Milestones

1. Vivian finally went to kindergarten. At first glance, it's seen as a relief. Upon further inspection, I have discovered that my life is a little bit boring without that kid around. The fun part has been figuring out who I am without a kid stuck to my side. And by fun, I mean not fun. 
2. Patricia got her learner's permit, and I got more gray hairs. Seriously. I'm not even joking. This is not an exaggeration. I have more gray hairs. Everywhere. Even in places that I never thought would get gray hairs. Yeah. THERE. Although, I am pretty sure those ones have nothing to do with my 16 year old daughter. 
3. Trystan is taller than me. He weighs more than me too. And he has a manly voice. Where did my sweet little boy go?
4. Mimi's isn't much of a milestone, rather a brag. That girl is the most empathetic person I know. She is the kid who plays with the unpopular kids who have no one to play with at recess. She is the one who takes time to help the kid who can't read well to find a book in the school library that he is interested in. I see this every time I go to her school. Her teachers tell me whenever they get a chance. Most importantly, Mimi lets me know. At least once a week. Hey- It's a good thing to know what you're good at. 
5. Mel retired after 20 years in the Army. And now for the brag: In November, he had a retirement ceremony where I got to hear about all of the amazing things he has done over the past six years in his job. That was cool. I learned some things I didn't know before. What the best part for me was standing in the receiving line  and getting to talk to all of the people who he had touched, both professionally and personally. I have always known how great he is. To learn that I'm not the only person to feel that way about him was priceless. I'm looking forward to the next chapter in our lives. 
6. Isn't it ironic that I saved myself for last? I got my first REAL brazilian wax. Remember this? Or part deux? Or part the third? It took just over two years for me to muster the courage to get it professionally done. It took 45 minutes. It hurt. My pussy was out of commission for two days. I'm going back on Wednesday for maintenance. (god help me)

Did you have any milestones in your life? If so, I hope it wasn't as painful as mine. 

So much fun for us

Yesterday, I spent $80 on a one-wheeled bike. I guess technically, it's not a BIke. Is it? inequity I guess it's more like a half-bike. But not really half, because it has pedals and handlebars. Only the handlebars aren't for steering. They are only for holding on. Do you have a good visual yet?

NO?

I wish I could have gotten a picture of us on it, because I'm pretty sure we looked AMAZING on it. 

Vivian and I.

I bought a tandem bike trailer. It attaches to my seat post. Two people riding a bike with three wheels. Shit. I guess that makes it a TRIke, huh? inequity? 

The awesome part wasn't how we looked. The awesome part was how we cooperated, learned, and trusted each other. That was the best part EVER! 

When we first started out, we were so wobbly. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to handle the bike (trike) with both of us on it. I didn't feel very confident, and we only pushed along at 6 or so miles per hour. I'm not sure Viv wanted to go too fast either, because I think I did all the work. For the first half of our ride.

After we took a break and turned around, something clicked for us. We started off so smoothly, I almost forgot that we were connected. Before I knew it, we were speeding along at 13+ MPH. No wobbles. No shakes. No hesitation. She even 'made' me cruise so she could push us along. 

We only did 6 miles yesterday on the B&A trail. From one end to the other, it's 15.5 miles. I love riding my bike, and so does Viv. I'm pretty sure I know what we are going to be doing much more of. As I'm writing this, she's asking if we can go back today. I wouldn't be surprised if we biked from one end to the other and back this summer. 

It's a hug!

I've been sick since Monday. Coughing, sniffling, and achy. Oh! How I ache! I can't drive because it hurts my hands to grip the steering wheel. I also can't focus on the road because focusing makes me want to close my eyes and sleep. My joints don't hurt too much as long as I stay on ibuprofen. I forgot to take it yesterday because I felt good when I woke up. By lunchtime, I was almost in tears because every joint in my body ached. 

Needless to say, I'm a pretty boring mom this week. Vivian and I were getting some snacks to take downstairs to eat while we waste hours on the couch, when I asked her to give me something. 

Puzzled, she asked, "What?" 

I promptly replied, "It's big, and warm, and-" 

"A HUG!! IT'S A HUG!!"

"Yes dear, it's a hug. That's what I'd like you to give me."

"You got it mom!"

And I mustered the energy to hold her in a full-body legs wrapped around me hug. She's the greatest!

I pretty much hate X-mas music

However, Vivian loves it. And if I don't play it in the car, she will sing the same lines from the same songs over and over and over and over and over. I figure that it's more pleasant to have music to go with the words, so we listen to it in the car. Today, I heard this song for the first time ever. It was so clever and entertaining, I had to share it with you.

 

The feeling I got from the song is how we are all so crazed and jumbled at this time of the year. Everything seems to blend all together. The shopping, decorating, baking, partying, cooking, traveling, entertaining, all seems to smoosh together and create a hectic frenzy. Then December 25th dawns, the presents are opened, the meal is eaten, and it's over. Just like that. All that craziness for what? More stuff. 

Don't get me wrong, I like stuff. I like shopping and getting presents. I like having a reason to make gifts for people I love. But I don't like the hoopla that goes along with it. That's all.

Wow. I wrote a whole post without cussing. Or mentioning my awesome ass. Shit! I just cussed. Twice. Oh well, nobody's perfect. I hope Santa will still bring me lots of presents this year.

Happy 15th Anniversary!!

Our story is crazy. Fifteen years ago, I was huge and pregnant and about to pop. I hate that saying- about to pop. It's gross. It's vulgar. Nothing pops. EW. Anyways, back to our story. 

We didn't want to get married just because I was pregnant. Then he came down on orders. We were both in the Army, so the only way we could both be stationed together was if we were married. So that's why we did it. So our family could be together. Ironic? 

So, for our tenth anniversary, I got a baby. Vivian the Great was born. What else is there to say? For you mofos that know her, you know that she truly is great. Her personality is gigantic. She is the most outgoing person I know. She is best friends to every single person she meets. She loves animals, singing, the color pink, candy, her bicycle, her silly bands, her friends. She loves life and is a crazy monkey. My nickname for her is stinkleberry. She giggles every time I call her by that silly name. 

As luck would so have it, Mel had to take a trip to Hawaii for work. He was able to work things out juuuuust right so we could go for our anniversary. I'm happy about this. Don't get me wrong. It's great. But you know what's funny? It's kind of a cheap present. Lemme break it down.

1. Frequent flyer miles = $200 for my ticket. 
2. Army is paying for the hotel.
3. Army is paying for food.
4. Army is paying for rental car.

But, I'm happy. I'm looking forward to it. I'll get 8 days without my kids. I'll be able to sunbathe, knit, read, plan, knit, sunbathe, chill, eat, drink, surf, snorkel, have quiet time.Yeah, it's ok, I guess. Don't be mad Brandi. Don't be jealous. Stop calling me a bitch. It's not MY FAULT, ok?! I can't help it. My husband is better. He's only spending $200 on me. It's not that big of a deal. 

also what happened on 9/8/08

Standing in line for her first ever dance class, she does her most dignified pose ever. Do you like the one of her dancing with the rest of the class? No, she is not doing a solo performance. At least she's not supposed to.

too much for one post

I have so much to blog about, it's crazy. So, I am going to break it up into chunks. I'll blog the big events from the past two weeks over the next couple of days. It's crazy. We had a ton of things happen all at the same time, and I got overwhelmed and boycotted blogging. That's why I am going to ease into things.

On Saturday, September 6th, we planned to have a crazy triple carnival party. Since three of our kids were born within a month of each other, we decided to have a cool outside party for all of them and their friends. We planned a dunk tank, balloon darts, ping pong ball toss, matching floating duckies, ring toss, guess the candy in the jar, potato sack races, and tug-o-war. That's what we planned for 9/6/08. Hurricane Hannah had different plans. She rained out our party on Saturday. Call it what you may, but our ox was stuck in a hurricane. So, we decided to have the party on Sunday. As you all will see, it was worth the wait because the weather was totally fantastic.

Balloon darts

Mimi beating someone at the races

Some of the neighborhood moms decided to race against each other. Check out Misty on the far left.Yeah, I won!!! Sorry about the butt shot. See where Misty is? I don't think she moved. I think she just turned around. Totally fun. Totally. We sang happy birthday to each kid. Trystan turned ten on August 18th. I am not going to list 10 great things about him or list 10 reasons why I am glad he's my son. I'll save the list making for tomorrow's post.

Then it was Vivian's turn. She turned 3 on September 8th. Guess what else is signifigant about that day?

And last but not least is Patricia. She's not 13 yet. Her big day is on Friday the 19th.
I didn't really get a good count of how many kids were at the party. We had mostly neighborhood kids. Patricia invited a couple of people from her school, and we had a mysterious family from church who shall remain anonymous. (I'll only out myself and my family for breaking the sabbath.)

Here's the Tug-o-War line. I wasn't pulling. I was the judge. See Suzan? She was the ready, set, go! person. (whatever that's called) Yeah, the two loudest mouths at the place.

We gave out tickets to the kids and they used them to 'buy' goodies from the store. Patricia, Mel and I had a blast at Five Below shopping for that stuff. I am so thankful to all my great neighbors and friends for helping run the stations, serving food, running the store, and cleaning up. They helped make this the best party ever!

Labor Day fun

Today, we decided to do a little family fun at the C&O canal. It was about a 45 minute drive to Great Falls, MD to the national park. Do you know how the canal works? It's cool. This is a picture of a lock. It's like stairs in the water. The lock opens, floods the chamber, and the barge floats up or down the 'steps', then they close the lock and the barge continues on its journey.

This is the beautiful Potomac River. It's next to the canal.

We didn't do much walking along the canal this time because of the Bigfoot sighting. Fortunately, all we saw of him was this footprint he left.

And of course, you can't go to a place like this with all these rocks without doing a little rock climbing. She's a natural.

She can do ANYTHING!!!

Today, while running errands with my mother, I mentioned that my new bracelet is too big. So, she took a look at it and decided to make it shorter for me. She just took it apart, took two discs out, and put it back together. I thought about doing that, but I didn't want to mess up my $44 bracelet. I guess my small investment didn't mean that much to her because she did it without a second thought. Oh yeah, she didn't mess it up either. I don't think she said it, but the idea and attitude behind it was 'Hmmph, easy peasy.'

Then, while we were looking at aprons, I mentioned that I had to throw my favorite apron away a little while ago because it was so old and funky and threadbare that I couldn't even wash the funk out. (I had the apron for over 10 years) So, she decided that rather than buy another apron that I didn't really love, she would make one for me instead. But she didn't just make one for me. She made one for Mimi and one for Vivian too. Oh, and it's REVERSIBLE!!!!!!! She only finished Vivian's tonight, but as soon as all three are done, you'd better believe there will be some pictures of us all in our cute little aprons.

My mom is so cool. She is crafty. And whenever she comes to visit, I can't wait to see what cool projects she comes up with for us (her) to do. Sad that she leaves tomorrow. Can't wait to see her again!!

That's what you get!

Kids are so crazy. They have to be told not to do things millions of times, and they still do it. Not only that, but when they do the thing they were told not to do, and get hurt, they have the nerve to want our hugs and comfort. Well, what I really want to tell them is, "THAT'S what you get!" For example:

• Vivian likes to jump down the stairs. Yes. Jump. I don't get it. She just barely learned to walk downstairs, and now she wants to jump? So, every time I see her jumping down the stairs, I tell her, "Please don't jump. Hold on to the railing to be safe." So, you'd think that by now, she would know not to jump. Right? This morning, I heard her jumping, and before I could remind her not to, she fell and smashed her little face into the gate at the bottom of the stairs. So, once I determined that there wasn't any blood or broken bones, I had to resist the tremendous urge to tell her, "Now, THAT'S what you GET for jumping down the stairs!"
• Like Patricia, I was the oldest sibling. I had two younger brothers. Every so often I would be a nice sister and let them play in my room with me. She does the same thing. Inevitably her siblings end up getting into her stuff, acting like morons, and refusing to get out when she asks them to. So, after she comes to me totally frustrated and ready to kill her younger siblings, I tell her the same thing that my mother told me, "Sometimes that's what you get for being nice. One day they will appreciate it."
• Trystan can't seem to get it through his thick head that he isn't supposed to rough-house with the dog, Weber. Weber is 70 pounds of bone and muscle. Mostly muscle. He is a big, slobbery boxer. And he loves to play. When he rough houses with Trystan, he likes to jump and grab with his mouth. That's how dogs play. I don't care if he plays that way with other dogs, but he is not allowed to play that way with people. Trystan can't seem to get that through his head. He loves to wrestle and grab at the dog. Weber is all too eager to wrestle and grab back. Can you guess where this story is going? Weber almost always gets carried away and grabs Trystan's sock and rips it. Or he'll grab at his shoes and bite them off. He can't always tell when Trystan is done playing. So, Trystan ends up getting frustrated, hurt, or mad. I never miss the opportunity to tell him, "THAT'S what you get for playing innapropriately with the dog."

I have many other instances like this. I guess it does make me sound like a 'Miss Know-it-all'. But, I do. Well, about most things that have to do with my kids. And if they would just listen to me in the first place, I could save them from unnecessary pain and frustration. They will thank me one day. Yeah, right. "THAT'S what I get."

The Countdown

Everyone in my house is counting down the days until our Hawaii trip. The kids are all so excited about getting to spend a week with their friends. SLEEPING OVER!!!

Mimi and her 'sister', Isabel are the most excited. If we didn't have a general rule against sleepovers in my family, I know without a doubt that those two would have sleepovers every week. That's why I am so glad that Suzan agreed to let her stay while we are on vacation. But, she didn't only agree to take Mimi, she also is keeping Vivian. Isn't she great??

Trystan is spending the week with his other 'brother', Chase. I know they have already planned to stay up way too late playing video games. I am so thankful that Misty is letting Trystan stay with them. She is a great next door neighbor and friend.

And Patricia gets to go to Kylee's house! They have been friends since they were 2 years old. The cool thing about her going to Kylee's house is that she is missing a week from school to stay with Kylee. Well, I guess she's not really missing school since she's homeschooled. Brie has agreed to boss her around and make her do all her work just like I would. Truth be told, she'll probably do a better job than I normally do. She's so organized.

You know what's the weirdest thing about all of it? Each one of my friends who have taken on this task are doing it without husbands. All of their husbands are going to be out of town the whole time my kids are at their houses. Do I have great friends or what?

Oh yeah, and I'm counting down too. I think I've been mostly packed since Saturday night. I'm just a little excited. YA THINK?

When the husband's away...

...the kids eat junk food for dinner.

I mean, what's my motivation to cook? Ok, maybe healthy kids-but besides that? The great thing about cooking dinner when Mel is home is that he cleans up. Or at least his presence in the home motivates me to clean up. But when it's only the kids and I, there's no motivation to do much of anything least of all dishes. They don't care that the sink is piled high with dirty dishes and cups. I think they make a sport of seeing who can pile dishes the highest. What's that game...Topple?

What's more, they don't even eat what I cook. Patricia does because she likes lots of different foods, and she will even eat something that she doesn't like just to be nice. But the other three!?!? Forget it! In her cute little elf voice Vivian says,"I don't like this dinner mommy. It's not very good." Mimi whines,"Do I have to eat the broccoli? tortellini? chicken?" And Trystan just pushes his food around his plate and sneaks away from the table while I am busy yelling at Vivian for throwing her food to the dog.

So that's why I just feed them junk food for dinner. Because they'll eat it. And I can serve it on paper plates. And they don't need forks. And I don't have to wash pots and pans. I usually eat a giant salad and if I tell them that they can't have any, they they'll want some too. So at least they are getting something green.

I know it's taking the easy route, but it helps them not miss their dad while he's away. Mel's gone for the week, and we've planned at least two dinners out. Oh, and I have also planned to make cookies and cupcakes. We still have to eat breakfast, you know.

The newest Covergirls

A couple of weeks ago, I went away for the annual scrapbook weekend with a bunch of girlfriends. Technically, it was called a 'scrapbook weekend', but since I don't scrapbook it was just a get away from the kids weekend for me. As you might expect, we shared some pretty deep secrets about ourselves like, 'I have bought outfits to match my scrapbook paper' and 'I haven't touched a scrapbook since last year'. Since I don't scrapbook, I didn't understand why they would go through such pains to get the perfect pictures for the perfect layout.

That is, until I started this blog. I haven't gone so far as coordinating outfits (yet), but I did take advantage of a great photo opportunity and I even *gasp* staged some pictures just so I could post them today. Is that normal? Do you bloggers do that? I mean, after I wrote my entry yesterday, I was already planning what I was going to write about today. I think I need help.

Now for the picture: I used to be so anti-makeup on little kids. Until Vivian came along. I have realized that some things just aren't worth taking a stand for if they occupy your kids so you can get some quiet time. Makeup is one of those things. I gave Mimi and Vivian the cheapo eye shadow I bought for Halloween and here is what they came up with! Pretty good, huh? Not really, but who cares? It was a 'fun mommy' moment. Watch out Drew Barrymore, we're the newest CoverGirls!