What tweeners say...

If you had a girl...

who had a little curl...

right in the middle of her forehead.

(Just pretend....she had a little one when she was just one)

And if she was good, she was very very good. 

And hardly ever horrid.

Hardly 

 

On her happy birthday, you just might find yourself 

driving her around 

with a bunch of friends...

To do a bit of this...

 

 ...and a little bit of that.

You also might find yourself chuckling and giggling at some of the things tween girls say to each other. 

  

 "Hey there BFF. You know how you and I are the only kids in our ENTIRE class who don't have a cell phone?"

"Yeah, I know." replies the BFF.

"Well pretty soon everyone is going to have a car, and you and I are just going to be sitting around with out one."

"Yeah, I know." agrees the BFF.

Other tween girls riding along in the car could be found saying...

"Do you know that no matter how hard you kick a cat, it will always land on it's feet? Seriously. I know about these things." 

and

"Did you know when you ride Wicked at Lagoon if you open your eyes on the way up you will definitely barf all over the Lagoon workers. I know about these things."

                                      and

"Did you know that my mom hit a cat with her car when she was driving it. The cat didn't stand up."

 

and

"That was totally the best birthday party ever, except for those totally GROSS teenagers who were making out on the ice skating rink. That is just sick."

"Yeah. SO sick."

"Totally sick. I would NEVER do that."

 

Hope they don't ever forget it!

PS....one party guest was a little nervous about having her picture up on the Internet. Thus the flowers over her face. 

Didn't want you to think I didn't like her or anything...

....THAT would be horrid. 

Way worse than running over a cat 

and throwing up on teen Lagoon workers!

 

Stack o' Dimes

  
Have I mentioned that MyHandsomeHusband is a pretty clever Dad? Well, he is. It's true. He's always coming up with fun (and funny!) ways to parent our five hooligans. The man has cleverness ooozing right out of him. You'll never guess what he can turn a few dimes into! Let me show you....

Take several stacks of dimes....

A deck of playing cards... 

Two girls who need to polish up on some multiplication facts.....
 

Turn over two cards and reward a dime to the person who can multiply the numbers fastest. 

And there you have it. Math practice meets Family Game Night. Who would have thought the two could go together so nicely!

Who won the game?

Not me.....my math facts have gone into retirement. 

 

What a wonderful world

I have mentioned before, that having twin boys who are 4 years old is pretty wonderful. Just today I had a little flashback, if you will. A memory of sorts.....

My twin boys had recently mastered the art of walking. It was early in the morning and I had just gotten my older kids off to school.

The phone rang.

The doorbell chimed.

On my way back from answering the chiming door, ear still glued to the phone, my feet stepped in something gooey and sticky and crackly.

What in the world....

I looked up to see BabyTwinBoyAaron with his hands in the garbage can. Egg yolks, egg shells and other random garbage all over his feet, my feet, BabyNate's feet and the surrounding three feet.

What's a poor girl to do, in this very precarious situation!

Both twins started toddling around the kitchen floor marking their paths with gooey, sticky, crackly tracks.

Every time I made a move to pick them up I marked the floor with gooey, sticky, crackly tracks. 

What's a poor girl to do!

Snatch those boys up and mark the path to the kitchen sink, that's what! We got ourselves cleaned up. (which was a very contorted kind of thing in it's own right...trying to get my feet into the kitchen sink....while keeping two toddlers from falling off the counter....yikes....don't picture it for too long. I'm sure it was shockingly unattractive!!) Once sufficiently cleaned up, I maneuvered my way around the mess and set the two boys in the joining room. Then it was mother versus the mess. Gooey, sticky, crackly and all. What a glamorous profession. My college degree was really paying off.

Exactly 45 seconds later, Aaron toddled his sweet self into my view, and what do you know...the small child had exactly 10 wrapped cough drops in his

mouth.

And ten more in his

hands.

Boy, this morning is getting good. Really good.

After prying the gooey, sticky, paper crackly cough drops out of his mouth I looked up to see...

Nate. Who had quietly gotten the mop out, lugged it into the kitchen and plunged it into the gooey, sticky and crackly egg mess that was still all over the floor. What a fine helper.

Fine, indeed. The gooey, and sticky and crackly kind of fine.

What's a poor girl to do in this situation!

Sit down and laugh, that's what. Until she looked up to see that some small child had painted brown mascara all over her lovely white cushioned bench.

Then the poor girl may or may not have cried a little.

And cleaned it all up.

And found herself in need of a morning nap.

And then....a little while later, after she had put her feet up for a spell, she chuckled a little.

And then she thought to herself......
.......I live in a wonderful world.

Wonderfully cute, and funny, and not boring (except the laundry and dishes and the toilet bowl cleaning) and exhausting, and rewarding and fun and precious and PRICELESS. 

Even when it's gooey and sticky and crackly.



Twin Boys age 4.....with a better grasp of egg usage.

Mush. Total Mush

 "Are you kiddin' me!"

 

 "Awwwwwwwww"

 "Sweeeeeeeeeet"

 

 "Oh nooooooooooooo!"

 "This is so boring. When are we going to be done."

 "Never!!!! 

I am Mario. 

I think like Mario.

I dream of tiny mustached men bouncing on top of bad guys.

I want to live my life as Mario.

I will save the princess...

I will collect 5 bajillion coins on the way.....

....this is my destiny......!!!!!!"

 "Except I just made Mario die, Aaron! Dang. Bummer.

Wanna play again....?"

 "I think our minds are turning to mush...."

Total. Mush. 

Nerds at the Ball Game

 

My TeenSonMark and basketball are in love with each other. The handsome kid just can't get enough of the game. Most of his free time is spent shooting hoops. He loves it.

I can tell you something he doesn't love...Playing the piano, that's what. I tried. I honestly tried really really hard. We're kind of a piano playing kind of family. I was really hoping he would jump on the music nerd bandwagon with the rest of us. At this point in time....it is not meant to be. (I'm still holding on to the hope that the 9th grade guitar class just might change his mind. He's got an interest there. Cross your fingers for us!)

What do I do....about all this basketball playing?

I cheer. Really loud when I go to his games. Hopefully I am cheering at the right time. (I'm just a music nerd, you know.)

I drive him around town, pretty much every afternoon so he can practice and shoot hoops and "make some wicked awesome shots, Mom. Seriously, I was on fire!"

I listen to him chatter on about plays and strategy and three pointers and swishing this ball and that ball.

My heart grows up big and large when he makes a great shot at a game and everyone cheers for him. 

 And in those moments do you know what I am most grateful for?

That he has an opportunity to build confidence in himself. That's really what it's about, isn't it? Being confident in one's self....pretty much the most important thing a parent can foster in a child. No matter the venue, ball court or piano recital....confidence is really a priceless gift.

At Marks game last week I looked down for just a split second to see this.......

Seriously? 

 

Wonder what kind of nerd LittleTwinBoyAaron will grow up to be?

Where was this poor kids mom when he was putting his shoes on

.....that's what I'd like to know.... 

Sweaty and Stinky

Do you like to work out? You know. The kind of working out where you get all sweaty and stinky and sore the next day and....skinny. 

Me too! (Still waiting for the skinny to happen. Food blogging is doing a real number on this old girls hips.)

And if the truth were to be told...I'm actually not so crazy about the sweaty and stinky and sore the next day. (If you like stinky....that's nice. Just keep it to yourself, I think you might be the only one.)

However....You know what I love?

Showing up at my local church with a bunch of other moms in old sweats and pony tails.


I love that some very talented ladies are willing to volunteer their time to lead us all in a bout of aerobics and weight lifting.


I love getting my groove on to Smooth Criminal. 

I love dancing (and I use that term very loosely...this body tain't got much coordination) it up to All That Jazz. In my previous life I was a show girl...in my heart I just know it. I think I was really coordinated (and skinny) then.


I love pumping a little iron with other church goin' gals while we talk about life and dishes and laundry and the elementary school and husbands and our graceful dance skills.


I love watching my LittleTwinBoys run around the gym reenacting star wars scenes and killing bad guys with their light sabers.

I love seeing myself improve and get stronger. 


No matter how tired or worn out or stressed or grumpy I am when I show up....I ALWAYS feel better when I leave.


Life gets clearer.

Big long TO-DO lists seem manageable.

And my hips stand a fighting chance for a little bit of shrinkage. That's a miracle in it's own right!


It's kind of funny what sweaty and stinky can do for a person.

 

Sweaty and Stinky combined with a good visit with some pretty fabulous ladies......that's a recipe for happiness.....any day of the week. 
 

Ring Ring...Chuckle Chuckle!

Happy Monday Morning to you all on this very average, gray looking, stormy, middle of February, spring-can't-come-too-soon day. Need a little Monday chuckle? Here you have it.

Ring Ring said the phone.

"Can I answer it, Mom?" from BlondeEmily.

"Be my guest." I say.

"Hello?" my pretty blonde girl says into the phone.


Pause.

"I'm not sure. Let me check."

Then she goes into the bathroom and closes the door.

Pause.

Pause.

The bathroom door opens and Emily proclaims.....

"That was the dumbest phone call I've ever answered! They wanted to know if our toilets were running...how lame is that."


Chuckle-Chuckle from the Mom and the Dad.

"What did you tell them?" we ask.


"I told them, sure enough they were running fine! Then they told me I'd better go and catch them. Humph. So stupid, wasn't it mom?"


Chuckle-Chuckle Chortle-Chortle from the Mom and Dad. 

Ring Ring said the phone. 


"Hello..." said MyDearMother.


"Well, hello there Ma'am. I'm happy to be calling today to offer you a free case of Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup! All you have to do is sing the Campbell's Soup Jingle to us over the phone and the case of soup is yours!" 


"Sounds great!" said MyDearMother.

"Campbell's Soup is M-M Good. M-M Good. M-M Good...." she sang in her beautiful lilting voice. 


Silence on the other end....


Then.....

Chuckle-Chuckle, Chortle-Chortle from the Campbell's Soup Impersonators.


 Click.