"Through God all things are IMpossible!"

This is a direct quote from my son. At first, I was like, "Holy moly! You just said a bible verse!" And then, I was like, "Wait! HUH?" I totally cracked up laughing at him, which immediately turned him into Mr. Comedian, so he had to repeat it a zillion times. "IMpossible! IMpossible!"

So, can I get serious for a minute with you? Lately, I have kind of been feeling like that. Things are impossible. Everyone I know has a sick kid, a sick relative, a sick pet. There have been deaths in the family. Sudden and not so sudden. The loss of a pet is devastating. The loss of a father--you are changed forever. A sick parent, a sick child. It's everywhere right now. It feels as though things are impossible.

So, in a time like this, where I feel like the world is pressing on me from every side. I have to stop. STOP! Take a breath and really think about my life. What do I have to be stressed out about really? I mean, REALLY?!?! In the grand scheme of things, I am one lucky gal. So, I would like to take this time to count a few of my blessings. Are you cool with that? Good.

1. My kids. My #1 priority. They are both sick. They both have vile things coming from all of their orifices. VILE! Ben and I spent the morning in urgent care with what turned out to be a nasty ear infection. But, regardless of all of that, they are not SICK. You know? My mom told me that she recently saw a family at a restaurant with a child who obviously was undergoing chemo. She was bald, weak and sick. And for that family, I send them prayers. For my family, I give thanks that, while they are sick, they are not SICK and i can deal with the snot, the poop and the antibiotics (which require hog-tying my son to force down his throat, by the way). My kids are healthy. They are beautiful and smart and strong. How lucky can I be?

2. My husband. He drives me bananas. But, what would I do without him? Who else "gets" me? Who else would let me buy Coach purses and leave piles of laundry to fester? Who else cracks me up and laughs at all of my jokes? (ok, everyone laughs at my jokes because i am hilarious, but you know what i mean!) I know he loves me and I love him. How lucky can I be?

3. My home. I love my house, my neighborhood, my town. It took a very long time for me to love this town, but I eventually did. I love my rec center and my boot camp class that kicks my arse twice a week. I love my Sundance girls and my bunco night! I love my babysitting co-op girls and the fact that I have a list of people I could choose from to be my "in case of emergency" numbers! How lucky can I be?

5. My parents! I am stressing out with cabin fever. I choose a time that I want to go on a trip, and they say they will come watch my kids. They don't hesitate. They have always been there for me and love my kids more than I ever thought possible. They bring me Christmas presents through a blizzard and get up with my kids in the night so I can sleep in. They buy donuts for breakfast and feed the ducks, they are the grandparents that I wish every kid could have. How lucky can I be?

4. My friends! At the top is my #1 girl, Chrissy. One year ago she lost her father. This year she is going to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. She is the strongest girl I know. She is the best girl I know. She is my sister and my confidant. Even though we live different lives, she is the one who will always be there when I call. How lucky can I be?

I could go on and on and on. I am blessed. That is the bottom line. At a crazy time in my life, when I am being pulled in all directions, I am happy that I have this list to remind me that my life is good. It's real good.

How lucky can I be?

Basketball scholarship...here we come!!

Here I am, as promised, with details and pictures from Ben's first sporting venture. And can I say, HE ROCKS! He loved it! I am bursting with pride! This was his first "real" class and he did great. It is more of a class and less of a basketball game, so they are teaching the kids about dribbling, passing, shooting, etc.

The only problem that Ben seems to have is the whole "standing in line" thing. I am guessing that, since he isn't in preschool, he doesn't have a good grasp of that whole concept. So, they keep telling him to go to the end of the line and he runs all the way to the other side of the gym! But, if that is his only problem, I will take it! (well, that and the fact that he is going to be the only professional basketball player to wear diapers!)

Check out the skills of my boy...

Needless to say, his Daddy is bursting with pride. We shall see how week #2 goes. You never know with my kids!

I shall wrap up today's entry with Ben's Quote O' the Day:

Ben: "Mommy, do you see the booger on my finger?"

Me: "Yes, Ben. Let's wipe that off!"

Ben: "No! Watch me EAT IT!!!!"

barf.

I am SO over this illness nonsense.

Seriously. Does it ever end? Today, the day of the 100 Day Party, I took Ben to the doctor. Poor guy is hacking up a lung and I wanted to make sure that all of his insides were still attached. Fortunately, his lungs, ears, etc look good, so I just have to watch him and make sure that it doesn't evolve into something nastier. Here is my little sick boy in his favorite Krabby Patty shirt. (And if you don't know what a Krabby Patty is, you are a lame-o!)

After I got home from the doctor, I made him lunch and then Kinsey's school called saying she wasn't feeling well and could I go get her. Annoying! I get there and she is fine. A little pale, a lot pathetic, but fine. I think that she played her "I'm sick" card one too many times. Tomorrow, I told her that I am going to tell her teachers that I am not coming to get her, so let's pray that nothing really bad happens! Oh, and I should add that she turned into a pony tail girl! She loves having her hair in a ponytail, but hates having her picture taken. So, I took a couple when she got home from school yesterday, so it's a mess and she is NOT happy!

But, back to the 100 Day Party...let me run down the checklist of things that we had to create for today:

1. A t-shirt with 100 things attached to it:

2. A 10x10 poster board with 100 things attached to it.

3. A bag with 100 things in it that they can count

4. A snack consisting of 10 pieces of 10 different food items.

Sheesh! Is that a little overkill? They can friggin' count to 100 for Pete's sake! I get it!

But, she looked adorable in her shirt and of course would not let me take her picture. So, jsut think about her in this shirt (that she designed!):

Cute, right?

So, the party is over. the illness is still present and I am hanging on by a thread. I am thinking about calling in sick tomorrow. BWA HAHAHAHAHAHA! As if!

Stay tuned for tomorrow--even though Ben is hacking up his innards, he is going to start his basketball class! I will be armed with my camera and a juice box!

I need to figure out how to carry a bathtub...

I got it! I finally figured it out! The key to unlocking the mystery that has become Ben's resistance to potty training--the bathtub!!! Seriously! EVERY SINGLE TIME that boy has a bath--instant pee. I can strip him, plop him on the potty, and nothing happens. But, as soon as his feet hit the water--lookout!

So, if I can just give him 4-5 baths a day, maybe we can forget about the diapers altogether! So far, that's the best idea that I have come up with. I am going to have the cleanest 3 year old boy on earth! :)

So, other than that, shall I update you on the health situation in my house? Ok. Kinsey is MUCH better. She will be going to school fo sho tomorrow. She still has a fairly nasty cough, but she is otherwise fine and dandy. But, since Ben has inherited the nasties, I will be watching him very closely. He makes me nervous when he has upper respiratory stuff. Ever since the RSV incident when he was a tiny baby, I have been nervous. So, I won't hesitate to whisk him off to the doctor, where I can pay $25 for the doc to listen to his chest and tell me that he is fine.

Doug got home tonight from his journey to Indiana. All is well in the midwest. Everyone was healthy and kicking. That's always good to hear!

So, Tuesday is Kinsey's 100 day party at school. Before this year, I had never heard of such a thing, but apparently, it's a big deal. We have a whole list of crap that we have to do for the party. Why is it that "parties" seem to equal "a bunch of crap for your mother to do"? Well, we did step one today--create a shirt with 100 things glued to it. Tomorrow I will take a picture of it. It's pretty cute, if I do say so myself! I just hope that the stuff doesn't fall off! Since I am not a seamstress (who knew?), we glued it on. Apparently, I'm not a very good gluestress either! I will give you a full rundown of the 100 day extravaganza tomorrow. I don't want to spoil everything in one sitting!!!

Potty training? Not so much!

Ok, so I woke up today all gung ho to get this diaper-free living started. I got Ben up and fed and was about to put the sponge-pants on him when I got a call from my friend, Melissa. She wanted to take the kids to the park. I hesitate for about a half a second and then say SURE! Aaaaaand, the potty training plan goes out the window. There was no way I was taking my little pee machine to a park with no plan to deal with drenched clothes.

So, off to the park we went and it was a huge success. All the kids were red-cheeked and runny nosed, and most importantly--tired! Sweet! I actually had about an hour of silence this afternoon. And that, my friends, seems to mean more to me than changing diapers for one more day!

I should also mention that Kinsey is feeling much better. Whew! But, Ben started coughing tonight. So, if he gets what we had, we could be in for another snot parade. yay. my favorite.

she's still sick...and slowly losing my mind!

So, today marks day #4 of Kinsey being "sick". When I picked her up from school on Tuesday, the teacher said that she hadn't felt well all day, but didn't want to go home. Kept her home on Wednesday. Sent her on Thursday, only to have the office call me an hour later to come get her. Kept her home today. The problem is that I don't think that she is really all that sick. Am I being snowed here? I can't tell! She is super congested, and has a bad cough, but it doesn't stop her from terrorizing her brother AND her mother!

On top of that, Doug is in Indiana visiting Eddie, so I am here all. by. myself. To deal with the craziness. I could be going a little nuts, but I need to get away! ARRRRGGH! I've had it with snot!

DOWN WITH SNOT!

So, get this....I told Ben that we are NOT wearing diapers tomorrow. How do you think that is going to work? He has a rash on his butt from pooping in the middle of the night and then wearing it until morning. (sorry, is that too much information?) Anyway, I thought that it might feel better if he was bare booty, so we are going for it tomorrow. He hates wearing underwear. Even the super cool boxer briefs that I got him, so he will be going commando. I wish someone would make pants out of a sponge! (or socks for that matter, that's wear the pee usually collects!)

So, cross your fingers, pray, send good vibes or whatever you do for the following two things:

1. That Ben will eventually "get it" and decide that peeing in his pants is not the best option

2. That Ben does not poop whilst going commando

ok, am I ever going to get it together?

Every time I get hassled by Karen, I make a promise to myself that I am going to do better about writing on my blog! Well, guess what happened? That's right---hassle! So, here I am. Actually, this is a good time to update all of my many, many followers on what is going on with me. My life is a three ring circus--can you handle it???

So, in the first ring we have a kindergartner!! woop woop! Kinsey rocks at school. She is BRILLIANT!! AMAZING!! OUTSTANDING! She will amaze you with her reading skills! She will blow your mind with her vocabulary and penmanship. She is truly, one of a kind!

But, of course there has to be a downside. Right? Here it is---my AMAZING kindergartner makes my life a living HELL in the mornings! I simply cannot believe that she is only six years old, yet she is unable to wake up for school. She has been the recipient of a lovely Hello Kitty alarm clock that gives her plenty of time to ease out of her peaceful slumber into some semblance of consciousness, but that is not enough. Oh no. It requires a minimum of ten minutes of "MOMMY!! IT IS TOOOOOOOOO EARLY!!! WHY DID YOU WAKE ME UP?? I AM TIIIIIIIIIIRED!!" Are you 16? NO! You are SIX! Get out of bed! sheesh! But, as soon as she gathers her wits and her blankets and hauls herself downstairs for breakfast, she is generally becoming human again. But, those ten minutes? PURE HELL!

Ok, in ring number two we have a little boy who refuses to pee on the potty! You will be amazed as you watch him kick and scream and run away from his poor mother who is merely trying to put underwear on him. You will tell your friends about the little guy who looks like an angel, but can pee on the floor the second you turn your back!

What am I going to do with this guy? Seriously!!! He is 3 years and 4 months old. That is plenty old to not sit around in your own pee for hours on end. It is plenty old to tell me that he has to pee and then go do it! I have been changing diapers for 6 years straight and I am over it!!

Please check out the below picture. Don't they both look like a handful? How I am surviving this Mommy thing is beyond me!

In the center ring....we have DOUG!!! I don't really have a lot of drama with him, but I thought that he deserved the center ring! Isn't that nice of me? He has been traveling a lot lately, so I feel like a single mom, but what are you gonna do?

So, that is my update. Stay tuned to follow the hugely successful potty training journey that I am about to embark upon. (I have decided that if I can't do it, I am outsourcing the job! Any takers?)