day after Christmas... sweetness..

just wanted to share my thoughts this morning abt Christmas yesterday. what a sweet day it was. i got to see or talk w/each of my boys. there was NO fighting between them. it was just a really special day. eric gave me knee pads so i wont' get blisters doing the floors anymore...and a cool alarm clock so i don't have to climb over him to see what time it is in the middle of the night....and my favorite thing of all? that greg olsen picture of Jase and Jesus. i love it. from the first time i saw it, it stopped me in my tracks. THAT IS MY JASON. talking on a park bench w/JESUS. :) doesn't get any better than that. :) so it was a thoughtful day.
and in my birth family, we take turns doing families...we'll , we did until next yr... we've decided to not do it anymore. anyway, this year, we gave to dan and his fam, and dave and kathy gave to us. they spoiled us rotten. a beautiful HUGE wreath, some candies and a game, legos, and a really sweet "mooney forever" plaque. it was all so nice. and stamped on the box that they mailed it in was the shipping price....$91.83. shocking!! i was sooo embarrassed bcs that alone exceeded the 50$ limit. but they were soooo sweet abt it. sd they were planning all year to send it, and had budgeted the expensive cost in. so earlier this morning before anyone was up, i went out ot hte garbage and cut out the label...the addresses of both of us and the cost that they paid. i'm going to frame it. i know that sounds a little corny/stupid, but it's a sweet reminder that we are loved and that they were thoughtful enough to plan all year for that. :) makes my heart swell. i'll take a picture and post it when i get a frame for it. also the Jase/Jesus picture...and t he plaque. :)

bro code/sis code

the other day i had a conversation w/jase. he informed me of the innate "bro code" that he claims all men aspire to. not that they wouldn't be happe w/less, but this is the ultimate....
not sure if there's an order, but this is my  memory...
1- 6 pack (every man wants a body w/a 6-pack)
2- making 6 figures
3- owning a vehicle w/a 6 hp engine (does a ride-on lawnmower count?)
4- 6 ft tall (to BE 6 ft tall...though eric is considerably less and he's PERFECT for me..>)
5- oh my...i can't think of the 5th thing right now....i'll have to come back to it....
6- to be "6 inches"...k. as soon as he sd that, i suggested we come up w/an alternative. he agreed that a 6 month engagement to be married would suffice. :) so taht's the cleaned up version of the bro-code.

in the essence of "equality" (and no, i'm not usually all abt it...), my friend merion and i came up w/ a sis code... it's completely open for editing and ratifying, but here's what we came up w/....
...and we had to choose the number 8 for the obvious reason, as we get moving here....
1- to be a size 8 (or smaller, but 8 is good)
2- to have 8 shoes (1 pair of sandals, sneakers, dress shoes that are flat, high heeled shoes, brown boots, black boots, slippers and sunday shoes that aren't high and sexy or flat and matronly...those are for pants only)
3-

...wait! just got a fb chat msg from jase, and he is informing me that i got it all wrong...it's not the bro-code. it's just the 6- 6es...he's telling me that the bro code is different. oh, the male gender is just soooo complicated and confusing...

k. first i need to be clear, this is NOT the "bro code" apparently that's a different ballgame entirely. something abt a code of conduct. i asked if  it was like "don't make  eye contact at the urinals" and he sd, "no", but he didn't clarify....
second, he didn't make it up. he sd that it's just UNIVERSAL knowledge. and that i'm going to make him look stupid if i am suggesting that he is the author.

okay, the 5th 6 ?? it's 6 yrs of post high school education.

they are actually quite admirable, these "goals"... :) k. back to the girls....
we want 3- 8 hours MINIMUM of 1on1 "talk" time /wk w/our significant other. MINIMUM. could be considered "date night", but we prefer it as talking after day time...
4- we want to be shaped like the number 8. :) some prefer the bulby 8's, and others prefer the long skinny ones. either way, we want a waist and boobs. we are girls, afterall....
5- 8 places on the body we like to be kissed. you can use your imagiation on this one, but really you don't have to. i counted cheeks as 2, bcs we like to be kissed equally on both sides of the face. :)
6- we need 8 hours of sleep. of course we can survive on less, but to be truly our best selves, we need our 8 hours. :)
7- we need a good shopping trip every 8 wks. doesn't have to spend much. could be just window shopping, but we need that fantasy time in a GOOD savers, or DI. :)
and drumroll for the 8th??
8- we want 8 kids. for those less maternal, they would want 8 grandkids. true.

:) so that's it. anyone want to challenge me on any of these?? if you add something, we have to change the number, and i DON'T want to be shaped like a 9....

:)

styrofoam...

least favorite time of year: halloween. why? bcs it's just too much work.

so, i'm working on costumes.... i discovered a couple of years ago that i could get those giant stuffed animals at second had stores for abt 2$, and then unstuff them and stuff the kids in. :) and make strategic holes for face,etc. anyway....so i got taylor this great horse from toy story. he's six, so it was a good size. it even had  a ZIPPER!! no need to worry abt how to get him in!! so this morning i unzipped it in my bedroom. hundreds of styrofoam balls bounced out and all over the floor. they are so static-y, i just can't get them cleaned up...  

babies and teeth....baby teeth

i'm having a hard time not crying...i just learned that taylor---my current "baby" lost his tooth while at his father's house. :( i know, i know, i'm a big ol' baby, and it's "just a tooth", but it is his FIRST loose tooth. and i wasn't there. 

today alex earned 6 merit badges at a court of honor, and i wasn't there. why? bcs it's four hours away, and i couldn't make it. 

i hate divorce. it just confirms that life isn't fair. i have made every possible choice to be a mom to my kids. i haven't put them in daycare, and i've worked in every unconventional job to ensure that i could "be there" for them.  and two big whammies in one day. 

i just wonder... what will i miss next??  first date?? first dance?? 

sometimes life really isn't fair.... :( 

frogs

i love frogs. i have ALWAYS loved frogs. i had a collection of frogs when i was younger. i had the stuffed animals, the clock, the watch, even a skirt that my mom made for me and a friend (grazynka). :) but frogs don't necessarily love me. i remember buying my boys some swimming frogs in alaska. we went to work one morning and came home and they were floating in the bowl. so, good mother that i am, i bought new ones, and repeated the murders. :( i have no idea what i did wrong. :( 

i remember "frog-sitting" for a friend (michael sandberg) when he went on vacation. it escaped and i was unable to catch it. i don't know if he EVER forgave me for it. and i really didn't see the harm in taking it for a swim in the creek at tuscan school. how was I to know that it would use that as it's "get-away". 

one more memory?? i remember one year when jase was really small...he wanted a pet for christmas. i was living in a townhouse, and unsure of how i could provide for one. he went to the church Christmas party and told "santa" (my brother dan) that all he wanted was a pet. "santa" told him he was such a good boy, he might actually give him rudolph!! well, jase trusted uncle "santa" and came home soooo *EXCITED* abt the news. i had to beg dan for help. he left a note on the sliding door for jase: "dear jase, you're such a good boy that i would love to give you rudolph. however, on second thought, i'm not sure how we'd manage to get all the toys to all the other boys and girls if i gave him to you.... i'll give you something ELSE instead. and you're going to love it just as well". (k. it was SOMETHING like that). so i bought a white's tree frog. (go ahead, google it. i know you're dying to see what it looks like...)  i got a large terrarium at the local DI (my favorite store), and got all the equipment for it...heat rock, fake pond, plants, branches, and a frog delicacy....CRICKETS!! loaded it up and prepared for Christmas morning. well, it came...jase went down the stairs and was SOOOOOO *EXCITED* when he looked into the cage and shouted "MOM!!! SANTA REALLY DID GIVE ME A PET!!! ONLY HE GAVE ME A LOOOOT OF THEM!!! LOOK AT ALL THESE CRICKETS!!!!!"  i had to redirect his attention to the predator, not the prey. 

anyway,( two hours and 37 minutes later,) i'm back to my story of frogs... sorry...i get distracted sometimes.... i was thinking of how frogs just have a country feel. they remind me of summertime. though aside from these stories, the only other memory i have was of dad driving over little frogs going to the cabin he rented in vermont when i was a kid..... :( 

but the other night, some of our boys were outside doing "the boy thing"....catching frogs. it was so heartwarming to me. not sure why, but it just made me happe inside. :) not sure if it was the frogs? 

 or the boys:

dreams...

k. they say that dreams should be written down. that occasionally they are inspired, a way to receive revelation. well, unless eric's really leaving me for an olympic gymnast, or i just had a baby that looks like the crazy guy on nacho libre, i don't give much credence to them. HOWEVER, two nights ago i had a dream that has plagued me. in my dream, i was running my fingers through my hair, and as i did it, clumps of hair were coming out in my hands. i looked in the mirror, and my hair on the right side was like this:
 shiny, dark, beautiful. i think i pretty much looked like her too. but hey, this was MY dream....creative liberties are allowed... :) anyway, the other half of my head looked like it normally does. kind of like this:now you might be looking at her porcelain skin and distracted from the frizzy see-thru mess, but that's what my hair usually looks like.  time to confess:

i have been frizzy/curly haired my whole life. or as long as i can remember. i do recall seeing a picture of me when i was in preschool probably where my bangs were shiny and dark. oh, to have those still.... :( anyway, i have done everything, from straightening to braiding to the ol' "what-not-to-wear" favorite: scrunchies. in fact, i have one in my hair as i write. :(   a cousin introduced me to "the curly girl handbook" and i did everything religiously. no more shampoos. no more blow drying, straightening, etc. air dry only. tons of conditioner. co-washing. everything. i even did the gel. for 2 months now. and i hate the feel of the "CRUNCH" of gel. i like touchable hair. i like to ride my bike  and have my hair blowing softly in the wind. not hear the sound of doritoes being chewed in my ear. so yea...last night, the devil got the best of me and i broke down and got hair dye. i didn' twant the orange scarecrow hair w/stripes of grey. (think:   and i mean no disrespect to this woman. she CLEARLY had a beautiful face at an earlier age...before her days of crime.) i colored my hair. i bought a PERMANENT, but i guess the definition is more "exaggeration" than truth, bcs i can see the greys! how is that possible??  to avoid slanderous remarks abt the company (preference, by l'oreal), i can attest that it DOES permanently dye SOME materials. my cheek, for example. two showers, a loofah, alcohol, vaseline and two coats of cover-up AND foundation (this girl does NOT wear foundation!), and here's the evidence...   okay, i have to doubly confess... i added a little eyeliner bcs the camera flash washed it out, so i had to "emphasize" it, but taht's what it REALY looks like in natural light. :)
so...question:  was this dream revelatory???  do i get out the scissors?????

yardwork

so, since moving into this house, we've had to completely re-landscape the yard. (dang bank let it go to pot) this means a lot of pulling up weeds, pricker bushes, dead stumps/trees/branches/bushes, etc. then raking out all the other stuff and laying down that weed-free fabric and re-rocking/woodchipping, planting,etc.  

soooo...the other day i was fighting the wind. it was incredible.  i'm wrestling w/everything outside. i almost threw a rock at sparky. not really, but i literally had been fighting the wind and i was sweating and frustrated and i looked over and he's laying there sleeping. i had a moment of "YOU DUMB DOG....LAYING AROUND ALL THE TIME AND NEVER HELPING W/ANYTHING" ...but that's as far as it went. well, actually i did have a  rock in my hand and a momentary thought to throw it at him. but THAT was all. :) hehe...  i just sometimes wonder who has it better? man or dog?? bcs unless you're an unemployed democrat, you can't sit around and get fed and loved for nothing. they really have it easy. and i know you  might say "yea, but some dogs are tied up and left outside in the winter....or beaten by their owners...." to that i say, "yes, but so are some kids..."  :(  anyway, it must be nice. but i guess they don't have much self-esteem. bcs i would hate myself if i lived like that.