Total Self Indulgence

Everyone has their vices, and this one is mine:

For years Baskin Robbins has brought out my favorite ice cream flavor in the summer, but the rest of the year it was nowhere to be found. But now, much to my delight, I can find my favorite flavor in the aisle of my local grocery store. And the bubble gum pieces are just soft enough that you can eat them, but not the right consistency to actually chew them as gum. Just perfect. And mine - all mine.

If I were to leave

This is one of those weird little things that you never really think about. What happens to your online "life" after you die? I recently suffered a "loss of my family" as it were - the scrapbook company that I've worked for for the past four years went under, and our online message board was going dark hours after the announcement was made that they were shuttering the company. A plea went out to the higher ups, and fortunately they heard our call. They left the forums open for several more days (instead of five hours or so) and we were able to connect again elsewhere - where we could exchange offline contact info.

So what happens when you just up and disappear from your online life? Do your online friends hunt you up, or do they have a way of contacting you? For the most part mine don't. When I leave I left folks know, and when I return they welcome me back. But if I were to leave suddenly that would be it - I would just disappear into thin air. There would be no more online Suzie, and no way for folks to contact me. I would simply vanish. My husband doesn't know all of my passwords, but I'm sure he can figure a few out. But the bigger question is can he find out where I've been online - can he hunt up those sites that I regularly post at / participate in to let them know that I'm no longer going to? My mom had the benefit of knowing that she was going to pass away in advance of her actual death, so she let her online friends know and they all said their good-byes before she left. But aside from sharing your login info with a trusted friend, or registering for one of those sites that send out a message upon your death / when you haven't checked in / if you were to really disappear, how would your online world know that something happened to you?

"MOM!!!!! Sam said the P WORD!!!!!"

Good lord. I get this all the time now - really - all day - every day. They are testing boundaries big time. They complain about The P word, but also the S word, the D word and now the middle finger. Yes, the middle finger. But first let's talk about the P word. "Pee" - you know, the stuff that your body doesn't need - the pee that goes into the potty? Yes, for some reason my kids think that it's a bad word. So, today we talked about the difference between impolite words - pee, poop, etc. - and words that I never want to hear from their mouths. After briefly explaining the difference and getting some acknowledgement that they were not only listening but that they understood, Max says "So I saw in the dictionary - at least I think it was a dictionary. You know the one where it has the words with the same meanings?" "You mean a thesaurus?" "Yes, so it was right next to the word for donkey. And it starts with an A." "Well, Max, the only time I want to hear that it when we're at the zoo and a grown up is saying it. But never from you - coming out of your mouth - that's a bad word." We are supposed to hit up the zoo over Spring Break, and you wanna take bets on whether or not he tells his brothers what that word is?

Sigh...I'll tell you about the middle finger another day.

WAAAAY back in the 90's...

...I graduated from high school - 1990 to be exact. It was the year of big hair, cool music, Seindfeld, the Simpsons, NC-17, the Hubble, GoodFellas, $.025 stamps, and the end of Jim Henson, master of all things Muppets. It was also:



And now, we are approaching my 20 year reunion - the planning has begun. Weird. Twenty years out of high school. Does this mean I'm officially a grown up?

Let's Blow Someone Up

If you live in the Washington DC area you know how bad traffic can get. One of the ways that officials here have decide to ease those painful commutes is to create High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes. Over the next bazillion years they will be tearing up and moving/replacing/reconfiguring roads, bridges and overpasses, and ramps. They are also removing tress, shrubs, and other vegetation, but that's another story.


We were driving home from the bus stop - across one of these bridges that is now under construction (our bus stop is outside the beltway and we live inside the beltway). Ian, one of my 6 year olds, asked why they were doing construction. I explained about the new roads to ease traffic, the idea of the toll lanes, and explained how many folks you had to have in your car to not have to pay on those lanes. He piped up and said "What if you blow someone up in the car?" At first I thought he meant that he would blow folks up - you know - make them explode, and this concerned me greatly. So hoping that he meant something else completely I asked him - did you mean blow them up like a balloon? "Yes, if you had a blow up person then you could ride in the lanes for free." Ahhh..yeah. We immediately went on to discuss the ramifications of breaking the law and what not, but I really thought it was funny that at six years old he is already trying to find ways to break the rules...sigh...

No. He. Didn't.

"Can I take off my shirt and be dirty?"

No, this didn't come out of Tom's mouth (I know - shocking isn't it!). It came from...

wait for it...

Ian.

Yes, my six year old. And I have no idea what he meant. I didn't ask, and after I stopped laughing I told him no. As did his dad. And no - he wasn't allowed to take off his shirt and be dirty either if you were wondering.

Sad News

For a few years now I've been following the blog of a woman who was married to a man who has fought brain cancer for the past 12 years. Yesterday he lost that battle and left behind his wife, two young boys, plus loads of good memories. She took a few minutes to reach out to me when I wrote about the anniversary of my mom's death, so please take a minute to read some of their story here. And if you have some spare change lying around, click on the image below to contribute to the boys' college fund and help support Angie as she goes through this.

Teaching your little sister how to make zerberts

And about 20 seconds in all the boys' hard work comes to fruition:

How to make your sister laugh

Maniacal laughing from Sam apparently does the trick:

Little Miss Pigtails

Check out Little Miss Pigtails! She is sitting up, looks absolutely adorable, and even comes after the camera (then laughs as I almost drop it)! Smart kid - goes right for the electronics!

Ian the Soccer Monster

Indoor soccer is so very cool, and Ian is ROCKING it this year! He was all over the court and he loves every minute of it. He's all about defense in outdoor soccer, but he's really turned it up indoors and he has scored a few goals in these games! He's here in the green striped shirt - watch him take out their goalie who is a whole head taller than he is (I promise no opposing goalies were harmed in the filming of this video):

My new PINK website!

Well, the scrapbook company that I've been with for four years now has gone under (as have a bunch of others in these tough economic times). So, i took this as an opportunity to create a new, fresh website that's ALL ME! There are no longer any branding requirements, no rules or regulations on what content I have on there (or don't have on there), so I ran with it! Right now I'm in transition, so this is just a page that mainly has contact info, and it will be updated as I decide how to move forward, but here it is: ScrappersEdge

Take a peek and tell me if you like th style - it's all me!

It's the BLOB - and it's taking over my car!

Not really the blob - but it did take over my car! We got the boys three bright red bean bags, but we also had a van full of strollers, car seats, and family members, so the only place to PUT said bean bags was on top of our eldest! And you can see from the picture that he was suffering greatly:

And now the boys can sit/drape/plop/relax/lean/flop on the bean bags instead of the floor. But we did have to institute Bean Bag Rules:

1. No hitting your brother over the head with the bean bag.
2. No throwing the bean bag.
3. No smothering your brother with the bean bag.
4. No kicking the bean bag.

Otherwise, they are free to bean bag!

Baby Girl Hat Hair

Take one baby, add lots of curly hair, a cute winter hat, then take it off. What you end up with is this:

One happy little girl!

Lucy's Snow Angel

Go Charlie Brown!

Known around these parts as Sam, Sam, the Football Man:>

SNOW!!!!

IT SNOWED...and snowed...and snowed...and snowed...

Over the course of two days it snowed between 6-8 inches. All in our yard, of course. Seems like the rest of the world just fell off and disappeared. I love that feeling - it was beautiful, quiet, bright, and cold. And I was so excited that when I dragged out of bed that morning at 6:45 I couldn't go back to sleep. I took pictures, watched the trees bend under the weight, watched the plows run by, watched the snow fall silently on the landscape, and most of all just took it all in. There's something so peaceful about snow, and this is the most I've ever seen all in one spot as far as I can remember. I'm sure that at some point in my life I've seen more - as a kid visiting NY I did - but this was light-years cooler than any snow I've seen as a grownup. I just couldn't wait to take it all in. And neither could the kids:

The Great Stroller Chase

Right before Lucy joined our family, we received a lightweight stroller from a friend for free, and we were very thankful. I also have coveted one of those cool Jeep Strollers that has the steering wheel on it since when the little boys were born, but because there were two of them it just wasn't possible. So, I hunted one up on Craigslist and we were good to go - or so I thought. I have been using the big heavy Jeep stroller (it's almost a jogger but not really) because the strap on the lightweight stroller was so hard to undo that Tom wasn't able to get it unhooked. So he took a file to it and fixed that problem, and all was well again. But the first time I used it I ran into walls, took corners so badly the police came after me (and we were INSIDE the elementary school), and poor Lucy was jarred around so much that she even protested the stroller too. Seems that the way it was built was not conducive to a smooth ride, or even a slightly unbumpy ride - and that's on a flat surface like linoleum.

So our free stroller suddenly is a little less attractive (well, a LOT less for me but still holds something in Tom's mind - the free part is still there), and we are not on the hunt for a replacement stroller. But I can't just go out and BUY a new stroller - not after this score on the Jeep ($50 for a $120 stroller) and getting this little one for free. Oh, no, that's not true. I found the stroller I want, and I found it for a reasonable price (don't read that as good - it's just not free), and I'm getting it. But I still feel slightly guilty about the whole free stroller thing, so I'm going to pass it along, as it was passed along to me - for no cost. Maybe someone who isn't as picky as me will make good use of it. There's nothing wrong with the stroller itself - lots of folks have them, but I'm just a picky stroller mom I guess. So, I'm sending this stroller on to a better home. And over the next few days I need to decide if I want to pay $10 more for the cute animal print that is less likely to show dirt, or just to take one for the team and get the plain green and black version that I'm not particularly fond of (but costs $10 less). Sigh...big life decisions...

Drawing the parenting line

Do you catch yourself parenting other parent's kids? Do you ever find yourself in a situation where you are the only responsible adult in the area and feel an overwhelming need to correct another child? Well, I was. TWICE this past week, and a few assorted times over the past month (all at the same place). the first was when a little boy, maybe one or two, came up to my 7 month old and visited with her. Then he touched her shoe - cute with butterflies and all so I said "Those are butterflies," looked up and continued watching the soccer game. Ian and Sam were mid-game and I wanted to watch. Most kids get that message - after the grown up finishes polite time they wander off. But this kid chose instead to kick my daughter in the foot - an attempt to knock those butterflies off, perhaps, or an attempt to get my attention once again. I assume that the mom or dad of this critter would come over and apologize, but no. So I said "We don't kick babies. Do not kick my baby again." Not sure if he understood or even spoke English, but he got the message that the mommy of the baby wasn't happy and wandered off. Then a few minutes later a man came around with little critter in hand asking if I was his parent or if I knew where his parents were. Nice. Not even watching your 1-2 year old in a big huge indoor soccer facility. He was eventually returned to his folks and all was well. But it was my turn to parent him - no kicking babies.

The second incident was at the grocery store as I was walking out. There was a three year old little man climbing up the wall of water bottles at the front of the store as his mom was checking out. I had to walk past him to get out so I simple said to him "That's not a good idea." It wasn't loud, and it wasn't anything offensive, but ho chose to ignore me, freaked his mom right the heck out, and had the cashier walk away from her open cash drawer to make sure that he didn't hit the floor. In the span of the three or so seconds after I walked away, he climbed part way down and then all the way up. Seems that he did kind of listen and waited until I turned my head, then chose to head back on up because I was walking away. Should I have told the mom - she was about 8 feet away and I assume that she was paying attention to her kid, but no. I had to tell him - don't climb the big stack of water bottles.

The third incident that happened on and off over the past few weeks. One of the three year olds at the boys' gymnastics place has finally figured out how to open the door that leads out to the parking lot - all thanks to his six (or so) year old sister. She took the time one day to show him how to open the door, which was a very nice, thoughtful thing to do. The mom was right there when she did it and even complimented her on how nice she was being. Since then I have found one or both of them out in the parking lot of this gym about three times. Sometimes it's the little man all by himself, proud that he made it out there. Sometimes it's both of them standing or wandering around, the mom nowhere to be seen. So this time it's me telling the mom "I found your kids out int eh parking lot again." While she looks displeased, I'm not sure that she's taken any steps towards correcting this. The last time I saw the older sister outside I told her that she was not allowed outside without her mom, and that since she's older she needs to not let her brother out as well. She looked surprised by this info as if the mom never really mentioned to them that parking lots were dangerous. So it was my job to tell her - don't play in the parking lot.

At what point is it NOT my job to parent other people's kids? These were all safety related incidents, but I'm completely hands off on the politeness rules - that is unless I know you - then I demand it from you. None of these parents have gotten mad but it has happened in the past and at some point people need to stop being offended about other parents correcting their children - if someone sees my kids doing something unsafe I'd expect them to speak up. But I guess not everyone takes that approach. Oh, well, I was beginning to think that it did take a village, but apparently it's only a few folks in the village who need to be concerned - everyone else is on vacation.

One of THOSE weeks

Ever have one of those weeks where you can't catch yourself coming OR going? Ever had one of those weeks where you had to look at the calendar not once, but FOUR times each day to make sure you weren't missing something? Ever have one of those weeks where you barely catch a shower most days - if at all - but you don't care?

Well, I just did. And to top it off my nasty throat swelly thing came back last night. It's like the cherry on top of the sundae, except my sundae was filled with multiple doctor's appointments, new glasses, lunch, birthdays, parties, loads of cupcakes (some burnt ones as well), and gymnastics. Thank goodness soccer is only on the weekends right now and Miss Lucy hasn't started her round of activities, otherwise I might have lost it. Two days this week I had FOUR things on the calendar. Two days there were three things, so you see how my week went. Even managed to volunteer at school one day and have lunch with a friend. Guess I could have dropped those things, but that was my "fun" for the week.

So at what point does it get better - or is it all downhill from here? We've already dealt with two birthday parties and a soccer game in one day, as well as a party and a game at the same time. I've done back to back to back activities, all the while keeping the boys fed and for the most part, occupied.

And geez, this week was no heavier or lighter than any other week. I guess that the schedule just got ahead of me this go round. When you are a little under the weather (we are fixing that in case you are wondering - throwing some really heavy stuff at it to get rid of it) life seems to run right past you. Since tomorrow is Saturday, and we have no soccer or anything on my plate (Tom's got stuff going on but I'm not involved in that at all) I'm taking a day off. Off from running around, off from Mom's Taxi, off from Mom's baking company, and off from kid wrangling duty (if I can con Tom into taking that over completely).

These boys can dance!

Now, I didn't say they danced well, but they sure do dance! Sam first, then Max:




And yes, that's Max doing the Macarena - he learned it in PE. There's your education dollars at work!

Definitely a cool video

This is just a cool, cool video:

One can never have TOO many cameras

It's mine...ALL mine.

Let's not ask Tom how many cameras is too many - he's not really on the same page as me on this one. One, maybe two cameras works for him. I guess he thinks that I collect cameras like some women collect shoes...or purses. I only have a few cameras. Really - a few. And now I have one more. This is my new "purse" camera. It lives right into my purse and takes a MUCH better picture than my first Canon Digital Point and Shoot that I paid a whopping $700 for way back when they first came out - and htis one was only $139 on sale! Anyway, it's mine and I'm all smiles.

A most successfuly party indeed!

The little boys turn six this week, and today was their Super Mario Party. Initially they wanted to have the party here at home, but sanity is my main priority these days, and that would have pushed me completely over the edge. So, we rented the gym and a party room at the local community center and had our party there. The kids had a blast. We played smash the balloons to get the coins, a small version of skee-ball, pin the fireball on Mario, and a slightly different version of musical chairs (run by Max - thanks dude!). And we did make all the kids wear mustaches! Amazingly not a single one objected! Then off to the party room for coloring pages and cake and ice cream. A success all the way around!

The mustached party group

Sam playing skee-ball

Smash the balloons and grab some coins!

Ian playing pin the fireball on Mario

Suzie and Tom wearing those darn mustaches

Happy 6th Birthday Boys!

I am serving store bought cupcakes.

Yes, There, I said it - store bought. There's only so much you can do to prepare for a party for a bunch of five and six year olds that you are hosting at a rec center. It's not the bouncie place or the pool or the gym. They don't have activities planned - it's a total DIY kind of thing. So the cupcakes? Well, they slipped and I'm fine with it. There's a relief in knowing that the party is at 2pm tomorrow and all i need to do is grab some ice cream cups and the cake from the store. And yeah, those cupcakes. That's mainly in case we have a few extra kids show up.

But while I sit here reveling in the fact that I'm ready to go tomorrow (all the games are even bagged separately). Tom is downstairs fighting with little parts and pieces of two bikes. Yes, we got bikes for the boys for their 6th birthday - seeing as how we used parts of their old bikes to fix a stroller back in November, it was about time. So I'm off to see if Tom needs any help getting those bikes together, but from all the banging and crashing it sounds like he's well on his way.

#2 Son is Down!

Did you know that we number our kids? Well, at least when we refer to them with each other we number them. Max is #1, Ian #2, and Sam #3. And the last two? Well, they are only those numbers because (as we tell them) they yanked out Ian first after they cut me open. Nice thing to say? Sure - boys dig that kind of stuff - just ask them how they were born.

Anyway, Ian stayed home sick today from school. He spent most of the day either asleep on Tom's side of the bed (as Tom says so that HE can get sick now) or playing with his DS or his sister. But he wasn't really really sick, just a little sick. He's the kind of sick that you-might-have-gone-to-school-if-it-wasn't-two-days-before-your-6th-birthday-party kind of sick. I want him to be 100% so he can enjoy his party - because missing his own birthday due to an illness just bites. So he spent the day hanging out with me, running interference for me with Lucy so I could get some extra laundry done, and sleeping. Oh the life of luxury. Hopefully tomorrow he'll be in better shape.

Still No Teeth

But we are hoping that they will make an appearance here soon. Between the drool and the lip this little one is ready for those teeth. Not sure she can suck that bottom lip in any more!

Should I Be Concerned?

The past few days there have been a lot - literally dozens - of unmarked police cars in our immediate neighborhood (if you can really call it that - but that's a different story). About a week ago I say a good 10 or so unmarked cars within eight blocks of my house and all within about 5 minutes. I wonder if someone important moved into the area and this is their protection, or if something big went down here and they are still around picking up the pieces. Not really sure what branch of government they are from - some have uniforms, some just have the cars with hidden lights, etc., but they are still driving around here and it makes me nervous. You'd think that with this many law officers I'd be more relaxed about it all, but seeing them all the time makes me wonder who my neighbors are.

Valentine's Day takes a different twist this year

I'm not a big Valentine's Day person - haven't actually written about it before, but I don't want to spend it by myself in an emergency room. Unfortunately that's just what I did this year. Remember those allergy tests, and that getting sick? Well, they all hit home and my throat decided that it was done with it all and swelled right up. I could breath just fine but I couldn't swallow, so I headed into the closest place that was open on a Saturday afternoon. Seems that the local stand alone ER was the place that fit the bill. And yes, I drove myself. Four kid and a bunch of life later I realized that I wasn't going to expire, but that I needed to have someone take a look and there was no need to drag the whole family down there. Tom stayed home with the kiddos and all was well with them, and they were none the wiser to what was going on.

And all was well with me in my stand alone ER (what a cool concept - no hospital but all the features of a regular ER!) - they even had bull riding on when I walked in the door. I was seen very quickly after I was triaged (only got to see two riders go - it was that quick) and then the trouble started. By this point I hadn't eaten anything in a good eight hours, and then it was only a really small something that I ate - pancakes. Apparently I hadn't been drinking enough so I was dehydrated. And let me tell you - when you are somewhat dehydrated and have also just had allergy testing done, your skin and blood vessels roll up the welcome mat and go on vacation. Something about not wanting to be pricked any more - can totally understand that one. But the result is a horrible, horrible image - me the human pin cushion:

What you can't see clearly is that I also have holes on the inside if each elbow joint. That's the first two that this nice young man did before fleeing and claiming that he'd never had this much trouble. (I was claiming that I hadn't either, which was true - not so sure about this side of the story!) The second nurse that came in tried her best to hit the big veins in my arms - and they not only didn't take, but once they removed the needle they left lovely BIG HUGE welts on my arm, and now big bruises. Then she tried the left hand and finally settled on the right hand - with a teeny tiny butterfly needle. So I was getting fluids, had some x-rays taken, and then a doctor peeked down my throat with a rather long stainless steel instrument to see whatever she could see. and all she saw was a very irritated throat. So, they loaded me up with a steroid, filled me full of fluids, and deemed me fit for duty. Took the steroid a few hours to work, but by the time I got home I was in much better shape. So I spent a good five hours at the stand alone ER on Valentine's Day, and I don't have allergies.

Crazy Hair Day 2009!

Seeing as how we've done this before, and even had some recent practice with Sam, we knew that we had to top off last year's crazy hair day with something fantastic. And these kids drove me right out of my comfort zone and into Clipper Mama land! They are terribly creative and thankfully I was able to ge them to crank around their ideas into something I could actually do:

What you can't see is that Ian also has stripes on the back of his head. He wanted dots, but I have no idea how to get those clippers into a circle. Both he and Max are shaved down where their spray is, and I think that both Sam and Max still have color on their scalp three days later! It just doesn't scrub off that easily...and honestly who knows how much scrubbing they really do. Anyway, we beat out our own expectations this year, so we are going to have to go over the top next year.

Allergy Free!

Believe it or not, I do not have allergies. Well, a little allergy to dust, but otherwise nothing. And after all this going on about my having to move again to get another pass at that " allergy honeymoon." Yeah, right, no allergies. At least that's what the test showed. Tom thinks otherwise, and honestly, I'm no doctor, but there's something floating around that really ticks my nose off. So, back to the drawing board. Was told it might be a "sensitivity." Really, now, a seasonal sensitivity? Come on folks, at some point you have to throw in the towel and admit that it's an allergy, or not. My body doesn't like pollen - never has. I spent most of September - March in Texas surrounded by allergy meds and tissues. So at some point something has to give, and it's not going to be me. So, doctor #2 sent me to allergy nurse #1 with all FORTY of her needles and pricky things and I came up negative. Not sure where to go now - no one seems to know exactly how to fix this. Supposedly it's my nose overreacting - but we've heard that before. For now I'll just hang tight until I can figure out next steps, but apparently I'm allergy free!

Superbowl Party!

So what do you do when the Superbowl is on? Why, you have a PARTY of course! We grabbed the best Halloween plates (yes, I said Halloween), and brought out the Taco Tuesday tacos (yes, I know that it was Sunday), and of course decorated football cookies with purple icing (in the kitchen it looked a little more brown). Add these all together and you have yourself a grand old Superbowl Party!!!!

*And what a game it was!

Teething Bites

In case you were wondering:

Teething really does bite.

Being sick just ain't fun.

I think the title says it all. I've come down with a old once again. At some point over the past five months my body decided that it was done with it's Virginia honeymoon and is now allowing each and every pollen it the state to enter my body and piss it off. Sorry about the language, but it's true. That's exactly how my body feels - pissed off. And to top it off, I've lost my voice just about every time I've had a cold over the past five months. If you count it up that's FIVE TIMES total. Yes, my kids LOVE that mom can't holler, and my lovely husband really appreciates the fact that his loud-talker wife has to tone down the volume. He mentioned that at least twice today...snot. Anyway, I'm sick.

In case you are wondering, last time I got sick I dragged into first doctor in search of a magic cure, and instead got sent to second doctor. Apparently you aren't supposed to lose your voice just because you catch a cold. Sheesh - who said that my body follows any directions in the first place???!!! Anyway, first doctor sent me off to second doctor, and second doctor is sending me for allergy testing. Yeah, second doctor is sending me to my doom. Last time I was tested I was middle school age (or around there - it's all fuzzy) and I hit the lottery of allergies. I popped positive to pretty much everything that was native to Texas, including beer and football. Seriously, I was a mess of allergies. They gave me shots, I got better, and I finally got some sense and had a come to Jesus talk with the non-cooperative body. Now you can kick these allergies, right? The body, well, I did mention that it was non-cooperative, it said no. The meds continued until I fled the state at 19 to brighter pastures. Sunnier beaches, actually. Then back and forth in and out of a few places and I find myself here in Virginia for 2.5 years. It will be three years next month and according to second doctor that's the length of the free pass we are given upon arrival in this new state. So, the game of allergy lottery begins again. Honestly though, once we get this under control my hubby will lose his sultry voiced wife and get back the loud-talker, and the kids will have no place to hide from mom, but my throat won't hurt and the cough will go away for good. Or at least I hope.

Dance Varmint!

Gotta love a cat who dances! Go Bunsen, Go Bunsen!

When my TV worlds collide

If you have been alive at all in the past 19 years you've at least heard of the show Law & Order. If you haven't seen a single episode then you may not get the funny in this at all, but Robot Chicken really hits the nail on the Law & Order head here:



This might just replace Weasel Stomping Day...well, nah. That one still wins, but Chicken Detectives sure is funny!

Minivans as far as the eye can see

Also known as the Kiss and Ride line at school

Girl hair?

So at some point along the way a decision has to be made by every parent of a girl what to do with their hair. Well, being the mom of three boys (and basically being given free "hair reign" up until this point) I am at a total loss. This is how we've solved hair problems in the past:

But somehow I'm thinking that this won't fly with Lucy. She's...well...she's a girl and I'm pretty sure that I shouldn't go anywhere near her with those clippers. But BOWS? Well, OF COURSE! I'm from Texas after all, you know, land of the big hair and even bigger bows? Well, maybe my upbringing in Texas should have something to do with Lucy's hair - and maybe the bigger the better. Well, yeah, maybe not today - big Texas hair is not the "in thing" right now. So back to the question - what the heck DO you do with a beautiful baby girl's curly curly head of hair???!!!???

Drool...drool...

Cute purple shirt, meet teething baby:

SNOW!!!

It came really late in the season, but we finally got some snow that stuck! Unfortunately it was really cold and overcast, and since the kid shave been sick so much this winter I didn't even consider letting them outside to play...and they were bummed. Not quite the worst mom even, but not letting your kiddos play in the soft fluffy whiteness? Yeah, not scoring any cool mom points there. Anyway, it was Lucy's first really snow as well, so the boys sat down with her to explain what was going on:

But now it's freezing rain, sleet, and snow that is coming down, which means that it's not only nasty out now, but it's also very dangerous. Hopefully school will be cancelled in the morning so we don't have to venture out, but if not we are parked at the TOP of the driveways, which has been shovelled off, and our wiper blades are UP! Hopefully though we will be able to sleep in in the morning and not wrapping up in all kinds of warm clothes and heading out. Keep your fingers crossed!

The FUNNIEST Version of Star Wars Yet

As told by some girl who has only seen bits and pieces:


Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

And you thought you knew who was in charge here

From the outside looking in, it would appear that the grown ups are in charge around here. But that's not the case. And no, it isn't the kids either. It's this little fellow:

Bunsen is the master of all things comfy, keeps tabs on everyone all of the time, and wants in on all of the action. Except of course when it's nap time. Then he finds the most comfy spot and makes it his - whatever that spot may be, and whomever it might actually belong to. Bunsen certainly THINKS he is in charge here, and he's so soft and snugly we'll let him keep thinking that.

Wreaking Havoc

Max got a very cool toy from Santa this past Xmas - an Air Hogs Helicopter. And one of the firs things he did was try to land it on his brothers. He managed to land it on Sam once, but he continued chasing Ian with it - and Ian loved every minute of it.





Never thought I'd have to tell a kid not to land his helicopter on his brother...we'll chalk that one up to having boys.

It's Here. It's Finally Here.

I can't believe that I am all of 10 miles away from this momentous occasion, yet I didn't think once of going into town because of all of the problems - freezing weather, closed bridges and roads from Virginia, only 5000 port a potties, a million of my closest friends. But I am beside myself excited that we are getting a new President tomorrow. And what a man we are getting. So instead of clinging to the idea that I'd get a peek of the newest President of the US on one of the giant TV screens that they'll have down on the Mall, I'll hang out with my kids and some friends enjoying the inauguration and the parade from the comfort of home. So all of you brave folks heading into town tomorrow - stay warm and stay safe. And do remember - everyone - that we are witnessing history in the making.

He Gets It

"Good thing that today is a holiday - Martin Luther King was a very important man." -Max

Little man, if you only knew how true that statement was...

So how did YOU find me?

One of my favorite bloggers wrote this great year's end summary in a slightly different way than I've seen it before. I thought I'd run with it out of curiosity and found a few interesting things about my own blog. Stimey summed up 2008 by looking at Google search terms that landed folks at her blog, and she found some doozies. So here's my list (and thanks Stimey for the idea!!!):

Special brownie recipe - Let's see, I found a funny joke, but not the kind of brownies that those folks were looking for, I'm pretty sure.

Brother sister confessions - Yeah, nice picture of kids hands - not really sure what these folks were shooting for here.

Two people were actually looking for me. Imagine that - stumbled across my blog (and also a few other websites that I show up on)

"cats are gross" - Well, that one's self explanatory...and true. Hope they enjoyed the cricket legs.

Toilet bowl building - Now why on earth would you be looking for THIS building on my website?

Accident cart down escalator bed bath and beyond - OOO. Sounds like it might hurt - but it really didn't happen here.

Confessions of a business woman - I guess this is more on the level...then again probably not.

Confessions of a call woman - A CALL WOMAN? Now come on...that's just strange.

Cornhole definition - Well, this one is plainly my fault. Now we all know what it means.

Gross cats - Yeah, they are still gross further down my list.

Mad croc - no, not an angry toothy green critter, but gum that came in a weird stay up all night pack for gamers.

I need someone to make a scripted phone call for me - Sorry. Can't help you there.

Pneumonia and vacation - Hope that you didn't have it while ON vacation, because one of my kids did have it and he took a mini-vacation that just wasn't any fun.

Santa is not a woman - Now, I'm not 100% sure, but I've been told my whole life that Santa isn't a woman. Not sure how this got them to my blog, but I'm glad to confirm their suspicions.

Smallest jar - My little bitty is full of mustard. What's your full of?

Stove fire - Yeah, that was all on me. And sadly there were three posts about it: 1, 2, and 3

Oxyclean was a favorite last year apparently. Folks were looking for oxyclean on the mattress, the oxyclean man, oxyclean blood (it really does work) and the odd oxyclean ceiling, and they all found me. Wonder what they have on their ceiling that they need to get down? We got dry erase out of carpet, and blood out of all kinds of stuff in the middle of the night. And for the person searching for oxyclean on the mattress? Well, it works on that too.

And of course folks looking for well behaved women, well behaved women buttons, and asking the question "i am so well behaved, i am not?"

When were woman first allowed at school - Why are you asking me and how on earth would I know?

Why cats are gross - I guess lots of other folks think cats are gross too.

And to those looking for ceiling art, a floppy hat, or the phrase born in a barn, well, they are all here too.

And last but not least, my favorite message from my computer - my old computer: You do not have permission to shut down and restart this computer. Yeah, my absolute favorite.

Having an older brother isn't all bad

Well, at least not right now. When she's 14 Lucy may think otherwise, but having three big brothers right now really keeps her entertained.



And makes mom smile...

Wow. Just wow.

The first headline reads: "All Safe After Jetliner Crashes" Amazing - simply amazing. Not only did the pilots manage to make a split second decision after they lost both engines, but they made a decision that saved the lives of all 150 people on board, plus countless numbers on the ground. They landed on the Hudson River.

Don't know who you are, but KUDOS to you for doing your job, and doing it well. You are a fine, fine pilot and should know that you are definitely appreciated.

And to all of those passengers who didn't panic - even when you were told to prepare for a "hard landing" - way to go. You are a smart bunch that contributed highly to your own well being here.

If you haven't already seen it on TV, take a minute to look at the pictures and you will be as amazed by this as I am. I'm not calling it a miracle, but I sure will heap praises upon everyone involved for the good jobs they did - from the crew to the passengers to the passing boats who helped to the FDNY.

Baby TV

It's like having your own cable channel full of people you know:

With your own comfy seat:

And they know all the right moves to crack you up:

Max's Violin

One of the cool things about going to a magnet school for arts and sciences is that the third graders get to learn to play the violin. After a full semester of learning all about the violin, learning how to take care of their violin, and learning the basics of reading music, the kids got to bring their violins home. Max was gracious enough to let me film him...



Sorry for the wiggles- I was serving as videographer as well as music stand. Guess we'll need to fix that second part. You'll notice that he's not using a bow yet. Sounds like the teacher wants to preserve her sanity and take things slowly. Then again she's like 11 months pregnant, so there may not be much of that left at this point. Anyway, not knowing anything about the violin I assume that they continue on with this until they get a decent feel for the strings and finger placement before they even introduce the bow. Hopefully we can maintain our own sanity when the bow comes home. As it is we have a violin AND a recorder at home that needs to be practiced every day...yeah..BOTH every day.

But, max is playing splendidly now, and we hope that he enjoys it. I think it's cool...but then again I'm his mom and pretty much everything he does is cool.

One little, two little, three little monsters!

I made these! Now pick you jaw up off the floor - I had a pattern, some directions, and a sewing machine. The first is for a friend who was under the weather, the second two are for Lucy and me, and the last three are for Sam, Ian, and Max. The boys got to pick out their own material, pick their teeth, tongue, horns, etc., and look what WILD monsters they have! The Wild Things certainly live here!

Happy Birthday Ma'am!

You are 6 months today and you couldn't be happier. We couldn't be happier that we are celebrating this milestone with you! Congrats on your first half year, and we look forward to spending many many more with you!

So instead of a cake, you decided to celebrate your birthday by sitting up on your own! You are still a little wobbly, but we'll count this as it was all you and it was completely unsupported! Happy Birthday Lady!

Pooping Glitter

If you are easily offended, then don't click through to read the rest of what The Blogess wrote about Disney. As a matter of fact, stop reading now, because it will quickly go downhill. I live with four boys and a baby now, so nothing, NOTHING really grosses me out these days.

Anyway, if you know me at all you know I simply adore Disney - all things Disney (although I've given up on the clothes recently realizing that they aren't very flattering, but that's a different discussion). I was recently reading some back posts from one of the many blogs I read, and one I particularly like - something about her blatant honesty and totally foul sense of reality that just rings true with me - and I ran across her wonderful idea:

"6. If I ran Disney World I’d make all the restaurants fill their hamburgers with glitter so later you’d actually poop glitter and it would be a magical surprise. "

It's so...Disney. I'm not sure what else to say than - WOW!

*Grin*
*Grin*

Oh, sweet day!

Texas rallies past Ohio State 24-21 in Fiesta

By ANDREW BAGNATO, AP College Football Writer 11 minutes ago

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP)—Colt McCoy hit Quan Cosby for a 26-yard touchdown with 16 seconds to play, lifting third-ranked Texas to a 24-21 Fiesta Bowl victory over No. 10 Ohio State on Monday night.
The Buckeyes nearly pulled off the upset behind quarterbacks Terrelle Pryor and Todd Boeckman but instead went down to another disappointing bowl loss.
McCoy, the Heisman Trophy runner-up, calmly led the Longhorns 78 yards in 11 plays and 1:42 without calling a timeout. On the touchdown, Cosby caught a short pass, slipped a tackle and sprinted toward the goal line before diving into the end zone.
The Longhorns (12-1) rebounded after Ohio State (10-3) had taken a 21-17 lead on a 15-yard run by Dan Herron with 2:05 to go.

Inauguration Tickets!

Said with the most serious look on his face:

"So we get front seats to the inauguration, right Mommy?" said Sam.

Nice to know that they think I can work miracles...if only they knew that getting those tickets and getting the family there were a miracle.

Terrible TERRIBLE Movie

And the worst part? We wasted a perfectly good evening watching this atrocity: The Day The Earth Stood Still. Trust me on this one - NOT WORTH YOUR TIME. I have a VERY high tolerance for bad or cheesy or terrible movies, and this one, well, don't go see it. Don't even bother renting it. It's like Battlefield Earth kinda bad. Well, that may be a bit harsh, but I can't convey to you how unimpressed we both were with this movie. (Tom wanted me to tell you that even if the lead actress shed some clothes it still wouldn't have improved the movie.) And to think there are all KINDS of good movies out that we could have seen instead. Or we could have stayed home and cleaned the toilets with our toothbrushes...OK harsh again. The movie was so bad I took the liberty of swearing as we drove out of the busy Friday night mall traffic filled parking lot. Oh well, we'll chalk this one up to...well, nothing. Let's walk away and pretend this didn't even happen.

I am NOT on Facebook

Someone asked me AGAIN the other day if I was on Facebook. At this point I've been invited by a bunch of friends, and told by many more people that I need to be on there. Yeah. I need to be on Facebook like I need another hole in my nose. Maybe an extra arm would be helpful, but not another hole in my nose. Anyway, I almost feel like I'm the last person on the planet who isn't on Facebook, but oh, well, thus is life. I'm chalking this one up to the fact that technology is really starting to pass me by. Guess my internet enabled phone, my wireless home network, or my TIVO just aren't enough any more. I carry a digital video camera in my purse, find directions to places on my cellphone, and am continually online, but Facebook just isn't for me. It's not that I don't want to catch up told friends - that would be great. But catching up to hundreds of old friends and making new ones in the process? Who has the time? I have four kids at home and fill my days with enough computer based things (this blog included) that I'm afraid my family would never see me if I joined Facebook. So, for now at least, and that may certainly change in the future, you won't find me on Facebook.

Happy New Year! Welcome 2009!

Tom just ran up two flights of stairs in his footed jammies

to give me a big old smooch! Can't beat that with a stick!!!