I am an official busy mom...

Crap, when did this happen? I just woke up today....well it was about noon and I actually had been awake for a while and at work but I woke up to the world... and realized as I am reading five emails that I had gotten this morning concerning my kids and their activities. Wow, we are busy. The first two emails are concerning the last basketball game for my son and a pizza party after the game. (I was nominated to bring drinks and napkins.) The second is for my daughter and her last cheerleading at a game(no not the SAME game as my son - that would make it toooo easy) and a party for their squad. Yes on the same day and within an hour of each other. The next three emails were the days and times of practice for each of the three soccer teams for this spring. No we weren't lucky enough to be able to be practicing at the same time on the same day. And soccer practice starts next week. This Saturday they have a clinic but we can't be at three places at once so we will have to miss the optional soccer clinic. So now on Mondays Nicholas has scouts, Tuesdays Caroline has Art and Nicholas has soccer, Wednesdays Allie and Caroline have soccer, and Fridays Allie has Art. Saturdays we have three soccer games. This will continue until June. So much for using our travel trailer this spring. It will have to be short overnights Saturday afternoons to Sundays if we go anywhere this spring. ugh!

The Oscars are a JOKE

Okay, I admit from the beginning that 1. I don't watch very many movies in the movie theater and 2. I didn't watch all of the Oscars. I do like Ellen and I am sure she did a good job. I did like Billy Crystal better though. Okay so I realize that the Oscars are on and I flip the channel and start watching right at "best animation". The choices are Monster House(which I did not see), Cars, and Happy Feet. This past year we have seen most all the animated movies in the theater. My kids loved Over the Hedge and Cars. They got bored with Happy Feet on the second half of the movie because it was the same thing over and over again and the same dancing and singing. Cars kept their attention the whole time and my husband and I, too, were rivited to the screen. We couldn't believe the animation and the storyline and characters were AWESOME! We have purchased the movie and have seen it a zillion times. Each time we watch it we are fascinated with it and find parts that we hadn't noticed before. ALL of it is awesome! While watching the Oscars I told my husband that Cars definitely had it in the bag. Low and Behold, Happy Feet won. I was SHOCKED! THE MOVIE SUCKED!! THE ANIMATION WAS ONLY AVERAGE, NOTHING SPECIAL! THE PLOT SUCKED!

Since when does the Oscars have a part of the vote that is politically based. Cars got the Oscar stolen from them! I am boycotting anything Happy Feet! Go away Mumbo, Gloria and the others!

Oh the Testosterone.....or maybe it was Estrogen

Today my son had his regional pinewood derby competition. It was held in a cafeteria of a local private school. He had won first place in his Cub Scout troop for the Wolves. His car was created from a block of pine wood (get it) and the stock axles and wheels. His design was a pick up truck painted to look like his Daddy's.

Now we all know that a 7 year old can not use power tools and can not engineer a car to do well with the logic and skill needed. So he had some help, well, a lot of help from his Dad. All the boys did. So when we got to the competition you can feel the testosterone of the males competing against each other. They pick about everything. The competition is triple elimination and you have to have raced on all three tracks to make it all even.

I am sitting there watching the racing that is going on. Cheering for my son's car (truck) and trying to keep my kids from standing up in the front and getting in the way of the other spectators. While sitting there I realize that there is something else going on. Yes the normal testosterone running through the room but there is something else this year. I realize that there is some estrogen floating around too. The lady next to me cheering with her son is accused of cheating when others think that her son is using a car from last year. (Hey, when you have a winning car you tend to duplicate it). The more she and I talk I realize she had helped her son make his car. Our neighbor comes in and picks up her son's car which she had helped build. And there are others.....

We came in 15th out of 23 cars. Our neighbor's son came in 16th so we are still first in the neighborhood rivalry!! It wasn't a bad showing.... but there is always next year.

How long does it take for your front teeth to come in?

Just how long DOES it take for your front teeth to come in? That is the question that my son, Nicholas asked me the other day. Poor guy hasn't had any front teeth for almost 8 months! We thought we could see them back in November and I assured him that by Christmas time he would have them. Christmas came and went and no teeth were discovered. He has to bite anything with the side of his mouth. He can't eat corn or apples real well. He has learned to live with them not being there but just when will they come in?

I remember I lost both of my front teeth together and they were missing for a whole summer but I don't remember it being this long.

Kids say the BEST things!!

Tonight Caroline was cuddling with me on the couch. She turned and kissed the front of my sweater in the middle of my chest and looked up to me with her big eyes and said, "Mommy, I just kissed your heart."

Boy did she make me melt! I looked back at her and told her, "Baby, you kissed my heart the minute you were born!"

Kids say the BEST things!!

American Idol

So last night we watched the American Idol. We got hooked on it two seasons ago and really only watched last season from the middle on. We haven't paid attention to it from the beginning like we have this season. So last night while watching I decided to pick my favorite male singer. Now I know that my first choice of Blake is probably a popular choice but here are my reasons. First he was the only one last night who didn't look nervous from the beginning. He seemed very much at home sitting on the stage and singing. I also liked the song choice AND I liked his clear voice. I watched him several times back to back with Jared (My second choice) and the last guy with the bald head. My problem with baldy is that he was nervous from the beginning and his voice faltered some. He needs some practice. Now Jared, I like too because he has some variety of genre and I liked him better on his Hollywood week when he sang Cupid. (Great song!!) Back to Blake, I think that Blake has a varied talent and no matter what happens on Idol he WILL get a record contract. But I do expect him to go to the end.

Now I am off to see the women. I am at this point not really impressed with any of them. Maybe tonight will jog my memory of what the did during their auditions and their Hollywood week.

Who are your picks?

A Wicked 48 Hours

So today is a holiday, thank goodness! Friday night Caroline got sick, just started throwing up and couldn't stop. She is such a trouper though. We eventually took her to the doctors at 9:30 that night because she couldn't stop throwing up. Two hours later we were out of there with a perscription for a anti-vomiting med. We get it filled and head back home. That night Nicholas was supposed to have a friend over to spend the night and we had to call and cancel. Nicholas was so upset about this that Kenneth called his parents and asked if they would take him for a spend the night. (That is what we call it). The next morning Caroline was feeling much better and by 6:30 that evening she was bouncing off the walls like nothing had happened. Nicholas spent the night over a friends house that night and the next day (sunday) we get up and Kenneth is sick. I start feeling ill about 11:oo am and by the evening, Kenneth, Alexandra, and I are all sick. We send Caroline and Nicholas out to spend the night at Kenneth's parents again in hopes that Nicholas doesn't get it but low and behold he gets sick in the middle of the night. Now we are all on the mend. Kenneth is feeling 100% better, I am at 90%, Alexandra is right behind me but still feeling weak. Nicholas is the only one still in the bed and still running a fever.

It is amazing how such a healthy family can be completely crippled by a silly 24 hour bug. And it is 24 hours on the nose. Kenneth is currently cleaning the family room rug with the rug cleaner borrowed from Katy (Dad's widdow). We had two of the three kids vomit on it. I am about to do some laundry and hopefully get this virus out of our house.

We hardly ever get sick. This doesn't include colds because we pass those around the house like a hot potato but sick sick is rare! This one put us all in the bed.

Well while being laid up I managed to get most of my tea towel done and am getting much better at knitting right handed. I think I am getting brave enough to tackle a simple sweater. But before I attempt that I have to finish Alexandra's blanket I am crocheting. I hope to get a picture of it and will post it if I can figure out how to do it.

Knitting Backwards

It occured to me a week ago that I have been knitting backwards for many years. While this hasn't bothered me and in fact I haven't even noticed that I was doing it backwards, I now feel the need to correct my wrongdoings. For all this time I haven't knit anything other than scarves for my family and friends. So by knitting basically rectangles this backwardsness hasn't affected my projects. But recently I was reading a blog from another knitter and they mentioned something about teaching a lefthander to knit was no different than teaching a right hander. So as I read on I realized that I did it backwards. By backwards is that I knit from left to right. Regular knitting knits from right to left. There is a big problem when you read a pattern and have to transcribe everything backwards to make anything other than a rectangle. Bear with me here. So if I am knitting a sweater for example then I would be knitting along and then realize that I have knit it inside out(basically).

So the perfectionist that I am, I am reteaching myself to knit right handed. It is no real big deal but it feels so funny. So as a practice I knit a washcloth. Not a bad project but it is all knits and I get to practice my increases and decreases. So I am knitting along and low and behold I screwed up. The washcloth is knit on the diagonal so instead of my washcloth looking like a square when it is done mine looks like a kite! Yes a kite!. So I put that one down and have now started working on a dishtowel. Yes it is a rectangle. I am using a bit of a pattern with it and making three thin stripes going up the towel. It helps me practice moving from knit to purl and back again.

So the reason for me to switch from left handed backward knitting to right handed knitting was to be able to make sweaters and stuff. But all I have accomplished is making more rectangles and squares. Aggghhhhh.....