What's a Girl to do at 4:53 in the Morning?

Write a totally random blog post... of course!

• Little Bug got up around 3:45. Hubby got up with him. Apparently he wanted breakfast and a potty break. Go figure. I don't think he's fallen back asleep yet... but I sent Hubby back to bed seeing as how I can't sleep anyway...
• Why can't I sleep? Well, exactly one half of my nose is plugged up. It's so plugged that I cannot even blow my nose and it keeps randomly running down my face... while I sleep. Can I get an EWWW?? Thank you.
• I am not done making Halloween costumes. Slacker Mom of the Year. Baby Girl's costume isn't even started. Luckily - she's flexible. She dug into the dress-up box and went to school as a clown yesterday and tonight she's going to be a princess. Not the fairy princess that she wanted, but no one ever really gets what they want, right? Well, unless you're Red. Then you get your Jedi costume - no matter what. I've been promising to make him one for 2 years... this year he's holding me to it.
• And speaking of making things... I'm using a Simplicity pattern for this costume. May I just get something off my chest here.... THERE IS NOTHING SIMPLE ABOUT A SIMPLICITY PATTERN! There. I feel better. I measured Red and bought the pattern that SHOULD have worked. The Jedi robe fits my husband... since it was a one size fits all type thing... and the tunic fits me. I wonder what the models look like that they base their sizing off of??
• We had a ghoulish dinner last night and then watched old episodes of "The Addams Family" on Netflix. I'll try to do a Halloween post with costumes and food stuff later... maybe tomorrow.... or next week... or... um... sometime.
• I get to host book club at my house in a few weeks. We're reading "The Hunger Games" and may I just say how much I love that book? Have you read it? If not, I highly recommend it! If you have read it, would you like to help me brainstorm a bit? Can you think of any discussion questions? I have a thought of few already ... but I'd like to hear from you guys :)

AND....... I can breathe! The nasal decongestant has kicked in...which means I can now blow my nose! And I think Little Bug finally fell asleep! Can I get a w00t? Yeah... probably not at 5 a.m. Maybe later...

Welp. I'm gonna see if my brain will let me go back to bed for awhile. Happy Halloween!!

9

Tomorrow is Little Bug's birthday! This kid of mine has sent me on the biggest emotional roller coaster over the last 9 years. For example... right now, he's supposed to be asleep. But I just caught him down the hall putting all of Baby Girl's Littlest Pets into the washing machine. Frustrating that he's not in bed? Yes. Maddening that he's made a big mess? You betcha. Funny to see the crazy way he's got all the toys arranged? Yup. It's a mixed bag with this kid. His troubles make my heart ache. But his accomplishments give me joy like I've never known.

Another example... the children's organization in our church is called the Primary. Every year they put on a program for the adults. There is usually a lot of great music and a small speaking part for each child. Last year we tried to get Little Bug to say a few lines.

He screamed.

I cried.

This year I got him to say the lines.

He grinned and giggled.

I cried :)

And so, to celebrate this glorious boy of mine, I thought I'd share a few pictures with you... enjoy!

This photo was taken this summer in Utah. I have lots of pictures like this where he is squinting, closing his eyes, deliberately looking away from the camera or glaring at me. He's a pretty typical boy in the fact that he does NOT like having his picture taken...

This was the first day of school... see... here we have the glare...
This was a trip we took to pick raspberries. He wasn't a fan of the small prickles on the bushes... but he had fun wandering around. Again, he wouldn't look at the camera...

Little stinker! He's pretty darn pleased with himself in this shot...

Ah... here we go! This is the smile that melts my heart!

Happy Birthday my Little Bug! You are such an amazing kid! You've grown so much this last year... I can't wait to see what the new year holds in store for you!

Why We Love Sale-ing

Yeah... that says "sale-ing". And yes. I know it's not a real word to most people... but it is to us! You see, I grew up with a mom who LOVES to get a good deal. And so, garage sale shopping comes natural to her. When I was growing up it was frustrating at times... people would ask where I had gotten my J. Crew jeans (there wasn't a J. Crew for hundreds of miles) and instead of telling the truth, "My mom scored these at a yard sale for .50! Awesome, eh??" I would just kind of blow it off... "I don't know. My mom got them for me somewhere..." and then I'd change the subject as quickly as possible.

Now that I'm older I don't care who knows that most of our possessions are 2nd hand... in fact, I'm pretty proud of the fact that I can save a buck or two or more... sometimes a lot more.

For example... Baby Girl got some money for her birthday. She wanted to get one of those stuffed Littlest Pets. She had $10 and that was the exact price of the stuffed animals at WalMart. I told her to hang on to her cash and we could look around a little before she spent all of her money.

The Saturday after her birthday we went out garage sale shopping and stumbled on a sale that had stuffed animals for a quarter a piece. They had SIX Littlest Pet stuffed animals! So, for $1.50 she got $60 worth of toys! She had enough left to go get one of the smaller plastic animals at Target and she's still got $2 that she's saving for our next "sale-ing" trip.

Maybe it's genetic... but man! I love a good deal! And it appears that Baby Girl likes the idea too :)

I'd Forgotten...

Red is off to a science camp for a few days this week. I hope that he's having a fabulous time! I hope that he's learning lots and having fun with his friends. I hope he's staying warm and playing hard. But I hope that he'll be ready to come home tomorrow because I sure miss that boy!

You see, I'd forgotten how much he does for me each day. I've really taken him for granted. You see, he's a pretty darn responsible kid. He gets himself up each morning and makes lunch for himself and Little Bug. He gets his breakfast and sometimes gets cereal for the younger kids if I'm not up yet (my kids are early risers... I am not!). He'll take out the recycling, help fold laundry, and get toys cleaned up. If I give him a job, he might whine a bit but, he always gets it done. He makes me smile and laugh several times each day. And every night, before bed, I get a hug and a kiss.

Of course... Baby Girl and Little Bug aren't getting teased. The house is staying a little cleaner with one less kid around. And I'm pretty sure that our grocery bill went down (even though he'll only be gone for 3 days).

But all in all, the good outweighs the bad. Yep... I miss that kid

Who Would've Thought?

6 years ago tonight I was headed to the hospital to have a baby. We didn't know if it would be a boy or a girl. The last ultrasound had given us a 60% chance for a girl. After two boys I was pretty hopeful for a girl, but, of course, would take whatever came our way. The doctor had decided to induce me a few days early. We got set up at the hospital the night before and then waited.

But there's something you must understand about me: I don't deal well with pain. So, I had some drugs in my IV when the contractions first started. Then came the epidural (manna from heaven, thankyouverymuch!). And then the decision was made that I would need a c-section - which meant that I would need a spinal block. Copious amounts of drugs were swimming through my veins. In fact, I was so drugged out that when my baby was born the doctor said, "It's a girl" and I responded with, "What's a girl?" I think this little moment of unintended humor set a pattern for my Baby Girl. She loves to make others laugh. When she was younger it was pretty random things that she'd throw out there and a lot of courtesy laughing on our part. But, as she's gotten older, her ability to make us laugh, really, truly laugh, has gotten more refined.

For example: The other day I picked Baby Girl up from school and we headed out to run some errands. This is the conversation that followed...

BG - "Mom! Stop! We have to go to the house and get Baby Girl!"

Me - "Wait... what? Aren't YOU Baby Girl?"

BG - "No Mom. I'm just the narrator of this story!"

We both laughed till our sides hurt. She has her moments of pouting, but usually even that dissolves into giggles after awhile.

She's a good mix of princess and tom boy. This picture was taken while she was playing a Star Wars video game with Red and yelling "GET HIM!! SHOOT THAT GUY!" all while wearing her princess dress and tiara...

She's not always daring or willing to take risks, but once she gets warmed up to an idea, you'd better watch out because she'll dive right in! (pun intended)

She's the first to forgive and give hugs. She's always thinking of others and trying to find ways to cheer people up. She's creative and clever. She would paint or play with clay all day long if I'd let her. She loves to dress up and put on a show for anyone who is willing to watch.

But most of all... BEST of all... she's mine!

Happy Birthday my little Twiddle! I love you so much and I hope you have a wonderful day today!

xxxoooxxx

Mom

Just Try...
I dare you to watch this video and not smile... go ahead. Try it.

A post with actual information about me and my life is coming... I've just been a tad on the busy side.

My hubby suggested that I blog about something. He pointed out that my last post was about me wandering around talking to myself... and that I ought to write something so that everyone knew that I hadn't gone totally crazy. So, just in case you were wondering, I haven't lost my mind... not completely. I'm guessing that I've got another year or two before people will really have to worry about me!