Sweet Child O Mine

Will might just be the sweetest boy in the whole entire world. I know you might all think that about your son, but really he is. I sent Will to camp yesterday without looking at his camp calendar for the first time this summer. I vaguely remembered seeing something about him going to a science museum...

Anyway, I got a call from the camp at around 10:30 saying that I didn't remember to send him swim shorts, but that I can drop a pair off at the camp for him to swim later at the undernighter. Of course I had no clue about the undernighter. So there were 2 strikes against me already... all by 10:30 am. My 6 year old did not have his swim shorts for his trip and I didn't get to tell him that he was staying at camp till 6 pm and having dinner there.

I drove to the camp, dropped off a swim bag with all his stuff, wrote his name on a big piece of paper so they wouldn't miss it when they walked into the office, and left the camp feeling a little better.

I spent the day at the pool with Alyssa, Jessica, and Jessica's friend. At 6 oclock I went to get Will. I walked to where his group was standing and saw the most smiley boy in the world. I resisted the urge to kiss him on the cheek so I wouldn't embarrass him, and asked him how his day was. Will said that it was sooo fun and was practically skipping to the car. Suddenly I remembered that we didn't have his swim bag. Upon which Will said, "Mommy, we forgot to bring it." I told him that I was sooo sorry he didn't have it for the trip, but that I did bring it to camp so he could swim at the undernighter. He said that the counselors didnt have it "but don't worry, it's ok, I still had fun." I went back to ask the counselors where his swim bag was. They had no clue what I was talking about. I saw the director and asked her. She talked to them yada yada yada.... and then went in the building. I guess what happened was that she put it on their group shelf, somehow it fell, and no one ever saw it. So after a day of being outside, in the heat, without swim shorts- which means no sprinkler or pool at a science garden, he didn't even get to swim back at camp.

I felt terrible. All the counselors and staff felt terrible. They all came over to apologize. And my sweet little Will, still smiling, said "it's ok. I still had fun!" We got the swim bag back and walked to the car. Will told me all about the cool things there were to climb on at the field trip, and that there were other kids whose moms didn't send swim shorts (thank god). He told me that during swimming at camp, he and 3 other boys found stuff to throw in the pool, and that it was really fun. He also told me that after they ate hot dogs for dinner they had this really yummy circle cake thing that was covered in chocolate and he really liked that.

What a sweet, happy, easy child. I had to hug him and kiss him when we got home, obviously. Later I gave him a bath. He was exhausted and his legs hurt so he relaxed in the bath, that is till Alyssa got naked and joined him. Then it was a little crazy.....

After he got into pajamas, he asked me if he could blow dry his hair. Jon was like, "you wanna what?" I was so excited! I love when Will cares about how he looks! He blow dried his hair in the bathroom and it looked great.

When I laid with him in bed I told him that it was really cool of him to want to blow dry his hair. He said, "well you do it too."

But of course, we all know that it is much cooler for a 6 year old boy to want to, than for me to want to. And, I gotta tell you, his hair did look much better.....

Will's Way, Every Day

The other day Will was eating breakfast #2 while I was washing breakfast #1 dishes, and he said...

Will: "Mommy, is it true that at Subway there is no such thing as no?"

Me: "What do you mean?"

Will: "Can you really have it your way every day?"

Me: "What are you talking about?"

Emily (from the next room): "It's their commercial..."

Me: "Oh... Um... Yeah. I guess it is true. They mean that you can pick what goes into your sandwich and they'll make it exactly how you tell them. So yes I guess at Subway there is no such thing as no."

Will: "So if I go in and ask for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, they'll give me one?"

Me: "I think you just got them there, Will. They don't have peanut butter and jelly. I'll let them know though. You never know, maybe they'll add it to their menu."

Hahahaha. He's too funny.

*Subway Owners.... If for some reason you are reading this... my kid would like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich his way every day.... reduced fat Jif and grape jelly. Thanks!

Squirrels and Manners and a Laugh

We have a bit of a problem with the neighborhood squirrels.

Not only do they eat through my garbage cans, take all the food out of my garbage can, eat it on my deck. Yes, I watch it eat leftover chicken, bread, pizza, cookies, steak bones, I even saw it eating our keurig cup coffee grounds!

When I'm cooking, it comes up to my kitchen window and watches me. I must have the best food and garbage in the neighborhood.

But this squirrel has reached a new low. It had done it before, years ago, when I used to have a Honda Odyssey. It ate through my transmission wires!!!!

Sunday morning, I tried to start my car, and the whole car started shaking and the check engine light went on. I knew what had happened since the squirrels had done it to me once before, and we had Ford tow my car. I mean, how annoying. I hate squirrels! Seriously, I find no reason for them to be alive. I actually killed one once, It was gnawing and scratching on my bedroom window. I would hear it at night. It shaved away so much of that old wood that I was afraid it would be in the house soon. So one morning I put a wrapped piece of rat poison (thank you home depot for having individually wrapped rat poison) on the window sill.... and I never heard from that squirrel again.

I'm thinking of buying a few more to keep in my garbage can.... (evil laugh)

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Anyway, when I went to pick up my car, I saw something even more disgusting. The woman in front of me was flossing her teeth while in line to pay for her car. Flossing. Her teeth. In line. And it wasn't a big piece either. I was totally nauseous. After she finished she picked up the pen and signed her receipt and walked away. I didn't want to touch anything she touched. That is so gross. When I had to sign my receipt I tried to take the pen from the woman behind the window, but she told me that it was hers... So I quickly picked up the dental floss contaminated pen with 2 fingers and scribbled my name. Yuck. That is so gross and rude.

Some people have no manners.

And now I will leave you with a funny Will comment.

The other night Jon told me that after I left baseball (he's the coach I was just watching Will play for a little) 2 kids were scratching each other's eyes out, fighting over who would play third base. I couldn't believe it so I said, "Will is that true?" And he said, "No...." So I looked at Jon and said, "I can't believe it" and Jon said, "I promise, they were totally going at it." So Will said, "Oh yeah, Daddy, well how come they still had their eyes at the end of the game?"

Hahahahahaha. Gotta love that kid.

Have a good weekend!

A Little Clingy... actually a lot

Alyssa has been very attached to me lately. She wants me to do everything for her. She wants me to be near her all day. Lately, she won't let Jon come in the same room as her. Oh, and he's not allowed to talk to her either.

It's kinda getting out of control.

Last night Jon walked into the kitchen and she started crying and ran to me. And she won't let him give her a bath or put her to bed... When she wakes up in the morning, she crawls into bed with me. She says, "Way Uh Mommy" (wake-up... if you didn't get that). She will stay there next to me asking me to take her downstairs, to turn on Scooby Doo. She used to let Jon take her downstairs if he was up. But now she would rather stay in bed with me and wait till I am ready to get up and take her downstairs, than go with Jon.

It's really hard on all the kids too. She doesn't want to share me. If someone else asks me to do something, she runs over and tries to make me do something with her. If Will wants a hug, she jumps in my arms, pushes him away, and says, "My Mommy!" She is totally distracting, and makes it difficult for me to spend any quality time with my other children. The kids are feeling it too. They tell Alyssa, "She's our Mommy too." And I try to make a screaming Alyssa watch me hug them also. She is just totally nuts.

It's hard for Will especially. He wants me to do stuff for him also. He wants me to put him to bed, and lay with him, and talk with him.... He wants me to read him books without Alyssa all over me, whining and trying to take the book away from him. Last night he "read" me the book Little Pea. He actually knows the whole book by heart and can "read" it and is very proud of himself. Truthfully I was pretty impressed. Alyssa climbed up the top bunk with me to Will's bed, and was mostly quiet and not too grabby while he read it. I was sitting by the ladder when I said to Jon. "Maybe I should go out one night and give you some alone time with Alyssa so she can start liking you again. Or better, since she loves your car, maybe you should go out with her for ice cream or something. We could all use a little break from this craziness. Oooh, better yet, maybe I should take another trip to Miami!" I looked at Will and said, "Just joking, I'm not going anywhere. Would you be sad if I left?" He said yes. I said jokingly, "Maybe Alyssa should go to Florida. Would you be sad if she went to florida?" And he said no. I said, "How about Daddy? Jessica? Emily?" Each time he said yes. I looked at Jon with a sad face and said to Will, "You wouldn't be sad if Alyssa went to florida?" He said no. I looked back at Jon and then we started talking about something else, when Will interrupted and said, "Okay, so who can take Alyssa to florida? A babysitter? I mean she could be ok with a babysitter probably."

My Rock Star & My Funny Guy

My daughter is a rock star.

Not a literal rock star.

But you know, she's just amazing.

She scored 17 of 22 points at her basketball game yesterday!!!! Go Emily!!!!

So So So proud of her!!!! They won 22 to 19!

Of course, I missed this awesome game because I was half paralyzed and icing down after running 12 miles!!!!! I'm pretty proud of myself too! As I'm sure all of you facebook friends of mine know by now.

I have tremendous respect for half marathon runners, and am in awe of full marathon runners. It takes so much time and commitment and strength to run all these miles! The way you have to push through the pain in your legs and just keep going..... You have to eat well and take care of your body and keep up with the training schedules, even if you'd rather be doing other things.... like making time for shopping, and pedicures, and hair appointments. Especially when you only have till noon to do it all.

Seriously, I can't remember the last time I got my hair blown. Speaking of which I had a cute little conversation with Will yesterday when I was forcing him to eat a sandwich for dinner.

Me: "Will, you have to eat, you can't just drink all the time. Your body needs food!"

Will: "You are so mean sometimes. I mean sometimes you are nice too, but you are so mean sometimes....... But don't worry, You are still pretty."

Me: "Awwwww... Thanks Will."

Will: "But like, why is your hair so swervy all the time now? I like it so much better when it is all totally straight."

Me: "I know, honey. Me too. I just don't seem to have time to get it straightened. I'll do it this week for you ok?"

Will: "Ok. And can you tell Jessica to make her hair back to normal. All down like yours is, but not so swervy. I don't like that thing in her hair that pushes it all back."

Me: "You mean her stretchy headband? Yeah, I'll tell her. Thanks Will."

hee hee. He's so cute!

The other day he came home from school, leaned back onto the couch with a sigh and said,

"I don't know who I'm going to marry."

Me: "Well you don't need to know now. You are only 5. You will meet many girls, and when you are older you will figure out which one is the one you want to marry."

Will: "But I want to know now!"

Me: "Well what kind of girl do you like?"

Will: "I don't know"

Me: "What color hair do you like?"

Will: "brown."

Me: "Do you like a girl who is girly and likes makeup?"

Will: "Yes."

Me: "Or wears nail polish..."

Will: "Hmmm.... let me see your hands."

I was not wearing nail polish.

Will: "No. No nail polish."

Me: "I like nail polish. I just don't get manicures so much because it always gets ruined from washing dishes and giving baths. I especially love to get my toes polished!"

Will: "Ummmm... I like nail polish for toes."

I was starting to notice he was describing me....

Me: "Do you like girls who are sporty and who exercise?"

Will: "I don't know."

Me: "Do you think your wife will like to run outside and on the treadmill? (I smile at him)"

Will: "Yes."

Me: "Well there are lots of girls that will be like that, and when you are older you'll find just the right one for you! And I hope you will be an awesome husband and help her and take out the garbage for her...."

Will: "But I don't know where it goes outside!!"

Me: "Tell Daddy to teach you that."

I figure we'll work on desirable character traits for his future wife next week.....

Old Pictures

Yesterday I was looking at all the old camp pictures someone was posting on facebook. We are talking major 80's and 90's hair. We are talking unflattering pictures. Major awkward stages, big hair, braces, and weird clothes. Not just me, everyone. Then I came to a picture of my sister in law. She was a counselor, not a camper in this one.... mid 90's. She looked really good. I told my kids to come look at it, and they said, "That's Aunt Naomi??? She looks so different!" I showed them pictures of some people they know, some of their friends' parents, and some pictures of their aunts when they were little.

I looked back at the picture of me and said, "I look so ugly in these pictures." :(

Will looks at me and says, "No you don't. And besides, you're cute now!"

And that is why I love that kid so much. He always knows how to make me feel good.

Love ya, Will. YOU are the cutest!

Sunscreen Or No Sunscreen?

I am not a big fan of sunscreen. I never let my kids go without it, but I am very lenient with myself.
I want to be tan, not pale. I don't want to be that girl that is pasty white talking to all her tan friends. Well, I gave in this past summer and wore 8 spf tanning lotion on my face (sometimes) and my shoulders when I went to the pool. I know, 8? What the hell does that really do for me. But hey, at least I had something on.

But, I am getting older and I am starting to worry about wrinkles. I have started noticing older women and men more often... those that have a lot of wrinkles and those who have amazing perfectly smooth skin. It's kind of a difficult situation. Do I want to look good with tan skin while I'm still young? Or can I deal with the pale complexion and look great when I'm old? And then I think back to all the years of not using any sunblock and I wonder if it's too late for me. And seriously, if I decide on the pale sunscreened face, I will be mad if I am a wrinkled old lady due to all the years passed without sunscreen. Decisions, decisions. I do have this really great bronzer that I use, but sometimes the real thing just looks better.

You are probably wondering where this is all coming from, especially since it's cold and rainy outside. Well, sunday morning I was in the kitchen talking to Will and out of nowhere he said:

"I don't want your face to get all smooshy (he meant wrinkled)."

And I said: "Well you don't have to worry about that for a long time."

Will: "I know. But I won't recognize you when your face turns like that."

Me: "Well, I think you will. If it happens, it will happen slowly. And, I hope that I will see you at least once a week when you are a Daddy. Otherwise I would miss you like crazy. (insert a big hug)"

Will: "I really don't want it to happen. I would miss your face."

And that was it for me.

My decision was made.

Sunscreen it is.

My Basketball Court (I Hope) and Big Balls

Finally, after a month of trying to get a permit for a slab of concrete for a basketball court, I was finally handed a permit!!!!! I ran out of there as fast as I could because I was afraid they would take it back!

It was the most ridiculous thing. I did not have a Plat of Survey as you all know from an earlier blog post, so Angelo, the concrete guy, brought in some old addition plans of mine and was told they were not good enough. I go there with Alyssa, and they love her and tell me that they'll help me work around the issue. A week later I go there with Alyssa again and am told that my old addition plans will work. They do a little investigation and a house visit and suddenly I'm all good to go in a week. Well, then the fence guy wasn't registered in my area and he had to get a permit to work in the area. Finally, they call me up and tell me I'm good to go. I hand them a check and voila! I have a permit.

Anyway, Angelo came by today and got rid of all the heavy bushes on the back of my property and sectioned off the area for the basketball court... Yay!

Oh wait, no nothing can go smoothly for me. They realize that the alley is much higher than my property and all the rain will come pouring into my backyard, and the building department will never allow it. Of course. What else can go wrong? They have to make the basketball court almost a foot higher than my grass so it can be even with the freakin alley. Whatever, I really don't care at this point. And besides, it's big enough that no one will accidentally fall off.

Anyway, I've been asking Jon to pick out a basketball hoop for a week now, and last night was the time he decided to do it. Last night, right after Jessica's six friends came over for a movie night. 4 bags of popcorn and a family size bag of rainbow licorice later I realized that even though the house was totally nuts, I must get Will and Alyssa to sleep (almost 9). Will went to sleep quickly, but Alyssa.... I mean she fell three times, got 2 bumps, you'd think she'd fall asleep really fast. Unless it was the licorice and popcorn keeping her up.....

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Yesterday morning, Will walked into my bedroom with two big balls in his arms and said,

"Hey Mommy, look at my big fat boobies!"

I laughed of course then said,

"Will that's not really nice to say."

And he said,

"Why because you have them?"

And I said, "No, because you have them." (not sure why I said that, I guess I just didn't know what else to say)

And Will said, "No I don't, I just have nipples!"

Me: "Yeah, well, I guess you're right."

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One more thing, remember Will at the dentist in June... throwing up a little over a tiny x-ray of his tooth? Well, even though they wanted me to go to a pediatric dentist, I decided that I wanted them to do it. And yesterday, Will let them do the x-ray and did not throw up! It was very exciting, although truthfully we still have yet to fill the giant cavity (the dentist wants to gas him, to chill him out) in a week. But getting the x-ray was a big deal for him, so we went to celebrate at chuckie cheese. After about 2 torturous hours of chasing Alyssa around the place, I decided it was time to go. Now some moms let their kids pick out those stupid prizes. (Ali.. I saw the plastic vomit! ha ha ha) Not this Mom. We always take our little ticket counted receipts home in my wallet.

Today, in honor of having a possible cemented basketball hoop area in my backyard, I decided to take out those ticket receipts and get Will the giant ball... 1200 tickets! Now for all of you Wipeout fans out there, this big ball was a big deal to Will. Because now he can say, while holding his new ball, "Good Night and Big Balls!"

A Ring, A Bike, and A Smile

Well, so far this month I am loving the nuvaring. I no longer have any headaches and I don't even feel it. Oh crap, maybe it fell out..... just kidding, Jon. Well I did something yesterday that almost guarantees my birth control to fail me... I curbed my high chair.

And the worse part, nobody took it yet... which is really weird. People take all the other junk we leave out before we even make it back inside the house. I think God is talking to me. Whatever. Truthfully, I'm not even sure what week I am on with this stupid ring. All I know is that my friends were over when I put it in.... Hmmm.... better ask them what week that was.

Anyway, Will manned up and decided to ride his bike yesterday!

I bought it for him on sunday, expecting him to tell me how awesome I am, the best Mom ever, how much he loves me for the awesome gift. Instead he was crying that it was too big, he couldn't ride it, and that nobody could touch it. That nobody was Alyssa, who was with me at Toys R Us when I bought it, and actually thought it was hers. I did let her ride around on it. She loves it!

Anyway, all of a sudden yesterday, while Alyssa was napping, Will figured out how to get on himself (it is a little big and he is a little shrimpy) and started riding around the dining room table. Then he wanted to ride it outside which we did (without a helmet cuz the one I bought was too small). He told me that he loves his bike, that it's really awesome, and that I should buy myself one. Close enough.

Bug Bites

My husband did not listen to me when I told him to put bug spray on his one and only son before he went to a slip n slide birthday party at a friend's house. (this is NOT a not me monday... he really didn't listen.... Will has 17 mosquito bites.... 7 on his face! 1 on his neck. 5 on his back. 1 on his chest. 3 on his arms. My poor little Will. His poor, little, bony body covered with humongous pink circles.

I asked him if he noticed that there were bugs sitting on his face eating him? Besides his freaking out at the thought of it and screaming and crying, he happened to answer, "no. but I saw one on Joey's back." And of course he kept that information to himself , so I'm sure Joey is covered with mosquito bites too.

I am seriously itching all over just looking at Will.

On another note, Alyssa (who decided that she wanted pancakes and waffles, no actually cereal, no actually yogurt....um actually just kidding... not hungry) fell asleep on the couch this morning while playing with scooby doo characters at 7:50 AM....!

Um... this girl has got to start sleeping better at night... she's killing me!

Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf Dentist?

Guess who faced her fear and went to the dentist today?

You got it. It was ME.

I hate the dentist. Actually I like my dentist, it's the getting in the chair and letting them do stuff to your teeth that I don't like. Like getting 2 cavities filled and not being able to move your top lip to actually let the suction do it's job. I mean how much anesthetic did I get??? I seriously cannot move my top lip AT ALL! The dentist was laughing at me and I was sooooo embarrassed! I looked in the mirror to see what I look like when I attempt to close my lips around something. It looks like I'm puckering up to kiss... no wonder he was laughing. So embarrassing! This left me more numb than 3 epidurals did when I delivered Alyssa! Dr. Jordan said I can eat if I want to, but I should be careful because I'm very numb and he wouldn't want me to bite my cheek or tongue.... Um, yeah not interested in food AT ALL! I did want a sip of my iced tea just now, but cannot because of the lip problem.... oh well.

So, remember when I took my kids to the dentist and Will found out he has a giant cavity? Apparently that is his claim to fame. Every time he sees someone he tells them all about it. Yesterday his friend came over to play, and in the car this is what I heard:

Will: Do you know I have a really big cavity?

Friend: No.

Will: I do. It's so big that half of my tooth is missing! You wanna know what happened? Candy sugar ATE my tooth!!!!

Friend: I never heard of that happening.

Will: Well it does.... especially sticky candy like licorice.

Friend: I didn't know that.

Will: It's true.

Friend: Well jelly rings don't eat your teeth... especially if they are covered in chocolate. The best is when two of them are stuck together. That's really good.

Will: You wanna know what's really good? My musscums (molluscum... I know, gross) Two of them POPPED! That's really good.

Friend: What's musscums?

Will: Mommy, you tell him...

Me: Um... they are like gross circle things that are like a virus and people shouldn't really talk about them.

Will: They are dots.

Friend: Oh are they blue? My mom has them....

HAHAHAHAHA........ I was dying of laughter in the front seat. Why is Will bragging about all his disgusting things? And Friend.... TMI about your mom.