Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Cleaning out Closets.....literally and figuratively

After Birthday Palooza...I was really hoping for a nice gloomy, rainy weekend so I wouldn't feel guilty for watching movies and just couching ALL weekend. I actually prayed for rain and gray skies...but noooo GOD brought beautiful blue skies and breezy days...so my dream of a guilt free weekend of being a total slacker ended!Saturday Youngest and I set out to do some yard work. I started with trimming hedges and cutting dead ginger....I made it through the entire flower beds without incident until I got to the holly then I was stung by a bunch of bee's! Yard work was OVER after that!!!! Like my friend "J" says "I freaking HATE nature!!!!"

I spent my Sunday cleaning the house and doing laundry, because for some reason I am the only one in my house that knows how to get to the laundry room. I complain when no one helps me clean but to be totally honest...NO ONE can do it like I can...and I actually enjoy the process of cleaning and it gives me time to myself...because the amazing thing about my family is they all seem to disappear when I breakout the cleaning caddy....it's simply magical.

Monday morning when I went to wake up Oldest and Youngest for school, Youngest was running a fever, had an upset tummy, and was super snotty. I called my boss and told her one of my lil chics was not feeling good and I was keeping her home. I thought, finally I can just couch..be lazy, watch mindless TV for the day and just cuddle with Youngest....but noooooo! My house was all shiny and clean except for Oldest and Youngest's closets. They were starting to look like something off of TLC's Hoarders and were about to spill out into their rooms. I started in Youngest's room, with her on her bed...we went through her clothes first, sorting what we would pass down to her cousin's and what would go to Goodwill. Then we moved on to toys, stuffed animals, etc. I was amazed at what little emotional attachment's she had for STUFF...where I looked at everything with "Remember when...."

One down, one to go. I was on a roll and feeling a total sense of accomplishment. I moved on to Oldest's closet and I almost shut the doors and walked away....it was overwhelming. I took everything and I mean EVERYTHING out of her closet, I moved rods and shelves. When Oldest got home from school she and I went through all of her clothes and then her basket of stuffed animals and toys.....again I was amazed at how easy it was for her to let go of her stuff...we loaded everything in Bertha (my Suburban) and headed off to Goodwill.....and it got me to thinking......


I have this Metaphoric Closet that I have to clean out every now and then...I believe much like clothes and toys...sometimes there are people in our lives that just don't fit anymore...or like toys, just don't play with anymore. These people are still good(for someone else), still have a lot to give(to someone else)...I guess you could say I am all about "REDUCE - REUSE - RECYCLE"!

Does anyone else feel this way?

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Birthday Palooza!


Holy Birthday Palooza am I glad this weekend is over!!!! I am not really sure what I was thinking 12 and 9 years ago...when I gave McHusband a very small window of opportunity to impregnate me and amazingly enough he managed to do it within a few days of each other....which has turned out to be not so great....9 years later. Oldest and Youngest's birthdays are 5 days apart.....Which leads to BIRTHDAY PALOOZA..When the girls were little they didn't mind having their Birthday parties together, they quite enjoyed it actually.....now they have gone and grown up on me and don't want to share the spotlight anymore...How dare them!!!!!

Friday night Youngest had 10 of her closest girlfriends over for a slumber party....McHusband fled the scene with his extremely hot tattooed cousin-yes I know this sounds dirty...but he is HOT, so stop judging me!!!!! Yelle(Girls Nanny) and Cooney(Belongs to Hot Cousin) came to lend their support and to help me with the parties. The girls had a picnic in the backyard, played red rover, kickball, blew bubbles, and just had a blast. Once it got to dark to see outside, they came in put their jammies on....Youngest opened her presents, we did cake, they sang Justin Bieber songs and danced like a bunch of wild and crazy girls. One little girl had an Asthma attack and had to go home...it was scary and it prompted a confession and cleansing of the souls of the rest of the 9yr old girls that were left....they were terribly worried about their little friend and were troubled about anything they may have said or done to her in the past that may have hurt her feelings..... The next morning they ate donuts, played hide and seek, chalked on the driveway, drove the golf cart around, and blew more bubbles.....Then Youngest was off to a birthday party for one of her friends, where she painted a grey cat on Canvas...she wants to sell this painting to a friend of ours...because Friend has a grey cat named Grey and why wouldn't she want to buy it?

I cleaned up the house in preparation for Oldest's birthday party. I treated 8 of her closest friend to lunch at Que Pasa, then it was off to Prien Lake Park....the girls flew kites, played kickball, walked around the park and played at the playground. These were the sweetest girls EVER! There was no bickering, no sassyness, no eye rolling, no boy crazy annoying behavior, no DRAMA!!!!! Several of the girls spent the night with Oldest and they watched movies and just chilled.

It was a crazy busy weekend with lots of girls....EVERYWHERE!
A friend asked me Sunday.."How do you do it, Why do you do it? Don't they drive you crazy?" My answer to her quite simply is "How Could I not?" I believe that my children will cherish these memories FOREVER, they will relish the fact that our home, our lives will always be open to their friends and their friends families!!! I have met some of my best friends through my children....I love that my girls want to bring their friends home and that their friends feel comfortable enough to walk through the door...look in the pantry, open the fridge, kick their shoes off, flop on the couch, and make themselves at home.....

Friday, April 16, 2010

We the People.......

Let me set the scene for you. Calcasieu Parish School Board purchased the old Sam's Club Building and completely remodeled it....and it is beautiful. The Assembly seats roughly 230/280. The meeting started at 4:45, by 4:30 there was not an empty seat in the house, there were people lining the outside walls, there were children sitting on parents laps, friends sharing seats, there were children sitting in the front on the floor, and there were people sitting in the isles. There were so many people there that they called the Fire Marshall!!!! I thought all the people he removed from the hall would leave...NOPE they stood outside and they listened quietly and waited for their turn to be heard. I have never been so proud of my community, never so proud of our Teachers and Administration! We were a UNITED front...we came armed with information about the Immersion Program...both French and Spanish. There were 27 speakers on the Topic of Cutting the Immersion Program, most of which were our Children....these Children are THE FUTURE LEADERS of our communities, country,and companies! They were well spoken in both French, Spanish and English. They spoke passionately about the Immersion Program and what it has done for them, and the role it will play in their futures. I believe what the School Board members saw....Was that these children and their parents were a FORCE to be reckoned with. At 8:08 PM, with ALL 12 School Board Members voting in favor of keeping the IMMERSION PROGRAM....We the People were heard and We the People made a difference.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Budget Cuts my ASS!

I have the worst headache right now, my jaw is clenched tight and I can feel my blood pressure rising. I just got an email letting me know that Calcasieu Parish is proposing another round of Budget Cuts and that the FRENCH/SPANISH IMMERSION program will be one of them. Oldest and Youngest have both been in the program since kindergarten and have excelled in learning a second language....now our School Board wants to cut this program. A program that is proven to raise standardized test scores...not to mention that bilingual children are more willing and able to learn a third language, or perform better in math and logic skills than children with just one language, that learning a second language helps children build self-esteem, creativity, problem-solving skills, and math ability or that being taught in two languages gives children a head start in competition for universities and jobs.

Studies have also shown that those that are fluent in two languages rather than just one were sharper mentally. Thanks to technological advances in brain imaging, scientist have recently discovered that the processing of different languages occurs in much of the same brain tissue. However, when bilinguals are rapidly toggling back and forth between their two languages-that is, in "bilingual mode"-they show significantly more activity in the right hemisphere than monolingual speakers, particularly in the frontal area called the dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex(the source of the bilingual advantages in attention and control). This expanded neural activity is so prominent and predictable on brain scans it serves as a "neurological signature" for bilingualism. Finally, neuroscience research is showing promise for evaluating and treating bilingual patients who lose the ability to produce or understand speech after a brain injury. Research is showing that rehabilitation efforts that use BOTH languages, not just ONE-even a patients native language-HOLD THE GREATEST PROMISE FOR RECOVERY

Youngest has been seeing a Neurologist since May 2009, she was diagnosed with Chiari Malformation Type I and a Seizure Disorder. When Dr. Sconzert found out that Youngest was in the French Immersion program he was so excited and explained to Youngest that learning another language and being Bilingual strengthens the brain...that learning another language is like "Food for the brain and makes it very strong!!!" He told Youngest that if she ever feels like quiting the French Immersion program that she needs to remember that....Youngest had been sleeping in our room since she had her first seizure, when Dr. Sconzert told her how "Strong" her brain is...she started to sleep in her room again and hasn't looked back.

HELLO CALCASIEU PARISH SCHOOL BOARD....Have you done any research of the benefits of having two languages? Is it really worth a few dollars? I can think of a few other area's that you can cut...call me.

13 Years down.....many more to go!

So, Yesterday was McHusband and my anniversary and we spent the afternoon shuffling kids to and from Tumbling, doing yard work, laundry, cooking, cleaning house and cars. There was no Romantic Dinner with just the two of us...no Anniversary Gifts....just the two of us doing what we always do EVERYDAY...and you know what? It was FANTASTIC, it is just how I like things to be....it was the same as any other day in our life....it was teamwork and isn't that what marriage is all about? I have a few friends that take these trips every year for their Anniversary(without their children)...and while I think that is great(for them)..they tend to be a little judgey when McHusband and I don't take trips away from our girls. Why is that?

McHusband and I both feel that we had these girls for us to raise and take care of....one day they will not want to spend time with us, they will hate family trips, only want to hangout with their friends....and when that time comes..then McHusband and I will take trips alone without the girls, we will enjoy our time together.....McHusband might go Hunting without us and I might have a night or two away with my girlfriends...but until our girls are older and have no room in their lives for us...we will not be taking trips without them, I am not going to waste my vacation time by spending it without my children. I joke all the time that I need to get away from my girls, that I need some time alone...but the truth is I don't want to be away from them for a second...Eyerolling, backtalking, whining, fighting, hanging on by a thread and all....

I talk about running away but where would I go? I love my crazy world and wouldn't trade it for anything!!!!

Friday, April 9, 2010

Hanging on by a thread

Oldest is turning 12 tomorrow....she is becoming a woman right before my eyes. She is beautiful, charming, smart, vivacious and right now we can't hold a conversation without yelling at one another....and the looks....she no longer hangs on my every word, I am not her hero anymore, I am not the one that can make everything okay. I am now the enemy, I am the dream crusher, I am the happiness destroyer. We used to laugh....and talk so much Youngest could barley get a word in. Now we drive to school in complete silence.....I can't look at her without getting angry and she can't look at me because I have disappointed and confused her......How did this happen, why did this happen? I never wanted my kid to look at me the way I looked at my parents...why did I think I could escape that? I thought that she would always come to me when she was down...tell me when something was bothering her....if she was scared. Now I feel like she doesn't want to tell me anything...and if she did would I even hear her right now? My heart is heavy and all I can do is cry. I hope we make it through this part...right now I am feeling weary and beaten. For the first time in 12 years...I feel like I am failing Oldest and this feeling sucks.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Whatcha talkin bout Mr. Johnson?



I am so afraid for our country...even my 8 year old knows that an Island can't "Tip over". I am not sure how the General held his shit together......my filter would not have worked...is Mr. Johnson for real? The Island is going to tip over? This is just laughable....Mr. Johnson needs to pack his shit and leave the country NOW!!!!!! Who elected this man?