That was a wash

So I guess I wasn't cut out for nablopomo this year. I think 10 days without a post pretty much proves that. The last week has been really busy and I would've had a lot to say, had I posted. But I didn't.

We had a great Thanksgiving. The night before, Jaben and I went to see Jamestown - Jill and Dave James band and it was so much fun! Jill and Dave are really sweet people to begin with and we know they're a lot of fun to be around, but their show was more than even we expected! We had a blast!! Jill says they're having another show in February, so if you're in the area I suggest you consider going - it's more than worth the price of the tickets!

On Turkey day, we went to my aunt Sandy's house. Everyone ate, drank, and was merry the whole day. Even the big kids got along - and the little kids didn't fight nearly as much as they usually do. Although that may be because Megan was good about hiding the toys they argued over the minute it began. WTG, Meg! So it ended up being a nice day.

Friday, we did nothing. It was nice, but I felt like such a slug because I'm not used to staying in pj's all day and sitting around like that. It felt weird!! So Saturday I cleaned some, then took Jaben and Kyan to see Bee movie!

Kyan's first theatre experience! And it went WELL!!!! Because it was his first time, we got popcorn and drinks and both boys got a candy, and wow even being a matinee it was REALLY expensive! So that won't be happening again for a while. At least not with all the extras. The movie, however, is cute and I do recommend it if you get the chance. If it kept Ky occupied, it MUST be good!

After that it was back to same 'ol same 'ol. Sunday was cleaning blah blah blah, and Monday - Fri back to work. I have figured out Jaben's play (The Nuttiest Christmas Carol) will be on Dec 15 at 7 pm at the theatre uptown for anyone who is interested. Tickets will be available at the door. It'd be great to have as many people as possible come out to support him. I'm sure if you know Jaben, you know how good this class has been for him and his self esteem and image. So if you can, come out and support my boy!

That's the short, not-so-detailed version of what we've all been up to lately. If I'd managed to keep up with nablopomo I could've made things more interesting, but now, with so much to say and so little time to say it... this is the best I can do. I'll be back again when I can -- hopefully much sooner than 10 days!

Yep, I blew it

I forgot to post last night.

I suck.

I have a good excuse tho.

I forgot.

And then I fell asleep.

Because Monday night I had 2 little boys in my bed and I was too squished and too busy playing the gravity game to be able to sleep. Jaben heard "noises" and Kyan generally joins me sometime in the night. That night, he found Jaben in "his spot" and screamed, at the top of his voice, "JABEN -- MOVE!" repeatedly. So, I pulled him OVER Jaben, to sleep practically on top of me, and that was pretty much the end of my sleep for the night.

And so last night, I went to bed early, and just as I was drifting off to blessed sleep, I thought, "NaBloPoMo... ahhhhhh... screw it."

NaBloPoMo - 1; Me - 0

My son is driving me bats

Yeah, that'd be Kyan. He's in a moooood tonight. I have this theory... the more ornery they are, the cuter they are. I think God did that for their own protection. As soon as I finish this post, the cute little bugger is getting a bath and going straight to bed. It's really for his own good, I swear.

I've read a few posts today cursing NaBloPoMo, and I know how they feel! It's insane that I feel like I have to post, because I said I would, but the only person I'd really be letting down is myself. But then I don't want to let me down either. And so I soldier on.

I have had a very cool visitor recently tho, who I feel I need to comment on. I had a nice comment from Mrs. Grumpy in my inbox today. I don't know if you've read her blog, but she's having a very rough go of it. She recently lost her husband and is now riding the roller coaster. And contrary to what she thinks, she's hanging on admirably. Few things in life will throw you into a tailspin like the loss of a spouse or child. Between Mrs. Grumpy and Rachel, who lost her daughter over the summer, I've learned so much about the strength a human being can possess. I can't imagine you two amazing women read my blog, even after knowing Mrs. Grumpy has visited, but if she or Rachel happen to stop by, I want you to know that I think you're amazing people.

If anyone else is reading this who hasn't had the priviledge to meet Mrs. Grumpy and Rachel, I urge you to visit their blogs. Say hi, let them know you stopped in. It's worth it, I promise. These are two very amazing women and I feel very lucky to have stumbled across their blogs.

17 things

Since it's 17 days into NaBloPoMo, I thought I'd do 17 things. But what things?

Oh! I know -- 17 things I'm not very good at!! Here we go kids!

1. Cooking - inedible pancakes... just ask Jaben, poor kid knows all too well.

2. Athletics - too clumsy for it.

3. Cleaning.

4. Doing my nails. I either put it off too long and they break, or I end up with polish all over everything.

5. Keeping my eyebrows up. You'd think, with giant caterpillars for brows, I'd be better at that. But I'm not.

6. Trimming toenails. Mine or the boys, it doesn't always get done when it needs to.

7. Managing money. I've seen worse, but I've seen LOTS better. I'd probably give an accountant a heart attack.

8. Relationships. Y'know, like with boys? But you kind of figured that out already, didn't you?

9. Waiting. I am so very impatient!! I hate waiting in line, in traffic, for a cd to burn... ugh, I hate waiting!

10. Lying. I've always been a terrible liar. But I think that's a good thing.

11. Singing. I want to be, I can kind of carry a tune, but I can't really sing. And I always wanted to be able to do that.

12. Taking time for myself. Between work, keeping up the house, Jaben's activities and trying to do things for and with Kyan, I don't often get around to me. Which might explain 4, 5, & 6.

13. Making lists of things I'm not very good at. 17 might have been a bit ambitious.

14. Breaking bad habits. I quit biting my nails years ago, but other things haven't been quite so easy.

15. Picking out decent clothes. I usually like what I'm wearing, but I wouldn't want to ask anyone else what they think of it.

16. Walking in heels. The few times I've tried it (once in really huge ones for a wedding), I've looked like Frankenstein. Never again.

17. HTML. I know a few small tricks, but that's about it. I have no memory for it and I really wish I did.

So there you have it, 17 things I'm not very good at. Maybe I should do things I'm good at next time. Boost myself up a bit, y'know?

The most wrong thing - By: Jaben

Today we're having a guest blogger... my older boy, Jaben, has graciously agreed to write today's post. So, without further ad-oo...

The most wrong thing
By: Jaben

Have you ever seen Family Guy? (I’m referring to the 100th episode, part two.) Well I have and the end is just, just… HORABLE!!! They show Stewie, (the evil baby) dead! I for one think this is just an outrage! They should never show that kind of thing on TV! If anyone reading this is saying… “He’s wrong! That was awesome!” Well than you’re messed up in the head man! YOU ARE SICK!!!

Me again... Yes, I do let him watch Family Guy. Yes, I know I shouldn't. But as you can see, he's smart enough to understand certain things aren't appropriate or funny. He's also smart enough to understand that some inappropriate things are kind of funny. And that's all I have to say about that.

I love Dr. Seuss

Does anyone read Dr. Seuss anymore? I was choosing a story to read to Kyan at bedtime and realized he's got a ton of Dr. Seuss books, and I love all of them! Tonight we read Green Eggs and Ham and it's just as much fun now as it was when I was little and used to read it. I swear I was still reading Dr. Seuss books in 5th grade. They're just wonderful.

Gosh, I remember Jaben loving Green Eggs and Ham so much he had his grandma make him some once. They were the grossest looking things ever, but he ate them up and loved them! I wonder how many other kids have done that?

But my all time favorite Seuss book is Fox in Socks. I love to read that one - it's a tongue twister from beginning to end, and it's such a challenge to me to get thru it without messing it up. It's one of the few we don't have. I think Santa needs to bring Kyan a copy of that for Christmas so we can read it together... it always makes me laugh and I think he'd really enjoy it.

Look, sir. Look, sir. Mr. Knox, sir.
Let's do tricks with bricks and blocks, sir.
Let's do tricks with chicks and clocks, sir.

First, I'll make a quick trick brick stack.
Then I'll make a quick trick block stack.

You can make a quick trick chick stack.
You can make a quick trick clock stack.

And here's a new trick, Mr. Knox....S
ocks on chicks and chicks on fox.
Fox on clocks on bricks and blocks.
Bricks and blocks on Knox on box.

Autumn leaves

There aren't a lot of things I like about this time of year. Let's face it, the weather is getting cooler, the days are getting shorter and the skies are gray more often than not. Yuck.

But - we do get some pretty leaves which, usually, make for some pretty good photo ops. So in the spirit of pretty leaves, this is the only halfway decent one I've gotten.

So far. Stay tuned, I hope to get more.



Yes, I know this is a cheater post, but I've got a killer headache tonight (another bonus brought on by fall -- it's allergy hell for me) and I almost didn't post at all. Will try to do better tomorrow.

geez louise

Seems I just can't get a break here. I had a decent day at work... busy, but it makes the time go. Lori was in a fair mood and that always makes it better. Never can tell with her since she started menopause. Mood swings. We'll all be there some day so I deal, but that wasn't the case today, so it was good.

But then I came home. The boys were fighting, my mother was in a mood, and by the time I finished the dinner dishes I'd had it with everyone. Took Jaben to scouts and Kyan and I went to Big Lots to get Jabe a cheap notebook to replace the one he lost and look around till it was time to pick him up. Course by the time we get home it's 8:00 already so everyone ends up going to bed later than usual, and this time for some reason Jaben decided to read to Ky. Which would be fine, but then Ky didn't want to sleep by himself and has been crying on and off ever since. And Jaben - well, after successfully sabotoging Kyan's bedtime, decided to take a BATH at 9:30. A shower I can understand, it's quick and he needed it. But a BATH?? Yeah, just to drive me nuts, I'm sure.

So, while my intentions were to try to write a light, hopefully funny post (been digging the nablopomo site for ideas) it's just not going to happen tonight. Sorry. Bitchfest is all ya get.

Between here and there

There is a very big difference between here and there. Although it's a small community in general, these two areas of town are completely different. I don't think there is a big economical difference, but the people are so very, very different.

There, most of the neighbors were rude, I worried about my kids when they went outside - I never knew what was going to happen.

Here, I step outside and say hi to the neighbors, I know my kids will be fine outside, and if something were to happen I would hear about it from whoever was a witness. And I would hear the truth.

There, if a child took something that belonged to another child, the story was deny, deny, deny. "Not my child." "You're a liar." "If you didn't see it, it didn't happen." "How dare you?" And my favorite... "I'll kick your ass!" And those are the supposed adults.

Here, if a child takes something that belongs to another child, the parent brings the child over, makes him give back what he took, and apologize. The child is punished and the parent is not only angry at the child, but embarassed at their behavior. It is so much easier to remember that all kids do these things and to forgive and move on when you know it's being taken care of in the home. When you know the parents are teaching the children better than that. When you know it's not condoned. Once a child leaves your sight (as they all must, at some point), you can't control their actions, you can only hope they remember what you've taught them and pray that they do right.

A good parent teaches his or her child to do right and corrects them when they do wrong. A bad parent defends the child, regardless of that child's actions. And that defense can make for an uncomfortable, sometimes dangerous neighborhood.

That is the difference between here and there. And I'm so glad that we're here.

Almost forgot to post!

I was just on my way to bed when I remembered I forgot to post! It's been a busy day tho. We had to go to the other house and get the lawnmower and other things out of the shed, as well as take out some trash. We're only allowed 3 bags a week, so as we're gathering things to toss, we're slowly getting them to the curb each week. When we finished with that, we had people over to watch the Browns - Steelers game, and of course being Sunday, I spent a lot of time doing laundry. The kids had a great time, all playing together and Kyan was so very sleepy when bedtime came! Of course he doesn't sleep as well at night if he hasn't had his nap, so he's already woken up once... hopefully that will be it for tonight. We'll see.

I'll try to be better tomorrow, but I'm very sleepy and off to bed myself. Night!

10 posts in 10 days! Check me out!

I'm really surprised that I've been able to keep up with noblopomo. I really wasn't sure I'd be able to do it, but here I am, 10 days in, and still moving along. Yay me!

I've been reading a lot of blogs lately (check out the updated blogroll to the right, you might find something new you'll like) and there's one I would like you to stop by and check out. The blog is called Clever Nonsense and it's written by a woman named Brandy, who I met on an expecting board when I was pregnant with Kyan. She's a working mother of 4 and is currently in the midst of her second battle with Hodgkins Lymphoma. She is amazing. I've never met Brandy, but I can tell you that she is one of the strongest, most upbeat, positive people you'll ever have the privilege of encountering.

If you've got the time, stop by and read a bit. I guarantee you'll be as astounded as I am by Brandy. Add her to your prayer list, drop her a comment and show her some love.

Long, busy day

It's been a long, busy day.

To begin with, I've started working on Fridays again. I had to... I need the money. I had set it up so that I'm only there 4 hrs, and can still take Jaben to school and pick him up, and today was the first day this was to happen.

Ah, the best laid plans....

7am the phone rings and it's the babysitter. Her grandmother had passed in the night. I'm so sorry for her, she was still at the nursing home when she called and she sounded awful. No problem - I can't imagine a better reason for being unable to work.

So, plan B. I call my sister and wake her whole house to get her to drive here to take Kyan. Sweet Jaben made her a pot of coffee and met her at the door with a cup. When I saw her later she said it was the worst coffee she'd ever had (FAR too strong) but she bravely drank some because Jaben made it. Things like that are why they love her.

So I got Jaben to school and made it to work only 1/2 hr later than planned. Got some stuff started but nothing finished, and was on my way home. It was semi-productive and I'll take that for the first day. When I got home, Ky was sleeping and that was good because I was able to clean up the massive toy pileup in the playroom. Mom showed up and I was able to pick Jaben and Adam up at school. Yahoo!

But then. Okay, ow. Jaben was having trouble keeping the laundry hamper/basketball hoop his grandma bought him upright, so I came up with a way to rig it so it'd stay. It works really well but in the process of said rigging, I hammered my right index finger.

Read that again. I hammered my right index finger. Yeah, it really f-ing hurt. The nail is bruised and the whole finger is swollen and here I sit, using a mouse and typing. Bright one, aren't I?

But I lived, and we took the kids swimming at the rec. The water was nice and warm but it was FREEZING in the locker rooms. They REALLY need to do something about that. Otherwise, it was a fun time.

Now, everyone has had their day - which weren't bad, even with a pounded (and really f-ing sore) finger - we've swam, had dinner, and Jaben is currently serenading me with his viola. I've missed the beginning of Ghost Whisperer to type this (and ouch my finger hurts from pounding the keys!!) so I'm going to go watch now. Yay for DVR! I can watch while it's still on and not miss anything!

And as an added bonus for reading that rambling... a pic of Kyan my sister sent me from her phone. Cute, isn't he?

I'll love you forever

If you haven't read the book I'll love you forever, you really should. Especially if you're a parent. .

When I first heard about it, I thought it was ridiculous. The basic idea is very sweet. A woman has a son who she rocks and sings to every night...

I'll love you forever
I'll like you for always,
as long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

It is very sweet. And she keeps doing this, every night, as the boy grows up. But then it gets weird for a little bit. The boy grows up to be a man and buys a house across town. So the mom straps a ladder to the top of her car, drives to his house in the dark at night and climbs the ladder up to his bedroom window to rock him and sing to him! It's bizarre!! It still makes me want to giggle, every time I get to that part. Every. Single. Time.

But then I get to the part where the mom gets old and is sick and probably dying - although they never actually say that because, despite the mom's catburglery of her son's house, it's still a children's book. Anyway, once I get to the part where the mom can no longer sing the song to her son, and he sings to her, then goes home and sings to his own infant daughter I still get all misty! I must've read this book 100 times by now (I've had it since Jaben was small) and I can't get thru it without at least some tears!

I know it sounds like an unremarkable, if somewhat odd book, but I highly recommend it. I probably haven't done a great job of selling it, but take my word for it. It's definitely worth purchasing and it's one of those books you will want to read to your kids again and again, and will probably still have on your bookshelf when you're old and can no longer climb the ladder to break into your child's window to sing the song.

You can call me anything but...

So I'm at work earlier and the phone rings...

Me: Roth Graphics.

Customer: Hi, is this Rebecca?

Me: Yes, it is.

Customer: This is XXXX XXXX. Hey... does anyone ever call you Becca?

Me: No. Well, my mother does, but just her.

Customer: (laughs) Oh-kayyyy... gotcha. So Rebecca....

Moral of the story? Don't call me Becca. Kthxby!

Are you busy?

I am. It seems like it just never ends. Work, clean, run the kids around, more work, more cleaning, laundry, outside work, still need to move stuff... I want a day to just sit around and do nothing!! The only way that'd happen would be if I was sick and who wants that? Ugh, no thank you!

It's going to be a busy month at work, so no chance of taking a slug day this month. Of course there's always the Friday after Thanksgiving. I'd like to go Black Friday shopping, but I don't have anyone to watch Kyan because my mom likes to go. It'd be awesome to get it all done in one day tho... ah to dream!!

It's incredible, I've got so very much to do, and yet nothing to write about. I'm beginning to wonder if this post every day thing was such a good idea. I need to make time to blog hop and see what everyone else is writing about. A little bloggy inspiration is in order! Any ideas?

CRASH!

The boys broke a picture frame tonight. Not too much glass around, but Kyan got sent to bed and Jaben got sent to take his shower. They were both very sorry, it was an accident for sure, but it's still broken.

Guess that's what we get for letting them ride tricycles in the house.

Buy tickets NOW!

Thought I'd post the poster (I did) for the CD release concert Jaben's drama teacher and her husband are having. This isn't the final version, but it's the only one I had on this machine. It's got all the right info and it does look pretty much like the one we're using. If you're in the area, I highly recommend going to the show... even if you don't like country music I think you'll like them. I might be biased, but they're really, really good.

Orlando Bloom is hot!

I should probably welcome all the teenage girls that title will bring in. But I couldn't help myself, Pirates of the Caribbean is on and all I can think about it how gorgeous Orlando Bloom is and how sexy Johnny Depp is. Well, now that Kyan has stopped with the boo-hoos, that's all I can think about.

He's been doing so good, since we moved, about going to sleep in his own bed. We have a deal that if he wakes up in the middle of the night he can come sleep with me then. And that's exactly what he'd been doing, until last night when he slept thru. Which was GREAT! He's been napping really well in there too, and had a great one today - I had to wake him up because he'd slept too long. But tonight... he just didn't want to do it. He kept saying he wanted to be in my bed (even tho I'm not), and when I finally left him he cried, loudly, for a while.

But now, all is quiet and I can get in my blog post for the day. Which, of course, is all about Kyan's sleep habits. Oh well, I didn't have much interesting to write today anyway.

Except I cleaned the garage and now mom can park her car in it.

And we bought curtains for the house. Oh and the ones for the playroom are so very cool!! They're bluish stripes, but the colors change slightly, depending on your angle. They, and some of the living room curtains had to be ordered because they were out of stock, but soon, by Wednesday they say, the entire world will no longer be able to see what we're doing at all hours of the day and night. So long to livin' in a fishbowl!!

Day 2 and NaBloPoMo brings traffic!

Well, I've made it 2 days! I know, huge accomplishment, right? Day two has definitely brought thoughts of what to write about, a few small additions (I'm totally digging my new profile pic... it's cute, right??), and some visitors! There has been a definite spike in visits, brought on by the NoBloPoMo randomizer. I even got a couple of comments - and you can be sure I'll be stopping by your blogs!

It's weird, I've always like to write, have always wanted to write. And here I have the space and the freedom to do it, my own little corner of the interwebs, and I neglect it. Often. I get busy, or I can't think of anything interesting to add... but who really cares if it's great? It should be for me, for my boys. I've kept a better scrapbook of their lives thru this blog than I ever have with baby books or photo albums. Oh who am I kidding? Most of their pictures are in shoe boxes or, more recently, stored on hard drives and CDs. But this... this has their memories, chronicles their lives and might, one day, give them that amazing scrapbook I just can't find the time for. Printed entries, arranged in a book would be something they could both have, to take with them forever. Even this site, with all my randomness, might be a cool reminder of who we all were. Back then, when they were young.

Okay, enough of the sentimental stuff. I've got a cute Kyan story for today that I really hope comes across in text. It was a beautiful, crisp, sunny day today, and we'd gone to Goodwill to donate about 7 bags of old clothes (yes, I'm a hoarder). Since I didn't have to go further from the car than the 4 feet to the door, I left Kyan strapped into his carseat and just opened the door so he wasn't "alone," so he never got out of the car. He did his usual talking and singing to himself as I unloaded but I wasn't really listening. I know I probably should have been, but I wasn't really even paying attention when I got back in and started to drive away. What I did hear sounded something like, "Tunnay."

So I asked him, "Sunday, Ky? What about Sunday?"

There was a moment of silence from the back seat, followed by a very clearly enunciated, "It's -- sun-ny!"

Um, yeah, way to put Mommy in her place, kid.

Okay, maybe it doesn't come across in text very well. But trust me, I was put very firmly in my place by a 2 yr old today. Ouch. He got me back tho... later after we'd dropped Jaben off for camping with the scouts, I was treated to 15 straight minutes of...

Kyan: knock knock!
Mommy: Who's there?
Kyan: 'anana
Mommy: banana who?
Kyan" knock knock?
Mommy: Who's there?
Kyan: 'anana
Mommy: banana who?
Kyan" knock knock?
Mommy: Who's there?
Kyan: 'anana
Mommy: banana who?
Kyan" knock knock?

Repeat ad nauseum. He even kept it up when I got out to pump gas. Seriously, at some point this kid needs to learn the end of the joke. Which, if you don't know it (and I'm sure you must!) is that after repeating the banana part of the joke until the "who's there" person is ready to strangle you, you switch it up...

Who's there?
Orange.
Orange who?
Orange you glad I didn't say banana?

Nablopomo

All the cool kids are doing it, so why not some of us not-so-cool kids? Yes, it's National Blog Post Month, where you post every single day for an entire month! No cheating by back-dating posts or posting twice in a day or anything like that. Think I can do it?

Yeah, I know, my track record isn't all that great, but it's worth a shot! I just wonder if I can find enough things to post about for an entire month. Hm... maybe more posts about spaghetti up the nose?

For now, a pic of the boys right before trick or treat - which, btw, Kyan loved! He totally rocked at it and wanted to go again the next night. But I think I'll save those details for tomorrow. I need a whole months worth of posts, y'know!