Weird

My new addiction is Tropical Smoothie Cafe. They know me and CiCi very well there. So well that a few weeks ago they were having credit card machine issues and ended up running two weeks worth of transactions on the same day. I just so happened to check my statement online and noticed about 8 or so transactions all for different prices, but all run on the same day. I immediately suspected that an employee was using my info and running the card so I called and canceled my check card. (Later that day I went to write a check and discovered I was completely out of checks - no bank card, no check book, yep I've had lots of fun paying bills with cash for the past two weeks) Sadly, after confronting the manager, I realized that I had actually been to TSC more than 8 times in a two week period.

Anyway.... today I went to my favorite place to get my favorite smoothie (yes, I know I should not have eaten another self-indulgent treat after my splurge this morning) and all the employees were playing with CiCi like they always do and she is making friends with everyone playing peek-a-boo and "hiding". She then wanted to grab things from my wallet and give to people (she loves paying with the credit card) so I gave her this buy one get one free pass to a local bowling alley and she hands it to this (at least sixteen year old because she is driving) girl. The girl reads the thing as if CiCi had truly given it to her and then continues to hold on to it never giving it back. CiCi loses interest and starts playing peek-a-boo with someone else and the girl just sticks the card in her pocket. I gave it to CiCi because it was better than giving her my credit card, but c'mon... my six year old would have known that she was just playing and not actually giving her the card. Just thought it was weird and had to share. I actually get a kick out of observing the strange behavior of other people and instead of asking for something like that back (which I really didn't care about) I was really interested to see what the girl was going to do once I realized that she did not "get" CiCi's game. People fascinate me.

So far this morning...

My son who wears a uniform to school didn't have a clean one to wear today. They were all dripping wet and in the washing machine. Of course I found the clothes in the washing machine only after searching hopefully in the dryer for his shirt and then accidentally closing the dryer door on CiCi's finger!!!
Same son has outgrown his uniform pants (just turned 6 years old and has outgrown a size 10, sheesh) so we bought him one new pair of size 12 last night. This morning he puts them on and I go to zip them up for him and I break the zipper. I made him wear them to school anyway. We didn't have time for him to change.
Same son happens to be Student of the Week this week and today I had to bring a snack that begins with the letter D - this is the letter being reinforced this week. So I dropped him off and headed to our favorite doughnut shop where my already-addicted-to-doughnut-holes daughter started squealing for her doughnut hole as soon as I approached the counter - the store owners started this by giving a free one to her free every time we come in so I blame them for her addiction and her behavior :)

then my DH calls to tell me that he got Arby halfway to school when Arby realized he didn't have any shoes. Please tell me how you leave the house at 8 years old, with a responsible adult and you don't realize that there are no shoes on your feet!!!!

then I am happily reading my blogs, drinking my diet coke, and eating my entire caloric intake for the day (a chocolate cake thing with cream cheese and chocolate chips on top that I get from the doughnut shop because I don't like doughnuts) when I see CiCi carrying a bag of popcorn that Kenz popped for himself for breakfast before I woke up this morning (got to love an independent 6 year old). I took the bag from her and she absolutely threw her first FIT ever. When are they old enough to eat popcorn without choking??? Cuz I have to admit I just closely monitored her eating popcorn in order to stop the pathetic fit she just threw.

So tell me how many worst-things-a-mommy-can-do rules have I broken today???

Choking Issues - pretty disgusting

Arby, who is about to be nine, choked on food today. He has done this several times. The last bad time was two years ago. On a meatball. Out of town. At a restaurant. I spent 45 minutes in the bathroom while he coughed it up a little at a time. But it hurt and he was crying and the restaurant ended up calling an ambulance, but before the ambulance arrived a waitress (sorta) did the Heimlich maneuver on him which helped him get up a little and then we had him stick his finger down his throat and gag some more up.
So today he did it again. On a turkey and cheese wrap of all things. It took about 15 minutes for him to cough it up. He finally was able to gag himself and get it all. He was scared and he had tears in his eyes and he said it hurt. He obviously took too big of a bite and did not chew, but I wonder if he could have a small esophagus or something that would be causing him to do this so often. The first time he was about three and it was on Thanksgiving. That one was pretty scary. This has probably happened 8-10 times. Today's was pretty bad, but knowing that he is OK I am just annoyed by it. Either he has some medical issue or he seriously needs to learn how to chew his food. If it is the latter then for goodness sakes he is nine years old - definitely old enough to understand and remember the last time this happened. UGH!!!
Any ideas blogland???

What Kenz gave up for Lent

Water Parks

He came up with this on his own. He has never been to a waterpark. I find this hilarious.

Soccer

I am too old to play this, yet I just need it. It makes me happy. I have played soccer since I was four. It IS my form of exercise. If I don't play, I don't exercise. Last April I hurt my knee playing indoor coed soccer. When we picked up CiCi in July, it was still bothering me a bit. When it comes to going to the doctor, I am a wimp - so I never did get it checked out. By August my knee felt better, but I was busy running three kids all over town. Remember if I don't play soccer, I don't exercise (other than running three kids around) Finally last month I decided I was ready to play again. I needed to play again. I sucked. I couldn't run. I couldn't breathe. I was playing indoor soccer for a new team. They didn't know that I used to be able to play. All they knew is what they saw and I was pathetic. I think the only thing that made me show up the next week is my ingrained desire to prove myself. But the next game I still sucked. Same with the next. I truly couldn't last. I thought my lungs might explode. On my way to my game last week I told my best friend that I would finish out the season, but that I thought my soccer days were over. I meant it and I was sad. That night I got an assist and actually felt like a player again. My new team asked me to play outdoor soccer with them. I told them I would think about it. A little confidence came back to me, but I still couldn't breathe. So tonight I actually played great - in very short bursts. After last week I think my team gained enough trust in me to sub me in and out more knowing that I was completely out of shape, but a better player than they had realized. So tonight I assisted one goal and scored two and they told me that I would be playing outdoor with them. I feel loved. Of course I still can't breathe for long and since I know me I know I won't be doing any thing else to get in shape, but the outdoor field is a mile from my house. What do I have to lose? I constantly wish that I had learned to play a sport that you can continue to play throughout adulthood - like tennis or maybe even volleyball (I HATE golf), but maybe I will be able to ride this soccer train a little longer. I play with 16 year olds and 45 year olds, I feel young and old all at the same time when I am out there playing. But I enjoy it and I really need to get back in shape and I really need to lose weight so this 34 year old is gonna keep on kickin'....
My kids were so proud when I told them about my goals - you would have thought I'd run a marathon. I love the adoration of my children!!!!!

Arby Won State

I am so proud of my Arby. I posted a few weeks ago that he qualified for State. Well, the state championship was this weekend. Over 200 K-3rd graders participated in the regional tournaments. Only 32 made it to state (8 from each region). Only one person wins. And this year my Arby won it!!!!! Chess is an amazing game. It is so simple to learn yet so completely complicated to master. It is also so individual. If you win, YOU WIN. If you lose, YOU LOSE. The pressure is intense. Every time you play in a rated tournament a number gets attached to you. As you win against higher rated players your rating goes up. When you lose (especially to lower rated players), your rating goes down. Going into a tournament you know where you stand based on your rating, but the mental challenge that goes along with that knowledge can be unbearable. Leading up to State Arby played in numerous tournaments. He played in a city championship and he was the top rated player. He won his first 4 games then lost to a player that he would normally not lose to in the last round. This caused him to have to play in a runoff. By that time he was so mentally beaten by the fact that he stupidly lost his last game by underestimating his opponent that he lost the runoff game as well and did not win the city championship. The next day he played in a local Catholic schools tournament and did the exact same thing - winning 4 games and then losing his last. In the regionals which qualified him for state, he actually came in second. Once at state he was the second top rated player and the boy that came in first in regionals was the top rated player and the previous year's State champion. I really believe his previous losses got him mentally prepared for State. He was not going to let that happen again. He was confident and ready to play. He brought his best game face to the tournament and he won it. We are so incredibly proud of him, but even more importantly he is proud of himself. It is amazing what this weekend has done for his confidence in chess!!


The trophy presentation:











As much as I like the fact that my boys play chess and as much as I used to enjoy the tournaments (I'd spend all day either talking to other moms or reading a book or just sitting around doing nothing - something I NEVER do), attending chess tournaments with CiCi is not so fun. In fact most of the day I spent declaring how I would never do this again (meaning DH wuld be bringing the boys solo from now on). I was exhausted chasing CiCi around and trying to keep her from chewing on everyone's chess pieces while also trying to occupy Kenz. Halfway through the tournament I found a relatively open and safe place outside. I threw the football with Kenz and let CiCi run around.

We had planned to go from Cookeville to Huntsville (to the space center) to enjoy the rest of the three day weekend, but Kenz got sick. After the tournament we went to eat and then returned to our hotel. We were going to get a good night's sleep and then take off Sunday morning. Instead I woke up to the sound of Kenz puking in the hotel bathroom. Yes this was only a few hours after the above picture. We had no warning of this sickness. I can tell you it is not fun to take care of puke in a hotel room. Limited towels, no washing machine, a contained smell. We ended up trashing his clothes and leaving for home the next morning. He slept alot, felt cold, never had fever and is now fine. At first I thought it was the flu (which is why we decided to go straight home), but now I wonder if it was food poisoning or just a 24 hour virus. I am praying none of the rest of us get it!!

What a weekend!!!

Last Weekend

Last weekend I went to Tulsa. I met my best friend there and we attended a Creative Memories convention.
I was so nervous about leaving CiCi, but it worked out fine!!!
The convention coincided with Grandparents Day at Kenz' school, so my in-laws were coming to town. I found a plane ticket to Tulsa that left at 2:30 on Friday and cost the same amount it would have cost me to drive there. This meant that I would only have to leave CiCi in the care of someone other than my DH for a few hours and that someone would be his mom - so I felt good about it all.
And I had such a good time!!! I spoke in full sentences. I completed a thought and then another one and then another one. I slept on the plane on the way to Tulsa and I read part of a book on the way back - rather than reading the same 4 paged book over and over :)
I laughed. A lot.
We went to a nice restaurant and stayed for more than 20 minutes. I did not shove the food down my throat and ask for the check as they served me my entree.
Then we went to a second restaurant for dessert and we stayed until we noticed we were getting dirty looks from people waiting for a table and seeing that ours had been cleared for a long time, yet we were still there.
And I even learned a thing or two at the CM convention.
I was home by 6:00 Sunday evening. Gone long enough to rejuvenate, but not too long. DH handled it all just fine - all except for changing her diaper in a timely manner (know this because when I picked her up - she was wet through her clothes AND she had (and still has) a diaper rash as a result of last weekend.
And to top it off - I got the best hugs ever from my babes when I got home.

Valentine's Day

I bought this outfit for CiCi this fall. It was not the smartest purchase. Notice the short sleeves. For February. What??? and then I accidentally bought 6-12 month leggings. They are way too small. I felt the need to atleast dress her up since I took off the tags on the leggings before realizing my mistake. She looks precious and is none the wiser to the stupidity of her mother.
I pieced together her second Valentine's day outfit. Apparently I did not take a picture of it. Oh well.
What did I get for Valentine's Day this year? Heated...with a new furnace (and a bit more debt...fun stuff)
We knew when we bought our house that we we would need a new furnace and a new roof. We hoped that we could buy 3-4 years. We took out a loan on Valentine's day to pay for them both. As luck would have it, we made it two years and they both hit the point of no return at the same time - a 25 year old house living on 20 year old time.

Daddy and the Tea Set

I just got this as an e-mail and had to share...



One day my mother was out and my dad was in charge of me and my brother
who is four years older than I am. I was maybe one and a half years old
and had
just recovered from an accident in which my arm had been broken among other
injuries. Someone had given me a little 'tea set' as a get-well gift and it
was
one of my favorite toys. Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the
evening
news and my brother was playing nearby in the living room when I brought
Daddy a little cup of 'tea,' which was just water. After several cups of
tea and
lots of praise for such yummy tea, my Mom came home. My Dad made her wait
in
the living room to watch me bring him a cup of tea, because it was 'just
the
cutest thing!'

My Mom waited, and sure enough, here I come down the hall with a cup of
tea for Daddy and she watches him drink it up, then says, 'Did it ever
occur
to you that the only place that baby can reach to get water is the
toilet?'



After my last post, I found a ton of humor in this one!!!!

Not the toilet water, honey!!!!!!!!!

Yep, she drank it. I put her down in the dining room (where I keep her clothes in an armoire instead of having to walk upstairs to her bedroom to get them) to get her a new outfit, 10 seconds later I find her in the bathroom with one wet hand in her mouth and the other on the toilet seat. EEEWWWWWWWWWWWW!!! For this one I did not go grab my camera in order to proudly display what my daughter is into these days!!! I have always found it disgusting to see dogs lick from a toilet bowl, you can only imagine how I feel to see my daughter do so.
My son had just used this restroom and who knows if he had flushed, but it didn't look too yellow so I will pretend that he did.
I am somewhat relieved to know that drinking pee can't hurt you. How do I know this you may ask? Well, in college one of the professors (that I did not have) would drink a cup of pee each year in front of the class in order to prove/show (that he was crazy) that it could not hurt you - something to do with the small amount of bacteria yada, yada, yada. Like I said, I never took his class, but I definitely heard about it.