Momma's Boy

There's just something about mommas & their boys, right?  It's no different for me & my favorite boy. 

I don't know that we'll ever get that potty training business out of the way.  And I'm convinced he'll be proposing to his girlfriend with his binky instead of a diamond (thanks for putting THAT thought in my head, Angie--ha!).  He may even have to make room for his Mickey Roary in his suitcase on his honeymoon!  But, I can look past it all everytime he flashes that big ol' smile & asks me to pick him up and dance or sing the Sunshine song to him one more time. 

Yep, there's something about this momma & her boy...

Exciting!

I don't know if you heard about the horrible traffic woes of the DC area on Wednesday evening due to sudden snow right at rush hour?  Well, it was somethin' & luckily we were all home & didn't get caught up in it.  Well...let me say we all ended up home safe & sound, but Joel & Josie DID get a little "caught up" for a bit.  Josie had an eye appointment that Joel took her to & on their way home it started sleeting.  Then, according to Joel, they just started driving into a wall of snow.  When they got closer to our house they took the back way coming home by a 2 lane blacktop road, instead of taking the highway through town.  Joel said he couldn't even see the road & since it was dark and the snow was swirling, he was having a hard time not getting disoriented.  And when I asked him WHY he chose to take this back road instead of coming through town where there are more cars & lights, he said "that wouldn't have been as exciting!"

Which takes me back to another time when we had a conversation much like this one...it was March 17, 2001.  This was not only St. Patrick's day but also the day of Joel's graduate recital at U of M.  Our 900 square foot house was full with my mom, my grandma, Joel's parents & his brother plus our 2 dogs & 2 cats--we were cooking in the kitchen & cleaning for his reception following the recital.   Joel had driven up the road to the grocery store to pick up the cake I ordered for him that read "Congratulations Joel" in the icing.  We had some late season snow there in Michigan that spring & only the week before Joel had traded in his faithful ol' blue Ford Ranger for a shiny new red one.  We hadn't even made a payment on the truck yet when he decided it would be "more exciting" to take the outer, snow covered road home with his cake, than to drive down the clear highway.  What a neat thing to get a phone call from him to tell me he was on the outer road and the truck was upside down in the ditch....just hours before his recital was to begin.  He was fine--the truck was totalled.  And the cake...well, I only wish we had a picture of the icing reading "Congratulations Joel" that was stuck to the cake box top from when it flipped upside down in the truck with him. 

SO, luckily Joel made it home Wednesday with no incident....he had much more precious cargo than cake this time as he was driving with my Josie Mae in tow.  And since that same day Joel had to trade our old van in for a new-to-us commuter car, I'm REALLY hoping we get to make at least 1 payment on it before he decides to do anything too exciting in it! 

Happiness

I was driving in the car with my girls the other night when we noticed the beautiful full moon.  Josie says, "Momma, I can't decide if I want to be an astronaut or a farmer when I grow up.  What do you think I should be?" 

I answered as simply as I could, "You should be whatever makes you happy."

My Happiness

I don't remember having long, in depth conversations with my parents about my future & what I wanted to be when I grew up.  For as long as I can remember, I just always knew I wanted & would be a teacher.  I would sneak into my mom's closet & slip on her high heeled shoes pretending to be a teacher in our basement.  I loved the sound the clippy cloppy made on the concrete floor & reminded me of being in class.  In high school I participated in after school programs in the elementary schools working with at-risk youth.  In college, my job list included 3 different day care centers.  I loved being a teacher & I was really good at it.  It made me happy for several years. 

But then I had Jackie & what made me happy changed.  I think that's ok.  I believe it takes a brave person to stop mid-career & make a bold change for the sake of happiness.  My choice has maybe not paid us as well as continuing my teaching career, but if I had it to do all over, I'd do the same thing.

That's the funny thing about happiness.  Only you can figure out how to make it for yourself & truly money can't buy it for you.  Be brave.  Be bold.  Be Happy!

YAY Daddy!

Joel narrowly missed passing his military fitness test last fall by a couple of sit ups.  It seemed so silly because he can literally run circles around me & is in really great shape.  So when he came home & told me, he had a great sense of humor about it.  Not passing meant he would have to attend a class about nutrition & being healthy.  He jokingly named it "Fat Camp". 

This month Joel got to retake his fitness test & at dinner that night he had a celebratory glass of wine.  Jackie asked him what he was celebrating & he said, "Well, I passed my fitness test at work."  Jackie jumped up in her chair, started clapping and immediately shouted "YAY DADDY, no more FAT CAMP!"  I laughed the best laugh! 

Yep, you can't keep a thing in the world from your kids--they hear everything you say & watch everything you do!  I hope the good stuff sticks!

You Will Reach the Top

Once upon a time there was a bunch of tiny frogs.... who arranged a running competition.

The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower.

A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants....

The race began....

Honestly:

No one in crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower.
You heard statements such as:

"Oh, WAY too difficult!!"

"They will NEVER make it to the top."

or:

"Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!"



The tiny frogs began collapsing. One by one....
Except for those, who in a fresh tempo, were climbing higher and higher....

The crowd continued to yell,  "It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!"
More tiny frogs got tired and gave up....

But ONE continued higher and higher and higher....

This one wouldn't give up!




At the end everyone else had given up climbing the tower. Except for the one tiny frog who, after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top!
THEN all of the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it?



A contestant asked the tiny frog how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal?
It turned out....

That the winner was DEAF!!!!





The wisdom of this story is:

Never listen to other people's tendencies to be

negative or pessimistic....  because they take your most wonderful dreams and wishes away from you -- the ones you have in your heart!
Always think of the power words have.

Because everything you hear and read will affect your actions!
Therefore:
ALWAYS be....

POSITIVE!
And above all:

Be DEAF when people tell YOU that you cannot fulfill your dreams!!

In two days tomorrow will be yesterday.

Dress Up

We had big plans for the 4 day weekend.  Jackie had horse riding camp all day Friday, Josie had a friend coming over for a play date, Aunt Gina was possibly coming to town...and then Thursday night Jackie woke up sick & everything had to be cancelled.  While Jackie was incredibly heartbroken to miss her camp, it was harder for Josie to understand why she couldn't still have her friend over since SHE wasn't the one who was sick.  As an alternate plan, I told her I would do makeup with her later in the day.  This was ALMOST as good as having a play date as Josie is my girly girl & loves to dress up and do makeup. 

So, after getting sidetracked several times, we finally sat down in the afternoon and I let her use my makeup & her own to make me beautiful...



We started with some mineral foundation.




She chose a very pretty blue for my eyes.

 The cutest part was her going through my makeup bag asking me what everything was used for.  She picked up my concealer & opened it.  "What's this, Mommy?"   When I told her it was concealer, she asked me how you use it.  I told her it was for blemishes--to hide them.  She, of course, asked what a blemish was.  Lucky for her, I had a few to show her!  "It's an imperfection of your skin that you don't want people to notice."  She started brushing the concealer on my forehead (Maybe to hide my wrinkles? I'm not sure?).  Then she moved to my cheek & finally she looked at my chin & declared "OOOh, here's one we definitely need to cover up!"  Thanks kid. 


The finished product--complete with Josie's favorite ice pink lip gloss.

What started out a little stressful with a sick Ms. Jackie turned out to be a pretty fun day being pampered by the Jos-meister.  I don't have pics, but she even painted my toes for me later!

Friggin' Noodles..

Joey claims that I have a potty mouth.  And....he's right.  But I try REALLY hard not to say things in front of the kids...or at least modify my verbage.  So I've noticed my sweet boy has been really paying attention to me.  Last week he was attempting to get his pjs off in the bathroom when the zipper got stuck & he started yelling "Friggin' zipper!"  I was in my bedroom & just had to laugh! 

So friggin' cute!



Then earlier this week while Joel was very sick in bed, I was searching the fridge for some lunch to feed Jamison.  He'd also been sick the night before so I wanted something gentle for his stomach as opposed to the hot dog he was insisting I make him.  (Been there.  Done that.  Hot dogs are NOT fun to clean up!)  I knew we had some cooked noodles in the fridge from the girls' lunches the week before, but I couldn't find them.  Under my breath I said, "Where in the world are the friggin' noodles?"  To which Jamison answered "Let me go ask Daddy."  Before I could catch up to him, he had burst into my bedroom where Joel was sleeping & questioned, "Daddy!  WHERE are the friggin' noodles?!?!"  Again, I couldn't contain my giggles, though Joel didn't think it so funny to be woken up by a 3yr old sailor. 
So, I admit, I need to come up with better adjectives.   But it could be worse.....

Mornings...

I used to be a morning person, I swear!  But, something happened...and now I am so NOT.  I found this travel coffee mug last summer at Disney World and it screamed at me.  I use it almost everyday now.

Jackie even wrote me a song about my mornings.  I wish I had the audio of her singing it, but here are the words...

Mornings aren't magical.  Mornings aren't magical.

You have to get up so early.

And it's so annoying cause you know what I'm gonna say...

Mornings aren't magical!

For those of you who can relate, I hope you enjoy & know there are other non-morning folks suffering right along beside you!

A Little Laugh...

Yesterday Jackie had a stomach bug & was in bed sick all day.  She had trouble keeping food down so everywhere she went she took a bucket with her.

As the girls were going to bed last night, Jackie was feeling much better but kept her bucket by the bed, just in case.  Josie started complaining that her tummy wasn't feeling well either.  I wasn't sure if she had gotten the bug Jackie had or if she was just saying it for attention.  So, I gave her a bucket of her own, but reminded her that if she got sick she wouldn't get to do anything fun over the weekend.  I figured that would determine if she was really feeling bad or not. 

A couple minutes later I walked past the girls' room & Josie said "Momma, I don't need this bucket anymore.  My tummy stopped hurting."  I smiled & said, "Are you sure?  You can keep it here, just in case."  I knew my little trick of withholding fun had worked on her faking a stomach ache.  She said "No, really, my tummy stopped hurting.  I just needed to toot."  Then that beautiful little thing flashed the cutest smile & I couldn't stop laughing.

Just Be Happy Now...

Facebook status of a college friend:

Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections.

I will tell you that this is something I have truly embraced in recent years & I encourage everyone to do the same!  Life is too short......

My House

I love our house.  It's not new or fancy or huge.  But it's my J5 House.  And before it was our house, it was the house of the family who built it in 1978 & raised their family here.  I looked at this house with my mother-in-law, brother-in-law & a 18 month old Jackie Sue while pregnant with Josie.  Joel was working the day we went out with the realtor & when we stepped into this house, the sellers were just on their way out.  They met us & we learned that they were teachers moving to Virginia to be closer to their grown children & grandson who happened to be Jackie's age.  They also let our realtor know that while it was not yet reflected in the system, they had just spoken to their agent that morning and lowered their asking price on the home.  After seeing many homes that day, it was this one & one other that I wanted to show Joel. 

We put an offer in on our house the next morning & over the phone with their realtor the sellers accepted our offer.  Before they were able to meet & sign the paperwork, another offer came in & refelected the higher asking price.  They legally were able to take either offer.  Which one would YOU take?  The one that was $20,000 more?  Or the one that was from the adorable family of the teacher with kids the same age as your grandchildren?   As luck would have it, they picked us. 

On the day of the inspection Mrs. H. took me around the house and told me when she planted each tree & bush, what kind they were, how to care for them, etc.  They took us through the house & showed us everything we needed to know about the house.  We're very proud they picked us to raise our family in their house. 

Here were are 6 1/2 years later & many things in the house have changed.  We replaced the carpet in the family room, Joel finished the rest of the basement into 2 extra rooms--an office for me & a playroom for the children, Joel gutted our masterbath and tiled the whole room, we knocked out a wall between the dining room & kitchen to create one large kitchen area and Joel built a playset in the backyard.  Just last month we hired someone to cut down one of Mrs. H's trees that had grown in a way that threatened the neighbor's roof. 

The day the guys came to cut down the tree, I wondered outloud how in the WORLD they would be able to get the top branches down without dropping them on my house.  Josie watched out her bedroom window, just feet from the tree & said "Momma, if they drop the tree on the house, I'll let you know."  Thanks.:)

I just love our house.  And I love all the people who are in it...