Some mother...

Well, in the ages since I last put a post on here quite a bit has happened. What respectable blogging mother doesn't immediately put up a blog entry about their child's birthday? Way back on September 11th, Maddie turned 8! I'm still not over the fact that the terrorists ruined her first birthday, which I agree is mighty petty considering many people would have traded anything for just a bummed birthday that year...

Maddie received many things Camp Rock, like shirts, a necklace, and of course the DVD. Oh Disney and your over-the-top advertising campaigns for such movies and, of course, your merchandise deal with Target, how would I have survived birthday shopping without you?

Perhaps her most awesome birthday gift was her electric guitar. The girl is ready to rock. Spoiled? Yes, I agree. I had to wait until I was 16 to get my first electric guitar. Still, I was quite excited to jam with her. All of my guitars have been in hiding for years, so it has been fun to have them see the light of day again.


Mylie was very upset that she didn't get a guitar for her very own. Jealousy sprouts at such an early age...

In other news, Ben is now the assistant coach for Maddie's field hockey team. Perhaps I mentioned that on an earlier post, I can't remember.

Zacky started preschool. I had a difficult time getting a good shot of him because he was too busy playing with everything.



We also had our home invaded by repair men, as we had walls ripped open and every pipe in the house replaced. That was an adventure. The house was originally built with pipes prone to leaks. These pipes were part of a class action suit, because they were so awful. Anyway, we didn't have many leaks and we were very relieved to have them switched out before anything got flooded.

This process involved much prep work, such as emptying closets and much of our storage room, pulling things out from under every sink, and pulling furniture away from the walls. Just think, any of the places you normally hide things away are now vacant and the contents of said places are out for the world to see.

After the prep work, our home was filled with many, many workmen. The whole process of having the water shut off, walls open, pipes replaced, county inspector approval, re-drywalling and painting took three or four days.


Putting everything back has been a gradual process. I am trying to use this as an opportunity to get rid of things that I don't think we need to put back into the closets, under the sink, or into the storage closet. We have made at least four trips to goodwill to drop off hundreds (truly) of items.

My mother-in-law had Zack and Mylie from Sunday night until Friday afternoon that week. Life was very different with only two children, especially since it was my kids who don't wear diapers. It is amazing how much more room a purse can have when there aren't diapers and wipes clogging its useful space... Zack is potty trained now, by the way, which is so nice.

Monday we replaced the toilets that had decided to go on strike sometime last year and have served no useful purpose beyond being a convenient place to stack towels. To have all four toilets functional again is awesome.

As I type this there is a man up fixing the roof. I will be able to enjoy rainstorms again! I love the safe feeling of a rainy night. I figure what prowler or thief would want to be hanging out in the rain? Thus, my home has an added sense of protection on rainy days/nights. This lovely feeling has been greatly dampened (ha!) by the leaky roof and its many special brown watermarks it has left on the ceilings in various upstairs rooms.

I am ready for the upcoming weeks when I don't have so much upheaval and repair work going on in the house and I can settle back into more of a routine.

Let's see, what else? Andrew is interesting as usual. He is enjoying kindergarten, but he is soooo tired and emotional by the end of the day that I have started imposing what I call "kindergarten naps" so that he will feel like it is ok to take naps even though he is so old. He has had a substitute much of the school year because his teacher's dad has been very sick. We received a note in his backpack yesterday that said his teacher's father had passed away, so I can only imagine how little his teacher is going to feel like teaching. It will be an interesting year.

Here is a conversation I had recently with Andrew as we were going over safety issues (he is such a thoughtful child):

Me: It is not ok for anyone to touch you anywhere that is covered by your swimsuit. No one should touch people's swimsuit areas.
Andrew: Ok, but what if they just really like touching swimming suits?
Me: Then they can touch the swim suits when you aren't in it, and you're wearing your play clothes.
Andrew: OK.
Me: If anyone tries to touch you or asks you to touch them in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable, then it is important you tell me or tell Dad right away.
Andrew: OK, I promise. Oh, and if anyone tries to touch my private parts I will them NO! then I will tell them to wash their hands right away. There are soooooo many germs down there!!!!!


I am trying to live it up for the next eight days, because I can see the end of my 20s coming to a close. I remember looking forward to birthdays. The fact that I turn thirty on October 2 is crazy. 30 used to seem old. The 20s have been good. I finished college, got married, had four kids. Still, entering a new decade of life is a bit daunting. The next ten years will be scary because within the next ten years my kids will start driving, dating, graduating from high school, and starting college!!!! The fact that Maddie will be baptized in a few weeks is also amazing to me, because it reminds me how quickly time goes!