Reading

I've never really been a big reader. I've always wished I was though. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I am extremely impatient. I mean EXTREMELY! When I get an idea in my head that I want to do something or want to have something. I want it NOW, I want it 10 minutes ago, I want it last week!!!

So for me to actually take the time to read, and wait for days, weeks, possibly months (hey, I'm a busy mom here!) to find out how a book ends takes a lot from me! I am also not a very speedy reader. I am easily distracted and have a difficult time concentrating on reading when there are things going on around me. It took me about 3 months to finish HP4!

Between my not-so-speedy reading and the fact that I don't get the chance to sit down and read every day, it sometimes takes a while.

However, I have been doing a little more reading lately. I'm beginning to really enjoy it. I've been trying to read for a little while before bed each night. I've recently read a few novels after reading reviews from Melissa. In fact, last night, I just finished one called Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner.



Before this book, I read Good In Bed by the same author. She also wrote In Her Shoes which I originally didn't really want to see the movie for, but now that I've read two of her other books, and enjoyed them, I do.



Before that one, was No Place Like Home by Mary Higgins Clark. This book and Goodnight Nobody are both mysteries. It was fun trying to take all the clues and try to figure out "who did it?". The suspense, killed me though. I don't like that feeling. I want to know. I want to know NOW!



But they are all good books and I would definitely recommend reading them. Now I have to decide if I want to get another Mary Higgens Clark mystery novel, or get started on HP5. That one will probably take me until the movie comes out to finish reading. :) One reason I didn't start reading it right after finishing HP4 was because I wanted to see the GOF movie before continuing. If I'd read HP5 before seeing the HP4 movie I would be going insane with suspense right now wanting to see the HP5 movie NOW. I was already dying waiting for 4 after I finished that book.



I must pace myself. Anyone else have any good book suggestions for me? (Keep in mind, I don't really like Sci-Fi stuff, HP is the exception!)

Meet The Coach

Well, our Upward "meet the coach" night was last night. All but one of my girls showed up to meet me and pick up their uniforms and materials. It looks like I'm getting a pretty good group of girls. (6 in all.)

My youngest daughter is on my squad this year. Hopefully that won't be a problem. Last year, I coached my older daughter's squad and there were times I wished I wasn't coaching her team. Not that she's a bad kid, she's not. There were some times that she would try to play the "mommy" card instead of seeing me as her coach. (Does that make sense?)

So on Saturdays, my oldest will be cheering from 10:30-11:30 and my squad will be cheering from 12:30-1:30. So, unless I want to leave for an hour and come back, I'll have to be there from 10:30-1:30 every week! That kinda stinks.

I also don't know who my assistant coach is going to be. I haven't been able to contact the lady that was supposed to help me. I've tried calling her and she wasn't at church Sunday. Two Sundays ago, she was excited to be helping out and then all of a sudden, she's nowhere to be found. I'm starting to feel dissed! Maybe she found out she was going to be working with me and decided she didn't want to help out THAT badly. Or, that could be my own low self esteem talking. Whatever the case, I'm still out an assistant as of yet.

The Birth Order of Children:

Your Clothes:
1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.
2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.
3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.

Preparing for the Birth:
1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.
2nd baby: You don't bother because you remember that last time,
breathing didn't do a thing.
3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your eighth month.

The Layette:
1st baby: You pre-wash newborn's clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby's little bureau.
2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains.
3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they?

Worries:
1st baby: At the first sign of distress--a whimper, a frown--you pick up the baby.
2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.
3rd baby: You teach your three-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.

Pacifier:
1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.
2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby's bottle.
3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.

Diapering:
1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour, whether they need it or not.
2nd baby: You change their diaper every two to three hours, if needed.
3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to
complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.

Activities:
1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing,and Baby Story Hour.
2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.
3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.

Going Out:
1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home five times.
2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.
3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.

At Home:
1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
2nd baby: You spend a bit of everyday watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.
3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.

Swallowing Coins:
1st child: When first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays.
2nd child: When second child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for the coin to pass.
3rd child: When third child swallows a coin you deduct it from his allowance!!

A Change in Plans

Martha Stewart will not be dining with us this Thanksgiving. I'm telling you in advance, so don't act surprised. Since Ms. Stewart won't be coming, I've made a few small changes:

Our sidewalk will not be lined with homemade, paper bag luminaries. After a trial run, it was decided that no matter how cleverly done, rows of flaming lunch sacks do not have the desired welcoming effect.

The dining table will not be covered with expensive linens, fancy china or crystal goblets. If possible, we will use dishes that match and everyone will get a fork. Since this IS Thanksgiving, we will refrain from using the plastic Peter Rabbit plate and the Santa napkins from last Christmas.

Our centerpiece will not be the tower of fresh fruit and flowers that I promised. Instead we will be displaying a hedgehog-like decoration hand-crafted from the finest construction paper. The artist assures me it is a turkey.

We will be dining fashionably late. The children will entertain you while you wait. I'm sure they will be happy to share every choice comment I have made regarding Thanksgiving, pilgrims and the turkey hotline. Please remember that most of these comments were made at 5:00 AM upon discovering that the turkey was still hard enough to cut diamonds. As accompaniment to the children's recital, I will play a recording of tribal drumming. If the children should mention that I don't own a recording of tribal drumming, or that tribal drumming sounds suspiciously like a frozen turkey in a clothes dryer, ignore them. They are lying.

We toyed with the idea of ringing a dainty silver bell to announce the start of our feast. In the end, we chose to keep our traditional method. We've also decided against a formal seating arrangement. When the smoke alarm sounds, please gather around the table and sit where you like. In the spirit of harmony, we will ask the children to sit at a separate table. In a separate room. Next door.

Now I know you have all seen pictures of one person carving a turkey in front of a crowd of appreciative onlookers. This will not be happening at our dinner. For safety reasons, the turkey will be carved in a private ceremony. I stress "private" meaning: Do not, under any circumstances, enter the kitchen to laugh at me. Do not send small, unsuspecting children to check on my progress. I have an electric knife. The turkey is unarmed. It stands to reason that I will eventually win. When I do, we will eat.

Before I forget, there is one last change. Instead of offering a choice between 12 different scrumptious desserts, we will be serving the traditional pumpkin pie, garnished with whipped cream and small fingerprints. You will still have a choice: take it or leave it.

Martha Stewart will not be dining with us this Thanksgiving. She probably won't come next year either.

I am thankful.

(Source: "Today's Woman" magazine, Barbara A Tyler)

Busy Schedule

We've got a lot going on here it seems. Last night my girls started their gymnastics classes. Every Tuesday evening they'll be doing that.



Wednesday evenings are kid's choir practice for the Christmas program at our church. When that is over, they are having kids' praise team practice for our church's children's program, which of course my daughters want to be a part of. That will be Wednesday evenings too.

Starting the week after Thanksgiving, Upward Cheerleading practices begin for Thursday evenings! I will, once again, be coaching a squad. This time my younger daughter's team. (Now to find something to do with my son while the girls and I are at practices since guru is at school Thursday evenings.) Their games are on Saturday mornings starting in January.

I will also be having adult praise team practice every other Thursday evening. I will go straight from Cheer practice, to praise team practice the weeks I'm singing.

Currently Sunday evenings are adult choir practice for the Christmas program.

This coming Monday I will have to be at the church for "meet the coach" night for Upward. I'll be passing out my girls' uniforms and materials for the season and meeting all their parents. What fun! (Not really.)



So that is pretty much what's going on for me. Keeping busy!

The Weekend

My girlies and I had a nice day out yesterday. We don't get spend too much "just girl" time anymore. We left their daddy and baby brother at home to watch football and we went out together.

First we went to lunch at Logan's (the girls' choice). Then we went to see Chicken Little. It was very cute. The girls really enjoyed it! Me too.

Then we did a little shopping. My daughters are both very much girly girls. They love shopping and shoes and make-up. Everything girly.

When we came home, I started a big pot of chili. It turned out REALLY good, if I do say so myself. We all ended up eating 2 bowls a piece! Yummy!

Then today was church. I didn't get to go to the service today though, since it was my week in the infant room. We could have gone to first service, but that makes for a really long day for the kiddos, especially the baby.

This afternoon, I had practice for our Christmas program at church. Then we met my dad at a McDonald's playplace for dinner.

Now it is home for some Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy.

It's been a pretty good weekend!

Trick Or Treat!

Well we all had a good time trick or treating last night. None of the adults dressed up, even though guru's friend, "A" was supposed to dress up as a woman. I even had my camera ready for such an event, but alas, he backed out. Guess he had a bad day at work or whatever blah blah blah, excuses, excuses!

But the kids did their thing for a while around the neighborhood, scoring tons of great candy! (Yes we went with them). Then we went back to their house and just hung out for a while. The kids played, the guys played and the ladies talked. When the guys finally joined us, we had a very in depth conversation about poop. Yes, poop. We talked about how there are little particles of poop on your toothbrush and the process in which it goes through to get there. To be honest, it was actually a quite humorous conversation, regardless of how it sounds. Maybe we were just on sugar highs or something so it just seemed funny at the time. But it doesn't matter now, the point is there were a lot of laughs and fun!

Here are some pics of my kiddos. The baby was once again Tigger but the girls changed their minds about their costumes for last night and went as a cheerleader and a unicorn (we already had both costumes)...




I can never get the little man to look AT the camera! Oh well!