Birthday Parties

It started out simple...Scooby Doo as the theme. Shouldn't be hard to find Scooby Doo stuff. HA! Only one store in town with Scooby Doo party items. Plain napkins, plain plates, plain tablecloth, plain cups - $20 saved! The cake...done it before. Iced and ready. Balloons blown up by Mommy, the old fashioned way. Goody bags done. Menu planned. KoolAid and drinks ready. Games planned. Which took a little more thought and planning than I originally conceived. Will have to finish in the morning.

The morning of the party...wake up...WTH?!!! The room is spinning and will not stop. Try to walk down the hall, and lean into the wall the whole way. Move too much = lose cookies. Crap...vertigo! I was stressing out more than I thought trying to plan the "perfect" party for a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds! OMG! I have become one of "those" mothers. The kind that has to try to out-do everyone else. The kind that wants everything to run smoothly and cleanly. HA! No such thing sister! So, party rescheduled...invited 22 kids instead of 10...am I insane. Nope, it's the start of the fall break week, so some will be going out of town. ;) Smart after all. Everything is ready, but the cake. Make that BROWNIE! A giant pumpkin shaped brownie with orange icing and Halloween sprinkles because we are doing a costume birthday party. The balloons are still blown up, so all I have to do is make a costume for the son (the daughter's was bought on clearance at WM last year), do the brownie/cake and decorate for Halloween (which I do anyway). No more stress, no silly Mommy. I think I will sleep sitting up...just in case! Just have to keep the family well until next Saturday!

See, I told you I was crazy!

Summer, where have you gone?

I can't believe that my baby girl starts first grade in just a little over a week! That coupled with the fact that I am faced with the daunting task of potty training her near 3yo brother, which will probably prove to be easier than getting him to talk! I faced this same issue with the daughter, although, she was talking by this point. One day she just walked up to me, and said "want milk". Were it only true for the son!

His favorite word of choice at the moment is "Unh unh." He says this one quite a few times a day. Especially when I am trying to get him to say other words. He says "Mom", "Mama", "Dada", "Pop", "ba ba" (which is all-purpose for thank you, bye bye and good night), and "KaKa" which is his version of his sister's nickname. I have told her that "caca" is Spanish for "poop", which of course rather than take offense, she finds hilarious. I have him pronouncing letter sounds, now I just need to get him to put them together and say actual words. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Personally, I don't think there is anything wrong developmentally. I think he's just stubborn and lazy. He thinks too much...I can see the wheels turning. He plots. He looks me straight in the eyes as he is doing something he isn't supposed to do. Such as dumping a whole bucket of legos in the floor because I turned off all the lights he just turned on. He started walking at 9 months, this after crawling up steps at 6 months, and only crawling for around 2 weeks. He was Super Baby! He knows all kinds of animal sounds. His favorite of late seems to be the high pitched screech of a chimpanzee (and no, I didn't mean for that to rhyme, but I'll take it). Hey, he may not be talking, but he learns fast. Yesterday, he attempted to get the gallon jug of KoolAid out of the fridge. He had done this the night before, and left a trail from the kitchen into the dining room. Yesterday, however, he spilled a little, sat the jug down in front of the fridge, got my wet jet and mopped it up. Good boy!
The soon to be 6yo daughter believes that she will hate 1st grade. She is going to be really good at writing pros vs. cons essays! She says she wants to be a chef when she grows up. I still contend that she would make a darned good lawyer (insert uncontrolled shiver). Typical for children, and adults, fear of the unknown. We, as humans, fear change. We can't control it, so we don't like it. She is afraid her new teacher will be mean. She doesn't want to lose her "free choice" time. I sort of quashed this fear by telling her that first graders probably get more computer time anyway. I also told her that she would get to see her friends. For some reason, she believes that none of them will be in her class. They are taking 5 classes of 20 kindergartners and compressing them into 4 classes of 25 first graders. True, she may not have any of her friends in her class, but I don't think they would do that. I also try to tell her that she is more ready than she thinks. She has issue with math (which they started in K!), but she will do fine. She already knows almost all of her sight words for next year. My fear is, besides the math, she will be bored in class. Only time will tell. I just hope we don't start the first day of first grade as we did kindergarten. Her screaming and crying, and me crying once I made it back to the car.
They do grow up fast, and I am not trying to rush them by any means. I just want to teach them what I can. Impart on them the wisdom of what I have learned from my experiences and my mistakes. Ready them for the world, which is a much scarier place than when my husband and I were kids. Sure, I want to keep them for me for as long as I can. I want to avoid the looks of "Mom, you're embarrassing me!" for as long as possible. Yet, I also want them to grow, become independent, form their own ideals and ideas. Ahhh, the conundrum of Motherhood. I love every minute!

Home Improvements and Customer Service???

I may be...ahem, "Old School", but when someone says they are going to do a job for you, shouldn't they actually do the job?! Must be nice to work for an hour and a half, leave ladders against my house, the pieces that you have removed from my house and then leave for the day. Must be nice to turn your cell phone off, so I can't call you. Must be nice to be the secretary that leaves 15 minutes after I call in a complaint, because the office closes at 4:30 and she can't get in touch with "the guy" either. I am sick and tired of all this crap! The roofers did what they said they would do...the came early in the morning, got the job done and left (my only problem is they missed some nails...how 'bout getting a metal detector guys). The carpet guys came early and left late...it was an inconvenience, but they didn't charge me for moving furniture or removing our old carpet, so I can deal. The A/C job, that was supposed to take 1 day, maybe 2, turned into 3. They worked for an hour, left because there wasn't anything else they could do (they had planned on removing our old unit and hooking up the new one - which would have left us without air for the night!), they didn't bring everything they needed! WTH?! Now, here we sit...soffit and facia removed from our house, 4 ladders (for a 2-man crew mind you) sitting against the side of our house - temptation for the 4 small children running around, and workmen who leave after an hour and a half of work. Am I wrong when I say - IF YOU HAVE A JOB TO DO, THEN DO IT!!! All I know is, they better get done soon, they had better clean up EVERYTHING and it had better looked damned good! That, or the owner will have one small but angry woman in his face. Nobody wants to see this mouse roar.

Summer Vacation (?)

Why is it called "Summer Vacation" or "Summer Break"? The daughter may be on a vacation, but Mommy sure isn't! True, I have gotten my mornings back for a few weeks of bliss. An hour or two to myself to read, drink coffee and just plain chill out. The rest of the day I am stopping squabbles, and plain ol' knock-downs between the daughter and the son. She, who will be 6 in less than 3 months, and he will be 3 (10 days later). She, who has the will of a 16 yo and a mouth to match. What happened to my sweet baby girl?! True, there is fun to fill the summer days as well - swimming, slip n' sliding, the park, the library (which we have yet to visit since her week-long hospital stay for pneumonia 18 months ago). We have been to the zoo twice (membership long since paid for thank you very much) and to Build a Bear. Then I realized that I miscalculated, and rather than 5 more weeks, there are 7. So, should I look at it positively...7 more weeks of not rushing around to get the daughter to school on time, 7 more weeks of quiet mornings to myself, 7 more weeks of playing in the sun...or, what was I thinking about? True, they are loud, she has an attitude the size of Texas, they fuss, they fight, they whine, they complain, but would I really want it any other way. Life before kids seemed fun and relaxing. Life after kids...definitely more fun, relaxing??? not really, and it never will be, even when they are gone I won't relax! Saw a quote recently that I just love "When life throws you lemons, throw them back and demand chocolate!" There are no lemons when it comes to kids, just hiccups in the road of life. A few bumps along the way - illnesses, tears, broken dreams, unfulfilled wishes, late nights of worrying. The best things in life are not from a straight and narrow, perfectly smooth road. Lessons are learned, demons are exorcised. The daughter graduated from kindergarten - yes, I almost cried. She starts first grade in 7 weeks, and the son will follow in 2 years. I turn 42 next month, so no more babies for me. I am enjoying every free moment I have with both of them, until I return to work when the son starts kindergarten. I so hope to find a part time job when that happens, so I can continue to spend time with them. Sure, we need money, everyone does, but some things are more important. Hearing the daughter read a book to herself, seeing both kids blossom and grow into their own individuals, watching them peacefully sleeping, waiting very patiently for the son to talk (soon I hope!), seeing the joy and pride on his face when he uses the potty (:D). Yup, money can buy things that may or may not make us happy, but kids...kids are the ultimate happiness. I appreciate everything I have, and everything I have been given, especially the opportunity to be a stay at home Mom - no matter how temporary. Life is short, enjoy it while you can. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift! I have rambled long enough. L8TR!

A Question of Sanity

There are times...times when you think you will go stark raving mad...times that make you question your sanity...times when you ask yourself "What the hell was I thinking?!" You ask yourself this very question in regards to ...Motherhood! That's right. Am I sane? I really wanted to do this? First it's those tentative baby steps we take into the abyss that is the first night home. They cry, and you have absolutely no idea what to do. Thankfully, God steps in and says "feed the baby, stupid!". Then you move on to the nightmare of explosive poopy. Poopy of such enormous proportions from such a little being, that require a bath (for you and said child), and leave you pondering "Where did it all come from?!" Then they get older, and there's teething, fevers, runny/stuffy noses, coughs, scraped knees, goose-eggs on their heads and God forbid a hospital stay. You stumble through it all. Not realizing the depth of your decision, until later. Like when the 2 yo likes to take a header into the floor from his stance on a mostly deflated ball. Or when the 5yo, whines and complains and demands non-stop for whatever it is she wants at that moment (and she wants it right now!) - cocoa, to play on the computer, to watch a movie...Her raspy, angry voice sounding like nails on a chalkboard. Stomping, yelling, crying...not to mention her behavior...leave you ready to rip out your hair.
Then, sitting in bed, reading a book, you have an epiphany - "This is what I was thinking!" All I am saying is, you are going to have moments where you are close to a nervous breakdown, that's life. But, the good moments, even if they are few and far between, and at that particular moment you cannot remember a single one, outweigh all the bad. The first smiles, first words, first steps, the giggles, the silly faces, the high-pitched squeals and screams, the hugs and kisses, the " i love you mommy"'s, the smiles, the accomplishments...The bad only last a few minutes, the good goes on forever. So, the brief moments that you question your decision, are just fleeting losses of sanity. That is the true loss of sanity - that you may have decided not to open your heart and soul to these wonderful little beings, these wonderful gifts from God. The only insane thought would be that you chose not to have them in the first place.
Smile, and have a great day! I know I will. :)

Snow Days!

When you are little, the words "Snow Day" are at the top of your list of most favorite things in the world! It conjures up thoughts of no school, playing in the snow for hours, coming in to warm dry clothes and endless cups of hot cocoa (with marshmallows of course) and anything else you could think of to do. Adulthood on the other hand....
When I was working it would conjure up fear of not being able to get to work, or if I did decide to get out in it would I get there...would I get stuck somewhere...and worst of all - would I get stuck at work!!! Thoughts of fighting people in the grocery store for the last loaf of bread, carton of eggs and gallon of milk - because everyone needs these and always seems to run out of them when the threat of the "s" word looms over our heads. Once through this hell that is grocery shopping, our next nightmarish thought is - will the kids be out of school? What will I do to keep them busy? what havoc will they wreak on my house? How many piles of wet clothes and dirty cups will I have to wash?! Aaaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh!!!
Then you look outside and see the snow falling. Beautiful fluffy white flakes, gently falling to the ground. Peaceful scenery everywhere. White, fresh, new. Breathtaking! And you watch your kids playing in the snow. In total awe of what they are seeing when it is their first time. Making snowmen, forts (we never have enough here to do that) and snow angels. Having snowball fights. Giggling, laughing, playing, tumbling, sledding...For a few brief moments you actually enjoy it. Ahhhh.
Until...they announce another snow day for tomorrow! ***sigh***