I Miss My Family...

Ya know...I get to see my family WAYYY more often than the average person that is 35. I got to see them for a week at Christmas, and my parents have visited two times since then. I am grateful for getting to see them as often as I do, but sometimes I just want to whine. My sister has been sick for the past 3 months, with few reprieves, my nephew had his tonsils removed, and I couldn't be there...and I just plain flat out miss them...even the ones that aren't sick.

It is one of the things I hate about society...you grow up, you move away, and you work...you aren't there for each other and you don't see your family members grow up or grow old the way you did when you stayed near one another or even on the same land.

I know that its life. It is what it is. But sometimes, I just wish we could just press the pause button on life and just breath deeply.

Kaytlynn Thinks About my Age...

Todd and I were talking about something that happened with one of his customers. I told him that she must have been old...trying to excuse a computer mistake she had made.

Kaytlynn said "Mommy, you are not old are you? You have half of your life left."

I started laughing and she said what are you laughing about. I just told her that I was laughing about something that she would think was funny when she was 35.

She tried to smooth things over by saying "You aren't as old as Nana", "How old is she anyway".

I replied 65. "WOW...65...She was born 65 years ago...WOW!

Kaytlynn Wants to Be a Librarian...

So, it is 6:15 at night and Todd has brought the girls up to the school so that I can work late. I take a break and read Mo Willems pigeon books, Leonardo the Terrible Monster, and Elephant and Piggie's Today I Will Fly...If you don't know Mo Willems...go straight to your nearest library or bookstore and check him out. He is one of my most favorite children's book authors.

Anyway, I finish reading and go back to work. Kaytlynn says, I want to be a librarian one day. I said "Really?, Why?"

And Kaytlynn replied quite simply..."because you don't have to do anything".

I think she has been hanging out and listening to my co-workers too long.

We Have New Pets...

Last week, I went to the mail box and saw a brown package inside. I couldn't imagine what was in there. After guessing, I got it inside and opened it, and there was a small test tube full of ants! I had forgotten all about the ants we sent off for SEVERAL weeks ago. They were crawling all over the place, which was kind of disturbing to watch, because there was no room they were having to crawl all over each other.

I placed the tube in the refrigerator so that the ants would go to sleep and set the timer for 10 minutes so that I wouldn't forget about them and freeze them. I got them out of the refrigerator and I'll be, if those ants weren't all curled up like balls looking deader than dead. I really thought that I had killed them all, but emptied them in the gel ant farm...30 minutes later, they were all moving and grooving.

The girls got home from AWANAS to see them and they thought that it was just too cool. Katlynn has especially enjoyed watching them. She has a favorite and she named him Fred.

Kaytlynn Makes Parenting Look Easy...

So we get home from church and I tell the girls not to change their clothes just yet because I wanted to take their picture in front of the Christmas tree before we take it down. They are always up for getting their pictures taken...they are so humble, you know!

The girls hair is in two braids like Laura on Little House on the Prairie or Pippi Longstocking (2 HUGE favorites at our house right now). The hair is coming out of the braids a little though, and so I say, "Come here and I will take your hair out of your braids and take a few pictures with your hair down."

Kaytlynn then said , "No, I like my hair up." Instead of snapping at her, I just put the camera down. She asked if I want to take more pictures, and I tell her that I don't want to....that I already have pictures of her with her braids.

I am sitting at the computer and Kaytlynn comes in with wet eyes, apologizing. I tell her that it is okay, it is just that I am not used to her telling me no, and that I know she didn't learn THAT at church today. She said, "No ma'am, I just wanted to do what I wanted to do. I am very sorry. I then go into the house not being picked up and when they complain, it just makes it hard on everyone. That EVERYONE, including them, enjoys having a clean house, and NO ONE is happy when mommy is unhappy from picking up after everyone or when she is in a messy house.

She says, "I am very sorry mommy. I am grounding myself from Webkinz and Ty.com because I spend entirely too much time on there, instead of helping around the house and doing what I am supposed to be doing." I hug her and tell her that it isn't necessary and that I forgive her, and love her and am so thankful she has such a sweet heart....and she truly does. She sat down and drew me a picture of her with her arms wide open and saying "I love you" all the while humming a happy little song to herself. She said she drew it because she knew it would make me happy!

We will see how long she lasts on her "grounding", but even if she messes up in 5 minutes, I know her heart is good and true and full of love for God and her family and just about anyone else she comes into contact with. And that is why I say she makes parenting look easy.

Dear Delaney,

Happy Birthday Delaney!

Delaney turned 6 this week. It was a very simple birthday "celebration" because it was in the middle of the week that happened to be a very busy day. I put her to bed the night before reminding her that the next day was her birthday. She was smiling so VERY big and simply said shyly, but proudly, "I know".

I wake up a couple of hours before she does so I didn't get to wake her up saying Happy Birthday, which made me kind of sad, but left school a little bit early so that I could spend a little time with her before church. Her birthday was on Wednesday night and that is when she has AWANAS. When I got to Dana's house to pick her up, she ran to the door smiling from ear to ear. When they let me in I started singing to her and she just giggled and sang along. She sat with me for a few minutes, but then decided that she would much rather be playing on the Crenshaw's playset than be sitting with her mother, even if her mother was giving her all the attention.

This was the first week back to AWANAS since Christmas so the theme was BOUNCE BACK. They had all sorts of bounce houses and Bounce slides and such for the kids to play on, and I think Delaney thought that there were there just for her.

When she returned home, she asked where her cake was! I told her...I didn't make a cake for you. Then I pulled out a pan of cupcakes and she screamed "PUPCAKES". I let her blow 6 candles out and then we sang the song again while Kaytlynn got to blow them out...then she asked if she could do it again...so we sang again...letting her blow them out one more time! Then they got to put confetti icing on their "pupcakes" and then I let them choose sprinkles and put them on as well. I love their excitement for birthdays and will be so sad when it isn't such a big deal to them. She ate up every minute of the attention and the pupcake and we settled down for bed.

It was a simple yet wonderful day. I then went to the computer and something caught my attention. She now needed 2 hands...not just one...to show how old she is and that literally brought me to tears. I posted on facebook that it amazes me how the little things are what seems to hit me the hardest while watching my children grow independent from me. I am so blessed with the time that I have with her and I just don't want all of her wonder and childishness to go away.