Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

Today, I am thankful for my family. For me, that can be interpreted a couple of ways.

I have a wonderful extended family. I love the holidays and the time for getting together. Seeing my grandma, my crazy aunt and uncle, the cousins that I rarely get to see, my parents and brother and sister - I love every minute of it.

Then, there is MY family or OUR family, the one that A. and I have to work at every single day. Some people make having a family look super easy and sparkly-butterfly-fun, then there are those that throw in the towel and go their separate ways to achieve sparkly-butterfly-fun. Well, A. and I fall somewhere in between except there aren't a lot of sparkles and more sparks. But, at the end of the day, we entered a covenant with God that we would make this thing work. And on the days (months) when I forget that, A. gives me my space and I've learned to give him his. I think we both wake up most days and try (it may only be for 5 minutes, but, it's an attempt) and until we get it right, we'll keep trying. And for that, I am thankful.

Side note...I asked the children what they were thankful for this morning.

Mooka: I am thankful for all of the people in the world, even those that I don't know.

ME: And you?

Baby Bear: Candy.

What I'm thankful for

There are a lot of folks who have updating their blogs daily this month to include messages about what they are thankful for. I knew that I couldn't commit to a full month of posts, so in my head, I was really going to commit to post everyday this week.

I'm not real good with commitment.

So, it's Tuesday and that's close enough.

Plus, my first what-I'm-thankful-for post includes two things, which technically means I'm only one day behind.



These two little gifts are absolutely the most amazing people in my world. They can drive me absolutely crazy, but at the end of every day I am thankful to have such wonderful kids. Sometimes, I read other peoples stories about the struggles they faced with getting pregnant or early childbirth or diseases that impact their babies lives and I am deeply humbled at how different our experience has been from those. It makes me appreciate what we've been given that much more. And there is not a day that goes by when we don't thank God for what He has blessed and entrusted us with.

So for today and every day, I am thankful for my babies.

How was your weekend?

You know how you come back to work on Monday and the first thing someone says to you is, “How was your weekend?”

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you were completely honest?

Imagine the look on people’s faces if I decided to indulge them with the details of exactly how my weekend went.

Friday night, Mooka broke out in hives for no real good reason. She was also doing the itchy dance all over the house. By Saturday afternoon, she was in full on hysterics over the itchies, so I did the head inspection.

(Do you see where this is going?)

That’s right.

Lice.

Disgusting, repulsive, creepy crawly lice.

GROSS!

Upon further inspection, all four of us had it.
Sorry if you just threw up in your mouth, cause I did.

If you’ve ever had your car broken in to and you experience that violated feeling, well, that’s how it feels to get lice.

The next three hours of my life were spent treating, washing, combing, plucking, rinsing three heads.

This was followed by twenty loads of laundry over the next 48 hours.

My Saturday night was supposed to be spent at a friend’s birthday party (again, how is THAT for an excuse on why I didn’t show up).

Finally, at 9 o’clock at night I made the trip back to the store to get more supplies to do my hair.

I must have used too much of the goo on my hair, because after the wash and rinse step, my hair looked like I had attempted to give myself a Jheri Curl treatment but with too much Jheri and without the curl. I normally use “ethnic” hair products on my hair and have no issues with being over conditioned (another story for another day). This stuff made me an oily mess.

The next morning when I got up to go to church, I noticed my hair still rivaled an Exxon spill. Fortunately for me, it was my week to play in the church band. I tried to channel my inner-artist-formally-known-as-prince-self and do something with it, but just ended up looking like a hot mess. No one said anything about it (but if you’re reading now and you did notice, thanks for not asking.)

The house, cars, furniture, walls, kids have all been fumigated, but I still feel completely dirty.

And that was my weekend. How was yours?

All Alone

Somehow, I thought I'd enjoy my alone time this week.

But actually, I'm just lonely.

Missing these...



And daddy too.

Father's Day Survival

We spent our Father’s Day weekend reenacting the television show “Survivor”.

Only we weren’t on an exotic island, we were stuck in our house.

And even though we were each voted out of the tribe on several different occasions, none of us actually left.

You see, our A/C blew up on Saturday morning, just in time for 100 degree weather. Since we move in 10 days, there really aren’t funds, need, desire to drop several thousand dollars to get it fixed.

So Saturday, we spent the day trying to not kill each other laying in front of fans. Sunday, I knew at least one of us would spontaneously combust if we didn’t do something. We broke down and bought a small window unit.

Last night, the four of us, a couple of dogs and a tiny A/C held up in one bedroom in our 3000 square foot abode.

Thank GOD – A. and the kids are gone this week, which leaves me to pack up our hot box and get things ready for the move next week.

At the whole thing is just becoming funny. It’s like I’m living in the movie “The Money Pit”.

In fact, I woke up this morning and had this reaction when I discovered that our pool had drained itself during the night.

Happy 34!

Someone in our house turns 34 today; however he won't be celebrating with us.

He will be at Disneyland.

He started a new job on Monday so it only makes sense that day three would be a trip to Disney.

Whatever.

Disney ain't got nothin' on my cake makin' skills.

So, anyway...

We celebrated on Sunday.

This year's cake was inspired by his love for yard work. You may recall my passion for making all birthday cakes at home with lots of love.



It was inspired by these cupcakes on familyfun.com. However, I don't think they made their cupcakes in the humid land of So. IL. My lawnmower handles just wouldn't stay perky.



Happy Birthday Daddy! We love you and miss you already!

First love

Monday night, I attended the monthly all women program at our church. You may remember me coming home from the first one feeling like a complete failure.

This week’s service highlighted a panel of moms. The wisdom that one mother shared moved me in such a way, that I feel like I’ve had a complete renewal of my spirit.

The question was “What is the most important lesson you’ve learned being a mother?”

She responded in two parts…

“First, appreciating that God chose me to be the mom for my kids.”

WOW – think about that one. The spirits that God placed in those two little bodies that we created were chosen just for us.

“Second, no matter what kind of day I’ve had with my kids, my heart still melts when I see them sleeping on their pillows when I go back in to check on them. And God is the same way. At the end of a day when I feel like I have been the worst parent in the world, God still looks down on me with that same Fatherly love as I rest.”

And that my friends, is the bit of wisdom that I needed.

The difference between girl mice and boy mice

Early on, during our relationship contract negotiations, A. and I came to the following agreement:

I kill the spiders.

He kills the mice.

So, the other night when we were watching Rachel Getting Married (which was really lame, but that's another story) and a mouse scurried across the foyer floor, A. began fulfilling his duties to track and destroy said mouse.

I politely mounted my observation deck on top of the foot stool and then later the stair case.

For the next hour and half, I watched him chase little mouse through the coat closet and play room.

He finally was able to coax little mouse into a container and then carry him down the street for his release into freedom.

A couple of disclaimers here:
- While I HATE mice, I did not want to see it smashed by a broom or baseball bat (yes, both of which were used during the battle royale)
- The poor little mouse actually surrendered more or less after being whacked in the head several hundred times, he just kind of stood up against the wall and looked A. in the eyes as if to say, "Look dude, you people are nuts, you've got Crazy over there who has been squealing for nearly 2 hours, you're hitting me, let's just call a truce and how about you get me the heck out of this place."

Surprisingly, neither of the kids woke up during the fiasco.

However, the next day when they came down the stairs to discover every pair of shoes from the front closet and every single toy had been tossed from the front of the house to the back of the house, they immediately announced that they had not made the mess nor would they be responsible for cleaning it up.

After telling them what had happened, Mooka just looked at me in complete disgust. She then asked if it was a girl mouse or a boy mouse. I told her there was really no way of knowing. She then asked (with a certain how-did-you-get-to-be-a-mom tone)...

"Well did it have eye lashes or not? The girls have eye lashes."

Of course, how could I have not thought to look for eye lashes.

She must have learned that in Disney Biology 101.

Stupid reality television

As a parent, one of the rules that I have always tried to enforce is limiting television time. When Mooka was born, I insisted that she would not be exposed to tv until she was at least two years old. While I was pregnant with her I read Einstein Never Used Flashcards and got completely turned off to the whole Baby Einstein concept. Granted, by the time Baby Bear came along, I had lightened up quite a bit (I also would just lick off his nuk when it fell on the floor before placing it back in his mouth *shudder*). Overall, I still remain pretty committed to limiting tv time.

That is unless it’s Tuesday night during my reality show blitz.

(or on long car rides)

Tuesdays are The Biggest Loser and American Idol night. They also happen to be A.’s night to play basketball at the church which means I am on solo mommy duty. So after letting them cut, paste, color and paint all over daddy’s fantasy football magazines, we head to the basement for mommy to multi-task.

I get them set up with their toys. I learned a trick from a friend a long time ago that if you take away toys and store them in rubber totes so they are not always accessible, it’s kind of like Christmas when you bring them out. The novelty of the “new” toys, usually buys me a solid 20 minutes of uninterrupted time while I use the treadmill. And yes, all the while I continue to flip back and forth between my two reality addictions.

After they get bored and decide to start launching toys off the back of the treadmill, I am usually ready to make the sprint up to the bedrooms to start the bedtime process. While they take their baths, I score another 20 minutes quasi uninterrupted.

Depending on the planets alignment, I will then either get lucky and be able to get them into bed or they get to watch tv with me.

(I am a horrible mother)

Last night, during my reality marathon, I lost the battle decided to bring them into the bed with me to watch the last half hour. They both got to watch the horrible elimination where poor grandpa Jerry got sent home while that lazy Joelle got to stay. As we were watching, Mooka looks at me and says “my heart is breaking for that old man, give me a hug.”

(repeat - I am a horrible mother)

I am hoping that it has more to do with the fact that she had 5 immunization shots earlier in the afternoon and not that she was wrapped up in the show. If it’s the latter, just add tivo to my Christmas wish list for next year.

Merry Christmas

A very merry from our house to yours!

Is Elvis in the house?

This past weekend we were able to attend my uncle's wedding. It was a gorgeous wedding and by far, the best reception I have ever attended.

The wedding was a traditional Catholic wedding and our family is definitely not a traditional Catholic family. We had no idea that it would last an hour and a half. I was so thankful that I had the forethought to purchase some Crayola Color Wonder books to keep in my purse for an emergency.

Cousin Amber was gorgeous as a flower girl...



Nanny looked beautiful...



Of course, the bride and groom were stunning...



And some of us were not in the mood for pictures after sitting for so long...



The reception had over 600 guests and was quite lovely. After enjoying our dinner, the kids enjoyed warming up the dance floor for the adults.



And then , the real kicker was Elvis showed up and did a full set!



We all partied until we dropped...



Everyone had a great time and we wish the newlyweds the best in their new journey!

Building traditions

I think traditions are a big part of what make you a family. Whether your family includes you and a dog or you and your five kids, traditions are part of what make you unique. It is sort of like a long standing inside joke, not everyone will get it, but it always makes you smile.

When A and I were dating, we started our own little traditions. As we’ve grown our little family, we have continued to add to our list of traditions.

One of our family traditions is making the annual trek to the state fair. It’s very Midwestern and hick and country and every year I look forward to it.



When we lived in Minnesota, the state fair was a really big deal. Up there, it is not surrounded by the stigma associated with state fair. In fact, you are a little weird if you don’t have plans to go to the fair. We even made our trip to the fair when I was 8 months pregnant with Mooka. Grant it, I’m pretty sure I complained the entire time we were there and did not view the trip as part of any tradition, but rather my attempt to get that child out of me.

Living in Illinois, folks definitely have a different reaction when you mention going to the fair. That has not stopped us from continuing our little tradition. So, this past weekend we loaded up and headed off to enjoy the fair.

Some of the highlights included

Watching Dock Dogs



Learning how to "milk" a cow



Checking out the livestock



Countless goofy photo ops



Arts and crafts time at the 4-H display



And of course, the rides.



But the Pièce de résistance the Butter Cow...



We all had a great time. It was a really long day and I'm glad because the memory will last forever.

So go ahead, try it. Find something goofy that you think is fun and just go for it. You might just make your own tradition along the way.

Weddings and toddlers

Ah, it's wedding season. Love is in the air. The birds are singing. The flowers are in bloom. And somewhere there is a bride who is going to think she wants your kids in her wedding.

See, single childless folks don't really get kids. They like them to come visit for a few hours, buy them some ice cream, send birthday cards and enjoy their limited interactions. It seems like a very logical idea to invite the young children to be a part of the big day. I for one cringe at the request to bring my children to someone else's home that might possibly have furniture in it, let alone ask them to stand in front of people during such an important event.

My sister recently got married to a wonderful man - the Rice Man. Of course, my children were invited to be the flower girl and ring bearer along with the Rice Man's brother's toddler daughter. That's right - three toddlers front and center. What could possibly go wrong?

Allow me to share our experience...

As the vows began, I felt a tug on my Maid of Honor dress and hear:

Mooka: Um, mommy, I'm done - gotta go - I can't do this anymore.
Me: (GLARE)
Mooka: Yep - can't be the princess anymore.
Me: (MORE GLARING)
Mooka: My sparkly barrette fell out.
Me: Just give it to me.

But no, we won't just stop there. As the sand ceremony was commencing:
Baby Bear: Mommy is that candy?
Me: (GLARE)
Baby Bear: Mommy I want some of that candy!
Me: Honey it's sand.
Baby Bear: Mommy why is it sand. I want candy.
This back and forth dialog went on for what felt like thirty minutes.

And everyone was so comforting after the wedding with nice remarks like, "Your kids are so cute, I didn't hear a thing." Uh huh - sure you didn't.

The reception was equally as fun when both of my children started busting out a booty dance and swinging on poles much like "professional dancers."



Regardless, the wedding was beautiful and we are so excited to have the Rice Man in our family.