Product Plugging

Thought I'd take a break from the usual crap about my life, and promote a few products that I have purchased at could not live without:

Best jeans EVER: Cruel Girl Madison jeans
Best chocolate: Milk Mint Meltaways from Walker's Chocolates
Cleaning products: Mr Clean Eraser
Fantastic Orange Power Cream Cleaner (for glass stovetops)
Laundry: Spray 'n'Wash Dual Power
Chappy Lips: Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm
Cold Sores: Abreva (expensive as hell, but worth every penny!)
Hair Product: Sunsilk hair cream (for those prone to fizz)

The best thing I have purchased all year was from the Regal catalogue. On the box, it has the label "as seen on tv" so there were probably commercials about it. If you are like me, and have dry, severly cracked heels and calluses, you must buy the "Soft n' Smooth Foot Care System". Basically, it is like a belt sander for your feet. It comes with this electric sander (which takes 3 AA batteries), with little sandpaper-esque attachments, and buffer pads. I should have taken before and after shots of my heels because the difference was amazing!

And, I am not being paid to promote this, so you know, it's really good!

If you have any recommendations on anything, I'd love to hear them! Leave me your list of fave things in the comments.

Happy shopping!

Poetry Corner: Hints of Housework Haiku

Chores: A Haiku in 5 parts

By: Shannon

Washing and folding
Baskets never empty here
Damned laundry fairy

Why do you always
Leave dishes on the counter
Not in the machine?

Toilet paper roll
It seems to only get changed
By my own two hands

Diapers you fill up
Oh! What is that aroma?
You little stinker

Shampoo on your heads
Lotion on your round bellies
Powder on your bums

59 Reasons Why I Think Ty Is Turning Into Stewie Griffin

It all started in January when he discovered how to get out of his crib/playpen. I knew then that I was doomed. This is a kid who has the face of an angel, and the craftiness of the devil himself.

Since that fateful day, he has thrown a total of 19 coasters into the fishtank. He has ripped pages out of 3 of my books, and destroyed 14 of his books. He took the cap off of the shampoo bottle and poured it onto the bathroom floor. He has totally unravelled 3 full rolls of toilet paper. He has pulled uncountable amounts of Kleenex from the box, then proceeded to shred them into 18 trillion pieces. He has gotten into my icing gels, and turned his hair into punk streaks of violet and turquoise. He has taken utensils out of the kitchen drawer and hidden them in various parts of the house. He has systematically taken every piece of clean and folded laundry out of the basket and dumped them all over the floor. He has broken 3 pairs of glasses (2 of mine, and one of Oma's). He has pulled the cable from the tv. He has ripped out stereo speaker wires. He has bashed 3000 dents in my pine dining table. In the fishbowl upstairs he has placed a Webkinz cat, his stuffed dinosaur, a notepad, a light-up UFO toy, and the baby monitor. He has locked me out of the house while I check to see if we have any mail.

And today, in the space of 1.2 nanoseconds, he ran ahead of me into the kitchen, opened a drawer, grabbed the scissors and ran off with them. I went the other way to intercept him, and while trying to pry the weapon from his tiny but amazingly strong fingers, and avoid him taking out an eye, he opened and closed them 6 times in succession on my thumb.

He is okay. I am not. Ou-effing-ch!

Now, I know that you are reading this, thinking, what a bad mother! Isn't she watching him? But that's the point. He sits and waits. And waits. And waits. For that one minute where you are momentarily distracted by the phone or doorbell or concern from another child or your spouse, and then he leaps (oh-so-silently) into havoc-wreaking action.

My aunts will remember the horror stories that my mom and dad told about my brother Paul, and his dastardly deeds as a small (and not so small) child. So I ask you, where is the karma? How did I end up with the kid that was, by all rights, supposed to be his?

But. Then.

He runs into my arms. He pats my face gently with his small hands. He snuggles around until his cheek is nestled against the skin of my neck. He presses his forehead into mine and looks into my eyes. He calls me "Honey". And I think, he may be trying to drive me over the fine edge to insanity, but he's sweet. And warm. And affectionate. And he's mine. For better or for a whole lot worse.

The New Bible Arriveth

My children seem to have embraced a new bible. Perhaps you have seen it. I'm guessing you even clutched one to your chest for 5 months of the year like my kids do.

The Sears Christmas Wish Book.

The Holy Grail of all things toy (I mean, who cares about the jewellery, clothes, and furniture crap the rest of the book is filled with?). It arrived last week, and already naturally falls open to the page sporting the newest Transformer toys.

"Mom!" Keegan said of a movie replica of Bumblebee, "YOU HAVE TO BUY ME THIS!!!!" Phoenix took a glance, shook his head and said, "Forget it, Keegan. It's way too expensive. Put it on your Grandpa list."

I have to admit, I love seeing the two of them squished together in a chair with the Toy-bible spread across their laps, pointing to this thing and that, occasionally calling out a price, ($17.99???) with the hopeful look that says, I hope this is within a decent price-range for mom to consider...

And with a slow smile lighting up my face, with a look that is almost Grinch-esque in quality, I realize with glee that even though it is only August, I can now put the Santa-threat into full effect for compliance in all matters right up until Dec 25.

"Fine, don't clean up the toys...but Santa and his elves are watching you ALL THE TIME..."

Tee hee hee.

5 Years/A Lifetime

5 years ago, my mom passed away. Some days it seems like I've been missing her for a lifetime, others, it's like it happened yesterday. My mom was the symbol to me of everything good. Good wife, good sister, good friend. Good mom. I looked to her in everything I did; she was my standard on how to do things right. She still is.





Although it has been five years, I still remember her voice, her laugh, the smell of her perfume, and the feel of her arms around me in a hug. I see her in my children; I see her when I look in the mirror.





I can only hope that one day, I will live up to all that she was, and all that she is in my heart.





Mom, I love you and miss you. Today, and every day.





XOXO





Shannon

It Was a Lovely Day

Today was a great day from tip to tail.

Keegan was the sparkle of my day today. He came home from school positively BURSTING with pride. He had written his name all by himself. And I have to say, his printing is beautiful; better than Phoenix's and he is two years older! Plus he actually ate lunch at school, for the first time in three weeks.

We had a great afternoon too. My friend Christy came over with her two daughters, who are the same ages as Phoenix and Keegs, and the kiddies had a great time in the pool. I had a fabulous time chatting with Christy.

Then this evening, Keegan had his last soccer game, and scored the winning goal in the last 2 seconds of the game! Every parent on both sides were cheering! He was so proud. And because it was the last game, all of the kids got participation medals, but Keegan was convinced it was because he got the goal. He practically has sparkles coming off of the top of his head. Too cute.

All in all a great day.

Pictures, Pictures, Gotta Love Pictures

Phoenix on the tree swing his cousin Lucas rigged up.

Keegs and Phoenix kicking back on Uncle Paul's boat.

Keegan driving Uncle Fern's boat. Note the look of concentration!

Keegan's first catch! A good sized smallmouth bass.

Ty giving me the "For the love of God, Mommy, get me the hell out of this canoe!" look.

Keegan checking out a frog. He asked me if he kissed it, would it turn into a beeyouteeful princess?

View from the upper deck.

Front of the cottage.

Back, Baby!

Yes, yes, I'm back from vacation. I know you were all on tenterhooks waiting for me to post, so here I am. (Yeah, right.) Anyway, here's the dish.

We rented a cottage for the week on Pigeon Lake in Bobcaygeon. First off, I have to say that the cottage was beautiful. It was very nicely furnished, clean, and with a completely stocked kitchen, from a salad spinner to an electric knife. Very nice compared to other cottages we've rented which have 3 bowls and a spoon.

The bonus of the week was getting to spend extra time with my sister-in-law Ela, who is one of my very best friends, and her kids, who are the best too. They are very good to my kids, considering the age gaps (my niece and nephew are 10 and 12, where as my kiddies are 2, 5, & 7).

I was looking forward to the week also, because my brother took the same week off, and has a place on the same lake, so I figured we'd get to spend a lot of time together, and my two eldest boys were excited about hanging with their Uncle Paul.

Well, here's the ups and downside (s) to the week: Pigeon Lake, while fabulous for fishing, sucks for swimming. It is choked with weeds and is now infested with dead carp (google dead carp in the Kawarthas and you'll see what I mean), so that meant minimal swimming for the kids. And actually, by day three, officials were advising against swimming in the lake (not because of the virus that was killing the carp, as it does not transfer between species, but) because of the bacteria caused by the decomposing fish. Lovely. So, with no swimming, what to do with the kidlets? Well, there's always fishing.

Phoenix and especially Keegan (aka Izumi) had a great time fishing with their Uncle Fern. Phoenix caught a few rock bass, and Keegan, within 3 seconds of casting his first line, caught a nice sized smallmouth bass. Then he caught a rock bass, and a baby perch (which he declared "so cute!" and kissed it before tossing it back into the water). Mark and Auntie Ela took the kids for canoe rides which they greatly enjoyed as well.

The rest of the time, we read, played countless games of Scrabble (never take on Lucas, you can't win against him!), or ate yummy food. One day Mark and the kids and I went into Fenelon Falls to walk around, and stop for ice cream. We found a great little park there with a fabulous playground, and a nice beach and graduated swim area onto Sturgeon Lake. Mark took the boys and Ela and her kids there the next day to swim.

And as for hanging with Uncle Paul? Well, he seemed a lot more interested in fishing with my brother-in-law, than with spending time with me and my family. Pissed me off, if you want to know (in case you are reading this, buster!). I actually had to send my kids off to him at the dock in their lifejackets to ask them for a ride in his new boat. (N.B. I never was offered a ride in his boat, period.) I also had to invite myself and family to his trailer to check it out. I was annoyed that he spent more time with my in-law and his kids than he spent with me and mine. But what can you do?

Evenings were good. We either sat around the campfire, eating toasted marshmallows and drinking Bailey's-spiked coffee while watching the bats swoop around to eat the mosquitoes, or hid from the bugs and played Scrabble at the kitchen table.

Nights? Not so good. Mainly because Mark and I had what I have come to call "the unwanted roommate"-aka Ty. Ty, from night one, decided that 12-2:30 am was a great time to crawl onto our bed, jump on our heads, and sing what lyrics he knows from the Wiggles, count from 1-10, skip along the alphabet song, and run through his repetoire of animal sounds. NOT FUN!!!!!!! Little bugger! Plus, mid-week his asthma kicked in, so I was on puffer-duty all day and night too. So, Mark and I pretty much need a vacation now from our vacation!

All in all, I would give this vacation a 6.5/10. The kids would score it at least two points higher.

It was a nice place, but not for a couple with three VERY BUSY kidlets, that need to swim.

Did get some nice nature shots though. Enjoy! I will post pictures of the cottage and kidlets tomorrow...

All That's New

Well, it's been a bit. Here's what's new, and not all of it good.

Two weeks ago, on Saturday, Mark had taken the two eldest out for a haircut, as I attempted to put Ty down for his nap. He was coughing his guts out, and I was thinking, KRIPES! Not sick again! He coughing over the monitor got increasingly worse, so I went to check on him, only to find him in the midst of a major asthma attack.

After a quick call to Mark apprising him of the situation, I called 911 and got an ambulance. While waiting for said ambulance, Ty threw up three times (all over the two of us). Stripped us both down, got new clothes, and hustled off to the hospital. He had the Ventolin mask on the way to the hospital, plus three more doses while we were there. His oxygen saturation level was still below the "go home" level of 92%, (he was at 85%), so they sent him for a chest X-ray, and then a quadruple dose of ventolin after that. His levels finally creeped up to 92%. I was told that I could take him home (after being there for 8 hours with no food or drink), but I had to be vigilant with his care, and blast him with double doses of Ventolin every two hours all night. Needless to say, I didn't sleep much that night.

After a few days, the coughing stopped and he's been okay ever since. But jeez, scared the CRAP out of me.

This week, since we had a temporary lull in illness, Ty decided to get this freaky rash, which had me booking down to the doctor's office yesterday in the 90 degree heat. The diagnosis? It's a rash. Yeah, no shit, buddy! Got some cortisone and went home. (Rash is better today).

Keegan is finally settling into "summer school", after a week of adjustment hell (ie night terrors and separation anxiety attacks). That really sucked, but he seems to be okay now. He is making friends and having a great time. I think that it is the much higher level of expectations that is causing his grief. He was so used to being top dog at his preschool, that it's a blow to his ego to come in near the bottom of the social ladder.

So, now we are in pre-vacation countdown, which means that I'e done absolutely NOTHING by means of preparation. I'd better get off of my considerable ass and get moving. The kiddies are really looking forward to it. We are going away with Mark's sister and her family this year, so I expect that it will be an awesome time. Also, my brother has a place on the same lake that we are going to, and he's taking the same week off, so we get the added bonus of "Uncle Paul" for the week too.

Well, I guess that's about all the news for now. If I come up with anything exciting between now and va-cay time, I'll be sure to let you know all about it.

Oh! Almost forgot! Little boy is in his new toddler bed! He's doing great (he's only fallen out twice...) and loves his Bear in the Big Blue House bedding that I scored for him on E-Bay.

TTFN.

Keegan graduated from preschool on Friday. The teachers were more weepy than the parents. Keegan was like a king in his court. All the kids came up to him to say goodbye, and he had a kind word and a hug for everyone. "Goodbye Matthew. You are a good boy." or "Bye Avery! You are sweet!" And the teacher! She hugged him. Let him go. Then pulled him back and hugged him again. "I'm gonna miss that one..." she said to me.

No moss grows on Keegs, though. Tuesday he starts "summer school". We are enjoying his 3 day summer. He got to see his cousins, go swimming, go to a birthday party, play soccer, go to Zooz, fly planes in the park, and hang with mom and dad. One day left! Hopefully we will do something "shady" as I am suffering (no, I NEVER learn) from a crippling sunburn of a lovely magenta hue.

I always end up with the sunburn, but I am known throughout the neighbourhood as the sunscreen Nazi for my kids. If I could only find a suncreen that is non-greasy, and wouldn't make my skin rashy, I would wear it. Honest! (Recommendations welcome).

Hope all the canucks are having a great Canada Day!

TTFN

Happy 7th Birthday Bunny!

Bunny! You are seven years old today!!! Wow, where did those years go? I remember when you used to sleep in a laundry basket. Now the top of your head comes up to my breastbone. Your feet have grown so much this year that you've been through 3 shoe sizes. You are still so skinny I can count your ribs through a snowsuit, but you are getting taller every time I blink. At the beginning of the school year, you could read a handful of sight words, and now you read me BOOKS. Every day.



You are still loving Transformers (especially with the new movie out in a few weeks) and Webkinz (although not quite as much), and your newest obsession, Pokemon cards and assorted paraphenalia.



You are very smart and have a great sense of humour. You are learning the carefully crafted art of sarcasm from the masters ( your parents). You are a great big brother; Keegs worships you and Ty believes that you are there for his personal entertainment, 24/7. You have learned to swim, and are like a little fishy in the pool.



You never hesitate to give me a hug and kiss (even in the school yard!...oh, I'll miss that when it stops, and sadly, it will...) and you tell me you love me a minimum of 10 times a day. I love your honest nature and your deeply rooted sense of morality. Daddy says you are like Superman, and cannot tell a lie. Your own guilt punishes you for things I would never know about otherwise, but it is a rare and wonderful quality to have, especially at your age, when fudging the truth is an easy way out. Your feeling are easily hurt by offhand comments by your peers, because you honestly can't understand why someone would say things like that to someone else just to be mean. You are also the first one to point out that what they are doing is wrong, and that real friends wouldn't act that way. A psychic told me that your destiny would lie in a field where you will try to right the wrongs of the world. Professional superhero? I'll have to get started designing your logo.



I wish you happiness, health, love and excitement as you enter your eighth year. Happy Birthday Bunny. I fell in love with you the minute they placed you in my arms, and I haven't stopped for one breath since.



XOXO



Mommy

June Round Up

Well, well, well. I haven't been here in a while. To tell you the truth, I've been sucked into the world of Crackbook...I mean...Facebook. I'm a bit of an addict, if you really want to know. I like the versatility of the site. I can post notes, snoop on my friends lives to see what's going on with them, and set up millions of photo albums.

But to my readers that haven't found me there, hello!

May was a killer-busy month, and June has followed the same pattern. Lots of parties to deal with, and too many cakes to count. Phoenix's birthday is tomorrow, so I just finished his cake. We are taking him bowling (with 9 of his friends). I went all Martha Stewart and made bowling-ball loot bags out of papier mache, made into mini-pinatas. Seemed like a good idea at the time, but by the time I had finished them all, it was over 11 hours of work. Too much really, for a bunch of 7 year olds that are going to destroy them to get the goods inside, in less than 2.2 seconds. Sigh. Why do I set myself up for these things?

I hope all of the dads out there had a nice Father's Day. My sister-in-law hosted the day at her place this year, and invited my dad and brothers too. It was great. Awesome food as always. I made an unbelievably awesome Chocolate Decadent Torte that tasted like it was 100000000 calories and as many grams of fat, but was actually from a diabetic cookbook. It was the most delicious and chocolatey sample of yumminess that I have ever had. Drop me a line if you want the recipe. (Thanks Darra, for supplying it to me). I also made a nice Lime Chiffon Pie that was a great hot weather dessert (a Kraft recipe).

In the past week, I also made my first ever batches of strawberry jam, and it is quite tasty, if I do say so myself. Phoenix gave it "10, 000 thumbs up", if that gives you any idea. Recipe also from Kraft (strawberry freezer jam). Sunday we are having the whole fam damily over for Phoenix's family b-day party, and then, by God, I am DONE. DONE I TELL YOU!

There is something to be said for having all three of your kids' birthdays in 2 months. Over in a fell swoop. And nothing huge now to plan until December. Oh yeah, Dad, I'm talking about you and the big 7-0. Mark your calendars, people.

I watched the movie "Ghostrider" with the kidlets a few nights ago. I had doubted the wisdom of this; I thought that perhaps Keegs would find it a bit too scary. Yeah, right. He now pretends he IS Ghostrider, to the point of sneaking up on you, getting an inch from your nose, and intoning in a deep James Earl Jones-esque voice, "Look into my eyes!" He's too friggin' cute.

In just over a week, Phoenix will be finishing up grade one. He has really worked hard this term, and I am sure that we will see stellar results on his report card. Keegan graduates from pre-school. (And then 3 days later starts his 5 day a week summer program. Poor kid!) He's really coming along too. I am super proud of my big boys.

Ty (aka Little Boy) has discovered the Wiggles, and dances and sings through most of his day. I can hear him in his room mimicking Captain Feathersword (Quack, quack, quack, doodle-eee-doo!) I am gratified to say that he is finally starting to eat like a human, meaning foods other than Alphaghetti and Kraft Dinner. True to his Polish genes, he has discovered the joy of perogies, and loves German food as well, like Bratwurst and veal schnitzel. He now even eats the occasional piece of bread, which gives me hope that one day I will be able to talk him into a sandwich or two.

In extended family news, Baby Clara is doing well. She has been moved to a Level II nursery, is off machines, and is gaining weight. I believe she is now above her birth weight of 4 lbs, 2 oz. As soon as she gets the hang of breast-feeding, she will be able to come home, hopefully by the end of this week. Yay! Oh, but we are supposed to give them Ty's crib. Hmm...better get him into his big-boy bed, and soon!

In sad news, my friend Melanie's father passed away on Friday. I was at the funeral home today for the visitation. Meli is holding up really, really well considering, and I am very proud of the way she is dealing with it all. Love you Mel!

Well, that's about it for me for tonight. This week rounds up the field-trips for the year too. Phoenix goes to a Provincial Park tomorrow, and Keegs goes to the same one on Thursday and Friday.

Hope everyone has had a less chaotic spring than me, but if not, I feel your pain. Hang in there, summer arrives in two days!

Peace.

Tyger Update

Took Ty to the Dr today for his 2-year check-up. He is now 30 lbs, which apparently is a bit above average. This made me laugh since he eats practically nothing, but whatever he does eat, seems to stick, so it's all good. He's about average for height too.

His speech is not progressing as well as we had hoped, so I've got him on the wait list for a speech assessment and hearing test as well. Kripes! Will my stress never end? By this age, he should have about 100-500 words, and be using 2 word combinations (Ty up! Mommy juice!). He does have a lot of single words, but only uses a few in combination (Oh no! and Thank you.). So, being the overly-cautious mother that I am, I'm getting things checked out early.

Other than that, he's a happy, healthy 2 year old, so I am content with that. Now, if I can just stop him from being such a bloody troublemaker, then it would be grand!

Have a happy, sunshine-y day wherever you are today.

PS. Our friends Patrick and Christy had their baby yesterday morning (about 8 weeks early) by emergency c-section. Clara Grace is now chilling out in the Neo-Natal ICU. Congrats on your early addition to the family!

The Big 0-2!

Oh Ty-ger! You are 2 years old today! In one short year you have gone from my little baby to a little boy.

Your smile lights up my day, and your frequent spontaneous hugs make my heart melt.

I love how you call me "Money" instead of Mommy (especially since a friend suggested that you are just combining Mommy and Honey).

I love how you will stop what you are doing to come over and lay your head on my chest and give a contented little sigh.

You are also trouble X 10! You are like a battery that never runs out of juice. Your ceaseless energy is to be admired. I wish I had even 1/10th of it!

You are fearless and a bit reckless. I have seen you vault off of furniture and stairs like you have super-powers, and you land with a laugh. You now climb and slide and run all over the creative playground at your brother's school, when last year you couldn't lift your legs high enough to climb the steps.

You keep growing, but I am not sure how, since you seem to exist on Cheerios and love. Occasionally you throw me a bone by eating something like honey-garlic sausages with gusto, only to pass them by the next time they cross your plate. Picky, whatever it is, it's working.

This year you were diagnosed with not only an egg allergy, but a peanut one as well. I am sure that your determination in all things will serve you well throughout the years in dealing with these allergies.

Your new obsession is with trains, and you spend 90% of your day with your Thomas and Friends toys. You love your brothers and extended family fiercely and without thought.

You are not as wordy as your eldest brother, but you are coming along. Some of your daily voabulary consists of: Money (Mommy), Daddy, Keggie (Keegan), Brother (Phoenix), Guh-pa (Grandpa), Oma, Opa, up, down, go, sit, back, front, head, knees, toes, belly, bee-bo (belly button) Bear, Tutter, Ojo, Teelow (Treelo),Ty, moon, sty (star) cowd (cloud), Tommy, Julie, Bla-Bla (Ela), Dando (Fernando), Pah (Paul), Patrick, Kisstie (Christy), Darra, Heidi...(all of the important name words, obviously), this is__________, stinky, oh no!, no, NO!, bunny, Shabadee (name of his bunny) and more every day. My favourite is in the mornings, when you say, "Money! Herr-row!" (Mommy! Hello!)

Hello, to you to sweetheart. I wish you the happiest of birthdays. You are a daily joy and I love you forever.

Much love and kisses as you start your third year.

XOXOXOXOXO

Money

Proud Mom Moment...

Just dropping by with a proud mom moment:

Phoenix was recently tested for his reading level, and he has gone up 3 levels in one month! Now he is at the provincial standard, and still has a month and a half to go. Teachers are optimistic that he will be ahead of the game by the end of the school year. I am so proud! Also, he got perfect scores on his last 6 spelling tests. Go Phoenix!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day! To my Mom, to me, to my mother-in-law and to all of the wonderful moms out there! You're doing a great job! The most important one on earth.

The Big 0-5!

Keegan! You are 5 years old today! The changes you have been through this year have been amazing.

Your speech has improved a thousand fold, and through much hard work, you have accomplished so many things.

You can now dress yourself, brush your own teeth and put the toothpaste on the brush. You can button buttons, and zip zippers. You can put on your own shoes. You can correctly identify numbers up to 15, and all upper case letters and most lower case ones. You have tackled the once insurmountable task of learning prepositions and using them properly. You use he and she properly in a sentence. You can sequence events, and re-tell a story. These are all things that seemed impossible a year ago, and now you are an expert.

Last year, you wouldn't look anyone in the eye, or let another child in your personal space. Now you are the most popular kid in your class, with 4 best friends and a girlfriend to boot!

You are loving, outgoing and affectionate, and extremely loyal to all you call friends. You love to dance, and sing all day long. You are my sweet, sweet dolly and I can't say enough to describe how proud I am of the person you are and the big boy you are becoming. I love you from the bottom of my heart.

Happy Birthday Keegan! Lots of love and happiness as you enter your 6th year.

XO

Mommy

Oh, My Lord! So It Begins...

A note I received from Keegan's teacher this morning:

"Keegan is in love! He spent the morning with Alyssa. They played together, had snack together and were kissing. We did put a stop to the heavy kissing though. They were adorable together."

WTF?

2 days away from being 5 and already snogging with the girls. So, all of the women I've told said, "Oh dear!" or something to that effect. All the men have said, "Alright! Way to go!" and other testosterone-driven comments. Hmpf. Typical.

I gave a petit lecture on kissing, saying that kissing was for family, and if you really like a friend you should hug them instead. He said, "But Mommy, I really like kissing Alyssa May!" Jeez. I was innocent enough to think that I need not give this talk to the boys until the 'tween years. Kids grow up too darned fast!

No Pain, No Ink

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

I did NOT chicken out.

Therefore, I now have a rather larger than originally anticipated tattoo. But it is awesome. Yes, it hurt, but not as bad as the first one did.

You know, I got my first tattoo on my pelvis, 12 years ago. It is quite small, maybe 1 1/2 inches square. It was the most excrutiatingly painful event of my life, and that's saying something, considering I have had gall bladder attacks (and removal), kidney infection, and three children. I walked out of there, although extremely happy with my tattoo, thinking, "NEVER AGAIN!"

12 years later, I overcame the pain memory, crawled to the happy place in my brain, and left thinking, "Hmm. Where should I get my next one?"

Mark is laughing at me because I haven't told the kids about it yet. I told Mark that I didn't want Phoenix going to school and telling everyone that his mom got a tattoo. All of the "good" moms will be looking for my "tramp stamp".

But I know there are a few school moms out there that have tattoos. I'm not the only one, I've seen at least 2. And I know of at least 3 more that want to GET tattoos, so...maybe I'll flash it after all. I guess I'll just wait and see.

Best of all was spending the whole day with Kris, one of my very bestest friends. Haven't seen her since the Duran Duran concert, and that was over 2 years ago. Shame on us. It was a great, great day, and I didn't get home until 1:30 am.

********************************************************************************

So, now that I have posted a picture, let the lecture e-mails from the relatives (you know who you are) begin!

Allergy Alert!

I took Keegs to the allergist today. Turns out he has quite the allergy to peanuts, so he has to now have an epipen at home and at school, just in case. He also tested as mildly allergic to tree nuts (almonds, walnuts etc.) and corn. Guess that's why he won't eat anything with nuts, refuses to eat corn, and after the first try, won't eat popcorn either. They give him a bad tummy ache.

I have to take him back in two weeks to test for regular allergens (pet, dust, pollens, etc.). Damn! Sensitive kiddies over here.

My nephew Jake did a face plant on the asphalt at school yesterday playing soccer, and cut open his forehead, scraped his nose, put his teeth through his lip, and broke a tooth. OUCH! But, as my brother Mike commented, "It's all good. Chicks dig guys with scars."

That's pretty much the 411 around here. Not much else to report...except...maybe...thinking...of...getting a new tattoo....?