Are You Ready for some FOOTBALL?!

Bring on the smack talk ladies---college football season is ON! And let's just say this Ohio State Buckeye could not be happier!

As an alum, I am proud to say we not only have the best damn band in the land--we are going to be kickin' butt on the field. So I say to her and her and other college football FANatics, in the words of her, "Fear the nut.....fear the NUT!"

****The picture doesn't show it but the chair is covered with a Buckeye stadium blanket and Spanky is wearing an Ohio State jersey.  Dino is wearing his orange for the Cleveland Browns; he's more into the pro scene ;) and Sarah didn't want to be in the picture but she will be cheering for the Buckeyes today if she wants to eat (yes, I am kidding or am I?).

QUICK UPDATE--Winning but hoping Beanie is OK.

Now Spanky is TWO

Spanky,

My goodness--you are two! I can't believe it! It seems like yesterday I found out I was pregnant with you...where has the time gone?!

If anyone ever broke the mold (and shattered it into hundred of pieces) in our home, it is you. You are my busy, busy, busy boy. There is always something exciting and wonderful happening and you must always be involved :) You laugh harder than any child I have ever heard, you scream with delight over the smallest fun things than any other child and you can throw a tantrum better than any child I have ever seen :)

You want to grow up and join your brother and sisters in all their activities. You follow them everywhere. If you had your choice, you would be sitting with Dino in his pre-k class right now, coloring away.

You love markers--you love to color on paper, people and everything else. I can always smile during my toughest work out or my 86th squat just be glancing at your latest 'art work' on my calf. You are always carrying a stuffed animal (preferably beanie baby kitty) or a doll baby where ever you go. I know you will make a great dad--you show such love to these objects along with any baby you see anywhere. You are generous with your kisses to say the least!

You are fiercely independent. You like to do things by yourself--no matter how hard it might be. But you always remember those you love. No one can leave the house without you opening up your arms and walking up to them saying 'hug'. And then you wave and say 'bye, love doo'. It is the cutest thing.

Like your brother, you love to dance. "You May Be Right" gets you rockin' no matter when you hear it. I can't wait til you join him in singing.

I amazed how much you have stolen my heart along with all your siblings. You bring such a joy to our family!

Love,

Mommy

Rude @ssholes do exist, even in Texas

After dropping off 3/4 of the kids at school this morning, I brought Spanky out to the car and noticed a dad getting out of his car to bring in his daughter. Now usually, I would have not have given him a second look but he was wearing this white belt with really weird '80s style 'rips' in the leather. Now white belts, rips or no rips are not the most appropriate attire for older males taking their kids to school--heck, I'll say white belts are not appropriate for any males.

He said in a very loud voice and with a huge smile,  "Hi Lisa, how are you doing?"

I was taken aback--I did not know, at least I didn't think I knew him and I quickly felt guilty for mocking his attire choice in my mind.

I flashed my biggest smile. "I'm great! How are you today?"

His smile turned to disgust and his tone from friendly to plain ugly. "I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to another Lisa." (Yes, he totally emphasized the YOU--I am sure every person in the parking lot heard that YOU.)

And he turned to get his daughter's backpack before approaching another mom, apparently the Lisa.

I looked down, picked up my pace and scurried to the car. But in my mind I totally told him off and made him cry, but not in front of his kid. My inner b!tch has limits ;)

There's Just Too Much to See Waiting in Front of Me

The season is changing; kids are buying new shoes, getting hair cuts and buying school supplies. Moms who spent the lazy days of summer fixing meals, driving to camps, organizing vacations...are now faced with a not so noisy home and a caldron of emotions. There is that feeling of freedom--no constant messes unless we make them (and we never make a mess right?), no fighting or whining--and at the same time there is that small black hole in the very core of our soul as we let go of the hearts outside our body  and watch them as little birds test the air outside the nest. 

Usually this is the season I focus on getting the house back in order--the mud scrapped off the walls, the carpets cleaned, the refrigerator freed of the mystery food that has been forming new life. Then I might spend some time getting those errands I have put off forever--Spanky does need his birth certificate some day afterall. Before I know it my kids are back home. And they have changed; I have not. And that is not fair to me, my children or the God who has plans for me.

So I am looking to grow myself. I am trying to think back to what I enjoyed. I love to cook--maybe some new cooking classes; I used to write--maybe a writing class at the community college. I have always loved pilates--maybe I could get trained to teach. Whatever it is, I have to find something. My life has been on hold for ten years and I do not want to be the mom that can't handle living when her children do leave the nest. If they left tomorrow, I could not. And the last thing they need is guilt about 'abandoning' their mom.

And now I ask the question we ask our children all the time "What do you want to be when you grow up?" and search for an answer.

I didn't ponder the question too long, I was hungry and went out for a bite. Ran into a chum with a bottle of rum and we wound up drinking all night.

Don't I wish!

These two brothers go to a shoe store....

The first brother is very excited. 

"New shoes for me!" he exclaims as he walks in the store.

The second brother sees another boy playing with a ball and proceeds to grab it out of his hand. In his mind, all is his.

The first brother looks the shoes over carefully. They are for school and he wants the perfect pair.

After minutes of picking up shoes, inspecting the stripes, the feel, he decides on a pair of cute white tennis shoes with a fire truck on the side that lights up when he stomps.

The first boy brings the favorite shoe to the mommy. The mommy smiles and knows this shoe is not uniform acceptable.

"Honey, you'll need to find a different shoe, "she begins silently bracing for the tears of disapointment. 

The first brother smiles, "OK. How 'bout these?" and he pulls out some plain white tennies.

The  mom nods and signals the shoe clerk.

The shoe clerk begins to measure the first brother. He smiles at the young lady as she has him step here which he does happily. He even shows her the shoes to make sure she get the 'shoes that he can wear to school'.

Meanwhile the second brother bored of the ball, wiggles behind a display and gets stuck. He cries, a loving sister helps him out and he goes to the play area, after stopping by to pat a younger baby on the head and scream 'BABY!'.

The clerk brings out the shoes for the first  brother. He tries them on and declares "I like them. They fit."

She asks him to walk which he does and then asks if he can 'please wear them home?'. His mom agrees.

Now it is time for the second brother. His mommy has gone through the shoes and narrowed it down to 3 for him to pick--she had planned on getting him two pairs but the hi tech baby shoes prove too costly for more than one. The mommy calls him over; he giggles and runs to the other end of the store. She finally picks him up and shows the shoes. He kicks each one. Mommy decides on the fall suede ones (because sometimes cute trumps durability). The shoe clerk attempts to measure him. He screams and tries to hit the poor young lady. The mommy holds both hands and together mommy and clerk get the size of one foot-- 6 1/2. The clerk proceeds to get the suede shoes. While tickling and holding the second brother, the clerk places the shoes on the second brother. The fit and are cute even if he does refuse to stand (note to all moms do not keep your child only in Robeez for the first years of life). The mommy removes the shoes. Once removed the second brother proceeds to throw the shoes at the clerk. She was very good at ducking.

Meanwhile the first brother is walking about the store in his new shoes muttering "Do you see me shoes? I like my shoes."

The mommy pays for the shoes and takes a moment to respect yet another of the many differences of her two sons. 

A Quick 'Hello'

I am taking a very quick break from our new school year. 

The week before school turned out to have a number of 'fun' events but we miraculously made it to school with only one missing supply--the first thing Miley needed on her school desk on the first day :( BUT hey no one died of a heart attack ;)

I have lots to say but no time to say it. Let's just say one student is slowly easing into the school year with almost no assigned work (and so is pacing and bored), one's teacher is almost completely skipping review time and diving head first into intense work (and so is screaming Help Me Momeeee) and the third is not sure what to make of school but is very tired by the full schedule (and so is whiney and clingy and just a joy). it's just the perfect time for Spanky to wake up 3-4 times a night to nurse ;)

I hope to get back to posting sometime before the month ends, I hope.....

A bottle of white, a bottle of red, perhaps a bottle of rose' instead

My girls and now my younger son attend a very unique school. They go to school two days a week, home school two days a week and go to extra curricular activities like art, PE, drama and speech one day a week. It's called cooperative teaching but I just call it half-homeschool. There are some really great things about this--I do not plan lessons, I don't pick out the curriculums, I don't give the tests (usually), I can take a very active role in their education, I can spend more time on problem areas, I can spend more time with them and I can get breaks. And there are some really crappy sides to it, like  we are on schedule--most home schoolers can go off on bunny trails or take time off for family events, like the birth of a child. We can't. The assigned work/review has to be done. And then of course there are times when I just don't feel like teach and I have to anyway.

But by far the crappiest side is orientation week--this week. I get to find sitters for the kids (the bright side) and then get bombarded with papers and lectures about what we need and how we are going to help the kids.  Every teacher is different.  Please don't get me wrong--the teachers are great; they are just so thorough that it is overwhelming. I am that mom struggling to write down every word even though I know they will have grace periods/reminders for incorrect headings, not every kid will remember every supply, and the first week is designed to deal with all the new 'rules'.  But I don't want to get it wrong, at all. I do not want to make a single mistake, ever. So I start to panic the Sunday before orientation week. I can't sleep. I worry I am missing something--school supplies, uniform pieces, textbooks, my mind.... I start to worry about the review I did with the kids over the summer, well actually the lack of review.  I panic the first day of school the teacher will pass out work and my kids will look at it like it's Chinese. 

And my panic turns to stress and we all know what a stressed mommy makes a house. Our entire world is in sudden chaos right now. I have a ZIT. I do not get zits. But I have a zit. This is how stressed I am. After my first orientation meeting, I came home ordered a pizza and popped open a Shiner Bock ( and I am not a beer drinker). Then for breakfast--the kids had left over pizza. They have never had this but I am a wreck. And for right now I don't think I care. I need to know what needs to be in the school supply box--and I do not want to forget, anything.

And after I confirm I have everything, I begin to panic about the new year. What if my kids just don't get this? What if I am crappy teacher on this subject? What if I lose my cool like the time last year, I got so frustrated with Miley I broke a pencil in half while writing out steps to her missed math problem on the paper, or I get so annoyed with Sara's whining about her math drill that I have to go to my room, slam my door and scream in a pillow? What if I go nuts and just run out of the house naked and screaming? It could happen, really.

I feel I need a plan to make the year perfect. Every year, we get tips to make this the best year ever--add fun learning games, be sure to include exercise, be CONSISTENT. I usually write schedule after schedule or make rewards like the treasure box. I try and strive to be consistent but the fact is we are a family of 6. There are always hurdles and roadblocks, no matter what I do.  So this year, I panic and try to think of what to do. A morning bike ride as a break with Spanky in the stroller (I'll run), a schedule that imitates the school one, earned lunch outings, the treasure box (that one actually works), but this year I might add something different. I am thinking a weekly, maybe daily trip to the wine shop might make this the best school year ever :)