Stormy Weather

Thunderstorms tonight. I really thought that once we got away from Texas & tornado alley that we would see fewer of these. Actually, tonight they are mostly the nice, relaxing variety of thunderstorm. Except of course for that one bolt of lightening that had to have struck somewhere in our yard. Scared SugarPlum about to death- she was looking out the window at the time.

Saturday evening, a storm knocked the power out for about three hours. The kids thought it was pretty cool for the most part. While I was lighting candles, SugarBug started singing "Happy Birthday" and continued on and off until bedtime. The funniest/sweetest moment came when SugarBear came running thru the house to go pee. He came out with a distressed look on his face saying, "Oh no! The power is out in the bathroom, too!"

Good thing the other two bathrooms have windows!

Consequences Suck

I have great kids. I sometimes wonder when they are going to learn the tough lessons that are more easily learned early. Like about lying, sneaking around, disobeying. They are generally a pretty easy going and obedient bunch. But I find myself waiting for the other shoe to drop....

Yesterday was a pretty rough day here in Candyland. SugarPlum had her new buddy, our next door neighbor over to play. (We have lived here 10 days and those two are like peanut butter and jelly!) They came downstairs wanting to play with some make-up kit that an evil, mommy-hating grandparent must have given her at some point. I told her that it might be a good thing to save that for a rainy day since her daddy was coming home to take them to the pool. (This way, I could get the errands done that I had been putting off until I could go kidless).

Daddy got home & I called her, "SuuuuuugarPluuuuuum!" She is usually good about coming when I call, so I was slightly annoyed when I got a "WHAT?" from behind her bedroom door. Finally, she emerged, face covered in blue eye shadow. No, mommy was not pleased. I told her to send her friend home, and she would not be going to the pool today.

You would have thought I had told her that we were taking her puppy away or something. "Pleeeeeeeeeese Mommy! Pleeeeeeeeeeeease! I'll do anything! Please let me go to the pool!"

When I pointed out that it was her choice to disobey & she had to face the consequences, she turned to the "pass the buck" strategy.

SP:"Niechelle made me put the make-up on!"

Me: "She held you down and smeared blue stuff all over your face?" (and really, what was her goal with the all over blue? Was she trying to be a smurf?)

SP: "I hate it when you are sarcastic!" and "THAT IS NOT FAIR!!"

So now, SugarDaddy is taking the boys to the pool & I have to take her shopping with me. And girlfriend HATES shopping. So...more wailing, gnashing of teeth, and rending of clothes. As well as pleading and bargaining. Did I mention the falling to the ground and writhing on the floor?

Nope she still had to go to Wal-Mart with Mom. (And honestly, isn't WalMart punishment enough?) We finally came to the understanding that if the attitude didn't improve, she wouldn't be swimming all week. Honestly, she was very contrite and apologetic once she had calmed down. She was even downright pleasant during dinner. She got to have her friend back over & they picked cherries for a pie that we will make tomorrow.

I'm wrung out. She's only eight! What have I got ahead of me?? Be afraid, be very afraid!

Imagine That

Last year, SugarBear started telling us about his "friends," Mark and Jerry. He often plays with them and they lived in our linen closet. Sometimes, they lived in a house about a mile from us with their dad. When we were driving, he could show us the exact house. It was the same one every time.

Soon Mark and Jerry were joined by several other "friends," Socko, Mocko, Oncko, and Tinko. I asked if any of his friends were girls. He told me that yes, Tinko is a girl and that she lives at Texas Tech (my alma mater) with another girl.

Me: "Really? What is that girl's name?"

Bear: (matter-of-factly) "Oh, I don't know. I've never met her."

*trying not to laugh right in his face*

Conversations from the back of the van

SugarBear (age 4): When I get big like daddy, I'm gonna be a garbage truck guy, a firefighter, and fly airplanes!

SugarPlum (age 8): You cant do all of those.

SB: Uh, huh! In the morning I do my garbage man stuff, then I do my firefighter stuff, and then I will fly the airplanes!

Nothing like planning ahead!

I've got a secret

Please tell me I am not the only one with this dilemma. I am pretty psyched about having this blog, but who do I tell about it? Part of me wants to tell everyone, but then I can't talk about them. You know what I mean. My mom encouraged me to start this, but honestly, I need a place to vent about her. SugarDaddy is getting sick of hearing about her. And speaking of him...well, you get the idea.

Then there are my friends, who think I am a little weird since I have started even reading blogs. I talk about people I only "know" online & I get these awkward silences from some of them. Do I let them in on this? Hope that they will finally get it?

To tell the truth, I probably won't be able to keep this a secret for long. I have a big mouth. It has gotten me in trouble more than once. The military just loves wives who can't keep their mouths shut. That's why I told SugarDaddy that I have the blog, but haven't given him the URL. I told him that I needed to know what NOT to say about him. I'm thoughtful that way.

Now, YOU, you feel free to tell your friends about this. Not that it's much to look at right now. I'm taking John's advice & saving the poop story for later. Sorry, Christine. Oh, you know you'll see it in the next week. Big mouth, remember???

Peer Pressure

I would say that I am new to the blog "scene," but I have been reading them for a long time. I started reading Dooce last year then started linking to other blogs from there. See how unoriginal I am? It always seemed (especially on dooce) that the people who commented were a special club & if you weren't already in, you would just feel stupid. You know, like junior high all over again. Eventually I got brave enough to comment on some of the blogs. I found Christine's site & she actually wrote me back after a comment. It was very exciting. After that, we became good friends. She has been harassing encouraging me to start a blog for a long time.

Then last month, Muzikdude interviewed me on his blog. I had such a good time and got some good feedback so I decided that after this move, I might consider having a blog. See, I want to sit with the cool kids at lunch!

I'm not sure how witty I will actually be. Usually, I succeed only in cracking myself up. Chrstine wants me to tell the poop story, and I will soon. Hopefully, I will post about more than poop, though it is a major component of nearly every day around here! I feel like lately I have been consumed by my kids and moving. I do have a brain & a college degree, but I am not sure how much either of them is utilized anymore! I have a degree in Early Childhood, which, ironically, did little to prepare me for motherhood. I think that there isn't much that can really prepare you for motherhood. I enjoy talking about politics and current events when I have enough time to know what is going on in the world. That ain't now, I can tell you that.

So, I hope that you will bear with me as I get a grip on writing more than just a quick comment. Maybe one of these days I'll get brave enough to tell someone else about this blog!

First Post! Yippee!!!

Okay it is well past midnight and I am far to excited to post anything coherent. I am on the phone with my good friend Christine is walking me thru setting this up. Thank you, thank you, thank you Christine. I promise I will try to do my best to post something witty and insightful in the morning.