We Must Be Doing Something Right

I worry a lot about how James and I are raising our children.

I worry about if we are teaching them enough about religion, our country, respect, loyalty, love and being polite.

I realized this week that we certainly must be doing something right.

Emily frequently asks for snack money on Wednesdays and Fridays. Snacks are generally between $.25 and $.50 and so we have agreed that $.50 is sufficient.

I've noticed that over the past few weeks, Emily has been asking for $1.00. When I only give her $.50, she goes to her dad for another $.50.

I admit that I've been way to stressed and distracted over the past month or so to investigate into that and ask her why she wanted more money.

James told me this week that she has been bringing snack money for another little girl in her class. I know which little girl it is and it is quite obvious that she is probably not getting snack money because her parents don't have it to spare.

It makes me proud to say that my daughter is generous and loving. She is friendly and cares about those around her.

Now, if I could just get her to quit telling her sister that she hates her.

Menu Planning Monday 1/9-1/15

Saturday - Taco Salad

Sunday - Chicken and Sausage Gumbo, Pistollettes

Monday - Creamy Chicken and Veggie Pasta

Tuesday - Ravioli Bake

Wednesday - Cheesey Chicken Pot Pie

Thursday - Crock Pot Chili

Friday - Scrambled Eggs, Biscuits

Creative Writing

I always enjoyed reading and writing as a child. I loved entering poetry contest and I thoroughly loved my English classes in high school.

Emily seems to be following in my footsteps. She loves books and loves to read. She also loves to write stories. It seems like every time she spends some time at my mother-in-law's house, I get an email with a short story by Emily.

I love reading these stories and finding the common factor between the fictional characters and our family.

Here are a few from the recent months.

MY STORY

ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A MEAN WITCH NAMED KENDAL. SHE LIVED IN A HAUNTED HOUSE. AND ALWAIS EATS JUNKFOOD. ONE NIGHT KENDAL WENT EXPLOREING. SHE SAW ANTHER WITCH. SHE ASKED ARE YOU A GOOD WITCH OR A BAD WITCH? SHE SAID I AM A GOOD WITCH.THEN I AM GOING TO SHOOT YOU. SO THE GOOD WITCH RAN AYWAY. THE BAD WITCH SAID COME BACK COME BACK!!! BUT SHE DID NOT COME BACK. SO THE BAD WITCH WENT HOME.

my story

Once upon a time there was a mom who loved to cook. She loved to cook rice, potatoes, green beans,and a special dessert. The next day her daughter was interested in helping her mom with the cooking. So when the mother was about to cook the daughter wanted to cook too. Then the daughter asked her mom if she could cook with her? The mom said no! The daughter begged and begged until she was so tired. Finally, the mom said, maybe latter. Baby Ollie is going to help with breakfast and you can help with lunch. The daughter said okay and she waited and waited until it was her turn. Latter on the child went up to her mom and said it is taking too long. Finally, it was lunch time and it was her turn to cook. So, she got to cook after all.
The end 11/27/09 from Emily

Recipes
One Christmas there was a mom who loved to cook. But, she did not know how. She wanted a recipe book; so, she went to a store. They did not have any cookbooks at any store. So since it was Christmas, she can ask Santa for one. So when she went to bed she had sweet dreams of getting a recipe book. The next morning she woke up as fast as she could and went to wake up her child. She said, "wake up Sweety; Santa came. The child woke up. When Mom opened her first gift, she was thrilled. She got her recipe book. Then the child opened her gift. She got a barbie doll. They both had a good Christmas.

The End
Written by Emily Street

Yep, that was me.

We all have that one friend who is a clumsy son of a bitch. The one that always trips or falls for no logical reason.

I don't have one of those friends because I am that person. I am clumbsy enough for all of us.

I am the one that had my front tooth knocked out by my 2-year old while playing horsey on the floor.

I am the one that tripped on the crack in the sidewalk at USL and completely fell off of the sidewalk, into the road.

I am the one that sprained my ankle walking down a 4-step set of steps, while holding my child.

I am the one that fell in my office, next to the copier, for no apparent reason. Just fell. Right on my ass. I wasn't even walking. Just standing there and my legs gave out.

I am also the one that fell in Office Depot yesterday.

It was quite simple and really quick. I tripped over my own damn feet. There were no obstacles in the aisle. There was nothing slippery on the floor.

Just me and my feet.

I broke my fall with my hands, but still ended up right on my ass and one shoe slipping off.

I started laughing as soon as I started falling. This is so typical of me and I was imagining myself, sprawled on the floor of Office Depot, surrounded by people coming to my rescue or just there to laugh. I imagined filling out an accident report for my injuries. I imagined a big settlement check for my pain and suffering. I know a damn good attorney that could help me with that.

Thank goodness for the big red cardboard box full of sale items. It blocked me from the view of the rest of the store.

Except for that one lady.

Damn, someone saw me.

She didn't find it very funny and she actually looked annoyed that I thought it was funny.

She didn't dare ask if I was OK or if I needed help or even joke about my little tumble.

She rounded that corner like she was on a mission to find pink highlighters and a label machine.

She was no fun.

I stood up. Dusted myself off and went on about my day. Got my supplies and headed out.

I fell in Office Depot, y'all!

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of 2009

I apologize to anyone that follows this blog regularly for the lack of posting. I just really haven't had time and I really haven't had the umpf to want to do it.

Christmas is behind us and we are embarking on a new year. Every website running and every magazine headline is about making resolutions for the New Year. OK, so maybe the headlines are still talking about Tiger Woods and his 800 mistresses, but websites are certainly giving ideas of what you can do to lose weight, save money and get organized in 2010.

Before I can even begin to think about what I want to change in my life, I want to reflect on this past year....The Good, The Bad and The UGLY.

Let's start with THE UGLY.

James was laid off in February 2009. It was heartbreaking. He was out of work for about 4 weeks and even though has been working ever since, the pay is not as good and we have never really gotten back on track. Funny how a few weeks of unemployment can completely change your life....for months and months and months. I often find myself wondering where we would be at if he was still employed there.

My brother was bitten by a poisonous snake. For hours we didn't know if he would be able to keep his foot and it was just horrible to see him in such agonizing pain. In the end, he was able to keep his foot and he has recovered. I wouldn't say "fully" recovered because I think he still has some issues with pain and numbness, but he is alive and has both of his feet.

In addition, both my dad and my brother lost their jobs in 2009. Both are working now, but both lost really good jobs and are now working for lesser pay and benefits.

THE BAD

James changed jobs again during the year. This time he quit. He was extremely unhappy and it was affecting the whole family. He was offered a position with the company that he worked temporarily while unemployed and he jumped on that offer. Having him home every night is something that we had to get accustomed to, but it makes the girls very happy to see him every single day. The pay isn't that great and he has no benefits, but it is just one little bump in the road.

Emily was bitten by a spider. Ended up being non-poisonous, but it still caused some painful symptoms for her. After some anti-biotics and anti-biotic cream, she was good to go.

Kendal quit dancing after 3 weeks. At first I was really disappointed, but after a short discussion with her I realized that she really just didn't like it. It did feel good to be able to reduce my monthly payment to the studio and it saves me one weekly trip to Carencro.

James and I had a rough year. Everyone tells me that every couple goes through this and I'm sure that the financial burden placed on our family this year didn't help the situation. We've both been stressed all year long and we end up taking it out on each other. I love my husband dearly, but we've got lots of work to do in the new year.

Kendal has been having sleep issues for most of the year. I don't even know how to sum it up because it is so complicated. I think that we are making progress and she is spending more and more time sleeping in her actual room, but we still have a long way to go until everyone is happy. This is exhausting for me and has made me a generally unhappy person most days.

THE GOOD

I got a new nephew this year. Landon was born on February 20th and he is just a squishy little fat potato. He is always smiling and I love seeing him learn new things, like taking steps and seeing the world from a new height.

We got a Wii. We didn't follow the craze and buy one right as they entered the market. We waited and when we finally got one, we had a blast. As with everything else, our playing time decreased over time, but we still love that thing. Good family fun.

Emily auditioned for the Elite dance team at her dancing school and made it. She has competed in one competition and has a few more to go, including Disney World in February. We are thrilled with her success and it is so exciting to see her excelling at something that she truly loves.

Emily is doing fantastic in school and is reading on a second grade level.

Jeremy and Brynne were married this year and we were able to take a family trip to Chicago to celebrate with them. I am truly happy to have such a wonderful sister-in-law.

I got to eat at NEELY'S BBQ! Dat's right!

I turned 30 and my wonderful and thoughtful family threw me an awesome surprise birthday party. Everyone who is anyone to me was there and we had such a great time. I have always wanted a surprise party and now I can say that I had the best ever.

Emily started losing teeth. She is growing up so quickly. 5 teeth gone so far and another loose now.

Kendal turned 3. WOW. I still can't believe that one. She is freaking 3 years old. She actually said the word "actually" to James last night. And she used it in the right context. She moved up in classes at daycare and is officially a "kid" and not a "baby."

I went to 4 jewelry markets this year and had really really wonderful quality time with my mom and sister at each one. Although the main reason we go is to shop and get good deals, we really enjoy each other and the time that we can spend time away from children and husbands/boyfriends.

I only had 5 migraines this year! That is such progress. I'm still not happy, though, and I have an appointment to see a new doctor in January. Going from 12 to 5 is great, but I'm still suffering with horrible headaches a few times a month, in addition to the 5 monsters.

Looks to me that we have had way more GOOD things and most importantly, we are all healthy. We all love each other and we try to spend as much quality time together as possible.

It was a rough year, but I have some preliminary ideas of how I can make 2010 a much better one.

Picture of the Day

I've been telling everyone that asks for a Christmas list for Kendal that she just doesn't play with toys. That would be true for most days. She likes to play with her babies and pretend cook in her kitchen. Her biggest "thing" is to cook with me in my real kitchen.

So, no, she doesn't play with toys.

But you wouldn't know it by this set-up Friday night.

Little girls really can be bitches sometimes

Sugar and spice and everything nice.

PPPPFFFFFTTTTT.

That is not what all little girls are made of.

What I witnessed tonight was a reminder of my childhood and, even worse, a glimpse into my future as a mother.

Let me paint you a picture.

Three girls. All around 9 years old.

Girl #1: Blonde, tall, kinda cute but messy, loud

Girl #2: Brunette, tall, really cute face, cute clothes, kinda quiet

Girl #3: Brunette, short, pudgy, awkward

So this is how it shakes out.

All three girls arrive together. All three girls act the donkey and run around the lobby.

#1 lays down on a bench. #2 and #3 are sitting in chairs across the lobby. #1 gets up and walks to the bathroom. #2 follows. #3 follows.

#1 and #3 come out of the bathroom and run outside. They stand outside the glass doors.

#2 comes out of the bathroom, sees the girls outside and opens the glass door. As she slips outside, #1 slips inside.

The look on #2's face told a story. They were obviously fighting.

#2 says "So that is how you are going to be?"

#1 ignores her.

#3 goes inside and sits with #1. They whisper to each other and ignore #2 when she comes in.

#2 tries several times to make conversation with #1 to which she gets ignored.

#1 gets up and grabs a magazine. She proceeds to show #3 different pages in the magazine while whispering and bending the magazine so that it was impossible for #2 to see.

#2 gets up and grabs a magazine. The other two swap seats and when #2 returns, #3 is sitting right smack dab in the middle of the obvious tension between #1 and #2.

For the next 7 minutes I watched #1 and #2 take turns saying "Oh #3, look at this" "Oh #3, this is so cute." "Oh #3, smell this."

And poor #3. She sat there trying to be friends with both. I can guarantee to you that she was not going to pick one over the other. That would be friendship suicide.

So she sat there, in her pitiful mismatched outfit, smelling perfume samples and looking at pictures of Beyonce. Her poor little head was whipping back and forth between the other two girls.

And I couldn't help but feel bad for #2 too. She kept trying to talk to #1 and there was just no way that girl was going to give in. She just gave ugly looks and hair flips.

Shame on #1 for being such a little bitch for something that I must assume was some stupid little girl problem.

And we wonder why girls grow up to be catty and bitchy women. We start 'em young.