Mathematically speaking

For those of you who don't know....I used to teach math before becoming a Stay @ Home Mom. I've developed an equation for a phenomenon that all mom's are familiar with:

CCT = 1,000,000 x CDT

where CCT= "Child's Cleaning Time" and CDT= "Child's Destruction Time"
But no one has ever cracked the code as to WHY does this phenomenon exist.
I'VE DONE IT!!!!! I now know WHY it takes the child sooooo much longer to clean up than it did to destroy: When you ask said child to pick up their toys, as soon as you look away, they do it using chopsticks!

Giving Thanks

There are so many people and things to be thankful for this year. Our family has had hard times in the last 2 months with the passing of 2 truly great people. I think that makes me want to cherish what we have all the more. I am so very thankful for all the family, friends, neighbors and some near strangers who helped us thru those first weeks. I honestly don't know how we would have made it without each and every one of them. Some how, everyone knew what we would need and when we would need it...from big things like babysitting at the funerals, all the way down to the loaf of bread that I forgot to pick up at the grocery, & not yet an hour later there one was...just handed to me from the blue along with dinner, without my even saying I had forgotten it. Or just letting me privately vent via some incredibly long text messages (and amusingly disturbing ones at that).

I am thankful for my parents. They provide so much love and support and friendship.
I am thankful for my children. Even with all their quirks, attitudes and sometimes overwhelming issues, they are my everything. I live and breathe for them.
And I am thankful for all those who remain quietly in the background, but they're there if I need them.
But ever in the forefront is Craig. Always providing whatever our family needs. Whatever I need. Holding my hand, sometimes to pull me forward, sometimes to reel me back in. Loving me even when I don't listen, thinking "I told you so" but almost never saying it. I cannot imagine life without him. I hope I never have to.

The Joke to Nowhere

On November 5th, Al apparently was trying to play a practical joke on us. I noticed the socks up there the instant I walked in the room that night to go to bed. Funny thing is, he's never asked about it, and we've not said anything to him either. The prank that never was?

Is there a problem, Officer?

Me? Speeding?


But I couldn't have been going that fast! My feet don't even reach the floor. See?!


Yes, that is a GIANT balloon in his hand.

Frugality at it's shiniest

Has our economy gotten so bad that Kellogg's predicts we'll split up a box of Poptarts to make individual gifts?

Me & my old blue jeans

I've never had Princess try on jeans at the store before. I've always been able to guess at the size. But now she is transitioning from toddler to lil' girls clothes, so I thought it best. When I got them on her, I said, "Look at them in the mirror to see what you think." She turned to the mirror
and IMMEDIATELY did this little number!!

I was too busy laughing hysterically (hence the poor photo quality), but after showing the pic to Craig and Al, they figured out what she was thinking when she did it. This is a Hannah Montana pose! FYI--the title of this post is a Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus song. It's actually not a bad song, I think.

2008 First Snow in KY

It was just a dusting, but Sunday marked our first "wake up to snow" for the season!

Knock Knock, more thereof

Gman & Princess were telling rapid fire Knock-Knock jokes in the back seat. Really bad ones. Literally a dozen+ of them. Somewhere in the middle:

Princess: Knock Knock
Gman: Who's there?
Pr: Bell
(silence)
Pr (frustrated voice): A bell, like "ring the bell"
Gman (excitedly yells): DING DING DING!

Of course, Mommy laughing at that one made it get repeated 3 more times.

Stingy Mom

Mother & child conversation:

Al: Whining-blah-blah-blah. Why can't I have prescription sunglasses? Whining-blah-blah-blah
Me: You got $300?
Al (deadpan voice): You need to spend more money on your kids.

SBB & the BBS

That stands for "Sweet Baby Boy and the Boo-Boo Stick"

Prefaces:
A. Sweet Baby Boy = Gman
B. Boo-Boo Stick = We used to have some sports bottles with these freezer sticks that snap inside to keep drinks cold. No longer have the bottles, but the sticks were really handy to use for lunches, etc, so we kept those. After the little ones were toddlers, they started getting used for the bumps and bruises of toddlerhood. Henceforth being called "boo-boo sticks"
C. I get migraines 2-3 times a month. I usually keep my eyes covered during one

Story:
Yesterday, I got a fast, raging migraine. After a while, Gman comes into the room and says, "Here Mommy, I bring this make you feel better." (Even in my haze of pain, I instantly think "I can't wait to tell Craig and the speech therapist he had a 9 word sentence! He rarely ever gets over 5.) I uncover my face to see him holding out a boo-boo stick. That's my Sweet Baby Boy!!!

Asleep vs Not Asleep, part 2

Getting Gman to go to sleep can be a real odyssey sometimes. If we leave the room before he's asleep, he most often gets out and plays, but we do frequently find him in places other than his bed. We've found him asleep on the floor, asleep in our bed, awake in our bathroom, awake under the dining table downstairs (all bedrooms are upstairs).

ASLEEP (didn't even flinch when I turned on the light for the pic)



NOT ASLEEP (that's him hiding behind the vacuum)

All About Craig

I totally stole this from Andrea and QB. Been meaning to do it for awhile, just busy with other stuff. Now would be a good time though---I miss him so much and have been thinking about him all day, but have several more hours to go before he gets back home.

1. He’s sitting in front of the TV: what is on the screen? a Poker tourney show of some sort
   
2. You’re out to eat. What kind of dressing does he get on his salad? None--he likes salad "dry"
   
3. What is one food he doesn’t like? marshmallows
   
4. You go out to the bar. What does he order? Maker's Mark & Coke
   
5. Where did he go to high school? Leslie County KY
   
6. What size shoe does he wear? 10 1/2
   
7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? State quarters
   
8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? I think it's called a Philly Cheese Steak...???
   
9. What would the Husband eat every day if he could? Banana pudding!!!
   
10. What is his favorite cereal? Probably Froot Loops
    
11. What would he never wear? a polo with stripes on it, dear Lord, he'll wear a rose colored one, but heaven forbid there be stripes.
    
12. What is his favorite sports team? UK Basketball
    
13. Who will he vote for? John McCain
    
14. Who is his best friend? ME!
    
15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn’t do? leave 1/2 empty Diet Coke cans every where (although I have gotten much better about that)
    
16. How many states has he lived in? 2
    
17. What is his heritage? Eastern Kentucky
    
18. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind? About any flavor, just make it in a Bundt pan
    
19. Did he play sports in high school? yes, basketball
    
20. What could he spend hours doing? time with me & 3 kiddos, or playing poker
    

Memory Lane Monday (#11)

I found this pic today. In it he appears to be 4' 3.5" almost exactly 4 years ago. Ironically, we measured his height just last week---5' 2.5"
He's grown exactly 11 inches in 4 years!!

Santa & police informants

Craig scored some tix to the UK Basketball game last night. Al and I were the lucky attendees. We had a total blast! UK doesn't just play a game--these are like major league sporting events with shows and fireworks during the player intro's.


The cheerleader and mascot pyramid are a crowd favorite (click on it to see a larger view. That flag is actually about 10 ft tall.):

But at this game, Al and I were mostly fascinated by the fact that

SANTA IS A UK FAN!!!

My walk-by photo at half-time wasn't so good. Toward's the end of the game we scooted down. Here's Al's "pretend to take a picture of me" photo (He's sooo hooked on the blog now!)


But after that, I got a pretty great one!


After the game, Al had just gotten in bed and could hear voices outside. Turns out, teenagers were stealing pumpkins from the neighbor's porch. The neighbor who is a policeman...who's cell phone number I have...who just happened to be on patrol only a few blocks from the house. He called me back to say he drove around and found them and watched them take pumpkins from 4 more houses before pulling them over and lining them up on the sidewalk. I asked Neighbor Policeman to take a pic for the blog, but he declined. Al and I are now officially police informants.
Al is totally stoked! Says this was the best day ever!

Laundry Pocket Pull

I rarely ever check pockets when doing laundry. Mostly because I just thoroughly enjoy opening the dryer to find a really great surprise, it's like I'm a contestant on Let's Make a Deal. Some days it's a dollar, or a Matchbox car, or rocks. Some days its an exciting trip! Such as a trip to the mall to replace the 5 pairs of jeans that got a bad case of Red Chapstick Measles. I have always reserved the right to keep anything I wanted that came thru the laundry---think of it as my payment for services rendered (that & it was usually mine anyways).

Today I reached into the laundry hamper and got jabbed with a pencil from Al's pocket. Hence a little game of Pocket Pull!

What do I do with 3 pencils, a pair of earbuds, a plastic bracelet, and a giant ball of fuzzy lint that is 85% red, 5% green, 5% yellow 5% purple? I'm thinking I don't really want to know the story behind the fuzzy lint. And I'm going to have to give him the 7th grade "Industrial Arts" teacher talk about the perils of guys keeping pencils in their front pockets.

Knock Knock

Princess goes in & out of a Knock-Knock joke phase. It used to be a random word paired with another word, example: Chicken. Chicken who? Chicken fork

This occurred in the van not too long ago:
Princess: Knock Knock
Me: Who's there?
Pr: Guess
Me: guess who?
Pr: Guess we have to get some gas. Funny! Get it?
Gman: Knock Knock
Me (thinking "Great. Now I've got 2 kids telling bad knock knock jokes")
Princess: Who's there?
Gman: Funny. Get it?
Princess: No! It wasn't funny.

Vote Responsibly

Just a reminder for you to go vote today! Please THINK about your vote. I personally don't think highly of "straight-ticket voting" (its naive to think that your particular party only has the best of people in it). Nor do I believe in voting for someone solely because your spouse/parents did. Sometimes, spouses/parents are wrong. So please make an informed decision. If you don't vote, you give up your right to complain for the next 4 years! ;-)

Where Craig grew up, the "vote for so&so" signs for local offices are usually hand painted. This one hangs above the road on a telephone line and may very well be the best political sign ever. (Click on it to enlarge it to read what it says. I did do a little touch up to make it more readable, but I, in no way, changed the content.) I must admit, I've been pondering for weeks, "Is he implying that his opponent is not sober, or letting people know that he's now dry?" Please keep your comments nice....we have family there.
:-)

Backlog of blog fodder

I've got a ton. Here's just a few.....in random order:

A. As I returned from Andrea's, I stopped for gas and saw this sign in front of the gas station. Be afraid, be very very afraid:


B. I'm at Sam's, picking out a package of beef when I hear Gman say behind me "1..2..3..4..5..Ready Not, Here come. (pause) There you are!" As I turn around, I hear Princess doing the same thing. Then Gman immediately does it again. "1..2..3..Ready Not, Here come. THERE YOU ARE!!" Even more bizarre is that he acted genuinely surprised to find her sitting next to him in the cart!!



C. Gman's new winter coat:

But what is this? A grab handle for mom to snatch him by the back of his head...??



D. Snuggly guys on the couch.



E. For Jenn, License plate: J33PER on a Jeep



F. A new fire department was built near my neighborhood. Their main fire engine pulled into the grocery store the other day while I was there. What? Is that # 22? Why yes, it is!