I love being a girl..........

Not all the time, that's for sure! Today during preschool, we were sitting around the table practicing our letters, when Haley Johnson and Addison Morgan struck up a conversation about all sorts of girlie things. It was pretty funny to listen to. Some of the things they brought up (it is so funny when they get so serious) were piercing ears and makeup. Addison thinks she might be getting her ears pierced tonight, and Haley had to tell her how much it was going to hurt. Addison said it would just feel like a little pinch (sure, something like that, I suppose) and Haley said it was worse than getting a shot! It was funny to hear them discuss it. I asked Addison what she wanted for her birthday and among the things she named was makeup. Haley said she didn't like makeup, she wasn't allowed to have it (her mom HATES makeup, she said.) I laughed inwardly as I thought of Marie trying to juggle three small girls who ALL wanted makeup and what a nightmare it might be! Needless to say, over the course of the fifteen minutes or so that they discussed all this, I must have thought a hundred times (at least) how glad I am that I am not going to have any daughters. No ear piercing or makeup for me, thank you! Don't get me wrong - boys have theirs pros and cons too, but all I can say is YEA! no girlie issues. Hallelujah! When people find out I am having another boy, they always say the same thing, "Oh, I bet you really wanted a girl." No, I reply. They look at me skeptically, like I am in denial or something. Nope. I really am so grateful that I am missing the girl boat. Honestly and truly. I know this is going to sound so selfish and self-absorbed (and whatever else you want to call it) but I am more than willing to be the only girl in my husband's life, as well as my boys. All too soon I will have to let my sons go to their wives (and then I plan to travel the world, yea baby!) Plus - and this is bad, but it's the truth, I cannot lie - all that money spent on girlie things, hair pretties, makeup, hair stuff, clothes, etc., is ALL MINE! I don't have to worry about buying all those girl things and taking it out of my own budget. I mean seriously, tell me you aren't jealous that all I have to buy my sons are pants, t-shirts, the occasional tie, and one pair of tennis shoes. And I fully expect it to be that way for many years to come (even Brent is that way, when he needs new clothes, we go pick him up a few polos, a few khakis, and a pair of shoes vs. my varied shirts, pants, skirts, dresses and many pairs of shoes, lol!)

Comic Relief....finally!

This afternoon Morgan and Dad came over to finish up the grouting on our backsplash. I had just read on Facebook that Morgan's girlfriend has been grounded. I asked Morgan about it, and was totally shocked at the reason why: She took the car without asking! She just turned 16 and after last weekend, I am convinced she is quite the rebel. So we started joking with Morgan about it, and I had quite a few wise cracks, if I do say so myself. I would love to relate the jokes - but they are totally inside jokes that only a few of us would laugh at- and even some of those people might not think they are so funny! It was good to hear Dad laugh so much, though! Here is a joke I can share with you, though (courtesy of Morgan):

What do you get when you blow up a bomb in a French Kitchen?




Wait for it..............






Linoleum Blownaparte!



And one more: I was putting something in the freezer and happened upon a tub of my new favorite ice cream (Ben & Jerry's Americone Dream by Stephen Colbert.) I think Stephen Colbert is hilarious and I love his political jokes! Anyway, I told Dad and Morgan that Brent had bought me the American Dream. They looked at me kind of funny, and so I explained, "Who knew? Apparently you can buy the American Dream at Wal-mart for $2.75!" I thought it was pretty funny. We pulled it out and had a couple of spoonfuls - Morgan agrees - it is the "American Dream", lol!

The Great Debate.....

I try not to "mother" my younger siblings who are still at home. I try not to "advise" my Father on his parenting skills. So I try to stay out of things - and only offer my opinion or advice once and leave it at that. Well, Morgan, lovely young teenager that he is - is pushing it. To the point that I try so hard to not say anything that I finally just blurt it out - sometimes it seems like it comes out of nowhere - we can be talking politics, or not talking about anything at all - and then out pops my opinion!

Why do I bring this up you say? Many people who know me well (and my family, especially my parents) have asked me the same question, "Do you think your choices were ever affected by how strict your parents were?" No. I have thought about it and thought about it and it is a very definite no. I chose what I chose, just as I continue to choose what I choose, and quite possibly the only reason I made it through alive was because they were so strict! Anyway - here is the debate: How much freedom should our children be allowed to have? At what point do we give our two cents, step back (hold our breath) and let them make their own choices (secretly hoping and praying that they will make the decisions we would make for them if we still could?)

The most recent example comes from Morgan, occurring this morning at approximately 11:00am. He had called me earlier and asked me if I could take him to Blockbuster to rent an xbox game. I told him I would and didn't think too much about it. He came over, we got Maxwell's shoes on (Anna was babysitting Blake) when I told Maxwell we would actually be sitting out in the car while Morgan went in. That's when he told me he didn't actually have a Blockbuster card and was hoping to use mine. So we got in the car, knowing that I would have to go in with Morgan. As we were pulling out of the driveway, he said that we could go to Target and just buy the game instead. I was down with that since I thought it meant I could stay in the car (yes, I am that lazy.) That is when he told me that the game is rated M and so he has to have an adult with him to buy it. WHAT? M? as in - if it were a movie it would be rated R? I was not happy about this. I felt like he was making a bad choice, and he was trying to con me into helping him make it! First thing I asked (like I always do) is, "Does Dad know about this?" He said he did, so I couldn't use that as an excuse not to take him. (I will have to add that sometimes my Dad doesn't come through for me on this - I think I know what my Dad will say, so I tell them to ask Dad, and then he tells them exactly what I didn't want him to say!) Anyway, I explained my feelings on several issues with Morgan (hoping that yes, he would hear me and say something like, "You're right Erin, I think I will just stop playing video games completely, and quit making out with my girlfriend, and get a job and start doing my homework and getting better grades.....etc." Nope. True to form, he went right ahead and bought the game anyway. So, the question is, when we give them a choice, hoping they will make what we think is the right one, but they choose what we think is the wrong one, do we just sit back and do nothing, or do we say, "Sorry, we gave you the opportunity to make the right choice, you blew it, I'm driving you home and you're grounded from playing xbox ever again?"

Happy Valentine's Day!

I meant to post this yesterday, but never got around to it. This is the poem that was read at our wedding; Believe me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms, written by Thomas Moore. As my sister read it, I tried to hold back tears and thought, "Why did I choose this poem, of all poems. to be read at my wedding??" Seven long years later, it has new significance to me.

Believe me, if all those endearing young charms,
Which I gaze on so fondly today,
Were to change by tomorrow, and fleet in my arms,
Like fairy-gifts fading away,
Thou wouldst still be adored, as this moment thou art,
Let thy loveliness fade as it will,
And around the dear ruin each wish of my heart
Would entwine itself verdantly still.

It is not while beauty and youth are thine own,
And thy cheeks unprofaned by a tear
That the fervor and faith of a soul can be known,
To which time will but make thee more dear;
No, the heart that has truly loved never forgets,
But as truly loves on to the close,
As the sunflower turns on her god, when he sets,
The same look which she turned when he rose.

Holy REM, Batman!

I'm tired.

Strange days.

Today has been a very eventful one - full of things I never thought I would see or do! First, I got to witness, up close, a very minor surgery. I had no idea if watching would make me pass out, or vomit, but nope, it wasn't that bad. It was strange to see other people fondling my husband, I mean it really weirded me out! But otherwise, it was all very normal...........and stuff, I guess. I woke up pretty nervous and felt rather like I was going to throw up. I think I needed valium just as much as Brent did! Anyway, that's all over with. Almost, anyway. I think we'll have to do some more awkward-moment-inducing follow-ups, but otherwise it was the smallest hurdle I have yet to encounter in my lifetime!

Second, Brent actually asked me to waste money buying a Sheridan's concrete. (Please bear in mind that Brent tried to tell me that we couldn't set the heater temp to 71 - vs the 70 he thinks is more than sufficient - because it will add 5% to our bill. Which is like what, $6? $6 a month to be warm during the winter? Is that really too much to ask? I mean, really, right after Brent told me that, he mysteriously disappeared for a long while. I patiently waited for him to come back so that I could point out that he was talking about $6. When I finally got the chance, he got a very cheesy grin on his face, told me he was hoping I wouldn't figure that out and has never since given me a hard time about the 71 again.) Lately we have justified that we can buy a whole gallon of ice cream for the price of one concrete, so it just isn't worth it. I still can't believe we spent that much on a little bit of ice cream for the family - $12. If I were to add up the $12 we spent here and there, I would be ashamed to admit how much money we have been throwing away (or helping the economy, depending on how you look at it!) If nothing else, we just spent 2 months worth of warmth - for something cold.

Third, and this is the toughie, Blake and Maxwell are going to sleep in the same room tonight. At least I hope they will. Blake keeps coming to let me know that Maxwell is standing up, or "boddering" him, or...........well, you get the point. Blake getting up all the time isn't helping Maxwell out at all. I think Maxwell might still think this is some kind of a joke or something. I am hoping that they both just fall asleep soon, and then sleep in late in the morning. I know, I know, chances are they will wake each other up sometime around 5:30 am, but I am still hoping.

On a brighter note: I almost have half of my kitchen backsplash in! Yeah! I can't wait to be done with the kitchen! Of course, that means we'll have to move onto the next project(s), but it will be nice to have finally finished the kitchen after nearly six years! Oh, and did I mention that Brent is thinking he might need to finally jump on the Facebook bandwagon? I think no, he has plenty of other stuff he wastes time on, let me be the one to waste hours on Facebook! Haha!

Holy Incisors, Batman!

I'm not quite sure what to think. Blake is getting too old? I am getting too old? The other day I caught a glimpse of Blake's mouth, and thought his two bottom front teeth looked weird. Upon closer inspection - they are totally loose! Holy cow! I wasn't expecting this for another year or two! When I mentioned it to Brent, he said it was actually because Blake had hit his mouth on his head the night before (yes, Brent has an extremely hard head) and so we decided we had better take him to the dentist to be sure he didn't damage something. Well, no, there is no problem, he has two huge teeth pushing the tiny ones out. He really isn't my baby anymore. I am not, and never will be, prepared for this.

Yay! I did it! I did it!

And in like, 10 minutes!! Yes! I now know what I am doing, and can make any blog background I want. I am so proud of myself! Now I just need to tackle that header thing! Yay!

Experiment gone right!

This is the end of week 1. It should be the end of like, week 3, but I broke and we had to start over. Maxwell has always been happy to do his own thing. He doesn't ask for a lot of attention, he could play elsewhere in the house for long periods of time (in which he probably never thinks of me) and at some point I have to go looking for him just to make sure he's still alive. He also loves DVDs. Not necessarily watching them, but more of an I-put-the-dvd-in, I-take-the-dvd-out every 5 minutes, and he wants to carry the DVD (w/o case) with him everywhere he goes. This hasn't been working out very well for anyone. Especially the poor dvds. So we started "putting our foot down" and were constantly telling (scolding might be a better word) him that he couldn't touch the dvds, even though that is the one thing he wanted to do most. Then he would scream and cry and jump up and down - and he wouldn't pause for anything. However, it was amusing at first how he would instantly stop and smile if you handed him the dvd! One day I got so frustrated, I put him in his crib, gathered up all the dvds and threw (well, gently placed them in a box, but I wanted to throw them) into the basement. Maxwell did not appreciate this, but reacted with surprising calm when I showed him that there were no more DVDs. I felt bad, so I checked out some Signing Time DVDs from the library a week later. Yes, I am an idiot. Last week I had Brent gather them up and take them back. We haven't watched a dvd in a week.

All I can say is: Believe them when they tell you that tv is bad for children. I now have my own evidence. It's like I have a new child or something! Granted, he does require more attention (he tends to get into things he's not supposed to - like all the time) and now he and Blake are always teasing each other and it isn't pretty, but............Maxwell uses at least 100 words more per day now when he communicates (which is such an improvement from his limited vocabulary of movie titles and screaming and crying and jumping up and down) and he has the cutest little personality that really comes alive now that I have allowed him an opportunity to be a normal 2.5 year old kid! He is so cute and cuddly with me (he wasn't interested before) and he has just really come alive this past week. It makes me feel bad that I didn't do something about this sooner, or see the reality of what I was doing, sooner, but I am happy now. One night at dinner, I pointed out that this is Maxwell after he's gone without dvds for an entire day. Everyone could see the difference. The next night, my brother Morgan was playing with Maxwell (never happened before) and said, "Erin, I definitely like this Maxwell better." Oops. I have done a poor job of parenting. I am now making amends. Learn from my experiences, please.

Yes, it's working! Slowly, but surely!

As you might be able to see, I am running tests on my new background! I think I am getting closer every day. Of course, I really only have about 25 minutes everyday that I can sit and mess around on the computer, but who knows? Maybe I'll have it up and running by the end of the week! I just love it when I can accomplish something like this! It makes me feel like my education wasn't completely worthless, and that being a stay at home mom isn't sucking all thought process out of my brain!

I'm going to do it!

I am going to do it. That is my motto for today. I have a long list, and though my back will hurt terribly by the end of the day, I am going to get it done! Once my lists are completely checked off, I will start playing around with this whole blog thing and I will become a blog genius! Yeah, baby!

p.s. please don't hold your breath on this one. I will not be held responsible for your disappointment :)

Update?

Blake has made some new friends - Anna and Spencer Wing. They don't have any children themselves, so they just think Blake is the greatest! Blake reciprocates those feelings: he was in trouble for disobeying, so I told him to go to his room - he told me to go away and leave him alone. I told him, for the second time, to go to his room, then got up to escort him there. He started walking down the hallway, mumbling, "Go away, I'm driving to Anna and Spencer's!" Apparently he thinks they would make better parents! I had a hard time trying not to laugh. He ended up not going to his room......maybe next time! Last night as I was putting him to bed, he told me that, "Tomorrow I'm going to go on an adventure to Anna and Spencer's house." I told him they would actually be coming over to our house and we would watch football. He was down with that.

Maxwell has learned to communicate - by screaming and crying. It is very frustrating for all of us. We have no idea what he wants. He doesn't get what he wants because we really have no idea what it is he's asking for, so then he cries and screams and starts jumping up and down and waving his arms. He is still a work in progress........mostly he feels like a work in regress. Oh well. He is also learning the disciplinary function of 1,2,3....then you go to your room. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Brent bought me a smartphone for Christmas. I love it and hate it. It has so much stuff - it's like a computer - acts like one too - I get all sorts of errors, and it takes forever to open programs, and yes, I have actually had to reboot it several times already! I think Blake hates it as well. There isn't anything I can't do on it, I now text, im and get my emails immediately all day long, as well as games, gps, microsoft office, and web browsing. It never leaves my side. I wonder if it will one day mysteriously disappear? I have to exercise great self control to ignore my phone during such things as church, family dinner, dates, etc. I have newfound sympathy for Aurelia and the hard time I always gave her for her constant texting! I also think Brent is a little envious of my phone. It is pretty cool. On another note - I went ahead and had a maternity photo shoot done. I never thought I ever would - but I now highly recommend professional photography to everyone (and not just for maternity.) It was a great experience and it is amazing how beauty can be captured through the lens of a camera - not physical beauty, but the essence of it - a picture truly can speak a thousand words - even if only to the person in the picture. I loved it. It is so worth the money! Do it, I say! Here was my favorite photo of the entire shoot.