So unlike me.

I don't usually leave the house this messy. (At least for this long.)

I don't usually ignore my grocery shopping responsibilities.

I don't usually make you go this long without an exciting blog post detailing the children's end-of-school festivities.

I don't usually let the first day of summer go by without paying at least some attention to the kids.

I don't usually buy a plane ticket to California and then leave the next day.

I don't usually cry so much. And by cry I mean breath-taking sobs.

But then again, I don't usually see pictures of my grandmother's frailty.

I don't usually feel the urgent need to see her one last time.

So, as usual, the family gathers during difficult times. Both sides of it.

As usual, I have great friends and family who are willing to pick up the slack.

Around here, it seems crazy is the new normal.

See you in Cali.

He remembered; I forgot

Andrew was chosen to recite a poem at his school's Memorial Day ceremony in remembrance of those who have lived and died for our country.




I forgot to post it until now.

We're goin' back to Cali.

It's been three years since all of us have hit up the West Coast.  We decided it was high time we make the trek.  But this was not going to be just a simple flight out and back, oh no.  We decided to make things as complicated as possible.  Let me try to lay it out for you:

1. Chattertons drive to California.
2. Chattertons bring Grandma back with them.
3. Brooke flies to California with Grandma for a week of one-on-one time.
4. I fly out to California with the other three kids.
5. Glenn flies out to California a week later.
6. All six of us fly back to Cleveland together.  By this time, its August.

Can you figure out how many separate plane reservations that amounts to?  FOUR.  (Just trust me on this one.) One of which involves booking a child by herself.  Just a bit nerve-wracking, I must say.

And of course, things have changed just a little since the last time I booked 6 tickets. First there's the price.  A "good" price on a ticket is about $100 more than it used to be.  The good deals are all online, and if I want to book with an actual person who can do all four reservations for me at once thereby guaranteeing that my 9-year-old daughter is indeed on the same flight as her grandmother, I have to pay an extra $25.  I already have to pay that much for every bag I check (something else that is new), so of course I try for the online booking.

I get two computers going so that I can be as efficient as possible.  I am loading the info into one computer for me and the 3 kids, for Brooke into the other.  My reservation goes through fine.  Orbitz is "unable to process" Brooke's.  I call the airline directly, as Orbitz suggests, who tells me to go to the airline's website and type in a different flight number.  Okay, yay, that works, but the price comes up as $800.  Yeah, that is not going to work for me.  Neither is the $500 that the agent sees on his screen.  I would really like to stick with the "low" price offered on Orbitz, so the agent transfers me to someone else.  As I am on hold, there is enough time for me to refresh the search, re-enter the information, and it all goes through. 

Big sigh of relief.

The other two reservations went through without a hitch, Mom has found discount tickets to the Monterey Bay Aquarium (favorite field trip destination of my youth), and our summer plans are set.

California, here we come!

Getting a little ahead of herself.

Just about eight years ago, it was time for kindergarten.  Emma and Leah may have been the children enrolled in the class, but one time meeting the teacher and we all fell in love.  The girls flourished under her loving care.  And little Miss Brooke?  All of three years old?  She was a little bit jealous of her older sisters. Everyday she would sit with them at the dining room table and insist, "I am in kindergarten!  Miss Z. is my teacher!  I have homework!"

Brooke hit the ground running and hasn't stopped since.

This week I was in the car with my three girls.  Emma and Leah, who are finishing up their two-year stint at the school Brooke will be moving on to in the fall, were detailing the secret lives of 6th graders. There was talk of locker searches, cell phone confiscations, texting at sleep overs, girls talking to boys (can you imagine???), and girls going with boys (no one could figure out what that one even meant).

After a slight pause in the conversation, I hear this from an eager little sister in the backseat--

"I want to go to Parkside."

All in good time, Brooke.  All in good time.

You can be pretty certain it's not going to snow anymore when...

...you're late for church because you can't stop sweating enough to put your makeup on.

But then again, you never know.

"Andrew, we're famous!"

~Glenn, after watching this clip.

Go to 7:40.  

See Andrew and his friends participating in the egg race.

See Glenn putting a backpack on.

See them very smartly staying indoors for the HUGE downpour.

 

Andrew's first Cub Scout Camporee, televised for all of Greater Cleveland (and now YOU) to see.

You say it's your birthday, it's my birthday too.

It may have been two months after the fact, but we all got in on Melissa's birthday with a girl's night out.

The storyline that is Grease may leave much to be desired, but come on. The music is awesome.

The career that is Taylor Hicks' may be slightly desperate, but that is no reason to not use him as an excuse for our girl's night.

A picture of our fabulous dinner may never have been taken, but we managed to snag a perfect stranger to snap one by the theater poster.

We may not get out much, especially together. Without kids. For dinner out. And to see a Broadway musical. But when we do, chang chang changity chang shoo bop, that's the way it should be.

Happy birthday, Miss!