Thursday, December 22, 2005

Oh No...not again

Makenna lost another tooth. She is adorable, but the pressure is too much for me to handle right now! She went to put her tooth under the pillow tonight and I casually said...."Hey Mu? Why don't you wait until Cat Navy (this is what she calls Fred. We don't know why, but it's precious and suits the two of them perfectly) comes home. He might want to see the tooth."

She says..."Yeah, you're right, Mama. 'Sides, she's probably helping Santa out right now since he's so busy and she won't believe she's gotta turn around come straight back because I lost another tooth. We'll just wait until after Christmas."

Whew. Another bullet dodged.

Heeellllllllooooooooooo Big Daddy

It's after midnight. I can say that Big Daddy is coming home today!! Woo hoo!! Fred hasn't been home in two and a half months and I am so ready for him to get here!!

The Navy finally consented to be decent and let the guys go early tommorow. I still think there's a catch in there somewhere. I wish that car had wings, but as old as she is? We just want her to make it home. Big Daddy will be driving back in a new vehicle. Got that bad boy all lined up. Still not sure if he should have a car with leather seats, sunroof, etc etc. Kinda sporty for an old married man. Yeah, Mama done hooked him up good. (grammer sucked there, but that's how I said it out loud)

Another good surprise. Fred's brother is coming to spend Christmas with us. He was working in Florida and was headed back home to Nebraska when his truck malfunctioned. So, instead of pushing it to get back and there being a chance of him being in a hotel room on Christmas Eve, we convinced him to come here. My husband has not spent Christmas with a parent or sibling in four years. He's very excited that Matt is going to be here with us. We've been cleaning all day long preparing for his arrival. Paige is not happy about the manual labor. Vitt gets to really meet another Uncle. I don't think he remembers Matt from when he was 3 months old. Yeah, I'm wondering how that boy of mine is going to handle going from man of the house to there being two other males at least 3 feet taller than him around. Could be interesting.

I am ready ready ready for that man to call and tell me he's on the way.
I got a list a mile long for him to do while he's here!!! And I'm going to the bathroom without company. Dad can take over for a while.

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Kiss the Pig

Now let me explain the title.

Back when Katrina hit our coast and destroyed so many lives, fundraisers were an every day occurrence. Our school here had one called "Kiss the Pig". Each class was told that whoever brought the most donations in, their teacher would have to kiss a pig in front of the whole school. Talk about motivation. Makenna loves her teacher, but really wanted to see her kiss that pig. She had received her five bucks (finally!) from the Tooth Fairy a couple of weeks before and had it stashed back until she could decide what to do with it. She came to me and said she wanted to donate all five dollars to Kiss the Pig. She would get all giggly and excited at the thought of her teacher kissing that pig. I asked if she was sure that's what she wanted and she was very sure. So, off she went to school with her five dollars to donate.

Her class didn't win.

This morning when I was getting her ready for her last day of school before Christmas break, I fell in love with my child even more. We were chatting while I fixed her hair and she said to me:

"Mama, I want to take my 3 dollars that the Tooth Fairy gave me and buy Christmas presents for Vitt and Sissy." I smiled because I knew she would be hard pressed to find two presents for that price.She then went on to say, "If I had that five dollars from the last time, I'd have eight dollars to buy gifts with, but I gave that money to help those kids who got hit by that hurricane."

What's the big deal with that, you ask? Because it wasn't about that stupid pig. She didn't get upset that her teacher didn't end up kissing it, but knew that it was all going to help others. And she didn't have a problem with it!! That made me so proud of her. Even now, she finally has a few bucks of her own and her thought is to do something for someone else with it....not herself.

Makes me think I might be doing something right.

Sunday, December 18, 2005

My Failure as a Fairy

Let's skip away from the Christmas madness for a moment, shall we? I know I definately need to take a breather from wrapping and attending social functions, if only for a minute.

I have hands down won the award for Worse Tooth Fairy Ever. I just refuse to believe that someone else in this world has been as bad as I have.

See, I tend to forget by the time that I go to bed that the Tooth Fairy needs to visit. I've done this just about every single time with both my girls. It was okay when Fred was home on a nightly basis. He was awesome at remembering. Since he's been gone this year? Oh man. First example was back around end of June. Makenna lost a tooth and full of anticipation, she put that teeny tiny tooth under her pillow. She woke up the next morning and tears rolled down her face. The Tooth Fairy had forgotten her. Well, I've never been accused of being a slow thinker. Quick as lightning, I told her that alot of people took vacation around the fourth of July, and maybe the Tooth Fairy was doing that very same thing. I told her to be patient, that she would get to her, but she would have alot of catching up to do around the world when she got back from vacationing. This smoothed things over nicely. And I PROMISE I tried to remember every single night to rectify the situation, and kept forgetting. A WEEK LATER, I finally thought about it and because of the massive load of guilt I carried by then, wouldn't you know? That Gorgeous Tooth Fairy left her 5 whole bucks!! And a letter of apology. She was a gazillionaire then, people.

There are many more stories, but that by far was the worse. Til now. Makenna lost her tooth over a week ago. She is an official snaggletooth since it's in the front on the top. She has faithfully checked under her pillow every morning and sighed a big sigh. I told her that maybe since it was so close to Christmas, the Tooth Fairy was helping Santa to get ready for Christmas Eve. I lie to my children!!!!! Oh, the guilt. Here I am.....totally endorsing the magic of childhood and all that goes with it. I believe in Santa....and the Tooth Fairy....and the Easter Bunny. Then I go and stab their little hearts. Of course, I now remember and will make the Tooth Fairy look gorgeous again and redeem herself by tomorrow morning.

The best part of it? Mak continues to hold onto hope. What better lesson to teach about hope, huh?

Please take note parents. Don't follow in my footsteps. Write it on your hand with a pen if you have to!! The lies...they build and build until you can't remember if you told your kid the Fairy went to the Bahamas or an Alaskan cruise. And trust me...they'll remember. I think they're born knowing how to trip us up.

Friday, December 09, 2005

I Believe

Lately, I've been reading some blogs and discussion boards about whether or not people let their children believe in Santa, The Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny. I can understand the side of those who choose not to let their kids believe. I just tend to disagree.

I let my kids believe. In fact, I enforce it! Magic is rare. A child's magic is a perfect magic. I have so many memories of my childhood that involve all three of the above. It gave me something to look forward. Something to work for. You had to be good for Santa and the Easter Bunny. You got rewarded for looking like a dork with gaps in your mouth with the Tooth Fairy. Face it, people. Life is hard as an adult. I am guilty of saying at least once a week that being grown up sucks sometimes. And it does. Sure, there are good points....Like staying up late....Driving....having control of the remote. But do we have magic in our hearts anymore? Not like we did when we were younger.

I remember when I found out the "truth". I wasn't devastated. I understood that I was growing up and not once did I ever ruin it for my brother who was 5 year younger. Are you kidding? He may have been the biggest pain in my rear, but that kid was mine! And when he got old enough my parents had a talk with us. We were given the option of saying out loud that we didn't believe ...or.....we could continue "believing" and continue to get gifts from Santa on Christmas morning. Humph. I am 34 years old and you will never hear me say that I don't believe. While I run around taking care of MY responsibilities for the holiday season...a little part of me is excited knowing that someone is out there "talking to Santa" for me. I'm doing my best to keep the magic alive.

We have a rule at our house. There will no goodies purchased after Labor Day weekend. My children get more than I ever did growing up. Times change. But, I don't want them to get to the point that Christmas means nothing to them. By the time Christmas gets here...they are very appreciative for what they get. They know the true meaning of Christmas. They participate in plays and pageants at church. We talk of Jesus' birthday and how special he was here and is in heaven. Who gave the most ever? So why not make His season a season of giving? ~steps down off of soapbox~ My husband took a hard hit when he was told this rule applied to him. Poor thing. He was used to going out and just buying whatever he wanted...when he wanted. The first year I truly believe he went through withdrawals those three months. He couldn't buy movies or any new gadgets that caught his eye. He now fully supports this rule and enjoys talking to Santa. I have to sometimes stop him from overdoing it. He's a cool dad.

I have been complaining about all the shopping I've had to do. But I wouldn't trade it. My SIL and I decided that she and my brother and Fred and I would trade gifts...with a twist. You have to stay in the 20-30 buck range, and it has to be different. I can't wait to see what we all come up with. Now that's fun.

So, if you let your children believe.....good for you. I want to do like my parents and keep the magic alive for my own children as long as I'm able to get out and talk to Santa for them.

If you decide not to let them believe, then that's fine, too.

That being said, stay tuned for my failure story.

Monday, December 05, 2005

A Cayden Verbal Thought

Cayden is my 3 year old nephew and when you ask him who loves him best, he will promptly reply..."Aunt Hope". Drives my brother crazy.

Now at 3, kids are inclined to speak their mind. They can't fully grasp the concept of ...oh, maybe not mentioning something ...that it might not be the right time or place.

Case in point.

This morning in church Cayden decided to sit with me. I'm sure it was because he loves me, but it could be because I had some candy, too. Vitt sat with the grandparents behind me.

Towards the end of church Vitt was back with us and he and Cayden were pushing a couple of matchbox cars around. Service was almost over and the preacher was asking if there was any announcements. While he was saying this, Cayden dropped his car on the floor and when he reached down to pick it up, Vitt lost his balance and sat on his hand. When he did, he pooted.

During the lull after the preacher asked if there was anything else, Cayden stood up and in the silence announced to my parents:

"Vitt just sat and pooted on my hand!!!!"

And the two of them proceeded to start laughing....loud.

Yeah, those two boys are gonna get in alot of trouble together. I just know it.

Sunday, December 04, 2005

Date Night

I was special tonight!

I am on a mission to buy my husband a car and have it ready for him when he comes home at Christmas. This is not a surprise to him, just another job for me to get done. We all know how salesmen treat women. Like we're invisible. I figured out how to take care of that. I enlisted the help of my dad. He and Fred have consulted over the phone a few times and the time was right for my dad and me to go look today. My mother warned me before we left that if Dad didn't like what he was hearing that he would simply get up and walk out and I was to follow if he did. Gotcha, Mom. Something tells me she's speaking from experience. I could tell my Dad was looking forward to sinking his teeth into this. He hasn't car shopped since he got my mom her tahoe 2 years ago. I discovered that men really dig this kind of stuff.

One car lot we visited had a salesman running out meet us. He didn't even look at me, went straight for my dad. Uh huh. Big mistake, Bud. Mama has the checkbook. He rushes to shake my dad's hand and asks if there's anything he can do. Dad simply responds, "No." Guy kinda stands there and then says he's there if we need him and walks back off. Way to go, Dad. Was amusing picturing him walking off on his knees because he got cut off.

We decided to hit Walmart before going home so the new Star Wars movie could be purchased. I remind my dad that the rule is that you don't buy yourself anything this close to Christmas. I said this while hiding the gorgeous new bracelet I picked up for myself last Friday under my sleeve. People, it was a good price!! And so pretty. He shrugs and says he wants to see the movie now. ~sigh~ Patience isn't his virtue.

As we leave, he asks me if I'm hungry. Sure. We go out to eat and as I'm sitting there talking to him while we wait for our food, I realize I got a date night with my dad! And it was cool! I never get time with him to just sit and see how things are going. He never tells what he's getting my mom for Christmas. It's always the biggest secret and everyone looks forward to seeing what he gets her. He asked for my help. Shock! I felt all grown up, people.

It was a great evening and I made the comment on the way home that I hope Paige gets over her anger at her own dad and can one day be able to sit with him and enjoy her time talking to him. Maybe one day.

My good feeling lasted until I walked in my parent's house and my mom looked at me and said....take these children home!!!! This boy is making my nerve pill null and void!! All good things must come to end. Date night was over.