The Heart of a Child

Brooke was telling me this morning about how they had a new student start in her class yesterday. Here is how a little of our conversation went: Me: Oh really you got a new student...that is really awesome. Brooke: Yeah we did! Her name is Jacqueline!! Her house is in Kentucky!! Me: Wow Kentucky is far away she must not know a lot of people around here...you know you should try to be her friend because sometimes when people are new they don't know many people and sometimes they need friends....so be extra nice to her in case she needs a friend. Okay? Brooke: MOM!!! I ALREADY AM HER FRIEND!! She said this to me like she was REALLY annoyed with the fact that I would have thought for one second that she was not already her friend. She loves people and she has the biggest heart of anyone I know....she wants to be friends with EVERYONE. I love how kids make friends so easily. I love to watch my kids at the park.....it is almost like just being a kid is enough in common to become friends...sometimes even "best friends" in a matter of mere minutes. Remember when it was that easy...when a simple "you wanna play" meant you just made a new friend. Weren't those the good ol' days!

Things Round Here

So we have officially fulfilled 1/4 of our lease agreement at our "new" house....which means we have been here for 3 months already....or just long enough to really start getting settled in. Well technically we were still hanging pictures and organizing this weekend, but I am not completely convinced you are ever fully finished with that kind of stuff. We have lived here long enough to acquire probably double the "stuff" that we had which will make moving one day double the fun. We have lived here long enough to learn that the electric bill is almost as much as our rent (seriously it is ridiculous).....we have lived here long enough for the girls to get territorial over their rooms and at any point in the day we will hear phrases yelled such as: "It's MY room and MY rules".....We have lived here just long enough for the train that is in our backyard with a full-on attack siren at all hours of the night to become more soothing and less completely and utterly annoying (praise God).....We have lived here just long enough that I finally think we have a good idea where all our furniture is supposed to go (we just swapped the office and the playroom last weekend and essentially moved all over again...or at least the complete disarray of my house felt like we were.) We have lived here long enough to get some sort of routine down most days its sketchy but it is there....We have lived here long enough to have to upgrade Paige's bed from a toddler bed to a full size bed (although her jumping on the bed and busting straight through the wood frame helped speed up the process)....We have lived here just long enough that I have cleaned the floors no less than 260 times...my husband says that the last people who lived here moved because the electric bill is too high and while he makes a valid point I would argue that it was because the floors take half a day to clean. We have lived here just long enough to see ice on the streets AND sun in the sky (okay so we do live in Texas...but still). We have lived here just long enough that it has already flown by and felt like forever! We all love living here and I would not change a thing....well okay...I would change the price of the electric bill and the floors, but other than that.... :-)

Love and Bah Humbug

So yesterday was valentines day and here at our house we had an exceptionally wonderful day. Before I tell you about how wonderful it was let me first express my dislike for this holiday....Valentines day has become so commericalized it is ridiculous...it is all about who got the most flowers...the best chocolate or the prettiest jewelry...and somewhere in the scheme of things we all seem to have forgotten what the day is really about....LOVE. It has become twisted into who spent more money loves more. So...anyway....Will (my husband) asked Brooke a few weeks ago if she would be his Valentine. It makes my heart so happy that he makes this holiday special for the girls. Of course she said yes and then proceeded to tell everyone in her passing over the next few weeks that her daddy was her valentine and she was his. She made him a card and I took her to the store and she picked out a teddy bear, a fake rose, a balloon and some cookies. I then got him a pair of his favorite lounge shorts...and a whole bunch of his favorite candy and we made him a valentines basket that she gave to him when he got home yesterday. He was so sweet when he came home he had got each of us a single rose...pink of course....in a very pretty vase with a bow....he had also got Brooke a necklace (her only request) both of the girls also got a little basket with a teddy bear and candy. Brooke was grinning from ear to ear....and Paige was going along with it. Brooke of course had saved her biggest surprise for last....she came to me about a week ago and asked if we could give daddy a candlelight dinner for valentines day so of course I did my best to make it happen (although she will tell you I bought the wrong candles)...so yesterday I cooked dinner and while the husband "ran to the store" me and Brooke sat the table and she put all of our flowers in the middle of the table with the candles....she found some "romantic music" on the tv...then when he got home she met him at the door and told him...."Dinner is served"....she sat next to her daddy and could not have been any sweeter...my little picky eater ate every bit of her dinner and said things like "Mom, I love the way you made these pork chops they are delicious" and "I just love this sauce"....it was so cute. When her dad leaned over and told her that it was his best Valentines day ever she replied with "group hug on three"...."one....two....three." It of course was my best valentines day ever because it just makes me so happy to see my little girl happy and feeling loved, but above all it makes me proud that she is so thoughtful and sweet and has the biggest heart of anyone I know. Love that kid!

What I Dream Of

You know what I dream of? I don't mean unconscious dreaming (although that is one of my favorite things in this life)....I mean what I long for....what I desire....well the answer is simple enough...I dream of sleep....I am talking about lay down at night not wake up until the morning kind of sleep. I used to be a good sleeper sometime before I had kids...as a matter of fact I never even thought about sleep...I just did it...I could sleep though a tornado until the middle of the after noon....then I got married and had kids and somewhere between all the "mama I needs" and the snoring I lost my gift. I now spend every night just praying to get at least a four hour period without interruptions, but most nights that seems impossible. I wake up every time the husband moves, sometimes I can't even fall asleep because the snoring is so loud, I wake up when the wind blows or the door creaks, I wake up when the dogs change positions, it's like I am on noise control and every single noise big and small must be analyzed by me....and when my kids are sick I may as well just forget that sleep even exists. Last night, for a very good example, Paige has had a HORRIBLE night cough for over a week....which has now also turned into an ear infection...lovely just lovely....well we settle down for the night...and I have her sleeping on a pallet right now so I can keep an eye on her and before I can even lay down my husband is snoring...and I am not talking about that little semi snore that can sometimes be cute (like when the kids do it)...I am talking about a full on attack against my sleep snore....louder than loud and more annoying than annoying. So I do what I always do in this situation...I kick the bed (hey, it's better than kicking him)...I don't really know what goes through his mind when I do this (he already knows I'm crazy) but it usually causes him to rollover allowing me at least three minutes before it starts again. Just as I am about to fall asleep...I can feel that favored dream state coming on...and Paige starts coughing...then crying...so I have to get up and get medicine...water...ear drops etc. This happened ALL night...all the while my husband is snoozing away. I have thrown around the idea of having my own room.....I have even snuck away a few times to the guest room in the middle of the night...my husband does not appreciate this at all (and my children always seem to find me)...I have heard him mutter some non-sense about separate rooms being bad for a marriage and I can't help, but wonder what he thinks an exhausted, annoyed, dog-tired, dead on her feet wife does for a marriage!! But since I am too tired to argue I told him I would compromise for the largest size bed that was ever made and a set of HEAVY DUTY ear plugs...and I suppose a bottle of NyQuil never hurt anyone either.

The Week My Life Was Canceled

Monday started off as normal as it could (for my life anyway)....husband went to work....Brooke was sick so I did make a doctors appointment and we took her to the doctor that afternoon....what we did not know at the time was that was going to be the last time that we stepped foot out of our house for the next four days. Here in Texas we get bad weather once MAYBE twice a year....we are always usually excited for the little break in routine as schools and workplaces close....so when we woke up on Tuesday to a blanket of ice covering the ground we were semi excited to stay in our pjs all day and just play hooky from life for the day. We cleaned up the house, did some laundry, played the Wii and just kinda hung around...my dad (who lives just down the street) was awesome enough to bring us by some soup so we did not have to venture out into the madness. Tuesday night as we watched the news the weather did not show much change and it was not going to get back above freezing so it was beginning to look like the ice was here to stay. Wednesday the schools were once again closed and my husband got word on Wednesday that his work was canceled for the rest of the week.....then I got word that church was canceled for that evening (it was beginning to look like our lives were canceled...or at least on hold)..... I had to attempt to go to the store to get a few things that we would need....I drove to the grocery store at a rapid pace of 5 mph....then started heading home...got almost home when my car spun off the road and into a ditch almost flipping over and running into a fence in the process. Okay, okay so going out was not the best idea. Finally made it home where my car would sit....and sit...and sit....Thursday school was canceled again and cheer practice...Today, Friday, we woke up and it has been four days of us being cooped up in this house together and to be honest crazy never felt this crazy. We have watched numerous movies, played games, painted, cooked, cleaned and then cleaned some more, then when all else failed we watched more movies. I am a stay at home mom so I am used to...well...staying home...but this was just nuts. According to the weather guy this is the worst winter storm that we have seen here in North Texas in over two decades....I feel like I need an "I survived" t-shirt or something. The girls have been surprisingly wonderful through this whole thing...other than the occasional "I'm bored" or "When do we get to go outside" it really has not been that bad....of course they have a tv, computer, Wii, and a whole toy store full of toys to keep them occupied. Me on the other hand...well I have been on the verge of losing my mind for DAYS. I really thought Cabin Fever was just an expression until this week...now I know it can LITERALLY drive you crazy. I was finally able to get out of the house today and I didn't even really know where I was going...I thought about going to get my nails done, but the very thought of being stuck in one place for more than 10 minutes right now makes me sick to my stomach to be honest. Well the snow and ice are finally melting and tomorrow it should be over freezing...I am very glad this experience is almost over I am not a cold weather person at all!!! I am however thankful to have had a warm house to be in and I guess if you push me hard enough I would tell you that I am thankful for the people that occupy it as well....although I don't think I have EVER been so ready for a Monday to get here!!