Some Kids Have All the Luck

In our church, we don't really have the tradition of choosing godparents for our children.  I don't think we have anything against it, it's just not something we do.

So my girls aren't terribly familiar with the term.  Also, we've been watching Shrek 2 a lot lately. (Do you see where I'm going with this yet?)

Yesterday we saw a friend of Ellie's at the school while we were picking up the older girls.  This friend explained to Ellie that she couldn't have a playdate because her godmother was coming to town and they had to pick her up from the airport.

Ellie stopped in her tracks and her jaw dropped to the ground.  She practically shouted, "You have a godmother???  Lucky!!!"

I'm going to have one disappointed little girl on my hands when she learns that this godmother does not, in fact, have wings or a magic wand.

Random Thoughts Thursday

I saw the sun today! It’s still there! Glory be!

Last week I didn’t want to go to Lexi's gymnastics, and I didn’t have to. Chris did it for me. This week he’s in CA so I have to go whether I want to or not and Vicki and Ellie have to come hang out for an hour. This will be fun.

Laundry. Oh, how I love laundry. So much.  Do you think if I keep saying that enough it will become true?

At the risk of sounding like TAMN, who I love and adore but in no way aspire to emulate, I really, really, really love Glee. I mean really. It’s pathetic, I know, but the last several episodes have made me both laugh and cry, and if a show can do that I say it’s worth my time.

Plus, I fold laundry while I watch it, so it’s not a total waste of time, no matter how you look at it (ahem, honey)

Speaking of shows, the only other show I watch with any sort of regularity (or at all, really) is starting back up tonight. Can’t wait!

If you haven’t seen it yet (or even if you have, because this never gets old), you should watch this video. And then a whole bunch of their other videos. I want to meet these people.

Yesterday a friend in Illinois saw a Stormtrooper walking down his street. Why can’t stuff like that happen to me?

I keep telling myself that life won’t be so crazy after ________. But whatever fills in the blank always passes and life is still crazy. I think it’s time for me to accept that fact and move on.

We have no snack food in our house. None. This is not good. I think this means I need to bake cookies. Which is also not good, but in a different way.

Ellie has a dance recital coming up. Get ready for cuteness overload:

Ellie the Elf

Being a Grammar Nerd has Unexpected Side Effects

Hi, my name is Allison, and I'm a grammar nerd.

Hi, Allison!

Whew.  I feel so much better now.

I like grammar.  I actually enjoyed diagramming sentences in English class.  There was a certain satisfaction in being able to break a sentence down and put all its parts away in their own little space.  I pretty much always aced my spelling tests (I came in 4th in the school-wide spelling bee when I was in 4th grade - I will never, ever forget how to spell "heirloom".)  One of my favorite books is Eats, Shoots, & Leaves.  I can't text "properly" because it kills me to leave out punctuation and shorten words to "L8R" or "GR8".  Apostrophes make me cry sometimes.  I try not to judge other people for their grammar errors (I do understand the fact that not everyone is as big a nerd as I am), but I'm terrified of people judging me for mine.

But my own insecurities have nothing to do with this story.  Except that I'm pretty particular about the way my kids speak.  From the time they were little I made sure that I was speaking to them properly so they'd learn how to speak properly themselves.  It's become a game with the older two.  They try to make me crazy by speaking as grammatically incorrectly as they can, and I get all pretend angry with them and correct them over and over.  It's all fun and games until Mom starts to cry because they won't stop saying "ain't".

I had no idea, though, that my obsession was rubbing off on the littlest one.

Tonight Ellie came to me and announced, "Hey Mom, I know the right way to sing this song.  Because this isn't the right way: 'Girls rule the planet!  Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider!'  The right way is this: 'Girls rule the planet!  Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupid!'"

Random Thoughts Thursday

The picture last week was of frog legs. NOT baby legs. Although I can’t blame you for thinking that.

Do you ever wonder what happens to everything you type before you remember to click in the text box?

I took pictures diligently for 137 days, and on day 138 I totally forgot!  I'm so bummed.  But I'll keep going.  Today is day 140.  I don't think I've ever done anything consistently for so many days in a row, except say my prayers.  Missing one day isn't the end of the world, right?

We planted a bunch of tomatoes on Saturday. Ellie chose a “chocolate cherry tomato” plant, and when we stopped by the garden on Monday she was disappointed that there were no tomatoes for her to eat. I hear you, sister.

There are only 3 weeks of school left. Holy cow. I’m not ready for summer.

You know you live in Oregon when the school doesn’t cancel the Fun Run even though it’s pouring. Luckily it cleared up just in time for the kids to run. Vicki ran seven laps, Lexi ran six, and even Ellie ran five. Hopefully they’ll sleep well tonight.

I do not want to drive to Vancouver tonight for Lexi’s gymnastics. I hate going up there in the rain. Ugh.

My girls are no longer the only grandchildren on my side. Dang, there went the spoiling rotten. Plus, little baby Gavin lives a lot closer to the grandparents. We need to do something about that. (I would like to make it clear at this point that I am in no way indicating the possibility of me becoming pregnant any time in the near future. If you want me to have another baby, you need to buy me a bigger car and a bigger house. Mmmkay?)

I think I need a new spam email address. Because, contrary to what appears to be popular belief, I am not a man, nor am I dissatisfied with the size of any my body parts (which I do not actually have, because, like I said, I’m not a man.)  Ew.

There are some people I know who need to update their blogs. You know who you are.

Logic that Defies all Reason

The girls' school instituted a dress code this year.  Not just a What's-okay-vs.-what's-not-okay-to-wear-type dress code, but a full-blown Code of Dress.  A.k.a. Uniforms.

The uniform is pretty easy to follow.  Khaki bottoms - pants, capris, shorts, skirts, and jumpers are all okay - and white, black, or hunter green collared shirts on top.  I was on the committee that helped come up with the Code of Dress, and I felt (and still feel) pretty darn good about it.  I like that the kids still have a choice of what to wear.  If it doesn't feel like a white shirt day, go with green.  If you don't want to wear your polo shirt, go with a turtleneck.  Sounds pretty good, right?

Well, to the 4th and 5th graders, it's akin to torture.

They whine.  They complain.  They show up at school in non-approved apparel and are sent down to the clothes closet, where parent volunteers such as myself, who originally thought we were signing on for a month-long position, happily hand them the appropriate items, show them to the first-class dressing room (a.k.a. art supply room) and inform them that they can come back at the end of the day for their skull-embroidered shirts or their black skinny jeans.  The clothes we have on hand aren't particularly cute, and, to be honest, don't actually fit several of the offending 5th graders (wow, kids mature early these days!), and yet they continue to act as if they prefer to spend the day in ill-fitting, slightly ugly clothing that belongs to the school and is washed by somebody else's mother, rather than their own clothes, which may look like everyone else's, but at least they fit and don't smell like someone else's house.

I don't get it.

Today Vicki was complaining about the uniform.  Again.  When this idea first came into being she thought it was a good one, but by the time she and her classmates were finished hashing it out, she was in protest mode.  She says that school uniforms keep kids from being able to express themselves.  I can understand that.  But I think that are better ways to express yourself than by what you wear.  I asked her what she'd wear that would express her own personality.

Her answer?  "I don't know...something cool."

So I asked her, "What's cool?"

"Skinny jeans.  Everybody wears them."

Ah, sweet, sweet irony.  How I love thee.

Random Thoughts Thursday

***UPDATED!!!***

Today is Chris’s birthday. I’m not sure why the tradition started, but every year we send him on a treasure hunt for his present. I spend days, weeks even, before his birthday coming up with stupid little rhyming clues. So that’s where all my random thinking has gone today. Not much else to say, but the hunt will be awesome.

I sent both my girls off to school on their bikes this morning. *sniff* It doesn’t get any easier, does it?

Yesterday we took Vicki’s Girl Scout troop on a field trip to Albertsons, where they learned about nutrition. We also learned, to the complete horror of some, that they carry a certain delicacy there. See if you can guess what this is:

Ew.

I’m loving the sun. It’s been far, far too long.

Don't let me forget to post a picture of the cake I made for Chris.  It's a wreckplica.  I'm so awesome.  ***See here for the cake***

In Which Lexi Takes Another Step to Becoming a True Portlander

Portland is a great city for cyclists. Unfortunately, our particular neighborhood is not terribly conducive to bike riding. Our street dead-ends at the bottom of a hill, and it’s really narrow. After living her for nearly five years, we finally got Lexi to a point where she was comfortable riding her bike with the training wheels on, and as soon as that happened, no joke, the training wheels pretty much disintegrated.

We figured it was a sign that it was high time she learned to ride without them. She’s 7 (and a half - don't forget the half), after all.

So Vicki has diligently been dragging Lexi outside on the few afternoond and weekends we’ve had with nice weather, trying to teach her, but like I said before, our street isn’t the greatest for riding bikes, especially if you don’t already know how. But yesterday was absolutely beautiful, so we loaded the girls’ bikes into the car and went over to the park. After playing for about 2 hours, Lexi finally decided she was ready for Daddy to teach her. And so it began...

"Don't let go, Daddy!  Promise you won't let go?"

(he, of course, made no such promise)

Taken about two seconds before she realized he wasn't still holding on and put her feet down.

You can see her thinking, "Okay, okay, I can do this, I can do this."

"Whoa!"

(I should mention that she's the only one of the three who didn't wind up with a skinned knee from falling off her bike.  Elile found herself on a slanty path and tipped over.  How and why Vicki fell we may never know, but fall she did, and fall Lexi did not.)

"Concentrate, concentrate..."

(You'll probably have to click on this one to get the full effect, but I love the tongue poking out between the teeth - priceless.)

Yikes!  Don't crash into your sister!

"I did it!  I'm doing it!  I can do it!"

In no time she was riding like a pro, and the only thing that stopped her from riding her bike to school this morning was our current lack of a bike lock. The rain, she says, had absolutely nothing to do with it. I believe her.

I should, of course, mention that, being Lexi, the first thing she did after she successfully rode for any length of time was to stop the bike and put and both her hands up in the air like a gymnast who’d just stuck a perfect landing.

Go Lexi!

(Also, when I told her I was going to do a blog post on this, she grinned from ear to ear and gave me a HUGE hug.  Oh, how I love my Lexi!)

Random Thoughts Thursday

I’ve been following Stephanie Nielsen’s blog for a while now. Many of you have probably already seen this, but if you haven’t yet it’s well worth the time. One minute into it I was already in tears.  She is an amazing person and an inspiration to so many.

I want to create something memorable. I just don’t know how.

This article, though probably even funnier if you’re an architect, is still hilarious (be sure to look at part 2 as well.)

Today on Facebook I hid something called “AlienCalf”. Who comes up with this stuff? And why is there always more of it?

Why is it so hard to remember to flush around here? Seriously, guys, it takes one extra second. But I guess I shouldn’t complain too much, since they all put the lid down (including the hubby, who also, for the record, flushes.)

Being a volunteer is supposed to be easy, right?  Right?

I love a great meal with good friends.

My Twilight-obsessed BFF hasn’t sent me any Robert Pattinson links lately. I’m feeling a bit deprived.

I am suddenly really, really in the mood for lemon poppyseed muffins.

How Do You Roll?

The weather outside is appalling.  Everything is dull and gray, which makes my mood dull and gray.  So, in an attempt to spice up my day a litle bit, and because I have nothing better to blog about (which is not actually true, but it takes time to write a real blog post), I hereby present:

Let's settle this once and for all.  Should toilet paper hang over the top of the roll, or down behind?

Discuss.