Cancer Sucks Ass

We are going to miss you girl, rest in peace Shy Shy...

Random Thoughts...

Voting- So I hang my head in shame and admit I have never voted before, this is my very first time and I want to do it right. Some of the choices are easy, I already have my president picked out, but who knew there were so many other things I get to have a say in too! I have my handy 123 page Colorado State Ballot guide to study...they really should do a Cliff Notes version for those of us who have a 4 big words per paragraph limit...I'm doing my best to decipher what these things are REALLY saying. It is making me head hurt...

Flies- Now that the weather is cooling down the local flies seem to have figured out the Chase house is a pretty nifty place to chill. Not cool. It probably doesn't help that we have a toddler that sometimes (most of the time) forgets to shut the screen door behind him. What exactly is the point of a fly anyway? Besides annoying the crap out of me that is...Do they serve a purpose? I have also discovered I kinda suck at fly swatting. Is there an art to it? Sneak up, small swat? Full swat from 3 feet away? I've tried it all, still takes me a good 3 tries before I kill one.

Star Wars- Eliott is obsessed. He can't talk much but can make a very impressive Darth Vader breathing noise and immitates R2D2 so well I can't help but laugh. He will also walk up and shoot you with his blaster and makes the sound of the lightsaber when he swings it. Guys. That's what he call his star wars toys, guys. Which is better than what we thought he was saying, "dies". They sound alike, guys is much more pleasant to hear come out of the mouth of a 20 month old. There are guys everywhere in my house. Guys hurt to step on. I need to go save his guys from the backyard before all the leaves fall and bury them.

Wonder Woman

I totally feel like Wonder Woman lately, not in a good I can fight anything way either...it's like in the episodes where she was being attacked and used her bracelets to block projectiles flying at her. I feel like I am dodging and weaving my way through life, people keep trying to knock me down and shoot me up and I just keep having to defend my life. Enough already people! I'm taking off the gear and going into hiding. Well that's what I want to do anyway, I lay in bed at night thinking happy thoughts of hopping on a plane to just about anywhere. The kids can come too, they've been awesome lately. And John, wouldn't be fun without John.



So through all the yucky stuff I'm dealing with I really should find some optimistic moment to blog about, I'll do my favorite moment. It's a compliment I recieved a few months ago, and I guess it took until now to sink in that it really was true. Both Elisse and Elijah were off for summer break so I took them along on a playdate with Eliott's friends and their moms. The kids were on their best behavior, playing with all the little kids, having fun. A mom noticed and complimented me on what great kids I have, even wanted to know how I raised them to be that way. I thanked her for the compliment but in the back of my mind was all the doubt I have about my parenting, my fears of screwing them up, the fact she didn't see the fighting between the two in the car on the way up there...I guess it took until now and dealing with the ramifications of other peoples wayward parenting skills to accept the fact that, yes, I do have really great kids. And I'm doing okay at this parenting thing :)

It's Playgroup, Not Fight Club

We got kicked out of playgroup yesterday...okay not really but I'm sure we would have had I not up and left when I did. See it seems I have given birth to the next WWE (whatever happended to the "F"? It just seems wrong) champion of the world. Eliott is a tackler. You have a toy, I want it, you're going down. Not just a push either, full blown grab you by the head and toss you down kicking and screaming. I did not teach him this. His sibling are not like this, and as far as my memory serves me they never were. Really, we are not violent people, so where does he get this stuff? Daddy had a talk with him when he got home...Eliott, it's playgroup, not Fight Club.

For Tam...

I'm a bad blogger, I have a running dialogue in my head but just can't seem to find the willingness to write it down. I have lots I could complain about but who wants to read that? I don't even want to waste the energy typing it out. I try and be a positive person, I'm a big believer in karma, so positive energy is all I'm going to try and give away...

So I guess it will be weird after my last paragraph to write about my dead cat? I had him for 20 years, my vet gave him to us after our kitten died when I was 10. He was sick and his owners didn't want him anymore, so Dr. B offered him up. He wasn't as crazy or cuddly or friendly as Mittens, my old kitty, but Lucky had something about him that made you laugh. He was kind of a jerk. He didn't care. We bonded over the fact that I was the only person he tolerated. At least that's what I like to think, it could have just been the fact that my room had the sunny southern exposure most cats enjoy. Needless to say he was my cat, and when his thyroid went kaput at 14 I took him to live with me so I could make sure he got his meds everyday. We had an understanding that I was shoving the pills down his throat to make him better so he didn't bite the hand that pilled him. My Mom wasn't as fortunate. Lucky was always a faithful friend to me, he always new when I was upset, it seemed to bother him to see me cry. He did what he could to cheer me up, just knowing he was there helped. He was my furry friend and I miss him.

My Dad is a Jack of all trades, his Dad was too. That comes in really handy when you're poor and can't afford to hire someone to do the work for you. I spent numerous weekends over the years assisting my Dad on the projects he had to do, painting, basement remodeling, flooring, etc, all while my numerous siblings got to sleep in or play with friends. I didn't care, I loved the time I got to spend with my Dad alone. No other kid would dare interrupt and risk getting drawn into what they considered home improvement hell. My Dad has what I like to call Home Depot Turrets, when he's working hammers and cuss words tend to fly freely! It was frightening to others, like the time he yelled "F**k Bob Vila" at a wayward closet door when my BFF Trish was over spending the night. She still talks about that to this day...Anyway he taught me a lot, and now that I'm grown (or so they tell me) and own my own house I can truly appreciate all I've learned. Last year I installed wood laminate flooring throughout the entire first floor of my house, no small task with a newborn around. It turned out great and I saved around 5-7 grand doing it myself. This year I decided to tackle ceramic tile in my bath, I needed to replace the moldy carpeting that had resided there far to long. "Tile is a pain in the a**" my Dad said, I did it anyway, ever needing to prove to myself I can do it. It looks awesome...no cussing involved...(ok, maybe a little)

Dear Eliott...

Can someone please tell me why my son, who refuses to eat anything not squirting from my breasts, will gladly chow down on the dogs food like it is a the best stuff ever? Really Eliott? Not cookies or cereal, mac n cheese or PB&J's, bananas or applesauce...your choice of food is Iams mini chunks? I know Pheobe is one of your favorite creatures on this planet, probably because of your mutual ball obsession, but maybe you are spending way to much time together. On another note, I know you are a bit quirky and like to do things at your own speed, but would you kindly utter the word Mama just once for your good ol Mom? It's an event all mommys wait for and you are making wait far too long. To add insult to injury, my dear son, I know you have it in you! The word you decided to say yesterday, albeit cute and funny, is far harder to pronounce and just might cast a doubt about my parenting skills. Are you ready for this? The word was.....












SpongBob. Yup, freakin SpongBob.

Ahhhh

My Daughter Elisse started middle school this year( and in case anyone was wondering it hasn't changed a bit). She goes to a great school, one I could only dream of attending at her age. She is a "gifted" (hate that term but it is what it is) student, takes all advanced classes and makes good grades. I tell her this is a part of her problem, she is to damn smart for her own good. She has a hard time relating to the cattyness of the other girls, she has more of a hippy-ish live and let live attitude which is not very common among 11 year old girls. I love that about her. I guess the point of this post is I have no idea what I'm doing. I was just a kid myself when I had her. I remember the exact moment we met, I was alone in my room, in my heart, in my life. Her Dad had left me, freaked out by the prospect of parenting I guess. I had just gotten off the phone with him, it was not a pleasant phone call and it finally hit me that it was truly over and I was in fact doing this on my own. It was the darkest, scariest moment of my life, I literally hit rock bottom. I laid on the floor and just cried and cried.......and then she kicked me. I sat up and she kicked again. I had a feeling wash over me that there are no words to describe, it was as close to heaven as I have ever been. In a moment I went from hysterical crying to jubilant laughing, it wasn't about me anymore, it was about us. She made it easy, she was a great baby, not so terrible toddler and very easy going kid. As we approach the teenage years I am filled with anxiety about screwing her up. I watch news shows and court tv not for the latest scoop but more as a manuel on how not to raise a drunk/druggie/murderer. I always think "what did those parents do wrong? " Okay so even if I have all the felonies covered how do I prevent the misdemeanors? This parenting stuff is hard, I hope I figure it out before it's too late...

Look Mom...I blogged!

Okay, here I am jumping on the bandwagon...now I have to think of something quirky to write about. Who would have thought that the voice in my head could actually do something productive (if this counts for productivity), if only I could figure out how to add the constant soundtrack I have going...

I know what to write about! In case you don't know, I am a Mom to three kids (hence my title), a daughter Elisse who is 11(hence the Insanity part), and two sons, Elijah 7 and Eliott almost 1. Yup there's a big age gap, but that will be blogged about another day. I have been married to John for 8 and a half years, he's my high school sweetheart and also my best friend ever, and I remind myself of that on the days I want to kill him. Anyway we like to play games while riding in the car, my kids aren't the kind to sit back quietly and watch dvds, and some of these games (most of which we just make up) are very entertaining. On of our favorites is called "Opposites". Okay I lied, it doesn't really have a name but from now on we will call it "Opposites". Anyway the way you play is someone says something and the next person has to say what is the complete opposite of it is. Seems easy enough, right? Go ahead, try it next car ride let me know what happens. We are still arguing that the opposite of pancakes is not waffles! Not even close! Burger King is not the opposite of McDonalds either...
So another game we play is "What Are We Rich With?" We all know it's not money so we took turns trying to figure out what we have an abundance of, after all the wisecracks answers (whiny kids, poopy diapers, stress, annoying parents, cats, clutter, you get the point) we came to the conclusion that our family is very rich in laughter. We laugh a lot. All the time, and I love it!