The Tooth Fairy.

As I mentioned earlier, Emma pulled her first tooth.

Let me clarify.

Emma pulled it. Herself.

At church.

During services.

It was great - she was so excited. I always knew she was a take charge, bossy kinda girl. She is the closest-acting kid to my mother in law EVER. She knows what she wants and goes after it. So, when she decided the semi-loose tooth was ready, well.... it came out.

So, that day, we started preparing for the tooth fairy. She carried the newly extracted tooth with her in a ziplock baggie all day, showing it - along with the gaping hole - to anyone who cared to look. Finally, it was bedtime. She hurriedly got the jammies on. And then it was time for the glass of water.

Let me back up.
Last time the kids went for cleanings - December, I believe - our awesome dental hygienist told a special story to the little kids. It goes something like this:

*(spoken in a sweet whispery voice)*

"Did you know, sweet children, that when

the Tooth Fairy comes to your house to collect your tooth,

IF you leave a glass of water out,

she will dip her wing in when she flitters by?

And, that water will turn the color of her wing.

Sometimes, she will leave the tiniest hint of shimmery glitter -

it will serve as a reminder that she has been to visit -

and you can remember her forever and always."

To which my fru-fru daughter replied, "WOW!"

This is why the tooth fairy's appearance has been greatly anticipated. Emma concentrated all afternoon about the color of the water... would it turn pink? how about purple? Finally, she decided on a light blue. As I was tucking her into bed that night, she found a shirt out of her closet with just the right shade of blue that would match her Tooth Fairy's wing water.

With the glass of water in place, kisses were given. The tooth in the ziplock baggie was tucked neatly inbetween two pillows - it surely couldn't slip out. Out went the lights.

I went to bed.

At 1:30 a.m., there was a squeal right by my head that pulled me from my sleep.

"MAMAMAAAAA! She was here! The THE TOOTH FAIRY WAS HERE!

I GOT FIVE DOLLARS! AND THE WATER IS BLUE!!!!!!!!!!!! ItwasjustthecolorIthoughtandsheleftmemoneyandtookmytooth! AUUUHHHHH!!!!!

So, Emma and I walked back upstairs. She was so happy. I couldn't believe it - the water was blue! And it was the right shade of blue!

Content, Emma went back to sleep. But she told me, "Next time, I hope the water is pink."

It was a good day.

Family Updates - in pictures!

This weekend, Emma pulled her first tooth.

Here she is showing what happened.

She has to make a pit-bull face to really see the hole!

The weather this past weekend was great- Ethan came over and rode the tricycle with Emma.



I love this picture. Isn't she so pretty?



The kids were excited to jump on the trampoline.

Tripper's truck battery was dead. So he pushed it to the top of the hill, got in it and rode it down to the bottom. It is still sitting there. His words? "IT WAS AWESOME!"

Notice the bare feet? The kids were outside barefoot all day Sunday.
They asked me to fill the swimming pool. I told them no, it was just February. So then they asked me if I would squirt them down with the hose.

Can you tell they have been cooped up too long?

Here is another view of Emma with the missing tooth.

She was so excited!

Here is a great picture of Emma and Ethan riding. These kids are so funny.

Is everyone ready for SNOW tomorrow?

UGH.

What to do?

THIS IS A CRANKY POST... MORE FOR ME JUST TO WRITE.
I AM IN "A MOOD"

Do you ever feel overwhelmed, like there is so much to do, that you don't know where to start?

I do.

I feel like I have so many responsabilities. One day a couple of weeks ago, I got upset in class because I knew my kids were at home with long, nasty fingernails. I usually clip them on Sunday - anal, I know *but when you are a stay at home mom what else is there to think about* - anyways, I knew I was behind.

And it drives me nuts.

Add that to the pile of bathtimes, laundry, a dirty kitchen, a ton on snow, bills that need to be paid, well.... See, I feel overwhelmed.

More, you say? Well, I have more.

• Science fair projects for the kids,
• I HAVE A MIDTERM ON WEDNESDAY!
• I work full time
• A cranky teenager with a dramatic girlfriend
• Did I mention that I work full time where I go to church? Well, that means when I go to church, I am kinda at work again.
• Dirty sheets that need washing, no milk in the fridge - should we go organic? -
• What is for dinner tonight, tomorrow, all next week?
• Emma is having tummy trouble and has a stomach ache all the time - so now, add in doctors visits,
• Tripps sippy is broken
• Emma and Tripp's rooms are a disaster
• I don't even look at Eli's room.
• The couch in the living room broke
• Edward won't give in to Bella and JUST BITE HER
• I don't have time to exercise
• I have consumed my own weight in cupcakes this week (that is alot of cupcakes!)
• A bag of dirty dishtowels that were left at church that I have to take home and wash and make sure they get back to the right spot
• Communionware wasn't washed from Sunday night - "why didn't you get it, Mel?"

Well, I think I have made myself feel worse. But now I have a checklist.

Sorry if you made it this far. If you wanna come clip fingernails, let me know.

Random Ranting and Crazy Thoughts.

I guess I am at a blogging standstill. Here are some random happenings and thoughts that I am having lately:

• I was unhappy in class this morning. I didn't want to be there. I kept yawning. I can't wait until it is bedtime tonight.
• Last night, Eli came and laid down with me and Dave. He stayed in with us for about an hour. That kid is a goof ball. If Dave would have let him, he would have got under the covers and slept with us. I am not kidding.
• Reality hit me last night that my time with Eli is limited. He will be fourteen next week. In three years, we will be doing college applications. We will be thinking about him moving to the dorms. He is already thinking about it. It is a downhill slide from here.
• I am not sure how I got to the point from having a sweet newborn baby with cute little elf ears to having a six foot tall teenager that wears men's jeans (31X32). Seriously, it happened in the blink of an eye.
• If I close my eyes, I can still smell the newborn baby smell. I can see his little fuzzy white hair and his scrawny little body. I see his perfectly formed newborn mouth.
• I will be 35 in May. I was 20 years old when Eli was born. Technically, I could be a grandma. There were several girls in my school that had babies at age 14, age 15 and age 16. If I would have had a baby at 14, that child would be 20. I would probably be a grandma. So, somewhere out there, there are women my age with grandchildren.

I just depressed myself. I need drugs. :)

I love that kid. I don't want him to go, yet I want him to get to do cool stuff. Last night, it was still Harvard. I asked him, "Eli, what do you want to do with your life?" He said, "Well, I was thinking about being a doctor and running a company."

Good combo, Eli.

When are we going back to normal?

I just looked at the forecast... snow, snow and more snow!

I am over it.

Ready for these kids to get out of the house - away from each other. I am sick of the fighting.
Even though I still have to go to work, they call me so I can listen to their fighting over the phone. If I take one, two or three with me, they fight. Heck, even if I only take one kid, they fight with themselves.

Ugh. I am a wee bit frustrated with this weather.

Do I Even Know What I Am Doing?

Almost fourteen years ago, I became a momma.

Yadda, yadda, Yadda.

I have three children. Three kids that I bathe, get dressed, make sure teeth are brushed, take to the dentist on a regular basis, take to the doctor. Three kids whose bottoms I have wiped. Three kids who have vomited on me. I feed these kids, listen to their tears, and whining, and listen to them complain.

For some reason, it irks me when people tell me what do with my kids.

Last week, Emma and I were at the IGA getting a few groceries. She wanted a drink that is .25. After I purchased my items, she placed her item on the belt.
The woman jerked it off and handed it to me.
So I said, "I am standing right here. I see what she is doing. She is paying for it herself."
The woman replied, "Humph."

So I thought, "What a %&*$#."

I could tell these stories all.day.long.

People are always offering unsolicited advice, advice that starts off like, "WELL, if he/she were mine, I would....." But guess what people. It is not your child. It is mine. They are mine. Mine. Mine. Mine!

Many years ago, Eli had a teacher that did not like us. She made the comment to me one day, "Well, I am afraid to tell you what he does. I don't know what he gets at home."

I promptly drove over to the school and showed her what he gets at home.
Just kidding.

Sometimes, I wish people would mind their own business.
Especially the chick at The IGA.

Valentines Day and Weekend.

Wow. This year is flying by.
I am sorely lacking in my blogging. Some days are better than others.

I used to get so excited about holidays. Not that Valentines Day qualifies as a real holiday, but I used to love it. All because I love L.O.V.E. Now, I don't love L.O.V.E. that much at all. Did that come out right? Oh, I love Dave. He is my one true love. *** begin sweet l.o.v.e. music ***
I am just not that thrilled about having to spend more money on candy. So I am boycotting this V-Day. We are not buying gifts. I don't like flowers. They die. And then, $40 is washed down the toilet.

I just got a new van. And because I got a new van, Dave's truck has silently passed away. So now we are truck shopping also. We knew it would happen. Dave said before we bought the van, "Hey Mel. When we buy you a van, my truck will die." And I said, "Yeah, I know. It will die."

A Break.

After debating the conditions of the roads, and thinking about their drivability (is that a word?)
I did not go to school this morning. I did not go to work either.

I lay around the house, watched part of a movie with Super Dave, and did laundry.
I made the kids some muffins for breakfast.
I made my bed.
I gave my children a good washin'.

Then, I got dressed and went to work.

Boy, was it nice to be at home for a couple of extra hours.

In case I haven't said it, I am tired of snow. Sometime in between 3:30 - 5:30 this morning, we got about 3 or 4 inches of snow. All I know is that there was nothing at 3:30 a.m. School was two hours late.

At 5:30 a.m. it looked like a blizzard was on us.

Anyways, even though I am sick of snow, I am thankful that I have a clean kitchen today.
I am greatful for those muffins that the kids scarfed down. I am so happy that my evening class has been cancelled. I am looking forward to going home, cooking dinner, washing dishes and finishing laundry.

So, horray for a snow day. I needed it. :)

Gettin' over the Super Bowl...

First, let me say that I am over the Super Bowl.
I love L.O.V.E. Peyton in an unnatural way. That is no secret.
But, come on, people. give me a break.

Anytime that the Colts beat up on anyone else (and it has happened alot) I have never, ever, ever made phone calls, posted ha-ha messages on facebook, texted, or did anything obnoxious. While I am always joyous when Peyton wins, I am never a heckling kind of fan (unless I am at a Titans/Colts game and Dave is with me and we have some kind of bet going on. Then, I heckle Dave. But that doesn't count).

I will say that in the past two days, I have been annoyed by those I love, but are not fans of Peyton or the Colts.

These people began texting me, calling me and posting little messages to me via email and facebook BEFORE the game was even over. In usual circumstances, I would not even be thinking about this by now. My attention span is just that short.

I have heard more comments about the Super Bowl and the Colts loss than

• Haiti
• World Hunger
• Unemployment
• Michael Jackson

Ok, well not really the last one. But really, the top three are for sure.

So, let's talk about something else, shall we?

Weekend Capers.

Wow. Can't believe that I have not written on my blog since last Tuesday...
Where have I been?

School. And Work. And School again.

I am still loving school so, so much.

Yesterday, I went to Nashville for a Right to Life training session. I left a little early, and then came home a little late. I was thrilled to visit Target. And then, it just so happened, that I needed to stop at the gas station at Lebanon. So I also "ran into" The Children's Place.

My Target stop did not produce anything spectacular.

Boy, I do love The Children's Place.

They have this new spring line of blues and yellow's... the funny thing is, it wasn't really for Emma. I was looking for Tripper some church clothes. (He is FINALLY growing - in a 4T!)

Then, I got to stop at WalMart on my way home.

The magical thing is that I did this all by myself. That was awesome. I drove to Nashville, sung songs, pretended I did not have a care in the world - all alone. I did figure out that it is not really cool to sing Pink at the top of your lungs in a van.

So, what about today, you ask? Well, today is Superbowl Sunday. We have church, then we go to Grandma's to make horseshoe shaped cookies in support of my special man, Peyton Manning. In between that, I need to read like four chapters of textbook and write a paper.

I have moved on to book 2 of the Twilight series. I plan on writing a review here, soon,

Thankful.

Today, I am thankful

• for the rain... maybe it will wash away some of this ice and snow.
• for my children's grandparents. I came home yesterday and they were outside sledding and had built a snowman. It is awesome to watch memories like that being made. My inlaws ROCK.
• for my new van and the security I have while driving.
• for my job and the ability to take my children with me when it snows.
• for my children, their health, their sense of humor, their agression (I know that is a strange one - but I know that no one will ever run over them. They know how to stand up for themselves.)
• Emma's ability to pick out her own clothes - I need to let her dress the way she wants - but this morning we had an altercation because she came downstairs in all brown. It was different shades with a stained top, capri pants, snow boots and an Old Navy sweater. I made her change and I shouldn't have done that.
• Dave. Nuff' said.
• my dad bringing me morning coffee.

Over the Snow. And a Book Review.

There is still so much crunchy snow all the way around. Even though the temp is supposed to be in the 40's today, I know that there will not be any school until the end of the week.

Today, my classes were cancelled. I was a wee bit disappointed.

I had a semi productive weekend - as soon as I would clean, it would get messed back up.
I cooked more this weekend than I have in the past month. I made hot chocolate, snow cream, loaded potato soup (Weight Watchers - 2 Points!) cookies (not weight watchers) hamburgers, french fries, mac and cheese, stir fry, and bunches of other food.

The kids have had a blast playing in the snow. But it needs to go away. It is interfering with my life.

So I look at www.weather.com and put in my zip code... guess what?
A chance of snow on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

Awesome!

OK, I was so bored that I sucked it up and finished Twilight.

I was finally interested at about page 250. Before that, my mind was mush. I didn't understand why this 17 year old girl was liking a guy that was pasty white, glittery in the sun, who ran fast, drove fast, and liked to bite animals. And besides that, he was kinda like a pedophile. Born in 1901, well - that is too old emotionally for a 17 year old, right?

And it seemed kinda creepy that he hung out in her room all night while she slept. Who's to say that he did not watch her go to the bathroom? I just kept wanting her to say, "OK Dude. This is not natural. You bite animals and drink their blood. I am going back to Phoenix."

Throughout the book, he was having to restrain himself from drinking her blood. She smelled good to him. He smelled good to her. So I got to the point of, "OK. Just bite her and get it over with. You know it is inevitable."

I am looking for book #2 today. The library doesn't have it. And while I am not fatuated with the whole Bella/Jacob/Edward - human/werewolf/vampire dilemma, I just want to know if he bites her.

A waste of brain cells? Yes, for me it was. But I was in the house with a bunch of kids.
I had to do what I had to do.