The Dancing Princess

I'm having a bit of a hard time with how grown up she looks in this picture! Punkin is at that age where every day she learns like five new things and by the end of the week she seems so much more grown up! Many of you heard about one of her milestones last week. Her first curse word. I need to record it here for posterity. It had to happen sometime. She is, after all, mine and Jack's child. Here was the situation. Melanie needed a prescription and the pharmacy wasn't open yet, so we decided to go get something to drink at Sonic. All of the intersections here allow you to turn on any green, even if it is not an arrow specifically. I had the misfortune of being behind someone who either didn't know that, or simply was not paying attention. It's not that I was being unreasonable and expecting him to take his life into his hands by playing chicken with oncoming traffic. There was NO ONE coming. I mean, I could hear crickets chirping. Needless to say, I got a wee bit impatient and said "Go asshole!", followed by a quick beep of the horn. Then I forgot about it until... we were in line at Sonic and there was a car in front of us ordering. Of course we had all of our windows down because it was warm, and from the back seat she screams (not the conversational voice I used, but much, much louder) "Go! Go! Go Addhole!" It was so loud and unexpected that I couldn't help but laugh! Seriously! It couldn't be some random, out of context moment for one of my children! I so hope they didn't hear that!

One of the funny things about her is that she actually behaves better (most often) if she has her hair done cute, and her clothes in order. I think she just likes that coddled, put together feeling. I get it because I do too. The unfortunate part is that after I get all three girls ready with cute hair, that I have no time for mine! I do look forward to the day when they can do their own. In this picture she was dancing to one of her Barbie movies, feeling pretty because I just did her hair and she had picked out her Dora Ballerina pajamas. She looks so precious here, you would never think she could ever utter a dirty word! These are the moments I need to focus on... not the other more evil ones...

Birthday Boy!

Well, Jack made it home, and with him came Guitar Hero III. His mom bought it for him for his birthday, and little did I know the trouble it would bring... It started out simple enough, but after I played a song, it just wasn't enough. I had to play it again because I knew I could do better. And then again, and again, and again! It is not a good game if you are OCD, even a little! It is totally addicting, and I am less than happy about it! Jack and I haven't talked about it, but we both know that it shouldn't be brought out unless we have LOTS of time to play. Otherwise, we just walk by and ignore that tempting little guitar that waits for us. It wants to just suck us in to its world of streaming colored notes, loud music, an half naked ugly people! As if we had so much time to spare...

So to honor Jack's birthday, I decided that I should come up with a list of things that I love and am grateful for about Jack. Snicker all you want peoples, but it should be pretty easy.

1. Hmmm...

2. I'm sure there's something...

3. Think, think, think...

4. I got it!

5. No...

6. Well, maybe...

7. No...

Ok, now I'm being the ornery one! Here's a real one!

1. The fact that he's going to laugh at the first list.

2. That he doesn't mind my "hot celebrity" list.

3. That he really misses me when I'm not with him.

4. That he can tell me how to get everywhere I need to go and only makes a little fun of me I'm hopelessly lost!

5. That he can admit to his friends that I'm the boss!

6. That he dances like a super freak!

7. That he has to shower even if he's just going to the gym.

8. That he remembers to find and plug in my phone every day.

9. That he loves having girls.

10. That he can't play Guitar Hero with his tongue in his mouth!

11. That he loves my family as much as his own.

12. That he makes fun of my smut collection and still helps me move the shelves around and organize them.

13. That he doesn't get mad anymore when I lose the key(s).

14. That he can put anything together like ten times faster than I could, though he spends much time cursing IKEA and all that it stands for. He could be their poster boy!

15. That when I say to turn left, he knows that I probably meant right.

16. That he totally talks in his sleep. Not of course, the times he goes nuts, but the other, more funny times. Like when he thought I was a giant spider and screamed like a girl while swatting at me!

17. That he can't seem to pose, or let others pose without his middle finger slipping into the picture somewhere! See birthday shot. Sorry Heather! I do think it's sorta funny!

18. That he's man enough to admit that he can remember useless sports facts and that he forgets to take out the trash on purpose!

19. That he would jump anyone that hurt my feelings. Not that I would ask him to, but having a ready weapon never hurts!

20. That he tells me that he can't think of anyone he would want to hook up with if he had a "get out of marriage free" card because I'm the hottest. Dishonest, but I'm ok with the lies!

I think 20 is good for now. I don't want him to get a big head or anything because then he would be totally impossible to live with instead of just the usual difficult behavior! Anyway, Happy Birthday Murray!

While Daddy is Away the Girls will Play!

I figured that since Jack is gone for the weekend that the girls and I would spend our time doing things that he is not always enthusiastic about. Last night we watched three movies that he would have hated because not only were they chick flicks, but they were young people chick flicks, starting with "The Adventures in Horseland", "Bratz" (not like the sleazy dolls, sort of like HSM), and then "Stardust", which was a fantasy movie involving witches, other worlds, and true love. I'm sure that anyone that knows Jack would appreciate that I wouldn't want to watch any of these with him! Anyway, this morning we went and saw the early bird showing of "Alvin and the Chipmunks", which was alot of fun! I used to love those guys as a kid, and would watch the cartoon every Saturday morning, and of course sung their Christmas songs every year just to annoy my parents. We had the Christmas record if that makes me feel old! So after the movie we went to the learning store a few doors down and did their weekly free craft. They all made little treasure chests to hold their teeth for the tooth fairy. Since Punkin hasn't had hers all that long, we probably won't need it for awhile, but she had a great time making it!

Not having to work this weekend has been a wonderful opportunity to really focus on the kids. It seems that lately with all I have going on between work, school, trying to work out, and making attempts at cleaning, I only give them about half of my attention. I'm trying to use this time wisely to play with them but to also get caught up on things enough so that I can be more plugged into their lives every day. It's just so easy to get caught up in the world and outside distractions, and lose track of the time needed to do the above and beyond that is required as a parent. Many of the things that I do, especially school and exercise, I do to show them by example that college is important, as is health, so that they can grow up to value these things as well and possibly not be doing things the hard way like I do. Example: losing weight when you're already fat is harder, as is going to school later in life. I just need to be able to do things like this while not ignoring the little things that also matter, like watching silly movies or painting nails.

Valentine's Day 2008

So today is Valentine's Day and I am spending it just me and the girls because it is also my mother-in-law's birthday. Jack and I decided that it would be a cool surprise for his parents to have him just show up on their doorstep in time for her birthday. I'm not too concerned that he's missing Valentine's Day with us because it's just really another day isn't it? I am just grateful that he gets to spend some time with his parents and that his mom was so happy that she cried! They thought it was the cable guy that would be knocking on their door! So today I gave the girls a little something, and we have plans to eat crap food, drink soda, and watch a movie that daddy probably wouldn't like anyway! Even if Jack were here we would probably do something similar because it's not like we would want to go out and wait two hours for a table somewhere! And I have to say that this little trip reminded me of why I love Jack so much. He called me from the plane after he boarded , feeling sad because he was missing us and wishing he wasn't leaving! I would have thought that he would be kicking up his heels to celebrate a little freedom, but no, he just wanted to let me know that he was already sad and missing us! I hope he remembers that sadness when he comes back to the chaos!

So instead of picking up the kids curbside today, I parked and walked up to talk to the teachers and see how all of the Valentine stuff went today. While talking with Sydney's teacher, she was telling me that they were doing something in class where they had to draw a picture of themselves now, and then another one of themselves a hundred years from now. The current one was that of a little girl. Made sense. The one for the future was a drawing of a horse. She asked Syd if that meant that she would be riding horses in a hundred years, or if she would be a horse in a hundred years? Sydney said she would BE a horse in a hundred years. Duh...

Sydney the horse.

Tagged!

My dear Rochelle tagged me to display the contents of my purse, so here we go.

-Orbit gum, winterfresh, though I prefer sweet mint.

-2 packs of vitamin C to add to my water cuz of all the sick people at work.

-Combination lock for the gym.

-Keys. It's nice to know that I have them for once.

-2 lip glosses

-2 lip sticks

-Single use dental floss.

-Gas receipt.

-MP3 player. It's good for the gym, but now I use it in the car so that I don't hear the little trolls fighting in the back! I know it's not exactly legal, but neither is throttling your children. I just try to do the right thing, you know?

-My wallet, full of the usual, debit cards, ID, blah, blah.

-Spare change.

So really nothing exciting, and you for sure could not live out of the thing like Rochelle, who literally has everything but the kitchen sink! Now if you were in my car and we got stuck in the middle of nowhere, it may be a different story! We could live off of all the fries, chips, and fruit snacks the kids drop all over the floor, for possibly a week or more! Just pray that it never comes to that.

Part two involved picking the closest book to you and opening it to page 123, and reading the fifth line. So I have my English lit book handy and here we go:

"When the king and his company were come in together,

The chanting in chapel achieved and ended.

Clerics and all the court acclaimed the glad season,

Cried Noel anew, good news to men;"

This was an exerpt from "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part I". Everyone should be grateful that I am not able to read for pleasure right now since I spend so much time reading this sort of stuff for class, because you may have read something very different! Many know about my addiction to smut books, and I won't even pretend to be repentant about it. I love them! Over the years I have read all kinds of different genres, because I love to read, but as I've gotten older and experienced the world more, I pretty much stick to the smut. I don't need to read horror because if I want to feel anxiety or fear I will turn on the news, the computer, or read the paper. I feel like I experience enough human drama, and tales of overcoming obstacles through my own life, friends, and family. Sometimes it's important for me to read romance to help me affirm that love and passion also matter, and that it can overcome everything, so that I can deal with the horror and drama of the world. The sex is just a bonus! Ha! Ha! Lol!

Also, I have to show you a picture some work that Sydney did at school. Apparently she wasn't very interested in what she was supposed to be writing so she veered off track a bit...

Superbowl XXIIVIX (42-too many! :) )

One of my co-workers Teresa, (see the bar maid above) threw a superbowl party and a Daren (see goofball with lemon boobies) going away party. She has the perfect home for it because she had a bigscreen out on the patio, inside, and even if you had to go pee, there is a tv in front of every toilet bowl. A man must have designed her house, I think. We had a great time! I went for the food and the company more than the game. It took me all the next week to lose the couple pounds that I put on from eating too many eclairs, gourmet cheesecake bites, cheese dips, etc, but dang was it worth it! We even got to play on slot machines! Josie was there with her boyfriend Erich, so I had someone to talk to that didn't really give a rat's $#@ about the game either. Teresa has a really cool German Sheperd (see above dork with dog) that would do tricks for potato chips!

BANE OF MY EXISTENCE

To say that this innocuous stuffed toy, or this sweet looking dog is the bane of my existence

seems maybe a little harsh, but I have to at least say that it is definitely on the upper portion

an innumerable list of things that I consider to be "banes of my existence". This donkey toy

actually used to belong to Sydney, but when we got Mr. Smudge about a year ago, it quickly

became his favorite toy. We thought it was cute at first, but lately... Let's just say that almost

every morning this week I have woken up to this little bastard chewing on it on my head! Again,

this seems like maybe not so big a deal, but it may help to know that it talks! Just like the

annoying character on the movie, it really talks! Every time he bites it you hear either, "Shrek!",

or "Are we there yet?" Over and over, and over... Yet, I don't have the heart to take the dang

voice box out of the thing. So instead I will just complain about it!