{Different Strokes for Different Folks}

I feel like I am pretty wordly, but since Ellie has started school, I am seeing more and more that I may actually live in a little bubble of sorts.  The kids have gone to school where I work all of their lives.  We beat our little path from the University to "the Sticks" every day.  On weekends, we go to church with people we have known several years and Biz and Tim, of course.

Socially, we have friends we've known for years, people we work with and of course neighbors.  And there's always family.  As evidenced this summer, I spend a large amount of my social time with my family.  My peeps.  Those who know all about me and love me, and mine, just the same.

So now Ellie has started school and we are  presented with new interactions with new people and new interests. And new ideas.  And for the record, I have always known these ideas were present, it's just that I haven't put myself or my family in situations with people who share these ideas because they are not common ideas.

This past Friday, I had a meeting with some other moms from Ellie's classroom to plan the "Holiday Party".  Now, just don't get me started on that term.  Because really, ya'll?  Really?  I don't hear anyone complaining about all the benefits of this "holiday" season.  But let's be real.  The "holiday" is CHRISTMAS.  The birth of my Lord.  OK?  Ok.  Like I said, I don't intend to rant.

So while at this little planning party, all the moms got to talking and a certain book came up.  One of the other moms was talking about this book and how horrible it was and she was telling us "DON'T buy it!"

So, I just listened.  (I really just listened!)  And she went on to tell that the book was about a moose and his adventures.  That other woodland creatures move into his antlers and on and on.  And then...are you sitting down?  Well, then there's a hunter.  With a gun.  (Not a slingshot or anything, a GUN.)  And the hunter wants to kill the moose.

I've heard that's what hunters do.  That's just what I heard...

So this mom goes on and on and on about how horrible the book was... and how she apologized to her daughter for buying it... and she had no idea what it was about... and that she never would have bought it... and how it was HORRIBLE.  Alrighty...

And I just sat quietly.

Because this is a picture of my living room:

And my kid has been known to wear this.

(Look at that smile.)

And in general, I am not passionate about convincing people who don't hunt that they need to.  I actually don't even try to convince people who won't eat venison that they should.  Because I really don't care.

The thing that got under my skin about the interaction was the idea that everyone at that table felt the same way this other mom did.  Because I don't.

And you can bet your bottom dollar that if it the subject comes up among Ellie's friends, she will think they have three heads when they say "hunting is bad"  "guns are bad"  or "killing animals is bad".

And to complete my rant.  Oh wait, did I say I wouldn't rant?  Well, let me complete it anyway.

To complete my rant, I just wonder if my family would be viewed as the "backwards", "closed minded" family.  Because guess what, ya'll?  It's not the case.  Well, not for me.

As I said, I do not care if this mom wants to feed her kid rubberbeans and grass.  Or seaweed and pondroots.  Just don't assume that everyone you are talking to feels the same way you do.  Because that, my dear friends, is closed-minded.

I think I'll email that mom and suggest she arrange to give Ellie that book for their classroom gift swap at the Christmas party! Cause, really, we would kinda love that book at our house!

BUT, but...here's where it kind of took me back...I kept my mouth shut.  Because I am not like that mom.  And I don't care what she does at her house or what her kids read.  It effects me in no way whatsoever.  And I guess we have entered the realm of our kids being exposed to things at school that are out of our control.

Who knew we'd start with lobbying against the NRA rather than learning cuss words???

And I guess when Ellie comes home and says "Soandso said that hunting is bad."  We'll just tell her that everyone has different opinions.

Ok, that's what I will tell her.  I can imagine her daddy will tell her to kick the kid in the knees and show them her rifle.  And he might even help her with her powerpoint presentation on "Why Hunting is Good and Being Vegan is Dumb".

But we're not closed minded.  Thank goodness for that.

***
I have to add some cute things the kids said this week because otherwise it may be forgotten into my distant memory.

One morning this week something was said about Jesus.  (And I really cannot remember what was said)  And Mason responded:  "Jesus?  I know him!  He's God's son!!"  Amen and A Men!

We watched "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" one night last week.  At the end, when the Whos get all their stuff back, Ellie looks at me and says "Jesus made that happen.  He did.  Because Christmas is about Jesus."  So evidently Jesus wanted the Whos to have their gifts and decorations.  She was very convinced of this fact.  But at least she (mostly) knows what Christmas is really about.  For that I am thankful!

{Merry Christmas!}

Ya'll get the privilege of being the first to receive that greeting from me this year.  Did you know I love Christmas?  Love it!  And I have finally gotten on the bandwagon of thinking that the Christmas season starts the day after Thanksgiving.  I mean, it's all so much fun, why not celebrate a little longer???  I am so excited about decorating the house.

In the spirit of Christmas and all the behavior management techniques it affords, we brought out the Elf on the Shelf for his second year in our household.  Do you know about the Elf?  He comes in a little gift package that happened to be delivered to my parents' house last year on Thanksgiving Day for Ellie and Mason.  In the package was a book, "The Elf on the Shelf", and the Elf himself.  The book explains that he is there to watch over things and report back to Santa.  Every night when the kids go to bed, he flies back to the north pole by way of "Christmas magic" and gives the Big Guy a report of the good and the bad.

This seems like a fun little idea, huh?  I mean kids certainly need MORE Christmas to go with all the other fluff, right?  Honestly, I don't know what I was thinking.  Do I not have enough stress without having to remember to move the damn Elf every night?

Then I rethought it.  My kids are only little once.  And with the way things are going, I honestly am not sure Ellie is going to believe in Santa and Elves for very long.  She has already informed me that she isn't completely buying this Elf thing.  She told me the second day that "He's just stuffed.  I don't see how he flies home."  To which I replied an indignant, "YOU THINK I WOULD LIE TO YOU???"

Does that make me a bad person?  I mean, it's a lie, right?  But it's a good lie.  Right?

Sometimes I am not sure if she just enjoys a good fantasy and plays along or if she really believes.  And I really don't remember having those thoughts until I was much older.  To her credit, I think she will at least play along for a good long while for Mason's (and possibly my) sake.

I somewhat expect Mason to get fed up with the Elf's reports and make the little guy mysteriously disappear.  Mason has entered the terrible threes.  His twos were actually a joy.  He's paying back now.  More on that later...But I do have to add, he is still the funniest kid I know.  This morning as we were walking into school he told me first he was galloping like a horse.  Then he started running and I said "Are you running like an antelope?"  He said "No!  I'm running like A CHILDREN!"

I was particularly pleased with my creativity regarding the Elf last night.  And I plan on making this Elf on the Shelf thing fun for myself this season.  (I know Brandon can't wait.)

Ellie is now convinced (and scared)that our toys come alive at night.  Mason was kind of miffed that Woody was in the Barbie Jeep.  

Next up:  A letter from Santa.  Oh and I'll be changing Biz's contact info in my phone to "Santa Claus" in case I need to text or call the Big Guy.  Merry Christmas, ya'll!

{A Review}

Obviously, I have been a neglectful blogger.  It just occurred to me that I didn't even post a sweet "Happy Birthday to my BABY!" blog.  You can look forward to that.  Better late than never.  That's kind of my motto.

So I am pretty much going to recap our life of late.  Hang with me.

***
The kids are great.  Ellie is doing very well in school.  She is taking tap class and loves it.  My mom and Miss Martha tell me she is doing really well.  I think my mom says this because she is her Nana.  I think Miss Martha says this because I am paying her.   I am going to look into piano lessons.

Mason is doing really well, period.  He loves school.  And horses.  He got about 5 million animal figurines and a barn for his birthday.  And he learned to play.  Praise the Lord and Howyalooyah.

***
Falling back is the best thing that happened to me today.  Waking Ellie in the morning is like disturbing a hibernating bear.  She hates waking up.  Her eyes never work.  The lights are too bright.  She's never really hungry.  She pretty much dislikes the entire world.

Today she came to my bathroom at 6:15.  That's a whole 30 minutes earlier than I normally go (try) to wake her.  She was all smiles.  Dare I say...giddy?  I am attributing this to the time change.  I am also ignoring the other possibilities for this change in mood, which are:  1.Mason spent the night with my parents last night 2. Today was pajama day at school and she didn't have to get dressed.  Obviously, the time change works for Ellie.

Mason spent the night with my parents.  My mom requested that he stay with them because it was "his turn".  I honestly never considered the fact that he would wake up at say...4 am.

***
I am ready for Christmas.  Mostly I am ready for decorating.  I am dreaming up all kinds of cute thing I am going to do to my house.  Here's hoping I actually get it done! And that Brandon can hang with it.

***
I want these boots.  Like real real bad.  I dream about them.  They are expensive.

And I read the blog of a certain Pioneer Woman who bought them and liked them so much, she bought another color at the same time.  What the heck?  Who can buy $600 worth of boots in a pop?

***
I finally got a few of the beach pics.  Here are a couple of my favorites.  I always think candid, unposed shots where no one really got ready for the picture are the best.

Everyone hanging on the couch

Bedtime story

{Halloween 2010}

Brandon said to me yesterday: "How I am supposed to know what's going on in my kids lives if you don't blog?"    Um, I think this indicates some serious communication issues in our marriage!

Our town celebrated Halloween yesterday.  I'm still not sure why.  Wouldn't Saturday have been a better choice?

I've spent seven years in our small community and in those seven years, I have never had a trick or treater.  So the obvious choice is to load the kids up and bring them "to town" to trick or treat at all of my families' houses.  So, including Charlie, that's three kids in carseats with about 9,000 costume props to keep up with, visiting 6 different houses.  That equals OMG I am setting up Trunk or Treat at my house next year!

The kid had a lot of fun.  Although this is yet another time I am regretful that they don't have the "neighborhood experience".  I can remember getting together with all my friends and traipsing all over our neighborhood.  I'd get so much candy that I would have to come home and dump it and go back out for more!  I guess there's always Nana and Poppop's!

The Ladybug and the Cowboy

Charlie the Hunting Dog

 Aunt Susan and Abbey

GG and Uncle Mitch

 We caught Aunt Nancy at the end of the Titan's game.  I'm glad we were there to brighten her spirits.  She gets the prize for the best treat....she gave Ellie and Mason a bag of salad as their "treat".  They both watched her put it in their bags, said thank you and then kind of walked away with strange looks.  Then she said "OH wait!  I didn't recognize you!  I have special bags for you!  That's what I give all the regular neighbor kids"  And she did have special bags!

Shelby, Andrea and Andrew.  

It was a fun night.  Trick or treating with relatives is kind of like Christmas.  We got plenty of candy, but we also scored books, dvds, and stuffed animals!  

Happy Halloween!

{What's Going On}

To say it has been a while would be an understatement, no?  I've thought of a thousand different things to blog about and just never make the time.  How is it I have so little time?  I feel like I am always chasing my tail and really never accomplish anything.  I've whined about this so much I know you are as tired of hearing it as I am typing it.  So EVS.  We move on.

***
The kids and I joined my parents, Biz and Charlie on a terrific and glorious beach trip a couple of weeks ago.  Ellie asked if we could call Daddy and Tim and have them come down and then just live there.  Yep.  That pretty much summed it up.

I didn't bother getting out my camera because Biz had her extremely sophisticated camera with her, however I have yet to see a single shot taken from said sophisticated camera so I finally uploaded some pics I took with my phone.  So pathetic.  (Get on it Biz!)

On the way down, Charlie got all 'hood on us.

When we got to the beach, Ellie was cautious.  Mason refused to get within 10 feet of the water.  Ellie held my hand and after about 2.5 seconds, she was in the water.  It took Mason about 3 minutes.  This picture was taken about 5 minutes post arrival.  There was this cool sandbar that the kids called "Our Island".  The water was more clear than I have ever seen it and so calm it was like a lake!

Mason tried on Nana's glasses.  Ellie took a swim in the pool.  We actually spent a surprisingly little amount of time at the pool.

Charlie made a few beach appearances.  It's tough with all the paparazzi.

We got up early one morning and hunted for shells.  The kids were impressed, I was not.  When I was little I used to find TONS of shells on this very same beach.  What happened?

They got all geared up for the big Auburn vs. Kentucky game.  War Eagle!

We had a great time.  It was so relaxing.  Then we came home.  Bleh.

***

Big family news is that Biz is no longer working.  She and Charlie are chilling at home.  I am absolutely, insanely jealous.  I mean, the van wasn't bad enough and now this!  The bright side for me is that Ellie no longer has to go to the after-school program.  

If I'm being honest, after-school was pretty much my most unfavorite thing about her starting school.  I hated it.  The program was fine.  The supervisors were great and they did tons of fun things.  But it just made for such a long day.  And she was in there with kids all the way up to 6th grade.  And she reported that one of her good friends in after-school was Sheila, a 4th grader.  

Say WHAT?

So yeah, not a big fan of after-school.  But those days are over and I am eternally grateful, once again, to my fabulous sister.  Even though I am also incredibly jealous.

And Charlie is no longer at school with me everyday and I pretty much HATE IT.  He grew so much last week and now he thinks he is going to crawl. He is getting SO BIG.

And I am so so so incredibly over the moon happy for my sister to be with him all day every day!

 ***

We had Ellie's first parent teacher conference yesterday.  She makes us so proud!  She is doing great in school.  Her teacher said that most days she worries about her job security with Ellie in her room.  I'm not sure if that is good or bad.

They want to test Ellie for the kindergarten version of the gifted and talented program.  Again, I am just so proud of her.  Her love of learning is incredible.  She'd rather do homework or workbooks than pretty much anything.  I hope she always loves school this much!

***

My baby will be three on Saturday.  THREE YEARS OLD.  Unreal.  His wishlist is pretty small:  "A BIG 'piderman and a schlinky like Ellie's".  

We made a trip to Toys R Us to try to find a few more things he might like to add to the list and he found this:

Right.

So a big 'piderman it is!

***

I'm excited about the weekend.  Mason's birthday, a trip to a local Orchard/ Pumpkin patch, Bizfest 2010 and Brandon's dad and step-mom are coming to celebrate with us on Sunday.

Life is crazier right now than it has ever been for our family.  It's something I'll talk about here later.  Just know, life is nuts.  But we'll survive.  It's not bad.  Once the craziness is over, it's gonna be great!  And I'll even tell you about it if we are friends.  But say a little prayer for us!

{Transportation}

I had to have some work done on my truck last week so I needed to drive Brandon's car.  I kind of cringed at the thought.  Brandon bought his car as a cheap, good gas mileage car.  It fits those criterion.  But Brandon has treated it like a farm truck and it was nas. tay.

I decided that driving such a filthy car would put me in a bad mood and Brandon deserved to have a cleaner car.  Plus I didn't want to drive it in that condition so Biz and I set out to clean it up.

I judged, ya'll.  I judged a lot.  HOW could anyone get a car so dirty?  And remember Biz and I were working together so it wasn't pretty conversation.  But we got the job done.

Then Biz went car shopping.  She bought a minivan.  Yes she did.

Now I have said a lot of bad things about minivans, but I take them all back!  I swooned.  It's just so dang kid friendly.  And has leather.  And a DVD player.  And headphones.  And doors that open AND CLOSE automatically.

I envied.  I am ashamed of how much I envied.  I envied A LOT.  I was in a bad place.  A place where I was thinking how having a car payment wouldn't be so bad.  I mentioned the doors, right?  And the kid friendliness?

It was a bad time in my life and I am not proud.

And then I started thinking.  First I thought "HOW could my own sister do this to me?  How could she one up me like this?  WHO does she think she is with her high falootin' minivan???"  And then I kind of came to my senses.

For starters, while Biz has a very nice abode, it is certainly not her dream home.  It's small.  And she only has one bathroom.  And I have four.

So I thought "Hmm, I bet she wishes she had one of my bathrooms.  Or my tub.  Ok, so maybe I don't have it so bad."

And if I am being honest, because I think honesty is the best policy, I have a really nice truck.  It's ginormous and four wheel drive and shiny.  And dependable.  And paid for.

But I started looking closely at it and I had to admit that my truck was pretty dirty. We spend a total of AT LEAST an hour and a half a day in my truck.  My kids eat in my truck. It gets pretty gross.

I decided that I too deserved a clean truck.

Now, once in a while, I run it through the car wash and vaccuum it out.  And sometimes I try to wipe everything down.  But this obviously hasn't been enough.

Remember how I judged?  I was paid back.  Holy moly.

I have three rows of seats.  The middle seats flip up and I can get underneath them.  Thank the good Lord.  That's all I can say.  The stuff I found under those seats?  Well, it's best if we don't talk about it.

The dirtiest spot was Mason's.  There were crumbs and spills and stickiness and just totally and complete nastiness.  And petrified fruit snacks.

But now my truck is clean clean clean. It made it drive better.  And smell better.  So when my financial advisor decides it's time to get a minivan, I'm all ready to sell!

It's pretty awesome.

{Growing Pains}

Mason's been telling knock knock jokes lately.  The first time he gave me the punchline- "beenana orange glad I'm a beenana"- Well. I just lost it.  Then he told it about 200 more times and I laughed just as hard.  The kid cracks me up.

He's "transitioning" to the pre-school room.  He is currently in the "toddler" room and as kids get close to 3, they start to visit the preschool room.  His toddler teacher and I are having a hard time with it.  Mason, not so much.  He actually hasn't even looked back.  His teacher and I have made a deal that we will continue to make him think he has to go to her room in the morning.  As soon as breakfast is over, he asks to go to pre-school and stays the rest of the day.  Even nap!

And transition would make you think it's a gradual process, right?  Not for Mason.  He would be perfectly happy to never see his toddler friends or teachers again.  He tells me he is a big boy now.

Mason is precious and funny and sweet and smart.  And funny.

The other morning on the way the school he said "Alright, Derek, let's get to school."  We don't know a Derek.  And as far as I know he does not watch any shows on tv that have a "Derek" character in them.  And because we are cut out of the same cloth, I responded "Ok, Jim, let's hit it."  And we both died in fits of laughter.

That's how we roll.

This is my baby back in January:

This is some big kid who was in the back of my bus last Friday:

Therefore it has been decided that Mason will not grow beyond the age of three.

Thank you and goodnight. 

{NKOTB}

Last night, Brandon and I were watching tv.  Well, actually, I was watching tv.  Big Brother to be exact. It was DVR'd.  It is the only thing I cannot miss on tv.  Brandon was half watching/ half cleaning up the kitchen.  He's a gem.

So a commercial comes on for some new movie about vampire children.  I said "Uh, no thanks.  Gross."  Brandon asked what I was talking about so I told him "A new movie about vampire children."  He replied, "Oh that might be good."  (Tell me again how are we compatible?)  "Sounds like 'Lost Boys'.  You've seen 'Lost Boys', right?"

Evidently Brandon and I grew up in opposite universes.  I could tell you all the things he loves that I don't.  Or I could tell you all the things that I love that he hates.  Or all the things I have never seen that he loves.  But it is easier to tell you that the only popular television show we have a common love for is Little House on the Prairie.  Seriously. And now we're living the dream just like the Ingalls.

So back to Lost Boys.  Brandon insists that I must have seen it.  He goes on to add that I surely had a major crush on Corey Haim.  Hiam?  Haimm?  Um, no.  I did not.  "Who DID you have a crush on?"  he says.  "Well, um....I got all those "Teen Beat' magazines but I don't remember who I swooned over except for 'New Kids On the Block'" I say. (NKOTB for the real fans) And the rest goes like this:

Brandon: Ok which one did you love?
Me: Jordan
Brandon: Is he gay?
Me: IS he gay?
Brandon: IS he gay?
Me: Is HE gay?
Brandon:  Is he GAY?
Me:  Is he gay?
Brandon: IS. HE. GAY?  I don't know.  I am asking.
Me:  Oh.  Is he gay?  You say it like one of them is gay.  Is one of them gay????
(Because I might need therapy)

Brandon:  LANCE BASS IS GAY!

Me:  (Laughing so hard I am crying and almost peeing my pants)

I was finally able to get out the fact that Lance Bass was not in NKOTB. While wiping away tears.

Then Brandon spent 15 minutes trying to figure out which boy band Lance was in.

{One of Those Weekends}

I've always gotten Memorial Day and Labor Day confused.  It's one of the many things I get confused about.  Several years ago, I figured out a way to keep it all straight for myself:  Memorial Day is in May and they both start with "M".  Somehow, however, I think the two holidays must have similarities for me.

Remember my post from Memorial Day weekend?  I had another one of those weekends!  I feel like time somehow stood still and there was enough time to do almost everything that I wanted or needed to do.  (I did not mop my hardwood.  And I really wanted/ needed to.)

Saturday, I slept in.  My mom came and took the kids to my grandmother's for a visit.  The weather was glorious.  They went to a park and played.  Then they went back to my grandmother's to ride their bikes.  While they were gone I cleaned.  I met them in town and retrieved the kids so mom could be on her way home.  

Brandon was going to a UFC fight so the kids and I stayed home.  Ellie's big secret was that we popped popcorn and ate it on the couch.  The jig is up now since Brandon is one of my 5 faithful readers.  Brandon hates the smell of microwave popcorn.  Go figure. But we very much enjoyed eating popcorn while we watched Olivia and the Backyardigans.

Sunday, we went to church and then to Gander Mountain to get Ellie her very first deer hunting outfit.  Ahh...makes a Mama proud.  

How cute is she???

Then we came home and my mom came to sew with me.  Evidently, I am a solitary sewer.  We didn't accomplish much.  I really think that sewing is kind of solitary.  And everyone has their own system.  But I did get two shirts done yesterday.

My goal was to get some things done for fall for the kids.  I keep a list two miles long of all the things I want to sew and I just never seem to make a dent in it.  But this weekend, I did. 

Today, I was able to do four shirts for Ellie, three shirts for Mason and a shirt for Charlie.  Woot!!!  And I threw in a few loads of laundry in between.

Here are a few of the shirts:

Mason's birthday tee

Getting ready for football season.  Go WKU!

And this one for Mason was probably my favorite of the weekend.  I am counting on Nana for some brown corduroy pants to go with it and we have "Boutique on a Budget"!  And I say it's my favorite, but I did one for Ellie to match a skirt I got at the crazy Kellys Kids sale a couple of years ago and it is very cute too!


All in all, it was a great weekend and I have decided that every weekend should be 3 days.  4 days of work and 3 days of weekend is just a better ratio.  Not to get political or anything, but the whole idea is just crazy enough that I think it seems like something our current Pres would jump on.  Just sayin'.

{A List}

1. My patience and tolerance is at a major LOW.  I have no time for silliness, foolery or anything that gets in my way.  I was so NOT in the mood for road work this morning.

Yes, road work.  My roads are just one step above gravel.  Why the need to work on them at 7:20 am?

No fewer than 43 people tried to pull out in front of me this morning. What?  You think it was 2?  Ok, maybe it was 2.

And then I got irritated by the woman who I see walking every morning.  She irritates me because she doesn't move her arms when she walks.

And you know what else is tremendously irritating to me?  The fact that Eminem is making a comeback.  What is up with that?

Obviously my irritation is warranted.

2.  Mason is obsessed with Corvettes.  I showed him a yellow Corvette one day to try to distract his attention from asking me for a "chocolate cookie", which he asks for all. the. time.  (We don't even have chocolate cookies in our house.  Cross my heart.  I have no clue where he got this.)

So I say "WOW!  See that yellow car?  That's a Corvette."  

Now Mason sees Corvettes everywhere.  Only they aren't Corvettes.  And they may or may not be yellow.

And really, I don't care.  I just say "Oh wow, that's cool."  Ellie, on the other hand, has no time for looking at cars that are billed as Corvettes, but turn out to be Hondas.  No time at all. Disappointment sets in because evidently my kids are really into Corvettes.

Her disappointment turns into an all out screaming match that "NO THAT IS NOT A CORVETTE!  MASON YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!"  She's Stickler, Jr., she is.

3.  My kids battle constantly.  Con. Stant. Ly.  Ellie doesn't get enough play time to suit her needs.  She retreats to her room to play "baby" or "daycare" or "school" as soon as we hit the door in the afternoon.  IF Mason follows her rules, she will let him play.  IF he won't follow the rules, she will waylay him.

I hear you.  You're saying, "Awe, poor Mason."  Don't be fooled.  Mason antagonizes.  She says "Put that down" and he says "Come make me."  So she does.  Then he cries.  Then I comfort him.  Then he goes back for more.  I'm at a loss.


4.  I have an inability to get organized.  What?  The? Heck?  Seriously, ya'll.  Why can't I get it together.  I feel like I am always chasing my tail.

And I just realized last week that I really have no excuse.  There is no house building.  Brandon hasn't been traveling for a few weeks.  My social calendar is pretty empty.  But I cannot get it together!

I have narrowed it down to a few possible causes:  1.  My three roommates who always want meals and don't do their own laundry.  Or pick up after themselves.  2.  The lack of a live-in housekeeper (Or even JACKIE.  If anyone sees Jackie, tell her I want to get back together!)  3.  My full-time job that takes up like 40 hours of prime time during my week.

5.  I realized two days ago that next week is Labor Day.

And I did a happy dance.

Then I realized that the forecast is calling for a HIGH of 77 degrees and I said Howalooya and Amen!

{Decisions}

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Since we started kindergarten, there have been a lot of things that have changed.  We have much busier mornings.  Ellie has way less free time (I hate this the most for her) because we get home later and we have homework.

I try to plan ahead.  I pack everything in her lunch that I can the night before and plan the other things I will put in.  I fix the coffee so I can just turn it on.  (Yes, I have become a coffee drinker...another post)  And then there are the dreaded decisions about what to wear...

Our BIGGEST fights have been over what she will wear.  I pick something, something I even pick TWO outfits and give her a choice, and it is never what she wants.

So in a lightbulb moment the weekend before school started, I came up with a plan:

On Sunday evening, we go to her room and we pick 5 OR 6 outfits (in case she feels she needs an option) for the week.  I cleaned off a shelf in her closet and that shelf is dedicated to her weekly clothes.  In the mornings, I tell her to go pick her outfit for the day.  I can rest assured that all outfits have been previously approved by management and she feels like she has gobs of choices.

This absolutely and completely WORKS FOR ME.

Now, if ya'll can figure out a way I can A. get her to go to bed earlier and B. NOT roll over and whine "It is too hard for me to wake up."  Please enlighten me.

***
Visit We are THAT Family for other great tips!

{V-U-L-C-H-E-R}

I realize that some blogs you read probably have an order to them.  The ones I read do!  There are Menu Plan Mondays and Works for Me Wednesday.  Better yet, Wordless Wednesdays when all that is posted is a picture.  Ok, those usually get on my nerves.   But around here, you get RANDOM because I am random and you chose to read.

There are reading groups in Kindergarten.  Again, I am just able to piece together information from the tiny shreds that Ellie choses to share, BUT from what I gather...at some point each day, the children in each group gather and do literacy related activities.  Ellie's group usually work on a letter.  They divide their paper into quarters and they all participate as the teacher talks about words that start with the designated letter of the day.  They also come up with one word on their own and write it on the back of their paper.

The teacher writes the words and draws a picture on the "active board" (this is a new-fangled chalk board that is somehow connected to the computer).  Last week they worked on "V" words.  We had valentine, violin, vulcher, vampire and vowel (Ellie came up with this one on her own and wrote A-E-I-O-U as her picture!).

Now you're looking at vulcher and thinking "GAH I wish that girl could spell."  However, my dear readers, I can spell.  I actually pride myself on my ability to spell.  So when I was looking over Ellie's work, I was somewhat confused.

Vulcher?  So I say to my dear sweet husband, "Honeypie, how do you spell vulture?"  My sweetie replies "V-U-L-T-U-R-E?  Isn't that right, Snookums?"  I respond, "Yes, dear, that's what I thought. Oh well."

And seriously, I was over it.  WHO knows how this vulcher thing transpired.  Good grief!   Ellie's teacher has been teaching for years.  The woman is tired.  She slipped.  We all slip.  Lord knows I do not want the responsibility of teaching these children to read and write and spell.  Who am I to criticize or question?

But then there's my sweetie.  My love muffin.  My Honeypie.  Some people might just call him a stickler.  Your shaking your head.  You can hardly believe I would say this.  Yes, I know...he seems laid back, even easy going.  Not one to correct others or point out flaws.  But behind closed doors, well.....OH WHO AM I KIDDING???  He was really born to be in law enforcement.

Given the prospect of forever hindering Ellie's ability to spell VULTURE, well, my dear one just could not sit by and let this mistake be looked over.  He needed answers.

We started with Ellie.  I suggested that perhaps she had sounded it out phonetically.  Because really, ya'll, I just COULD NOT imagine that her teacher had done this.  I really couldn't.

As we dug deeper, we found that the teacher was out that day.  And the student teacher did reading group that day.  Ah ha...

So my Love Muffin says he's writing a note.  He (and Barney Fyfe) cannot sit by and let this wrong go unanswered.  He felt this needed to be brought to someone's attention, lest they go through life spelling Vulcher wrong.

I requested that he call his dad, a veteran teacher who is also married to a veteran teacher.  My thought is that my dear father-in-law would talk some sense into his son.  he could talk to him from a teacher's perspective.  I was sure he would make him see that this was not a hill we needed to collectively die on.  He would tell him that note writing about mistakes might be saved for later in the year when Ellie has written an essay on some intense subject matter that gets graded badly.  THEN he can go talk that over with the teacher.  But why bother with vulcher?

And I should have known how it would all turn out.

Brandon and his dad feel the same way about pretty much everything and Brandon's dad thinks it's kind of funny that Brandon gets so worked up about most matters.  You know how Andy always thought it was funny how worked up Barney got over Otis' antics?  I mean Andy agreed that Otis shouldn't be going around in that condition, but he might not have worried about it as much as Barney did.  And when Barney would haul Otis in and go over the rules "here at the Rock" with Otis, Andy would kind of sit back and chuckle to himself because....OK. You get the idea.

And how did a kindergarten story turn into a story about town drunks and Andy Griffith?

My father-in-law told Brandon he "wasn't surprised" and that a note probably "wouldn't hurt, but wouldn't make much difference."  Brandon took that as "GO AHEAD SON.  I AM FULLY BEHIND YOU ON THIS ONE."  And then my father-in-law kind of chuckled.

The note was quite mild.  He basically said that we saw the paper and weren't sure if Ellie sounded it out or copied it from the active board.  And he requested some explanation.

THE RESPONSE
So how would you respond?

Ellie's teacher responded with "LOL!  Mrs. X responded on Ellie's group work paper."

Mrs. X (the student teacher) responded with something along the lines of "I am soooo sorry!  I guess I've never written "Vulture" and I sounded it out phonetically.  Thanks for pointing that out!"

I breathed a sigh of relief.  I mean L O L indeed.  I thanked my stars they would not start Ellie on long division and then give her F's when she wasn't able to do the work.  And I chuckled.  I also breathed a sigh of relief that they took my "Barney's" note as a note from a stickler.  They were lighthearted about it.  They didn't get their feelings hurt.  Whew.

Barney didn't completely agree.  He said they seemed to take it a little too lightheartedly.  Because WHO can go through life not knowing how to spell vulture?  Right?

I hope they are ready for their year with Barney's kid in their class!
  

{Independence}

I get bits and pieces of Ellie's days at school over long periods of time.  I can question, interrogate, annoy, and badger her and she will give me hardly anything newsworthy.  Perhaps my "annoy" and "badger" skills aren't very good.  We'll ask Brandon.  Ok, nevermind we won't.  Anyway...No matter how much I ask, most days she will not give me a play by play of her day.  In my family, we call this the "He Said/ She Said" of her day.

However, at random times in the course of life, Ellie will share the He Said/ She Said.  And you must know that I am a keen interrogator so I take these opportunities and run with them.  Sunday night, we had such an interaction.

NOW, I must preface this for my mom and my good friend, Laura who may or may not be reading this and who may or may not have a kid in Ellie's class.  DON'T PANIC.  The  story you are about to read freaked me out.  I am pretty sure I lost sleep over it.  But I have come to terms with it as a right of passage.  You will too.

So Sunday night I was putting Ellie to bed and she was relaying some more information to me about her visit to the school nurse on Thursday.  Thursday morning, Ellie woke up with in irritated eye.  She rubbed and rubbed her eye, I told her to stop, she didn't and I guess her teacher had to cover all bases and send her to the nurse.  The nurse determined it was "allergies" which turned out to be exactly right.  I'm glad we have a school nurse with a good head on her shoulders.

So Sunday night, Ellie is telling me more about the story and she mentions that there was a boy who came while she was in the nurses office and she heard someone say he had been throwing up.  I immediately went into "Well if you see someone throw up, you GET AWAY FROM THEM.  Did you sit by him???"  "No, I didn't sit by him.  But I heard them say he was throwing up."  "Well you just stay away from anyone who is throwing up, ok?"  She agreed.

She goes on to tell me that she was accompanied to the nurse's office by the teacher assistant in her classroom.  "Mrs. X took me to the school nurses office.  She had something to take to the office so she let me walk back to the classroom by myself."

THUD.  "Mama, are you ok?  WAKE UP MAMA!"  She administered smelling salts and I immediately launched into my interrogation. With the utmost calm, of course.

"She let you walk back by yourself?  Are you sure about that?  Tell me how that went."  
"Well, Mrs. X said 'I have some things to take to the office.  Do you know the way to the classroom?'  And I did so I said yes and she said 'ok, you can go by yourself.'"

I couldn't really help myself so I blurted out "IF SOMEONE EVER COMES UP TO YOU IN THE HALLWAY AND SAYS 'Little girl come the bathroom with me' YOU SCREAM FIRE AND RUN!"

Ellie looks at me with a puzzled look and says "WHY would I say fire?"

"Because that's the only thing that will get their attention!" I calmly replied.  It was all really really calm.

I went on to tell her how important it is to go exactly where she is supposed to go and not make any stops.  And to only talk to people she knows. She went on to tell me how cool school is and how she never got to go places by herself in preschool. Yeah, real cool.  Totally Totally cool.

I kissed my angel good night and told her to get some rest.  Then I went upstairs and began to ponder the information I had just been given.

I went over the conversation I was going to have with the teachers. Did they make an unfortunate mistake in judgement that would never happen again?  Was this standard procedure?  I'd suggest that I didn't feel kids were ready for this step until Middle School or perhaps not even until High School.  What happened to the Buddy System???

I decided Ellie must have relayed the story incorrectly.  Perhaps she had taken to telling tall tales.  Perhaps this was just another wonderful side effect form school.  A vivid imagination and the ability to cause her Mama to have a heart attack.

And then I decided I might as well go on and call the principal too.  And the school board.  I decided to launch a thorough investigation into school security complete with secret shoppers.  Then I decided none of that was worth the trouble and I might as well just home school her.

Then I woke up.  I remembered that Ellie wasn't the first kid to enter kindergarten there and won't be the last.  I remembered a few weeks ago when I sashayed into the school to bring her school supplies and I was chased down by the school secretary.   And called by name.  And told to sign in whenever I entered the school.  On the second day of school.  By someone I don't remember meeting.

BUT GAH this is hard.  I have gone from knowing her exact whereabouts every second of her life since the day she was born to THIS loosy goosy letting babies walk by themselves to their classrooms place.  I'm going to go out on a limb and guess they don't make them clean their plates at lunch either.  You know I bet they don't even care if they EAT lunch on ice cream Friday.  What a wild place!!!!


Ellie asked if I would drop her off at the mall to meet her friends on Friday night.  I haven't completely decided yet.

My New Name

Wow!  I know it's been a while.  I guess school is keeping us all busy.  We have been busy busy busy.  What has been going on, you ask?  Here goes:

1. My cousin Skyler got married two weeks ago.  Skyler and Brittney's engagement has fueled our social life this summer.  We've had engagement parties, showers, rehearsals, dinners, and finally the BIG EVENT.  Ellie was the flower girl and Mason was the ring bearer.  They both did fantastic.  Ellie was not able to drop her petals on her way down the aisle because Mason had a little stage fright so she put her hand on his back and nudged him all the way down the aisle.  (Yes I almost cried it was so sweet).  But being the queen of quick thinking that she is, she dropped her petals on the way out.

2. Brandon left for Brazil the day after the wedding and was gone for a week.  He returned last Saturday.  We were very glad to have him HOME!

3. Last week the daycare was closed for teacher training.  Mason and Charlie spent most of the week with Nana.  Brandon did keep Mason on Thursday.  On Thursday, Mason had his first visit to a real barber.  And a visit to the doctor to find out he had "croup".  The doctor prescribed steroids.  I knew things were bad when I got the following text from mom on Friday:  "Do you think I could give him some motrin or tylenol to help him calm down?"  My mom handles pretty much everything but Mason was somewhat possessed.  By the time I got home at about 5:15, he was out of control.  I can't believe she was able to do it all day!  I'm pretty sure he could have lifted a car.  I called the after hours service at the doctor's office and was told that I could half his dose since he was already better.  That made all the difference and he had a good weekend.

Charlie and all of his cousins: Mason- 2, Ellie-5, Molly-7 and Luke-3

4.  Yesterday was Charlie's christening.   Tim's parents, Nicole, Molly and Luke all came up to celebrate.  All of the kids get along so well and they had a blast.  Molly went to Sunday school with Ellie and Luke went to Sunday school with Mason.  After church, everyone came back to my house for "My Big Fat Italian Christening".  Mom and Dad made two kinds of lasagna and manicotti, salad and bread sticks.  Wonderful food and great company.

My house is all clean for the week so here we go again...

In other news, Ellie is still loving school.  A few funny things:

• I got a call Friday from my aunt.  Ellie had a balance on her cafeteria account and was not going to be able to buy ice cream as the special Friday treat.  Here's the thing- I have packed Ellie's lunch every day!  I could not figure out what she had bought.  My aunt investigated and found that when asked "Ellie are you hungry, do you want breakfast?"  Ellie said "YES!"  So they fed her and charged it to her account.  Thankfully, my aunt paid the balance and she was able to buy ice cream!
• My mom asked Ellie if she was learning to read in reading group.  Ellie told her "Nana, I can already read.  How can they teach me something I already know???"  Well, duh!
• Ellie found a Mason jar yesterday.  She was EXTREMELY upset that it had Mason's name on it and not hers.

Mason is doing well.  He is 100% better as far as his cough so hopefully that will hold for a while.  His humor is neverending.  This morning, he called me Your Highness on the way to school.  And I kinda liked it.  I might drop the "Mama" and go with "Your Highness".

{Back to School}

Well, my baby girl started Kindergarten on Tuesday.  We all did surprisingly well. I had a few tears, but she was just fine.  We got to school and got our car rider tag, went to the gym and saw two of my aunts.  We were directed to take her to her classroom where her teacher was waiting for her with her nametag.  We went into the classroom and helped her find a seat and said our goodbyes and that was that.  I have a kindergartener!

When I picked her up, she was a bit worn out and not really ready to talk.  But throughout the evening, she shared more and more of her day.  Kindergarten is very exciting.  She was actually up before I even had to wake her this morning, ready to go.

Ellie and Mason seemed to really miss one another on Tuesday.  They went out on the porch and played.  We could hear some new terms being used by Ellie (all positive) and at one point, we looked out and saw the above.  It's hard to see, but Mason is sitting in a chair and Ellie is kneeling in front of him, talking.  This looks EXACTLY like what we have seen her new teacher do with children and it really tickled us.  

I am thrilled about Ellie's school.  I have an aunt and a cousin who work there and several friends who also work there and several more friends whose children go to school with Ellie. Having come from 5 years of being "Jennifer's little girl" at pre-school, it's nice that Ellie hasn't become just a number and that people know her.  I am thrilled about the ability to communicate with her teacher.  She is available by email, by a daily communication sheet that the kids bring home and she gave us her home number (but I really don't want to use that)!  Did I mention that Ellie's teacher is this year's Kleenex spokesperson, is in our state teacher's hall of fame, and the National Teacher's hall of fame.  She's, like, TOTALLY awesome.  Which, coincidentally, is the one word that Ellie felt best described her first day of school.

{Time Flies}

Time really flies.  Whether you are having fun or not, time flies!  But we have mostly been having fun.  Brandon and I have had probably the most social summer of our lives together.  We started out by getting our first babysitter (outside of family) back in May.  And I do have to admit that this babysitter is practically family since she is my cousin's best friend AND first cousin.  So I have known her all her life.  But anyway...
My cousin in getting married so we have attended several pre-wedding parties.

This past weekend my parents had invited the kids to spend the night Friday night and we got an invite to go with some friends to concert in the park.  We had a great time!  Then my (much younger) cousin send me a message to meet her and her friends down at a bar on the square.  Oh Lawzy.  Let me just say that I am SO GLAD I am no longer single.  And I am actually a little bit glad I am no longer young.  I just do not have the energy to put into being young and worrying about guys and clothes and all that.  It has been YEARS since I was in a bar and while it was kinda fun for the hour we were there, it was just so not me.  I felt like everyone was going "WHO is this old lady???"  And to confirm that, my cousins friends asked me if I graduated from a local high school.  I said no and told them that it wouldn't have been possible because I am OLD.  They laughed and said "The first graduating class was from 1995.  You totally could have!  You're not that old."  Well, actually, I AM since I graduated before 1995!!!

Saturday night, we had our Backyard Barbecue group from church over.  Brandon and I learned a lesson about having kids we don't know very well over and our responsibility in supervising.  Let's just say we knew it was going downhill when Lucy, our dog, came running upstairs.  Why was this odd?  Well, because my dogs don't come inside.  Ever.  And I'm not even sure I would know how to coax them inside.  They don't like to be inside. At all.  But here was Lucy running upstairs into my foyer.  And there was Ellie running around in the yard with her shirt off.  Yeah.  Fun night!

I am counting down the days until Ellie starts Kindergarten.  YIKES.  She is so excited.  For that, I am so happy.  I. Will. Not. Be. Sad.  I will, however, worry if she will know how to get to her classroom, know how to unzip her lunchbox, open her own water, not eat her snack for afterschool at lunch, and know to go to afterschool.  I am sure I will find more things to fret over.  But I won't tell Ellie.  And I am sure she will be fine.  I'm also sure that other children have gone to school before her and have survived.  But you know, Ellie is different.  Because she's MINE.

Happy Birthday Sweet Ellie!

My sweet baby girl is five years old today.  Wow!  Five years seems like a lifetime and a blink all rolled into one.    I can't remember what life was like before Ellie.  But it certainly doesn't seem like she has been around long enough to be starting SCHOOL!  I'll refrain from telling you all the reasons this birthday and is hard for ME and talk about my sweet girl.
She is smart.  Have I said that before?  Sorry if it seems gushy but this is my blog and today is her birthday.  Ellie is SO SMART.  As in, I know there will come a day when she actually will know more than I do, but I hope I can instill in her the idea that she should just can it and make me feel smarter anyway.  I have no worries about Ellie's ability to do well with the work in school.  She is going to excel and she is going to thrive.  She truly is one of those kids who "needs to be challenged".
She is sweet.  She exceeded all my dreams when she become a big sister.  While she and her brother have started to get into a bit of sibling rivalry lately, when he first came along and for his few couple of years, for that matter, Ellie was never mean to Mason.  She willingly shared and has always been the best big sister.
And she's sweet to everyone!  At her party this past weekend, her favorite part was not playing games or eating cake, it was passing out token to all of her friends so they could play.  Ellie gets along with just about everyone.  Unless they try to take her toy.  Then she decks them.
Did I mention she is spunky?  I also don't worry that Ellie will get run over in her new public school life.  She fends for herself.  Teachers at her preschool have laughed about her being the smallest girl in her preschool class when she was 3 but she was no afraid of anyone and she would dare them to try to take her toy or sit in her seat!
Ellie says she wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up.  If she does pursue that dream, I know she will be great at it.  Ellie loves animals.  She has tamed our cows so much that they come when she calls and lick her hand.  She is the only one they will get that close to!
Ellie loves to play.  She will go in her room and play babies or play with her dollhouse for hours.  She loves her baby dolls.  When I asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she started off my naming 3 things for her dolls:  Shoes for Bitty, clothes for Itty and a stroller with a carseat that snaps into it.  I had to remind her that this was not their birthday!
Ellie is funny, but she doesn't really know it and she certainly doesn't try.  We had VBS last night and I asked Ellie if she made any new friends and she told me "Yes!  My teacher is my new friend!"  And then of course there is the time she told me about Bob, her baby's daddy.  Ellie had no idea what "Baby's Daddy" actually meant.  She was using the term literally.  And then there is the fact that her favorite new song is "Rain's a Good Thing".  The lyrics go something like "Rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey.  Whiskey makes my baby...feel a little frisky"  And Ellie crooning it from the back seat is pretty hilarious to me.
Ellie stayed home with Biz and Charlie today as a little special birthday treat.  She has been riding her new bike and enjoying her day.

{Vocabulary}

I attended a training once in which we learned that the children in households where adults have college degrees have a broader vocabulary.  Most of the time (I mean there are always exceptions, right?), these families, in addition to being more educated, also have very different lifestyles than families of parents who are not educated and are maybe, say, on welfare.  Kids in these educated households were exposed to more language.  And I don't mean that the parents sit down and said "ok today we are going to learn what 'juxtaposition' means."  But in everyday conversation, the educated parents were using more words and bigger words.  The example I remember was that this "educated family" might have a conversation such as:
"So what do you want to do for dinner?"
"Oh I don't know.  Let's go out somewhere."
"Ok, I'll call Mariachi's and make reservations."

The presenter basically told us "Kids on welfare don't make reservations so they wouldn't really be exposed to that word."  It made a lot of sense to me.

My kids teachers and my other co-workers tell me all the time "Mason talks so well."  And while I know Brandon and I probably have something to do with it, Mason also has the best little language teacher around in Ellie.  But Mason is also a sponge.  SPONGE.  He picks up everything.  He picks up things in ways that Ellie did not.

He learns things from tv.  I told ya'll the story of all the things he is learning on tv, right?  He can see a show or movie once and then recognize the characters anywhere.  (Ellie is not that way.  We are currently struggling to get a birthday list from her.  She is evidently not influenced by pop culture???)

And lately I have noticed more and more things that I know he is picking up somewhere.  A lot of it, I hear from his teachers.  He'll say things like "Oopsy daisy!" or "OH sorry Mom (yeah MOM, where did that come from???) That's my fault!" if he drops something.  It all just cracks me up.

But his most interesting mimic came while he was staying with my parents a few weeks ago.  Now I KNOW without any doubt that he did NOT learn it at my parents house.  Not that they are saints or anything, but I just know they don't talk this way.  This new little phrase, which I will not type here, is a three word phrase that ends with an emphatic IT.  I have been privy to hearing it pass his little lips twice now- once in the bathtub and once this very morning in my closet while trying to get his shoes on.

Mason is that kid who you say "Mason, you need to sit down in the chair."   and he will push you until you go to him and sit him down.  And he is still likely to stand back up just to spite you.  And glare.  And dare you to try to get him to sit down again.  So I feel like any punishment or reaction when that darling phrase escapes his little lips will only serve to reinforce the reaction he is seeking.  (Yeah I have learned a lot working in Early Childhood Education!) My mom came up with the idea to just simply say "Oh let's don't say that!  Say: 'Hallelujah, Praise the LORD!'"  (Which is actually another phrase he loves saying.  And no we don't go to a church where they dance in the aisles.)

When he said "the phrase that will not be mentioned" this morning, I resisted, HARD as it was, from popping his sassy little mouth.  I gained my composure and did as Nana instructed with as little reaction as I could muster.  He repeated "Howyalooyuh!  Praise dee Lord!" and we went about our business.  So when you hear him singing the Lord's praises, you know what he really means.

And let's talk about where he learned that other little phrase...Shall we?  I asked him.  He first told me he heard it from a teacher.  Which I actually believe, though I have never heard it from her myself.  Then...THEN he told me that "Daddy says that!"  And really, what little boy doesn't want to be just like Daddy?  And yes, I can attest to the fact that while Brandon and his Purdue education have taught our kids words like "reservations", he has also shared not so nice words with them.  Words that I say "You better watch it!  They are going to pick this stuff up!"

(Now I will give the disclaimer that I taught Mason "shit".  We were moving, I walked to one door and it was locked, I said "shit" and Mason repeated "shit shit shit shit shit".  But he hasn't ever said it again.)

Hopefully from here on out, we can work on words like  propinquity, maritorious, inevitable and possibly coprolalia.

{Sweet Summer}

Yes, I know it's been a long time.  All I can say is SORRY!!!  Wait, what?  This is the first time you've checked the blog in a few weeks.  Ah well, then I see we are on the same schedule.

We are off to a fabulous summer.  We've been spending lots of time at the pool.  (My aunt and uncle have a pool and they like my kids a lot so they let me come along with the kids)  We have had a babysitter a grand total of THREE times and Brandon and I have gone to adult get togethers.  And everyone survived.  Even though the kids are still talking about it like it was total torture to watch Toy Story on a "palace" (pallet) and eat popscicles in the living room which is totally against the rules.  But really what fun is a babysitter if you don't break the rules?  Not fun according to Ellie. More on that later.

This week Ellie is at my parents for Vacation Bible School at their church.  She is having a BALL.  As per usual she is having another first at Nana's...A play date!  No, we have never had other kids, besides family, to our house.  Are you judging me?  Quit!  The thing is that I don't have any close friends with kids her age that she knows well.  But, she was lucky enough to be in VBS with my parent's back door neighbor and Ellie and their little girl have hit it off so Jennifer (cute name, huh?) is coming over to play this afternoon.  I hope this will be the beginning of many play dates.  I am really hoping that she will make some playdateable friends in Kindergarten.

Brandon is also out of town so Mason and I have been hanging out the past two days and I am really enjoying it.   It occurred to me on Sunday afternoon after we left Ellie at my parents that Mason and I get very very little one on one time.  I know it is surprising, but Ellie monopolizes the conversation and in general gets her way in most all situations.  I mean I DO have rule and she does mind me, but We are both missing his sister and Brandon very much, but we are both also really enjoying our time together.  In general, Mason is a super chill kiddo and he makes me laugh so much.  


And did I mention that my kids are GROWN?  Well, they are.  It is both awesome and horrible at the same time.  Gone are the days of naps being on time or having to be sure we had something they would eat or staying close to a potty or carrying a bag with us all the time.  My kids are potty trained and eat pretty much usual kid fare.  They do better with naps, but it is not the end of the world if they don't get one.  And they do not need my constant supervision.  This has enabled to to spend so much time at the pool.  It has enabled me to do more around the house.  When I'm not at the pool.  Why is it horrible?  Well, Mason is just still barely small enough for me to pick up over my head without throwing out my back.  And Ellie, well, I can barely lift her.  No one really needs to be rocked.  Mason called me Jennifer for a few hours the other day.  (I told him we are not on a first name basis) And they are just SO BIG.

The only reason the whole growing up thing really bothers me is this:  What if they turn out to be punks???  I mean obviously I love my mom and spend oodles of time with her.  I respect her opinions and I still need her. But what if they don't???  And with every day that they become more independent, we inch closer to the day one of them is going to drive off in a car with a boy or ask a girl on a date (obviously you know which is which).  I mean, first it's Kindergarten and what next??? Do not answer!
Ok, panic attack over.

On other news: we had a nice visit with Brandon's mom a couple of weeks ago.  She came down from IN for the afternoon and entertained the kids while I did laundry and sat on the couch.  Amazing.
I am volunteering for VBS at our church in a couple of weeks.  My assignment?  CRAFTS.  Seriously?  I don't consider myself particularly crafty.  I mean I am crafty in some ways, but I am not creative per se.  However, it seems they have the activities all set, they give you the supplies and you just have to help the kids put it all together.  I think I can handle that.  BUT, last night at the organization meeting they told us they are expecting 150-180 kids.  HELLO!  That's a lotta crafting.

I am taking a staycation the week after the July 4 holiday.  I haven't made all the plans yet but I hope to get the house all neat and clean, get some easy meals prepped, eat out some, relax and enjoy my family.  We weren't planning on a big vacation this summer because we were going to do a beach trip during Fall Break.  I am SO hoping BP will come through and get things cleaned up before then!  I haven't been to the beach in two years and I am having withdrawals!!!

{My Best Weekend}

Even pro bloggers like me have a glitch now and then.  I put these pictures up last night from home in hopes of being able to write the rest of the post at work (ssshhh, don't tell) and I somehow accidentally posted the blog entry.  I knew because my mom commented.  Now on with the post...

Well, we had a great weekend.  Ok I had a great weekend.  I think everyone in my house followed suit.  There was nothing specific that made it great, but it just seemed like everything clicked and went well.

Saturday, I had made plans to take the kids to my aunt and uncles pool.  We got there about 9:45 and stayed until 1:30 or so.  Ellie loved the water.  She was cautious, but I could tell she would warm up fast.  Mason, on  the other hand, wasn't so keen on the pool.  He basically freaked the freak out and didn't want to get back in.  He spent the rest of our time there wandering, playing with the dog, and eating.

Saturday night, we had a babysitter for the second time...ever.  We were invited to a UFC pay-per-view party at some friends house so my cousin and her cousin came to babysit.  It was reported that both kids went to bed in hysterics because they " missed their Mama".  Abbey told them she missed her mom too and to go to bed.  Exactly what I would have done!

Sunday, I slept late thanks to my wonderful husband.  Needless to say, we missed church.  But I got up and mopped all the hardwood in my pj's.  My floors are a chore and they have been so dirty and I have been so stressed so accomplishing this small task gave me so much peace.  Again, it's the small things!

Sunday afternoon, both kids took great naps and I got to make this:

and this:

Saturday night, Brandon said he would like to go to the local catfish dive, Harper's.  This was an incredibly nice treat for ME because a. I like Harper's and b. we never go out to eat.  Like never.  And the benefits of going out to eat really only hit me this weekend.  Benefit #1-someone else cooks.  Benefit #2 and really a bigger benefit for me- someone else CLEANS.  Do you know how much time I could save in my life if I didn't have to clean up the kitchen every night???  Anyway, it was a rare treat.

Now you have to be prepared for Harper's.  When we went to the bathroom, Ellie very loudly announced that "if that was her bathroom, she would never use it because it's gross!"  But the food is G-U-D good!  To our complete surprise, Ellie scarfed her fish.  We had to end up telling her that we could take it home so she didn't make herself sick!  Now she says she wants her birthday dinner there!

Monday, we decided to go back to the pool.  The weather didn't look terribly agreeable, but we went anyway and it turned out lovely.  Mason, again, spent his day fully clothed and wandering.

My cousin, Shelby (Chebby to those of us who know her best)and her friend Becca taught Ellie that she would not drown.  Ellie is sooo cautious.  (No clue where she gets that...haha!) and even with a Coastguard approved flotation device, she would barely leave the steps.  Shelby decided we had to go hardcore so she took Ellie to the deep end and let go of her hands.  After a momentary freakout (and it was a really good freakout complete with high pitched shrieks and panic), Ellie announced that she could swim and she didn't want anyone to touch her. At all.  For the rest of the day.

After all that swimming (and freaking out), she relaxed by the pool.

Then Biz brought Charlie over for a visit while she and Tim went to run some errands.  Ellie told me she had it completely under control.

Isn't he getting big???  HI!!!

And the highlight of Ellie's day was to be able to give Charlie a bottle for the first time.  (Not Charlie's first, Ellie's.)

And she also put him to sleep.  I am totally not kidding here.  I was trying to get him to sleep and she said "Mama just get me try." So I did and he passed out.

And after trying to get dinner ready, dealing with two kids, one husband and a baby, I decided I like it when Charlie visits, but I love it when I get to go to bed with no thoughts about "when the next feeding will be"!!!