A new beginning

Today a remarkable thing happened...a bi-racial man named Barack Hussein Obama was elected president.

Though the McCain campaign tried to make America afraid of this man, they failed. Lordy bee, Sarah Palin called him everything but Hitler reincarnated, literally throwing the kitchen sink at him and they failed. It rejuvenates my belief in the American spirit, the strength and goodness of the people I call my fellow citizens.

Did you take the time to listen to the speeches delivered tonight by John McCain and Barack Obama? Did you hear the contrast in the crowd? When Sen. McCain congratulated Obama the crowd booed on the flip side, while Barack Obama congratulated John McCain, thanked him for his service and commended his campaign the crowd cheered. Do you see the difference in the mentality? I am constantly amazed at the contrast in the two parties. I am often asked why I am a Democrat. I always respond because the Democratic party accepts all, the Republicans are a divisive party. Did you ever notice the crowd at McCain's rally's???? Mostly white. I consciously looked to see who was in the crowd...Obama rallys, ALL RACES, FACES, RELIGIONS AND CREEDS, what does that tell you? It speaks volumes to me.

When you take the time and really think about what he has experienced in his lifetime. He's the child of a black man from Kenya, and a white woman from Kansas....born in 1961, do you realize that when he was born it was not even legal for a biracial couple to be married???? Yep, it was not legal for a black man to marry a white woman until June 12, 1967 Loving vs. Virginia...Then to make the odds even harder, his father abandoned Barack and his mother. Through many twists and turns he ended up living with his grandparents, white grandparents from Kansas living in Hawaii. Even in Hawaii he was a minority, not simply because he was black but because he was also white, the majority of people living in Hawaii are Hawaiian, Samoan, and of Asian descent.....still today.

Tonight we go to bed with the light of a new dawn, a new era. One I am very proud to witness and have been proud to have participated in. Barack Obama was not my first choice I am the first to admit, but he has grown on me but he has a lot to prove. He needs to prove to his critics that he's not the do good, feel good candidate, that was simply elected because the current administration is so un-popular. But that he truly is the capable man that I know in the my gut that he is.

So congratulations Mr. President elect, go get 'em make us proud. Your "Toot", your grandpa, your mom and even your father are looking down smiling and so very proud proud of you. Not because of your race but because of the man you became and all you have accomplished.

Mimi and her walker!

Yesterday John, Kyle, Cassidy, Aidan, Amelia and I decided to go exploring. We headed north east into the area known as Copper Valley to a small planned community called Copperopolis, yes, that's the name. Actually its a very neat little area. After spending all day cruising around, looking at open houses and finding what is considered Copperopolis "proper" we stopped and ate dinner at a small hole in the wall Mexican restaurant. Dinner was very yummy! Amelia is at that point now where she eats her dinner, then wants to sample what everyone else is eating. I felt a wee bit bad for the waiter as we left. I looked down and saw all the crackers, cheerios and shredded cheese she left on the floor and hoped John put a little extra in the tip :)

So as we are headed out of the hills we realize we need to stop at Babies R Us in Stockton and get a few things for little Miss! I love Babies R Us, it's probably a really good thing there is not one closer.

We go in and the first thing we look for is a new diaper bag...the one we have been using is since Cassidy was a baby, my old trusty Baby Trend back pack diaper bag. I tried looking at the old regular kind, nope I decide, just not my thing, so I picked out a new back pack diaper bag LOL. I might be a mommy, but I don't need to look like an old bag carrying around a bag...

Next isle we go to is the walkers. Now that Amelia has mastered crawling, and is trying to pull herself into the standing position on furniture, we figured it was time for a walker. Boy have walkers come a long way since Kyle and Ashley were babies (strange how the one we had for Cassidy and Aidan disappeared). We ended up choosing quite the Cadillac version for Mimi. Oh boy does AJ love it, for those who don't know he's addicted to cars. Anyway, this thing sooooo cool! It's a red, GT walker, lights and sounds included. I will post pics later. But boy since we put this thing together last night all she wants to do is be in this walker. AJ is thrilled, he gets to push her all over the house now. He has a real live version of a car and Amelia just giggles the whole time. I wonder how long it will take for her to really learn to maneuver this thing since she's getting used to being pushed around in it?

Babies R Us can be a very dangerous venture. Next was off to get Mimi some new socks, then it was off to the sleep sack's. Sleep sacks have got to be one of the greatest inventions ever! No more getting up a million times a night to make sure the blankets not smothering the baby, no more cold baby legs and feet in the morning, just awesome! Wish they had been around when Kyle and Ash were babies.

I guess that's enough rambling for now....need to go check on sicky Ashley.

Hunter Happenings

Well, Chico was great!! The kids had so much fun with their Chico playgroup friends.....the Royal Rugrats! It was awesome.

Saturday night we went out to dinner with some very good, and old friends of ours Matt and Stephanie Moore. We met Matt and Stephanie when Kyle and Garrick were in Kindergarten. Our kids have known eachother since Kyle was 4, Garrick 5, Ashley and Amber were 3. All 4 kids are the best of friends and always will be. They have a younger son named Raven who is 2 years and 1 day older than Cassidy. Raven, Cassidy and Aidan are like 3 little peas in a pod. In no time Amelia will be on their heels driving them crazy I'm sure.

Reality really hit John and I on Thursday when we had to actually place the order for all of Kyle's graduation stuff. The invitations, cap and gown have all been ordered...where has the time gone?

Tonight was Halloween of course and the kids had a great time. Cassidy was a spider princess, Aidan was a vampire and Amelia was a lady bug. They finally fell into bed and passed out about an hour ago (all but Amelia who is screaming her lungs out right now not wanting to go to sleep), thank goodness it was on a Friday this year. Kyle and Ashley went trick or treating with about 10 of their cross country friends. I have to say seeing 3 16 & 17 yr old boys dressed in drag is pretty darn funny, wish I had gotten some pics. Ashley was a Pink Lady and Kyle was a really creepy Jester. Since Ashley has been terrified of clowns since Heather Scott made her watch IT when she was 8, she made Kyle leave the mask off most of the night, LOL.

Tomorrow we are going scouting out new areas. John and I have really decided we hate the Valley. It's ugly, flat, dirty and brown. So our new mission is to find a small town in the Sierra Nevada mountain range that is a reasonable commute for John that we can move to in a few years after Kyle and Ashley have both graduated from high school. Will keep you posted.

Ok, time to go and try to calm Amelia down. She had her 9 mo old well baby check up today. She is just a little peanut. She is only 9 oz heavier than she was at her 7 mo check up putting her in the 10th percentile for weight now weighing in at a whopping 16lbs 10oz. But she has grown 2.5 inches putting her in the 25th percentile for height. I have a feeling she is going to be small and petite like her big, big sister Ashley who at 16 is all of 5 ft 1/2" tall. I think Cassidy will tower over both her sisters :)

Above you will find pictures from play group Halloween party, Cassie's school Halloween parade and tonight...enjoy the updated pictures.

XO's to all

life's turns and in roads......

This has been one busy crazy Hunter house week!!

Monday- Ashley had Powder Puff football....to funny. The game is rigged so the Sr's win, man was my girl pizzed off!! LOL

Tues and Wed just normal busy days. Wednesday was busier than usual since John was gone till 9 working the phone bank for PG&E about prop. H in San Francisco...then Kyle and Ashley had a night rally for Homecoming this weekend.

Oh and in the midst of it all, Kyle comes home with all the stuff we have to order for his Sr. yr. In this package comes the order for the Announcments, Thank you notes, class shirt and hoodie, key chain, cap and gown. Don't even get me started on the price tag of this one! We've already gotten his class ring next we have to order his lettermans jacket. Oh the fun of it all. No sooner will we get through all this with Kyle and it starts again next year with Ashley. At least Ashley's not in a huge hurry to leave home, she is actually planning on staying home and going to Jr college for the first 2 years. Kyle on the other hand can't wait to get out of here. Of course one small problem with his plan, he has no plan......

Tomorrow, Thursday I will be running ALL day long!! And will actually be taking time for ME, and getting my hair cut!! YAY.

I can't wait, Friday John and I load up the little one's (Kyle following in his car) and heading off to Chico while we leave Ashley here for the weekend......

It's that time of year again, the Royal Rugrats Halloween party. Cassidy and Aidan are so excited! They miss their friends like crazy and I can't wait to see my crazy friend Nicole and my normal friend Lucia, and Lucianna. Lucianna was recently in a really bad car accident and is basically on bed rest, but even a car accident can't keep her little fanny away from the Rugrats Halloween party! Cassidy is very excited to be seeing her 'husband' Daniel.

Oh then to make things really fun we will be having dinner with our friends Matt and Stephanie at Tortillia Flats, YUMMY, ooh and a margarita or two yipeeee.

My Miss Amelia

My Miss Amelia is 9 months old today......where has the time gone? She's as old as the length of time I was pregnant with her.

She is smiling all the time, giggles constantly, crawling and already trying to get her legs under her. Is she going to be like Ashley and walking by 10 months? Hmm, a question to be answered in time I guess.

Some interesting facts about Amelia:

She is a huge mama's girl
She thinks daddy is a great play toy
She smiles ALL the time
She giggles constantly
She is extremely ticklish!!
She crawls from one end of the living room to the other
She sleeps through the night...
.....though getting her to sleep is a major challenge
She adores her big brothers and sisters
She has an angelic voice
She has the cutest squeal you will ever hear
She won't take a bottle, it's mama or nothing!
She loves her veggies
She loves Cheerios
She likes to play with dog toys.......
She loves books

She truly is the icing on the cake, a pure ray of sunshine and a blessing from God. To bad there are many out there who have never been touched by her magic.

very interesting idea

check it out.... I can honestly say Sarah Palin disgusts me to my very core, she scares the hell out of me.

I think Joy Behar said it best on Larry King a few weeks ago when she said Sarah Palin sets women back 50 years.

Still trying to get back and do an update, sorry. Today is Kyle's 17th birthday, off to dinner at Chevys!! YUMMMM

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katherine-goldstein/to-hate-like-this-never-f_b_127788.html

a lot to update

But not tonight. Will be back tomorrow. There's a lot to catch everyone up on. But I did want to let everyone know who's been waiting to hear, we are NOT going back to Chico. For many reason's, to many of them to go into here, but please know as much as we miss Chico and want to go home, staying at least for now is the right decission. This has been truly one of the toughest decissions we have ever had to make.......

Later gators

well......................

John got offered the job. Now the real debate and thinking begins.

Will try to come back and write more later. I have been dealing with an eye infection for the last 3 weeks that keeps rearing it's FUGLY head. But right now it hurts like heck to keep my eye open, need to go lay down. Gosh I wish Amelia would go nighty night, but NO, this is Amelia we are talking about......

Yet another crazy Aidan moment

I come into the kitchen while Cassie and AJ are eating lunch. I look over at Aidan and start laughing...

Mom- AJ what are you doing? What's all over your face?
AJ- I'm looking like daddy......
Mom-hmmm, ok, well can you shave now please?
AJ- *big sigh* Oh, ok mommy

Mr. Aidan had taken his yogurt and smeared it all over his face to make a moustache and goatee.....

funny Aidan

Trying to get AJ down for a nap sometimes can be pretty entertaining. The things that come out of this boys mouth are hilarious.

As I'm at the top of the stairs, he's at the bottom in the living room

mommy- C'mon AJ, nap time, find your LoLo (his lovey)
AJ- *as he puts his hands up in confusion* I can't find him
mommy- where did he go?
AJ- I don't know, he was here a 1/2 hour ago.
mommy-Well where did he go in that 1/2 hour?
AJ- I don't know
as he starts up the stairs
mommy- *as I head into his room* 'I found LoLo'
AJ-*he comes running into his room* You did? Mommy your the best as he throws his arms around my neck almost knocking me to the ground.

Then as he grabs LoLo and heads to his bed, he sticks his thumb in his mouth.

mommy- You know that thumbs gonna fall off one of these days. Then what are you going to do?
AJ- Suck on the other one.

Yep, I love being a mom.

I just realized

I just realized if we go back to Chico, Cassie, AJ and Amelia can join back up with their playgroup the Rugrats :)

I miss playgroup. Cassie and AJ miss their friends so much. I would love for Amelia and Peaches (a.k.a. Daniella) to grow up together like Erin and Cassie have!!

Now if we could get Jayme and Katie back to Chico the Rugrats would be whole again....sigh.

Job interview

Well, today's the day. John's in Sacramento interviewing for the Electrical Engineer job in Chico.............

Gosh, I want to go back to Chico so bad. I hate this damn town so much, I can't even put it into words. I feel like I'm just exsisting, going through the motions. I miss Chico, I miss Bidwell Park, I miss Chico High School for my kids (they miss the x-country team!), I miss Thursday night market, I miss the Friday night dances for the kids............I miss the pools in Bidwell Park, I miss Caper Acres, I miss our friends....I could go on and on.

But as much as I miss Chico and want to go home, I don't want John to take the job simply because we are all homesick. If he does that then what are we really accomplishing? If he's miserable in his job then what? We wait till Kyle and Ashley graduate from high school and move again? I'm so sick of moving, I don't want to move again. I don't want Cassidy, Aidan and Amelia to move around as much as Kyle and Ashley have. I love a new experience, it's probably one of the reason's we've moved so much, but enough is enough.

Hopefully good things come out of his interview today. Hopefully he finds out the problem children are not as bad as he's heard and so there fears.....

I wish I understood the draw Chico has on me, and now my family. I want to go home.

update: Just got off the phone with John. Interview went really well! There are 2 more people to interview for the job, we should hear something in the next few weeks

hmmm, where to begin

Hmm, where to begin I ask myself as I sit here listening to my "brood" down in the family room. I am sitting up here by myself, and that's quite an accomplishment when you have 5 children, 3 dogs, 1 fish and a cat!!

I sit here and ask myself if I really want to blog, or do I want to have some peace and quiet? Well, I guess it does not really matter does it.......

Lately I am realizing that life does not stand still for anyone...........
My oldest son Kyle is a senior in high school and driving
My oldest daughter Ashley is a beautiful, intelligent young lady with huge ambition
Cassidy, my sweet loving 5 yr old is no longer my baby girl, but becoming a young lady
Aidan, is my big contradiction, loves to love and cuddle, but always has his hands into whatever he can get into......
Amelia, my sweet loving baby girl is growing, no matter how hard I try to keep her my baby

Recently my oldest dog Maddy has been having health issues. Out of nowhere she has gotten 'old'. For the longest time, she was my 'fat and sassy' old lady, who never seemed to get old. She is my best girlfriend. The thought of my day starting or ending without my Dazzlin' Lady Madeline is more than I can can handle......Her daughter Dazzlin' Princess Sophia would be lost without her mama....

I made desert tonight, not something I normally do. My kids don't get a lot of sweets, but they are enjoying the apple cinnamon loaf I made tonight. Well, off I go downstairs. It's time to get Cassie and Aidan's teeth brushed and Amelia nursed and off to bed. Kyle and Ashley need to get to bed soon as well, but they will procrastinate as long as they possibly can.