My awesome girls!

This weekend we bought a full set of crate style furniture off a lady on Craigslist. Roman had baseball practice during the time we set to pick it up, so Jeni came over and road with us to help with lifting as James's back is still not 100%. When we arrived we met the nice lady who I had been corresponding with. Her husband had lined up a few friends to help us load the furniture - totally unexpected! Overall it was the easiest transaction ever. They were a really nice couple with an adorable 8 month old daughter.

So, anyone who knows my girls knows they seldom ever meet a stranger. They are obnoxiously friendly and very outgoing and being that James and I constantly have people hanging out, they are just as accustomed to interacting with adults as they are children. No surprise they took to this lady immediately! By the time the furniture was loaded and I went to round them up to head home, I find Bethany curled up in her lap with Hope sitting as close next to her as possible all singing and talking to the baby. I just shook my head, grinning (who could help it!), apologized explaining they know no strangers and have issues with personal space. Lucky for them they are both adorably cute with bubbly personalities that makes even the most hard hearted of people melt. Apparently she was enjoying every minute of it. This morning when I arrived at work I found an email for her awaiting me. This is what she had to say....

Julie- I hope you didn’t have any trouble getting the furniture moved in and you are happy with it. I also wanted to tell you that your daughters are absolutely precious. Polite, friendly and a joy to be around… I hope Megan is exactly like that when she is older!

What an overwhelmingly awesome compliment! Can you even imagine?? I have been grinning all morning, just so proud of my little ladies! I mean *I* know they're terrific kids, but there's just something so heartwarming when others, particularly complete strangers, go out of their way to acknowledge it! This is a first time mom of a small infant and to hear her make that last comment about hoping her baby turns out like my girls just makes me overflow with pride for them! I love them so much!!!! And when you get a compliment like this, you just have to stop and let that warmth and pride of it wrap around you a bit and hold tight to knowing that you must be doing something right, cause let's face it, parenting is scary stuff! Yes, they can be rotten at times, but overall I really could not be prouder of my kids. All of them! (Roman just wasn't included because he wasn't there!)

Spring Break

I do believe all in all we had a boring, relaxing, easy spring break this year. The kids were happy to be heading back to school today and James and I were happy to send them! They had a lot of late nights, sleeping in till noon, eating a lot of junk, watching movies, playing video games, and playing outdoors. We made it to the park twice, managed a bit of spring cleaning, and had a "date" with our neighbors while James got a much needed break.... since Rich was out of time (convenient being spring break and all!) Tracie invited me and the kids over for movie and popcorn one night. That was nice, something different, and as usual the kids (and I) had a great time! Otherwise it was just hanging out with some much needed downtime!

On the down side there was LOTS of fights and bickering. Tons of dramatic tears, even from Roman, and basically I've decided that my children are doomed to be constant movers and over-achievers. It is quite clear that they have no concept of downtime or how to just relax. hmmm.... I can't imagine where they'd get that from!

Inherited Boo-hoos

I have determined that this MUST skip every other generation.....

For a bit of history let me tell you of my beloved mother! She is an amazing person. Probably the strongest person I know. She is very kind hearted, always thinking of others before herself, especially her children. My mother suffers from a great deal of pain, but rarely will you ever hear about it as she is not one to ever complain! I can not say enough wonderful things about my mom, nor how proud I am to be her called her daughter. And yes if she is reading this she is most likely already beginning to tear up!

See, my mom isn't perfect. What mom is? My mom is often naive and for some reason things just always happen in her presence! I could spend days, weeks, maybe even months writing up tales of her, but for now, that's not what this is about. See, my mom is a crier. She cries at nearly every movie she watches. She boo-hoos through her soaps regularly. Tears stream down while reading a book. And yes, she was the embarrassing one with the white hanky in the front row blowing her nose, wiping her eyes, and waving her hanky at me on stage for every recital, concert, play, speech, basically every moment of life regardless of how big or small! I have teased her unendingly for pretty much the entirety of my life.

Me? No, I'm not much of a crier. True something will hit me every now in then, but I seldom cry. Kari, being a much more emotional person than I, still isn't much of a crier... not like mom! Sure I swell with pride and want to yell out, "Hey, that's my kid!" when I see my 3 in the spotlight, and while I may occasionally wave, never has it been with a hanky in hand.

In my previous mention of hysterical genetics skipping generations I must confess.... my girls have totally inherited the boo-hoo gene from my mother! Hope can not watch a movie without crying. She cries over books and pretty much everything in life. A complete drama queen. Even movies that she has seen 2,000 times she STILL cries over (yup, just like her grandmother!). For instance in High School Musical 2 Troy and Gabriella break up. Hope KNOWS this as she has the movie memorized, but still as soon as Gabriella breaks into the "break up song" she loses it and goes into complete hysterics!

Bethany has always been a stronger, more independent spirit... so we thought. B tends to cry more out of anger than anything, but last night as I lay in bed with my girls watching the movie "Eight Below" and listening to her sob, these heart wrenching painful sobs, literally crying herself to sleep over a dog that gets left behind all by himself, I couldn't help but laugh thinking, "Yup, every other generation and both my girls are doomed to be hanky wavers!!!!" (she was asleep before they confirmed that dog had died, boy was I thankful for that!)

Happy Belated Easter

I completely forgot in my last post to say HAPPY EASTER!!! (even though I know it's 2 days late). We had a great Easter. We got up early Sunday. The kids quickly hunted down all the eggs and found their baskets. Before breaking into them though it was upstairs to get dressed for church. We had to be there by 8:30. They each were allowed a small handful of candy to take with them, but otherwise their new goodies had to wait till we got home.


At church the kids had an Easter egg hunt during Sunday School and scored tons more candy and stuff. It was the first Sunday the band played so far this year. James being laid up with his back and Debbe out fighting breast cancer has kept the band appart since Christmas. Stacey was working, so I was recruited to play bass guitar. Boy was I nervous! I hadn't picked up a guitar in over 10 years and even then I was no actual player, just learned a few songs to humor James! I had practiced hard on 1 of the 3 songs, but the other two I didn't even know about until Sunday morning! Yikes!!! I pulled off an almost convincing show though. Don't know how, must have been a God thing! The kids also played handbells and did a fantastic job as usual. Bethany is so expressive to watch, a true little entertainer.


After church, Jeni went with us to Robius Landing park for a picnic dinner. We hid some of the kids plastic eggs and let them search for them. Roman and I threw the baseball around some, practicing his catching. We played on the little dock and went for a hike in the woods. It was a really nice day. Cool, but nice! Afterwards we said bye to Jeni and headed home. Once home, everyone laid down and slept a good 3-4 hours! I think we all needed that very much. Gma came by for a late dinner and we all snuggled down to watch Enchanted before heading back to bed.


Overall it was a nice quiet family day, so very different than the year before. Looking back through it does not appear that I blogged on last Easter. I know, I wasn't a very good blogger at all last year! But a year ago on Easter Sunday 2007, James was baptized. Anyone who knew him prior to this would have said, "Hell would have to freeze over before you get him to church on a regular basis!" Well, apparently there was some truth in that because on Easter Sunday of 2007 we got our only snowfall of the year here in Richmond! LOL It will take him awhile to get past the certainty that hell must have frozen over that day as he handed his life over to Christ! Afterwards we had a last minute party at our house to celebrate. The day before I had 2 people coming over after church. They held band practice that afternoon and James asked if he could invite anyone that didn't already have plans to join us..... no one had plans! LOL We went from a planned meal for 8 to feeding 50+ in less than 24 hours. I just threw on another turkey and added a ham and a few more sides and voila! It was a fantastic day but sooooo opposite this year's Easter. Equally wonderful, just different!

Easter and the Easter Bunny

We have never really talked about the Easter Bunny much in our house. It is the one holiday I try to downplay in the commercialized hype and stick to the real reason we celebrate. Of course we do dye eggs and the Easter Bunny does come and hide the eggs and leave treats in the kids' easter baskets. We don't decorate the house, and if we do it's with flowers, crosses, doves, mostly spring or religious symbols instead of cute little chicks and bunnies. The eggs don't even get dyed until the night before right before bed and pretty much either get eaten or tossed in the trash the next morning after they've found them. Easter baskets are packed full of candy and a few toys or odds and ends. I try to keep it to around 3 non-candy items and we never make a big deal out of the gifts, the candy or the Easter Bunny. To me, Easter is the number 1 most important religious holiday on the calendar and from a spiritual standpoint pales next to Christmas - which I will fully admit, while the birth of Christ is a significant event too, I totally get caught up in the gifts and fellowship, the cookies, the smells and everything about Christmas. Easter is more of a relaxed time of reflection. We don't build the commercialized hype of the holiday and to the kids the biggest preparation of Easter is picking out the perfect dress or shirt AND tie, to dress to the max and go to church on Sunday morning! Even in the years when they were young and we were not attending church, they still got new outfits and dressed up for a nice family dinner. (you'll notice from previous entry.... for Hope, Easter is definitely about the clothes! haha)

Roman and Hope are both at the age of recognition right now and they want answers. "Is that bunny in the mall real?" "Is that the REAL Easter Bunny??" NO, he's a man or lady in a ridiculously big crazy suit making it fun for the kids (my kids have NEVER gone to have their pic taken. Yes, we do do Santa though!) So, in the midst of a walk last night, I found it very interesting to hear their "Tale of the Easter Bunny!" What do kids think who's parents have never really addressed nor fully acknowledged the Easter Bunny. Who's parents admit that there is no big costumed bunny like those in the mall coming to our house. Who's parents don't even comment on the Easter Bunny except to say, "No, I've never seen the Easter Bunny and I'm not sure anyone else ever has either." What assumptions do they come up with once outside stories, fables, and commercialization come into play... especially in a public school setting??

Last night Roman and Hope discussed it with me over a walk. I was a bit surprised at their acceptance and story, but they universally agreed this IS the true story of the Easter Bunny. It's also one I've never heard before and couldn't help laugh at the convenience of it!

According to Roman and Hope, the Easter Bunny is quite small, like and average bunny, who hops around from house to house. But when he gets to a front porch he grows to be huge, the size of a grown up person in order to reach the knob to come in. He's very concerned about kids, so he disguises himself as a parent or familiar adult before entering the house to hide the eggs and deliver the goods. That way if a child wakes up and catches him, he won't be scared of a gigantic bunny, because it will appear to be a familiar face, even though it's really not. Or as Roman puts it, "The Easter Bunny is a small average bunny that hops to your house, then grows and grows big and tall before morphing into you, Mom!"

That sure is one clever E.B. huh!

For the record, I don't think I ever bought into the whole bunny thing, not even as a little kid. I think it's the most ridiculous of all the imaginary fairy tale creatures, but like my younglings I liked the candy, the toys, and even hunting those eggs, so I kept my mouth shut! LOL The toothfairy, Santa, even Roman's most favored - the little Leprechauns, are more believable! And I never understood, still don't, the correlation between a bunny and eggs. If anyone would care to explain that, go right ahead!

Easter Outfits

Hopey, "Mom, I HAVE to have a new outfit for Easter tomorrow!"

umm, sweetie, tomorrow isn't Easter, it's Thursday, Easter's on Sunday. We still have time.

Hopey, "NO, tomorrow is Easter at school. We're having an Easter egg hunt and I HAVE to have a new outfit. I always get a new dress for Easter."

Took some convincing, a few stores that had nothing of major interest - aside from some very impractical mini prom dresses-, and the breakdown of buying her Easter dress for Sunday, but finally she agreed to wear regular clothes to school today. We're in VA, home to lots of red clay and it rained all night. No way was she getting a new dress to destroy at school during her egg hunt! She was cracking us up with her determination though. Where does she come up with this stuff??

H.B. Solicitations

So yesterday at lunch I notice I have a missed call on my cell. It came in at 11:15am from my sister Ronda. Ronda is next to impossible to get in touch with most days and rarely remembers to call for a chat. Her having the same gripe about me and we don't talk nearly as often as we should, or as we used to I should say. NEVER does she call in the middle of the day, at least not since I moved from Florida. So, knowing it was her birthday and curiosity getting the best of me, I called her back, expecting to get voice mail as usual, she answered. We talked briefly for a few moments. She wanted to know what sizes the kids are wearing these days and general chit chat. After a few moments she stopped and says, "Come on, aren't ya gonna say it?" "Say what??" "Come on, starts with an H, second word begins with a B...." "What ARE you talking about?!?" as I try to hold back a laugh. To which she blurts out "It's my birthday! You're supposed to say Happy Birthday!" .... seriously Ron, you're calling just to solicit Happy Birthdays?? hahahaha



As planned, the kids and I called her last night to sing Happy Birthday! As expected, we had to leave it on voice mail! hehe

Leapsters

Gma hasn't seen much of us since she moved out last month. With me being sick over the weekend, James decided to take the kids out to let me rest. They met up with Grandma and spent the day shopping! When they arrived back home the kids were the proud owners of several new Leapster games. Leapster is a hot item in our household. All 3 kids now have their own, but it hasn't curbed the fighting over them. It's inevitable that at least one of them can't find theirs when the others are playing. Not to mention we only have 1 copy of each game. The biggest winner of their games has been "Pet Pals" where they adopt a dog and earn points through different activities and carrying for the pet. They are all obsessed! The fighting has been at a high over this one simple game.



So last night around 9 o'clock I put the kids to bed. I go in and read while James is playing on the computer and listening to music. We talked for a few hours and he finally fell asleep. I was a bit wired still from spending too much time in bed over the weekend and stayed up a bit longer reading. At 11:30 I heard a noise. It was enough to jolt me away from my book, but then as I listened I didn't hear it again. A little bit later I heard another noise. Getting up to inspect the house and make sure everything was okay, then peaking in to check on the kids one last time. I gave Roman a kiss and tucked him back in and as I was leaving his room I heard a noise again. I walked in the girls room and all was quiet. I noticed Bethany wasn't in her bed. That's nothing new, she seldom sleeps in her bed the entire night. So I climbed up to check on Hope and I saw a little light shining through the comforter towards the bottom of Hope's bed. As I pulled back the covers I found Bethany, huddled in a little ball playing her Leapster! By the time I confiscated it and grounded her from it for 2 days, got back to bed and it was after midnight. She was asking for it back first thing this morning. It's gonna be a long 2 days!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Of course, with St. Patrick's Day being on a Monday I completely forgot about it this year! If I hadn't have been too lazy to take out my green earrings still on from Saturday I would have been the target of a lot of pinching. As I walked into work I was greeted by the guard with a cheerful "Top of the Mornin' to ya!" That's when it hit me! Yikes, it's St. Patrick's Day!!! Being of scot-irish heritage myself, this is normally a big deal holiday in our house. I take my green very seriously. As I reached my desk I realized it was too late to call and make sure the kids had on green as they would have been getting on the bus roughly at that moment.

Jump ahead to this evening. I get home from work and am welcomed by the girl, dressed in jeans and a pink and brown shirt while the boy, who's wardrobe is almost half green to begin with, is wearing jeans with a yellow and blue striped shirt. He has a look of exasperation as I ask how their day went.

HOPE - "You didn't tell us it was St. Patrick's Day. Hello! I walked into school without green on and everyone started trying to pinch me. Miss Neal gave me this pin (a green four leaf clover pin) to wear to save me."

That was very nice of her.... so Roman, how was your day?

ROMAN - "I got pinched.... a lot! EVERYONE in my class and nearly everyone in 2nd grade pinched me. I even got pinched by older kids AND younger ones!" as he gave his 'what's up with that' look enhanced by the dramatic extended arms, palms up, shrug of his.

Smiling I asked why Mrs. Gregory didn't give him a pin to wear or something green like Hope's teacher had. To which he replied, "Give me green?? Heck, she was first in line to pinch me!"

Football Mania

Wow, as baseball practice began, football started with a vengence! Crazy, huh. Our first meeting went really well. I've decided to head up fundraising and possibly oversee concessions as a subset of that. In the past concessions has brought in little money to the association. I hope to rectify that this coming season. Should be challenging and fun. Bethany and Hope will both be cheering for the flaggers this fall and Roman is all signed up for minors. He is beyond thrilled with that knowing this year he gets to wear the pads and the helmet and hold nothing back. This mama's still a big nervous about that, but he knows the game well, listens, and only does what he's told to do on the field. We have a fantastic coaching staff that will see that my baby boy remains safe and has fun. Today we had a first registration day. With 6 months to go this gives the parents time to budget and make payments on their child's fees. It was thrown together at the last minute, but we went for it all the same. About half a dozen families just hanging out as car after car came by to sign up their child and see what was going on. With 10-15 boys out playing flag football in front of the school on a Saturday morning, people wanted to stop and see what was going on. The result, approximately 35 signups!!!! That is a fantastic start to the season! Our goal this year is 25 kids per each of the four teams. From that plus the verbal confirmations from past players it looks like we already have a full flagger team and 40+ minors! That's right, almost double our team goal in Roman's age division. Coach West is looking into possible 2 teams out of Reams. Roman wants to be on A team bad and has already begun watching what he eats, practicing throws, and tackling everything, just as he did through last season. It's gonna be a loooooooooooooong 6 months till football officially kicks off! As for me, my first assignment is coming up fast. In mid-April we will have our second registration day. This time it will be a community event, "Spirit Day". I have a list of ideas and a dozen calls to place, but if it comes through, it should be a great event, a lot of fun, and hopefully start us off right with fundraising for the year!