I went out tonight with some of my favorite people for our monthly girls night (more on how freaking happy these nights make me soon). Anyhow, when we were out, conversation  naturally turned to our kids and I joked around with the women I was out with about my kids- the Bean’s temper, Scorch’s tears, our bedtime frustrations, the puking incident last night.  We all had a lot of laughs but on the way home all I could think about is what impression the new person in our group must have had about me, my kids and my mothering after the conversation we just had.  I hope she had enough of a sense of humor to find my stories entertaining and enough intuition to pick up just how much I love my kids.

Because I really, really do- that is the God’s honest truth.

The Bean makes me crazy and drives me to such extremes I don’t know what I’m doing sometimes.  She’s stubborn and strong and such a gigantic pain in the ass some nights that I do wonder what I did to deserve all this.  She can lie like a criminal, fight like a boxer and dig her heels in deeper then anyone I know.

She’s also funny as all get out, sweet as pie, and the biggest love bug I know.  The Bean is sunshine and joy and pure enjoyment 90% of the time.  She’s as smart as a whip and a complete delight to talk to.  I laugh so hard I get tears in my eyes when she “reads” me stories every night, complete with her own funny voices.  Although I often joke about giving her to the circus, I can’t imagine a single day with out her in it.  That’s the God’s honest truth.

Scorch is a drama queen.  For as stubborn and mule headed as the Bean can be, Scorch is equally as dramatic. The boy is ridiculous about all this stuff- his fossils, his stuffed animals, his rock collection. Throw anything away and be prepared for 30 minutes of tears.

But Scorch is also a compete joy.  He’s funny, sweet and caring.  For every time he wacks his sister, there are 10 other times that he give her what she wants just to see her smile.  He still wants to sit on my lap and is known for just wanting a hug and kiss just because.  He’s smart and coordinated and funny and goes out of his way to make people happy. He’s polite and simply a lot of fun to be around as he always has a fun comment or observation.  The God’s honest truth is that little boy owns my heart and I’m blessed to have both him and his sister in my life.

So..I’ve completely failed in my quest to get the Bean to take the medication for her ear infection.  The Hubs and I tried everything. We bribed, threatened and put her in time out.  We tried mixing it in every food possible and nothing. I couldn’t mask the taste enough and she flat out refused to take it.  Thankfully a re-check at the doctors again yesterday showed her ear was mending on its own, but I was reminded again how screwed we are.  I mean, if I can’t get my 3 year old to take her medicine now, how am I going to get my 16 year old to respect curfew?!

I mentioned this in my last post, but Beaner is 3 years old and I have still not found her kryptonite.  I haven’t found a single form of discipline that gets her attention.  Time outs? Meh.  Taking away toys? Who cares- she has 15 million others.  Losing privileges? Not a big deal- she can entertain herself just find with a stick and a piece of string. Who needs movies!

I also haven’t found anything that motivates her more then once.  She really doesn’t care about things, so the lure of a new toy doesn’t go far. She’s not food orientated, so M&M’s or other goodies not typically allowed in our home doesn’t get us anywhere.  I suppose I could ban her from hanging out with the cats or playing with her brother (her only loves), but that just seems crazy.

Thankfully in the cases of bad behavior, a combination of all of the above gets our point across 99% of the time. But when it comes to times when the Bean is flat out refusing to do something, like take her medicine, I honestly don’t have a clue. Do any of you?

So last I left off, I was in the midst of a small emotional breakdown.  No biggie…

Mary’s last day was yesterday and I randomly burst into tears through out the day.  Thankfully I had also started a Bootcamp class at the gym that morning, so I could blame the crying on the pain if anyone asked. Heaven forbid I look like a softie.  The hardest part about yesterday was Scorch’s reaction. My poor, sweet, sensitive boy cried for about 20 minutes while saying goodbye to Mary and then again after she left.  Thankfully my Mother-in-Law arrived as Mary was leaving, so that was a good distraction for him.

This morning, I went to Spin class and when I got home at 6:30 we had 1 hour and 10 minutes to get 3 adults and 2 kids ready for the first day of school.  We were rocking this morning- everyone ate, the kids looked adorable, they were both super excited to go to school (the Bean kept asking me not to stay today, she wanted to be  Big Girl!) and all was well.  We had just finished tying the laces to  Scorch’s brand new sneakers when my phone rang.  It was a text message letting us know that the school was on a 2 hour delay due to flooding conditions.  What the what? Within 15 minutes after that, schools were closed for the day.

Talk about anticlimactic, huh?

Thankfully my town didn’t get hit hard with the flooding but the town I grew up in and the surrounding areas did. The pictures of the water and the damage breaks my heart- it’s hard to fathom it all.

The Hubs has been down there all day helping to evacuate people- over 20,000 people have been forced from their homes and many have no idea what they’ll be coming home to.  Please say a prayer for those hit hard by this.

Scorch taught himself how to whistle over the past month.  It started out harmless enough- he’d sit in his car seat and simply blow air out of his puckered lips.  I, being the idiot I am, encouraged him and occasionally he’d actually blow hard enough to produce what sounded like a whistle.  We’d all cheer for him and that would be that.

Until he somehow moved from just blowing air silently to whistling all. the. time.

He can’t carry a tune, he can’t whistle a song, so it’s just mindless, tuneless whistling all the time.  He whistles in bed before falling asleep, he whistles while he colors, he whistles while watching TV, he whistles while in the bathroom, he whistles in the car.  Scorch never, ever stops whistling.  He’s so proud of himself, so very thrilled he’s learned this “big person” skill so I would never say anything to him to dim his enthusiasm.

What I will do though is buy ear plugs.

Today I put on a swimsuit for the first time since Aug.  I dread the first time I have to put on my suit each year.  The silent praying that it still fits. The yanking, tugging, pulling & swearing as I maneuver myself into it. The not-so-silent sigh of relief when I see it still fits as I selectively ignore the too-pale skin that hasn’t seen warm sunshine in way too long.

The thought of having to put on a suit has been hanging over my head since yesterday when I realized the day of the kid’s first swim lessons of the year was upon us.  Scorch goes in solo, but the parents still get in the water with the kiddos the Bean’s age, so there was no avoiding it if I wanted my kids to get comfy in the water. I even got out of bed after being up all night with a cold, braved sub-freezing temperatures and crappy snow covered roads to go to 5:30 am Spin class  just so I could feel somewhat better about my body before trying on my suit before lessons. (Don’t ask me what I would have done if it hadn’t fit).

I never used to be this self conscience about my body. But 2 kids and 15 lbs later, I am.  I know what I need to do to remedy the situation- I just need to find the willpower to commit to carrot sticks and salads instead of hot chocolate and PB&J. I also know I need to get a more committed workout routine- 2 Spin classes a week aren’t cutting it. Spinning more often isn’t possible due to the class schedule so I’m toying with the idea of taking up running. Again.

See, I tried to take up running last Spring**.  I really like the idea of running.  The thought of being able to do it anywhere is awesome. I have these visions of running on the beach during vacations or around the school grounds when the kids get older and have sports practice.  But the truth of the matter is, I hate running. Loathe it. Detest it.  I got up to running 2 miles (HUGE FEAT for me) and then I hurt my knee and just never picked it up again.  I have so many friends that love running- they run 3, 4, 5 times a week- and I just shake my head and wonder what I’m missing (and what they are smoking).

So tell me- what am I missing? I’ve got good shoes (I went out and bought them last year from a running store), I have an iPod full of great tunes- hell, I even have a dog to keep me company.  How do I ease back into this and at least get to the point where I don’t hate running?

**I tried the Couch to 5K program last year and wasn’t at all a fan of the stopping/starting aspect of it.

Every Friday night we have family movie night.  I make a pizza, we watch a kid-friendly movie and the little people are in bed by 7:30.  Perfect, right?

It’s honestly one of our favorite nights of the week- a night that we are all home together, snuggled on the couch, laughing over whatever it is we’re watching.  We’ve watched some great movies- Up, Surf’s Up (that one is the kids favorite), Babe, Spirit & all the Toy Stories. We’ve also seen some not so great ones- Marmaduke, G-Force, to name a few.  Tonight we watched Peter Pan– the original.

I never realized just how PC I’ve become. There were sword fights! Man-eating crocodiles! Some not so pleasant descriptions of women (wenches & shrews)! Stereotypical  Indians! Threats to kill little kids!  The Hubs and I kept looking at each other with wide eyes.

All that said, the kids loved it!  The crocodile made them laugh and Scorch thought the sword fights were the coolest thing ever.  So we all just enjoyed it- the lessons on political correctness will come tomorrow.

I’m a fixer.

It’s in my nature- I can’t help it.  You have a problem? I’ll have advice for you- whether you want it or not.  If I don’t know an answer, I’ll Google the hell out of your problem and I’ll come up with something. I have to remind myself that sometimes people just want to vent- they don’t want help.  I’m this way with everyone- strangers in the grocery store, friends & family.

Especially family.

Red and The Bearded One got some news about Baby Lala this week that they were hoping not to hear. She has three grade 1 or grade 2 brain bleeds. Brain bleeds (or IVH) are very common in preemies and range in severity from grade 1 (minor) to grade 4 (very severe).  Lala’s brain bleeds could (please, God) amount to a whole lot of nothing- just another note on a medical chart bigger then she is. Or it could lead to other issues that we won’t even entertain yet. We just don’t know- nor will we know until Lala gets older.

I can’t fix this. I can’t make this better for Red, TBO or most importantly, my sweet 2.5 lb niece.  All we can do is roll with this and see where the journey takes us. Baby Lala is loved like mad already- no new tests or discoveries will change that.

That said, I’m going to Google “crystal balls” just in case there is one out there that actually does tell the future!