{Happy Memorial Day!}

It was pointed out to me today that I have not "blogged" in quite some time.  Sorry folks.  Life has just kind of gotten in the way.
Brandon has been traveling a lot lately.  This week he left on Sunday and got back last night.  The weeks when he has to leave during the weekend are not often, but GAH they are hard.  Somehow, they are harder than when he is just gone a FULL week, as in Monday through Friday.  I dunno...  But I DO know we miss him when he is gone.

And yes he is reading this and saying "OH she just misses me helping give baths and get dinner ready and load the dishwasher."  Um, YEAH.  That is A LOT of stuff to do!  I feel bad when I have single mom weeks because I feel like I spend 99% of the time saying "NOT NOW.  I need to do XYZ before ABC so we can JKL."  (No mom, those are not abbreviations. Just use blanks instead of the letters)  Anyway, I feel bad.  I feel like I ignore my kids in order to unload/ load the dishwasher, get everyone fed, bathed and in bed.  And I am SO TIRED.  WHINE WHINE WHINE!

And then about halfway through the week, I decide I am NOT ignoring my kids any more, by golly.  So have watergun fights, snuggle on the couch and watch tv, check the cow that is ready to calve and not much else gets done.  Then Brandon gets to come home to a sink full of dishes and the glass container that got stuck to the counter because Mason spilled his milk and I did a quick clean up and never got around to going back and really cleaning it.  (And just between us, I think it kinda irritates him.)  Contrary to popular belief.  Ok it's a popular belief to the two little people who live downstairs in my house.  But contrary to that belief, I AM NOT SUPERMOM.

And for the record, I do miss adult conversation.  And Brandon.  I miss Brandon.  He's a nice guy once you get to know him well enough to marry him and have two kids, three dogs, two cats and 20 cows with him.  Really.  He is.  I tell him all the time I wish the rest of the world knew the sweet guy we know at home.

Anyway...

Tonight I have BIG PLANS.  I plan to clean the house.  I really really really want to get the house in order so that I can do all the other things I really want to do this weekend.  Man that is a lot of reallys.

Tomorrow, I am planning to go to the pool for a little sun.  I have big hopes that Ellie is going to be a swimmer this year.  Hopefully hopefully she will not get her father's swimming gene, which is non-existant.  He literally sinks like a rock in any kind of water.  He is kinda like a cat in his love for water.  I, on the other hand, am a fish.  I could float for days.  It's a skill I am extremely proud of and a skill I have had since long before I had all the extra "fluff" I have now so no wise cracks, please and thank you.  Back to Ellie...

She tells me she is going to jump off the diving board.  But Ellie has been known to talk a good game before and not follow through on her promises.  (I won't attribute this trait to either Brandon or myself)  But she has been much more willing to get her face wet in the bath and shower and she like to "swim" in the tub.  HOWEVER during the aforementioned watergun fight, she got extremelyt upset when she got wet.  In a watergun fight.  And she stripped her clothes and ran around naked because she hated the wet clothes.  GAH she got all of his annoying traits!

Mason, sweet Mason.  Well, two weeks ago we went to my Uncle's house and Mason fell in the pool.  So every time I say "Wanna go swimming on Saturday???"  He says "NO!  I FALL IN!"
Some other Mason highlights:

• He started calling me Twinkle Toes out of the blue.  We have no idea where this came from.  He came up to me one day in the kitchen and said "Hello there Twinkle Toes."
• Several weeks ago, we were in Target at a particularly busy time on a Saturday.  Because I am a smart mom, I put Mason in the stroller.  Strapped in with no chance of escape.  So while I am checking out, he starts saying in his "outside voice" as Nana calls it, "Hello Ladies!  Get on board!  Get on board Ladies!"  Over and over and over and over.  I turned to my sister and said politely "Who does this little boy belong to???"
• He came up to Brandon the other day and said "You don't need THE calories!"  This was also out of the blue.  When Brandon brought him to me and had him repeat it, I hit Brandon over the head with a frying pan.  When Brandon came to, he explained that Mason came to him in the living room and said it.  He's a funny kid.
• He asked for gum on the way to school.  I gave him some.  He started crying which is very unlike him.  He was saying "MY GUM!!!" I thought he had dropped it.  Then he said "It's in my nose.  I can't get it!"  I had to stop the car and dig chewing gum out of his nose.  No. More. Gum.

Charlie and clan are doing great.  He is growing so much.  Last weekend, I sent the kids to Nana and Poppop's and sent Biz and Tim "out".  (They went to Walmart and Zaxby's.  They are so wild.)  And Charlie and I had some quality time.  And I decided once and for all NO. MORE. BABIES.  Don't get me wrong.  I LURVE Charlie.  Adore him, actually.  But we were together during "the witching hour" (another Nana-ism).  AKA Hell hour AKA 6-8 pm.  And Charlie just wasn't feeling his Aunt Jeffer time.  And I felt so helpless.  There was (obviously) a complete absence of those lovely post partum hormones and it was still equally unnerving.  (DISCLAIMER:  Charlie is a super easy baby.  WAY easier than my babies.  Or at least one of my babies.  I won't name names.  But he is easy.  He was having a kind of bad day.)  So I will just stick to my two and let Charlie visit and be happy with that.  

One last thing...we had a little family scare over the last few days.  My 13 year old cousin was struck by lightning.  (Brandon can give you the statistics on this subject)  He had a rough couple of days, but he is doing much better today.  Thanks to everyone who said a special prayer for him and his family.  They have a long road ahead, but things are looking much better.

Everyone have a great Memorial Day weekend!  Thanks to my Pop, my Grandad, my Uncle, Brandon's grandfathers and everyone else who has served our country!!!