It has been a really nice week.

Children-wise, I mean.

The kids have been so happy go lucky. Last Friday was the last week of “school” and this week was designated as “daycare only” at their school, which means Ethan has gotten to bring his Nintendo DS to school with him and play to his little heart’s content, and probably not much of any change for Jocelyn.

Next week summer camp starts, which is filled with much more exciting things, especially for Ethan, since he is in the “big kids” summer camp. He gets to board the school’s vans each day and head out to the pool, skating, mini golf, & bowling. Jocelyn gets to have game day, splash day, movie day, and imagination station day (all at the school).

So I was kind of afraid this might be a blah week for them, but they’ve been so cheery and happy I am looking back at the week, kind of amazed. In fact on Wednesday when I picked them up, they were so lovey dovey and happy that I commented to them, “You guys are happier than a pile of puppies!” which made them laugh and giggle with even MORE happiness.

We all had so much fun at the pool last Sunday that I promised I would take them after school on Friday. Yesterday Ethan asked, “How many days until Friday?”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because Friday we’re going to the POOL!”

“Well, you should be happy because TOMORROW is Friday!”

“WAHOO!! I’m going to swim under water again! And I’m going to show Daddy this time!”

These kids. So cute. I hope the “happy” streak continues for a LONG long while.

Happy Memorial Day. My beloved May Poppies.

So now that I have ostracized all ELEVEN of my readers (i know, a gross exageration) by NOT POSTING A THING FOR WEEKS, let me just slay you know with the WORDS WORDS WORDS!

….. WORDS!

No pictures, either, not even if you beg!

Some assorted thoughts and happenings from my mother’s visit (my dad did not come at the last minute, doh!).
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GARDENING
We planted some peas, but other than that, no garden planning has been done this year. Last year I sweated blood and tears over my sweet little indoor starter seedlings, and then I promptly killed them when I tried to harden them off outside (and it wasn’t the hardening. it was the not watering. i suck). So all the grow lights stayed in the closet this year and we’ll just be putting things directly into the ground.

I won’t be growing zuchini or cucumbers, because a) no one ever ate any but me, and b) the zucchini grew to GARGANTUAN sizes before I could pick them, which makes them less yummy.

The raspberries look like they are going to take over the world, the roots have REALLY spread out, and the strawberries are all intermingled with the raspberries. I should have done something about them last fall and now it’s too late. Note to self: Move the strawberries somewhere ELSE next fall. We already have a TON of little green baby strawberries growing. I can’t WAIT.

We’re doing sunflowers along the deck again – I LOVED those. We planted them on Sunday. I may also plant a pumpkin, because our mystery pumpkin was so much fun. Will definitely plant it later in the spring/summer though, as the pumpkin was ready long before October, and we’ll want some for halloween, o’course!

GOALS
I’m totally screwing the pooch on some of my new years goals, so I need to go over that. Blech.

KIDS
Soccer and tball season is upon us. Ethan’s games are going well, and I think he is really having a ball. Jocelyn love, love LOVES her soccer practice/games and even if she is a little clingy during them, afterward she always says, “I had SO MUCH FUN!” We had a vague repeat of the first game from last spring and I had an eerie deja vu feeling. It’s fun, but it really does run us ragged. Our menu planning is going to go SO downhill. I am the manager for Jocelyn’s team, so far I’ve only forgotten 1 thing. ERr, 2 things. At least I’ve come a long way since our first soccer game. Maybe.

EASTER
i have very cute pictures that i need to do something.

PHOTOS
It’s a shame that I fell off the 360 photos thingee because now the camera is sitting there, getting dusty. Someday I should pick it up again.

MONEY MONEY MONEY!
OK, not really money, but budget. The more I use YNAB, the more I LOVE it and I want to wax philosophical about that and see if I can’t get some of you to USE IT!

THAT’S ALL, FOLKS!

First of all, I”m glad to hear that I am not the only one with a holy terror of the parental visit. Thanks gals for all your comments (is it weird that it is only GIRLS that commented? I THINK NOT!)

So yesterday, the note on the kindergarten board that informs parents what their kids did that day, held huge news. The kindergarteners had compiled and were taking home – their Kindergarten Phone book, with the names and phone numbers of everyone in their class.

Ethan was, to say the least, excited. He also held a little scrap of paper which he said was Austin’s phone number. As to why this number wasn’t in the phone book, he couldn’t say.

While I was picking up kids, James had arrived home and was starting dinner when Ethan received his first phone call. James was somewhat disconcerted, not knowing that kindergarteners everywhere were doubtless phoning up their buddies all over the prince william county area. He made sure a parent was near, took a message and then promptly called me.

“You’ll never guess who just called.”
“Someone for Ethan?”
“YES!”

Tee hee. I should have placed money on it.

“You got your first phone call, Ethan! Sean called you!”
“What did daddy tell him?”
“He told him you’d call him back when you got home.”
“ALL RIGHT! I’M GOING TO CALL HIM BACK!”

When we got home, Sean received his return phone call, Austin was also called and not being home, a message left for him. Then Lucy was called, and they discussed plans for meeting at the park in the near future. Other things that were discussed: Ethan’s upcoming birthday party and Austin’s upcoming birthday party.

After each phone call, Ethan usually beamed with pride and declared, “MY VERY FIRST PHONE CALL!!” (even if it was, at that point, his 3rd or even 4th.)

Jocelyn was not to be outdone, and wanted to make some phone calls of her own, so I let her call Grandma and Grandpa. They weren’t home, so she left a message for them. Ethan got a return phone call from Austin while he was in the bathtub (which was a fantastic way to get him out of the tub, which is always a chore). Grandma called Jocelyn back in about 10 minutes, and Jocelyn said “Hi Grandma! BYE!” and then passed the phone to me.

Yes, indeed, I’m surprised that the phone lines were able to manage all the extra usage as many 6 year olds (AND THEIR SIBLINGS!) tied up lines everywhere to call their friends they had just seen hours earlier.

This morning before getting dressed, he wanted to call Jenni. I managed to forestall that one, by saying she might be at school already.

Boy oh boy. OH boy.

It was just an ordinary working at home sick as a dog with a sore throat…

When I finished up work at around 4pm and started going through my long neglected Google reader and it was about the time when I *should* have gotten up and gone and picked up my kids, when I got caught up on Arjewtino, a fellow DC blogger, who was running a contest for whoever is the 100,000th visitor to his blog.

Suddenly, I wasn’t going ANYWHERE. I could smell VICTORY!

So I kept my ass on that couch and clicked. AND CLICKED. AND clicked!

What would my efforts yield if I won? Why several items featuring Sir Arjewtino himself, the first being a baseball card from his time at the Dodgers fantasy camp, and the second being a picture of his buttocks. No… not just any picture of his buttocks… An AUTOGRAPHED ass picture. NOW WE’RE TALKIN’!

THERE WAS NO GIVING UP NOW! Because you know, I HAD to have those buttocks! There is a deep dark corner in my closet, which I keep locked, because all the porn, guns, and crack is in there, and yes, that corner is just BEGGING for a framed butt picture!

So yes… I did win. I sat and watched the stats climb up to the 99,999 number, and then swiftly loaded up the site. That’s right people, if you want to WIN, you’ve got to PAY ATTENTION AND DO WHAT IT TAKES.

And so, I give those that did not win these parting words.

SUCK IT, LOSERS!

I asked Arjewtino to please shoot the non-fuzzy side.

When I told James I had won a MAJOR AWARD! he asked if it will say “FRA-JEEEE-LAY!” on the side when it arrives.

So I posted the “see you on the other side!” posts (on both old and new), and the “you made it!” post (only on the new) and then tweaked all the name servers and database tables I needed to and then had to wait until today before I myself saw my own new website. DNS takes forever for me, I guess!

But finally I can get to my own space! Yay! I’m still working out a few kinks, but that’s just me, everything should be working fine.

Over the weekend, I saw that The Sound of Music was going to be showed a few times, and I promptly told our Tivo to record it, because The Sound of Music is one of my favorite movies EVER.

On Sunday afternoon, I settled in to watch it, though it’s a long one, and so it became a somewhat sporadic watching. Jocelyn fiddled around on the couch for most of the time, watching it with me and loved when they sang. Ethan was playing in the next room, but everything there was a song, he would come running in to watch for it. the puppet show was also a hit. “Edelwiess” is a song I have sung to the kids at bedtime since they were babies, so of course they ate that up as well.

So all in all, they liked the movie and watched a lot more of it than I would have thought. We stopped it Sunday and then yesterday I tried to finish it up. I thought that after the festival at the end they would be totally done with it, but boy did I underestimated them. I started to explain that there was a war, and the nazi’s wanted Captain Von Trap to join them in the war, but he didn’t want to because they were bad people, and so he was going to have to get away from them.

It’s as if I flipped a switch, and Ethan was completely and totally MEZMERIZED. First, he was all, “Yeah! I want to see the WAR!!” and I had to tell him that they don’t show any war, or shooting, or blowing up or anything. Just the dad trying to get away from the soldiers.

So then the festival ended, and the family won the first prize and the spotlight went to the empty archway, waiting for the family to appear and let me tell you, my kids were on the EDGE of their seat.

Ethan: I KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING!
me: what?
Ethan: They’re TRICKING THEM! They’re ESCAPING!

Then of course, the breathless search through the abbey, the family hiding behind the crypts (i think those were crypts) and the eery silence broken only by the loud crashing as the soldiers shakes each iron gate to check if it’s locked. These kids were wide eyed and staring and had to be reassured repeatedly that no, they don’t find them. And then Ralf came up the steps and just as all the soldiers were leaving, hid until the family came out of hiding, and then JUMPED out! The captain opened the gate and ran out and Ralf drew his gun, and Ethan nearly lost it. He was pretty nervous and uneasy through all this already but when the gun came out, Ethan jumped up off the couch and ran behind it. He didn’t hide, but he stood behind it and watched from back there. I couldn’t quite tell HOW frightened he is, so more reassuring that there is no shooting in this movie helped, and then the whole family watched with bated breath as the Captain edged closer and closer until he took the gun away from Ralf.

All seemed well until the Captain made his last comment, “You’ll never be one of them.” which Ralf took offense at.. and immediately shouted for the other soldiers.

The family sped away in the caretaker’s car and we watched as the soldiers tried and tried to start their own cars but to no avail. They laughed and laughed when the nuns confessed their “sins” of taking the parts out of their cars, and then insisted that we go back and watch it again and again.

Finally, the family is walking over the mountains to switzerland, and we emphasized that they got away, they escaped, yay! and Ethan and Jocelyn were just tickled to DEATH.

After James had put them to bed, he came downstairs and I commented, “I really did not think they would be interested in the end, but boy was I wrong!”

Boy was I!

I went into the kids room yesterday to get them up and ready for school. Ethan was awake and fiddling around in his bed and Jocelyn was still fast asleep. Her nose was stuffed up with dried boogers and her face was flushed and hot. In short, she didn’t look good.

I sat down next to her and she barely fluttered her eyes. I felt her head = hot.

“Good morning sweetie, how’re you doing?”

“Not good.”

“Tired?”

“Yes.”

— Notice right here, I start off with leading queries. Never, under ANY circumstance, ask if a child under 18 is tired, when it’s time to get them up and ready for school.

“You don’t look so good, are you feeling sick?”

— GAH! HAVE I LEARNED NOTHING IN ALL MY YEARS OF MOTHERING?

“Yes. I feel SICK.”

I make her sit up and try in vain to peer into her throat. I probe her neck and feel palpable engorged pea-sized glands.

I go and talk to James. I tell her that she is flushed with fever and looks like death. She’d better stay home.

I go back to the room and inform her that in my professional mother opinion, she should stay home from school today. And since Ethan is on spring break (no school, daycare only) and informed us yesterday upon arriving home that he was “totally bored,” I thought I’d let him stay home too.

30 minutes later, they are both running around like maniacs, Jocelyn looks totally normal (nothing that 10 minutes AWAKE and a good face washing didn’t cure) and I am banging my head against the wall.

I took her to the doctor anyway, but she confirmed that it was viral and nothing to worry about.

You would think I was a ROOKIE! NEVER diagnose a child when they just wake up and are known grumpy wakers! NEVER lead the child down the “you look sick, are you sick?” line of questioning! AT LEAST wait 20 minutes to see if they’re still pissing and moaning and to see if the fever sticks, and most importantly.. never… NEVER mention the “stay at home” phrase until you are ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that they need to stay at home, because once that one is out, THERE’S NO TAKING IT BACK.

Rookie mistake. I am ashamed.

Oh INTERNET! How I’ve MISSED YOU!

But enough about that. Let’s get right to the birthday business, shall we? This post has been waiting for a long time, but I’ve finally got photos up on flickr, so let’s getter posted!!

Jocelyn wearing her fairy dress up clothes given to her by the Danforths

The birthday party was a smashing success. And I was not stressed! That has NEVER happened, people! However, I need to stop having birthday parties at 10am, because that’s just a smidge too early. The balloon place didn’t even open until 10 (but the order was ready RIGHT THEN, so it was ok) and we were getting a bit close with the pizza and cake as well.

Jocelyn with pizza sauce on her face.

Despite the fact that we put “No presents required,” everyone brought presents, but I am happy to say it didn’t seem to be an overwhelming amount, and there were some really cute crafty things (stamp set, and necklace making kit) and games (dora dominoes) that evened out all the brightly colored plastic (lots of which I was responsible for getting her, so I’m not blaming anyone!). She was over the moon to have her friends there. We did a paper doll craft which held the kids attention for a while, and then it pretty much turned into kids running everywhere and screaming with delight.

Jocelyn opening presents.

HITS: the paper doll craft – everyone did one, I used up some old fabric I didn’t really like, and googly eyes bought at JoAnns were a huge hit. Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures of these 🙁 But here is the paper doll I printed and the kids used.

MISS: carrot cake from costco – had nuts on the side, nuts & raisins in the cake, and honestly, just really wasn’t all that good. It almost tasted like a spice cake rather than carrot cake, and several of the kids just did ice cream with no cake, and james and I weren’t even tempted to have some more of it later. When I made carrot cake for my birthday, my kids couldn’t get enough. This cake – they ate off the frosting and didn’t touch the cake. Next time we’ll be sticking with the generic chocolate or white cake.

The kids were all super cute and sweet, and we only had one girl get weepy becuase she wanted to open a present too. She became my “helper” and handed the presents to Jocelyn and cheered up a bit.

I must say, the funniest part of the entire party was near the end. Andrew, Tamara, Adora and Leia all came as the party was winding down, and Leia, who just turned 1 in January, got an adoring fanclub kneeling at her feet, before she got out of our entryway.

Leia with her entourage in our entryway.

Even my son Ethan continued to follow her around trying to make her smile for a while. It was nice to send everyone on their way and then be able to relax with our friends, chat, play with Jocelyn’s toys, and watch Leia being cute as a button.

More gratuitous cute Leia pictures.

So the birthday party was great, and Jocelyn thoroughly enjoyed herself.

It’s hard to believe my little baby is so grown up.

Jocelyn at 2 days old.

I am officially throwing in the towel on Photo 366. (Sorry Anna! Sorry Tamara!) I am just not cut out for getting those suckers up every day. Oh well.

We are busy. Making PLANS! For someone’s BIRTHDAY!

Imagine this folded into thirds.

You didn’t think I left the boys out, did you?

I found these (AND OTHERS!) darling paper dolls on the invitation at Teri’s Paper Doll Scans page.

So cute. SO CUTE!!

We’re going to be busy the rest of this weekend, and the week, for that matter.

But we got the important things out of the way. Jocelyn has a new “party dress”!

Which I’m sure you will see soon enough 🙂

-amy