Valentine Hunting

I'm a horrible mom when it comes to celebrating holidays and making them special. I do ok on Christmas. I'm hoping to to do better with birthdays. But all these run of the mill holidays that fall in between those two are almost like lost causes for me.

I guess I just missed the boat on the cool-holiday-mom-gene because my mom still sends me Valentine's treats, Halloween candy and an Easter basket via the United States Postal Service and I'm almost 30. Or maybe past it...

We did manage to get on Pintrest last weekend and create some clever and originally cute Valentine's to pass out to our friends at church and school. Oh, wait...what actually happened was we spent 2.6 seconds in the Valentine aisle at Walmart and came away with Cars and Transformer (are you at all surprised?) greetings that we did use a fancy red colored pencil to write our names on. That part is true.

They both had way too much sugar at their school parties, but I was still having a little mommy guilt over not being all lovey and fun and pink and red and stuff.

So in my last second attempt to have some Valentine fun, we had a ourselves a little scavenger hunt, complete with heart shaped clues, Airheads, Slim Jims and homemade strawberry shortcake that didn't turn out all that great.

And even though the shortcake was dry, my dear Ethiopians still have trouble following written directions and my husband thinks I have too much time on my hands, they had way too much fun running all over the house looking for the clues and their treats. And have asked for another scavenger hunt at least 47 times a day in the last week.

Stupid secular holiday - 0. Super cool mom - 1.

Maybe we'll start a February 29th tradition........

At least I would only have to remember that one every 4 years.

The ironing is done.

Good news.  All the ironing was done before it ate me.  And the room I've been avoiding is now spic-n-span and has been rearranged to top it off.  The house is clean, the laundry and homework are done and the 4-year-old interacted with.  I've arranged and filed paper work and I'm pretty sure we are ready to get the 'ol taxes done.  A productive week if I say so myself.

So let me just give you a good 'ol fashion family update.  We'll start with Sam.

Sam is...well, getting too big for his britches.  Literally.  My 4-almost-5-year-old (don't argue with me about how old he is!) is wearing size 7 shirts and pants and size 1 shoes.  He is thoroughly enjoying preschool and can hardly wait to get to kindergarden.  Not sure what the rush is. 

He knows all his letters and sounds and is oh-so-close to being able to read.  He loves to paint, color, and draw.  Still loves cars.  Or anything with wheels.  Loves blocks and legos.  Loves music and singing, but gets really embarrased and won't do it unless he thinks he is alone.  Would play the Cars 2 Wii game 24 hours a day if I let him.  Can almost run faster than his big brother.  Wants to do everything that his big brother is doing.  And he loves to write his name on everything.

Recently he's been spelling his name "S-A-M-C-O-O-E-K".  Which is not how you spell it.  For a while, he was struggling with making K's and they looked a little like E's.  So I thought maybe he was just messing up and writing it twice.  But nope, not the case.  I asked him one afternoon after seeing his name spelled wrong all week to spell it for me.  He rattled off pretty fast..."S-A-M-C-O-O........E-K."  Glancing at me during that pause, clearly indicating that he knew that wasn't how to spell it.  He quickly informed me, "I can put an E in my name if I want!"  Which is his answer for almost everything here lately that he wants to do and I don't want him to do (that's a whole other story for another day).  We've not got it all straightened out and Sam not longer has an E in his last name.

Charlie remains the tallest in his 2nd grade class.  He is wearing size 12 pants and 10/12 shirts and has graduated to a size 7 shoes.  Yes, that means my 8-year-old is wearing MEN'S shoes.  A little depressing.  He's almost as tall as me.  And will probably pass me this summer, if not sooner.

He is a straight-A student and most of the time only misses questions because he wasn't paying enough attention to actually answer them all.  That's probably his biggest downfall--not paying attention.  But I'm pretty certain that comes along with being 8.  And a boy.  He loves to read, but is strongly motivated by the AR program at school where he gets points for reading.  But this momma doesn't care why he wants to read, just glad he loves to.  He is obsessed with Transformers and is constantly making something out of anything he can find.  Give the boys some markers, tape, scissors and he'll build you a house.  Or a new wardrobe, which he has done on several occasions with their beloved stuffed monkeys.

Charlie is playing on the 3rd/4th grade basketball team at church.  And we can tell a visible difference in his ability each week.  He still has a lot to learn...like catching the ball when it's passed to him...but he's scoring several points each week and is a good team player.

Kenny is still working his little hiney off at work, as they have just launched a new initiative and apparently that equals more hours at work.  I don't like it, but he does what he needs to provide for us and I can't complain about that.  And speaking of working his hiney off, Kenny has also been working out and has lost about 25 pounds since the end of December.  He's only got about 15 pounds to get to his goal, but I think he'll keep going after that!  He has dieted before, but this time I can tell a huge difference because he is exercising along with eating well.  Which means he has muscles! 

And me...well, you know about me.  Remember, I've been ironing and playing with cars. 

I have been rocking the soccer mom look completely the last month or so in my 2012 Town & Country mini-van.  AKA the rental I've been driving while they fix my car.  I had to give it back yesterday and while I was excited to get 'ol blue back, I found myself missing those automatic sliding doors and that little camera that does all the work while I'm backing up.  And realized that no amount of pushing the buttons on my remote was gonna make my tailgate open by itself.  Bummer.

There's your good 'ol fashion family update.  Sorry no pictures.  I don't have the patience for uploading new ones right now.


You know what we all look like, right?

Absent.

Sorry.  I haven't been much of a blogger lately.  In all honesty, it's actually taken me four and half days just to write this post.

Wanna hear my excuses?

Working part time.  An incessant need to have the same cleaning schedule each week.  But avoiding the one room that has become a dumping place for the things I don't want to deal with.  A 4-year-old who wants to "play tackle".  Laundry that also wants to be done each week.  2nd grade homework.  Evading the ever increasing ironing pile.  A 4-year-old who wants to play cars.  Overcommiting myself on the weekends.  Becoming obsessed with The Biggest Loser.  Dodging this stomach bug that's been going around.  So far I'm the only victim.  Washing dishes by hand due to a malfunctioning dishwasher.  But got a new one last week.  Little boy basketball games.  A 4-year-old that has suddenly decided that I can't be out of his sight.  Making sure that everyone has had their daily servings of fruits and veggies.  And dessert.  Spending quality time with that big boy that lives here.

So now you can cleary see I have had precious few moments to blog about our super busy and important lives.

But don't worry.  I'm thinking that ironing pile is growing legs.  And when it chases me clear out of the house, we'll have something to talk about.