Sonic Boy

I love Sonic.  But not the food...just the drinks.  But not all the drinks...just the Large or Route 44 Diet Coke with Vanilla, easy ice. (mediums and smalls don't taste the same--I mean it...for real.)

If I am driving anywhere near the vicinity of a Sonic before 10:00 am (99 cent large drinks!) or between 2-4 pm (Happy Hour! 1/2 price drinks!), my van has a magnetic draw to the drive-in.  Some of my friends say I have a "Sonic Sense"--like Spiderman's Spidey-Sense that tingles.....well, I have a Sonic Sense that lets me know when a Sonic is nearby even if it's in a city I've never been to before.  You should totally road trip with me--gotta see it to believe it!

Anyhow, apparently Sonic Sense is genetically passed down because my 4 year old Will has expressed similar characteristics/traits and I couldn't be more proud. UNTIL....

Recently we were driving on I-65 toward Costco when he was in TEARS over not going to Sonic. (It was after 10am/before 2pm....otherwise known as "Sonic-is-dead-to-me" time.)  His life was in SHAMBLES....all he wanted was a POWERADE SLUSHIE!!!!!  PLEASE!!!!  (insert tears....crying....moaning....you get the idea...)  Well, we happened to be passing the backside of a Sonic on the otherside of the highway. 

After that much emotional wear & tear and in a moment of potentially bad parenting (probably my first such moment of the week...), I said, "Fine!!!  Unbuckle your seat belt. Climb up front. Open the side van door. Jump out of the moving vehicle. Roll down the hill. Climb that highway fence. and JUST. GO. TO. SONIC."

He stopped crying immediately and said, "MOM! don't be ridiculous!!!  I don't even have any money or coupons."

A Ninja for Christmas

See if you can spot the Christmas Ninja....

Thanksgiving: what it all boils down to...

First things first....HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!   We had all the typical crafts make their way home to us this year from the three schools....  We've got hand-print traced turkeys, cone shaped teepees, pilgrim & Indian stickers on a landscape...and so much more.  (Feels like I'm perpetually drowning in arts & crafts over here, people!)  Anyway, Maddy brought her main project home from school this week and it was too good to keep to myself!     

Introducing...."My Thankful Pouch."  Included are a series of cards that state what she is thankful for.  We have the expected "I am thankful for my family...I am thankful for my home..." type of sentiments, but I snapped a few pics of the standout cards.  Feel free to use these as inspiration for when you come up short during your family's feast/time of thankfulness.  And never, ever forget this most important profound thought:  "WITHOUT THE SUN & EARTH, WE COULD NOT LIVE."

I need clothing to live.  I like my new shoes.

I am thankful for me.  Without Sun & Earth We could not live.

Plants give us food and oxygen.  I love my cosins [cousins].

I have freedom.  Freedom is when you can say things that you want to say.  We need electricity to see.

60 seconds with a four year old

This was our conversation at a single red stoplight the other morning on my way to the Y:

"Mama. Mom. Mom? Do you know what's in your head? It's a brain. Mama. Do you know what's inside Lightning McQueen's car? Nothing. Mama. Do you know how I say Amen?  I say it like this: AMEN.  Mama? Do you know how babies say Amen?  They say it like this:  amen. Mama? Do you remember when I was two? I used to be two. Do you remember when I was two? How did I say Amen when I was two? Mama? Did you know there is a Lightning McQueen toy that has eyes that move? Mama. Did you know that I'm going to be five at my next birthday? Mama. Do you want to play Zhu Zhu pets with me today? Mama. Can you turn up the radio? Mama. Do you know how much I love you? So much."

:)

Apparently, when he's not busy talking, he's also a photojournalist, documenting his days on my ipod touch.  Here is a small sampling of his latest photographic works....There wasn't enough bandwidth to post all the pictures on my camera roll here. 

Cupcake journal: the ultimate DNA test

I was cleaning up my daughter's room recently and came across something that positively delighted me: her Cupcake Journal. Oh, what's that? You mean you don't have a Cupcake Journal? Well, as you probably suspect, (obviously) it is a little notebook that has a cupcake on the front.

What you might not expect, however, is that it's her own special place to journal about all the cupcakes she has eaten. Yes, really. There were three entries so far and each one chronicled a few details and finer points of the last few cupcakes she has eaten. She even went so far as to rate the cupcakes.

If I ever wanted pure proof that she truly, really, absolutely, 100% is the child that I gave life to and is not the product of a horrible hospital "switched at birth" situation... This would be all the proof that I need. My daughter keeps a chronicle of her cupcakes.  (Genius! I SO wish I'd thought of it first!)

Oh, the best part of all: remember those über healthy banana muffins I made on Sunday? Those made the cut! And if you wanted to know what a kid who loves cupcakes thought of my flax seed/whole wheat flour muffins....well, she rated them "the best!"  Told you they were good....

So, it has been a little while...

I'm not going to make any big apologies other than to say there is a VERY good reason I haven't updated ye olde bloggethness in over 2 years. I'll be able to explain it better in pictures.

When I started this blog, here's what our family looked like:

Notice the youngest little dude and his immobility. It was a lovely, lovely stage of development. But, as healthy babies are prone to do, they do indeed evolve into movers and shakers. Some become more "mover" than "shaker". This particular young lad would most definitely land on the "more" side of both the movers and and the shakers growth chart. Let's take a little photographic tour....

So, THIS....

turned into THIS.....

which turned into THIS...

....THIS...

THIS...

And THIS...

If you have any question about where the last two years of my life have gone, I could sum it up undoubtedly by saying I have been saving lives....one life in particular....and it's been well worth it, but BOY am I glad to have celebrated his 4th birthday!

The Bus Cusser

Aaaahhhhh....the purity and innocence of my 5 year old girl.....


Yesterday they ran off the school bus frantic because somebody had written a bad word on the bus. That's right....the bane of our existence has hit right here in our little neighborhood school: the Bus Cusser. I was a little worried about which word it was that was apparently plastered on the back of one of the seats and THANKFULLY, when I asked Maddy what it was, she replied....


"....well, I can't say it. It's just too bad to even speak."


I asked her to just whisper it to me softly in my ear so Will wouldn't hear it and she finally conceded to do it.


[whispering] "It said.......'stupid.' I'm sorry I had to tell you, mommy, but the word said 'stupid.' "

Now that is lovely and sweet and so hilarious that I had to bite my tongue not to laugh out loud, but the truth is that there actually was a "bad word" written on the back of a seat and so later when I asked John what it said, he spelled it out for me.... and THANKFULLY, though it was a bad word, it was spelled wrong. So he's still none the wiser on this particular verbage. [Whew! Another bullet dodged.]


So, to sum it all up, not only is the Bus Cusser a touch on the juvenile delinquent side...in a way Maddy was right. He may also be [I'm whispering now] "stupid."

President Obama's Speech, according to a 5 year old

Maddy, did you listen to the president's speech today?

"Yes. President Obama talked about having failures and not failing anymore and remembering your failures. His wife did some failing too. But now they don't fail anymore. People shouldn't fail. Then he said to think about the times you fail. If you fail, you should try next time to not fail."

I guess I should be glad that she is no longer failing to call him by his correct name....remember when he was O'Bracka?

Why I'm Failing Kindergarten

Blast it all, if I haven't already forgotten one of Maddy's assignments (6 days into the school year, mind you)!

The second day of school, she brought home a project called "Nifty Names." You are supposed glue small household items in the shape of the letters of your name to a piece of cardstock. Real scholarly stuff, I know. They gave us plenty of notice....I "filed" the paper away with other very important papers knowing, yes knowing, that I'd be sure to get that back out and work on it straightaway with the girl.

I just saw the paper on the kitchen counter with a great big "DUE AUGUST 24" stamped on top.

I am T-60 minutes until she gets off the school bus and I'm dreading it already. She is total Type-A personality and likes to have things done "just so" and on time and all that. I am prepared to be completely upbraided, in 5 yr old fashion, for not remembering to do the project.

Pray for me.

[3-2-1, action]...."AND....we're back."

Thanks for waiting so patiently for me while I pulled the good old fashioned 16 hour workdays of a stay-at-home mom in summer. Seriously. They didn't give me a break all summer. The 3 musketeers woke me up and they put me to bed.

Let's move forward from here, shall we?

This is the first full week of school and I now have a 3rd grader and a kindergartner. And it's lovely!!! They get on the bus at 7:25 and the bus brings them right back to me at 3:20. And it's lovely!!! Oh, how I love them--let me count the ways. But, let me also just say that I love the instution of education with almost as much zeal and passion. I don't know if I mentioned this yet this morning or not, but just in case....The School and the Bus: it's Lovely!!!

My neighbor Kirsten was outside this morning when I was shooing the kids down the street to the bus stop (it's 3 houses away). I guess I was getting a little overzealous about making sure they were down there ON TIME and in position because she totally called me out. "You seem a little overly intense about getting them to the bus stop, huh?" :o) But, she can only say that since she is equally excited about the institution of education as I am....(she's got 2 boys of her own, you know?!?)

I now have the nearly-2-year old at home, so my days are still full--which is why I thought there would be no tear shed on the first day of kindergarten for Maddy. (Will is still a big, busy handful!) I chuckled to myself that morning when I saw a mom leaving the school with her husband's arm around her while she sobbed. I sighed under my breath, "rookie mom..." and rolled my eyes just a little as I hurried my kids down the hallway to their classrooms. We got Maddy's stuff put away in her locker, found her name card at a table and she had no more popped the top open on her playdoh before my eyes were completely filled with tears! WHAT?!? Had somebody just sliced an onion or were my allergies acting up because I had no emotion about the starting of school prior to this moment! Well, I don't have allergies and there were no onions....which meant I was actually CRYING. I gave her a big hug, told Will to tell her goodbye (that was actually the saddest part for me because she and he are big buddies....she's his little mama!) and left as quickly as I could. I got to the parking lot before any real tears flowed...

The picture function thing is acting weird on this page right now--I'll have to post the rest of my pics later.

And I promise to attempt to write another blog post sometime before Maddy starts 1st grade...

Vacation Post #1

Flashback to June 2008. This might be my all-time favorite picture of my kids:

So, I decided it would be fitting to try to re-create the shot.

Fast forward to June 2009. I am even more thankful than ever for digital cameras where you're not limited to a certain number of shots. Here is a sampling of the photo shoot:

AND....at long last, here's the closest thing I got to the original. I'm glad you can't see their faces--you'd no doubt see a bit of anguish.

Ta Da! It might not be frame-worthy, but I finally got what I wanted!

Wasted travels

My friend Amy just celebrated a milestone birthday last week (she's 29 again).  Anyways, her husband went all out and had a week-long celebration for her--it all started with a getaway for the two of them to Chattanooga (no kids!).  When one of my kids heard that they were going away, he asked what they would do there.  I said, "oh, they'll sleep in, go on walks, shop, eat out, maybe see some art, you know, stuff like that."  He replied:  "They're not going to the Aquarium?  Not visiting Ruby Falls?!?  That sounds like a wasted trip to Chattanooga to me!"  He was outraged by their lack of fun planned for the weekend.

Personally....I've been to that aquarium a few too many times and while it is indeed wonderful and amazing, if I ever go back again, it'll be too soon.  But of course, I am sure we'll be back because Will's never been and if you live this close, you must take your kids at least once.  I think I'll let him experience Ruby Falls on a class field trip, though...

The funny thing about all that is that we feel so strapped down by having a toddler right now and think that there's so much we cannot do with the big kids because of Will.  That theory got smashed the other day when I was flipping through some old photo albums and saw pictures of one such trip to Chattanooga when we did the Aquarium and Children's Museum.  Guess how old Madeline was?  20 months.  Guess how old Will is right now?  20 months.  Hmmmm.....  

I have weird kids

I had this great brainchild of an idea to have a "Job Jar" this summer chock full of activities to give a bored, trouble-making child something to do when they seem to be getting into trouble. We also have an official chore list for each child (not Will...YET!) of things they are responsible for each morning and each evening. It's been really great so far! John has been very compliant and though he says the garbage can smells like skunks when he has to take the trash out, he doesn't complain.

The "Job Jar" is full of those tasks around the house that I don't particularly care for. The whole intent is to try to dissuade unruly behavior, so the jobs in the Job Jar are less than savory. For instance...

*Wipe down bathrooms with Clorox Wipe
*Clean baseboards with a dust rag
*Spot clean the kitchen floor
*Clean out the bugs from between the window and the screen (thank you, Sarah U., for that idea)

HOLD UP. Before you report me to child protective services, I have to tell you that Maddy has actually been CREATING TROUBLE (oh yes, she has) because she thinks these chores are a bundle of fun. Seriously. She will do something naughty only to immediately look up at me and say, "Can I get something to do from the job jar?"

Today, as she was spraying the glass door to the patio with Windex, she finally admitted that she has a problem. She actually verbalized her plot:

"Mommy, do you know why I get in trouble so much lately? It's because I love to get jobs from the Job Jar."

I have weird kids.

15 minutes of fame

Last week, Maddy graduated from preschool with much pomp & circumstance.

Literally.

They played that song while she marched down the center aisle with her classmates in their caps & gowns. It was precious!

Figuratively speaking, she did as well.

They had been rehearsing some songs to sing for the parents and I had heard some of the tunes, but had yet to see the hand motions.

Did I say hand motions? What I meant to say was that I had yet to see the full-body-action-move-and-groove-to-the-music-shakin'-what-your-mama-gave-ya dance theatrics that accompanied the songs. The rest of the class performed the basic hand-motions, but my daughter added that extra oomph and pizzazz that we all know she's capable of.

The video camera was shaking from the laughter of its operator (me) and you can hear the whole crowd giggling at the display. Afterwards, I had people coming up to me asking where she takes dance lessons (she doesn't) and how long she's been dancing like that (it was a first).

Today at the Y, I had a complete stranger come up to me and ask if my daughter was the one dancing at the preschool graduation last week (her daughter was in a different class at the school).

So, I guess it's safe to say that she has had her 15 minutes of fame and it was absolutely delightful!

Also, today at the Y, I left John with my friend Kirsten at the pool while I went to check the other kids out of the nursery to go swimming. When I came back to the pool, John was being filmed by News Channel 5 as he took a swim test, then they wanted to interview ME. AAGH!!! I had just finished a weight lifting class and was sweaty and all "ew gross"....yet they captured me on camera discussing the benefits of the new swim test safety procedures at the YMCA.

I have yet to see it air (we're an hour away from showtime) but I am predicting a heavy southern accent and some mascara smudges underneath my sweaty eyes. I always get a thicker accent when I get nervous....

The Curse of being firstborn

John had been wanting a Nintendo DS for quite some time before his Mimi made all those dreams come true this past Christmas. He was almost 8 years old and we had built up all the responsibility that goes with owning a small, expensive electronic item as something that he would have to "earn" by being mature enough for the task. So, he was delighted to no end when he opened his great gift a few months ago.

Thankfully, he was a doll and shared his DS with his little sister--she liked to play some of the games and he was fine to let her play. Well, then she started wanting to play a lot. And we started looking at our calendar and seeing all the long car trips we had coming up and realized what pleasant travelers we could have in the backseat of our mini-van if someway, somehow, somewhere, we could have one DS for each big kid.

Hmmmm.....

You know, Maddy is awfully mature. I mean, really--girls just are. They are. Seriously--she could handle the DS. She's good about keeping up with stuff. Uh huh. She's ready.

Next stop: Gamestop.

Yes, our 5 year old daughter BOUGHT HER OWN (pink, of course) Nintendo DS a few weeks ago and she thinks she is hot stuff with it!

It's hard to be the starter child!

Behavior-wise, Will gets away with murder compared to what we used to crack down hard on John about....at this rate, he'll be playing MarioKart in no time!

Thanks for the memories

I know, I know. I haven't posted in a while. It's not for lack of thought....in the words of Willie Nelson, please know, faithful readers, that you were always on my mind. (I love being able to incorporate random old country songs into my blog...seeing as how the title of my blog is named after an old Eddie Arnold song "Welcome to my world, won't you come on in?"). Anyways, I have been a busy bee and have every intention in the world of keeping this up, but life gets in the way.

Excuses, excuses. Let's move on.

This past weekend, we went to KY to see my family and my 2 big kids got to spend loads of quality time with their 5 cousins. It was fabulous--I felt like I was on a "getaway" with Michael. My parenting requirements were minimal for those 48 hours. We stayed at my sister's house with Will (going from ordinarily having 3 kids to just 1 baby is a breeze!) and John & Maddy stayed with the cousins. During the day when we were all together, the kids were so enamored with the cousins that they needed me for all of nothing. They get along charmingly--no fights, they don't get tired of each other, and it's just fun all around. I need not take that for granted! They really do have a sweet relationship with each of the kids-

So, when we were getting ready to leave yesterday, my sister Beth asked a pensive Maddy if she was sad about leaving. (They are perpetually asking why we can't live closer to Louisville!). She thought about it for a moment, then looked up and said, "No, because I have memories."

PRECIOUS.

Today when I was unpacking their stuff, I came upon a note that one of the cousins had written for her before she left. It is a keepsake! It says, "I love you so much. You are the best girl cousin ever." Let's just focus on the sweetness that is involved here and not let her know that she is in fact, the only girl cousin for this particular family.

Bachelor for Life?

The other day on the way to church, John said he was planning to come into "big church" for worship and then he'd see what the sermon was about before he decided whether to go to Sunday School or to stay.

Basically, his one and only condition for leaving was if it was about marriage.

"If he starts talking about marriage, I'm leaving."

WHICH reminds me of this great conversation John & I had one day not long ago. It involved marriage and Fred & Wilma Flintstone.

I watched the Flintstones every afternoon in the summer growing up. I would go to the pool, come home, get a nice unhealthy snack and sit on my pool towel (still in my wet bathingsuit) and watch The Flintstones at 2:35 pm. (Remember when TBS did their viewing schedules on the :05 and the :35?)

So, I was quite happy when I saw that Comcast On Demand had some episodes of the Flintstones. It was a childhood memory I couldn't wait to share with my own kiddos.

I never before realized what a terrible marriage Fred & Wilma had! There is so much lying and deception going on between them. He treats her as his slave and there's lots of yelling when he doesn't get his way. I have to say if this cartoon were made in 2009, I would not dare let my kids watch it.

But of course, it was made way back when and I continued to watch an episode now & then with the kids thinking they were as oblivious as I once was about the lack of harmony between the stoneage couple.

The other day John looked at me and said, "They don't seem to like each other very much, do they? It's like they aren't happy to be married to each other."

So perceptive for an 8 year old boy. Every once in a while, he'll surprise me with some astute, mature observation and I am shocked to realize how fast he's growing up!

Maddy's School Of Beauty

This morning I was getting ready for church when Maddy asked if I would help her get dressed. I stopped mid-point while putting my makeup on and went into her room to pick out her clothes and fix her hair.

She asked if I could read her a book after we got her ready, but I told her I had to finish putting my makeup on.

She studied my face for a moment before declaring, "Yes, you still need to do your eyebrows, do your eyelashes [mascara] and put on lipstick."

Would you know she was exactly right?!? That was all I had left to do--those 3 tasks were yet to be done and by just looking at my face, she knew.

Michael was even more amazed than I was when I told him the story. He has been looking at this same face for 13 years now and couldn't have even come close to telling me what makeup was left to be applied.

Little girls are so much fun!!!

And, speaking of beauty....I had to post this beautiful picture of the little lady herself:

Drugs and Rock -n- Roll

I got a new Taylor Swift CD the other day and love some of the songs--the kids were loving them too and singing along, but then I realized that a few of the songs were a little "old" for them...so I put a few songs on their MP3 players, but left some just for mommy to listen to. Michael was in on this decision and was the object of John's negative emotions when I wouldn't let him listen to one particular song. (Lots of negative emotion....)

Fast forward to last night: Michael took the kids to McDonalds for dinner while I got my haircut. On the way home, he's scanning stations on the radio and comes across "Paradise City" by Guns n Roses. He cranks it up and starts jamming out and then realizes the irony that we wouldn't let our kids listen to some teeny bop romance songs, but here he was teaching them to long for the place where the grass is green and the girls are pretty. (sounds like heaven, no?) So, he lets them all finish the song and they are rocking along and loving the chorus, then he does a little backpedaling about why that's probably not a good band for the family to get into.

Here's the conversation that ensued:

JOHN: "Dad, would you ever want to go to ao Guns n Roses concert?"
MICHAEL: "No, It would be really loud and there are probably a lot of drugs there."
JOHN: "People take steroids at concerts?" [He watches a lot of ESPN. A-Rod, anyone?]
MICHAEL: [Trying not to laugh] "No, they're not doing steroids."
JOHN: "Oh, then, do you mean people take medicine when they're not supposed to?"
MICHAEL: "Well, sort of......"
JOHN: [cuts him off before he could explain] "because I've done that before."
MICHAEL: [a little concerned at this point] "What sort of medicine have you taken when you didn't need it?"
JOHN: "Well, sometimes at night, I'll make myself cough a lot so I can get an extra cough drop."

So, as your friend who has the finger on the pulse of pop culture....I'm warning you--if you go to a rock concert, please act cool if someone offers you a Hall's or a Sucrets.

Multi-tasking, per a 5 year old girl

"Maddy, what did you do at the Y today?"

"Oh, we played house with Cade and his friend Stephanie. Cade was the dad, Stephanie was the mom, and I was the dog, cat, lion, teenager, little boy kid, little girl kid and the baby."