A Rarity

 A miracle happened at the zoo. I'm not talking about all the new babies. This happened....

The Teen SMILED!!!! All on his own, no coercion from me. It just happened! I'm so glad I captured it! I'm not sure when I will see it again!

All You Need Is Love

The Teen made Happy heart out of his brothers legos.

Before and After

Before braces

After braces

Middle Man is a lefty. His handwriting can use improvement. I had mentioned that we will be doing handwriting practice worksheets every school night to improve his handwriting. I mentioned it during his spelling "pretest".  When he's done I write the words correctly and he has to write the words that he misses 3 times. 

Spelling "pretest" (before)

Missed words practice (after)

That little shit!  He can write nice and neat. He chooses not to! 

Here comes 10 more grey hairs!

Embrace the Blur

There is no laughter without motion.

It still captures all the emotion I wanted, in spite of the blur.

Mouth Says...

Oh the things that come out of his Mouth!!! I really should write down all of the things that boy says, or at least blog about them more!!!

I still wipe his ass.

When he is done he ALWAYS yells, "Moooommmmyyyyy! I'm alllllll doooooone!"

Today I sung, "Here I come to wipe your butt!(to the tune

of Mighty Mouse) Du naw na naw!"

He said, "You're like Buttwoman."

I said, "Yup, wiping out poop with a single swipe! Keepin' the butts of the world clean!"

He said, "Yeah, and Daddy's like Buttman!"

*sigh* The things that boy says! He could be a comedian!!

Class of What? What?!

I get this email yesterday from the Middle School PTO. It's about 8th grade t-shirts. My son is in 7th grade. Gotta love blanket emails. I looked at the email anyway. I wish that I hadn't.

This is what I saw...

My mind starts reeling.... Oh that's cute, the class of 2014.

Whoa.

Wait a minute.

That means the tween is the class of 2015.

O.M.G.!!

He will graduate High School in 5 years.

O.M.F.G.!!!

5 years from this month my baby boy will be graduating from High School?!

Exactly 5 years from right now he will graduate HIGH SCHOOL!!!

Fuck me!

I've known that it's coming. I'm even checking out H.S.'s where we will be moving, to find the best one for him. But to actually see it?! I was floored.

I'm off to buy a couple of cases of wine. This Full-time Mom is going to be drunk on the job for a while. Bottoms up!

Mouth's Easter Tale

The day before Easter, Mouth tells me about a story his teacher read to them. All he tells me about the story was that an egg was hidden inside the mailbox. I did what any good Mom would do, smile and say "Oh, really?!" and take mental note to hide one of his eggs in the mailbox, thinking that it will be the first place he looks.

Ha!

It never occurred to him to look there. He had one egg left. His brothers had found it and were trying to hint, I was shooing them away. I ask Mouth about the story his teacher read to them. This is what I get.

I asked again about the story, "What was it about? Tell me." You don't have to ask Mouth more than once to tell a tale. He elaborates and tells of all the places the bunny hid the eggs.

"Well...he hid them here,here,here, and here."

"And, ummmm, there, there, there and there...."

"AND, well, he hid one in the mailbox and...."

I interrupt his tale to ask, "The mailbox? He hid one in the mailbox? No way!!"

And the little light bulb goes off and...voila! He finds his last egg!

Bring it Wampa

This young Jedi in training is ready!

I love how I can still see his face behind the blur of the "light saber." I love how the snow is flying off of his gloves. I can hear the "light saber" noise he was making.

This one's a keeper!!

Words

I have the mouth of a Marine. I swear too much. I swear in front of my kids, and then jump down their ass when they use cuss words that they heard me use. I understand that we have to model for our children. If you want your child to be caring and to give selflessly then let your child see you do that. Over and over again. Apply that theory to anything. I've got it.

What I don't get is when you don't say a certain word EVER. I mean Never. Ever. And then one day your child says that word. And chooses to say it in a store. In public! I'm mortified. I'm appalled! I'm disgusted. I don't know what the fuck to do. That word has never crossed my lips. I don't listen to music that contains that word. I don't watch movies with that word, not to say I haven't but not when they are awake. I know that he heard the word from another kid at school. But that does not make it okay. Nothing makes it okay.

I grabbed his face and squeezed his cheeks so hard while I talked all low and evil allupin his face that I left red marks. I was livid. I had another stern talk with him outside the store, outside of the car, my face allupin his. It is so beyond unacceptable to me. Yet, I don't know what to do.

Well, I do know one thing I want him to do. One of the things I said to him was that the word he said is a word used by racists. I asked if he knew what racist meant. He didn't. I asked if he knew what the word he said meant. No shocker, he didn't! I told him he would look the words up in the dictionary. Problem. The definition in the dictionary has words that he would have to look up to be able to understand the original word. I'm just not Johnny on the spot to come up with something on my own. I told him that it was a hateful word, disrespectful, mean, vulgar, racist and on and on. Hateful and mean was probably all he understood, which means he does not get the severity of him saying that word.

He told me the kid's name that told him the word. I didn't ask who told him. I volunteer in MM's classroom. The kid he named is the color of casper the ghost and is one of the biggest behavior problem kids in his class. This doesn't excuse a damn thing but it sure as hell explains a lot. Not only did MM get a STERN talking to, complete with asking him if he had EVER heard me or his Dad say that word. I made sure to point out that it had never crossed our lips. That it is NEVER EVER a word that is acceptable to say in any situation. I also took away his video game time for the day. Not punishment enough I tell you.

I never sat him down with the dictionary to look up the words but we will. Oh yes! We will.

Don't worry, I see the irony. Happy Black History Month to me! There should be a handbook on how to explain to your cracker kid how offensive that word really is. In words kids can understand. If it's out there, please lead me to it. Thanks.

Beautiful Day

This past Saturday was a beautiful day. The high was in the low 70's. Middle Man wore shorts. I mowed the lawn. I had the windows open. I forced the tween to go to the park with us. The weather was too beautiful not to be outside and I was sure that it was the last one we were going to have for many months.

For not wanting to be there, and not wanting me to take pictures of him I got some really kick ass shots!

I am still playing with my camera. Using different settings. Trying to figure out how to use it. It's usually a lot of hit or miss. The last 2 is an example of the same shot taken with different settings. I like them both!

I love how this is just a silhouette.

12

Today my oldest son turns 12.

He still makes messes.

He still looks as adorable when he sleeps(except when his mouth is wide open)
He still gets dirty when he plays
He still loves going to the zoo.
And Toy story is FINALLY making a comeback! The first 2 were his favorite movies.
Too bad he won't be singing "You've got a friend in me" That used to be his favorite song. Now it is "Sweet child of Mine", which he will always be to me, no matter how old he gets, or how much attitude he throws at me.

Happy Birthday small fry.

Boobs-Boogers-n-Balls

First there was the photo of Mouth framed by cow boobies.

Then came Gorilla boogies...

And Lion balls...

I have a long, hilarious road ahead with this boy!

11

one year older, one year further away from being my baby. ( 1 day and a half old)

He'll always be my baby, just don't tell him that.

How I'd love to go back to the days when he smiled at me like this.... (almost 3 months old)
Or even looked that sweet.

I wish he'd wear his hat straight... (almost 10 months)
Not all cockeyed like he does now cuz he thinks it's cool.

He will always be my messy boy with the big, beautiful blue/green eyes... (First Birthday)
Happy Birthday big guy! Mommy loves you. You are growing up too fast! You big goofball!

First Day

Today is the first day of school for 2 of my boys. The oldest went to 6th grade and the middle guy to Kindergarten. I'm crying inside. I can't believe my baby is in 6th grade and that my 2nd baby is starting Kindergarten. It is a full day of school for him. I'm sure he'll be ok. It's not like he didn't have 2 years at the most awesome preschool! But it was only 3 hours a day 4 days a week. This is going to be a long week.

We had a meet the teacher night last Friday. I was able, with the help of my hubby, to take the oldest to meet his teacher alone, without any distractions from the younger 2. This year they have what they call team teach. It is to help the students prepare for middle school when they will have a different teacher for every subject and switch rooms every hour. Technically he has 2 teachers this year. We met both. I really like the teacher that is NOT his homeroom teacher. But, I had a really great first impression of both of them. This year will be a better year than last year was for him. These teachers will be better than the one he had last year. Here is a little background on last year and the list I emailed to the powers that be in the hopes that they honor my request and try to place him with a teacher with certain attributes. Only time will tell if these teachers fit most of those attributes. I have hope that they will.

I switched kids with the hubby and was able to take my middle guy to go meet his Kndg teacher without the other 2. This did not go well for me. I know what matters most is the teacher. I think she will be a good teacher. She is fresh out of college, her first year teaching. Her first year in this district. My problems lay elsewhere. There are 22 kids in his Kindergarten class. His teacher does not have a teachers assistant. There is no bathroom in their classroom,which most Kndg classrooms in this district have a bathroom in the room. There is also no windows to the outside world. No sky lights, NOTHING. This is rather disturbing to me. Maybe it is just the fact that I deal with SAD every winter. They will have 2 recesses during the day. All of the MANY bathroom breaks will get them out of the room and into the hallways that contain some natural light. The white walls and florescent lights in the room made me feel like I was in some institution. They will also leave the room for lunch and for "specials" which rotates daily between music, art, PE, and library.
Another thing that makes this hard for me is the fact that I had put in for a transfer request for him to go to a different school within the district. Since it was not my "home" school I would have had to drive him to and from, no big deal but with my youngest already needing to be driven to preschool this would make for a minimum 3 round trips a day, 10-15 minutes one way. We also thought that we only had one year left here. Just recently the hubs said we are getting one more year tacked on to make it 2 more years. When I found that out I started thinking that maybe I should just have the middle guy go to the "home" school, esp since next year when the lil guy starts Kndg they would finally be able to go to the same school again. All this to say that he WAS approved to go to a different school that I am sure would have had a smaller class size, windows, and a bathroom! But I revoked my request. So I'm feeling like I made the wrong decision. Friday night I even dreamed about his school. All summer long though my middle guy would tell me that he wants to go to his "home" school. When I let him know school was only 2 weeks away his face lit up and exclaimed" I get to ride the bus?!!!!" It just broke my heart. He wanted to go to this school before ever stepping foot in the building. Even though I held his fate in what choice I made,I hope it was the right one. Right now I feel like I made the wrong one. I'm not seeing any positives, with the exception that generally a fresh out of college teacher is usually a great thing. I know it is the teacher that matters most. That has been my mantra the past couple days.

Now, if you made it through all my babel or even if you scrolled over it you get rewarded with pictures of my 2 school aged kiddos!


He appears short in this picture. He is not short. His head hits my shoulder so that makes him at least 5'7. I'll know for sure come Sept.8th when he has his physical.
He needs to quit slouching! Will you please look at the boats he has on his feet?!Here is my 2 youngest boys. I'm sure you can tell the one that is now a school aged kid!

Boo ha ha! I'm so happy he is mammoth enough to hide his name with his heed!

My! What a big Mouth you have!

If you are planning to meet a blogger for the first time do not bring your kids. Okay, maybe it's just my kids. I'm going to share a few things that my kids said during my visit to Jenni's. I was apprehensive about taking them with me. I just knew that they would embarrass me. Sometimes they can behave BADLY! This time it was the things they said that made me hide my head in shame! I sat them all down before leaving to tell them what I expected, cussing and name calling and beating each other up was on the top of my list.

My youngest, who from here on out will be called Mouth, calls his brothers names. I am sure the name calling started from my oldest calling the younger 2 names so then they joined in. As you read on, you will figure out why I am calling him Mouth. One thing you won't gather from all this is how LOUD the boy is. His inside voice is almost a yell. Trust me, you don't want to hear him yell. Here is a sampling of the name calling that Mouth called his older brother while we were at Jenni's.
~ Ka-ka head
~ Wee-wee head
~Crap head, which is a vast improvement from what he used to say only a couple weeks ago which was Shit head! Progress people, progress!

Remember how I told you that my younger 2 ran off and we didn't know where to find them? At some point Danny decided to take them for a walk to find us. He led them down the first path we all took together in the very beginning, the same path that Jenni and I came back up thinking they might have remembered it was the way back, and they had, smart lil cookies that they are. Anyway, that path curves around down to the stable and then Danny took them on a different path to get back to the house. Danny said my lil guys were sure that Danny had gone the wrong way. He kept trying to tell them that they were going the right way, headed back towards the house. Once they came up the hill and Mouth caught sight of our car and their house he exclaimed,"HOLY CRAP! What the HELL?!" I was so glad I missed that one. Danny sure got a kick out of it though! Their kids got a kick out of the retelling of it too!

Later on in the evening while they were outside playing with the dogs(and 1 goat) Mouth came running inside, he was rather mad. He said, "Mom-mee! The goat hurt my shirt!"(hands on hips) I look over his shirt and told him that it was fine. He argued," NO! IT! ISN'T!" I said,"I bet Yoda protected you." Mouth,"NOOO!"(said like I am the dumbest person on earth) I said, " Yeaaah, I bet he used the force to keep her horns from hurting your shirt." You could see the wheels turning. He said like he had just forgotten,"Oh yeah! He did!" Then Mouth ran back outside!

Jenni has a ton of cats. She has kittens too. What do kittens eat? Milk from their Mommy. What does that do to a Momma cats boobs? Makes them more noticeable. Now none of us can remember exactly what Mouth said.(Oh where oh where is Janet when you need her?) I am sure it was something like, "I saw the kitty's boobies!" or "That kitty has boobies!" I also think that Mouth mentioned "kitty's boobies" more than once or twice! I don't think that lil man of mine is boob obsessed much, do you?!! Only a few days before we went to Jenni's, Mouth told me that he wanted boobies for his Birthday next year. You have no clue how badly I wanted to tell him that once he got married he could have a pair all "his own"! Unless that comment means he wants to be a sweet transvestite!! Only time will tell.

I'm sure there was more crazy things that my 4 and 5 year old said but no one remembers. All I know is that I'm getting myself a little voice recorder!

Baby Boy aka Lil' Man turns 4

Today was my baby boys 4th Birthday. Several times yesterday I caught myself just staring at him, trying to soak it in, reminding myself that it was the last day he would be 3. I did this post last year. I should have done today's in advance but I am not good at planing ahead. I was going to give you a photo for every month from one year to 2 years but...that would be too much.(I still gave you 12 anyway!) I thought of putting them in a slide...but that was too much work. I will share a few from the evolution of hair file I made up last year when I had his hair cut. This is a little different for me...for my older 2's b-day posts I shared a few photos from birth to 1...this is a tad out of the norm for me...but all of the birth to 1 photos are on the external hard drive and I am hiding out in the toy room since everyone is a sleep, I can't blog in the living room because that is where my Dad is sleeping on the couch and I have nowhere else to blog! Anyway...Hope you enjoy.


His first B-day. June 2005.

July 2005

August 2005
September 2005
I love that smile!! Oct.2005

"mmmmm...I love the smell of chocolate!"

I love that chubby baby!!! Nov.2005
December 2005
May 2006 He drew on his face with a marker or 2, his shirt ironically says," What ever it was...I didn't do it!"
2nd Birthday June 2006 I can almost hear that giggle!
July 2006
I adore this baby boy. Sept.2006
I can not believe he is 4 years old. It is really flying by so fast with all 3 of my boys. It makes me sad. Let me be honest, even if I could have accessed my external hard drive to share birth to 1 photos of my youngest I wouldn't have, because I couldn't have dealt with it emotionally...I am all welled up with tears right now just typing about it!
I wish I could do up the kind of Birthday posts I see most ppl do...there is always next year!

I love you baby boy! No matter how many times you tell me you are not a baby, no matter how old you get...you will always be my baby boy. I love you so super much, too!