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So, it’s no secret that I like my shows.  I don’t watch all day, I don’t watch all the time, but I do have my favorites.  And I do find that watching TV in the evenings is a good way for me to wind down and block out all of the "mommy, mommy" noises that are reverberating in my head.

But lo and behold, I have things I have to do.  Meetings to attend, responsibilities, etc, in the evenings.  It should be sacred-don’t-mess-with-me-when-LOST-is-on time, but it’s not. 

I need DVR.

I need it.

I need it for American Idol.  For LOST.  For The Amazing Race.  NEED it.

Derek doesn’t watch tv.

AT ALL.

Never.

Has no shows.

He thinks I’m a TV-aholic.

I tell him that I am low on the "holic" chart, but he just doesn’t get the need for shows.

I need a full-on campaign launched on my behalf…explaining our need for DVR.  Otherwise, he’s just going to continue to ignore me on this.

Please send e-mails or post comments defending my cause.

Jacob went on a field trip yesterday to a farm.  He came running out telling us all about the llama they saw.  Then he went in to detail about how he got picked to race the llama with other kids from all of the classes.  Apparently, if you didn’t win, the farmer would let the llama spit on you.  Jacob assured us that he won and even demonstrated how fast he ran (and he had a popsicle in his hand which sprayed all over my freshly mopped floor, but that’s another story entirely).

So I ran in to his teacher today while fulfilling my ongoing marquee duties.  I mentioned that we had heard all about the llama races.

Llama races?  she asked.

I gave her more of the details.

No, she said.  They didn’t get to race the llama.  Just look at it.

Oh boy.

Needless to say, Jacob and I took the long way home from school today and talked about "storytelling".  He said he meant to tell us that it was just a wish, but he forgot to say those words! 

Why would a 6-year old feel the need/desire to develop such an elaborate, UNTRUE story.  He said he thought it would impress us.  Oh NO!!!  What kind of parents are we that we have given him the impression that he needs to impress us (no pun intended with the word impress!). 

Goodness, parenting is interesting isn’t it?!

Hi 100

That’s what the weather is like today in TX.  Honestly, people, what’s wrong with this picture?  100+ degrees in April?!?!  (My car registered 109 yesterday afternoon).  It’s ridiculous.  RIDICULOUS I tell ya!  It’s supposed to cool down tonight.  And, of course, this blew the record high temp out of the water, which is always fun, I guess…to beat a record.  Oh…who am I kidding…it’s not fun…it’s disgusting.  Way too hot.  WAAAAYYYYY too hot.

But it gave me a good excuse to stay inside and clean my house, with the boys help.  It’s even too hot for them.

Jacob’s class and another Kindergarten class gave a presentation at the weekly assembly last week at school.  It was two songs about the farm.  He "auditioned" (not sure of the process, other than that the teacher said that it was like an audition) to do the speaking part at the beginning, and got picked.  But, of course, didn’t tell me until that morning.  Thank goodness I was planning on going anyway.  I was so proud of him!  This is our kid that used to scream and cry and DREAD getting up in front of groups of strangers, especially if a microphone was involved.  Now he loves it, give or take a few anxieties. 

Derek thought I was crazy, but I couldn’t help but get all choked up at this assembly.  Not because of Jacob’s part, really, but seeing him be so happy.  He was just truly enjoying himself.  They play the song "We are Family" by Diana Ross and the Supremes and all of the kids dance and sing as they’re coming in.  There is something about groups of children dancing and singing that makes me cry.  I know…I’m weird.  Something about the uninhibited JOY that they have…the fearlessness…the carelessness…the fun.  It just chokes me up, makes my heart swell, and makes me happy to be involved in the life of a child. 

The title of this blog is a quote from Jacob after rummaging thru his Easter basket and eggs, and his brother’s.  I thought that was pretty cute.  He especially enjoyed the camouflage eggs the Easter bunny gave him (he calls them his "army eggs")…such a boy.  The Easter bunny really likes me too…and got me a special present.  An Itunes phone (Motorola SLVR L7), that takes photos, video and has Bluetooth (only handy when I’m in his car).  I’m enjoying that!

 

I loved everything about Easter this year…the dyeing of the eggs, the basket hunting, the spring clothes, the FOOD…what a fun time of year.  And I enjoy reminding myself and teaching the boys about the reason we celebrate.  I like to remember that without Easter, there would be no real reason to celebrate Christmas.

One funny story from the weekend came when I was boiling the eggs.  Caleb was up on a stool watching the water boil (literally!) and finally looked at me with a sad face and said, "So are you cooking the baby chicks?"  Poor little guy thought I was a murderer! 

I WISH I had a picture of this, but I don’t, so you’ll have to settle for a story without any cute pics to go with it.  We have one of those wooden swing sets…a great buy because we’ve used it to death.  But it needed to be re-stained, and I thought to myself, "Self, you can do that without Derek…who needs him, right?!"  right.  anyway.

A couple of weekends ago I power sanded it.  I’m very proud.  I really enjoy power tools.

Then I went to Lowe’s and bought the stain myself…anti-mildewing, weather proofing stuff.

And today after school, I told the boys to get their paint clothes on, and we went to town.  And they LOVED it…I "let go" of thinking it would be perfect and watched them have a great time.  And they tried so hard to do a good job and they complimented me several times for letting them help.  "Mom, you get a heart for this."  (We have a "heart chart" for when anyone in the family does something kind or of service, etc. and we go get ice cream together when we fill it up).  That went on for about an hour (which was impressive I thought), and then they quit and went to play in the yard.

So it’s not the best looking swing set ever, but it’s weather proofed, darn it!

Jacob, in his innocent 6-year old matter-of-fact way, asked me this morning,

"Mom, Why do you always have so much going on?"

It caught me off guard.

It stung.

Why do I always have so much going on?

My quickest answer is because that’s part of being an adult…bills to pay, kitchens to clean, errands to run, etc.

But is it really?

Do all adults have this much going on?

Am I creating STUFF to do that isn’t important?

Am I swimming in the "thick of thin things"?

Am I becoming distracted from what’s really important?

It reminded me to slow down.  To play.  To not schedule so many things.  To spend more time just being…being a mom, being a wife, being me.

was terrific.  Beautiful weather…time with the kids.  Jacob lost his second top tooth and now has this cute toothless smile.  Not for long though, since both permanent teeth are popping in.  Caleb kept us entertained with his wardrobe changes.  Shirtless, cowboy, etc…you never know what you’re gonna get.

We babysat for a 3-month old little guy.  The boys were in baby heaven and we had a good dose of what it’s like to have 3!

Also, watched The Kid, with Bruce Willis and that super cute kid actor.  I do believe it’s one of my favorite movies.  My favorite line is "What do you mean we don’t have a dog?!?"  You have to see it to appreciate it.

A bad combination…don’t ever eat kefir and paint.  Or paint while eating kefir. Or eat paint and put kefir on your walls…bad, very bad.

I have a new product endorsement.  I’m not a yogurt eater…not sure why, just don’t like it.  But the kids have it EVERY morning, without fail.  But the other day I saw a list of the newest top 10 SUPER-foods, and kefir was at the top.  It’s like yogurt, but different.  Anyway, saw this product at Target and decided to try it.  It’s mild, not too sweet…almost smoothie like.  I really enjoy it…I’ve had it every day this week with a handful of dry Quaker Oatmeal Squares cereal.  Mmmmm…  Plus it gives me all of those live cultures that are so important.

 

And then there’s PAINT.  My kitchen nightmare took another turn for the worse last weekend.  I just don’t like it.  I’m done! So I called Pablo, the cheap and trusty painter.  And said, "Pablo, I need help, come give me a quote."  He was here within the hour.  And gave me a quote for the kitchen and family room.  Can’t wait to reveal the color!  Check back next week.

Boy the days have gotten away from me…it’s been hectic around here.  And with a little of my TV news days coming back…"Here are some of the stories we’ve been working on…"

1.  Convinced my mom to play hookey with us on Fri afternoon (she’s an elementary school principal and NEVER takes time off).  We went to Grapevine to ride Thomas the Train.  It was HOT…very hot.  But it didn’t deter the fun…the boys loved it and there was lots to do.  It was just a very old train with Thomas at the front, but it was fun.  The scenery was outstanding…a trailer park, a field and a highway under construction.  Then we reversed and did it all over again!  Here was the quote of the day…from Jacob.  "Jacob, let’s take a picture of you in front of the train and you can tell your friends at school all about it."  "UHHH…no thanks."  "Why not?"  "Mom, they’d make fun of me…this is a baby train," he mumbled.  Ooops.  Sorry, buddy…he was good to indulge us and not make too much of a fuss that we were doing "baby" stuff. 

 

2.  Had the air conditioning go out upstairs this weekend.  And we experienced highs in the 90s all weekend.  At one point the temp upstairs was 89 degrees with all of the windows open…no fun.  Not tragic though…just inconvenient.

3.  Jacob lost his tooth this weekend.  We’ve been calling him "snaggle" for months because the big tooth was pushing the little one up and out.  But after weeks and weeks of wiggling, he finally lost it…in a BOUNCE HOUSE.  He had gone to a neighbors b’day party and was jumping around and it came out.  So all of the adults and kids spent the next 15 minutes searching the bounce house for his tooth.  That night he wrote this note to the tooth fairy…

Der Toth Fere,

Doo you giv mune evin if you no that we los are toth and we cant fide it?

translation: Do you give money even if you know that we lost our tooth and we can’t find it?

Very sweet.  She responded in the affirmative with $2.

 

4.  Have to post this cute cake that my brother’s girlfriend, Anne, made and gave to us.  I have to admit it was hard to slaughter the bunny.

That’s it from here…just doing a lot of spring cleaning, organizing, landscaping, etc.  This time of year seems so busy.  But I am sure enjoying the weather and the spring colors.