Tales of a SuperStar

So a few days ago SuperStar was in a spelling bee at school. Apparently they take some little test/class assignment thing and after grading it pick the top 5 kids from each 4th & 5th grade class and then have a spelling bee with those 25 kids. The winner and 1st runner up go to the county finals. SuperStar was so into this that we even rented Akeelah and The Bee . Not our first time watching - if you haven't seen it then rent it. Good family movie. Uplifting - you cry and all. Anyway, she gets 2nd runner up out of all 25 kids - pretty darn good girlie!! The winner was another one of our GS at school - MissBB. Pretty darn good girlies!!

This is not the story I want to tell though - just kinda told that to show off and point out that SuperStar is generally a pretty smart cookie (pun intended because it is Girl Scout COOKIE TIME!! If you haven't bought any - then do!!).

So...........Tuesday night she and I ventured out to do door to door cookies sales - AGAIN. It was very cold - AGAIN. We were literally freezing as it was 3 degrees with a nice breeze - ACK! Most people were very sweet. Unfortunately this was a longer established neighborhood and there were apparently lots of Florida Snow Birds living there. We went door to door to door - lights were on, but no one was home. Then you hit a door with the Friendliest woman - and I mean talk your ear off friendly (which we don't mind at all because the time inside thaws out our brains) and she points out ALL the houses NOT to go to because the people are in Florida (but don't tell anyone because that would compromise the safety of the house - apparently SuperStar and I do not come across as casing the joint kinda girls) - unfortunately we have already visited EVERYONE OF THOSE HOUSES!! Sheesh. Sigh. Anyhoo - we hit probably 40 houses? 1/3 bought small amounts - 1/3 were in Florida - 1/3 bought at work. We finish up having sold 16 boxes that night. Not a good night. We head home and I mention to SuperStar that she should probably put in longer hours the first week next year to get the "at work buyers" before they buy at work.

Once home we are telling BigGuy all about the sales. SuperStar is explaining that 1/3 of the people said they bought at work. BigGuy starts to say, "You know what that means........." (and his intent is to point out doing longer hours the first week) and SuperStar cuts him off and says, "Yeah Dad, you should work harder selling cookies to people at your work."

She is utterly serious. He is speachless. I am giggling. And Cookie Sales continue.

Spidey Batman Race

For the fun - thought we would bring you to the race.

Speed Racer

What do you do on Friday Nights? Well.....if you are in our family most likely you are doing SOMETHING Scouty. Girl Scouts - Boy Scouts - whatever, it is most likely a Scout night. And a recent Friday was no different.

Spidey had his First Ever Pinewood Derby! Was he excited - kinda. Did he work hard on his derby car? - kinda. Was BigGuy excited - totally! Did he work hard on his derby car? - Totally! It was very cute to watch. BigGuy stood back kinda like nothing big was going on. Spidey was right out in front looking confused like he had no idea what was going on. Then as soon as he realized his car won - because the first race was pretty close - he got all excited and ran back to his place totally forgetting his car. I looked up at BigGuy, who was playing it all cool, and asked him if he was happy. He kinda grinned like it was no big deal and said, "Uh Yeah! Next year I am going to have my own car in the race."

Apparently they never grow up.

OHMYGOODNESS!!

So the last post is from the 20th and today is the 26th. That isn't so bad - really - if you think about it. Just 6 days since I had time to write something. Only - NOT!!! I think it was somewhere around the 9th or so that I preset all those posts, with the exception of Greta's post - which I did the day she passed, but had come up a few days later into the mix. It has been so busy here that I only have time for facebook - because that is simple - I work (I actually have a lot of my volunteer work on the computer - PTO treasurer stuff, emails to charity places, GS info and newsletter stuff, things for BigGuy) on the computer and emails pop up from facebook - I answer those and then back out. Easy to keep up with people and spend very minimal time. I have gotten past the facebook phase of "looking" at EVERYTHING everyone posts. I am now a scanner and a voyeur. Anyway, this is not about facebook so quit distracting me with that stuff. I was talking about......

OHMYGOODNESS!!! Where did the last 20 days go? Seriously!!!

Girl Scout Cookie sales - are we doing them? Yup, almost everyday. Where are we in numbers? About 500 sold. Most of these are door to door. Are we cold? Damn straight we are cold - it is flipping 4 degrees and snowing most nights. The nights we haven't gone out - 20 degrees. Why? Because that is the way the cookie crumbles - pun totally intended. Are you helping us by buying some? Yes, most of you are - and I THANK YOU! Especially my friend, Mindy C., who has her own blog (click here for her funny witisisms - and so you know I don't care if that word is made up or spelt wrong - keep it to yourself)- her family bought 16 boxes!! Beat that the rest of you. Yes, call, up your order to be higher then hers! Even the millionaire guy down the street only purchased 11 boxes.

What else is going on? Ahhhh.....painting all the main floor......playing with the King (Babers) to make him happy and not scream - even though he now has a bestest friend that he loves........making Pinewood Derby cars - blog about that to come later - and mundane things like feeding the family, cleaning their clothes, not killing any of them.....and then there is the CONSTANT snow (which I love) that has gotten everyone around to the point of not shoveling. You know - at first I felt kinda bad if our front walk wasn't shoveled should someone need to walk to the door. Now - well, screw shoveling snow all the time - no one else is doing it so why should I care if they have to snow cover their shoes to get to my door.

Oh, and by the way - we now have a new visitor policy - Please remove your Snow Covered Shoes as you enter our home. Thanks!!

Enough catching up for now. The King is screaming and the Olders will be home soon. Gotta pre-post some blogs so you all will be (not anymore) tricked by them popping up for your reading pleasure and my own venting release. You know - I am not even going to spell check this..........Talk about living on the fly.....

I have never had a Guilty Pleasure

I have never had a Guilty Pleasure........until now - and even then I wasn't aware that it was a guilty pleasure until I realized that what I was enjoying others were fibbing about enjoying.



The whole thing started very innocently. One friend is a vampire book freak and she mentioned that the books she read were coming out as a movie - but that the books weren't that great so she wouldn't be going (however, she had read all 4 books). Not being a vampire book addict the info went in one ear and out the other. Then I noticed that several of the pre-teens were reading the books backstage during the musical SuperStar was in. Then my nieces came during xmas break - they had the lead guy from the movie in as a cover face on their phone. Then I noticed the few young girls who are my friends on facebook were leaving notes about how great the movie was. Then I mentioned all this while at coffee with a few friends when we were talking about books. One friend had the first two books in the series. Not wanting to buy them I asked to borrow. She agreed and dropped them off the next day. So I began reading them. Within a day I had the first book done. Easy read - written for teens (no offence to any teens reading, but lets be honest - a vampire boysfriend? Not the stuff classics are based on). I even thought to myself how goofy this was and that the next one would have to be better - and I DID WANT TO READ THE NEXT ONE - although I couldn't figure out why - perhaps a magical spell is cast upon those books and you are forced to read them even if you don't want to.........I mean, if you believe in the possibility of the story plot a book having a magical spell that compels you to read it Could Be Possible. And since the book was there AND was free - I started it. Two days later I was done with it.

Now I was looking at the dilemma of where to find the other two. My original friend who read them didn't own them and didn't admit to reading the next two - the person who borrowed them to me didn't own them and since she is really smart I assumed she didn't allow herself to buy more (which made me wonder if I shoul)- another friend I mentioned reading them to made me feel silly because they were silly books - so I offered to lend the first two to her in hopes the magical spell would hook her and she wouldn't be able to judge me (not that she was). I was beginning to realize that my interest in these books was not completely acceptable - these were books based on a love affair between a teenage girl, her vampire boyfriend and her werewolf friend. Secrecy was probably in my best interest. I did first look at the library, but my concern of being "outed" by the librarian held me back from requesting to put one on hold - and honestly I just wanted to read them, so putting them on hold wasn't what I wanted to do. So I bought it from a legit bookstore, but I will also admit to pretending the third one was for my neice. The fourth one I just bought outright and bold. Thinking about it before I bought the last two I counceled myself with the thought that they are basically a Disney movie put in book form. Girl can't take care of herself, falls hopelessly in love, he is supernatural, he keeps saving her, she has a friend who is an animal that talks to her...........although they are also in love, which makes it a bit more adult. So why would I want to read them?

Now, I will admit that reading it reminded me of what it feels like to be hopelessly in love and fantasizing about someone - which made me look at Dave with sparkly eyes again (we all still have that silly first love feeling inside I guess). Too bad he had the stomach flu. The only thing that I could think to make myself feel better - was that the person who turned me onto these books is also an educator at the college level and I admire her. However, when I offered her the books I had purchased - she was not quick to take me up on my offer - perhaps she had seen the light, realized how utterly ridiculous these books were and chose not to read the final two - turns out, she only hesitated to make sure that I understood the "conditions" in which she would read the last two in the series - I had to PROMISE not to tell anyone how much she really wanted to. Happily I agreed - but what she doesn't know is that I did it so if anyone ever teases me about this Guilty Pleasure - I can point to her and say "she read them too".

We Love You Greta

This week one of our favorite friends passed away. Greta was our neighbor in STL. She lived with Nona and Popo and always came to the fence to greet us. If we came to the door she was patient, but made certain we used a hand to pet her. When we added our own furry canine family member (Jakey) she became his Big Sister and tolerated his morning visits. Jake figured out how to nose through the loose picket in the fence. Greta has a giant doggie door and she always found patience with Jake as he learned that he could easily crash Greta's breakfast time. They would run together in the back yard and play - Greta probably more out of tolerance of Jake. It wasn't rare though to see them sitting near one another - so it was obvious that Greta and Jake had a close friendship. When we moved Jake missed her. There were no dogs nearby to hang with and when he met a dog while walking they never appreciated his over active friendliness the way Greta did. Jake will miss Greta. We will miss Greta too - and our heart goes out to her family - because at this time I am sure they miss her most of all.

We Love You Greta

It Is Cookie Time!!!

Yesterday Was the Official Door To Door sales kick off for Girl Scout Cookies here in Central Illinois. Well, maybe all of IL, but we only really have to worry about what our counsel here in our area wants us to do. So yesterday was the day. And we didn't do any selling......Yikes! Why? Because it was 3 degrees outside - and.....because SuperStar is 200 boxes into her sales already - just through calling family, her Aunt, Household Exec., helping by seling in Columbia, MO, Gramma R helping a bit by selling to her Weight Watcher friends (isn't that a kick?) - and a few people in the area placing orders through computer sales (which is allowed). However, she has not begun to tap her resource of people - which is good because this year her goal is twice her last year goal. She has from now until Feb. 1st to complete her goal.

1,000 boxes.

Personally, I am thinking she can probably get it done. Hungry for some cookies? Wanna help her make her goal? Just let us know - we will be happy to help you endulge in your need for GS Cookies - you know they are only available one time per year!!

Happy Birthday Papa!

Happy Happy Happy Happy Birthday Birthday
Happy Happy Happy Happy Birthday Birthday
Happy Happy Birthday
Happy Happy Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday To You!!
(you probably have to know Bear in the Big Blue House well to appreciate that song)

Happy Birthday Dad - we have been planning a little surprise since we can't see you - we hope to call you with it tomorrow.

My Public Apology

So every once in awhile I think about Homeschooling. Not really all that seriously, but I admit that I think about it. Wouldn't it make me the most perfect mom ever if I could homeschool my kids - all day together thinking of cool, creative, cutting edge things to help them learn and grow to be fabulous adults? I wouldn't have to worry about who they were encountering in the lunch room - what they were learning on the playground - implement structure that BigGuy and I think is ideal. Now, not that we have ANY complaints about our current school (except that there isn't enough cultural diversity in the African American area) - just that sometimes I admire moms who can homeschool and I have recently thought about it. Very recently - like over Winter Break - which was great - we all got along and we did things that were fun and I was sincerely disappointed that they went back to school.

But then there was the first week back - that Tues. Spidey was home for a dr. appt. - Dave was home the entire week with a stomach bug - I hurt my back reading too much (it can happen) - and then everyone was finally back at school the following Monday. And I missed them. Until Wed. when we had snow and they were home - and Thur. when we had negative temperatures and they were home - and now tomorrow (we just got the call) and due to temperatures they will be home - again - all day - with me - looking for things to do - with me - all day - did I mention they would be here all day? - oh, and to make it even better - Monday is a holiday - so they will be here that day too - and it ISN'T a holiday BigGuy will be home - so it will be me with them - all day - here - just us.

I love my children with an overpowering ability. However, I should not homeschool my children.

This is my public apology - I suppose to God because he must have heard my thoughts about homeschooling. Our public schools are FABULOUS. Our public schools have fabulous structure. Our public schools are a great place for my children to learn, grow, play and make friends. I publicly apologize for ever thinking that perhaps I should homeschool. I will NEVER do it again. I promise.

Now, please make it at least 15 degrees outside on Tuesday? Please?

Save Us All

I am always hoping for a Snow Day. The picture is that of snow boots (which my children now all have), snow suits (which they got for Christmas - the first official snow suits they have ever owned), hot cocoa - which we have in our pantry, snow covering the ground (which there is) and a fun and frisky attitude that screams, "Let's Go Sledding!!".

We have all that.

But it is very very very cold. And I totally sound like a mother when I say, "No, you can not go out and play in the snow because it is negative 36 degrees out."

So then they ask, "Can we go to the gym to go swimming?" This one I am reluctant to say no to because I would like to go to the gym. Unfortunately, the common sense that comes with being a mother says in the darkness that is my mind at this point after spending 2 days alone at home with my kids "you should not let them be in the cold after being in a pool." So - because the other voice is selfishly trying to convince me by saying, "who cares - go, exercise, release some of that pent up craziness - exercise before you maim one of them." I run the idea by BigGuy. He agrees - swimming is not a good idea. On the same hand - he was practically running out of the door to work this morning, probably breathing a sigh of relief that it wasn't so cold his workplace was closing down..........

Here we are. In the house. The children are bickering over an imaginary dessert plate that is apparently magical. SuperStar has control of the dessert plate (which is the lid of the giant plastic pink tea pot turned upside down) and Spidey wants to have it - or at least to have a smaller version of it (he holds an upside down sparkly plastic purple plate being balanced on top of a pink plastic cup - claiming this too is a magical dessert plate). SuperStar won't allow it - apparently he has been designated as main dish and she is dessert. Babers wants only to crush all the things they hold and then hit them in the side of the head with them - because that is apparently what a three year old most enjoys doing. I find myself sitting on the floor - trying to reason with the children. "Why can't we all have magical dessert plates?" "Why can't you take turns doing the main dish?" "Who is doing the apertiff?" Then Babers throws a dinosaur at me and I realize that this entire arguement over an imaginary magical plate filled with desserts is the direct result of them staying up, snuggling with me and watching Top Chef last night. I wonder for a moment if this is my fault. No, split second - I wonder for a split second - in my mind I envision all the children disappearing and I have a magical plate of desserts. They are delicious - it is quiet - then "thunk" Babers hits me with a dinosaur and he smells poopie. Discussion and Dream sequence over - time to change the diaper. I leave the olders behind to fight a ridiculous battle over an imaginary magical dessert plate and think........

I have spent too many hours with my children and No more Top Chef for them.

Court Side

Is Court Side one word? Hmmm....well it doesn't really matter. Yesterday was the first time Spidey was on the court - with his basketball team - playing an actual game against another team. He had missed 2 of the practices and since there had only been 3 practices and he is new to the sport - he found himself at a disadvantage. Still.........he was very excited to be there - very excited to wear a jersey - and very excited to have a bottle of water that was all his own (which he has had before.....I promise we don't deny our children water). However, he didn't seem terribly excited to be very close to the ball. BigGuy says this will change as he better understands the game.

So without furthere ado - this is a video of the very first time Spidey has played BBall on the courts.....

Christmas Wall of Fame - take II

Okay, I noticed that I made some people feel they needed to explain themselves about not sending a card - and also received a solicitation advertisement for an easier way to send cards.

Now - it was not my intention to poke anyone for not sending a card. It WAS my intention of making fun of myself and the things that run through my head - no matter how goofy they are. And believe me, they are goofy - BigGuy will attest to that although he will be glared at by me after he does so (only I am freely allowed to make fun of me - keep that in mind).

Also - if in the future you ever receive a store bought card that was generated by MY sending it (keep in mind BigGuy still purchases cards) - then you should call our house and see if we are over stressed or I have left the family. Our cards at Christmas are handmade because we know that we can not give Each Person We Care So Much About a more traditional gift - so the handcrafted cards become that.

That Said - release your guilt of not having sent a card - but also know that this year I came up with a Color Coding System. Blue for Family (which means you never have to worry about not receiving a card) - Yellow for those who have gone 2 years without sending one - Green for Friends we would never take off the list (because they might as well be family) - and Brown for those that I am wavering about.

Yes, I really do think these things. However, remember (based on what I said earlier) You are not Allowed to make fun of me - only I can. So laugh privately......

Did you make the Wall of Christmas Fame?

Every year I put up all the Christmas cards that we receive. Now, I LOVE receiving the Christmas Cards - LOVE IT!! It is the reason I send out cards - and this year I mailed out 89 cards (this does not include the cards we give to teachers - 10 - or other specialty people - piano teacher, girl scouts, etc.). And don't be fooled by my well mannered appearance - I keep track of who sends us cards. While it isn't really a big deal if we receive one - it is noted. I am kinda like the Santa Claus of Christmas Cards. There are "expectations" of sending and receiving (gosh this is starting to sound bad, but I am being honest). Here are the rules:

1) We send to ALL of our family - regardless of if they send back - and honestly, immediate family (like sibs and parents) we only have 4 people who send us a card - our parents and one set of grands. Then there are Great Aunts & Uncles who send cards.
2) We send cards to ALL of our close friends - like those people we see on a regular basis.
3) We send cards to ALL of our close friends whom we do not see on a regular basis, but we visit or email through the year.
4) We send cards to friends who have kinda slipped through the cracks through the years - on a 3 year basis.
5) Blood line family (and Nona & Popo) get cards regardless of if they send them - because they are family and we love them and are obligated to do so.
6) All others get cards on a 3 year basis - after 3 years if we did not receive one from them they are cut off. Unless we see them on a daily basis and I would feel awful not sending one to them (this rule usually only applies to people we don't see often, but have been close to in the past). Also - life experiences factor in - if it is obvious the receivers life has been so challenging that they can't get a card out we do not hold that against them - they are given a free pass so to speak.
7) Anyone who does Valentine Cards, Summer Letters or Halloween Cards receive Christmas Cards. See, some friends have become very smart in sending out their family update greetings during other parts of the year - so as to keep Christmas less hectic. Clever, not my thing, but clever and I salute them.

Yes I keep a spread sheet of what we receive - really it is the Christmas Address List - I just keep track of if we heard from them that year or not - but it is a spread sheet.

This year I found a new dilemma. Email cards. What to do with the email card? To us a card is like a gift. We send these to those we care for that won't be a "traditional gift" person in our sphere. Our cards are thought out, created, stamped, picture included - an email card I am just not sure about. They are created, kinda, they definately show that we are thought of, no arguement, but are they really a card? For now I am counting them, but if stamps go up much more we might have to cut out the email card givers (so keep that in mind email card givers - although we will just start sending you an email card - which I am guessing you would be 100% cool with).

The other thing I love - pictures in cards. LOVE THEM!!! Because I can use them through the year on this picture post card holder I have. It is nice to tuck the photos into this round about for the kids to look at all year.

Gosh - I knew my card thing was a true "Thing", but I didn't realize it was such a big "Thing". This year we received 36 cards. Not bad. Well, off to update the spread sheet - the cards stay up a few more days - they are fun for guests to look at - and I Love Them!!

Thanks for the Christmas Cards........

Which came First - the New Year or Christmas?

Okay, clearly Christmas came first, however, here on Ohhhhhh Yeah......New Years is arriving prior to Christmas. Why? Well, two fold - the pictures are less so they are easier to organize - and because New Years just happened so I am thinking about it more.


When the ball dropped we were at The H's (you may remember them from last years pics). Prior to we played Phase 10 (if you don't know how ask us - we will have you over and play - it is a lot of fun), ran around, ate yummy stuff and watched guests drop like flies after one little one threw up (yuck). Then, we had champagne. The kids had sparkling cider, but it seemed to fool Spidey - he kept coming back for more "Champ-ag-knee" (as he pronounced it).


and all the younger set blew the "tooters". SuperStar put on a full Green holiday decor and blew and blew and blew.


AS blew - she kept showing Babers how to blow, but he didn't get it and she finally said, "It is never going to blow for you. You can't do it. Stop even trying." She began to walk away and then turned back and said, "You are just too small." That sent Babers into tears - although I am not 100% sure he knew what she was saying, or that he was just sad he couldn't make any sound.


CH blew plenty fine. Had to ask him to leave and blow somewhere else.


but Babers just cried - and cried - and cried. I tried everything I could think of and then out of a symbol of solidarity I ripped the horn up into pieces (the cardboard part) and threw the plastic blower to the ground. Babers was horrified!!! He looked at the mess I made of his horn and began to suck in breathe to scream even louder - then he spotted the plastic part of the horn, picked it up and blew it. And it WORKED!!!


Must have been the cardboard keeping the sound from working somehow. At first the bleet was very soft, but we could hear it. That helped him realize how to form his lips and he got the hang of it very quickly - bleet - BLEET - BLEET - it was great.

Happy New Year!!

Not Every New Year comes Happily

This New Years we spent the evening with friends. BL came up from STL and we all headed over to our friends The H's. They had additional friends over - The S's, The V's, etc. etc. Basically people that you all probably do not know, or you might if you go to school with us - even then it isn't the basis of this blog. The basis is - we got together with friends, played games and at midnight blew horns to bring in the year 2009. Everyone that is - except Babers. Babers was very excited to be handed a blower thing. He smiled - he jumped - he went round in a circle - he blew - and NOTHING happened. He looked at AS who was making her horn bleet to the band - he looked at Spidey who was tooting so much we sent him to another room. He blew again - and nothing happened - he blew and he blew and he blew and he blew - and NOTHING happened. So he threw a tantrum. It is all here in this cute, but quick video. If you quite my music you can hear the horns ringing in the New Year - and the cries of those not yet able to make a horn go...........



Happy New Year - Blow Your Horn LOUDLY!!!