Marching to the beat of her own, quirky little drum since 2004.

Bode had a birthday and Mia is still as sweet as ever.

If you are stressed out about your little boy's birthday party then you only have yourself to blame. I can say this because I am a recovering stressed-out birthday-party-planning-mom. What I have found is that all boys need is a cake and a couple of balls thrown into your yard. 

That's it.

 And folding chairs work just find as bases.

I'm telling you, do not over-think this. No decorations, no venue, and for heaven's sake no table-scape. Balls and cake. Cake and balls. No more, no less.

When they leave, spray everything with Fabreeze, because little boys smell like farm animals, grab the leftover cake and a fork, and plop down on the couch. Birthday. Done.

In other news, this girl is still sweet. I keep waiting for her to resent every word that comes out of my mouth, but so far she's managed to keep the angst to a minimum.  I say this with the full knowledge that my next post will probably be about the first time my daughter screams "I hate you." 

These two kids are the greatest thing that ever happened to me. For reals.

Why 4th grade is fun:

Mia has been having the best time in fourth grade thus far.

And by Mia, I mean Andy.

Fourth grade is the year of projects and the only person who loves a project more than Mia is her father. The two of them are unstoppable.

Mia's latest assignment was to create a 'book-in-a-bag' where she decorated a paper sack to represent a particular book and then she filled the sack with items that represented the story.

Andy was obsessed.

He actually shoved a piece of paper into his mouth and chewed it up in order to make it look "authentic."

Don't waste your time trying to make that make sense. It's insane.

As psychotic as he is about the kids' school assignments (and I mean that as a compliment), I absolutely love the fact that I never have to sign the homework folders or read the emails. He's on it like white on rice.

As far as husbands go, this psycho is a keeper.

More books that aren't fiction

I've been anti-fiction lately. I have no real explanation. Fiction just isn't doing it for me these days. But I have read more terrifying memoirs and a few books that have guaranteed to make a me a better person. 

The jury is still out.

This book ruined my life. I'm really not kidding. My closest friend in the therapy program with me told me to read it and it ruined me forever. She said it was the book that changed her life. I was so terrified after I read it that I insisted she give me free therapy sessions. And if you're into weird controversy google the author's name. I can't continue to talk about this book for fear of a crippling panic attack.

 Lucky is a memoir about Alice Sebold's life. She wrote The Lovely Bones and I enjoyed that book so naturally I was interested in her life. This book is very gritty and honest. She takes you through her experience being a rape victim. It's terrifying in the I'll-never-let-my-daughter-go-to-a-park-alone kind of way.

This book was recommended to me by my running partner. It's super interesting. At first I thought it was way too smart for a normal person like myself, but the more I read it the more I enjoyed it and the smarter I started to feel. I highlighted and underlined the whole thing, which really defeats the purpose of highlighting and underlining, so maybe I'm really not any smarter.

This book is supposed to make me a fabulous public speaker. I'm not convinced it's working, although I have no problems babbling on for hours about nothing.

 This is Beth Moore's newest study on 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. I never knew I needed an in-depth study on Thessalonians but turns out I did. Like all of her studies, I love it. It feeds my soul.

This book is going to help me to quit opening my big mouth at the exact wrong time, or so I'm told. I really believe everyone that plans to talk to other humans should read this. If you keep saying yes when you know you should say no, read this book. If you get flustered and don't say what you really meant to say, read this book. If you avoid expressing your real beliefs and opinions and tend to just agree with what someone else is saying, read this book. If you know you need to tell a loved one something but you keep coming up with excuses not to, read this book.

I am no longer cooking, cleaning, or doing laundry. It's awesome, except when you get hungry or you need clean underwear. I also haven't been to Target in months which is really sad for me and a huge relief for my husband. 

My prayer is that when my kids look back on this year of their lives - the year Mommy finished her LPC, completed an internship, and decided to direct a new program at work, they will remember having breakfast together, playing cards on Saturday nights, and me falling asleep in their beds with them, because they certainly aren't going to remember eating lots of home-cooked meals and the smell of pine-sol. 

This is the season of "good-enough" and I am learning to be okay with that.

Dear Children,

Sometimes life gets so out of control that I forget I have this blog. Well, I don't forget exactly, but I just choose to use my two free minutes to sit on your bed and talk to you about the latest book series you are completely enthralled with and how you have so many books inside your head that need to come out that you don't have time to sleep. We also talk about how you don't really want to work at Starbucks when you're in college, even though you know that is my dream for you. Your dream is to create and run your own science camp for kids. In fact, you are pretty sure you will be ready to run it when you are 12. I say that knowing you, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if you were running the world by the time you are 12. I also tell you to not throw the Starbucks thing out the window so soon.

Or, in your case, Bode, I choose to hear all about why you want to be a snake catcher when you grow up. And I watch you demonstrate how you will grab them by their heads and roll around on the ground fighting them like you're a crazed lunatic. I listen to you explain that you would never actually hurt the snake, you would just do all that fighting for the sake of the cameras - because that's what your fans will want to see. I try and remind you about college and you immediately remind me that NBA basketball stars/snake catchers have no use for college. I kind of agree with that but tell you to not write it off completely. 

So, you can understand why, after all of that, I don't have the energy to face this blog. You are both in the most wonderful stages of life. I no longer have to dress you and you can use a spray bottle of vinegar on your bathroom all by yourself. But you also still like me and want to tell me your hopes and dreams. I recognize that this delicate balance will not last forever and so I savor it. 

I store it up in my heart and then forget that I should also store it up on my blog because with all the aspartame I consume on a given day there is no way I will remember it forever.

I love you, my sweet children. And so I blog on.

Your Mother