Compete and repeat

Competition season started today.  Goodness.  I need a bigger car.  Not only do have lots of crap to haul, but gymnasts galore.  Today, I had Donnie with me to help with the chaos.  Well, thank goodness for my gymnastics parents BC the man has no idea how gymnast hair needs to be. I get a little  alot bossy when I need things done a certain way and right now.  I was certain we may not be on speaking terms by the end of the day, but he took my direction well and ignored me for the most part.  Onto competition.  Friday at practice, Paige looked like a complete douffass.  Her vault looked like day 1 of the season.  I wanted to rip my hair out.  I prayed that she not look like this today BC I didn't want to be the embarrassed parent with the sucky child.  The girls first event was vault.  Not our expertise I should say.  Really, they suck at vault.  I'm not afraid to admit this BC I did too.  I hated vault.  My girls are short.  In our gym, we have been using mats based on the girls height and having to take the springs out of the spring board in order to get any type of bounce from it.  The girls head to vault and I think oh no. Theres no height accommodation.  We are screwed ALREADY.  The mat is taller than Zuri.  The girls do a warm up vault, then the real deal comes.  Its time to impress or embarrass.  Zuri goes and does better than I thought she would.  I thought she would be the one to head butt the mat.  Thankfully it was someone elses kid that did that... she does nehhhhhh.  Paige takes her practice vault and does beautifully.  I was impressed.  Kinda.  She does her vault and its not done as well.  The both get a yellow ribbon.  I'm already pissed. 

We go to bars next.  This is going to be rough as well bc there's one skill the girls don't have without a spot.  Automatic deduction here we come.  Zuri flops on bars and does the strangest dismount I have ever seen. She gets 4th.  Paige goes up and I think this could go better.  She had straight legs, she can do her skills, shes usually tights on bars.  All was good until she went slightly crooked on her dismount.  She gets 3rd.  I'm pissed again BC I think she could have gotten 2nd.

Up next is beam.  The girls have a handstand on beam in their routine.  The coaches have never not spotted.  At times, I just want to tell them to step away from the beam.  Its time for the safety net to leave.  I know spotting is an automatic deduction.  Here we go again....Zuri is my favorite on beam.  She gets a spot on the handstand, goes to do her split jump and falls off BC she got distracted from the mat moveage going on underneath her.  FUCK!!!   Paige goes and wasn't graceful as usual, but sticks everything and with no spot.  Its been too long of a day now to remember what they got.

Floor is last.  In the floor routine, there a a bridge kick over.  There is one other level 3 girl the same size as Zuri on the team.  Both these girls hadn't gotten the skill yet.  I have been working with Zuri every way possible at home to get this.  Monday at Dynamites she gets it.  Shes ecstatic and so am I bc she needed it today.  I think we could have a chance at this bc we don't need a spot for anything.  Zuri goes and does a BE-AUTIFUL routine, buuuuuttttt she was much to quick.  There are little dings in their music that are cues for them to do a finish.  That completely went out the window today.  She got 2nd place and was devastated bc she didn't get a blue ribbon which is like getting first place.  I told her she would have had she had her timing right.  She has to listen for her music cues.  Shes tells me she wasn't listening to her music.  Like I couldn't tell.  Paige goes and oh my goodness.  Child what are you thinking!  The very first step is a handstand forward roll.  She goes into her handstand and down she comes only to repeat it.  WHAT?  What are you doing?!  Ohhh fuuuuuucck. Paige gets 2nd somehow and so does Zuri.  Again, I'm pissed.  Zuri is this little tiny girl doing Level 3 and she does an awesome floor routine and they give her 2nd?!  What the F.

Today has been a whole cluster fuck of different feelings.  I put a lot of time into my girls at the gym, so I expect a lot from them.  I was also a gymnast, so I expect even more from them.  4th place sucks.  I'll allow this on vault, but nothing else.  I'm angry bc judging seemed inconsistent and they should have gotten a little better, and there were no height accommodations whatsoever, but then I also have to be excited for them to help them be OK with a 4th place ribbon. Santa is bringing them a balance beam for Christmas...THANK GOD.  We need it.  This allows to me to critique the skills at home that I don't like.  I also have to remember they are 5 and 7.  I have watched Zuri's floor video over and over with her tonight and it makes me proud.  She looked amazing. I need the amazing look on every event!  The girls had a great time today despite getting a couple 4th places. I might be more excited about this when I feel more confident about their skills. 

Next weekend we get to repeat the drive, and chaos for a cheer competition.  This involves fancy bang bumps, curled ponies, and makeup.  This should be loads of fun.

We went shopping. These kids are growing up.

Its hella cold today.  It was in the 40's with rain.  Paige had a football game to cheer at today.  It was awesome..I mean fucking horrible.  It was COLD.  Donnie worked a 24 hour shift somewhere, I suppose I should know where, but I don't.  I know. I'm an awesome wife.  We can chat about that later.  I get out the winter coats, hats, gloves to bundle everybody up for the game being that I do NOT like to be cold.  My office is like an ice box.  When I'm home I prefer to be so warm that I can walk around the house in shorts and a tank and be comfy.  Last year, right before Spring of course, Coby lost his jacket.  I bought him a super cute one from GAP and got an awesome deal on it being that spring apparel was already out.  Liana got a new coat last year as well.  Paige and Zuri got new coats the year before that had still fit.  I've had the house on a rotating jacket schedule the last few years.  Now hearing this you might think I'm crazy, but I'm not and it works for the most part.  It has worked out that every year we only have to buy two kids new coats instead of all 4.  Paige's coat is now two years old.  I thought it might work, might not.  Sure enough it is too short in the sleeves.  Zuri put it on and was excited to claim it now that it doesn't fit Paige.  Works for me.  Paige went to a birthday party, then a sleepover with a friend with a church date in the morning.  We had been browsing online at The Children's Place and she picked out a hat she liked, then we start browsing coats.  We do it backwards around here.  Since I was down one kid, we head to the mall instead of ordering online.  We get to the mall and hit the hats, scarves, and gloves first thing.  Liana picks out a hat, actually a few.  I grab the one Paige picked out, then I work on Zuri.  Zuri heads to the jewelery section first.  I inform her she's getting no earrings if she doesn't pick out a hat.  We find one she likes.  This is going well.  The child likes nothing.  Then we start browsing clothing.  One of the hats Liana picked out was a super cute girl monkey hat that even has a hair bow on it.  This store knows my style.  Liana then spots a monkey shirt that matches the hat and politely asks if she can have it.  How am i suppose to say NO to that?!  Of course not.  I say YES!  She grabs the shirt.  We browse for Coby next.  Now in all years prior I can shop for Coby and buy him clothing and he doesn't care what i bought.  Not this year.  He's got an opinion this year.  Good for him.  His jeans I made him put on today were starting to get into the flood stage, which again I DO NOT LIKE.  I find him some jeans and asks if there were any shirts he liked, so he picks out a belt.  Again, I guess we all like to works backwards.  I then start browsing for Zuri next who likes just about nothing.  I do not like clothing with peace signs on it, but being that is some of the only things that she likes, I go with it.  I spot a peace sign fleece hoodie with matching fleece pants.  Its a negative.  I spot some super cute pink skinny jegging looking things.  She says No, Liana says Ohhhh those are cute!  We head back to her section and grab a pair for her.  The girls pick out earrings and we exit the mall.  As we get into the truck I take a few pictures to text to daddy so he can see what they picked out.  I glance at Liana and realize the kid is growing up!  She had on a black leo underneath a tight hot pink hello Kitty shirt, a white tutu skirt, and silver Bobs, and this super sequenced panda hat she picked out.  Shes growing up.  Shes not a baby anymore and she's got her own style and opinion!  Its cute to see her pick out her own things and shes totally my little fashionista.  Zuri could care less about what she has on.  Paige likes clothing, but not to Liana's extent.  I know the baby of the house is growing up, but as I looked at her tonight it just became so apparent.  I'm OK with her growing up, but I hope she never looses her style. 

SO proud of them!

Wow.  The kids have come a long way!  They are all making me so proud.  All of them.  We have been spending tons of time at activities.  Trust me, tons!  The girls are spending almost 11 hours a week doing gymnastics and cheer and Coby is about to be bumped up to 3 hours per week in Tae Kwon Do.  I used to really look forward to my time in the gym with them, but now that I'm working I do dread the amount of hours I have committed them too.  As I watch them, I realize that my sacrifice is paying off.  Tonight at gymnastics, Zuri was a TWO FINGER back handspring spot!  This is huge.  I expect her to be on her own on the tramp within a few weeks.  That's two years younger than Paige!  I can't imagine having my back handspring when I was 5.  Paige has had major issues lately keeping her legs closed.  Get your perverted minds out of the gutter..that's not what I mean.  During her back handsprings, her legs are separated.  Obviously not how they are suppose to be.  Mr. Mitchell, the main owner of the gym, has been rubber banding her legs together at the ankles and the knees to correct this.  I know, I know. A gymnasts' daughter is not suppose to have this problem..... we all progress in different ways!! Its clicking and her form is developing.  Her legs were much better tonight w/out being rubber banded.  I think Mr. Mitchell finally realized this method of correcting her was making her form worse.  It just had to click.  I knew this.  Tonight after doing sooooo much better on one back handspring, she did a double.  She's been working on this at home, but we have a circle tramp and not a rectangle tramp.  This makes it so much more difficult.  Liana hasn't joined the power tumbling pre-team yet, but shes close.  Shes so graceful and pretty.  She naturally pretty and Zuri is as well.  We need to instill this in Paige.  Not every gymnasts just comes pretty.  Liana is a beam lover!  She takes after her momma.  My monkey toed girl just knows what to do. 

Coby tests next week for his camo belt!  Yes, already!  I'm not so sure I'm ready for this.  Along with the camo belt comes weapons and sparring.  Yeeeaaaahh, not ready. He is, not me.  Some of those kids can kick some bootay in sparring.  I'm not ready for that!!  He is majorly stoked about weapons.  This does not surprise me.  I think he will excel at weapons, but not so sure about sparring.  I need to put this fear aside and let him do what he enjoys.  I might enjoy being a soccer mom again with him in the fall....

I really hope that as the years come and go and these kids get older, they will appreciate the time I have put in to them.  These girls are living my dream for them and Coby is gaining interest in activities that involve large groups of kids.  TKD has really helped with the social aspect for him.  It makes up for where school lacks.  All these kids have come a long way and they make me so proud!

Stuck up PTA Mom....No thanks

Holy Moly!  Its been a long time since I have blogged last. A lot has happened as well since then.  We survived 3.5 months of my husband being away, the snakes have left the premises, I haven't gotten locked out of the house, the kids have been up to their usual activities.  The house is normalizing again.  Most importantly I went back to work. YES, I did.  No seriously,   I have been a stay at home mom for 8.5 years.  Its been that long since Coby was diagnosed as being autistic and I made him my job.  Although that time was very well worth it, Liana is going to Pre-K in two weeks and ALL of them will be in school.  Its a new chapter for us.  Several people have criticised my decision to go back to work, but why wouldn't I?!  I know my husband makes enough money that I don't HAVE to work, but I WANT to.  What else am I going to do?  Be one of those stuck up PTA moms?  HELL No.  I mean no thank you.  We all know what I am referring to.  In the past I have volunteered to help with several PTA events.  One major event a few years ago was fantastic.  Another last year...not so much.  I put a lot of time into it to get thrown under the bus and not appreciated by the chair.  Never again.  Do I want to be the housewife that hangs around the house like the Cleavers cooking, cleaning, dusting, going to the gym...  nope. Don't want to be that either.  My plan last year was to put Liana in preschool and work part time on those days and I did and she dropped out.  She just wasn't ready.  I put my working mom, financially contributing to the household needs aside and stayed home with her the rest of the year.  I think she's ready and I was ready a year ago to do this.  I was determined this year that my plan was going to happen.  Several weeks ago I applied for a job with the hospital my husband works for, got a call immediately for an interview.  They had two positions open.  Both were front office.  One was a brand new interventional cardiologist office that was just opening and another was for a group of 3 ENT physicians that had an open position. I went to the interview with all intentions of just checking out the job and came out wanting it.  Within an hour of leaving I get called back for another interview and to meet the physicians and we began negotiating.  I really wanted to put all of my motherly instincts aside and take this job, however it was full time and I always commit myself to being a mom first.  I was devastated and turned down the job.  I was thinking I wouldn't find anything else.  I applied for another job at a local bank, got called immediately for an interview and was offered the position and I accepted.  In this same time period of taking this job, I got called for an interview for another position with a friend of mine in another front office job, go to the interview, get offered the job and again I accept.  At this point I'm wondering how the unemployment rate is so high BC now I have two jobs?!
Anyways, I started at my job this week and it feels fantastic.  Donnie's parents immediately found out I was going to hire a nanny and volunteered to come out.  They love the kids. I'd rather pay her than someone I only know a little bit or not at all.  I will have to learn a new balance with working, cleaning, cooking, and keeping the house organized and running smoothly.  I can do it.  I know some mothers that can't, but I can.  I'm no wimpy mom.  The girls gymnastics tuition is honestly pretty high in my opinion.  It feels so good to know that I am now responsible for that and to lift a little bit of weight off Donnie's shoulders.  He does so much for us, why wouldn't I help him?  We are most likely moving in a year and I'm pretty ready.  The thought of putting our home on the market will be approaching us very soon and home shopping is also going to be a reality sooner than we know it.  Knowing that any income I make past the kids activities fees can be set aside for a down payment is pretty nice.  I'm also a pretty cheap person.  I can't be out foolishly spending money on random and non essential things when I don't make the money.
ALL of these changes are going to be a huge transition to us.  I'll still volunteer to do things non-PTA related for the school.  Last year I was the grade chair for Pre-K and it was great.  I met lots of incredible moms who helped me tremendously and it was a fantastic year.  I will still attend music programs, still take the kids to school and pick them up, but I will feel like an adult and a better wife as well.  Goodbye Stay at Home mom, hello working mom feels awesome.

Proud gymnastics mom moment

I know, I know.  REALLY?  A blog about the back handsprings..YES. Definitely.  Paige started back handspring clinics back in February.  In May of this year she was invited to join the elite Dynamite team. This is the power tumbling pre-team.  I, I mean we, were stoked.  I have been bitching, and bitching, and bitching a little more to everyone that Paige does not have the back handspring yet.  I sit there during Dynamites and watch the group of girls above Paige not only do their back handsprings, but also connect their round off back handspring combination.  I have had round off back handspring envy.  Badly. Earlier this week I had a chat with Mrs. P and Mr. Mitchell about her skills.  Mrs. P said she would be moving Paige up groups very soon and she would start connecting.  Tonight Mr. Mitchell spotted her with one finger.  Once we left the gym, she told me he said she's ready to do it on her own.  We come home and she immediately goes to the back yard.  She gets on the trampoline, I spot her twice.  I do it once with a finger then I pretend to spot her and she gets it.  Her confidence sky rockets at that point and there she goes!  I yell at dad frantically to come see her.  You would have thought she was hurt!  We stand there with the iPhone in hand recording away.  What happens after that...she does a round off back handspring and connects it!  She connected it!  It wasn't perfect to say the least, but she did it!  She can NOT wait to go to SSB tomorrow and show her coaches what she did.  Its pretty safe to say that I am more excited than her. 

I was a gymnast growing up.  I did tap, jazz, and ballet for a few years and then gave it up.  I know how hard it is to get this skill.  All three of my girls love gymnastics.  Every item in the house that they can use as gymnastics equipment they do.  This includes the couches, stairs, fireplace, trampoline, beds.  All I wanted when we had all these girls was for one of them to love my passion for gymnastics.  Just one was it.  I wasn't even being picky as to who it was.  Zuri, from the moment she was born, was labeled as my Cirque Du Soleil baby.  She was an emergency c-section BC her leg and arm were pinned up by her head and that was the way she decided to attempt to make her entrance into the world.  It wasn't going to work that way!  I knew she would be my gymnast.  Turns out I think she likes cheer better, but Liana is another story.  Liana is limber and aims to be a beautiful gymnast.  She is always doing poses at home and asking me if its pretty or ugly.  Her nickname in class is monkey toes BC she grabs the beam with her toes like a natural gymnast.  Paige is not limber AT ALL.  She is working on it.  She is so close to having her splits, but her back flexibility is still bad. I think my family might have come to one or two of my competitions growing up.  I am so eager for the day when I get to sit there and watch my girls be amazing gymnasts and be so proud of them.  I had some of that moment tonight standing in the yard watching Paige get her back handspring on her own then with her round off.  Donnie asked me tonight if it made all the gymnastics worth it and it sure does.  We spend a lot of time at the gym.  Currently Paige is doing 4 days of gymnastics, Zuri does 3, and Liana does one, but I'm watching Liana catch up to Zuri quickly at almost a year younger.  As soon as Zuri and Liana saw Paige do her back handspring, they want theirs as well. I started spotting Liana tonight and worked with Zuri again.  I'm going to have my proud gymnast mom moments soon.  In just a few months they will start competitions.  In a few years when they are amazing, I won't regret a single minute or a dime we have spent getting them there.  Watching them so makes it all worth it.

Cancer Sucks

Cancer sucks..what else can I say?  I've had encounters with many influential people in my life and cancer.  My dad died when I was nine from lymphocytic leukemia.  He died two weeks after being diagnosed.  I never got to say goodbye, I never knew what was going on.  Nobody told me.  Both of my grandmothers had breast cancer at the same time, both survivors.  One of those grandmas had colon cancer a few years ago, and an Aunt of mine had ovarian or uterine( some girly part) cancer a few years ago.  Minus my dad, everybody survived their cancer journeys.  A very dear friend of mine, Shannon, recently was diagnosed with Stage 2A Breast Cancer.  Shannon has 4 kids like myself.  Two of her girls are besties with my two little girls.  We do many things together.  I enjoy my Shannon time.  When Shannon told me she discovered a lump in one of the tatas, my heart sank and I knew.  I just did.  I never once told her that BC I wanted to be the good positive friend.  I also wanted her to have her ducks in a row so that when it came time for diagnosis to come around, she didn't have an enormous amount of things going through her head such as treatment options, children concerns.  I wanted her to hope for the best and prepare for the worst.  Shannon's diagnosis came and she took it with pride.  Words can't even describe how incredibly proud I am of her for how she has dealt with the cards she has been given.  I wish that I could take it away from her and make her life normal again.  I can't.  Instead I can be by her side when she needs to me to be and make her understand that I am here for her.  I know, just like I knew that she had breast cancer, that she will be OK.  She will get through this.  I also want her girls to understand.  I never understood what was happening with my dad.  The one time I got to see him days before he died, nobody ever told me that would be the last time I saw him alive.  Had I understood, I might have closure right now and I don't.  I never will. I want Shannon's girls to understand what breast cancer is, what's happening with Shannon, and be sure they know that yes, she will be OK.  I think I need to look for some children's books that teach.  After having been through what I did with my dad, I can't preach how important it is that the kids understand.  Shannon is an amazing mother and woman.  Her strength, bravery, positive attitude, and courage is going to enable her to breeze through her journey and show those girls what an amazing woman she is.  Those girls are going to understand years down the road how strong their mother really is.  I am so very honored to have Shannon as my friend.  We are going to do the Komen Breast Cancer run in September to support her.  I am leading the team.  I am really looking forward to the event which will also be near the end of Shannon's journey with breast cancer.  I look forward to celebrating the day that she is breast cancer free with her.

29 days

29 days to go until my husband moves back home.  I've talked about the series of unfortunate events that usually occurs when he is gone..it continues.  The past few days have been a little weird. On Tuesday the kids adopted a new kitten from the animal shelter.  We had a new kitten shortly after Ollie was killed.  She was a little too much for me to handle.  She was a Bengal.  Bengals are suppose to be smart yet kitten like all their life.  I can handle kitten, I can't handle stupid.  Stupid she was.  She peed and crapped everywhere she should not have.  She didn't last long.  A few weeks have gone by.  The kids had started mentioning the kitten subject again.  I debate again.  I don't like small things.  This includes puppies, babies, kittens.  I decided we really need to go the shelter route this time and the kids have spotted a kitten.  I really didn't want to get a kitten.  Monte is my boy.  A very very very spoiled boy.  Paige won't let up about the kitten and Donnie thinks we owe them one.  We head to the shelter in the first ten minutes they were open on Tuesday and adopt the kitten.  She was 25 bucks.  This included shots, license, and spay.  Good deal.  They inform us we can pick her up the next day(Wednesday) BTW 4-6pm.  We get there right at 4 and they bring her out.  Her eyes are dilated.  She looks like she has no iris at all.  We bring her home, lock her in my room bc she isn't feeling well and so Monte does not get her.  She finds her way under the bathroom vanity.  We will call this rescue number 1.  I get her out and she hides the rest of the night.  I put her in the bathroom overnight with the litter box, food, water, blankets.  This morning I go in there and she managed to find her way into the jacuzzi.  She's sitting under the leaking faucet, cold from water drips, and a bar of soap stuck to her butt.  I bring her out, dry her off, try to cuddle.  She gets down and takes off.  Behind the washer she goes.  Then I see her run into a hole in the wall bc the previous owner of the house cut out a section of drywall for some odd reason.

 Shit shit shit.  Where does that go is my immediate thought,  how am I going to get her out is my second thought.  I pull the washer out, get the flashlight out and I don't see her.  I call my grandpa to ask construction questions.  I'm getting nowhere.  I decide to leave and go tanning.  She might come out right if the house is quiet?  I go tanning, come back home, still nothing.  I'm texting Donnie that the damn kitten is stuck in the walls of the house.  I have no idea what to do and what I'm going to tell the kids should she die in there.  Then my genius self decided I would run to Walmart and get some tuna.  Tuna stinks, cats like it, she might come out.  The washer is pulled out again at this point blocking my usual garage entry way.  I head out the front door and not thinking lock it behind me.  This is significant bc I don't have a house key.  One, yes one, house key was included when we purchased our house. I gave it to a friend of mine when we went home in March.  I never got it back.  At this point again I'm thinking Fuuuuuccck.  I'm locked out, but I can't confirm until I get home.  I get my tuna, come home and yes, I'm definitely locked out.  I check the backdoor in hopes that maybe, just maybe, the kids didn't actually listen to me when I told them to lock it.  They did.  I check my usual break in window..its good and locked since the last time I had to break in the house.  I get a hold of my friend who has my key who says her husband is on his way home and will bring me the key.  I hang out for a while.  He brings a key..its not the right key.  Figures.  This is just my luck and just my day.  I want a redo. I decide to check a window that I can never usually shut all the way.  I get lucky.  Very lucky.  Liana is getting good at this crawling through the window thing.

I get in the house, set out my tuna, make the kids go away for the quiet factor.  She still isn't coming out.  I call my good friend Bernie.  He has told me before if I ever had any more snakes in the house to call him and he would come right over.  He has to be in court for a client shortly and can't help me until later.  Just a few minutes later he calls me back and says he has a friend who does drywall and is going to call him.  His sheet rock friend calls me and is coming right over.  In the meantime another friend of mine Denise says she has a husband who loves drywall and she is sending him over.  Both men arrive about the same time.  The sheet rock guy immediately notices the laundry room is not an outside wall and I take him to my walk in closet which is the other side of that wall that she went into.  He says right away confidently shes right in here.  We just need to take all this apart and she should be right there. I'm excited.  There is no wall cutting at this point.  I take all the stuff out of my closet, apologize for the comments the kids are making about things like the handcuffs their daddy has in the closet which they make note that he does sometimes use on mommy.  I do hear him ask then if their daddy is a policeman..nope.  He is an anaesthesiologist.  Nice.  Thanks kids.  He takes the closet apart and yes, there she is.  About ten feet from the entry way of that wall hole.  I grab her and lock her in a bedroom.  Then he so kindly patches the hole in the wall that some doufas cut.

My friend's husband notices while the sheet rock guy is patching that hole that I forgot to take the garbage out today.  He lives in the neighborhood as well and knows today was garbage day.  He also knows how I had to pry the window open with the wonder bar(pry bar looking thing) this morning and I think he's just feeling really bad for me at this point.  He takes my garbage for me.  The sheet rock guy thinks this is all sooo funny and charges me nothing for his repairs.  Kitten rescue number 2 complete.  I lock her into a room again and we go on our way to activities for the night.  My day has finally ended.  My house is a disaster, the closet contents are sprawled all over my bedroom, Coby handcuffed Paige's feet together, but the kitten is out of my walls.  29 more days until my husband comes home. 

For real?

Ok really.  Today is the first day that school has been out for summer vacation.  I dread this time every year.  I was excited at first only to realize that I just needed one day as a break, then they could go back.  Call me unmotherly, selfish, whatever you want, but I'm being completely honest.  Donnie has been gone for about 7 weeks now.  We have until July 1st to go.  I'm beginning to realize already how much I needed that quiet time away from most of the kids to myself.  Every mother needs time to herself.  Today has tested my patience in every way possible.  Before 10am we had already had catastrophies.  Zuri somehow pulled my spice rack down that Paige originally pulled down last week.  The combination of spices and herbs plus pepper all over the floor was a little too much AND I had just washed all the tile to make it worse.

  I decided that I would enforce a quiet hour of the day, everyday just to get my household things done and to have my quiet time.  I thought this was a good plan....I thought wrong.  Quiet time today was from 1-2.  Everybody stayed in their rooms for the most part.  At 2pm when I went upstairs to let everybody know they could come out of their rooms, I realized the destruction the little girls did while they were quiet for that hour.  They decided it would be really really cool to play inside of the bean bag.  Let me tell you, this was not a really cool plan.  I gave them oppurtunity to clean the mess together and enforced they would not be coming out until it was cleaned up.  Liana loves to clean, Zuri does not.  Liana attempted to clean the mess, but Zuri kept dumping the bean bag contents back out, so she was left to do it by herself.  It's now 5:20pm and shes still in there.

How the heck am I going to survive the summer with this?!  The events of today only scream SUMMER SCHOOL to me! 

My Liana is baaaacccckkkkk!  For a little reminder of why this is so exciting..Last year, Zuri started
Pre-K.  I really wanted to go back to work or school part time.  School didn't work out.  The classes I needed either started too early and I wouldn't be able to get the kids to school, or they ended to late and I wouldn't have been able to pick them up from school.  Before even looking for a job or enrolling in school I knew that I am a mother FIRST.  Until the kids are older and I can trust them to stay home, this will be how things work.  I refuse to put my kids in EDP so that I can work.  That would be selfish of me.  We decided to enroll Liana is preschool three days per week at a local church that has an incredible preschool program.  I took a tour of the school over the summer, was put on the waiting list.  About a week later I get a call that she has a spot.  Day one of school comes, she runs to her class, doesn't even say goodbye to me and off she goes.  About 3 hours later I get a phone call that she just stopped crying.  Donnie and I get there to pick here up and she is sitting at the table with a few other kids coloring and doesn't want to leave.  We figure the next class day would be fine then. We figured wrong.  The next few weeks go by and everyone tells me that she will adjust.  The kid had NEVER been away from me.  EVER. The next few weeks get progressively worse.  We get to the point where she cried from 9-230 every day, wouldn't eat there, wouldn't go to the bathroom there.  I would get there to pick her up and her face would be swollen from crying.  I volunteer one day to stay the whole day at preschool to try to help her acclimate.  We made good strides.  After I don't return it goes back to normal.  My mom came in for a visit and tried to stay with her...again no such luck.  We tried everything.  Late drop off's, earlier pick ups, and hour at a time and slowly increase to full day.  I could not take my baby being pulled away from me in tears any longer for my own benefit.  I never fully understood how good of a program this was and how much they teach until I had stayed for that full day and saw for myself everything they do.  I was devastated that she quit the program.  Yes, Liana is a pre-school drop out.  Every mother's dream.  She had been doing gymnastics for a few months before that and was great.  The week she started pre-school, she broke down into tears at gymnastics because I was away from her.  I was where she could see me, but not at her side. In November she quit gymnastics.  Devastated again.  After quitting all this, I figured she would get back to her normal self quickly.  Again, I thought wrong.  The next few months we endured not being able to sleep by herself, the constant " hold me", some severe separation anxiety issues.  In the next few months after that, Liana stays home with dad a few times while I did various errands like grocery shopping.  I would come home to her telling me " I didn't even miss you!"  Well, Fantastic Liana!!  Play dates start to get going, and she decides she's going on a few play dates with her big sister. She was good!  She starts to be able to be gone a little longer and a little longer.  I think we are finally moving on from the preschool experience.  She started soccer two months ago and has actually done really well.  I'm the coach, but still she was learning to trust other people and their authority.  I'm finally positive that maybe we are making some strides with this kid.  In the past few weeks, I notice she's starting to talk to other soccer and gymnastics moms. 
Zuri really wants to be a cheerleader.  Our gymnastics gym has a cheer leading program for kids ages 3-12.  Liana has expressed interest in this as well, but we never considered allowing her to do it as well.  Honestly, its expensive.  It's 1400/per child per 10 month season.  Zuri's clinics were this week on Tuesday.  She goes and LOVES it and its really adorable to see the little cheerleaders.  Since we had no intention of allowing Liana to do until she shows us she can do well in PRE-K this next year, she didn't participate.  Placement clinics are the next day.  Zuri has a slight meltdown bc a good friend of hers doesn't show up.  Mrs. P comes out to do gymnastics and Zuri is all good now, but Liana decides to join in the placement and they were ok with that.  Liana goes up with 3 or 4 other girls and does the cheer.  How does she know the cheer when she didn't do the clinic??  She then proceeds to do the gymnastics assessment and rocks it.  Mrs. P, the owner of the gym, says Liana even gets extra points for her cute little voice!  Both girls make the squad.  I text Donnie to see what he thinks of L joining bc of the financial aspect, and he could care less about how much per month this is going to cost us.  One stipulation of being int he competitive cheer squad is that they are required to do the cheer class each week and one hour of gymnastics per week.  L knows this.  Gymnastics is Thursday's.  Liana says she is going.  We have had this before.  She's told me at the point of pulling into the gym parking lot that she is going in, we get there, and is a NO, I'm not going in.  She has a favorite coach.  Every week he asks her if she's coming back.  All day Monday, I'm reminding her that if she wants to be a cheerleader, she has to do gymnastics on her own, without me.  Thursday's gymnastics class was her test.  We get there, I get her hair in a ponytail, I tell her to give me her thumbs up to let me know she's good, and off she goes.  She went it!! OMG, she went in!  It's exciting.  I'm at the window like the hover mother I am, watching my girl strut her stuff on the floor like she didn't just take a 5 month break from gymnastics. Every few minutes, she gives me a double thumbs up with her cheesy nod to go with it.  Other moms have noticed and think its hilarious.  I was so proud!  She tells me this morning " I'm not gonna quit doing gymnastics."

My baby is BACK!!!!!  She''s serious about cheer. I'm sooo good with that.  This might not be so exciting to other people, but these are huge steps for us.  Its been a really hard year with this kid.  I could only hope that she would grow and mature since quitting preschool and not have this issue in August when she goes to Pre-k.  I'm so glad that my baby is back and now I have two TCA cheerleaders!

Sheeee's Baaaaaaaack!

Liana is back, YES, my kid is back!  Liana always was the witty, loveable, one.  That is until I decided I was going back to work early and she was going to preschool.  Let me refresh for those of you don't know what we have been through with this kid...

Once I decided I was going back to school or work, I started my preschool hunt.  I viewed a few programs, got some recommendations.  We went a toured one preschool at a ginormous church and  at first I thought it was neeeehhhh.  Laina was excited though.  We had to immediately go book bag, nap mat, lunch bag shopping.  The first day of school rolls around.  I get the bigger kids to school and then take her.  She runs to her class, hangs her belongings up, and off to the classroom she goes.  Not even a goodbye.  I'm feeling confident until the phone rings two hours later and its the classroom aid telling me she just stopped crying.  TWO Hours..REALLY?  Donnie and I go to get her and she is sitting at a table with other kids doing some homework and doesn't want to leave.  The kid has never ever ever been away from me...ever.  I figure it was just first day stuff, she will be ok.  The next few days and its the same thing.  Over the next week it progressively gets worse.  She goes from two hours of crying to crying from 930-230, won't eat there, wont go to the bathroom there.  Everybody assures me it will get better.  If this is what they call better, they are crazy.  We try multiple things.  Our first intervention attempt was me staying the entire day at school with her to try to get her comfortable and show her how fun this is going to be.  We make some major strides.  At one point she got in the front of the classroom on her own and showed her classmates all her pictures that I had brought in to try to make this transition easier.  It goes downhill from there.  We try other things like late starts, a few hours at a time then building up to full day, half day, nothing is working.  At almost two months of this, Donnie says he is done.  This just isn't healthy and for me to put her through this at my own benefit of no longer being a stay at home mom is selfish of me.  i never really understood how fantastic of a program this was until I stayed the day with her.  I was amazed at what they taught and was devastated to pull her out of the program, but I realized this just wasn't the time.  Liana had been doing gymnastics for a few months and was doing very well and loved it.  The week she started preschool, she broke down in the middle of gymnastics class and that's where this all started.  My witty, cute, so lovable child became this clingy, severe separation anxiety kid who had to be attached to me at all times.  She didn't even sleep through the night on her own anymore at this point.  It was horrible.  She ended up quitting gymnastics in November when I couldn't get to her do it without me.  Again, I was devastated.  One of my girls has to be an amazing gymnast.  It's a requirement.  Randomly at times when I was running errands for about an hour at at time, she would stay home with dad.  When I would return I would get the " I didn't even miss you!"  Fantastic Liana...so glad you didn't miss me.  I have a really great friend with a little girl that's near Liana's age.  Her other daughter is Zuri's BFF.  Liana decides to tag along on a few play dates and goes home with her.  Big strides here, this is BIG!  She gets to the point where she loves to go with my friend and this is helping us alot.

Zuri really loves cheer leading and gymnastics.  Our gymnastics gym has a private cheer leading group that starts at 3 years old and we decided to allow Zuri to do it.  I had no intentions of allowing Liana to do it bc I had spent that last 5 months trying to get her back int o the gym for gymnastics.  The original deal was when she showed us that she can do Pre-K this fall and go a great job that we would sign her up.  Its expensive to do cheer.  I'm not going to lie.  I debated and debated and debated some more about even letting Zuri do it.  Zuri goes to cheer clinic to learn a simple cheer and some jumps.  She loves it!  The next day at placement clinics, Zuri has a little meltdown bc her  friend didn't show up.  In the middle of her tears, Liana decides she is going to try out.  HUH??  Liana goes out there in front of everybody, with a group of another few girls and does the cheer.  Wait....How does she know the cheer?  She did and she rocked it.  Both girls make the squad.  Again, I'm hesitant at this point bc of the costs. At our gym, in order to do cheer you have to do gymnastics.  TCA cheers are very gymnastics based.  I repeatedly tell Liana she has to go to gymnastics the next day if she wants to be a cheerleader.  This is her test.  Her cheer fate is decided then.  She rides with another friend to gymnastics and meets me there.  I get her hair in a pony and off she goes!  I  could not believe it!  She actually went in and strutted her stuff like she didn't take a 5 month break and even got a promotion!  Several moms notice she went out there and see her giving me her cheesy thumbs up every few minutes letting me know shes ok!  I am texting away at this point and taking pictures bc I am so excited she actually did it.  Liana is back and it is sooooo very exciting.Its been a tough year with this kid!

We will survive..

We are almost at our first month of Donnie being gone.  I'm a little proud right now.  I haven't lost anybody, nobody has lost any limbs, the house is still in decent condition, no fires have been started, and this is a big one..I have gotten everyone everywhere they need to be with little help from others.  A few times, and I really mean a few, I had to drop kids off with friends of theirs bc I couldn't be at three different places all at the same approximate times.  For the most part, I have cleaned my own home, taken care of the lawn, taxied the kids around, tackled all the household errands on my own.  We have had a few minor mishaps like the kids locking me out of the house, the snake in the house, toilets overflowing here and there, and the cat being killed.  I can do this.  Some mother can't, but not me.  I have to laugh really when I  hear moms of one or two kids complaining about taking their one kid into the store, or having to take one child to the grocery store.  Really..its one kid! One kids is like a vacation in this house.  We have two months to go yet.  The kids have dealt with this very well.  The next few months will just get easier.  We have around 3 weeks of school left and two weeks of soccer season left.  After this, we can go spend a few days at Donnie's apartment, go swimming, see that zoo, etc.  The time then will fly by!  I'm really looking forward to this being done and overwith.  I miss my family meals.  Our dinners have consisited of pizza rolls, grilled cheese, corn dogs...crappy things like that. I think we will have learned from this experience that we are a strong family.  It really makes me have a huge respect for military families who do this all the time.

Series of Unfortunate Events

Well, the time has come that I have been dreading for a long time.  Donnie is in Oklahoma City at The Children's Hospital until July. Every time Donnie leaves to go somewhere for some distance of time a series of unfortunate events happens.  Usually its something with the car or the dishwasher.  Something that's a man duty.  Easter is this weekend.  I had parental obligations to take care of.  Liana's little friend Ella invited her to go to story time at the library with her, so she went on a play date and I went shopping.  After a few hours of shopping, I come home.  I come inside for a few minutes and go to throw lunch garbage away.  I walk towards the dining room and spot both cats hanging out. The cats just don't hang out together.  In fact, they hate each other.  I don't think much of it really.  They happen to both be in the same area at the same time.  OK.  I walk back towards that direction a few minutes later and NOW I understand why they are near each other and not engaging in a vicious cat fight.  There is a snake slithering around the dining room floor.

  Oh My God.  Oh My God.  OHHH MY GOOOOD.  I take a picture and immediately text Donnie.  " There's a Fucking snake in the house!" He is most likely in surgery.  He doesn't immediately text me back.  I walk down to a neighbors house to see if he can remove the snake; he isn't home either.  I look for any neighbors...nobody is around.  I'm feeling a little deserted at this point.  Donnie calls after a little while and says " just get a broom and sweep it out."  Ok.  Donnie isn't going to be home in the next few days.  I can't live outside.  I decide I'm just going to have to put my big boy pants on and take care of this myself.  I go to find the broom and I can't find it.  I remember the other day that the girls needed the broom to sweep off the trampoline bc of the neighbors tree.  Its probably outside.  I head to the patio door to get the broom and the snake is nowhere to be found and the cats are hovering over the air vent.  FUCK. FUCK FUCK. 

My friend brings Liana back home.  She suggests I call an air duct cleaner to see if the snake can slither back up out of the air vent.  If it dies in there, it's going to stink.  I think this is a good idea.  I call somebody in the phone book and ask my idiotic question.  He says that's a good question.  I really don't know. He said it could depend on how big the snake is and how angled the vents are.  He suggests I try to stick a vacuum hose in the vent and try to vacuum it out.  I have a shop vac. It sucks up anything.  I get it out.  My friend Shannon sits there and laughs at me.  It probably is really funny. I stick the hose down there and hear it sucking up a bunch of stuff.  I check the shop vac and still I can't find the snake. Whuck.  I give up.  The snake is still nowhere to be found.  With as much as I hate insects of any kind and snakes even more, the snake will probably find me while I'm sleeping! I hope this is not the series of unfortunate events that begins while my husband is away.  He has been gone two days now.  This is not a good start! 

School Parking Lot Rage

I'm feeling the need to vent about my parking lot rage at the kids school.  I got into it with a little mom of one child who felt the need to park wherever she would like.  I'm behind her pulling into the parking lot where she conveniently starts to stop in the middle of the lane.  Turns out she is pulling along the curb to park there.  This is not a parking space and makes it difficult for us moms with the large vehicles to hold the car full of kids to get through.  I'm tired and my crankiness today prompts me to give her the WHAT THE F hand gesture.  She notices this.  I get my point across.  As shes coming out of the school, with her one child in hand she says to me " Oh don't worry about me.  I'm just walking in to pick up my son."  Really?  I can't figure out why else you would be here.  Then the conversation goes like this..
me- you can't park there.  It makes it really difficult for larger vehicles to get through.
Her- well you got through didn't you.
Me- Barely.
Her- gives me dirty looks.
Me- Why don't you park where your suppose to and walk your bootay up there like everyone else.

She gives me a dirty look and drives off.

Seriously.  I have to say that we came from a school that had there drop off/pick up system, and parking lot procedures down.  Almost perfection.  This school...not so much at all.  At this school, everybody just parks wherever they choose and they school is like...welll ok.  We have non-handicapped parents parking in the handicapped spots bc they are clearly too lazy to park an additional 10 feet away from the building, people parking horizontally behind the cars parked vertically.  I had one dad a few weeks ago park so close to me that his passengers side mirror was touching my drivers side mirror.  He got the stare down, not just what what the f hand gesture.  Every once once in a while they decided to enforce the rules.  Really this is usually just on Friday mornings.  That's my usual parking lot rage day.  Its early this week which doesn't make the remainder of the week look good.  Tomorrow  I will purposely get to the school early, steal some cones that they already put out to block off a few spots, and block that spot off.  I'll teach that mom.  If I have to walk her to the main parking area, point out the spots where the cement is painted where your suppose to park, I can do that too.  We have a few Asian drivers at our school which are usually the culprits, but this mom was white and American.  No excuse for her.  I think the principal and I need to have a chat.  I think he needs my superior organizational skills.  There would be far less bitching BTW parents if they actually enforced the rules.  I'll be happy to stand out there everyday and give out parking violations.  I may just suggest this tomorrow!

Soccer games..WELL??!

The first soccer games of the season were on Saturday.  Zuri and Liana had a game at 11am and Paige had a game at 12.  The little girls were up early and excited.  I start to get everybody bathed and hair ready for the games.  Once they are clean I start to get them dressed.  Liana starts to have a meltdown over the zebra socks.  She does not want to wear them.  They are adorable, but thick.  Unusually thick.  I get Zuri's on and she starts complaining as well.  Zuri starts posing for photos and is going with the flow.  Liana goes to bed.  This could go two ways.  She could take a little nap and be good to go for the game, or be cranky, tired, and not play.  Of course we go in the second direction.  On the way to games I put their favorite music in the CD player which consists of Jessie J- Domino and Selena Gomez.  Not working.  We get to the game and Z is good to go, Liana..not so much.  She cries the entire game.  Uuuughh.  We had four practices with these little 4 and 5 year olds, who may I remind you have never played before.  None of them.  We get on the field and Donnie immediately informs me that we are in trouble because our opposing team is really good.  He was serious.  They creamed us.  These girls were an established team and played together last season, then went on to play indoor soccer for the remaining part of the soccer off season for the rest of us.  Donnie stopped counting goals at 8-1.  It was a confidence blow, but a learning experience as well.  We know what we need to work on now.  I've never played soccer, but didn't want these little girls who are all besties to be split up.  The whole point of the little girls playing soccer this season was not to gain skills, but for social purposes of course.  Well..maybe a few skills.

Paige's game.  Last season was Paige's first season.  She was terrible  mediocre.  She has showed some progress during practices this week and has an excellent new coach who has lots of experience.  Paige starts the kickoff for the game.  The first kick she kicks the wrong direction.  How you can do this I really don't know.  The re-kick she misses the ball completely.  We finally get a decent kick out of her and here we go.  Her team has a few really good kids.  Thank god.  Paige is not one of them.  The kid can not run.  She is slowwwwww.  Even before the first game was over Donnie and I are chatting about how this will be her last season.  Maybe we are jumping the gun on this, maybe not.  We knew going into this season that she would not be playing in the fall anyways due to cheerleading.  I think she will make a good cheerleader.  She's tiny like I was as a kid, loud as hell, and obnoxious. She will make a good cheerleader right?!  She looked cute at least..



Not for Rookies...

So everybody knows I have 4 kids.  They are all involved in activities.  Soccer season officially started this week and my schedule is HEAVY.  I wasn't sure how the behavior at the end of this week would be, but on Friday afternoon after school the girls and singing, dancing, and jamming to Selena Gomez. Darth could care less about Selena Gomez, but is in a good mood as well. We survived.  My house...that's another thing.  I wasn't taught all the domestic things growing up.  My mom is not so domestic, and I was pretty much forced to learn these things once Donnie and I moved in together.  I've gone from not being able to boil eggs to making big family dinners.  I've tackled cooking.  Cleaning is another thing.  Donnie does none of it.  When I mean none of it, I'm serious.  I don't ask him to help.  Sometimes I want to strangle him for not helping me once in a while, but I don't help the household financially bc I don't work..so OK.  My schedule this week went like this..

Monday- kids in school until 240.  Paige soccer from 530-6, Coby Tae Kwon Do from 615-715
Tuesday- Tae Kwon Do from 615-715
Wednesday- Zuri and Liana soccer from 530-615(me coaching), Paige and Zuri Girl Scouts from 615-730
Thursday- Gymnastics for Paige and Zuri from 4-5, Paige soccer from 530-7, and TKD for Coby from 615-715.
Friday- day off...Woo Hoo!
Saturday- Head to Missouri for Tae Kwon Do Tournament.

Really, this schedule is for no rookie mother.  I can't rely on Donnie because you never know what time he will be out of surgery.  His schedule is so unpredictable.  My life right now is who needs to be where, at what time, how are they getting there, and what time are we finally going to get to eat dinner?!  I wasn't sure I was going to be able to pull this off on my own, but for the most part I did.  Coby rode with a friend on Thursday to go to TKD.

Back to cleaning..I like to think sometimes that I've become the motherly domestic goddess.  Reality has set in.  I had a day off to actually look at the home, and I am no domestic goddess.  The house was a mess.  Growing up I had relatives with filthy homes.  I can't do it.  You never know when someone will want to come over for a playdate.  I thought that I could be this SAHM that always has the clean home, the kids are content and happy, dinner is always cooked.  Its not happening.  Although I don't think we had any take out this week, the home did not stay clean and organized.  It didn't help that the dishwasher broke and a douche bag rear ended me, fled the scene, and I had to chase him down because you can't just hit my Tahoe and take off`.  I had other things going on besides cleaning the home.  I'm not sure if it really matters that the house was not clean at the end of the week to anybody else, but it does to me.  I did get everybody where they needed to be, on time sort of, and at the end of the week everybody is happy, healthy, and content.  I thought that when we were busy and not home most of the evening that the house would keep itself clean...not so much really.  I need to work on my balance.  If it means I'm up way after the kids bedtime to get this stuff done, then I'm good with that.  Although my schedule is for no rookie mother, I need to be that domestic goddess!

Me and Coby

I was a latch key kid growing up.  I spent hours alone after school home alone with my brother.  We are lucky we made it through our childhood years.  I remember for quite some time gathering my stack of books up and calling my grandma on the phone and reading to her. I did this for a long time each day.  She never complained, bc she knew then that I was ok.

Now that I have my own kids, I would say that I am the over- protective mother.  I'm not one to let my kids walk home from school unattended, roam the neighborhood with their friends, etc.  I want to know at all times where my children are, who they are with, and what they will be doing.

Coby is 10 now.  I remind you that he is Autistic, not a typically developing child.  Close to it, but not quite there.  We recently started allowing him to stay home alone for very short increments of time.  We felt he was learning to be more responsible.  I needed to run to the sports store today to pick up some shorts.  He was not feeling well and on the couch watching TV when I left.  Before leaving, I gave my strict instructions. 
1. You are not to touch the stove(the boy loves to cook).
2. Do not touch the lighters.
3. Do not answer the door.
4. Go across the street if the house catches on fire.

I'm gone maybe 30 minutes.  I come home, pull in the garage, Paige goes in first and yells to me " Its smells like smoke in hereeee!"  I go in and yes, the house is FULL of smoke.  I look at the fireplace and see my logs are moved.  I knew EXACTLY what they looked like before I left.  I look at Coby and say " I gave you strict directions not to touch the lighters." He was attempting to start a fire in the fireplace so he says. The chute was not open and I know better.  He was playing.  We caught him out in the yard the last two days trying to start the grass on fire.  The boy knew.

Needless to say he has lost his stay at home alone priveleges.  I tell dad about this later in the day.  He comes home and makes Coby write on paper I WILL NOT PLAY WITH FIRE on every line on the front and back of the sheet.  Dad really isn't angry with him. We just wanted to get our point across.  Coby HATES to write.  Absolutely despises it.  He begged dad to please just ground me and take my WII away.  He starts writing, decides he will just write in really big letters so it uses a few lines at a time, and presses realllly hard with the pencils so the lead breaks.  I had to get get him the pencil sharpener.  I could not keep a straight face doing this.  Coby was begging for a different punishment.  I'm sorry, but it really was very funny.

I get to be the over-protective mom again.  I'm not ready for this and I guess apparently Coby isn't either.  I guess I try to be everything that I didn't have in hopes that my kids will grow up fond of their childhood and be level headed.  All I want out of them is to be good, responsible adults.  I don't care what they want to be when the grow up.  I just want them to be good adults and go through life the right way.  I really hope that I'm not asking for too much...

Whuck

A new friend of mine uses the term whuck quite often.  I must say that its genius for those language conscious mothers.  It's not rocket science to figure out its real meaning.  If you haven't figured it out already it means " What the fuck." I think. I'm pretty sure.  Anyways, three events happened today that this term fits well for.

Event number one- We have bearded dragons.  They really don't get as much attention as they deserve.  Honestly, we are busy people.  Two kids come home from school and discover that Paige's dragon, Fred Jones, has passed away.  I can't remember the last time I actually saw Paige playing with him, but thats irrevelant.  Coby(my animal advocate and lover) discovers the dead lizard and is in tears.  He tells his sister and it goes downhill from there.  First, I get blamed for lack of heat.  The bulb burnt out a few days ago.  Then Coby discovers his mouth is full of sand like he had been eating it.  I try to get the dead lizard out without touching it, not happening.  Coby sticks his hand in the tank and places him in a shoe box until we can bury him.  Its pouring.  I'm not going outside for a lizard funeral in the rain when the household is already sick.  Coby has been watching a new TV show on TLC.  Its called American Stuffers.  It's a show about taxidermy.  We get in the car to run some errand and Coby and Paige start talking about getting the bearded dragon stuffed...on his favorite log no less.  Ummmm...NO.  Daddy calls her to give his condolences about the dragon and offers to get her a kitten.  She's definitely on board with this idea.  Me..not quite there.  We go to the Pet Store to get Coby's dragon a  new heat bulb and behold they have two persian kittens there.  Absolutely adorable and also 600 bucks.  Again, ummmm..NO.  For now R.I.P Fred Jones.

Event number 2- Somebody put too much tp in the toilet and its overflowing. Badly.  Coby yells" its overflowing!!" I head down the hall...YES.  The bathroom is FULL of water.  I think no biggie this has happened before.  I head downstairs to get the carpet cleaner to suck up the water.  I suck up 8 gallons.  While empting a full container, I hear water flowing downstairs somewhere.  I yell at the kids to see who is playing in water, they answer and appear to all be upstairs.  The bathoom is upstairs above the kitchen.  I walk into the kitchen and the floor is full of water and its coming out of the lighting installed in the ceiling.  It's not a whuck at this point.  Its a shit, shit, shit!  I go back upstairs throw down some towels above that area, take my fabulous carpet cleaner downstairs to suck up water, and dump it twice.  Thats two gallons.  After I get gallons of water sucked up, then it becomes a " Whuck.  Who put too much tp in the toilet!"

Event number 3- This one is complicated.  Very complicated.  I get a fb post on my wall this morning from one of my younger sisters telling me to please call her tonight.  I text her less than 15 minutes later and nothing.  I call her later in the day and she tells me that my 18 yr old sister is getting married the next day.  WHUCK?!  She getting married? Is this a joke?  I don't know the guy.  Have never met him.  They have been together about 2 months if that so I am told.  He is a marine.  Koodos to him.  She goes to visit him in some state on his base.  They have been playing house for a week and decide they are going to get married.  I'm not sure where to start.  My immediate thought..she is much too young. My story was similar.  I met Donnie in September of 2000.  We started dating January 1st of 2001.  We go to Cancun, Mexico for spring break in April I think.  I come home pregnant.  We got married April 6, 2007.  I moved in with Donnie, on the other side of the state I grew up in, shortly after finding out I was pregnant and bc of constant bickering with my mother.  I was 21, 4 days short of being 22, when Coby was born.  I never wanted kids.  I wanted to be the career woman.  Now I have 4 kids.  I knew back then at the time that I was much too young to be having a baby.  Donnie is 5 yrs older and was ready.  Me...NOOOOO.  Our story it not always fairytale.  We have had major ups and downs.  We have been through some VERY difficult times to get where we are today.  Because of my experience, I NEVER want my girls to go the route I did.  I want high school, college, get married, then have babies.  By that time, they should be in their 30's.  Donnie and I are much more mature now then we obviously were then.  I look at my friends now that are just having children and I think that my age(32) is the perfect time to start a family.  Donnie and I had no time to be a couple before Coby came along. It was dating and BAMMMM family.  I have been attempting to raise my children the right way so they never follow my path.  Not that my path didn't turn out good, but thats not always the case. Just look at Teen Mom!  My mother calls tonight, not on her own to tell me the news, but bc the oldest of my younger sisters tells her too.  I get into it with her.  I know she doesn't like it and I don't care.  In my opinion, you are her mother.  Never in my right mind would I allow my girls to marry at that age to a guy I don't know.  I don't even want my girls to drive a car until they are 18 let alone get married.  She says that I need to be supportive bc she is my sibling.  This is bs to me.  If my sisters call me to tell me that they are pregnant and getting an abortion bc they aren't ready..am I going to support it bc I am there sibling...hell No.  I will support what I believe is right no matter who it is in regards to.  If I went along with all of their ideas and supported them bc I was obligated to, I would be one nieve woman who has no clue how to handle things when someone tells me they don't agree with me.  I don't care who I piss off.  If you can't handle my opinion then so be it.  Go f yourself.  I wish her luck.  To me, its not the right decision.  I would tell my girls the same thing had this been one of them. Part of this is me protecting her.  The years that Donnie and I had rough times were not good.  Would I wish her to go through the same thing..No.  When Paige was born I was separated from Donnie.  I lived in Illinois, he lived in Cali.  He wasn't even there when she was born.  This sister was ALWAYS there for me and watched me go through major down points in my life. I thought she would have taken mental notes, maybe not.  I never want her to go through that.  I am afraid this is what will happen to her.  I am amazed that mother doesn't feel the need to talk her out of this in attempt to always have her on her side.  Put on your big girl panties and tell her how you feel.  Had this sister called me tonight to tell me this news, I would have told her these things, but she didn't.

Activities

The kids( all of them) have been full with activities for a while now.  Coby is doing TaeKwon Do, Paige and Zuri are both doing gymnastics, soccer, and Girl Scouts, Liana was doing gymnastics, but quit after the traumatic preschool experience.  Gosh darn me for wanting her to be smart as well as talented!

Coby.  He's a tough one.  His only interest used to be bugs.  Seriously, nothing but bugs.  We started him in Tae Kwon Do in the last year.  It has helped him in so many ways.  I was hoping it would help him focus, mind well, pay attention.  Has it?  Nooot so much, but it is helping him socially.  He loves it.  Our very first tournament is coming up this weekend and I am so very excited for him.  My hope is that these tournaments will encourage him to work even harder.  Its so great to see him finally really enjoy something.

Paige loves gymnastics.  She recently did her first back handspring clinic and I loved every minute of it. Yes, me.  I'm positive I was more excited than her.  Getting your roundoff back-handspring combination is a HUGE deal in the gymnast world.  I will get her there in the next few months.  She's starting cheerleading over the summer. We have a new babysitter, that we have not gotten to use yet.  She is young, cute, red headed, and a cheerleader/poms girl.  Paige met her again over the weekend.  Paige is NEVER quiet.  She was so intimidated by her.  Almost star struck.  Paige is loud, rambunctious, and  outgoing. She is going to make an awesome cheerleader.  My dream as a child was to be a Fly Girl. Iinspiring right?! I didn't want to be a doctor like Donnie or a lawyer..a Fly Girl was it!  I could see Paige doing this.  She is very much a diva and has that personality.

Zuri is my natural gymnast.  From the moment Zuri was born the nurses were calling her my cirque du soleil girl.  Zuri was born via c-section bc her arm and leg were pinned to her head.  She apparently couldn't come out that way.  She has been limber from the very get go.  I think she was just making us aware of her passion.  Zuri watches in awe of the T3 tumblers at gymnastics.  She shares my passion.  She is going to be an amazing tumbler and I will be the crazy gymnastics mom.


Liana.  Wellll...she is dominated by Zuri.  She's working on being her own person right now.  L did do gymanstics as well, and was good at at.  We will get there again.  I can't push this one. 

I really love that my kids can do all these things.  I didn't get this oppurtunity as a kid.  I want them to all have their own passion and mine for gymnastics. My girls must be gymnasts.  There really is no choice about it.  I want all my kids to be successful, talented, and smart.  I want to be the proud mom watching my girls in meets or watching Coby in tournaments.  Lets hope they appreciate it later.  My life as a mother right now is who needs to be where, what time, how are they getting there.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

Duece

After school today, the little girls and I are sitting at the kitchen table doing some homework assignments.  For some reason in our home, don't ask me why, the fun always begins at the kitchen table.  I hear the word " duece" in conversation between Paige(6) and Liana(4).  I hear the word, they giggle, I look up with the really face.  Here is how it went.

Paige- " are you looking at me bc I said duece?"
Me- " YES, what's a duece Paige?"
Paige- " you know. Its what dad takes every morning and night."

YES, this is exactly how she defined it.

First off, WHY does she know this term?
Second, where did she hear this from?
Third, why is she teaching Liana this term?

Don't even get me started on the language in this house.  They are so Donnie's children.  They look identical to him.  They talk like him; like dirty truckers.   They are known as mini-me, and mini-mini-me in this house.  Back to the language. It annoys me.  Badly.  Ok, so I admit duece isn't such a bad word, but still.  What happens when we are out to eat with family or something and somebody farts like they usually do(daddy). One of them is bound to say "  Oooh, dad dropped a duece."  Its kind of embarrasing really.

 I can't get over why Paige already knows these things! I knew what a duece was.  Sometimes when they say these things, I wonder if its just a term she's heard or if she really does know what the dirty lingo means.  Aren't little girls suppose to be dainty, pretty,ruffly, and sweet?  Paige is anything but those things.  Is this how they are always going to talk?!  I'm afraid Liana doesn't stand a chance.  Liana will be the kid that comes home from Pre-K with a yellow because she used the term duece at school.