Moving On

I posted last week about the death of my father-in-law. It was a difficult time for all of us. The babies are adjusting, but still want to know when PaPa will be back from Heaven. SInce we are not religious (my in-laws are) and do not go to church, the concept of Heaven was difficult to explain. But I think I worked it out well enough for their age. Thanks to all of you who commented and expressed your sympathies.

On a new note- I did start my new job last week. It is a temp-to-hire position and I am very excited about it. I will be doing Accounts Payable work for a construction company about an hour from my home. I will be working longer hours, but the benefits and perks (which are AMAZING!) should prove to be worth this adjustment. The company is great, and despite the fact that I was supposed to start last Monday (funeral day), they were very compliant and when I arrived on Tuesday morning, they offered condolences and even went as far as to offer me the opportunity to wait a week to start. I was impressed with that, becuase I am after all temporary- but they want me for this position, and I was eager to get started. I stayed, and was offered comfort and support my by new coworkers. I believe that I will be happy here, and plan to be at this job for a long while. I do however, have less internet time and a virus infected home computer. My internet time has been greatly hindered, and I am trying to check in and make the rounds. I will write more soon as time allows allows.

I Didn't Disappear

Hello all. I am sorry I haven't made the rounds this week. My father-in-law was in an accident last Friday afternoon and was killed almost instantly. It has been very difficult for my husband. His mother actually witnessed the entire accident, and Alexis was with her. Although she didn't see anything, it has been very difficult to explain what has happened to her and Nathan.

On a more positive note- I started a new job this week, and I am loving it. I will post something over the weekend to get everyone updated.

Tuesday is Jessica's birthday. She will be 12. This was our weekend with her so we decided to have a little fun and have a surprise party. We had the party at my parent's house and had a luau theme. It was fun and festive and she was completely shocked. Here is a picture f her in her lei and grass skirt. I didn't think we would get her to wear that, but she actually did.

I made her a palm tree cake to go with the tropical theme. I tricked her into believing it was actually for a friend who was sending his parents on a cruise. She bought that story.

Here is a picture of the cake. It was chocolate-y and delicious. I added a few bouncy 'beach' balls and some umbrellas in the sand for an extra special effect. The little kids had bouncy balls zinging all around the garage, and I am sure a few people were hit in the head by a stray ball or two.

Here is the birthday girl getting ready to make her wish and blow out the candles. I am sure she wished for something silly, like meeting one of those little boys from her favorite Disney Channel shows. Or maybe that she could kiss some cute boy at school next week. Who knows? I have a hard time remembering what I wished for when I was 12. But I am pretty sure that as happy as I am right now, it must have all worked out.

So happy (early) birthday Jessica. You have made my life a little more special by being a part of it. I hope you get all that you wished for and more.

Questions and Answers

I know that I have been writing a lot about Nathan lately, but he is so wild and high-strung that it is easy to focus on his craziness. So let me talk about Alexis for a bit. She is much calmer and quieter than her little brother and she is pleased to sit quietly all day looking at her books or watching Little Bear. She sometimes gets overlooked as far as blog subject matter because she is so quiet. Have no fears, she is still cleaned and fed daily, we are not ignoring her, it is just that Nathan’s antics tend to me very bloggable.

This morning in the car while I was out running a few errands, the kids fell into their usual routine of 20 thousand questions. Nathan is in a big ‘why’ phase right now and Alexis is in her ‘how’ phase. For example he wants to know why we stopped at the red light (so we don’t have a wreck), (they both understand red=stop, green=go) and she wants to know how the light turns from red to green (electrical timers and stuff). Needless to say between the 2 of them my brain works overtime every day.

One of my minors is in biology, so the whole ‘why is the sky blue, grass green’ stuff I can do pretty easy. But Alexis gets pretty technical with some of her how questions and I try to answer them as best as I can and if I do not know an answer I always promise to look it up later. Just so you understand, look it up later really means look it up later, because that child does not forget anything. This morning I answered the following questions:

Where are the deer? (Hiding in the woods)
Why are they in the woods? (Because they are hiding from us)
Don’t they like us? (They are scared of people)
Why are they scared of people? (Because people shoot at them)
Do they think we are going to shoot them? (Yes)
Can we tell them I don’t have a gun? (We could tell them if they come out here, but they probably won’t)
Can we mail them a letter? (No, deer can’t read)
How is a deer smart enough to hide if he can’t read? …..

I really didn’t know how to answer that one, so I went with some stuff about smelling the people, and knowing that the people don’t belong there, etc.

Then Alexis said that we could just use some of that stuff (scent spray) Daddy uses to make the deer like him. Scottie is a hunter and Alexis is obsessed with it, and so she knows about all of his hunting equipment. I agreed that when she was older we could try that. She was then satisfied. In fact she told me that I “have all of her questions inside of me.’ This means that I answer all of her questions, because she still gets the difference in question and answer confused. That kid is so funny. I am dreading the day when she realizes I don’t really have all of her questions inside of me.

You Better Not....And Other Warnings

When one of my children prepares to break the rules, I usually tell them they 'better not____'. For example when I see Nathan walk behind the couch and throw his foot up on the back of it, I say "You better not climb over the back of the couch". When I tell Alexis she can't spend the night with Grandma and she crosses her arms across her chest and begins to pout, I say "You better not have a fit". Well these are things that my kids do, and as their mother I am quite capable of noticing when all hell may be breaking loose and they are going to do something completely crazy. I notice the oncoming craziness and tell them they "better not" do whatever action I am anticipating. This works at times, and I can thwart their plans of defiance and protest. Lately, this is not working. Here is the problem.

Nathan has learned Mommy's warning, and proceeds to tell me that I " better not" do whatever it is. For instance on Saturday I was driving through town to go to the bank and to pick up a pizza. Nathan began screaming and kicking (his new favorite activity) in the back seat. I told him that if he did not stop screaming that I would stop the car and put him in a time out. His response- "You better not put me in time out." We finally get home and he is eating dinner. He bangs his cup on the table, I tell him that if he doesn't stop, I will take his cup away and he won't have anything to drink. His response-"You better not take my cup away".

The real bad part about this sassing he has started is that he looks so darn cute, very matter-of-fact, hands on his hips, when he does it, and the words come out sort of sing-songy. It is probably quite entertaining to see for other people. So I am trying to adjust what I say in warning because Nathan likes to quote me for what can only be his own personal amusement. For the time time being Alexis has taken to warning him. Now she tells him that "he better not say 'you better not' to Mommy".

Pet Shop of Horrors

My kids want a pet. My husband wants a pet. I do not want a pet. Alexis asks continuously for an animal, of any kind. Jessica doesn't understand why we can't get a dog. And Nathan needs something to torture. Scottie, who has always had animals, doesn't think it is fair that we don't have any pets. So why is it you ask that we do not have a pet? Let me explain this to you.

First, I believe pets are good things. Some animal such as dogs and cats can be lifelong friends. Other animals such as fish tend to have a calming effect. And critters such as ferrets, hamsters, and sugar gliders make for interesting conversation. All pets teach and enhance responsibility, and in this lies the problem. Teaching responsibility a problem? Yes, my friend, it is. For in order to teach responsibility, you must first have a basis of responsibility to build upon.

I must ask my family a few things to ensure they are ready for a pet. If you are not responsible enough to pick up your own dirty underwear off of the bathroom floor, you probably won't remeber to clean the hamster cage, right? If you are only here 10 days out of the month, suffice it to say, your dog might not get walked enough. If you can't remember where your pink shoes are, how are you going to remember to feed the cat? If you eat rocks, are the fish really safe?

They may argue that as a family, whatever pet we choose should be a group responsibity, and I will agree to that as long as everyone agrees to the type of pet we have. You see, I do not like dogs, my husband does not like cats. That limits the pet options greatly.

Don't get me wrong, I want my kids to have a pet at some point. I think they should be older first. But I also believe that the family should exhibit a little more responsibility before we bring in another baby to care for. What do you think? Does your family have a pet? What is it? Who wanted it? Does that person provide the primary care for it or does someone else? Am I just a meanie?

Why Me?

Is there anything more cute than your 2 and a half year old throwing a kicking screaming fit in the backseat of the car? At Sonic? While you are trying to order? What if I added he was screaming 'Help' like a banshee as well? Nothing cuter right?

Well not 5 minutes after that fit, he proceeded to sing 'You Are My Sunshine' to me. Just the first verse, that's all he knows. Yeah, hard to be the mean Mommy after that.

But seriously, how does a kid that cute (the one on the left)



turn out to be so crazy in less than 2 years?