Kindergarten is HARD!!!

Sheesh! What has happened to my life? Tonight, Kinsey and I had to do 2 homework projects AND I had to sign a permission slip for her to go on a field trip on Friday. How the heck did I become the person who signs permission slips? I feel like it was just last week when MY mom was signing mine! Yikes! I'm turning into an adult and I'm not even paying attention!!!!!

But, I have big news!! My girl, Kinsey, is the SUPERSTAR student in her class! yay! This is a very big deal, people. Only one kid gets chosen each week and they have to display respect and good behavior along with other fabulous traits in order to earn it. I am very proud of my peanut for getting it. The reward for being the superstar consists of the following: 1. you get to bring home Leo the Lion (a stuffed animal that has to be carted around all weekend and his activities have to be documented) 2. 2 coloring pages and a puzzle that have to be completed 3. a specific book that must be read to the damn lion each night. (and it is NOT short) 4. 2 LONG sheets that have to be filled out with details of Kinsey's life, including pictures 5. a free kid's meal at Texas Roadhouse.

Hmmm, which one of these things is not like the other? Seems like the free meal should be for ME for doing all of the extra crap that being the superstar entails!! But, whatever, it was worth it. She was very proud of herself, so PROPS to Kinsey! You are a superstar!

The BEST (and WORST) weekend EVER!!!

Sheesh, I don't know where to begin....

Let's start with Friday. It was the best day ever! Kinsey had the day off of school, so I got a sitter for Ben and we had a girl's day! This is the best part of having a daughter. We went and got pedicures and did a little shopping. How fun is that? I need to take a picture of her toes, but she chose a different color for each one and they painted a flower on her big toenail. Adorable!

After that, we picked up Ben and then dropped Kinsey off with Doug for a little daddy-daughter time. She got to hang out at his office for a while and then they went to lunch and out to hit golf balls. What a cool day!

Next up...Saturday! This was the BEST day ever! (And the beginning of the worst, but I'll get to that.) We got up super early to drive to Golden, CO and see THOMAS THE TRAIN!!!!! Woo woo!! We got to ride on Thomas and spend the day running around looking at Thomas stuff and climbing on real trains and having a friggin' blast! This lovely day was a gift for Ben for his birthday for none other than our Yaya and Papa! Thanks Yaya and Papa!

What could possibly be the bad part, you might be wondering?? Well. I was sick. SICK! I woke up feeling off and the day went downhill. (And NO I am not pregnant, so don't even go there!) I will say this and I will never talk about it again...

Your life has reached a low point when you have to wait in line to go puke in a port-a-potty. I have seen things, people. Scary things. I have been to dark places. I can't talk about it.

Moving along....

So, Saturday was definitely the highlight of the weekend. But I did something cool today (Sunday). Even though I hadn't eaten anything but a banana since Friday night, I got up at 5:20 this morning and drove to dinner with Chrissy and Angie to run a 5 mile race! Sheesh! I have never run more than 3 miles in my life, so I am very proud of myself for finishing. My goal was to beat an hour and my time ended up being 52 minutes (ish), so I am proud of that. Imagine what I could have done if I had had some fuel? I could have won! (har har har!!)

Anyway, this was the best weekend! Now I am at home, feeling better, and gearing up to watch the Emmy's. What are they going to be wearing? What color is in? Out? I've gotta know!!!!!

Quick brag...

We made it to school at 8:08, thankyouverymuch! (Yes, her hair is beginning to turn into dreadlocks and she still had the tag hanging off of her skirt, but we were there!!)

For the record....I rock!

PS--Note to self: in the future, be sure to allow more than 30 minutes for drama. You can shave the time off of grooming, if needed!!

Doug is gone...what to do, what to do?

Hmmm, nothing TOO exciting has happened lately, so let me tell you how Kinsey is doing with kindergarten!!! She started 3 weeks ago and it has been the best thing ever. She loves here school, her teachers and her friends. What she does NOT love, however, is getting up early to get to school.

You see, my girl Kinsey is just like me. We like to sleep in. Nay, we LOVE to sleep in. That is why we get along so well!!! Her preschool started at 9:00, so she would have to get up at 8ish, and while that was kind of a struggle, it was manageable. Kindergarten starts at EIGHT O'CLOCK!!! Are you kiddin' me?? What kind of sociopath thought of this? So, that means that she has to be out of bed at 7 in order for the cobwebs to clear. She needs to shovel some food in her mouth and get dressed in 45 minutes. This, my friends, is quite a challenge.

Once she is at school, she is fine. But, I am discovering that not all kids have half of a poptart stuck to their face and syrup in their hair. (Most even have their hair BRUSHED? What? What kind of crazy person does that?) So, little by little, I am getting her used to her new schedule. It's not easy. AT. ALL!

Since Doug is out of town this weekend, I am faced with a morning tomorrow that SHOULD go as follows:

6:45-7:00 Lori up and dressed

7:00-7:30 Kids awake and herded downstairs (allow 30 minutes for tantrums, whining, fighting and other general drama)

7:30-7:45 Throw food at kids and make Kinsey's lunch

7:45-7:55 Dress both kids, attempt to wipe grime from Kinsey's face

7:55-8:00 Force both kids into car (allow time for fighting over the dvd player)

8:00-8:10 Haul ass to school before the 8:15 tardy bell rings

8:10-8:15 Sprint into school and throw Kinsey into her seat JUST as the bell rings

Now this, people, would be the ideal schedule. Please check back for the actual schedule. I assure you, it won't be pretty.

He's Officially Three!!!

The party was a smashing success today. We reserved the party room at the rec center for an hour, ate a bunch of crap and then went swimming! Ben had a wonderful day and if I never see another piece of cake in my life, I will be all right with it!

He was super cute from the moment he woke up. Once he saw the balloons in the kitchen and the presents on the table, he got it! He looked at me and said, "Mommy? Is it my happy birthday?" YES!!! You are three! Hooray!

So, now that he is three we are presented with 2 challenges: 1. he needs to become potty trained and 2. he needs to move into his big boy bed. Both of those challenges make me say UGH! I bet that you assumed he had been in his big boy bed for a while, since I posted pictures of it MONTHS ago, right? WRONG!!! He slept in it for 2 nights and then asked to go back to his crib. I was totally ok with that! If you want to sleep in a cage instead of stretching out in Lightning McQueen luxury, then by all means, have at it! I can definitely wait until the day comes when a little boy is staring at me from the side of the bed at 3 in the morning!

And potty training? I obviously suck at that. Poor Kinsey has been struggling with it forever, so here I go, messing up another kid! My tactic with Ben was to do NOTHING. So far, it's working great! He pees and poops in his diaper and doesn't give a rat's ass if he has to sit in a pile all day long. Lovely. One of these days, he is going to get it, right? I mean, RIGHT? At least I am getting him to be a little more comfortable being naked. My plan is to have some naked time at home and hope that I can pick him up and RUN to the bathroom before he hoses down my kitchen!

On that note, let me leave you with a picture or two (or three!) of the birthday boy. He has survived his first three years, but will I survive the next??? Stay tuned!!!

Yikes, it has been a while!!

I am not going to go into some long winded explanation as to why I've been gone so long, You should just be happy that I am back! :)

So, I am sitting at my computer reflecting on the last 3 years in the life of my little guy, Ben. Exactly 3 years ago, I was laying in a hospital bed with the sweet nectar of my epidural dripping into my veins and watching The Family Stone with Doug. It would be another 7 hours or so before he made his appearance, so I just remember being excited, nervous, and delightfully drugged! I couldn't wait to find out if I was having a boy or a girl. I gotta tell ya, I am SO glad that it was my Ben. I couldn't ask for a better (or cuter!) son. I love ya, Buster Brown! (In fact, just yesterday, he came up to me and said, "Mommy, my name is Buster Brown!" Nice!)

So, enough of the sappiness. What am I going to do with a 3 year old BOY?? Kinsey started kindergarten 3 weeks ago, so me and Buster are kickin' it on a regular basis. So far, I have learned that one of his favorite things to do is RUN full speed into my thigh. So, thanks to my boy, I have a lovely collection of bruises that make me look like an abused person. Gracias, Senor Buster Brown!

What's going on with Kinsey, you ask? Well, she is super friggin' tall and super friggin' smart! She is in all day kindergarten at our local Christian school and she loves it. It is the cutest thing to see her in her little collared shirts and khaki pants every day. I am so glad that she loves school. I hope that it continues! Currently, she seems to be little miss popularity, but I am afraid that it will all come crashing down one of these days. Last week I was walking her into school and we heard a little voice coming from behind us saying, "KINSEY!!! KINSEY!!!" She turns around and says, "Hi Ayla!!!". We continue walking and a little girl is waiting at the door, and she says, "HI KINSEY!!!!" Kinsey says, "Hey Jordan!!!". We continue into the school and as we are hanging up her backpack, a cute little boy says, "KINSEY!! HI KINSEY!!!". She actually looks at him and says, "Oh, whatever." Lovely. How old is she again? I thought that she was 5, but maybe she is really 15!!!!

I will leave you with the cutest picture of my soon to be 3 year old Ben. (Note the scratch on his nose...it was self inflicted, thanks to the fingernails that I forgot to cut. Whoops!) Also, feast your eyes on my little 5 year old. This is what she does now when I pull out the camera. Apparantly she thinks that her modeling career is going to take off right there in my kitchen!!!