One of the things you don't really understand when you become a parent, is how much time kids spend PUSHING their limits, and yours. Somedays I imagine the kids scheming, "Just how far can I push the limit of what I am allowed. Just how far can push Mommy." I also imagine the two kids conspiring: who gets to be the holy terror this week.
We have spent most of Micci's life teaching him to eat new foods. He's as picky as me (my mom gleefully calls this Karma). We have a three bite rule in our house (three bites will tell you if you like a new food. You are also expected to eat foods we know you like.) and it's just been recently that this rule isn't accompanied by tears and yelling.
Lorelei has always been my good eater. We don't have to get after her to eat, she'll try a new food with relish and take her three bites without arguing. She is my relief.
Just when I think mealtimes will be tear free. Lorelei has to up her game.
Monday, she refused to eat food she normally likes. And to give Karma HER due, Lorelei inherited from me: stubbornness. Unlike Micci who would eventually before bedtime eat his food, Lorelei refused. Well, there is only ONE Stubborn Queen in this house and that's ME! So, Lorelei had to eat her Monday dinner, for Tuesday breakfast, Lunch or Dinner....she had to eat it as her next meal. Well, she snuck cereal Tuesday for breakfast. So she had enough to sustain her through breakfast and lunch.
"I will not eat that yucky food! I hate potatoes!" said the girl who loves potatoes more than anything.
Tuesday night and she takes Monday's Dinner out of the 'fridge, asks me to heat it up and she eats exactly HALF!
We get to continue this fun game into Wednesday, YAY! We sent her to bed straight after dinner.
Wednesday, I am smart and she gets no cereal...so her stubborness only lasts till late afternoon, when she finally spends the next two hours finishing off her diced roasted potatoes.
This week has completely exhausted me. But ya know what? I WON!!!
It touched my driveway at 10.30 am CST and was put in it's puttin' place at 10.31 am!!! Woot!!!! About 30 minutes later, after I took pictures and plurked and emailed everyone my excitement, I loaded it with underwear-breaking it in nicely.
Lorelei tried to share my excitement she really did, but let's face it she's five, "It looks the same! This is dumb; I am going back to bed." She doesn't get grown ups.
But look at all the dials and OPTIONS!!
Last one only had Delicate, Normal, and Heavy Duty. Hot or Cold wash. Water level. I am dizzy with options!! So excited to have done laundry IN MY OWN house with dirty unwashed hair!! No getting dressed up to go to the laundry mat!! No carrying 8 baskets of laundry in and out of the car!!! Yay whoooooo!!!
Lorelei WAS excited, though, at being able to help me do laundry again. We got three loads done today. I've got like 6 more to do. But I will spread that out a bit. Don't want to break my new baby, um erm machine...
Last night, I was so excited about my washer, I hardly slept a wink--tossed and turned and had weird dreams. Had yet another weird famouz blogger dream, so this brings the total up to FIVE! Three with Dooce and now two with Derek Powazek. So strange...I didn't even read his blog before I went to bed (okay I read his wife's). But I went to bed thinking of something TOTALLY different (and boyo would it have been a MUCH better dream if it had been starring Asher). What's weird, is that all my famouz blogger dreams are weird day in the life dreams. I just happen to be at their house talking to them about random every day things. All I am waiting for now is my dream about Jason Kottke or Laurell K. Hamilton (although THAT would be an AWESOME dream). We could totally compare notes on our love of long haired men...hee hee.
It's still mind numbingly cold here. I don't think it got above freezing today....course it felt about ten degrees colder. SO weird! This is S. Texas! It never gets this cold--we are still in awe. One of my friends has an RV, so she drove down south to the border. It's still cold, but not freezing. Smart girl.
At Casa Birdwell, we have been staying under blankets watching TV, toasty warm. Although, I was a big girl and spent an hour exercising. I skipped yesterday (too cold). I am beginning to think that was a bad idea, since I fell into a ferocious mood in the evening. I am still wondering when it becomes enjoyable. Wednesday was murder; full of lunges and squats. My right thigh nearly revolted and decamped. I did a little lower body work today and my thighs aren't screaming-so maybe I AM getting into shape! Woot!
Tomorrow, Jamey's taking Micci to the Army Bowl Football game. He had thought we all were going to go, but I told him he was nuts as that falls squarely outside of my plans: How To Survive The Artic Blast of 2010. So he's just taking Micci.
Speaking of Micci: he tried running away today. Lately he'll get mad at me, accusing me of not loving him and threatening to run away. He'll draw me a picture with a sentence explaining himself. Usually it goes something like this, "No one loves me. I am going, going, going." I talk him down, assuring him of my undying love. Well today he tried this again, because I won't let him play Wii.
??!?!??
So I let him go.
He comes back less than a minute later. It's too cold. He'll run away later.
I had the best weekend. So great it's taken me a day or two to actually get around to blogging about it.
One of my good friends turned 30 on Sunday. MAJOR freakout. Which is to be expected its a big milestone. It took me an ENTIRE year to wrap my head around the fact that I was 30. Now I am approaching 32 and I am feeling the dread: I am NEARLY at my mid-30s. I am hoping I do or don't do anything embarrassing when I go to Dallas this weekend to see U2. Weeeeell, we all went out to a fancy restaurant Saturday to celebrate. Fancy enough that I didn't take pictures like I wanted to...because DUDE we had beautiful men in beautiful gaucho pants bringing us MEAT ON SWORDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was Chauma Gaucha (it's a restaurant review, I don't think they have a website). Much wine was consumed (by others--don't like the stuff) and much fun was had. The meat was amazing. What you do is when you are ready for the meat (they have an awesome salad bar, that's TOTALLY not like Soup or Salad, it has cheeses and steamed beggies, a ROUND of parm!!!) you turn over a card and MEN DESCEND UPON YOU bearing swords full of MEAT. Perfectly cooked, succulent pieces of flesh...dude I was in HEAVEN. I told Jamey to save up for my birthday, THIS is where I want to go!!! I was able to have some raw steak which, I totally prefer over anything else. I have always been scared of asking for raw, but since they cut it for you right off the sword and you can SEE it and you get a slice at a time...it's not as scary. So good. I was in heaven. Meat Heaven.
We had so much fun the time kinda ran away from us (and some problems with the check) and we missed part two of my friend's special evening: ghost hunting downtown! And yes it would have been JUST like Ghost Hunters on SyFy. But we all promised we would try to do this later on this month.
So we went to a bar/grill called The Flying Saucer for beers and to count down to midnight.
I had planned on going home, but my friend was shell shocked by turning 30. (Strangely enough she didn't remember any of this. She asked me when she woke up in the morning why I was still there and no one else was. LOL) During the early morning it rained and rained and then the sky decided to upend its self and it POURED. God knows San Antonio needs the rain, but damn it was loud! And the storm knocked out a transformer...so we were without power for 6 hours.
Okay so where were my kids?
Anne was with us, celebrating out friend's birthday and we asked her husband to watch the kids (the dinner festivities started before J. got off work). And HE said hey why I don't watch the overnight as well. (Famous last words) Well it didn't go so well and my kids (along with Anne's grandson) turned into shit throwing monkeys. My two are now on restriction this week. Yay!! I guess because they got their arses chewed off, they have been angels since. Sort of...well as much as my two criminal geniuses can be. I found this on my wall last night:
Micci wanted to save their hair for posterity. And yes, it is Kittenhead's fur, Micci and Lorelei's hair, and Gina's fur. (And yes my wall looked like that BEFORE)
Sigh.
Despite the rain, the local soccer fields were dry, so Mic was able to have his soccer game last night. Not only did his team "win" (they don't keep score officially but you better believe the kids keep track!), but Micci was the goalie for the first time and for the first quarter. He did an awesome job and played hard. And passed out when we got home that evening.
I am very tired of my toe. If I wasn't sure I needed my big toe and that chopping it off would hurt just as much as having the toe nail ripped off and HEAL, then I would totally be hobbling toward the axe. It's been three days and dude it hurts WORSE now. Why? Because it's heaaaaaling. Sigh. Stupid thing. I can barely stand--I hobble anywhere and I need to take a 30 minute rest. It tingles ALL the time and that good healing. woooo!!
Bitch bitch bitch.
Luckily Lorelei is being super helpful, fetching and being extra careful. Mic, is like Mom I KNOW you toe hurts. What he is really saying is get over it already woman. I am sure he is plotting how to smash them.
Anyway. I'm pretty sure I have blogged about Lorelei's weird hang up with the bathroom.
Thanks to her super helpful brother, Lorelei refuses to go to the bathroom by herself. She is completely and utterly terrified monsters will get her while she's on the potty. I am pretty sure Micci told her this so HE could have company in the bathroom. My hurt toe is making is very hard to take her potty. But I am doing it because she really is completely and totally terrified.
Right now the two monsters she is afraid of is werewolves and angels. Yes, Angels. Only my kids right? Well, I blame Dr. Who. There's a Dr. Who episode called Blink. The Lonely Assassins are quantum locked. When they are unseen by living things they are able to move and exist as live beings. They steal peoples future and promise by flinging them back in time, so they are no longer able to fulfill their live path. Well when they are observed, the are stone weeping angels. They try to keep their eyes covered, because if THEY see each other they will remain stone forever. This nice wikipedia article explains it nicely. So Angels yeah.
Well yesterday, she really had to go potty and didn't stop to ask any one to follow her and we really didn't know she had gone potty. I thought she was in her room playing and then I fell asleep. Sometime later I hear soft weird noises from the bathroom. I call out hear nothing. I ask Micci where his sister is. He didn't know and thought she might be napping. Well, I keep hearing the sound and I hobble off to investigate. Well it's Lorelei in the tiny water closet, door locked, crying because she's too terrified to come out of the potty.
I promised more blogging right? And I meant it. But then came ILLNESS and PLAGUE and PANDEMIC!!
I don't know if it was a cold, seasonal flu, swine flu, goose flu or just plain kick you on your ass so the kids can run amok around your feverish coughing body flu--but 75% of the humans in the house had THAT. It first began with Lori, then Micci, then they got better (no more moaning in bed, feverish), and of course then I got sick. Because I am the Mommy and don't actually get to lay in bed moaning feverishly, I took a bit longer to get better.
It all started Tuesday and I was able to get out of bed, upright and clothed mid-afternoon Monday.
I was too exhausted and sick to knit for the entire weekend--I know amazing! Thank heaven I had a laptop because the internet provided some relief from the boredom of being in bed. By Sunday I was tired of being sick already and texted Jamey to bring home medicine for me. Cough and cold and flu and what ever he could get--I had to get out of bed. Because, every time I got out of bed to get water or toast-the house was in more of a shambles.
So yesterday I was able to pull myself out of bed for a shower. Dude, I had to take a NAP after the shower. It was exhausting standing for that long. But the hot water helped clear my lungs and head.
Now today, TODAY is hobbit day. And Lorelei's FIFTH birthday. WHOA. Where has the time gone? My wee little baby is FIVE today. Crazy!
It was a very rainy, cool day today (wonderful way to start Autumn). I made pink cupcakes before we left on Lorelei's special day. We went to lunch at a place of her choosing (McDonald's), then to Target for presents (more about that in a bit), and then to Hobby Lobby--because SHE WANTED YARN FOR HER BIRTHDAY!!!! I am so proud.
In between Lorelei recovering and me getting sick (there was about a day)-she wanted me to teach her to knit. She is such a willing and patient student. I must say A LOT easier to teach than her brother. So from then on--she's been wanting to go to the yarn store to get her own yarn. (Yeah we are going to let her think Hobby Lobby is her yarn store for now. No need to get the girl hooked on high end fibers just now.)
So Target: she wandered the girlie toy aisles looking at all the toys. She stopped briefly at the Polly Pocket display and pointed to a largish box, "Mommy, Can I not get that?" Say What? Do you want that? "No." Then why.... By that time she wandered off, leaving me in my daze. She also selected a few stuffed animals that she wanted for her next birthday. But what do you want for THIS birthday. Eventually she selected a few Little Petshop thingys. Cute, cool, and she's not introducing new toys into the mix. Yay!! (We like to keep their toy categories to about 3 or 4.)
It was all about Lorelei today, but I gotta share a Micci story. At this point I see that Micci will either be a politician or a scam artist (I know whats the difference?). Phisto often tells me that my kids are criminal geniuses. And my main worry as a parent is to somehow guide all these smarts in to positive, GOOD, moral outlets. One thing Micci does to his sister is convince her over the months and weeks preceding her birthday or Christmas, that the toy she most wants, is actually a toy MICCI wants. So Jamey and I are left, trying to undo his brotherly brainwashing to deduce what in actuality SHE wants.
Micci's been losing teeth left and right this summer. And in our house the tooth fairy is generous (with both money and fairy dust) and so Mic wakes up with a dollar under his pillow.
Now, Micci's been saving up for some more cards for his Dinosaur King trading card game. They are about 4 dollars a pack, maybe 5 total with tax. Well, we went out to Cici's the other day for dinner. It's a pizza/salad/pasta buffet that the kids love...it also has a small game room. It has a crane game that dispenses candy (kids love this one). And of course arcade games...which they usually can't play because we're not going to give them quarters to pretty much throw away.
With his wallet "full" of money to buy some new cards, he entered the game room and went a little nuts and spent all his 5 dollars. Next was a hard lesson in economics and budgeting. He, of course, realised he no longer had the money to buy his cards and WE, as his parents, weren't going to give him money to buy the cards.
He knows that the only way he can earn money is by doing chores around the house, so promptly he asked us what he could do this week to earn the money back that the spent.
Mic also no longer wants to go to Cici's. "I go crazy there and spend all my money!"
I've been very very quiet. I have had QUITE a weekend. So I will be making it up to you in a flurry of posts this week. Yes, you will have posts prolly every day this week!!
Friday was an awesome day (I even blogged about it!) and I was feeling awesome. Saturday promised to be full of awesomeness too. And then Saturday morning Lorelei skipped into our room and I saw this:
Sob!! And I turned her around and saw this:
Thunk! My own child hates me.
Friday night, Lorelei and Micci decided to play hair dresser (this was after we put them to bed). Micci said Lorelei asked him to cut her hair and they were making a collection and Lorelei denied everything.
Now, long time readers will know that I totally lost my shit. Lorelei's hair is very important to me and I do have hair issues going back 26 years (thanks Mom!!). To refresh your memory, here is a photoset of Lorelei's hair over the year, when she FIRST hacked it off!! And I have referenced many times my worry over my bald baby's head and my frank jealousy of other little girls her age with HAIR.
I had hoped that she would have grown out of this need to stab me in the heart with scissors. But, I have been reassured by several mothers that it does stop and they have proof (long haired daughters). Sigh. It was painful even looking at Lorelei's mangled hair: so I called up a mate and said PLEASE are you free, I need to get out for A Night of Reckless Abandon.
Luckily she was free and I got my night of reckless abandon, where I upon I learned that one Malibu Hurricane, 3 Shiner Blacks, and one shot of something orangy will get me DRUNK and tossing my cookies. I also learned that I can not spell/write whilst drunk.
At 2 and a half beers and a shot I recognised that I needed to slow down. I knew I needed some water. However, I wasn't sure I could be heard over the karaoke, so I wrote it out for the bartender. Thank GOD she knew how to read Drunk Writing. Smirk.
Well, after I came home, the following day (I felt much better) Jamey showed me that we could work around what the kids did to Lori's hair. If we cut it now, she will look like a boy. She will look like Micci's twin brother: don't need that either.
So when ever we are seen in public, I need one rubber band and at least 3 barrettes. It works and she looks cute, but I am mourning all the french braids, buns, and pig tails I had planned for this year.
Oh and when I came home? I also found Lorelei covered head to toe (even her bottom) in red marker...I washed it best I could, but you can still kinda see it in those pictures. Micci drew a very nice picture of a dinosaur on her back. Thunk. Seriously, I need to invest in duck tape LOTS of duck tape.
Please feel free to share your own child horror stories: let's make us all feel a little bit better. ;-)
Yesterday was a bit crazy, so I cleaned to work out the stress (it really didn't help as I tossed and turned all night--really people, I just don't get them!). But I did manage to edit and upload Micci's Birthday party pics.
This is Mic and his Spider man cake. He's been pining for this cake for over a year (last year he had a Dinocake and dino themed party but planned for the Spiderman theme for his 7th birthday even before he celebrated his 6th birthday). The Spiderman spun around the building and Mic had loads of fun playing with his cake. The top portion was white cake and the bottom was chocolate. Yum!
These are his balloons. Jamey asked for a small bunch (over the phone) and the floral department at his HEB went a bit overboard. Grin. It was quite windy that Saturday and it was a sight to watch me try to carry the big cake and HUGE bunch of balloons to the car. As it was one poor balloon didn't make it...
They played a fun bean bag pizza game--Mic of course rocked it.
Lori showing us all she's 4 going on 13. Woot! Not. I think I took this pic before she totally stained her front, but I could be wrong.
The kids that came to the party. They all had loads of fun.
And the adults that brought the kids. Grin. All that is missing is my Dad's wife, she popped out for more food. Waaaay in the back you can see the wee baby I practically gobbled up. And I am not exactly sure what story my husband is telling but I think it involves tentacles.
Fall is here! San Antonio's Autumn consists of mostly sunny 70 and 80 degree days with occasional cold front that turn the mid day into a brisk 50 degrees. Nights get to be in the high 30s and 40s. I am enjoy the cool. However, I am NOT enjoying the pee.
Yes, it's getting cold. Cold enough to make little bladders of little ankle biters spasm and let loose, but come on I WILL NOT turn on the heater. That's why god gave us blankets. Thankfully god also gave us washer and dryers so I can wash pee drenched bed clothes!!
I am feeling a bit down--really as far down as I have been. Pee will do that to ya. Ha! No, not really. I am a Mom--what would I be without pee and poo (I am just glad the kids aren't prone to vomiting). My birthday is coming up. Just a slap in the face from Time, "Yes, you are getting OLD and your dreams are just THAT! Mwhahahahaha!" I've also been going through more of the same friend issues. For my part, friendship is very intense and very personal...so I am currently trying to keep my sucking chest wound taking me down with it. I've just lost a part of myself, it's that simple.
I am missing my mates, P and Q. I would love nothing better than to galavant around town stealing shopping carts and relaxing in the fact that I can just be me...without fear. I've been alternating with wanting to carve myself out a hallow tree and become a hermit or wanting a strong drink.
I've been distracting myself, with some success, with the Twilight series. I love it, and I had NO clue it was such a tween sensation. I feel for the poor actors in the upcoming film tho', they must be deaf with all the screaming. Anyhoo, I read the four books in about 2 days and re-read the first one, just to get it out of my system. Grin.
Last night, Jamey got to meet my father and his wife. It went well, talked about all sorts of things, cheese and music, mostly. Jamey and Lori (my step mother) both love cheese and we all are music buffs. It was a bit awkward at times--Jamey isn't happy with my father's absence, but he's willing to see how this all works out.
It's Friday night: so that means BBC America comedy Friday. I'll leave ya with one of my favourite Catherine Tate Show bits.
To clear thing up before I start this blog post: I did not SERIOUSLY think I had cancer. Just that niggling part of your brain that reads too much WebMD and watches too much House. I had some serious pain and bloating in my abdomen. I am now thinking it's stress. If I internalise too much, stress turns physical and mental. This is why I have a blog (or several). That quote on my side bar is no joke, "This words I write, keep me from total madness"
Yesterday was Veterans Day. Most of my family are Vets--if I could I would give them all hugs. My grandfather, my father, my step fa ther, my mother, and my two brothers (are they vets if they are still active duty?) Without their and all that went before them and worked with them: our country would not enjoy the freedom or prosperity it has today (times might be tough, but it could always be worse).
One of my favourite writers, Laurell K Hamilton, has her own personal blog. I love it. As a writer myself (writer's block not with standing), her blog encourages me. Today, her post was just spot on and just reaffirmed, that I really want to go to St. Louis and meet her. After the emotional firestorm that was this weekend: it's what I needed to hear. It's also good to know that I am not alone.
Because, I've been hiding from my blog (no more I assure you), I haven't been able to tell funny kid stories. On the Micci front: currently he's obsessed with two things (well he's actually obsesses with many things, Bakugan being one of them, but this story is not about toys) setting his room A/C at 60 degrees (Fahrenheit!!!) and stealing and hiding my bras. The A/C thing was sort of understandable a few months ago. Now? It's just nuts! And it was NEVER okay--it's expensive. I tried to explain this to Micci. A/C at 60 means HIGH CPS bill. High CPS bill means NO Christmas presents. Smart arse responded with, that's okay Santa can still bring me presents. Oh yeah! Well, Santa doesn't give presents to energy hogs!! Sigh. Bhat! And my bras...we have been dealing with this for MONTHS!! He was good over the summer, but a few days ago he's started back up. I keep my bras hanging on my closet door (easily accessible) and when they are missing? All I need to do is yell into the house, "Micci, bring me my bras!!!! Being the observant Birdy, I always notice this when I am half naked, just from the shower. I am trying to break him of this, not because I don't want him to have bras, I just don't want him to have MINE. I told him when we are at the Dollar Store next he can buy his own. Shrug. I think he just wants something of mine. That or he enjoys me yelling at him.
I mentioned, I think, that I cleaned up my bedroom. No pictures of the actual bedroom part yet, because while it is clean, it's just ugly. No nice bed spread set, ugly, bedside tables. No pictures...I need to decorate. I really want to break out my sewing machine after the holiday. But, I do have pictures of my book shelves and CD storage.
Yeah, I need more book shelves. That tall one on the left, is stacked two deep and two tall with paper backs. And ya know what, I still feel that I don't have enough books.
This is where I keep my CDs...I have no idea how many I have, but I must have at least a hundred--maybe even two hundred. If you could zoom, you would be shocked at the spectrum of my music tastes. The only thing I don't have: Death Metal. (Jamey has the country--his paltry collection joined mine when we married). I love music. I wish life was like movies and we had a soundtrack to keep us company...at the very least it would give us a heads up when life goes on it's ups and downs. I am still listening to a lot of Mika. But lately (because I can get to my CD collection), I have been listening to whatever takes my fancy. A bit of U2, a little Sinatra, a dash of Enya, a smidge of Bach.
If ya go to my knitting blog, I took pictures of my yarn stash. If y'all are into that. Grin.
Yes, I agree. I do need a better organisation system for my books and Cds.
Every year I attempt Nanowrimo--and it always seems like my muse becomes trapped underneath the marble boulder that is my writers block. This year I think a Knitting Bunny helped push the boulder ;-).
On the news front, my sister is not pregnant (we had a scare). Yes, this is my 18 year old sister. She is still living with her boyfriend and is engaged now...she's known him less than a year. The family is a bit worried about his possessiveness and jealousy and it's warning signs, but there is little we can do but pray.
I do not have cancer! I had a scare...and with the help of WebMD, I scared myself further. Unfortunately they don't know what's wrong with me. So after the busy new year I am making an appointment with my GP to find out why, I have abdominal pain, bloating, and exhaustion. Heck it may be stress! Life's been especially fun lately (said with the utmost sarcasm).
The kids have been exercising their need to test boundries. Lot's of fun. Homeschooling is going well--Mic's reading more every day. Lorelei is doing well with her counting. Next letters!
This election has been interesting. Not the outcome I would have liked (while I loved the idea of a non white male president, I disagreed very much with his politics and philosophies), but it is historical and affirming that our nation has come so far in just 40 (or so) years after the Civil Rights act. But I am very nervous about our future.
Fall is upon us and the weather in Texas is wonderfully cool. Thanks to our new doors, we've saved so much in our energy bills. For weeks we've had the AC turned off and the french doors wide open. Which reminds me: I finally have pictures of my loverly and long awaited doors.
The cats that used to visit Gina haven't been to keen on the new door---they come only sporactically and spook easily. And we have blocked up the openings on our fence, as well.
I am going to try to post more this month and of course thereafter...I have been neglecting my blog horribly.
Any one that has interacted with young (heck even older) kids knows that when they kiss you or you kiss them, they almost immediately wipe the kiss off with the back of their hands. I, as many of us, thought oh well they didn't like the kiss, they are wiping it OFF.
I was wrong. My daughter recently informed my husband and I that she wasn't wiping off our kisses.
She was saving them, because she kept all the kisses safe on the back of her hand.
Most kids have an imaginary friend. Lorelei has an imaginary grandma. All summer she's been telling us all sorts of funny stories about what she has done with her grandma, or what her grandma has told her. Because for Lorelei everything that happened before this minute is yesterday....all these things happen yesterday.
Just last night Lorelei was telling us that her grandma put her in the washer machine and she DIED, but she's okay now.
There are so many funny grandma stories...I just need to get better at reporting them.
Okay--so lately I have been doing this thing that I haven't done since I was a kid. I am sure you did this too.
Imagine: you are 10 years old and you have been charged with cleaning your room. And lo and behold you see a toy/book/game that despite the dire words of your parent (clean this room or else): you sit on the floor and commence NOT cleaning your room. You are lost in time and space, engrossed in your activity. And then the doorknob turns (or if closed doors weren't allowed, ominous foot steps sound) and you jerk up and pretend that all along you were cleaning. HA! You are SO busted.
Well, for the past several weeks, when Jamey walks in the door. I am once again 10 years old, I stop, jerk and pick up something. Never mind I may have spent the entire day cleaning and I am having a well deserved sit down. I stop, I jerk and pick up!
It's driving me nuts. I am not in trouble and my husband is NOT my Dad/Mom. What really bites: I JUST did this again when my sister walked home form her day at work!!!
Tuesday was Jamey's birthday (I'm 6 months older than him and I have spent 6 months enduring taunts from him about how old I am)...we came home from the Silver Stars to this:
It was very very sweet--and a mystery.
Now he's thirty too. HA! Welcome to adulthood--grin.
They decorated very well...it took us a solid day to figure out who the decorator was.
It was our friend's T and R (two over the hill fogeys themselves).
Jamey had a quiet low key birthday. We went to see a Silver Stars game where I had arranged a special surprise on the jumbo-tron. It didn't cost anything (which is what he wanted) and it was something different and unexpected for him. And of course generated birthday wishes all around from our Silver Stars friends. The Silver Stars were playing the Houston Comets...we lost, but one of Micci's favourite (former) Silver Stars players now plays for the Comets, Shannon "Pee Wee" Johnson. On our way out of the arena (we stay late to do some cheering and such) we saw Pee Wee leaving out of the same door we were about to leave out of. Because Mic was being shy, I called out to her, and told her how much Micci missed her playing for the team and that she is his favourite all time player. Jamey managed to push Mic up to her so he could shake her hand and say hi. It was a very sweet moment.
And then we cam home to the aformentioned very sweet birthday surprise.
Still hot AND I have been super busy. AND it's been a little over a week since the kids doctor appointments and guess what: we are all getting sick! Right_on_schedule!!!!! I have been up since 6 am because of a horrible sore throat. Grrr. I didn't even know the sun was up that early. Grin. So, I got some floor moppin' done (with my handy dandy homemade swiffer cloths).
In this week of all busy weeks, Mic lost his first tooth. Jamey says he looks like a punk--I think he looks adorable...and so grown up! He was very brave and didn't cry. Heck, I didn't even have to hold him down...just a few twists with a face cloth and out it came. Although he was a bit alarmed at all the blood.
Ahhh, I remember this tooth--it was his first--my nipples remember it well. Youch!
And the tooth fairy came and was a bit over the top when it came to dispensing of the fairy dust--I think she had too many beans for dinner.
She was very generous in the gifting department and left Mic a very sparkly dollar bill. Mic was a tad disappointed--he was expecting a quarter (like in all his cartoons). I told him that the tooth fairy gives more for the first tooth.
Mic was also confused at first with the fairy dust. "What IS this stuff Mom???"
We are still finding fairy dust all over the place. Oops.
So Birdy has finally entered the 21st century by getting a cellphone. I resisted the urge to call everyone I know. Smirk. AND I even know my phone number already (which is saying something because I still don't know my husband's cell phone number).
The kids had their annual well check ups today. Mic did fine and had a great time getting his blood pressure taken (he LOVES that). Lorelei--however--freaked the shit out. Literally. So after a quick wash and change...and going commando since idiot momma forgot the diaper bag...I carried a screaming, thrashing little girl into the exam room. Lorelei fought getting weight, height measured, everything little thing the nurse and doctor did (she was not impressed with the doctor's light trick with the nose/ear scopy thing). Sigh. How did you thing she did with her shots?
Yeah I felt so bad about it I bought her a new dolly.
Mic was put out--what about me??! Oops (I did some quick thinking), well Mic I did buy you two watches yesterday...
Which, I do believe may be a mistake. Sure he's learning to tell time (one watch is analog, the other digital), but he let's us know with fervent wonder that another minute has past and it is NOW 5:36!!! It was cute for the first hmm 4 minutes--an hour later not_so_much.
Oh and today--it was a 101 at the airport--I read the thermostat in our car at a 106 F. Frak! It's not even summer yet (okay the first day of summer is tomorrow, but still--it's not even AUGUST!). So if y'all don't hear from me--I may have melted. I am also using this vile heat to convince Jamey that I need to buy sun dresses lots and lots of sun dresses. It's slowly working....also helps that I don't wear a bra with most of my sun dresses. Smirk.
My sister Kim is here. It's been really nice spending sisterly time with her. She's 12 years younger than I so our relationship has always been a mother/daughter one. Now that we are both adults I am trying for a sister/sister relationship. So far it's great. She's giving me great help...and no mom I am not treating her like a servant/slave...and I really appreciate her being here.
We had big family drama today. Last night after Jamey and i had a rare date night (thank you Kim!), Mic told me his leg hurt. I saw two spider bites that were really inflamed and hard. I gave him some benedryl...and put him to bed. It was bothering him some more today...but now it was HOT, hard and twice as big as before. Shit. We gave him more benedryl, a double dose and we went off to Anne's house to house sit for a few hours. Well, when she got back we had a "convocation" of Mommies and we all decided it was time to take Mic to the doctor. Poor kid has an infection and on top of that he was over due for some shots so I decided since he was already in pain--might as well get it over with. Poor kid was on the couch all evening moaning about the pain in his leg and in his arm. To be fair to me--he refused all offers of ibuprofen.
Otherwise I have been busy with knitterly stuff (and not really blogging about that either--yes yes bad blogger). I've been stuck in a mire of unfinished projects that seem frozen in time. It's an illusion I know but still--it's the perception. I also have been trying to make some knitting tutorial videos. And Mom amazingly, the house is staying somewhat clean.
I'll leave you with an entertaining video.
Yesterday, we all went swimming with Anne and Seth. And this is Jamey playing toss the boy with Seth.
