This Close to Winning the Mother of the Year Award

Just when I thought I was a shoe-in this year for MOTY Award, I blew it again!

Sunday I decided the boys were getting a little shaggy so I drug out the clippers to give the boys a haircut. Wyatt loves having a fresh cut, but Cole Avery absolutely hates having his hair cut. It's always a fight from start to finish.

So I drug everything out to the garage because it just makes cleanup easier. It was already 100 degrees and I swear I was sweating buckets! So Wyatt's haircut was short and sweet and we were done in no time. I started Cole's cut and it was painfully obvious from the start that it was going to be one of those days with him. I always start at the base of their neck with a 1/16" guard and fade up to 1/4'' on the top. I keep Cole's especially short because the cuts are so unpleasant that I prefer to not have to do them often.

Well about 30 seconds into the cut, my sweet little angel was no longer acting human. I don't know if it was the heat or the fact that we had had this same fight I don't know...maybe 50 times before or maybe it was a combination of the two. Either way, I had had it.

So I said to heck with this fighting. I just buzzed his hair off all over with the 1/16" guard! Then when I got done I realized that it was so short that I swore the phone would ring any second and it would be Make a Wish! Then to make it worse he went in the house and cried and cried and cried. I wanted to get my point across to him but I had no idea that it would break his pea pickin little heart. So Andy had me shave his head too.

And that made it all better. Cole was happy as a clam.

Dad's hat doesn't fit for the time being.

We have to sunscreen Cole's head every morning.

And luckily in a about a week, it will have grown a ton.

And there's always next year to win MOTY.

Craziness

It's been a long time! Life has been more than hectic lately and with work, baseball, church and life in general it's just been nuts lately. On a normal evening I don't get home until about 8:30 at night because we have baseball practices at least 3 nights during the week that start at 5:00 and don't end until 8:00. Lately we've had obligations on the weekends too which doesn't really make keeping the house clean much of an option. We do what we can but it's been neglected to say the least. Friday and Saturday we had baseball tournaments which made housework wait until Sunday after church which left me feeling really bummed. I prefer to get a nap on Sunday afternoons rather than clean house but it had to be done. I get really down when my house is messy.

I need a part time job with full time pay!

And after the housecleaning Wyatt and I worked on his science project. We made a solar system out of sugar cookies decorated in frosting. It really turned out awesome but it was a lot of work. More cleanup really than actual work. Well, getting all the different colors we needed took a lot of time. It's amazing how many colors you need to make planets. I did find out some really cool info though. Wal-Mart has awesome cake stuff that is not in the baking isle. It's with the wedding stuff. They sell the kind of concentrated food colorings that you dip a toothpick into. The colors are awesome. I won't ever buy liquid color again. They also sell the cake cardboards. We bought large rectangular ones and spray painted it black and had an awesome sky for our planets.

All in all his project turned out awesome and he was so proud. What's more awesome is that we really had a good time listening to music and making cookies and frosting them. We danced in the kitchen and played air sax and had some really good moves. Andy just shook his head at us. I'm sure we looked pretty ridiculous but we had a blast. The funny think is that there were a lot of songs about the moon and stars all evening and we thought that those songs were in honor of our project.

I can't wait to hear how his day went. When I left him at school he was grinning ear to ear because the kids were all gathered around his desk looking at his project. The recipe was so big that we made sun cookies for all the kids in his class.

This weekend was a crash course of how things work in the world of baseball in Ark City and to say the least we were less than pleased. More on that load of crap later though. Today I'm just so proud of Wyatt I am almost teary!

I'm Baaack from the Gates of Hell

It's been a long time since I posted. But honestly it's been a long time since I have had anything nice to say! That sounds horrible I know, but it's the truth. Things have been really crappy at work lately and unfortunately when things at work are yucky, it seems to spill over into every other part of life.

I'm trying to learn to seperate my real life from my work life though sometimes that is hard, especially when this stressful job can be all consuming.

Soccer is over thankfully. Baseball started last night and was another reminder of how absolutely lame this town is. I so want to go back to Winfield. Everything to do with athletics in Ark City just seems to be an absolute cluster-fuck! (I can say that you know because this is my blog!)

Cole's coach called last night, finally! We hadn't heard from him last week and everyone we talked to had spoken to their coaches. So I called the Rec and got his name and Andy called him over the weekend and had to leave a message. And he didn't call back. So last night he calls and tells me that practice starts in 35 minutes! And when I told him that I didn't appreciate getting a call 35 minutes before practice he tried to tell me that he'd tried to call me over and over for the last week and had left me message and that I hadn't called him back! What a crock! And of course I told him that! I'm sure my kid will be a starter this year huh? I don't know what number he was calling but it sure wasn't my phone or Andy's phone and he did not leave a message. I think he was just covering for being a walking DICK ON A STICK! So that really helped after a long day at Hell's Gate.

On a happy note, Wyatt has his first track meet this weekend and I couldn't be prouder. Makes me think back to all my years of trackmeets.

We're trying to get things planned for a trip to float at Tahlequah this summer and that's exciting. The River is always fun.

Gotta run here PDQ to get groceries and then get home to fix supper and get my little one fed and homework done in time to get him to his practice. Andy is taking Wyatt to practice while we are doing homework and getting Cole fed. It seems that Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays Andy and I will just meet up around bedtime. I love that the boys get to be in sports but there are some days that it really seems like a sacrifice of sanity. But it's worth it for them to get to do the kinds of things that I didn't always get to do. I want them to get to try anything that they want to do within reason and hope that they find some things that they will love to do for life.

Off to the races.

What's A Mom to Do?

So today is the last day of school for the boys before Spring Break. And I am not happy about it! The boys are going to Freedom to spend time with Andy's parents over Spring Break. We will take them there on Sunday and then they will be gone all week. We'll go get them next weekend. Andy says we'll see them on Sunday, but I say we'll see them on Friday!

I've never been away from my babies that long and to be honest do not want to start now! I love my boys and don't want to be without them even for a week. It was just us for so long and I think maybe that makes this harder. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I think they are not going to be fine or something. I know they will be fine. It's just I'm worried. I know Wyatt will be fine. He is so thrilled about getting to spend a week with his Grandpa Rob. He thinks that he is going to get to fish EVERYDAY! While I imagine he'll get to do a lot of fishing, I don't think it will be every day. Cole on the other hand is not so pumped about going. I think he wants to go, but I think he would be content to be there for a day and then come home. He's never stayed with anyone but my parents or my sister. So I think Mama and Cole are a little shell shocked about this whole thing.

Andy is right though. They need to go. He wants his parents to bond with their Grandkids. And that is important. But that doesn't meant that it's not going to be hard. Andy is looking forward to a week of just us and I think that will be nice. A week of no responsibilities beyond work. But it's going to be really quiet.

I pray that all goes well!

A Loss for Words...?

It's hard to imagine that I might be speechless, but I might be just that. Today's been a busy day trying to tie up so many loose ends so I can have a little getaway this weekend. On top of that my mind is swimming in all the details involved in trying to buy a house (interest rates, loans, escrow, FICO scores, credit worthiness, down payments, inspections blah blah blah blah). I'm one of those people that feels the need to know EVERYTHING that I possibly need to know so that I don't spend a penny more than I have to when I am taking out a loan.

And of course mortgages are so much more complicated than other loans. And so much more long term. So it's a little stressful.

And I need to go get my Jeep from the dealership because I had it serviced today. We have parent-teacher conferences at 4:20 and I have a hair appt. (need a tiny trim) at 5:00. And I have this awful feeling that I am forgetting something important. Bills are paid. Boys are at daycare (no school) so not sure what it is, but I am sure I will remember (once it's too late). But I am off tomorrow so I will have some time to get things packed for us and the boys and get the house tidied up. I hate coming home from a fun weekend only to have that feeling of guilt because your house is a mess. Oh and I need to go to the carwash.

I'm excited about hopefully having time to do some shopping this weekend while we are in the city. It's been quite a while since I treated myself to something nice.

Last night we stayed up later than normal (which is not saying much) and watched Jackass II. I know I know. We talked about that this morning... how people like us should not find a movie like that so flippin' hilarious. But we do. I can't remember laughing so hard in a long time. I think we both needed that. Sometimes it's nice to be reminded how normal we are. And sometimes it's nice to feel young even if it's because we find the same things funny that 17 year old boys do.

Anyway, this is my Friday. And I'm excited about the weekend. May it turn out better than the last!

Ok, so I guess I wasn't speechless after all.

Magnifying Glass and Tweezers

I woke early this morning to the sound of a boy saying my name, which around my house is Mama. As I do most mornings, I momentarily contemplated saying, "She's not here!" But I learned some time ago that telling him that stopped working when he was around 18 months old! So after asking him what was wrong he proceeded to tell me he woke up with a swollen penis.

So my first instinct was so say, "No kidding? Well so did your Dad!"

But I refrained. You might notice that I wake up a little cranky and sarcastic in the mornings. Not my shining hour of the day. So back to the swollen penis. It's not a little woody, but rather a swollen little penis that looks like a full sized mushroom. The kind you buy in the store. If you don't have little boys, the first time you see something like this it's pretty freaky. But as a mother of two boys, this is not the first time I've seen this, but actually it's always been with Cole. Usually it happens after he gets a chigger bite and after a little bit of benadryl and hydrocortisone cream, he's fixed up in no time.

So like the good Mom I am, I told him that it would be fine and I'd take care of it in a little bit. (Just as soon as I fall back asleep and snooze for another 15 minutes) But that was not to happen because about two minutes later he was back, calling that lady's name again that was not there!

"Mom, it's a tick. A tiny tick. That's what made my penis swell!"

A tick in the winter? So I reluctantly turned on the light and tried to see this tiny tick. And I could barely see a speck. So I ran off to get a magnifying glass and tweezers. It was on my way back to get this "tick" out when I realized the irony of the situation. If I had told my husband that I would take a look at his penis just as soon as I found the magnifying glass and some tweezers, I would probably be single! LOL I mentioned that to my husband on the way back to do triage and he didn't see as much humor as I did.

Turns out the "tick" was actually a splinter. That of course raises a whole other set of questions that I would rather not address with my seven year old son. I think I'll just pretend that it was a tick!

"Oh not much, just got naked in a shed in some lady's backyard.."

I think the next time that someone asks me what I did this weekend, I might just want to say, "Not much, how about you?"

I had boudoir photos taken this weekend and let me first say that I had fun, but will immediately follow by saying that at 31 with two children, taking semi nude photos and actually looking at them is a pretty humbling experience.

Luckily my husband, who is still in Kentucky was gone for the weekend. But as I was on my way to my appointment he called and wanted to know what I was doing. I could have just made something up, but I am just not good with that kind of thing so stupidly I told him that it was a surprise and I couldn't tell him. He asked where the boys were and when he found out that they were at Grandpa's, that made it even worse. So here's this guy who's been in Kentucky for two weeks and his wife has gotten rid of the kids for the day and is doing something mysterious. And to make it worse, I had to tell him that I really needed to go because I was late for my appointment. So then he makes me feel guilty because he finally got signal and really wanted to talk to me and I don't have time to talk to him because I am doing something secret! He just kept saying, "I don't like this at all. I don't like this one little bit!"

The studio was set up in the photographer's back yard in what probably used to be a shed but has been finished into a studio. So it's not really like getting naked in a tool shed or anything, but it was a funny thing to think about. Some of the pictures were taken on a mattress that was draped in gauzy fabric and had a similar backdrop. That said, as I stood on this mattress in heels, teetering around trying not to fall flat on my face, the radio advertisement mentioned "love beads in all shapes and sizes" (at least that's what it sounded like) it dawned on me that I had secretly gone off to strip down nearly naked in front of a stranger in a back yard shed! You just can't help but laugh at the irony of the situation.

Anyway, I have seen the proofs online and though there are some that I absolutely cringe at, there are several that I really like and a couple that I think I look pretty darned good in for 31 with two sons. Hopefully between the fact that my hubby has been gone and the fact that I will be presenting him with racy pictures of me, I will have a very hot Valentines Day!

Cross your fingers for me!

Green Cupcakes with Candy Sprinkles

I wonder if there is any scientist that ever calculated the calories that all Moms consume when making Birthday cupcakes... it must be quite a few. I think it's impossible to pour batter into muffin papers and not keep getting batter on your fingers. And then who can resist licking off that batter and sampling the frosting! Thank goodness we have only two boys and two Birthdays a year.

My "Baby" is turning 7 tomorrow and I can't help but think back to the day he was born. I started early labor while we were at a Super Bowl party at my Sister's house. I didn't know I was in labor at the time but shortly after we got home, my water broke and off to the hospital we went. And after two short hours filled with a frantic drive to the next town where our doctor would deliver me, crabby nurses, horrific pain that I never imagined (not even after my first delivery) I held the most precious baby I've ever seen in my life. He was fat and mad and beet red, complaining about the timing of his arrival into this world. And every since he's taken the world by surprise with his quick intellect, his funny little observations and his canny gift of pointing out such simplistic solutions to everyday problems that no one seems to see but him. He is wise beyond his years and I hope that gift serves him well.

I remember a time when being a parent was just something that other women did. Not something that I would ever do. And there have been times in my life that parenting was very hard. Being a divorced mother of two boys ages 2 and 4 was the scariest thing that I've ever attempted and certainly the most satisfying. As I watch my two children grow into their own personalities, I can't imagine life without them.

I'll write later about my oldest son, but for now I have cupcakes cooling on the counter, waiting to be slathered in creamy, gooey, green goodness...and some candy sprinkles.