SIX things for your SIXTH Birthday!

Dear Cherub 3,

Happy Birthday! I can't believe you are SIX years old today! Here is a picture of you in your new ATV drivers helmet. It is ALL you wanted for your birthday because it "looks like a Darth Vadar motorcycle helmet with a 'place' to talk through". Thank you Nana & Pop! You were so cute zooming around the neighborhood on your bike tonight wearing your new helmet. For fun, here is a bunch of SIX lists for your SIXTH birthday!

SIX things you did this past year that still make me laugh:
1)You are very literal~kind of Amelia Bedelia-ish minus the flighty-ness. One example is when you watered the Xmas tree by pouring a cup of water all over it.
2)You played your first real trick on me by telling me that you went on a field trip one day. You had so many details, I believed you. Imagination rocks!
3)You have been practicing for a school play-role elephant. It sounds like their are wild elephants running around the house!
4)You call yourself a 'good looker'. That means that you can find anything when you are looking for it.
5)You are learning numbers. I love this stage of made up ones: '80hundred'.
6)You have a very BIG vocabulary. Words like "terrible" are second nature to you.

SIX ways why you are super sweet:
1) You are always super kind, asking people how they are, helping others.
2) You literally exude happiness.
3) You genuinely try to get along with everyone. Always the peacemaker.
4) At the mere age of six, you are always giving genuine compliments to others.
5) Your smile warms the room. Your giggle is a side splitter.
6) You worship cherubs 1&2. :o) You are sensitive to others happiness.

SIX reasons why you are still my baby:
1)You still want to come in and cuddle with Daddy & I every morning.
2)You are a big kid who still sneaks his blankie (and thumb) at night.
3)You still sneak in a car nap so you can keep up with the big kids.
4)You will still give me hugs and kisses in public.
5)If you are unsure of something you still hide behind my back.
6)You love baseball and big kid stuff but when no one is looking you can't resist the 'baby' toys.

SIX things you want to be/do when you grow up:
1)(Be) A policeguy.
2)(Be) An ATV driver.
3)(Do) Buy a car.
4)(Do) Ride a motorcycle. (Yikes.)
5)(Do) Play football.
6)(Do) Buy 'skateboard' sneakers (scary looking ones).

I love you more than "60hundred" chocolate covered mountains!
Love, love, love you!
Mommy

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Happy 38th Birthday Hubby! I love you more than 10,000 chocolate covered mountains! (WINK)

Carpe Diem

This weekend, the world lost an inspiring young woman, one of BigSis's close friends. A strong spirit, who had many wonderful friends, a family that loved her, a husband and three adorable, spirited young children. 2 1/2 years ago she was diagnosed with cancer and has braved a battle to try to save her life. She lost that battle Saturday night. We are all devastated, and yes, angry by this loss.

As many of us followed her CaringBridge blog and facebook page, we were 'with' her as she muddled through her terrible fight, head held high and humor very much in tact. We celebrated the times of peace when she was feeling well, and cried our way through the blog during the hard times. I feel as though I have to blog about her because she changed so many people's lives. She made them realize that the small stuff seriously doesn't matter. In the blink of an eye, it can all be taken away. Her death has shaken the faith of many of us, even those that have a strong one. We do not understand why God would take such a young vibrant mom, wife, sister, daughter, athlete, mind. A woman with such a zest for life, love and humor. She will make a wonderful angel but was very much needed here on earth as well. Fair, notsomuch.

So as I sit here, a 38 year old woman, I wonder why something like this would happen. I ponder how I can take this and turn it into a life lesson for me and my family. The old saying of Carpe Diem comes to mind. My late Aunt Helen used to say it and sign all her cards that way, seize the day. Maybe she had something going on there.

For Kim's sake, please, make the most of each day. I am sure she was not perfect, none of us are. Yet, if we could have an ounce of the grace, humor, and strength that she had during her fight to the end, the world would be a better place. In honor of Kim, I hope to give my kids a piece of that grace. We all wish Kim the peace and healing that heaven is hopefully offering her. She will be able to care for her family in a different way now.

Carpe Diem.

Happy Memorial Day

Relaxing morning:

Rocky I (RLF, J) and Rocky II (cherub 3) boxing with cherub 2 as the ref. The rules: no under the belt and no face shots. Lots of giggles.


Cherub 1 playing outside, singing to herself! Me reading a book in the sun!

Hubby washing the cars (and cherbus got a little wet)!


Family filled afternoon:

Lots-a-lobsters!

nana

cherub 3

hubby, middle nephew, cherub 3

oldest nephew (on left) & his RLF

Tommy the Toolguys pondering how to fix our mosquito magnets:

BIL & hubby

pops (my dad)- gettin in on the mystery

mom & I entertaining ourselves during discussion

Lots-o-bubbles:

cherub's 1,2 & baby nephew

middle nephew

Cherub 2 missed the WHOLE party. He napped, napped, napped the afternoon away. First inside then outside on hubby's lap (when we tried to wake him). Hmmmm, hubby getting some nap action.


Awesome night filled with icecream, bikes, street hockey, ping pong, family time :o)

Cherubs pose on an old tractor at ice cream stand:

Happy Memorial Day Eve

Great time yesterday with friends and family! Lots of laughs, giggles, drinks, marshmellows and fun!

Reaching New Heights

Yesterday, hubby called me to tell me he was on the way to golf store:

Me: Why?
H: I have to get my golf clubs shortened.
Me: (LOL) Why, did you shrink?
H: THAT IS NOT VERY NICE! No, I bought them and they are too long, they need to be shortened.
Me: Oh, cause I thought you might have shrunk.
(Maybe he should have used the word 'adjusted' instead of 'shortened'.)

As we all know, my vertically challenged (5' 6") hubby has a GREAT sense of humor surrounding his height. Seems this year, he is taking a hit. Last year he renewed his license online:

H: I am SO mad!
Me: Why? What's wrong?
H: They took two inches off my height when they renewed my license.
Me: Why, what does it say for height now?
H: 5' 5"!!!!
Me: But that means you had 5' 7" on it before?
H: Yeah, so, that is how tall I am!
Me: Yeah, right. Maybe they sent a private investigator and researched that you were stretching the truth on your height!
H: (Word I can't repeat.)

We love you hubby~ all 5' 6" of you~ JUST THE WAY YOU ARE!

Sleep Over

Cherub 1 just left for her first sleepover at a friend's house. As a mom my heart is full of emotion. On one hand I am so excited for her because she is going to have so much fun. On the other I want to hold on tight...she is growing up so fast! It seems like just yesterday I held her in my arms as a baby, held her hand as she toddled around, walked her into school for the first time, put her on the bus, etc. The next stage...here we come!

The Drama of it All

Who needs a 13 year old teenage girl when you can get all the sassiness wrapped up in the package of a 9 year old one? It has been a long week my friends. Long. Here is our little drama queen's escapade of the day:

Scene: After school, with nothing on the calendar, we are finally free to enjoy a trip to the library to get our habitat and animal project books. Both cherubs 1&2 have school projects due in June.

After arriving, cherub 2 is thrilled and ecstatic (really, I am not kidding) to learn how to use the reference computer and locate the books that he needed on a tropical rainforest. We actually had fun picking them out and picture walking through the books. He settled down in a comfy chair to start reading on his own (when did he get so old?) and to figure out his favorite facts.

Cherub 1 chose orangatangs. Then red eyed frogs. Then. Then. Then. You get the picture. So after she had gone through (and picked out the books for) three or four different animals she changed her mind AGAIN and wanted to do some wafoo or fazoo or whatever it is called from Madagascar. Yup, you guessed it. They didn't have any reference material on the whatchamacallit. So, the sulking begins and then she is fixated. It is the whatchamacallit or nothing. (Sure honey, let me make books magically appear. Moms have superpowers.) In turn, AND AFTER 1 1/2 HOURS AT THE LIBRARY, I told her it was an animal that they had books about or nothing. So in the end, we left WITH NOTHING. I had to though, had to teach her that you can't throw fits and get what you want. You act like that and we leave.

That is right. To recap, almost 2 hours in the library and SQUAT. So, the consequences of sticking to my guns? She was mad ALL night. Miserable through dinner, after dinner, the bedtime routine. She was MAD AT THE WORLD. Mean to me, her brothers, and just plain grumpy. I went upstairs when she should have already been ready for bed and found her in my room. Asking her what she was doing she YELLED, "I was writing you an apology letter! Why don't you read it already!" Then she whipped it at me. Best apology ever. Having something thrown at me. Nice. Ok tired one, time for bed.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall
Who is the biggest drama queen
Of them all?

You cannot tell a lie.

Tonight after dinner, cherub 3 disappeared. Nana & Pops (my rents) had eaten dinner over and Pops, Hubby and the boys were out playing ball. I called upstairs to try to get cherub 3 outside with them:

Me: Cherub 3, what are you doing?

Cherub 3: Ummm (the guilt start to an answer), I was (pause) just about to start folding your laundry.

Me: What? You were not. You have NEVER folded my laundry. That means you were in my room. Let me guess, watching TV?

Cherub: (smiles)

Me: Get outside.

Ya think she could've come up with something better than laundry. She is the WORST liar- EVER.

All CRACKED up.

Dear Cherub 2,

Before I tell you this short and sweet story you need to know that on many separate occasions I have had MANY adults tell me the same thing, "No matter what mood I am in, if cherub 2 comes to visit me, I can't help but be happy. He makes me laugh. He is SO funny!" You definitely bring sunshine and humor into people's lives. So, having said that...

If you are reading this someday, you have dug right into our books of blogs. When you get to this story, please know that your 1st grade teacher LOVES you and thinks you are hysterical. I think she is really going to miss you next year. She'll miss your sweet side, your empathetic nature, AND, your class clown antics, colorful stories, silly faces, zest for fun. She is (on the sly) always updating Daddy & I with the story or joke of the week. This is your conversation with her yesterday:

Cherub 2: Mrs. Teacher, I think my weiner broke.
Mrs. Teacher: (Stifling surprise and laughter) Why do you think that?
Cherub 2: Because I heard it crack.

She had no response, too shocked to answer I guess. Later she did send me an email posing the thought, "I wonder how loud the crack was?"

Keep your sense of humor my little buddy. It will serve you well in life! (We are all still laughing!)
Love,
Mommy

Goldilocks Goes Jock

So, the typical afternoon. Rush out of work. Pick up kids. Start homework. Make dinner. Eat dinner. Clean up dinner. Dress cherub 2 for baseball. Deep breath because we are actually on time.

Notice that baseball bag is NOT in my trunk. (Note: the baseball & softball bags are KEPT in my trunk. If used, they are returned so that we are never without equipment for games and practices.)

Go back. Search garage. Sigh. Cherub 2 starts BAWLING. Call hubby.

Me: Do you have the bag?
H: Oh &*#%!
Me: Where are you? Can you meet us at the field?
H: I am on the highway. I won't make it on time.
Me: CLICK. (Yes, that WAS the hangup sound.)

I get back in car, rush to neighbors and beg to borrow their son's equipment. They lent cherub 2 two gloves so that he could try them on and see which one fits best. They SAVED US! Start driving to game (again).

Me: Ok buddy, I am passing back the two gloves. Try them on and see which one you like best. See which one fits you best.
Cherub 2: (CRIES.)
Me: It's ok pal, just try them on. One of them will fit.
Cherub 2: (Continues to CRY, LOUDER.) But(GASP)I(GASP)want(GASP)to(GASP)wear(GASP)MY(GASP)glove!
Me: I know buddy, just try them on. You can wear whichever one fits the best until Daddy can get there with your glove. Ok? Come on buddy, we've got to roll with it.
Cherub 2: CRIES.
Me: Please buddy?

Cherub 2: (Tries first glove on.) But this one is too BIG! (CRIES.)
Me: It's ok, try the other one on.
Cherub 2: (Tries second glove on.) But this one is too SMALL! (CRIES.)

This is when I fully expected someone to miraculously pull another glove out of thin air so that he could exclaim. "but this one feels just right!" Instead, I begged him to try them one more time and he agreed to use the small one and stop crying because let's face it, there's NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!

(Oh, and btw, once this season, I sent hubby & cherub 2 to a game an hour late by accident. I had the time wrong on my calendar. He gave me the business BIG TIME for about TWO weeks. He can NO LONGER give me the business~thou stealer of equipment.)

Reflection for a better next time.

My SIX year old son, cherub 2, exclaimed that he didn't want to wear his sweatshirt because it made him look FAT. After I picked my chin up.off.the.floor, I asked him what would make him think that. He told me his "friend" told him he looked fat.

There are MANY reasons that I was unprepared for this conversation:

1)I was having it with my son. Typically girls struggle with this issue. I didn't even KNOW that boys could.

2)He is such a strong willed little guy that I couldn't believe in the blink of an eye someone made him feel so bad about himself.

3)I always knew he was sensitive but I didn't realize how deep it went.

4)He is so YOUNG. This was like a 12-16 year old issue. Or not.

5)Per usual, we were on a 'deadline'. We had exactly 2 minutes to leave the house or the schedule would be thrown and they would be late for school. Time for trama.intervention.mommy.101. Right?

What I said/did:
Buddy, there is nothing FAT about you. You look handsome. Then, I made him throw on the sweatshirt because we NEEDED to leave for school so we weren't late. He did, to make me happy.

What I WISH I SAID/DID:
Why do you think he said that? How did it make you feel? Do you think he was being a nice person, a good friend when he said that? Then he would have probably talked to me. Told me his feelings. Maybe he would have realized that his little "friend" wasn't being nice and his comment had nothing to do with cherub 2, more to do with himself. Maybe he would have worn that sweatshirt with PRIDE that day instead of hiding it in his backpack as soon as I turned my back.

Next time, I will be prepared. Next time, I will be late. It will be worth the conversation. I learned alot about myself, my son and parenting that day.

Poor Neglected Blog

Dear Blog,

I am sorry I haven't written. The keyboard has been still. It is just that for some reason I have been scatter-brained. So much has happened this past week, yet I can't seem to find the motivation to write. To share. To record. Please forgive!

MB

PS- Now my RLF's are laughing b/c the 'sorry girl' just apologized to HER BLOG. Maybe I have finally lost it.

Priceless

This weekend, at cherub 2's baseball game, RLF L & I were trying to convince our hubbies to let us join the pool club here in town (since our move left us minus one really awesome inground pool). They were being really stubborn and complaining about all the costs involved. Here was my response:

Swim lessons: $45
Tennis lessons: $45
Keeping mommy happy: Priceless

Been to the farm lately?

Yesterday, cherub 3 came home and told me he went on a field trip to a farm. I was home sick yesterday with cherub 2- we both had fevers, etc. In my feverish state I thought to myself, "OMG, I sent the kid to school not even knowing he had a field trip?" Then I remembered that I never signed any type of permission and I asked him if he really went on a field trip. He giggled. That is the first practical joke he has every played on me, all by himself. Little devil!

Can I hide with no seek?

I have always bitten off more than I can chew. From the moment I knew how, to now. This year, no exception. I am relieved that my kids are done with CCD (so I can stop worrying about teaching it) for the year. I can't wait until Girl Scouts is over (so I can take a break from leading/planning/keeping up with ppwk). I am overwhelmed by school paperwork that I receive in TRIPLET everday, and I am frustrated that I do not have the time to apply for the job that I am suppose to be trying to find this year.

I actually want to HIDE for a while. Just simply hide.

Lost and Found

Having a WONDERFUL morning, we were on time, almost ready for school when cherub 3 had a little melt down over what shorts to wear. He wanted to wear his new 'Easter' shorts but I tried to explain that since he couldn't do the button by himself it wasn't a good idea (trying to avoid an accident). This made him very mad. I laid out 3 pairs of shorts and asked him politely to choose, get dressed and come downstairs. I made my way down to finish making the lunches.

He never came back down. LOST.

A TWENTY minute search ensued. Cherubs 1 & 2 helped me search the house and the yard, all three of us screaming his name, over & over. That is when cherub 1 told me a scooter was missing. I hopped on my bike and searched the neighborhood. No cherub 3. In tears, I told cherubs 1&2 I finally decided to call 911 b/c we couldn't find him ANYWHERE. As soon as the word 'police' came out of my mouth, cherub 3 appeared.

FOUND.

I burst into tears and hugged him for a full 3 minutes I think. Of course my tears of relief made everyone else cry in the room. When do they ever see mommy cry? After I stopped, I told him how much I love him. I then told him not to EVER, EVER, HIDE AGAIN. We talked about his frustration and how he could have handled it instead of hiding.

20 YEARS OFF MY LIFE LATER, we went to school in a subdued mood. When he got off the bus that afternoon he gave me a HUGE hug. I think we were BOTH extremely happy to see each other. Later I learned the 'missing scooter' was in hubby's trunk-not from cherub 3 using it.