Happy 15th Birthday Austin!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 11-30-94

Big day today for Austin. He is 15. My youngest is 15? omg. I remember when Lauren was 15 and I was about to have my first child driving in a year. Now my last is 15 and he will be driving in a year.. Watch out! We had my mom over and ate Austin's choice for dinner that was cracked crab with melted butter, crusty bread with olive oil for dipping and caesar salad with dressing from the Met. and of course their croutons. He wanted Caramelitas for desert and that was that. It was low key but never the less special. He sat at the head of the table and stock piled his crab ( I eat mine as I go) and humored us with funny jokes. Then up to his room for Fantasy football updates and homework. Ahhhhh....boy's are sooo easy. Pictures will follow later.

Looking back at what I am most thankful for...

To friends and family!

Thanksgiving

Getting ready for the Big day!

Just a few things I am most thankful for this Thanksgiving:

• having a family that enjoys getting together and actually spending time together.
• having children that still take my advice.
• that Austin lets George Strait sing me Christmas songs on the way to his basketball practice.
• my only addiction is still just Q-tips every morning (so what if I have to sit down and get comfy while I do it)
• that my husband is OK with giving me massage more than getting one.
• my oldest is doing well on her semester in Salzburg and STILL wants to come home.
• I still really love my husband and love hanging out with him. Plus, he is still my best friend, seriously.
• I love the people that my girls are tuning into and their personalities that are evolving too quickly.
• I am thankful that the 3 long years I treasured having with Megan, that cushioned the blow when Lauren went to college, have felt more like 3 seconds and I am doing OK with that. Sorta.
• I love that I can still remember everything about my Grandparents and it is magnified during the Holidays. They are in everything I make, everything I drink, and everything I polish.

The first Thanksgiving with out Lauren. 20 years I have been lucky to enjoy this day with her. We will miss her a ton and I am beginning to understand how fortunate we have been and how each and every year with the entire family together will inevitably become more and more of a challenge. I know from now on, I will always take a tiny little moment to myself, to appreciate our family when we are all together and to cherish these times that much more. This year in Lauren's absence, I am having Reed bring the whole turkey to the end of the table. That's right. This will be our Norman Rockwell year. We will all actually look at the turkey, in its finished golden state and appreciate him and me for cooking him. I am not sure my family, aside from Reed and I, have ever even really looked at our finished turkey, other than what has been carved and ready for plating. So, imagine a Norman Rockwell postcard at Thanksgiving and then picture Reed, standing all proud by his bird, at our table, about to carve table side........ missing Lauren of course! We love you! Happy Happy Thanksgiving!

Austin's Freshman Homecoming Dance!

Austin had so much fun at his first Homecoming Dance. He went with Mae Dallal. He asked her by sneaking a poster in her locker. The boy's met at the Hungates for pictures, the girls took too long getting hair and makeup, so they had to meet up with the boy's at Masa where they all had dinner and pictures again. Everyone looked so handsome and had such a fun time!

Hank at 7 months!

You gotta love him.

#11 officially retired!

7 Years of soccer at CWA

2002-2009

So, here's the thing. I have sat through many soccer games between the two girls high school years. Sat through rain, wind, sleet and sometimes sun. I have brought hundreds of orange slices, and drinks. I have screamed, yelled at the refs, sat on bone chillin metal benches and put many miles on our car. I have laughed (rarely), been frightened, extremely nervous, scared, afraid of tackling cute high school girls that side tackled my girls and I've cried. Many times I have choked it back, knowing the importance of certain games and the affect they were going to have on my daughters. I have watched team unity at its best. I have seen both my daughters as senior varsity captains. Playoffs, Districts and State; all intense, all emotional, all physical and ALL important. So many good times to remember but the best were the games I got to experience with BOTH girls in the same game playing on the same field at the same time. Seriously? Who gets to do that? I cherished those few times when Megan was a freshman playing varsity soccer on the field with Lauren, a senior. I knew those times were few and far between, thankfully, so I am happy to say that I cherished it all. Lauren chose #11 as a freshman and except for 1 year, Megan took it over after Lauren graduated. It is a lucky #. It is both their soccer #'s, it is our address and it is the 11th day, that is my birthday. Now it is time to turn over the jerseys. Time for someone else to wear that #11 and start their own memories.

We have a winner!

Hamilton in Clinton NY.

That is the college Megan decided to do early admission to. She loved it and they loved her. Now we wait a month to hear what their decision is. If she does not get in we have 6 more to apply to before January 1st. The school was gorgeous and the kids great. Megan fit in and felt right at home. She did an overnight with one of the girls and was shown all around, including passing through a bar that Reed and I were at . Very funny to see Megan with a group of girls marching right by us, OFF campus. lol So, they clearly wanted to show her a good time. She was exhausted after a night at Conn. College and a red eye flight. But it was the over night that swayed her to commit. It was her decision and we are thrilled that she is happy with it. The waiting will be tough and we are crossing our fingers. But for now the pressure is off and it is what it is. We just wait and she can do nothing while we do. So, less stress for her for a while, finally. This college stuff is very time consuming. Looks like there is a chance I could have one daughter in CA. and one daughter in NY. Opposites? Apparently. And that is why I love them so!

Back east we go.

Leaving today with Megan to go look at two college's back east. Hamilton and Conn. College. Both are willing to recruit her for tennis and we are hoping she likes one enough to want to go that far away. If not we will continue looking here. I am excited to visit them too, and haven't been back there in years! Both coaches have been very nice and she will be staying one night with a tennis girl at each school. I think after that, she will definitely know if it is a school for her or not. Also, my perspective is different than Reed's , so it will be good for us all to see it together. You know, the mommy point of view. Hard to believe we are at this point already in the year, I can tell this senior year thing is going to go by really fast. Hard to imagine possibly having one daughter here in CA and maybe one in NY. Guess I could be traveling a lot next year coast to coast! With her senior soccer season now behind us and tennis staring at us, we are on our way to concluding another chapter in our family journey. Yep, girls growing up and Reed and I growing older. Girls getting their independence and us getting ready to let go. I am thankful I have 3 kids, so I can have Austin home a little longer. Not ready to be an empty nester yet! Oh yeah....we do have our Hank and I know he's not leaving the nest any time soon!

2 months and THIS is what I have learned!

Things I never told my daughter, but should have, before her trip to Europe.

• Euros are dollars and actually are REAL money.
• Salzburg is not home.
• never buy hard boiled eggs in a store, especially in another country.
• don't assume shrimp is always fresh in Salzburg.
• never take Dramamine and Xanax together.
• no skinny dipping in Greece, in the ocean with the sharks.
• 2nd class Eurail tickets are not as effective as 1st class and you will probably get booted.
• just because some one speaks English doesn't mean they are amazingly trustworthy.
• every country you visit will be the best country ever and you will want to live there.
• men with accents are very dangerous.
• trains are way cheaper than planes, so what if they're slower? Better views. What's the hurry?
• always remember to take your phone charger with you everywhere.
• beware of Swine flu. Wash hands 100x a day, no high fives, hugging, kissing or sharing.
• carry your Tamiflu everywhere. No sharing or selling it. Treasure it. Love it. Protect it.
• no falling in love.
• absolutely NO sex what so ever.
• no pubs after midnight (nothing good ever happens after that).
• beware of drinking fancy, sweet, specially named Euoropean alcohols.
• German is hard to learn, difficult to pronounce and useless here back at home. Just do your best.

Just so we are clear, we talked for hours about things to do and not to do. She is however having a wonderful, unforgettable time and though I miss her more than anything, I wouldn't trade her experience for anything. So excited to see her in December. Next month!