It started with "Twilight"...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY PEEPS!!

Friday, November 20th was the one-year anniversary of our Mom's-Night-Out & it just happened to be the day of the NEW MOON premiere. Not really a coinsidence if you consider we've been planning for this night since we saw "Twilight" a year ago. See "Twilight" started it all...

Last fall after reading the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, my neighborhood friends & I decided to go to the premiere of the "Twilight" movie together. I'm not even sure we were calling it a "Mom's-Night-Out" yet. I think we were still sizing one another up & waiting to see if there'd be chemistry, or if we'd enjoy hanging out together away from our kids. We had all known each other for a while, but it stemmed from meeting at the park with our kids. We didn't REALLY know each other YET. We didn't know then how our friendships would evolve and grow or how close we would all become. But, man, did things ever change. Over the course of the last year and meeting once a month for a MNO, we have become the closest of friends. I didn't know the night of the "Twilight" premiere a year ago that I would feel close enough to these women to share the deepest most private aspects of my life. But I do. We do.

In case you're unaware, I'm a little obsessed with the "Twilight" series, specifically the main male character Edward Cullen. I've been looking forward to the NEW MOON premiere since Tera told me a year ago at the "Twilight" premiere that they were going to make a movie of the 2nd book, NEW MOON. And since my birthday also happens to fall in the same month as the NEW MOON premiere, my friends seized the opportunity to celebrate my 40th birthday(AGAIN, I might add!!). All I can say is I have the best peeps in the world. We had a blast! November 20, 2009 was one of the best nights of my life!

We started the evening with dinner at Red Robin. Christa had to join us a little late since her husband had to work(f-n-e!;-) But we had a good time talking and eating!! After Christa arrived, we headed for the theater to wait. See part of the fun is sitting and waiting with all the teenagers! Although I doubt any of them were nearly as obnoxious as I was while opening my gifts. You see my friends went all out with the NEW MOON gifts. Cara gave me the NEW MOON CD & a life-size poster of my Edward; Tera gave me an Edward Cullen keychain & jewelry box, & some "Sweethearts" candy with who else but my Edward on the box; Christa gave me a red t-shirt that reads: "I Freakin Love Edward Cullen!" (and yes of course I put it on over my other shirt!)& Christa also gave me the Vanity Fair magazine with R. Patt's pictures-HOT!!! We're talkin SMOKIN HOT!!!; and Sarah, clever Sarah, gave me an Edward doll, and a picture of, well, you have to see this for yourself...

~Look closely~

My peeps...

Sarah & Cara

You're the best, Christa!!

YUM!!! (I'm sure the candy's good too!)

My Edward doll!! (I know what you're thinking, Tera!!)

Christa had time to down a Margarita before we headed to the theater-YOU ROCK GIRL!!

Me & Sarah!

The five of us waiting for the theater doors to open!

Me & Tera(she wants me!) HA!

The four of us (before Christa made it to Red Robin!)


You can imagine the excited frenzy when the theater doors finally opened, but you won't believe what my friends did when we were all settled in the last row at the very top of the theater. So there I am waiting for Tera & Christa to come back from the concession stand when Cara spies them and tells Sarah to come with her. When they reach the other two, Tera, VERY loudly asks the oh you know 4-500 other people in the theater for their attention. Which they(we)all give her. She has four children, and believe me you give Tera your attention when she asks for it!!HA! Anyay, she asks if everyone would join her in singing "happy birthday" to her good friend in the last row who is celebrating her 40th birthday! And the entire theater sings to me! I was absolutely blown away!!!!! Tera, you ROCK!!

So, the movie?? Well, I thought NEW MOON was absolutely awesome! Seriously it was SOO good-I can't wait to see it again and again...The biggest surprise of the movie?? UM, JACOB BLACK!! OH, YUM!!! Let's be clear I'm team Edward, right! But OMGosh, Taylor Lautner is HOT in this movie. I mean illegally HOT!!! And the boy(he's only 17!!) can seriously act-he MADE me fall for him!! I was SO impressed by everything in this movie from the acting to the special effects to the music-you name it!!! 10 STARS!!!

But even though the movie was amazing, none of it would have been nearly as good if it weren't for my friends. Cause let's be honest, that's what this is really all about. It's about the bonds we share. The friendships. I am a better person because of these women. They inspire me, encourage me, support me, and love me, and they make me laugh-OMGosh do we laugh!!! I am truly blessed to call them my friends & I am grateful, you'll never know how much. Thanks for the best 40th month-long birthday celebration anyone could ever have!!

After the movie we headed to my house to just relax & spend some time together. We were all on such a high from the movie we didn't want the evening to end! UM we ended up talking until 3 AM~Seriously! We had the best time just talking and hanging out! Sarah spent the night so she didn't have to make the long drive home to Conifer. Sarah & I had coffee together the next, I mean later, that morning!

I'm already counting the minutes until our next Mom's-Night-Out in December. When we can all be together again to share our lives. Happy anniversary peeps-I love you guys!

P.S. Check out my clicker for ECLIPSE!!

Kindergarten Thanksgiving Celebration

Today Katelyn's class had their Thanksgiving celebration. The children were told they could dress as a turkey, pilgrim, or Native American & Katelyn was a Native American. Her costume was actually a gift from Anna from her travels to Ethiopia where she did nursing work, but I think it looks "Indian" enough. Katelyn made her own headband.

Here Katelyn stands in front of a real life-size teepee at her school.

Since they've been discussing the food pyramid in class, the children were asked to bring in food for a balanced Thanksgiving feast. They had turkey & ham, candied squash & green bean casserole, cornbread muffins, fresh fruit, cheese, & apple juice.

Katelyn's class sharing in their Thanksgiving feast.

Miss Charlotte invited a real Native American friend, a Lakota Sioux from South Dakota, to come and talk to the kids about Native American traditions. As you can see he was dressed in full costume.

Our new friend sang a traditional song beating his drum and we all danced in a circle around the room. I was blown away. What a wonderful authentic experience for our children!

In addition to the festivities, there was time to do some schoolwork. Here Katelyn is counting the one's for their 56th day of school. (ie. 5 ten's & 6 one's) The Kindergarteners are counting up to the 100th day of school when they will plan a party for their whole class. They are very excited to be in charge of this special project.

Miss Sherry is also teaching the children to tell time.

Katelyn & her friend Sydney working on a 100-piece puzzle of the human body. I attemped to help the girls, but I have to tell you this was a very challenging puzzle to put together!

Katelyn and her class had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration today! As her parents, we are very thankful for a wonderful school where she can learn and be challenged in so many wonderful ways!

The most amazing birthday!

Yesterday I turned 40. No, no it's true, you're too kind. I may only look 35, but alas, I am really 40. What's that you ask? Do I feel any different? Well, yes, actually I do. I didn't feel any difference when I turned 37 or 38 or even 39, but yes 40 feels different. I FEEL WHOLE!! It's almost like a feeling of relief. Like I've put those pesky 20's & 30's behind me and a new horizon stretches before me. For the first time in my life I feel comfortable in my own skin. I'm sure the weightloss has a lot to do with that. Even though I have more weight to lose, I am proud of me NOW. It doesn't mean I don't wish for longer hair, or nicer fingernails, or more weight gone. (Or how about no more zits-I mean come on, I'm 40. Seriously! Enough is enough already!) My life isn't perfect, I have struggles and worries; but I feel more empowered. It's like that movie "Fried Green Tomatoes" when Kathy Bates rams into the younger girl's car and says, "But I'm older & I have more insurance!"

My 20's were all about going to school, beginning my career, getting married, and my 30's were all about trying to have babies. Almost the second I woke up on Nov. 5th, I felt like I could close the chapter on having babies. I think this was GOD's birthday present to me. Just 1 year ago on Halloween, I went thru my 5th and final IVF cycle. Since I didn't become pregnant, I've spent this last year praying for peace and acceptance. And now I can honestly say that I'm moving forward.

I am more aware now than ever before of the blessings in my life: I am so in love with my daughter, she makes every day beautiful. I look at her each day & I know she is the LORD's greatest gift. I am getting my foot back in my teaching career & that has been exciting and challenging. I have a beautiful home & a hard-working husband. I have loving & supportive parents and extended family. I have my health. And I have the most incredible friends on the planet. Whether you are near or far, each one of you makes my journey easier & happier. I truly feel that none of my friendships were accidents, but pre-ordained. The LORD knew I would need angels here on earth, and HE sent each one of you to me. Whether we've been friends for 20+ years, or a year, or somewhere in between, I want you to know I cherish you & I thank GOD for our friendship every day.

So a couple weeks ago my friend Tera asked me what I was doing on my birthday. And I said, "Oh you know the usual and taking Katelyn to piano lessons, probably going out to dinner-the usual." She asked if I wanted to go to lunch on my birthday, and of course I said "sure." So after I picked Katelyn up from school we headed to her house thinking we'd all ride together to whatever restaurant she'd chosen. SURPRISE!!!! As I walked toward her kitchen, I could see all these balloons with the number 40 (appropriately) on them, and then all of a sudden shouts of "SURPRISE!!!" My friends had planned a surprise party for me-the first surprise party I've ever had!!! I was instantly overcome with emotion. To be honest, I'm still completely overwhelmed. Tera made the most delicious luncheon for all of us. We had such a nice time eating and visiting while the kids played. My friend Terry, who couldn't be at the party, made the most delicious carrot cake ever-her cakes are heavenly! I received wonderful gifts! It was just an amazing afternoon. And it was such a gorgeous day here on my birthday, that after the party ended, we spent the rest of the afternoon visiting at the park while our kids played. It was perfect.

Here are my wonderful friends:
Top Row from left: Me, Tera, Cara & Aubrielle, Christa & Chloe
Bottom Row from left: Melanie, Katie, Jennifer & Shea
(Katelyn took this picture-she did a great job, don't ya think!!!)
Thank you also to a few friends who couldn't make it: Amy, Terry, Treva, & Sarah


Tera actually put 40 candles on the cake!!


I LOVE presents!!!


Later that night, since Terry couldn't make it to the party, she and her family stopped by with more cake!! YUM!


Katelyn helped me blow out the candles.(I bet I know what she wished for!)


Perfect. I had the perfect birthday. In addition to the most amazing surprise birthday party, Mike & Katelyn gave me a beautiful necklace, I loved all the cards I received, I loved the phone calls from Jen, mom, and dad. I loved the e-cards & the comments on my Facebook page. Everyone made me feel so special on my birthday. I am humbled. I am grateful. I am blessed.
Love Always, Shell

A Happy Halloween 2009!!

Halloween is SO much more fun with a little one, don't you agree?!! As you can see Katelyn was Scooby Doo for Halloween this year, and what a cute Scooby at that! I really think she had a great Halloween celebration full of fun activities. There was a "Fall Festival" at Carbon Valley Academy, her classroom party, The Copeland's annual Halloween party, carving a pumpkin & roasting the seeds, trick-or-treating, and a new tradition this year-donuts & cocoa at the Schneider's! YUM! Of course she has more candy than one child could possibly eat in a lifetime, and the Reece's Peanut Butter Cups keep calling my name, but overall we had a very happy Halloween 2009.

Like ZOINKS, it's Scooby Doo!!


Katelyn had fun at her school party. Both classes participated in the "spook parade" and then went "trick-or-treating" with their own class. Each child was asked to bring in treats for the class. Then the children took turns standing behind the doors to the kitchen, storage room, and the bathrooms and passed out candy when their classmates knocked on the door and said "trick-or-treat". The kids LOVED being in charge of handing out their own treats. In this picture it's Katelyn's turn to hand out candy(except she had a small box of game cards for everyone instead of candy).


After a tasty treat of crackers and cheese(cut in the shapes of ghosts, bats, and pumpkins), Halloween cookies & apple cider, teacher Karen read a spooky story to the kids.


Scooby and mom


Our friends, the Ditlows, invited us to Carbon Valley Academy's Fall Festival. This picture of Mike & Katelyn was taken there. Katelyn had a great time at the festival doing the cake walk(several times, but never won a cake which is a good thing!), playing in a bouncy castle, watching a karate demonstration, and other carnival-type games.


On Halloween morning we starting carving our pumpkin so we could roast the seeds. Katelyn wasn't overally impressed by the taste of the seeds, but Mike & I liked them.


Mike asked Katelyn to tell him what shape to draw the eyes, nose, and mouth for our jack-o-lantern. He followed her directions, but right after he finished Katelyn started to bawl. We asked her what was wrong, and she said she was upset because the jack-o-lantern wasn't scary enough. She was really upset! So I retrieved one of the smaller pumpkins from the front porch so she could draw a scarier face on it. How 'bout that, my 5-YEAR-OLD didn't think something was scary enough?!!


Scooby & the not-scary-enough jack-o-lantern


This was our 3rd year to attend Jen, Treva, & Shea's Halloween party. We look forward to this party every year, it's SO much fun!! In this picture Katelyn(I mean Scooby) is getting ready to take a whack at the pinata!


At the close of the party, the kids went on a parade.


When we returned home from the Copeland's Halloween party, we had leftover chili(I think it was even better the 2nd time around!)and got ready to go trick-or-treating. This year Mike took Katelyn out and I stayed home to hand out the candy. After trick-or-treating, we headed down to the Schneider's for their traditional "donuts & hot cocoa" on Halloween. YUM!! Seriously, I think Tera's donuts put Krispy Kreme to shame!!! It will be hard to wait for next Halloween-maybe we should start a "Donuts on Veteran's Day" tradition!! Happy Halloween everyone~

How the Rajewich's spend a "Snow Day"!

It's 'snow' secret that I love SNOW DAYS!! I always have-when I was a child, especially when I was a teacher, and now as a parent! I love having a "bonus" day off during the week to spend with my family!! We got hit pretty hard on Wed.-Thurs. with our first big snowstorm of the season; I'm guessing at least a foot of snow, but more in areas where the snow "drifts". I really appreciated that Susan, the director of Katelyn's school, had the courtesy to call me on Wed. afternoon to say that school would be cancelled on Thursday. Therefore, making it unnecessary to set my alarm clock or watch the endless list of school closures on T.V.. SO how do the Rajewich's spend a snow day??

Well, first we get to sleep in until 8:00!! WOO-HOO, no alarm going off!!! Then, since my little girl likes to "ease" into the day like her mother, we cuddle in bed while she watches cartoons and I read my book club book.
CHEERS!!

Mommy makes bacon and waffles for breakfast! YUM!!

Daddy has to dust off the 'ol snowblower!!

Mommy makes homemade chili in the crockpot for supper!

Katelyn & daddy put puzzles together and play lots of games like Go Fish, War, Scrabble Jr., and Chutes & Ladders.

And of course we have to go outside for a bit and play in the snow!!!

And make snow angels!!

And try to dig out my playground buried in snow!

And we have popcorn and watch movies from Blockbuster!!!


The Farmer's Almanac is forecasting that Colorado will get a lot of snow this year. As for us, we sure hope they're right!!!

Raise your hand if...

you're just a little bit obsessed with teenage vampires in love. Seriously, your hand's not up?? O.K., if you've read the Twilight series more than once, your hand should be up. If you have The Vampire Diaries on your TIVO, raise your hand. If you've played "Twilight", the board game, get that hand in the air!! If you waited in line with dozens of teenagers last year for the Twilight movie premiere, raise your hand!! If you have seen "Twilight" the movie more than once(or own the DVD-SARAH!) then get that hand up there!! Come on, I know I'm not the only one!


While the Twilight series is still my favorite when it comes to teenage vampire love stories; I have to say The Vampire Diaries are a close second. And I am beyond obsessed with the the Vampire Diaries t.v. show on the CW!! I have also read "The Immortals" series by Alyson Noel, and am planning to start "The Vampire Academy" series by Richelle Mead-anyone read those yet?? So why teenage vampire love stories? I really don't have a good answer for that one. I've never been interested in vampire stuff before. Anne Rice would scare the you-know-what out of me. It's really not about the vampires at all; it's the love stories that are so compelling to me. The same theme runs in all of the vampire love stories: true love. True love that goes beyond all boundaries and reason. That's what I really love about these books.


Future "Twilighter"!


The clicker says 22 days until the New Moon premiere and I can hardly wait!!! Have you seen the trailors for the movie yet? It looks awesome! So next month on Nov. 20th, my peeps and I will once again be standing in line with a bunch of hormonal teenagers eagerly anticipating the opening of "New Moon". But more than that, Nov. 20th will mark the 1-year anniversary of our Moms-Night-Out. Our little mom's night out group has shared so much over the past year. We have grown so close in our friendships. We have come to rely on each other, trust one another, confide in each other. We have shared birthdays, holidays, trips to the park, zoo, museums, you name it, we've probably done it. These women have become permanent fixtures in my life, and I cherish my friendships with each one of them. I had to live here (in Colorado) 10 years before these amazing women came into my life, and if it took some teenage vampire books to bring them to me, then so be it. This one's for my peeps~I love you all.

SO why teenage vampires in love? Well, why not???

The heart wants what the heart wants...

and my little girl wants a dog with all her heart. SO much so that most of the time she pretends to be a dog. Every day Katelyn is a different dog, and it doesn't matter where we are I have to treat her like a dog. This means when we're shopping at Target I have to hold a pretend leash and say "good dog", or "come here puppy", or "heel girl", and I also have to "pet" her all the time. Katelyn has no qualms about barking or panting in public either. I can only imagine what the other patrons think-they probably think I'm some sort of horrible abusive woman who treats her child like a dog.

We have read countless number of library books about dogs, and Katelyn is full of facts about all the different breeds. Katelyn pretends to be her "new favorite" breed of dog every day. For example, yesterday she was a Doberman, today she's a Beagle named Beagley(naturally), and last Thursday she was apparently a Dalmation. If you look closely at the pink shirt she's holding up in the pictures below, you can see all of the blue dots she drew on her shirt representing the spots of a Dalmation, "Downy the Dalmation" to be precise. I have no idea how or when she was able to draw blue ink dots all over her shirt because there were actually four adults in our home that day and none of us saw her do it. And when I finally discovered what she had done, it was hard to be mad because when your little girl looks at you with those puppy dog eyes after you exclaim: "Katelyn, what did you do to your shirt?" And the response is: "I'm a Dalmation, Mommy, and these are my spots!" Well, what are you supposed to do??!

Well, what I'd like to do, no what I'd LOVE to do, is get my little girl a dog. Unfortunately her father is 100% opposed to the idea. Why? Namely because of the poo. Doesn't matter how many times I've promised to clean up the poo and to be solely responsible for said dog, Mike refuses to budge an inch on this issue. I mean, come on already, every child deserves a special pet to grow up with and especially "onlys" who don't even have siblings to rely on. Every child needs that special friend who loves them unconditionally, who never gets mad at them, who will sleep with them, play with them, comfort them, take care of them, etc. I was blessed to have the most wonderful little dog growing up. His name was Whitney and he was a Cockapoo that we got when I was about 13. Whitney was the runt of the litter, a tiny white dog with black spots, and absolutely the sweetest heart of any animal I've ever encountered. Whitney lived to be 20 and gave our family 20 years of love, laughs, and joy. I still miss him. (Sorry, dad, I know that was tough to read.)

Anyway, so what about Josie you ask? Well, first of all, Josie is 16-17 years old and most of the time could care less about Katelyn. Secondly, Josie is pretty sickly & may not be with us much longer. I have spent over a $1,000.00 in the last month trying to find out what's wrong with my sweet little kitty. And even though Josie doesn't have much use for Katelyn, Katelyn really loves Josie. I know Katelyn's heart will break when Josie passes, as will mine. Even more reason for Katelyn to get a new pet. Right?!!

So, Mike, since I know you read my blog from time to time, I'm just gonna lay it on the line and tell it to ya straight up: You're seriously dropping the ball on this one Chief! Katelyn is little now, but she won't always be. NOW is the time to get her a special friend, a pet she can grow up with. NOW is the time to make her dream come true. NOW is the time to give her her heart's desire. So here's the deal: When Josie does finally go to heaven, something I accept will happen sooner rather than later, I WILL get Katelyn a new pet. I would love to get her a dog, but if that is still absolutely out of the question, then we will be getting a new kitty and possibly more than one. I would really love it if you came on board with me, so that Katelyn can grow up with the memory that BOTH of her parents made her dream come true. It's your decision now, Chief, because my mind is already made up!