Whaaat?

No no no no no

What do you mean my baby is growing up?

no no no

My baby boy is going to his first sleep-over on Friday night.

*sigh*

Granted, it's a friend he's had since kindergarten..

Granted, his Mom is a teacher at our school district

Granted, he has two older and a younger brother.

Still....

I asked him if he wanted to take Pooplet (see prior posts) and he said 'Mommmm, Puleeze'

I asked him if he wanted to take his 'blanket' and he said 'of course... and my armadillo too!'

I told him that I'd miss him if he went... and again with the 'Mommmm, Puleeze'

...my baby...

again... * sigh*

Did i mention that Allison apparently gets her 'surliness' from me...

case and point...

Think I'm in a little trouble here, or what?

Happy Anniversary

Did I mention that I love my husband?

I'm sure I don't say it enough (does anyone?)

He's a good guy. No, really.... he's a GOOD guy!

He puts up with more than his fair share of $hit and never complains. He just nods his head alot and says... 'uh hmmm'

That's a bonus.

We've been married for 11 years. Eleven. Wow. Even typing that looks funny. I still remember on our wedding day that Father Mario said that we should go out to breakfast (at Denny's) before all of the hullaballoo started and really take stock in what we were doing. FOR....THE...REST....OF...OUR...LIVES...

Things have changed, things have happened: kids have been born, family members have died, jobs have come and gone - new friends, new houses, new worries, new issues, new hobbies, new trials, new tribulations. Yada, yada, yada.

One thing has remained the same.

I love my husband.

I still get that 'butterfly' feeling in my stomach when I see him and I don't expect to.

I still marvel at the way he handles the kids - whether they're being good, or bad, or if mama needs a nap.

I still think he's the smartest person I know... (well... not trivia-wise... that's me)

I still believe that he can protect me, and Danny and Al from just about anything. Lightning, hurricaines, intruders, Bob Howard.... anything!

He lets me trim his eyebrows.... I mean really.... How many guys let their women do that?

He made me a chicken quesadilla for lunch.

He keeps his mouth shut when I add green beans to dinner - the kids don't even know that he hates them.

He travels with me, even though I'm a psychotic traveler that has no business being on any form of mass transportation.

Last weekend, he stopped watching the Cowboys play (his #1 love... after his family) to film me and the kids making cookies...

He tries to put my clothes away (even though he's color-blind and I color coordinate everything in my closet)

He loves me.

And I've never questioned it.

He still kisses me every time he leaves the house.

He still gives me the 'good spot' on the couch.

He is honestly the best thing that's ever happened to me.

...and I love him.

Happy Anniversary Ricardo... (spouse)

breakfast is my treat this weekend... Looking forward to 50 more years with you, love.

Just so you don't think I'm completely inept

What can I say? the girl LOVES to cook! She's actually great at it. no lie! She made meatloaf last night and it was excellent. Danny says that her meatloaf is his favorite.

Just FYI - 7 year old boys don't say things just to make you 'feel good'. He honestly thinks so!

But... we started young...

My kids have made so many baked goods in their lifetime. It's amazing we're not all 500 lbs.

and the fun continues!

Really???

Polish up that trophy!


Yup, the 'Mother of the Year' trophy is coming my way! I'm SURE of it! There's no question!!


Would you like to hear why I'm so confident that I'll be the next recipient????


Of course you do...


because it will make you that much more positive that even the 'Octo-Mom' is a more able parent than I am....


As many of you know, I don't deal well with mayhem, pressure, clutter and randomness...

(I have enough little voices in my head that make things confusing enough, so adding to that just results in a complete breakdown and usually assuming the fetal position, beer in hand.)


Well... I had no idea that 2nd grade would be this hard. No.... REALLY! I'm not kidding! It's ridiculous! Danny's math abilities have already FAR surpassed mine (to the point that Daddy has to help him with his homework, because, again, Mama assumes the fetal position and cowers in a corner).

There's this new crap where they have to figure stuff out in a window pane pattern or some such nonsense

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh0JgiATWkg

See???? I told you!!! I did a google search for 'window pane math' and guess what? Cy-Fair ISD is the only one that does it. Lucky me... Lucky, lucky, lucky me...

But, I digress... Actually, I don't know why I was even going on that tangent... I guess to add to my argument that the Octo-Mom has me beat...

Anyways... Danny comes home from school on Monday, homework in hand, attitude galore, and hiccuping like a crazy drunk hobo.

Now, Mondays are stressful around here because after waiting for 45 minutes in car line (the work of the devil, I'm convinced), we need to get home, get homework done, have a snack, get to religious ed, get home and get fed, bathed and brushed and bedded. This is what happens on a "normal" Monday. .. Adding the hiccups to the mix just put us all over the edge.

"Mama?" he says...
"What Dan?"
"I need some hiccup medicine."

You may not be aware that there is hiccup medicine. It's all psychosomatic in my household... Here are my options:
1. pickle juice
2. worcestershire sauce
3. lemon juice

Any one of these, delivered in a spoon, to a member of my family, shocks the system into forgetting about the hiccups. Really... it works.

So in the interest of curing Danny's hiccups *quickly* I gave him a spoonful of pickle juice.

"Um, Mama?"
"What Dan?"
"Um.... hic..... it..... didn't..... hic.... work"
"Oh for Pete's sake, Danny.... Here, try this"
A spoonful of Worcestershire sauce coming up!

Fast forward thirty minutes... Mama has forgotten all about the 'medicine' and is throwing Danny in the car to head to Religious Ed.

"Here, have a cookie and a Danimal...." (liquid yogurt, essentially)

*My stomach is reeling, just typing this

Long story short... well.... you can imagine how green this poor boy was when I picked him up at church.

He went right to bed, without dinner, clutching his stomach saying, 'Mama? Why did you make me eat/drink all that? You made me sick."


I've got a shelf all ready for my trophy...

Wanna hear something funny?



I went to college to be an art teacher... yup. me.



For those of you that know me now, I'm sure you're making that 'say whaaaat?' face.



Not just because I can no longer draw a stick figure, but because I'm (ahem) not very good with children.



Yup, it's true. I'm not quite sure where or when it happened. I used to LOVE kids. I used to babysit, coach, hang out with and just enjoy being around kids. Now.... not-so-much.



Don't get me wrong... I love my kids. I love my kids friends. I love my friends' kids.



But the rest of 'em????? Oh sweet Jesus.... I don't have the strength for them.



Now, I know that if this blog 'falls into the wrong hands' it has the potential of making me a social pariah.



'What?' 'You don't like kids, you say"

'What kind of a monster are you, anyway?'

'You should be banished to a 'loft' downtown'

'How can you not LOOOOOVE children?"



I'm guessing it's a lot like that Bill Cosby skit that has Jeffrey.... 4 years old... on a plane.. if you don't know it, look it up... it's freakin' hysterical.



Today, I spent most of the day watching other peoples' kids. By choice? No. By necessity? maybe. Because I felt like someone had to? Yes.



I wish I could just let other people parent the way they do and not worry about it. But instead, I take it ALL on. The 'what if's' and the 'Where did they go' and the 'Is he okay' and the 'who's gonna buy him ice cream when everyone else on the street has it, and no adult is here to give him money..." yada, yada, yada.



This 'responsible adult' thing really sucks.