Baby K is funny stuff

Okay, so last Monday I had to have a root canal. It truly was not bad and over in just an hour. After it was over, the dentist showed me the x-ray to illustrate where he broke the metal tip of the file off in my canal. So today I have to go to an endodontist in Montgomery to have the tip removed and the root canal finished.

Last night, I was holding Baby K and we were talking about today. I told her that my beautiful niece would be babysitting them today so I could have another root canal. Her response was, "So you can have four children?" I laughed so hard at her. Then she started whining and said, "I wheely don't like it when you laugh at me. I am not funny." That just made me laugh harder.


In their stockings at MeeMaw's house, they had these grow clothes. It is basically a wash cloth folded up compactly and it "grows" in water. Well, the girls did those last night and K came in with it on her head, dripping water. She said she was taking a shower. My thought was that it was harmless fun. At least she and Emmy were getting along. Bro Man came to get me later to show me something funny. He has a big, huge wooden loft-type bed. On the backside is a built in wardrobe/closet. He opened that to show me two buck-nekkid girls "showering". They were using the backside of his bed as a pretend shower and had gone so far as to strip down to their birthday suits in their pretend play.

Never a dull moment! Happy Monday!

Merry Christmas!

My children woke me up at 2:45 to tell me that Santa had been here and it was time to open gifts. Then hubby woke me up at 4:00 to tell me that it was 4:00. Then Baby K woke me up a few minutes later because she was "skeered."So I am up, basking in the love of the Lord and the peace and quiet. Merry Christmas to all of you. Hope you have a safe and happy holiday!

A Christmas Eve to remember

Christmas Eve started out beautifully. Bro Man was at BD's, so the girls got up and got dressed in their Christmas pj's. We hung out listening to some good music and baking. I had the most patience you could ever imagine a mother having. I had to make a run to the grocery store with pajama-ed kids in tow. They were so cute and well behaved. The day was quite uneventful until... after nap time. That's right...the dreaded nap. Emmy only slept about an hour and woke up the spawn of Satan. She has been a downright meanie. We took a family trip to get Bro Man and the fighting ensued. Bro Man has been so grown up and sweet and concerned, despite a shaky start where he reminded me several times that I ruined Christmas for him this year. I was so proud of myself for completing the sewing projects that I needed to finish. I was cleaning the house. I went outside to empty the litter box and clean it out in the rain. I came back in to be greeted by the two cutest demons you have ever seen, clutching the baby dress from the last post. Only this time, it had been scissored. That's right, folks. They cut the dress. I have since banned them from the sewing room permanently, have phoned Santa to tell him not to come, and threatened to cut up their dresses. Only at this last thought were they upset. Then as I finish explaining the permanance of what they did, Emmy gets up and goes to get into cookie icing. I just sent her to bed; I am sure she did not go. But I don't care....she'll hide from me for a little while and I'll sit here enjoying my Christmas Eve sandwich...until 8:00, then it is the real bedtime. Merry Christmas!

Staying Busy

So I haven't blogged in a while and I am about to show you why. I am staying busy making Christmas gifts and Christmas outfits and decorations. I thought I would finally show you what I have been doing. This is a newborn dress that I made (minus the buttons). It is red corduroy with a red and white striped lining.





This is a $1 ornament I picked up at Walmart the other day and a mirror that I have had laying around for a few months. The white behind the tree are the ceiling tiles being reflected in the mirror.
I started these with plain glass ornaments. I added vinyl B's cut with the cricut, add a little ribbon and all done. I also picked up a pack of the fancy ornament hangers that will accompany this once complete.
The bottom picture is of two boxes of Christmas cards that I picked up at the dollar store this weekend. I thought they were so pretty, but once I got them signed, I dismantled them and stole the dove. A little ribbon tie on these will make lovely ornaments, don't you think?

Friends

I have decided to beat the depression that have overtaken me, and part of that is discussing the things that are haunting me.

I have been struggling for a while now with the fact that I have no friends other than my bestie/sister. But life pulls us in different directions and we don't get to talk to or see each other much. Today in the Wal, I ran into a family that we used to be very good friends with. I used to babysit her children after school every day, her son and my son were inseparable. We worked on many projects together at church, carved pumpkins together at Halloween, went trick or treating together, took the boys to the George Strait concert. We would get all of the kids in the car and drive around looking at Christmas lights. We had a special night a few nights before Christmas with just our families where we would have dinner and exchange gifts. But then we moved.....15 miles away... and we haven't done anything else with them. In fact, I don't even get email or phone calls from her anymore. And the last few times that I have seen them, it has been extremely difficult to even hold a conversation with her. She is always so preoccupied with everything else, no matter where it is. And I miss her. I miss them.

Fast forward a few years. I babysat a baby named Drew. He was born 8 weeks before Baby K. I started keeping him two weeks after she was born. So I had a 1 year old, a 10 week old, and a newborn. Things were okay and I managed well until they started crawling. And then I couldn't handle it many anymore. I told his mother and told her that I would keep him until she could find somewhere else. The very next day Drew was removed from my house permanently. We lost touch with them, even though my husband works with Drew's dad. More importantly, I miss the companionship that I had with them. The mother and I spent many hours together visiting, talking, shopping, playing with the babies. Our families went out to dinner together and went to the rodeo together. Drew's parents have since divorced, the dad remarried with another child, and I have seen Drew once in the last 2 1/2 years when I ran into Dad and new wife in Wal.

Keith and I have talked often about why it is that we don't have friends. Sure we have acquaintances, but I mean true friends. I have Leigh and without her I would be lost. But we live an hour apart. We can't just meet up any time we want to. Is this just life? Keith says the only reason that I was friends with the two aforementioned women was because they had to be nice to me while I was keeping their children. But I don't believe that. Because it went more than just "being nice." We actually did stuff together without our children, and with our children outside of babysitting hours. Am I wrong to long for this kind of friendship again?

I have been considering going back to our old church. We haven't been to ours in months now. I felt needed at our old church, and thought I had developed some meaningful friendships through work in the church. There are people there that I still see and hug every time I see them. There are people there that I miss amazingly. But the fact that in three years, they have not even attempted to contact me in any way upsets me. Why do friendships matter more to me than to the other person? (I know that church is not about me. But an important part of us feeling at home in a church is our relationships with other people.)

Another example is my former best friend (she has been replaced by Leigh). I just feel like I have always been more of a friend to her than she has been to me. I bend over backwards to see her and never once have I had the same. And now she is married. I get emails with pics of her and her husband or her family, but nothing personal in a long time. I get the occassional birthday party invite. But never a phone call. And when I call, she always has a reason that she can't talk and she's very sorry and she'll call me back at so-and-so time and she never does.

I know that life pulls people in different directions. We all have responsibilities to our spouses and our children. But why when we used to make time for one another can we not do it anymore?

The New Me

I am often a very sad person. I love to laugh, but I do not laugh easily. I am highly stressed most of the time. Nothing really seems to make me happy. And I see that reflected in my child. Bro Man, too, is unhappy most of the time--for no reason. He is quick to get his feelings hurt, not a great sense of humor, cannot laugh at himself. My concern is not for me. It is for an eight-year old who seems depressed.

It has occurred to me that I must change to see a change in him. I have changed alot since being married to Mr. Wonderful, learning to laugh at myself or not get my feelings hurt so easily. But he's only 8, and that breaks my heart. I am always telling him not to be so sad, but then I realized he is mirroring what he sees from me.

I am extremely hard on myself. I think that when I go to school for soooooo long now, that my job should come easily. Teaching is harder than I ever thought that it would be. And I am so hard on myself for that. I feel like there is some magical formula for these teachers whose classes actually sit down and do their work. And because I do not know this formula, I beat myself up. Bro Man is much the same way. If school work is not a breeze for him, he beats himself up. He calls himself stupid, or grumbles and complains about how hard it is. He is in third grade now and is learning a harder math.

I realized something the other night. I have been asking for a while now for God's intervention. But I don't think until the other night that I have been willing to accept it. I realized that I have been unhappy about my weight for almost nine years now. But I really have done nothing to change it. So, it is time to accept me for me. Either I have to be willing to accept myself as I am or be willing to change myself. I explained to Bro Man the other night that we only have one life, one shot at happiness in this life. It is too short to be upset or sad or angry all the time. We have to enjoy each other, laugh together, love together, worship the Lord together. We have to love the Lord with all of our hearts, our families with all of our hearts, and be happy.

I explained to him (and to myself) that is something seems hard, we just have to put more effort into it and try a little harder. We've always got a little more in us than we are willing to give. For example, I took Friday off because I was ready to strangle any given student. Not really--just really frustrated. When I came back yesterday, refreshed and with a new and improved attitude, it quickly blew up in my face. I thought that I came back with more energy and less stress ( I finished my online class.) I thought I had more patience, but then my students told me that I came back with a bad attitude. I think the perception is different because when I am refreshed, I attempt to bring some order back to the classroom in a very difficult class. They do not respond well to order, and they perceive it as less patient.

I have to realize that is isn't how they perceive me, because I know that I am doing the right thing by attempting to cease the chaos. I can only pray that my improved outlook will rub off on Bro Man the way that the unhappiness has.

Inspirations Manifested

Well, back during the summer, I undertook an inspirational project that I am just now getting around to posting. I posted a picture of a dresser back then. Here it is again: the before.

I used this for inspiration.

and came up with this, which I love. I think it is a pretty good representation of the chair. I have one more to do now. Come on Christmas break!!


Stay tuned for Christmas ornament idea and teacher gifts.

Mariachi Hell

Okay, so I was not in the greatest of moods yesterday. I am completely and totally exhausted. I was up for two hours yesterday morning instead of sleeping. Actually, I was up and down and up and down for two hours. It started at 2:30 when Baby K woke me up to take her to the bathroom. Gladly I did so because waking up during the night for the bathroom is a very big step in life for a newly three year old. When she finished pottying, she came to my bed with me--to share my pillow and my blanket while I am stuck clinging to the edge of the bed for dear life. Next, Mr. Wonderful looks at me and tells me he has one of his famous tension headaches. After fifteen minutes or so, he just would not stop talking, so I gladly moved to his side of the bed and massaged his back and shoulder while literally fighting to keep my eyes open. Fast forward fifteen minutes and I am back lying on my corner of the pillow. All of the sudden, the dog is chasing the cat through the hallway, dining room, living room in a circle (hardwood floors and a jingly collar). I get up and stop the madness. Lie back down. 30 minutes later I hear Christmas ornaments jingling on the tree. I go in there expecting to find them swatting the lower ornaments and find this:
(check back later to see picture. I have to get ready for work now.)

Jack wants to go outside. I let him out with some scolding words of how I am not staying up to let him back in. Back to bed. Yelping 30 minutes later at the door. Let him in. He comes in like a maniac making a beeline for the cat. Enter these words," Jack, get on that couch right now." He does. "Now go to sleep." He lays down. "Don't move again." He was still there when I got up at 5:00.

Sorry that was a long background story. I'll give you the reader's digest condensed version of this. School=Hell. And another incomplete AUM class project because I don't know how to design a website. Whole family goes to eat at El Rodeo. I am in a mood and realize it. But we walk into a packed, margarita drinking crowd and lo and behold a mariachi band. Now, I probably could have handled it better in its original context, but the mariachi band was playing Sweet Home Alabama in Spanish. In my ear. Thankfully, they stopped after they played it twice in a row. Towards the end of our meal they resumed eating and I respectfully denied their request for a song choice. They moved on to play Sweet Home Alabama AGAIN, but in English this time. Then Beat It by Michael Jackson, which was actually pretty good. I did not know the next two songs, but was so highly tickled by one particularly drunk nurse. She was getting a solo by one of the mariachi singers and she decided to up and sing. Baby K put on a little bit of a show, too. She stood in the booth, bouncing while holding on to the back of the bench, shaking her little toosh. It was too cute. She kept getting plumber's crack, too. Or as the kids call it, she was cracking. Insert a Happy Birthday song or three and let's call it a night. Time for a siesta!