The Crazy Key Family

The big spoon

2012-01-04T13:32:00.000-06:00

On my birthday, back in November, I wanted to go to O'Charley's for supper. David wasn't in town, so it was just the kids and me. I felt sure that I could talk them into going wherever I wanted. It was MY day, after all. So I was talking all week about wanting to go to O'Charley's. I love the potato soup, the sweet tea, and of course caramel pie for dessert. The perfect birthday meal, at least that is what I thought.

No, Spencer was adamant that we should go to Red Robin (that is HIS favorite place to celebrate HIS birthday). I was still pushing for O'Charley's until my awesome friend Tricia delivered O'Charley's caramel pie to my door during the day. So no matter what, I was getting my pie. At that point, I let go of my plan and decided to go with the flow.

So we headed to Red Robin where my son wanted to take me for my birthday supper.
We walked in and before the hostess could ask us how many, Spencer announced that it was my birthday. She laughed and seated us.
The waiter approaches our table and before he could even introduce himself, Spencer made sure that he knew that it was my birthday. He laughed and went to get our drinks.

I was a healthy mix of embarrassed by his calling so much attention to me and touched that he was so happy to celebrate with me.

We got situated in our booth and the kids brought out the items that they had packed to bring.
(They grab things as we leave the house. They always act like we are never coming home again.)
Jessa unpacked her La La Loopsy friends and got them all settled. I believe they ordered an omelet.

Oh, and her ponies, of course. Because what is more fun than ponies!

Then Spencer started playing with what he brought.
I was puzzled.
But then again, this is the kid that wears one blue rubber dish glove to the store and carries a soup ladle to a meeting.
I don't question him.
And I was happy because the thing he brought blended right in with some other items on our table.

I mean, the large spoon he brought immediately bonded with his Red Robin knife and Red Robin fork.

We all ate our suppers. And Spencer kept a close eye on the kitchen throughout the meal.

Then, the moment he has been waiting for, a group of Red Robin employees headed for our table to sing and clap and call attention to me.
As soon as they finished singing and deposited my ice cream, it all became clear to me.
Spencer did not want to make my birthday special.
Spencer did not want to help me celebrate.
Spencer did not randomly choose a strange item to take to supper with us.
Nope.
It was all premeditated.
He had a plan.
The kid brought the big spoon.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Road Trips for children

2011-12-27T18:36:00.001-06:00

When you are little, you cannot wait to grow up. Being a kid seems like such a bummer, right? Grown-ups are always trying to boss you around and tell you what to do. You don't get to be in charge of what you want to do, where you want to go, or anything. I can remember that feeling very well. I could not wait to be "big enough to ________ (fill in the blank)."

I would venture to say that most adults have moments where we wish we could be children again. Probably because as grown-ups, we are very aware of how good kids have it. Maybe they don't "get" to do whatever they want, but they also don't experience worry or stress or even planning things. And I know I am not the only one who would give my eye teeth to have someone MAKE me take a nap any day of the week. Are you with me??

Well, I recently came to the realization that road trips are one area where kids have it pretty darn easy - at least my kids do, anyway.

Here is a breakdown of the preparations for one of one of our recent road trips.
First, take a look at what Spencer was doing while I got up early to pack, load, and get us ready to
head back to IL.

And Jessa Lynn:

Here are the toiletries that I packed for all of us.

The Nintendo DS that I charged. Well, actually, I charged 2.

The computers that I packed up - after locating the adapters that were scattered all over the house.

Just a reminder, here is what Jessa and Spencer were doing while all of this was going on.

While they snooze away, their suitcases are magically packed. . .

I also had to pack for Julie, the American Girl.

And there was the cooler, with drinks for our trip, it had to be packed, too.

Then I packed a snack bags for each kiddo.
I try to have plenty to eat and drink, so we can make the fewest number of stops possible

I usually let them start off the long day in the car still wearing their jommies. BUT most of the time, they want to change at some point on the road (OK, fine, so it is me that is embarrassed to go traipsing into gas stations all over the country with my kids still in their PJs). It doesn't matter whose idea it really is, I also pack a change of clothes for each child.

Oh, and also, guess what the kiddos were doing at this point in the process?

And I cannot forget to pack my own suitcase, right?

Then the car must be loaded with all of the aforementioned things that I have gathered.

And then children themselves must also be loaded.

David carried one,

and Bay carried the other.

And then the precious angels can be tucked in for a nice long trip complete with their luggage, their snacks, their drinks, Jessa's DS, Spencer's DS, their computers, their toys, their blankets, their pillow pets, their change of clothes, their movies, and about anything else that I might need for a 9 hour trip.

Oh wait, what about these guys?
They have to go, too.
And they have pillows and a water bowl and leashes. . .

So it makes sense that I might at times want to take a road trip as a child.
Or maybe I should be more specific, I want to go on a road trip as one of my children.
Heck, I wouldn't even mind traveling as one of my dogs!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-07T07:00:00.000-06:00

(OK, not even close to wordless, but it is Wednesday. . .)

When I decorated for Christmas, I added one of my favorite vinyl tablecloths to the kitchen table.
The kids were wearing their new Christmas jommies.
They were alone in the kitchen.
I heard giggles and the words "look, we're camouflaged!"

They were kind of right.
At least I think so, anyway.
Well, you be the judge.

Here is the table before:


To be clear, this is the picture WITHOUT the little children in it.

Here is after -
can you find the two sweet children in this picture?

See, they are camouflaged!

Merry Christmas from the camo kids!

I'm not ready

2011-12-05T17:01:00.001-06:00

Just now, my sweet 8 year old baby girl asked me a question. See, she has several little buddies. She calls them her BFFs (which totally cracks me up). And she has even had sleepovers with one of these BFFs a few times. Her first sleepover was pretty tough to handle. That is something that big girls do, right?? You mean, I have a big girl? How did this happen? She was little. She drank from bottles. And now she is giggling in sleeping bags watching movies and eating popcorn?

Well, today, we had another big first.
She walked in holding the phone in her hand and said, "Mom, can I call _______?" And I said, "For what?" And she said, "I don't know, just to talk."

And so it begins. I remember spending HOURS on the phone every single day of my life. I remember when we used to spend all day at school together, and then we'd hurry home to talk some more. I got my own phone line on my 12th birthday because we were not in an area that had call waiting yet. Ah, the phone.

Well, let's give it up for my over achiever.
Chatting with her BFF on the phone at age 8.

When she is a teenager, boy, are we in trouble.

Computer Savvy?

2011-10-24T08:00:00.001-05:00

Our children are growing up with so much technology at their fingertips. I can remember floppy disks that were actually floppy. I did not get an e-mail address until my senior year of college, and to be honest, I didn't really understand it even then. I have mentioned before the my children have had net books of their own for more than 2 years. They can figure things out more quickly than I ever could. They are just so much more technologically advanced. I mean, I had a Walkman that just played the radio when I was Jessa's age, and that kid has an ipod! I didn't even get a CD player until college. You get the point, right? I am ancient, and my children are spoiled.

BUT all that technology cannot change my sweet daughter from being a very literal child.

Whenever they want to play on a website that requires an account and password to log in, I always register them. I make sure that only I know the password. I don't want them to have too much freedom, right? So there are times that they are in desperate need to play a game that I am busy. So we have moments of impatience as Jessa and even Spencer have to wait on me to log them into their game. Jessa finds this terribly frustrating. She is always looking for a way to speed things up.

The other day I found a piece of paper where my too clever and way too literal daughter had jotted down the password to a website. At first I did not understand why she wrote it down - it did not make sense. But I kept looking at it, and then David saw it. We both got so tickled as we realized what she had done.

You know how sometimes it matters if you have caps lock on? Sometimes the logins and passwords have certain letters capitalized? And you need to pay attention to this or you will be denied access? Like Dana is correct, but dana is not?

Are you with me?
Do you get it?

Well, I better just show you her scrap of paper so you can see for yourself:

Sometimes "clever" and "literal" don't mix. . .

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-05T07:58:00.000-05:00

Jessa sure is lucky to have a Mimi that shares her salad. . .

Birthdays in heaven

2011-10-03T08:00:00.001-05:00

On September 26, 1929, my wonderful grandfather was born. It is one of the best days to ever happen because it brought him into the world to eventually be my Poppy. This September 26 was the first birthday that we have had since his death. In fact, it was 3 months and 1 day since we lost him.

This concerned Jessa and Spencer both a lot. They had many questions. Will he get to celebrate his birthday? Will he get to eat cake? What if we want to get him a present? What if we want to send him a card? As always, I was touched and challenged by their many questions. I told them that he would have a wonderful birthday in heaven with Jesus and all of his friends and family. But they were still sad. They wanted to be able to make him a card. So I thought quickly and suggested that we make him cards and send them to heaven.

The day came last week.

When they got home from school, they both got right to work making him the perfect card. The cards were both so sweet AND so different.

Jessa is a little older, and she thinks a little more deeply.

Here was her card:

Spencer is just as sweet, but a little more simple at this point.

Here was his:

Once we were finished, we shed a few tears together. Then we rolled up the cards into small little scrolls. And we headed to the florist shop on base. They were so patient with us and so nice. They had some trouble getting the scrolls into the balloons. But they worked at it and got them both safely into the balloon. They filled them with helium, and we were ready to go.

We headed home to release our balloons so they would go straight to Poppy in heaven.

It was a beautiful, if windy day - perfect conditions for our launch.

It was a small tribute that we all shared together.

David, Jessa, Spencer, and I had our own little party on earth celebrating one of the best people we all know in heaven.

Happy Birthday Poppy!

We miss you.

14 years ago today. . .

2011-09-30T08:24:00.003-05:00

. . .standing on a bridge at the top of a waterfall in North Georgia,

I said YES!

Amicalola Falls

Happy Engagement Day, D!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

We got Molly a new bed.

I think she likes it.

Well, maybe not the pillow part. . .

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-14T08:00:00.001-05:00

7:00 PM

Friday Night

After the first week of Kindergarten.

Poor Baby.

9-11-01

2011-09-11T05:15:00.006-05:00

We were in Germany. David was at work. At the time, he worked in downtown Mannheim and he wore civilian clothes. He was the only American Military person who worked in his office. I was at home in our stairwell apartment. We lived on the second floor. Our housing area was open. And we did not have to show an ID to enter. There were no guards at the gate. There was no gate.

I loved the time difference because I could watch the Today show live broadcast on AFN (the Armed Forces Network), but it didn't start until 1 o'clock in the afternoon. It was a normal, beautiful Tuesday afternoon in Germany.

Katie Couric interrupted a story to inform us that a plane had hit one of the towers of the World Trade Center. I thought, just like everyone that someone must have fallen asleep of had a heart attack. It was sad, sure. I was a tragedy, of course. But it had to be an accident, right?

They changed the course of the show and began broadcasting live views of the tower that had been hit. There was smoke. And everyone was speculating about what could have happened. As the talked, the screen was still on the live shot. I was still watching when the second plane came into view and hit the second tower. At that point, like everyone else in the world, I knew this was big. I called David. I called Momma. And my best friend Tonya came straight to my apartment. And along with a friend of hers from home, we were glued to the television all day and all night. Pretty quickly, the American Military switched our security status to Delta. This hadn't happened since David commissioned. They started closing the streets to protect us. There was even brief talk of evacuating dependents. We had no idea what was going to happen next.

In the days that followed, I was in awe of the outpouring of support that the Germans. They placed candles and flowers at the edges of the post, at the newly formed gates. They had services of remembrance. They were truly heartbroken for all Americans that day. And while I missed being on American soil with my fellow Americans, we were safe in Mannheim with our wonderful German friends and neighbors.

I will never forget how it felt. I will never forget the images that I could not stop watching flash across my television screen all day and all night from more than 4,000 miles away. Or being in the post chapel holding candles with all of the other Americans who were with us in Germany. The feelings of helplessness and sadness and grief and fear and anger that were mixed with pride and patriotism and adoration of all of the heroes that emerged.

And I will always be so grateful to our men and women in uniform who have been fighting back ever since.

Below is a copy of the text of the address that President Bush gave on September 11, 2001. In my opinion, these words capture the feelings that we all felt on that day; the feelings that we all still feel today, 10 years later. May God Bless everyone affected by the horrible acts of September 11. May God Bless all our military who continue to protect us and our freedoms. And may God Bless America.

Good evening.

Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. The victims were in airplanes or in their offices: secretaries, business men and women, military and federal workers, moms and dads, friends and neighbors. Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror. The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge -- huge structures collapsing have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness, and a quiet, unyielding anger. These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong.

A great people has been moved to defend a great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve. America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining. Today, our nation saw evil -- the very worst of human nature -- and we responded with the best of America. With the daring of our rescue workers, with the caring for strangers and neighbors who came to give blood and help in any way they could.

Immediately following the first attack, I implemented our government's emergency response plans. Our military is powerful, and it's prepared. Our emergency teams are working in New York City and Washington D.C. to help with local rescue efforts. Our first priority is to get help to those who have been injured, and to take every precaution to protect our citizens at home and around the world from further attacks. The functions of our government continue without interruption. Federal agencies in Washington which had to be evacuated today are reopening for essential personnel tonight and will be open for business tomorrow. Our financial institutions remain strong, and the American economy will be open for business as well.

The search is underway for those who were behind these evil acts. I have directed the full resources of our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find those responsible and to bring them to justice. We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.

Tonight, I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I pray they will be comforted by a Power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23:

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me.

This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time. None of us will ever forget this day, yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world.

Thank you. Good night. And God bless America.

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/gwbush911addresstothenation.htm

Baby Steps

2011-09-06T15:56:00.000-05:00

I love the way our district eases you into school. I am not a rip the band-aid off kind of girl. I always slowly peel it off, so the way they do things works for me. We had an orientation last week for Kindergarten Parents Only. We got to sit in their chairs and hear all about what to expect from the upcoming, milestone year. Spencer and I were both THRILLED to find that he will have the same teacher for Kindergarten that Jessa had.

The next little step is the partial First Day of School.
I got up extra early to make first day of school pancakes. I borrowed an idea from an old friend, Jill who made special pancakes for her kids first day of school:

Jessa's: a "2" for 2nd grade.

Spencer's: a "K" for Kindergarten.

Jessa came running in at 6:15. She was fully dressed with socks and shoes. Her hair was brushed and pulled back into a ponytail. She scared me half to death because I did not know anyone else was even up! She was ready for her breakfast and to get this first day started.

David was headed out to catch a flight, but he was happy to pose for a quick pic.

Spencer was a little slower to wake up:

My patient children posed for the traditional Mommy pictures.

And then we were off.
One more picture before we headed in:

I settled into the cafeteria for some PTO business. And in pretty short order, Jessa was ready to get the show in the road. We dropped Jessa off in the line to go to her class. They discourage parents from going to the classes of the older kiddos, and she was more than ready to GO!
I mean just look at her:

Ready to take on the world, or at least 2nd grade.

On to the next baby step, Kindergarten Meet and Greet.
Spencer got to follow instructions to find his locker.

And his seat at his table, oh by the way, at the yellow table.

He wrote his name and drew a picture, per the instructions.

I am sure you can tell, it's a castle.

We found his mailbox, his lunch card, the behavior cards.
And the last thing was a final check-in with his teacher.

What a fun baby step!

I loved being at THEIR school with them on the first day.
The excitement in the air was palpable.

Spencer had an OK time, but he was not happy that he had to leave with me.
He can't wait until tomorrow when he gets to stay.
The. Whole. Day.
And eat lunch in the cafeteria.
And ride the bus.
*sigh*

At least they will be together. . .

Twas the night before school. . .

2011-09-05T23:59:00.003-05:00

I cannot believe that tomorrow is the first day of school for us. I mean, I know that I shouldn't be shocked. We had a crazy long summer this year. (We did the math and we were 1 day short of Phineas and Ferb's 104 days of summer vacation) But I am still not sure if I am ready.

Of course, it may have a little something to do with my Spencer starting Kindergarten. Think that may have something to do with it??

Tonight, we had tacos for a special supper to celebrate back to school. We got Cold Stone Creamery for dessert. We loaded new backpacks with new school supplies and placed them by the door. We chose the perfect outfits to wear. We read stories - my favorite was "Twas the Night Before Kindergarten" (hence the title of this post). David came up and told them both good night and wished them luck because unfortunately he will be headed TDY just before we have to head to school.

I tucked in my brand new 2nd Grader first.

She has been out of bed about 46 times because she is too excited to sleep.

She cannot wait to see her friends.

And she is not happy that I am driving her tomorrow instead of letting her ride the bus.

Oh and she already told Spencer that she will sit with him on the bus so he won't be lonely.

And then I tucked in my brand new Kindergartner.

He says he is excited but not nervous.

And he makes fun of me if I even pretend to get choked up about my baby going to school.

He cannot wait to finally get to go to "Jessa's School."

And riding the bus after tomorrow is going to be so much cooler than the "Mom Van."

I guess I better get to sleep since I have to get up crazy early to make back to school pancakes.

And so a new year begins. . .

*sigh*

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-31T08:00:00.001-05:00

MAX.

Some days, one bean bag is just not enough.

Tough day for Molly

2011-08-26T09:04:00.001-05:00

Being a part of a family is wonderful. You get all sorts of love and support. But belonging to a family also brings with it certain responsibilities. You have to pitch in and help out. This means doing a chore or a favor from time to time. It may not always be what you want to do, but it is what is expected when you are a part of a family.
And I am not just talking about people here. I am talking about each and every member of a family. As many of you know, we have several furry family members. And the furries do not get a free pass. There are garbage men to bark at and birds and other critters to chase.

Last Wednesday was a particularly busy day for us at the Crazy Key House. And our littlest furry Key had a day jam packed full of important jobs.

First the kids and I went to the commissary. We got back and we were trying to get all the groceries unloaded before it was time to head to our next engagement. I was having some trouble fitting all of the new items into the fridge. I bought 2 containers of tomatoes, and those were the last things that I was trying to find a place to put them. I was also keeping the kids and track and a few other things. So when everything was in the fridge, I thought, "yes!" I had no idea that my helpful little Molly was aware of my plight. And bless her heart, she was ready to help. She made the executive decision to just find another place for those tomatoes. And it was all really quite clever.

She snacked on a few.

And then she decided that the plastic case was not a suitable storage receptacle.

I think you'll be impressed with her final decision.

So after the troublesome task of putting away most of the groceries, the kids and I were off again to our next commitment. I am sure Molly was busy guarding the house from neighborhood kids and UPS trucks while we were gone. I mean, a dog as helpful as she is would never just take the afternoon off.

Later on, after we were home, I was working on the dishes. I had not had a chance with our early morning errands to get the dishwasher loaded and unloaded. And let me tell you, this is a job that I pretty much cannot do alone. Ever since Molly arrived on the scene, she is my devoted dishwasher dog, for sure.

And she takes her job very seriously, too. She has developed techniques to get at some of the dishes that would be out of reach for a less experienced dog.

Just look at her form.

She does like to be noticed when she is working this hard.

"Look we me, Mom, sacrificing my body for your dishes."

We could all learn something from this devoted little helper, couldn't we?

But even the most devoted and hardest working among us have rough days, right?
The stress of the day can really start to wear on you.
Apparently, Molly is no different.
Remember when I said that we had put away most of the groceries? Well, little Molly apparently saw something that she thought she might need. She stashed it away for another time.
And I guess after the busy say she had, it was a good thing.
Some days you can get a headache.

And if this happens and you are a dog, you are in trouble.
What with the no opposable thumbs thing, opening much needed medication can be difficult.
I mean, you can get the box open and the top off pretty easily.

But darn that child-proof and apparently (thankfully) dog-proof safety seal.
She had to give up.
She left it in the yard for me to find.

Here is a closer look at her valiant attempt.

I guess I better do a better job at keeping medicine out of reach of children - human AND canine. . .

After a hard day of helping me and doing her chores, she was worn out.
I guess she just gave up on the "headache medicine" and just went on to sleep.

We are so lucky to have such a helpful little dog.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

Westies are the Besties!

Fashion tips?

2011-08-12T08:00:00.003-05:00

We had just gotten back from Hawaii on Thursday. I had to get up early to take Max to the vet. So I got up, showered, got dressed in comfy clothes. I mean, I was in no way close to being over the whole time change, so there was no need to get all gussied up, right? I was just going to the vet. So Max and I headed out and took card of business. I came back home and did a few things around the house. And then about 11, I realized that David, Jessa, and Spencer were all still in the bed. The house was quiet. So what did I do? Yep, I went upstairs and climbed back in the bed! I slept a few more hours, still in my comfy clothes (knit pants and a long sleeved t-shirt). Late in the afternoon, David suggested that we all go bowling. I thought that sounded like fun. And the kids are always up for a night at the lanes. So I hollered at them to get dressed. Yes, they were somewhat dressed. I mean, they were not naked. Spencer actually still had on jommies. But normally before we leave the house, I like for everyone to look at least somewhat presentable.

They both head to their bedrooms to get cleaned up to go out. I considered changing my clothes, but then I decided, hey, it's just bowling. So I did not heed my own advice.

Jessa walked back into our room holding something that looked like jeans. She brought them right over to me and asked if she could wear them. I looked closer, and it was overalls. My first thought was where did she get those? I have not bought overalls in years. I asked her what size were the overalls in her hand. She looked and looked and found the size. 3T. Yep. My 7 1/2 year old daughter with a closet full of clothes in HER size wanted to wear some 3T overalls. Out. In public. I said, well, you can try them on. In my head, I am thinking that there is no way that she will even be able to get them on her body.

Well, she got them on, but she had me help her fasten them.
I thought there was no way she'd be comfortable enough to actually wear them.
She said she was. She has called my bluff.
I decided to just go with it.
Then she chose her footwear.
And well,
this is what she looked like:

Overalls are a size 3T, people!

And as we were walking out the door, she looked over at me in my knit pants and t-shirt and said,

Mom, are you going to wear that?

Right backatcha, little girl.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-10T12:00:00.001-05:00

Spencer is still not sure about the pool and the water.

We have made lots of progress this summer,

but he still as a healthy respect for the water.

More than respect, really,

apprehension, fear, dread, anxiety.

Even though he wants to swim and spend lots of time in the pool,

he is not taking ANY chances.

I think his motto is

SAFETY FIRST.

Writing on the wall

2011-08-09T12:00:00.002-05:00

OK, maybe the actual writing is on paper.
And maybe the paper is hanging on the door,
but boy do these kiddos crack me up!

So Jessa was in a mood. Of course, that is most days, so I could not begin to imagine what it was all about on this particular day. I went looking for her, and she was all locked up in her room. Only I noticed some signage outside on her door. I never go in to her room without knocking, so I was raising my arm to knock. But then I noticed what the signs said. My sweet girl is dramatic, even in print.

Have a little look:

"Hiding 2012
My Moto is: Sleep"

"Welcome to the Jessa.
No one is allowed except me, kitty, and my stuff.
P.S. Send in food (lunch, dinner, breakfast) and drinks (coke, milk, tea)"

"Do not interrupt.
I'm busy! So very busy
P.S. Send in food and drinks."

"I'm going in hibernation.
P.S. You can send in breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
P.S. I am never coming out."

There is no middle ground with my Jessa!
Whatever upset her, it must have been pretty serious.
I am happy to report that she did in fact come out.
And I never even had to send in one meal.

A few days later, after a particularly intense discussion about keeping her room picked up,
a new sign appeared.
It still cracked me up, and the message and tone were much more to my liking.

"Note to self:
Keep room clean."

Not to be outdone, a few days later, Spencer also posted a sign on his bedroom door.
Check it out:

I am sure you will all be relieved to know

that he has assured me that

at least for the time being,

I am not a girl.

Art so good it's SCARY

2011-08-08T12:00:00.000-05:00

My kids love to be creative. And most of the time, I try to let them. Sometimes I want to say "NO!" to paint or play-doh or moon sand because I know that no matter how careful they are or how much they attempt to clean up that, well, it will just be another mess. But I resist that urge most of the time and let them express themselves. Aren't I a good mother?
For example, last night, Jessa wanted to play with play-doh, so I said, "Sure." She was getting the big container out, and she couldn't find the one with the tools in it. It hit me that I had left it at church. When I told her this bit of sad news, she put her hand on her hip and said in her most teenaged voice, "But Mom! How do you expect me to be creative without the tools? big sigh" I don't know what my problem is, do you?

So you get it, they love to be artsy. Well, a few weeks ago, they wanted to do self portraits. So Jessa got out the paint and paper. I cut the paper long enough for their little bodies. They laid down on the paper while I traced their outlines. And then they painted themselves. They tried to paint what they had on, and yes, Jessa had on a blue plaid skirt, a red USA shirt, and black and orange striped Halloween socks. So of course, her portrait did, too. And yes, Spencer's PJ top was a little short, so his stomach showed a tad. So of course, his portrait had that detail.

Once they were finished, we let them dry. And then I face the dilema of all parents. Now what do I do with this masterpiece? I would LOVE to save every scrap of every project they ever complete, but that is unrealistic. And also a storage problem. And also a fire hazard. But these were so big and beautiful, we couldn't part with them right away. They were way too big for our hallway gallery. So I decided to hang them on the doors in the hall. They are opposite the rest of the framed artwork, but they are still in the hall. The children were quite pleased that the portraits were being displayed. I was happy to reclaim the kitchen table and floor where the art had been. Life was good.

BUT now, these darn portraits keep scaring me to death! Out of the corner of my eye, I will see a tall person. I start to panic as I turn my head and feel silly when I see them, up there, smirking at me and my stupidity.

Yet, it keeps happening.
I am taking Molly out to go to the bathroom and I see this:

I am heading to the launry room and I see this:

I know I should be used to them by now, but at night, when all the lights are out, and David is out of town, and the kids are in bed, and I catch a glimpse of them, well. . .
I guess I am just going to have to get over it or move them.
My heart can't take it.

All around me

2011-08-06T21:56:00.004-05:00

In the morning, when I get up and get into the shower, I think of moving in to our house at Fort Stewart. I wanted a fancy new shower head, so Poppy went with me to Wal-Mart and helped me pick out a new one. And then he got it all installed in our master bath that day. We brought it with us, and we are still using it.

In our bedroom, our headboard,

our nightstand tables, a step stool, and a hope chest were all "Handcrafted by Emory C. Parrish," according to the official name stamp that he

applied to all of his creations:

In the kitchen, I can see the curtains that he made for me in 2003, and that I have used in many different houses.

There is also a wooden sunflower sitting in my window. It is bright and cheery, and he bought it for me at a little shop in Germany when he and Mimi came to visit us.

I see him in pictures. I smile when I think of what he would say or do if he were here. I look at my kitchen table and I can picture him sitting there, like he did countless times when he came to see us.

He would be drinking a cup of coffee and thinking about his day - most of the time barefooted, which drove Mimi crazy because it made her feet cold just looking at him.

I see the things that he hung for me at this house.

And I think of all of the times he hung them for me at all of our other houses. And I think of the things that I wanted to hang when he wasn't here. But I would call him, and he would walk me through it. He never got impatient when I did not know what he was talking about.

I also use the cabinet he built for us. My kitchen at Ft. Stewart was terribly small with no storage or counter space, so he built me one to fit the corner of the kitchen. Now it comes with us everywhere we move.

I see the books that he sent to Jessa and Spencer. They arrived a few weeks before he died. I love the notes he wrote to them. I love seeing his handwriting.

Speaking of books, he found some old books in the basement. They were Momma and Danny's books. Lucas and I read them when we were younger. He called me once he found them to see if I wanted them before he gave them away. I said that I would love to look at them. When he arrived on his next visit to Scott, he had boxes of books AND a bookshelf that he built to store them in. Now that is full service, right?

And there is the tool box and doll bed that he fixed up for them.

The tool box,

was Poppy's and then Uncle Danny's. He refinished it and brought it to Spencer.

The doll bed,

was Momma's. He repainted it and brought it to Jessa.

I think of him when I feed Stewart on the table that he built specifially for him to keep his food and litter box out of the way.

I can't help but grin when I open the freezer and see the bags of pecans that he bought for all of us every year.

I miss him so much.

I feel such a loss.

But he is still here,

and everytime I an reminded of him,

my heart smiles.

So many things to say

2011-07-27T21:26:00.000-05:00

I have been so bad and so out of the loop. I was such a good blogger for so long. My friend Tara was so proud of me. Other friends started blogs and then abandoned them, but I was so consistent. I was so proud. And I loved writing it so much. Sharing my stories and my crazy kiddos with the few of you who kept up with us.

Lots of things have happened, and I just have not been able to do it. I have not been able to sit down. And the longer I waited, the harder it became. Of course, I posted when something really big happened, but it did not provide the catalyst I needed to get me going again.

I am going to try. I am going to do better. Baby steps. My babies are still as funny as ever. They are still making me laugh. They are still driving me nuts. And I still have so many things that I want to write about. . . I am getting back on the horse. I think. I hope. So if you are still out there, still checking in on the crazy Keys, thanks for your patience.

For my Poppy

2011-06-26T09:02:00.000-05:00

To many folks, he was an engineer who made tough calls and meticulously planned highways. To many, he was an Army General who always took care of his soldiers and proudly served his country. To some, he was a loyal Kiwanian, always quick to volunteer for Meals on Wheels or to ring a bell for the Salvation Army or sell books or onions or pecans.

To some he was a friend who could always be counted on to retell an old story, even if Mimi begged him not to. And he was ready to drink a round of margaritas or have a chili dog at the Varsity at a moment's notice.

To some he was a Cook County, North Georgia College or Georgia Tech classmate or fellow alumni. To others, he was a colleague at the DOT.

To me, well, he was just my Poppy.

When I was little, he would let me dance on his feet for hours at the Officer's Club, where we always had fun nights out.

He carried Mimi's purse while we shopped.

He snitched food off mine and Lucas's plate when we were not looking.

He became involved in lots of activities after he retired because Mimi married him for better or for worse, but not for lunch.

He could get Lucas to take off his baseball cap without saying a word.

He sang all his old favorite hymns in the shower.

He was stubborn and as hard headed as the day is long.

He cheered for us at our graduations and danced at our weddings.

He was there for the births of his great grandchildren.

And he loved being Poppy to another generation.

He got to drive through the renamed "Emory Parrish Interchange," thanks to Lucas.

He made fun of my hair in my middle school, lots of hairspray phase - he said I looked like a Ubangi.

He was always ready and willing to help Momma when Daddy was out of town. Which was a lot.

He would take his tools with him to fix things at the hotel they always stayed at in Pigeon Forge.

Almost every time he visited me, a few days after he got home, a box would arrive full of things that he did not think I should live without.

He was present at every one of my Daddy's promotions, something that cannot be said by Momma, Lucas, or me.

He was his happiest at the stream, fishing with Danny and Nicky and Mike and Daddy and Lucas and David and Gerami and Trey and Corey. Or perhaps in his state of the art woodworking shop, designed by him to meet his every need.

One time, when we were in Germany, David was staining and finishing some shelves for our apartment. He was being overly careful and taking forever. I said, "D, Poppy isn't here. Just hurry up and finish." And he said, "I know, but he will see it someday, so I want to do it the way he would."

He taught us all the lesson that if something is worth doing, it is worth doing right.

He showed us the importance of a positive attitude with his standard answer to the question, "Poppy, how are you?" He'd reply, "I'm just happy to be here."

He hated to miss a meal because you know, you never get it back.

He was incapable of saying "I don't know." No matter what question you asked him, he would make up an answer.

He made me cry once when he was teaching me to drive.

We made him cry every time we bowed our head to say the blessing at a holiday meal because he was always just so thankful to have us all together in one place at one time.

We never went ANYWHERE, not even half way across the country without running into someone that he knew.

He said that Mimi was his jewel.

He loved both of his homes in Adel and Smyrna.

He loved his country.

He loved his family.

And we loved him.

9-26-29 ~ 6-25-11

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-20T10:56:00.000-05:00

Palm Sunday Edition:

Looks can be deceiving

2011-04-14T08:33:00.004-05:00

I have mentioned a few times before that just before Christmas, our family adopted a new family member, our Westie puppy, Molly. She is lots of fun and into everything. She makes everyday a challenge, and many times, the challenges are fun. And she is precious! Let me tell you, those big, dark eyes looking up at you surrounded by all that soft, white puppy fur, I melt. We all love having this little sweetheart around. Rarely do we have a dull day around here. She is still up to her keep away tricks, but oh my, wait until you hear what this sweet precious puppy just did.

Yesterday, I came home from the commissary and I was in the process of unloading groceries. I tossed a 6 pack of toilet paper into the hall by the downstairs bathroom. I finished putting away all the other kitchen type things and headed upstairs with a bag of stuff to put away. While I was up there, I worked on folding some laundry. Miss Molly ended up coming upstairs, too. Only she was downstairs by herself for a little while. I thought nothing of it. She spends lots of time alone when I am our running around. She does OK.

She crawled into our unmade bed to take a nap (don't judge me). She seemed worn out. Guess she had been having a busy day or something. Our vet always says that puppies have 2 speeds: on and off. I guess she needed to turn off and rest.

So this is the sweet puppy that was napping in my bed:

Adorable, no?

And a little while later, I needed to go downstairs for something.

When I got down there, I saw this:

Peculiar.

I didn't notice any tissue on the floor before.

So upstairs, there is this precious lump of canine cuteness:

I guess she was resting after she did this:

But you can see where I might get confused, right?

Right?

I mean, how can something as peaceful and darling as this:

do something like this:

For her sake, I am pretty glad that she looks like this:

BUT looks can be pretty darn deceiving, you know??

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-13T08:35:00.000-05:00

Does this look like the face of an almost Kindergartner??

After obtaining yet another proof of residency, an eye exam, a dental exam, a physical, and four shots, he will be registered for Kindergarten on Tuesday.

Where did the time go??

An angel on my shoulder

2011-04-12T21:27:00.005-05:00

**warning: not sure why, but this post will not show my returns to make new paragraphs. Think stream of consciousness. . .** Y'all things have been nuts around here. I have barely had time to think. Actually, I haven't even had time to think, thus things have been even more difficult! Today my to do list was a mile long. I had everything carefully choreographed so that I could get Jessa off to school, do a few things around here, take Spencer to school, attend a 9:15 meeting, go to Walgreen's to pick up some picture posters for Jessa's school and do a little Easter shopping, head to the teacher store to pick up paper for a project for Jessa's school, pick Spencer up from his school. Then I headed home to pick up a few things and drop off the candy that would melt in the car. I fed Spencer a quick lunch and then we were off again. We went to Leap of Faith to pick up some new Resurrection Eggs for Awana tomorrow night and then to the pediatrician. (This was our last stop in our preparation to register for KINDERGARTEN, after already visiting the Optometrist and the Dentist.) After trying not to cry with him as he got the dreaded vaccines that clear him for school, we hurried to Target to pick up a few things I needed for church tomorrow and of course prizes for the boy who took his shots like a champ. The check out took forever, so then I was racing home to get Jessa off the bus. Fearing I would not make it, I had a friend convince the bus driver to let Jessa go home with her so she would not panic if I was not home. Once we were all back together at home, I had a nice Skype chat with my Daddy as he attempted to help me make a rainbow for a bulletin board. I tidied up a little and then David came home to grab the kids for me. I finished getting most of supper ready as I headed out the door to a school board meeting. I got home about 7:30, I got everyone fed while David finished up planting the beautiful flowers that he and the kiddos picked out. And I had a few more things I needed to do on the computer before I headed up to get the kids in bed. I was also getting the jellybeans ready to sort for yet another Awana project for tomorrow night to help my Cubbies celebrate Easter. I had one more pretty big printing project to go before I headed up. I got it all ready and clicked print. Nothing happened. I clicked it again. The printer said I was out of paper, which I KNEW was not true because I had just loaded special paper for my project. I started to get a little upset and bothered. I mean, I have so much to do and I don't need this. Why was the printer not cooperating? I unplugged it and plugged it back in. This usually helps. It did not work this time. I was irritated at the prospect of having to shut down the computer to try to get everything to work right. So I was about to save my work again, just to be sure, you know before I shut down. And then I noticed that I had typed "March" instead of "April." A pretty big mistake since I was about to print multiple copies to be distributed at Jessa's school tomorrow. I smiled and changed the word "March" to the word "April" in every spot that it was written. And then without doing anything else, I clicked print again. Know what? It worked! And then I grinned and thought that there must have been an angel sitting on my shoulder saving me from printing the wrong thing. And then I thought about how many other times today that my angels had to be looking out for me to make sure that I got everything that I needed to do finished. That we made it to all of our appointments on time. That Spencer would be so brave for his yucky shots. That my friend was home to get Jessa off the bus. That the bus driver let Jessa get off at the wrong stop without a note. And I felt pretty darn blessed. I find myself complaining about how crazy things are or how busy I am, and I need little moments like this to remind me how great I have it. Thank You God for my wonderfully crazy busy life filled with fun and laughter and snuggles and sticky hands and too many commitments. Thank You for my awesome family and my precious friends. Even though I am usually a little frazzled and always a little behind, I wouldn't trade my life for anything else in the world.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-06T20:54:00.002-05:00

Jess and Spence are tired after a long day at school. Molly is happy to relax with her children. She really misses them when they are at school. . .

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

I am the worst blogger. Ever.

BUT, as usual, I can always come up with a picture.

My dear friend Tara and her boys came to see us this weekend. What a treat!

And just look at our babies:Aren't we blessed?

Burps

2011-03-10T06:00:00.001-06:00

Everyone burps, right?

And when you have a tiny baby, these burps are music to your ears. It is part of the feeding ritual that you go through with your new baby every few hours. And as we all know, every noise that your baby makes is just precious and music to your ears. Strangely enough, even formerly offensive noises are wonderful. Gas makes you happy because it makes them feel better.

Now, when describing my babies today, I would not use the adjective "new" to describe them. Do I still think that every noise that they make is precious? Well, not so much. But I try to roll with it and hope that someday the mere sound of a bodily function will not produce crazy laughter. And then I look at my 34 year old husband who is also beside himself with crazy laughter and realize that "someday" may never come.

So anyway, one night at supper everyone was particularly low and in really bad moods. I was practically tap dancing to get everyone to be nice and perk up. I got nothing in return. They were still in the dumps. Then someone burped a little burp. And I flashed back to a game that we all used to play as kids. Whenever someone burps, you have to put your thumb in the middle of your forehead with your fingers up. And the last person to do this has to "eat" the burp. Charming, right? Well, I was desperate and willing to try anything to turn our supper frown upside down. So I just threw my hand up there. David remembered this game, too, so he threw his hand up to his forehead. They looked at us like we were NUTS. So we explained to them what this game was all about. Needless to say, our supper turned out fine.

Everyone had fun and I feel confident that our digestion was aided by the multiple times that we burped.

Better out than in" according to Shrek and Fiona, right?

Well, toward the end of our supper, I explained to them that this was a game to play at home only. I did not want them going to school and embarrassing me, you know? I mean, I like people thinking that David and I are model parents who would never condone such a thing, much less teach it to them. They both agreed to keep it just between us. I guess I should have known. . .

A few weeks later, we were at Jessa's school Valentine's Day party. There were several moms there to help. I was handling the veggie tray. It was such a nice party. Kids excited about their cards. Lots of red and white and pink decorations were all over the place. Really a nice party, you know? And as I was walking around helping to pass out the healthy snacks that we were serving at the party, I looked up and couldn't believe my eyes. The group of desks where Jessa and Spencer were sitting had about 10 kids. And ALL 10 of them had their thumbs pressed to their foreheads with their fingers outstretched, giggling. My eyes fell on Jessa who was beaming with pride at how much all of her friends enjoyed this new game she taught them.

So much for keeping it at home.

So much for our image as model parents.

I was so proud.

Really.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-09T06:00:00.001-06:00

A creative boy can turn batting from inside an old pillow into a wig.
Add some of David's old glasses and Spencer said,
"Hey, look at me, I'm a grandma."
Hopefully May will not be too offended. . .

Happy Fluffy Tuesday!

2011-03-08T18:57:00.003-06:00

Ah, my children. Their little minds tickle me to death.

At Momma's house last weekend, Spencer was starting to take a bath. I was busy helping Jessa get situated because she took her bath first. So I was minding my business and the door cracked and I saw a naked little Spencer. And he had a serious look of concern on his face. "Mom. I need you," he said. I hopped up and headed back to see what the crisis was. By the look on his face, it was pretty serious. So he marches himself right back to the bathroom. He stood next to the tub and put his hand on his naked hip. He looked right at me and with a furrowed brow said, "Mom, this bath is not going well." He paused and I tried hard not to laugh. He was solemn as a judge. So I said, "What seems to be the trouble?" And he stood there resembling a jaybird and showed me with animated hand gestures the serious troubles he was having with the toys and the basket to hold the toys. And to close his mini dissertation, he placed his hand back on his hip and said, "See. This bath is just not going well."

Jessa and Spencer ran through the room last night fussing about something. And then they were off again. I peeked just in time to see them headed back my way. Jessa said, "Spencer, you can't hit me- I am a girl!" And he continued to chase her and they ran past me again and he hollered after her, "You are not a girl, you are a sister!" Can you see the distinction?

The other afternoon in the car, I said something about a woman. And then I said, "You know, like I am a woman." Spencer was all "No you are not a woman!" And I said, "Well, then what am I?" And he said with great authority, "You are a lady." Oh, OK, I thought. And then I made the mistake of asking him, "Well, what is the difference between a woman and a lady." He said, "Well, a woman is more fat." And I thought, oh how nice, he doesn't think of me as "fat." A girl always like to hear that, right?

(It should be noted here that I do not like the word "fat." I had a sorority sister in college that had a big night shirt that said, "I am not fat, I am fluffy." So that has sort of always been my thing. I tell the kids that if you want to describe someone, you should never say "fat." If you have to say anything, say "fluffy." It just sounds nicer. And so "fat" is a word that we NEVER use.)

When Jessa heard the word "fat" come out of his mouth, she said, "Spencer! Don't say fat, say fluffy, right Momma?" And I laughed and said, "Yes, Jessa, if you have to say anything, fluffy sounds much nicer." Then she said, "See, Spencer, so Momma IS a woman, just fluffy."
Spencer giveth and Jessa taketh away.

So last thing, today I was thinking that we don't have Awana tomorrow night because it is Ash Wednesday. Which made me think that today was Fat Tuesday. And so at some point this evening, I said, "Hey, guys do you know what today is?" And they both said, "Nope." And so I was all, "Well, today is Fat Tuesday." They both gasped. They looked utterly shocked and no one spoke right away. After a few seconds, Jessa put her hand on her hip and said, "Uh, Mom, don't you mean 'fluffy Tuesday'?" And I laughed and said, "I guess you are right." They never forget anything. . .

So from the little crazy Keys and me,
Happy Fluffy Tuesday!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-02T06:00:00.002-06:00

My poor baby girl.

Two positive tests for strep throat.

Beginning second round of antibiotics.

Right after we got home from our second trip to the doctor in 8 days, she passed out.

Bless her heart, being sick wears her slap out!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-23T06:00:00.001-06:00

After Jessa's Valentine's Party at school,
this was my view of my precious babies leaving together.
My favorite view in all the world. . .

The gift of 2 birthday parties

2011-02-21T06:00:00.001-06:00

I will admit it, when we first got two invitations to birthday parties on the same day, I was a little bothered. A whole day would be shot. David was of course going to be out of town, so I would not have any help. And they were in opposite directions. And the times were 2-4 and then 4-6. Seriously. A whole day.

The day before we went to Target and decided on the gifts that they would take. It was somewhat amusing because Jessa was going to a boy's birthday party and Spencer was going to a girl's party. Funny. After much searching and several ups and downs of every toy aisle, they both found the perfect gifts. Whew.

We all slept late Saturday morning and then I started the long process of getting everyone ready to go. At this point, I was still a little bummed. If they overlapped, it would be easier. If they were closer, it would be easier. If David were home, it would be easier. But it didn't matter what I thought, this was the way that it was.

We headed out to Jessa's friends party first. I was so tickled at how cute they all were when they first saw each other. All of these children who spend their whole weeks together in class at school were SO thrilled to see each other. So I my heart was smiling as we left my sweet girl in the midst of a loud fun party with all of her friends!

Spencer and I got back to the car. And I looked over at him and thought, now to kill some time. So I asked him, "Are you hungry?" He said he was, so I told him I would take him anywhere he wanted to go. He chose McDonald's. We headed off, just the two of us, chatting away. We had a nice late lunch together.

Now, Spencer and I spend lots of time together just the two of us during the weeks. His school is not as long as Jessa's, so we do get time alone. But this was extra nice because we did not have anything we had to do. We had no errands to run. We just had 2 free hours. Just the two of us. We were not in a hurry. We just sat and ate and talked. We played with his happy meal toy. We spun around in our fancy chairs. And then we drove around looking for snowmen. And I got to really focus on just Spencer. I even got him an ice cream at McDonald's! It was shaping up to be a special day, after all.

Then we went to pick up Jessa. She was already waiting on us. She had a wonderful time, and she was full of chatter about the party. So we booked it across town to Spencer's party. I got him all settled with his friends at his party, and now was my turn for my time with my girl. By this point, I had realized the awesomeness of this day. Sure I wasn't accomplishing anything tangible. At the end of the day, there would still be laundry that needed to be done and a dishwasher that needed to be unloaded. But as we all know, the most wonderful things in the world aren't tangible. They aren't even things at all.

I asked Jessa if she was hungry. Incredibly, even after a party with tons of food and cake, she was in fact still hungry. So I told her the same thing I had told Spencer - that I would take her anywhere that she wanted to go. She chose Burger King. So I drove to the closest Burger King and we went in and sat together.

I did not eat again - there is only so much fast food I can handle in a day. But I did sit with her while she ate. And we chatted and visited. We played with her happy meal toy and talked about where she sat at the party and what kind of cake they had. It was heavenly. While I get lots of time with just Spencer, I hardly ever get to spend time with just Jessa. We were not in a hurry. I was not tossing food back at her as we drove away from the drive in window. We were really enjoying each other. She even made me sit on the same side of the booth with her!

And just like that, it was time to pick up Spencer.

We were headed back home on a cold, dark Saturday night after a pretty cool day.

Who ever would have guessed?

A day that seemed like it was going to be a bust, spent driving all over town, rushing from one party to the next, not accomplishing anything at all. This day turned out to be one of the best days I have had in a long while. I may have purchased, wrapped, and helped deliver two presents, but on this cold winter Saturday, I got the best gift. Precious time to just enjoy my babies, one at a time. Priceless.

Who doesn't like donuts?

2011-02-18T10:00:00.001-06:00

We love donuts. We especially like chocolate covered donuts. And we consider ourselves to be quite the connoisseurs. I know I may lose friends over this, but we do not like Krispy Kremes at all. I really never have, and my family has considered disowning me several times. So perhaps I have influenced the kids. But we aren't fans of KK. We like Wal-Mart donuts pretty well, and we also like Dunkin Donuts. But our current favorites come from grocery stores around Scott. We are all about some Schnuck's. And there is a Schnuck's right near our church and Spencer's school, so picking them up from time to time is really convenient. Lots of Sundays when Daddy was still here, he would pull in and get us some after church. And the very last Sunday that he was here, he needed to go to early church because he had something else going on. We aren't too keen on early church - we like the sleep a little later. We were all exhausted after the retirement festivities, so we just couldn't make ourselves go. But when I woke up and came downstairs, there was a box of donuts from Schunck's on the counter. Yes, I stood there and cried!

So you get it, right? Donuts are a very important part of our lives.

Right before the last storm, I was in the commissary trying to get some groceries along with the rest of the world. There was no more skim milk. Well, I wanted to at least try and get skim, so I didn't buy any milk at all. I knew that I was on my way to pick up Spencer from school, so I figured I would check Schunck's and see if they had any skim.

So with the freezing rain already coming down, Spencer and I hurried in to get milk. They had plenty, so we were so happy. And then Spencer thought, hey, let's get some donuts while we are here. Good plan, son! We are about to be snowed in, we need donuts! So we grabbed 6 chocolate covered donuts and headed home.

We were cold and wet. We got to the house and I was carrying the donuts and some groceries. We walked in from the garage and the dogs were both right there, so I thought I needed to let them out before the weather got too much worse. I placed the donuts on the table - the kids table. And then I got the dogs out and kept unloading our provisions for the impending storm. I did not give another thought to the donuts that I had left on the kids table.

I was in the kitchen for a while unloading and putting everything away. I am not sure what I ran into the other room for, but that is when I made the discovery.

The donut box was on the floor.

The donut box was empty.

And Max's breath smelled suspiciously sweet.

I guess the donut thing runs in the family:
even MAX loves donuts.

And he knew that we weren't planning on sharing with him.

And they were completely unattended in a spot low enough for him to see them.

I bet he could even smell them.

Well, you can't expect him to pass up the opportunity, can you

Do we need eggs?

2011-02-17T08:00:00.000-06:00

Like many people, I have to go to the grocery store to buy groceries. You know things that the family needs from time to time like toothpaste and toilet paper and of course, food. I try to make one trip a week to have fresh items like bread and milk and produce. There are some items that you do not have to buy every week. These are items that keep for a while and that you may not use every day. So I always take a minute to peruse the fridge and freezer and pantry to see what we might need. As I am looking around, I make a list. I do not like it when I forget things, and a list can help me with this.

Before a recent shopping trip, I opened the fridge and looked around. I thought we needed eggs. But when I looked, I saw this:

Oh, OK, so we don't need eggs. I did not take the time to pick them up. Of course, one was probably a partial, but the other one has to be full, right? I mean, who uses eggs from the newest carton before the old one is empty. So glancing, I see a full dozen and perhaps a partial. Eggs were not added to the list.

I mean, both cartons looked authentic.
Why would I doubt them?

A few days later, I was getting ready to do some baking.
My Momma taught me to set out the eggs to allow them to get to room temperature before you bake.
I opened the top carton.
I thought to myself,
Hmm, this feels really light.
But it was on top, so it was the partial one.
No worries.
I only need a couple.
Plus, there is the full carton still in the fridge, right?
Right?

Nope.

Guess what I found in the carton?
Can you guess?
Any ideas?

Actually, don't even try to guess.
I am almost positive that you would never get it right.

WHAT?!?
Yep.
It is a plastic monkey.
I knew that I had finished off a carton of eggs.
But my precious son, retrieved said carton, placed a monkey in it, and put it back in the fridge.
Because that is what you do if you ever find yourself with an empty egg carton and a monkey, isn't it?

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-16T06:00:00.001-06:00

I think that we may be spending a little too much time at Jessa's school.

You be the judge.

Here is a picture of Spencer on Friday in the parent work room:

I know Scarlett never had a snow shovel

2011-02-15T06:00:00.001-06:00

I think that there was some mention of the bad weather that swept the midwest week before last. You may have heard about it somewhere. And our little corner of the world got mostly ice: freezing rain, sleet, and lots of slippery sidewalks. We got a little snow at the end, but it fell on top of the layers of ice. Isn't this a pretty picture I am painting? Well, in GA, we get freezing rain and sleet, but it seems like it never hangs around too long. I am here to tell you that this ice that we were afflicted with is hanging on with its icy fingernails. It wasn't going anywhere on its own. I take that back, depending on how the sun hits your driveway or sidewalk, it was slowly melting. But not at my house.

See, our house gets the sun in the back, but not so much in the front. This is awesome for the kids because our front yard has snow longer than the other side of the street. They love it that it takes forever to melt. OK, I admit, I don't mind that part at all. Snow in the yard is pretty. But ice on the driveway, that is downright dangerous.

I tried to get the ice up a couple of times shortly after it happened. It wasn't budging. It was thick and cold and stuck. David came home and was all, "I'm going out to shovel the driveway." And 15 minutes later, he had tried the snow shovel, the pointy tip shovel, a rake, and the tiller. And none of them made a dent in the ice. So he walks into the kitchen and announces that he is heading to Lowe's to buy something, some sort of machine or tool that can get the ice off of the driveway. I laughed and told him to stand down. We could live with it a little longer.

Sure enough, when last weekend came, the temperatures were a little higher and we had some sun. Lots of folks spent Saturday afternoon working on the ice. I did not. I served as the chauffer for my children to attend several social engagements. But in my neighborhood, lots of husbands are deployed, which means that all the wives are out clearing driveways - making me look BAD! So I made up my mind, last Sunday after church: Dana vs. the ice.

This is before from the front porch:

It really was starting to melt in some areas. I think it was close to 40 degrees on Sunday afternoon. But the areas closest to the house, the places were sun never shines, Oh. My. Goodness. The ice was still inches thick in some spots.

It was 1:30. I decided I would work on the ice until 3. I told myself that this was all the time that I had to devote to this project.

Then 3 o'clock came. I had barely made a dent. OK, OK, I can keep at it until 4. The whole time I am picturing Scarlett hacking at ice built up on the driveway at Tara. I am a lovely Southern Bell, I am not cut out for ice removal. To a GA girl like me, the only reason you would ever need this much ice would be for a cooler for a tailgate party or a big wash tub full of cold Cokes on a hot summer day. I mean, really.

I did have some moral support throughout the day, though.

Their support was sort of patchy - several times, they would get cold go in, warm up, watch some TV, and then head back out. They are true fair weather supporters, but oh so sweet!

Then it was 4 o'clock. I was watching all of my neighbors head off with covered dishes to Super Bowl parties. And here I was, still hacking at the ice. By this point, I was in some pain. My hands were red and raw, and I knew how sore I was going to be.

GA peaches are too delicate for this!

At the very end of the day, my awesome neighbor came home and offered to let me borrow her shovel. The handle said it was a transfer shovel. And it was just what I needed. It had a flat part on the front that was better for getting up under the ice. David's shovel would have been great to dig a hole, but not ice. (And by the end of the day, well, let's just say it may no longer be able to properly dig a hole.) Plus the longer handle was easier on my aching back.

Yay for generous neighbors with perfect tools!

The tools in my arsenal:

BUT, I persevered. I did it. The driveway was mostly free of ice. I took a picture of my watch when I had to head in to do some other things like feed my babies. What a long day!

AND no more ice has come. The ice all around is starting to melt. It was 62 degrees today! My blisters are almost healed. Most of my muscles have recovered. And y'all, I really think that Scarlett would have been so proud, don't you?

If you give a puppy a day alone. . .

2011-02-11T15:02:00.018-06:00

We have one of these:

Well, and of course, one of these, too:

And so we have one of these:

Quite a handy thing to have around, don't you think?

So when I have to be at Jessa's school literally all day, I don't worry so much about these:

all because I have this:

What I didn't think about was that in the backyard,

which is accessed by this:

we also have several of these:

Which means that if you leave this:

all alone, all day long. . .

Chances are you might end up with a lot of this:

all over the house, like this:

Lucky for her, I kind of love her.

And hey, I am not at a loss for something to do this afternoon.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

Drinking milk before bed with bunny ears.
Why with bunny ears, you ask?
Nope, I don't know why.

Army = Tents

2011-02-04T06:00:00.001-06:00

My kids are pretty up on the whole military thing. They know lots of lingo. They know what to do at 5:00 when they are outside and Retreat sounds.

They know how to sit still and be quiet at ceremonies.

They are used to things like uniforms and ID cards and deployments and moving.

They are pretty awesome Army Brats, if you asked me.

They do understand some things in more simple terms. When David is deployed, I tell them that he is protecting us and other people from bad guys. They don't need to know much more than that. And when he was at JRTC and would be gone for weeks at a time in the field for rotations, they thought it was pretty funny that he slept in his truck. They would laugh and laugh about that little detail. And every time an airplane flies overhead these days, they assume that Daddy is on it. It confuses people who know that he is not a pilot and not even in the air force. But he does do quite a bit of flying in his current assignment. And he is gone. A lot. Some months, he is gone 20 or more days. He stops by occasionally to unpack, do laundry, and repack. We are always glad when he passes through, but we are also pretty used to this new normal of TONS of TDY.

In fact, I may have already posted this, but I was asking Jessa some questions about some things they were talking about in Social Studies. I brought up Washington D.C. and asked her who lived there. Of course, I was fishing for "the President." But when I asked her, she thought for a minute and said, "Uh, Daddy?" I got so tickled. He does spend quite a lot of time there! I guess she is paying attention.

So this week we had some weather up this way. You may have heard a little something about it. Well, David and his traveling peeps took off on Monday morning for a day trip. This trip quickly turned into a 3 day ordeal. As David put it, they were "snowed out." The weather was not too bad in D.C. Planes were able to land and take off. But Scott AFB was closed. And Lambert International Airport in St. Louis was cancelling flights left and right. So they were not stuck because THEY had bad weather, they were stuck because WE had bad weather.

The kids both missed 2 days of school. We got tons more ice than we did snow. I mean like inches of ice. The dogs were slipping and sliding all over the backyard. I was all stocked up and prepared for a few days at home, though. We were fine and enjoying our icy vacation, but we were all bummed that David was stuck and missing all the fun.

Monday night, when we found out that school was cancelled, Jessa wanted to call David to tell him. So I was sort of listening to her side of the conversation.

Jess: Daddy! I have 2 good newses for you.

(pause)
Jess: Yep. Want to hear them?
(pause)

Jess: Well, number one is that I finally learned how to blow a bubble with bubble gum.

(pause)

Jess: Yep, I did!

(pause)

Jess: And the number two good news is that there is no school tomorrow!"
(pause)

Jess: So do you have to stay there?

(pause)
Jess: Well how is your tent? Are you warm enough?

I thought I would cry I was laughing so hard, picturing David all set up in a tent in Washington! I guess to Jessa if you are gone somewhere on an Army trip then you HAVE to sleep in a tent. Bless her sweet heart! She was worried he'd be cold camping out on TDY.

The houses that Bay built

2011-02-03T06:00:00.000-06:00

Several years ago, Momma and Daddy were out shopping in a store just before Christmas. He saw a gingerbread house kit. Being an ever thoughtful, awesome Grandfather, he picked it up to build it with Jessa. This seemed like a fun thing for her to do with her Bay. At the time, Spencer was almost 1, so he was not that into it. But Jessa and Bay built their first gingerbread house together right around Christmas, 2006. And a tradition was born.

The next year, we all thought about it again. I actually think that Momma bought the kit that year. And Bay and Jessa built another gingerbread house in 2007.

I think that we must have skipped 2008. I cannot find a picture of it. I have no doubt that it had a little something to do with the kids and I moving out of Momma and Daddy's house to officially move in at Ft. Stewart and welcome David home on January 1. You think maybe that could have been the reason?? We were a little preoccupied. . .

Then in 2009, we had moved to Scott and we lived about 1 mile from Bay. He and May already had the kit and a plan. Then someone I know had to have emergency gallbladder surgery. BUT that did not stop the tradition. The gingerbread house was built at Bay's house, and I only got to see it in pictures. But this is the first year that Spencer was way into it. He was just as excited as Jessa to build something cool and sweet with Bay.

So it is December 2010. Spencer and I are out running errands at Wal-Mart one morning. You know it is that crazy time of year when you are always on the go. Spencer notices a gingerbread house kit. And he tells me that we need to buy it so they can build it with Bay. And I explain to him that Bay already bought one. I was positive because Momma told me when they bought it. But my Spencer did not trust me. He was convinced that we needed to buy it just in case. He could not be convinced. Until, I grabbed my cell phone and called Bay right then and there. Spencer got on the phone and asked him. Bay confirmed what I had already told him. But since he heard it straight from Bay, he finally believed it. I guess he just loves the tradition so much that he could not imagine a Christmas without building a gingerbread house with his Bay!

When May and Bay saw that first gingerbread house kit and bought it on a whim, I doubt they could have ever imagined how much the tradition would grow. And they could not have guessed how much it would mean to the children. A good excuse to get sticky and messy and eat candy and perhaps most importantly, spend some quality time with your Bay. What more could you ask for??

Gotta love Christmas traditions. . .

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-02T06:00:00.000-06:00

Stewart found the warmest spot in the house,

and he is pretty happy about it.

Spencer don't lose my number

2011-02-01T06:00:00.000-06:00

I am 35 years old. Yet, to this day my Momma and my Mimi still tell the story of the day that I learned Mimi's number. That was back in the day before Atlanta required the area code to dial. So I learned those magic 7 numbers. And that day while Momma was cooking supper, I sat by the phone and called Mimi about 12 times.

These days, you have to dial more numbers to call people. Plus, we are hardly ever in the same area code as our family, so we also have to dial the handy dandy "1" before we even dial the area code. (A side note if David asks me for a number, I have to say "1" first or he dials the area code, the number, and then has to start over. . .)
This makes memorizing phone numbers tougher for my kiddos. One time Jessa was going somewhere with David and Bay, and she asked me for my cell phone number. I of course wrote it down for her and put it in her pocket. Well, that little sticker saved it. She uses it whenever she needs to "tell" on something that her Daddy is doing when I am not home. Once she called 4 times while I was at a Pampered Chef party to tell me just how awful her Daddy was acting. David had no idea she even had the phone. Recently, I also added May's number to her special scrap of paper, and she is forever sneaking off to call May to "tell" on me. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised, she is my daughter after all.

Spencer was not as interested in the phone. He just let Jessa be his spokesman. If David was acting up, he trusted Jessa to handle it and alert the proper authorities (you know, authorities like well, me. . .). But a few weeks ago, Spencer decided he wanted to be able to call May all by himself. At first, I would just tell him the numbers, and he would dial. This worked for a while. But you know, he is not a little boy anymore. Nope, he is 5. So one afternoon, he found me upstairs to tell me that he wanted to call May but that he had some trouble. I didn't question him. I just helped him on the upstairs phone and did not give it another thought. Later he mentioned that he had tried to dial her number, but it did not work. I grabbed the downstairs phone and scrolled through the "Redial" numbers.
And there it was.
These are the numbers that me sweet boy dialed trying to call his May:

In case you can't see it, he dialed 12-345-6789.
I cannot imagine why that did not work, can you?!

Immediately, I got an index card and wrote May's number and Mimi's number on it. I then taped it on the fridge at about Spencer's eye level:

I can tell you that he has already used it many time.
May and Mimi may not be too thrilled with my making it so easy for him to call them anytime the mood strikes him.
But those folks at 12-345-6789 are probably glad that he is not bothering them anymore, don't you think?

Keep Away: Puppy Style

2011-01-31T06:00:00.000-06:00

Molly. is. bad. She is sooooo puppy. She is lucky that she is so precious because she really is so bad. She picked up on how to use the doggie door super fast. Watching Max and Abby and Cooper use it over Christmas was valuable teaching time. She is all over it. She is in and out all the time.

Now do not confuse this in and out business with being housebroken. She will play outside for 30 minutes, come inside and tee-tee right on the carpet. We are still working on it. BUT the doggie door thing coming so early is pretty cool. When (and if) she does ever grasp the whole potty outside thing, the doggie door knowledge will be even more useful, right? Right??

Well, she is also using the doggie door to just be bad. She is a puppy, so she is always chewing on things. At times, I look and realize that the things that she is chewing on are not terribly appropriate. So I go to reach to grab the item, and she sprints across the house and dives out the doggie door to safety. Nice, Molly. She is too smart for her own good.

Anyway, we have had so much snow lately that the yard itself was not even visible buried beneath the residual snow. Well, it warmed up this weekend. The snow melted. And this afternoon I was shocked at all the items that little Miss Molly had hauled outside for "safe keeping." She had them all spread out all over the yard. I walked around for a minute or two and collected a pile of Molly treasures that she is trying to keep away from us.

Are you ready for the craziness?? (see key below)

1. Chewed open Ziploc bag that had some Chocolate Chips in it

2. The sock that she pulled off my foot and then ran away

3. A penguin dog toy

4. A monkey dog toy
5. A tennis ball

6. Spencer's missing glove

7. A tennis ball/barbell dog toy
8. Jessa's brush

9. A garden trowel
10. Jessa's baseball

11. A squishy toy ray

12. A to-go kids cup

13. A change purse

14. A water bottle
15. A small tire from one of Spencer's cars

16. A fruit roll up wrapper - empty :-(

17. A Nestle crunch wrapper - also empty :-(
18. Half of a to-go cup top

19. A plastic tea set plate

Seriously?

Molly is keeping us all on our toes.

And after seeing her stash, I am thinking we need to step up our game.

Like I said, she is lucky that she looks like this:

How can I be mad at that face?

Procrastination is genetic

2011-01-28T06:00:00.001-06:00

On early mornings when Jessa does not want to wake up, she asks me, "Mommy, why did you even sign me up for school? I changed my mind!" And I always laugh and say, "Silly girl, you have to go to school." And then she whips out the argument, "You could home school me." To which I laugh and say, "Uh, I don't think so." I am keenly aware of the fact that home school is not an option. I am not knocking it. I know it works for some people. But I also know that it would not work for us. Thus, she is in public school, and even though mornings are hard, she is overall pretty happy. And until very recently, I was pretty glad that I "signed her up."

At the beginning of January, her teacher told the class that their big assignment for the month would be to write a book. Her school has a Young Author's Program that requires every student to submit a book that they have written and illustrated. The requirements are different for each grade, based on their skills and abilities. This year, Miss Jessa's book had to be 3-5 pages with 1-3 sentences per page and one illustration per page. The rest was up to her.

When she came home with the assignment, she was thrilled, tickled, excited, FULL of ideas. We started talking about it right away trying to narrow her many thoughts. She finally chose her characters based on some of her favorite stuffed animals. She was all ready to go. Only she was easily distracted and not too focused at all. That's OK, I thought. She has the whole month. Then I tried again to get her interested. She'd do it later. She wanted to sled before the snow melted. She was tired. She had a spelling test to study for. You know, the busy life of a 7 year old! Who has time to write books, right??

So finally last weekend about a week before this sucker was due, I put my foot down and told her she had to sit down until she came up with a rough draft. She could not leave the table. Period. Well, of course, then came a bathroom emergency, extreme hunger and thirst, spilled drink on her pants from quenching the aforementioned extreme thirst, the need for dry pants because the wet ones made her "miserable." Then there was Spencer. He was talking, which distracted her. He was laughing, which distracted her. He was chewing, which distracted her. He was breathing, which, yep, distracted her. Then I made her nervous or I was too loud. The dogs were distracting. She was too cold. You name it, and it was bothering her no end. After about 2 hours, she FINALLY had a rough draft. She came up with the characters all on her own. 5 of them. 5 main characters for a 3-5 page story. I suggested that maybe that was a lot, Jessa cried because she loved all 5 characters. Fine, I said. 5 it is.

Then on Monday, I told her it was time to recopy the story neatly on the papers for her book. And so began the longest week of my life. This child has cried and screamed and ran to her room and called my poor Momma more times than I can count. Y'all she could have written War and Peace with the effort that she put into procrastinating this week. She has fought me every step of the way. I called my parents to apologize for every project that I was assigned ever. NOW I feel their pain. And the worst part, SHE IS ONLY IN FIRST GRADE. Oh heavens, I am not sure I can make it.

I can also tell you that my otherwise precious child comes by this tendency quite honestly. I have always been a procrastinator - only I have learned how to cope with this throughout my years. So I know all too well that my sweet girl has to figure this out on her own. No matter how many times I say the words, "Jessa, you could have been finished by now." She doesn't get it. She can't. And I KNOW this because I was her. And it took me figuring it out for myself. And someday, she will figure it out, too. I just hope I live to see it. . .;-)

Want to see her book?

Oh, and I asked her, "Someday when you are a famous author and you are being interviewed on TV about your fabulous books, will you tell this story? About how you owe all your success to me because of how hard I had to fight you to get you to write your first book?" And that little stinker said, "No! When my fans find out how mean I was to my Mom, they won't want to buy my book anymore." I guess at least she realizes how mean she was, right??

#48 Mom

2011-01-27T07:00:00.000-06:00

In a somewhat related story to my last wordful post, (at least in its numeric title anyway) I must tell you a story about my Spencer. See, he REALLY gets into the whole Christmas thing. It is almost February, but he is still dressing up as Santa almost every day. He puts on his red coat, a pair of red pants, his rain boots, black gloves, and a Santa hat. He talks to us like he is Santa. He poses for pictures with us. And he gives us all kinds of "gifts" that he pulls out of whatever bag is closest. He is all about giving of the gifts. I love this, of course, that he is so much more into the giving aspect of Christmas. I am not crazy about the bags of "gifts" that are strewn all over the house. But I roll with it. His teacher even commented that he is still playing Santa at school, too.

My boy.

So keeping in mind that Spencer is crazy focused on giving gifts right now, I take you to a scene in my bathtub. There are all sorts of random things in the tub. These are items that get dragged up there because they happen to be playing with it when it is time to take a bath.

And as you know, my children are slightly nuts, so there are some pretty interesting things in there:

On this particular night, Spencer was playing away in the tub. He told me not to look because he was making me a special present. He said it was going to be a surprise. Of course, he began telling me about it. This sort of spoiled the surprise, but it was still fun.

S- Mommy, I am making you a special present. Do you know what it is?

Me- Nope, but I cannot wait to see it.

S- It is a lamp. I am building it for you.

Me - Oh, wow! I can always use a new lamp.

S- Want to see it?

Me- Oh, yes!

Here it is:

(Pretty creative, huh?

He made it using a plastic cup with a political advertisement from Louisiana, a plastic slinky, and half of a Zhu Zhu hamster wheel.)

S- Yep, it is just for you because you are the #48 mom.

Me- 48?

S- Uh-huh.
Me- Well, is this out of the whole wide world?
S- (proudly) Yep!
Me- OK, I guess #48 isn't too bad if we are talking about the whole world.

Such a thoughtful and silly little boy I have!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-26T08:00:00.001-06:00

"Living the dream as a turtle"

#1 Mom

2011-01-25T07:57:00.000-06:00

Jessa's school has a Secret Santa Shop each year. It is sponsored by the PTO, so I have been sort of involved the past 2 years. And it reminds me of the same kind of thing that we had at Mt. Zion Elementary several years ago when Lucas and I were there. They even used some of the same bags that we used! Crazy the things that you remember, right?

Well, the Shop is a little bit fundraiser and a little bit, "hey, kids, you can buy gifts for your family for cheap!" There were no gifts that cost more than $10.50. So you could do some serious shopping if you were so inclined. As you might have guessed, Jessa and Spencer were so inclined. There is a pretty big selection of stuff to choose from. Since I was working behind the scenes, I knew what all the merchandise would be. OK, OK, fine. I admit it, I dropped a few hints. There were some things that I was not crazy about, so I tried to steer them away from said items.

So I was tickled when Christmas morning rolled around, and I found that Jessa had actually listened to me. I unwrapped this sweet little pink bracelet with a lovely sentiment.

Yep, it says #1 Mom. What mother could possibly argue with that, right?

So I immediately put it on, and I have been wearing it lots since Christmas. And boy does she notice, too. She checks pretty often to see if I am wearing it.

Well, a week or two after Christmas, I was fussing at her about something. And she was giving me a really hard time. She has been almost a teenager lately with her little attitude. She is so advanced. Yeah, I know, we are so proud.

At this particular moment, I had just about had enough. I cannot even remember what the issue was, and I really cannot remember exactly what either of us said. I feel pretty safe in saying that whatever I was being "the meanest mom ever" about was "ruining her life," though.

She was looking at me with daggers,
and then, she glanced at my wrist.

I saw her eyes flash as she thought of a great idea.
She knew just what to do.
She folded her arms.
She shifted her weight from one foot to the other.
And she looked straight at me and said, "Mom. Do you want me to take that back?"
I tried not to smile or laugh and asked with a very straight face, "Take what back, Jessa? What are you talking about?"
She motioned toward my wrist that was decorated quite nicely with my new pink bracelet.
I said, "Well, if you think you need to."
This was not the answer she was hoping for.
She huffed out of the room and within about 6 minutes, she liked me again. She may have even thought I deserved the title so boldly written on my new pink bracelet again.

I cannot imagine what she thought would happen. Like if I was faced with the threat of having my Christmas present reclaimed that I would change my tune and stop being so mean and totally unreasonable about allowing her to play in the snow in her bathing suit or whatever super great idea she was trying to sell to me.

Oh, Jessa!

The teenage years are going to be so much fun, don't you think?!

S-s-s-now!

2011-01-21T08:00:00.000-06:00

Yay for snow! We have already gotten quite a bit this year. We even enjoyed a white Christmas which is a pretty big deal for us. Of course, Atlanta even had a white Christmas this year, too, which is just nuts, am I right?

We are still enjoying playing in the snow at least once a day every time the cold white stuff appears. It has been so cold, though. I try to weigh being a responsible mom and saying that it is simply too cold with being a party pooper. Plus, I know how exciting snow can be when you are a small person, so I try to just go with it.

They have both perfected their sledding skills this year. This is something that they are way better at than me since they have already seen more snow than I ever did as a child.
Jessa has gotten the layering down to an art. Although sometimes I think she goes a tad overboard.

We have built a snowman - their first one ever! In the south, I grew up thinking that if you ever got snow that meant you could have a snowman. I have learned that sometimes the snow is not the right consistency. Unfortunately, my children do not get this when I try to explain it.
We have created snow beds, which appear quite comfortable to me. Spencer even said he wished he could sleep in his snow bed all year. Even in summer.

And I have gotten lots of awesome shots of these sweet snowy faces!

Of course, we have also enjoyed gallons of hot cocoa to warm us up after we get too cold outside.
Oh, and as much as Molly LOVES the snow, she loves burrowing and digging and rolling and running. . .

Max, well, he is not too keen on it. He keeps looking at me like, "Lady, we're from Georgia!"

I hope that y'all have had lots of wintertime fun this year, too!

And here's hoping for more snow and more snow days. . .

New year's Blogolution

2011-01-10T20:36:00.000-06:00

Y'all. I have been bad. And it has totally not been my fault. Well, I guess it has been. But I have just not had any free time. Things have been so very busy. And even before this month, I was slacking. Big time slacking. And I know it disappoints my loyal readers. Like my friend Tara, she has been SO proud of the way I have been a pretty consistent blogger all this time. I feel that I have let her down.

But it is hard for me to justify sitting down to indulge in posting a funny story or cute pictures when we are all about 1 day away from having to turn out underwear inside out. Or when you cannot even see the coffee table in the den. Or when I have a stack of "stuff" to take care of for one of my many commitments.

And here's the deal: I MISS IT! I love typing and sharing my stories. My babies and my family are the most important things in my life. And they make me laugh and smile every day. And when I do not have this outlet, I am missing something. So I have missed typing my stories and preserving my memories since I know I am going to forget so many of their funny sayings and quirks over time.

So I am going to try to be back. And I am going to try to hold myself accountable and stick with it. Because I know that I am happier when I am blogging away. Ever since I started blogging, I even see the world in terms of "Oooo, I can't wait to post this!" I even start composing posts in my head sometimes. So I am thinking I need to unload some of this info, don't you?

It is now 2011! And my New Year's Resolution is to jump back into blogging.
Please stick with me. I am back! I really am!
Here goes. . .

White Christmas EVE

2010-12-24T11:17:00.009-06:00

Merry Christmas Eve!

The Crazy Keys are gearing up for a very small and special Christmas at home with just 4 humans, 2 dogs, 1 cat, and 2 fish. The children got to pick our special family meal for the occasion. They chose a very traditional meal. In fact, I am sure that many of you may be eating the same thing that we are. Tacos. OK, so we have never eaten tacos on Christmas before, but I think it is a wonderful idea, don't you?? Then we will go to church and hopefully right to bed. I will be super mad if my night owl children try to stay awake and Santa skips us!

Last night, on Christmas Eve Eve, the kids and I decided to have a slumber party. David blew up the air mattress for us. We put it right in the middle of the floor in the den. And then Jessa, Spencer, David, Max, Molly, and I piled in on our flannel, snowflake sheets and watched "Elf!" It was so much fun. We played the games on the DVD extras. We ate candy. What a nice, relaxing way to spend some family time. And it is especially fun when the kids do the loud, fake-ish laugh to all of the funny parts in the movie.

And then the kiddos actually spent the night on the air mattress with the Christmas Tree on all night. One of my trips to take Molly to the potty, I snapped a quick picture.
When we all woke up this morning, it was snowing!

A beautiful blanket of white covered everything. Yay!

And it makes my heart smile to see how much Miss Molly loves the snow.

Dunken LOVED the snow so much.

Look at Dunken's face! Happiness!

He would rub his face in it and roll around in it and run and run and run. Max does not even like grass to touch his delicate feet, so snow is particularly offensive to him. He gives me a look like, "Lady, thanks for rescuing me, but why couldn't we just stay in GA!?"

But to watch Molly and her joy makes me feel so close to Dunken.

That may seem crazy, but it just tickles me to death.

So Merry Christmas Eve from Illinois!
David has agreed to take the kids sledding soon so that I can keep the cooking and baking plan that I had for the day. And here's hoping that the snow will not cancel May and Bay's trip. I honestly think that the babies would be more disappointed if Santa cancelled than if May and Bay couldn't come. . . (and maybe I would be, too!)

Early Christmas Present

2010-12-16T21:00:00.001-06:00

Two years ago tomorrow, this picture was taken:

My heart was so full and so happy because our Max had come home and joined our family. I first discovered him at the vet's office on December 1, but he had so many health problems that he could not come home until December 17, 2008.

He is the most precious animal. OK, so he is not the brightest of dogs that you will meet, but he is absolutely the sweetest. And he has been such a comfort to me these past few months. But he is not crazy about being an only dog. Just not his thing. He never used to notice when we would come and go, but now, when I leave his sight, he cries.

So a few weeks ago, I really started thinking that maybe I could see adding another sweet Westie to our family. We are just Westie people. Dunken sold us on the breed. And quite honestly, he sold others, too. We have had friends at almost every place we have lived that got a Westie because of Dunken. I always considered him such a great ambassador for the breed.

Who would not want a gorgeous Westie like our Dunk?

I looked high and low at rescues. I wanted another Max. A dog who really needed us. But they were HARD to find. And the ones I found were snatched up before I could even see them. And there were several that refused to even consider us because we had children 7 and under. And believe it or not, some rescue organizations don't want to allow military to adopt because we are deemed "unstable." Ha! Maybe our addresses are unstable, but I think I am rather well-adjusted thank you very much.

So we kept thinking and looking.

And I even talked to the kids a little bit. Asking them if they thought we should consider adding to our family. They thought it was a good idea. I asked them, what kind of dog would you like? They both shouted "A Westie!"

So I searched some more and I found a sweet little girl puppy. Jessa has always wished that we had a girl pet. I think that is why she loves Daddy's Abby so much. She LOVES the boys, too, but she has always wanted a girl. The farm where the puppy was born is in Missouri. Not in convenient St. Louis, but slap across the whole state! Seriously, it was about 5 hours away, but I decided I could handle that! I put down a deposit on her and then waited.

I bought some puppy pads.

And I waited.

I bought some puppy food.

And I waited.

I even picked out a precious collar and bowl. And I waited.

And we picked out a name, like it??? IF not, keep it to yourself, it is too late. . . ;-)

But then today, finally, my wait is OVER!

All of our waiting is OVER (I think the kiddos were ready to explode and David and I only told them on Tuesday. . .)

Today, on December 16, 2010,almost exactly 2 years after my Maxie came to live with us,

Molly came home.

I am a Westie girl - I think Dunken would be pleased.

Max is not too sure about this whipper snapper who ADORES him.

She makes Maxie look EVEN bigger.

Thanks to an icy night on Wednesday, neither kiddo had school today. I just waited til the roads were clear and we headed out! The ride there was tough because they were so anxious. Then on the way home, I was having to time "turns" holding her.

She could never replace my Dunken, but having 2 dogs just feels right for us. And I kind of think that Dunken would approve. We honored him by sticking with the breed. And I just know he was watching us today with a happy heart as we drove more than 400 miles round trip to pick her up.

Merry Westie Christmas from the Crazy Keys!

Holiday Troubles

2010-12-13T13:49:00.000-06:00

Y'all, I love the holidays. Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. For real.

Hey, that would make a good song lyric. Maybe I should look into that.

Anyway. I love decorating and shopping and baking and wrapping and looking at lights and just spending lots of good family time. Oh, and of course, I love cards. I have always enjoyed Christmas cards - both sending and of course seeing everyone else's. I used to not put pictures, but now it is like my favorite part. Plus, I LOVE to see everyone's babies and dogs and cats.

Like my friend April, she can do amazing things with her cats. I swear, they pose.

OK, so I always stress about Christmas Pictures for my card. I want cute. I want funny. I want festive. I want it all. Well, you can't get all that in one card, so I accept that. So this year, I did a fun photo shoot with my kiddos at Scott Lake on base. It was lots of fun. They were so cooperative. I came home, uploaded to shutterfly, and created awesome cards. I was so excited! And I was so proud that I made a decision so quickly.

By the way, I love love love Shutterfly. David has suggested we set up some sort of automatic withdrawal with them directly from his pay check. I am not ruling this out.

So here is our card this year:

It is perfect, I think. The subjects, the photographer, the location, the creator of the card, just perfect, I tell you.

So then I set about finding all the right addresses. An occupational hazard of being a military family is that each year your card list needs lots of work and updates. Thanks to Facebook, this is way easier than it used to be. . . Updates list, check!

I printed the labels. The kids helped me stick the labels on the envelopes. We put the stamps on. We sealed the envelopes. I tried not to think of the untimely death of George's fiance' on Seinfeld as we lick the envelopes. And Voila! We had cards all ready to go. Ready to send out to friends and family. We were all set to spread some Christmas Joy!

So then, I took said cards and put them in the car.

Then the next day, I got in the car, and those darn cards were STILL there. The nerve.

Then the next day, I got in the car, and yep, you guessed it, those lazy cards had not moved. They just sat there. Mocking me.

A week goes by, and I was digging around in the front seat for some gum and you will not believe what I found under Max's car pillow, a week's worth or receipts, and my purse. If you said Christmas cards, you would be right. How can this be? They have not been mailed yet? The mail carrier did not think to look in my front seat under all my trash and my scarf and my PTO folders. Really? Is there no customer service left in the world? They were RIGHT there. In plain sight.

So I finally decided that maybe I had better give them a little help.

So on our way to run some errands, Spencer helped me and our Christmas cards out.

We found this strange blue box on the curb outside the post office building. I opened his door and he actually placed the Christmas Cards into this slot type thing on the blue box.

He was very thorough and placed only about 2 cards at a time in the slot.

I guess you can never be too careful.

And after all that we have been through waiting on these cards to be mailed, we did not want to take any more chances.

And apparently, they will be sent from there. I guess that is pretty easy. Well, not as easy if someone had just mailed them for me, but not too hard.

Here's hoping it works.

Now onto baking.

Do you think that buying the flour, the sugar, and the eggs is enough to end up with delicious Christmas cookies?

Or is this going to be like the card thing and require a little more follow through?

Wow, I cannot believe how much work is involved in holiday preparations. . .

How to sell a house

2010-12-09T16:55:00.001-06:00

I am by no means an expert. But here is a little bit about my experience with selling a home.

We put our house on the market in March of 2008 when we found out we would be leaving Ft. Polk and headed to Ft. Stewart - 2 moves ago. It was basically a new house - we bought it in May of 2006. We LOVED this house. David put up this LONG fence around our awesome yard.

It was a LOT of work. . .

Our lot was more than an acre, and we LOVED the big yard.

Wait, did I say yard?

Well, it started out as a big mud pit,

but with lots of blood, sweat, and tears, David turned it into a gorgeous yard.

He even needed a lawn tractor to keep it under control.

Spencer tried to help. . .

He planted trees.

David also screened in the front porch.

And built a pergola.

This house was OURS.

And it had 4 bedrooms and 3 FULL baths.

And the kitchen. Ah, that kitchen.

And my bathtub.

Did I mention that we LOVED this house?

But as in most army assignments, it has to come to an end. So we were ready to move on. And today, December 9, 2010, after 2 Realtors, 3 signed contracts, 2 Early Occupancy Agreements resulting in 2 sets of renters (1 set for more than a year while we waited on them to sell their house and close on ours), 2 Home Inspections resulting in 2 sets of rather expensive repairs and improvements, countless faxes, e-mails, and phone calls, getting our hopes up more times that I care to remember, and 5 scheduled closings, WE SOLD THE HOUSE. For real this time. It still has not sunk it with me, I don't think. This has been hanging over my head for so long. I have hired plumbers and dishwasher repairmen long distance. I have sent checks to landscapers to keep the grass cut. I even bought a new hot water heater over the phone from Sears in Louisiana! You name it, it went wrong. But FINALLY, it is OVER.

We did not sell the house for nearly as much as we wanted to. But in this day and age, and with all the seemingly endless trouble, I can honestly say that being finished with this chapter is worth every penny that we did not make holding out for a better offer. I am not a wheeler dealer real estate type. But I did learn a new term this week, "upside down."

Apparently in "home selling," if you sell your house and end up owing money then you are "upside down."

I am thrilled to say that this chapter is now closed

AND

we are right side up, baby!

Whew!

Me and my shadow

2010-12-08T07:45:00.000-06:00

I have not blogged too much lately. Losing Dunken has been absolutely one of the hardest things that I have ever had to face. I have not even been able to talk about it much. There are neighbors who did not even know because I could not bring myself to say the words. His bowl is still in the dish drain by the sink. I cannot bring myself to put it away. I like seeing it there as if it is waiting for me to feed him at any moment.

The biggest source of comfort for me throughout this whole ordeal has been Max.

Some people have commented that having another dog must make it harder to handle the loss. But I have found it to be quite the opposite. Checking on Max, feeding Max, medicating Max has been something to focus on. And helping him deal with the sudden loss of his friend and partner in crime has been good for me. He needs me. And it feels good to be needed. I was so focused on keeping Dunken comfortable and happy and taken care of right up until the very end. So without Max, I would have been absolutely lost.

And I think he kind of likes me, too. He is always with me. I sometimes feel guilty because he never can get settled anywhere because I am not still very long at the time. And when I am upstairs in Stewart's domain during the day, he has to stay downstairs. And the silly sweet thing stands at the bottom of the stairs, stares up at me, and just whines until I finish whatever I am doing and come back donwstairs.

I finally moved one of the extra doggie beds into the kitchen because he would just stand there and stare at me when I was sitting at the table or doing things in the kitchen.

I wanted him to at least be comfortable while he was keeping tabs on me.

He is such a little blessing to all of us.

Don't know what I would have done the past few months without him. Thank God for my Max, my precious little shadow!

Always prepared.

2010-12-06T08:00:00.000-06:00

Spencer is destined to be a boy scout. I hope that he wants to pursue this activity as he grows older. And not just because it is sort of in his blood - his uncle Lucas is an Eagle scout and David was pretty involved in Scout, too.

He is always trying to be prepared. He never gets ready to go anywhere that he does not head to the car with his arms full or a bag packed. It is comical and frustrating. These packed bags full of treasures often get left in the car or laying around. Apparently, once the trip that they were packed for is over, they are no longer of any use to him.

The original focus of this post was about a trip to the park where he packed a bag and the contents tickled me to death. So I took some pictures of the contents of this fancy Wal-Mart bag.

Here are a couple of shots of the packed bag with all the treasures.

Some of them seem normal enough, all little boys like to play with helicopters, right?

But do we need a single piece from a Hot Wheels stunt set at the playground with no cars?

Or a can opener? Really?

Then once I started typing and thought about how common this is, I found a few more bags that he had packed. Here is another aerial view into another bag.

And here are the contents: 2 toothbrushes, a marker, a train, a toy story memory card, a plastic duck, a ball, some Christmas bubbles, a tea cup, a snake, a car, a frog, a jeep, a little man, and my personal favorite, the top of an acorn.

And here is a bag that he carried with us to church one week. Yes, my 4 year old took a Crown Royal bag to church. Bay said, "Dana, don't worry about it. We are not Southern Baptist!"

Inside the super appropriate church bag was the following: a bulldozer, a shoestring, 3 place card holders from Thanksgiving, a plastic tool, and a handful of light bright pegs.

Heaven help me, I cannot begin to tell you what my child is ever thinking.
But I do love his little brain!

Comic Relief

2010-11-17T20:45:00.003-06:00

Y'all. Those darned carrier monkeys struck again. My children come home each day crawling with germs that they pick up at school. And they usually get a touch of something and move on. But the older, slower grown-ups in their little lives always get sicker and for longer (especially May). So the littlest Key aka carrier monkey brought home a cold. He is pretty much over it. I AM NOT. I am so miserable and full of snot. I have wonderful drugs that make me feel better only I cannot take them when I am expected to function. So I can either take these wonderful concoctions OR drive Spencer to school. Well, even though HE did do this to me, I still took him to school.

Anyway, I feel yucky. My throat is raw. My ears click every time I swallow. My back hurts from coughing. And I just made it through a long day of all sorts of running around. I even made it thorough the night at Awana with the most precious little children. And even though I love them dearly, I am wiped out.

So Spencer and Jessa and I were driving home from church and our usual Subway dinner. It is cold and dark and windy and rainy. And I am just trying to get us home. I am coughing and sneezing. I look up and I see an SP (it is like an Air Force Police Officer). He is sitting at the end of a street in our neighborhood. Out of habit, I let off the gas and check my speed. I was going right at 15, which is the speed limit in our housing area. So I went on.

Right as we pass the street where he was sitting, Spencer noticed him and proceeded to panic.

Spencer: MOM! LOOK! There is a policeman RIGHT THERE!
Me: Yes, son. I know. I saw him.
Spencer: BUT MOM! What is he doing here?
Me: I don't know. I bet he is out on patrol.
(FYI: The SPs drive through our neighborhood many times throughout the day and night to keep an eye on things.)
Spencer: Patrol? What's that?
Me: It is just part of their job to drive around and protect us.
Spencer: Protect us? From what?
And before I coould open my mouth to say something in response, my wise daughter chimed in from the back seat.
Jessa: They are protecting us from everything, like bears and snakes and even rats.
Spencer: Oh. OK.
Me: (stifled giggles)

I love my babies because even when I am full of snot and exhausted, a simple conversation can make me laugh and my heart smile!

Now, I just took some wonderful medication that will make me stop coughing and SLEEP.
And I will sleep so well knowing that there are dedicated police officers on duty out in the world to protect me from bears, snakes, and even rats.

Good Night. (giggle)

She's not 6.

2010-11-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

I did not do my usual emotional birthday post this year for Jessa. I am not sure why except that I was too darn busy celebrating the child to sit around and write about it. Things have been extra crazy for the crazy Keys. The PTO is my third child these days. I LOVE it, though. I have met so many awesome people who are excited about their children and helping the school. And I am still pretty involved with Awana, too. So basically, things are always busy!

But the week of Jessa's birthday, we focused on Jessa, Jessa, and more Jessa. Her favorite kind of week, I must say. And if she was not spoiled before, I am thinking that she is pretty much a lost cause now.

The week long celebration began on the Saturday before her birthday when May arrived from Georgia with a trunk FULL of presents from all the GA folks. She was the representative from the GA contingent. Sunday was her party with friends from school. She decided on Chuck E. Cheese. In case you did not know this, time goes slower in a Chuck E. Cheese than most any other place. It is sort of like the Bermuda Triangle of restaurants. She was absolutely off the wall, batty, crazy, EXCITED. She could not walk anywhere. She sort of glided.

The Crazy Keys at Chuck E. Cheese (if you say it right, it's a rhyme.)

Look at that grin! She is a pretty happy birthday girl!

Spencer was sad. I had just told him that we were not giving Jessa her present from the family until later. He did not want to be the only one there who did not give her a gift. . .

The Birthday Queen

Then on Monday, I took her a Happy Meal to school for lunch. No pictures, but she ate every crumb and was thrilled that I came to lunch.

Tuesday, we took her out for a family supper to the place of her choosing. She picked Red Robin. David was leaving in Wednesday morning on a trip, so we had to celebrate early. They sang. She got a spoon with a balloon on it. Yay!

When we got home, she opened all her presents and we sang to her. Again. And she had cake. Again. This time it was a homemade red velvet cake. For some reason, that is her favorite. So of course, I made it.

Then on Wednesday, her actual birthday, it was Fall Party Day at school. Good timing, right? Well she had a great day at school. And since we did not have anything else planned, we went to Toys R Us. She had some birthday money burning a hole in her pocket. And we have never gotten the birthday treatment at Toys R Us before. I would highly recommend it!

She loved the periodic announcements over the loud speaker reminding everyone to wish her a happy birthday.

Then on Thursday, Spencer had school, but Jessa didn't. It was Fall Conferences for her district. We took her out for chocolate donuts for breakfast. Then May and I took her to the salon for a morning of beauty. I wanted to do something with just her. Spencer and I get to have lunch and run errands and hang out all the time. But I never get to just hang with Jessa anymore.

Oh my! She so enjoyed the special treatment.

And she picked out her own alternating colors.

Her nails even had some stickers.

She was very patient for her "styling."

And just look at the results:

So we had a great week celebrating the Jessa's birth. Don't you think?

And she is officially impossible to live with! But she is worth it.

BUT the funniest part is that she is OBSESSED with being 7. She leads with that when she sees people now.

An example:

"Hey, Jessa, how are you?"

"I'm 7."

"Oh, ok, but how are you?"

"I'm not 6."

Alrighty then!

She is sassy and seven!
Here is how she signed a thank you card for her soccer coach the weekend after her birthday:

Happy Veterans Day, 2010!

2010-11-11T20:17:00.011-06:00

Greetings from a mostly well-rested Crazy Key Family. The kids and I had the day off today in honor of Veterans Day. The strange about that is that the 3 of us are not even Veterans! The Crazy Key who has been serving his country since he enlisted in the Army at age 18 was hard at work today. I guess that is true of lots of service people today. I am just thankful that his work today was in Illinois and New York, not Iraq and Afghanistan!

The kids and I were happy to honor Veterans everywhere by sleeping in and taking full advantage of all the freedoms that we have thanks to their selfless service. I am very blessed to come from a long line of Veterans. Both of my grandfathers served in the army. And my Daddy's mother and father met in WWII. My Daddy and both of his brothers all three retired from the Army after long careers. And then of course, here I am a proud Army wife of 12 years.

And I am trying to make sure that my babies realize how blessed we are to have so many wonderful men and women who sacrifice every day to keep our country free. So I have been really tickled at all the neat things that Jessa's school did this week to celebrate Veterans Day. She even wrote a journal page about it. My favorite part was when she talked about how her Daddy was a Veteran. She wrote, "My Daddy is in the Army, Navy, and the A.F." (Air Force is hard to spell out, I think.) I mean, she takes this joint assignment VERY seriously. I told her that he worked with the Navy and A.F., but he is actually in the Army. They have collected "Pennies for Patriots" throughout the week. They also collected various items to take to the VA Hospital nearby. Jessa enjoyed shopping for "her Veteran!" And tomorrow morning there will be an assembly complete with bagpipes for all of the kids to get to celebrate this special holiday.

But perhaps my favorite thing to come out of this week happened at Awana. Our theme night for November was "God and Country." So the kiddos were asked to bring in a card or letter that they made for a servicemember. Our Awana Commander is sending them to a unit overseas. I love this idea to help the kids remember that even though it is not in the forefront of the media, we still have thousands of troops serving far from home everyday. So I would like to share with you what my sweet children came up with when I told them about their assignment.

Spencer drew this picture.

I love the camo uniform and the fire works overhead.

And my Jessa made a card.

This is the front.

This is the back.

And this is the inside.

I love the saluting soldier, don't you?

And you must also know that they are studying bar graphs in math, so she is really into using them right now. The columns are giraffes, soldiers, herself, and trees. As you can see, she like soldiers more than giraffes, trees, and even herself!

My heart is so full when my babies do sweet things like this.

And I am so proud to that we all come from a family who believes in selfless service.

Thanks to all Veterans everywhere.

God bless America:

Home of the Free BECAUSE of the Brave!

The greatest birthday gift of all

2010-11-07T09:25:00.004-06:00

OK, initially, all week, I have been saying that the best present I was getting for my birthday was an extra hour of sleep. Pretty cool when "Fall Back" happens on your birthday, right? But then I realized I had an even better present. Let me tell you about it.

Many people make big plans or have crazy parties for your birthday. Believe me, I have been there. And there is not anything wrong with that. At all. If you want to have a huge blowout of a celebration, go for it! And feel free to invite me, too. But this year, I hadn't really even thought about what I wanted to do for my birthday. Having your first child 10 days before your birthday means that for the rest of your lives, her birthday will be the big exciting thing happening. And by the time your birthday actually rolls around, well, let's just say it is not nearly the big deal that it used to be.

I do get excited about birthdays and holidays. I like anything special and fun. But after Jessa's first birthday, it hit me. On my daughter's (and now my son's) birthday, I can celebrate a pretty huge accomplishment - I made a person and brought it into the world. There aren't many things that are bigger than that, know what I mean? On my birthday, my Momma did all the work. SO I guess I am saying that once I had children, their birthdays mean way more to me than mine. I am betting lots of other Moms feel that way, too. (AND Daddys, too. . .)

So this year the only thing that we had planned was going to see a movie. The new Dreamworks movie, Megamind was coming out on the day before my birthday. Of course, Jessa wanted to see it in "eye-popping 3 D." (and yes, that is the way she says it. Every time.) And David had a work thing at night, so we picked the 1:15 show time.

We slept a little late and enjoyed a crisp fall morning. We watched some Saturday morning cartoons. We ate some muffins. We all got cleaned up and ready to go see the movie. It took the usual 20 minutes to get the children in the car. We had the same "Oh, wait, I forgot my shoes." and the "I think I need to potty." trips back into the house. We got into the theater and it still took us too long to place our order for refreshments, even though we all ended up ordering the exact same thing we always order. We all wore are cute nerdy 3-D glasses. The kids took off their shoes in the movie. We laughed at the movie. They told me when it was their "favorite part from the commercial." We were the last ones to make it out of the theater because it takes a while to find your shoes in the dark.

We came back home. And the kids played all afternoon. I could hear them laughing and making up stories and characters as they went along. I did spend some time just laying around catching up on some TiVo that I would not normally let myself do. It was my birthday after all. They argued with me when I would not let them go outside without socks on. Since David was out for the evening with that work thing, we just drove through Burger King for supper.

And Spencer picked out a cake mix and can of icing at the commissary that he thought they should bake for me. So after supper, we all baked my cupcakes. They did the stuff they usually do: breaking the eggs (in a separate bowl so I can pick out the shells), pouring in the oil, licking the beaters, and disappearing when it is time to wash up the dishes. They each iced about 2 cupcakes, and I finished the rest. They wanted to put a candle in a cupcake and sing to me. So they did.

And we all ate way too many chocolate cupcakes! I made them take baths to wash off the chocolate. I reminded them 22 times to brush their teeth. They got on warm jommies and snuggled with me in my bed until they fell asleep. I carried them to their beds and tucked them in.

And I realized that all the things we did on my special birthday were not too different than the things we do every other day of the year. And instead of being sad or disappointed that my "special" day was so ordinary, I got the happiest, warmest, most amazing feeling. I felt so blessed that all of my ordinary days are so special. I get to spend every day with my favorite people. I get to watch my children play. I get to listen to them laugh and sing. I get to break up petty sibling arguments. I get to swell with pride as they grow into these marvelous people. I get to help them learn how to bake and remember to brush their teeth. I get to watch them sleep and hear them breathe. I get to help tie shoes and zip coats. I get to wipe noses and fix snacks. I get to trip over their toys that are covering up every piece of floor in the den. I get to hear them tell me that they love me and feel their little arms around my neck as they hug me. What a gift! What a precious blessing! And if that is not the best way to spend your birthday or any other day, I don't know what is.

Snack to share

2010-11-04T08:00:00.001-05:00

Spencer's school has a snack each day in his class. The snack is something generic and hypoallergenic. They are really particular about food allergies, so the snacks are usually things that most kids are not allergic to. A popular snack time food at Faith PYC is cereal. Dry, of course, but a good snack, none-the-less. On birthdays, to avoid any allergies or cross contamination, we bring fresh fruit. The kids go crazy for it, too! Anyway, Spencer is a pretty good eater most of the time, so he enjoys whatever they throw his way. Well, except raisins. He is not a fan, and frankly, neither am I, so he comes by that honestly. I mean who wants food that was once fresh, but now it is overripe and has been sitting in the sun. Try doing that with some foods and you end up in the hospital. Like try it with Potato Salad. That's what I thought.
Am I rambling?

So when school is over for the day and we are in the car on the way home, I always ask, "How was your day?" And 9 times out of 10, I get the standard kid answer of "Fine" or "Good." Which, as all Moms know, it not what we are looking for! We want details! We want to know what happened while they were our of our sight. We want to know if someone was mean or someone was funny or they read books or built towers or made leaf piles on the playground. We want to know, darn it!

I always try to find a question or two that I can ask to start of spark a conversation, you know? I know most of the kids in the class, so I can ask "How was Jack?' or "Was Lilly in a good mood today?" But one safe question that can usually spark some good chatting is "Well, what was your snack today?" This is usually a pretty easy question to answer due to the allergy concerns that I rambled about earlier.

So this one day a few weeks ago, I asked him,
"So, Spence, what did y'all eat for snack today?"
And he said, "It was a cereal."
And I said, "What kind?"
So he starts trying to tell me, "It was sweet."
So I name a few, "Frosted Flakes? "Fruit Loops?"
"No, Momma, not those. They were squares," he said.
"Oh!" I say, "Cinnamon Toast Crunch?"
Spencer, "No, it was one of your favorites."
"Oh, was it frosted mini wheats?" I asked, and even though it is technically a rectangle, I do enjoy those.
"Ugh! No, Mom, not those!" he said, becoming frustrated.
So I gave up the conversation. This is supposed to be a good way to get him chatting, not make him ill.

Fast forward a couple of weeks.

We were walking out to the car after school. Holding hands as we walked through the parking lot, I started to ask him about his day. His face lit up!
"Oh, Mom! We had that same snack again. You know, the cereal that you like?"
So I said, "Oh good, buddy! Do you know what it is called now?"
He grinned as we got to the car and he climbed in, "Nope."
And I said, "Uh, OK," as he was opening his backpack.
He reached down into the very bottom of his backpack and pulls out this:

It was one piece of Life Cereal!

Bless his sweet precious little heart. He was thinking about me and wanted me to know the snack that he had so badly, that he smuggled a piece of cereal out of school in the bottom of his backpack! And he knew I liked that cereal! So standing there in the parking lot, looking at my sweet boy with a proud smile on his face, I ate that piece of cereal that had been down in the bottom of his backpack. And you know what? It tasted better than any other cereal I have ever had.

So giving

2010-11-02T07:45:00.006-05:00

Ah, Jessa. She is quite a piece of work. She constantly challenges me and my patience (ha). She likes to save things. Things that you have no idea why. Like boxes. When I bought 1400 tootsie roll pops for our October Fundraiser at school, she became attached to a large box that held all the smaller boxes. Like death grip attached. She reminded me every day that when we were finished with it that she wanted that box. Bad. She would see us using it at school and would stare at it longingly. The day the fundraiser was over, I placed the box in the back of my car. And I forgot about it. Not Jessa, when we got home that day, the first question she asked was, "Oh, mom, where's that box you said I could have?"

So getting her to part with things is tough. I mean, the kid doesn't want to recycle a box, how can I expect her to give away a toy that she hasn't played with in 2 years? How dare I suggest such a thing! So up until this point, we have leaned more toward a sneak attack when it comes to cleaning things out. At night, under the cover of darkness, I quietly load things into the car and take them to good will while she is at school. And then, she always misses one particular thing that is no longer with us. When we move, I usually try to get rid of a few things here and there. And after we unpack 632 boxes, my Jessa realizes that she is missing a small purple unicorn. "Oh, mom, you know the one. It has a really soft white mane. We got it at Cracker Barrel on that day that we went with May and Bay. We went about 6:15 PM. Yes, I think it was raining that day." So then I have to slightly stretch the truth a tad and say, "Oh, honey, it must not have made it through the move." It is not an actual lie because it did not make it through the move. I don't have to elaborate and say it is because Mommy donated it. She always blames the movers. "Darn movers," she says.

So it is well-established, Jessa likes to keep her stuff. But after years of my convincing her to share her things that she no longer needs with others, she has had to come up with a new plan of attack. See, we actually know little boys who we can share Spencer's things with. And Spencer loves this. When he got his new bike, he was so excited to share his old one with someone else. When you are small, I think it is easier when you have a face and an actual person to attach to your donation. Jessa hasn't ever had this. So besides her being absolutely attached to everything she owns and the package that it came in, she has no face to attach to her gift. Until now.

Our sweet, smart, crafty Jessa has come up with a plan to get to keep her things AND give them away. Want to know how she did it? Well, she has decided that she wants to save her things to give to "my little girl." Yep. Isn't that a brilliant plan? I cannot criticize her for being selfish, she thinks. She is willing to clean out some things, but she wants me to save them for her children. Brilliant! And when I point out that we don't have any room to save all of these things, she says, "Oh, don't worry, we can just keep it all at May and Bay's house." HA! May and Bay are trying as hard as they can to de-clutter their house, but I am sure they wouldn't mind Jessa shipping tons of her stuff there to "save."

Recently, she wanted to share this:

Yep, it's undies.

My little gal who doesn't want to part with anything was organizing her underwear drawer and discovered these lovelies. Some of them were size 2T-3T. Get the idea about her not wanting to part with things. The child just turned 7!

I always throw away underwear that they outgrow (if I can get it out of her drawer) because no one really wants to have used underwear. But she figures her daughter will not mind wearing her old undies.

The note was on a Kleenex and there are a few misspellings, but the point is she wants to give this underwear to "my baby gril."
Isn't she sweet?

And thoughtful

She really is such a giver.

boo-yah

2010-10-14T15:05:00.001-05:00

Spencer Key. He is 4, people. 4. Yet he says things sometimes that make me wonder. Well, it really makes me question his upbringing. I mean, only a child with awful heathen parents would speak the way this child does. Say the things he does.

David has taken to calling him a "Mini Buddha" because he always has these really wise nuggets to share. And they always come out of no where. Like last week, I was speaking loudly to a man outside of my car. He was at a crosswalk motioning for me to go. Dude, that is so not the point of a crosswalk. And I am always afraid that the motioning walker will change his mind and then I will run him over. Or what if someone sees me blowing through said crosswalk and they did not see the walker motion to me to go on. Now they think I am a heel. See what I mean. Crosswalks are where pedestrians have the right of way. Got that Mister Man? Well, at the time, Spencer remained silent in the backseat. But today, we were sitting at a light and he out of the clear blue sky says, "Momma, maybe that man who told you to go the other day thought we were in a hurry like we had to get to a meeting or something. Maybe that is why he let you go before he crossed the street." Wow. OK, son, maybe so.

But he also says things that are pretty funny. And by funny, I mean bordering on disrespectful, but he is so darn cute when he says them that I overlook the kinda disrespectful part. I was getting emotional about something to do with him growing up too fast and being a big boy. And my sweetheart looked at me with a big grin and said, "Get a hold of yourself, Woman!" And the tender, emotional moment passed.

One afternoon after a soccer practice, David drove us to our car because he got a way closer place. And let's face it, walking with my children makes things take like forever. So we all hop in for a quick ride to the van. And as we leave David's vehicle, Spencer sticks his head back into the car and yells to David, "Thanks for the ride, Pork Chop!" No clue where he got that from. A tad disrespectful, maybe. Pretty dang funny, yep.

Another day we were all leaving the vet's office. Jessa, Max, and I were already outside. Spencer turns around, sticks his smart mouth back into the vet's office and hollers "Peace!" to the clients still waiting. He is 4. I blame TV.

Then David was talking about going somewhere and Spencer said to him, "OK, Daddy, am I going to come with?" Is he in high school?Does he live in Los Angeles? "come with," really?

He is still pretty sweet, though. I caught him rooting around in the fridge the other day about 12:30. And I asked him, "What are you doing?" And he said, "Getting a drink for Jessa." I said, "Uh, son, Jessa won't be home for 3 hours." He said, "I know, but I just want to get ready." I managed to talk him into waiting a couple more hours.

And the last one, he was playing with his cars and a certain car did something pretty cool and I heard him holler, "BOO-YAH!" And when I got tickled at him, he said, "Mom, that's something that big boys say. And I am a big boy."

Boo-yah, indeed.

It's not called that for nothing

2010-10-11T12:14:00.020-05:00

I have been sort of out of the blogging habit for the past few weeks/months. It makes me sad that I have fallen out of this routine, but I just couldn't face it. I have been terribly busy with so many commitments all over the place, but I was also dealing with Dunken. His treatment and losing him took a great deal out of me. I am trying to get back into the groove. If there is anyone left who still reads my little old blog, then please bear with me while I attempt to get back into it. I have lots of funny, sweet stories that I want to share and pictures that I want to post. I guess I should just jump back in, huh? So here goes nothing!

Today is Columbus Day. Spencer asked if they were going to school. I told him, "No, it is a holiday." And he looked puzzled and thought for a minute. Then he asked, "Oh, well, what do we do?" Ah, yes, how could I forget the traditional Columbus Day meal or the Columbus Day gifts or the Columbus Day decorations! I smiled and explained to him that it was not "that kind of holiday." And then I told him to be thankful because lots of folks are still at work/school on this holiday. The trash collectors even came. I had to run outside in my PJs to get the can out there in time. When I told David about my mad trash dash, he said, "I didn't think they would come. Has Columbus Day fallen by the wayside?" Maybe. But now what am I going to do with my Columbus Day Wreath?

But because it is Columbus Day, and we do live/work/attend school on a military installation, we all have the day off. Well, I still am expected to feed people and make sure that they don't run into traffic and such, but I can do it all still in my previously mentioned PJs. I'll take it, thank you very much.

Well, today, on this special Columbus Day Holiday, the TVs have not even been turned on at our house. Which means that as I sit here at the kitchen table typing and catching up on all sorts of paperwork for PTO and Awana and life in general, I can hear the sweet sounds of my babies playing. They are always in some sort of fantasy world. It sometimes can drive me crazy because there is usually a "Momma" in the thing that they are playing, but it is rarely me. Which means that I spend an hour answering when I hear one or the other of them calling "Momma" only to be reminded that they are not talking to me. Noted. But it is hard to turn off the instinct to answer when you hear "MOMMA!"

Anyway. I have no idea what they have been playing.

Here are a few pictures of things that ended up being a part of whatever it is that they dreamed up:

The ducks from one game migrated over to the Hippo Pond.

This girl is apparently swimming with beads and a small panda bear in the now vacant duck pond.

These Hippos are hungry for marbles AND the teeny pieces from Spongebob Operation.

And Santa was sick and being attended by a caring Little People Person.

I can tell you that they were both singing songs in a language that I was unable to identify. And yes, they were both singing. I have no idea how.

Then they disappeared upstairs. Shortly, they started back down the stairs. They each had something to put things in, and there were chanting, "Beanie Baby Hunt." Over and over and over. And over. Well, except for when they would get tickled at how funny it was. They covered the whole house, chanting, and looking at all the stuffed animals searching for the coveted tag:

Then the got them all situated in the den. They were all chatting with each other, the Beanie Babies, I mean. One alligator was chatting with another alligator. They are related, and I know this because they were calling each other "Bro" and "Sis." But don't worry even though they are twins, you can tell them apart because "Bro" always wears sunglasses.

There is music at this party. I mean, of course, what's a party without music? A Radio Disney Jams CD is blaring from their Karaoke Machine. Spencer just told me that the party is in honor of this girl:

I apologize for the orientation. I tried to repost is several times, but Blogger felt you should see it this way.

There is dancing, of course. My favorite part was when the Beanie Babies all danced into two lines and then two at a time, they all danced down the center, you know like Grease style.

After their big solo dance down the center, as they approached the end, Spencer reminded them, "End of the line! End of the line!"

And they gathered around the picnic basket for some tasty plastic treats!

They posed for this group picture, too.

They are all very eager to have their pictures taken.

As are their human hosts!

And I was just sort of watching and Jessa looked up and said, "Momma, this is a Beanie Baby Party. And all these animals are Beanie Babies." I did not respond immediately and Jessa looked back up at me, shrugged and said, "Beanie Baby Party; it's not called that for nothing!"

I do have some sad news to report. One guest had to be evacuated by "ambulance." Spencer drove her by me and said she was sick because the music was too loud and hurt her ears.

And at her own party, too.

What a bummer.

Love hearing what is going on inside the imaginations of my babies!

All Dogs Go to Heaven

2010-09-27T12:00:00.007-05:00

And it is with a very heavy heart that I must say that my Dunken is now one of them.

As hard as it was for me, this morning, I held him and whispered in his ear as he took his last breath. Words cannot express the loss that I am feeling, that we all are feeling. But I am so relieved that he is not in pain anymore. And I am sure that he is frolicking and running around - barking at every little noise and digging holes bigger than he is. My heart hurts so much, and I miss him more than I ever thought possible. He was such a big part of our lives. And even as horrible as I feel right now, I would not trade even one single second of our lives with him. He will forever be in our hearts and in our memories.

I can't even talk about it yet.

So here are some words that I find comforting today.

The Rainbow Bridge
There is a bridge connecting Heaven and Earth.

It is called the Rainbow Bridge because of its many colors. Just this side of the Rainbow Bridge is a land of meadows, hills, and valleys, all of it covered with lush green grass.

When a beloved pet dies, the pet goes to this lovely land. There is always food and water and warm spring weather. There, the old and the frail animals are young again. Those who are maimed are made whole once more. They play all day with each other, content and comfortable.

There is only one thing missing. They are not with the special person who loved them on Earth. So each day they run and play until the day comes when one suddenly stops playing and looks up! Then, the nose twitches! The ears are up! The eyes are staring! You have been seen, and that one suddenly runs from the group!

You take him or her in your arms and embrace. Your face is kissed again and again and again, and you look once more into the eyes of your trusting pet.

Then, together, you cross the Rainbow Bridge, never again to be separated.

Author Unknown

A funny thing happened on the way to Louisiana

2010-09-23T07:00:00.001-05:00

Even though I have not mentioned it in a while, we still have a house at Ft. Polk. Yep. The really stand-up folks who signed a contract to purchase it almost 2 years ago backed out. Awesome. Well, we had not seen the house since I left there in September of 2008. We assumed that all was well. Our wonderful realtor has found someone to cut the grass, but as far as maintenance and up-keep, well, there hasn't been any. So my husband, who sometimes stops by our house for a visit, decided that it was time for someone to go to see it in person. So on a rare week where he was not scheduled to travel, he loaded up his cute little Volvo Sedan and started out for Leesville. He was keeping me posted throughout his 11 hour drive. And when he was just outside of Shreveport, the last big city on his journey, his clutch started acting funny. He decided to keep on going.

He eventually made it to the house and checked it out. He said it didn't seem too serious. So he went on about his business. Lots of landscaping and sprucing up to be done all over the property. Carpets were cleaned. Toilets were scrubbed. Multiple trips to Lowe's and Wal-Mart were made. And through it all, his cute little Volvo kept on going.

Then the night before he was set to drive back, he called with some bad news. He could not even get it to go into gear. Uh-oh. Now what?! He called Volvo's 1-800 number and they agreed to send a tow truck to tow it to the closest dealer. In Shreveport. 90 miles away. Now David is in Leesville with no car. Oh, and it was the Thursday before Labor Day weekend. There were no rental cars in Leesville. At all. AND he had tons of equipment with him, like a lawn mower, a seed spreader thing, a weedeater, a tiller, a shovel, a rake, lots of tools, etc. So he had to take a cab to Alexandria's airport to rent a car. He then drove the rental car back to Leesville and loaded up all the stuff. The next morning, he drove to Shreveport and dropped off the equipment in his car at the Volvo dealer on his way to the airport to fly home to St. Louis. And the Volvo service people couldn't even look at it until the Tuesday after Labor Day. Awesome.

So we spent the week with only 1 car. Luckily he has some cool people at work who gave him rides so that I did not have to add yet another person in need of a chauffeur to my rotation. He then planned to fly back to get the car the next Saturday. On Friday, he called the service people who assured him it was ready to go for him to pick it up on Saturday morning.

He flew from St. Louis to Atlanta. He flew from Atlanta to Shreveport. He took a taxi to the dealer. The dealer said, "Uh, I tried to call you, but it isn't ready." WHAT?! Are you kidding??
Now what?
We thought about all the many options.
Rent a car and drive? Fly back?
When can he make it back to Shreveport?

David said not to worry.
He said he'd figure something out.

Well, he did.

Yep. He traded that baby and drove home in a NEW Volvo.

Bless his heart.
I think he planned it.

Just look at that face.

Bus Music

2010-09-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

Jessa Lynn LOVES riding the bus. That has been her favorite part of going to school, hands down. Well, she liked PE, too, but I still think the bus is #1. She had the sweetest bus driver last year. She was patient with all of the kiddos on our street. She would stop 2 or 3 times to pick up the stragglers. BUT she retired at the end of last year. So we have a new bus driver. And we LOVE her, too! She is younger and really outgoing. She get a kick out of Jessa because she is NOT a morning person. At all. In the mornings, Jessa will barely grunt at her. But in the afternoons, she is her bubbly, talkative self. On about the 3rd day of school, the driver asked me, "Is she not a morning person?" And I laughed and said, "Not at all!" So now it is a funny little game that we play, trying to get Jessa to crack a smile in the mornings.

Well, one afternoon last week, when Jessa was getting off the bus, her driver mentioned to me that she was trying to play music, but she was having trouble finding something that all the kids liked. My Jessa went straight into the house and pulled out her Justin Bieber CD and her Taylor Swift CD and put them in her backpack. She said she did not want to forget.

The next morning rolled around and she was almost chipper going to get on the bus. The bus pulled up, Jessa got on and pulled out her CD selections. I was fully prepared for the driver to politely decline her choices. I was even prepared to console her if she was disappointed. Well, I needn't have worried. The driver closed the doors, but she did not even pull away from the stop until one of Jessa's CDs was loaded into her bus CD player! It tickled me to death. And Jessa was sitting in the first seat, beaming with pride as they drove away.

That afternoon, the bus pulled up.

Then the doors opened.

And the driver had the biggest smile on her face when she saw me and she hollered,

"Bieber Fever!"

A very pleased Jessa got off the bus and headed home.

Our Jessa, she can even control what music her bus driver plays. . .

Spencer + Pre K = Silence?

2010-09-18T22:07:00.000-05:00

Things have been so crazy and busy, oh, and also busy and crazy around here that I have not posted about my baby boy's starting to school this year. I am just bad, and that is all there is to it. So, here we go, several weeks after the big first day: a post about Spencer's first day. . .

Spencer was more than ready to start to school this year. Jessa's district started really early, so she was in school weeks before he was. Every week, he would ask if it was time. And I had to tell him no. Finally, the day arrived.

I was happy that he was going back to the same school that we went to last year. He was happy, too. Jessa was already reaping the benefits of being a returning student. She was so thrilled to already know "the ropes." So we got up on the big day and got ready to go. The first day was called orientation and all the parents were required to stay. Spencer was not thrilled about this. He kept saying, "Mom. Just go in and drop me off." And I kept telling him that they said I had to stay.

Oh, wait, before I continue, the obligatory first day shots:

the whole Spencer shot

the close up "cheese"

the walking in shot

at the front door

So all the way through the parking lot, he keeps telling me to go home and not stay. We get to the door, we walk in, and he saw his classroom from last year. His teacher from last year was so happy to see him. She hugged him real quick, and we set off to wash our hands. (His school is serious about clean hands.) After we wash our hands, Spencer turns to go back to his classroom from last year. And I said, "Oh, no, buddy, you go to the Pre K class this year." And his face looked shocked. Then his lip poked out. Then tears welled up in his sweet eyes. And as we headed into his NEW classroom, my sweet independent child who did not want me to stay at school was sitting on the floor clinging to my leg. Yep. He decided it was cool for me to stay after all.

So we had an iffy orientation day. He reluctantly sat in the circle. He played along with everything as long as he did not have to say anything. And when it was time to go, he raced me to the car. And as we drove away, he informed me that he had changed his mind: he did want to go to school after all.

Fast forward to day 2. The first full day of school. No mommies allowed. He was telling me the whole way that he did not wish to continue in school. Apparently, he had learned all he needed to learn in preschool. He slowly went into the doors. He slowly washed his hands, with a pitiful look upon his face. We headed toward his classroom. And per his teacher's instructions, we hugged and kissed at the door. And he headed slowly into the classroom, and I turned to leave. Then I heard a ruckus, and when I looked back, I saw Spencer break away from his teacher and start to chase me out of the building. I had to walk my sad son back to the room and give him one more hug as his teacher pried him off of me. I then had to run to my car to keep the other mothers from seeing me cry!

I anxiously awaited the time to pick him up. I went into the building and waited outside his room. When it was time to go, he ran to me and hugged me. As we were walking to the car, I asked him how was his day. He did not say anything. So to try and spark a conversation, I asked what did they have for snack. He said, "Raisins. And you know that I do not like raisins." And so I asked if he had fun on the playground. And my sweet boy said, "Mom. Do not speak of it." I tried hard to not ask anymore questions, but I wanted to know that he was OK. I wanted to hear about the things that I missed. I wanted to know that the teachers were nice and the kids were friendly. I had lost hours of his life and I HAD to know what happened. So I tried once more to ask something about circle time and he said, "MOM! I told you that I do not want to talk about it." So we rode home in silence.

I am happy to report that all is well with Spencer, school, and his class now. He likes his teachers and his friends. And I am even allowed to ask about school. Oh, and so far, they have not made the mistake of trying to serve him raisins again. Whew.

To the lady with the baby at Target

2010-09-16T07:10:00.004-05:00

I was at Target this week. I realized that morning while dressing my children that almost all of their pants are too short. It took me 3 pairs before I was comfortable enough to let Spencer leave the house. So I added to my to do list: "Pants for children." Speaking of my "to-do" list, it was long that day. This was Tuesday, I think.

The night before I had a bad night with my sweet Dunken. He seemed to be really uncomfortable, so I was up with him off and on trying to soothe him. I was exhausted and emotional and thinking that maybe this was it. So I got up that morning, showered and got dressed. I got Jessa up, argued with her about why she could not be homeschooled as I dragged her across the street to the bus. I then went to get Spencer ready, and had the pants problem.

Dunken and I took Spencer to school and then went to Jessa's school real quick. There were a few PTO things that had to be done, like yesterday. So then we headed to the vet. No appointment, but I was so worried. When I walked in, with tears in my eyes and my baby boy in my arms, they worked me in real quick like. The kind vet gave him a thorough check and even drew blood just to be sure and he told me to relax. That Dunken seemed to be still holding his own. His vitals were all good. AND he gave me some new dosages for his pain meds, so I left there feeling somewhat better.

I then took Dunken to Hardee's for a biscuit. He has been losing weight, so I made the executive decision that he is going to eat like a king. We ate our biscuits in the car while we waited on Spencer to be finished with school. Then we dropped Dunken by the house before we headed out for more errands.

We went to Target first. We needed the most things there. When I say needed, that is an important distinction. We only got things we needed, not just wanted. We needed new pants for the children. And the pants needed shirts to match them, no sense in getting lonely pants. The kids also needed socks. I noticed that Jessa left for school one morning last week with pink socks on that had the grippy stuff on the bottoms that said "2T-3T." She loves the socks, but I am thinking that when you are almost 7, you need bigger socks. I needed lots of other things. I needed to get Jessa the new Barbie movie. I needed to get Spencer a new Lightning McQueen car, the one with the tongue not sticking out. He said he needed to "closed mouth one." I agreed. I also needed to get Dunken a heating pad, part of my plan for him to be more comfortable. I needed some more of those granola square things with peanut butter. So good. Jessa needed some shoes because her 27 pairs of flip flops are not appropriate for school, and she cannot be expected to wear the same pair of shoes every day. Or so I am told.

Anyway, we were rushing from place to place in Target trying to remember all the things that I knew I needed and notice all the things I did not know I needed until Target provided me with a cute end of the row display to explain to me how great my previously unknown need was. And in the midst of all the back and forth, I noticed a lady slowly strolling up and down the baby aisles. She was wearing a Baby Bjorn with her very small, quiet sleeping baby asleep on her chest. I paused for a moment and tuned out Spencer's begging me to hurry so we could go to the snack bar and get him an Icee. I looked at her and knew exactly how that used to feel. I smiled and hurried on.

We left Target and had to go to Michael's for a few things for Awana. Then we headed to Petsmart. Max is now on allergy shots and needed new food that agrees with him and his delicate needs. So we rushed through the dog food and checked out. We headed from there to the commissary. I needed to pick up 7 things. I know that it was 7 because Spencer was more than ready to go home and it was about 45 minutes til the bus got Jessa home from school. I convinced him to power through since we only had 7 items to get. We mainly needed chicken because I am cooking King Dunken chicken every day. And since it was only 7 items, I let Spencer be my check out dude at the self check out. It only took 11 minutes to scan and bag the 7 items. He is a very efficient check out dude, after all. We hurried home and unloaded all the loot from a long day of errands. We did not have time to put the anything more than the chicken away before Jessa's bus stopped out front.

I got her inside, fixed her a snack and got her changed for soccer practice. I then loaded Max up in the car for a vet appointment. We went to the vet and it took a little while because, well, Max is a ball of trouble. The kids were tired and getting ill and very antsy. And by the time we were ready to go, Jessa was hysterical and so mad at me because I would not let her have one of the kittens that was in the lobby. Never mind that we already have more pets that we know what to do with AND that I have already been to the vet twice in ONE DAY. Never mind that the kittens already had an owner who was not giving away any. Yeah, we need another pet. And Jessa is also having this meltdown because she does not want to go to soccer. "Mom. When I said I wanted to play soccer, I was only joking. Couldn't you tell?" But we were waiting on our prescriptions to be filled, and we were already 20 minutes late for soccer. I have never been more ready to leave a place in my life.

So we get all loaded back up into the car headed home to drop off Max before soccer. After I fussed at the kids for a while about their inappropriate behavior at the vet's office, I looked in the back and they were both ASLEEP.

I called Momma to make sure that she did not think I was being a bad mother when I decided that we were in fact not going to go to soccer since they were ill, asleep, and we were already late, even after I gave Jessa the whole "you will let your team down" speech. She said, "go home!" So, we did. But we had to go back out because I had planned on picking up something to eat on the way home. So after we took Max home and checked on Dunken, we headed back to Burger King for a healthy supper.

We ate, and then I became a night time Drill Sergeant to get everyone in the tub, dressed for bed, homework done, backpacks ready, teeth brushed, meds for all the dogs, shots for Max, kitchen somewhat cleaned, all the loot from the days errands mostly organized, and all of us to bed before midnight.

And as I was getting myself ready for bed, I let my mind drift to the lady in Target. I used to be her. I was on my baby's schedule. Some days we did not even leave the house. Some days we did not even get out of her pjs. Going to Target and strolling up and down the aisles checking out the cute little socks and the latest deals on Pampers. The baby did not argue or talk back. And for a few minutes I was so jealous of how much simpler her life was. No sick dogs, nothing she has volunteered for to do, no soccer practice, no spelling tests to study for, no teeth to brush - just a Momma and her baby enjoying an outing together.

Then I zapped back to reality. I do miss those baby days so much, but I also love the craziness of these days, too. And I know that they go by all too fast. So I am going to enjoy them as much as possible. But if I could say something to the lady in Target, I would tell her to never take slow days browsing in Target with a precious sleeping baby on your chest for granted. Before you know it, you are the crazy, frazzled mom with children who don't have pants that fit, don't want to take a bath, and think that you are just the worst mother ever because you won't let them have a kitten.

First Grade - For REAL

2010-08-27T21:31:00.000-05:00

Y'all, I have a child in the first grade.

FIRST.

GRADE.

No more tables, now we have desks.

No more "E's" or "S's," now we have A,B, C,D,F - real grades.

No more carpet and circle time, now we are big kids.

My sweet and precious baby was quite excited to hop on the bus for her first day of school this year. She was anxious to meet her new teacher and see her friends. I know that many kids and parents take it for granted, but you can't underestimate how incredible it is to be a returning student. My little Army Brats don't often get that opportunity. Jessa's confidence level was so much higher. She was not at all nervous or anxious. She was PUMPED!

She was so excited that she wanted to go to the bus stop at 6:45. Her bus did not arrive until almost 8. I had to force her to stay in our driveway instead of walking across to the bus stop. I was afraid she would hop on the middle school bus and end up in 6th grade.

She was so excited that she could not stop talking. She was talking so much and so fast that she made my mouth tired!

She was so excited that she actually allowed us to go to the bus stop with her. We were not relegated to sit on the porch like we were the entire year last year.

She was so precious with her new backpack. It is a "sling" type that we just had to have so she could have one like Freddy's from iCarly.

And it is personalized with the words, "Jessa Lynn."

She decided she wanted people to start calling her Lynn. So she asked for simply, "Lynn." I told her that she would confuse people. So I came up with the idea of putting "Jessa Lynn," to make us both happy. She then asked if we could have the word "or" put in the middle of her two names so people would know that they did have a choice. Nice try.

I can't believe she is so big.

She was just born yesterday, wasn't she?

Clean Up on Aisle 12

2010-08-26T20:36:00.000-05:00

I am a klutz. I trip. I drop things. I wreck my bikes. Once I actually fell down the stairs in front of my dorm. I have scars. My scars have scars. I have bruises that I don't even remember getting because bumping into things is sort of my normal.

So the other day, Spencer and I were in the midst of a super busy day of many errands. We had been all over, and our last stop was the commissary. I am not a huge fan of grocery shopping in general, but Spencer is an awesome helper and shopping companion.

We were powering through the list. And we had already had to backtrack because I forgot a couple of things here and there. Not my most efficient shopping trip. And Spencer was alternating between walking, riding in the front of the cart, riding on the back of the cart, and his most favorite of all spots, sort of resting on the place where you put your hands to push the cart with his arms tightly around my neck. This is a new favorite shopping spot. I love it because I am steal his sugar almost constantly while we shop. And he giggles and puts his head on my shoulder, and I relish every second because before I know it, he is going to be too cool to snuggle with his Mom while we shop.

So we are on Aisle 12. It is pasta and soup and canned chicken and tuna and chef boyardee and tomato sauce and spaghetti sauce. I was nuzzling my giggling boy. I grabbed a jar of Ragu Spaghetti Sauce and absent-mindedly placed it behind my sweet boy in the cart. I knew that I put it in the child seat portion. It seemed like a good idea at the time. But when I put it in, the weight of the jar shifted the other items that I had placed in the child seat area. And worst of all, I was too busy giggling with my son to notice that chain of events that the spaghetti sauce placement had started. I heard a bottle of Gatorade hit the floor. I grabbed Spencer to pick him up out of the way so that I could see what happened. And just as we looked, the 26 ounce glass jar of Ragu Traditional Style Sauce hit the floor and proceeded to go everywhere. I was slightly embarrassed (only slightly because when you are as klutzy as I am, you tend to get immune to embarrassing yourself). Yep, we are those people.

Spencer immediately told me not to worry. He also told me that "accidents happen, Momma." Such a sweetheart. And as we left the cart to try and locate someone who could make the dreaded "Wet Clean-Up" announcement, I looked down. I noticed that as the jar busted, it spilled ALL OVER my feet. One of my shoes was completely covered. The bottom of my pants legs had sauce on them. It was attractive. AND I left a trail everywhere I walked. Nice. Just my way of spreading the joy, you know? I wiped them off as best I could with the used tissue I found in my purse. And once we alerted the appropriate authorities, Spencer and I just sort of stood there, guarding my mess, waiting for the dude with the mop to arrive.

The funniest part was that after several people passed and smiled at us and made little comments, I realized that they all thought SPENCER had done it! I got so tickled. Mainly because if it had been Spencer, he would have curled up in a ball in the corner. He cannot stand to make a boo-boo like that! He once caused a baby food jar to break at the commissary and he nearly went off the deep end.

Once we got home, I thought to take a picture of my feet before I changed shoes and pants.

Max is licking the shoes every time he goes by.

I think they'll be all clean any minute now.

Oh and David came home and saw them by the door and very cautiously asked, "Uh, what happened to your shoes?"

So I told him:

Klutzy wife + Snuggly Son = Clean Up on Aisle 12

Another Milestone

2010-08-24T22:11:00.007-05:00

Right now, I am sitting in my bed with my babies. We are watching a movie. My sweet baby girl who is growing up way too fast and right before my very eyes is laying her precious head on my shoulder. We are watching a VERY special movie. I got the DVD months ago and set it aside. I put it in a special place in my closet with another secret surprise. About a year ago, I ordered 2 personalized pillows - one for each of my babies. I wanted to have them ready for each of them when the time came. So the movie and the pillows spent a lot of time in the dark of my closet. They were waiting for today. And I was prepared for today. Then there is Jessa. She has been more than ready, I mean, way beyond ready and so prepared for this day for months.

The new and special DVD we are watching is "The Tooth Fairy."

Jessa is alternating watching the movie and staring at the small white thing pinched between her fingers.

When she is watching the movie, I can see her still stroking her little tooth.

I must admit that I am completely uncomfortable with this whole thing. See, my crazy childhood dentist pulled every single one of my baby teeth. I never had a loose tooth, and I never had any say so over how my teeth came out. Not true of my daughter. Jessa has embraced the whole loose tooth thing. She has been wiggling and twisting and hoping for this day for MONTHS. She has kept score of which friends have already lost teeth. Lately, I could watch it move when she was talking. And I have been cringing and trying to keep my cookies every time she pushed it out with her tongue. And by the way, my discomfort tickled her to death.

Tonight, she decided it was time. For weeks, she has been asking David to check and see if it was "ready." He has told her to be patient. We have even watched videos about pulling teeth on YouTube. She had David feel it tonight and I said, "Why don't you let Daddy get a Kleenex and try to pull it?" She said, "How bout you do it, Momma?" So Spencer handed me a Kleenex, I closed my eyes, and I held on to her little tooth. And she pulled her head back, against me. I gripped it and just like that, my baby lost her first tooth.

It was the first tooth she ever got,

and now it was the first one she lost.

I think that Spencer was just as excited as she was.

And man, she is excited.

She wanted me to take pictures.

And of course, I obliged!

She even said, Will you post it on Facebook?

And then she called May and Bay to tell them!

She is cracking me up.

She will out of the blue say, "I lost my tooth!"

She looked in the mirror several times just to check out how she looks.

And she cannot wait to show everyone at school.

Here are my favorite things that she has said tonight:

Mom, remember in Toy Story 2 when that thing knocked out one of Woody's bottom teeth? Now I am like him. And he's still a good lookin' guy!

This is the first time I ever lost a tooth!

Hey, listen, my S's sound better now.

Hey, Mom, come feel the air I can blow out of the hole where my tooth was.

I really lost a tooth.

I lost my tooth, my first tooth.

I am thrilled for her because she is so beside herself, but it makes me a little sad, too.

Another bittersweet milestone that means my baby is growing up. . .

Madness

2010-08-16T10:27:00.004-05:00

I feel like every time I turn around I am apologizing for my unplanned absence from my little old blog. I don't want to be absent. I don't plan to be absent. But I am absent, none the less. And I miss it so much!

I have a sneaking suspicion that my duties with the PTO this year are going to seriously interrupt my blogging. Even though I am a fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl, I am thinking that I may have to figure out a set schedule to get things done this year. Or else I won't get too much done. Like I may have to go back to having set laundry days. And I may have to make a schedule for when I load the dishwasher, or it may never get loaded. Or unloaded. Uh, note to self, go unload dishwasher when I am finished rambling.

I have many, many things that I want to post. And it is my most sincerest hope that I get back in the swing soon. My memory is not what it used to be. And while I can recall every thing that David has ever said or done to hurt my feelings in the last 15 years, I tend to forget cute little day to day stories that I want recorded, dang it.

So I am going to do better, I hope.

Just suffice it to say, the past few weeks have been madness. MADNESS.
We had the craziest couple weeks, well, ever. We had swimming lessons, all the back to school prep and meetings and orientations and registrations, Daddy's retirement festivities, lots of family time with folks coming into town for said retirement festivities, Jessa's first day of FIRST GRADE, multiple vet appointments for Dunken's chemo and Max's crazy health issues, oh man, it has been madness.

Being prepared

2010-08-03T21:10:00.009-05:00

So my neighbor had to leave unexpectedly to go out of town. When I saw them packing up and getting ready to head out, I offered to look in on their cats. They were planning on taking them on a 32 hour round trip car ride. Yikes. I am human, and I cannot imagine that. She said she hated to ask, and I pointed out that she did not ask. And I won, we have 2 sweet kitties to check on. The kids L-O-V-E this. They remind me about 32 times a day that we need to go check on the cats. So we walk across the street and feed them, clean out their litter, etc.

Tonight, it was time to head over and I could not find the children. Anywhere. I thought, maybe they were waiting for me on the porch. Nope. I called for them and they hollered from upstairs that they were "getting ready." Getting ready? To walk 25 steps across the street? I heard Jessa say, "Spencer, put your coat on." In summer? Well they FINALLY got ready. They came downstairs dressed like, well, I'll just let you see for yourself.

Jessa had her pockets filled.

"Mom," she said, "we have to be prepared."

Spencer had an interesting addition to his hat.

Not quite where you normally see a propeller.

He is holding a rubber snake.

Now that is prepared.

And in the next photo, my 6 year old uttered the lovely phrase,
"It's tight, yo." Note hand gesture.

I don't even know what she was referring to or really what that even means.

I am so old and unhip.

Then on our way out the door, to walk ACROSS OUR STREET, Jessa pulled out and consulted "The Map."

They are so crazy.

It was a pirate map.

It didn't even look like our neighborhood.

Oh, and Spencer said, "Mom, the 'X' is the treasure. And the treasure is the cats."

Then they proceeded to walk 10 paces behind me the whole way there and the whole way back. When I asked why, Jessa sighed, rolled her eyes, and said, "Mom, we are spies."

Overdressed, extremely conspicuous, very prepared and absolutely precious spies.

Like a hole in the head

2010-08-02T08:24:00.000-05:00

I have never really liked the phrase. You know, "I need a (insert something here) like I need a hole in my head." It always makes me laugh because of something that someone said this one time at Band Camp (yes, I really went to band camp, AND I tell band camp stories AND I did all of this before American Pie even came out, thank you very much). Our very diminutive band director sat down with the Flag Corps and cracked open a cold diet coke and said, "I know, I know. I need a Diet Coke like I need a hole in my head." Does that ever happen to you? Someone says something at a seemingly insignificant moment, and you remember it forever. Something that is not even that meaningful. And then someone tells you something really poignant and then you cannot remember it for the life of you. I guess that is one of those things about life, huh?

Anywho. I have always liked Barbie. And you? I had this friend in elementary school. Her name was Tracey. And the entire basement of her house was like a Barbie Fairy Tale Land. I am not kidding. It was a finished basement and there was nothing in it except her Barbie Stuff. No furniture. Just Barbie. She had it all. Dream houses, Corvettes, shoes for every outfit, oh, and she even had those teeny pink hangers to hang the clothes on. And she actually hung all the clothes up on the teeny pink hangers. It was like little girl heaven! So the fact that Jessa enjoys Barbies is not all that surprising. She even had a Barbie birthday party once. The cake was an actual Barbie. Oh, wow, I wish she could have seen Tracey's basement. Jessa would love it.

Another thing you need to know is that I have a family member who does not think that it is OK to let little girls strip Barbies naked and put them in the bathtub. This poor soul only had boys, so it is hard for this person to really even imagine a little girl playing with dolls, you know? Well, lucky for Jessa, I have no such hang-ups about naked Barbies being all over the house. And for some reason, these naked gals seem to congregate in MY bathtub. And it is a running joke throughout my family about the person I am talking about who does not approve of naked Barbies.

So the other night, Jessa and Spencer were enjoying a lovely bath. There is always a great deal of laughing, giggling, and playing in the tub. I was in and out of the bathroom, putting away laundry in my room and tidying up the bathroom.

One time I walked back into the bathroom and I found this:

Wanna see it from another angle?

Well, OK.
Here it is. And I could not even get them all in one picture!

The line was too long.

My first thought was that a scene like this would absolutely send a certain family member of mine right over the edge.

My second thought was that Jessa Lynn needs a new Barbie like, you guessed it, a hole in the head!

I e-mailed the picture to May and cracked me up with what she had to say back:

Seeing the one of the two babies in the tub made me wonder about something...Do you think Jessa might like a Barbie doll? Most little girls, by the time they're her age, have one. I just feel like she might be missing out on something, you know? Maybe I'll get her one before I come back to Scott. What do you think?

Sorry this post is sort of rambling. I am feeling pretty rambly tonight.

I am not really sure what the point I was trying to make was, but I will say this:

If you are ever in need of a naked, but very clean Barbie, give us a call.