Differences

I have posted before about my kids' differences. I love those things that make them unique. They keep me guessing and smiling. Over the past 2 nights, yet another difference between them was highlighted.

Two nights ago, both kids wanted to sleep in my room, on the floor. I told them that when I went to bed, I'd wake them up so they could come sleep in my room. Here's how waking Aaron up from a dead sleep went:

I begin by pulling on his arms to get him into a sitting position. He pulls back, trying to lay back down. I have learned that you can't let him lay back down, or you start from square one again. So, I kept pulling. This struggle lasted a good 30 seconds, but he finally gave up. Then, the conversation started.

He began pointing to his left wrist with his right index finger, mumbling "I want this and this and this and this and this..."

Because I am always looking for cheap entertainment, I begin asking him questions, trying to keep him talking so that I can have a good laugh (great parenting, huh?). So I ask him what he will do with all those if he gets them. To which he answers by pointing his finger to his left elbow and drawing a line up his forearm to wrist, making a sound like a missile dropping.

I then help him to his feet and ask him if he still wants to sleep in my bedroom. He stops, and looks me straight in the face, and asks "Did Sadie find her leg?"

That was all I could handle, so I tucked him into the pallet I had made for him and kissed him goodnight.

Aaron and I have had a great many humorous conversations late in the night, especially back when I had to wake him up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. My favorite story involving these nights was the time he went into the kitchen instead of the bathroom, raised the lid on the trashcan, and pulled down the front of his undies. That's when I walked in and stopped him. When I asked him what he was doing, he said "Going potty." Because he was out of it, I knew arguing with him would work, so I simply told him that this potty wasn't working and that he'd have to use the other one. I then walked him to the other one so that there would be any other confusions...

Now, Sadie, on the other hand, is completely coherent when she is woken in the middle of the night. When I woke her to take her into my bedroom 2 nights ago, she simply said, "Love you mom." When I asked if she still wanted to sleep in my room and she smiled and said yes.

Then, last night, I woke her to make her go to the bathroom, and all she did was wrap her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist as I carried her off to the bathroom. She did her business, told me when she was done, flushed, and went back to bed.

I love both types of experiences. I love their differences. I love them :)

Weight Limits

There's a reason things have weight limits. For example, Aaron's 50cc Honda motorcycle has a weight limit of around 90 pounds. And, just in case you were wondering, I am well above (okay...waaaaaaay above) that weight limit. However, I have ridden that motorcycle a few times, and there have been no problem. Unless you count the fact that the tire smooshes down when I get on it, so that it looks a little low. Several kids have pointed that fact out to me...

Anyways, we were in Groom the other day and Aaron wanted to ride the motorcycle out at the farm, but didn't feel comfortable riding the motorcycle out to the farm (about 1 mile out of town), even when I assured him that I would be right behind him in the car. When he continued to refuse, I told him I'd ride it our there for him. I got on the farm-to-market road and laid on the gas.

And then, I had a blow out, about half way to the farm. I guess the combo of my above the weight limit weight and the speed was too much for the poor thing to handle. So now, the bike got hauled here to Amarillo to get the flat fixed.

In my defense, the tire had been flat when we got the bike, and they had fixed it by putting some sort of blue goo flat fix in it, so it was already in a weakened state...

Hallelujah! The Filing is Done!

A few years ago, Toby and I started really filing all of our "important" stuff, like anything that may relate to our taxes or our retirement and our bank statements. It is a royal pain, especially because I typically just let everything pile up throughout the year until summer break, and then I have a huge task to do...sort everything and get it all in order, and put in the proper files.

Well, this time around, I had all of 2007 and 2008 to file. Not sure what happened to make me 2 years behind, but I was. And today, I finished that task! No more huge piles of old mail sitting around everywhere. And in looking through all the old stuff, I found some other things...like lots of Box Tops for Education, and stamps.

So now, I am hoping that I can do a better job of keeping up with the sorting throughout the year, to avoid huge piles in the future. We'll see...

Now for my next project: printing, sorting, and dating 3 years worth of photos stored on my computer...

100th Post

Well, this is my 100th post, and in the tradition of blogging (not sure where the tradition came from), here are 100 facts about me :) Enjoy :P

1. My name is Rebecca
2. I was born 2 days before Christmas
3. I was born breech (that explains a lot about me, doesn't it?)
4. I have 2 brothers
5. I have 5 sisters
6. I am the 3rd in the line-up of 8
7. I have 15 cousins on my dad's side of the family
8. I only have 3 cousins on my mom's side (slackers :)
9. You guessed it...I'm Catholic
10. I am 5'5"
11. I have brown hair
12. It is naturally crazy...I mean wavy/curly
13. I wear it straight more often than I wear it curly
14. I still need to get a decent picture of me to be my avatar
15. I got married when I was 22 to the love of my life
16. I have 2 wonderful kids who are the light of my life
17. Aaron was born on our 4th anniversary
18. I love math!
19. I started wearing glasses in 1st grade
20. I have worn contacts since the 7th grade
21. My contact prescription is -11.5
22. Yes, I know that's bad
23. I have lived in 4 towns in my life
24. All of those towns are within a 75 mile radius
25. 25 was my basketball number in H.S.
26. I was a point guard
27. I was also a distance runner
28. I have 4 degrees (1 associates, 2 bachelors, 1 masters)
29. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up
30. Toby will kill me if I go back to school
31. Toby spoils me
32. I drive a Honda
33. I love to take pictures
34. I am really bad about actually getting those pictures printed
35. I love blogging :)
36. I hate cleaning
37. I love taking baths
38. My sisters are my best friends
39. I include my sisters-in-law as sisters
40. I love Starbucks Mochas
41. I used to hate coffee
42. Now I drink it every day
43. I am a nurse
44. I am a teacher
45. I miss math
46. Aaron is good at math
47. Sadie has a great memory
48. Toby says she gets that from me
49. I am a published poet
50. Half way there!
51. I have a hard time being alone for very long
52. I think it has something to do w/ growing up in a big family
53. I recently went on an ACTS retreat
54. I think everyone should go on one
55. I am mu (refer to this post)
56. I like to sleep
57. I am not a morning person
58. I hate my hair
59. Widget just killed another bird...that makes 4
60. Hopefully my backyard will soon be bird-free!
61. I am learning to rejoice always
62. I am also learning to pray without ceasing
63. And to give thanks in all circumstances
64. That's from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
65. It's from my ACTS retreat
66. We have lived in our house for 6 years
67. I need to lose some weight
68. I like food way too much
69. And I don't like to exercise...
70. I'm beginning to run out of things to say
71. This is a prime number
72. I don't wear make-up very often in the summer
73. I don't go to tanning beds
74. I have a dog and a kitten
75. I miss reading for pleasure
76. I need to file all my mail from the past year
77. I need to clean out closets
78. I have an angel baby waiting for me in Heaven
79. I have never broken any bones
80. I have only been in the hospital for obstetrical events
81. Luckily, my kids have been very healthy
82. We have an alarm system, thank goodness!
83. We didn't get that system until after our garage was broken into...twice
84. We now keep our garage locked at all times
85. I like vanilla cokes from Sonic
86. I'm a rule follower
87. I'm addicted to Minesweeper
88. I think it's the math nerd in me
89. Yes, I am a math nerd
90. Toby's ring tone for me is "Brown-Eyed Girl"
91. I am not a girly-girl
92. My favorite show is NCIS
93. My kids are growing up too fast
94. I think my mom was crazy for having so many kids
95. I have never been outside of North America
96. I want to go to Vatican City
97. I wish I drove the Bat Mobile
98. I am not a warm and fuzzy person
99. Math RULZ!
100. I'm done :)

She's a Killer!

Widget, that is. She is turning into a bird killing machine, and we don't even let her stay outside for very long...only when we are out there with her.

Yesterday, she kill 2 birds. One was a little baby bird, probably about 3 inches long and still wingless. Then, about 20 minutes later, she killed a bigger one, with wing. And now this morning, she had killed her third!

That's what we got Widget for, was to keep the birds out of our trees, and it looks like she knows what her job is. Way to go, Widget! Keep up the good work!!!

Sadie at the Movies

I took the kids to watch Up on Tuesday. We had been to the WT swimming pool on Monday, and therefore I had shaved my legs Monday morning, and felt no need to shave again on Tuesday. I am not the type of girl who shaves her legs everyday, and this should come to no surprise to those of you who know me.

So, we're sitting in the theater, and Sadie feels it is her responsibility to commentate the entire movie. And not in whispers, either, but in her regular, everyday voice that I am sure several people around us could hear. Many times, she said "Awww...that's so sad!" She would also point out what was happening on the movie, like "Hey, that dog can talk!" Thanks, Sadie, I hadn't noticed that.

Then, in the middle of her commentating, she hops on my lap, turns around, and tells me "Mom, I tink you need to shave again 'cuz your pokes are hurting me."

Thanks, Sadie, for not only telling me that, but for sharing it with anyone within listening distance...

I'm Back!

A lot of you guys know that I was gone on a 4 day retreat over the weekend. I meant to post that I would be away for a few days, but got too busy and never got around to it. And I meant to post that I was back Sunday afternoon, but I was exhausted from my retreat and yesterday I was busy catching up on work and spending time with my family. So, I am finally getting around to posting again.

So, my retreat was awesome! I totally recommend it to anyone who needs to re-connect with God. It was an ACTS retreat, and I went to it feeling a bit skeptical. I had heard how wonderful the retreat was, but doubted that it would really touch me in the way it did. But it did, and I hope that I am never the same again.

So now, I guess it's back to the grind of summer routine. I will try to post more often again, now that I am back.

The Craziness of Crazy Hair Day

So everyday at VBS, there is a theme. Yesterday, they were suppose to wear their assigned colors. Sadie was yellow and Aaron was aqua. Today is crazy hair day. Sadie's hair is crazy everyday, so that was nothing new, but Aaron has short hair and there wasn't much we could do with it. So, here was the option I came up with...

Sadie has 14 ponytails, and thinks she looks like a lady bug. Not exactly sure why, but that's what she kept telling me after she went and looked in the mirror. I guess it has something to do with all the "spots" from the different pony tail holders...

And never fear...Aaron's hair will be completely buzzed this afternoon, after I get a few pix of him with his electric guitar and then maybe a few holding his motorcycle helmet. Too bad the motorcycle isn't here, or I'd probably get a few with that, too.

Beginning of VBS

Today was the first day of Vacation Bible School. Sadie was super excited because this is her first year to be old enough to be able to attend. This is Aaron's 3rd year. He was excited, too, but not as excited as Sadie.

The theme this year is Cosmic City. We had our VBS kick-off mass and hotdog supper last night, and got our t-shirts and CD...Sadie loved seeing the planets and stars up for the decorations, and both kids really seem to like the songs (so far...Aaron usually gets tired of the songs by the end of the week).

So, that's it for us for this week...VBS and then the regular weekly activities :)

What We've Been Up To...

Yesterday, me, Aaron and Sadie worked on this Uppercase Living project. If you haven't heard of UL, it's pretty cool. It's vinyl lettering that you can stick onto ANYTHING you can think of. They have tons of cool sayings, or you can create your own. I hosted a party a few weeks ago, and the orders came in early this week. I finally got around to getting this one put up...

Out of all the stuff I've ever ordered from UL, this is my favorite. I have been wanting a growth chart for my kids for a while now, and just never got around to making one. So, when I saw this in the UL catalog, I just knew I had to use part of my hostess benefits to get it. I also got the "Think Big" to go along with it, which I think fits pretty good.

After we got it all put up, I immediately had to measure the kids. Sadie is sitting at 41 inches, and Aaron is at 49 1/2 inches. I can't wait to watch them grow!

Another UL project that we have done is for Toby's mom. We made it for a housewarming gift. Here's a picture of it (I think it turned out pretty good)...

Any of you interested in ordering anything UL, or just finding out more about it can visit Jen's Simple Creations. Jennifer sells UL, and she could help you out.

Happy B-Day...

To the love of my life! I won't publicize just how old he is, but Aaron was able to figure it out doing the math when Toby told him what year he was born in.

It's amazing to think that I have been with Toby to celebrate 14 of his birthdays. It has been an incredibly wonderful 14 years (for the most part), and I am very lucky to have such an easy-going, penny-pinching, hunk-a-hunk-a sugar daddy in my life. Even more surprising is that said hunk keeps me around. He always jokes around that he is lucky to have "married up" but we all know the truth. We all know that I'm the lucky one, and that I caught the big one before he got away.

Must be that ultimatum I gave him...

So Happy Birthday, sweetie! I hope that it is a great one :)