My Reality

I've never really thought of myself as "old" until just recently. CJ's business (Envision Electric) is sponsoring a women's softball team this year. When he was asked to be a sponsor he said he would on the condition that I would play on the team. It's been about 12 years since I've played women's ball. I quit playing when I had Keaton.

Last Thursday was our first game and I was so nervous that I would make a complete fool of myself. The first time I got up to bat I think I dislocated my left shoulder. Then after I crossed home plate I had to head directly to the bathroom so I wouldn't wet my pants. Happy to say though, we won our game, 17-4. Later that night as CJ was rubbing Icy Hot on my shoulder I realized, sadly, that I am the oldest one on the team. :(

My sister shared a "kid conversation" that she overheard between Klayson, her son, and another friend. It went something like this:
Friend: What does your mom look like?
Klayson: She's tall and she has brown hair that's pokey.
Friend: Pokey hair?
Jayden: Yeah, her hair does poke out.
Klayson: And she's kinda fat.
OUCH!! The truth hurts!

Keaton is turning twelve in a few weeks and I was sad when I realized that he just sang the last of his Mother's Day and Father's Day songs to us. I know he is glad to be leaving Primary, but I kind of brings a tear to my eyes.
Kennedy continues to ask me if she can start shaving her legs. After trying to explain to her why she doesn't want to deal with the hassle of it, I just told her not to ask me again until she was twelve.

The Tag Thing

No wonder I always got caught as a kid, obviously I'm very slow!

4 Jobs I've Had
School Teacher (13 years)
Nanny (more info. forthcoming)
Waitress (Crossroads)
House Cleaner

4 Movies I Seen More Than Once
Mary Poppins - "She's so HOT!" CJ Roberts
Shawshank Redemption
Chocolat
The Wedding Planner

4 Places I've Been
Peru
Hawaii
East - Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland, NYC
Nauvoo

4 Places I'd Like to Visit
Germany
China
South Dakota
Palmyra, New York

4 Favorite Foods
Bacon Cheeseburger
Pepsi
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
Fredrico's Ham & Cheese Salad

4 Things I'm Looking Forward to this Year
Keaton turning 12
Olivia talking so we can understand her
Boating with CJ & the Kids
Vacation in Oregon

They're Never Too Young!

So school's been out for almost a week now. I am glad to have some time to spend with my kids, but I will also admit we all almost went CRAZY on Monday. It seemed like every two minutes one of my kids was asking to have a friend over, fighting with a sibling, or the ever popular "I'm B-O-R-E-D what can I do?"
Tuesday morning things changed!! They each woke up to a list of jobs. Oh, life is good! They have gotten right in and worked hard so that the house is clean by 11:00. We even have a "Good Cleaner" award. This goes to the child who does their jobs really well without complaint. Isn't it amazing what they'll do for $1 or a slushie! Oh, how I hope this lasts throughout the summer!!!

A Bit of a Mishap

Friday afternoon my kids wanted a snack, but there wasn't much around the house because I desperate-ly need to go to the store. Microwave popcorn seemed like a good idea. I took off the plastic, put it in the microwave, and pushed the "popcorn" button. Like all moms I am a multi-tasker, and while the popcorn cooked I was vacuuming.

You know as well as I do that the popcorn is never done by just pushing the popcorn button, you always have to push the more button a couple of times. So while I continued to vacuum I asked Keaton to start the popcorn again.

Kennedy said to me, "Mom, what's that?" I looked up and my kitchen was filled with smoke. I was a bit scared to open the microwave because I thought there might be a fire in it, but when I did even more smoke billowed out. I took the bag out to the deck and sent the kids running through the house opening windows and turning on fans. Needless to say, we spent the next hour playing outside.

Once the smoke had cleared, I came in to clean my microwave. I scrubbed and scrubbed and the inside is clean, but still yellow. I have managed to burn the inside of my microwave; which is why, even three days later, my house still stinks!

I told CJ the bright spot in all of this is that we are now taking our first step toward stainless steel appliances. :)

Klayson Nate -- We Think You're Great!

Okay, just another proud mother moment. I received a call from the secretary at Century inviting CJ and I to attend the Kindergarten/1st Awards Assembly because Klayson would be getting an award. Now, mind you, the assembly was in the a.m. so it was a special trip to attend and bring Klayson, since he's an afternoon kiddo. We got there and never saw Klayson's teacher, Mrs. Richins. We sat through the awards from all the kindergarten classes and nothing for Klayson, still no teacher either. Then they started on the first grader awards. I figured I had messed up and we came at the wrong time. After all the awards, the principal, Mrs. Shaffer, gave out some special awards. Klayson was chosen from his class to receive the "Principal's Award" for good citizenship, responsibility, academic, and leadership skills. Way to go Klayson!!