Seriously, Watch my style

The things the boys say just get funnier and funnier every day. I look at these little men I have in my home and realize that they are growing up so very fast. This week, it was Evan making me laugh.

Sunday when Evan got out of the bathtub, after some serious wrinkle time in the tub, Chris helped him out and gave his hair a little rustle to get it dry. Immediately, Evan falls to the floor and begins sobbing. I go over to him to see what is wrong, and Ev weeps, "He messed up my style!"

Hair style? Since when do we have hairstyles here? The closest thing we have to hair styles is a buzz cut every six weeks. I don't even have a style. Once every six months I go get my hair cut and styled, so when did we start worrying about style?

But Evan had pushed his hair so that it was standing straight up in little spikes, so we helped his hair back into place to pacify his tantrum. Chris assured him that he would help him style his hair during the week as well.

Here is Ev after we fixed the temporary hair crisis.

This morning, Chris was home and getting the boys ready for school. He said that as they were getting ready to leave, Evan looked at Chris and asked about his "style." So, they journeyed to the bathroom where Chris used a little water to help shape the hair, and a little hairspray to keep things in place.

I am not sure if his "Style" will be maintained, but for now, Evan is one stylin' four year old.

Mission Sleepover

As parents, we confront firsts every day. First smile, first giggle, first crawl, first step. But with "big kids," those firsts slow down a little and are generally not as thrilling. Last night, however, we experienced a new first: First time invited for a sleepover.

The phone rang about six o'clock and it was the dad of one of Brendan's friends, wondering if he could come over for a sleepover. I asked Brendan, and I could see both thrill and terror in his eyes. I flippantly told his dad that it would be fine, and hung up the phone. Brendan says, "Mom, I'll go, but there is no way I am sleeping over. I would miss you guys too much."

I kept assuring him that he would have a good time and he would enjoy every moment of it. About thirty minutes later, his friend's mom pulled in front of the house and chatted with me for a few minutes. We talked about it being his first time and him being nervous. As he heard me speak, he quickly quipped, "I'm fine. I'm sleeping over."

As they start to get in the car, I feel a little nostalgic. "Bye B! Have a good night!" He never even turned around. Meanwhile, Evan is sobbing. Complete sobs.

"I want Brendan! I miss playing with Brendan!" He was like Elaine and George without Jerry. Like peanut butter without jelly. Like ying with no yang. He missed his buddy. Eventually, we offered up the Wii as solace and he relented.

The hardest part for me was putting the boys to bed. I kissed only two little boys last night. There was no third hug --- that is always my longest because he doesn't let go. . .-- and I missed it. Around 9:30 curiosity got the best of me and I called to check on him. His friend's mom said he was doing great- no problems.

Characteristic of my normal Friday, I feel asleep on the couch shortly after that. Around 6:15 in the morning Chris is nudging me that the phone is ringing. I sprang out of bed, and it was his friend's mom. Brendan needed his inhaler. So, she ran over to pick it up and assured me he was great and to go back to sleep.

Around 9am she called back. Brendan was having so much fun he wanted to stay until after lunch. Evan was bummed. He had the whiniest voice working all morning, moping around looking for B.

Eventually, at 12:30 Brendan came home. He had an amazing sleepover. He stayed up super late and woke up super early. But he pacified me by saying that he missed all of us!

Mission Sleepover: Success.

Who's hot?

The word "hot" exhibits numerous connotations: hot as in "don't-touch-the-oven-or-you'll-burn-your-hand" hot, 90 degree and sweating hot, sitting-by-the-fire hot, and of course, look at that person- they're smokin' hot!

So, last night when I was watching American Idol with Brendan and Ev, I realized that my seven year old son also knew these many meanings.

This cute little blonde girl pranced onto the stage to sing her song, and Brendan said, "Wow, she's hot!"

I giggled and asked him if she thought he was cute.

Sheepishly, he looked at me and realized that he just commented on how hot this girl was to his mom. I assured him that it is totally fine to think girls are cute and that he shouldn't be embarrassed.

Then, he began backpedaling. He stammered and blushed while stating, "Well, she looks kind of sweaty like she is too hot."

Now I started outright cackling at him and explained to Brendan that thinking girls are cute is totally fine.

Finally, out of frustration with his mom, Brendan just said,"She's not cute at all. Actually, she's kind of ugly."

I just smirked at him, realizing that my girl problems with Brendan are impending.

Still working. . . Stay tuned!

Well, after many hours of Chris working on the computer, we are finally making progress! We have the software loaded back, but we can't seem to get the internet working. Chris has been awesome, trying to get this up and ready again.

In the meantime, I am using his laptop for a quick update!

It has been over a week since we have updated. I feel like so much has been happening.

* Ev went to a play this week for the first time at our fancy local theater. He loved it. I plan to start with that story. Maybe tomorrow?

* We have been on a Star Wars craze, watching almost every movie in the series!

* The end of the grading quarter is approaching for me, so I have been insanely grading papers and trying to keep my cool.

* Andrew just finished this little Spanish class that he took for four weeks.

* Andrew received awesome results in our state testing scores. Our little smarty was in the 98% and 95% percentile for math and reading.

There have been many more things. Sorry for the delays in my updates. I plan to be back in action soon. Thanks for the patience!

Yes, I am alive. . .

. . . if you have been wondering.

I just wanted to offer a quick update today! Our computer is still down and out, so I haven't been updating as much as normal. When we get back in action, I have a load of things that have been going on. Let me offer some teasers:

* Last Saturday night, Chris and I went out with my awesome friend from work and her husband. Let's just say that I was home way after curfew and was so sleepy the next day.

* Andrew turned 9 this week! Yes, nine! I can hardly believe it!

* Evan went to kindergarten screening on Friday. (Although, we really don't think we are sending him to kindergarten next year. A topic for another day.)

* I had an awesome dinner with the ladies from work last night and we went and watched a basketball game.

* The boys started YMCA basketball again this week.

* Andrew got his birthday gift today. I'll give you a clue. It is big and noisy. They are lovin' it!

These are some of the teasers for my posts once we are back up and running. Sorry for the absence!

Withdrawal

Gradually this year, I have wondered how my washer continued to shrink my pants-- little by little. While I pondered this conundrum, I often found myself sucking on my favorite treat: Hershey's kisses (the Hugs version.) Hmm. . .It is amazing I never made a connection!

So, when Lent season came, I did not need to question what SHOULD I give up this year, but rather could I really do it? I have secret stashes of chocolate everywhere. I am the worst at school because I will buy chocolate for rewards for the students, then I will eat the leftover pieces. I have bags in my desks -- in both rooms. At home, I have a few stashes leftover from the kids' Halloween and Valentine's loot.

On Tuesday before Lent, I decided, there is NO way that I can accomplish this task. No way! Yet as I got dressed on Ash Wednesday, I realized that my pants were not fitting comfy despite the 45 minutes of exercise I get every morning before school.

Therefore, I decided to give up my true addiction for Lent: chocolate.

So far, I have done remarkable, but I am amazed at how prevalent chocolate really is. It is in the boy's favorite granola bars that I occasionally eat. It is in Ev's waffles that I pilfer a piece of in the morning. It is in my favorite Protein bar that I eat to bridge the gap between meals. Chocolate is the source of my favorite topping on ice cream. (Mom used to make this killer ice cream sauce that she taught me how to make. Pure decadence!) Basically, it is everywhere.

Now I have one and a half weeks done and many more to go, but I am committed to holding strong, hoping that I can break some of my bad habits along the way. Maybe I'll even be rewarded with a little breathing room. . .

Houston, We have a problem

You never realize how much you depend on something until it isn't there. This Sunday, I experienced this sensation with our computer.

I came home from taking Evan to a birthday party and Chris explained that he is seeing a blue screen when he tries to log on to the computer. After numerous reattempts to log on, I realized that "Houston, we have a problem."

I call my handy Tech Support guy stationed in India, and I proceeded to chat with him for about 75 minutes about my computer. At first he was positive and upbeat, but with each repeated failed test, the tone of his voice began to change.

Finally, I said to him "Your voice doesn't sound positive." He assured me it was just a cold he was suffering from, but with the next step, he asked me to get a screwdriver. Well, that certainly did not sound like good news.

Ultimately, we uninstalled our hard drive, and we need to get the files backed up so that we can wipe out and reinstall our Operating System, which apparently was having a bad day and decided to quit.

So, I have been without my computer since Sunday morning. I had forgotten what a strong part of my routine it is. I miss my blogs. I miss my Facebook. I miss it all.

Chris brought home his laptop today for me to write my blog. (I have been home all day with the remnants of the stomach flu!) So, I feel connected again.

So, if I post infrequently, I am still suffering from computer withdrawal. I will keep you updated.

Dear mom,

Dear Mom,

Since the year after I had Andrew, I have thought about writing you a letter on my birthday. You see, until I had kids, I never completely understood how you felt. But, almost immediately, I began to see that birthdays were actually more important to the mom than to the child.

Each year on the boys' birthdays, I think about the day the were born, and I smile picturing their little baby faces. Then, I think about the birthdays we have had since then, and I think about all of the joy that child has brought for me (as well as all the frustration. . .)

Finally, this year I want to take a few minutes to thank you for so many things. I am beginning to not look forward to my birthdays as much. I am nearing those dreaded numbers that I am not ready for, but I know that you always celebrate for me, and with me. With that said, let me offer a few notes of thanks:

Thank you. . . for taking care me of as a little baby, changing countless cloth diapers and cleaning up the plethora of messes that I left. I can still see the pictures. (Thanks also for giving me the biggest baby picture. Jeff can have the top of Gram's balloon shirt, but I have the biggest baby picture in your room!=)

Thank you. . .for making me eat my vegetables. Yes, I know that sometimes that required you having the entire kitchen cleaned while I stubbornly sat at the table with cold broccoli. Thank you! I am healthier because of that.

Thank you. . . for having family movie nights. I can't tell you how many times I have had grape koolaid and just smiled because it reminded me of watching movies with my family on a Saturday night. I also can't see the Karate Kid without the urge to rewind and watch the big kick over and over again.

Thank you. . . for sitting at countless summer baseball games while I pitched. Girls' youth softball can be painful, and our games were, but you were always there!

Thank you. . . for putting up with me as a belligerent teen who was trying desperately to figure out who she was. I know that I was not easy to live with, but I appreciate you trying your best to still love me.

Thank you. . . for helping me plan my wedding. As a senior in college, I was not the best help, but you gladly planned a perfect day.

Thank you. . .for the countless calls since I have moved and the countless visits for my boys. They are blessed to have such a caring grandma. I look forward to each call to just be able to talk to my mom.

Thank you for all of this and more. All of these things combine to make me the person that I am today on my 34th birthday. Without you, without my mom, none of this is possible. So, my birthday wish today is for you to know how much that I truly care. Thank you, mom. I love you.