Update from E!

Wow - just over two years since my last post! I wasn't really emotionally prepared for writing a blog I think. It takes such a commitment to force yourself to go through the process of sitting down and being coherent!
I think I am ready to give it another go though, if for no other reason than to chronicle for myself the changes that are happening so fast lately! My goal is to post once every week - no matter what. I hope you, dear 15 prior readers, are interested enough from time to time to keep me going!
Since my last post a lot has happened! Starting with me: I had a lot of fun with my crafting adventures but eventually the demands of entertaining myself got the best of me and I got a "part time" job doing accounts payable at a busy company. Part time turned to full time pretty fast and now I have a regular ol' "9-5 M-F" gig which, while I don't necessarily love (or understand) the work I do, I really like the people I work with which goes a long way. In addition to that I recently started coaching the Colorguard at the local high school and, just in case my own two kids weren't enough to keep me hopping, I now have 23 *bonus* kids to help keep me young! I have so much enjoyed the opportunity to work with them and am very excited for the winter competition season! Just in case that is not enough, I am still doing costume work on the side with some cute things coming up this month!
After a nice, long home stand in 2010 and 2011 Hubby ended up working away from home for most of the year in 2012 so I was "single momming it" with two busy kids. Looking back THOSE adventures would have been great to share but I was so busy the time just ran away! I do have to say that the level of respect I have for real single parents who manage to keep it all together increased exponentially with every challenge I faced! Poor Hubby, in the meantime, had to spend a few months living in a resort condo on the beach in North Carolina and the summer living in another resort in the mountains of Colorado and hanging out with the guys and doing a lot of hiking "work" but somehow he made it through. (I think it was beer and poker night on Thursdays that made it bearable.) At least over the summer he was able to come home every weekend and enjoy the hustle and bustle of everyday life!
Dude is now 16 (and a half) and loving his high school experience. It is crazy to think he is a Junior already and so close to leaving home! (Which I am really struggling with!) He is learning to drive and I am not consistent enough of a teacher but he is being very patient with me. He is still drumming and percussing and marimba-ing, and he has gotten to be quite good. He was the front ensemble section leader for marching band season and is currently in Symphonic Band, Pit Orchestra for the school musical (Singin' in the Rain!), Winter Percussion Ensemble, and Pep Band! This basically means I drop him off at the bus stop at 6:30 in the morning and he calls me when he is done with school at 9:00 at night.
Sis is 14 and a freshman and also loving high school. She is keeping busy with Varsity Poms and has been having a great season! She is also participating in Colorguard where she still refuses to let go of a flag once it is in her hand - which makes it very hard to toss. She is continuing ballet and pointe classes in her "spare" time but has not had as many performance opportunities with her schedule this year. She is still a *bit* shy but we are expecting her to start talking any day! I guess it is a blessing that her "friend that is a boy" is that shy too - at this rate they might actually say hello to each other by the time they are Seniors!
As you can tell, Hubby and I subscribe to the "keep them so busy they don't have time to get into trouble" method of parenting which also means we keep ourselves so busy we don't have time to get into trouble so I guess it works out. After the past two years of craziness and exhaustion though, I know I wouldn't change any of it. Going to games and competitions, sitting in bleachers, sewing and rhinestoning costumes, getting our family from one place to another, and watching it all go by in a blur is exactly the way I want it. I know that someday, when I have a chance to slow down, I will look at this time and think that I was active, I was engaged with my children, I was watching them grow and explore and take risks and find opportunities, I was able to share it with them and my dear Hubby, and we may not have enjoyed every moment but every day contained something exciting that we did together.
I am so lucky.