Who said my baby could grow up so fast?

Today was Danny's "graduation" from preschool. They did the cap and gown thing and even though I thought it was a bit over the top, he looked absolutely ADORABLE. You all should be proud of me, I didn't even cry. I'm saving those tears for the first day of kindergarten. My parents went to the graduation and Danny was really happy they were able to be there.

Here is Danny walking to the area where they had all the kids sit and wait for their "diplomas." Not sure if you can tell from the picture, but that boy was POWER WALKING. Definitely a man on a mission. Either that or he was trying to outrun the heat. At 10 AM it had to be 90 degrees already! Gotta love summers in Sacramento!



The kids finally took their seats. I was surprised that they put Danny and his buddies all together in the front row. To give you an idea on how close they are, the teachers at the preschool have nicknamed them "the boy band." Maybe they thought that the kids would be less disruptive if they were next to each other? Either way, us moms had a good laugh about the teachers keeping the boy band together.

Here is the entire group of kids:



And a close up of the "boy band" (right to left is Danny, Nate, Jadon and Rider)



Danny was one of the first to be called up. Of course, I could only get a picture of the back of him as he decided to do that power walk thing of his again.



I did manage to get him to slow down enough for a picture with my parents



And one of him proudly displaying his "diploma"



He even stopped for a quick picture with his buddy Rider



And Rider's mom was nice enough to take a picture of me and Danny. (YIKES I look scary!)



Another shot of the "boy band" from left to right, Danny, Nate, Rider and Jadon



Danny showing off his graduation picture. Not sure if you can read it or not, but on the bottom it says "most talkative." Do they know my kid or what?



Posing for a picture with his teacher, Ms. Shannon:



Finally it was time to eat.



After lunch, Danny left for his weekend with his dad. I still can't believe that my baby is starting kindergarten. Man, I feel old.

Pathetic

I should be mad. But I'm not. Dan is literally a joke at the daycare. Both of us were there today for Danny's graduation (I can't believe he's going to kindergarten in August!). Dan and I were civil to each other both during and after the ceremony. After he left with the boys (it's his weekend) I went to talk to the principal about Jayden's move into the 3 year old room and find out when I need to get serious about this potty training thing I've been procrastinating on.

And that's when I found out....

Dan submitted paperwork to enroll Raith (Crystal's son) into daycare with Jayden. Now, Dan and I have gone round and round on this issue. Needless to say, I'm not on board. There are many reasons for this. First, Jayden is already having to share his daddy with this new child. Asking him to share his daycare providers just isn't right in my opinion. Second, on days where I pick up the boys, how will Jayden feel if daddy walks in, takes Raith and leaves him behind? Third, how awful would it be for everyone if it just so happened that Crystal and I showed up at the same time to pick up our kids?

Anyway, despite my concerns, Dan has submitted this paperwork. Luckily, the principal of the school told him that without express permission from ME she can't accept the application. Thank goodness for small favors. I already told them that if Raith started preschool there I would be finding alternative care for Jayden. I just can't do that to my little guy (and myself).

I was also told that on the paperwork he filled out, he listed himself as Raith's Step-Father. And from what I was told, everyone there thinks that's tacky to say the least. Considering our divorce is nowhere near complete (and they know this) they thought it was ridiculous that he was calling himself Raith's step father. They also told me that if Dan is calling himself Dad to her son, it's pretty obvious that the opposite is happening as well. It gave validity to my complaints about Crystal insiting my kids call her "mom."

The joys of having to deal with a stupid ex and his bimbo new girlfriend. Seriously, I should be mad, but honestly, I'm just embarassed for the two of them. Just proves the old addage - give someone enough rope and sure enough, they'll hang themselves.

This is what an extra hour of sleep gets me

My kids woke up extremely early today. I basically begged them to play for another hour because I was so tired. Waking up at 5:30 was not my idea of a great way to start the day. They actually let me sleep, but this is what I woke up to....



They even went so far as to take out all the clothes I had put away for Jayden.



But notice, THEIR room is immaculate!



Well, sort of....



I can definitely tell that Danny is MY child. Hiding the mess is much easier than actually cleaning it up. Yep, that's my boy!

Sometimes they can play nice....

So, after cleaning up the carnage from the previous post, I decided to take some photos as proof that my kids CAN occasionally play nice together.





I guess forming a united front against meanie mom for making them clean up their mess can also buy me a few moments of peace (as well as some silly faces).



The boys have also found a favorite hiding place. Considering all the toys that fall behind the bed and the ones they stash there for safe keeping, it's like a treasure hunt every time they crawl under there.



And they are happy, until Danny kicks Jayden out.



And then all bets are off.

Sunglasses

After the tantrum Jayden threw for getting kicked out from under the bed, everything went back to normal. The boys found a pair of sunglasses and told me that I needed to take pictures of them "looking cool."


First Jayden:







Then Danny:







And not to be outdone, finally Bondo, the dog:







I swear, that dog has the patience of Job.

Background

The old blog I had set up is now deleted. I hadn't updated it in a very long time. Some of the memories on there are still pretty painful. I figured it was best to start new, much like I've had to do with everything else in my life lately. Not that I'm complaining, sometimes a fresh start is really the best thing. After all I've found out about my soon-to-be-ex husband after he filed for divorce, I've come to view new starts as a really positive thing. Kind of like when we were kids and things didn't go right. We used to yell "do over!" and the game would instantly be reset. So, all these changes that are happening in my life is one giant "do over." I'm resetting the game and playing by MY rules now.

For those who may not know (and I doubt that there are many of you), my former husband filed for divorce on December 14. On the 17th, I discovered that he had moved in with his new girlfriend. She just happened to be a friend of mine. Make that a FORMER friend. I found out because I went through my credit card statements. Not only did he leave me for my former friend, he left me with a significant amount of debt and a plummeting credit score. Looking at the wreckage, I was seriously contemplating that "till death do us part" clause in the marriage vows, but quickly decided that he just wasn't worth the jail time. Or the effort.

I am slowly trying to get my life back on track. I have a new house (okay it's a condo, but it's mine), great friends, and incredibly supportive family, a wonderful job and two very adorable little boys. They're the best thing that came from my marriage. I remind myself of that on a daily basis because most days I still have a lot of hatred towards my ex for everything that has happened. I'm trying to get past that.

Our divorce was supposed to be finalized today - June 15th, that would be 6 months and a day from when he first filed. (Yikes, I just realized that!) My goal at this point is to have it finished by December. The way things are going, I'm not sure that will happen, but I'm trying to remain positive. We share custody of our two boys, but can't seem to come to any kind of agreement on the financial aspect. I don't think I should have to pay for gifts he bought his girlfriend on my credit, he doesn't agree. I guess it is up to a judge since neither one of us will budge on this issue.

This blog is going to be a mish-mash of my ramblings about the divorce process and an update on the kids because I've found that people usually ask about both. I get a lot of "how are the kids?" followed by "and how are YOU?" followed by "how has Dan been treating you"

So, the kids are great, I'm hanging in there and Dan is still a jerk.

And that's it in a nutshell.