It's a tie

For quite a LONG time, Miss Jessa has been working on learning to tie her shoes. This has been tough because she does not have a lot of shoes with ties. She likes sandals and Mary Janes, etc. No ties.

A few weeks ago, she let me know that her shoes were all starting to feel tight. (as were Spencer's. I swear, their feet grow too fast!) So we headed out to buy some new. May happened to be here, so she shouldered some of the financial burden of having children with rapidly growing feet. I guess at least they both have good UNDERstanding. (Get it? I used to get that all the time when people thought my feet were big. . .)

Anyhoo. We are all about the shoes that light up. I am fully supportive of this because, well, I think they are cool. And they do not make shoes that light up in my size. This means 2 things.

1. I am living vicariously through my children.

and

2. They better wear them now because at the rate their feet are growing, they may not be making light up shoes in their sizes too much longer.

So we ended up at Famous Footwear looking for tennis shoes, as we call them. Although, I think calling them "athletic shoes" is more accurate since we never play tennis. Spencer settled on a handsome pair of Buzz Lightyear shoes that, yes, light up.

And Jessa. She fell in love with a pair of Twinkle Toes, by Skechers. David and I both LOVE Skechers, so I knew they were good shoes. They were so pretty. I was green with envy. They had rhinestones on the toes, they had pretty paint all over them, the laces were sliver and sparkly, and yes, they LIT UP! She was in love. (So was I.)

Um, yes, excuse me, do you have this in a ladies size 8? No? What about an 8 and 1/2? No? Really? Security, no need to call security. I am putting the shoe down. OK, OK, I'm going. **sniff, sniff** Do you have a kleenex?

The problem, of course, was that she was not too keen on tying them herself. And then there was an incident where a boy that she thinks is soooo cool made a comment about not loving them that made her refuse to wear them for a few weeks.

But last week. She was loving her Twinkle Toes again. And she became determined to tie those suckers herself! And after many, many, many tries, she got it! By George she got it!

She really got it the morning we were headed for the Field Trip with her class. This resulted in her spending the entire morning tying her shoes, showing me, and then untying them, you know, so she could tie them AGAIN!

Here they are.

On the bus.

Tied.
For the umpteenth time.

Such a big girl!

I am so proud!

It's pouring!

You know that old saying, "When it rains, it pours." Well, this week, it has been pouring. And I have tried hard to keep my usual positive attitude working for me, but friends, it has been tough.

I know that you do not want to hear me drone on about the details of the wild and crazy week we had. We are all here, on the other side. And nothing too terrible happened! But in the interest of getting it off my chest before I move forward and try to get back in the blog habit again, I am going to rattle off a list, OK?

Week of the Military child was a huge success at Jessa's school, but it required that I (and some days both kids) be up and dressed at school before 7:30 to help out. Yikes. There were also some lunches - yep, the PTO handed out 720 Popsicles, 720 cupcakes, and 720 bags of popcorn for every kid at the school. Whew!

Awesome Bay came to hand out candy for Army Day

I am so lucky to have a pediatrician here that I love because we spent time there this week. Twice. With 2 sinus infections for each baby. Yep. Lots of late nights alternating Tylenol and Motrin to try to bring down scary high fevers (both were generic, so no recall worries, I just did not want to spell out the active ingredients). And now we are choking down a course of antibiotics. But they are both doing so much better. Yay!

I had to make another long, long drive to the University of Missouri this week. But it was all good because this time it was to pick up my sweet kitty instead of dropping him off. He was wet from his post radiation isolation bath, but he was thrilled to be going home. He spent the trip yelling at me for leaving him and recounting the horrors that he suffered.

He alternated between trying to lick himself and repair the damage that had been done to his coat with meowing loudly, letting me know just what he had been through!

It was a LONG day that started at 7:30 at school, involved rushing to meet my Momma at the pediatrician's office with Spencer, and ended with everyone home again and on the mend. (Well, Stewart is locked in the guest room for 3 weeks to avoid direct contact with small children. We we only have 17 days left, but who's counting!?)

I got to go and see Oceans with Jessa's school. So. Much. Fun. On the bus ride, I got schooled on how to play Star Wars on Wii by one her little friends. If I understood correctly, C3PO has the secret codes, in case you were wondering. Oh, and we also decided after the movie that we were glad we lived in Illinois. The sweet boy said, "You know, Jessa's Mom, because no Great White Sharks." Point taken.

It was parent watch week at ballet. Jessa is a ham and is very excited about the recital, where she will be a butterfly. WITH wings.

AND she is not too shy to ask Bay for a hanky in the middle of class to blow her nose.

My Awana Cubbies practiced to sing in church this week.

Spencer, at Cubbies - the arm is his future wife, who is always sitting next to him!

And today (Sunday), they did it! I was so proud of them. Even Spencer, who had vowed to not sing, ever(!) went on the alter with his class. And well, he was up there.

I agreed to let him hold the "Cubbie Bear" that Bay painted for the class.

You can see his fingers!

Oh, and I backed into the garage door on Wednesday just before leaving for church and ballet. I thought I cleared it when I was backing in to load all the stuff I needed to take with me. I cried. David was not thrilled. BUT my crafty husband FIXED it. OK, he may have almost lost all of his fingers, but he fixed it! And with Bay's help, they even got the darn thing in working order again.

Jessa spilled GREEN fingernail polish on the carpet. It was only a few drops. And she was REALLY sorry. And when I was fussing at her for playing with nail polish without permission, she looked at me and said, "Well, Mom, at least I did tell you the truth." Yes, dear child, but the truth does not get the green polish out of the light gray carpet.

There was a PTO lunch meeting to plan next year's activities, etc. I went. It was potluck. I made potato salad. I met some new people. It was lovely. Oh, and before I left, they wrote out the slate of officers for next year. It will be voted on at the meeting on Monday. Am I forgetting something? Oh yes, now I remember. My name will be listed next to the office of "President." Oh. My. Word.

David. It was a crazy week preparing for a big trip (he left Saturday). Oh, and he had dinner with Bono. Well, he was in the same room where there was a dinner in Bono's honor. And the keynote speaker was Bill Clinton. Not to shabby. And Bono even wore purple shades! He is so cool.

And my Momma. Our May. She saved the day like a thousand times. Had she not been here, I could have made most things work. I could have dragged sick children with me to the University of Missouri. I could have packed coloring books for them to work on while I was busy at meetings. But nothing could replace my sweet babies being able to sleep as late as they needed to and lay around in their jommies all day when they were sick. And they had way more fun snuggling with May and watching Spongebob, than they would have being dragged all over town while I took care of everything that needed to be taken care of. She even drove Stewart home when I met her and Spencer at the doctor's office! She is so awesome and she was such a blessing and a Godsend this week. AND Bay even shared her and let her spend the night with us a couple times to help out! Yes, it caused them both to ask the tongue in cheek question, "Now tell me again, why did we have children???" They are so funny. I think. That question was tongue in cheek, right guys? Momma? Daddy? Guys??

So that was our week. I did get to spend a crazy amount of time with my Jessa, which was really nice. And Spencer spent lots of time with his May, just the way he likes it! We have all spent most of the weekend relaxing and getting over all the craziness. There were many naps taken. I am starting to feel human again, and you know, ready to tackle another week. . .

Now that I have all of that off of my chest, I promise to be a better blogger. You know, for the handful of you who stop by every now and again. . .

A letter to my blog

Dear Blog,


Oh how I have missed you! I have many things to post, to share, to tell you - many precious stories that I do not want to forget, and many pictures that I want to show you. But I have not had a minute!


I would love to tell you about my Stewart Cat. I would tell you how I drove him 3 hours to the University of Missouri for a special radiation treatment that should correct your Hyperthyroidism. About how I cried a little on the way home because I hated to leave him and I was so scared about the treatment. I would tell you that I know in my head that every treatment has risks, but I would also tell you that my heart does not want to even consider that. I would also point out that he is doing well and the awesome vet student has called me at least once a day to report his progress. And of course, I would bring up all the cleaning I have done of Stewart's area so that it will be all ready for him to come home and be isolated (away from small children) for 3 whole weeks.


I would share with you that I am so busy right now - the end of the year is upon us! I am planning goody bags for my precious Awana kids AND planning their musical debut at church this Sunday. I would tell you all about the end of the year teacher gifts I have ordered - and the personalized M&Ms that I am so thrilled about. I would tell you about my stress over what a crazy week this is! I will be volunteering for the Week of the Military Child at Jessa's school - sometimes twice a day. I am excited about Spencer's conference at his school. I can't wait to help my Awana Cubbies practice their songs for church. I am fired up about parent watch week at Ballet for Jessa. This week is also the last week of soccer. Oh, and I have a PTO luncheon to attend, and it is covered dish, no less. I am pumped to be a chaperone for Jessa's class trip on Friday. OH! And Miss Jessa has a fever, so I am also squeezing in a doctor's visit this afternoon. Plus, I will be making the 6 hour (round trip) drive back to the University of Missouri to pick up my precious kitty. I would also let you know that my sweet Momma is here, and she has spent several nights here so that my babies do not have to get dragged all over!


I would confide in you that I still wouldn't change a thing. I would tell you that I love my crazy busy life. I would remind you that all of this stress and busy-ness means that I am blessed with the best kids ever. That they are fortunate enough to go to great schools that care about their students and want parents to be involved. That I am so lucky to have family who sent me checks to apply to the "Stewart Fund" to help me pay for the rather pricey treatment. That I am so glad that I have a car that will help me deliver Stewart to a wonderful place of caring people that have cutting edge treatments that can improve Stewart's quality of life. I would tell you how thankful I am that my Momma is here to help out with the kiddos. I am so blessed to have a dear friend who reads my blog so regularly that she was actually worried that I had not posted in so long! I am so happy with my life - even though I am not sure when I will get to sleep or post anything!


Oh, blog, I love you and I love being able to share many things with you.

Please be patient with me!
xoxo

An iPod - at 6?

My SIX YEAR OLD spent the afternoon laying on the trampoline and playing outside with headphones in her sweet little ears listening to MY iPod! What the heck?

I know I am an enabler; it is my iPod, after all.

Would you look at this?

Yes, I admit that I am the one who downloaded Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber and Corbin Bleu.

And OK, so I did compile these artist into a playlist that is called "Jessa."

But I am not sure if I am ready for my daughter to walk around singing at the top of her lungs to songs on an MP3 player.

Am I??

All I can hear from upstairs is her sweet voice singing "Baby, baby, baby, oh!"

I blame satellite radio.

And more specifically Radio Disney.

Curse you 115!

How to catch a frog

I am hard headed. I know this. When I get something in my head, it is hard to get it out. This is usually helpful to me because as an Army Wife, I am stuck doing a lot of "stuff" that I might not otherwise do. You've read my posts about moving out during a hurricane, no less and then moving in all while David was deployed. You get it, right?

So this job that David has now, well, it involves a lot of travel. You know the kind of intense travel that makes it necessary for us to actually have a map to remember where he is? So there are things that have to be done when David is not here to do them. For example, lots of places where we lived, he would handle work orders and repair people for me - at least the scheduling part, anyway. And he has always handled the yard stuff, outside stuff, and tool related stuff. But there are times when I have to fire up the old lawn mower and make the backyard more dog friendly (at least for the dog that we have that is not afraid of grass. . .).

Don't you just love the quaint way it takes me forever to get to the point?

Hang on, it's coming.

So this Spring, the backyard has been cut twice. (Housing landscapes all the areas NOT inside the fence, whew!) And both times, I have been the one behind the old lawn mower. It is not that David can't or won't cut the grass, he simply hasn't been here. And again, I don't mind it. I kind of like it - it makes me feel like I am so tough. Anyway, I am cleared to use the lawn mower, but I am not cleared to use the weed eater. This is truly for the best. I am pretty klutzy, and it could end badly. So when I have mowed, the edges have been ignored. It was looking pretty bad. So me and my hard head. I got the bright idea to move the (pardon my technical terms) cement drainy thingy that sits under the gutters. Y'all know the one, right??

Now I was prepared for like a worm or a spider. I was very careful. And I used a shovel to pry that baby out of the dirt and grass where it was nearly covered with the un-edged grass/weeds that I have had to just let grow. After some serious elbow grease, I got it up. Yay, me! And I used the shovel, like a spatula and placed it over in the grass. Then I saw him. A big squishy toad!

I jumped back. I am not good with any creatures. I am good with cats and dogs and people. I am good with houseflies. I can kill a mosquito or a spider. But in between a spider and a cat you have frogs, snakes, mice, guinea pigs, ferrets - this is the area that I cannot handle. So I am slightly taken aback when I see the old toad.

So like any grown-up, mature person would do, I quickly called my Poppy to see what he thought I should do. I even more quickly dismissed his idea of me lifting the toad with the shovel and tossing him over the fence. Uh, no. What if he hopped on me? Oh my. No. So I was stumped.
Not Spencer. He disappeared into the house. He returned in a few minutes with a piece of paper. He had drawn on said paper with a crayon.

The drawing looked like this:

I said, "Honey, what is that?"

He said, "A fly."

My smart boy had drawn a picture of a fly. My precious, creative son then crouched down near the toad and held up the picture that he drew of the fly. He explained to me that, "Frogs like flies." Makes perfect sense to me.

He tried waving it. He tried dangling it. He tried holding it up high. He even asked me if he could let it go in the wind so the frog would think that it was actually flying, "you know, Mom, like a real fly." I praised him for his innovative thinking, but we were right where we started.

A toad was right there. I could not put the cement thingy back and I also could not mow the unedged grass. Bummer. What to do?

Spencer disappeared into the house again. He returned in a few more minutes with yet another piece of paper. He had again drawn on the other piece of paper with the same crayon.

The drawing looked like this:

I was a little stumped this time. I mean, I get the first one. The fly would certainly entice the toad, right? I mean, frogs and toads like flies, right. But I was not aware of another thing that they liked to eat.

So I asked Spencer what this drawing was. And my sweet, deep thinking boy explained to me that this picture was "a scary face." See, if he could not coax the frog out with a fly, he was now prepared to scare it out!! I had a hard time stifling my giggles. I certainly did not want to hurt his feelings, you know?! But later, when I recounted this story to David, I could barely finish it because I was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down my face. Oh my Spencer. What a clever boy!

P.S. We ended up waiting him out. A couple days later, when David was home, he put the cement thingy back and the area was toad-free!

She just can't help it

My sweet girl. She is going through something right now. Sort of a clingy phase. She gets really emotional over the smallest things. She is craving attention. My undivided attention. She will just collapse into my arms and sometimes just cry. It is so sweet and sort of pitiful all at the same time. And so not like my tough, independent, confident Jessa Lynn.

Last night at Ballet, I was getting ready to leave her in her classroom. Her teacher was there. Her classmates were there. And it is REALLY exciting for them right now as they are in serious recital prep mode. They have the floor taped off with their "marks" and everything. This is a professional operation, I tell you. So I hand her her shoes and find a spot for her bag. I bend down to give her a good-bye kiss, and I saw her big, beautiful brown eyes well up with tears. "Please don't leave me, Momma."

Ouch! All the moms in the world know this all too well. Your precious child looks up at you with that pleading look, with those sad little eyes. And you want to just melt. I know in my head that she will be fine once she gets into the class. As soon as she is doing her chassé across the floor, she will forget that I exist. But my heart. Well, my heart breaks, and I want to scoop her up, run home, crawl under the covers with her, and never leave the house again. Luckily, her teacher saw her falling apart (and my pained look), grabbed her hand, and asked her to help out with calling the roll. Tragedy averted.

Then Bay picked her up from ballet and brought her to Awana at church. The Cubbies, Spencer, and I always meet Jessa and the Sparks as we are leaving "games" and they are headed to "games." Last night, I knew it was not good when I say Bay with her group holding her in his arms with her sobbing. It again, broke my poor heart. She was devastated because it was her turn to carry the Sparks flag and because of ballet making her late every week, she missed it. Not that big of a deal, really. I mean they promised her another turn, but she was almost inconsolable! Bless her sweet, sensitive heart.

I am sure this is a phase. I have no idea what has prompted it, though. Maybe the fact that her Daddy is always on TDY? Maybe she thinks she needs to hold onto me so that I do not leave, too? Whatever the case, it really is hard on both of us! Yet, I must admit that I do treasure the holding and snuggling that is going on. She is growing so fast and sometimes when she is squealing with delight over how cute Justin Beiber is while applying her Lip Smackers that she pulled from her purse with her manicured nails, I want to back up to when she was smaller and unfazed by teen pop sensations and fingernail polish. So you can't blame a Momma for enjoying a little clinging when I am painfully aware that these days are numbered.

She is also "homesick" a lot. We can be out doing something fun and she comes to me with a quivery chin and says, "Momma, I am homesick!" Which means she wants to go home, like 10 minutes ago. I can't argue with her. I am sort of a homebody. There are days that I would rather stay at home, too!

But my favorite thing that this phase has brought with it is her "I can't help it" speech. It mostly happens at bedtime. See, she can't possibly be expected to go to her room and go to bed and go to sleep because "I can't help it, Momma, I just love you so much." Sometimes, the kid is working me. And I am not gonna lie, sometimes, I let her! How sweet is that, right? But the other night, she was out of control!

Jessa: Mom, I just can't help it, I love you so much. (while maintaining a death grip on my arm).

Me: Well, I know, Jessa, but I am not leaving the country, I am just going to be one door down.

Jessa: I know, but I just love you so much. And you are so beautiful. When I go to sleep, I am going to dream about just how beautiful you are.

Me: Aw, Jess, shucks, but you still have to stay in your bed and go to sleep.

Jessa: Oh, I know mom, but you really are just so beautiful, I can't help it.
Me: You are going to be so sorry in the morning when I am dragging you out of bed.
Jessa: Oh no, I won't. I promise. You can just peel my eyes open and I will see how beautiful you are and I will be happy to wake up.

Me: Jessa! You are the grouchiest girl ever in the mornings!

Jessa: Not tomorrow mommy, I can't help it, I just love you so much.

Me: JESS!

Jessa: You really are beautiful.

Me: OK, I'll stay a few more minutes.

I can be tough when I force her on the bus or make her stay at ballet, but I think it is OK for me to indulge her a few extra minutes at bedtime, right? I mean, she can't help it, I am just so beautiful, right??

Spring BREAK

Hey, y'all!

Just wanted to let you know that I took a true Spring BREAK! I have many posts that I have started, but I have not finished any. I have been having WAY too much fun!

The kids Spring Break this year was only Thursday, Friday, the weekend, and Monday. We had to really pack it all in to have as much fun as we wanted to have in such a short amount of time!

What was I doing, you may ask?

Well,

I was going to the Magic House Children's Museum

I was going out for ice cream in the middle of the day, just because.

I was attending birthday parties and shopping and Building Bunnies at Build a Bear Workshop and sharing Double Doozies at the Chocolate Chip Cookie Company.

(without my camera, boo)

I was taking my best girl out for a manicure, just the two of us because we never do anything "just the two of us," or so she has told me 500 times. (I had the camera, but I did not think of it until my nails were wet. I was so caught up watching my princess enjoying being pampered. boo, BOO)

I was helping Bay plant flowers.

(pictures to come - still on Bay's camera. . .)

I was supervising some fancy egg-dyein'!

And there was some crazy spring organizing going on around here, with tons of snuggling in the bed movie marathons with my two best snugglers and even a few naps. I cannot think of anything more fun than spending some crazy days with my two best peeps!

Oh, and we celebrated a wonderful Easter, too. (separate post already in the works).

So if the handful of you who enjoy hearing stories about the Crazy Keys have missed me, that is where I was - out being crazy instead of typing about it!

The kids go back to school tomorrow, so then I will be back in some sort of a groove.

Hope y'all are having a terrific Spring, too!