I HAVE CREATED A MONSTER!

My nine-going-on-thirty year old daughter asked me a few weeks ago if she could have a blog.

I laughed.

Heartily.

Because that is not. going. to. happen.

Until of course she *IS* thirty.

Then I will think about it.

I mean what would she write about?

That band of "nekkid" brothers?

What she ate for breakfast?

What teacher gives the most homework?

Sound exciting?

I thought so.

I would like to play it "safe" and not go there.

This weekend she has asked me 517 times if she could have her own email address.

I told her 516 times, "no".

On the 517 time, I caved.

I gave in.

Mostly to stop the harassment.

And to keep her mind off the whole blog thing.

I think I actually mumbled, "Fine" in my in-and-out-of-sleep-almost-napping state.

She ran with it.

She had a Gmail account set up in minutes.

She had a sidebar with contacts.

She had invited her friends to CHAT.

She had pictures of her friends by their contact information.

I was impressed with her ability to navigate the computer.

I was also a little scared.

This morning when I got up, Claire was already on the computer.

I walked into the room to check on her.

She was giggling.

I looked at the computer screen.

I looked again.

Claire was having an online chat with MY girlfriend.

What?

How did this happen?

When I asked her about it she replied,
"Oh, this is the second friend of yours I have chatted with this morning."

Pardon?

Come again?

Apparently if your green light is "ON" ....you are fair game.

Let this be a warning.

If you and I have corresponded via Gmail there is a huge possibility that you are on Claire's contact list.

If your green light is on, you may get an invitation to chat.

From Claire.

Please try to keep your conversations to a minimum.

This is really cutting into my "Blogging" time.

I am now reconsidering the whole "I-need-a-blog" thing.

At least I could make it private.

And not have to share my friends.

Girls Only!!!

This past weekend was wonderful! I took Claire and my Mother-in-Law to Greensboro . We went to see the NC Jr. Miss Pageant. One of Claire’s best friends' sister was competing for the title. It was so nice to just get away and “chillax”. A great “girls” weekend with just me and my oh so dramatic, oh so prissy, oh so growny, little girl!

Husband surprised us with a little 5 car BMW to drive. I was excited not to drive the gas-guzzling-bus I am so accustomed to. I like riding up “high” and daring any one to get in my lane of traffic. I was surprised at how minuscule I felt on the open road. I kept sliding up in the seat for fear my bottom was scraping the asphalt! There were so many bells and whistles on this baby… I was calling Chad every 5 minutes for tutorials on even the most basic controls. There was one button that kept making this“DING” sound (like when your fuel is low). I knew I had plenty of gas, so I kept searching for what could be wrong. After the third time it “DINGED”… I saw the reason… it was a flashing green light near the speedometer. It said: LIMIT! That is when I realized I was driving 90 MPH!!! 90!!! (With my eight year old daughter and 80 year old MIL in the car) Yikes! It did not feel like I was going 90. I was just keeping up with the traffic – honest!

Amazingly, we arrived in Greensboro with no tickets and all in one piece! We met my sister- in –law, and 3 other family members (all female)at Chilli’s for dinner. Yum-o! It was so nice just yapping it up with the girls! It was especially nice that no one spilled their drink, or needed me to take them to the bathroom, or needed me to cut up their food. Funny, I don’t remember anyone crawling under the table either. I actually sat …I mean really SAT through the entire meal- yea me! (A luxury I had almost forgotten!)

We went to the Coliseum and watched the performance. It was great! Our city representative did an amazing job…she did not win the coveted winners spot, but won a few preliminary categories. We took the short drive to my sister-in-laws home following the program. I got us there safely and didn’t break the law doing it. When we arrived…the doors were locked so we rang the bell. My dear, sweet SIL answered the door and helped us with our luggage and things. She got my MIL to her room upstairs and made sure Claire and I were comfy downstairs.
My wonderful BIL never showed his ugly mug! Not a peep! Not… welcome to our home may I take your bags? Not … hungry for a snack? Glass of water? Nada! Just slept…while his sweet wife attended to us! Gotta love her! The next day was the same too. As we prepared to leave, my dear BIL sat on the sofa watching a ballgame!

“NO! NO! You sit right there. You look much too comfortable to rise to a standing position. NO! NO! These bags are light as a feather and taking them up 3 flights of stairs is no problem. May I get you something?" (Ice cream perhaps?) You know I love you BIL! Just wait until you receive my gift!

On the ride from Greensboro to my parents home (our next destination), we drove down the interstate with our sunglasses on, sunroof open, radio blasting to High School Musical 2 ! We were singing at the top of our lungs having a good ole’ time! A few passersby gave us a strange look, but we didn’t care. For an instant I was young and free! Then Claire said, “Mom I didn’t know YOU knew the words to this Cd. It just came out!” Okay, so OLD and free! Then the phone rang. It was Chad. Okay…Okay… so, OLD and TAKEN…but it was refreshing!

We had a wonderful visit with my parents. It was a very relaxing, quiet visit. Not the usual. I am sure that was refreshing to them! We talked about everything, watched the Superbowl, and ATE ourselves silly! Good times!

Thanks to all that made this weekend possible. Thanks to my sweet sister for keeping Cole on Saturday. Thanks to my sweet neighbor for looking after Chase. Thanks to my sweet husband for taking care of MY BOYS while I was away. (Brownie points for washing the dishes and putting away the clothes in the dryer!) Thanks to my MIL for making the trip to Greensboro with us. (She is still there!) Thanks to everyone that joined us for the “Girls Dinner”! Thanks to my SIL and BIL for giving us room and board and a hot meal while we visited! Thanks to my SIL back home that fed “my boys”! Thanks to my parents for well, being the best parents a girl could have!

Big thanks to my Claire! You rock! You know how to have fun and I enjoyed having fun with you! I love you girlie girl!!!

It's the little things...

Sorry about the delay on a new post, but it has been a very busy week that included : 2 days of 9 week testing, 1 School Project, 2 basketball games, 3 dance classes, 1 Scout Project, 1 Boy Scout Merit Badge Class, 1 Achievement Night Activity, 2 Birthday Parties, and 1 eye doctor appointment that led to my 11 year-old now wearing contacts! Whew!

In the midst of all the craziness of the week.... I had time to reflect on a couple of little things that happened. Little things that it turns out...provided BIG rewards!

It all began on Sunday. We had wonderful lessons and talks at church. I went home feeling much better about myself than when I came. This is not only because of the great messages presented, but because for the first time since I can remember, I sat on the pew through the entire meeting. I never had to get up with a fussy child, or take someone to the bathroom, or run up and down the halls chasing an out -of- control toddler. I know it seems like a ridiculously simple thing... but I have almost forgotten how nice it is to sit through church and not be the loudest, most disruptive pew in the chapel. I will gladly relinquish that title.

Because the week has been busy and we have lived in the car ...Claire has not had as much "alone" time in her room. By this I mean she has not had time to "destroy" her room. The clothes are still hanging on the hangers in her closet. The socks are still in the sock drawer. The leotards are still in the leotard drawer. The baby dolls, pocketbooks, Cd's, and books are still miraculously in the same place I put them. For those of you who know my Claire, you know that neat and orderly are not words I use to describe her. She has lots of wonderful qualities, but clean and tidy she is not! Again, a simple thing.... but not having to clean, straighten, refold, and rehang everything has been a joy I cannot describe!

Probably the biggest "little thing" happened this morning. When I woke up this morning my clock said 8:00 am. When I got out of the bed it was 8:30 am. Huge thing to me!!! I can't remember when I have been able to sleep past 7:00am. My children don't believe in sleep. They don't believe in naps, or quiet time, or resting, or even sleeping in there own bed until they are about eight. For almost twelve years now I have been sleep walking. I am not like those whom I gave birth to or married . I looove sleep. I loooove naps, and quiet time and sleeping in my own bed. I enjoy being able to go to bed and not get up until I am ready to get up. That never happens in my house. Until today. We all slept in. (Well, Claire was up earlier, but she quietly entertained herself until the rest of us were up.) Cole had crawled into our bed in the middle of the night and had made himself quite comfortable in a "take up the whole bed, put his feet in my face" kind of way. Chad had relocated himself to the couch. ( We have been playing musical beds for the past 12 years too!) Just the fact that I was unaware that Cole was in my bed until he was squished up beside me is a monumental occasion! It was a few weeks ago that he was still calling out to us in the middle of the night, "Help! Help! Get me out of here!" Last nights arrival to our room was much less dramatic. I also survived the usual heart palpitations, high blood pressure, and anxiety that come from hearing your child scream out in the middle of deep, REM sleep. Injuries were also avoided that can sometimes be sustained. These are usually due to jumping up quickly and running blindly down a dark hall to rescue a small child in need of immediate assistance. I feel like a new woman today! Is it possible we could be entering a new phase that could include more mornings like this one? I don't think I am ready to count on that just yet, but today I am grateful for the almost eight hours of uninterrupted sleep I received.

*Sitting through an entire church service.
*Having a child's room stay clean and straight for more than 5 minutes.
*Getting 8+ hours of uninterrupted sleep.
*Sleeping in 'til 8:30.
Such little things... but ones that make such a big difference!