Dear AJ

Dear AJ,

Time goes by so quickly. I can't believe how quickly you have grown. In just a few days you'll be 18 months. My sweet boy, I see so much of me already in you. When I tell Nana of all things you are doing she just laughs and says I was the same way. She also adds in a "good luck" for humor.

I wish I had a video camera permanently recording you everyday. There are so many quick, funny, adorable, sweet, amusing moments that are so hard to recapture in words. But nonetheless I will try. Not so much for an entertaining blog post but just as a reminder for me of the little things you do/did that make/made me smile.

1. Your scrunchie face
2. Your LOVE of dancing. As soon as any beat comes on, you are instantly grooving.
3. Last night when I asked you to help mommy with laying the towel down on the floor for bathtime. You took it, went straight to the bathroom, tried to unfold the towel, threw it on the floor "in place" and clapped your hands for a job well done. Again, not significant but oh so cute.

4. Snuggling with mommy.
5. Our daily night routine. Read book, hugs and kisses, lay you down to sleep, leave room, you cry, I come back in, you immediately drop back down on pillow, I cover you back up, rub your back, wipe tears away, I leave, you cry, repeat, repeat until I lay on floor, read magazine and you fall asleep. (I know this doesn't make sense as to why it would make me smile but it's the immediately dropping down on the pillow that does it for me. And I have to be fully in the room before you'll do it. I cannot stand at the doorway and tell you to lie down. No, I have to be in the room.)

6. The way you run.
7. Your love of balls and anything that resembles a ball. Pronounced "bah"
8. The way you snuggle with your blankies and Paul the Puppy.
9. The way you play and wrestle with Seena.
10. Your sloppy wet kisses.

Thank you for these moments.

I love you,

Mommy

Enough is Enough

All I have to say for today is enough is enough.

AJ - enough with the nonstop pooping.

Seena - enough with the naughtiness.

Teen - enough with the attitude.

G - enough with the clean house.

Enough said. Geez.

The Starburst Detective

Dear Seena,

I'm sorry that I didn't learn the first time. I'm sure you remember when you were three, I tried to pull a fast one on you and I ate one of your pink starbursts. I know this is was awful, considering how much you LOVE starbursts but I really didn't think you would notice. You were three. I guess, maybe the fact that you separated all of the pieces by their colors and lined them up would have provided me some clue but it really didn't. I am very sorry. I know you were quite upset with me when you immediately noticed a pink starburst missing. You would have thought I would have learned my lesson. But alas, we are here again.

It was the morning after you had your three starbursts for dessert. The remaining starbursts were still in the wrapper and left out in the bowl of fruit, in plain sight. Tia V came over in the morning for a quick visit. She saw the opened package of starbursts and took one. I did not stop her.

Later that morning I, too, was drawn to the delightfully fruity flavors of the starbursts and I could not resist. I took one. Yes, without hesitation or remorse, I took one. Why I thought I could get away with this, I do not know. Perhaps I thought because the remaining starbursts were still in the wrapper in no particular order you would not have noticed? No so. I should have known better that your sharp eye in detecting missing starbursts would not have missed it. Sure as last time, the missing starbursts were noticed immediately. And not just one, both were noted to be missing. I even dare say, you were able to determine which flavors were missing. Unbelievable.

I see now that my feeble attempts at indulging my taste buds are no match for the Starburst Detective. From now on I promise to ask your permission before eating one of your starbursts, or any of your other treats as I now know, your ever watchful eye is always watching.

With love my sweet tooth,

Mommy

Commericals

Commercials - as much as I hate them some really funny. I never really pay that much attention to them. Sure they can provide some helpful information but I never feel the need to rush out my door to get a McLatte or call up Geico to see if I can really save 15%. I will give it to the makers of commercials for their profound expertise in demographics and nailing the "I want that" appeal in kids.

I'm not sure when Seena started really paying attention to commercials but all of sudden everything was "oooh, mommy, I want that....can you buy that for me?" At first it was typical things like the Easy Bake Oven, Barbie dolls or the latest real-life I can pee now doll that was on the market. But then the infomercials started to appeal to her and all of the sudden she wants bend-a-roos and some sort of ball that flattens for easy storage? Who knows??? I always just say we'll make a list and maybe for her birthday or X-mas we'll get it. I'm not buying that crap - if it was that great than sell it at the store.

Anyway, the list has now gotten quite long but some of my favorites are:
1. A "carpet board" that can be used to skateboard around the house
2. Rocketshot - a fishing tool?? (my personal favorite)
3. Miniburger maker. She thinks this such "a great idea". Every time she sees the commercial she makes the comment that we should buy it so that daddy does not have to **demonstrate patting of burger with both hands** to smash the burger meat.

And although these are not items that she wants they are commercials that have been engraved in my little blossom's head:
4. Subway and the 5 dollar foot long
5. F.H. Furr. - another favorite of mine because she said this when she saw the truck in our neighborhood - "hey mommy, I know that guy. It's the guy on the back of the truck"

Cell Phone #6

I need a moment to vent, although I have been venting about this subject for quite some time, just not here. The issue at hand is Teen has broken her 5th phone and now wants another. 5 phones. I don't even think I've had 5 phones since cell phones "came out". Actually, that's not true, I'm on my 5th phone now but that's over a span of 10 years. Teen's time frame is 2.

After she broke her 4th phone we told her that that was it. If the next one breaks, then too bad, she's not getting another one. We bought her 5th phone for X-mas. It was a nice blackberry, cool chic phone. This was her 1 major present for X-mas. She broke it a month ago by taking her phone into the bathroom. She just had to check her text messages immediately after getting out of the shower....dripping wet. I mean, seriously, please tell me what is so important in a 14 year's old world that she just couldn't wait until she was out of the bathroom or at least dry! I was 14 once, I know how important middle school drama is and needing to know who said what and when, but seriously, why couldn't she wait 10 seconds longer.

Anyway, naturally Teen is freaking out because she knows the deal with the phone. But she also knows she has a sucker for a dad. At first I was very proud of him for sticking to his guns and saying no about "buying" a new phone. We were eligible for a free upgrade so we could get her another phone - that would cost us hardly nothing. BUT NO....she wants a cool sexy phone. A phone that costs $180 dollars...oh, but there are rebates so essentially it's only $50 or something like that. That's a freakin load of crap. I have yet to see a rebate that actually comes through.....especially with phones. So, we came to an impasse, Teen refused the free phone and we refused to buy her a new phone. Teen said she would rather not have a phone than walk around with an ugly phone...ok, that was fine by me. BUT she also made a comment that got under my skin and is still there. Quite confidently, Teen announced that she'll get her phone, one way or another she'll get the phone. Excuse me?

So, now it's been a month and a half and she still has no phone BUT she has not given up on getting it either. She has asked her mom to pay for half and us to pay for half. G almost agreed but I interceded and insisted that it's the principle of the matter now, not just the money. She doesn't get it...at least not yet. Phones are expensive, they cost money. We work hard to get money....especially now when we don't have ANY! Plus this comment of hers is still ringing in my ears and still gets me fired up.

Teen has also now "graduated" from middle school....so far. And G is now on me about getting her a phone for "graduating". I still said and say no. It's the principle. Teen doesn't take care of her things and she needs to learn. Somehow she needs to learn to appreciate the value of money and work. So, I agreed to come up for a way for her to "earn" her phone back. At first we said she could earn $5 for every chore she does....oh, and I have to add that G is only making Teen earn half the cost of the phone. He said he would match the other half. Teen complained about this...."what chores do I do?" After giving her a list she nixed about 75% of them. Still doesn't get it.

Since that didn't work my sister had an idea that she was going to implement with her son, minimum wage. I thought it was brilliant. I informed G that I would agree to buying her a phone if she worked to earn ($80) her phone back. She would get minimum wage at $8.50 an hour. We would provide her with a list of things and she could pick and choose and work. She would clock in and clock out. G agreed.

The first day we brought this up she "clocked" two hours cleaning her room and her bathroom. I docked her a half hour because she left out cleaning her closet - the messiest part of her room. The following week she helped her dad clean the house (while I was the river house) and clocked in another hour. I am suspect of this but I what can I do. So, so far she has earned roughly between 17 and $24.50. On Sunday, I overheard her ask G if he could order her her phone. G told her to ask me. I of course, replied, you have to earn it. She huffed and puffed and wanted to know what chores she could. Again, we provided her a list and again she came up with one reason or another for not wanting to do that particular chore. She then further argued that no other 14 year old had to work 10 hours and that she was not in the real world yet so therefore she did not care about working. Meanwhile I am desperately trying to explain her that it's not about the # of chores that she's doing it's showing her that it takes a lot of work to just earn money. Still did not get - and she continued to argue with me. I look to G for some support to see if he could explain it better because I'm getting angrier by the minute. He tried but I could see the dread in his face for being caught in between his daughter and his wife. This was on Father's Day. Reluctantly, Teen wrote down her "assignments" and got to work. She completed most of the things and she worked for an hour and a half. If I give her the full $24.50 for the "3 hours" of work she completed prior to this she has earned $37.25 so far.

Yesterday, Teen asked again if we were going to order the phone. G again said to ask me and I again said no. She has not earned enough money yet. "But I did all my stuff" - Teen said. I reply - "That's great, thank you but you only worked an hour and a half". Teen - "But I did all of my stuff". Me - "I"m sorry Teen. See...it takes a lot just to earn some money." Teen pouts. And pouts. And pouts. G, on his way out the door, says..."stop pouting, we'll order the phone this week." He's lucky he was walking out the door. And he wonders why I've had my grumpy pants on. Grrr.

So, here we are. I've lost this battle. G seems to believe she has "earned" it and it's for her graduation. I, of course, do not agree. But I am wondering is it my stubbornness to not lose to the Teen comment of "I'll get the phone one way or another". Am I being fair? Am I overdoing it? G seems to think so. What do you think?

Face Eating Iguana

There are few things in life more entertaining than listening to kids talk amongst themselves and tell stories...at least I think so. And even funnier, when you have an older sibling who understands the "real" world and can call you out on it.

While I was at my mom's yesterday, Seena's older cousin - Mother Hen (6), began to tell me a story about a "guana" biting a girl's face. At first I was only half paying attention until she started to tell me the girl's face came off. I began to ask her who this girl was and if she went to her school. To be honest, I don't remember what her answer was. Again, my attention span was not 100% yesterday and I just thought it was just a "story" made up. A little later, Party Girl (4) came home and she began to tell me about the same story. Now, I'm starting to get interested. I asked my sister what the deal was with this story since both girls are telling me. She said Uncle J let the girls watch some show that morning that had an iguana biting off a girl's face ...or something like that. I really still don't know exactly what the real story was. But Party Girl kept up the conversation and went something like this:

PG - It bit off her whole side of her face. mmmhmmm.
Me - Wow, do you know this girl? Did she go to your school?
PG - Yes, she is in my class. She's my friend.
MH - No! She is not your friend. You are making that up.
PG - No, she is my friend.
MH - I can tell by the look on your face that you're making it up.
Seena - No, she's not. Look at her face, does she look like she's lying? Does she look like she has a happy face?
Me - Seena, how do you know she's not lying.
Seena - look at her face, she's not lying.

And last weekend at the river house PG was whining about a scratch on her leg that she had gotten earlier:
Me - What's the matter?
PG - A dead fish bit my leg.
Me - why did it bite your leg?
PG - because it couldn't make it back to the house.
MH - what?!! That is not true. A dead fish can not bite you. A dead fish is on top of the water and is upside down. It could only bite you if it was in the water the right way up.

So stinking cute.

Crazy Eights

I’m still a little new to the wonderful world of blogging but I’m finding that I’m getting quite addicted to it. And I’m finding that it’s tough to come up with something to write about everyday so little breaks like this are very much appreciated.

My dear friend Danifred tagged me on on this questionnaire and I have to give her and her blog a shout out of thanks. Reading her blog helped me refocus my priorities and helped me find my way out of a very fogging time in my life. Plus I just enjoy reading her funny stories about her kids.

So here it goes….

First, the rules:
1. Mention person who tagged me (Hi Danifred!)
2. Complete the list of 8s
3. Tag 8 people

And, I’ve decided to be a copy cat so I'll be adding in some of G’s, Seena’s, maybe AJ’s, and Teen’s (if I can find her) answers too.

And, without further ado, the lists:

8 things I am looking forward to:
1. a clean slate and staying in my house
2. Having a toddler who sleeps through the night.
3. Having fun this summer with the kids.
4. Digging up my yard and adding new flower/fruit/veggie beds for next year.
5. Seena’s b-day party.
6. Entering the Master Gardener Program and becoming a Master Gardener.
7. Teen going to High School and Seena going to Kindergarten so I can get involved with their PTA’s and volunteering.
8. Enjoying my stress-free job for as long as I can take it and/or as long as it stays this way

8 things G is looking forward to:
1. Watching my girls grow up.
2. Teaching Teen how to drive
3. Getting another restaurant.
4. Getting another restaurant.
5. Getting another restaurant.
6. Getting AJ boy appropriate toys.
7. Getting the house to stay clean longer than 10 minutes.
8. Taking lots of vacations.

8 things I did yesterday:
1. Pruned, weeded, deadheaded, dug up bulbs and planted new plants that I “borrowed” from my neighbor.
2. Tried to help my dad fix my washing machine.
3. Went to the grocery store.
4. Tried going to the Father’s Day celebration at Seena’s school that was actually the day before.
5. Did not clean.
6. Went for a walk with the kids.
7. Watched Ice Princess for movie night.
8. Watched Ghost Adventures and freaked myself out again.

8 things I wish I could do:
1. Work part-time or be a stay at home mom.
2. Sleep an uninterrupted eight hours every single night in my bed.
3. Give my parents back their security.
4. Afford a housekeeper on a weekly basis.
5. Afford to buy anything I wanted at the grocery store
6. Cook like my mom
7. Finish my scrapbooks.
8. Win the lotto so that I and my loved-ones could live a debt free life and travel the world.

8 things G wishes he could do:
1. Own another restaurant
2. Sleep
3. Get a maid
4. Go to every major sporting arena/stadium in the U.S. and watch a game
5. Not work
6. Own a top notch night club
7. No longer pay for a bad investment
8. Meet Michael Jordan

8 things Seena would like to do
1. Go to Virginia Beach
2. Open presents
3. Fly
4. Watch movies
5. Go to the store and buy toys
6. Stay at home
7. Go to Disney World and the Disney Store
8. Go swimming with nothing on me except for a bathing suit.

8 shows I watch:
1. Brothers and Sisters
2. Desperate Housewives
3. Ugly Betty
4. Private Practice
5. Grey’s Anatomy
6. Lost
7. Ghost Adventures
8. Disney Channel

8 shows G watches:
1. Entourage
2. Eastbown Down
3. Rock of Love
4. Daisy of Love
5. Denise Richards – It’s Complicated
6. ESPN News
7. ESPN News
8. Chelsea Lately

My 8 favorite foods
1. sushi
2. french fries
3. stir-fry
4. Come callados (my mom’s inventions)
5. Hummus sandwiches
6. Linguine and clam sauce
7. Pork BBQ sandwiches
8. homemade popcorn

Seena’s 8 favorite foods
1. cake
2. Ham sandwiches
3. pasghetti
4. Lucky Charms
5. Watermelon
6. corn
7. candy
8. oreos

8 places I’d like to travel
1. Greece
2. Cross country in an RV
3. Spain
4. France
5. Brazil
6. Ireland
7. Fiji
8. China


8 places we’ve lived (in no particular order):
1. Falls Church, VA
2. Astoria, NY
3. Blacksburg, VA
4. Midlothian, VA.
5. (G) A white house in Fairfax, VA with a revolving door of roommates and that should have probably been condemned.
6. A townhouse with my friend, Johanna, who owned 95% of the furniture and stuff in there.
7. (G) Multiple apartments, townhouses, basements, rooms in Fairfax, VA with one or more of the Style Boyz.
8. Our current home sweet home.

Unfortunately, I do not have anyone to tag....