Mini Me

People always tell me that my kids look so much like me. I kinda sorta believe them, but I've had a hard time seeing the resemblance. I've always known that Aiden looks like me, because he favors my dad so much. The other three look like babies that were switched for our real children in the hospital nursery. Especially that Lillian. If she wasn't the only baby in the nursery with a plethora of hair, I would swear that I got the wrong kid at checkout time.

So here are my Doppleganger children. The one on the left is me, all late 70s hair and barrettes (the picture was taken in first grade). On the right is a picture of Camryn, taken this summer between 3rd and 4th grade.



And Aiden. Side by side I can see the strong resemblance.



Maybe tomorrow I'll show you how much Quinn favors my nephew, Christopher.

I know you can't wait.

Blog Challenge: Senior Moments 1991

In honor of the new school year, think back to your senior year of high school, and answer these questions accordingly:

1. Who was your best friend? Michelle Parker

2. Did you play any sports? No. I was on the yearbook staff.

3. What kind of car did you drive? 1984 white Ford Thunderbird.

4. It’s Friday night. Where were you? At the football game, the movies, or at home. I didn't get out much. I preferred being at home!

5. Were you a party animal? Uh, no. I was a goooooood girl.

6. Were you considered a flirt? No.

7. Were you in the band, orchestra or choir? Nope.

8. Were you a nerd? No, even though my answers so far wouldn't lead one to believe that.

9. Were you ever suspended or expelled? No, but I did detention once.

10. Can you sing the fight song? Fight song? Uh, no.

11. Who was your favorite teacher? Charlotte Akin and Alan Thomas

12. What was your school mascot? the Rocket (the school opened during the height of the 60s space program)

13. Did you go to the Prom? Yep. Complete waste of money. The after prom activities were more fun (and no, I don't mean what you think I mean...)

14. If you could go back, would you? Yep. There were some things I'd do differently, and I wouldn't treat high school as the most important thing in the world. I'd study harder and actually read the assigned books from my English classes.

15. What do you remember most about graduation? That it wasn't outside. It rained, so we had to have the ceremony at my church. I remember being hot and bored.

16. Where were you on Senior Skip Day? We didn't have Senior Skip Day, so I was at school.

17. Did you have a job your senior year? Nope.

18. Where did you go most often for lunch? The cafeteria. We weren't allowed to leave campus for lunch, and there was no outside dining. All of the vending machines were removed before my senior year started, because people were getting soda and chips and not eating in the lunchroom.

19. Have you gained weight since then? Ha. Haha. HAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAA. Yes.

20. What did you do after high school? I went on a 10-day mission trip to Belize in Central America, then started college in the fall.

Woo Hoo

Rule #1 of parenting: Never promise your kids anything. Always leave yourself a way out. DO NOT COMMIT.

Rule #2: Never forget Rule #1.

Rule #3: Always do your homework if you're going to break rules #1 and 2.

The Sims games that the kids have been playing all summer are very innocent. The Sims families swim, cook, listen to music, swim, sleep, swim, and go to the bathroom (all "parts" are blurred). Nothing really bad ever happens (unless you count the people catching on fire in the kitchen. Our kids think that's funny. The little pyromaniacs.) The Sim families shop and work and are, actually, fairly boring. I don't get the kids' fascination with them.

Being the good mom I am (ahem) I went to Common Sense Media to check the reviews for Sims 2 before I forked over $40 for it . It seems that the Sims 2 game is a bit more mature than its predecessors. Who knew?

From Common Sense Media:

This is definitely not a game for younger players. Characters can have sex with limbs poking out under the covers (or out of the hot tub) -- and even their make-out sessions get pretty steamy. And the characters can be cruel or materialistic, too; a romance-driven Sim may want to have multiple partners, and upset a partner when she gets caught in bed with another, while a fortune-driven Sim might be obsessed with buying an expensive dining room chair or getting the kids into private school. Mature players, though, will surely spend many hours developing cleaning and cooking skills, attempting to win over the headmaster -- or luring a lover under the covers.

The Sex is called "Woo Hoo"on the game, taken from the words that appear in the bubbles above the Sims' heads when they're in the middle of their afternoon delight.

Yeah. I don't think that's coming to my house ANYTIME soon.

The kids were disappointed when I tried to explain why we couldn't get the game. There was whining, and a few choruses of "BUT YOU PROOOOOMISED!" I took 'em for Bruster's ice cream and that seemed to make up for their loss. A single scoop of Cotton Candy Explosion in a sugar cone covers a multitude of disappointments.

(I hear you out there. You're mumbling that I probably shouldn't be eating ice cream. Well, little do you know. I had the sugar free mango sorbet and it was DEE LISH US, thankyouverymuch. I was GOOD.)

Yesterday evening, my hubby brought home games more suited to the kids' ages and interests. He's such a good daddy.

The boys got a cool train simulator game. They can build their own tracks and run trains. My boys think trains are da bomb. They've spent today telling me every.little.thing their trains can do. It's really a cool game. I just don't need to hear about it EVERYTWENTYSECONDS.

Camryn got a veterinarian game. It's called Pet Vet or something like that. She has decided that she wants to go into veterinary medicine when she grows up, so this game is perfect for her. She's learning about animals and how to earn money and spend money and save money all at the same time.

On her game you have to buy veterinary equipment and medicines, and if you don't have enough cash to buy the things you need, you can go to the bank and take out a loan. Not Camryn. She has learned so well that credit is not a good thing. She won't even pretend to borrow money from the bank on the game. She's saving her cyber-money and paying cyber-cash for all of her cyber-office purchases. How COOL is that? She's NINE and she GETS IT.

Who needs the Sims? We don't need no stinkin' Sims!

WOO HOO!

Cel-e-brate Good Times, C'mon!

It's funny what a little motivation will do for children.

My kids have become enamored with "The Sims" computer programs this summer. Their daddy used to play Sims games all the time (before he got really busy at work). The kids found his old CDs and loaded them onto the computers and now they're hooked on The Sims.

They've downloaded (free) things to spice up their games and discovered cheats to help them make more money and keep their Sim families healthy. Now, of course, they want more Sims games.

Seeing as how it's so close to Christmas, I suggested that they put the desired Sims games on their Christmas lists. Won't work, I was told. Their Christmas lists are already full (they only get 3 items each for Christmas, and I guess they each already have their top 3 items on their lists...)

So a plan was hatched. My 9 year-old gets the "Plan Hatcher of the Year" award. She's a great hatcher of plans.

"Mommy? If we clean stuff up around the house today, can we earn money to buy Sims 2?"

I ain't no dummy. I'm all over getting out of household chores. Sounded like a plan to me.

I gave the kids a long list. I expected about half of it to be done before they pooped out. It was enough to exhaust even me.

The list?

Empty dishwasher.
Put up dishes.
Wipe down kitchen counters and table.
Vacuum house.
Straighten up den.
Clean bedrooms.
Make beds.
Clean basement (included vacuuming, getting toys, books, etc. out of the floor, and putting up a bunch of stuff that was on the big table down there)
Empty dryer.
Empty washing machine.
Put up folded clothes.
Clean up the playroom (this was a BIG job)

They presented their initial request to me around 8:30 am. It's now 11:45 am.

They're done with every chore I had on the list. They didn't fuss, fight, scream or whine. They've been super nice little worker bees.

Camryn is now cooking lunch for all of the kids.

I'm searching Amazon for their game.

Aiden said, "I bet this is the best day of your life!"

Pretty close, son. Pretty close!

Delivered

Whew!

Today has been the day for deliveries at our house.

I rolled out of bed around 9:30 am (SHUT.UP I have 12 days until school starts! I'm working my way back around to getting up at 7:30 am! Leave me alone.)

I had changed into my clothes and was in the "reading room" (wink, wink) when I heard the doorbell. I ran to wash my hands and get to the door. As I opened it, the FedEx man was driving away.

Deliveries 1 and 2 were a box of scrapbook supplies (ya know, 'cause I'm almost out of those...not) and a new baker's rack for Lillian's room, which I'm using to replace her changing table. 'Cause she's potty trained. Isn't that the best news EVER?

About an hour later I got a huge delivery (#3 of the day) that I had been anticipating for a couple of weeks.

The UPS man rang my bell and brought me 22 boxes of cookbooks for my friends at ScrapShare.





This cookbook was the brainchild of my friend Joanie, and I had the pleasure of helping her give it life. It went to press in June; we took orders for 577 books and they finally made it to me today. Now I get the fun task of packing and shipping them. I can't wait to see what people have to say (unless it's negative, of course...but I don't think there will be any complaints.)



Camryn help me put the new Baker's Rack together while Lillian was taking her nap. It looks so nice. That changing table held up through 4 kiddos, and it served us well. It is going to the basement to rest while we try to find it and its crib sister a new, loving home.



The mister called while I was in Lillian's room switching everything from the changing table to the new rack (who knew the child had SO MANY hairbows?!?) He said CarMax guy had called to report that our new van had arrived from Miami (delivery #4). Oh, and would I mind bringing the kids to Fuddrucker's and meeting him (the hubby) for dinner? Oh, and would I empty out the Pacifica and then drive the truck back home so he could go pick up new van?

I suggested that the Mister bring home dinner and then go back to get the van himself, because

DUH

had he forgotten that TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT?

"High School Musical 2" is coming on in less than an hour! We couldn't leave NOW to go get a VAN when Gabriella and Troy and Sharpay and Ryan and Taylor and Chad are due to show up on our TV at 8 pm est!



Yeah, baby. That will be the best delivery yet!

We have our snacks, our jammies on, and our blankets laid out on the floor.





Bring back the East High crew!

Reason #1,945 Why I LOVE the Internet

I the World Wide Web.

It's the bestest invention ever.

Thank you, Al Gore.

(That last part was sarcasm. You know that, right? Al didn't really invent the internet. If he had, I'm sure it would be in a lockbox somewhere.)

I belong to this awesome "family" of people called ScrapShare. So many good things have come from my affililation with that group. So many things. Those ladies (and sprinkling of gentlemen) are so generous and friendly. I've only met about 40 of the 10,000+ members, but the ones I have met I'd do just about anything for. Really.

Case in point: One of the ladies recently went to Disney World. As I shared in a previous blog, the Mister and I are taking our brood down to see Mickey in December. When I found out that Catherine was going, I e-mailed her and asked her if she'd have a spare minute to send my kids a postcard from Disney. I told her I'd reimburse her for all costs incurred.

Cat replied that not only would she not accept my money, but that she would send each child his or her own card. How great is that?!? I was only expecting one postcard addressed to the whole family, but Catherine, being a wise woman and a fellow mother, knew that it would mean a great deal to my kids to receive their own personal cards. She even asked for each child's favorite character. And she wouldn't take a dime. Nay, not even a penny!

Here we all are right after retrieving Monday's mail from the box.

Notice that Mommy got her own personalized card, too!

All five of us were jumping around as if Ed McMahon himself had given us a check for a bajillion dollars. We were giddy with Disney magic, sprinkled with Pixie Dust.

Catherine had indeed personalized each precious card, signing something different on each one and even mimicking the characters' signatures. My kids thought that "Disney World" had sent the cards. They were truly enthralled.

I collected each of our five new treasures before they could be lost or hidden in bedrooms, and I put them in a place of honor: the front of our refrigerator.

When I see them, they make me smile for two reasons: (1) I recall Catherine's kindness and (2) I can't wait to go to Disney and return the favor!

Catherine rocks!

The internet rocks!

Thank you, Cat!

Everyone Poops

At our house, poop is funny.

Crude? Yes.

Immature? Maybe. Probably. Okay, yeah. I'll give you immature.

But we get a good laugh over poo and flatulence and all that stuff that goes along with it. What can I say? We have boys!

Just a few minutes ago, my husband I were sitting here in the den chatting about the plans for the remainder of his day off. Aiden was using the potty, which is about 10 feet from my spot on the couch. I heard him make some sort of gosh-awful howling/singing/dying dog noise, so I hollered (yes, "hollered") out to him, "Hey, Aiden! Are you okay?"

He wasn't okay. He has a very bad habit of not drinking much throughout the day, so he was a bit, errrrrrmmmmm, constipated? In a whiny, pained voice I heard him grunt this reply: "My poopie hurrrrrrrrts!"

Bless his heart.

I'm sure it wasn't the least bit funny to Aiden at the time, but His daddy and I sure did get a kick out of it. (If you had heard that noise he made, you would've, too!)

Of course, all 6 members of our family jammed into the bathroom to see his production. I swear to you, it was the size of a small baked potato. It was at least 3-inches long and about 1 1/2-inches wide. It looked like it hurt. (Lucky for you there are no pictures, because Lillian decided she would take the honor of flushing the "poo-tato".)

Aiden survived, and even chuckled a bit at all of us gawking at his poo.

Then he went and guzzled a good 8 ounces of apple juice (aka "poopie medicine"), lest it happen again.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Cars

We're car shopping again. I'm not 100% happy about it.

We traded our 2001 Silhouette minivan for a 2004 tricked out Chrysler Pacifica back in November 2006. I have never been so happy with a car purchase. My Pacifica has all the bells and whistles. Sunroof. Satellite radio. GPS. DVD player (with a changer that holds 6 DVDs!) Heated seats. Remote rear-opening hatch.

If it was a man I'd have an affair with it. LOVE THAT CAR. The #1 reason?

IT IS NOT A MINIVAN.

I never wanted to be a minivan mom, but alas, I was bound and gagged and forced to join the club. Back in February 1998 I traded a sporty white Nissan Maxima with a killer sound system for a 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan. The Caravan was "island teal" and I didn't even get to test drive it. I was just a couple of weeks shy of my due date with my first child, and I couldn't even fit myself behind the wheel of the van. I almost shed tears as I said goodbye to my Maxima and rode off the lot in my new minivan.

The first time we loaded up the van with all of the baby stuff and set out on our first long trip, my husband looked at me and sarcastically said, "Yeah. This would've all fit into the Maxima!"

Hmph. Smarty pants.

Our next car purchase was another minivan. The aforementioned Silhouette. Practical? Yes. Something that made me feel frumpy and so much older than my real age? Yes. Silly, I know. It's just a car. But I love driving, and I love crankin' the music UP. People turn and stare when your minivan is thumping. It just ain't right.

So I'm now faced with having to buy another minivan. Why?

Because my husband hates our Pacifica. (I hate his truck, too, but you don't see me forcing him to buy something new.)

The Silhouette was about to give up the ghost back in November. We had been saving for a new(er) car (we only buy used cars), but our budget wasn't quite where we wanted it to be when it became necessary to buy something. So we settled. I wanted something BESIDES another minivan, but it had to hold all 6 of us. The Pacifica fit our budget, even if it wasn't the most practical choice.

My husband is tall, and he has to duck his head to climb into the car. That's one reason he hates it. The second? Quinn and Lillian are thisclose together in the back seat, and they cannot keep their hands off of one another. There is always at least one fight between the two of them every.time.we.get.into.the.car. I'm used to it, but it gives my husband headaches. There is also very little room for extra stuff if we're all in the car at the same time. We have to limit our purchases if we're out shopping, or pack light if we're traveling.

See this picture? It's from our June beach trip. Aiden's holding the box of peanuts in his lap because there was NOWHERE ELSE to put it.



So yesterday we went out to CarMax and talked to our man Mark. He showed us a Toyota Sienna van and, at my request, a GMC Yukon XL. Nothing else fit our budget or our garage (I wouldn't even consider any other van, because the Sienna is top rated by Consumer Reports and my auto-mechanic father.)

I hate to admit that between the two, the van was more spacious and comfortable. The Yukon just felt like a big ole box, and the door handle was located at my hip, which was awkward. There was very little leg room on the back bench, too.

We put in a transfer request for the van (it's in Miami right now). Our "new", white, 2004 Toyota Sienna will be here within the next 21 days.

Sigh.

My husband told me that when I no longer have to cart around 4 kids, I can have my dream car. That would be a black Saab convertible.

I'm counting the days.

$28

We swam earlier in the day today than we have the past few days, simply because IT IS SO FREAKIN' HOT here. This is the 3rd consecutive day that the temperature has been over 100 degrees (yesterday's and Wednesday's high temps, both 104 degrees, set records!)

Since Quinn has learned to swim without floaties, Lillian has been trying to copy him. I only let her do it if I'm sitting on the steps with her (our steps span the width of the pool, so she can swim from one side to the other and still touch the step underneath her.) This has given her GREAT confidence. Today I saw her swim back and forth many times with her head underwater.

I decided to encourage her to swim from the steps to me (I was standing in the middle of the shallow end of the pool).

She wasn't sure at first. She hemmed and hawed and backed out several times. After a great deal of coaxing, and promises of ice cream as a reward, she did it. She swam from the step to me without sinking. She swam!

I told the kids to let me finish up the last 19 pages of my book, and then we'd go. No one had eaten lunch yet, so I told them we could have a quick sandwich before we went to get our usual single scoop cones- OR - they could all get banana splits or brownie sundaes in lieu of a normal meal.

Guess what they chose.

It cost me $28 and some change, but it was DEELISHUS. Two brownie sundaes, two banana splits with no nuts, and one banana split with pecans.

Aiden declared it the "BEST DAY EVER!"

Sometimes you just gotta eat ice cream for lunch, you know?

Losses & Gains

This summer we've lost a lot.

Lillian lost her diapers... during the day. (She's now wearing panties...keeping them dry... all day long!)

Quinn lost his floaties. (As of yesterday, he is swimming without them. Sliding without them. Jumping into the water without them. Yea!)

I lost my alarm clock. (I can't seem to open my eyes before 9 am.)

Aiden lost 2 teeth. (The bottom 2... though we had to hold him down to pull them when they became so loose he risked swallowing them in his sleep...)

Camryn lost 1 tooth. (Upper incisor... Tooth Fairy was too generous, giving her $6!)

I'm losing my grandmother a little more every day (though she was truly lost to Alzheimer's over 10 years ago, her health is failing and she is slipping away...)

With all the losses, I've gained so much in the past few months.

I've gained a new appreciation for my husband (I remember every day why I married him almost 12 years ago! He keeps me laughing. He keeps me amazed. He just plain keeps me.)

I've gained a new love for my kids (as frustrating as they can be sometimes, they're each so unique and bring me SO MUCH JOY. My love for them deepens every day!)

I've gained weight (which I desperately need to lose. DESPERATELY.)

I've gained a righteous suntan (yes, I use sunscreen!)

I've gained contentment. (I have learned to be truly happy with what I have, because I have A LOT, and not necessarily monetarily...)

It's been a summer of losses and gains. I can't wait to see what the future holds.

Just Two Things

JUST TWO THINGS

(Thanks to my sister for the email forward!)

Two names you go by:

1. Mommy
2. Beth

Two things you are wearing right now:

1. a bra
2. comfy pajamas (Yeah, it's 11 am. So what?!?)

Two things you would want (or have) in a relationship:

1. trust
2. laughter

Two things you like to do:

1. hang out with my family
2. scrapbook

Two things you want very badly at the moment:

1. breakfast
2. for the media cabinet to declutter itself

Two things you did last night:

1. watched tv (Big Brother 8 & "A Side Order of Life" on Lifetime)
2. culled some things in my scrap room

Two things you ate today:

1. 2 bites of a 3 day-old chocolate iced donut
2. a couple of sips of iced tea

Two people you last talked to:

1. Pick a child, any child
2. My husband

Two things you're doing tomorrow:

1. taking books to the kids' school to donate for their new library
2. going swimming

Two longest car rides:

1. Birmingham, AL to Spokane, WA (I was 18 months-old and remember none of it)
2. Birmingham, AL to Winter Park, CO (actually did this twice: 1990 & 1991)

Two favorite holidays:

1. Christmas
2. Mother's Day

Two favorite beverages:

1. Iced tea sweetened with Splenda
2. ice cold Coca-Cola from a glass bottle

Two things about me that you may not have known:

1. I only have one ovary/fallopian tube (I lost the others in a freak alligator wrestling accident)
2. I collect Absolut ads

Two jobs I have had in my life:

1. Gymboree salesperson
2. Stripper (the look on your face is priceless!)

Two Movies I would watch over and over:

1. Gone With the Wind
2. Adventures in Babysitting

Places I have lived:

1. Alabama
2. South Carolina

Two of my favorite foods:

1. nachos
2. toasted ravioli

Diving In

My husband took the kids to see a movie this afternoon, so when I finished the last load of laundry, I put on my swimsuit and went outside. I had a book and a glass of iced tea, and I was determined to stay out there and R-E-L-A-X.

Before I could kick back and start reading, I had to rid the pool of its bug population. We find hundreds of tiny dead millipedes on the bottom of the pool every time we go out to swim. I hate stepping on bugs in the pool, so I always have to vacuum up the critters; I have to dip the floating bugs off of the top, too.

Bugs. Blech. I'd make a horrible entomologist.

After about 20 minutes, the pool was sparkling clean. I settled down to read my book (a nice, quick crime drama by James Patterson. Short chapters, just enough plot to hook you... perfect summertime read!) I had about 3 chapters under my belt when I thought I heard thunder in the distance.

Murphy's Law.

I folded my book closed and sat on the steps to concentrate on the noise I'd heard. While I was listening, I had a flashback to a trip my family took to Panama City Beach, Florida when I was in elementary school. I remember getting up early on the morning we were supposed to leave, just so I could jump just one more time off of the pool's diving board. My dad took me down to the pool, and we found that it hadn't yet been cleaned (it was freakin' early.... what was I thinking?) I decided to jump in anyhow, right through the layer of bugs that were floating on the water's surface. I coasted all the way to the shallow end on one breath and got out of the pool. My work was done.

This flashback made me wonder:

(1) What was I thinking, diving into all those bugs? Sheesh! "Hey little me! That is not what we do! Bugs are gross!"

(2) How many times have I denied my kids a memory like the one I have of that singular dive into a frigid pool? I know there have been little things like that that my kids have asked to do, but in my laziness I've said, "Not right now!" My dad most likely had better things to do that morning, but he took the time to make sure I got one last jump before we left.

My dad has always been good like that, making sure my sister and I had unique experiences and memories to draw on. He always encouraged us to put down our books on car trips so we'd actually have to see what we were driving past. It's such a cliche', but my daddy loves life. He lives to learn, to absorb things, to capture moments.

I need to start living more. Absorbing more. Learning more. Creating more capturable moments.

Race you to the pool!

Oooooh itchy itchy!

Last night we swam after supper. When I got out, I felt a slight discomfort around my left boob. When I took off my swimsuit, this fell out (WARNING: IT IS A BUG!)

















I didn't scream. I just looked at it and thought, "Huh. That bug bit my boobie!"

Before I could scoop it up and study it, my husband had grabbed the bug with a Kleenex and sent it on its final voyage down the toilet.

The spot where the bug had fallen from was sore for awhile, and by the time I went to bed, I had a nice, firmish, red welt on my boob. I was convinced I was going to die from the bite of this strange creature.

I got up this morning (obviously not dead) and Googled "green bugs". I found the picture on Google images and followed the links to the original site. Turns out my boobie biting friend is a stink bug. Weird, 'cause I thought his odor was a bit like freshly mowed lawn. Not a bit stinky at all.

Tadlets or Pigpoles?

I knew it was coming. One day I'd have to answer the big question.

"Mommy, how can Miss Piggy and Kermit be married?"

It's the wonderful world of Muppets, kids. Watch and pretend.

Watch. And. Pretend.