A Busy Day

Today was a busy day with the usual chores and errands. I paid some bills, did laundry, did the dishes, mowed the lawn etc. Then after lunch I went to the craft store to look for some Halloween ideas. I stopped at the mailbox on the way home and picked my kids up at the bus stop. The busy day didn't end there. Then it was time to get homework done and then a neighborhood kid came over to play. Tonight my 6 year old had soccer practice. My friend has a son on the same team and we alternate weeks to take the boys to practice. Tonight was my turn to drive.

I pulled into their driveway and said "Hi" to my friend. Then I opened the car door to help her son hop into the backseat. I saw a small postcard on the ground. I picked it up. It was a reminder from my OBGYN that I need to schedule an appointment.

Classy, I know.

I'm very glad that it was my friend who was in the driveway with me and not her husband! I was so embarrassed. So I'm no longer going to be able to put the mail on the seat in the car again. Ever.

A New Boyfriend

Friday my 6 year old came home from school and told me, "Mom, Anne (name changed) has a new boyfriend!"

"Oh really? Who is it?" I asked.

"Tommy" he replied smiling (name changed again).

My 6 year couldn't stop giggling. So I asked, "Does Tommy know about this?"

He replied, "I don't think so."

Then I couldn't stop giggling.

What Bumper Stickers and Cell Phones Have in Common

This morning as I was leaving the gym I noticed a bumper sticker on the back of a car that said, "Where's the Birth Certificate." It was written in big black letters and that's all it said. It made me pause and read it again. I guess I was looking for a clue.

I drove away still wondering what it meant. Then I thought, that's funny. I should take a picture and post it on my blog.

So I drove back around and leaned out of my car window with my camera phone and took a picture.

Do you like the picture?

You can't see it, right? Well, not only do I not understand bumper stickers but I also don't understand camera phones. I can't find the picture anywhere on my phone.

Just last night my husband said, "We've had our phones for a year now. The contract is up and we should get new phones."

"No," I said. "I still haven't figured out how to work this phone, if I get a new one, I'll have to start all over again!"

So what do bumper stickers and cell phones have in common? They can both stump Cookie.

What's A Hippie Anyway?

Tonight I was doing a puzzle with my 8 year old son. We were joking around and he teasingly called me a "hippie." I laughed and asked, "do you even know what a hippie is?"

He said, "Isn't it the same as a hobo?"

"No," I replied. "A hippie is person from the 70's who is all about love and peace. Someone from my mom's generation."

He said, "Really?! I didn't think your mom was like that."

Good thing my mom doesn't read my blog.

Still Here!

I admit, I've been a very bad blogger lately. I'm sorry. I have thought about writing now and then. I think my last post was a short one about my nephew. He lives in Detroit. I went to visit him this summer when my sister had a baby. That's a very difficult thing for me to say, "My sister had a baby," because that's not the full truth. My sister had twins, a boy and a girl. The boy lived for 5 hours. She found out at 34 weeks into the pregnancy that the boy's lungs were not developing. Those last 6 weeks were horrible. I went to be her for the birth and the death. It was so sad to look into his eyes knowing that he wouldn't be there for long, knowing that he didn't have a chance.

The baby girl is healthy and home. The boy was buried with his great grandfather. The funeral was 2 weeks after the birth and I wasn't able to return for it. I still wish I had.

So it's taken me a long time to go back to "normal." I still feel like nothing will ever be the same. But slowly happiness has returned.

Yesterday I drove my 6 year old and one of his teammates to soccer practice. From the backseat I heard my son telling his friend, "Our car is really old. It's from the nineteen hundreds!"

He is right. The car is a 1999. But I never heard it put that way before!

And one more thing that my 8 year old said when we were at a restaurant. He ordered pasta with butter sauce and french fries. (You can only get away with that when you're 8!) My husband asked him how he liked his dinner.

My 8 year old said, "It's good, but I like mom's better."

I smiled.

Then he added, "the one she makes from the box."

My husband laughed.

The King of the Jungle

I was visiting my 3 year old nephew for a week. He picked up the book next to my bed and read me a story. He said, "I'm going to read a story called, 'The king of the Jungle'." He opened the book and read, "One day there was a king of the jungle."

Then he closed the book and said "The end."

He's destined to be a great author one day.

What I learned During Summer Vacation

I try to keep the summer filled with educational things for my kids. Tonight they learned that if you laugh and drink milk at the same time, the milk will come out of your nose. And onto your dinner plate.

This proud parent moment is brought to you by the Washington Dairy Farmers Association.

Webster's

Today I took my kids to see the movie, "Hotel For Dogs." They loved it. The theater was packed with kids. There was one line in the movie when a said, "I'm going to sue you!" My 6 year old turned to me and whispered, "What does sue mean?"

I hushed him.

Then I heard the little girl next to me say to her mom, "Mom, what does sue mean?"

Her mother replied, "It means getting money from a person."

So true.

How Can You Eat That??

Today was my kids' last day of chess camp. We out to IHOP afterwards to celebrate. My 8 year old read the list of flavors of syrup. Suddenly my 6 year old looked worried and said, "How can you eat that?"

I didn't understand what he was referring to. Then my 8 year old said, "It's Boysenberry, not poison berry."

My 6 year old replied, "Well, that's a scary name!"

So far no deaths have been reported by eating Boysenberry syrup at IHOP.

Whew.

I Take That Back

Yesterday my kids were inside playing video games. It was a nice afternoon and I was planning to do some yard work so I sent the kids outside to play.

My 8 year old asked me if he could cut some blackberry bushes that were invading his fort by the swing set. I told him, "Sure, go ahead."

About 40 minutes later I surrendered to my weeds and was putting the garden recycling can away when my 8 year old said, "Mom, come over here and look what we've done to our fort!"

OMG. They had cut all of the ivy on the hill. The ivy that needs to be on the hill so that the hill remains a hill. We do live in Seattle. The rain will be here soon enough and the hill will be gone.

So I take back what I said earlier. "Please go back inside and play video games."

My husband is going to be really mad when he sees the bare hill. So nobody tell him, okay. Hopefully it will grow back before the Autumn monsoon starts.