First they're sweet...

Then they're sour.

Sour patch kids. Yeah, I've got myself one of those! Christian is hilarious. One moment he can be the sweetest, most lovable, huggable, kissable little cuddle bug and in the same breath turn around and be a complete stinker (aka "little shit").

Yesterday I was using our little snow plow to clear out our driveway. He was already in his pajamas, but he bundled up and came outside. He comes running up the hill and says, "Mommy, this is hard work! Let me help you!" and he grabs his little toy shovel and gets to work. I was so touched! My three year old didn't want me out there alone! He wanted to take care of me! He wanted to help. Teamwork! (Channeling the Wonder Pets)

So in my moment of awe, I stop to turn around and tell him thank you for being such a big boy and great helper. I turn just in time for him to smack me in the face with a snowball. He giggles. Then he proceeds to pick up more snow, shape it and chuck it at me. The whole while laughing his silly little butt off!

Yeah, first they're sweet, then they're sour. Love that kid!

"Mom, Just Google It!"

That's what my daughter said to me when I told her I didn't know how French Fries got their name. "Well, can't you just Google it?" That's where we are today; 6 year olds telling us to look to the World Wide Web, even more specifically GOOGLE, to get information. When I was 6, my parents would have told me to look it up in an encyclopedia or go to the library. Information wasn't so easily available to us.

Does this "instant knowledge" help us or hurt us? Well, I would say that it helps us more often than not. I'm able to get quick answers for all those adorable 6 year old questions and the internet offers a plathera of information right at our fingertips. We're able to view pictures, videos, check various resources and even participate in online forums and discussions! Gone are the days when we could say, "I don't know." The solution to that is..."Google it."

An important reminder is that we need to educate ourselves and more importantly our children about internet safety. We also need to remember that not all information on the web is true; we need to check the credibility of our sources and continue to do the proper research. There is nothing worse than saying, "Well, the internet says...." and then sound like a jerk because your answer is totally wrong!

So back to the question.

Q: How did French Fries get their name?

A (according to Google): French fries are generally considered to be a Belgian invention rather than French. In Belgium and France they are called "pommes frites", pronounced "pom frit". This translates simply as "fried potatoes". The French part doesn't necessarily denote that the this is a French dish, but rather that the potatoes are "fried in the French style". There's also speculation that the French part refers to the julienne cutting of the potatoes, and since julienne was a bit cumbersome as a word, they started being called "French". Either way, the name stuck.

The good news for Moms and Dads is that there is always the fall back answer to every child's infamous question, "Why?" and we don't need Google to get that one; that's right, "Because I said so."

Karen...

I miss you.


More than usual today.


My heart is heavy; I close my eyes and remember the warmth of your hug.
I smile and I can hear your laugh in the back of my mind.
I find myself wishing for just one more moment...

Your name is a whisper. I pick up the phone and dial your number; I hang up.

The lump in my throat is made up of all the words I would give anything to say to you now...



All I can think about is how much I miss you...and how each day, I miss you even more.

The hardest job I've ever had...

is being a mommy. Granted, it is also the most rewarding thing in my life. I sometimes wish that parenting came with a training manual or a "reset" button. Wouldn't it be nice if we could say, "oops, I didn't like how that worked out, let's just reset this and try something different." when it comes to decisions we make regarding discipline and structure? A good friend of my mother-in-law's once told us that everything is just a phase, not to get to comfortable with anything a child does because if you wait a minute, everything will change. She laughed and said, "just when you figure it out, they enter an entirely new phase and you've got to start all over again with trying to learn how to parent."

Marissa is a chatterbox and even more so a songbird; we've already established that. She's a happy little person with a lot of spunk and only a little self-regulation. Its 4 AM and I can't sleep because I'm conflicted in how we are going to teach her the appropriate times for chattiness and singing while at the same time celebrating her spirit.

Apparently, she's a bit of a disruption issue at school. It breaks my heart because she doesn't have a mean bone in her body and she has the biggest heart of anyone I've ever known. I truly believe she does not realize that she's doing something wrong at school. Regardless, her behavior is unacceptable and I don't know how to get it through to her that she needs to be quiet. Half the time, I don't think she is even aware that she's talking or singing aloud...she's just in her own little world, or as I've stated before its more like we're characters in her own personal musical production.

I love my kids, of course, I'm their mother; but I adore who they are. Marissa lights up a room when she walks in. She is kind, beautiful and good hearted. She is brilliant, magnificent...I could go on and on. I truly appreciate who she is a person and I would not change her for anything. My heart overflows for her. How do I get through to her the importance of her behavior when #1 she doesn't understand what an issue this is #2 I believe that it is almost physically impossible for her to keep her music inside her and #3 I don't want to extinguish the spark that makes her so wonderful?

I could really use a good night's sleep...

First and Last Football Game of the Season

In support of my brother, I went to see the KC Chiefs vs Baltimore Ravens game today. It was a play-off game and I knew that the fact that we were Chiefs' fans in a Maryland bar didn't earn us a popularity vote, but we had a great time none-the-less. The Chiefs lost, but since it had been several years since they've even seen the play-offs, I would say that they had a good season and got pretty far...

What's important is that I had some quality time with my brother, learned how to drink beer (yes, I'm almost thirty and this was my first beer drinking experience!) and sported my red and yellow in a sea of purple and black. My sister-in-law Jessica said, "we're the REAL fans! We are in MARYLAND rootin' for Kansas City! That takes GUTS!"

Next year, Chiefs I'll definitely use you to spend more time with my brother!

If it walks like a duck, if it quacks like a duck...

then WHY do I insist it is a Chicken!?!?!?!

add this to my list of 2011 New Year's Resolutions

STOP trying to make things something they are not! I go through my life seeing the same patterns and expecting different results. That could be patterns in my personal life, work life, with my kids, my family, you name it... I'm always waiting for the change. The problem is, I'm always expecting something and my expectations are not always realistic.

I had a major eye opening experience tonight. I won't go into detail. I always say, "save your drama for your mama!" Long story short, I had a conversation that quickly turned into a confrontation and I just could not reason with the person. It went from calm to chaos in .6 seconds flat. Of course, I cried. I didn't understand, it wasn't at all how I had envisioned the conversation going. WHY do I expect conversations to be different with someone who cannot be rational?

This is just one example of how I try to make something different than it is. My husband always shakes his head at me; he's always saying "don't put so much faith in people. Be realistic in what you can expect from them and then decide if you can accept them for that." He's got a good point.

I cannot control others. Only I am in charge of my reactions and my feelings. I will not give others control over me. If it walks like a duck, if it quacks like a duck...damnit Alice Anne, its a DUCK!

Musical Adventures!

Marissa and I got GUITARS for Christmas from my brother, Mike and his wife, Jessica. We are over the moon excited about this! I've been interviewing instructors and we are hoping to start lessons this month in our home. The instructor will come to the house every week for a one hour lesson with us both.

I am really looking forward to doing this with Marissa. We both have such a passion for music and I think it will give us another thing that we can do together and really enjoy each other and our love for music.

Who knows...perhaps we'll be the next Judds! LOL!

Purging

Every new year, I find myself motivated to organize and rid my life of clutter and chaos. I went into a cleaning frenzy today in my office (shared office, really. I feel so sorry for my sister-in-law/director's assistant. LOL!) We only got about halfway through the cleaning. We organized the desk drawers, cleared the desktop and removed everything that didn't belong in our small 4ft by 10ft office. Yes, those measurements are correct, its a TINY TINY office!

Trash bags loaded with papers, odds and ends, broken office equipment and random things I believe I had some very important reason for holding onto throughout the year but have somehow now forgotten why, were carried away...never to be seen again. It wasn't pretty.

I soon realized I was working alone; buzzing wildly around; making verbal notes to myself and I looked up to see that I had small audience. "what?" I asked. One of the teachers replies, "you are crazy!" another responds, "oh, that's just how she gets when she cleans. You learn that AA gets really crazy and moves fast when she gets in these moods." We all laugh. Perhaps they are right. However, I don't hear any complaints when the room is clean and all is in perfect order :)

Tomorrow, maybe after we finish the office I'll come home and start on the family's closets. I'm feeling ambitious and ready to do some more purging. Unfortunately, that probably means I'll be ready to do some shopping in the near future!