Yesterday was so fun! The day started normally, with me DRAGGING myself out of bed, getting ready for work, and having a delicious breakfast at my desk, consisting of turkey lunch meat, horseradish mustard, and coffee.

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I started the above journal entry so long ago that I can’t even remember where I was going with it. I am such a bad blogger. I have mentioned before that I frequently email or text myself little blurbs so I will remember what I want to blog about, and then after 12 days, like it’s been since the last entry, all I have to work with are things like this:
james and his "pointing down" superman underwear

MOMMY CLARA'S REALLY SWEET
The lady at walmart saying clara is sweet
the kids and i playing hide and seek
clara and her frappuccinos
shoes that breathe so i dont have to
hi ming ming i am your biggest fan!!!!

That is just a small portion of what I have emailed myself. And while I do want to document all of it, I am just not sure HOW. How do I tie together Clara and her frappuccinos and shoes that breathe so I don’t have to? Well the only way I know how is to just jump in and start typing. This won’t be the most flowy entry I’ve written, but it will definitely be informative.

The lady at Walmart saying Clara is sweet. We had to go to Walmart to get some supplies for Clara’s school project. We, I mean SHE, had to build a diorama of a pond. While we were checking out, the kids asked if they could have some gum. I asked Clara to help James reach the gum he wanted and she, of course, obliged. The cashier noticed and asked if they were siblings. When I told her they were, she replied that she’d never seen a big sister treat her little siblings that sweetly before. She’s such a good big sister. She’s so patient and kind to him. He is such a lucky little boy. We had so much fun that day. We spent all afternoon together in the kitchen, the kids and me. We made Clara’s project, we made juice and juice popsicles with the juicer and our popsicle set, and James even made a smaller version of Clara’s diorama for himself. We didn’t have the television on and we just talked and talked. At one point, Clara came to me out of NOWHERE and said, “I love you, Mommy.” Then she held her arms out for a hug. Now THAT was something else. She just doesn’t do that stuff (unless she wants something) much anymore.

Here’s another example of how sweet my girl is. She had a friend over not too long ago, and they decided to play hide and seek. They went searching for James to ask him if he wanted to play with them. It wasn’t like he was up their butts trying to get in their game, they went looking for him. I promise you, I have zero memories of wanting to play with my little sisters. They may be my besties now, but back then…not so much.

If you know James or read this blog, you know he loves to dress up and does so all the time. He has a Superman set of superman boxer briefs and matching muscle shirt. He also has a pair of Clara’s old pantyhose that he wears under the briefs. When he wears this costume (which is completed by either an American flag pillow case cape or my mom’s old tiger print silk scarf cape), he INSISTS that you help him make his underwear “point down.” Gets me every time…you know how boxer briefs look like shorts kind of? Well, he is not happy until the legs of the shorts are tucked under and his briefs are made to look like Superman’s, you know…pointing down.

I have gotten Clara hooked on Starbucks Frappuccinos. I bought her one when she first got her braces and we’d stopped to get me coffee. All it took was one. She’s in love. Every day that I pick her up from school (which is like, you know, five days a week), she asks if we can go to Starbucks. What?? She’s eleven! What’ve I done?? I finally convinced her that one a week is plenty. I told her if she wanted to foot the bill for our coffee then I was more than happy to make daily trips. It was as no go.

James is SO easily influenced by tv. He wants everything he sees on tv, whether it’s for himself, his sister, his friends, or his parents. If there’s a mascara commercial, he runs to me and tells me he wants it, to give to me. He can recite entire commercials and television shows that he’s watched multiple times. He quotes Spongebob several times a day. I can’t count how many times he said “Holy Fishsticks!” last week. He knows all the ins and outs of Moonsand, what you can do with it, how it is moldable and how it never dries out. I have seen him waving enthusiastically during Wonder Pets and heard him talking to one of the characters, “Hi, Ming-Ming! I am your biggest fan!!” My latest favorite was when he came to me after viewing the Sketchers (shoes) Airators (sp?) athletic shoes. “Mom!” he shouted. “Look! Shoes that BREATHE! So I don’t have to!” Haha! You know, ‘cause they’re like, mesh or something…so they breathe. Get it? He thinks he could quit exerting himself with this BREATHING business and use his energy elsewhere.
Ok, I think that’s good for this entry. I’m already working on the next one, so keep your shirt on. Or don’t, whatever, take a picture and I’ll put it on my next blog entry.

Best Mom in the World

We have been having some really fun weekends lately. Busy, but fun. In fact, for me, the busier, the better. A few weekends ago, I took the kids to the movies. Well, actually, first I took one kid to a movie and then picked up the other and took them both to another movie.

Clara and I started the adventure at the 3-D Jonas Brothers concert experience. What a ride. We showed up like 45 minutes early because we just KNEW it would be packed. Ha ha, by the time the movie started, there were maybe ten other people in the theater. Oh well. We’d brought along some playing cards and we played Crazy 8s until the previews started. The show was one hour and seventeen minutes long. About one hour into it, Clara and I both looked at the time on our cell phones. I groaned inwardly, thinking to myself “how am I going to get through another 17 minutes of this insanity?” while Clara said aloud, “Look Mom, it’s already been an HOUR! It’s nearly over! How did an hour go by so fast?” Time flies when you’re having fun. Sigh. But I did make it, and then we went home and grabbed James for Coraline.

I wasn’t sure we should take him to this movie, because I’d heard it was pretty scary. But James has insisted that he wanted to see it ever since we saw the first preview. He assured me that he was brave and could “handle it.” I noticed one of his Power Rangers movies the first time, and the monsters and bad guys on it were pretty awful, so I figured (hoped) that Coraline wouldn’t be a problem.

Anyway, we went, and for the first time in his little life, he sat through an entire movie at a theater. Never got up. Never fidgeted. Never asked for more snack, or to use the restroom, or to switch seats. His eyes were glued to the screen the entire time. Even Clara and I were jumpier than he was. There was one part where there was an overweight, extremely busty burlesque dancer (don’t ask). She had on nothing but PASTIES and a bikini bottom (don’t ask!). In the middle of a lull in that scene, James announced for the entire audience, “Look! That Panty-girl is ALMOST NAKED!!” Ha ha!

Since we have such different schedules, we just never eat dinner at the table. Clara’s at Doug’s half the time, and Scott’s always teaching during our dinnertime, so we just eat in front of the TV, or sometimes we even split up. It’s never been a big deal, but it is nice to have dinner together every once in a while. The other night, I was making burgers and asked Clara if she wanted to sit at the table that evening. She was pretty excited about doing it! She set the table and got everyone a drink. When we went to sit down, I called James to the table. “Why?” he asked. “We’re going to eat dinner here tonight!” I replied. To my amusement, he whined, “welllllllllll HOW are we supposed to watch TV at the table???” He just didn’t get it. Isn’t that sad? And funny?

James’s fourth birthday is fast approaching. He will be four in just under a week. I can’t believe it! I don’t care how long I live, I will never get used to how quickly my kids grow. Never ever ever ever!! James wants anything and everything for his birthday. When someone asks what he wants, I’ll tell them to go to Target and to the toy section. Close your eyes, turn around until you’re dizzy, and then just walk until you bump into something. Open your eyes, pick up whatever you bumped into and buy it. He will love it, guaranteed.

My daughter made me a notecard to take to work. She wanted something that I could look at that would make me happy while I was there. It’s just a little notecard that she colored, and on it she wrote “Best Mom in the World, 1997 – Forever.” This has confused some people that I have told, so try to think of it this way: she didn’t write “1997-2009” so, she meant, like, I became the best mom in the world on her birth date and I will continue to be the best mom in the world for all time. Ya dig? Awesome.