2, 9, 11

Lately, I've been noticing more and more my attempts to address the needs of my kids at the different stages they are in their lives. There's just something tricky about trying to change a poopie diaper while helping a third grader with spelling words, and listening to an 11-year old complain about not being able to talk to boys on the phone.

Can I just have one stage at a time please? I think I'd been spoiled with this. Anna and Emma are only 2 years apart and they were on the same wavelength for years. I'd take them to the zoo, they were happy. To the park, happy. To Burger King, great. Shopping, even better.
Not so much now. I find myself trying to make all three happy, or at least not miserable and sometimes failing big time. I try to get some one-on-one time with all of them, but John M. is way ahead on that game. He needs my attention most often, so he's the one that gets it.

I wonder sometimes if my girls feel slighted and I hate to admit myself that they chances are, they do. They've actually voiced them a few times but most often, don't mention it. That fact, in itself, makes me love them all the more and feel guilty all the more too. I suppose I have to look at it in the way that the 1-on-1 attention that they receive is directly proportionate to what they require. You get me? I'm not sure I do either. But what I'm thinking is that, for the most part, they seem to be content to be playing with friends, or on the computer or watching Hannah Montana on Disney for the umpteenth time, and if that's the case, so be it. Now and again, they do request my involvement in something specific, a game or homework or a project and I do my best to give them 100% when I can. I hope that's good enough. That I'm not doing any harm.

My absolute favorite times are when things just seem to fall into place by themselves. Like when they all end up in the kitchen doing cheers that they've taught John, that involve Anna (or Emma) yelling 'Big Sis!' and him coming back with 'Little Bro!' and then lots of laughing.
Those are the best. I hope there's loads more of those to come.

Daniel Powter baby

John M. spent the day with my mom yesterday. I called to check on him a couple of times and she said that he was really behaving well. He ate all of his breakfast, took his medicine without a problem and ate an entire Lean Cuisine spaghetti dinner for lunch. He, then, even asked when he was going to go to sleep!

He took a nap and they were playing and reading books, and my mom said she was really feeling happy that they had a good day together.

It's at this point John M. decides to bust her bubble. He breaks out into his own version of 'Bad Day'. Just out of the blue. Way to bring her down, boy. She told him, 'John, I thought we were having a good day together'. He comes back with 'I jus' singin', Maw-Maw!'.

Rain, Rain, go away

I'm posting this picture because I'm sick and tired of cold and rain. The weather has been drear-y, with a capital DREAR lately and I really don't like it. So, here's Anna about 4 years ago on the sunny beaches of Florida. Eating her Happy Meal that the seagulls stole soon after, when we abandoned our mat to go pee. Damn gulls.

I've been busy lately, apparently too busy to post regularly. I could kick myself when I do that. The kids say things on a regular basis that I want to capture, but I forget. And those things soon fly out of my head and are gone forever. I've been wracking my brain trying to think of what Emma said last night that me fall out laughing. And I can't, for the life of me, remember. I need a memory chip installed in my brain, that I can take out and plug in to my PC.

So, latest news:

John M. had his first dentist visit yesterday because of his 'dead' blue tooth. Turns out, it's infected so he'll be on an antibiotic for the next 10 days.

Anna and Emma have kicked in full-speed with basketball games.

My house has decided it wants to fall apart and I hope the money fairy drops a load of cash down, so we can fix even a portion of it.

Mark bought a new tractor and I think it may be sexy. Thanks, Kenny.

Peace Out.

61! Wow, that's old.

Wasn't that title funny, Mom? Are you laughing?; you don't look like you are.

My mom turned the big 6-1 on the 6th, which is today, right? Well, no, but I backdated this post. See how techno-savvy I am?

I missed her birthday post by 4 days, so here it is.

What do I say about this woman who sits here with me in goofy 3D glasses, and is thoroughly enjoying it, just like I am? She is my clone, or I guess actually, I am hers. Not appearance-wise, as you can see, but personality-wise, yes!

We are both dingbats, have no sense of direction, love to laugh and be silly, and are generally in a good mood. We always said, growing up, that my sister was a lot like my dad and no question, my mom and I were two peas in a pod.

I sure haven't wondered far from her. I live about 50 feet away. I don't tell her often, but she is everything to me. She is my best friend, the one who I can tell anything to, and she will always listen and let me know that she is genuinely interested. She is my outing partner, she's always up for going most anywhere with me and the kids. She's my 'fixer-of-all'. She alters my family's clothes, and fixes anything broken. I can't count the number of times I say 'We'll just bring it to Maw-Maw's, she can fix anything'. Oh, by the way, she is an incredible 'Maw-Maw' to all seven of her grandchildren. I keep waiting for my kids to outgrow wanting to go visit 'Maw-Maw' but they never do.

I've always thought that we were alike in so many ways, but the one thing I've always felt along with that, was that I could never measure up to the person that she is. She's always there for her family and her friends. She's generous beyond belief and honest and caring. She's my example of what I want to be 'when I grow up'. She's so many things that I strive to be. Maybe one day I'll get there. Until I do, I'll appreciate the fact that she's in my life.

Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you more than mud. And penguins. And even muddy penguins.




(now there's your birthday post, so you can shut up ;^)

2007 Resolutions

I never really put my resolutions on paper, hell, sometimes I don't even make any. In the past couple of weeks, from time to time, I've thought of things that I want to work on and I figured it would do me good to actually put them in writing.

1.) Spend more one-on-one time with Mark. Have more 'dates' without the kids.

2.) Give more time/money to charitable causes. (I've actually already done some work on this one in 2007!)

3.) Be more generous, in general.

4.) Stop complaining (or at least, cut back).

5.) Lose that 10 lbs I've been talking about for the past 2 years. (This is one I definitely have been working against so far this year, I say, as I burp my Sonic lunch).

6.) Really READ things, books, magazines, blogs, whatever. Don't SKIM, but read. I've always been a skimmer.

7.) Try to teach my children more about faith and morality. Be a more positive example also.

8.) Plan more outings and get-togethers with friends and relatives.

9.) Visit more often with family.

10.) Don't spend too much money on things I don't really need. Beware of the lure of the promotional and free shipping codes! This one is going to be a doozie.

On a side note, 'Who dat talkin' bout beat dem Tigers?!'
Woo-hoo, LSU!!

Holidays

Christmas was a good one. The kids got way too many presents from Santa, but what else is new?
The favorites seem to be Anna's new cell phone, Emma's little Tracphone and John M.'s play-dough. He also loves his Elmo, which he insists on calling 'Nemo'.

We still have unopened gifts at home, but we're getting to them one by one. We opened a bottle of bubbles yesterday and I swear, Anna and Emma enjoyed them more than John M. did. Note to self, when in need of a gift, a 99 cent bottle of bubbles is the answer.

We spent Christmas Eve with my mom and my sister and her family, as is the tradition. There are 7 grandkids total, so my mom's living room looked like Toys R Us threw up. Christmas day, we made the rounds to a few different places, including my in-laws' house. I had to get a picture of Anna and Mark's mom, because they're about the same height now. And the boys all matched so I got some pictures of them too.




















I hope y'all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to a Happy New Year. Let the fireworks begin!

I present . . .

The Virgin Mary and the Angel Gabriel.



















And about 2 seconds later, the real Anna and Emma came out.

'Ice Princesses'

Anna and Emma 'graduated' from their ice skating class last week. They absolutely loved it and we may do the next one in the spring. I think it's great that they're learning how to ice skate because that's something I never even tried as a child. Growing up in Southern Louisiana, you don't see much ice unless it's floating in your lemonade.

All I Want for Christmas . .

I actually made a list this year that I have saved on my desktop at work of things that I want for Christmas. Not things that I actually expect to get, but things that I yearn to have. Problem being lack of dinero.

Anyway, I thought I'd share. Let me know what's on your list so we can whine about not getting these things the day after Christmas.

1.) An I-pod Nano (Apple has these on their site refurbished for under 100 bucks. Hmmm...)
2.) A new laptop. I know I just got one but, long story.
3.) New bathroom towels.
4.) New set of pots/pans. Boring, yes, but I need them.
5.) New oven. Ditto #4. Mine has been broken for over 2 years now, but I'm not a cook so I put it off.
6.) New chairs for my dining room table.

I figured these things would be about 2000 bucks. So, I'm only about 1960 short.

Yeah, yeah, Merry Christmas. Only 8 more days. Yikes.

Happy 61st, Daddy!

My father would have been 61 today. I did a similar post to this one last year with a baby picture of him, so I figured I'd do a teen picture this time. It's hard to believe, but I think he may have even gotten cuter.

I see so many people in my father's face. I see a little bit of me, a little of my boy, and a lot of my sister's oldest boy. The funny thing is both of the boys mentioned are named after my dad. That says a lot right there.

I could never fully express what a wonderful father he was, how thinking about him just for a few seconds makes me cry. How I miss him so much every day and how little things remind me of him all the time.

His death has definitely given me a different perspective on the death of others since. Before, I could only see the sadness in death, but now I see a reuniting of my father with his friends and family. Our family may be shrinking here, but his is growing and that makes me smile.

Happy Birthday, Daddy. I love you.

Birthday Festivities

The party went well and the best part of it is . . . it's over!
We had 23 kids there. And I don't think we lost any. (If we did, their parents aren't complaining yet).
Emma is now officially 9 years old.

And now, some pictures from the festivities:

All lined up eating their Cane's.













Emma and her buddies:















John M. asked 400 times to 'wide' the carousel, and then
this was the look on his face when we put him on. He made
a quick exit.















Emma and the 'love' fry.

Happy 9th, Emma!

I hope you have a great birthday, my girl.

You make me laugh so much every day and I'm always amazed at your humor and wit. Sometimes I swear I'm talking to a 30-year old.

I'm so proud of your dedication to your family and the importance of prayer and spirituality in your life. You show me on a daily basis your firm belief in a life that goes beyond this one and your anticipation of seeing 'June' and others once you're there.

I love the fact that you're so much still a little girl and want to play Polly Pockets with me and dance in the living room. I always ask you to stay little and live with me forever and you say you can't promise to do that. But I sure wish you could.

I feel so blessed to have you as my girl.

Love,

Mom

John and Pearl

John M. has a thing lately for picking up Pearl, our cat. Thank God Pearl is a nice, old, patient cat that puts up with lots of crap. She tolerates him, but runs away at the sight of him too. I swear, she's thinking 'I'm not sure where this boy child came from, but can you please stick a stamp on him and return to sender.'

Single Mom

That's what I feel like these days.

Mark has been working like crazy. I knew this. I expected it. I mean, he just started a new job less than a month ago that's in a galaxy far, far away. I knew what I was in store for, and I put on my 'positive attitude, it'll get better' cap.

Surprisingly, that cap has been doing its job. It hasn't been all that bad.

Mark used to travel A LOT when the girls were babies and when I tell you, I had a time with the 'single mother' thing, I'm not lying. Of course, back then I had 2 babies only 2 years apart that required all of my attention. Now, with the 11 and 9-year-olds and one small hurricane, it's so much different. Actually, so much easier.

I'm hoping that these 15-hour work days shorten in the very near future though, just because we miss having him around. And that, in the long run, this was a good decision. I have a feeling that it was, I just have to give it time.

By the way, that picture there is of the 5-day-old hurricane about 2 years ago. I didn't have new pictures, so I thought we'd review that one.


P.S. The Emma-sheep performed last night and guess who didn't take one picture? you guessed it. Add that to my bad-mother list. But there is a DVD to buy of the whole production! Yippee!

December-Eve, how did that happen?

Can you believe tomorrow is the 1st of December? That totally snuck up on me. Here's
a little of what's been going on.

The good news is, I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping. I'm completely
done with Santa shopping, woo-hoo!

Emma's birthday party is next weekend though. That'll be some work. We're going
to do a 'movie and the mall' party with about 20 kids. Yikes.

Mark's been at his new job for about 3 weeks now. There's been some ups and downs,
but I think he (and we) are adjusting slowly. He's been working mucho hours, as in he
leaves at 4:00 am and gets back at 7:00 pm, but we're hoping this doesn't last long. Please
hope with us.

Emma is a sheep in her Christmas play and a cuter sheep, I have never seen.

Anna starts basketball practice next week, and is super-happy about it after having missed
the soccer season, because her bad mother didn't sign her up.

John M. has discovered the joy of playing Pac-Man and goes around saying 'I wanna play my GAME, mama!' all the time.

That's all for now. I've been blog-o-boring lately, can you tell?
But I do love y'all. Promise.

Black Friday I Wanna Know

So, if I have something that I really want to get for my girl for Xmas cheap... and it's at Best Buy starting at 5:00a.m. Friday.
What time do you think I would have to be there to beat the other crazies to it?

Ideas?

Happy 11th Anna!

I (heart) Montages by OneTrueMedia

Emma Marie


Anna Adele


John M.

The last 10 days or so

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, or kept up with my bloggy friends. It's been a crazy last couple of weeks. I'm going to try and post some pictures here, if Blogger decides to cooperate.
We spent a nice Sunday in a small town right across the Mississippi River from us. We did a little eating and a little shopping and just enjoyed the nice South Louisiana weather.
















Last week, I got to go on Emma's field trip to the corn maze. I even rode on the bus, something I haven't done in quite a while! We had a great time, and completed the maze first. We won't mention the little bit of cheating we did to accomplish that.
















Then, last weekend was Anna's 11th Birthday Sleepover. It was challenging, let's just leave it at that. Some of the girls didn't go to sleep at all that night. They're killing me here.
















A hot man in a pink soccer coach shirt. ;^)














Now, I'll just leave you with 4 of my favorite eyes.

Times, they are a-changin'

I don't like change, have I mentioned that?

Changes are coming though. Mark starts a new job Monday. After being at the same
company for over 11 years. And the job is 90 miles away, one way.

He traded in his gas-guzzling Chevy Silverado for a Corolla. He's not thrilled about that.
But 39 miles/gallon is a lot better than 18.

Wish us luck. Hopefully this new chapter will be a good one.