Happy Halloween...

This is my little family. Ethan is "shadow the hedgehog" from the Sonic Series of video games. I'm a baby. Landon an elephant. Jack a frog. Kennedy a baby. And then Shawn. I suppose in this regular attire he could say he's dressed as Val Kilmer, because he resembles him naturally.

This game is a favorite of my kids. Eating a donut off a string without using your hands. They all accomplished the task without any difficulty.

I think this is the CUTEST elephant ever. I just want to squeeze him looking at this picture. He wasn't quite sure what to think of this game playing inside, but when we headed out to the parking lot, and the availability of candy became apparent, he was nothing but smiles.

Open dat! Open dat!

Today the Halloween festivities begin. I feel like we've all been on a sugar high since October 1st. We loaded up on sugar at the High School Parade, then last weekend we went to the YMCA Carnival. I didn't dress my kids up because, well, I'm lazy. I figured taking 4 kids (plus Ethan's friend) was enough good Mothering for the day. The kids played loads of games, and collected loads of candy. Except Landon. All he did was eat candy. Every time he got a piece he'd hold it up to me and yell "Open Dat!" as loud as he could so I would for sure hear him. His bag never filled up because every piece was placed directly in his mouth. After 15 minutes of perpetual eating he started to spin in circles and then flop down on the floor in hysterical laughter. Sugar is a funny thing. My kids all had a good time.

Tonight our church is hosting a trunk-or-treat party. Tomorrow is the actual day of Halloween so we'll get to costume up once again and load up with candy. This sugar high is going to last well until Thanksgiving. Lucky for me I will miss the worst of it because the morning of November 1st I'm headed to New York City. That's New York City as in Manhattan in the state of New York. All alone with my mom and sister Katelyn. 5 days. Food. Broadway. Shopping. Enough fun to hopefully get me through the long winter filled with board study, senior papers, and just basic anesthesia detail.

Odd Girl Out....

I just finished a book for my book club titled "Odd Girl Out" by Rachel Simmons. This book wasn't a novel, more like a research book on the aggression of girls. She spent one year talking to girls ages 9-adult about relationships. She shares a lot of stories from these conversations she had throughout that year, as well as insights into how to deal with bullies. Until I read this book, I'd forgotten how hard it was to be a girl when your whole life revolves around who you associate with, and who is willing to associate with you. I'd forgotten about that time in 6th grade when I was trying to overcome the status of "new girl" in a school and how very hard it was. I'd forgotten about how hard I cried alone in my room when my only friend Kerri turned on me and called me an Indian Giver because I asked her to give me back something that was rightfully mine. I'd forgotten how she managed to get everyone to ignore me for 3 days and when she was helping the teacher rearrange the desks she put mine in the very back of the room so I'd have to watch all of them talk about me and laugh without me. Bad memories. Worse was the memory brought to my mind of when I was the one being the aggressor. The year before I suffered, I caused the suffering. I was absent for 2 days and when I returned a new girl was sitting next to Annie, my best friend. They were laughing about things I'd missed. I started to like Mandi P., she was nice. Our group let her into the circle for a few weeks. After a while Christa was sick of her, so we had to be too. We shunned her. After a week she quit coming to school. We never saw her again. At the end of the school year Annie and I discussed how bad we felt and went to where she lived to make it better. Nobody answered the door. At the end of the driveway we looked back and saw a woman in the window. She told us Mandi had moved because some girls treated her horribly. She thought we were there to be nice. If she only knew we were actually the reason she felt the need to leave. This book reminded me of how hard it was to be a girl when weird social hierarchies rule, and it also opened the terror in my heart as realization set in that I have my own daughter who will encounter such situations. I hope she is never faced with a horrible life-changing scenario caused by back-biting, rumors, and catty girls. I hope she can just find girls to be friends with that like her for who she is, and are nice. I hope she is one of the nice girls at her school and not one of the ones trying to cause conflict. I'm glad I read this book. Even though Pandora's box of worries has now been opened I have been reminded of what it was like. Hopefully I will now be more understanding when my daughter doesn't want to go to school because of a bad hair day, or because the zit on her nose shines like Rudolph. Maybe now I'll have a little more empathy instead of just saying "get over it". I'm just glad I'm not in Jr. High anymore. Adults can be "girls" too, but now I have the confidence to walk away and not get sucked in.

Basketball Camp....

On Friday the kids were out of school. A very smart P.E. teacher decided to hold the 1st annual basketball camp for future ball players grades 1st-6th grade. Ethan loves the game and immediately jumped on board. Kennedy either loves the game more than I thought, or just didn't want to miss out on the way Ethan chose to spend his day off and decided she also wanted to attend. It went from 8am to 3pm, so it was a pretty long day full of drills, dribbling, shooting, and of course pizza. They seemed to have a pretty good time. At least they told me it was worth the money I spent to enroll them. I love it when my kids get opportunities to participate in activities such as this. I think it broadens their horizons as to what they enjoy, and it gives them the ability to experience something they might not get to at home.

Kid talk...

Landon's favorite words (written as they sound):
"Carry you. Pease" (please)
"Hode you. Hode yooooou!" (hold you)
"I deed it! Yeah!" (while clapping his hands) (i did it)
"Get down. Get down." (If I hear this it means he's climbed where he shouldn't)
"Hep you. Pease" (help you please)
"Open dat" (open that)
"Ice. Water."
There are many more 2 word phrases that he says often, those are just a few that I hear the most. I love this phase of vocabulary. It's always surprising to me how fast the words come once the first few are said.

Jackson:
Yesterday he told me that for Christmas he wants his own house with his own knives because he isn't allowed to touch the ones in our house. He said Landon could live with him but couldn't touch the knives because he'd be the youngest one in the house and not allowed. This afternoon he told my mom that for Christmas from her he wants a Halloween costume. Apparently the options he was given from me are unsatisfactory.
In the car one day he asked me if Jesus was going to come back to pick us up and take us to his world. He told me when he gets to Jesus' world he wants to build a house right across the street from Jesus so he can go over to his house anytime he feels like it. Sweet little Jack.

Sweep...

If you are sweeping the wood floor around the dining room table, and your soon-to-be two year old says "Sweep, naughty corner. Sweep, naughty corner." that means:
A) You are a very consistent mother when it comes to doling out punishments.
B) You have a child who has spent quite a few times in said naughty corner.
OR
C) A little bit of both.

My Very Own.....

Shawn moonlights every so often in a small town north of here. He's headed up that direction tonight in fact. This morning he was frantically looking for his wedding ring that somehow was misplaced a few days ago. He found it and was very relieved. Out of curiosity I inquired as to why he was so relieved. He let me in on a little conversation he had with nurse so-and-so last time he worked in their ER. She asked if he for sure had a wedding ring on. He told her he did and then asked her why. She responded by saying, "because you are one of those hot doctors who needs to wear a ring so people know you are taken." People might think this is reason for me to get the claws out and ban him from future employment. I'm not afraid. This conversation held by him and this nurse actually makes me smile. Meredith Grey, I've got my very own Dr. McDreamy. Only I opted for the house, kids, car, and commitment that you seem to lack. Lucky, lucky me.