I apologize in advance

I think this is going to be a long post. I have a lot of ground to cover! Chock full of kid cuteness!

We took our real first family roadtrip. We drove to Albuquerque for my cousin's wedding. Our longest road trip prior to this was about 4 hours. This trip was 7+. We had to make a stop about every 2 hours. It wasn't terrible, but I don't love being in the car for long periods anyhow. But when we really got into a groove, with the kids watching a movie, I got to knit for about an hour and that was nice (note: I obviously was not driving...knitting and driving not a good idea!). We got to ABQ and had just a bit of time to sit in the hotel before we headed over to the townhome my aunt and cousins were staying. They threw a little party for the bride and groom the night before the wedding. This was the first time I got to meet two of my little cousins...in addition to one of my cousin's children. Evan and Delilah really enjoyed playing with their many cousins. They ran around like crazy people for the better part of a couple hours. James and I got to hang out with my close family and my extended family. When it was getting late, Evan came to us and said he was tired and ready to go to bed. LOL. When we were getting into the car, Delilah told me that her "claw" hurt. (this conversation went like this. Delilah: My claw hurts. Me: Your what? D: My claw. Me: Your crotch? D: No, my claw.) When she started to point at her wrist I got what she meant. We thought that maybe she got hurt during the Mortal Kombat with her cousins. So, I told her that if it still hurt in the morning we would take her to the doctor. We gave her some ibuprofen when she really started insisting that it hurt.

First thing in the morning she was awake and complaining of pain. So after a couple of hours waiting and waiting for Kaiser to call us back, we scooted over to the Urgent Care. I thought for sure it was broken the way she was carrying on. They xrayed and it was not broken. So we hustled back to the hotel, just in time to get ready for the wedding. The wedding was beautiful. My cousin and his bride did a great job of making it a nice backyard event. It was lovely chatting with all of our family. We were plain exhausted from the day in urgent care, so we called it an early evening. Delilah was still in a lot of pain.

We drove home the following day, with Miss D still favoring her arm, crying whenever we had to draw it through a shirt or a seatbelt. I thought that if it was still bothering her on Monday, I would take her in.

Monday, when I picked Delilah up from her school to take her to the doctor, her little hand was very swollen and red and very sore. I was certain that they had made a mistake and that it was broken. I was very surprised when the doctor looked her over and said that she thought it was cellulitis and MRSA! There was no break in the skin, but the doctor was pretty confident that that was what was going on. She said it fit because it was red, swollen, painful and warm to the touch. She was pretty concerned (As was I!!!), but thought we could try some antibiotics and see how she reacted. I got 3 doses of medicine in her by our check up the next morning and it was a little less swollen already. Very scary. So now, it is 10 days after and she had her last dose last night. So we have to watch to see if reoccurs. So far though, her claw is as good as new.

My sweet girl has been very enthusiastic about helping me cook. She joins me in the kitchen every night. When our neighbor came to get Evan and her, she said very gravely, "I have to finish dinner first." It was only when we put the corn muffins in the oven, that she went out the door to play. Sometimes she is a little overzealous and flings things when she stirs. I have to say it is a delight to have a kid who wants to join me in the kitchen.

Speaking of imprinting, Evan has been coming home with drawings. What is he drawing? He draws computer screens, with buttons and characters. Yes, he is designing his own computer/video games. He even put a button with a letter "P" in it, for "Play." He also drew an iPad. When I told him that people have jobs where they design video games, his eyes lit up!

Evan is really enjoying Kindergarten. He told me recently that someone was there "pretending to be Miss Z___." I realized that he meant a substitute teacher. LOL.

Evan overheard James and I discussing someone changing their status on Facebook to "in a relationship." Evan said, "Oh, that's not good." I asked, "Do you know what "in a relationship" means?" He said, "No." I said, "It means that he has a girlfriend." Evan snickered and said, "Oh, did he get in love?" :)

Family life is really great right now. We are enjoying it. My work life is somewhat scarier. Just hoping that I keep a job. Things are really really dire at work and everyone is feeling it.

My not-so Baby Girl

Delilah has this cell phone that was used as a model in the stores. When we were getting our phones, they gave it to her to keep her busy. Her model has a slide out keyboard. She walked into the kitchen the other day and was busily pushing buttons on the keyboard. She said, "Mama, I tecting. I tecting." So cute and funny.

This morning I was getting her up out of bed and she was very interested in the built in necklaces my shirt has. "What's that?" "It's part of my shirt, see?" "Oh, I lub it."

*Sigh* I lub her.

So I didn't watch the Emmys

But I have watched some clips this morning and read up on what happened. Sounds like I didn't miss much. :P

I want to talk about Christina Hendrick's boobs. So unoriginal, I know. I think that is all that people talk about when she comes up in conversation. I think it is lovely that a beautiful, curvy woman can exist in Hollywood. And the show Mad Men supposedly encourages women there to not be super toned or super skinny so that it sticks with a more realistic portrayal. Which is great.

But this does not look comfortable. This also looks like someone who wants to make her boobs the subject of every watercooler conversation the day after the Emmys. These boobies are screaming for help!

(photo from The Superficial)

IIB or not IIB

So, I got promoted. I am now a Band IIB (as opposed to a IIA). It means very little except that I am now officially a supervisor (even though I have been supervising for 5 years), that I have a chance at an office (everyone in HQ has an office after BandII, but not everyone in my field office does). It also means a small increase in pay, and that I can ultimately cap out at higher number at some distant year in the future. It still feels nice to be recognized by my bosses.

But here we all are, still terrified that we are going to lose our jobs. The House passed their appropriation and our numbers for FY12 were $36 million less than this year. They were talking about reductions in staff then. Normally, the Senate appropriations are a little more kind...historically, we usually get a little bit more money from them. But this year, they are recommending $42 million less than this year. Ugh. I am sure this hit our agency's heads hard. Our agency isn't like DOD in that it can just quick making a jet or something and save $1 billion. We are 85% people costs. So people are going to lose their jobs. The calculation into who and what offices are way more complicated than we are privy to. But there is a lot of fear and worry here in my office.

I just hope that I get an opportunity to try this promotion on for more than a couple of months. :(

Bittersweet

I traveled with two of my sisters and my dad to my aunt's funeral this week. We left on Saturday and flew to California. It was lovely seeing everyone that we hadn't seen in so long. It was really bittersweet knowing how much my aunt Nan would have loved to have everyone there with her. We told stories. My dad played his guitar and sang. We looked at pictures. It was really touching to see that while we didn't get our families together often, Aunt Nan meticulously saved each photo we shared with her. There were pictures of us as kids, senior photos, photos of my kids... I got to meet my cousin's kids. They were a delight and reminded me of the ones I left at home. Family then...
Family now...

Saturday was a travel day and a little party at my uncle's house. Sunday, we went to the yacht club and beach. Monday, was Nan's day. It was a sad day. We had the funeral mass and then went to the cemetary. My heart really broke for my dad.
We flew home on Tuesday.

I am exhausted just thinking of my next month. James and I fly to Hawaii next week. Then my cousin's wedding in Albuquerque is at the end of the month. With a trip to DC likely before the month is over. Whew!

Firsts

A busy week of firsts. Yesterday was Evan's assessment day for Kindergarten. I kept him home with me in the morning. He was super excited to be able to have time to watch TV before we left. At one point, he turned to me and said, "Mommy, I love you." I said, "Why, because you get to watch TV?" He said, "No, because you're my mommy." So I guess he senses from me that something is different--that life is changing.

We packed all of his school supplies up and hauled them over to the school. His school does testing for the students before they start the year...I guess to get an idea of where they are lacking or excelling. As we waited, we put all of the school supplies away and then Evan found the paper owl on the wall with his name on it...he called it a Zombie Owl because it was green. Evan went off with a teacher-type to be assessed. Leaving me in this miniature-sized chair to wait for him. When he came back, I asked him if he got all the questions right. And he said, No, that he didn't know how to read the words. After that, I took him to daycare and went off to work.

Last night, the kids and I had a little McDonald's picnic in our neighbors' yard (with the neighbors... LOL). Then Evan and his Dad started having a sword fight (not a euphemism...but also not real swords obviously), Evan tripped and got his first real knee scrape. He has had a few little bumps and bits of blood, but this was hard core, about a quarter sized scrape and it was all bloody. I saw him go down and then screech. But when he saw the blood, he made a bee line to me. I chuckled with my neighbor about how *now* he comes to mom. But by then he was in my face SCREAMING bloody murder. SCREAMING so loud that I am sure people in a 4 block radius were concerned. SCREAMING so much that he had drool running down his chin. What did I do? My first maternal instinct? To cover my mouth and laugh my damn ass off. In fact, I continue to laugh every time I think of him screaming like his leg had been cut off. I got him all cleaned up and tried to tell him that this was the first of many skinned knees. He continued to howl until the very second that I placed that bandaid on his leg. Then he was fine.

He was walking with a limp this morning. LOL.

So today was the first day of Kindergarten. I am working from home so that I am able to take Evan and pick him up on his first day. He got to pick a movie to watch this morning (Toy Story 3...not a good choice for Moms that are sending their kids off to kindergarten today). Then we packed up his back pack and headed over to the school with what I thought would be plenty of time. WRONG. Every single parent apparently takes their kids to school on the first day. I had to park 5 blocks away and then we needed to run to make sure we got there in time. They have designated line up spots, but damned if the kids can tell where since there are so many 6 feet tall people standing around. By this time, Evan was anxious to go and kept asking why it was taking so long. He found the little boy he knows from day care (the Bully!) who will be in his class.

The teachers announced that it was time to walk in, I said good bye and that I would see him for our lunch date. He walked off.

He looked over his shoulder and said, "I love you, Mom." My sweet boy was trying to reassure *me* on his first day of school.

Unwanted Attention

Blogger finally got some stats enabled on the blogs, so you can see which of your blogs are getting the most attention. I continuously get hits for one blog entry that is about 4 sentences long. It was entitled Quit D!ck!ng around and Do Some Work. People from all over the world come and read this inane post that has really no point. Probably because it has the word D!ck in it. *eye roll* So I deleted it. There was no point to it really anyhow.

I am in the middle of what feels like the longest week ever. It is feast or famine with the work. I was super busy the last couple of days, and then today is much slower.

My aunt passed away on Monday morning. I am particularly sad for my Dad. I cannot imagine losing my sister. I am also sad for her husband and children. I was hoping to go to the service, but not sure I will be able to go because next week is such a mess. I guess we will see.

In the car, Evan overheard me talking on the phone about my aunt dying and he said, "Your aunt died? The one you told me about?" I told him yes and he turned to Delilah and said, "Delilah, our aunt died today. She had a terrible disease." She gasped and said, "Oh. That sad." There is no way she can even know what she is saying, but she knew enough from his tone that it was a sad thing. Love them. :)

James and I went with our friend, Christie, rafting this weekend. It was really fun. In our boat, we had the three of us, our guide, and another older couple. We did our paddling practice on land and then our guide said, "Ok, let's get in the water!" Christie and I looked at each other, terrified. Paddling on land wasn't enough?! But we got in the water and away we went. The water was very cold...as our guide said, "8 hours ago this was snow." I will definitely do it again next summer. Maybe a different run next time.

Next week, my Kindergartener will start school. I am curious how he got to be school aged already.

Today I really like my kids :P

I have nothing but warm fuzzies for them today....that will likely change around 4:30 when we walk in the door and immediately I am expected to comply with requests for tv, game, snack, juice simultaneously. But right now, I am thinking of how sweet and cute they are.

Last night, we did my latest meal from the Six O'Clock Scramble...it was Mini Pizzas on Tortillas. I had done versions of them years ago. I had the kids make their own pizzas. Evan was especially into it. Normally, he doesn't like pepperoni because it is "spicy." But I bought some turkey pepperoni that he really liked. He made quite the pizza for himself. He kept saying, "This is going to be soooo yummy for me to eat." Then, Delilah actually made a pizza for her daddy (because I had already made hers thinking she wouldn't want pepperoni...I was wrong). I think this is the first time she has ever helped me cook. She got a real kick out of it. And while we were eating, she kept saying, "I cooked a pizza." Both kids ate a ton.

I had to have Evan sign some paperwork for his school (agreeing to use the computers in the correct way....as James said, "Yeah, I am sure that will hold up in court."). So then Delilah wanted to write her name. So I got her a paper and she made all these precise little squiggles and would say random letters that she thought she was making. She looked at her pen and realized that there was this little button on top. She pushed it and the pen part disappeared. And then she laughed. It was so neat getting to be a part of her discovering something that we take for granted.

I had to go to Evan's Kindergarten today to get some papers signed and pay his fees (Sidebar: Yes, FEES. In kindergarten. I am not sure when this started happening. I checked with my mom and she doesn't remember having to pay fees. It was public school...shit is free. Even the bus costs extra money. Craziness. I guess school funding doesn't go as far as it used to. And I did a non-scientific poll of my internet friends who live across the US and the majority of them were astounded as well. In AZ, you dont' even have to pay for school supplies. End Sidebar.) My little guy is growing up. I just can't believe it. I was so nervous walking in there to get everything taken care of. Like it was my first day of school. Life will be a-changing in about 2 weeks.

A couple of nights ago, James and I were watching tv and Evan hollered from his bedroom, "Mom, I am really getting bored of all my books." LOL. We bought a couple new ones for him, but it hasn't been enough. He has been coming down nightly to ask James for comic books. I feel iffy about it because I don't like the graphic images of sex or violence. James swears these are ok for Evan to look at. Last night, I tried to put Evan off by saying, "I think your dad is running low on comics for you." Evan said, "No, he has millions of them."

The other things going on my life: My aunt is very ill. This is my dad's oldest sister. She was always the best aunt to have growing up. She was one of those grown ups who always was (or pretended to be) super interested in what you had to say. That was so important to a kid like me. I wanted grown ups to take me seriously. Sadly, it seems as though she will not make it much longer. I hope that she can be without pain or fear. I am really sad that my kids will never know her.

We had the head of our agency to our office on Monday. Nothing really new was said. But it was clear that he really is trying to do what is best for the government and our agency...and trying to lessen the pain on the individuals. I guess we will find out more by October.

Good clean fun

We went to the water park today. We opted to get a cabana. Which is really just a tent with some chairs and a table in there. It was pricey but totally worth it when you have fair skin or a baby in your party. We met some friends from soccer. Evan and Asher were on their first soccer team together over two years ago and we have kept hanging out with the family. They have a 10 month old, and she even got to nap in the cabana. So it was perfect.

We also ran into another friend. My friend from home, Kala, and her boyfriend and son. We can't plan time together, but it was wonderful to randomly run into them and get to spend time together. We really had fun.

Now we are off to IKEA for the first time ever. Really excited.

Delilah got a new princess book. She just found a picture of Ariel's wedding and said, "There's Ariel and her daddy kissing." Uh no. LOL

Keep Calm and Carry On

Someone at my work has hung up this poster:

These type of posters were used in England during WWII. I think the sentiment is just perfect. In addition to the threat of a loss of job hanging over our heads, we are also under construction. We work all day with the sound of jackhammers going. I have to pack my entire cube up by the end of the month and temporarily move to another floor. It is probably a good time to go through all the crap I have accumulated over the last few years and throw it away. We did get some good news today...well good for us. My big boss did not get the job that would take him away from this agency. So bad for him, good for us.

Last night James and I went to see Crazy, Stupid, Love as part of our date night. It was a cute movie. A little longer than I would have liked. Plus, we were both irate at these teenagers who talked through the entire damn movie. We had our neighbor girl over to babysit. Evan told me this morning that both sisters were over at some point. They do a good job. They played games with the kids. But it is easy to see that my kids manipulate the shit out of those poor girls. Delilah was in bed with every single thing in her room in her bed, including a sippy cup of chocolate milk. Delilah woke up asking for her babysitters and cried when I said they were gone. They must have had fun.

Tomorrow, I am taking the day off so that we can take the kids to a waterpark. We went one day last year and the kids really enjoyed it. This time we are meeting some friends over there too. Should be a good time.

The other day, James was talking to Delilah and said, "Oh look it's My Little Pony." To which she got all mad and said, "No! It's MY little pony." Ahahaha. It never fails to amuse.

Beyonce, the giant metal chicken

If you don't think this is funny...

Then you haven't yet read this blog yet. Beyonce now has her own facebook page.

Pee and Pennies

James' facebook post today had me giggling. It was something that Evan said this morning, "I have to wash my hands. They smell like pee and pennies."

I love that kid. He makes me laugh.

Yesterday, I went out with a friend that I have known a long time but hadn't met in real life until last night. ;) She had just finished her bar exam. We had a drink and dinner at a really nice place with good food. Mmmm. Sliders. Delicious.

After I got home, I went to say good night to Evan. He was disassembling his Cars Legos. I guess to see how they go back together. They are meant for 7 year olds, so I put them together, but he is learning now how to take them apart and put them together.

Per usual, I am trying to lose some weight. I am not a fan of WW's PointsPlus. I used WW for years, and PointsPlus is really hard to get used to. So I have been using MyFitnessPal. One thing that MFP has over WW is an Android app (WW has one but it is huge...40 MB) that you can scan bar codes and add food items using just a bar code scanner. Love. I will weigh in tomorrow to see how it went this week. I really would like to lose some weight before I go to Hawaii! I have been working out 3 days a week for a while.

And speaking of Hawaii. Our kids are going to start to think that they don't allow children there. Because we are going kid free. The idea of that red eye flight home with them makes me twitchy. But my wonderful friend Lori is getting married on my birthday. I better be honored in some way ;)

It has been exactly one year since I had my breast reduction. You can barely see my scars. I love my smaller frame.

Life gets in the way

I can't even use the excuse that I am super busy anymore. Right now things at work are slow and I can't even get to my blog. We busted our butts for a few months, but things are slow for the next couple of weeks.

And then we are supposed to hear about the future of our workplace mid-September. A little unsettling. It is a bad time to work for The Man. Everyone here is concerned. A lot of gallows humor floating on the breeze. A lot of "If we are still here..." comments going around. Makes it really difficult to stay motivated. At the very least we will have 60 days notice before being turned out on our ears.

At any rate, life goes on. We are slowly starting a new project. I have another new hire to develop. I made a big mistake and totally stood him up for a meeting today. A meeting that I set up. Talk about making a good first impression. I apologized profusely and followed up with an email. My friends here think it is hilarious. And I have to admit once I got over being mortified, I laughed too.

The kids are doing great. Summer is such a nice time of year for kids. It is so nice for them to play outside. Evan and our neighbors' son love to play around together. Delilah follows behind doing exactly as they do. My boy is going to start Kindergarten in about 4 1/2 weeks. I am so not ready for that!

James and I also enjoy the summer. The summer means that no good tv is on, so we catch up on shows we don't watch during the year. For instance, we started watching Friday Night Lights. I believe there are 5 seasons and we have watched about half of the first season. That is really good. We finished up Six Feet Under. Brilliant. And less brilliant...we have been watching the Jersey Shore. It is fun though.

I will try to write more another day. Before more life gets in the way :)

I am fascinated with Evan's comments on God. He has so many questions. He knows a lot of Bible stories since he goes to a Christian day care...and I can supplement with my own religious training. I really want him to know about many religions, but I have to admit I don't know as much as I could about the others. Evan came downstairs while I was watching Grey's Anatomy today. During this episode, the doctors were taking care of kids from Africa with medical issues. One particular child had a deformity where his heart formed right next to his skin and you could see it through his skin. Evan was concerned about the little boy and asked me why he had that problem. I told him, "Remember we talked about how everyone is born differently? How God made us all a little different? Well, that little boy was born like that." Evan said, "Oh. Why are they fixing it?" I said, "Well, it is dangerous to have your heart close to your skin." Evan said, "Did God know that it was dangerous when he made the little boy like that?" .............. "I don't know, Evan." My little philosopher.

Keeping Busy

I am fully aware that I owe a blog or two. We have been drafting at work and are very busy...and I can't seem to bring myself to write much else on those days. Tonight Evan was giving me the "I'm Bored" speech. He kept asking to play different video games. I told him, "You don't always have to play a video game. Find something else to do." He said, "Like what?" I said, "Play with your Batman ["No"], Play with your trains ["I don't wanna."], You can help me fold laundry ["nooooo...."], I have toilets you can scrub." He then said, "Ok." I said, "Ok, what?" He said, "Ok, I want to scrub toilets." LOL. So I set him up with a rag and scrub brush, and sprayed down the toilet myself. I, then, gave him some instructions on what to do. He very seriously told me, "I know. I did this when I was 4." After the toilet, he vacuumed the living room.

Embarrassment

Tonight I was doing my best parenting (i.e. letting Evan play his Wii game and letting Delilah watch a DVD on the little DVD player so I can cook dinner). James came home and we were chatting about the day. I could see Delilah dancing and trying to sing to the DVD. She hasn't really done this before, so I called James' attention to it. I should mention that she is obsessed with The Chipmunk Adventure. This is circa 1987, and my sisters and I recorded this movie one of the times we had free HBO and/or Disney Channel. It was also one of the first times I ever made my own soundtrack to a movie (by holding my tape recorder up to the tv and praying that no one walked into the room and spoiled the awesomeness). So, let's just say that I have all the words memorized to the songs. Anyhow, so Delilah got to this part of the movie and was singing and dancing along: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7YQhYYVPO0 (I would embed, but Blogger is being a DB). She put her fist in the air and said, "Rock!" just like Brittany does in the movie. James and I were smiling and saying mouthing how cute she was before this, but when she did her "Rock!" move, James imitated her. She turned around like she was busted, and burst into tears. She cried for a good 10 minutes. I think she was embarrassed. It was so funny and sad at the same time. And then we sat down to dinner, and Evan, who had been complaining of a headache, threw up onto his dinner plate. As you can imagine, dinner just wasn't the same after that.

Cluttered

I have been feeling overwhelmed by the clutter in my house. It is a constant battle. The basement is a disaster. I have been reading this book on cleaning up clutter...written by one of the guys on Clean Sweep on TLC. I read it right before bed and it affected my dreams. All night long, I cleaned and organized my basement. Not the best way to spend my sleep time.

It is really interesting though. The book has some of the reasons we keep things around and some of them really resonate with me.

First, "I might need it some day." I come by this one honestly. My dad always keeps stuff he might need on hand. Like if I went to him and said, "Do you have some cardboard, baling twine, and fertilizer?" he would have everything I needed to make some MacGuyveresque contraption. So, I keep boxes on hand (so if I have to ship something at Xmas, I will have a box), but then I realized one day that I had WAY too many boxes. Or if one of the kids' coloring books comes with crayons, I add those crayons to our already large stockpile of crayons. Because you can never have too many crayons? And being unprepared is one of my worst nightmares.

Also, "But it is worth a lot of money." This is another big one for me. We keep things around because we paid money for them and it seems a shame to waste that money. This applies to so many things in our basement. But mainly, childrens' clothes... Sitting on a goldmine of childrens' clothes. Good stuff, too. It is so hard for me to think about just throwing away piles of money. But things are only worth what people want to give you for them. I have tried a couple of things with the clothes. Consignment shops, but oh man do they make me mad. Another rant for another day. Ebay...I ended up paying more for the shipping than I made on the sale. I have given them to friends.

Then there is the emotional attachment to things. This is probably my biggest crutch...for the things that may seem the most worthless. I read tons of journal-based novels as a young girl, and fancied that someone would someday want to publish my journals. So I wrote journals after journals for years. I kept boxes of notes passed during middle school. The further the distance from that time period, the more obvious it is that rollerblade box in my closet is full of paper...not memories. There was a time when I thought those were the best days of my life and I wanted to hold on to them forever. And they were fun times...and maybe I am afraid that if I throw that box away those funny times that made me laugh until I cried will just cease to exist. Already, Aimee or Jamie (my BFFs from grade/middle/high school) will remind me of something and I won't have any recollection of that moment. And how could that happen to me?! I have the best memory... And all those ratty pieces of paper that are folded into special shapes are my back up hard drive of those days. But who I am kidding?! No one will ever even consider my box full of paper as memories when I die. Delilah and Evan will open it up and see piles of paper so old the pencil and pen writing can't even be read on it and see it for what it is...trash. And quite honestly, I would die if they ever read my journals...so it would be good if I was already dead...because that would be awful. (note to self: research ways to shred entire journals.)

These are the things swirling through my head last night as I tried to sleep. I want a way to clean up some of that clutter for we have space for this life. I am also wanting to help Evan to learn some good habits when it comes to limiting yourself and getting rid of things we don't need. We haven't done a good job so far... you can tell by the bins overflowing with trains ("But they are worth a lot of money!") and books. And I have hard time making him get rid of something that he used to love so much....but maybe we can learn together.

Just for you, Jen ;)

This morning, I took the kids to school, and we were jamming to Lady Gaga's Born This Way. The hook goes: "I'm beautiful in my way, Cause God makes no mistakes, I'm on the right track baby, I was born this way"

Evan pipes up from the back seat, "God makes no mistakes?"

I said, "That's right. The song means that no matter what color you are, or what you look like, you are perfect in your own way because God made you that way." I was sort of impressed with myself, being able to impart my child with such wonderful wisdom.

"Yeah, God made my Batman game, too."

*sigh*

Heh.

Tonight, Evan was tormenting his sister as usual.

I told him, "God doesn't like for you to push your sister."

He says, "God doesn't even know me."

Two Whole Years

Well, my girl is now two years old. She had her birthday yesterday. She enjoyed getting toys and was so excited. Today at her two year appointment she measured in at 33.5 inches and 23 lbs. So she is still a little one, but getting bigger. She entertained the doctor by cleaning the office with a wipe.

Then and Now

Lest you think she doesn't understand

After the second report of "aggressiveness" at daycare in as many days, I was trying to figure out how to talk to an almost two-year-old about it. While I was getting her ready for bed, I said, "Who are your friends at school?" She named some of the kids in her class. Then I said, "You have to be nice to your friends." And she said, "Kick!" and made a kicking motion with her foot. Mm hmm.

In addition to my dear girl, we also heard the unintentional comedic stylings of Evan tonight. While he was setting the table, he said, "Delilah, are you ready to get forked?" We spend a lot of time laughing (at) with them.

Also...Maukie the virtual cat.

I was looking for widgets...and I found Maukie. Sort of bizarre and great. We had a cat named Maki (probably pronounced the same as "Maukie") and he was black and white just like this cat. So he stays for a little bit. :)

Sorry. So Sorry

Yeah, so...um, blogging has really fallen by the wayside. It has been 6 months since I blogged. Many reasons for it. There were some personal things going on that I couldn't make public...and since almost everything in my life is public I couldn't say anything. LOL.

Also, work has been INSANE. Insane. insane. There was a report issued recently that has gotten big attention. Our section was a part of the huge report, but it has gotten much attention. And will continue to. We are just trying to stay on top of all the changes. Plus, I write so much at work, that it is hard for me to write anymore than I already do. But I really do like to blog. I like to read back at what I wrote...it is like reading a really funny friend ;)

Another reason is facebook. Blame it on the 'book. I feel like most people keep up with me pretty well there. Do you really want more stories of my boring little life?

James and I have been doing well. We have a lot of fun together on the weekends. We try to get the kids out to do fun stuff. Like Delilah's first movie last weekend. She made it through the first hour of Rango. Then she and I left James and Evan to finish it up.

Sunday, we went with our good friends to the Melting Pot. Double date with no babies. It was tons of fun and made me wish our vacation with them were coming sooner (Disney Cruise 2013!).

The kids are doing great! Delilah will be 2 Thursday. TWO years old. I cannot believe this. She has tons of sass and talks my ear off. Evan will be 5 at the end of the month. This I also have trouble believing. He loves playing his Lego Batman game. That is pretty much all he talks about right now. A gamer at age 5. Don't know where he would have picked that up. ;)

Pictures to make up for my absence.