Is it Christmas yet??

I'm really so excited for Christmas! I cant wait, I'm like a little kid sitting and staring at the gifts under the tree. Even thought I wrapped every gift under there, its still so exciting to me!

I realized about myself a long time ago that I hate to be rushed. I always try to get everything done so early, sometimes ridiculously early. It drives poor Brandon crazy but I think he secretly appreciates it too. At least I let myself believe that. But if I don't have things done so early then I don't get them done until the last minute and I go crazy. Not a good thing. So this year, I had my Christmas shopping done before December even started. I had to put my tree up just to have somewhere to put it all! I think I did pretty well on gifts this year too!

My family started a couple of years ago drawing a name and buying a gift for just one person instead of everyone. Made a lot more sense when there were a ton of us. We are down to 3 who do this so we only save on 1 gift but its still fun. This year I have KayeLynn. I adore my sister. I think she is so fantastic.

I talked Brandons family into doing the same thing last  year and there are a few more people that way. It makes it a lot easier. I have Krystal this year, I bought her gift months ago. I found something that I loved for her. I hope she likes it as much as I do!

We are doing the same thing with our group of friends this year too. Can I just say, I have the best group of friend. I really love them all. Especially La Dayna. I'm so very glad to have her as my friend. She is so good to me, even though sometimes she really should just smack me. I'm not supposed to say who I have in this gift exchange but I will say I don't have La Dayna and I REALLY wanted to draw her. I already had planned out what I wanted to get her, going to have to save it for another occasion I guess! Our gift party is on the 10th and I can not wait. I get all bouncy when I think about it. =)

Zachs tooth

 Friday afternoon Zach came in to me and was so sad. I thought for sure he had gotten hurt. He came and curled up on my lap, which almost never happens, and told me his very sad story. He had a  loose tooth. He just started crying on me. He knew it would happen. We have talked about it before and plenty of his friends had lost teeth. I had no idea he was worried about it, I don't think he knew he was worried about it, until it happened to him. We talked about the tooth fairy coming and how his bigger tooth was already starting to grow but he just kept telling me that he wanted to keep the teeth he has. He eventually calmed down and went back to playing and by the end of the day he was ok with what was happening. 

La Dayna told him to eat a hot dog, Mari told him to eat an apple. Well, he doesn't like hot dogs so the next day he asked me to go get apples for him. 2 bites into his new green apple and that tooth was o-u-t. Seemed so quick to me. I thought it would be loose for days before he would get it out. Especially since he barely played with it and wiggled it. 

He put it under his pillow and the tooth fairy came through for him. Left his $5 because it was his very first one! He immediately asked if we could go buy a new guy for his Batcave. Which we did! 

Chelsea was a bit jealous of the whole thing. Keeps trying to rip her own teeth out now. Good thing she had birthday money from Gramma Great to buy herself a new princess at the same time!  

Chelseas Birthday

My baby girl turned 3 on Oct. 31. I have a hard time with my kiddos birthdays. It always hits me hard. But I love how happy and excited they get. Having her birthday on Halloween means we usually end up celebrating it in the beginning of November so that people with actually show up! This year since Halloween was on a Sunday and everyone was trick or treating on Saturday we decided to throw her party on her ACTUAL birthday. We celebrated at Sugar Space which is a neat little rental space in Sugarhouse. They set up tunnels and costumes for the kids. And of course, a bouncy house! There were special tables set up for the kids. It was just a really neat place. We had so much fun. They played music and had a disco ball going. None of the kids would do any of the dance games so it was my mom, sister, stepdad and husband doing things like the freeze dance and macarana and stuff while the kiddos sat and stared.

The only disappointment was that my plans didn't work as well as I had hoped they would... We had a pretty small turn out. I way over invited and was a bit afraid that we would have too many people there but a large number of people were no shows. That was a bit sad. Some people that I assume would never miss her party and some who I wasn't sure would come which is why I overinvited. I always plan on people not coming but I was pretty surprised at how many didn't come. But the people who did come are all really awesome so it made up for it!

 Tunnels 

 Playing

 Costumes

 Coloring books

 Princess Vanity 

 Hula Hoops

 Watching weird grown-ups dance

 Freeze Dance

 Macarena

 Princess cake on brown. Exactly what she said she wanted her cake to be. 

 How doggies eat cake

Pinata

Pinata goodies

Halloween

Happy Halloween! Yes I know I am a little late with this but better late then never, right?

Halloween time

I have no reason to blog right now. I actually have had so many things that I have wanted to blog about but never got around to it. Now they have escaped my mind or are so far back that it seems silly to put them in right now. But I am sitting here, waiting for Brandon to get home, reading blogs and have an urge to write SOMETHING in mine. Just so all of my loyal readers have something to look forward to! (Hi Mom!)

Halloween is in a week. I adore Halloween! If I was told I could only celebrate 1 holiday for the rest of my life I would hands down pick Halloween. Its just so much fun! I am a bit disappointed this year though. Halloween lands on a Sunday and it seems like there is so little to do in the time leading up to the actual day. Most years my kids have gotten so much wear out of their costumes by Halloween this year they are still in the packages. Everyone is having their Halloween celebrations on the day before. I'm a bit sad about it because it is going to make us have to pick what to do. It will be so much fun though.

Zach is going to be Iron Man, after zero then much consideration. He picked it because it is his friends at schools favorite superhero. So we got him a pretty cool one. Then he and I were talking about it and he wanted to change to something else. He wanted to be Spiderman, ideally. So he and I went back to the store and I showed him the Spiderman costume. He said "Its the same one I had last year! I still have mine from last year! I want to be something different so I can have different ones to dress up in after Halloween!" He is a thinker! So we looked at a few other things and he didn't find anything as cool as his Iron Man costume. He decided to stay Iron Man. And I am ok with it, because it was finally because it was what he wanted to be and not because he thought his friends would like it best. 

Chelsea is a bit more unique. She is going to be the dog with the party hat from Go Dog Go! It is her favorite book, she knows all of the lines. I sit down with her with it and she tells me the story. We were reading it one night and she said she wanted to be that for Halloween. So after much searching I found her a very cute pink poodle costume. And then I got to work making her a party hat. I think it turned out great. It has everything on it that the one in the picture has (except the bone. I'm trying to find one light enough and small enough thats not an actual dog treat still), I'm pretty proud of that! Brandon helped by filling it with foam so that I could design it a bit easier. It was a great idea, except the part that after it was all done the foam shrunk it down so now it doesn't fit her head. I am going to have to figure out what to do about that soon...

Chelseas birthday is also on Halloween. She is very excited for her birthday. Its the first one she has had that she really knows whats going on and is looking forward to it. That makes it a lot of fun. So far her party is very unplanned. Wish me luck!

I am also room parent for Zachs class which means I am planning his class Halloween party. That should be a lot of fun! He has a really cute class.

Love after Love by Derek Walcott

The time will come 
when, with elation 
you will greet yourself arriving 
at your own door, in your own mirror 
and each will smile at the other's welcome, 

and say, sit here. Eat. 
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart 
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you 

all your life, whom you ignored 
for another, who knows you by heart. 
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf, 

the photographs, the desperate notes, 
peel your own image from the mirror. 
Sit. Feast on your life. 

Birthday BBQ Bash

I have had such an amazing weekend. Saturday was Brandon and my annual Birthday BBQ Bash. I personally think it was the best one we have had. Of course that had less to do with us and more to do with the amazing people we had there. Most of my favorite people in the world were there. It really was a blast. Brandon got a smoker for his birthday and used that to make a ton of ribs and chicken. He did such a great job. The food was EXCELLENT. 

We had a pinata for the kiddos. That was fun. They all seemed to really enjoy it. It was full of all kinds of prized that I let Zach and Chelsea pick out. They really wanted bouncy balls in it and the only ones we could find at the party store were tiny or expensive so I took the kids and a pocket full of quarters to Old Navy and hit up their bouncy ball machine. I'm sure they thought I was crazy but then again I probably wasn't the first to do it!

Brandon and I got SOOO many great gifts. We really appreciate all of them. The best thing ever though HAS to be my super awesome crabby fanny pack from La Dayna. There is no way to top it. I think I will be picked for the Amazing Race just so they can see more of my AMAZING fanny pack!

Did I mention I made 2 giant pitchers of Sangria too?? 

Thanks to everyone who came and made my (and Brandons) birthday so special this year. It really was fantastic. 

Princess Chelsea and the Princess Festival

I took Chelsea to the Princess Festival today. We had SO much fun. They have a "show" where all of the little princesses who are visiting have to save all of the Princesses from the evil Winter Fairy and her sisters Spring Fairy, Summer Fairy and Autumn Fairy. Its so sweet. Chelsea was a bit nervous around the Princesses but both my kids get that way around characters for some reason. They also had a treasure hunt where we had clues and had to figure out what princess or booth the clue meant then have them sign it. The last one is Prince Charming who tries a special shoe one the little princesses foot to make sure that she is a REAL princess then because she is she gets a special book from him. The book is the story of Princess Ilissa and is basically a story about how the festival started. Its a great story.

We were also able to just wander around an meet the princesses. They had the Little Mermaid, which is Chelseas favorite, and Chelsea got to play in the fountain with her. You could jump on a trampoline and "fly" with Tinkerbell and Peter Pan. Alice and the Mad Hatter were having a tea party. Winafred from the Princess and the Pea was letting little girls sit on her stack of mattresses. She said she took the pea out though because she didn't want to bruise all of the little princesses.

Chelsea had a name tag on and everyone who was volunteering there would say something like "Oh Princess Chelsea, I have heard wonderful stories of you!" or something to that affect and bow or curtsy because you ALWAYS bow or curtsy for royalty.

She got to make a few crafts. Made a crown, a wand and a purse. She could have had her hair done into an updo but she said she didn't want to.

We had such a fun time. I think this may have to become an annual tradition for me and Princess Chelsea!

Fathers Day

I want to say happy fathers day to some of the special dads I know.

Brandon... You are such a great dad. I couldn't ask for anyone better. I am really glad you are my partner in raising our children. They both adore you so much. Its beautiful to watch. I love you so much!

Ted.... I am so thankful to have you in my life. Your funny and sweet. You make my mom happy and that means everything. Not to mention how much my kids love you. I love you!

Jay... Such an amazing father in law. I couldn't ask for anyone better. I know that I could count on you for anything. Thank you for being so great to me. I love you.

Dad... I cant believe it has been so long, over a decade. You taught me so much and protected me. In fact the last time I talked to you, you offered to kick the ass of my boss I was having issues with. I love you.

Happy Mothers Day!

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born.  She never existed before.  The woman existed, but the mother, never.  A mother is something absolutely new.

Happy Mothers Day to all of the amazing moms I know. Being a mom is such a hard job and I know so many woman who do it so gracefully.

My mom is the first. My goal as a mom is to be as great of a mom as you are. I honestly don't know how you did it. You always had such a full plate but never let anything or anyone slip through the cracks. I talk to you every day and am thankful for you every day. You are my rock when things are hard. You are the person I call when I think something is funny. You help me through when I am sad. I take my anger out on you occasionally because I know you will always forgive me. You show me I am wrong when I think I cant do something. You raised 3 strong, caring, productive kids. And you did it through so many struggles. Struggles I only imagine in my worst dreams.  You are one of the bravest and strongest women I have ever met and I am SO proud to say you are MY mom. I love you Mom! Happy Mothers Day!!    

There are so so many others wonderful moms in my life. I cant possibly name them all. 

La Dayna, one of the most patient and sweet moms I know. You care so much, not only about your own kids but about everyone elses kids too. I love that you stick to your morals and your ideals. I think you are such an amazing mom. I hope you know how great you are too.

Sandee, I couldn't ask for a better mother-in-law. I know without a doubt that I can come to you if I have any problem. You are such a wonderful mom. You have 3 kids who prove it every day. I am so thankful to have you as part of my life.

Cindy, you do so much for you kids and it shows. You have a great sense of humor. Your kids are growing up to be so great. I am so honored to have them as my niece and nephew.

Tami, who is close enough to being a mom. I am so happy for you. I know that your baby is going to be one of the most loved babies ever born. I cant wait to see what kind of mom you are but I have no doubt that you will be amazing. 

So many other moms I know, whether I see them at school or I am friends with them or just pass by them. I see so many amazing traits every day and I continue to learn every day about what it means to be a good mom. If its giving up what you want so they can have what they need, lifting your life up for your baby even though people had given up on you, staying late at school so your kids can play for "2 more minutes!", leaving a job that you love to be with a baby you love even more, staying at a job you hate to make ends meet for you family. 

I hope all of the moms I know have an amazing Mothers Day. And even if you don't, know that you are loved for all that you do.  

Ghosts

Ok, I admit it. I am a huge believer of ghosts. I don't have many solid beliefs, I don't know what happens after our lives. I honestly think we aren't meant to know. I don't spend a lot of time pondering that.  But I DO believe in ghosts.

When my dad died I remember one night sitting up by myself, it was the next night or the night after that. My mom came out and found me. We sat in my Grammas living room talking for awhile. All of the sudden, in the middle of the night, no one around, we both heard music. It sounded like it was coming out of the heater vent. We both heard it at the exact same time and just stared at each other. It was beautiful music. Just out of nowhere.

Anyway, we had a ghost living in our house. When I first moved in, I was pregnant with Zach and every now and then when I took a shower I heard a baby crying. I figured it was crazy pregnant brain stuff. But after Zach was born I would always take my showers while he was napping. I cant tell you how many times I got out of the shower because he was crying only to find out that he was still sound asleep. I asked Brandon about it and he would hear it all of the time too. He was a non-ghost believer and tried to rationalize it away. It didn't take long for him to start believing though. I learned when I hear a baby crying, sticking my head out of the shower would let me figure out if it was my baby or not. We didn't put a lot of thought into it really. Just one of those things. I figure a baby or a kid drown in the tub there at some point. I haven't looked into it really. I don't think I want to know specifics, what with my bleeding heart and all.

The reason for my post tonight is, I was showering and realized I haven't heard crying in awhile. My ghost baby seems to have moved on. I'm letting myself think that my kids helped that happen. I hope that the ghost baby is very happy somewhere. =)

Star of the Week

Zach was star of the week at school last week. He was so excited about it. Star of the week gets to pick what activities they do and stuff. Plus on Thursday they have a big presentation about them. His teacher, Terry, asked him at the beginning of the week what his favorites were in a few categories then made him a fantastic poster. The whole class learns about his favorite things then on Thursday they all say what they are. Its really cute. Brandon, Chelsea, my mom, sister and I all went to watch. 

First they do the favorites, then Terry gives him his poster.

After that all the kids go around and say what they like about him. Its really cute. He got a lot of "he is gentle" "he is kind" "i like how he plays superheros with jaxon" It was sweet. I love to hear what they come up with! The kids also write down what they like about him as homework and bring it in so they don't all say whatever the first kids said. After the kids are done, everyone who came with him gets a turn. So me, Brandon, Coco and BooBoo all got a turn. Terry got a kick out of the fact that Zach calls his gramma Coco and his aunt Booboo. 

Zachs poster

His favorites are:

# - 5

Color - Blue

Planet - Neptune

When he grows up - Race car driver then astronaut

Animal - Dog

Treat - Suckers

Food - Chicken Fried Rice

Shape - Square and Oval

Book - Batman

Movie - Spiderman

Favorite thing to do at school - Play superheros with Jaxon

Favorite place - School

Favorite season - Spring

I put all of the kids notes on the back of his poster then had it laminated. He is very excited about it. 

Zach got to pick the next star of the week, its random - he picked a popsicle stick out of a glass - and he picked JAXON. He was so excited to pick one of his favorite friends.

Where baby names come from

Everyone in my family has the same number of letters in our names. We didn't plan it, it just happened. When I got pregnant with Zach, Brandon and I talked about how if we had a boy he would get Brandons middle name, John. It is a family name for him and I like it because it was my grandpas name. If we had a girl she would get my middle name, Dawn. Its my moms middle name and mine and I wanted to keep it going. Well, obviously we ended up with a boy but had no name for him. Brandon shot down every name I could think of. He didn't like anything but wouldn't come up with anything. When we went to the hospital we were thinking Alexander or Jackson. But neither fit. I gave Brandon my 99 cent baby book and told him to find something. He flipped through and landed on Zachary. (A name I had tried 3 times and been shot down.) So Zachary John Walker was officially named.

With Chels, we already had decided if she was a boy her name would be James Houston Walker and we would call him Jimmy. Before we found out what we were having I saw a name I like somewhere, cant remember the name or where I saw it but it started with a C. I liked the idea of a C name if I had a girl. Really mess with Gramma. She can call out Cheryl! Carol! Connie! Colleen! Crystal! Chelsea! Hee hee. More for the last 3 names though. I always thought it was cool to have the same initials as my mom. So, anyway, I was looking the name up in my same 99 cent baby book and Chelsea was near it. I fell in love with Chelsea right away. I told Brandon and for once he didn't shoot down a name I came to him with. So, when we discovered she was a girl (after Brandons tearful moments, he wasn't sure he could handle a girl) she became Chelsea Dawn Walker.

So we have...
Brandon John Walker
Crystal Dawn Walker
Zachary John Walker
Chelsea Dawn Walker

7-4-6

I wrote a list of our names one day and realized that we all have 7 letters in our first name, 4 in our middle and, of course, 6 for our last. We didn't plan it that way, it just fell into place. Even Bridget, our dog, has a 7 letter name. And we adopted her with that name. Poor Zelda is left out, maybe we should start spelling her name Zelddaa. Because that makes sense! Brandon says that their middles names are Dumb so that they can have the 4. But we all know he is a bit snotty at times.

Why I'm Crabby

I am crabby. Very crabby. Most of my log-ins and such include crabby somehow, my blog is crabbymamma, when I (finally) get my tattoo, you guessed it, a crab. Zach always checks crab apples to see if they have a crab in them so he can give it to me. Why do I like crabs? Because I am a cancer. Being a crab is who I am. I love how much it spells me out.

Emotional and sensitive, ruled by their feelings. Run the whole gamut of emotions that come with the changing tides. - Ask my husband. Seriously.

Cancer is the "I feel" sign.

Like the crab, they have a protective shell of shyness or reserve to hide their great sensitivity and caution. This should not be interpreted as weakness, however, as they withdraw to gather strength.

Sympathetic and kind, they have a strong need to nurture. Extremely protective and will defend their loved ones against all odds. Home and family play a highly important role in their lives.

Usually connoisseurs of food and love to cook. (I love this one.)

Compelled to work hard to get ahead.

Require a lot of encouragement and appreciation.

Easily hurt.

Once they trust someone enough to show their feelings they are strong, loyal and protective.

Tend to hold on to the past, especially people. - This is the reason for this post. I was thinking about some of the people I have let go and how hard it is. It takes a lot for me to walk away from someone I love and it is hard all of the time, I think of these people a lot. I think I tend to walk away easily from people I don't love if they seem like they will hurt me in the future. Once I let someone in, it is so very hard for me to let them go.  

Spiral

I made my best friend when I was 4 years old. She was my best friend through high school, with the exeption of childish fights. She was basically my sister. She spent more time at my house then hers. We were always together. I sometimes think thats why I have such a hard time making friends now, its was so easy with her. It was like we were made to be best friends. She got married when she was 16 and moved away. I was honestly devestated. I missed her so much. We wrote letters and called each other long distance (insert old jokes here) but we were never as close again. She was married and having babies and I was, well, not. I went and visited once, in Minot ND, when she found out she was pregnant with her first baby. She was homesick and scared so I bought a ticket and went out. I think thats when I realized how different we were by then. I had a hard time when I got home from that trip. She started avoiding me when she came to visit after that. Every time she came to visit I would get so sad that she made sure to not see me. Her mom lived 3 houses away from me, like I wouldn't know.

A few years later she moved back and I thought we might go right back to being so close. I had Zach and was about to get married. Thought things were going to be great again. We saw each other a few times and it was so weird. We didn't have anything to talk about, just sat there pretty uncomfortable. We both kinda gave up then I think. Then a while later, when I was in Costco, my mom called and said that Emily had a heart condition and was in the hospital. I was so upset. I had a meltdown in Costco. When we went back about a month later the cashier saw me and came over and asked if I was ok. I had always thought we would be best friend again and we were just on one of our "breaks". She was ok and we still didn't become good friends again but we started talking again.

A couple summers ago she called me and said she was leaving her husband and was so upset. I told her we would help however we could. She got an apartment and we got her a bunch of stuff for it and helped her move. Her couch was too big to get into the apartment so I put her couch in my garage (couldn't get it into my house either, thing was giant) and let her take my couch from my basement. I did all I could for her during that time. I saw her almost every day. She didn't have her kids, she left them with her husband. I didn't understand why. She only saw them a little bit during the entire time. She told me she really wanted to go to the zoo so I took her and my kids and some friends to the zoo. As soon as we got there she said never mind, I want to go home. I was so frustrated. I left Brandon at the zoo with everyone while I took her home. Later that day, when I went to pick her up for my sisters birthday party she reeked of pot. Everyone at dinner talked about it after. I started to realize then why she didn't have her kids.She asked for money all of the time. Would ask if she could sell us stuff then buy it back later. Stuff like that. One of her friends called me in the middle of the night one night because Emily was drunk and so upset and needed me. She was a mess. Not long after that she went back to her family. And I became a bad guy. She sent her husband to bring all my stuff (well, some of my stuff) back and to get her couch. I don't know what she said to him but he was very angry with me. Her brother, who I have know his whole life, didn't want to talk to me at all. I didn't understand how it got ugly like that. I still dont. We have not spoken since then. When they brought my stuff back I just put it all in the garage to deal with later. When I went out, I realized that not only did I not have the cushions for my couch but someone had vomitted all over the arm of it and they had positioned pillows so we wouldn't know. I have been angry with her for a long time for treating me so awfully when I had done everything for her through the whole ordeal. I am still angry, in all honesty.

I have heard some things about her since then. She split up with her husband again, took her kids hostage once apparently. Started doing a lot of drugs.

Today she was arrested. I'm not going to relay the whole thing on here the story is on the news website here.

It still gets me. She was the person I was closest too for such a big part of my life, I cant turn off that it still hurts me. I am so sad for her. She has 3 kids, how can anyone walk away from that? I understand that you dont think clearly when you are doing drugs and you make bad choices. How do you make the choice to start doing drugs when you already HAVE 3 kids? How can someone throw that away?? I don't understand.

Zach says, then and now

This is a list of question I had Zach answer for me. The first one is from almost a year ago. I am going to redo it tomorrow and see what he says. He is such a cute kid!


1. What is something mom always says to you?
Bad things and good things.

2. What makes mom happy?
Doing good.

3. What makes mom sad?
Doing bad.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Jokes and things.

5. What was your mom like as a child?
A dinosaur

6. How old is your mom?
58

7. How tall is your mom?
11 and a half.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Play with me.

9 What does your mom do when you're not around?
Play with my toys.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Being my mom.

11. What is your mom really good at?
Playing games with me.

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Playing the horsey game with me.

13. What does your mom do for a job?
To play with me.

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
All the food.

15.What makes you proud of your mom?
Being my mom.

16. If your mom was a cartoon character, who would she be?
Papow. (Lighting McQueen)

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Play.

18. How are you and your mom the same?
We look the same.

19. How are you and your mom different?
Our hair is different.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Oh, I just know stuff.

21. What does your mom like most about Dad?
He's funny.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
The toy store.








Now:


1. What is something mom always says to you?
I love you

2. What makes mom happy?
That I share toys with her.

3. What makes mom sad?
When I get hurt

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
When I do stuff thats funny.

5. What was your mom like as a child?
She probably played with her favorite toy.

6. How old is your mom?
88

7. How tall is your mom?
48

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Play with me

9 What does your mom do when you're not around?
Does stuff with Chelsea

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
For being a famous warrior.

11. What is your mom really good at?
Standing on her hands (Which I don't do...)

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Standing on her hands

13. What does your mom do for a job?
What job?

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
Carmel

15.What makes you proud of your mom?
That she plays with me.

16. If your mom was a cartoon character, who would she be?
Green Lantern Girl

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Play Batcave

18. How are you and your mom the same?
Relaxing.

19. How are you and your mom different?
Because I hide and mom doesn't hide

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Because shes always saying it.

21. What does your mom like most about Dad?
Because he likes her and she likes to tease him.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
To school with me.


I have to say, doing it today was much harder then the first time. It was like pulling teeth today.

Valentines Day

I have just decided that I hate Valentines Day. It's a day to tell everyone you love them and its about pink and hearts and happiness. On paper, hands down my favorite holiday. And that's what makes me hate it. Instead of being my favorite its my least favorite. Instead of making me feel happy and loved I feel forgotten. I have never gotten a Valentines gift (except from my mom), or had the day made special for me in any way. Every year, for whatever silly reason, I expect it to be different. Is part of growing up, giving up?

My mom

Today is my moms birthday. Happy Birthday Mom!

I seriously have the best mom ever. I wish everyone could have a mom like mine. I don't know how she did/does it. I strive to be as good of a mom as my mom (I still have a long way to go though). She had so much going on when I was a kid but she was amazing. I honestly don't know how she did it. If one of my kids has a cold I have meltdown. I sometimes think about how I would do if I was in her position and I'm not sure I would do great. I know I wouldn't do as great as she did. 

She does so much for me now. She is really my best friend. I know I can talk to her when I am frustrated or scared or happy or whatever. She is always there for me. Its really nice to know there is someone there you can count on anytime. 

I love you Mom! And my kids love their Coco! I hope you had a good birthday on the moon!

Spiders

I have had a spider living on the ceiling of my bathroom for a while. He made a home in the corner above the shower head. I am retardedly afraid of spiders. I don't know why, in my head I know they are no big deal but when one is near me I get panicky. This one was ok, he stayed out of my bubble. I'll admit I stayed toward the other end of the shower but it was ok. Well, tonight he started to come down the shower wall. I, of course, freak out. I am a little embarrassed that when I call out for Brandon with panic in my voice he walks in and says "spider?" First thing I say every time is "dont kill it!" He just rolls his eyes. I told him that if he would just go back to his corner I would be ok. Brandon goes to wave him back and the spider just climbs on his hand. Brandon, being all manly, just takes him outside. I would freak out but whatever. Did I mention I was standing in the middle of the bathroom with my head covered in shampoo? Yeah, I'm awesome.

I hope the spider is ok and finds a new warm home. I don't want him to die. I'm a total live and let live person. If I could go my whole life without killing anything, even a bug, I would be super happy.

Good luck little spider!

80s dance

We went to a dance at Zachs school today, it was so much fun. They had an 80s theme so we got all dressed up. It is so weird to me that we were able to walk into kohls and find totally rad 80s gear without even really trying. In fact I think it might be harder to find not 80s clothes! I got a fantastic off the shoulder grommetted shirt for dirt cheap and it was my favorite part. I also had snakeskin leggings that I put with it. I was bodacious!  ;)   If course I had 2 pounds of eyeshadow and blush on too. I'm glad I dont have to do that every day.

Brandon really wanted an iron maiden shirt but we couldn't find one so he settled for an iron man shirt that looks left over from the 80s. He put a button down shirt over it with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of torn up jeans. Very Growing Pains!

Kids were a bit harder. I got Zach an almost neon blue rocker t-shirt and we gave him a mohawk, not easy since his hair has gotten so long but it looked cool. Chelsea wore a skirt that looked like we tore it off Rainbow Brite with tight and lacy folded down with her new purple sneakers. She picked a striped shirt to go with it and clashed horribly but she was happy.

We all had a lot of fun. It's great to see people we see every day let loose and have fun. Zachs teacher was dressed up and that was fantastic. Leo and Silvia were there, 2 of Zachs favorite people at school. I think Chelsea has a little crush on Leo. She always talks about him and tonight she just followed him around. When she wasn't following Leo she was following Terry. I was starting to think we might have to send her home with one of them.

Groundhogs Day

Ahhh... What a day. I'm exhausted.

I love Groundhogs Day. I always have, no real reason, I just think that its fun. Today, there was a shadow so 6 more weeks of winter. Although, he is said to be right about 39% of the time. Brandon and I went on our first date on Groundhogs day. We went to Chillis for lunch. I remember I had worked all night and had been up for over 24 hours at the time. I was so tired I just chat chat chatted the whole time. And he told me about shooting small animals. No idea how that worked out for us, really. But now 6 years later we are still together!

We went to story time at Barnes and Noble today, its kind of our new Tuesday thing. It was the first time Brandon got to go. The regular girl wasn't there today and the sub wasn't great. Zach and Chelsea were quite upset that Stevie and Antonio weren't there. Should have invited Steve to bring them. Didn't even think about it! Hopefully next week will be better.

After that we had to go to school so Brandon and I could talk to Terry about Zachs bully. Yesterday at school he got shoved up against the wall and 2 boys were stomping on his feet and trying to pull his arms off. When Zach told me about it I honestly wondered how much jail time I would get for beating up a preschooler. He has had problems with one boy since the beginning of the year. Its been hard for him. So I went in to talk to Terry about it. I have to say she is so amazing. She said she knows they are having problems and told us about some of his background to help us understand why he is the way he is and how she has been trying to help him. She said she has been trying to help Zach and this boy get along better but its a slow process. And told us how the 2 boys got in trouble after the altercation on the playground. It was a long discussion, we made her quite late for class! She did make us feel better about it and offered to take the boys out just the 2 of them and her for ice cream or something one day to see if they could work things out if they were away from school and no parents around and stuff. (Seriously love her) When we got back to school, first thing Zach did was run up to Brandon and tell him that the boy asked him to play with him today. They played on the playground for awhile and were doing great together. The boys mom was sick so Terry was taking him home anyway and asked if we all wanted to go get some hot chocolate together. The boys decided to be friends and wanted to ride in the same car. It was pretty amazing. After hot chocolate they walked to the car holding hands and asking to have a playdate. I am so fully amazed by the whole thing. I don't even know what to say (thats obviously not true since this is a long post! =) ) I hope that they can keep being friends. Not sure I want them being best friends but glad they are getting along!

While Zach was at school we decided to go put an application in at one of the schools I had been looking at. I have decided its my #1 choice! Its seems so perfect for him. They have co-op classes for k-2 (might be 3, cant remember for sure) They are one of the 2 top rated schools for academics in the state but its because they teach that learning is fun, its not stuffy and boring. And they don't even have to wear uniforms! I really don't want uniforms. They bug me. The lady who gave us a tour was so fantastic. When we were in the cafeteria she went and found Chelsea a treat. She walked us through the whole school. Which is tiny by the way, you can see almost the whole school from the office. She showed us all the lower level classrooms. The 2nd grade teacher came over and talked to us, she showed us the valentines boxes that the kids had made. They were amazing. They had all made different African animals because they are learning about Africa. I just really loved that school and am keeping my fingers crossed. She sounded like we had a pretty good chance for it too.

Since it IS Groundhogs Day, we went to lunch. We didn't go until 5:00 but I am calling it lunch because thats what tradition says it is! We went fancy today. We went downtown to Melting Pot. I love Melting Pot. Brandon and I got a gift certificate last year for our birthdays and we haven't had a chance to go yet so we decided to go down there. We took the kids with us. It has become part of the tradition. I really kind of love that they go with us. Seems to make it a little more special. I cant believe how different we are then 6 years ago. The day we met I had just come from looking at a little house I wanted to buy. I didn't plan on getting married for a long time, if ever. Brandon probably went on another date that night (he says he doesn't remember which pretty much means he did) he didnt ever want kids. Now we are such a happy family. We have 2 of the most wonderful kids I could imagine. I wouldn't change a thing. I am really happy with they way things turned out. Brandon is such an amazing dad and a fantastic husband. He deals with all my crazy and rarely flat out tells me I am crazy =) He lets me work things out by talking about something until his ears probably are ready to bleed (such as my obsession with where Zach should go to school). He stays up all night at work then stays up all day watching 4 kids, not only because I ask but because he is such a great person. He may drive me crazy in so many ways but its a 2 way street and I am glad that we ended up with each other to make crazy. I wouldn't want to waste all my fantastic crazy on anyone else!

Today

Ok, so I added pictures to a few most recent posts. Nothing fancy but makes me feel better!

Brandon is at work again tonight. I hate hate hate it when he works nights. Blah. (In case there is one person left out there that has not heard me whine about in non-stop)

(Brandon)

Brandon's Mom and Dad came up today and we went out to dinner with them. We went to Tres Hombres. It was pretty good. Its a whole 2 blocks from our house and we have never been. But then all we have as options around us is mexican food. Cant try them all in 6 years! Ok, probably could. Ah well.

(Silvia and Zach)

I co-oped today. I love to co-op. Love spending time at school, seeing what goes on. Zach has a little girlfriend at school, Silvia. She is so dang cute. She calls him Zachary even though everyone else just calls him Zach. Her mom told me that she tried calling him Zachy first but it was a little too lovey for the mom of a 3 year old girl to handle. =)  They play Superhero Pirates every day. Terry (the teacher) thinks its the funniest thing in the world that Zach, the tallest kid in the class and Silvia, the smallest kid in class are bestest friends.  I just think its adorable!