Happy Birthday Mommy & Max

I love birthdays. I love cake, ice cream, barbecues, presents and everything about birthdays. I especially love to celebrate my kids special day. Max and I both have September birthdays (3 days apart) and my anniversary is this month so we do a lot of celebrating this time of year. This year we had planned on having an immediate family only party for Max but when we started talking to him about planning the party his face lit up and he said "I can't wait for my birthday 'cause that's when all my friends are going to come over! I can't wait to give them goody-bags. " Goody bags are a big deal to him. He has been collecting stuff for months to put in his friends bags. They all got pictures he drew, glued or cut, crayons that he found in the bottom of his toy box, pencils that he dug out of my old briefcase, candy from last Halloween and other equally good things! In case you are wondering I did warn the mom's about all this "treasure" and I put in some new treats that we bought at a real store!

Of course Bob and I couldn't disappoint him and the small party turned into the giant friends and family party we say we aren't going to do every year. We had quite the time figuring out what the theme of the party should be. Somehow we went from Jungle, to Pirates, to Batman and then ending up with a Superman party, AAAGGGHHH! But is was a ton of fun. All our friends have little boys around Max's age and they love getting together to play and round two of all our kids have been girls so we get to put the little one's together to look at each other. It stopped raining just in time for the party so we were able to spend some time outside which is great because our house is just not big enough for all those people.

His birthday is actually the 9th but we had his party on Saturday and then on Sunday we had a little birthday breakfast where we gave him the present from us. We bought him his first real bike. We had it parked in the family room waiting for him when he got up. It was so funny because he walked in there and looked at is and said "I wanted a green bike" and went back to his room. The bike we bought is orange. I told Bob when we bought it that he wanted a green or blue one, but the orange one really is a lot cooler looking. After several hours he decided he liked it and wanted to keep it. He looks so grown up with his little harley inspired helmut riding his big bike. And according to Max, being 4 is way cooler than being 3 was!!!!

Working 9 to 5

It was the first day of school in Republic and I was called in to substitute in the transitional kindergarten classroom. This is a class for kids not quite ready for the classroom due to a special need. I was so excited and it was a fantastic day! I have to say I'm extremely tired and ready to go to bed at 8:00 p.m. I was up by 5:30 this morning and that is the first time I've gotten up that early (and stayed up) since before Emie was born. We've all been sleeping in until at least 7 or 7:30 and I had to be at the school this morning by 7:30! What a change of pace for me! The kids did great this morning even though I had to wake them both up by 6:30. They both got to stay with Grandma so I didn't have to worry about them.
I'm even more excited now about going back to school to get certified to teach. I thought I wanted to teach middle school but I had so much fun with the little one's today that now I'm not sure. It'll be good to sub for a variety of grades so I can find what I think is the best fit for me.
I do have to say I had some mommy guilt today. It was kinda nice to be away from my own kids and to be working again, at the same time I kept wondering what the kids were doing and I missed them both like crazy. When I went to bed last night I just happened to turn on Oprah and it was this big debate between working and stay-at-home moms. These women were really going after each other about which choice was the better one. I have to say that I was angry more than once over comments from both sides of the issue. I feel so fortunate to have been able to stay home these past 7 months with my children, but I also feel like I have a lot to contribute in a workplace. What I don't understand is why women can't just support each other and try and offer encouragement no matter what individual choices we make. I have friends who stay home and I have friends who work and none of us think the other is making a bad choice. We all are willing to help each other out however we can and we try to be good friends to each other. Women need to start building networks to build each other up, not slap each other in the face because we do things differently. I don't know a single dad who judges other dads the way moms do.

I'm back

It's been 3 weeks since I've been on the computer, 3 weeks of complete chaos. My husband has been traveling to Tulsa over the past 3 weeks so I've been a single parent and have had to deal with more than my fair share of problems. Our air-conditioning stopped working twice and with 100+ degree weather, the kids and the dog, we've been bouncing between our house and my mother-in-laws. On top of that I had to put my car in the shop, take my son to the cardiologist, had a job interview, and watched my niece and nephew. Things are finally settling down. I'm happy to report my house is nice and cool, my son's EKG & echo turned out fine, I was offered a job and school starts on Wednesday for Blake and Aubrey. There have been some really good things that have happened over the past 3 weeks too. My daughter was baptized on July 29th and she looked so beautiful. My mom and grandma made her gown. They used material from my mom's wedding dress and it was perfect. She looked like a little angel in that dress. If I can figure out how to post pictures I'll try and put one on here. I've very excited about the job as well. It doesn't start until the end of October and only goes until the end of Feburary but it will be some excellent experience and very good compensation. In the meantime I'll still be able to substitute teach and school starts this week. It'll be nice to be making some money again and Max is really ready to go to pre-school. Emie now has two teeth and she has started rolling all over the floor. Last week she couldn't even go from her belly to her back and now she won't slow down. She just rolls all over the floor and is starting to get into everything! It's so cute to watch her because she gets so excited when she reaches her intended destination. Hopefully this is the last week Bob has to be in Tulsa. It really stinks without him here. Max really misses him and so do I.

sappy mother moment

Yesterday as my daughter, Emie, and I were leaving the mall she opened her mouth really wide and laughed and I saw a tiny white spot on her gums. Upon further inspection I discovered her first tooth! I was so excited and she looked so cute! But then as I got in the car to drive home I became an emotional wreck! It's amazing how such a small milestone can conjure up such strong feelings and thoughts of how my little girl is growing up and isn't a tiny baby anymore. I was a teary-eyed mess all the way home. Time goes by so quickly and my children are growing up way too fast. My son is almost 4 and is ready to start school. He asks me questions about school all the time. "Mommy, what will I need to pack in my back-pack to take to school?" "Mommy, what if I forget to bring something? Will the teacher help me?"
Thankfully he won't be going until he is 6 so I have two more years to prepare for that. I've always been a fairly emotional person, but since becoming a mother I cry over everything! Those Johnson and Johnson commercials that show cute little babies and say "Having a baby changes everything" are so true. Having children does change everything, they change everything for the better.

I miss my Friends

Whatever happened to the Sitcom? I grew up on Sitcom's and now all you find on TV are reality shows and most recently game shows. I miss the good ol' days when you could watch Cheers, Family Ties, Growing Pains or Friends. I would still rather watch any one of those shows as opposed to "Are you Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" By the way, I am not smarter than a 5th grader which is perhaps why I would rather watch Friends. There are a couple of new shows on TV that I do really like, Army Wives on Lifetime is a good show. I also really like Grey's Anatomy. But neither of those satisfy my need for a good laugh like I used to get from watching Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe.

I was tagged

Ok, so I haven't been online in a few days and I come back to find out I've been tagged by my cousin and now have to tell you 8 things about myself that you don't already know. So here are 8 things about me that you may not know depending on who "you" are.

1. While in college I drove from Columbia to St Louis at 3 a.m. with 2 friends to eat at White Castle.
2. I've been bungee-jumping.
3. I went up in a plane to go sky-diving and changed my mind.
4. I get sea-sick every time I go on a boat.
5. I love Silver Dollar City. My favorite ride is the Great American Plunge.
6. I read cheap romance novels.
7. Lola is not my real name. It is the alter-ego bar name I used to give to guys who hit on me.
8. I've been keeping a journal since I was 10 years old and I still have them all.

bits of news

I look forward to reading the Springfield News-Leader every morning. I sit down with my glass of OJ and try to read the entire paper before I do anything else. My favorite parts of the paper are the Ozarks Voices section and the comics. My favorite comic is "For Better or Worse" I get really wrapped up in the storylines. I read somewhere that Lynn Johnston, the creator of that strip, is actually about to retire. I hope it isn't any time soon because I'll really miss the Patterson family. On a related note, I also read that Captain America was killed. I have to admit I only learned who Captain America was recently due to a Spiderman and Friends game that my son has, but I was sad to learn that a superhero named for our county died. It's seems that far too many of our nation's heros are meeting an untimely death.