November? Already?

I'm full of cliche's today.  I can't believe it's November.  It seems like it was just the first day of school, and the first marking period is already over.  We are as busy as ever with the kids and their activities, and I went and signed up to do a craft show.  Silly me.

In other news, here they are in all of their Halloween glory.

Bug as a witch to hand out candy.

PB...I'm not sure what she was?  It started out wanting a mask,
 then saw the wins and tutu, then the pantyhose.  She's cute though.

The super stealthy ninja boy known as Monster.
 Yes, we had him wear his martial arts uniform.  I'm cheap, okay?

And off on another tangent, I signed up for NaBloPoMo...let's see how long I last.

The finish line is there...

Turns out I knew what I was talking about when I wrote this post on the first day of school.  This year has been a whirlwind...and I'm still hanging on for dear life.  Bug has her license, although it is still in the graduated stage of having another adult driver in the car with her.  I'm nervous about her driving by herself this summer, but I'm also ready for the break it will give me.  Issy has aced her classes so far...and she's bored in some of them.  Moving her up just isn't an option, so it's off to talk to the principal soon.  Have to find some way to challenge her.  Monster has found the key, and has realized that he can read.  It's funny how excited I am about this.  He is literally reading on his own in the car, reading signs, words on tv.  His teacher asked for a conference last week just to tell us "wow! Whatever you are doing, keep it up!"  I can't stress how big a break through this was for us...and what a load off my stress level it has been.  We went from knowing less than 30 words to reading 92 words in a minute in 8 months. 

Now we're in the "busy season" of the school year.  Concerts, award ceremonies, etc will fill the schedule when there is blank time left from soccer, martial arts, and all those fun events.  But then it will be over, and I will suddenly have a senior!!!!!

And everything falls apart now...

So...hey there internets.  How's the parenting gig working out for you?  Cause I'm sort of sucking at it lately.  Well, really, only one thing, maybe two, but dang it, I'm tired.

I've managed to hold our household together for the last 11 months.  I've fixed (or arranged for someone to fix) broken appliances, lights, etc.  I've stayed on top of my children's schedule, making sure they did their work, got to bed on time, ate mostly good food, had all the permission slips and papers for school, doctor and dental appts made, and so on.  And I've done well so far.  Until school started.

We are in the 4th week of school.  So far, I've forgotten to give one child lunch money one day, manged to get only one of them in bed on time regularly, fed them more non homemade food than in any given 4 month period before, had a child left at horse back lessons, lost both of my military ID's on the same day (they were found the same day) and been late to a million and one things.  But today, today topped it all.

I forgot school picture day for Monster.  Luckily, they still snapped a shot of him, and all is not lost.  Cause retakes?  They are scheduled while we are in Disney. 

And tomorrow, my PB gets five baby teeth removed while under anesthesia.  My SIL is going with us to sit in the room with her, because I'm afraid I'll freak out while she's getting sedated.  Seriously, my stomach has been in knots and I've been on the verge of tears for the last 3 weeks just thinking about it.  I prayed they would fall out, or at least loosen, on their own.  One did fall out (it was originally 6) and several have loosened, but it isn't enough.  I'm stressed and trying to hide it.

But you know what?  I was the only parent in Bug's Chemistry class at open house tonight.  Guess I'm not failing as bad as I thought. 

But thank goodness my husband is home in less than 3 weeks.  The brain is short circuiting from the overload, and I need the help.

Season of change

Back to school season always stirs up the winds of change, and this year it seems to be even stronger.  One child moves from half day K to all day 1st grade, another begins Middle School, and the third driver's ed.  Milestones beginning for each of my babies.

This past year has definitely been a year of change as well.  Of course my kids have grown up some, that is inevitable.  But I think that they have also grown stronger.  We were all forced to really look at ourselves, to see our lives through a different filter.  We had to re-evaluate our roles and our relationships.  We could break free of the patterns of the past and move forward without those shackles pulling us back. 

I see so many changes in my girls.  Bug has matured, has realized what so many people have been trying to tell her for so long.  She is a beautiful girl, with so much potential.  There is no need to be defensive, loud, brash, mean.  There is no reason for anger, at yourself or others, any longer. It is time to close that chapter and walk into the bright sunlight.  It is time to live a positive life, embracing the future and allowing the past to remain just that.  I see a child that has turned into a beautiful and smart young lady, with a great future ahead of her.

At one time or another, my husband and I have discussed her future.  We were both concerned with the rude awakening we saw heading her way.  "Someday, someone is going to break through that barrier...I pray that it isn't a catastrophe."  We talked, we shared, we prayed and we loved.  Finally, some of that good has seeped through, and that barrier is safely falling away.

PB has really grown this year as well.  The whines, the temper tantrums, they are still there, but I'm seeing them less often.  I see a witty girl, who is sweet and caring, and it's reflected in the way other children want to be her friend.  People flock to PB, they see her and smile and call her name.

Part of her charm is the way she completely lives in her own world.  She doesn't worry so much about what others think...if she is happy, that's all that matters to her.  She doesn't hear you when you say "that doesn't match," she puts it on and suddenly, it matches.  She is one of the few people I have ever met that can pull off a polka dotted shirt and plaid shorts and make it look cute.  For so many years, she has lived in the shadow of her sister.  She has been the younger sister, always trying to do what Bug did, have what Bug had.  No matter how many times and how many ways we tried to show them that life wasn't a competition between them, it was still there.  But this year, she wasn't so much the little sister every day.  She was the oldest.  She was allowed a little more freedom, and a little more responsibility.  There wasn't someone there to constantly compare herself to, and she blossomed.  Now I see a more mature relationship, a sharing of common interests as well as a protectiveness of each other.  There is still a competitive slant, but it is hushed now, toned down.

I hope this year has also taught my children how blessed our life is.  We may not live in a mansion with maid service and butlers, but we have a good life.  And even without the nice stuff, we have each other.  I'm going to try and remember those blessings every day, and count them, and hold them tight to me.

Sharing the love, finding it in the small things.

I think the blogosphere is a wonderful place, filled with mostly wonderful people.  And two of them proved it this month by starting two wonderful new projects.

Catherine at Her Bad Mother, BlogHers ACT Canada and several other sites has a new project called Give Good Blog.  Go on, read her whole post, it will explain it all much better than I can.

I don't do give aways (yet) and my review blog is pretty much non-existent, but I try to do good things.  And I love the whole idea behind this project, so I signed up.

Right before I found this post, I signed up to volunteer at a web-based mail charity.  I'm going to post more about it at another time, as I'm still in the approval and assignment phase and haven't actually started, but I want a way that feels like I'm giving to someone else in the world, a way that I can include my children, and I think this is it.

Also, a fellow wife in the unit told me that she needed to purchase bike gear for her husband (lights, helmet, etc.)  The bicycle and pedestrian councils run out of our office, and they give many of these items away every summer.  So I hit them up for some freebies for him, and we hooked him up.  Although it didn't cost me anything, I took the time to utilize a resource I had.  And it made me feel good.

The second project I've joined is Grace in Small Things.  From her inaugural post on her website

The world we live in is loud and harsh and bright and demanding, and it is easy to slide into a less than thoughtful survival mode in which we do what we have to do to make it through the day with the least amount of strife possible. This robs us of the time and energy to be mindful of ourselves and those we love and to recognize the grace that exists in small things.
It is with this thought that I am beginning one year of posts called "Grace In Small Things". Every day for 365 days, I will post a list of five things that have graced my life, either on that day or at any time in my life. Feel free to join me. Or mock me. Or, you know, do whatever's in your heart. You can start on whatever day you want, so if you come across this six months from now, don't let that hold you back.

So simple.  Reminds me that I'm supposed to be looking for the Blessings every day, and I've been failing at that.  So I'm starting again.

Today's Grace items:
1. Reading the second post in that short lived series, a post about my Monster.  And tearing up, because he's still that little boy, but getting so big so quickly.
2.  For my preteen daughter that still wants to cuddle with me and requires a special routine at bedtime.
3.  For my friends sweet little baby boy coming over to play with us tonight.
4.  For the reminder that while I love babies, I don't want anymore.
5.  For a warm house on a cold day.

Happy Love Thursday.  I'm going to start spreading the love all over the place, one day at a time.

I'll take "This person is an emotional mess" for $1000, Alex.

My hubby is on his way to Kuwait. There's so much that sentence doesn't say. It doesn't say that going to Kuwait is one step away from Hell for him. That for the next 2-3 weeks, we won't have much if any contact with him. The Holidays are arriving, and I'm not sure what I'm going to send to him, if it's going to get there. And his birthday is two days after Christmas, so I have to make sure that is ready as well. And this week, I've given myself permission to wallow in the depression some. I've allowed myself a couple of times to think about how very long the next 9 months will be. How much he is going to miss...how much we are going to miss. And it makes me sad, makes me angry.

PB is participating in a Young Americans workshop at the high school this week. Bug would have been able to participate if she had stayed here for the school year. This is not an event that happens often, so she probably won't have another shot at it. Monday night was the first session, and we had to bring the kids dinner for their break. I was there a little bit early, so I was able to sit in the audience and watch as the small groups joined into a big group and showed off what they learned. I sat there pretty much sobbing. Oh, I always cry a little when I go to one of the kids concerts...choir, band, school, whatever...Childbirth made me an emotional crazy woman. But those are just the normal little sniffly tears. This was full blown ugly cry (but quietly) and I was mortified. But I couldn't even talk...all I could do was sit and cry and hope no one was watching. I watched as Bug's friends and her sister stood on the stage singing...watched as they laughed and had a good time. And I ached for her. I was so sad that she was missing out on this experience. I was sad that my husband wasn't here to watch, to enjoy. That he isn't going to watch the show tonight.

Monster started Martial Arts last night. Another moment of emotion.

I'm still sad today. The alarm company had to send someone to fix one of our alarm sensors, and I think it's Gods way of making sure that I stayed home this morning. Because I am an emotionl mess this morning. I spent a good chunk of time on the phone with him this morning, as he rode the bus to the airport. Knowing that this could be the last chance I have to talk to him for weeks. Not having much to say, but not wanting to disconnect.

I know that it will get better. We have things to do, things to prepare to help pass the time. And I know that I have to allow myself the chance to feel and work through these emotions.

And for $1000, the "answer" the title? That would be "who is mamalang?"

Another frustrating day

This whole weekend has felt frustrating with my kids. I know that they need more sleep than they have gotten in the lst few days, and I'm trying to plan some early bedtimes over the next few nights. But the level of frustration was just too much tonight, and I spoke in that bad mommy tone for a short while. And I can sit here and justify it to myself. And I know it happens. But even as I was doing it, I was feeling like a heel. And I wanted to stop, but I couldn't get that 10 minutes I needed, as we were in the car. Once we were home, and they had time to romp in their rooms without me hearing them, I was in a little better frame of mind.

This sole caregiver thing is tough. I don't say single parent, as I am least blessed to still have the second income to help cover expenses. And I have wonderful family and friends that want to spend time with my kids, that want to help. But I've had a lot on my plate the last couple of weeks, and I feel like my kids have had a little too much time with those family members. They need me. And so, knowing I had to go to work today, I made plans for them to come with me, and watch a movie in the conference room on the wall. They enjoyed it, and they were pretty good. I'm hoping that this will be something they remember, and that this evening's outburst will be shortly forgotten.

It isn't just being the main care giver for the kids, but all the things that entails. I am the only one capable of taking out the trash, cooking dinner, helping Monster with his shower, washing, drying clothes. PB can help fold, and they both help put theirs away and help unload the dishwasher. It just gets tiring and time-consuming sometimes. I really would love for someone else to figure out what's for dinner for a few nights.

On top of all this, I'm frustrated again tonight with Bug's situation. Her mom can't afford to buy her a coat apparently. The child told me that the area they are in isn't as prosperous as ours (I really don't understand why this child thinks we live in the lap of luxury...seriously) and they are having some job issues right now, so they are looking into getting her a coat. This woman has barely contributed to the cost of raising this child for the last 8 years, and now she wants us to continue to pay for everything while she gets to make all the choices. And I feel stuck. I hate to know that the child is walking to and from school in the cold without a coat. No child should ever have to do that. But it pisses me off that it's just assumed that we will cough up the needed funds. So on that note, I'm off to push aside my anger and irritation, and see if I can cram this coat into one of those flat rate boxes. Wish me luck.

the story of the munchkin

When Bug was 3, I met her father.  2 weeks before her 4th birthday, we were married and I became her mama.  Truth be told, she had me before he did, and he knows it.  I fell in love with the sweet little girl she was.  At this time, the custody agreement was in place for her to spend 6 months straight with each parent. 

When Bug was almost 5, we agreed to let her move in with her mother for the school year so that she could start school.  It was a difficult decision, but we did our best to make it work.  PB was born while Bug was with her mother, so they didn't meet for the first time until Thanksgiving.  I believe it could be considered love at first sight.  We worked very hard to make sure that Bug knew how much we loved and missed her.  We set aside time devoted to her when she visited, but made sure she still had rules and limits.

After a year and a half, she decided she wanted to come live with us.  We told her she had to finish out her first grade year with her mom, and we would discuss it over the summer.  We mde sure she understood that if she said she wanted to come live with us, she had to be sure.  Once the wheels were turning, there would be no mind changing.  She was adamant.  At the end of the summer, DDS informed Bug's mom that she wouldn't be returning to her for the school year.  She arrived on our doorstep 12 hours later afer driving all night.  She went to court and filed for Emergency Custody.  In our state, as soon as a custody petition is filed, the child is required to stay in this state unless both parties agree otherwise, or a judge rules differently.  Several months later, they met for mediation, which failed.  In January, we went to court, and after listening to both parents and speaking with Bug, the judge decided that she was best served living with us.  Bug's mom did not act very mature about this decision, and Bug ended up with a lot of anger and anomisity towards her mother after this time.

Bug has lived with us ever since, with regular visits to her mother. I have been her mother.  I have taken care of her when she is sick, driven her to her many activities, helped her with homework, planned her birthday parties, spent hours at airports with her.  I'm the one that schedules the necessary doctor and dental appointments, who gets her up in the morning and helps tuck her in at night.  She has always been treated just like the other two in this house. 

Usually, we've found that 8 weeks is when it all starts to fall apart while at her mom's.  It will be interesting to see how long she lasts living there full time and going to school.  Her decision to go live with her mother hurt me and made me angry.  I'm still working through these feelings, trying to be adult about the situation. 

I'm afraid of the damage she has done to her relationships with the family members here.  Not just myself, or even her brother and sister, but her aunt and grandmothers.  I'm also worried about what it's done to her academic future.  The schools where she transferred to don't have the same level of classes as this school here does. 

I love her, and I wish her the best.  I'm hoping that somehow we are all proven wrong with this experiment.  Time will tell.

Happy Birthdy Bug

My Bug turned 15 today.  I missed her.  I received a text and sent her one, and we had mailed her package out in plenty of time for her to receive it, but it wasn't the same.  So many changes this fall.  We're all adjusting, doing fine.  But sometimes, I'm reminded that it sucks.

Timing is everything

(I have to put a little prelude in here to bring you all up to speed with my life.  Bug is my stepdaughter, and while her father is deployed, she is going to live with her mother in a northern mid-western state.  She will be leaving Saturday, he will be leaving Sunday.  This was sprung on us in the last week, and I have lots more I could say, but I won't (at least right now).  PB and Monster have only known since Sunday.)

It's that final week of life PD (Pre-deployment).  I don't think it matters if you have a year to prepare, or only three weeks, this week is one of the hardest.  Things are packed, boxes are loaded on trucks and sent on their way, duffels are stored fully loaded, decisions have been made, and all those last minute details you forgot about are popping up.  And you are waiting.  You spend every day with a sense of anticipation and dread.  You avoid looking at the calendar, you stop keeping track of the days.  Mornings come way too soon, and bedtimes stretch way too late.  You gather up all those things you know you are going to miss, trying to store away a few moments to pull out in the coming year.  Those minutes just after waking in the morning, when the bed is warm and you are so comfortable and happy to just snuggle.  When you are sitting at the table and the kids are so hungry you let them say one of the cheesy graces just so you can eat.  Everyone piling on the bed to make some decision...what to get for dinner, when to go to the movies, etc.  You realize that this could be the last time you are able to do this for the next year.  And you do your best to push away the thoughts, the sadness, and remember to enjoy and live in that moment.  You spend every waking hour on the verge of strong emotions...tears, anger, frustration, elation.  People comment on how well you are taking this separation.  What do they want me to do?  Wail and scream and cry?  What will that do?  All I see in that path is the chance to be even more miserable for the next year.

People comment often that they couldn't do this.  They couldn't be married to the military.  And I do believe that it takes a certain group of traits to be a military spouse.  You cannot be an overly needy person, and you have to maintain a strong self-reliance.  You have to like yourself and be confident in your ability.  That doesn't mean that you don't need the other person.  My husband makes my life better.  It isn't always easier, but it is better.  That doesn't mean that it isn't good without him, though. 

We've known for over a year, ad we've worked towards being prepared.  We've had discussions, made agreements and arrangements.  We thought we were prepared.  But the last few days reminded me what I had forgotten.  You are never really prepared.

Yesterday, that fact was slammed into me several times.  Work is crazy busy and very frustrating at the moment. Our personal life is crazy and frustrating at the moment.  By the time I got home last night, I just wanted to crawl into bed and hide.  But dinner had to be made, projects had to be completed, showers needed supervised.  I worked through the chores with a strong sense that one more thing was going to hurtle me over the abyss, down into the craziness.  I felt brittle and stiff, sad and frustrated.  I worked very hard at maintaining my composure, but it was hard.

There were two bright spots in my night.  I came home to find a wonderful box of goodies from my Swapangel.  Unfortunately, my swap partner in the last swap did not fulfill her duties, but a very nice member stepped up and really outdid herself.  And it came at the perfect moment.  I was also able to carve out some time to spend in my sewing room.  A good hour and half of (mostly) uninterrupted sewing really soothed my soul.

Tomorrow is the ceremony.  I see wide scale chaos, and rivers of tears being shed.  At this point, I'm just living minute by minute.

Sorry for the busy signal

There is a lot going on here right now, and it's sucking my time in a big way.  Hubby leaves in 2 weeks, Bug is creating a commotion, PB turns 10 tomorrow, work is crazy (as it seems to have been for the last 10 months...WTH?) and normal life still has to go on.  I'm not overly stressed, as I've decided not to allow the stress to get me so much.  But I'm annoyed a lot.

I want to touch on the no stress thing.  Don't get me wrong, when I'm leaving work in a hurry to get the kids picked up and dinner on the table and all of us to where we need to be, I'm feeling some stress.  But I've remembered something I used to know.  It's okay if things aren't perfect.  Good enough is just fine.  And it's okay to say no.  It's hard, but it's okay.  These are my mantras over the next year.

There's a lot I need to vent about, but I just don't feel I can here at this time.

Tomorrow will be a post for PB...I can't believe she's hitting the double digits already.

Totally Tuesday

Ms. PB had another one of her bedtime episodes last night.  I finally just had her crawl into bed with me, that way when she woke up, I could comfort her and we would both be back to sleep in minutes.  It helped, but dang I'm tired today. 

Last night was Bug's Parent Info Night.  Her teachers all seemed like good people.  Her science teachers were both a bit off (it's a team teaching class.  Two teachers, some kids that are very good academically, and some kids that aren't.  Bug is very good academically, without having to work too hard at it.  That will bite her in the butt in a few years.  I digress).  The team teaching is good for her, as her best friend gets to be in her class, when she otherwise wouldn't be.  But the teachers....one blinks.  A lot.  And they're those long blinks.  Bug and her friends counted today, and he blinked 34 times in less than an hour.  That's more than once every 2 minutes.  And he keeps his eyes closed for 30 seconds or so.  I know, I shouldn't pick, but wow it was sooooo annoying last night.  The other is a big flirt.  Flip the hair, smooth the pants.  She looked really uncomfortable, but flirty at the same time.  It was a sight.  Her Math, Spanish and Band teachers are the same, which is okay for her.  Her poor math teacher...she needs to be in a higher level class, but the school won't give her that option for another year.  So she finishes everything really quickly, and then she pesters him.  It's good natured, and he doesn't really mind, but still.  And of course, in that class, it was us and one other family.  That blows my mind.  25-30 students and 2 families show up.  Wow!

I'm really enjoying Bug's high school experience.  I re-read "To Kill A Mockingbird" with her last year and I'm looking forward to reading some of the things with her this year.  Her father is going to read the books while he's in the sandbox so that they can email discuss them.  I think this will be a good way for them to keep connected, and I'm glad he thought of it. 

Now tomorrow night is PB's night.  I have a plethora of things to post about, and not a lot of time, energy or creativity to do it.  Got to write these things down!

What a good day

Monster went to spend some one on one time with Nana last night, so I took the girls to Olive Garden for dinner. It was a very nice time, but I was soooooo tired. I came home, laid down to read and fell asleep. I woke up a few minutes before 10 and went to tell them to go to bed, and they were already in PJ's and climbing into bed. DDS had drill, so he came home around 10:30, gave them hugs and kisses and off to dream land they went.

This morning, the girls and I joined my mom and took a short little roadtrip to the larger city near us. We went to Interior Alternatives...this is the Waverly material outlet. I LOVE this place. Great prices on nice material. We also went to the much larger Jo-Ann's and to a quilt shop up there. Lunch at Red Robin (we had never been before. Not bad.) and then home in the afternoon, it was all very nice. The girls were pleasant and didn't fight until we were almost home. We picked up some great deals on material, and now I'm itching to sew.

I want to start an Etsy store. I have an account, but don't know that I want my shop to just be mamalang. I know it's my user name on a lot of sites, but I think I need something different over there. I'll have to think about it. Any ideas?

Love endures sleepless nights

I had a long post about PB's sleep problems, but Blogger ate it.  And I told it all in anothe post.  Just know, that love endures those nights, even when your child is well past the age of being awake all night. 

Raking in the Dough

We're holding a yard sale today. My hubby is working it out there. We promised Bug that if she managed to score straight A's all last year, we'd buy her a laptop. Darned if the child didn't manage to pull it off for the first time ever. So we're holding a yard sale to help purchase said laptop. If your in the vicinity, stop on by!

the Olympics have started?

Maybe it was too much Mario and Sonic at the Olympics on the Wii, or maybe I don't watch enough television. But I really didn't realize it was time for the Olympics until my SIL mentioned the opening ceremonies Friday evening. I saw the US march in. And tonight, I watched the Men's Beach Volleyball and now swimming. I'm excited for Michael Phelps, and I'm patriotic, but I'm just not feeling it this year.

While I hate corporate plugs as much as the next person, I had heard about the "Olympic Soundtrack." Tonight, while watching the Olympics on TV, I saw a commercial about it, so I went in search of the site. AT & T has created this soundtrack, and it appears to only be available as download from ITunes or on your AT & T phone. The songs aren't too bad, and it's a nice variety of types of music. The interviews are amusing, and reading/watching the different artists answer what Olympic sport they would excel at made me giggle out loud a few times.

DDS and I attended our first Band parent meeting tonight. I can not believe I'm a band parent. And the scary part is, I could possibly be involved in this organization for the next 13 years. Yes, I'm serious, 13 years. I know. Yep, that's a lot of time. I might get a year off in three years, and then again in 8 years. That's one of the (few) down sides of having your kids so far apart.

I totally missed it

I totally missed signing up for and participating in Fun Monday. It was just that this Monday...it wasn't fun. I was supposed to have the day off, but due to circumstances beyond anyone's control, I had to go in. And it was busy and crazy. But I get to take tomorrow off in it's place. No plans, just vegging with the family and enjoying the day. Tomorrow night the Bug returns and the following day starts Band Camp...yippee! I will now become a band parent. I have mixed emotions on that one.

I hope someone had a Fun Monday somewhere.

The best day in life (I'm totally bragging on my girls here)

Today was the last day of school and my girls have had it good. The last day is always a half day here, so there's that from the get go.

PB had her awards ceremony this morning. Apparently the school sent home the schedule last week and I missed it, and so we weren't last night what time it was this morning. Before bed, I broke the news that no one would be there. She was disappointed. My mom called the school this morning, found out what time, and booked it over there so she could be present. PB received Honor roll for the year and Citizenship, which entitled her to a water ice coupon (she ended up with 2 actually) and a Chick-Fil-A coupon. And here I will totally gloat on my child. She received straight A's and Outstandings in all her subjects for the year. Yay PB! Once school was out, she went to the Youth Center and hung out with her friends doing fun activities and listening to the music.

(Side bar...one of the staff members is a DJ on the side, so sometimes when they have half days or whole days off, he sets up the sound equipment in the gym and pumps the tunes through the whole building. They love it. Yesterday, I watched a little girl bumping her hips from side to side as she walked down the hall. They can't resist that beat...lol).

Next we went to get her brother from "school" and as we were leaving she found a four leaf clover. When Daddy got home, we agreed that we should almost frame that report card, and he pointed out that her report card said AOOOAOOOAOOOAOOO which had a nice sound too it. That became the mantra for the rest of the night.

Bug (who lately should be drama queen) has also done awesome this year. She has had straight A's for her entire FRESHMAN year. We haven't received her report card yet, but she basically had to show up, write her name and answer a few questions off each of her finals in order to have an A in the class. Yesterday was her math final, which is her favorite subject. Her math teacher came over in the middle of the period (after she had turned her test in) and informed her that she had an A for the entire year before he even finished grading the multiple choice. The child could almost fail the test and still get an A. She was also given a task to handle before school yesterday morning, and she did it and did it well. I'm so very proud of her for that.

I love my girls, and I'm darned proud of them right now.

Jumping out of my skin

I've been burning the candle at both ends a bit this week, and this morning the candle broke. I could barely pull myself out of bed this morning, and was even 20 minutes late doing so. I somehow managed to take the kidlins to school without killing any of them, but let me tell you, it was difficult. Bug has a tendency to get in these "I'm a teenager, so I'm better than all of you" moods, and and then every comment out of her mouth is sarcastic or cutting, and it drives me batty. Monster has hit the non-stop talking age. In the car every morning we are treated to a long game of 20 gazillion questions. But the rules of this game are different...there's no subject, whatever he feels like asking is okay. And sometimes, his questions are like this one...."Mama, you know that thing? Where did it get that thingy from?" Yes, really, he asked that out of the blue one evening. When I asked him to clarify what thing, he said, "you know, the one with the thingy?" Very clear now. Anyway, I digress. Yesterday was no exception on that chattering, and I seriously felt like I could jump out of my skin. I was so over-stimulated and exhausted that I wanted to just throw myself down on the ground and cry. I decided (amazing how rational you can be when your feeling crazy) that I wasn't fit for public consumption, so I went home, took meds for my headache, and slept for 2 more hours. Amazing what that did for my disposition. I was feeling soooo much better.

I will never take drugs. If that's what withdrawal is like, I don't want to feel it.

And 2 down

Now the apron is done. I'll be posting pics soon. It turned out pretty cute, but I'm tired and heading off to bed.