Happy Mother's Day

When Charlie and I first got married, we made an agreement that we would each take care of our own mothers for Mother's Day and their birthdays.  It's not that I didn't want to get his mom presents, it's that I wanted him to get his mom presents.  I wanted him to think about it and put care into it and not just pass it off and add it to the list of things that I take care of in our family and relationship.  His mom deserves a loving gift from her baby boy.  So almost 15 years later  I wonder if that was always the best decision and whether or not it put me in the hot seat every once in awhile, but still stick to my guns that she deserves to be recognized by him.

In the same respect, when it comes to gifts for me I don't get much from Charlie.  He says that he hates May because it's Mother's Day and Sarah's birthday and my birthday (as well as a crazy month for the kids at school because of all the end of the year activities that we need to go to), but he really only has to worry about my birthday.  Since I'm not his mom he sees no reason to get a gift for me.  I understand that and don't have a problem with it because what he does do is help the kids if they need to get something for me.  If they wanted to make me breakfast in bed he would be right there showing them how to do it or if they wanted to get me a present he would take them to the store.  He makes it happen for them and honestly that is a gift in itself.  It's also a gift for the kids, although they don't really know it, because what is better for a child than knowing how much their Daddy loves their Mommy?

This year I got the best gift for Mother's Day.  I got to fly to California for the weekend and meet up with my friends, April and John, and run a 10k and half marathon and go to Disneyland.  I got to spend my Mother's Day away from my kids rejuvenating and doing something for me so that I will be better at doing things for them.  My kids get to see that I am a person too and sometimes get to do things that are just for me.  And occasionally those things are healthy and good for me and will, hopefully, help me live a much longer life.

I got home this evening after they all went to bed, so tomorrow they get to give me my presents.  How did I get so lucky?

Let's Talk Lunch

When we lived in Texas, the kids were not allowed to share food at school due to food allergies.  This is not the case where we live now.  Yesterday morning I found some Goldfish chocolate samoas, which are basically chocolate fish cookies with mini marshmallows mixed it.  If you though Goldfish crackers were remotely healthy, these definitely do not fall in that category.

As I was unpacking Andy's lunchbox last night we had the following conversation:

Me:  Did you enjoy the Goldfish crackers?

Andy:  Yes, but I didn't eat that many.  My friends ate most of them.

Me:  The same friends that always eat your lunch?  The ones who's mothers don't pack them anything good to eat?

Andy:  This is the exact conversation Aunt Mary Ann had with Allie this weekend!

Andy quoting Mary Ann:  Do I need to pack more food for your friends?

Andy quoting Allie:  Mom, no!


We're 1000 miles apart from each other and we are having the same conversation with our kids who are two years apart.  I have an idea about what we'll still be talking about two years from now.

Beavertails

When I was a kid I was very responsible and organized.  I know, hard to believe, but my mother will back me up.  I was the kid who came home from school and told my mom that two weeks from Tuesday I needed something for a class project.  I did my homework on Friday nights instead of waiting until Sunday and I didn't wait until the last minute to do anything.  That might have changed a little bit in college, but before that I was on top of things.

Which is why it kills me when I get things like this from Andy:

The recipe was for Beavertails Ontario (because he is giving a presentation on Ontario, Canada tomorrow in Social Studies).  In case you don't know what beavertails are, because I didn't, the are basically fried dough covered in sugar and cinnamon.  Luckily I happened to check my email this morning and had time to run by the grocery store.  I looked over the ingredients he needed and we had all of them except for yeast.  Then I texted a friend to ask how, exactly, do you get the oil hot enough to fry to beavertails and she thankfully had a deep fryer in her garage that she was happy to lend me.

We started this project right after school.  I made Andy do as much as possible but when you are working with 375 degree cooking oil I am not giving the reigns to a 12 year old.  So, we mixed the dough together, he rolled it out and after putting the girls to bed Charlie also got involved and did the frying while I did the rolling in sugar/cinnamon.  Amazingly it didn't turn out to be the long night I expected and we finished before 9p.

Charlie claims that he wasn't a last minute kid either.  So where did Andy get it from?  That's anybody's guess but he does have a few aunts and uncles that have the same characteristics.  He got an earful during dinner and I would hope at this point he is clear on our disdain for waiting until the last minute to work on a school project.  This isn't the first time this year this has happened, but it always seems to work out in his favor.  Charlie thinks that next time we shouldn't be so willing to help and see if that teaches him a lesson, I'm inclined to agree.

Regardless of our stance, the finished product turned out pretty good.  They may not look as good as they should, but we were pretty excited.

Late Night Squeeze

Last night before I went to bed I went into Andy's room to make sure he had turned his alarm clock on.  I don't do this every night, but I at least try to do in on Sundays after I know he's had his alarm off for the weekend.  He had been asleep for a couple of hours so I thought he'd sleep right through it, but when he stirred I didn't want him to freak out and think I was an intruder (he has a bit of a fear of that) so I quietly asked him if he remembered to set his alarm.

He acknowledged that he had and then asked if he could have a hug.  Of course!  I leaned down and gave him a big hug and stayed with him for a few second, told him I loved him and left the room with a little smile on my face.  No matter what, he'll always be my little man.

Passing the Buck

Last week Amanda needed to get her blood drawn at the pediatrician's office.  Don't worry grandmas, she's fine, they were just worried because she's a little on the chunky side (as her mother was at that age).  I like our doctor's office, but sometimes I think they are a little too concerned about my kids and wonder if we were still in Texas if they would even think twice.  Stupid healthy Colorado.

I always take the kids to the doctor and I get the brunt of it when they get shots or medicine or even when Sarah had to do an in-office breathing treatment when she had pneumonia.  They get mad at me and they cry and then they cry some more.  Sometimes I think that they cry so much just because I'm the one that takes them.  Daddy is the fun one and he never has to do the dirty work, so this time I made him take Amanda.

It started out by him asking me where the doctor's office was (see, he never takes them and he's even been to the office for a flu shot before) but he went without complaining.  He agreed that my thought process had some merit and was willing to try it.  However, Amanda cried regardless.  She cried and struggled and made the whole situation worse because she was flailing while she had a needle in her arm.  I guess with some things it doesn't really matter who takes them.

It turns out that there was nothing to worry about.  Our fluffy little girls doesn't have a thyroid problem or diabetes and everything came back normal.  Her cholesterol levels were slightly elevated (probably because we accidentally had waffles for dinner the evening before the blood test, not the smartest idea) but nothing to be concerned about.  Except they said they want to recheck it at her well-visit in August.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to take her to that one.

Kid Quote of the Day

The girls can be pretty lazy, so often they will ask Siri to open an app on their iPads for them.  It doesn't always go so well.

Amanda:  Siri, open any app.

Siri:  I don't see an app called "any".  What app do you want me to open?

Amanda:  I don't care.

Siri:  I don't see an app called "I don't care".

Amanda:  Siri, I hate you.

Kid Quote of the Day

Amanda:  When I grow up I'm going to live next to you.

Me:  Great, then I can babysit your kids and sugar them up and give them back to you.

Amanda:  What does that mean?

Me:  That means I can give them lots of candy and make them crazy and then send them home to you.

Amanda:  No thank you!!!