happy mother's day

i'm feeling really nostalgic this weekend - i (ie: my friend caitlyn) figured out how to finalize the dvd's on my camcorder (that i've had for 6 months) so i have been watching all of the old home movies of both of my girls. on top of that, it is also my little one's 3rd birthday tomorrow. i'm so sad because she is my last baby and she is already going to be three!! i told her i would pay her to stay two!! she started her first gymnastics class on friday, then had her party yesterday and her real birthday is tomorrow! i had a great day on friday, it was just me and my little one and we had lunch and went shopping and when we went in one of the stores, that trace adkins song was playing ("you're gonna miss this") and it was so surreal! like i was someone else taking in this moment to remember for the rest of my life! on top of all of that, it is also mother's day! i had a great day - lots of hugs and cards, breakfast in bed, gift cards to my favorite stores, visits with my parents and my mother in law and dinner at red lobster! when the hubby and i were still asleep this morning and my little one was sleeping late, the kindergartner made breakfast for me completely by herself (orange juice, strawberries and a banana) on a tray that she carried in to me - and the best part was, she didn't spill anything!! :-) it was so sweet! i just want to freeze both of my girls right now and let them stay this age (at least for a while longer)!!

will there be a ferocious beast at my house next saturday?

my little one is oh, so funny! she makes me laugh everyday! her third birthday party is next saturday and we are having a “maggie and the ferocious beast” themed party. for anyone that is not familiar with maggie, it is a very cute cartoon on noggin. unfortunately for me, there is no “maggie and the ferocious beast” themed party supplies so i am having to make everything myself - the invitations (primary colors with a picture of maggie and the beast inviting everyone to the party), the cupcakes (pumpkin, because it's beasts favorite), and the cups (yellow with red spots - just like beast)! well, my little one doesn’t exactly understand what it means to have a theme for a party - she thought it meant that maggie and beast will be at her party! we were talking about the food for the party and this was our conversation:

little one: “when beast gets here I’m going to tell him about that”
me: “you know that maggie and beast are not actually going to be at our house for the party, right?”
little one: (with a puzzled look) “why not?”
me: “because they can’t come out of the tv”

then, the day after that discussion i told her that the grandmas have been asking what kind of presents she wants. so i ask her "what do you want for your birthday?". her reply ... "chicken strips"!! i told her "no, what kind of toy or present". she says "a truck". my little tomboy!

i absolutely love the innocence of a child! unfortunately they lose it all too soon (especially in this day and age), but I‘m going to enjoy it for as long as i can! i better because this is my last baby and she is about to be three already!

why do they call them "slumber parties"?

i understand the "party" part, but "slumber" implies that there will be sleep involved and no one actually gets any sleep - not the kids and not the parents! last night my hubby was out of town on a fishing trip so i decided to have a sleepover with some friends. i have been friends with my friend teresa since i moved here in the 7th grade (22 years ago)! (please don't do the math!) teresa's oldest daughter is in school with my kindergarten and they are best friends. teresa also has another daughter that is one year older than my baby. so the four girls and teresa and i all went to eat at taco casa and then came home and did crafts and ate junk food and drank "kid wine" (sparkling grape juice). we made a palette on the floor for them and put a movie on and let them go to sleep watching it. teresa and i stayed up talking until almost 2 in the morning and then were woken up by little ones a little after 7 in the morning!! we made breakfast this morning (muffins for the kids and breakfast tacos for the moms) and let the girls play outside together. it has been so many years since teresa and i had spent the night together and now to do it again with our kids was really fun but needless to say we all needed naps today!

what a sh*tty day!

well, that's not exactly true - today was sunny and beautiful, almost 80 degrees and no wind but as my husband put it "we had to execute a member of our family today". our dog had to be put to sleep this evening. lately she has not been eating, had a hacking cough and a very hard time getting up on her hind legs, but this weekend she started having a hard time breathing and i knew something was seriously wrong! we called the vet this morning and they told us to bring her in and they could check her out. they called back and told me that she had so much fluid in her lungs that they couldn't tell for sure if she had tumors (although they suspect she did), her heart was enlarged, her white count was double what it should have been and the arthritis in her spine and hips was horrible! i had no idea she was in so much pain!! first i told my little one that our dog, kitty (yes, our dog's name is kitty), was very sick and that she was going to die. she cried and was very sweet and told me "i'm gonna keep my kitty-dog" and "i'm gonna hug her really tight". then i picked up the kindergartner from school and told her that we had to go to the vet to say goodbye to our dog. she took it really well when i first told her and didn't even cry. in fact, she told me "i cried when my fish died so i'm trying to make myself cry because i love kitty more than my fish". i told her not to force herself to cry because it will come when she's ready - and boy, did it! my little one didn't understand that this was the end - she told our dog "bye kitty. i'll see you when you're all better". even though she had a hard time getting up and walking, kitty kept trying to come out the door with us. that was the hardest part - to leave her when she was looking at us and wanting to go with all of us (her family). to some people they may say she is "just a dog", but she was a member of this family! she was 13 1/2 years old - that's older than any of my kids and longer than i have been married! there is hardly anyone else on this earth that i have seen on a daily basis for that long! with a fish, you say a few words and then "flush", but it's so much harder with our kitty-dog! we have been through so much with her and she was a great dog who will be greatly missed!!
R.I.P. Kitty 1995-2009

it's my birthday

i had a great 34th birthday - probably one of the best birthdays that i have had in years! the only thing that could have made it better is if i didn't get a year older!! first of all, my brother and sis-in-law came in town on thursday and my s-i-l and i went to get spray tans and then we had a bbq dinner with my family and my parents. s-i-l and i drank quite a bit of wine that night and after they all left (and my family was in bed) i tried to pierce a second hole in my right ear! i have my left ear double pierced and i've been wanting a second hole in my right ear for a while and my hubby got me a pair of diamond earrings for my birthday so i want to wear them in the second holes. long story short - it wasn't enough wine to actually pierce my ears so i think i may be going to claires one day this week to get it done! friday (my actual birthday) i got to sleep in because the kindergartner didn't have school and i didn't have to watch my weekday baby. we just took our time doing things around the house and then went to taco casa and shopping to a few stores and to my favorite store - target! when hubby got home he brought some beautiful tulips (my favorite flower) that the girls gave to me and then we got ready to go out. the girls stayed the night at my parents house and hubby and i went to a dance club/bar with my brother, s-i-l, and a few really good friends. we had a blast drinking and dancing the night away and then we came back to our house and drank some more. nobody had to drive home so it was fun and safe! saturday i worked out and just did things around the house and that night my family went to my parents for a fish fry with my brother and s-i-l. it was so good!! the family got up early this morning (easter) and we did a quick easter egg hunt and checked the easter baskets before getting ready for church. we met my parents and brother and s-i-l at church and then went back to the parents for a easter brunch. then my brother and s-i-l had to leave for the airport. i was so happy to have them here but it feels like they just got here and now they are leaving already! at least we are going to visit them in a few months! after my parents house, we went to hubby's mom's house and had a big meal and easter egg hunt with all the family. the kindergartner is off school tomorrow and i don't have my weekday baby either so i get to sleep in and we will probably go see the hannah montana movie. also, my hubby's been so good to me - he washed my car, doing lots of extra chores, given me massages, etc. it's been a great weekend and i'm so thankful for all of my family and friends!

birthday girl

yea! it's my birthday tomorrow! i hate getting older but i love my birthday! i always have! i have a whole birthday week. my brother and sis-in-law came in for my birthday (oh, and easter weekend). we are going out tomorrow night and then we will have a fish fry at my parents house on saturday night. i still claim to be 29 but i started thinking that i should probably claim to my real age because if i don't i'm gonna be hit really hard when i turn 40 and i wonder what the hell happened to my 30's! plus people will be thinking "damn, she doesn't look very good for being 29!"

let me get on my soapbox for a minute

i don't understand what is wrong with the world today! people have no sense of self - no sense of self respect, no self restraint and no accountability! they have no respect for their homes, their vehicles or even their bodies. i don't think anyone knows what self restraint even is anymore - on the news i recently saw a story about an 8th grader that stabbed another student REPEATEDLY with a pair of scissors and another story about a man that shot someone over a parking spot! what the hell? and apparently accountability is completely gone nowadays! why the hell are our grandkids going to be paying for bailouts of companies that screwed up and people that bought a house that was way too much for them. we bought our house 2 years ago - maybe we should have bought a $300,000 house so that the government can help us pay for it now!! what are we doing to our children if we can't set an example of how to accept any mistakes we have made and apologize for them and face the consequences of our actions! and like i tell my own children "you still have to apologize even though it was an accident and you still have to take your punishment". i just recently received this email and what a profound short little paragraph that says it all!!!

"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."
Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931

what timeless words - it could just have easily been said yesterday about the state that our nation is in right now!

alright, that's it - i'm putting my soapbox away and i promise my next post is going to be something lighthearted and fun!