I'm cleaning today.  Yup, the dreaded cleaning of the casa, not my favorite part of being a stay at home Mommy, but a necessary one.  But for the moment I am taking a quick break and doing a quick post.  Perhaps this is simply an excuse to take a break... dunno. 


The Munchkins and I had a fantastic time this weekend.  Donnie had a fishing trip in Arkansas so while he was gone (getting a terrible sunburn on his legs) we had some much needed fun time.  We went and saw the last Shrek movie in 3-D, it was Henry's first 3-D movie and he loved it!  Ran to Barnes and Noble and bought the Munchkins some books while I had a nice hot coffee :)  Got together with my sister in law and took all the kids bowling and out to dinner, poor Henry was so tired he fell asleep in the booth.  All in all we had a really great time. 


Well, today is Monday, Donnie is at work with a monster sunburn, I'm trying to find my house again and the Munchkins are watching some movies I rented them from redbox.  Happy Monday!!

Where Did The Time Go??

I can say without hesitation it feels as if only yesterday Henry was a tiny little thing and I would hold him for hours and hours without end.  With that said, how is it that just this morning we went to his Kindergarten Graduation?  I suddenly feel as if he is no longer my Baby, my Little Man.  I watched him stand up on stage, sing songs he has memorized, represent the R in KINDERGARTEN (he was the last R), and receive the President's Award.  (Okay, I suppose I should explain what the award means... Instead of simply handing out a certificate of achievement to each student, the Teachers thought about each student and gave them an award that symbolizes who and what they were during the year.  For example, there was most athletic, best reader, best dressed and so on and so forth.  Henry received the President's Award... don't worry, I didn't quite understand what it meant at first either :o)  It wasn't as self explanatory as the others, so I spoke to his Teacher, and he received that award because she is certain Henry will be President.  She has told me on numerous occasions Henry is one of the best students she has had in a long while and she is quite taken with him.  He is polite, well behaved, respectful, considerate and smart.  Wow, that is quite a compliment!  I think as parents we would like to think we are doing a good job in creating respectful, honest, honorable children, but this was an affirmation all of my efforts have not been in vain.  He is all that I could hope and more, and for that he received the President's Award.) 

So now I am left feeling as if somewhere in the past year, without my knowledge or permission, Henry has grown into a young man.  I am proud of the young man he is becoming, he takes others into consideration and tries to be friendly with everyone he encounters.  He is giving and is almost always willing to share his lunch if asked.  He opens the door for strangers at restaurants in an effort to be courteous, and when thanked he will respond with "you are welcome M'am".  I'm not saying my child is perfect, after all if you have met his Father and myself you know he is working against some pretty difficult odds.  But when I take into consideration he is six years old I am amazed with the young man he is becoming and yet am left feeling it has all happened a bit too quickly.

I am thinking of consoling myself with a half gallon of ice cream, perhaps a cheese cake...  but instead I think I shall sneak into his room while he sleeps tonight and snuggle with him for a long while.

If he was really asleep, she picked up that "six-year-old boy" and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.  And while she rocked him, she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

- Love You Forever by Robert Munsch

Beautiful Day

So I woke today to find it is an absolutly beautiful day.  I made the family pancakes for breakfast (and yes, I made them from scratch thank you very much), and sent the Munchkins outside to play and enjoy the weather.  Donnie is still working on the entertainment center, adding trim and staining.  I am contemplating a picnic for lunch, we shall see.  That is it for now, I'm off to enjoy the day!!

Really?? Again??

At this point I must assume no one is reading this and I am simply blogging as an outlet for myself, but for some reason it seems to give me somewhere to put all these random thoughts. It is serving a purpose...


My children were home schooled. I was not keen on the idea of handing some random person the privilege of educating my Munchkins. So, I home schooled. Hailey did not do well. By the end of 1st grade it was apparent I was not going to be able to teach her and there was a possibility something wasn't "quite right" so I placed both her and her brother into public school. That took a lot of heavy thinking on my part as well as talking to my Tia (Aunt) who has been a teacher 30+ years nearly every night for months. Well... I did it and for the most part am extremely happy I did so. Hailey has some markers of dyslexia and has been receiving the help she needs. She is doing quite well, in fact she is currently an A-B student YAY!! That has taken so much work on all of our parts, as well as having people around me who can help on a regular basis if not simply with moral support, but with their own personal experiences, and others who are qualified to offer real advice on how to help us succeed. (I don't look at it like "she" has to learn to deal with her learning disability, but the whole family has to learn and deal with the learning disability) The kids have made some great friends and are enjoying the benefits of being in public school.

With that said, let me begin my rant and rave - we are not a sick family by nature. If you have recently met us you would think I'm telling you a massive lie. Since the beginning of public school I feel that we have not gone more than one week without someone in our family being sick! This is not how our family works, not at all. We might have one doctor visit a year due to illness (cold, flu, that sort of thing) but now I feel like I am CONSTANTLY running to the pediatrician and the kids are ALWAYS on one medication or another.

For example, Henry. He has had a yucky cough for a week or two, but no other symptoms. And the last few days he has actually been fine. I was starting to think the family was recovering from our latest round of cooties... until tonight. It was about 11pm and I heard him coughing in his room. I called out to him to see if he was awake and he walked out into the living room (okay, obviously he was awake), calmly walked over to the trash can in the kitchen and proceeded to throw up. Really?? Cleaned his little face up, then he started throwing up again. Again, really?? Cleaned him up again, gave him some phenergan (strong nausea med), and sat down on the couch with him. At some point my cheek lightly brushed against his left ear and he started to sob informing me how badly that hurt his ear. Huhh?? Yep, red ear. Numbing drops (left over from his sister's er visit for a bad ear infection) & Motrin. Now he is dead asleep on the recliner and I need to run to Walmart for last minute Easter basket items but I'm afraid to leave him in case he starts to throw up in his sleep.

So now I ask the cootie gods, when will this end? I'm rather done with all the illnesses & meds. When are we all going to be healthy and thus happy?? I guess I'm extra tired and that isn't helping anything...

So I am watching my little Henry sleeping and praying he will feel better tomorrow morning to enjoy what the Easter Bunny will bring him.  Poor thing....

This weekend has been long to put it mildly... Donnie and I have been working on our new entertainment center.  It has been nice finishing up the "work in progress" but slightly unfortunate because the weather is absolutely beautiful and we are too busy to enjoy it.  This weather has brought about a change in me.... I have began to suffer a certain amount of frustration with my children.  My Munchkins are so accustomed to having indoor activities to entertain them (ie : wii, ps2, cable tv in both their rooms etc...) that when told to go play it never occurs to them there could possibly be something to do outside.  I have finally decided to force my children to enjoy the beauty that is nature and play outside for the pure joy of it.  It has taken a few days to end the whining, complaining and griping but I have succeeded!!  I can now tell my children to go play and they assume I mean outside.  I feel children in today's society lead privileged lives and no longer are made to enjoy the childhood we (the parents) led ourselves.  I have a new found determination to ensure my children lead a well rounded childhood and make memories worth remembering.  In 10 years they will not remember beating Mario Brothers on the wii but they will remember building a fort and fighting off the invaders.  I hope I succeed in my endeavor but I know the process will not come without it's challenges.  As for now, I am enjoying watching my children playing outside.  They have even made me a flower collage.  It's beautiful and I'm so happy to see them enjoying the outdoors!!

I suppose I shall try this blog thing

I have never been one to sit down and write in a journal, much less a diary.  The idea of looking deep inside myself and putting into words my innermost thoughts and feelings has always been one which I have avoided.  And yet here I am attempting to start a blog which is in no fashion or form private.  A good friend of mine has a blog and shared it with me which led me to think that perhaps it could be carthartic to have an outlet in which sharing my thoughts on the randomness of the world and the important issues of my life is not only allowed but expected.  So this is the start of the blog I never thought I would have.  Guess I surprised myself today...