Best Food In Town

We have been so busy lately between baseball, work, end of school activities and fixing up my father-in-laws house we haven't gotten to eat at home. For the first time in what seemed like weeks I made dinner with Ben by my side as my faithful sous chef. I knew Ben was feeling the same way I was when he said "Mom, this is so fun, can we eat here every night?" I guess it has been a long time!

Let The Beach Towel Washing Begin!

Just when I was thinking I couldn't put one more thing on my plate the summer beach towel washing has begun. The kids and I spent the afternoon outside on the slip and slide in the backyard. (This body isn't ready for the neighborhood pool yet.) When we came inside I was saddled with four dirty beach towels and swimsuits. The kids are all crashed out on the floor sleeping off their over indulgence in the sun. I am soaking up the sweet smell of sweaty kids with a hint of water and sunscreen. It is a smell that will turn my stomach by the end of the summer, but for now it is bringing the fond memories of summers past flooding back.

Stuck On Kangaroos

Ben: (crying) I need a band-aid!
Me: What do you need a band-aid for?
Ben: My kangaroo.
Me: Your kangaroo?
Ben: Yes
Me: What are you talking about?
Ben: (crying harder) MY KANGAROO!
Me: Where is your kangaroo?
Ben: Right here in my mouth!

Poor Benny, he hates when I don't understand what he is trying to tell me. Come to find out, he has coined a new term for canker sores, kangaroo...okay. FYI, Band-Aid’s jingle "I am stuck on Band-Aid brand 'cause Band-Aid’s stuck on you" doesn't hold true when attempting to apply to the inside of one's mouth.

Graduation Again Already?

Jack graduated for the second time today in his 6 short years of life. He graduated from preschool last year, which I get; he was at least changing schools. But, today he 'graduated' from Kindergarten. He is going to go to the same elementary school next year. Jack even asked me this morning why his friend Derek (who is in 1st grade) wouldn't be graduating today, he actually thought they would both be in 1st grade next year since Derek didn't "graduate". How can you blame the kid? I am thinking this graduation craziness is along the same lines as not keeping score in baseball and always telling our kids how great they are. When are we going to welcome our kids to the world of reality by letting them know you only graduate from high school and college, someone loses in every baseball game and sometimes you aren't all that great?

The kids had their pictures taken in cap and gown a couple of weeks ago, that's right another marginal photo that I felt obligated to buy. I just hope that he has one of those photo videos at his wedding so everyone will see these pictures someday! So, I assumed that the kids would be wearing the cap and gown in the graduation ceremony. I talked to another friend with a Kindergartener who thought the same thing. I figured he would wear a white shirt, shorts and a decent pair of shoes. But, this morning about 30 minutes before we needed to leave for school Jack informed me that they were not wearing the cap and gown and they couldn't wear jeans or shorts. These words put me into a mad scramble. The kid has grown like crazy and I can't remember the last time I bought him a pair of slacks. I found a pair of khakis that didn't look too short as long as he wore them on his hips. I pulled out a white shirt so his black shoes (the only dress shoes he has that still fit) wouldn't look so bad. When I was nearly done ironing the shirt I found a big spot on the front. Shit! I grabbed a blue shirt and told Jack that he would need to wear his brown cowboy boots. He started melting down! "I can't wear these, we are lined up by height and these boots mess everything up because they make me taller and they itch and they make me walk funny”. Okay, let me see if I can get the spot out of your white shirt so you can wear your black shoes. I got the spot most of the way out of the front, as my mother would say "on a galloping horse nobody will notice". He put the shirt back on and as he walked away I saw another spot on the back of the shirt. Double shit! Now we are running late. I took the shirt off and put the blue shirt back on him. He was now crying again about not wanting to wear the boots. I told him to just put on the black shoes and I would stop and get him a pair of brown shoes to put on before graduation. I dropped him off at school at 8:35 and I could already see the annoying over-achieving parents lining up to get a good seat for the 9:30 graduation. I sped off to Walmart to find the best pair of brown shoes money could buy. They didn't have a thing! All they had were sandals; flip-flops and ugly character tennis shoes for boys. They had an entire aisle of different colors and styles for girls. By the time I got out of Walmart there was no time to get to another store so I headed to the graduation. He ended up looking fine and being better dressed than most of the kids.

Burn Notice

Jack and I had a playdate this afternoon after school. I picked Jack and his friend Finn up from school, then Finn's mom and sister came over shortly after we got home. It was a beautiful afternoon so we decided to play outside. After playing outside for only about 30 minutes the 'big boys' decided they wanted to go inside to play. The three 3-year-olds wanted to stay outside so we let the boys go inside and play in Jack's room. I told Finn's mom that there wasn't anything in the house they could hurt, so no worries. Lauren went inside to go potty; when she came back outside she reported, "The boys were cooking her ball in the toaster". It seemed extremely far-fetched so the other mother and I brushed her off. We continued to chat about the crazy things kids dream up and say. Suddenly the door burst open and two crying 6-year-olds came running out.

Jack: (through tears) I told him not to do it, but he did it anyway!
Me: What are you talking about?
Jack: We put Lauren's ball on top if the toaster and it almost started on fire and I burned my hand.

I went running into the house to assess the damage. The toaster was on, the splash ball was on the floor with a burn hole and the house smelled of melted nylon. I went back outside to report to the boys and the other mother that there was no harm, no foul. The boys were still hysterical and Jack was mad at me for not giving his burn enough attention.

After the other family left I talked to Jack about what a poor decision he had made. He agreed and we left it at that. Thirty minutes later on our way to Jack's baseball game he was still thinking about the incident.

Jack: Mom, I think that I should have to buy Lauren a new ball and I think I should lose a privilege.
Me: I think you are right, what privilege do you think you should lose?
Jack: Hmmm...I think I should lose cartoons.
Me: How long do you think you should go without cartoons?
Jack: I think I should go without cartoons for the rest of the year.
Me: Wow that is a really long time. Do you know how long that is?
Jack: Yeah, it is 6 days.
Me: Oh, you mean the end of the school year!
Jack: Yeah.
Me: Okay that works.

Wow, I don't know what I did right, but I sure made this parenting gig look easy today! Jack is such a great kid. Sure, he tried to burn the house down, but how many kids come up with their own punishment without being told?

Baseball Boy

Jack: Did you here that little kid call me a baseball man?
Me: No, I didn't. Did you tell him that you are a boy, not a man?
Jack: No, I just went with it!

Lesson Learned...Again.

This morning before Travis went to work he asked me if I could take his pants to the dry cleaners. When I responded, "I don't know, I'll try" he got a little testy. "What are you doing today, either you can or you can't, if you can't just tell me and I'll do it myself!" I explained that I was leaving for my infusion at 8:30 this morning right after I drop Jack off at school and wouldn't get back until 2pm. I told him that I had to be home from 4-7 waiting for the pest control people to launch their 3rd attack on my ants. He seemed perplexed as to what I was doing between 2 and 4. I pointed out that the clinic is frequently running behind and with 3-year-old twins you never know what could come up. I didn't know at the time what if anything was going to come up.

When I went to Lucinda's to pick up Ben and Lauren I found everyone in the yard planting flowers. Lucinda and I stood in the yard chatting and enjoying the beautiful weather. Ben was getting restless and wanted to hold my car key. I should have known that was a bad idea. I kept Ben and my key in the corner of my eye. I noticed right away when he was no longer carrying my key.

Me: Where is my car key?
Ben: I put it in the car, where it belongs!

He had tossed it through the open window of my locked car. I breathed a sigh of relief figuring that the key was in a last in a safe place. When I went to leave I poked my head in the window, but I couldn't find my key. I opened the door assuming the key would fall out onto my feet. Not only did I not find the key, I set off the car alarm. Without the key you can't turn the alarm off. I frantically tried hitting the internal lock and unlock button with no success. The neighbors in the swanky neighborhood were coming to the windows to see what all the commotion was about. I was panicked and running my hand under the seats and floor mats without results. I shut the door in hopes that the alarm would cease. I was falsely relieved when the alarm stopped. I had no idea it was just taking a break. That's right, it started up again only moments later and I still didn't have the key. It was hot out, I was wearing jeans because it is cold in the infusion room and I was loosing my cool both literally and figuratively. My mind was flashing back to the conversation that Travis and I had just hours before. Once the doors were shut the alarm finally took mercy on my and stopped the headache inducing honk. I still couldn't find the key. When Lucinda came over to help I stopped her from opening the door for fear that the alarm would start up again. We must have been quite a sight with our butts hanging out of the car as we searched the floorboards for the teeny tiny key. We weren't finding it and decided to try opening all of the doors rather than just the one Ben said he put the key in. When we opened the other door the key dropped out onto the ground just like I had expected it to do nearly 30 minutes before when I opened the first door.

So, boys and girls the moral of the story is that anything can come up when you have two 3-year-olds in tow. Is it really a lesson if you have already learned? I think this lesson was wasted on me. Ben, please remember that I am already familiar with this lesson and the next time you decide to be cute save it for your father.

Trapped!

I have been bringing Ben and Lauren along when I show homes to clients that I have good relationships with. When it is a buyer that I have worked with for a long time I don't mind bringing them with me. They have been really good in the past; I guess I just got cocky. Today I took them along to show some town homes not far from my house. My buyer was a little late so we sat outside while we waited so we could enjoy the beautiful weather. Ben and Lauren were running up and down the sidewalk. Lauren tripped on her flip-flop and scrapped her knee. She whined as we went through the first two houses. In the third town home we stepped outside onto the balcony to check out the golf course view. Ben and Lauren followed us onto the balcony and Ben swung the door shut. When we turned to go inside we realized the door was locked! There were not any stairs to the ground from this second story balcony; we were trapped like rats! I called the owner of the town home to see if he could come unlock the door. The owner was at a closing and wouldn't be able to rescue us for at least a couple hours. Crap! I make a habit of leaving the front door open as a safety precaution when I show houses, so I called Trisha hoping that she was not in the middle of something. She rushed right over and was able to rescue us within about 3 minutes. It wasn't the disaster that is could have been, but it was certainly embarrassing!! Needless to say, Ben and Lauren won't be coming the next time I show that buyer a home!

Unconditional Love

My parents closed on their TX house on Monday! The kids and I have been helping...I mean, I have been helping and the kids have been tagging along...make decisions on flooring, laying sod, etc. Tonight they went to my sister's house to spend Thursday, Friday and Saturday. My kids were distraught. They gave hugs and kisses to Grammy and Grandpa when we left dinner, then we had to chase them down in the parking lot for one last hug. As I was giving them hugs and kisses goodnight they wanted to call Grammy and tell her that they love her one last time. After everyone had said their 'goodnights' and 'I love yous' Jack told me "I love Grammy as much as I love Jesus...and that is a lot!"

Foul Three!

Last night at baseball practice the kids were doing a drill where they swing the bat, put it down and run to first base. Several kids went through the drill with no incident, then it was Jack's turn. Jack swung the bat and rather than dropping the bat to the ground he flung the bat behind him. Right into the nose of a boy that was standing too close. The victim was no other than the son of the woman with the gap in her teeth and the older brother of the girl that "always wears the same clothes". What are the odds? Lauren starts the attack, then Jack kicks them while they are down! The little boy's nose swelled and gushed with blood. His parents rushed him to the hospital where they gave him a CAT Scan. Jack came home from practice distraught. Travis was too upset about the incident to tell me what happened so I talked to Jack. My mind kept flashing forward to 16 year old Jack making a careless mistake and hurting someone else. I sat down and told Jack that I will always be on his side and I will always love him no matter what. I explained that I needed to know exactly what happened so I can help him deal with his mistake. I want Jack to know that he can always come to me no matter what the situation is. I hope that I layed the groundwork for that yesterday. I love this kid with all my heart and I hate to see him feeling bad. I am happy to report that the little boy is okay, thank goodness!

You Can't Fix Stupid!

As a realtor I am associated with a broker. Basically, I pay my broker to 'sponsor' me, which is required by law. My broker charges relatively low fees, but I have officially decided you get what you pay for! We have exchanged words in the past; we are trying to repair our rocky relationship. He is beginning to understand that I need to be 'stroked' when I make a sale. I like to be rewarded financially when I make a sale, but I also expect to be told how fabulous I am. So, my mentor has explained this to my broker and I think he is trying, but at this point I think he would be better off not to talk. Today in a meeting of our small office, consisting of 10 men and me, we were talking about simple things you need to do everyday to be successful in real estate. My broker went on to say, "You don't need to be Einstein or Brad Pitt to be successful. Look at Kelli, she is JUST A HOUSEWIFE and she has been wildly successful." Just a housewife? I am so much more than a housewife! But, being a housewife is not something I am ashamed of. I am proud of the HARDWORK I have put in as a 'housewife' over the last five years. My children are well-behaved, smart, funny and an all around joy to be around. This is much more than I can say for his son, Damien. I am not changing his name to protect the innocent because 1) he isn't innocent and 2) I think it important to know his devilish name is relevant! I am mad at myself. I didn't say anything. I still don't know what I wish I would have said, but saying anything would have been better than sitting there in shock like I did.

I Love New York

Jack: Mom, I know why J is brown.
Me: Why?
Jack: Because he moved here.
Me: Where did he move from?
Jack: New York

I Have Heard It All!

Ben has been trying out all sorts of ways to prolong bedtime. I am usually able to nip it pretty easily, because I can see them coming a mile away.

"I need a drink"
"I'm still hungry"
"Can we have one more book?"
"I need one more hug"
"I need one more kiss"
"I want a night light"
"I want it dark"
"Leave the door open"
"Shut the door"
"It's too hot"
"It's too cold"
"I need to say goodnight to Lauren"
"I forgot to hug daddy"
"Will you scratch my back?"
"I need to tell you something"
"I love you soooo much, do you love me soooo much"
"I can't find my puppy"
"Where's my blanket?"

You get the picture, right? I thought I had heard it all, but tonight he said,

"Wait Mommy, I forgot to pick up all of my toys"

"We Didn't Realize How Perfect Our Lives Were..."

Madeline McCann's parents were on Oprah today. This story hit me so hard two years ago as it was happening. Jack and Madeline are only a couple of months apart and their boy/girl twins are very close in age to Ben and Lauren. We went to San Antonio with two other families a couple of years ago and did almost the same thing the McCann's did. We had three suites in a row. We put the kids to sleep in two rooms and the adults played cards in the third room. Not exactly the same, not the 100 yards away that Kate and Gerry were, but too similar, eerie really. The McCann's had trouble getting pregnant, then were blessed with three kids right on top of each other just like us. Kate really struck a cord with me when she said, "I never took our kids for granted because of what we went through to get them, but we didn't realize how perfect our lives were." Wow. I need to be reminded every now and then that even though the economy is bad, swine flu is on the loose, Travis' job isn't as stable as we wish it was, we are overwhelmed with remodeling my father-in-law's house, my house is infested with ants, the kids are crying and my MS is acting up our lives are PERFECT!

Who Needs A Dog?

The pest guy came on Thursday, I scrubbed the kitchen floor and it seemed like the ant population thinned down for about a minute. Then, just when I started to relax it got worse again. Those darn pest people are going to have to come back out tomorrow! It seems like the second the kids drop a crumb on the floor the ants come running to gobble it up, just like a dog! The kids are even playing with them. They try to count them and get them to crawl onto their hands. I guess I should just accept them as part of the family. They are like gray hairs, every time I suck one of the little bastards up 10 come in its place. One of the symptoms of my MS is little tingling sensations that feel just like an ant crawling on you. I am pretty sure this is worse torture than water boarding!

Swine Flu Who?

I just don't know what to make of this Swine Flu madness! The Tysabri that I take for my MS is designed to suppress my immune system so it doesn't attack my brain. That is a really simplified way of putting it, but that is how I try to get Jack to understand it. So, my immune system is the equivalent to a baby's or an HIV patient. I have a friend that is a doctor in the local emergency room. He called last week to tell me that I need to be really careful and take the kids clothes off and give them baths when we get home from school or a shopping trip. The kids have loved taking bubble baths together in mom's tub.


I got a text Friday morning from my friend saying that they had seen the first probable case of swine flu in the ER the night before. Travis and I talked and decided to keep Jack home from school. It may have been a huge over-reaction, but I would rather error on the side of caution. My friend kept his kids home and he isn't the kind of doctor that over-reacts! I haven't heard anything about whether the probable case has come back positive or not, but that will determine whether Jack goes to school tomorrow or not.