The fair is here!

FYI, my daughter is obsessed with the fair. Seriously. Every year when it arrives, she turns into a freak, and the day it leaves she starts talking about when it will be back. Now I, on the other hand, love the fair as much as she does, but I have to be cool about it. You know, because I am all mature and stuff! So, I see the twinkling lights, the cotton candy swinging from the corn dog stand and hear the blaring music and my inner teenager says, "EEEEEEEE!!! Cotton candy! EEEEEE! Spinny rides! Let's go let's go let's go!!!!" But, my very mature, sophisticated exterior says, "Yes, Kinsey, I know it looks fun, but let's slow down." What an inner struggle. It wipes me out!

But, this year? This year was special! Here's the news....My. girl. loves. spinny. RIDES!!! I got to go on the Tilt-a-whirl! TWICE! I got to go on the go-around-in-a-circle-forwards-and-then-backwards ride...TWICE!! She loved it and my heart was exploding with pride and joy! I thought that I was going to have to live out my existence in kiddie roller coaster land, but NO! Doug and Ben can sit by the sidelines and watch the girls have all the fun!

I can't wait until next year. I have already decided that Kinsey and I are going alone and we are going to go on everything. I think that seven is old enough for the upside-down-spin-you-all-around ride, right? I can't wait! Let's go let's go let's go!!!!!

Sleepover!?!?!?

Am I crazy? I actually told Kinsey that she could have a sleepover tonight and she is currently upstairs in bed with her friend, Sara. They have been super cute all day, but for some reason, I am not anticipating a good night's sleep. This makes me slightly sad, for some reason. My baby girl is growing up! :(

Speaking of growing up, let's talk about Ben's pee, shall we? I was perusing some of my older posts and I saw that potty training wasn't going so well at all. huh. Inneresting. I should have chilled out a bit, because you know what finally worked? Friggin' nothing! He just decided to do it one day. So, all of the stress and pressure and treats and charts and timers and bribes did exactly ZERO! I let him run around pantsless one day and bingo bango bongo....he grabs himself and says, "I'm gonna PEEEEEEEEEE!" We ran to the bathroom, threw him up on the toilet and ta-daaaaaa! He never looked back. He has been on an airplane ride, in 3 different time zones, all over the place and it's done. No accidents. May we take a moment of silence to properly respect this moment?

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Thank you!

The only downside to the whole diaper free living thing is the easy access to his junk. He is constantly rooting around in his pants and giggling. Great. I get to deal with this now for the next 15 years until he leaves for college! Oh! And there is his use of the word "penis" CONSTANTLY! "Mommy, sorry I ran into your penis." "Mommy, does Erik have a penis? Does Erik's daddy have a penis? Does Erik's mommy have a penis?" "GOOK! That dog has a PENIS!!!!"

lovely.

I'm not making any promises....

I, again, am attempting to keep up with this darn thing. I haven't yet decided why I am finding it so difficult. The time consumption? Nah. The impossible task of coming up with witty things to say? Hardly. I am just going to go with pure, utter head-in-the-clouds-itude. I keep forgetting about it! I seem to be more interested in my facebook status that this old thing. But, I forget that I have many fans out there, waiting with bated breath, to see what is happening with me and mine. Shame on me. SHAME! So, here is yet another half-hearted attempt to update the world on my ever so exciting and multi-faceted life!

Summer. What do you think of? I think of sleep. Lots of it. Sun. Pool. Sunburns. Barbeques. Patios. Sunscreen. Fairs.

Aaaah, what a perfect season, right? Well, what has this summer entailed? PAIN!!!! PAIN!!! I had a headache all summer. It started in early May and it ended last week. Last Tuesday to be exact. So, for me, Summer has sucked. Big time. And, I am realizing that I sucked. Big time. My poor kids duck and cover when they see me coming. The big old grouchy pants lady that snaps and them and makes them eat their vegetables. Oooooh! Scary! But, thanks to lots of drugs and an ambitious dentist who worked a small miracle (after I sat in his office and cried and yelled at him and made him do SOMETHING!) I am ready for the summer to begin!

But, alas. The summer is nearly over. And, while we have done some really fun things....visiting Yaya and Papa, visiting the family in Indiana, having Eddie here, taking a train to the top of Pike's Peak, lots of pool days, lots of play dates, it's time to have some REAL fun. And ,where is the REAL fun? You guessed it! DISNEYLAND!!! How better to recoup the loss of a summer? Hopping on a plane and chilling with Mickey and friends. We leave on Saturday and I can't wait! My kids are going to crap themselves when we get there! And, the best part? My friend Tammy and her daughter Kaia are joining us! I can't wait to get the girls together again and see the excitement on their faces. My fancy new camera will be at the ready!

So, I will leave my update at that. There is excitement to come. School starts in 14 days and those days will be filled with SUMMER!!!

ps...Ben is potty trained! woop woop! But, that deserves a post of it's own, so stay tuned!!

Now what?

The olympics are over. Sad. SAD!! Now what am I supposed to do with my dreary, dreary life?

Oh, hey! I got an idea? I'm going to Vegas, baby! Woo-hoo! I've got a couple of friends who need a fourth chick and they called me and said, "Um, Lori? Do you want to go? I mean, if not, it's ok, but we, um, need another person, but if you are busy, it's totally understanda...." "YES!!!!!!!"

See ya suckers! After 16 days of Olympic filled chaos, I am blowing off this popstand and rolling into sin city. What shall I do while I am there, you wonder? Well, numero uno on my agenda is take a nap! Numero Dos? Eh. Read a book? A magazine? Catch up on world events? I mean, what else is there to do????

So, enough of that. Let me fill you in on the last few days....

We moved Ben into his big boy bed! While I was extremely sad about this turn of events, he has done very well. He stays in there for bedtime and naps, even when he isn't sleeping. I hope that this remains the case for a while, but my expectations are very low.

My parents went on a CRUISE! This qualifies as news because they have not been on a "real" vacation since Kinsey was born. And, they have never been on an all-inclusive, and from what I have heard, my dad might need to break out the elastic waist pants! Ice Cream + All you can Eat = Trouble!

I had a Pampered Chef party and successfully cleaned my entire house. So well that my husband thinks that it is time for me to ditch my cleaning lady. When will I ever learn??

I signed up for a 10k on Mother's Day. That's in 2 months. That's 6 miles. (6.2 to be exact). I ran 3 miles on the treadmill yesterday and I thought that my lungs were going to shoot out of my throat. Should be a fun race, eh?

One more....

Tonight was a very telling night. I had a total "flash-forward" moment and I didn't like it one bit! Picture this, my daugher, wearing pajamas and a super messy ponytail, standing with her feet apart, hands on hips, saying, "MOM!!! YOU. ARE. OVER. REACTING!!!!!!" Oh dear. What on earth have I gotten myself into?

I shall leave you with a couple of pictures. Please note my boy and his blue hair. He found Kinsey's super cool hair paint and decided that he wanted blue hair. It was the cutest thing ever. He went to church like that (my mothers of preschoolers class thingy) and then we brought Doug lunch. Ben marched right up to the president of the company and said, "HEY! Gook at my hay-uh! It's BYOOOOOO!" (translation: HEY! Look at my hair! It's blue!)

what the heck is going on? Where have I been?

I don't have much time, I just wanted to stop by and give y'all an update. I just can't sleep at night because I know that my many followers are worried sick regarding my whereabouts! But, alas, all is well in the Kaczmarek house. But, the Olympics are on, for Pete's sake! I am a devout Olympic viewer and I will NOT sacrifice them for any man or child. NO! I will watch my Apolo Ohno and my Linday Vonn until I pass out from exhaustion. (which, by the way, is where I am at today. *yawn*)

So, I don't have time to update a piddly little blog, when there is tv to be watched and Americans to be cheered on! And, for those of you who are reading this, go get your arse on the couch where it belongs!

See you soon! The commercial is over!

The best weekend ever!

Hello people. I am now 36 years old. My big day was on Friday and I actually woke up feeling older! How does that happen? My back hurts, I've got wrinkles. sheesh! I guess I'm no spring chicken!

But, I do have one saving grace....Doug! He will always be MUCH older than me! :)

For my birthday weekend, he rented an awesome house for us in Estes Park. We took the kids up there on Friday afternoon and had a fabulous weekend. We all played and laughed and ate together. (Emphasis on the eating. ugh) And, the best part of the weekend was the Olympic Opening ceremonies! Woo-hoo! It was easily the BEST WEEKEND EVER!

I did learn a few things over the weekend...

1. Doug is awesome. He is so good to me and spoils me rotten. Sometimes he doesn't get the credit that he deserves. Sorry about that! :)

2. Kinsey does not feel cold. She and Doug went sledding and frolicking the snow while Ben and I hung out in the car. Apparantly he got his mom's "cold genes"!

3. Ben is capable of falling out of a bed and not feeling it. I guess he didn't get his mom's "pain genes"!

4. I wish I could be an Olympic athlete. Think there is any room for me on the old ladies curling team? I have my own broom!

5. Estes Park, and Colorado in general, is absolutely beautiful. I feel like I take it for granted sometimes. I am lucky to live in such a gorgeous place.

6. Microbrews at 7000 feet will do you in.

That is ENOUGH learning for one weekend. I am too old for life lessons!

Back to the silly side o' things!

Ok, enough of being serious. Whew! That kind of thing wears me out! I would much rather chuckle at the nonsense that comprises my daily life.

Case in point: Today, Ben and I were playing with Doug's poker chips. (Doug had a poker party over the weekend, so my lovely dining room table, that I waited 8 years for, is now covered in green felt. Sigh.) Anyway, I though that Ben just wanted to build things with the chips. So, I was all into making my cool tower until I glanced over at him. He had 4 smaller stacks of chips in front of him and he was looking at me. When I saw him, he got a HUGE grin, and shoved all of the chips forward. He said, "Mommy! I'm all in!!!" Hahahaha! I believe that my husband has been spending a little too much time with Ben when I am not around!

So, the latest development that I am trying to ignore is that Ben wants to give up his naps. I throw him in his cage every afternoon, but he just hangs out and throws crap all over his room. (You would think that I would stop giving him crap, but I suppose I haven't yet learned that lesson.) What am I going to do if he stops napping? Hello?? I will have zero free time. ZERO!! I knew that he would give up his naps when we moved him to his big bed, but that was MY choice. Not his! Why on earth am I raising a child to make his own decisions. Bad Mommy!

I feel the need to throw in a tidbit about my girl. She and I have been spending a lot of time together lately talking about her behavior and how we can get that under control. I am not naive enough to think that we have a handle on her hysteria, but perhaps we have made a little progress? At least now, when she is flipping out having a major meltdown, I can haul her ass upstairs and throw her in her room with no guilt. It is one of her pre-determined "calming places"!

One more thing...Kinsey had her 6 year checkup on Friday. Have I mentioned that? (Note--the "calming place" is a suggestion from the doctor, I am not smart enough to come up with that geniusness! (I know it's not a word, but I'm going with it!)) Back to the appointment...my girl is 51.5 inches tall, 55 pounds. The doctor just said, "You know that she is totally off of the growth charts, right?" I'm like, "DUH!" So, if I am doing my math correctly, which of course I am, she has grown 28.5 inches in her 6 years of life. That averages out to 4.75 inches a year! Sheesh!!! No wonder I can't find any friggin' pants to fit this kid. Thank goodness that spring is coming--capris and shorts and skirts from here on out!

(Not that weather plays any part in what she wears on a regular basis. Since she gets to pick out her own clothes on the weekends, please lay your eyes on the ensemble that she assembled for the Super Bowl Party. Sigh.)