You will act like you love each other or else!

It started so sweet. Jay bought the girls new jammies. Let's photograph the kids tonight before bed.

Me- "Get in closer Emily. "

Emily- "No, Dad says Tara's hands smell funny."

Jay- "She washed them Em."

Me- "Get in closer Emily!"

Poor maligned Tara tried to hug Emily who now has a half panicked, grimace of a smile.

Me having had sassy students give me the day from hades today am particularly not in the mood for Em's germ a phobic tendencies. "You will get that pained look off your face or you will lose a webkinz!!!!! "I know it was a bit dramatic but you don't know the day I had.

The camera turns out blurry photos and the whole process begins again. The new photos came out equally blurry.

BIG FAT SIGH. This was going to be such a sweet little photo, showing them and our new couch in their new jammies. Well, here is the best one. The others show Em looking like someone just smeared donkey poo on her hands.

The chickens are coming home to roost

You know when kids are little and they ask for something that you don't feel they're ready for or you just don't have the fortitude to do it at that moment? Here's an example. When I was teeny tiny I asked my mom for my ears to be pierced. "You can when you're 11," was her reply. Guess where we spent my 11th birthday? That's right, at the mall getting my ears and then HER ears pierced.

Well, a long, long time ago Emily asked for her ears to be pierced. "You can when you're 10," was my response thinking that 10 years old seemed a LIFETIME away. Apparently, throughout the years I also promised her that her bedtime would increase to 9pm and she could have a sleep over with her friends then too. Guess who's turning 10 in a few short months? My baby that's who. Gulp. She came bouncing in the room this evening reminding me of all the things I promised her. Now I know how my mom felt. The circle of life goes on...

Tara

It's been a long time since I posted- so long that I had to sign back in!

I haven't had any inspiration to write lately. But I thought I'd share my afternoon with Tara. She's been a bit under the weather but otherwise herself.

First we had a bit of a rough time studying for her social studies test (or soakeyal study, as Tara pronounces it). The topic was urban, suburb, and rural communities. I have found that these are not easy words to learn.

Then Tara decided she was hungry. So being the gourmet chef that I am, I went straight for the freezer to offer her the choice of mac and cheese or lasagna. "I want whatever you want," she said. I asked her if she wanted a fork or a spoon.
"I want whatever you want." The same went for the drink, which was a diet soda. We sat and ate together.

I have a migraine today. So before going out with Jay and Emily to open swimming she told me... "Now Mommy, I want you to watch a couple of shows and then I want you to go straight to bed after you finish your homework. You need your rest." I nodded obediently. Inside I just smiled.

Jay and I were discussing today how even our pets are all girls when he said...

"It's like living in a flower."

:) Someone needs to take him to a ball game soon. :)

If things can possibly go wrong....

Yesterday I spent my day off dealing with college complications. Apparently, they lost my prospectus and other documents essential for graduation. Jay and I tore the house upside down finding copies. I learned an important lesson; always have copies. Do not trust that things are running smoothly. Find out. I went there and waited for the lady to finally return late from her lunch. I wanted to put the documents directly in her hands. Then I was told to go to another office for more documents. That office told me to go to the one I had just come from. It's enough to make a person a bit jaded.

Today, I had to take another Praxis, this time for a reading endorsement.

Jay told me to blog about it because he thought my story was funny....

The room held about 40 people. I was assigned a seat at the back of the room right by the air conditioner. It was making quite a noise. It was a constant grmmmmhmmmm sound. The proctors were very stern and began reading the instructions. The only problem was they were speaking softly and I was by an industrial sized machine just a hummin away in my ear at the same time.

So this is what I heard.

GRMMMMMHMMMMM .... "listen carefully"..... GRMMMMMMMHMMMMMMMMM ..."place these numbers"...GRMMMMHMMMMMM .... "354t"...GRMMMMMHMMMMMMMMM.... "important".... GRMMMHMMMMMM... "questions"... GRMMMMMHMMMM ..

I asked the lady as she was handing me my test if she could speak up a bit. She looked at me sternly as if to say "Are we going to have a problem with you?" and said, "Do you need to be re-seated?" I said no thank you. I think by reading her lips and process of elimination, I got the gist of what I needed. :)

Balance

Balance is hard to achieve for me. I and so many of my friends and family have lots of hats to wear and balls to juggle, as the idioms go. My new job is taxing and the learning curve is high. Any new job is the same. And the house and kids don't suddenly stop needing attention because I am busier than before. And my college class is demanding respect and its proper place on the hierarchy of my responsibilities. I want to be a good wife, friend, daughter, relative, mother and teacher and student. I have found that I tend to dwell on one aspect and the others suffer. Lately, I have to tell myself not to think about work when not at work. Otherwise, I'm always kind of there. I want to kick back and watch a show, but then feel guilty because the girls aren't being attended to at that moment. I guess we all feel this way. I just wish I did it better.

On a lighter note, I am not in this alone and that makes all the difference.

If you eat at Subway, save your little game piece and go online. You may win. I am doing it. When all of us eat, I get four game pieces. We've done it twice and I've won a cookie and chips. Anyway, it's fun. Try it! I am an advertiser's DREAM. :)