Here she is, my dancing diva

Maddie is the 2nd one from the left. Keep your eyes on her, she moves fast.

Tiny Dancer

Last night was Maddie's very first ballet recital. She was a butterfly in Alice in Wonderland. It was so awesome. She was gorgeous. She was so excited to be a "star" and dance onstage. No stage fright for my girl, she was all smiles and happiness.

When I dropped her off I got her into her costume backstage and gave her a hug and a kiss and said good-bye and she said "aren't you forgetting to say something to me, like Good Luck?" Of course. Duh.

She is the second butterfly from the left and as you can see, she's the prettiest one.


Never too busy for a smile for the camera, though.

Her fans suprised her with lots and lots of flowers and gifts, which she was thrilled about. She was having a hard time carrying her loot and I offered to help her and she snapped NO at me. Soorrrrry. When we got home she was still smiling. She said "I'm trying not to smile, I just can't stop."


I was really proud seeing her up on that stage performing. Lucky me I get to see it again tonight. It's good that they have two nights cause I screwed up the video. Tonight, I will try to get the video. I hope. I think.

Mr. Mojo Risin

When I was in high school I did a book report on a biography of Jim Morrison, which happened to be written by his bandmate and friend, John Densmore. This started what has turned into a life-long love of this band. I read all the books about them. I have all their music. I have seen the Doors movie so many times I have lost track. If I could have lived back in that time, I would have been a groupie. Not one of those groupies, just a music groupie, I swear.

Although I do love Jim Morrison, he has this gravitational pull about him that makes you both love him and feel a bit sorry for him all at once; what drew me more to The Doors was the band dynamic itself. Jim was a hot mess if there ever was one. Without the massive amount of drugs and alcohol, he probably wasn't all that talented. The rest of the band was insanely talented, both individually and as a whole. One of their biggest talents as a whole was the ability to keep up with Jim, who never could quite do things the right way.

Anyway, the reason today's post is about The Doors is because of the movie "When You're Strange", a new documentary about The Doors that was recently out in select theaters only; however, if you were lucky you could catch it on the PBS show American Masters, which I did. I loved the documentary. There were a few things about The Doors that I didn't know (where the name Mr. Mojo Risin' came from). There were also things that I had forgotten, but was glad to be reminded of again. Watching the documentary made me miss my old obsession. One that had been put to rest many years ago. So, I today set my I-pod playlist to "The Doors" and had myself a rock out session in honor of this band. Keep on risin'.

Welcome to the family, Buzzy

The other day my dad took the kids to the Dollar Tree so they could pick out one item each. Maddie picked a Bug Catcher, which is odd and ironic since she's terrified of bugs. She wanted a "pet" and she thought that would be the best way to go about it since I am the anti-pet Mom AKA "worst mom ever."

After searching for less than 30 seconds this morning she was devastated about not being able to find a "pet." That's when big brother steps in to help. He caught her a fly. A house fly. One that has a lifespan less than a bladder infection.

She named him Buzzy. She carries that case all over and talks to him. She studies him and keep asking me to look up things about him like "why his arms get all tangled up" and "why his eyes are so big."

A life span of a house fly is usually only a few weeks at the most in the wild. In captivity, which isn't something a house fly sees often, it is less. I am sure we'll wake up in the morning to a dead Buzzy. Someone will be devastated, but I know who it won't be - me.

Many moons ago

Today is the our 10th wedding anniversary. Go ahead, do the math; we did things backwards. I wouldn't change it for the world though. Maddie's old enough to do the math. We had to do some explaining to her. That was fun.

I thought I'd post some of our wedding pictures. The fanciest kind there is - taken on a disposable camera. HAHA. We ain't fancy folk, we just have love and it doesn't get any better than that. We got married in Las Vegas. No, Elvis didn't marry us, just some awkward nerdy dude. I couldn't imagine having a big wedding. I don't even like GOING to big weddings. What we had was perfect. It was us.








We're not really celebrating. Tonight we are celebrating another special occasion. Dylan is being inducted into the Honor Society in a ceremony at his school. We are so proud of him. That kid is smart beyond my understanding. He's a great kid and every day he blows me away with his mind and his compassion. He's growing up so fast and growing into a wonderful person. I'll probably cry tonight. I know it's not "that" big of a deal, but it is to me. Plus, I cry at everything lately.

Well, I hope you enjoy my anniversary :)

Oh, and there is some news on the Maddie front. She FINALLY lost that front tooth that was just hanging there. By lost I mean, we made her sit still while her dad pulled it out. It only took 3 tries and that sucker was out.

Dylan kept getting her to say words that have lots of "S's" in them. It was cute. Even she was laughing at her inability to form words properly. My baby is growing up.

10 Things Learned at Viking Fest

1. Yesterday was the first really nice day of the year. Which would explain why all the girls between the ages 11-15 were wearing clothes wayyyyy too small for them; they didn't have time to go buy ones that fit. I'm going to stick with that and hope it's true.

2. My daughter is not allowed to leave the house after she turns 10. Ever.Again.

3. Maddie is going to be a daredevil carnie girl. If I ever let her out of the house.

5. I can go 364 days of the year and never see a single person in Poulsbo with no teeth and yet 1 day of Viking Fest and it's like I entered the land of the toothless.

6. It takes only two trips on the Gravitron and one on the Tilt-A-Whirl to make this mama sick.

7. It is definitely worth it to buy the bracelets. My kids got their money's worth on the Gravitron alone, not even counting the Tilt-A-Whirl, Twizzler, etc.

8. Dylan would much rather hang out with friends than family - even his grandpa! He had money and a bracelet and he was out.

9. Maddie would rather hang out with her brother than her family. During one of the many times in line for the Gravitron she saw two of her best friends from school and their mom asked who she was with and Maddie says "Just my brother." Seriously? I talked to the mom later and she told me that. Nice.

10. I will never again complain of my son's long shaggy hair again. In comparison to what I saw last night - his hair is perfect.

Dylan the Trickster

Yesterday after school he called me, as per the usual. Chatting about his day and then he says "oh, I have a test that you're supposed to look at tonight."

That sounds bad. Tests that parents have to look at usually mean you failed it. So I immediately got on him. He kept changing the subject and then hung up. I was prepared for the worst. When I picked him up I said "Okay, let me have it." He says "no, not until we get home."

So, of course first thing at home I said "Give it to me now, let's get this over with."

100% on a math test. The only kid in the class. He's such a trickster. He had me all riled up about a failed test when it was the opposite. I apologized for thinking the worst, but of course that was the point, right? He forgives me, I'm sure.

Jump for My Love

No more celebrating mothers. We're done with sap until next month when we celebrate fathers. Oh, who am I kidding, we don't get sappy for that.

I didn't think I would mind working on Mothers Day. It's just another day, right? This is the truth, however, I was disappointed at working on Mothers Day, not because it was Mothers Day, but because my lazy behind wanted to lay on the couch and do nothing. I'll use the Mothers Day excuse for that, but truthfully it had nothing to do with that.

Dylan worked yesterday too, not that it mattered to him that it was Mothers Day. He didn't even get me a card or make me one or anything. To make up for it he found an old birthday card he made me and scratched out "birth" and put "mothers" Wow. Thoughtful.

We saw Iron Man 2, which was truly awesome. We let Maddie come cause she wanted to, but I think it was a little over her head. I think Iron Man, out of all the superhero movies, is more intellectual than the rest. If you could ever classify a superhero movie as being intellectual. The storyline and content are a little over the head of a 6-year-old. Heck, it was a little over my head at times. She handled it well, minus a little fidgeting. She LOVED Natasha (Scarlett Johansen). So did her father. In a different way, of course.

I think the only thing that kept her from screaming in boredom was the Twizzler twist and peel licorice I got her. Kept her occupied more than I expected.

I took this picture of Maddie Saturday on the Trampoline. I caught her mid-air, which was pretty cool. She looks like a superhero.

Mothers

When you get a new job, you get trained for it and then put out there on your own after you are comfortable. If you do a good job, you get a raise, maybe even a promotion, and certainly a commendation from your boss. If you do a bad job, you get fired. If you don't like it, you quit.

When you become a mom you are given the job without any training whatsoever and are expected to learn as you go. When you make a mistake, it sucks, but you pull yourself up and move on. You can't quit. You can't get fired (no matter how many times your kids wish they could). When you do a good job, there is no real way of knowing. The kids could care less if you're doing a good job. If they have clothes on their back and food in their bellies, it's because they're supposed to, not because you're not a dismal failure at motherhood. And they'd be right about that.

When your kid comes home with a straight A report card, do you pat yourself on the back and say "what a great job I am doing, teaching my kid good study habits" or do you say "my kid is so smart"? I think we know the answer to that one; however, when your kid comes home with a bad grade, your first instinct isn't to be angry with them, but to look at yourself first and what you are doing wrong.

My point is, being a mother is a thankless job. One with benefits that are rarely seen or felt, but when they are it makes everything else worthwhile.

The wonderful thing about the job of a mother is that you have many coworkers. I have so many other mothers that I can turn to for advice when needed (which is all the time). I see other mothers doing such a fantastic job with their kids, raising well-behaved, polite children and I wonder how in the hell are they doing this? Then I see the kids who are bratty snotbuckets and I can't help but be grateful for what I do have.

My own mother had to put up with the mouthy teenager from hell (who, me?) and so I usually turn to her to complain about Dylan's sour mouth. The best advice I get from her is "HAHA I told ya." I can't argue with that though. What comes around definitely goes around and it's going round and round and round. I am sincerely sorry, Mom and Dad, for the many years of attitude I bestowed upon you. I now can curse Dylan. I hope he has twin Dylans. He deserves it.

I make many mistakes as a parent, my kids point them out to me on a daily basis. Someday they'll thank me, I hope, for doing the best that I can with what I have.

Thanks, mom, for putting up with me.

She's a superstar

Spicy Chica

My Maddie suprises me everyday. Like when she gets up in a good mood in the morning - shocking. Like when she cleans up her toys without being asked - another shocker.

Something that has consistently surprised me over the past few weeks is her growing love of spicy foods. Dylan is a bland food eater. The blander the better.

I make this dinner that has spaghetti noodles and chicken and tomatoes, chiles, green peppers and onions. Over time, my chiles have ranged from mild to hot to habenero. Even when it was mild I would let Maddie have just plain noodles with butter. That was when she was a baby. I usually make Dylan eat the regular version because he needs to toughen up his taste buds a bit - plus he hates plain spaghetti noodles. When I scoop up some plain noodles for Maddie, she gets angry. She wants to "real" stuff. She hates to be left out. I'd give her a little and mix it in with the plain noodles and she was pretty happy, but it wasn't the same. Lately, I've been making the habenaro version. I excuse Dylan from that one, because it even makes Joel and I sweat. The first time I absolutely refused to let either of them have the super hot version. This last time I finally gave in and gave Maddie some. She loved it. Like, really loved it. Dylan, not so much. You would have thought I tried to kill him with scorpion soup or something.

Also, the other day I bought Jalepano Hot Salsa sunflower seeds for Dylan's game. Maddie LOVED them. She ate most of them, I think. Then complained of her lips being sore, lol.

Spicy Doritos are another favorite of hers.

I'm glad she ventures into spicy territory. It makes me proud. It also expands my menu possibilities quite a bit :)