Tuesday, May 26, 2009

It has been interesting around our home the last few weeks. While I could be bitter, I'm actually enjoying having a husband who is available to help with the kids and the end of year activities all day, every day. Yes, I could be concerned about the lack of a full-time income, but I know it will all work out.

As for showing grace and forgiveness to the individual who has made this togetherness possible, I doubt that's going to happen any time soon. I have reached the point where I'm dying to run into him or his wife at the store and kill them with kindness.

That update was for you, Amber. I'd tell more, but that post would be WAY too long, and I'd hate for it to come back to bit us.

Anyway, on to family updates. Jeremy has finally become a real boy -- no he wasn't a puppet -- but he now has the appetite of a growing boy. While this is exciting for the parents of perpetually petite kids, the timing could've been better since I'm shopping very carefully with limited funds. Every night he wants to eat something before bed because he's still hungry. I'm going to have to work on this since I know it's not a good idea to eat and then sleep -- even though I do it all the time.

Anna is about to become a fifth grader. It's hard to believe. I'm so proud because she is one of the top readers in her class so she got special privileges during the reading carnival. We are currently reading To Kill A Mockingbird together, which REALLY makes me proud. I didn't read it until I was a freshman in high school. I can't wait to watch the movie with her once we finish the book.

Jack is Jack. He's excited about finishing pre-K, but he seems to be under the impression that he gets to skip kindergarten and go straight to first grade. He's smart, but I don't think he's ready for that. He still says "guess what? I love you." So he's not getting too big for that.

Spencer's lates method of trying to wrap me around his finger is to hug my neck and say, "I miss you!" This was pretty cute when I had just returned from somewhere -- whether I'd been gone 30 minutes or the whole day. Now, he's using it to his advantage, particulary when he's supposed to be in bed. Sorry, son, but using that line 30 seconds after I've sent you to your room is not going to earn you any points.

That's a quick summary of the state of our household. We'll see if I survive the last few days of school followed by a week of VBS...

Thursday, May 21, 2009

The next 20 years are going to be very long with several heart-stopping moments -- all because of a toddler named Spencer. We know he is capable of extracting himself from certain situations, rooms or even houses. However, I've been a little lax in believing that as long as I throw the deadbolt, he's safe and I can take a breather.

Wrong! A locked door? He laughs at a locked door -- and the adult who actually thought that would keep him from his goal.

Within an hour, he escaped from my neighbor's house where he was supposed to be playing in the backyard. This neighbor knows my son well, so she locked the storm door on her front door. What was she thinking? Once Spencer realized that one method of escape was blocked, he simply opened the garage door -- a door most toddlers would have trouble with -- and headed home ACROSS the street!

But I don't blame her because I can't even keep the kids contained. After his father and Jeremy left for Cub Scouts, Spencer was inconsolable because he wanted to go. Then life got even worse because I wouldn't let him have a popsicle until he ate dinner. I was determined to keep him locked in the house until he had eaten, so I quickly locked the deadbolts on both the garage and front doors. After successfully blocking his potential exits, I went to the bedroom to pick up a phone.

As I walked back to the front of the house, I thought I heard a door. When I entered the living room, the only child missing was Spencer -- and the back door was open! I ran out the garage just as he rounded the corner to the front yard. At least he hadn't entered the street yet...

Now you can understand while it's going to be difficult over the next few years. I may have to get my hair colored every other month to hide all the gray hairs he will cause.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

I'm glad Jeremy is keeping me full of amusing stories since I've got so much crap going on in other areas of my life. (In the middle of a couple of the busiest weeks of my year, D was ridiculously let go from his job. I'm not going into to details because it is to crazy to really explain.)

Anyway, here's my Jeremy story for the week.

Insurance is paying for a new roof and gutters after the damagin hail storm in February. However, we are just now getting around to having these things done. The roof is finished, and the gutter guys were here yesterday.

Jeremy, watching the gutters being installed: How much do gutters cost?

Me: I don't remember. Insurance is paying for it.

Jeremy: Did it pay for the roof, too?

Me: Yes.

Jeremy: That's a good deal.

Me: Well, we do pay for our insurance every month so we can get the money to make these repairs when needed.

Jeremy: Still it's a good deal.

Ah, the wisdom of an eight year old.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Sometimes I'm afraid my oldest son is becoming too much like me. I rarely laugh out loud, and I'm usually too serious. However, apparently he doesn't perceive me as a kill-joy. During the morning assembly at school, his class has the opportunity to share why their mothers are special. Jeremy described me as fun and exciting. I'm not sure where that came from.

But to support his positive image of me, the gifts he made me at school (which he insisted I open this evening) stated in a variety of ways that I am nice, silly and fun. Good to know that my crankiness is not the overriding memory he has of his childhood so far.

I still believe he has inherited my dry sense of humor. When I was telling the kids that the new principal at one of the other elementary schools in town was my high school history teacher and I used to babysit his kids, Jeremy responded by saying, "he TRUSTED you?" Once he took a look at my face, he promptly followed that up with, "Were you the best student in his class?" I honestly told him it wasn't very hard when there were only about six kids in the class and four of them barely passed.

Jeremy is definitely one of a kind.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Several junk emails are sent each day to my work address. Fortunately, the majority head straight into my junk mail. But occasionally, one or two will sneak through to my main inbox. Usually, they are obviously trash, but sometimes they have subject lines that are very vague.

Today I received a message simply titled "hot dogs." Of course, my immediate thought was that was a code name for a male enhancement product, but I took a chance and looked at it. Much to my surprise I was being invited to a hot dog dinner Memorial weekend by someone who worked in a local school district. Although I regularly send emails to faculty and staff at schools throughout the state, I did not remember ever having contact with this person. While it was an odd email, I dismissed it and continued on with my other more pressing responsibilities -- like an event for nearly 1,000 people next week.

However, because I'm strange, I checked my work email this evening, and got a very good laugh. Two people who received the original "hot dogs" message chose to reply to all. The first person couldn't make it because her husband has to work. The second person was trying to coax that individual to ditch her husband and join the fun. Evidently, it was some type of family reunion.

At this point I began looking through the addresses listed and noticed a few belonged to a couple of media guys and another has the address of a local gentleman's club. I can only assume that the original sender completely botched someone's address when they sent it to me. While it appears my last name is the same as some of those listed, it would take some effort to come up with my work address.

D's response to it all was that we should show up on that Saturday. Unfortunately, the sender did not provide the location -- probably because all the people (except me) she was sending it to would know where she lived.

After the week I've had I needed a good laugh.