....imagine that. LOL Well, back to Donovna. He woke up last night with anxiety I guess cause he said he couldn't sleep. I just sent him to the couch. He normally sleeps well there if he can't sleep. He was even ready and at the bus stop 15 minutes early today. From what rumor has it his teacher this year does not believe in homework and is super nice. THANK GOD!!!!! So I hope he has a fantastic day!!!!

I have come to the realization that I am still very much a kid. Without realizing it I have been rebelling still and really need to work on that. Guess the rebelling never ended since middle school. So there are some things within myself this year i need to work on and set goals so we can get ahead on financials. '

Sports have come full force this year. In the winter months donovan played basketball. i hated his coach. he only let the "GOOD" players play. he always kicked out the bad players. he definitely had his favorites and star players. thing is.....he never gave the other kids to show him what they had. donovan has been playing basketball for the past 3 years and he's done great on his teams.....but not this one. i think he was intimidated by all of that. so thank goodness that's all over. next came spring soccer. their team won all but 1 game. they ended up losing in the finals but that's okay. they did great otherwise. carmen kept bugging me that she wanted to play soccer but you have to be 4 to play. So now comes fall football and soccer. Donovan is on the same team as last year. The Bills. Carmen once again will probably be their mascot. I still have her cheerleading outfit from last year. So practices are Tuesday and thursday and saturday (until games start). Games are held on Saturdays. Then there is Carmen. While she is still 3 and won't be 4 until next month, the ymca said it's okay for her to play. Well I got a call asking me to coach her team......good bye soccer mom hello COACH COLLEEN!!! LOL I hope I don't kill myself doing this. Tonight is our first practice. I have NO experience in this stuf. Thankfully the asst coach has coached sports before. Hopefully he has a clue. So practices for that are Wednesdays and Games on sundays. so for the next forever I am busy MON, TUE, WED, SAT and SUN. 5 flippin day's out of the week I am involved in sports, heat, rain, cold, wind...you name it. PRAY FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had my 10 year reunion just recently. I had an absolute blast and can't wait for the next 10 year reunion. man....i'll be almost 40. hope i'll still be cool then. hee hee It was held at the Embassy Suites Downtown Charleston. Very nicely put together. The after party was great cause everyone got to unwind, dance and get drunk. LOL We (a grp of like 20-30 of us) took the party to a dance club called CLUB TRIO. The atmosphere was nice. It eventually got way crowded. They had 2 levels, one downstairs w/ live music and upstairs a dj. Both levels were great. I'd def. go again. I got to see my family and friends I haven't seen in a long time plus my best friends new addidtion, Gabriella!!!! she's a beauty.


As far as the house goes.....we still have some work to go. We added a 2nd bathroom upstairs which i love. we haven't used it yet cause we're not ready to start on the downstairs remodeling. the kids use it for toileting and brushing teeth. i'm content w/ that for now.

This holiday season we are planning to go to PA to visit the inlaws. We should probably be able to get Rebekah then too for another visit. She's been out here twice this summer for visits. I am looking forward to seeing everyone in PA again. I am sure the kids will be super excited too.

Well that is my update. Sorry so long but ya know a whole year has passed since I last updated everyone. Hope you all have a great year!!!

Oh and one more thing. I joined this group called valleymoms. We had our first playdate yesterday. It was great. I am super excited to be able to meet other moms in the area finally. It sux not having any friends where you live for over a year. Well I had one freind.....THANKS TERESA!!!!
I find it so hard to make friends as you get older. I did work at the beginning of the year but once summer rolled around I quit. I am planning on staying at home w/ the kids and running our ebay business for Tony. Wish me luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!