Monday, February 28, 2011

Futility

Zach keeps charging his ipod in 3 minute increments. I'm not kidding- he plugs it in, stares at for three minutes, then unplugs it and starts watching the same 30 minute episode of A Team that he's been trying to finish for the last hour. Oh, and he does this while completely encased in a blanket.

I'd try to convince him to charge it longer so it lasts longer, but there is just no changing this kid's mind when he decides he wants to do something.

Oh well, at least his 30 minute episode will turn into 3 hours of peace for me ;)

Stupid Blogger Comments :(

I've been trying to reply to comments, but the stupid Blogger comment form is wacky of late. It types everything in a .2 font, which you'd need Superman eyes to read. So, in response to the comments made on the last post:

@Heather- I definitely believe in taking advantage of the one on one time when you get it! Enjoy this time with your daughter- it goes by so, so fast. Once they are in school all day it's never the same. The grow and mature and become more independent, but you'll find yourself looking back wistfully to the days where she wants to you to everything with and for her.

@Simmonsfamily: Thank you so much!! I'm glad to know my insanity and sleeplessness induced ramblings are somewhat entertaining :) I had to do some digging to find the post you were talking about, but I think it is the one titles "Can You Tell What Kind of Day I'm Having" (which, incidentally, is a title I could use every single day with different content about what chaos has erupted in my house).

Now I'm off to shout obscenities at Blogger. It's therapeutic works because they never shout back. Try it- you'll thank me.

PS- After typing this I noticed that I spelled Blogger "Blooger" over and over. It seems I fused bloody+booger to make "blooger". Does anyone remember that "scary" story we'd tell each other in elementary school abut the bloody booger monster? No one? Huh, seems you all missed out on a great literary classic.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

The Princess Is Home....

Tay had to go to the doctor today, so of course it made no sense to send her to school when I'd just be checking her out 2 hours later, and then it made no sense to get checked in after the appointment and lunch for the last hour and a half of the day :) I am such a pushover(FYI- she just told me that if I were really a pushover we'd be at Kohls right now. I guess I do have boundaries). The truth is, I have no qualms about checking her out or keeping her home occasionally. She is a self-motivated, straight A student who is involved in a lot of activities. She never asks for help with her homework, and I rarely even hear about her assignments or tests unless she's stressed about one and lets me know she's going to be in her room studying. Could you ask for an easier kid? Holy cow, I hope her brothers watch and learn. But from the hour of math I do nightly and the book report we'll spend this entire evening on, I'm pretty sure Noah will need a little more motivation. Zach will probably just go right to extortion and bartering. He's waaaaay too smart (aka. manipulative and crafty) for his own good.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

I'm An Old Lady.

One of my all time favorite movie lines comes from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, when the dad tells his "spinster" daughter, "You need to get married- you are looking old". Today when I looked in the mirror the last half of that line immediately came to mind. From the gray strands in my hair and the fine lines popping up on my face, to the ever slightly sagging skin on my neck, I look old. Fortunately I'm already married and it would be way too expensive for him to divorce me, so I don't have to worry about catching a guy with my aging looks. But it is still depressing. I now understand why Joan Rivers looks the way she does. Plastic surgery doesn't seem like such a bad thing in the wake of realizing that your shelf life is half way over.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Epic Fail.....

You'd think we were rookies at this whole parenting thing.

Ever since James gifted me a new itouch 4 last week, Zach has decided that it is perfectly reasonable to expect that a four year old needs (not wants) one. In lieu of purchasing him one, he kindly offered to trade his ipod (which happens to be MY ipod that I finally just gave to him a few weeks ago because he whined constantly about not having one) for my itouch. He was convinced it was a good trade, and cried for an hour straight when I refused.

Now, I have known for a very long time that he his technological intelligence is far superior to mine. He picks up in 5 minutes what takes me an hour to comprehend. But that in no way entitles him to every toy I have, no matter how much I misuse or under-utilize it. And by toys, I mean all 3: my ipod (now HIS ipod), my laptop, and my itouch (Just a note- no one wants my phone. I couldn't even give it away that's how outdated it is. It represents why I finally deserved to get the new techy toy in the family).

That brings us to tonight. We were working with Zach on his letters and the conversation rolled back somehow to his wanting my itouch. So James offered up a compromise to him: we'd get him an itouch when he could learn all his letters and read. Brilliant right? Not so much. For while Zach jumped up and ran to the kitchen to work on the letter magnets on the fridge, he returned 60 seconds later declaring that he'd learned them and all dad now needed to take him to the store. He didn't get the whole "learning and memorizing" concept. He was also befuddled by the fact that we'd need actual proof of said learning, ie. that he could read an entire sentence without help. We were thinking an 18 month turnover- he was thinking 5 minutes. Our bad, obviously. A rookie mistake, bartering with a child. But we're not rookies. This is child number 3. It all just points back to the fact that it is absolutely indisputable that we are not supposed to have any more children.

Shizz Balls.....

EPIC sinus infection going on here. Apparently my sinuses are in love with my ear canals, cause that's where all the pressure goes to.

Oh, and this morning when I got up to do lessons I was stumbling around- due to said ear pressure and dizziness- and I ran into the armoire in my closet. In a failed attempt to protect myself I sent my arm flying out to catch me. Instead I caught the corner of the door latch and now I can't lift my elbow/arm.

Awesome.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

The Face of Crazy

The last few days as I have manically been painting I have thought to myself many times over, "I really am crazy". I'm pretty sure my family agrees. But in truth I'm okay with being crazy. I know I have OCD about certain things, mostly cleaning and my home looking a certain way. But I do not judge others by my standards. I can walk in a home and if there is a mess out or a few toys laying around it doesn't even faze me. But if those same things were out in MY house it would drive me batty. It doesn't make sense but it also doesn't bug me enough that I'm going to change.

It was ironic that in the midst of this introspection I was given ample evidence of what crazy really is through the wonder of Facebook. I have a FB "friend"- I call her that lightly because I have almost no contact whatsoever with her but we all know that FB make you "friends" with the world now- that is quite literally nuts. I've had to block her updates because she is so offensive and so unreasonable. She spews hatred with every breath, and yet has never, ever been wrong a moment in her life. I would "defriend" her but I haven't figured out a way to do so covertly (FB need to work on that). My daughter and I have named her "The Face of Crazy" thus omitting the need to say her name- and we all know how much I love nicknames. But an unexpected benefit has come from this naming: the moniker has become a symbol of sorts for us. When we are out and see something shocking or bizarre happen we say "wow, that could have been the Face of Crazy", or "hey, the Face of Crazy is out again". It's a little wordy to ever become a popular catchphrase, but it works for us. And just so you know, I may not be the originator but the Face of Crazy is often times me :)

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Did You Know I Have Issues???

This is getting ridiculous.

I cannot stop painting. It all started with my mistinted purple office. Every time I walked by this room that I NEVER use I'd get nervous and my eyes would start twitching. The color literally drove me nuts. So I've been trying to self-medicate by doing realization exercises (ie....You can live with bad color Loma. It's not important. There are wars all over the world and starving children.....) but they were to no avail. Last week I grabbed my chance to fix the "ode to Barney the dinosaur" color. I was painting our master bedroom as a surprise to my hunny for Valentines, and I thought, hey I have this can of extra paint (I may or may not have intentionally purchased an extra can) that will just sit on the shelf in the garage waiting to go bad. I should definitely, for economy sake, paint the office.

So I did.

It looks lovely. My heart is almost happy. Almost you ask? Well, once I finished the office I happened to look down the hall into my daughter's bathroom and I noticed that the walls were woefully the same color they had been since we had moved in. They were calling to me "paint me, make me pretty". So I figured while I have the mess out I ought to just keep going. Then the kitchen walls, which were regretfully a shade too light than what I had been hoping for, fell victim to my roller and brush. What started out as a gift to my patient hubby (who had been waiting for 2 years for me to paint our room, go figure) became a 4 room paint-a-thon.

Don't judge. OCD is a real disease my friends.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

What We Heard On The Way Home From School.......

#1: Both boys hammering the words to Flo Rider's "Low, Low, Low" song. The best adlib? Noah singing "clucky clucky, gonna kick her to the curb" instead of "the whole club is looking at her".

#2: Zach to Taylor after she had tried to take away his ear phone because he was singing way too loudly : "It's not your job to take them off, it's my job to keep them on".

#3: Noah's explanation as to why his teacher drinks caffeine free Diet Pepsi all day "She is getting old and so her vocal chords need special drinks to make them work."

Don't you wish you were here???

Monday, February 14, 2011

What to Get a 4 Year Old For Valentines....

For Valentine Zach got the greatest gift ever......my ipod.

He has envied his sister and brother's ipods for far too long. Since bequeathing him mine on Sunday he was been watching videos nonstop and listening to Glee tunes. There's nothing funnier than listening to a 4 year old trying to sing along to Journey and Aerosmith. Plus as an added bonus he has a cold and is really congested. Stuffy nose + incoherent singing= entertainments for us both for hours.

Post script:

I have to correct myself. The funniest thing EVER is watching/listening to him dance and sing to Flo Rider's "Low, low, low". He keeps saying "he hit the phone" instead of "he hit the floor" :) And the serious gangsta face he's sporting while doing all this is priceless.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

A Few Visits and a Little Valentines Fun....

First off, did you see Lady Gaga at the Grammys?? Holy heck, she is one strange cookie. I'm all for freedom of expression but when you look like you've infused chicken gizzards into you shoulders you might want to step back and rethink your motivation.

With that said, all in all it was a pretty good Sunday. No tantrums, everyone got to church on time, and I even snuck in an hour long nap! After church 5 of my young women and I drove around to visit all the girls who hadn't been to church and take them their calendars and a cupcake (btw...these cupcakes were so stinking cute! Brenda went way above and beyond on them. I feel really sorry for the girls when they hit my month to make them.). We hit about 11 houses and reached someone at every home. HOORAY!!! It is so cool to see the girls get excited about visiting and really wanting to connect with the young women we don't get to see as often. Love them, love them, LOVE THEM!!!

This evening Noah worked on addressing his class valentines for tomorrow. He has a special "secret admirer" valentine for a cute little blond in his class named Noelle. He is truly his father's son :)

Tay is missing the fun of getting valentines now that she is in junior high. They sell roses for kids to send to each other at her school, but from what she has told me very few do. I think I'll have to surprise her with some flowers after school. It might not be the same as having the boy you like give you some, but I think she'll like them anyway (She was really hinting that flowers from any one would be cool when we were at the grocery store the other day).

I love my 3 little valentines, and my big one as well. On Saturday we decided to go to a movie and lunch because we knew Monday night would be insane. It was really nice to hang out with my cutie. He's been so busy and has been working such long hours over the last few months that we haven't seen each other very much. After our date we headed down to my parent's house for a bbq. I love my parents and siblings and nieces/nephews- I could not ask for a better family. James gets such a kick out of teasing my mom- this weekend it was all about how he purposely wiped off her eyebrows- but he loves her like his own. My sweet niece Shelby made my heart smile :) We were decorating heart shaped sugar cookies and I looked over and Shelby had licked off all the icing and only taken a bite or two of her cookie. Grandpa was not appreciative of that, and really wanted her to finish the cookie, so when he wasn't looking I put more icing on it and told her to enjoy :) She is a girl after my own heart. I LOVE icing but hate whatever is underneath it. It made me so happy so see that trait had passed on to the next generation.

It's late but I have to wait up until James falls asleep so I can put his secret Valentines present in his car so he can find it when he goes to work. I love surprises!!!! Happy Valentines Day everyone. Give the people you love a big hug, and let them know every single day how much they mean to you.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Zachie creates a word....

There is no "tomorrow" or "tonight" in Zach's vocabulary. Instead, any indeterminate amount of time in the future is "tolater", as in "mom, can I go to bed tolater?" or "can I save my treat for tolater?".

I think he's started a revolution. I'm going to start using it when my other older children bug me about when something is going to happen or occur. For instance, when they ask when dinner is, I can say "tolater". There's no commitment to a certain time, or even day. It's just some time in the future.

Brilliant me thinks.

See you tolater!

Friday, February 11, 2011

Big Night A Comin'

This afternoon I get to spent 2hours coiffing and primping Taylor for the Valentines Dance at school. She's pretty ticked at me because I won't buy her yet another new outfit for the dance, but I offered to do her hair as penance. I don't get it. How can I survive owning exactly 2 pairs of jeans and yet my daughter looks into her fully stocked closet and exclaims "I have NOTHING to wear" (insert annoying whiney voice here).

I guess her sucess at the dance hinges on whether or not the boys like the brand new shirt with the perfect pink shrug that they won't be able to see or decipher the color of in the dimly flourescent lit school cafeteria.

I hope someday she forgives me :)

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Self discovery

I am a giant douche.

I just said something totally snarky to a 14 year old boy.

All because he was rude to my teenage daughter, like all teenage boys are to girls their own age.

Yes he is a turd, but at least his behavior is age appropriate. Mine, was not.

Bad Loma, bad!

From here on out.....

Last night at YW our wonderful Mia Mid counselor taught the girls a really meaningful lesson on the importance of writing down our histories. After as I was talking to James, I realized how negligent I have been of late in doing just that. What is this blog but a place to write down the stories and inconsistencies of rearing my three darling but rambunctous in the hope that someday we'll read them together and remember just how much we loved each other?

So I'm going to do better. Too many times I have hesitated to post anything because I have worried about visibility or who was reading it, so I have intentionally left things pretty lighthearted and only surface deep unless I was writing about my own feelings and not the rest of my family. So no more. It may be sad, it may be embarassing at times, but come what may someday we'll want to remember the things that were important to us and the trials we've faced and conquered.

So here I go.......

This is has been an insane start to the new year. James' work is exploding (in a good way), Tay is the manager for her JR. High basketball team and playing on a comp team as well. Noah is thankfully just plugging along, with a good attitude most of the time :) He is attending his third Braille Challenge in a few weeks. Today Karla, his braille teacher and district VI specialist sent home a note that just gushed over how far he has progressed since the beginning of 4th grade. In August he was reading 6 words per minute by touch, and this week he read 18 words. That's a 300% improvement!!! It's hard because he can read braille visually very quickly- much more than 18 words a minute- but he's supposed to be using his fingers rather than his eyes. Karla had to construct a box to go over his fingers because he was cheating so much by looking at the braille! Oh well, I'm grateful he still has enough sight to see it. Braille is so complex- it's an entire language with rules and verbage. But it is so critical for his future education and employment that he learn it. I am so grateful for Karla and all she is doing for him.

The biggest news in our family now is that Zach is FINALLY 100% potty trained!!! It has been such a battle to train this kid. He has been peeing consistently for the last year and a half, but has completely refused to go #2. He had "fecal aversion"- an intense fear of #2ing in the potty. We have had many wars over the issue, and he's spent countless hours sitting on the toilet just turn around and hide under a bed and go the minute I let him get off the pot. As of about December though he's turned the corner and has been awesome at both #1 and #2 since!!!! Hooray for him, and hooray for mom because he can no go to preschool next year:)

That's all for today, except that I have a Zone Bar thief in my house and I have a sneaking suspicion (well, not really sneaking as I just found wrappers under his bed) that his name starts with and N and he's 10 years old. I'm not really a stinker about food- nothing is really off limits in our house EXCEPT for my raspberry Zone bars because they are so stinking hard to find. I've only found them at the Harmons by my parent's house. Boo grocery stores- you need to stock them!!!!