My Baby Girl is TEN!

Don't adjust your computer monitor.

Don't check your google reader.

Yes, it really is me.

Posting three days in a row.

I told you I would be back to my old blogging self for the summer.

Just try and get rid of me.

Actually, please don't.

I am kind of fond of you, my loyal readers.

And your fabulous comments.

Now where were we?

Oh yes...today's post.

Today is the birthday of my middle child.

My only daughter.

Claire.

Whom I love and adore more than words can say.

She is ten.

She thinks she is twenty-five.

I have assured her I am not old enough to have birthed a twenty-five year old.

Most days Claire is delightful.

A breath of fresh air.

Entertaining.

And other days....well....let's just say....she's not.

This past weekend was her dance recital.

She performed beautifully.

She is a natural on stage.

Sometimes what she comes up with off stage makes us laugh.

Friday I picked up the traditional arm bouquet of flowers for my dancer.

Trying to keep her from seeing them is impossible.

The flowers came with a traditional card to be filled out with loving sentiments.

I chose not to fill it out because she would obviously know who gave the flowers to her.

Obviously.

Because I had not filled out the card...Claire decided she would be a dear and do it for me.

This is so typical of Claire.

Writing her own youdidagreatjob card.

She keeps us laughing and on our toes.

Our lives would certainly be boring without her.

Happy Birthday my little Claire Bear!

A Memorable Mother's Day

Let's just pretend for the sake of pretending that this post was submitted on or about Mother's Day.

That is when I intended to post it.

But a little something called exams got in my way.

Anyhoo.

I had a wonderful Mother's Day.

Cole painted this lovely portrait of me.

You would know it was me anywhere....right?

I am sure he painted my hips that large due to the fact the blue dress obviously had a very large crinoline underneath.

Obviously.

And I rarely, if ever, wear red lipstick so I am not sure where that came from.

Hmmmm.

It has a slight "vampirish" look to it.

Maybe my Twilight obsession has gone too far.

I love it though.

And if that gift wasn't enough, my children always say the sweetest things to me.

The kind of things that would make any mother weep.

While rubbing my toned fluffy upper arms after lunch Cole announced that he loved my "fatness".

Awwww.

Moments later Claire asked why I had an "M" on my forehead?

I reached up thinking I had a piece of food or a sticker on my face.

I felt nothing.

I ran to a mirror.

I saw nothing unusual.

I turned around and asked where she saw the "M" she spoke of?

"Between your eyebrows where your wrinkles are...it looks like an M.

I thought you did it for Mother's Day."

Of course I did.

I spent hours pushing the furrows between my brows to look like an "M".

I am into holidays like that.

I even sported it yesterday for "M"emorial Day.

Happy very belated Mother's Day!

Losing A Little Excess Weight

It is over.

Exams.

Preschool.

Being the music teacher.

Being the creative movement teacher.

End of Grade testing.

Dance.

Dance Recital.

Deep cleansing breath.

Ahhhhhh.

I have so many things I have wanted to share.

So many posts that I have composed in my head.

I will be back tomorrow with lots of sharing.

Happy Memorial Day!

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday where we can be brutally honest with each other and live to tell about it.

You can read more Not Me's! over at MckMama's.

Last weekend I did not have to take my final exams.

I was not stressed at all.

Not one little bit.

I laugh in the face of tests.

Everything that could go wrong, certainly didn't.

I never had any computer glitches.

Not me.

I did not have to take my Geography test three times.

Nope, definitely not three times.

And I was never found rocking back and forth in the fetal position crying over said test.

That would have been silly and immature.

Thank goodness that did not happen.

I do not have all three of my children playing ball on three different fields.

I am not trying to juggle three different baseball/softball schedules as well as a dance recital this week.

I am not a good juggler. (really....not. good.)

I do not need lessons.

Or quite possibly extra arms.

I am not secretly wishing for May to be over.

What about you?

What haven't you done this week?

Join the fun at MckMama's place.

Happy Not Me-ing!!

Sleepless in NC

Dear Sleep,

Oh how I have missed you. I think of you every second of every day often. I long for our time together. Yet, when it comes it is far too short. Four to five hours a night just isn't working for me. I want more of you. I need more of you. Is 12 10 8 hours a night really too much to ask? I think not. Could we get together for a passionate evening of snoring and REM? Say... tonight at 7:30?

Love,
Me

* I will bring some Tylenol PM to get me in the mood.

**Apparently some of you think I am having trouble sleeping. Let me assure you I have no problem in that department. It is the getting to bed at a not-so-decent hour every night that is the problem. It is quite possibly the reason for the dark, puffy circles that now live under my eyes too.

The Power of a Flower

Just when I thought I was at my breaking point.

Just when I thought I could not handle one. more. thing.

My neighbor shows up with an armful of these.

Peonies.

One of my favorite flowers.

And all is right in the world.

Not Me! Monday

It's baaackkkk!

Not Me! Monday is officially back in session.

Baby Stellan is finally home and MckMama is hosting her famous Not Me! Monday again.

Shhhh.

Don't tell her I was posting every Monday any way.

I find confessing all the things I did not do is therapeutic.

And refreshing.

I couldn't part with my weekly therapy.

Or my freshness.

Let's get started...shall we?

Chase was not humiliated that his mother wrote a post about his cracked elbow.

"But you promised it wouldn't go on the blog." he said.

" I have no idea what you are talking about", I responded, "Everything goes on the blog."

He did not enjoy reading all your sweet comments.

Nope, not Chase.

He would never admit to it any way.

I did not sweep, mop, and scrub my kitchen, laundry room and half bath on Saturday.

Cole did not decide to lose his lunch 10 minutes after I was through.

And of course none of it got on any freshly cleaned and disinfected surfaces.

Not. one.

I did not have to sweep, mop, and scrub my kitchen, laundry room, and half bath again.

Who has that kind of time or energy?

Nope, not me!

I am not a little overwhelmed this week.

My schedule does not include 2 softball games, 3 baseball practices and a t-ball game.

How would I pull that off?

My schedule does not also include Scouts.

And certainly not two nights of dance.

I do not have my final exams this weekend.

Who would assign exams on Mother's Day weekend?

I do not have a women's conference to attend and salad to make.

Oh, and I do not have my Mother's Day preschool performance this Friday.

I am not the music teacher.

Which of course means I would not be in charge of the program.

And I definitely would never volunteer to be on the food committee on the same day.

That would be suicide.

And the icing on the cake?

Or the straw that might break this camel's back?

I have not been asked to speak at church on Mother's Day.

I would be smart enough to decline.

Thankyouverymuch!

If I am not around much this week...know that I will most definitely not be doing any of the aforementioned things.

It is possible however that I will be found in a padded cell wearing a white jacket.

What about you my internets?

What haven't you done this week?

Join MckMama and the confessional fun!

You will thank me later.

Say No To Crack

Chase took a nasty fall on a basketball court last Friday.



It looked as if it was mostly external.



Scrapes and bruises.



Nothing a little Tylenol wouldn't fix.



Fast forward five days.



He still couldn't throw a baseball or do a push up.



The chiropractor said something about it feeling "spongey".



I don't like that word.



Especially when discussing my sons elbow.



We were worked into the Bone and Joint Office.



Which meant 3.5 hours of waiting.



And worrying.



And starving.



And whining.



But enough about me...Chase was fine.



When the doctor finally surfaced, he said Chase had a cracked elbow.



Or was it a fragmented elbow?



Anyhoo...He was fitted for a soft sling.



And then he said the toughest five words ever.



"No. sports. for. 3. weeks."



Chase almost fell off the table.



I told him it could be worse.



He could be in a hard cast for 8 weeks.



He understood.



Or so I thought.



We came home and I heard the familiar sound of a ball bouncing on the concrete.



I opened the door.



There stood Chase dribbling the ball with his left hand while his right was tied up in a sling.



He didn't think that counted as No. Sports.



I am no psychic, but I am guessing these next three weeks are going to be fun!


Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek