February

This month sure has gotten ahead of me.  There is SO much going on!  Home today with my Katiebug because poor Sis has the flu.  Thankfully, she handles sick really well.  So thankful for Boyfriend helping me Monday and Tuesday and staying home with Sissy.  I am home today and tomorrow.

Work is crazy busy these days.  We have a big fundraiser benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society going on.  As the NJHS co-sponsor, I'm in charge of it with another teacher.  We've raised over $7,000 to help blood cancer research, but it's consumed my life at work.  As always, I love my job more than I could have imagined after coming back seven years later.  It challenges me, stresses me out, and makes me work hard, but I love it all.

What's really been the best part of February?  The WEEKENDS.  Every weekend has been something terrific with my family.  Just crossing my fingers that this sickness at my house doesn't affect what we are hoping for this weekend.

First Weekend--
Boyfriend has two beautiful, smart, funny daughters who I have not known until very recently.  I met them during the Christmas break for the first time, 15 months after he and I started dating.  I can't begin to tell you how scared I was.  Of course, for their privacy, I will not use their names.  Let's call them 10 and 15 based on their ages.  They have been slowing getting more willing to know more about me and my girls and have been so sweet to Maggie and Katie.  That weekend was different A had my girls, so MM asked me to hang out with them.  It was the first time I was around 10 and 15 without the chaos of my children too.  It could not have been better!  The four of us had brunch, watched 15's favorite TV show that I have now gotten hooked on (Seriously, if you don't watch Psych, you need to!), apartment hunted for Boyfriend to move into a 2 bedroom apartment on this side of the metroplex (PLEASE!), and chilled out.  On Sunday, we went to church, lunch with our close friends and apartment hunted more.  I got a chance to really get to know the girls and them learning more about me.  We laughed and joked a lot.  15 rode with me in my car while 10 stayed with her dad in his as we drove around apartment hunting.  It gave me a really good opportunity to talk.  I'm sure it's weird and awkward for them, but I appreciate and love that they are opening up to me.  I fell in love that weekend with two more girls in my life.

Second Weekend--
Heroes for Children hosted their annual Valentine's Dinner for the cancer families in this area.  It's a date night for the parents with a fancy three course dinner and then free on-site childcare for the patients and siblings.  I love this night!  A girlfriend of mine from school volunteered with me while the girls had a sleepover at my mom's.  Since the divorce, she's had less time alone with them since my weekends with Maggie and Katie are limited.  She loves when she can have them and my girls are in absolute heaven.  That Saturday, my mom and I took them to Ft. Worth to see a play, Rapunzel.  I love that Sissy is now old enough to behave properly and enjoy shows like this.  Maggie and I love to go see a show and now we can take Sissy with us most of the time (Mary Poppins is the big one next that's just me and Maggie in March for a special date night).  Sunday, the girls and I hosted our playgroup at our house.  Our playgroup is six families.  We met at Gymboree when the girls were right at a year old.  We started with six little girls and now there are thirteen children amongst us.  Six years later, we still have playgroup once a month, moms' nights a few times a year, and we added one overnight mom's trip two years ago.  Neat women and fun kids.  By the end of the weekend, we were all happily exhausted!

Third Weekend--
A rarity happened--I had a weekend WITH Boyfriend .  The next weekend we have with no kids and no military commitments is the third weekend of AUGUST.  There is a weekend in April and one in May like the first of February where he has his girls but I don't have mine.  Hopefully, I will be able to hang with them a lot.  We've even talked about camping just the four of us (because, really, my girls camping? Doesn't sound like so much fun for me).  Besides a brunch on Saturday with some friends,  Boyfriend and I spent the weekend just the two of us.  It was so nice and felt decadent to have him alone on a Saturday night!  The girls came home Sunday night, with poor Katie coming home not feeling so hot.

Now that puts us at the Fourth Weekend coming up--
Both of us have girls.  Due to the stomach flu in our house in January TWICE and the flu for his girls, we didn't get the kids together at all.  They haven't hung out all four together since the day after Christmas.  Our plan is to hang out Saturday night and Sunday. 15 and I talked about taking her and Maggie shopping since they are the fashionistas while 10 and Sis stay here with MM and play.  Maggie is really excited about this and talks a lot about how she thinks 15 is the coolest kid and 10 is the most fun.  I REALLY hope that we are able to all be together.

February would end perfectly if my loves could all be together as a new, growing, blended family.  We have so much to get to know about each other and new memories to make.  I'm just grateful that we are finally moving in that positive direction for us.